from my ink pad to yours

Next Up... Cherry Argyle Mittens

I had this card in mind when I made the earlier all white mitten card but had to do a bit of sorting in my stamp studio before uncovering the Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine.

I put this together during a little stamping "retreat" I had earlier this week with a Liz and Jeanne, a couple of members of my downline. It's much like the card I posted earlier this month except that I used the Cherry Cobbler C'oredinations paper for the mittens, the above mentioned Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Itty Bitty Banners for the greeting (thanks, Liz!). I think that the C'oredinations paper really shows off the argyle design of the embossing folder. Isn't it perfect with the mittens? While the Cherry Cobbler brad from the Regals would be best, the Real Red brad (Brights) or Rose Red (Subtles) would also work. I trimmed the embossed piece on the 5 1/2" edge and mounted it on a Cherry Cobbler card.

 

Argyle Mittens

Last weekend I made a few attempts to participate in Splitcoaststampers Dare to Get Dirty Challenges.  This card was for the first challenge. I had punched out some arglye mittens earlier in another color and knew that the combination of the white argyle mittens with the Northern Flurry Folder would be perfect for the challenge. We're not supposed to say what exactly the challenge is but you maybe could guess it anyway.

While I also embossed and punched these elements with Whisper White Ultra Smooth card stock and Vellum cardstock I decided that the card looked best with everything done in White Naturals. The only other embellishments needed were a little Baker's Twine and a white brad. And dimensionals. Of course.

This weekend I've been trying to re-organize my stamping studio which has extended way too far into the adjacent storage room. While today's rain has been somewhat conducive to the project it I still hae a long way to go.  Better get back to work.

Core'dinations Card Stock

Have you checked out the Core'dinations card stock in the Holiday Catalog yet?

I just love the Crumb Cake like color you get after sanding the embossed portion once you've run it through the Big Shot with an embossing folder. This card uses the Tulip Frame folder along with the Square Lattice folder.  The message is from the set Pursuit of Happiness and is stamped with Early Espresso ink on Ivory Naturals card stock. The ribbon is Rose Red Seam Binding. The card and mat layers are Crumb Cake, taking a cue from the sanded area.

My favorite look so far comes from using one of the Delicate Designs folders:

Ivory naturals card stock, Very Vanilla Seam binding, Stamps are from Blooming with Kindness and Petite Pairs.

Which one is your favorite?

Hybrid Snowflake Soiree welcomes 31 Days of August

August 1 is big this year! A big new Holiday Catalog debuts today along with the release of MDS 2 downloadable version. What better way to celebrate than with this hybrid Snowflake Soiree card:

If you are new to MDS or My Digital Studio it is Stampin' Up's digital software program for cards, calendars, scrapbooks journals, and so much more. So far I've used it mostly in making hybrid cards. Hybrid means that the cards use digital components combined with regular "hands on" cardmaking supplies.With this month's 31% off special I'm determined get a book made. In fact, over the last few weeks I've been getting many of my negatives of pictures from our family's early years put onto discs so that I can use them on MDS.

Back to the card: When I placed by demonstrator preview order from the Holiday catalog I added a few MDS toys to play with while I waited for the order to arrive.  That is one of the fun things about using My Digital Studio. Instant Gratification! You order online and can download immediately. One of the previews I ordered was the Snowflake Soiree Brush set.  While this classic stamp set is still on my wish list, this is a great set to use in MDS since the program allows me to change both the size of the images and the opacity. Can you see that some of the snowflakes are bolder than the others. This allowed me to single out one of them as my focal point. After printing it I added a rhinestone to further set it off from the others. It doesn't look like the Snowflake Soiree brush set is available to non-demos at this time but it will be. It is listed as a MDS set in the Holiday Catalog. Stampin' Up introduces new MDS downloads every Tuesday so it is only a matter of time.

Anyway, here's what you need to know about August:

1. The Holiday Catalog products are available today through January 2, 2013. Contact me for a copy or see it online here.
2. MDS 2 is available now and the best part is that you can try it for FREE for a month. Click here to to download a free trial.
3. 31 Days of Savings runs the whole month: ALL cards, photobooks, individual pages, and tags. That's right: print any photobook, board book, swatchbook, individual pages, greeting card, postcard, trifold card, or tag-all for 31% off. Some of our best digital content. 30 downloads and 1 content disc. Yup, that equals 31.
4. Stampin Up has created a community just for My Digital Studio users. You don't have to be a demonstrator to participate.
5. If you already have My Digital Studio, you can upgrade to the new version here.  

You know, I'm going to have to sign off for now so that I can go upgrade my own MDS and start exploring the new features.