Since I”m fortunate enough to be on her DT, I was able to play a bit early.  My DH asked me to make a sympathy card for a friend who suddenly lost her husband.   I immediately knew I wanted to use one of the wonderful papers from this kit!   My card base is textured white Bazzill CS (6×6).  I printed the fabulous purple DP from Lindsay’s Beginning – I love the subtle coloration and florals – and embossed it with an SU texture plate and my Big Shot.  I used an EK Success punch to create the scallop edge.  The Iris is from a retires SU set – Still Life Stems.  I colored directly on the stamp with my SU markers and then “huffed” before stamping onto Whisper White CS.  I typically use Georgia Pacific or Staples CS for my digi-images, but I wanted the extra crispness that the vivid white SU CS offered.  The image and glitter CS (DCWV) mat were trimmed with my Long Rectangle and Scallop Nestabilites.  I added a bit of Almost Amethyst and Lovely Lilac inks with a sponge dauber to give subtle color to the glittered CS mat.  The narrow organdy ribbon is from my stash.  After adhering everything together, I stamped the sentiment (SU) twice – first with Silver MetalExtra ink (Clearsnap) and then with Vintage Violet (SU) to give an embossed effect.  I added the adhesive pearls from Michaels for a bit of dimension and elegance. I continued the theme on the inside by reprinting the DP from Lindsay’s Beginning with a verse I found on the internet.  The verse reads:  

Although we know at such a time there’s little we can say. We want to let you know that you are in our thoughts today.

My DH was then able to personalize his message. I found my 6×6 envelopes weren’t large enough, so I used a sheet of 12×12 paper and created an envelope for the card too.

Since I was in a card making mood, and this kit is so stunning, I have a little goodie for.  I have created 2 printable (4.5×5.5) cards for you (with Kristine’s permission).  I didn’t add a sentiment, so you can personalize the cards to suit your needs.  You can print them one a single sheet of 8.5×11 paper using a borderless setting and then stamp your sentiment or open them in your favorite editing software and type your sentiment before printing. I hope you enjoy them! If you like what you see, please send your friends to my blog to download for themselves.  Thanks!

That’s all from me.  Mondays are errand running/grocery days, so we’ll be busy busy today!  Be sure to check out Lindsay’s Beginning and the rest of goodies at Kristine’s store (and her blog – I’ve hears there might be goodies there too) and then head over to the DSO store too – the Designers have a released a new Collab Kit – with a twist! You won’t be disappointed!  

Using Lindsay’s Multi-Bracket Paper SVG freebie as a starting point, I experimented in Inkscape until I created Multi-Bracket card base and mat SVG files – definitely a bit of a learning curve, but completely doable! Then I turned to my trusty Photoshop and with the help of Jodiann’s styles, created 5 different papers that I printed out and then using SCAL cut the card bases and mats – I used 5.5 inches as the height for me card base and 5.15 inches for the height of the mat.. Then, using Photoshop again, I selected and printed the stamps from Love Grows Here.

I must admit, I’m rather pleased with the way they turned out – though my fingers were getting a little tired – thankfully I have really good, sharp scissors!  The birds are colored with Copics and Bic Mark-Its; the hearts have a generous coating of red stickles on them, and the the stitching was drawn in with a Blue Spica pen. The sheer organdy ribbon is from my stash. The heart paper is one I created and the card base is from my stash. This was one of my DH’s favorites. This little guy was colored with Bic Mark-Its with a touch of Spica Yellow glitter pen added to his wing and Cool Grey 1 Copic for shadow. Since Lindsay is sponsoring this week’s challenge over at Tuesday Morning Sketches, I used Melissa’s fabulous sketch to guide my layout. I used Bazzill CS and an EK Success Punch to create the image mat.  The card mat is one of my creations; the base is Bazzill textured CS.  The flowers are from Prima (checkout my friend Suzanne’s store – Crafting Connection, for awesome deals on Prima) and the pearls are from Michaels. This was DH’s other favorite!

Yes, once again, I HAD to use the fabulous cupcakes in the Love Grows Here set.  I colored the cupcakes with Copics, Mark-Its, and Spica pens – I used a white gel pen for accent.  The small cupcake sprinkles are coated with Red Stickles while the large sprinkles are Dew Drops from Crafting Connection.  I added ribbon from my stash to the card mat (another of my papers).  The card base is SU.Last but not least, I used the doily heart from Love Grows Here.  I colored the heart with Copics and punched the holes in the lace with my Fiskars hand punch.  The flowers are Prima and the pearls are MS.  Both the card mat and base were created by me.

That’s about it from me, but before you head over to Lindsay’s blog to check our her fab project and goodies – as well as the links to the other DT creations, I have a surprise for you!  I’m giving away the card base and mat SVG cutting files and 4 layered, printable cards – you can get them here.  If you like them, please leave a comment and send your friends to my blog – don’t share the links directly – thanks!

Have a fabulous Thursday!

While we don’t anticipate any issues, we cannot guarantee that our Gallery will be able to be saved and re-uploaded successfully as it must be separated from the Forum postings (as those will not be saved).  The goal is for the entire Gallery to be re-loaded all refreshed and ready to go but, just in case it doesn’t behave nicely,  we HIGHLY recommend that if do not have your Layouts saved on your computer that you back them up before February 1.

Courtesy of our own Jodiann – panic is not necessary – help is below:

How to back up Gallery Pictures:

Navigate to your Gallery at DSO, Right Click> Save As on each LO one at a time. If you want to re-up your Gallery photos easily  make a file on your hard drive and save each one there.  You can add a number 01, 02, 03 in front of each file name so you can keep the order straight. If you don’t care about that, don’t add the numbers.

Saving Signatures:

Go to  DSO>Gallery>User CP> Edit Signature. The preview screen has a HTML option. Click it. Highlight>Copy> Save in a email and send it to yourself or paste the info into a blank Notepad file. When its time to add it back. Get the email and do the steps in reverse. Highlight>Copy>Signature HTML code> Go to DSO> Gallery> User CP and paste the code in to the preview screen.

See – that wasn’t so bad now was it.

Charlie is having a special CU sale on some of her products.

Stunning Personal Use kits by our fabulous Designers:

Create the perfect Page Title or Card Sentiment with Jazzy’s WordArt:

Want to create your own kits or freebies with Quality products? Checkout these awesome CU-friendly goodies:

So what are you waiting for?!? Head to the store! (Special thanks to LouCee for doing the “legwork” for this post – you RAWK sweetie)!

That’s all again – it’s time for supper!

In case you hadn’t noticed, I really love Lindsay’s cupcake stamps!  The box is glittered CS from DCWV and the DP on the lid is from my stash – a pad of 8×8 The Angel Company paper.  Donna is a big fan of purple, so unlike Jody’s box, I opted to leave the purple square intact rather than using acetate and create a window.  I used another piece of DP from the same pad to create the liner/cupcake holder inside the box. The cupcakes were printed using Photoshop and my HP printer on Georgia Pacific CS at 70% size.  I colored them with Copics and then cut them out.  After adhering to my box lid, I added Smooch to the sprinkles and stickles to the candy heart toppings. That’s the entire ensemble. The card is from last week’s post.  Be sure to visit Lindsay’s blog as she’s always got a fabulous treat and the links to the other DT posts – and while you’re hopping, leave the rest of the ladies some love! Hey work hard to create stunning and inspirational projects.

That’s all from me – have a fabulous Thursday!

Using SCAL, I resized Fancy Border #1 to be 3.5×5 (keeping proportions) and cut it out of SU Naturals Ivory. I used Photoshop to generate the sentiment (1st verse of the Hymn) and to rotate and print the butterfly from Winged Things.  Then the fun began as I was determined to try something new and use some of my fabulous supplies!  Using a Ranger Alcohol Ink Applicator with a felt pad, I distressed the frame with Tea Stain and Vintage Photo inks.  Then, because I wanted some shine without being overwhelming, I spritzed the distressed frame with Gold Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist. While my frame was drying, I trimmed the butterfly and then drug it through my Brilliance Pearlescent Purple ink pad to add color and shimmer at the same time. My card base is SU Certainly Celery embossed with my Big Shot and an SU Texture Plate then spritzed with Garden Fairy Glimmer Mist. While I waited for the base to dry, I trimmed the sentiment (printed on Apricot Appeal CS) and attached my frame. I didn’t have any roses, but I really loved the color of the Prima flowers (checkout my friend Suzanne’s store – Crafting Connection), so I centered them over the frame and sentiment and then layered the butterfly over them and the corner of the frame.  Then I used Aqua glue and microbeads to added a bit more texture to the corners cutouts in the frame.  Once the card base was dry, I adhered everything together. I hope you like it as much as I do!

That’s all from me – it’s Monday, so that means errands and grocery shopping! I have several stops to make, so I’d better get started!

Have a great week!

And, as an added bonus, all of her designs and cutting files at My Grafico are 25% off through Friday – woohoo! What better time to add to your digi-stamp and/or cutting file collections?!?!

For my project this week, I opted to use the yummy (and 0-calorie) cupcake in Lindsay’s Love Grows Here stamp set: I have a couple of birthday cards to make and I thought the cupcake would be perfect for one of them! Last week, in Lindsay’s What Is Digi-Stamping Yahoo group a “challenge” to use scraps was issued (Thanks Cheryl). So, my card base and the white scallop layer are from my scrap bin.  The DP is DCWV The Sweet Stack and the ribbon is from my stash.  I used an EK Success Diamond Lace border punch on all three layers. Then, I adhered a 4.25×5.5 piece of transparency film to my card front to give me an area to stamp my sentiment and because I had never tried adding “clear” paper to my cards – I rather liked the results! I colored the cupcake with Copics, Spica, and Sakura markers and pens.  After trimming and adhering to my card with pop-up glue dots, I used red stickles on the heart sprinkles and Moonlight Smooch (love the Stampin Studio) to add the accent on the cherry.  The Birthday sentiment is SU stamped in Cotton White Opaque Staz-On onto my transparency sheet. I really like the effect!

That’s all from me – today is our first day with gymnastics after 9 months of swimming lessons – which means a change in our schedule and routine – though I’m sure Nadya will be perfectly happy.

Be sure to check Lindsay’s blog for a treat and the links to the rest of the DT projects! Have a fabulous day!

I really really love the richness of the colors in this kit – so, I paired it with a couple of templates from another uber-talented designer – Bunny Cates to create these:

Credits are super simple: Designs by Kristine’s Natalie’s Day and Bunny Cates’ Bracket Album templates.  The background paper in the Imagine layout is one of my all time FAVORITES!

Do you want to know what else we’ve been up to? It’s called reclaim our house – aka the Great Toy Round-Up! We listed Nadya’s crib on Craigslist as she hasn’t ever used it, and although it was a convertible one, we already have a full-size bed in her room, so we didn’t need that option.  After only  a day and a half, we had a buyer. So, after a quick trip to Target (thanks for the gift card Mom and Dad) – her room transformed from this:  To this (and my living room regained some semblance of order): We’re still waiting on a couple of stuffed animal nets, but other than that, we’re pretty well done.  We’re watching craigslist carefully for a twin over full bunk bed or one of those Doll House theme beds that will allow for a twin bed on top and a full underneath.  Too bad my dear husband doesn’t have a table saw or much spare time– I found a fabulous website that has awesome plans and an even better blog full of ideas – I’m thinking a little barn themed bunk/loft bed would be perfect! LOL Plus, I’m certain I could build some of the bookcases/cubes Ana has posted plans for here, here, and here – and be better than the particle board and cardboard that I can buy at WalMart – oh Micki – you’re my inspiration here! Ah, the stuff dreams are made of – and like I really need another craft/project/hobby!

Ok, I’m off to do laundry – such fun! Have a great day!

A new release and a chance to win all 6 stamps! Checkout Victoria’s blog for the details!