Labor Day Adventure

Today was one of those days where I just didn’t have the energy to leave the comfort of my couch to march into my studio to create something but I felt the need to complete a project.  What to do?  Grab the laptop and do some digital creating with My Digitial Studio. 

We spent Labor Day weekend camping near the Hood Canal with my parents, brother’s family and my brother’s in-laws.  On Labor Day, we decided to spend some time hiking to some waterfalls in the area.  So, the Lawsons took to the forest with my dad and my brother’s in-laws, hiking a little over two miles.  Liam had some fun hiding behind the bushes trying to scare his poppy, but I think he scared my brother’s poor mother-in-law (Kim) more than his poppy.  I noticed on the way down the mountain, she didn’t walk behind the rest of his my dad and kept Liam close.  We had such a fun day.

Here is my project using My Digital Studio.  I recently downloaded the Shades of Spring Designer Series Paper Kit.  Although the paper was called Shades of Spring, this print brought fall to mind and our hike was clearly more of a fall day than a Spring or Summer day.  I kept the page very simple, letting the beauty of God’s handiwork and the beautiful paper design speak for itself.  I added one Soft Suede ribbon along with two Riding Hood Red buttons. 

I hope you enjoy the page as much as we enjoyed our hike.  Special thanks to Kim for the great photos!

God Bless and Happy Stampin’!
Charity

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My Why

When I first became a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator almost two years ago, I did so with a goal of attending convention.  I wasn’t able to attend Convention in my first year, but I was so pleased to attend this year.  The experience was incredible!  The convention theme was “Share What You Love.”  I’ve returned home ready to carry this theme into my Stampin’ Up! business.

To begin, I joined a special training offered through Stampin’ Up! called Recruit Crew.   Every two weeks we are given tasks which help us better approach our business in terms of growth.  During the first weeks, we were asked to create our Why Statement.  For me, I approached this as, “Why do I want to grow my business.”  One of the largest reasons I want to grow my business is to earn the current incentive trip to Disney World in 2012.  So, using My Digital Studio, I created a little page which I have as the wall paper for my computer.  This is also the family’s “why” when mom says, “Clean the house I have a workshop on Friday!”  They can remind themselves of Disney World.

God Bless and Happy Stampin’
Charity

True Friend – Digital Studio Project

My husband and I are in the process of putting laminate floors down in our living room and dining room.  This means our house is in chaos, including my crafting area.  We are about half way through the process but I’m not able to work on papercrafts right now.  But, I do have access to my laptop and My Digital Studio so I thought it was time for a few Digital Studio Projects. 

This project is a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inch card using the Simple Friendship and For All You Do stamp sets.  I started with a base of Chocolate Chip and added Regal Rose Soft Flower Designer Series paper as a page layer.  I then added my remaining page layers and embellishments before adding any stamp images. 

To get the Regal Rose behind the flower block, I added a punch and stretched to fit behind my image.  Using the same technique for the circle, I added a circle with a mat of Pink Pirouette around the Chocolate Chip.  I also added a shadow behind the circle to give more of a 3D appearance.

Expect some more Digital Studio projects later this week as it will be another day or two before my crafting area is reassembled.  For those of you who participate in my monthly technique classes, look forward to seeing our completed flooring project.  It’s looking beautiful so far!

God Bless and Happy Stampin’!
Charity

A Pocket Full of Adventure

It’s been some time since I posted a project using My Digital Studio and since I have been suffering from a horrible cold, I thought it would be a great project for tonight.  It won’t require me to pull out any supplies other than my computer!

This is a very simple layout featuring photos from a recent trip to the park with Liam.  He and Tim met me for lunch and we enjoyed some time at a local park.  It was a cold day!  Thanks to his new very short hair cut, Liam kept his hood on the entire time.

The page was done using My digital studio and I started with a blank layout.  The page base is Brilliant Blue, the stamp set images are Cute Cues and Greatest Moments II, the embellishments are from Hoppy Memories. 

Just in case you can’t read the journaling, Liam’s feet are just barely visible in the bottom left photo (follow the white arrow), he climbed to the top of that very tall structure so that he could go down the BIG slide.  He loves adventure!

God Bless and Happy Stampin’!

Charity

My Sweet Puppy

 It’s been some time since I posted a My Digital Studio project and I thought it was time to do a page for my dog, Laika Renee.  Yes, my dog has a middle name.  Do you know how you use your kids’ middle names when their in trouble?  Same effect with a dog, I use her middle name and she listens.  :0)  I named Laika after the first dog in space, who traveled aboard Sputnik 2 in November 1957.  The literal translation of Laika from Russian to English is “barker.”  Ironically, my Laika hardly ever barks!  I think we got the quietest dog in the litter. 

Laika is a pure bred Black Lab.  Her mother is a yellow lab and her father is a black lab, so she has a little white patch on her chest.  When the family told us about the 8 available puppies and that three had white patches, I knew I’d take one with a white patch.  The first pictures I saw of her showed her on her back all sprawled out.  She pretty much had me at “Hello.” 

As I mentioned, I used My Digital Studio to create this page.  It will eventually become part of a family album and there will be some pages with her when she was little.  You can also create this page using traditional Stampin’ Up! TM products.  Here is what you’ll need:

• Pretty in Pink Card Stock
• Bermuda Bay Stripe (Closest Designer Series Paper is Thoroughly Modern)
• Black Grosgrain Ribbon
• Man’s Best Friend Stamp Set (Fire Hydrant and “BARK, BARK” sentiment)
• Cheep Talk Stamp Set
• Modern Label Punch
• Silver Brads

The layout and design is pretty straight forward. This is an 8×8 layout. I did not resize any of the elements as I incorporated them onto the page so they should be true size.  The journaling text is Segoe Print font.  I added the Bermuda Stripe as the background and then added the Pretty in Pink card stock as a page element, cropping to the size I wanted.  I used the Bermuda Stripe because it is similar to her collar design.  I picked the Pretty in Pink because even though I’m not a pink person, I think pink is a great color for Laika.  Just really looks great with her black coat.  However, my husband hates the idea of anything pink for our dog so she does not have any pink accessories.  Using Pretty in Pink was my way of getting some pink in my puppy’s life. 

The modern label punch has Laika’s name layored on top with a mat and shadow added to make it stand out on the page.   To do this with traditional products, you could select your font style and print directly onto your cardstock using your computer and then punch with your modern label punch.  You can also take a similar approach with your journaling if you like. 

I decided to use the “Bark Bark” sentiment since her name means “barker” in Russian. I just thought it was appropriate.  Plus, Laika is a really happy dog.  I don’t think I’ve ever met an unhappy lab, but Laika is especially happy. 

There you have it, a project from My Digital Studio and my wonderful puppy.  Both are among my favorite things!

God Bless and Happy Stampin!
Charity

Horseback Riding- My Digital Studio Project

We had a busy Thanksgiving weekend with family on the Olympic Peninsula, including an afternoon of horseback riding at Freedom Farms for the kids. This is the farm where our two older daughters have attended horse camp for two years. They absolutely love it and the owner is so wonderful to let us bring the kids by for an afternoon of riding. I took lots of photos and since I had my lap top on hand, I made a single page using My Digital Studio and sent it off to the owner of the farm as a thank you for the wonderful afternoon.

Although Isabel and Phoebe are both experienced riders, this was the first time on a full size horse for both Liam and Tessa. It was amazing to see them both get such a kick out of riding the horse. In fact, Liam had such a good time, he wants a cowboy birthday party. I can’t wait to start shopping for stamps to make the invitations!

On to the page. This page is done using the distressed Old Olive page background option in the My Digital Studio. I added a strip of Red Riding Hood Red card stock with Whisper White stitching on the top. The stamp sets are One of a Kind and Great Moments. It took my less than 20 minutes to create this page and I created it while on vacation when the memories were fresh in my head.

God Bless and Happy Stamping!

My Digital Studio Christmas Card

I’m really having lots of fun playing with My Digital Studio™. I just completed a series of webinar classes so that I can become certified through Stampin’ Up!™ for this product. We did cards, scrapbooks, calendars, and multimedia projects. I’m amazed at the versatility of this product. I think you will be to.

Here is a Christmas Card I designed using My Digital Studio. The holidays will soon be here so it is time to start thinking about card designs. My Digital Studio has been a fun way for me to play with possible designs, layouts and color palettes. Many of the same stamp sets and embellishments you’ll find in your Idea Book and Catalog will be available in My Digital Studio. I made this card using only the images available when you buy the basic version,

however, several downloads are available at the Stampin’ Up! website. This is also the first card that I sent in for professional printing. It arrived a few days ago and I love the way it turned

out. You can also print the cards to your own home computer if you like. Great for Christmas cards or birthday invitations.

Recently I created a scrapbook album template for our soccer teams. After it was ready, I simply saved it without photos and then handed it over to my husband. With no help from me or even training from me, he was able to add the photos to the album creating a wonderful album. I’ll try to post the blank template later so you can see how the scrapbook pages turn out.

For now, happy stamping and happy creating!

God Bless!