Stamp With LisaT

My Digital Studio - Soccer Scrapbook Page

2009-11-05T16:24:16-05:00

Here's the page I promised in my previous post. It's another scrapbook page that I created using Stampin' Up!'s new digital papercrafting software, My Digital Studio. There's a couple of fun things about this page, the first being that I created the scrapbook page on the same day that I took the photos. Talk about instant gratification!

This page captures some of the action of my daughter's final soccer tournament game. It was another gray rainy day here in northern NJ, but that didn't dampen the girls' spirits. One of the other fun things about this page? You're seeing just one version. I created the page and added two team photos and two photos of my daughter. After saving it, I then deleted the photos of my daughter and popped in two photos of another girl in their place. Saved that as a jpeg file, and emailed it off to a soccer-mom friend of mine. I got two separate scrapbook pages with a few extra mouse clicks! Went back to the original file, substituted a team photo with the blanked-out faces, added the Stampin' Up! copyright information (it's a "stamp set" included My Digital Studio) and saved that version to share here with you.

How was it so easy to swap out the photos? There was NO resizing, re-matting or repositioning involved - it was super-easy! My tip here is that when using My Digital Studio, rather than adding a photo, add a photo box. A photo box retains sizing and placement information. I simply deleted the existing photo (this leaves the photo box intact), then double-clicked on the dark gray photo box to select a new photo. The photo mat stayed in place, I didn't have to worry about resizing the photo to match the other photos, and it stayed in the same location. So easy and quick!

A quick word about the matting: I selected each photo, then clicked on 'Mat' under 'Photos' in the Design Center (right side). I kept the default color of Whisper White, but this can be modified. To get the second layer, I simply added a card stock layer in Basic Black and sized it to fit under my matted photo. I did this once, and when I was satisfied with the sizing, I copy and pasted it two times, then positioned these under the respective photos.

Another fun element was the use of stars on this page:

The three black stars along the left side were created using the star punch, which I filled with Basic Black card stock. I added a drop shadow, to give the appearance of being popped up on a dimensional. I also added a Whisper White brad to the center. Again, I created one star, then copy and pasted it. The Align tool did a great job of lining them up for me.
The white stars that appear under the "Go Team" stamp and under my journaling were created by using the Sporting stamp set that's included in My Digital Studio. (Wow! Did you know there are 61 stamp sets included in My Digital Studio?)
The large, transparent star that's under the "Team Huddle" picture is another Star Punch, enlarged, filled with Whisper White. I then changed the opacity to 30%.

My Digital Studio Scrapbook Page

2009-11-05T15:22:08-05:00

So, I've finally taken the digital plunge with Stampin' Up!'s new digital papercrafting software, My Digital Studio. I have to tell you, that as a lover of PAPERcrafting, I didn't know how I'd like the digital aspect to it. I'm glad to say that I'm really happy with it! It's relatively easy to use, and there's lots of benefits, which I'll be sharing with you.

Here's (one of) the first scrapbook pages that I created. I don't know about you, but since going digital with my camera, I've been very bad about getting prints made. I just sent off a big order to be printed, but before it arrived, I was able to digitally create a page that's been in my head since July! Here it is:

This page documents a dramatic dive my daughter took off of our patio on her bike. She was (mostly)unhurt, but the whole thing was so noteworthy that after getting her cleaned up and settled down, I headed back to the scene of the crime with my camera.

I created a page "from scratch" - not using any of the many pre-designed options. The colors I chose are Garden Green and Soft Suede. I got the circle layer of 'patterned paper' by using a circle punch which I enlarged. I enlarged the circle before adding the Soft Suede grid pattern to it. Enlarging a patterned paper can cause it to pixelate, so I made the circle the size I wanted before adding the paper. I used the Align feature to align the three photos on the left side and rotated the title. I added some brads on a strip of paper for a little visual interest, and that's about it!

Next up? A soccer layout that I created the same day that I took the pictures - how fun is that? Be sure to check back for that.

If you'd like to learn more about My Digital Studio, click here to watch a short video that shows some of the fun things you can make.

To purchase My Digital Studio, click here. It's item #118108, and the price is $79.95. You can get yours at a 50% discount by hosting a $400 workshop by November 30. Contact me today to book your!

Photography Tips for Halloween

2009-10-31T11:36:24-04:00

Halloween offers lots of opportunities for photographs, which, in turn, offers lots of opportunities for scrapbooking! Make sure you get the best Halloween shots by following some of these simple tips from PhotoJojo.com. Remember, there's no do-over for this fun night!

Lighting

Halloween is a particularly difficult holiday to shoot because most of the action occurs after dark, when low-light conditions make it difficult for your camera to get a sharp shot. You’ll get your best Halloween photos at dusk. For that hour or so while the sun is setting, you’ll have enough natural light to easily forgo your flash while still capturing the glow of your jack-o-lanterns and the bright colors of your costumes.

After dusk, use a high ISO setting (400 or more) and hold your camera as steady as you can (or use a tripod) to capture action without a flash. The rich, dark colors characteristic of Halloween are essential in setting a spooky mood, so make sure your flash doesn’t overpower them. Remember, Halloween’s not a bright holiday; and dark and creepy shots can work in your favor.

Brighten your pumpkins’ glow

Sure, you can stick a dozen candles in that puppy, but unless you want to risk a smoking jack-o-lantern, try adding a flashlight instead. Keep an eye on your angle so your camera can’t see the flashlight or its beam of light directly. (If you do opt for more candles, cut a hole in the upper, back part of the pumpkin–it’ll act as a chimney and allow your candles’ heat to escape.)

Quick tip: If you still can’t get the inner glow bright enough and you’re shooting indoors, try lowering or turning off your room lights to compensate.

For more great Halloween photography tips, check out the full article at PhotoJojo.com.

Have a safe and fun-filled Halloween!

Halloween Class Treats - Build A Bear Style

2009-10-29T14:50:43-04:00

Here are the treats that I made for my son's 3 year-old nursery school class. Since the kids are so young, I used pretzels instead of candy. I put two bags of the Halloween pretzels inside a large cellophane bag and created a 'bag topper' of sorts to hold it together. The front is nothing special - I saved the fun part for the back!

I had a lot of fun decorating the back with the new Sizzix Stampin' Up! Bear (#117977) - the Build a Bear, as well as the Kooky Spooky (#117979) dies. The pumpkins were easy. The witches took a little longer but were more fun. Kooky Spooky includes all of the Halloween accessories seen here - the pumpkins, witch's hat and broom. Using the dies is fun & easy - it's like paper piecing without the tedious cutting. Fun and seasonal, for treats, cards, scrapbook pages or other 3-D projects!

The teachers got their treats in some Frankenstein Backpacks that I had left over from last year. Click here for a tutorial.

Just have some teacher treats to make for my daughter's teachers & I'm all set! You can check back for them tomorrow.

What's coming after all of my Halloween treats? I've been playing with the Build a Bear dies and the new My Digital Studio - Stampin' Up!'s new digital papercrafting software. I've made fun cards, calendars, entire scrapbooks and individual pages. I even dabbled a little bit with multimedia projects (as much as my existing hardware & electronic gadgets will let me). There are a lot of very cool possibilities with this fun and (relatively) easy software. I just completed my certification requirements and will be sharing projects when I'm really happy with them - you probably won't be seeing my first attempts. Right now, one of my biggest obstacles is having enough related pictures to make a really nice themed album. I can see that I'll annoying my family by snapping lots more pictures!

Recipe: (all supplies Stampin' Up!; images copyright Stampin' Up! 1990-2009):
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green, Basic Black, Creamy Caramel, Whisper White, Summer Sun, Close to Cocoa
Ink: Garden Green
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Accessories: Big Shot, Build a Bear, Build a Bear Kooky Spooky, Tag Punch, Small Tag Punch, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Large Cellophane Bags

Halloween Treat Pails

2009-10-28T11:45:04-04:00

As promised, here are some of the other Halloween Treats that I worked on over the weekend. I picked up cute little tin pails that are about 3-4" tall. Filled some Medium Cellophane Bags (#102757) with candy, used stamps and punches, and embellished with Stampin' Up! ribbon. I made about 20 of them, and they're ready to go to school with my daughter on Friday!

Note: the cellophane bags work great for all types of things: treats, embellishments, etc. They'd also make a great "sleeve" to hold memorabilia on scrapbook pages. They come in 3 sizes: Small (3x5"), Medium (4x6") and Large (6x8"). They're easy to pass over in the catalog, but definitely worth checking out - see them on page 159.

I used Batty for You (#116576) for the stamped images in the scalloped circles, and my trusty Teeny Tiny Wishes (#115370) for the sentiment. Pretty easy, but lots of punching! Glue dots hold the paper onto the pails like nobody's business - even though the sentiments are wrapped/bent along the curve of the pail, they're still holding strong, and it's been several days. Gotta love those Stampin' Up! glue dots!

If you're looking for more Halloween treat ideas, check out yesterday's post and be sure to come back tomorrow!

Recipe: (all supplies -except pails- Stampn' Up!; images copyright Stampin' Up! 1990-2009):
Paper: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Garden Green
Stamps: Batty for You, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Accessories: Medium Cellophane Bags, Scalloped Circle Punch, 1 3/8 & 1 1/4" Circle Punches, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Glue Dots, Black & White Gingham Ribbon, Pumpkin Pie Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, 1/4" Black Grosgrain Ribbon

Halloween Treats

2009-10-27T13:20:41-04:00

Haven't posted for a while, but I've been a busy bee! Lots of Halloween treats to share with you. I stamped up a storm at my friend Stasia's house this past Sunday with a couple of other Stampin' Up! demonstrator friends of mine. Loved all of that creativity spread out on two tables in Stasia's stamping studio - but what a mess four stampers make when they really get going!

Here's one of the treats that I prepared while I was there. It's our turn to bring the treats to soccer on Saturday. Naturally, it's got to be a Halloween treat! Have you seen the Pringles Stix? I hadn't, until someone else brought them for soccer treats earlier in the season. Immediately, I knew that they'd work great with the Pillow Box die for the Big Shot! I cut out lots of Pillow Boxes, then cut off the "ends" of the boxes (the parts that are supposed to seal closed on either side). Voila - a perfect litte wrap for these fun Stix!

I borrowed Stasia's fun Tasty Sweet stamp set for the sentiment. The candy corn image from the same set added a touch of color. This is a really fun & inexpensive set and I'm sorry I overlooked it in the catalog (it's on page 24 if you'd like to check it out). Great for cards, treats & scrapbook layouts!

Here's a shot of all of the Stix in their pumpkin basket, ready to go on Saturday. Crossing my fingers for nice weather - they played the first part of their tournament in the POURING rain last Saturday! I've got two more sets of treats to share, so check back tomorrow!

Recipe: (all supplies Stampin' Up!; images copyright Stampin' Up! 1990-2009):
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie
Stamps: Tasty Sweet
Accessories: Big Shot, Pillow Box die, Tombow glue, Corner Rounder Punch

Pumpkin Patch - Spring Flowers

2009-10-22T13:11:00-04:00

I'm still on my kick of sharing a variety of cards created with Stampin' Up!'s Pumpkin Patch stamp set. I started off with a Halloween card, but am having fun creating cards for year-round use with this must-have set!

You can catch my Halloween and a birthday card here and a New Year's card here. I still have more ideas, so stay tuned. Other upcoming projects: Halloween treats, and Build-A-Bear cards! It may take a day or so: my crafting time is now devoted to helping my third grader transform a pumpkin into a globe. Picked up the primer & paint this morning, so I hope it's not windy when she gets home from school! (Sure wish my mom had had all of these cool crafting supplies when I was in school!).

Here's today's Pumpkin Patch card - a cheery, spring-like bloom guaranteed to brighten someone's day. There's room on the front for a small greeting or it can be left blank.

Here are the fun details: I stamped and hand-cut the "flower petals" in Lavender Lace ink. The petals were stamped with one of the oval pumpkins. The center was stamped in Pixie Pink with the round pumpkin. I cheated and used my 1" circle punch to cut it out, although you can see it's slightly smaller. Next time I'll cut the circle out as well. Sometimes it doesn't pay to take a short cut!

For some visual interest, I glued the petals down on the ends nearest the center, and used dimensionals to pop up the opposite side. I also used dimensionals under the glittered-up center (Dazzling Diamonds!) and the Picture Corners. The leaves were cut using the Little Leaves Sizzlits die on my Big Shot. Here's a closer look:

If you're curious about this set, there's a picture below off all of the stamps that come in the set. It's from the Holiday Mini catalog, so it may only be available until January 4!

Pumpkin Patch #116499 $22.95

To get your very own Pumpkin Patch set, visit my Stampin' Up! website, click Shop Now in the upper right corner and enter the item number 116499. You're off & running!

Recipe: (all supplies Stampin' Up!; images copyright Stampin' Up! 1990-2009):
Paper: Sage Shadow, Pixie Pink, Lavender Lace, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Lavender Lace, Pixie Pink
Stamps: Pumpkin Patch
Accessories: Big Shot, Little Leaves Sizzlit die, 2-way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds, 1" Circle Punch, Picture Corner Punch

Deals of the Week #3

2009-10-21T10:15:38-04:00

If you're a hardware enthusiast, this weeks' Stampin' Up! Deals of the Week is for you! It features some fun & favorite embellishments that work great for cards, scrapbook pages or other papercrafting projects! Check out the great discounts on these products:

Week 3 Deals of the Week

Item	Description	Special Price
114348	Basic Jumbo grommets	$4.49
109857	Mini Library clips	$8.99
112571	Circle Designer brads	$3.99
112581	1/2" Library clips	$3.99

(CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE)

Basic Circle Grommets Circle Designer Brads

Mini Library Clips 1/2" Library Clips

These great deals are available only until Monday, October 26 at 9:50 AM Mountain Time. (That's 11:50 AM for my local NJ customers!). Place your order today by visiting my Stampin' Up! website and clicking Shop Now in the upper right corner.

Pumpkin Patch - More than Halloween

2009-10-16T17:22:58-04:00

As I shared in yesterday's post, there's much more than Halloween to Stampin' Up!'s new Pumpkin Patch stamp set. Be sure to check out the Halloween and Birthday cards that I shared yesterday. I only had time to finish and photograph one card today. There's another one not finished on my craft table and I've got lots more ideas, so be sure to check back in the next few days for other great ideas for this versatile set!

Today's sample: New Years!

They sure don't look like pumpkins anymore, do they? I came up with this idea because the little vine stamp reminded me of streamers/confetti! I used Silver and Gold Encore ink to stamp the balloons and the streamers. A white gel pen made the balloon strings. The ribbon slide is from the Hodgepodge Hardware kit and serves to anchor the Gold and Silver Elastic Cord. It's a gray, gloomy day here in northern NJ, so my picture doesn't quite capture the sparkle of this card.

If you must own your own Pumpkin Patch set, you can order it online, anytime! Simply visit my Stampin' Up! website, click Shop Now in the upper right corner and enter item #116449. It's just $22.95 and has year-round appeal.

Come back to see other fun ways to use this set!

Recipe: (all supplies Stampin' Up!; images copyright 1990-2009):
Paper: Basic Black, Brushed Silver
Ink: Encore Gold & Silver, white gel pen
Stamps: Pumpkin Patch,Teeny Tiny Wishes
Accessories: Ribbon Slide - Stylized Silver HodgePodege Hardware, Silver & Gold Elastic cord, dimensionals, mini glue dot

Halloween & Beyond: Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-15T20:18:40-04:00

Now that I'm done with my Halloween trees, I had to make some gift cards to go along with them. I pulled out my Pumpkin Patch stamp set (it's a new set from the Holiday Mini Catalog). I stamped up some quick & cute cards, which I'll share below. But shame on me! I've been so busy with my trees, I missed some of what's going on in the blogosphere. A customer informed me that people are making non-Halloween cards with Pumpkin Patch. And here's a real "duh!" moment, because as soon as you stop thinking of them as pumpkins and start thinking of circles and ovals, there's a huge range of possibilities with this stamp set!

Here's the Halloween card with Pumpkin Patch:

and here's a peek inside:

This is the fun part: here's a Birthday Card with Pumpkin Patch. How cute would these little balloons be on a scrapbook page? Just think of the possibilites!

I was happy to finally have In Color markers, as I used them to draw in the little knots at the bottoms of the balloons. I used the vine stamp from the Pumpkin Patch set to stamp the end of the string, and hand-drew the strings using a Basic Black marker. Here's a peek inside:

So now my opinion of Pumpkin Patch has gone from a cute Halloween set to a must-have stamp set that is versatile and adaptable to a wide variety of occasions. I've got some more ideas that I hope to stamp up tonight to share tomorrow or over the weekend, so be sure to check back.

Better yet, get your own Pumpkin Patch set and let your creativity fly. Visit my Stampin' Up! website, click Shop Now in the upper right corner, enter item #116499 and you're off & running!

Pumpkin Patch #116499 $22.95

Recipe: (all supplies Stampin' Up!; images copyright Stampin' Up! 1990-2009):

Halloween Card:
Paper: Garden Green, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Ink: Garden Green, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black
Stamps: Pumpkin Patch
Accessories: Pumpkin Pie Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

Birthday Card:
Paper: Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Thoroughly Modern DSP
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Basic Black marker
Stamps: Pumpkin Patch, Teeny Tiny Wishes, On Your Birthday (inside)
Accessories: Melon Mambo Polka Dot Grosgrain, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Dimensionals, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig