Live Life Creatively

Create, Save, Smile!

2012-01-27T05:34:00.000-08:00

What do these three words have in common? New digital design releases and a 4 day, 40% sale in my digi shop at MyGrafico. I just finished three new sets featuring Owls with a Valentine/Love theme, but these adorable digi stamps and clip art designs can be used any day of the year to bring cheer.

Here is a digital card example showing how much fun you can have creating with the Owl Love U 4ever set, my personal favorite design on 2012...so far, anyways! ;D I have always loved owls, but had never designed a set with them. I started with sketches for digi stamps that you can color and add to your card creations, but I am a girl who love color so I couldn’t resist creating some clip art designs and printable artwork, too! Here is a peek at that set. This was designed with my new color palette for 2012!

Two of the three owl sets are posted in the shop...What a Hoot Digi Stamps and Owl Love U 4ever, and the third is a printable set of cards and invites called Owlentines that I will be releasing soon. Here is a sneak peek at it! I will also be adding a free digital Owlentine valentine printable.

So if these cute designs aren't enough to bring a cheery smile to your face, maybe a 4-day sale on digitals at 40% off will do the trick! Check out my shop by going to the main page, finding Cheri Wenger under the designers pull down menu on the left hand side of the web page. There you can see all of my shops. If you prefer to shop by category, click the links above this, however you will have to sort through designs from other shops to find mine. Have a very creative weekend! I will be cheering Kylie on in the Disney Classic Volleyball tournament at the Wide World of Sports complex.

Big Mouthed Valentine Cards - nothing says LOVE any better!

2012-01-23T09:31:00.000-08:00

I have been really busy making up some samples from one of my newest sets: Big Mouth Valentines Digi Stamps. The monkey, lion and bird in this set all have a perfect heart shape in their mouthes...so very fun to create with! You can hand color the heart, print it on patterned cardstock and layer, glitter it, emboss it, and add shine with crystal effects. And these are perfect to use for whimsical anniversary cards or expressions of love.

I will be posting a tutorial on how to get started using digi stamps where I will share with you a sample sheet showing how I set up pages for printing and cutting that can be used over and over again. So check back to my blog later for that lesson!

This is a preview of the set showing all the verses and images that come with it. It contains the artwork in jpeg, eps and png file formats which you can place into Word documents to print out or edit in your graphics and photo editing software. Digi stamps are super easy to just printout and hand color...my favorite way to use them on projects, but there are many more ways to use them creatively so don't let that limit you.

Today, I will post a few of the Valentine Cards, but you can view more of these in the MyGrafico gallery or in my Picasa Hybrid cards gallery. There are also links to the sets underneath each image.

Lion Happy Valentine's Day Card

created with Big Mouth Valentines digi stamps

http://www.mygrafico.com/digital-stamps/big-mouth-valentines-ds/prod_6452.html and http://www.mygrafico.com/digi-tools/digital-doilies-1/prod_4219.html

Lion Square Wavy Striped Valentine's Card

Cards come in all shapes and sizes. For this one, I made it 5" x 5" square. It features the lion digi stamp from my Big Mouth Valentines Digi Stamp set: http://www.mygrafico.com/digital-stamps/big-mouth-valentines-ds/prod_6452.html

The inside features one of the digi verses with some red glitter inside of the heart.

Bird Love You Lots Tweety Card

This card of softly layered colors with a brightly colored digi stamp makes an adorable Valentine or Anniversary card. I created it with the bird digi stamp image from my Big Mouth Valentines digi stamps set:
http://www.mygrafico.com/digital-stamps/big-mouth-valentines-ds/prod_6452.html

A layered digi verse was used on the inside to make this into a Valentine's Card, but
this same card design could be used for anniversary or just an note of love & encouragment.

Monkey Wanna Monkey Around Card

Love this color combination I used to create this whimsical valentine card. It uses the monkey digi stamp from my Big Mouth Valentines digi stamp set.
http://www.mygrafico.com/digital-stamps/big-mouth-valentines-ds/prod_6452.html

Cardstock is from Bohemia collection, The Little Moments Dots and Doodlebug designs striped paper. Lavender and turquoise solid linen papers are from Recollections.

Bird Pucker Up Tweetheart Card
created with Big Mouth Valentines digi stamps
http://www.mygrafico.com/digital-stamps/big-mouth-valentines-ds/prod_6452.html

Again, to turn this one into a Valentine's card, a layered verse was added to the inside.

Melissa's Big Birthday Giveway!

2012-01-19T16:23:00.000-08:00

In honor of my friend's 40th, she has an amazing giveaway on her blog. You can check it out here along with the details. One request is that you promote it on her blog or tell how you will talk it up online if you don't have a blog of your own. Another is to tell about your favorite birthday gift in the comments section...what a fun way to reminisce about a favorite birthday of the past. Thanks for the flashback, Melissa!

Wanna know how I spent my 40th Birthday?
Fleeing hurricane Francis....9hrs. to get to Savannah...not exactly what I had in mind. The upside? When we continued on to Cumming, GA where my sister-in-law and brother-in-law live, we got to visit with our old friends and neighbors in Sugar Hill. So I got to spend it celebrating with special people after all, just not the way I thought it would turn out. Anyway, nothing could top my 30th surprise party. My DH took me to dinner with my parents, then had all the neighbors waiting poolside at a catered party on the deck when we returned from dinner and drove up to the pool. Even bigger surprise was walking down the stairs to the pool seeing my Confirmation picture (with white robe and little red beenie hat) blown up to poster size and signed by all in attendance. Needless to say, I ran back up the stairs in horror. Turned out to be a very fun night and I also found out that I was expecting our 2nd child. So I couldn't celebrate the way everyone was intending for me to, but had a real blast chatting and doing karaoke with our friends!

Do you have a favorite birthday memory to share? Tell me about it in the comments section.

Tomorrow I will post a photo of my favorite birthday gift! Until then...

The Flight Continues

2012-01-17T10:47:00.000-08:00

I really find it interesting knowing the story behind projects. Inspiration comes from many sources: our surroundings, personal experiences, favorite colors, images or designs, and even favorite products. These are but a few of the many things that can inspire a project. This card creation was designed to thank so many people who thoughtfully and generously reached out to our family during the loss of my mother-in-law, Jackie.

Mom’s favorite color was cobalt blue, but she just loved blue in general, so that is what I made it the main color used on this thank you note. I wanted to include some symbolism of her transition from her life here to a life in heaven. I believe this montage of butterflies does just that.

Supplies: (Stampin’ Up!®) Asstd. Blue Cardstock; Sizzlits Beautiful Wings Die; Thanks So Much verse; Finial Press Texture Embossing Plate; (Offray) Blue Satin ribbon; (Glue Arts) Extreme Adhesive Squares and Glue Glider™ Pro with high tac adhesive cartridge.

Butterflies also are a visual symbol for me of the life/death/after life transition since my uncle’s death in 2000. I would often get butterfly visits on my walks and have many other tales of this connection, too. Using a monochromatic color palette (different shades of the same color) creates a very elegant look that you can use in all your card designs. The cascading size of the butterflies adds movement and interest. This also serves to remind us that even though a loved one’s presence fades, the memories remain even though their flight continues.

I wanted to share another butterfly card created by fellow card designer, Diane Bove. She created these 3-D butterflies using a brush from my Stylish Butterflies set combined with patterned background.

Here is a preview of that set art which contains, editable eps, jpeg, png and abr (brush files).

The set contains 3 butterflies: one solid, one with transparent swirls to use over color or patterned backgrounds digitally and one butterfly with white swirls. If you use the photoshop brush file you can change the black to a color or patterned background. I will be creating some tutorials to show you how you can use digital brushes and png art in Photoshop. So check back to my blog for updates!

Let your creativity take flight with using a butterfly on your next card creation.

Color Focus for 2012

2012-01-15T07:54:00.000-08:00

Part of Living Life Creatively means that I like to try new things for inspiration and tackle new design challenges. This year I have decided to create a single color palette from which I will create all of my colored clip art designs...or at least I will attempt not to break my own rules! ;)

My focus this year is on color combinations. Part of this means that I will share favorite color combinations for you to try out in your design projects. Some of these may be outside of my own 2012 color palette, but nonetheless, nice combinations for color inspiration for crafting, fashion and home decor.

With Valentine's day around the corner, my first color group is titled the Romance color palette. Can't wait to see what you create with this color group. Email me at artz1@cfl.rr.com with your photos and I will share them here, or leave me a comment with a link to your blog post. Happy creating!

Oh, and I have tweeked the design for my tag line. I will share a peek at that below.

I have lots of new plans in store as I am tackling working on two websites...

one for my overall design work and one for my photography.

Both are still in the baby stage of preliminary designs.

It will be so fulfilling to be able to tie together all of the ways that I

Another New Set that is Just toooo Tweet to miss!

2012-01-12T08:11:00.000-08:00

I am super excited about all the new digi stamp sets I have in the works. They are filled with whimsical images that are perfect for Valentine’s Day, yet perfect for year round uses for other occasions, such as weddings, anniversaries, get well cheer, friendship and love!

Let me know what you think of my latest release, Ain’t Love Tweet! It includes mini birds that you can pair up, add to svg diecuts, combine on digital cards, print and layer and even print on patterned papers and layer for fun, colorful card designs and layouts. I would love to see what you create with these. My mind is certainly coming up with plenty of ideas. If I only had more hours in the day to create life would be perfect!

Added bonus: this comes with a free set of .abr digital brushes and is on sale until Saturday! Hurry and buy it today!

A Sale that's oh so tweet!

2012-01-10T21:47:00.000-08:00

Today I have three tweet things to share with you...the details of my 4 day sale, a new set to reveal and a hybrid birthday card for your crafting inspiration. If you have some craft or design projects to create, now is the time to stock up on some of my digital designs while they are 30% off!

This is also the perfect time to get started making those Valentine’s cards and I have just the set to get you started. It is my latest release called Big Mouth Valentines. This is just the first of a couple Valentine sets that I am working on. Let me know what you think of it!

It retails for $4, but is also on sale in my shop at MyGrafico. You can layer the art over digitally colored and patterned papers for scrapbooking, print the b&w designs out and hand color to create fun cards or valentines. The bird, monkey and lion have hearts in their mouths which can be fun to add flocking, glitter and shine to! I hope to make up some samples soon and post here on my blog.

Here is a hybrid card created using color clip art from my Cuppy Cakes build-your-own set. It is a birthday card I made for my dad.

I am also including this photo of the inside of it where I also used clip art to dress it up! This is a perfect set to have for making cards for just about any occasion.

New year, New Inspiration!

2012-01-03T07:52:00.000-08:00

A touch of old, a set that’s new, and a homemade gift for the Gator Fan in you! Today I am sharing with you a traditionally crafted, holiday theme thank you card made with beautifully printed CS and diecuts paired with brown inks, a stamped and punched tag and some recycled ribbon. I love these colors...so rich. And the brown ribbon makes me want to grab a milk chocolate candy...yum! This card proves that you can grab nearby papers and embellishments to create a card without a whole lot of effort. I hope it provides some inspiration for your cardmaking endeavors! Here are some photos of the inside and outside of this card creation...

Close up view of the front of the Pine Tag Thank You Card

Another view of Pine Tag Thank You Card with tag stamped and hand colored, punched and layered on gorgeous CS with brown ink added to edges to give a warm vintage feel.

This is the inside view of the Pine Tag Thank You card with Christmas theme. All of the craftiness doesn't have to end on the outside of the card. You can used your papers and borders to compliment and enhance the inside, too!

This year in Digital Design, I started off with a set geared towards a different market: embroiderers, quilters and those who love stitchery and sewing. Quilting Patterns 1 has a variety of patterns that will add beauty and style to your crafting projects. It is available for purchase at MyGrafico. com in my shop.

And my last bit of inspiration for the day is to share this handcrafted gift I made for friends of our family who are big Florida Gator Fans. They suggested I start making these to sell. What do you think?

Has an easel back so can be put on table display!

Shown hanging as artwork on a wall

I hope this kick starts your crafting for the New Year. Happy New Year! May the year ahead be filed with many blessings and hours of fruitful crafting! Remember to always live life creatively!

If you haven't checked out mygrafico.com, make it a point to do so this year. You can click here so they know I referred you! To visit my shop, you can locate me in the pull down menu in the left column under designers. Be sure to check out all the fabulous talent there!

Put the Ho Ho into your Holiday!

2011-12-20T11:37:00.000-08:00

If you want to put some excitement into the Christmas season, check out my talented friend, Melissa Bove’s blog for a chance to win a great prize pack. Just follow the rules for your chance to win!

Here's a little teaser...want to win a $150 Michael's gift card, some copic markers and more goodies?
Check it out and put the ho ho into your holiday season!

What do Christmas, a reindeer, surfing & a mermaid have in common?

2011-12-19T03:26:00.000-08:00

The answer is my Holideer Surfer digi stamp! Here are a few creations made using printed and handcolored images of this beachy themed Christmas digital stamp...

An oversized card

(handcolored with markers and blender pen/layored on embossed CS)

A cheery standard greeting card

(handcolored with markers/color blocking with patterned paper substituted

and a decorative border strip added to uneven fold)

A fun gift certificate/special note or gift card holder

(I used metallic gel pens on this one!)

Want to know one huge plus of working with digital stamps?

You can have it at exactly the right size needed...all you have to do is scale it and print it, then combine it with a custom verse you set up on your computer. Now that brings holiday cheer to crafting!

A Mod Style for Christmas

2011-12-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

Wanna bring some mod style to your Christmas projects? Check out this fun and unconventional set I designed featuring holly, a vine, some mod, swirly ornaments in untraditional colors. The clip art designs from this Mod Trimmings set are so fun and funky. And they are sure to get noticed! Just check out some of the inspirations, below, for making digital or hybrid cards & invites in a snap!

Get started on your Christmas cards and party invites...so easy when you can jumpstart the process using elements from this clip art set from Cheri Wenger Digital Designs sold exclusively at MyGrafico.com.

For more details, view these photos in my Christmas Card Picasa Web album gallery.

Make the holidays a bit merrier with this AMAZING giveaway!

2011-12-03T05:19:00.000-08:00

At Mygrafico's party blog, there is a fabulous giveaway every month, however, this prize package will make some lucky winner have the merriest holiday of them all! That can be you, and here is all you need to do... Go to this link, post links to the giveaway on your facebook & blog promoting the giveaway and be sure to tell them in your comment that Cheri Wenger sent you! ;) If you haven't already liked MyGrafico on Facebook, you can earn an extra entry by doing so. Good Luck! Here is a sneak peek at what you can win...

A NEW Silhouette Cameo machine
Adhesive Vinyl Rolls package
Tim Holtz Core’Dinations & Melody Ross Soul Food Collection 12″ x 12″ Paper Pads
3 SVG Cutting Templates from Mygrafico.com
SCAL3 Sure Cuts A Lot Software from Craft Edge

A winner will be randomly drawn on December 31st, 2011 and announce on New Year’s Day!

Ready to do some digi shopping this Christmas? Start by clicking this link. To view all the products in my shop, just go to the designer's pull down menu on the left and select Cheri Wenger and let the shopping begin! Needing some holiday sets? Here is a sneak peek at a few of them...

Christmas Clip Art makes Holiday Card Creating a Snap!

2011-11-17T03:48:00.000-08:00

For years I have spent endless hours stamping lovely Christmas cards to send our friends and family. Even when I get an early start to the process, it seems that I am lucky to get them in the mail the week before Christmas. My husband always asks why we don't just do like everyone else and get photo cards made and “be done with it,” but it is hard for him to understand the dreaded workings of a creative mind. Not to mention the thrill of accomplishing something beautiful that you can take ownership of! Well, this year, I may just have found my compromise...designing our own photo card. With two fun, new Christmas sets of clip art, I have already designed a couple potential cards. And to fill my stamping void, I may save that for making some amazing handcrafted gifts. See what you think of these ideas. I am also including a couple that are non-photo cards.

These are ideas crafted using clip art from my
Simply Christmas Set!

Here are some samples created from The More the Merrier set:

And some inspiration from my latest set, Mod Trimmings!

(I am working on some hybrid samples, combining digital & traditional

cardmaking techniques, so be sure to check back for more ideas inspired by this set!)

Hope you have gotten your daily dose of inspiration to get those Christmas projects under way.

Right now, I have 40% off on all my digital designs, from Nov. 16 - midnight on the 19th. Gobble up these sets to make your holiday card creations easier than ever!

Gobble Up the Savings before Thanksgiving!

2011-11-16T05:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I shared with you some old and new sets that may spark your creativity for the holidays. Today, I bring good tidings of a pre-Thanksgiving 4-day sale. Yes, everything in my shop at 40% off!!! Time to gobble up lots of digi sets before the sale ends at midnight on the 19th.

You can check out all the creativity at MyGrafico, then locate all the products in my shop by going to the side designers pull down menu and locate Cheri Wenger. You can go through all the sets available in my shop. If you want to be part of my community, click on the mygrafico community link to go to the groups or to get inspiration from the gallery photos. You can join my group to get info on newly released sets and special info.

Want to get cool graphics for FREE to play and create wonderful things? Check out the new Brag Party group just added to the community. If you are interested in being a part of this group, email me to receive a personal invite to the group.

This fall card is an example of how you can make use of a Halloween set, Hallowettes 2, in creative ways long after the holiday has come and gone. Lesson: Don't let a set name limit your creativity or let you pass it by. Look at all the graphics included in a set and challenge yourself to use them for other occasions or purposes. If you check out the gallery for this set you will see that it comes with 4 sheets of various size leaves and 1 sheet of frames for cutting on your personal die cutting machine. For this card, I used the frame cut from grey card stock with leaves cut out from patterned and solid cardstock to make a get well card for a friend.

Wanna know how I made that crinkled leaf on this card? Keep following my blog for a tutorial!

Some of my latest designs

2011-11-15T13:50:00.000-08:00

I have been pretty busy creating some new digital sets for my shop at mygrafico. From flourishes to frames, or getting a jumpstart on Christmas, there is something for the creative niche in all of us! Check out the latest design releases & some "oldies but goodies" from Cheri Wenger Digital Designs:

For the frame and flourish lovers...

Get inspired for Christmas...

Need some early Christmas card inspiration? Check out these digital creations made using designs from some of the sets above. Digital cards are great for emailing to friends and the graphics can also be used to dress up your holiday newsletters that some of you send out with annual updates.

Pink Sale = 50% off on Digital Art at MyGrafico

2011-10-13T05:34:00.000-07:00

Get inspired by the Pink Ribbon Sale...one day, 50% off...start creating your Halloween goodies, Thanksgiving Place Settings & Christmas Cards! Stop by and shop today at Mygrafico!

Check back for new card inspirations...I will be creating them today and hope to photograph them soon.

A 4 Day Sale that Will Put Crisp Dollars Back in Your Pocket

2011-10-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

Get ready to shop for your fall and winter craft projects during my 4 day, 40% off Fall Savings Event.
Click this link to view all of the sets in my shop starting with the newest collections. Here are a few new sets to inspire your creativity...

Sale begins Oct. 7 and runs through Oct. 10 midnight PST.

Anniversaries, Birthdays means Cardmaking Galore!

2011-09-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

The other night we were discussing how there were so many kids birthdays this week which lead to the insight that these were probably to do with holiday celebrations leading up to New Year’s Eve. In glancing at my calendar I saw how far behind I am on cardmaking. My fastest solution? Use some ready made digitals or pull out some digi brushes to create fast, beautiful backgrounds in the colors of my choosing. With cooler temps promised this weekend in Florida, I chose a fall theme palette and my Au Naturale digital brushes as the basis for these designs. I also incorporated a fairly recent frame set called Frilly Frames that is so wonderful to add text and photos to. One of the birthday cards also incorporates svg diecuts from my Swirly QZs set.Here are some examples of my card creations...

Belated Anniversary Wishes

Frilly Framed Photo Anniversary Card

Masculine 40th Birthday Card

inside view of Masculine Birthday Card

70th Birthday Natural Swirls Card

inside view of 70th Birthday Card

Creativity Interrupted

2011-09-20T06:03:00.000-07:00

I started off the year with the awesome goal of doing a project a day...my Project 365 day challenge which turned into about a 180 something day challenge. Sometimes life just gets in the way of creativity and other priorities like family, health and other matters interrupt the creative process. I will still be sharing some of the projects created along the way.

So where has that creative energy been refocused? On photography and designing many new sets for my shop at Mygrafico.com. Recently, I was the featured designer in Mygrafico's post on CreatingtheHive.com. Click on the link to read the mini interview.

If you are feeling Fall Fever and want to get crafty, check out these sets of mine as a springboard for inspiration. You can choose from SVG diecuts to digi stamps to clip art and brushes that will give you endless opps to showcase your creativity.

FALL BRUSH SETS

This one is a brush and SVG set:

DIGI STAMPS (great for cardmakers!)

Ready to color or simply print on patterned or solid papers for fun paper piecing.

Paper Collection:

And here are some of my latest releases...

Be sure to check out this special set of ready-to-use clip art ribbons called Ribbons 4 a Cause. If you support any charity, cause or want to raise awareness on your site, this versatile set of ribbons has ribbons, bows, buildable ribbon segments and a sample border that can be used on many craft and design projects. It is available for only $4.50! Just click on this link to explore all of the sets in my shop.

And keep your eyes out for an adorable cat themed Halloween set of digi stamps

that I am working on now. It is sure to bring a smile to your face. Keep checking the mygrafico site and my facebook page for it’s release. Please visit my Cheri Wenger Digital Designs facebook page and hit the like button. I am working on building my fan base. Hope today you live life creatively!

A Birthday Present for You!

2011-09-01T20:59:00.000-07:00

Why celebrate my birthday alone? Today, I am giving you the gift of 50% off everything in my digi design shop, today, Sept. 2nd until midnight EST. Get into the birthday spirit with these two new build-your-own clip art sets...Cuppy Cakes and Lovey Cakes.

Cuppy Cakes

Cuppy Cakes is great for festive occasions, birthdays, baking graphics and to create your own printables.

Lovey Cakes

For special occasions such as Valentine's Day, anniversaries, birthdays, engagements, weddings and birth announcements, Lovey Cakes has three classic color schemes to create gorgeous designs.

End the Month with a Shopping Spree!

2011-08-31T06:24:00.000-07:00

If you are like me, Fall tends to be one of the times of year that I do the most amount of shopping...there are great Fall sales, it is a great time to get a jumpstart on holiday gift buying and with the kids back to school there is more time to be creative. Take advantage of the great sales in the shop right now with mygrafico’s 1-day, end of the month sale. 40% off...a great time to pick up those sets you have been eyeing in my digi store. Be sure to check out these sets which are great for creating things during Fall...

Feel of Fall

Hallowettes (SVG set, png files, brushes & editable eps...a whole lot of versatility!)

Fall Splendor Digi Stamp

Gettin’ Grungey

Beaverettes Camp Out - great set for scouts, fall camping & late summer fun

Bold Floral Brushes - use to create your own Fall Flowers!

Flourished Frames - great for scrapbookers, photographers and creating albums & calendars

As well as these new sets...

Au Naturale - b&w png files & brushes that you can create colored art with

Spooklicious Frames & Text Digital Brushes

Cranking out the sets!

2011-08-25T09:26:00.000-07:00

I have been on a creative roll this week and last creating fun new sets for Fall & Chrismtas. Take a peek and see if any of these make your MUST HAVE list!

If you are a party planner or invitation designer, then this is a must have set! If you just love to create with fancy, elegant frames then this set is also for you. Verses and Frames provided separately as well as in a combined art file so you can mix and match the frames with other verses or stamps. These aren’t just for Halloween. Use them for photos, place cards, signs, cardmaking, scrapbooking, labels, invitations and more. Also, you can use the verses for cards, flyers, labels, party favors, etc. Simply change the brush color in your photo editing or paint program to create these frames in any color you need them to be!

Use the 4 fun bonus images to create other Halloween or border designs.

Spooklicious Frames & Text Digital Brushes (FTDB)

If you are looking for a fun, unique Christmas design, check out this brightly colored set of graphics. So versatile with borders and other complimentary graphics that will make your crafting fun, fun, fun!

Merry Words

This companion set to Merry Words can also be used as a stand alone set for so many creative uses. These layering elements allow you to build your own designs. Scale, add your own text and combine these designs for unlimited possibilities. From Christmas cheer to wintery layouts to even Valentine gifts, let this set help you create fun tags, gifts, monograms, cards, ornaments and more! Perfect for embroidery, too! It will have your creative bells jinga-linga-ringing!

Jinga-Linga-Ring

Digi Tools (Brushes & Styles) - Photoshop Brush Sets - Au Naturale Digital Brushes - MY GRAFICO - DIGITAL ARTS AND CRAFTS STORE

2011-08-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

Announcing my latest collection...Au Naturale!

So excited to share my latest digi design set...a set of 24 b&w brushes that you can combine with any color you like to create awesome nature inspired designs and backgrounds. For the set preview I used a fall color palette to jump start your creativity for fall projects. Purchase at my shop by clicking the link above.

Weekend Sale - 40% at Mygrafico.com

2011-08-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

While shopping for all your favorite back-to-school stuff, be sure to treat yourself to a few new digital goodies to spark your fall crafting! Start saving after midnight tonight...40% off all day Saturday & Sunday, Aug. 6 & 7 at mygrafico.com. Be sure to check out all the digital goodies in my shop!

Project 365 Challenge - Days 147 - 154 Seven days of Inspiration

2011-07-15T04:46:00.000-07:00

Day 147 - Selecting, Printing & Sorting Photos
I understand that a photo of boxes of photos may not seem very creative, however, it can be a very time-consuming task going through all your digital photos and making prints for future projects and gifts. Today, I am inspiring you to make prints of your favorite pictures. Print some for yourself and others to give as gifts.

I wanted to give Ashley’s best friends, all seniors who were graduating, prints of favorite photos from their best friends photo shoot I did along with their graduation cards and other gifts. The kids all really appreciated the prints. In this day of digital where most of their images are stored in facebook albums, they liked having tangible photos that they can take with them to college and hang up in their room.

I also printed photos to make an album for Dan for Father’s Day of the girls along with sets of prints taken when family came to visit for Ashley’s graduation and Kylie’s 16 Birthday party. I was lucky enough to take advantage of 10 cent prints at Walgreens...lots of sorting, yet a creative use of time! Look for specials at Walgreens, Walmart, Shutterfly or Snapfish to save on printing your favorite digi photos.

Day 148 - Red White & Blue Graduation Card

Traditionally stamped card in red, white & blue featuring silver embossing which always add elegance to any card creation. I used silver ribbons for texture and to compliment the silver on the card.

Day 149 - Mulberry Floral Birthday Card

Digi stamps don’t always have to be printed in b&w! I colorized my Gardenia digi stamp in photoshop to match the paper, then add touches of color. I will be sharing a tutorial of how to do this soon.

The art is from my Gardenia Digi Stamp set:

Day 150 - Pastel Gardenia Birthday Card

Using the digi stamp from the same set featured yesterday, I created this hybrid card layering the b&w stamp on top of a digital paper with lace frame. The lace frame, I created using a lace strip from my Gettin’ Grungey collection. Since my mom loves lavender, I used that as my color palette and paired with the patterned paper from Basic Grey. A traditionally stamped birthday verse was added with some punched border strips and a ribbon. To achieve the soft coloring on the flower, I used chalk pastels.

Day 151- A Good Luck Grad Card Made in Minutes

What do you get when you pair a cool foil stamped piece of card stock with some DCWV cardstock, ribbon and a stamp? The answer is a card you can make in only a few minutes. Every card doesn’t have to be a masterpiece. This one proves, simple and elegant can be just as nice!

Day 152- Pulling from the Stashes to create a vintage card

This Vintage Hybrid Sympathy Card was created from elements in my digi & svg print and cut stash, a folder I keep with misc. printouts of digi art and svg cutouts for use on future cards and projects. I paired the digi stamp from my Elegant Frames set with a Swirly QZ’s dicut, some ribbon, old patterned paper, flowers, pearls and a paper butterfly diecut element to create this sympathy card for a family member.

Day 153 - New Party Pack Set & samples

I designed this Fruity Floral Summer Swirls Party Pack collection, which was inspired by my ML Fruity Florals collection plus the need to design an invitation for my daughter’s 16th birthday. It evolved from that into a banner, sign (featured on days 127 - 129) and now, a thank you, so why not put it in a collection to make someone else’s life a whole lot easier?!!!!

Day 154 - 25th Anniversary Card

Next month is mine and Dan’s 25th anniversary and knowing how time flies, I made the card back in June using more of my Swirly QZs svg diecuts and some other items from my favorite stash piles. I love this paper from the Girls Paperie...so pretty and it paired well with my polka dot silk flowers and swirl flourish. I used a brown digi printout of art from my Special Numbers collection to matt and layer on top. The oval was a saved diecut that added a matted effect when layered over the patterned paper. When embossing card stock with folders and end up with mini scraps, try layering under a stamped verse as I did in this card sample. Another tip to try is tying sheer ribbon around your background layer before mounting, then layering elements on top for a multi-dimensional card creation.

Here is a preview of the Special Numbers Collection, one of my earliest releases, an oldie but goodie!

Hope you found lots of cardmaking inspiration from this week’s flashback to my Project 365 challenge.