Last MDS (for awhile)

Last MDS share for awhile. 

(Sketch from a Heather Summers Layout)

I've got to do some other REAL LIFE things.

Like pack for a scrapbook retreat.

And clean house.

And pamper my punches 'cause they are getting rather jealous of the laptop...

No "stealing" today - it's original

I didn't even look at a sketch.

All my ideas.

Woo Hoo

Yeah ME!

I kept on adding stuff - I couldn't stop...

I have had more things on and off this page...

(Easy to do in MDS - hard to unstamp real paper)

Which one do you like

Buttons or No Buttons?

Consider me a thief...

Three stolen ideas in a row, that must officially make me a thief. 

Stole this one from Hazel Comeau Tovell. 

Isn't that cute?  Hazel digi-punched the grad cap using the arm from All in the Family as the tassel! 

I love having just part of the face showing.  Click click  and I have a different hair do...














Click click click and I have altered my project for different school colors





And this shows you gals that aren't scrapbookers - MDS is for you too.  Cards!  Cards and calendars and all kinds of bits and pieces can be created with MDS.

I printed my digi project off here at home - added a ribbon, put it on a cardstock base and ta-dah!

Easiest Graduation Card I ever made!  And I'll need several of them this year.  I'm lovin' me some MDS!!!

I stole this idea too...

I stole another idea.  This time from digital scrapper Cindy Cort. I have to call it stealing not borrowing 'cause I'm not giving her idea back - I'm keeping it.  In fact, I'm keeping it AND sharing it with all of you.  I haven't even finished all these layouts but I wanted to get this great idea out to you.

With the previous stolen idea, I was cramming 36 photos on the page

Now it looks like a cut 1 photo into 64 squares. All it took was adding a "square punch" - zip zip making it into a long thin rectangle (a line) and replicating it a few times.  With MDS you can get things spaced evenly with a click click of your mouse.  I'm telling you gals - this is easy stuff!

By removing the photo and saving the lines I quickly made this

I haven't completed this layout - I'm thinking the title should be "wish this was me"....

and if your grid lines cross at "bad" point or you want to "feature" part of your photo - just move them off a bit like this...

OR

add more than one photo under your grid of lines (I changed the color of my lines too)

I think my "heavy" photo should go at the bottom and the light houses on top.  In MDS I can go back and change that in a few seconds to see if I like it better.  If you own this program you REALLY need to start playing with it.  There are some great videos and some great samples being shown at mydigitalstudio.net

Happy Chocolate Ears day to all of you!

I have to get back to finishing these pages...

I stole this idea...

Great way to get a lot of photos on one page huh?  And super easy in MDS!

I just plain out STOLE this idea from a digital scrapper named Christine Fuson. 

Hers was the highlights of her family in 2010 with a huge 10 on top (reduced opacity). 

Mine is my 2008 trip to Paris that I never scrapped.  I did a 2005 trip in detail as soon as I got home but I never got around to scrapping the second visit.

I could be going again but I already have a scrapbook trip planned and paid for.

You know you have issues when you chose scrapping in East Texas over a trip to Paris.

Just proves I'm insane...

Other Crafting

Yes, I'm gonna get back to punching - it is still my main love
After a little more MDS...

And while I'm off with my new 'digi craft' let me show you what another puncher has done with her "other craft" Look HERE

Clare (a puncher) took some time off to be Super Mom and make her son a DRAGON PINATA. So cool! Bet you gals could make a punched dragon like her pinata! Why don't you try it?

I've been gone

Had a quick girlfriend trip this weekend - lots of talk, lots of antique store browsing (her thing - not mine) and a few adult beverages overlooking the lake...  absolutely no crafting involved.  Although I did spot a scrapbook store on my way out of the little town Sunday night so I just might have to check that out next time I drive that highway...

Here is a simple page I did in MDS before I left.  Not everything has to be complex, ya know?

My Daddy and my youngest (a few years back)

VC Rocks has reopened it's doors

Long time readers might remember that each summer I participate in a Virtual Celebration of Stampin' Up! on the Yahoo Group VC_Rocks.

Well, this year I was drafted into ownership of the group so I'll be even more involved (If that is possible!)

This means 1 of 2 things.

I'll be crazy busy creating and have TONS of ideas to share with you here.
OR
I'll be crazy busy reading emails, laughing, playing games, chatting and my blog posts will get sparse.

Only time will tell.

We will be accepting new members to the group during the entire month of May.  If you'd like to join us - we'd love to have you.  You can be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator or a customer.  We just require you to love SU product and be willing to have some fun.  You can request to join from the group site I listed above and/or you can check out the VC Rocks blog.  WARNING:  This group produces ENORMOUS quantities of email and ENORMOUS quantities of fun.

PLEASE WAIT A FEW DAYS BEFORE TRYING TO JOIN - we won't accept you until MAY 1 and yahoo will only hold your request for 14 days.

But you can sure start thinking about participating!  Watch our little "commercial" if you'd like:  HERE

Poser

If  you have ever seen my gallery on Splitcoast Stampers you might recognize this face as my avatar.  This is my "son" TJ - adopted from the animal shelter almost 5 years ago.

Poor dog has endured a lot...

more digi

I know it isn't that exciting looking at these scrap pages since they are MY memories- not Yours, but that is all I have to share 'cause that is all I've worked on. 

Good thing is I've done 30 or so pages with no mess.  A BIG benefit to digi scrapping.

The only mess on my desk is tax stuff.  Yes, Miss "I like to do things ahead of time" does not like to do her taxes.  So that is today's project.  ugh...

Anyway, here's some of what I've been working on playin' with.

Not my idea but I made one

This is my simple little slice of pepperoni pizza.

The idea came from Tammy Howell right HERE.

She has video and all kinds of detailed directions.

You can go simple or very complex on your slice.

You will want to make one.

And then,

 You will probably order pizza for dinner...

Cuter Umbrella

I had an umbrella on my Under the Weather Duck last week - HERE is one that is WAY cuter!

Masters of Disguise

I bet I tried 5 or 6 backgrounds before I settled on white.

But with MDS, I don't have 5 rejected sheets of paper strewn on my desk. 

And I didn't have to cut up any of my hoarded pattern paper.

This is based on a past Sketchy Thursday sketch.

Oh yeah, I'm hooked

MDS ROCKS!!!

And with MDS (my digital studio) I have all the retired SU colors to work with - Blush Blossom (title) is so perfect for beach scenes.  These ocean photos are from our San Diego trip last summer.

AND with MDS you can make a change in SECONDS that would be very time consuming "in real paper" time

For example, first I made this:

Then I decided it was too much of ONE COLOR, so in less than one minute I changed it to this:

I LOVE MDS!!!!

yeah yeah yeah, I have some punch art in work for you - but right now it is more fun to play with my "new" toy  (don't let any punches read that - it might hurt their feelings)

Come to Order!

To a Stampin' Up demo, "come to order"  means you should drop by their house to place an order for some stamps, ink or paper!


To the rest of the earth, "Come to order" is the start of meeting or courtroom session.

Mary Lou Schussler emailed me for some tips on making a gavel for a journal project for a judge - she even sent a picture of what she had in mind.  (Way to go, Mary Lou!)  I figured it out and gave her the scoop....

But after a few days, I decided to go ahead a make the gavel myself since I was a PTA president 'once upon the past' and have not scrapped that yet.  I bought a gavel for my charm bracelet so that should work on a layout too...

Sooooooooooo easy

Rectangle - approx. 1.5 (maybe a gooch smaller) x 2 inches
2 word windows
Strip 1/2 inch x 4.25 inches

Trim the strip a little narrower at one end (look at the photo)

Stamp all with wood grain background - sponge a little ink and stick it all together!

More blathering to follow - you can stop reading - no punch talk (promise!)

"Come to order" reminds me of one of my BEST meeting ideas EVER.  

First, you need to know that I HATE meetings.  I was a BELOVED PTA pres 'cause I had super short meetings (probably set a world record (or two) for getting 'em in and out)

I found myself in another organization where 3 committees were being merged into ONE and they needed a leader.  I was drafted into the position (I think they must have known about my PTA reputation for speed).  Now, this was with a group of people - nice people - who liked to talk and didn't particularly like to make decisions.  Meetings for all 3 committees could go on all  night - so combining them was a potential disaster.  What to do????

Crafts to the rescue!  I made a little bald eagle statue and brought it to the first meeting.

I explained.  "See the eagle?  The eagle is a good thing.  Majestic. Beloved symbol of our country.  We all have good feelings about an eagle.  BUT an eagle doesn't belong in this room.  A real eagle would be terrifying in this room with us - not to mention messy and the situation would be miserable for him."

After getting their agreement, I continued, "Just as an eagle doesn't belong here - there are other things that don't belong here.  Lots of good information and interesting topics could be discussed BUT we don't have time.  So, if you begin talking about things that aren't part of our meeting, I will quietly slide the eagle statue towards you.  This is your cue to wrap it up and get back to our business.  It isn't that what you have to say is bad - but just like the great eagle - it doesn't belong in this room tonight"

Ha, no one wanted that eagle in front of them - we stayed on target and got everything done in just a couple hours.  No one's toes were stepped on. 

There may not have been any eagles in the room but they all watched me like hawks during the next few meetings, hoping to push that eagle MY way.....

More Scrappin' from Challenges

Let me explain why I like challenges so much (when I try them) - it is the CHALLENGE of MAKING them work with what you have. 

Similar to the challenge of making punches into something with the limits of available shapes.

Limited supply but "must get to your goal"- that's the challenge I like.

(See, that doesn't apply to house cleaning because there is an infinite supply of mess...)

I am stubborn enough that when I pick photos for a sketch challenge, I'm GONNA MAKE 'EM WORK!  (determined look on my face here)

So I saw this cute sketch on Twisted Sketches:

I picked my photos - two oldies from summer 1998. (I'm pretty sure - hard to tell with no hair-dos to go by) 

Then I picked the pattern paper because the "twist" required with this sketch is PAPER. 

Then I went looking for other paper/cardstock to go with it and the photos.  Everything in my stash was too dark or too busy and took away from the photos.  But I was determined to use this sketch, these photos and that paper. 

And I like the results - by using the thin strips to suggest the paper in the sketch - things stayed light and airy. 

And don't they kinda remind you of the edges of a pool? 

The stripes on the paper circles are supposed to remind you of beach towels and beach balls. 

And the bird is on there just 'cause he is cute.

Happy Birthday Baby!

Snapped a few of my oldest on her birthday today....Happy Birthday Doodle Bug!

The Brains of the Family

This is my big brother and his wonderful wife. Lawyers. Smart. Generous. & Awesome - definitely Awesome!

Sketchy Thursday sketches appeal to me.  The design team offerings are often a different style than mine - but I'm ALWAYS happy with my layouts when I use their sketch.  Which proves the value of a good sketch - it will work for an infinite number of layouts and styles.

This week I tried the sketch as presented, but before it was glued down, I managed to turn the sketch upside down - and that works too.

Wanna see the sketch?

My whole page (except the 12x12 base) is SCRAPS - how great is that?   I just dug through the drawer until I found enough that would "go" together.  Did I do OK?  I wasn't sure about the stripe under the "s" so not much of that shows.

"Brains" and the "arrow" are on coasters.  Glue your paper on the coaster (or chipboard) with SU's glue stick (good product!) - then run through the big shot with your alpha die - THE SIDE YOU WANT TO SHOW DOWN AGAINST THE DIE.

You are right, the arrow isn't an SU die exactly - when I ran another letter through, I got part of a lower case "k" - so I snipped the two "legs" on the right and added a straight strip to make an arrow.

The "n" and the dot of the "i" are popped up on dimensionals.  The "n" so the library clip would fit and the dot so the "n" wouldn't be all alone.

ALSO - I sponged some Sahara Sand ink on the green dotted strip - the dots started off PURE white so I dirtied them with the ink to tone it down.

Heard you were under the weather...

It is a Splish Splash Flash Back...

I don't do a lot of challenges.  This is primarily because I'm usually a week behind on my blog reading and the due dates are past. But I have turned over a new leaf and hope to do someones challenge each week. 

This week I bought into the Color Combos Galore Inspiration 187.  I've been following this site for YEARS with good intentions yet this is my first time to play.  They "requested" more cards so that is what I did.  A get well card - "Heard you were under the weather"  is the inside sentiment -  yep, it's my usual corny stuff!  And since they required WET - I glazed up the umbrella, drops, and puddles. 

Changed the duck a little from the Splish Splash version:
Same butterfly punch feet and bill
1.25 inch circle for the body
Owl punch with ears and feet cut off for the head
And since it was already laying there on my desk - I cut the owl breast in half for wings (weird end is behind his body)
Eyes are the circles from the owl punch in white and black

Umbrella is the 1.75 circle punched near a scallop oval hole - this is the way to get the "scallops" inverted on the umbrella.

Umbrella handle is the word window around the slot hole - trimmed.  Like this:

Baby on a Blanket

Not a bald baby this time,some babies have lots of hair (niether of mine did)

I think I mentioned the pile of magazines I HAD to look through before I recycled.  Well, on the back of a 2004 magazine there was a Stampin' Up! ad with a baby stamp similar to this pose - awwww so cute!

But in case you need a change of outfit see this:

Face - 1 inch circle trimmed on one side

Hair - 1 3/8 inch circle snipped in with scixxors

Body - large oval - repunched with circle (blue shirt) 1 inch circle (blue bottoms) large oval (green)

Arms - wide heart to heart - repunched with same to thin

Sleeve - (blue) 1/2 inch circle

Legs - wide heart to heart - repunched on one end with 1/2 inch circle to shorten

Hands - usual with slot punch thumb

Feet - small heart to heart - trimmed

Nose - slot punch

Carolyn to the Rescue!

Carolyn Gibbs noticed my recent ummmm.... uhhhhh..... let's call it "lack of participation" and kindly sent me her recent contribution to the world of punch art.  It's a bit of '"Down Under" Easter.  CUTE!

Thanks Carolyn!!

Requests and Dedications....

Oh my goodness, it is Wednesday afternoon and I haven't punched a thing for you this week.  OOPs!

Hubby left for a golf trip this morning so I should be finding some punch time over the next few days (if I'm not out playing with my girls and girlfriends)

Last night, I made a HUGE effort to clean up and clean out my computer - files, photos, and emails and realized that I have neglected many of your punch requests - and the deadlines for these requests have long since past.  OOPs, again!

I know I have a couple of hockey player requests but other than that I want a fresh start.  If you have a request, please leave a comment on this post.  And remember, YOUR deadline is not my problem - the Inspiration Fairy doesn't have a calendar.  Definitely don't make a request for something you need next week - she doesn't work well under pressure.

Then she and I will settle in with a big dose of chocolate and caffeine and see what we can do.

Had to try one more

Had to try one more (just to be fair) and nope... digital punch art is not for me - at least not at the skill level I'm at right now with MDS

Punch Art in MDS

Y'all don't have to worry about me making a total switch to MDS. 

Punch Art just isn't the same when you can't REPUNCH and trim with scissors. 

Although, being able to make circles and ovals ANY size is pretty darn handy....

Want to see my first attempt?

Link to the girl I was trying to recreate HERE

And here is my MDS attempt:

I told you that you don't have to worry - I'll stick with Real paper and Real punches!

12x12 as 7x7 on 8x10

Does that post title make sense?  Probably not.

I am still messing with MDS today... and could that have something to do with the fortune I got in my cookie Saturday night? "More art in your life at this time will help you feel better"    

  -- Isn't that a great fortune?

I took a long 'round about route, but I got my new MDS pages printed...

Using MDS you have to DECIDE how you are going to use your project before you create it.  WHY?  Because for several of the options there is a "bleed" area that may or may not appear when the project is printed (as in a bound book).  And the bleed area differs on what type project you are creating.

Being a long time traditional scrapper this doesn't sit well with me.  I want to design my 12x12 page and I want to see ALL of it.  If a section gets "cut off", it throws the whole page off balance.  grrrrrr...

"Hmmmm" I thought, "There has to be a way I can print these - see the whole page - and have them in my greedy hot little hands TODAY!"  (Don't need them today - I just want to see my new skill in print.) 

And of course - there was a way.

What I did was:

Saved my 12x12 page as .jpeg on my 'puter  (call this Part A)
Opened a new project in MDS for 8.5x11 portrait pages
Opened a photo box in the new project - square and covering most of the page
Opened the Part A photo into that box
Saved that page as a .jpeg on my 'puter (call this Part B)

Sent the jpeg photo of Part B to my local photo shop (which, in my case, is Walgreens) and had it printed as an 8x10 photo.  Giving me a 7 inch square of Part A on my Part B photo.

When I picked up the photos (about 4 minutes after receiving the email that they were ready) the two girls at the developing section had my package open - admiring my work.  My head swelled a bit larger than usual and we had a great scrapbooking discussion.

My next task will be to cut out my 7 inch square and mount it on an 8x8 piece of cardstock and VOILA!  I can put that in 8x8 page protectors and have my scrapbook complete TODAY with my whole page showing (no bleed areas cut off).  Yes, it is only 7x7 but that is fine with me.

Just a little more MDS

I warned you it was a new addiction.

All made last night 'cause I just couldn't stop - and I learned a lot simply by TRYING stuff to see what it would do.  FUN FUN FUN!!!

These are all from the trip last summer.

Not my writing here - I "borrowed" it from info they provided us.

I normally would have made a pocket page and inserted the original paper.

I'm not sure I'll ever figure out how to make a DIGITAL pocket that functions. 

Someone with better skills than I have has probably already done so...