Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all those dads everywhere!  I miss by dad terribly, as he passed away 12 years ago.  He is in my heart and I am grateful for the lessons I learned from him while he was alive.  In tribute to all those wonderful dads everywhere I share some of my My Digital Studio creations which have been given as gifts today to some pretty awesome dads!  The card at the top of the blog is one I made to send a few years ago to all the dads in my family; brothers, and uncles.  It was fun to reach out to all of them!

This next item is a fun, personalized gift for the dad in your life!

This one is for all those "SUPER" dads!  I hope you are spoiled and given the love you deserve.  

Now that you are totally hooked on My Digital Studio  GO GET IT FOR YOURSELF!  You can go get it here for FREE!  So what are you waiting for?  Oh - ya - I offer free training and personalized help for you whenever you need it.

more special order gifts

When I have customers who are far away who want to have personalized gifts but don't want to pay shipping, I typically create something for them in My Digital Studio.  This is very economical for everyone; I create the file and email it to them, they print it in whatever format they want.  This works for wedding invitations, shower invitations, gifts, and more.  These are a few of the designs I have created for myself and others.  

This first one was for my 25th anniversary last year.  

This sweet shower invitation was for my daughter in law.  It was easy to print off and we even used it for the Facebook event page photo.

I made this for an anniversary gift.  Super fun, simple, and easy to adapt to anyone!  

This last one was for some friends for their Facebook Event page photo.  These are quick to whip up and add a personalized touch to your event!  I use MDS to make my blog banners too!

wedding invites too

In this day and age, couples are trying to get away with cheaper weddings, and saving anywhere they can.  Digital invites is the answer!  I have created quite a few of them, but here are a couple of samples.  You can make them as fancy or simple as you like.

I like that I can send samples to the bride and groom and they can pick fonts and other items to personalize their invitation.

Birthday cards

So, I hate to admit this in public, but I am a procrastinator!  I have great intentions, and even get things done most of the time, but when it comes to keeping up I get overwhelmed!  So birthday cards are my downfall.  I am a Stampin' Up! demonstrator for Pete's sake, I make tons of cards, right?  YES I do, but mailing them is hard for me for some reason.  So, in order to keep up with all the family birthdays (and there are almost 100 of them!) I send digital cards instead.

I post them to Facebook usually, but I email them also.  It is simple; I make one card design each year in  My Digital Studio, and then send that to EVERYONE for their birthday!  They love it, I look awesome! WIN- WIN!  Here are the past few years samples I sent.

This one I adjusted a template and personalized a bit for my taste.  

This one was also a template - I just changed the colors.  This shows you don't even have to be terribly creative to make this awesome program work for you!

These two were fabulous!  Last year I just made the same design and changed the monochromatic color.  The simple design of these two makes them stunning.  

Engagement announcements

When my son got his engagement photos done I told him I would help announce it to the world.  They decided not to use these ideas, but I wanted to share them with you anyway because they are so adorable!

This first one is just a photo as background with a few other poses lined up on the one side.  I love when photographers don't center their subjects!  It helps us creative souls out so much!  Thank you Beka Price Photography for the amazing photos.  Check out her blog here

Graduation gifts

Speaking of the last of my teaching Seminary, here are the gifts I gave to my graduating seniors. I took their favorite scripture and jazzed it up in MDS.  Some were harder than others, but all of them took less than about an hour to do all of them.  I just sent them to Sams Club to be printed, put them in a frame and in less than an afternoon, had their gifts ready to go.  

This one I used background paper which I bought the Designer Series Paper download for.  Then just added the text box.  DONE!

This sample I added a strip of DSP, a strip of a solid Cardstock, and a few stamps and done!  The fleur de lis pattern is one stamp, I copied and pasted multiples, and used the align tool to get them spaced evenly and locked them in place.  

This one added some embellishment flowers, ribbon, and buttons.  The tag shape is a punch that is included with the program itself.  

For this great monochromatic sample, I used an overlay stamp to give the argyle effect to the solid purple background.  The shape is a punched shape also.

This one was a breeze - just background stamp overlay, a few sparkly brads, a punched shape with a border added to it, and DONE!

Same simple process, picked the background paper, added a punched border, some brads from an add-on download and then a punched shape or two for the text box to sit on.  It is all like making layers!  SOO fun.. you'll LOVE IT!

Try it FREE by clicking this link HERE

Summer time!

So, since it is summer, maybe I can get back on track.  I have lots of creative plans for the summer, including some fun events.  I will keep you all in the "know"  about them.  I hope to get back to blogging since I am down a responsibility.  I am no longer going to be teaching early morning seminary, so that drastically reduces my time commitments.  Not to say I am FREE: I still have to work 40 hours a week and am halfway through my online degree program.  I have 10 more classes to go after this one I am taking.  

With that said, I hope to be more active as your Stampin' Up! demonstrator/mentor.  I will start with sharing some MDS items I have created.  I love this digital paper-crafting program so much!  You really do need to have it!  It costs only $19.95 and comes with over 250 images, all the Stampin' Up!  colors in paper, ink, and some embellishments.  There are tons of templates, embellishments, and other great items to add all just for the small investment.  You can add other downloads to the program as they are released; Stampin' Up!  releases new ones EVERY TUESDAY!  My Digital Studio is truly a wonderful time saver.  

So, this week I will spotlight projects I have done lately!  Hang on for the ride of your life and see why YOU need to get this program.  Check out the specs and download your copy on my website HERE.  You can try it FREE for 30 days too!

This is what I gave my seminary students as my parting gift for them to remember our 2 years together.  I shared my love of my savior Jesus Christ and the need for Him in our lives.  

I used a photo as my background and added a text box, changed a few fonts in that box to add some variety, and VOILA!  I will really miss these young adults every morning at 6:15.  (I will NOT miss being up and teaching that early however!)

Merry Christmas to ALL!

November calendar of events

I love My Digital Studio - I use it mostly for my monthly calendars-- so here you go.  I think in a week or two I might spotlight the calendar I just made for Nathan on his mission.

But, this is the calendar for November with all the events I have going on.  Watch in the next few days for photos of the Holiday Gift projects and prices.

August Stamp Happenings

I simply had to create this month's calendar using a SNEAK PEAK item - NEW DSP!  Starting in September, the Holiday Mini catalog will be available and the background paper on the calendar is from a new Designer Series Paper pack. The Holiday Mini Catalog is set to ship to those of you in my Hostess Club around August 15; please let me know when your mini catalog arrives.  If you are not in my Hostess club and want a copy, just contact me.  I'll be happy to get one out to you!  I always have room for one more in my hostess clubs, so if you want to join - shoot me an email!  The purchase requirement is low - $20 per month - and the benefits are HIGH! including half-price items!
I have a number of fun events planned for August.  I know I always am rushing around come Mid November (reality is Mid December) and find I don't have Christmas and Holiday cards done. So to help you out of this predicament, I am offering a series of Christmas/Holiday cards beginning in August.  If you take the entire series which will be once a month from August to December, you will have completed 40 cards by mid December. Each month I will be adding an ADDITIONAL stamp-a-stack to the calendar.  This one is JUST for Christmas/Holiday cards and will still be 8 cards for $10.  However, I have an incentive for you if you want to attend all  of them.  If you commit to all five, and PREPAY for the entire series, you will get a Christmas/Holiday bonus from me!  What might it be, you may ask?  Well, since you will be making all those cards to give away, you certainly will need some for yourself in the new year to say Thank You for all the wonderful gifts you receive, so in January I will have an EXCLUSIVE Thank You card stamp a stack that you may attend FOR FREE.  Not ready to commit to the entire series by the August class - that's ok, you can still attend any and all, if you end up attending all 5 anyway, I'll have a different Thank You for you!

Another exciting this for August - Stampin' Up is having a terrific sale on their wonderful Designer Series Paper. When you buy 3 packages, you get a 4th for FREE!
Please let me know as soon as possible what Stampin' Events you would like to attend this month - I would LOVE to create with all of you!  Thank you for making my business be fun.  My calendar is filling up fast with workshops, so if you would like to have a group of your friends join us to decorate their lives with stamps, give me a call or an email.

My Digital Studio gift-

The band teacher at the High School was retiring this year so I felt like I should do something special for him.  He taught the 3 boys for 8 years, so he has a special place in our hearts.  I popped open My Digital Studio, found a great music quote and got to designing.  He absolutely LOVED it and said it would be hanging in his house for years to come.

Thank you, Mr. Robert Gaston!

Graduation bliss....

Alright, so I decided that I would not wait until Graduation to announce which card was the one Michelle went with.  She actually had a tough time deciding - she loved almost ALL of them!  However, I told her we couldn't do all of them.  She said we could make the decision, but she liked the one with the photos - and she did not really like the black and white card.  So, it was narrowed down to the BLUE and GOLD school colors with my fav stamp set - Baroque Motifs and the feminine pink one.  Dad's fav is the pink one (all girl she is) but we decided to just go with BOTH of the ones with photos -SOOOO - there were 2 cards that won.

With that spirit, I will give 2 prizes!  Natalie and Heidi were the winners for the comments they shared - soooo.. I will get your prize out to you next week!

Here is a birthday card that I made with My Digital Studio. It uses one of the newest templates that was in a recent update.  I have been sending this to my Facebook friends on their birthdays - enjoy!

May Calendar

I have lot's of fun projects planned for everyone!  I hope to see some of you at them - let me know a few days ahead if you plan to attend or bring a guest

Graduation announcements - 4th card - and BLOG CANDY

This was the last card that I created.  It is a more traditional black and white graduation card.  I downloaded the stamp brush set for graduation from last year's Occasion's Mini catalog and added a bit of ribbon and a couple of punches.  It is simple, but sweet, just like Michelle!

Now that you have seen them all - which was YOUR favorite!  I will give away some BLOG CANDY to one random person who leaves a comment about which card was THEIR favorite.  Be watching tomorrow for the 2 cards that won~ and are being sent out to friends and family.

Graduation announcements - 3rd card

The next one I used my all time 'go to' stamp for backgrounds - Baroque Motifs.  I think that may be my favorite part of My Digital Studio - that I can get many of my favorite stamps in digital format to create wonderful projects.  If you are short on cash, you can buy a download and print off the stamped image!  What a great idea!

This card also uses the school colors for the stamps - I added a photo, a bit of text, and a stamp from my favorite Sale-a-bration stamp that I also got the digital format of - Bliss.  I really miss that set already!

Graduation announcements - 2nd card

The next card was very quick and easy.  I used the school colors of Michelle's high school to inspire me.  I added some punch shapes and of course ribbon and a bow to make it fancy and VOILA!

graduation announcements

So, I have another senior this year - Michelle will be graduating in just 3 short weeks!  Hard to believe.  I have always made the graduation announcements and invitations for my kids, so this would be no different, however this time around I was able to use the digital paper crafting software from Stampin' Up!   - My Digital Studio.  I created 4 different designs for her and we picked the 2 we loved.  I will share all of them with you, and then after you have shared which ones were your favs - I will let you all know which 2 WE picked.

Today's share is a very feminine pink card - I used the digital stamp brush of one of my favorite stamps - the Medallion stamp -

April Calendar

Here is my calendar of Stampin' Up! events for April.  I always use My Digital Studio to create them... isn't it CUTE?!  I love that I can get stamp images digitally that I wouldn't normally get for paper stamping and still get to use them. If you want to attend any event, please let me know a few days in advance.

Click to enlarge the calendar if you need to.

birthday cards in MDS

Ok, so I got busy and didn't get you the last few posts about My Digital Studio.  However, today's MDS tip is one that is a great time saver!  I don't know if you are like me and end up forgetting birthdays until the DAY!  I am so bad at that!  Well, with My Digital Studio you don't have to look like a heel for forgetting - all you need is an email and your digital designed paper project!

Here is an example that I have been emailing or posting to facebook  lately. I used a template that comes with the software and tweaked id a bit to make it my own.  The origional had a different sentiment and I changed one of the flowers.  It took me just a few minutes to change it up to personalize it for my friends!

Just one more reason why YOU need a copy of My Digital Studio.  CONTACT me to get yours today!

My Digital Studio - Day 3

As promised today I am sharing a card that my best friend Sara created.  Her sister announced she was getting married and Sara got right to work in her My Digital Studio to come up with some ideas.  She saved her creations on her laptop and a few days later came over with laptop in tow.  We looked at her designs and made a few adjustments and then I dug out the right paper and stamps for her.  She created a wonderful card to mail to her sister, BUT before she even saw the REAL card - she had been given a sneak peek through an email Sara sent to her - she fell in love with the card and Sara went off to work ordering the paper and products she needed to recreate the card for her sister to mail.

She used Concord Crush, Old Olive, and Daffodil Delight.  The stamps were from my favorite elegant set - Baroque Motifs.  She added brads and a different ribbon - but the idea blossomed from her My Digital Studio.

SOOOOO............... what are YOU waiting for?  Contact me today to order YOUR copy of My Digital Studio - you will get FREE stamps with your order!