Happy Monday, friends!  I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family.  If you were brave enough to venture out in the madness that is Black Friday, I hope you survived and spent the weekend recovering!  That scene is most definitely not for me!  Today I am sharing a card that didn't quite go as planned, but I like how it turned out just the same.  RG Avenue released both of these beautiful sets "Boho Strings" and "Song Lyrics" last month and as usual, I'm a little late to the game. . . What I really wanted to achieve was a Christmas themed card with the guitar and flowers.  However, my flower selection (mums, I believe) and color choice completely say "FALL!"  So. . .  fall it is.  Technically winter doesn't start until December 21st, so it's all good!

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Rich Cherry sugar stock.  Using the Scalloped Stitched Nesting Rectangle dies from Gina Marie Designs, I cut the first layer from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I stamped four different song lyrics on the card in Rich Cherry sugar cube ink.  I heat embossed the guitar on Sweet Cane sugar stock in gold embossing powder and fussy cut it out.  I colored the flowers in Copic markers and fed it through my Scan and Cut to cut the bouquet for me.  I adhered the flowers over the guitar and adhered both to the card with 3M foam adhesive.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the flowers for added sparkle.

Here are the "Song Lyrics" and "Boho Strings" stamp sets I used to make today's card:

The flowers are from the Bold Bouquet digital stamp set.  If you missed my recent post talking about digital stamps, please read here. 

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a wonderfully creative day!

Hi friends!  Happy Friday!  I hope you have fun things planned for the weekend ahead.  Today I'd like to talk about digital stamping.  While digital stamps are not new to the market, they seem to be increasing in popularity.  Ever since I began designing cards recently for RG Avenue (who uses a LOT of digital images!) I have become a lot more adept at using this type of stamp and I have come to really like them.  While I still have a lot to learn about manipulating the images, today we can talk about some of the basics of digital stamping.

Digital stamps, also known as “digi stamps" are simply high-resolution digital images.  The most significant difference between a digital stamp and a traditional stamp is that there is NO physical stamp.  A digital stamp is just the image or images.  Think of it kind of like computer clip art.  These digital images can be color or black and white.  They are downloaded onto a computer where they can be manipulated - resized or altered before being printed.

Below is an example of a digital stamp.  No, you cannot tell the difference simply by looking at this image if this is a digital stamp or a physical stamp.  This particular stamp set is called "Bold Bouquet" from RG Avenue.  This stamp, like many others from RG Avenue, comes in both options - digital or physical.

One of the benefits of using digital stamps is that you don't need anything special!  As long as you have access to a computer and a printer you have the two most important pieces.  Any inkjet printer will work fine; you don’t need expensive, fancy equipment.  But, if you do own a laserjet printer, this will work too. 

Typically after you purchase a digital stamp you will receive an email with the digital file.  Most digital stamps will come in .PNG, .JPG, .CSV  or .PDF files.  Some digital stamps might be provided in .ZIP files, so you will need to know how to unzip a file.  Save the digital stamp file to your computer’s hard drive with an easily identifiable name (trust me, this helps to find it later)!   Open up the saved file using either a word processing program such as Microsoft Word, or a photo editing program such as Photoshop Elements, LightRoom or a free website such as PicMonkey or GIMP.  You can either print the image(s) out directly, or manipulate the image(s) before you print them out.  You can add digital image to cards, scrapbooks, home decor and so much more!

• Cost effective - on average digital stamps are less expensive than traditional stamps
  
• More space -  digital stamps are stored right on a computer and do not take up physical space
• Immediate downloads - Unlike purchasing a physical stamp where it can take anywhere between 2 and 10 days to ship out in the mail, digital stamps are available for immediate download because the file is sent directly to your email upon purchasing
• The ability to change the size/shape - with some slight editing, you can alter the size/color of your stamps to better fit your needs
• E-Cutting machines - whether you have a Cricut or Scan & Cut, or any other electronic cutting machine, digital stamps don't need dies because most can be scanned through an e-cutting machine
• No deterioration - unlike rubber which can dry up, or photopolymer which can stain, digital stamps do not lose their quality over time
• Environmentally friendly -  for those concerned about waste, digital stamps use less resources
  

• 3D images - You cannot "stamp" the images on wood/plastic/clay or other 3D type materials.  Any product that cannot be run through a printer presents a challenge.  It will be difficult to use digital stamps on fabric, very thick or very thin paper and cardstock, large pieces of paper, pre-formed boxes and many other items.  With a little creativity ingenuity (and lots of time and patience) you might be able to find a way to work around this issue
  
• Masking - unless you alter the stamp digital before printing, you cannot mask a stamp after the fact
• Heat embossing - Because the ink is already printed on paper, you can't stamp with a Versamark pad to heat emboss the image.  The workaround is to trace the image with a Versamark pen, but this result isn't nearly so precise and well defined
• Computer knowledge - it does take a small amount of familiarity and learning to work with digital stamps
• Licensing - Licensing arrangements can be confusing, so you need to read the terms and conditions for each image you purchase as sellers have different terms you must follow to avoid copyright issues (for instance - sharing with your friends is frowned upon!)
  

Technically you can print on any type of paper that will go through your printer, but you will want to use specific paper designed for your coloring medium.  If you are going to color your image with watercolor, you will want to be sure to run a sheet of watercolor paper (like Strathmore) through your printer to print the image on.  If you would like to color your image with alcohol ink markers (Copic/Spectrum Noir, etc) or colored pencils (Prismacolor, etc) you will want to use a good carstock like Neenah Solar White or Strathmore Bristol smooth.

Many stamp companies are now offering digital alternatives to traditional/regular stamps.  Along with RG Avenue, I highly recommend you check out Di's Digi Stamps or Power Poppy.  Their images are simply stunning!  The style of digital stamps can vary greatly. There are simple, almost cartoon-like images that are the easiest to design and color in. That doesn’t mean, however, that digital stamps can’t have more quality. Details such as lines on an animal to indicate fur are brilliant – as a crafter, you will color over it like normal, but the design will have more depth and a designer quality.

A simple Google search will yield many results for "FREE digital stamps!"  I've provided a few links below for you to access courtesy of Papercraft UK magazine.  You can click on the link and then download these FREE digital stamps.  Try them and see if YOU like digital stamping!

If you are interested, really creative, and have a bit of artistic flair, you could make your own digital stamps! If you are good at drawing, all you need to do is sketch out a design in pencil that you can imagine someone coloring. Once you’ve done that and are happy with the design, simply go over the drawing with a black felt or fineline pen and scan it into your computer. Save it as a file and ta-da – you’ve created a digital stamp! If you’re savvy with a computer, you can then manipulate your drawing to make it crisp and perfect – and also alter the file type to offer crafters more possibilities. Share them on a craft blog or simple with your fellow creatives.  Open an Etsy store and sell your designs like Magengo!

Now I will share the two cards I created for today using digital files from RG Avenue:

The purple arrows in the image below shows the two stamps I used to create the card you see (above).  I printed out the entire sheet of flowers and colored the images with my Copic markers.  I ran the sheet back through my Scan & Cut to cut the flowers out.  *Note: If you don't have an e-cutting machine, yes, you could fussy cut the images out yourself.  Then I proceeded to finish the card as I normally would by adding cardstock, a sentiment stamp, some plaid paper and rhinestones.

For the second card, I used a digital stamp set from RG Avenue called "Fall Vibes:"

I hope this post has helped to answer some of the questions you might have about digital stamping. I'm still a beginner myself, but I'm happy to try and help if you have any additional questions.

Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend!

You guuuysssss, I am overexcited to share today's card with you!  I think I made my very favorite Christmas card last weekend!  During the holidays, I have always decorated the living room of our house in silver, blues and white.  Every year I find these beautiful blue dyed poinsettia's at my local Agway store and it would just help complete the room.  No, don't worry, I haven't started decorating yet -  I'm a wait until after Thanksgiving girl!  But, that color scheme inspired me to create a card using the Altenew Poinsettia & Pine stamp set, and I think it came out simply gorgeous.

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Blueberry Bushel cardstock.  I cut a piece of 5 1/4" x 4" gold foil paper and adhered it to the base of the card at an angle.  The gold foil paper is key in making this card sparkle with a touch of elegance.  I cut a 5" x 3 3/4" piece of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and stamped the berries, branches and leaves in Blueberry Bushel and Marina Mist inks.  I heat embossed the sentiment in the lower right corner using gold embossing powder.  On a scrap piece each of Blueberry Bushel and Marina Mist cardstock I stamped the large poinsettia in Versamark ink and heat embossed it in white embossing powder.  Using the coordinating dies, I die cut the poinsettia and adhered it to the center of the card using 3M foam adhesive.  I also stamped the pine cone in Versamark ink on kraft cardstock and die cut it out adhering it behind the poinsettias.  Lastly, I added some blue rhinestones around the card for added sparkle. 

Here is the Altenew Poinsettia & Pine stamp set (with coordinating dies) that I used to create today's card:

And, just in case you like things a little more traditional, I also made the same card in red, green and pink.  This one is equally as pretty too, but, the blue is still my favorite!

I hope you have enjoyed today's cards.  Do you prefer one color over the other?
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

Hello friends! Today I'm delighted to share with you a new RG Avenue release called Sending Bunches.  I am SOOOooo in love with the beauty of this stamp set!  First, I think hot air balloons in and of themselves are a sight to behold, and then you add a bouquet of flowers in lieu of a basket and oh my pretty!

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Rich Cherry cardstock.  Using the Gina Marie Scalloped Stitched Nesting Rectangle dies, I die cut a piece of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock for the first matted layer.  As the Sending Bunches stamp set is a digital stamp, I printed out the images on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and colored them with my Copic markers.  As always, I add highlights to the colored images with a white gel pen.  I used my Scan & Cut machine to cut the images and began adhering them to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.  I also popped up the sentiment.  Lastly, I added a double coat of clear Wink of Stella to the flowers and balloons for added sparkle. 

Thank you for visiting!  I hope you have a wonderfully creative day!

Hello friends and happy Thursday!  Yay, it's actually my Friday because I'm taking off for a few days to visit a friend in LA and go to the Scrapbook Expo show in Ontario, California with her.  Since I've been working so many of these shows recently, I'm so excited to be attending one FOR FUN!  I'm even signed up to take two classes on watercoloring.  I'm excited to learn different ways to watercolor because it's not something I'm comfortable doing at the moment.  Be sure to follow along on my Instastories as I share a behind-the-scenes look at my weekend adventures!  

Before I leave, I'll share a few cheerful and uplifting cards with you today featuring the Very Sweet stamp set from RG Avenue.  I'll be taking a few days off while I enjoy this mini vacation and will see you back here when I return on Wednesday, October 23rd. 

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of blue gingham from the Sunny Studio Classic Gingham paper pack to mount directly to the card base.  Using the Gina Marie Designs Scalloped Stitched Nesting Dies, I die cut the white piece from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  Because this Very Sweet stamp set was a digital stamp, I printed off the images on Solar White Smooth cardstock and colored the images using Copic alcohol ink markers.  I added small highlights to the images using a white gel pen.  I splattered the white paper with Sour Pineapple Sugar Drops.  I adhered the images and sentiment to the card using 3M foam adhesive.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the images for added sparkle.

Here is the Very Sweet stamp set from RG Avenue that I used to create these cards:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of yellow gingham from the Sunny Studio Classic Gingham paper pack to mount directly to the card base.  Using the Gina Marie Designs Scalloped Stitched Nesting Circle Dies, I die cut the white piece from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  Because this Very Sweet stamp set was a digital stamp, I printed off the images on Solar White Smooth cardstock and colored the images using Copic alcohol ink markers.  I added small highlights to the images using a white gel pen.  I stamped the "hello" sentiment (from the "Yay Greetings" stamp set) in Black Taffy ink.  I adhered the images and sentiment to the card using 3M foam adhesive.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the images for added sparkle.

Thank you for visiting and see you next week!

Hello friends and TGIF!  I hope you are lucky enough to have a long three day weekend like I do!
Today I am sharing a uniquely creative Halloween card made using the new October convention release by RG Avenue called Boho Skull.  I say "uniquely creative" because this card is kinda out-of-the-box for me, but very much in the style of RG Avenue.  Grunge, check.  Bright colors, check.  (You all know how much bright colors scare the bejeezus out of me.  I'm the neutrals girl!) But, I'm liking how this turned out with the striking contrast between life and death.  What do you think, keeping in mind it's truly an homage to the "Day of the Dead" traditions from Latin America?  And, for a little language lesson, "calaveras" means skull in Spanish!

The base of this A2 sized card is made from RG Avenue Sweet Lavender cardstock.  Using a Gina Marie Scalloped Stitched Nesting Rectangle die, I cut the first layer out of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  Using the Tangy Apple sugar cube, I stamped some background splatter using an old grunge stamp.  I printed out the entire digital Boho Skull stamp set on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock and colored in all of the images using Copic markers.  I added in highlights to the images using a white gel pen.  I then ran the colored images through my Scan and Cut to cut the digital images.  I adhered the skull to the center of the card using 3M foam adhesive. I arranged the flowers around the skull until my desired liking and adhered them with 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.  Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the flowers for added sparkle.

Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

Hello!  Today I am excited to be sharing two vibrant floral cards featuring the new fall release Sunflower stamp set and coordinating dies from Pretty Pink Posh.  There are so many stamp companies on the market right now, and with new ones popping up regularly it's becoming hard to keep up with all of the latest and greatest!   While Pretty Pink Posh has been in business since 2013, this is the first stamp set I have purchased from them and I have been very pleased with the quality and affordability. 

Because I am not currently creating video content and tutorials on my website, I highly recommend checking out this Easy Alcohol Ink Background Tutorial by Jennifer McGuire.  She has created a very simple introduction to working with alcohol inks to create some basic backgrounds.  This was the first video I watched after purchasing my alcohol inks and then I just spent time playing around with them!  The great thing is there is no right or wrong when it comes to art.  You just have fun (and usually make a mess) with it!  *My only tip would be that you don't need to spend your money purchasing polysynthetic Yupo Paper at nearly $1.00 per sheet.  You can use the reverse side of any high quality photo paper (like this one by Kirkland) and achieve the same results!

I will usually set aside a crafting day and make about 50 alcohol ink background pieces and store them for later use.  I find alcohol inks to be very messy, so this technique works well for me. 

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Lovely Lipstick cardstock.  I mounted my pre-made alcohol ink background piece directly to the card base.  Using Versamark ink I stamped the sentiment in the lower right corner and heat embossed it with black embossing powder.  I stamped all of the sunflowers (in two varying sizes) and leaves in Memento Tuxedo black ink on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I colored the images with Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink markers and added small details to the flowers and leaves with a Uniball white gel pen.  I added the flowers to the card using 3M foam adhesive.  Lastly, I added a coat of Clear Wink of Stella to the flowers for added sparkle. 

Here is the Sunflower stamp set from Pretty Pink Posh:

The sentiments on both cards are from the Papertrey Ink stamp set called Choose Joy:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Pineapple Punch cardstock.  I mounted my pre-made alcohol ink background piece directly to the card base.  Using Versamark ink I stamped the sentiment in the lower right corner and heat embossed it with black embossing powder.  I stamped all of the sunflowers (in two varying sizes) and leaves in Memento Tuxedo black ink on Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  I colored the images with Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink markers and added small details to the flowers and leaves with a Uniball white gel pen.  I added the flowers to the card using 3M foam adhesive.  Lastly, I added a coat of Clear Wink of Stella to the flowers for added sparkle. 

Thanks for visiting and have a great day!

Hello friends and happy Thursday!  I hope you are having a good week so far.  Today I'm sharing the first of my fall floral cards using this beautiful Altenew Sunflower Daisy stamp set.  If you're a regular follower of mine then you will know that I love the Altenew color-layering floral stamp sets!  But, one of my botany knowledgeable readers might have to explain to me, is this actually a sunflower or a daisy?  Is it both?  I'm slightly confused by the name of this stamp set!  Either way, the end result of this color layering stamp is simply gorgeous no matter what colors you use.

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock.  From Rich Razzleberry cardstock, I die cut the frame using the Altenew Watercolor Stripes cover die.  Next I stamped each of the sunflower daisies in Sahara Sand ink, Daffodil Delight ink, Rich Razzleberry ink and Blackberry Bliss ink.  I die cut each flower using the coordinating dies.  I stamped each leaf in Sahara Sand ink and Rich Razzleberry ink.  I die cut the leaves and began to assemble the flowers onto the card using 3M foam adhesive.  I stamped the sentiment in Rich Razzleberry ink on white cardstock and notched both ends before adhering it to the card.   Lastly, I put a coat of Clear Wink of Stella on the flowers for added sparkle.

Today's cards were created using the Altenew Sunflower Daisy stamp set and coordinating dies:

I hope you have enjoyed today's first fall floral cards!
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

Hello!  Today I am sharing a beautiful floral card featuring a monochromatic color palette.  Purple is a color that has grown on me through the years and is still not one I use frequently, but, I love how this card turned out and I think it will inspire me to create with purples more often.   This is also one of those cards that I say will look good in every color!  Keep reading to learn how I made this card and the products I used.

The base of this A2 sized card is made from Gorgeous Grape cardstock.  Using the Honey Bee Stamps Watercolor Lines Cover Plate die, I cut the first layer from Gorgeous Grape cardstock.  Underneath the frame I used a piece of Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes paper.  On a separate sheet of Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock, I stamped the color layering iris bulbs in Sweet Sugarplum (retired), Gorgeous Grape and Highland Heather inks.  I stamped the color layering leaves in Old Olive and Garden Green ink.  Using the coordinating dies, I die cut both the flowers and leaves.  I adhered the flowers to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added height.  Lastly I stamped the sentiment in Gorgeous Grape ink on a sheet of white cardstock and die cut it using an oval framelit. 

Here is the Color Layering Iris set from Hero Arts that I used to create this card:

I hope you have enjoyed today's card.  Thanks for visiting!

Hi friends!  Yesterday I shared with you four cards that I created using the Leafy Frames monthly cardmaking kit by Simon Says Stamp and today I'm sharing three entirely different cards I created still using that same kit!  (Click here to see those first four cards, if you missed it yesterday).  Yesterday's cards incorporated more bold colors and patterns in greens, blacks and browns.  Today's cards have a softer color palette in pink, kraft and white.  I have been enjoying making cards from kits like this because when I sit to down to create, I find that I'm making multiple cards instead of just one or two.  And two cards is always better than one!  I have mentioned before that my card stock pile is running dangerously low right now! 

Unfortunately this card kit is currently sold out at Simon Says Stamp, but I do think you'll find it back in stock fairly soon, so if it's something you are really interested, please just keep checking.

Again, here is a look at the Leafy Frames card kit:

Carta Bella Botanical Garden 6 x 6 inch papers
NEW Simon Says Stamp Leafy Frames exclusive 6x8 clear stamp set
Kaisercraft Coconut Mini Paper Blooms Flowers
1 Package Carta Bella Botanical Garden Frames & Tags ephemera
1 Jar Ranger Clear Rock Candy Distress Glitter
Stampers Anonymous Glitter Duster
Simon Says Stamp Metallic Gold envelope
Simon Says Stamp Metallic Green Leaf envelope
Simon Says Stamp Metallic Black envelope
Simon Says Stamp White envelope
Simon Says Stamp Black cardstock 8.5 x 11
Simon Says Stamp Ivory cardstock 8.5 x 11
Simon Says Stamp Cotton Candy cardstock 8.5 x 11
Simon Says Stamp Green Leaf cardstock 8.5 x 11
Neenah Desert Storm 100# cardstock

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!