The Stampin' Grounds

How to Create Your Own Background Papers in MDS

Whew!  The 2 weeks of Spring Break are over and done with.  I have been ITCHING to get back to crafting, let me tell you!  Today I have something special for you - I designed a scrapbook page for my hubby's 40th birthday last year (he got a bass guitar as a group gift from everyone), and I have created a tutorial below for you to learn how to make your own background pages and save them for later use in other projects.  

I had some requests to list the elements of MDS I used so you know what you want to get, so I also did that below to help you out.  This is a super-simple page (even if it looks complex) - I had a lot of fun putting it together, and I think 'black' works so well for his 40th, don't you? ;)

Here's the video tutorial so you can try it yourself - if you have MDS and are in the area, feel free to drop in for tonight's MDS class - it's free and we'll be doing this technique live and in person so you can ask your questions if you run into problems!

The elements of My Digital Studio that I used for this project are:

• Vintage Overlays Stampset, overlays 1, 2, 6, 7, 8
• Modern Label Punch
• Calendar (from the menu on the right)
• Buttons Pack - Neutral
• Flag Punch
• 2012 Modern Prints
• Delightful Digital Tape
• Stitching

Remember - you can try My Digital Studio for FREE for 30 days!  Click here to order it from my online store now, (click on 'shop now' under my name to see the store) and then plan to come to my monthly FREE class to teach you the ins and outs of getting amazing digital designs as you craft!

My Digital Studio Free Download and Video Embedding Tutorial!

WOW!  Go like my Facebook page here, then scroll down and you will see a link to the Stampin' Up! FB page - for a limited time, they are giving the digital images in the 'A Day In The Life' kit below for FREE!  Get in there and grab yours soon!!  :)  In the meantime, here is a tutorial on adding video into your scrapbooking in My Digital Studio - I LOVE this technique - SO easy, and what a cool idea for gift giving! Hope you enjoy!

Check out the Beautiful Make n' takes for my Hostess Oasis!

I LOVE these make n' takes!  Each hostess at my Oasis last weekend was given to projects to make: a card and a scrapbook page.  I was so excited when I was at Convention, as I stumbled across a display board with this card and KNEW it was destined for this event!  I wish we could see who designed these cards, as I would totally give her some props!  Mysterious stamper - you ROCK! :)

LOVE this stampset! I had totally missed it the first time through the catalog, but now that I've found it, I think it's my new favourite!  It's called Creative Elements , and I LOVE every single stamp in it!  I mean it - EVERY SINGLE ONE!  WOW - that's a good set!!

We also used this set to make the scrapbook page which was inspired from the display board as well - here's my version:

This is of my nephew when he was born - I'm making two of these for my brother and sister-in-law, as they just had another baby, so I'll do one for each of them for her shower.  SHhhhh.. don't tell them! :) 

This was the inspiration from Convention:

That's one of my favourite parts of Convention - we all put our favourite projects up to share, and we can share ideas - it's such a great way to inspire each other and then share with our peeps!!

Let's Get Digital in June!

Come learn how to design a scrapbook layout using My Digital Studio!  We will be building an entire book throughout the year with NEW techniques and tips featured each month!  Bring your laptop and pictures to build your album here (outlets provided!), or simply come and take notes on techniques for you to try when you are home! 

June will find us working with adding embellishments and designer series paper as page layers, as well as working with drop shadows and basic grid view work.  Remember to register if you plan to attend!

This is a layout I put together for our France Trip last fall - I had so much fun putting it together! 

This by the way, is Day 5 of my 30 days of creativity challenge, and also introduces my Sunday Scraps Day!  As you probably guessed, for these 30 days, Sundays will be dedicated to Scrapbooking in all its various forms - I hope you enjoy!! 

Free For All Fridays - A Gift For My 'Lil Sis...

It's Day 3 of my 30 days of creativity challenge!  WOO HOO!  During this challenge, every Friday will be a 'Free For All', meaning I will post whatever I feel like, without rules! Who knows - if you guys like this format enough, maybe I'll keep it going after my 30 days as well!  You'll have to comment to let me know what you think!

Well, THIS Friday, I was thinkin' of my little niece, Jooni (you remember my sister's little girl, who was a preemie?) and my sis.  I decided to make them a little baby album to remember these first few months with Jooni.  Can you believe that she is already around 10 pounds?? (she was born in late March at just 2 and a half pounds!)  Anyway, enjoy this little booklet - I hope my sis does! (I may or may not add pics before I send it - I'll share them if I do.)

I made this book using Amy Celona's tutorial - thanks Amy!  I used some embellishments from the Nursery Suite Quick Accents pages, but all of the cardstock and designer paper came from 1/2 of the Love Birds Simply Scrappin' Kit, as well as some other embellishments I had on hand. 

 

LOVE that vintage trinket in the upper corner.  I'm SO GLAD these aren't retiring!  I am totally in love with them and use them all the time. :)

It all folds out as you go... SO cute!

All the way open:

Sample From the Next MDS Class

I have finally started to put together my scrapbook album from our trip to France!  I'm thinking about making two - one for me and Tom, and one for Ryan, as he LOVES looking at picture books of his experiences (he's a real scrapbooker!)  I will also be teaching several techniques from this page at my next My Digital Studio class on Monday, April 7th.  Remember that when you purchase MDS from me, you get 8 of these classes for free, so you get your feet wet right away! 

This class will focus on layering paper flowers, focusing and manipulating background papers, and collaging photographs.  Enjoy!  (Class fee is $10, and is refunded if you purchase MDS that evening)

Remembering Our Blizzard..

Ok, those of you from Eastern Canada may laugh, but two years ago, we had a major snowstorm in Vancouver that left us with 2 feet of snow, and we all called it a blizzard.  Since then I've heard from many easterners that our little 'blizzard' was child's play - LOL - for us, it shut down the city for a few weeks!  (no one could get out of their side streets!!)

So, I finally got around to designing a layout for this scene, and when I was trying to come up with an idea, I came across Leah's layout and had to CASE it.  If you haven't yet checked out MyDigitalStudio.net be sure you do so soon!  There are SO MANY amazing layouts to get ideas from!!  And, you can set up your own page to show off your own My Digital Studio masterpieces! 

On the topic of this scene, sadly all the pics were taken with either an iphone or my mom's not-very-nice old camera, so it's not printable (so sad!), but at least I have it online! :)

As Promised - the CASE of a Case!

Ahh - you guys thought I would leave you hanging, didn't you?  No way!  As promised, this is the CASE of my CASE of the scrapbook page in the summer mini catalog.  Are you thoroughly confused?  Check out this post to catch up!  

In the meantime, you can see how the idea is generally the same, but I really got to try out a lot of things before I 'stuck' with the final product here.  Not bad, eh?!  I could have gone even more crazy, but I had to force myself to stop!

You know, some of the really cool things I like about My Digital Studio is that I can blow up my stamps to whatever size I want (although REALLY huge for the fine lined ones will probably pixelate) - check out that 'lucky' definition from 'Define Your Life' - usually it's pretty tiny, but in MDS, I can make it 5" wide! (yep - that's about how wide that will be when I print it!) - I think this particular one is worthy of printing, so I'm ordering prints from Stampin' Up! today! 

Old School Scrapbook Page of my Family

For my presentation at Convention this year, it is tradition for the presenters to post a picture of their family, to help the audience get to know them a bit before they start speaking.  So, I thought I'd use My Digital Studio to put together a family picture.  I thought that it might be fun to 'CASE' a scrapbook page I'd already done, in order to see how easy it is to translate it into digital..  well, that turned out to be a little TOO fun, and I ended up making a new masterpiece!  SOOOOoooo... here's the one I made 'old school' (translation: all stamps, ink, paper and accessories)...

(click on the pic to make it larger)

I'm giggling right now, because THIS is a CASE from the summer mini catalog - check out page 14 in the little pink booklet you got in the mail from me (contact me if you didn't get one about a month ago).. And for my Digital CASE of THIS CASE (LOL - oh dear, I must need more sleep!)...

I'm going to leave you with a cliff hanger.. you have to come back and check on Sunday, when I will post the case of this, and in the meantime, it will be a mystery! ;)  <mwah ha ha...)

<definitely loopy now!  Maybe I should step away from the swaps....> ;)