I mentioned a few posts ago how fun it was to be able to take My Digtal Studio with anywhere since it is on my laptop. Not only that, but I can even begin to scrapbook things before the trip is over! You have to love digital technology! I used this week’s Saturday Sketch Challenge from Stamping 411 to create a scrapbook page while I am still at the American Association of School Librarians conference! This week’s sketch:

Right across from the Convention Center in Charlotte is a beautiful green, with these amazing statues of books. My friend and colleague, Elisabeth and I wanted a picture in front of this. Luckily a kindly librarian passing by took a picture of us together.

It is amazing to me that I can still be at an event, and be actively creating a scrapbook about it. Every time I use My Digital Studio, I like it more and more!

The thing I miss most,  living here in Southern California, is the Fall Colors. I love the beauty of the trees in the fall! Even though most of the colors are passed their peak else where, I can still create beautiful Fall colors on my cards. This is the third card that I will be making with my faculty group this month. It is quick and easy, though the Top Note Die Cut gives it a sense of elegance.

Stamps: Season of Friendship, Sanded
Ink: Soft Suede, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red
Paper: Ruby Red, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla
Other: 1/4″ Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain Ribbon

This card is the second project I will be making with my faculty after-school stamp class. It is inspired by the incomparable Gretchen Barron. I had so much fun watercoloring the main image. The Watercolor Wonder Crayons are amazing on the Naturals White card stock! They give the card such an elegant look. This may be the best watercoloring I have ever done!

Stamps: Harvest Home, Texture Wheel
Ink: StazOn Black, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Really Rust, Naturals White
Other: Chocolate Chip 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon, Watercolor Wonder Crayons (Earth Elements)

I found yet another great plus to using Stampin’ Up’s My Digital Studio. You can take it anywhere! I am currently in Charlotte, North Carolina for the American Association of School Librarians conference. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have brought any stamping stuff with me, because it is too hard to figure out what I want to do, and how much to bring, and what if I don’t have time, etc, etc. But not this time! Nope! I simply loaded My Digital Studio on my laptop, and I can relax in the evenings by playing with it and creating a few pages! (I love that when you purchase MDS you are licensed to install it on two computers in the same home, so I can install it on both my desktop and laptop computer without a problem.)

I had some spare time this morning before I have to head out to the conference sessions, so I put together a scrapbook page for this week’s Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge. The colors are:

I used some pictures from last December, of my Dad and Eve building a hot air balloon out of her Mega Fort Builder set. I substituted Tempting Turquoise for the Taken with Teal, because the background paper I wanted to use was not available in Taken with Teal.  I’m very happy with the way it came out, and I may use it as one of the pages of the calender I am making for my parents for Hanukkah. (Another great feature of MDS — you can import pages from one project to another! It saves time and effort, no duplicating work!)

Happy Stampin’, whether it is real or virtual!

As soon as I saw this adorable turkey on Mickey’s blog, I knew I just had to make one of my own! I used candy corn in the Sweet Treats cup, and made my own designer paper with the leaf from Holiday Blitz. The base is a 3″x3″ card, but it could easily be incorporated into something larger.  How cute would this be for Thanksgiving place cards?

Stamps: Holiday Blitz
Ink: More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust
Paper: More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun, Real Red, Very Vanilla
Other: Scallop #2 Bigz Die, 1″ Circle Punch, Small Oval Punch, 1 3/4″ Circle Punch,  Sweet Treats Cup, googly eyes

This is one of three great Thanksgiving projects that I will be making in my faculty after-school stamp class.

The first night of Hanukkah is a little over five weeks away! Wow! It is on the early side this year, or as my dad would say, December is late this year…

I figured I had better crackin’ on the Hanukkah cards, so I decided to use this week’s Saturday Sketch Challenge from Stampin’ 411 for another one.

I debated what little images I would use in the focal image. I played around with creating my own menorah using the single candle stamp from Party Hearty, but I wasn’t happy with how it turned out. I’m going to have to work on that idea some more. Instead I used the menorah stamp from Holiday Blitz for both the main image and the images down the left side. I also used my silver Encore ink, which I hadn’t opened in a while. I had forgotten how fabulous it was! Here’s what I came up with:

Stamps: Holiday Blitz, Shalom Sayings
Ink: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Silver Encore
Paper: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Brushed Silver, Whisper White
Other: Silver Cord, Eyelet Border Punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Thanks for looking!

The Pals Paper Arts Challenge this week was to use Pink, and the Stampin’ Addicts Friday Color Challenge was to create a monochromatic card in any color, so I decided to combine the two and create a pink monochromatic card. I used the Medallion stamp, because well, why not? It is so easy to create an elegant card with this stamp! To create the shades on the medallion, I first inked up the whole stamp in Pretty in Pink. Then I used my sponge dauber to add Regal Rose and Melon Mambo. A pink rhinestone brad adds just the perfect amount of bling.

Stamps: Medallion, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Melon Mambo
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Whisper White
Accessories: Circle Fire Rhinestone Brads, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, Sponge Daubers

You’ll love the convenience of Stampin’ Up’s Holiday Gift-Giving Guide! With gift ideas for kids, teens, neighbors, and more, it’s your one-stop shop for all your holiday needs. Download your copy here.

Plus, when you spend $50 on products in the guide, you’ll get a Décor Elements for FREE (up to a $16.95 value)! In fact, for every $50 you spend on products listed in the guide you can choose a Décor Element valued up to $16.95.

If you don’t have a Big Shot yet, be sure to check out the Big Shot Gift Pack on the bottom of page 4 of the guide. Wow!

Shop now on my website, or contact me to place your order, or schedule a workshop so you can earn even more free items. Not in the Los Angeles area? No problem! Contact me for details on how to host a long-distance workshop.

I am so fortunate to be working with a wonderful woman in the library this year! She is amazing, and really went above and beyond to make the library a festive place for Halloween. The students loved it all month, and yesterday was a fantastic Halloween celebration. I used My Digital Studio to whip a quick scrapbook page commemorating how great it was. If you look closely at the top right hand corner of the picture, you can see some of the 100 witches’ hats that were hanging from the ceiling.

I’m going to print this out and give it to her on Monday. Have I mentioned how much I’m loving My Digital Studio? Don’t worry, I’ll keep telling you!

You know what I love about My Digital Studio? Well, I’ll tell you… I love that not only can I make amazing scrapbook pages, not only can I make fabulous cards, but I can make a huge assortment of other digital items as well. Case in point, I made a super cute flyer for my Halloween buddy at work!

I told you last week how we are doing buddies at work, leaving fun little treats for each other. Well, I knew I couldn’t stamp anything for her (or she would know it was me), but I sure could print something on the computer! So I put this together in about 10 minutes, printed it out, and left it on her desk with one of those little pumpkins. So cute and easy!

I love My Digital Studio! I’ll have more great projects to show you soon!