Oh My!

Oh My! - My Digital Studio that is! So you just realized that another birthday has crept up on you and you have two minutes to make a card - My Digital Studio saves the day!  As much as we all might love to get out all our materials to make that perfect card from "scratch", face it, we don't always have time. This is a card I made using the Summertime Splendor Designer Series Paper for a background and then just added my text. I was able to print four card fronts on to my Whisper White cardstock. 

Here are a few more samples of this wonderful Designer Series paper. Another wonderful thing about My Digital Studio is that even though some of the papers that we love have been discontinued (and replaced with more papers that we love :o), most of them are now in the digital world! Yeah for that!

Contact me at 704-787-8444 or email MightyOakStampers@yahoo.com if you want to see how easy this software is to use!  Have a fabulous Friday!!!

Baby Boats

I admit I am kind of partial to boats....so I just loved playing with this one from the Baby Boutique stamp set. Mixing a little Baja Breeze and Island Indigo to get the currents flowing :o)  Such fun for a new baby boy! And yes, you can always go green or pink too. 

Here is the entire set so you can see all the fun stamps included in this set from Stampin' Up!

I think the images are just so sweet!!!  Have a baby shower coming up? Make it a Stampin' Shower. Similar to a Stamp-A-Stack event, but along with cards to take home, everyone makes cards for the Mommy-to-be for thank you notes.  New parents have enough to do without having to go out to purchase thank you notes!  Contact me to book your party!

Sugar and Spice.....

and Turtles!!!  The new Baby Boutique stamp set from Stampin' Up! is just too cute.  I just adore these sweet little stamps.  For this card, I teamed it with the Twitterpated Designer Series paper for some extra flowers and to brighten up the card. I had fun stamping the Paper Daisies - one with the words from Fabulous Phrases, another with Betsy's Blossoms and the smallest one with Pretty in Pink to match the paper and turtle. 

I will be back tomorrow with another one from this set - oh boy! :o)

Flowers for you

I just had fun with this! (I know... you have heard that before :o)  Don't you love the bright color combination of Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry and Primrose Petals?  I used the Language of Friendship stamp set and the Boho Blossoms punch to make the flowers. The sign was made with the Itty Bitty Banners stamp and framelits set. Such an easy gift to make as a thank you or just to brighten someone's day.

Trust God

I was so excited to be able to share the new Stampin' Up! Trust God stamp set with my church crafting group.  Last week we made these simple bookmarks to add to the welcome baskets.  The crumbcake cardstock is such a beautiful neutral color we all loved - we just switched out the background (keeping it simple) from Not Quite Navy, Bravo Burgundy and Early Espresso.  We paired the phrases with the Praying Hands stamp or with one of Crosses of Hope. I really enjoyed being able to share this with the group and we are looking forward to our next stamping day to make some more!

Here is the Trust God stamp set:

Crosses of Hope:

Another new one  - Praying Hands:

Just playing....

So I stumbled across one of those "color your own" mugs and thought.... hmmmm another excuse to play with My Digital Studio!!!

First I measured the coloring pages that came with the mug. Then in MDS I used the square punch and expanded it to match the size of the coloring page. That gave me the canvas to work on to create my own insert. This one I added the "celebrate you" and a bunch of stars with different colors or papers. 

If you are interested in seeing all that you can do with this software, please contact me at 704-787-8444. Also check my events page for "demo days."

Embellished Events = fun!

Yes, I saw this design a few weeks ago and just loved it. I instantly knew that I would be using it with the new Embellished Events stamp set from Stampin' Up!

The stamps work perfectly with their embellishments of course - for the champagne glass I added Basic Jewels Rhinestones.

I was so excited to see the new In Color Dahlias! Of course, they are the new happy In Colors and perfect to brighten up any card you make. 

The last one I did was the little duck pull toy - so cute. I added the new natural buttons to the wheels. So many possibilities with this stamp set and the embellishments that Stampin' Up offers. 

I hope you enjoyed this selection of cards and the new stamp set. If you have not picked up a new catalog to see all these new wonderful items, contact me today!

Great Things....

come in small packages! This might be a tiny treat box - but it is the perfect size to hold the Ghirardelli chocolates! yummy :o) 

This will be one of the boxes that we will be making this weekend for the Saturday Sussie's workshop. I do hope that you will join me for a fun morning of gift making. Please RSVP via phone 704-787-8444 or mightyoakstampers@yahoo.com by Thursday night, June 21. 

I am in love!!!!

Wow -how easy is it to make a really fancy looking card???? I love the new Floral Frames Framelits!!! Pair it with the Daydream Medallions stamp set and you are going to be blown away! I just love it - really, can you tell???  I am also enjoying the combination of two of the new colors Raspberry Ripple and Primrose Petals. Crumbcake is a wonderful neutral that I really like to work with.  The new Naturals Designers buttons and Linen Thread finish it off. Okay, this card is made with all of my current favorites - I confess :o) 

If you want to find out for yourself how easy this card is to make - check my events page for upcoming workshops. The next Scrap and Yap open shop session is Friday, June 29.  Hope to see you!

Saturday Sussie's preview

This is just one of the special boxes that I will be showcasing at my Saturday Sussies workshop this month. It is a perfect way to package a small gift for someone (especially some handcrafted cards!).  Please join me June 23 from 9:30-11:30 to make this and one other gift box.  I will have a couple different color combinations available as well - but this one was showing off Stampin' Up!'s new Floral District Designer Series Paper. 

To sign up for the class, please RSVP by June 21 via email  mightyoakstampers@yahoo.com or call 704-787-8444.  I hope to see you Saturday!

Father's Day!

Wow - I realized I had to get a card in the mail quickly, so what could I do? Yup, turned on the computer and whipped this one up in My Digital Studio.  The images are from Stampin' Up!'s On The Go kit.  Funny when I look at it right now - the "drop shadow" feature works so well, that I had to remind myself those are just images on the card. The truck, car and helicopter I printed out separately and then added as embellishments.  The inside reads "That means Happy Father's Day in toddler speak"

This one was also done in My Digital Studo - with a simple print out afterward, then I inked the edges and added it to a piece of Whisper White cardstock. 

If you would like to see how easy it is to use this software, please contact me today!

Whooooo's That?

Newest favorite!!!! The Storytime Collection from Stampin' Up!  (page 58-59 in the new catalog). What great colors and images, I can't wait to fully play with everything. This quick scrapbook page was made using the My Digital Studio software. I am just amazed at all that came with the DVD! and yes, O is for Owl :o)

Contact me if you would like to see all the possibilities with this software and collection!

Right Brain vs Left Brain?

This one is for all my 50/50 friends out there that have a contstant battle going on between their right and left brains.  You can have it both ways! 

Yes, there are those that tend to linger on one side or the other.  I have a few stamping friends that like things perfectly lined up (get that ruler out!!!) and for everything to be perfectly symetrical.  Then there are those that love to throw caution (or paper pieces) to the wind to see how things turn out. Both are perfectly wonderful!

For all my Left Brainers - cut that flower up, you can do it!  But then keep it in order  of course so we can tell exactly what it is.  Everything has its place, aligned as it should be. My disclaimer here is that I tend to be a 50/50, I cannot bring myself to use a ruler for placement of pieces.  In this I fail in my left-brainedness :o)

Now for all my Right Brainers - you betcha - flower everywhere!!! Multi-colored stamps, nothing lines up with the card. Okay, yes I have not reached total right brain thinking, because I duplicated the sqaure to keep the blossom stamp on :o) 

But as you can see - so many possibilities. You don't have to be "artsy craftsy" to make a beautiful card.  I have a lot of opportunities for you to find out how easy it is - just check my events page!

Stampin' Up! items used in both cards:  new colors Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals and Midnight Muse. The stamps are from Betsy's Blossoms, Delightful Dozen and Just Believe.



Save those scraps!!!

So I had a bunch of thin strips lying around after making some cards..... and this is what happened to them.  No sense throwing them away, just stack them and stick them :o)  A quick banner and a couple of scallop punches and poof! it's a birthday card. 

Stampin' Up! made it easy of course -The Patio Party DSP (shown above)  coordinates with the new 2012-14 In Color papers. Here I have used Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit and Primrose Petals.  The stamp is from the Create a Cupcake stamp set. The cake and flags I cut out of a piece from the Patio Party paper. 

So go play with those scraps and see what you come up with!

Floral District DSP

Floral District Designer Series Paper - What a fun set!!! I just love the new papers in this pack... bright, fun, and yes - FLOWERS :o)  For this, I just tore up pieces of the paper, then stuck them to a base of scrap paper. Once I liked the combination, I ran it through the Big Shot using the Top Note die.  The Blossom punch created the larger flowers in Daffodil Delight and Rich Razzleberry. The Happy Birthday is from the Create a Cupcake set.  I added another flower from Betsy's Blossoms stamp set.  A little of the Daffodil Delight grosgrain stiched ribbon along with a few rhinestones and I was content. I hope that you enjoy it too! Want to try one? Join me Friday for Scrap and Yap from 9-12.  See my events page for mor details.

My Digital Studio - Soft Blooms

Though I have only been using My Digital Studio software from Stampin' Up! for a short while, I am just loving it.  I can experiment and if I don't like the way it turns out - I just click delete! In other words, some days you just feel like playing to see how things work together, My Digital Studio takes that to a new level. I can stamp a sentiment and then keep changing the color until it is exactly what I wanted.... without wasting any paper :o)  So this could be a good drafting board as well for making "traditional" cards to design here and then get the paper and ink out.

I also love combining the two by creating part in the digital world and then adding some additional depth to the printed version by adding buttons, brads or ribbon.  There are really so many possibilities. Have upcoming events - birthday parties, weddings, showers? Stampin' Up offers invitation templates that you just fill in the information you want and order the number of copies  you want. Of course, you can still take the template and alter it to make it more personalized too. 

Please contact me if you are interested in finding more about this software - we can get together and I will show you all the possibilities!

A little Polka for the weekend?

Polka Dots!!! I just had fun with this one (okay a disclaimer, I usually have fun with all of them).  I love the combination of color. Stampin' Up! has a wonderful tool to help with choosing colors called the Color Coach (item 120148 on page 151 of the new catalog). For every color they offer, they give two separate three-color combinations.  It is actually a great way to find new inspiration. If I don't have a specific card in mind, I will just pick a color combination and see what happens. 

This combination is Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler (deeper and richer than the Real Red used yesterday) and Baja Breeze.  I used a circle punch for my dots, stamping them with the Petite Pairs stamp set.  To finish it off, I used the Baja Breeze 1/2" seam binding.

And so concludes my Basic Black theme, next up will be some material from My Digital Studio. I am sooooooo thoroughly enjoying MDS and want to share!  So stay tuned :o)

Black is Back - Part II

This was my second creation with the black cardstock challenge (to myself).  I love the Basic Black and Real Red together, with the Whisper White brightening it up a little bit.  The stamps are from the Mixed Bunch set and the Create a Cupcake set.  Other items used were the Real Red 1/8" taffetta ribbon, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder and the Rhinestone Basic Jewels. 

I was so glad to see that Stampin' Up was keeping the Mixed Bunch stamp set, which goes with the Blossom Punch. It was such a popular item from the Spring Occasions Mini catalog. However, once I started looking through the new catalog, there is a lot of competition with all the new items for which one will be my next favorite :o)  soooooo many choices!!!

If you have not received your new 2012-2013 catalog yet, please contact me via email at mightyoakstampers@yahoo.com or message me through this site. 

Black is Back!

Black is Back? okay, so it never really went anywhere... but last night I decided that I needed to work on a black card and that it would be my personal challenge for today. Yes, I tend to go for all the bright colors - I like them.  Which means that it was time to go into unfamiliar territory - and I loved it. I made three cards today focusing on using black cardstock. Here is the first of my creations.

I was stuck on black and white in my mind, so instead of fighting the thought, I just went with it. The butterflies from the Kindness Matter's stampset were stamped on Basic Black cardstock using the Very Vanilla ink.  I did it twice using one set to cut out and pop up using Stampin' Up! Dimensionals.  To add a little texture to the card, I ran a piece through my BigShot using the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing folder.  The Very Vanilla 1/8" Taffetta ribbon adds a little depth too.  I finished it using the Just Believe stamp set for my sentiment, the Word Window punch, and a Metalic Brad to attach it.

I had a great time playing "outside of my comfort zone" today. I will share another card tomorrow.
Until then..... keep stamping and go try something new!

Open House

What a wonderful day on Sunday. To showcase the new 2012-14 In Colors, we made this colorful bookmark. I just love the way the colors work together. We also made our own "patterned paper" using the Midnight Muse ink on paper and the large dahlia stamp from Betsy's Blossoms. We then added another flower down the Whisper White paper using the Midnight Muse, Gumball Green, Summer Starfruit, Primrose Petals and Raspberry Ripple.  The phrase comes from one of my favorite Stamp sets, Pursuit of Happiness. See below or page 140 in the new catalog.

I used another stamp from this set for an additional item at my open house this weekend. Any guests that sent in an RSVP early were given a free gift. I made some post it note holders using the Crumb Cake (love that!!) paper as the base and Lucky Limeade. I added the Victoria Crochet Trim and Antique Brads to polish them off. 

I hope you enjoyed these items. If you would like more information, please contact me at mightyoakstampers@yahoo.com or directly through my website www.hilarysmith.stampinup.net.

Open House Celebration

Just a reminder that if you are in the Concord, North Carolina area, please join me Sunday, June 3 from 1-4 to celebrate the new catalog, new ideas, and hopefully new friends. I love having people come together and find out how much they have in common. Hopefully you will be one of them!  We will be doing a paper craft using the new In Colors, learning some new tricks, pouring over the new catalog, and having lots of fun!  I have a sign that hangs over the door in my work room that says "LAUGH" and I consider it a rule :o)  In addition to all the above - there's always the chance to win a prize too! If you need directions, please call me at 704-787-8444 or email me at Mightyoakstampers@yahoo.com