MDS Tuesday! A “Paint” Page and NEW Downloads!

I went to bed last night anxious to wake up and see today's downloads. And I wasn't disappointed! Today we were given an awesome "message" line that is going to be SO VERSATILE and easy to use!

The Messenger II Embellishments are a complete package; its 27 pieces deliver trendy postal flair to any project. Use with our Notebook II Designer Series Paper and Messenger II Stamp Brush Set for ultimate coordination. Includes a one-page 8" x 8" designer template. Coordinating colors include Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Bermuda Bay, and Very Vanilla.

Click Here to view the coordinating designer paper and stamp brush set, along with several other stamp brush sets and a NEW half circle punch!

When making these pages, I thought I was SO SMART (always a mistake) to mimic the paint splatter on the pages with the splatter stamp brush image from Extreme Elements. It was a great idea in theory…. but I think in translation it got a little busy. I tried to tone it down a little bit by adding lots of solids to create balance… I think it worked OK, but would still like to see things not quite so loud. After too much time tinkering, I just needed to give it up and move on! Maybe something will come to me and I'll go back to it later on.

(In addition to the My Digital Studio software and content that comes with it, I also used the following downloads: Extreme Elements Stamp Brush Set, Spiral Punch, Neutrals Buttons, Lucky Star Embellishments, Tasteful Trim Punch, Christmas Cocoa DSP and Travel Log DSP)

Click HERE to get started ordering at my Online Store!

Oh, Happy MDS Tuesday!

Hooray!!!! It's MDS Tuesday - my new favorite day of the week!

I have to be honest…. I haven't done any Digi Scrappin' the past few days… largely in part of the fact that my son has been keeping me on my toes….. here he is a few days ago – mind you – he's TWO! This step stool was folded up neatly behind the fridge… then when I walked in……

Yupp…. then about 2 days later, he decided to climb the 4 foot wall that is the side of his crib and take a head dive into a metal grate. This one landed us at the only open Emergency Ped's on a Sunday morning for his first stitches! Luckily, it wasn't too deep so they were able to use the liquid kind…

Needless to say, I've aged about 10 years in the past 4 days! I guess I DO have some new photos to scrapbook!!! LOL!!!!!

So back to MDS…. the large component to not getting any new pages done are shown above….. but the other factor was I was starting to get a little bored with my embellishments. Having a little boy, it seems like I have a harder time with embellishments because with not using flowers and such. But TODAY is a HAPPY DAY for me because the NEW MDS DOWNLOADS came out for the week and there are SEVERAL new "must haves" for boyish embellishments!

The first is this Red, White & Blue trip. We just took a trip to Philly on Memorial Day, and with Fourth of July ahead…. I KNOW that this one is going to be HEAVILY used!!! But I also am thinking out of the box a little bit with this one because the stars can be used at ANY time as well as the other embellishments! HOORAY!!!!! This kit is an EXCLUSIVE TO MDS DOWNLOAD!!!!! Celebrate “America the Beautiful” with the festive stars and stripes in our Red, White, and Blue Kit. Includes a 10-piece stamp brush set, 19 embellishments, and a 3-1/2" x 5" postcard designer template. Coordinating colors include Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Riding Hood Red, and Sahara Sand.

The other download in HIGH excitement to me is a returning favorite – the Lucky Star Embellishments. I don't think I probably need to convince of how awesome this one is because just LOOK at it!!! You'll be seeing it in future pages very, VERY soon! Our 43-piece Lucky Star Embellishments’ artwork and rustic colors are perfect for masculine projects, Fourth of July pages, barbecue décor, photobooks, or rugged but stylish western projects. Coordinating colors include Basic Gray, Baja Breeze (used at a lower opacity), Kiwi Kiss, and Pumpkin Pie.

 There's also a FABULOUS new Desktop Calendar Kit! Even though I don't need the flower accents for my pages right now, I'm still a bit smitten with them…

To view ALL of the new downloads (yes, there are even MORE including some AWESOME DSP!) – JUST CLICK HERE!

Then I DO have a completed layout to share with you for MDS Tuesday! Here it is!!! I really wanted to "puzzle piece" punch (*hint* *hint* Stampin' Up!) for the shape the buttons are on – but since I didn't have on (*please* *please* Stampin' Up!) I used the base of (if I remember correctly…) the gift from…. a stamp set….. LOL! I know that probably wasn't too helpful! Look around at your birthday sets and you'll find a shape *smile*. This one is actually PRETTY EASY for you to duplicate because the DSP, stamp and buttons ALL come with the original content!!

 (In addition to the My Digital Studio software and content that comes with it, I also used the following downloads: Top Note Die Shape, Simple Stitches, Notes Stamp Brush Set from Sale-A-Bration Digital Content CD and Leadership 2011 Digital Kit)

Click HERE to get started ordering at my Online Store!

Not just Newsprint

So I'll be upfront – this isn't my favorite layout I've done…. but I had a ton of random pictures that I didn't want to leave out of the album because they had so many people in them not in other photos – and I really wanted them in the album for memories! So I did my black and white trick to make them coordinate (you sick of that yet!?) Then I thought that the Photo Edition DSP went perfectly with the layout… then I wanted to add names on the photos, so did it in typewriter font to match…. kind of a little newspaper like layout. It fit the purpose!

(In addition to the My Digital Studio software and content that comes with it, I also used the following downloads: First Edition DSP, Crochet Trim, Pearls and Neutrals Buttons)

Click HERE to get started ordering at my Online Store!

Jackson’s Photo Board & Giveaway!

As I had shared earlier this week, my newest nephew, Jackson, has been welcomed into the world! I knew that I needed to get a new blog post up for you all, I've been wanting to play with some new products in the upcoming Mini, and I also wanted to do something crafty for Jackson's arrival — so rolling all of those into one, I made up these Photo Boards as gifts for my brother and sister-in-law and the grandparents…

ALY'S HELPFUL HINTS:

• Did you know that Stampin' Up! sells 3 different types of plain chipboard boards? They are wonderful for making keepsake scrapbook pages such as this one. I mounted everything onto one of our 9" x 9" OnBoard Chipboard Boards.
• The little flourish accent actually comes from the "Dry Goods" Decor Elements that you can receive for FREE as a Hostess at the 1st Level! I had a couple of these on hand and haven't used them for the jars, so decided too cut them apart and just use the motifs. My plan is to cut letters out of the words for another project later on.
• Our 1/2" Library Clips are perfect for 3-D projects such as this. They're a bit large, so they can be too much for a scrapbook page protector or to mail — but they work fabulously for things such as this!
• The "beautiful little baby" stamp was stamped on a piece of our wide Twill Tape using Chocolate Chip Craft Ink! Craft Inks are perfect for stamping on cloth and fabric – and as long as your images aren't too detailed, it looks great!

This is one other version of the board that I did…

The stamp that I used for this project, "Beautiful Little Baby" is one of the individual stamps on our under $10 page. BUT – this particular one isn't featured in our Current Catalog – it has been on our Dormant List and will be saying a fond farewell! Be sure to order this delightful image before it is gone forever on January 4th!

I cut out the letters to spell out "Jackson" from the Simple Letters Big Shot Die Set – a Stampin' Up! Exclusive! Be sure to order this die set before January 4th so that you can receive a FREE Decor Element with purchase as part of our Holiday Gift Giving Guide Promotion!

I normally like to die cut my letters out of chipboard, but because of the accessories that I wanted to use (such as the Mini Library Clips) – they wouldn't have laid flat had I done that. So instead I propped up all of the letters on Stampin' Dimensionals that I had cut in half. TIP: If you're going to need a lot of half sized Stampin' Dimensionals, try cutting them while they're on the sheet, it's much easier to use! Here's what I mean…

WHAT TO ORDER:

Alphabet Simple Letters Bigz Die (115960), Beautiful Baby Stamp (114492), Book Basics Large OnBoard (110713), Chocolate Chip Craft Ink (101816), 1/2" Library Clips (112581), Mini Library Clips (109857), Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware (112454), Kraft Corduroy Buttons (114340), Chocolate Chip 1/4" Ribbon (111367), Very Vanilla 1/4" Ribbon (109026), Twill Tape (105245), Chocolate Chip 1 1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, 1/2" Circle Punch (104390), 3/4" Circle Punch (107217), Decor Applicator (114285), Dry Goods Decor Elements (Level 1 Hostess Exclusive!), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430), Tombow Multipurpose Adhesive (110755), Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper (COMING SOON!) and Sweet Pea Felt (COMING SOON!)