Rarely do we have wintery weather in Houston, TX.  The weather forecasters got us all excited about a prediction of up to 3″ of snow….BUT this is all we got!  Freezing rain during the night made the morning very icy!  Nothing too exciting to see from our house except for tiny little icicles and our car completely covered in ice!  Almost all of the highways are closed as the overpasses were completely iced over with that dangerous black ice.  Pretty cold weather here but it should get over freezing for a little while this afternoon!  

So all that makes for a great day to stay in and do some scrapbooking of the conditions, and the easiest way to do that is with My Digital Studio! I just chose a 12×12 page and a layout of photo boxes and went to work! So many great choices of things to use right at your fingertips on the computer!  Stampin’ Up! continues to produce new downloads for My Digital Studio so there is no end to the possibilities for the creative projects you can make…..and of course you don’t really have to be creative at all…..if you want, just drop your photos into a pre-designed page.

To find out more about My Digital Studio, click HERE.

To purchase My Digital Studio and get your Sale-a-Bration rewards, shop online HERE.

Images copyright Stampin' Up! 2010

It's fun to play around with My Digital Studio and see what you come up with! And there is SO much to come up with!  Here's a Halloween page I came up first by starting with an already designed template included in the software and then changing the paper and the embellishments.  Even though it is a template in the software, you can change every element of it.  Make some Halloween scrapbook pages ahead of time and you'll be all set to add the spooky photos next week!

Don't miss checking out My Digital Studio HERE!  If you love Stampin' Up!'s great paper, ink, and stamps you will also love this digital papercrafting program they have put together!
 

They just keep coming!!  Whether you have (or want to purchase!) My Digital Studio by Stampin' Up!, a digital papercrafting solution, or you have another digital program, here are the latest new downloads from Stampin' Up!

 Item  Description  Image  Price

123200

To the Nines Designer Series Paper

  $4.95

121434

Typewriter Numbers Stamp Brush Set

  $5.95 121435  Timeless Stamp Brush Set   $3.95 122161 Word Window Punch $0.95 121436  Favorite Thoughts Stamp Brush Set   $1.95 121437  In a Word Stamp Brush Set   $3.95

Just go to my Demonstrator Website and click on the Shop Now button! Then click on "Digital Crafting" on the left and then "Newest Downloads".

You don't have to be a big digital scrapbooker to get lots of use from My Digital Studio!  Need some designer paper?  Just print some out!  Need a sentiment you don't have in a stamp?  Print it out from My Digital Studio! Need a card?  Just make one in My Digital Studio!  Send it digitally to share if you don't want to print and mail!

Get My Digital Studio software #118108 by ordering at my website HERE and clicking the Shop Now button!

In continuing to work on digital scrapbook pages of our recent Colorado trip with My Digital Studio from Stampin' Up! I decided to try something I had seen demonstrated.  I used one of my photos as the background paper for the page! You just put a photo box over the entire page and insert your photo! Then I changed the opacity to 80% to make it look lighter so I could add a couple photos on top.  Where I placed the text is an element from "Write Stuff" in the program….I sized it how I wanted it and then placed a text box over it with my journaling.

There are new videos that I mentioned last week from Stampin' Up! to introduce you to using My Digital Studio.  Just click HERE to go to the page to learn more about My Digital Studio.  If you would like to see the videos, just click on the link on that page in the left column.

It's been a busy summer what with wedding planning and going to the Stampin' Up! Convention in July and making wedding invitations.  But my husband hadn't had a trip or any of this fun so he was ready for one.  And off to Colorado we went!  Last night I began putting some photos into My Digital Studio to chronicle our vacation.  Here are two pages I came up with, the first day driving through Big Thompson Canyon, from Loveland, CO to Estes Park, CO.

On the first page, I just chose an already designed page of photo boxes and inserted my photos.  I added the Soft Suede background color, the photo mats, the text and the texture to the page.  For the second page, I inserted a "mirror image" of the first page, but since I had so many photos to include, I added a couple small photo boxes.  All very easy!  If I had a laptop, it would be great to do a page or two a day as I traveled with My Digital Studio installed on my laptop.  You are allowed to install the software on two computers in the same household, which is a great benefit!  

  

 

I just love watching fireworks on July 4th or any time any place, and I'm sure lots of you do too!  I've tried to take photos of fireworks many times, and usually they don't turn out very well. But with my current camera (still a point and shoot) I'm getting closer to getting some good shots of the fireworks. Today, in my email from Photojojo.com, I was directed to some tips for taking good fireworks photos.  They have eleven great tips here. They strongly recommend using a tripod (as in "Bring a tripod, bring a tripod, bring a tripod.") and finding a good location early where you can look straight at the fireworks, not just up.    Some cameras even have a fireworks mode to shoot with (I'll have to check mine!). But you can read the camera-setting details for yourself.

A couple other suggestions I liked were:

• Being near a body of water is good for the reflection of the fireworks (we usually are by a small lake in a park for our fireworks viewing!).
• Include some buildings or landmarks which often add to the composition of the photo.
  
• Turn your flash off!
• Turn your camera for a portrait-oriented shot for a rocket's rise and explosion, but to capture multiple explosions, shoot in landscape.
• Don't forget the best comes at the end…the Grand Finale….so save some space on your memory card for that!

And my own tip……don't forget to take some pictures of the people you are with, not just the fireworks!

And when you are ready to scrapbook those photos, a quick and easy way to do it is with My Digital Studio from Stampin' Up!  You can make an album to print out or a few pages, or a multi-media presentation to share with your friends and family.  Contact me to find out how to order or go to my Online Store.

 

Is it really the end of May already??!  What a fast month and so much going on for so many people with graduations, end of the school year, etc.  I just wanted to send one more reminder of the Stampin' Up! promotion going on today and tomorrow:

Take your scrapbooking to a whole new level with Stampin’ Up!

During National Scrapbooking Month, get a FREE package of Designer brads with the purchase of My Digital Studio (item 118108) or any of the following stamp sets:

Page	Description	Wood- Mount Item	Wood- Mount Price	Clear- Mount Item	Clear- Mount Price
81	Extreme Elements	115181	$26.95	—	—
119	Framed with Love**	114389	$27.95	—	—
128	Certified**	113706	$27.95	—	—
129	Circle Circus	115778	$28.95	—	—
12*	Elements of Style	118611	$27.95	120045	$19.95
13*	Momentos	119910	$27.95	120105	$19.95
13*	Éléments de style	119900	$27.95	120099	$19.95
14*	Rough Type	118659	$26.95	120072	$18.95
22*	Sentimental Journey	118513	$23.95	120075	$17.95
25*	First Day	118521	$23.95	120051	$17.95
25*	Camino a la Escuela	120152	$23.95	120154	$17.95

*From the Summer Mini Catalog
**A Last Chance stamp set!

Choose from the following Designer brads with qualifying purchase:

Page	Description	Item
179	Flower Designer brads	112579
179	Filigree Designer brads	112577
179	Circle Designer brads	112571
179	Star Designer brads	112572

View the flyer for more information and some great scrapbooking ideas. 

Notice that the sets with the double asterisk are sets that are going on the retirement list on June 1st.

If you want to purchase any of these sets just go to my Online Store and watch the video if you'd like or click on the "Shop Now" button and go straight to the store.  You can set up your Customer Account and you're ready to go!  Or email me your order and I'll take care of it for you.  Once your merchandise is entered, you can choose your free brads for each stamp set on the list!

Don't forget, this offer ends tomorrow!!