Another Way to "Color" Digital Stamps

Hi everyone! It's Cathy here with a post for you today!  It's been a while!!  Life has taken on some new directions for me and crafting has not had very much time in my life. It feels so good to be getting some creative time again!  And for that I am really thankful!  I got to play with a brand new digital stamp by ArtyPants Digital Stamps called Butterflies and Filigrees, come on that name alone shouts "beautiful"!!  There are so many things that you can do with her digital stamps. She includes a layered file too! So you can clip digital papers or colors to them. You can incorporate them right into your scrapbook or photos designs!

I chose to make a card with this stamp. I brought the .png image into my Silhouette Designer software and resized it for a 4.25"x5.5" card.  I offset it to allow an area for the ribbon. Then I print and cut the card.

So. I'm not so great at using markers to color in digital stamps. But I thought I would share some things I did with this stamp to create a shiny (wish I could photograph the glitter better so you could see just how shiny!) card with texture, color and a bit of grunge.  I got out my copics, glitter and embossing materials.  I used some transparent glitter on the main filigree frame in the design. I wanted to keep it kind of grungy, but add a little dressy to it.

I also traced the 2 butterflies and created cutting shapes for those. I cut them out of vellum.

Each of the butterflies got a sparing layer of glitter on the card face and a rim of opaque glitter on the edge of the cut vellum. I set the vellum on the card with the wings lifted.  The greenery in the stamp was enhanced with color and texture from some gritty moss embossing sand.

Hope this gives you some ideas of how you can use digital stamps in your designs!

Designer Showcase: Sparkle!

One of the many addictions that scrapbookers can have, is to things that sparkle. Be it beads, bling, gems, glitter, foil, you name!  For this Designer Showcase, we are going to be sharing things that sparkle. So sit back and enjoy. And you might want to grab your sunglasses, this is going to be one bright post!

Let's get this party started!  Cindy created this darling birthday card. To bring out the shine, she glues sequins on the background paper like dots!  What a clever idea!  It adds detail and design to the background - which goes perfectly with the polka dot cake! And it adds glimmer!  But she didn't stop there. The ribbon is glittery and then she added some Stickles to the cake too!

Cindy also made this brilliant card. She started with a shimmery gold paper and dressed it up with dots made of Stickles.  The ribbon wrapped around it is glittery. The sentiment is a gold shiny sticker!  It's so cute!

I've got some holiday altered items to share with you. This first one is a wooden box that I dressed up to hold our Christmas cards. I used digital papers to decorate the inside and out of the box.  Along the edges, I painted, then coated it with glitter.  To keep all that glitter from flaking off, I sealed it with Mod Podge.

This one is just right for this season. Last year I decoupaged a pumpkin. Not a real pumpkin!  One of those carve-able fake ones that you can get at a craft store.  I used some glimmer digital papers to cover the pumpkin. To add even more sparkle, I added some bling!  It's a rhinestone sticker flourish.

Anupama has shared this dazzling page with us. First just take this page in. There is a lot to appreciate!  I love the way she has prepped the background paper. The paint wash tones down the pattern a bit and allows her to build a stunning page on it.  The flourishes add some interest to either side of the photo.  There is some masking and texture and netting going on there too! Even some upcycled packaging from Prima.  The bird is glittered up and blingy!  I love the way the flourishes blend out from the extraction of the hand with the henna on it. But that's not the coolest part.  Check out those baubles dangling about the gorgeous flower.  Guess what they are?  Earrings!!

Here's a closer look. What an ingenious idea!  Anupama said she got this earrings for about $1 US (SCORE!). You could use earrings that have lost their mate, or old costume jewelry.  But can you imagine using a special heirloom from an ancestor on a page about them? Wouldn't that be a radiant idea?

These are just a few ways that you can add a bit of luminous, lustrous, dazzling shine to your pages and projects.