In Color comparison... and tutorial to add the new colours to My Digital Studio

Let’s talk colour again today, shall we? In Colors to be precise. 

I have now come full circle and fallen in love with the In Colors. My full set of ink pads and cardstock arrived yesterday and I realised that they are “dirty” colours, which appeals to me (I still mourn the loss of Summer Starfruit).

But every year there are comparisons with existing and old colours, with people wondering why SU has come out with something so similar to X, Y or Z. 

The reason, of course, is fashion. Trends come and go and these colours are bang on trend. Yes, Mint Macaron (have you been practising your French accents?) may be similar to Sage Shadow from the past, but it’s not exactly the same. If you’re not the pedantic sort, are happy with “nearly the same” and still have your old Sage Shadow ink pad, go ahead and use it; it will probably work pretty well with Mint Macaron cardstock and go quite nicely with the other new colours. 

But if, like me, you’re a pedant, “nearly the same” won’t be good enough and your Sage Shadow ink pad will be long gone. 

If you still have all your old ink pads, though, and want to compare, I’ve done a handy chart, so you can see where these new colours differ from previous shades. Please bear in mind that these are screen colours which will vary according to your monitor. 

And while we’re on the subject of colour, several people have asked me how to get the new colours into My Digital Studio. As you are probably aware, MDS has been discontinued and will no longer be updated, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop using it. 

(In the interests of honesty, I didn’t know how to get the new colours into MDS either, but a quick email to Demonstrator Support put me on the right lines.) 

So, here’s how to get the new In Colors into your version of MDS. You can’t name them (or, if you can, I haven’t worked out how!) but you can save them into Favourites, so you can access them easily. I plan to delete them as they retire, so that I never have more than 10 favourites in there, which should enable me to work out which is which quite easily. 

• Take a screen grab of the In Colors from the PDF of the catalogue (this will be available to customers on 2nd June) and save it into the relevant pictures folder
• In a new MDS project, drag this image onto the page
• Next, drag a punch shape onto the project and click Match Color
• Select Watermelon Wonder, as shown in the below image, and click OK

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• Click Color Fill and you’ll see the Preview panel (above, left) is Watermelon Wonder - at the bottom right, you have the option to Add to Favorites
• Repeat for the remaining four In Colors
• Now, when you want to access these colours, click Color Fill and then, at the top right, click Favorites; your five new colours should be there (see pic, above right)
• Also, you can discover the RGB values of any of the colours, for instance for use in another programme, such as Photoshop. Simply select your colour and then, along the top, click RGB to see the values. 

My Digital Monday: my feet!

We haven’t had a My Digital Monday for a while. If I’m honest, I haven’t really done much digital scrapbooking for a while. Ok, if I’m being REALLY honest, I have only done one page this month.  But I am using My Digital Studio for lots of other things, so I am still keeping my hand in. 

Here’s the page I created a couple of weeks ago which I was reminded about at Stampin’ Up!® Regional Training recently, layout CASEd from somewhere but I’ve forgotten where. 

I had to chuckle to myself when Charlotte from the European head office was talking about Project Life and how you can document anything you like. She said she’d even seen a page somebody had created about their feet. I knew it wasn’t my page, as I hadn’t shared it with anyone, but it did at least make me feel that it wasn’t quite such a weird topic for a scrapbook page after all, even if Charlotte wouldn’t necessarily agree!

My feet are a cause for concern right now as in just a few weeks’ time, I am taking part in the Pink Ribbonwalk at Chatsworth with three members of my Stampin’ Up!® team. It’s a 10-mile walk, which normally would be a bit of a stretch for me but not beyond the realms of possibility. A week in the Lake District, however, has resulted in a painful foot (suspected plantar fasciitis if you need further facts). I’m having physio, doing my exercises and taking it steady, but I’m really concerned about giving it a 10-mile hammering. 

Wish me luck – and, if you’re so inclined, please sponsor me at www.justgiving.com/helenstamps. We’re raising money for Breast Cancer Care, a worthy cause, I’m sure you’ll agree. 

All packed up and ready!

I have a class here this evening which should be really fun; a small group (necessitated by the size of my table) will be playing with the cute little stamp set, Springtime Hello. Everybody is getting a stamp set in their kit so there will be no waiting around for stamps at least!

I’ll start showing you the projects on Sunday, if I get time to post – I will be heading off to the Food & Craft Fair at Broomfield Hall, so please pop into say hello as I will be delighted to see a friendly face! 

Here are this evening’s kit bags, all packed up and ready to be delved into. I used some of the Brights DSP Patterns Stack and made a name label in My Digital Studio. The finishing touches were a punched butterfly and a paper flower made using the gorgeous new Spiral Flower Die. 

After my initial reticence about this die, I had another play and fell in love. Yes, another U-turn to add to the growing list! So I just had to order it in my final Sale-a-Bration order of the year. You do really need a hot glue gun with this die and I realised that my hatred for hot glue guns was deeply unfair, as I had only ever used a cheap one from Home Bargains. Once I’d had a go with a good quality model, I was hooked - so I’ve ordered one of these today, too. 

Today I learned that it’s not possible to mend your rubber gloves with hot glue! I cannot bear to wash up without rubber gloves, as I have such dry skin, and was horrified when the inevitable hole appeared (always the right hand, so if anyone has a collection of right gloves to go with my array of left gloves we could arrange a swap!) and I had no spares available. 

Nothing ventured, I thought, so I attempted a repair with my (cheap Home Bargains) glue gun. It lasted for the washing of two cups and a spoon, then simply floated away. 

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My Digital Monday birthday card

It’s My Digital Monday again and here’s a birthday card I made using some of the new items I’ve downloaded for My Digital Studio recently. The DSP is Sweet Sorbet and comes from the SAB digital collection which I earned free when I ordered supplies for a forthcoming class (yes, demonstrators get Sale-a-Bration freebies, too!). 

The candle stamp isn’t included with the original software but it was only £1.50 to add it on. Take a look in my online store at the digital downloads available. The larger collections are several pounds, but there are some for mere pence… and some are even free! If you already use design software, do check out our downloads anyway, as they can be used in other programmes. Download a free or very cheap one to try out if you’re not convinced. 

For this card, I started with one of the card templates provided with the software and then pretty much pulled it apart. I think all that’s left are the two dotted lines!

I practised colouring in a stamp with different colours, just as you would do with a real stamp and markers. This couldn’t be easier in MDS, especially as, unlike with real stamps and markers, you can hit “undo” if you make a mistake! You can change the size of your “brush” so you can colour detailed areas so you can achieve perfection… which, with my card blown up to fill my computer screen, I can see that I haven’t! Just spotted two little bits that aren’t coloured as I intended. 

This strip is made up of two stamps; you can repeat images and then line them up perfectly… easier than using a Stamp-a-ma-jig! 

For the greeting, I “coloured” the letter i (which was actually a small candle) with Very Vanilla so it didn’t show up on the background, then replaced it with one of the candles from the main image. You can crop stamped images, too, so you can just show the area that you want. 

I personally wouldn't print this card out to send as I still prefer real cardstock for birthday cards, but this would be great to send as an e-card if you're running late.

Colours used: Pool Party, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Calypso Coral, Baked Brown Sugar, Bermuda Bay

MDS: Sale-a-Bration Sweet Sorbet scrapbook page

It’s My Digital Monday and here’s another 12x12 scrapbook page I created in My Digital Studio. Soon I’ll have enough to justify getting them printed. 

For this page I had fun with the new Sale-a-Bration Digital Ensemble called One Big Sale-A-Bration 2014. This is a free download with a £45 spend and is packed with features. You get:

• See Ya Later stamp brush set
• Petal Parade stamp brush set
• You’re Lovely stamp brush set
• Decorative Dots stamp brush
• Banner Blast stamp brush set
• Sweet Sorbet DSP patterns
• 14-piece Sweet Sorbet accessory pack

Yes, it’s a pretty comprehensive kit!

I was inspired by a scrapbook page I’d pinned on Pinterest ages ago, but mine doesn’t have the same vintage feel - partly because the Sweet Sorbet products are so fresh and clean and partly because vintage looks take a bit longer to create … for me at the moment, anyway. 

I couldn’t find a Word Window punch in my MDS punch collections – somebody please guide me if they’re there! – so created my own using a Whisper White rectangle, with the corners rounded. Then I duplicated it to make sure they were all the same size. I’m pretty pleased with the page, although the temptation to keep going back to tweak things is hard to resist!

My Digital Monday - spaghetti page

I’m still training myself up in My Digital Studio, using other people’s projects as inspiration. Here I’ve copied a page I found on MyDigitalStudio.net, although there was one aspect which I couldn’t quite work out how to do; how did she tilt the main image within the rounded corner box?

I did purchase a banner punch for this project but now I’m not sure if it was there already, as I found a whole new section of punches I didn’t know about! It was only 65p so I’m not losing sleep over it. 

I haven’t put a date on this yet because I haven’t worked it out. The photo says January 2009 but that’s not accurate as it was taken on holiday in the Lake District and we’ve never been in winter. 

MDS Selfies scrapbook page

This digital scrapbook page was sooooooo quick and easy to create. This time I learned how to line up pictures, creating a sense of order that I always find so difficult to achieve in “real”, paper scrapbooking. 

For the page, I started with a Basic Black background, then added one of my favourite Vintage Overlays, a stamp from the Autumn Elements set and a couple of splatters. Pictures, title, journalling… done. 

Supplies: My Digital Studio, basic version, no add-ons

MDS chalkboard effect snow scrapbook page

I have another digital creation for you today. I am totally in love with My Digital Studio, which makes scrapbooking so easy. I still love playing with paper but I em enjoying the freedom that digital scrapping brings, as you can move things around again and again with no fear of ruining the photo! It’s also encouraging me to scrap more photos. Instead of just the “best” images, I am happily scrapbooking the everyday, which has to be a good thing, doesn’t it?

These everyday snaps cry out to be explained, so this time there was no excuse for forgetting the journalling! After all, what self-respecting mother would allow her daughter outside in the snow with bare feet and wet hair? I assure you that no children were harmed in the making of this scrapbook page, and the daughter suffered no ill-effects from her brief foray into the cold. 

In my efforts to teach myself how to use My Digital Studio (and it really is easy to learn), I am CASEing other people’s scrapbook pages. This is really helpful because rather than sitting here thinking “I wonder if…”, I challenge myself to find out “how” instead. 

This was a CASE of  this page by Heather Summers. I learned how to produce the effect of a torn edge and also how to recolour a piece of Designer Series Paper. I created the chalkboard effect by starting with a Basic Black background and adding a vintage overlay in Whisper White, with the opacity significantly reduced to make it less harsh. The fonts were downloaded from the web; just search “free chalkboard fonts” and you’ll discover rich pickings!

MDS scrapbook page

I’m back with another My Digital Studio (MDS) scrapbook page, again made entirely using the free trial software with no add-ons. It actually makes sense to start off with the bare minimum as it allows you to focus on the techniques used rather than be distracted by extra stamp sets and background papers.

In an attempt to hone my skills, I have been CASEing a few MDS creations by other people and, using this page as inspiration, came up with this 12x12 page. Still no journalling, but I’m working on that, I promise!

The background is Soft Sky, with strips of DSP from the Delight in the Day kit. The word “BEyouTIFUL” is a stamp (digital, of course) and one my discoveries while creating this page was that you can colour stamps with different colours, just as you would with markers on a real stamp. So I coloured it with Basic Gray, then changed the “you” to Real Red.

Another exciting discover was the ability to round the corners of an element. This was simply a case of a right click and hitting “round corners”.

I kept the page simple, in line with the original, and because it’s all too easy to keep adding element after element and losing sight of the photo.

If you haven’t tried My Digital Studio yet, I dare you to have a go! You can download it for free (30-day free trial) at my online store, here.  It’s quite easy to learn to use and there are lots of free tutorials out there on the internet.

And, in case you’re concerned that I’m leaving paper behind, do not worry – I even have a paper scrapbooking project to show you soon. I just have to find some photos to put in it!

PS, if you know me in real life, please don’t tell my son I used this photo here! He’s unlikely to see it so hopefully I’m safe. He doesn’t look like this any more, needless to say, so won’t exactly get recognised in the street!

My Digital Studio (MDS) - first scrapbook page

Have you downloaded My Digital Studio yet? I have been playing around with this design software for about a week now and think I’ve got the hang of it. It’s really quite straightforward and there are lots of tips and tutorials out there in blogland. 

Here’s my very first scrapbook page – what do you think? Interestingly, I noticed that I still struggled to make space for journalling. Will have to look into that for future pages. 

This page is made entirely using the free trial software, so didn’t cost me a penny, although obviously there will be printing costs at some point.  

I used Marina Mist, Baked Brown Sugar and Midnight Muse as my colour scheme. The background paper is Downtown Grunge, which I recoloured in Pool Party. And then I went a bit mad with the Vintage Overlays – these are my favourite stamps in the software so far!

The event captured in the images is a visit to Mwnt beach in Wales in 2006*. Someone had made some fabulous sand art so my daughter, who was 9 at the time (really? Was this really seven years ago?*) decided to have a go herself and created this amazing sea monster. It attracted a lot of attention!

But, like all sand art, it was doomed to disappear and, by evening, the sea began reclaiming the monster which was sad, but inevitable. 

I honestly think MDS will be a the answer to my scrapbooking problems. I tend to neglect scrapbooking for various reasons, the main one being that it means getting photos printed! I don’t feel it’s worth getting just a few printed, so it becomes a big job, then I have dozens of photos which need scrapbooking and it all becomes a bit daunting. 

When I do finally get round to scrapbooking, pages take me so long to create because I’m always apprehensive about sticking things down in case it’s not straight or doesn’t look right. Silly really, as it goes against everything I’m always telling my customers!

So, for me, I think digital scrapbooking might just be the future. Rest assured, I won’t be leaving my scissors and glue behind – I still love playing around with paper and card stock and buttons and ribbons for cards and other projects… but My Digital Studio might just allow me to get some scrapbooking done and photos into albums. I plan to create some mini-albums, too, as I think these will be perfect to represent a special event or holiday. Watch this space!

*Edited to add: It turns out it was September 2009. I KNEW it wasn’t seven years ago but hubby seemed quite convinced. So daughter was 12, which makes more sense. The beauty of MDS is that I can go back and amend the date very easily.