Wednesday, February 19, 2020

{Digital Wednesday} Maria Does Cards with Digital Stamps Four Ways

Happy Wednesday! Digital Wednesday is back and every 3rd Wednesday in January, February, and March, STAMPgirl Maria will be sharing her creations spotlighting our digital images either by themselves or together with other STAMPlorations products. We'll draw one lucky crafter to win a $15 gift code -- randomly drawn from all comments left on the Digital Wednesday post for the month, as well as from the featured designer's blog.

STAMPgirl Maria created four cards using digi stamps four different ways.


  

  

Here's Maria with her cards:

Maybe you caught my digi stamp post last month where I made some coffee-to-go cup tags. As I mentioned, I'm pretty much a newbie to digital stamps. Although I love getting inky with actual stamps, there are some benefits to digi stamps - no shipping for one...no smudges, perfect coverage, image resizing, even layering images (though I've yet to give that a try).

My technology is limited to Microsoft Word and a Canon ink jet printer but there's still a lot you can do with just those two. If you're totally new to digital stamps, watch this video for a great introduction.

Today I have used the digi stamps Blossom Frames, Fluttery Garden and Cupful of Blooms for my projects.


First up, I wanted a really large image. I inserted the PNG file for the image (it's the rectangular frame with roses along its left edge) into a Word document. Then I clicked on the image and stretched it to enlarge it. It's got nice thick lines so this worked great. I trimmed the printed image down to the card front size I wanted and made a shaker card.

{Blossom Frames + Succulently die}


I decided to go all dramatic on this one. Copic colored only a piece I die cut from the printed panel and set it back behind the shaker. Added a German sentiment since this will be a birthday card for DS's girlfriend.



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For my second card I shrunk a digi stamp so it could be just an accent piece on my card.


{Blossom Frames + Manila Tag die5 Love Words dieSweetly}

You can imagine my joy when I stumbled upon this PP in my stash. A perfect complement to the digi image.



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So after enlarging and shrinking images on the previous cards, my next card uses an image just as it is (A2 size), I merely trimmed away the black lines of the frame.

{Fluttery Garden + Bloomful}

Had some fun coloring only the butterflies in this image. Have you ever been to a garden where those gorgeous blue butterflies flutter about? They were my inspiration.

I added interest by cutting out parts of their wings with an exacto knife and backing the "holes" with yellow cardstock.



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My final card was the result of an aha moment. I was printing digi stamps on PP (for my March post!), using cellophane tape to hold my PP in place on copy paper, and noticed the ink remained wet where it printed on the tape...

Maybe that would also be the case on vellum, I thought. And it was! Which means if you're quick you can heat emboss a digi stamp printed onto vellum! Just backed it with some pretty floral PP and voila! So quick and easy.

{Cupful of Blooms + Birthday Bash}

It may not be as perfect as with normal heat embossing, but I think it's pretty amazing!




Please visit my blog for more details about these projects and some tips I learned in the process.


STAMPlorations Digital Store

Blossom Frames



Fluttery Garden



Cupful of Blooms


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Maria's cards are simply drop-dead gorgeous and she has showcased digital stamps creatively! For a chance to win a $15 gift code to the STAMPlorations store, leave a comment here and on Maria's blog by March 8. We'll announce the winner in the February winners post on March 10.

In the meantime, check out our digital store -- we're having a Spring Sale...all digital stamps and printables are 20% off with the code TAKE20. And just for our our blog readers and followers, purchase 4 digital products and get 1 free (up to $5 value). After placing an order, reply to the order receipt or send an email to stamplorations@gmail.com and indicate the digital product (valued at $5 or less) you'd like for free. You'll receive a separate download link for it.

23 comments:

  1. Beautiful. I especially love the blue (my fav colour) butterflies one. 🦋

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  2. Beautiful cards! Makes me think I should give digital a try.

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  3. Yes, beautiful cards Maria...well done and thanks for sharing them with us..

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  4. Wow, these are all so gorgeous, Maria! I am one who enjoys digis. My printer won't let me emboss but I might try a different printer - the gold embossing looks amazing! Fabulous work!

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    1. Give it a try. I brought my embossing powder to my printer (my PC is not in my craft room) to be able to be quick about it, but the ink stayed "wet" enough long enough to sprinkle on the embossing powder right after it came out of the printer.

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  5. The butterflies look amazing! LOVE how you only colored some.

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  6. These are all soooo amazing! I Love you did the partial coloring!!!!!

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  7. Tons of inspiration and what amazing creations...I love them x. Thank you for the tips too x.

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  8. These are so pretty! Each one is beautiful, and I especially love the butterflies!

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  9. Gorgeous cards and such wonderful techniques for using digital images.

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  10. What an awesome way to show off digital images! I'm pretty limited in my ability to use digi images, but this makes me want to print some up!

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  11. Wonderful use of the digis - I have used the embossing on (printed) vellum for some years now - to get a good result with gold embossing, I have found it works best to change the colour of the image to yellow before printing.
    Blessing
    Maxine

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    1. Great idea! Then the gold would stay more true gold and less antique gold-ish.

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  12. You did a great job with the digital stamps - I have viewed others using the embossing with a digital - it is amazing - nice work! TFS

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  13. Beautiful and creative cards using digi stamps--thanks for all the tips.

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  14. Gorgeous cards! Love the one with butterflyes:)

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  15. I am so glad you shared the embossing technique! I tried it ages ago and loved it! The imperfections you get add to the arty feel of the project! I appreciate your sharing how you worked with the image in a photo editing software. This opens up so many doors for using digital images!

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  16. So many great techniques and awesome cards. Hugz

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