Artistic Avenger.com

My Little Allstar

A few weeks ago, my daughter’s cheerleading team had their very first cheerleading competition (this was during the weekend of Leadership – which is why I didn’t attend). Anyhow, they did an AMAZING job and came in second place (only one point out of first!).

I decided that I’d put together a page for my 2011 book which showcased this first of many competitions (we have another this weekend).

I used My Digital Studio to make this fun page – My Digital Studio is so easy and fun to use! After I made this, I was inspired to make another fun project, a great banner for the club!

I’ve found that fun foam makes the best pennants! It is easy to use, easy to store and doesn’t rip. So, I made this out of different colours of foam sheets I got at a local dollar store. I used the pennant die and cut the large one out of green and the small out of white. I adhered them together with Crystal Effects. The letters are cut with the Big Shot and the Serif Alphabet using black foam sheets.

I first put jumbo eyelets through the side of each pennant and then  threaded some Basic Gray satin ribbon through the pennants. Between each, I hot glued on a ribbon of Basic Black striped grosgrain and a very shimmery star.

Remember those Ho Ho Ho sheets that were made of chipboard and silver sparkles? Well, I kept some of the pieces of those sheets and used them to cut the stars – they are cut using the Big Shot and the Stars #2 die.

So, if you’re in Abbotsford, BC this weekend and want to come out and support us, let me know! We’d be super happy to have as many as possible in our cheering (no pun intended) section!

Have a great day.

Products used on this project – CLICK HERE to buy them NOW!

Big Shot, Stars #2 die, Pennant Die, Serif Alphabet Die, Crop-a-Dile, Jumbo Eyelets, Basic Black striped grosgrain, My Digital Studio.

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Gettin’ Back to School

This week I’ve been inspired to play a bit on My Digital Studio. Have you played on this awesome software lately? Really there are so many things you can do with it.

Instead of handmaking all our holiday cards this year, I used My Digital Studio and then added a little rhinestone bling when they arrived. At first I was feeling bad about that but then when they were delivered, I was thrilled! I could personalize them so much with the software and was thrilled with the results.

For this project, I decided that I was going to put together some pages of special events in my kid’s lives for 2010. My goal is to get a book together for 2010 that I can give to my parents. We’ll see.

Did you know there is a site you can visit to learn more about My Digital Studio and to see some great projects? Go to www.mydigitalstudio.net and sign up. It’s free and there are some great tips, tricks and samples. Make sure you swing on by my page (carrie gaskin) to see my holiday cards from this year!

Happy Sunday!

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It’s All in the Box

Did you know that you can get a box pattern digital download for My Digital Studio? You can! And it’s super cool! Here are the two options you can choose from:

So, for the workshop I had last night, I knew I wanted to use this to make a super cute project for my hostess. Here is what the box looked like:

I printed the template onto some Wild Wasabi cardstock. I cut it out and stamped it with the Simple Snowflake. Along the bottom I added a strip of Candy Cane Designer Fabric with some 1/4″ Real Red Grosgrain and a Baja Breeze button from the Candy Cane buttons.

I added a little scallop circle of Real Red around the opening loop and then added a little rhinestone brad to highlight the open/close area.

For the top, I used matching colours and added a Whisper White snowflake with a little Medium Jewelry Tag in Blushing Bride. I stamped “merry” from Tiny Tags on it first and added in on with a Basic Rhinestone.

Lastly, I had to figure out what to put inside. Since the box came to 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 square, I decided that I’d make a little holiday tag kit with 2″ x 2″ square tags. Here is what the set looks like:

So I bundled 10 little tags together, wound some silver cording around a piece of cardstock and I added an Old Olive Craft Stampin’ Spot and a little holiday stamp.

This would make a perfect teacher gift or hostess gift for a friend who loves to stamp!

Thanks for stopping by and checking this project out. Have a great day!

Products used on this project – CLICK HERE to buy them NOW!

Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Blushing Bride, Whisper White.

Ink: Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride.

Stamps: Simple Snowflake, Tiny Tags.

Accessories: My Digital Studio, Medium Jewelry Tag Punch, Snowflake Punch, 2 3/8″ Scallop Circle punch, 1 3/4″ circle punch, Candy Cane Designer Fabric, Candy Cane buttons, Basic Rhinestones, 1/4″ Real Red grosgrain.

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Introducing….

Our new family member – BEN!

As a family we’d been discussing rescuing a dog from a local shelter. We’d been trying to get our kids to show us responsibility enough that we thought they’d be ready to help in the raising of a pet.

Recently, I’d been looking at Petfinder as there are SO many dear animals that are looking for homes. With my sister’s help, I targeted my search to a few specific rescues and found two lovely dogs to go and visit. When we arrived at the shelter, both had pending adoptions. I was so set on getting an older dog so I was pretty bummed. I knew they had a pup named Ben on site so I thought, “hey, doesn’t hurt to look”. And boy, am I glad I did!

As soon as the kids and I entered his sleeping area, he crawled right into my lap and was so settled. He did the same for Avery. We put in the paperwork immediately and almost exactly 24 hours later we got the news that he was ours.

After a very sleepless night, we arrived at the shelter the next morning right after it opened to get our new son/brother/nephew/grandson and most importantly, friend.

I want so much to thank my sister Jody and my friend Melissa for their support and best wishes during this process, it really meant so much!

Oh, the project itself is made using My Digital Studio. I used a pre-done template and changed the colours, paper and added embellishments.

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Happy Holidays!

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From Disneyland

I’ve started to make my Disneyland 2009 book pages. I’m trying to do a few every night but WOW, have we taken a lot of photos! How do you pick?

This photo was taken yesterday in the sunshine (thank goodness because it’s been pretty cold and rainy).

I think the most favourite part of this trip has been visiting with the characters, my kids (all three) are just loving it!

We ran into Chip and Dale yesterday right after Avery’s make over at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique and Owen completed his Jedi training. They were in top form.

The page itself is quite easy really. The My Digital Studio software is so easy to use! I’ve been using the Happy Day template and changing them out a bit on each page. On this one, I took the happy birthday over lay off and added two large snowflakes from Snow Burst. I changed their colour to while and then decreased the opacity so they blend nicely into the background. I added one more but kept it white and added a shadow and a Brocade Blue brad to the centre (also added a drop shadow).

I threw in a couple of elements from Winter Post as this just looked like a postcard to me.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Scrappin’ is Good!

My daughter and I decided today to play with My Digital Studio. The weather outside is horrible and, with my son and husband at soccer, we had a bunch of time on our hands.

We decided to go with a photo only layout that we could personalize and decided to make a page using some photos we took at our City’s annual Spirit of the Sea festival.

The background of the page is Bashful Blue distressed and I thought it looked just perfect for a seaside festival feel. We matted out each photo in a different colour and made them a bit larger.

We added a drop shadow under our layered title and some journalling down the right side.

Generally I’d leave the rest blank but Avery wanted to add something else. So we used the sailboat from Nursery Necessities and decreased the opacity so they were very light . We used Real Red, Old Olive and Bashful Blue. Of course, they are much larger than the stamp itself and that is one of the joys of using this program – they can be any size you want!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Gettin’ Digital with October Specials

I have recently had more time to play with My Digital Studio and I think I’m ready to share a project. I’m not sure why it makes me a bit nervous – maybe because it’s so new to me? Not sure. Anyhow, here is a Halloween card I made last night:

Yes, it’s typical and very simple but it really took me minutes and I had no wasted cardstock! Not only is My Digital Studio a great tool for putting projects together to print but it is a fantastic design tool helping you plan upcoming projects before diving into your paper supply!

Here is a great video to learn more – just click on this link!

Now, onto some fantastic October specials and the first includes My Digital Studio.

Stampin’ Up! has put together a Digital + Starter Kit. In it, you get some amazing items which are extremely user friendly as well as the My Digital Studio software for only $239 (Canadian) – worth $385! Here is what is included:

• My Digital Studio software
• Part Hearty and Petal Pizzazz stamp sets
• Whisper White cardstock (8 1/2 x 11)
• Earth Elements Assorted cardstock (8 1/2 x 11)
• Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, and Real Red Stampin’ Write Markers
• Chocolate Chip 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon
• Button Latte Designer Buttons
• Stampin’ Dimensionals
• Mini Glue dots
• Snail Adhesive
• Business supplies (product catalogues, order forms, training DVD and other supplies)

You have until March 31, 2010 to join my team with this Starter Kit!

Also, Stampin’ Up! has brought back their Deals of the Week – click on the sidebar widget to link directly there. Right now there are great punch deals!

So many great things to share this month – Stampin’ Up! has also added a Clearance Rack to it’s store. Here you’ll find great products at over 70% off!

Oh, and one more thing….don’t forget that hostess special. If you host a workshop with $330 in sales, as hostess you can choose and item for only $14 from the Holiday Mini – My Digital Studio and Hostess sets not included. Or, if you have sales of $525, you can receive My Digital Studio for 50% off!

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