THE BAD: So if you follow/like/fan my Facebook Page (Stamping & Scrapping with Donna) you already know that I didn't make it to my Leadership Conference in Nashville this week after all. Family stuff was piling up and we decided this just wasn't the right time for a trip out of the country. Gotta be honest here - that was a VERY difficult decision to make! : (
THE GOOD: Instead of moping around the studio tonight, picturing all my travel buddies having a grand time at Stampin' Up!'s wrap up party tonight (stamping, demos, food, music; you get the picture - sigh) I've called my downline Julie right here in Guelph and asked if I can crash her class tonight .. she graciously said yes and suddenly the day seems a little bit brighter - I get to stamp with good friends after all! We're making a desktop calendar tonight and yes, I WILL post pictures from the class!
THE WONDERFUL: Speaking of desktop calendars, I realized this morning that I never did show you what I made for hubby's stocking gift! Using My Digital Studio and Stampin' Up!'s new desktop calendar template and photos of our visit last summer to New Brunswick's Botanical Gardens, here's what I came up with:
I had the calendar printed through Stampin' Up!'s professional printing service, and I am really impressed with the quality of materials used - the spine and easel are very strong, and the card stock is a semi gloss that will stand up to finger prints, etc throughout the year. Plus, it folds flat for mailing!
To make the titles pop on the cover, I used a digital image of the Modern Label Punch, then I just adjusted the size and opacity of the punch and placed it behind my text boxes.
The template comes with the monthly titles and dates (I really like the font they used this year!) I added a photo behind the month & weekdays, then I slid the opacity scale up and down until I could read the words easily without the photo interfering. As a final step, I added a white strip as a top layer just below the month - gives it a little pizazz, don't you think?
While the calendar is facing hubby on his desk, everyone walking up to him will see a coordinating photo facing them.
I wanted to use really bright and cheery photos for January's page. And it's so easy to put a photo inside a photo - it took only a few seconds! I dragged my first photo into place so that it would cover the whole page, then I placed a smaller photo in the corner, clicked on "add mat", changed the default mat colour from basic black to whisper white and presto!
All in all, I think the project only took me an hour, and most of that was deciding which photos I would use in each month. I experimented a bit and clicked on the "undo" arrow a few dozen times until I liked what I saw. Then it was "send to publisher", enter my credit card number and I was done.
Here's March, front and back views (I thought this photo was perfect for St. Patrick's Day!)
I'm pleased with the way this calendar turned out, and now we have a constant reminder of the wonderful day we spent roaming this beautiful park with our cameras ... that's a favourite pastime of ours.
(Even if hubby doesn't believe it, all of the photos in this calendar were actually taken by me ... not by the professional in the family!)
Hmm, I wonder if we'll still be taking so many nature photos once our first grandbaby arrives in the spring ... probably not, lol!
If you want to try out Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio software to see if it's your cup of tea, give me a shout and we'll set up a time to play with it in my studio. There are also lots of tutorials available for specific tricks of the trade - visit Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio online community for inspiration - it's free for everyone; just click on the link on the right side of this screen.
cheers
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