{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 die, 5 Love Words die, Sweetly}

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 [email protected] and indicate the digital product (valued at $5 or less) you'd like for free. You'll receive a separate download link for it.