A garden of digital delights

Those of you who visit my blog regularly will know that I am very much a stamper who enjoys playing with paper, rubber and ink (just like my blog subtitle says!).  Having said that, I have a background in computer graphics so I have always been comfortable with the digital side of things, which has also played a part here on my blog, through the digital cutting files I design and give away.

The other day I noticed that Serif Craft Artist 2 Professional was on offer for £10.  I've owned other Serif software in the past, so I already knew that they have a reputation for creating extremely full-featured software at a great price.  Given that, I decided to splash out the £10 and give Craft Artist a whirl.

To say that I was blown away by it is a complete understatement!  This is a major piece of software that would cost many times it's price if it was from another manufacturer.  Even at it's regular full price of £24.95 it's one heck of a bargain.  It would take me an age to list all the things it can do - probably better, if you're interested, to see the YouTube introduction to it here.

Of course, if you're digitally crafting, you need digital supplies.  Happily, the internet is full of freebies ready to be downloaded and used, all you need to do is start googling!  Serif themselves have a site called DaisyTrail which has hundreds of digikits to use with the software, including more than 50 that are completely free to get you started.  When you sign up to the site (free) they also email you a £5 voucher to spend in the shop. DaisyTrail also has a forum offering support, tips, tutorials, challenges and competitions for users of Craft Artist, well worth joining.

That leads us nicely to the real topic of this post - I made my first ever 12x12 page this week, and it's digital!  There was a contest on DaisyTrail where you had to make a page incorporating a bicycle somewhere.  This page was my entry and it was also the first thing I made with the software.  When I started out using Craft Artist I was hopping about a bit aimlessly so I decided I'd set about actually making something and learn as I progressed.  This piece was inspired by a piece I made last new year's day.

Anyway, I've yammered on long enough!  If any of you have been thinking of giving digi-crafting a try, you can't go far wrong with Craft Artist 2.  There's even a free cut down version you can download to try it out.  Look for Craft Artist Compact on their web site.

(Oh, I've just realised this reads a bit like a sponsored post, lol  I have had no contact with Serif and they are not paying me in anyway for this post.  It's quite simply that I love the software!)

Tell your story

The theme over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge this week is "Artsy Stamps".  I decided to use some of the hand drawn stamps by Brett Weldele for Tim Holtz. Most of the stamps of men that we see tend to be from reproductions of old engravings or advertisements so I love these for being a little bit different.  I'm sure you must have some artsy stamps somewhere, why not enter this week's Challenge - you could be the winner of a $50 voucher to shop at Simon Says Stamp.

I started by stamping the central figure with Memento Tuxedo Black ink (I planned to use promarkers and Memento ink doesn't bleed with alcohol pens).  I stamped him again on scrap paper, cut him out and used it as a mask to protect him while I stamped the two other men.  Finally I masked off all 3 in the same way and stamped the crackle in the background.

I used distress inks and a water brush to paint the individual shapes in the crackle, it took a while but I really like the effect!  I used promarkers to colour the green ties and faces of the figures but not the clothing.  I used red and beige sheets from the Seasonal card stack and stamped the figures again, cutting out their clothes and paper-piecing them onto the card.  I used a white pen to highlight the stopwatch and a yellow promarker to colour the case.  Finally I stamped and cut out the sentiment and fixed it in place and mounted the piece on black card, then onto my 5x5 card base.

I made this a couple of weeks ago and didn't notice until earlier today (and others that I've asked didn't notice either) that I'd forgotten to do something with the central man's hand!  Did you spot it? :)

Supplies I used included:

InLinkz.com

I also used: Mustard Seed Ink Pad, Cracks and Specks stamp set.

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

Don't forget, Simon Says Stamp have a great Facebook page too!  Check them out here!

Thinking of you. And plants.

The theme over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge this week is "Botanical Bliss".  A great theme, but completely outside of my usual comfort zone, and all the more fun because of that!  It's refreshing to occasionally step outside of the things we usually do and try something different and that was certainly true for me this week.  Why not get botanically busy yourself - you could be the winner of a $50 voucher to shop at Simon Says Stamp.

It was a treat this week to break out some stamps that I have owned for quite a while yet never used - Tim Holtz's Urban Tapestry and Nature's Moments.  I started out by stamping the foliage in the corner using Versamark and then embossed it with white detail embossing powder.  I blended distress inks onto my background, using Fired Brick, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint and Salty Ocean.

The black stems were stamped with Archival ink, as was the sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp "Banner Sayings" stamp set.  The single red flower was coloured with a Ruby Promarker.  I edged the panel with some blended Gathered Twigs distress ink and mounted the whole thing onto a black matte before fixing it to my card front.

So that was my trip this week into the wilderness outside of my comfort zone.  In the end the trip was very enjoyable, I heartily recommend it! :)

Supplies I used included:

InLinkz.com

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

Don't forget, Simon Says Stamp have a great Facebook page too!  Check them out here!

Exploding Boxes

Time to upload more free cutting files - I must say I've really been neglecting these of late, so I apologise for that!

There are 4 designs available, 4, 5, 6 and 8 sided boxes with lids.  The download links below include SVG, DXF and JPG versions (apart from the 8 sided box).  I've included SVG and DXF versions of the 8 sided box, which was designed by Annette over at Scrap Happens Here, and converted to digital form by myself.  If you want instructions on how to cut it by hand, you can find it on her blog here.

As ever, please don't pass these files around.  They will be permanently free here so please direct others to come here to download them.  Notice the new tab at the top of this page?  "Cutting Files" will take you to the full list of available files.

Instructions for assembly:

1. Cut out a lid and as many box pieces as you need, 1 for each layer. Remember to make each box piece smaller than the last, so that they nest easily inside each other.

2. Score and fold along the dotted lines, then flatten again.

3. Placing the largest piece on the bottom, apply adhesive as shown, and fix the next piece in place, centered on the bottom piece. Continue until you have a stack of box pieces, largest at the bottom, smallest at the top.

4. Fold the lid as shown and adhere tabs in place.
5. Fold up the sides of your box and place the lid on top. You're ready to start decorating and embellishing your exploding box!

The files are available as SVG, DXF and JPG, which can be used with most digital cutters.  For those of you who may want to print them out and cut with scissors, the JPG file can be printed from most image/photo editing programs.