Little Cutie!

Whew!!!  I can't believe it's almost the middle of August already!!  The sports teams on campus start arriving back today, and we'll be welcoming the new Freshman class in a little over two weeks!  Getting time to create for 'fun' hasn't been happening as often as I like this summer, but when I was at Convention last month, one of the Stampin' Up! Artisans (Cindy Schuster) mentioned to me a MDS Virtual Digital Crop (on Facebook!) that she and another demonstrator (Monika Davis) put on.  I just happened to notice in my News Feed the other night that they were doing a crop Tuesday night (August 12), and I wasn't working that night (I know!  Shocker, right?!) so I was lucky enough to join in!!

It's a pretty low-key crop, and it was really the PERFECT avenue for me to do some creating using My Digital Studio!!  Cindy & Monika each posted a challenge during the evening, and folks had until the next night to post their creations in the album on Facebook group page!!  There were some CUTE pages and projects posted, but somehow, I lucked out and the page I had done (for Cindy's challenge) was selected as one of the 'Picks of the Crop' for the night!!  I will admit whole-heartedly that I picked a totally adorable subject matter (my great-nephew Liam), so there is a good chance that part of the 'awwww' factor on the page was simply due to his cuteness!!

So it started out with Cindy posting a sketch to base the page off of (I absolutely LOVE using sketches to design pages--it's SUCH a great tool, and if I'm hitting a creative wall, it helps to jump-start my creativity, too!!). Here's the sketch:

Image courtesy of MDS Virtual Digital Crop

In addition to the sketch, Cindy posted her sample as well as adding a couple additional guidelines:
#1 Use only one download. It can be a digital kit or ensemble kit. (basically, the kit should have BOTH Designer Series Papers and stamp brush sets in them, and possibly embellishments)
#2 Use a punch filled with a photo--any shape.
#3 Use one font type in your text boxes that are the Title and Journaling.
And here's my completed page:

I think my biggest challenge initially was deciding which photos I wanted to use for the page!  But once I figured that out, everything else just seemed to fall into place!  I decided to use the Oh Baby Photobook Template (129350) kit (it was a weekly deal a couple weeks back--while the kit has been available since January 2012, I just got it, so it's a 'new to me' kit in my library).  I seemed to luck out in that the designer series papers in the kit seemed to compliment the photos I had decided to use perfectly!!  

So Guideline #1 met.  As for the shape of the photos, I decided to go with the 'Friendship Preserves - frame'.  Loved how they looked, and added a Sahara Sand border and a drop shadow on each photo (LOVE that I can insert photos in punches and aren't limited to the circle/square photo box shapes!).  Guideline #2 met.  

And finally, the text.  The word 'Cutie' is actually from the Oh Baby stamp brush set.  BUT, if you go looking for that word, you won't find it!!  The stamp is actually the word 'CUTE' which I copied/pasted twice.  

On the first, I cropped the 'E'down to turn it into an 'I', so the image reads "CUTI".

And on the second image, I cropped away the 'CUT', leaving just the 'E'.

Putting them together and after getting them aligned the way I wanted, I proceeded to group the two images together to create 'CUTIE', and then I could also move them around on my page and place them where I wanted! For the text boxes, I added the word 'Little' above 'Cutie', and then did my journaling (and the date) towards the bottom of the page.  I love the font 'CK Journaling'--it tends to be the one I gravitate to frequently! Guideline #3 complete!!

Before I forget, here's a list of what I used on my page.  In the interest of space, if something is on the page more than once, I don't have it listed multiple times:

Supply List:

Background
     Oh Baby - 3
Embellishments
    Mis-Stitched - espresso 6b
    Antique Brads - brad 2
    Mis-Stitched - crumb 6a 
Stamps
    Oh Baby - cloud 1, Color = 230,WATERMARK 255,255,255
    Oh Baby - flourish, Color = PEAR PIZZAZ 171,173,89
    Oh Baby - cute, Color = BAJA BREEZE 141,189,193
    Oh Baby - heart, Color = PEAR PIZZAZ 171,173,89
Punches
    1.25 Square Punch,  Filled with: Oh Baby - 5
    1.25 Square Punch,  Filled with: Oh Baby - 8
    1.25 Square Punch,  Filled with: Oh Baby - 9
    1.25 Square Punch,  Filled with: Oh Baby - 2
    1.25 Square Punch,  Filled with: Oh Baby - 7
    Friendship Preserves – frame (photo filled)
    Mini Flag Banner Punch,  Filled with: Oh Baby - 6
    Mini Flag Banner Punch,  Filled with: Oh Baby - 1

Another little tip on the page--the Mini Flag Banner Punches that are DSP-filled:  the paper is actually white/vanilla in the middle with color/texture on the outer edges, so on the Pear Pizzaz and Baja Breeze flags, I just moved the punch image around on the page to the various corners (also to make sure that not EVERY banner looked the same!) of the paper to get the DSP to look the way I wanted on them! I added drop shadows to each banner as well.  I anchored the ends of the banner with a couple of Antique Brads.

For some additional interest, I added the cloud image in white, then lowered the opacity to about 40% and place that behind the title.  I guess I didn't 'have' to add the flourish, but having seen Cindy's sample, she had added something in that area, so I decided to do the same.  And finally, I added one small Pear Pizzaz heart with a drop shadow to the 'E' on 'Cutie'.

I probably should confess about an 'oops!' I made on the page.  When I added the stitching, my intent was to recolor both pieces. BUT, I posted it to the group, then realized I had forgotten to do the re-color!!  Truthfully, it looks fine, even with me forgetting to do that, but it's nice that it's also a simple matter for me to go back in to my page in My Digital Studio and make any changes that I deem necessary.  LOVE that about digital creating!!

This challenge was also a good reminder for me that you don't always have to use multiple downloads, stamp brush sets, embellishments, etc. to create a page, and that sometimes, keeping it simple is even better!!  Don't get me wrong, pages with LOTS of stuff can be LOTS of fun, too, but it's not always necessary.  When it come to MDS, I freely admit that I always am game for getting the newest downloads as soon as they're out, but I also realize that I have a LOT of options already in my program, so sometimes, stopping and exploring what's already there is good for me (not to mention good for my pocketbook!)!

Remember, you can always try My Digital Studio for FREE for 30 days (or even purchase it), by visiting my online store and downloading it there!!

Happy Stamping!

Pam

P.S.  Don't forget to stop back tomorrow and check out the Diva Blog Hop!