Design House Digital | Design House Digital

4Play Digi Challenge – 20th May 2013

Tasha Lanigan — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:03:46 +0000

Hi there everyone! I have chosen from our newest 2 designers in this weeks 4Play! Angie Hinksman’s girly Isabel Embellishments and Cheryll Ann Kammerer’s beachy Summer Dreams . Along with Mary Shaw and her trendy hex designs and Inkling and Wit’s gorgeous new alpha. We had boys kits last week – so girls this week! I hope you like the picks and you’ll play along! Looking forward to seeing your creations

As there are masks in the selection this week – I’m linking how to use masks tutorials for both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. http://www.designhousedigital.com/content/classroom/video-tutorial-on-clipping-mask-or-altclick-method-in-photoshop-and-ps-elements/

Here’s a closer look at the kits:

Here are the links to go grab them:

Isabel Embellishment by Angie Hinksman
Birds of a Feather Alpha by Inkling and Wit
Hexagons Masks by Mary Shaw
Summer Dreams Tan Papers by Cheryll Ann Kammerer

Here’s how to play:

Use the 4 kits above (and nothing else!) to create a layout and post the layout in our gallery.
Post a link to your layout in this blog post’s comments.
You have one week to do this, and next week (on Monday) we will choose a winner for a $5 DHD gift certificate to our shop.
Three of the kits are $1 and the other one is FREE, but the sale only goes until Wednesday, so don’t wait too long to grab them!

Here’s what the Design House came up with for inspiration:

Layout by Tasha Lanigan

“I loved the colours, textures and shapes in these kits. It reminded me of my daughters PJs and this photo I caught of her reading her book”

Layout by Tracey Allen

Layout by Mich Perez

Mich says: “Love this kit.”

Layout by Mary Cimeni

Congratulations to leahlou1222 with her layout “My Boys” for winning last week’s 4Play Digi Challenge! Watch your inbox for your $5 gift certificate! The image below is linked, so go leave her some love!

Winning Layout by leahlou1222

Now it’s YOUR turn to play! Go grab these 4 kits today! Remember, three kits are only $1 each and the fourth one is FREE if you get them by Wednesday! Create your layout and then come show it off! Upload it to the gallery and then come back here and post a comment with the link before Monday, May 27th and you could be next week’s winner!

Creating Distorted Shadows in Photoshop CS6

Tasha Lanigan — Sun, 19 May 2013 09:07:50 +0000

Creating distorted shadow effects can be done real easy with a few steps in photoshop. Great for when the drop shadow panel can’t give you the effect you’re looking for. Here I wanted to make my title look like it was standing on the beach – so adding a distorted shadow was the way to go.

Here’s a video tutorial on how I did it. (Apologies Elements users again – I will have my elements sorted for the next tutorial).

How to Make Distorted Shadows in Photoshop CS6

Here’s some written steps also if you prefer:

1. Place all your letter layers into a new group

2. Duplicate that group

3. Merge group

4. From the Edit Menu bar select Transform>Distort

5. Distort your layer until you get the desired effect.
Don’t forget to press enter or the tick to confirm changes.

6. Recolour your layer using the “Colour Overlay” layer effect.
(double click on the layer to bring up the layer effect panel)
Give it the colour you want your shadow to be.

7. Reorder your layers so that your new shadow layer is underneath your title.

8. Next is personal preference. As you don’t have the drop shadow panel to adjust size, spread, blend mode, opacity – you must adjust these yourself.

9. For spread and size effect – I used a blur to soften the shadow. Filter menu – Blur>Gaussian Blur

10. Next I dropped the layer opacity and I left it at that. You can change the layer blend mode and add other effects or filters to suit what you want to achieve.

So that’s it. Hope you enjoyed my tutorial. Please let me know your thoughts and queries in the comments. Thanks for reading.

No Stress Memory Keeping

Sarah Sullivan — Sun, 19 May 2013 07:52:29 +0000

How many times have you or someone you know commented on how far behind they are on their scrapbooking? Or how they just can’t keep up with the photo a day or daily scrapbooking projects? Yeah, I think we have all heard it AND said it! The sad part about it is that this hobby is supposed to be fun and allow us to record our memories at the same time. The scrapbooking challenges, artistic layouts, and daily memory keeping are really great tools but I urge you to take those and make them your own so you DON’T STRESS OUT! I know this is a reminder I needed recently.

So it seems that having two kids is a ton more work than one! Yeah, some of you may know this. As I’ve watched the photos accumulate and memories pass by, it has saddened me to see that I’ve not done a great job as the memory keeper of our family. See, I like to make full out 12 by 12 layouts. I like to spend my time with them because when I don’t I’m forever unhappy. I’ve often looked at pocket-style scrapping or window-style (whatever you want to call it) as an either or option. Well, not any longer!

As we’ve been working hard to build up our Photo Journal tools at DHD, I had a eureka moment – I could do both. I know it’s a little sad but this is the truth. I’ve decided to do full, artistic layouts when I want but to otherwise make sure to continue to record my memories using 12×12 pocket style templates, like my new Everyday Stories Templates.

It has helped me to not only catch up but to continue to record my memories as they happen! I can put several pictures and thoughts on one page – I’m not limited to one per day, a page per week, etc. There’s no need to plan out two pages per week or which date stamps I’ll use to remain consistent. I can do it however I want and I’m making sure my memories are captured. And I like that. It’s brought the fun and the purpose back to my scrapping.

Want to give this a try? Grab my free template and join us in the May Photo Journal Challenge. I’ve completed my entry!

1 Kit Many Ways – Inkling and Wit’s Flora Full Kit

Mary Cimeni — Sat, 18 May 2013 10:00:13 +0000

They say flowers are the media to one’s soul. One flower may be enough to tell how special a person is to you. A bunch of them can make two people fall in love. A field of flowers can heal the sick.

Today is not Christmas Day nor it is a Valentine’s Day. But today is surely a very special day as we get to bring you the Flora Full Kit by Inkling and Witt – a perfect kit to scrap your most special memories and treasured photos of flowery views.

Our decorators and designers really had an amazing day making their layouts. Let us take a look at their magical creations!

Layout by Melissa Marti

Melissa says: “Here’s mine! I added stitching and an alpha.”

Layout by Tasha Lanigan

Tasha says: “We love this flower Lovely kit Whitney – really beautiful!”

Layout by Tracey Allen

Tracey says: “Love the colours of this kit, Orange has really grown on me over the last couple of years. Adore the circle frame embellishments.”

Layout by Marlyn Ramirez

Layout by Mary Cimeni

Lovely kit Whitney!

I hope you are inspired by our decorators and designers as much as I am. Next week we will choose one lucky commenter to give this kit for free. All you have to do is comment your answer on the question below.

How do you feel when someone gives you flowers?

***CONGRATULATIONS! to Sherry P for winning the 1 Kit Many Ways Elegant Eats.****

Quick hybrid Rocker card tutorial

Tracey Allen — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:00:57 +0000

Hello everyone and this week my tutorial is for a quick and easy rocker card. Using Imaginenations Fresh Bouquet Kit

This design for a rocker card will fit in a 5 by 5 envelope

Step 1

Design your artwork

You will need a 5 inch diameter circle of your chosen background for the base of the card. (this will remain a seperate circle)

Then a 4 inch diameter circle for the frame section of your card. On top of this centre a smaller circle I chose a 3 inch diameter, I added a shadow.

Build up your design on these two circles. I added the bunting from the fresh bouquet kit. Plus an arrangement of flowers and my chosen wording. I used the colours from the bunting to change each of the letters of my wording.

When happy with your arrangement. You will need to seperate any elements that you want to decoupage and duplicate them .

You will also need

Scissors or circle scissors if you have them
Silicon Glue
Doublesided tape

Step 2 Cut out the large circle and fold in half (if there are lines on your paper make sure that you fold so the lines run straight)

Step 3 Cut out your circle panel and position onto the rocker base. When happy flip over and mark where topper lines up with top of fold
Step 4 Position tape at top of base card within the boundary of the marks. Also position tape at the base of the circle topper.

Step 5 Adhere topper in place.

Step 6 Cut out the flowers and leaves . Shape them , by pulling over scissor blade or with your fingers.

Step 7 Place silicon glue on the back, Place the most glue where you want the item to stand off the card the most. Then position on card.

Step 8 Cut out the flower heads and shape them and then adhere with silicon. Leave to dry for at least a couple of hours. Silicon will dry differently in cool rooms than warm rooms.

So thats my hybrid tutorial for a quick rocker card. Hope that you enjoyed it and are inspired to make your own rocker cards

1 Kit Many Ways – Cross Word Puzzle

Mary Cimeni — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:42:33 +0000

Who loves to play cross word puzzle? Well I guess many of us are guilty of flipping the newspaper page to the last part to answer the crossword puzzle. And when you just can’t find that right word, you feel like rrrRR! And you keep thinking until it comes out your mind.

If you miss the daily crossword puzzle today, this cross word puzzle is something you can’t. Now get your hands ready as we get to bring you a one-of-a-kind kit by Tia Hoffman – Cross Word Puzzle. Let’s take a look at our layouts.

Layout by Tasha Lanigan

Tasha says: “Had so fun much with this kit! Shima helped me big time with this one – it was her idea to take the photos so we could scrap them!”

Layout by Mary Cimeni

I made my first ever layout using overlays – hurray! This kit is so much fun!

Layout by Mary Cimeni

I like the dark colors of this kit! I feel like working on a real newspaper with a real cross word puzzle.

Layout by Mary Cimeni

Layout by Tracey Allen

I hope you are inspired by our talented designers and decorators as much as I am. Next week we will pick one lucky commenter for our 1 Kit Many Ways and give a DHD gift certificate to buy this kit. All you have to do is answer this clue below just like answering a cross word puzzle.

It is your home for creativity and designs

*** CONGRATULATIONS! to Sylvia for winning the 1 Kit Many Ways – Domino Collection and Karen Ratnarajah for winning 1 Kit Many Ways – Angie Hinkman’s Isabel Collection.**** Please check your inbox for GC.

4Play Digi Challenge – 5/13/13

Melissa Marti — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:00:35 +0000

Hi All! Thanks for joining me this week for my first hosted 4Play Digi Challenge!! I hope everyone is recovered from all the iNSD festivities by now and that you’re ready for a new challenge. The kits I picked this week are beautifully colored with blues, browns, and reds – perfect for boy layouts with Sarah Sullivan’s You Are All Boy Elements kit, but don’t be fooled – this is great for adult layouts and even “girl” layouts, too! See what you can do!

Here are the kits close-up: Just check out all the goodness you get for only $3!

And here’s where you can find them:

How to play:

Use the 4 kits above (and nothing else!) to create a layout and post the layout in our gallery.
Post a link to your layout in this blog post’s comments.
You have one week to do this, and next week (on Monday) we will choose a winner for a $5 DHD gift certificate to our shop.
Three of the kits are $1 and the other one is FREE, but the sale only goes until Wednesday, so don’t wait too long to grab them!

Here are some layouts from our House Decorators for inspiration:

Layout by Melissa Marti

Layout by Tracey Allen

Tracey said, “Great kit choices Melissa. Layout is of my grandson who is a proper little flirt and obsessed with everything mechanical, getting dirty and playing with sticks and stones. Definitely all boy. Perfect selection of kits for me.

Layout by Marlyn Ramirez

Layout by Krystal Winn

Krystal said, “These kits went together SO well! All the boy elements go great with some photos of my son at BMX practice. Great 4play!”

Congratulations to Ayla with her layout Vacation for winning last week’s 4Play Digi Challenge! The image below is linked, so go leave her some love! Ayla, watch your inbox for your $5 gift certificate!

Winning Layout by Ayla

Memories of Motherhood

Jenni Schoenberger — Sun, 12 May 2013 06:00:07 +0000

Scrapbooking isn’t just about the how. A lot of times, most of the time, it’s about the “why.” Beyond the technique, beyond the page, there is a reason that we spend time and money and energy on scrapbooking pages.

For me, a large part of that is to preserve memories, especially when it comes to my son. In this picture, I remember feeling very joyful. I couldn’t be more thrilled– my dreams of being a mother were coming true, and no matter the circumstances, I was so excited to welcome a child into my world, my life, and to love him with everything I had.

What you don’t see in that picture is the silent killer that was eating away at my heart. No one knew it then, but I would end up nearly dying during childbirth, from a condition no one realized I was suffering from.

When it came time to have my son, Zach, my body started behaving very strangely. I later found out that I had pulmonary edema, which essentially led me to be drowning every time I was taking a breath, as well as heart failure which culminated in cardiac arrest.

I was put on medication, my body was exhausted, and in the process of trying to keep me alive, I was so… essentially unaware of what was going on around me most of the time. Often, a mother will say that the first days of her child’s life were a blur. For me, it was like they were nearly gone. Thankfully, my mother was there snapping pictures.

The first time I held my son. I was so overcome with emotion and joy that I couldn’t contain myself. This was easily one of the biggest reliefs of my life– knowing that I almost died, and managed to stay alive to see this moment…

I’d black out, since I was in a very frail, very weak state. But the photographs triggered memories that I would have otherwise never had. By looking at these photographs early in my son’s life, the ones my mother snapped in the hospital, and the ones we both continued to take once we had finally been released to go home, I was able to piece together the missing spots that existed in my mind.

Because of this, every insignificant thing was photographed. I can’t count the number of photos of Zach sleeping I have on my Instagram feed.

You see, I’m terrified of one thing, more than almost anything else… and it’s losing those memories. Obviously, I want to take time to make new memories, as often as I can. But preserving them… that’s something that is really important to me.

I think that, blank spots in your memory or not, it’s something that we, as scrapbookers, can relate to. Look through the photos you’ve taken recently, and ponder… why did I snap this? What was significant about it? Beyond the main reasons of a certain event or a certain goal or a certain sight or trip or reason, you’ll find that a lot of times, the underlying truth is, you took a photo to remember. Maybe you wanted to remember that delicious meal so you’d know to make it again, or maybe you wanted to remember the little baby elbow wrinkles your child had, before they filled in their baby fat.

Beneath it all, scrapbookers scrap to remember.

This mother’s day, I urge you all to treat yourself to something special. Memories. In preparing to write this blog post, I scoured through photos of my son– from my pregnancy to his first bath, and all the way up to now, and I cried. I cried tears of joy over his growth, over the way that he has changed and learned over the year. I couldn’t be happier about the boy he is becoming, or the sweet baby he has been.

If you’re a mom, spend some time today. Look over those memories you’ve preserved, if you can. If you’re not a mom, treat your mom by creating a page of a picture you particularly love that will jog her memory about the amazing things that she has done for you as a mom.

Happy Mother’s Day, everyone.

April Challenges Winners

Mary Cimeni — Sat, 11 May 2013 13:04:11 +0000

Congratulations to our winners for the April Challenges. Here they are! Please check your inbox for a gift certificate.

Blueprint Challenge

Winning Layout by debikins

April Swatch Challenge

Winning Layout by beatricemi

Hybrid Challenge

April Spring Birthday Winning Hybrid Card by LaurieZyskind

Inspiration Challenge

Winning Layout by schmoosue

Journaling Challenge

Winning Layout by gleestormont

Gleestormont says: “Thanks for the inspiration; always good to get the photos/memories out of the computer and onto a page!.”

April Photo Journal Challenge

Winning Layout by LaurieZyskind

Photography Challenge

Winning Layout by Rea

Rea says: “Hi, here is a picture of me on one of the perfect sunrises of my life!”

Technique – Black and White Challenge

Winning Layout by LaurieZyskind

Scraplift Challenge

Winning Layout by beatricemi

Thank you for joining our April Challenges! Our May Challenges are already well going. Join our May challenges and you could win $5 Gift Certificate from DHD, which you can use to buy more kits at the shop. We hope to see you there. Here they are!

Blueprint Challenge

Color Swatch Challenge

Inspiration Challenge

Journaling Challenge

Photo Journal Challenge

Photography Challenge

Scraplift Challenge

1 Kit Many Ways – Elegant Eats

Mary Cimeni — Sat, 11 May 2013 12:18:57 +0000

Weekend is such as nice time to bond with family, date with your sweetheart, or spend some time with the kids. Well, today is not just a simple weekend because tomorrow will be a very special day for all moms. And that makes weekend also a perfect time to cook.

I know everyone has a special hidden talent when it comes to cooking so let’s get scrapping as we get to bring you a perfect kit to scrap your favorite recipes: Elegant Eats by Tisha Chestnut. The kit also includes recipe card templates, to organize your recipe collection.

Our decorators and designers really had fun making layouts. Let us take a look at their amazing talents!

Recipe Card by Mary Shaw

Mary says: “Here is my recipe card. This recipe is my very own recipe, and my family loves it. What a great idea, Tisha!”

Layout by Tasha Lanigan

Tasha says: “Here’s mine – great fun to play with! This time I used a Nintendo game for inspiration You may know it?”

Layout by Amanda Shepherd

Layout by Mary Cimeni

Guess what is on my hand? A plateful of waffle! I made it myself and yes I am so proud of my first ever homemade waffle! I love the checkered blue background of this kit and the elements are so cute.

Recipe Card by Mary Cimeni

Here is a recipe card I made out of this kit. I finally found a perfect kit for my recipes.

Layout by Mary Cimeni

This is an original recipe from my boyfriend. He cooks a lot for me and this kit is just so perfect! I love its brownish – orange color, which can make any recipe look so yummy-licious!

I hope you are inspired by our talented designers and decorators as much as I am. Next week we will pick one lucky commenter for our 1 Kit Many Ways and give this kit for free. Just comment your answer on the following question.

What is your favorite recipe?

****CONGRATULATION! to glee for winning the 1 Kit Many Ways – Summer Dreams Collection. Check your inbox for a gift certificate.****

Please keep abreast with the 1 Kit Many Ways every Thursday and Saturday along with the featured designers weekend.

Design House Digital | Design House Digital

4Play Digi Challenge – 20th May 2013

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