My blog is called "Creative Smiles" because my designs are the result of incorporating mistakes. With fumble fingers that drop whatever they are holding - repeatedly, it takes a lot of giggles, smiles and creative patience during my crafting process. xx

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Completely Digital {Sparkle N Sprinkle}

Greetings!
Hope you are doing well, and enjoying your week.

THERE'S A NEW CHALLENGE IN TOWN:


I've never made a completely digital project, and thought I'd give it a try this morning.
Not having any fancy programs, I used my trusty word processor, and products already in my digital stash:

Hopefully I've followed the rules correctly as this is NOT printed out. If it were printed out, there would only the one base layer, no texture, no glitter, no embossing powder, no embellishments (giggling).
Using:

Christmas Paper (Fred She Said)
Vibrant Watercolor Paper (Fred She Said)
WWFlakes (snowflake fonts)
Samantha (fonts)
Bank Gothic (fonts)
Flying Birds (Fred She Said)
Pretty Laces (Creative Market)

The Snowflakes on the right side, and scattered throughout the background papers are from a font called WWFlakes. These are not treated like JPGs or PNGs - they are actual transparent FONTS, and the sizing is done in the same manner. I converted a large Font Image (size 144) into a PNG and made the outside transparent, so that I could then resize an opaque image, rather than the font's transparent image.

Here is are the components for the horizontal lace panel. It is two resized lace PNGs:

A Festive Blue Milton Giraff is colored with Copic Markers AND taken from a card I made last year.
I scanned the image, made the background transparent, selected a shadow from my word processor, and placed him on an oval shape:

The sentiment seemed appropriate for such a cute project!
The Bank Gothic and Samantha fonts were used. In Font Manager, I selected a fancy "w" and "r" to positioned those in place of the standard letters:


I learned a lot of things this morning! Laughing and grateful to not have a big mess to clean up!

Hopefully I followed the rules and spirit of the new Challenge Blog! I wasn't sure if we were supposed to show some of our steps or not.

My TIP for other newbies to digital art is:

When using transparent PNGs on a colored background, you may wish to perform a FILE> SAVE AS> JPG and save a JPG version as well as your PNG. That way, if you prefer not to create a separate white layer behind the image or sentiment, it will already be done for you in the JPG.

ON A PERSONAL NOTE:

Our area was very fortunate to have THREE inches of rain on Saturday.
This was a tremendous asset to the brave firefighters trying to contain the lingering wild fires. There have been 2100 fires since the beginning of the year, most started by lightning, kindling the dry forests and swamps.
Florida contains lots of "swamp land", and lots of swamp muck. When dried, this muck can smolder beneath the surface until the rainy season begins. Many areas about 20-30 miles to the south of us only received 1/4 inch of rain, so the fires continue smoldering and re-igniting. Schools, parks, and nature preserves have closed or are open part time, for the safety of students and visitors.

While we are grateful to see our pastures green up, we hope that more rain comes soon.


Milton Chasing Snowflakes is available in the SNS store with PNG images so you can create overlapping scenes without the white square showing up. 

Submitted to these fine challenges:
  1. Digitally Made Challenges #1 "Anything Goes 100% Digital" 6/1
  2. Beccy's Place Challenge -May- Anything Goes using a Beccy Muir image 6/1

Thanks for stopping by today.
hugs,













Also available in rubber 

46 comments:

Anne Temple said...

This is so sweet. (It could be a great baby card too - by changing the sentiment.) Love the background paper too.

Linda Simpson said...

This is gorgeous Donna, love the monochrome look and gorgeous image.
Hugs
Linda xxx

craftieodmae said...

this is adorable!!

craftysahmiam said...

Thank you for sharing your adorable digital card with us at Digitally Made as well as all of the tips ! Your digital card is perfect for our challenge; we hope to see you again !

KarinsArtScrap said...

this is a gorgeous make Donna,
beautiful done and fab colours you have chosen.

gr karin

Sue said...

Hi Donna, Loving the card.

It's rained all day here. Hope you get more rain, so the fires all go out.

Hope you are having a nice day. Sue

Mrs A. said...

Your resulting card looks magical. The how to went completely over my head. Way to technical for my brain to decipher I'm afraid! Lol. hugs Mrs A.

Lisa said...

Wow, Donna, this is amazing!! You did a perfect job with the digital images!! It's so gorgeous!! And I just love that sweet giraffe!! Beautiful card, my friend!! I love, love it!! I'm so glad you got some rain!! Praying for more to head your way!! Have a great day!! Big hugs :)

Lisa
A Mermaid's Crafts

cotnob said...

A super digital design Donna, I love working with digital images and papers but rarely create a completely digital card. Pretty colours and such a sweet image.
Pauline - Crafting with Cotnob
x

Chris said...

How clever Donna....and how beautiful! The image and digital papers you've chosen are so pretty...and I'm lost in admiration of your technical skills! Read the explanation and it sounds straightforward but hate to imagine how long it would take me if I attempted a totally digital creation...it would be much quicker to clear up the mess after making an ordinary card :)))
Chris
x

pam said...

This is a gorgeous creation Donna, you are so clever, as you know I do not use digital, so I`m completely lost..
Hope you get more rain soon, we have had it all day here..
Hugs Pam x

Verna Angerhofer said...

I love your card and I think you did an awesome job on creating a beautiful and fun digital design. Now if were me, I would be lost as I know zilch about digital stamping. I can only print out simple things and can in no way combine them so beautifully like you did. I love this!

Donna Phelan said...

Milton! I love him!!! Isn't he the cutest?!?! I love this whole design and layout! Great tips too! I don't do digis very often. I think they frighten me lol This is a beautiful creation! I hope you get as much rain as you need. I just saw another Florida friend pray for rain! Be safe and well! xo~

Stampsnob. said...

Well if those are the rules you aced it girl friend ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Lis

Donna said...

Fabulous all digital card, it is fun to play around and experiment with this, thanks for the tips! So glad you got rain.

Beccy said...

You've done a great job on your card Donna, especially for a first time! I love the way you've layered all the different elements, they work perfectly together. The blue and purple colour scheme is fabulous too.
I'm glad you received some much needed rain to help smother some of those fires. Hopefully you'll get a little more so they're all put out completely.
Cheers,
Beccy

Linda said...

It is very hot and humid here in Montreal today, Donna, and your card is gorgeous and refreshing!

aussie aNNie said...

Congrats De, you made an awesome digi project. Love it all and knew you could do it. Fun isn't it and a shame not more digital challenges out there..xx
[aNNie]


Also with DT hat on...
Thanks for sharing your lovely digital creation for our current challenge. It's really stunning. I would love to see you join us again. ♥
[aNNie DT for Digitally Made Challenges]

Abfabdesigns said...

I would not have a clue where to start but you did make it abit more easier to understand but I will leave that to the experts (you)
Lovely card as always .
Hope you get more rain soon
Love always Martine xx

coldwaters2 said...

Wow Donna what a beautiful creation I love the image, papers and the lovely shades of blue, a truly wonderful make. I thank you for your lovely comment on my blog Donna I hope to start visiting regularly when I settle but it is still hard for me at the moment, take care
hugs
lorraine x

Ann Greenspan's Crafts said...

You are so smart, Donna, and to learn how to do this is beyond me. I am not a digital image person and can't believe I ever will learn to do what you've done. I love the colors and that giraffe is so cute. Giraffes are so popular right now with all the goings on with April the giraffe. Love the snowflake touch and the lace down the side. Kuddos to you for learning how to do all of this and not giving up.

Shona Erlenborn said...

Well that is one amazing card! I can't believe that it is all done digitally - which of course - is way beyond me! I prefer to be the ever-amazed onlooker when it comes to this. Your computer skills are top notch Donna! Glad you got a bit of rain too.

Beebeebabs said...

OMG this is the cutest image - love your card and choice of paper and perfect sentiment - you did a great job as always thanks for sharing my friend!!!

KraftyKoolKat said...

This is so cute and pretty Donna. Love the image and the colour palette you have used. Is there any sort of art that you can't turn your hand to. You are so talented sweetie.
Hugs
Cathy
xxxx

Lori Kobular said...

Donna this is so adorable! I have that stamp and I love the sweet giraffe! The colors are beautiful and I love all those flying birdies!

NanaConnie said...

So far, working with .png images just baffles me when it comes to combining images or layers but I absolutely love what you've done with this card, Donna. It's incredible! I may have to take a few lessons from you, my friend. :-D

Becky said...

What a fun card. I don't have the patience to do it all digitally. Too much stuff I would have to learn. But you do it wonderfully!

Janice said...

This all looks far to complicated for me Donna, but you have made a fabulous card, so good for your first attempt! I wonder how you really felt when making it, knowing that is was going to be flat, when you usually make such beautiful cards with lots of layers! :-)
A great tutorial for us novices.....think I'll leave learning for a while though :-)

Leslie Miller said...

You work digital magic, Donna! It's a fun genre to work with, and you can always come back and print it again if desired. Super cute card! It's so good to hear you had some rain and will hope for more for all areas in need. Hugs!

Jackie T said...

Hi Donna this is a stunning card that giraffe looks so happy. Take care. Hugs Jackie

April said...

This card is so cute and awesome!

Sue said...

Gorgeous. Donna, only you could pull off a blue giraffe with all the other wonderful embellishments and layers. Love Milton, he is so cute. Wonderful card.

hugs
Sue

Conniecrafter said...

You did a fantastic job with all this digital goodies :) Love the softness to it all.
I started out my cardmaking using digital images only, many years ago, but never worked with png, only jpg.

Paper Creations by Shirley said...

Beautiful design and colours Donna. The rainfall is wonderful, it has been terrible with so many brush fires in the south. I hope you are doing well, Hugs, Shirleyxxx

Inkyfingers said...

This looks amazing Donna and I have to confess that I have never made a totally digital card! I love the dimension in the image and it certainly looks layered. Hope you get the rain you are needing.
Hugs
Carol x

Peanut said...

Lovely card, Donna. I find digital stamps quite difficult to work with. Your little "tutorial" is most helpful. Thanks for sharing!
hugs Asha

Pamellia said...

This is brilliant Donna! I used to do a lot of digital design for work when I was at it, and I know how tricky and frustrating it can be to put a piece together. I also know how satisfying it can be when you get something to look just how you want it too. Your elements all work together beautifully and you've achieved a wonderful dimension!! Bravo to you!!

Thank you so much for your sweet emails, especially the Mother's Day one. I read it several times just for a smile. As soon as I get home I will sit and send you a message back, out of town for the time being. It's frightful, all these forest fires you have. Sending wishes to you and the firefighters that everyone stays safe. Thinking of you, hugs :)

crafty-stamper said...

Fabulous digital card Donna love the cute image and great step by step although I wouldn't even like to attempt one
Carol x

Karen said...

Donna, this is gorgeous... what a stellar debut into the world of digital card making! The giraffe is delightful and I adore the background paper! How I'd love to print that out. :) The design is lovely. There truly is nothing you cannot do beautifully, my dear friend. Sending endless love and prayers your way. :)

Hugs and blessings,
Karen

cass said...

Gorgeous, you have made a beautifully digital project. Thanks for joining us at Digitally Made for our Anything Goes Challenge.

aussie aNNie said...

Sending hugs. De is this font [samantha] a free one? love it. [can yu email me and let me know..ta.] xx [aNNie]

Pia S said...

I've never tried going all digital, I probably spend far too many hours on the computer already between my work and blogging, but I really like what you've created here. Something to print and to attach to a card front?

Karenladd said...

Digital stamps are still something I don't have the hang of, as I haven't figured out how to resize them. My old photo editing program doesn't even work on my computer anymore and I haven't figured out how to use anything that I already have available. My favorite way to work is with actual stamps and ink, but being able to incorporate digital images would be a great addition to my repertoire. Thanks for the peek at the way you created this adorable card!

CdeBaca Crafts Gallery said...

This is great! I'm not into digital art but you make it look amazing!!

Marilyn said...

Fun image and I love how you designed the card.

sarascloset said...

Donna, my hat is tipped to you for doing digital. I am completely in awe of anyone who can do anything more than e-mail on a computer! Your design is delightful and I love that sweet giraffe and of course, the colors! Sending hugs!