Hello, and Happy New Year! As you may know, the blog took a nice long break in 2020–because, well, 2020–but we’re back, baby! I get the honor of kicking off the first Tutorial Tuesday of the year. I have a fun and easy hybrid project (using a digital template) to share with you today!

I am mainly a pocket page scrapbooker. Once I discovered that style of scrapping, I fell head-over-heels in love with it. Creating 12 x 12 layouts always intimidated me, and pocket pages were the solution to that problem!

And while I do love pocket scrapbooking, I’ve also been working on creating a personal album for each of my kids. For that, I’ve been working on 8 1/2 x 11 pages for these albums. My four kiddos were each born in a different state (and we aren’t even in the military!). With that in mind, one of the stories that I want to tell in each of their albums is a story about where they were each born.

I found these State Templates by WM[squared] Designs in the shop and instantly I had my vision for what I wanted to do…

I picked the first template (upper-left on the preview) as the one I wanted to turn into a page for my daughter. I’ve used digital templates as the inspiration for hybrid layouts before, but I don’t think I’ve ever done it in this way — where I actually printed part of the template on to my page!

Opening up the file in Photoshop, the changes I made were pretty basic.

[ side note: please don’t laugh at my old version of Photoshop; I will probably be “CS5 forever!” because, darn it, I already paid for it and it works great. LOL! ]

First, I turned the label into a little word art strip and added my journaling. I also changed the silhouette of Ohio to pink.

Here’s one of my FAVORITE tips of all time. I like to lock the pixels on a layer to easily change the color of an item without creating weird jagged edges! The option to lock pixels is usually found in the Layers window here (see blue arrow on the right side):

There are a few different ways you can change the color of a shape, a stamp, or a piece of word art. Here are few that I use often:

1. Lock the pixels.
2. Fill a new layer with color. Clip it to the shape.
3. In the “FX” tab in the Layers window, choose Color Overlay.

All of these methods will color the shape AND its transparent edges — that’s the important part.

Once I was ready, I printed out my page on some white textured cardstock, along with the word art strip (on a separate sheet of paper). Then I simply added letter stickers, hearts and a star for the capital, using the template as the inspiration for my layout.

The textured cardstock adds a lot of interest! Here’s a close up look…

I felt like the page didn’t need much embellishment. The shape of the state is the real star of the show!

This layout was pretty simple, which is good, because now I have to make three more versions for my other kids, LOL!

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial and you find this to be an easy hybrid project to create for yourself.

About the Author Nicole Seitler is a hybrid creative team member here at The Digital Press. She’s a homeschooling momma to four fantastic kids (one of whom will graduate this year!). Once upon a time, Nicole was a designer here at TDP… but now she uses her Photoshop skills to scrapbook for herself. Nicole and her husband, Travis, sometimes dabble in web design or comic book lettering together. Most recently, Nicole has been working in the world of the Social Media Management (before 2020 hit and caused her to get laid off… meaning she has even more time for scrapping!).

Hello everyone! It’s Donna here, and I’m excited to share another edition of our Hybrid How-To series with you here on The Digital Press blog! Today, I am going to show you how to make a 12 Days of Christmas Countdown calendar, using digital supplies and a muffin/cupcake tin.

The idea behind the muffin tin is quite simple: on a daily basis, uncover the appropriate day’s lid to reveal a treat or small toy hidden in the cavity below. The little ones in my family love any type of advent or countdown calendar and this will be no exception, I am sure!

It’s a really easy project, too… so let’s get started!

The first thing you’ll want to do is choose a digital collection that you would like to use for your project. For my example, I decided to use pieces from 12 Days | The Collection by Mari Koegelenberg Creations (edited to add: a product which has since retired), as shown here…

I love the fun, whimsical feel and the bright colors of this collection… and a bonus is that the countdown numbers are simply perfect for this project!

OTHER SUPPLIES NEEDED:

• photo editing software (I used Photoshop Elements, i.e. “PSE”)
• empty muffin tin
• matte photo paper
• scissors or a paper cutting machine (I used my Silhouette Cameo)
• magnet strips or double-sided tape
• adhesive (I used white glue)
• pop dots (optional)
• buttons, string and brads (optional)

The first step is to design the lids that will fit over every cavity of the muffin tin. My tin cavities are 2.50 inches wide with .50 inches between each opening…so my finished lids will need to be 3 inches square. I used a 12 cavity muffin tin, but you could always use one with 24 cavities to create a full advent calendar.

Fun Fact: The 12 Days of Christmas begins on December 25 (Christmas) and runs through January 6 (Three Kings’ Day)… whereas, an advent calendar countdown begins on December 1 and runs through December 24 (Christmas Eve).

I always design my hybrid projects completely digitally, first, so as to get a visual feel for what the final project will look like. Once I am satisfied, I then pull apart all the layers onto separate pages for printing/cutting. After that, I will be replacing some of the digital elements shown below by using real buttons, strings, and brads… but in order to determine their placement, I used digital ones in my initial design. Here’s what I came up with…

The next step is to pull apart the layers onto separate pages for printing/cutting. I did this in my Silhouette Cameo software since this is what I will use to cut everything out.

Here’s a look at my  papers after I printed them out… once they were ready to be run through my Silhouette Cameo for cutting…

After cutting out all my elements, it was time to assemble each lid. To add some dimension, I used pop dots to attach the daily numbers to the lids, and white glue to attach the buttons and bows. I then attached a magnet to the inside corners of each lid to make sure they each stay put on the muffin tin (you could also use double sided tape if you don’t plan to use this year after year).

Here’s a look at the finished project, once I had it all assembled…

I hope this tutorial will inspire you to create your own countdown calendar this year, using your own favorite digital collections from your stash! If you decide to have a go at it, please let us see it! You can load your project into the hybrid gallery at TDP and leave a comment on this post, below, with a link to your project… etc. We would love to see what you come up with!

About the Author Donna is a member of the hybrid team here at The Digital Press. She has been a digital scrapper and hybrid crafter for over 10 years, and loves the flexibility digital products provide. When she’s not scrapping you’ll find her in front of the TV, at the computer, or in the kitchen  cooking up something scrumptious. She has been married for 40 years to her husband, Sonny, and they live in South Florida with their sweet little dog, Roxy, and kitty siblings Cashmere and Velcro. She also enjoys swimming, gardening, traveling, and chocolate (of course!).

Hello, and welcome to another edition of our Hybrid How-To series here on The Digital Press blog! Today, I am excited to show you how I made some quick, simple personalized place cards for my Thanksgiving day table!

We don’t have a huge crowd for Thanksgiving, but everyone likes to feel welcome and know where they’re sitting… so these place cards are both pretty and functional. And of course, you can use your digital kits for any type of celebration, but with Thanksgiving right around the corner I thought I would get these ready to go in hopes it will motivate me that this is happening in just a few weeks!

My first step was to select a digital kit to work with; I chose this beautiful kit from Rachel Etrog Designs called Grateful Heart…

I was drawn to the colors of this kit, as I knew they would work with my tablecloth and dishes. I also loved that sweet winter wreath, and the tags, and the flowers… and so on.

Once I had selected a kit to work with, it was time to decide upon on a basic design for my place cards. Using the wreath element along with some digital paint and solid colored digital papers, I drew out a 4 x 6 white card in Photoshop Elements (PSE). Then I applied the wreath and the “thankful for” word art to each card. I used the blank spaces to print some of my favorite printed papers and elements.

You can see how my pages looked in PSE (below). I then printed them as an 8.5″ x 11″ sheet on my Canon Pixar printer using matte presentation paper.

I also decided to add a simple blessing to the back side using more of the pattern papers. To do so, I just made a rectangle template inside the 4 x 6 card and added the solid paper… and then I typed in my words in PSE. I made a stroke around the inside rectangle, using one of the colors in the paper….I then cut and punched out all my cards and elements. I used different sizes of circle and banner punches with solid papers, patterned papers, and some vellum…

I basically played with the elements, putting the different shapes and sizes together until I got something I liked…

In using these layered embellishments, I was trying to give the cards some dimension… so I used a small tool and my fingers to “ruffle” the edges of one of the layers of paper in the flower, as shown here…

After securing everything on the front side with glue, tape and pop dots, I put the front and backs together. I secured them with a piece of scotch tape on the wrong side, and some pretty gold striped washi on the right side. Then I rounded the corners on the front of the card and attached a bow made out of string…

Then I cut out a few stars from my left over paper and found some sequins and glued them on the front for more interest and added dimension…

Here’s a look at the finished project on my table…

And that’s it! Super cute, and fun to make!

I hope I’ve inspired you to use your own digital products to make some holiday place cards! If you give this project a try, we would love to see pictures of your completed projects in the Hybrid Gallery at The Digital Press!

Happy crafting, everyone!

About the Author  KerriAnne is a homebody who resides in the desert southwest. She started scrapbooking when her kids were little, and hasn’t stopped despite the teenagers rolling their eyes and sticking out their tongues! When not scrapping or being a chauffeur, she can be found consuming large amounts of iced coffee.

Hello, and welcome to another edition of our Hybrid How-To series here on The Digital Press blog! Today, I am so excited to be sharing my very first post with you after joining TDP’s team a few months ago — and with Halloween right around the corner, I thought I’d show you how to easily use your favorite digital supplies to create a fun Halloween banner.

I knew I wanted to make some cool, spooky, Halloween decor… and this project was actually so easy to complete, my 6 year old son helped me out (and then claimed the finished product for himself… which means I might have to make another one!).

First, I found the artwork that I wanted to use in the shop at The Digital Press. I wanted a banner of monsters (cute ones though, not too scary!)… and I found the perfect product in Julia Makotinsky’s Wee Bit Spooky 3×4 Cards, shown here…

Next, I made 2 banner shapes in my Silhouette Studio software by simply altering the bottom of a 3×4 rectangle (see next image). Once I had my shapes the way I wanted them, I dragged the pocket card artwork from the folder and dropped it into the middle of each shape, as shown here…

*NOTE* You could definitely do this in a photo editing program like Photoshop (PS) or Photoshop Elements (PSE) using clipping masks — but — because I copied & pasted the bottom two shapes and simply turned them around to nest with the top ones, the Silhouette software automatically rotated the artwork for me so that the monsters were facing the right way. This is why I didn’t do it in Photoshop with a mask; I would have had to manually rotate them! Instead, Silhouette Studio did the work for me — but it would certainly be easy enough to use another program, too.

Next, I printed them with registration marks so that I could print and cut, but once they were out of the printer my son wanted to cut them out, so I actually ended up giving him half of them and a pair of scissors… and just cut the rest out myself.

Once they were all cut out, I used my WRMK hole punch to punch a 1/4″ hole in each top corner (see next image)… and then we carefully strung them onto some yarn to hang up with our other Halloween garlands…

You can see from the close up image, above, that I strung them onto the yarn in opposite ways (some from back-to-front… and others from front-to-back). This helps them stay in place a little better, and they don’t end up in a bunch at the bottom of the string because each one will stop the next one from sliding down the whole string.

Here’s a look at my finished project, decorating my crafty office space…

I hope this inspires you to create one of your own for some holiday decorating this weekend! I know excitement for Halloween is very high in my house right now, and this was a really fun and easy project to do with my child!

Thanks for checking it out!

About the Author Amy Jo Vanden Brink is a Canadian mom, wife, music teacher, and scrapbooker who always takes on too many projects and loves to craft.  She is terrible at baking cookies, but great at eating them… and loves having a clean house, but hates cleaning the house! She lives in Edmonton with her husband, her son, and their pup Farley.

Hello, everyone! Welcome to another edition of our Hybrid How-To series here on The Digital Press blog! Today, I am here to show you how to make these adorable lacing cards using digital elements from your favorite digital kits.

Supplies Needed

• Digital kit of your choice (I used Be A Unicorn by Mari Koegelenberg)
• Cardstock
• Scissors (or cutting machine if you prefer)
• Hole punch
• Yarn
• Yarn needle

The first step is to select the images you want. I try and stick with simple images that will be easy to trace with yarn. The unicorn in this was more complicated than I would normally want, but I just really wanted that unicorn!

I enlarged them a bit, added two images per page, printed and cut them out.

I used an eyelet punch to make the holes around each image. Make sure the yarn needle can fit through the punch you’re using.

And that’s it! They’re ready to go.

I used to laminate them to give them more durability, but our local lamination place shut down and so I started letting the kids use them without the laminate and found it was just fine. Because they’re so quick to make, I can easily print and cut new ones using new images each time. My kids love lacing cards!

 About the Author  Kate is on the hybrid team here at The Digital Press. She lives on the Utah/Colorado border with her husband, 5 kids, 10 chickens, a dog named Gracie, and a cat named Kit. She’s a city-born girl who found she’s really a country girl at heart. She can be found outside, barefoot, and probably in her garden.