Holiday photo cards...

I like the idea of a photo card at the holidays, but they leave me with the "mass produced" feeling that I just can't get past.To compensate for this, I usually make a hybrid project for my Christmas card so that I can incorporate a family photo and some pretty graphics and embellishments, but then mount the digitally "remastered" photo onto a real card so it has some substance and room for a message inside.

Stampin' Up has finally come into the digital age and released their version of software called "My Digital Studio".  Last evening I loaded the software on my computer and have taken a few moments to play with a few of the features and wanted to share my first card I made using this software. I have used Photoshop for quite some time, both for work and for my some digital scrapbook pages, and have become pretty adept at making things look reasonable, although there is always room for improvement-LOL! This program has some features akin to Photoshop, but with an interface that beginning users will likely find less intimidating.

For my card, I chose a pre-fab template from the menu then began making some minor tweaks to make it look a bit better. First I filled the white background with a Designer Paper from the drop down menu- I chose Chocolate Chip Textile. The I made the bottom Olive card stock band a bit thicker and changed the ribbon from a knot to a bow and moved them up as well. Lastly, I added some drop shadows to make the reindeer piece appear to have some depth, as if it were real card stock layers. (The black layer here is just for some contrast against the white screen and is not part of the card).

A quick, easy holiday thank you card that can be printed onto plain Whisper White card stock, folded into a card and it's done! I will definitely be playing with this program some more as I begin to make my holiday photo cards. The best part is that it contains the design software, all the Stampin' Up colors, Designer Series papers, ribbons, etc, so making a hybrid piece will be a snap- all the colors will match for sure!

Thanks fror stopping by and take a look at the Stampin' Up website for more info and ideas using this digital software- it's way cool!