Category: Hybrid Crafting

Hybrid How To | Make a Pretty Paper Wreath

Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of our Hybrid How-To series here on The Digital Press blog! Today I’m going to teach you how to make some pretty paper wreaths using products from your digital scrapbooking stash.

It looks like Spring has finally arrived for many of us, and it is a welcome sight for sure! This season brings us back outside, perhaps doing some gardening or work in the yard. It’s the season that feels fresh and new, so for me I thought about bringing some spring color into my house by using my pretty digital papers and word art from The Digital Press to make some paper wreaths for decoration.

I ended up making three easy decorative wreaths — each of which can hang or be propped up on my mantle or a table, etc. They add the perfect touch of seasonal decor to my home. The hardest part was selecting which gorgeous patterned papers to use… but I finally decided on the Frivolity Papers by Anita Designs, shown here…

I also picked out a word art/stamp set to use to decorate my wreaths; I love the spring designs on the Spring Is Here set by Rachel Hodge…

Finally, here is a quick look at some of the tools I grabbed out of my scrap stash to use for this project (you can easily adapt your own project to whatever tools/punches/shapes/etc. you happen to have on hand!)…


To begin, I bought a foam floral wreath from my local craft store. This one measured about 11 inches wide; they come in different sizes and are not too expensive. For the other two wreaths I just made myself a template using chipboard I had on hand. I drew a circle onto the chipboard using a cup, and then another circle around it using a bowl to outline the first circle. I cut everything out using scissors and a craft knife.

I decided to work on the large foam wreath first.

First, I selected my papers and printed them on my printer. My printer’s largest print size is 8.5″ x 11″, which worked fine for this project. I simply filled each 8.5″ x 11″ space with one of my 12″ x 12″ digital paper patterns from my stash, and then printed it out in full-sheet format, as shown here…

I loved having these gorgeous papers in my hands! After printing, I cut my papers into the strips that would later become the banner shapes that cover the wreath. I cut the strips 1 ½ inch wide and 10 ½ inches long, and I ended up with 5 strips out of each of the 4 patterns I printed. The number of strips you end up with will vary depending on how big of a ring you choose and how much you overlap your banners… but expect to use about 25 strips for a wreath this size.

Next, start attaching the strips around the foam wreath. I attached the papers together at the ends, so the paper is not actually attached to the foam and therefore is fairly loose around the wreath. You can make the strips overlap slightly, but don’t worry if a bit of the foam wreath shows thru (you can fix this later on).

I started attaching my paper strips using a tape runner, but found it wasn’t holding them together well enough, so I switched to double-sided tape instead. It seemed to work much better. I think a strong glue adhesive would work well, also.

I worked in a somewhat random pattern, using a bit more of the solid cardstock. Here is what my wreath looked like after all the strips are on it…

Pretty already, right?!

Next, I punched the paper into “banners”. This can be done a variety of different ways; I have a banner punch, so I used that… but it could be just as easy simply to cut the ends with scissors, too. You could also cut the strips into banners before attaching them to the foam… either way will work.

Once the strips were attached and cut into banner shapes, I could have stopped right there — I already thought this wreath would look great with a vase and flowers in the center sitting on a table.

But…instead, I decided to add a banner and some gorgeous digital word art by Rachel Hodge by printing it out on my printer and then attaching it with double sided tape. I then added a tissue paper flower I made by folding tissue paper, securing the middle with a string, and then fanning out all the layers.


The next wreath I set out to make was the one using the chipboard backing that I had cut out by hand (see above). For this one, I decided to get out a few of my circle punches in various sizes — from 1 inch to 3 inches, in both regular and scallop edges.

I punched circle shapes into the paper I’d printed out… and then put these circles down on top of the chipboard piece. I put the larger circles down first, and then just built on top of them with the smaller circles — all before actually gluing anything (just to get an ideas of the pattern placements, balance, etc.).

Then, I printed some more word art onto cardstock and punched it into a 2-1/2″ circle. I attached the various circles to the cardstock base, this time using my glue gun. I made sure all the chipboard was covered, and then I cut some flower shapes using my CuddleBug and Sizzix dies and added the flowers to some of the circles to add some dimension and variety. I love the way this one turned out, and it was so quick and easy!

Here’s another look…


Lastly, I got to work on the small chipboard wreath (this one was the smallest, at approximately 5 inches in diameter).

For this one, I used strips varying from about 4 to 6 inches long… punched them with my banner punch… and then just adhered them with a glue gun (this time, I did not wrap them around the chipboard base; you’ll see why, below).

After adhering them, I punched a 3 inch scallop circle and a 2 inch image of a bird from the word art collection, and used those pieces to cover the center of the wreath, as shown below. I raised the circle of bird using pop up dots to add dimension. I added the center scallop circle to the middle making sure to cover over all the banner edges.

Here’s a look at the final product…

Isn’t it cute?

Here is a look at all three wreaths hanging on my closet in my office! They make me smile every time I walk in the room!

And that’s it! Each one was so simple… and fun to make. I hope I’ve inspired you to use your own digital products to make a paper wreath — whether for spring, or at any time of the year! We would love to see pictures of your completed projects in the Hybrid Gallery at The Digital Press!

Happy Spring, everyone!


About the Author  KerriAnne is a homebody who resides in the desert SW. 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.

Hybrid How-To | Selfie Shots in Mini Frames

Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of our Hybrid How-To series on The Digital Press blog! Today I am here to show you how fun and easy it is to add selfie shots into cute little mini frames on your physical scrapbooking layouts. For the purpose of this tutorial, I’m adding mine into a Traveler’s Notebook spread (so you can see how tiny they can be!)…

Before we dive into the details of this process, though, let me introduce myself! I’m Wendy Morris-Saponaro, and I’m a “seasoned” hybrid memory-keeper and super excited to be on the creative team here at The Digital Press as a hybrid artist. I’ve been a scrapbooker for about 20 years in creating for many scrapbooking manufacturer companies… from Prima Marketing to several online scrapbooking companies. Yes, long long time… within the past few years with the changes in the scrapbooking industry, I’ve leaned more to hybrid scrapbooking (using digital supplies to create physical paper layouts/projects)… and typically in the Traveler’s Notebook format. I never see my addiction ending anytime soon. HA!


First, let’s take a selfie… get ready, smile, pose….

You know you are as guilty as myself in grabbing your phone, which is pretty much always glued in your hand, to snap that necessary selfie before picking up the fork and knife, jumping on this-or-that ride, or standing in front of a landmark sign… right? My husband would have his fair share on comments for my selfie shots that consist of about 20 takes before I pick only one from the batch that I like. Ha!

Let’s dive into a few ways that you can use your never-ending stream of phone camera selfies and incorporate them into your next digital or hybrid scrapbook layout…

Browse Through All Those Selfies

You might be amazed at how many selfie photos are sitting on your phone that you are planning to scrapbook but never print out. In selecting my photos, I browsed through my iPhone (i.e. “solo” selfie, selfies with others, etc.). The auto Selfies folder on the iPhone is a great jumpstart to see what is sorted there to select photos.

I use an Epson XP-6000 printer, and I just arranged my chosen photos in a collage format on a 4×6 photo sheet in the Epson app… and then printed out my top three choices. Don’t be afraid to use duplicate photos if they are your favorites. Just do you! Ha!

Also, to add, my two-page layout is a Traveler’s Notebook-sized spread, so I was focusing on selfies that would fit a vertical style for the flow of layout. You could easily adapt to a horizontal format, however, if that is your preference.

Frame it Up

I’ll give you a helpful clue… you’ll want to look for a collection over at The Digital Press that has photo frames in the kit…

I chose the GRL PWR Kit from ninigoesdigi for my layout. The photo frames in the package of elements from the kit were just perfect for framing my selfie photos. I used the Cricut Design Space software to re-size the photo frames to a mini version. Then, I used my Canon printer and Cricut Explore Air 2 to “print and cut” the frames to the perfect size for my photos, as shown here…

When you choose to print your digital papers, elements, and journal cards, the awesome thing is that you can re-size things to a preference for the size of your project.

As a hybrid artist, I love this ability to customize the digital elements to the size needed for my project!

As you can see, above, I grabbed up some of the items from the elements pack in the kit to print and add as fun bits here and there.

Compliments that Pack the Punch

As you will usually find in 99.9% of my layouts, I use stamping as a compliment to “telling the story” around my photos. I have MANY stamps (no shame in that)! HA! I used some stamps to compliment around the theme of ‘girl power’ in my layout, as shown in the next couple of images…

Also, as a fun touch, I love the ombre effect to the paper in the GRL PWR Kit …and the letters “GRL PWR” (shown below) were already in the ombre effect in the elements pack. I wanted that bold effect of the letters as the title…

Then, I accented the title with stamped phrases and wording here and there.

I also used a ticket stub stamp…

…and I even added bits of patterned paper from the GRL PWR Kit to some of the ticket stubs as accents and to add variety.

Here’s a look at the overall effect on the right side page of my finished layout…

Isn’t it a fun project?

I challenge YOU to look through your phone and grab up a few selfies to scrapbook, also — either in digital or a hybrid format. Share with me your thoughts in the comments section of this post after trying out my tips for inspiration.


About the Author  Wendy has a strong passion for the arts, lots of creative spirit, and is fearless in working with new products and techniques. During the day, she works full-time as an Audit Manager. Wendy and her family live on the Gulf coast of emerald waters in Navarre, Florida. Her husband is from Italy and is an amazing Executive Chef at an Italian restaurant in Navarre. Her daughter is a Yorkie named Principessa. Wendy has over 20 years of experience in the scrapbooking industry. She has been published several times in print and online scrapbook magazines, and has designed for several manufacturer’s creative teams. Wendy is currently designing for The Digital Press as a hybrid artist.

Hybrid How-To | Decorative Peat Pots

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another edition of our Hybrid How-To series here on The Digital Press blog! Today I am going to show you how to print digital elements on tissue paper to make these pretty peat pots.

This tutorial is about making the peat pots, yes… but really, it is going to teach you the trick for printing on tissue paper — a skill which opens up a bunch of new crafty possibilities. Peat pots are the object I chose for this, but you could use the tissue paper on lots of other mediums — from those cute metal buckets, to the glass inside a picture frame, to bowls or plates, etc. So many options!

Supplies Needed

  • Digital elements of your choice (I used Starting Fresh | Blendable by Calista’s Stuff)
  • Photo-editing program such as Photoshop or Photoshop Elements
  • White tissue paper
  • Cardstock
  • Tape
  • Peat pots
  • White acrylic paint
  • Mod Podge
  • Paint brush & foam brush

Instructions

  1. First, we need to size the elements for the peat pots. Mine needed to be about 2.5″ in height (but it didn’t matter how wide)…

2. Next is the printing. Cut the tissue paper down to about 1″ smaller than what your printer will allow. The trick to printing on tissue paper is to tape it to a piece of cardstock and send it through the printer that way.

Here’s a look at my tissue paper after I’d sent it through the printer, with the painty elements printed onto it…

You’ll note that I had a little ink spray on my page, but it didn’t matter because I knew I’d be cutting all of that away.

3. The next step is to paint the peat pots. The white acrylic paint will help hide the edges of the tissue paper. I just used a big paint brush and criss-crossed a pretty thick layer all over the pots, leaving some of the brown color showing.

4. Next, cut the images out of the tissue paper. Nothing precise, just follow the basic shape of the image…

5. After that, we’ll Mod Podge the tissue paper images onto the peat pots with a foam brush. Once the tissue paper is wet, it will rip easily… so make sure you brush carefully.

That’s it! So easy, right?

Here’s a look at the final project. The Mod Podge finish makes them shiny and so pretty…

Another look…

These peat pots took me less than an hour to make, and they will make a perfect addition to my spring decor. I think I’m going to fill mine with some fake nests and eggs. 🙂

I hope you’ll give this project a try!


Kate 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.

Hybrid How-To | Gardener’s Gift Set

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! With spring just around the corner, I thought I’d show you how to use your digital scrapbooking stash to create a couple of cute (but simple!) gifts for the gardeners in your life.

For this tutorial, I will be using the latest Digiscrap Parade collection from February 2019 — called Plant a Seed (it is available for FREE throughout February 2019, and it’s perfect for this project)! You could also use any digital kit/collection of your choice and achieve equally gorgeous results.

Okay, let’s get started!

SUPPLIES NEEDED

  • digital kit of your choice
  • photo editing program (such as Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, etc.)
  • white card stock or matte photo paper
  • presentation or printer paper (I used presentation paper)
  • blank notebook (I used a composition book)
  • cutting machine or scissors
  • adhesive (I used a glue stick & double-sided tape)
  • Mod Podge (or you can make your own using 1 cup of white glue and 1/3 cup of water)
  • foam brush or paint brush
  • ribbon (optional)
  • pop dots (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

First, you’ll want to determine what size to make your Garden Journal’s front and back covers. You’ll do this by measuring the size of your notebook, leaving about 1/4 inch of the binding exposed. My book is 9.75 inches tall and 7.25 inches wide… so my covers will measure 9.75 inches tall and 7 inches wide (because I’m leaving about 1/4 inch of the black binding on the left exposed).

Next, you’ll open your photo editing software and create a canvas using the size you determined in the previous step. Use that canvas to design your front and back covers. Here’s a look at what I came up with…

After you come up with a design you like… you’ll print your covers on white card stock or matte photo paper. Cut them out and set them aside.

**TIP** Want to add some dimension to your book covers? I did this by printing 2 tag elements separately (see my screenshot, above; they’re the elements on the right). I cut them out separately, so I could attach them later using pop dots/etc.

Because we will be Mod Podging these covers onto the notebook, I think it’s wise to allow the ink to set up for a minimum of 2 hours before applying the Mod Podge (I usually wait overnight, just to be safe). This helps to prevent the ink from smudging once the Mod Podge is applied.

Our next step is to design the seed packets. For my project, I used a simple template that I created (see image, below); you can download it HERE if you’d like to use it and follow along.

Print the seed packets on printer paper or presentation paper. We will not be mod podging the seed packets, so it’s OK to cut and assemble them right away. I used a glue stick, but any adhesive or double-sided tape will work just fine.

Before applying the front and back covers to the notebook, I wanted to add a ribbon bookmark. You could certainly skip this step, but if you have some extra ribbon lying around, it does add a little pizzazz to the finished project!

Cut your ribbon about 4 inches longer than the height of your book and adhere it 2 inches from the top on the back of your book. (Make sure you apply it far enough away from the binding to ensure that your back cover will cover the ribbon completely.) I used double-sided tape to attach it, but most adhesives will work.

Our next step is to attach the covers to the book. Since Mod Podge can be quite messy, you’ll want to protect the inside pages to avoid glue getting on them. I found that a gallon sized zippered plastic bag works perfectly, as shown here…

After the inner pages are protected, glue on the covers with Mod Podge. Don’t skimp when applying the Mod Podge; you’ll want it thick enough to allow some wiggle room to get the covers on straight.

Repeat this step for the back cover and allow the glue to set for a minimum of 20 minutes.

Before we apply the top coat of Mod Podge, we’ll want to trim the corners of our cover to match the corners on the book. (If your book has square corners you can skip this step)…

When applying the top coat of Mod Podge, load a generous amount onto your paintbrush and use a continuous stroke (either from top to bottom or left to right). Be careful to not overwork an area or your ink may smear. Don’t worry if you can see your brush strokes… as they will diminish as the Mod Podge dries. If you are adding any elements to your cover, be sure to apply a coat of Mod Podge to those as well so that everything has the same texture.

Once everything dries, the final step is to attach the tag elements to the front cover. As noted above, I used pop dots to add a little dimension.

And here’s a look at my finished gardener’s set, ready for gift giving…

I hope today’s tutorial inspires you to re-think your own digital supply stash to make something completely new and fun (and gift-worthy too)!

And even better news — if you want to give this project a try, and you combine 2 (or more) different TDP designers’ contributions from the February 2019 DigiScrap ParadePlant A Seed — when creating your project… you will meet the requirements for the FEBRUARY 2019 PARADE CHALLENGE, which you’ll find in the CROSSWORD SECTION in The Digital Press forum. This challenge is open/available through the end of 2/28/2019, so go jump in and have some fun! You can earn points toward everything from discounts to free kits! I hope that you will join in. 🙂


DonnaAbout 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, Casey, and kitty siblings Cashmere and Velcro. She also enjoys swimming, gardening, traveling, and chocolate (of course!).

Hybrid How-To | Valentine’s Day Trading Cards

Hello everyone! It’s Tanya 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 seriously can’t believe it’s already mid-February and almost Valentine’s Day. Today, though, I’m here to teach you how to use your digital supplies to make some super cute Valentine’s Day trading cards… a project which will hopefully remove the stress of this holiday already being upon us!

You have plenty of time to grab a digital kit or two and create some fun Valentine’s Day cards for your little ones to trade with others; it’s definitely a project you can complete this weekend!

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

  1. Your favorite digital Valentine’s Day kit(s)
    (or, you can go the unconventional route and use non-themed kits that have fun papers/elements you like!)
  2. White cardstock
  3. Double-sided tape
  4. Paper cutter
  5. Scissors
  6. Valentine’s candy
  7. Washi tape

For this project, I used the following digital products (as you can see, I went the “unconventional” route and used non-Valentine’s-themed items — Be The Magic Be A Unicorn by Rachel Etrog Designs -and- Rawr Like A Dinosaur by Mari Koegelenberg)…

I created these fun school Valentine’s cards in Silhouette Studio, but you can use any photo editing program; I really like the software and I find it very easy to use (most of you already know that my favorite thing to do with my Silhouette machine is Print and Cut; this time, however, I actually designed and printed and then used my paper trimmer to finish them off).

The first step is to open the images and papers you want to use. For the paper, I drew out a rectangle in my software and and then did a drag and drop. Then I began layering until I got the desired look I wanted…

Here is a look at the final image I ended up with, after doing the steps above…

You’ll find that there are sooooo many possibilities for what you can do! Just play around and have fun! There are some really cute embellishments in the kits I used, so I just experimented until I found something that worked.

The next step is to duplicate them and print as many as possible onto one page. Here, I was able to fit eight on one page, but if you find that you would like them to be a little larger, you can definitely go with six…

Now, we’ll create the back of the card the same way we created the front (choose papers, embellishments, word art, etc… and layer until we have a design we like).

To print them onto the back of the cards we already printed, we will need to ensure that we use the same exact layout/arrangement when we print… and then we simply flip over our paper, fee it into the printer, and print side two. Make sure to follow your printer options for double-sided printing (if applicable); on my printer, to print on the back side of a page, I have to insert it printed side up (but know your own printer, and/or experiment to be sure!).

After I created the unicorn cards shown above, I decided to make another Valentine’s Day card design — this time, using the Rawr Like A Dinosaur kit. This was created the same way I created the cards up above.

Here’s a look at the design I settled on…

Again, I arranged them 8-to-a-page… and then printed the front sides before flipping it, putting it face up in my printer, and printing the back sides.

 

After we have finished printing the cards, we’ll use our paper trimmer and/or scissors and cut them out…

After trimming, you’ve got yourself some super cute custom double-sided Valentine’s Day cards!

At that point, you can prep them for trading with friends by having your little one sill out & sign all of them.

Aren’t these just the cutest?  There is nothing like creating your own things… especially when you get to share them with others!

Finally, I like to use cute patterned washi tape to attach some candy goodies to the cards, if you choose to…

There are so many fun things you can do to create your own Valentine’s Day cards! Not only do you have endless options for graphics, colors, and phrases when you look through your own digital stash… but if you google “Valentine’s Day puns,” there are tons of other funny and cute ideas out there!

I hope that this simple tutorial will help inspire you to use your own digital scrapbooking stash to create some really fun and unique cards for this Valentine’s Day! Have fun!


Tanya

About the Author  Tanya is a part of the hybrid team here at The Digital Press. She has been hybrid crafting for at least 16 years now, and loves creating and sharing those creations with others. Her all-time favorite tool is her Silhouette Cameo. She has been married for 29 years to her high school sweetheart, Richard and has two sons: Chris, 26 and Chance, 22. She also enjoys crocheting, photography and woodworking.

 

Hybrid How-To | Thankful Tree

Hello, everyone! Kate here to show you how to use your digital paper to make a lovely center piece that also doubles as a gratitude reminder. It’s the perfect project for November!

Supplies

  • Digital kit of your choice. I used Felicity by Little Lamm Co.
  • Photo editing program such as Photoshop or Photoshop Elements
  • Cardstock
  • Cutting machine or scissors
  • branches – real or fake. I used some fake light-up branches that I can use year after year.
  • Container like a vase or a jar
  • mini clothespins or string

Instructions

I found some leaf shapes in my digi stash that served as templates. I clipped the digital paper to the leaf templates, then printed and cut everything. Felicity had some cute tags that I printed as well. And I think I used every single paper in that kit – they were all so pretty!

Next, I arranged the branches in my container and added some pinecones and other filler. I put all the leaves, tags, clothespins and a pen into a bucket next to the tree. We’ve asked the whole family to write down what they’re grateful for on the different leaves and tags and then pin them on the tree branches as the month goes on.

I want to make this a yearly tradition for our family! And my hope is that it will be a reminder for all of us about the things that truly matter as we go into this holiday season.


Kate 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.