A little fall treat for my Sunday School kids!

Welcome to Witnessing Wednesday!

Witnessing Wednesday is going to be filled with witnessing ideas for kids and adults, ideas for ministry, and church projects that I have done for my Sunday School kids!

This week I am going to show you the little fall treat boxes that I have done for them :-)

I used Lisa's Punkin Set....it is just adorable and came with matching paper....it was just too much for me to resist!

 

See Lisa's Punkin set in the store here!

First, I printed out a bunch of little punkins to trim out while sitting at gymnastics, waiting in the car, and eating lunch at my mother-in-law's house on Sundays (yes, my MIL has us over for dinner every other week and I get spoiled with fried chicken, mash potatoes and gravy, and PIE :-) Yummy!)

Here is a closeup of my trimmed up punkin!  It really went pretty quick and easy!

 Next, I started with a little box that I found at the dollar store....but making your own would be easy enough!  They just popped up and I glued my digi paper to them :-)  I printed a complete 8.5x11 sheet of paper and then trimmed it to size.  If you were to print it on cardstock, you could make a quick little box out of it in a flash....especially if you have some sort of cutting machine!

Next, I added a little pop up tape (poppin dots, what ever you have to make it dimensional) to attach my punkin to the front of my box.

 

I found the orange cellophane at  Hobby Lobby!  I wrapped some candy corn in to the cellophane and tied it with a black and white piece of bakers twine.  I added some more candy in the box and now I am ready for our fall party at church!  I'm so excited to have them done this early!  I have 12 little boxes already sitting and ready to go!

 

 

 These would also be a sweet little treat to make up for the elderly that are shut in or in nursing homes in your church!  I better make a few more!

I hope you will enjoy making these little treat boxes!  Check back on Wednesdays for more ministry ideas!

Hope your day is filled with crafting and blessings galore!

Clearly Inspired Challenge #60 (CIC60)

Hello there, crafty friends!  Oh Friday, sweet Friday. . .I'm sure we are all so happy to see you!  It's also the third Friday of the month, making it Clearly Inspired Challenge time.  There were a bunch of wonderful entries to challenge #59, so I am still working my way around to all of them.  Thank you to all that have been playing!  Shall we get to the newest challenge?

Fall into Fall

We want to see some Fall themed projects!  C'mon, we know you're itching to get some more Fall cards done, so when you do come back here and enter them.  We only ask that you check out our Challenge Guidelines before you submit.  Here is the darling September Featured Digital image that our extremely talented Lisa Lara created:

PILES OF FUN

Now here's some inspiration from our DT:

Lisa Lara -- featured digital image Piles of Fun

Jen Young -- Charlie Harvest digital image

Deonna Bemish -- featured digital image Piles of Fun

Vickie O'Dell -- Leaves Color digital image

Kathy Dunnegan -- Leaves Color digital image

Cassie Trask -- featured digital image Piles of Fun

Please link directly to your project using Mister Linky down below.  We also ask that you link back here to Clearly Inspired Challenge sponsored by Clear Dollar Stamps.  You have until Thursday, October 4th at midnight to enter this challenge to be eligible for the prizes at the end of the month.  Be as creative as you can while sticking to the theme.  Remember, only one entry per person, please :)

We can't wait to see what you come up with!

We Have a Winner for the Sunday Blog Hop!

We have a winner from our September Blog Hop!

Congratulations Loll Thompson from Stamping With Loll, you are our winner!!! Your name was chosen from Cassie's blog, A Day in the Life of a Homeschooling Mom. Please contact Cassie at cassandratrask@yahoo.com to claim your prize!!!

Tuesday Tutorial: Using Digital Papers

Welcome, friends! It's time for another Tuesday Tutorial. Today's topic is Digital Papers. After our last tutorial, where Lori shared her gorgeous craft fair gift card set, we received quite a few questions on this topic. Digital papers are included in many of our digi sets, and we want to make sure you are fully comfortable using them. So let's get started! :-)

Please note that this tutorial does assume some basic understanding of digis. If you are brand new to using digis, please visit our Digi Stamps 101 page  for directions to get you started. Also, for this tutorial, I'll be using Microsoft Word 2010. If you'd like to follow along with my directions for resizing and printing digital papers using Word 2010, but don't currently have this program installed on your computer, you can download a free 60-day-use trial of Microsoft Office 2010 HERE (Microsoft Word is included in the Office suite of programs).

A. What are Digital Papers?
"Digital papers" are just another type of digi. At Clear Dollar Stamps, our digital papers are full-color, patterned images. They are like any other pre-colored digi that we offer, only larger. We include digital papers with many of our colored digi sets, and also have several "just paper" packs available for purchase. Digital papers come pre-sized, but are resizable to meet your crafting needs.

Digital papers can be used in your digital creations (i.e. digital scrapbooking). Alternately -- and this is how most of our designers use them -- they can be printed and used in your craft projects in place of traditional patterned papers. Think of a pad of scrapbooking paper you might buy at a craft store. Each of our digital papers is like one sheet in that pad. The advantage of digital papers, however, is that if you like a particular pattern, you can print it as many times as you want, without having to buy a whole new pad!

B. Do I Need Special Software to Use Digital Papers?
As with our other digis, some basic software is required to use digital papers. You will need to use a zip utility to download and unzip the files after you purchase them. You will also need to have a program on your computer that will allow you to resize and print images.  If you have been using our digis successfully, then you already have what is needed on your computer to use digital papers. However, if you are new to using digis, or need links to some basic software you can use, please read our Digis 101 page to learn more.

C. What Kind of Printer is Required to Print Digital Papers?
To print digital papers, you need to have a color printer. Remember, our digital papers are full-color, so they will not look right if printed in black-and-white! The higher the quality of your printer, the better the digital papers will look when printed.

D. What Kind of Paper is Needed to Print Digital Papers?
No special type of paper is required to print digital papers. However, smooth-surfaced, low absorbency cardstock/paper, such as Neenah cardstock, will likely give you the best results. (Papers and cardstocks that are highly absorbent may suck up the colored ink, and not give you the printing results that you like.) Also, keep in mind that digital papers are fully-colored, so if you print them on colored paper instead of plain white, you may get unwanted results.

I highly recommend that you test the paper you choose with your printer in advance to make sure it will feed through properly. Printers can be a bit prickly at times! :-)

E. How Do I Resize and Print Digital Papers?
The process for resizing and printing digital papers is exactly the same as for any of our other digis. You need to use a program that allows you to resize and print images to do this. There are many different computer programs that you can use, but as I've said many times before, I find Microsoft Word to be the easiest to use for these basic functions.

Here are directions for resizing and printing digital papers using Word 2010. If this feels like a review of the Digis 101 tutorial, that's because, again, the process is exactly the same! :-)

Placing the Digital Paper in a Word Document

1. Open a new, blank document in Word.
2. With your mouse, click on Insert on the menu bar at the top of the Word window, and select Photo from the pull-down menu.


   
   
   
   
3. A second menu will appear to the side. From this menu, select Picture from File.
4. The "Choose a Picture" window will appear on-screen. In this window, navigate to the digital paper you wish to open, and then click on the Insert button at the bottom right corner of the window.


   
   
   
   
   
5. The digital paper you selected will be placed on your blank Word document, and will have a blue rectangle around it. This indicates that it is selected and able to be edited.
   
   
   

Making the Digital Paper Moveable within the Word Document

By default, because Word is a "word processing" program, the digital paper will be set to appear behind any text you might also type into this document. In order to be able to move the digital paper around on the document and place it where you want it, you will need to adjust this setting.

1. If the digital paper is not already selected in the document window (blue rectangle appearing around it), click on it with your mouse to select it.
2. With the digi selected, locate the Wrap Text button on the toolbar above the document window. Click on this button.


   
   
   
   
   
3. A pull-down menu will appear on the screen. From this menu, select Tight.
4. The digital paper can now be moved to wherever you wish to place it on the document. To move the image, left-click the image with your mouse and, while holding down the left mouse button, drag the image to where you want it in the document.

Resizing the Digital Paper
Once you have made your digital paper moveable within the document window, you may want to then resize it to fit your crafting needs. Something to keep in mind when resizing is that shrinking or enlarging it will proportionally shrink or enlarge the pattern of the paper. So if you want to use the pattern at its full size, you will need to print it at full size. Please note that resizing a digital paper in Word only affects how the image appears in and prints from the current Word document -- it will not change the actual file that is stored on your computer. To resize the digital paper in the Word document:

1. If the digital paper is not already selected in the document window (blue rectangle appearing around it), click on it with your mouse to select it.
2. With the digital paper selected, locate the "Size" setting boxes at the top right on the toolbar above the document window. You will see two text boxes, indicating the "Height" and "Width" of the image.
   
   
   
3. IMPORTANT:  To the center right of the Height and Width boxes is a small checkbox -- the "Lock Aspect Ratio" box. Before making any changes to the Height or Width of the digital paper, be sure that a check-mark appears in this box. This will keep the image proportional as you resize it.
   
4. To change the size of the digital paper, click inside either the Height or Width text box and, holding down the left mouse button, drag the mouse to highlight the current number.
5. Type in the number you wish to change this measurement to, and then press the Return/Enter key on your keyboard. You need only change one number -- either Height or Width -- and the other will change proportionally. The image will instantly resize according to the new setting. 

Positioning the Digital Paper on the Page
Once you've sized the digital paper to your liking, you can move it to wherever you like on the page. To move the digital paper, simply click on it in the Word window and, while holding down the left mouse button, drag it around on the page. Be sure to keep the margin settings of the Word document in mind when choosing where to place the digital paper.

If you want to conserve cardstock, you could fill the rest of the page with digis or more digital papers before printing.


Printing the Digital Paper
Once you have your digital paper set up in the Word document to your liking, you are ready to print:

1. Load the paper on to which you wish to print your digital paper into your printer's paper tray.
2. In the Word window, click on File on the toolbar at the top left of the screen.
   
   
   
3. A pull-down menu will appear on the screen. From this menu, select Print.
4. Follow the prompts specific to your printer to complete the printing process.

F. Post-printing Tips
Be sure to let your digital papers dry before using them. Also, if you use a Laser printer, you may want to heat-set the ink before handling the paper. Finally, as with all paper products, we suggest keeping your printed digital papers away from liquids, as this may cause paper to disintegrate and the ink to run.

G. A Free Digital Paper for You to Try
If you'd like to give digital papers a try before deciding to purchase some, Clear Dollar Stamps has one that you may download for free from the store HERE. Because of how the store works, you will need to add the item to your shopping cart and check out as if making a paid purchase, but you will not be charged for this item.



That's all there is to it! Digital papers are fun and easy to use, and we hope that this tutorial has you feeling more confident about using them. Of course, if you do have questions, please leave us a comment or contact Lori directly through the store. Be sure to include your email address so that we can respond. :-)

Sunday Blog Hop -- ABC or 123

Hello Friends!

Welcome to our Monthly Sunday Blog Hop!

These blog hops are the third Sunday of every month....a must see for a lazy Sunday afternoon!

Each month we will have a theme which each Design Team member is challenged to interpret any way they like. 

The theme for September is:

ABC or 123

We ask that you browse through each Design Team member's post and leave them an encouraging comment....short or long, they all are appreciated!

There will be a prize each month!

September's prize is:

$25 gift certificate to Clear Dollar Stamps for Digital Images

WINNER:  The winner will be randomly chosen from comments received on DT member blogs. The winner will be announced on the CDS blog Thursday, September 20th.

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Let's go look and see what my other DT members did!

Remember, leave an encouraging comment and be entered to win our contest....the more comments, the more times you are entered!

Cassie Trask

Lisa Lara

Kathy Dunnegun

Angela Pruisman

Linda Anderson

Have fun hopping, my friends, and be sure to leave comments along the way!  You could be the winner of the gift code!

Thanks for hopping with us!  

Hope your day is filled with blessings and stamping galore!

Digi Day at Clear Dollar Stamps!

Hello Everyone!

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!  Lori here today to show you all of our wonderful new digi releases for September!

Let's get started, but first............................................................

Are you new to digis?  Well if you are, here is a quick explanation.  You will buy and download a "zipped up" file.  You will unzip this file and receive all the images in jpg and png formats.  You will then pull those into a Word doc or picture editor and print, print, print.

Here is a little tutorial and FREE digi that will help you along! 

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Digis by Lori McCroskey

 

First, we have this adorable digi that is going to help you get ready for all of those fall parties!  I personally don't do witches and such, but I do love pumpkins!  This set will help you get all your treats ready for fall parties!  I've also included a Happy Thanksgiving sentiment along with some thankful and blessing sentiments to carry right through to your Thanksgiving table!  Included are three digi papers to coordinate beautifully with your tags and projects!  If you aren't familiar with the Hershey Nugget tags on the left, scroll down and see what our design team has done to decorate their nuggets!

Fall Treats Digital Image

 Designed by Lori McCroskey, Clear Dollar Stamps.

Go to Fall Treats Digital Image

The DT members who created previews with this digi:

Jen Young 

Deonna Bemish 

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This set started out with our images from the Leaves stamp set created by a previous CDS illustrator.  I decided to color up the leaves, add some sentiments and tags, created some papers and came up with this very versatile set!  I think you will really enjoy this set....take a look at the beautiful samples!

Leaves Color Digital Image

 Go to Leaves Color Digital Image

The DT member who created previews with this digi:

Vickie O'Dell

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Do you want to colorize the set yourself?  Here you go!  The uncolored file for you to be your creative self with and go crazy!

 Leaves Digital Image

 Go to Leaves Digital Image

The DT members who created previews with this digi:

Kathy Dunnegan 

Lori Ulrich

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Digis by Lisa Lara

Now, this little set I had to get my hands on immediately!  Oh yes!  These little guys are so adorable and versatile.....I made little treat boxes for my Sunday School class and I have plans for an adorable scrapbook page with them too!

Punkins Digital Image

These little treat boxes are for my Sunday School class this fall!  They are going to love them!

Designed by Lisa Lara.  Copyright Lisa's Doodley Doos.

Licensed by Clear Dollar Stamps.

Go to Punkins Digital Image

The DT members who created previews with this digi:

Jerusha Borden

Cassie Trask 

Angela Puisman

Lisa Lara

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It's never too early to get started on those Christmas Cards, Christmas gifts, and wrapping paper, now is it????  Make sure to take a look at the digi papers Lisa has included....FIVE of them! 

 Ornament Sentiments

Designed by Lisa Lara. Copyright Lisa's Doodley Doos.

Licensed by Clear Dollar Stamps

Go to Ornament Sentiments Digital Image

The DT members who created previews with this digi:

Cassie Trask

Sarah Taylor 

Lisa Lara

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Digis by Laurie Wilson

You may recognize this bridge set from our stamp line in years past.  I have to be honest, I never touched it as a stamp....that was a lot of coloring to do!  I can guarantee that I am going to be making a card set with this fabulous set!  Papers included....I'm so excited to create with it....there just aren't enough hours in the day!  Beautiful job Laurie!

Covered Bridges Digital Image

Designed by Laurie Wilson. Copyright Clear Dollar Stamps.

Go to Covered Bridges Digital Image

The DT members who created previews with this digi:

Deonna Bemish

Linda Anderson

Laurie Wilson

 

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What a sweet little Thanksgiving horse...don't you think?

I can see napkin rings and place cards on my kid's Thanksgiving table with this set!  What could be more fun that to make them a special place setting of their very own!?!  Of course, I will have to send out a couple of Thanksgiving cards too!

Charlie Harvest Color Digital Image

 Designed by Laurie Wilson. Copyright Clear Dollar Stamps.

Go to Charlie Harvest Color Digital Image

The DT member who created previews with this digi:

Laurie Wilson

Go to Charlie Harvest Clear Acrylic Stamp Set

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How cute!  Once again, Laurie has created adorable papers to match her digi characters!  Take a look at the samples and you will certainly be inspired and require this in your digi collection!

 Howdy Partner Digital Image

Designed by Laurie Wilson and Clear Dollar Stamps' Illustrator.

Copyright Clear Dollar Stamps. 

Go to Howdy Partner Digital Image

The DT members who created previews with this digi:

Laurie Wilson

Go to Howdy Partner Clear Acrylic Stamp Set

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Digis by Austin Owens

Austin has created more of her fabulous doodle digis!  Here you will find two baskets that are sure to grace the cover of any card!

Basket of Flowers Digital Image

Designed by Austin Owens.  Copyright Austie Bost Stamps.

Licensed by Clear Dollar Stamps.

Go to Basket of Flowers Digital Image

The DT members who created previews with this digi:

Barb Gmitro Best 

Sarah Nelson 

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This set is perfect for cards....and don't forget framed artwork!  My goodness, I think this card sample below would be perfect framed and given as a gift!

Garden Digital Image

Designed by Austin Owens.  Copyright Austie Bost Stamps.

Licensed by Clear Dollar Stamps.

Go to Garden Digital Image

The DT members who created previews with this digi:

Lori Ulrich

 

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Do you hear "Here Comes the Bride" in your near future?  Well, if it is you or one of your loved ones, this set will make some adorable wedding cards!  So many images, so little time!

 Wedding Digital Image

Designed by Austin Owens.  Copyright Austie Bost Stamps.

Licensed by Clear Dollar Stamps.

Go to Wedding Digital Image

The DT members who created previews with this digi:

Sarah Taylor

Sarah Nelson

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Austin has created all these adorable angels for you printing pleasure!  All colored up and ready to go, you are sure to find at least one angel that fits your purpose and creation!

Angels Digital Image

 Designed by Austin Owens. Copyright Austie Bost Stamps.

Licensed by Clear Dollar Stamps

Go to Angels Digital Image

The DT member who created previews with this digi:

Kathy Dunnegan

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We have turned more of our stamps in to digs for you!
The next four sets would be a nice little addition to your digi collection!

Scripture Occasions Digital Image

 Designed by Lori McCroskey, Clear Dollar Stamps.

Go to Scripture Occasions Digital Image

The DT members who created previews with this digi:

Angela Puisman

Jerusha Borden 

Jen Young 

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Scenic Trees Digital Image

Go to Scenic Trees Digital Image

The DT members who created previews with this digi:

Dana Colbourne

Vickie O'Dell 

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How cute is this set.....perfect for teens!

Rock On Digital Image

 Go to Rock On Digital Image

The DT members who created previews with this digi:

Dana Colbourne

Go to Rock On Clear Acrylic Stamps 

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Cocoa the Dog Digital Image

Go to Cocoa the Dog Digital Image

The DT members who created previews with this digi:

Linda Anderson

Barb Gmitro Best

Thank you so much for spending some time with us this weekend!

Make sure to leave an encouraging word for our illustrators and design team!

Hope your day is filled with stamping and blessings galore!

Witnessing Wednesdays - Creating a journal for children's Sunday School

Hello Everyone!

Lori here today for our first Witnessing Wednesday!

What will Witnessing Wednesday be?

1.  A place to share about Jesus through papercrafting!
2.  An avenue to share witnessing creations with everyone.
3.  A day to show off Christian cards that we have created.
4.  More ideas to evolve and be discovered of how we can serve Christ!

 If you have any ideas or a craft you have done to witness with, please leave a comment...I would love to hear your ideas on sharing Christ!

Sunday School Journal
 
Today I've decided to do a little mini tutorial on on this cute little Sunday School Creation for my 3rd grade class!  Each week we do little crafts, learn memory verses, play games and much more.  The kids are always forgetting their little projects and such, and I thought it would be a great idea to combine it all into a little book for them to take home and share with their families at the end of the month....a little treasure book!

Last week was our first week, and the kids (EVEN THE BOYS) were very excited about their little books they were going to create!  When the boys are excited, you know you've done something!

Here is what the finished book looks like....very simple, but cute!

The first thing that we are going to do is cut a letter size file folder in half.

Next, I printed off some pages with Lisa's Piles of Fun kids to decorate the front of our folder.

 

I trimmed them down and then added a red border with red copy paper.  These I left off of the folders until we got to class.  That way we could add a boy or a girl and they got to glue them on!

 

Next, I created some Memory Verse pages and "What I learned" pages for the book.  I put two on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper and just cut them in half.  I did trim 1/2 inch off the left side so all the papers were covered by the folder....all page inserts are only 8 inches wide.

I created this little pocket for any papers they might get during the month.  All i did was cut it down to 8x8, fold it up, staple the sides.

Here I took some baggies and included them in the lineup....Walmart carries 4x6 bags in their craft section that work great!

I decided to add some note taking pages, coloring pages, you know, just some pages for them to do whatever they wanted with them!

I printed off some piles of the leaves from Lisa's Pile of Fun set, and let them cut them out and glue them anywhere in their book they wanted for decoration.  The Pile it in paper I had them glue on their red pocket page.

Here is how the book looks finished :-)

Lisa included this adorable little "Made with" image, so I put that on the back and had them put their names on them here....it turned out really cute!

This project was very inexpensive to create and went together really quickly!  Try some for your kids at home too!  Let them create a little memory journal for each month!  They will love it forever!