I Didn't Start This

And neither did Jeanne, but she was the person who inspired me to try it. I really like it, too. What, you ask? Digital images that you can download and use like a stamped image.

It's all kind of weird though. For reasons that I know are silly, I feel kind of like I'm cheatin'. That's dumb. It's not like taking a lined stamp and inking it up with black ink and stamping it on cardstock is the end-all or for that matter, even requires much talent. Instead of stamping it, I printed it, and then I colored it, which is what brought it to life. It was also the fun part. I didn't miss a thing. Additionally, the image was perfect the first time, which isn't something I can guarantee if I stamp it. LOL.

Guilt aside, I see several other advantages to digital images such as this. The first is the ability to size images. For this particular image, I set my printer to print it at 40 percent. Another advantage is cost. I purchased this "stamp set" in digital form for $5, a savings of 60 percent. Yet another plus for me is the fact that the images won't be taking up space in my already "stuffed to the gills" corner. Finally, another biggie for me was the almost instant gratification of purchasing something and having it in my hand (so to speak) almost immediately. While All That Scraps says that it will email you the file within 12 hours, this particular file was received within minutes of order confirmation.

If you want to try before you buy, Jeanne has a link for a very cute free fairy image on this post on her Creative Bliss blog. All That Scraps has a freebie, too, and actually encourages you to try it first, but I couldn't find it, which is what lead to my purchase.

About my card, after heat-setting my image (see Jeanne's post), I colored it, using a combination of both Prismacolor colored pencils with Gamsol mineral spirits and markers. The sentiment was stamped as was the snowflake border. Let me know what you think about using digital images in place of stamps.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy and Cranberry cardstock; Autumn Harvest Background & Texture paper (retired); Outdoor Denim ink pad; CC Designs Digi Downloads Winter Bear; Impression Obsession Sentiments II and Fall Borders stamp sets; Ribbon from Wal-Mart; Cranberry and Orange markers; Prismacolor colored pencils; Gamsol mineral spirits; Paper blending stubs.

Well, that was fun. Thanks, Jeanne, for "pioneering" the way for me to try something new! Off to play some more . . .