MDS Monday Sketch Challenge #63

Joan brought us another fabulous challenge sketch page this week! I have been using these scrapbook page sketches to get my recent Disney trip in MDS to print!  I used some of the rectangle parts as photo boxes to capture parts of our morning at the MK.  The others I filled with Big Top Birthday DSP. I left the background white to make the DSP and photos stand out on the page.

Did you hear that Stampin' Up is offering FREE SHIPPING this week April 21st - 25th and that it INCLUDES MDS Printing!!!! Be still my heart! I gotta get this photo album done fast and get some other projects printed as well!

You can give the challenge a try and submit your own page if you click on the MDS Monday button on the right side! Follow the directions on the site to upload your page and link it from your blog or MDS.net. Winners and honorable mentions are announced every two weeks.

 Thanks for stopping by! I hope this inspires you today to get into MDS Mondays and our challenges!

Cindy 

MDS Monday Sketch Challenge #61

I just got back from vacation and while gone I took some time to myself to get some digital scrapbooking done. It was heavenly! I had Tara's sketch to work from to complete one of the pages of our last Disney trip in September 2013. We love going to Epcot and seeing the countries. Mexico is one of our favorites for the food, drinks and shopping. 

I love the layered photos. I used the Purple Passion Kit download and recolored the pattern DSP to Calypso Coral. The brush images are from the Geometrical Stamp download. My favorite part is the multi-coloring of the New Mexico brush image from Nifty Fifty download! I cropped it to just Mexico and then colored it in free hand with the Coloring Tool. Give it a try on your next MDS project!

You can give the challenge a try and submit your own page if you click on the MDS Monday button on the right side! Follow the directions on the site to upload your page and link it from your blog or MDS.net. Winners and honorable mentions are announced every two weeks.

 Thanks for stopping by! I hope this inspires you today to get into MDS Mondays and our challenges!

Cindy 

Thinking Spring!

Today is an exciting day! Back to reality and 2013 with a fresh start and new attitude!

Expect to see some changes soon! Big plans on the horizon!

 

The new Spring Mini catalog is out from Stampin UP and it is full of My Digital Studio downloads and CD's!  I was able to get my hand on the new hostess MDS CD called Lemonade Stand. I am head over heels in love with it!  It comes with 12 template pages that are so cute!  Perfect for my Disney 2012 trip album. I wanted to share one of them today. I added the stamp image from the CD for the title which I colored and the journal part below the photo.  I added the Natural Composition Overlays\Natural Composition Overlays - pattern 11 in Bermuda Bay at 40% opacity for some interest. 

 

Allison had a really great time at the Magic Kingdom on our day there. She rode many of the rides with her Daddy over and over again.

 

If you have stopped by today, thank you so much for coming.

I hope you will continue to be inspired to try MDS yourself!

 

Cindy

MDS Blog Hop Friday - VACATION!

How funny that I picked this week's theme! Cause I am in way NEED of a vacation! I have been EXTREMELY busy with some very exciting MDS stuff. I have a MDS Club Class tomorrow and we are doing "SCRAPBOOKS"! Share more on that in the next weeks!

 Here is what I came up with. I am trying to get last year's trip to Vero Beach done before we head there in September and I want it to be done FAST! Like in one night FAST! Completed too!

So I tried this never before tried, hardly used MDS function called AutoFill. Brillant! I selected the Convention download 24-page template and my photo file from our trip. Followed steps in process and BOOM, it was done! No guessing where to put my pictures, they were already in order of days in my photo file so they were in order. I had more pictures selected than what is in template spread, so the program just adds more template pages to finish it. AMAZING! I did have to make very little changes to each page but overall a success!

Here are some of my favorite pages from the completed album.

Front Cover

 

 

I added little journaling beside the page titles to keep it simple. By the way, this template is perfect for a beach theme vacation! Not just for Stampin Up Convention 2011!

Thanks a bunch for stopping by!

I hope you try that AutoFill function and see what happens!

Cindy

 Check out what my fellow MDS Blog Designers created this week!

Bet you see some Disney in there too!

If someone is missing, just come back here and move to the next person.

1. Jeanna Bohanon

2.Rochelle Gould

3.  Mandy Grant

4. Julie Leblanc 

5. Amber Meadows

6. Terri Mongeon

7. Aly Schilling

8. Cindy Schuster

9. Erica Shaw

10. Heather Summers

11. Alesha Walls 

12. Holly VanDyne

Recap 2011 continues...JULY AUG SEPT

Moving on to the next three months...

This page has to be my favorite design and it was my favorite month of 2011!  I wanted the "vintage" colors of July 4th traditional red, white and blue.  The dsp is from many kits and papers. Love Letter, Not Quite Navy striped and patterns.  This month was so great...from fantastic fireworks to my niece coming into the world to a visit with some GREAT friends to my very first Stampin Up Convention!

August is our back to school month here in the South. I used the Noteworthy CD kit. I love the colors in this kit; Pool Party, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler and So Saffron. The apple has color filled punch behind it to "fill" the apple in.

Spice Cake HAD to be used for September's page. It went so well with our beach vacation pictures.  Love the tree so it had to be in this page too.

Hope you enjoyed these!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cindy

Good to Know Photo Tip

Here is a tip that I wanted to share with you all. I did not know this and was glad to learn of it cause that would just end my world to loose all those vacation pictures.

Julie shares: After dinner at Chef Mickey's, my son accidentally deleted all the photos off my memory card that I had taken in the parks the previous three days and our photos from our just completed character dinner (about 400 images). After a few tears and moments of panic, I called my brother who is an amateur photo buff. He advised me there are programs to retrieve the deleted photos, BUT you must NOT take any more photos on that memory card! We purchased a new memory card that night and took the old memory card to a camera store and for about $42 dollars all my photos were retrieved and put on a disk. It was so tempting to run back into Chef Mickey's and snap more pictures of the kids with the characters, but thank goodness I didn't!

Have a magical day!
Cindy

Give a Day, Get a Disney Day

3-9-10 Update!  Disney will stop this program once they hit 1 million tickets given out!  We were told that they are VERY close to that so if you want your FREE ticket, better get on the website and schedule your day TODAY!

I wanted to share our volunteer day that we are doing as a family to get a day tickets to DisneyWorld.  Disney's new promotion this year is super idea and whoever came up with it at the Disney big wigs are genius!  They are getting closer to ONE MILLION volunteers already! It is 3 simple steps and all the details can be found here:    Give-A-Day-Get-A-Disney-Day    ***You must pre-register and sign up through this site to volunteer and complete your service at an eligible volunteer opportunity in the fifty United States, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico or Canada to receive a ticket after verification of such service. Ticket quantities for this program are limited. You must be at least 18 to sign up. You may only sign up a maximum of 8 members of your household. Children must be at least 6 to participate in the program. One ticket per person, regardless of the number of times you volunteer. Program begins January 1, 2010 and continues until tickets are distributed or until December 15, 2010, whichever occurs first. Your voucher for a free ticket must be redeemed by December 15, 2010, and used on the same day of redemption.***

THE PROCESS
Step One :  Search and Sign up
You enter your zip code and then a list of local organizations thru Hand Ons Network come up with selected volunteer options.  You can pick from cleaning up, clothes sorting, serving lunch, donate bed sheets, blood drives to collecting pop can tabs!  If you are wanting a ticket for a child, watch the age limit on the selections.  Then you select the option and follow the details.  We emailed the organization and they got back to us within 24 hours.  I picked a date and time to drop off the kits and emailed her back. Then I finished the sign in process on the website and added our volunteer date and time.  You will have to create an account name and password on the website.
We selected to do donation of items to create Kitchen Kits for families that need basic kitchen needs.  To get four tickets, we had to make 5 kits.  Now these kits cost us $120 total for new items but we could have also collected used items.  Working for a restaurant wholesale co, I got the advantage on this.  Tickets for our family of four to go to Disney for one day = $324.84  so we are saving $200!  WOW!

Step Two : Volunteer
We are going on a Saturday to the warehouse in Atlanta to drop off our 5 Kits and tour the warehouse and see what they do there to help the community.  We will bring the girls so they understand why they need these things and how they help our community.  After our drop off date, the organization notifies Disney that we have completed our volunteer day.  Please allow up to 2 weeks for email verification for your activity from Disney.

Step Three :  Redeem and Celebrate!
Once the organization confirms that you did indeed volunteer your time then Disney emails you a voucher for a DisneyWorld or DisneyLand One Day One Park ticket for each member of your family.  To redeem your ticket at a Walt Disney World® or Disneyland® theme park, you must bring a valid photo ID along with your voucher. Valid ID is one of the following: valid Government Issued Passport, valid Driver's License including a photo, or valid Government Issued Photo ID. For children under 18 who do not have any of the previous listed IDs, a copy of a Birth Certificate is acceptable. School IDs or children security IDs are not deemed Government Issued Photo IDs and will not be accepted. Please note: the Guest whose name is on the voucher must be present at the time of ticket redemption (for example, parents cannot redeem tickets for their children in their absence.)  Remember the ticket can only be used for that day! 

So sign up today and volunteer!  Even if you do not have plans to go to Disney this year, you can donate your ticket to the Boys and Girls Club of America so that some child can go to the most magical place on Earth!  Volunteering is also so rewarding and so good for your heart!  It can lift your spirits!

We will be using our tickets on our September trip to Disney/Vero Beach this year!  Can not wait!  Just have to decide which park to visit for that trip.  My BIL and SIL did the Disney for a Day program too!  They did the bed sheets donation and they will be using their tickets for my nephews' FIRST DisneyWorld visit soon!  I hope they have a great time!  :)

Have a magical day!
Cindy

Disney News and Tips

Here is some news that I wanted to share with my Disney followers:
If you are going to Disney this summer, I am jealous!  I absolutely miss the Main Street Electrical Parade!  We saw it last in 2000.  The SpectroMagic Parade gives me the creeps!  The characters in the beginning are super scary.  Maybe it is just me.

From AllEars.net:
Disney made several big announcements last week at its special "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day," media event. The biggest news is that this summer will see a collection of special activities called Summer Nightastic! The Main Street Electrical Parade will return to the Magic Kingdom in early June! It comes direct from the Disneyland Resort, with floats and characters appearing for the first time at Walt Disney World Resort. This will be the Parade's first time in Florida since 2001. This version of the parade will be led by Tinker Bell.  Pinocchio and Snow White join the parade this summer, also aboard bright new floats. Magic Kingdom will also have a new special summer fireworks spectacular. In addition, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios will feature new lighting effects and the addition of a new drop sequence. Over at Epcot, the Sounds Like Summer concert series returns, and Disney's Animal Kingdom will add extended evening hours several times a week.

Have a magical day!
Cindy

Wacky Wednesday on MDS

I wanted to show my first complete project from Simply My Digital Studio class. I am learning so much about the program thru this class by Heather.  It really is so easy to use!  Know what else is easy? Downloading MDS projects to my blog are very easy to do so plan to see lots of them!

This page is when we went to Disney in Sept 09 and Alexa, my BFF's daughter, went on the zipline by HERSELF at the age of 3!  You can click on the picture to read the details of the ride.  What a great memory!

In this lesson, Heather showed us how to add pictures and then change the opacity to get a faded look.  I also made the background paper of Summer Sun and toned it down 10%.  That gave me another shade of yellow. In another video she did, she taught how to add designer paper and embellishments to size them for the page. 

Have a magical day!

Cindy

MDS make Disney look good!

Here is the second My Digital Studio page I made.  I had these Disney pictures on my laptop and used them to make this page.  I used background designer paper in Kiwi Kiss and then matted the photos in Bermuda Bay and Pumpkin Pie.  I used the circle punches option to create the Mickey ears.  This was my learning part in this page.  How to use the punches to make character or shapes and then fill in the colors. I then added the buttons in Bermuda Bay.  I am really enjoying the MDS program!  I started the Simply MDS online class yesterday with Heather Summers.  She is showing us how to use the program and viedo tips for the next 20 days for $20.00.  So you will be seeing some more MDS pages and items.  I love the challenges she gives too!

Have a magical day!
Cindy

I made some changes to this page after learning more about MDS tricks and tips. And I love it even more!

Disney Tip Thursday

Well, we are heading out for our Disney trip this weekend! I already started the packing process - Schuster style on this past Sunday. Done: *Luggage out and airing after Febreeze sprayed. :o) A must! *Swim bag and towels packed. Bringing 8 beach towels. *Laundry basket filled with kitchen supplies needed to cook meals in the room. Such as griddle, *mickey shape for pancakes, large pot for spaghetti, extra cooking utensils, salt/pepper/powdered sugar/regular sugar, Clorox wipes, coffee filters, etc. Then I can use the basket for dirty laundry while we are there. *Schedule updated with dining reservation numbers and temporary itinerary. I created a Word file that I use for each trip and then just update dates and activities. *Laundry mostly done and clothes picked (Howard and Megan still have to finish their pile). *Booster seats for Alexa and Allison. Still to do: *Picking out DVDs to watch on the road and in the room. I try to make them take Disney classics but that never works. *Select things to do for the road trip. Each girl filled a small backpack or bag of their stuff like IPOD or MP3, DVDs (they have a CD case that holds only 12 DVDs and that is all they get to take- no arguing), coloring books and markers, book to read, and a journal notebook. *Pack camera and re-charge batteries. Bring extra batteries. *Final load of laundry - unless I decide to pack and wash there. Therefore bring small bottle of Tide. *Print Molly's schedule for those who will be watching her and feeding her. *Pack the Disney stuffed animals, glow sticks, character books, ponchos, coin album and anything else that we buy each year from Disney. That way the girls will not want to buy those things again. *Buy and wash T-shirts for costumes at Halloween party. (Wait til you see what we are doing! :oP) I found a packing list on All Ears and wrote down the things that applied to our family. (I think I did a list on this blog way last year too.) So then I have a final check list that Allison will get to check off as we pack on Friday. Have a magical day!

Cindy

Disney Tip Tuesday

I was searching online for some tips and found these great ideas that we might use next week! Today's tips: *Eat at a more expensive restaurant for lunch rather than dinner, as the menu choices are similar but the prices are lower - so you can experience the restaurant of your choice for less. *Take a digital photo of your locker number in case you lose your key. Also take a picture of your Photo Pass card in case you lose it then you can still see your pictures on it later. *Use your camera phone to take pictures of items you think you want. First, take a picture of the sign of the store where it is located. Then take pictures of the item and the tag of the item. Review nightly or at the end of your trip. Best of all, you can buy it from Disney Mail Order Merchandise when you're back home if you forget. *Trim the park maps from the PassPorter Walt Disney World guidebook and have them laminated in an 8x10 sheet. We then placed velcro dots on the map and the canopy of the stroller. The night before, my husband and I would circle the attractions we really wanted to get to, including Fastpass information, and write our Priority Seating number and any other info we might need during the day. *On the first morning of our trip, I excused myself from breakfast with my family at the All Star Sports food court to pick up two postcards from the shop in the lobby. I wrote notes to each of my kids with specific details from the night before at Epcot and signed a favorite character's name on each. It was fun to write in a style that I thought Dumbo or Stitch might use. I popped them in the mailbox and returned to breakfast. After we got home, my kids received their postcards and were amazed to not only get mail from Disney World, but to have the character know just what they did. It worked like a charm and made the magic continue even after we were home. ( that is so sweet!) *We are going to do some meals in the rooms this time, so I found this website that has super creative family night movie and meal ideas. Check them out here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1707141 Some are overboard but you can pull what you like from them. You could also do these at home anytime or to prepare for an upcoming Disney trip. We plan to do the Lady and the Tramp night and Finding Nemo night. Check back Thursday for more Disney info! "Packing Process - Schuster Style" Have a magical day! Cindy

Made for Monday(belated) and Disney Tip Tuesday

This card is cased after another card seen on the Convention display boards. They used designer paper but I am into this whole "make your own designer paper" thing. I used Basic Gray, Baha Breeze, Cameo Coral. The background was stamped with white craft ink and basic gray classic ink. I used pearls for the centers of the butterflies that are from the stamp set called "Great Friend". The sentiment is from a hostess set that had such great sayings and I still love and use it. This card also measures 4.25 x 4.25 which is becoming my new favorite size card. Today's Disney Tips: Since we are finding some last minute money for our trip here are some tips to share that you can really apply to anything to save money for: Connie : My "Dear Hubby" and I each take $50 allowance each week. I started to put whatever was left from the previous week's $50 in an envelope. Knowing that I was going to hide this money away in seven days helped me to be more aware of my spending throughout the week. Between November and April, I was able to stash away $600 cash for the trip we took last month. I've already started a new envelope for future vacations because this was such an easy way to save money. Heather: One thing we do takes some discipline, but we can save some major moolah. When we make a purchase using our debit card or checking account, I round up when I enter it. For example, if I have spent $13.50 somewhere, I enter $15 in my check book. Every couple of months I will figure out how much extra is in the checking account and transfer it to savings. It doesn't even feel like we are saving money! Elaine: We save our change. At the end of every night we empty all the change out of our pockets into our special "Disney" jar. We also toss in any $1 bills. At the end of the month we cash it in and put it into our travel savings account. This past December we pulled out our money from our savings account and had over $400 in there... Have a magical day! Cindy

Disney Tuesday

Today's tip: Anna said...about Typhoon Lagoon's special reserved spaces: We reserved a Beachcomber Shack for August 13. Enjoyed it very much. We had two waitstaff who came by about every half-hour. It included refillable mugs, a large locker and towels for everyone. They even came to refresh towels. They could not do enough for us. It was nice having "reserved" space with six chairs and covered out of the sun. We had a great view of the wave pool. It was probably the best day of the trip. (Looking into this as we may hit a water park on our trip in 3 weeks, I would love to be pampered on, get the prime spot and extra goodies, wouldn't you?) Be sure to check out all my Disney posts for tips and tricks and our Top 5 lists of things at DisneyWorld, see the label "Disney" on the right column to review them. Also read our September trip reports under "Disney trip". Have a magical day! Cindy

Disney Tuesday

Today's Tip: Rachelle says:

Only purchase things ONCE. We repack the light-up toys we bought a few years ago. Same with the water bottle lanyards, pin lanyards, etc. Anything that you will repeatedly need each year, SAVE IT. We have a small container that is decorated as the "Disney Box." Since we drive to WDW, it goes with us every year. As soon as we get home, the autograph books, lanyards, light-up toys, etc. go in the box for the next trip. Taped to the underside of the lid is a list that I start replenishing with the very next grocery trip. I choose one or two things each trip, that way it doesn't eat into our budget (extra batteries, rain ponchos, refills for the first aid kit, and snacks closer to the trip).

Since owning DVC, we too have a Disney box. Holds all the above listed as well as Mickey towels and kitchen accessories that we use. I have a Disney backpack and fanny pack that I used each trip. Coffee filters cause Disney only gives you two free and they are the basket kind you will need. Disney popcorn containers that I simply refill to take. We bought those yellow Mickey rain ponchos back in 1989 and we still have them and use them if needed. The girls have Princess rain ponchos. Have a magical day! Cindy

Disney Tuesday

Disney News updates: I knew they would change this back as soon as the online dining reservation system was in place and working well. Disney announced that effective October 27, 2009, you will again be able to make Disney dining reservations 180 days (6 months) in advance. Thanks Mickey. I am not really shocked that Disney went ahead with this price increase even though the economy is down. They historically have had price increases in January and August each year. They skipped last August so they had to do it this time. They extended the free dining thru the end of the year to make up for the ticket price increase. Now a one-day, one-park base ticket now costs $79 for adults, $68 for children 3-9, an increase of $4 adult/$5 child. Adult Annual Passes went up $10 to $479; Renewal Adult AP went up $20 to $449. The Park Hopper option and Water Park Fun & More option both went up $2 to $52. Today's tip: “When visiting the Magic Kingdom right when it opens, hop on the train and take it to first stop. You will get off in the back of the park right by Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. You can usually ride these two "sought-after" rides while everyone else is hanging out on Main Street meeting characters, renting strollers, or walking to the front sections of the park.” Have a magical day! Cindy

Disney Tip Thursday

Here is my idea for a character signing book. I got this idea from Heather's Simply Babies class. She made it for a baby organizer but you could use this project is several different ways...like a coupon book, idea book, etc. The characters or princesses sign the bottom half of the page and then you can stick pictures of them with the characters in the pockets. This measures 5 3/4 x 5 3/4. The papers and stickers are from Disney scrapbook kits.

All you need for supplies are one 12x12 designed paper, 12x12 extra heavy cardstock or chipboard, and three 8.5x11 cardstock. Ribbon, stickers, Crop-a-dile and jumbo eyelets. If you are interested in making this, send me an email!

Actually, Megan made the Mickey one by herself and Allison made the Princess one with my help. We sent these to our friend Alexa for her 3rd birthday in July. She and her family are going to Disney with us in September. She can use them when we go to the character dinners we have planned.

Have a magical day!

Cindy

Disney Tip Tuesday

Finally back to some Disney tips! Our countdown begins to our September trip so I have been inspired recently while reading some Disney news. Here is a tip I found on AllEars.net: When visiting a princess breakfast, bring along a Princess T-shirt from the Disney Store back home. Using a Sharpie, we asked the princesses to sign the shirt instead of an autograph book. (Our daughter is 3 and cannot read anyway.) "Emma" wore her Cinderella dress from home with shorts under to the breakfast. When the meal was over, we changed into the newly signed shirt and sent the Cinderella dress plus some new magnets back to the resort. She got compliments on the shirt all day long. Using a permanent Sharpie keeps the signatures looking like new. EDITOR'S NOTE: What really helps is if you have the shirt against something hard to write on, like the table or a clipboard. Also be sure to stretch out the fabric while it's being signed. Remember, not all characters may be able to sign T-shirts due to their "hands." Best to bring the shirt and have the characters sign it because they will not sign it if it on the child. Good tip! I will show you on Thursday my idea for a character signing book that I made for our little friend Alexa. Have a magical day! Cindy

Disney Tip Thursday

I was reading on Mouseplanet some of the Disney news and articles and I found one that hit my memory bank. Back in 1989, hubby and I went on our first vacation together. Guess where we went? DISNEYWORLD! (funny to think about how Disney nuts I am NOW) We stayed off Hwy 192 at the Days Inn and bought a 4 day pass each. You could return one day pass for your money back if you did not use the 4th day. MGM (Hollywood) Studios had just opened that summer. And hubby took me to a character breakfast on the Empress Lilly with Mickey and the whole gang. Hubby was so excited to be there! Of course, we were the ONLY one in the place WITHOUT kids! Weird thing to see back then at a character breakfast. Now you ALWAYS see adults without kids at them! I can remember what I was wearing, seeing the families all around me, how tired I was cause it was 8am and standing outside the giant ferry boat waiting to get on and how quiet the area was around it. Not anymore! Downtown Disney is always packed and now Empress Lilly is Fulton's Crab House. Back in 1995, Disney leased it out and they changed the whole image and story. Not that I am complaining cause I love Fulton's Crab House. We have been many times and highly recommend it! Yummy seafood! Love the dip they give recipe out for, too. Anywoo, I saw this article and found the 30+ year history of the Empress Lilly very interesting, so I wanted to share it. http://www.mouseplanet.com/8822/The_Empress_Lilly_Story By the way, Empress Lilly was named after Walt Disney's wife, Lilly. So sweet! Have a magical day! Cindy

Disney Tip Tuesday

Magic Kingdom Opening Show

Did you know that if you arrive at the parks before opening then you get to see a special show in honor of the day opening? I knew Animal Kingdom had a show -each morning at 15 minutes before the schedule opening time, you can go through the turn styles and head to the Tree of Life area. Soon, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy arrive to welcome you to the park! Soon Mickey appears and gets on the truck and you can follow them into Harambe as the Adventure Begins in the Animal Kingdom! I just found out that Magic Kingdom now has a similar show. All Ears blogger Jack Spence has a wonderful detailed blog post that you should check out here: http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspence/2009/05/magic_kingdom_opening_show_1.html

He says quote "This show sets the mood for your day to come. If you haven’t already seen it, I strongly suggest dragging yourself out of bed a little early one morning and make the effort. You’ll be glad you did. "

Dragging Howard out of the bed that early while on vacation would be the problem!

Have a magical day!

Cindy