DHD Madness (All Good!)

Hi!  So, what could make me write a blog post, the first in a couple of weeks?  Mad March Memories, of course!  While DH sits in front of the television later today, looking at the NCAA basketball brackets, and hoping that the Michigan State Spartans do well ... I'll be busy scrapping and hopping on the blog train at Design House Digital (DHD).

DHD celebrated it's birthday in January ... then we had deals in the shop every day during February and a whole bunch of Superbowl and sport-related challenges (on top of the ones offered each and every month) ... and now it's March, and we're keeping the momentum going.  Yeah, I'm beginning to think that we're the "mad" ones just trying to keep up! LOL  But hey, there's an "up" side - and YOU get to benefit from it.  

See that?  A MONTH-long competition ... wowza!  Can you make it through all the rounds, to the final four?  (yeah, remember that reference to the NCAA basketball championship?! LOL)  You can get the details of the challenges, and how to get started from the DHD Blog. In addition to challenges, and some awesome prizes, I get to help you solve the puzzle.  What puzzle?  You know, the one that you read about on the DHD Blog!  Seriously.  Go read, then come back! LOL

Let's do a little game of our own, shall we?  Hands up who thinks digital scrapbooking is all about manipulating photos and "just" creating pages?  *** insert buzzer sound *** Nope, not necessarily.  If traditional scrapbookers can move into mixed media and things like art journal pages, with goops, paints, and such ... why can't we do the same, digitally?  I mean, there are great digital versions of paint splatters, textures, glitter ... Art journals are great free-form expressions of our thoughts, feelings, emotions.  They can be a little intimidating, but once you get past the whole idea of not wanting to open up, they are great fun - well, I find them fun (and quite cathartic).   Not sure about doing a WHOLE page?  How about something much smaller: an artist trading card or ATC.  These are meant to be traded (well, duh, artist trading card) or swapped.  Usually, ATCs are signed on the back by the artist, so they sort of become a calling card or business card.  I have a cat stamp that I put on mine, along with my signature (another duh moment - cat ... Kat ...).  The thing about ATCs is that they are SMALL - only 2.5" x 3.5" - so you need to think outside the box a bit; usually no photos or journaling, either (well, that's the way mine end up).  Just a few elements here and there ... and voila!  You're done.  You can print the cards, attach them to backing (I love pre-cut chipboard ATCs, myself), sign - and then give away. Okay, so I don't give mine away - I store them in baseball card sleeves in a three-ring binder.

Here's a few of the cards I've done over the past couple of months:

Ooooh, lookey there ... your clue for the blog hop.  You do see it, don't you? (HINT - look at the ATC display!) Off you go to the next blog to keep things moving along.  You know you want that kit from the DHD designers (they always rock the blog hop kits - AND it's free!) and you also want to get started on the first round of the challenges.  But, before you leave and head on over to Lori's blog to see what she has in store for you ... I've got a question for you: Have you ever done a digital ATC or art journal page? Post your answer here, and I'll enter your name into a drawing for a DHD gift certificate.  Now, to get you started on your ATC collection, here's an ATC from me to you.  I used the DHD Designer Blog Hop kit from the 2011 iNSD celebrations (yet another awesome collab kit!).  

So, on the blog train we go ... good luck on collecting all your letters to get this fabulous kit!