For the next couple of months Technique Tuesdays will be devoted to digital artwork and how (and why) to use it. I hope this will answer many of the questions I get about what I do and “what on earth would I DO with it?” My goal is to end the series with a crowd of readers who can’t imagine what they ever did without it.
I’ve written before about why I chose to start offering my artwork as Digi Stamps, but I’m asked about it so often that I wanted to devote an entire article to the reasons they are so amazing. There are many reasons but I’ll list my favorites today to kick off this new series. I’m quite certain I’ll be adding to the list as we go along.
ECONOMY: First of all, digi stamps are very affordable. This particular (adorable) snowperson is only 99 pence (or $1.60)! You purchase it once and then can use it over and over again for different projects. The cost is quite low, especially considering that you can use it again and again (as always, be sure to read and understand the terms of use that you agree to by purchasing and using the artwork – you can read Cuddly Buddly’s here: Terms of Use). There are no shipping costs, and the images are delivered to your computer right away no matter how far away the shop is – perfect for last-minute projects.
Check out my previous post for many images that are currently being given away for free by the artists. (These are legitimate freebies and not pirated images being given away illegally – please avoid those!)
SPACE: Another important consideration is storage. This little fellow takes up a little bit of space on your computer, but none at all in your workspace! No hunting for inexpensive storage solutions, no searching through blocks of wood and acrylic and sheets of unmounted rubber when you need to find it again. It sits quietly and patiently in the digi stamp folder you create for it until you find another project for it.
CREATIVITY: One of my very favorite things about digi stamps is the fact that YOU can personalize it so perfectly for your every need. Look how delightfully different the following images are from each other, all using the same digi stamps! One of my very favorite things is watching how the images come to life in the hands of different designers and I’m always delighted to see how very different the same character can look with just a change in coloring. One of my favorite things about card nights is seeing several different people work with the same image, and have one card turn out completely classic and aged while another is bright and cheery and the one across the table is sweet and soft. Every single person gets to make exactly what suits them and the occasion that they’re creating for – and that is a beautiful thing. Equally fun is playing at coloring again myself. Whether you use markers or pencils, paints or inks, chalks or crayons, it’s just so much fun to make several prints of an image and then try different techniques and ideas until you find just exactly what you want. Thanks to Nancy, Jackie, Maddy & Chris of Cuddly Buddly’s Challenge Team for these fantastic cards!
VERSATILITY: There’s so much to say about the versatility that digi stamps offer that I’ll just touch on it briefly here, and save the rest for a nice long post of its own. One of the best things about digi stamps is the power to re-size the stamps to exactly fit your project, and that is no small advantage! Whether you’re making a sweet little tag or a larger card project, the image can be sized to fit perfectly (within reason – they probably won’t make a suitable poster). If you have a special punch or die that you’d like it to fit in you can easily measure to be sure that the image prints to fit. They can even be reversed for a mirror image. Those with personal cutters such as the Craft Robo or Silhouette will find that they can use the print and cut features to perfectly cut the images out as well.
I hope these give you a few little ideas of why digi stamps are so fantastic – and I hope you’ll leave comments below with YOUR favorite things about them!
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Barbara Anne Williams
Bits of Ivory
available at CuddlyBuddly
