Christmas Card Advent Calendar #2 – Swiss Christmas Cow card – How do you use a PNG file?

The 2nd entry in my Christmas Card Advent Calendar (here's #1) uses another pre-colored topper from Digi Web Studio – a colorful Christmas cow from the Trina Clark Christmas Cows 1 clip art set. It's on sale right now for $1.00 (and that's with five images in the set).

What's nice about Digi Web Studio images is that you receive both a PNG and JPG version of the image. With a PNG image you have a clear, transparent background and with the proper image processing software, you can layer images against one another and even add shadows, as I'm done here. The Christmas tree is a separate image from the cow. Like to know more about PNG files and how to layer your digital stamps and images? See my tutorial What is a PNG Digital Stamp File . . . HERE.

You see a lot of cow stuff in Switzerland – if the Suisse had a sacred animal the cow would be it – believe me, these folks are serious about their cheese and milk chocolate. This cow looks so Swiss he was perfect for some Swiss friends of ours. I changed 'milk' to 'lait' and added my own circular Joyeux Noël sentiment creation. Paper is digital from Tactile Studio – Retro Noel (the candy cane), Holly (the holly, duh), and Toy Box (the cow print). I really like the Toy Box pack. You can see where I used it on another cow thank you card and Christmas Cowboy Snowman card. By the way, in getting these links I noticed that Tactile Studio is having a sale. Everything in the store is only $0.99! Holly and Toy Box have nine designs in the pack and Retro Noel has twelve; can't beat that for price. If you're in the market for some digital paper, now's the time to stock up.

This card didn't need much in the way of embellishment. I added a simple digital striped ribbon (Tactile Studio Striped Ribbons 2).

Supply List
Paper – cardstock, Tactile Studio digital paper packs – Retro Noel, Holly and Toy Box
Digital pre-colored topper – Digi Web Studio Trina Clark Christmas Cows 1
Dies – Die-namic circle and rectangle stax
Embellishments – digital ribbon

I'm linking up with: Little Red Wagon #422 – Foodie, Crafty Calendar Challenge 02/12 – It's Christmas, Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas #362 – ATG Christmas opt. Quick & Easy, Hiding in My Craft Room #329 – Christmas Colors, and Christmas Card Throwdown  02/12 – Choose any theme from 2012 or 2013 challenges (I chose 30 June 2012 ATG Christmas).