Step 1
Well, to start out I picked some blocks out of my never ending supply of wood blocks. I tried to pick some of the larger ones for pictures and a few smaller ones just for dsp.
Step 2
Once I had all of my blocks picked out, I laid them out in a pattern that I liked and thought would look good and then measured all of the blocks so I knew how big to make my images in MDS. I really didn't have any great method of doing this. I think I tried to make my image about a 1/8 smaller on each side, so 1/4 inch smaller than the block. Here is my pattern laid out with the measurements written on them.
Step 3
In MDS I started by opening a blank 8 1/2 x 11 project. I then used the square punch and just resized it to what I needed using the ruler measurements on the side and top of the page. Once I had all of my block sizes made, I laid them out somewhat the same on the page so I could visualize how everything was coming together as I worked. With the punch feature on MDS you can fill it with any DPS or any solid color, so I started with that and then I added pictures on top and sized them. The squares that are pictures only I filled the punch with a picture rather than paper. I plan on doing a tutorial to show you how to do this. Here is my MDS final project. I tried printing this at home, but my printer was not cooperating, so I just printed it as an 8x10 at Walmart from the Kodak machine. Once I get my printer working, it will be much cheaper and easier though!
Step 4The rest is easy peasy lemon squeezy. Just cut them all out and use Mod Podge to put them on the blocks. I put one thin layer on the block to hold the picture in place and then put one thin layer over the picture to coat them. I superglued the blocks together so that they wouldn't be tumbling with every bump of the table.
