Preservation Arts

Another Kaleidoscope Pendant Card and Free Downloadable Kit

I am so thrilled to have been a part of the Spellbinders Blog Frenzy. I’ve been overwhelmed by the kind comments several of you have made. I’m so glad that many of you appreciated the tutorial. I can’t wait to make more for you.

As promised, I’ve put together a digital kit containing the embellished shapes from my scrapbook page as well as five free digital papers. For tips on printing out digital paper and using it in your papercrafting, check this post from a few weeks ago.

Click here for the rest of this post and to download the free kit!

Spellbinders Shapeabilities Pendants Blog Frenzy

Spellbinders Introduces:
Shapeabilities Pendants Blog Frenzy
June 22 through June 29th, available for ordering June 30, 2009

Commenting on this post is welcome but does not enter you into the contest. This contest is sponsored directly by Spellbinders Paper Arts. Please read the post to find directions for entering. If you have any questions, please e-mail PenContestQuestions@Spellbinders.us.

Welcome to the 8th (and last!) day of Spellbinders Pendants Blog Frenzy!

Spellbinders is celebrating the introduction of Pendants die templates, a new die line that will inspire your creative mind.  You have the opportunity to win the Pendant and Borderabilities dies I’m introducing today by entering the contest at the end of this post.  Be sure to read all the rules before entering! You still have until June 29th, 11:59 pm EST to enter Linda Duke’s blog contest at: http://www.lindaduke.typepad.com and until July 1st, 8:30 am EST to enter mine.

Edit: due to issues with my blog and Internet Explorer, the contest deadline for Day 8 has been extended until July 1st, 8:30am EST. I am very sorry for the inconvenience this issue caused. I believe the problem is now fixed. Thanks for your patience!

To see previous reveals, feel free to visit the following:

June 22, 2009 -  Beccca Feeken     http://www.amazingpapergrace.com/

June 23, 2009  – Debbie Olson     http://debbiedesigns.typepad.com/

June 24, 2009  – Michelle Wooderson     http://michellewooderson.blogspot.com/

June 25, 3009  – Keri Lee Sereika    http://pinklemonade.typepad.com/my_weblog/

June 26, 2009 –– Sherry Cheever     http://sherrycheever.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

June 27, 2009  – Heidi Blankenship     http://embellished-dreams.blogspot.com/

June 28, 2009 -– Linda Duke     http://www.lindaduke.typepad.com/

Click here to view the rest of this post, see the new dies, and enter the contest!

Forgotten Friday: Taking Steps

My youngest daughter Hannah is learning to walk. She hasn’t quite taken her first steps yet, but she’s standing up on her own now and she cruises around with her little walker, which is an adorable sight. If I have time tomorrow between paint touch-ups and other chores I’ll upload a video of her doing it.

Her struggle to find her balance reminded me of this fun page of my daughter Maiah at almost the same stage of development. My two girls are so very different in looks and personality, but their milestones have occurred at about the same age all along the way. My favorite part of this page is the funky way I cut Maiah out of the photograph in the bottom right. Even then it looked kinda weird, but somehow the page all came together. Fun stuff! The paper is Basic Grey, the large ric rac was from Karen Foster. The flowers are Prima and the title is the Spellbinders Indulgence font.

Simple Circles: 1st Day of Preschool & the new Eyelet Pendant from Spellbinders

Sometimes all you need is a few well-placed circles. It’s the shape I always come back to when struggling to put a design together. This page is a great example of how circles can pull it all together. The best thing about this is that the design is quick and simple.

I used the Spellbinders nested circles to cut the photo and the border around it. It’s such a great configuration that after creating the page, I used the same general concept to create a card, although I kept the design even simpler.

Click here for the full post…

Welcome: Five Things You’ll Find Here

Hello All!

Welcome to all of you visiting via the Spellbinders Blog Frenzy! You’ve found Preservation Arts, my scrapbooking and craft blog. My name is Jennifer Davis and I’ve been blessed to have been chosen as part of the Blog Frenzy (watch for my reveal on the very last day of the frenzy!), and I can see from the number of hits I’ve gotten in the past two days that many of you are already visiting my site. I’m thrilled to have new visitors and I hope that you’ll decide to subscribe to my RSS feed or visit back frequently. I am passionate about crafting and use a wide variety of techniques and products. Here are five things you might find interesting here:

1. Tips & techniques with tutorials (including video!). I’m currently working out the best way for me to share videos and techniques. Check back often for fresh new stuff! Tutorials will include digital, paper and hybrid craft techniques, as well as info on crafty-tech stuff like digital photography, printers, software, etc.
2. Inspiration in the form of projects and samples featuring my favorite products: Spellbinders, Cosmo Cricket, Copic, Clearsnap, 7 Gypsies and more! Here are a couple of posts to give you a taste: For Love of Food, Just a Note, Where Does the Time Go?
3. Simple, accessible cards and scrapbook pages: I live a busy life, and sometimes I just want to get a project done! When I’m scrapbooking and making cards for my own use, they are often something I can put together quickly and easily. A few examples: Delight, My Dad Rocks, Just 3   
   

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Father’s Day Card #3: Wonderful Father

Here’s the third in my series of three Father’s Day cards. All three were designed to be quick and easy, while still showing the dads how much they are appreciated.

For this card, I used watch faces and a circle cut from Cosmo Cricket paper, Heidi Swapp arrows, and the Label 1 die template. I have always really liked the Spellbinders Watch Face die, and I was sad when it got retired. I also have really liked the Heidi Swapp journaling arrows. I have used them on several other projects, including this scrapbook page.

This card was fairly easy to put together, but I love how the arrow and the watch hand give the feeling of motion to the card. It definitely gives it that extra punch.

I hope you all have a Happy Father’s Day!

Father’s Day Card #2: My Dad Rocks

Here’s the second of three Father’s Day cards I’d like to share. Since I’m a scrapbooker, card-making can actually be a little bit stressful for me for some reason. These cards are meant to be low-stress, get-it-done-fast cards.

To make this card, I grabbed a photo of my dad that has been sitting on a shelf in my craft area for months, just waiting for the right project to be used on.  We were there together at his company’s annual Christmas in the Desert celebration in Dubai when this was taken. Both of us got Henna tattoos and felt just a little rebellious. It’s a great photo and a great memory.

The card itself is very simple. I used the retired Spellbinders Watch Face die, a corner rounder, alphabet rub-ons and some awesome 7 Gypsies brads with a scrap of ribbon. The green solid paper is a color I’ve been in love with for the past few weeks. I’m working on putting together a freebie kit featuring some bright “rock star” colors. Check back in a couple of weeks for that download.

A Printable Freebie for Karen: Red with Black Polka Dots

My friend Karen Hunsaker needed some red polka dots for a project. I threw these together really fast yesterday in 8.5×11″ size, not really knowing exactly what kind of polka dots she was looking for. Here’s hoping these will work for what she needs!

Have a great weekend Karen!

ETA: Here are the black on white dots you requested. HUGS! ~Jen

Forgotten Friday: Remembering Cleveland

Last Friday, I was absolutely swamped in house painting chaos and I’m not sure I even really noticed that it was Friday. Obviously I didn’t make a Forgotten Friday post.

So this week, I’m sharing two layouts about Cleveland. After graduating from college, three months before Adam was to start his PhD program at Case Western Reserve University, we high-tailed it out of Utah and drove our tiny U-haul truck and our two cats to Cleveland without a home or job waiting for us. We were a little bit crazy, with just a tad of newlywed stupidity, but we were full of excitement and faith. We found a place to live on Daleford Road, in Shaker Heights, Ohio and I began teaching 9th grade science at SHHS the same fall that Adam began his grad program.

Adam and I both loved living in Cleveland, and we would have stayed there if the opportunity had arisen. (Amazingly, we feel that way about many of the places we’ve lived.) I loved the suburb of Shaker Heights and I greatly appreciate the life lessons I learned while teaching high school there. We had a blast exploring Cleveland’s culinary offerings and every day we miss the wonderful food we experienced.

Both of these layouts were created shortly after we left Cleveland. While I was happy that Adam and I were both done with grad school, I missed our home, friends and my job. The first layout was published in Scrapbooking & Beyond magazine in December of 2005. The second is one I’ve never really shared before. Through creating these, I was able to come to terms with my “homesickness” and move on and appreciate living in Lincoln.

Enjoy these two “Forgotten Friday” layouts and scrapbook your home or city sometime soon!

Check back soon for another quick and easy Father’s Day Card idea!