Preservation Arts

Spellbinders CHA Blog Frenzy: Day 13 – Christmas in July!

July 9 – July 22, 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 ContestQuestions@Spellbinders.us.

Welcome to the 13th day of Spellbinders CHA Sneak Peek Blog Frenzy!

Spellbinders is revealing 17 new die templates to be released at the Craft and Hobby Trade Show on July 28, 2009, with some of their greatest fans…YOU!  From July 9 – 22, 2009, you will have the opportunity to be a part of these world wide sneak peeks through visiting the Spellbinders designer blogs listed below and trying your luck at winning spectacular die templates!  You will have a chance to win the die I’m introducing AND the dies previously revealed in this CHA Blog Frenzy by entering the contest at the end of this post.  This is a progressive prize, each day the daily prize grows!  Be sure to read all the rules before entering! You still have until July 22nd, 11:59 pm EST to enter Becca Feeken’s blog contest at: http://www.amazingpapergrace.com/ and until July 23rd, 11:59 pm EST to enter mine.

To see previous reveals, or to go to any of the blogs of future reveals, feel free to visit the following:

7/9    Debbie Olson – http://debbiedesigns.typepad.com/

7/10    Michelle Wooderson –  http://michellewooderson.blogspot.com/

7/11    Karen Hunsaker – http://www.karenskreativekreations.blogspot.com/

7//12    Kazan Clark – http://nunutoolies.blogspot.com/

7/13    Linda Duke – http://www.lindaduke.typepad.com/

7/14    Heidi Blankenship – http://embellished-dreams.blogspot.com/

7/15    Kimberly Crawford – http://www.kimberly-crawford.blogspot.com/

7/16    Julie Overby – http://joverby.blogspot.com/

7/17    Sherry Cheever -  http://sherrycheever.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

7/18    Debbie Seyer – http://www.debbieseyer.com/

7/19    Lesa Rapp –   http://paperpossibilities.blogspot.com/

7/20    Becca Feeken – http://www.amazingpapergrace.com/

7/21    Jennifer Davis – http://www.preservationarts.com/

7/22    Keri Lee Sereika -  http://pinklemonade.typepad.com/my_weblog/

After the entry deadline is reached, Spellbinders will randomly pick one entry from each Blog Frenzy reveal as stated in the “Rules”. Winner will be contacted by e-mail within 24 hours of the contest deadline. Winner will have 72 hours to reply to that e-mail to claim the prize.  If Winner fails to respond within 72 hours, a new name will be drawn for said prize.   Winner will receive the new die templates being revealed on the specific daily blog post they are entering.

Entrants visiting all 14 Spellbinders CHA Blog Frenzy Reveals and correctly entering their information into the separate drawings, as described below, will automatically be entered into a GRAND PRIZE give away of a full set of the CHA Summer 2009 die templates and Impressabilities releases, 29 products, with a retail value of $561.71.

I am so excited to share the projects that I’ve created here for you today. I love Christmas, even in the middle of the summer! These dies are fantastic for both scrapbook pages and those Christmas cards we’re already planning to make.

The scrapbook page I created to share features lots of distressing. I’ve put together a video to take you through the creation of this page. Watch and enjoy!

Spellbinders Supplies:

S7-015 Grand 12″ Holiday Lights Border

S4-225 Holiday Cheer

S4-224 Snowflake Borderabilities Petite

Other Supplies: Digital Frame: Rhonna Farrer/House of 3; 3D Foam Squares: 3L; Chalk Ink: Clearsnap; Distress Ink: Ranger; Cardstock: Bazzill; Versamark Ink: Tsukineko; Clear Embossing Powder: Stampendous; White Embossing Powder: Mark Industries; Ribbon: Creative Impressions; Patterned Paper: Doodlebug Designs; Pen: Creative Memories; Metal Charms: Unknown.

The second project I put together is a really exciting one that I think my kids are going to love. This is a fantastic low-cost gift idea for Christmas and I just love the way it turned out. I used an old frame, plastic baseball card pockets and several Spellbinders dies to put this together. This was also a great “use your stash” project. I used lots of older stickers and products that might have otherwise gone to waste. And can I just say how much I love the new Labels 8? It’s perfect!

Spellbinders Supplies

S4-225 Holiday Cheer

S7-015 Grand 12″ Holiday Lights Border

S5-019 Labels Eight

S4-234 Ribbon Tag Trio 2
S4-207 Kaleidoscope Pendant
I2-1003 Impressabilities Snowflake
S4-092 Stars 5
S3-004 Symbology
S4-160 Nested Birds
S4-210 Lattice Pendant
F-001 Red Foil
S4-114 Standard Circles, Large
S4-014 Timeless Heritage
S3-139 Holly & Lights
S4-085 Snowflake Wonder
Snowmen

Spirellabilities Petals
Spirellabilities Rounded Petals

Other Supplies: Copic Markers: Copic; 3D Foam Squares Adhesives: 3L; Mini Glue Dots; Red Ink: Clearsnap; Teal Cardstock: The Paper Company; Stamps: Hero Arts; Ribbon, brads, pearls: Creative Impressions; Paper, Dew Drops: Robin’s Nest; Felt: CPE; Candy Cane Digital Kit: Crystal Wilkerson; Acrylic Paint; Flocking Powder: Doodlebug Designs; White Cardstock: Neenah; Stencil Paste: Dreamweaver; Glitter: Martha Stewart; Turquoise Foil: Amaco; Patterned Paper: Colorbok; Baseball Card Holders; Xyron Machine; Cereal Boxes

Here are the images of the two awesome dies that I’ve been working with for this sneak peek. They are: S4-225 Holiday Cheer (MSRP $19.99) and S7-015 Grand 12″ Holiday Lights Border (MSRP $24.99).

Rules

Any participant wishing to be included in the daily drawing for the Spellbinders CHA  Blog Frenzy give-away must adhere to all of the following rules. We are happy to welcome US and international blog guests for this Frenzy.

To enter each drawing on sneak peeks between July 9 and July 22, visit the reveal blog and click on the contest link to reveal an e-mail window. In the subject line of the e-mail, enter the die template name being revealed. Each blog reveal will remain open for 48 hours. Only 1 entry per blog is allowed and participant must use the same email address daily to be considered for grand prize entry, no exceptions. Please consider whether you will have access to the same e-mail address from July 9th  through July 22nd  and plan accordingly.

Spellbinders Design Team members and employees are not eligible for drawings.

Any participant wishing to be automatically entered into the drawing for the CHA Blog Frenzy Grand Prize must enter all 14 blog reveals and follow all the above rules.

Please note:

*Spellbinders will only use email information to contact the winner.

*Spellbinders will not share this email address with any other parties.

*Spellbinders will not use this email information for advertisements or communications

other than to contact the winner.

*If you wish to be included in further communications from Spellbinders, please go to their homepage SpellbindersPaperArts.com and sign up for their newsletter.

Spellbinders CHA Blog Frenzy drawing

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

(If you use an e-mail client that does not work with this pop-up box, you may copy and paste this address to send your entry to:  ContestDay13@spellbinders.us

For more Spellbinders new product release information go to:   http://www.spellbinderspaperarts.com/new

If you have any questions regarding the contest, send an e-mail to: ContestQuestions@spellbinders.us

Thanks for stopping in today and good luck!

Jen

Open Type Fonts: Why They’re Super Cool for Paper Crafters

Most commonly we see computer fonts listed with the extension .ttf at the end, telling us that the font is a True Type font and will generally work with both Mac and Windows. True Type is the standard font format, although there are several other types.

In recent years, font developers have been creating more and more Open Type Fonts, denoted with “OTF” at the end. This font type is an extension of the True Type format and will also work with both Windows and Mac, but here’s something that many font users don’t know… Open Type Fonts have many more capabilities than True Type Fonts. Many Open Type faces come with options called Stylistic/Contextual alternatives, meaning that you can change the way a certain letter looks in different situations. I’ve put together the example on the right using the font Reminga. (By the way, there are lots of free Open Type fonts out there, check out this list for a few ideas).

In the first example, you can see that I’ve turned on the Stylistic Alternatives option, and the “s” becomes an old-fashioned one, giving the whole phrase a new look. To do this in Photoshop, I opened my Type dialog and checked out the menu options. Not all Open Type fonts have all options. In fact, many don’t even take advantage of the feature at all.

With contextual alternatives you can really change the look of certain letters, depending on the situation or where they are in your text or title. So let’s say I want to create a piece of word art for a title on a scrapbook page or a sentiment for a card. I can do several different options using different alternatives.

In the last example below, I’ve created one title with the default letters in the high-end font Affair, a second with stylistic alternatives, and the third with contextual alternatives. The “s” changes with each selection, and the “l” changes with the contextual alternatives.

Next time you’re playing with fonts, check out the Open Type fonts you have on your computer. You might be delighted at the fun titles you can create and print by changing up the type face with Open Type features. What I’ve shown you here is just the tip of the iceberg. There are thousands of Open Type fonts out there with many fun alternative letters. Have fun creating!

I Love 12″ Borders: Happy Together Halloween Layout

I’m excited to share with you a scrapbook layout that I created for a page call a couple of months ago. It didn’t get accepted, but that means now I can share it with you and show you how much I’ve been loving 12″ borderabilities, along with using 12″ stickers and ribbon to break up a layout.

I hope you’ll forgive me for bringing Halloween into your lives a bit early this year. For this layout, I printed the journaling straight onto the round paper. I used my wide format printer for that, taped the patterned circle paper onto another 12×12 sheet of paper and ran it through. This is a great way to add journaling to shaped items or any patterned paper.

I’d like to note that when using large border dies from any company, the Grand Cut Mat Kit is really nice to have, but it’s not necessary! Early next week, check back here soon for a video containing instructions on using the 12″ borders with your regular sized plates.

Supplies

Patterned Paper: Robin’s Nest, Crate Paper; Letter stickers: Me and My Big Ideas; Pumpkin Embellishment, bracket sticker: Crafty Secrets; 12″ Sticker: Cosmo Cricket; Dew Drops: Robin’s Nest; Glue Dots; Epoxy Stickers, rub ons: Crate Paper; Classic Lace Border Die, Labels One, Assorted Leaves: Spellbinders;

Forgotten Friday: My Very First Spellbinders Projects

In preparation for the CHA Spellbinders Blog Frenzy, Margie asked me what the first project I ever created with the Wizard was. That took me on a fun little stroll down memory lane and through my digital files. Here’s the scoop on how it began…

I started papercrafting when my son Isaac was born over six years ago. At the time we lived in Cleveland and many of my friends were scrapbookers. I attended church with Becky Higgins, and while we were not close friends, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how much she really inspired my taking up the hobby. It was her baby article in the May 2003 issue of Creating Keepsakes that sealed the deal for me. I saw the issue while in the pediatrician’s office and would not have picked it up to read if I hadn’t recognized her on the cover from church. After reading the article, I really wanted a scrapbook like hers for my baby.

Becky’s fabulously clean style wasn’t quite what came out of me from the start. I began to find myself scouring magazines and websites to learn new and innovative techniques. I especially gravitated toward stamping and the newly popular “grunge” look. Scrapbooking quickly became a creative outlet for me that I hadn’t experienced before. I’m still fully dedicated to preserving memories, but I wholly embrace the art of it all. (Hence the name Preservation Arts!)

In my thorough cover-to-cover examination of the February or March 2004 (I think!) issue of Creating Keepsakes, I ran across a small half-page ad about a “Universal Die-Cutting & Embossing System” called the Wizard. I was intrigued by the idea and did not yet have a die-cutter. Hand cut titles were very popular at the time and I was interested in ways to cut letters that didn’t involve an x-acto knife.

I emailed Stacey to find out more information and found out that her little office was just a few miles down the freeway from where we lived. It was so fun and exciting to see Stacey demonstrate her invention to me. I was immediately enamoured with her and her machine. As soon as the machines and dies were ready (handmade by her husband Jeff), I purchased one of the very first ones and took it home with me.

The first dies I had were the original daisy die and the star and moon… the old ones that Jeff made out of aircraft aluminum. The first project I created was with shrink plastic and the spellbinders Totally Texture Sheets.

Not long after I met Stacey and got my Wizard, she asked me for help with several projects. I started playing with lots of different ways to use die-cuts and many wizard-specific techniques such as photo transfers, charm embossing and more.

I created the beach page shown here with one of Stacey’s photos to be featured on her first appearance on the PBS show Scrapbook Memories filmed in May, 2004.

That summer, I started traveling with Stacey and the two of us taught classes and gave demonstrations all over the country, including Camp Memory Makers, the Great American Scrapbook Convention, Creating Keepsakes Conventions, and more.

I served as officially as Spellbinders Education Director until August 2006 when I took time away to work with my mom and be with my family. I am absolutely loving being on the design team. I missed the creative challenges that being a part of Spellbinders brought to my life.

If you got this far, props to you for reading all this. Have a wonderful day!

Online Photo Editing Class Assignment 1: Adding a frame and word art to a photo

Even though I’m a fairly advanced user in Photoshop, I appreciate taking classes, reading tutorials and learning from other people. Every time I read through a tutorial, I remember something I forgot or learn a new tip or trick. I’ve only scratched the surface of what there is to learn from the Photoshop Hero behind http://pshero.com/

When I heard about Jessica Sprague’s free class in photo editing, I decided to follow along. While I haven’t learned vast amounts of new information, her methods are solid, and she definitely sparks creativity in others.

So Assignment 1 is here, adding a frame and word art to a photo. The first photo is just the class assignment, since I’m so busy with house and projects, the second is a quick version I did on my own.

Here’s to a great Wednesday!

Another Spellbinders Blog Frenzy Coming Soon!

I’ve yet to even really recover from the last frenzy, and here we are about to start another one! I’m really excited for some of the dies that we’re going to be revealing with this round. I think Spellbinders has really outdone themselves with some of their new releases for CHA.The best part is that the giveaway is a progressive one so each day, you’ll get the chance to win all the dies from the previous days.

I’m grateful to be able to participate in again and I’m thrilled that we’ll be seeing stuff from even more members of the talented design team. Here’s the schedule this time around:

7/9 Debbie Olson

7/10 Michelle Wooderson

7/11 Karen Hunsaker

7//12 Kazan Clark

7/13 Linda Duke

7/14 Heidi Blankenship

7/15 Kimberly Crawford

7/16 Julie Overby

7/17 Sherry Cheever

7/18 Debbie Seyer

7/19 Lesa Rapp

7/20 Becca Feeken

7/21 Jennifer Davis

7/22 Keri Lee Sereika

Forgotten Friday: Happy 4th

Happy Independence Day everyone! This year the holiday will be low-key for us. House construction is keeping us very busy and pre-CHA projects are keeping me on my toes. I wish I had new art to share with you, but most of what I’m working on can’t be shared until later!

Here’s a Forgotten Friday layout of my son Isaac in Lincoln, Nebraska at a pancake breakfast held at our church meeting house. This was a layout that was commissioned by Fiskars. They’ve kept it up on their website for several years along with many of my other projects, although for some reason they haven’t ever put my name on the projects. (Maybe that’s a rant for another day!) If interested, project instructions can be found here.

Have a wonderful holiday! Thanks for stopping in!

Link to Freebie Font for Die Cutters

Click the image to visit Clever Some Day and download the free dingbat font.

This free font from Clever Some Day is so cool, and I can just imagine the uses for this with hybrid crafting. Just type one of these out in a word processor or photoshop, resize as desired, give it a color (or leave it black!) and print. Then match up with a Nestability and cut and emboss! So cute!

While it is made for electronic cutters, I think it would work fabulously to decorate traditional die cuts in a different way. I plan on giving it a try very soon. I’ll let you know how it goes.