by Jennifer Ellefson

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it is time to shift into overdrive to make all those hand-made gifts we promised ourselves we would this year. Today’s Savvy Saturday feature will highlight a Boxed Letter-writing Bundle that can be made using just one Die Template set from Spellbinders.

Thanks to our Design Team member Jennifer Ellefson who created this elegant ensemble using Rose Borderabilities® Petite (S4-164). So let’s not waste any time today…Gathering just a few supplies will get you moving quickly on it.

Besides your Wizard™ and regular plates/mats, gather Inkjet printable vellum sheets (8½x11″) and ColorMates Deep Racy Raspberry, both by WorldWin, white cardstock, metallic rub-ons, watercolor pencils, small paint brushes, adhesives and a corner rounder punch. (Remember, though, if you have a machine other than the Wizard™, you can still do the project because Spellbinders™ Dies work in nearly all consumer dies. Check out the videos Stacey created for help on how to use our dies in other machines.

A local paper/packaging supplies store such as Xpedx will have a variety of boxes that the set can be placed in as part of the gift set. Selecting one with a clear top will show off the gift in a beautiful way.

Instructions:

• Prepare the stationery by cutting each sheet of vellum to 5½x8″. Round the lower corners as shown. A dozen to 20 sheets would make a nice supply and uses only 6-10 sheets of vellum.
• Cut the 12×12″ raspberry paper into strips: 2×5½”, one per card. Cut one strip 12×2″ for the band.
• Cut/emboss each small strip using the Rose Borderabilities® Petite Die Template (S4-165). Note that the border only cuts on one side, giving the strip its decorative edge. Near the straight edge, the embossing echoes the cut edge.
• After cutting and embossing, embellish the design with metallic rub-ons (use your finger to wipe a small amount of the colorant over the raised design. Start lightly and build up color to the desired amount.)
• Using white cardstock, cut/emboss one (1) heart medallion to be used on the band around the box and one circle medallion for each stationery piece.
• Embellish with watercolor pencils (draw lightly over the embossed lines and use a paintbrush with a small amount of water on it to bring out the water-color look) and allow to dry thoroughly.
• Assemble the stationery by adhering the medallion to the strip and the strip to the vellum. Set aside.
• Make the box band by creating a strip long enough to go around the box loosely. Cut the strip using the die, beginning in the center. Re-align the Die Template at one end and cut again. Continue hop-scotching until it is cut to the end.
• Emboss in the same hop-scotch manner. Embellish with metallic rub-ons as described above. Add the heart medallion in the center and adhere the ends together in the back with slack enough that the band can be easily removed or replaced.
• Place envelopes into the bottom of the box. Stack the stationery on top. Put the clear lid on and slide the band into place.

Begin with Jennifer’s lovely example and think about your recipient. Would she like a different color? Would he prefer a more masculine medallion, maybe snowflakes? Now have fun while you give the project your own flair!

Cheers, Eli

The other day we talked about die cutting and today I want to start the Embossing discussion.  The Wizard is much more than a die cutting machine.  With the Wizard we can emboss our Spellbinder’s Die Templates, brass stencils, and many other items in your craft supply.  Lets start with the basic stuff first, the flat things.  Grab you Wizard, a die template or 2 and a brass stencil - no need for the light box or stylus!

The sandwich for embossing flat items is:White Master Mat, flat item you are embossing, media you are embossing, Tan Embossing Mat, and White Master Mat.  All of these mats come with the Wizard.

Yes, its the same sandwich you use to emboss Die Templates.  That’s easy to remember, don’t you think?

Although Spellbinders Die Templates were made for cutting and embossing, they can be use for embossing only.  Just skip the cutting process.  See how elegant this looks, and it only took a second to do.  I highlighted the embossing by using an ink blending tool.

When you think of brass stencils, you think of light box, light colored paper, stylus, intricate details, wrist pain, and one mistake makes you start over.  Think that way no more!  The Wizard will emboss those stencils without all the trouble, and even lets you do dark paper and metal.  Use the embossing sandwich and get those holiday cards done in a night!

Once embossed, you can embellish with ink, paint, airbrush, pens, you know, whatever you are working with at the moment.  You can also sand down the embossed areas to accentuate them.

Thinking of flat items beyond brass stencils, what about all those interesting textures around your home?  The plastic netting from a bag of onions? Cross stitch plastic? Flat jewelry? Coins? Lace and doilies? Ribbons?  This opens up a whole new world of texture for your projects.  Take a look at this display panel made by Lead Designer Cathy Chlebana.  She used Copper Premium Craft foil, embossed textures into it for the background, and die cut and embossed the other images.  Stunning, isn’t it?

Cathy Chlebana

The craft marketplace also has a fine array of embossing tools.  Give them a trip through the Wizard, the 3000 pounds of pressure between the Wizard’s rollers will give you amazing results!

Happy Embossing!

Beth

We made a cake the other day, today lets make a sandwich!

Whether you own the Purple or Raspberry Wizard, the White or Magnetic Spacer Plates, this tutorial applies to you. Have you seen the videos Stacey made?

When you start with your machine, have the short end of the Wizard facing you, the long end with the Spellbinders logo facing away from you. On the Purple Wizards, you have 1 of 2 handles, a button or switch. For the button handle, when the handle is toward you, the button should be down.

Otherwise you have a purple or raspberry Wizard with the black switch on the handle. That little switch on the handle should be pointing to the long part of the Wizard.

The mats you use will be the 2 white master mats. Excuse the dirt and cut marks, mine get a lot of lovin’. You will use 1 of 2 Spacer Plates. Either the White Spacer Plate or the Magnetic Spacer Plate will be used, with the White Master Mats as the top and bottom of the sandwich. You cannot use both spacer plates at once, your sandwich will be too thick.

Place the die template on top of the spacer plate, with the cutting ridges facing up, add your paper, then the top mat and proceed to your Wizard. The sandwich is the same whether you use a white Spacer Plate or Magnetic one. Do you see the spacer is in the center of the Master Mat? That’s where you want it. Do not put the Spacer Plate at the very edge of the sandwich!

Place the handle so it’s on the short side of the Wizard, facing you. Bring the sandwich to the far side of the rollers and push it in with your left hand. Your right hand can roll the rollers so the sandwich engages in between the rollers.

The mats will go in between the rollers.

Bring the handle up and over the machine to the table, then up 90 degrees and push it back down to the table. You will hear the ratchet noise, it sounds like a ratchet wrench. Relax and let the Wizard exert the 3,000 pounds of pressure.

Continue this up and down movement. Once the mats are halfway through the rollers, bring your left hand to the front of the Wizard and hold the mats to control the exit. As the mats exit the machine you might hear a ‘pop’ sound, which is caused by the pressure of the machine. As you continue to use the machine you will get a feel for the exit. I slow  the up and down handle movement when the mats are almost out, this reduces the speed they exit with and reduces the ‘pop’.

Now you have a die cut. To emboss that die cut, leave the paper in the die, remove the Spacer Plate from your sandwich, lay the Tan Embossing Mat on top of the die with the cutting ridge facing up, replace the top Master Mat, and feed the Wizard exactly the same way as before.

That’s how to cut and emboss with a Spellbinder’s Wizard and Die Templates.

All of us at Spellbinders wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Today’s Savvy Saturday features the recipe for my cake. A good mom lets you lick the beaters, a great mom turns off the mixer first. That one always cracks me up.  Anyway, on to the cake:

I started with a set of round boxes from Darice. I tossed aside the lids; I decided not to use them. I painted the set, sides and bottom, with white acrylic paint, then covered that with Pearl Ranger Paint Dabber, with a brush not the dabber tip.

Layered Flower Creations

To make the flowers, I used cardstock from WorldWin: Deep, Dark, Medium and Light Lovely Lilac ColorMates. I used the Flower Creations, Flower Creations 2 and Flower Creations 3 Die Templates. I cut and embossed each Die Template from the four colors of cardtsock.  For the Flower Creations 3 Die Template, I separated out each die and set them on the new Magnetic Spacer Plate.

When all the flowers were cut and embossed, I airbrushed them with a few Copic Marker colors (some smooth color, some splattered color).  I used newspaper to protect the table and repositionable adhesive to keep the flowers in place. I wiped on some white Glimmer Chalk from Craf-T Products to add sheen to the flower petals.  I added detail to the center of the smaller flowers with a Lavender Atyou Spica pen.

I assembled the flowers, each different, with a long brad. If you feel the flowers are looking a little flat against the cake, curl the petals up or down, to give them a little bulk, or add some dimensional adhesive dots between the flower layers. It’s all very subtle but it makes a difference once the cake is assembled.

Die Template sets used.

To make the frosting swags, I assembled 3 sets of ovals, mixing and matching from the
Clasic Ovals, plain and scalloped.  I needed 3 of each size, so I taped them to a piece of scrap paper. The tape keeps them in place and I won’t have to realign them once I get the inside die template centered. Then I can cut and emboss as many as I need, all the same.  I used the Medium Lovely Lilac paper.  The ovals were then cut in half, the long way.

Nested half circles

Each strip of paper for the ribbon on the bottoms of the cake layers was embossed in the Wizard using a Fiskars Texture Plate and the blue mat from the Charm Embossing Kit.

Add texture to the cake ribbons

On the ribbon and swags, I rubbed White Sparkle Luster Rub-ons from Craf-T Products.  It added some extra highlight to the embossed areas.

Give Beth three "tiers" for this amazing cake!

We’re working with the boxes turned upside down, so the bottom of the box becomes the top.  I glued the embossed ribbon to the bottom edge of each layer.  I secured the swag ends with a brad, using a Japanese hole punch to make a small hole through the paper and box.  I punched more small holes in each layer for the flowers on the sides and secured the brads from the inside.  The flowers on the top are attached to a small triangle of paper.

Cake topper brilliance

As suggested in the comments the other day, the cake can be made for any occasion, with any shaped box. What’s the best part?  No dirty dishes! I’d love to see your creations, give us a link in the comments!  And don’t forget to rate the blog entries by clicking on the stars below.

Thanks for cookin’ up some fun with me, Beth!!!

A cake with no callories

Question:

What do fun foam and pop cans (or soda cans or Coke cans, depending on the part of the country you live…) have in common? You’ll have to keep reading to find out…

We are back for another post. Beth did a super job showing you how to cut, emboss and stencil with cardstock and our Die Templates. Now, I want to show you a couple of tricks that go beyond paper, one hard and one soft…and no, we are not talking about tacos here.

That’s right: fun foam and pop cans!

(No we’re not making a drink cozy either)

Using Snowflake Wonder S4-085, I’m going to show you two cards to showcase how different materials will work in the Wizard.

Answer:

The amazing thing about both media: aluminum and foam, you get to use the normal, every-day sandwiches. To cut, layer the following from the bottom up:

Here are some hints for working with Aluminum:

Take your time working with the aluminum. It really can have sharp edges and small fragments hanging around. This is probably not a project for kids.
To cut up the can, using some hefty kitchen scissors (not your lovely paper or fabric ones) puncture the can near the top and cut around it so the top comes off.
Do the same for the bottom and then cut down the side.
You may want to trim off some of the snarly edges.

You are ready to go emboss now! It uses the same sandwich as paper too:

White Master Mat

Foam Snowflakes

Run it through the Wizard. The fun foam will cut on the first pass and have a hint of embossing but the aluminum may need another pass through. (It really depends on what type of pop you like to drink…lol)

Then, it’s time to put them together with some fun papers, maybe a sentiment, ribbons, who knows. Here are my interpretations…

Move over softie, here comes aluminum:

Aluminum Snowflakes

Hey Spellbinders™ Die Template Fans…we have a winner!!!

We had so many posts and so many great choices for a favorite die. I entered the number of posts we had and went to, everyone’s favorite integer site: www.random.org and here was the result:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
10
Timestamp: 2008-11-18 16:42:15 UTC

I was sooooo glad it wasn’t a high number. So the Blog Candy Redipient is:

Tomi Hamlin

who said

“BOY, THIS IS A HARD ONE, I JUST RECENTLY PURCHASED LABELS TWO AND I FEEL IT HAS ALL KIND OF POSSIBILITIES. AND JUST YESTERDAY I GOT ASSORTED LEAVES, I AM A FALL BABY (OH . HARDLY A BABY, I’M 63) AND LOVE,LOVE ANYTHING FALL. SURE WOULD LOVE TO WIN THE BLOG CANDY.
LORD BLESS, TOMI JO”

So, Tomi Jo, send me an e-mail (spellbinderseditor@yahoo.com) and let me know which S4 die from the site you want to be your new favorite…yes, that’s right, you get to pick this one baby!! Look at the Product numbers for the S4- at the beginning.

Thanks everyone for playing. Keep coming to visit and stay tuned for projects, contests, Savvy Saturdays and a few tricks up our sleeves now and then.

Eli, Spellbinders Blog Team

Welcome! And thanks for the introduction, Stacey! I’m so excited to be part of Spellbinder™ Blog Team with Eli. And I am amazed and thrilled at how many of you have already stopped by and told us about your favorite die. We’ll be choosing a blog candy winner later this morning.

Whether you own a Wizard or another die cutting machine, you can use Spellbinders Die Templates. Stacey made some great videos, so first I’ll direct you to those to learn how to cut and emboss in your machine. Videos! Back already? Good.

I’m using the S3-004 Symbology Die Template today. It was the first die template I bought and its still one of my favorites. If you didn’t take notes during the video, no worries, I’ve got you covered. The sandwich for cutting a Spellbinders Die Template is included inside the package of all the dies. But here it is so you don’t have to go digging for it (stack from the bottom up) —

1. White Master Mat
2. Thin White Spacer Plate (or Magnetic Spacer Plate if using the Raspberry Wizard)
3. Spellbinders Die Template with cut ridges up

4. Paper, Cardstock, craft foil (the material you will be cutting, the side/pattern you want to show in your final project, facing the die template)
5. White Mat

Now just feed this into the Wizard. What you have is a flat die cut. Exciting, huh? Every other machine can do that too. What makes the Spellbinders special is that you can emboss that die cut! Put the material right back in the Die Template. Then emboss it with this sandwich —

1. White Mat
2. Spellbinders Die Template (cutting ridges up)
3. Paper, cardstock, craft foil, etc in the die template. If it came out, that’s ok, it’ll go right back inside the cutting ridges.
4. Tan Embossing Mat
5. White Mat

Now feed that through the Wizard in exactly the same way. Great! How do you like it? Want to make it more interesting? Put the material right back inside the die. This is the really fun part, because you can customize it to match the rest of your project.

Use the same inks, chalks, markers, paint or other craft supply you used on your project. See, you can go right through the back side of the die to apply it. There you go—Cut, Emboss and Embellish!

Thanks for stopping by! Beth

Hey, we got some help from our Techies and we think this will work…

Hey all my paper crafting friends! It’s a party!!!

Welcome to Spellbinders™ Blog. We are so excited to be with you starting today. It has been a long time in the making and we couldn’t be more thrilled…Oh, by the way, I’m Stacey Caron, President of Spellbinders™ Paper Arts and Co-creator of the Wizard™ Embossing and Die Cutting System.

We have so many great things in store for you that we can barely stay quiet about but I know we can’t give all our secrets away on the first day. But let me tell you about our blog: Our blogging babes are Eli Harlan, and Beth Pingry. They are great women with tons of knowledge about the Wizard and all our Die Templates. You’ll learn a lot from them.

One of the exciting features we’ll be having is Spellbinders’ Savvy Saturdays. Beth and Eli will be bringing you some fantastic techniques for the Wizard. I can’t wait to see all that they create. We’ll also have prizes, challenges, special guests and all kinds of things to offer. Like I said, I am thrilled.

To get things going we are going to offer some Blog Candy. [It’s a Template Mystery] All you need to do is offer a comment about your favorite Die Template in the comment box below and on Tuesday, we’ll be picking a winner. Make sure you leave your e-mail address so we can contact you when you win…   :-p

Come back “early and often”. Cheers and happy creating, Stacey.

I know there has been some confusion and we are truly trying to help. If you want to be entered for the blog candy, whether or not you can see any or all of the images that we are currently trying to share with the entire planet…make a comment on ANY of the posts so far WITH your favorite Spellbinders™ Die Template or at least an attempt to narrow it down and we’ll enter you for Blog Candy which we will be choosing tomorrow (Tuesday, November 18th) and posting in the afternoon…thanks for your patience while we work out the bugs…

Eli

Hey friends,

Some of you have let us know that you are having trouble seeing the amazing photo of Beth’s paper wedding cake and the beautiful pic of Stacey. If this is news to you, then either your visual is perfect or, you had absolutely no idea that there were any images to be seen.

Please be assured that we are working on it and we will probably extend the blog candy over to Tuesday. We don’t want anyone to miss out on the opportunity.

Don’t forget, in order to win the blog candy, you need to tell us your favorite Die Template when you place your comment at the bottom…(psst: you might want to go in and edit your post, or add another one if you didn’t include it before.)

Cheers, Eli