Dear Paper Crafters,

I want to thank all of the talented artists that submitted entries to the Spellbinders Design Team Contest! Spellbinders Paper Arts was overwhelmed by the number of entries and the amazing artwork on each and every project. We understand and appreciate the time and effort that goes into your work. You made our decision excruciatingly difficult!

I would like to congratulate the following designers who are our Finalists in the Design Team Contest, in alphabetical order.

Carole Burrage
Christy Kerr
Deb Felts
Debbie Seyer
Heidi Blankenship
Holly Simoni
Janine Blackwelder
Jennifer Davis
Judy Hayes
Julie Overby
Karen Hunsaker
Karen Taylor
Kazan Clark
Kelly Hampton
Kimberly Crawford
Lesa Rapp
Mary Pfaff
Michelle Edgley
Pegi Taylor
Suzanne Morse
Tanisha Long
Terre Fry
Tisha Ann Harms
Wendy Elliott

Again, thanks to everyone that participated in the Spellbinders Design Team Contest!
Kindest Regards,

Stacey Caron
Owner, Creative Director
Spellbinders Paper Arts LLC

Spellbinders™ loves a party. This time we’re throwing it over at Splitcoaststampers.com. We want you to show us your best Spellbinders projects to add them our gallery at Splitcoaststampers. We want everyone who visits Splitcoast to see how versatile and detailed our die templates are, and we know SCS is the place to do just that–with an amazing group of talented, versatile and stylish paper crafters!!

So, beginning today, we invite anyone who is a member at SCS to create items in three categories: Cards, Layouts and Altered Projects, using our die templates: Shapeabilities®, Nestabilities®, Borderabilities®, Frameabilities®, or any die template category.

So here is what you need to do:

1. To be eligible to win, you must be a registered member at www.Splitcoaststampers.com

2. You may not have any current affiliation with SpellbindersPaperArts.com (such as you are on our Design Team or Blog Team).

3. Create a card, a layout and/or an altered item using Spellbinders™ die templates.

4. You may enter one category, two categories or all three categories, but only one item per category allowed.

5. Upload your project(s) into their Upload Page. (Make sure you log-in before clicking this link.) If you would like any info on the upload process, check out this link: Sharing your artwork on Splitcoaststampers. When uploading be sure to include the appropriate Keywords (a box for the keywords appears on the second page in the uploading process:

• Spellbinders_card
• Spellbinders_layout
• Spellbinders_altered

The underscores are imperative. Only projects utilizing correct keywords will be considered for the contest. Please only use the keywords for new projects that you upload for this contest and not for art previously created.

We would also appreciate your including the product names or numbers in the description or accessories section.

6. Complete the upload by 11:59 pm CST on Sunday, March 8th.

Winners will be chosen by random integer program on On March 9th at Random.org (through our entering the number of qualified entries in each category).

Winners will be announced on Spellbinders™ Blog and over at SCS on March 10th.

OH, What do you win???

One winner in each category will win $50 retail value in die templates at SpellbindersPaperArts.com. Sooooo, show off a few die templates you have from Spellbinders™ and you might just get shipped a few more. Ooooh! La! La!

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me, Eli, at spellbinderseditor@yahoo.com.

Hey piercing fans! Spellbinders Pierceabilities are back and ready for action. You can now order them at SpellbindersPaperArts.com. Or you can head to your local scrapbook store soon to pick them up soon.

We thought you might enjoy a little refresher course on how to use them.

Lights! Camera! Action!

To create this project, begin by gathering supplies.

Make sure you have some kind of piercing tool (specific piercing tools can be found on the web or, in a pinch, try a push pin).

Next, you’ll need some kind of mat that you can pierce INTO. Again, you can find piercing mats on the web or grab something around the house that functions as an equivalent unit…hmmm…how about a piece of thick cork, a yoga mat or even a spongie mouse pad? Now, I haven’t tried these myself but know you can experiment with a variety of household items to save a bit of money. (Which’ll leave you more for the really important stuff: more die templates.)

Don’t forget to collect your Pierceabilities die templates, Wizard, Mats, Pads and papers too.

Begin with the cut/emboss step that we use so frequently here. Notice that Pierceabilities only has one cut edge. This gives you versatility to cut a card edge, create a border or cut, flip it around and cut again for a strip. Cool.

You might be asking a question: Why didn’t Spellbinders make templates that already punched the holes? We did think about it. BUT again, we want to provide versatility. If the template punched all the holes, you wouldn’t have any choices. This way, you can choose which parts you want to pierce, or NOT pierce…nice, huh.

So, you’ve cut/embossed to get something like this:

Then, it’s time to use your Pierceability for what it was made:

1. Place your project onto the piercing mat.
2. Align the template onto the original embossing or wherever you want to pierce.
3. Use the piercing tool to punch through the template holes and paper.
4. Try to get the piercing tool to the same depth each time a providing consistent holes.
5. Use your piercing tool perpendicular to your project, or as vertical as possible, also for consistency. Complete all the holes desired.
6. Remove template and enjoy the results.

Let’s enjoy some of our Design Team members “results” with these three projects.

Card by Holly Craft. Altered Pillow Box by Jennifer Ellefson. Layout by Wendy Weixler.

Funny that I should call this part 2, because I’m going to show that you can take apart the Spellbinders™ Impressabilities™ Templates and use Parts where ever your little heart desires.

The Spellbinders™ Impressabilities™ Templates are made of metal, but thin enough that your craft scissors can cut through the small sections.  No need to for heavy equipment on this technique.

Design Team Member Holly Craft cut this Impressabilities™ Snowflake Template so that she could emboss the outside of a card front.  she also inked the template, so that the debossed portion was colored after she passed the embossing sandwich through the Wizard.  You can see she kept the small snowflakes, cut them apart, and can use them to emboss anywhere on the project.  She could also color those with Copic Markers and use the individual pieces as an actual metal element on a project.

In this example, Holly cut up the Impressabilities™ Paisley Template to ink and emboss a corner of her project.  Wouldn’t that look beautiful on an envelope?  How about a journaling block?

Below is an example of the Impressabilities™ Snowflake Template.  This time Lead Design Team Member Cathy Chlebana cut the template so the snowflakes were all in a line, then embossed it into a strip of Core’dinations Cardstock and sanded it.

You can cut the Spellbinders™ Impressabilities™ Templates into any size you like, and emboss them in any position.

Here’s one more example, this quick example of using the Impressabilities™ Butterfly Template.  The cardstock is a glossy black from Worldwin, and the Impressabilities™ Butterfly Template was embossed and the card was sanded.

So the question remains, if you cut up your Impressabilities™ Templates, can you still use them as a whole?  YES!  With a thin magnet you can place your pieces back together and emboss as a whole.  Or, you could buy 2 templates, keep one full size and have fun with various sized pieces of the other.  The price is affordable enough to be able to have a whole lot of fun and impress your friends at the same time.

Beth

Whew, we’re back to normal around here, if there is such a thing.  Lets resume the indepth interviews we started in December, so you can get to know the current Design Team!

Today’s featured Design Team Member is Jeni Calkins.  You got a quick glimpse of her on Day 9 of the Frenzy, and now we get to sit her down and pick her creative brain.

Tell us how you got started crafting.
For me, the need to create stuff is a compulsion that started when I was a little girl. As a child, I would take discarded things and make something new out of them. At that time I didn’t know that it was called altered arts.

Do you have an art or design background?
I studied studio art in High School and College, although I received my degrees in other area.

What inspires you?
Trash. I love making trash into more trash (I mean treasures), just to save it from the land fill.

What is your favorite die template?
My favorite dies are the flowers, I love the Sunflowers, the detail is amazing, and I also love the Flower Creations and the Flying Beauties, the uses are unlimited.

What is your favorite Preferred Product?
Prism cardstock –first thing I reach for each project.

Do you have a favorite technique?
I love to layer up die cuts to create flowers. That’s what’s so great about Spellbinders’ Die Templates is you get so many size choices with each set.

Do you make cards or scrapbooks or altered?
Altered because it goes back to my obsession with recycling and re-using things, but I have three of the cutest kids and I also love to make scrapbook pages for them.

Tell us about your family.
I’m married to a wonderful man who is very supportive and a great father to our three kids. I live in Arizona. I find the Sonoran desert to be a huge inspiration in my art work. I feel blessed to live in such a beautiful area.

When do you get time to craft?
I like to get up early and do my art before the kids get up, but I’ll fit it in anytime I can.

Do you craft alone or with a group?
I love to work in groups, but mostly just when playing around or learning/teaching. To get serious work done I get into a zone where I’m anti-social.

Where do you shop?
My fine art supplies I get on line. I shop at my local scrapbooking store for scrapbooking/stamping and garage sales and thrift stores for the unusual stuff.

How would you describe your style?
Textured.

What have you been working on this week?
I have some new Spellbinders’ Die Templates, your going to love these!

Besides paper, what other materials have you used?
Acrylic Paint, watercolors, polymer clay, metals, fused glass, fabric, silver clay, assemblage.

Where do you look for inspiration when you are about to start something new?
I’m a task oriented person so I like to have an assignment or project that needs to get done by a deadline.

What has been the most difficult thing for you to learn?
How to keep it all organized. I am typing this with my keyboard in my lap because I have run out of desk space. (Psst Jeni, I think we were separated at birth! LOL Beth)

What do you find most  enjoyable about crafting?
The act of making it. It turns the buzzing in my head down to a nice calm hum.

Do you ever teach classes?
I love to teach, I get so excited about all this and it is so much fun to pass that joy on to others.

What else do you like to do aside from artwork?
Play with my kids. We love to go boating, hiking, to the beach, the Water Park, or museums.

What kind of workspace do you have?
10 x10 room with shelves from floor to ceiling filled with drawers of stuff.

Regarding a favorite piece: Can you outline the typical process behind making something like this? How long do you think it took to finish that?

This card was very quick, about ½ hour. I was ask to make something using “green supplies” I make altered books and have lots of pages that I have removed from the books. I stacked up a bunch of pages then laid out all the flower creation dies on the magnets. I was able to cut all the pages need for the flowers in one pass. I stacked them, mist them with water and crumpled them up. The Copic airbrush system made quick work out of add the color.

Here are 2 more samples of Jeni’s art:

One more thing to add to Jeni’s resume, at last month’s Craft and Hobby Association Trade Show, she won an award for her jewelry design at the Amaco booth, with donations and jewelry creations going to woman’s charities in Southern California.  I ran over and took this picture of Jeni’s pieces.  Congratulations Jeni!

To see more of Jeni’s work, please visit her blog, Studio Jeni.