For Savvy Saturday, I thought I go over my first technique that I did when receiving my order of Impressabilities™…a straight emboss.

A friend of mine just started her teaching career and I wanted to send her a card to congratulate her for surviving her first few days! LOL!! Of course, I will have to tuck in a gift card to her favorite coffee house for those cold fall mornings.

I will be using the following Spellbinders™ products: I2-1004 Impressabilties™ Flowers and S4-114 Standard Circles LG #6 die (#1 being the smallest size) and of course, the Wizard™.

First, I will emboss a piece of 5 1/2″W x 4 1/4″H Core’dinations cardstock. Note: I mist the paper to get a more enhanced embossed design - this will help when using a thicker cardstock too.

Then I used the following sandwich (from the bottom):
White Master Mat
I2-1004 Impressabilities™ Flowers
Cardstock
Tan Embossing Pad
White Master Mat

Once I walked the sandwich through the Wizard™, (another note) I left the Impressability in the cardstock and sanded over the design. I find that the design stands out even more when you have it underneath. After taking the embossed cardstock off the I2-1004 Impressabilities™ Flowers, I sanded the edges.

Setting it aside, I went to stamp my image from JustRite Stampers’ Friendship set on Core’dinations cardstock and cut/embossed with the S4-114 Standard Circles LG #6. I edged the circle with Clearsnap Queue ink and adhered it with Scrapbook Adhesive by 3L’s 3D Foam Squares (stacked three squares to life the circle above the flower) onto a 6″x4 7/8″ Core’dinations white card base which was edged with ink. Then I colored the stamp image with Copics, added Flower Soft and glittered the accents.

Another fun “Back To School” project - a card with a gift card tucked inside for that favorite teacher! Hope everyone made it back to school safely.

And for those of you who are a visual type, I am including a video of our lovely Miss Stacey demonstrating some fun things to do with the Impressabilities™…

Oh! Don’t forget to vote for us on “When Creativity Knocks!” - Great Crafter’s Tool Hunt…there’s a good chance you might win something real nice. Look HERE for details!

Have a great Saturday!
MargieH

This is an adventure sponsored by When Creativity Knocks! It’s a chance for you to participate with us by voting for the Spellbinders Impressabilities as your favorite craft tool!  Voting begins August 28 at midnight (PST) and ends on September 8, 2009 at midnight (PST).

Just register and log in at the When Creativity Knocks homepage, go to the Creativity Forum. Select Categories, and then scroll down to the Great Crafter’s Tool Hunt section, select Spellbinders Impressabilities, and leave a brief message in the forum. You can even watch a short video of the Impressabilities in action!

Why should you vote? Everyone who votes will be put into a drawing to win the big prize package including one of each nominated tool!  We know you love prizes!

What does Spellbinders get? When the Impressabilities win the most votes (thanks to you all!), Spellbinders will win a full-length episode featuring the Spellbinders Impressabilities and be featured on the When Creativity Knocks website as the When Creativity Knocks Best Tool and receive a trophy! Wahoo! We love trophies!

So go ahead and join us in voting for the Spellbinders Impressabilities, and we can both win!

Although its still August according to the calendar, its feeling a bit like October if you look at the thermometer! A hot cup of coffee would be so nice!

I gathered my supplies, which included S5-019 Labels Eight #5 and #6; S4-213 Fleur de Lis Borderabilities®; S4-114 Standard Circle, Large #4; and S4-116 Stand Circle, Small #4; JustRite Stampers A Little Caffeine Set; Clearsnap Colorbox, Chestnut Roan Fluid Chalk Ink; Cord’dinations Color Core Cardstock, and Fancy Pants, The Daily Grind papers.

I cut the base for the card from S5-019 Labels Eight #6 and brown Core’dinations cardstock, then the the rest of the die cuts from the Fancy Pants paper.  I love buying these pads, it makes coordinating papers and patterns a breeze!  I stamped the coffee cup and border words with the JustRite set and Clearsnap ink.  I centered the S4-116 Standard Circle, Small # 4, cut/embossed, then made a mat with the S4-114 Standard Circle, Large #4.

Since the Borderabilities® are so detailed, its sometimes not so easy to get the paper out of the die template.  Here’s a little trick: I used a piece of wax paper from the kitchen!  I made my normal cutting sandwich and added a single layer of wax paper between the die template and the paper, and feed my sandwich through my Wizard™ as usual.  The wax paper is thin and won’t change the way the die template cuts, but will allow you to remove the intricate die cuts without having to pull or tear.

Remember to remove the wax paper before inking through the die template!

I used the Chestnut Roan Fluid Chalk Ink with a Clearsnap Ink Applicator to color through the die template and to ink along the edges of the other die cut papers.

Hey, who ate all the doughnuts?
Beth

WOW! That was one cool Savvy Saturday post - thanks, Beth & Kimberly!!

As I was playing with this great idea, I found another way to heat up that black foam tip from my Clearsnap Colorbox Stylus Tool! Since I am an impatient type, why not use a heat emboss tool to “warm up” the foam? Please take care in not burning the foam! LOL! I took a part of a flower from the I2-1004 Impressabilities™ Flower and imprinted it onto the black foam.

Today is ”Back To School” for us and what a great idea to make a treat bag for the boys’ teachers!

These die templates were used for the project: S4-114 Standard Circles LG #4 (#1 being the smallest die), S4-125 Classic Scalloped Circles Small #5, and S4-214 Eyelets Borderabilities® both dies.

I used a white paper bag as the base and inked up my new foam stamp with various colors from my Clearsnap Queue inks. Then set aside to dry. Then I reached for my JustRite Stampers 3 1/4″ round stamp set to stamp my images on white cardstock and on Core’dinations Dusk cardstock. I used the S4-125 Classic Scalloped Circles Small #5 to cut the outside of the image and the S4-114 Standard Circles LG #4 to cut the inside of the image. Cut/Embossed them together through the Wizard™.

I also cut/embossed the S4-214 Eyelet Borderabilities® #1 die (the one that cuts on one side and makes a continuous cut for a decorative edge) to use a topper, sanded to enhance the embossing, inked the edges, fold over the flap, punched holes to thread the ribbon and glittered the accents. The Eyelet accent piece was inked, adhered and then glittered. Then I adhered the stamped open circle, ribbon and foam taped the center image.

After everything dries, I plan on putting in some goodies for the teachers which will include a packet each of TUMs and Aspirin!

Oh, happy back to school!!!
MargieH

It is so much fun to have new and innovative products like Spellbinders’™ Impressabilities™.  It’s even more fun to see what our talented Design Team Members do with them!  Today’s Savvy Saturday is a new technique from our own Kimberly Crawford. She posted it earlier this week on her personal blog.  We want to make sure everyone sees it, so we’re running an encore here. Take it away, Kimberly!

I am SO thrilled to be sharing with you a brand new Spellbinders™ Impressabilities™ technique!!! I came up with this idea while playing around with my tools several months ago. I love using my Clearsnap Colorbox Stylus tool to ink the edges of my paper. But as I was staring at it, I thought, what can I do with the foam end? Then I remembered that Colorbox used to sell molding plates for the foam tips. Not having those, I looked at the I2-1004 Impressabilities™ Flowers laying on my desk and thought, a-ha!

Start by heating the black foam tip of your stylus tool. I use my crafting light. It does not take much heat to make it pliable.

Push the heated foam tip onto the Impressabilities™. I chose the flower that would fit my tip before I did this.

Here is what the tip looks like. The image will not go away until you re-heat the tip.

Ink the foam tip, just like any stamp.

Here is the image stamped onto a S4-140 Petite Ovals, Small die cut.

And here is the completed project. Isn’t that fun?

Thank you Kimberly!
I just had to try it myself. You know how you get started with one idea, you start working on it, and it becomes something entirely different?  Welcome to my world! LOL.

I decided to use the small accent piece from the S4-205 Eyelets Pendant to press into the large, square, black, moldable stylus tip from Clearsnap.

Using Clearsnap’s Orchid Pigment ink, I stamped that image across a strip of My Minds Eye’s Tiny Dancer Collection paper. I cut/embossed the S4-205 Eyelets Pendant,  Accent, and Center, inked throught the die templates like a stencil, then used the foam tip of the Stylus with Chestnut Roan Chalk Ink to edge all the papers.  I assembled as shown.  I think I’ve just made my Mom’s birthday card!  

Thank you again Kimberly Crawford!  And Happy Birthday Mom!

Beth

I thought I would share what Margarita, our Grand Prize Winner in the Pendant Project Contest had to say when she realized she was the winner of $500 in Spellbinders’™ Products and these fabulous prizes from our generous Partners:

A sampling of our product line sure to fulfill the winner’s needs for a loooong time to come! Some of the contents include: E-Z Runners®, Mounting Squares, Photo Corners, 3D Foam Squares and PLENTY of Adhesive Sheets to use with your products! The retail value of this package is over $200.

A “one of” our entire Abbey Road line. It has a retail value of over $130.00.

A set of 8 Smooch colors, a retail value of $36.00

Core’dinations prize valued at over $68.00 including:
Black Magic assorted pack - 20 sheets
Vintage assorted pack - 20 sheets
WhiteWash assorted pack - 20 sheets
Super Assortment pack - 80 sheets

The entire JustRite Christmas Release with coordinating blocks:
JB 08765 Old Fashioned Christmas Borders & Centers
JB 08760 Christmas Treasures Borders & Centers
JB 08117 3 ¼” Wooden Stamper
JB 08770 Christmas Joy Borders & Centers
JB 08420 1 ¾” x 2 5/16” Oval Wooden Stamper
JB 08650 Round 2” Stamper with Bonus 15 pt Font
JB 08780 A Merry Little Christmas
JB 08785 Holiday Demi Phrases
JB 08115 1 5/8” wooden stamper
Total Retail Value- $117.55

And this is the note from our winner, Margarita:

I love it! She made me promise to include the smilies! LOL! Thank you again to everyone that participated! That was so much fun, we should do it again!
Happy Friday!
Beth

Hi Everyone! Its Stacey here, and I am so excited to announce the winner of our Pendant Project Contest. The new and innovative line of Spellbinders’™ Pendants and Borderabilities® are going to take your artwork to the next level! These detailed designs are quick and effortless, but so beautiful, and with 8 timeless designs to embellish your cards, scrapbook pages and decor.

Did you see the Pendant Project Gallery?  Wow, I am so inspired by the artwork there! Each and every project is beautiful and creative. It was so hard to choose the Top 5 Winners. Our judging panel agreed on these projects (in alphabetical order):

..

.

1. Diane of Rochester Hills, Michigan, USA! Diane’s creative card using acetate and S4-204 Fleur de Lis Pendant with vellum caught our attention.

2. Margarita, of Grand Junction, Colorado, USA! Her entry was an elegant mini heritage album using S4-207 Kaleidoscope Pendant and S4-216 Kaleidoscope Borderabilities®.

3. Marion of Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia! Marion’s adorable Baby card incorporated S4-208 In Spades Pendant, and S4-217 In Spades Borderabilities® (both pieces!).

4. Monica of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada! Monica wowed us with her Queen’s Necklace. Monica used S4-204 Fleur de Lis Pendant, shrink plastic and a copper leafing pen to achieve these results!

5. Nicole of Wateford, Pennsylvania, USA! Nicole’s Framed Butterfly Quilt is just stunning. She used the S4-204 Fleur de Lis Pendant on this 12 x 12″ framed home decor piece.

The winner’s name was drawn thru Random.org. In addition to winning $500 in Spellbinders™ die templates of her choice, our Coordinating Partners have sweetened the prize with a few of their own products. Our lucky Grand Prize Winner will also receive the following:

A sampling of our product line sure to fulfill the winner’s needs for a loooong time to come! Some of the contents include: E-Z Runners®, Mounting Squares, Photo Corners, 3D Foam Squares and PLENTY of Adhesive Sheets to use with your products! The retail value of this package is over $200.

A “one of” our entire Abbey Road line. It has a retail value of over $130.00.

A set of 8 Smooch colors, a retail value of $36.00

Core’dinations prize valued at over $68.00 including:
Black Magic assorted pack - 20 sheets
Vintage assorted pack - 20 sheets
WhiteWash assorted pack - 20 sheets
Super Assortment pack - 80 sheets

The entire JustRite Christmas Release with coordinating blocks:
JB 08765 Old Fashioned Christmas Borders & Centers
JB 08760 Christmas Treasures Borders & Centers
JB 08117 3 ¼” Wooden Stamper
JB 08770 Christmas Joy Borders & Centers
JB 08420 1 ¾” x 2 5/16” Oval Wooden Stamper
JB 08650 Round 2” Stamper with Bonus 15 pt Font
JB 08780 A Merry Little Christmas
JB 08785 Holiday Demi Phrases
JB 08115 1 5/8” wooden stamper
Total Retail Value- $117.55

Here are the results from Random.org:

 And the winner is #2, Margarita! 

Congratulations Margarita! Have lots of fun with the Grand Prizes!  Another hearty congratulations to the other 4 ladies in the Top 5, and to all who participated!

Love, Stacey

Today, I thought I’d bring together what we covered so far (extending Borderabilities® and functional Pendants) and add Letterpress into the mix with a one page layout.

The die templates that I used for the layout are: S5-019 Labels Eight #6 & #5 (#1 being the smallest size), S4-125 Classic Scalloped Circles Small #1, S4-124 Classic Scalloped Circles Large #2, S4-116 Standard Circles Small #3 and S4-218 Lattice Borderabilities® border die.

For those who haven’t read up on these ideas, I have linked the Borderabilities® and the Pendant posts so please click on the highlighted words. What I would like to show is how to letterpress with your Impressabilities.

I am using the I2-1001 Impressabilities™ Paisley. But first with the S5-019 Labels Eight #6, I have cut/embossed a piece of Core’dinations cardstock and for ink, I reached for my Clearsnap Queue ink.

Start with inking the entire Impressabilities™, I put a piece of printer paper underneath so that I don’t ink up my White Master Mat. Then the S5-019 Labels Eight die cut is placed on top. Again to avoid any mess, I place another piece of printer paper. Then the Tan Embossing Pad goes on top and the White Master Mat to finish the sandwich.

This is what you come up with! Easy peasy as a good friend of mine would put it. This piece will serve as a frame for a picture of my niece, Jessica.

To recap, the Letterpress Sandwich (from bottom) is:
White Master Mat
(printer paper)
I2-1001 Impressabilities™ Paisley (ink side up)
S5-019 Labels Eight die cut
(printer paper)
Tan Embossing Pad
White Master Mat

Using Fancy Pants paper, I placed Jessica’s framed picture on top of the S4-218 Lattice Borderabilities® which anchors both framed pictures. I used the functional Pendant (in this case, the S4-205 Eyelets Pendant) idea as a frame. Then I had to use the JustRite Stampers 1 3/16″ round “Tiny Words Set” stamps, they make such great accent pieces. I used the S4-125 Classic Scalloped Circles Small #1 which cuts perfectly and added some embellishments in my scrap stash.

It is easy to do and you really don’t need anything extra - no new equipment, no special tools…just your favorite Impressabilities™ and you’re good to go! I hope you will enjoy this technique as much as I have. I think this is my new favorite technique…well, at least for now!

Spellbinders™ is thrilled to announce the Top 5 Winners in the Pendant Project Contest!  It was a difficult decision, there were so many entries, and so much creativity!  Take a look at the Pendant Project Gallery!

Each of the Top 5 winners has already won $100 in Spellbinders™ die templates. One of these lucky ladies will be the Grand Prize Winner, and will be able to choose a total of $500 in Spellbinders™ die templates, as well as other prizes from our Coordinating Partners,

A big Spellbinders™ “Thank You” to our Coordinating Partners for their generous participation!

Before we go any further with our winners, we want to make an honorable mention of three projects. Did we say the competition was fierce?  We thought these three projects deserve some applause:

Baby Card by Kathy of New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Foil Pendant Card by Sandy of Canfield, Ohio, USA.

Purse by Jan of Garrison, Iowa, USA.

~Drumroll please!~

These are the Top 5 Winners in the Pendant Project Contest, in alphabetical order.

Congratulations!

1. Diane of Rochester Hills, Michigan, USA!  Diane’s creative card using acetate and S4-204 Fleur de Lis Pendant with vellum caught our attention.

2. Margarita, of Grand Junction, Colorado, USA!  Her entry was an elegant mini heritage album using S4-207 Kaleidoscope Pendant and S4-216 Kaleidoscope Borderabilities®.

3. Marion of Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia!  Marion’s adorable Baby card incorporated S4-208 In Spades Pendant, and S4-217 In Spades Borderabilities® (both pieces!).

4. Monica of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada! Monica wowed us with her Queen’s Necklace.  Monica used S4-204 Fleur de Lis Pendant, shrink plastic and a copper leafing pen to achieve these results!

5. Nicole of Wateford, Pennsylvania, USA!  Nicole’s Framed Butterfly Quilt is just stunning.  She used the S4-204 Fleur de Lis Pendant on this 12 x 12″ framed home decor piece.

The Grand Prize Winner will be randomly drawn from these 5 names on Thursday, August 20.

Congratulations to our Top 5, Honorable Mentions, and everyone that participated!  You all did an awesome job!

Beth

WOW! I just took a peek at the Inspiration Alley Gallery where all the Pendant entries are posted from our Pendant Project Contest. Crafters, you all have outdone yourselves! Congratulations and thank you for all the inspiration!

Setting aside all those images of beauty, I would like to take these Pendants to a different level. Rather than accenting with our Pendants, how about making them a functional piece in our projects?

Let me show you what I mean with a gatefold card. First, we will be using these die templates: S4-210 Lattice Pendant (& center), S4-161 Labels One #5 (#1 being the smallest die), S4-114 Standard Circle Large #2 and S4-125 Classic Scalloped Circles Small #1

Using Core’dinations cardstock in various colors, I cut/embossed all the die templates. Note: I stamped an image from JustRite Stampers before cutting/embossing the S4-125 Classic Scalloped Circle Small #1 and then I adhered the S4-114 Standard Circle Large #2 to frame it. With the S4-210 Lattice Pendant and its center, I sanded them to enhance the embossing.

On a 9″x5″ piece of Fancy Pants pattern paper, I scored 2 1/4″ on each side to form a gatefold card and edged with Clearsnap Queue ink. Using wet adhesive, I adhered the left half of the S4-210 Lattice Pendant onto the left card flap. Let dry. With its center piece, I closed the card and adhered the right half of the piece on the right flap - place it in the middle of the Pendant so that it is in the correct position.

After adding Hero Arts Gems onto the S4-210 Lattice Pendant, I adhered the stamped image with Scrapbook Adhesives’ foam tape on top of the pendant center piece. Inside the card, I edged with Clearsnap Queue ink and adhered the S4-161 Labels One #5. I finished off the inside by adding a small flower with a gem on the corner and done!

Now what function is the S4-210 Lattice Pendant serving? It is a latch for the gatefold card! There are a lot of other functions that a Pendant can be…a journal spot, a frame, a basket, an ornament and I’m sure there’s more! But the most clever idea comes from our Design Team Member Jennifer Davis. If you were here for the Pendant Blog Frenzy then you know what I’m talking about. This is Jennifer’s clever creation…

The function? A pop-up card! For more information on this project, please visit her blog. There is a video for us visual types. I hope you try it and let us know how it turned out! Many thanks to Jennifer for letting me share this clever idea!

Have a great Saturday!
MargieH