After reading Beth’s Savvy Saturday idea, I had a “light bulb” moment! Why not finish my fall holiday card swap using this method?! Rarely I join a swap because when it comes close to deadline, I haven’t even started! Has that happened to you? I’m sure I am not the only one! LOL! But using the W-026 Grand Cut Mat Kit, I can create these cards in half the time so why not start today. Maybe an incentive to join more swaps?!

I gathered my Spellbinders™ items to start creating: S4-114 Standard Circle Large #3 die (#1 being the smallest die template), S4-116 Standard Circle Small #3, S4-161 Labels One #4, S4-229 Labels Five #4, S4-233 Labels Nine #4, S4-230 Labels Six #4, S7-014 Grand 12″ Classic Lace Border, S4-227 Pumpkins Nestabilities® #2 & #3 and S4-228 Nested Maple Leaf #1 & #2.

With My Mind’s Eye Fall In Love Collection (using various pattern papers), I cut/embossed S4-227 Pumpkins Nestabilities® #2 & #3 and S4-228 Nested Maple Leaf #1 & #2 by using the W-024 Magnetic Spacer Plate. I then edged the die cuts with Clearsnap ColorBox inks and set aside.

I will be creating five fall holiday cards that will shipped to Japan where the host lives. This swap is an international swap so I am excited about getting ideas from different countries…a worldwide card making effort! If some of the participants follow this blog, I will only show two of the cards and leave the others as a surprise!

Grabbing the JustRite Stampers Favorite Occasions images, I stamped a total of five times on a 2 1/2 x 12″ strip of Core’dinations Color Core cardstock. Taking household tape and tapping it on my jeans to make it a less tacky (very high level technique!), I taped the flat side (not the cut side) of the die template to the cardstock to hold it in place when cutting and embossing. Notice I’m using two different sizes of die templates (S4-114 Standard Circle Large #3 and S4-116 Standard Circle Small #3) but as mentioned before they are only 1/8″ difference and really doesn’t hinder the design of the cards. Another advantage is I am able to cut/emboss two images in one pass instead of one at a time with the Grand Mat Kit.

In the Wizard™, I cut/embossed the different label die templates on to a 3.5 x12″ strip of Core’dinations Chocolate Box cardstock and sanded the edges to finish. From left to right: S4-161 Labels One #4, S4-233 Labels Nine #4, S4-229 Labels Five #4 and S4-230 Labels Six #4.

In addition to this clever idea, I also wanted to use the Grand Mat Kit for its original use - cut/emboss Borderabilities® Grand. Cutting the S7-014 Grand 12″ Classic Lace Border with a strip of white cardstock, I wanted to add a little vintage accent to the card. I stenciled with Clearsnap ColorBox Ink in Dark Moss and lightly tapped brown chalk to the lace.

With the 4 x 5.5″ card base made out of My Mind’s Eye Fall In Love Collection, I rounded the corners and inked the edges with Clearsnap ColorBox ink. Using the various die cuts, I adhered them for each card front along with ribbon and other embellishments to accent. The use of Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage Cuts “Autumn Blessings” and Creative Scraps “Calendar” really made it come together. Now I think it’s ready to be sent off on a worldwide journey!

Thanks for stopping by!
MargieH

It’s a sad day for many…we have now reached the end of our daily release give-aways. {say with me now: Ahhhhhhhh} But let’s all just sit back for a minute and revel in all that we learned, all that we saw and all that will be available SOON…here it is:

With over 2,000 entrants on this, we sent our numbers over to Random.org to get something right in the middle:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

1203

Timestamp: 2009-01-22 15:16:11 UTC

Our Sweet 16 winner is:

Heather of Quebec, Canada

She was so thrilled, she said:

I couldn’t have said it better myself…

I know we are all shedding a tiny tear that the 5th Anniversary Party for Spellbinders™ is almost over but I’m pretty sure we’ll throw another party soon on the blog. We DO like to party.

But just a few reminders:

• Savvy Saturday will be taking this week off.
• Sunday at 9am Pacific Time, you’ll begin to see all the new dies and other coolio products released onto the site.
• Sunday we’ll share Stacey’s announcement of another innovation from Spellbinders™ that we think you are going to LOVE!!!
• January 31st will be our announcement for the Grand Prize winner of the Blog Frenzy, so mark your calendars for that.
• February 1st is the deadline for applications to the Design Team. So get your art ready and send it in before midnight CST.

Well, I think that’s it for now…we’ll see you back here soon.

Hey Beth, do you have any more cake? I’m starving…

Eli

We are still having a blast. The marathon continues but we’re in the last lap. We ate our Larabars (Coconut Cream Pie is my absolute favorite), drank our protein shakes, put on dry socks and we’re headed to the finish line. Day 15 bought us the Dahlia die template on Linda Duke’s blog. Gorgeous work, Linda. Love those stacked flower frames. So, brace yourself for today’s PILE O’ LOOT:

Another day with over 2,000 entries. Random.org=

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

589

Timestamp: 2009-01-21 19:01:41 UTC

That brought us to congratulate:

Sylvia of Taylors, South Carolina

Her response was fabulous:

Thanks again to everyone who has participated so far. I know I’m feeling some withdrawal pangs that there is no release die tonight. But just remember that there will be more news in a few days…If you are coming to CHA, be sure to visit our booth #4873!!

See you soon, Eli

It is hard to believe that over the past 2 weeks, we have been here every day sharing with you the profiles of our amazing designers AND the designers have been sharing a new release, every day. The time has flown and we are really working hard to finish up everything for CHA (You know, doin’ laundry, packing, making last minute projects, checking on the baby sitter…shew, makes me tired just mentioning it.) The Die Reveal on Day 14: Polka Dot Frameabilities® was shared by Donya Schroeder. Cool. So here is that mound of die templates that our winner will be getting…

After sending our contestant totals over to random.org…

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
205
Timestamp: 2009-01-21 03:42:58 UTC

We counted up to an Australian winner…seriously, we’ve now had winners from Canada, Sweden and Australia…how cool is that? Spellbinders™ Paper Arts is goin’ global!!!

So congratulations to:

Karen of Queensland, Australia

Who said:

{Karen, do you mind if I hand deliver these? (Eli)}

Just to put it into perspective, as of today, Spellbinders™ has promised 14 designers a total of 143 die template sets (remember, each set has 5-8 die templates in it) BAM! We sure did kick it up another notch with this season’s hottest party…

Cheers to all, Eli

A dozen days of die template releases and more than a dozen to give away today…and the total amount is over the top…Thanks to Keri Lee for releasing the Peony die template and making those amazing flowered pens. Let’s see the give-away for today…

Goin’ cross-eyed yet? That is a lot to take in…Another day with over 2,000 entrants and another day on Random.org…for this result:

Here are your random numbers:
1391
Timestamp: 2009-01-19 16:18:06 UTC

The gracious winner of this group of 16 die templates is:

Sandra of Omaha, Nebraska

When we e-mailed her that she won, she quickly responded:

Thanks so much for playing, Sandra, and everyone else too. Maybe if you know Sandra, she’ll let you borrow one some time. OR you could just put a few on your own wish list. After all, she may have quite a line forming to borrow those die templates (if she is willing.)

It’s late as I post this but there’s still almost 48 more hours to enter the final drawing, so keep checking out Trudees blog …

And last, but certainly not least, Tuesday January 20 gives us Trudee Sauer, from North Carolina.

What led you to crafting?

In 2003, I found out about stamping from a neighbor that invited me to a stamping party. I became a demo and the rest is history!

What inspires you?

I find inspiration from everything, magazines, catalogs, nature, patterned paper, greeting cards at the store, etc. There’s really no shortage of inspiration, as long as you view things with an open mind.

Do you like to make cards or scrapbooks or altered art?

I prefer to make cards, though I am perfectly able to make other projects. I just feel like cards are the most “useful” to me.

Do you work outside home?

I work full time for a major US bank as a Financial Specialist. I have been with them for 13 years.

Do you shop for supplies locally or online?

I tend to do the bulk of my shopping online, as there’s a much better selection.

Thank you, Trudee!  Now run over to Trudee’s blog Follow Your Bliss and see the 16th and final Sneak Peek for Spellbinders’ 5 Year Anniversary Party.  Be sure to enter today’s contest, the prize package is huge!

Keep checking your email as we finish contacting the winners, and check here for their responses.  Hopefully it’ll be YOU!  Thank you for coming to our party, I hope you had a wonderful time!

Hey Eli, want some leftover cake?

Beth

We just keep giving and giving and giving…and we like it. We hope you do too. The die template pile is getting higher and the winners are certainly appreciating it… The die template added today was featured on Beth Pingry’s Blog: Cookies for Breakfast. You all know her from here…she’s our blogger, with me, Eli. Let’s check out that pile right now.

That is quite a treasury! We can’t wait to give it away. This time, we had just under 2,000 entrants and the program over at Random.org gave us this:

Here are your random numbers:

350

Timestamp: 2009-01-18 04:54:43 UTC

So we contacted this contestant and found out she lives the farthest away of any winner so far…

Jessica of Sundbord, Sweden

When we heard from her, this is what she said,

Jessica, we’re excited for you and inspired by the projects as well. Also glad to see so many of our international friends commenting and entering. Superb!

Tonight (January 19th around midnight) will be our last 5th Anniversary Party release. So go and visit Linda Duke today and tomorrow (19th and 20th) to enter and be sure to visit Trudee tomorrow and Wednesday (20th and 21st) to enter. Then for a special message from Stacey Caron, simply come back here to see what she has to say…

Happy crafting, Eli

We can’t believe it’s already time to award the die templates to the winner of Day 10. Time flies when you are having fun. Yes, we are having fun and hope you are too. We are so glad that our visitors continue to enter in numbers over 2,000. So, let’s get to it and see what is being given away today:

Our winner today, comes to us through Random.com’s choice of number:

Here are your random numbers:
914
Timestamp: 2009-01-17 04:19:41 UTC

From that number, we contacted our new friend:

Georgette of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania

Who Said:

Wow. It doesn’t get much better than that (Well, at least only for a few more days.) Thanks again to everyone who is joining us for our Fifth Anniversary Celebration. Good luck over the last few days of contests.

Lets go to sunny California to visit with Linda Duke today.

As a child, Linda always had a pencil and paper in her hands and she doodled whenever possible. Her father was a very talented artist and was her first teacher. “I would sit and watch him make beautiful creations of landscapes, objects around the house, or anything that caught his eye,” she says. “I would then try to duplicate what he created”.  In school, art was her favorite subject and she decided at a young age she wanted to study animation. Fourteen years ago, Linda attended a stamping party and has been stamping ever since. This medium now trumps all her other art interests. She is a several year member of Splitcoaststampers.com and feels that her stamping abilities have improved tremendously through the talented artists that share their work there.  In April 2007, Linda became part of the Splitcoaststampers Design team, a.k.a the Dirty Dozen. For six months, she truly loved being a part of this elite team. Currently, she is a Redevelopment Specialist in California’s Central San Joaquin Valley. She can’t wait to retire and concentrate on full-time paper crafting.

You can still win today’s die template, along with all the previous reveals, by visiting Linda Duke’s blog Linda’s Works of Heart and sending in your entry.

Wow, can you believe we’ve been going strong for 14 days and we are not done yet?  Keep your gloves and hat on, its still cold in the Midwest, and we’re going to Iowa to visit Donya Shroeder.

Donya has loved paper arts since she first realized what paper was. “As a kid I collected stickers (remember scratch and sniff?) and still do. Now I try to actually use them instead of just owning them,” she says. In kindergarten, she wanted to learn how to write in cursive because it looked so cool (She is still fond of the cursive e). In high school, she started a stationery and card company, designing event invitations and gift certificates for her family’s bed and breakfast and the local arts council.  Currently she is purveyor and instructor for her paper and glue habit, a.k.a. co-owner of a paper arts store. She loves getting to play all day in the paper, paint, and glue, demonstrating to customers, and getting them as excited about the new tools as she is. She says, “I have a really broad range of tastes and that shows up in my work, from clean and simple to wouldn’t that look better if I drove my car over it distressed. I’ve had a fantastic time with the Wizard dies. They are some of the coolest and most versatile dies on the market.”

Well Donya, I wouldn’t drive my car over these, they look great just the way they are!

So drive, walk, or bike…or in today’s case hop on a snowmobile and head over to Donya’s blog, Puckish.  And you better bring a trailor, that prize package is getting pretty big!  Be sure to enter the contest when you get there!