Design Team 08

Stacey here: We are again searching nation-wide for talented paper crafters, scrapbookers, card makers and rubber stamping artists to become a part of our creative family! Unique experiences and opportunities await you! I do hope you’ll give it a whirl. We work hard and have a lot of fun! Check out our team who came on board last year…woohoo!  Hugs, Stacey Caron.

To be eligible you must:

Submit four art pieces as assigned below.

Be available to travel to Phoenix, AZ, (expenses paid by Spellbinders) Wednesday, April 15, 2009, and remain in Phoenix until Sunday, April 19. There are no exceptions to this requirement.

Be available to serve a term as a designer from May 1, 2009, through April 30, 2010.

Capable of completing all requirements on time for the team during the 12 month placement.

If you make the finals round, you will need to complete an assigned project by Friday, February 20, 2009, to Spellbinders.

Be able to submit art electronically by scanning or photographing it.

You may not currently work for another manufacturer of any Die Cutting Products.

Contest Art Requirements:

• Is your style fresh and funky? Upscale and sophisticated? Simple and elegant…..show us your best in a 12×12 layout.

PLUS

• Using apertures, pop-ups, pull-outs or basic and simple, we want to see your magic happen when it comes to card making! Submit one card.

PLUS

• Show us your altered ego! Through creative altered ideas, whether its home decorative projects, calendars, journals, or jewelry, we want to see your best! Submit one altered project.

PLUS

• Submit one rubber stamped project, the choice of style is yours! There are no limitations, so make it fun!

PLUS

• An essay, about 500 words sharing a little about your personality and about yourself as a designer. Why is paper art your passion? Why do you want to be on the Spellbinders Design Team? Has your work been published (not required)? Do you have a blog (not required)? What do you want Spellbinders to know about you?
• Please include on the bottom, if you have or are involved in, the following (does not count for your 500 words) 1) Blog address 2) Creative Resume Address 3) Design Teams past and present (links to sites if there are any) again, not required, just want to know

Your ORIGINAL creative, innovative designs. Something that makes us go “WOW!” Something that says to us that you love what you do! We would like to know the story behind each item, told in journaling, in photographs, or by other means.

You are not required to use any Spellbinders products in your entries, but after all, we are a die cut company and it certainly couldn’t hurt. Spellbinders dies are universal and may be used in most leading die cut systems, please refer to the compatibility chart for instructions. Also, art does not have to be new for this contest. It just has to be your original artwork.

Design Team Tenure Requirements:

Monthly: one layout, one card and one altered project, one option style project.

Trade Shows: A minimum of six trade show projects per year, to be assigned.

Consumer Shows/Education: 2 Layouts, 2 cards for Education and/or Consumer booth, 1 technique board/year, other projects as assigned.

On Line Forums:Involved on a weekly basis with at least one on-line forum

Encouraged:Active with your own blog.

These are just minimums…you can submit as many projects as you want throughout your tenure.

Submission Schedule:

All entries must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. on February 1, 2009, Central Standard Time. We sincerely regret that we can only accept entries from residents of the United States.

Monday, February 9, 2009, Spellbinders will contact the top 20 entrants and invite them to continue to the final round of the Spellbinders 2009 Design Team Contest. These finalists will be sent product to create an assignment for the final round of the competition. Finalists will submit their special assignment entries on February 20, 2009, to Spellbinders.

On Wednesday, February 25, 2009, Stacey Caron, President of Spellbinders Paper Arts will be making personal phone calls to each one of the lucky winners of this contest! A minimum of eight Design Team members will be notified that day, so be sure to list every phone number you want us to try!!!

You must be available to fly to Phoenix on Wednesday April 15, 2009, and remain in Phoenix until Sunday, April 19. Spellbinders Paper Arts will pay for all expenses for this trip. Your Design Team assignment will officially start on 5/1/09 and last until 4/30/10. Your first projects will be due on 5/1/09.

How to enter:

All entries should be submitted electronically to designteam@spellbinders.us. Yes this is the correct address. Even though our website is a “.com” we are still using some “.us” addresses.

The subject line should be “Design Team Entry: your name”

Each project must be attached to this email as a separate file. Please label your files as such:

• YourNameLayoutOut.jpg
• YourNameCard.jpg
• YourNameAltered.jpg
• YourNameStamped.jpg
• YourNameEssay.doc
• YourNameEntryform.doc

Please take clear, high quality photos or scans of your work.

Please submit at 300 DPI, 3”x 3”.

Please insure that no individual attachment is over 200 KB.

Create a document in word that includes the questions below and email it with your entry.

Designers accepted as DT Members will receive:

• A Raspberry Wizard
• A $350 Die Starter Kit
• Numerous new dies throughout the year, with surprise gifts thrown in along the way!
• An all expense paid trip to sunny Phoenix, AZ, with a tour of the facility, a weekend of workshops and fun!
• The opportunity to go to one or more of the major Hobby trade shows.
• The chance to have your art displayed at major shows and in major magazine advertisements.
• Financial reimbursement for each piece of art that is published in one of Spellbinder’s catalogs, or used in an advertisement campaign.
• Numerous opportunities for product reimbursement throughout the year, and…
• A year-end bonus!!!

All questions should be submitted to designteam@spellbinders.us with a subject line of “Design Team Contest Question”.

Beautiful Details Inspire Creativity

Please attach the following information as your official Entry Form, use a word document and simply list the items and attach it with your other information:

• Name
• Address
• City, State, Zip
• Email Address
• Home telephone number
• Work telephone number
• Cell phone telephone number
• Any other possible numbers to try on Monday, February 9, 2009 if you are one of the lucky winners.

Spellbinders introduced Borderabilites Grand Borders this past summer. The Grand Borders are wonderful fun for scrapbookers and everyone else too! Grand Borders measure true 12″ long. They come in designs that coordinate with the Rose, Daisy and Wisteria Edgeabilities Die Template styles, and one with the Symbology Die Template. You may have seen this tutorial I did for the summer reveal, but it deserves another run now that you have the borders in your stash, along with some fresh artwork at the end.
I am using Spellbinders Premium Craft Foil, which is 12 inches wide  It doesn’t matter which color I use, because I want the silver side. It comes in 5 colors plus pure copper, each color has silver on the back, except the pure copper. I used a tag from the Ribbon Tags Trio and the Daisy Patch Edgability Die Template. The paper is Worldwin’s ColorMates in Deep Awesome Aqua, Deep Totally Tan, Light Heritage White, and Inkjet Printable Translucent Vellum, and black acrylic paint. Note that this technique works on foil as well as paper. Die cutting and embossing a 12 inch long die template on standard mats is easy. Use the standard Spellbinders Die Template sandwich, when stacked from your table up: white master mat, white spacer plate, die, cut side up, material to be cut, white master mat. A little tip, if you are concerned your material will move off the die, you can use a small piece of removable tape. It won’t harm the die, and it peels off the paper easily without damaging the die cut.

Feed this into your Wizard. With a 12 inch long die, part of the die will stick out the back end, and that is fine. Only the part of the die that sits on the Spacer Plate will cut, but it won’t leave a line or crease where the spacer plate ends.

After the first pass, lift the top mat, turn the border die 180 degrees so the uncut portion is on the spacer plate, replace the top mat and feed it in exactly the same way as before. You can remove the excess cut foil from the outside of the die.

Embossing is done the same way. Leave the die cut in the die. Remove the spacer plate from the sandwich so the die sits on the bottom mat, place the tan embossing mat on top of the die, and cover with the top white mat. Feed the embossing sandwich through the Wizard. To emboss the other half, turn the die 180 degrees, cover with the Tan mat and white mat and feed sandwich again.

For my layout, I painted the entire die cut with black acrylic craft paint. Paint it evenly, and be sure to get paint into all the nooks and crannies. Let it dry slightly. With a dry paper towel, wipe the paint off the embossed areas. Be gentle, but you don’t have to be perfect. Do not wipe the paint out of the crevices. You can always add more a little more paint if you took too much off and you can always take a little more off if you put too much on.

I assembled my layout with photos and a poem.

Cathy Chlebana used the same Daisy Borderability Grand on this layout of her mother.

This decorative box is from Donya Schroeder, isn’t it clever how she used the Rose Borderability Grand?

This heart shaped ornament from Heidi Blankenship is another example of Rose Borderability Grand.  She wrapped it around the heart shape.

Wendy Weixler layered the Wisteria Borderability Grand for an elegant accent on this layout.

Sally Lynn MacDonald linked together the Illumination Borderability Grand to frame her layout.

Thanks for spending some of your Saturday with me!  I hope you love the Grand Borders as much as I do!

Beth

PS.  I just got word, and its just for you!  Its an announcement.  Oh no, not just any old announcement.  This is a big one!  I bet you’ve been waiting for it too!  Come back on Monday December 15 for the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT.  Want some candy?  We’ve got Blog Candy coming, and a new feature too!  Its going to be so much fun, I can’t wait to tell you about it!