Hey all, it’s Eli here with a very special announcement to make. We have a fabulous friend of Spellbinders™ who is joining us for the summer to help educate, entertain and inspire those of you who frequent the Spellbinders blog…YEAH. We needed someone to support Beth’s blogging efforts because I am taking the summer off to do some traveling with my family. So we thought of Margie Higuchi, who has been a fan/user of Spellbinders products almost since the beginning. She is known as MargieH on the boards so some of you probably already know her. I interviewed Margie a couple of weeks ago and this is what she had to say about her life as a crafter and the summer ahead.

ELI: Hi Margie, Welcome to Spellbinders™.

MARGIE: Thanks, Eli. I couldn’t be more thrilled to begin a summer of fun, hanging out with my good friend Beth and all the folks who visit the blog. I love to share my artwork and teach as I go along.

ELI: So how long have you been crafting?
MARGIE: It seems like I have crafted all my life…from when I was old enough to hold a crayon to what I do now which is paper crafting! I started paper crafting in the mid-70s. My father’s job took us all over the east coast, the south and the Midwest. So in order to remember each “hometown,” I would make a few pages of friends, neighborhood, school, etc. and add some memorabilia in my scrapbooks. That was the start of my scrapbooking! LOL!!

ELI: Like several of us around here, you’ve been crafting “forever”, but when and how did you “meet” the Wizard™.

MARGIE: A very dear friend was hooked on the Wizard™ and she had shown me the “PURPLE” side (the Wizard™ was purple at the time)…I was hooked! What can’t you do on this wonderful machine? OK…it can’t clean house for me or cook but it comes close!  LOL!! Seriously, the die templates are so detailed and you can’t get that anywhere else! So many ways to enhance a page or project (cutting, embossing and stenciling).

ELI: Do you have some favorite die templates? (I know there is no point in asking your precise favorite because no one can choose just one…)

MARGIE: Although I LOVE my Nestabilities™ sets (I have a lot!) recently, I have been getting into the Borderabilities®! I just purchased the Grand 12” Classic Lace Bordeabilities® (#S7-014) and I can’t wait to add it on my pages and cards! Heck I want it all! LOL! I’m having such fun!

ELI: I understand you are of Japanese descent and you teach in the Japanese community. Can you tell me about how that came about?

MARGIE: It started when I lived in NJ/NY area back in 2000. I was on the kindergarten yearbook committee for the Japanese Children’s Society (a Japanese international school) where my oldest son attended. The mothers saw my albums that I had brought as examples. I offered to teach them basics and it took off from there. In Chicago, I went to a series of Japanese card classes to make friends. When those classes were done, the students contacted me to see if I would teach them scrapbooking. Sure! LOL!! It has been going strong for about two years.

ELI: So what are you going to grace us with this summer?

MARGIE: I’m hoping to share the versatility of the Wizard™ and to show some “AHA” moments.  Of course, we have CHA (Craft & Hobby Assoc.) trade show coming up in July, so we’ll have some postings on that (wink, wink!). In addition to some FUN!! It’s all good but I don’t want to share too much…gotta have the surprise element in there. So stay tuned!

ELI: Any other thoughts before I show off some of your artwork and sign us off?

MARGIE: I just want to say thank you to everyone at Spellbinders for the opportunity to express my enthusiasm for the Wizard™! For me, it is truly the machine I go to–time after time.

Margie used the Labels 1 die template to create a shaped card which she embellished with Shapeabilities® Nested Butterfly. Love those colors!

Margie’s layout features a chain of Classic Scalloped Hearts, featuring her oldest son with his first girlfriend! Look carefully and see the Shapeabilties® Nested Bird cut out of plastic (using leftover transparency) and edges with ink…a sneaky little surprise right near the title.

Now this canvas is the one I can’t resist: Margie created a darling house and sunny scene, almost exclusively with Spellbinders™ die templates…see if you can find them all…

Classic Paisleys, Heritage Font (retired), Scalloped Circles, Pinking Circles, Shapeabilities® Nested Birds and Butterflies, Symbology, Brick Texture plate, { Brackets } (retired)…awesome, girl. Can’t wait to see what else you share with us…

To see get to know Margie more, please visit her personal blog, SCRAPS of (my) Life.

Have a great summer, everyone…I’ll see you in the fall. Eli

Well, it took me two days to get these pics on my memory card…but here they are…Let’s see how to use the W-026 Grand Cut Mat Kit to cut/emboss one of our Grand Borderabilities®. I chose to work with the S7-001 Rose Border Grand. This is an accessory kit to the Wizard™ that can be purchased for use with the our 12″ Borderabilities® die templates. Here is a quick pic. of the kit with two master mats, the magnetic spacer plate and the embossing pad.

Use this set just like the regular mat set that comes with the Wizard™. Choose a die template and some paper for a project. Trim down the paper so it is not wider than the platform and let’s begin:

1. Layer the following elements: White master mat, magnetic spacer plate with the magnet facing up, Borderabilities® die template with ridge facing up, paper and the other white master mat.
2. Place the Wizard in front of you with the long “leg” facing away from you and the handle towards you.
3. Using your left hand, feed the stack into the rollers from the far side of the machine, so they advance towards you. With you right hand, give the rollers a little “skootch” by pushing down and forward on them. This will help the mats engage in the rollers and will assist with advancing them through.

   

4. Be sure to hold the mats loosely (see how the far end of the mats is opened a bit). It is another way to help the mats engage in the rollers.



5. After skootching the mats to engage them. Push the handle up and over to the front, all the way to the table. Continue pumping the handle to vertical and back to the table top to ratchet the mats through towards you. When nearing the end, move your left hand to grab the mats for the exit.



6. Open your sandwich, and see your cut Borderabilities® die template.



7. Remove the die/paper from the magnetic mat and place the die/paper back onto the white master mat. Add the embossing pad and the white master mat on top. Run the sandwich through again. Open the sandwich and check out the beautifully embossed image.



8. Now turn the die/paper over and use some inks, chalks, colored pencils, metallic rub-ons…or whatever suits your fancy to use the die template as a stencil.



9. Use your beautifully decorated border in a wonderful scrapbook page.

If you don’t have the Grand Mat Cut Kit, check out Beth’s tutorial on how to cut the Grand Borderabilities® using the White Master mats.

Have a fabulously creative day, Eli

Another day! Another bunch of dies we are giving away!

This is so much fun. We just can’t stop. Let’s quickly look at what is on the craft table today:

With another group of over 2,000 entrants our little trip over to Random.org gave us this:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

479

Timestamp: 2009-01-14 16:17:33 UTC

Number 479 gave us this winner:

Lisa, Mechanicsville, MD.

When I opened the e-mail I couldn’t believe I won! I was so excited I couldn’t even remember where I lived to put in the e-mail! I can’t wait to try out all the new products! Lisa

Well congratulations Lisa! We can’t wait for you to try them out either. Thanks to everyone for playing. Keep checking back as we have more Spellbinders™ die template 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.

Daisy Layout by Beth Pingry

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

Layout by Cathy Chlebana

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

Altered Box by Donya Schroeder

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

Decorative Heart by Heidi Blankenship

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

Wedding layout by Wendy Weixler

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

Layout by Sally Lynn McDonald

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!

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