I can not tell a lie…I love S4-227 Pumpkin Nestabilities® die template, and since it is a limited edition, I want to give you plenty of reasons to get it before it is gone. But before I give you this Savvy Saturday’s tutorial, let’s hear it for our Tattered Angels Blog Hop:

They are hosting it with our Design Team and my friend, Kazan Clark at Nunu Toolies is on deck today. Make sure to visit her blog to see her amazing project using products from Spellbinders™ and Tattered Angels.

Halloween is just around the corner and I wanted a little “tchotchke” to put on my table {my 10 year old said she liked that word, “tchotchke” yesterday…lol…”Me too sweetie!”} Anyway, I’m revisiting a technique that I love: making a stamp with Spellbinders™ die templates and fun foam. Check it out when you are done here.

With the technique in mind, I gathered fun foam, orange ink, S4-227 Pumpkins Nestabilities® and some Dottie Ann Magic Mesh. I love Dottie Ann’s shape and its adhesive backing and thought it might make some fun stamping texture. Here is the full supply list.

Supplies: S4-226 Harvest Border Petite, S4-227 Pumpkins Nestabilities®, S5-006 Curved Rectangles, S4-161 Labels One, S4-162 Labels Two, S5-019 Labels Eight, S4-169 Small Labels, Wizard™, W-026 Grand Cut Mat Kit, Core’dinations Green color core cardstock (1-3/4″ strips), Magic Mesh Dottie Anne, Clearsnap ColorBox Chestnut Roan chalk ink, Creative Impressions mini brads and photo turns, Glue Dots, lines and dots; SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES by 3L, 3D squares; white cardstock, Orange Distress Ink, white letter stickers, fun foam, “Happy” stamp, sandpaper, double sided removable tape

I began by creating my own embossing template. I placed a strip of Dottie Ann onto cardstock. Since I didn’t want to notice the “seam” in the final project, I cut off the bottom edge.

I added the second piece, cutting off one edge, placing the cut edges together, matching up the circles.

I cut the fun foam with S4-227 Pumpkin Nestabilities® using the regular Wizard™ cut sandwich:

• Master Mat
• Spacer Plate
• Die Template with cut ridges facing up
• Fun Foam
• Master Mat

.

.

Embossing followed its regular sandwich:

• Master Mat
• Texture (in this case my Dottie Ann sheet)
• Fun Foam
• Embossing Pad
• Master Mat

.

.

After I ran the pumpkin stamp through the Wizard™ with the Dottie Ann texture sheet, I noticed how flat the embossing was, I thought the embossing was too “thin” to show up as a stamp texture. But it was worth a try…I taped it (double sided removable) to a foam block, inked it up and pressed it onto smooth white cardstock and what do you know? I got the look I wanted! I stamped 4 more and love them!

I cut each stamped image out with a different die template. I used #5 die template from the following sets: S5-006 Curved Rectangles, S4-161 Labels One, S4-162 Labels Two,  S4-169 Small Labels, and used #4 with S5-019 Labels Eight.

Using the S4-226 Harvest Border Petite and my W-026 Grand Cut Mat Kit, I created a long border. Since there is only one cut edge on this Borderabilities® die template, you can create endless borders. This is what I found worked the best:

I built the sandwich “upside down,” placing pieces of double sided removable tape at the ends of the Master Mat and sticking the Core’dinations strip onto it. I added the die template at one end, cut edge down, carefully placing the W-024 Magnetic Spacer Plate and adding the other Master Mat. Through the Wizard™ it went.

To cut the center section, I moved the die template down until the pumpkin “hole” and edge fit snuggly.

I cut again and then repeated the process for the last section.

I embossed the first section and then sanded it–giving me the “fresh” emboss (versus embossing and then running it through the Wizard™ for the second cut and flattening the first emboss). I repeated this 2 times to complete the strip. I created two borders, overlapped and adhered them.

To assemble, I laid out my pumpkins, added the stickers and stamped “Happy.” I embellished the tags with mini pumpkin die-cuts, brads and photo turns and accordion folded the piece so it would stand up on its own. Yeah! Here is is!

And to what it says, “Happy Halloween” not only from us but also from Tattered Angels!

Enjoy the weekend, Eli

October! I love October!

The air is getting cool. The leaves are turning colors. Kids are planning Halloween costumes and me? I’m buying candy corn. I love the fresh, soft and sweet taste of these seasonal tri-colored confections. I eat them all month.

But then by November 1st, I can’t stand’em for another year.

Yet, this crazy cycle inspired today’s project using the Limited Edition Pumpkins Nestabilities®, and Harvest Borderabilities® Petite die templates. My little candy glass is perfectly sized to sit right by my keyboard and keep me company while I create and write. I hope it will inspire you to create your own “desk mate” for October or other season of treating!

Instructions:
Cut two 1½x12″ strips of the yellow, white and orange papers. Cut one 2″x12″ strip from the orange paper. Using the 2″ orange strip, cut/emboss S4-226 Harvest Borderabilities Petite (two times). Color the borders and die-cut leaves with metallic rub-ons to give definition to the embossing. Adhere the borders to the glass. I trimmed off the outer parts of the strips at the leaf, as shown here.

Then to make the strips lay horizontally, I snipped the top part of the center leaf and stretched the borders down. I adhered a tiny die-cut acorn to cover the openings. Add the die cut leaves around the glass.

To make the pumpkin “picks,” glue the yellow, orange and white strips together creating stripes. Cut/emboss four #4 pumpkins from the stripes. Stamp the sentiment onto the pumpkins. I chose “Sweet on You.” If desired, sand the pumpkins and add some metallic rub-ons for a distressed look. Glue two pumpkins back-to-back with the bamboo stick at the center. To make one shorter, trim the stick with wire cutters. Cut/emboss On the Vine Borderabilities® Grand from brown checked paper. Trim it to add vines and leaves to each of the large pumpkins.

Taking your 3″ of reserved paper, glue these strips together closer than the for the large pumpkins. Cut/emboss the #1 pumpkin from this. Using a head-pin and jewelry tools, add a green bead to the pin and string it onto the pumpkin, giving it a “Z” turn so it can hang from the glass like a charm.

To finish it up, add the charm to the glass, add some yummy candy corn, place your picks in the candy and ENJOY!

NOTE: Just wanted to remind you that Spellbinders is teaming up with Tattered Angels for a blog hop. Why not hop on over to Terre’s Blog: Terre’s Scrap Therapy for an amazing project using Tattered Angels products and, of course, some Spellbinders™ products too!

Happy day and enjoy those October treats, Eli

World Card Making Day is Saturday (tomorrow), October 3rd!! We’re having a little fun over on Facebook:

Post a card using Spellbinders Die Templates on Spellbinders™ Facebook page on World Card Making Day and be entered to win a Spellbinders Die Template. We will randomly draw a name from all the participants!

Hey there scrapbooking fans! Here’s one for you today. I just had to share these pics of my family enjoying a Fall day in the park. I love the feeling of movement in them. Design-wise, I tried to include a variety of shapes to keep things interesting: ovals, lines, circles…These ideas can be applied to any card or layout.

I started by printing my photos at home and cutting them using the Oval Nestabilities®. The first attempt yielded an oval that was too big. As you can see below, the top and bottom edges of the photos’ white frame show… now, we can’t have that!!!

Not to worry…

The brilliant thing about Nestabilities® is that you can increase or decrease the size by just an eighth of an inch increment, providing a great deal of flexibility when designing.

So (now stick with me here), I began with S4-138 Petite Ovals, Large #6. (When counting die numbers, start with the smallest die template and count out to the largest.) This happens to be the largest in the set. If I went to #5 in the set, I would have a 1/4″ decrease. I thought that would crop too much of the photo. So I chose the largest in the coordinating set, S4-140 Petite Ovals, Small #5 which was 1/8″ smaller. It gave me the  perfect size.

And guess what? Since I wanted a 1/8″ mat around the photo, I used the first die template I used, S4-138 Petite Ovals Small, #6, to cut pink cardstock. Boy, these Nestabilities® sure are handy!!

If you want to try your hand at this layout or use it for inspiration for another project, you’ll need the following supplies: W-001 Wizard™, S4-138 Petite Ovals Large, S4-140 Petite Ovals Small, S7-017 On the Vine Borderabilities® Grand, S4-235 Fancy Tags from Spellbinders™

along with Chatterbox Fabulous bird rub-on, green patterned ribbon, epoxy sticker; The Paper Company Chocolate Brown, Sable papers; Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday patterned paper; Core’dinations pink cardstock; Creative Impression pink ribbon; SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVE by 3L, 3-D squares, Photo Tape; brown ruched paper, white opaque pen, sewing machine and thread

Now go out and PLAY!! Eli

We’ve had almost a whole month of awesome posts on Impressabilities™ and I thought it would be fun to remind you of a few techniques you might have learned this month, teach you a new one and use it all on a card…with Partial Impressabilities™, Impressabilities™ Letterpress, Chalk over Ink and using one of our most popular Limited Edition die templates…all in one card. Sound like too much?

Naaaaah, we like to put it all together.

So, just to remind you, Beth put together this tutorial on how to use Impressabilities™ as a Letterpress and Margie put one together last Saturday on how to use a Partial Impressabilities™. So I used both those techniques but also want to share with you a technique that Stacey Caron created. It is simply called “Chalk over Ink”. It’s not too challenging but gives a great “wow” effect. Let’s check it all out, step-by-step.

Gather your supplies: Wizard™, S4-227 Pumpkins Nestabilities®, I2-1001 Impressabilities™ Paisley, S4-235 Fancy Tags, The Robin’s Nest Halloween Swirl patterned paper, Cosmo Cricket “Girl Friday” patterned paper, Clearsnap ColorBox cat eye inks in Chianti and Picante, Taylored Expressions sentiment stamp, Creative Impressions ribbons, 3L SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES–Black 3-D Adhesive Squares and Photo Tape, Decorating chalks, Hole punch, Green staples, Stapler

Next you might want to go review the techniques in the links above. You’ll need to cut one of your Impressabilities templates and letterpress some paper using a slow-drying pigment ink. I started by using green ink as in this example but tried orange and used it for the final card.

Then just color away with your decorating chalks. I like to use my bare finger to rub color over the inks and around on the smooth cardstock. You’ll notice the ink seems to grab onto the chalk, intensifying the color. I used several colors–red, orange, green and yellow–on this to get the desired effect.

Next, cut the letterpressed paper using the largest Pumpkins Nestabilities™ so that the letterpress image shows right where you want it. I do not emboss over letterpress as it tends to flatten the image.

The rest is up to you…After creating the Letterpressed pumpkin, trim a background mat to 5-1/4  by 5-1/4″ and add it to the card base (11×5-1/2″) folded in half. Punch a hole in the stem of the pumpkin, thread the ribbons through it and staple to secure. Stamp a sentiment onto paper and cut/emboss it with S4-235 Fancy Tags. Adhere the pumpkin by placing a double layer of 3-D adhesive squares down the middle. Add 3-D squares to the sentiment tag and add to the card: VOILA a lovely, fall friendship card, using several techniques.

Eli

I love the fall. The weather starts to cool off. The leaves begin to turn and it is a great time of year to snuggle with loved ones. It’s also a great time (with all the approaching holidays) to get engaged. I thought it would be fun to create a fall-themed engagement card. I loved the technique Margie used on her Savvy Saturday post: Partial Impressabilities. So I wanted to use the same technique on this card:

After you collect your supplies, it’s time to cut apart your Impressabilities template so you can emboss just a portion of it. It is super easy. I just grabbed a pair of hardy scissors and snipped the fine metal pieces connecting the paisleys to the frame.

The sandwich for embossing with Impressabilities is as follows:

• White Master Mat
• Impressabilities template
• paper, misted with a little water
• Tan Embossing Pad
• White Master Mat

I built this sandwich upside down so you could see it better. Just remember the paper must be in between the Impressabilities (or other embossing element) and the Embossing Pad. Feed your sandwich through the Wizard to emboss.

Using the Core’dinations cardstock gives me a fabulous design element right within the paper. Just do a little sanding to bring out the core color. When I use Impressabilities, I actually like to sand both sides so I can see which one I want to use. I chose the one on the right.

Trim the piece to a square and save the scrap as you’ll be using it later. Finish up with the Wizard by cutting/embossing Labels Four die template and only cutting Small Deckled Mega Rectangle from the cream/gold paper.

Using brown ink, stamp {FALL} onto the Labels die cut. Add a little shimmer to the ink with a glitter pen. For the inside sentiment, stamp CONGRATULATIONS onto the scrap of red Core’dinations cardstock. Add glitter pen. Write “on your” with the same pen and add letter stickers for “engagement.” You’ll probably need to trim the sentiment block just a bit before adding it to the Deckled rectangle.

Now let’s put it all together. Adhere “Fall” label to cardstock using Foam Adhesive. Add letter stickers onto the bottom, using a heart brad with an “O” sticker on it as shown. Mat onto cream/gold paper and adhere to card base made from Orange Core’dinations cardstock. Add the sentiment to the inside and you have a beautiful fall, engagement card.

I say we can all Fall in Love with that…Eli

We’re excited to share a new technique created by our Design Team member, Karen Taylor. She shared it first on her blog, Creative Yearnings, and we thought it was so great that we had to share it here too.

I am excited to share a new Spellbinders™ Impressabilities™ technique with you. It is a heat embossing technique.

To do the technique you will need fun foam or foam letters, an Impressabilities™, a hot pad and a heat tool.

Using your hot pad, heat the Impressabilities™ with a heat gun. Heat for at least 30 seconds and lay it on your foam. Gently press with hot pad. Let cool and lift the Impressabilities™

This is a very versatile technique. Since fun foam can be cut in the Wizard™, the possibilities are endless.

This is sure to be come a favorite technique….I know it is mine! Karen Taylor

WOW, Karen, that looked so fun that I had to try it on my layout featuring my daughter’s fall picnic at school.

I found the fun foam to be a little more challenging to “take” the embossing than I did the foam letters. So I modified the technique just a bit. First. I like to work on a 12×12″ ceramic tile. You know, the kind you get at the home store for a couple bucks. It is heat resistent and gives me plenty of room to work. I cut my three ovals (S4-140 Petite Ovals Small) from Burgundy fun foam. I placed the Impressabilities™ template on the tile and heated it with my heat tool. I was so tempted to check to see how hot it was before I laid my foam oval on but decided that was not a good idea.

As soon as I removed the heat, I placed the foam oval on top of the Impressabilities™ template and then pressed down on the foam using an acrylic block. I could see through the block and it pushed the foam down into the template in an even manner. I noticed that the places on the template that were the hottest, actually gave the foam a shiny look…so cool. Here is a close up of the embossing!

I created three of these ovals, changing the placement on the template for variety. I wanted to echo the template again on the page, so I embossed 2 sections of a cardstock strip, added metallic rub-ons for emphasis and adhered it with  the title. Next went the photos and journaling blocks on top of my embossed ovals. Voila! Not too difficult and definitely worth it. Thanks, again, Karen for the fabulous new technique and great inspiration.

Eli

Borderabilities Grand, what a wonderful product from Spellbinders, especially for scrapbookers. Where else can you get 12-inch border die templates with incredible detailing featuring three functions: cutting, embossing and stenciling? (If that weren’t rhetorical, I’d say, “Nowhere!”)

Today, I’m going to share a layout with you. But first, you might want to watch our very own Stacey Caron demonstrate the Borderabilities Grand in the Wizard. Check out this video below. She cuts/embosses the Grand Borderabilities with the accessory Grand Cut Mat Kit for efficient cut/emboss functions, and she shows the Extended White Master Mats that are included with a Wizard.

(more…)

Back to school is the perfect time of year to send a note thanking teachers for how they impact the world. Your son or daughter’s teachers will know how you support them and that all their hard work is appreciated when this card comes their way.

Today, I want to share a quick and easy technique using Spellbinders™’ Impressabilities™…this time let’s emboss craft foil and then sand it for more impact. You can see the effect in the card below.
If you are not familiar with craft foil, it is basically a light weight metal sheet that can be used in all kinds of crafting projects.The Wizard™ especially loves to cut and emboss these shiny sheets. Spellbinders’ offers several colors in rolls, 12″x36″ and a 12-piece assortment pack with 5″x5″ sheets.

Because of its strength and pliability, craft foil, aka tooling foil, takes embossing perfectly and holds its shape beautifully. So let’s get started making this card to honor a teacher in your life.

Besides your Wizard™ and mats, gather the following supplies: I2-1002 Impressabilities™ Butterfly, Premium Craft Foil, Spellbinders S5-014 Small Deckled Mega Rectangles, Whimsical patterned paper by Fancy Pants, Gold cardstock by Core’dinations, Glue Dots adhesives, Checked ribbon by Creative Impressions, 25 pt Brayton font by JustRite Stampers, Sandpaper and Corner rounder punch

Begin by cutting three pieces of craft foil to 1-1/4″ by 4″. I used two colors but three coordinating ones could also be fun.

Build your sandwich for embossing:

• White master mat
• Impressabilities template
• Craft foil pieces, side by side
• Embossing pad
• White master mat

Lay the three craft foil sheets carefully on the template with the silver facing up.

Feed the sandwich through the Wizard™ to emboss. Check the photo below to see how crisp the embossing is. Take patience when removing the foil as it tends to grab the metal pieces of the template.

Flip the strips over to the colored side. Add a little wow by sanding each strip to remove the color and really show off the details in the silver. I like to vary the direction that I sand to get an overall effect but you can sand in one direction to get another cool look.

Stamp the beginning of your sentiment with JustRite stamps. I used the quote, “A Teacher affects eternity…she never knows where her influence stops” with the second half of the quote on the inside of the card.

Cut/emboss the stamped portion of the sentiment with S5-014 Small Deckled Mega Rectangles (#2).

Construct the card:
Cut the Fancy Pants paper to 6″x9″ and fold in half. Round the corners. Cut a cardstock square to 4-1/2″x4-1/2″. Add the three metal strips and then the small bow. Attach the card front sentiment with dimensional. Write out the rest of the sentiment and add it to the inside.

Now: sign it, put it in an envelope, address it, drop it in the mail and make a teacher very happy.

Don’t forget to go over to “When Creativity Knocks!” - and vote for Impressabilities in the Great Crafter’s Tool Hunt…you could win something cool and we would win ultimate fame and glory (maybe even a trophy? who knows). Follow this link for more info: HERE

Eli, who is really glad to be back with the team after taking the summer off for some family time.

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

Octagon! STOP!!

Sometimes I have a hard time getting the image of a stop sign out of my head when I look at my Octagon die templates: plain or scalloped shapes. Well, I discovered a fun embossing technique that moves beyond this 8-sided icon and I wanted to share it with you.

First, snag your Wizard and gather up some Core’dinations cardstock (or other white or colored core paper). Add to that a set of Large Octagons, Blossom and Pinking Pierceability die templates and some embellishments. Make sure you have the Spellbinders Tan Embossing Mat because this card is built on the idea that embossing can be a feature of a project.

Start by laying down your White master mat, adding the Tan Embossing Mat and paper (I used pink for the flower.) Arrange the Octagons die templates (I did not use the largest in the series) with the cut edges facing the paper, with the points slightly askew as shown below.

Add the other white master mat and run through the Wizard to emboss. If you don’t have a Wizard, remember you can check out these vids on our main site. They’ll show you how to emboss in other machines.

Next, give the paper a nice sanding and see the core color pop. Use a Blossom die template to cut the outer shape of the die.

Cut a piece of green cardstock using the Pinking Pierceabilities die template.

To emboss some “mod” shapes into the grass strip, set up the sandwich to emboss only as before: White Mat, Tan Embossing Mat, cardstock, Octagon die templates cut edges facing paper, White Mat. Arrange the octagons for a funky pattern. Run through and sand.

Now, just assemble. I adhered the grass strip with dimensional adhesive and put one dimensional piece at the center of the flower as it has a natural curve.

Add rub-ons, some inking and a ribbon stem and Tadaaa–a funky use for Octagons…that never make you think Stop Sign.