I’m into color right now. Not sure why. Maybe it is the snow that fell on us in Denver last week and imagining a long winter ahead of us. Earlier this week I checked out our Design Team projects to see what colors of flakes they are, I mean what color flakes they created…Julie Overby made this beautiful Merriest Wishes card with turquoise, white and silver…yummy!

Jennifer Davis‘ layout, I Heart Snow, is outstanding in the color realm. It perfectly matches her daughter’s winter jacket.

I find that once I break out of a mold, it’s easy to keep doing it. Today, I’m sharing a journal with some really hot colors and snowflakes. To begin, I had hot pink printer paper that I printed journal lines on, but I had no idea how I would match colors to it. The Color Wheel is a great place to start and I just happen to have a Color Companion which is really helpful. In this photo you can see the journal pages in the back and the cover just to the left. The other colors are those I used to cut the snowflakes.

I used the S4-222 Create A Flake One to cut/emboss snowflakes from purple, red and pink. I inked them with silver metallic ink and then layered them using Glue Dots by Glue Dots International and 3D Foam Squares, SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES by 3L. Here is a close up of one of them.

I adhered them to the journal cover and then felt like a border would bring the whole thing together. I chose the S4-218 Lattice Borderabilities® to coordinate. Since this Borderability® is Petite, I cut it twice from one long strip of paper. After cutting the first side, I carefully lined up the second side and ran it though the Wizard™.

In the same way, I embossed one end and then the other. The place where the two border cuts came together can be left alone as a design element

or covered with a little embellishment like I did.

To finish up the journal, I bound it, added a few more flakes and ribbons.

Ingredients: Wizard, S4-218 Lattice Borderabilities, S4-222 Create A Flake One; Core’dinations Color Core Cardstocks; SCRAPBOOK AHESIVE by 3L, Black 3D adhesive squares; Copic Sketch V09 Violet, Air Brush System; Glue Dots International Scrapbook Glue Dots; Ribbons; Silver ink; Binding System; Purple patterned paper
Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you’ve gained some confidence to use color in a new way. Eli

No one I know has enough time or money so today, I want to share with you some techniques that I have learned to work efficiently AND get the most out of my supplies. I’m trying to actually get my Christmas cards out before Easter this year so I’m working on them early. First, I came up with a basic design that is simple yet elegant:

Check out the following tips for efficiency and frugality (is that a word?) when designing a big batch of cards.

1. Make them different?
My first big revelation about creating multiples is that they don’t have to be exactly the same. In general, no one will ever know. And, I decided, if they do find out…I’m ok with that. This practice keeps my supplies in check and I find it a little more interesting to change up my design as I progress.

2. Cut multiple dies at one time:
Beth gave us a fabulous example of this in her post Fall Thank You cards.
I layered 2 strips of paper on my favorite labels die templates: S4-169 Small Labels (#4, counting from the center), S5-006 Curved Rectangles (#2), S5-019 Labels Eight (#3) on the W-026 Grand Cut Mat Kit and cut/embossed in the Wizardâ„¢. In no time I had plenty of labels.

3. Use an assembly line approach: “component passes from station to station…and something is done or added to it. By the last station, the product is fully assembled and is identical to each one before and after it. This system ensures that a large quantity of uniform-quality goods are produced at a relatively low cost.”~ (science.jrank.org)  So, actually,  I cut and folded my card bases. Then I cut all my labels and stamped them.

4. Use your scraps:
I decided on a couple of papers that I really liked. The tan one had an interesting pattern that I wanted to keep intact. I cut strips in two sizes. Then I cut the red striped paper 1″ larger. You can also see two different label dies and two different stamps from the same set.

When I ran out of the tan patterned paper, I decided to try something a little different and add Magic Mesh in place of it. I added a ribbon for just a little something extra.

Finally, I had small pieces of the red striped paper left over so I created an almost totally different card as seen here:

So, my last card looked a lot different than my first card but I was able to use my supplies in the most efficient manner. I love that!

I hope you found some tips you can take into your craft room for the approaching holidays.

Supplies: S4-169 Small Labels, S5-006 Curved Rectangles, S5-019 Labels Eight, W-026 Grand Cut Mat Kit, W-001 Wizardâ„¢, Hero Arts Good Cheer Messages stamps, Magic Mesh green thin weave, Glue Dots International Craft Glue Dots, white cardstock

Cheers, Eli

Happy Tuesday everyone!

We are also continuing to celebrate our blog hop with Tattered Angels. Today our host for the day is my good friend Debbie Seyer. Be sure to visit her blog, A Peak Into my Stamping Room, to see her amazing and glimmering project.

I could hardly contain myself on Saturday when I saw Margie’s post, Thinking Inside the Box. How adorable is that? I think we all know… Plus anyone who can add candy corns to a project is a winner in my book. Her inspiring project lead me to see what I could do to think inside and outside the box. So I created another container (inside the box), only this one is round (outside the box). Check it out!

I was trying to think of a way to make a container bottom that attached easily. Usually I think of die cutting a circle and snipping little slits about every ¼”. But this is what I came up with instead…

I gathered the following supplies: Wizardâ„¢, S4-114 Standard Circles LG, S4-124 Classic Scalloped Circles LG, S7-017 On the Vine Border Grand, Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage Collection Classic Paper Designs, Core’dinations blue cardstock, Clearsnap ColorBox Cocoa Pigment Ink, Tattered Angels Turquoise Blue Glimmer Mist, Glue Dots Continuous Line, PVA glue.

I save “cereal board,” lightweight chipboard, from packaged foods to use in craft projects. This one just happened to be Mini Strawberry Newtons…yum. I cut S4-114 Standard Circles LG, #7, (counting #1 at the center) but did not emboss.

Then I cut S4-124 Classic Scalloped Circles LG, #6 from Blue Core’dinations cardstock and didn’t emboss. I added glue to the colored side of the chipboard circle and placed it on the center of the S4-124 Classic Scalloped Circles LG. (A little note: If using a wet glue, allow it to dry totally before embossing or, like me, you’ll have glue running out onto your mats…oops.)

I chose a paper from the Crafty Secrets paper packs and left it a full 6″. If you want your container to be shorter than that, trim it down. I rolled the paper into a tube and adhered it with Glue Dots, Continuous Line, just crossing over the ends at 1/8″.

I embossed the bottom by using a regular embossing sandwich:

• White Master Mat
• Container bottom with chipboard down on the Mat (this is the important part)
• Embossing Pad
• White Master Mat

I folded up all the scallops to fit the tube inside of them.

I added a generous line of glue just to the inside of the scallops and fit the cylinder into them. Working around the bottom edge, I placed one hand inside the tube for support and the other on the scallops to make sure the glue held. I worked my way around until they were all well adhered. This is the most tedious part of the process but is worth the effort.

I embellished the container with S7-017 On the Vine Border Grand die template by I cutting/embossing blue cardstock with the W-026 Grand Cut Mat Kit. Then I inked through the die template as a stencil with Clearsnap ColorBox Cocoa Pigment Ink.

If you want to see a little demonstration on how to cut the Borderabilities® Grand, check out this video from Stacey. If you don’t have the W-026 Grand Cut Mat Kit, go to 1:50 on the meter to see the section showing how to cut using the mats that came with your machine.

I added the S7-017 One the Vine Border Grand to the container. The fun little bonus was that it fit perfectly. I was able to hook the two ends together. Using PVA glue, I added small touches of glue around the piece and then added dimension to it by curving the leaves and stems that were not glued down.

As a final touch, I sprayed it with Turquoise Blue Glimmer Mist. Finito!

Since I used only cardstock on the sides of the container, it is not super strong. I could probably reinforce the item by using an additional piece of cardstock, simply glued to the original OR I could use some more light weight chipboard. Well, whatever you choose to do, have fun and see what you can create.

Eli

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 Spellbindersâ„¢ 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 Spellbindersâ„¢ 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, Wizardâ„¢, 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 Wizardâ„¢ 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 Wizardâ„¢ 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 Wizardâ„¢ 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 Spellbindersâ„¢ products too!

Happy day and enjoy those October treats, 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 Spellbindersâ„¢ Impressabilitiesâ„¢ technique with you. It is a heat embossing technique.

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

Using your hot pad, heat the Impressabilitiesâ„¢ 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 Impressabilitiesâ„¢

This is a very versatile technique. Since fun foam can be cut in the Wizardâ„¢, 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 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ 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 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ 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

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 Spellbindersâ„¢’ Impressabilitiesâ„¢…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 Wizardâ„¢ 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 Wizardâ„¢ and mats, gather the following supplies: I2-1002 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ 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 Wizardâ„¢ 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.

Taking some inspiration from Beth’s darling Baby Boy card from Savvy Saturday, I thought I would create something for another thing happening a lot right now: Graduations! So get out your Inverted Scalloped Square and your straight edge Classic Square die templates.

Supplies:

The Wizard
Square Nestabilitiesâ„¢ (S4-128 #7, counting #1 as the center)
Inverted Scalloped Square Nestabilitiesâ„¢ (S4-196, #4)
Black, red and yellow cardstocks (Core’dinations)
Glue Dots
Red ball chain and fine gauge wire
Large brad and star clips (Creative Impressions)
Rub-on Sentiment
Quick drying liquid glue

Instructions

1. Cut the card base from black cardstock 12×5″ and fold in half for a 6×5″ card.
2. Open the card base and place the magnetic spacer plate inside with the black side facing up.
3. Place the Square Nestabilitiesâ„¢ die template onto the magnetic surface with the cut ridges up.
4. Lay the cardstock/spacer plate onto the white mater mat and add the other master mat on top.
5. Run through the Wizard
6. Open the sandwich and keep the inner square.
7. Using yellow cardstock (I used a piece from a mat stacks at 4½x6½” from Core’dinations) cut the Inverted Scalloped Square Nestabilitiesâ„¢ die template. Do not emboss.
8. Trim around the outside of the inverted square, giving about a 1″ border around the scalloped edge. Adhere it to the underside of the square window you cut in the card base.
9. Cut a piece of black cardstock 1¼x4½”. Score at ½”, 1¼”, 2′, 2¾”
10. Fold all scores inward, making a square C shape.
11. With Glue Dots on the ends (that are facing in) adhere the black strip to the black square on the diagonal.
12. Create a tassle from red ball chain by cutting four pieces approximately 1″ long. Hold the four together using a fine gauge red wire.
13. Twist the wire ends together and create a loop in the end. Slide it onto a star clip.
14. Add a large brad to the square and add quick drying liquid glue on top of the brad. Add the star clip/tassel to the top.
15. Trim the red cardstock mat to 4½x5¾” and add to the inside of the card base.
16. Open the card and adhere the graduation cap  where it will show in the card window.
17. Gently push the card to the right so that it lies flat. The tassel should still show through the inverted scalloped window.
18. Add a sentiment and send it off.

Here’s one more look at the card, but this time, let’s show you how it actually pops up.

Have a great week! Eli

A day filled with running the kids to and from school, meeting a fellow volunteer for coffee to go over the next steps in the big project, getting the snow tires put on the car, paying a few bills, shopping online for Christmas gifts, making sure is enough wrapping paper for the approaching holiday, writing out a few end of the year greetings…and the list goes on…a jam-packed schedule can sometimes take the joy out of celebrating a season of giving, of peace and of miracles.

Today, I am sharing with you four cards announcing that simple state of being that runs deep: JOY!

Three members of our Design Team created cards that express this simple word. Through the loveliness and grace of these projects, may we all be inspired to live into and pass on the sentiment that it brings.

Jennifer Ellefson begins our fashion show today with a vintage take on the subject. Featuring our Christmas Stocking, she gave it a well-loved look by using metallic rub-ons. The ruched paper by WorldWin also adds to the age-old appeal.

Spellbindersâ„¢ Supplies: S3-142 Festive Stockings, S3-147 Labels Trio, S4-145 Long Classic Scalloped Rectangles (S4-145)

Other Supplies: Ruched papers (WorldWin), Patterned paper, lace, sentiments stamp, metallic rub-ons

Joy Stocking by Jennifer Ellefson

Joy Placeard by Beth Pingry

Next: Beth Pingry (our other blogger, extraordinaire) created this place card for a friend but it seems to translate well into a great card for the season too.

Spellbindersâ„¢ Supplies:
S3-141 Stars, S4-139 Double Ended Tags (smallest), S3-142 Long Classic Rectangles, Large (2 largest dies), L1-01 Caesar Font (retired), F-005 Gold Premium Craft Foil

Other Supplies: ColorMates Bright Heritage White and Deep Heritage Black paper (WorldWin), Fabri-tac adhesive (Beacon), Clearsnap ColorBox Chianti ink, Brads (Creative Impressions), red patterned paper, sticker maker

Layered Joy by Beth Pingry

Third in line is another of Beth’s cards. I love the subtle print on the coordinating papers and the repeated image of the Labels 2 Die Template. Sublime.

Spellbindersâ„¢ Supplies: S4-162 Labels 2, S3-138 Ribbons & Bells (retired), L2-09 Julius Font

Other Supplies: ColorMates Medium Outdoor Olive and Mirri Cast Gold papers (WorldWin), ColorBox Creamy Brown fluid chalk ink (Clearsnap), Pop-up Glue Dots, patterned papers, memory glue

And Finally: Cathy Chlebana offers us an elegant window card. By cutting out a window from the card front, Cathy’s sentiment is actually adhered to the inside of the card and so it remains visible when the card is opened. This is a nice surprise for the recipient.

Holly Joy card Cathy Chlebana

Spellbindersâ„¢ Supplies: S4-142 Long Classic Rectangles, Large, S4-144 Long Classic Rectangles, Small, S3-139 Holly & Lights, L1-01 Caesar Font retired), F-002 Gold Premium Craft Foil

Other Supplies: Glue Dots, green and red velvet ribbons, 1/8″ hole punch, Sticker maker adhesive

Cheers for your holiday preparations: Eli