So yesterday I went to the CHA Supershow and had a great time! My first stop was Papertrey Ink and boy were they crowded. They had lots of their sample projects up for us to view as we made our way through the line shopping as we went through! The exclusive CHA set is called 4 of a Kind, and looks beautiful. Here are a few quick pictures for you.
I went to many booths, but one of my must-dos was Peachy Keen Stamps. I always have loved the face stamps that go on the Cricut Paper Dolls, and I have never gotten one! So I picked one out, and was thrilled when they gave me this very cute t-shirt!
And look at these amazing Cuttlebug folders that I got! I cannot wait to use the peacock feathers one! And the reptile skin one will be perfect for the loads of dinosaur stuff that I do for my little dinosaur lover!
I also made my way to the Cricut booth to get a look at the Cricut Imagine. I did video part of a demo, but unfortunately the video turned out fuzzy. Found out later that there are fingerprints all over my lens from two little boys! Those rascals! But I did find out some important information. The Cricut Imagine does NOT work with Design Studio. Why you ask? Well because in about 6 months Cricut is going to launch a product that will allow you to work with the Cricut Imagine and your computer. So I asked is this whole new software? The answer I got is that the term for it may or may not be software. What could this be? I am not sure. Chris Dodge (the representative that I talked to) said that the beta product blew his mind. Well, we will have to see what happens. I do have to point out something else though, I was NOT impressed with the sample cuts that were laying on the table there. I actually snagged one so that I could get a real good picture of it to show you what I mean.
Do you notice how the borders are way off? I saw this on not all the cuts but several of them. I kind of think that this means that the "Cricut Creep" has not been fixed! I did also ask if there was an option to change the border width, and I was told yes however you cannot tell it to do no border. He said that the smallest border would be about 1 mm, but that also may depend on the art itself. He indicated that changing the border was not on the machine yet, that it would be on a firmware update. It may be hard to see in the picture, but I also found that some of the images look great but some look a little pixelated.
As for me, I think the hinge method works alot better for print and cut then the Cricut Imagine does at this time. If you are not familiar with the hinge method, check out this post on Kay's blog Clever Someday. She developed this method, and I have to give her thanks. I have used this method a few times and love it!
Also, SVGCuts.com put out a video of the eCraft from CHA and in this video we got a little peak at the software along with seeing the machine in action.
I can't wait for this! Well today I am hoping to get in a little bit of time to play with all my new goodies as I try to be patient for my eCraft.
If this is your first time here, be sure to sign up for the GIVEAWAY!! Have a great day everybody!
I have been on a vinyl kick lately. If you have never played with vinyl, you really should! I have ordered vinyl from Nick at CraftVinyl.com and was very happy with his service. Here is a recent project that I made with vinyl.
My husband and I just recently got IPhones, and I decided to decorate my IPhone case with some vinyl. Of course I used a peacock! I got the file from Einnej. After I was done, showed it to my husband and asked him if he wanted me to do something on his, at first he said no. Then I said..."Not even if it were something that had to do with Star Wars?". He said, "You can do Star Wars?". Sure I can. So after debating all the various characters including Darth Vader, Darth Maul, etc. He decided that he wanted the Imperial Symbol. Don't ask me what that is, because I really don't understand Star Wars. I found a coloring page on Google and imported it into Make The Cut. Easy Peasy. Here is the result of his case...
Thanks for stopping by! Today I am going to the CHA Supershow, and I am so excited! If I get home at a decent hour tonight, I will try to get some videos and pics uploaded for all of you to enjoy tomorrow morning!
If this is your first time here, be sure to sign up for the GIVEAWAY! Have a great day everybody!
So the first videos of the CHA vendor show are showing up on YouTube, and there are some exciting things happening! One of the products that is making a big splash is the Cricut Imagine. I have spent quite a bit of time looking at the Imagine and I think there are some things that everyone should consider before purchasing one of these machines.
1. Do you like the look of the printed images? A lot of people on the Cricut messageboard are debating this very issue. I personally don't really care for them because I think they look too put together. They look very professional, and I feel like they lose some of that homemade feel. This is the very reason why I am learning Hybrid Scrapbooking instead of full on Digital Scrapbooking. Now as more and more examples of what this machine can do floods the internet, I may change my mind. Cricut is promoting that with this machine, you won't need to buy any paper other than white which is true, however I like my paper. I love the colors, the textures, the glitter, the foil all of it, so is this realistic. For me it is not. I have a digital library of digital papers which I love to use and tweak to work for my purpose. I also have quite a supply of colored cardstock as well as patterned papers that I love to look at and it inspires me. When I feel that I am in a craft slump, I go to my paper! Now there are some people out there that have trouble coordinating papers and finding colors that work together. If that is you, this machine could be a great thing because all the patterns and colors on the special Imagine cartridges have been colored by artists, and they also offer some alternate color options that work together.
2. What can it cut? According to one of the videos that I saw, the Imagine can cut pliable material. Since it is pliable material, that means that chipboard is out. I also wonder about magnet sheets, my guess would be that this can not be cut on the Imagine. If you don't cut chipboard or magnet sheets, then the Imagine may be the machine for you. I don't necessarily cut a lot of chipboard or magnet sheets, however I like having the ability to do so.
3. The Price! With a whopping price of $599 for the machine, this is definately a factor. Of course, this price will come down. The only thing that we don't know is when the price will come down and how much it will come down. Other than the initial cost, you also have to consider the cost of the peripherals. There are the mats, the ink cartridges, the new Imagine art cartridges, and the new Imagine pattern cartridges. That is a lot of stuff. According to one of the videos that I saw, the machine comes with one Imagine art cartridge. No word as to whether the machine comes with the ink cartridges (I would guess that if comes with one of each, but this has not yet been reported.) Also the ink cartridges are pricey, $34.99 for black, and $39.99 for the tri color cartridge. That is right, tri color cartridges, it is funny but I had thought that the printing industry was moving away from this and going to seperate cartridges for each color. My printer takes a total of six cartridges! That way, if I run out of yellow, I just have to replace the yellow cartridge instead of all the colors. Apparently, these cartridges will only be available from Cricut.com and stores that carry the machine. This is something to consider, because if you don't live near a store that carries the machine, you will have to order online. This can be most incovenient if you run out and don't have a replacement on hand. All in all, this will be an expensive machine to run.
As I was perusing the Cricut messageboard, there was not a lot of excitement around the Imagine, which was kind of suprising. Most of the people that said they were not going to get one, listed one of the above reasons. We have seen this before of course, with the Gypsy, and there are quite a few Gypsy owners out there, so I wonder if this is everyone's first instincts are skepticism. We have to remember that with the Gypsy, it took 9 months after release before the Gypsy operated the way it was promised at launch. I wonder if this is going to be the case with the Imagine. Will the messageboard have Imagine owners on there that are complaining that the machine doesn't work as promised? Or with Provo Craft suprise us all, and have a machine that works as promised right out of the box. I certainly hope that those that get the Imagine will be happy with it, because at $599, you deserve it!
Here is one of the videos on the Cricut Imagine that I found the most informative.
IMHO, if you are considering this machine, you should wait until it is in the hands of crafters and see if they like it first. I know what you are saying..."But Denise you didn't do this with the e-craft!" You are right, but I also have listened carefully to what the beta testers have been allowed to tell us, and I did not plunk down $599 either! I normally would never buy something that hasn't been reviewed by users first, but I did make an exception this time, and I certainly hope it works out OK. There are several features that the eCraft claims to have that no other cutter has. There was one factor that put it over the top for me, and that has to do with Craftwell itself. A lot of people have criticized Craftwell for delaying the release of the eCraft. I see it a little differently. Let me try to explain...if you are a company that has a prototype of a product and you are trying to decide if this product is worth the time and investment into perfecting, what would you do? Well you would probably have focus groups, but you might also take it to a show like CHA and do some live demos and hear from vendors that actually would have to sell the machine. I think that is exactly what Craftwell did in the Summer of 2009. Based on the reaction and feedback that they got on the machine, I think that they knew they had to make this machine work exactly the way crafters want it to work. So they got it into hands of beta testers, who came back to them and said, these are the things that you should change, these things are great as is, and these are the things that need to be added. Once you have that list, you now have to put it into the hands of your engineers to see if it is even feasible to make those changes. Then you build another prototype to test it and see how well it works. If you are truly trying to make a great product that is going to put your company on the map, then chances are even with this new and improved model there are going to be some minor changes that have to be made before it is ready to go into mass production. All of this takes time. I believe that this is what Craftwell is doing. Why do I believe that? Well in the beginning of June on a Sunday, I sent an e-mail to Craftwell's customer service asking them some questions. I got a response two hours later...on a Sunday! This response was not a form letter, or even from a low level customer service representative. This response was from the Vice President. He also gave me his direct line phone number so that I could call him if I had any more questions! Customer Service is the key here. How many corporations can you say give you that kind of customer service? When you have a company that provides great customer service, you almost always have great products as well because they listen! If I had not gotten that e-mail, I probably would not have pre-ordered the machine.
On a final note, I think that the Imagine could be a great machine for some people, but I am curious what all of you think so far, so please let me know!
If this is your first visit to my blog, be sure to sign up for the GIVEAWAY!
For years I used what I would call now inferior coloring tools for my stamps. I watched videos online about Prismacolor Pencils and Copic Markers and just could not make a decision. I finally decided to go with Copic markers because I like the vibrancy of the color. So I started collecting Copics, a few at a time, because they are really expensive. Every now and then I would run into a stamp that I just thought would look better with a softer look. Prismacolor Pencils are no small investment themselves. I had kind of resigned myself that Prismacolors were not in my future. One day in March I was in Joann and I wandered down the art supply aisle to look for something else when I saw a clearance tag! Sure enough the Prismacolor Pencils were on clearance! I managed to get the large set for $45. That is a deal! In the last few weeks, I have been playing around with my digi stamps on PSE8, and have been having some fun coloring my stamps there as well. All 3 methods produce such different results that I thought I would show you. I made 3 of the exact same card, the only difference in them is that I colored the stamp with different tools. Here is the card using Copic Markers...
Here is the Prismacolor Pencil one (I am still refining my technique with these pencils, so this is NOT the best example, but it will give you an idea.)
And here is one digitally colored in Photoshop Elements 8.
And here are all three cards side by side...
So what is your favorite method of coloring stamps?
The stamp on these cards came from Create with TLC, if you have not been to this blog make sure you go, Paulette has so much stuff available to purchase in her store as well as freebies everyday (usually several). This stamp was a freebie. I used PTI Melpon Berry cardstock, PTI Orange Zest ink, PTI Rustic Twine, and the buttons are PTI New Leaf, Melon Berry, and Orange Zest. The sentiment stamp is from PTI Signature Greetings. The patterned papers were digital papers that were recolored, I am not sure where they came from because I grabbed them from my scrap drawer.
If this is your first time here, be sure to stop by this POST and sign up for the Giveaway!
One of the blogs I follow is Tammy Skinner's HERE, and she is at CHA and posted some videos on her Facebook. Go to Facebook and send her a friend request so that you can access these videos. Very interesting information in the videos that I will summarize here for you.
1. Cricut Imagine works with old and new cartridges. There are also a 2nd type of cartridge that appears to have different patterns and colors that the machine can print. There are two cartridge ports on the machine, the first for the standard cartridge and the second for these pattern cartridges.
2. Cricut Imagine is like 3 machines in one, a HP Printer, an Expression, and a Gypsy.
3. The mats are different for the Cricut Imagine, they have sensors along the edges to tell the machine where everything it at for cutting after the printing is complete. Supposedly the MSRP on the mats will be similar to the current Cricut mats. They also are using a different adhesive on these mats that supposedly will not peel up and stick to the back of the paper. The rep also implied that these mats would last longer.
4. There are 2 print cartridges for the machine, black (MSRP $34.99) and a tri-color cartridge ($39.99).
5. The touch screen allows you to select each part of the image to change colors and patterns. The images can be printed flat (all in one piece) or printed in seperate pieces for layering.
A couple of questions that I have after seeing these videos. The first and most important to me is...since there is a built in Gypsy, does this mean that there is not a USB jack on the machine that can be plugged into either existing Gypsys or a computer. If this is the case, that means that this is how PC is planning on eliminating Imagine owners from using third party software. Also, these pattern cartridges, how much are they? The mats, can they be restickied? I am holdiing off judgement for now. What are your thoughts?
It looks like my eCraft will be here sometime next week. I already have a spot picked out for it in my studio, and I have my video equipment ready to go, so when I get it I will video my very first cuts with it. Right now I am planning on doing both basic cuts (something simple) and more intricate cuts out of the following...PTI Cardstock, Chipboard, Vinyl, DCWV White Core Cardstock, Core'dinations Cardstock, Bazzill Cardstock, Magnet Sheet, Fabric (I have some ready with Heat N Bond since I am guessing that it what I will need to use). If any of you have anything else that you would like me to test out, let me know and if I have some available I will add to the list.
I will also do some videos after that, and I am working on the list right now. Of course, there will videos of the software, and I want to do one using scraps or smaller pieces to test how that works out. If there is something that you want to see, please let me know.
I will keep you updated as to when I am expecting it (and here is hoping that I can get my dear sweet MIL to babysit so I can play uninterrupted!!). Thanks for any and all feedback!!!!
So this month the challenge at http://www.papertreyink.com/ is to use office supplies. I thought about this challenge quite a bit to come up with something that was a little different. Here is what I came up with...
I decided to use my scanner to make my own digital paper. I had these large colored paper clips so I just scattered them all over the scanner and scanned them. Once I printed out the sheet, I picked the spot on the sheet that was the most interesting to me and cut out that section. I rounded the corners, I applied a few strokes of a pale green acrylic paint, inked the edges with Hawaiian Shores ink and wrinked that paper up and then ironed it out. It looks so much better in person!. The notebook paper actually was a complete accident. My son was playing with the printer when I wasn't looking and before I knew it this notebook paper was coming out of the printer. I took that as a sign that I should use it, so I fed that paper back into the printer and using MS Word and a font called "Dear Teacher" typed out my sentiment. I tore the corner out to keep with the distressed look of the patterned paper. The circular tag was stamped first with Polka Dot Basic in Hibiscus Burst on Hibiscus Burst cardstock. I then stamped the star with the dashed lines from the 2009 Holiday Tag Collection in Hawaiian Shores ink as well as ink the edges. I love when you find a stamp in a seasonal set that can be used for other things! I handwrote the A+ using a black Sharpie pen and then stapled the tag onto the notebook paper. The ribbon is Hawaiian Shores Swiss Dot.
Thanks for coming by, and if this is your first time here, I have a giveaway going on and you can read about it more on this POST.
If you have read my previous posts, you may have noticed that I have mentioned Papertrey Ink (PTI) before. I use their products a lot. Their paper has got to be some of the "heartiest" cardstock ever. It makes for great card bases. All of their colors are gorgeous and because they offer so many products in those colors are wonderful. All of the colors have 5-6 ribbons, felt, buttons as well as cardstock. They are currently reformulating their ink pads due to inconsistency issues, and the new ink pads should be available in October. I am looking forward to those ink pads in all those wonderful colors. PTI is very well known for their acrylic stamps. They are of the highest quality and they have some of the most innovative designs.
Every month on the 15th, they release new products and it is one of the things I look forward to every month. Nichole Heady (one of the owners) posts previews of the new products starting on the 10th and she shows completed projects using those projects that really get your creative mind working. One of the great things about PTI is that when you buy 12 stamp sets (priced $15 or higher) in a year starting on February 15th, you will get a free Anniversary Stamp Set. This stamp set is exclusive to the those that purchased enough stamp sets, and will never be sold in the store. I got my Anniversary set about 6 weeks ago and just now got a chance to use it, so I thought I would share it with all of you.
The stamp set is called Round & Round and came with the frame and then several circle images that fit inside that frame. There were all some sentiments and a few other stamped embellishments. I definately see the versatility in this set. Previously I mentioned that I am going to the CHA Consumer Show on Friday and one of the vendors that I cannot wait to visit is PTI. Plus it doesn't hurt that they are giving a free exclusive stamp set to people who spend $100 or more at the show. I will definately spend more than $100. If money were not an issue in my life, I would spend hundreds but at last that won't be the case.
The carstock is PTI Enchanted Evening and Stamper's Select White. The frame stamp is from Round & Round and it is stamped in Plum Pudding. The decorative circle is stamped in Hawaiian Shores. I used my copics to color in some of the areas of the stamp and added some rhinestones. The stamped border on the card base is from an oldie but goodie, Shapes by Design and the sentiment is from Mega Mixed Messages (probably the best sentiment stamp set out there).
Later today is the PTI Monthly Blog Hop and I will be participating. The theme for this month is Office Supplies and I have something really neat up my sleeve for this, so if you come back later today you can see my entry in the Blog Hop.
So to sum it up, if you are looking for some high quality products, go to papertreyink.com. I recommend for starters to get the cardstock sampler (has a few sheets of cardstock in different colors), as well as maybe some ribbon, buttons and a stamp set. You will not be disappointed!
Also, we our giveaway is still open, check out this POST to enter. Thanks everyone!
This is probably one of the coolest things that I have found so pay attention everyone! When I started recoloring digital paper, I found it so frustrating to find just the right color. The color that you see on the computer monitor often prints out looking different and then it doesn't look good with the other elements that you have put together. The patterned paper typically is the "binder" of a project. It is the thing that ties everything together. So because I was frustrated at losing so much paper and printer ink, I set out to find a way to match colors better. That is when I discovered easyRGB.com. What this site does is take commercial tints and gives you the RGB number and that funky 6 digit color number. First off what are commercial tints...well to be honest I don't really know, but I did recognize the names Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams as of course paint manufacturers.
So, I headed off to the paint store with a few samples of cardstock to match, and ended up finding quite a few matches. Some are exact matches and some are very close. I grabbed these paint samples and came back home and started putting in the RGB or 6 digit funky number in PSE8 and found that even if the match is close but not perfect it was good enough to me. The next time I was at Ace Hardware with my DH, I bought a Benjamin Moore fandeck. It cost $19.99, and now I have all the colors so I don't have to run to the store everytime I need to look up some color numbers.
Here is what the fandeck looks like... if you don't see it in the store ask someone, because most likely they have these somewhere!
Now for a sample of how to go about doing this. Grab a piece of paper that you want to match up and fan out your fandeck until you find a close color match. Please note that alot of times the colors you see in the fandeck may not look like a match because of the finish on them, so you really need to focus on the color itself and minimize the sheen that the paint chip shows you. That sheen I believe is the same reason why paint on the wall never looks the same as the paint chip. Here I have found a color match...
Now go to EasyRGB.com. On the home screen you are going to select "From Commercial Tints to RGB".
Next you are going to enter the Color Name or Color Number and then select from the drop down list the name of the collection you are looking at. For my example here I have entered Color Number 2074-20 and the Benjamin Moore Color Preview Collection.
Hit the Start Key and you get this screen. It lists my numbers as R- 122.66 G-62.04 B-98.86 and color code #7B3E63. Write these numbers down! If you watched my video tutorial from yesterday on how to recolor your digital paper you noticed that when you needed to select your new color it came up with a box with a slider bar that scrolled up and down all the colors of the rainbow. Next to that slider bar is a place to enter in your RGB numbers and your color code. Most photo editing software progams do not accept the deimal points so you would need to round up or down as necessary. If possible enter in that 6 digit color code instead.
Here are the results using that color example. I used a digital stamp (I believe it was from Digital2forTuesday, not sure if you recognize it as from somewhere else please let me know) and I recolored the stamp to that color. The stamp was printed on cream paper, here it is laying on top of the original cardstock.
I then took a digital paper (Lettering Delights - Chocolate collection) and recolored it to the same color so here are all three papers in one shot for you.
And here is it all put together, I inked the edges of the digital paper roughly to add a little contract using PTI Vintage Cream ink. The stamp image edges are inked with Tea Dye Distress Ink. The sentiment, the rustic twine, and the rustic wood button are all from Papertrey Ink.
On a different note, next Friday I will be attending the CHA Consumer Show and I plan on doing some videotaping while I am there. I am going to try to get into the Cricut booth and hopefully get a look at the new Imagine machine. If there is something that you would like to know about the Imagine machine or something else at CHA that you are interested in, please leave me a comment or send me an e-mail and I will try to accomodate everyone.
The giveaway is still open, so check out this POST to enter to win!
I am just like so many of you out there...I have a ton of paper! It got to the point where I didn't have enough room to store it all and I am a sucker for a sale, so I end up with a lot of paper. That recently changed when I discovered digital paper. There are a lot of places online where you can download free digital paper. The best part is that you can re-color the paper to suit your needs. I often find papers in my stash that I love the pattern but not the colors, so this is a great solution. Another bonus...less storage space (only the space on a hard drive necessary). Oh and another bonus is that you can print the paper out as many times as you like. So for today I thought I would share with you my first video tutorial on how to re-color your digital paper so that they coordinate together.
Here is the final result....
The "Golden Dots" paper is from freedigitalscrapbooking.com and the Retro Squares paper is from scrapbook-papers-and-more.com. The base cardstock is Spring Moss, the ribbon is Orange Zest bittydot, and the sentiment is from Mega Mixed Messages, all from papertreyink.com. The cut is from the Cricut Paisley cartridge.
If you have not signed up for the giveaway, make sure you sign up HERE by becoming a follower and posting a comment on that post. I am just thrilled that so many people are interested in the things that I am doing and I can't wait to share more with all of you. I have some really cool things coming down the road, so be sure to keep an eye out!
So, I thought that while I wait for my eCraft to arrive, I would share with everybody some of my favorites. My first is Make the Cut software. This software has completely changed how I use my Cricut. I have used SCAL, but I found it to be pretty limiting. I remember watching the first webinar that Andy (creator of Make the Cut) did with my mouth hanging open because I just could not believe that finally there is a software out there that can do what I have been wanting to do for so long. I am going to share with you my favorite project using Make the Cut. Here it is...
I used almost the exact same method that Jin used in her tutorial HERE. If you notice the peacock image in the header on my blog was used to create this. This image was pre-colored with the patterns in the feather. I used Photoshop Elements 8 to convert the image to black and white and then did A LOT of adjusting the brightness and contrast to minimize the patterns in the feathers to where they were just the slightest gray. From there I imported the image into MTC using Pixel Trace and I got this image. From there it was just like doing a coloring page image which Andy demonstrated in that first webinar. If you have not seen the webinars HERE is a link to a list of all of them. They are extremely informative and I highly recommend watching them.
Since this is a pretty intricate cut, I used drywall joint tape to transfer all the pieces onto the main body to try and get them lined up right. Once I was completed, I laminated the final cut and it is part of a wall art piece that I will share with you on a future post. Unfortunately the main image is a copyrighted image that I paid to get, so I cannot share the file.
Also, on a different note, I am thrilled that so many people have signed up to be followers. If you have not signed up to be a follower, go to THIS post, become a follower, leave a comment and you will be eligible for my giveaway which has a lot a great stuff in it!
I finally decided to start a blog! I plan on showcasing my whole learning process through learning different techniques for hybrid scrapbooking and cardmaking. Not all of my stuff will be hybrid, I will have plenty of traditional methods as well. For those of you that don't know very much about me, I am currently a Cricut user, most of my creations utilize Make the Cut! Love that software! I am also in the process of learning Photoshop Elements 8 and everything that I can do with it. Why PSE8? One answer....I got a copy for work so well it was free to me! I am always looking for a bargain :) I don't plan on doing anything that is 100% digital because I personally think that something is missing with all digi pages. There is no dimension and you lose that homemade feel. I think I will mostly use digital paper and digital stamps, but then again we will just have to see what I come up with.
On another note, I have pre-ordered an eCraft Personal Cutter made by Craftwell. Kim Bush over at Cutters Creek has been a doll to deal with and I have found out that my eCraft will come either early next week or mid to late the following week as she will be at CHA so if the cutters get to her too late they would not be available to ship until she returns. Here's hoping she gets them soon. I plan on doing a video when I get the eCraft on my very first cuts with the machine. I am making a list of various different things that I want to cut. Stay tuned and get a peek at what this cutter can do, and I will also give you my honest and true first opinion of the machine. I am not affiliated with Craftwell or Cutters Creek or anyone else for that matter so I will tell you EXACTLY what I think!
Now on to the fun stuff....I HAVE A GIVEAWAY!!!!
I am looking to send all of the items shown in the picture above (as well as maybe a few surprises!) to one of my first 100 followers! So please sign up to be a follower and leave me a comment on this post. Once I reach 100 followers, I will use that random number picker thing to choose a winner. You MUST leave a comment here and be a follower to be eligible. Spread the word and join me for this adventure!
