Good morning, all! I hope your weekend was fabulous.
For me, I’ve been re-watching the Colin Firth version of Pride & Prejudice (which I found on Blu-ray) and finished up the last episode this weekend. Still to this day, when Lydia says she wants to run off to Brighton, I just want to shake her! Argh!
Anyway, and after I finished that, I watched the last installment of the new Emma that’s been showing on PBS for the last three weeks (if you’re in the US, you can watch it online here through March 9th).
Yep. No Super Bowl for me. Just give me Jane Austen. :)
BTW, Make a Card Monday might be up a bit later next week. I’m going to Texas this weekend and won’t be back until Monday evening. I’m not sure what my internet connection will be like while I’m gone. :)
Before I started creating this week’s Finally Friday card, I sat at my craft desk and sifted through products that I wanted to use. I was envisioning bright colors, possibly hot pink, lime green, and chocolate. But when I saw this muted, pastel combination of products, it intrigued me even more. Just goes to show that it’s best to “go with the flow” and design from your gut. :)
Oh, and BTW, the Corner Chomper is back in stock at TwoPeas! I know a few of you are still looking for it. :)
CHALLENGE: Create a card with a pastel color palette. Have fun with it! Simply upload a creation for this challenge to the TwoPeas gallery, select this Finally Friday video when you upload your image, and your creation will be linked up the challenge and appear at the bottom of this week’s Finally Friday page.
Morning, all! I hope your weekend was fabulous! :)
For this week’s MACM card it started with me wanting to use those itty bitty yellow letter stickers. They’re so little! Aren’t they cute!? A lot of people must be loving them because the minute they were in the TwoPeas store, they were gone! Luckily, I grabbed some. :)
Anyhow, since the letter stickers were such a bright yellow, I knew I couldn’t use them with not-so-bright colors. I’ve been cleaning my craft room (an ongoing project) and came across my little 6×6 Monstrosity pad, and I thought of it once I decided to use the yellow letter stickers. From there, I picked out a variety of little embellishments and “do-dads” to put on the card.
On a sidenote, as I was linking up all the products I used in the supply list below, I realized that practically everything I used is out of stock at TwoPeas. Crazy! Guess they were popular, huh? I’m still linking them, though, so you can see what the product is and also so that in the future when they are back in stock, you’ll be able to find them. :)
Valentine’s Day is just over two weeks away, so this is a perfect time to make some mini cards (yes, another one!). I love the 3×3 card size because you can get 8 cards out of one sheet of 12×12 cardstock. Economical and super tiny cute. :)
CHALLENGE: Create a small/mini card. Simply upload a creation for this challenge to the TwoPeas gallery, select this Finally Friday video when you upload your image, and your creation will be linked up the challenge and appear at the bottom of this week’s Finally Friday page.
Hi all! I just finished posting all my cards to my Etsy shop. Lots of fun Valentine’s Days stuff, including the cards I made for today’s MACM video. Plus, I listed some of my previous (and most recent) MACM cards. :)
For this week’s MACM, I broke out some of my new SU supplies that came in the mail last week, and made some Valentine’s Days cards. Seriously, I’m in love with the new Pinking Hearts edge punch. So cute! Look at those itty bitty hearts. :)
Anyhow, so two of the cards are pretty much all SU (except for the Martha postage stamp punch), and the third uses the word art design I was trying to cut last week with my Cricut. If you saw my Cricut vs. Silhouette post, you know that I ended up cutting it with my Silhouette. In fact, as I type this entry, my Silhouette is cutting more of that design for some more cards to post in my Etsy store tonight.
This weekend, it was like a Valentine’s papercrafting explosion in my kitchen. My sister and I broke out the supplies and made a bunch of these cards (all three, plus some with variations) to post at my Etsy shop. I’ll be posting them tonight and will let you all know when they’re up and ready for sale. If you want to be one of the first to know, please follow me on Twitter.
It will be mentioned in the individual product postings at Etsy, but PLEASE NOTE: All cards from my Etsy shop this week will be mailed out on Saturday, January 30. So, if you’re ordering from outside the US (or from Hawaii or Alaska), I can’t guarantee delivery by Valentine’s Day. Just so you know. :)
Three Valentine’s Day Cards – Stampin’ Up! cardstock in Kraft and Real Red, Candy Lane Designer Series Paper, I {Heart} Hearts stamp set, small heart and Pinking Hearts edge punches, and white satin ribbon; Martha Stewart Crafts Postage Stamp punch; Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink in Chesnut Roan.
The Cricut vs. Silhouette debate is alive and well in my craft room. At least when it comes to cutting straight from my iMac. (I can’t speak for comparisons between the two concerning cartridges, since only the Cricut uses cartridges). :)
Over the last couple weeks, I’ve been trying to cut intricate word art from my computer to my Cricut Expression. Maybe I need to adjust the settings on my Cricut even more, but I just couldn’t get it to cut my designs the way I wanted. For some reason, it was rounding all my sharp corners, and over-cutting some corners (the over-cutting i solved by reflecting my design and cutting it backwards. When I turned the cardstock over, the over-cutting didn’t show). Hard to explain, but believe me, it was odd.
At first I thought I just needed a new blade, so I swapped that out. Then, a new cutting mat. Then I adjusted the speed and pressure. The new blade and different settings helped a bit, but overall, it was still unsatisfactory. I was at a total loss, frustrated, and wanted to throw my Cricut across the room.
NOTE: I realize that I’m being a perfectionist. Of course, the result from the Cricut was okay, but I wanted the machine to cut exactly what I had designed, WITHOUT any changes.
Then I remembered that I had cut super thin and intricate designs with my Silhouette last spring while I was designing my digital kits for TwoPeas. Like SUPER thin stuff. I was testing the limits of the Silhouette to see how detailed I could get. After I got my Cricut and was happy with it for a month or two, I took my Silhouette to work and used it to mock up things. It just sat on my desk and didn’t get used too much.
So, on Wednesday night, I brought my Silhouette home and hooked it up again. I tried cutting the same thing my Cricut had failed to cut. HOLY CRAP! The Silhouette was awesome! It cut straight corners. No overcutting. It was lovely. :)
Here are the comparison images. Notice the corners…
The corners were much cleaner on the Silhouette.
Now, I can handle a little bit of rounding corners, but may the typography gods forgive me, LOOK WHAT IT DID TO THE TYPE! (look away, look away I tell you). Notice how the Cricut warped the width of the letters (specifically the two sides of the letter A), while the Silhouette preserved the integrity of the type. Both of these were cut from the same file (about 2-3/4″ square in size)…
Now, I realize there are quite a few factors that might be causing the Cricut to cut differently. I am using SCAL, which might adjust the design, but I highly doubt it. It seems to be more of a firmware issue than a problem with the actual mechanics of the machine. As if the programming on the machine is dumbing down the design, even through the machine probably could cut it correctly.
This “softening” of the edges is exactly what I experienced when I tried to cut smaller designs on a Making Memories Slice machine, and one of the reasons I haven’t used the Slice in over a year. It sort of “blobbed” smaller images. Totally strange and gross. Just give me sharp edges, and for the love of all that’s good in the world, DO NOT mess with my type, dangit! :)
So, in the great Cricut vs. Silhouette debate, the Silhouette has pulled ahead. Just my opinion.
For this week’s Finally Friday card, I wanted to do two things: use Origins patterned papers from BasicGrey, and try cutting an intricate design with my Cricut (more on that in a entry later today). For the intricate design, I chose one of the more loopy and thin designs from the Card Words Designer Cuts digital kit. Anyhow, the pairing of the Origins paper and a white sentiment was perfect!
I decided to use a black card base because I wanted the white sentiment to stand out even more. TIP for using black cardstock: Black cardstock can look very flat and boring. Create interest by adding a texture with embossing (heated or dry). Sometimes you can also make it more interesting with a different shape of card. I did this with clear embossing the Designer Woodgrain stamp from Hero Arts.
CHALLENGE: Create a card using black cardstock, or create a thank you card. :) Simply upload a creation for this challenge to the TwoPeas gallery, select this Finally Friday video when you upload your image, and your creation will be linked up the challenge and appear at the bottom of the FF page.
NOTE: Because there are so many videos below, there will not be a Make a Card Monday video this week. We’ll be back to the regular schedule next week. :)
Wow, you guys had a LOT of questions. I was going to continue to spread these out over the course of this week, but after spending a good portion of the day attached to a computer editing the videos (yes, all 10 of them in total), I just want to get these out there so that I can breathe a little bit again. :) It was fun to answer all the questions, but who knew it would stretch to 10 videos! LOL!
Anyway, the previous two videos were up last week. Here are the remaining eight…
STAMPS
Where can I buy the stamps and ink you use?
What do you do with stamps that you arent using anymore?
Which clear stamps work with ink better?
What do I do if my clear stamps dont work with ink well?
Which clear stamps work best with SU inks?
Does chalk ink stain stamps?
Im building my stamp collection. Where should I start?
Do you ever press the ink onto the stamp, instead of pressing the stamp on the ink pad?
How do you get a nice, clean stamped image?
How do you maximize the use of your stamps?
How do I make a clear stamp sticky again?
How do you clean VersaMark ink off stamps?
How do you store your rubber and acrylic stamps?
How many stamp sets do you own?
SUPPLIES
Do you purchase all your supplies? Do you get some for free?
Whats your crafting budget?
What do you always have in your stash?
What are some tips for organizing supplies? What about small embellishments?
How do you stay up with all the design trends?
What is your favorite product line?
Is there ever something you love so much that you dont to put it on a card or give it away?
Where do you find jewel cases for your calendars?
Where do you buy kraft cardstock?
Have you ever used micro beads?
If you were to buy one expensive crafting tool, what would it be?
What do you do with supplies/paper youre no longer using?
Where can I find less expensive supplies?
TECHNIQUES How do you get straight faux stitching? How can you prevent skipping?
How do I use a blender pen?
When you make an envelope, what do you use to seal it?
How do you emboss without getting powder on areas you dont want?
When covering chipboard, how you do cover the edges?
How do you use magnets on pages and albums?
How do you use Velcro on card and mini albums?
DIGITAL, CRICUT, DIE-CUTTING MACHINES What tips do you have for Photoshop?
Do you do hybrid scrapbooking or cardmaking? What cardstock do you print on?
Are you going to design more SVG files?
Have you ever used Inkscape?
Is a Cricut Expression a good investment?
When I open SVG files in SCAL nothing happens?
Does using SCAL void the warranty on your Cricut?
Have you ever used a Making Memories Slice?
Do you use your Sizzix Big Shot often? Would you recommend it?
Do you ever use Spellbinders dies for Cuttlebug folders?
What is your favorite die-cutting machine (besides Cricut)?
CARDS
Do you hand deliver cards?
When you mail cards, what do you do when theres thick ribbon or buttons?
What cardstock is the best for card bases?
What colors of cardstock should beginners have in their stash?
Do you sign the back of your cards?
What do you do on the inside of cards?
What are the standard dimensions of card?
Can you mention the dimensions of pieces you place on cards?
Can anyone sells cards on Etsy?
How do you get a good picture of your cards?
What is your favorite adhesive for cards?
Why do you prefer using a tape runner for cards?
When you take pictures of your cards, how do you pick the patterned paper in the background?
PRODUCT DESIGN, GRAPHIC DESIGN, WORK What products did you design for SU?
Where do you work now? Do you work from home?
How long have you been doing graphic design?
Are you going to CHA?
HANDWRITING, PERSONAL, MISC. Is your handwriting used on the titles in the 2009-2010 SU Catalog?
Will you ever make a font out of your handwriting?
Why are you getting acrylic nails?
How do you keep your manicure looking nice when papercrafting and working with inks?
What is your favorite brand of makeup?
What do you use for skin care?
When do you update your Flickr account?
How did you do you hair in the Ask your Questions video?
How do you get healthy hair? What do you use on your hair?
How do you add a shopping cart to your blog?
Are you doing any other video series like the Holiday Card Series?
Were you into cardmaking while in college?
When did you start cardmaking? How did you get into it?
Where did you go to college?
What program do you use for your blog?
Where do you get the mailers you use when mailing cards sold on Etsy?
Can past Virtual Card Clubs be purchased?
Have you ever gone on a crafting cruise?
Do you have a family pet?
What do you have planned for 2010?
Will you ever create your own line of cardmaking supplies?
Is the Flip Ultra a good investment?
How do you export HD video from iMovie 09?
How do you set a theme in Wordpress?
MAKEUP ROUTINE Products mentioned:
Boscia Soothing Cleansing Cream
Clarisonic
Boscia Vital Daily Moisturizer
Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch
MAC Painterly Paint Pot
MAC Shroom Eveshadow
MAC Vanilla Eyeshadow
MAC Satin Taupe Eyeshadow
Make Up For Ever HD Foundation
Make Up For Ever HD Powder
NARS Orgasm blush
Anatasia eyebrow set
MAC Dipdown Fluidline liner
CoverGirl LashBlast
EyeCurl II
MAC Creme-de-Nude lipstick
MAC Date Night Dazzleglass
