Three New Things

 I've been in a funny sort of mood lately, feeling like I really need to change some things. That's a bit strange for me, since I usually have a hard time with change. But there comes a time when even I have to admit that change can be good. I guess I've come to realize that if you always keep things exactly the same -- or keep doing the same things -- you'll miss out on a lot of what life has to offer.

So in the past few days, I've decided to embark on three new things. Just putting these plans in place has made me feel better, as I try to re-shape my life with positive, uplifting activities!

 #1 - Garden Re-Design

For years I have struggled to achieve my "vision" of cottage-style gardens around our house. Each summer I work so hard, only to end up disappointed and frustrated with my results. So I contacted and met with a garden designer who is going to help re-design my flower beds. She will provide me with a new plan using my existing plants (and some new ones!), then I'll do the work of moving things around to fit the plan. This will likely be a multi-year project. I'm so excited to get started!

  

  #2 - Family History

 When we moved my grandma to a nursing home in February, I became the keeper of her genealogy books. Grandma has worked very hard on our family history over the years, and we had planned for me to be the one to carry the torch for her. I truly believe these books are a treasure...but I don't have a clue where to start. So I signed up for a genealogy class! I'm excited to dive into this project and see how I can integrate it with my scrapbooking.

 

 #3 - Antiques Booth

 After sorting through boxes and boxes of stuff in our basement, I finally decided enough was enough. So I signed up to be a vendor at a local antique store! I chose a small vendor case, which will allow me to display and sell a few items at a time. I will be setting up my display on June 1, so watch for more information! I can't wait to make a dent in the stuff around here.

 

Stay tuned for updates on these three new things! I truly believe each will be a positive -- and hopefully FUN -- addition to my life!

jp

Step by Step: Taylored Expressions Stamp & Die Sets

 In the past year, I've become a big fan of stamp and die sets! I first bought the Hero Arts/Sizzix sets and have more recently purchased some by Taylored Expressions. As you can see in this post (written by Bailey last summer), the Hero Arts/Sizzix dies are open on the back, making it very easy to center them around a stamped image and cut it out using the Big Shot. The Taylored Expressions dies are "solid" on the back, meaning that you can't see through the back of them, so it takes a couple of additional steps to use them. In today's post, I'll show you how to do it, step by step!

Considering my great love for owls, I could not resist this adorable owl stamp and die set. The owls are cute (I'm picky about owl faces! No creepy owls!) and the greetings are great for cards.

As you can see, the backs of these dies are solid and each one comes with an "alignment hole". I'm glad I read that on the Taylored Expressions website, or I would have cut them off!!! When you first open these dies, you have to snap them (or cut them) apart.

 

 Next, you'll need to make a template by cutting your die on a piece of scrap cardstock. This is an extra step which is not required for dies which are open on the back. In a minute, you'll see why this is necessary. I used a piece of brown cardstock and ran the die through my Big Shot on Tab 2 of the Multi-Purpose Platform.

 Next, stamp your image on cardstock. (If you plan to color it with Copics, be sure to use Memento ink and Neenah cardstock! I learned that from my friend Katie in her Copic Marker Basic class at Memory Bound!) I stamped my image onto white cardstock.
  

 Now align your template around the stamped image. See those holes? Using a very fine-tipped pen, draw around each one. Taylor recommends making a "ring" versus coloring in the entire hole so that it's easier later to align the die.

 So now we have the stamped image with the holes outlined.
  

Now you'll see why we needed to do those extra steps! Position your die (ridge side toward the stamped image) by placing the alignment holes around the outlined rings. When properly positioned, the rings should not be visible through the holes on the die. Secure the die to the cardstock with a Post-It note or removable tape so it does not shift when you run it through the Big Shot.

  

And here's your cut-out image, with a little bit of white showing around the edges. (Don't look at my coloring too closely as it leaves a lot to be desired!)

 

I love all the new stamp and die sets which are on the market right now! Once you try them, you'll be hooked!
jp

Step by Step: Die Cutting Printed Text

 In today's post, I'll show you a quick little trick for die cutting around printed text. While I sometimes enjoy stamping, I'll admit that I often prefer the clean, crisp look of printed text, especially if I'm using textured cardstock. I also like to be able to customize my text to fit the situation.

For this project, I started with my new 3x3 Tuck and Close Notecard die by Taylored Expressions. I've made several cards with this fun little die! Because of its small size, you can cut three cards from an 8.5x11 sheet of cardstock.

 The die itself has a nice scoring line and a little half-moon for the closure. When cut, it has a little extra "room" in it so you can use it as a lollipop holder! I'm not sure why I haven't tried that yet. You can see an example on the Taylored Expressions website. 

 

But I digress! In this post, I want to share a bit about die cutting around printed text. This is a similar technique to the one I used in making labels for my card basket, with a couple of twists.

For this particular card, I planned to use my new owl stamps. (How many owl stamps does one person need? I don't even want to count how many I have at this point!) I colored and cut out the owl and branch (more on that in my next post) and determined where I would position them on my card.

In this case, I wanted to print "HELLO THERE" on my card. I chose those two words so they would line up exactly when using the Pharmacy font. :) I planned to use my Spellbinders square label die, so I placed the actual die on the card front to determine approximately where the text would be positioned on it. Based on that, I could tell that the text needed to be in the upper right corner of the die cut piece. 

With information in mind, I measured the die and created a text box of the same size using Word. I positioned my text within the text box in the proper spot, then I removed the lines. (Did really need to create that text box? Couldn't I have just situated the die around the text? Yes, but having the text box gives me a visual confirmation on the screen of how the text will look when positioned on the die cut!)

Next, I printed the text, positioned the die around it (with the ridge side down), and ran it through the Big Shot.

 

 And here's the completed card, with the text positioned exactly where I wanted it, leaving room for the other elements. (Don't look closely at the Copic coloring, as it leaves quite a bit to be desired!) I saved the template on my computer to use for future cards. Just print and cut!

What would I do without Word and my Spellbinders dies? They are two of my favorite tools for card making!
jp

Step by Step: Hybrid Page with Word

 As much appreciation as I have for digital scrapbooking, I don't think I'll ever become a digital scrapbooker. I enjoy the tactile world of paper too much to abandon it for a screen! Having said that, I'm firmly entrenched in my own version of "hybrid" scrapbooking (using a computer to create certain elements of a page). The difference between me and other hybrid scrapbookers is that I haven't invested in Photoshop or other "real" digital tools: I use only Picasa and Microsoft Word. In today's post, I'll share with you how I approach a typical page using Word as a design tool. (Click on any of the photos -- especially the screen shots -- for a closer look.)

1. Arrange Photos for Printing
I don't usually print photos at home but when I do, I typically copy/paste them into a Word document and print several at a time on an 8.5x11 sheet of photo paper. Depending on the size of the photos, this is usually less wasteful than printing via Picasa. For instance, to print a single 5x7 photo for my page in Picasa would have resulted in all of this wasted paper:

Instead, I copied and pasted the photo into a Word document, then adjusted the size to 5x7. I set the "wrapping" to square so that several other photos could be added to the 8.5x11 page prior to printing. In this case, I had 2 smaller photos to print, too, so I decided to create my own "collage":

2. Design Layout
Instead of just printing the photos, I often take things a step further and use Word as a "mock-up" tool for layout design. 

As you can see here, I've created a true-to-size "canvas" to work on by simply changing the size of my page to 12x12. This makes it easier to see how the completed design will look. I moved the pictures around until I liked the arrangement, then I linked them via the "group" function so they wouldn't slide out of place. Using Word as a design tool is a great way to plan pages!

Given the size of the photos, I had to fill that awkward little space below the 5x7 picture. I created a small text box and "filled" it with purple to occupy the space, thinking I'd cut some patterned paper for that area once I printed the photos. 

Next I started playing around with how/where to place my title and journaling, again using text boxes to create a mock-up of how everything might fit together:

I don't have 12x12 photo paper (it's available...I'm just too cheap to buy it!) so once I was ready to print, I switched the page size back to 8.5x11 and removed the mock-up title/journaling pieces, saving them to another document so I'd have the correct size to work with.

3. Print Photos
Meanwhile, I decided to leave the purple text box in place and print it out with the photos as a design element. Here's the photo document ready to print:

This is my beloved Canon wide-format printer. It does a great job with photos and allows me to print on 12x12 paper, which I do a LOT. Unfortunately this model is no longer made, so it will be a sad day when I have to replace it or can no longer get ink!

 Here's the photo collage printed out and ready to cut:

 

4.  Design Title and Journaling
 With the top portion of the layout done, I was ready to focus on the title and journaling. I looked through my sticker and chipboard letters but couldn't find anything I liked, so I decided to die cut the title. Due to the font size, I knew immediately that my initial plan for the title and journaling would not work, so I cut a piece of scrap paper in the size I'd originally planned then started playing around with the space. Title at the right, sub-title under it, and journaling at the left:

 I measured the spaces on my paper mock-up and then created text boxes with those same dimensions in a 12x12 Word document:

 

 I created a separate text box for the journaling so that I could give it a dot border. It's easy to do this via the "line style" function:

 5. Print Title and Journaling
I typed my journaling in the text box, then created a separate text box for my sub-title which I decided to print on photo paper. I printed it on scrap paper first:

6. Adhere!
 Once I had everything finalized, I printed the piece on yellow cardstock and cut it to fit. I placed all the elements on the page without adhering them, just to be sure:

 

Then I decided to add a large square mat of light purple paper behind it all for a little added depth. Here's the completed page:

If you've never used Word for layout design, I encourage you to give it a try. I think you'll find that it's a surprisingly powerful (and economical!) tool for scrapbookers!
jp