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Archive for March, 2010
Introducing Month to Month Print Subscriptions!
March 31st, 2010 
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In response to requests from our readers, Northridge Publishing is proud to announce that you may now subscribe to any of its five publications on a month-to-month basis.
Click here for more information.
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Ana Cabrera
Introducing Month to Month Print Subscriptions!
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In response to requests from our readers, Northridge Publishing is proud to announce that you may now subscribe to any of its five publications on a month-to-month basis.
Click here for more information.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE MAGAZINE!
Ana Cabrera
WOW #38: Create Your Own Lace Cardstock
Lace cardstock is everywhere and it’s absolutely lovely! Today for our “Work It Out Wednesday” I’d like to show you how to use your electronic die cut machines to create your own lace cardstock. I’m going keep this fairly simple, but once you get the hang of it you can get as detailed as you like.
I will be using two different die cut machines for today’s project: the Cricut Machine from Provo Craft, and the Silhouette Die Cut Machine. You will need your electronic die cutting machine, a sheet of cardstock, and a die cut shape of your choice. Today we’ll select just one shape for each machine (like I said–simple!).
Silhouette Instructions:
Step 1: Insert your cardstock, on the appropriate cutting mat, into the machine.
Step 2: Open up a new document within your Silhouette software and make sure the “grid” is visible. NOTE: The grid is divided into .5″ squares.
Step 3: Select a simple shape from your “Library” and paste it on the document. I chose to just create a circle on my document.
Step 4: Resize shape until slightly smaller. Mine is about .5″ tall.
Step 5: Copy and paste shape several times on document. I slightly offset my shapes for a more interesting design.
Step 6: Cut out the design.
Cricut Machine:
Step 1: Insert cardstock, on appropriate cutting mat, into the machine.
Step 2: Insert selected cartridge on the machine and select a shape. I chose the three heart shape from the “Walk In My Garden” cartridge.
Step 4: Resize. I switched mine to 1.5″ tall.
Step 5: Select the ”Quantity” button and select the number of shapes you would like to cut out. The machine will inform you if there is enough room to cut the number you’ve selected on your sheet of cardstock. I selected 24 and it ended up cutting 1 1/2 rows. NOTE: Following the measurements on the cutting mat determine how many you think will fit on the paper for the size of shape you’ve selected.
Step 6: Cut out design.
And here is a project using a portion of both of the lace cardstock pieces that I created:
(Supplies: Cardstock–Die Cuts with a View, Bazzill, Provo Craft; Pattern Paper–Basic Grey; Letter Stamps–PSX; Date Stamp–Office Supply; “The Most Wonderful Story” stamp–Technique Tuesday; Embossing Powder–American Crafts; Stamping Ink–Memento, Michael’s, Versamark; Photo Corner Die Cut–Quickutz; Die Cutting Machines–Silhouette, Cricut, Cuttlebug; Staple–Office Supply; Brads–Making Memories; Label Punch–Marvy Uchida; Corner Rounder Punch–Fiskars; Ribbon–KI Memories)
Once you understand the basics of this process you can overlap shapes, add shapes in varying sizes, and add additional shapes. Play around with your machine until you feel comfortable. I typically keep some inexpensive cardstock on hand for trying these techniques.
Did you try this tutorial? We’d love to see it! Just leave a link to your project in the comments section below!
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Jen Gallacher
Blog Spotting: Banners
I’ve been reading a lot of your blogs over many months and frequently see themes in the cards posted. It is so fun for me to see the different styles of designers using the same theme. Not only is it inspiring, but it’s also motivating. I always want to break out my supplies and create a card that is uniquely me.
I’d like to introduce you to a new feature on the CARDS blog: Blog Spottings! I will be on the look-out for themes in your cards and will post a few that I find inspiring. This week, I am seeing banners everywhere. (Not surprising. They are darling!) I was delighted when I came across the following four cards. They all have a completely different feel and design.
Kelly created this amazing card using her new Petite Florals stamp set. The brightly colored flowers paired with the solid yellow banner make this card oh-so-sweet.
Ashley‘s muted colors are peaceful; a perfect way to accompany a hot-air balloon stamp, don’t you think? I love that she used twine to stitch the banner together. Such a beautiful card!
Tiffany inspires me with her collage-like banner card. I love the bold colors and the geometric shapes. This card definitely stands out!
Lovely cards, ladies! Thank you for sharing your talent with us. Feel free to add the “Blog Spotted” badge to your blog.
<div align="center"><a href="http://northridgemedia.net/blogs/cards/?cat=37" title="Blog Spotted by CARDS" target="_blank"><img src="http://northridgemedia.net/blogs/create/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Blog-Spotting-Button.png" alt="Blog Spotted by CARDS" style="border:none;" /></a></div>
I’d love to “Blog Spot” you! Please leave a link to your blog in the comments and I’ll be sure to check out your creations in the future!
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Hannah Craner
Create: For the Home – Felt Applique Pillows
Kate Ryskamp created some beautiful pillows for our For the Home idea book. Rose pillow instructions are in the book, and bonus instructions for the purple heart and turquoise circle pillows are right here. (Online edition of For the Home is available here.) Thanks, Kate! These are some really gorgeous, easy-to-do pillows, and it’d be easy to customize them with your own designs if you felt so inclined. Get it? Felt inclined? And that was totally unintentional… all my corniest jokes are.
Purple Heart Frame Pillow Front
1. For your pillow front, cut a piece of felt 1” larger than the height and width of your pillow form.
2. Cut out a scalloped frame and three hearts from purple felt. (Use a scalloped chipboard frame as a template, or draw your own.)
3. Pin frame in place, centered on pillow.
4. Stitch down along the inside of the frame approximately 1/8” from the edge and then again approximately 3/8” from your first stitching line.
5. Layer the three hearts together and pin in place in the center of the frame.
6. Stitch one line down the center of the hearts. Back stitch at the top and bottom as these hearts will have stress on them over time.
Turquoise Circles Pillow Front
1. For your pillow front, cut a piece of felt 1” larger than the height and width of your pillow form.
2. Trace three bowls on turquoise felt, overlapping them. Trace smaller bowls inside each of the larger ones and cut out, making sure to cut off any marker or pen marks.
3. Cut smaller circles from the same felt.
4. Pin the design to your pillow front.
5. Stitch design down approximately 1/8” inside of each edge.
Pillow Back (for a removable cover)
1. Cut two pieces of felt for the back of the pillow. Each piece needs to be the same height as the front piece and half the width, plus 2”.
2. Fold one long edge of each piece under 1” and topstitch in place. This will help the felt keep its shape when you insert and remove a pillow form.
3. Place both back pieces against the decorated front piece, right sides together, and with the topstitched edges of the back pieces in the center, overlapping just slightly. Pin in place.
4. Stitch around the edges with about ½” seam allowance.
5. Clip corners, turn right side out. Insert pillow.
Pillow Back (for a permanent cover)
1. Cut a piece of felt the same size as your pillow front.
2. Pin the front and back together, right sides facing, and sew around the edges with about ½” seam allowance, leaving a wide opening on one side.
3. Clip corners, turn right side out. Insert pillow form and whipstitch the opening closed.
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Tammy Morrill
Create a Color Journal
I love “meeting” creative people! I always feel so inspired and happy when I find someone that shares a creative passion with me. And today I’d like to introduce you to a VERY creative person . . . Anne Gaal.
Anne majored in English in college and later became a technical writer and web developer. She also took many college art classes, including art history, drawing, painting, and photography. She has also studied photography through an at-home course through the New York Institute of Photography. You can find her amazing photography in her Etsy shop here.
Anee used to do lots of color tests on scrap pieces of paper and then threw them away. One day she realized that she was testing the same thing over and over again and decided to keep all her tests and organize them into a color journal she could refer to often. And thus began her Color Journal. She tracks her color journey on her blog Gaal Creative. She agreed to let us share some of this fabulous project with you today.
Anne planned ahead and selected special testing paper for each of her color products. She chose paper that she would actually use on her projects so that the colors of ink, paint, stickles, etc. would cleverly match the end result. Here are some of the pages within her book:
Ranger Stickles Glitter Glue:
She Writes: “One of the questions I often ask myself is whether the Stickles™ will show up well on dark colors. So, I took a piece of black cardstock and adhered it to a piece of white cardstock. Then I tested each of my Stickles™ colors so they covered both white and black cardstock. As you can see, the Stickles™ do show up well even on the dark cardstock.”
Stamping Inks:
She writes: “I went to an office supply store and bought a large container of small tags on string. I put some scrap paper down on my work surface, held the string end of the tag, and then dragged each color of ink across a tag in a style known as “direct to paper” (DTP). Basically, I rubbed the ink directly on the tags – and holding the tags by the string helped me get less inky in the process!”
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Jen Gallacher
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