Indigo Inklings

I'm ba-a-a-ck! :-)

2009-11-20T13:26:00.009-06:00

I took an unplanned hiatus from blogging for the past several weeks. Life got busy and unfortunately crafting and blogging tend to be the first to head to the bottom of the to-do list. Thanks to those who have written to ask how things are going or to mention that they've haven't seen any new posts lately. It's nice to be missed. :-) I did a lot of catching up this past week and made time to do some card-making today. Felt good to get all crafty! :-)

Here are some of the cards that I made....

This first card was made using a couple of the large QuicKutz border embossing folders. The sentiment was added using the Joy border punch by Martha Stewart. The cardinal was also made using a punch by Martha Stewart then set off with dimensional adhesive. I also added a score line at the top so that the ornaments wouldn't just be floating on the card front.

I got on a roll using the border punches by Martha. Here's another card using the Frosty Village punch. I scored and folded a small "card" to attach to that A2 size blue cardstock that I'd embossed using the QuicKutz snowflakes folder. I punched out the border (both layers at once, actually) then added the stamped snowflakes and sentiment by Inkadinkado before attaching it to the blue layer.

Here's a card that I made in similar fashion to the one I just described. For this one I used some Cuttlebug embossing folder designs instead of stamping. The background is Winter Trees and the other Season's Greetings. (These were RAK'd to me, btw.)

For this last card I decided to add a bit of a twist. Okay. To be honest, I was going to follow the same design as with the other cards but use the evergreen trees edge punch in the background instead. Well, the frosty village ended up looking backward to me because of the way I'd punched it. Looked good when I folded it the other way. Hm. So, I decided that I'd try to go with that. I think it worked out. I added the stamped sentiment by Studio G to the bottom corner and attached it to the front of a card that I'd embossed using a Sizzix textured impressions folder. It was a nice change from the typical A2 card and a fun departure from the other two cards that I'd designed earlier. I love it when "mistakes" like that work out. :-)

That's it for now. Again, thanks to those of you who've written, and thanks to those of you who are still visiting and reading here despite my absence. I'm hoping that the holidays won't become so busy that I won't have at least some time for crafting and for blogging. :-)

Feels like fall

2009-10-01T12:46:00.004-05:00

And since it feels like fall, I made a couple of cards that have to do with fall.

Here they are....

This first card was very simple. I used an Inkadinkado image that I stamped on decorative card stock. I added the sentiment from TPC Studio. I layered it onto green card stock, but thought that it still needed a little something more to add interest, so I added some decorative scoring with my Scor-It before mounting it on the kraft card front.

This is another card that was fairly quick to make. I found another Martha Stewart punch around the page set of punches that I hadn't seen before. Since I'd gone into Michael's specifically looking for something that I could use my 40% off coupon on, I had to buy it. :-) So the punching above was made using the Deco Fan set. The sentiment is by Inkadinkado and stamped using Memento dye inks.

We interrupt today's crafting....

2009-09-22T14:14:00.002-05:00

Sorry, no crafting being done here today. I am celebrating the release of Diana Gabaldon's 7th book in her Outlander series. Picked up my copy this morning....

No worries, crafting will resume soon. I just need to get my Jamie and Claire fix. :-)

punching around the page

2009-09-21T13:55:00.006-05:00

I have a quick post with a couple of cards that I made using two of Martha Stewart's Punch Around the Page corner and edge punches. They were called continuous edge punches before. Different name now, but the same idea, and this time there were even instructions included! LOL! Progress!

This first card was made using the Scallop 3-Dot punches. Same deal as before. You still need to cut your card stock to specific sizes for the corner design to match up with the edge. The two white squares that I started with were 5 x 5 inches and 3.25 x 3.25 inches. The edges need to be cut in increments of 1.75" to work, so 6.75 inches and 8.5 inches, and so on, would work as well. That background stamp was by Hero Arts and the sunflower is by Inkadinkado and colored using Copic Spica glitter markers.

For this card I used the Fall Leaves punches on a 3.25 x 5 inch piece of orange card stock. The stamped images and sentiment are by Inkadinkado and stamped using Memento inks. The embossed flourish was made using a Cuttlebug border embossing folder from the Organic Flourishes set.

That's it for now. We've been playing the guess if this is a cold vs the flu for the past week and a half. Been a bit of a challenge, but I think everyone is on the right track again and back in school so I had a bit of time to craft while also trying to catch up on errands. Fun stuff! :-)

organizing my Nestabilities dies, a chart

2009-09-08T10:41:00.008-05:00

Yes, I really should be taking advantage of my "free" time to do some card-making, but not having stuff organized so that I know what I have and can put my hands on it can drive me nuts sometimes! So, the items that were frustrating me this weekend were my Spellbinders dies. They've made so many, um, and I've bought so many, that I can't keep track of what I've got any more. I decided to compile a list of what I have. Then I decided that it might be better to just make a checklist instead. And if that wasn't enough, I decided to put it in spreadsheet form so that I could print out the list again, if needed. Yes, my simple plan had turned complicated. You know what though? It wasn't so bad and it didn't take too long to do it. Would have loved to have found a list already compiled on the internet, but sadly my searches had come up empty.

Here's a peek at what it ended up looking like....

Originally I was only going to catalog my Nestabilities, but again, the need to be organized compelled me to add Borderabilities, and if I was going to do that, then might as well include the Pierceabilities, too, so why not Pendants and Frameabilities as well? I did draw the line at the Shapeabilities though! And since I have no great love of the Impressabilities, I left them off as well.

If this is something that you might find useful, I've put it on my website in pdf form. That means that you'll need an application that can read pdf files, like Adobe Acrobat Reader. The list of Nesties is fairly long, so when I printed this out in landscape format, it took up 2 pages plus a bit of a third page. I added some columns so you can check off what you have, or if you've organized your dies in folders or CD/DVD cases, you could jot the location in there (just write very small! LOL!).

Here's the link to the file: http://www.indigojay.com/crafting/nestabilities.pdf

Happy organizing! :-)

one pass, two cards embellished

2009-09-06T14:43:00.002-05:00

These are a couple of cards that were fairly quick and easy to make. I used the Cuttlebug Damask Frame A2 die to cut some patterned Die Cuts With a View card stock. I think this was from the Taj Mahal collection.

I adhered some of the die cuts to the front of this card, backing the opening of the damask design with white card stock that I'd embossed using the A2 embossing folder that made up the other half of the Damask Frame combo. The sentiment is by Hero Arts.

Here you can see that I embossed the entire card front using the A2 embossing folder, or at least as much of the card front that I could fit into the folder. I scored some lines near the top fold using my Scor-It. I didn't like the blank space that had been left up there. This time I used the 'negative' of that die cut over some white card stock. The images are by Technique Tuesday and stamped using Memento dye inks.

I wasn't sure if I'd use the die part of this combo very often, but now that I've given it a try, I'm starting to see more possibilities, not to mention that I was able to get a fair amount of mileage from a single pass through the die cut machine.

a sunflower bouquet - DCM challenge

2009-09-05T08:11:00.006-05:00

It's been ages since I've made a card for a challenge. This week's daring cardmakers theme of sunflowers got me out of my chair and down the stairs to create a card though. Here are the details:

So, this week it's Rein's turn to set the dare and the theme is simple and straightforward;

SUNFLOWERS

We love their happy, sunny appearance, somehow seeing them never fails to cheer, does it? So we'd like to see lots and lots of glorious, cheerful sunflowers on your cards. Poor Rein has had a nasty fall and is very sore and bruised, so hopefully a great big bouquet of sunflowers will cheer her up and bring a smile back to her face.

Here's my card....

The sunflower die cut was made using sunflower dies by Spellbinders. The background layer was edged using the Fiskars lace and lattice corner edger punch and was stamped with sunflower and sun images by Hero Arts. The sentiment is also by Hero Arts. Originally I was going to trim the sunflower and keep the card A2 size. Once I tacked it on the card front though, I decided that I liked the way it looked sticking out beyond the edges and decided to leave it in all its popping-out-of-the-card glory.

Loved the theme, Rein, and I hope that you feel better. :-)

break out the popcorn

2009-09-04T16:43:00.016-05:00

Unless you've been engaged in a glorious frenzy of crafting that hasn't allowed you to read any crafting blogs or forums on the internet for the last few days, you've probably heard about Stampin' Up! and the new Independent Demonstrator Agreement (IDA) that their demos are being asked to sign by the end of this month. Wow, talk about opening a big can of worms! There have been discussions galore and the gamut of reactions from hard-core demos, hobby demos, customers, fans.... I'm torn between feeling like I'm watching a soap opera vs a train wreck happening in slow motion.

Rather than try to summarize what's been going on, I'll link to a post on Craft Critique where they discuss reaction to the IDA as well as relate some of Stampin' Up!'s response to the almost immediate harsh criticism they received. There's a link to the IDA as well, so all of the information is there and can be read and you can draw your own conclusions rather than taking my word for it.

Now I'm not a big fan of Stampin' Up! I do have a few of their stamp sets and I have some of the dies and textured impressions folders that they've released in conjunction with Sizzix. I've just never really gotten into their line of products the way some folks have. But I find myself feeling badly for the hobby demos--they're the ones who have probably been the most affected by the IDA. There are more restrictions now in that demos cannot be on design teams for companies producing competing products, nor can they link in their blogs to sites selling competing products. They're even discouraged from mentioning the companies by name if they happen to use cardstock or a die or an embellishment made by a competitor. This was all framed as an effort to protect, and even enhance (?!), the business of the demos. This is the revised version, btw, the version that came about as a result of people objecting to the initial attempt by Stampin' Up to exercise very stringent control over just what could be linked to in personal blogs and electronic communications, even extending into areas not involving SU! at all. They've loosened their grip a bit, but people are already angry and upset, and even this revision may not be enough to appease the crafters who would rather walk away from SU! rather than feel like they've compromised their rights and principles. So it remains to be seen if SU! will make any more concessions.

Personally, I wasn't buying much in the way of SU! product before all of this happened. I'm less interested in supporting them now. I feel for those who are now having to make some tough choices. I also find it rather shameless of SU! to "allow" and even encourage their demos to push SU! products on general crafting forums and to potential customers, but only mention other products that may have been used in the making of a card in the most general of terms. I understand not wanting to give business to "the competition", but as I say and do here on my blog, give credit where it's due. It's not enough to say that if someone is curious enough to write and ask, demos can give out more details. The crafting world has always been better about sharing information than that. The spirit of sharing that I've always encountered from stampers is seriously lacking with the enforcement of this agreement, and it's a big disappointment. As I come across blogs in Google Reader that go the way of becoming exclusively SU!, I'll be unsubscribing. I'd already avoided subscribing to most of the hard-core demo blogs--sounds like I'll be unsubbing to some now. I know that there are a lot of creative SU! demo/bloggers out there who do lovely work, but I'd rather invest my time in reading and being inspired by folks who are embracing more of what the crafting world has to offer and who are willing to share information without prodding.

Anyway, I'm lumping SU! in with Provo Craft. I'm unimpressed by the way they treat their people and by the way that they've elected to conduct their business. As a consumer, I'll be spending my crafting money elsewhere when I do my shopping. There are too many other choices out there these days. Just FYI though--since I know that many readers come by to check out alternative ways of using crafting tools and Cuttlebug folders in particular--I will still be trying to come up with innovative ways of using embossing folders. I'm not tossing out what I have already. I'm just refusing to support them in the future if they continue their current practices. So, you may not see the latest and greatest from Provo Craft when they start releasing new stuff, but you'll probably still find some creative ways of using it here. :-)

scored die cuts

2009-09-04T13:39:00.006-05:00

Two or three weeks ago, I had this idea of using the Scor-It board and ruler in a different way. I wanted to decoratively score die cuts instead of card layers or card fronts--not that there's anything at all wrong with doing either of those things. I just wanted a change. I tried it. I liked it. I wanted to share it, but I also enjoy posting cards as examples. Well, that's what caused the delay. Took me a while to get back to my crafting because of the beginning of school and all of the activities that go along with that, and also because omigosh, I have a high schooler now! LOL! Time really does fly!

Things are settling down now, so here are a couple of cards that I made earlier using those die cuts....

I used Spellbinders scalloped circle Nestabilities dies for this card and scored it using my Scor-It and Scor-It ruler. The background stamping was done using an image by A Muse Art Stamps and Memento dye inks. The sentiment is by Hampton Arts and stamped with Versafine Black Onyx ink.

For this card I used another Spellbinders Nestabilities die, this time from the scalloped hearts set. The stamped image and sentiment are by Hero Arts. Again the scoring was done using my Scor-It board and Scor-It ruler.

I think that venturing into the realm of scored die cuts ended up being a not-so-bad idea, even if it did take me quite a while to get around to showcasing it, and it's an idea that I think I'll be using again. :-)

still here, just busy

2009-09-02T23:24:00.004-05:00

Wow, it's hard to believe that it's already September. We're more or less settling back into the routine of school, but are still working out the kinks in making the drive to two different places now that the older one is in high school. We've also been kept hopping because of the various Back to School types of activities that tend to kick off the academic year. I've also been literally, well, almost literally, hopping because I tweaked an ankle a bit helping out at the younger daughter's volleyball practice last week. I've always loved volleyball. I just wish I'd remembered to snug up the laces on my shoes before helping with the scrimmage. Getting up and down the stairs to do my crafting has been a challenge. I did make a couple of cards earlier today, but I didn't get a chance to take pictures yet. I hope to post those tomorrow. I am still here though and have not abandoned blogging. :-)

very disappointed in & unimpressed by Provo Craft

2009-08-20T12:50:00.005-05:00

I'd read news about this a couple of days ago, but hadn't really seen a credible source until an email landed in my inbox today from an online vendor. To set the scene, earlier this summer Provo Craft had offered a deal for buying a bundle of their soon-to-be-released A2 embossing folders--purchase of this bundle would also make the purchaser eligible to buy the two exclusive folders that would not be available for individual purchase, the Celtic Knot and Harlequin folders. The Home Shopping Network got in on this and had these bundles on their site as a Special Value. They sold out quickly. I know because I managed to get my hands on one of them. Now other online vendors have been waiting for their turn. It looks like the folders for individual purchase have been shipping to vendors, but as far as the bundles go.... Well, here's what they said to their vendors....

Dear Provo Craft Customer,
We have made the decision to not release the Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Bundles. This also means that 37-1917 Harlequin and 37-1918 Celtic Knot that are exclusive to the bundle are not going to be released either. We apologize about any inconvenience that this may cause you or your customers. If you have any further questions please feel free to contact your sales representative.

Thank You,
Provo Craft

That is incredibly lame. What a horrible way to treat not only the crafters who were looking forward to getting their product, but their vendors as well! I'd hate to be a Provo Craft sales representative right now because I think a lot of people have a right to be angry and upset with them. I can't even imagine what a mess this must be now with preorders etc. This is a big black mark against Provo Craft in my book. I like their embossing folders, but I don't want to support a company that treats its customers in such cavalier fashion. I've been much more impressed by QuicKutz' customer service when I had issues with my embossing folders. Sizzix has always been a solid company. Sorry, Provo Craft, there are too many other choices out there now. You've made your choice, now I'm making mine. See ya!

Boy, I'd sure like to know who the brainiac was who came up with that public relations nightmare. Hm, or maybe they just don't care. Not sure right now which would be worse.

flip card template

2009-08-19T19:23:00.007-05:00

In my previous post, I made a flip card and I've been asked by a couple of folks to elaborate a bit on how I made it. Here's a version of the template that I went by. When folded, it is an A2 size card.

Start with a 6 3/4" by 5 1/2" piece of card stock as I've illustrated above. The solid lines are cut edges. The dotted lines are the folds. Essentially, there's a 1 1/4" border most of the way around a smaller 4" by 3" panel which is the part that flips when you open the card. The left fold is a mountain fold at 2 3/4" from the left edge and the one on the right is a valley fold 4" from the left edge--sorry, I meant to mark that on the template but forgot. I found it easiest to make the cuts using a ruler and a craft knife. I decorated both sides of the inside panel using the Thanks edge punch when I made the card in the previous post.

Sorry to be a little slow getting this posted. We've been in back-to-school mode here and are getting used to the change of pace.

three more cards using Thanks edge punch

2009-08-16T14:44:00.007-05:00

I made an informal challenge to myself this weekend to come up with more ways to use the Martha Stewart Thanks edge punch. I came up with a few more ideas.

Here are three more cards....

For this card I punched along the edges of a strip of card stock and embossed Cuttlebug images between. I mounted that strip on a card front that I embossed using the C'bug Stylized Flowers A2 embossing folder. I accented the card with a bit of bling and some colorful hemp fibers.

This card was made from a base of gray Bazzill card stock that I embossed using the C'bug Thanks embossing folder. This time I used the Thanks edge punch by punching two different colors of card stock and then offsetting them just a bit to get sort of a drop shadow effect. I then embossed those two layers using one of the Sizzix thank you textured impressions embossing folders.

The photo above just shows what I meant by the drop shadow effect.

And finally, this is a flip card that I made using the Thanks edge punch and Taj Mahal decorative card stock by DCWV. The lantern image is by Inkadinkado and stamped using Brilliance Graphite Black ink.

That's the view from the front as the card is opened.

This is a view of the back as the center panel begins to flip around.

And this is a closer view of the back panel. The sentiment says, "You brighten my day" and is by Hero Arts.

So there you have three more cards that illustrate how this new Thanks edge punch by Martha Stewart can be used. :-) Have I enabled you enough yet? ;-)

two more Thanks edge punch cards

2009-08-15T10:30:00.007-05:00

I mentioned in a comment on a previous post that I really like these new Martha Stewart edge punches. Fun designs and I like the idea of having a sentiment punch. It also doesn't hurt that these new punches also have the fold-up "wings" so that they're easier to store.

But on to the cards....

For this card I used the Martha Stewart Thanks edge punch on a 2 3/4" square piece of ruche paper. This is a thicker paper with wonderful texture. The die cut accent is from the Tulip Pendant set by Spellbinders. The decorative scoring on the card front was made using my Scor-It and Scor-It ruler to make the embossed and debossed lines in a diamond pattern.

I used the same punch on double-sided decorative cardstock this time, scored and folded so that I would have two edges for my sentiment. I offset the layers a bit with dimensionals which also left room for some Prima flowers. The embossing on the card front was made using one of the newer releases by QuicKutz, the polka dots A2 embossing folder. This is the folder with the larger dots, by the way, since for whatever reason QuicKutz decided to give the two polka dot pattern folders the same name.

I'm really enjoying the versatility of this edge punch. I know that people have had trouble punching through thicker card stocks with some of the Martha edge punches in the past. I've used this one without any trouble on Georgia Pacific 110# card stock. I haven't used anything thicker. I'll just add a caveat that punching text weight paper can be difficult because the letters can easily become caught in the punch if the paper does not happen to be cut cleanly or if the paper is bent or creased. And here I'd thought it was such a good idea to use scrap paper for a test run. Wrong! Anyway, those are just two more ways of using these new edge punches that I thought I'd share.

two more quick cards, no stamping involved

2009-08-13T15:42:00.007-05:00

We're getting ready for school to start and have been busy with preparations and getting in all of those last minute tasks that we suddenly have little time left to finish.

In that spirit, I have two cards that were very quick to make. They involve embossing, but no stamping, so these were very fast and easy.

I used the QuicKutz 12" retro diamonds embossing folder for the bottom of this card. The sentiment is a Martha Stewart punch and I accented that strip of kraft card stock with the Spellbinders Scalloped Edge Petite borderability die.

For this card I used the Stampin' Up/Sizzix Finial Press textured impressions folder. I love this one! It's so pretty. Again, the sentiment is a Martha Stewart edge punch and I accented that with the Rose Border Petite Borderability die by Spellbinders.

I really like the look of the edge punches combined with the borderabilities dies. I think I'll have to do more experimenting to come up with more looks.

just dropping you... a post and a card

2009-08-11T11:18:00.005-05:00

This is a card that I made with one of the new 12" QuicKutz border embossing folders. It's called circles. I think it's a fun design. I added the scored lines along each edge with my Scor-It. The stamped sentiment and image are by Inkadinkado and stamped with Memento London Fog dye ink. I colored the fish with a couple of Copic markers and added the texture with the colorless blender.

some Scor-It decorative scoring samples

2009-08-10T14:28:00.006-05:00

Life is getting in the way of crafting today, but I did find some time to cut some A2 size pieces of card stock and play a bit with some decorative scoring using my Scor-It and the Scor-It ruler. I mentioned in a comment to a recent post that I felt like I'd only barely started scratching the surface as far as coming up with fun decorative scores. I was trying to see if I could get some good scuff marks in. ;-)

Here's what I came up with....

The upper left is the diamond/grid pattern that I've described before. This time I used different intervals to get a slightly different look. At the center is some scoring that I thought resembled a plaid pattern. The upper right almost looks like weaving. The bottom left is the beams of light pattern--maybe I should have called it spotlight instead?--but with two sources of light coming from each of the upper corners. The bottom right is what you get when you use that same technique starting at each corner but not extending all the way across the card stock.

This is just a slightly angled view so that the light would catch the scores a little differently and make the pattern show up a bit more clearly in some cases.

Now I'm off to continue taping and painting a bedroom, then drive my girls to dance... and at some point perhaps make one or more of the above samples into actual cards! :-)

catching up

2009-08-09T22:36:00.007-05:00

I wanted to make a separate post to address a few things that have come up over the course of the last couple of weeks or so.

First off, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who participated in my blogaversary giveaways. I read and appreciated all of the comments, even if I didn't say anything at the time so that I wouldn't throw off the numbers for the random drawings. :-) You all made the celebration a lot of fun, so many thanks to you all.

Crystal Joy, you'd commented in one of the giveaway posts that it looked like I'd done something to alter my ATG. Yes, you're right. I did. I added a comment to that post earlier, but I thought I'd address it here, too. I use the Scotch 714 which is red. I have nothing against the color red. I just wanted my ATG to look a bit more unique, so I altered it. I painted it, added rub-ons and bling, and basically just changed its look. I can say, now that I've looked up the old post (HA!), that after two years of steady use it is holding up nicely.

I've also had a question come up a couple of times now with regard to the Scor-It ruler. It's one that hadn't crossed my mind, but apparently others had thought about it, so I thought I'd bump the discussion to a more prominent spot. The question is whether the Scor-It ruler could be used with the Scor-Pal. Well, the Scor-Pal is about 1/2" wider than the Scor-It board. The ruler is metal and does bend, and it's possible that it could be manipulated so that it could fit on the Scor-Pal, but I didn't try it. First of all, I don't want to mangle my ruler. I like it too much! But here's my other reason, 'cuz you all know that I'm willing to sacrifice stuff in the interest of "science" (LOL!)--I don't think that even if you could fit the ruler to the Scor-Pal that it would help all that much. The tools are too different. The Scor-It and Scor-It ruler have zero centering marks and very precise measurements that correspond quite nicely to each other. So moving an inch at the top and moving the card stock the same amount at the bottom of your score is easy. By the same token, you can move 1/8" without any trouble if you want to. Can't really do that with the Scor-Pal because it has set grooves at specific and irregular increments, so it's hard for me to see that this would be nearly as helpful for Scor-Pal users as it is for Scor-It users. That was my main reason for not trying to force the ruler onto the Scor-Pal. Plus, I like it too much! Yeah, I know. I'm repeating myself. But it's true! I didn't want to hurt it and to have to live without it.

A few folks have also written to ask where these Scor-It rulers can be purchased. The easy answer is at the Scor-It site at their online store. There are other online vendors though, some of whom I've done business with and been a satisfied customer. They include Ellen Hutson, Bonnie's Best, California Paper Goods, and Innovative Stamp Creations.

I think that covers the issues that have come up but that may have been buried amongst the giveaway comments. If there are more, I'll just edit to add or post again, eh?

Hope you've all enjoyed a great weekend!

Oh, QuicKutz, why?

2009-08-08T16:08:00.007-05:00

QuicKutz has released new embossing folders--another new set of about a dozen A2 size as well as some 12" borders with fun designs. Here's a card that I made with the A2 folder called flowers....

First off, as I said, the embossed background was made using the new QuicKutz flowers A2 embossing folder. The other die cuts were also made with QuicKutz dies, nested labels, I think they're called. The stamped image and sentiment are by Hampton Arts.

Now for my gripe--crafters already dislike the fact that these folders (and by "these" I'm referring to the QuicKutz and the Cuttlebug embossing folders) don't emboss the full front of an A2 size card. So far Sizzix is the only company that is getting this right with their textured impressions folders. But now QuicKutz has made things even worse--these embossed designs didn't even come close to covering an A2 sized space. The pale yellow layer in my card is A2 size. The darker yellow is the embossed area created by the flowers folder--came out to 4 X 5 inches before I sliced it up and punched holes in it. That's why I had to be a little more creative about how I used the embossed design. I had some room to make up on my card front!

I haven't looked closely at my other folders yet. I will. Right now I'm a bit disappointed in that some of these folder manufacturers seem to be headed in the wrong direction. First ProvoCraft placed their designs closer to the fold in their latest release, making it tougher to center the design nicely on a card front. Now QuicKutz is making the embossed area within the folder even smaller and not in symmetric fashion. ARGH! I guess we'll just have to keep wishing for the best and having to be creative with how we use these, eh? I still love using embossing folders, despite their flaws. *insert dramatic sigh* :-)

double take time

2009-08-07T23:21:00.004-05:00

So tonight I was catching up on reading my Google Reader subscriptions, Tweets, and emails. I happened to browse through the August Scor-It newsletter that had landed in my inbox today. Cool! A mention of the new sliding ruler caught my eye, so I quickly perused the rest of the news. After all, I've been enjoying the addition of that ruler to my board and if there were new tips or tricks, I wanted to know about them!

Well, there were no tips or tricks that were new to me at this time, but you know what? THIS blog was mentioned under the header of Press! Hey, I love the Scor-It board, its scores, and I think that the addition of the Scor-It ruler just made it even better, but I'd just been singing its praises here on my personal blog because I think it's a great tool that became more versatile, and I wanted others to be in on the fun. :-) I'd never thought of myself as the Press. Wow. Maybe I should get a Blackberry, eh? ;-) I did a double take when I saw that though.

Anyway, if you happen to have found your way here by way of that newsletter, I wanted to point out that in my sidebar I have menus to help navigate the posts of this blog. There are labels and a search engine. I also have a section in the sidebar specifically for the Scor-It. Since I've been gushing over the Scor-It ruler, I decided that it deserved its own link in that section. I think that'll make it easier to zero in on the newer posts where I've talked more specifically about the decorative scores that can be made using the ruler and how they can be achieved.

Last but not least, if you'd like to sign up to receive your own copy of the Scor-It monthly newsletter, go to the Scor-It site and then click on the link in the upper right hand corner of their home page to sign up for it. That's how I happened to find out about the new ruler, so I'm definitely keeping that one coming to my box.

another quickie card

2009-08-06T14:53:00.005-05:00

This is another card that was quick to make. It's mostly monochromatic--I couldn't resist adding that layer of gray as an accent.

The die cut images are by Spellbinders. The die cut sentiment is by ProvoCraft. The decorative scoring in a beams of light pattern that I've described before was made using my Scor-It and Scor-It ruler.

Winner of my Day 3, three year anniversary giveaway

2009-08-03T00:19:00.004-05:00

I won't keep you in suspense. The winner has been chosen by the random.org random number generator.

And the comment that corresponds to this selection is....

Congratulations, Sandi! It looks like crossing all of your fingers worked! LOL! I'll be in touch so that I can get your mailing information and get your prizes sent off to you.

Thanks so much, everyone! It's been fun to spend some time celebrating this milestone. Thank you for the lovely comments and thanks so much for coming by here, taking the time to read, ask questions, or leave feedback. I started this blog for myself, but it's turned into more as time has gone by, and I appreciate all of you who take the time to stop by here and visit or who read via subscription. It's been a fun three years and I'm looking forward to continuing the crafting and the blogging. :-)

some Scor-it ruler how-to's

2009-08-02T11:14:00.009-05:00

I've been asked by some readers to give more details about using the Scor-It ruler. I love this accessory, so I'm happy to oblige.

That's my 12" Scor-It, the Scor-It ruler, and three pieces of 4 X 5" card stock since that's what I had handy.

The ruler is great for making diagonal scoring a lot easier, so let's start with diagonals and some designs that can be made with diagonal scores.

Up above I've lined up my card stock so that I can make my first score from corner to corner. Yes, you can make this first score easily without the ruler. It's the scores that follow that are made easier.

In this photo I've moved the corners (ends of my scored line) to the 1/4" marks--I moved the bottom to the right of the zero centering mark and the top to the left of the centering mark.

Now I've made my second score and am getting ready to make the third. I've rotated the card stock just a bit more so that the corners (ends of the scored lines) have moved to the next 1/4" mark on the rulers.

And here it is one more time, moving at 1/4" intervals. The ruler is great because you can quickly and easily see just how and where you need to position your card stock so that the score will be exactly where you want it to be. The fact that the ruler can slide up and down the board makes it easy to position it so that you don't have to guess or eyeball where the scored line may end up. You just slide it to where it needs to be.

That's a quickie demonstration of what Scor-It describes as the starburst pattern on their site.

Here's my twist on their pattern. Using the same card stock (no need to waste, eh?), I made my corner to corner diagonal score to start out.

My apologies for the funky lighting in this one. I was just trying to show that I scored at 1/2" intervals this time.

Now for my twist: I've flipped my card stock over and started scoring in between my 1/2" scores. That is, I'm scoring at the 1/4" marks.

Here I'm showing a few more of these scores, lining up the ends of the score lines with the appropriate marks on the rulers at the top and bottom.

One last score, just for effect.

And here's the end result when you alternate scoring from the front and from the back. Gives a fun twist on the original starburst look.

I also made some light beam scores on a card. Here's how I accomplished that. Again I started with the corner to corner score.

This time I kept the end of the score line at zero up top and moved the bottom to the 1/4" mark.

Keeping the top at zero, I continued scoring at 1/4" intervals along the bottom, moving my card stock and ruler as needed.

I made all of these scores from the front, but you could alternate these, too, for a slightly different look.

Here are those light beams.

Diagonals are quick and easy. I started at the corners and then just moved my card stock, scoring at 1" intervals. I think you can see how easy it is to line up the ends of the scores with the rulers.

Here I gave the card stock a quarter turn and started scoring in the other direction at 1" intervals.

Here it is with more of the scores done.

And this is how it looks when you've made those scores.

But wait! You can still have more fun with this.

Here I flipped my card stock over and started scoring at the 1/2" marks.

And after making all of those scores, this is how the card stock looks. It's a fun diagonal grid pattern, but with the added twist of having embossed as well as debossed scores.

The nifty thing about using the ruler is that you can score at whatever interval you want. I made all of these scores at regular intervals, but you can certainly score in a less regular pattern and create a plaid look. You can also create scored frames. Because to make a decorative embossed score you score with the top side of your card stock facing you, you can also score designs around a stamped image. Lots of possibilities!

I hope this helps show just how this ruler makes decorative scoring a lot easier. :-)

extremely fast and easy card

2009-07-30T15:38:00.004-05:00

I was playing with a couple of things that I'd ordered from Stampin' Up! I ended up making a card that I liked and it was so incredibly fast and easy to make that I thought I'd share it here.

Here's the card....

The embossing on the card front was made using the Elegant Bouquet A2 textured impressions folder by Sizzix/SU! That is the design of the folder--no partial or selective embossing on my part. The embossed sentiment was made using the Hi embosslit by Sizzix/SU! Since I went with white on white, it looks like the sentiment was embossed directly on the card front. It wasn't. The oval shape is a separate piece of embossed card stock that was adhered to the front. I thought it was a fun look.

So, with two passes through my Big Shot and a bit of adhesive, I ended up with a card that looks like it took a lot more time and trouble to make than it actually did. Now I'll have to see if I can do something similar with other embosslits and embossing folders. :-)

Celebrating 3 years with a giveaway - Day 3

2009-07-30T14:39:00.003-05:00

This is the third of the three giveaways that I'm hosting to celebrate IndigoInklings' three years on the internet. This package includes: a QuicKutz A2 rings embossing folder, Spellbinders Blossom Nestabilities, Marieke's Flower Set #3 (unmounted red rubber stamps) from Cornish Heritage Farms, Kaleidacolor Melon Melody ink pad, Hero Arts ClearDesign: Friendship Messages clear stamp set, Hero Arts Sparkle Clear: Love That clear stamp set, Cornish Heritage Farms sunflower stamp, Ellison Design Friends Simple Impressions folder, a white Signo Uniball pen, and 1 yard each of 3/8" and 5/8" white grosgrain ribbon.

The rules are the same as before. Anyone is welcome to enter. Just leave a comment on this post and a way for me to get in touch with you if you win. Anonymous posts are fine, but please leave a name or an email with your comment, or email me and let me know what the number of your comment was when you posted so that I'll have a way to tell which Anonymous comment belongs to whom. One entry per person please, to be fair to everyone. I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner. I'll keep this contest open through the weekend until Sunday, August 2, at midnight my time (CDT).

Good luck!