Capadia Designs

Free Classes at Craftsy Sign Up Today!

2013-05-18T06:00:00.000-04:00

Today is Free Class Day at Craftsy!

Craftsy is a site that offers a great variety of high quality online classes in Cake Decorating, Knitting, Quilting, Sewing, Crocheting, Embroidery, Food & Cooking, Home & Garden, Jewelry, Spinning, Weaving and even a couple of Paper Craft classes! I know that most crafters do more than one type of craft so I thought this special offer would be of interest to many of you.

one of the free classes

This offer is available only to people who haven't already taken a Craftsy class. If you sign up today to try a class for the first time you can choose from a wide selection of classes, up to a $39.99 value - for free!

If they meet their goal of giving away 10,000 classes, Craftsy will donate $5,000 to DonorsChoose to fund arts education in public schools across the US.

another free class option

Craftsy classes are online and you take them at your convenience from home or wherever you like. Access to your classes never expires so you can watch them over and over. You can access them from any device with a high speed internet connection - even your phone.

included in the free class offer

I hope that you will take advantage of this great offer and enroll in a free class. This is a one day event so help them reach their goal of giving away 10,000 classes by signing up HERE today before midnight Mountain Daylight Time. (Do it right now if you can - before you forget!).

I am curious to know which of these other crafts you do. If you sign up for a free class today please leave a comment and let me know what class you chose. Is it to learn a new skill or expand your knowledge of a craft you already enjoy?

Here are a couple of photos of some quilt tops that I have made - I got busy with paper crafting before I quilted them...maybe someday!

Have a great weekend!

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This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product using the link I may receive a commission. I only participate in affiliate programs for products that I use or can recommend without reservation.

When I Was A Kid - Cricut Layout Cartridge

2013-05-17T06:00:00.000-04:00

image from Cricut.com

Another new Cricut cartridge filled with 50 more layouts was just announced. Last month I told you about The First Few Years cartridge (see the post HERE) which includes 50 full page layouts for typical scrapbook pages for babies and toddlers. The next cartridge, When I Was A Kid, has 50 more layouts that cover the next stages of a child's development.

If you are curious about this new type of cartridge - here is some good news. Until May 22, 2013, you can access both of these full cartridges through the Cricut Craft Room for free.

When you log in to the Cricut Craft Room you should see both of these cartridges listed under "My Cartridges" in the Images/Cartridges tab. I noticed a few other free layouts in my account when I took this screen shot - I am not sure how long they will be there.

image from Cricut.com

Even though these layouts are set up for typical childhood topics, the basic sketch could also be used for other types of pages by simply changing the title and swapping out some shapes as needed.

image from Cricut.com

The handbook pages are labelled with the sizes you need to cut each shape for a 12 inch layout. You will definitely want to download the handbook to use while working with the digital cartridge in the Craft Room. You can find the download link for the handbook on the cartridge information page HERE (click on the tab that says "Details").

image from Cricut.com

While some of the shapes are child specific, there are quite a few that would be generally useful for all ages.

image from Cricut.com

These shapes are even more multipurpose than the first group.

image from Cricut.com

I particularly like some of the journal/title blocks.

image from Cricut.com

Some of these frames and corners would be great for cards. The titles and the font are definitely aimed at child pages but you might be able to use them in other situations.

I've been doing the Layout A Day challenge this month. For a variety of reasons, I am doing my pages digitally. Sometimes I start with a blank page, but I also use page templates to help speed things up. Usually I change a few things, or many things, but it is good to have a place to start.

These cartridges are appealing if you want to make pages quickly because they take things a step beyond using a sketch. You can simply cut all of the pieces for the page and assemble it as shown in the book. I did notice that most of the pages have only one photo spot but it is usually large so you could do a collage of photos in that space (I usually like to put lots of photos on a page). You can also treat the page as a starting point and rearrange things a bit to add the photos you want to use.

One more reminder - if you are a Gypsy owner who received the $20 credit when Gypsy linking with the Craft Room became available last month, TODAY is the last day to use that credit. The credit is for digital images and cartridges only. You will find the code number under "My Account" - "Gift Card/Store Credit." When you are checking out, you will apply the gift card/credit on the second page (it is not a promo code to enter on the first page of the checkout). I did notice that there are a few digital cartridges for only $14.99 on the Today's Deals page HERE.

image from Cricut.com

If I can get my computer and the Craft Room to play nicely together, I may be trying out a few of these pages this weekend.

I have been suffering with some combination of allergies and/or a Spring cold this week. The LOAD pages are getting done but I haven't had the energy to post every day on the blog. I am starting to feel a bit better so things should be back to normal soon.

What do you think about these cartridges? Are you going to give them a try?

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The Usual Suspects - Another LOAD page

2013-05-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

The prompt for Layout a Day (LOAD) on Mother's Day was "The Usual Suspects." I remembered these "mug shots" I took a couple of years ago of our triplet nephews and I made a page explaining why they are the usual suspects in the case of the disappearing jelly beans at our house.

The page was based on a template with quite a few changes made to reach the final result. I like starting with a template but sometimes the pages end up looking completely different.

This screen shot shows the original template. The photo positions and sizes are the same but the colors and papers were all changed, the overlays were removed and a title was added along the left side. I wanted the page to look very plain with just the basic colors pulled from their clothing. I added textures to the plain colors to give more depth to the page.

Here is a closer view of the journaling. I tried to play along with the theme with the "just the facts" section at the top and then added the rest of the story. They are already older than they were in these photos and it's nice to have this story recorded.

I hope you had a good weekend. I have been suffering from allergies and/or a spring cold and it has been difficult to get a lot done with all of the symptoms. There are a few things I want to let you know about.

1. The Silhouette Online Store subscription sale ends today, May 14, 2013 at 11:59 p.m. Mountain Daylight time. You can save 20% on a subscription by using the code SURPRISE when you check out. Click HERE to go to the subscription page in the Online Store. Remember, the subscription is an annual commitment and you will need to make either 12 monthly payments or one yearly payment (the annual payment is a little cheaper).

2. If you are a Cricut Gypsy owner and received the $20 credit last month when Gypsy linking to the Craftroom was announced remember the credit will expire on May 17th (Friday). The credit is good for digital cartridges and designs only on the Cricut website HERE.

3. Lettering Delights has a new bundle of 40 Cut It sets and they are offering a huge savings of 75% when you buy the bundle. The set includes cards, pennants, boxes, envelopes, birdcages, baskets, and much more. You can see everything that is included HERE.

Here are a few of the sets included in the bundle - I particularly like the ready to cut step card files (they can be fiddly to do by hand). The pennants are also lovely and there is so much more in this bundle.

Cut It sets come in the following formats - .AI (v.8), .DXF, .EPS (v.8), .GSD, .PDF (v.1.5), and .SVG so you need software and a machine that accepts these formats. The bundle is only available for the month of May - and it will keep you busy for another month or so cutting everything out! Click HERE to see the Gift Giving Bundle.

Remember, if you "purchase" the monthly freebie first (click HERE to see this month's freebies) you will received a code for 25% off your next purchase in your confirmation email - making this deal even more tempting.

4. This month's free scrapinar offered by Lain Ehmann is on Friday, May 17th. Monica Bradford will be doing a new presentation about washi tape with all new tips and ideas for using this versatile and trendy tape. You must register ahead of time HERE. If you can't attend live a replay will be available for a short time but you will only get the link for that replay if you register. I can't wait to see what Monica has come up with this time!

It looks like another busy week - May is always hectic with end of the school year events, proms, recitals and graduation just around the corner. I hope you are finding some time for yourself to do some crafting. I have managed to finish a page everyday - 13 down and and 18 to go! I'll share them all eventually but I also have some other projects in the works that I'll be posting this month.

What have you been working on lately? I'd love to see what you have been up to! Leave a link in the comments if you'd like to share.

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This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product using the link I may receive a commission. I only participate in affiliate programs for products that I use or can recommend without reservation.

Happy Mother's Day

2013-05-12T06:00:00.000-04:00

I hope you are having a lovely weekend. Here are some virtual flowers for you in celebration of Mother's Day. I am looking forward to a nice day spent with family and I wish all of you a wonderful day too!

I am still keeping up on the Layout a Day (LOAD) challenge - amazing myself! Today is Day 12 so we are more than 1/3 of the way through. This flower page is adapted from a page layout I did for the challenge. Once again, thanks to my husband for the gardening talents - I just take the photos!

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Create your Own Background Papers

2013-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00

If you want to make your digital pages unique you can create background paper and elements from your photographs. This page was for the fourth Layout a Day prompt - "greed" (as in the motive for a crime). Since I am in ythe process of reorganizing my craft area and most of the cluttered spots in our house, I am keenly aware that I have a lot of "stuff." So, my title and journaling should sound familiar to other crafters - how much do you "need" and at what point does it become "greed" to continue to acquire more?

I used these gems for a project last fall. I was trying to find certain colors and sizes so I dumped them out on a white tray and looked through them in our sun room where I could see the colors clearly.

The gems were for the birthday crown I made with my sister for her grandson (our great nephew). You can read about that project HERE.

The gems looked so pretty in the sunlight. I grabbed my camera and took a bunch of quick snapshots. Then I edited the images and cropped them as squares. This photo can now be used as a full page background for a digital layout or printed and used as the base layer for a paper layout.

Once I had my full 12 x 12 image, I could resize and rotate it to form some interesting variations.

A different pattern is created when the four images are rotated in the opposite direction. I saved all of these variations as digital paper in a file within my StoryBook Creator 4.0 program.

Once I save the image as background paper, I can choose it to fill any shape that I am working with in the software. I set up this grid of hearts based on the template i had saved after I created the Pie page that I posted yesterday.

I even tried filling some other shapes and giving them 3D edges - here are my experimental butterflies.

I used the original photo as the background on my LOAD challenge page. The journaling says, "I am just like many of the crafters I know. We "need" to have a space stocked with as many tools and supplies as we can fit. You can easily turn into a collector instead of a crafter. I have been trying to acquire less and craft more. I don't know if I can ever "use it up!"

The page shows photos of some of my ribbons, punches, glitter and the background "bling." I added some white shapes to go behind the photos and text and reduced the opacity to 75%. This created a glow around the edges of the photos and made the journaling legible.

Does this topic strike a chord with you? Do you have more than you need and find that it makes it harder to create since you have to pass by all of the unwanted items to find the "good stuff?"

Are you finishing up any last minute Mother's Day projects? I have a little more to do before Sunday. I am determined to get my laundry room reorganized today - right now it is at the "it has to get worse before it can get better" stage. Have a wonderful day!

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The Pie Page

2013-05-08T06:00:00.000-04:00

This is my third page for the Layout a Day challenge. Back in March of 2012, I shared a series of photos that show my step by step process for making an apple pie with two crusts. This is part of an ongoing family recipe book project. I have been trying to get back to the project and the LOAD challenge finally pushed me to use the photos to make this page. The prompt for the third day was "kitchen" so I figured this was a good fit. You can find the original post and the recipe HERE.

I set up a simple grid of 2 x 2 inch photos on a 12 x 12 digital page and then arranged my photos to show the steps in order. I eliminated the two top right photo spots and added a simple title there. I saved this template for future projects in my StoryBook Creator 4.0 software. I'll make a facing page with the full recipe and some more photos for the book. I just hope it doesn't take another year plus to get to that!

It is time consuming to stop and take photos as you cook - with a little luck, you might be able to convince a family member to take on the role of cook or photographer.

Here are some shopping tips for you...

For Silhouette owners - Silhouette America is having a sale on subscriptions to the Online Store. You can use the code "SURPRISE" to save 20% on the subscription price. The sale ends May 14th. There various options available and you can see the subscription levels and terms HERE on the Silhouette site. I just noticed that they have added a fourth level of subscription, the Diamond level,which gives you $250 worth of downloads for $29.99 per month ($24 with the code).

Keep in mind that the subscriptions are an annual commitment. There is a 5% discount if you pay for the entire year at once.

Today is "One Buck Wednesday" at Jessica Sprague. Every week you can find a selection of digital items for $1 or half price. Click HERE to go to the site and you'll see the info about One Buck Wednesday on the right side as you scroll down.

This week there is a super deal on a Samantha Walker Mega Kit called "Nautical." This six kit set is a $25 value that normally sells as a bundle for $19.99 but for today only it is $1. I added that to my cart as fast as I could!

The Made for Mom with Love celebration is continuing. You can find the complete list of participating sites HERE. I am sharing the file for a special Mother's Day card and there are all sorts of freebies and special offers available until Mother's Day.

If you are interested in hybrid projects combining templates, cutting files and digital papers to create lovely gifts, Melissa Shanhun of Digital Scrapbooking HQ and Kelleigh Ratzlaff (papercraft template designer from The Digichick) have a workshop about creating Amazing Papercraft Keepsakes - there is still time to make something special for Mother's Day.

You can read all about the workshop and the items included by clicking HERE. This is the recorded version of a workshop that was offered live last October and you will have immediate access to the files and videos to get started on your project.

Melissa is an expert on Photoshop and has taught over a thousand people to understand and do more with this program. Her special offer for the Made for Mom with Love celebration is a guide to improving your photos with simple photo fixes. Click the image to read more about this class.

We are expecting rain for the next few days - good weather for staying inside and crafting! I am up to date on the Layout a Day challenge - 7 down, 24 to go! I know that some of you are also participating in the LOAD challenge. If you let me know your contact info on Flickr I'd love to see the pages you've been making. There are over 1700 layouts in the gallery so far so it is hard to see everything!

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This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product using the link I may receive a commission. I only participate in affiliate programs for products that I use or can recommend without reservation.

Rod Stewart "Time" A Return to Songwriting

2013-05-07T06:00:00.000-04:00

Today I am writing about something a bit different - the new album from Rod Stewart called "Time." The album is being released today but I received an early copy to review that I have been listening to for the past few days. I participated in this campaign for One2One Network and a free copy of the CD was sent to me. The opinions in this review are my own. By posting, I am eligible for incentives.

Do you listen to music when you craft? I sometimes blast the music, particularly when I am getting things organized and at other times I prefer to have a quiet room. My musical taste is very eclectic - thanks in part to the groups and musicians our sons have introduced me to. When I received the email asking if I'd be interested in reviewing a new Rod Stewart CD, I instantly had memories of some of my favorite songs from years ago - Forever Young, Have You Ever Seen the Rain, You Wear it Well, Sailing, You're in my Heart, Maggie May - his distinctive raspy voice and, of course, the hairstyle which hasn't changed in all these years!

With Time, Rod Stewart has returned to his songwriting roots. He says that the process of writing his autobiography sparked ideas for lyrics and that he would wake up at night and then scramble to write down lyrics. He wrote 11 of the 12 songs on this album.

The songs are a mixture of bouncy upbeat tunes about his currently happy domestic life (She Makes Me Happy) and more contemplative and poignant tracks about divorce (It's Over) and his early romance that produced a child who was given up for adoption (Brighton Beach). Can't Stop Me Now is a great reminder that early rejection because you don't fit into a mold can be a blessing - you may be someone who was born to stand out.

Real life situations in the songs are easy to relate to. The advice given to a son at college - "Let yourself fly, Let yourself cry, The years disappear in the blink of an eye..." with the chorus advising him to "Love the life you live, Live the life you love."

I found tempo of the title track Time a little slow and the repetitive lyrics of the chorus ("Time waits for no one, That's why I, Can't wait on you") were one of my least favorite parts of the album.

The song that I listened to over and over was the final track Pure Love. The simple piano intro and the heartfelt words of love and support are beautiful. "Journey far and travel safe, Make this world a better place, And keep that smile upon your face... Take your time to embrace romance, Teach your children how to sing and dance, Love may hurt but it's worth the chance, I'll be right by your side, Try to be the best you can, Show compassion to every man, And always take the higher ground, I'll be right by your side." The orchestra joins in without becoming overwhelming and this song ends the album with a beautiful message.

You can click this link to see a short Time Album Preview and the full album is available on iTunes or Amazon. The iTunes deluxe edition includes three extra tracks.

The European leg of Stewart's "Live the Life" tour begins June 1st and the American tour dates with Steve Winwood will kick off on October 17th. Tour details are available on the Rod Stewart website HERE.

Musicians tell stories with their songs and certain songs can evoke strong memories of times and places from our past. Have you ever made a page about a song that was important to you? There are certain songs that become touch points for important events in our lives.

It's day 7 of the Layout a Day challenge - so far I am 6 for 6 and I am looking forward to completing today's challenge. I'll post a couple more of my pages later today or tomorrow.

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More Layout a Day Pages

2013-05-06T06:00:00.001-04:00

The prompt for the second day of the Layout a Day challenge was the dagger from the game "Clue." That may sound like an odd prompt but the subtitle was "take a stab at it" which opens up many more possibilities. Some people tried a new technique or made a page about a taking a chance on a new activity.

I ended up using a more literal approach since I had just come across some photos from many years ago when we lived in England. We took a weekend bus tour which included an evening banquet with some actors portraying the king, knights and members of the court. There was audience participation after dinner with a chance for our sons to try out some helmets and (dull) swords.

The photos had lots of extraneous details that I found distracting so I ended up scanning them. While I wouldn't want to try to scan all of our old photos, it is amazing what a difference it can make to have the editing abilities we now take for granted with digital photography.

I thought I'd show you the original scans and my edited versions. It is wonderful to be able to crop the images and clean up the distracting details in the background. On the top photo I actually made a mirror disappear because the flash reflection was the unintended focal point.

For the top photo, I couldn't eliminate the mirror easily but the flash reflection matched up with the plume on the helmet. I did crop and clone out the wall sconce in both photos.

Here is a screen shot of the basic layout of my page. This is a very typical way to fill a page with two vertical and two horizontal photos. I added mats and anchored the four photos on a red background layered on a grayish page (the color was sampled from the wall color in the restaurant).

The trouble with this basic grid is that it doesn't leave much room to title and caption the photos. So I added a rectangle to hold my title and made the photo of our older son into a square. I needed to shift the image slightly within the space - another benefit of working digitally.

To add more definition to the page I added more layers to the background, creating some thin black borders. If all of these layers were paper it would be a very thick page. I could add the black line with a pen in a paper page but there would still be three nearly full page layers plus the matted photos. Since I was working digitally, I could also easily try a lot of variations without cutting up all of my paper.

Here is another look at the finished page. It was fun to see how young our sons were at the time and remember our weekend trip.

While I really do enjoy working digitally, one of the hazards of digital scrapping is the ability to go back and redo your pages over and over again. Here is my second version of the page I did for the first day of the challenge. I like this page but it didn't fit the prompt of "white" as well as the one I posted for the challenge (posted below for easy comparison).

I have been keeping up with the challenge so far - five days done and 26 to go!

Do you do mostly digital, mostly paper or a mixture of both when you make pages? If you have never tried digital is it something you'd like to try or do you just prefer playing with paper?

I hope you had a great weekend. With the change in the weather I seem to have come done with some allergies so I am trying to fight off the watery eyes and stuffed up nose.

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This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product using the link I may receive a commission. I only participate in affiliate programs for products that I use or can recommend without reservation.

Spring has Sprung

2013-05-03T06:00:00.000-04:00

We have had a couple of beautiful days here, however, our family in Minnesota has snow again, in May! The weather is certainly odd this year. I thought I'd share some photos from our yard to brighten your day in case you are also having bad weather.

The trees are finally getting their leaves.

Some azaleas are blooming.

The sky was an incredibly brilliant blue on Tuesday.

The hyacinth bulbs are up and blooming.

Shrubs are flowering.

Our front yard cherry tree is so pretty this year - particularly on a sunny day!

There are so many things happening for (Inter)National Scrapbook Day this weekend that I can't even begin to list them here. Check the websites, blogs and Facebook pages of your favorite stores, manufacturers and designers to see their special offers.

We have our semi-annual Town ReUseit Day this weekend and I am putting together boxes of extra "stuff" to take to the Drop off/Swap off event. It feels great to get some of the things we don't really need out of the house. I hope that people who can use them will be happy to pick up our "treasures" tomorrow!

I did get my second LOAD layout finished and uploaded on time - 29 to go! I'll share the page I made soon. It is fun to be making pages again. If you are doing LOAD let me know how it is going for you so far.

Have a great weekend!

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A Month of Memories

2013-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00

One page done, thirty to go...it's exciting to be getting back to making some pages again. I did get my first page done and uploaded in time for the LOAD challenge but it ended up being later in the evening so today I am sharing yesterday's page. I won't post every page on the blog this month since I do have some other projects in mind but I will share some of them from time to time.

I made a digital page using the Creative Memories StoryBook Creator 4.0 program (link to my CM website). I was so surprised to see calla lilies growing all over the place when we were in California last month and I took lots of photos of them growing. When I heard that the prompt was "white," I immediately thought of these photos.

When we were driving along the Pacific coast in Monterey we pulled into the scenic parking areas many times to take photos. At one of our stopping places I noticed two calla lilies growing right near the edge of the cliff.

My Mom always loved calla lilies and when she passed away many years ago my Dad searched to find an example to have carved in the corners of their gravestone. Now that he has also passed on the sight of these two calla lilies just made me think of the two of them. They both loved to travel and it was like a sign that they were with us in spirit on our trip.

I worked from a template to make this page quickly and easily. I wanted to leave white space on the page to go along with the prompt. The papers and color fills were all chosen to coordinate with my photos and I added some textures as well. I knew that I wanted to emphasize the blue shades - the combination of blue and white always looks so fresh and pretty to me.

The StoryBook program has an interesting option called "coordinate colors." You can select a photo or another element on the page and the program will generate new color combinations for your page.

I liked this option with shades of green.

This variation picked up the color of the rocks and some wildflowers - I don't like it as well as my original blue or the green version but it is fun to test out the options while you are experimenting with your page. One of my favorite things about making digital pages is the ability to try things and undo with no mess or fuss - just a click of the mouse!

Silhouette Sale reminder

Just a quick reminder for Cameo owners - the 50% off sale on designs in the Silhouette Online Store ends today, May 2, 2013 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

If you have been thinking about getting a Cameo machine, I saw a great price on Amazon - $205.95 and if you are a Prime member shipping is free. I don't know how long this price will last but I am adding a link here for you to check it out. (I am an Amazon affiliate and if you use this link I will get a small commission. I appreciate it when you use my affiliate links to help support this blog.)

If you haven't had a chance to do the Made for Mom With Love blog hop, the special offers, freebies and other deals are all good until Mother's Day - so this weekend might be a good time to take the tour. You can start the hop HERE and follow along through all of the sites. If you get lost along the way or find a broken link you can see the full list of participating blogs in THIS POST.

I hope that your month of May is off to a great start. Do you have plans for National Scrapbook Day this weekend? We've had some beautiful weather here but my brother in Minnesota just got more snow!!!

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May Flowers

2013-05-01T06:00:00.001-04:00

Today is the first of May and the beginning of the Layout a Day (LOAD) challenge. I stayed up late last night to watch the page prompt video. The theme of this LOAD is "Get a Clue" and today I'll be creating a page inspired by the character of Mrs. White, the housekeeper in the game of Clue.

I'll be posting again later today once I have created my page. There are many ways to use this prompt and I have to do a little thinking about it. White could be snow, or flowers or white hair or white space on a page...or some combination of these ideas.

If you want to jump in at the last minute to participate in LOAD this month, there is always room for one more and you can sign up and start today - click HERE to go to the registration page.

The Artist Trading Card at the top of this post is one of the first I ever created digitally. The white daffodils could be my inspiration for my LOAD page today.

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This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product using the link I may receive a commission. I only participate in affiliate programs for products that I use or can recommend without reservation..

Clutter Confessions (& a new way to organize washi tape)

2013-04-29T06:00:00.000-04:00

One of the great things about cleaning out your clutter zones is discovering things you didn't remember you had - and finding new uses for them! As I mentioned last week, I am in full spring cleaning mode and this weekend I finally tackled the two, very scary, storage rooms in our basement. These are the unfinished rooms in the underground area of the basement. My crafting areas are in the walkout section.

I have a bad tendency to put things in the storage rooms and forget about them. When we returned from living overseas for eight years there were a lot of "miscellaneous" boxes that were delivered from our US storage. After a few quick peeks when we were unpacking, I figured if we hadn't missed whatever was in them for eight years, we probably could get along without those items. It's embarrassing to admit that there are still a few of these boxes lurking in the dark corners. I am working my way toward them...

This plastic (faux crystal) cracker tray was one of my "finds" while clearing out one area full of miscellaneous serving pieces. I am not sure when I got this - it might have been from my husband's grandmother. I realized that it looked like just the right size and shape to hold some of my rolls of washi tape.

Washi tape is versatile, pretty and inexpensive and it is easy to quickly acquire a large collection. While is seems like this tape is everywhere now, a few years ago you could only find it from a few online sources or in a specialty shop. Back in 2010, I found it in Japan Town in San Francisco and wrote about it HERE.

The cracker tray is just the right size for most of my rolls of washi tape. These are the rolls of the mt tape brand which was developed by the Kamoi Kakoshi company which has been making industrial masking tape from washi paper since 1923. You can read some interesting history about the company and the development of the decorative tape HERE. When I checked to see if you could buy this tape on Amazon I found 933 results for mt washi tape. Many other companies are now offering washi tape - if the rolls are about 2 inches in diameter they will fit perfectly in the cracker tray.

I could fit 13 rolls of tape in the cracker tray (a lucky baker's dozen!). This leaves a bit of room to make them easier to lift out of the tray.

I like crystal but it isn't the most practical thing for a craftroom. It is surprising to see how realistic the plastic tray looks. It adds a bit of elegance to the table! If you are a washi tape maniac and have hundreds of rolls of tape, you could just set out the ones you are using for your current project in a tray like this.

So...you may be wondering where you would find such a tray if you don't happen to have a storage room crammed full of surprises. You might find this sort of thing in a church rummage sale or a garage sale. I think they are fairly common serving pieces. If you really like the way this looks and functions - I found an online source for a cracker tray that appears to be the exact same design.

image from partyplasticsplus.com

Party Plastic Plus has a huge variety of serving items and their products are made in the USA. You can click HERE to go to the page with this tray. The price is $1.99 if you order less than 24 (how much washi tape do you have?). The shipping for just one or two trays might be prohibitive but if you ordered with a friend or two you could reduce the shipping cost per item. (I have never ordered from this company - I just found it through a search online). You could also try a local party store or dollar store to see if these trays are available.

While we are on the subject of washi tape here are a couple of resources for you. One is the fabulous blog post by Melstampz with a roundup of over 100 washi tape related blog posts - lots of reading and ideas.

Monica Bradford's Washi Tape Wahoo! webinar replay is another great source of washi tape information and inspiration. You can find out more about the class and purchase it HERE.

In just a couple of days it will be May. I am looking forward to the LOAD 513 (Layout a Day) challenge. It will be great to get back to making some scrapbook pages. It will be amazing to have 31 pages done by the end of the month! The group may be full by now but if you were thinking about joining, you can click HERE to go to the registration page - you may still be able to join the fun.

Do you have any spaces that need de-cluttering? I highly recommend it as a way to get ready to move forward with new projects. Once you clear out some of the old and useless (to you) things in your space you will have room for new things to enter your life and inspire you.

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Mother's Day Specials

2013-04-26T06:00:00.000-04:00

I hope you have had a nice week. For the past couple of days I have been caught up in some projects that needed doing around our house including some pretty vigorous spring cleaning! We finally have some nice warm weather here and I find that good weather is always inspiring.

Did you have a chance to visit all of the sites participating in the Made for Mom with Love celebration? The range of ideas and items offered is really remarkable.

I am sharing the file for this special Mother's Day card as my gift to you - see the original post HERE for the download links.

If you didn't get a chance to see everything yet, here is a list of all the sites that are participating. (There are 18 in total so you may want to split the list to visit them all over a few days).

Lain at Layout A Day

Debbie at Scrap Me Quick Designs

Monica at Scrap Inspired

Melissa at Digital Scrapbooking HQ

Pam at Keeping Life Creative

Diane at Capadia Designs (you are here!)

Beth at Scrapping Wonders

Kelli at Use it Scrapbooking

Jen at Jen Wright Designs

Suzy at SuzyQ Scraps

Alice at Scrapbook Wonderland

GeeZee at Messtaken Identity

Cara at Cara Miller

Rebecca at Pictures to Scrapbook

Heather at No Excuses Scrapbooking

Dawn at Faithfully Yours

Kristie at Artful Adventures

Vi at Creative Threadz

The freebies and special offers in the Made for Mom with Love celebration are all good until Mother's Day, May 13th.

Mother's Day offers and sales are showing up at many sites and there will be bargains to be found online and in your local shops. Here are a few that may be of interest...

Midnight Madness at Cricut.com (and new Cuttlebug folders)

image from cricut.com

Cricut.com has promoted a special midnight madness sale which will take place tonight at 10 p.m. and lasting until 2 a.m. (Mountain Time). I don't know what the offers will be so I'll have to stay up late to check them out! There are a couple of cartridges I would like to have - if the price is right...

image from cricut.com

There were some lovely new Cuttlebug folders announced yesterday for Hello Thursday - you can see them HERE (click on "New Folders" on the left side of the page). My favorite is this set of four "Contemporary Nature" folders.

50% off Sale at Silhouette Online Store

image from Silhouette Online Store

There is a 50% off sale going on right now in the Silhouette Online store. This is a great time to stock up on files and if you have a subscription your money will go twice as far as usual. This sale will last until May 2, 2013 (at 11:59 Pacific Daylight Time). There are over 35,000 shapes in the store so give yourself plenty of time to browse!

During the sale, there is a free shape every day instead of just one that lasts all week so be sure to check in each day to download the file. The triangle flags above are today's free shape.

Silhouette America announced that in the Silhouette Online store they are getting close to download number 50 million. If you happen to be the lucky person who downloads number 50,000,000 you will win $1800 in credit to the Silhouette Online store - now that's a lot of downloads! Good luck to you - it sure would take a while to spend that much at 99 cents a file...

Clearance Sale on SVGs at Lettering Delights (extended to May 6th)

If you use a cutting machine and software program that accepts SVG format, Lettering Delights is offering some great deals on SVG files. The sets are in SVG format only and will be leaving the Lettering Delights site.

All of the SVG format products at Lettering Delights are on sale for $1 a set. This sale has been extended and will now end on May 6th - click HERE to shop the 188 individual sets that are available.

Remember, if you "purchase" the monthly freebie first (click HERE to see this month's freebies) you will received a code for 25% off your next purchase in your confirmation email - making this deal even more tempting.

Keep an eye on your email for more offers - it seems everyone wants to offer a special deal for Moms!

I'll be busy working on my house projects and finishing up a digital project to upload for printing today. Maybe I can sit outside with my laptop to enjoy this weather while it lasts... Do you have any special plans for the weekend? I hope you have a great time, whatever you are doing.

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Made for Mom - with love

2013-04-24T02:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Wednesday and welcome to the next stop on the Made for Mom Creativity Celebration.

If you aren't following the hop but just happened along here today, you can go to Lain Ehmann's site HERE to begin the full tour. If you get lost, you will find the list of participating sites on Lain's site as well. These special treats, freebies and offers are brought to you by a group of women who met through Lain's classes. I hope you find lots of inspiration along the way.

You should be arriving here from Pam's site, Keeping Life Creative. She has an adorable free "feltie" printable and a super discount on these inserts for a recipe binder that would make a great gift!

I have a special card for Mom to share with you today. Designing for digital diecutting is one of my favorite things to do. The following photos will take you through the steps for assembling the card.

Here are all of the pieces needed to make this card. I cut them with my Silhouette Cameo using the Studio software but I am sharing files in various formats. The letters and hearts are cut into the top layer of the card which makes it much quicker to assemble.

Points are cut from the white mat layer to allow the alligator texture pink shimmer cardstock to show through.

When the flower ring is added the secondary pattern of white scallops is highlighted.

The "Mom" topper is layered with the center circle and raised with foam dots. Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone...some bling was needed...

I chose pink pearls instead of the "diamond" gems to carry the shimmery pink theme.

The card base (11 x 5 1/2 inches) and the first dark pink layer (5 3/8 x 5 3/8 inches) are cut with a trimmer.

I chose to put the fold at the top of the card - I often do this for larger special occasion cards.

The shimmery pink cardstock is difficult to write or stamp on so I added an inside mat.

I used this Martha Stewart Punch around the Page set called "French Scroll." If you can't find this set locally, you can find it on Amazon HERE. The dimensions needed for the punch around the page to work properly (5 x 5 inches) were a perfect fit for the card.

The leftover hearts from the front medallion make a lovely accent on the inner mat.

You can download the file for this card with the following links. Please be sure to double check the sizes and turn on the cut lines. I have listed the sizes for all of the elements above.

Silhouette Studio File
Make the Cut File
SVG File
PDF File

I will be opening my new site which will include a shop with my designs very soon. You can follow this blog, subscribe for email updates, or like the Capadia Designs Facebook page HERE to be sure to find out when the new website is up and running.

Thanks for visiting today - your next stop is Beth's site, Scrapping Wonders. If you take photos with an iPhone you won't want to miss her free class offer!

LOAD513 is just a week away - have you signed up?
The Layout a Day (LOAD) program that Lain Ehmann is offering begins May 1st and includes 31 daily videos, 31 daily prompts, and 31 sample layouts. There is also an exclusive message board for LOAD members only where you can connect and chat with the several hundred other scrappers who have taken the challenge. There will be prizes along the way and special recognition for everyone who completes the challenge. I have already signed up and I hope you will join in the fun and games.

Click HERE to go to the information page where you can see a video message from Lain and find out why so many people look forward to this challenge. Can you imagine getting 31 pages done next month? Sounds good to me!

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Coming soon...

2013-04-22T06:00:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday I will be participating in a special event and I hope you will be able to join in the fun. A group of creative women have put together some great inspiration for Mother's Day. Starting early in the morning on April 24th, you'll be able to visit websites and blogs where you'll find freebies, coupons, special offers and lots of creativity to help you prepare for Mother's Day (some gift ideas will be included as well).

There is still time to sign up for LOAD513 - but there aren't many spaces left! The Layout a Day (LOAD) program that Lain Ehmann is offering begins May 1st and includes 31 daily videos, 31 daily prompts, and 31 sample layouts. There is also an exclusive message board for LOAD members only where you can connect and chat with the several hundred other scrappers who have taken the challenge. There will be prizes along the way and special recognition for everyone who completes the challenge. I have already signed up and I hope you will join in the fun and games.

Click HERE to go to the information page where you can see a video message from Lain and find out why so many people look forward to this challenge. Can you imagine getting 31 pages done next month? Sounds good to me!

One more thing - don't forget to register for the free scrapinar all about envelope art.

Windy Robinson, Paper Crafts Magazine's Go-To Gal will be the featured guest on April 23rd (that's tomorrow). Windy will show how to create gorgeous hand-crafted and hand-embellished envelopes and mail art. The lucky recipients and even the mail carrier will be sure to smile at something this special arriving with the regular delivery. You can find out all about the scrapinar and sign up HERE. Be sure to sign up even if you have a conflict on the date - a replay will be available but only for a limited time and only for those who have registered ahead of time.

Last week was such a difficult week in Boston, the surrounding area and all across the country. It was very hard to watch the scenes in Watertown - especially since we had been out to dinner the Friday before at a restaurant just a few blocks away. Watching the events unfold on TV and seeing the police tape blocking off that area made it all seem even more terrifying. I can't imagine how long it will take the residents to get past the memories of that night and day. It was such a relief when the arrest was made. We are so grateful for the service of all of the members of the law enforcement agencies and the citizens who stepped forward to help.

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The First Few Years - New Cartridge

2013-04-19T06:00:00.000-04:00

image from Cricut.com

If you are a Cricut Gypsy owner,you may not have read all the way through my post yesterday describing how to use the Silhouette Studio software for the butterfly birthday card I made. I want to make sure that you know that you should have a $20 credit in your account at Cricut.com. The credit is supposed to be for digital images and cartridges only but I have read a few reports of people using it for physical products like mats. You need to use the credit quickly - it expires on May 17, 2013.

So...you may be wondering how to spend your credit - I have a suggestion for you.

The First Few Years is a new cartridge that is a bit different from the usual cartridges. This cartridge takes all of the work out of using a sketch by cutting all of the pieces for 50 different page layouts.

image from Cricut.com

The layouts are appropriate for an album for the early childhood years but you could change out some of the images and titles and use the basic layout for other topics as well.


image from Cricut.com

image from Cricut.com

As you can see from these two screen shots, there are images that are definitely child related as well as a second group of more generic images.

image from Cricut.com

There are also some great photo mats, frames and borders.

image from Cricut.com

The phrases are in various fonts and have a shadow layer. They are definitely aimed at early years topics.

image from Cricut.com

Here is a look at the layouts you can make. If you have a pile of early childhood photos and want to spend a weekend getting "caught up" (do we ever really get caught up?!) I think it would be very relaxing to sit and make these pages.

image from Cricut.com

The handbook gives the size you need for each element to make the layout as shown - of course you can change things around if you would like to. There is also a nice curvy font with welded and shadowed titles of the months of the year and more.

You can get a closer look at the cartridge by clicking HERE to go to the information page for the cartridge on Circut.com. The digital cartridge is on sale for 20% off ($39.99) so, if you use your $20 credit you can get it for less than half of the regular price - not bad for a brand new cartridge. You can find the link to the full handbook on that page.

I already spent my $20 credit but I am thinking of getting this cartridge as well with some additional credit I still have sitting in my account...

Do you like the idea of working with a cartridge that has outlined all of the choices you need to make for your page? Do you like working with sketches?

I hope you have some great plans for the weekend!

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Butterfly Card Topper with Silhouette Studio

2013-04-18T06:00:00.000-04:00

In order to make the wings of this butterfly "fly" above the card I made a few changes to the original free image in my Silhouette Studio software.

This butterfly image is one of the 50 designs that came with my Silhouette SD. I checked to see where you could find it in the store and discovered that it is still free as an individual shape. You can see it in the lower right corner of the screen shot below.

There are hundreds of butterfly designs available in the online store. You can just search for butterfly and choose one that you like if you'd prefer a different image. Be sure to choose one with lacy wings and a solid body to make it easier to adapt for a card like the one I made.

You may also be able to find a group of additional free designs in the Silhouette Online Store by searching "original 50" in the search box. When I tried this last night I found 29 free designs listed.

Once you have placed the butterfly on the mat you need to remove the center or the body section to create the inset effect on your card front. Choose the knife tool and cut from the top to the bottom of the wing.

To use this method, be sure that "solid" is selected in the knife panel on the right of the screen. The steps will be different if you use "outline" and when I get a chance to make a video I will show in more detail how the outline option would work.

After the knife makes the cut you will have two complete wings and a body, as shown on the left side in the screen shot above. On the right you can see how the knife works if you choose outline - the wing is left with an open side and the body will need some repair.

After you make the two knife cuts the image will look like this.

I selected all three sections and filled them with red so you can see the shapes more clearly in this screen shot. The butterfly body can now be moved off the mat while you work with the wings.

The wing shape that remains would cut completely from the paper so you need to edit the shape to remove the new straight edge by the body. (If you choose outline when you cut the wings will have not have the side line but you will have to repair the body).

To edit the shape, double click on the wing to enter the point editing mode. Then select the dot at the top of the new side line, right click and choose "break path" - the dot will turn red.

After you have broken the path at the top and bottom the wing will still look the same. You need to right click and choose "release compound path" to allow the side line to move away from the wing shape.

Once you have edited both sides of the wings and separated the center lines, move them away from the image and delete the lines.

When you chose "release compound path," all of the shapes inside the wings became individual images. Drag your mouse over all of the shapes to select them all, right click and choose "make compound path" to get them back into a single image.

Click on the scissors icon at the top right of the page (next to the "A") to check the cut lines. Then you can resize the butterfly to suit your project.

To make the card topper, draw a rectangle 5 inches tall and 3.75 inches wide. Resize the butterfly to fit nicely in this space - I turned my image 45 degrees to the left. To make it easier to move the card topper around on the mat select both the rectangle and the butterfly, right click and choose "create compound path."

Once you have finalized your design, you can easily cut six of these toppers from a 12 x 12 sheet of cardstock.

This post is getting long so tomorrow I'll explain how to turn any font into a stencil font that can cut into a topper and retain the centers of the of the letters like "o" and "p."

The body of the butterfly might need a little smoothing through point editing if your knife line was not even. Then just place it on another area of the mat to cut from contrasting cardstock.

A couple of important notes about Cricut Gypsy linking to the Cricut Craftroom

1. If you are are a registered Gypsy owner, you should have received an email about this update. All Gypsy owners were given a $20 credit to spend on digital images only. Sometimes the emails don't make it so I wanted to make sure you realized you had a little "mad money" to try out the digital selections. I chose "Life's a Party" as a digital cartridge - it was $19.99 so it was free to me on Tuesday night. Wednesday a new sale was announced so you can get digital cartridges (the "everyday" category) for 20% off making it only $15.99 this week. I was a little too quick!

The credit expires on May 17th so don't forget to check and spend it as soon as you can.

2. I haven't updated my Gypsy and linked it - I am not sure if I will since I rarely use the Craftroom and I don't mind plugging in a cart that is linked to the Gypsy. I have seen reports that when people complete the linking procedure, the five free cartridges that many customers received in a promotion are no longer linked (Tags, Bags, Boxes and More, Blackletter, Christmas, Indie Art, Printing Press) and the Smiley Card cartridge that was another promotional cart on the Gypsy has also disappeared. If these are important to you, I'd suggest waiting a little longer until there is a fix for this problem.

My voice isn't back to normal yet - but I do plan to start making videos again. I hope you could follow this explanation easily - let me know if you have any questions.

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Linking and Repairs for Cricut Gypsy

2013-04-17T06:00:00.000-04:00

Exciting news for Cricut Gypsy owners was announced yesterday. After a very long wait it is finally possible to link the cartridges that are on your Gypsy device to the Cricut Craftroom. You can get all of the details on the Cricut.com site HERE.

There are lengthy instructions and a list of Frequently Asked Questions and you should be sure to read everything and follow these directions carefully. This long awaited update will allow Gypsy owners with extensive cartridge libraries linked on their devices to use the same cartridges seamlessly with the Cricut Craftroom - they will no longer be required to insert each cartridge before cutting their projects.

There is also helpful news for Gypsy owners with devices that do not work - new repair options were announced.

source - Cricut.com

source Cricut.com

In a post on the Cricut Community Message Board HERE, Nathan added some additional information. He confirmed that the current Gypsy model will no longer be produced but stated that support and content updates will continue to be offered.

The final blow has been dealt to the Cricut Design Studio program. No more content updates will be provided which means that no cartridges issued after April 11, 2013 can be used with the program. If you are a Design Studio user be sure to go to the update page HERE, to get the final content update.

The update version number is V130401 - save the file to your computer and then run it to install the last cartridges.

This screen shot shows the cartridges that are added in this update. The update is very quick since for this final update only the newest cartridges are added. If you had not updated to the last version, I am not sure how you will be able to add the cartridges you missed since this update only adds the most recent. If you kept up with the updates your program should be complete. To find out if your program is up to date, check to see the last font update you installed - the update before this was done last October and the version was V121009 (see my post HERE). The Teresa Collins December 25th seasonal cartridge and Something to Remember which were both missing from the last update have been included in the final update.

One more note - it is "One Buck Wednesday" at Jessica Sprague and there are a number of kits that are either $1 or 50% off. Echo Park, Carta Bella, Jenni Bowlin, Samantha Walker, Lori Whitlock, Carina Gardner and more all have interesting items to try out at bargain prices for digital scrapping or cutting. The papers and embellishments can be used for print and cut projects on the Silhouette machines as well. (Click the image on the left to go to the site).

Do any of you still use Cricut Design Studio? After years of daily use (sometimes for hours a day) I have used it only rarely since I added the Silhouette machines to my craft room. It is very hard to switch back to the Cricut program once you get used to the abilities of the Silhouette Studio such as one click shadows and other helpful editing tools. For anyone who doesn't own a Gypsy (or doesn't like the small black and white screen) and can't easily use the Craftroom due to internet issues, this is the end of an era.

Yesterday I woke up with a very scratchy throat and very little voice - probably allergies since I was outdoors for a long while watching the parade. I had planned to do a video with the butterfly card instructions yesterday - if my voice improves, I'll do it later today - if not...it will be a words and pictures post for now.

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Boston Marathon Tragedy

2013-04-16T06:00:00.000-04:00

It's happened again. Monday started off as a great Patriot's Day with all of the traditional festivities here in Concord. A few hours later - an unbelievable tragedy in Boston. We were in the car and heard something about an explosion on the radio. At home we turned on the TV and saw the terrible scenes that have been replayed all over the country.

All of our family is safe - this year no one went into Boston to see the end of the Marathon. Our hearts are broken for all of the injured and especially for the families of the three (as of now) who lost their lives. The injuries were terrible. Another piece of normal is gone.

Thanks to all of you who were checking to see if we were OK. If you have young children and don't know how to talk to them about what happened, this article from Boston Children's Hospital may be helpful. Please stay safe and

I had planned to share the directions for making the butterfly birthday card today - my heart just isn't in it right now. I'll try to finish the post for tomorrow...

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Butterfly Birthday Card

2013-04-15T06:00:00.000-04:00

This cheerful birthday card was designed with a butterfly shape from the group of images that were included with my Silhouette SD and the Grenouille font.

I tried two versions - one with a sentiment and one with blank space for stamping. I altered the butterfly shape to have just the wings cut into the card front and created a separate body.

The letters were modified to make them cut like a stencil so the centers would not be lost.

I used a double cut and the tiny letters cut cleanly except for the tail of the "y." Fortunately, it was easy to trim the tiny piece that was "stuck."

The wings are gently lifted so they "fly" above the card.

It takes some time to alter the cuts and set up the file but when you are finished the design can be used over and over for a quick card. The card base is Core'dinations white gemstone cardstock, the green and orange glitter cardstock is from DCWV and the top layer is solid cardstock from CTMH.

The layer of glitter cardstock used as a mat adds sparkle quickly and easily.

No adhesive was used on the antennae of the butterfly to add a little more dimension. I found that I needed to do two double cuts to make a clean cut of the butterfly body in the heavy glitter cardstock. I checked before unloading the mat after the first cut and realized that a second cut was needed. Since I hadn't unloaded the mat I simple pressed "Cut Again" to make the cuts in exactly the same place on the mat.

This card can be mailed easily and should "fluff up" when it is removed from the envelope.

I couldn't resist adding gems in three corners but you could leave these off or use dots punched from glitter cardstock for the corners to make the card more "mailing-friendly."

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for directions on creating the file with the Silhouette Studio software.

Happy Patriot's Day (in Maine & Massachusetts) and Happy (?) Income Tax Day. If you are getting (or have already received) a refund will you be spending any of it on crafty purchases?

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Free Photography eBooks and SVG Sale

2013-04-12T06:00:00.000-04:00

If you are interested in improving your photography skills, one of the best things you can do is to take lots of photos. Try different camera settings and lighting situations, persuade a child or friend to "model" for you, read the manual that came with your camera (yes,really!) and explore online sites that offer photography tips and techniques.

Are you attempting to take a photo everyday (Project 365)? Would you like some support and inspiration? You should check out Katrina Kennedy's site Capture Your 365. Katrina is a photographer and teacher who can help you with the technical tips and also the creative inspiration for recording your life. Katrina offers several classes through the year - you can read about them HERE. Her site also includes an online community where you can share with others who are on a mission to use photography to add more meaning to their daily lives.

Craft and Vision is another source of photography information and help. They have a wide assortment of eBooks about photography and most are just $5 each. There are also some eBooks that are free - Craft & Vision 1 is a 67 spread PDF eBook with 11 articles about ways to improve your photography and Craft & Vision 2 is a 45 spread PDF eBook with 9 articles about making stronger photographs. You can click the links above to order any of these books.

Clearance Sale on SVGs at Lettering Delights

If you use a cutting machine and software program that accepts SVG format, Lettering Delights is offering some great deals on SVG files. The sets are in SVG format only and will be leaving the Lettering Delights site.

There is a bundle of 100 basic sets that would cost $100 individually and it is now just $55. This set has so many great cuts - over 1400 images. You can find the listing of all of the sets in the bundle HERE. The bundle sale ends Friday - that's today.

If you don't need quite so many images you can buy individual sets for $1 each.

All of the SVG format products at Lettering Delights are on sale for $1 a set. This sale lasts until Tuesday, April 16th - click HERE to shop the 188 individual sets that are available.

Remember, if you "purchase" the monthly freebie first (click HERE to see this month's freebies) you will received a code for 25% off your next purchase in your confirmation email - making this deal even more tempting.

The photo of the calla lily at the top of this post is one of many I took while we were in California. The calla lily was one of my Mom's favorite flowers and she would have loved to see them growing in so many places.

Have a great weekend. We have a holiday Monday for Patriot's Day and the Boston Marathon is also on Monday. I hope it stops raining!

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Aquarium Photo Inspiration

2013-04-11T06:00:00.000-04:00

Thanks to all of you who commented with your guesses about the locations where I took the photos I posted on Tuesday. The answers are in the comments on that post but I'll add them here too. We took a quick trip to San Francisco to visit our son and daughter-in-law and it was a great getaway. I am still in "re-entry" mode with odd sleep patterns!

The first photo of the heart was taken at Union Square in San Francisco. There is a large heart at each of the four corners of the square. Photo no.2 is the Lone Cyprus from an overlook along the 17 Mile Drive in Carmel. The third photo was taken in the garden of the Mission at San Juan Bautista. It was so funny to us to see lilacs and cactus together (we certainly don't see that in Massachusetts and our lilacs are nowhere near to blooming yet).

Photo 4 is of the Transamerica building (with the distinctive pyramid shape) taken from Chinatown. Photo five was also taken at the Mission in San Juan Bautista - part of the movie Vertigo was filmed there. Photo 6 is the view of the Pacific coastline from Highway 1 and the final photo was taken at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

One of my favorite exhibits at the Aquarium was the jellyfish. There are so beautiful and interesting to watch. There were all shapes and sizes - some big ones in large tanks like this and some incredibly tiny types.

The lighting and the vivid blue tanks create a wonderful chance to take photos. The gradient of the blues in the background of this photo is especially pretty.

I didn't realize that I had captured our son's profile in this photo until I started to sort and edit my photos. The jelly fish are fascinating to watch.

This photo shows an exhibit that really caught my eye - because it involved cutting out shapes! Sorry for the glare on the image which makes it hard to see (at least it was a sunny day).

This closer view of one of the bottles will give you a better idea about the artwork. The piece is called "Message in a Bottle" and it was done by Australian artist Alison McDonald. You can see some better images on her site HERE.

We didn't have a lot of time to spend at the aquarium but we really enjoyed having a quick look around. They have a great website HERE if you want to check it out. If you will be traveling to this area it is well worth a visit.

The jellyfish and the amazing colors of the corals and other sea life are a great source of inspiration for future projects. I'll leave you with a few more photos to share some of that inspiration.

I hope you have a wonderful day! It looks like there is still stormy weather for many parts of the country so please stay safe!

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Don't Miss Layout A Day in May

2013-04-09T06:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Tuesday! Did you miss me while I was away? We arrived home late last night and I have a lot of catching up to do.

I haven't been through all of my email but I did see a couple of things that I wanted to share right away. Lain Ehmann is offering another great free scrapinar this month that sounds like a lot of fun.

Windy Robinson, Paper Crafts Magazine's Go-To Gal will be the featured guest on April 23rd. Windy will show how to create gorgeous hand-crafted and hand-embellished envelopes and mail art. The lucky recipients and even the mail carrier will be sure to smile at something this special arriving with the regular delivery. You can find out all about the scrapinar and sign up HERE. Be sure to sign up even if you have a conflict on the date - a replay will be available but only for a limited time and only for those who have registered ahead of time.

The Layout a Day (LOAD) program that Lain is offering in May is nearly full. Last month I signed up to participate in this challenge to create a scrapbook page every day for a month. It includes 31 daily videos, 31 daily prompts, and 31 sample layouts, and begins May 1.

If you were thinking of signing up last month but didn't get around to it and missed the early bird discount I have good news. Lain sent me a code to offer to friends and family - you can save $10 off LOAD 513 registration just by using the code FNF at checkout. Click HERE to go to the registration page and be sure to do it right away - spaces are nearly full and the code is only good until midnight (Eastern) on April 10th (that's tomorrow!)

Here are a few photos from my trip - I think you will probably be able to guess where I was...

Maybe I'll be able to use some of the photos from my trip for the LOAD pages - it would be great to get them finished within a month! I hope that some more of you will take up this challenge.

If you can identify any of my photo locations (there are a few tricky ones...) just leave a comment with each photo number and your guess. If you have been on Spring Break where did you go?

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Easy Jewelry Making

2013-04-03T04:00:00.000-04:00

Pendants and charms that showcase interesting papers and collages between glass are very popular. They can be quite expensive to purchase in the gift shops. With a few supplies from Ranger, you can make your own projects and personalize them to suit you or to give as a gift.

We had a nice time with some family members visiting from California. Of course, we took them around to see some of the most famous places in Concord. I've been to the Old North Bridge three times in the past week! This is the famous statue of the Minuteman by Daniel Chester French. He designed many monuments including the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

You can see the statue at the far end of the bridge.

After the sightseeing, we did a little shopping and found a display with many of the pendants and charms. I remembered that I had purchased supplies from Blitsy last year and had never gotten around to making any jewelry - so when we got back to the house, it was time to do some crafting!

You can make these charms by sandwiching the paper collage between two pieces of thin glass and sealing them together with metal tape, adding a wire loop while you are finishing the metal edges. It can be a little fiddly to do this so an even easier method is to use these pre-made frames that come in various shapes and sizes and three different finishes.

The glass is cut perfectly to fit the frames and the sizes are color coded on the packaging so it's easy to grab the ones you need to make a set.

We used some papers from 7Gypsies and Webster's Pages. Both companies have designs that are ideal for this sort of project. The frames are designed to open at one corner and they are flexible enough to bend out while you insert the two pieces of glass with the papers between them. Then you put the frame back with the thin "latch" piece holding it all together. This metal bit should be burnished down against the side of the frame (I can see the pieces sticking out a bit on these photos - it wasn't really noticeable in person but I'll smooth it out a bit more).

On the opposite side (either side could be used as the front or back depending on your mood) we added a few words from the Tim Holtz ChitChat cardstock stickers.

These stickers have lots of common words that you can add to your projects in a typewriter font on white or kraft cardstock. You could type your own words but the stickers make it so easy to add the words since they are adhesive backed and perfectly cut out for you already.

We also added a few tiny butterflies that were cut using a new die from Memory Box. I am sure this die will be getting a lot of use - the tiny size is perfect for lots of projects and the negative space cut will be pretty on a card edge.

I haven't seen the frames and glass on Blitsy for a while so they may be coming up in a sale soon. I have noticed that things seem to cycle around so you just have to be patient and watch what comes up. There are new sales every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and they go live around 11 a.m. Central Time. If you aren't a member of Blitsy yet (it's free to sign up!), please use my link and click HERE to go to the page and register. After you are a member, you can refer your friends and family and earn credits for future purchases.

You should be able to find the Memory Glass items at craft stores and some items are available on Amazon - just click the image on the left to go to the page where they are listed.

This would be a fun project for a girl's night out. You can make simple versions by using only printed paper or add lots of additional elements - as long as they will fit flat between the glass slides.

Have you made any of these little pieces of art? Do you have any tips to share on how to make them? I can't wait to do more! I am thinking of designing some tiny die cuts to fit inside the frames.

I will be occupied with lots of family events until next week and so I won't be posting much - maybe a few photos or news items. I hope you have a great week - I'll be back on the blog routine soon.

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April Fool's Day

2013-04-01T06:00:00.000-04:00

It's the first of April and time to play a practical joke on someone. Did you put salt in the sugar bowl or make green eggs and ham this morning? If you search "April Fools Tricks" on the web you'll find lots of silly ideas. If you have a tradition of playing a trick on someone it would be fun to hear about it in a comment.

We went to the Easter Sunrise service at the Old North Bridge as planned. It was a beautiful morning as you can see in this photo I took after the service was finished. We had family and friends visiting on Sunday and more visitors will arrive today so my crafting time has been limited. I had some projects in mind that just didn't get done for this holiday so I'll save them for next year.

Just a reminder...

Today is the last day of the Creative Memories Spring Cleaning Clearance sale. You can see what is still available and check out the extra savings HERE on my CM personal website. The Stork's Delivery Cricut cartridge was still available last night...this might be your last chance to get it (at $27.50 - a great price for a very full cartridge).

The digital sale on all artwork and software downloads also ends today. If you don't use the StoryBook program you can order many of the artwork packages in Universal Format and your download will include JPEG and PNG files. Be sure to check the format carefully when you put the items in your cart. You'll find the Spring Fling sale HERE. The sale prices are reflected when you add the item to your shopping cart.

Both sales will end at 10 p.m. Central Time on April 1, 2013 so there are just a few hours left to get some of these deals.

The image at the top of this post was made by repeating the colorful blue and yellow butterfly I downloaded from Twisted Papers to make another wreath. You can find this butterfly in the Victorian Scrap section HERE.

Have a wonderful day!

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