Samantha Walker's Imaginary World

Make a cute Valentines banner using new Silhouette Designs!

2012-01-27T00:01:00.001-07:00

Have you checked out the Silhouette store recently? If you have...chances are you have seen some of Samantha's new die cuts. If you haven't, well you are missing out. I suggest you check out Samantha's Portfolio.

Today, I Guiseppa, have a fun project to share with you I made using Samantha's Ooh La La Collection from Creative Imaginations and several of her new die cuts and some Maya Road envelopes. This Ooh La La Collection is so gorgeous and perfect for Valentines Day and in combination with her new Valentine die cuts, makes for a super cute project. These are the die cuts I used.

Border Hearts

Card Fancy Occasion Hearts
Doily Heart Lace Edge

Card Circle Valentine

Here is my banner!

Do you want to make a Valentines Love Banner like this? So simple and easy, especially when you can cut most of it out!

First off, I picked the die cuts I wanted to use, sized them and then cut them. Again, the ones I used for this banner are above and can be found in Samantha's Portfolio.

For the first part of the banner I used an envelope. I cut the Border Hearts from my Silhouette and adhered lace to the the border and onto the envelope. I also adhered lace to the underside of the envelope flap. I embellished it by adding pearls, hearts, a little key trinket and twine. The patterned paper I used is from the Ooh La La Collection. You can really make this your own and embellish it any way you would like.

For second part of this banner I used Samantha's Card Fancy Occasion Hearts die cut. I then cut the label out (one of Samantha's found here) and used the Love sticker label from her Ooh La La Collection. I added some more hearts and pearls as well.

For the third part, I used another envelope from Maya Road. Behind the envelope flap I added paper from the Ooh La La Collection. Then over the top of the flap I added the Doily Heart Lace Edge die cut. Once again, I embellished with pearls, hearts and twine.

For the fourth part I used one of Samantha's card die cuts, the Card Circle Valentine. I made a rolled rose, adhered lace around the rose and put it in the center of the card. The Romance word is a rub on and paper used to make the rose are from the Ooh La La Collection. I added some more pearls too.

I wanted to use the card as an added touch to the banner, well...as a card too! I label sticker is from the Ooh La La Collection and the title is Samantha's. You can find it here.

For the last part of of this banner, I used another envelope. I added more lace under the envelope flap. I cut the tag out, one of Samantha's found here. I added paper and epoxy stickers from the Ooh La La Collection. I embellished the tag with a lock and key trinket as well as more twine. Then I connected the whole banner by punching small circle holes in all the corners and tying it together with ribbon! Viola... a super cute Valentines Banner!

We would love to see your creations with Samantha's die cuts from Silhouette! You can upload them on Samantha's Facebook Page. Now, to give this banner to someone special!

Thanks for stopping by!
Guiseppa
guiseppagubler.blogspot.com

Blog Spotlights of New Creative Team Members!

2012-01-25T00:00:00.003-07:00

This year in addition to the wonderful ladies that are staying on my creative team, I am thrilled to have added three new members (Joscelyne Cutchens, Jennifer Evans, and Angi Barrs) and one other member who is also fairly ne, she was added in October (Jamie Cripps). I am so excited to introduce my whole team to you this year...we will start with our newest members in a quadruple Spotlight this month, then I'll feature one of my team members during each of the consecutive months.

Get to Know Jamie Cripps!

When talking about creating, Jamie says,

"If I had to choose a favorite technique, "I would have to go with "inking". I love the look it gives to all my projects!"
In reference to her design background, Jamie quips,

"No professional training here...! :) I guess I would say I learned to design by finding inspiration through others (from their websites and blogs)!"

When asked how she makes her design choices, Jamie says,

"I use the products I am working with to find inspiration within the colors, patterns, and embellishments!"

Here's what Jamie has to say about her design inspirations,

"Ohh, there are so many! Danielle Flanders (http://www.danielleflanders.blogspot.com/), Laurie Wilson (http://soapboxcreations.blogspot.com/), Amy Heller (http://www.amyheller.typepad.com/) and of course, my sister J.M. Rush (http://jm-rush.blogspot.com/)"

Besides crafting, Jamie says,

"I love hanging out with my kiddos, going on road trips, going to book stores, getting lost (yes, I love getting lost and finding new places), bike riding, blogging, pinning, and face booking!"

Something you might not know about Jamie,

"I use to have a career managing a Healthcare Operations Outsourcing department in multiple States for a very large company. I left that career (and salary!) a couple years ago to follow my dreams of crafting and I couldn't be happier!"

Here are some incredibly beautiful projects by Jamie:

Jamie used paper and elements from my Orchard Harvest collection available in tangible paper through Creative Imaginations and digitally through Jessica Sprague.

Jamie used paper from my digital basics collection called Foundations Grey Baby...available through the Jessica Sprague digital store.

Get to know Joscelyne Cutchens!
Here's what she has to say about her love of crafting:
"I love to add machine or handstitching to my projects, it just offers a little extra detail that makes me happy."

"I have always loved art and photography. In High School I took classes in video production and was on the school newspaper staff. I learned how to frame my subjects in my photos and some basics of graphic design. I've read many books and taken classes to learn how to do what I want with the tools I have."

"I love color, especially happy color. I love aqua, orange, yellow. I love monochromatic and two color palettes. I love regular patterns. I also consider the photographs and the story I want to tell or feeling I want to convey."

When talking about her artsy inspirations she says,

"I find that many people have something inspirational about their art. In scrapbooking I have always loved Ali Edwards sense of style and real life storytelling. I love children's books and illustration. I love movies animated and real. I love photographers like Marina Miller, Tara Whitney and Candice Stringham. I love the work of my fellow scrapbookers."

In addition to crafting, Joscie says,
"I love to bake desserts, drink coffee, read books, watch movies, go on adventures. I love antique stores, museums and bakeries. I love to ride my bicycle."

Here is a fun story about Joscie's crafty past:
"in august 2008, I entered the Memory Makers Masters 2009 contest. It was on a whim and I didn't tell too many people about it, just in case I didn't hear the news I wanted... On the day of the big announcement, I was thrilled to hear I was named one of the 10 runner ups. Shortly after the announcement I read something online that made me think I may have made a mistake on my entry. I didn't know that I was supposed to only use pictures that had never appeared online. It was my first year of a picture a day project and I had been taking my pictures and posting them to my blog. I also used some of these photos in my entry. I contacted Memory Makers and it was determined I would be removed from the list of runner ups. I was sad, but knew I had done the right thing. On that very day, while getting ready to take my boys to school, we had an accident that required a cleanup in the bathroom. As I stood in the doorway to the bathroom, I glanced at the floor and spotted my gold chain and diamond cross necklace that I had misplaced about a year earlier. I was so thrilled to have found it and right after having made a tough choice, I was overjoyed. I felt it was a reward for making a good choice."

Here are some of Joscie's newest creations...which I think are simply gorgeous!

Joscelyne's first spotlight project uses my foundations baby gray digital papers, printed on textured white cardstock and the twisted metal and blossom spellbinder dies.

Joscie's second project uses my Decadence fabrics for Riley Blake
along with some white muslin to make this two tiered ruffled apron.

Get to know Angi Barrs!
Here's what Angi has to say about her designs,
"I really don't have a fave technique, but I do love to layer paper and embellishements to add depth to the design. I also love altered and hybrid projects. It's fun to mix digital with traditional elements."

"A friend introduced me to scrapbooking 10 years ago and I have gone to crafty classes & watched many Youtube videos to learn new skills. I am also obsessed with digital lately and am taking classes online with Jessica Sprague this year."

"Color and texture influence my design choices. I love to add bright and whimsical elements to things that I make. I also like to use material such as fabric, canvas, burlap, and other natural elements."

"HGTV gives me loads of inspiration. I am addicted to all of their shows. A lot of interior design elements spark plenty of crafty ideas in my head. A pillow, a vase, a window treatment, and even a rug have prompted me to make certain crafty projects."
In addition to crafting, Angi says,
"My daughters and I are addicted to movies. I've seen every movie there is to see. We even have a "dinner & a movie" club with our friends. This is our fave time of year because it's the Academy Awards season. One day we hope to attend the Sundance Film Festival. I'd love to meet George Clooney and Julia Roberts."

Here's something fun that you probably didn't know about Angi...
"I proudly served in the U.S. Marine Corps. I was a journalist/photographer and got to meet many brave men and women from all over the country. I love to show support to our troops!"

Here are a few fantastic projects by Angi!

Angi used paper and stickers from my Orchard Harvest collection for Creative Imaginations.

Get to know Jennifer Evans!

"As an artist for the last eighteen years, I believe that if my hands aren’t stained from paint then I wasn’t having fun enough! I share my artistic passion with my husband and five year old son. We make our home in Oregon where we love the outdoors (when it isn't raining!), photography, cooking a good meal, then eating it, and reading beside a warm fire."

"My twin sister, Rebecca, introduced me into scrapbooking and stamping twelve years ago. I kept my feet grounded and refused to take the plunge that she had. I held tight onto my canvas, paint brushes, and acrylics and watched as she continued to write and tell me about her new passion."

"She even went as far as to send me an instructional video of her using eyelets to entice me. You know, when they first came out and you had to use a hammer? When I played the VHS (remember those?), all I saw was the top of her head and loud banging. I couldn't even hear what she was saying over the noise. (She hates when I tell that story, but, man, it's so funny!)"

"A year later I walked into a scrapbook store, fell in love with paper, and I dropped my art supplies thinking that I was to never to look at them again. It wasn’t until altered books and mixed media came into the Northwest that I began to realize that my first love for paint and canvas could be used with scrapbooking! Scrapbooking then became more of an artistic way for me to tell my story than just photos on a page to document an event."

"As a free-spirited Craft-Media artist, I have a passion for color; reduce, reusing, and recycling items to make them new again; and ultimately having fun and making a mess doing it! I am right brained and love using untraditional items to create meaningful pieces of art, while also trying to balance myself occasionally with a surprisingly clean and organized layout."

"I get my color inspiration from God’s beautiful creation, online like at Pinterest, or in home decor and fashion magazines. I always create a sketch before beginning unless I am working in my journal and then I just go with it!. I don’t always follow the sketch perfectly but it helps me get going creatively."

"Once my little one is down for the night, I unpack my things in my art space. I create such a mess that I have at one time realized that I was working out into the hallway! I continue the piece until it is finished even if it is well past midnight. If there is chocolate in the house, I have already eaten it before the project is done. When I have the piece finished, I sigh with delight, look at the mess, and shake my head. How did it get that bad? I clean it up before crawling into bed exhaustively happy. If I have an itch to get the paint out but don’t want to clean the mess, I get on the laptop and do a digital layout to make up for it."

"I love photography. My husband and I also have a photography business where we are able to capture memories for others. I love to garden and will spend several hours in boots playing in my perennial garden, even if it is raining. Before I stayed at home with my son, I was a preschool teacher. So, I have a soft spot in my heart for children's literature. My home is filled with bookshelves and I love to snuggle with picture books and my little man reading."

Something you might not know about Jennifer,
"I have a sweet addiction to chocolate, my favorite being Britain’s Cadbury Crunchie. Since I am unable to get the chocolate covered honeycomb locally anymore, any chocolate is its substitute. I also love Jane Austen, a warm blanket, and a hot cup of coffee."

Here's a couple lovely projects from Jennifer:

Jennifer used papers from my Orchard Harvest collection in Digital format available through Jessicasprague.com

Jennifer used papers from my Orchard Harvest collection available through Creative Imaginations.

I feel very fortunate to have all the members who are on my team...every one of them offers something unique to our team, and I hope you will join us each month as we share projects and ideas to inspire your crafty projects.

One more thing...

It's Wonderful Wednesday at Jessicasprague.com

Today only,

you can get the following digital kits

at 50% off:

Foundations Gray Baby Papers

Orchard Harvest Autumn Leaves paper

You may notice that several of the projects featured above are created with this digi kits. So if you were thinking that you wanted to try out some of the things featured above...now is a great time to get these kits.

Projects by YOU!

2012-01-23T22:40:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while, I get a special e-mail or post on my FB page from someone who wants to show me what they did with my products...and I always love seeing what you do! So from time to time, I'd like to share these projects with you.

Here is a beautiful quitting project designed and created by Thearica Burroughs. She created it as a project for a challenge delivered by her quilt guild.

She said, "Our guilds challenge this year was for us to make our own challenge. So I chose to do paper piecing and to incorporate orange fabrics.. A color I normally do not use."

She used fabric from my Decadence collection for Riley Blake Designs.

Way to go, Thearica! This is gorgeous!

Thanks so much for sharing!

Please visit Thearica's blog...she has lots more to share there!

New this Week! January 23rd, 2012

2012-01-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

New this week at my Silhouette die cut store!

More cards!

(designs may not be up in the store at the beginning of the week, but they have been uploaded to the queue. Watch for them as the queue rolls out the new designs.)

Also New this week

at the Jessicasprague.com digital kit store...

two new kits...

that are about as different as they can be.

And...

Today only (January 23rd)...you can get these NEW kits at 25% off!

The first kit is a kit of digital inking stamps

which is part of a new series of stamp products I'm releasing in digi format.

Welcome to the Inky-ness series...

a fun collection of digital stamps for all your beautiful messes!

Inking rubber to paper is fun, it can be oodles of fun in digi too! This collection allows you to get a varied inky look without real rubber. Each stamp in the Perfume Labels 1 set includes two versions...regular and inkier. The inkier stamps have a more intense image, while the regular are a little more transparent and subtle. There are 8 designs, with two options for a total of 16 stamps. Each stamp is intentionally large so that they can make a huge impact, or be resized smaller for understated elegance. All images come in black for easy recoloring. Each image comes as a high res png on a transparent background.

This layout was created by Debra from the Jessicasprague.com creative team. She used Inky-ness Perfume Labels 1 stamps and Party Critters Cool pack.

And for all you aspiring Chefs and Bakers...

The second collection I'm releasing is a photo element pack called Sam's Kitchen. These are high res photos on transparent backgrounds. The paper towel holder, pepper mill, measuring spoon set, and other kitchen tools are from my kitchen...the food has all since been consumed so wipe the drool.

I will tell you...the key lime tart was my favorite though.

Layout by Sarah from the Jessicasprague.com digital creative team. Sarah used photo elements from my Sam's Kitchen element pack.

Wonderful Wednesday! January 18th!

2012-01-18T00:00:00.001-07:00

This year, each Wednesday at JessicaSprague.com digital kit store, there is a "Wonderful" sale.

We call it "Wonderful Wednesday."

On this day, there is a limited selection of fabulous digi kits at 50% off!

This is a sale you MUST hit...

The 50% off sale only happens once a week.

It's not the same products from week to week.

It is often the ONLY time you will have a chance to get those products for that great price.

This week you have the opportunity to snatch up both my

Orchard Harvest Green Apple Paper Pack

and my

Cuckoo 4U Chocolate Patterned Paper

at 50% off!

But this is only on Wednesday, January 18th, so hurry on over.

Project by Samantha Walker Creative Crafters team member Cristal Hobbs.

By Jessica Sprague creative team member Jenn McCabe

By Jesssica Sprague creative team member Heather Landry

Project by Samantha Walker Creative Crafters team member Cristal Hobbs "Pinky"

New this Week! January 17th, 2012

2012-01-17T00:00:00.005-07:00

New this week in my digital scrapbooking store at jessicasprague.com:

New this week in my Silhouette machine digital download store:

Samantha Walker doily heart lace edge design for Silhouette.

Valentine tool box digital die cut by Samantha Walker for Silhouette America.

Tent top chevron box digital die cut by Samantha Walker for Silhouette America.

Chevron card wrap for special occasion cards digital die cut by Samantha Walker for Silhouette America.

Hearts card wrap for special occasion cards digital die cut by Samantha Walker for Silhouette America.

Insert for hearts card wrap for special occasion cards digital die cut by Samantha Walker for Silhouette America.

Fancy card wrap for special occasion cards digital die cut by Samantha Walker for Silhouette America.

Insert for card wrap for special occasion cards digital die cut by Samantha Walker for Silhouette America.

Fancy Flower card wrap for special occasion cards digital die cut by Samantha Walker for Silhouette America.

Fancy card wrap flowers insert for special occasion cards digital die cut by Samantha Walker for Silhouette America.

Leaves card wrap for special occasion invitations or cards by Samantha Walker for Silhouette.

Fancy Leaves insert for card wrap for special occasion cards digital die cut by Samantha Walker for Silhouette America.

A little about the card wrap concept, while these are not meant to serve as envelopes, you could adapt them to be used that way. However, the edges will not overlap, and weren't intended to either. They are merely a decorative wrap that you can use to wrap a special occasion card, then slip both into a square envelope.

Some ideas with these would be to put a photo behind the lacey card wrap, so that it peeks through. This would make a perfect wedding invitation. You could also insert a piece of vellum, tissue paper, fabric, or cellophane behind the lace to give it a different feel. These files are here to help you customize a fancy invitation to special event, or to create a special note or Thank You, or for use with any extra special occasion.

Creative Imaginations Nautical Sneak Peek! & Spellbinders Blog Frenzy Follow Up!

2012-01-16T00:00:00.043-07:00

If you are coming back for Day two of my Spellbinders two-part blog frenzy post...Thank You for stopping by again! I want to show you how I did my Nautical frame project from yesterdays Spellbinders post...

AND as a bonus for coming back, give you a sneak peek

of my new Nautical collection for Creative Imaginations. Make sure to check out the Creative Imaginations blog for some gorgeous projects using this line.

(more pictures after tutorial.)

S5-082 Nautical Frame and Accents

MSRP: $29.99

PRODUCT SIZES:

Border: 9 x 5/8"

Frame: 3 ½ x 2 ½" inside opening: 3 x 2"

Swirls: 2 ¼ x 1 3/8"

Ribbon: 3 ¼ x 1 /2"

Starfish: 1"

Sand Dollar: 7/8"

Shell: 1 ¼ x ½"

Anchor: 1 1/8 x 1 ¼"

Lighthouse: 1 ¼ x 2 ½"

First I selected a pretty glitter paper that glistened like sand. Then I ran my dies through my Spellbinders Grand Calibur machine, with the dies face down to the non glitter side of the paper, to cut the shapes I wanted.

Then while the dies were still "loaded" with my paper, I ran them through my Grand Calibur machine to emboss them.

I direct inked the edges of my sand castle frame with some dark mustard ink to give it a little pop.

I then selected a piece of contrasting card-stock to create a double mat. I traced my castle shape onto the card-stock.

Then I cut out the center a little larger than my trace marks in order to expose only the outer edge mat around my castle frame.

Then I layered the sand castle frame onto my newly cut mat.

I then chose a glittery aqua paper for the water. I cut the design, but then carefully reserved the negative cut that the die made so that I could use both.

You can better see what I mean by my positive and my negative cuts here. The swirly one on top is what the die cuts, but the cut below that is the negative space that the die creates and it is equally as beautiful and useful.

I played with my wave shapes and my frame before settling on a design.

Still playing with the waves...

This is what I settled on...

and here's the finished frame...this could also be fun as a scrapbook layout by adding a title and some journaling.

Okay...here's the inspiration behind my Nautical collection. You can also see some gorgeous projects with this new collection on the Creative Imaginations blog.

I grew up near the ocean...not right on it...but about a 45 minute drive over the Santa Cruz mountains from San Jose. I loved that drive...making my way over the top of those ridges and then around a few bends...my heart would thump as I would see a glimpse of the ocean in the distance and know that I'd be on the beach with sand in my toes in just a short while. We spent many a happy occasion with friends or family at beaches along the Northern California coast.We built many a sand castle with our beach pails and shovels. We collected sand crabs by chasing their bubbles in the sand. We also enjoyed going to "the Boardwalk" in Santa Cruz...a beach side amusement park with retro carnavel flair. I loved the rickety wooden roller coaster "the giant dipper", and the smell of cotton candy and kettle pop corn. All those memories always invoke a smile on my face.

Those are the kinds of memories that inspired me to create the Nautical collection. The red white and blue colors remind me of the colors at the Boardwalk amusment park which was infused with these colors. The Dipper was a white roller coaster with red accents. The deep navy blue ocean along the northern coast with the bright blue skies was also inspiration for the coloring in this line. I took artistic license and added lighthouse icons to this collection to give it a "dual coastal" feeling...I know that lighthouses and lobster are indicative of the East coast.

Nautical Papers and stickers by Samantha Walker for Creative Imaginations. Anchor and yellow glitter tag are cut from Spellbinders dies from the Nautical collection by Samantha Walker.
Tool chest design is a digital die cut by Samantha Walker for Silhouette America.

Nautical stickers by Samantha Walker for Creative Imaginations

Nautical paper by Samantha Walker for Creative Imaginations

Spellbinders Blog Frenzy Day 4

2012-01-14T19:59:00.005-07:00

The entry window for the
Spellbinders Paper Arts contest on this blog has ended.
Don't forget that you still have time to enter
at the blogs listed on the Spellbinders blog. Thank you!

Welcome to the Fourth day of

The Spellbinders Abilities and Beyond Blog Frenzy!

Spellbinders™ Paper Arts is absolutely thrilled to bring you our largest product releases ever! These new collections are some of the most innovative and beautiful die cutting and embossing templates in the world! The Spellbinders Abilities and Beyond Blog Frenzy allows you a sneak peek of our introductions for the 2012 Winter Craft and Hobby Association trade show later this month.

Win today’s new Spellbinders products!

Be eligible to win the Grand Prize by entering each day, see the schedule below!

Enter my Blog Frenzy from 12:00 am Eastern Standard Time (EST) January 15, 2012 until 11:59 pm (EST) January 16, 2012.

Today’s participating Blog Frenzy includes my blog

and Christine Emberson and Lesley Langdon’s blogs.

You can enter yesterday’s blogs, Shanna Vineyard, Kazan Clark and Tonya Dirk through January 15, 2012 at 11:59 pm EST.

See the Spellbinders Blog for the complete schedule of designers and contest rules.

Thank you Spellbinders Paper Arts for sponsoring this contest!

Here are the new dies I introduced:

S5-083 Antique Frame and Accents

MSRP: $29.99

PRODUCT SIZES:

Border: 9 x 3/4"

Frame: 3 x 4 ¼" inside opening: 1 ½ x 2 1/8"

Tag: 1 ½ x 3"

Corner SM: 1 3/8 x 5/8"

Corner LG: 1 ¾ x 7/8"

Flower: 1 ½ x 1 ½"

Scroll: 1 1/8 x 1 1/8"

S5-082 Nautical Frame and Accents

MSRP: $29.99

PRODUCT SIZES:

Border: 9 x 5/8"

Frame: 3 ½ x 2 ½" inside opening: 3 x 2"

Swirls: 2 ¼ x 1 3/8"

Ribbon: 3 ¼ x 1/2"

Starfish: 1"

Sand Dollar: 7/8"

Shell: 1 ¼ x ½"

Anchor: 1 1/8 x 1 ¼"

Lighthouse: 1 ¼ x 2 ½"

I'm so glad that you took the time to stop by my blog frenzy!

I've been busy working on some FUN projects for you with my NEW DIES!

First of all...

I love saying that...

"MY NEW DIES"

because I am beyond thrilled to be teaming up with Spellbinders to create dies!

This is an amazing company to work with, full of innovative ideas, a true love for creating. Even more importantly, a desire to bless others with the ability to create with their beautiful well-thought-out products. I feel their warmth and want you to know how much heart and soul they put into everything they produce.

This is my second release with them which I am excited to present to you today.

I've got two sets that are about as drastically different from each other than you can get. Nautical themed, and a baroque Antique themed set. They are both frame and accent sets which are super for doing projects that require coordinating parts. One of my favorite things about them is that the coordinate perfectly with my two new (Winter CHA 2012) paper sets I have coming out with Creative Imaginations. Nautical, and Tea Party (you can view a sneak peek of the full Tea Party collection in the post below, and Nautical tomorrow). I used both paper collections in my projects so you can see how cute the dies work with the new papers.

The first project was done in celebration of my daughter's birthday

in a few days...she's turning 6!

In this coordinating ensemble, I've got a Birthday hat, card and present with tag to show you.

For the birthday hat, I combined the frame with the border make a tiara around the party cone hat.

The coordinating card uses both of the corner accents from the Antique frame set.

The present in the background, uses the ornate topped tag from the set.
The coordinating paper and stickers are from my new paper set "Tea Party" from Creative Imagintions, you can read about that in the post below.

Here's what I did to create this ensemble...

First I arranged my dies on a sheet of thin metal (more like a really thick foil.) I used the A-Base Plate, then the dies, cut side facing up, foil, then the C-Cutting Plate, and fed the sandwich into the Spellbinders Grand Calibur® machine. I used the border, the frame, the tag, and the two corner pieces. I arranged it to best utilize the space on the metal...I didn't want to waste any. I love cutting this stuff because it cuts so clean!

Next I took my die cut shapes, while still in the dies, and placed the Tan Embossing Pad and B-Embossing Plate on top of them...

then ran the sandwich through my Spellbinders Grand Calibur® machine again.

See how nicely that embossed...you can see that it's "puffy" through the spaces in the dies.

Then I carefully took everything out of the dies.

See...metal is soooo pretty when cut and embossed. Foil really lends itself to this project.

Then I set all of my pieces aside.

Then I created a party hat pattern. I just found the largest circle object in my house (this is a pizza stone) and I traced it on a sheet of white paper.

I then cut it out and laid it on top of my patterned paper and traced the pattern. I figured if I were to make a bunch of hats, I should have a pattern for all of them for consistency. Then after I cut it out, I curled it into a cone, taped the edge closed and set my hat piece aside.

Then I cut six strips of paper, 1 inch by 5 inches, and cut a fringe on one edge of each of them

at about 3/8 of an inch intervals.

The fringe when cut looks more like this...I ran my tape runner along the non-fringed edge and then layered on two more pieces. I did two stacks of 3.

Then I scrunched up the fringe with my fingers to create some fullness.

To make the frame crown, I traced the outer edge of the frame onto green card-stock, then cut it out. Then I attached the frame to the green card-stock that I just cut.

Next I layered in the butterfly, and wrote "birthday girl" inside of the frame.

I attached the frame in the center of a 1 X 12 inch strip of green card-stock.

Then I cut the gold border in half and attached it to the green border on both sides of the frame.

Then I attached my fringe pieces underneath the green card-stock.

Then at the bottom of the border I cut tiny little slits about 3/4 inch apart

to give the crown piece some flexibility to enable it to easily wrap around my cone shaped hat.

Then on the back side of the crown, where I just cut the slits, I ran my tape runner along the bottom edge of the crown border piece, and carefully attached it all the way around my party hat.

In this picture, if you look carefully, you can see the little slits

where I cut the bottom edge to give the crown some flexibility.

The card from the ensemble, is simple understated elegance.

Sometimes it doesn't take a lot to create a big impact.

In this case, the ornate corner pieces embossed in gold foil make this card sing.

The card is simply one sheet of my 6X6 Tea Party collection papers that has been folded in half.

The paper is already patterned with the layered borders at the top and the bottom...

so all I had to do was attach the accents I created with my dies,

and a simple sticker that says "friend" in the center.

Quick and easy!

My second project I used my Nautical set!

I also used a few of my new Nautical collection papers and stickers from Creative Imaginations.

The rosette you see behind the sand castle frame

is actually a flat sticker from my Nautical paper collection with clever shadowing

to make it look dimensional.

I cut the castle frame, the swirly water, and banner tag pieces out of glitter cardstock

to give the piece a sandy and glistening feel.

Notice that I used both the positive and the negative pieces from the swirly border...

Creative Imaginations Reveal! Tea Party!

2012-01-14T00:00:00.002-07:00

One of my favorite stories to tell from when I was little, is when one of my cousins engaged my Grandmother in a proper tea party. I thought it looked like so much fun. Grandma put her pinky in the air and sipped her tea very politely with my young cousin. I was slightly jealous of this interaction and how much fun they seemed to be having...until Grandma asked my cousin, "you are so short, where have you been getting your water for the tea? It tastes so sweet!" Then my cousin proceeded to take my Grandmother into the bathroom to show her where she had been getting the water, and she dipped a tea cup into the toilet and offered my Grandmother another cup of "tea."

I wasn't so jealous of that tea party any more...but the idea did pique my interest and I got my very own tea set the following Christmas. I cherished that set. It had pink roses on the little plastic cups, and I knew where to get my water for the tea...not like my cousin. I made many happy memories with that tea set and my stuffed animals.

I think we all can think of a time where we enjoyed a "tea party" with a friend, doll or stuffed animal when we were little. As adults, drinking tea is associated with friends, and chatting, and enjoying the passing of time together.

I'm so excited to introduce to you, my new collection, Tea Party, for Creative Imaginations. Through the iconography of tea party elements, it celebrates friendship and the warm feelings associated with the ones we love. I hope this collection warms your heart, and inspires you to create projects for and about those friends and the people you love.

Here's a close-up on some of the papers from the collection...

and a closeup on the 12X12 sticker sheet...

And....if you want a REAL treat...hop over to the Creative Imaginations Blog...they have some amazing projects created with this new Tea Party collection displayed on their blog.

Silhouette, How'd you do that?

2012-01-12T23:35:00.003-07:00

Hi...another Friday, yeah! I hope you all have great plans for this MLK holiday weekend. If you are crafting this weekend...I've got another Silhouette "How'd you do that?" tip for you.

My creative team member Eva Dobilas put together this fun "Kiss Me"card:

Eva Dobilas designed this project, here is what she has to say about it: Quick tips on how I created this Kiss Me card. I mixed two of Samantha’s card shape files: 3 nesting artisan shapes and merry christmas. For my paper choices I choose Samantha’s Creative Imaginations A to Z paper line. I love the bright look of the papers along with black and white. The focus of my card is the border hearts cutting files, which I cut out of both black and white cardstock to create the layered look. As a final touch I used the sentiment from Samantha’s Unity stamps set.

I want you to take note of the row of white hearts on her card...there is a fun layering border set, that she used to do these hearts. You may ask, "What's a "layering border?" Here's a picture of the file, and I'll explain how it works.

To get this row of white hearts, Eva cut a scalloped border on the white paper, and a pointed border with the black paper. When you layer the two borders together, you get a row of hearts.

This is especially cute when you place these layering edges over a card edge. Imagine the front of the card cut with the scallops and the back of the card cut with the points...Cute!

One more Silhouette tip for the day...You CAN cut through thick cardstock with your Silhouette. You CAN also accidentally cut through your cutting mat when you get over-zealous about cutting through thick cardstock. The other day, I was cutting thick Kraft cardstock. I was cutting a file with a lot of detail. This project here:

New ornate card wrap or envelope design

I want you to take note of how clean those detailed lines are. This is my second attempt at cutting the design. The first attempt, I had my blade set way too deep. I set my blade to a number 9. I had my cutting speed at 2 and selected double cut in the options. Well, my Silhouette cut THROUGH my mat in several spots...and the details got a little messy around the points. So I tweaked my settings to a blade depth of 5...and a speed of 1. The result, a total crisp cut, no attached cut lines (I hate that when my settings are off and you almost cut through but not quite in some areas) and beautiful detail. So...there is this thing called "test cut" on your cut settings...if you are unsure of how deep to set your blade, check the test cut first...see if the machine will cut through your paper without going too deep or not enough...then tweak and adjust from there.

I'll walk you through where to change your settings...

for some of you this is basic...for others, I hope you have an AH HA moment.

When you send your file to cut, you will be presented with a dialog box in the upper right corner of your screen. You can see the dialog box above. Next I want you to notice the "change settings" prompt. I've circled it in red so you can miss it. Click on that.

You will then be presented with this dialog box shown above. Now you can go through and select your paper type that you are cutting, and the settings will switch automatically for what might work for an average simple cut.

In this dialog box, I selected Print Paper. Notice how the speed changed to 10, the thickness automatically set to 25, and recommended a blade depth of 2. (if you are still using the colored caps for your blade depth, I recommend that you buy a new Silhouette blade with the racheting number adjuster...much better blade system.)

But since we are cutting cardstock that is heavy, and a very detailed cut, we want to tweak a few things.

Here, I selected Cardstock Heavy-80lb. It changed the cut speed automatically for me to a 2, but I slowed it down even further to a 1 to ensure all my details cut perfectly. Below that, it recommended a blade depth of 3. However, that is not quite enough for the detail and thickness of my cardstock, so I adjust my blade to 5. (hint, you have to physically take your blade out of your machine and rachet the numbers, it won't do it for you by moving the blade depth numbers here on this screen.) Next, to ensure a clean through cut, I checked the box "double cut." Next, if you wish, you can do a test cut with these settings on your paper to see how they work. If you are doing several cards, and these seem to be cutting well at these settings but you feel that your paper or cardstock can handle a higher speed try that out...it's all a matter of trial and error. You will get to know your machine the more you experiment.

I hope this basic tutorial has helped some of you out there who haven't fooled with the settings within your Silhouette software. The Silhouette machine is a fabulous piece of machinery, but we have to know how to tell it what to do. So if something isn't cutting right, chances are, we are not telling the machine to do something at the right speed or thickness or something else. Another thing to watch out for is not to cut really detailed designs too small...you will have a troublesome time as well.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Samantha Walker Creative Crafters Team 2012 First Blog hop!!!

2012-01-11T07:56:00.001-07:00

The entry period for this giveaway has ended. Congratulations, Iris and Trisha...our two winners!

Birdhouse design with mail slot, is a new cutting file design coming this week to the Silhouette electronic die cuts store. The grass border at the bottom of the birdhouse is also one of my cutting files from the Silhouette store. Papers and embellishments from my Heidi Collection for Creative Imaginations.

Thanks for coming to our first blog hop of the year with a brand new team! We have lots of creative energy buzzing that we want to share with you! Please join us for a fun creative journey through the blogs of my team of 10 crafty ladies...lots of good stuff in store today!

Giveaway info:

Then when you are through hopping, make sure to leave comments on each of the blogs for a chance to win a $10 giftcode in my Jessicasprague.com digital kit store. You get one entry for each comment you leave along the way. (that's one entry per blog, plus one additional entry if you leave a comment on the samanthawalkerdesigns FB page)

I also have a second prize to give away...a can of PYM II. Its a super crafty sealant that protects your projects from the passage of time!

Blog hop list:

Also...it's

Wonderful Wednesday!

That means another 50% off sale in my Digi Store

Here's the info:

Wonderful Wednesday Sale January 11th!

This year, each Wednesday at JessicaSprague.com digital kit store, there is a "Wonderful" sale.

We call it "Wonderful Wednesday."

On this day, there is a limited selection of fabulous digi kits at 50% off!

This is a sale you MUST hit...

The 50% off sale only happens once a week.

It's not the same products from week to week.

It is often the ONLY time you will have a chance to get those products for that great price.

On Wednesday January 11th,

you can get my Harvest Moon MEGA Pack

and my Foundations Cool Paper Pack

At Half Price!

But Hurry...this price is ONLY good for Wednesday, January 11th.

The price will go back up the following day.

Here's what people are doing with these kits:

By JS Creative Team Member Smitha Katti

By JS Creative Team Member Heather Landry

Layout by SW Creative Team Member Jamie Cripps.

By JS Creative Team Member Carol Johnston

New This Week! January 8th, 2012

2012-01-09T00:22:00.002-07:00

12x12 chevron background

New this week! I've got a full load of Silhouette digital die cuts coming to the Silhouette store this week! There's lots of fun Valentine designs gearing up for that lovin' holiday--I've got cards, backgrounds, borders and fun shapes. I hope you find something here that works for you!

Here's a 12 X 12 heart lace background...

and a more simple 12 x 12 heart lace background.

These holiday stamp inserts can be used alone, or with the included stamp shape...or they can be used in conjunction with the 12 x 12 stamp sheet also coming to my Silhouette store sometime this week.

12 x 12 stamp sheet can be used with the holiday stamp inserts shown above.

Here's a little Missoni inspired Valentine card...who doesn't like chevrons right now? They are hot!

This valentine card is inspired be European folk art.

This Valentine consists of ONLY 4 pieces...very simple to assemble!

Another European folk art inspired Valentine.

Grassy borders are perfect for your Spring decorations or scrapbook layouts, this file comes as a set of a repeated border, and a single clump of grass.

"Hi Resolution - A New Year's Studio Meet and Greet"

2012-01-04T22:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks for stopping by! If you've been hopping through the other artist's blogs in our group before you came to mine, I bet you've already enjoyed so much before landing here. Your last stop should have been Phyllis Dobbs blog. If you happened upon my blog before going through the other blogs in this fun hop...may I suggest you start at the beginning Aaron Christensen's blog and enjoy the journey. We are having a "Little Studio Tour and Meet and Greet." I have some incredibly talented and wonderfully warm friends...and I think you will agree too! After my blog, you will visit the outrageously talented Sharon Himes.

Now that we've made it through the holidays...and we've entered the New Year...I've had the chance to reflect on my past year with hopes of how I can make this year even better. This last year was such a fantastic whirlwind of a year, with so many exciting things happening in my licensing business. In addition to continuing my design work in fabric, paper crafts and home decor, I added two more regular licenses. I am thrilled to be designing cut and emboss dies for Spellbinder's Paper Arts, and also digital scrapbook/craft kits through JessicaSprague.com. These are such wonderful companies with fabulous people behind them, and I'm so grateful to be able to work with them. Also, last year, I appointed a creative team to share their talents in how to use my craft products, they have been such an incredible inspiration to me and I hope to you too...as they are such a talented group of ladies. In addition, my husband and I also decided to finish our basement which includes a whole revamp of my studio space. Some of you may have already been following my studio updates if you are regular readers, but if you just stumbled here, then I'll catch you up on our progress in just a minute. That just summarizes a few of the highlights of my last year.

This year, I would love to be able to pop onto my blog a little more often to fill you in on the new projects I'm involved in that might interest you. I started a new feature on Mondays "New this Week" and I intend to continue it...so come stop by often! I'd also love to give you glimpses into some of my design thought processes, and what inspires me. This year I hope to sew a little more, I learned to sew last year...and had a few really fun windows of time putting together some applique projects and clothing...I'd love to do more of that...as my time permits...and when I do...I'll post what I'm working on. I would also like to bring more tutorials on my blog to feature my incredibly talented creative team...I don't think I show them off enough. Their projects are innovative and inspiring. I look forward to seeing how this next year unfolds. It's already starting off super with the Craft and Hobby Association trade show just around the corner...and the progress on my studio. And as we get my new studio space into shape, it will be so nice to have one central area that I can design, sew, craft, play, work...etc. I've been divided between areas as my computer is currently upstairs...and all the crafty stuff is downstairs. Bringing it all together this year is going to be fabulously fun!

If you are first timers to my blog...or old timers...I'd love to give you a virtual tour of my studio to catch you up on my studio and basement renovation...For this hop, it might help to know what I was working with in a before picture...(some of you have seen this...)

So...here it is...my studio space in all it's uninspiring glory, and not connected with my computer area. It just hasn't been very practical.

This wall used to house the closet and the door into my studio...it is going to become my main crafting area, as we have now demolished it.

Here's a crude drawing of what the crafting alcove will look like. I've been buying used cabinets through local classified adds and have been putting the area together with the pieces that I've collected. The turquoise cabinet in the middle is a kitchen buffet cart that I'll be painting turquoise and distressing. The cabinet group in the middle is a bargain I found on an IKEA glass cabinet and two side cabinets. I also found 4 file coordinating file cabinets for my room...two will serve as a base for holding my countertops--we will put bead board on the outside edge to make them look nice. My husband will help build some shelves to connect the cabinets. The panel on the right side wall is a fold down ironing board that mounts between the wall joists. It will fold over the top of the counter, I'm using every inch of space I have.

This picture...I'm standing in the area that used to be my closet looking into my room...what a mess! The contents of my studio and a myriad of other basement contents are under that tarp! You've heard the phrase you have to make a mess to organize a mess. It can only get better from here...right?

You can see the full effect here...yup...the walls are completely gone on the closet side. We had to install a beam and a post...because evidently, the front wall of the closet was a support wall.

Here, we've framed in the back crafting alcove and built the post that holds the beam right into the wall. You may wonder why the strange cut-out shape on the backside of my room...we have a clever idea of adding a kitchenette with a restaurant booth in that alcove. If you use your imagination...that black post thing-y in the middle of the alcove will attach to the wood support between the wall joists to hold up the table between the booth seats. We have literally measured the furniture on both sides of the wall to determine where the walls will go...there won't be a wasted millimeter of space when we are done.

This is the wall where a fun sliding barn door will go...if you haven't figured it out already...the room has no door at present...we boxed it in on the other side, where we rebuilt the closet area into a craft alcove. Right now, if we want anything from that room, we have to go through the wall joists to get it. All the Christmas wrapping paper was in this room, so I felt as magical as Santa Claus with the ability to go through walls. Not really...I felt more like the abominable snowman getting a nice white coating of dust and trying to squeeze through the wall joists while holding boxes of wrapping stuff. It's going to be crazy around here for the next few months.

This is where the studio door will open into on the opposite side. This area that you are looking at, will become our wide open family room. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the more interesting window side of the room. It is light and bright for a basement. My ultimate goal is to get the basement not to look like a basement in the end.

You can see what I mean from using every last millimeter of space...and building our walls around furniture. If you visited my blog a few weeks ago and saw the post on my studio remodel then...I've modified my plan a bit as we've moved along on our project.

If this project interests you, please come by and check out my progress!

If you don't want to miss it, sign up for e-mail updates in the sidebar at the right.

So come back, enjoy a cup of tea, and I'll keep you updated.

Thank you again for stopping by! I am grateful to those of you support my products...I wouldn't have the opportunity to design for these companies, without those of you who choose to create or decorate with my designs...Thank You! For those of you who aren't familiar with my designs, and this is your first time visiting my blog...Thank You also for taking time to get a little glimpse into my world. I appreciate you too!

The next blog on the hop is Sharon Himes, make sure to pay her a visit...she is a You'll love here art studio in a quiet hideaway!

If you get lost....Here is a complete list of the bloggers participating in this studio meet and greet...you are in for a treat!

Aaron Christensen

Barbara Johansen Newman

Beth Logan

Brenda Pinnick

Janet Wecker-Frisch (Joy Studio)

Karen Embry

Paula Joerling

Phyllis Dobbs

Samantha Walker

Sharon Himes

Shelly Comiskey

Sue Zipkin

Wonderful Wednesday Sale January 4th Preview!

2012-01-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

This year, each Wednesday at JessicaSprague.com digital kit store, there is a "Wonderful" sale.

We call it "Wonderful Wednesday."

On this day, there is a limited selection of fabulous digi kits at 50% off!

This is a sale you MUST hit...

The 50% off sale only happens once a week.

It's not the same products from week to week.

It is often the ONLY time you will have a chance to get those products for that great price.

This Wednesday, you can get my A-Z Mega Pack

and my Cuckoo 4U Strawberry Love Patterned Paper Pack

at half price!

....but you have to buy it on Wednesday, January 4th,

because they will go back to full price the following day.

Here's what people are doing with these kits:

Project by SW creative team member Jamie Cripps.

Project by SW Creative Team Member Guiseppa Gubler

Project by SW Creative Team Member: Jamie Cripps

Project by JS Creative Team Member Sheri Mae

Layout by JS Creative Team Member: Jen Papadimitrion

Layout by SW Creative Crafters Team member: Jennifer Evans

Layout created by JS creative team member: Sarah H.

New This Week! January 2nd

2012-01-02T23:26:00.000-07:00

Wow...that went by FAST!

Was that 2011 back there waving goodbye?

Well Hello 2012!

I thought I'd ring in the New Year with a few new designs for the Silhouette digital die cut store this week. I wish I had more...but like I said...I'm still swirling from the year rushing past me.

So new this week....

Look for...

Valentine borders...

Pirates that can be easily switched from boy pirates to girl pirates

with the swap of a hair-do and appropriate colors...Fun!

and more Valentine borders... which are open ended

so that they can be layered on any shape you want...creating fun layered border effects.

These have been uploaded to the store and are in the queue.

They will arrive in the store sometime this week, as soon as they go through the system.

Enjoy!

I hope you have a great start to this New Year!

Announcing the 2012 Samantha Walker Creative Crafters Team!!!!

2011-12-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

After going through so many beautiful blogs, and getting to know all the ladies who entered the call for my creative team, I was left with making one heck of a tough decision. It thrilled me to see your heartfelt creations, but left me heartbroken that I could not choose everyone to be on my team. I returned time and time again to each of your blogs, then narrowed it down to 30...then 20, then 10...and got stuck for the rest of the month of December. Then I went through everyone's blogs again, and discovered new things, and started the process all over. I have to say, there is a huge talent pool of faithful bloggers out there, and I enjoyed reading everyone of the blogs of each of the entrants. You have all inspired me in many ways. In the end, I was able to make my decision and decided that the three new members of the SW Creative Crafters team will be:

Jennifer Evans

Angi Barrs

Joscelyne Cutchens

We are also pleased to have the following team members return for the 2012 year:

(Jamie is also fairly new to the team as of October)

Thank you everyone who took the time to share their blogs with me. We had over 200 entrants!

Wowzers!

You amaze me, and I thank you for sharing a little piece of you with me.

Happy crafting everyone!

New this Week! December 19th 2011

2011-12-19T23:41:00.002-07:00

New this week! FIVE new holiday themed digi paper kits are up in my store at Jessicasprague.com. They are just in time for your Christmas holiday scrapbooking projects. Plus, they are ALL on sale for 35% off during the month of December only! Look for matching embellishments in a few weeks.

By Jessica Sprague Creative team member Meg Stocks

By Jessica Sprague creative team member Sarah.

By Jessica Sprague Creative Team Member, Margje

By Jessica Sprague creative Team Member: Miki Krueger

Detail of the fudge baking paper

detail of the gingerbread baking paper.

Holiday Samantha Walker creative team blog hop!

2011-12-14T00:10:00.001-07:00

The winner of the blog hop prize is Lindzie! Congrats! I've contacted Lindzie by e-mail. This blog hop contest is now closed. Thanks so much for stopping by.

I get sentimental this time of year. We've been preoccupied with our basement finishing project, so it happened a little later this year than usual...but it still happened. It hit the moment I opened up the ornament boxes. Certain ornaments got me all choked up, I couldn't help it. You know...those ornaments your kids make for you at school or church. They usually have some precious photo of your child, or a small handprint...those are the ones that have the tendency to melt my heart.

Colin made this one for me in Church last year. What a little cherub!

Sydney made this one for me 3 years ago in her church nursery class. I love that handprint! Though it seems to get smaller and smaller every year. Sigh.

Talon made this one for me in kindergarten....I remember his teacher wanting to help him do the weaving on it because he was a little behind on the project, be he insisted on doing it all himself. Boy...was he ever so proud when he presented it to me! He's nearly 10 now...where does the time go???

As I pulled each sweet little ornament out of the box and handed them to my children to hang on the tree ...I marveled at how quickly time passes and was grateful to have these little treasures from my kids to display on the tree.

Then I pulled out another ornament from the box...it was an ornament I won in our family ornament exchange game we play at my parents house every year. We play white elephant exchange style. One year, my aunt thought it would be fun to bring a few ornaments with photos of my grandmother as a little girl...those ornaments were the most popular and traded for again and again. It started a new tradition of adding a few fun photo ornaments of some of our relatives who have gone on. The ornament I was about to hang on the tree was one I fought hard to win in the game...because it is a sweet frame that holds one of my favorite photos of my grandmother on my Mother's side.

Then it happened again...another tear as I pulled another framed ornament with a picture of my grandmother on my father's side...also won in one of our family games.

One more ornament got me all sentimental...this one above.

That's me!

I remember making it at church during a primary children's Christmas party. I remember going out in front of our church the week before to have my picture taken. I remember those sneakers and the shopping trip I made with my mother to Mervyn's to get them. I remember my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Verus, teaching me how to tie those shoes at school with the bunny ears method. I remember that orange and navy plaid dress and the schmocking around my torso, and feeling so "grown up" because the dress had a tie on it. I remember that my knee high socks would never stay up, because I was constantly running around. I remember that "pixie" hair cut, and being so confused why my mother cut all my hair off after I said, "sure, I want a pixie haircut" after she had suggested it. I didn't know what "pixie" meant. I remember glueing each of those sequins onto that felt frame, and meticulously picking out just the right colors from the plate that they sat on. I can't believe that most of them are still there! Most of all...I remember giving that ornament to my mother and remember how proud I was to present it to her. I always remember that feeling each time my kids give me their ornament presents from school...and year after year, I do my best to preserve those ornaments in hopes that I can give them back to them when they are all grown up.

Yes, I love this time of year!

It is also this time of year, that I think of all the people who have touched me in my life, as I receive cards and letters from old friends far and near.

Silhouette digital die "Card Christmas Tree Trio"

I would love to send a card to each and every one of you, and hope that you will accept my "virtual card" as I express my appreciation to you for stopping by my blog each month. I could not be designing these products without those of you who buy them. I am truly grateful to you for your support!

I also want to wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukah, a Happy Kwanza! Whatever you celebrate during this season, you cannot deny that there is a special spirit about the month of December as we gather with our friends and family. May this season be your merriest yet!

For this month's giveaway...

I'd love to give one lucky winner, your choice of two of my digital kits available through jessicasprague.com. All you have to do is leave a comment on my blog. To receive additional entries, be sure to comment on each of my team member's blogs, and then again on my facebook page.

Blog Hop

Here is the blog hop order this month...make sure to visit each of these blogs on the list.

You'll be glad you did! ;o)

my FB page

New this Week! 12/12/11

2011-12-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

This gorgeous digital layout was created by jessicasprague.com creative team member Jana Holden with the new Samantha Walker Honey Morning Dew collection.

Thanks for popping in to check out what's new. If you are looking for the quilting gallery hop, just go one post above...the contest for the fabric bundle is open until the 17th of December.

This week I have a sweet little collection releasing in the Jessica Sprague digital store. The collection is called Honey. The main print is a floral with buzzing honey bees. This collection would be cute for projects celebrating the Honey in your life...be that a new baby, your daughter, your best friend, your Mother...it's a soft sweet collection that works well for so many occasions.

You may have noticed that the last several digital releases have been paper kits. I will follow up in the new year with embellishment kits...(frames, digi stickers, borders, etc) so be on the lookout! There is much much more in store!

Plus! Don't miss the sale going on through December at the Jessicasprague.com digital store. Right now, all digi kits are 35% off! Yup! That's right...all month long...a super sale.

This stunning layout was created by jessicasprague.com creative team member Julie Long using the Honey Morning Dew collection.

This fun and spunky layout was created by jessicasprague.com creative team member Sarah using the Honey Golden Sun collection.

Also new this week...a few more Silhouette designs...just some basics that you can use in many ways.

Happy Creating! Thanks for stopping by!

I hope your holidays are full of fun, family, and the spirit of the season!

Quilting Gallery Blog Hop Party!!! (and giveaway!)

2011-12-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

The winner of the fat quarter bundle is Jo! I've contacted her by e-mail and will be sending her fabrics soon. Thank you to everyone who stopped by my blog and left such nice comments!

If you are new to my blog, Thanks for popping in! If you are coming for the Quilting Gallery Blog Hop Party, welcome! I hope you will come back often, as I try to make this a fun place for ideas and inspiration! By the way...This is just one of MANY blogs in this Quilting Gallery blog hop party giveaway...so be sure to click on the link above to get a chance to see all of them (and your chance to win one of many fantastic prizes!!!)

While you are here, feel free to pop around and check out some of the projects my creative team does each month, updates on my designs, projects I'm working on, and bits on my life as it happens. If you like what you see...make sure to get each new blog post in your e-mail box by signing up on the right. You can also follow what I'm up to on my facebook design update page: www.facebook.com/samanthawalkerdesgins

For this party I would love to give away a fat quarter stack from my Decadence collection (from Riley Blake) in the brown color way. Just go ahead and leave a comment, and that will count as your entry. Easy Peasy!

Now, just for fun...I've got two projects to share with you using my Decadence fabric collection. The first is a darling purse made by my creative team member Jamie Cripps. There's nothing better than orange to get a second look...this is so cute! You can read more about it on her blog here.

The second project I want to share is this flirty apron. Don't you think those colors work so well with retro ruffles! This colorful creation was crafted by my creative team member Guiseppa Gubler. You can read more about it here.

These are just two of my creative team members...if you come back often, you will get the opportunity to get to know all 10 creative team members. You will LOVE what they do! They work on all kinds of projects with my designs...from paper crafts to sewing, to so much more!

Before you hop along to the next blog...I just wanted to say "Thank You" for stopping in today!

New This Week! 12/5/11

2011-12-05T10:47:00.001-07:00

It's been a busy week. We're still working on our basement remodel, and shopping for the details...like plumbing fixtures, lighting and so much more. It's crazy how many little decisions are involved in such a ginormous project!

I did manage to squeeze a little time in to format some of my collections into digi kits for my shop at Jessicasprague.com. On an exciting note...ALL of my digi kits are on sale at 35% off through the end of December...so now is the time to shop! In addition to the digi kits...If you have a Silhouette cutting machine, I also created a few more digital die designs for the Silhouette store.

Enjoy!

This is what you will see this week in my digi store (and remember...everything is 35% off during December!):

Snowflake place card for your winter dinner parties!

An ornate nesting background...this would be a great background design cut large on your new Silhouette Cameo machine.

Butterfly Lace Edge background with mat

Butterfly lace frame

Daisy chain edge Background

Diamond lace edge backgrounds

Large Random Scallop edge background (also available in a smaller scallop version)

Snowflake

Crown Heart Edge background

Shell flower lace background

smaller random scalloped edge background

Silhouette "How did you do that?"

2011-11-30T14:50:00.001-07:00

I'm just popping in today with a few little hints for using your Silhouette machine. If you are new to the machine, or if you are afraid to cut detailed projects...I have some suggestions for you, so that you can succeed in doing this in a clean easy way. You can do this! I promise!

When I first started using my Silhouette, I thought that it couldn't cut thick cardstock like Bazzill...but...that was because I had my settings all wrong. I was frustrated to say the least. Oh...and one other minor thing was effecting my results...and this is where I'll have to let you in on my dirty little secret...I actually purchased my Silhouette SD machine used. Gasp! I know...I design for them...I should have bought a new machine. However, I'm very budget aware...some may call that cheap...I call it being frugally smart. (All my friends who know me are laughing...and shaking their heads up and down...because they know I like to buy a lot my things used...like clothing, home improvement stuff...and what have you...it's just me.) I finally discovered that it wasn't the machine that was causing my frustration...it was my blade... it just wasn't sharp. Also...my mat was well-used and almost out of "sticky." So I was set up for a bad experience from the get go. But...once I changed the blade, and got a new mat...I was a very happy camper, because my machine turned into a slick system...cutting everything like butter.

So my point with all of that above stuff...make sure you are cutting with a sharp blade, and a sticky mat free of debris. Otherwise, you will run into the same frustrations that I did. It makes sense, doesn't it?

Next thing you need to be aware of...If you are using thick paper or card stock to cut a detailed design...which I like to do because it strengthens the design, screw on your pink cutting cap (the 0.3mm one). That's the cap designed for cutting heavier papers. After the pink cap is nicely attached...then go to your Silhouette software. Make sure that you set up your machine so it knows you are cutting heavy cardstock...in the settings menu on the right side, select the (heavy 80lb.) This will automatically adjust your paper thickness to 33, and your speed to 3. I did a test cut on one of these boxes with my heavy cardstock at these settings. It wasn't quite enough for the detail in this design...it cut...it just didn't cut all the way through in a few areas, so the designs didn't entirely "release" when I lifted it off the mat. So I made a few small adjustments. I lowered the speed to 2. It's always a good idea to lower the speed when you get into a detailed design... AND I put the settings on "double cut." That setting does just that. It cuts the design twice as it goes along. By making these minor little adjustments, the results were perfect. The design released effortlessly from the mat, having cut every little detail the way it was intended. Now that makes me happy...because if you are familiar with any of my designs...you will quickly realize that I love little details.

This week I have several new designs that have loads of detail in them...don't be afraid to try these! They take a little time for the machine to cut, but the machine does all the work...you can choose what you want to do while the machine wizzes and whirrs around on the paper...be that folding laundry, surfing on the net, talking on the phone, or eating a bowl of ice cream. Or...if you want...you can stair in amazement as the machine "does it's thing" until the design has been cut.

New this week! 11/28/11

2011-11-28T12:32:00.001-07:00

"Bag Winter Lace" digital cutting file (available only at the Silhouette store online.)

I think I need to start a regular Monday post to catch you up on all the new things I've got going on in the digi world. Between the digital cuts I release each week at the Silhouette Store and the new digi kits at jessicasprague.com...there is a lot to share! So...dare I say...I'm going to try my darndest to get a "New this Week" article out every Monday. So here we go!

"Christmas Tree Snowflake" digital cutting file (available only at the Silhouette store online.)

This week alone, I will have 34 new digital die designs releasing in the Silhouette store online. The collection features both intricate and simple snowflakes...as well as themed snowflakes. There are also several lace top tag sets, a few cards, some decorative pennant flags to help you decorate your home for holiday parties...and a lacy gift bag (this one made me smile to create as I thought of how many ways I could use this over the holidays...just imagine it with some bright colored tissue behind the lace cute out...squeal!)

"Card Doily Lace" digital cutting file (available only at the Silhouette store online.)

(The Silhouette store can only be accessed by those using a direct link from the Silhouette Studio software, which is provided with any Silhouette machine.) The easiest way to find these new designs, is to go to the "browse artists" tab in the blue bar at the top of the screen on the Silhouette store homepage, then click on the Samantha Walker logo to browse my portfolio. These will be showing up in the store as they are loaded from the artists queue.

"lace top tag" digital cutting file (available only at the Silhouette store online.)

"lace pennant" digital cutting file (available only at the Silhouette store online.)

"Snowflake Card" digital cutting file (available only at the Silhouette store online.)

"Snowman Snowflake" digital cutting file (available only at the Silhouette store online.)

These are just a sampling of what you might find in my Silhouette store this week. There's a chance that some of these will start showing up in the store before the 50 cent sale ends, that is going on this week. (While all these designs have been uploaded to the store, I don't have control of how quickly things pass through the artists queue to actually go live.)

Also this week...

I'm releasing two new digital paper kits available through www.jessicasprague.com. These are based off of collections that I have in real paper with Creative Imaginations. You can find them in my store here.

"Day by Day" kit of 16 pattern papers, and two blank canvas papers.

Day planner hybrid project by JessicaSprague.com creative team member: Camille Robinson

"Kokeshi" kit of 7 tone on tone papers and 7 papers.

Layout by Jessicasprague.com creative team member: Laura Madson.

Also...if you haven't been to my store in the past few weeks...this is what you missed...

That's all I'm going to post now...before I give you visual overload. I hope you can find one or two of these things useful in your craft projects. Thanks for stopping by!

UPDATE on Blog Hop story:

2011-11-10T08:20:00.001-07:00

For those of you who have been helping make a decision on what I should do with my printers cabinet,

I want you to know that...

I intend to restore it...no paint will touch it. ;o)

So anyone cringing out there, can relax...this beauty is going to be well taken care of.

In my room I was originally going to find an old china cabinet to paint aqua and distress and use as my paper storage...but when I found this printer's cabinet...my plans started to change. Although I would love to add in some aqua to my room...there is no way (after all the research I've done over the past few days) absolutely no way... that I will paint my Hamilton Printer's cabinet.

What I will do is use some quality wood soap, and clean it up, then oil it with tung oil. This will bring out the wood grain and still show off the beautifully aged wood. My husband is a woodworker and he would love to help me with this project...he is excited about my find too...although he hasn't seen it yet...he'll be back this afternoon. Yeah!

I would like to pick up some Hamilton Printer's trays and try to fill some of my drawer slots, but this particular model of the Hamilton Printer's cabinet...which appears to be around 1905...the trays are more expensive. They have the ornate fleur de lis and diamond patterned drawer pulls...which are harder to find. If anyone knows any leads on good-priced printer's trays (job cases)...I may be looking. I did find some printer's trays yesterday, but they are newer...and they are slightly off in size to fit. They need to be plained down on the sides by 1/8 of an inch, then they will fit. They aren't nearly as old of drawers...probably 1950's as they have masonite bottoms and and metal front covering the wood. These newer drawers will be nice to have to sort knick knacks, even though they aren't original to the piece.

I thought it might be fun to find a bunch of antique cast iron drawer pulls and incorporate them into my new cabinetry that will go in the desk areas of my studio. That will help tie everything together...can't wait to see it all come together, but for now I'll just enjoy the process.

So as I move along on this project, I'll post pictures. It will have to wait a few weeks as I have some hefty looming deadlines. Thanks for all of your input yesterday!

SW Creative Team Blog Hop and Studio Re-do Update!

2011-11-09T08:17:00.000-07:00

The HOP!

My team has been busy once again...creating with all kinds of materials to bring you this November blog hop. We excuse a few of our creative team members who are under the weather and wish them well wishes! They will be back next month. Also, if you haven't heard yet, my designs are going digital! You will still be able to get everything in tangible form, but for all you digi crafters, you will now also be able to purchase digital downloads for personal use through Jessicasprague.com. You will also get a chance to win a digi kit if you leave a comment on my team members blogs or my blog...Yeah!

Happenings:

As for what I've been up to...I'm working on a different kind of creative project, and so I thought it might be fun to let you tag along. This is going to be more of a journey over months as the project comes to its fruition. I hope you enjoy the trip!

We are redoing the basement in our home. It was somewhat finished by the previous home owner, but badly...the wiring is a little off...lights flicker, and don't even try to plug in a space heater or it will pop the breaker. However, there is one room finished by the builder that was done right...but to get to that one room, you have to walk over bare concrete floors, walls with exposed insulation, open ceilings showing off the rafters...not to mention, the basement is cold and uninspiring.

You may recall that I recently moved my studio with help from my intern, from the larger badly finished room into the far room with two windows (we got rid of the guest bed so we could do that), hoping that it would encourage me to get down there more often...but it didn't work so well. I get extremely cold, then I can't work...all I can think about is how cold I am. Even more concerning, the kids don't want to hang out with me down there, so I have to run up the stairs to break up their arguments and get them glasses of water, etc...plus I miss all the fun stuff that goes on during the day, like the funny things my kids say.

So it really comes down to the fact that I don't like to be isolated from my family when I 'm working, so in order for me to want to hang out in my basement and set up shop down there, it is essential that my studio open up into a central family area so I can be in the center of all the family chaos. That area has to be a fun gathering spot for the kids...we've got some fun plans there, but that's another story. Being in the middle of it all...That's the way I like it (most days.) If you read last months creative hop post I showed you the doors to my studio...so I'll have a little control over the chaos. ;o)

This month...we've made a bit more progress...so I'm sharing another few additions to the project as well as some "before" pictures.

Okay...so are you ready???

Before...I was storing my paper vertically in wire cubes...and overflow in the closet on shelves...it's been a great system--very functional, but I have been dreaming of using something with a bit more character. I thought about refinishing a china hutch, painting it aqua and converting it for paper storage...but then...

"THIS"came on the market in the online KSL classified ads.

(that's like our local Craigslist...only 1000 times better because it's actually user friendly.)

So what is "THIS" exactly???

Well, I'll tell you what "THIS" is...

It's an antique printer's cabinet from the early 1900's by Hamilton Manufacturing Co. It's solid oak with logo stamped drawer pulls and "This" is going to convert into my paper and misc. storage area. I just need to add masonite shelves to the slots...and find a few printers trays to sort out my nick knacks.

The Story about "This":

Getting "This" was quite a feat...

I was the ads first responder...and the piece was promised me if I could come get it by day's end. However...my husband wasn't around today, and I couldn't find a family member or neighbor to help me with a truck or trailer.

The owner of "this" called me in the afternoon and told me that there was now a problem, because 6 other people now wanted "this." Especially one particularly pushy woman who kept on text messaging him asking if I had picked it up yet. Then it happened...she offered him a substantial amount more money than what he had originally listed "this" for. His original price was really great...really really great! Hence, so many people lined up for it. This lady had the gaul of texting him that I was probably just "that woman from Lehi who buys things on KSL, then paints and resells them at a significantly higher price to unsuspecting buyers."

Whatever!

Well...I may be a woman from Lehi...but not "that" woman from Lehi. (no offense to that furniture refinisher...she probably works really hard at her business...I just didn't like the way this other lady tried to make me look like a villain without knowing anything about me....now that is just not nice.) I assured him that I had major plans for "this" and that "this" would be going into my studio renovation project, that it was the perfect fit for my paper cabinet, and perfect height for my cutting counter, and that it was just the "character" piece that I needed to give my space spice.

Then he told me, that because of their financial situation, his wife would kill him if he didn't go with this other lady's offer. I was devastated...because I didn't have the means to get up their in the morning, I was outbid in a bidding war that I didn't even know existed. I talked with him at length on the phone telling him how much I disliked the situation, and that if I matched her price would he hold it for me until I found a way to get it. He said "only if you can come really soon"...as he couldn't promise if he would just sell it to her if she offered more again. So I called a few more people...in a frenzy, as I was not happy about this piece slipping away from me after I had committed to buy it and it was supposedly being held for me.

Realizing that I couldn't find anyone to help me at a moments notice...I went out to my side yard to look at the truck and the trailer just sitting there. Yes, I had means...but I had never driven our truck while attached to our trailer before. A dear patient friend of mine who had driven a trailer before volunteered to come over, hook me up and coach me on driving it. (She would have come with me too, but her baby was sleeping.) After we hooked it up...I took it on a few test spins around the block and felt confident. I called the man back and told him that I was on my way.

Even though I didn't want to pay more...I had to think to myself...if he had originally priced it at what I was going to pay, would I have been interested and still think that it was a good deal...my answer was YES. Even at the higher price, it was still a fabulous find at a deal better than cabinetry would be for that space...so I was still happy.

I may not have been so willing to match her price so readily, but you have to understand...this piece is the perfect fit for the space which I had planned for paper storage...AND the history of this piece is perfect for someone who studied graphic design in college back in the day when they taught you how to spec type with a pica ruler. If you know what I'm talking about, then you are a kindred spirit indeed. ;o)

Alright...so here's my basement studio plan...so you can visualize how perfect a find "this" was for me...

Do you see the aqua space in the upper right corner...that is the area I planned for paper storage and cutting counter...if you place the printer's cabinet into that space...it is darn near perfect! (minus the 2.5 inches into the window space area...but hey...I'll happily live with that minor nuance.)

Now back to the story (sorry so long...thanks to anyone still hanging with me...)

So I drove the trailer on the freeway from Lehi to West Jordan...and do you know what...

It was easy!

Yup...I don't know why I was nervous to take it out in the first place. I just allowed myself the space and enough breaking room in case of any sudden stops. It was smooth sailing. So I got there, and we loaded it in...that's another story...but I've been longwinded so I'll spare you the details there....and then I happily drove "this" to it's new home. Yeah!

Okay...now for a few more "before" pictures...

These are my crafting tables now...yes, practical...no, not particularly inspiring...that will change...

This is my sewing area...not ideal, but I have been grateful that I do have a place to sew.

My old cutting table...it's going to go away...I'm bringing my flat files into the room and will build them into a rolling island that can be placed in the center of my room...or rolled out if they aren't convenient at any particular moment.

This is the closet in my current room...great place for storage...but we will be taking it out and converting the space into my main painting and crafting area. It will be a continuous "U" shaped counter with two corner desk stations...one for my arts and crafts, and one for the kids...or future assistant computer area when I get to that point.

See the fabric stacked in here...see below to where all that is going...

Isn't this GORGEOUS???? I love it! It is a HUGE Armoire. The orange strap is not part of the furniture, but rather the strap that is holding it to the cart that we wheeled it into the garage with. The metal scroll doors will allow for pretty fabric bolts to show through the doors...sigh...totally in love with this find! We also got this on KSL...for a steal...it was only $150. It's solid luan wood...similar to Mohagony...it was made in Indonesia. It's even more beautiful in person. It will go in the lower left corner of the room, by the sliding barn door...something fun to greet me when I go into my studio in the mornings...sigh.

You see this wall here...this is the wall that will be opened up into the family room area...looking forward to that so much! It will be nice to have a view on the kids, and have them feel that they can just come into my room and "hang out with Mom." Notice on the room plan, I have a window seat sketched in...it's right next to my computer desk...the place where I spend most of my time...they can come in and hang out there.

This door wall will be made into a solid wall...but if you look outside of the door...you can see hints of the bare concrete, and insulation to give you a picture of what the rest of the basement looks like...this will become the wall that the fabric armoire will be on when the room is finished.

Back to the rest of the plan...the lower right corner will be a corner computer desk area with upper cabinets and shelving...it will match the crafting area laminate counter tops and cabinetry there. I'm searching KSL for cabinetry...hopefully white or cream...and a great price. If you are in the Utah area and you are redoing a kitchen...let me know if you have old cabinets you want to get rid of. ;o)

I'll finish there, but if you did read all of that...I have a bonus for you...you may be able to help me answer a question I'm pondering...should I refinish the printer's cabinet and paint it aqua then distress it...like the picture below...or should I leave it rustic as it is??? I know that any antique lover would think painting it shameful, so I consider leaving it...but there is also a side of me that says it would look divine in a distressed aqua. Oh what a quandary. Answer that in the comments, tell me your thoughts or reasons behind your answer, and you receive two entries from my blog for the digi kit prize. More details on this months giveaway below.

Photo as featured on http://abrushofwhimsy.blogspot.com/ please check out her fun blog!

Giveaway info!

This month, I'm giving away your choice of any 2 digi kits (regular kits, not mega kits) from my store at Jessicasprague.com

To enter, just leave a comment on my blog for your first entry...if you want more entries, leave comments on my creative team members' blogs. You get one additional entry for each blog you leave a comment on. You can receive one final entry for leaving a comment on my facebook fan page...just follow through the links, the hop ends on my FB page. Thanks for coming to the hop! I hope you enjoy and come back often. We hop every second Wednesday of the month.

Creative Team Members

on the Hop trail this month:

Jamie Cripps

Cristal Hobbs

Jennifer Ingle

Jennifer Beason

Guiseppa Gubler

Jimmi Mayo

SW FB Page