Digital Holiday Distractions

Happy Monday - I hope you had a great weekend.  There are only 20 days left before Christmas - oh my!  There are a million things to be done but I'll just try to do them one by one.  My first priority is to get some things in the mail so they have plenty of time to arrive.  I also have to make a Costco run to get batteries for the window candles and lots of other holiday extras.  Our house looks naked with no lights in the windows - I think it is required to have them if you live in New England!

Sometimes, when I have too much to do, I get sidetracked and spend time doing a less essential activity - I think it is a stubborn streak coming out.  Sunday I had a list of things to do that was a mile long but I really wanted to try out some new digital content.  So the list is still quite long - the lure of the laptop was too great after a week with no computer while we were traveling!

 I have a weakness for digital papers and embellishments - particularly the holiday themed items.  I hadn't noticed the digital card kits from Creative Memories until a week or so ago and I just bought a few of them to try.  The White Christmas Digital Card Kit  had some great artwork but the colors were not right for what I had in mind.  If I was buying physical paper, I would have just skipped this set but with digital, you can change many items to look very different from the original art.

I started with the holly flourish at the bottom of this screen shot.  I wanted more traditional colors, so I isolated each set of elements by color and changed them to red, green and gold.  Then I flipped and grouped and mirrored the groups to make a larger frame.

I copied the frame to a new page and adjusted the size to make it an eleven inch square.

I added the "happy holidays" from the Winter Delight Digital Embellishments (an older set I have had for a while) and sized it to make the curls intersect with the flourishes in the holly clusters.

I added a shadow to all of the elements - it is difficult to see the shadow on the dark background but you can tell that there is a more dimensional effect.

Here is the same image with a beige background - without a shadow above...

...and with the shadow added.  These are just screen shots of the pages so they might not show clearly how sharp the digital images are.

The plain background can be filled with a digital paper or you can add a surface from the options that are built in to the program - here I used the lace texture to create a different look.

I also purchased the Holiday Digital Card Kit.  These kits have some papers and embellishments and also templates for some of the fine stationery cards that you can have printed by the CM Digital Center.   You can also print these at home if you have a suitable printer. 

I used some of the papers and elements to create a 12 x 12 page that I could have printed to use in my display frame for the holidays.  The colors are a bit "country" and subdued so I decided to try to brighten the page a bit.

I adjusted the levels in the Brightness and Light section of the Color panel to make a slightly brighter and more cheerful version of the page.  There are some great embellishments in this set with the glittered ornaments, felt tree and sparkly snowflake.

 

One of my favorite features of the CM Storybook Creator 4.0 program is that it allows you to use all sorts of digital content - you are not limited to just the CM artwork (though I do end up buying quite a few of the sets that are offered).  Here I used a damask overlay that I colorwashed with green.  I also like to create my own papers and elements with the program.

Here is one more version with the same damask (rotated and colorwashed to a brown tone) and the images glittered with the block surface effect.  If you have questions about the software please post  a comment and I'll try to answer them in the next day or two.  I am also still catching up on all of the email from while I was away, I should be able to finish those messages tomorrow as well.

I want to thank everyone who has used my link to join Blitsy, the new bargain site for all sorts of crafting products.  If you haven't checked it out yet here is the link

http://blitsy.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/989/

If you use my link to sign up, I can earn credits.  After you sign up, you should get your own referral code (you'll find it on the "invites" page) and then you can let your friends and family know about the site so you can earn credits too.

I am expecting my first Blitsy order to arrive today.  Be sure to check the site every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to see what goodies are added.  There has been a lot of great stuff so far (Tim Holtz, Ranger, Spellbinders, Zutter, etc.).  I was able to get some Christmas gifts and a few things that will end up in my blogoversary celebration packages next year.

Here is one more photo from our trip.  This is a courtyard in one of the palaces at the Alhambra.  I  am planning to make a file to cut a page background like the interlinking chains - isn't that pretty?  I should be able to do it for both the Cricut and the Silhouette - I just need to find the time to fit it in with all of the holiday preparations.

I hope you have a great day!

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A few quick notes...

These are the ornaments that we made for the Christmas tree at the museum.  The tree is up - today we may go back and "tweek" it a bit.  I'll have some photos for you in a few days.  I just have a few quick things to mention this morning...

Pop up card insert...

Thanks for all of the nice comments about my Dad's card.  I am sorry but the pop-up insert is a purchased file from Silhouette and works only with the Silhouette Studio software on a Silhouette brand machine.  I can't convert it to another file format or share it.  A long time ago, Susan BlueRobot had some lessons on making pop up cards with the Cricut that might be helpful.  She did mostly words that were welded and reverse folded and eventually started working with Sure Cuts a Lot and Inkscape.  You can find her blog HERE and check the index to see if there are some lessons and files that might be helpful.  You'll probably get lost looking around at all of the creative projects she makes!

Blitsy begins this week...

I recently found out about a new "deal" site that is starting up - it is called "Blitsy" and will offer special sales to members (membership is free) and it will start with an emphasis on scrapbooking and paper crafting supplies.  Eventually there will be more general craft supplies as well.  Sales will begin on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and last for a week or until the items are sold out.

I got an email on Monday to let me know that the first Blitsy sale will be on Black Friday, beginning at 10AM CST!  This is a brand new site and I am excited to see what they will have to offer.  Our flight to Spain is not until evening, so I should be able to check it out.

To sign up, please use this link:  http://blitsy.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/989/ 

If you refer friends, you will earn a credit when they make their first purchase (so use my link to sign up and then get a link to send to your friends!).

Photo editing magic...

We saw a pretty sky when we were driving to Pennsylvania.  I snapped a few photos from the car but couldn't capture the true effect.  This is the original photo I took from the passenger seat along Route 287 near Morristown, New Jersey,

 With a little bit of cropping, and some digital manipulation of the contrast and color intensity I made this image...

Now I want to try blending some inks to create a background that looks like this for a card.  We'll see how that works out!

Jingle Deals coming from Creative Memories

I also had an email on Monday with some information about the upcoming specials from Creative Memories - these will be in effect for just four days, November 25-28th

• Receive $1 shipping on orders of $50 or more. This offer is valid only on my Personal Website and creativememories.com and does not include orders placed on the Digital Center, CMOnline or Persona Imprinting.  This is a big help if  you want to order a Cricut cartridge since the minimum shipping is normally $8.50 (the more you order the bigger the savings on shipping).
• Receive 20 percent off all Content Collection CDs.  These are for use with the StoryBook  program.
• You can join the Creative Memories Rewards Club for just $19. That’s a savings of $20.  Rewards Club members have access to exclusive products and promotions and earn 15% credit to be used on a future purchase each time they shop with Creative Memories.

and just one more thing...

This funny turkey door decoration was hanging on an apartment door at my father's retirement community.  It is made of felt.  If I had time, I might try to make a paper version for a card - maybe next year!


I hope you have a great day!

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Digital Sale at Creative Memories

Quite a few people have contacted me with questions about the programs I use to do photo editing and digital pages and projects.  I use the two Creative Memories programs, Memory Manager 3.0 for photo organization and editing and Storybook Creator Plus 3.0 for digital scrapbooking and other projects.  These programs are quite powerful and offer sophisticated options but are quite easy to use with lots of great support on the Creative Memories sites.

The two programs are independent - you do not need to use both if you are happy with your photo organization and editing.  You can easily import your photos into the StoryBook program even if you edit them in another program.  There are also some basic photo editing options in the StoryBook program.

I posted some digital pages a few days ago (HERE) and then I found out that Creative Memories is offering a "Digi WOW" sale for the month of August.  The StoryBook Creator Plus 3.0 (for PC) and the sbcStudio (for Mac) are 50% off (sale price $32.48) for the download version (no shipping costs!).  All of the downloadable digital content for both programs is also on sale at 30% off.  I am a Creative Memories consultant and i would be happy to help you with an order if you do not have a local consultant that you work with.

I did a few quick pages for this post with some photos of another neighborhood friend.  I think little girls in tutus look so cute!

There is a lot of information about these programs on the site HERE. You can find videos about various functions and more help on the training tab HERE.

A new upgrade to StoryBook Creator Plus 3.0 (it will be 4.0) is coming soon.  I don't know all of the details yet but in the past there has been a specially priced offer for the program upgrades when they are introduced.    If you don't have version 3.0 you won't be able to upgrade to 4.0 from 2.0.  There is also a 50% sale discount on the upgrade (sale price $9.98) so people with the older program will be ready for the upgrade to 4.0.  Details about the price and timing of the upgrade will be announced at the Creative Memories Annual Showcase later this month.

You can find more details about the "Digi WOW" sale on my CM personal website HERE.  To get a really good look at the digital content, click HERE to find the index of PDFs for all of the various options.

The sale will run until the end of August so there is plenty of time to contact me for help with any questions you may have.  I will be more available next week - things are chaotic here with the floor resurfacing and I will soon be blocked from entering my craftroom - but I will have a laptop with me!


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An Interesting Card (and some enabling...)

When we were in San Francisco last week I found this card in a store in Japan Town.  I love visiting Japan Town because I always find interesting items and papercrafts there.  The basic concept of this card is something I want to try (on a more simplified level...).

The card is a tri fold card with the intricate lace cut folded back over a colorful printed panel to form the card front.

 

This cut is extremely delicate and very beautiful.  I'd have to start with something a bit simpler!

This is the reverse side of the cut - the marks make me think it was cut with a laser.

 The printed portion is interesting - the image is designed to work with or without the overlay.  The overlay turns one of the flying birds into a mountaintop and conceals most of the rest of the birds.

It will be fun to try to make a design that works like this though I may need to piece the sections together.

I am up to my elbows in projects for my Peachy Keen Guest Designer stint next week but I do have a few offers that I wanted to be sure to let you know about - so if you want to avoid enabling, stop reading here!



New from Lettering Delights

Lettering Delights is offering a new cutting file series with files in many formats (ai, dxf, eps, gsd, jpg, pdf and svg) to work with a variety of electronic die cutting machines.  The initial offering is a super bundle which would normally sell for $150 for the bundle ($4 per individual set at regular prices). For two weeks, this is offered at a special price of $49.  This bundle has 50 sets with at least 15 items in each set.  You can save even more by using the coupon code for 25% off  that will appear in your confirmation email when you add this week's freebie to your Lettering Delights library.  Choose "Promotions" and then "freebies" and then "bonus freebies" to add the latest freebies to your cart.  Please click on the affiliate image link above or in the left side bar to visit the site.  Click on What's New at the top of the page to find the new super bundle.

I recently bought a Silhouette SD machine to further extend my die cutting abilities.  This machine allows me to create completely original designs.  I'll be telling you more about it soon and I think you will be amazed at the intricate cuts I have been making.  I was very happy to see that the .dxf format is included in these new Lettering Delights files so I will be able to cut them directly from the Silhouette Studio software.

Creative Memories cartridges...

Are you interested in purchasing any of the first three Creative Memories Cricut cartridges (Reminisce Accents, Cheerful Seasons, Stork's Delivery)?  They are on sale for $49.95 (usually $55) until the end of June.  Click HERE to go to the Cricut page on my Creative Memories personal website.  The new Traveler cartridge won't be available until July 1st. (Edited to add - for those of you who receive the email feed all of the coupon codes are gone - I only had a few to offer).

Creative Charms

Don't forget to check out the special weekend deal at Creative Charms and to sign up for a chance to win a free Deal of the Month package - see the details HERE.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend - we are crossing our fingers for the rain to stay away!

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Another "Creative" Day

Today is the midpoint of the celebration week - I am having so much fun filling the boxes and reading all of the comments and answers to the questions.   At the top of my blog it says "do something creative every day."  This represents the commitment I made January 1, 2009 to post daily to share my creative adventures and encourage others to join me.  I haven't missed a day since 1-1-09 and I am motivated to continue when I read how many of you start your day reading my blog.  It is amazing to know that people actually do read my ramblings and find inspiration from my work.  Thank you all for joining me on my creative journey.

I originally bought a Cricut in 2007 to help me with scrapbooking.  We have thousands of photos from the years we spent living overseas and I wanted to get them into simple albums.  I became a Creative Memories consultant a couple of years before I "caught the bug" and I really enjoyed helping people work out their layouts and preserve special memories.  The Cricut diverted my attention from scrapbooking when I discovered all of the other types of projects I could create and when I started using Design Studio it more or less took over my creative life.

I have done all sorts of other crafts throughout my life and I also enjoy quilting - or at least making quilt tops!  The two photos of quilt tops are both "stack and whack" style quilts and one of my early experiments with the Cricut was creating with a paper version of this technique.

This was one of the cards I made - you can read more about this technique and see what I went through to try to get a properly sized diamond HERE.

 I am still a Creative Memories consultant and I do a lot of digital projects using the CM software.  I was thrilled when Creative Memories started to offer Cricut cartridges and I thank everyone who has purchased Creative Memories items through my personal website (HERE).  If you don't have a consultant and are interested in CM products, I would be happy to help you.  The items I am adding to the boxes today are all Creative Memories products that were limited editions or are no longer available.  If you are looking for something that was in the CM line a few years ago send me an email (capadiadesigns@gmail.com) - I just might have it on hand here.

The first group of items is this collection of two paper albums and three packs of paper and stickers to complete them.  They each have a large envelope you can use for mailing the completed albums.  These are great to make for gifts for far away relatives.  The theme is tropical.

 There is an opening for a photo in the front cover  - these are a few sample pages from one of the paper albums I did for my husband's parents when we were on a family vacation in Florida in 2008.  I brought along just this kit and a tape runner and had photos printed at the local CVS so I could assemble the mini album and give it to them while we were still on vacation!

I think there is a tendency for our entire family to like blue!

I am also adding to each box a mini tape runner - these are no longer made by Creative Memories but can be quite handy for tiny places.

The third item is this little kit - a colorful tin filled with some adhesive shiny papers, a pen (random color) and some letter stickers (don't laugh - there are still ways to use these even if you do have a Cricut!).

These boxes are starting to get rather full - and there are still three more days.  It is a good thing that they will mail for a flat rate - I think they will end up being pretty heavy!

Instead of reposting the directions, I would ask that if you have just come upon this celebration week and want to start at the beginning you go to Wednesday's post HERE and work your way forward.  The rest of you already know how to play along!

The question for Saturday is

What other hobbies do you enjoy and how have they influenced your paper crafting?  Do you still keep up with these hobbies or has the Cricut (I think most of my readers do use a Cricut) pushed them aside?  Are there ever enough hours in the day? (That is a rhetorical question and doesn't need to be answered unless you have a tip on stretching out time!)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend - we have lots planned but I will be adding to the boxes again tomorrow - and it is another set of similar but different items that I'll be adding...

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Creative Memories Sale - last chance

Today is the last day to order the February sale items from Creative Memories - here is a LINK to the page on my site with the sale items.   Several of you have ordered the Memory Manager software and I will be doing an online session in March to help you with any questions. 

Starting tomorrow (March 1) you should be able to order the new exclusive Cricut cartridge, Stork's Delivery.  Here is a LINK to the page for the Cricut cartridges - I'll update this at sea if I can.

Today we will arrive at Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos - we're planning to take a tour of the area.

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Quilling and a new CM Cricut Cartridge

I just have a few quick things to share today.  Saturday we had more water coming into our house.  The ice and snow are so thick that when there is a bit of melting the water just finds the easiest path - unfortunately, that is into our kitchen and my husband's study.  We also have a bit of seepage in my craftroom but my things are safe, at least for now.  We actually had thunder and lightning - such crazy weather!

I received the pendant at the top of this post as a sample at CHA.  The company was nominated for an innovation award for the use of quilling in jewelry.  "Quilled Creations" is located in Penfield, New York, not far from where we used to live.  Here is a LINK to their website.  They have all sorts of products for quilling and beautiful kits.  I particularly like the quilled Chess Set, the Quilt Block sampler kit, the adorable animal kits like Forest Buddies, and the Spiral Roses.  They have tools, books and an extensive selection of papers.  If I wasn't so tired of snow, I'd be a big fan of the Snowflakes kits as well!

There is a new Creative Memories Cricut Cartridge that will be available in March.  I will be able to order one copy on the 15th of February so I can preview the cartridge and make some projects with it.  The cartridge is called "Stork's Delivery" and it coordinates with two new Power Palette Additions from Creative Memories, "Fabulous Baby Girl" and "Rugged Baby Boy."

Here are a few images from the March/April brochure.  I will be sure to share more information about the cartridge when I have it in hand.  There does appear to be at least one font but it is very difficult to see in the small catalog image.

I hope to be able to do some crafting tomorrow - if the weather is cold enough the dripping should stop for a while!  I've had a couple of reader requests for files and I'll be doing some test cuts of those - one was something I had already planned to try...

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