Capadia Designs

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope that you have a nice celebration today.

If you are looking for a (very) last minute idea for a card you can check the label P - Card - Valentine in the right side column of the blog. You can just click the red words above to go to the posts labeled for Valentine's Day cards. A few people have asked about the labels and my "code" for organizing links to old posts. Quite a while ago I started reorganizing the listings and trying to set up the labels in a way that would put them in a more easily searchable format. I haven't quite finished getting four years worth of content relabeled, but I'll get back to it soon and I'll add a key to help you use the labels.

At the top of this post is a very quick and easy card that you can cut with the trial version of Design Studio (I haven't tried changing this to a CraftRoom file). The full explanation of how to design the card is HERE and the link to download the file is at the bottom of THIS POST. After you cut the simple lace inset base you can add a vintage or stamped image to the center of the card front. The size for the center area is 2 1/2 by 3 3/4 inches. You could also cut some hearts from any cartridge and add them to the front of the card.

Monday turned out to be a hectic day for me. I have several projects with deadlines coming up soon and I am going on another trip next week (just for a few days). I didn't get a chance to take photos of my new IKEA organizing finds so I'll try to do that in the next couple of days.

I did mark up a photo to show how the incire or "cut, fold and tuck" patterns work.

Here is the cut as it appears when the machine finishes. There are two parallel lines forming half of a teardrop shape.

Next, you pull up the thin strips and fold them over toward the neighboring shape. It is easiest for me to do all of the folding first and then go back and tuck all of the pieces under the next section.

When they are all folded and tucked the result is very eye-catching.

I did these designs with the Silhouette software. I can edit the shapes I am using to break the cutting lines and create the half shapes that are needed to make the design work. This is not possible in the Cricut programs as they are now. I hope some more sophisticated editing features will be added someday but I think that day may be far off in the future.

I hope the photos helped those of you who didn't understand the way these designs work to get a better idea about how they can be used for many projects.

Two more quick notes

***Enfys is holding an amazing giveaway on her blog Going Buggy. Letraset will send one of her readers the full set of 90 Flexmarkers. These markers have both a chisel tip and a brush tip and blend easily. They will be available for sale in the States next month. You can get the details of the giveaway and enter at THIS POST on her blog.

***If you use the Creative Memories StoryBook Creator program, there is a sale on Love and Valentine's Day digital content. You will save 30% if you order by February 15th, 11:59 p.m. Central Time. If you'd like to order through me, click HERE to go to the sale page on my Creative Memories Personal Website.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

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Another Heart Design

2012-02-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday! It was a busy weekend and I have lots to share but I need a little time to catch up. I'll be back later today or tomorrow with a few organizing ideas with some items I found at IKEA.

I hope you remembered to take your 12 on the 12th photos - if you didn't, go ahead and take them on the 13th - I won't tell on you! I posted photos from our day late last night so there will be two items in the morning email if you are a subscriber.

I did another quick test cut of a heart fold and tuck design. These incire patterns are fascinating me and I keep trying variations. I'll try to get my directions for creating these files posted in the next couple of days - I might even do a video if you think that would help. I used the Silhouette Studio software to make the designs.

I hope you had a nice weekend. Are you doing something special for Valentine's Day tomorrow?

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Twelve on the Twelfth for February

2012-02-12T21:00:00.000-05:00

Today was the 12th of February. If you are doing the "12 on the 12th" project I hope you remembered to take your photos. I meant to post a reminder and got the timing wrong - sorry!

My father-in-law and brother-in-law sing in a wonderful Community Chorus called the Heritage Chorale. You may remember that I have written about their programs before. We had a great time at the Pops Concert on Sunday afternoon.

The day was cold and windy but the sun was shining and the sky was a brilliant blue. The concert was held in a municipal building in Framingham. It is an older building with some interesting architectural details.

I took a few quick photos outside. If you always have a camera ready, you will be able to take advantage of opportunities to get pictures that you can use for all sorts of projects in addition to documenting your day. The flag was waving in an interesting way and looks great against the bright blue sky. I will do a bit more editing on this photo and then I can use it as a background for digital pages.

The massive columns and arched windows are very impressive. The hall is right in the center of the town.

The pattern in the windows is a fairly typical design. It reminded me of the cards that I just made which also have a eight section grid.

The ironwork on the stair railings had a design that I wanted to remember - another reason to keep a camera handy. If you have a camera (or a phone with a camera) with you all of the time you can keep a visual reference of elements that can be used in your art.

While we were waiting for the rest of the family (and our tickets) to arrive, I noticed this mural portraying some of the history of the town. I got distracted and didn't remember to take a photo of the description plaque so I don't know many details about the people included in the mural. I usually try to take a photo of descriptive signs to help me reconstruct a trip or remember details. Digital photos can replace a lot of note-taking!

The lower floor is set up with tables. Since our group was large, we didn't all fit at one table so my husband and I watched the concert from the balcony.

One thing I'd never really paid much attention to was the large chandeliers. From the balcony they were much more obvious and I am glad we sat there and had a chance to get a different perspective on things in the hall.

I think the combination of the bare light bulbs and the ornate gilded bands is very interesting. My husband pointed out that these will look very different (and probably not nearly as pretty) when they have to switch from incandescent to compact fluorescent or other more energy efficient bulbs.

The distance and the lighting made it difficult to get a photo of the performers with my little purse camera, but I did manage to get one shot that shows our favorite singers. I can't wait to get my lens back so I can take photos with my regular camera again...

During the intermission, everyone has a chance to eat and drink, including the performers.

Once again, not the best lighting (do you like the "halos" above my husband and father-in-law?!) but it is fun to see the resemblance in the three generations. I don't know how they coordinated their expressions so perfectly!

You know I can't resist taking photos of the ceilings wherever I go - this skylight was no exception. The grid is interesting and the pattern in the glass with light and dark sections became more obvious after editing the photo.

This was the original photo - it is amazing what some cropping and rotating can do!

After the intermission, I took some photos with my brother-in-law's camera with a big telephoto lens. I hope that some of those photos will be good ones so I'll have a few better shots to add in when I put together a page about the day.

This year is the 75th anniversary year (the Diamond Jubilee) for the Chorale. The program was divided into three sections with music from 1937 (the founding year), 1962 (the silver anniversary year) and 1987 (the golden anniversary year).

I tried to insert a tiny video here but Blogger is not cooperating... Just imagine some great songs like "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" (1937), "Camelot" (1962), "I've Had the Time of my Life" (1987) and "Anything Goes" for the Finale. Our son observed that it seemed a little odd to have a man in a tuxedo singing "Blowin' in the Wind"!

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Three Lucky People - Thanks to Everyone!

2012-02-11T22:11:00.000-05:00

I want to thank everyone who joined in the fun for my Fourth Blogoversary Celebration. The blog hit counter rolled over 1,500,000 sometime this morning. We were out doing errands for far longer than I expected (IKEA and Costco both on a Saturday - what were we thinking!) and it took me a while once we got home to organize the drawing and make sure you all had credit for all of your chances.

I appreciate all of your kind comments and compliments and also was glad to have the feedback you gave me about things you'd like to see in future posts. Some of the suggestions lined up very neatly with things I have already been planning so I am happy to know that we are thinking along similar lines!

It is fun to do this celebration and I truly enjoy the increased interaction with so many readers. We all lead busy lives and I thank you for your time in participating.

The extra item for each box will be a card that I have designed - there are a couple of variations.

The cards are plain cuts - ready for decorating (maybe with some of the contents of the boxes...). I hope that the winners will send me photos to show how they finish the cards.

Here are the three people who will be receiving one of the boxes...

coolnana72

Terri Carnine

Nu2Scrap

I do have email addresses for all three of you, but I'll wait to see if you find your name here first - that might be more exciting;)

I need you to send me your full mailing address as soon as possible so I can mail the boxes at the beginning of the week. Please email me at capadiadesigns@gmail.com

I wish I could send everyone something but of course that isn't feasible. I will be sharing the file for the card next week. I designed it for the Cameo but I am going to try to do a similar file for the Cricut machines (it won't look exactly the same but I'll do my best working through the Craftroom free content so it will be something that everyone can use).

I hope your weekend is going well - we have family plans for tomorrow that will be fun. The snow predicted for today didn't really amount to anything at all in this non-winter we are having this year!

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Cricut Updates - Good News for Gypsy owners with Cricut Minis

2012-02-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

I was working on a few new projects and was awake up to the wee hours. The blog counter was just a few hundred away from 1.5 million when I finished up. So...I will be posting the names of the Fourth Blogoversary Celebration winners at some point today. We do have a few things that have to be done in the morning so it might not be until later in the day.

For Cricut users - the long awaited updated for compatibility between the Gypsy and the Cricut Mini is finally available. This information was posted on the Cricut Message Board on Friday. I know not everyone reads the message boards so I have copied and pasted the info here for you.

I do not own a Mini so I haven't been able to test the update but it seems that it has gone smoothly for most people...sometimes I wait to see if any kinks have been worked out before updating (why these updates are nearly always released on a Friday with no support on the weekend is a mystery to me!). So - proceed with caution - good luck!

Here is the information:

Gypsy® device firmware 0227 update – Available 02.09.12
This update includes the following:
Cutting to the Cricut Mini™ with the Gypsy® device:
• The Gypsy device must be updated to the 0227:0234 (0227 firmware and 0234 content) version through the Cricut® Sync program found at www.cricut.com/cricutsync
• The Cricut Mini firmware must be updated to Version .23 in order to communicate with the Gypsy device .
• If the Cricut Mini requires a firmware update, you will be prompted to visit Cricut Craft Room™ to perform this update when the Gypsy device is connected to the Cricut Mini machine. Simply follow the screen prompts to complete the update process in Cricut Craft Room.
*Note: Cricut Mini cannot be updated from Gypsy device.

Cricut Expression® 2 machines:
• This release supports all Cricut Expression 2 machines including those with the 1000 firmware version

Corrects the blue & black screen that some Gypsy® devices were experiencing:
• We strongly encourage ALL Gypsy device users to update their device to the newest version (0227:0234) through the Cricut® Sync program at www.cricut.com/cricutsync for best results.
• This update will prevent the black screen and blue light some Gypsy devices were experiencing; however, it does not repair them.
• If you have a Gypsy device displaying a black screen and blue light, please contact Cricut® support 1-877-727-4288 | Monday-Friday: 7am-6pm MST

Corrects Cricut® cartridge linking issues associated with the following cartridges:
• Pagoda
• Close to my Heart - Art Philosophy Cricut® Bundle
• Celebrate With Flourish
• Everyday Pop-Up Cards
• Cake Everyday Sampler

Gypsy Linking to Cricut Craft Room™ is coming soon!

I did get a chance to try a few test cuts of files that have been piling up in my Silhouette folder. This type of cut and folded design technique is called "incire" and usually requires a lot of hand cutting using a stencil.

This is how it looks on the back side. I remember trying to figure out how to do a Design Studio file to make the cuts years ago but I was never able to get a result that I was happy with. I made some cutting files in the Silhouette software in less than 10 minutes - because I can put lines where I want them and do quick and easy grouping and replicating. These are just some test cuts but now that I have figured out an easy way to make the files I'll be doing more of them - I love the look!

Have you ever made this type of design? Spellbinders and several other of the die companies are making dies for these cuts now but of course they only cut one size. With a file you can make the design any size you like.

Check back later today to find out who will be receiving "happy mail" next week!

I hope you have a great weekend - there may be a little snow here, but then again, maybe not - that's just the way this winter has gone!

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Blogoversary Final Details

2012-02-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks for sharing your tips, thought and comments over the past week or so. I hope you have had fun playing along and I wish that I could send everyone a box. I was asked to give a list of sources for the items in the box. This giveaway is totally sponsored by me and I try to collect things for the boxes over time to make it a bit more budget friendly. When I see things I love at a good price I tend to buy multiples to share. Here is the full list...

Fourth Blogoversary Celebration Boxes

1. K&Company Brenda Walton Sweet Talk specialty paper pad
(Tuesday Morning)

2. Anna Griffin Acrylic Heart shaped album
(Anna Griffin site sale)

3. About four yards of glittered heart ribbon
(Costco - choices vary by store)

4. K&Company Adhesive Rub-ons for glitter
(A.C.Moore - quite a while ago)

5. Creative Charms Vintage Jewels and flowers or butterflies
(Creative Charms)

6. K&Company Grand Adhesions layered stickers
(Michaels - a while ago)

7. Set of four pink floral Clothespins
(Michaels - last weekend in the dollar bins)

8. Red Flocked Contact paper (about 8 x 12 inches)
(my local 5 & 10 store)

9. Creative Memories red and pink geometric stickers
(My CM inventory)

10. Tiny kraft and white bags - 3 of each
(Ink About It - local scrapbook store)

11. Large clothespin for display
(Michaels - Christmas bins clearance - check your store)

12. Sakura Gelly Roll Stardust clear glitter pen
(Ink About It - local scrapbook store)

There will be one more item added to each box - something I designed but didn't have a chance to finish to post this morning. I will post photos as soon as I can cut the file.

I noticed that my blog hit counter is nearly to one and a half million - when I looked before writing this post there were only 1863 hits to go. This will probably happen tonight or sometime tomorrow if the traffic is typical. When I see that the counter has passed 1,500,000 I will do the drawing and post the results as soon as possible.

I will try to answer the questions that have shown up in the comments in another post. I do read each and every comment and really enjoy hearing from so many people. I hope you'll keep commenting more regularly, here or on Facebook, now that you are in the habit (wink!).

You can comment on this post for one last place to get a chance for a box.

Here is the "question" for today.

I'd love some direct feedback on my blog. A lot of you have made me blush by saying sweet things in your comments and that has been a lovely boost to my ego(!) If you have been with me for a long time, you know that there have been changes over the years - the blog has evolved along with me as my interests have developed and moved in new directions.
So please let me know what you'd like to see more of, what new areas you'd like to see me cover and also tell me if there are things you don't like. Do you want more videos, product reviews and tutorials, Cricut, Silhouette or other die cutting machine information, photography tips, digital scrapping help, travel photos...or just whatever I feel like posting (the way it is now!).
I do have some plans in mind, but before I outline them I'd like to hear from the people I write for.

Thanks - and good luck!

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Blogoversary Part 7 - finishing the boxes

2012-02-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to part seven of my Fourth Blogoversary Celebration. I have had a lot of fun filling the boxes and reading your comments with the answers to my questions each day. The boxes now include over a dozen individual gifts and I think they are almost ready to mail. I hope you are taking the time to read the comments from other people - there have been some great tips and interesting ideas shared.

I want to thank all of the people who visit my blog regularly. I haven't posted about this celebration on message boards or forums because I would like the people who have been my readers over the years to have better odds of winning a box.

Here is how the giveaway works:

Just like last year, I have three boxes that I will be filling with gifts that I'll send to three blog readers. Each day I'll add more things to the boxes until they are full and ready to ship. You can comment on every post until the boxes are full to maximize your chance to be chosen by random draw. You don't have to be a follower or a subscriber to win, however, if you enjoy my blog, subscribing by email will help you make sure that you don't miss anything - just click HERE and fill in your address, then reply to the confirmation email to be added to the list. If you prefer to "follow" you can do that by clicking "Join this site" at the top of the right side column.

If you are a subscriber or follower, you can leave another comment and have a second chance each day as a way for me to thank you for your support. If you are a Facebook user you can also "like" the Capadia Designs page HERE and leave another comment telling me that you are a Facebook fan.

You can leave comments everyday so you will have multiple chances to be one of the three winners. Please don't leave more than 3 on one day (1 comment, 2 follower or subscriber, 3 Facebook fan). When you leave a comment be sure that you don't have the box checked to be notified of follow up comments so you don't get tons of emails clogging up your in box. Please be sure to leave some way for me to contact you if you are one of the lucky three - you can leave your email address and use (at) and (dot) to help avoid spam. The step by step directions for leaving comments can be found in THIS POST.

Remember - you can't just leave a random comment - you have to answer the question in the post (so I know you are paying attention!).

Today I have three more things to add to each box. I was at my local scrapbook store earlier this week and I couldn't resist these tiny bags. They are so cute for cards or layouts - you can decorate the outside and add tags inside the bags. I bought both kraft and white bags and I am putting three of each inside each giveaway box.

I also bought some more of my favorite glitter pens by Sakura. I used these pens on the little tags I made last year for Christmas.

They add just a nice touch of sparkle and I thought they would be a great addition to the boxes - especially if you haven't tried them before.

The last item is a large clothespin- these are fun to use for displaying cards or holding important notes. These have a Christmas dove design but can easily be altered. You could take them apart and paint them or simply add paper covering the design.

I used some cupcake and heart patterned paper (from the same K & Company paper pad that is included in the box) and cut pieces to fit above and below the hinge of the clothespin.

You can stand the pin on end...

...or turn it sideways to hold a card for display.

I always keep an eye out for the items that are on sale after the Christmas holidays - the red can be used for Valentines Day and the green for St. Patrick's Day. (I have even separated bags of Christmas M &Ms into red and green - they last a few months and look cute!).

Here is the question for today - be sure to answer it in a comment below.

When do you find time to craft? Are you an early riser who squeezes in some time before the regular days starts, do you grab bits of time during the day (maybe when your children are napping?) or are you a night owl - working when the rest of your household is sleeping? Do you do most of your crafting at home or do you get together with others in classes or at crops? Is the finished product or the act of creating more important for you? Do other members of your family do any crafting?

Thanks for all of the get well wishes! I took it very slow yesterday and rested a lot. I am starting to feel better and should be back to normal soon.

One more note - Blitsy added lots of varieties of Card Candi to their site on Wednesday. Enfys (Going Buggy) uses these legless paper brads a lot. She brought me some Card Candi from England when we met in Germany and now I can add some more colors to my stash. The photo above shows one of the Card Candi projects I saw at CHA in 2011 in the Craftwork Cards booth.
Please click HERE to join Blitsy if you are not yet a member - it's free to join and once you are a member you can refer your friends and earn credits to shop on the site. There are also some Tim Holtz dies and embossing folders, sets of Memento inks and the Xyron Cheetah available on the site now.
Blitsy does not ship outside the US - if you are in Australia, you can get Card Candi from Mandy at Scrappy-go-Lucky.

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Blogoversary Part 6

2012-02-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to part six of my Fourth Blogoversary Celebration. The boxes are getting pretty full but there is room for a few more things.

Thanks for all of the great organizing tips you have been passing along for the answer to yesterday's question. It is clear to me that my problem is that I do have a dedicated space for crafting and I can (and do!) leave bits and pieces from my projects wherever they land until I can't find a clear spot to work! I do put tools away but I tend to leave all of the scraps and rejected bits and pieces piling up on the island. Sometimes this gives me an idea of a way to use something that I hadn't considered and other times it makes me avoid my craft table - not good for creativity!

Here is how the giveaway works:

Just like last year, I have three boxes that I will be filling with gifts that I'll send to three blog readers. Each day I'll add more things to the boxes until they are full and ready to ship. You can comment on every post until the boxes are full to maximize your chance to be chosen by random draw. You don't have to be a follower or a subscriber to win, however, if you enjoy my blog, subscribing by email will help you make sure that you don't miss anything - just click HERE and fill in your address, then reply to the confirmation email to be added to the list. If you prefer to "follow" you can do that by clicking "Join this site" at the top of the right side column.

If you are a subscriber or follower, you can leave another comment and have a second chance each day as a way for me to thank you for your support. If you are a Facebook user you can also "like" the Capadia Designs page HERE and leave another comment telling me that you are a Facebook fan.

Remember - you can't just leave a random comment - you have to answer the question in the post (so I know you are paying attention!).

Today I have two more items for each box. First is this set of geometric stickers in red and pink from Creative Memories. These are no longer available but I still had some on my shelf.

There are two sheets of lines and squares, each is shades of red or pink. Washi tape was very popular at the CreativeWorld show and these stickers can be used to make some interesting graphic designs for cards, tags or pages similar to some of the washi tape designs I have seen lately.

The second item today is a sheet of red flocked contact paper (about 8 x 12 inches). It is a bright red but photographed even brighter. This cuts easily in my machines - it is about the same as cutting vinyl. I hsve used this for cards to get the effect of flocking without the mess.

Here is one of the cards - you can see the details about creating it at THIS POST.

There is some more info at THIS POST - I have also found this material in blue and black and used it for a card I made for Scrappy-go-Lucky last year.

Here is the question for today - be sure to answer it in a comment below.

What materials have you used in your crafting that are not typical papercrafting items. I think the fuzzy contact paper is actually intended to be used on the bottom of candlesticks and bookends to keep them from scratching the table. Where do you look for craft materials aside from typical craft stores? What was your best "find?"

I am a bit under the weather - it might still be jet lag or it could be a "bug" that I picked up since getting home. I hope to be able to answer some of the questions I have seen in the comments or on Facebook in the next day or two but it may take me longer than usual to respond.

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you have a wonderful day!

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Blogoversary Part 5 - pretty and pink

2012-02-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to part five of my Fourth Blogoversary Celebration. There are just a few more days to go and the boxes are getting fuller each day. I posted the second set of photos from the ChristmasWorld section of the trade show - if you are an email subscriber be sure to scroll down to see both posts.

Here is how the giveaway works:

Just like last year, I have three boxes that I will be filling with gifts that I'll send to three blog readers. Each day I'll add more things to the boxes until they are full and ready to ship. You can comment on every post until the boxes are full to maximize your chance to be chosen by random draw. You don't have to be a follower or a subscriber to win, however, if you enjoy my blog, subscribing by email will help you make sure that you don't miss anything - just click HERE and fill in your address, then reply to the confirmation email to be added to the list. If you prefer to "follow" you can do that by clicking "Join this site" at the top of the right side column.

If you are a subscriber or follower, you can leave another comment and have a second chance each day as a way for me to thank you for your support. If you are a Facebook user you can also "like" the Capadia Designs page HERE and leave another comment telling me that you are a Facebook fan.

Remember - you can't just leave a random comment - you have to answer the question in the post (so I know you are paying attention!).

Today I have two more items for each box. First is this set of layered Grand Adhesions from K&Company.

The second item today is a pack of pretty decorated clothespins. I have been seeing lots of clothespins lately - from teeny tiny versions that work on a card up to these which are the typical size and would be great for holding papers together or hanging up a layout on a wire or ribbon. I just discovered these in the bins at Michael's and thought that they were very pretty. There are lots of coordinating products with pretty floral patterns.

Here is the question for today - be sure to answer it in a comment below.

Every crafter I know tends to accumulate a lot of "stuff" and it can be challenging to keep track of everything and to find it when you need it. Sometimes you can get caught up in organizing instead of creating. Of course, once your space is organized, you should be able to enjoy your crafting time and accomplish more because you won't waste time looking for things. What is your "top tip" for staying organized - what works for you?

I noticed that some of you may have taken my question yesterday to imply that using premade items or working from sketches was somehow not being "creative enough" - I didn't mean that at all. If you are making things and enjoying the process it doesn't really matter how you do it. Everyone has different ideas and some things that are enjoyable for one person might not be interesting to another person.

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you have a wonderful day!

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Christmas World - Part Two

2012-02-07T05:00:00.000-05:00

I am glad that so many of you enjoyed the photos from the Trend show at the ChristmasWorld trade show. If you missed that post you can find it HERE. There was a second creative display area within the ChristmasWorld show. The photos I have from inside the show are from this area or from stands that allowed a few photos to be taken.

These paper stars with pierced designs are so pretty with all sorts of patterns pierced in the points. When we lived in Germany I learned to make similar stars with plain paper. I want to try to create some of my own designs for next year. It probably is more cost effective to purchase commercially made stars - it does take a lot of paper to create just one star.

These Golden Piggies were at the entrance to one of the main halls. The sign in front of these figures explained an old tradition of fasting on Christmas Eve day. Children were told that they would be rewarded by the Golden Piggy if they didn't eat all day - waiting for the Christmas Eve feast.

Pigs are also a symbol of good luck in Germany. When we lived in Germany, my husband was given little pig figures by his coworkers before he took the German driving test - we still have them!

The special display area was in the back of this hall. There were a series of these "igloo" domes set up with different decorating themes inside.

One featured these chandeliers made of different types of lights.

These watering cans were hanging from the ceiling of another dome. There were a lot of floral and garden stands in the ChristmasWorld show. I think some garden centers double up as Christmas shops to help with their slow season.

This dome was full of lavish decorations in peach and lavender.

Several areas had lighted rings to create hanging mobiles of ornaments.

I thought the pattern on these large globes was very pretty.

There were lots of these large flowers made of lights. The colorful people in the center are walking little dogs...

...pink and purple poodles!

There were plants and more electric flowers around the edges of the dome.

Don't throw away any old lampshades you might have - you can strip them and add tinsel and lights to make sparkling decorations like this.

Outside the domes there were lots of trees - some made of flowers and some with bare branches. There were also fluffy reindeer with lights.

The trees coming out of the pots of chrysanthemums were pretty but seemed odd to me since we use the mums as fall decorations here in New England.

The trees made of flowers were scattered throughout the display area.

This photo gives you a sense of the size of the hall - it was enormous and the ceilings were very high.

There were a lot of large Christmas trees along the back wall - along with this "tree lady." (Yes it looked very odd in person as well!).

Many of the vendors did not want photos to be taken - they are trying to avoid copying of their merchandise. There were a few that allowed us to take photos. This white, gold and silver display was one of my favorites.

While the trees are quite lovely, many of them are decorated with items that have tags to help in the placing of orders. I tried to crop in on an area with no tags but there is one left in this photo.

There were color themes and displays of the ornaments for that scheme.

Purple seemed to be a popular color (remember there were some interesting purple ornaments in the trend show). It was fun to see all of the variations of purple reindeer hanging along the rail.

This was the tree in the purple area - the large tags are distracting but practical - after all, most of the viewers are there to buy for their shops and need to get through a lot of booths to make their choices.

We saw lots of these fancy flowers that clip on to the trees. Clips make it easy to place the items just where you want them and they stay put instead of dangling.

In addition to glass and other tree ornaments, there were lots of figures and decorations like these snowmen, polar bears and penguins.

There were many stands with all sorts of outdoor lighting and trees. This large tree (about 10 feet tall) was one of my favorites.

Mandy and I were looking for items that might work for papercrafters and we were excited to see these large flattened glass ornaments. We asked about them and found out that the photos inside are not changeable - there was a line of several sizes with about six different cute photos of children. I am not sure why you would want to hang photos of children that were not in any way related to you on a tree...it would be much nicer if you could customize them with your own family photos!

It was interesting to see that several booths had suspended the trees from bars in the ceiling and then displayed most of the ornaments by hanging them at the bottom of the tree.

The amount of shine and color (more purple here...) was almost overwhelming - you needed to get away from it all after a while.

I wonder how long it takes to set up some of the displays - there are so many breakable items to deal with and they need to be arranged nicely to capture the attention of the buyers who are ordering for their shops.

Some displays may have been done ahead of time and shipped assembled like this tree form stuffed with crumpled paper.

In this close view you can see the ornaments stuck in between the papers. The texture of the crumpled paper was very interesting.

Another tree in the same area had a center made up of ornaments and bubble wrap cushions on both sides.

I liked these display trees - another thing that you could try on a smaller scale at home.

An elaborate spray in natural colors...

Lots of shiny ornaments put together to make an enormous tree...

And last but not least - an Easter themed tree.

That's all I have to show you from ChristmasWorld. We didn't get around to all of the halls but it was a great way to fill the first day before the other two shows opened. The next post I do from the trip will show you some of CreativeWorld (I'll probably need to split that up into several posts).

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Blogoversary Part 4 - Creative Charms

2012-02-06T06:00:00.002-05:00

Welcome to part four of my Fourth Blogoversary Celebration. I'll have some more photos from Germany to share soon - we were a bit preoccupied with the Super Bowl yesterday and I didn't get a chance to do any more photo editing. We had a great time watching the game with lots of neighborhood friends - if only our team could have been the winners...wait until next year!

Here is how the giveaway works:

Just like last year, I have three boxes that I will be filling with gifts that I'll send to three blog readers. Each day I'll add more things to the boxes until they are full and ready to ship. You can comment on every post until the boxes are full to maximize your chance to be chosen by random draw. You don't have to be a follower or a subscriber to win, however, if you enjoy my blog, subscribing by email will help you make sure that you don't miss anything - just click HERE and fill in your address, then reply to the confirmation email to be added to the list. If you prefer to "follow" you can do that by clicking "Join this site" at the top of the right side column.

If you are a subscriber or follower, you can leave another comment and have a second chance each day as a way for me to thank you for your support. If you are a Facebook user you can also "like" the Capadia Designs page HERE and leave another comment telling me that you are a Facebook fan.

Remember - you can't just leave a random comment - you have to answer the question in the post (so I know you are paying attention!).

Today I have added two sets of Creative Charms items to each box. I have served on the Creative Charms Design Team for the last couple of years and I looked through my stash to find some pink and sparkly items. Each box will have a set of vintage jewels and some braided daisy flowers , groovy petal flowers or sequin trimmed butterflies.

Here is the question for today - be sure to answer it in a comment below.

When you craft, do you like to do everything "from scratch" (make your own flowers, experiment with different designs until you find the one that looks "right") or do you find it easier to use pre-made embellishments, follow sketches, work from a color chart or generally "scraplift" ideas that you have seen in magazines, online or in a store?

Thanks for playing along. I will try to get more photos from the trip posted later today.

I also want to thank Emily M, Jules, Sharon C. and Marilyn Mae who tried the color and pattern challenge project last month. I have a little (very little) something that I got in Germany for each of you - I'll be contacting you to get your addresses.

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Blogoversary Part 3 - Glitter Rub-Ons

2012-02-05T13:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the part three of my Fourth Blogoversary Celebration. One more item has been added to the boxes. So far they are identical but there will be some slight differences starting tomorrow.

Here is how the giveaway works:

Just like last year, I have three boxes that I will be filling with gifts that I'll send to three blog readers. Each day I'll add more things to the boxes until they are full and ready to ship. You can comment on every post until the boxes are full to maximize your chance to be chosen by random draw. You don't have to be a follower or a subscriber to win, however, if you enjoy my blog, subscribing by email will help you make sure that you don't miss anything - just click HERE and fill in your address, then reply to the confirmation email to be added to the list. If you prefer to "follow" you can do that by clicking "Join this site" at the top of the right side column.

If you are a subscriber or follower, you can leave another comment and have a second chance each day as a way for me to thank you for your support. If you are a Facebook user you can also "like" the Capadia Designs page HERE and leave another comment telling me that you are a Facebook fan.

Remember - you can't just leave a random comment - you have to answer the question in the post (so I know you are paying attention!).

Today I have added one of these adhesive Rub-on sets to each box. These are fun to work with - you can created glittered words and shapes and place them exactly where you want them on your card or page.

Here is the question for today - be sure to answer it in a comment below.

What is your favorite crafting tool - the item you can't live without? Does this change from project to project? Is there a tool you have heard about and can't wait to try - what's on your crafting tool wishlist?

A few more notes...

New cartridges have been added to Cricut Design Studio. Click HERE to go to the download page. You need the second, content download. Be sure to SAVE the download and then run it. The next time you open Design Studio, the cartridges from December and January will be included. I did not have to sign in to download the update (in the past, I have always needed to sign in to the Cricut.com site before the link would work).

There are some great sales this weekend - if you are not busy with Super Bowl parties it's a good time to shop for some deals. Michael's is doing daily deals again and the Sunday, February 5th deal is the Iris plastic scrapbook storage case for just $3.99. There is also a 50% off coupon that they send by email - be sure to sign up for the emails from the stores where you shop so you won't miss any bargains.

A reader wrote in to remind me about the sales at the Tuesday Morning Store. I have found some great deals there over the years. I make it a habit to check any of the off price stores (Marshall's, T J Maxx, Home Goods, etc.) when I am out and about - you never know what will show up there!

There is yet another Creative Memories Cricut cartridge on the way. It is called "Divine Wedding" and there are coordinating papers and albums for the wedding line. It will be available in March. If you are still waiting on an order from Creative Memories from January, I apologize for the delay in shipping. Apparently they had such a massive volume of transactions for the sales that the shipping process has been bogged down - they will catch up soon but I know that it is frustrating to have to wait for your items to arrive. Thanks for your patience.

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Christmas World - Part One

2012-02-05T02:00:00.000-05:00

The first day we were in Frankfurt we visited the ChristmasWorld show. This show started a day earlier than CreativeWorld and PaperWorld so we had a chance to take a look around while waiting for the rest of the show to open. There were several display areas showcasing trends for Christmas decorations and we were allowed to take photos in these areas. I do have more photos from some of the booths where we asked permission to take photos but many vendors did not allow photography once we were inside the show.

The ChristmasWorld show was at the far end of the complex and it seemed like we walked for miles to get there! This is the central area between the exhibit halls. The trend show is in the small area toward the right at the bottom of the photo.

It was called "Trends and Colors" and the first section had very interesting displays with bold colors and florescent tube lighting.

The next section had a variety of ornaments and other decorations.

Deep purples and long necked glass ornaments.

Beautiful white on white displays with subtle touches of color.

A little blurry but I had to add this photo of the garlic, potatoes and onions!

I was quite taken with the blue and white lampshades.

These ornaments were hanging in a mesh sack in a central area. I don't seem to have a photo of everything together - sometimes the point and shoot doesn't seem to shoot when it is pointed! (my good camera was not repaired in time to take it on the trip).

I am not quite sure what the boots are doing here...

Gingerbread house tea lights - now who would want to burn these?

I thought this was a clever way to display ornaments - the triangle frames would be simple to build and then wrap with ribbon so a lot of ornaments could hang in the frame.

There were some display cases in the hallways promoting certain stands - the last two photos were taken through the glass of the cases.

Some of the color combinations were just beautiful - I don't usually do such coordinated trees but I love to look at them!

I will add more photos from inside the show soon. I hope you enjoyed seeing a bit of the inspiration from the trend displays. Don't forget to play along on the blogoversary celebration - just leave a comment on any and all of the blogoversary posts to have a chance to win a box full of crafty treats!

Enjoy the Superbowl - we'll be watching and rooting for the home team!

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Ribbon and Acrylic - Blogoversary part 2

2012-02-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the second installment of my Fourth Blogoversary Celebration. A couple of new items have been added to the boxes - I hope you like them!

Here is how the giveaway works:

Just like last year, I have three boxes that I will be filling with gifts that I'll send to three blog readers. Each day I'll add more things to the boxes until they are full and ready to ship. You can comment on every post until the boxes are full to maximize your chance to be chosen by random draw. You don't have to be a follower or a subscriber to win, however, if you enjoy my blog, subscribing by email will help you make sure that you don't miss anything - just click HERE and fill in your address, then reply to the confirmation email to be added to the list. If you prefer to "follow" you can do that by clicking "Join this site" at the top of the right side column.

If you are a subscriber or follower, you can leave another comment and have a second chance each day as a way for me to thank you for your support. If you are a Facebook user you can also "like" the Capadia Designs page HERE and leave another comment telling me that you are a Facebook fan.

Remember - you can't just leave a random comment - you have to answer the question in the post (so I know you are paying attention!).

Each box now has about four yards of this pretty ribbon that can be used for all sorts of projects. It has glittered hearts and wired edges (but you can pull out the wires to use it for cards or scrapbook pages).

I've also added a heart shaped acrylic album from Anna Griffin to each box. I have one of these for myself and I haven't made it yet so there will be some future blog posts about putting an album like this together...

Here is the question for today - be sure to answer it in a comment below.

What type of project do you do most often - cards, scrapbook pages, mini albums, home decor or something else. Is this your favorite thing to do or do you do it because you are hesitant to try something new. What types of projects are you interested in doing that you haven't tried yet?

I had a few questions about commenting so here are some answers...

The comments on the blog posts are the ones that will be included in the drawing - if you leave a comment via email or another method, I won't be able to keep track of everything (particularly in my still jet-lagged condition!).

If you are having trouble leaving comments, maybe these screen shots will help...

First - look at the bottom of the post and find the place where it says "comments" - unless you are the very first to comment there will be a number before the word "comments" - click on the word to open the pop-up box for commenting.

If the box doesn't pop up, check to see if you have a pop-up blocker on and turn it off. Then type your comment in the box. I took this screen shot while I was signed in so the word verification box doesn't show here (I'll show you this in another image). You can choose "anonymous" if you don't have one of the other types of accounts listed or just prefer to use the anonymous option. Just make sure you identify yourself sufficiently in the comment so I can contact you if your comment number is chosen in the random draw. Click on Preview to check you comment for typos or other mistakes.

Your comment will appear in a little window as it will appear when published.

If the comment is fine, click on "publish your comment."

You will need to do the word verification (I used to moderate comments but there was too much spam and for a giveaway people think their post hasn't gone through and try to publish it over and over so this makes things go more smoothly).

One more thing - make sure that you don't check the box for "email follow up comments" - you will get emails for every other comment that is left and this will be annoying for you!

If you are still having trouble leaving a comment, please let me know - I don't want you to be left out of the fun!

I posted some photos from my trip - just the beginning, lots more to come. If you are on the email subscription, you will probably have both posts in one email...

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Creative/Paper/ChristmasWorld in Germany

2012-02-03T18:00:00.000-05:00

I thought that it would be fun to share some of the photos from my trip that might give you an impression of the size of the trade show and also some of the interesting things I noticed around the buildings of the "Messe" or fair.

Only a scrapbooker would have the nerve to ask a total stranger to take her photo in front of the sign for her destination! It was interesting to see that Madrid (where we went a couple of months ago) was right next to Frankfurt on the sign and that Frankfurt is even farther away - 265 more miles. If I had gone to CHA in California I would have been "only" 2975 miles from home.

When we lived overseas (from 1992 to 2000), I learned that only about 10% of Americans had passports. This has changed somewhat now that passports are required for travels to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean and the latest figures I could find show that about a third of all US citizens now hold passports. If you don't have a passport, think about getting one. You never know when a chance to travel to another country might come up and it's always best to "be prepared" (as the Scouts say).

I left on Thursday afternoon on an overnight flight with Lufthansa. The plane was not full and I was lucky to have an empty seat next to me. We arrived in Frankfurt in the wee hours of the morning and I was quite proud that I managed to find my way to the hotel using public transportation (the S-bahn line went from the airport to a few blocks from our hotel). It was dark and snowy when I arrived at the hotel and met Mandy. She had arrived the day before me from the intense summer heat in Australia (over 40 Celcius which is about 104 degrees Fahrenheit!) and was excited to see a bit of snow. This was the view from our hotel window - you can see some white on the rooftops. We wanted to see the antique store (Antik Bodenheimer) but never made it over there (isn't that a great font they used on the wall!).

The UBahn (underground train) stop was just a few blocks from the hotel. The environmentally conscious German fair organizers included free public transportation in the cost of our tickets so we were happy to make good use of the passes. The funny thing was that we were never asked to show our tickets during our time there. There are no gates to pass through and people just hop on and off the trains. If an inspector did check and you were without a ticket the fine is 40 Euros (about $52).

Here are Mandy and Enfys outside our hotel on the second day (Enfys arrived Friday afternoon and didn't come to the first day of the show).

Messe Frankfurt organizes large trade fairs in a huge complex of buildings. This is the plaza near the entrance to the main section with flags of many countries.

I was fascinated by this enormous sculpture of a man with an ax - it actually moved.

Here he has raised the ax, ready to chop.

The people and bikes in this photo give you a sense of the size of the sculpture. I think that these bikes are another free service that you can use like a zip car to get around in the city.

The fairgrounds are huge and it took about ten minutes to get from the entrance to the hall where we spent most of our time. Buildings are connected by enclosed walkways with moving sidewalks.

These escalators brought us up to the level of the entry for the shows we were attending.

The figures reminded me of Legos!

After checking our coats in one of the many cloakrooms, we started the trek to the halls. This moving sidewalk took us beside an older style building with interesting windows.

The halls for the Christmas fair were very far away. Mandy and I went there the first day and it took about twenty minutes to get to the actual show after we got off the train.

Each of the three fairs had banners listing the halls to visit. The CreativeWorld was the most relevant to us and occupied only one (very large) hall.

Each show had a special a special lanyard color but our tickets were good for all three - so I alternated lanyards using the one that looked best with my clothing each day!

The connecting hallways were extremely long and it was great to have the moving sidewalks to help get us around a little faster.

There were large open halls and places that served coffee and snacks at the intersections of the connecting hallways.

This is just one of the halls for the PaperWorld show - I think there were six or seven all together. These sections were primarily office supply paper, pens, notebooks, backpacks - all of the things that you would find at an office supply store or stationer's.

On the first day (before we discovered the short-cut) we walked through the large PaperWorld hall to get to CreativeWorld. I thought this pencil car, driven by a stuffed bear was very cute!

The teddy bear driving seemed so odd with the formal and serious atmosphere of this section.

Some of the displays of writing implements looked like fancy jewelry stores.

Finally, we made it to CreativeWorld. This section included all sorts of hobby and craft materials.

You could tell that you were in CreativeWorld by the brightly colored carpet throughout the hall.

There were 87,000 buyers at the combined fairs and it never felt very crowded - there were so many spaces to see. We did visit ChristmasWorld on the first day (before the other shows opened) and next time I will share some of those photos. The rules for photography were much stricter than at CHA so I don't have an overwhelming amount to show (but I probably took more photos than the average person would take!).

The next items have been added to the Blogoversary gift boxes - be sure to check the post on Saturday morning and leave your comments for a chance to win.

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Fourth Blogoversary - Filling the Boxes!

2012-02-02T18:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Groundhog Day! I had a long trip home from Germany but everything went well. I needed a bit of time to "decompress" and catch up with things here at home. Then our internet took a brief vacation but I managed to get it reset by unplugging everything and starting over. So now....

It's time to start the blogoversary party!

Just like last year, I have three boxes that I will be filling with gifts that I'll send to three blog readers. Each day I'll add more things to the boxes until they are full and ready to ship. Starting with this post, you can comment on every post until the boxes are full to maximize your chance to be chosen by random draw. You don't have to be a follower or a subscriber to win, however, if you enjoy my blog, subscribing by email will help you make sure that you don't miss anything - just click HERE and fill in your address, then reply to the confirmation email to be added to the list. If you prefer to "follow" you can do that by clicking "Join this site" at the top of the right side column.

Sounds pretty easy, right?

There is one catch - you can't just leave a random comment - you have to answer the question in the post (so I know you are paying attention!).

This year I am starting off the boxes with a pad of 12 x 12 paper from K & Company - the Brenda Walton "Sweet Talk" specialty paper pad. I'll be photographing things in the large square boxes but actually shipping everything in the medium box because the paper pad has the extra hanging tab area and won't fit neatly in the square box.

This is the paper that I used for many of the projects you have seen posted recently - the mobile, the treat and cookie bags, the candle lantern and several cards. It is from a few years ago but is still one of my favorites with some glitter, flocking and foil. I have always found that the K & Company paper cuts very well with my die cutting machines - it is just the right weight and texture.

The first question is...

What is your favorite brand (or brands if you can't choose just one) of paper and/or cardstock? Why do you prefer this brand (is it the designs, the weight and ease of cutting that paper in your machine, etc.). Do you prefer single sided or double sided paper? I am just curious to know about the paper and cardstock that you like to use - it would be fun to discover some new ones that I don't know about yet!

I know that a lot of you are eager to hear more about my trip to Germany and the trade shows that Mandy, Enfys and I attended there. I'll be adding separate posts with updates on what I saw - and maybe even some projects to share. It's going to be a busy week!

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Four Years...

2012-02-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

I'll be returning from Germany today - it's also the fourth anniversary of the start of my blog.

I went back to see some of the first posts - this was the first design I ever posted on the blog - back when the Cricut Design Studio software was "new" and exciting. It's amazing to think about all of the crafting developments that have taken place in a few short years.

I think it is funny that "butterfly" (schmetterling) is actually one of the first words I ever learned in German!

If I don't run into any travel problems, I should be able to begin the Blogoversary Celebration tomorrow - I have some surprises up my sleeve - you won't want to miss it!

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A few More Valentine's Projects revisited...

2012-01-31T06:00:00.000-05:00

Today is my last full day in Germany and the last day in January. There are only two weeks left until Valentine's Day. I have some links to share for projects I did a couple of years ago that you may have missed. The little metal mailboxes are commonly found in Target store dollar spots. I printed and cut magnet material to decorate them. All of the details are at THIS POST.

This mobile is one of the more complicated projects I have done. It isn't difficult but it does take some time to cut everything and assemble all of the pieces.

It took me a while to lay out the pieces - I have trouble doing "random!" All of the directions with lots and lots of photos are at THIS POST.

I can't wait to tell you all about our adventures. Please send good thoughts for safe journeys as Mandy travels back to Australia, Enfys returns to England and I head back to the States tomorrow - thanks!

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Candy Treats - All Dressed Up

2012-01-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Day is all about candy - and the simplest of treats can look very special with just a little bit of "dressing up!" I designed these bags last year for classroom treats or party favors. This type of candy bag is easy to make and there are endless variations.

You can find step by step directions for designing the bag toppers at THIS POST. The directions for assembling the bags can be found at THIS POST.

One more day in Germany - by now I'm sure my mind will be full of new ideas and things to try - it will be great to get back home and start some new projects!

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Inspiration Challenge Update

2012-01-29T06:00:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd share one of the ways I interpreted the color and pattern challenge. If you missed the original post where I gave this challenge, you'll find it HERE.

I started with the shapes and used the Silhouette Studio program to draw some flowers that follow the pattern of the brooch. I tried using the same colors, but the result seemed a little dull - so I livened it up a bit with some pink! I made a sheet of digital paper to use for a background. It needs some tweaking but I like it so far.

I hope that you will try making something and add your link to the original post. I am shopping for a small but interesting prize from Germany and will draw a name from those who take up the challenge...

Just a couple more days and lots more to see...starting to think about the weather and hoping there won't be any problems for any of us getting back home again. I hope you are having a great weekend!

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Something Funny for Saturday...

2012-01-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

I saw this in a shop window when I was in town doing errands before my trip. It made me laugh and I thought I'd share it with you.

The "Wee Forest Folk" are collectible figures that are made by a family in the neighboring town of Carlisle, Massachusetts. They have been making these figures since the early 1970's. You can see their website HERE.

The mice are holding an "Occupy Walden Street" protest. The signs say things like "more cheese" and "no more fat cats." It made me smile and I hope it makes you smile too.

By now we should know our way around Frankfurt pretty well. In addition to the trade show, I'd like to do some sightseeing and shopping around town. We'll have to see how much time we have (the show looks like it is very large!).

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Easy Valentine's Day Wreath

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

Today will be my first full day in Germany. Before I left, I changed the wreath on the front door. It will be February 1st when I get back with only a couple of weeks left to show some love for Valentine's Day!

Quite a few years ago, I bought a round wreath of pink hydrangeas at a store like Home Goods or Marshall's. When I brought it home, I simply bent the base into the shape of a heart. This is the underside of the wreath so you can see the shape - it isn't perfect but close enough!

You just need to adjust the flowers on the top side to try to get the heart shape to show clearly.

From a distance, the heart shape is pretty easy to see. I like the way the pink looks on our blue door. It is a nice fresh change from the evergreen, ivy and gold that we have up during the Christmas holidays.

Our entry is recessed (in the very practical New England style) so I don't have to worry about the wreath getting wet. This sort of wreath is usually inexpensive - maybe around $10 (I don't remember exactly what I paid since it has been quite a few years).

Here is another wreath that is easy to make. It is just a coat hanger shaped into a heart with strips of red and white fabrics knotted around the frame. The fabric is cut with a pinked edge and the patterns are alternated. I made this in a crafting group I belonged to when we lived in England and I don't have the exact details but it would be easy to duplicate.

There are a couple of tiny wooden hearts that are painted red and tied with ribbons to dangle in the center of the wreath. An extra bow with several loops is tied to the point of the heart. The fabric strips are about five inches long and an inch wide for this wreath of about eight inches. You would just adjust the sizes to suit the finished size you would like for your wreath.

Do you do a lot of decorating for Valentine's Day? I am definitely going to check out the German decorations. I can't remember exactly what the did for Valentine's Day - I know that Easter decorations were very elaborate (at least in the town where we lived).

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On my way to Germany

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

I'll be flying to Germany today - and arriving very early on Friday (on an overnight flight). I hope to be able to make some quick posts while I am away but I am not sure how easy it will be to get to the blog. We will probably have very full days with three trade shows to attend!

I have scheduled some posts that should appear regularly while I am away. I am not taking a computer with me but I will have my phone and should be able to check email when I have wifi available. I will try to post some photos during the week on Facebook. I am not sure how much we will be allowed to photograph at the trade show but I'll do my best to share any interesting "finds" with you all.

If you are a Facebook friend or a "fan" of the Capadia Designs Facebook Page, you might see some photos there (I know that not everyone uses Facebook but it may be easier to post that way while I am away). I'll definitely fill you in on all of the things we see when I get back. I'll be returning to the US on February 1st - my fourth Blogoversary - and there will be a fun celebration the first week I am back!

The photo above is from when we lived in Germany (from 1992-1995). Three generations on the balcony outside our house in the tiny village of Aidlingen-Deufringen. The little one in lederhosen is now a college graduate!

LAST CHANCE FOR SALE: I want to remind you that the Creative Memories 20% off album sale ends today, Thursday, January 26th at 11:59 Central Time. If you like these albums (I think they are the best available), this is a good time to stock up on pages, protectors and coversets. If you don't have a Creative Memories consultant that you work with, I'd be glad to help you. You can click HERE to go to my Creative Memories personal website.

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Tim Holtz Distress Inks and Foam Pads

2012-01-25T18:00:00.000-05:00

After reading Monday's post about organization, a few people asked for photos of the way I attach the foam pads to my Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads. So I quickly took a few photos - I hope they help make it easier to see how simple it is to do this.

You can buy hook and loop fastener (Velcro) at a sewing store. Some is sold in dots or tabs and it also comes in long strips. I had some strips left over from another project. You only need the "hook" side (but of course, I saved the "loop" side - it may come in handy for something!).

Just cut the strip of the hook side into small rectangles - about 1/2 inch or so in length.

I use the 1/2 inch wide Scor-Tape to adhere the loops to the stamp pad base. It is a strong adhesive and should stay put if you are careful when you remove the pad from the base.

You can add the loops anywhere on the back - I tend to put it to one side but it doesn't really matter.

The foam pad that you have used for this color will always be handy and you can quickly put it on the wooden handle to work on your project.

I have just a few handles, enough for now and I can add a few more from time to time so I can keep the colors I use the most ready to go. I don't think I'll ever have a handle for every color - they take up a lot of space and I'd rather save the money for another crafty purchase!

I hope the photos helped - it is quick and easy to set up this system. I still have to redo the rack for holding the ink pads. I'll post that when I finish it.

I am busy packing and trying to make sure I don't forget anything - less than 24 hours until I fly to Germany!

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Catching Up - Simple Treat Holder

2012-01-24T18:00:00.000-05:00

I had a rather crazy day, lots of errands, a follow up appointment for my hand surgery that took much longer than expected (everything is fine - they were just really backed up...) and lots of other last minute things to do before I leave for Germany on Thursday.

I had planned to post something new that I just designed. I didn't get a chance to do the test cut so I thought I'd give a link back to a simple and cute treat holder I made for Valentine's Day a couple of years ago. You will find the full post with the directions and file for making the treat holder HERE.

In the same post you'll find the file and directions for making these heart lanterns...

...and a card you can make with the "leftovers."

It's hard to believe how quickly January has flown by. It really doesn't feel like winter this year - the temperature was in the mid 50's today and nearly all of the snow is gone again.

I hope to get a little crafting time in on Wednesday - but the packing has to be done first!

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Getting Organized - Ranger Stickles and Inks

2012-01-23T18:00:00.000-05:00

I have been adding more Distress Inks to my supplies. I like experimenting with various techniques and the colors are so beautiful. I also have a pretty good size collection of Stickles that I have built up over the years. I decided it was time to tackle the organization of these items. For the most part, I have been keeping them in JetMax cubes and that works fine. The difficulty comes in remembering the shades of the colors - some of them are only slightly different and the names can be confusing.

I started out labeling the distress ink pads with my Dymo Labelmaker. The tapes for this gadget are fairly pricey and I wanted to be able to label all four sides to make it easier to put them away. This would take quite a bit of tape so I looked for an alternative.

I discovered that there are a series of charts and labels available to download from the Ranger Ink site. Just click HERE to go the the page on the site where you can find lots of free label sheet PDFs that work with Avery brand 5267 labels for your ink pads. These labels are 1/2 inch by 1 3/4 inch and there are 80 labels on a sheet so another brand might work if you can't find Avery labels.

There are also color charts for lots of other Ranger products. You can print these and add the colors you own for a handy reference when working on a project or shopping.

When I was at CHA last year, I had a chance to make a few of these charts. Tim Holtz actually autographed the Distress Stain chart at the top right. It's very handy to grab the chart and check colors. For the stain, we did samples on sticky back canvas as well as directly on the cardstock.

I have done my Liquid Pearls and Stickles so far. I have a Stickles color called "gunmetal" that wasn't on the chart so I added it at the top. I am also not sure if "midnight blue" (on the chart) and "dark blue" (on my bottle) are the same color but it was the only spot left so I put it there.

You can see the effect of the liquid pearls very clearly on the chart.

When you fill up the chart be sure to go in order from top to bottom so you hand won't bump into wet Stickles! All of the clear colors are across the bottom row.

I did a post a couple of years ago that shows the differences between the various clear colors - if you missed that post you can find it HERE.

One more tip for using the Distress Ink pads. If you have the room and the funds, you could buy a handle for each color and keep the foam pad on it for easy use. I only have a few handles and I just keep the foam pieces tucked under each ink pad (the base is recessed just the right amount). You can add a small velcro dot (the loopy side) to keep the foam pads attached to the correct ink pad.

Thanks to the Ranger Company for providing these easy charts and labels - it helps all of us to get (and we hope - stay!) organized. It also shows you which colors you still need - I think I'll have to go find the Liquid Pearl and Stickle colors that I am missing!

(did you hear the latest news - they are adding Distress Markers to the line - see HERE - one more thing to organize!)

A couple of notes...

I want to remind you that the Creative Memories 20% off album sale will be ending on Thursday, January 26th. If you like these albums (I think they are the best available), this is a good time to stock up on pages, protectors and coversets. If you don't have a Creative Memories consultant that you work with, I'd be glad to help you. You can click HERE to go to my Creative Memories personal website.

Thanks to those of you who ordered through me on the surprise five day sale earlier this month. I know there were issues with the servers being overloaded and I was happy to help those of you who contacted me get your orders through. The shipping is taking longer than usual due to the huge volume of sales - thanks for being patient. I have a couple of orders from the 15th that don't show shipping information yet but I know that everyone is pitching in at CM to get the orders out as quickly as possible!

Also, Blitsy keeps adding interesting items for sale each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Today they added the Pink Paislee Vintage Vogue line - I couldn't resist and ordered some of this adorable paper along with a variety of embellishments.

If you haven't joined this free membership shipping site, please use my link below to sign up

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

Once you have joined, you can get your own referral code and invite your friends and family. When someone you refers makes their first order of $10 or more, you will get a $10 credit to spend on the site. If you are a Facebook user, be sure to go "like" their page and then check in the left side column for a fan coupon code that will give you and extra 10% off on your first purchase.

Christmas is almost all back up in the attic - things are starting to look more normal around here!
Just a few days until I leave for the trade shows in Germany. I'll do my best to post while I am away but there may be some delays. I will definitely tell you all about it when I get back next week!

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Sunday in New England

2012-01-22T18:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you all for the lovely compliments on the photos I shared on Saturday. I am finally catching up with reviewing and editing the photos from our trip to Spain and I am happy to know that you enjoy seeing some of them. I am trying to get more of my personal projects finished this year.

When I was at church this morning I thought about the difference between our fairly typical small town New England church and the cathedral in Toledo. I know it is comparing apples to oranges but I thought I'd post a few photos to share with you all. Many of you have written to say that you also enjoy seeing photos of Concord, the historic town where we live in Massachusetts.

It was a glorious winter day with a brilliant blue sky. Our church is quite typical with a tall steeple and bell tower and a long side extension for the Sunday school classrooms and offices.

There are four tall arched windows on each side of the sanctuary. The glass is plain and allows plenty of light to enter. There are also simple sconces and chandeliers.

There is a balcony across the back of the church. When I was a child I loved to sit in the balcony of our church in Pennsylvania and look down over the congregation.

Through the door on the right is the Church Library and the Fellowship Hall is through the door on the left. There are usually simple flower arrangements on stands in the front and when there are new babies born to members of the Church and their families, a rose is placed on the altar table. Today there were two roses, including one for the first grandchild of our senior minister.

The walls are plain and the woodwork is very simple. It is painted a slightly rosy shade of white in contrast to the walls. The choir sings from this loft and the organist somehow manages to play and conduct with her back to the singers!

There are no fancy ceilings but this skylight is very pretty. Simple lines without much ornamentation - a very typical New England Protestant Church.

Just a quick reminder...

There are a few days left to take on the challenge I gave you in the beginning of the month. Thanks to Emily and Jules who have posted their links already. I have extended the date until February 1st when I return from Germany - I am sure that I'll be able to find a great prize while I am there.

You can find the original post with all of the details HERE. I'd love to see some more people take the challenge - maybe I gave you too long to do it (should I give a shorter deadline next time?).

For those of you on the email subscription - my timing is a bit off for the past few days. I will be posting a Monday organization idea later in the day and then will try to get back on the 6 a.m. release timing for the rest of the week and while I am away.

February 1st, the day I return from Germany, will be the fourth anniversary of my blog. I have a blogoversary celebration planned with some fun prizes for three lucky people. I am really excited to have a chance to thank all of you who take the time to read and comment on my blog and I hope you will join in the fun!

The photo at the top of this post is of our neighbor's fence. I love seeing the little "caps" of snow on the fence posts!

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Toledo Cathedral

2012-01-21T18:00:00.000-05:00

I hope you are having a good weekend. We had a decent amount of snowfall and it finally feels like winter around here! Today I have some photos from our trip to Spain last November to share. We spent part of one day visiting the city of Toledo.

We spent a lot of time in the Cathedral in Toledo. It was very beautiful with elaborate carvings, statues and paintings. Before we visited the city, we had lunch at a hotel on the opposite hill so we had a chance to get a great overview of the city. (The cathedral is a little left of center in this photo).

The weather was fine and we were lucky to have a bright blue sky - here is a closer view of the tower.

On of the first areas we visited was a treasure room. There were incredibly ornate medallions and crosses.

I think that the designs of these crosses would make interesting cutting files.

The amounts of gold and silver and the precious gemstones used for these items are overwhelming.

I think illuminated manuscripts are fascinating - this Bible was beautiful with lots of gold and great details.

The ceiling in this room was incredibly intricate.

It is tricky to get a good photo of a ceiling - I was leaning back so far that the Japanese tour group was very amused! You can also try putting the camera on the floor and shooting straight up.

Here are a few more ceiling shots - they had such beautiful patterns and designs.

These enormous cherub or angel heads along the arches were very interesting.

This was one of the most ornate cathedrals I have visited.

There were incredible carvings in the choir area depicting various castles and fortresses.

Some of the armrests were shaped as imaginary animals.

Here are some intricate inlaid patterns and carvings on the underside of a lectern.

Another lectern with an amazing bird.

I thought this star pattern in some floor tile was very striking.

These look like they could be painted but they are actually done with inlaid stone.

The floral swag border here is one of my favorites.

There are carvings and statues everywhere.

Many different Madonnas can be found in various chapels.

One of the most amazing areas was this section where the statues and painted figures rise to the ceiling and then are continued as painted images and frescoes.

It can be confusing to tell which images are painted and which are three dimensional. They seem to morph before your eyes.

I hope you can get a sense of this - the contrast in the light made it very difficult to get a photo that shows everything clearly. It might be easier to get a good photo on a cloudy day.

One more unusual feature was this enormous figure on one section of the wall. I don't think I have ever seen something on this scale.

This is just a small sampling of images from the cathedral. I hope you found them interesting. I am sure I could go again and find many more fantastic things to photograph.

Toledo is also known for marzipan.

We bought some delicious marzipan candy at this shop and they had a model of a city gate - made completely of marzipan in the window! (After showing gummy bears and a gingerbread house on the first two Saturdays, I had to sneak in a little candy here too!).

I am busy getting ready for my trip and also catching up on posting my Project 366 photos - I sure could use more hours per day! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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Successful Search and Hello Thursday

2012-01-20T06:30:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much to everyone who posted or emailed me with helpful suggestions about finding my missing receipt. I do appreciate all of you for looking out for me!

Good news - I found the receipt! Inside the folder for the camera was the original ad from the week I bought the camera. It showed a package deal with a "free" photo printer - free after you mailed in a rebate form. Then I remembered - I did get the printer and send in for the rebate - Aha! I looked and found another file for the photo printer and there were copies of all the rebate paperwork and the original camera receipt.

I still don't know if the repair will be covered under the warranty but it is worth a try. Apparently the plastic used in the mounting mechanism is known to get brittle. So now I have to wait and see - and I just have to use the small camera in the meanwhile.

I think it often doesn't matter which camera you use if you have good photo editing software and are comfortable with using it. Here is a quick example...

I took this photo of some of the Russian Santa figures that I have collected over the years. I wanted to photograph them all before putting them away so I can do a layout for my book of collections. There are in front of a window and I didn't want to use a flash - as you can see the lighting is terrible!

Here is the same photo after cropping, adjusting the light levels, sharpening, and adjusting the colors and contrast. I don't use Photoshop - I use the Creative Memories Memory Manager program to organize and edit my photos. I think it is much easier to learn and faster to use.

I am sure I could get a better photo with my D40 - but for now the Coolpix will have to do. If the repair is not covered by the warranty I will have to decide whether to buy a new lens. Please keep your fingers crossed that they fix it under warranty - a new lens would be several hundred dollars!

Hello Thursday

Yesterday was the third Thursday of the month - and the day when new cartridges are announced by ProvoCraft. There are ten new cartridges.

Full Cartridges:

Letter Envy (the exclusive Cricut Circle cartridge for the next quarter)
Elmo and Friends Holiday
Type Candy
Olé

Lite Cartridge:

Fun in the Sun

Project and Event Cartridges:

My Quiet Book
Baby Shower
Bridal Shower
Giant Flowers

Imagine Cartridge:

Greeting Cards Inside and Out

Click HERE to go to the Hello Thursday page on the Cricut.com site. You will see colorful boxes with the names of each cartridge on the shelves. Click on a cartridge box and a pop up window will show you the "look book" for that cartridge.

You can see some projects made with these cartridges on the Official Cricut Blog HERE.

Joy (Obsessed with Scrapbooking) and Melanie (Courtney Lane Designs) will be posting projects on their blogs over the next few days.

I haven't really had a chance to look carefully at this latest round of cartridges. At first glance there isn't anything I can't live without but I'll need to look more carefully. Are there any that you particularly like?

Travel Plans:

I am not going to the Winter CHA show in California. At this time next week I will have arrived in Frankfurt, Germany. I'll be meeting up with Mandy from Scrappy-go-Lucky in Australia and Enfys (Going Buggy) is coming from England. We will be attending several trade shows (PaperWorld, CreativeWorld, ChristmasWorld) and we'll be looking for the latest and greatest trends from Europe. I'll try to post some updates while I am there - there should be good internet availability.

It's snowing and accumulating - the most snow we've had this winter. Stay safe if you are in a snowy place.

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Something to think about...

2012-01-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

I was searching for something on and off all day on Wednesday - and thinking about organization...

I called a photo repair shop and found out that Nikon has a five year warranty on their lenses. In order to send my broken lens in for repair, I need the original receipt and some other paperwork that came with the camera. No problem, I thought - I save everything (those of you who know me in real life know that this is true!).

I found all of the other paperwork, a neatly labelled file folder that says "Diane's New Nikon" (with the ad for the camera from 2007) but I still can't find that receipt. I have discovered through my searching that I have entirely too many outdated and useless bits of paper stashed around our house. In addition to reorganizing the craftroom, I need to do some serious purging all through the house. (Middle School newsletters when your youngest is a college graduate - it's time to let go!).

I will find that receipt. It must be here somewhere (though why it is not in the file or with the other papers is a mystery). The interesting thing is that I have come across all sorts of other things while I have been looking for that elusive receipt. Some are "priceless" and and some are ridiculous (the schedule of events at the public library from three years ago...). I'll keep looking until I find it and try to get rid of all of the outdated stuff that is just taking up space.

However...

This was the daily quote in the Boston Globe on Wednesday. When I first read it in the morning I hadn't started on my search for the receipt. I assumed it would be in the file and it would only take a few minutes to track it down.

What this quote made me think about was the state of my crafting island. You may have noticed that the photos of the trimmer storage were pretty tightly cropped. That's because the top of the island is usually covered (and I mean really fully covered!) with bits and pieces from recent projects, things I just purchased and haven't put away, notes with ideas I want to try - you name it - it lands on the island.

While it is very untidy, I often find that when I am putting together a card or another project, some little bit or piece on the island gives me a great idea and helps me to create something that is better than what I may have originally planned. So the "things in my way" do lead to some happy accidents.

So the question is - how do you find the balance between having everything neatly put away (so there is no chance of having a "happy accident") and total chaos with the risk that you will never find what you are looking for?

What do you think? (...has anyone seen my receipt?)

Please leave a comment - I'd love to hear what you think about creating and keeping the balance between order and chaos. If you just wanted to see something cute or pretty today - here is a card I made a couple of years ago - you'll find the original post HERE.

Have a great day!

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Fresh and Pretty Love You Card

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Wednesday! I have been busy sorting and organizing around the house (and yes, I am still taking down Christmas!). We do finally have snow on the ground (not much) and it feels more like winter. I promised that today I'd give more details about the second card I made for the Creative Charms blog.

Here are all of the cardstock layers. The card is a vertical A2 card (4 1/4 x 11 inches folded in half). The printed paper was cut to center the design so it is a bit narrower than the usual cuts at 3 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches. The white layer is 4 x 5 1/2 inches, the aqua layer is 3 7/8 x 5 1/2 inches.

The patterned paper is from the Enjoy the Seasons imagine cartridge. I printed a full sheet to use for several projects. The pink and aqua cardstock is from a Martha Stewart value pack - these colors were a great match for the Imagine printed paper.

I wanted to use the Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon as a border on the patterned paper so I added 1/8 inch Scor-Tape along the two long edges of the paper.

I peeled off the Scor-Tape on one edge and carefully lined up the edge so that one row of dots was showing. I also tried to make the scallops line up with the end of the cardstock.

If you look carefully at the patterned paper you can see that the vines come together to form some heart shapes - three are visible on the card front.

If your pieces are slightly off (a little movement while trimming can cause this) you can just neaten up the edge with a quick cut across all of the layers after assembly. I added the white cardstock layer to give a nice clean edge between the bright colors and to echo the white scallop of the ribbon.

Can you see the three full hearts formed by the vines?

I cut the sentiment from the same pink cardstock as the card base with the Cuttlebug Love Language die. The busy patterned paper makes it a little bit difficult to see the words.

There is no shadow option when using the dies so I just cut another set of the same words with white cardstock.

By offsetting the two sets of words, I was able to create a sort of "drop shadow" which helps to make the words more legible against the busy paper.

These Groovy Petals string flowers are a great match for the printed cardstock. I removed the brad from the larger flower and put the two sizes together with the pink brad from the smaller flower.

I used a small square of 1/2 inch Scor-Tape to adhere the flowers to the center of the card between the three hearts.

The finished card is cute and casual - perfect to brighten up a winter day!

There should be some new deals up later today on Blitsy. If you haven't joined this free membership bargain shopping site yet, please use my link to sign up.

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

Once you have joined, you can refer friends and family to earn credits that you can use to shop on the site. If you "like" Blitsy on Facebook, you can also get a fan code for a discount on your first purchase.

Are you working on any organization projects? Every magazine I see seems to have articles about getting your home into shape. I am hoping that I'll be able to put my hands on the receipt for my camera - it turns out there is a five year warranty on the lens so I may be able to get the lens repaired by Nikon. I found all of the other paperwork but the receipt wasn't there - it is here somewhere! Yet another reason to keep your files in good shape - I am sure I wouldn't have thrown the receipt away...but where is it...?

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Valentine Cards with Creative Charms

2012-01-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

Today is my day to post my projects for Creative Charms. The Design Team has been creating lots of great projects - if you haven't checked out the Creative Charms blog lately be sure to hop over to see what is new.

I made two cards that will be perfect for Valentine's Day. This is the more formal card with a medallion created with Spellbinder's dies. I'll give the details for this card to day and post more about the second card tomorrow.

I was able to pick up this set of dies with a 50% off coupon last week. There are four circle dies with heart details around the edges. The larger two dies cut tiny hearts on the edge of the circle and the two small dies emboss hearts on the edge of the circle.

I cut the circles using Core'dinations gemstone cardstock and found that the small pieces stayed lodged in the die. This might not happen with lighter weight cardstock.

The dies are made with holes that allow you to poke out the small shapes that are stuck after the cut. A pair of tweezers or another pointed tool will help you to quickly pop out these pieces.

If you pop out the outer ring of shapes first, you will have a nice little group of 20 tiny hearts to use for another project. You could also save the triangle shapes to use for confetti in a shaker card.

Here is one of the smaller circles with the hearts embossed (they are really too small to be done as cuts).

I added pink Gradient Pearl Stickers in alternating sizes to the outer ring of hearts on the largest circle.

The smaller ring is accented with the smallest clear Gradient Gem Stickers.

I used lots of foam dots to raise the large medallion from the card front.

The second circle is also raised with foam circles and a red Vintage Velvet Poppy is fastened in the center. I pierced a hole in the center with a sharp tool before inserting the brad of the flower.

The base card is white cardstock cut at 5 x 10 inches for a 5 x 5 inch square card. The red layer is cut at 4 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches and the heart patterned paper (from K and Company) is cut at 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches.

You can add a verse or sentiment to the inside of the card and leave the front of the card as is - it could even be framed or used in a shadowbox after the holiday.

This is the second card I made - I'll post the measurements and directions tomorrow. Do you recognize the patterned paper?

It snowed again last night but the temperature should be in the 40's today so it won't last. In a little over a week I'll be getting on a plane to go to Germany. I hope all of the snow will stay away - there is nothing worse than being stuck in an airport with a weather delay!

Have you started on Valentine's Day cards yet? Do you make a lot or just a few for the very special people in your life?

Have a wonderful crafty day!

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Getting Organized - Trimmers and more

2012-01-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday! I hope that those of you who have a holiday from work today for Martin Luther King Day are enjoying your long weekend. I decided to share something about how I organize my craft space each Monday. People always are interested to see how others put their work areas together (I love looking at other craft rooms!). Maybe some of the things I do will work for you or give you an idea to make your space function better so you can spend more time being creative.

My very handy husband built this wonderful crafting island for me a couple of years ago. It was quite a project and there are several posts showing the steps along the way. You can click HERE to go to the posts labeled P - Craft Island, just scroll to the bottom and work your way up to see it come together in the proper sequence. It has been filled up to overflowing - this photo was taken before the top was added and I started "moving in" to the cubbyholes. There are lots more details in the old posts but it is basically three Expedit bookcases from Ikea - two 2 x 4 and one 2 x 2 - arranged on a wheeled platform with a large top made from plywood (not in this photo). If you go back to the other posts you can see how it came together.

I do most of my crafting at this island - I usually stand when I work - and I take most of the photos for the blog here too (I'll show you what I use for that another day). I need to keep some basic tools very handy but out of my way. I had this office file holder around the house (you can buy similar ones at an office supply store) and one day I realized that it would be a great help to keep my trimmers, tape guns, cutting mats and scoring board handy and easy to reach. (I realized when uploading these photos that it is a little dusty - the flash shows off some dust I didn't see!).

The file sorter has a heavy weighted base so it is very stable. It is about 12 inches wide and fits in one of the sections of the Expedit bookcase (from Ikea) with a little room to spare on each side.

I keep most of my small trimmers, two tape guns (with different adhesive), some extra self healing cutting mats (for using with an Exacto knife or the Creative Memories Custom Cutting System) and my Martha Stewart Score Board neatly stored and ready to grab in this section.

Here I have pulled the file holder out a little so you can see things a bit better. I don't use the Martha Stewart board as often as my Scor-Pal - the Scor-Pal stays in one corner on top of the island almost all of the time. Each of these four 12 inch trimmers has one thing that they do best - my dream is to find one that can do it all! The small Creative Memories Personal Trimmer (with the star) is great for trimming down photos or mats for cards.

Here you can see some of the surrounding cubes in the island base. I am reorganizing some of them but will share more photos of all of the things this island holds in future posts. There are some drawer units available for the Expedit and I have four sets of two drawers that help keep some smaller things handy (regular tape runners, glue dots, Scor-Tape, and some hand held tools like my Crop-A-Dile).

It may seem like a lot of space is used for just these tools but I find it very helpful to have them so close. I can grab the tool I need without even looking since they are always in the same order. As I look at these photos, I am realizing that I just might be able to put a shallow container below the file holder - I think there would still be room to easily grab the tools...(I will have to take another look at this tomorrow!).

Update on Creative Memories SALE

I had planned to take Sunday "off" but there were issues with the Creative Memories website and I posted late on Sunday to let you know that they have extended the sale prices until tonight (Monday the 16th) at 8 p.m. Central Time. There were a lot of problems with the servers and they had IT people working as quickly as they could to try to sort things out. So this is the absolute last chance to take advantage of the 25% off nearly everything sale. The exclusive CM Cricut cartridges are $41.25 at the sale price (instead of $55) - the best price ever for these cartridges.

There is more information about the cartridges in my first post about the sale, just click HERE to see that post.

If you were trying to order and couldn't get through, please click HERE to go to my Creative Memories personal website where you can place an order and have it shipped directly to your address. All of the cartridges are located on THIS PAGE of my personal website. The January sale on albums will continue until January 26th but the sale price will go back to 20% off instead of 25%. Some Picfolio Albums (the non-expandable type) will remain at 40% off until the 26th.

Thanks to everyone who has placed an order on my site. I appreciate your support and will be happy to help you with any questions or problems.

I have some of the prettiest pink and red goodies sitting on my table - part of the project for tomorrow's post...

If you are an email subscriber, there may be two posts in this email since I posted late in the day on Sunday - just keep scrolling down to see everything - thanks!

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Sunday Sale Update

2012-01-15T22:10:00.000-05:00

I decided that this year I would be little more relaxed about posting on my blog. After three years of not missing a single day, I thought it would be best to take it a bit slower - at least on the weekends. So I had planned to take Sunday "off." I am working on my page for the second week of Project 366 and may post it later today or tomorrow.

The main reason I am posting now is to let you know that there have been issues with the Creative Memories sites today and many people have not been able to place their orders. Earlier today, Creative Memories posted on Facebook that they have IT personnel working on solving the problems and that they will extend the sale to allow those of you who haven't been able to get an order to go through to take advantage of this great 25% off sale.

UPDATE - Here is the information that was just posted on Facebook:

The Creative Memories 25% off Celebration Sale has been extended on your Consultant's Personal Websites, creativememories.com and the Digital Center until 8:00 p.m. CST Monday Jan. 16. We apologize for any inconveniences you have experienced on our websites.

If you were trying to order and couldn't get through, please click HERE tomorrow to go to my Creative Memories personal website where you can place an order and have it shipped directly to your address. All of the cartridges are located on THIS PAGE of my personal website.

I hope you are having a nice weekend and that you enjoy the holiday Monday (if it is a holiday for you).

The image at the top of this post is a bit of ironwork from a door that we saw in Jaén, Spain. I am planning to turn it into a paper cutting file - remember, inspiration is everywhere!

Speaking of inspiration - I hope some more of you will take up the challenge to make something using the colors and shapes of my pin as inspiration. Click the image above or HERE to go to the post with the details and to link up your project. You don't need a blog to join in and there will be a small prize chosen by random draw for one of the people who try the challenge.

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An Amazing Gingerbread House

2012-01-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Saturday and welcome to another post sharing something interesting that I have photographed. I hope you enjoy looking at this amazing creation and find some inspiration from the details of the design.

A local doctor does something incredible for the Concord Library each holiday season. Dr. Andrea Resceniti, a surgeon at Emerson Hospital, makes an enormous gingerbread house that is displayed in the front room of the library. She starts baking the gingerbread and assembling the house early in the fall. I don't know how she finds the time to make and donate these houses but the entire community gets so much enjoyment from her work. I didn't have a chance to take pictures of this creation until last week. It still has a delicious aroma - it is a real gingerbread house with incredible details.

These four photos show the full view of each side of the house:

The house is very large and there are so many details. I did some close up shots to give you a better look at the individual parts.

Santa and his sleigh...

Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer are around the corner on the roof.

One of several gumdrops trees. Even the edge of the board holding the house is beautifully trimmed.

A train circles around one side of the house.

A candy cane cage.

These candies look like Lego blocks!

There are lots of candy characters and animals placed around the "lawn."

A bride and groom with babies and snowmen.

The duck pond (or fountain) - so cute!

It's hard to see in the photos but the doors and windows are glazed with clear red candy glass.

Two turrets are made of "stone" with this pebble candy.

These candies really do look like little rocks.

There are so many patterns carefully made with candies.

Thanks to Dr. Andrea Resciniti for this incredible gift to the community.

I know that it is a long time until next Christmas but for something like this you might need to start now! You could also make a smaller Valentine's Day "cottage" - I think that would be fun!

Reminder: The Creative Memories 25% off nearly everything sale is ending tomorrow. Please click HERE to go to the post with more details about the sale. This is a great time to buy one or more of the Creative Memories exclusive Cricut cartridges for $41.25 instead of the regular price of $55. Click HERE to go to the Cricut cartridge page on my CM personal website. The sale ends on Sunday the 15th so don't miss the chance to save!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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My 12 on the 12th for January

2012-01-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

How did you do with taking 12 photos on the 12th yesterday? I hope some of you were able to try it. I expected that it would be easy to decide which photos to take and use but I kept changing my mind. Next month, I might think ahead and make a plan (well...I probably won't...but it's nice to imagine I'll be that organized!).

I promised to share my photos so here goes! If you have posted your 12 on a blog and want to share the link to your post, you can use the inlinkz tool at the bottom of this post and then anyone who is interested can see what others chose to photograph.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I cling to the holiday season and decorations much longer than "normal" people. Last night, (which was actually very early this morning) the "rain turning to snow" had started and I noticed this reflection of the lights on the deck. I took this photo through a sliding glass door. We'll probably take down the back yard lights this weekend, the front yard decorations (except the wreath) came down last weekend.

Just as predicted, the rain turned into snow and we finally got the first snow of the winter. This was the first test of our new overhang that was added to help with the ice dam problems we had last year (those of you who live in warmer climates can just ignore this part - it won't make sense to you...).

The snow turned back into rain later in the day. The rain made an interesting texture on the screen outside the sun room window. This angel was made by my brother and often stays in the window long past the holiday season - by summer she'll be back in the attic.

I am still using the little "purse camera" since the plastic bits that hold the lens on my DSLR camera snapped when I dropped it and I haven't been able to get it fixed yet. One of my goals for this year is to continue to work on my photography and photo editing skills. I like the tight focus and the reflection in the silver ball. These are "crackled" glass ornaments that I bought the first year or second year we lived in this house.

The kitchen island attracts piles of papers - I never seem to be able to keep it empty for more than half a day. As soon as the mail arrives, things start to pile up. We have to complete this Town Census form every year. Sometimes I don't get it turned in within ten days - they haven't removed us from the voting rolls yet!

I was clearing off the island to make room to roll out a pie crust. Sometimes I make a "real" apple pie instead of the super easy and delicious Swedish apple pie. The peeling of the apples takes longer than you'd expect but the results are delicious. These were some of the last of the apples we had from last year's crop from the family apple farm.

I actually like to make pie crust and this trusty rolling pin has worked well for years. It isn't a solid piece of wood like the one my mother used to use but the handles have never come off. I had a few other rolling pins that fell apart before I found this one.

I miscalculated the amount of pie crust needed for this large pie plate (just wasn't paying attention I guess since I have made many pies in this dish). Usually I pinch the two crusts together but I had to just roll it and some juices bubbled out - still delicious! The best thing is that this recipe is actually totally vegan. The recipe for the crust uses canola oil so our son can still enjoy the pie.

After I made the pie, I noticed that we still have a bag of cranberries in the refrigerator. I should probably cook them up soon. At least the fridge is clean and has some healthy food in it - a relief after all of the holiday indulgences...like chocolate...

The Don Quixote magnet holds the first Christmas card from the newlyweds - I kept it up because this is such a nice photo. We finally got to talk to them in the evening for the first time after their long trip to Morocco and the Canary Islands.

My husband always notices interesting papers and printing that I might like and brings samples home for me. This is a very heavily embossed printing of wood bark that looks a lot like the real thing. I'll probably cut this up to use for a card or other project - watch for it! We had a laugh at the tag line, "Cougar - a force of nature."

I just started playing Words with Friends - I love word games but had never played any Facebook games. My first game ended in defeat - but only by 15 points. The rematch has already started.

So there really wasn't a theme to my photos - just some random things from my day. That's fine with me, I think it will be interesting to look back on these days of photos at the end of the year and see reminders of a few things that were happening in my life on a certain day.

Reminder: The Creative Memories 25% off nearly everything sale is on for just a few more days. Please click HERE to go to the post with more details about the sale. This is a great time to buy one or more of the Creative Memories exclusive Cricut cartridges. The sale ends on Sunday the 15th.

I hope you have some nice plans for the weekend - I am looking forward to some serious crafting time...

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12 on the 12th - Take 12 photos today!

2012-01-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

Today is the 12th of January. So, if you are planning to do 12 on the 12th in 2012, this is the day you need to take 12 (or more) photos. Then you can choose the best twelve and make a two page layout with the photos. At the end of the year you'll have an interesting look back at your year (and at least one completed album!).

I thought about taking my twelve photos on Wednesday so I could post them early this morning but I decided that I'd rather do this project right along with any of you that have decided to try it. You could take the photos randomly throughout the day and capture a "Day in the Life" photo essay. Another option would be to focus on a certain aspect of your life such as a hobby, a particular room in your house, a color that shows up throughout your day - just get creative and see what catches your attention as you look around your world today.

It may help to spend a few minutes thinking up a list of likely photos and then being flexible enough to follow the list or adapt to new ideas as the day goes along. Once you finish taking the photos, don't stop there! Be sure to move them to your computer, edit them and get them printed (if you are making traditional pages) or start working on your digital layout.

So enjoy the challenge and see what you notice as you look carefully around you. Your photos don't have to be perfect - they just need to capture a thought or emotion that strikes you as you go through the day. I'll try to have my photos edited and ready to share tomorrow.

The photo at the top of this post is one that I took of our live Christmas tree when we took it down last weekend. I am planning to use it for a page background in a digital layout.

Someone asked to see the assembled heart handled bag - I used the offcut hearts and swirls from the top of this bag for the card I posted a few days ago. I cut this bag using one of the free files included with the purchase of the Silhouette Cameo. I think it will be great for Valentine's Day surprises!

A few more notes...

If you are looking for the information about the Creative Memories 25% off nearly everything sale, please click HERE to go to yesterday's post. This is a great time to buy one or more of the Creative Memories exclusive Cricut cartridges. The sale is only for five days and ends on Sunday the 15th.

Blitsy posted this notice on their Facebook page yesterday -

We apologize! Our vendors ran late in shipping our order last week and did not arrive in time for us to post today's items. Tracking shows them arriving here on Friday morning. So we will have to wait until then to post our next sale. Thank you for your understanding.

So - we'll have to wait until Friday to find out what is going to be for sale next!

We may actually get our first storm of the winter today - we've been spoiled with such a mild winter so far (but I have been enjoying the warm days!).

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Creative Memories 25% off cartridges and nearly everything else - five days only!

2012-01-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

Reminisce Accents

Today I have an assortment of sales to tell you about. I know, we shopped all through the holidays, but there are some great deals to be had for just a limited time and I wanted to make sure you didn't miss a chance to get some bargains.

Reminisce Accents

# 1 - Creative Memories 25% off Sale

Creative Memories has been having an album sale with 20% off most albums and StoryBooks and 40% off on select PicFolio albums (the slide-in page photo albums). This sale is running until the 26th of January. Yesterday afternoon I got an email announcing another special 5 day sale - 25% off nearly everything Creative Memories sells (digital artwork downloads are not included). This sale started this morning (January 11) and runs until Sunday, January 15th.

If you have been thinking about buying any of the Creative Memories Cricut cartridges, this is the best price ever offered for these cartridges. They normally sell for $55 and will be $41.25 in the sale. There is a minimum shipping fee of $8.50 so if you can order a few cartridges at once (maybe get together with a friend to order) you will save by spreading out the shipping fee.

I know that many of you probably have friends or relatives who are Creative Memories consultants. I don't want to interfere with any existing relationship you have with a consultant. However, if you don't know anyone local to you who sells Creative Memories, I would be very happy to help you with any questions. If you live in the US, you can order these cartridges from my Creative Memories personal website and have them shipped directly to your address. If you are in another location, I may be able to refer you to someone who can help you in your location so send me an email and I'll see if I can get you a referral. All of the cartridges are located on THIS PAGE of my personal website.

The six Creative Memories cartridges are: Reminisce Accents, Cheerful Seasons, Stork's Delivery, Traveler, 'Tis the Season and This & That (new this month).

You can see the books for Reminisce Accents, Cheerful Seasons and Stork's Delivery in the Cricut cartridge library (just click on the names to go to the booklets). I posted photos of the book for the Traveler cartridge HERE and for the 'Tis the Season cartridge HERE. The book for This and That is available to view HERE.

In the description for each cartridge there is a link to click to view the full look book - it may take a short while to load.

I have added some images of projects that I have made using the Creative Memories cartridges. You can find projects on my blog by using the search box at the top left corner of the page or looking at the labels in the right side column.

'Tis the Season

Reminisce Accents and Cheerful Seasons

Here are some more - you should be able to click each image to go to the full post about each project.

#2 - Blitsy is Back

After an extended sale of all of the deals since the site began, Blitsy had a few hiccups in starting up again but they are back with lots of new items. Recent additions include Colorbox ink pads and reinkers, Annie's Attic Books, a large assortment of books from Design Originals about Zentangles, stamps from Teresa Collins, Jenni Bowlin and 7gypsies, Tattered Angels Glimmer Glam and Glaze and more!

Blitsy offers new items for sale three times a week. Each sale lasts for one week and new items are posted around 10 a.m. Central Time on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I am excited to see what will be added today!

Here is my referral link that you can use to join the site. http://blitsy.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/989/

The site is a private membership site and membership is free. Once you are a member, you can get your own special code to refer your friends and family. When they make their first order, you will get a $10 credit to spend on one of your orders. If you are on Facebook, you can also become a "fan" of the Blitsy page and you will get a code for 10% off your first order.

Thanks for using my LINK to join. I think you will like the items they offer. I have ordered several times and the orders all arrived quickly and were packed well.

#3 - Lettering Delights Dollar Days end Thursday

The Lettering Delights dollar days sale ends tomorrow. Most items are just $1 (Graphic sets, fonts, alphabets, clip art, paper packs, doodlebats, candy wraps, etc.) and the Cut-its and SVGs are 50% off (these can be used with many die cutting machines but not the Cricut unless you have third party software purchased before the lawsuit settlements).

If you are a fan of the Create A Critter cartridge, you will love these cute holiday versions of some of the animals by the same designer, Nancy Kubo. There are also a lot of sets by Sheri Berry Designs that are similar to the Snow Angel Imagine cartridge that she designed. These were offered in a bundle but with the sale they are less expensive to buy individually.

I use a lot of the Lettering Delights graphics with my Creative Memories StoryBook Creator software (this is also on sale for 25% off until the 15th). I can also cut the cuttable files with my Silhouette machine. To get an additional discount, you can "buy" the monthly freebie first and when your confirmation email arrives there will be a code for 25% off your next order.

Whew! If you made it to the end of this post, congratulations! I hope you enjoyed checking out some of the projects I linked - you may have missed them the first time around...

Have a great Wednesday!

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Punched Border Valentine Card

2012-01-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

After sorting and reorganizing my punches, I was ready to actually use one for a card. I pulled out one of the most recent additions, the Daisy Lace deep edge punch.

These deep edge punches are some of my favorites. They add so much detail to a card and are quick and easy to use. I could design a similar border for one of my die cutting machines but it would take a while for it to cut so many small details.

I had the leftover hearts and swirls from this gift bag sitting on my table, just waiting to be added to a card or some other project. (This bag is one of the free cuts that came with my new Silhouette Cameo machine).

This is a standard A2 card (8 1/2 x 5 1/2 folded to make a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card). I cut the card base from Bazzill textured cardstock in a rosy red. The top layer is 4 x 5 1/4 inches, also from the red Bazzill cardstock, punched along one long edge. It is important to center the punch to get a nice symmetrical look for the card. The white layer is 4 1/8 x 5 3/8 inches. The punched top layer is adhered in the solid section but the lace part is not stuck down on the white layer.

These little bits were left from the punch. I noticed the flower petal teardrop shapes and thought they would make a nice addition to the border so I pulled out five of them.

I added the pink heart cut and the thin swirls along the sides. The heart is cut from Core'dinations gemstone cardstock and is textured with a pearly shine.

I used Creative Memories Precision Point adhesive for the swirls and the tiny teardrops. I let it dry to clear and then it is sticky but won't ooze out from behind the tiny pieces when they are placed on the card.

The extra little teardrops make the border a bit more dramatic and fill the space nicely.

I added foam squares to lift the oval sentiment tag. This is one of the Craftwork Cards sentiments that my friend Enfys gave me. They are so handy and work well for quick cards.

The sentiment is printed in metallic silver on a pearlized white card. All that was missing now was a bit of bling. The fine points at the bottom of the swirls tended to pop up a bit so I decided to add a few gems to keep them in place and add sparkle (every card needs sparkle, right?)

Three tiny clear gem stickers from Creative Charms are just right to finish the base of the heart and the swirls.

This card is quick and easy to make. If you don't have this particular wide border punch, there are lots of others that would also be pretty along the lower edge. I think it is important to always look at the scraps and leftovers from one cut to see if they can be used for another purpose.

I am doing a bit of experimenting with the timing of my posts - and wondering if those of you who subscribe prefer the early morning emails or just check out the posts whenever you read your email. I thought I'd mix it up a bit - let me know if it matters to you...

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Getting Organized - Punches

2012-01-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

January and September are the months when many people think about fresh starts and getting organized. I am determined to make my crafting space less chaotic. I thought I'd share the projects I am doing to create a more orderly work space. Maybe you will be able to use some of the storage and organization ideas that I share for your supplies.

Today I'll show you how I store my Martha Stewart punches. If you have read my blog for a while you know that I can't resist these punches even though I have several die cutting machines. Punches are quick and easy and will cut very tiny shapes in a blink of an eye. I have been buying these for years - mostly with coupons for 50% off. At the end of each holiday season you can often find them marked down even further - I have some that were 90% off. These punches eventually make their way to stores like Marshall's and TJ Maxx and I have found some great deals there. Of course, I have also fallen under the hypnotic spell of HSN and bought a few sets at regular prices (next time I think of doing that I need to just go look at the shelf - how could I possibly need more?!).

I had organized these punches a while ago, but I outgrew the space allotted for them. These are "Billy" bookcases from Ikea. They are great basic bookcases and we first bought some when we lived in Germany many years ago. We have used them for kid's bedrooms and general storage and I have adopted some for my craft space. The bookcase on the left is a size that is no longer available. Here you can see the shelves on the left cleared and ready for reorganizing.

I use a system of "risers" to store many punches on one shelf. My very handy husband cut me some lengths of 2 x 4 to fit exactly within the space. He painted them with white primer so they "disappear" on the white shelves. One 2 x 4 is placed on the narrow edge and one is flat.

Here you can see them in place at the back of the shelf. The lighting is a little odd and my good camera is still in need of repair so these photos are not quite as well lit as I'd like but you can get the idea.

I have labeled all of the punches with my Dymo label maker. You could also hand write the labels on stickers but this label maker makes me feel more organized (a little Martha influence though I think she uses the P-touch labeler). Many of the names are similar and this makes it easier for me to give the right name if I post a project that uses a punch. If I don't post the name, I usually get a lot of emails asking which punch I used so I try to give as many details as I can.

I grouped the punches more or less by theme. The top shelf here has Halloween and Valentine's Day and the bottom shelf is for Winter and Christmas sets.

The wider shelves have the more general use punches and sets. I have just a few of the green punches (I think those were made for Walmart but I have found them in other places). They stand out a little but I have managed to ignore the difference! (In an ideal world they would all be the same color but if that is my biggest problem....).

Here is another view, taken with a flash and from a higher angle. You can see how the punches fit nicely on their "stadium seating." I can see at least part of the design and quickly locate the punch I want to use.

I particularly like some of the deep edge punches and have most of these on the top row of the lower shelf. To save space, I keep the Punch Around the Page sets together and open one of the wings of the border punch to "hug" the corner punch which sits just a bit in front of the wing. You'd be surprised how this will make more fit in a row. The older border punches that don't fold up are a little trickier to fit in a row so I alternate them with folding ones to keep at least a part of the design visible.

I admit, I do have a "punch problem" - and these are just the Martha Stewart punches! I'll show you how I store some of the other punches another day.

I hope you have a great day - now go organize something!

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Project 366 - First Week

2012-01-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

A few people have asked about how I am doing my Project 366. I know it will be a challenge to complete the entire year but I am off to a good start (it's only seven days so far but I am thinking positively!). I did set up a separate blog for the daily photos. If you want to check it from time to time and help keep me accountable here is the link

http://capadiadailyphoto.blogspot.com/

It is a bare bones blog with just the photos and a few sentences of description for each photo. I am using the Blogger "dynamic views" which allows the reader to change the way they look at the blog. The options are Classic, Flipcard, Magazine, Mosaic, Sidebar, Snapshot and Timeslide. I set it on Classic and I also like Flipcard and Snapshot. Anyone reading the blog can choose the option they prefer. It's an interesting way to look at the posts but I don't see how to add any widgets so you can't have an index or side column links, followers, etc. You can leave a comment if you want to.

I thought it would be simplest to file the photos there and then do the weekly layouts and share them here. I am still debating the style I want to use for the project but since I am doing it digitally I will be able to change things around if I want to.

I started off with a very graphic and modern look. As I edit my photos each day I add a few sentences about the day in the "Tell the Story" section in my Creative Memories Memory Manager program. These are the same sentences I add to the blog for each day. For this week, I simply took all of the "blurbs" and added them to a text box on my page.

I added a number to each photo to match it with the description. It looks a little odd to have the numbers so I may go back and make these a bit smaller and less obtrusive. It might also be helpful to make the numbers in the description block bold and the same color as the numbers on the photos. Once again, since this is digital, I can tweak it as I go along.

I will probably have this printed as a book at the end of the year. In the StoryBook Creator program, I am able to use the "gutter" view to make sure that the words and pictures won't be cut off by the binding of the book. This screenshot shows the trimmed version of the page with the gutter on the left side.

Are any of you trying to do the Project 365 (366 this year)? Are you going to make traditional pages or digital pages? Fancy or clean and simple? Don't forget - if every day seems like too big a commitment, you can also try the 12 on the 12th in 2012. I will be doing the 12 pages as well (in case I give up on the daily photos).

We had incredibly warm weather here again - nearly 60 degrees in January! I will be traveling again later this month - to an overseas destination. I hope the snow doesn't decide to arrive just when I need to get on an airplane.

Have a lovely Sunday - I hope the weather is mild where you are (unless you are trying to go skiing!).

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Gummy Bears and El Oso (something different for Saturday)

2012-01-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

I had the idea to start a new series of posts on Saturdays that would be a surprise look at something a bit different. I suppose my daily blog topics have always been rather unpredictable, so it really isn't anything new! I take many photos of things that catch my eye. These are fun to share and can be a great source of inspiration.

This is a gummy bear made up of gummy bears. We saw it in a candy shop window in Madrid. When we lived in Germany and England, gummy bears were a popular treat for our boys. I think they are readily available in the US now - back then they were a special treat.

I enjoy looking at the shops in other countries. Some seem very similar to the the stores at home while others are quite unique. Shop window displays can be a great source of inspiration.

I noticed the sign above the bears and translated it (roughly). It says that these bears are photographed more than the Bear and the Strawberry Tree.

El Oso y el Madroño (the Bear and the Strawberry Tree) are part of the coat of arms of the City of Madrid. This rendition of the coat of arms was inlaid in the sidewalk.

There is a large statue of the Bear and the Strawberry Tree in the Puerta del Sol, in the center of Madrid. In this photo you can also see the huge Christmas tree structure that was beautiful when lit up at night but rather odd looking in the daytime (if you missed the night time photos see THIS POST) .

Here is one of the tile signs for the Puerta del Sol - I like to take photos of signs to use as titles for scrapbook pages.

The statue of the Bear and the Strawberry Tree was put up in 1967. It is about four meters tall and weighs twenty tons (made of stone and bronze).

The sign in the store was correct - I did take more photos of the gummy bear bears than I did of the statue!

Thanks to everyone who wrote or left a comment about the significance of the girl in the "O" - I realize that I wasn't particularly clear in my writing. I do know what a cameo is - I have several that I wear from time to time. I understand the play on words the company used in naming the larger machine.

I was trying to say that using the girly profile with the ponytail protruding from the edge of the circle formed by the "O" was not a choice I would have made. For one thing, I wonder how male crafters feel about the image. Most of the graphics used by the Silhouette company have a streamlined and simple feel and the Barbie profile just looks odd to me. It's not a big deal - they could put flying purple people eaters on the machine and box. As long as the machines continue to work as well as they have so farI really don't care that much what it looks like!

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Silhouette Cameo - First Impressions

2012-01-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, I took my new Cameo out of the box and started to make some cuts.

I wonder why they added the girl with the pony tail to the "O"? It seems odd when the rest of the design choices are so clean and simple.

The machine is well protected with these bulky styrofoam packing pieces. These can be hard to recycle and I would have liked to see the more eco-friendly molded paper pulp packing (just the tree hugger in me talking there!).

The mat is clear and thinner than the Cricut mats. The protective sheet only covers the adhesive area so it can be a little tricky to get it back on perfectly. I had read so much about people having problems with ultra sticky mats that I was a little worried. I just "conditioned" the mat as I do with the Cricut mats by placing my hands on the adhesive and patting it all over. This takes less than a minute but makes the "ultra-hold" stickiness go away. I do like the adhesive - it seems smoother and more even than the adhesive on the Cricut mats. It is more like the adhesive on the Cricut Imagine mats - but stickier. I did not have the problem of little bumps of adhesive coming up on the back of the papers.

The blade is already in the "click holder" which is numbered from 1 to 10. You have to use the tool built in on the machine or the plastic tube (on the right) that is packaged with the blade to adjust the setting. You can't change the number without removing the blade holder from the carriage but it is pretty quick and easy to do. I was planning to use Core'dinations Gemstone cardstock which is textured and fairly thick so I tried 5 for the blade setting (the manual said from 4 - 6 for heavy cardstock).

For my first cuts, I tried a couple of the free shapes included in the software. I was able to fit four scalloped hearts across the top of the mat and a cute gift bag on the rest of the paper. The Cameo will cut to the edge of the 12 x 12 area (there isn't a "no cut zone" like there is with the Cricut). This will be helpful for doing true full page lace cuts.

The blade setting turned out to be perfect. My images cut cleanly and the blade did not damage the mat. You could see the outline of the cut in the adhesive but the mat was not cut.

When the cuts are finished, the blade carriage returns to the top left corner. I was able to check the cut before I unloaded the mat. (The Cricut stops at the end of the cut so I usually press "Load Mat" and check the cut before unloading). You can see how nicely the heart lifted and all but one or two of the tiny cutouts stayed on the mat.

I saved the little bits to use as confetti for a shaker box (if I ever make one!). I was able to flip two hearts in the software and align them to make four hearts fit comfortably along the top of the mat.

The delicate handles of the gift bag were nicely cut - even with the tiny swirls. The offcut hearts and swirls can be used for a card or tag. I will show you the assembled bag in another post.

I did try cutting another snowflake that I had designed in the software. You can see that the circles in the design cut as true circles even thought they are quite tiny.

Here is a closer view of the circles in the snowflake design.

I tried to cut the intricate frame that I designed (I posted the screen shot at the top of yesterday's post) but the machine just stopped at the third diamond on the bottom row. I tried pressing "cut" again but the machine started at the center of the bottom of the page. I need to do some reading to find out what made this happen. I did simplify the nodes before cutting. I will try a few other things tomorrow to see if it was a fluke or if I made an error in the design somehow.

I had little or no learning curve since I have been using a Silhouette SD (the smaller machine that is now discontinued) since last spring. The main difference was the blade with the numbered settings instead of caps and the larger mat and cutting area. Now that I have this machine, I will probably try to do the advent calendar boxes. They are designed to work for the smaller mat but I think I can revise the design to take advantage of the larger cutting area and simplify the assembly.

The machine makes all sorts of funny noises as it cuts. It hums and squeals a bit (just like the SD does). I don't mind the sounds but some people think it is too noisy. It probably would be quieter if I put the lid down while cutting but I like to watch the cuts being made. So far, I am very happy with the clean cuts and easy weeding. I do need to find out what the problem might be with the file that stopped cutting...I'll let you know when I figure that out.

Right now, I am just going to admire those tiny circles!

Have a wonderful Friday - sometimes the "short weeks" seem longer than the regular weeks so it's nice to know the weekend is almost here.

I hope that some of you will be taking on the Color and Pattern Inspiration Challenge I posted a few days ago. I am working on my project and will post it soon to help motivate you. There will also be a small prize for one project that is submitted - details will be added to the original post soon.

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