A Couple of Reminders...

I am up to my ears in projects - trying to get things finished to post for the rest of the week (a new system?).  I did want to remind you that the free shipping at Dover Publications on orders of $25 or more ends today, September 17th.  There are many items on sale in the warehouse sale category and the usual amount you need for free shipping is $50 so it is a good chance to try them out if you don't already have any of the Dover books and image CDs.

cutting file created from a Dover image

I have had several requests asking how I take images I buy (or get as freebies in the Dover weekly sampler) and turn them into cutting files.  I explained how to do this last month - here is a LINK to the post.  I was working with the Silhouette Studio software but you can use other programs to create a file (SCAL, MTC, etc.).

One more shopping tip for Tim Holtz fans.   Blitsy posted Tim Holtz Distress inks, reinkers, and lots of Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous stamp sets for sale today.  I have gradually built up my collection of inks at their reduced prices ($3.25 for ink pads - $3.75 for the limited edition seasonals - and $2.99 for reinkers - $3.25 for the limited edition seasonals).  I just can't resist complete sets once I get started on a product!  They also have quite a few of Alterations dies (some have sold out) and some grungeboard sets.

If you have never shopped at Blitsy, it is a free membership discount craft supplies site with new offers every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Items often sell out quickly (get "blitsed") so it is a good idea to check in the morning on the days that new items are added.  The sales last a week or until the items are sold out.  I appreciate it when you use my link to join Blitsy (it's free).  Once you join, you can get a referral code and earn credits for future purchases when you refer your friends and family.  Here is my link

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

We are having some fabulous fall weather - it's especially nice because the leaves haven't fallen yet so you can enjoy the fresh air and not have to think about all of the raking!


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The Feast of the Trumpets

Tonight is the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, which in Hebrew means "the head of the year."  The blowing of a shofar (ram's horn) proclaims the beginning of Rosh Hashanah and it is also know as the Feast of the Trumpets.  If you'd like to read a little more about this Jewish holiday and the meaning and traditions of the observance of the holiday, the Chabad site has lots of interesting information - click HERE to visit the site.

I'd like to wish all of you who celebrate this holiday L'Shana Tova!

Apples are one of the foods traditionally eaten for the New Year observance (with honey) - so I thought this photo would be a good one to share for the New Year.  We've been doing lots of projects around the house this weekend.  Tomorrow I'll finally get some time in my craftroom.

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Design Inspiration from Italy

I have been making some progress on my plans to sort out my digital photo files and do some scrapbook pages.  The first step in the process is to review and edit photos to get them ready to print (or to use in digital pages).

I decided to start on a group of photos from our trip to Italy a couple of years ago.  I realized as I was working my way through the files that I take many photos that are meant to be used for design inspiration.  I thought I'd share some images from a church in Lucca.  Many of these are drastic crops of photos so the clarity isn't perfect but they serve as good references for future projects.

I liked the swirling floral border on this medallion but it was very high above me when I took the photo.

Here is the original photo...

 

...and a closer view of the top section - notice the chevron border at the very top.

Chevron designs are so popular now - everything old becomes new again!

Here is a circular version of the chevron design.

This alternating floral border is also quite lovely.

These simple designs would be nice borders for cards or pages.

My favorites tend to be the geometric designs, whether they are square...

...or circular.  There are more chevrons here - like washi tape, they are everywhere in the crafting world recently.  I wonder what old design will be the next "new" trend!

I hope you are having a great weekend - the weather is fabulous here and we took some time to go out and enjoy it today!

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The Importance of Photos - TED talk

Today I have something different to share. Have you heard of TED talks?  TED is a non profit initiative that is devoted to "Ideas Worth Spreading."  It started in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from Technology, Entertainment and Design.  There are more than 900 talks available online.  You can read all about TED and the TED talks HERE on the TED site.

I watched this talk yesterday and I found it very interesting and moving.  Photographs are so important to us as a way to connect and remember.  This talk is by Becci Manson, a photo retoucher who volunteered to help with the cleanup in Japan after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.  She ended up leading a volunteer effort to reunite people with their damaged photos and organized photo retouchers from around the world to clean and retouch the damaged photos.




After you press play, click in the lower right corner to make this video full screen.  You can also see the video on the TED site HERE. There is also a post about this TED talk on the TED blog with a few more photos and stories, you can see that HERE.

I'd love to hear your reactions to this talk.  Please leave a comment on this post to share your thoughts with me and other readers.

The photo at the top of this post is of my mother and my oldest sister.  Family photos are very precious.  With digital cameras and cell phone cameras so common now it is important to remember that not so very long ago, photos were mostly taken on special occasions.  I am slowly but surely working on scanning and editing our family photos to share with my siblings.  Photos connect us with our past in a way nothing else can.


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Just a few things...

 

Happy Thursday!  I just have a few things to share with you today.  I am a big fan of Dover Publications and they are having a warehouse sale with savings of up to 60% off on their books and CDs.  Dover also has free shipping on orders of $25 or more until September 17th (usually you need to order $50 or more to get free shipping).

Every week, Dover offers free samples from a selection of their books.  You can sign up to get an email to remind you about the new freebies.   This week there are some great floral images - you'll find them HERE.  Dover has also launched a site called Dover Pictura where you can buy their images as downloads, save shipping and have them to work with right away.  The prices are significantly lower than the book prices when you buy the download.  The site is in Beta right now and prices might change.

I use these images for digital scrapping and to create cut files for my Silhouette Cameo machine.  The cornucopia image here was a weekly freebie sometime last year.  I am not sure which book it is from (but I'll try to find out and add the link if I can).

screen shot from cricut.com

I also wanted to let you know that the Bookmark - Classics digital images set is the freebie of the week in the Cricut Craftroom.  The style of these bookmarks reminds me of the work of Rob Ryan - check out his site HERE and see what you think...

To use the bookmarks, just log in to your Craftroom account (or create one HERE if you don't have one already).  This image set will be listed under "My Cartridges" and you can cut with it either from the craftroom or from a gypsy after you sync the Gypsy.  If you haven't checked out the Craftroom lately, you'll also see that there are images of Mitt Romney and Barack Obama available as freebies (I think they are meant to be there until the election).

The Design Studio update for the latest cartridges should be available next week on "Hello Thursday."  There is always a lag time between cartridge release and availability on the Gypsy and Design Studio - the cartridges are added immediately to the Craftroom so you can also check out images there if you are trying to create a project or just want to decide whether to buy a certain cartridge.

The page with the Design Studio update links was broken during the makeover of the Cricut site.  You should check this post on the Cricut Message board to be sure you have the latest version available.

I hope you have a crafty day!


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