Blog Spotlights of New Creative Team Members!

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

Get to Know Jamie Cripps!

When talking about creating, Jamie says, 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Besides crafting, Jamie says, 

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

Something you might not know about Jamie, 

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

Here are some incredibly beautiful projects by Jamie:

Jamie used paper and elements from my Orchard Harvest collection 

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

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

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

When talking about her artsy inspirations she says,   

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are a few fantastic projects by Angi!

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

Get to know Jennifer Evans!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here's a couple lovely projects from Jennifer:

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

Projects by YOU!

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

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

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

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

Way to go, Thearica!  This is gorgeous!  

Thanks so much for sharing! 

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

New this Week! January 23rd, 2012

New this week at my Silhouette die cut store! 

More cards! 

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

New this Week! January 17th, 2012

New this week in my Silhouette machine digital download store:

Samantha Walker doily heart lace edge design for Silhouette.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Silhouette, How'd you do that?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New ornate card wrap or envelope design available in .studio format from the Silhouette store

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

New This Week! January 8th, 2012

12x12 chevron background

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

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

and a more simple 12 x 12 heart lace background.

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

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

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

This valentine card is inspired be European folk art. 

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

Another European folk art inspired Valentine.

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