Society of Stampaholics

How I Made the Heart-Shaped Ribbon

Yesterday was the start of the  Hero Arts Catalog Blog Hop featuring creations by the past Hero Hostesses.

Of all the comments I received, one was made more often than not, and quite a few people asked me how I did it. I am referring to the heart shaped ribbon (see below):

Would you believe that little heart-shaped ribbon was a total accident?!

May my Vagabond croak and die if I'm lying!

If you want to have your own happy accident, here's how to do it. 

If your ribbon isn't on a spool, wrap it onto one and let it sit for a day or two. My ribbon was on a small spool, (about the width of a toilet paper roll) so when I cut a piece off it was curly. As it turned out, I cut way too much ribbon because I had originally envisioned a large bow in the upper left corner. However, as things turned out, I didn't like it and just kept pulling the tails until I had a bow that looked properly proportionate to the button and flowers.  

So here were these long tails curling about, and I first thought I would have them join one another in a circle - which would frame the sentiment. But as I was poking at it, the two ends bowed toward one another - making the shape of an upside down heart.

I proceded to experience an A-HA! moment and decided to rotate my little embellishment 180 degrees and then move it to the bottom!

I used a very small glue dot to hold the ribbon ends together right at the center and bottom so the same glue dot could also affix both tails to the card (you could also use fabric glue, I'm sure).

Someone also asked me about the lace but didn't leave an email address or link. The lace is manufactured and feels like it's made of cotton (so it's not paper). I purchased it at Hobby Lobby (it's made by The Paper Studio, their inhouse brand of scrapbooking supplies).

Thank you, everyone, for all the wonderful compliments and comments yesterday - it really made me feel wonderful!

MyStampBOX Projects

Here we are on Day Two of my stint as a Guest Designer for MyStampBox stamps!

I originally was going to make some lovely Halloween candies and stamp onto them, but as I alluded to in an earlier post, the $#@% things kept burning up rather than melting properly, so I said To Hell With Them - and meant it.

(I hope they're black as tar and stinking up the River Styx as only burnt sugar can!)

I could have kept trying, I admit, but I was nauseated by the smell and just plain sick of looking at charred orange goo, so I made an executive decision to try to make something else on the spur of the moment.

(I probably shouldn't mention this, but my deadline was Friday, October 15th... that would be the day of the Candy Disaster itself, so I really wasn't kidding in my earlier post when I said I was freaking out. Yessireee, Bob! Nothing like looking down at charred sugar in your sink and knowing that was your one shot at glory.

Unless it's realizing that this isn't one of those anxiety dreams where you show up for the school picnic but it's really the day of the Science Fair and you're the only kid without an experiment. (I'm sure it was the smell of the burnt sugar that made me hope it was all a bad science fair dream, as we had to do that every year for science class. Although, if memory serves, my teacher's sugar always rose up in a straight black column, whereas my candy just layed there in a disgusting puddle.)

But that is neither here nor there!

Long story short: I found something up in Ye Ole Atelier that saved the day. I already had the other project made, so I made my deadline!

Here's the first thing I made - a Halloween necklace for Gigi. This necklace is easy to make and also pretty easy to make with a kid - just keep her away from the ice pick. This project is very quick so there's no waning attention span (which means no whining child - always a good thing)! If you don't add a layer of epoxy, your kid can wear it immediately (which was very much the desired action when we put this together for Gigi).

(These make great treats for birthday party prizes, stocking stuffers, etc, btw! You can also glue your little creation to a barrette, make earrings, key rings, wine glass charms - this stamp set is particularly well-suited to that!)

Sadly, this picture doesn't do it justice - it's much more vibrant in person!

Materials: Stamps: MyStamp BOX stamps (Boo! set); Cardstock; Ink: VersaFine, Ranger Distress; Gems: Reflections; Hardware: bottle cap, star charm, jump rings, ball chain; Other: googlie eyes, Stickles; Tools: circle punch, hammer and ice pick (to make holes in bottle cap for jump rings)

Directions:

1. On a block of wood, lay down your bottle top (interior side down, flat side facing you) and carefully place ice pick between crimps. When secure, hammer ice pick (one good blow should do it). Repeat directly across from your first hole.

2. Thread a jump ring through a charm, and then thread it through the hole in the bottle cap. Thread the second jump ring through the other hole (this is the top of your pendant).

3. Stamp web image with Ranger Distress ink (Honey), then stamp spider image on top of stamped web with VersaFIne black ink.

4. Circle punch your stamped image and use a drop of glue to adhere it to the bottle cap interior.

5. Adhere googly eyes and gems with Diamond Glaze. (You can also "fill" the cap with about 1/8" of Diamond Glaze as a protective coating.

6. Apply Stickles around the inside “walls” of the bottle cap.

7. When completely dry, thread a ball chain through the top jump ring and enjoy wearing!

And now we come to the Dudley DoRight Project... aka: The Clock That Saved My Bacon.

I like to buy things because you just never know when you might want them. (Unfortunately, I do this all too often and probably ought to invite people over to shop in my attic to make room for fresh inventory.) I do have some standards, though, and one is that the item has to be marked down to dirt or I'm not allowed to bring it home. (It wasn't always this way, but my dwindling attic real estate demanded some strict measures.)

The clock you see here was a good buy - originally about $12, marked down to $2.48 (I made a typo on the price in the picture) - and languishing in the Hobby Lobby clearance section until I rescued its ugly self and tucked it away in a box upstairs.

 

 
It seemed like a no-brainer to turn it into a Halloween clock - and if I were to have a Halloween party, I'd us this as a doorprize. Because it turned out pretty good, I think. (Much better than that stinkin', lousy candy, that's for sure.) Again, the photography isn't the best, but I was working with artificial light.

 

Materials: Stamps: MyStamp BOX stamps (Boo! set); Patterned Paper: Basic Grey, Graphic 45, Mary Engelbreit; Cardstock; Ink: VersaFine; Other: Cosmo Cricket chipboard stickers, Stickles, googlie eyes; Hardware: 12″ x 12″ square, battery-operated clock; Tools: circle punches

Directions:

1. Stamp your images on various patterned papers. Punch out images and 12 larger circles of purple and orange; layer and adhere to one another.

2. Attach googly eyes and apply Stickles to the border circles. Also apply Stickles to chipboard stickers – set all aside to dry.

3. Cut background patterned paper to 11.5″ x 11.5″ and adhere to 12″ x 12″ orange cardstock “matte.”

4. Using a template made from a small punch, draw a small circle in the center of the orange matte (do this on the back) and then cut out the circle.

5. Remove the clock’s hands and line up the hole in your background paper with the hands’ movement post – enlarge the hole if necessary, then adhere the paper to the clock face. Temporarily attach a 5/8″ scrap of paper to the end of the hour hand. (This will guide your circle placement so each is the same distance from the clock’s center.)

6. Mark 12, 3, 6, and 9 on the clock (find the center on each side) and attach your first four circles. (This helps you place your circles equal distances from one another.)

7. Attach the chipboard stickers. Apply Stickles to clock arms.

8. Once dry, replace the arms on the movement post.

I hope you've enjoyed these projects! I highly recommend the Boo! stamp set I used. Please go here to order one for yourself!

Please be sure to check out the MyStampBOX blog for lots of terrific inspiration!!!

Thanks for looking!

 

How to Create a Signature Watermark for Photos

I've had so many people ask me how to do this I decided it would make a valuable post.

I use Photoshop Elements 8 to edit my photos for uploading onto the Web. This is a terrific program - easy to use and not very expensive - especially if you order an earlier version of it! I have had every version since PE2. I can honestly say that if you've never used PE before, any version from 3 on ought to allow you to do what you need to do. If you obtain an earlier version, you can try it out and then decide to upgrade - just make sure the earlier version is compatible with your operating system.

Trinity Software Distribution currently has version 6 for PC on sale for $10.50, and this will do everything you need. I seriously urge you to take advantage of this deal! (Version 6 was actually the latest version I had before 8 because I moved over to a Mac, and they jumped 7 entirely for Macs - just went straight to 8.)

You can also get a free 30-day trial of it here.

It's the #1 photo editing software in the world, and it is awesome!!!

Okay onto creating that signature watermark.

Create a new file.

Type Signature Watermark in the Name field.

Choose Custom from the Preset drop-down list.

Make your Width 3", your Height 1", and your resolution 300 dpi.

Select RGB Color from the Color Mode field.

Select Transparent from the  Background Contents field.

 

Choose from two options. You can either (1) write your signature with a stylus on your Bamboo or Wacom tablet; or (2) type your name in the desired font. The easiest way is to just type in the text.

Create a new layer. From your toolbar, select Layer > New > Layer and name it signature. When you proceed to the next step, you want to make sure the signature layer is selected in the layers palette on your right.

 

Type in the text. Select the text tool (an icon of a capital "T") from your toolbox over on the left. Select the size (let's go with 30) and font (let's go with Cody) from the toolbar at the top. Proceed to type your signature. If you want to use you actual handwritten signature, you would not choose the Text tool, but would, rather, "write" in your new layer (see immediately below).

 

Alternative to typing in your signature. If you have a Bamboo or Wacom tablet, you can write your actual signature and not have to use a font. (However, you won't have as much versatility - or ease - with changing its color later.)

OPTIONAL: Add depth to your typewritten or handwritten signature. If you want to give your signature a little depth - make it a little 3-D - go to the effects palette (located on the right, above your layers palette) and choose Bevels from the dropdown list. I use the third and fourth (sometimes both) selections in the top row.

Save your file. Save your file as a PDF. DO NOT FLATTEN YOUR LAYERS. The reason I tell you to save the file is because you can either repeat all of the above for every picture you want to watermark, or you can do it once, save it, and then drag it onto each new picture you want to watermark and manipulate it as needed. By maintaining your layers, you can switch the font/color/size/opacity as needed. (Obviously a card with a black background will need a watermark signature that is a lighter color or it wouldn't show up. for example). NOTE: it's not always as easy to change the color of an actual signature. This is one reason it's better to make a brush out of your actual signature

.BONUS!!! You can also save your Signature Watermark for the web and use it so “sign” your blog posts. (I flattened my layers, removed the bevel effect, and then used the Save for Web choice and gave it a new name: Blog Signature.)

How to use it.

1. Open the picture you want to watermark and also open your Watermark Signature file we just created. Make sure the Selection tool is chosen from your tool box (it's the arrow icon located in the top left corner of your toolbox - which is located on the left side of your PE workspace).
   
2. Drag the signature layer from your Watermark Signature file onto your picture. At this point, you can resize it, make it a different color or font, and/or change the opacity level to go with the picture.
   
3. Flatten your image. (Top toolbar: Layer > Flatten Image)
4. Save image for the web if you plan to post it online. (Top toolbar: File > Save for Web...)

How to remove the bevel effect.  On your signature layer, there will be a little FX icon. Right click on the FX icon and choose Clear Layer Style.

And there you have it! Give it a try and let me know how it works out for you! Feel free to ask me any questions you may have; I'll do my best to answer it properly.

 

(See? How cool is that?)

How to Resize a Digital Picture

In the interest of making my life better, (and yours, too!) I think it would be good to share with people how to resize a digital photo. This is a very easy thing to do and a very important item to have in your skill set - especially if you regularly upload pictures to the 'Net or send them via email.

If you don't know why size matters, read on.

Any image you want to put online will look dandy at 72 dpi - it only stops looking dandy if you try to print it. (Rule of thumb: 72 is good to view - like that rhyme I just made up?) A photo at 72 dpi allows you to use a file that is relatively small. Smaller files are good because:

1. They load faster (Who wants to wait for a huge picture to load? Not your viewers, that's for sure!); and
2. They take up less storage space (less is more when you're dealing with online galleries that limit your available storage space).

So it's really in everyone's best interest to have smaller files. 

If you know enough to get your photo uploaded onto the Internet, you probably already have a photo editing program. Adobe Photoshop Elements is what I've been working with for the last ten years - very user friendly - can;t say enough good about it.

No matter which program you use, however, they're all set up with the same basic organizational logic.

BUT BEFORE WE DO ANYTHING... please remember it's a good rule of thumb to never edit your original photo. Open your original photo ("Halloween Card" for this example) and save it as something else ("Halloween Card copy"). If you always perform your edits on a copy of the original, your original will always remain protected and safe.  

Okay, on with the show!

In Photoshop Elements select File > Save For Web. This opens up a box which allows you to choose what size you want. As an illustration, the Halloween card I posted earlier today originally clocked in at 28M! (Can we say HUGE?! I forgot to change the settings on my camera.)

When I choose Save For Web, I get a new window which shows me my original photo and my new version side-by-side. The new version defaults to "low" - in this case bringing the file size down to 317k.  I can also select "medium" which increases my file size to about 800k. I can go to "high" but why bother? Low is a teensy, tiny bit more pixelated than my original photo, and medium looks exactly like my photo.

Here's the photo (size 317k):

And here it is at 800k:

As you can see, it looks just dandy at either size! But it will load ten times faster and take up much less space than 28M.

By the way, most photos I take of cards are much smaller. I usually set my camera to its "good" photo setting when I take a picture of my projects - which means that most of my pictures are usually 1M - 2M - which means they usually end up being about 100k - 200k once they've been resized for uploading onto the Web.

I think Picasa (a fabulous and free program - click on link to download) may automatically resize your photos when you upload them to the Internet, but I haven't used Picasa in years, so you might want to do a test drive. (If anybody can verify that, please feel free.)

Irfanview is another free internet download that definitely will allow you to resize your photos. Although I have never used it, it comes highly recommended.

If anyone knows of a better way, faster way, etc, please leave a comment and I'll update this post.

Hope this helps!