Gallery Pick

Pictured here are just a few of the pages.  It is definitely worth checking out the whole album.  Grab a cup of tea, coffee or soda and click here to view the entire album.  Diane used Shirley's wonderful pregnancy file collection.

Cutting Freezer Paper Stencils

by Jan Bryson, Sam & Hailey Designs

Creating custom apparel just got a whole lot easier! With a few simple materials and your digital die cut machine you can create an eye catching t-shirt or other wearable art in minutes! Freezer paper isn't just for wrapping food in anymore... it cuts smoothly on any cutter, irons on easily to any iron-safe material, creates a crisp paintable edge, and then peels off cleanly and easily. This is a great project for almost any age. As you will see in this tutorial, even kids can do it with a little grown up help!

CLICK HERE to download the Freezer Paper Stencil Tutorial!

Designer Spotlight: Jenette Carson of Butterfly Designs

by Ileana Russell, I Scrap Designs

Did you ever wonder about the person behind that design line of cutter files you like so much?  Well, you’re in luck.  In this section of the newsletter, we shine the spotlight on one of your favorite designers.  In this edition, you’ll get to know Paperthreads’ very first designer, Jenette Carson of Butterfly Designs right here.

Crafting With Color Swatches: Masculine

Do you ever sit and stare at a stack of photos wondering what colors to use on the layout?   Colors are so important. They not only enhance our photos, but they convey the feeling of the layout.   We often associate bright colors with cheerful topics.  Pastels are used for Easter or baby themes, and red conveys love.   However, sometimes you have photos that just won't work with traditional colors or perhaps you are tired of typical color schemes.  I hope to help inspire you by providing a color swatch in each newsletter along with examples of how I used the colors.

With Father’s Day being in June I figured we’d try a more masculine color palette this time.  Now that I look at these colors I think they would also work well for beach layouts.

These photos worked great for this color scheme as all the colors are present.  I chose the blue as my predominant color because it was the color of the stripes in my son’s and husband’s shirts, thus, making them the “stars” of this layout.  Since the ice cream maker was the gift of the day, I pulled in the green color in many places too.  Using a patterned paper that matches the color scheme helps pull together all of the solid colors used in the layout, thus, giving it balance.  The striped paper I used was actually a little darker than the color scheme.  So I used Spica glitter markers to color the stripes, lightening them and giving them some sparkly visual interest. 

Did you notice the spotted paper strips are butted up against the striped paper strips?  This works and doesn’t seem too busy because the dots are more of a tone on tone pattern and somewhat muted.  

Hmmm…there seems to be a color in my layout that isn’t in the color swatch!  That red color just pops right out at you doesn’t it?  I felt the blue was too overpowering and the other colors were drowning in a sea of blue.  So to remedy this, I added a few bits of red to make the layout “pop.”  This works well because there is red in the tablecloth and my husband’s shirt.  In my opinion, the more details you add to layout, the more your colors will stand out and catch the viewer’s attention. 

The little details I added that are hard to see in the photo are as follows: Folkart Papier glass finish on the ice cream and heart button die cuts to give them a shiny appearance, resembling epoxy stickers; fibers on the heart button; felt ribbon on the tags; and a tiny 2007 metal charm from A Charming Place. 

To the left you’ll see a rather unusual card.  My son saw what he called “happy skulls” in the fabric store the other day while I was browsing for  KNK cover material.  He just loved them but I wasn’t about to have skulls gracing my machine!  When I saw a card similar to this one in Scrapbook Trends magazine I knew I had to duplicate it for his Pre-K graduation.  This card follows the color scheme also.  The skull is white instead of the tan in the color scheme but since the white is just a lighter shade of tan it still works. 

There is no need to follow the color scheme to the letter.  Feel free to use it as a basis to work off of or try different shades of the colors to make it work for your project.  I knew I wanted a yellow Stickles covered star to fill the circle.  I also realized the yellow color wasn’t in the color scheme.  However, if you look closely at the ribbon you’ll see a hint of yellow, thus, allowing the yellow star to compliment the card nicely.  You’ll also notice there isn’t any brown in the card.   There is no need to use every color in the color swatch especially on smaller paper crafting projects like cards.  Also keep in mind black goes with any color scheme! 

To the right was last month’s color scheme.  Elizabeth Charleton (aka Scramper75) submitted this lovely layout using my digital Spring Splendor kit! 

Now it's your turn.  I would love to see layouts, cards, home decor items or any paper crafting projects using this color swatch!  If you use at least one item Paperthreads sells, you have a chance to be published in the next Paperthreads Newsletter.  The products included to qualify may be embellishments like flocking, dew drops, and glimmer mist or any of the Paperthreads designers' files including my digital kits.  Please post your submissions in the Newsletter Color Swatch section of the Paperthreads Gallery.  From those submissions, a winner will be chosen to get published in the next newsletter.

I do hope this article inspired you to try some non-traditional colors in your crafting projects.  I look forward to seeing your creative works.

Supplies:

Tea Bag Folding

by Jennie Cornwall, JennieBeanCrafts

Okay, so it’s not a craft that you would normally associate with a cutting machine. I mean ANYONE can cut a square can’t they?  Yet, there are definite benefits to merging tea bag folding and cutting machines.

For those who don’t know, tea bag folding is a form of origami.  Basically, little squares of paper are folded in tons of different ways and then slotted together to form amazing designs.  These range from very simple folds to very complex folds, and can be used to create simple medallion designs, or more adventurous items like flowers or butterflies.  All you need to get started is 8 identical squares of paper (approx 2 - 4 inches square).

Click on each of these images for photo instructions on three of my favourite folds.

There is also a fantastic website that shows you different ways of folding teabag tiles and has tons and tons of the most beautiful teabag tiles available for free download.  Make sure you have plenty of free time before you venture into these great tea bag folding websites:

http://members.fortunecity.couk/msvicr/
http://www.mardar.us/teabagtiles.htm

But…..back to cutting machines and how they can help with teabag folding:

• Use print and cut features to get 8 identical squares with any picture or photo you wish
• Cut 8 perfect circles (yes, you can use circles) or squares from any card of your choice
• Cut 8 parts with a cut out pattern to make even more amazing teabag shapes.

I have provided a free print and cut teabag set for you to try.  This set compliments my Paradise sliceform available from the Paperthreads store (free with this newsletter for a limited time), or if print and cut isn’t your favourite thing to do, then try my free patterned teabag set.

I look forward to seeing many of your designs in the Paperthreads Gallery in the near future.

Product Comparison: 5 Opaque White Markers

by Michelle Hessler, Paperthreads Designs

Designer Faves

Diana of Diana's Designs loves Coloring Rhinestones!

I love to color my embellishments to match the colors I'm using on my cards or layouts.  I usually buy extra white or clear embellishments just in case I don't have the color I need. I especially love coloring rhinestones.  These are pretty easy to do; I have just a few tricks that I use.  First, I use Staz-On ink and a sponge to get the ink in all the creases.  Then if it's too dark, I wait a few seconds and then polish off the excess.  You can always add more if you take off too much.  If you’re using the rhinestones that are on the sheets in shapes or words, make sure to cut off any glue they are sitting on after you've colored them, the glue absorbs the color and if you don't trim it closely it will show on your finished project.  I actually like to take off all the glue and use Diamond Glaze to adhere the rhinestones to my projects.  I think it is a better bond.  I had some clear rhinestones that I colored with black Staz-On for my Twilight album.  It worked perfectly for me.  You can also use Copic markers to color your items.  Let it dry.  Then reapply color if you want it darker or a more intense color.

Shelly of Shelly's Art loves her Wallpaper Seam Roller!

I know you're wondering what in the world a wallpaper seam roller has to do with paper crafting!  Let me tell you, I could not live without this little tool.  First, you can use it to adhere the paper to the cutting mat.  I usually roll in a horizontal direction then a vertical direction to make sure every inch of my paper is secured firmly to the mat.  Second, I use my Xyron 150 sticker maker for small die cuts.  The instructions say to rub and peel for best adhesion.  I use the seam roller to roll over the paper after it comes out of the machine, thus eliminating much of the excess glue around the die cuts.  Lastly, the seam roller comes in very handy when making cards.  I am a frugal paper crafter so I often use a plain glue stick to make my cards.  I roll over my patterned paper after attaching it to the front of a card with the glue stick making sure the glue stick paste is distributed evenly.  You can also roll over the crease in the card giving you a crisper fold.  In case you are curious, I got my roller at Lowe's.  I opted for the cheaper plastic one (See, I told you I was frugal!) but there are wooden ones available. 

Jan of Sam & Hailey Designs loves the KNK Engraving Tool!

I must admit that I've had the KNK Engraving Tool since I first bought my 13" KNK back in 2007 but the first time I used it was in May of this year! I had been intimidated by it for some reason. I was, at the time, working on a project as a class gift for my daughter's Kindergarten teacher. I wanted the cover to be really unique, so I started dreaming up ways to emboss the cover. I remembered that I had the engraving tool and wondered how it would look. I stuck some craft foam on an old cutting mat as my embossing mat. I then embossed a sheet of craft metal with the Engraving Tool. It turned out great the first time! I love the look on the album and my Pen Alpha - Casual Cute file was the perfect lettering!

Fighting Photo Fade

by Jennie Cornwall, JennieBeanCrafts

Wilhelm Imaging Research is the independent expert on assessing the permanence of inks.  If you search their website or the internet you will find information specific to your printer.

To summarise just how important this is, if you use the same brand of ink and paper as the company who manufactured your printer, you can achieve up to 100 years of permanence and beyond with your photographs.  Yet, some refillable ink cartridges, whilst advertising that they are comparable in initial picture quality, can give less than 1 year of permanence before fading begins, others don’t even quote a permanence rating.  Some Continuous Inking Systems are now quoting 10 years of permanence, which is better than normal refills, but still may be surprising if you thought your precious photos and pages would be intact long after you had gone.

The best advice would be to use professionally printed photos for important scrapbooks, or at least check out your own printer and ink and ensure you know and are happy with the permanence results.

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