First Spellbinder Samples....

Buckle up girls and get ready for a fun, fun ride! Ellen has debuted the totally new and innovative Spellbinders dies on her blog...which means Trudee, Debbie and I have been given the go ahead to show you lots of samples! So be sure to visit Debbie and Trudee's blogs too. Here's what's going on: Ellen is having a countdown to her Friday the 13th sale with very cool card samples and lots and lots of good information about the new Spellbinders products. And today she just announced that on Friday for 13 hours, you will get 13% off everything in her store. You won't want to miss it!! On Friday you will also see Karen Lockhart's new stamp images which are totally over the top, and you'll be able to pre-order the Copic markers. I think I'll just faint right now!!

Now on to my first cards using the Spellbinders dies and Lockhart images. Aren't these cute?? I've been so inspired by all these products I've been working with and now I can begin to show you all three products on one card....Lockhart stamp images, Copic Markers and the Spellbinders dies! For this card, I used the pencil jar image to make a fun artsy card. I also used some SU! letters and the *original* stamp under the cut out circle. I also stamped *create* using Karen Foster tiny Casual Alphabet letters around the pencil jar. Notice how I made a squiggle pencil line to the word *be* to make it look like the pencil drew the letter. How's that for being original?? For the colored pencils in the jar, I used Copic markers. The finish the markers leaves is fabulous, reminds me of chalk ink. I added a shadow down the side of each pencil with a grey marker to add dimension. I finished off the stamped image with three little Decorative Pearls in Mocha color.

For the mats? This is the new Spellbinders goodies!! I cut a rectangle with a rectangle die (see sneak peeks of these on the second card, you can see what the dies actually look like under the card). Then I ran the cut out rectangle through my Wizard again using the simple tan embossing pad and voila...instant embossing just inside the rectangle!! Isn't that awesome???????? Zoom in and you can see the dimension it adds to the card. I can't believe how much detail this adds!!!!! I mounted the focal piece on yet another die cut scallop rectangle. Don't they layer nicely? Ellen and Stacey and Jeff at Spellbinders put a lot of effort into making sure the dies layer nicely together. I finished off the card with some Memory Box Sugar paper which comes in 6 x 6 pads. Then how bout the fun ribbon tying?I extended it over the edge of the card and tied it off with some SU! retired silver cord. To mail this type of card, simple slip it into a bigger envelope so the ribbon doesn't get smooshed.



My next card using the exact same layout as the first so I won't go into the details again on assembling the card. But isn't it a fun layout? I will mention that the top stamped layer has SU! dimensionals on the back and is mounted on the scalloped piece. Then the scallop piece is adhered to the card base with even more dimensionals. So these are triple decker cards! The images on this card are the Lockhart Packages, happy birthday sentiment and the Itty Bitty cupcake. They are also colored with Copic markers and outlined with a light grey marker to add dimension. Tiny white Decorative Pearls finish off the sentiment. Papers are again from the Memory Box Sugar 6 x 6 paper pad.



Okay, look up above and you can see the actual dies. Up there, see them? Aren't they different from anything you've seen? We will be educating you and giving you lots more tips and tutorials on the Wizard and the dies, so don't worry. If you're scratching your head, it's okay...it's something brand new on the market like NO OTHER die cuts out there. We'll help you out! I'm sure you're asking how the dies cut and then emboss? Well, the middle line of the die cuts your cardstock like a cookie cutter when it goes through the Wizard (or any other die cut machine). Then you switch mats and run the cut image through again and the very inside edge of the die creats the embossed effect. The cut out space of the die allows the paper to be forced into the blank space, thus created the embossed effect. Cool huh? Wicked cool!!!!!

Now look down here. This is a close up of the embossing and scallops. Very clean cuts, very crisp embossing. I'm in heaven! Zoom in for an even closer look. Stay tuned to Ellen, Trudee, Debbie and my blogs. We're going to show lots of samples and tips!



Now for the tip of the day: Remember when I talked about my sketch book with card ideas? Here's a photo of my finished card with my original sketch. I sketched this out while watching tv and had my Lockhart images right there with me for inspiration. Remember to sketch out ideas from time to time and keep them in your little notebook. When in a pinch for ideas, you'll have some inspiration to fall back on. I think it's fun to see if a card actually turns out like you had planned. This card worked out exactly like I had planned, with the addition of the fun ribbon tying idea. Happy Stampin' today girls! Come back tomorrow for more!



Supplies: Copics and Spellbinder products coming soon to Ellen's store. Memory Box paper and Decorative Pearls and Memory Box cards available now at Ellen's store. Silver Cord from SU! (discontinued), brown ribbon from Michael's, pink ribbon from May Arts. Stamps are Lockhart images available at Ellen's store. All links to blogs and Ellen's store are at the right!