Etching on Glass using Etch All Cream

I showed this technique at the Sunday night class. I thought I had recorded it, but I made a mistake, but the class did not record, so I did a tutorial to show you how to do it.

Happy Holidays

No matter if you celebrate Christmas, Hanakuh, Kwanza, Solstice or any other holiday, I hope you have a WONDERFUL one.

Simply Steph's Castle

My friend Simply Steph is an amazing designer. She designed this in the Pazzles Inspiration Studio Software and cut it on the Pazzles Inspiration. I just love it and now we are offering it through my store.

There are files for all 7 pages, which include two lines (one for the acrylic and one for the paper inserts to fit the shape nicely) Also, the the window and door pieces are pre-done on a file too, so all you have to do is cut and assemble.

Click here to go to store

A Year in Review---All together...and DONE!!!

Here is the entire year in one post...I have typed about each page to let you know what techniques I used. Also, be sure to Watch HSN on Monday, December 22, 2008 at 10am EST. These pages will all be on the Pazzles segment.


January-for the snowman, I did simple circles, and then used the distortion tool to get more of an oblong look, and the snowballs...simple circles. I used fluid chalk to give my paper a little more color and then stickles to make my snow sparkly.

February-I used my freehand tool to draw the hearts. I just messed around with it until it looked like I wanted it to. I just used chestnut roan fluid chalk for this. I wanted to keep it simple.

March-The rainbow took a little time to figure out to get exactly what I wanted. I ended up using circles and using the tool to add as many circles as I wanted. Then I took my cut line tool, cut them in half and created each arc by itself. After doing it, I figured there were easier ways, but by then...it was done. It was fun to use a shiny gold paper for the coins and the title.

April-This started out as clip art, but took a drastic change after I messed around with it in the software. I finally got the look I liked. I used Crystal Lacquer on the boots and raindrops to make them look wet.

May-I used just basic ovals to create the petals and circles for centers. I inked the edges and stickles to add a little pop.

June-This page is actually created by my good friend, Simply Steph. These are pieces that are actually off of her Summer Fun page that is on the Kloriginal Designs presents Simply Steph CD Volume 2

July-I had so much fun creating this one. The watermelons are 1/2 circles and then layered. I cut the "seeds" out of the red paper and then backed it with black. After that, I used crystal lacquer, it makes it look real.

August-I used my free hand tool and drew all these pieces, except the shovel and bucket. I created a series of squares and rectangles to create them, then used my corner rounder to fix it.
The sandcastle is a series of rectangles, then i used the replace segment by arc to get the castle look. I really love that the fluid chalk gives the sand dimension.

September-This is another page by Simply Steph. She and I are in the same swap and she did this absolutely amazing page.

October-I used ovals for the pumpkins and then layered them. The frame with vines is from the Pazzles Lace CD. I just love that CD, it has some great designs on it.

November-The pumpkins were ovals that i welded together, then i distorted them. Of course, I love the fluid chalks...between that and pens, you can really get some great dimension.

December-I wish you could really see the dimension with the poinsettia's. I used the free hand tool to do the leaves/petals. I did one, then duplicated it, mirrored one of them and got the look I wanted.

I really loved doing these. I hope you enjoyed them too.

Okay, It's OFFICIAL...

I have LOST it....LOL...I got a piece of email that made me look twice. The title said something about "Winterization Projects". I was so excited and opened it up and was stumped....I thought it said 'VECTORIZATION PROJECTS'.....

And the year continues....

I need to add some buttons or ribbon to this layout...but I wanted you all to see it before I send it off to Chris.

Time "March"es On

Only 7 more months to go...*grin (remember, October and July got done earlier)

More Year in Review

Here are two more layouts that I have done for my Year in Review album. After I am completely through, I will make the files all available for download so you can do one for yourself if you would like.

Tis the Season for....

Depression for many people. I am one of those people that literally fight it off this time of year. I am a Prozac lifer. My anthem...."Give me Prozac or Give me Death" (or others around me might die...bwahahaha...just kidding...mostly)
Anyway, I have decided to talk about this here, in hopes that it will help others and me to make it through. Depression affects people different ways, for me I do two things. I sleep and I sit at my desk thinking I should do something. I TRY to do stuff, but I just don't have it in me to pull it off, so I read email, attempt answering (with varying degrees of success) and play games (Spider anyone?)
Well, I finally recognized what was going on and decided I was going to kick off the depression (so I laid down and took a nap to think about how). Almost 4 plus weeks into this 'funk' I have had a few moments where I would say, okay, this is it, I'm going to make it through this time. (then I'd play a game and decide just one more game and then I'll do something) Finally, I MADE myself get out of bed, shower and dress in street clothes (pj's are my standard depression dress) and I went to run some errands...my list was quite long, because of hibernating for nearly a month and while at the bank, I looked up and a saw a sign that was looking for volunteers to ring the bell for Salvation Army. Now I had thought about volunteering for the last few weeks, but the phone book was ALL THE WAY in the other room, so I never made the call. Well, the phone number was right there, so while my deposit was being made, I made the call and volunteered to ring the bell at Hobby Lobby for 2 hours one day and 2 hours another. Well guess what? I did both of those volunteer times and after both of them, I felt a little lighter (in my heart, not weight...because, oh ya, I eat when I'm depressed and I've gained another 10 lbs...oh well, more of me to love) I was able to come home and get a few things accomplished that I needed to.
Well, I'm not home free yet, I can still feel the pull and call of my pillow, but I feel like I'm making steps towards functionality again. This is a good thing, because I have a bunch of tutorials that I want to get done and I'm getting excited about it again, so that means you all will be having new stuff soon.
Thanks for sticking with me while I have my yearly (sometimes bi-yearly) fight through depression.

If you are fighting or have depression...go see your doctor and get help. I am so thankful for the medication that I have (I'm actually bi-polar...hereditary..thanks dad) Most of the time it is enough to keep me on an even keel, but I do have times when it is more of a fight. But knowing there is help, helps me.

On another note, it is the season for love, kindness and giving. Don't forget to love yourself, be kind to yourself and give to yourself this season....sometimes we get so busy doing for everyone else that we forget to take care of ourselves....

Love you all and I hope you have a wonderful Holiday Season.

My Anniversary

My husband left me this note in the comments...but I know not everyone reads the comments....*grin

Anonymous said...

Is my wife frigging awesome or what?
Thank you for all the love and support you give her.
Happy Anniversary Kloie! Still in love and having fun, let's shoot for 23 more yrs, it will probably whiz by like the first 23. Do you know how old we will be then? 69 DUDE! Well almost, anyway, thanks for a most excellent adventure Ted, uh, I mean Klo. How does mexican food and margaritas sound?
I LOVE YOU...BOING!
Your first dude of scrapbooking Jeffy
Why anonymous? Cause romance needs a touch of mystery besides a Steph Plum novel.

Puzzles for Holiday Gift Giving!!!

Here is a puzzle I created for my grandson for one of his Holiday Gifts. Instead of using chipboard for this one, I chose to use acrylic.

I printed onto cardstock first, then I used a spray adhesive to attach it to the acrylic (Photo against the acrylic).

After allowing it to be good and dry, I put the acrylic on the mat face down. I cut in one pass with the Blade at 3, speed at 2, and Pressure 30. I then pulled the acrylic apart (instead of trying to pop it out) I find that I prefer this method over 3 passes. If you prefer to do more than one pass, so that it is completely cut, that is your choice.

Ticket Stub

Kristen was looking for a ticket stub on one of the groups I'm on...figured I'd share with everyone.
I think it would be a blast to use your pen tool and add words to these. Click HERE to get your free cutting file.

Snowman-Free File

Here is a snowman I just made and decided to share with everyone. If you click HERE, you can go download the cutting file and make it yourself. I have it saved in the different formats, so you can use it with whichever cutter you have. ENJOY!

A Year in Review

I'm in a page swap with some friends. We are all doing a 2 page layout (8 x 8) of our assigned months. I had October and July....Here is what I did....Hope you enjoy them

You are in the right place

I decided it was time for a face lift on my blog. Hope you like it....It makes me feel happy.

Snail Hunt Layout

One of my dear friends, Corinna has been heading up a special scrapbook for a lady in Canada. (to read the story, go to Corinna's Blog

Anyway, this is one of the layouts I was able to do for her. i just enjoyed doing this layout so much, that I had to share. (BTW, the typo has been fixed...*grin)

Presidential Election 2008

This is the first time in my adulthood that I watched CNN everyday, read tons of internet news and RESEARCHED and READ about the candidates. I have voted both republican and democrat in my lifetime. So what did this election mean to me?

It meant HOPE in a future that can and will get better.
It meant CHANGE in the way I look at the world and the way I see things.
It meant JOY in the face of my daughter as she realized her very first vote was important.
It meant TEARS that I shared with my daughter as we watched both the eloquent concession speech given by Senator McCain and the inspiring acceptance speech given by President-Elect Obama.
It meant STANDING UP in a Nation that has been brought to its knees.
It meant FREEDOM for another generation.
It meant HISTORY.

It meant so much more to me that I cannot even find the words. I had to write this, so that I will remember the way I feel now as we face the CHALLENGES of putting a country back together and become as President Elect Obama says, "Not a red state, not a blue state, but the UNITED STATES." I know that it won't be easy and that I won't always agree with the way things are done...but I do have the HOPE that the CHANGES will be the right things we need for our families, our lives and our country and the world.

Just a Bunch of Turkeys Layout and Cutting File

I have had so many requests for this layout, that I have decided to offer it on my store website as a 'single'. (It will eventually be on a CD, probably next Summer). The file download includes all the file formats (wpc, ai, gsd, pdf), plus a picture and instructions.
I'd love to see what you do this this.. CLICK ON the PHOTO to be taken to the file download area.

Thickening an Image Tutorial

Flipping an Image Tutorial

Here is another tutorial for those that want to create a card out of any image.

File Association Tutorial

I have been asked how to be able to just double click on your wpc file and have it automatically open up into your Pazzles Program. This tutorial will show you how to set up that association. This can also be used with other programs.

How to not Lose it (the center that is) when Welding

Here is an excerpt from the email I received asking for help. "Okay…..worked for a long time on this and couldn’t get it to weld. When it welds only the inside of the “r” “e” and “a” appear…the outside doesn’t even though it is connected to the bottom rectangle"

I hope this tutorial helps you see how to not have this happen. Thanks Suzanne for the question.

Tutorial and Help

Well, I'm off today to Ontario, California for my last show of the year, so that means I will be home for almost 3 months. My plans for those 3 months is to add lots of new free files, tutorials, etc to the blog and my store. I am also planning on revamping the way the blog looks and organizing the tutorials so they are easier to find.

This is where you come in...I would love to have tutorial requests for things you would like to learn. One of my favorite ways to do this is to have you send me a file you are 'stuck' on, tell me what you are trying to do and then letting me show you via a tutorial or send you to a tutorial that I have already done to show you how to do it.

Also, I'm going to be adding tutorials for the 'older' software that is used for the Mini, Mighty and Pro....so when requesting help with a file...be sure and tell me which machine you have so I can tailor it to fit you.

So what do you think? Are you ready to dig in and learn even more about your Pazzles Cutters???? I'll be home on Sunday and will start 'filming' on Monday, so get your requests in. Please send them to klo@scrappingusa.com with the title BLOG TUTORIAL REQUEST in the subject.

Thanks.

Connecting the Inside Piece

This is a very quick tutorial, but I hope you will find it very helpful.

How to Alter one Word in a Title that has been welded Tutorial

Making your own Swirl Tutorial

Why puppies shouldn't scrapbook

It became very clear to me this evening why puppies should NOT scrapbook and/or use Glue Dots with any of their projects. If you cannot tell...that is the glue dot 'holder' and it is stuck on her nose. My daughter and I had to put her in the sing and get her mug wet to get the silly thing off....poor sweetie.

Congratulations Pazzles Design Team 2008-2009

I just want to say...CONGRATULATIONS on those of you that are part of the Pazzles Design Team. I have been privalaged to be a member the last two years and I'm so happy to have been a part of it...you will love it. I look so forward to seeing your projects each month. Click on image to see the names closer.

Evenly Spaced Rectangles for a Frame Tutorial

Scalloped Circle Free File

Here is a FREEBIE File in the wpc format. It was requested, so I thought I'd share it with you all
CLICK HERE

Changing to an existing Color Tutorial

Sometimes when selecting colors, you may want to use a color already on the page and cannot figure out what it is...here is an easy way to do that.

Outlining the Entire Title Tutorial

Ted and Barb had a question on why they weren't able to get their title to outline the inside pieces. Here is a very quick tutorial to show you how to make sure you can do that.

Fixing Stray Lines in the Engraving Fill Tutorial

First off, can I just say, I'm so happy to be making tutorials again (I know it is probably hard to tell...LOL) Anyway, this was a question on the forums a few weeks ago and I didn't have time to answer it the way I wanted, so here is the answer. I hope it helps.

For Mattie Tutorial

Mattie here ...try this.

Mastering the Arc Tool Tutorial

Here is a quickie tutorial to help you get a little better control on the arc tool.

Learning to Multiply Tutorial

This is NOT a MATH tutorial....LOL.

Manual Tracing Tutorial

Here is another tutorial to teach you how to Manually Trace around those images that just won't Auto Trace well enough to use effectively. Just another great option.

Customizing your Color Palette Tutorial

If you like to use the fill on your color palette and are tired of the same 13 colors and would like to add more colors, this is a quick tutorial to show you how to do this. I like to have many colors when I'm creating a paper piecing....see if you want to have more colors.

Pazzles Inspiration Firmware Update/Repair

Right after the release of the Pazzles Inspiration, they had a bug appear. Pazzles IMMEDIATELY got a fix out for it. Because it is an update on the machine, there have been questions on how to do this, so here is a tutorial to help you with it.

Loading thicker Materials for Cutting Tutorial

This is a quick tutorial to show you how to load a thicker material for cutting, so that you can do a duplicate cut without the worry of 'shifting'

Fitting Text to Path and Visual Text Spacing Tutorial: The Remake

We have sound....so sorry about that

Fitting Text to Path and Visual Text Spacing Tutorial

This a quick video to help you be able to Fit your Text to Path and then still be able to do a visual text spacing all the while not having to move each letter individually. I'll be back with the ACTUAL video in a bit....It helps with recording if you TURN ON YOUR MICROPHONE...lol

CHA-New Pazzle Releases

Wowzers, I look like I've been MIA from my blog for a bit....sorry, it has been CRAZY BUSY. I just got back from CHA and I'm so dang excited about the new stuff from Pazzles, so I'm going to give you all an update so you can be excited with me.

Kloriginal Designs™ Presents Simply Steph in Volume 2 of the series. I LOVE Steph's designs, she is absolutely amazing. Here are just a few of the ones that will be on it. Each CD is complete with cutting files, assembly instructions, full color photos and more that will have you scrapping and cutting like a pro. Also, new to Volume 2, I have added AUTO LOAD for the Inspiration, so that it will install right to your Image Gallery...woo hoo. Of course, there will still be everything for the Mini, Pro and Mighty as well. I have also added cutting files that can be used with all the major computer driven cutting systems. Insturctions for cutting, assembly and embellishment, page maps for each layout and rights for use as class kits and page kits for resale. $29.95

The paper lace cd is great. These beatiful 12" x 12" overlays can be layerd over solid or patterned paper to create exquisite backgrounds for your pages. I also plan to make them smaller and use them for cards and other things. Don't worry Mini owners, I'm going to show you how to use them with your machine too. It us just a matter of cutting 2-6" x 12" pieces.
There are a 100+ lace overlays on this cd $29.95

Paper Petals is probably my 2nd favorite release (Kloriginals volume 2 is my favorite...*grin) With over a 100 flower cutting files, some just basic die cut flowers and others paper piecing, they are going to be great for adding that little touch to all your crafting projects. There is going to not be a need to have to BUY flowers in jars or in packages anymore, because you will have them all here...AND you can make them in any color you want....woo hoo $29.95

Due to popular request, Pazzles has rereleased TWO cd's, the Greeting Card one and the Word Book one. They now will auto load right into your Inspiration Gallery. They have added FULL COLOR photographs of all the cards, envelopes and word books in a printable PDF format. They are $29.95 each

If you have been a scrapbooker for alot of years, the name Vicky Breslin is going to excite you so much. Pazzles has released Miss Vicky's first Cut It Up CD. With her unique signature style, you will be creating pages in no time, she has included instructions for assembly, 3 exclusive fonts and even a video tutorial of embellishment techniques and of course, it will load into your Inspiration Gallery. $29.95

Pazzles LISTENS. For instance, when we all said we didn't like the security key with our older machines, they went ahead and built the key into the Inspiration machine for us, then of course, we wanted a key, so again, Pazzles listened and they have created Inspiration Studio™ On the Go. Whether you are traveling or simply like to create away from your desk, it is the perfect choice. Simply put the included key into one of your computer's USP ports to create and save your designs when your Inspiration isn't plugged into your computer. Of course, as always, you can create exactly what you want, from your high school's mascot to your own silhouette. You can use your favorite fonts that you have on your computer (or download free off the internet). Distort, weld and outline your designs to create even greater looks. Once you are done designing, save them and then when you get back to your cutter, you will be ready to cut it out. The Introductory pricing is ONLY $59.00

The Fabric Mat has a strong adhesive for when you want to cut 'hard to hold' materials such as fabric. (don't use paper on it...I 'heard' that it will ruin your mat, because the paper never comes off...OF COURSE, I have NEVER done this, so I don't have any "FIRST HAND" knowledge...no, I would NEVER do that.....okay, okay, I would do it...but it was all in the name of testing for YOU, so you don't fall into that silly little trap....*grin....and that is my story, and I'm "sticking" (and I do mean STICK) to it....*grin) It has been redesigned to work wonderfully in the Inspiration, Pro and Might models. $13.50

The Embossing mat has a plush surface or in Klo words, "it's squishy", that allows for deeper embossing or piercing. It is strongly suggested that you use this with the embossing tool and the piercing tool. It has been redesigned to work wonderfully in the Inspiration, Pro and Might models. $14.99
Speaking of the PIERCING TOOL, it has also been released for the Inspiration along with the DISTRESSING TOOL. I don't have pictures of them yet....but they look very similar to the ones that work in the Pro. They both retail for $39.95 each