OUI!

Finally! New stuff! And what's great about it is it's all digital so you can download and use right away! 

I've had a few questions on how I print my cards and that some don't get such great results when printing from home. It all depends on your printer, settings and paper. You also have the option of using a professional printer such as Persnikety Prints. 

I use a Canon MG6320 printer which I've loved since day 1. I had an Epson before and loved it as well.

Matte photo paper is my favorite. I've tried printing on several different cardstocks and the color in never as vibrant as the photo paper. I've used both Epson and Office Depot brand of matte photo paper. The ones printed above is the Office Max brand. 

Here's a little run down of how I open and set up my print job at home.

I've used Preview to print for years. It's my go to. I know there are probably better ways to print but this has always worked for me. 

From the Preview option, choose Quality & Media. Set the Print Quality to High. Whether you're using Gloss or Matte photo paper, make sure you choose the correct Media Type. 

When I forget to set the quality from standard to high, my prints always come out with streaks. 

Hope this helps some of you! Have a happy weekend
Tina

Pattern Play | Tacos

I love a good pattern and I love creating them. My goal is to make this a bi-weekly installment that will showcase different ways to create a pattern that will be incorporated into your everyday documenting. 

Using rubber stamps is one of the easiest ways to create a fun and unique pattern.  Today I'm going to create a taco pattern using the Cinco De Mayo stamp set which also comes with a nifty die for the piñata. 

After stamping my tacos, I cut one out and adhered it using foam squares to bring a little dimension to the overall pattern. Then finished off by adding black marks around the tacos to sort of fill in the background.

Typed up a little bit of journaling and voila! The perfect pattern to accompany the photo of my husband and I enjoying the most delicious lunch. :)

What I love about stamps is that you can totally spin them and create something completely different than what was intended. It's a great way to stretch your dollar when making rubber stamp purchases. Here's an alternate pattern using the same half circle + halftone I used for the taco.

I can also see this being turned into watermelons! 

Hope this inspires you to create a fun pattern using your rubber stamps! And be sure to head over to my IG feed for a chance to win the Cinco De Mayo rubber stamp set (minus the die). 

Supplies//Cinco De Mayo rubber stamp, Color Theory ink pads in Well Red, Yes Peas, Sunny Day, Doc Brown, Hero Hues in India Ink Black, Paislee Press Minimalist 3x4 template, font Lulo, foam squares, 

Studio Calico Park Ave reveal

You may have seen the announcement of the new Studio Calico Creative Team on the blog. A few new faces mixed in with returning designers. I'm happy to see some of my favorite paper crafters on the team. You'll also notice a list of contributing designers which is where I'll be for 2015. 

What does that mean? More time to explore and create on my own terms. That was the biggest reason I decided to apply for this part of the team. Getting a box of goodies each month and having to create a set amount of layouts sounds like a dream job and it is for the most part but after 7 straight years, a change was necessary. 

This is a super positive change and I'm looking forward to having more time to invest in taking some classes and finishing a few projects for the LLP shop . I really want to take this year to polish up my skills as a working artist/illustrator/graphic designer. 

Yay for change! 

Okay so I wanted to do a quick tutorial on how I added gold foil digitally onto a photo. 

First, you'll need a nice gold foil image. The image I'm using can be found here along with some other gold textures. 

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Easy peasy! Also works great on digital stamps like this one from Studio Calico's .

There is another way to apply gold foil digitally and that's using the clipping mask option in the Layers menu. Bother are simple ways of adding a little shine to your paper crafting.

bokeh!

The holidays and pretty bokeh go hand in hand, no? I think I take at least a dozen bokeh shots in a week but it's fun to mix it up and add some shapes to those lights. I've provided a few free cut files for you to try. If you don't have an electronic cutting machine like a Silhouette, you can print the PDF and use an Xacto knife. btw, Studio Calico is offering a Silhouette bundle....you might want to add that to your wish list. Total game changer for me.

The circle will fit perfectly into a 50mm or 85mm lens. It's a tad loose so they come out easily. Just add a few pieces of washi tape to hold it in place. Ideally you want to use black card stock but I didn't have any on hand so I used a dark gray. Worked just as well.

I shoot with a Canon 5D Mark II and a 50 mm 1.4 lens. I also like to use an 85mm 1.4 lens for bokeh. If you don't know how to capture bokeh, set your lens to manual and twist the lens until you see your lights going out of focus. This is where you can experiment to see what settings will give you the best results as I'm sure is varies.

Have fun!

xot

 BOKEH SHAPE DOWNLOAD

Paper banner wall hanging

I created a simple paper banner for the Basic Grey blog using the RSVP line. I'll be honest and say that that was a challenge in itself. The line is super feminine but it didn't stop me from creating something I now have hanging in my studio. The challenge was welcoming and it was just the sort of thing I needed to get me out of my creative slump.

I created a second banner using the leftover flower cut outs as stencils with watercolor paint.

I'll have more detailed instructions on how to recreate the banner later this week.

xot

Create your transparencies

Happy Wednesday yo! The sun is finally out after weeks and weeks of rain, gray clouds, fog and snow. Yes, snow. It was gone within a few days but still, snow in September? Not cool.This marks the "get my sh*t together for the long winter" rush. I'm out and about trying to find the perfect jacket and boots when really I should be getting my snow tires on. My priorities seem to be off at times people, I'm fully aware of this. At least I've got the kiddo's winter gear, that was simple. They make such cute stuff for little people.

Besides moaning and groaning about the upcoming winter, I've been busy with projects and deadlines. You know, the yoush. (how the eff do you spell that? short for usual) I've got a cool tutorial on the Studio Calico blog today. I work a lot with transparencies since I use them to burn my screens for printing. I made a batch of these years ago for a Dare swap and never thought twice about making them for my Project Life album until I started messing around the SC digital brush stamps. They're fun to create and trust me, they get addicting. My advice to you is to fill up that sheet as much as possible because they're not cheap. They run about $60-$80 for a pack at my local office supply store up here. I found a great source online through Amazon because I use them so often. You can find them here. Of course you may not need 100 of them but still, you can't beat the cost.

Hey look, an actual PL page! And you thought it was a myth. Ha! (Girl print by Jamaicamakes & Gold amp on chipboard by Life.Love.Paper)

My PL is boring compared to what I see out there and I'm totally fine with that. I lost site of what this project was suppose to be about and now I've simplified it even further. I just grab a precut card, staple a journal spot, sometimes date it and insert it in a pocket. Done. Then I print photos at the end of the week and insert those. I'm not going to worry about exact dates or completing full weeks. I'm still pondering on doing this for 2013. If I do, it'll definitely be smaller. I'm not into this huge 12x12 binder. I need something more portable like the new SC Handbook.

Well, I've got some finger painting to do with the little man. XOT