This week I chose this card created by Pinkalicious of the royal wedding between Prince William and Kate. I thought this would be a wonderful way to honor such a special occasion for our friends in the UK. I will admit that I was very excited to watch the wedding. Our family line is actually related to Princess Diana of Wales so it made the royal wedding even more special to me.
We are all busy people, and in the hustle of trying to raise families, run a household, jobs and crafting. It’s comforting to know that there are things that help make life just a bit easier. It’s amazing how the simple conveniences in general help make things run more smoothly and help to eliminate added stress to our already busy lives. Crafting is no exception! Pazzles always has your best interest at heart and when we launch new products; our customers are our only focus. Everything we do is to help make life easier for you, and make your crafting experience more enjoyable.
Every time I think there are no more new features in the Inspiration Studio Pro software, I remember another cannot-be-missed tool. Such is the case with the Paper Texture feature found in the Color Palette window. Most of us already know that there are several libraries of Bazzil papers in different colors and textures. You can use them to fill your designs to get an idea of how your finished project will look. The designers at Pazzles use the fill on the images for the Craft Room image library to give them more dimension. But did you know that you can scan in other papers? This is especially useful for making Print and Cut projects.
This month we are using the Video's to unlock the power and potential of your pazzles machine. The challenge is to watch and use something you have learned from a video to create your project. If you are a beginner, use the basic videos, if you know a little more, try something you haven't done. The purpose is to challenge yourself to think outside of YOUR BOX.
Have you ever been so busy with daily projects, chores and household duties you never take a minute to sit down and take a break? The Inspiration in a lot of ways can be like that too. Sometimes just simply unplugging the USB cable or turning the cutter off is just the thing it needs for a quick break so it continue to keep working hard for you.
I have to admit that I struggle with creating designs that have that free style informality that is so popular in designs recently. I tend to be a more smooth and symmetrical kind of gal. I like using the manual or hand vectorization to trace my clipart or to make my own original designs. I usually like to make sure all of my lines are straight and my curves are smooth. (Unlike my own body! :) ) Some might say I am a bit of a control freak. However………the new Freehand Draw tools in the Inspiration Studio Pro software might just get me to loosen up a bit. I admit it. I really like what I created for this lesson.
There’s nothing like a great project, but a project that’s easy to assemble and has a big impact—that’s even better! I loved these cute Easter egg flowers that Chris designed. What a fantastic way to dress up your eggs and display them. When she brought them in to the office I instantly started assembling the perfect flower. Then the next thing I knew I had created three, and if it wouldn’t have been in the middle of the work day well I probably would have hung out at her desk all day!
I think that we all know that creating fun projects like these still brings out the kid in all of us. So maybe we are just all kids stuck in grownups bodies! When I created these little ‘Easter Buddies’ I right away thought not only are they cute decorations, but they would make great place settings to write the names of friends and family members on them to reserve their special spot at the table for Easter brunch or dinner.
Congratulations to meader420 for winning our April Challenge. As you can see, she did a beautiful job on her card. If you have not had a chance to see all of the wonderful entries, be sure and go check them out.
I would venture to guess that there are a lot of you that were into sewing in a previous crafting life. I know I used to sew all of my daughters’ clothes but they grew up and sewing clothes got expensive. I also discovered that scrapbook papers fed my love of all things patterned and colorful, so I haven’t done a lot of sewing in the past few years. I think that working on this fabric cutting tutorial has fanned that flame alive again and I will have to figure out where to make room for my new/old addiction! It was so exciting to see how well the Inspiration cut fabric that I had try as many kinds of fabric as I could find. Don’t misunderstand me, the Inspiration won’t cut every kind of fabric but it will cut so many of the commonly used ones that I can’t go to sleep at night without coming up with a new idea.
Traditionally these beautiful May Day baskets are hung on friends door knobs on the first of May. Often they are filled with flowers and treats as a way to celebrate the arrival of spring. What a fun way to get in to the spirit of spring! Even if you aren't in to the idea of May Day baskets, these hanging baskets are perfect for Easter! I even think that some of these baskets would be wonderful for wedding decorations.
Don't forget that today is the LAST DAY to get your project up for the April Challenge. Remember that this is a participation challenge, the winner will be selected by random drawing so everyone has a chance to win! Check out our fabulous prizes and all the details on how the challenges work by clicking here. You can see what the April challenge is by clicking here. Projects will be accepted until midnight, you still have time!
First of all I have to say that I had an exceptionally hard time picking a winner this week because there were so many awesome projects that went up. There was an amazing cake, delicious hat, and so many gorgeous other creations. So many would be worthy of the Fabulous Find for the week but alas, there can only be one! So after much debate I have chosen this spectacular baby book by Craft Room member "harrypfan".
It is so easy to get caught up in the fact that the Inspiration cuts that we forget about all of the other fabulous capabilities that the Inspiration offers. You can use the distressing, embossing, engraving, and needle pierce tools as well as the pen tool. The pen tool is a great accessory to go along with your cutter since it can add the picture perfect journaling or drawings to any project.
I know we have talked many times about how important it is to save your work as you go. Even though I know that, and at many times have been the one preaching that, I still sometimes forget! You know how it is, inspiration comes over you like a wave and before you know it you have spent an hour or more making what could possibly be the best piece of work you have ever done and then in an instant, it's gone. We hate that feeling just as much as you do, which is why in the Inspiration Studio Pro software we have added an Auto Save feature.
The few times I have gotten ambitious enough to do a theme party I always discover, to my dismay, that finding decorations that are right is not nearly as easy as I thought it would be. The more specific the theme, the harder it gets. Even if I can find stuff it often doesn't all match or it is very expensive. Of course, that was all before the Pazzles Inspiration came along.
Spring is almost here which means for some of us, that means Spring cleaning. That’s the time that we start to go through our Craftroom’s and attempt to organize the clutter, and toss some of the supplies we don’t use, or if you’re like me, it’s an excuse to go buy more! However, it can sometimes mean that you’ve thrown away something you actually needed. Maybe you’ve even accidentally thrown out some CD’s or worse the software and now you need to install on a new computer.
Lest you think I am the Special Effects Pro, let me state right away that the title does not refer to any 'super' powers I might have! However, the Inspiration Studio Pro software does make me feel like I am a pro at creating special effects with my cutter. Not only that but all the special effects tools are available to me with the click of a button.
I'm kind of excited about April's Challenge, because it is a very simple one, but it could be used in a very advanced way. (*insert dramatic music here*)
This beautiful gift set was made by craft room member Tarabrown and submitted for the March challenge (if you haven't heard about our new awesome challenges make sure to check them out by clicking here!). She started with a gift card (bottom picture) using the pattern provided from one of our projects. You can check that project out by clicking here.
With two different versions of software available for your Inspiration there can be some confusion during the installation process. It can be a challenge as to which version of software you need to have installed on your computer, or how the installation process works in general.
Have you discovered the Photo Cut feature yet? Maybe you have stumbled across it in the Image menu and wondered what it was and how to use it. Often, when I mention Photo Cut, I get a puzzled look. It doesn’t take long for the puzzled look to turn into one of determination when that person begins to understand what it is. They become very determined to find a way to use it in their projects or home décor.
Sometimes we read a little more in to something than what is actually said. This card takes advantage of that by cleverly promising a prince. Hey, the card never said what KIND of prince, there can be frog princes too! This adorable card is great for any occasion and is sure to give the recipient a smile.
We thought it would be a great idea to make April Fool's Cards as one of our projects. When we went looking around for inspiration though we were surprised at how little there is out there! What we could find was usually tasteless and/or unkind. Perhaps April Fool's day isn't exactly the kind of day most NICE people think to make a card, but we were determined that it could be done!