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Tip #2: Tips for Tracing, Copying & Scanning
When you
purchase one of our Heartwarming Expressions Books we allow you to
trace, photocopy or scan the expressions and designs in the books
for your own personal use. Some general tips are given in the books
but I also thought it would be helpful to answer a few of the common
questions people have.
Choosing the Right Paper
There are so many types of paper to choose from and some may offer
advantages depending on the project. You can print on magnetic
paper, sticker paper, fabric paper and many other paper media. Right
now vellum is super popular and because of it's transparency it
works perfectly with the Heartwarming Expressions Books, because you
can lay it over your favorite expressions or designs and trace right
on the vellum using a pigmented pen. We love the way Slick Writers
perform on vellum because they dry fast and come in fine to broad
tips.
Copying on regular weight paper is more
economical than cardstock and it copies well and works great for
tracing on. The higher the opacity, the less "show-through" of the
paper. A drawback of paper is it can be flimsy for some projects.
Card stock is more durable because of the thickness and it works
well for card making and embellishing, but the density can make it
difficult to trace on. Some photocopiers can be set for heavier
paper, or you can hand fed each sheet. If you want to print words
and letters in reverse, which is common on transfer paper you need
to go into your Print Settings or Menu and click on the reverse
setting which may be labeled: Flip Horizontal, Mirror Image, or some
models even have a setting called 'Iron on Transfer'.
The
main advantage to tracing is that you can be more versatile and
you can change any words and graphics you want to use, leaving or
adding parts, making words singular or plural, etc. The books are
bound using open flat binding, but if you are tracing a large or
intricate design it may be easier if you make a copy of the page you
want to use. You can hold a piece of light paper over anything you
want to trace against a brightly lit window, but if you buy or make
a light box, you can use it late at night long after the sun goes
down.
Some light boxes will allow you to use a high wattage
bulb. Check the manufacture's information for approval. Please be
careful if you are using a lamp under a glass top table. I've heard
stories of people shattering their glass top coffee tables from the
high heat using a lamp. My girlfriend rescued a piece of Plexi-glass
about 3' long that someone was tossing out. She places it over two
kitchen stools, puts a 60 watt lamp underneath and pulls up a chair
to her Plexi-glass table. Another option is to use graphite paper
and trace over a design.
Scanning is becoming
increasing popular because scanners have become so affordable and
many printers now have built in scanners. You can scan a whole page
and then crop the image so you just print what you want to. If you
want to trace over lettering or a scanned image with colored pens,
you can print it in gray scale and later when you trace over the
pale gray lines, the colored pens with cover any lines. I found an
incredibly informative site
http://www.scantips.com/ . It's filled with helpful tips on
scanning, including reviews on scanners and links to many
manufactures manuals.
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# 6 - Font Tip
Have you
ever wondered what a page title or your journaling would look like
in the different font type styles you have on your computer? This
site I found will let you copy and paste, or just type in any text
and then you can see all of the fonts you have installed (in your
computer) in a side bar.
Simply click any of them on and you can instantly see any of your
text in another style, so you can quickly pick your favorite. It's
fast, easy, cool and it's free! as a courtesy from STC Associates, a
marketing firm.
http://www.stcassociates.com/lab/fontbrowser.html
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TIP # 3: Using Chalks,
Watercolor Pencils
and Blender Pens
I love
using chalks to color lettering, artwork and B&W copies of photos.
I love that chalks are so versatile and forgiving. If you don't
like something you've just colored, you can just erase it and try
again. My favorite brand is Decorator Chalks from Craf-T
Products and they can be found at many craft and scrapbook stores.
They come in different sizes, but my favorite is the palette of 24
colors. They come with a round and pointy sponge applicator to
color and blend with. The little skinny tip style works great for
coloring small spaces. I also love to use the wedgy style makeup
sponges (you can buy at the dollar store) because they work
fantastic to chalk large areas. Decorator Chalks are also one of
the easiest and most practical ways to color B&W photocopies.
The chalk won't adhere to original shiny photo finishes, but you
can have photocopies made on matte photo paper and tint them with
chalks. When tinting photos, keep a scrap piece of paper to test
colors on and start off lightly. You can layer color on, blend
colors easily and erase any mistakes with a white art eraser. The
photographs in both the Easter Page and the Old Fashioned Frame
from Book # 1 were tinted using Decorator Chalks. You can click on
the
Scrapbook Gallery Link to see these new sample scrapbook
pages.
Different Types of Colored Pencils
The most common colored pencils,
are like the pencil crayons that the kids use in school and they
are usually wax based. There are also watercolor and oil based
colored pencils. At this time I happily own a large set of
Prismacolor pencil crayons and 3 sets of watercolor pencils from
General Pencil, Prismacolor and Staedtler. Createcolor and Derwent
also both have excellent lines of colored pencils. I also have a
nice set of oil pencils from Walnut Hollow that work great on
wood. If anyone has tried the new chalk pencils, I would love to
hear your review.
Remember Color Sets the Mood
If you look at these two old
fashioned frames you can see the versatility of being able to
use the same frame (from Book #1) with two different color schemes
and achieve a totally different look. The first page shows my
Grandmother at 19 years. It was colored with watercolor pencils in
colors to suit the heritage paper. When my youngest daughter
Chelsea was 14, she used watercolor pencils for the first time to
color this old fashioned frame in bright colors for her 'All
Dolled Up' page in the 2nd sample. In the photo, she is the cute
baby in the pink cart.
Watercolor pencils have
become one of my favorite pencils to use. There are so many ways
you can use them, you should try different techniques to see which
you prefer. I use a combination of all the methods below. You can
color directly on paper, shading and blending colors the same way
you would use regular pencil crayons and not even use any water.
You can color your design with dry pencils and then blend the
colors afterwards using a small paintbrush, a damp Q-tip, sponge
applicator, or a blender pen.
You can scribble a patch of color on some scrap paper and stroke a
small wet brush (or blending pen) against the color patch, to pick
up the color and then paint the image.
You can also stroke a wet brush or blender pen back and forth
across the tip of a watercolor pencil to load on color and then
paint your image. This is probably my favorite method of all,
because I love the range of color intensity you can achieve. Your
choice of paper is really a personal preference, but keep in mind,
regular paperweight can buckle if it gets wet. Be stingy with
water when blending colors and test on scrap paper first. You will
find you can produce many shades of intensity with one pencil
depending on how much color and water you use. Add your color in
layers, starting with the lightest and shading with darker tones.
In our Scrapbook Gallery, the samples (using our books) with
watercolor pencils were done on regular paper, or lightweight card
stock. Watercolor paper or heavy cardstock can be wonderful to use
but it's more expensive. I usually crop and mat onto complimentary
cardstock or scrapbook papers.
I Love Blender Pens!
Blender Pens look like felt pens and normally contain a refillable
liquid (I'm told a mix of glycerin, water and alcohol). Some
brands include Dove, Marvy and Tombow. So far my fav is Dove
Blender Pens. You can use one blender pen with chalks, waterbased
felts and watercolor pencils. To change colors, simply stroke the
pen tip across some scrap paper until the fluid runs clear and
then you can dip your blender pen in a new color. I was introduced
to blender pens by some "crazy" rubber stampers turned scrap-a-holics.
They had a pile of creative ways they used theses fun versatile
pens.
One of my favorites is to dip your blender pen tip into one corner
of a chalk palette and 'paint' with the pen tip. Not only can you
paint with chalk colors; the blender pen will seal the chalk!
You can also color images by rubbing a blender pen across water
based felt tip pens to pick up the color. Another trick is to
scribble a patch of color with a felt pen on some wax paper or an
old plastic lid and dip your blender pen in it.
Use a blender pen like a Versa Marker by drawing a design or
letters with the clear pen and then chalk over top of it. The
lines made with the blender pen will be much deeper in color and
intensity.
The last method is a favorite with rubber stampers. Simply dab
your blender pen on a colored inkpad and color away.
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Tip # 4: Creating Audio and
Video Tape Keepsakes
Here are a couple of gift ideas that are fairly easy and
inexpensive, but they are personal gifts from the heart. The first is a great
present for a young child; the second may be a good solution for older parents
who ‘have everything’. Children love having favorite bedtime stories read to
them. If you are a parent or grandparent that can’t always be there to read to
the child, you can give the gift of your voice. Make a cassette tape of you
reading a special book you’ve bought and give them together as a gift. Most
cassette players have a record button and a built in microphone to record tapes.
What makes this special is it’s your voice the child will hear and you can add
all sorts of personal extras. Imagine a child’s delight upon hearing you say
their name and talking to them. You can also include make believe or real
stories, such as one about the day they were born, or memories of when you or
they were a child. If you have a tuck-in ritual or a bedtime prayer you can
include it at the end. Decorate a personal insert to fit inside the cassette
case and label the cassette itself. My husband and I made a tape like this years
ago when our daughters were little and we gave it to them before we left to go
on a vacation. It was like a security blanket while we were gone and it became
an instant favorite among the cassettes they listened to (even after we
returned). If your parents seem to have ‘everything’, you may want to consider
making a video tape of all their possessions. Many homeowners now have
replacement insurance in the event of fire, theft or other loss to their
possessions. Even with receipts, it can be hard to determine the replacement
cost without having a picture. This video could also become a treasured
keepsake; if you have your parents give you the grand tour throughout their home
showing the camera all of their things as you interview them. Have a volunteer
operate the video camera, so you can do the interview. Many things may have been
in the family for years or may have been given as gifts, so be sure to record
the stories about when and how they were acquired. Not only will they end up
having a complete record of all their possessions, they will also have a
keepsake video that the whole family can enjoy. If you want to keep this gift as
a surprise, you could create a gift certificate detailing the idea and give it
with a blank videocassette and an empty journal to list all their items. In a
homemade video like this, I think it’s important to remember that it’s perfectly
OK to mess up. It adds lots of character and good laughs and after all – its
family.
Note: Even if you don’t own a video camera, chances are someone may be
able to lend you one. You could also take photographs instead of a video and
scrapbook them. I would still tape record the interview on a cassette, as the
voices telling the stories will help make it priceless.
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Turning Memories into
Keepsakes - TIP # 5
The joy
that so many people have found in scrapbooking and honoring their
favorite memories has spilled over into numerous creative
possibilities to create personal gifts and cards, as well as
treasured keepsakes that can be enjoyed outside of albums. For
example, a special scrapbook page can also be photocopied or scanned
and then printed to create the most personal wrapping paper for
small gifts. You can also have a scrapbook page reduced in size and
quickly turn the matted photos and words into keepsake cards,
magnets and other mementos. Paper arts and the variety of surfaces
that you can add photographs to has grown into a wonderful spectrum
of possibilities!
Click here to see a mini album cover created using a page
from one of our 4 NEW 4” x 6” Words From the Heart Books,
from the Love & Friendship Edition. A photo collage can be
arranged artistically with the right expressions and photocopied.
Then you can decoupage this special collage paper on an old dresser
or toy box, or place it under glass on a desktop, serving tray, or
accent table. With the wide array of innovative products available
today, you can combine special photographs with the right
expressions and put them on calendars, mouse pads, dishware,
candles, clothing, tree decorations, puzzles and add them to all
sorts of altered art projects. So, when it comes time to give a
gift, think of ways you can add some personal heart appeal to gifts
for your family and friends. If you have children at home get them
involved, because this truly is the best way to show them that the
true meaning of giving is not dependent on how much money you spend
at the mall. Imagine how proud they will feel having their artwork
grace your family Christmas card, or to see how happy Nana is to
receive a coffee mug for her birthday that displays a mini scrapbook
page of her with her grandchildren. Your local craft store and
dollar discount store are full of blank printable products that you
can transform in metal, glass, wood and fabric. Plus don’t forget
about recycling old ‘has beens’ and reviving them with new life!
Many scrapbook, office supply and craft stores now stock a variety
of printable papers and supplies like iron on transfer paper,
magnetic inkjet sheets, shrink art, printable totes bags and much
more. Please
Click here to See Sandy’s LIST of 99 Places to Put an
Expression. This list is printed on the inside cover of each of
the first 3 books in the Heartwarming Expressions Books. These books
are filled with expressions that work well for adding to craft and
home décor projects, as well as scrapbooks. Click here to see
samples of our Heartwarming Expressions Books. Visit these links to
see ideas and samples for adding words and images creatively: See
ideas in our Craft Gallery -
click here
Cool ideas from the HP Printer people -
click here
Printable projects and supplies -
click here
Inspiring piggy done in colllage -
click here
Lots of samples, info and links for altered art!
- click here
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