Summer Heat #1 by Charlotte Ziebarth
I so admire the imagery in Charlotte Ziebarth‘s new book Artistic Photo Quilts. She has a wonderful eye for color and composition. She says that “There are many useful design principles listed in art books: rhythm, balance, unity, and so on. I have found the three that were taught to me by my friend, mentor, and art professor, Helen B. Davis, to be very useful and simple to remember: Simplify, Exaggerate, and Repeat.” Charlotte uses those principles to stunning effect.
Return of the Robins by Charlotte Ziebarth
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Former television news reporter and self proclaimed addicted scrapbooker, Jill, recently gave our unique shaped Blank Board Products raving reviews on the website www.qwowi.com. As a writer for the scrapbooking division, she was convinced that she would always be a “strict devotee of the 12″x12″ album“. That was until she discovered the fun shapes and sizes available in our line of Ready-to-Go® line of Blank Board Products! Cupcakes, sea shells, cowboy boots..oh my. Click here to read about Jill’s journey stepping out of the traditional scrapbooking box and adding mini albums and fun shapes to her repertoire.
Here is Jill’s first step outside the traditional 12″x12″ zone. It’s our Ready-to-Go!® Blank Board Book 8 1/4” x 5 1/2” Scallop. We love it Jill! Thanks for sharing your work. Click here to see Jill’s entire album.
I found these two books for $1 on the subject of stumpwork. It’s a fascinating read as I hadn’t heard of it before. Let me know if anyone else out there is doing modern stumpwork…I’d love to see it.
See more garage sale finds
This weeks Giveaway is Calling Cards –Connect With Style by Trice Boerens. That’s right, social calling cards are back and quite the upcoming trend.Time recently did a feature on them as well as the LA times.
A hundred years back you wouldn’t be caught visiting without a calling card. The “old” is now the “new” hip way to pass on contact information. These cards not only offer a creative expression of yourself or an event, but also simply make sense when a business card is too formal and scratched info on a found gum wrapper is way too casual. Calling cards are being embraced by networking moms, job seekers, students, casual party planners, retirees, reunion attendees, travelers, and club meetings.
200 quietly perforated cards can be run through your printer or hand written and for added charm be embellished. The 40 designs reach well beyond the old gilded gold look. They have charm and kicky-ness with a look to suit all occasions.
For your chance to win a copy of Calling Cards – Connect With Style, post a comment here or on Facebook by Monday July 20, 2009 telling us what occasions you foresee using your calling cards for. We’ll randomly pick one winner to be announced on Monday. Good Luck!
Comments will be closed at 9am PST on 7/20/09
The Ground (As Seen From Above) made by Becky Goldsmith
I’ve been editing the Piece O’ Cake books ever since Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins became C&T authors so I know their work really well. I’m really excited about their new book Applique Outside the Lines.
It presents a new approach–more spontaneous and improvisational–and the quilts are fabulous. As Becky says in the book about making her first improvisational quilt:
In making this quilt I realized that I am so used to following my pattern that not doing that was hard. But the more I sewed, the more I found myself enjoying the freedom of not following the lines. It was not about being sloppy, it was about making more interesting lines in the quilt!
I hope you’ll take a look at this new book and loosen up with Becky and Linda.
Almost everyone I know is having babies (including myself)….I don’t know what’s in the water, but be careful reading this or you may be next!
In my last post I committed to creating one sewing project a week. I have a long list of things that I’d like to make but it made the most sense to get going on baby gifts for all of my friends (after all, there are 4 of them having babies!).
When I was pregnant with my first daughter, one of our awesome Production Coordinators, Zinnia, gave me some lovely quilted baby bibs that my now-almost-two-year old still uses. I love these bibs. They are soft, sturdy, suuuuper-cute, and best of all, we can just throw them in the laundry and reuse them…I much prefer them over the hard, plasticky bibs out there. I wanted to buy them for all of my friends, but the woman who made mine is taking a little break from her business, so I had to take matters into my own hands!
For Beth's baby boy: The little polka-dot bib is for a new little eater and the more sophisticated plaid is for an older toddler.
Working amongst a talented group of quilters and crafters is an intimidating thing…especially when I can’t even thread a needle! However, I have noticed something that I would like to share with my fellow co-workers and C&T bloggers!
I’ve spent the past four months apartment hunting and visiting open houses throughout the Bay Area, and I’ve noticed a certain trend…FABRIC!
Besides seeing wallpaper make a comeback (a serious jewel-toned, textured, heavy patterned comeback), I’ve noticed how so many homeowners and renters use fabric as an inexpensive, effective, and creative way to decorate. What I’ve noticed is even easier than sewing your own throw pillow (though that’s too hard for me). People are framing fabric and hanging it on their walls! This might be old news to some quilters out there…but I find this amazing. And totally cool!
(Image from The Purl Bee.)
Want to get a hold of a book that has been out of print for a while?
We are trying to make that happen. How you ask? Well, some of our books that were published over ten years ago are only in printed book form—there are no electronic files. This poses a difficult challenge!
First off, I need to scan the book.
Now that I have the pages scanned I bring it in to an application called Acrobat Pro. From here the pages are scanned again for text recognition. This allows for the scanned book to be searchable.
Next, I need to make the file small enough to download without losing quality. This took a lot of tries at first to get the file compression right, but I finally got it.
But what about books with oversized patterns?! We have spent some time chopping them up for the standard letter size paper. This way you can print the patterns at home from your computer. Don’t worry though! We added easy instructions and schematics so you can put it back together.
Let us know if there is a book you wish to see again. We are regularly adding titles to our Downloads store.
After much anticipation, the arrival of the “old fashioned” Calling Cards are here. They arrived in the form of a stylish new book by Trice Boerens called Calling Cards—Connect with Style. Refining the art of social networking. The book includes 200 ready-to-use cards that you can run through your printer if you wish. They’re easy to pop out and fun to embellish.
Calling Cards are back in style and they are not going away any time soon. Just check out the media coverage:
Time Magazine did an article on the revival of calling cards. ChicandCharming.com shares some practical uses of calling cards. Australian news site, The Age, says calling cards are making a comeback in this article that outlines the history behind the tradition.
So in conclusion..what are you waiting for? You are crafty and stylish. Get these ultra-chic cards for all your social occasions.
Congratulations to Judy Chainj who won Fantastiques Whimsies in the Weekly Giveaway! Your note cards will surely bring smiles to family and friends. Also happy to hear you’ll be a regular on our blog!
Thank you to all the readers who left comments here and on Facebook. There were many creative ideas shared in bringing these articulated characters to life. I think Jenny is onto something with the lego idea. Although my vacuum cleaner would feel dismay as it seems hungry seeking them out…clickety-click-click-shwoomp.
As a special thanks to our blog readers, for the next two weeks you can get 20% off your purchase of Fantastique Whimsies. Simply mention discount code WG25019 when you place your order with C&T via phone (800.284.1114) or at our web site (enter discount code where noted during checkout) on or before July 27, 2009.
