December Desktop!

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Quickly popping in to let everyone know that my December desktop is available to download! Love these for spicing up my computer each month! This is available in all my stores: Di Hickman Designs, A cherry on top and Scrapwow. Download features both sizes of desktop.


It's made with my latest kit: Christmas Joy, which is a mini kit. All the papers, and few embellishments. Just enough to create a few pages, or for a brag book. I like to keep the focus on the photo's!


Again it's available in all my stores so check it out! Di Hickman Designs, A cherry on top & Scrapwow.

Di

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Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Just popping in with a scheduled post to wish you all a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Here in the US Fall is synonymous with Thanksgiving. Although initially we really didn't get into the whole Thanksgiving holiday that much it's hard not celebrate too when everyone has the day off as a holiday. Any excuse to celebrate with food and drink I say!

Anyway just sharing some Thanksgiving cards today! These are from the November Issue of Scrapstreet Ezine, some great Fall and Thanksgiving projects in there if you're stuck for some ideas, or just want inspiration. First up is a hybrid card :) I have been really digging the hybrid lately!

Supplies: Papers & Ribbon: Boxer Scrapbooks; Chipboard: American Crafts; Brown paper & Text printed from photoshop;


This one uses the same Fall papers from Boxer, which I have used a lot really, more than I thought I would. These are really great for Fall pages!

Supplies: Papers, ribbon & Brads: Boxer Scrapbooks; Sentiment: computer font; Chipboard: American Crafts; Mesh: Magic Mesh;

Have a wonderful Holiday!


Di

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Card Sketch November #4

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Well it's the day before Thanksgiving here in the States and my kitchen looks like a grocery store exploded in it! Sure we're having guests, but anyone would think I am feeding the 5000!!! If you want some crafty fun this week why not try out this weeks card sketch. Something a bit different from me, but I like it! As usual the digital template is available free in my store for a limited time!


I have to say that I like this sketch, mine came together really easy but I was on a roll with sketch cards so that could have easily been the reason too. I like the swirl, gives me a reason to use templates and pens, though rub ons could work well too!

"Hi" card by Di Hickman
Supplies: Papers: Making Memories; stickers: Miss Elizabeths; Flower: Prima; Pen: Sakura; Template: Crafters Workshop; Button: Target;



"Congratulations" card by Ruth Trice
Supplies: Prima Flower, punches by McGill, Punch Bunch and Martha Stewart, siticker by Brenda Walton, mini repro postcards and ribbon from stash and Pebeo pearl touch.



"Thanks" card by Louise Connell
Supplies: Paper, rub-ons and felt embellishment – K&Co Wild Saffron; Ribbon – Making Memories; Alpha Stickers - Doodlebug



"Thanks a million" card by Raechelle Bellus
supplies: cs: Core'dinations; pp: October Afternoon, Pink Paislee and other; buttons: Basic Grey; DMC Floss; ink; rubons: Melissa Frances



"thank you" card by Kelli Smith
supplies: K&Co. thankful paper and emblllishments, embrodiery: Autumn leaves



"life's simple pleasures" card by Kristin Schulz
Supplies: Prima flower, Fancy Pants tags, K & Co. chip, acrylic paint



"Happy Birthday" card by Liz Davidson
Supplies: Die cut and embossing folder from cuttlebug (for the cake), Background paper top Glitter mat stack, DCWV, yellow card, papermill, Heart cuttlebug die coloured with silver ink. brown chalk ink and Studio G stamps, Prima blossom



"For You" card by Pearl Liu
Supply list : Bazzill Swiss Dot Cardstock, Webster's Pages Purple Splendour , Hambly Deco Note , Prima Felt , Heidi Swapp Black Velvet Floral , 7 Gypsies' Chelsea Brad & Velvet Blossoms



"birdie" card by Celeste Brodnik
Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Pattern Paper, Felt Embellisments: Chatterbox; Ink: Clear Snap; Ribbon: Craft Supply



"Merry Christmas" card by Chrys Rose
Supplies: Bazzill cardstock; Basic Grey pattern paper; Poinsetta flower: unknown; Prima leaves; Bo Bunny rub on; Pink Paislee glitter; Ball metal ribbon unknown



"Seasons Greetins" card by Jan Tatomir
Supplies: Paper, Tag & Flowers: Making Memories; Lace: Wright (vintage); Ribbon: Strano Designs



"Happy Birthday" card by Linda Flinders



"Christmas Pillow Box" card by Annette Taylor
Supplies: Paper design and rubber stamp – Crafter’s Companion, Bauble Stamp – Magnolia, Paints from local art shop, Ink – Versamark, Button and Ribbon from stash



"Happiness" card by Jo Willis
Supplies: My Mind’s Eye paper, Making memories paper, HOTP paper, Basic grey chipboard, Inkadinkado Birds Galore stamp, Colorbox chalk ink, vintage lace, fine pearl beading, Prima flowers, vintage plastic, metal and glass buttons, various beads, Stickles, K&Co tag, ribbon and a pin.



"Holiday Trees" card by Beverley Todd
Supplies: Textured cardstock: DCWV; Patterned papers: Basic Grey; Holy
leaves: Prima Marketing; Sentiment Stamp: A Muse; Buttons: Making
Memories





Happy cardmaking!

Di

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Review: Epson Artisan 800 pt. 1

Tuesday, November 25, 2008


When I got my last printer I did a little review on my blog and got lots of feedback, so I thought I'd do the same with the latest printer we got, which would be good considering Holidays are almost here! 2 weeks ago we got the Epson Artisan 800 printer.

The Epson Artisan printers are the very latest in the Epson line, and features the 700 and 800 models. There are few differences between these models but for me the major difference was the scanner on the 800 was far superior 4800 dpi compared to 2400, which for scanning items for digital kits is AWESOME! This along with the fax capabilities of the 800 makes for a great all in one model! The Artisan 800 is packed with great features! It has a 7.8” touch panel and 3.5” LCD, photo and document printing, copying, scanning, and faxing, Ultra Hi-Definition prints with Epson Claria™ ink, a range of exclusive creative capabilities, and built-in Wi-Fi and wired networking. The big difference for me for this compared to our last printer, is it is much sleeker and streemlined. I'd estimate it around 4" lower and a couple of inches smaller all round. It fits on my desk now with some room around it rather than hanging out on the desk and spreading around the edges.

Before I get into full on technical review and get into geek mode, I have to say hands down Epson have come up with the most awesome feature ever: you can print ruled and graph printer straight from the printer! GENIUS! Seriously, genius! Those following my pathtogreendom blog will know I've been planning my veggie beds and there has been numerous times I've needed graph paper and had boot up the pc, go online, download it, then print it. Now it's a quick print option! Freakin Genius!

After having we set up the printer naturally first thing we had to try was the photo printing (after the graph paper option mentioned above) and make sure the unit was working. We shoved a memory card into the slot and just printed, straight off the card no photo editing (not something I usually do) and were both amazed at the photo quality! STUNNING! Naturally as technology geeks we love the wi-fi, networking and touch screen. Bob likes being able to print from the network, so he can print from his laptop in the living room onto the printer in my office.

Printer
Printing is super easy with the two paper trays! Room for regular paper and photo paper without having to change trays or paper, awesome news for lazy printers like me! You can do lots of photo editing directly on the touch screen, like cropping and rotating, no need for computer required. Personally I don't do that often (being a photoshop junkie) but nice to have the option. The printer also prints on printable CDs just like the RX680 but the feature is a lot simpler on this model. It features six-color Ultra Hi-Definition Claria ink for vivid, true-to-life images to create smudge, scratch and water resistant photos. According to Epson it delivers fade resistant photos that last up to four times longer than photo lab prints. and prints resist fading up to 200 years in album storage. All these are important for us scrapbookers! For those looking for print examples, look for a layout coming Monday :)

Scanner
The Epson Artisan 800 has a 4800 dpi resolution and 48-bit color scanning for high quality scans of images and documents with brilliant clarity and accuracy. It offers standalone (one-touch) color and black and white copying and can reduce and enlarge copies (25 to 400 percent). It can scan to a computer, memory card or USB flash drive, and can scan and save directly into PDF format without any extra steps


Copier
A year ago I could have done without a copier, but having had the option of one touch copying for a year, I would not be without it again! The Artisan 800 offers standalone (one-touch) color and black and white copying, copies up to 99 pages – no computer required, and reduces and enlarges copies (25 to 400 percent). Copying is one of those things you never need until you NEED it. It's a feature of an all in one that I use a lot more than I initially thought I would.

Summary
I am still putting the printer through it's paces, but initial reaction is the print quality is superb! I've printed on paper, gloss photo, matt photo, and sticker paper. I have plans for the CD printing at the weekend so hopefully will report on that next week :) Pretty much this thing does everything but make the tea and mow the lawn! As I mentioned I've printed on a few different papers for testing, and created a layout that I'll share Monday :)


I plan on doing more little reviews throughout the next few weeks as we use more of the features, so more soon!

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Manufacturer Monday - Sandylion

Monday, November 24, 2008

Well I didn't get nearly as much done with Sandylion as I'd hoped, just time constraints and having to move onwards with other projects right now. I did manage to get my journal altered, which was my primary focus for today's post so I guess I shouldn't feel too bad!

Supplies: Journal: Target; Papers & Stickers: Sandylion.

I've already started on next months Manufacturer Monday posts. Can you believe it's nearly December? Time FLIES by!

That's about all for today, busy creating!

Di

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Freebie Winner

Hi again,
just popping in to announce the winner of the $5 coupon to my digital store.

Tina: I want a chance to win too! Thank You!

Email me and I'll get it out to you

Remember I give away coupons all the time so keep checking back!

Enjoy

Di

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Digital store news

Sunday, November 23, 2008

When I started designing I designed stuff for me, and if other people liked it then that was great. During the last year though things have changed, my need to give people the product they want has increased.

I did a little survey last weekend about double page templates asking what format people preferred. Seems the popular opinion is that customers want two 12x12 pages rather than a 24x12 page. So I am reformatting my double page templates to accommodate this. Each set will now contain 2 separate pages, and come with 12x12, 8.5x11 & 11x8.5 versions, plus PNG files. The first template is available now, set #1.



Look for more coming in my stores soon!

Di

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Friday Freebie: Digital Freebie

Friday, November 21, 2008

Digital freebie this week! If you'd like the chance to win a $5 coupon to my digital store, just sign in the comments! I'll pick a winner on Monday 24th November.



Good Luck!

Di

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Theme Thursday - Fall

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Well I dug into my stash and found some more Fall supplies I'd forgotten about. Amazing what you find when you really dig around! I had the color scheme so just dove into the browns, greens and oranges in my stash. Anyone else have these leaves in their stash? Great for Fall cards!

Supplies: Papers & rub-ons: DCWV; Frame: Making Memories; Other: button, brads, ribbon, leaves

Fall is a time for Thanksgiving and family reunions and I thought this sentiment went well for the time of year. Also matches the papers perfectly. I recently got the Boxer paper tearing ruler so I've been playing around with that too!

Supplies: Papers, Cardstock & rub-ons: DCWV; Other: button, ribbon, leaf; Paper tearing ruler: Boxer Scrapbooks

Any finally more paper tearing, and same papers/colors/products. Still have some of these papers which I hope to get around to using up soon! Amazing where all this product comes from? I'm sure it reproduces in here when I'm not looking!

Supplies: Papers, cardstock & rub-ons: DCWV; Other: button, sticker, skeleton leaves; Paper tearing ruler: Boxer Scrapbooks

More themed cards next week!

Di

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Card Sketch November #3

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

I just want to say from the get go that I LOVE this sketch. Struggled with last weeks but this one was so natural to me, just flowed like a dream. Snagging it and shoving it in my favorites file. The digital template is available free in my store for a limited time, snag it while you can.


This weeks sketch is one that came naturally for me. I decided I was finally going to use some of the Imagination Project paper I'd been hoarding (albeit a little bit) and the rest just fell together. Love it when that happens!

"Birthday" card by Di Hickman Supplies: Papers: DCWV, Imagination Project; Photo Corners: 3L; Metal letter & Rub-ons: Making Memories; Cardstock: DCWV; Tearing ruler: Karen Foster;



"Noel" card by Beverley Todd Supplies: Card blank, mini brad buddies: HOTP, Papers: Fancy Pants; Gems: A Muse; Snowflake brads: Dovecraft; Photo Corners: Making Memories; Ink: Colorbox; Snowflake Punch: Stampin U



"snow" card by Linda Flinders



"Delight" card by Kristin Schulz
Supplies: Fancy Pants tags, DCWV, American Crafts and TT chip, Kaiser pearl, Colorbox and Staz On inks



"Party" card by Jo Willis
Supplies: Papermill card, DCWV paper embossed with Cuttlebug Swiss Dots, Scenic Route chipboard, Prima lace, Making Memories brads and anchors, black Signo pen.



"Belated Birthday" card by Kelli Smith
supply list: fancy pants rubons and paper, maya road chipboard, ranger stickles (painted on by Hannah Nosch)



"" card by Louise Connell



"Lino Smiles" card by Ruth Trice
Supplies: Paper by K and Co, repro advert from stash, Quickutz photo corner and Fiskars scallop punch.



"Get Well" card by Liz Davidson
Supplies: patterned paper from PaperMania, Studio G stamps, Offray ribbon, gems from paperchase, paper flower from The ribbonerie.



"Best Wishes" card by Celeste Brodnik
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Pattern Paper: Bo Bunny, Fancy Pants; Jewels: Prima Marketing; Rubon: Scenic Route; Punch: Martha Stewart; Ink: Colorbox Chalk Ink; Ribbon: Craft Supply



"Cheers" card by Pearl Liu
supply list : Heidi Swapp Winterfresh pp and journaling card , Prima snowflake , Making Memories' Rouge Paperie Shimmer Alphas


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Scrapbooking.com November

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Just reminding everyone that the Scrapbooking.com November magazine is available online. My article this month is all about countdown calendars. The projects in the article are shown below with the supply lists as usual. If you go to the article however you can find links for the instructions for each project :)

Supplies: 3D countdown calendar: Countdown Calendar (Karen Foster); Adhesive: E-Z Runner, Adhesive sheets (Scrapbook Adhesives 3L); Buttons; Chipboard: Season of Joy (Scrapworks); Die cut: Stars (Sizzix); Patterned Paper: Fruitcake, Merry & Bright, Season of Joy (Scrapworks); Stickers: Countdown Calendar (Karen Foster)

Supplies: Cardstock: white (Die Cuts With a View); Digital supplies: Create a card , occasions vol 1 (Glitz Designs); Fonts: Lucida Handwriting; Software: Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 (Corel)

Supplies: Adhesive: E-Z Runner (Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L); Brads: Orange (Hot Off The Press); Cardstock: Orange, white (Die Cuts With a View); Ink: Black (Tsukineko), sail boat blue (Ranger); Patterned Paper: Coastal Passion (Reminisce); Stamps: paradise, classmate alphabet (Close To My Heart); Stickers: Flip Flops (Reminisce)


Happy Creating!

Di

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Manufacturer Monday - Sandylion

Monday, November 17, 2008

Regular blog readers will know I implemented a new rule when creating with older lines. None shall go back in the stash - If I pull it out I use it all. So I had some scraps left over from last weeks tag book and had to use them, so I made a few cards, which in the process used more older product! Score! So here are some cards with the Sandylion papers.

Supplies: Cardstock: DCWV; Paper: Sandylion; Rub-on: JoAnn; Brads: Provocraft; Ribbon: Unknown;

Supplies: Cardstock: DCWV; Paper: Sandylion; Rub-on: PSX; Brads: Provocraft; Ribbon: Unknown;

Supplies: Cardstock: DCWV; Paper: Sandylion; Sticker: Sandylion; Stamps: 7Gypsies, Hero Arts; Ink: CTMH; Brads: Provocraft;

Supplies: Cardstock: DCWV; Sticker: Sandylion; Stamps: 7Gypsies, Hero Arts; Ink: CTMH; Ribbon: unknown;

That about wraps up today, I have some of the same 'one of a kind' line from Sandylion to use, but in blue (Scrapbook shopping - It's a sickness I tell ya!) and I plan to use some for an altered journal. I also just realized that there is only one Monday left this month! Where does the time go?

Di

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New Digital Products! Fall QPs & Brag book!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Popping by to announce some new products in my digital stores! I made my first quickpages and brag books in October and I have to say I LOVED them! Great to make, just my kind of scrapping: quick and easy! So I got busy and made some quickpages and a brag book with my Fall Frolic kit. I could get hooked on these!

These are available in all my stores: Di Hickman Designs, A Cherry on Top and Scrapwow

Quick Page #1

QuickPage #2

QuickPage #3

Brag Book

Hope you like them as much as I enjoyed making them!

Di

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