Patriotic Sheet Music, Our New 2012 Calendar, Challenge & Samples

Hi Everyone,

I have links today to some free Patriotic sheet music and our NEW 2012 Calendar, Plus – a link to our DT Childhood Challenge (if you missed it) and a new Summer Colors Challenge you can join in over at Splitcoast!

Here is the link to the sheet music printable gifts shown below. I wish I had some great Canadian vintage sheet music but I've never been able to find any to buy. We celebrate Canada Day this Friday but Canada's population is tiny compared to the USA, so most of our readers are from the USA.  Eh - if you are Canadian or from any other country outside of the USA, you can order directly from us, not through our online Shopatron store. Just email office@craftysecerts.com 

These images are small and you need to click HERE to get the large pdf files from our website.  Sing Joyfully, Cheerily will work for everyone in any country to create with (just remember all our printable freebies are for personal use only).

Our graphic artist Cindy van Koll creates a new calendar every year and we usually post the next year’s calendar in June. Several people start calendars part way through the year   and need part of our 2012 Calendar HERE and you still get our 2011 Calendar HERE.

The Calendars work great with images from our Seasonal Booklet, or if you use the 12 large color images on our Seasonal Calendar Scraps you won’t be able to use the calendar on the opposite side – so you can use our free one!

DT Member Amy Teets used the July calendar from our Seasonal Calendar Scraps with 3 papers and the doily on our new CD, Creating with Vintage Patterns to create this pretty card.

I also spotted this pretty card on DT Member Tammy Robert's Blog and she's also in love with the designs on the new CD and the versatility. She shrunk a full 12 x 12" page down to create this 5 x 7" birthday card. The rose in the center is from our new Mini Vintage Creative Scraps. and she used some of our stamps
 

Lastly, I want to tell you about the Spring Color Challenge Marcy Talbert  is hosting over at Splitcoaststampers.com with details HERE and you can check out the Gallery HERE and you can join in the fun and post a samples you create with any of our products in Summer colors.  Look at this adorable card Marcy created using our Fairyland Stamp Set.

Wishing you joy & creativity

Sandy Redburn

Owner
Crafty Secrets
Visit Our Store Locator
Visit Our Online Store Here

This Blog: http://heartwarmingvintage.blogspot.com  
Our Website: http://www.craftysecrets.com
Toll Free Phone or Fax 1-888 597-8898
Local Phone 604 597-8817

Crafty Secrets Head Office
15430 78 A Ave.,
Surrey, BC V3S 8R4

USA Warehouse
250 H. Street, #436
Blaine,WA 98230

Come See Our Design Team Childhood Challenge!

Hi Everyone,


Today is our first Design Team Challenge with the addition our new DT Members! The theme is Childhood and all you have to do is click on each of the links below to see every one's creations! I even made a couple of little samples farther down!


Vicki Chrisman Design Team Leader

Pam Hooten


Heidi Blankenship


Linda Duke


Michele Kovack


Julie Campbell

New Design Team Members!

Amy Teets

 Debbie Marcinkiewicz


Fauve vanMaanen


Gini Cagle


Jan Hennings


Tammy Roberts


Victoria Warren Mears


Viola Mahr

I don't have time to make samples much anymore but I made these little keepsakes gifts for a baby shower gift recently. The postcard is from our Baby Boy Postcard Kit and I also used our Little Boys Outfit with our Baby Boy Stickers.

Here is a photo of the backside of the Postcard. I stamped it with the mini stamp set included and added one of the little baby images to one of the chipboard stamp shapes.  

You can also see the Little Boys Outfit folded open, which I added stickers to.

Here's the backside and I love how the chipboard piece in the center of the outfit looks like a little PJ trap door. It appears I got a little 'sticker happy' but there are so many cute ones on the sheet I couldn't resist! I used Vicki's idea with a pattern tracing wheel to go around the 'trap door' to create Faux stitching lines. Papers are from our Pastel Paper Pad

You can see all our Baby and Childhood theme products HERE.

Be sure to go visit each of the DT ladies blogs and see what they have created!

If you missed any of the NEW Products we added last week, I did a blog post each day showing the details and there are 3 pages all HERE in our Shopatron Store with the Peel-Off Stickers, Metal Mini Frames, Epoxy Stickers, Fruit Note Pads, Tattered Angels Embossed Frames, Albums and their jumbo Timeless Romance Stamp set!

Wishing you joy & creativity

Sandy Redburn

Owner
Crafty Secrets


Visit Our Store Locator
Visit Our Online Store Here


This Blog: http://heartwarmingvintage.blogspot.com/  
Our Website: http://www.craftysecrets.com/  


Toll Free Phone or Fax 1-888 597-8898
Local Phone 604 597-8817


Crafty Secrets Head Office
15430 78 A Ave.,
Surrey, BC V3S 8R4

USA Warehouse
250 H. Street, #436
Blaine,WA 98230

Today’s Winner, Best Printers?, See Our DT Challenge Tomorrow!

Hi Everyone,

I had random.org pick a winner early today and then I got lost in trying to figure out the best quality, most cost efficient and problem free color printer.   I never thought it would be so hard to come up with a list but I’ve posted my findings below because so many people have asked me about printing the pattern paper from our new CD. Scroll down to see my thoughts and findings…



First, I have to announce the winner from my post yesterday, so congrats to Random.org Winner #86 Renee VanEpps, who has won our new CD, our Mini Vintage Creative Scraps and 12 Peel-Off Stickers!

Before I talk about printers I need to clarify that YES – our CD, Creating with Vintage Patterns works for both PC and Macs with any compatible with software that supports jpg & PNG files for Windows or Mac. So, as long as your computer will open a jpg and PNG file – you can print all of the designs! YOU can also print any of the 24 Black PNG Design Patterns in B&W on any color cardstock and not even use color ink.

If you want to use the CD for digital projects then you need to have software that also supports those formats. The most popular digital software right now seems to be Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 and Patty Debowski from  thedigitalscrapbookteacher.com  wrote a step by step tutorial included on our CD on how she created this digital layout using the program. She also has classes, software, her new book and a link on her site for a $20.00 rebate, so it’s only $99.00 – but more importantly for those of you curious that just want to try digital out, there is a link to a free trial version Elements 9 HERE!

Okay, now on to printers... I think amazon.com is one of the best places to research printers and possibly buy one - if you can't find the model you like best locally.  They have candid reviews posted by the general public and you can search under 'Best Selling' and 'Highest Reviews' for different brands.  It's really mixed, but the overall ratings from 602 reviews is 4.5* out of 5 for the  Canon Pixma MP560 Wireless Inkjet Printer and the other newer Pixma MG5220 model seems to be good.  I bought a new Pixma MP560 printer today for $83.11 and $16.11 S&H new from a store on amazon, so be sure to look at all of the options, as they have refurbished models on many printers as well.  

I've heard about the Kodak printers that save money on ink but the reviews are way more mixed and less positive. Amazon has the Kodak-ESP-6150 all in one Color Printer for  $149.00 from amazon.com (includes S&H) Do any of you have feedback on these printers?
If you read the bad reviews, many people seem to complain about setting up the wireless connection and they have suggestions that seem helpful.

Here is a link to bestselling wide format printers with all the reviews.

I would love to hear your feedback about printing paper and printers!!!

PS - Thanks for all the kind comments yesterday! The weather held out for Katie's birthday BBQ and later we play pictionary and used an easel for everyone to draw on and it was the perfect party game. 

I'm excited to see what the Design Team creates tomorrow for our Childhood Challenge!

Sandy Redburn

Owner
Crafty Secrets

Visit Our Store Locator
Visit Our Online Store Here

This Blog: http://heartwarmingvintage.blogspot.com  
Our Website: http://www.craftysecrets.com

Toll Free Phone or Fax 1-888 597-8898
Local Phone 604 597-8817

Crafty Secrets Head Office
15430 78 A Ave.,
Surrey, BC V3S 8R4

USA Warehouse
250 H. Street, #436
Blaine,WA 98230

New Giveaway for Peel-Off Stickers, Jumbo Stamps, our CD & Mini Vintage Scraps!

Hi Everyone,

Today is the last day to show you our new products – until I can show you our 15 NEW Clear Art Stamp Sets, which are turning out amazing! Sneak Peeks will start next month as we get ready for our Online Summer Trade Show for our retailers.


We just got the proofs back yesterday for Born to Fly (with adorable fairy children, butterflies, tiny tickets, a stage… so many wonderful bits & pieces) and Let’s Hang Out (imagine a clothesline, cute retro ladies, iron, vacuum, etc with lots of fun phrases to create hilarious cards). Plus – there will be sets for baseball, cool mini frames & labels, lacey patterns, golf, antique trims, silhouettes, buttons and more! Okay - I can't stand it - here is a little peek at part of the Born to Fly large Clear Art Stamp Set! See what I mean, do you like?

The random.org winner from yesterday is lucky #13 Marlene Bender who has won our new CD, Creating with Vintage Patterns, our Mini Vintage Scraps and the 3 Albums I showed you yesterday. I was so happy to see Marlene win, she has been a past Guest Designer, is a regular visitor to this blog and our Crafty Secrets Forum at Splitcoast. Congrats Marlene!

For today’s Giveaway - I have a fabulous Jumbo Stamp Set and 12 new Peel-Off Stickers, our CD and Mini Vintage Scraps – so just leave a comment here on this blog post to be entered to WIN!


The stamp set is called Timeless Romance and it’s a Tattered Angels stamp set that has been discontinued but I love it and we don’t have Clear Art Stamps this huge, so I bought a bunch to sell. It’s a 22 piece stamp set and includes a variety of jumbo to smaller stamps. The postcard 5.5”W x 4”H, large heart is 6”W, smaller heart is 4.5”w, the key is 4.5” and the wings are 2.25” Plus you get 4 postage stamps, assorted postmarks, 3 phrases that fit in the banner, a round fleur de lis, and a seal style stamp with ‘Handcrafted By’. The stamps are mounted on a thick acrylic sheet, designed so you can cut each of them out and use the backing as your stamp block. We’ve tried it and they work, so no need to buy a 6” stamp block. The reg. price was $22.00, on SALE for $16.95 while supplies last. We will also wholesale this set to stores that regularly order our Clear Art Stamps.

you can see them better out of the packaging

Look at this very cool fabric layout that DT Leader Vicki Chrisman created with the stamps. Vicki has been on the Tattered Angels DT since the beginning when we met Wendy, the owner, at a show and we saw their new product 'Glimmer Mist'. Vicki has created 100's of samples using Tattered Angels products over the years and they work so great with our stuff that I bought a bunch of their closeouts. We will be getting some of the In Flight Stamps and Travel Albums in 7 - 10 days.

Okay now to the Peel-Off Stickers! I love the detail and really want to have our own line one day with this European manufacture, but for now I picked 12 that work great with products and we will also be selling these wholesale as well to stores that regularly order from us.

Each sheet is 4"w x 9"h and there are Gold Metallic, Cream & Gold and a couple of Black. Retail $1.99 each and you get several on each sheet. The great thing is they are bendable, so you can curve them around things and dress up all sorts of projects! Go have a look HERE, where you can see 3 pages of all the NEW EXTRA PRODUCTS we've added this week HERE!

Look at this adorable onesie that DT Member Tammy Roberts created using a die she has and a piece of our Little Blessings Creative Scraps and a stamp from our Angel Blessings and the Baby Girl Postcard Kit. See details HERE on Tammy's Blog

It made me feel sentimental, as my first baby just turned 29! (scroll down).

We are having a birthday BBQ party here today for our oldest daughter Katie Ann who turned 29! How can it be that I have a child almost 30????? This tiny baby picture is stuck on my computer (a sample from our old Little Ones Words from the Heart Book). I can't believe it was 29 years ago I had her!

This is Katie today with the second love of her life, George. She's been with her first love Ryan since grade 12.  She has grown into a beautiful beautiful woman inside & out and I'm so happy and proud to be her mum!  I remember in grade 6 when she announced she was a vegetarian. I thought it might be a faze but I know she would never again 'eat anything that had a face' as she puts it. She is working on a new TV show that will be airing on CBC next season (I will post details) but I'm thrilled she is living her dream! Our youngest daughter Chelsea, 22,  just got her degree and landed a job yesterday as a recreational therapy director for older seniors. Holly, 26, works as an administrative  assistant for a steel company and I'm just so happy they are all happy & healthy! That is all that matters in the end. Ok, I need to go finish decorating! 
PLEASE COME BACK MONDAY..... scroll down

This Monday is our big Deign Team Challenge with a Childhood theme! Plus, don't forget to leave a comment to be entered to win today's great giveaway!

Wishing you joy & creativity
Sandy Redburn
Owner
Crafty Secrets

Visit Our Store Locator
Visit Our Online Store Here

This Blog: http://heartwarmingvintage.blogspot.com  
Our Website: http://www.craftysecrets.com  

Toll Free Phone or Fax 1-888 597-8898
Local Phone 604 597-8817

Crafty Secrets Head Office
15430 78 A Ave.,
Surrey, BC V3S 8R4

USA Warehouse
250 H. Street, #436
Blaine,WA 98230

A New Giveaway and Winner, Album Sale,More Inspiration & We're Famous!

Hi Everyone,

I'm back and I have the random.org winner from the last post, # 180 Sharon from Arizona who has won our new CD, Creating with Vintage Patterns, a sheet of our new Mini Vintage Creative Scraps and 3 Albums I will show you.  Sorry for the delay - Blogger has been a major headache all week long freezing up and losing entire sections - errgg!

Be sure to leave a comment today to be entered into tomorrows giveaway for our new CD, a sheet the Mini Vintage Creative Scraps, a bunch of wonderful gold and lacey peel off stickers and a jumbo stamp set I think you will love!

As I explanied yesterday, I bought some albums, frames and stamp sets that Tattered Angels discontinued to focus on their paint products but I love their products as they work so great with ours! 

This 10-page Garden Album that Tattered Angels discontinued has an embossed tree on the chipboard cover and a Glimmer Glass fence across the front (can easily be removed).  The pages are a thicker paper (not chipboard) and the cream color is perfect for Glimmer Mist and stamping on, or you can glue paper on. There are 2 bi-fold pages that fold out from each side. Was Reg. $12.99, on SALE $6.95  This sample was designed by DT Leader Vicki Chrisman, who is on the Tattered Angels Design Team. Drat - she also made a great Travel Album but we have sold out until we get our skid back from the last show - sorry.

Vicki added the chipboard swirls, knobs and HOME letters (not included with the album).

She also removed the Glimmer Glass fence that is included and she did an outdoor theme but the album will work with any theme. 

The cover is chipboard and the 10 inside pages are a thicker cream paper which looks so great sprayed with Gimmer Mist and stamped on! The images are a mix from our Birds & Botanical (see the Iris) and Summertime Image Booklets, our Garden Scraps and several of the Clear Art Stamp Sets, like the bird from our Fairyland Stamp set. Size 8"w x 6"h.

I will get Vicki to post the album on her blog and include more details and tips on how she sprays the Glimmer Mist and gets such great blending with the colors.

The inside pages are a thick paper and I love the way these ones fold out!

Okay, next is the 10 pg Regal Album, discontinued from Tattered Angels which has a Glimmer Glass Fleur de lis window, three matching Glimmer Glass tab accents and tabbed dividers. Page size is 8"h x 5"w. Reg. $12.95, on sale for $6.95.

The Frosty Memories Album from Tattered Angels has a Glimmer Glass window with  accents and tabbed dividers. 8"H x 5"W size,  the pages are also a thicker cream paper, so great sprayed with Glimmer Mist and stamped on, or glue on paper. You can also cut the snowflake tabs off and use the album for a variety of themes.

We are famous, well a little more well known in Germany now, thanks to a great article that Nathalie Kalbach wrote inthe Summer Issue of the ScrapArtZine, a magazine published in Germany! Look at the fantastic samples she created - she made vintage look hip & trendy!

Nathalie interviewed me about how I got started but I can tell you it wouldn't be possible without all the fantastic people like our graphic designer Cindy van Koll and DT leader Vicki Chrisman, Jessica & Shelley, our DT ladies and my family!  We will be featured in an upcoming Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine soon as well!

I have some more fabulous samples to show you including journal book that DT Member Victoria Warren-Mears decorated with the birdie sheet music and accent papers on our CD

Look at this adorable card that DT Member Heidi Blankenship made  HERE using an image from our Vintage Photos Creative Scraps and a black flower print from the CD and how she colored the flowers. The great thing with the black PNG files is you can print on any color paper to suit your project.

I love this little chef angel from our Homemade Booklet and the way DT Member Tammy Roberts used our Cherish Stamp Set looks so sweet with her embellishments.

Don't forget to leave a comment here for tomorrows Giveaway . There are will be several really cool intricate lace stickers and the stamp set is 12 x 12", plus the CD and Mini Scraps.

Also, thank you so much for all the wonderful comments and feedback, it means the world to us!

Sandy Redburn

Owner
Crafty Secrets

Visit Our Store Locator
Visit Our Online Store Here

This Blog: http://heartwarmingvintage.blogspot.com  
Our Website: http://www.craftysecrets.com  

Toll Free Phone or Fax 1-888 597-8898
Local Phone 604 597-8817

Crafty Secrets Head Office
15430 78 A Ave.,
Surrey, BC V3S 8R4

USA Warehouse
250 H. Street, #436
Blaine,WA 98230

New Giveaway for CD, Metal Frames & Fruit Notepads! Sale on Cotton Scraps!

Hi Everyone,  Blogger wouldn't let me add any photos today, but it's working now. I thought it was me, until it did it to Vicki. I guess we can't complain - it's free!

Please be sure to enter our Giveaway today and I will announce a winner tomorrow for our New CD, a sheet of our Mini Vintage Scraps and some great Tattered Angels Chipboard Albums I will be showing you tomorrow.  They  discontinued several items to focus on their Glimmer Mist but these creamy off white albums are fabulous for spraying, stamping and inking!  


Congratulations to # 4, Melissa Bove our random.org winner today, who wins our new CD, Creating with Vintage Patterns, a sheet of our Mini Vintage Creative Scraps, 3 mini frames and an Apple and Pear Mini Note Pads .  When I went to Melissa's Blog to look for her email the first thing I saw was this adorable shabby card she created with our Little Girl Stamp set for a Simon Says Sketch Challenge.

We've added these blank pendants to our Shopatron Store.

JSR01 – Round 1” Pendant in Silver Finish - These work great with our Mini Vintage Creative Scraps with the flowers, butterflies, birds and collage designs but you can also add stamped art or keepsake photos. Adhere images with a variety of adhesives. We are currently out of stock of 1” round epoxy stickers but you can use any sealer or leave it mat. Try doodling on images with a Clear Gelly Roll Pen to add extra sparkle without the messy glitter. They make a pretty accent tied with ribbon for friends, babies and seasonal gifts and cards. The solid metal bail is built into the mold, so no jump ring is needed.

I'm working on getting these antique Brass frames added as well. They will sell for $1.99.

We also add these Epoxy Stickers to our store today! 

JCA01-Clear 3D Epoxy Square 1" Stickers work great with our Mini Vintage Creative Scraps. You can quickly add that little unique embellishment to cards and a variety of creative projects with no fuss and glue.  Create little jewelry pieces from pins to pendants. You can use them over images like flowers and birds, or place over stamped art or small photos. Try punching a window in a card front and place the 3D sticker image inside the card to peek through.  Note: these are not a really thick raised 3D dome top but the 20 stickers per sheet work out to less than .15 cents each, $2.99

Here are 2 more fun items we are selling now, Mini Note Pads in a Apple and Pear, $2.99 each and they look like little pieces of art.  The apple is almost 4" tall with a real wood stem and a apple seed printed on each page and includes a paper clip (asst colors) and a little white mesh fruit wrap. We are going to wholesale these as well. They come wrapped flat.

The Pear Note Pad is almost 4" tall when folded open and comes with a color paper clip (asst colors) and a little white mesh wrap (like you see on fancy pears at the grocery store. The stem is wooden with a pear seed on each page. $2.99  each.

The little fruit wraps included with each piece are white, although these below look pink and the apples look like a perfect red and ours are more BRIGHT RED.  The pears are bright just like above.  

I also marked down all of our remaining Homespun Cotton Scraps from $5.75 to $4.50 and I wanted to show you these pretty samples that I spotted on Annette's Paper Bistro Blog

Look at this amazing 3D pretty card that DT Member Linda Duke created using our Art Bloom stamp set!  I love all the layers she added and the soft pastel colors she got with her Copic Markers. You can see a bunch of close up photos and get great coloring tips HERE on Linda's Blog

Digital designer Amy Teets is one of our new Design Team Members and I'm thrilled she has joined us as we needed a digital queen like Amy because we are new & green with our new CD! I love how she added the lace digitally across the top. The little 3D boxes are probably from a frame set she designed and they really show off the papers and make this a really interesting layout.

I have to admit it's very exciting for us to see the papers and design elements from the new CD used and how well they work and the creative possibilities! Wow - the cream screws, doily and flower really do look 3D.  Yippee! You can see the 3rd layout on Amy's Blog.

Debbie Marcinkiewicz is also one of our new Design Team Members and she is so sweet, she sent me this adorable little card she made using a free image I posted on the blog. She covered one of the Embossed Mini Frames with glitter (that Tattered Angels discontinued and I bought a bunch of). Everyone loves the frames mainly so we split them up into pkgs of 12 and will be selling the alphas also.  I love cream chipboard way more than grey.

Gini Cagle is also a new Design Team Member and look at how pretty our Rose stamp set looks that she colored in peach for this 3D card she made. All of our DT ladies are doing a Childhood theme challenge this Monday!

Tomorrow I will show you some more great samples and we will be adding some of the cream color Chipboard Albums Tattered Angels discontinued.

Don't forget to leave a comment to enter to win one of each of the 4 Albums, our new CD, Creating with Vintage Patterns and a sheet of our new Creative Scraps!

Wishing you joy & creativity

Sandy Redburn

Owner

Visit Our Store Locator

Visit Our Online Store Here

This Blog: http://heartwarmingvintage.blogspot.com  
Our Website: http://www.craftysecrets.com/  

Crafty Secrets Head Office
15430 78 A Ave.,

Surrey, BC V3S 8R4

USA Warehouse
250  Street, #436
Blaine,WA 98230