How to Do a Design Transfer

This is a cheap, fun way to transfer almost any simple image. I use it to start many of my customized drawings, and I mentioned it in my latest book, Cut, Crop & Die.

Basically, you are creating “carbon paper” on the back of your image. Here are the steps:

1. Print out your image on a piece of paper. The thinner, the better. The simpler your image (that is, the fewer the lines and the less complexity it has), the better.





2. Turn over your image onto the WRONG side. Using a graphite pencil (#2 lead or softer is best), color the paper on the WRONG side of the image. I like to make strokes one way (say from upper left to lower right) and then the other way (upper right to lower left).

3. Flip your original over to the right side. Tape it down to a new piece of paper. Copy over the lines of the original with your pencil. This will transfer the graphite on the back to the new paper.

4. Tada! You will have the original and a much, much lighter pencil version of the same. Now you can correct your new version—you’ll always have a few lines that are too thin or wobbly. But you have transferred your design. Good on you!

Okay, now that you know how to do this...here's a tip: You can also transfer any image onto DARK paper by using the same process with one change. Instead of a regular lead pencil, use a white lead pencil like you find in a box of colored pencils. Heck, you could even use a yellow pencil or any pastel. It might be a little harder to lay down the coating of lead, but it does work!

Enjoy! And remember to respect copyrights and just use art that's copyright free.

CUPCAKES and THINK PINK

Yum, yum, yum.

I drew and colored the cupcake embellishment, the journaling box and the page title. You can get a copy of the art file by emailing me at SAVETALES@AOL.COM Just put CUPCAKE in the subject box.

We try to get these files out as quickly as possible, but after our newsletter has been out two weeks or more, we don't check that mailbox (savetales@aol.com) as often as we probably should. So...if you want it, tell me FAST.

Here's another set of images we'll send along with the CUPCAKE file--The doodling for THINK PINK which is above CUPCAKES. (For some reason, Blogger refused to let me move THINK PINK below CUPCAKES. Sigh. Life is like that!)

Vintage Baby Embellishment

Here's a cute vintage embellishment of a naked baby on a blanket.

http://freescrapbookingsupplies.blogspot.com/2009/04/vintage-baby-scrapbook-embellishment.html

It's definitely not the Gerber baby, but it sure would look nifty on:

1. The cover of a baby album
2. A greeting card--why not add the phrase "Oh, Baby!"
3. A collage or altered book

Hmmm. I can feel my creative juices flowing...eek! and I have too much other work to do to stop and create! What's a busy girl to do?

Some Bunny to Love Card

This is a fun and easy card! (I think that if cards are too complicated, you just want to give up and go buy them...) To get the "running bunny" send me an email at savetales@aol.com and put BUNNY in the Subject Line. I'll send you a file you can download and print of this bunny that I created. (It's not for commercial use, please. Just for you to use and enjoy.)

I opened a file and sized it to the width of my card in Microsoft Word. Next, I used the "word art" function in Microsoft Word to print and curve "I want some bunny to love!" in the font called "Leftovers." Do be careful, though, because sometimes Leftovers tends to smush punctuation too close to the letters. I had to add a space for the exclamation point. Then I printed out my words in brown on my patterned paper.

Tip: Small patterns are best for printing words onto. Boldface and large clear type will show up best.

I trimmed the sides of the paper using decorative edge scissors.

Tip: Draw an outline of where you want to cut and give yourself wide margins. The decorative scissors can sometimes chew up the paper if you cut too close to the edges.

I added the purple rickrack.

Tip: There's no purple in the patterned paper. Sometimes you have to try different combinations by holding your pieces up together. The purple worked and it matched the mood of the card.

And finally, I added the brown "handstitching" lines around the outside border.

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