The Crafty Pad

Mid-Week post - Guess How Many?

2012-01-24T14:59:00.002Z

For our Current Challenge please click HERE

Our mid-week post this week is a wee Guessing Game. :)

Guess how many beads in this Paua Shell?

The winner will get Lulu Blowing Bubbles - (coloured or uncoloured - winners choice)

You can see the Coloured Version HERE

Rules :-
One Guess only per person please. Leave a comment with your Guess. :)

If there is more than one winner then names will be put into a virtual hat and 1 winner picked out.

If no-one guesses the correct amount then it will be the one closest to the correct answer.

Closing Date - Monday 30th January @ 7pm GMT

Happy Guessing and hope you enjoy our bit of fun!

xxThe Crafty Pad Teamxx

Challenge 154 - Lets See Something for The Boys!

2012-01-22T08:00:00.002Z

Thank you for all the fabulous entries for our last challenge - super sparkly entries. :) :)

Some news about our DT - Victoria has left us to pursue other things with her family.

Ali is having a well earned break and will be back with us in the Spring.

Diane is having some time out too. But we still have some super makes from the

rest of the fabulous DT ladies. :)

EDITED to add our Winners.....

Our winner this week is #12 Lisa E

Super sparkly card and we love the fabulous lettering. :)
Please contact Debbie and she will get your prize sorted out for you.
Congratulations Lisa please take your Winner's badge from our side bar. :)

Our Top 3 are :-
#7 Mary C Super sparkle on this card and the layers are fabulous. :)
#14 Tracey Brossart Gorgeous layout, clean design and perfect sparkle. :)

#42 CraftyC Beautiful card and layering, lovely sparkle. :)
Congratulations Ladies please take the Top 3 badge from our side bar. :)

The challenge this week is -

Let's See Something for The Boys!

Our Sponsor this week is

Joanna Sheen

The prize is £10 voucher to spend in her fabby online store. :)

The DT ladies have got some wonderful inspiration for you this week,

they have all used Bowling - It's a Strike image

available from our Shop HERE

Pinky - GDT

Dawn

Maggie

Leesa

I think you will agree they have done a fabulous job again this week. :)

they'll be popped into the post for you.

Please link directly to your post and not just your blog. Thanks.

xxThe Crafty Pad Teamxx

Mid-week Tutorial - How to make a Watermark for your photos..

2012-01-18T19:07:00.000Z

Please Click HERE for our current challenge. :)

How to make a Watermark for your photos!

For this tutorial I will be using an editing program called Paint.net that is available to download free from HERE. And this technique should be easily adaptable to other editing programs.

You will need –

Photo(s) of a card or project (for this example I am going to use this gorgeous card I made using The Crafty Pad Designs digital image Lulu Blowing Bubbles)

An editing program such a Paint.net

Optional an image to include in your watermark – for this example I am using The CraftyPad Designs digital image called Flourish from the Rose and Swirl Flourish set.

1. Open Paint.net. and start a new document by selecting NEW from the FILE drop down menu. A new window box will open and ask you the size you would like for you new document.

2. Uncheck the Maintain Aspect Ratio box.

3. Change the value amount in the resolution box to 99.00 pixels/inch

4. Change the values in the PRINT size section to WIDTH 5.0 (inches) and HEIGHT 2.5

Your new document should look like this.

PIC 1 steps 1 to 4

(To better view of the pictures please click on it to enlarge it)

5. You will need to open the TOOLS window and the LAYERS window. You can shortcut these by pressing F5 for the TOOLS and F7 for the LAYERS window.

6. From the TOOLS Menu select the MAGIC WAND tool and click on your document. This will highlight your document in a bluish tone, as in PIC 2. Press the DELETE button. This should leave your document looking like a checker board of grey and white squares like this. Seeing the grey and white squares means your image is transparent, so if you were to place it over another image or even print your image onto designer paper, the background would be deleted and you would only print or see the true image. PIC 3

PIC 2 steps 5 to 6

PIC 3 steps 5 to 6

7. From the TOOLS Menu select the TEXT tool (the capital LETTER T in the tools window).

8. Click on your document and type what you would like your watermark to display. Note - You can edit the font type and size from the tool bar along the top of the page (very similar to as you would in Microsoft word). Use the crosshairs to place your text where you would like it on your document. Do note though, if you would like to use different fronts or different sized fonts you will need to add each of these differences individually to your document as you cannot change fonts or font sizes or bold italics ect to select sections of your text. What font, size and style you choose will be the same for all your text. If you would like to use different fonts, click on the document again and this will start a new TEXT image within your document that you can than re-follow the above directions.

PIC 4 steps 7 to 8

PIC 5 steps 7 to 8

9. Adding an image is optional, if you don’t want to add an image, skip to step #17 .If you would like to add an image to your watermark; from the FILE MENU select the OPEN tool and select the image you would like to use - in this case I am using The Crafty Pad Designs digital image called Flourish from the Rose and Swirl Flourish set. I like to make my image transparent and remove all the background while they are in the simplest form (I think it makes it easier for placement on your text document and the end picture clearer). To make the image transparent, using the MAGIC WAND from the TOOLS menu click on all the white space in the image. Holding the CTRL button as you click will allow you to highlight several sections of the image at one time if you have multiply white spaces.

PIC 6 - Step 9

10. Once all your white space is highlighted press the DELETE key.

11. Next we want to go to the EDIT drop down menu and select the SELECT ALL option. This then highlights the whole image in a bluish tone ready to transfer to your word document.

12. From the EDIT drop down menu, select COPY. PIC 7

PIC 7 - Step10 to 12

13. Click on your text document in the top right hand corner of the window then from the EDIT drop down menu select PASTE INTO NEW LAYER. Your image should appear over your text and there should be TWO layers in the LAYERS WINDOW. If you are prompted by a warning box stating the image being pasted is to big for the canvas size, click the KEEP CANVAS SIZE option. Use the image resize pixels drag one of the corners of the image inwards and adjust the image to the size you require.

14. Drag and drop the image to where you would like it placed on your text document.

15. From the LAYERS drop down menu select MERGE LAYER DOWN. There should only be one layer in the LAYERS WINDOW now.

PIC 8 - Step13 to 15

PIC 9 - Step13 to 15

16. Again we want to go to the EDIT drop down menu and select the SELECT ALL option. This then highlights the whole image in a bluish tone.
17. From the ADUSTMENTS drop down Menu select INVERT COLORS. This will transform your text and image all white ready to use as a watermark.

PIC 10 - Steps 16 to 17

18. From the FILE drop down menu select SAVE AS option.

19. Edit the name your document and save the image as a PNG file type and click OK and your watermark is now finished.

PIC 11 - Steps 18 to 19

20. To add this watermark to your photo. Open both your watermark and photo and follow the above steps from 11 to 15 moving your watermark and layering it onto your photo.

I've used the watermark we have just made on this card below featuring The Crafty Pad Designs newly released image Lulu blowing bubbles digital image that is available from HERE.

Happy Crafting Folks!

Leesa aka The Navy Wife

Our First Challenge of 2012 - Challenge #153 New Year Sparkle

2012-01-15T08:00:00.000Z

Welcome back to our first challenge of 2012. :)

To begin our New Year we have some new releases for you. :)

Our challenge this week is

Show us your New Year Sparkle -

Use some glitter and gems on your project.

Our Sponsor is

Digital Downloads

and the prize is £10.00 to spend in their fabby online store. :)

We have a lovely GDT with us for January - please welcome PINKY

Inspiration time for you - just look at what the DT ladies have created for you....

The image used is Lulu with Cake from The Crafty Pad Designs Shop - HERE.

She and others are on 'Special' this week at the Shop. :)

Pinky GDT

Leesa

Diane

Dawn has also used our latest Freebie Ticket Sentiment

Maggie

Debbie

The challenge will close as always, next Saturday at 8.00pm UK time.

All the links for the Design Teams blogs are in the sidebar (or you can click on their names above the pics) so please go and have a look to find out exactly how they have created their projects and leave them some love. :o)

Email entries are welcome. Email using the Contact Button and they'll be popped into the post for you. Please link directly to your post and not just your blog. Thanks.

xxThe Crafty Pad Teamxx

Mid Week FREEBIE

2012-01-11T13:06:00.000Z

For our mid week post we have a wee FREEBIE for you. It is a ticket sentiment for your Sister.

It matches Lulu with cake image - HERE

Enjoy!

Just click it to bring up the larger version then right click and save to your computer. :) :)

xxThe Crafty Pad Teamxx

New Year and New Releases - SALE NOW ON

2012-01-05T20:58:00.000Z

The New Year has brought some lovely New Releases at

The Crafty Pad Designs Shop and

we have them on SALE for you to help ease you in to your Crafty New Year. :)

We have a lovely set of 4 Lulu images - here's a taster for you. They come coloured

or un coloured too. :)

New Oliver Fishing Image

A lovely pair of Love Birds - perfect for Valentines

and a Ten pin Bowling image...

Pop over to the shop and pop a bargain or 2 into your basket.

Don't forget our challenges will begin the 15th January

and just wait and see the fabulous examples the DT

have been creating with the new images. :)

xxThe Crafty Pad Teamxx

Challenge Winner 152.....

2011-12-28T11:45:00.000Z

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and ate way too much yummy festive food. :)

What a lot of stunning creations we had for our last challenge of 2011 - Thank you all ever so much. We had a very hard job choosing our TOP 3 - wish it could have been you all..:)

Our winner is....
#101 - Wendy with her fabulous card for her daughter. :)

Congratulations Wendy, please take your winners badge for your blog and Contact Debbie
using the 'Contact Me' button at the top of the blog and she will sort your prize out for you.

Now for our Top 3 and like I said we sure had a very hard time choosing,
but here are our final choices....

#30 - Jen Leeflang
We really loved your tealight - Such a lovely gift to make and give - beautifully made. :)

#74 Amelia
Really beautiful card, and fabulous attention to detail - we loved all distressing and bunting. :)

Last but most definately not least is
#137 - Our lovely Lorriane, who used to be our DT co ordinator so a special mention is deserved.
We all thought that her House shaped Shadow box is stunning - the amount of work, techniques, time, elements and detail that she has put into this creation is amazing - and what a beautiful gift it makes too - sure is to be treasured. :)
Thanks Lorraine for entering this fabulous project into our challenge. :)
Now we do not usually show our TOP 3 choices but I would like to highlight and show off Lorraine's as it would make a fabulous project to undertake in the New Year and certainly give you loads of inspiration..:) There are close up pics on Lorraine's blog if you would like a closer look. :)

Congratulations Ladies - please take you TOP 3 badge for your blogs.

Now as 2011 draws to a close we are having a break and shall return with our New challenges 15th January 2012, there will be some new releases too. :)

Please do check back inbetween now and the 15th January as we may have a wee tutorial for you.

Thank you all for your wonderful support over the past year and we have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and hope you have too?

We all from the Crafty Pad would like to wish you a

Very Happy, Healthy New Year. :)

xxThe Crafty Pad Teamxx

Challenge 152 - Anything but Christmas

2011-12-18T08:00:00.002Z

This is our last challenge for 2011, so I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge big Thank You to all our fabulous Sponsors for their support and to all our wonderful entrants and followers. :) It has been a great year with lots of brilliant entries. :)

I would like also to say a huge Thank You to all my Crafty Pad Designs customers. :) :)

The Crafty Pad team would like to wish everyone a very

Happy Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year. :) :) :)

Now on with this week.... Our winner this week is #33 Tracey V

with her fabulous box, such a great gift idea. :)

Congratulations Tracey please take you Winners badge for your blog and please contact Debbie using the 'Contact Me' button at the top of the blog. :)

Our TOP 3 this week are..

#2 Corry

Your card is adorable - fabulous colouring and layout and we love your wee dolly. :)

#13 Leah the Orange

Your card sure made us smile - we love the sheer simplicity of your card. :)

#36 Lalkygirl

We love your circular easel card, lovely detail and great image. :)

Congratulations ladies please take your TOP 3 badge for your blogs. :)

The challenge this week is

ANYTHING BUT CHRISTMAS

Our sponsor this week is the lovely Joanna Sheen

The prize is £10 voucher to spend in her yummy online shop. :)

The DT ladies have used different images from The Crafty Pad Designs Shop

to show you lots of inspiration. :)

This is the last week of our lovely GDT GALE,

it has been such a pleaure to work with you Gale. :)

Gale

using Pocket Watch & Elements - HERE

Maggie

using Sewing Machine - HERE

Diane

using Polly with Flower - HERE

Dawn

using Roshell & Eggward - HERE

Ali
using Molly Cat and Birdhouse - HERE

All the links for the Design Teams blogs are in the sidebar (or you can click on their names above the pics) so please go and have a look to find out exactly how they have created their projects and leave them some love. :o)

Email entries are welcome. Email using the Contact Button and they'll be popped into the post for you. Please link directly to your post and not just your blog. Thanks.

Have a wonderful festive time with your loved ones. :)

xxThe Crafty Pad Teamxx

Challenge 151 - Send someone a Smile - No Birthdays or Christmas

2011-12-11T08:00:00.011Z

Thank you for all the brilliant entries last week. :)

Christmas is drawing ever closer now and you must all have had enough of making Christmas cards so we have a lovely challenge this week for you all. :)

Our winner for Give it a Punch challenge is #25 Mynette :

Here is Mynette's beautiful card....

Congratulations Mynette please take your winner's badge from our side bar for your blog. :) Please contact Debbie using the 'Contact Me' button at the top of the page and she will sort your prize out for you. :)

Our TOP 3 this week is...

#9 Ellen
We all loved your extra cute Elf card. :)
#28 Babette
We loved this card - great image. :)
#32 Louise
Again we loved this card - super image. :)

Congratulations ladies please take your TOP 3 Badge from our side bar. :)

Our Challenge this week is

SEND SOME ONE A SMILE...

NO CHRISTMAS OR BIRTHDAY CARDS

Our sponsor this week is

Creative Craft World

The prize is a £5 voucher to spend in their shop. :)

We have a lovely selection of inspirational cards for you this week, all using different images from The Crafty Pad Designs shop. :)

Gale - GDT

using The Baby Set HERE

Dawn

using Penny Pamper HERE

Maggie

Using Stitching Sentiment HERE

Ali

using Roshell with Brolly HERE

Diane

using Rainbow Sally HERE

Victoria

Has made a real fun card with a shakey head.

The challenge will close as always, next Saturday at 8.00pm UK time.

All the links for the Design Teams blogs are in the sidebar (or you can click on their names above the pics) so please go and have a look to find out exactly how they have created their projects and leave them some love. :o)

Email entries are welcome. Email using the Contact Button and they'll be popped into the post for you. It's lovely to see that almost everybody has that dratted word verification off now. It really does make life easier for all design team members. Thank you. Please link directly to your post and not just your blog. Thanks.

xThe Crafty Pad Teamxx

Challenge 150 - Give it a Punch

2011-12-04T08:00:00.005Z

Thank you for the entries of our last challenge - seems you didn't like that one much..lol...

but hope you like this weeks better. :) :) :)

Our winner this week is #3 Susie Little

Congratulations Susie, your card is gorgeous and we adore your huge snowflake.

Please take your winners badge from our side bar. :)

Please contact Debbie using the contact me button to organise your prize. :)

Now our TOP 3

#4 Jill your card is beautiful and we loved how you used our Themed colours. :)

#5 Sally J Gorgeous card, we loved your layout and holly border. :)

#6 Mags fabulous card, we loved your papers and quirky Christmas Tree. :)

Congratulations ladies please take your TOP 3 badge from our side bar. :)

Christmas is drawing nearer now and hope you are all getting organised

with your cards and gifts, it sure is a busy time of year. :)

Our Challenge this week is -

GIVE IT A PUNCH, you must use at least 3 punched shapes on your entry. :)

Our Sponsor this week is the lovely

Crafty Emmas Store

The prize is £10.00 to spend in their fabby shop. :)

Lets see what the DT have created this week as inspiration for you...

they have all used Rodney Reindeer & Robin Merry Christmas Image,

you can find it HERE at The Crafty Pad Designs shop. It also comes in

a coloured version and is great for a quick card. :)

We have a lovely new GDT for us for December -

please welcome Gale. :)

Gale has made a lovely stocking card which

opens to hold a gift voucher. She has also

seperated the Rodney & Robin reindeer.

Dawn

Maggie

Diane

Ali

Victoria

The challenge will close as always, next Saturday at 8.00pm UK time.

All the links for the Design Teams blogs are in the sidebar (or you can click on their names above the pics) so please go and have a look to find out exactly how they have created their projects and leave them some love. :o)

Email entries are welcome. Email using the Contact Button and they'll be popped into the post for you. It's lovely to see that almost everybody has that dratted word verification off now. It really does make life easier for all design team members. Thank you. Please link directly to your post and not just your blog. Thanks.

xxThe Crafty Pad Teamxx

Mid-week Tutorial - Using Glass Paints with Digi image

2011-11-30T18:12:00.001Z

Please find our current Challenge HERE

As it is coming up to the Festive period this will probably be our last Mid-week tutorial until the New Year.

This is a simple tutorial for using glass paints with acetate and digi images. :)

I have altered a box using the Rose image from The Crafty Pad Designs - here

Measure the aperture size of your box and resize Rose image, print onto copy paper.

Cut your acetate to the size you require for the aperture of your box – please ensure you cut it big enough to adhere to the inside of the aperture.

Lay your sheet of acetate on top of the copy paper and carefully go around the outline of the Rose image with Glass Outliner paint.

I have used black but you could use any outline colour you prefer.

Allow to dry thoroughly – a few hours or overnight. See photo below.

Time to fill the rose in with colour – I am using Transparent Pale Blue Light (it is actually ‘Peel Off Paint’) but works well for this project. You could use this type or regular glass paint.

Work the colour and flood inside the black outline. Pop any air bubbles that may appear as you go.

I only coloured the actual rose blooms not the stem or leaf.

Set aside to dry again for a few hours.

When thoroughly dry using your Quickie Glue pen go along the stem, leaf and parts of the rose bloom where you would like to glitter. Sprinkle with Glamour dust and remove excess. See photo above.

Again set aside to dry.

Once dried you can use an embossing folder and run it through your machine to give a different effect. I have used my CB ‘Swirl’ embossing folder.

Use strong DS tape to adhere to the inside of the aperture of your box.

Here is an example I have made. The box came with flowers in that I had bought.

I used Pesto Alcoholic ink dabbed randomly over the box. I lined the box with lace.

Around the aperture I used lace, ribbon of pearls and bow to finish.

Tutorial by Debbie

xxThe Crafty Pad Teamxx