Ztampfilicious

Brighten Up! It’s not all doom and gloom…

Although the global economy is indeed full of doom and gloom
your Thanksgiving and Halloween don’t have to!
Unusual situation calls for unusual relief:

Get 35% OFF Discount with this coupon code:
nodoomngloom4me081035

Good from Friday, 24 October through Friday, 31 October 2008
for any digital download products at Ztampf!Shop
except for Package Saving, Gift Certificates and Licenses.
Valid for One Use Per Person.
No minimum purchase is necessary.
For help using the Coupon Code, just click here.
ENJOY!

Some new ztampfabulous goodies to use your precious coupon code for:

Have a ztampfabulous weekend :)

When my step-daughters were here recently we spent sometimes together making stuff in my studio with my stash of ribbons and scrap fabrics. Phoebe wanted to be a forest fairy so I helped her making somekind of bracelet with swirly ribbon strands. Bene was down with flu, so I made her a Gothic mask. I found a couple of old, full-face plastic masks that my mother got me ages ago. I knew I could make something out of them and the moment finally came. I decided to trim away the lower half of one of them full-face masks and painted it with matt black acrylic paint. Then I sew a piece of slightly ruffled ribbon on the top edges. It was a very pretty ribbon, black organza with silver beading work. I fashioned a rose from a piece of black satin ribbon and tucked a couple of long strands of the same ribbon behind it – then sew everything onto the painted mask, on the left corner. Finally I painted some subtle swirly motif around the eye holes with dark silver acrylic paint and it’s done! Bene loved it and it looked so good on her too! Too bad we didn’t take any photograph either of the mask on its own or with Bene wearing it! I plan to make another one with remaining full-face mask – when I did, I will make sure to take some photos to share with you all!

So anyway… it has inspired me to create a mask kit of my own designs for Ztampf! And here it is… the Masqueradia Print’n Cut Kit:

And thanks to Photobooth, I was able to quickly take some snapshots of me wearing them:

Masqueradia Print'N Cut Mask Templates Set

There are 6 shapes: each was designed to be easy enough to trim with scissors. 6 ready-to-print designs are provided; one for each shape so each member of the family would find one to suit them! The blank shape templates are also provided so you can design your very own using your own existing stash of papers and elements. You can decorate them further with actual sequins and ribbons if you want too!

This set is available now here at Ztampf!Shop. And for you Ztampfilicious readers, use this coupon code ztampfiliciousmasqueradia to receive 25% OFF Discount when you purchase the Masqueradia Print’N Cut Set. Good for one use per person through Tuesday, Oct. 21th 2008. I hope you’ll like it!

And don’t forget to benefit from the coupon code in the Ztampfever #38 newsletter for the Ghostown Package Saving either! It’s good through this Sunday, Oct. 19 2008 only!

Enjoy your weekend!

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Just don’t miss it if you want an even more saving to get the brand new all exciting Ghostown Series:

It all started with the Ghost Overlays… I wanted something a bit more sophisticated – not too cute ghosts for my Halloween pages. I think most teenagers and some adults would appreciate something like that too! And the series grew from there… with inspirations ranging from Tim Burton to The Great Expectation’s Miss Havisham to my own wardrobe and my beautiful teen-age step-daughters who loves ‘Twilights’ and vampire stories. Think romantic, dark and mysterious. Think luscious. Gothic. Baroque decadence… Some people might find some elements in this series a bit too strong, too dark and a bit frightening – but these elements can also be used in playful ways – which would transform their darkness to something lighter and fun.

Anyway, it was impossible to use just one small preview image to show the ghost overlays as most of them span page wide so I made extra preview images providing closer views of the luminous translucent ghost overlays (also available as a separate pack):

And here is the Ghostown PaperPack – a few of them made use of some of the overlays and 3 solid parchment papers are included (not shown in the preview):

And the Ghostown Accent Pack is so full of unique beautiful things I was so excited creating them! Some of my most favorites are:

– The shredded lacy tulle draperies (they are in jet black, pearl grey and ghost white – each in slightly different arrangement)

– The ‘mirror’ Gothic frames with scratched old surface. Place a photo behind it, especially those with dark background – it will look like a reflection from the distant past! There is the Oval and the Rectangular. A separate cobweb overlay is included. It was designed for the Rectangular one but you can crop parts of it to be used anywhere!

– The Jewel Spider – it’s so pretty! Its mechanical-looking legs gives it a modern touch. Provided as a brooch and hanging from a string of garnet.

– The blood stained polaroids… I think they are cool. I realize that it might seem a bit gory but you can use it for photo about your son scrapping his knee or something like that too! Not just for vampires… :).

– The corsages, the dark and yet vibrant big roses… and more!

The best part is that most of them can be used for scrapping various other themes beside Halloween. I like versatile stuff!

You will appreciate the rich details in them all! Check out the Ensembles and the QuickPage Album too:

Layouts I did with this series (click for larger view to see more details of the papers and elements from the series:

Get them and discover all the delightful fright of the bewitching Ghostown!

Have a wonderful weekend :)

A customer emailed me this:

“I have purchased a number of your beautiful packages and would like to use the Album and Ensembles pages on 8.5×11 pages. That means I am trying to re-size them and when I do that I loose the benefit of using the Group with Previous function that makes these pages so desirable. I am working and printing from home and so would very much like to keep this standard size.
Can you help?

I absolutely love your work and will be very disappointed if I cannot use your wonderful packages to the fullest. I know of a couple of other scrappers that would like to hear this answer so may be it would be a good subject for your newsletter. I am somewhat new to scrapbooking and so hope that I am not bring up questions that you have answered long ago!

Looking forward to your reply.
Pat”

Are you a 8.5×11 scrapper? Do you face similar problems with her? Don’t worry, I’ve written a couple of small tutorials here to help you out :). I hope they are clear enough. Do not hesitate to ask if you need further clarifications, OK!

The instructions here are for Photoshop/Photoshop Elements. The main thing before you begin is to make sure to have the ‘Constraint Proportions‘ option in the Image Size dialog box selected. If you are using other program, I’m sure there is a similar option available, so be sure to look for it. The bottom line is to make sure that when you resize, you do so proportionately so the result will look right.

1. Using 12×12 QuickPages on 8.5×11 pages
To keep the right proportion of the QuickPages, first resize them proportionately to 8.5 x 8.5 in (if you use Photoshop/Photoshop Elements: in the Image Size option, set to 70.83% or 2550 x 2550 px). Then choose a complimentary background paper. You can use a matching main paper used in the QuickPage, or you can choose a contrasting paper instead. Resize this paper to 11 x 11 in (91.67% or 3300 x 3300 px).

Now open a new file of 8.5 x 11 in page. Copy or drag the resized background paper layer to it. Align it so it’s centered. Then copy or drag the resized QuickPage and center it as well. For a softer blending between them, use your Lasso Tool, set the feather to around 55, then ‘draw’ it around the edges of the QuickPage. Then cut that portion by pressing Control+X for PC or Command+X for Mac. Finally insert your photo behind the QuickPage layer and if you wish, you can add further text or embellishment on top of the QuickPage layer. See the samples here:

Sample 1. Using a matching background paper: ‘lasso’ the edges of the QuickPage and remove the area to achieve a somewhat seamless look. I’m using Bohemian Rhapsody Package Saving here.

Sample 1b. Here’s how it looks like without utilizing the ‘lasso technique’ – note the straight, more obvious edges of the QuickPage against the background paper behind it:

Sample 2. Using a contrasting background paper:  elements are added between the QuickPage and the Background Paper (the lace), also on top of them for a more unified look (the beaded stapler and stitches). I’m using Phrench Phoebe Package Saving here.

Sample 3. A few QuickPages can be simply cropped to fit 8.5×11 pages like this one from the Birthday Bliss Album Set. It is dragged and centered on a 8.5×11 page then proportionately resized to 90.75%.

2. Using Ensembles on 8.5×11 pages
For the Ensembles, it is easy too. A few of them might be small enough to just be dropped on a 8.5×11 pages.The key is to get the background paper you want to use with it resized correctly. There are 2 ways to do this:

1. By resizing the background paper to 11×11 then center it on a 8.5×11 page like described above for using 12×12 QuickPages on 8.5×11 pages. This work best for papers with evenly spread out patterns.

Sample 4. a 12×12 page proportionately resized to 11×11 and then cropped to fit a 8.5 x 11 page. Paper is from Syrin Seamstress Kit.

2a. By cropping the 12×12 paper on the most interesting part to fit a 8.5×11 page. Open a new 8.5×11 page. Then open the 12×12 paper you want to use. Drag it to the 8.5×11 page and move them around until you found the most interesting part you like the best.

Sample 5. a 12×12 paper cropped on the most interesting part to fit a 8.5×11 page. Paper used here is from the Bohemian Rhapsody Kit.

2b. By resizing the 12×12 background paper to 11×11 first, then drag it to a 8.5×11 page and move the up and down until you find the look you like the best.

Sample 6. a 12×12 paper proportionately resized to 11×11 and then cropped on the most interesting part to fit a 8.5×11 page. Paper used is from Year In Revue Kit.

For the Ensembles themselves, just resize them proportionately. If you’re on Mac, just press the ‘Shift’ key while you are dragging the corner of the Ensemble with your mouse to resize it. In PC, I think it’s it’s the ‘Control’ key that you have to press – I’m not sure though but you can try. Another way is to use the Image Size feature: select the Ensemble then set the scale percentage accordingly.

Sample 7. An Ensemble proportionately resized to fit into a 8.5×11 page. The paper is proportionately resized down to 92% and placed on a 8.5×11 page while the Ensemble is proportionately resized down to 85%. Both are from the Birthday Bliss Package Saving.

Tips: It is usually easier to work by dragging whatever you want to use on a 8.5×11 page. This way you can see how exactly things look would look like when you resize and move them around on the 8.5×11 page.

That’s it! I hope you will find these tutorials useful. Questions? Just ask me here on the Comment section or email me. Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Scrapping :).

Yeah! I’m writing this from Shanghai – we got here in the evening of Thursday, Oct. 2nd and we’ll stay here for 4 nights. More on Shanghai later. Now I’d like to let you know that the Mini-Vertical CraftyCalendar 2009 Kit has been released:

There are more preview pictures available at the shop! Oh and the kit is available in US English Version (Weeks start on Sunday) and in Global English Version (Weeks start on Monday). Let me know if you want it in your own language :).

Bye for now! More later!