Late Breaking Gazette News: Turtles

Showing posts with label Turtles. Show all posts

Thursday, April 24, 2008

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Early Bird News.....

The long awaited turtles have arrived, as well as a set of assorted crowns to give your folks (of particular interest to scrapbookers) the "royal" treatment and crown them with the glory they deserve.

While you are checking out these designs, take some time to visit the Birthday Party going on at RubberStampChat Forum. Lots of sales, lots of specials, lots of buying frenzy fun!

Charlotte

Friday, April 18, 2008

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Can't Believe.....

......that I haven't had anything to say (post) since the 5th!
Violating the first rule of good blogging....frequent updates!!

Two bits of information.....
• The turtles are in production and should be here the early part of next week.

And....also next week.....

• The Rubber Stamp Chat Forum (see sidebar) is having a "First Birthday" celebration. Happy Birthday to them! Beeswax is the mover and shaker behind this really well done forum. We wish them much more success and will certainly be participating in the four day celebration. All the vendors will be having sales and specials so it's a good place to shop April 24th-28th.

We'll be back with more information...as we learn more. And we will certainly have some birthday sales specials during those dates.

If you don't know about the Rubber Stamp Chat Forum you may want to take some time to browse. You will definitely want to see all the vendors' sales, so plan to attend.

Join the fun!

Thanks.

Charlotte

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Saturday, March 22, 2008

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And the Winner Is.....

......still undecided!

Even though the "Poll" left the solid carved turtle in the dust, being an habitual champion of the underdog, I just can't leave him behind! (Solid, buisness decision, right?)

All three are set to be produced. You can see them Sunday afternoon by visiting the Early Bird page.

The accessories, ditties*, are un-turtle-like but there is an explanation. That, too, will be on the Early Bird page.

I simply do not know why I agonize over these things so. They take on a life of their own.

My preference is "plain olde" drawing and carving but these days, in order to have stamps produced, computer "intervention" is necessary. The images are transmitted to the manufacturer via a PDF file which means delving into the mysteries of Photoshop and Illustrator. Both are heavy duty, complex, meant-for-professionals, programs.

A small draw program would be fine with me, (there aren't any out there anymore). A simple photo editing software would do. (There may be some of those available, but the learning curve scares me off.) What I have is rather like driving a two ton truck when I'm licensed for a stick shift compact! Way too much power. Both programs keep getting away from me!

The worst is over. The stamp sets are almost ready. A few more tweaks and nudges and the sets with their companion stamps will be posted in the Gazette on the EarlyBird page.

You've all been helpful. By being there. By being heard. You strengthened my flagging resolve. I've finished the hurdle jumping now--it's done.

Imagine how frenetic I could get if I were doing something really important!!!

Thanks everybody.

Charlotte

* Ditties--A technical term : ) coined by customer Linda Blackbird to describe tiny little stamps, meant to be used with a specific image.

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Roaming the Internet

Places important to gg designs will first be listed here, with explanations for their inclusion. Later, as space requires-- (there is a limit to how long this page can get : ) -- the "review" will be removed but the site will still be listed in a much more abbreviated form in the "Recommended Sites and Blogs" following these listings.

Cyberstampers is gg designs' "Mother Ship."
Janet Detter-Margul, Captain of this ship, has wet nursed gg designs through computer crashes, html headaches and just about every kind of Internet crises you can imagine.
Cyberstampers is undergoing reconstruction (like many long time sites) and will soon feature a more stamper centered, forum approach.
It should be exciting and though things are rather quite there at the moment, I'd still recommend bookmarking Cyberstampers and checking their progress regularly.

A Monthly Rubber Stamps Club is also a long time favorite of gg designs. Not only do they provide links to sales each month, they have the best "How To" archive on the Internet. (IMHO) Want to know how to do something? Odds are they have a tutorial on it. Not only are the tutorials brief and clear they are easy to find. You'd do well to bookmark AMRSC, if not their main site, at least their Tips and Techniques page

Newer, but immensely popular, Rubberstampchat is an easy to navigate, friendly forum. One advantage of a forum is that you can pick the spot you like the best and hang out there without having to read through reams of posts which do not interest you. They have many areas and rooms: galleries, techniques, challenges, chat, even a rubber room--where you can scream! Check them out.

Everybody knows Gingerstamp! One of the first, one of the best, most comprehensive stamping sites around. Their link page has virtually every stamp company in existence.

Michal Strong gained prominence on the Carol Duval show and now presents classes on line. His directions are clear. His designs elegant, multipurpose and well presented. His unmounted stamps are trimmed, cushioned (with adhesive on the back) and individually packaged so all you have to do is peel and stick! (I am SO JEALOUS!) He does magic things with paper.

Also worth visiting OFTEN. If you have not yet seen it you are in for a delightful surprise! Craft TV Weekly offers a wide variety of crafts projects and techniques videos, including, but not exclusively, stamping and scrapbooking.
Michael Strong, Judy Watenabe (of Judikins fame), Dee Grunig (Posh Impressions) Tricia Morris (introducing the JustRite Home Stamping Kit) and many others demonstrate techniques and projects and new and innovative products you will want to collect.
Every show is archived so you can go back and review it as often as you wish.

Blog, Blogging, Blogger, Bloggest....

No, I don't think that last one is a word....yet.
While I haven't gotten into the habit of blog browsing (trying to avoid spending my entire life on the computer) I do check out several.

First of course, Heather Strenzwilks' blog called Stamping the Details. She's been a Cyberstampers Instructor for gg designs and is such an enthusiastic supporter that I do try to check her blog often. She is deeply involved in stamping and stampers' Internet groupsl When visiting her blog you'll see many of her samples and get lots of creative ideas.

Also at least partially responsible for gg designs joining the blogging world, Alicia Ekermans produces a free on line Zine each month. Called Sheetload of Cards it features downloadable sketches and directions, contests and, of course, blog candy.

If you're really serious about stamping and feel the need for some direction, Colleen Schaan teaches at My Creative Classroom. You can meet her and learn more about the classes by checking her blog.

We mentioned Michael Strong's site. He also has a blog. Very entertaining and informative. He hob nobs with all the "biggies" and can name drop the biggest and the best in the stamping world. You can link to the blog from his site or by clicking his name here.

And, if you are going to browse at any of these sites mentioned, you can't avoid running across the name Wanda Henteges. She's EVERYWHERE! Click on her name to visit her site. She has samples displayed in many, many galleries. Very impressive quality, particularly with such prodigious output. We bow to your skill and commitment Wanda.

The Blog Directory Categorized lists of blogs. Unlike so many Internet goodies....this service is compiled by real people! Entries are not rated, though they are screened. Deciding on a blog's relevance to your interests is up to you.
A good place to start if you are new to the blogosphere.

Late Breaking Gazette News