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Sweet anticipation...
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Today is a very good day! As is any day, but today I'm seeing a soft sweet light (with my brand new peepers) at the end of a very chill and gray tunnel. Spring is coming whether Winter likes it or not and, like the return of Conan to late-night TV, this little chickadee is bubbling up with anticipation and excitement because it's gonna happen, no ifs, ands or buts about it.
This newsletter is also being delivered with lots of excitement - it's chock full of tips and inspiration that I hope will have you Springen für Freude! There are new collage sheets, a new shopping venue as an accompaniment to the PaperWhimsy website and an exciting development for all who have been waiting for the day when the PaperWhimsy Kids would be available as Print-Your-Own PDF files.
Hallelujah!
I'm also quite stoked about the launch of my photography website and store. This has been a dream a long time in the dreaming. Perhaps you've followed our blogs as Draw and I traveled to visit his family in England. I have, literally, hundreds upon hundreds of photos from those various journeys that have been waiting patiently on my hard drive for me to ... well, get the lead out. At the top, doors that I've met in England. Below, those little faerie shoes resting in a plump pink posey. It's been quite a blast going through all my snaps putting together my gallery and print line. The mystery of time travel has been solved, folks. It's in your photos! I've traveled great distances to beautiful places from the comfort of my snug little studio these last few weeks.
Here's hoping that my photos take you away to some happy place, as well.
Faerie shoes resting in a flower
Okay, then (she says, gleefully, as she rubs her hands together)! Let's get this show on the road!
Happy Sunday! Gale x
***
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Art Snacks
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Like delectable handmade confections from a very exclusive boulangerie, these art snacks are bound to have you pulling out your favorite ingredients and cooking up your next glorious piece of art. Today, I am sharing some of the art magnifique created by members of the PaperWhimsy Ning Group for a recent project, Tag Triptychs, hosted by Christine Thuerk. The piece, above, entitled The magical garden of Princess Rosalina on the occasion of her sixth birthday, is by none other than Chris, herself. Some PaperWhimsy elements Chris used in her collage: the door from digisheet sampler 01; little girl from sheet 043; hand from hybrid royalty sheet 01; background digisheet 039; skirt, bow and fan from faerie sheet 02. The faerie sheets and sheet 043 are also available as pdf downloads in Les Beaux Jeunes DOWNLOADS (oopsy... more on that in just a minute).
 This wonderful triptych, above, is by Christy Laudig. Some PaperWhimsy elements that Christy used in her triptych: book from digisheet 018, old-fashioned labels from digisheet 063, words from digisheet 123, and little Piper from sheet 032. And yes, that pretty face is now available for immediate download in a new colorized version; you'll find her in Les Beaux Jeunes DOWNLOADS. (Duh! I can't keep a secret no way no how).Jan Debellis celebrated Paris in purple in her oooo-lah-lahhhhhh lovely Tag Triptych. Some PaperWhimsy Elements Jan used in her design: digisheet 075, digisheet 157, sheet 137 (also available as a download in Les Beaux Jeunes). And this glorious Gothic triptych is by Cat Dodt-Ellis. PaperWhimsy elements that Cat used: digisheet 143, digisheet 156, sheet 190 (which is also available in a download in Les Beaux Jeunes).
Of course, I'm going to be a tease... you can see more of Chris', Christy's, Jan's and Cat's work at the group as well as all the beautiful submissions for this project (and much, much more). Come on and join us. There are three projects, soon to be launched just to tempt you even more!
*** Please note that the artwork presented here is copyrighted by the individual artists
and is meant to be used as a springboard and inspiration, only, and not to be copied.
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Les Beaux Jeunes - a milestone & sale
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 If you've been waiting for the day when the PaperWhimsy kids would be available in a pdf, wait no more. Les Beaux Jeunes DOWNLOAD is now a reality! I'm working my way through my PRINTED line higgledy-piggledy (no rhyme nor reason to it) but rest assured, all the kids will be available as Print-Your-Own sheets so your precious cache of beloved pretty faces will never run dry. You can snatch them up as they become available anytime of the day or night for immediate download and no shipping! In many cases, I'm redesigning the collage sheets to offer a better range of sizes that are more compatible with creating smaller masterpieces (i.e. ACEO/ATCs and 4x4/5x5 art).For those of you who have an aversion to printing your own, do not fear, the PRINTED line is not going away. But, perhaps you will eventually come to learn of the advantages of having digital files at arm's reach when the art bug bites. If you scroll further down this newsletter there are several articles exploring the art of printing - including great printers, how to print, what media to use, and how to get creative when printing pdf files. It's an adventure! Embrace it! And to celebrate this auspicious occasion: sheets from the Les Beaux Jeunes DOWNLOAD and Digisheets DOWNLOAD categories as well as... oh, what the heck, everything else in the shoppe are 20% off from now til the stroke of midnight EST, Saturday, March 13. No coupon needed, the discount will automatically be applied in your shopping cart.
Stock up, sweet whimsies, and then get thee to thy art table!
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Printing tips redux: working with PDFs
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This article
first appeared in the PaperWhimsy newsletter in January of 2009, with lots of great tips for printing PDFs. And since you're grabbing a handful of those cute kids in download, it seemed timely to do a redux. A shout out, once again, to Rande Hanson for sharing some tips with me so I could share with you.
Printing different sizes:
One
way to change the size of your image is to change your paper size in
your print menu. An example would be to change the paper size to 4x6.
When you do this your printer will print a smaller version of the
entire sheet. You can also change where the image will print on your
paper. This allows you to print more than one resized sheet to a page
should it be small enough to print two to a page.
Another
way to adjust the print size of the images is to change the size of the
Acrobat window. This is a great way to enlarge an image. You do that
by dragging the edges of the window to isolate just the image(s) you
want to print (fig. 1)
Then
in the print window, select "Current view" in the Print Range option.
If you want to print one image larger, such as a full page background,
then after selecting the "Current view", select "Print to Fit" or "Fit
to Printer Margins" in the Page Scaling option. Doing this will enlarge the image even further and print right to the margins.
Isolating an image for printing is a great way to get a full size of one of the backgrounds and print a fabric sheet. Or you could print the full page image to paper and then overprint with one of the Chameleon sheets. (One thing to note is that by enlarging the print size of the original image the quality of the print will be slightly diminished).
Printing different colors:
Your printer should have a
Properties button and this is where you can have fun with the colors of
your image. By adjusting color intensity or color balance, as well as tweaking contrast
and brightness, you can adjust the colors of your images pretty
dramatically. Make them more red, blue, green, yellow... more intense
and darker or softer and lighter.
Test
print your image when playing with the color options. When you want to
change the color, isolate a small image such as an atc size, and print
that to get a look at your adjustments before printing the whole digi
sheet. This way you're not sucking up a lot of ink on prints that
you'll never used because the color isn't quite right.
Another
twist would be changing the color setting in the Effects tab. Print sepia tone, or monochromatic. Really give your Printer Properties a good look-see... you'll be amazed at what you'll find!
You can also change the colors of your prints by printing on colored paper or scrapbook paper. Bear in mind, though, that most colored papers are not treated for inkjet printing so print quality may not be at optimum levels, though this doesn't necessarily mean that you won't end up with some interesting effects.
Printing on different papers:
Try
printing the images on a colored paper such as parchment, or
light-colored scrapbook paper. If you select an image with light areas
in it, the color of the paper will show through. Just remember, any
colored paper will make the original image a bit darker. A good
example would be printing a black and white or sepia toned digi sheet
on parchment that's made to be used on an inkjet (or laser) printer.
Remember
to use the proper paper setting and print quality setting (more on this, below, in More Printer Tips: Printer Settings & Whatnots). For
printing on scrapbook paper, generally you can use a plain paper
setting.
Try overprinting the black and white or sepia images on other digisheet backgrounds for some interesting effects.
Once you get going, no doubt, you'll find new ways to print and new techniques. I'd love to hear them! You can join us at the new PaperWhimsy Ning Group to share or get help. This is a great group of talented and dedicated artists who are not only supportive but also very happy to answer questions and provide guidance when needed.
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More printing tips - paper settings & whatnot
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I thought I'd share my particular printing habits in the hopes that it will help you get the best print possible from your downloaded collage sheets. Paper and printer settings go a long way in getting optimum results.
For printing on matte paper my paper of choice is Epson Premium Presentation Paper Matte Double-Sided. I love this paper. It prints brilliant color (when using the proper printer settings) and once printed, the ink becomes virtually waterproof. This makes a print on this paper particularly good if you like to use mediums when putting together your collages (i.e. Perfect Paper Adhesive, Golden Matte Medium, etc). With that said, I've heard that this paper also provides for a great gel transfer and some have used the tape transfer method with good results. I've not tried transfers, myself, but this is what I've heard.
Epson Premium Presentation Paper Matte Double-Sided is not expensive (click on the link embedded in the paper name to go to Atlex.com for pricing) and it's a great paper. But no matter how great the paper, you have to get those printer settings right. And when you're changing media make sure that your printer settings reflect the type of paper you're using. I use a Canon Pixma Pro9000 but every printer has a printer properties box - become familiar with it - it is your friend!
What you're looking at, above, is the Adobe Acrobat print box so it should look familiar to you. At the top is the Printer Properties. This is where you're going to set the media type and print quality, but first let's take a look at Print Range and Page Scaling. I just want to make sure that you don't print the instructions/TOU you get with each PDF download you purchase.
The default for Print Range, when this box is first opened, is "All". Nah... you don't want to print "All". Maybe the first time so you have a hard copy of the instructions/TOU but, at most, you only need one of those. Make sure you change the Print Range from "All" to "Pages from: 1 to 1". The default here is "Pages from 1 to: 2" so you'll change the 2 to 1 (this stuff is also mentioned in the printing instructions included with each download). The other thing you need to change is the Print Scaling. You don't want Adobe to Fit to Printer Margins - I've already done that for you when I created the sheet. Be sure to select None in the Page Scaling options if you want to print the page true-to-size.
Okay! For printing on the Epson Matte or any matte photo paper - use a Matte Photo setting. All the media types you see listed here in this properties box are being taken from my printer. You may not see all of these various media types but you certainly will see a setting for Matte Photo or similar if you're using a photo printer.
As for print
quality, you can set that to Medium or High. The difference is so
negligible between the two that the medium setting will produce a great
output while using less ink. As for inks... I'll share my views based on personal experience: DO NOT USE GENERIC. Yes, generic ink will save you money in the short run but you get what you pay for when it comes to cheap. I ruined two printers in a very short period because I thought generic was the way to go. That was several years ago and I've not looked at another generic since. I use OEM inks (manufacturer's inks) and yes, they are more expensive but I have never had a problem using the real deal. And speaking of deals, you can find them out there for inks. I purchase my papers and my inks at atlex.com. Fast, lightning fast shipping and great prices. If you're near a Staples, most of them have a recycle program where they'll give you three bucks for every empty ink cartridge you recycle. Amazon.com also has ink deals that are worth looking at.
Other media: I love Jacquard's cotton fabric for inkjet printers - great output. My particular printer settings for fabric are:
Media Type: Plain Paper
Print Quality: Custom ---> Fine
Color/Intensity: Manual ----> +8 to +12 (ish) for intensity but this will depend on the file you're printing and how saturated or bright you want the colors.
For transparency printing I like Apollo Transparency Film for Inkjet with the following settings:Media Type: T-shirt Transfers (some printers have a transparency setting - just make sure the setting you choose reverses the image).
Print Quality: Standard
Color/Intensity: Manual ----> +8 to +15 (ish) for intensity. Again depending on the file you're printing and how saturated you want the colors.
APOLLO - Transparencies - 50 pcs.
by Apollo
List Price:
$48.29
Amazon Price: check it out
Take a peek
(You can also find this film on staples.com for around 25 bucks and if you spend more than $50.00 shipping is usually free).***
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The non-definitive word on printers
(from a printer-junkie and pseudo-expert)
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Want a printer but don't know where to begin? Then you're in the right place. Let's talk printer stuff.
As I've already mentioned, I print with a Canon Pixma Pro9000. I love this printer. The output is amazing. Beyond the laser vs inkjet question (I've always printed with an inkjet because the color is so fantastic) the next hurdle is dye ink vs pigment ink. My particular Canon prints with dye inks. The technology has improved dramatically with dye inks so that many, including the inks that this printer uses, are very archival. So with that said, dye or pigment, either/or is fine in my book. Particularly because there are products out there that will add to the life of your prints, such as MicroGlaze.
My favorite place to start a search for just about anything, is Amazon. I love that people can leave reviews and I use that information, in part, in my decision-making process. And, yep, I've purchased printers from Amazon. And scanners, cameras, even our flat-screen TV.
Here are a few printers with great reviews and great prices just to get you started on your search. As I don't have first-hand knowledge of these particular printers I couldn't recommend them as such. But, I would probably buy any one of these three based on the reviews from actual owners.
Canon PIXMA iP4700 Premium Inkjet Photo Printer (3742B002)
by Canon
List Price:
$99.99
Amazon Price:
Too low to display
Take a peek
Canon iP3600 Inkjet Photo Printer (2868B002)
by Canon
List Price:
$89.99
Amazon Price: Check it out
Take a peek
Epson WorkForce 40 Wireless Color Printer (C11CA27201)
by Epson
List Price:
$150.15
Amazon Price:
Too low to display
Take a peekAnd then my printer, below. It is a bit pricier than those featured, above, but I print A LOT and it is a workhorse. I'm providing the Amazon link, below, just for a pic and so you can read the reviews. This particular listing is not being shipped by Amazon but by a different seller. If you're interested in this printer, I'd suggest Newegg.com for the purchase. I've done lots of business with Newegg and found them to be very reliable, good prices and generally the shipping is very reasonable. And they ship quickly. You can find the Pixma Pro9000 HERE (and right now Canon is offering a mail-in rebate on this printer - taking it down another hundred bucks. Not too shabby).
The only other variable with printers that comes to mind at the moment is: all-in-ones. An all-in-one is a printer that's a printer/scanner/fax/copier/kitchen stove/coffee-maker/washing machine... I think you get my drift, here. Lots of people like and use and swear by all-in-ones. Not this people. To get all that stuff in one machine for such a low price has me wondering if the print quality is as good as I can get in just a printer for the same bucks. But that's just me. KISS - that's my motto.
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A glorious find
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Some weeks back, during my weekly peruse of interesting books on Amazon I came across a title that intrigued me. Beyond the charming title, the cover of the book pulled me in. So I hit the add-to-cart button, dusted off my debit card and then sat by the front door waiting for my postal carrier. Two days later, still in pajamas and weak from not eating, the wee book arrived.
The Marvelous Album of Madame B: Being the Handiwork of a Victorian Lady of Considerable Talent
by Elizabeth Siegel by Scala Publishers
Hardcover
List Price:
$18.95
Amazon Price: check it out
Take a peek
This is 64-pages of divine eye candy - presenting, to the modern world, the Victorian love affair of photocollage under the talented hands of one particular and mysterious Madame B (who is ultimately identified - sort of- through much research by the editors). I was enchanted! I am a huge fan of Carte des Visites photos and of Victorian handiwork and the marriage of the two was a match made in heaven.
If you're interested in the historic aspects of photocollage and are looking for some inspiration of same, I think you'll love this book as much as I do. Here is just a snippet of the artwork you'll find inside:
  A companion title, Playing with Pictures, also found a place on my bookshelf. A bigger compendium of wonderful Victorian photocollage from several Victorian ladies with lots of pictures to fill you up and send you dancing to your art table.
Playing with Pictures: The Art of Victorian Photocollage (Art Institute of Chicago)
by Elizabeth Siegel by Art Institute of Chicago
Hardcover
List Price:
$45.00
Amazon Price: check it out
Take a peek
Either or both titles would be a brilliant addition to your art library, particularly if you're a lover of old things - like photos!
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I'm lovin' this website!
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One of my biggest discoveries this year is DESIGN BLOGS. My house is a mess so decorating is the least of my worries and I don't (necessarily) fall into the target demographics for these blogs but man, these babies are overflowing with great ideas. An unending cornucopia of eye candy. So, over the course of the next several newsletters I'm going to feature some of my favorite design blogs/websites because you just never know where you're next big idea is going to come from.
Today's focus is One Pretty Thing, which is a website that spotlights amazing stuff to do for the thrifty crafty person harvested from a vast array of blogs across the blogosphere. You can subscribe to One Pretty Thing's reader so you don't miss one morsel.
For instance... Friday's One Pretty Thing post had me hopping over to this blog for free downloads of cupcake wrappers. Come on, you gotta love that. Maybe you're not planning a party now but you might be soon. In fact, you don't even have to host a party to use these adorable wrappers. But, then you could decide to have a little tea/cupcake party and invite a few friends in to celebrate the premier of Alice in Wonderland. Or a gift for a neighbor or friend? A box of Jiffy yellow cake mix, an egg, a cup of milk, a canister of white frosting and these little wrappers... What, maybe three bucks to have people thinking you're worth a million?
I hope One Pretty Thing ends up on your daily read list, too. And, btw, I am totally up for a tea party. Give me a ring - come on over - my treat. :)
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From me to you with love
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From me to you, a little gift. Click on the image above to download and save to your computer (pssst... all that love comes in a big package so please be patient as it downloads).
Questions regarding the use of PaperWhimsy images? You can find my Angel Policy here or please email me at hello @ paperwhimsy dot com. Feel free to use this image in digital or cut-and-paste collages
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And just for fun...
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...'cuz it's outrageous (in a very good way) and will make you smile. From OK Go, This Too Shall Pass, a music video approved for all ages. And a great way to bid you a fond adieu!~
Clicking on the pic, above, will take you to YouTube. It's a trip well worth your while :)
Enjoy your week!
***
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Gale Blair
PaperWhimsy
www.paperwhimsy.com
hello@paperwhimsy.com
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PaperWhimsy was selected as a Constant Contact All Star
because of its high-standards in Email marketing.
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