Cut & Paste Paper Arts Blog

So Much New Stuff Happening!

2007-05-22T11:03:00.001-07:00

I know we haven't updated this in quite a while but we will get better, I promise. If you really need to know the latest and greatest ASAP then sign up for our newsletter and you'll always be in the loop.

Redesigned Website: We have re-designed our website so please check it out - http://www.cutnpasteshoppe.com

Ideas: We put many of the design team layouts and projects out there and linked them to the specific products that were used in case you want to scraplift (it's ok, we all do it). We've even posted a few cards for our customers so if you want to feel like a celebrity, send us scans of you latest work to karen@cutnpasteshoppe.com. We'll be more than happy to show it off.

Sale : Order online and save on shipping and get additional discounts based on how much you spend. Who doesn't like a sale?

New products: - We are bursting at the seams so shop! shop! shop! You know you want to.

Featured Product: Have you seen the newest coolest tool around? Well actually it's 2 different tools but by the same company. The Bind It All and the Dreamkuts are simply fantastic. The Bind It All does just as it says, binds things together to make just about any kind of book you can think of. It will punch through a variety of materials so you are limited solely by your imagination. The Dreamkuts is the answer to a common problem for many scrappers. How do you get a straight cut without buying a professional and very expensive paper trimmer. The Dreamkutz will cut perfectly straight mats in record time and you'll wonder how you ever survived without this tool.

Hope to see you all soon.

Now get back to scrapping!

~Karen

Sale - Limited Time

2007-01-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

We all hope you had a wondeful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year.

We are starting the year off with a bang and a great sale. For a limited time we have select items on sale at 50% off. These are items that we have in limited quantity and once they are gone, they are gone for good. Take advantage now and get some great deals on all your favorites. We updated the items selected for sale daily so be sure to ask on your next visit.

Hope to see you soon!

Toni, Jennifer, Laura & Karen

Layout Blueprints Contest Winner

2006-10-05T01:33:00.000-07:00

Join me in congratulating Alicia Barry as our winner in the Layout Blueprints contest. She will receive an autographed copy of the Layout Blueprints book by Amy Elkins and a 20.00 gift certificate at Cut & Paste.

Thank you to all that entered and we look forward to seeing your entries for our future contests.

October Layout Contest

2006-10-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

Cut N Paste is looking for talented scrappers with unique points of view to participate in our monthly contests! Each month will feature a different theme, but one thing remains the same, every month a new winner will be chosen and will receive a $25 gift certificate valid at either the Cut & Paste Paper Arts store in Portland , Oregon or http://www.cutnpasteshoppe.com/

Our theme this month:

What You Mean to Me….

Whether it’s a teacher, child, co-worker, best friend, or family member, we all have at least one person that has made our lives better. Show us your best layout featuring this person and describe what this person means to you and why. Journaling is an obvious key component of this contest so please make it heartfelt and sincere.

The entries will be judged by our design team members with the winner receiving a $25.00 gift certificate valid at Cut & Paste Paper Arts in Portland , OR or online at http://www.cutnpasteshoppe.com/.

Rules:

One entry per person
Cut N Paste Design Team members, message board moderators, owners and employees may not participate.
Entries must be no larger than 150kb Entries will be accepted until 11:59 pm PST October 31st 2006.
Late entries will not be accepted.
Entries not meeting size and time requirements will be disqualified.
Multiple entries from one person will constitute disqualification.
One or two page layouts are acceptable. Two page layouts may be submitted as two files.
Entries will be loaded onto our website and judged by the Design Team.
Winner will be announced no later than November 4th 2006.
Participants, by entering the contest, release the right to Cut & Paste to use their art in the gallery or on the website at their discretion. (Should a layout be up for publishing and need to be removed, owner of the layout will notify Cut & Paste in a timely manner to have the layout removed.)
Winners will not be eligible for two months after their win is announced.
Entries should be emailed to contests@cutnpasteshoppe.com!

Good luck to everyone!Cut & Paste Paper Arts

New Layout Contest

2006-09-01T15:22:00.000-07:00

Cut N Paste is looking for talented scrappers with unique points of view to participate in our monthly contests! Each month will feature a different theme, but one thing remains the same, every month a new winner will be chosen and will receive a $20 gift certificate valid at either the Cut N Paste store in Portland , Oregon or http://www.cutnpasteshoppe.com/

Our theme this month:

Layout Blueprints!

As many of you may already know, Amy Elkins has published a fantastic book of scrapbook layout sketches titled Layout Blueprints. In support of her endeavor we thought we'd hold a layout contest that uses a specific layout blueprint from her new book.

The entries will be judged by Amy and our design team members with the winner receiving an autographed copy of the book and a $20.00 gift certificate valid at Cut & Paste Paper Arts in Portland , OR or online at http://www.cutnpasteshoppe.com/.
Rules:

The layout must be based on the blueprint on page 23 of the Layout Blueprints book. You may also view the blueprint below.

One entry per person
Cut N Paste Design Team members, message board moderators, owners and employees may not participate.
Entries must be no larger than 150kb Entries will be accepted until 11:59 pm PST September 30th 2006.
Late entries will not be accepted.
Entries not meeting size and time requirements will be disqualified.
Multiple entries from one person will constitute disqualification.
One or two page layouts are acceptable. Two page layouts may be submitted as two files.
Entries will be loaded into our Contests gallery, and judged by the Design Team.
Winner will be announced no later than October 4th.
Participants, by entering the contest, release the right to Cut N Paste to use their art in the gallery or on the website at their discretion. (Should a layout be up for publishing and need to be removed, owner of the layout will notify Cut N Paste in a timely manner to have the layout removed.)
Winners will not be eligible for two months after their win is announced.
Entries should be emailed to contests@cutnpasteshoppe.com!

Good luck to everyone!

Cut & Paste Paper Arts

Halloween/Christmas Card Class I

2006-08-28T13:43:00.000-07:00

Get an early start on your Halloween and Christmas cards with this new and slightly unusual combination card class. We will make 3 each of Halloween and Christmas cards featuring Amuse rubber stamps.

This is the first in a series of weekly card classes so check back often to see what we are creating each week.

Halloween/Christmas Cards I - Class Times:
Wednesday September 6th - 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Saturday September 9th - 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Cost: 15.00
Please bring adhesive. All other supplies will be provided.

*The card samples may vary slightly from the actual cards made during class.

Crop Weekend!

2006-07-29T12:15:00.000-07:00

CROP WEEKEND--BOOK NOW

Due to popular demand, we have just scheduled the next Crop Retreat Weekend. Since this weekend is limited to just 8 croppers, we recommend that you book now for the best room selection.
Here are the details:
When?: Friday October 13 (check-in after 3pm) thru Sunday October 15th (check out by 3pm)Where?: The Craftsman Bed & Breakfast, Pacific City (Oregon Coast)
How Much?: $300 per room--max occupancy 2 people. This works out to just $150 per person for the weekend when you and a friend book together.
What do you get: Exclusive use of the B&B for 2 nights, a weekend of fun, 3 feet of crop space just for you, a weekend of fun, 6 meals (dinner on Friday thru Tea on Sunday), a weekend of fun, snacks galore, a weekend of fun, prizes, a weekend of fun, use of our Creative cutter and other tools, a 15% pre-crop discount at Cut and Paste for you to load up on necessary supplies (limited product will be available for purchase at the crop, but specific items and brands are not guaranteed) and more! Plus did we mention a weekend of fun?

Note: A 50% deposit is due at the time of sign up. Reservations are only accepted on a room basis. If your reservation must be canceled for any reason, this deposit is only refundable if we are able to rebook your room. Reservations will be taken on a first come basis and you will select your room when you reserve your spot. For more details on the B&B amenities, check out the Craftsman Bed & Breakfast website at www.craftsmanbb.com.

Our last weekend was great fun.....we don't want you to miss out on this one!

Upcoming sales

2006-06-30T11:46:00.000-07:00

Upcoming/On-going sales at Cut & Paste Paper Arts

Wednesday - Every Wednesday 'til August 31st, your entire purchase is 25% off!!!! We are not kidding, everything (except clearance merchandise) is on sale the entire day.

Christmas in July - All Christmas/Holiday merchandise is 35% off from July 10th - 16th.

All online orders over $75.00 receive free shipping.

We would love to see you every day but be sure to take advantage of these great sales while you can. Online orders also qualify for these sales as long as the order is placed by 11:59 PM on Wednesday or the last day of the sale.

Happy scrapping!
~Karen

Photography 101

2006-06-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I bought a digital camera a little over a year ago and I've just recently started playing with it. It ocurred to me that part of the reason that I waited so long to use it was because I was a bit intimidated by it. I actually have used an SLR camera many times (I have a Canon EOS 10S) but I've been using point-and-shoot digital cameras for years now that I've forgotten most of what I learned in my photography classes.

I decided to refresh my knowledge and started reading a basic photography book. It dawned on me that others may be in the same boat so I thought I'd share some photography basics with you. As I become more knowledgable I will continue to post it here.

Our first lesson however will deal with getting a good exposure. There are a few elements to achieving a good exposure and we'll go into each one separately. These concepts can be applied to either traditional film cameras or digital cameras. The exception would be point-and-shoot types because you can't change the settings on those cameras.

1. Shutter Speed: What the heck are we talking about here. Well basically it is the actual length of time the shutter is open or the digital sensor is activated (for digi cameras). As the shutter speed increases, the amount of light reaching the recording media decreases. Shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second or seconds. For example, 1/500 of a second will let in twice the amount of light as 1/1000 of a second and half the amount of light as 1/250 of a second. For slow shutter speeds, a very steady hand or better yet a tripod is necessary to prevent blurriness from camera shake.

2. Aperture: Hmm...another technical word. Apeture is the opening of the lens. You can kind of think of it like the pupil of a our eye. When it's dark, the size of our pupil increases and when it's bright, it decreases. You cameras aperture works the same way. If you are shooting in a low light situation you need to open the aperture wide to let in enough light. If it's a bright sunny day, you would minimize the aperture opening so to not overexpose the photo. Apeture (also called f-stop) is measure in fractions with the lower number indicating the largest opening. For example, f/2.8 is a larger opening (more light) than f/11.

3. Depth of Field: This is the distance in front of and beyond the focus point. As you open you apeture (smaller f-stop number) the depth field will decrease. In other words, more of the background will be fuzzy the wider the aperture (smaller f-stop number). An apeture of f/2.8 will result in most of the photo being fuzzy outside of the focus point whereas an f/16 would result in a much clearer background.

4. ISO: You've probably seen "ISO" on your film packages and maybe not thought too much about it. However, using the correct ISO can have a postive impact on your overall happiness with a photo. ISO is a rating that is assigned to film and it and it represents the speed of the film. Don't confuse this with shutter speed though they do work in conjunction. Lower rated films (100, 200, etc) have a very fine grain whereas faster speeds (400, 800, etc) have a noticable grain. You would want to use a ISO of 100 for outdoor pictures on a sunny day but you might need to use a 200 or 400 on a heavily overcase day. To stop action you need to use a fast film.

Since digital cameras don't use film you may think you don't need to worry about ISO. That may be true for the type of photography you do but most digital SLR cameras do offer an ISO setting. Refer to your user guide for help in changing the setting.

Now here is your homework (if you choose to to play)

1. Shutter speed: Set your camera to manual mode and f/16. Using different shutter speeds, take photos of the same thing. You'll start to get a feel for the importance of setting the right shutter speed.

2. Apeture: Set your camera to manual mode and shutter speed of 1/250. Using different apeture settings take pictures of the same thing.

Extra Credit: Night photography using slow shutter speed. Find a place where you can see the lights of the city and the roads. You'll need a tripod or solid surface to rest the camera on. Set your camera to manual mode, f/11 and a slow shutter speed (3 seconds or longer). Experiment with longer and shorter speeds.

I hope this helps you feel more comfortable with you camera. Do not be afraid to experiment especially if you own a digital camera. If you don't like what you did, just delete the photo try again.

Please let me know what you think of these tips.

Thanks and have a great day!
~Karen

Free Stamps

2006-06-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

Yep, you read that right! We just received more Inkadinkado stamps that qualify for the free stamp program. The floral stamps are so versatile that they are the perfect addition to any stamp collection. The value doesn't stop there though because when you buy 2 stamps you get the 3rd for free along with a free color project sheet chock full of great ideas and instructions for making great looking cards. Don't stop at cards though because these stamps will work great in your scrapbook layouts or other paper art projects.

It's a great value and the stamps are so versatiile you will use them over and over again.

~Karen

Welcome

2006-06-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

So glad you found us!

Welcome to the new blog for Cut & Paste Paper Arts.?? That's right, we've gotten on the blog bandwagon and created this space to keep you updated on the new and exciting things happening at the store.? We'll post articles of interest, techniques, tips, and advice from our design team members.? Checking back regularly will keep you updated on the newest products in the store and any classes or events we've planned.?

All of us at Cut & Paste appreciate your business and support.? We couldn't be here with you, our customers? Thank you!
Have a great day.
-Toni, Jennifer, Laura, & Karen.