Hands On Digital (tm): Meet The Designer-Cecilia Swatton

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Meet The Designer-Cecilia Swatton

Cecilia is an independent mixed media designer who has recently branched out to include some very interesting digital kits, designed with the mixed media artist in mind. She is a major designer for several rubber stamp companies, including: BonTonStamps as well as AnotherStampCompany
She is a well published artist who has had articles in various magazines and was recently featured in: Somerset Digital Studio, Scrap N' Stamp, Somerset Galleria and The Spring Hill Review to name just a few. Out of several 100 artists, Cecilia's wonderful mixed media artwork was selected to be featured in a soon to be released: "Exploring the Latest Trends in Mixed Media Art" Vol. II by: Sherre Hulbert & myself-Cynthia Powell.
Sharon and I are thrilled that Cecilia has joined our digital partnership under the "HandsOnDigital" umbrella-which offers its customers high quality, high standard digital kits for the mixed media artist as well as the scrapbook artist.
Cecilia has also developed 2 CD collections of vintage images, complete with some abstract painted background papers created in her art studio. These CD's are perfect for artists who enjoy collaged, altered arts, card-making and/or a new printable, digital, hands-on style of scrapbooking, called "Hybrids".

No comments:

Post a Comment

S4H/S4O Angel Policy TOU-Terms of Use

Thank you for selecting a product designed by one of our exclusive digital designers. Whether you have purchased a full-size scrapbooking kit, a tagger size scrapbooking kit, an art project kit or downloaded one of our many free products, these “Terms of Use” apply. Our “Terms of Use”-Angel Policy/S4H/S4O is as follows:
You MAY use any of our products for the following personal monetary gains: (Please also read Limitations)
1. Scrap For Hire (S4H) & Scrap For Others (S4O) 2. Greeting Cards 3. Stationary 4. ATC’s for Trade or ACEO’s for a limited series 5. Postcards 6. Other Handmade Crafts to be sold at craft fairs/shows 7. You may use our images for designing blog headers 8. Submit your creations to online galleries, magazine submissions and/or art project contests (provided credit is given to “Hands-On Digital” as well as the designer of this kit). 9. Design Annual Calendars for Family, Friends or Customers.
“Limitations”: All of your creations, regardless of the digital project you create, must be flattened into a non-editable format. Credit is required for all products you create using any part of a “Hands-On Digital” kit. Copyright belongs and will remain with the designer of these kits. There is no sharing of any part of a kit via a direct link to a download or incorporating any part of this kit into your own kit and claiming credit, nor may you use any part of this kit as a design tool to create your own digital kits for sale, as a freebie, to create printables or digital collage sheets, templates, quick pages or brag books for re-sell. You may not re-package or re-sell any portion of a kit, in its original format or altered form except for those listed above. All images used in our kits, are either public domain or from private collections and have been digitally altered and enhanced to provide the best possible image for our kits. We create printable collage/artists sheets as part of our product line and reserve all rights to our images. If you have purchased one of our “Hands-On Digital” art project kits, you have permission to create said art project, whether for yourself or as a re-sellable item. You May Not share or resell this pattern/template, written instructions or photos.
If you wish clarification on any of these terms of use, or to request special permission to use: please contact the designer of the kit you wish to purchase or use in your art project, via the links in our sidebar.
Sincerely,
Cynthia Powell

How To Use Digital Stamps-Word Art as Digital Stamps

"Instructions for using Digital Image Stamps" by: CynthiaPowellDesigns
First let me explain what a digital or digi-stamp is, so that you can understand how to use them. Normally digi-stamps are black outlines of an image saved as a png format, however, just like in the real world, they can be inked-by changing their color (you have more colors at your finger-tips than any inventory that a craft store could possibly stock of ink pads), but instead of using an ink pad of color to print the image onto a surface, in the virtual world of digital, you simply edit the line drawing and fill with whatever color you wish to print the image with. Printing requires that you stamp your image(s) onto a background paper but in the digital world, you merely place it anywhere on your digital background. With digi-stamps your images always look fresh, clear and perfect every time! Digi-stamps have many advantages over regular rubber stamps, in that the images can be re-sized, flipped to a mirror image, flipped vertical, flipped horizontal or manipulated in a variety of different ways, that will fit the needs of your project. Digital Stamps never wear out and never have to be cleaned! They can also be combined or overlaid one on top of another, creating a whole new look, or a vista without having to use special tools for alignment. Digi-stamps can be printed on a home printer, on a variety of different papers for additional visual texture. They can be hand-colored with pencils, crayons, painted with acrylics, water-colored (which could also be done in your digital software before printing!) Digi-stamps are used much like regular rubber stamps, i.e. for Greeting Cards, ATC's, or they can be further embellished with other types of scrapbooking/mixed media embellishments, cut out, add Word Art, make them into tags or labels. The ideas are literally endless.
By using an embossing pen, you can simply draw around the printed image and add embossing powders, use a heat gun to emboss the image, for a 3-D effect! (I would suggest using a laser print for any images that will be used around a wet medium, such as watercolors. Printer inks tend to bleed when they get wet, however, laser inks do not.)
Digi-stamps can also be used as tranfered images, in that they can be applied to fabrics, glass, hard surfaces, canvas, etc. Depending on the project, various factors should be considered; the image itself, the ink in the printer, (laser is best), the paper it is printed on (copy paper being the best for transfers-but there are also specialty types of fabrics that can be run through an ink jet that work fabulous with digital image stamps!)
To make a simple transfer of a digital stamp-make a laser print, let dry. Coat the surface of the printed image with gel medium and apply a coat of gel to the surface receiving the image. Lay the image face down on the surface and burnish to remove any trapped air bubbles. Let dry. Once dry, wet the paper and allow the paper to soak for a second, you should be able to see the image through the paper. Now it's just a matter of rubbing the paper off, revealing the image on the surface. If you have some fussy papers left that are just being stubborn to remove-simply coat the image one more time with that gel medium and the fussies will disappear!
Many styles of Word Art can also be used just like a rubber stamp, in that they can be re-sized, re-colored, painted, printed, cut-out and embellished for your art projects.