Red Castle Projects
Designed by Judi Kauffman

WELCOME

I am delighted to be invited to design projects to showcase Red Castle stamps and Phil Schloss's amazing FIT IT CD templates.

I believe that all people are creative. My goal as a designer is to give clear instructions so you can duplicate projects exactly as shown -- but I will always include lots of options and alternatives so you can change or customize them and begin to expand your horizons and creativity. After all, if you're stamping at midnight and my instructions suggest paper or ink that you don't have, you'll need to figure out something else.

By asking yourself to think and stamp in new ways, you will get lots of value out of your rubber stamp collection. Stamps that appear on a Valentine in February's project might reappear in a fall collage or a Mother's Day card. A technique like using fabric for a box that is introduced in March can be used again and again throughout the year.

Build your collection as your budget allows. No project will require more than three or four stamps. Because Red Castle stamps are sold as sheets, un-mounted, you will have a good assortment from each purchase.

I have an idea that you might want to try: The Leaves plates have "units" where many small images form a rectangle (perfect for the front of a card). I buy the same sheet twice, leaving the units whole for one of the sheets (five large blocks) and cutting the units on the second sheet into individual stamps (some of them itty bitty images -- each sheet will yield over 20 stamps). You never know when a tiny maple wing or sprig of berries will be just right for a background repeat!

I was a fan of the FIT IT CD within minutes of receiving it. FIT IT allows you to print out a template from your computer screen, but unlike other templates it gives total freedom to change the dimensions of the template with the click of a mouse. A single template, the Heart Flap box featured in the March 2000 project for example, can be reduced to fit a ring or single chocolate truffle, turned into a square for a rubber stamp, a rectangle for an elegant soap, or enlarged for a shirt or sweater. I sat at my computer screen, where I remain somewhat of a novice, and up popped more templates than I could use in a lifetime -- in seconds.

Many projects will begin with a template created using the FIT IT CD from Red Castle. This remarkable tool lets you print out the template for a box, ornament, or envelope on your computer in an infinite number of sizes and shapes. By changing the measurements you can make a box to fit a gift's dimensions. Small sizes fit on a single sheet of paper, and you can make large boxes by connecting the 8-1/2" x 11" sheets along the clearly marked lines on the template pages.

Many projects like mats and frames, jewelry, home decor, cards and note paper, do not require the FIT IT CD.

Other supplies needed include a craft knife, ruler to cut and score against, a scoring tool, lightweight card stock or paper, rubber stamps, inks and embossing products specified in the project instructions. Though I will be specific about what brands and colors were used, please be aware that manufacturers may change and discontinue their products. All were available at the time the project was designed, but may not be if you tuck the instructions away in a folder for a long time.

Red Castle is an Angel Company. You have permission to sell hand-stamped items that you create using the stamps and FIT IT templates. However, copyright rules prohibit you from transmitting the templates, from printing and selling templates, or from reproducing them for classes and groups without written permission.