We have been having so much fun with you with the release of Circa and it is just a few weeks away. Pre – orders are happening on facebook check under Sis Boom and please give us a like so you are notified on our postings.  Things move quickly there and we are selling lots of items. I found these on my personal facebook page and it’s even a pattern. I knew you all would love this.  Kristy Smith from Hopeful threads at it again with a wonderful pattern from, You got it, Whimsy Couture !!  Whimsy Couture you rock!!!  And Kristy thanks so much for making the fabrics shine.

Ok so let’s have a serious chat!!  I want to help the brick and mortars of the world.  Maybe a shout out to your local store for carrying Sis Boom fabrics or a photo of old Sis Boom stock and a location they can be found.  We have a need for old stock!!! People scour the internet day and night for our first lines.  Most will pay top dollar!  We also want to get to know you if you are carrying Sis boom fabric and get you on our locator list.  It’s hard in a world of online sellers to find a spot but we want you to know we are holding a place for you..Having a sale?? Tell us so we can let your neighborhood  know.  These quilters and clothing designers will travel!!! That much we do know.  We have an active community on facebook.  Alas the dreaded facebook but it’s amazing how fast we can get up to speed to see our favorite fabrics.  Brick and mortars, dead Sis Boom stock, can’t move, post your photos to Jennifer Byrne Paganelli and we will chat you up!!!  Better yet show us what you have and then our sewists will make the trip.  Are you a fan of Sis Boom ??? Take a photo in your favorite store that carries Sis Boom and enter to win 5 yards of Circa!!!! Ends August 31st!! We will be sharing more about that.  We want every seller to be an online seller , to be known for carrying Sis Boom.  We are an eager bunch and we love to chat!!!  Got a favorite store in your area?? Give them a shout out and tag me , tell me what town they are in and if they have a website or not. Shout out to Trains and Fabrics in Tacoma Washington, who doesn’t even do email for carrying some of our new lines. They now have a facebook page!!

Have any of these?? Folks are looking. Do you ship? Do you ship internationally?

HI Sis Boom Friends! Ok.. If you’ve seen our Clip Art and wondered, hmm.. How can I use that?! .. then this one’s for you.. (as is EVERY Friday post, shared by the lovely & oh so talented Jessica of Love Colorful!)

psssst… If you’re not a Photoshop gal or guy, then maybe this one’s not for you.. but all of the other demos by Jessica certainly are!

In this post, Jessica does an AMAAAAZING job walking you through Photoshop… explaining very slowly and carefully how to manipulate this file digitally. We encourage you to try- it’s not as scary as you may think! promise! Thanks Jessica for the awesome post.. pssst.. How beautiful is she?! (scroll to the bottom!) … Enjoy!

Take it away, Jessica!…

Hi guys! For this week’s Sis Boom Clip Art project I’ve got something a little different for you – an actual digital project using the digital clip art! Shocking, I know! hah Anyways, bust out your copy of Photoshop, and let’s get cracking!  For this project we’ll be using one of the pieces from the Love Ephemera clip art file.

First up, open the digital clip art file (.png) and a photograph you would like to use in Photoshop. (P.S. you can click any of these screenshots I’ll be using to show them a little bigger if you need to! Also, if I mention any keyboard shortcuts, I’m using a Mac – things may differ slightly on a PC, but will be the same basic concept)

Using the “Rectangular Marquee Tool” on the left hand side of your screen (the dotted rectangle icon below the arrow at the top) select just the frame in the bottom right corner. Then copy the selection (“Edit > Copy”)

Now go to “File > New” to open a new document. By default, since you have a selection copied to your clipboard, it should come up as showing a preset for “Clipboard” (This will automagically size your new document to fit your selection). Hit OK!

And paste your selected image into your new document.

At this point, if the photograph you chose to use is vertical, leave your canvas the way it is. If your photo is horizontal, however, go to “Image > Image Rotation > 90 CW”

Ok, now for the fun part – we get to use the Polygonal Lasso Tool! You select the tool, then click ‘points’ in which to make your selection. Start from one of the inside corners of the center image, and keep clicking along the edge – basically trace the inside frame. While the little cherub dude is cute and all, you want to add your own shining face, right? (Or perhaps a loved one, your pet gerbil, or a pretty scene)

Once you’ve gone all the way around the middle of the frame, you’ll see the marquee dotted line wiggling all over the place. (You’ll notice a little circle appears at the corner of the tool once you’ve made it all the way around to the beginning and connect your lines)

Now we want to invert the selection, so go to “Select > Inverse”

Next we have to create a layer mask, so click the icon at the bottom of your layers pane that looks like a circle inside a rectangle. Click that and you should get something that looks like the picture above.

Next add a new layer. Then go to the photograph file you want to use, select all, copy, and paste it into your frame file.

Use the “control button + T” (or “Edit > Free Transform”)to fit the image (it will give you a box to resize it with). Hold shift and drag one corner of the photo until it is the size you need to fit in the frame. Then simply save your work, and bada-bing bada-boom: a super cute digital picture frame!

SEE MORE at LOVE COLORFUL! Go on! You’re going to LOVE IT.. LIKE, BIG TIME!

Kristy Smith from Hopeful Threads is having a grand time with her Girls World pups, using Happy Land she is creating the most sweetest of pooches. Thanks for sharing them with us Kristy..we are so crazy about you. Visit her shop here.  Thanks Kristy for sharing our book Girls World with your readers, means the world to us!!!!!

By the way make sure to hoard all the Happy Land you love as we make way for Circa!!!!! xo

Here they come our new pillows and we will let you know the retailers that will be carrying them.  You saw the ones in Happy Home and for those of you who don’t sew we decided to make them available and boy are we glad we did. The outpouring of love on facebook is a good indication that we scored. My Girlfriend Jennifer at Earth Angels Studios will be a good place to start May 1st! We are so excited by their debut..we are talking HAPPY!!!!  You can also create these in our book Happy Home with any word/s you like.  Please note do to overstock issues their are plenty of books under new on Amazon with much better pricing..just FYI That’s one of the best sewing books ever. ( I’ve been known to exaggerate.)