paper and flowers

Be Mine

2012-01-28T13:45:00.000-08:00

I keep seeing banners everywhere on cards and scrapbooks - so I thought I would put one to use on a card! The top two card were cut out in plain Kraft paper and then I used some acrylic paint to paint the banner different colors. I had to use some painter's tape to mask off the edges I didn't want to get painted.

This card is my attempt at using some patterned paper with this cutfile. The papers are by Pink Paisley. I think I prefer the first 2 Kraft paper versions.

I put this Digital Cut File in my 'shop' for $.99 cents. This file is available in SVG, SCUT2, MTC, DXF, WPC, and GSD.

Hearts - Freebie

2012-01-27T17:54:00.000-08:00

Here is a Valentine 'Freebie'! I put this Heart file into my 'shop.' Just click on the pink 'shop' button on the right hand side of this blog. As usual, this file will be there for one week.

Valentine Boxes

2012-01-24T19:37:00.000-08:00

I have been busy working on a few treat boxes for Valentines Day. I wanted to make a couple simple Valentine gifts to give out to my son's school and religion teachers. I thought that I could put a brownie or some M&M candies into the boxes. I put a brownie in the box - but it was a THIN brownie. I wanted to get 2 boxes cut from one 12x12 sheet of paper, so the boxes are only .75 inches tall.

The Valentine Boxes open up like a 'Pizza' Box. Here is a photo of one of the open boxes.

I designed 2 different windows for the Valentine boxes. One window has a 'Heart'. The other window has the word 'Love.' I made the word 'Love' as a separate cutout. In the photo above I cut the 'Love' word out in contrasting white paper and then adhered it onto the box.

I put this file into my shop for $.99 cents. This file is only available in SVG, SCUT2 and MTC files.

School Mini Album - APPLE

2012-01-19T09:02:00.000-08:00

I finished up my oldest son's 2nd grade mini album, this time I used an apple as my basic shape. So far I have made 4 school albums in the shape of a School Bus, School House, Chalkboard, and now an Apple. I am thinking of making a pencil for my next album.

For the ease of completing the albums I have kept the format of all the album the same. I usually make 5 pages and use all the same fonts and embellishments (pencil, notebook paper, paperclip, and binder clip). On the front cover, I keep it simple and just put my son's name and grade.

Every year on the first day of school, I make the boys pose by the front door before school. And at the end of the school day, I try to get a photo as they get off the bus. It is fun to see how much they change each year!

I also try to make some journal notes about some fun things that happened during the year. I also try to list some 'Favorites' such as friends, food, games and teachers. To keep the albums looking consistent, from year to year, I use the same format, fonts, and embellishments. My favorite embellishment is the big pencil!

I also try to make a copy of their report cards! Charlie has always had the same comments from his teachers - 'need to control talking' (he is a bit chatty). I also include a class photo and a photo from a field trip or class program. But my favorite part of all the albums is the last page! I make the boy sign their names - it is really fun to see how much their writing improves each year.

FREE FILE: I put this file in my 'shop' as a free file. Just click on the 'Pink Shop' button on the right hand side of the blog. As usual this file link is good for a week!

School Mini Album - SCHOOL HOUSE

2012-01-12T05:57:00.000-08:00

I finally finished up my youngest son, Henry's Kindergarten mini album! I used a school house as the basic shape. I kept the format similar to my other son, Charlie's school albums. For Charlie's school albums, I used a School Bus and Chalk Board as the basic shape for the album. I have one more album to complete - I am thinking an Apple will be my next album shape!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T06:18:00.000-08:00

I wish you and your family the Spirit of Christmas. May it leave its richest blessings in your heart and that it forever and ever endures!

Cards for Food II

2011-12-07T12:07:00.001-08:00

In many ways, America is the land of plenty. But for 1 in 6 Americans, hunger is a reality. Many families struggle to put food on the table for their children! Right now, millions of Americans are struggling with hunger. These are often hard-working adults, children and seniors who simply cannot make ends meet and are forced to go without food.

I am reminded of the saying . . . 'To those whom much is given, much is expected." I am very blessed and I don't struggle for food. My children have plenty of food, clothes, and shelter -- let alone have to worry about buying upcoming Christmas presents. So I started to ask myself 'what can I do to help.'

In the past I have offered the sales of my Christmas Cards to my local food bank. But this year - ALL the money from ANY of my cutfiles (today until Christmas day) will go to my local food bank!! You can find my all my files by clicking on my pink 'SHOP' button on the right hand side of this blog.

PS. - to find a local food bank in your area go to: feedingamerica.org

Mary and Joseph 'Pop-up' Card

2011-12-07T11:59:00.001-08:00

Here is my second Christmas card I designed this year. I try to design at least one religious Christmas card. This particular card has a 'pop-up' window card featuring Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. This card is my first attempt at a pop-up, and it took me quite awhile to perfect the image and the pop-up mechanism.

EDIT: Please note, that this Pop-up card is NOT compatible with Sure Cuts A Lot version1.

Santa's Sleigh Card

2011-12-07T11:23:00.001-08:00

I finally finish up designing my Christmas cards for this season. I am a BIG fan of Santa Claus, and so I designed a card featuring Santa's Sleigh. This card is very similar to my Santa card from last year.

Edit: I was just asked a question about how to mail this card. The finished 'folded' size of this card is 5.5x5.5 inches. They do make 5.5 inch square envelopes, but I usually use larger rectangle card (saves on postage). Last year, I made a tutorial showing how to fit a square card into a rectangular envelope, if you would like to see the tutorial Click Here.

Applique Smiling Pumpkin

2011-10-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

I just finished up a Fabric Applique project - a Smiling Pumpkin! I got this picture finished just in time for Halloween too. I found the pattern for this pumpkin in the book 'A Penny a Month' by Bonnie Sullivan. It is a very good book that has 12 patterns, on for each month. I am pleased with how easily the project went together! I think all I would change about it is the background fabric - might look better on a darker background. I don't know if I will make all 12 of the designs, but I will definitely give the July and November a shot!!

Halloween Treats

2011-10-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

I wanted to give my Son's religion teachers a treat for Halloween. I wanted to let them know that I appreciate all the hard work and planning that goes into teaching all the kids.

I found some small brown sacks at Hobby Lobby, these were only 6 inches tall. After I filled the sacks with candy corn, I folded down the top. Across the top I put an orange crepe paper ruffle and some black trim. I then used a standard paper punch to make two holes at the top, which I thread some ribbon thru and made a bow and added a tag. I used my Witch's Shoe Card SVG as a tag.

Happy Birthday Charlie!

2011-10-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

Today my oldest boy Charlie turns 9 years old. WOW it doesn't seem possible my boys are getting BIG. Not only is Charlie getting big but he is also maturing so much! We celebrated his birthday yesterday. We gave him a Slot Car race track that we ordered online. He went to all the work of putting it together only to find the track didn't work. I could tell that Charlie was very bummed - he didn't cry or even pout about it - Amazing, my little man!! I offered to take him to a store and let him pick out a small gift. He ended up picking out a Nerf Gun and then he asked if we could also get one for his brother. So all turned out well - my boys ran around the house yelling and shooting each other, and the Online store is going to exchange the broken Slot Car track!

I made the 'Monster' cake myself. I was inspired by this cake (see original post). This was the fist time I made or eaten Cake Pops. Is it just me - or do they all taste terrible? My boys didn't even want to eat them. Anyway, I was pleased at how well the Monster turned out, and Charlie loved his cake. Little brother Henry has already put his order in for a green Monster cake for his birthday.

Witch's Shoe

2011-10-14T17:54:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest Paper Clay project - a treat bucket in the shape of a Witch's shoe!! I plan placing a cellophane bag of Candy Corn inside these buckets, and then give them to my boys teachers for Halloween. I hope they will be a big hit!

As a side note to my Mother and Sister - 'Yes, I have made extra shoes for you!' Just let me know what color of ribbon you want.

Some of the shoes I decorated very simply with a ribbon (green shoe above), while others I included some tags, bats and paper rosettes (purple shoe below).

Circus Tent SVG - freebie

2011-10-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

I have a freebie Digital Cutting File for a Circus Tent. I used this Circus Tent in my latest Scrapbook layout. This Circus Tent is available in SVG, DXF, SCUT2, MTC, WPC, and GSD. If you would like to download this file, CLICK HERE. Remember that this file is good for one week as usual.

CIRCUS layout

2011-10-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

The Shine Circus came to town! My boys loved going to the circus, it was fun to watch the circus through their eyes. As adults we lose that Wonder and Joy in the simple things. As an adult I was not amazed at the Lady with 20 Hula Hoops nor the Chuckwagon full of Dogs -- but my 6 and 9 year olds thought it was wonderful! I began wondering at what age do we loose that? When my 6 year has a bad day at school, I can give him a snack and hand him a jar of Bubbles - suddenly a big smile and all is right with the world. Too bad we as adults can't turn our world around with a simple jar of Bubbles! I guess the closest thing we can come to getting that back is experiencing it through a child - they really are a blessing.

Wii play

2011-10-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

My boys LOVE playing Wii!! While playing Wii they become so engrossed they notice nothing else. I was taking some photos of them and they didn't even know! I keep reminding them to blink, LOL.

Anyway here is my latest layout showing my boys playing the Wii. I made an SVG of the Wii Controller and Nunchuck. After cutting the SVG out in black cardstock, I gave it a good coat of UTEE to make it all shiny. I then used a black ribbon to look like a cord.

On this layout, I used a TON of various edges, borders, leaves, glittered flourishes, swirls, dots, hearts, and even a few small flowers. The layout is more than a bit chaotic and I am not sure I like it - I keep telling myself it will be the November Calendar page and I only have 30 days to look at it.

Smiling Pumpkins!

2011-10-02T12:23:00.000-07:00

Who can resist a Smile? I know that I can't resist a big toothy grinning Pumpkin! For the last 10-15 years every time I ran across this type of pumpkin, it ended up in my shopping cart. I have all types of these pumpkins, last year I got so excited when I actually found a Night Light Smiling Pumpkin -- Whoo-Hoo, it was a rush! It is almost embarrassing to get that excited over pumpkins but I am!

Here is my Dinning Room Buffet that I have decorated for Halloween. And believe it or not this is not my full collection, I have more in the Living Room. I am not sure of the total number as they seem to grow every year. My boys love it when I pull out the big orange totes and start putting up the Halloween decorations. My Hubby just rolls his eyes and says 'I think you have enough pumpkins.'

If I remember correctly this 'Witch in Pumpkin' the very first pumpkin that I ever bought. I think that was when I was first married - aghh 17 years ago, seems so long ago!

This is my Living Room. Last year at this time, finally got my hubby to install bookcases on both sides of my fireplace! I finally get to pull out ALL of my pumpkins - FUN! Can you believe my Hubby actually told me I had too many pumpkins!

Can anyone have too many Pumpkins? Nope! I think Hubby is forgetting about my rather large collection of Santas and Easter Bunnies. Yeah - I get excited over Santas and Easter Bunnies too!!

Linked to:

Witch's Shoe Card

2011-09-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a Witch's Shoe Card that I have been working on. I was inspired by a similar Witch's Shoe Card by Kimberly over at My Craft Spot Blog (click here for post). I just LOVED her card! She used her Cricut Machine, Gypsy, and the Happy Haunting cartridge to make her card. So if you have those items -- then I urge you to go to her site and take a look!! Kimberly even has a video tutorial on how she assembled the card. Oh, she also has some stamps made for her card, with the saying 'Would a bad Witch wear shoes this Fabulous?'

But I don't have a Cricut, Gypsy, or the Happy Haunting cartridge required to make her card. So I decided to make a similar Cutting file that I could use. Here is my version of a Witch's Shoe Card. I like the solid black card the best! I put this Cutting File in my 'Shop' for $.99.

Tickets SVG - Freebie

2011-09-24T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hello, I have a new freebie file to give away - a row of tickets! I have seen several ticket rubber stamps online and in stores lately. I broke down and bought some by Tim Holtz - and came close to purchasing some by Paper Tray Ink. Anyway, I decided that I wanted to make a file so that I can stamp an entire row of tickets. If you would like to have this file Click Here, as always the freebie is good for one week!

Papermache Turkey

2011-09-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

Here is another attempt at papermache using a Cholcolate Mold. I was pleased at how well the details showed up on this turkey - especially the feathers. The paint job on this one took me most of the evening to complete, but it was fun!

Papermache - Bunnies

2011-09-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

I have been playing around with some Chocolate molds and Papermache! Here are a couple of Easter Bunnies I made. If you are wanting to try this on your own there is a good tutorial here.

Just a warning - this is a very messy craft project, my kitchen looked like a war zone. And there was a lot of trial and error with the papermache mixture. Some times the mixture was too thin and the next time too thick.

I actually had more fun painting the bunnies then making them. Here is a brown and white bunny with a crackle finish ....

And here is a family of white glittered Bunnies. I love the small 'baby' bunnies. I am thinking it would be fun to make some of these small bunnies in real chocolate for school treats!

Give Thanks

2011-09-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have not posted anything lately. I have been crafting - just not with paper. I have gotten side tracked with a sewing project. I made this picture to go above my buffet in my dinning room. It is a fabric applique. I would have loved to have made it in wool, but my allergies wouldn't let me. I saw this done in wool, I think the texture of the wool is so much nicer! Anyway - all cotton for me, but I do like how it turned out. I am now debating if I should make a matching table runner?

Sewing Machine Card - Freebie

2011-07-24T13:32:00.001-07:00

The above photo is a Thank You card. I got to thinking after I made this particular card, that it might be fun to have a card in the shape of a sewing machine.

After I cut out this Sewing Machine Card, I punched a couple of holes in by hand and 'threaded' the sewing machine.

If you would like to have this Sewing Machine Card cutfile (SVG, SCUT2, DXF, WPC, GSD) just CLICK HERE. As usual, this link will be good for one week.

Spool and Thread Card

2011-07-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

The above card is one I made with my Mom in mind. My Mom is an avid quilter and belongs to a several quilting clubs. While she was here for a visit, we made several of these cards so she could give them to her quilting friends.

I am making this card cutfile available for purchase $.99 in my 'Shop' (just click on the pink button to the right - under my photo). This card is available in several formats SVG, SCUT2, DXF, WPC, and GSD. This card cutfile will have everything you need to made the above card - Spool, Thread, Needle, and Tag.

This card is the same as the first card, but I used some ribbon and lace and wound it around the spool.

Card Supply List

PAPER: Paper Studio, American Crafts, STAMP: Stampendous, INK: Versafine black, Papertrey Ink tea dye; RIBBON: Seam binding

CHA and Cri-kits gel pens

2011-07-19T12:40:00.001-07:00

The CHA convention is going on right now. I have never gone to the convention (maybe someday) but at least I have a few items there. The first project is some packaging for a gift. I am thinking this would be an excellent way to wrap a wedding gift and include the Monogram of the newly married couple!

First I wrapped the gift and adhered a ribbon around the middle of the package. I then used my 'Pinked Rosette' cutting file and Cri-kits metal to make the Rosette. (this file can be downloaded for free from the Cri-kits website). I used a Hot Glue Gun to adhere the metal to the paper.

I then used a Cri-kits Silver Glitter gel pen and the Cricut Cartridge 'Lacy Labels' to make the label. I used the 'Flower5' (7th column and 3rd row on keypad). I cut this label out at 3.5 inches.

I used a Spellbinder die to cut the metal out in a circle. To adhere this metal circle to the black paper, I used Judi Kins Diamond Glaze.

I then used my Cricut to cut out an H. After I cut out the teal H, I coated it with Stickles 'crystal' for some extra bling! I then used my Diamond Glaze to adhere the paper to the metal.

PROJECT SUPPLY LIST

PAPER: Anna Griffin, Bazzil; RIBBON: Ofray; METAL: Cri-kits, CARTRIDGE: Lacy Labels, DIE: Spellbinder; GEL PEN: Cri-kits Silver Glitter; GLITTER: Stickles Crystal ADHESIVE: Hot Glue gun, Diamond Glaze

Here is another project I made using the Cri-kits gel pens. This project was completed first and after it sat on my desk for a day, I got to thinking how I could improve it. I added some metal and bling and that is how I came up with the above 'package'. Even though this first version is very simple - it would make a nice Christmas card or even a Wedding Invitation!

To make this trifold card I used Kraft paper. The center circle is made using a Cri-Kits Black Glitter gel pen and the Cricut Cartridge 'Lacy Labels'. This Label is the 'Home' label (6th column and 4th row) and is cut out at 3.5 inches. Please note that you will need to use the Center Point button on your Cricut machine to make these labels.

CARD SUPPLIES

PAPER: Basic Grey; Paper Studio; RIBBON: Offray; CARTRIDGE: Lacy Labels; DIE: Spellbinders; INK: Papertrey Ink; ADHESIVE: Xyron;

Lacy Labels and Gel Pens

2011-07-13T16:41:00.000-07:00

I have a couple cards to share. Both of these cards were made using the Cri-Kits gel pens and the Cricut Lacy Labels cartridge.

Here is a close up of the Lacy Label 'Adore'. This 'Adore' label can be found on the key pad 3rd column and 4th row.

It is really too bad that don't make a booklet for this cartridge - as this cartridge is very confusing!!! Please note that in order for you to do this label you must use the 'Center Point' button on your Cricut. First replace the blade with a pen. Move the blade holder a couple inches into the paper (due to the use of the Center Point button). Then hit the LAYER button and then hit the 'Adore' button and draw the label (I used 3 inches). When the Cricut is finished, the blade holder will return to the Center Point of the Label. Now you can cut out the lacy label by turning off the LAYER button and hit the 'Adore' button.

Here is a different card, in this particular card I used the 'LoveYou' Lacy Label. This 'LoveYou' label can be found in the 1st column and 1st row of the keypad.

For the 'Get Well' and 'Thanks' words I used a Quickutz Revolution die. I have found that the Cricut doesn't do a very good job cutting out small detailed cuts - such as a small fonts, so I used my trusted dies.

Card Supplies

PAPER: Girls Paperie, STICKERS: Basic Grey Urban Prarie, PUNCHES: Martha Stewart, CARTRIDGE: Lacy Labels, DIE: Quickuts Revolution, GEL PEN: Cri-kits, INK PaperTray Inc Tea Die Duo, RIBBON: seam binding

Zinna Sketch Cards

2011-07-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I have finally gotten some crafting time fit into my schedule! We went on vacation to visit my relatives in Nebraska. And my boys are out of school for the summer and so my crafting time is limited. I miss it, it has been nice to sit down to my desk!

Anyway - - here are two new cards that I made using one of my old files. In case you are curious , here is the original post. Instead of cutting out the Zinna flowers I put a CRI-Kits gel pen 'Black Glitter' into my Cricut machine and had it draw the flowers.

Lady Liberty II

2011-06-26T10:34:00.001-07:00

Here is a second attempt at making another 'Lady Liberty'. She looks very close to the first one - must be sisters. This doll is smaller and placed on top of a box. I painted a flag bunting around the top of the box.

Hmm, not sure which lady liberty I like better - they both look great on my book shelves.

Lady Liberty

2011-06-12T06:48:00.000-07:00

I have been working with some paper clay again, this time I made some 4th of July decorations. Here is a Lady Liberty. I was inspired by some Lady Liberty dolls made by Nichole Sayer - her dolls are so much better!! Anyway, here is my attempt at the Lady Liberty.

I made the base of her by using a styrofoam cone. I cut the top portion of the cone off and inverted and reattached it. I then added a ball on top for the head, and used wire for the arms. Than I just used some paper clay over the top of the form.

Lacy Labels

2011-06-11T17:22:00.000-07:00

Above is a card made using the Lacy Labels cartridge. The overall dimensions of the trifold card is 5.25 X 3.75 inches. I cut the 'Bliss' medallion out at 3 inches, and there are actually 4 layers to this medallion. One tip for using this cartridge -- start with a new blade in your Cricut for these detailed cuts!

I used the Wild Card cartridge to make an envelope. This is the 'scallop' envelope on page 32. The envelope was cut while using the 'Fit to Page' feature.

On both projects, I used some patterned papers by Anna Griffin - but the gold paper is actually 'Gift Wrapping Paper.' I bought a big roll of gold wrapping paper specifically to line envelopes.

CARD SUPPLIES

PAPER: Anna Griffin, Hallmark Wrapping Paper; DIE CUT: Lacy Labels, Wild Card

A Child's Year - yet another butterfly

2011-06-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

Here is yet another take on the butterfly card from 'A Child's Year'. This base card is 4x4 inches and the butterfly is cut out at 2.5 inches.

I need to clean up my craft desk - or I am tempted to find a use for all these small scraps of paper!

CARD SUPLLIES

PAPER: The Girls Paperie, Anna Griffin, Bazzil; DIE CUT: Cricut 'A Child's Year'; INK: Papertrey Ink-tea dye, Versafine-black; STAMP: Stampendous

A Child's Year - butterfly birthday cards

2011-06-01T07:33:00.000-07:00

On my last project I had used the Cricut Cartridge 'A Child's Year', and it was still out on my desk (no, I hadn't cleaned up the mess yet). Anyway, I got to thumbing through the booklet and found this Butterfly Card (page 58). So I thought I would give this design a try!

In the above card I made the card base in solid pink cardstock cut out at 5.5 inches. Then I cut out another card at 5 inches in patterned paper. I used a dual sided patterned paper and simply cut it in half so I could layer it on top of the pink card base. I used the other half in the card below! It wasn't an exact shadow of the butterfly but it still worked. To finish off the butterfly card, I tied a ribbon and put in a flower and tag. The tag is cut from the Cuttlebug 'Tiny Tags' die.

Since I had an extra butterfly laying around - I put it to use on this card. For this card I cut the card base out at 4.5 x 4.5 inches. I then inked up the edges of the butterfly and tied a ribbon and button before attaching it to the card. I then cut out a 1 inch circle and stamped 'happy birthday' on it. To create a ruffle around the circle, used a Crepe Paper streamer and gathered it up and glued it to the back of the circle.

CARD SUPPLIES

PAPER: The Girls Paperie, Anna Griffin; STAMP: Stampendous, INK: Versafine - black, Papertray Inc - Tea Dye, DIE CUTS: Cuttlebug 'Tiny Tags', Cricut cartridge 'A Child's Year'; RIBBON Seam Binding FLOWER Micheals BUTTON Paper Studio

June Calendar

2011-05-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy the last couple of weeks with end of school activities. My boys have had several field trips, concerts, and boyscout activities. I decided to use some of these activity photos in my June Calendar. I wasn't too sure how to tie all these photos together until I noticed some fun kid silhouettes in the Cricut 'A Child's Year' cartridge. This cartridge is fast becoming my favorite cartridge.

I can't believe how fast this school year has gone by! My boys only have 3 days of school left, and there goes my craft time -agh!! I am not quite ready for summer, but it looks like it is here.

LAYOUT SUPPLIES

PAPER: My Minds Eye - Lost and Found; EMBELLISHMENTS: Cricut - A Child's Year; FONT: handwritten

boyscout bags

2011-05-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the last Cubscout Den meeting of the year. We are having a Rainwater Regatta using some Regatta boats that they made earlier this year. We also have a couple games to play outside after the Regatta. I thought I would send them home with a little treat bag - we only have 5 Cubscouts and 2 siblings, so I didn't have too much work to do.

I made the treat bags using the Cricut cartridge 'Bags, Tags, and Boxes.' The bag I chose to use was from page 115. I cut them out at 5.75 inches and I was able to fit 2 bags per 12x12 page.

The Boyscout Fleur symbol was made and cut out with my Sure Cuts A Lot program. I have this and the Wolf cubscout SVG available for free in my shop. CLICK HERE for boyscout link.

Kindergarden Kites

2011-05-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

This is a page about my son's 'Kindergarden Kite Day'. They had a picnic lunch and then flew kites. They had about 125 kites in the air, so the sky was full. I was a little disappointed that the kites didn't show up well in the top photo. I think if I were better at Photoshop I could manipulate the colors to show up more.

In this layout, I really wanted to emphasize the kites, so I made a couple of paper kites. If you would like to have the cutfiles for these three kites, CLICK HERE. The kites are available in SVG, SCUT2, MTC, DXF,WPC, and GSD - and for one week only.

LAYOUT SUPPLIES

PAPER: Basic Grey - basics manilla & urban prairie. FONT: LDJ Shop till You Drop. CUTFILE: Kites by paperandflowers

Jelly Bean Jars

2011-04-22T04:56:00.000-07:00

I made some more Paper Clay Bunnies!!!

I put one bunny on top of a glass jar and filled it with jelly beans. I ended up making 3 of these jelly bean jars, and giving them to my son's school teachers. I love how these jelly bean jars turned out - so colorful and fun.

Egg Card

2011-04-20T08:11:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy week - I finally got a chance to sit down yesterday to play with paper. Here is my latest attempt at using my Freebie Scalloped Egg Card SVG. I also tried to incorporate some bunny silhouettes that I drew last year. All the papers used are from the Girls Paperie line.

Scalloped Egg Card Freebie

2011-04-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

I am in the mood for Easter!! I was looking at some photos of my old projects and ran across these 'Egg Cards'. You can tell from the poor photo this an old project - I was still learning how to take photos (agh!)

Can you believe that I haven't made any Easter or Spring Cards this year? I decided to 'blow the dust off' this Egg Card cutfile - and see if I can come up with some more Easter cards using this file. I intend on posting the new card versions later this week, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, I am giving away this Egg Card file. If you would like to have this egg Card, CLICK HERE. The freebie is available in SVG, SCUT2, MTC, DXF, WPC, and GSD.

Carrot Box

2011-04-13T12:37:00.000-07:00

After I completed my clay 'Carrot Car', I was reminded of my carrot boxes! Last year I ended up making so many of these boxes. I made some carrot boxes to give away to my boy's Teachers and Religon School Teachers. I also made enough carrot boxes so I could use them as place settings for my Easter Table!! My boys loved the carrots and they made the table look so festive.

Anyway - I added this Carrot Box to my store (click the pink 'SHOP' button on the right side of the blog). The carrot box is available in SVG, SCUT2, MTC, DXF, WPC, and GSD.

'Carrot Car'

2011-04-12T19:02:00.001-07:00

Here is my latest attempt at playing with Paper Clay. I tried to make a Bunny in a Carrot Car. What do you think? It took me a couple days to figure out what to use for the green leaves. I ended up using curling ribbons for the leaves.

My Easter Bunny collection is multiplying like 'Rabbits'. Sorry I couldn't resist the pun!

Paper Clay

2011-04-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

I have been side tracked this past week with visitors and 'Paper Clay'! My parents came into town for a couple days. I showed my Mom all the Paper Clay items I was making. We ended up spending one day making paper clay birds! It was a fun visit - and way too short. Here is a photo of my Paper Clay bird. I made a glittered crown for him, and glued him on top a wooden candle stick.

Below are some Paper Clay items I made for Easter. I LOVE Easter! I have a big collection of various bunnies and chicks - guess that collection is growing. I made several different Easter items - my favorite is the Chick driving the Egg Car. I plan on trying to make a Bunny driving a Carrot Car next.

Trifold Scallop Card

2011-03-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

This is a Trifold card that is held shut with a 'belly band'. I used a 'Rolled Rose' to embellish the belly band. Instead of using the regular 'leaves' that come with the cutfile I used some paper curls. To make the curls, I cut a thin strip of paper (1/8 x 5 inches) and curled it around a pencil - then glued it behind the rose.

This card might look familiar to many people who visit my blog often, as it is my favorite card. Whenever I need a quick gift, this is usually the card I make. I try to vary the papers and embellishments, - but I use it all the time! I have used white paper, colored paper, and even patterned paper. Sometimes I will use my Cuttlebug and an embossing folder to emboss the top flap.

If you would like to see a couple other version of this card just CLICK HERE.

CARD SUPPLIES

PAPER: Paper Studio, K&Company. CUTFILE: 'Rolled Rose' and 'TriFold Scallop Card' paperandflowers.

Freebie SVG for St. Patrick's day!

2011-03-15T16:50:00.000-07:00

I finished up a card for St. Patrick's Day! I tried to use some colors that are not typical for the holiday, - but ended up putting just a touch of green into the card.

If you would like to make a quick card for the upcoming holidays, I am sharing the cutfiles! Both cutfiles are available in SVG, SCUT2, MTC, DXF, WPC, and GSD. To access these cutfiles simply click on each highlighted name: Clover and Card with Scallop Edges.

EDIT: KNK files of both Clover and Card Base have now been added.

Card Supplies

PAPER - brown K&Company, newsprint Basic Grey, others Making Memories RIBBON - Martha Stewart BUTTON - Jenni Bowlin SVG CUTFILES - paperandflowers FONT - none handwritten

Paper Zinna Cutfile

2011-03-06T15:55:00.001-08:00

I used the same cutfile 'PaperZinna' as in my previous post about my Mom. This time I printed out a nice quote before I cut out the design. The quote reads ...

Having a place to go is a ...

HOME

Having someone to love is a ...

FAMILY

Having both is a ...

BLESSING

I cut the PaperZinna file out on Basic Grey 'basic' line of paper. Then I used the 'Shadow' feature and cut out a plain green card stock. I then layered a couple patterned papers together behind the PaperZinna. The patterned papers are from Anna Griffin. The ribbon is actually Seam Binding!

After I had the first scrapbook page sitting on my desk for a couple days, I got to thinking it would be nice to add a photo. So I added some frames to the cutfile! The photo is one of my favorite pictures of my boys. I really like how this project turned out, I may even slip this one into a frame for my bedroom wall!

I cut the PaperZinna file out on 'Doodlebug Design' silver glitter paper. When I cut the glittered paper with my Cricut, I used the Multi-cut feature to get a clean cut. I then used the 'Shadow' feature and cut out some plain cream colored card stock. I cut the one 'frame' out in gold card stock; and the other 'frame' in a patterned paper. The patterned paper is from Anna Griffin.

If you would like to have this cutfile, it is in my 'Shop'. Click on the pink button under my photo on the right - it will take you to my shop. This cutfile is available in SVG, SCUT2, MTC, DXF, WPC, GSD, and KNK.

Mother's Day Card

2011-03-04T06:41:00.000-08:00

I am not a procrastinator, I really, really hate working on things at the last minute. That being said, I have finished my Mother's Day card (or letter) already. I wanted to write my Mom a letter telling her how much she means to me - and I got to thinking that I needed something other than just plan paper for the letter. So I designed a 'sheet of paper' with some Zinnia flowers round it.

I have used this Zinna Paper design in a couple scrapbook pages, and I will be posting those in the next couple days - so stay tuned!

New Version - Paisley Eyelet Card

2011-02-28T09:17:00.000-08:00

Hello, It has come to my attention that some cutting machines are having difficulty cutting my Eyelet Paisley Card. I have made some improvements to the file!! I sent out emails to the people who purchased this file along with a new download link. If you didn't get an email with with download link, please email me (email is under my photo at right)! So sorry for the inconvenience!

CUTTING TIPS: This card along with some of my other Eyelet Cards, are very intricate. To get the best results with my Cricut machine, I use the thinnest and cheapest papers I can find! I usually buy the 'Value' packs from Joanns and Hobby Lobby. I have also had good luck with American Crafts papers. I set my Cricut at Pressure 3, Speed Medium, Blade at 4. For the best results I also use a new blade!! If I don't have a new blade - I may multi-cut the intricate designs.

Friend Card

2011-02-24T16:32:00.001-08:00

Here is another card I made this week - yep, I used another 'Rolled Rose'. This time I used couple leaves made from a Martha Stewart punch, in with the regular leaves. I kind of like the contrast of the thin fine Martha leaves next to the regular leaves. If I remember correctly, I cut this 'Scalloped' rose out at 1.8 inches.

Card Supplies:

PAPER: pinks - Making Memories green - Making Memories pink floral - Basic Grey black/white - Girls Paperie TAG: Martha Stewart PUNCHES: Martha Stewart STAMP: Inkadinkado INK: Versafine, Papertrey Ink - tea dye duo SVG CUTFILE: Paperandflowers - Rolled Roses

Card with 'Rolled Roses'

2011-02-20T16:29:00.001-08:00

Here is a Birthday card I made this weekend. My desk has been littered with 'Rolled Roses' and some found their way onto this card. All three of these roses are made from my 'Rolled Roses' SVG file. I cut the scalloped circles out at approximately 1.5 inches. If you would like to see more of these 'Rolled Roses' scroll down to my other posts (basket, tutorial)

Card Supplies

PAPER: kraft, red, pink, yellow solid cardstock - Paper Studio, green pattern - The Girls Paperie, notebook pattern - Basic Grey, yellow pattern - The Girls Paperie DOILEY: Martha Stewart TAG: Cuttlebug 'Tiny Tags' die STAMP:Stampendous INK: Versafine RIBBON:Offray

SVG CUTFILE: Paperandflowers - Rolled Rose

Rolled Roses Video

2011-02-18T12:12:00.000-08:00

Hey - I just watched a video tutorial done with my Rolled Roses file! Ruthie and Alex over at 'You had me at Craft' blog did a video. It is really exciting to to see how others are using my files! Below are some of the roses they made.

They had a couple good tips about using a pair of Tweezers or Flat Nose Pliers to roll the roses - smart. If you would like to watch the video CLICK HERE.

A2 Card Box SVG

2011-02-17T09:35:00.000-08:00

I like to give cards away as Thank You gifts to friends, family, neighbors, and teachers. I generally make a card box that has a clear top and simply tie a ribbon around it. To make the clear box tops - I use plastic overhead projector sheets. You can purchase individual sheets from any office supply company (Staples, Office Depot, or even Kinkos).

This week I thought I would give away the cutfile for this Card Box. If you would like to have this cutfile (available in SVG, SCUT2, DXF, WPC, and GSD) CLICK HERE.

Please Note: This box has 2 separate files (A2BoxTop and A2BoxBtm) - make sure you download both files!! Also this file will NOT work with SCAL version 1.

The Eyelet Cards shown in the photo above, can be found at my other site. The link to my other site is just below my photo and name on the right hand side of the blog - just click on the pink button sign that says 'Shop'.

Valentine Animal Bags SVG

2011-02-15T08:16:00.000-08:00

I made some Valentine Treat Bags for my Son's Cubscout group. I bought the files from Lettering Delights. I have to say they are pretty CUTE, - but they are a little work. Luckily I only needed 7!!

I did find it strange that some of the 'animals' were very detailed (with paws, claws, tails, and feet), while other animals didn't have any the extras (oh well, they are just as cute). I ended up eliminating all the feet and paws - mostly because I wanted to have all the bags finished before my boys got home from school! I think they look just as good with out the extras. For example, my alligator doesn't have feet, and paws, below is a picture of what he should look like.

I also tried to streamline the cutting process by making all the animals use just 4 colors (pink, red, white, and black). This just helped so I didn't have to dig thru all my papers for brown, green etc.. Plus, I thought they might look a little more Valentine ready.

If you cut the bags as they are sized they will only be about 2.5 inches tall. I ended up resizing them because I wanted larger bags - just a warning, this can be a bit tricky for a beginner!

Valentine Treats

2011-02-13T12:50:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Valentines Day, and I made some Valentine treat bags for both of my son's classes (40 total). Instead of using candy in the treat bags, I found some cute stuff (rings, erasers, squishy dinosaurs) at Target and the Dollar store. I found the small cellophane bags at Hobby Lobby in the party section.

To make the bag topper I simply cut out a rectangle and folded it in half to form the topper. Then I used my Spellbinder dies to cut small circles, squares and frame shapes. I then inked up my stamps and got to work. The very cute Valentine Treat stamps are from PaperTrey Ink.

I have fun making the Valentines, and I am pleased with how they turned out. But the funny thing is - my second grader just asked me when he could have 'Store' Valentines like Spongebob or Hotwheels. Aggh, go figure!

My sons also had to have a 'box' to take to school for Valentine Exchange. I found some very cute Mailboxes at SVGcuts.com. They were sirprisingly easy to assemble!

To decorate the mailboxes, I used a free 'Monster Love' SVG from Lettering Delights. All the monsters had quite a bit of detail to them! I ended up taking a marker and drawing in some features because I didn't want to mess with the small pieces (stripes on the legs, cheeks etc.). My boys loved the monsters, and can't wait to take them to school.

Cricut Magazine

2011-02-10T06:39:00.000-08:00

The new Cricut Magazine (published by Northridge Media) is out and in newsstands. I have been anxiously awaiting my copy in the mail, because I had two cards included.

Here is the first card, a birthday card. The card uses the 'Celebration' Cricut cartridge, Stampendous stamp, and K & Company paper. It is a quick and easy 10 minute card!

Below is a Wedding Invitaion that was also included in the publication. This card was made with Sure Cuts A Lot, CRI-Kits gel pens, Dover Publications images, black and white paper from Bazzill Basics Company, and a metallic patterned paper from The Paper Company.

I was a little saddened when I saw this card in print. Don't get me wrong - it is always fun to see your card in a magazine. But sadly some of the supply details were left off and I know that I submitted a complete supply list!

I realize that the magazine is published in conjunction with Provo Craft, and Provo Craft probably doesn't want people to know about its competitors. My problem with this is - WHY? I own several Provo Craft items (Cricut, and Cuttlebug) and enjoy using them. But when I found the software program Sure Cuts A Lot, I went from LIKING my Cricut machine to LOVING my Cricut! The ability to design and cut out my own designs is great - and has opened so many more possibilities with my Cricut machine!

My question is WHY does Provo Craft not want people to use a software that will expand the abilities of their Cricut machine? They may be worried that people will no longer buy cartridges - that is not true. I may not buy any FONT cartridges - but I still buy the shape cartridges. As long as Provo Craft comes out with good cartridges, I will buy them. There are plenty of times that I need a quick card (like the first birthday card above), and it is easy to pop in a cartridge and make a card in 15 minutes. Also if they are afraid of competition from Sure Cuts A Lot, then why not come out with their own software that does the same thing?

I have come to the conclusion, (while I love my Cricut and use it almost daily), that when my 3 year old Cricut finally breaks down I will not buy a new one! Instead I will look for a different cutting machine that supports people that design their own items! There are plenty of other cutting machines and I will be looking into them!

Basket with Rolled Roses

2011-02-02T16:42:00.001-08:00

I have been making a couple more Baskets! Are you getting tired of seeing my baskets? Keep scrolling down to see 2 more versions of this basket.

With this basket I left off the fringe that I put on my earlier baskets. I decided to make a simpler, and cleaner looking basket. I simply painted the basket with 'acrylic texture snow' (DecoArt Snow-Tex) and attach some Rolled Roses. I am thinking that this basket could work for several occasions - Easter, Mothers Day, and even Birthdays!

Here is a close-up photo of the Rolled Roses. I made a Rolled Rose pattern Cutfile (SVG, SCUT2, DXF, WPC, and GSD). In the cutfile I included a regular straight edge rose, a scalloped edge rose, and 2 leaves. In my next post, I will include a tutorial on how to assemble the roses.

Rolled Roses-Tutorial

2011-02-02T16:00:00.000-08:00

I made a cutfile for the Rolled Roses that seem to be all the rage lately. In the cutfile I made one rose circle with a straight edge and another rose circle with a scallop edge. I also included two leaves in the cutfile - one fat and one narrow leaf.

To achieve different sizes of finished roses, you will need to vary the size of the circle to begin with. (to make the Rolled Roses on the Basket I used ... 1 - 3 inch red circle, 1 - 2.5 inch light pink circle , and 2 - 1.6 inch med pink circles.)

To make the Roses, you simply start on the outer edge of the circle and roll it towards the center. To get started rolling - I like to take a pencil and roll the paper around it.

Once I start rolling the paper - I take out the pencil and simply roll it tightly upon it self. The pencil is just use to get it started.

Once you reach the center of the circle - you will be finish. Then just put some glue in the center to hold the flower in place. I like to use a Hot Glue Gun!

In the above photo you can see the difference between the straight edge and the scalloped edge of the Rolled Rose cutfile.

The above photo shows several roses made and assembled together with a few of the leaves included in the Rolled Roses cutfile.

Valentine Basket

2011-02-02T08:48:00.001-08:00

After I had the basket with the blue angel sitting on my desk for a couple days, I got to thinking that these baskets would make good Teacher's gifts for Valentines Day! To make this basket more in line for Valentine's Day, I used pink, white, and red streamers at the bottom of the basket. I also used pink and white beads on the handle.

The Valentine clip art was a freebie from Dover Publications. If you sign up for their newsletter - they will include free clip art. This clip art was a timely freebie! EDIT: Click Here to find the free Valentine clipart from Dover!

See the tutorial below on how to make this Beaded Handle. I also made another version of this basket in a previous post...

Beaded Handle Tutorial

2011-02-01T20:36:00.000-08:00

Supplies Needed:

Wire - approximately 16 inches length

Beads - 6 various shaped and colored beads

Crimp Beads - 8

Crimping Pliers -or- Flat Nose Pliers

Wire Cutter

First cut the wire to approximately 16 inches in length. I used a 20 gauge wire, because that is what I had on hand , but I am sure you could use almost any gauge!

The next thing you need to do is slide a crimp bead into the wire - any place along the wire is fine. The purpose of the crimp beads is to hold the beads in place (and later to safely secure the handle to the basket). In the photo below the crimp bead is the silver bead next to the pearl bead.

Next crimp the crimping bead with your pliers. You can use either Flat Nose Pliers or Crimping Plieres - the Crimping Pliers just makes it look more finished. Using Flat Nose Pliers: simply gasp the crimp bead with the flat section of the pliers and squeeze tightly to flatten the bead. Using Crimping Pliers: place the bead in the back channel of the crimping pliers - and squeeze the bead flat (this back channel will flatten the bead and put a dent into the bead). See photos below.

Next turn the flattened bead on its side in the front channel of the crimping pliers - squeeze bead again to make it rounded.

Next, slide various beads onto your wire - and use some crimp beads to secure the beads in place. The spacing is not important!

Once you are finished securing your beads into place, you can add the handle to the basket. Thread the wire thru the hole in the side of the basket. Bend the wire up to form a loop and cut the excess wire off with wire cutters. Next slide a crimp bead onto the wire and put the loose end of the wire into the crimp bead (see photo below).

Next crimp the crimping bead. This crimping bead is important as it will securely hold the tail of the wire in place. Repeat this step on the other side of the basket and you are DONE.

Basket

2011-02-01T18:56:00.001-08:00

I made this basket using a cereal box, - the cereal boxes are very study and cheap substitute for chipboard! My Cricut machine had no problem cutting thru the cereal box! I used a hot glue gun to assemble the basket together. I painted the basket with DecoArt Snow-Tex (snow paint). The snow paint gave it a lumpy texture like snow and while it was wet I sprinkled it with clear glitter (for extra bling). At first I used a silver pipe cleaner as the handle. After taking a second look at the handle I decided to use some wire and a few beads. I will post a short tutorial later on this beaded handle in the next post.

For the fringed bottom - I used a couple strips of white and blue streamers. I stapled the streamers together along the top. Then I took a pair of scissors and cut some fringes. I then hot glued the fringed streamers to the bottom of the basket.

I then made a couple of rosettes out of blue and newsprint paper. If you would like to see a tutorial on how to make the rosettes, see this post. You can download the free SVG files for the rosettes at CRI-Kits.com.

I then printed out a clip art angel and cut it out. The angel was purchased from Katie Pertiet of Designer Digitals.

Metal Embossing

2011-01-25T09:12:00.000-08:00

I made a set of cards using some Architectural Medallions. I found these images in a Dover Publication. If you are not familiar with Dover Publications, you may want to do a web search to see the large variety of clip art books they offer! Dover publication are generally copyright free or limited copyrights - which make them perfect for using in making cutfiles for your Paper Cutting Machines (Cricut, Shilhouette, Pazzel, etc.) . Note: You will have to look at each book to see their copyright information, as you may not able to share the files you have made, but you can certainly make them for your personal use.

I have been thinking that these Medallions would translate well into cards! So I turned the clip art into some cutfiles - and embossed them into metals with my CRI-Kits embossing tools. The first set of cards I made, I used silver metal so they would match.

Then I got to wonder what the other metal colors would look like...

Hearts Card

2011-01-20T20:18:00.000-08:00

Here is a Valentine card that I designed today. It was difficult to get a good photo due to the odd shape; I had to use a 'flower-frog' to prop it up!

This card was a good one that utilizes some of my scrap papers (I always have tons of scraps!) I cut the hearts out in three different papers and then layered them onto the card base. A few of the hearts have pop-dots under them to add dimension.

If you would like to have the cutfile for this card ... (CLICK HERE). The card is available in SCUT2, SVG, DXF, WPC, and GSD. I am just now learning how to convert my SVG files into other cutting machine formats (thanks to Penny Duncan's help!). So I am hope full that these files will work!! As usual - the link for the files will be good for one week.

EDIT: If you would like to see a couple other cards done with this file check out Sue's blog, she did a great job! I love to see how others are using my files, here is the link ...

http://suesstampingstuff.blogspot.com/2011/01/shellys-svg-heart-card-happy-valentines.html#comments

Zoobilee

2011-01-07T08:24:00.000-08:00

My son was in a school program 'Holiday Zoobilee'. He was an elephant, and even had a speaking part. He did great! But as a proud parent - I could be a bit bias. Here is a scrapbook page I did of the event.

I printed the photo out in color and then again in black and white. I then took my scissors and cut out my son in the colored photo - and placed it on top of the black and white photo with some pop dots. That way he would really stand out. I know how to do this in photoshop - but this way just seemed faster!

I used a Cricut cartridge called 'Create a Critter' to make the Zebra and Elephant. After I cut out the animals, I added some stickles glitter to make them stand out a little more. The font is LDJ 'Shop 'Till You Drop' and cut out with the Sure Cuts A Lot program.

The papers are all Basic Grey 'Wassail', except the Zebra's white is from My Minds Eye 'Frost.' I almost forgot the tag, it is made from Kraft paper and cut out with a Spellbinder Label 4.

Gift Bags

2011-01-03T12:23:00.001-08:00

I needed some gift bags for a couple presents - and all I had in the house were plain brown sacks. So I dug out my Joys of the Season Cricut Cartridge - and this is what I quickly came up with ...

Here is a close up of the Skate (page 49) and Snowflake (page 60). I didn't like the bow on the skate so I just took some scissors and cut it off - much better.

FOOD BANK

2010-12-25T05:44:00.000-08:00

The Santa Scene Card and Nativity Scene Cards have been removed from sales. If you purchased one of files and couldn't find the link in the PayPal transaction -- PLEASE email me. I know that the link provided by PayPal was very confusing - so please let me know.

I plan on going to my local Food Bank, on Monday morning with a check (ALL THE PROCEEDS). I was amazed at the sales-thank you! I plan on going to the Food Bank with my 2 boys Charlie and Henry; and I hope that they see the in the mist of all this Holiday gift giving - that there are people hungry. I was told that for every dollar donated 4 meals can be provided. I thank you, and wish you a warm and joyous Christmas and New Year.

2010-12-23T15:42:00.000-08:00

I wish you and your family the Spirit of Christmas. May it leave its richest blessings in your heart and that it forever and ever endures!

Santa

2010-12-17T12:53:00.000-08:00

My boys will be out of school for the Christmas Holiday soon. This means my crafting time will be severely limited in the next couple weeks (aghh!). So I spent the entire morning making a Santa Clause image. Above is a card I made with him. I just love Santa Claus!

After I made the Santa Image - I realized that I could probably use just the hat in various ways! If you turn off various layers - you can cut just the Santa's Hat. Above is a photo of a tag with the Santa Hat. The tag itself is cut from a Cuttlebug die.

If you would like to download the .SVG, .DXF, .PDF of the Santa, (click here). There is also a SCUT2 file of the 'HoHoHo' and 'SANTA' words.

Snowmen

2010-12-15T13:07:00.000-08:00

I have been playing some more with the paper clay. This week I made a Snowman pin! I took a styrofoam ball and cut it in half for my base. Then I put some paperclay over the styrofoam and sculpted the face. Easy peasy!

I liked the snowman pin so well, that I decided to try and make a full body Snowman. To make this snow man, I used 3 styrofoam balls, some wire, and more paper clay. I then painted the snowman with acrylic snow paint.

After I finished painting the snowman I bought a box at Hobby Lobby and used Modge Podge to decorate the box with paper.

Birds

2010-12-09T10:36:00.000-08:00

Aren't these birds just the cutest things? I still can't believe that I made them - and - they were fairly easy to make! They are made out of Styrofoam balls and paper clay. A friend showed me how to make them. The same one who showed me how to make button bracelets in the previous post. So if you haven't seen her blog - I suggest you run and not walk (thecanaryscupcake). Just be prepare to want all the things she makes!

Button Bracelets

2010-12-09T09:16:00.000-08:00

LORI - don't read this! LOL - there is no way that my sister will stop reading this just because I told her to!! Oh well, she will get a sneak peak at what is coming in the mail (Lori, yours is the pink one, hope you like it).

I had a friend give me a button bracelet a while back. It is so pretty, and I get complements on it all the time. If you would like to see all her creations; head over to her blog (thecanaryscupcake). In addition to some vintage jewelry, she has some other crafty vintage things - and an etsy shop!

After my Mom tried to 'take' my bracelet, I decided to make her and my sister a button bracelet for Christmas. Both bracelets are made using my Grandmother's button collection. My Grandma had a big jar of buttons that she had collected over the years, and there were some beauties there! I thought is was a great way of using some of her buttons - it will remind me of her everytime I put it on!

Hand Sanitizer Gift Box

2010-12-04T14:14:00.001-08:00

I had a request to make a gift box for Hand Sanitizer Gels. I used a 1-oz bottle of Hand Sanitizer from Bath and Body Works, (link for Hand Sanitizer Gel) I think they sell for $1.50 apiece. This is just a cute way of packaging them for stocking stuffers!

The box is fairly straight forward to make. You can get 3 boxes from a 12x12 sheet of paper. If you would like to have the cutfiles, you can download the files here ... (link for cutfiles). The link will be up for 1 week! I have included SVG, DXF, PNG, SCUT2 files as well as a tutorial in PDF form. Happy Holidays!

Christmas Card Envelopes

2010-11-29T11:10:00.000-08:00

I had a question on what kind of envelope do I use on my Christmas Scene Cards. I don't use a square envelope; the US Postal Service charges an extra 20 cents for a square card. I am too cheap, (or shall I say 'frugal') to spend the extra on postage. So I figured out how to fit a square card into a rectangular envelope!

I bought a box of 100 envelopes from Staples (link). The box of envelopes say 'Invitation Envelopes' and they are 5-3/4"x 8-3/4". My Christmas Cards are 5-1/2 x 5-1/2 so they should fit. To keep the cards from sliding around in the envelope - I simply glued an extra piece of cardstock into the envelope. Below is a picture of the extra piece of cardstock.

I cut my extra piece of cardstock from my scrap pile - it doesn't matter what color as nobody will see this paper! I cut my cardstock at 6"x 4.5." I then folded this half (and glued together), to add more bulk to the envelope. So the folded piece of cardstock should be 3"x 4.5".

I then put glue (I used my Glue Glider Pro gun) on both sides of the cardstock and slipped it into the envelope. I also made sure to put my folded edge so that it is next to the card.

Once the cardstock is securely in place, I used a hand punch and put some hearts on the envelope. The hand punch isn't necessary, but I thought it added an extra little extra touch. Hmm, too bad I don't have a punch that has a winter theme - like snowflakes. Maybe since I am saving all this money on postage, I can buy that new punch!

Mr. & Mrs. Wedding Card

2010-11-27T16:55:00.000-08:00

I'mmmmm back! I have been gone for a week to Nebraska to attend my brother's wedding. It is good to be home, and sleeping in my own warm bed. I have forgotten how cold Nebraska can get this time of year (brrr!).

Here is the wedding card I made for my brother and new sister in-law. I got the idea from an Anna Griffin (Cecile collection) scrapbook embellishment. I used Anna Griffin paper for the card base and letters.

This card is an easy 5 minute card!! I think I spent more time choosing a font than cutting and assembling this card. I simply found a font, typed the words in the Sure Cuts A Lot program, and used the weld feature to tie them together. I cut the (MR. MRS.) words in silver glitter paper and the (&) in gold paper. Next, I used the shadow feature and cut all the words out in a plain cream cardstock. I used pop dots to layer the words onto the card.

Santa and Nativity also in WPC, and KNK formats

2010-11-17T05:01:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have add the Santa Scene and Nativity Scene cards in .WPC, and .KNK file formats (in addition to the existing .SVG, .SCUT2, and .DXF, formats). I had two very sweet people volunteer to help me convert the files. - Thank You Bonnie and Sarah!

Just remember to download the Tutorials in PDF format as well; so you have all the instructions on how to assemble this card!

** Also if you could not find the download Links in the PayPal transaction - please email me (email is just below my photo on the right). I will send the links to you ASAP!!

Christmas Cards for Food

2010-11-13T20:01:00.000-08:00

I was watching 'The Talk' television show the other day. On the show, they started talking about a survey that was done - that said 1 in 7 families struggle to put food on the table. That statistic really stuck me. That is a lot a people! Maybe it is the Mother in me - but I just feel for any family in that kind of situation!! I can't imagine the pain it must be to not have enough food for your children.

I am reminded of the saying . . . 'To those whom much is given, much is expected." I am very blessed and I don't struggle for food. My children have plenty of food, clothes, and shelter -- let alone have to worry about buying upcoming Christmas presents. So I started to ask myself 'what can I do to help.'

At the time, I happened to be making Christmas Cards and the thought hit me. How about selling my Christmas Cards cutfiles and giving all the money to my local food bank? I could make all the donations right here from my comfy chair through my computer!

So here goes - ALL the money from these 2 cutfiles (Nativity Card and Santa Scene Card) will go to my local food bank!

In each download you will get an SVG, SCUT2, PNG as well as a PDF tutorial. The tutorials are in a PDF form and also contain the text that I put on my cards. These files will be for sale until December 25 and then I will take them down. Thanks!

PS. - to find a local food bank in your area go to: feedingamerica.org

EDIT: If you purchase the file thru Pay Pal, - once the transaction is complete, there will be a link that shows up towards the bottom of the screen. Click on that Link! It will take to Box.net. And you should see the 4 files that you can download. At this point you can click on each file and download it.

If you somehow missed the link and can't find it ... just me email me! My email is listed just below my photo on the right. Sorry for any confusion - this is a first for me and a learning experience!

Santa Scene Card

2010-11-13T13:44:00.000-08:00

Here is a card that is quite similar to last years Christmas Card. I have a few people on my Christmas list that I wanted to send Santa cards. - I couldn't resist putting in a cat into the scene - just a little nod to my own kitty who always watches me craft.

The inside of the card reads ....

Jolly surprises, a tree shining bright –

Mistletoe kisses, a home filled with light.

Hearts that are merry, a time of good cheer –

Wishing all this and a Happy New Year

Nativity Scene Card

2010-11-13T12:57:00.000-08:00

I finished up all my Christmas Cards and I even addressed the envelopes (30 cards)! I am sooooo amazed that I finished before Thanksgiving :) Strange to have them all done, never finished this early before. Hmm, now that I have my cards out of the way - I have time to think about Christmas crafts ...

I made my Christmas Cards similar to last years card, but I put a Nativity scene on the inside instead of a Santa scene. I kept the outside of the card very simple, since there is so much detail on the inside.

I put a simple 'Belly Band' around the card to keep it together. This year I used a stamp on the belly band rather than handwriting the 'Merry Christmas. I think I like the hand writing much better, but this was also faster.

Here is a photo of the inside of the card. The following is what I wrote on the inside of the card.

And the angel said unto them ...

'Fear not, for, behold,

I bring you good tidings of great joy.

For unto you is born this day

in the city of David, a Savior,

which is Christ the Lord'

Turkey Rosette Cards

2010-10-29T12:28:00.001-07:00

I have been playing with the rosette files again! This time I tried out some striped paper and got to thinking it would work well as a Turkey (hmm, now I am thinking peacock too!). To make the large turkey -I used the same Rosette file with Pinked edge (see Rosette post). In the Sure Cuts A Lot program I changed the height and width to 3 inches tall and the width to 18 inches. By changing the height I got a larger diameter circle and by changing the width I got a bigger spacing between the score lines and a 'thicker' pleat. Even though my file is 18 inches long, I left it on the 12x12 virtual mat so that the SCAL program would cut off the paper at 12 inches (my patterned paper was only 12x12). If you cut the Rosette file at these dimensions you will only have enough for a half circle, so if you want a full circle you need to cut 2 and paste them together. To make the body and face of the Turkey, I just grabbed some scissors and started cutting by hand (seemed quicker at the time as they are all small pieces - sorry no file to share).

I made the 'gobble until you wobble' text with my CRI-Kit Gel Pens. For the gobble and wobble text, I used the CRI-Kits Serif and the CRI-Kits glitter orange gel pen. The 'until you' text was made with the Zapfino font and the CRI-Kits black glitter gel pen.

To make this Tom Turkey card ... I again used the Rosette file with pinked edge. To make the bird feathers I only wanted a half circle, so I simply cut the strip of paper down to 6 inches long by hand after unloading the paper from the Cricut. I cut the body and face parts of this turkey out by hand also.

To make the 'Merry Gobbles' text. I used the CRI-Kits black and orange glitter gel pens and the LDJ Shop Til You Drop font.

Rosettes and Lace

2010-10-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

I am really putting my Rosette cutfiles to work! I played with the rosette cutfile so that it would cut an entire page full at one time. I think that I had about twenty various rosettes on my desk at one time! After seeing all these rosettes piled up, I had the idea to use several on one card. I thought that the card was a little plain so I pulled out one of my card design that had a detailed 'lacey' background.

Here is the 'Lacey' card without any Rosettes on top.

To make the text 'Happy Birthday' I used the CRI-Kit gel pens in my Cricut. NOTE: When you do text with the gel pens - you will get the 'Outline' of the letters. I wanted the text to stand out more so I simply took the gel pens and filled in the insides of the text by hand.

Rosettes

2010-10-17T16:06:00.000-07:00

While completing my October Calendar, I made several paper rosettes. Seems like you will see these rosettes everywhere on paper crafting blogs! So I tried my hand at making some. I soon got very frustrated having to use a score board and scoring these strips of paper. After about three rosettes - I decided there should be an easier way. I ended up made a cutfile with my Sure Cuts A Lot for my Cricut. And to make all those tiny scorelines -- I used my CRI-Kits embosser tool! If you would like to download the files, just scroll to the end of this post.

Here are the complete steps to use these rosette files ...

1. First put paper onto your embossing mat and load into Cricut Machine.

2. Replace Cricut blade with Embossing Tool (use pointy end)

3. In SCAL - open Rosette file

4. Turn off the 'CUT' layer. (just Click on the eyeball in the layer menu next to layer)

5. Turn up the pressure on the Cricut Machine

6. Cut the scorelines with your embosser. Note you may want to 'Multicut' heavy paper to get deeper scorelines!

7. Replace the Embosser Tool with the blade and turn down the pressure on the Cricut.

8. Turn off the 'Scoreline' layer and turn on 'Cut' layer (click on eyeballs again)

9. Cut the cut lines

10. Unload paper from Cricut.

To Assemble the rosettes ...

Take your strip of paper and fold along the scored lines, - accordian style.

Adhere the ends of the paper strip together - I used a zig glue pen.

Gently push the paper down to form a cirle. At this point, I glued a small circle of cardstock onto the backside of the rosette to hold its form. You will want to use a fast drying glue - I used Beacon's 3-in-1 glue. I first tried Glue Dots - but found the rosettes that were made out of heavier paper needed a different glue.

SCUT2 Files - click on highlighted text to download files

I am sharing these cut files in a SCUT2 form instead of the traditional SVG. I am doing this because I designed the files in SCAL not Inkscape - due to the score lines being open ended. If you wish to change the size of the file, simply go to the 'Edit' function from the top menu and hit the 'Select All'. Then go to the Property box on the right hand side and type in the size desired in the Height box. A taller height will result in a bigger rosette.

Rosette with straight edges

Rosette with pinked edges

Rosette with scalloped edges

October Calendar

2010-10-17T15:50:00.001-07:00

I finally finished up an October page for my Calendar. I used a photo from last year - my boys are dressed up as a BeeKeeper and an Indian. I am always amazed at how much my boys can grow in one year!!

I used the same halloween silhouettes as I did my last post - can you tell I am quite smitten with them? I also broke out my CRI-Kit gel pens to make the text. I use a free font called Zapfino. You can tell that the word 'Treats' is filled in and much darker than the rest, I simply took a pen and filled in the text by hand.

I also made some Rosettes to spinkle into the layout.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-09T16:20:00.001-07:00

The above is my Halloween card I made this year and sent out to my friends and family. I have to say up front - I did not design this. I purchased the pattern from papercuttingsbyalison.com. It is a website that is dedicated to paper cutting, *by hand*. There are some fabulous patterns there. I fell in love with the Halloween silhouettes and bought the pattern; I then made a cut file so that I could cut it out with my Cricut. Honestly, I can't imagine cutting this out by hand, I had to simplify these to make it easier for my Cricut to cut!

EDIT: I have had a couple people ask if I would share this cut file. I didn't design this; so I don't think I can really share someone else's designs. I have no affiliation with this website, but I would like to respect their designs. If you would like to have a cutfile, it is very easy to turn their patterns into cutfiles! To make a cutfile ... just scan (or photo) the pattern and bring it into Sure Cuts A Lot or MAKE The Cut and 'Auto Trace'. If you have never done an auto trace there are some great tutorials at SVGcuts.com and Scrappydew.com

Wolf Den Sign

2010-10-01T17:10:00.000-07:00

I am still making items for my son's boyscout group. Here is a sign I made to put up outside of their meeting room. All the dens (tiger, wolf, bear and weebelo) meet at the same time at a church, so I wanted to post a sign so everyone knows where to go.

I had the sign laminated so they can use it for the next couple years (sorry for the sun glare). My next challenge is how to hang it. I am thinking a hole at the top and then using one of those 3-m hangers or even a suction cup hanger? Maybe I should see if I can find a large eyelet for the hole at the top to prevent tearing the sign. I may have to think about this one...

Cubscout Flag

2010-09-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

Whoo Hoo - I made a flag today - and it really wasn't difficult either! I made the flag out of a blue pillow case, some yellow fabric, and lots of Under Wonder.

To make the flag I placed some Under Wonder (dual sided interfacing) on the inside of the pillow case - just to stiffen the flag. I used an old broom handle for the pole. I sewed a seam along one side to make a pocket for the broom handle.

To make the Yellow images on the flag - I used Under Wonder and my Cricut Machine to cut out the images. To begin with, I applied some Under Wonder to some yellow fabric and then feed the fabric into my Cricut. The fabric I used is a thin cotton. The important thing to remember when cutting fabric is to start with a new very sticky mat - you may also want to use some painters tape along the sides to also hold the fabric in place! Also place the fabric onto the Cricut mat with the Under Wonder paper side up. The setting for your Cricut machine should be: Blade - 6, Pressure - High, Speed - Low. The font I used is from the Cricut cartridge Printing 101. The boycott image was cut out using the SCAL program - I have this image available for free in my 'shop.'

Vintage Cards

2010-09-23T05:07:00.000-07:00

I needed some cards to give away as a gift for a friend's birthday. My friend loves all things vintage, so here is my attempt at a vintage look. I used some digital papers from Katie Pertiet at Designerdigitals.com There are some very pretty digi papers out there - I just love the floral borders (used in the pink cards). The crinkled ribbon is actually some white seam binding that has been died. I cut the butterfly and heart out with my Cricut machine and then glittered them.

School Mini Album - CHALKBOARD

2010-09-19T11:42:00.000-07:00

I finished up a mini album in the shape of a chalkboard. I made this album for my oldest son's first grade photos. I made a school bus shape one for his kindergarden photos last year. I tried to keep the format of both albums similar; I even used the same embellishments. The embellishments (pencil, paper clip, and binder) were made from Revolution Dies.

I made the chalkboard shape in Inkscape and cut it out in Sure Cuts A Lot. If you would like to have the SVG cutfile - CLICK HERE. Remember all links to cutfiles are good for one week!

September Calendar

2010-09-17T16:07:00.001-07:00

I finally finished up a Scrapbook Layout for the month of September (whew!). September is half way finished, and I am just now doing my Calendar layout. Actually, it was so busy around my house this summer, that I never did make layouts for June, July, or August. I guess I am making progress getting the layout done this soon. I know that I will make more time for crafts soon, but my current goal is to finish painting the woodwork in my house.

Here is a close-up of my Henry on his first day of Kindergarten. I couldn't decide which photo to use, so I used them all!

Baby Name Collage

2010-09-10T15:22:00.000-07:00

I needed a Baby gift, because one of my friends just had a new little girl (Kathryn). I wanted to make the gift, but wasn't too sure what to make . . . so I went surfing the blogs in search of inspiration. I found some major inspiration over at Amy's SVG Blog (click here for link). I urge you to run, don't walk over to Amy's blog! Amy has posted quite a few Baby Name Collages, each one is just prettier than the next.

Anyway - here is my version of a Baby Name Collage. If you click on the photo it will enlarge it. I used the Angelina Font in Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) to create the name. There are 3 layers to this name, and I used the 'Shadow' feature to make each layer slightly larger. It is difficult to see on this photo but the white layer in the name, as well as, the Eyelet Border is covered in glittered.

That gorgeous flower is a Prima Flower! My local scrapbook store had an entire isle of these Prima Flowers. I showed great restraint in purchasing only one package, I really wanted them all. Oh, and the dark green swirly die cuts behind the flower, are from a DingBat Font called WWFloralCorner.

My 'baby' started Kindergarten!

2010-09-10T07:47:00.000-07:00

My 'Baby' Henry has started Kindergarten this year (sniff, sniff). Here is a photo of the first day of School. Actually both of my boys started school a couple weeks ago, but I am just now getting around to playing with the photos. I plan on scrapbooking the First Day photos this weekend - that is my goal anyway. It is extremely quiet around the house now. My Siamese cat 'Randy' misses the boys too, he has taken to following me around the house from room to room. Normally the cat is napping somewhere quiet - and those are hard to come by when the boys are home!

I have been too busy lately for any paper crafts. I have been re-painting the baseboards in my house - believe me, they have taken some abuse from my boys!! I still had marks on my door ways from the boy's Jolly Jumper when they were infants. I have to admit there was a slight impulse to just leave the marks as they brought back a few good memories. Oh my boys are getting big - and that is a good thing.

Fall Cards

I haven't posted anything in a while so, I went through some old photos and found these 2 fall cards. They are both hand embossed using some old brass stencils from Lasting Impressions. I really like them, but cutting that cake plate out by hand is a bit of a challenge - I have been spoiled with the Cricut machine! The font is actually my hand writing.

CRI-Kit metal colors

2010-08-31T16:32:00.001-07:00

I got a package in the mail the other day from CRI-Kits. In the package were several rolls of metal. I was amazed to see all the different colors - what a variety! They even had a black metal that was a flat with no shine. I can't make up my mind which color I like the best . . . copper or the teal. I can't wait to play with these.

EDIT: You can find all the metal at CRI-Kits.com, here is the direct link CLICK HERE

Zinnia flowers

2010-08-27T16:22:00.000-07:00

I have been busy trying to get all the wedding invitations done for my brother, which is why I have not posted anything new in a while. I promise to post photos! Anyway, I took a small break this week and worked on something creative and fun. I completed an SVG cutfile of the flowers at the top of my blog.

At first I did a simple line drawing of the flowers, and then traced the drawing in Inkscape. I made the file a large one - almost 10 x 10 inches. I am not sure what I will do with the file, but I like it! NOTE: I did start with a new blade in my Cricut, just to make sure I got a clean cut on all those fine lines.

To download the cutfile for this large Flower (SVG file), CLICK HERE

After some thought as to 'what to do' with the flower image, I finally made it into a card. By making the image smaller, I had to eliminate some of the finer details.

To download the cutfile for this flower card (SCUT2 file), CLICK HERE.

As a side note - I just wanted to say 'Thank you' for all your generous comments! I was amazed at all the congratulations comments on my 'creepy treat boxes'. THANKS

Creepy Treats Boxes

2010-08-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

Whoo Hoo! My Creepy Treats Boxes can be found on page 38 of Paper Crafts Magazine (September/October)! To celebrate, I thought that I would share some detailed instructions on making these boxes.

Instructions

1. Cut 2 strips of black cardstock each 1 inch wide; make one strip 9 inches long and the other 9.5 inches long.
2. Cut 2 scallop circles in black cardstock, with Spellbinder scallop circle d ies (approximately 2.75 inches in diameter).

3. Adhere ends of strips of paper together to form a ring (overlapping by 1/2 inch). These 2

rings will form the sides of the box. One ring will be smaller than the other and they fit inside each other.

4. Adhere one ring on each scallop circle. You will want to use a 'clear and fast drying glue' - I have used Diamond Glaze or Beacon's 3-in-1. I recommend placing the bead of glue on the inside of the rings to hide any drips! Repeat this step with the other ring and scalloped circle and Taa-Daa you now have a box!

5. Cut circle of Green cardstock with the coordinating Spellbinder's circle.

6. Stamp polka dots with Papertreyink 'Polka Dot Basics.' I used white acrylic paint.

7. Stamp Papertreyink 'Spooky Sweets II' circle and 'Creepy Treats' sentiments on green circle.

8. Adhere the green circle to top of box.

EDIT: The stamps (polka dot basics, spooky sweets II) used for this project, are both from www.papertreyink.com.

Birthday

2010-08-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

OUT FOR PUBLICATION

Here is a birthday card that I made with the 'A Child's Year' Cricut cartridge - I just love this image!

I cut tags from 'tiny tags' Cuttlebug dies. The stamps 'birthday' and 'wishes' are a Stampendous stamp. The ribbon is seam bidding from Martha Stewart. All papers are from a pack of Anna Griffin Christmas paper.

Wedding - Custom Stamps

2010-08-11T13:09:00.000-07:00

As of today, I have 206 of the 225 invitations finished, I would have been finished today but ran out of paper and glue!! I need 16 sheets of brown and 9 sheets of red paper to complete the project. I still have to make the RSVP cards, Rehearsal cards, and Reception cards so I have a bit more to finish up before I can truly say that I am done! Oh I also have to make the belly bands that go around the invitation. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!! I will post the completed project once they are finished.

Yesterday, I ordered the envelopes for the Invitations and Thank You cards. I started to think about all the work involved addressing the envelopes, and ordered custom address stamps. Here is the design that I came up with ...

I used the same Font and Cherry Tree Branch as the Invitation. I blacked out the real address - but you get the idea. I think this stamp will save some wear and tear on the printer! I plan on using this address stamp on the Invitations, RSVP cards, and Thank You cards.

I also order another decorative stamp that I could use on the back of the envelopes as well as on wedding favors. Here are 2 designs that I cam up with ...

I again included the Cherry Tree Branch and Font from the Invitations - that way everything will match perfectly! My brother and his Fiance choose the one that has the Monogram.

In case you are wondering where I ordered the custom stamps, or how much they cost (Here is the CRI-Kits Link). I have gotten a custom stamp from CRI-Kits before - it has my Blog Information on the stamp. It is pretty cool, I can use it on the backs of my cards I make! I was impressed how well the colored flowers translated into gray scale. Here is the finished custom stamp..

EDIT: I had a couple of questions about where I got the flowers for my Blog and Stamp, so I thought I would share the information. The Zinnas are from a Digi Kit. Here is the Link for the Digi Kit.

Thank You Card

2010-08-09T08:28:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick card I did for a monochromatic 'grey' challenge. All the papers are from a pack of Anna Griffin Christmas papers. To make this card, I cut out 5 squares of different patterned papers and then used a corner rounder on a 2 corners of each square. I then cut out a rectangle and used the corner rounder on one of the corners, and then stamped 'Thank You'. The Thank You stamp is a Stampendous Stamp. I then tied a ribbon around the rectangle and tied a Heart button to the bow with twine. The cute Heart button was from Hobby Lobby in a package of miscellaneous buttons. The dark grey border is a punch from Martha Stewart.

Embossed Metallic Paper

2010-08-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

Whoo Hoo! I found out that I can emboss Metallic PAPER! I was really impressed and so was the paper (sorry couldn't resist the pun!). I used the CRI-Kits embossing tool, and I did a multicut 4 times to get a really crisp emboss. For my first 'cut' I had the pressure at 3 and then for the next 3 'cuts' I bumped up the pressure all the way. I did the first 'cut' at a lower pressure so that I would not tear the paper. The font is from CRI-Kits as well.

Now I am wondering how well the colored metallic papers will emboss ... hmm. I am really trying to resist running to the store and starting some new project! I have 200 wedding invitations to do! I can't wait for school to start (only 2 weeks away) so that I can have all day to work on these invitations instead of just evenings!

Thank You Cards

2010-08-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple Thank You cards. I made them to submit to Paper Crafts magazine - they didn't get accepted, oh well. There was a call for using these colors; green, pink, orange, and yellow. I am not really used to using that many colors on my cards - but what is a challenge if you are not challenged.

Oh well if nothing else, I realized that my zigzag stitch on my sewing machine was not working properly. I had to dig out my manual and learn how to clean my sewing machine. I have had my little Janome Classmate for a good 15 years without a problem, and after I cleaned up all the lint - ta da fixed and good as new! I still remember when I bought the machine, the salesman keep trying to get me to buy a fancy machine. I kept telling him that I really didn't LIKE to sew - I was just too cheap to buy curtains. And today I still feel that way, I still don't like to sew and I am still cheap (some things just never change).

eyelet-vintage

2010-07-27T19:40:00.000-07:00

I need a set of notecards to give away as a gift, so I pulled put my eyelet svg files. I decided to go vintage this these cards! For the card itself, I used some paper that looked like vintage sheet music. I used some crinkled seam binding for my ribbon. I bought a huge roll of seam binding (100yds for $8) in white and die it various colors. I also added a ticket, button and prima flower. The results are very different from my first versions!

valentine cards

2010-07-21T17:41:00.000-07:00

Well I am back from vacation - we went to Nebraska to visit my family. I really enjoyed the trip, but it sure feels good to be home (sleeping in my own bed). The trip really had me missing the tall corn and the big sky. I grew up on a dairy farm in central Nebraska, and there nothing like sitting outside and watching the sun come up over the corn field. Don't get me wrong, I don't miss the milk cows (well, maybe during calving season).

I came home late Monday afternoon to a garden full of veggies! I have been picking beans, cucumbers, pepers, tomatoes, and zuchinni (I have a zuchinni the size of a baseball bat - agh). Between unpacking, doing laundry, and canning; I managed to make a couple cards ...

I know, it is strange to be working on valentine cards in the middle of July! I was at my local scrapbook store and they had a package of Anna Griffin Valentine papers on sale (score - half price). So when I got home I felt inspired to work with the pretty papers.

All three of these cards are made with the same card sketch, not too original. Guess I need to find some new sketches!!

I made the hearts out of metal - using my Cricut machine, SCAL, and the CRI-Kits embossing tool. This particular heart I spray painted white and sanded the surface to expose the embossing.

I left this swirly heart plain - I was really tempted to paint it, but in the end I liked the contrast of the silver. If you would like to have the SVG for this swirly heart CLICK HERE.

EDIT: I had a good question on how I embossed and cut the Swirl Heart SVG, so I thought I would take the time to answer.

1. Replace the blade in your Cricut machine with the CRI-Kits Embosser Tool. Place metal on CRI-Kits embossing mat and load the mat into the Cricut machine.

2. 'Import' the SVG into Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) and size it accordingly.

3. In SCAL hit the 'Cut' button to embossed the heart onto the metal.

4. After embossing, hit the 'LOAD' button on your Cricut machine. Replace the regular blade back into the Cricut machine.

5. Then in SCAL, 'selected' the heart. And turn on the ' Shadow and Blackout' which is in the pop-up menu on the right hand side under Apperance. This will now show the heart as a solid heart.

6. In SCAL hit the 'Cut' button, and your regular cricut blade will cut out this embossed swirly heart. You can cut directly on the CRI-Kits embossing mat!

Robot Cards

2010-07-07T17:40:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of 'Robot' cards. The robots are made from a dingbat font. I purchased the font from Scrapnfont.com font called 'DB RobotFriends'.

To make the robots, I embossed some metal from CRI-Kits.com, with their embosser tool. While making this card I discovered a few tips for working with metal. When you are working with the metal, it will tend to get crinkled and dented. Don't throw that crinkled metal out - you can smooth it out. Place the crinkled metal on a hard surface, take your Cricut bonefolder hold it horizontal and pull it across the metal. The metal will smooth out, as good as new! You can use a regular bone folder, but I found that the Cricut bonefolder is a more flexible and worked better than the traditional bonefolder.

On my second card, I made a 'Robot Dog' (too bad they didn't have a cat). I cut the dog out and then then spray paint him brown. I then took steel wool and scuffed up the surface to have some of the silver show up.

Mini Album - lacy labels

2010-06-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

I just finish up a Mini Album to put in my kitchen. I saw this mini album display (7 gypsies) at my local scrapbook store and purchased it right away. I kept thinking how nice it would be to display photos. I hate to say how long it has sat empty - but months have gone by. I really hate that! Don't get me wrong, I am glad that I purchased the stand. Just wish it wouldn't have taken me SO long to finish a project for it. Oh well, guess that is life - busy.

This mini album is made out of cardboard (cereal boxes) and then Kraft paper adhered to the cardboard. I used a simple scalloped square for the base of my album, and a hand punch for the holes. If you would like to have this scalloped square SVG, CLICK HERE.

For the titles, I used vellum and the CRI-Kits Embossing Tool. The embossed designs are all from the Cricut Lacy Labels cartridge.

I had a couple questions on how to adhere vellum to cardstock. I use a spray adhesive - any brand will work. I spray the vellum and then place the vellum on a piece of scrap paper and run my hands over it a couple times (this will smooth out any messy globs of spray you may have) - then carefully peel it off and place onto the cardstock that you want. Not a fool proof method, as I have torn velum trying to peel it off the first piece of paper!

The papers are from the Basic Grey line called 'Capella.' I purchased a small 6x6 pad and made this mini album and 3 cards (see previous post) - and I still have a number of pages yet!

Embossed Vellum - Lacy Labels

2010-06-26T17:33:00.000-07:00

I was at Walmart the other day and went down the scrapbook isle to check out the new Cricut lite cartridges. I ended up buying one, Lacy Labels. I stood there debating for a long time about buying it - and finally caved. There are so many pretty images on this cartridge, I know that I will use it many times. Here are three cards that I embossed on vellum with my CRI-Kits embossing tool, and then cut out.

NOTE: I wasted a bit of paper before I finally figured out how to emboss and cut with a cartridge -- you have to use the Center Point button! If you do not use the center point button the layers will not align properly. I this is probably the first time that I have ever used the Center Point button! After you emboss the label, the blade carriage will return to the center point, this is when you insert the Cricut blade and cut the shape out (you do have to be careful not to bump the carriage while inserting the blade).

If you have Design Studio or a Gypsy you will have an easier time with cartridges. I am a Mac user, so the Design Studio is not a option! The whole time I kept wishing that I had the cutfiles in Sure Cuts A Lot so that I could use the layers feature.

Here are a couple close-ups of the embossing details - they came out very crisp and clean. You may notice that the center piece of the 'Bliss' card is a little different color. I embossed a separate piece of vellum for the 'Bliss' word and sewed it on top, I wanted it to stand out more - and to hide my ribbon.