My Time to Craft

Use Your Stash: Paper Stacks

2012-01-22T08:26:00.000-08:00

You know you have them. You know you love them (they're so pretty). Time to start using them.
Yes, I'm talking about paper stacks and it may be blasphemy to some to crack their binding, but stacks have 2-3 of each page, so save one and use the rest. For me, DCWV stacks take up most of paper shelf, and why not, they're gorgeous and easy to find at Joann's and Michaels. For today's project, I will use several (yes, I said several) stacks. Will someone get my friend Allison some water as I think she probably fainted. :)

This year's theme for my son' school's auction is Moonlight Masquerade. I decided to play around with making masks (using the Chic & Scary cartridge) and tying them to "iron" gates (cut from Ornamental Iron).

Probably one of the best things about paper stacks is that you have an instant set of coordinating papers. Here are some examples:

DCWV Black Currant	DCWV Royal Garden
DCWV Lace & Linen	DCWV Luxury

There are several other stacks like Immortal Love and Performance that would also work well for this project, but I don't have them and we're supposed to be using our stash. :) I'm particularly fond of the foil pages and those with just a bit of decoration in one corner or along the edge. For example:

If I lay out four masks along the edges on my Gypsy to grab a bit of the swirls on each, as such:

I end up with:

They are almost pretty enough to leave as is without further embellishment, but you could always add bling or feathers.

So, now I have all of these masks, what to do with them. I grab my Ornamental Iron cartridge and start making iron panels. I start with a lace sheet from Lace & Linen.

I then take the masks made from the same stack, punch holes in them where you would have ties, and stick skewers through them so I can figure out placement since I want them curved when they are on the grate.

Once I determine the layout I like, I replaced the skewer with curling ribbon, leaving a tale of several strands on the front of the mask to curl and tie it to the frame, ending up with:

I'll post more finished projects with the other masks as they get completed.

Guest Designer for PCWC: Use Your Stash: Brads

2012-01-15T01:30:00.000-08:00

Today I am a guest designer once again for Paper Craft Weekend Challenge. Today's challenge is another use your stash challenge and I chose brads.

I know you all likely have that stash of brads that you just had to buy and never ended up using. Time to dust them off and put them to use.

I had a stash of button brads that would be cute for baby pages or cards, but we're past that stage, so it's time to do something with them.

I cut the heart card from Wild Card which has a heart made out of holes for stitching on the front. Turns out they're perfect for brads too! I added one bling brad to the top center and used up a large number of brads to fill up the rest of the heart. I then put this over another card to hide the brad backs (the shadow is because it's not glued down yet) and added a sticker of a sentiment (need to use those up too, but that's for another time).

So, what brads to you need to use up?

Think Spring

2012-01-09T06:33:00.000-08:00

I've seen several Valentine's wreaths lately using rolled of paper flowers. I don't have the patience to do that right now and wanted to do something more seasonal instead of holiday specific. Continuing with my butterflies, I went with a butterfly wreath.

The wreath is small, perhaps 6" -8" and wrapped in white floral tape I found at Michaels.

The butterflies come from a long Sizzix Sizlits Decorative Strip die called Butterflies, Fancy, which they probably don't make anymore. The paper is from DCWV Border Punch Strips in Brights, which are almost the perfect size for the Decorative Strip dies. Mine seems to be an older stack than what is currently available as it has 87 sheets.

The die makes 5 kinds of butterflies: 2 solos, 2 doubles, and 1 triple butterfly.

For this project I only used the the two solos.

There are sections to punch out in the wings that may take some time and there may be a few antennae lost along the way if your die does not cut all the way through and you have to encourage them out of the paper.

I cut the butterflies out of one of every color in the stack, ending up with 25 different colors and 50 butterflies.

Then went about gluing butterflies to the ring, trying to avoid having two of the same color family together. I left space at the top to loop a ribbon over.

Enjoy!

Butterflies to Welcome the New Year

2012-01-01T16:09:00.000-08:00

In defining resolutions at the start of the new year, we are looking for ways to improve ourselves. Butterflies have often been seen as a symbol of transformation, so in the spirit of this time of rejuvenation and with my personal love of butterflies, I've created several to welcome in the new year.

This one is made with colored skeleton leaves.

This one is made from the petals of a velvet poinsettia.

Buttons and beads on acrylic. Once the glue dries,
I will cut the acrylic close to the buttons.

Quick Handmade Ornaments

2011-12-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

I've recently become addicted to the October Afternoon line of papers, especially the Christmas ones. I wanted to use them in some of my holiday decorating, so I decided to make some quick plastic ornaments with the shape stickers from their Very Merry collection.

For some reason, I can never find the ornaments that split in half in my Michaels anymore, so I'm have to roll up my stickers and push them through the top (I actually like the look of no seams better anyway, so I'm willing to spend the extra time).

OA Very Merry Cardstock Sticker adhered inside with Martha Stewart tinsel glitter

OA Very Merry Cardstock Stickers, one adhered inside, one outside

OA Very Merry Cardstock Stickers, glitter inside using the floor polish method

OA Very Merry Cardstock Stickers, microbeads inside using the floor polish method

OA Very Merry Cardstock Sticker outside enhanced with pearls:
inside is OA 5 & Dime Strawberry Creme Sprinklers
and floor polish with Martha Stewart tinsel glitter

OA Rub-on from a Santa Sack on a clear ornament.
I loved the look of this so much, I made several more.

Sorry it's so dark. As you can see from the previous one,
they're very shiny and were reflecting any light in the room.

Small Holiday Treat for the School Office

2011-12-01T19:33:00.001-08:00

One of those items essential to a school office is pens. There's always forms to fill out, things to sign, etc. and pens by themselves always seem to walk away. My son's school office has a flower pot of pens with the flower glued to the end and covered in floral tape, but it's several years old and the tips are starting to get gunky.

So I decided to make a holiday version with some of holiday picks and a little holiday box.

I cut a piece of foam for the bottom of the box, than filled it with coffee beans. I found white floral tape to use with the silver holly leaves in addition to the green tape use with the poinsettia.

PCWC - Use Your Stash - The Lesser Loved Papers

2011-11-27T05:39:00.000-08:00

I made a second guest appearance this weekend at Paper Craft Weekend Challenge.
-----
Diane from My Time To Craft here again with a use your stash challenge.

We all have them. Those sheets of scrapbook paper that make us wonder what in the world we were thinking. Maybe you're addicted to paper stacks but some of the paper just isn't to your liking. Maybe you can't pass up the $2.99 price on a package of paper at Tuesday Morning. Whatever the reason, now you have all this paper you're pretty sure you're never going to use, but you don't want to just recycle it. So, what's a girl to do?

Think small.

Many times the paper that we do not love can often be used in small doses on other projects.
In going through my stash, I came across this paper.

I'm pretty sure it came from a stack about four years ago, but I really couldn't figure out what I would use this for...until I looked closer. If I avoided the "water damage" areas, the white speckled areas make for a good snowy sky. So, I took my scalloped circle punch and found just the right area for my project.

I decided I wanted to try making decorative magnets from the flat glass stones in the floral department. On the flat side of one of the stones, I used the smallest amount of Stickles and spread it across the surface. I let it dry completely to prevent the glitter from clumping up once I glued it together.

On the scalloped circle, I added a torn scrap of another blue lesser loved paper for the ground and cut a holly leaf to look like a tree. Out came the Stickles again for some sparkle and a gold pen for a star.

Once everything dried, I added a thin layer of glue to the back of the stone and pieced them together.

Once that dried, I glued a magnet to the back.

So how will you use your lesser loved paper?

PCWC Sketch Challenge

2011-11-25T09:23:00.000-08:00

Today I am designing for the blog Paper Craft Weekend Challenge!

Happy Black Friday! Diane from My Time to Craft here as your guest designer. The holiday season is upon us I'm sure plenty of you were out and about early this morning working on that holiday list, but don't forget about the holiday cards. Today I've created a simple sketch for use help get those cards under way.

As with most sketches, you can make this as simple or complex as you like. I find I usually start out very ornate, but by the time I get to the end, my cards are really simple (I just can't seem to assembly line craft).

This time of year, my Martha Stewart punches are often the tool of choice. If it's not the branch punch, then it's usually the holly.

In this first one, I used the holly to make a circular area behind a corrugated star that I inked with gold and wrapped in Holiday Divine Twine.

For the second, the holly created a traditional wreath. I love the crinkly Wassau paper used as the square in the first picture and the lace here.

I would love to see what your holiday cards are looking like. As with all PCWC challenges, follow the sketch or don't, it doesn't matter. Just have fun!

- Diane from My Time to Craft

Guest Designer this Weekend on Paper Craft Weekend Challenge

2011-11-23T18:26:00.001-08:00

Allison and Caroline, the wonderful ladies at Paper Craft Weekend Challenge, have invited me to be a guest designer this weekend. I will be posting challenges for both Friday and Sunday so if you're in need of some inspiration, come and join us.

Lego Cub Scout Costume

2011-10-25T19:02:00.000-07:00

With an 8 year old boy in the house, my husband couldn't pass up these Lego costume heads a coworker had made for last year's Halloween and was going to get rid of. So, for my son's Cub Scout Halloween meeting, we decided to make him a Lego Cub Scout.

The head I believe was primarily made from those cardboard tubes you pour concrete into.
My husband made the body out of foam board, paint and stickers.
I made the hat out of colored duct tape shaped over a bowl.

Playing with Digis

2011-10-02T09:21:00.000-07:00

I was looking at the digital downloads at the website for Papercraft Inspirations craft magazine, when I came across these cute digi dresses that were completed with flower stamps.

I printed out the designs and realized that I had box full of bling flowers that I didn't know what to do with that would work perfectly with them. I grabbed them and did a test layout.

Once I got it to the point I liked them, I colored them and now have some wonderful card fronts for my girlfriends. (Sorry the pictures are a little dark. The sun is on the other side of the house right now).

Need some inspiration over the weekends?

2011-09-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

My friends Allison from Goody Bag Diva and Caroline of Caroline's Craftography are thrilled to announce their new challenge blog – Paper Craft Weekend Challenge!

You can expect a challenge with a project to inspire you every Friday and Sunday. The only rule they expect you to stick to is having fun! The challenges won’t be limited to one type of machine or project – so get your materials and get ready to use your stuff. There will be some tutorials along the way – and it wouldn’t be any fun if there weren’t friends occasionally stopping by – so please come join them and get ready to get your craft on!

I've participated in their challenges in the past and they are a lot of fun. There is usually a suggested rule (like, use a star in your creation), but it's never complex like some challenges out there where you need to use certain products and they don't hold you to it anyway! It's primarily a way to get you inspired to actually get off the computer and craft...something I can truly get behind. And as they mentioned, you may see a familiar name or two stopping by.

Art Nouveau Mermaid

2011-08-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

When I saw this woman on the back cover of the Art Nouveau cartridge, I just thought mermaid.

She is sitting on a rock from Disney's Dreams Come True, the coral and the stars in her hair are from Life's a Beach and the shell is from Spongebob. Looks like the pearl has wandered off though. Her tail is made from paper in a DCWV stack called Textures and Finishes (it's the 10th swatch).

Sample of a Card Using the Mermaid

Cricut Collectable

2011-08-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

Nadia at With Glittering Eyes was able to get an extra new Cricut Collectible at the Ohio Circle Crop and had a drawing on her site. I am the lucky recipient of the little fellow.

BBQ Treat Boxes

2011-07-29T10:10:00.000-07:00

When I saw this paper with the ants on it at Tuesday Morning, I had to have it. It worked well to create these little BBQ treat boxes. The box came from Sweet Tooth Boxes, the tag from Summer Celebrations.

My Husband's Birthday 2011

2011-06-16T05:16:00.000-07:00

1971 was a good year. It means my husband and I turn 40 this year, though him a month before me, and that means we have some celebrating to do.

My husband works in the computer game industry, so needless to say, we have a lot of remotes around our house. The Father's Day cartridge was perfect for creating a banner for him, especially since his birthday is also near Father's Day. Add in The Big 40 from Life is a Party and every will know how big of a day it is.

Northern California Circle Crop, June 3, 2011

2011-06-04T10:48:00.000-07:00

Katie from Crafting with Katie and I carpooled up to Rocklin, CA for the Northern California Crop on June 3, 2011. We arrived Thursday night to attend the dinner and met up with Emma from My Creative Time and Liz from Liz's Paper Loft, but had to make one stop before dinner.

Now what in a shopping center would make Emma and Katie take a picture?

Green Tangerines!

Where Katie and I live in the SF Bay Area, all the local scrapbook stores closed, and we're left with Michaels and Joanns, so this was a treat.

We met up with our other Circlets at Chevy's for dinner, but my pictures from there didn't turn out, so we'll have to see what the others post. Liz wasn't feeling too well, so Emma, Katie, & I made a Target and Walmart run to get her some Get Well supplies. While Liz slept, we all hung out with Sandy from Ukiah until pretty late at night.

The crop was at the Ranch House in Rocklin. What an awesome community center!

Thanks to Monique Griffith for arranging the location!

We may have had a summer time theme, but it was gray with the promise of rain that night, so we were glad to be indoors.

Michael came out from Provo Craft and gave us a tutorial on the Yudu with our awesome California Circle Flair screen.

Thank you to RitaPoteat and her crew for pulling this all together! Rita makes some awesome salads if you're looking for some great recipes.

First Communion Card

2011-05-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

My husband's niece has her First Communion this weekend, so I made the following card for her.

The card itself is from DCWV Embossed Box of Cards, the chalice is from the Inspired Hearts cartridge.

Staff Appreciation Luncheon

2011-05-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

This year's theme for staff appreciation week at my son's school is County Fair. The table my team is responsible for is themed Petting Zoo.

I found this stable kit at Michaels for about $3.

A little Easter grass and a couple animal and banner cutouts later and we have our centerpiece.

Most of the animals came from Animal Kingdom, but the donkey and cow inside the barn came from Christmas Village. I took off the fence as I don't think there will be room on the table for it (since we are using the tables already in the library).

Michaels had a lot of farm animal themed items in their dollar aisle, so I made the fence basket from Wrap It Up and created petting zoo stationary sets.

Happy Staff Appreciation Week!

2011-05-02T06:26:00.000-07:00

At my son's school, we are celebrating Staff Appreciation Week (because it's not just the teachers that at the school that are important to the children's success). Our theme this year is County Fair, so what's a better font than the one on Carousel.

These letters will make there way to the main bulletin board this morning.

PC's 5th Anniversary Design Challenge

2011-04-20T20:09:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, Provo Craft is having a birthday layout design challenge to coincide with Cricut's 5th anniversary and the launch of the new E2.

Here is what I put together.

Clouds: April Showers & Serenade, and run through the Cuttlebug with D'Vine Swirls

Balloons: Create a Critter & Formal Occasion

Sun: Hello Kitty Greetings

Seagulls: Life is a Beach

Greeting: Create a Critter

Stylish Blogger Award

2011-04-05T20:18:00.000-07:00

Wow, another blog award, this time from Caroline at Caroline's Craftography! (Sorry for the delayed response...you know how that life thing gets in the way.)

Caroline in one of my Cricut Circle sisters and does some amazing projects, I especially love her cards and stationary.
So the rules of this award are that I tell you 8 things about myself and share this award with 8 fellow bloggers.

1. I've been crafting in one form or another since I was a child.
2. I love it when someone really appreciates the work that goes into a handmade project and hope I pass that appreciation forward as well.
3. My biggest crafting influence was my mom's mother. She taught me to crochet Granny Squares and had me rip them completely out and start over.
4. I grew up in New Jersey, but have lived in California ever since we moved here when I was in high school.
5. Like many other crafters, I have a hoarding addiction. :)
6. In contrast to crafting, for my day job I write software manuals.
7. Other activities I enjoy are gardening, creative writing, and volunteering at my son's school.
8. I love collecting butterflies and angels, but I'm very particular that they look more realistic than cutesy.

I am now passing this fabulous and stylish award to the following (in no particular order):

Katie at Crafting with Katie
Theresa at Binky Blossoms
Allison at Goody Bag Diva
Linda at The Tulip Collector
Sharon at Designs by Sharon
Jennifer at Confessions of a Scrapaholic
Nadia at With Glittering Eyes
The ScrapBook Girl at Cricut Confessions

I hope you all can take some time to check out these ladies and leave them some blog love. They are so talented and really wonderful women as well! I realize some of them already have this award, but they are some of my current inspirations.

Circle Stampede Online Swarm

2011-03-17T18:49:00.000-07:00

For those of us that couldn't go to the Cricut Stampede this weekend, Allison and Caroline organized an online swarm starting the Wednesday before.

Sketch Challenge

Paper: DCWV Taj Mahal, Colorbok (gold)
Emblem: Cindy Loo
Stamp: Hero Arts

Color Challenge

Flowers: Mother's Day Bouquet
Vines: Wall Decor and More
Flower centers: McGill sun punch
Butterfly: Recollections metal embellishment

Tutorial Challenge

Paper & Embellishments: Anna Griffin

Auction Signs

2011-03-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

Continuing with the Hollywood/Bollywood auction, there was a lot of gold and glitter in projects we made, so needless to say I went through several mats and blades cutting glitter paper. Our Target has two packs of glitter and foil papers for $.99, which fit the auction budget perfectly.

Here were the signs I made for different parts of the auction. I think Wall Decor and More is becoming one of my favorite cartridges.

Font: Cheerful Seasons

Embellishments: Wall Decor and More

Font: Cheerful Seasons

Embellishments: Wall Decor and More, Formal Occasions

Font: Cheerful Seasons

Embellishments: Wall Decor and More

For the film strips on the bottom, I welded together two of the film strip borders and drew them on a transparency with a mini-Sharpie.

Meal Placecards

2011-03-04T21:57:00.000-08:00

The theme of this year's school auction is A Night of a Thousand Stars: Hollywood/Bollywood, so needless to say there are gold stars everywhere. When it came time to figure out how to indicate dinner choices at people's place settings, I fold a star place card on Wall Decor and More. I added Veggie from Savory, a fish from Everyday Paper Dolls, and a chicken from My Community (minus her chicks), and backed each with an appropriate color. I then cut a gold star for accent.

Starting to Get the Green On

2011-02-25T05:25:00.000-08:00

I've taken ownership of decorating and updating the main bulletin at my son's school. As we get ready for March, it's time to bring on the Leprechauns! I started with the one from Paper Doll Dress Up.

This guy was blown up to be as big as possible on the 9x12 construction paper the school has, which was the perfect size to add googly eyes.

Pizza Party

2011-02-19T19:53:00.000-08:00

This month's Circle blog challenge is banners, so I thought I'd try my first one. In our house, my son's preferred party food (ok, anytime food) is pizza, so why not make a pizza party banner.

I used the pizza on Simply Charmed (but hid the face using Hide Contour on my Gypsy), letters from Base Camp, and made the medallions out of basket liners I got on clearance at the end of summer and strung it on red and white baker's twine.

To hide where it's taped to the wall, I made a cluster of balloons with more baker's twine and placed it over the tape point. This way it doesn't matter if the twine hangs down or not.

Assembly Line Crafting

2011-02-13T18:08:00.000-08:00

This year was the first year my son, now 8, wanted to make his own cards for Valentines. His original idea had three layers of cardstock and would use most of my bling supply, but thankfully he decided to simplify it. We used the liner cut of the heart card from Wild Card, sentiment stickers from Mrs. Grossman, and just a little bling.

For envelopes, I took folded sheet wax paper (the kind a deli would use for sandwhiches), cut it in half to make two envelopes, used the folded side as the bottom, taped up the two sides and left the top open to be more of a sleeve than a traditional envelope.

Then I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing up Post-it note covers for the school staff.

Flower Power

2011-02-13T06:47:00.000-08:00

Allison's weekend challenge on the Circle board was to use flowers. Turns out, I was planning on some flowered items for Valentine's gifts for the staff at my son's school. Here's what I have so far.

Post-it note holder

All flowers are from Mother's Day Bouquet, the basket is from the Easter seasonal, the butterfly is a Recollections pre-made item, and the ruffle is a Martha Stewart lace punch. I was trying to play with/use up various different types of things around my house this weekend as well. The Post-it note holder was inspired by Allison at Goody Bag Diva. I used cork squares from a cork Contact paper roll. The yellow-white flower is from a gift wrap "paper" I bought at an Asian import store (I say "paper" as I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it's fiberous like dryer sheets) and the leaves are from a mulberry wrapping paper also acquired at the Asian import store.

Viva Decor Pearl Pens

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

I saw pictures from Winter CHA 2011 of Viva Decor's Pearl Pens and what amazing things they did with them, and decided I had to try them out.

First I took a piece of acetate that previously held stickers and just tried making a series of individual pearls. Besides learning that I can't make consistent size pearls to save my life, I was able to make some simple pearls that I could pull off and glue down on a project (versus running the risk of getting an air bubble when trying it directly on a project). This method worked well. You just have to have the patience to let it dry (something like 6-8 hours to harden, over 24 hours for something washable or wearable).

Next, I pulled out my beading wire and made flower stamens. If you try to put one large drop on each wire, it will just run off. The trick with this is to do it in layers. You don't have to wait until it's completely dry, just long enough for it to start to get a skin on it. Here's what they look like alone and with a Creative Memories paper flower.

I then took a cardstock die cut shape, in this case a fleur de lis outline and coated it with the pearl pen to give the appearance of shell. Not surprising, the paper did curl, so after the initial 8 hour drying time, I 'm pressing it to get it to lie flat. I do like the look it has though.

I'm hoping to play with it some more over the weekend, but so far, I'm impressed.

Altered Notebook

2011-02-01T17:33:00.000-08:00

The company I worked for a couple years ago had these little spiral bound notebooks made up for a joint project with another company. Problem was that the cover has both company logos on it, so after the project was done, they just put them in the lunch room for anyone to take. I figured a little scrapbook supplies would solve that problem.

It's hard to see in the picture, but the butterfly has a coating of Stickles on it to give it that something extra. All paper is from the DCWV Butterflies and Blossoms stack.

There Be Treasure Ahead

2011-01-30T08:38:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of finding my time to craft, I've decided to tell you about a project I did a couple years ago and alternate ways to create it that could take less time.

What do you get when you combine a Styrofoam ice chest, scrapbook paper, beads, and plastic coins? Why a treasure chest of course!

Many boys go through the pirate phase and my son was no exception. Thankfully he was only 4 at the time so it was more cutesy than violent. Being the crafter that I am, I made him his own treasure chest. Depending the age of the recipient and how much time and money you want to spend, this can go off in so many levels.

As my original pictures are hiding somewhere, here is what the much-loved treasure chest looks like today, 4 years later.

He won't let me get rid of it so it may be time for a face lift on the lid to repair the tears.

I started with a small foam ice chest I found in Kmart. It had the right shape for a treasure chest and the then 4 year old would be able to carry it.

To make it look like a treasure chest, I took sheets of wood grain patterned scrapbook paper that I had no other use for and cut it into half inch strips, then used Mod Podge to cover the entire outside, the first couple inches down the inside and the entire lid. Lessons learned:

Plan your paper usage carefully. Make sure you have enough of the same kind of paper or several styles that are very similar that you can mix and match.
To save time, you could just cut 12x12 sheets to fit the panels of the chest. I wanted the look of individual boards, so I dedicated the time to it.
Scrapbook paper can be expensive. You may be able to use wood grain shelf liner, but you will likely need a stronger adhesive than what's on the back. I could not get it to stick to the styrofoam.
Painting it would be another option.

Prepare the lid in the same manner. Cover all papers with a couple layers of Modge Podge to protect it.

Embellish the outside as much or as little as you want. I used a different color paper to trim all the edges of the base. I also took hemp thread, did a quick chain stitch and used it for details around the top of the base with a little help from my glue gun. At one point, the chest had two gold ribbons on it to simulate straps, but they didn't last long.

Now for the inside. You could vary this as much as you want, depending how you want to use it and how much time you have:

Cover it entirely with paper: wood grain, coin paper, cloth looking.
Cover it with velvet like fabric.
Cover it with treasure, which is what I did, though it's the most time consuming.

The treasure consists of plastic coins from Oriental Trading Company (I got the 144 pack), gems from Michaels, rings and Mardi Gras beads (cut into various lengths) from the party store. I sat there with my trusty glue gone again and worked form the bottom up, adding coins and the the other treasures randomly as I went along. I used a lot of glue to make sure the little guy couldn't pull them off.

This was a time-intensive project, but I was very happy how it turned out. My son loved it so much he brought it in for show and tell several times and it still has a place in his room. I hope you enjoyed this.

Exploring Mother's Day Bouquet

2011-01-29T19:04:00.000-08:00

As you saw in my last post, I spent some time getting to know Mother's Day Bouquet. I made one of each cut from out of American Crafts Metropolitan Fountain paper. It has a damask print on one side and is solid black on the other.

I got a pack of it at Tuesday Morning for $1.99 and planned to use it for a French Manor project, but I never found the right thing to cut as it's quite busy.

For most of the flowers, I curled the petals a little by running it over the back end of a set of tweezers. I arranged all of the items on my Gypsy to cut them out. Between that and the fact this is a seasonal cartridge, I don't know the names of the cuts, but feel free to experiment for yourself.

Let's look at the specifics.

The first one uses two 6 petal flowers, with the top layer having slightly skinnier petals. The center is one large flat backed pearl surrounded by a line of small pearls.

The next two are similar, using 5 petal flowers and one bead in the center.

The last one uses two 8 petal flowers, with the bottom having solid petals and the top have loop petals. The center is one large gem surrounded by 8 small ones.

CHA Cricut Circle Crop

2011-01-29T10:37:00.001-08:00

I had a lot of fun at the Circle crop yesterday. I took the day off work, flew down, and had a total me day: met lots of great ladies, saw some great things, celebrated the Expressions 5th birthday, and had fun crafting. And Jinger remembered me from the Utah Swarm...how cool is that? (At this point, I think all of my followers are Cricut gals, but if not, Jinger is Provo Crafts spokesperson).

I didn't want to fly my expression out, so I cut cards from the Spring Holidays Cards and flowers from Mother's Day Bouquet.

Provo Craft / Anna Griffin HSN contest

2011-01-12T17:43:00.000-08:00

Just how many name's can you through into a title? Jinger Adams, Provo Craft's spokesperson posted a contest on her Facebook page to coincide with new launches from PC & Anna Griffin on HSN. The requirements: Create a card using at least one Anna Griffin product (paper, stamps stickers etc.) and one or more of the following Cricut cartridges; Don Juan, Winter Lace (seasonal) and Wall Décor & More.
Here's what I came up with:

Front. Don Juan for the stitching holes, Wall Decor for the heart, Anna Griffin background paper & flowers.

Inside. Flower cut from Wall Decor. All paper Anna Griffin. The white lace paper insert is
for someone to write on instead of on the printed paper.

Exploring Forever Young

2011-01-02T21:38:00.000-08:00

After the fun of dressing up the Shall We Dance folks, I decided to try the girls on Forever Young. There isn't as much detail since there aren't layers for hair and such, so I stuck with the black silhouette this first time around.

One last little holiday treat

2010-12-30T16:06:00.000-08:00

This is one last little holiday brainstorm I had this morning.

I was looking at a pack of Martha Stewart holiday baker's twine. The red and white reminded me of candy canes and I figured I could make some.

The canes on the left are about an inch of thread that I ran through some glue on my fingers, curled, and let dry.
On the right, I added the green and white thread for from straight candy sticks, swirls (wouldn't they make great lollipops), and a knot (reminds me of taffy).

And Now a Shall We Dance Guy

2010-12-24T17:32:00.000-08:00

I couldn't let the girls have all the fun (and didn't think my brothers would want one of the girl cards), so I looked to see what I could do with one of the men on Shall We Dance. Here's what I came up with.

I cut his partner away to leave one arm to carry the bag and the other arm looked perfect for carrying something big and bulky, like the tree.

Another Shall We Dance Girl

2010-12-23T23:32:00.000-08:00

I had so much fun dressing up the last girl, I decided to do another one.
This girl is using her ballet moves to reach the tippy top of the tree to put the star on.
For now it's an oversized card on a plain white background. I'm trying to decide what to do with her.

I removed an extra segment of her dress above her back leg so it appear the skirt is up against her leg. I then cut the skirt overlay piece into segments, curved the pieces that would fold up slightly and placed a tiny pop dot under them toward the bottom of the skirt. The sleeves of her dress are made from a gauze-like ribbon, tied at the wrists to give her ruffles. The same ribbon was folded in half for the top of her skirt.

Looks like her earring moved to the top of her ear though. I'll have to fix that.

ETA: The person who received this card loved it so much she wants to save it as a decoration.

Nine Ladies Dancing Challenge

2010-12-23T09:34:00.000-08:00

This week's Circle Blog challenge is Nine Ladies Dancing: showcasing Shall We Dance?, at least 2 Cricut Cuts and 9 of something on the card. I was inspired by the great work of fellow Circlet Nadia and decided to doll up one of the dancers. This girl is headed out to a holiday party and being admired by 9 little birds.

(Sorry, it's darker than in real life. I need better lighting in my house as I seem to craft the most when it's still dark out. :-) )

The card is a basic card base from Just Because Cards with the blackout of the window from Christmas solutions cut out. I drew lines across to replicate siding.

I chose this dancer as my party girl, with a big red cocktail ring, pearls, and a ribbon shawl to keep her warm. She won't be needing her shoes since her legs would be hidden behind the wall.

Next I lined up the window frame with the cut in the card and figured out where she was going to be peeking out.

Remove the card and glue the window frame to the girl. Note that I have two cuts of the window frame. That will come into play shortly.

Sadly, the girl will now lose her legs to minimize bulk in the card. Trim any parts outside the window frame. Glue clear plastic (here I used a piece of a clear treat bag) to the top of the frame. Leave some extra plastic around the edges to help glue it onto the card.

Glue the plastic to the inside of the card, then add a piece of cardstock or patterned paper behind the girl as the wall behind her (and to tidy up the inside of the card). Add the other window frame to the outside of the card to finish the window.

Now, time to decorate outside. Add branches for trees, a birdbath (this one's from 3 Birds on Parade), and some snow on the ground (in this case, a torn piece of pearl white paper). Then bring on the Stickles for ice.

For the "nine of something" requirement, I picked assorted birds from 50 states at half an inch. I stayed away from black birds to avoid it looking to much like The Birds. :-) Then I added a couple bird tracks in the snow.

I hope you enjoyed this.

Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!

2010-12-17T06:26:00.000-08:00

My son's teacher really lovers her dog, so as part of her holiday gift, we got her a gift certificate to a pet supply store. Now, we can't just give her the gift card in it's usual store labeled packaging, can we?
How about a little Snoopy love?

The dog house started as the school house box from Wrap It Up. I cut off the bell tower, added a roof and some lights from Create A Critter.

All that Glitters...

2010-12-12T18:22:00.000-08:00

In continuing with the holiday theme, today I have a glitter everywhere: more boxes from Wrap it Up, more ornaments.:-)

A Banner Day

2010-12-11T13:45:00.000-08:00

I do a lot of the communication items at my son's school (maintain the school & PTA websites, design flyers when needed, etc. -- all strictly volunteer work), but my favorite would have to be banners and signs.

Today's completed banner is for our Winter Sing-a-longs.

Winter, the music note swirl and the singers are from Winter Frolic.
Sing-a-long and the banners are from Locker Talk and the font is Plantin Schoolbook.
To give you an idea of the size, the banners were set at 23 inches wide and the singers were cut at 13 inches tall.

Fun with Wrap It Up

2010-12-10T16:57:00.000-08:00

I'm working on the last of my gifts (the teacher, coworker, neighbor variety) and wanted some cute little boxes. The Wrap It Up cartridge had just what I needed.

Floor Wax Ornaments with Inspired Hearts

2010-11-28T19:13:00.000-08:00

Here are the prototypes for floor wax ornaments using the Inspired Hearts cartridge.

I say these are prototypes because I wouldn't necessarily use the black with the filling colors I chose. The angel is filled with flocking, the city is filled with glitter, and the star is filled with tiny glass marbles and glitter. The marbles don't seem to want to stay very well, so I added some glitter to fill in the gaps. I'll check on it in a couple days to see if it holds any better.

Thanksgiving Plate Wreath

2010-11-20T16:58:00.000-08:00

In this project, I just used the Thanksgiving seasonal cartridge and my Gypsy to make a wreath that I will sandwich between to clear plates for use under either the cranberry sauce or gravy.

Lego Figure from George

2010-11-19T21:42:00.000-08:00

I was thinking of taking a creative journey, wondering what could I create with basic shapes on the Gypsy. Since my son's birthday is fast approaching, Legos came to mind, so I decided to attempt a Lego minifigure.

It needs a little tweaking with the legs, but otherwise, I'm pretty happy with him.

Cricut Circle Magazine Christmas Ornament Contest

2010-11-12T21:42:00.000-08:00

Here is the item I decided to enter the Cricut Circle Magazine Christmas ornament contest.

It's my own version of a ship in a bottle since the only plastic ornaments I could find did not open in half. These instructions assume you have a solid ornament. If you have one that opens into two, so much the better. :)

Supplies:

Clear plastic narrow circle ornament
Lion Brand Yarn Fake Fur in Ivory
White cardstock
Knifty Knitters blue circle loom
Cuttlebug Forest Branches
Cricut Cartridge Paper Doll Dress Up
Watercolor paints, standard and metallic
Adhesive foam pop dots
Gold star brad
Long tweezers

Using the Knifty Knitter loom, complete about 6 rounds with the yarn. Use a gathering stitch to take it of the loom and pull it just tight enough to leave a about a 1/2 inch circle in the center. Tie of both ends and shake out the "wreath" shape to loosen the fur. The wreath is then glued to the bottom and slightly up the sides of the plastic ornament with enough glue to hold it on and yet still allow it to be furry

With Paper Doll Dress Up, cut the following pieces of the angel at 2 inches:

Dress x 2
Star halo
Wings
Belt

Also at 2 inches, cut whichever hairstyle you want and the body with the "O"mouth.

Use the Forest Branches Cuttlebug folder to create folds in the gown.

Paint pieces as desired, keeping in mind that the back of the figure will be visible too. Once dry, draw in the details of the face. Assemble the angel as per the cartridge except for the wings. Put the second dress on her back before you glue on the wings (can't have her exposing her backside :-) ). Fold the arms in over the chest and glue the star brad into her hands. You may need to open the brad and roll each prong with tweezers or pliers.

Using long tweezers, stack foam pop dots inside the ornament to create a stand for the angel so she won't be hidden but the fluff on the outside of the ornament. Curve your angel just enough so she will fit inside the opening of the ornament and adhere her to the foam using your tweezers. Once she is stuck, you can use the tweezers to straighten her out.

Cut 6 to 8 inch lengths of the fur yarn, roll it into a ball in the palm of your hand and stuff it inside and around the foam base to hide it. Repeat to desired fullness.

Want a complete set of ProMarkers?

2010-11-02T14:25:00.000-07:00

Enfys at Going-Buggy is offering a complete set of 148 markers. Visit her blog for details on this great chance.

Welcome Smiley Cards

2010-10-31T07:15:00.000-07:00

Cricut is making the cart Smiley Cards only available as a Gypsy download. I was able to get it as part of the beta test. Here is my first card with it.

The base of the card is cardstock with printed packing tape. The cheeks I "pinked out" with nail polish.

Shrinky Dink Cameo, Take One

2010-10-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

This weekend, the Cricut cartridge Heritage met Shrinky Dinks.

If you buy the assortment pack of Shrinky Dinks, you get black, white, brown, tan and rough and ready. I used black for the background, white for the silhouette, and rough & ready with gold ink for the frame. I baked them separately to shrink them, layered them, the followed the instructions for fusing them. The gold is darker than I would like because of the black, so I will be looking to improve that with my next attempt.

Pumpkin Time

2010-10-15T18:03:00.000-07:00

When we moved to California when I was in high school, we moved to the town of Half Moon Bay, a coastal town about 20 miles south of San Francisco. This weekend HMB celebrates its 40th annual Art and Pumpkin Festival. In it's honor, I have pulled out these quick and easy to crochet pumpkins. The original pattern came from a book several years ago, but I don't recall which (if I find it, I'll update this post), but I've modified it over time to create different sizes.

Think Pink

2010-10-14T19:38:00.000-07:00

This week's Cricut Circle Blog challenge is Think Pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Here is my creation.

The word panels are from Pagoda, the flower is from Accent Essentials.

Thanks to my circle friend who exchanged the pink ribbon at the Swarm. It was perfect.

Provo Craft Cricut Swarm, October 9th, 2010

2010-10-12T16:35:00.000-07:00

Yes, I splurged and treated myself to a weekend trip to Salt Lake City, Utah for Provo Craft's inaugural swarm.
With 4 craft classes and a swag bag that includes a Gypsy, how could I say no?
Circle Member Rina organized a dinner for the night before. It was great getting to meet so many Circlets in person and several PC folks stopped by (Jinger, Michael, QueenBee, AdminBecky...). Rina even arranged for door prizes. At our table of 8, Pam (TheBugBytes) and I were then only ones that did not win something ( we decided we were saving up our winning streak for the Swarm itself :-) ). A couple of us stayed up in the dining area crafting and chatting.

The Swarm was a long busy day. Several things to try, several things to buy, and a whole lot of Cricut love to go around. Alas, I did not win any prizes, but on the plus side, I didn't have to figure out how I was going to send home an Imagine on Columbus Day weekend either, so I guess it worked out.

Halloween State of Mind

2010-10-09T04:55:00.000-07:00

Before there were the Happy Hauntings and October 31st carts, there were several Halloween items on Paper Doll Dress Up. Using my Gypsy, I created the following scene.

A simple, elegant card

2010-10-02T06:22:00.000-07:00

I got the idea for this flower from a CTMH catalog tip. :)

The flower is made from 7 scalloped circles, with two sides folded in on each circle.

Beautiful Blogs

2010-09-30T20:17:00.000-07:00

I was pleasantly surprised to be honored with this award by Ohhh Snap.
To accept this award, it must be passed on to 15 other deserving blogs.

The following blogs caught my eye, some well established, some brand spanking new.:
1. Stamping Sunshine
2. Crafting with Katie
3. Koala-t Kreations
4. Scrap-Obsessed
5. Made by Momo
6. Inspired by Color
7. All Things Crafty
8. Binky Blossoms
9. Greengirl Scraps
10. Scrap Happy Steph
11. 4 Crafty Angels
12. The Daily Scrapper
13. Back Porch Creations
14. Stamp, Cut, Create
15. Just doin' what I LOVE

My apologies if you've received this before and I didn't catch it. It just means we really like you. :)

Starting on the Holiday Cards

2010-09-26T06:59:00.000-07:00

Allison F's weekend challenge on Cricut Circle message board was to use a kit you have. I went looking for one I just saw the other week and don't know where I put it, but on the hunt, I stumbled across a Christmas Card kit from Joann's, so I figured, why not get a start on those.

Carte Postale

2010-09-16T06:34:00.000-07:00

I decided to alter a recipe box to be used as a card box.

I covered the box in white paper, then covered all edges in masking tape to make it look like a package. The entire thing was inked to give it a well traveled look. Elements were cut from French Manor on brown cardstock, then inked with gold. The ribbon was glued on and embellished with i-rock Glam Rocks. A couple postage stamps added a little extra interest.

French Manor Decor

2010-09-08T05:55:00.000-07:00

In coming up with ideas for entry for a French Manor cartridge contest, I decided to play with the Cricut markers on cork. I learned that the cork didn't absorb the ink fast enough as the rollers picked it up and left tracks as you can see toward the bottom of the Eiffel Tower (this was after I tried to sand some of it away).

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

While we pretty much hung around the house this weekend, I took a little emotional journey. I have this dollhouse that my father built for my 10th birthday. Seeing as that was nearly 30 years ago and I don't have a daughter, it's become more of a dust collector than anything else. However, I haven't been able to let it go. This weekend I realized that there were too many memories tied into that house as it had the wallpaper from four rooms of my childhood home in it. I decided if I took the paper out, I might be able to disconnect myself from it. I then put it together in a simple layout. The house folds up to reveal the story and before and after the demo pictures on an accordion fold. (It does seem odd that the before pictures are the house all set up; it's like an anti-DIY experience).

My First Sour Cream Container

2010-09-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

I first saw the sour cream container when Okie posted a link to her tutorial on the Cricut message board and fell in love with this. It took me awhile to come up with my take on it, but here it is.

The "cone" is cardstock that I ran through a diamond crimper first, then assembled into a sour cream container. For the ice cream, I welded two ice cream shapes from Sweet Treats at the top and folded them over for a finished top. It is cut from the ice cream paper in DCWV's Snack Time stack.

Another journey into Shrinky Dinks

2010-08-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

After my first attempt with Shrinky Dinks, I decided to try another. I used the same Celtic knot from Picturesque, but this time I used markers. As expected the colors intensified, but as they were not permanent markers, not all of the color adhered to the plastic. When this piece came out of the oven, the backing piece was a dark navy blue, but then I ran it under water and most of it washed away, leaving more of a frosted colored glass look, which I actually like better.

I cut two of the same shape, colored the back a darker shade of blue, left the flat when they baked, and glued them slightly offset.

Weekends are Never Long Enough

2010-08-08T22:27:00.000-07:00

It's been two weekends and the craft room has still to take shape. Most of the time has been spent moving my husband's stuff into the man cave (AKA "The Bunker") and helping him mount things on the wall. There are still a couple things tto move out before I can really move my stuff in, so I've been grabbing my boxes and sorting through them so I can at least put all like items in one pile and figure out where they'll go once the shelves are in place. If you have any ideas where to find the magic genie to do all of this while I'm at work, I'd love to know. :-)

Regaining a Craft Room

2010-07-31T05:37:00.000-07:00

Today I begin the process of helping my husband move his stuff out of the den into the spare bedroom so that he gets his "man cave" and I get the den for my craft room. I'm hoping it will be done quickly as I have several projects to complete this week. :)

Back to School

2010-07-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

My son's school is a year-round school, which means a very short summer vacation but I nice break in October.
For the last year, I've taken ownership of decorating the school's bulletin board. Here is this year's first simple layout.

As the year goes on, they get more detailed, particularly around the holidays, but at the start of the year it changes so much, I wanted something that can easily be changed. The welcome message is hung on fishing line so that I can pull it tighter if I need to make more room.

Cricut Expressions for Schools

2010-07-24T06:17:00.001-07:00

A big thank you this week to Provo Craft for offering Cricut Circle members a chance to win a gently used Expression for their schools. The office staff at my son's school are so excited one is coming their way. They have a general idea how it works as I decorate their bulletin boards with mine. Thank you again PC!

I'm a Circlet!

2010-07-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

It's official now. I received my Cricut Circle box today.
Now to find time to use it. :-)

I'll admit it, I'm a hoarder

2010-07-13T06:46:00.000-07:00

When it comes to craft supplies, I'll admit I don't always know when to let go. In cleaning out the garage this weekend, I finally tossed the candle making and candy making supplies that I haven't touched in like five years, but those soap making supplies have only been collecting dust for about 3 years, so they're still have a year or two before I'm willing to give up the molds or start using them again. :-)

The current addiction though is my Cricut. I recently brought home most of the Cricut Lite set and joined the Cricut Circle, which means I shouldn't be buying anymore craft supplies for a while. We'll see how long that lasts. :-)

I hope to have a project posted by next week if work doesn't occupy too much of my "free" time.

Happy 4th!

2010-07-05T08:06:00.000-07:00

I decided to create a 4th of July layout, even though I wasn't sure I would have some pictures (we were having a low-key day).

For the stars, I started with the star and star border on the Mickey & Friends cartridge, then on my Gypsy I copied, resized, rotated and welded them all together. Then I embellished it with silver stars.

School's Out!

2010-06-23T15:32:00.000-07:00

Since my son attends a year round school, we finally had our last day of school this week. One of the fun little jobs I picked up this year at the school was decorating the bulletin board. I always get oohs and aahs with the designs I cut with the Cricut.

Not a whole lot of effort other than coloring the cars on the ferris wheel, but it was simple and cool.

Operation Write Home

2010-06-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

I spent most of Memorial Day Weekend working on cards for Operation Write Home, a great organization that sends handmade cards to deployed soldiers so that they can write home. This was my first effort for the project and was pleased to complete 62 cards that weekend. Out came stickers from various grab bags, paper from Tuesday Morning, and a bunch of acrylic stamps that I hadn't used in awhile.

90 Card Weekend

2010-04-26T06:57:00.000-07:00

As a way to use embellishments that I didn't think I would use in any scrapbook, I decided to make cards this weekend. In a period of 24 hours, I ended up with 90 cards. It's amazing what you can get done if you just do it. :-)

66th Birthday Card

2010-04-18T05:54:00.000-07:00

Nothing brings out the craft supplies than a family event. For my Dad's 66th birthday, I made the following card.

Kudos to my my mom for the Route 66 inspiration.

I love trying to come up with new ways to use images from the photo stacks, particularly ones I initially have no interest in. For this card, the road and the mountains were images of wood.

Reclaiming my time

2010-03-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

Now that the school auction is over and I am wrapping up my term as PTA president, I'm feeling the need to lock myself up in my yet-to-be-redesignated craft space and spend some me time. Alas, work still needs to be done, chores still need to be done, and RA raises it's ugly head at the most annoying of times, but I am determined to make progress this month. After all, March is Craft Month...and it's halfway over.

Today's project: 700 palm trees

2010-01-17T09:17:00.000-08:00

With time running out, we decided to print the invitations for the auction instead of die cutting them. We did like the idea of adding a personal touch to it, so I'm cutting out 700 1-inch palm trees to put on the envelopes like we did with anchors last year for the cards I did die cut. I'm trying the new Post It Craft paper. It's a good weight and has a white core, but we'll how they stick once the invitations come in.

Cropping with the Stars Content

2010-01-15T21:31:00.000-08:00

For Provo Crafts latest contest, I decided to have a little fun and made a Mardi Gras mask.
http://www.cricut.com/cropping/default.aspx?did=87

Where is my time to craft?

2010-01-08T14:44:00.000-08:00

Since the year started, I haven't found time to craft much yet. I've had some brainstorms and started designing a couple things on my Gypsy, but realized my due date for creating 700 invitations for the school auction is fast approaching so things will have to go on hold until they are done.

Reminder to self: don't offer to cut invitations for auction next year. I didn't learn from last year.

Contests

2009-12-29T05:27:00.000-08:00

I spent yesterday creating something for the Cricut Cropping with the Stars contest and realized that just the idea of having a deadline makes it easier for me to complete projects (works the same at work as it did in college). So, I'm thinking for 2010, in order to get more projects done, I should have a series of deadlines each month. They can be as simple as printing out the pictures from my son's first birthday (6 years ago), to design all elements for a theme on my Gypsy, to organizing supplies, to actually completing a project (gasp!). Even baby steps are good at this point since most of my stuff is sitting in moving boxes in the garage until I reestablish my craft room.

Now I need to find someone to help keep me on track.

A lull in the creativity department...

2009-12-26T20:34:00.000-08:00

It's been pretty crazy the last two months, so I haven't had much time to craft. I gave up my craft room so that my parents could move in, so I'm trying to make a space in the garage. Then I got hit with joint pain and a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, so the motivation level hasn't been there. Now that the meds are starting to work, I'll be working on clearing out the garage. Keep you fingers crossed. :-)

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T06:48:00.000-07:00

This is the year the DS started getting into the spooky, scary, creepy side of things. He's planned out this very elaborate haunted house idea, but being just shy of 7 years old, it's not going to happen, at least not on it's own. We'll see what kind of decorating he can due today. :-)

In the mean time, I've been playing with my Gypsy to start on a Halloween layout. Keep your fingers crossed it will cut everything I want it too.

Gypsy Design Challenge

2009-10-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

I spent my Sunday creating something for the Gypsy Design Challenge. Things didn't go exactly as I wanted (it didn't want to cut everything I welded), but I was able to adapt and move on. I did it for the sheer challenge of completing something in 24 hours and had fun. The best part came after. My almost 7 year old told me how much he liked it and thought I should win (which any mom loves). Then my husband posted on his various online mediums to vote for me without any solicitation on my part. This was a first and totally took me surprise. I love him a little more today for his efforts. :-)

My entry is at http://www.cricut.com/gypsy/designchallenge/entries.aspx?did=95.

The Gypsy 24-hour Design Challenge

2009-10-25T13:02:00.001-07:00

The Gypsy 24-hour Design Challenge

Posted using ShareThis

In the beginning...

2009-10-21T05:06:00.000-07:00

With maintaining a couple websites for the local school, I figured it was about time to start playing in the world of blogs. This time, however, it's personal. I will use this blog to comment on the various craft projects that are taking up my house at any time. Maybe it will inspire me to complete more of them. :-)