Monday, November 30, 2009

Hi Everybody!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving! My family and I had a great feast! Sadly, any creativity I have stops when I get in the kitchen. I can follow a receipe, and enjoy making food look pretty, but I don't have any "spice instinct". So I leave the cooking to the ones who can! I'm lucky enough to have a husband who can cook, so he cooks the turkey and yams, while my mom makes the stuffing and other side dishes. It works out really well this way, since the stress of making an entire feast is not all on one person, and we are all able to enjoy ourselves :)


(Sooooooo tasting those yams right now!!)


Ok, so on to the other thing I wanted to talk about. Every year for the holiday season, my kids school has a little holiday boutique where the students can each go and pick one thing to give to someone special. Items are donated by parents, and they can be handmade or bought. Well, I couldn't pass up the chance to make something. I decided to kill two birds with one stone by using up my supplies, while saving money too. I came up with a couple of simple designs for some cards and made 20 cards from 2 card kits that I had in my stash. This was a great way to use up some stuff I had stored in my stash for months, and made it a lot quicker. Then I created about 4 different simple designs and made another 20 cards using only supplies I had in my stash. For these cards, I used scrapbooking kits I had kept in my stash for literally YEARS! I never wanted to throw them away, and selling them seemed to require time I never had. I also had grown so used to using my Cricut to create everything, that I never seemed to have a use for these kits. I apologize, because I forgot to take pictures of all the cards before I packaged them up so here are some of the packs. Here are 2 of the cards I created with the scrap kits:

For this one, some blue paper, a couple of matching flowers, coordinating buttons in the centers, and I was done. Hard to see, but in the bottom right I stamped "Thanks". I then took a white gel pen and "stitched" a border along the top and bottom. (The ribbon is not part of the card, just what I used to tie the 4 cards together.)



This card is similar, with larger flowers, and buttons in the middle. I added some moss green ribbon along the bottom, and again stamped "Thanks" on the bottom right.




I have built up quite a stash in the years I've been doing this great hobby. So I decided to put together some scrap kits with some other supplies I had. I put a bunch of patterned paper together with some die cuts, and stickers. I also threw in a few mini album kits, and slide mount kits I had been holding on to. I felt good that I these supplies were going to go to some use instead of the trash.

I just wanted to throw the idea out there for anyone that might like to help out, but especially right now, just might need to stretch their budget a little bit more. Stay tuned for some more
upcoming projects, including the calendar that I'm creating for presents! Hope everyone had a chance to craft today :)

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

More Trouble Coming!

Hi Everybody!

Will those people from Provo Craft never stop? If you haven't heard, there are 3 MORE limited edition cartridges coming out:



Easter

Love Struck




Mother's Day


Not too many places seem to have them available for pre-order yet. Scrapbook Corner (http://www.scrapbookcorner.com/springlimited.htm) has them for $16.99.

Memory Making Crafts ( http://www.memorymakingcrafts.com/) has them for $19.99 or 3 for $49.99. So plan your budgets accordingly!

Hope everyone had a chance to craft today!

Monday, November 16, 2009

My Pink Stamper

Hi Everyone!
I'm so sorry that I couldn't post before it took place, but if you haven't checked her out yet, please take a look at My Pink Stamper. She had a streaming chat a little while ago, and I just happened to check her blog as it was starting. She is a really talented lady, and super friendly. Here is a link to her blog: http://www.mypinkstamper.com . Thanks, and hope everyone has a chance to craft today!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Adornit Blog Hop

Hi Everyone!

I am sooooo excited to be participating in the Adornit Blog Hop!! I decided to make a little Christmas Tree gift box. It's very cute, but.......thrifty to make, which I know all of us can appreciate!




This is what it looks like empty. But what good is an empty treat box? So I filled it with red and green skittles:




Here's the materials you'll need:

*TBBM, and Christmas Noel cartridges
*Grafix Clear Craft Plastic (I found it at Michaels, and used a coupon to make it more budget friendly! I used a 6 x 12 size piece. They come in 12 x 12 or 8 1/2 x 11 sizes. )
*acrylic paint (I used Making Memories in Meadow color)
*paint brush
*bone folder
*DCWV Citrus cardstock stack

*adhesive (I used a Xyron machine to apply adhesive to the swirly tree)
*glue dots

*ribbon
*brown paint, or small piece of brown cardstock

Now let's put it together:

  1. Cut out tree shape (pressure @ max, and blade depth @6). If you have an Expression, then you will need to select the multi-cut button. If you have a baby bug, then just make sure you start your blade in the same spot you started, select repeat last, and cut again. I used the fit to page option. My tree was cut @ 5 1/2 ".

  2. Paint section of tree box without the tabs green.


  3. Paint outter tab ONLY green.


  4. On section of tree painted green, paint middle section ONLY for trunk brown. You can also insert a brown piece of cardstock.


  5. While waiting for the paint to dry, use the Noel cart to cut the swirl tree out of shiny, foil paper. You can also just cut it out of red cardstock, and/or spray it with red Glimmer Mist if you still want a little shimmer. I cut it @ 5 1/2". You will need to trim it a little bit to have all the edges fit onto the tree box.


  6. You can also choose to emboss the part of the tree painted green. If you choose to do this step, make sure you have a little thicker coat of green. Otherwise, the paint may crack when put through the embossing machine.


  7. Add adhesive to the swirl tree. I ran mine through a Xyron machine. If you do use a Xyron, be sure to clean out the glue that shows in between the swirls.

  8. Score tree box. Follow the "tic" marks made by the Cricut. Be sure to use a bone folder! The plastic is not too hard to fold, but you will need to make sure you use enough pressure to get a good crease.
  9. Now you just need to assemble the box. Take your time on this step, so you don't apply any adhesive where you don't want to! Leave the bottom of the trunk open if you are choosing to add a treat inside the box. (Another option is to put the swirl tree on the inside, and add a person's name on the outside, and voila! you have a cute place setting!)Once your box is put together, then tie your ribbon onto the trunk of the tree for that finishing touch.

!BONUS IDEA!

Put the swirl tree on the inside, and add a person's name on the outside, and voila! you have a cute place setting!

!BONUS IDEA #2!

I got this idea over from Sophia's blog (#21 on the hop), that this could also just be hung from a tree as an ornament. You could also put a picture on the inside to personalize it even more!

I hope you enjoyed my project! Please continue hopping over to the next stop at Whimsical Ink Sorority at http://whimsicalinksorority.blogspot.com/ and check out her really cute project! Please make sure you start at the beginning of the hop so you don't miss anything! Click here to start at the beginning: http://www.adornitscrapbook.com/bloghop . Enjoy!

Friday, November 6, 2009

BBTB Thankful Contest - Home Decor Vinyl Project

Hi Everyone!
Over at Bitten By The Bug they are having another cool contest. It's any kind of project based on Thanksgiving, gratitude, blessings, turkey stuff, being thankful/grateful, etc. I really like how they pointed out that most people can tend to skip from Halloween to Christmas, so I thought this was a great contest. So here's what I came up with, and the details:

Give Thanks: Storybook-with shorty/holes feature cut @ 2"

Live,Laugh,Love: Home Accents cut @ 6"

leaves: Doodlecharms (p. 115 in handbook) -border feature cut @ 2",
single leaves cut @ 1 3/4"
names: Storybook-shadow feature used cut @ 3" and 2 1/2"



In the rest of the empty squares, I am going to put the rest of my kids names. This project was not as time consuming as I thought it would be. Cutting the letters took no time at all, and putting them up, I decided to cut each letter out all the way (not just a kiss cut-which is when you cut through only the vinyl and not the backing), so I could peel and stick them individually. This worked out for me this time, but using the transfer tape is also another option when working with vinyl. Hope everyone likes it, and hope everyone has a chance to craft today!
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