Teacher Appreciation Week Gifts

Hi all, sorry I haven't been around in a while.  Just been busy with the kids and friends.  I have been crafting, just not enough time to post about it.  So today I am sharing the Teacher Appreciation gifts I made last week.  We gave them to the teachers today.  I decided that you can never have to many cards for notes lying around, so I made each teacher a set of 10 monogrammed cards.

As you can see I really love Chevron!!!  It also made it super easy because I just printed the pattern on a letter size paper, then cut it in half to make 2 A2 sized cards from each sheet.  I made the monograms with my Cameo and a monogram set I purchased in the Silhouette store.  Next I made some boxes for the cards to be packaged in,

This is a Lori Whitlock card box file I purchased in the Silhouette store.  It was really easy to put together and decorate.  All the paper if from a Dear Lizzy paper stack I got on clearance at Target.  I think Target decided to stop carrying scrapbook supplies, so when I noticed them all on clearance I picked up a bunch of paper packs and albums.

So that is all I have for you today, hope you enjoyed.  Don't forget to thank all those wonderful teachers in your life.

Thank You with the Silhouette

Hi all

It has been a while since I posted.  We have been doing a lot of spring cleaning around here and I haven't really spent much time in my craft space.  Just took a break I guess.  Well I am back and have been crafting plenty of cards.  The one I have to show you today I need to explain a little before I post the picture.
So I have been taking a dance class now for about two years.  It is really a dance/fitness class.  It is called pole fitness or pole dance.  Now before you go all crazy and get judgmental on me, let me explain the background.  Two years back some girlfriends and I decided to go out for dinner and a fun fitness class.  We chose an Intro to pole class.  We went and had a blast, never really thinking we would go back.  Well the next morning I woke up and was in such pain (the good pain you get after a good workout) that I decided I was going to try Pole Level 1.  Well two years later and I am at Pole Level 7 and graduating to be able to do Pole Masters classes.  I am telling you this workout has transformed my arms.  They used to wave back when I waved!!! No longer does that happen.  And it is really fun.  So with that here is the card I made as a thank you to my class instructor, who has pushed me passed my limits (or what I thought were my limits).

So I made this using my Silhouette Cameo.  The card base is the step card from Lori Whitlock found in the Silhouette online store.  The girl silhouettes are done by importing the jpeg image into the Silhouette Designer Studio and using the trace feature.  This took a bit of work but I love how it came out.  All the papers are from Heidi Swapp, the Sugar Chic collection and her ColorMagic Papers.  I did the poles with some glitter powder.

Well I hope you have enjoyed this card.  I know it is a little racy, but it comes from a place of fitness.  And just to let you know I can do many things upside down on the pole!!!!  Takes strong arms and legs to do that and I am pretty proud of myself.  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Birthday Goodies with the Silhouette

Hi all, happy Saturday.  It has been a fun week here in Florida.  We went to the zoo, and the beach, and Legoland this week so we have been busy.  Today I am getting a sort of day off.  I just got back from getting a gel manicure for the first time and later today I am going to play golf with my Dad.  Love relaxing!!!

So today I have some Birthday Goodies I made for a good friend of my husbands.  He turned 40 this year and we went on a wine tour with a party bus to celebrate with him and his family.  So I had to make something crafty for him of course.  Here is what I came up with after surfing Pinterest.

This is just 40 suckers stuck into a foam block from the craft store.  I covered the foam with some Christmas wrapping paper turned inside out.  The chevron ribbon is from Joann's.  I then made the tag with my Silhouette   The faux stitching on the bubble is done using a Sakura gel pen.

I thought this card was appropriate since we were going wine tasting to celebrate.  I used the print and cut feature on the Silhouette to create the card front.  I pooped up the 1973 oval to add some dimension to the card.  The base of the card is Heidi Swapp color magic chevron paper sprayed with some black color shine.  I didn't let the color shine sit on the paper to long because I did want a more grey look.

So there you have it.  I have a couple friends turning 40 this year so I am really going to have to get creative with my cards and gag gifts.  Hope you have a great weekend!!

Spring Break Layout

Hi there, hope your week is going well.  We here are on spring break.  My kids and I are down in sunny but cold Florida visiting my parents.  It is really cold down here with a freeze warning tonight, but alas we are still having fun.  So I thought it fitting that I share a spring break layout I completed a couple months back.

I love this layout for so many reasons.  The first being I got 7 photos on a page!!  When I am scrapbooking I am all about geting as many photos in as I can and these 7 photos really did sum up our vacation.  I can't remember what paper line I chose at the moment, but everything was pre-cut.  I used some Amy Tangerine Thicker letters and spayed them with some pink mist.  The chipboard pieces are from a class I took at a scrapbooking expo that I sprayed with mist.  I used my We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy to make it look like the pictures were part of a banner.

So there you have it.  I have been taking lots of pictures while on spring break so hopefully I can create another great layout.  Thanks for visiting and hope you have a crafty week.

Glitter T-shirts - Pinterest Inspiration

Hi all, hope your weekend is going well.  I have been missing in action lately.  I have been crafting, just no time to post my projects.  So today I have a project inspired by Pinterest.  I made my girls some t-shirts for St Patrick's Day.  I wanted to try making a t-shirt with glitter like I saw on Pinterest.  Here is the result:

The inspiration came from a Pin I found.  Here is the link to my Pin.  The website that the Pin directs you to has great instructions on how to create these shirts.  I cut the shamrock out of freezer paper using my Silhouette and the free shape of the week.  I then ironed them onto the shirts.  I used a foam brush to spread the E6000 glue onto the fabric and then applied the glitter.  One suggestions is to do this in a well ventilated area because this glue stinks.

So I have a couple problems with the t-shirts and they ended up going in the trash after the first and only wearing.  So maybe I needed to use a different application technique, but after it was dry I could tell I didn't get the glue on all the spots on the fabric.  The second thing is that this glue really stinks and even after I washed and dried the t-shirts, the smell was still there and it is not pleasant.  If I try this again, I will use a different fabric glue.  Third this is a messy project, the glitter gets everywhere and even after the glue was dry there was still glitter coming off the shirts.

So this was a fun project but I need to do the executing different next time, if I even decide to do it.  Don't get me wrong the shirts were beautiful and the girls loved them but not sure if the mess and smell was worth it.

Hope you have a great weekend!!

Pinterest Day - Lego Play Bin

Hi all hope you have all been having a great week.  So I am getting around to my Pinterest post.  I know I said that Wednesday would be Pinterest day but I think I have decided that I will just have a Pinterest Day, that way I won't disappoint anyone and also take some of the stress of trying to get the post up.  See I blog for a hobby and to give back to the crafting community, so taking care of family comes first.  Hope you all understand.

With that said here is what I did using some Pinterest inspiration.

Here is the pin that I got the inspiration from:

Once I pinned this my good friend hinted that this would be something her son would love.  Well with his birthday last week I went at trying to create it.  So in the pin the creator actually cut and assembled wood to make this tray.  I am not a wood worker, in fact I am terrified of most power tools.  So I decided I would try to find a tray that I could use.  I found this bin at Home Goods.  It is not flimsy but it is also not too heavy so I thought it would be perfect, and with the extra depth it could also serve as storage for the legos.  As this gift if for a three year old I also wanted to use a Lego Duplo board instead of a regular Lego board.  I found the board on Amazon and had my husband cut it down to fit inside the box.  I adhered it to the box using velcro, thinking that when he does graduate to regular Legos, we could just switch out the board.

For the front of the bin I originally planned to use vinyl.  I cut the vinyl using the Cameo and then tried to adhere it to the bin.  Well vinyl doesn't adhere to fabric very well and I knew it would just get peeled off.  So I then cut a template with freezer paper, ironed it onto the fabric front of the bin and then used fabric paint to create the name.

Hope you have enjoyed this.  I might make one for my daughter as well.  Don't forget to go utilize those pins and have a great week.

Lion Birthday Card with the Cricut

Hi all - Hope you have all been well.  We have been a sickly bunch over here.  I was out for the weekend and now my oldest has strep.  I am really ready for the winter and the sickies to be gone.  So today I have a really cute birthday card I made for one of my favorite little boys.  He turned the ripe old age of 3 this past weekend.  We had a fun day listening to his favorite band at a local coffee shop.  So here it is:

Card Recipe:

• Red card base is 5.5 x 5.5
• The polka dot paper is from a Cricut paper stack that came with my Expression cut at 5" square
• Birthday Lion cut at 2.5" from Create a Critter 2 cartridge and popped with a pop dot
• Party Time sentiment cut at 2" from Create a Critter 2 cartridge
• Doodlebug twine in yellow for the hat and blue for the word party.  I just used my glue pen to trace the letters and then lined the letters
• Yellow ribbon from my stash

I really love how this card turned out.  The twine adds such a special touch that makes the card stand out.  I am entering this card in two challenges:  The Pop challenge over at My Craft Spot and the Pet challenge over at Exploring Cricut.  

Thanks for visiting today.  I will have the gift that went with the card for my Pinterest Wednesday.  Hope you come back and see it.  Have a great week.