Happy New Year to all! Even if it's nearly Valentine's Day, I still feel like it's a whole new start to the year. One reason for my long absence (and serious lack of posts) is that my husband was deployed to Afghanistan for the past year. But he returned home for one of the happiest Christmases ever! My girls and I were busy enjoying time together which at our house means crafting as well! So, I would love to share some of my past projects in this post. Hang in there, there's a lot!
My new scrap area pictures and a few Imagine projects are first, then some of my older projects... Within the next few days I'll be sharing an Imagine project that I'm really excited about..rub-ons!!!! Since I've made all the mistakes for you, there will be lots of tips and tricks! ;)
December:
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| Paper Stack Storage! |
Decembers first project was to finish organizing my craft room. I must have deleted the "before" pictures out of embarrassment, so I'll only be able to show my finished product. Which, I have to say, still seems like a work in progress. I am grateful to have finished the majority of it though, including painting the room a soft gray!
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| Paper cutting and ink pad storage |
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| Paper and vinyl station |
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| My desk area with a computer station for the girls. |
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| Storage for my cartridges, books and overlays |
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| My desk area...almost complete! |
All the shelving and most of the drawers are from IKEA. It's a modular system of shelving and I found the tall white craft drawers fit in the space well enough. The shelves have been redesigned with plastic elements so if you'd like to try a similar set up, please check the product information to see what load they can handle...I weighed my stacks to estimate how much each shelf can handle, then tried to distribute the weight amongst the shelves.
The tall drawers are mostly organized with my punches, and embellishments. My shelves store everything from idea books to clear stamps, basically everything that didn't fit in the drawers. :) Since this picture, I was able to get some more matching bins on clearance at Target to store more bulky items on top.
My work area has some space to the right which has a set of small sterlite drawers for pens and small items. IKEA also provided me with some Bygel rails for cups and a small shelf, and some lighting to mount onto the bottom of the shelves in the work stations that I'll be putting up in the next few weeks.
Originally my workspace was a hodgepodge of shelving and a small kitchen table that had great space but took up too much room. As a result there were just stacks of things everywhere. Hopefully even though my workspace is much smaller, being able to put my hands on an item quickly will leave me more time for creativity!
Since I set out to have a special family Christmas I decided to have my girls help with teachers gifts as well as be involved in all crafts....even my three year old!
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| Handwamers...A half a minute in the microwave keeps them warm for at least half and hour. |
Iron on transfers with the Imagine and turned out really nice using inkjet transfers made for dark fabrics...the handwarmers were filled with rice which the girls helped with. They were able to proudly deliver them knowing they had a part in the year's gifts! I also made some for my Girl Scout troop and a few friends. About 50 but they went really fast! I cut 5" squares of fabric, sewed three edges, turned them right side out, then stitched the edges down so that the forth side would match when I simply sewed on top instead of closing them by hand. Each was filled with about 3/4 cup of plain white rice. Hopefully the iron on will last since it is safe in the dryer, and the others were a plain "winter" fabric pattern.
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| Ubiquitous glitter ornaments! Before vinyl stickers. |
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We also had lot's of fun with glitter ornaments! We used plastic ones I found on clearance at Michael's and glitter-it glue by Beacon. Martha Stewart fine glitter worked best. I followed the directions on the glue and washed them with a dilute vinegar solution first which seemed to help get even coverage Even my three year old was able to make them with a little help. I could barely keep up with the glue while the girls glittered. They might have enjoyed it even more than the yearly gingerbread house.
November:
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| A project using SCAL2 software for a swap...file from SVGcuts.com |
This card was so much fun to make since it was already laid out to cut fromthe downloaded file. I embellished it very little by using my Bigshot and cuttlebug folder to emboss some background pieces and then added an owl flying by since it was for a Night Owls group swap.
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| This was a fun project using my new Imagine form cricut! |
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It wasn't a typical month for me since I made cards instead of layouts and did very little stamping! My new Imagine from Cricut was fun to play with but since I couldn't use Design Studio software it was slightly intimidating. Luckily for me Provocraft has announced a new online software to use with all the cricut cutting machines. Can't wait to try it!
The first card had a print only image and the second had a print and cut image. The faux stitching was done with the cutterbee and a white gel pen. So fast and a nice way to add something extra to a card. It would be nice to have a few more cards on hand since it usually is a painstaking process! :)
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| Made on my Imagine by flood filling elements from Just Because Cards cartridge. |
This was my first card using the Imagine but it was just sent out with a box of Girl Scout Cookies collected as donations for our servicemen and women overseas... the troop also colored pictures and wrote a heartfelt note. It was so sweet the way they painstakingly colored the pictures in bright colors and put so much care into them.
And here's my Cricut Cake, cutting from a laptop and SCAL using a true type font. It's nice to be able to lay out the gumpaste and then use the computer or Gypsy to line things up! I matched the gumpaste to some Bazzil bling using the new Duff brand or coloring gels and Wilton of course. The cuts went through the mail the mail wrapped in parchment and packed in a old Tupperware. It was so nice to be able to contribute to my friends special birthday for her son. That's my favorite thing about crafting!
October:
I just had to share thee imaginative costumes we made after my oldest DD found ideas online...jellyfish! We used clear umbrellas, glow bracelets sticks, "feather boas" and tulle cut into strips. I sewed some tubes of tulle for longer light stick "tentacles".Two girls were jellyfish and one was a shark, for an "under the sea theme!" Perfect for out rainy Halloween night and nice and easy to scrap. ;)
Last but not least:
I'd like to share some creative projects from my girls....a set of tents they made for Tags Bags Boxes and More with a campfire made from a tea light and tissue paper scraps, plus a mailbox from last years Valentines seasonal cartridge...
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| Let's talk turkey! |
As always, many thanks for spending your time at my blog, hope you enjoyed it! Check back soon for some fun Valentines projects as well as Imagine rub-ons.
