Suzy's Sunshine Spot

Welcome Love

2012-01-24T17:41:00.002-05:00

I sized these at about 7inches tall and they ended up almost 2 inches thick.

The tradition of Valentines Day is one of my favorites. It's fun to support my little ones as they trade cards and treats with their classmates and friends. But even more, after New Year's tradition of self examination, it is refreshing to just look outside ourselves and welcome love into our lives!

The solid paper is all Bazzill basics and the print is the DCWV baby girl stack.

It was my goal last year to put up a banner for each holiday or season but since you haven't seen them here you can probably guess that it didn't happen....So, when the idea pepped up to create these 3D letters for Valentines day, I wanted to figure a way to make it into a banner. This super satin ribbon from thepapermart.com was left over from my little princesses party and it was wide enough to support LOVE. :)

It was actually quite easy to put together these letters but I suggest some quiet so that you can think through them before you glue it all down. Say for instance don't do these while trying to help with homework since yours might end up like my E which has the paper "technically" inside out. LOL.

I actually have only one tip for the construction of the letters. I used my long clear ruler when gluing the side portions of the "O" together. It doesn't have score marks on the flaps where it's glued so in order to be sure they weren't getting wonky, I laid my ruler down with a few of the flaps turned up. This made it easier for the next piece to line up without going crooked.

The SVG files for this project all came from the SVGcuts.com website and they do a spectacular job with their files, and also customer support by including great instructional videos right on the site.

"Be Mine" was from the 24Valentines collection, and the bird was and extra from the Bunny House Treat Box set. B wanted a bird on it. Finally I made the "rosebud" from part of the file for roses included in the "crush on you" set. It was designed to be a fuller style rose but I was wanting just a bud so just used on portion of the file...I managed to scrounge the leaves from the 3D flowers collection and finished it off with some plain white ribbon. The banner could probably be embellished even, more but I just wanted to keep it simple. And get it done. :)

I hope you all welcome love into your lives this year and have a wonderful Valentines Day!

Chinese New Year Craft-Spin Drums

2012-01-11T16:11:00.000-05:00

It has taken me awhile to warm up to 2012, even though it has some really cool things going for it. I mean seriously, it it the last time in my lifetime I will be able to enjoy a date like 1/1/1, 2/2/2, and so on. This year is gonna be 12/12/12 at the end of the year and well, it's a bit sad we won't see 1/1/1 until January 1, 2101! That's 89 years folks and I hope my DD's get to see it.

I was glad to see it's not too late to celebrate the New year! The Chinese New Year on January 23 that is. So I have a project....Chinese Spin Drums! I made these with my Brownie Girl Scouts, and will make a few more for home too since the are so much fun. I'll show you how to make yours and also share the cutting files below. I found the idea on FamilyFun.com and adapted it to make it fit my needs. The one below has a dragon cut from the Chinese New Year SVG set from SVGCuts.com....

The dragon cut so well on my Zing, despite the tiny bits due to being about 2.5 inches tall Great file!

OK so here is how I made the spin drums!

You'll need the 6 cut pieces from the file: two large circles for the ends of the drum, the center band, the two end decorations(mine have Chinese dragons downloaded from the internet and printed on) and the little "pizza table" style cut piece shown in white here...Also about 14 inches of yarn, a Japanese style round chopstick, two beads, a piece of ribbon. And glue!

I drew in the score lines here to show where the "pizza table" goes and what the different holes are for

First fold the funny pizza table looking thing so that it stands up a bit and has tabs at the end. Place a glue dot in the center of the square created with the score marks on the red piece of paper. Then glue the tabs of the table onto either side of the square, but don't push the "table" down...instead let it sit above the red paper.

Place a glue dot in the center of the square. Then glue the tabs of the table onto either side of the square, but don't push the "table" down...instead let it sit above the red paper.

Overlap the ends of the long strip glueing it down and be sure to get the holes lined up and the edges flush.

This is where the chopstick goes into the drum. Be sure to put the flat edge in first.

The chopstick should be snug within the hole and then go through the pizza table too. Place your hand on top of your drum and push the chopstick firmly onto the glue dot.

The tie the yarn or string right to the middle of the chopstick so that there are equal amounts on either side.

After threading the yarn through the side holes make sure the "drum" portion is well rounded by adjusting it a bit and then tie a knot to help it keep it's shape. Do this on both sides and make it snug. This is important to help keep the whole thing form getting loose as it spins too.

Fold the flaps of the long strip in a bit and put glue on the tabs.This shows the yarn tied and also the tabs gently folded in. This view looks through the inside of the drum and the glue goes on the outside of the tabs so turn i over to apply the glue evenly.

Be sure your glue is all the way to the edges of all the flaps for it to be secure. Place the large circle on the end and fiddle till your happy with the fit. It wont be perfect but it should be even.

Once the end piece is a set a bit, turn the whole thing over and use a pen or something to press the tabs down.

Mark the place for the bead with a pen by bringing it up and measuring(eyeballing) where it meets the center of the drum. Then tie a bead on each end where the mark is.

Decorate the smaller circle with a fun drawing or print out and enjoy!

It works best if you hold it between your hands with your palms flat and rub them like you are trying to warm up...My little one had fun demonstrating! :)

Here are files: Just for reference the largest circle should measure 3inches.
For SCAL just import the SVG...if you do not own an electronic die cutting machine, the PDF can be printed and cut by hand. Then use a hole punch where required.
MTC
SVG
PDF

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Paperclip display stand for paper crafts

2012-01-11T15:04:00.001-05:00

A quick post showing how to make the "stands " used to display my finger puppets....

I was looking for the best way to support the projects I made since it was too hard to get my model to cooperate and daylight was fading fast. It seems to me there was a better design out there for a paperclip card display. I've seen one posted on the Cricut message boards oh so long ago, but things get lost, even good ideas. So after a futile search though the internet I decided to try my hand at creating something new. A few mangled paperclips later I came up with something that works a bit...not sure how "blogworthy" but hope it helps someone.

The back clip is the end result...

Pull the back piece until it is about 45degrees

Then pull the smaller section up and back a bit without bending the "bottom" and pull the folded piece out a bit.


You can see it tilts back a bit. The bottom of my finger puppet tucked behind the bottom "bar" then rested on the bent piece.

I also tucked a card into this holder but need to make some adjustments

Little Red Riding Hood Finger Puppets!

2012-01-03T17:40:00.001-05:00

As a first project with my new Zing cutter I decided to dive right in. I never do just dip my toe in.

The whole set is available at Lettering Delights as a "cut it set" you can print and cut as well as layer the papers as an SVG cut. And layer I did! These are pretty easy to put together but I wanted to be sure they would be durable, so this is where the Zing comes in. I was able to put all the different pieces organized by color and then also a last layer for chipboard...yes the Zing cuts chipboard and gives this set some very much needed support to endure all the play it gets already. The Make the cut software has been really easy to learn and use. As for the adjustments on the Zing, there's been quite a bit of operator error. ;)

This is the house sized at nearly 12 inches tall! I used the backs of my paper stacks as the most readily and conveniently sized "chipboard". Sometime crafty comes from (dare I say it?) lazy. LOL. I looked at the cereal boxes I had been saving for the purpose and just didn't want to mess with them.

The house was a bit difficult to emboss with my Big Shot and cuttlebug folders but after a bit of mangling it ended up OK. I even wet the paper and used the folder with a brayer to get the "brick" texture up further on the blue siding. Every thing was inked and embellished since I wanted this to be special.

these layered very nicely together and went quickly...

Little red riding hood is my B's favorite of course and I altered her eye color to blue..

Here is the Mom with shiny black hair and snazzy stamped trim on her apron. All the eyes were cut into the face layer but then colored over with a glaze pen. The mouths were just drawn on with a red glaze pen. Cheeks are chalked and the hair stamped over all with glitter ink using the mini G stamp pads in various colors from my stash.

Grandma meets up with the wolf in her oh so cute shawl...can you see the embossing? It is tough since I was only allowed a very short time right before bed for my photo shoot. Bad lighting and an eager little girl who kept running off with the characters were not ideal conditions.

Here is the wolf in all the Grandma's clothes, hee hee. You can really see his teeth here. His tail has already suffered some damage, since he has quite large role in the play after all. These were cut at an average height of just under 6 inches, and I can't imagine them going much smaller. My DH's fingers just fit into the wolf although he isn't allowed to "be" him when we split up the parts each night. He has to play the woodcutter. The woodcutter by the way has an odd monocle which I left it off since I didn't think he would really wear one...cute mustache though don't you think?

And luckily the results were a hit even if there were quite a few mistakes along the way. I'll add more info on my Zing (a list of "don'ts" frankly) and also my idea for the paperclip stands that I used for the photos here...

Crafting in the car and other Holiday Fun!

2011-12-22T11:30:00.003-05:00

I think he's my favorite project!More below....

OK so I tend to get a bit rushed during the Holidays, and this year is no exception. This year I have three girl in three different schools! So, I had to finish the goodie bags for my littlest one in the car while she went into her preschool class...it was only putting things in bags and tying on tags but this just might be the closest I've come to not finishing! SO here I am finally to share some of my Christmas crafts with everyone...enjoy, maybe next year I'll be ahead?

I did manage to snap a quick pic of the goodie bags LOL. These are the best thing since white paper lunch bags, clearly! Just maybe my new love...Inside are some cool tic tac toe mini games and some cute tissues B picked out. Both from the dollar section at Target. But the best thing of all you'll see in my next picture. Candy cane spoons! Everyone I gave them to, young and old went crazy fro them. I got them way ahead of time in mass quantities(we're talking free shipping) way ahead of Christmas since I knew they were a must have. Loving Oriental Trading Company this year!

So this is what I did with them....a mug with a coco package and a small baggie of mini marshmallows. If you look closely some of the mugs have snowman shaped ones from WalMart. The girls said the French Vanilla taste wasn't so good so I tried to give them mostly to adults though.

I am sharing the SVG file for this paper mug below....

We made coco cups for all the girls specials teachers(music, art, etc.) and the main teachers all got a mini bucket of extras too. I made a set of hand-warmers(same as last year but with real organic lavender oil) and a set of aloe infused spa socks as a cupcake...are you feeling the warm fuzzies yet?

Somehow K was recognized as the girl who gave out hand-warmers last year as gifts so her new teachers for this year got their own lavender and vanilla infused ones...the men got vanilla, and the one teacher who she had last year got another set his since wife took his. :) Sorry somehow no pics of those. Check last years post for some info if you'd like.

I make "the savages" help out. It's for their teachers, and then they are proud to deliver the gifts.

I like to work in stations with an assembly line approach so I took over the dining room and the girls all helped, but somehow it was as hectic as last year and the year before. Then as I was finishing the last few items I had an epiphany...in just two years my little one will need gifts for her specials teachers on top oof the two preschool ones this year...and they'll likely have to be different since she'll be at the elementary school with G. Well, luckily K will have all new teachers so it's hand-warmers part three! :)

But here's my favorite project of all so far....a few ornaments. I helped my daughter make a set of ornaments for our Girl Scout gift exchange. She made a set of Ravens ornaments and a Monogram one in the girls favorite color. They were a hit! Because we have an odd number of girls I exchanged with one of the girls and made a Ravens one, a monogram one and also this little snowman. He wasn't a complete success at first but after a happy accident he turned out sooo cute!

These are plastic ornaments swirled with Glitter it glue then we put in Martha Stewart's glitters. After that I cut out images and lettering from white vinyl using MTC to import and SVG. I should have used the wrap function in the program but instead snipped the image a bit to make it fit...next year huh?

For my little Ravens fan friends..

I need to make more of these!He swings around so nicely.

Now for this guy. He was a disaster at first! I initially used MTC to print, then cut his image from a plastic sheet that was supposed to work in the inkjet printer.(Image from Lettering Delights) I punched a small hole in his hat and used white thread to make a hanger for him. After I bent him and put him through the top of the ornament he popped back into shape as planned, so I used a glue dot on the inside of the top to get him to hang just right.....He looked fine at first. Actually he looked awesome. Then when he was unwrapped and all of his ink had come off! So, back to the drawing board. I ended up doing a print and cut on paper with another image flipped for on the back. I then just took the plastic part out and adhered the paper snowman to the plastic. This allowed me to bend it to fit into the opening but then it popped right back into shape after it was inside! I really want to make more of these!!

OK so here is my oh so simple mug file... I sized it so that the bottom was just shy of 3". It is way far from perfect. To make the mugs I folded the tabs in and started from the one right at the edge. Next I followed the curve just taping the tabs down to the circle using ATG tape and ending up overlapping the last and first tab a bit on the inside of the mug. Next I placed the second circle on the bottom of the mug to cover the tabs and give it some stability. The overlap f the paper is also to give it some strength. I used fairly ugly and plain Astrobrights cover stock left over from another project.

Here's a few step by step pics...I glued the handle together then spread the tabs to put them on the mug with Scotch quick dry glue. For next year I am thinking of making a slit to fit the tabs through.

SVG for mug on 4Shared
MTC for mug on 4Shared

*Or maybe these are my favorite project...hmmm decisions decisions...

Christmas Tumbler

2011-12-07T10:48:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone, my little ones (all of them, even the 13 yo) loved these "tumblers" so much over Easter I thought they might like some new ones...for Christmas. I first saw the idea for these very old style toys on Family Fun.com. A website that always inspires me. It takes nearly no time at all and they create so much fun! I have created an SVG file, a SUT2 file and a .cut file for everyone which I will attempt to share at the bottom of the page.


These little things tumble end over end "magically" :)

After cutting out the file on your machine score these folds...a heavier cardstock tends to hold up better.

This adhesive is called "scoretape" but I also like Scotch quick dry adhesive. If this is your first time to my blog. let me tell you how much I love scoretape...well maybe not or you won't come back...LOL "Red tape" also works well but be sure your double sided tape doesn't extend beyond the and keep the marbles from rolling freely.

OK so you can use whatever you want for your ramp, even an ironing board or an even longer cushion but it does need a bit of friction so it wont just slide down anticlimactically without flipping...really sad when that happens... also it can be a fun challenge to get it balanced on edge (without bending the paper).

Please note that I am just a mom and comments (nice ones) keep me sane. I ask you to please not share this file, instead refer them to my site. Also please do not create this for profit, including contests, without my permission. Instead, contact me ahead of time if you want to use my file. Thanks and enjoy!
SVG on 4Shared
SCUT2 on 4 Shared
CUT on 4Shared (uses Plantin Schoolbook)

New Advent Calendars

2011-12-03T21:48:00.001-05:00

This year I couldn't wait to make the Advent Calendars I downloaded form SVGcuts.com. I decided to do them no matter what! Although they were time consuming they were very easy to construct. After watching the video it seems the hardest part was picking the papers. I am thinking the red and green ones are too busy but my girls are so excited to open a door for each day!

Of course that doesn't mean the other three calenders are being neglected! :) We still love the fun of putting ornaments on our other ones but the thrill of a surprise and a treat can't be beat.

each door opens to a small section...about an inch deep

A close up of one with red and green AC papers

My littlest is the pink princess and this Close To My Heart paper was the best!

Hope everyone is enjoying your advent season!

For the season of Thanks and Giving

2011-11-24T15:36:00.001-05:00

As much as I try to live life with an attitude of graditude, I especially make a big effort at Thanksgiving with my girls. This year there was a "spooky" tree made with paper bags on Familyfun.com but I had my eye on it for a "Thankfulness Tree" The girls are no stranger to gratitude lists but this year I wanted to make it more fun and allow them to write on a leaf for each reason. We put the tree in our dining room and when it has all it's leaves I'll post an update. :) My wish for all on this day is for you to feel very blessed. For if you have that, you are truly blessed indeed.

I promise it looks better IRL! The girls added a few projects for our "tablescape"

This tree was one of those projects that look really awful till the very end when you finish...I just started with a paper bag, cut the bottom out and slit up the side. Next I cut it in half o make it a taller piece and wet it slightly to get it into a basic shape. It dried as I worked with it which was perfect since it started to keep it's shape better. I had to add some straws and extra paper to stiffen it a bit. If I can ever get my pictures off of my new iPhone I will be glad to share more of a step by step. LOL

*update*

I made the announcment that we were going to put our thanfulness leaves on the tree and then we spent a few minutes putting a few on. That was, well, a bit disappointing. After a lackluster few minutes I left the pen and the tree and leaves on the table and everyone scattered.

Then, as my husband was working on the Christmas train and some other decorations for the foyer I noticed my G was nowhere to be seen, or heard. And since she is generally my loudest child, I was perplexed. Off I go to look for her, and to my surprise she was sitting quietly adding leaves to the tree! She said she thought of more things. That just melted my heart. And then my other two found us and all started eagerly adding things to the leaves and leaves to the tree. Well, we covered the tree, had a great talk and best of all I felt like I had accomplished all I could ever hope for!

A tree full!

Princess Party!

2011-10-09T20:22:00.002-04:00

My little princes B turned four at the end of September but we had to delay the party until the first of October. B loves all things princess: dressing up, castles, horses, unicorns, and of course, pink! My area is fairly rural and has lots of horse stables around, but after several weeks of unsuccessfully trying to schedule pony rides, I ended up doing full out princess! So it was a princess-palooza(with one Prince) :)

Her cake was an evolution from one with castles and unicorn cut outs to this final result...

She saw the sparkly B online when I was shopping for cake supplies and decided that was the ultimate. After that, she decided she wanted flower cupcakes but since it was the fourth design change, the compromise was cupcakes for friends with a special top cake...I wasn't sure any other three or four year old would appreciate fondant anyway. :) Since we had parents there for her preschool friends, it was a great way to make both "white" and chocolate cupcakes as well as a cake.

For simple cakes like this I am a box mix person, since I see no value in reinventing the wheel. So two mixes and done! Lesson learned however, I had decided to try a shortcut and used a can of chocolate frosting for this cake. It was horrible. Homemade chocolate ganache icing is the best to work with and tastes fabulous so no more can for us! (Um for chocolate anyway)

From my experience, the pre-made type stays the same consistency instead of starting out soft and then getting firmer so it wasn't as easy to spread and get smooth. I torted the layers to just over one inch to get extra icing in the cake as per my DH request. With four layers it was so hard to work with. It slipped all over as I was icing it and couldn't get it smooth so the fondant tore as I was putting it on...maybe 1:00AM isn't the best time to work with fondant? The cricut cake made some good roses using the Art Philosophy cartridge but I made these by hand using a strip of gumpaste, rolled and pinched. Fast and pretty good.

Can icing is really good for cupcakes though! The whipped white takes color so well it was a dream come true for quick cupcakes. Well, not that you can tell from my cupcakes....they looked a bit funny since I couldn't find my large coupler and after several unsuccessful attempts at trying the tip in a ziplock bag, I just snipped the end off the bag and went for it...not really flowers but not too bad? They tasted good at least. Silver sparkles make everything better too....

The smile makes it worthwhile!

The one on the right has one of the extra gumpaste flowers.

Of course we had to have lots of pink and sparkly decorations....

Hmmm can't see how sparkly the tulle is...pink white and green.

BC, before kids

The girls were very excited about the tulle that was tied up in swags from the chandelier to the corners of the tray ceiling...stole that idea from my friend Joy who had a beautiful princess party for her granddaughter, but she had lights in her tulle. Then with the extra tulle I created little "skirts" for the girls which were also the chair decorations. (I got lost in Pintrest and can't remember who had this. A mom from a link from Living Lucarto's blog? Probably everyone else knew about this before me as usual.)

Of course our little prince got his own "sheild" made with my cricut expression and cut from the Blackletter solutions cartridge. At each place there was a silver covered cake board for a place mat, plates and a special crown. My daughter K created some paper "roses" with the green napkins and I made special juice box holders. Not sure they worked as well as hoped for but I liked them ;) For each person I created a paper box and put scalloped circles on for "handles " so there wouldn't be any squeeze accidents...well that was the idea at least.


Check out the satin ribbon.....to die for from Papermart.com

Printed out using a graphics set from LetteringDelights.com and made into a box.

One game we played was pass the frog. This was a sort of "hot potato" game where when the music stopped, the kids had to do something silly. It was a bit hard for the 3-4's but they were good sports. We also played pin the horn on the unicorn. Again my trusty Cricut expression and the Paisley cartridge gave me a unicorn and a set of horns...

I think B peeked and the others were a bit confused but they didn't mind...there were cupcakes. :) That makes just about anything worthwhile right?

The goodie bags were pretty simple again, some fabulous ribbon and some white bags which is becoming my signature by now I bet. LOL. The stars poked out from the top making it a bit more princess-ly, but The Prince had green ribbon and a slinky instead.

So do I tell you now all the ideas I had and didn't make? Nah, I'll save it for next time. ;) Thanks for stopping in to share this with me.