Quick Gift...not a card, but cash!

I like to have a few gift card boxes on hand since it is such an easy gift, and my girls always seem to have a party to go to...

 This really cute gift box is great for gift cards, and the slot raises the card and makes a nice presentation. But sometimes you want to give cash....

So, I was able to fold a 20$ bill into a cute origami dollar sign. I have a book that diagrams all these cute folds but it was Youtube to the rescue after all. There are so many ways to present money I can't wait to try it again! They make removable/temporary glue dots which worked great to secure this to the card I made so it will lift up as the box opens.

If you'd like to make this gift box, the file is available at MyTimeMadeEasy.com where they have some great packaging SVG files. I added a half circle cut out for a finger cut out but it is basically their file....The tag was a simple design I made using Make The Cut software and cut it all with the Zing (as usual)

Thanks for stopping by, have fun with your crafty endeavors....

Memories of summer.....

I've had a special picture I was waiting to scrap for a while, and recently I ran across it while cleaning up, and the scrap bug bit me. Well maybe I should say my heart went Zing? ;)

The clean up, plus stumbling across a new SVG site, plus some great updates to MTC(Make the Cut, my favorite cutting software) all made this whole thing come together so easily. It was very inspiring. I think all these things are going to take my scrap booking to a new level and make it much easier overall.

My G is so attached to this flag which we have displayed in our home and use for Girl Scouts. I even imported the journaling to print and cut it to a new size...its all straight in real life too. LOL

To create this page I made a basic layout in MTC using elements I purchased from MissKate'sCuttables  plus a few of my own elements....Miss Kate's is a super new site that adds new files every day and works like a dream. It has a daily freebie, wishlists, and keeps track of your account/purchases too! Great site! Plus the SVG's are small inexpensive sets I find really fits my needs. She also includes a PNG and JPG file for digi or hybrid or simple print and cut! Been working with Photshop and digi/hybrid pages to use my patterned papers and create more exact colors and hope to show those soon! I've already played with it a bit and need to put it all together.

OK back to my page....G had done a simple page of her own and included a bit of journaling for a project at school, but I wanted one a bit more elaborate. With MTC, I created the mat with the wavy side piece, the simple star center piece, and the base blue layer with the stars cut out to add to the elements from the kit.

To do this I imported all the SVG's into MTC and moved and sized them till I felt it looked right. Next I made adjustments to colors and separated the different pieces into separate layers and pages according to color. The new image handling properties o the MTC software made this possible without freezing or crashing everything. Next I chose my papers and went to town! My Zing was amazing! It cut the finest detail on the firework I was able to layer three colors in descending sizing....down to super thin!

each blue square represents one inch! ooooooh, ahhhhhhh.... ;) fireworks you know...

The blue background paper is a really thick sheet of mulberry paper and cut with my ZIng on multicut 2 qnd speed 9 with the blade extended fairly far out. As a result of trial and error as well as advice from the MTC forum, I used lower pressure than one would think and nothing tore! I am not sure it made a good choice for cutting but the texture looks really nice in person.

Not totally satisfied with the center section but overall it was a super easy page to pull together and with no guessing at sizing, color combos, and placement! My days of pushing paper around the page may be over! Maybe....

Thanks for stopping by and have a great time scrapping!

Easter Crafts-window stickers, vinyl eggs

My favorite one is the yellow flower on the teal egg. Got bold LOL.

 Hi everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful Easter Day! There are a couple things I wanted to share even if it's late and I technically have some other posts I should do first.

The first is this years Eater eggs.I love making them using vinyl as a resist to the dye. I have a few recommendations however.

First, boil your eggs at least a day ahead to ensure they are very dry. The eggs we boiled the morning before coloring them did not seem dry enough even though they were done and in the fridge for at least five hours. They were dry to the touch but somehow had enough moisture in them to make the vinyl peel off a bit.

Also be sure to keep your images small...the egg's shape makes it difficult to apply evenly sometimes.

Finally the vinyl sticks best when the egg is a bit warmer, I use my hand to warm the vinyl a bit and really press it on well. Sealing the edges if possible.

 My next project is print and cut with window decals!

Somehow I couldn't find any window clings this year for my 4 year old to put up. So, I decided to try something I had stashed away...some clear window decals I picked up at Office Depot.

These printed and cut nicely with MTC and my Zing

These aren't as pliable as the static cling ones I have purchased but it is so fun to think that all the designs I use to decorate my home can be from the same collection. 

for these I used my MTC software to layer images from Nancy Kubo's Lettering Delights digital collection and added their shadows. Then used the print and cut feature. The sticker and it's backing adhered well to the mat and I had no problem cutting them with my Zing. I did learn a few valuable lessons. I will definitely adjust the settings on the printer next time so they come out darker. The shadow needs to be set to color=white and then placed in a layer underneath the image you want printed. You cant see the image when it has a white shadow layer on top..LOL. It took me a bit to figure what I was doing wrong, even after I had some great pointers from members of the MTC message board!

Once again I hope you had a wonderful holiday!

Chinese New Year Craft-Spin Drums

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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Little Red Riding Hood Finger Puppets!

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...