Teacher Appreciation Week, Part 2

This was filled with Dove Chocolates!

This was for "school supplies" day

 Every year I work with the PTA to provide a week of appreciation for out Elementary teachers...but in the past that meant I would only give my daughter's teachers a note and a small token at the end of the week. This year I wanted my daughter to be able to take something in each day!

Our PTA sends home a note to parents giving them a suggestion for a small gift for each day. Monday was cut flowers(no picture sorry). Tuesday was sweet treats, Wednesday is "school supplies. Since I never seem to post until after the holiday I wanted to show what I've made so far...

Monday was a mad dash for my G to go out and cut five red tulips from around "her" tree. A tree we planted just for her, so she was excited to do it. I simply wrapped them in white tissue paper and tied it up with some pretty red satin ribbon. A friend had posted a link to a blog that supplied me with a PDF of tags. Of course she made some fabulous cupcakes you can see here at LivingLocurto.com. But I just printed the page on card stock and cheated by using my Stampin-up scalloped punch for the circular tag and stuck it on top of the ribbon LOL.

The next day was a box from Wrap-it-up cartridge cut at the max, 11.25 inches I believe. It was so easy to just put the red and green behind the apple cut out, and then I decided my project needed a bit more so I added ribbon and some faux stitching. Not so neatly, and after I saw the pic I noticed I missed one side! Opps! So the teacher was thrilled and G was thrilled, since my G did a bit of sleuthing to find out her teachers favorite color was that blue. :)

So Tuesday is "school supplies" day. Originally I wanted to do some very different projects but a sick kiddo necessitated some quick re-planning. It's OK, I had plenty of time to think while I lay awake with a three year old in bed with me. ;)

Just another view to show the sides....

 I did make the schoolhouse box I wanted from Wrap it Up again at fit to page...but I had to make a quick run to the grocery store of all places for some school supplies. I was thinking box mark, fancy paperclips, a clothespin magnet I saw someone else do. Alas, I had shrinky dinks and some odds and ends from the 24 hour grocery store at 5AM. I did find some magnet clips and paperclips and highlighters and post-its. Oh, and staples, which went unembellished.

The box needs very little tape and stand about 4 inches tall.

OK, so the box. It was a bit tricky to figure the layers. I wasn't too thrilled after all my planning to see the top portion had green showing through. :( Well the other layers I was able to fit and figure using design software, but it wasn't too easy.

Not thrill with the end result and I had to use my glue gun!

I like these apples. :)

My apple paper clips in a leftover bag and a topper.

 Before handwritten sentiment.

I was pretty happy with the magnetic clips but it took four tries to get the two of them finished And I had to break out my glue gun. Not my favorite tool. We just don't get along. As for the shrinky dinks, the white opauqe stuff just does not work well in the Imagine, but I found the "rough n ready" style which is roughed up on one side and looks slightly frosted is fabulous!

The apple is printed and cut from Kate's Kitchen on my Imagine. The apples on the white for the magnet clips are 4 inches while the clear ones on the paper clips are 4 and 3. I printed with best quality and both Matte and glossy finish settings and i didn't see too much difference in the finished product. It cut really well with a very sticky mat, on highest blade depth and highest pressure on 2 multicut. Honestly it may have cut through on one pass! The thing that made the biggest difference was creating an offset that was fairly wide to make the stem more secure. Some are cut closer to the apple and some with more of a border.

I also lowered the temp to 315 degrees instead of 325 as the package calls for since I was running back and forth to the Imagine and oven. I placed them on parchment paper and then placed another piece n top to keep curling at a minimum. I got these suggestions from the Cricut Circle blog and I think it really worked better than chasing the shrinky dinks around with the heat gun. :) It's much easier to time it right in the oven too. In the past I've found that overcooking them causes them to lose their shine, but they otherwise come out fine.

The paperclip apples I simply punched with a regular circle hole punch offset on the side, and then used a toothpick to push a small ribbon through after shrinking. It wasn't too difficult to tie a small knot then place them in a little leftover embellishment bag with a topper. I was most happy with this element of the project.

The two clips I got done are simply clipped onto the sides while the bag of apple paper clip/bookmarks are fit inside with the other supplies and tied together with a ribbon. Hope you enjoyed my projects!

Teacher Appreciation Week...Part 1

One of my springtime activities is the Teacher Appreciation crafted gifts from the PTA each year. There's a group of ladies who willingly help and craft about anything I throw at them! Together we assemble three gifts to place in the mailboxes on Mon/Tue/Wed. Then we put together a presentation for a gift card at the end of the year.

This year was a bit hectic but we managed to put together 84 of each gift! There is a set of three cards, a "pencil" made with a Hershey's Kiss, and a wrapped candy bar(not shown)...sorry for the poor pictures but they had to get out the door! :)

Fore the cards I used CTMH Fanfare collection papers and mixed it up with some stamps I've had. The basic blue with the stars is simply a cut from Stand and Salute cartridge and  some ribbon. The Sentiment and the red edges are cut the same size from Lacy Labels and then the red cut and offset. The final card has a CTMH sentiment and some of the leftover strips from the other projects. I was happy to be able to minimize the paper used and use almost every bit!

The pencil was a rectangle of yellow rolled around a mentos and a Hershey's kiss. I had seen some done with Rollos but the committee wanted to use a less expensive candy. It really was necessary to put a strip of tape onto the candy to hold it in, plus another bit to hold onto the kiss. I suggest using Rollos. LOL. Once we had it rolled up I put a strip of double sided scotch tape around it a bit from the end. That way i could place the pink on half of the tape and then the grey fit right under it. Just a bit of my favorite Sookwang tape held the edge of the strips of paper on the ends and along the last side of the yellow. These were probably the most challenging of the crafts.

The gift card holder is a 5 inch circle with the edges folded in. I scored them at 1.25 on three sides then secured it with a bit of tape and some ribbon. There is also a printed sentiment card in it with a stamped "picnic cloth." from a CTMH set. We had five teachers out on leave so they got a little "gift bag."

I think my favorite thing of all was working with some beautiful ribbon. It is from PaperMart  and you would never believe the price. I love to get some basic colors in bulk from them.The double sided satin was really soft and very pretty. I used a red and a white wide ribbon and then the striped for some fun...

Next my personal gifts to the teachers....

Yummy Bunnies

Funny how one thing leads to another and suddenly I am now creating fun food for my kids. :) Thanks to the fun blog community and my friends who alert me to many great new things, I have seen versions of bunnies everywhere.

Now, true to my nature I decided to look for a way I could make some treats with minimal skill or effort required. Ta Da...bunnies from mini donuts. I already had a few colors of gel frosting for writing on cakes so I used it with some pink Easter M&M's. I found out right away that gel icing does not like to stick to powdered sugar donuts but after a few attempts, easy!

On a side note. I made these today since my daughters each had friends sleep over. The 3 and 7 year olds were immediately excited but the 12-13 year olds were sorta cool about it. But, when they came for seconds...they requested bunnies too. Made me feel good they still have a bit more little girl in them! :)

Tumbling Bunnies

This bunny and grass is all from Zooballo. Cut from Stampin up CS.

When I saw this craft at FamilyFun I knew I had to make them and had to do it with my Cricut. It was a pretty simple project to create with Plantin School Book which I will recreate with Goerge and try to post a file...

These bunnies will flip and tumble down after getting a bit of a head start and work best on a pillow propped up on the sofa. A few other tips for making these: Be sure to not forget the TWO marbles. ;). And be sure to use a fairly sturdy CS for the base.

It worked! Here is a link to 4Shared for the base cut file with Plantin Schoolbook... TumbleBunniesPS

Have Fun!!
Check out my Christmas version for other file types including an SVG file...
HERE

I use a ruler on top of my paper to line it up more easily. This actually helps a lot when scoring other 3D items with scoring at angles.

I used Sookwang tape which is similar to Scor tape or the Stampin up red tape. After lining up the edges with the sides,  simply press it down gently before adding marbles. The ends need to follow the curve so it can be tricky.

This cute little thing will briefly balance on end before flipping over.

Not exactly new...

I was recently chatting with a friend who wanted to make some cool accessories for parties like she sees in Etsy, which reminded me of our Valentines this year. G wanted to make her own, so we worked together to find just what she wanted. We came up with some cute tag pocket "cards" with a gift certificate for an ice cream cone, and an easy topper for her to glue on. It was so seriously easy, my three year old joined in to make some for her friends too. Amazingly I didn't blog them, but since it's a handy idea for all occasions I wanted to share anyway.

Instead of learning Photoshop which is an amazing tool that I don't have and have no idea how to use, I found some awesome clipart from Lettering Delights . G  picked out the images she was interested in then I set up a cut file in DS. The packet tag is from Tags Bags Boxes and More and the topper is Just Because Cards.

*edited to make this more understandable...hopefully

After I cut one set of the shape from Just Because Cards on a plain sheet of cardstock, I measured where the cuts ended up on the page.

Then I set up a MSWord document with a table, using the ruler on the side to help line up the borders of the table by adjusting the size of the rows and colums as well as the margins settings.

Then I place the clip art within the box of the table and play around with placement until I get the images right. You can play around with justification and use the space bar to move the clipart around. Be sure to set the tables rows and columns to exact size or it will adjust the size as you add elements.

A table allows you to copy and paste the whole clip art set and keep the spacing of the clipart consistent as you copy it to the next "box." This helps each set of images remain within the fixed border, and it will stay within the cut shape. You can use the leftover piece of cardstock to compare with a printed sheet before cutting to be sure you've aligned everything properly. Place the two pieces of cardstock together and be sure you can see your images wholly within the space left by the cut shape. Then you can place your printed paper on the mat to cut the shape around your printed images.

There is a bit of trial and error, and be sure to select "no borders" before you print!  After you have achieved the placement you'd like, you can print and cut a boatload! I made some of these in green and some pink for my two daughters as well as the Girl Scout troop and also a few neighbors(about 40). Happy Crafting!

Coco and the Nuts!

Hello, this is my last minute down to the wire submission and I promise details of this layout tomorrow! :)

*Update: So, I wish I had more time to work on this since there are definitely things I would add to this layout. But it's done, and that's the best thing of all! I tried to embellish more on this project and challenged myself to try some new things. There is real machine stitching on the edges which you'll see below in my better picture! And some ribbon stapled to my little journaling strips.

Also, the tree and hedgie are larger than most of my diecuts which sees to be the trend. How cute is that hedgie from Create A Critter cricut cartridge? She's cut at 1.6 and the tree from Country Life is cut at 8.6...it's meant to hang more off the page but since the title (also from Country Life) cut larger than I thought....opps :) My original plan was for a few more critters but the cute paper from Imaginesce was already covered more than I liked so there you go...

Masquerade Masks

I have to admit that the glue gun and I typically don't get along well but we seemingly made our peace luckily for one day. My daughters and I designed masks and attended a special Mother and Daughter Masquerade ball! We had fun making these together and even my littlest made her own special mask! Ours were in the black and red theme since we were able to scrounge up all matching red and black dresses on clearance no less!

My middle one had her own ideas too!

My mask, made with leftovers. :)

My pinkie girl B! Made hers all by herself!

A little something for some special kids...

Recently our girl scout troop made goodie bags for a birthday party. It was the 99th birthday of Girl Scouts the week of March 12th. But we made goodie bags for a special charity called "A Birthday Anywhere" that puts together parties for local homeless children. I was so happy to include a simple banner for them as well to help the organizers make things a bit more cheery and special! I plan on doing much more for this group so stay tuned!

B's missing her Daddy.....

I heard that a lot during my DH's last deployment, and my same B is missing her Daddy again. This time she doesn't quite understand it won't be a long trip, so I made this little hanging for her to put a sticker on for each passing day. Sorry for the poor picture but it was taken at the end of the day. :)

Difficult to see but, the days of the week, sun and butterfly are all on pop dots..

I used my cricut Designers Calender cartridge for the lettering at 1.3 on the Imagine, plus the base calender cut at "fit to page." I flipped the circles from the base calendar and used the darker back side for the days of the week and "stickers". They were cut at 1.3 from the same cartridge. The sun is from Simply Charmed cut at 1.8 I believe, the butterfly from Designers calendar again at .7 and the arrow is Don Juan cut at 2.0.

I used my CTMH stamp sets with chocolate ink.for the border and the numbers... The numbers were from "Token Alphabet" and I had to create 10-14 by inking parts of the stamp at a time. The Border is "Togetherness" Thanks for visiting!

*edited to correct the size of the circular calendar and the name of the stitched stamps, sorry! Plus add another calender for my G, and a stamping tip!

If you are using a clear stamp set, you can lay them in place, then pick them up with your block for stamping...this can make stamping faster andhelp when you want to make a word block etc...

Storage and Organization Encore....

Hello everyone, after I posted about my new craft space "organization, I have been asked about my cartridge storage. Plus there is a challenge on the circle blog to show how you've organized your craft items. Well, I have only a few things I have actually sort of organized and this happens to be my cartridges and books, and my Cuttlebug folders. It's all still a work in progress but I hope to share something that I've found to make my life a bit easier.

I love to use the artbin storage drawers for my cartridges and photo storage boxes for my cart books and overlays. Since I have downloaded the cart books to my computer and my iPad it isn't necessary to use them much. I also  hope that the Cricut Craft Room online design program makes things even easier!

It's still not completely organized and almost full, but hey, I can stack another one on top!

These photo boxes are just the right size and much more compact than the original boxes. I have four and they are nearly full too.

I made dividers out of cereal boxes to test this out and plan on nicer ones later...there's a whole 'nother row in the back so each drawer will hold 16 regular carts.

 My Cuttlebug folders are all in a binder using plastic sheets from Staples. I found that the photo sheets for 4X6's and the baseball card storage ones work well for the various smaller sized folders...

These are made for Baseball cards

These are made for 4X6 photos, the top sticks out a bit but two folders will fit in each pocket.

Hope this will help someone out there! I have a few more projects to post soon and I am working on my Imagine video. For some reason it doesn't want to come out of my Flip. :( Stay tuned!

Welcome Spring!

Well as usual, spring here has been swinging from warm(ish) sunny days to cold rainy ones.This year, in addition to vinyl bunnies that hop along the pillars and walls at my house I made this fun "welcome spring" project.  I was inspired by the recent Cricut Circle Blog Challenge to create this banner, and even though I didn't make the deadline but it was fun!  I saw a ribbon flower similar to this in the recent Scrapbook Trends project book and wanted to incorporate it on this project. Hope fully I can keep this for next spring as well!

 The banner was created with a cut from Birthday Bash Cricut cartridge and layered with a letter in frame cut from A Child's Year Cartridge. I  added a few flourishes and flowers cut from the Elegant Cakes cartridge, of all things, and used a few papers on hand from a creative basics kit from Close to my Heart. I love those kits since they give you a good amount of a 2 double sided patterned papers and ribbon to work with for a bigger project. I added some solid card stock, some sandylion Kelli Pannaci stickers, and some Target dollar section brads form my stash for finishing touches! Of course the blue bunnies! :) They were originally supposed to be green so they would hop from right to left but I liked the blue better for an accent. :) Hope your Spring is a great one!!

Imagine- Rub-ons!

Both cut pieces together for a finished rub-on.

A clear card with the owl on the front...

 I was daydreaming of Imagine projects a bit when I remembered a Grafix rub-on kit I purchased a while ago. I had been disappointed with my result using stamps and never dared to try it in the printer, but I thought it perfect for the I. And it was!

The set comes with two sheets of material. One to stamp or print on, and the other a thin adhesive sheet. In order to make the rub-on You create an image on a thin film, then place it onto the adhesive sheet. There is a lot of trimming involved and stamping can be tricky so my results were iffy, and lets face it, If I had any skill with scissors I wouldn't have a Cricut. lol

For the owl image, I flipped the image for printing and then print and cut it from the thin film sheet supplied. Next I cut the same image from the adhesive sheet. You could load two mats and use the same image, just reset with with no color and not flipped, but I put it all on one with a space between.

Front elements are rub-ons with paper background frame...inside is a white cut out for personalizing.

Box cut at max size-6.7, Card elements at 2.7 The green frame is the rub-on applied to the back of the card.

For my second project I created a small box for a gift card and then tried out another set of rub-ons. For this set I discovered that it's a good idea to create a wider offset for rub-ons...especially if it's a phrase like this thank you...also the film can be repaired somewhat if it tears by putting it back together and placing it on the adhesive sheet....I'll be happy to give some more details (and even possibly a video tutorial if I can figure that out) if you leave a request in the comments..Thanks for your interest. :)

Three Month's Projects! Cards, handwarmers, a new craft space, and some Imagine projects!

*Note: There will be a re-write of my original post which got accidentally deleted.So check back within a few days...still wanted to share this with my readers.

Cake project with Brownies...

Cake cutting with the  Gypsy is so much easier since you can line up the cuts after you place the gumpaste!

Aren't these too cute?! The detail is surprising!

I know Halloween is over but I had to post these few last projects since they turned out so well. I made these for Halloween/Juliette Low's Birthday for my Girl Scout troop(Brownies). I am finally getting the hang of my cake and I can't wait to do more. First off I used my Gypsy so it was so simple to load the mat for my cuts. Also having more experience I rolled my gumpaste even thinner than before and had really good results! A third factor was placing the mat with the gumpaste in the fridge for just a few minutes while I moved the pumpkins around on the G :) Then to remove them from the mat I placed them in the fridge for a few more minutes...not too long but just to make them cooler. I used a toothpick to remove the eyes, nose and mouth while they were still on the mat. I am wondering if we'll be able to load our imagine cartridges onto our G then cut those shapes with our Cake. Wheels are turning!

The second project was some cute little cupcakes made with battery tea lights. I can't remember where I saw this idea but it wasn't mine...I used the SU scalloped circle with just a strip of paper from the Halloween glitter stack that was already out! lol. I used my favorite sookwang tape for the side paper again and the girls loved them. These would be cute party favors or table decorations for a party as well!! Or, maybe some fall colors for Thanksgiving buffets or Christmas papers to decorate each place setting?

Some More Halloween Fun!

We were Boo'd!! So of course we Boo'd right back and the girls had a blast! I made some mini luminaries with battery tea lights. So quick and easy using the DCWV fall glitter stack from last year and the font from the Happy Hauntings. I simply cut a rectangle in the center of the paper(4X6?), then taped some clear acrylic (leftover form my calling card project) to the back of the cardstock, then cut the letters on real dial size to fit. Vinyl works the best since it is sticky and more flexible than card stock. One tip for getting the the luminaries a consistent size: after making the first votive, wrap the other around it to make sure it was the same, then slide it off and do the third. Sookwang tape holds so well I highly recommend it. It was fast and fun!

I added a small purse filled with candy cut from the same stack, using Forever Young. And put it all together with a cute plastic pumpkin with Mickey ears and some tissue paper ghosts. One stuffed with a stuffed kitty and a stuffed pumpkin in the other...and some candy of course! My girls had a great time and giggled and giggled as we hid around the corner in the dark then sneaked away(not so quietly) :)!

My Circle Calling Card

In anticipation of possibly attending a circle meet up I created a few calling cards and a box to carry them. Now I can't wait for a meet up I can actually attend!

 The first card has a clear printable acrylic front (using the imagine and Hopscotch cartridge) and is stapled to the white backing. Love this one but I ended up using plain paper and trying a different style as well. The sun is actually cut from the Imagine using photo paper that had less than stellar results in my printer but looks great with the Imagine! Using photo paper in the Imagine is one of my favorite effects. I can't wait to try some interesting things using the gypsy and the Imagine when they update it to print and cut. The box was just a quick whatever works kinda construction but I wanted it reinforced so it was an interesting project, with lots of scraps left over :)

Halloween Blog Hop Winners are....

Big Thanks to those who stopped by and left a comment on my blog. I heard from some who made houses and loved all their ideas, I heard from those who were inspired to try some projects of their own. So, I consider the blog hop a great success! You were all very kind to offer such nice comments and I wish I had something for everyone like (trick or treating) but I only have three prizes and those prizes go to....

1. Sin City Chix  
2. Christina 2
3. scrapBugz

Congratulations to the winners! They were chosen by random.org after I copied and pasted everyone's names into the "List Randomizer" so rest assured I read each and every comment! :)

Christina 2 was the second Christina to post who said...

I love your haunted house and the 'spooky' word on your wall! The candles are adorable too! You are very talented!

Christina

They each left contact info! So I'll be sending notice today and wait to hear from them.  Winners, please let me know which prize you want...first come first served! If I don't hear from the winners after two weeks I will move down the list that was generated from random.org! Thanks, again, it was so much fun!

Pretty in Pink

I love it when I have a challenge to work on so this week I decided to try for the Circle Blog challenge. Any type of submission was accepted with a minimum of two cricut cuts, and PINK! Ruffles, swirls, and scallops and bling were the order of the day as well. For my submission I redid a purse I tried for a friends daughter this week. Hers was not so pink so I decided to go over the top.  Found this swirled pink lustrous paper in the DCWV Luxury stack and went to town. It cut really nicely from the Forever Young cricut cartridge and I decided to try the ruffles again.

This time I put a double row of sookwang tape at the edge of a plain white base cut from the same design. Just the back of the one section(make sure it's the one with the slit or you'll be cutting through it later) I pleated along the edge laying it along the tape and letting it show over the edge. Then taped all through the center to help it stay put. The effect was a pretty ruffle right at the edge of the purse, sandwiched between the papers. Next I added a triple scalloped circle tag with the same ribbon and then added a few sparkles in white on the handle and the center of the closure. I went together surprisingly easily and quickly! Think I'll put in some goodies for a dear friend who watched my B today! ;)

Welcome to the Haunted Halloween Blog Hop!

Welcome to my blog for the Halloween Hop. I can't wait to see what others have crafted as well as show you my latest creations. If you want to start at the beginning, hop on over to CricutConfessions to see what all of our talented crafters have in store for you!

If you are following along already you've just been to SeaSwansCreations blog and your next hop will take you to Bitz-n-Pieces blog.



Well, were you wondering if anyone would tackle the house on the Happy Hauntings Cricut cartridge? Well I did! And boy am I glad. It is a really nicely planned out piece and the directions are pretty good. Other than wishing I had a few more hands at some points, I think it was more time consuming than anything.There is so much detail in this it's amazing. I used a very thin mulberry paper hand cut for this and plan on putting a nice bright light underneath! I'll also be adding to it with some ghosts and some tombstones in front over the next few days, as well as the spooky 3-D tree already in the works, so come back for an update! ***Updated!***

The complete display!

I also made a few quickie candles to display using some vinyl and some cut from the seasonal cricut cartridge Pumpkin Carving..Funny but the center one is called the owl! :) These would look good with some candy corns sprinkled around them but hmmm......somehow the candy has disappeared! Maybe one of my little goblins. ;)

Love the little one in the middle and they smell so good! Love IKEA!

 Another incentive to check back? I will be randomly selecting three winners from the comments left on this post for some blog candy!! I happen to be a CTMH rep and have two super cute Halloween stamp sets to give out as well as a set of a glue pen and super sparkly prisma glitter!! You don't have to follow my blog but please check back in one weeks time (Friday Oct 15th) for the announcement of  the winner...also, only one entry please.

Let me know your first choice in your comment!

Enjoy the hop!!! Next blog is....Bitz-N-Pieces!