Christmas Carolers

I have another quick and easy ornament to share with you today.  I decided that this year I would try using the alcohol ink rather than glitter method for my ornaments.  If you've never used alcohol ink for your ornaments check out the video how to here.  It's so simple that you'll be asking yourself why you didn't try it sooner......at least I did when I saw how easy it was.

When Silhouette was running their Christmas in July store this Carolers Silhouette file by Hero Arts was one of the many files that I purchased.  It's a fun file, easy to cut and absolutely perfect for this alcohol inked ornament.

Seek Him

Today I have a quick and easy Christmas ornament to share with you.  I really love the look that you can get using alcohol inks instead of glitter in the glass ornaments.

All you need to get started is a glass ornament, alcohol ink and a can of compressed air.  If you've never done this before you can check out the video by Tim Holtz and Ranger Ink here.

After I inked my ornament I started looking through various Christmas files in the Silhouette Design store until I came across some that I liked.  Great thing about that is that right now until the end of the month they're having a Christmas in July sale.  And for the first time ever it even discounted files that I wanted to use commercially.  😁

The file I used for this ornament is by Kolette Hall and is titled Seek Him with Wise Men Phrase.

Happy Birthday Elmo

My granddaughter had her first birthday this past weekend.  She's a huge Elmo fan and so I, of course, had to make an Elmo birthday card for her.  Now I will be honest and admit that I almost forgot about her birthday card.  I was so busy helping with altering buckets and bins and signs that it wasn't until I got her present wrapped and I realized I had no card.

I quickly turned to one of my FB groups where so many of us share files, searching for anything Elmo.  However, I could not find what I needed.  So then I turned to Google.  Surely there had to be a coloring page that I could use.  One that would be easy enough to trace, cut and piece back together.

Time of course was also a precious commodity since all of this happened within a hour of our having to leave home.  You see, our daughter needed our help in decorating the pavilion before everyone arrived.  Something that I was more than happy to oblige.  After all it's our granddaughter's first birthday!!

As I searched through the images on Google there were several birthday pages, but I was afraid they would require more time than I had.  Instead I opted for a simple Elmo without all the birthday fan fare.  He traced, cut and pieced back together beautifully.

Fortunately I had a large enough scrap of this birthday paper to use for my background.  That helped to create the needed birthday theme.  Add in a couple of blinging hearts and my card is complete.

And the party was a success.  🎉

Flying Keys

While we were in Alabama last week, my husband and I took a trip to Hanna Antiques, one of the antique flea malls in the area.  Not having been there before, we were quickly amazed at the items they had and decided it could be a dangerous place to shop.  However, we behaved ourselves since we were looking for specific things that we could use as 'fillers' in our Harry Potter collection.

For example, we came across several booths that had antique spectacles so we picked up a pair of those.  We also found a couple of skeleton keys which we quickly snatched, along with a candle snuffer to go with a courting candle we found at a different venue.

After arriving home from Alabama, I searched the Silhouette store looking for some wings that I thought would work for flying keys.  I found two files that I liked.  The first was a set of fairy wings. The second was actually a butterfly that I cut the wings from using the cutting tool in Silhouette.

I cut the wings from vellum and attached them to my keys using hot glue.  I then curled the wings a bit so that they weren't so flat and lifeless.

Since these keys are the real deal and not the 'decorative' type they're heavier.  So instead of trying to hang them from the ceiling I'm just going to place them on a shelf in my curio cabinet.

One Cool Bunny

My daughter brought me another blank shirt and asked that I dress it up for Ocean.  Since Easter is just around the corner I thought it would be fun to do something with a bunny.  After searching through the Silhouette Design Store I found this bunny sunglasses file and had to have it.

 

For this design I went with a white stripflock for the bunny.  Not only does this add a bit of dimension to the design since it's a thicker material, but it also adds texture like a soft fuzzy.  The nose, mouth, ears and sunglass frames were cut from regular Siser vinyl but the sunglass lenses were cut from a black glitter vinyl.  Again adding another element of dimension and texture to the design.

 

And now I'm off to enter my project into the following challenge:

DL Art - February Linky Challenge - Ends February 28th

Sympathy Cards

This past Saturday was a difficult day for our family as we suffered not one, but two deaths in the family just hours apart from each other. 

 

If you're like me sympathy cards are always the hardest cards to make and definitely not something I keep on hand.  As I sat down to create these two I was even surprised to find that for the 100+ stamp sets I have only one had phrases that were sympathy in nature - Simply Said by Craftin Desert Divas.

 

My first card, the Sunset Card, is from My Scrap Chic.  I love the simplistic beauty and peacefulness that this card brings.  To add to it I used a couple of different embossing folders from my stash and then finished it off by using purple twilight colored skittles from DoubleClick Connections.

 

 

The second card is a Lori Whitlock Card Flower Kit from the Silhouette Design Store.  This one you'd think would be easy to put together but I was back and forth so many times trying to decide what papers I wanted to use.  In the end I chose several papers from the SEI New Day and Desert Springs collections.   On this one I decided to use an orange skittle to help the center of the flower pop.

 

And now I'm not even sure how to end my post.  I think I've re-written it about 4 or 5 times now.  So I'll just end it by saying thanks for stopping by.....

I Got Your Nose

My husband I are planning another trip to Universal Studios later this year.   It's been a while since we've have a vacation - just the two of us and so we thought it'd be fun to take one and celebrate our 15 year anniversary.  So in 'preparation' we've been binge watching all the Harry Potter movies the past week. 

 

In addition we've also watched some of the behind the scenes snippits.  One of the ones we watched the other night was how they came to create the look for the Voldemort character.  And what perfect timing to have watched that too because just a day or two later I saw this hilarious file in one of my Harry Potter groups.  Well of course I had to have it so I could use it on a shirt for the grandbaby.

 

Needless to say, my daughter is afraid that I'm trying to turn the baby into a 'nerd'.  But hey, cute is cute and this is down right cute.

 

Now I just need to decide if I want to use this on one of the shirts I'm going to make for our trip to Universal.  Decisions.  Decisions.

Bee My Valentine

I'm such a bad girl.  Usually I'll create some fun gift to give my husband for Valentine's Day but this year everything got away from me and all I created was a card.  And even that was late in getting made.  In all honesty I have to admit that I just haven't been that inspired as of late.  BUT, when I saw this Bee My Valentine card in the Silhouette store I knew it was the one.

 

I love shaped cards and this one immediately caught my eye.  I decided to cut it from one of the DCWV blanks that I still had in my stash so that meant no need to use one of the panel inserts that came with the file.

 

Even though the card came with the {Bee} my valentine verbiage I wanted to add a little more to it.  I looked through my stamps and settled on using one of the hearts from the Heart Splatters set and the XOXO stamp is from the Valentine Designer Tapes set.  Both are from Jaded Blossom Stamps.

 

Now I have my card signed, sealed, and safely tucked away for hubby to find later this morning.

 

And with that I'm off to enter my card into the following challenge:

 

Jaded Blossom - Valentine Challenge - Ends February 14th

 

Die Cuttin Divas - Valentine Colors - Ends February 19th

Love CAM

Following on the heels of the Santa CAM craze this past Christmas I came across this Love CAM file in the Silhouette store (design #175948).  Sarah Hurley is the artist and I have to say I absolutely love her files this one included.

 

After purchasing this file I decided to figure out a way to incorporate it into this week's February Sketch Challenge over at Die Cuttin Divas.  It's a fun and simple sketch with a lot of great potential.  Needless to say it's one I've put into my sketch arsenal.

 

My stamped sentiment is from the Cardz TV Stamps set titled Love Ya.

 

And since the sketch had three little hearts in the top right corner, I decided to add some blue and pink skittles from DoubleClick Connections.

 

Thanks for stopping by, and now I'm off to enter my card in the following challenge:

 

February Sketch - Die Cuttin' Divas - Ends Sunday, February 12th

Have a Lollipop

We've had the stomach flu touch down in our home this past week so craft time has been few and far between.  Right before it struck me though I did manage to create this cute yet quick and simple card.

 

While scrolling through the new designs released in the Silhouette Design Store last week I came across these cute Kawaii Lollipops.  The girl is design number 175804 and the boy is design number 175798   Both were created by PPbN (aka Creative Cuttables)

 

The stamped sentiment is from the Jaded Blossom stamp set Lollipops Galore. 

 

And to finish off my card I used a single skittle from DoubleClick Connections.  This one is the color stream.  If you have tried using skittles as an embellishment you should consider it.  They're really easy and a lot of fun.  And I have personally ran cards I've made with these through a stamp machine without any problems so they do hold up in the mailing process.

Love You Onesie

My husband surprised me with a heat press for Christmas!!!  I've only been wanting one for over a year and dropped quite a few hints last year.  I guess it's best that he waited because we had a new sewing store come in to town and we were able to learn more about the difference in heat presses so we could make a more informed decision about which one to buy.

 

When all was said and done I had my eye on a digital clamshell press (I've seen this model go by different names when I looked it up on the net.  And we bought ours locally - for a little less - but this link will at least give you needed information.)  This model has a digital read out for the temperature and the press time, a 15 x 15 inch heated platen surface and an over the center pressure adjustment to allow for a smoother more evenly distributed pressure, etc.

 

 

Since I didn't realize I was getting this jewel for Christmas and since hubby wasn't sure what designs I'd be making there was no HTV in the house to play with.  Except, some of the inexpensive Cricut iron-on material I used for t-shirt I made my son over a year ago (which peeled up).  But since were playing with a first press we thought what the heck it's not like we'd be losing anything.

 

The vinyl was red and I thought it would be perfect for a Valentine's Day kinda project so I turned to the Silhouette Design Store and found this cute I Love You Teddy Bear file by Jamie Koay.  Not only is it perfect for Valentine's Day but it's also perfect for anytime so I did buy the commercial license because I see other onesie's in my future.  😉

Elf Surveillance Cam

 

Happy Saturday everyone.  I am delighted to be your guest designer at Jaded Blossom Stamps today. Christmas is my favorite time of year to craft for and the past several months have been full of inspiration and fun.  In fact, one of today's projects that I have for you is based off a project from one of my FB groups.

 

As I'm sure many of you have noticed the Santa and Elf Cams have been a HUGE hit this year.  Another big hit again this year are the elves from Dollar Tree.  Last year I missed that craze but this year I jumped on the bandwagon. 

 

So for my first project, I made a couple of these fun Elf Cam gift sets using the elves and tins from the Dollar Tree.  My ornaments were made using the floor wax and glitter method.  If you've never made glitter ornaments before you can view a tutorial at the Ornament Girl here.

 

I also wanted to create a "report card" to go along with the set because after all what's the point of the Cam if the elf isn't going to report back to Santa?  For the report card I used the Elf Shoe Frame from the Silhouette store and stamps from the Elf Report Card by Jaded Blossom Stamps.

 

 

For my second project, I decided to combine my love for papercrafting with my love for plastic canvas.  I've had this kit of Toymaker Elves sitting in my stash for a while, and so I decided to take it with me on vacation and stitch these guys together.  I love how they turned out especially once I filled them with some peppermint bark.  The stamps that I used for these are the Winter Candies candy stamps from Jaded Blossom Stamps.

 

I hope that you've enjoyed the projects that I created to share with you today.  Thanks for stopping by, and many thanks to the wonderful team at Jaded Blossom for allowing me this opportunity to be a guest designer for all of you.

 

Have a safe and blessed and Christmas holiday season.

 

Fork It

While on my quest to create fun cutting boards I came across this Fork It file in the Silhouette Design store.  I thought it was funny and would be a great addition to the various designs I'm doing for my upcoming craft show.

 

Only this time I decided to do something a bit different and I made two of the same design.  I did one in all black and the other one I decided to do in color. 

 

 

 

My cutting boards are from the Dollar Tree and yes, they are glass.  They're smaller boards, about 7 3/4" round or square.  So they're perfect for cheese trays and whatnot.

 

After cleaning the back of the board with rubbing alcohol I applied my design (mirrored of course) using 651 Oracle vinyl.  This is a more permanent vinyl; however, as I sell these I provide the customer with a care card that says:

 

–      Hand wash only with mild dish soap

–      Do NOT soak

–      Do NOT use a rough sponge on design

– Do NOT use in microwave

Many Faces of Jack

 

I found these push button type night lights at the Dollar Tree a couple weeks ago.  I was looking for the larger ones and knew that I definitely wanted the ones with the black ring, but all they had were the smaller ones.  Still I knew that they would work for what I had in mind, and I certainly wasn't disappointed.

 

 

Using a file I found somewhere - can't remember where exactly - probably in one of my FB groups I went to work choosing which Jack Skellington faces I wanted to display on my night lights.  After choosing the ones I wanted I cut out the vinyl and adhered to cover.

 

And now I have some fun night lights that can either sit on the table or hang from a bar or hook.

Believe Night Light

Fairies and Unicorns - along with mermaids - seem to be a popular thing these days.  I guess it's because we all love a good fantasy/fairy tale.  When you get down to it it is fun to dream about some enchanting world where things are fun and charming.  Things that just make you happy.

 

So when I saw this fun fairy riding a unicorn in the Silhouette Design Store I knew that I had to use it on one of my night lights.   I adhered the vinyl to the outside of the lampshade and then I added the word believe at the bottom of the light so that it didn't look unfinished.

 

 

 

The light is a touch sensor night light that I found at the Dollar Tree.  And the light is an LED light so it puts off a fair amount of light when it's lit.

Terminus Cutting Board

All right all you Walking Dead fans.  This one is for you.  When I saw this file being shared in one of my FB groups I could not resist.  Of course the file was originally intended for a t-shirt but I thought it would make a funny cutting board and so that's exactly what I did with it.

 

What do you think?

Breast Cancer Awareness Night Lights

I was at my new favorite shopping spot yesterday (yep, the Dollar Tree) looking for a couple of things - that I didn't find by the way.  So instead of leaving empty handed I decided to pick up a couple of these touch sensor night light lamps.  I wasn't really sure what I'd put on them but knew I could come up with something.

 

 

 

When I got home I remembered a Pink Ribbon freebie I saw on Apex Cuttables website so I downloaded that and chose to use two of the different designs on my lamps.  After applying the designs I set the lamps to the side and as I kept looking over I'd think about needing to do something with the base so it didn't look unfinished.

 

 

 

At first I thought about the word Hope, but then I thought that while it's an encouraging word it just wasn't the one I wanted.  And then I thought Survivor.  Since I didn't like the way any of the fonts I have on my computer looked I went in search of a font I liked and found this one on dafont dot com.  It's called Ribbon of Hope.

 

And by the way, these little lamps put off more light than you'd think.

I'm So Fly Night Light

Happy Wednesday crafty friends.  I had a day of PTO that had to get used before I lost it so yesterday I took the day off from work.  And what better way to spend a day off than sitting in my craft room with no interruptions (everyone else was at work while I played).

 

After months of trying to find these switch operated night lights at the Dollar Tree I finally found them in one of my local stores.  Much to my hubby's chagrin I bought a dozen or so.  But hey, they're only a dollar - right?  And for this obsessed crafter it doesn't get much better - well unless it's free.  LOL 

 

With night lights in hand I tried to decide what I wanted to create with them, and it really didn't take that long to decide.  There were a couple projects I remember seeing in the past and I knew they were ideal for these night lights.  But then another idea struck me.  Lately I've been seeing these "I'm so fly I Neverland" t-shirts.  Well I don't have a heat press - YET - so I can't make shirts but surely I can take that inspiration and turn it into a night light.  And that's just what I did.

 

I took a few pieces from different files for my silhouettes and stars.  The verbiage is just a regular font installed with Microsoft Office called Cooper Black. 

 

Using scraps of vinyl I cut everything to size and then just adhere to night light and viola.  Now we have a fun night light.

 

Now I'm off to enter my night light in the following challenges:

 

DL Art - September Linky Challenge - Ends September 30th

 

Hiding in My Craft Room - Super Scraps Saturday - Ends September 17th

My Patronus Is....

I thought it would be fun to create a couple of jar lights with the "my patronus is" saying.  I'd never really given much thought to what MY patronus is so I decided to take a quiz and this is what it told me........

 

"Your patronus takes the form of a Rabbit. A rabbit is known for being somewhat shy. Similarly, you tend to be quiet around others, especially new people. However, you are very bright and alert. You are good at reading people and know who to trust. You are also nurturing and kind. You may have trouble conjuring your patronus because your mind tends to race in the heat of a battle."

 

 

For my Patronus jars though I decided to use one of the unicorns from the Unicorn Cuttable Design file from Cuttable Designs.  I love how this unicorn is posing in kind of a mid-prance stance.  It has an air of elegance with that flowing tail and yet it says let's be happy and have some fun.

 

 

The sitting mermaid is from the Silhouette Design Store.  I chose her simply because she's one of the mermaids that I had not yet used on one of my jars and I didn't want to duplicate.

 

These are so easy to create using vinyl and frosted glass spray.  Just wipe down the jar with alcohol so the vinyl will stick.  Allow it to dry completely and then adhere your vinyl design and spray with frosted glass.  It's really that easy.

 

Kitchen Witch

I was looking for some new Halloween files in the Silhouette Design store the other day when I came across this fun Kitchen Witch file.  I was really looking for one to use on my hubby's glass block that's part of a set I'm making but this one caught my eye.  It didn't take long for me to buy it thinking it'd be great for the cutting boards I'm making for the craft fair - or for presents down the road even.

 

For now though I thought I'd give it a whirl and use it for both a square and round cutting board.  I cut one using purple and the other using red.  Personally I think that the red shows through better but the purple is pretty too.  Oh and I did lay the file on the cutting board a bit different than the designer intended.  But that's okay too.

 

 

I gotta tell you, I think I'm getting addicted to the Dollar Tree.  That place has so many great things that you can repurpose. And even better yet, you can buy the stuff for a dollar!  Needless to say I've picked up quite a few things at the various Dollar Trees in my area.  These cutting boards being some of my new stash.  I think my final count for boards is about two dozen.  But now that those are complete it's time to move on to the next project.  There's now two weeks left before my first show of the season.

 

Time to get craftin'............