More Gelli Prints

Today I allowed myself to just play.  I've been working on so many projects lately, it was nice to just play!

Here are a few gelli prints I pulled today:

I'm looking forward to using them in some VIDA designs and eventually turning them into card backgrounds.  After I put all these supplies away, I forgot that I purchased 2" circle labels/stickers for this very reason.  I guess I'm going to have to play more later!

Did you do any crafting this weekend?

It's Frightful - It's Delightful!

As if I don't have a trillion other projects going on, I decided to make a candy bouquet for my son's Halloween Party.  The winner of the Best Costume Contest will take home this FRIGHTFUL and DELIGHTFUL treat.
Before we go any further, my son is 28 years old so even though it's an adult party, everyone still loves candy!  LOL
I used the Mini Monsters Cricut cartridge for all the decorations/embellishments. It was hard figuring out which cut to use.  They are all so cute!

TIP:  Use a piece of Styrofoam to hold all the skewers.
I'm entering this in the Fantabulous Cricuit Challenge Blog.  Click HERE to go to the blog site and look through all the fantabulous projects.  If there's still time, join a challenge!

Twitter - Do You Tweet?

I don't know much about the Twitter world, but I received a message that my VIDA collection was now on Twitter so I had to check it out.


Carly sent me a copy of the tweet (is that the right way to say this?!?)

So it you're a tweeter, check out this link; https://twitter.com/shopVIDA


Be sure to like and share! 


Go to my shop on VIDA.  I know you'll love what you see. 

Recycling Gift Bags

Many cities and counties are no longer bagging purchased items without charging a small fee.  Plastic bags are becoming a thing of the past.  Although I have a lot of reusable shopping totes, I rarely remember to bring them with me.  So unless the item can fit in my purse, I pay the extra cents to purchase a bag.  Or sometimes I get a bag because I see that it's a great tote bag.  (I know...bag nerd!) Sometimes I use the bag as is to tote items but most times I recycle them as gift bags.

This bag held cooking oils from Stewart & Jaspers and I converted it into a gift bag for my granddaughter's 6th birthday.

I turned this black/white striped Sephora bag into a gift bag for my husband. I'm sure he was glad he didn't get a gift from Sephora LOL.

I use my Cricut to cut out different decorating elements and glue them right on the bag.  The possibilities are endless!

I'm adding this to the Bitten by the Bug 2 challenge blog.  This week's theme is football.  Click HERE to get to the challenge site.  I love Cricut challenges since I love working with my Cricut!
 

Cricut Cartridges Used:
Mermaid bag:  Life's a Beach and Create-a-Critter
49er bag:  George Basic Shapes and Plantin Schoolbook

USE YOUR PAPER 1; A Fall BOOquet

I HAVE WAY TOO MUCH PATTERNED PAPER!

Can you relate?  And even though I know I have too much paper, I still buy more. 

I'm going to start a new series called "USE YOUR PAPER".  I hope you follow along with me on this series, use your papers and (drumroll here) do not keep your scraps.  HUH?!  Yup, that's my challenge and goal.  Now don't get me wrong, if there's at least half a sheet leftover, I'm going to keep it - after all, I'm not a freak!  But seriously, challenge yourself, unless you've got a specific project in mind that you're working on immediately after, toss that (s)crap!


I'm starting this series off with a BANG.  I made this amazing flower bouquet using Halloween papers.  I purchased this paper pad on clearance after Halloween about three years ago.  I have used some of the papers, but an entire pad...no.  So, I gathered several sheets of paper and my Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge and started cutting flowers.  The largest flowers are cut at 6 1/2" down to the smallest at 3 1/2".  The "mums" were cut in four sizes for each flower.  I started the largest at 3 1/2, 3, 2 1/2, and 2.  I cut out leaves at 2 1/2" and the acorns were at 1 1/2" (3 per 3D acorn).  (If you are interested in the exact cuts, leave a comment and I'll get back to you on that.)

Originally I was going to put skewers on the ends of each flower to create stems, but ended up hot gluing the flowers to a 6" Styrofoam ball.  I know there's a process to flower arranging, but I just glued the largest flowers first and then the smaller ones to fill in.  I put the acorns and leaves in to cover the areas where the Styrofoam was still showing. 

I really wish I would have taken photos of the process, but of course I didn't.


Even though I used Halloween paper, you really can't tell.  This BOOquet can be displayed all through Fall.  My mother-in-law is in a nursing home so this pretty thing is going to her.
Close Ups:

Join me as I post more USE YOUR PAPER projects.  This project used 10 double-sides pieces of patterned paper.  What a great way to use papers you're not in love with or some that you've just had for way too long.  This is definitely not a traditional way to use Halloween papers but look how gorgeous the flowers turned out!




Note:  I cut the flowers and then watched a movie with the family while rolling them.  Although there were a lot of blooms, it didn't seem like an overwhelming project.  Believe it or not, the hardest part was tying that bow on the vase.  I am horrible at tying bows!

WOYWW #385

I keep telling myself to go into the Command Center and just play, but for some reason I feel overwhelmed.  I never wanted to create pieces because I had to and with these holiday boutiques coming up, that's how I've been feeling lately.  Although I love spending time at these boutiques meeting new people and just hanging out with my daughter, I think this may be my last year for them.  I'm pretty sure I've said that before, but maybe this time I'll mean it.


Ok, enough whining...here's what's on my work desk this Wednesday:

...the makings of some holiday gift tags.

I usually make these for my own use, but last year I packaged some up and sold out of all of them.  It was a total afterthought, but people really like them.  I'm also participating in a gift tag swap with my crafting friends.

A little bit of stamping, doodling, punching, Cricut-ing, and embellishing and viola!  Here are a few samples for this year and some from previous years.  (Yes, I pull off these tags and reuse them year after year - why not, we're giving gifts to the same people!)


Do you have a favorite?


Join the WOYWW craze by clicking & linking to Stamping Ground's website.  Julia has been hosting this link for many, many years.  I only started linking these past few months or so.  I love being inspired by other crafters.  Take a peek yourself into the craft spaces all around the world.  So many people are making amazing things or just visiting with the regular WOYWW linkers. 


Cricut Cartridges:
Art Philosophy CTMH (tag shapes, large scallop & circle, stocking, holly leaves)
Joy of the Season (penguin, Santa, ornament)

Punches:
Scallop, circle(s), word label, tab SU!
Gingerbread EK Success

Oh TWO-dles

How friggin' cute is this banner and sign?!?!  I was commissioned to create a Minnie Mouse banner and sign for a customer's two year old daughter's birthday.

I used the Mickey & Friends cricut cartridge for the Mickey head and bows.  The Mickey Font cartridge was used for the "TW".  Other letters were cut from either the Artbooking cartridge or Plantin Schoolbook.

(I only cut the letters for the sign as my customer put them on a piece of poster board to make the sign.)  I love little things like this that make celebrations special.  I'm telling you, the Cricut is paying for itself.

Great news!  One of my crafting friends is was selling her Cricut Air One for only $75!  She posted on our FB group site that she is upgrading to the Two Air and was selling the other one.  Luckily I was the first to respond and will be the owner of this machine shortly.

If you know me, I usually hate doing anything computerized when I'm home.  I told many people that I would never upgrade to the computer driven Cricuts and I even allowed some friends to upload my cartridges into their own accounts, well, I should slap myself, because here I am...gonna be an owner soon of a computerized machine.

I did get a lesson from a fellow crafter during the recent crop we attended and really liked the ease of doing it this way and plus access to all those cuts/shapes.  I may not ever buy another cartridge!

Decorate to Celebrate Challenge #21

It's Wednesday and there's a new challenge on the Decorate to Celebrate challenge site.  This week's winner will receive a digi stamp from Stamp Prints.  She has lovely images to choose from.

Although I like to concentrate on 3D pieces or cards with something a little extra, I had a hard time with this one.  I'm not sure why since I love this heart image.  In fact, I printed and colored a lot and love how they turned out.  I wanted to make one of those cool spinner cards.  Not bad for my first try.  I'm gonna make the hearts a little smaller and make some more.  That's the cool thing about digi stamps, you can print the image(s) any size you want.

I also made these little gift tags/cards.  I think these are super cute especially for a gift tag.

I used an assortment of markers I have, used Wink of Stella for glitter accents and also some diamond glaze to add dimension to some of the flowers and the bird.  I didn't take a photo, but I also added one of these hearts to a plain gift bag.

Now it's your turn!!  Join the Decorate to Celebrate challenge by linking your masterpiece here.

WOYWW #383

Eeeek! Halloween hasn't even arrived and I'm already knee deep into holiday prep.  Carly and I have registered for a couple of holiday boutiques so now I need to hustle and get things made.  I stick to my regular theme "stocking stuffers"!  I love all the things you can do with candy, etc.  I'm starting on my best sellers first.  So with that in mind...

The pieces of the cocoa mugs are on my desk.  Right now I'm cutting out the elements.  We're taking a road trip this weekend and I cannot waste all that valuable time just sitting there so I'm going to assemble them during this time.

If you want to take a look at the styles I've used in the past, click HERE to see the ones I made last year and click on the "Craft Fair" label on the right to see previous years.  Since I get returning customers, I like to change them up a little.  I really, really love how the ones I made last year turned out.  I call them MUG SHOTS.  I'm sticking to the same idea just changing it a bit.

Now click on over to Stamping Ground to read more about WOYWW and how you can either join the weekly link or just visit other work desks around the world. 

Happy hump day!

From Me to You

Fall has arrived and the holidays are just around the corner.  From this point forward, all my spare time will be making items for the upcoming holiday boutiques and gift items needed this time of the year.  This past weekend, we took a drive to San Jose and I cut out 24 paper mugs for our booth.  No use in wasting valuable time as the passenger on a road trip.  LOL

Saturday was a full day as we picked up vacation home keys, visited my mother-in-law, enjoyed our friend Larry's band performance and then the unexpected group dinner/drinks and night of dancing and laughing.  We had so much fun!  It's so great to see long time friends and family.

Saturday was also World Card Making Day.  I can't believe I didn't make one card!  I promoted on Facebook that I would send a handmade card to the first 10 people to comment and I'd like to offer the same deal here.  So, if you'd like a handmade card from me to you, please leave a comment and then send me an email with your home address.  Email me at doorknocker3@yahoo.com

One of the photos from my photo selfie session.  Why do the best pictures always have to take place in the restroom?  LOL