Christmas Cards

Last year I got to open my Cricut Explore early to do my Christmas Cards. And then I couldn't decide which design to do- Having the subscription in Design Space gives you so many free options!

Here's what I settled on:

What a mess! 

The candy canes needed a friend, a glitter nosed- friend

Though they are nothing spectacular, I immediately appreciated just how easy it was to create in Design Space. While I had struggled to understand weld and some of the more complex features, cutting a make it now card or just a simple design was SO EASY.








I'm a sucker for glitter and sparkle, so I added some glitter to otherwise basic cards. This year I'm hoping to use my new cuddle bug to really create something fantastic.

And a basic card

Christmas Crafting- uh oh!

My mother is a teacher, and last fall we were looking for cheap ways to make window decorations. I suggested cutting out leaves or snowflakes with the cricut, and she asked if we could do Window Clings.

At the time I only had my Cricut Mini- so I set it up to draw, and we used the stencils from the designs with puffy paint on parchment paper, wax paper, and plastic bags to see if we could make our own window clings.

Spoiler - the only thing that worked was the puffy paint on the plastic bags or plastic wrap. Please don't waste your time on Wax or Parchment papers.

Here are some photos of the process. Stepdaughter assisted, but went more free form. It's really a shame more of these wouldn't come off the paper! They were so pretty!

Mom creating leaves

Emily hard at work on her stars

Valentines Day Cards

Now, we all know the Cricut Explore is a magical thing. But I really love my Cricut in tandem with the Cuddlebug. It was my birthday present this year, and I couldn't wait to use it for Valentines day cards!

Here are a few of the cards I've created (note that the box card design was purchased)

Cricut-ing

When I met boyfriend in January of 2010 I liked him enough,  but when I met his friend Joe's wife and she pulled out her cricut expression and started whipping together birthday decorations I knew I had stumbled into something good.

He got me a cricut mini for Christmas a few years later,  and then Christmas 2014 he upgraded me to the explore.  *swoon*

My Mini hard at work

The mini served me well, but I did not want to invest in a ton of cartridges, and relied on the few I had and the free images that Cricut puts out every month.


My Mini came to me previously loved, and had some issues, I had to buy a deep blade housing for my regular blade just to get cardstock to cut properly. So I never explored Vinyl, or sticker paper, or any other cut-able mediums.

I'm part of a group on Facebook that shares cricut crafts and tricks for the Explore, and it has inspired me to work with new mediums,  something I love doing.  I can't pick just one craft, I have to love and learn them all! 

Unboxing the Explore!

I think that is one of the absolute best parts of the Explore, the Software! The make it now projects in Design Space inspire you to explore the options around you, and to create everywhere! Literally. They came out with an Ipad app, and Android is next. The bluetooth capabilities of the Explore Air (or Explore with adaptor) make creating everywhere a reality. 

I'm so grateful to be part of such a great community - not just of facebook strangers, but of fellow cricuters. We all learn and share together, and I am truly inspired by the creativity around me every day.

Halloween Candy Dot costume

I wanted to make my costume this past Halloween, but I was having trouble coming up with a good idea. I scoured pinterest and came across all the pictures of Katy Perry in her Candy Dot Outfit from her California Girls music video. I saw the knockoffs, and I knew I could make a great costume too. 

I got some white fabric from the fabric store and traced a minidress that fit me, leaving room for the hem. I used my mother's ancient sewing machine to sew the dress, and then came the fun part. 

I bought smooth foam craft balls, a styrofoam cutter, foam brushes, and paint from the craft store.

Supplies!

I looked up all kinds of tools and this one just happened to be readily available

It worked pretty well, as you can see, it sliced the balls right in half. Even boyfriend wanted to help me. The fumes were bad, so open a window if you do this.

I wasn't a pro at cutting straight.

I laid out some paper plastic bags and got to work on painting the ball halfs for the costume. I decided to only do the front, as sitting down is kind of important. 

Each color needed a couple coats. They flaked and peeled a bit before a final coat and then a layer of modge podge. I ended up gluing them to the fabric with Tacky Fabric Glue. It held really well. Costume still intact months later!

Laying them out prior to modge podge

glued on and modge podged. Also added a candy neckline.

And wearing it::

Probably shouldn't have gone with the pink wig. hahaha

Holly's baby shower

Holly's baby shower was a post baby affair. We held it at the Springer cultural center in Champaign, IL, where we had a nice huge room to ourselves. Unfortunately, I was running late that day, but I had lots of things pre-made.

ready to party

As you can see, the entire crafty area is covered with preparations for the party. The daisy's are pens, simply popped the ends off and hot glued the flowers in. I didn't wrap the pen parts with flower tape, but I thought about it. The daisy's went in the buckets as centerpieces, and were favors. We also made a daisy ball centerpiece with the pens in it.

centerpiece

We had a quiet shower with lunch and no crazy games, as baby was in attendance, she was the focus.

I ordered candy from oriental trading and we got custom lollipops, pink chocolate balls,  green candy sticks, and gumballs. We had leftover soaps from the cute as a button shower in february, so those were also out as favors. 

We had Holly pick all the candy flavors so she'd be happy with everything. The hit of the party was the crafting station, of course. I set up headbands, clips, and various ribbons and novelties and let the party guests go wild with it. You can see the daisy ball on the table, it's a styrofoam ball that I stabbed the daisy pens into.

The headbands all turned out pretty fantastic, and Holly loved them!

It was fun seeing all the creative sides come out of so many different women. And Baby Madeline looked amazing in them.

Crafting with Mom/Nana

My mother is the original crafter. She sewed us mother daughter doll dresses when I was younger. That means that my baby doll had a dress that matched my dress, that matched my mothers. We were awesome. Hey, it was the 90's, this was totally acceptable.

So in July when my mother asked for some help creating some onesies for the first grandbaby, I of course agreed to help. We went shopping and got some plain onsesies, and then got iron on letters and hearts.

Preparation with Nana was pretty easy. I got out my iron on letters and hers, and we created a sheet where we tallied how many of each letter we had, and how many we would need. I highly recommend keeping these types of things with your iron on letters. We all know you're going to end up with a bunch of letters you can't use on anything and absolutely no vowels, but it helps to know just how many packs of letters you need to go buy. I like to write what brand and how big (1 inch) the letters are as well. 

Iron on letters are pretty easy, follow the instructions and don't put the letters on upside down or backwards. Easy as Pie. Here are some prep pictures.

Mom waiting for the onesie to cool. Also shown, the extra t-shirt required for ironing.

Layout prep. So many options!

And the finals:::

I love creating things, but what I've learned this last year is simple:

It's hard to create anything when you are constantly changing other things in your life. Last July I helped plan a beautiful baby shower for one of my best friends, and since then I have done little to nothing. But I have huge plans to! I moved, then I got a new job, and thing upon thing upon thing has happened. So: it's time to take a break and get back to the good stuff. Creating things. Especially because one of my close friends just got engaged and I can't wait to plan her shower.

Found

So we found it, the perfect little apartment. Three bedrooms, a sun porch, a huge back yard, a decent common living space.. and a corner.. a little corner like hallway- that I'm going to claim as my own. it has a closet- and enough room for a desk.. and I want it. I want to make it craft heaven. More as it happens.

The perfect crafting area

I've moved a lot in the last few years, and one thing every apartment has had in common is a lack of organization when it comes to my crafting.

Since my stockpile of crafting supplies is only multiplying, this is something I've started researching. Our current apartment is spacious, but seems confined because of our excess of stuff. I usually end up at one end of  the couch working on the coffee table or ottoman  while my roomie works on his chain-mail jewelry on the other end. Sometimes his girlfriend works in the middle. We need to work something better out.

Since we're moving this summer, the requirements not only include the two bedrooms, pet friendly, parking - kind of stuff. They also include space for a nice size desk. I need a work space, and I plan on getting one!

I recently cleared out an old plastic storage unit- the kind with two deep drawers and a few shallower drawers towards the top- and put as much of my crafting supplies as would fit in it. My cricut and all the various accessories and paper for it don't fit in this- but they would easily fit in or on a desk.

So- fingers crossed that we find an apartment we both like that has enough space for a desk. Some of my inspiration is below. All found through http://pinterest.com/createhappiness/small-craft-space/

Little Girl Jewelry Boxes

Little Girl Jewelry Boxes

For my Boyfriend's daughter and his niece's birthday's I made them jewelry boxes. I got basic wooden jewelry boxes from Michael's took all the hinges off of them, and painted them inside and out. Twice. Then I sealed them with my glossy modge podge, let them dry overnight, and reattached all the hinge hardware. For Emily I spelled out her name with tiny jewels, for Allyiah, I used sticky letters. Both were available at Michael's and Walmart. I used scrapbooking appliques of flowers and butterflies from Jolene's Boutique to decorate the outsides. I attached them with modge podge ( I LOVE this stuff), let them dry, and then put an extra coat on top to keep them nice. It's been over a year and both boxes look like new. :)

Baby Blanket, Crochet

Crochet Baby Blanket

The Finished Product

Can you tell all my friends and relatives are pregnant? This is a V stitch crochet baby blanket in pink with a multicolor border. The pattern is really easy. http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L10652.html?noImages=0

It's a V-stitch, which is basically two double crochets out of one stitch with a few chain stitches in between. I used 2 rounds of single crochet for the border. I LOVED making this, and it gave me something to do during the long wait for my delayed plane on the way to go see said friend.

Close up of the folded blanket so the V-stitch is visible along with the bright border.