I'm Back!

It has been a several months since I posted but I do want everyone to know that I have been busy and doing very well!

In May my first granddaughter arrived and I have been spending most of my free time making little 'girlie' things and working on her photo albums. It started as one album and now the number has grown to three!

I have retired as a consultant with Close to My Heart but the good news is that I have enough supplies to last me a lifetime! :)

My part time job has kept me busy and I am enjoying being able to sew, stamp and scrap often!

My project earlier this month was to create a flamingo stamp for the upcoming "Flamingo on the Fly" Tampa Bay area Shop Hop.

I have had my Pazzles machine since I retired in 2011 and it is my go-to machine when I am working on a paper project.  Last year I purchased the "Red Queen" and I have been learning the InVue software over the last few months. I quickly jumped in and created a flamingo stamp for the Shop Hop passport!

I love the "Daily Art Hub"  site and joined as a club member so I have full access to all of the their designs.  This design is from the Flamingo set and I used the first design in the set.

I followed the tutorial on the Pazzles web site to finally use the stamp kit that I purchased a few years ago!  If you would like to give this a try, check out the article posted on Scrapbooking.com here.

I followed a few steps to load the SVG into the software and converted it to a line drawing.  I made a duplicate of the basic design and then re-sized it to fit the passport space.

My ideas seldom turn out exactly as I imagine, but many times they are close enough!  

If you haven't found Frankie yet, he hangs out in the 'hood' here.

I designed and painted the T shirt using the Paintworks module of the Bernina DesignWorks software.  Here is a close up of the design.

I hope you have been inspired today and if you are in the Tampa Bay area there are only a few more days to participate in this shop hop.

Happy Stamping!

H2H Challenge and Midnight

Day 7 of FRIGHTFULLY Creative Halloween FUN!

Today's post was inspired by the theme "Midnight" for this week's H2H Challenge. The word  Midnight does conjure up images of dark, scary nights.... but I knew right away what I wanted to do when I saw this bottle of wine sitting on my Target shelf!

One of my FAV-orite wines ...

I wanted to make some wine charms but not the traditional ones with a wire but a paper version.  I found these as I was 'googling' wine charms.  Have you noticed how that word has turned into a verb rather than an noun?  OK- you didn't pay attention in English class!

So I created this quick and easy Cricut Design Space file you can find here.  The circle in the middle is .5" and you may have to change it to fit your wine glass stem.

It is a simple 3.5 circle with a 3.0 circle center. The center circle varies from .5 to .65 to accommodate the width of the stem. Easy!

Did you notice that the one charm has a decorative edge to it?  I created that wine charm in the Pazzles Inspiration Pro 2014 software using the Decorative Tools option - the lesson today with the amazing Klo!

I love the 'notes' function in this new software - I can add my own comments or add where I found the file.

You can find the files here..

Wine Charms wpc file here

Wine Charms pvg file here

Wine Charms svg file here

Since I never sell a Halloween stamp set, I have two retired stamp sets featured here- sorry!

Supplies:

Black and White Daisy cardstock

Scaredy Cat B & T paper

Lola B & T paper

Ink colors - Slate, Black, Gypsy,Honey

Stamp sets:

B1281 Hallow-Scream (retired)

C1512 Moonlight Scrapbooking Workshop (retired)

D1605 Halloween Greetings

B1453 Frightfully Fun

B1429 Eek & Shriek

Why don't you play along with us this week and use the theme- "midnight".  I would love to see what you come up with!

Here is the linky so you can link up your artwork.

Day 6 of FRIGHTFULLY Creative Halloween FUN!

Day 6 of FRIGHTFULLY Creative Halloween FUN!

Boo...hoo...hoo...  I have been working on today's projects for a few days.   I decorated my home about a week ago and I found this tissue box project that I had several years ago.  I found the original idea on SplitCoast stampers here.  At the time, I had just started my blog and I don't remember posting this project.  So I decided to update it to a 21st century version.

A friend of mine had given me some 'swankies' or Halloween Hankies.  I was going to design a file for them but then decided to make the tissue box cover instead.

I knew that I didn't have to cut it out and score it by hand like the original directions. So I designed the first file in my Pazzles InVue software.  This software is designed so that I can actually measure the sizes accurately.

The Pumpkin Tissue Box looks like this....

Pumpkin Tissue Box wpc file here

Pumpkin Tissue Box pvg file here 

Pumpkin Tissue Box SVG file here.

The Frankie Tissue Box looks like this....  

Frankie Tissue Box wpc file here

Frankie Tissue Box pvg file here

Frankie Tissue Box SVG file here

I was able to create the jagged hairline using the decorative scissors option in the Pazzles Inspiration Pro 2014 software.  The face features were created using weld, subtract weld and with the frankie mouth I used the Intersect weld feature on the Pazzles InVue software.  Our amazing Klo taught this lesson last Sunday and this was a perfect use of that very lesson!

I saved it as an SVG but the Cricut Design Space was not reading it accurately enough so I had to start with the basic shapes and recreate the entire file.  I had to tweak the original design a few times to make sure the score lines were in the correct places.  

Here is a picture of the Cricut Design Space file.  You can find the file here  The faces are from the CTMH Artiste cartridge and the oval is from the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge.  You can certainly substitute a file you already 'own'!

Unfortunately in Design Space you can not add a cut line like you can in the Pazzles software, so you are going to have to snip the corners with a pair of scissors.

I hope you enjoyed this creative fun Halloween project.  Leave me a comment if you cut any of the files out.  The assembly is rather easy and you can always refer back to the Splitcoast video.  I inked up the sides and sanded Frankie's hair for additional accents.

Tomorrow....Midnight and the H2H challenge!

Day 4 of FRIGHTFULLY Creative Halloween FUN!

Day 4 of FRIGHTFULLY Creative Halloween FUN!

One of my absolutely favorite broadway plays is "Wicked".  Sadly , I have only seen it in Tampa, but that's OK!  This title was perfect for the layout that I created for an H2H Challenge in August. - Inspired by a book.

More often that not, I will design my layouts in one of my programs so I can have a visual of what it will look like when it is completed.  In this case I found a sketch on http://paper-secrets.blogspot.com and used that as my starting point.

I actually started with scraps and then designed it in the Cricut Design Space using the included scrapbook canvas.  I also added some stamping because my layout looked naked!

As you can see it is not exactly like the layout but that is the best part!

The design file for the Cricut Design Space is here..  Feel free to use it but you must have the Mini Monsters cartridge to cut it out.  The shapes are from the Cricut Craft Room Basics which are free to everyone who has DS. You can certainly substitute any designs that you think will work with it!  Here is the same exact layout with different colored cardstock and other designs from the Mini Monsters cartridge.  I think you get the idea!

Here is this month's sketch challenge.  This looks like an easy one.  Why not give this a try yourself!  Check out the additional information on their blog here.

Coming tomorrow.....  BOO...who?

Day 3 of FRIGHTFULLY Creative Halloween FUN!

Day 3 of FRIGHTFULLY Creative Halloween FUN!

I hope you are having FUN!!  When I was growing up, I remember one summer night a bat flew into our house!  My sister and I were upstairs in our bedroom and my mom was screaming like a banshee!  We ran out to the hallway to see what was going on!  By then the bat had flown upstairs and we grabbed towels and wrapped them around our head and tried to beat it outside with a broom!   I am still laughing as I write this but I think we were probably freaking out then!

I am not really frightened by bats so my few bat project projects today are just fun to help celebrate the season!

The first pic is made slightly ghouly with the help of picmonkey.  This program is easy and I can make some basic changes at no charge!  Check it out here

This little bat treat box is a collection of treat boxes that are FREE when you subscribe to the Pazzles Craft Room.  To me the monthly subscription is worth giving up a few lattes!  Check out the Pazzles Craft Room site here.

                                  

The next project is also a free craft room member project by Joanna , the incredibly talented Pazzles Design Team member.  She is the expert when it comes to 'Print then Cut' but she also recreates some awesome projects using the existing files in the craft room.  Check out her post here for the Bat Tube favors.

I played around with picmonkey again to add the bats and some additional ghoulish effects. 

The skeleton is from the CTMH Artiste cartridge.  Since there is no shadow feature on this cartridge, I cheated and glued it onto some black cardstock and cut around the shape!

Enjoy....  tomorrow - "Which Witch is Which?"

Day 2 of FRIGHTFULLY Creative Halloween FUN!

                  Welcome to Day 2 of FRIGHTFULLY Creative                                           Halloween FUN!

Who's your mummy?........

One of the classes that I taught was Child Development.  I loved doing Arts and Crafts with my high school students in class because you could tell they were having fun but just didn't want to admit it!

One year I made this Mummy Can to sit on my desk and hold little containers of Play Dough.  They were allowed to play with them (as long as they didn't mix up the colors!!)

I have no idea where this project came from as this was long before Pinterest! (It is probably a good thing because I would never have had time to grade papers!) 

This is an easy project to make - a bit of gauze, cotton balls for the 'nose' and some black, white and red scraps of cardstock along with a 6" square of Halloween paper. I purchased the paint cans from Home Depot - circa 2007.

Step #1:

Wrap gauze half way down the paint can - I secured it with tape in the back and then tucked it under in the front.

Step #2:

oh no!....  "The Man Without A Face!

Add 4-5 cotton balls and then wrap another section of gauze to cover the entire can.

Step#3:

Cut out the eyes and tongue and tape or glue to the gauze. I taped the paper onto the lid using permanent scotch tape. Add some ribbons to the handle and fill your mummy with candy or play dough!

The link for the Cricut Explore Design Studio file is here .  The circles are from the Craft Room Basics and the tongue is from the CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge.

But WAIT! - there's more....  for my Pazzles 'peeps',  here are the files for both the Inspiration and the Vue...

You can pick up the pvg file here...

You can pick up the wpc file here  I also created an svg file - I hope this will work!  You can pick up the svg file here.

I hope you enjoyed some "mummy' love!

Tomorrow.... 

                       "Going batty"

Day 1 of FRIGHTFULLY Creative Halloween FUN

Welcome to Day 1 of FRIGHTFULLY Creative Halloween FUN!

When I was 'surfin' the net the other day I came across Dawn's blog post here and I thought - what a cute idea! ( She does give Dee credit, as well)  Honestly, I love the fact that so many ladies are willing to share their ideas!  Thank you Dawn for a great video!

My first "FUN" project is this French Fry Frankie treat box.  I found this Halloween decor as the perfect backdrop for my treat box at the Bernina Sewing Center in Tampa, FL. (Frankie's hair is actually black...I miss my Nikon...)

This was a quick and easy project that I designed and cut with my Cricut Explore.  Since I sold my Cricut Expressions 2, I no longer use CCR. I used the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge but there is also a French Fry box in Tags,Bags and Boxes More 2.

Here are the sizes for the circles:

White Circles - 3/4"

Olive Circles - 3/4"

Black Circles - 1/2"

I sized the french fry box to approximately W= 5.00 and H= 8.25. You can adjust it to a size to suit your needs but you may have to enlarge the eyes and eyelids.

I hope you give this quick and easy treat box a try.  If you have the Cricut Explore here the link to the Design Space file.

Then I decided to try and design my own file using my brand NEW Pazzles InVue software.  I found a free file online and created the pvg. file for my "Pazzles" peeps!  The pvg file can be found here  The wpc file can be found here.

Here are the two 'Frankies'  hangin' out until Halloween...... The Pazzles version is on the left and the Cricut version is on the right.  The Pazzles Frankie is definitely larger and can hold the 'Mega' M & M's ( hmmm - who ate them before the photo shoot?...)

Enjoy and please leave me a comment if you want to see more!

Coming tomorrow - "Who's your mummy?"....

H2H challenge - My FAV -orite tool

Well I must admit that this is tough one!   But the battle lines have been drawn and the tool is....

The sponge dauber!

Yep!  All of you are scratching your head BUT think of all of the times you have reached for this small little tool, the not too expensive one and used it!  So for me, that entitles it to my FAV-orite tool!

But alas, I must admit I have a close second, not CTMH either..  "Oh, no" , one exclaims!

Yes- I love my Pazzles!!  The digital paper cutter that I can design and cut any type of design that I desire!  But that's Ok because here is a fall card that I created using my TWO FAV-orite tools and life is good...

I used the"Print and Cut" feature of the machine to create the canning jar. Then I stamped the images, cut them up and sponged them a bit and glued them to the card.  This card is perfect for any fall occasion- right?!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a bit of fall in your hometown- ME?  not so much...

Please join us here and share a design with your favorite tool!

March Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the March Stamp of the Month Blog Hop. This is one of the "happiest" places  this month.. (sorry, Disney...)

Over 50 ladies are participating in this month's hop and if you get lost along the way, you can always go back to Melinda's blog here.. You will not want to miss any of the inspiring work this month! If you have been hopping with us, then you have arrived from Kim's Schnoor's blog here

The stamp set this month is S1403 Happy Place and it is available for $5.00 with a minimum purchase of $50.00.

Let's start with the artwork from the CTMH artists.  I was trying to wrap my head around this stamp set when I noticed a set of these dolls sitting in my dining room hutch...mmmmm

I must have inherited them from my mother-in-law and so I decided to open them up and see what was inside...Six little ladies with a snowman at the end!  How cute!  It was quite interesting to read the history of these carved dolls.

I envisioned the set on a card and I created my first Bendi-Fold card on my Pazzles machine.  It was definitely a challenge to play with this WPC files and tweak it to create exactly what I wanted!

I spent all day designing this card but I was very happy with the results.  This is probably not the last time you will see the house surface in the artwork - it fit the theme of the stamp set perfectly.  I cut multiple layers and then "paper-pieced" it together.  Both of my machines were busy cutting furiously to keep up with my design I had in my head!

Supplies:

S1403 Happy Place

X7179 Ariana paper pack including Kraft cardstock

Pazzles WPC files include the bendi-fold card, and stamp set outlines.

CTMH Art Philosophy

CTMH Artiste

Colors- both ink and markers include Honey, Sky, Sorbet, Ruby, SweetLeaf and Outdoor Denim.

If you are ready to hop along, then check out Pam Ellison's artwork here

February Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

It's All About L-O-V-E!!  If you have been hopping with us, then you have come from Kami's blog here and checked out her awesome project. Don't worry if you get lost you can always got to Melinda's blog list here


 This month's stamp set includes these lovable foxes, hearts and "love' sayings!

I was having a hard time trying to create a scrapbook page using this stamp set but I started with the artwork that corp provided in the new Spring/Summer Idea Book!  It is pattern #18 ....a single page layout is found on page 41.  I used that design to create the blog badge for the hop. 

Every time I looked at this stamp set, a song came to mind...hmmm.  Do you remember what group made it famous?

Sorry... I couldn't resist!
                    

I finally decided on TWO different Valentine Mini-Albums (with a little help from Corp..) They were SUPER cutting intensive and I did add additional embellishments after I took the pictures.. sorry!!

Supplies:

Z1906 Cricut^® Artbooking Collection

S1401 Cross-Stitch wishes

S1402 Wild about Love

C1575 True to Life
Whoo's Your Valentine (retired)

Colors – Blush, Hollyhock, Ruby, Cotton Candy, Slate, Cocoa, Vineyard Berry and Black

**Ivy Lane B & T Paper Packet and Zip strip

**Lollydoodle B & T Paper Packet and Zip strip

Z1933 Ruby Chevron Washi Tape

Z1799 Silver Shimmer Trim

Z1921 Baker’s Twine Cranberry OR 3 1” binder rings and assorted ribbons

CCR files included….

"I Love You" Version.. I cut apart the stamp set and created a WPC cutting file to make my life easier.... 

If you own a Pazzles cutter, then you can find the files here..

Here  are inside pages 1 & 2...

Here are inside pages 3 & 4

Here are inside pages 5 & 6

Here are inside pages 7 & 8

Here is the cover of the  "You and Me" Version

Inside pages of the "You and Me" Mini Album - similar but slightly different...

Now it is time to bounce over to Sarita's blog here.  

Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Enjoy!