Minion Hat

I loom knitted up several of these hats this year and everyone just crazy over them.  Personally I thought they'd look much better in a crocheted version but I don't know how to crochet - YET!  Regardless they turned out pretty good, were super quick to make and oh so easy....

 

 

 

For those of you who loom knit and would like to make some for yourself you can find the pattern here.  Now before you get alarmed that the instructions for the eye are crocheted I did find a couple of different ways to make the eye on the loom.  After trying two different versions I took what I liked best from both and now make my eyes as follows:

 

 

 

I use the blue KK loom if I'm doing a one eyed hat or the flower loom if I'm doing a two eyed hat.  Cast on the loom and purl one row of gray.  Switch to white yarn and garter stitch two rows.  Switch to black and ewrap for one row and gather bind off.

 

Mini Coffee Cup Candy Holders

I found this awesome and fun idea over at Inking Idaho a couple weeks ago and immediately I had to purchase the cups and lids so I could make my own.  However, I needed these to house my own special homemade candies that I make ever Christmas to give as gifts to co-workers, friends, teachers, etc.  Problem was my candies were going to be heavier than the typical store bought chocolates so I had to figure out a way to stabilize the holders. 

 

Now before I tell you about the couple of changes I made to this project, you'll find the directions at Inking Idaho and the template for the cup covers over at Stamping & Scrapbooking.  Be sure to download everything before you begin. 

 

Okay, so the changes I made to the project were:

 

To stabilize the holder I cut a piece of chipboard 2" x 4 1/2", covered it with a piece of matching paper and adhered it to the inside bottom of the holder BEFORE adhering the handle.

 

Because not all of my cups will be placed in holders or have the straws I wanted to cover the tops.  I found that cutting a circle on my Cricut at a size of 1.9" fit perfectly.

 

 

 

And in case you're wondering, the snowman I have on my holder is from Create a Critter 2 and was cut at 2".  The stamped sentiments on my lids are from the Cardz TV Stamps set Very Merry.

Angel Tree Gift Tags

Late last week my co-worker and I found out that we are responsible for setting up our company's Angel Tree.  Being new in our Human Resources positions neither of us were aware of this but we immediately sprung in to action so we could make it happen.

 

With such a narrow window of time to get everything done I was not able to make my tags using my Cricut as I normally would but I still wanted them to be fun and nice looking.  So this past Saturday I took a couple of hours to play in shaving cream and food dye, "painted" up 40 tags to start with and then applied various stickers, cut-outs and chipboard. 

 

For the final touch I added a stamped sentiment on each tag that I thought matched up with the character/item on the tag.  All of my sentiments (except one) are from the Cardz TV stamp set "Very Merry".

Sending Love at Christmas

I'm a little behind the 8 ball with a challenge that I was supposed to do for posting on Friday so to all of my DT sisters I apologize profusely.  The last two weeks have been so chaotic for our family with traveling for the holidays, getting sick while on vacation and coming home to even more sickness.  It's all been a whirlwind and we are ready for our lives to get back to their normal routines.

 

With all of that said, I'd like to share with you the card that I created for the Cardz TV Go to Galz Linky Party Challenge - Winter Wonderland.  I absolutely love these little penguins!

 

To create this card I used the following cartridges:

 

Zooballoo for the penguins and Winter Woodland for the hats.  The north sign is a Sizzix die.

 

The shimmering snow was created with a mixture of MS glitters:  Carabba Marble and Crystal Coarse.  After tearing my papers to create the layered ground I inked with a blue ink and then ran them through my Xyron, sprinkled the glitters on the paper and used my fingers to spread it around.

 

The stamped sentiment is from the Cardz TV "Very Merry" stamp set. 

 

 

 

This set has been a life saver for a couple of different projects this weekend.  Stay tuned for more details....

 

In the meantime, hop on over to Cardz TV, check out the other designs the Go To Galz created for you and while you're there be sure to purchase this wonderful stamp set.

 

Three Rules for A Happy Thanksgiving

You know those Chic fil A commercials where the cows encourage you to eat more chicken?  Well today I want to share a card that I made back when I first got in to paper crafting.  Instead of cows though we have a disguised turkey encouraging us to eat anything but turkey for Thanksgiving. 

 

I had a lot of fun creating this card and since it's been a while I think it's one that I'll need to see about recreating and updating.  Now to find the time to do that.......

 

In the meantime though, here's what I used for this one.

 

Animal Kingdom for the Turkey - cut at 3 3/4"

PPDU for the hat and collar - both scaled to the sizes I needed to fit my turkey

Everyday PPD for the glasses - also scaled to the size needed

George - to create the sign, I used two of the shapes and welded them together

George for the numbers - cut at 3/4"

 

And for a little added fun this Thanksgiving check out the projects the design team made over at Hiding in my Craft Room.  They're cute, cute, cute, and I think I'll play along with them.

Child Friendly Thanksgiving Place Setting

I originally created this project back in 2010 but wanted to share this with you as we draw near to Thanksgiving this week.  Plus I noticed that my original post referenced the instructions being in a newsletter that is no longer available.......

 

Of course I can't take credit for this idea as it was based on inspiration I received from Scrapbooks, etc magazine.  In the article it showed great ideas for setting the table for the holiday and one of those ideas was a paper pieced turkey as a crayon holder.  Immediately the lights went on and I thought what a great idea - now let's expand it and that's just what I did.  So without further delay here are the instructions......

 

Child Friendly Thanksgiving Table Setting

Supplies Needed:

8 count box of crayons

Rubber band & piece of string/ribbon

1 ½ sheets Fall themed paper    

8 ½ x 11” sheet of white or off-white paper

Cricut ink pen

Design Studio or Gypsy

 

Cricut cartridges:  I used Thanksgiving, Create a Critter, A Child’s Year, PPDU and Animal Kingdom, TBBM

To Create Placemat:

1.       Using the guidelines provided in Design Studio or Gypsy place a variety of Thanksgiving related cuts on the mat staying within an 8” x 11” area. 

2.       Replace the Cricut blade with one of the ink pens and print the images.  Ink edges.

3.       Cut a 12” square paper to 9 ½” x 12”.  Adhere the white page to printed page.  Ink edges.

 

To Create Personalized Silverware Pocket:

1.     From TBBM cut one of the tag pockets in blackout (and no hole) at 11 ½”.  See pages 112& 113 of the handbook.

2.     If your paper is not a double print place your paper print down on the mat before cutting.  This will keep your print on the outside of the pocket when folding and putting together.

3.     Create name tag by cutting a pumpkin from Create a Critter at 1 ¾”.  Hide the facial contours to allow for writing the child’s name on the tag.

4.       Adhere tag to pocket.

To Create Crayon Holder:

 

1.       Using Create a Critter cut the turkey and needed layers at 2 ½”.  Ink edges.

2.       Build the layers for your turkey EXCEPT for the very back tail piece.

3.       Prick two small holes in the center of the very back tail piece.  Tie rubber band to the tail.

4.       Adhere tail piece to the turkey to complete build.

5.       Add crayons by wrapping rubber band around them to hold them in place.

 Note: Crayon holder was scraplifted from the December 2010 issue of Scrapbooks, etc.

Mischief & Mayhem

Happy Friday my fellow bloggers, and welcome to another Cardz TV Stamps challenge with the Go To Galz.  This week we're all about Ghosts and Goblins as we eek a bit closer to Halloween.  And I have to tell ya that our ladies created some really awesome projects this week that you will not want to miss!

As you can see I created a card for my project.  And while it was an easy put together I think it packs a nice little punch for Halloween.

I used Gypsy Wanderings for my skeleton head.

For the rosette I cut two strips of 2 1/2" x 12" paper and scored at every 1/4 inch.  I then worked my myriad of folds, joined the ends , fluffed it up and realized I made too large a rosette.  So I gently cut across a couple of my folds and removed a section of paper, rejoined my ends and tried again.  This time it was the perfect size so I cut a couple of squares to hold my centers in place, glued them down and placed a book on top to hold it all in place. 

Once that was done I added my background paper - My Mind's Eye Halloween Scary Sparkles mat stack.  Oh and lest I forget my rosette was made using a printed paper from 2007 called Orange Skeletons from Masterpiece Studios. 

The stamped sentiment is from the newly released stamp set "Trick or Treat".

And now that you've seen my take on this week's challenge be sure to check out the others by clicking on the link above.  Then be sure to create your own project, link up, and play along with us.

Monster Hat

Since we had a lot of rain come down this past weekend I decided to stay in and play with my loom knitting.  Not only did this allow me to get a good bit done in preparation for the upcoming show later this month but it also gave me an opportunity to play with a new pattern.

 

This adorable monster hat is a freebie pattern I found over at Knitting Rays of Hope and while her hat definitely looks better than mine I think this one isn't too shabby for a first attempt.  I will admit to changing up the 'horns' a bit tho. 

 

When I have some more free time I think I'll have to try another one. 

U R Amazing - Breast Cancer Awareness Challenge

Happy Friday everyone.  As I begin this post we are keeping a close eye on the weather as our area is currently under a Hurricane Watch AND I just noticed this morning that Jim Cantori is in Pensacola.  Guess there will be at least a little bit of excitement to the weekend after all.

Speaking of excitement we have another installment of Cardz TV Stamps challenges today.  Today our Go to Galz created cards and projects for Breast Cancer Awareness.  With that said if you have not yet had your mammogram this year it's time to get one scheduled.  I know they're no fun but we have to do what we have to do to protect ourselves and I'll be doing mine next week.

Now on to my project,  as you can see I created a card for mine.  For this card I used the following cartridges:

George -  to design the bust from a collection of circles, ovals and some other shape all welded together. 

Life's A Beach - I cut out the bikini top, removed the straps and used ribbon for them instead. I then embossed the cut and viola it's a pretty bra. 

Stand and Salute - for the ribbon.

My sentiment is from the Cardz TV Stamps set titled "This N That".

My printed papers are all from the Me and My Big Ideas Breast Cancer Awareness mat stack. 

And now that you've seen my project for this week - let's see what you create.  After you make your project be sure to link up and play along with us so we can all ooh and aah over your creations too.

Christmas Ascot Scarf

This weekend begins our craft show season with the Oktoberfest.  Needless to say - and as I'm sure you've noticed - I have been doing a good bit of loom knitting in preparation. 

 

Today I wanted to share with you an ascot style scarf I knitted using the Red Heart Starbella yarn and the Garter Amidst Ruffles pattern by Isela Phelps.  This was an easy one to knit and I love the way it turned out.

 

Who knew you could knit these kind of things with this yarn?

Colors of Fall - Gobble, Gobble

Happy Friday everyone and welcome to our Colors of Fall challenge over at Cardz TV.  This week our Go to Galz made cards, layouts and other projects featuring the colors of Fall:  red, orange, gold, brown and purple.

For my project I decided to alter a charger plate for some Thanksgiving style home décor.  It doesn't show up very well in the picture but the charger plate is purple and my gobble, gobble is cut from a lighter purple metallic paper.

My turkey and the gobble, gobble are both from Create a Critter.

The stamped sentiment is from the Cardz TV Stamps set "Happy Days".

And now that you've seen my project be sure to check out the other awesome ones created by our team.  Then after you've been amply inspired, create your own, link up and play along with us.

I can't wait to see what you create. 

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas Tags

I had a couple of shipping tags left from my stash that I decided to finally do something with this past weekend.  Of course that something was turn them in to Christmas gift tags. 

Once again I used the shaving cream technique which is so perfect for these tags.

My owl is from Create a Critter 2, cut at 2 1/2".  After putting him all together I used my snow writer 'pen' to add the texture to the brim and tip of the hat.

The "to" and "from" cuts are from Christmas Cheer cut at 1".

The stamped sentiment is from the Bright and Merry Winter Wishes stamp set from the Unity Stamp Company.

Drop Stitch Ruffle Infinity Scarves

As I prepare myself for Oktoberfest here in a couple of weeks I've been getting a lot of loom knitted and other projects completed.  And today I'd like to share with you a couple of the new infinity scarves I've been working on.  They're so easy to make once you get the hang of it and I have found that if I put my mind to it I can make one in a night.

 

These are just a couple of the ones I've finished.  I've been making them in all sorts of colors.  But in making them I have found that I much prefer the shorter ones over the long.

 

Necktie Scarves

I found this  cool idea for repurposing old neckties over on pintest the other day.  So while hubby was playing Call of Duty I decided to sit down and try my hand at making a couple of these necktie scarves.

 

 

They were pretty easy to do and I found that while the directions called for using an industrial/commercial sewing machine my Babylock stitched them just fine.  The hard part for me was finding the right embellishment to use to finish of the scarves.

 

 

 

Not too shabby for a first try and now I can't wait for the weather to get a bit cooler so I can wear some of my button up shirts and sport my new scarves.  I even had an old Christmas tie in my stash - perfect for the upcoming Christmas holiday season. 

 

 

 

Summer Harvest Just For You

 

Happy Friday everyone and welcome to another Go to Galz Challenge over at Cardz TV.  The week our projects are all about celebrating the summer's harvest.  For my take on this challenge I want to share a quick and simple card I threw together using some of the older cartridges.  

 

For this one I used:

Accent Essentials for the scalloped square

Pooh and Friends for the Apple basket

Doodlecharms for the Apples

 

The stamped sentiment is from the Cardz TV Stamps set "Love in a Jar".  And now that you've seen my project for this week, be sure to create your own, link up and play along with us.  I can't wait to see what you make for this week's theme.

Christmas Gift Tags

This my first official "Christmas" project of the season.....the snowman globes being my first "winter" project.  lol

 

For these tags I used the shipping tags like you can buy at an office supply store and marbled them using the shaving cream technique. 

 

For my cuts I used the following cartridges:

 

Bears from Teddy Bear Parade

 

Star from Create a Critter 2

 

"To" and "From" are from Christmas Cheer

 

The stamped sentiment on the bottom of the star tags is from the Cardz TV Stamps Happy Days stamp set.  The stamp on the bear tags is from the Beary Sentimental set from Maymay Made It.

 

I love making these gift tags.  They're so easy to do and the size is perfect for all occasions. 

Snowman Globe Bowls

Here's a quick and oh so easy craft idea I found on Pintrest.....

Pull a sweater sleeve over a small ivy bowl and cut so that you have the portion that will cover the bowl.  Remove the sweater and sew the bottom closed.

 

Using black buttons sew on eyes.  For the nose you can either cut one from felt or if you can find carrot buttons use those.

 

For the mouth glue on 6 small eyelets in the shape of a smile.

 

Using either Christmas/Winter print fabric, felt or flannel cut a scarf and adhere along the bottom of the bowl.

 

Then when ready to use for entertaining or Christmas décor fill with candy canes or whatever other Christmas candies you desire.

Picture Perfect

Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone.  I don't know how many of you are celebrating by having a crafting marathon but that's what I'm doing this weekend.  We have rain, rain, and more rain so while the boys are playing video games and we're all watching football later I'll be crafting away. 

 

This morning I completed these adorable picture holders which are a variation of the original project I found over at My Creative Time.  I knew it was going to take me a while to final try my hand at it but didn't realize it was going to be a year in the doing.  Thank goodness I book marked the site so I could remember where to go.  :)

 

For my take on this project I too used the jumbo clothespin.  However, I had some stain and applied it to each of the pins before adhering my papers.  Once the stain was dry and the pins where put back together I cut strips of paper the size of the clothespin.  You can't really see the print on the paper but it's Playtime - Hide n Seek (#11512) from My Little Shoebox. 

 

I then cut my "notebook" and "graph" paper from DCWV Highschool Mat Stack at 3 1/4" x 4 1/2" and rounded off the edges.

 

The pencils were cut using Locker Talk at 3". 

 

The glasses are from the Cardz TV Stamps set You're the Man.  Once dry I added some wiggle eyes and drew on the rest of the face using my fine tip sharpie.

 

The sentiment is from another Cardz TV Stamps set called Simply Said.

 

To finish it all off I added some glossy accents to the tip of the pencil and then adhere the page to the clothespin using foam tape so as to give it that little 'pop'.

Team Pride Snowman

 

I have been playing around with the Red Heart Team Spirit yarn line a lot lately and tonight I had the brilliant idea to try making a ruffle scarf for my snowman toilet paper covers.  I wasn't sure how it would turn out but I love it.

 

What do you think?  And no, I'm not a GA fan - it just happened to be the yarn that was closest when the idea hit.

Follow Your Rainbow

This week the Cardz TV Go To Challenge is all about seeing red.  That's right this week we are creating projects with red as the main color.  Sounds easy right?  Not for me.  I put this off as long as I could because I just couldn't wrap my head around using red as the main color if it wasn't about 'love'.  Crazy I know, but eventually I got it.

 

Funny thing is the whole concept for this card came in a flash.  I pulled out my patterned papers and started flipping through until I saw this paper with all the hearts.  Right there I knew what I was going to do.  I had no idea what I was going to use for a sentiment yet, but as I went through the new Cardz TV Stamps I found this one from the This 'n That collection.  How perfect is that?

 

My cut for this card is one of the Tim Holtz Sizzix dies.  This is my first time using this cut but he too works perfectly for this one.

 

Now that you've seen my project for this week be sure to check out all of the other wonderful designs our team has created for you this week.  Then create your own, link up and play along with us.

 

I can't wait to see what you create!

He's Got the Whole World II

I had a friend ask me to make a rendition of this card I made three years ago.  Only this time she wanted one hand peach and the other in a shade of brown. 

 

So using the same cuts I did then (thank goodness for saved Cricut files and Design Studio) I recreated the card to her specifications......

 

Child's Year for the hands.  Cut twice at 3", inked and pop-dotted.

Going Places for the globe.  I cut one base at 3" in a solid blue.  Then I cut three globes at 3".  One in a water print and two in green, inked and pop-dotted the land formations.

Back to School Challenge

Happy Friday everyone.  It's almost time for school to start back in session and that means back to school challenges.  Not just challenges in finding all of the supplies on the teacher's list or the right uniforms in the right colors and sizes, but challenges in our papercrafting too.  This week Cardz TV is hosting a back to school challenge.  All you have to do is create a card, layout or project for back to school.

 

For my card I wanted something a little less traditional so I chose to go with reading as my back to school theme.  Reading is something we have to do a lot of in school and for some kids even during the summer as they tackle those summer reading lists. 

 

I used the Summer Celebrations cartridge for my cut.  The stamped sentiment is from Cardz TV Stamps set "Good Times" and for my background paper I just took a page from an old book - literally.

 

And now that you've seen my take on this challenge which I will be linking up here shortly go on and create your own so you can link up and play along too.

It's Almost Craft Show Time.....

.....so I've been giving my looms a run for their money lately getting scarves and hats all knitted up.  Tonight I wanted to get started on some more of the team spirit items and started with FSU.  Not for any particular reason other than it was the skeins I pulled from the shelf. 

 

So while my oldest son and husband sat watching Evil Dead, I sat knitting, looking up every so often.  It took me two hours to make this hat from start to finish minus the little rosette.  That maybe added in another 15 minutes.

 

Once I finished the hat I did as I usually do and took a few pictures to post on my Facebook.  Within a couple minutes one of my friends from high school hit me up saying she wanted to buy it.  Guess it's a good thing that I have more yarn and had planned to make a couple more.......

Test? Who's Got Time For That?

School is quickly approaching (one month to go) and that means it's time to start making all of those back to school projects the kids hate and moms everywhere are anxious to delve into.  Today I wanted to share a card with you.  This one focuses on those pesky tests we all love to hate, but this one is designed to have a little funny encouragement.....

For my project I used:

Locker Talk for:

the Desk cut at 3 1/2"

the Paper cut at 1"

the Pencil scaled down to less than an 1"

 

PPDU for the boy cut at 3"

 

Everyday PPD for the shoes cut at 3"

 

Plantin Schoolbook for the numbers/symbols scaled down to about 3/4" tall and welded together.

 

 

The inside sentiment says:

As long as teachers give tests, there will always be prayer in schools.

Diaper Baby - Baby Gift Basket

Happy Fourth of July Holiday everyone.....well for some of us at least.  Some of us lucky ones still have to work.  But that's okay because it means I'm gainfully employed.  ;o)

 

I wanted to share a gift basket that I made for a friend with you today.  I found this wonderful idea for making a "diaper baby" on the internet the other day and just had to give it a try.  It was so easy and I had a lot of fun making it.

 

Once I finished the baby I put my basket all together which included a onesie mini album I made a while back and having been waiting to have someone to give it to.  If you're curious as to what it looks like inside you can view that post here.

 

The card is one that I just made using the Baby Steps cartridge.  I swear that's my favorite cartridge when it comes to making baby items.  The little toy on there was put on one of those action wobbles so that it would spring around just like a toy.

 

Needless to say my friend was delighted with the basket....

Spongebob on Parade Layout

During our trip to Universal Studios we were surprised around dinner time to find that a parade was getting ready to begin.  We had no idea what cast of characters we would see but it was a parade that was sure to be fun. 

 

Unlike the parade we attended at Disney the streets were not roped off and the characters interacted with the crowd.  This parade while shorter was definitely more fun.  We saw characters from Despicable Me, SpongeBob, Hop, Dora and I forget who else.

 

During the parade there were several minutes where it came to a stop and the characters performed for those they were in front of.  I was excited to see that our performance would be by the SpongeBob characters.  It was so wonderfully refreshing to see the cast come to the sidewalk, squat down and talk with the children.  They weren't in a hurry to rush away but rather stayed and hugged, held hands for a moment and just talked with them.

 

Yes, this was definitely a better parade than the one at Disney....

Road Trip Layout

As part of our Disney/Universal Studios vacation scrapbooks I wanted to include a shot of the hotel we stayed in.  After all it was our home for a week.  Sadly I couldn't find any "map" pages of the Orlando area so I simply used what I could find.  Of course I title my post 'road trip' and really it's more of a here's where we stayed page, but road trip sounded better.  However we live about 6 or 7 hours away so there was basically one or two stops made along the way and that was for potty breaks.  That means nothing exciting about which to journal.  lol

 

For this page I used Mickey and Friends and the Mickey Font cartridges.

Blog Candy Winner

I know I'm late and I'm sorry, but the winner of the Father's Day stamp set is:

 

Yvonne Morentin  who said

My favorite dad memory... is not too long ago... my dad was waiting for my mom to make dinner (she hates to cook) and she walks into the kitchen and he asks her, "are you going to make dinner? Yes??? No??? You're not getting any???"... the whole house burst into laughter... my mom was confused and just walked away... He has been my dad since i was 7 and I never heard him crack a joke before... this was the first time... and it was hilarious...

 

Yvonne email me with you mailing address by the 23rd and I will your stamps in the mail to you.  Just click on view my complete profile and then contact me.

MIB Layout

It's been a few years since I've made a scrapbook layout.  But after our vacation to Disney and Universal Studios last month I have so many pictures to scrapbook and it's time to get with it.  With that being said this is my first layout.  While it turned out okay I can tell it's been a while.  Guess it's time to do like I used to and start looking for ideas before I create my next pages.

 

Thing about is that after my kids started "growing up" and became "too old" for the cartoon cartridges like an idiot I sold them.  And now I'm kicking myself in the butt for that decision.  I was fortunate enough to find SpongeBob on ebay though.  Now I just need to find a couple of my others and I'm golden.

 

In the meantime, I used Mini Monsters and Space Party for this layout.  I'd never used Space Party before and in fact just purchased the digital version from Cricut.com and I love it.  That alien is just too cute not to have access to.

 

Oh, if you have a layout that you've created lately be sure to go link up and play along with the current challenge over at Pause Dream Enjoy.  The challenge ends on June 23rd so be sure to link up before then.

Love......In a Jar

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope you're ready for an awesome challenge this week because the Cardz TV Stamps design team has put together some fabulous projects for you this week.  The challenge is simple, just make a card, layout or craft project using something you'd put in a jar.  See, told you.  Easy Peasy.

 

For my project I just the Doodlecharms cartridge for my jar.  Cut one cut from cardstock and another from a clear vinyl so that I could have more of an actual jar look. 

 

The hearts inside the jar were cut from the Love Mini Book cartridge during Cricut's cut it free for a week preview.

 

My stamped sentiment is from the Love in a Jar stamp set, which can be purchase at Cardz TV Stamps.  Just click on add to cart button on the right side of the page and off you go.

 

In the meantime though be sure to check out the other projects our team has created this week then create your own, link up and play along with us for your chance to win.