Snowman Portrait

 

Happy Friday everyone!  Today I have a Christmas card that I'd like to share with you. 

 

This one features the Polaroid Pal Card Snowman from Treasure Box Designs.  Unfortunately it looks like this particular file has been retired as I could not find it when I tried to link back to it for you.  I purchased this file last year along with another one and now I'm thinking I'm glad that I did.....even though I haven't used it until now.

 

 

 

The stamped sentiment on the outside of my card is from the Winter Wonderland stamp set from My Craft Spot.  Sorry, they are no longer around either.  I also used another sentiment from this set on the inside of my card along with some of the snowflake stamps.

Spooky Greetings

Happy Wednesday everyone.  How about another Halloween card today?  This one features the fun, classic Ghostbuster design from Apex Cuttable Designs.

 

Initially when I saw this fun design I thought about making a nightlight with it.  But then I realized that doing so would prevent light from coming through since it's a layered design.   My second idea was to use this ghostbuster and the first "O" in the word Boo for a card but after a couple tries at cutting out the face I realized just how small a cut I was trying to do and my poor eyes couldn't hang.  So then I decided to use the ghostbuster as the main and only focal point for my greeting card.

 

This was a fun design to put together and I love how easy it was to do so.  Well, once I went for a size that wasn't too small for my eyes.  LOL  I think this would even be a fun one to use on a glass block or a t-shirt.  (If only my birthday would hurry and get here so I can get that heat press I'm itching for)

 

The sentiment on my card is from the Halloween Panels stamp set from Jaded Blossom.  I also used this set along with a sentiment from Pick Your Poison for the inside of my card.

 

To add a bit of "texture" to my card, I used some of the stream colored skittles from DoubleClick Connections.

Scaredy Cat

I don't know about you but my holiday weekend was full of crafting.  Guess it helps when you're not feeling well and don't want to do much of anything else.  Well that and at least one and a half days of nothing but rain.  Otherwise we'd be out running around town like no tomorrow.

 

I've been creating a lot of vinyl projects lately as you all know.  Just doing something different from always creating greeting cards.  But this weekend I made a couple of different cards and today I'm sharing one of the Halloween ones I created.

 

This one uses the recently released Scaredy Cat Shaped Card from Marjorie Ann Designs.  While I haven't created all of the shaped cards she's released I love every single one that I have created.    It's always fun to step outside of the traditional folded card and play with a new design.  And Marjorie Ann Designs has the best ones I've found.

 

The sentiment on my card is from the Frankly Frightful stamp set from Cardz TV Stamps.  Given the cat on this particular card this was of course the perfect sentiment. 

Savings Managed

 

I found a couple of these wonderful jars at my local Dollar Tree this past week and picked them up not really knowing what I was going to do with them.  After leaving them sitting on my rather messy desk/work area I finally had an idea...Why not turn them into some kind of 'bank'?

 

So off I went in search of bank ideas from which I could draw inspiration.  However, that ended quickly as nothing really appealed to me.  Then I remembered a similar project someone posted in one of my FB groups where she created a jar for saving coins for the laundry mat.  THAT was my inspiration for these jars.

 

 

Using files from two different Harry Potter FB groups that I belong to I set off making my 'bank'.  At first I tried layering the Gringotts logo onto a white background, but since it kept bubbling up on me I decided to dispense with that idea.  The verbiage I just typed out and cut in Studio.

 

Now I have a fun bank in which to store my muggle monies.  My Gringotts currency is currently set up in it's own little display case.

 

 

Unicorn Night Lights

Happy Sunday everyone.  I was recently approached by Dee over at Apex Cuttable Designs about a wonderful opportunity to partner together.  It would allow me to create projects using their designs and in return I will provide my fellow crafters - that's you - with an honest review.

 

For my first project I wanted to work with the Unicorn Cuttable Design file.  I had searched through the Silhouette store looking for unicorn files that I could use for my night lights and jar lights.  But none of the designs I saw appealed to me.  However, while looking through the designs at Apex this file said "yes, use me!" and so that's what I did.

 

Now if you haven't seen my other night lights like this (and I can't imagine that you haven't - unless of course you're new to my blog and in that case, welcome!) here's the low down on how I created these two night lights......

 

The night lights are from Dollar Tree.  They call them fashion night lights because initially the round cover has a printed graphic.  But with a minimal amount of swirling the cover around in some acetone nail polish and light rubbing with a paper towel, the graphic is easily removed.  After removing the graphic I wash my covers with dish soap and allow to dry.

 

While the covers dry I find the design I want and cut from vinyl.  (I use the permanent Oracal 651)  For these particular lights I used two different unicorns from the Unicorn Cuttable Design.  On one of the lights I also added a quote using a font called AR Cena.

 

Using two of the different unicorns in this file I found that I liked using the SVG format best.    The file included a version for Silhouette studio but the paths weren't all grouped/compounded so when I tried to scale for the size I needed I had difficulty - until I grouped/compounded.  But instead of going through all that I found that I could open the SVG file and just go for it.  The files both cut beautifully and the weeding was very easy to do as well.  And as you can see, the final result is just beautiful.  Whether lit or not the elegance of each design shows through.

 

As for me, I'm ecstatic to have found a unicorn file that I love and I will definitely be using some of the other designs included in this file (there are six unicorns included).

 

And now that you've seen my project, you really need to head on over to Apex Cuttable Designs and check them out.  They've got a lot of great designs ready for the picking.  Especially if you're like me and love to work with vinyl.  Their designs are perfect for use with the vinyl medium.  Who knows maybe, just maybe, I'll get that heat press I keep telling my hubby I want and soon enough I can start using some of these gems for shirts and things.

 

Until then though I'll keep crafting with other projects.

Elf Watching

So how about we fast forward to Christmas again and I share a fun Christmas light I created yesterday?  I had originally planned to take the day off from work yesterday to catch up on some things and as it turned out I'm home sick.  Then we thought we were going to be in the path of Hurricane Hermine but the storm started taking more of an easterly path and so we were spared.  But even with all that going on I was determined to get something created.

 

To create this light I used one of my favorite 'apothecary, style glass jars from Hobby Lobby.  These lights are so fun to create and the possibilities are absolutely limitless.  I've probably created over a couple dozen of these already in preparation for my first craft show of the season later this month.

 

Creating these lights is super easy.  You just wipe the glass down with rubbing alcohol and allow it to dry. Then you apply your vinyl design.  (I like to use permanent Oracal 651 which I purchase from Vinyl Spectrum.  They've always provided great customer service and are quick to ship.)  After that you spray with a frosted glass spray.  (I've used both Valspar and Rust-o-leum brands with great results.)

 

The design that I used for this light is titled Christmas Cutting File and it's from the Hungry JPEG. 

 

With that, I am off to enter my project into the following challenges:

Die Cuttin' Divas - Anything Goes - Ends Sunday, September 4th

Hiding in My Craft Room - Any Holiday - Ends Saturday, September 3rd

Justice League Light

Today I have another glass block light that I'd like to share with you.  This one was made using a file from one of my Facebook groups. 

 

My oldest son is a huge DC and Marvel Comics fan so when I saw this file I knew it was one I had to try.  I'm glad I did too because I love the way that the block turned out.  My only wish for something different is that I could have found a comic print fabric that had these superheroes.  I guess that's okay though because this fabric works well too.