Men are Tough

Have you ever noticed how difficult men can be? Not they themselves, but rather making stuff and buying stuff for them. I have four boys of my own, and I have ALWAYS had a hard time buying for them. Take Christmas stockings. Do you know how few items there are for men that can fit in a stocking? Easter baskets, ya ain't happening there either. Girls on the other hand are easy. Makeup, earrings or any jewelry for that matter. We have all sorts of little things that can fit into the smallest spaces. Anything for the male species that is small enough to fit is expensive stuff.

And if I thought buying stuff for men was hard, making stuff for them has turned out to be even harder. Once again, us females are easy. Slap a flower on it, add a few swirls and pretty colors and we are happy. Boys, what do we have to deal with? Tools, video games, and plaid or blue paper?  Whats fun about those?
I have asked my boys a thousand times, "What can I make for you?" I always get the same response, nothing! Nothing! Come on I want to craft and will come up with just about any excuse to do it. My friends have got to be sick of me talking about crafting, getting homemade stuff, and me asking them "what can I make for you?" Thankfully, us girls always something we need or want.
So whats a girly girl to make for a guys birthday? Well, I made a card recently for a young man I work with. Being from separate generations, and knowing him for only a short time it was a hard decision  In the end I came up with music as my theme.

A little closer

The cuteness of this card is the inside.  I made a pop up out of a piano. I know right. 

The side views are much easier to see. 

 I trimmed it with a little music paper to add some details.

For such a hard subject of men it turned out nice I think. Please leave me a comment below of what you think? 

Next posting already in progress. A vinyl canvas project. Awesomeness!








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Aloha card and a purple dresser.

Aloha Friends, I hope your Spring is starting off bright and colorful. I love the colors of spring, so much better then the natural colors of fall, and I am so over the green and red everywhere for the Christmas season. Spring colors are more my type with the pinks and purples. And I loves me some Pink!!! However, this post is brought to you by the color Purple. It is one of the favorite colors of a friend who deserved a special gift and card.

She is Hawaiian, so I thought it only fitting that I should try to do her card in Hawaiian language. According to her I didn't butcher it to bad. But it could have been better.  There is a reason they say it is easier to learn a new language when you are young.
Here is her card front with a couple hibiscus flowers.

Hau' oli la Hanau means Happy Birthday. Google is a fabulous thing, but honestly I have no clue how to break it down further. For any more Hawaiian cards she said the la should have been with the Hanau, so I assume it is Hau' oli for Happy and la Hanau for Birthday.

Here is the inside.

 May e pomaika'i o Akua means May  many Blessings and fond memories fill your day.  Beyond knowing what it means, I am no help on any of the breakdown there. And I just had to have some Spring elements in there with more flowers and butterflies. The Pop up Spring card from the online store was perfect. So I left it how it was and just cut out the saying along with it.
For the envelope I needed a quick cute design so I used some balloons.

When I saw the Chest Out Of Matchboxes design on Artfully Amusing I knew I just had to make one for my friend. I am always looking for new things to make.  Here is my version with her cute little bag.

Originally I wanted to make the matchboxes out of my designer paper and Silhouette Cameo, but as usual I waited to long and had to buy the matchboxes. With the extra inking of the edges and adding paper to the fronts, I think it would have been easier to make them from scratch after all. Live and Learn.

For the drawer pulls I had also had a live and learn moment. I had some beautiful beads strung for the drawer pulls, but had to clip them off because they were to long and interfered with the drawers closing. I think they turned out ok even with the single bead. 

 I trimmed all the sides with a really tiny purple ribbon just to cover up some of my imperfections. Note to self, get a glue pen. It's really really hard to get the glue onto these little spots without it gooping all over. 

It needed some detail on top. I mean really who has a dresser with nothing on it. So I attached a micro photo of her in a frame and added her initial to the back. I hope she can use this on her actual dresser. I thought it would be adorable to put her earrings in. 

Now everyone go outside and enjoy some spring time fun.

Tracie

Linked up Here: Not just a Housewife, Clean and Scentsible, Sugar Bee Crafts, Home Stories a to Z, Skip to my Lou, I Heart Nap Time, Blooming Homestead,  Alderberry Hill, 52 Mantels, Craft o Maniac , The 36th Avenue

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Spinning Fun

Oh my! Leave it to me to start this blog, then be to busy and tired to post anything for a few weeks. Sad when I can't get time or energy to do what I love. On top of work, it was also Spring Break for a few of my wonderful boys. Their colleges had Spring break a week apart, so they didn't get time together, but I got in some good one on one time with them. In a house with four kids, alone time with mom does not happen often.
I am all rested up and the crafting has begun again.  Lots of Birthdays are happening for my friends. So I hit my Silhouette Cameo to make some gifts and cards.
For my first card, I wanted to try something new. I saw a wonderful post on the Clever Someday blog for a spinner card and she was kind enough to share her Studio file.  After some editing, I combined it with an adorable monkey from Katie W. Designs (the file was from KaDoodle Bug Designs, but they no longer carry Katie W. Designs, so sorry no link).

Oh nooooo ! He flips and turn upside down   

All the way to the other side. 

Isn't that just the cutest thing. At least until you get to the inside. Birthdays and cake go together like... well like Birthdays and cake. I attached a adorable giant pop up for the inside.

And then attached the cute Katie W. Designs cupcake and balloons so they wouldn't go to waste.

I am so enjoying having my Silhouette Cameo. It can do just about everything  Now if I could only get it to cook me dinner.
My photo skills are getting better. I see a light box being built in the near future. I'll be sure to post it here as well.

Tracie

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Exploding Tealight Box

Birthdays were made for crafts

A very sweet friend of mine celebrated her Birthday this week, so whats a crafty girl to do? Make a gift of course. I knew I wanted to make something on my Silhouette Cameo. What is a Silhouette Cameo you ask? Only the best invention since sliced bread. Basically it is like a printer that you hook up to your computer, however, instead of just printing it cuts. For the most part I have just been working on simply cards and Holiday decorations. The Cameo also cuts vinyl, can you say wall art, tumblers, and rhinestone shirts! The possibilities are endless.

For my friends Birthday I played around with a couple card designs, but I wanted to take my Silhouette Cameo skills to the next level. Enter the exploding box! Don't be afraid, this isn't a Macgyver post. I modified the Scalloped Exploding Box from the Silhouette Online Store. I love all the 3 D shapes they have. This one is by Snapdragon Snippets LLC. They have some great designs, but I wish they would make it easier to find out how to put them together. Please forgive some of my blurry photos. I may have had just a bit to much coffee before taking the pictures. I won't keep you in suspense any longer, here it is.

It started off as just the box with the individuale pages inside that I thought I could add a few of her pictures to.

But I thought well now I have to figure out something to put in the box. Hmmm... a cute animal cutout, candy, jewelry, oh no my friends every Birthday needs a cake. I then made a adorable 3D cake for it. Along with some cute little balloons and presents floating in mid air (with the help from a little wire).

It needed something more though. Whats a cake without candles? BORING. My cake and box are made out of paper and card stock though, in comes the flame-less tea light candle.

And here she is. I can see many more of these being made in my crafting future. I hope my friend enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it.
Stay tuned, tomorrow is vinyl day! Yippy

Tracie

Linked up at: The DIY Showoff

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