Paper is taking over the world.

Hi friends just a quick update on some of my storage solutions. After all the mothers day cards I made I had a bunch of housework and rest to get caught up on. I have to admit I was sort of tired of all things crafty for a a week or so. There was paper pieces every where. Ever walk through the house and then realize you have little tiny pieces of paper scraps stuck to the bottom of you feet? What a mess. It's all organized now and back to somewhat normal. This is what I did.
Part of putting it all away took some doing. With all the cards being made recently I had scraps galore. And everyone knows that even the smallest scrap can be used, besides I'm cheap like that. So whats a crafter to do? Make a scrap box of course.

 For the smaller scraps I have them organized by color and by shapes. When I cut out designs I often make mistakes,  have extra pieces, to big to small, or just doesn't look right. For the small scraps, like under 8 inches, I put them in a box. There used to be just a big pile of a mess. Now there are tabs for each color. There are also separate tabs for things like squares, circles, hearts etc. I find that I can grab them easily when I just need a small piece of a certain color. Then I put all the tabs into a photo box. It still needs decorating, but that's for another day. The box sits on my craft table, which is way to messy for me to show you.
Each tab was cut using my silhouette. Then the coordinating color inserted into the tab. It would have been a lot easier to just do some print and cuts. But not as fun!

My larger pieces are stored by color in 12 x 12 scrapbook page protectors.  Not so sure this method is going to work for the long run, but it's alright for now. I then put them into a magazine style box, more on that below.

Much better then the big pile of messy paper I had going on. This one still needs covered. 

So that's what I do with the scraps. But your asking, Tracie what do you do with the unused sheets. Well those are in my homemade magazine file boxes. I got some free flat rate shipping boxes from the USPS.  Gotta love me some free stuff. 

 I cut them into magazine style holders and then covered. I tried a few methods of covering them. All pink of course. Painting them was tedious and I needed several coats to cover up the printed boxes. The paint also weakened the integrity of the box, surprise cardboard doesn't like getting wet. But this worked the best. Sure wish I had thought of using spray paint.

 So I began covering them with pink wrapping paper. That so did not work.

The paper was easier, but I foresee them ripping in the future. The wrapping paper also bubbled heavily with the glue. Could have been that it's the cheap dollar store paper, or that I put to much glue.  Who knows. Needless to say I did not use this method for the rest of my boxes. They all need a label made for the colors they hold, but they are the basics- red, blue green, multi-colored etc.
They are all on my little book shelf for easy access. I liked them on the top shelf so I could just pull the paper out from the top without having to remove the entire box.

The bottom shelf holds my other photo boxes that I store things like glitter, glue, paint etc. For now they have little hand written labels. so much to do, so little time!

I have several friends with Birthdays this week, so I have been making a lot of cards. I can't post them yet because then it will ruin their surprise. However as soon as I give them out I'll share them here. I am using a few of the new designs. Some that I came up with, and some just regular shapes.







I Link up Here: Not just a Housewife, Clean and Scentsible,  Skip to my Lou, I Heart Nap Time, Blooming Homestead,  Alderberry Hill, Tatortots & Jello, A Night Owl, Craft-O-Maniac,  Thats whate Che Said, Crafts Ala Mode, Say Not Sweet Anne, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Mad in Crafts

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Mother's Day Card Bonanza

Mom, Mother, Mum, Mommy, Ma, Mama,  No matter which word you use be aware Mother's Day is quickly approaching so I have been busy as...well a Mom. As moms we spend all year taking care of and loving those around us so Mother's Day is a day to say thanks for all that they do. Being a Mom of four wonderful boys I know how important it is that we get a special day to be pampered and loved.  It's a day to make sure your mom knows how much she is appreciated. It's a day to be surrounded by those that we love and not feel guilty about asking for some quality time. So start planning now. Make your reservations at her favorite restaurant (FYI Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year at restaurants) gather some beautiful flowers and most important get the perfect card and write to her just how much she means to you. .

I made a easel and a stand in pink of course to display the cards for you. Aren't they nifty.

I have some more detailed cards in the works, but I wanted to post a few quick ones that I did the last couple days. I wouldn't want to overload you with to many cards in just one post.

Light pink card with some adorable flowers 

A pretty light pink one with sweet swirly flowers and some added detail of Liquid Pearls. Love that stuff! 

And a bright pink one in the same design. 

A bright and cheery one. 

A light green card with a 3D flower attached.

Last one for the day a pretty green one with a sweet little bow.

I like these cards but the next ones are more intricate and interactive. So I am still embellishing them. Can't wait to show you some of the fun new designs I made.

I'll be putting these into my store in the next few days. If you need to get one shipped before Mother's Day message me for any orders or new cards that you want.







I Link up Here: Not just a Housewife, Clean and Scentsible,  Skip to my Lou, I Heart Nap Time, Blooming Homestead,  Alderberry Hill, Tatortots & Jello, A Night Owl, Craft-O-Maniac,  Thats whate Che Said, Crafts Ala Mode, Say Not Sweet Anne, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Mad in Crafts

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Writing with the Silhouette Cameo. aka I Write Like a Serial Killer

For most people, their penmanship improves over time, but not me. Of course I have to be just the opposite. I write like a serial killer. These days, I hardly ever hand-write anything. The reason for that is because my handwriting is beyond terrible. You know it's bad when even I can't read my writing. Whats worse is that my cursive is actually better then my printing. I feel sorry for anyone who has to read anything I write. Remember when you were leaning writing skills in elementary school? We had those nifty papers with the split lines to keep us on track. Like this:

Why can't we use those as adults? It is my theory that if I could then people would actually be able to read my writing. Not too adult looking, right? Yet another reason I am grateful for computers. I find myself wanting to type out everything, even if it's just for my personal eyes.

Why am I typing this onto my craft blog? Because I love making cards for people, but hate that my handwriting messes up the pretty designs. In comes my Silhouette Cameo. I was using all the cut features for small phrases. However, what about when I wanted a nice saying inside the card? Even though the Cameo can cut small designs, it is not always possible to cut out longer things. Surprise! I am not the only one who thought this.
I found a great site that offered up an add on to the Silhouette Cameo and other die cutting machines. Amy Chomas at Chomas Creations has an adjustable pen and marker holder that can accept various sized pens and markers, then you put it in your machine instead of the cutting blade.

                                               

Awesome, right? Finally, writing that can be read. A tool that is on my crafting wish list (and believe me it's a long one).
The pen holder is beyond my means to invest in right now. So I researched other solutions.
My cheap frugal self found these.
                                            

Small pen grips that you put on pens or pencils. I got a pack of 10 and put them on some gel pens. That was the hardest part of this project. It was tough, I tell ya. I needed a cup of coffee to relax afterwards. So after you calm down, you just push them into the blade housing.

To get them to write correctly I put in a spacer popsicle stick so that the pen did not drag along the paper. Amy Chomas suggested that we use setting of a speed of 10 and a thickness of 10 when using her adjustable pen holder, so I set my machine for the same.  I found that some fonts work better then others. After like a million tests, I made a list and printed them out with my Cameo.

Oh so exciting. I'll be like a kid in a toy store playing with this.  I have included a link to the .studio file I made just in case it helps anyone who has a Silhouette. Click here for file.






I Link up Here: Not just a Housewife, Clean and Scentsible,  Skip to my Lou, I Heart Nap Time, Blooming Homestead,  Alderberry Hill, Tatortots & Jello, A Night Owl, Crafts Ala Mode

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A Split Family Tree on Canvas

Let the vinyl projects begin! I have been waiting for a shipment of vinyl that I ordered. Finally it has been received  sorted and is ready to be used. I must admit my first project was a little ambitious, maybe even a little scary. After a few mishaps it turned out great. Without making you hold onto your seats for a minute longer, I bring you a split family tree.

This is for a friend who wanted her kids names displayed on 5 X 7 canvases. Yes she has 6 kids, that's 2 more then me. I don't know how she is still sane.  I love the font that I choose. Very swirly. 

For those that are interested I finally remembered to take some photos along the journey to show you what I did. For those that aren't interested, indulge me and look anyway just for my amusement.

Here is the back of the canvases. Just simple white canvases that can be bought at any craft store. My favorite go to place is Michaels. 

 I painted the canvases with a few coats of acrylic paint in her favorite color, green. To get the vinyl to stick to the uneven surface, I also applied a thin coat of Modge Podge. The Modge Podge had to sit for a few days to cure. The waiting killed me. I mean I had all this vinyl and wanted to start cutting. 

This next step requires a little bit of additional information. I messed around with a few different vines and leaves on Silhouette Designer Edition. we wanted the vine to wrap around all the canvases.  I finally ended up with a tree design. Lovin the heats with the tree. Coming up with designs is the hardest part of crafting I think.Getting it to separate on all the canvases turned out to be another problem. No matter what I tried in the software the design always came up wonky. I asked for some help on one of the craft groups I belong to, and a lady came up with the perfect solution.  Here it is.

I used painters tape on the back of the canvases to hook them together. Genius.  

Oh how exciting, the cutting of the vinyl has began. This is the inside of the Silhouette Cameo. In short terms, it's like a printer that cuts instead of prints. 

It is next to impossible to see here, but the tree design is being cut by the blade. 

The vinyl I use come in rolls or sheets The sticky part of it is stuck to a carrier sheet. The small intricate design came out perfectly. The weeding (removal of the extra vinyl) on this one was really easy. After the project was weeded You add a transfer sheet to the front. And scrape over it to make sure it sticks. They make a transfer tape for this use, but contact paper works wonderful also. And is much, much cheaper.

With the vinyl stuck to the transfer sheet you peel off the backing and the design really shines. 

I then took the design and moved it over to the connected canvases. I used a squeegee to firmly attach it to the canvas. Even with the Modge Podge I found that the vinyl did not want to stick down and little pieces kept coming up. So frustrating. I din't let it stop me and continued anyway. 

After the vinyl finally stuck I used a X acto knife to cut the design between the canvases. I kinda feel silly that I didn't come up with this, It would have saved hours in front of my computer.

Isn't that font fabulous! Absolutely amazed by the small details that the Silhouette can cut.  With all their names applied I saw there were still little pieces of the vinyl that didn't want to stay down. Modge Podge to the rescue again. I added another coat on top of the entire design, and let cure for a few more days.

They are all ready to be given to my friend. she saw them already, so I am not spoiling the surprise. She is such a wonderful mom, and now can display he kids special names that were picked just for them. 

Linked up Here: Not just a Housewife, Clean and Scentsible,  Skip to my Lou, I Heart Nap Time, Blooming Homestead,  Alderberry Hill, Tatortots & Jello, A Night Owl, Craft-O-Maniac,  Thats whate Che Said, Crafts Ala Mode, SayNotSweetAnne, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

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Happy St. Patrick's Day

May the luck of the Irish be with you, may your pinches be few, may you find your gold at the end of the rainbow.

This week I have been so busy creating this blog, my crafting adventures were put on hold. I just whipped up a few quick things to decorate for St. Patrick's day. I do not have a wonderful fireplace mantel, so I hung a simply display shelf to display some holiday decor in my living room.

As you can see my photo skills are to say the least lacking, before you scroll further you have been warned.  I see a tripod in my distant future. For St. Patrick's Day I make a few cutouts on my Silhouette Cameo. A cute little leprechaun hat and a frame. Out of like 100 pictures the one would not come out clear. Believe or or not, this was was the clearest one. I blame it on the glass and glitter. More details can be seen in the closeups when I took them out of the frame.

My little leprechaun hat has a cute little buckle.

Since today is St. Patrick's day I thought I would remove some of the elements from the frame and wear them as make shift buttons for work. 

  

I hope your day is the luckiest ever. 

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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