Some Days I'm a Dog Lover

My evil cat Willow.  Need I say more?  LOL!!


Thanks for visiting!

An apple for the teacher (and my first try at designing my own sliceform!)

I wanted an apple sliceform but couldn't find a file for one so I decided to try playing with my Silhouette software and design my own.  I used an ornament design by Kenzie Daley as my inspiration because every one of her 3D designs that I've ever tried has totally rocked so I figured it would be a good example for me to start with.  The trickiest part was sizing the outside rings but even that wasn't too bad.  My apple is a little taller than 3" and ready for my daughter to deliver to her new teacher on the first day of school.

Now I need to try to create one that folds flat to tuck into a card...


Thanks for visiting!

Belated Birthday Card

I made this card for a special peep of mine who's birthday slipped by in the blur of my summer.  I found this cute sentiment from a stamp by Victorine Originals and hopefully it makes her smile and forgive me for the delay. 

She always oohs and ahhs over my crafting and makes me feel so special to the point that I get embarrassed.   Oooooh the pressure this creates!!  I hope you like what I came up with for you Crafty Peep D!





Thanks for visiting!

Shabby Chic Nesting Trays

My GIBBS Happy Mail partner this round was Tracy who wished for a tray to hold projects in progress.  I found this set of nesting trays and could not resist shabbifying them.  I started with 2 layers of light blue paint, then a coat of crackle medium and topped it off with a coat of white paint.  OHMYGOSH it was AWFULLLLL!  The crackle happened so much faster than I could keep up with and I did not get anything of the look I was going for.  The cracks were too wide and too blue!  But after another 3 coats of white paint covering up some of the blue, and a bit of light sanding on some edges, it finally looked more like my brain was imagining it would.   I also added 2 coats of mod podge to seal them and to top off the crackle struggle, temps were hovering around 100 the entire week with humidity in the upper 90% range so it took FOREVER for each coat of paint to dry, eeeek! 

I'm so excited that you can coat more than one layer of paint over the crackle medium and it will still crackle a little bit - I may be more adventurous in the future knowing this now!

I added some fancy background mats and some simple silhouette designs cut with my Silhouette.  I thought that the plain blue mats needed something more so I used one of my monster sized StampinUp! background stamps to add a white ivy pattern.  The mat design file is by Sweet Afton and the ladies are by Hero Arts. 

The larger tray has a mat design by Samantha Walker (one of my fave designers in the store!) but I flipped it upside down to fit the House of 3 bird cage design better.  I love how Silhouette has so many different and awesome designers in their store!

This was a really fun project despite the initial crackle challenge (and also having them fall off my deck railing 10' down to rocks while I was taking pics of them - good thing I was going for the distressed look, LOL!) so I bought two more sets of these trays to alter for Christmas gifts this year - heck, I may even keep one for myself!

Thanks for visiting!

Puzzle Magnets

These are some fun magnets I made for Tracy in our GIBBS Happy Mail swap.  I used self adhesive magnet sheets and attached pretty papers from the DCWV Mariposa matstack.  Then I added a protective top layer of sticky backed clear plastic sheets and ran it all through my Big Shot with a Sizzix puzzle die.  Voila!  Fun fridge magnets that can be separated and used individually or left together for a stronger hold.
 

Hmmm... maybe these are also some more teacher gift ideas...???


Thanks for visiting!

Please Excuse My Drool....

I LOOOVE this!

I NEEEED this!

I am SOOOO gonna get this!


(and to my scrappy peeps: this thing is QUIET - no more wounded moose at our crops!)


Thanks for visiting!

Surfing Dudley Get Well Card

I found something more difficult for me to make than a masculine card - a masculine card for a teenager!  Ohgosh I tell ya, I seriously almost ran to the store to buy one this time, lol! 

I used one of my favorite Dustin Pike Dudley images and I wrote a little message inside that included bits like "back on your feet" and "have a fun summer".  I colored him with my prismas and then cut a scribble frame by Samantha Walker with my Silhouette.

Do teenage boys even like cards??


Thanks for visiting!

Mini Tissue Box

When I saw this tissue box design by Lori Whitlock in the Silhouette Online Store I just knew I had to have it!  I keep a couple of the pocket size tissue packs in the center console of my car and no matter how careful I am they always get squished to the bottom.  Now I can leave them out in view, tucked into this adorable teeny tissue box cover.  It actually can hold 2 packs so I always have a backup ;)

Oooooh I just had a thought!  These might even make cute little teacher gifts to include with those cd calendars I just made, heehee!!

Thanks for visiting!

Calendar for mini cd case

A friend of mine is starting her Christmas crafts and she asked me to make her a blank 2012 calendar set that she could stamp on and put in one of those small CD cases.  After creating the calendar part using my always awesome Storybook Creator 3.0 program (I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE that software!!!) I decided to take it one step further and I made a version complete with pre-colored images by Dustin Pike. 

I am now five months early starting my holiday teacher gifts!! woohoo!! Dustin, pretty please, don't ever stop offering colored versions of your designs!

Thanks for visiting!

Happy Birthday USA!

 Have a happy and safe 4th peeps!!