Altered Acrylic Frame

This was another gift I did for Christmas this year and I got the idea from the Splitcoast Stampers website. I made several for my mother and sisters in law and was in such a rush to get them sent out that I forgot to take pictures! Grrr! This is one that I made for my friend's mother and fortunately, I didn't have to mail it!

The frames are 5 X 7 and are from Dollar Tree. I cut a piece of paper to size and slid it inside the frame. The outer frame was created on the Gypsy by using a frame from Art Philosophy and welding a border image from Ribbons and Rosettes to the top. I added a piece of ribbon and lace to the top before adding the calendar, which I purchased here. The pen holder was created by folding a piece of 1/2" X 6" strip of paper, gluing it together leaving a loop on the end, then gluing it to the frame before adding the Post-It pad. I stamped the sentiment, from Hero Arts, on the top Post-It then adhered the pad to the frame with the ATG.  The flower pot image is from the Bloom Lite Cartridge. I used different images and made the outer frames slightly different on each of them. You'll have to take my word for it about how cute they all turned out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Gift Project: Grocery Bags with the Yudu

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Ours was great, but I am still in awe about how quickly it came and went. I was busy up until the last minute making gifts and baking so I didn't get a chance to post some of the things I made this year and I guess it's not too late to do it now. Sometime this summer I came across a site that sells blank grocery bags and thought of using the Yudu with them. (The city I live in is actually contemplating banning plastic grocery bags, so these would come in really handy here.) Anyway, my original intent was to personalize sets of them to give as gifts, but I waited too long to actually start working on them, so I did two more generic designs, using one for each side of the bag.

This is the biggest project I've done with the Yudu, and now I feel like a pro! (not really) The design had to be created so that it would fit between the raised areas on the bags where the straps are sewn down. Then the hard part was making sure each bag was put on the platen just the right way. I got smart after pulling the first bag and marked  the Yudu with painters tape so I would know exactly where to line the top and bottom centers of the bags. I had a few that went astray, but overall they came out like these. Also, since I was working between the two raised areas, I found it easier to pull from side to side rather than top to bottom.
The design on the left is from Word Collage and done in Brown Yudu paint. On the right I used images from Home Accents (apple and pear), Gypsy Wanderings (cupcake) and Stretch Your Imagination (ice cream). The paint color is Putty. The images were cut with vinyl then placed on transparencies which were used to burn the screens. I'm sure there is an easier way to do that step, but it works well for me.
I ordered the bags here and must say that I was pleasantly surprised with the quality. They are well constructed and even came with the rectangular rubber pieces to put in the bottom of each bag. I ended up with 32 screened bags when it was all said and done and used 25 for gifts. The left overs were ones that I deemed unworthy of gift giving, but will probably use myself. I gave sets of 5 to each of my kids and my friend's daughters along with gift cards to their favorite stores. Not too bad of a gift idea, if I do say so myself!
Thanks for stopping by!

Some Tees with Heat Transfer Vinyl

Hello. Are you ready for Christmas? I'm almost there, just have to make a couple of gift card holders, oh, and pick up the gift cards. Having a birthday in the family just before Christmas really throws me off. Gigi had a great party though, and she loved her tutus. I wanted to share some T-shirts that I  made for her too.

 

The crown image  is from the 3 Birds on Parade cartridge and it's made with Tulip Glitter iron on vinyl. The scallop oval is from Lacy Labels and is made with white heat transfer vinyl. I added some heat set rhinestones from Imaginesce to some of the scallops.

For this shirt I used Office Depot brand ink jet printable iron on vinyl. It was printed with the Imagine and the pattern is from the Santa's Village cart. Joy is from Create a Critter. After I ironed it on I outlined it with Tulip Glitter fabric paint. The bells are from Joys of the Season and are cut from the Tulip glitter vinyl. I tied the ribbon in a bow and tucked the ends under the bells before I ironed them on. I then hand stitched the bow to the shirt.

It's been a very crafty Christmas for me and I have several projects to post about, if  I can manage to get photos taken! In the mean time, thanks for stopping by. 

A Onsie with the Yudu Mini!

Hi everyone! It's been rainy and yucky here for the past couple of days (and I'm not complaining because we really need the rain here in Central Texas) and for me that's just perfect for staying in and getting some crafting done. My best friend's daughter had her first baby, a girl, last Wednesday and I decided to make a few things for her. I've had the Yudu Mini for a couple of months and haven't really used it much, just to practice on the cards that came with it really. Anyway, after seeing Nadia's post here I decided to give it a try. If you don't know who she is, Nadia is one of the most amazing crafters ever! I don't think there's anything she can't do and isn't good at. She always shares her hard work and  gives great directions. I'm so glad I read them because I'm sure it saved me a lot of frustration.
So, I also have the large Yudu  and I have used it a few times with some success. The most worrisome part for me is burning the screen and just hoping it comes out right. I think it's because the emulsion sheets that came with the Yudu were not good, they had been exposed or something, which of course I didn't know until I used them and my screen did not burn properly. When I got some new sheets and tried them, they worked great and I've been able to do a few small projects. I've also tried the liquid emulsion and like it too. Anyway, for me, there is such a sense of relief when I rinse the screen after burning it and the image comes out exactly as it should!

The blue tape on the sides is to cover the part of the screen that doesn't have emulsion sheet on it. If you don't cover it you'll have lines of paint where the bare screen is. The small piece of blue tape is covering a spot that I scrubbed off on top of the Y.

And here's the finished product. It came out perfect! I did do a couple of trial runs on an old T-shirt and I'm glad I did. It helped me figure out how much paint to use and how much pressure to use when I pulled the paint. Also, I was originally using a darker purple but discovered I didn't like it so much for a baby, so I chose this Lavender color instead. I was trying to think of some other embellishment to add to it, but in the end decided to leave it as is. Then, we made a quick trip to Walmart last night and I found these little pants that matched perfectly.

Isn't it great when things turn out like that? Little by little I am getting over the intimidation of using these machines. I have another project I'm working on using the big Yudu that I hope to finish and share with you soon.
Thanks for stopping by!

Sophie Blog Hop

Hello everyone!  Welcome to the Sophie Blog Hop hosted by Michele. If you're following the hop then you arrived here from Megan's blog. If you just happened by today and would like to start from the beginning, please go to Michele's blog. 
As you probably guessed, this hop will feature projects made using the Cricut Circle Exclusive cartridge Sophie.  This is the first cartridge of the Circle's second year and all of the bloggers today are Cricut Circle members. The Sophie cartridge is very versatile with some great images. It also has options for making cards, doilies and bookmarks.
For my project today I decided to make a set of Christmas cards using the Christmas tree image, which is the last image on the cartridge.  The booklet gives suggested cut sizes, but I wanted all my cards to be A2 size (51/2 X 41/4) so I used the Gypsy to make them that size.

The card on the left was made using the Card 1 feature. The second was created using the negative image from that cut.

This was made using the Card 3 feature. The tag is from the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge, another favorite of mine.

This last one is my favorite, and I used the doily feature for the tag background. The tree is the main image, but I just used the bottom layer. 

If you have any questions about specific items on the cards, please ask. I didn't put all the details because I was worried that this post would be too long!
For today's hop, I will be drawing two names for blog candy. The first person will receive the Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather Stamps made by Unity Stamp Co. The second will get the Cricut Winter Lace seasonal cartridge.

 Simply leave a comment for a chance to win. You do not have to be a follower of my blog to enter, but I sure would love it if you were. Please also leave a way for me to contact you.

Thank you so much for hopping with us today. I hope you see some projects that will inspire you. Up next in the hop is Brenda's blog.