NSD 2015 Challenge: Leave You In Stitches

Hi all and welcome to my blog. It's been a long time since I've posted here, but I'll fill you in on that another time.  Today, as most of you probably know, is National Scrapbook Day. Some of the Cricut Circle members and myself  have been spending the day doing some fun tutorials and challenges.  I've been spending a lot of time lately sewing, well more specifically machine embroidery, so I decided the perfect topic for me today would be stitching on your paper craft projects. I think that stitching is an easy way to add some interest to a project and also to give it a more finished appearance. Here are a few samples:

 

If you have a sewing machine and want to give it a try, here are a few pointers:
>Use a good quality, medium weight cardstock.
>A smaller needle, sz 11 or 12 works best.
>Adhere your pieces together before sewing

to prevent shifting but make sure you don't put any adhesive directly under the areas where the stitching will be. It can gum up your needle.
>Don't limit yourself to straight or even zig-zag stitches. If your machine has decorative options, give them a try.
>To prevent the stitching from coming out, pull your thread to the back side and tie it off.

 This method leaves the front of your project looking more finished without the bulkiness of back stitching.

Of course, you don't have to have a machine to sew. You can always do hand stitching or use a product such as We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy. There are also stamps available that mimic machine stitches. One of my favorite techniques is faux stitching created with a marker or pen.
 I used a white Signo Uniball pen around the edges of this card.

My challenge to you is, you guessed it, create something and put some stitching on it! It can be any project and any kind of stitching you like. (But I dare you to dust off that sewing machine and give that a try!)
You can post your project on my post on the Circle MB or, if you're not a member, you can leave a link to your project in the comments here. Please be sure to also leave me a way to contact you if you should win. The challenge will be open until 6 PM CST May 16th and a winner will be chosen by random drawing on May 17th.
 This is what you have a chance to win:

Thanks for sticking with me through this long post! It's good to be back and I look forward to getting more active on my blog again.
Here's a list of some of the other participants and their blogs. Be sure to check them out for more great ideas!
  Sara- http://sarawandrews.com/
  Colleen– http://www.scrappycol.blogspot.com/
  Francine- http://alilbitocreativity.blogspot.com/
  Erica- EKittyscraps.blogspot.com
  Heidi – http://cowgirl1hh.wordpress.com/
  Jenny- http://kozfam5.blogspot.com/

Valentine's Day Blog Hop!

 

Welcome to our 2014 Valentine's Day Blog Hop!  Today you will see lots of wonderful, creative projects just in time for Valentine's Day.  You should have arrived here from Gina Beana's Crafts .   If you are just joining us, please start at RockinRenee's blog.  There are so many great projects and I don't want you to miss a single one! 
I decided to do something different and make a shadow box.  I made a couple of these for Christmas and thought it would be fun to do one with a Valentine's theme. 

  

Here are some close ups of the different elements.

The bird cage was cut once with a glitter paper and two times with a thick card stock and all three were glued together for dimension. The bird layer was cut with the same glitter paper, then inked with red distress ink. I also added a bit of shimmer to the printed hearts with a Wink of Stella pen.

The hearts are cut from the same glitter paper as the bird cage and adhered with one or two thicknesses of foam tape for dimension. Small pearls were added to the rolled flowers centers and glass pearls were placed to the bottom of the shadow box frame as a finishing touch.
What's a hop without some candy? I have some, and to be eligible to win, just leave a comment on this post. Don't forget to leave me a way to get in touch. I'll draw a winner on Tu, Feb. 11th.

Thanks so much for joining up today and I hope you enjoyed my project for the Valentine's Day Blog Hop. Next up is the fabulous Di&Co's blog.

Supplies used:
8 X 10 Shadow box, Hobby Lobby
Printed paper by Pink Paisley
Color Core paper by Coordinations, White Wash
Cricut Sophie and CTMH Art Philosophy cartridges
EK Success Layering Heart Punch
Tim Holtz Distress inks, Barn Door and Peeled Paint
Wink of Stella Brush Pen, Glitter White

Just in case you get lost along the way, here's the line up for the hop:

1. RockinRenee - I came, I saw, I created.
2. HappyScrapper64 - Random Thoughts of a Scrapbooker
3. gonescrappin - Col's Creative Corner
4. Hrvatica  - Croation Crafter
5. Scootingranny - Scootingranny's World
6. MamaC - Carolyn's Creative Corner

7. Greenie8705 - Gina Beana's Crafts
8. MariaJ - Stamp, Cut, Create!               YOU ARE HERE!
9. Di&Co - Creating Is Like Breathing
10. Dragonfly50 - Designs by Dragonfly
11. TiffysMom - Angie's Paper Passion
12. *Violette* - Whimsical Treasures
13. cricutaddicted - ScrappingForMoreFun
14. LoriSjogren - The Singing Shell
15. Scrapalette - Around the Block with Scrapalette

Packing Up My Scraproom - Day 1

If you're wondering why I'm packing things up, you can read about it in the post just below this one.

I have a lot of work ahead of me, so the first thing I had to do was come up with a plan. Since I'll be getting everything out of the room I'm currently in, I have to find another spot for it and the most logical choice is what is now the guest room, the room my sewing stuff is in.  I have to pare down to my most needed supplies, then the rest will go in storage or, if I don't need/use it, it will be sold or donated. My sewing machines and die cut machines will be staying and I'll be using my sewing cabinet as my work space.  I have plastic bins and a suitcase that I will store things in and they will go under the bed. (Thanks to Jenny and Barbara S. from the message board for those suggestions!)  I decided to start with the closet in that room, since that's where my machines will be when I'm not using them. Unfortunately, nothing is ever as easy as it should be.

As I started pulling things out of the closet, I realized that I did not have enough boxes or bins to put things in. Also, we do not have a storage unit rented yet, so I wouldn't have anywhere to put those things after I did get them boxed up. I intended to use the room itself to store things as I went, but then my mother in law called to let us know that she and one of my husband's aunts are coming for a short visit in a couple of weeks. That means I need the room to be a room for just a while longer.

This is what came out of the closet! I sorted everything into four groups: keep here, store, sell/donate, trash. Then I put all like things together and packed them accordingly.

I ended up putting it all back in the closet, but it is organized and will be easy enough to take out and deal with it when the time comes. There are still a few small things that have to be boxed up, but that will be easy enough to do. The things in the back corner on the floor and shelf are items that I'm getting rid of. The things in the bottom picture will be stored.
While I didn't exactly accomplish what I intended, I feel pretty good about this first step. Next week when my husband gets back from his business trip we'll be getting that storage unit and then I think I'll be able to make some real progress. While he's gone I'm going to start sorting things in my scrap room. I'll keep you posted!
Accomplished: sorted and organized guest bedroom closet
Things to do: 1.get storage unit
                      2. get more boxes
                      3. survive mother in law's visit!
OK, that last one was a joke. I love my mother in law and we always have fun when we're together. I may even be able to convince her to help me pack some stuff!
Thanks for stopping by!

Warning: this is a long, pic heavy post!
I have some big news; my husband and I are moving. Well, at least we will be as soon as we sell our house. We haven't put it on the market yet though, because we have a few small projects to finish and we also have to de-clutter before we can even think about showing it. This of course means that my craft room will have to get packed up and moved, which is quite a daunting task! The room that currently houses most of my crafty belongings just happens to be the largest of the secondary bedrooms in house, and we will have to clear it out and make it look like a bedroom for showing. To say that I'm not looking forward to doing it would be a huge understatement! I thought maybe if I posted about it and shared some pictures, it would help me get motivated to actually start working on it. So, here goes.  I have a lot of stuff and I have never quite been able to organize it the way I wanted. I have started to go through it already and have some stuff set aside to purge.

This is the view into the room from the doorway. My husband made the desk that's in the center by the window. That's his side you're looking at and those are his shelves on the wall. That's pretty much all of the room he takes up! Well, maybe a small spot of the cabinet behind him.

We found this cabinet on the side of the road.  We stripped it and painted it and Tim made the top. As you can see, it holds my heat press, Ebosser and guillotine cutter. The drawers have paints and supplies for the Yudu, machine embroidery thread, washi tape and misc. tools. The shelves next to it hold some of my 6 X 6 and 8 X 8 paper pads.

And here are my 12 X 12 stacks, more 6 X 6 and loose papers. The drawers are mostly empty, I'll show you why in a minute. The wire baskets have stamps in them.

This is my big L shaped desk that Tim made for me back when I used to sew a lot. It was perfect for that, but never really has worked out for my paper crafting. I decided that I don't like having the cabinets because I can't see what I have or remember where I put anything. The shelves have more stamps, Stampin up and others that are in Iris photo boxes then stacked in plastic crates. My Cricut and Cameo are on the rolling cart, along with my Cuttlebug, more stamps in photo boxes and my Janome Mini sewing machine. My copic markers and Xyron machines are on a shelf underneath the desk where my chair is.

This is the mess that is my side of the desk! I have a small Clip it Up on the left side that has more stamps. The larger one in the foreground is one we made and it has some of my Nestability dies and embellishments. The black box on the dest was originally made for Quickcutz dies, but it hold my Distress ink pads. The black binders underneath have my embossing folders in them. There are also some Sterlite boxes with embossing powders and flock in them. There are shelves on the left side and I have boxes with adhesives, etc in them. I also have rolls of vinyl and my Copic paper there.  That pile in front of the window is some of the stuff I'm getting rid of and some packages of stuff I haven't put away yet. :/

This is the closet. Yikes! More paper, ribbon, beading supplies, Cricut cartridges and handbooks and just a bunch of other junk I thought I'd need for future projects.

And more ribbon!
But that's not the worst of it! I have so much stuff, I couldn't fit it all in one room!

My sewing stuff is in another bedroom across the hall. I do love this cabinet though, I got it from Walmart.com for $99!

Yes, there's stuff in this bedroom closet too. Fabric, yarn, patterns, thread, books and magazines. My embroidery machine is just under that bottom shelf, along with some other things.

This is the corner of the room that I've started piling things to get rid of in. The big plastic drawers have my photo lights and more Yudu supplies in them. I'm happy to say that the smaller plastic drawers are not mine! Haha!

This is the reason some of my drawers are already empty. I  invested in the Scraprack system last year to start organizing my embellishments. So far I'm liking it, but this one is already full and I need to get more supplies. I keep it on a rolling cart and right now it's in a niche in the hallway.  The second shelf on the cart has my Cricut Solution cartridges in Jukeboxes and the rest is just random stuff that I need to go through.
My plan is to start going through it a section at a time, deciding what I can't live without for the next few months, then packing or purging the rest. I'll be documenting my progress here, if for no other reason than to keep me on task. Wish me luck!
Oh, and I welcome any and all suggestions from those of you have been through this process. I've gotten a few ideas already from some the wonderful ladies on the Cricut message board. I will definitely be implementing a few of them.
Have a wonderful day and if you read all the way to this point, I thank you!

You Had Me at Bacon

Bet that title sparked your interest! A few months ago Simon Says Stamp released a stamp set called Sizzle On designed by Kelly Purkey.  I don't know why, but I felt the need to own it, and this weekend I actually used it.
The past week on the Circle board we've been having a  "debate" over which image on the new Charmed cartridge is cuter, the pig or the bear. It has turned into a fun contest and challenge.  So far, despite some claims to the contrary, I believe the pigs are winning! Here is my contribution:

The printed papers are from October Afternoon and DCWV. The heart border is a Martha Stewart punch. Piggy is from the Charmed cartridge and the stamped sentiment from Simon Says Stamp. If you want to check out the stamp set, you can find it HERE.
Thanks for Stopping by!

Christmas in July Blog Hop - Anything Goes!

 

 Welcome to the Christmas in July Blog Hop, hosted by Scrapalette. This has been a month of  hops, with a different theme every Saturday. Today is the fourth and final Saturday of this hop, and the theme is anything goes.  If you're following the hop then you should have arrived here from the super talented Sis's blog. If you just happened upon my blog today and would like to start at the beginning, just go to the wonderful Scrapalette's blog. Also, Scrapalette is offering a prize for the hop. . .a Christmas Village cart and a she'll be doing a drawing from all the entries from all the weeks for a Christmas {Noel} solutions cart!

For my project today I made an Advent calendar that is also a banner. To do this I needed a small box that could be hung from the garland I use to decorate my mantle. I found the perfect box on the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More 2 cartridge. It's the cone box that is found on page 63 of the handbook. I love the triangular shape of it and it already had the little ring at the top for hanging. I cut 25 of the boxes at 5" using a variety of printed paper from the K & Co. Yuletide paper pad.

This is the cut image before folding. I used 1/4" Scor-tape on the flap to glue it together. The great thing about the TBB&M cartridge is that it makes the score marks for you. Simply cut your image first, hit the load mat button again, change to the Cricut Scoring blade, then use the shift feature of the image you cut. Perfect score marks every time. You can also use your regular blade, just adjust it down to 1 and adjust your pressure setting down. It may take some trial and error to get the right settings though.

I used Mini Monograms for the scallop portion of the number tag. They were cut at 1 1/4". The number part of the tag was made on my Silhouette using their sketch pens. I placed them on the boxes with pop dots. Lastly, I added some small bows to the tops of the boxes. 

I think this will be a fun addition to my usual Christmas decor!  I'll be sure to post pictures of them in December when the decorating is done. In the mean time, they store flat so I won't have to worry about them taking up a lot of space.

I hope you enjoy my project and that you will continue on the hop with us. The next stop is the fabulous Laura at Cool Beans by LB.

Ooh, I almost forgot, I have candy! For a chance to win this cute My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland collection, just leave a comment on this post. I'll announce the winner on Th, August 1st!

 Thanks for stopping by!

Hello Summer!

Hi all! I hope you are all having a wonderful Summer so far. Mine has been good, not too crazy yet. Although I don't have kids at home anymore, I do keep my grand kids, (I have four now, ages 10 months to 5 years!) so they have me pretty busy. Next week we are heading back home to Florida for a week and I am really looking forward to getting away for a bit and to just sitting on the beach!
Lately I have rediscovered my stamps and have been playing around a lot with coloring. Today I'm sharing a couple of cards I've made.

This one is an stamp set from My Favorite Things. I did stamp the image twice, once on Copic X-Press for coloring then again on polka dot paper so I could fussy cut her bathing suit. The Hello Summer sentiment and tab are from the Silhouette Studio and cut with the Cameo.

This is one of my favorite new stamps! It's from Bug a Boo designs and I think is just really fun! I finally used some of the spool of Airmail twine I bought a few years ago, still don't know why I thought I needed a whole spool of that, but oh well!  The twine was had a white thread in it, which I didn't think looked right with the darker paper, so I darkened it up a bit by dying it with Antique Linen Distress ink. You can do this simply, and with any ink refill, by adding a few drops of ink to a little water then placing the twine in the mixture. I like to use a small zip lock type plastic bag for this. Mix it around until you have the coverage you want, then take the twine and wring the excess liquid out and let it dry. This same method works for the bias tape ribbon as well.
Hope you enjoyed today's post and enjoy the rest of your day.
Thanks for stopping by!