Subway Art

Forgot to post this!  I made this for Jerri Ann.  We had seen some at a craft show and I told her I thought I could do it myself.  It took me a month to find all the fonts or fonts that matched closely.  I don't care much for the frame but needed something and this was the best I could find around here.  Randy is going to make her a better one...one that looks more rustic and wider. I made a lot for her this Christmas...made this, made a shelf out of the window topper like I made last year for my woman exchange gift and a wall board that holds 2 jars with sphagnum moss and little daises in them.  I didn't get a photo of either of these...but maybe I'll get one when I'm at her house.

This is the last post for today...scroll down....there are two more post!

and, as usual, it looks much better in person than I can capture with my camera!  The background is solid black with a floral texture layer blended on top.  Gives it a much nicer look than plain black does. The only thing I'd like to have done different was printed on matte paper and had non-glare glass in the frame but when you put things off till the last minute, you have to work with what you have!  Especially if you live in the sticks like we do...LOL  I also think it would look nice on canvas...might have to try that if I can find some canvas cheap.

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Bulldog Football 2012

I can't believe how big he looks in this photo.  This was his last year to play football and he cried buckets after the last game of the season. He really, really loves playing it.  His school does not offer football at this time. They are debating on starting it but its a ways down the pike for now.  Hopefully, by the time he gets to high school, the sport will be added. 
Jerri Ann didn't want to pay the price for the photos that they take each year, so I took these after the season was over and before he had to turn his uniform back in. I've been printing all afternoon....just can't seem to get the print out right.  I have finally figured out to change my print driver from Epson Vivid to Adobe RGB and it seems to match my screen much better now.  Not perfect, but I can live with it! 

Scroll down..I posted twice today!

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Birthday Hoots

Had to throw this together this morning as the hubs is celebrating his 59th birthday today.  He almost made a Christmas baby but held off a day!  I fell in love with this card a long time ago and have had it pinned to my board.  I knew it was too girly for a man but I thought I could man it up a little to make it work.  I pretended that I had forgot his birthday this morning so I would have time to make the card after he left for work. He's been home for the past 4 days so I couldn't get one made.  Anyway, its not outstanding but it will work for short notice!  He'll love the wording inside...nope, I'm not adding that!  LOL...
Cardstock is AC and the owl is from KPM Doodles.  The twine and heart button are from Wally World and the font is Amanda's hand.  I don't care for the tag but have run out of time...he'll be here in about 30 minutes. I ran the brown stock through the cuddlebug for the line embossing and then distressed the edges.  Added white gel pen stitches around the owl.

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Christmas Tags and Projects

These are the tags I made for Jerri Ann and I....I used the Penquins for the kids and she used the tree ones for her neighbor gifts.  She gives her neighbors some of her canned vegetables in baskets.

These were all cut on the Silhouette....the penguins were purchased off 2Peas and were drawn by Hero's Arts.  I didn't like the way the reds came out of the printer so I colored the hat band and scarf with my markers.  Added a pearl to the hat top and I didn't do it on these tags until after I had taken this photo but I put a white dot in their eyes and a tiny bit of pink to their cheeks...really made them stand out better.The paper I used was AC cardstock for the white, and the pattern paper was from Echo Park.  Made the tag myself and added some rhinestones to the tree and crystal lacquer to the star. 

I used paper from Pink Petticoat for these tags.  I really love the kraft/white look.  You get 6 or 7 different designs in white or cream.  The tree is paper from Cosmo Cricket.  Again, these were designed and cut on the Silhouette...very classy, don't you think?  Added green rhinestones and glitter to the star and some twine for the hanger.  I need to make some of these up for next year for me to use.

These were nothing special...I purchased the cut files from the Silhouette Online store and just assembled with paper.  These all hold the gift cards I got for the Chicago crew. The Santa's used all AC cardstock and I ran the beard, hat brim and mustache through the Cuddlebug with the swirls embossing folder.  The deer tag used more of the Pink Petticoat kraft/white paper with the deer cut out twice using brown and tan paper from my stash.  I then layered the antlers behind the deer head and gave it all a bit of distressing. Used some twine for the 'gift card' tag and around the outside of the pouch.  This holder has a tag you can pull out but it wasn't designed to hold a gift card. I added 'slots' to the tag so when you pull the tag, the gift card comes with it.  The present is another cut file that I used blue paper that I printed off first cause I wanted an inside and an outside.  The paper is from Michele Coleman called Winters Song. The silver is some more of that stash of mine that has been hiding in my cabinets for years...LOL  Which reminds me...I want to order some glitter paper.

And next up is the Christmas stockings I made for us and Jerri Ann, Randy and Gavin.  I had seen this idea on Silhouette Blog and she did it to make a garland for her tree.  I saw it as a tag for our Christmas stockings.  The stockings are made out of burlap and lined and cuffed with some linen material.  All purchased from Wal-Mart.  I had quite a time trying to figure out how to line and cuff with no seams showing but finally figured it out, after ripping out seams a couple times...LOL...The only thing I would have done differently was giving the burlap a layer of interfacing.  I think it would have made it easier to sew and gave it much more polished look in the end...but, its too late now and they still look good on the mantel.  I guess I need to purchase some of that Fusible interfacing to have on hand.
The tags were cut on the Silhouette in the star shape with Pink Petticoat Kraft/White paper.  I made the linen circles by hand basting and gathering and then cut the circle with some music paper from Glitz, I think....not sure as I forgot to tag it in my Silhouette program. Then I cut the initials on the Silhouette, ran them though my Xyron to add sticky and added the glitter...Once I had them glittered, I gave them a couple coats of Spray sealer so the glitter wouldn't fall off.  They were all attached together with glue dots but not too sure they will hold up on the material.  I need to find some glue that adheres material to paper but didn't have time to research and get it in now. I tied twine off the point of the star and they are held onto the stockings with clothes pins that I added glitter too in the same manner as the initials. They look awesome hanging together off the mantel!

And the last thing I'll be sharing today is the birthday card I made for Brenda.  My Silhouette has gotten a work out the past month.  I can venture to say that I think I definitely know how to run it now...LOL
Cut the snowman out of AC cardstock after printing with Pink Petticoat kraft/white paper.  Used some paper from my pattern folder in the Silhouette Studio for the hat and gloves and plain brown AC cardstock for the arms.  I added a small round pompom to the top of the hat and glittered the blue spots in the hat and gloves. The banner was made with more paper from my patterns folder in Studio and I mirrored them all above and rotated them so I could fold it in half and hang on my embroidery floss.  Cut the little letters and glued them to the banner tags and then added glitter to them.  The scarf is some felt from PaperTrey Inc and the little rose is from a kit I got to make a bracelet with.  I think it came as a surprise grab bag from My Craft Channel.  Finished it all off with hand drawn eyes, mouth and nose and attached the back of the card with scor tape behind the hat.  Too stinking cute!!

That's All Folks.....

Don't forget to click on the images and view image, larger....gives a much, much nicer view of the projects!!


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Winter Storm Christmas 2012

Batten the hatches, tighten the sails.....wind advisory in the mid states!  And that is putting it mildly.....the winds have blown over everything outside, the snow is stuck so tight to the windows, I can't see out and its cold as ice! How much snow did we get?  Who knows...in places its bare...other places is a good 6 feet deep!  Yipppeeee....so glad I didn't have to get outside today!  The Christmas lights were on early this am so won't be on tonight and it's too dang cold and windy to mess with them now.  They will just have to wait till tomorrow!

I'm ready....gifts are wrapped, projects are done and house is almost cleaned up.  I have a beauty appointment in the morning and then I'm coming home to start some baking.  The kids are coming this Sunday, so Christmas will be early for the Axtell household.  I can't wait!

Will be posting images later today...if I get the house done.  But...no images of the snow storm....camera and camera operator can not function outside today!

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Snaps of Christmas around the house

Needed to take a few snaps of some of my Christmas decorating to show you and it will also help me remember how I did it all when it's time to do it again next year.

Bowl of pine, mercury glass and acorn ornaments on the coffee table in the living room.

Tree in the living room decorated with copper, white, gold and silver ornaments.

Snap of one of a few new ornaments this year for the living room tree.

Bread bowl with pine, red, green and lime ornaments as a center piece on the table in the sun room.

Lantern on the buffet in the sun room. That plaid ribbon drove me nuts with all the glitter. I still have it everywhere even after the sweeper has been run several times but it's beautiful and I love it.

A fake place setting in the sun room......Fake because I need to wash all the glitter from that ribbon before anyone can eat off of them.

Santa is coming...you better watch out!

LOL....took a minute to take a shot of one of my favorite Santa ornaments. I have a full tree of them but only about a half dozen of them get to be called favorites. This guy happens to be one of them.

Basically, my count down is 8 days till Christmas....we are doing Christmas with Jerri Ann and family on the Sunday before. Am I ready? NO...not even close. But, it will come and go, just like it does every year and I'll complain that I didn't get to do all the things I wanted to do or enjoy the holiday as much as I'd like. And, again, I'll swear next year will be different and it never is....go figure! Taking time out today to watch Gavin play basketball. I just might drive around tonight and take in the Christmas lights.

Be sure and click on the image to get the full size view...its much, much better.  I wish they would make the preview images in better quality. 

 Looks like blogger has changed things up again!

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Christmas Card 2012

I am so glad the last of these are done.  I ended up mass producing 58 of them with envelopes.  The envelopes gave me a fit!  The first one I worked on for most of a full morning, only to print and cut it and it was WAY to small...guess I didn't know what a Baronial envelope was.  I bought the file and just printed and cut it to the size it was....back to the drawing board!  LOL The envelope you see here was by Lori Whitlock and it fit my card perfectly.  I had to do some tricking to the program to get that diamond paper to only print on the flap.  It wanted to fill the whole envelope.  It took all day to do the envy's.  I had to wait forever on my printer as its on the network and doesn't like being used...I'd type in my address, send it to the printer, wait for the dialogue box to come up (long wait) and then wait on it to 'send'...once it was sent, it didn't take any time at all to print and it all cut perfectly on the cutter. I started this printing process at 11:00 am and the last envelope came out of the printer at 4:30...(58 envelopes)....took less than 45 minutes to load each one of them in the cutter and cut them out.  Too bad my printer doesn't work as fast.  I really want to buy new wireless one but can't afford the 400.00 right now.  My HP is wireless but its only letter size and I needed the wide format for this project. Some day...

The card and envelope were designed completely in Studio Design Edition.  The paper is from Designs by Dani from her A lot like Christmas kit.  The snowflake and ornament were from the Silhouette store and were designed by Samantha Walker...I think....I know the ornament is by Samantha but in my mind the snowflake is by Lori Whitlock.  The Silhouette did a great job of printing and cutting. I can not image doing this with scissors anymore.  It took forever to cut the snowflakes but was well worth it cause they really set the card off.  I added glitter glue to them after they were cut. The sentiment banner I made myself.  Designed in the program and then sent it to the printer and cutter. 


I'm sorry I've rambled on and on and still haven't made any sense but here is the card!  If you have any questions, just ask....maybe I can answer better than explaining...LOL

2 year Planner

Needed to make a quick small gift for a friend and I know she loves and uses these 2 year planners. So I knocked this out pretty fast. Used digital scrapbook kit Memory Lane from Shabby Princess. Made the

clock and back banner tag myself but used her hands on the clock.

If you make one make sure it measures 7  3/8 x 6 3/16 or (7.375 x 6.1875) to get it to fit right.

Christmas tray

Photo tray for Christmas. Aren't those Carolers cute? Love that bustle. Everything cut out with the Silhouette and the Sunday paper. I do love this tray but I never use it as a tray just to look pretty. I'm still looking for one for you.

Salt & Pepper Chalkboard Printable

I really like all the chalkboard items floating around on Pinterest, so I had to give it a try. This is a cover for the little salt and pepper set that you pick up at the grocery store. I downloaded the chalkboard background from the web but I can't remember where. I'll find it later and give credit.
I'm sure you will notice that both of my shakers are pepper....Why I ended up with 2 peppers I'll never know but it will do for this snap. I'll pick up a new set on my next trip for grocery.
Just print cut and enjoy.

Card Assembling Day

Am I nuts or what?  It took me almost a full day to design my card, another full day to cut it all out and now it will take me most of today to assemble them all. Then I still have to address, stuff, stamp and mail....and to think I could have just got to the store, bought a $5.00 box of cards and been done in one day.  I guess the 'crafting' is bred into my blood!  I do enjoy it through and it gives me lots to do.

Again, this whole card was designed and cut by the Silhouette.  The snowflakes were the hardest for the machine to accomplish.  I cut 25 flakes at a time and it took the Cameo an hour and 15 minutes to cut the full sheet but they are so lovely and delicate.  I had to put in a brand new blade and I used my newest mat so the paper would really stick tight.  You can't see it in this picture but the little limbs have tiny stars on the ends.
I hope to have a completed card to share tomorrow.

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Count Down to Christmas

Here it is....I finished up and mailed the grands this am and Gavin got his last night.  It wasn't much but I think the kids will like flipping the numbers. I don't know what I'm going to do when the grands outgrow my hobby!!

All the paper is digital that I took into Design Studio.  I really like using it this way because I don't waste ink printing out a whole sheet just to cut a tree or star or .....you get my drift?  I saw this idea on another blog where she made it to be clipped onto a large clothes pin and I just adapted it to sit in the easels that we use to hold the monthly subway art. It is 4 layers thick.  I mounted 3 layers of the printed cardstock and then mounted it all on some chipboard I had saved from some shirts I'd purchased.  Gave it a nice sturdy feel but wasn't too thick to use my bind it all on. I still need to master the Bind it All...just can't get the coil bindings to curl properly and the instructions are pretty limited on which way to put the coil on the item or in the machine. As you can see, the numbers don't hang real straight but it could be my coil needed to be bigger.  I printed a 0, 1 and 2 for the first stack and then 0-9 for the second.  Basically, it is only good from Dec. 1st to the 25th.  The tree is a shape from the Design Studio.  I ungrouped it and then printed it out with 2 different patterns and one white and then layered it all with dimensional's.  Add glitter to the star and then just added some red pearls for the ornaments.  The Santa was from a kit made my Echo Park.  Did a print and cut and then added rhinestones to the bottom.  The whole layout was created and designed in Design Studio, printed out on the computer and then cut with the Silhouette.  I am so glad my scissors are getting dusty....LOL....

The first one is the one I made Gavin and my intentions was to just make an identical one for the Chicago grands but I ended up changing the paper and then my reds were too muted for the white so I grunged it up a lot. I think I like the second one best but I seem to like old, grungy items.

Now to get started on those Christmas cards!!

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Sympathy Card

I really hate making these kinds of cards but it seems like I'm needing more and more of them.  I need to spend a week making up a batch to have on hand.  I saw this card with the dogwood and branches on a website and looked and looked for a digital image that would resemble the stamp but didn't find anything.  So...I grabbed my pencil and drew what I thought would pass for acceptable.  Its not great but doesn't look too bad.  The background paper is from AC, the silver is some I've had for eons.  My first thought was too just use it to see how the branches printed off and I liked the look so well, that I just kept it.  I did a double cut of a few of the leaves to hang over the frame.  The frame was a SVG cut I had in my stash when I still used the Cricut.  The font is Great Vibes.  The black rhinestones I picked up at the convention and wish I'd spent more money at that booth.  They were selling a huge sheet of rhinestones for $1...I got about 6 different colors.  The grid paper is from Studio Calico.

Thanks for looking!

Celebrating You

Just finished up this card this morning.  Need to get it in the mail before the post office closes for the day.  All the paper is from the kit Studio Calico except for the teal color and it was some I printed off using Pink Petticoats color swatch.  The flower was cut on the Silhouette as well as the label.  I think I'm starting to figure out this print and cut...and I do like it!
Buttons were from my stash, probably Wally World buys.

Off to the post office!

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The Rest of the Halloween Stuff

This is it....I don't want to do anymore Halloween stuff this year. It is time to move on to the next holiday! I made these up for 3 adorable little kids! My best friend, whom I lost to cancer over 15 years ago, never got to meet these little people...in fact, she never met any of her grandchildren or her new daughter-in-law or son-in-law. But we do a good job of spoiling them for her...LOL... These were nothing special..I just bought the cut file from the Silhouette Store and basically followed the same design as this lady did...Laurie Schmidlin

The first one is for little Breyden.   He is the oldest of the three. As you can see, its almost exactly like Laurie's. I used some black striped paper from Echo Park and the black is American Craft...it really cuts lovely in the Silhouette.  The Spooky stickers are from a paper pack I bought at the convention called This & That by Lori Whitlock.  Lori also makes really great cut files too. In fact, she made the pumpkin bag below and it went together perfectly.  The ribbon and squiggly eyes are from my stash.

Next up is Chloe....isn't that a pretty name?  She looks so much like her grandma....I did this as a print and cut...I imported my paper from Echo Park again and then opened the cut file and did a fill with pattern...boy do I LOVE this feature, saves a ton of ink!  Filled, printed and then ran it through the Silhouette and it cut it perfectly on the lines, plus gave me great score lines.  Course, this is where I separate the score lines from the cut lines so that I can 'cut' it twice...once with the blade deeper for the cut lines and again with the blade shallower for the score lines.  The spider is some I had left from the other Halloween stuff, the BOO stickers are from the same This & That kit and I made my tag with a Spellbinders die cut using paper from KCompany.  The ribbon was some I salvaged from a gift package I'd received.  Or, BTW...forgot to say, I made all these files as big as I could on the 12 x 12 mat, so they hold a fair amount of candy.  Not so much that mom gets upset but enough to please the little ones. When I first cut out the bat, I just used the size as it was and it would have done good to hold 2 candy kisses...LOL  Now it holds a Reeses snack size, a Hershey snack size, a snack size bag of Starburst and some kind of candy that looks like a hamburger. 

and last, but not least....one for Brianna.  I didn't want anything scary or spooky for her so she got this adorable kitty.  This is another cut file that cut perfectly and it is by Samantha Walker.  I cut it out of AC Black, just used some pink color I had in my stash, cut out the eyes, glued them together and then put Crystal Laquer over them to make them shine....can't be cat eyes if they don't shine...the ribbon and buttons were some I picked up from Wally World and the BOO is from the same This & That kit. 

That's all...still don't have the birthday card done.  Hopefully I get it finished tomorrow.  Bill is home for the next two weeks.  Deer Season!  I might have to shoe him out of the house...LOL

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Halloween Projects (finally)

I know its a week after Halloween but I'm so slow and I am a world class procrastinator!  Anyway, first up is the treats I made up for the grands up north.

The sliding boxes are for the girls and they have necklaces inside of them.  The poison jar is for Jack and its full of candy and then each one of them got a Hershey bar wrapped with a skeleton.  The poison jar is a cut file called Toil and Trouble from SVG cuts.  It was a bear to assemble but once I made this one, the second one was much easier.  I think all the images are cut files from the Silhouette store. The paper is mostly from Echo Park (I think). The skeleton came in pieces that you cut out and put together with brads but I welded them together instead...didn't want to brad 44 of them...LOL...the label on the wrapper was bought from the Silhouette store but I had to do some massive re-working of it to get it to print and cut nice.  The first print and cut was jagged and uneven.  I re-worked the borders around it and once I'd done that, it printed out perfectly and cut exactly on the lines.  The girls loved their boxes...mom took one to work and her co-workers are wanting to buy some but I don't think I want to do it for money....like doing it for fun instead!
I found out, with the Potion Jar cut file. that I had to set my blade pretty high so it just barely scored the score lines.  If not, it actually was cutting through the cardstock and I did not like that look.  I did an ungroup and ungrouped the score lines from the cut lines...fed the cardstock through the cutter twice, once to cut and then once to score, changing the height of my blade for each pass.  The second jar that I made for Gavin came out much better.

This next image is of the Potion Jar I made for Gavin and a card I made for my friend.  I ended up making 44 of the skeleton bars...20 for Gavin's class, 15 for Jerri Ann's co-workers and the rest for me to give to friends of mine.

and a close up of the three projects.

I had to draw my own boots....couldn't find any that I liked. I just drew them on paper and then colored them and cut them out. Don't look real close...my cutting was not too good and my boots are different sizes....LOL..

I made this label with stuff off the internet...bird, the skull was a font and so was the swirl at the bottom.  Printed off on white stock, aged with distress ink and mounted on black.  The spider web was a cut file from the Silhouette store. They were running all their Halloween files at 75¢ so I bought quite a few.  This was one month when I should have paid the monthly fee of 9.99 but didn't!

I welded the skeleton together, then off set him so I could have the black background and ran him though my Xyron to apply adhesive.  Gavin stuck him to the background and he did a really good job!  Used paper from Echo Park the Apothecary Emporium. I had a 6 x 6 pad of this paper but you can buy it from Jessica Sprague as digital plus the kit for the label. This is the label I had to re-work to get it to print and cut properly. 

And this little guy?  Well, it would be Gavin back in the stone age...Jerri Ann and I made the costume.

and last...I needed a birthday gift for my beautician.  She is a cowgirl at heart so I wanted to do something along that line.  I got this idea from Lisa Johnson

I found a horse font, used paper that I printed off from Albums2Remember by Barb called Summer Fun and used a cut file for the stars.  I was running late for my appointment (on her birthday) so had to hurry up and write the inside message by hand...LOL..

That's all for now!  Going for my walk and then work on a birthday card.

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I've whipped out a few cards this week!

I am now ready to get started on some Halloween items.  I had quite a few birthdays and one anniversary to make cards for, so the Halloween got put on the back burner. LOL

This first card is for friends of ours 50th anniversary...wow, that makes me feel so old when our friends are celebrating 50's...I had one heck of a time with this one.  I changed my idea so many times that I finally just cased a card that I liked.  It took me a day and a half to complete this.  Course, since I don't have any stamps and next to no dies, I have to create everything.  
This is the original card...Dawn McVey .
Her colors are much prettier than mine.  I had to print out the plain paper from a color swatch by Pink Petticoat and then designed my banner cut in Silhouette Design Studio. Since the fonts I used were on the desktop and I didn't have SDS installed on it, I couldn't do a print and cut and had to revert back to the way I used to do them on the Cricut...cut a template and then lay my printed piece behind the template and cut again.  Whew...print and cut is SO much easier...LOL
I had the flowered piece in my stash from a kit called Sparkling Spring.  Then I cut the flower petals on the Silhouette.  Finding a font was really tough....that took me the longest and if I remember correctly, the main font was called Respective and I used a flourish from the same font at the end of the T.  The plain text font is called Candara.  The flourish at the bottom is by Katie Pertiet called On the Edge. 

  

 

And, again, I used the white gel pen for stitching.  The ribbon and red pearls are from Wal-Mart.  I designed the back of the flower in SDS and you will see it better in the next image.  I'll share the file if you don't mind that its not perfect....I still have a long ways to go before I can get it all symmetrical. 

Ok, this next card was for my baby sister...and it shows the flower that I designed as I designed it...all the same.  I just used it a bit differently above. 

The stripe paper is from The Paper Loft called Easy Breezy. The polka dot is from My Minds Eye called Bloom & Grow and the yellow is from Teresa Collins, Sweet Afternoon.  I got some really good deals at the convention.  The scalloped border was designed by me in SDS as well as the label thing behind the flower. Buttons are from my Wal-mart stash and twine is from PaperTrey Ink. You see one of the only stamps I owe...it was a freebie from my magazine subscription. And yes, I knows its crooked...lol...now you can see why I don't care for stamping.  
I sent this through the US mail.  I put lots of packing tape on the back of the envelope to protect the flower.  Jennifer sent me a message that it arrived intact and beautiful...whew.  I have plans to design a sturdy box to send then in, just haven't got around to it yet.

Ok, I'd better hurry up or you will be bored to death!  This next card is my favorite...I love the color combo.  I ended up making two of these...one for my aunt and one for my SIL...since my aunt lives in Virginian (not WEST), and my SIL lives here, I don't think they will every know that they got the same card...LOL...

The pink paper is from Teresa Collins, Sweet Afternoon. The green and plaid are from Sparkling Spring.  The flower is one I've had forever (always hate to turn loose of some things) and the ribbon...well, I have no idea....but I know I love it and its almost gone now.  :(  The lace came from Michaels and the pink pearls are from the convention.  Yep, I spent a fair amount of money there but the deals were great!  The labels were cut and embossed with Spellbinder dies and the background was a Darcie embossing folder.  

Sorry, this was so long...you know how I like to chatter with my fingers...LOL

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Finally RAIN!

Sorry, no image post today...just wanting to shout out a "Hallelujah" for the much, much needed rain.  We have received almost 2 inches in the last couple of days and its still sprinkling a little right now.  The landscape looks so refreshed!  

I finished up Darby's birthday stuff yesterday and completely forgot to take a shot of the box and necklace I made her.  I delivered it all this morning and was sitting here browsing when it dawned on me that I hadn't posted an image and then it really hit me hard when I realized I hadn't even taken a photo of it.  The box came out really cute....in bright pinks, turquoise and yellows and she loved the necklace.  I had bought a kit from the convention that makes pendants for necklaces and made her a Halloween one.  I told her to come over after Halloween and we would make up some different pendants so she can switch it out.  Etsy is full of  1 inch x 1 inch image files and I've found quite a few I want to make for myself. It's super easy to do and looks great too.  

Anyway, no image post today...just happy for the rain!!

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Halloween Countdown

I made this up for Gavin...the skeleton was a free download from Silhouette and the idea came from here.  I didn't have any 8 x 10 frames but it worked on this 5 x 7 one too.  I used scrapbook paper for the background, cut the wording from paper from Echo Park called Chillingsworth Manor using a font called Feast of Flesh BB and cut the date label out of chalkboard paper that I bought from My Craft Channel. This label was glued to the front of the glass so Gavin can change the numbers with chalk and then I added the Skeleton with glue dots to the outside.  I think he'll like it! 

I had got on quickly to post this and then head out for Gavin's final football game but JA just called and its been cancelled until tomorrow due to rain.  So today, I'll finish up Darby's gifts and work up some more cards.  I hope I'm not boring you with my cards, if so, just tell me and I'll quit posting them.  

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Sympathy Card

 One of my least favorite cards to make but really like how this one turned out.  I had purchased this new die a couple months ago and finally decided to see how she cut...beautiful!  It's a little bit big to be using on cards and I'd love to have some smaller versions of it but really glad I made this purchase.  It's called the Chloe Butterfly die by memorybox.  I think the name was what convinced me that I needed it...LOL....my best friends granddaughter is named Chloe. The embossing folder is a Darcie that I got at the convention, the frilly sentiment die is from Spellbinders called Lacey Ovals.  The fonts are FrancineHMK (a Hallmark font from a card program I have had for years) and Square 721.  All the paper is from Neehah.  

Off to the grocery store and then back here to make a box and bag.

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Bicycle Birthday Card (2nd post today)

If I keep this up, I'd going to HAVE to make me a light box....its too hard taking pictures of the cards with my window light and its always too windy outside. 

Just finished this card up for my future SIL....it has to go in the mail today if she is going to get it by Sat.  I still have to add the saying on the inside but it shouldn't take too long.  I just print it out on a separate sheet of paper and add it will removable tape...that way they can recycle the card if they so desire. Or, they can throw it away and I'll never know!  :~(

All the paper is from the Glitz Happy Travels 6 x 6 pad that I picked up at the convention..the lace and buttons are from my stash.  The book page is from an old book of mine. 

It is SO much prettier in real life!

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Birthday Card for Older Man

This isn't the loveliest card but quite fitting for a 65 year old man.  My BIL turns 65 today (yep, I'm hand delivering this one) and has signed up for SS and Medicare.  He loves Margarita's and this came to me on my walk yesterday morning.  I found the Margarita cut file on the Silhouette site.  I still have trouble visualizing the finished product on these cut files and have a terrible time picking papers.  All of it is paper I printed off from various kits I have. And yes, I smudged the glitter glue when I was taking a picture of it and didn't even notice till I was uploading the image.  It's too late to do a redo, so he will be getting it as is.  I need to learn patience and let things dry! I thought about using Crystal Lacquer on the glass but have ran out of time.
The inside of the card reads, "Makes you want to order the Monster Margarita, doesn't it?  Happy Birthday."  Our local Mexican restaurant has small, medium and monster sizes.  

I still have 2 more cards to make before the weekend....

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Chick Birthday Card

 

I can't believe that Darby is 15 today!  It seems like only yesterday she was lying on our living room floor, encased in a snowsuit that rendered her completely motionlessness.  I got this card from my Pinterest Greeting card board.  This is the original card...Lucy Abrams and it was so adorable that I had to recreate it.  I don't like copying cards but knew I loved this one so much, I had to attempt it.  Darby is a pink girl, through and through.  She is a tomboy with pink roots and this little pink chick just fits her.  But, since I'm  not a stamper and own next to no stamps, I had to recreate it with a pencil.  I drew the musical notes in PS and then did a copy/paste to fill the background and then drew the chick with pencil and paper and scanned it it.  I then printed the base card with the outline of the chick on Kraft stock and then printed the chick two more times on the pink paper that I printed off from Pink Petticoat. It was all layered on Sweet Bohemian paper that I printed again from Pink Petticoat and then layered onto some Classic Linen Cover Stock from Neenah. The ribbon was picked up from Micheal's last weekend off their clearance rack.  I've yet to figure out my sewing machine and using it on cards so had to break out the white gel pen again. I think I need heavier thread when I sew on the paper and a smaller needle.  I'll figure it out someday! 

I had a blast at the CK Scrapbook convention this past weekend.  I took a class on coloring with markers and am now the owner of a basic set of Spectrum Noir markers.  They are a cheaper version of the Copic markers and only come in 168 colors but they are as nice as the Copics.  The basic set only has 72 markers so I will slowly add the other colors as I get better at coloring or see I need them.  I'm a long way from being good at it.  I picked up some good buys on paper and embellishments and did a few make and takes to learn a few more techniques, like making flowers, coloring, using glitters, etc.  I can see right now that I need to get a craft budget started so my billfold will be prepared for next year.  

I've got a ton of cards to make this week, so need to get busy! My folks were here all last week and then with the convention, I got way behind.  It took me all day yesterday to make this card, I'm so SLOW.....

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Project Menu Blackboard

Ok...finally!  I got this finished last night.  I got this from Pinterest, of course, as my creative soul is asleep most of the time.  I used to keep a weekly menu on the refrigerator and Bill loved it!  He liked knowing what he was eating for supper each day..why?  I have no idea but when I quit doing it or, heaven forbid, changed a day, he had a fit. So, when I saw this on Pinterest, I decided right then and there, that it was a project I was going to tackle.

I put the blackboard menu on the inside of my pantry door.  I used Valspar Chalkboard paint that I bought from Lowes.  I gave the inside of the door a good sanding to take off the glossy finish and then painted 2 coats of Kilz , a latex stain blocker and primer/sealer.  I gave each coat 24 hours to dry and then started the chalkboard paint application.  The can said 2 coats but I wanted this to last, really last, so I gave it 5 coats with 24 hour dry time between applications.  Was it over kill?  I don't think so. I wanted to use Chalk Ink and after researching the ink, it stated that it wouldn't work good on chalkboard paint because it would leave marks when it was washed off.  Bill wrote a small message to me on the board while I was gone to mom's and on first cleaning, I noticed it left a ghost image of the message.  I then got out my wonderful Awesome cleaner and cleaned it some more...ghost image gone.  I think it is because of the 5 layers of paint...maybe not, but it worked and I'm happy!   As you can see from the image, I taped off the raised edge and painted inside..gave it a nice, framed appearance when completed.

Then I cut my wording on the Silhouette.  Trust me, I learned LOTS of patience with this process....I chose to use the font At Last Greeting and its pretty delicate.  I wasted 5 inches of vinyl before I got the settings right to cut it out.  I was following the information in the software and it was cutting the vinyl but tearing the letters at the same time.  I then lowered my blade to 1, my speed to 2 and my thickness to 9.  Then my patience really had to kick in...it was a B to separate from the backing.  My font size for the days of the week was only 72, that made for some very tiny pieces.  It took me almost 2 hours to go from cut to placement and I came close to throwing in the towel many, many times.  But, it sure looks nice now, don't you think?  Even through I didn't get my spacing good....I was frustrated with the lettering and didn't adjust for spacing very well.  I should have marked it all off but this will work for now...someday, I can always do it again.  I figure my pieces are so tiny that with weekly cleaning of the board, the vinyl will start to come off and need to be replaced anyway.  I'll adjust the spacing then...lol.

My next project is to have some sheet metal cut to fit the other door...I know they make magnet paint but I want it to hold better then the paint does.  So...I'm going to have a piece cut and then paint it with chalkboard paint too.  That way, I can write on it or hang my grocery list with the magnets. 
I am having a BLAST! 
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Window Box Project

This is the next project Bill and I have tackled.  I've always wanted window boxes on these windows and my retirement has made it possible to do a lot of things I've wanted to do but never had the time for. Usually we were both trying to get housework and yard work done on our weekends and never had time for projects. But, since I've retired, I get all the mundane work done during the week so we can play on the weekends.  So, this past weekend, we got these done.

I bought (3) 1 x 6 x 8 feet cedar boards and (4) pre-made wooden brackets from Lowes.  The boxes measure 35 inches in length.  We cut three boards at 35 inches and used screws to form a open ended box.  Then we measured the open ends and cut the boards to fit each end as we went.  There was probably a more effienent way to do this but since Bill and I are not professional carpenters, we just do it how ever it makes sense to us.  Not that it always works out...LOL...sometimes we wonder how our minds think when we finally wake up and see that what we did was stupid...LOL..
Anyway, this way worked for us this time.  I filled the screw holes but as you will see from the pictures, I did a horrible job of it and got in too big of a hurry to paint.  I should have let the filler dry more, filled some more and sanded but its not something that bothers me enough to redo...LOL

I then gave everything two coats of primer and 2 coats of my house trim paint. The hardest part of the whole project was attaching them to the house.  The brackets come with those metal doohickeys that you add your screw and then 'slide' the bracket over the screws...well, let me tell you, we have an awful time getting the screws lined up and spaced correctly so the bracket 'lines' up!  For safety and added strength, we drilled holes in the front of the brackets and added another screw.  I can just see them falling off the wall..LOL

Then, a trip to the green house and this is the final results....I wanted to add mums but the greenhouse didn't have any small enough so went with Rudbeckia, ornamental cabbage and pepper plants. 

and my other window box on the garage....not made by us but will be replaced next year as I get tired of trying to find the mats to fit this one.