Back to School Fun…. My Scrap Chick Style

Could it be? I can’t believe it is almost August and school will be starting soon! I always loved going back to school and this cute pencil holder designed by My Scrap Chick brought back wonderful memories.

I am a huge fan of My Scrap Chick for so many reasons. First of all, her patterns can be hand cut. Each pattern file comes with a printable PDF which opens with Adobe Reader. This format makes it easy to transfer the pattern pieces onto cardstock and hand cut with your favorite scissors. You don’t need a cutting machine to make this adorable box.

You also get cutting files in the following formats: AI-DXF-KNK-GSD-WPC-SVG. These files work with Wishblade, Klick-n-kut, Sillouette, Craft Robo & cutting machines using SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) or MTC (Make the Cut) software. And did I mention the price is reasonable? No I am not a spokesperson for My Scrap Chick…I just love her products.

I found these adorable mechanical pencils and erasers at Target and just had to use them. I think this a perfect back to school gift. And so easy to make.

The back to school cut is from the Silhouette online store. I welded the school letters together and replaced the to with my own 2 that I made from one of my fonts. I love that the Cameo software is so versatile.

I signed up for My Scrap Chick’s Freebie Friday newsletter and every Friday I receive access to a free file. Yahoo! You know how I love my freebies!

Thanks for visiting and please click here to enter the Nutcracker Set giveaway! Also please stop back on Wednesday for my new video that involves glitter! I love adding bling to my Cricut and Cameo cuts.

Simply Organized Sunday! (SOS)

Welcome to Simply Organized Sunday…SOS for short! Every Sunday during the summer I will showcase blogs, websites or posts that provide innovative approaches to organizing and designing your craft space as well as other areas in your home. I will also post ideas on how to organize your craft supplies.

One of my all-time favorite organization blogs is I Heart Organizing. I love Jen’s amazing tips and her home makeover ideas.

This is a before photo of Jen’s living room.

This makeover is amazing. You will love her practical and cost effective ideas! To see amazing makeovers of her entire home click here and take the tour. Be sure to scroll down to see her guest room, complete with a closet office. What a great idea!

Jen is so organized that you can even buy customized printables from her Etsy shop that are designed to organize and streamline your lifestyle. And now for the good news! Click here to download 16 free printables.

Last week Rachael Ray dedicated an entire hour to conquering your clutter and I just had to share. Her episode did not involve craft rooms, but it did provide great tips on other rooms in your house. Click here to see all the videos from her Conquer Your Clutter episode.

My favorite segment was titled A Closet Coaches Secrets. Karl Chambly, the author of Same Place, More Space and host of Wasted Spaces, demonstrated how to add space under your floor (hidey hole) and how to add drawers under your bed. Click here to see the video. Hmmmm….these ideas might work in my craft room and bedroom. More room for crafting supplies. Yahoo!!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have enjoyed Simply Organized Sunday! Next week we will focus on craft rooms and more ideas! Don’t forget to click here to enter the Nutcracker Set giveaway!

Fab Five Friday!

Welcome to Fab Five Friday! For those of you that are new to this blog, every Friday I showcase five blogs, websites or posts that I think you will enjoy.

Merry Christmas in July! I love Echo Park’s new Make it Merry Collection and this cute tag and card made by Amy. Be sure to check out Amy’s blog, My Paperie Sweets and Me for tons of inspiration. Her layouts are amazing!

I can’t wait to buy Jinger Adams new products and I think you will agree. Click here to see a video of her new lines. Thanks Craft Test Dummies for providing this video!

If you are looking for even more card making inspiration, check out Lucy’s Cards. I love that her cards are simple yet extremely elegant. Be sure to scroll down and check out her thinking of you card using Hero Arts new Butterfly Bouquet digikit.

Now for more news from CHA… Guiseppa from My Creations made the most adorable pages for CHA using the new lines from Simple Stories. Their Take a Hike and Handmade Holiday collections are a must see. You are going to love her projects and pages. Looks like I will add both of the collections to my Christmas wish list.

Valerie, from Paper and Cookies made an adorable pencil holder out of a plastic tube. She also made the cutest tag ever!! While you are there be sure to check out her blog for tons of new ideas!

Have a fun Fab Five Friday and please stop back on Sunday for Simply Organized Sunday (SOS). Every Sunday during the summer I am showcasing blogs, websites or posts that provide innovative approaches to organizing and designing your craft space as well as other areas in your home. I will also post ideas on how to organize your craft supplies. Click here to see last week’s post.

Christmas in July Nutcracker Style and Giveaway!

I wanted to do something special to celebrate this year’s Christmas in July so I made this amazing Nutcracker. Patricia Zapata, from A Little Hut designed the cutting file that has over 61 pieces! A new record for me. I added bands around the hat and the base of his coat…so it really totaled 64 pieces. I so wish you could see me patting myself on the back while doing a happy dance around my craft room!

Now for the good news!  Patricia has gracoiusly donated three Nutcracker Gift sets to be given away. Patricia’s set comes with SVG and DXF cutting files, and detailed full color PDF instructions. And did I mention, her set  also includes a card and tag!

To enter the giveaway, you need to be a subscriber/follower of my blog and leave a comment under this post. You can sign up over on the left side of this blog (if you are not there already). For two chances to win, please join my FB page, by clicking here and leave an additional comment on this post that you liked my page.

The three winners will be picked at random using the random number generator and will be announced on Wednesday August 1st.

This file comes with the best directions ever and although complex, the nutcracker is fairly simple to assemble. Click here to order the file.

I just love the handle…it makes the nutcracker look real!

I used my Cameo and Silhouette Designer Edition software to cut the SVG files. My Cameo cuts the smallest files perfectly. Notice the detailed mouth cut.

The nutcracker is 15 inches tall and the matchbox base slides open so you can include a gift card or trinket. Now for my best hint... I recommend using Zip Dry paper glue for this project. The glue dries clear and you can rub off any gluing mistakes. Love it! Just remember that you need adequate ventilation.

Nutcrackers are so trendy and you will be seeing more of them by Christmas. Here are a few examples.

This is from Graphic 45’s new Nutcracker Suite line.

This is just one of their new stamps from this line. I sooo want this stamp set!

Click here for this adorable free SVG file from SVG cuts. This would make a great card or tag. I love all the free files from SVG cuts!

Hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas in July!

You're Adorable!

I decided to challenge myself to use some of my crafting “leftovers” to make a project. I thought it would be fun to use up some of my scraps to create a you're adorable jewelry box.

I used leftover paint from my recent video on Martha Stewart craft paints. I purchased the unfinished jewelry box from our local Ben Franklin store. Martha’s paint worked perfectly and gave the box a nice satin finish.

You may recognize the paper from the project below. I just had to use my scraps on this adorable jewelry box. I covered the top with a sheet of paper and added the embellishments.

If you would like to see the original post, click here.



Next, I glued on the pearls that were left over from a Christmas tag I made and attached a piece of paper to the inside. Click here to see the original oldie. I loved using my Imagine for this Christmas project.

Thanks for visiting and I would love it if you scrolled down to see the first Simply Organized Sunday (SOS) post.

Simply Organized Sunday! (SOS)

Welcome to the first Simply Organized Sunday…SOS for short! Every Sunday during the summer I will showcase blogs, websites or posts that provide innovative approaches to organizing and designing your craft space as well as other areas in your home. I will also post ideas on how to organize your craft supplies. Thanks for being a part of my very first SOS!

This is one of my favorite Craft Room Makeovers from one of my favorite blogs, How to Nest for Less. What I love about this room is that is only 10 ft x 10 ft and Erin makes the room look so much larger. I also like the DIY approach. Much less expensive! Be sure to check out her blog for tons of design ideas!

Click here to see more photos and great ideas for a small space.

Below is an example of a dream craft room with purchased craft furniture from the Original Scrap Box Company. This dream room belongs to Linda from Craftaholics Anonymous. I love her blog and know you will too! Be sure to check out her section on craft rooms. I love the makeovers!

I love the clean lines with color accents.

Linda’s sewing area is amazing!

I so adore her work station from the Original Scrap Box Company.

I love how she used an old crib spring to make an adorable inspiration board. Now I am on the lookout for a crib spring.

Here is our last amazing makeover also featured on Craftaholics Anonymous that you just have to see.

To see 33 more step by step photos and great ideas, stop over to Abbey’s blog, The cards We Drew. I love her makeover! You just have to see the before photo!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have enjoyed the first Simply Organized Sunday!

Fab Five Friday!

Welcome to Fab Five Friday! For those of you that are new to this blog, every Friday I showcase five blogs, websites or posts that I think you will enjoy.

But first an announcement!!!  Starting this Sunday I am adding a weekly post called Simply Organized Sunday…SOS for short! Every Sunday during the summer, I will showcase blogs, websites or posts that share innovative approaches to organizing and designing your craft space as well as other areas in your home. I will also post ideas on how to organize your craft supplies. So be sure to stop back on Sunday. Now back to Fab Five Friday!

If you love beautiful cards, check out Lea’s Cupcakes and Sunshine. Lea’s vintage card is adorable and so is her blog. She just posted new cards from Jillibean Soup and they are adorable.

Most of you know that I am a huge fan of Michele Novak’s blog, Thoughts of a Cardmaking Scrapbooker. While she was attending CHA, she took tons of photos that you will want to see. There are so many wonderful products I can’t wait to buy! Thanks Michele for sharing with us!

If you are thinking about buying a Silhouette Cameo or have just bought one, you will want to watch this new video from Gina K. Her video demonstrates in detail how to set up the Cameo and get started. She walks you through registering, installing the software , buying and cutting a file. Love it!

October Afternoon’s Tuesday’s tutorials and Thursday’s sketch challenges are a must see. I love their tutorial on how to add pockets to a mini album. Be sure to scroll down to see the pamphlet sitich mini book tutorial. Adorable!

Now for all you scrapbookers! Check out Scropping, a blog that is full of great layouts. Sarah has been published in several leading magazines including the Cricut and Scrapbooks Etc magazines. Her layouts are amazing!

Have a fun Fab Five Friday and please stop back on Sunday for Simply Organized Sunday (SOS) .

Martha Stewart Craft Paints….Will They Really Work on All Surfaces?

First I would like to thank Martha Stewart Crafts for sending me their Satin Paint Kit, foam pouncers and stencil kit. I was so excited to receive them and immediately thought…do these paints really work on all surfaces?

These paints are designed to work on wood, glass, metal and fabric and are for both indoor and outdoor use. In fact, that information is printed on the back of each paint bottle. But will they work on additional surfaces? To find out the answer, please watch the video.



If you would like to see all the colors and finishes that are available, visit Michaels.com or click here. Then click on looking for colors and you will go to Michael’s color finder. You can select your color, compare them and even print them. Wow!

Hope you enjoyed the video….I had so much fun making it. It was like pretending to be a scientist plus I learned new ways to use my craft supplies.

Linda

You Are So Hot!

I saw an adorable fan card on the cover of the July/August issue of Paper Crafts magazine and could not wait to make one. I used a Silhouette retro fan image and a different sentiment, however, if you click here, Paper Crafts magazine has a free PDF of their design that you can download and cut. Be sure to scroll down to find the fan PDF. You will see several free downloads before you get to the fan card. All you need is a scissors. Easy peasy!

Click here to see the Silhouette cut.

I added a circle to the back of the cut and glued a fan base to another circle to turn this into a quick and easy card. My finished card measures 4 ¾ x 6 inches.

I love my Cricuts, but the Cameo is my go-to machine for intricate cuts. For the  intricate wire cage, I used a heavy metallic paper and used the double cut setting. I set my Cameo to 1 for the speed, 33 for the pressure and I set the blade on 6. I even cut glitter paper with my Cameo! Love it!

I used Word for the sentiment, added an embellishment from my stash and was done!

Thanks for visiting and please stay tuned for a fun new video. Hint….This video involves a Martha Stewart product.

Fab Five Friday

Welcome to Fab Five Friday! For those of you that are new to this blog, every Friday I showcase five blogs, websites or posts that I think you will enjoy. This week I am showcasing five totally new blogs. By new, I mean that they are new to me and they have not been featured on my blog. Hope you enjoy the new links!

This card totally mooved me and I just know you will love Bearydo Paperie. I love her cards and can’t wait to try some of her designs! So cute!

If you are a scrapbooker and looking for motivation, Blessed Scrapper is the blog to visit. Jill Cornell ‘s layouts are stunning! My favorite is her jam layout! BTW, her cards are amazing too!!

Stampy McStamperson is a unique blog that you will not want to miss. You can tell it is a fun blog by the cute name! Be sure to check out Regan's stuffed fruit made with fabric scraps. Super clever!!

I Said I’d Never Have a Blog But I Changed My Mind is another must see site. Don’t you just love the name? Be sure to check out Jennifer’s bowl card while you are there. I promise it will make you smile!

For more scrapbooking inspiration, check out Create Your Everyday. Daniela’s layouts and cards are stunning! My fav is her splash and play page! What a talented paper crafter!

Have a fun fab five Friday and please stay tuned for a fun new card. Hint….it involves summer!

Printing and Coloring Digital Stamps without Smearing

Today’s video is on how to print and color digital stamps without having the ink smear. The reason I created this video is because I was so tired of having my printed digital stamps smear when I tried to color them with water and alcohol based markers. They even smeared when I used a watercolor technique that makes your colored pencils look like expensive alcohol markers. Click here to see my original video on how to make your water color pencils look like expensive markers.

I started with an Epson Stylus Photo Printer and no matter what technique I tried, I could not keep the black outline ink from smearing when I colored the image using alcohol or my colored pencil technique. I tried using my heat gun, waiting 12-24 hours and also using an iron. Nothing seemed to work.

I am pleased to say that I found several solutions to my problem. A couple solutions involve buying a new printer. Don’t panic….. I also have a couple of inexpensive ideas that will not require you to buy a new printer. Thank goodness!



Thanks for visiting and have a great day!!
Linda

Tea Time

Tea just makes me smile. Something about a cup of tea that sends me into relaxation mode. When I saw these adorable tea bag boxes in the Silhouette store, I just knew I had to make them.

I downloaded the files from Silhouette and discovered they are a perfect fit for Lipton tea bags and you can fit three to a box. If you are going to use Stash tea, you may want to make them slightly larger. I seriously love the Lipton Green Tea with Honey!

These charming boxes would make perfect hostess gifts or favors at your next tea party or brunch. They also come with cute tags that I attached with twine.

I was hoping to make a tea dispenser to match, but ran out of time. Just in case you would like to make one, here is photo of the one I made for Valentine’s Day. You can make this dispenser for any season or occasion just change the paper and die cuts. To see my original post, video and diagram, click here.

Have a great day and stay tuned for an informative new video!

Welcome to Fab Five Friday! For those of you that are new to this blog, every Friday I showcase five blogs, websites or posts that I think you will enjoy.

Are you ready for Christmas in July and all the new papers that are going to be introduced at CHA? Graphic 45 will be showing tons of new items including stamps at CHA. The house and clock were designed by Diane Schultz and her wonderful team using the new Nutcracker Sweet collection. Click here to see more and be sure to keep scrolling to see their new papers and stamps.

Last week, I mentioned Scrapbook Update’s sneak peeks and want you to know that they have added tons more for you to see. I can’t wait for CHA! Also another one of my favorite releases is from the new Carta Bella Company. I love their papers.

By now, most of you have heard the news that Meredith Corporation has made the difficult decision to close Scrapbooks etc. effective with the August 2012 issue. I loved their magazine and will miss getting it. If you are looking for 27 low cost scrapbook storage solutions, click here. I love slide two, how to repurpose a shoe cubby for storing your Cricut or cutting machines. For 25 ways to store ribbon, click here.

SVG cuts is one of my favorite sources for SVG files and they recently produced a video explaining how to use SVG files with various products. Leo from SVGCuts.com discusses common concepts and methods involved in cutting SVG files with a variety of programs including Silhouette Studio Designer Edition, Make The Cut and eCAL. I use the Silhouette Studio Designer Edition to cut their files and I love it.

I love my Sharpies and use them to color rhinestones, buttons, pearls and my homemade pearls made using my glue gun. If you are looking for a fun diversion, check out their website and blog. Scroll down to see a  Ford Mustang painted with Sharpies.

Since I mentioned SVG and Scrapbook update last week, I thought I would turn this into Fab Six Friday. P.S I made this is one of my favorite DIY sites and I love the neon bib necklace that was featured in Elle magazine. Just below this post is another fun one on how to make Polka Dot flats using puffy paint. Too clever!

Now for a special thanks to Fantabulous Cricut for featuring my quick and easy Iris folding system. I love their blog and have learned a lot from them. Check out this post on how to make your own embossing folder. Wow!

Please stay tuned for a fun new project. Hint….it involves tea!

Happy Fourth of July and the Winner Is…..

Thanks everyone for sharing with us your favorite craft project. Once again I was overwhelmed with the responses. You are the most talented viewers ever and I loved learning more about each of you. Wow!

Now for the drum roll….

And the winner is…..

Bobby said...

I've been crafting so many years it's hard to pick a favorite. The first thing that came to mind is a Christmas ornament I made for my grandchildren - a snow globe from individual (and that means small) jelly jars.

Congrats Bobby!! Please email your address to lkaisermt@gmail.com so I can send you your cartridge! Remember you have two weeks to claim your prize.

I hope you all are having an amazing Fourth of July and please stay tuned for an informative new video!

Linda

More from Yellowstone

We just got back from our vacation and I want to share more Yellowstone photos that my hubbie, Bill took. Thanks for indulging me and I will get back to crafting on Wednesday.

In the meantime please don’t forget to enter the Favorite Craft Project Ever giveaway. Just click here to go to the post! You have until midnight on July 3rd to enter.

We were so fortunate to get a gorgeous campsite at Norris campground. Our travel trailer and pick-up are in the background of this photo.

Here is another view of our campsite and the Solfara Creek which flows into the Gibbon River. My hubbie is a fly fisherman and caught several brown trout from this pristine stream. I so did not want to leave this amazing place.

I never get tired of this view. It is from Lookout Point and is a view of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River.

One of the most amazing things about seeing Yellowstone Park in June is all the baby animals. We were so blessed to see lots of babies including these cute antelope calves.

Yellowstone was so lush that the colors almost looked florescent. We were lucky that it was unusually green for this time of year. This view is near the Le Hardy Rapids on the Yellowstone River.

Thanks for visiting and allowing me to share some photos with you!

Linda