A few cards

My monthly card swaps on the Cricut board.

Border Swap for Splitcoast

I had to make "page candies" of specific themes for my swap partners. I did soccer, dancing, and baby girl. While I got some nice wedding ones in return.

Finally getting a chance to update

Been forever...but finally getting a chance to get back to my blog. Luckily I still have been finding the time to create in my absence. That is always a good thing.

Supplies: tons of Primas, MME patterned paper and embellishments, swirls and leaves cut with Cricut, Inkadinkado stamps, Anna Griffin stamps, coredinations card stock, ribbon, buttons, and brads by Colorbok

Finally had a chance to do a layout

Well I was totally swamped at work with the end of the semester looming and RU Day...so I spaced on the Cricut Team Challenge date. Don't you love the human brain? Where a 26 could be confused for a 29...sigh. Well my submission was too late to help my team, but I am posting it anyway. I think it came out pretty cute.

Supplies: Cardstock: American Crafts and Wausau; Pattern Paper: Making Memories, KaiserCraft; Embellishments: American Crafts, Prima, Petaloo, Oriental Trading; Stamps: Autumn Leaves, Anna Griffin, Marcella by K; Inks & Markers: Colorbox, Copic Sketch, Copic Spica, Sakura Gelly Roll, Glimmer Mists, EK Success; Tools: Tonic Edge distresser, Cricut (carts used: Home Accents, Wild Card, Graphically Speaking)

More Crafting for work

I am starting to think I work for Michaels. Student Appreciation Week has rolled around again, so we are giving out the goodies. Every year I try to create something cute for the students. This year I am a little lacking in the cute department. I think I am fried from all the RU Day stuff, but I should at least earn an E for effort. Little brown bags filled with candies, with a simply cute topper.

Cards for Boys - the biggest challenge of all

In my ongoing attempts to challenge myself creatively, I chose to make 20 boy birthday cards for another swap on the Cricut board. What should have been a simple endeavor turned into a full out production. I really am clueless when it comes to making things for males. I am so tempted to slap a flower on everything I make.

So after too long brainstorming. I finally came up with a super simple design that really should not have taken me so long. I used one of my all time favorite PP - cosmopolitan by Making Memories and cricut carts - Going Places and George. It took a bit to actually put the cards together because I used pen work on each of the titles for the card. That is the most embellishment I could muster without using a flower or a rhinestone.

Cricutting for Work

Who would have thunk it? The Cricut is actually coming in handy for my job. We are having a community day at the university and all the departments are planning exhibits and activities. We are using Cricut with SCAL to make titles for the display boards at our tents. I actually had to roll my machine into work the other day. LOL

But you know really in the most basic form, this is what the Cricut is for, making signage and displays. So it makes sense that I am using it. I know schools have used them for bulletin boards and such, so why not a university? It just makes me feel like I really made a good investment when I bought these machines.

More Disney Card Candy

Mulan and Tinker Bell

Disney Swaps

I am doing a Card Candy Disney themed swap on the 2peas board. I chose to make card candy for mickey mouse (mouse ears), Tinkerbell, and Mulan. It has been quite a challenge because I am not a Disney fan at all. But I really want to force myself to think outside the box. I love making embellishments so I thought this would be fun..and it has been...for the most part. So here is my first set...

I really started using my Cricut alot last year when I started doing campaigns for my board (CMT - a fansite for Daniel & Chelsea on Days of our Lives). I wanted to make cutesy little things to make our voices heard - so to speak. So it all started with the penguin. I cut like 50 huge penguins from Christmas Cheer (or was it JOTS?) and made them hold a sign supporting our "cause". I heard they were a hit. The actress who plays Chelsea (Rachel Melvin) even remembered the penguins many months later when I had the opportunity to meet her.







Anyhoo....I guess I have a soap to thank for helping me really embrace my Cricut and use it to its capacity.

Love/Wedding Card

I am part of an ongoing monthly card swap on the Cricut board. The theme for April is wedding so we had to make wedding cards. I came up with one design and then modified it to work for my swap. I used the Cricut design studio software to weld the word LOVE together and the flourished rectangle is from Wild Card. I think I like the original better, but it didn't work well for mass production.




supplies: version 1: paper - DCWV and Wasau, bronze Perfect Pearls, flowers and leaves- Prima, pearl - Kaisercraft, stamps - Close to My Heart & Studio G, die cuts - Cricut, marker - bic mark-its. version 2: paper - MME, Bazzill, Wasau and DCWV, pink Perfect Pearls, stamps - Close to My Heart, die cuts - Cricut, markers - bic mark-its & copic spica.

Cricut Tag Box

I participated in a challenge on the Cricut board where I had to use a tag from any cartridge to make something. Simple enough, yet when forced to use a specific cut it always seems harder somehow.

I decided to combine my brainstorming of cute packaging for Student Employment Week at work with this challenge. I came up with a little box made from tags. I think for my students I will try to find a more unisex pattern paper and embellishment, but for the board challenge I went with the tried and true flower. I think it came out pretty cute. Would make a nice little shower favor or something.

Ok so I made this box with tags from TBBM, frame from Wildcard (I think) and floral swirl from Home Accents. Dimensions - 3"w x7"h

other supplies: Copic Spica pen, Pebbles Chalks, Wasau Metallic paper, MME pp, AC cardstock, Prima flowers, colorbox chalk ink, Rusty Pickle button, waxy flax from ctmh, Studio G stamps, and marvy uchida mini scalloped rectangle punch - oh and my trusty scor-pal...

This past weekend I was at the Wyndham in Plainsboro for Simply Cropping's spring crop. Had a great time. I actually got a tad bit accomplished, including the tags for my swap on the cricut board and some cards. Better than normal.

I have gotten two new fixations of late. First is embossing powder. The thing that started it all. My first scrapbooking related project was embossing apples on my wedding invitation with red embossing powder. After that experience I was pretty much hooked on paper crafts. Now that I have been leaving my heat gun plugged in, I have been using it more - to emboss.

My second new thing is working with watercolors. When I learned that the company that makes Twinkling H20's was going out of business I was suddenly stricken with the notion that my opportunity to use watercolors in my crafts was fleeting. So I scoured the net for info about these paints and I stumbled upon something else. The Niji watercolors are so shimmery and so affordable - on like 4 bucks for a 21 color set, that I am completely sold. I am sad that another company is biting the dust, but I don't think I will be investing in any Twinkling H20's before they are gone. I am enjoying my Niji set too much.

I made these tags for my Cricut tag/inchie swap. I was trying to go for a vintagey feel. I used the Home Decor Cartridge to make the flower which I painted with my watercolors, then outlined with copics and bic mark its and then added Tim Holtz Distress Stickles. I also used some bronze Perfect Pearls to get that goldish color in the flower centers.

A New Year, A New Start

I am going to pretend that I have not posted on this blog in over a year. I am just going to begin anew and fresh.

So 2009 started very creatively for me. I spent time in my craft room working on some new projects. It was a nice way to ring in the new year. I hope that this year will be filled to the brim with creative endeavors. I vow to make more time for that this year.

So today is my sister's birthday. She is 20. I made this topper for her present last night. I drew and hand cut him. I was inspired by this blog that Zippy from CMT shared with me. I think he came out cute.

The Future of Scrapbooking

Two Peas had an interesting thread today about the future of scrapbooking. I shared my two cents there, and I thought I might put it here as well.

I think part of the reason that scrapbooking has gotten so large is because of our renewed need to slow down and create with our hands. Couple that with our need to embrace family and make our marks in this tumultous world, and you have modern scrapbooking.

Of course digital scrapbooking has major appeal in this techno advanced world, and people who otherwise never would have ventured into the realm of scrapbooking, now have a venue to preserve their own memories. But many of the future digital scrappers won't be coming into the hobby to fulfill a need to manually create art. They will be enticed by either speed or the creative ingenuity that comes into play with the digital medium. So really we are looking at two different sets of people.

Furthermore, the market is just starting to expand. Suburban housewives (a cliche example of course) may be entrenched in the hobby and find many things old hat, but younger singles, men, and people of different cultures are just starting to embrace this art form. I think the industry will try harder to market to this untapped segment. You can see it already with the interest in youth and rock/music culture in some of the newest manufacturer's lines.

I also think that the community aspect of the hobby will continue to be popular. Crafters outside of paper arts have been really getting into holding craft-a-longs, quilting bees, and stitch and bitch sessions. I think the internet has fostered this need to connect on a physical level, since many of us have been enjoying the relationships we have forged in the virtual world. So I think there will be more scrapbooking and craft clubs emerging. And I think these clubs will be in urban centers and appeal to a more diverse range of people than ever before.

Martha Stewart Crafts

Martha Stewart is the reason I craft. I started reading her books in middle school and watching her craft segments. I love her simple, clean style and I am big fan of the design of her products. So of course when she launched her paper crafts line I was ecstatic.

I went to Michaels on the "premiere day" just to check it out. What I found was a very Martha styled collection of staples and many of her party ideas from her Living magazine nicely packaged for completion at home. It was exactly what I had expected. So of course I bought. The glitters are divine, the ribbons pretty and affordable, the markers and pens are GREAT. I also bought the lady bug paper pack (so cute) and some of her glues. The 18 x 18 paper is an altered artist's dream...such a large sheet to cover your projects with. I know I will be back to stock up on some punches and that rotary tool.

Her linen organization products in robin's egg blue makes me want to rethink my scrap room decor once again. Blue and brown...that might be the ticket.

Did I mention I attended her show. I even was on TV...I should have worn black..more slimming. Anyway my sister and I were in the audience during her scrapbooking week. Very cool experience.

Shopping in my own stash

Sometimes I feel the need to play little tricks on myself to jumpstart my creativity.

I like to pack up my supplies as if I am going to a crop, and wheel my tote into the kitchen and set up shop. I think the amount of stuff I have in my scraproom gets overwhelming at times and it hinders my ability to make...anything.

So I have a new trick that I recently started playing...going shopping in my stash.

Here is how I do it..step by step.

1. Grab a few pictures and pretend you are at a scrapbook store crop. Pack a tote with all the essential tools you would take to a crop and set up in a location where you DON'T normally scrap.

2. Go into your scraproom (or whatever) and "shop" for things to use on that layout. (Be sure to give yourself a time lime to "shop" - 20-30 minutes should probably be the max amount of time.) You can even go so far as to take a plastic bag to put your "purchases" in.

3. Next leave your scraproom and go back to your temporary scrap area (this is a crop after all) and create your page.

4. REPEAT

This works well for me because it forces me to focus on a specific project with specific elements...I am out of my scraproom so I am not being overwhelmed by all the choices I have in there.

Progress

So I meant to post this last month, but frankly most days I forget I even have a blog. Yea I know...I am nuts. Since I took these pictures my room has gotten even more organized. I put all my big embellishments that don't fit in jars or in my hanging organizer in plastic shoeboxes. They are labeled - metals, alphabets, glitters, clays/modeling pastes/mediums, heidi swapp, etc. But now looking at the pictures, I see I need to make cuter labels. Ugh. Also I just bought a pottery barn wallboard system so I am going to have to reconfigure.

So far my favorite parts of my room is my counter height table. I raised my long conference table up so I can use it work while standing or sitting in a bar stool. And I love the new jars I bought to put all my embellishments in. I think it will look so much better than my hardware drawers that I am using now.



I havn't put my PB Wall system up yet. I am not sure where I want to hang it. And I really should paint the walls first...but who wants to paint? Not me. I hate decorating.



Still messy...but definitely more organized.

I wish I were an early bird

Ugh why do I keep doing this to myself? Here I am 4 hours away from having to leave for a weekend crop and I have not packed a thing. Even worse is that I am still at work for another 30 minutes...so I won't even be able to start packing for another hour, which leave me with 3 hours to pack!!!

I really was looking forward to this crop months ago, when my scraproom was a mess, and I had no place to work. But now everything is so organized, that it is almost overwhelming to try to decide what to pack...especially now at the last minute. I planned to pre-plan my pages but LOL nothing ever goes according to plan. So I was up at 5:30 this morning, standing in the middle of my room staring at all of my paper. I had no clue what to pack. And now hours later at my desk at work...daydreaming about my paper...I still have no clue.

I guess I will go with the old standby (and long overdue for completion) my wedding albums. I started working on these wedding albums to give to my grandmothers 2 years ago, right after my wedding. They still on the shelf 3/4 of the way done. This weekend will be when they are finally completed it seems. And if I get bored with all the black and red of my wedding album, I will have those Lisa B QVC album kits to put together.

A Hidden Gem

Don't you just love when you find a new way to use something? I bought this picture organizer from Tuesday Morning. It was a good price and I liked the color.

Guess what else? It turns it is the perfect size for my Xyron Design Runner. I just removed the Velcro dividers and I placed the entire machine in the case. It fits perfectly. I actually put one of the dividers back in the case vertically, to create a little pouch for my disks.

So if you have a design runner you should definitely consider this as an option for a case. I know at AC Moore they sell a similar case under the Stow and Go name. They are 50% off this week.

Talking Dirty

I am so tired of organizing my scraproom. It has been this ongoing neverending battle to conquer my paper. I have spent every night for the past two weeks, cleaning...and there is no end in sight. Just when I think I have everything put away I find something else. This is a clear indication that I have too much stuff.

My husband asked me why I keep buying organizational products when I am such a slob. Normally, I would be very upset by that comment, but I cannot dispute the truth. I am not a neat person. Nevertheless, I need to make an attempt to get my stuff in order. I am tired of searching multiple rooms just to find some adhesive.

Speaking of organizational products I just ordered this from Joann's. I thought it would work nicely on the tension rod I have suspended in my craft room. I already have the clear pouches from HSN hanging up there and I thought the drawers would work well. I like having everything at my fingertips.

Here are some truly awful before pictures of my room. It is looking better than this now, but this will give you a reference of what I am working with.

I bought a Cricut

I bought a Cricut after months of shunning the little beige bug. I broke down in the wake of holiday sales. I probably didn't get the best deal in town (179 at AC Moore with a free Cricut bag) but I am satisfied. I was planning to hold out for a Wishblade, but I want to wait until I upgrade my computer later next year before I get one.

The die cutting station in my scraproom is getting crowded with my sizzix, zipemate, big shot, quickutz, Xyron PCS and now my Cricut. Good thing my DH doesn't know these machines all basically do the same things. I would never be able to live it down after I went on and on about all his unnecessary tools.

I plugged my PCS and my Cricut in side by side, just to see if I really did own two "apples". Short Answer: NO. The PCS is out of box easy to use (and its pink!). No set up needed, just punch in your shape book and go. The Cricut had some minor assembly required. It took me a good 15 minutes to figure out how to get the blade attached to the machine. In my defense, it was late and I was a bit tired when I was setting it up.

With the PCS, you just click on the picture of what you want to cut to select it. You don't even really need to understand English to work it. There is a little more thought involved with operating the Cricut. You have to type in your word, select your special features (ie shadows, charms, outlines etc) set the size, etc... Generally there is just more button pushing required with the Cricut. To break it down...my mom could use the PCS with no effort, the Cricut would require her to think a bit more than she may like.

The PCS shape books are inexpensive. I think I have about 10 or so and none of them broke the bank to acquire. Many of them I got for 1/2 price. I just spent 150 bucks for 3 Cricut cartridges on Ebay. Ouch! But the Cricut cartridges are still cheaper than purchasing alphabets for my Sizzix or quickutz.

I should just stop now, because I cannot truly compare the Cricut to the PCS, they are such different machines. Definitely they are apples and oranges. The PCS has such cute shapes and a larger variety of them available. The Cricut is a little powerhouse for fonts - the size range it cuts, its speed....really great for cutting letters. Honestly, I couldn't choose one over the other. (Well maybe I would choose my PCS because its pink!) I feel they are both useful in my crafting. As is my sizzix/bigshot/zipemate - those machines are without compare in their ability to cut all sorts of media. If only I could get a good deal on a sizzix or a big shot alphabet, I would be in die cut heaven. And not to shortchange my quickutz. I love the tiny letters I can cut with it, granted I do use my sizzix/zipemate/big shot to cut them. The smaller letters are great for cards and mini albums. The Cricut and the PCS are not able to cut that small at this point.

In closing, my cluttered die cutting station is filled with useful tools that frankly, I don't want to give up. They all perform different functions and really cannont be compared to each other. Except for my sizzix, zipemate, and big shot - those three have some serious overlapping features, but I will save that for another entry.

Mini Shopping Spree

So my Lisa B Mega Chipboard kit came today. The UPS man dropped it off just as I was leaving for work. I will have to crack it open when I get home and take some pictures. I am so glad the shipping was so fast. Maybe I still have time to order her holiday card kit and have it arrive before Dec.

I have been on a semi shopping spree this past week. HSN had free shipping on their craft items earlier this week and of course I took advantage of it. I went to the site looking for storage items, but once I saw the free shipping, I was like a kid in a candy shop.

I ordered 2 sets of Colobox fluid chalk ink (w/stylus). I think one of my new life goals is to own all the colors of this stuff. I love the soft touch it lends to my stamping projects.


I also bought some Cloud 9 Designs 4x4 pattern paper stacks for my Xyron PCS.


And I did get something I actually needed as well. I bought these plastic pocket organizers to hang on my scraproom wall. I need to have my supplies in plain sight or I will never use them. I hope this helps.

Obsessed

Apparently I have an obsessive personality.

I collect toys (mainly Barbie) and they are all over the house. I have a collection that would make most kids squeal with glee.

I love a tv show (namely Dawson's Creek) so I watch the DVDs constantly, and I even watch the reruns on The N and TBS.

I love paper, so as you may guess, my stash of paper crafting supplies is out of control. I must have been a packrat in another life, because I can collect things like no other. But what about using them? Hmm...not so much.

But that is me. I can accept that I like to see things pile up and surround me until I am trapped by my clutter. Truly I am okay with that. However, I am not okay with my compulsion to keep adding to the clutter by buying things I don't need. Do I really need every die cutter on the market? Do I need inkpads in every color, eventhough I usually only use black, brown and blue? Should I buy 3 packs of brads just because they are on clearance?

So last night, I was casually strolling the 2peas boards, when I spy an interesting post. Apparently Lisa B has branched into selling more than just album kits on her website. So I follow the link intrigued by the post that claimed she had a huge chipboard set for a great price. Guess what? She does. Guess what else? I ordered it. Do I need a huge stack of chipboard when I rarely scrapbook anymore? Nope. Could I resist the urge to buy it anyway? Absolutely not. I will let you know how it is once it arrives.