Friday, January 21, 2011

Projects, projects, and more projects...

...but no pictures to share yet.  Sorry!

It has been quite the week!  My sons had no school on Monday because of the holiday;  no school on Tuesday because of snow and ice; delayed opening on Wednesday; regular school day Thursday; again no school today, Friday, because of more snow.  It's been a looooooong week!

In the meantime I am trying to get a whole lot of projects done.  Some are my own, others are for other people/events.  Some of my own have been organizing my digital pictures for my scrapbooks.  I've been slacking on that lately so I am way behind.  Another of my own projects is trying to organize my recipes.  I've been wanting to make my own recipe book for a while now, but I just can't seem to make the effort to do it.

One of the main things I'm working on are some Valentine's Day cards for my mom.  The bed and breakfast she manages has an annual valentine's day party and she likes to make it personal.  I did some projects for her last year, you can see them here.  This time I just have to make the cards and some snowflakes.  I will be sure to post some pictures once I'm finished.  Oh, and if anyone is looking for a great place to go on vacation and a wonderful place to stay, you can always check out The Castle Bed and Breakfast!

Another main task I am trying to manage is the school carnival.  I am on the committee for putting it together and this is my first time doing anything like this.  I am super excited, though, and can't wait to start putting things together.  Right now everything is still in the planning phase.

It sure seems like there are times when I have nothing at all going on, and then the next thing I know I have way too much happening!  Hopefully I won't get overwhelmed and will be able to accomplish my goals.  I also want to keep up with my own scrapbooking.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

First Day of Kindergarten Layout

I am slowly coming out of my comfort zone and I just posted my first layout to the 2Peas Gallery.  I did this because I wanted to participate in the Scrapbook Stamping Class because I knew that would help me use more of my stamps which is one of my goals this year.  My style isn't exactly like the rest you see there, but I am trying!!  Most of my layouts are multiple photos, and I have a linear/clean line type of style.  I know there must be others out there that have this type of style.  Anyone???  Bueller?  Sorry, couldn't resist.

Anyway, I thought I would share my layout here since I can add a lot more detail about the stuff I used and what I did.













The layout is based on my sons' first day of Kindergarten.  After I started doing this layout I realized that their clothes for the day even matched and I didn't plan that!  I had them pick out their own shirts.  All of the stamps I used are from Papertrey Ink - School Time.























"First day of" is from a stamp, but the actual stamps says, "First day of school."  I just masked the school part so I could use the rest of the stamp.  Kindergarten is cup with the cricut cartridge, Plantin Schoolbook.  I layered some paper to make it look like chipboard.  The border of "I love School" is also a stamp.























The stamps on this page are the embellishments on top, the ABC paper in the middle, and the year, age, and teacher on the bottom piece of paper.  The patterened paper I used on this layout is an old one I had from my stash.  It was from the Junkits Brights line.  Using my stash was another goal I had, and I can say so far so good!


















After I stamped these images, I used my 1 3/8" circle punch to cut them out and then I popped them up on dimensionals to give some depth.


















Here is a close up view of my faux chipboard letters.

Supplies used:
Patterned Paper: Junkitz Brights
Cardstock: SU! Whisper White textured and smooth, real red, brilliant blue, daffodil delight
Ink: SU! real red, brilliant blue, yoyo yellow, daffodil delight, garden green
Stamps: PTI School Time
Other: 1 3/8" circle punch, dimensionals, computer journaling

Monday, January 17, 2011

Bags from Plantin Schoolbook

I tend to be a visual person and I like to see how things are, so I seem to make myself a lot of reference type sheets.  A while ago I needed to package up a gift quickly and had nothing at home to use.  I thought I would make myself a bag from one of my cricut cartridges, but I had no idea how each one would turn out or how much room inside there would be.  So I thought once I had the chance I would cut out each bag and make myself a little reference sheet.  If I am going through all this work for myself, why not share it!

I started with Plantin Schoolbook since they only had a couple, and I already posted my font reference sheet and end cap reference sheets in the past.  I might even do the envelopes for this cartridge as well.
















I cut these out with an 8.5x11 sheet of paper and chose fit to page to cut at the maximum size, but I got the maximum size cuts for 12x12 and 24x12 as well.  I also included the measurements of the put together bag, but on my reference sheet I forgot to mention that the size of the completed bag was for a bag made with 8.5x11 paper and not the bigger sizes.

This is the main bag
Maximum cut sizes:
8.5x11: 6.5"
12x12: 7.25"
24x12: 11.5"
Height to top of bag: 4 3/8"
Height to top of handles: 5 5/8"










Shadow of main bag - this one has no cut lines or score lines.  I had to make my own
Maximum cut sizes:
8.5x11: 6.25"
12x12: 7"
24x12: 11"
Height to top of bag: 4 1/2"
Height to top of handles: 5 5/8"








Tall Ball
Maximum Size cuts:
8.5x11: 9"
12x12: 12.5" (don't know how, but that's what it gave me!)
24x12: 13"
Height to top of bag: 3 5/8"
Height to top of handles: 4 3/8"









Italic
Maximum size cuts: 
8.5x11: 6.75"
12x12: 7.5"
24x12: 11.5"
Height to top of bag: 5 5/8"










Roly Poly
Maximum size cuts:
8.5x11: 5.75"
12x12: 6.25"
24x12: 11.5"
Height to top of bag: 3 5/8"
Height to top of handles: 4 3/4"









I took this picture to show that pretty much all the bags have the same size inside of them, which is about 1 1/4" except for Tall Ball, the round on at the end.  That one is about 1 3/8"













This is a picture of what the reference sheet looks like.  I am going to attempt the put a link for the PDF here in case you want to print it out for your own reference.  Since I never tried to link to a PDF before, please be patient if it doesn't work.

Also remember that the size for the height of the completed bags is based on a cut from an 8.5x11 sheet of paper.  I forgot to put that on the sheet.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Best Wishes

I was working on something I wanted to post today, but I have a bit of a bad headache, bordering on migraine.  I wasn't able to finish it up yet, so I found a card a made a while ago that I haven't posted yet so I will share that today and hopefully I can get my other project done in time.


















I originally made this card because I was challenging myself to use some stamps I had but never used.  That would be the flourishes I used for the background.  They are an old set from Autumn Leaves.  The color of the ink and cardstock is Almost Amethyst, retired, from Stampin' Up.  The ribbon is black satin from SU also and so is the Best wishes sentiment stamp, frame, and punch.  I need to find out the name of the stamp sets.  I'll have to come back and edit this once I find out.  I love this color and was so sad when SU decided to get rid of it :(  My favorite color is purple!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Disney Hollywood Studios

I am still working on our Disney trip from 2008, and have not even begun the album for the trip we took to Disney in 2009 for my sons birthday!  I shared the first double layout I did for Hollywood Studios, so this is the next one.  I had a lot of pictures so I had to make 3 double layouts worth!













I continued the star border theme throughout all the pages to connect them somehow.  The stars are from a Stampin' Up wheel that I used black in and just rolled it across white paper.  The rest was just simply placing the photos on the paper.  For this album all my layouts are pretty simple because, well, that's what I wanted!  I think for the 2009 Disney I will try a little more embellishing.























Monday, January 10, 2011

Toy Story Birthday

My sons are HUGE fans of all things Toy Story.  We have watched Toy Story 1 and 2 countless times, and Toy Story 3 was the first movie they saw in the movie theater.  We've had to role play Toy Story characters and they both had to be Buzz Lightyear for Halloween.  So of course for their birthday it had to be a Toy Story theme.  You can imagine my excitement when Provo Craft announced a Toy Story cartridge this past summer!  I just knew it would be perfect for their birthday and couldn't wait to get it.  Even with all the delays in getting this cartridge, it still managed to get to me on time, although my work time was cut short.  So I had to work some magic to get everything done, but I did it and I love how everything turned out.

I used my Gypsy for most of the cuts because I had to make everything a certain size and the Gyspy makes everything so easy for that!  Plus I was able to use the hide contour feature on a couple of things, which helped save an enourmous amount of paper.














This is just an overview of the kids table























I made 2 toy story signs and we taped then back to back so no matter what side you were on you could see the sign.  We then hung it from the ceiling in the middle of the room.  Hanging from the sign is the 3D alien cut.  We used a piece of a toy from my one son to be "the claw" and had the alien hanging from the claw.  He had been chosen!!
















Beneath that on the table I had 2 aliens from the trio alien cut (I didn't cut out the middle one), and had one on each side of the alien in the claw pointing up, almost like they are saying "oooooohhhhhh, the claw!"  The aliens are taped to a covered up wooden block to hold them up, and there is an alien on the opposite side as well so both sides of the table had a view!
























Here is a view of the whole thing together
























On another wall I had Jessie, Buzz, Woody, and Bullseye.  The Happy Birthday letters were cut from the Old West cartridge.
















closer view of the gang
















Here are more cuts I did that we just put up as decoration.  The only thing I didn't cut was Zurg, because I needed him to be bigger than what I was able to cut.  Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head was part of the game "pin the parts on the potato heads"   I also cut out the individual pieces from Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and then the kids had to try to stick the part where it belonged.  Zurg was a "defeat zurg" game where the kids got to throw balls at Zurg!  I made him by tracing a picture from a projector onto poster board and then coloring him in.  Then velcro sticky tabs were stuck to him for the felt balls to stick to.
















This sign obviously has nothing to do with Toy Story, but I made this little sign to hang in their bathroom so it was the first thing they saw when they woke up the morning of their birthday.  All the cuts for this sign was from the Celebrations cartridge.


The boys loved all the decorations for their party and now all the cuts are in their room.  I am so happy that it worked out and they had a great party, and I loved seeing everyones reactions to all the things I made

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Random Projects

I think I may actually get a chance to scrapbook tomorrow!  My husband said he would watch the boys while I had some "me" time, but they both mentioned about wanting to play in the snow tomorrow and that means hot chocolate afterwards.  That means mommy has to make it, but maybe I can get some scrapbooking in before and after.

In the meantime I still have some projects from last year that I would like to share.  This first one is a sign I made for the boys for their first day of Kindergarten! 
















I used Locker Talk and My Community Cricut cartridges for the images on the sign.  I kept it fairly simple, well because I did at the last minute!  I worked on it the night before their first day.
















I think I am going to have to make a sign for their first day every year now!

This next one actually has a story behind it, one that I think i will remember always.























It's raining chocolate chip cookies!  This all started when my son "C" was makign wishes.  Whenever he saw the first star at night or threw a coin in a fountain, he would say, "I wish it would rain chocolate chip cookies!"  Well, the more tell it like it is son "B" would say, "that can't happen!"  Well, I was determined to make it happen for my sweet little dreamer!

So one day while they were in school, I cut the cloud and cookies from my cricut and baked up a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies.  I tied the cookies to the cloud to make it look like the cookies were coming out of the cloud, and then I tied it to the light in the dining room.  Then I put the plate of real cookies underneath so it looked the plate caught the cookies falling from the cloud.

When they got home and walked into the dining room, I heard a lot of laughter and squeals of happiness, and then the best thing of all.  Son C ran up to me, gave me a hug and said, "Mommy, you made my wish come true!"  Sometimes they can definitely test my patience, but this one statement makes all the effort worth it.  The cookie cloud is now hanging up in their room.

The cloud was made from the cartridge Mickey and Friends, and the cookies are from From My Kitchen.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Teacher Card

Still have some projects I would like to share from last year.  This one was made for my sons preschool teacher when they graduated in June.  I had all the kids sign their names on the inside and then on the back I typed up a list of what their favorite thing about that teacher was. 























I used Locker Talk Cricut Cartridge and I tweaked it a bit with my Gypsy.  I chose the "my teacher" image from the cartridge but I didn't want it to say my teacher, I wanted it to say #1 teacher.  So I used the board and teacher from that image and then used the hide contour feature on the Gypsy to get rid of the "my."  Then I used the #1 from the #1 student image on another page and cut that to put with the teacher.  The size of the card is 5.5x8.5 - basically a sheet of 8.5x11 cardstock, scored and folded at 5 1/2. 

Monday, January 3, 2011

A new year, a new start

Happy New Year everyone!  The beginning of a brand new year seems to be a time of new beginnings and starting over - almost like getting a fresh start on something.  For me, I am determined to prove something to myself this year.  I am so tired of starting something and then somwhere along the way, I stop.  I also want to make sure I take more time for myself this year, especially to scrapbook or do some sort of creating.  This past year I scrapbooked less than I ever have since I started this hobby.  So with that...
  • I am going to do my best to blog at least 3 times a week.  At times it may be more or less, but I really don't want a week to go by without me posting something!
  • Because of the blogging, that means I need to make sure I create something!  So I am going to try my best to make time for that every week.
  • I would like to try all the different techniques I have seen but have never tried, but have really wanted to!  As I try each one I will share it here.
  • I want to use my stash!!!  I know this is a big one for a lot of scrapbookers and cardmakers.  We are always talking about using the stuff we have more and buying new stuff less.  For me, I have a bunch of stuff that I bought but I haven't used yet, and I would like to take this year to challenge myself to use the stuff I have bought at least once!  For example, I bought alcohol inks because I really wanted to try them out, but I have yet to use them.  So they have been sitting in my drawer for a year :( 
  • I am also determined to make at least 1 project with each of my cricut cartridges.  I have cartridges I haven't used yet, and I don't want to feel like I wasted my money buying them just add to my collection.
  • I feel the same way about my stamps.  I have stamp sets I had to have, but haven't used.

Whew!!  I hope I can do it!!  I want to look back when it turns to 2012 and say I did what I set out to do, or at least I gave it my best shot!

With that, I will share a layout I wanted topost last year but never got around to it.  Since I don't have anything new yet, I will be sharing a lot of older projects I've done for the next couple of posts.

This was from our Disney 2008 trip:


I am going to try my best to remember what I used:
cardstock: SU basic gray textured cardstock
star border: SU star wheel with black ink and some are outlined with black stickles
Title is cut with Make the Cut and a font I had on my computer
Stars are cut from cricut cartridge Hannah Montana
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