Iris Fold Birthday

One of my very favorite patterns for cards is SVG Cuts' Iris Fold Cards. I made this heart-shaped one for my sis-in-law's birthday.  I think is one of my very favorite cards I've ever made.  Fits my beautiful sis perfectly. The paper is from "it's the little things" from Fancy Pants Designs.

Also made her a birthday hat (with her age of course) that we made her wear in public!  But, at 66 we get past the embarrassment, and just go with the flow! The hat came from the Happy BirthdayTo You SVG Kit from SVG Cuts.  I just typed the numbers and welded them in the ECAL software and made a shadow layer, then cut on my Sizzix Eclips!

 Happy Birthday, Sis!

Easter is Upon Us!

Here is a sweet little egg box that sets on a pedistal.  It comes from SVG Cuts' Poplar Street Tulips SVG Kit.  The kit also contains a scrapbook layout page, an Easter card and an adorable tulip card. I made this for my sis-in-law's birthday.  Still trying to decide what I'm going to put inside.  Any suggestions?

I used four of the Epiphany Craft small circle embellishments, two back-to-back on each of the ribbon ends.  The flower on top is from SVG Cuts 3D Flowers SVG Kit Part II, edged with a tiny bit of silver.
A fun and easy project that you should all try!

Happy Easter!

Welcome to California!

I met a good friend on Facebook. She's from Montana (I'm from Southern California). She came to visit and we're seeing the sites of our beautiful city.  OK, I know what you're thinking. Be careful who you meet on the Internet, they could be crazy or possibly a murderer.  Well, I can assure you none of these are true. We both received these comments, and had to assure our concerned friends that the other was completely normal!
Anyway, I made her this welcome card with a touch of good ol' San Diego style. The base of the card is the congrats card from SVG Cuts 5-Minute Cards. The California cut-out is included in the SCAL/ECAL library as a stock image. The little whale and the wave are both SVG Cuts Freebies, yours to download for personal use! The little shells are from SVG Cuts Beach Bum Collection III. And, I used an Epiphany Crafts scalloped tool element.

Tomorrow we're off to see the ocean for my friend's very first time. I can't imagine having not seen the ocean in my whole life.

Fun in the Sun!

Pot o' Tea?

Here's a cute little tea pot from SVG Cuts Tea For You and Me SVG Kit. Love it.  I'm going to give it to my English mother-in-law for her birthday in April. I'll put tea bags in it.  She never misses her daily cup of tea.

Thanks for taking a look!

Tea Time!

Birthday Card - Dexterity Puzzle

Birthdays start early in the year for my immediate family.  My daughter is in January, and my husband and son-in-law are in early February, all within a week and a half. I had this idea about making one of those old marble puzzle toys (they are actually called dexterity puzzles) for my daughter and son-in-law, like the kind you'd get in a Cracker Jack box back in the days. The idea began with the Snow Globe Shaker card by SVG Cuts.  It planted the seed in my head to make the dexterity puzzle.
I took the snow globe portion of the Everyday Winter Cards from SVG Cuts pattern.  Then the search began for the marbles (or ball bearings) of a size that would work.  Tried looking at bb's, but they were too big.  Then I asked my husband, and we realized that he sells ball bearings and the size was perfect!  Score!
I had to build up the outer edges of the circle portions in order for the marbles to clear the acrylic.  It took 10-11 thicknesses of cardstock for this to happen.
I made each background with a map where they had traveled. Then incorporated their goofy faces on the map and printed them out and glued them to some cardstock. I made hole punches on their noses, and then on some of the cities that they had visited (one got Italy and one got Austria). Each had five ball bearings.

Once this was made, I just glued it to the front of their cards.  It really turned out cute. Upon opening, they immediate had a competition to see who could get their marbles in the holes first. It was a spot-on tie. Yup, I know they're 25 and 29...some of  us stay kids for quite a while.
Here's the front of the finished card.

This was definitely fun, and really easy to do once I figured it out.

Happy birthday!

Happy Valentine's Day

Well, here we are on February 14, 2013 celebrating Valentine's Day once again.  If not taken too seriously, this is a fun time of sharing moments with our special loves, be it husband, boyfriend, children, other family or besties.  We really don't celebrate a lot in our house, but my husband always makes sure that my daughter and I get a nice card and some See's candy (no complaints here!).
I made my husband some chocolate chip cookies.  You know the addage, "The way to a man's heart is  through his stomach."  Yup, that's the way it is in our house, and so we have a big batch of cookies waiting for his consumption.  And, of course, I made a nice dinner.
I also made him a card, which was easy, fun, and I think turned out just fine.

 

The card is 6"x6", and was made with the Union Square paper collection from Recollections. The flower on the card came from SVG Cuts 3D Mums SVG Kit. It's the Tickseed mum. Very easy to make, and really cute. I made it at just over one-half of the original pattern size. Made some tickets that I got from some digi kits, and I added some wording to them. Then added a little heart brad.
Here's the  inside.

Again, the elements were from some digi paper.  And, I just made the little flag banner at the bottom.

So, hope you all have or had a lovely day.  I've definitely had too much chocolate today!

May love find you wherever you may be!

Christmas Tree Explosion Box

Merry Christmas all!  I'm sharing today a project I made last Christmas for the director of a show called Traditions of Christmas, which takes place in San Diego. I did this show with my daughter, and it was such a nice way to spend time with her and with the amazing members of the cast. The pattern for the project comes from SVG Cuts in their December Gifts SVG Kit, a great kit that would be worth owning!  There are lots of other goodies in the kit that are darling as well.

The top portion is a "cap" that holds all of the sides together. 

After taking the cap off, you peel the layers, revealing a photo album!  It's really enchanting and so fun to make.  It takes a lot of paper and is not a quicky project, but is a wonderful keepsake.

 

 After opening the second layer a little box is revealed.  We chose to fill it with one of the director's favorite candies.  A little snowman sits on top of the box, which opens and is hinged.

Here's a little closer look, where you can see the director, Kim, in the gold dress, and her little girl, Izzy, in the red dress (Izzy played a baby doll in the show). Izzy really loved opening it and playing with all of the flaps and then trying to close it all up. I altered the little Santa's list to include both of her children's names.

Here's a close-up of the little box on the inside.  I added around 30 photos to this one, but you can add or subtract to that as you wish.  Thanks, SVG Cuts, for such an incredible pattern, and for the great instructions for making it.  It looks so complicated, and is really easy to put together.  Enjoy!

We Need a Little Christmas, Right This Very Moment!

Christmas Tag Swap

This is the last swap of the year for me.  I need to start concentrating on the holy days ahead.  This was the first swap a few of us SVG Cuts girls had done over at Crafty Swaps and Challenges.  It was really fun, and they are a great group of ladies over there.  Before these were done and mailed out, I thought I'd be putting the tags on Christmas gifts, but I just couldn't give these up because they are so beautiful and such pieces of art.  So, I'm going to make a flag banner with them, and display it with my Christmas decor.

Here are our tags.

Aren't they pretty!  Thanks Kathy H., Jeannie L., and Amy M.  All of your tags just make me happy!

It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas!

Thanksgiving/Autumn Swap

This swap has turned into my favorite.  Don't think I ever realized how much I appreciated the fall as much as I did this year.  I'm not talking about the weather in way-too-sunny-and-warm San Diego, but just the gorgeous colors that go with the season.

Here's our groups ATCs.  They were just wonderful.

Here's mine!

And, here are close-ups of just a few of the individual swaps in my group.

Jeannie L.                                    Debra V.

  

Laura M. (Waterfall)                      Kim M.

Trina S. (Jiggle Turkey)

 Thanks so much to all that participated.  Love getting fun ATCs in the mail. 

Longing for those autumn leaves to fall

Happy Retirement, Sis!

This is a little gift I made for my sis-in-law, who just retired.  I'm so excited, because now we'll get to do some crafting together.  She's such a busy and talented lady, who loves scrapbooking and quilting.  But, mostly she loves her kids and grandkids, and is always looking for new things to make for them or with them when they visit.  So, I made this little box from SVG Cuts Sew Crafty SVG Kit. 

It's just darling.  Used some embellishments from a digi paper kit I had, a button, and the Epiphany Craft scallop tool.

 Liked the little saying, "a day spent crafting is a good day."  I love the paper pack used for this project.  It's called "it's the little things" by Designs by Lili from fancypantsdesigns.com.  Love it.  This little box held a gift card to Joann's, so my sis-in-law could choose to use it on either paper crafts or fabric.
I made the bag for this from SVG Cuts Big Boutique Boxes SVG Kit.  I used the same paper kit for it also.

 Thanks for stopping by!  I think it's time to start posting for Christmas!  Love this time of year.

Where would we be without those so dear to us!

Misc Birthday Cards Fall 2012

Just thought I'd share some of the birthday cards I've made recently.  This first one was designed by me for my brother-in-law, who happens to play the ukulele and is known as "Ukulele Bob."  I made a flat small box that I glued right onto the front of the card, into which I inserted a set of ukulele strings.

Next are a couple of cards that were made from SVG Cuts Christmas Cheer SVG Kit.  I know they were meant to be Christmas Cards, but I just left off the Christmas part and used them as birthday cards for my lovely niece, Tracy, and my sweet friend, Julie (two of my favorite people).  These cards were accompanied by, of course, a Starbucks gift card.

This is a card I made for my Auntie's 80th birthday.  It was made with SVG Cuts Iris Fold Card SVG Kit, which is really one of my all-time favorite kits (I think I've mentioned that in my blog before...redundant, I know).

And, lastly, is another SVG Cuts card that I made real fast for my daughter to give to a friend of hers, but I was a bit late and she had already bought a card.  I was so happy, because I ended up really liking it, so now I can give it to someone else!  This came from the Breezy Backyard Lever Cards SVG Kit, and was the card with the sail boat on it.  I left the sale boat off and put a flower in its place.  The flower is also an SVG Cuts pattern that had two layers, and I just added another level in between the other two in a medium size.

So, that's it for this posting.  See you back real soon for another post.

Share a thought today!

Halloween ATC 2012

Here's the next ATC swap for SVG Cuts.  Halloween, of course!  Wow, my outlook on Halloween has really changed this year.  I've been loving all of the Halloween themed projects.  However, due to time constraints, I made mine pretty simple this time. Just 4 pieces.  And, I have to say it made the entire swap so enjoyable.  OK, so part of it is a friend who challenges me to get things done in a timely manner (thanks Jeannie!) so I'm not stressed with deadlines.
My submission is a simple one made with files from SVG Cuts.

 Here is my group (plus a couple extras that were sent to me by kind friends).  They turned out so cute and so fun!  Some of the detail and techniques used were amazing.

I just have to share the one made by Amy.  She did a small interactive one that was so stinkin cute.

Thanks to everyone who participated.  Now on to fall!

Don't turn off the lights!

Creepy Chandelier!

Here we are at such a fun time of year.  I'm so excited to show you my rendition of a Spooky Chandelier.  It was so fun to make.  It was made for the Halloween Challenge over at SVG Cuts Facebook.  All cut files were to be used from five kits/collections (I used four of them).  Here's a little description of how I went about it.

The body of the chandelier was the tree (used upside down) from Hazel's Wicked Witch Craft.  I opened the tree in ECAL and duplicated it, flipped one over book style, let them overlap a bit and welded them.

I cut 12 of these.  I scored down the middle so it would fold into a 90° angle.  (6 one way, and the other 6 flipped opposite since they were not identical).

After creased, I glued them in four groups of three. I then placed the four sides together (trees upside down) and paper clipped them.  At this point, it sat for about a week so I could figure out in my head how to install the luminaries.

 I combined two copies of a flourish from Gothic Flourishes SVG Collection and welded them together.  They were embossed, and inked with silver, then bronze. Then applied them to all eight 'tree trunks.'

The luminaries are from the Midnight Jamboree SVG Kit.  I revised a little because I was afraid they would be too tall.  So, I cut the top part off (Thanks for showing me how, Linda Hurley!).  Also, I welded a small square on one of the 'fence' areas, so I'd have stronger support to hold the luminaries.  Then cut a small slit on the side and bottom.

To make the attachment a bit stronger, I took some 24 gauge wire, folded it in half, and inserted it between the two sets of tree branches.  Then, when I put the branches into the luminary, I bent the edge of the branch and the wires in opposite directions.  After attaching, I added another bottom and side piece to the inside of the luminary to hold everything in place and hide the wire.

I was almost done, but I started thinking (I hate when I do that!).  I decided it needed some crystals.  So, I looked through the kits/collections allowed in the challenge, and found the treat cones in the Party On Elm Street SVG Kit.  Bought some acetate.  Opened the cone in ECAL, shrunk it way down, made a scrunched down one and flipped it up, then welded one side, and scored the folds.  They were really little to work with.

Used some jump rings to attach them to the chandelier, and...I think I'm just about done!  Added a couple of spiders from Spooky Silhouettes SVG Collection and Hazel's Wicked Witch Craft, as well as some spider web to top it off.
Here's a photo against a white wall.  You can see some details, like the spiders, that are hard to see on the black background, but you can't see the spider webs.  I duplicated the spider with the eyes and put red tissue paper between the layers at the eyes so they glowed red.  I used some tarnished-looking chain to hang the chandelier.

Hope you enjoyed it.  I loved making it!

Don't be afraid of the Dark . . .

ATC Swaps - Summer and BTS

Joined my first ATC swaps this summer with some of the ladies at the SVG Cuts forum.  I'd never done this before and it was such a fun way to share with people and get fun things in the mail!  For those not familiar with what an ATC is, it's an artist trading card, a small card 2.5"x3.5" that you make for a number of people and swap.  They are done with pretty much any art medium.  I've seen them with painters, photographers, graphic artists, etc.  We have begun one through SVG Cuts, so there will be a mainly paper cutting art.

The first one we did was an Ocean/UnderTheSea Theme.  You could use any medium you wanted, and do whatever you wanted.  Being new, I stuck to my tried and true SVG Cuts files.  Here's my submission for the swap.

That little sand dollar was less than a half-inch wide, so you can imagine how intricate my cutter can cut.  I love my Sizzix Eclips!

There were seven of us in our group, and all of the ATCs turned out great.  We even had one that was hand painted!  It was truly a piece of art, and I felt honored to get it, as I can't draw a stick figure. Here are the submissions for the swap.

The next ATC swap was a Back to School swap.  Everyone again had full reign on what they wanted to do, as long as it was 2.5" by 3.5".  And, just imagine, one of the swaps came all the way from Greece!  Mariela put each person's name on the front in Greek.  Her's even opened up and had a globe and a paper airplane and other items on the inside.  It was wonderful!

Here's my submission on the BTS swap.

I always brown-bagged it when I was in elementary school, and was quite envious of anyone who had a lunch pail.  At one point, I was given a hand-me down lunch pail with this exact plaid print.  I found the print on the Internet and printed my own paper for it.  I loved that lunch box.

Again, we had some wonderful submissions for this BTS swap.  Here's a photo of our groups submissions.

Read the subjects on the little Report Card.  It's just darling.  I feel sort of "out of touch" with the BTS theme, as my daughter is married and in grad school.  But, it was still so fun to revisit this time and share with these talented ladies.  I'll be posting again a couple of weeks, as we are now in the midst of our Halloween ATC swap!  I've received a couple of them, and they are fab!

Back to School = Peace and Quiet!

Fall Banner Swap

This was such a fun swap in which to participate.  Amy (Aimitup) asked a few of us to participate in a trial swap, to see if it would be feasible to do it on a larger scale.  The theme, of course, was FALL, and we each made four copies of one letter, and then mailed the other three to the others.

Here's how it turned out.  I love it!

Amy sent us our backgrounds and the letters (and outlines), and then we each decorated it as we saw fit.  She also gave us a color photo of the other participants' blank banners, so we could get a feel for the color scheme.

Elizabeth's was the first one, the F:

Amy did the A (just realized while typing this that "A" is for Amy!):

I did the first L:

And, Brigit (Brigit's Scraps) did the second L:

I honestly think this is one of my most favorite projects thus far.  I love looking at the banner.  It turned out so wonderful.  We all put  the banners together any way we wanted.  Brigit put wooden beads between the flags, and I liked the idea, but didn't have any.  So, I made more of the acorns and cut a bunch. Each one is 6-7 thicknesses of paper, and the twine goes through the center of each one.  Amy used eyelets, and then tied them together, and it looked awesome.

I hope we get to do another one for Christmas!

The falling leaves drift by my window. . .