Archive for October, 2009

I can’t help myself, this is one of the new release cartridges from Provocraft.  The name of this cart is From My Kitchen and it has all the icons of various items throughout your kitchen and lots of words.

When you open up the booklet it helps you find all the items that you need to create the icon.  You can pick and choose how much or how little of the items you want to use.  For me I usually follow the picture.

The booklets are not always the easiest to interpret but if you keep trying you eventually start understanding how they are thinking.

I wanted to cut out the little Dutch Oven and I made the blackout (or shadow) in blue, the Dutch Oven itself in rust,  the trim in black and the highlights in white.

The pieces are really small but I needed them to be small because I only have about an 1″ to 1-1/4″ square I get to decorate on this project.

A close up of the Dutch Oven shows that the Cricut makes little marks and cuts where the various items are supposed to be pieced.

This makes it easy to glue because you can take your glue pen and run the glue in the areas marked on the main piece and not have to try to hold down a dot of paper to get glue on it.

I also discovered if you use a pick that is made for paper piercing you can stick the little item and then place it exactly where you want it on the element.

I think this is a lot easier than trying to use tweezers and get it to to release where you want it to stick.

Here it is…..a little pieced Dutch Oven.  I used Zig glue, a quickie glue pen from Sakura and a paper piercer to get it constructed.

I also used only scraps that I had left over from previous projects to cut it out.

I’m working on a Christmas project so I can’t show you the entire thing, but I think it is going to be really cute when I finished. 

So you will have to wait until after Christmas before you see the entire final results, but I will show you some of the kitchen icons along the way.

On the dazzle sheets after you pull off an element you are left with “innies”.  These are the left over cuttings from the design.  You can get twice as much for your money when you learn to use these left overs in your design.

Usually, you would use what they call a transfer sheet to lift these off the paper and then transfer them onto whatever you were making.  However, I didn’t have a transfer sheet so I decided I would see if I could use masking tape.

I cut around the leaf pattern and placed the masking tape over it and rubbed it.  This will cause the sticky side of the tape to adhere to the top side of the innies.

Tip:  When you cut out the area that has the innies left in it cut on the outside of the design capturing a little line of the left over open space.  This will give the leaf an outline rather than just random “innies”.  I learned this the hard way.

If you look closely you can see the leaf under the blue tape.  This is the top of the blue tape and I rubbed my finger over it several times to be sure that the blue tape picked up all the little pieces.

 I picked up the edge of the tape and pulled it back slowly revealing that it had captured all of the innies from the dazzle sheet.

If I had cut around the outter edge of the open space on the dazzle sheet I would have had an outline of gold around the innies – it would made for a  better looking leaf.

I turned the sticky side (the one holding the innies) face down on the card stock and ran my fingers over the innies.  This will transfer the innies to the card stock (that is because the adhesive that was holding the innies to the dazzle sheet is now exposed and when you place it on the card stock it will stick to the card stock).

Once you have rubbed this onto the card stock “slowly” pull the masking tape back.  I keep a craft knife in hand to help the innies release from the tape.  If you do this slowly you can keep those rogue innies from getting out of line.  You will also notice that some of the gold came off on the tape but that is ok it doesn’t hurt the dazzle.

 Here you can see two sets of leaves.  Two are the outline dazzles (the “outties”) and two are the inside cuts (the “innies).

I just cut the shape of the leaf around the “innies” and if you look back at the card posted yesterday, you can see that they look just fine.

I haven’t tried this yet but using repositionable tape may work better on the Dazzle innies.  This type of tape is not as strong and would probably release the innies easier; however, you may have to rub the tape over the innies harder to get it to adhere well enough to lift them off the dazzle sheet.

Don’t let transferring dazzle “innies” psych you out.  You don’t have to have a “special transfer sheet”.  If you have a transfer you need to make that is bigger than the strip of tape you are using, just overlap the tape a little and make the tape transfer as large as you need.  You need a low tack tape to make this work.

I decide to use some of my Paper Wishes’ stash to make one of their cards.  I followed their directions and even used a white card.

I prefer to make my cards using colored card stock.  This is a personal preference and I know there are many ways to make cards.

For me I found it difficult to get the paper the exact size of the card.  I also think I can’t measure right nor can I lay the paper down straight.  This caused me to have to spend a lot of time just getting the two layers on the front of the card.

I layered the dazzle on pattern vellum paper and cut around it (easy enough).  I then layered the second dazzle flower on regular paper and cut around it (not quite as easy since it had more intricate detail).

I do like the way it turned out.  One of the hardest things was the floss that wrapped around the flower and the tag.  The floss didn’t want to go the way I was trying to tie it and it kept fraying.  I should have used a little hair wax to keep the threads together.

The inside was very similar to the outside and I like the fact it leaves a little room to write a personal note.

If I make this card again, I will make it using colored card stock and cut the front paper down to look more like a mat.

I also learned a technique on how to and what not to do to get the “innies” from the dazzle sheet so you can make additional embellishments.  I’ll post that technique and tips in another post, so be sure to stop back by.

No matter how busy my schedule is I occasionally have to find a way to release some creativity.

I found some square glass ornaments at HL and designed to try a technique I saw on Youtube.

I took the top off the ornament and very gently dropped some Perfect Pearl powder into the ornament (this one is copper).  I used a small plastic spatula for blending oil paint to get the Perfect Pearl powder into the ornament.  I put a couple of scoops, then I rotated the ornament until I got it coated.

I used the stacking dazzles, some foam tape and vellum to add some dimension.  I also used some stickles to add the 3 dots in each corner.

Hmmm, it’s ok but I’m not in love with the way it came out.  I’m going to try some alcohol ink in one of these and see if I can’t come up with something better.

However, this is how things start.  You try a new technique and then start thinking how can I make this look better or different.

You got to love creativity, it takes you in all kinds of directions.

We have a minor league baseball team here in the metroplex called the Rough Riders.  The stadium where they play is beautiful and we purchase 8 game season pass each year.  It is just fun to get out and enjoy the outdoors and I love to people watch.

When you buy season passes they send you a calendar of the games.  This is a nice size calendar and it is magnetic so it can sit on your refrigerator.

I’m in this cleaning out mode (I think it is because I’m working on my Mother’s bathroom and she has so much stuff) at home.  I’ve set myself a goal of cleaning out a closet or drawer once a week.

I reached up to throw this calendar away since the season is over for the Rough Riders and realized that this was an excellent sheet of magnet.  Do I need a sheet of magnet?  I’m sure I can find something to use this sheet of magnet for and recycle or up-cycle it without just throwing it out.

Oh well, so much for cleaning out.  Somethings are just hard to throw away.  I’ve worked on Mom’s bathroom Saturday and it is coming along nicely.  I’ll have additional pictures to show later.

This little gem is one of my favorite tools of the trade.  For those of you who are not familiar with the CuttleBug or CB for short, it can be used as a die cut machine and it can be used to emboss various items like card stock, metal  and acetate, etc.

On the bottom of the CB is a black rubber mat.  When you fold down the arms it creates a suction to hold the little gem in place as long as it is on a flat surface.

I started having issues with my CB not making a good connection to the tempered glass surface of my work area. 

I’ve been struggling with this dilemma for weeks, so frustrated because it now walks on the work area and I have to use one hand to hold it down and the other to make sure the plate sandwich, emboss folder or die cut went through the machine correctly.

I was cleaning up my “woman cave” and just by chance decide to look at the bottom of the CB to see what was going on and I found that the rubber mat was dirty.  Took a baby wipe and cleaned it up.

Oh my, it works just like new.  If you are struggling with the suction on your CB, take a few minutes and do a little maintenance.  You will fall in love all over again with this sweet little machine.

Thought I would show you what I’ve been working on that has kept me away from posting.  This is still just in the beginnings of getting things updated for Mom.

After my friend Joel helped me (or should I say I helped him), fix the “water closet” issue in Mom’s bathroom, we pulled up all the old tile.  Mom’s house is probably a go0d 50-60 years old so the more you mess with it the more you find needs to be addressed.

This is a picture of the sub-flooring before we put new tile on it.  It’s in pretty good shape and what you are seeing is the residual adhesive.  I know it looks wet but it’s not.

This is the bottom of her linen closet and as you can see it needs a lot of TLC.  This is compressed saw dust, sub-flooring that someone used for the bottom floor of her linen closet.  Not a good choice, because when it get wet it expands.

Solution, I’ve sanded it down and I’m going to seal it, then paint it.  When I’m done I will buy some peel and stick tile and put on top of it so the moisture won’t get through to the sub-flooring.

What I’ve learn so far…..I’m not as young as I use to be and rolling around on the floor and getting into some tight places makes this old body sore.  However, I told Mom she was just going to have to live with the mess a while but it would be nice when I got through.  We are working a little bit at a time and making sure things like paint, caulking and texture dries good in between.  Sure don’t want to do things twice.

My husband loves to play golf.  For a long time I tried not to get involved in this sport.  One reason is because I’m a firm believer that in a marriage each person should have their own interest.  This allows time for you to be apart, develop friendships with others and gives you something interesting to talk about.

However,  I decided I wanted something to do besides watch TV, eat dinner out and mow the yard with my significant other.

So my BFF wanted me to learn something about golf so we could go on a trip together and all of us play.  To the driving range I went to get a few pointers.  Now keep in mind I’m only 5’4″, ok 5′ 3-1/2″, what’s a half inch between friends.  Her clubs were a little too long for me, but I did enjoy being outside doing something different and with great company.

So, got my DH to show me what kind of clubs would fit me best (some Lady Wilson’s) and they make a donation to breast cancer research.  Of course I had to have a glove that was pink and white.  DH said I could use some of his tees and golf balls but I can see where this could open up a whole entirely new world of shopping.

So, I’ve been to the driving range twice and I’ve drove the ball, chipped some and putted some.  I have a date with my BFF each Friday evening to go to the driving range while my DH goes to the local football game.  I figure after about 20 times at the driving range I should be “golf course” ready……..whatever that means!