Jen Adkins Designs

Looking good!

2012-02-09T11:24:00.000-05:00

Just a quick pic before heading out the door yesterday AM. He thought the applique was pretty cool too!

If I were a centenarian...

2012-02-07T20:40:00.001-05:00

Okay, so it's not been one-hundred years, but I finally really sewed on my new machine and I had to share with you!

My son has his "Hundredth Day Party" tomorrow at school and was instructed to dress like he was 100 years old. Now, truth be told, he told me that meant he should dress like a skeleton...because "people don't live that long". We talked a bit and decided on a little crafting project.

I'm not sure if you know how hard it is to find long sleeve, plain white t-shirts this time of year...I mean geesh, you'd think it was winter or something, but there were very few to be found anywhere; I snagged one hiding behind some swim trunks.

I ironed Heat n Bond lite onto the back of some woven cotton I pickled up from Hobby Lobby and cut out a tie shape. You'll just have to trust me here...I forgot to take pics along the way, last minute crafting you know! :) The tie got ironed on the t-shirt, and I zig-zagged around it to finish the edges. "Old man" shirt and tie, done!

He needed something to hold up his drawers, so I made a pair of suspenders from some left over "tie" fabric, a yard of elastic, and a pair of mitten clips from the clearance bin (hiding under the flip flop display, lol!).

FREE- today only!

2012-01-23T21:14:00.000-05:00

www.yourfonts.com is celebrating National Handwriting Day TODAY Jan 23 only by allowing you to make a font out of your handwriting for FREE!

It is super easy. I made mine using my Zig marker (on the smaller nib, because the bigger nib was to fat for writing in the small boxes.

To get your font for free, just follow along with the instructions to make your own font and then use coupon code..

CPN4NHD2012

Picture this! New stacks.

2011-11-14T09:49:00.001-05:00

Just in case you needed any enabling to add to your paper hoard...I took some pics at my Michael's last week. Now Michael's has many stacks that have been showing up (like for Halloween) that reminded many of other manufacturer's exact prints. Well, it turns out that DCWV is one manufacturer that has confirmed that they are making stacks exclusively for Michael's that are "branded" under the Recollections name. I apologize in advance for the sneaky (crappy) cell phone pics...but you can try clicking on them to see them larger (and likely blurrier, LOL!)

So, here's a few of the new Christmas "Recollections Signature" lines. Anyone recognize any? Any favorites?

Jolly and Bright has a retro/vintage feel to it with the kitschy teal, green, and a slightly salmon tint to the reds.

Belive has soft mossy greens and rust colored red, a little "aged" but not really grungy/shabby.

Naughty or Nice...very familiar, No?

O Christmas Tree - grey blues, olive green, deep dark red. And, of course, trees everywhere.

Classic Christmas - an exclusive Colored Core pad with Christmas icons.

Warm Wishes - reminds me of tole painting and country Christmas. Lots of folksy images here.

The 12 Days - each paper has one lyric from the song and then coordinating prints.

The Ballet has several great pages that would be perfect for the Nutcracker, but plenty of others that work for dance classes or recitals in general. It's plums and mossy green.

Photo Real Christmas. What more to say? I never know how I would use these full size pages with giant huge images. I mean, if half the pics covered up with other pictures, why does it matter?

Winter Wonderland has a kind of hodge podge - some "photo real", some print, some plaids.

Holiday Traditions has that very old fashioned vintage charm. Like Coca Cola Santas, kids in their kerchiefs, and engraved images...

___________________________________________________

So, what do you think? I never had the chance to pick up any of the Halloween stacks...my store skipped right over that holiday for papercrafting. Which is really sad...because though it is only "ONE DAY" in the scrapbook...the cute, sweet, spooky, quirky images always make me want to buy them all and save them to admire.

Think you can see yourself using any of these Christmas stacks? Are you a stackaholic? What do you think of the exclusive "Recollections" push? Is it a way to not have to price match the lower DCWV prices when they are on sale at JoAnn's?

eta: yup! there are a ton of stacks...the reason for the cell phone pics is that I didn't buy a single one of them!

Mundane Monday

2011-10-31T22:52:00.000-04:00

Just thought I'd share with you a quick pic of my nails today...I'll pop up some more info when I get some more time...

It's very big, it's very big, it's very biiiiiiig!

2011-10-04T14:23:00.000-04:00

So I'm not really sure how I came across this funky, sometimes irreverent, fun kids classical music CD collection, Beethoven's Wig. I just have to say I've been listening for hours to samples online now and, I'm hooked!

Check out their homepage!

Each CD seems to have the first half with the classics overlaid with satirical, cute, dare I say it, educational lyrics. Then the second part of the CD just has the orchestral score. Seems like a great way to get the kids into the "old stuff". We;ve never really had a problem, my DS loves listening to classical music more than most "current" music...what about your experiences?

(It reminds me of Alan Sherman and Al Yanchovic, too!)

Update - You CAN use your "Blue" Wishblade with Windows 7!

2011-08-07T12:19:00.001-04:00

This post could also be titled "Where there's a will, there's a way!"

You may remember that over a year ago I posted a tutorial to help you use you Blue Wishblade with Vista or Windows 7. I felt there have been enough changes in the options available to you that it was time for an update!

Remember, as with any new software installation, it's best to set a "restore point" prior to any changes, so you can essentially roll the machine back if there are any unforseen consequences!

By now, most folks know that (internally at least) a wishblade, craftrobo, and silhouette are essentially the same machine with different badging. So, it's no surprise that finally these commonalities might solve some of the problems.

Download the Silhouette Studio (version 1.7.1) from the Silhouette America storefront.
Find the setup file and double-click it to begin the installation process.
Follow the prompts during the installation process.
Plug your cutter in to the Windows 7 computer and turn it on. Driver should be installed automatically. If you get a warning about not finding the driver you should be able to just ignore it.
You can now access your GSDs through Silhouette Studio and send to cut through that program.

Now, I have been told that Blue & pink wishblade owners and craftrobo owners are successfully cutting using Silhouette Studio from XP and Vista machines as well, so please share any tips you have in the comments section here...

I would recommend that you keep a separate GSD copy of any file you plan to open into Studio, because you can only save as a .GSP (via save to SD card mechanism) or as a .STUDIO file. This means that only Studio users can open and cut these files.

You CAN have more than one version of Robomaster on your machine at any time...just name them appropriately (like "blue wishblade GSD", "Studio to cut", or "original Robomaster") so you know which one to launch.

Time to get moving in the mornings...

2011-07-13T22:11:00.001-04:00

You know me...I'm not a morning person...the day should start with a much quiet and a lot of caffeine. It just so happens that my kids prefer to start moving slowly in the mornings too! Unfortunately there always seems to be a ton to do before getting "out the door", so we've tried to streamline the breakfast experience.

They've been fairly happy with "Breakfast Cookies" (I think I've shared those before, if not...I'll look for the recipe). On the other hand, I'm trying to introduce a little variety, hence it was time for some experimenting in the kitchen.

Here's a picture of the final outcome, our mini frittatas.

First thing...ignore the picture above, LOL! I took a shot of the ones I made with the leftover egg mixture, but for best results you'll want to use a silicone muffin pan (or you'll be scrubbing...scrubbing...scrubbing),

Here's the recipe we came up with:

Mini Frittatas
10-12 eggs (it really depends upon how deep your muffin cups are)
2 Tablespoons flour
1/4 cup milk
1/2 Tablespoons seasoning mixture (I used an all-purpose vegetable seasoning mix but you might like Mrs Dash, Montreal Seasoning, etc)

Place all of the above ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk with a fork just until the eggs are barely mixed. Then, take your muffin pan and prep it by spraying with non-stick oil spray (like Pam).

The great thing is that you can customize your Frittatas! I put a large teaspoon of fresh salsa and some crumbled pepper jack cheese onto the bottom of half the muffin cups for my son (who loves spicy foods) and some bacon crumbles and cheddar cheese in the other half for my daughter. Divide the egg mixture by pouring into the cups.

Place the tray (on top of a cookie sheet to catch any spillover) into a preheated oven set at 350 degrees F. Bake for 20-25 minutes, just until the tops are set and just beginning to turn golden. Let cool in the silicone muffin pan for approximately 5 minutes, then use a spoon or butter knife to "pop" them out. Serve immediately while hot or place them into a ziploc plastic baggie and store for up to one week in the refrigerator.

We found they reheated pretty well in the microwave for about 40 seconds at 50% power (be sure to check frequently as all microwaves do vary).

Let me know if you try it, I'd love to hear what combinations you come up with!

We have a winner!

2011-06-17T07:34:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Games (aka Ginger)! She came up with oodles of phrases using my Simply Sentimental file, to be honest I lost count several times there were so many...or maybe it was the 5 and 7 year old helping me, LOL! I'll email the file out to you Ginger!

A monsterously good time!

2011-06-16T08:05:00.004-04:00

Thought I'd share a couple more monster cupcakes with you...

And now, for the craft we did during the party...Continuing on with the theme of creating your own monster, we used these Iron-ons from SEI.

Each kit has about 50 pieces, with plenty of eyes, horns, mouths, and appendages. They've got some great You tube videos showing you some techniques for creation, even a video teaching you how to make additional bodies to stretch your dollar and use all the leftover body parts. (Unfortunately I didn't find this one until AFTER the party, but that means we have lots of monster creations left for the future!) You can see some of my daughter's shirt in this pic (along with her PURPLE monstrous cupcake)...

And my son wanted to prove that the kids actually LOOKED like the monsters they created...

We found the My Own Monsters at Michael's and Hobby Lobby, but you can snag them on Amazon too!

Sorry I've been MIA...(pic heavy)

2011-06-15T10:37:00.006-04:00

So, it's been a little while since I updated, and I wanted to pop in here and let you see why. My kiddos had their birthday party last week. As you might remember, we do the party at our house, and have a theme for the joint party. This year, it was monsters!

I made the invitation on my KNK. Since it's an odd size I also made my own envelopes. Unfortunately it fell outside of "normal" size for the USPS, but it was super easy to make with the Martha Stewart Scoring Board. I love the little envelope tool with that thing!

The invite is a Pop-Up card. It's a combo of printing on my laser printer and paper piecing. I love how the monsters turned out! I grabbed the good old blue Fiskars embossing plates and ran the monster bodies through the Cuttlebug with the Spellbinders tan embossing mats to add some texture (fur, scales, and ridges).

Here's the "big picture" of the cake table. My son decided he wanted the cake this year and my daughter picked cupcakes. BTW, those cute little monster cake plates (back right hand corner) are from Target. I think they're Spritz brand and were with the party supplies.

My son wanted 5 eyes on his monster cake, so after frosting the cake with the Wilton fur tip, we made cake balls (thanks for the ideas Bakerella!) and dipped them in melted chocolate then added pupils to make them look like real eyes. *NOTE* My son wanted the eyes to fan out at a bigger angle, but we found the cake balls were too heavy and the cake was too tender, so they started ripping through the layer cake if we "tipped" them too much! It was my first time making the cake pops, according to the family it shouldn't be the last, LOL!

Now, on to the cupcakes! I apologize in advance for the "purple" fur. I guess I should have actually looked at the instructions for tinting the frosting purple, but I "assumed" it would work to mix red and royal blue...well I kinda got a purplish gray! Looks like pretty boring cakes, right?

Well, the original idea for this party was sparked by some stinkin' adorable cupcakes I saw at SnowyBliss last year. That's right, the kids got to build their own monster cupcakes! The body parts were all made out of Wilton vanilla candy chips, so they were all edible too. We've got tentacles, hands, bows (there are girly monsters too, you know), and wings in this first tray.

Then there's googly eyes, teeth, horns, forked tongues,and rows of fangs in here!

The kids had a pretty good time, here's a few of their monstrous creations...

I'll share some more pics tomorrow (gotta show you the craft they did too!)

ETA: Woo-hoo! The monster cake was featured on Bakerella's Pop Stars!

One, two, three...jump!

2011-06-05T08:56:00.000-04:00

Time to jump in for some summer fun! I don't know about you, but summer + sun always = pool for me.

My SPLATS! file has 5 different diecuts perfect for water balloon fights, swimming, mud, and so much more.

You're funny looking!

2011-06-04T07:59:00.003-04:00

You'd say the same thing if you saw the wacky faces kids make when there's a moustache, tiara, or monacle attached to their bathroom mirror.

Great fun for vinyl or window clings on the mirror, silly 'staches on breakfast glasses, or stickers to modify extra 4 by 6 prints!

(Click the pic to go directly to Paperthreads.)

Sometimes simple is best...

2011-06-03T11:04:00.003-04:00

Simple can be beautiful...check out this new file, Simply Sentimental, which contains a huge variety of script words you can rearrange to make a multitude of phrases for your layouts. It's also got a stained glass like cut for BOY, BOYS, GIRL, and GIRLS. Customize with a background cut to match your page perfectly.

And now, a little contest...hmmm???!!!

I want to see how many different phrases you can come up with using the words in the file pictured above. How's about it?
Mix and match these words:

boy

boys

girl

girls

hanging

little

our

out

playing

rough

shopping

sweet

the

tumble

will

with

& (and)

Leave me a comment on this post with your list of phrases. Don't worry, they won't show up until the contest is over (so nobody can cheat off of your list, LOL!) I will try to update the post (or place a comment at the end) prior to the end time with a list of names of commenters so you know yours wasn't lost in bloggerland somewhere.

Check out some quick sample pages below...

And yes, I would count "my sweet little girl" and "my sweet little girls" as different phrases, so they count as two! Any questions? Alrighty then, you've got until Tuesday night 6/14 at midnight Eastern to submit your phrase list!

Oh yeah, the prize? Well, the person who comes up with the most phrases will get a copy of this file for electronic cutters for free!

Sweet Summertime!

2011-06-02T13:54:00.000-04:00

Goodness, it was so hot here over the Memorial Day weekend we nearly lost an entire bed of annuals we had been so excited about getting in the ground the week before. Hopefully (*fingers crossed*) they just lost some foliage and will regrow. The weather has also been a little cooler (not upper 90's, LOL) which should also help.

I just wanted to give you a little look, or advance notice, if you will, of some new files coming up soon at Paperthreads...

Watch out for more coming soon!

Summer reading! The adventures begin...

2011-05-16T07:05:00.037-04:00

I mentioned to you recently that my son has "taken off" on a reading adventure. In fact, since that post we've read 17 books! So, what's a mom to do to help cut down on costs while encouraging their reading addiction?

First of all, don't forget about your local library. Ours hasn't really posted info about the program yet, but many libraries have teamed up with the community to offer passes to local attractions, discounts for movies, or special events. While browsing, I found out that Wisconsin has a great looking summer planned, they even have a formal Adult reading plan!

Second several nationwide bookstore chains are gearing up for summer reading as well. I know that Borders/Waldenbooks has a program where the kids can read 10 books, turn in their logs, and choose a book from a select list of titles to take home for FREE! Barnes & Noble has a similar program where kids read 8 books, write a short sentence of who else they would recommend read the title and why, then pick a free title. Half Price Books has you log your time then, at the end of the season if your kids have read more than 600 minutes they get a coupon for $5 off a book purchase.

Chuck E Cheese has downloadable rewards calendars for many different activities ( I mean who wouldn't want to clean their room, be a good listener, or stop picking their nose?). But, they do have one for reading for 15 minutes each night. If they do that every night for 2 weeks, they can take the calendar to Chuck E Cheese for 10 free tokens.

National Amusements (aka Showcase Cinemas) has a Bookworm Wednesday program over the summer. The kids can read a book, write a book report on the downloaded form, then present it to a participating theater (be sure to check the list at the link since not all locations participate) for a free movie on Wednesday morning. The best part? Adults and siblings under 5 (who aren't eligible by age to participate) get into the same movie for free without writing a report, yippee!

Scholastic also has a summer reading program (you knew they had to, LOL!) Kids log their minutes each week, get free digital downloads with certain goals, and then can compete for the Scholastic records and earn points for their schools.

I know some of the fast food places in town usually have summer reading specials as well. I haven't seen details for 2011 yet, but will update as I get more info.

So, how about it? Any tips, tricks, or wonderful programs you'd like to share?

Look what popped up

2011-05-15T08:57:00.012-04:00

You gals are great! You've got it, It's a new file I'm finishing up for the store, called Layered Cake Pop-Up Card.

I've made options to make it perfect for a birthday cake (just change the colors to suit your boys or girls) with or without the frosting extras. There's also a way to make it into a beautiful formal wedding cake perfect for invitations or a gorgeous wedding card for the bride and groom.

So, what do you think?

Sneak Peek!

2011-05-14T09:42:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to share with you a teaser of the most recent file I'm working on...

So, what do YOU think it is? Any guesses? Leave me a comment on this post...

Circle of life...

2011-05-12T08:20:00.001-04:00

As many of you may know, we lived in Alaska for a few years in the service. This next layout was really influenced both by the tribal art of the Natives as well as the circular lifecycle of the Salmon.

Another one done...

2011-05-11T07:14:00.000-04:00

Whew, just uploaded another one that I got finished this weekend. Now, some of the ladies with me at the Paperthreads retreat in Baltimore may remember me starting this layout then...but I just finally finished it this weekend. I added the journalling with a white Sakura Souffle pen (love how that puffs up and stays opaque on the black background) and the Brutus the Buckeye paper piecing.

My Hero!

2011-05-10T08:19:00.001-04:00

Just another share of a layout I got done this weekend. I've had this Bug paper from Paper Studio (HL brand) in my stash for awhile. It was a perfect fit for the primary colors and subject.

Here's a little close-up of the spider he captured and the arrow I (almost) stamped. It's a clear acrylic arrow from Sandy Lion. Problem is, that it was shorter than I wanted. So, I masked off the end, then reinked and moved it over to add a longer piece onto the pointed end. Almost lined up, even with acrylics it's not perfect. Oh well, used a few dots of the white Sakura Souffle pen to fill in where I overlapped the ink.

Thanks for looking!

Ah fate, how I love thee!

2011-05-09T07:07:00.000-04:00

Sometimes fate has a cruel sense of humor, just sayin'...

I sat down to FINALLY work on some scrapping on National Scrapbooking Day on Saturday with this idea in my head...I really, really needed a piece of white core red cardstock. No matter how hard I looked through my stash, I just couldn't find one. Now, this is probably because a) I don't buy white colored cardstock in general because it cuts horribly on my electronic cutter, b) I tend to use up a lot of red (you know, primary colors for kids, OSU, etc...), c)Hobby Lobby (crafts etc.) cardstock is solid cored, and d) JoAnn's switched to Coredinations instead of DCWV for their individual sheets of cardstock. So, since I can't seem to find a Coredination sheet with white on the inside...just the whitewashed sheets with it on the outside, I had to improvise.

I found a sheet of salmon pink colored white core stock, inked it with some cherry red pigment ink, dried, then cut, crumpled, sanded, distressed my letters and added crackle accents to the top.

Now, that comment about fate and her twisted ways? I was already planning to make the page about daybreak and my daughter's unbelievable ability to beat the sun up every morning, when what did I find digging through my acrylic stamps (which, sadly, have previously been hoarded and not used)? A ROOSTER! Time to ink it up with the same pigment ink, a perfect match (though the reflections don't look like it on these pics).

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T11:55:00.005-04:00

I hope all the mothers out there have a wonderful day! I just wanted to pop on and share a few images that make this mommy's heart warm and fuzzy...

My son offered to brush his sister's hair so she didn't have to stop playing her Leapster game yesterday morning while we were getting up and ready for the day. The funny thing...she was playing her Disney Tangled cartridge, LOL! She never cried or fussed while he did it, which is usually less drama than I have during a hair brushing session. I know, maybe I should sing while I do it...

Then, it was off to the library. My son came home with a prized book borrowed from his 1st grade teacher's private shelf. After he devoured it Friday evening, we were off to see if we could find more books in this wonderful series. We came home Saturday AM with the first 4 books, which he had completed by Saturday evening.

I did have to go back to the library that afternoon (because I forgot to "unlock" the DVD case for the movie I checked out for my daughter), and snuck out another 4 books for my son. Here's the pic from this AM, I couldn't even get him to change from jammies before he was asking if there was more he could read.

Now, if you'd have asked me three months ago...we were fighting to get him to read even 5 pages from his "Book in a bag" that he brought home each week from school. I am so pleased to see the change in his reading attitude recently. So, what books are they that turned my 1st grade reader from, pbbbssst... to YEAH!???

Thankfully there are 40 books in the series, which may get us until summer break starts...then what?

BTW, thanks for the words of encouragement on the last blog post. I certainly feel a "boost".

A strange day

2011-05-06T10:23:00.005-04:00

Ever have one of those times when you feel like your mojo has done an Elvis and "left the building"? Mixed your methaphors and ended up with whirled peas? Okay nevermind, back to the question at hand...

What kind of files would you like to see? Any designs you've been searching for but haven't found? Need a digistamp or cutter file? Got any extra mojo you could spare? Leave me a comment and let me know or send me an email! Inspire me!

May the Fourth be with You!

2011-05-04T09:45:00.004-04:00

So, have you heard the news??? Today is celebrated as "unofficial" Star Wars Day...get it? May the Fourth be with you? I know, cheesy to say the least!

But, there was actually an official link released earlier last month reporting that today, at 9:00 EST Lucas Arts would be revealing some majorly cool stuff about upcoming Star Wars projects. Of course, when I went to check it out, the site has crashed do to pure hit numbers. Now, supposedly the leaked info is that the entire series will be released as a Blue Ray set in the fall. This is so much more reasonable than the earlier theories that it would all be released as a 3D version. I mean, I know that they computer enhanced all the films when they came out on DVD, so theoretically adding 3D enhancements would not be impossible, but really? KWIM?

Well, since I can't hook you up with official Star Wars geek info, I thought I'd leave you with this cute little Lego Star Wars Video I found that basically summarizes the saga. Enjoy!

It's a typo!

2011-05-02T11:38:00.006-04:00

I find typography to be a fascinating thing! What is it about "just a collection of letters and words" that can be so visually appealing? Wiki has a great article about Typography.

"Typography (from the Greek words τύπος(typos) = form and γραφή(graphy) = writing) is the art and technique of arranging type, and sometimes modifying typeglyphs. Type glyphs are modified using a variety of illustration techniques. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading (line spacing), adjusting the spaces between groups of letters (tracking) and adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning)."

Plus, it's also a great opportunity to use a wide variety of sweet fonts!

"Choice of font(s) is the primary aspect of text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spiritual and commercial writing all have differing characteristics and requirements of appropriate typefaces and fonts."

So, where does this all fit into my point for today? Hmm...

"Display typography is a potent element in graphic design, where there is less concern for readability and more potential for using type in an artistic manner. Type is combined with negative space, graphic elements and pictures, forming relationships and dialog between words and images."

I've been working on a project for our family room (now that my oldest son is pretty good at reading). It's my version of the "Family Rules". I tried to pick fonts that emulated the individual rules but that were also artistic (and they had to cut well on my KNK too!) I ended up making a plaque that was 12 by 12 inches and framing it, but it could be put on a large (12 inch or 18 inch) tile too.

Oh yeah, and I didn't take that picture perfectly, either, LOL! I have also decided I need to learn more about my (ancient) version of Photoshop, so after I took the crooked, skewed, angle distorted picture, I figured out how to tranform, compress, and readjust my pic so that the cropped area was actually square, you know, like it was in real life!

A wedding gift

2011-04-28T18:48:00.003-04:00

So, you haven't come up with a gift for the royal wedding yet? You could print and frame this modern take on an old British classic. I've updated it with the crown for the Prince William...and changed the wording just a touch, LOL! Of course it's also the color of that gorgeous sapphire engagement ring Kate has.

So, the preview above is just that, a small preview image, not full print quality. You can download the high resolution image by clicking on the links below...of course, if you wish to download it, you need to agree to my terms of use...which is simple, don't claim it's yours, don't sell it as if you own or made it, and send your friends to my site to download it rather than hotlinking or sending them the file directly! If you agree to these, just enter the following password when prompted by 4shared:

iagreejlatou

You can download either:

JPG version

PNG version

I don't think I've shared this before.

2011-04-20T07:59:00.001-04:00

If I have, please forgive me!
As the end of the school year approaches, I know some of you might be thinking about small gifts for your teachers. I wanted to show you a few pics of the little handmade gift we made for my son's teacher this year.

I simply went to Wordle and created an image with words about my DS's school. You can output it as a pdf, which I then opened up in illustrator and tweaked a little bit to fit the proportions I needed.

I then printed it onto a laser transparency on my laser printer. Of course if all you have is an inkjet you could print it off onto paper and then take it to a copy shop to put it onto transparency.

Cut the wordle out, roll it into a tube, and insert it into a bottle of alcohol based hand sanitizer that you've removed the label from. I found these small bottles at Walgreens. They worked great because both the front and back labels peeled off easily with goo-gone and there was no print on the bottle itself. Smoosh the transparency against the front wall of the bottle, allow it to unroll, and that's it!

I added a little tag since all the package instructions were gone.

Lookie, lookie...

2011-04-18T07:10:00.000-04:00

Woo-hoo! I'm so excited to finally be cutting again. It seems like forever since I've dusted off my machine. The bonus? It's all for you...yup, this means new files coming up, because I'm finally finishing up some test cuts and tweaks.

Here's a peek at a new file I just got in the store...It's an Ornamental Flourish. It's perfect when cut out of vinyl for a wall-hanging plate but it's also designed to be cut from chipboard and used to emboss card front. All I did was cut the file from light weight chipboard (I'm honest...I used the back of a cereal box). Then I laid it behind the front of a precut, prepackaged 5 by 7 card (you know...the bag of 50 blank ones at the craft stores?). Place one or two of the tan rubbery spellbinders pads over top, run it through the cuttlebug, and voila! It's so easy to make an entire set of ornate cards perfect for gift giving.

I'm also including an triangular Flourish which fits right on the envelope flap as well. That way the envelope can match the card! Wouldn't it make a great Mother's Day gift? Just wrap up a stack of envelopes and cards, tie with a ribbon, maybe add a pen? I added two lines along the bottom front edge of the card with my Martha Stewart Scoring Board.

So, just click on one of the photos to go directly to this in the Paperthreads store!

Hop to it!

2011-04-16T14:32:00.006-04:00

Just a quick note to let you know I'm running a special on my collection "A box for All Seasons"

It's on sale right now through the 21st for just $11.99 which is 40% off the regular price. It's a super quick file to put together and you could have sweet little eggs as name tags on your Easter table. Or just make breakfast a little more special and fill it up with jelly beans as a surprise! (Just click on the photo or link above to go directly to the file at Paperthreads.)

Off to see the Wizard

2011-04-14T09:58:00.004-04:00

So, I saw a new 12 by 12 paper stack at Ms the last time I was there. It would be perfect for all you Oz or Wicked lovers out there. Unfortunately I can't find anyplace online that sells it, so I can't get a really good group picture...but here's a small image of some of the collection...
According to the Paper House Blog it looks like they started selling this back in 2009 (at least the individual pieces), but this is the first I've seen the cardstock stack. What about you? Have you seen it? Used it? Got pics or layouts to share?

I never know quite what to do with these pages that have such a large focal image. Hate to cover them up, but otherwise you can't really use much of the page. I;ve never been a 1 pic on a blank page kind of girl, KWIM?

Setting sail!

2011-04-10T16:49:00.004-04:00

I'm sure you might remember the Pirate Pop Up Card from my kiddos' birthday party last summer...well, I've finally got it packed up and available in the Paperthreads store.

Now I realize that you pirate party isn't complete without a cupcake wrapper for the mateys...after all why should the girly princesses get all the fun?

So check out this file, perfect for yer sea-farin folk!

It's already up and waiting for you at the store, so hoist the anchors and avast ye, me hearties!

Popcorn! Get your Popcorn!

2011-02-24T08:23:00.000-05:00

By the way, I thought I'd share with you a "home run" I finally hit on a Christmas present this year. See, my family loves to eat popcorn and watch movies at home, so we were going through the microwave Boy Scout popcorn pretty quickly. We decided to switch to a microwave popcorn bowl by Nordic Ware. It let us pop the bulk kernels in the microwave.
Problem was, it left so many kernels unpopped. (Unless we set it for more time...then we burned the popped ones!) Not such a big deal...and still a great improvement over bagged pop but I started thinking about one of the retro "home movie" theater poppers.

We got a Costco membership in November and wouldn't you know it...they had this gem at the front entrance! And to top it off, it was on special for $50. Suffice it to say, we've put this baby through the paces in the last month and a half and we LOVE it! It doesn't pop a very large batch at a time, but it only takes about 3 minutes, so it's so easy to reload and pop more.

Such a yummy dinner!

2011-02-22T08:30:00.001-05:00

We had this for the first time during the Super Bowl, I got the recipe from 2 Peas in a Bucket. It pops up fairly regularly at the top of the new posts, so I finally gave it a try. I'm so glad I did, because now it's going to become a staple in our meals.

BURNING FEATHER'S ITALIAN BEEF

Mix in crock pot:
1 (1.25 oz) envelope dry onion soup mix
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 large clove garlic, smashed or 1/2 TBSP, minced garlic (jarred kind)
3/4 cup water
3-4 lbs. Roast (We've used chuck eye roast and had great success!)

Cook on high all day (8 hrs or so), or until meat is tender. Our crockpot seems to run hot, so I usually start it around 9-10 am on high, then around 4 o'clock turn it down to low to continue simmering. Turn it over every now and then if you can. If not, that's okay too! Shred the meat, let it simmer in its own juice for a while, and serve on buns or hard Italian rolls with provolone cheese.

Now, because there were only 4 of us eating there was plenty of it leftover. It keeps great in the fridge or freezer and I had good luck reheating it on 50% power in the microwave.

It's a big, big deal!!!

2011-02-18T23:23:00.013-05:00

That's right, Paperthreads is celebrating Customer Appreciation Days with Trendy Tools and Techniques! There's so much going on around the forum, the store, and the blogs!

ALL of my files are on sale Feb 19th, 20th, and 21st for 50% off! So, if you've seen some you wanted to try, what are you waiting for? There are bound to be some smokin' hot sales going on this weekend, so be sure to stop by and check them out! We've also got several designers running challenges, "first-to's", and BINGO this weekend (but you've got to sign up as a forum member first!)

Just so they're handy, here's some important links:
My section of the store: Jen Adkins Designs
The Paperthreads Store page
The Paperthreads forum

And, that brings us to the blog hop...
My trendy little technique is a digi stamp. It's a great add-on to some masculine cards, steampunk altered art, a vintage page or frame, and so much more! I designed it to compliment several new digi stamps I'm working on, the first of which is already up in the store.

Now, I've gone ahead and included the cut lines for digital cutters, but there's also the PNG and JPG too if you want to hand cut.

And, before you head over to 4-shared to pick up the freebie, you've got to agree not to share my files or images with others. I'll be keeping it up through the weekend, so please, send them along to my blog to get them for themselves.

Finally, 4-shared will ask you for a password to download the file. All you need to do is agree to my terms of use and then type:

iagreejentou

So, if you agree to my TOU and want to get the file for yourself, click ...
(Sorry, the freebie link has been removed, watch for them at Paperthreads soon!)... The single zip includes GSD, AI, WPC, KNK, SVG cutter types as well as the PNG and JPG images.

(I've had some folks say it's asking for the password twice- once before and after the download link occurs-, just type the same password again if prompted!)

Now, here are some more friends who have other goodies and fun in store for you:

Keepsakes by Design
Paperthreads Designs

Sam and Hailey Designs

Shelly's Art

Shirley Clark Designs

Enjoy!

One hundred days

2011-02-17T10:00:00.005-05:00

Well, my son had his "Hundred days" party finally at school. It was delayed a bit this year due to snow! Part of their celebration was to make a shirt at home that had 100 objects on it. They got to choose how to decorate it...paint, markers, stickers, or sewing on objects, etc. You know my son LOVES his Legos, so we had to incorporate that somehow.

It ended up being a pretty inexpensive project, just a little time consuming! I wasn't able to find any Lego related iron-ons, and my inkjet printer is running low, so making a transfer like the Star Wars rainbow shirt wan't going to work. We found some iron-on flock numbers by SEI on clearance for a couple bucks at Hobby Lobby. Now, the ones we got didn't have the outer white frame layer like this snapshot below, but you get the idea (I think they were clearanced because they're the "older style" from SEI).

I just used a small pair of scissors and cut the numbers up into little Lego like bricks. I also made some using a small (1/8 inch, I think?) hole punch to make it look like the bricks viewed from above. We were able to cut up a few extra "1"s and a "2" and get our hundred bricks of assorted styles and sizes. Then it was a simple job to iron them onto s $3 shirt from Hobby Lobby as well. Voila!

Sweet times

2011-02-15T12:30:00.006-05:00

Well, we've never done a gingerbread house before this year...and now that we've done one I'm not sure we will again, LOL!

Actually I had purchased one of the Wilton's pre-baked kits at Michael's the week before Christmas, but something kept sneaking up on us and we never got around to making it.

We finally got the box out 2 weeks ago and mixed up the packaged royal meringue icing mixture. I think I made it a little too loose, because it just didn't harden up very quickly. No matter, our window frames were a little saggy, and the icicles on the eaves a little longer than expected, but the kids had a blast!

Here's a look at the final, "snowy" outcome.

And they're off!

2011-02-13T14:31:00.005-05:00

We had our first Pinewood Derby race on Saturday. My son had a great time learning to use the drill press and the belt sander. He picked out the spray paint (a shiny glossy green) and learned to apply that as well. We decided it needed some spicing up, so cut flames from some samples of vinyl I got when I purchased my KNK. He learned how to weed the vinyl and used the transfer tape to apply it to the car.

Well, he didn't have the fastest race times, but he did win 1st place in the pack among Tiger Cubs for design!

And yes, we desperately need to get a haircut...but it was a busy weekend! LOL!

How cute!

2011-02-11T12:21:00.003-05:00

How cute is that little statue? It's apparently a garden piece from Lowes. I think I may have to take a trip and see if mine has any in the store. It's totally adorable!

BTW, if you haven't grabbed the freebie I shared Thursday, make sure to check out the next post down below before I take it down this evening.

Just a little somethin'

2011-02-09T22:25:00.005-05:00

Woo-hoo! I've managed to figure several things out about blogger and 4-shared...I've finished a few files and am about ready to upload them to the store...and I've got a freebie for you!

One of the ladies on 2 Peas was searching for a tag for a perpetual calendar. I was able to create this set for her to use, and I've decided to share it with you too! Now, as you may know, I design for Paperthreads. Michelle has a wide range of cutters for sale in the store, and essentially all of the files available work on any one of the cutters. So, I've not only got the images for the entire set of tags for you to download, but I've also gone and created "print-and-cut" files for your electronic cutters too. They're sized to be 2.75 in wide by 3.75 in tall.

Now, if you just want to handcut, you can grab the "images only" folder. Otherwise check out the folder (click the folder icon down below) with the file type you need. And, before you head over to 4-shared to pick up the freebie, you've got to agree not to share my files or images with others. I'm going to keep this image up for at least the next day, so please, send them along to my blog to get them for themselves.

Finally, 4-shared will ask you for a password to download the file. All you need to type is agree to my terms of use and type:

iagreejentou

(Sorry, the freebie link has been removed, watch for them at Paperthreads soon!)

After I'm done sharing it here, I'll upload it to my section of the store, so check it out if you missed this! (And while you're there you might want to watch for my new files...they're already available at Paperthreads.)

Speedy sale!

2010-11-26T21:02:00.003-05:00

I've been so busy catching a couple of great shopping deals this Black Friday that I totally forgot to set up some sales for YOU! That means we've just got time for a speedy sale. ALL of my files at Paperthreads will be 40% off on Saturday and Sunday, Nov 27 & 28.

But it gets even better...if you've been eying that Countdown to Christmas file, you've got to get moving! So to speed you on your way to completion I've marked it 60% off for the next two days as well. That means you can pick up that entire file collection for just $5.98! What a deal!

Did you see Sue's lovely creation?

Isn't it awesome? She is so speedy and does so much with love, you can just see it in her projects. Don't miss out on this, you can use all those files individually as well for cards, tags, and so much more.

BTW, I shop vicariously too, not such an adrenaline high, but still...
So...share you awesome finds this weekend in the comments below. I'll draw a winner from the comments on Monday to win my next file to the store (it's a great gift card holder, so perfect for this time of year).

Counting down the days...

2010-11-23T19:22:00.004-05:00

What, you want to see more? Well, I'll link here as soon as everything gets set in the store, but here's the photo from the file...

(You can click to go to the file at Paperthreads!)

It's just what you need to make your own Countdown to Christmas Calendar! I've included 25 paper piecings you could use alone, the digital stamp for the retro quirky numbering, and the title. I've also got instructions to help you complete your own masterpiece!

Sneaky, sneaky...

2010-11-22T22:19:00.004-05:00

Whew, I'm so glad to be done with my part in my next file...now I just need to get it all done and up in my part of the store!
But what is it you might ask? Only me and a little "fishy" know right now...Want just a peek to pique your interest?

It's just a tiny part of the whole piece...stop back soon to see the rest!

Some older things to "wrap up"!

2010-11-10T09:36:00.004-05:00

I remember mentioning my project I needed to complete before the Baltimore Paperthreads Retreat...but don't think I ever actually shared pics of the completed project.

It was honestly the first sewing (other than knee patches and waist "take-ins") that I have done for some time!

I wanted to take my copic markers along on the trip with me, and have used a clear tupperware style box to travel with previously, but spent too much time sdigging through the box trying to find the color pairings I had available. I tried rubberbanding the groups of 3 "side-by-side" shades, but spent so much time unbanding and repacking. So, I decided to make a roll up marker wallet.

It looks much like a make-up brush roll, I just measured my markers and figured out how big it needed to be to hold 72 markers (24 sets of 3 color pair-up). I use a mixture of sketch and ciao pens, and wanteed both variations to fit in the same sized pouch. It's snug for three sketch, and a bit loose for 3 ciaaos. Here's just a peek as you unroll it. I wanted to make sure when it was rolled up that none of the markers could fall out, so folded it back over itself.

Once it's completely open, you can re-roll it inside out with the center tucked back out of the way. Now I have a roll that can stand up on the table in front of me...and is perfect for keeping all the colors in order!

I was even able to color in images on the plane this way!

Thanks for looking!

Why does it always happen...

2010-11-01T13:52:00.005-04:00

...that you never can catch them both looking at the camera, smiling, acting HUMAN, at the same time? Here's a few snaps from yesterday on Halloween. We have some other photos of carving the pumpkins, but that was in the basement and they're a bit dim. Here's some before getting into costume...see the mean monster on the left?

Okay great, now she's smiling...

She must have burped...or crossed "over the line"...(Don't you remember that from car trips...MOM, she touched me...she's on my side of the line!)

Isn't it time for trick-or-treat yet???

So, I decided just to take their pictures by themselves (and got great ones, HAH!)

Now where's the candy???

So, my daughter was a "fairy princess", Tinkerbelle, to be more accurate. I told her to smile for the camera...she thought for a moment...(btw, she was over the moon with her glittery purple pumpkin, er, I mean fairy dusted bucket)

and told me she knew EXACTLY how Tink should pose...

I have to admit it, I think she's got it! Check out the car decal below sold by the Diseystore.com .

Now, her brother...well, you know he's a Star Wars addict. He dressed as a Jedi knight. I think he finally decided he was Obi-wan.

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a wonderful weekend!

2010-10-01T21:37:00.003-04:00

It's looking like it's going to be a beautiful weekend around here...the weather is cool, crisp in the mornings (just like fall SHOULD be, LOL!) but not too chilly to be out and about.

It's time for a big celebration at Paperthreads too! The store opened up 4 years ago, and it's Michelle's birthday too, so quite a few of the designers have joined in on a spectacular bash of a sale! All my files are on sale for 50% off, and I know many others' are as well.

So, come on over and join us in celebrating this weekend with some fantastic deals. (Sale starts Friday, Oct 1st and goes through the night of Sunday, Oct 3rd EDT.)

While the cat's away...

2010-09-24T00:01:00.001-04:00

That's right! The mice get to play!

What does that mean for you? Well...since I'm away having fun in Baltimore, you should get to share in some good times this weekend too, right? So, to help you along with your fun, I'm putting all my files at Paperthreads on sale for 40% off!

But, you better hurry, cause the cat never is gone for very long, so grab the deals while you can! (Sale starts Friday, Sep 24th and goes through the night of Sunday, Sep 26th EDT.)

May the force be with you...

2010-09-16T13:56:00.002-04:00

My DS has been wearing a special color shirt each day the last 2 weeks for 1st grade (it's related to a color themed book they're reading each day). This Friday is to be "Rainbow Day". I took it to mean that he could wear any color in the rainbow, but in his mind it meant that he had to wear a shirt with a rainbow on it.

Now, he's a typical boy, and really doesn't have any rainbow patterned shirts. We've left most of those, along with the tweet birds and butterflies, to his sister. So, I decided to drag out the ole inkjet printer and a very old pack of iron-on transfer paper. Do you know how hard it is to find an inkjet printer to use these days? I called up the library, Kinko's/Fed Ex, Office Supply stores, etc in the hopes of being able to pay to print the single sheet as opposed to buying new ink for my old printer. No luck! They've all changed to ONLY laser printers too.

Anyhow, I vaguely remembered an old retro styled image with one of his favorite subjects...Star Wars! (i know...who'd of thought it...LOL!) I made the image in illustrator (using Star Jedi font) using the Atari logo as inspiration for the rainbow. Transferred onto a white t-shirt from Michael's, and voila!

So, there you have it...a Star Wars rainbow shirt...perfect for my 6yo boy!

Bringing gifts for you (at 40% off!)

2010-07-29T22:01:00.001-04:00

Don't forget my Christmas in July sale continues through Saturday night! Check out the post below, or my section of the Paperthreads store for some fabulous savings.

Merry Christmas in July!

2010-07-28T20:49:00.004-04:00

Merry Christmas in July!

I've got a special gift for you today! All of my designer files at Paperthreads are on sale for Christmas in July. All my files go on sale for 40% off starting tonight at midnight and continue at this great discount until 1159 PM EST Saturday, July 31st.

This even includes all the new files you may not have seen yet, including my Snowflake Card Collection and the Retro Flower Border Digi. So, what are you waiting for? Get shopping!

Mojo Monday...on a Sunday!

2010-07-25T20:36:00.007-04:00

I decided to play around with the Mojo Monday 148 sketch this week.
It was a little hard to fit everything in. I mirrored it so my sentiment worked the way I wanted...otherwise pretty straight forward.

Sorry the colors are so cool, it was shot outside, but I can't seem to get the right balance of shades.

Here's the starting sketch, in case you haven't seen it...

I've had this CC Designs Swiss Pixie Heidi colored for awhile now, waiting to be used. The colors here are much truer to the "real life card".

Colored with my Copics,
Hair: E08, E09, E35
Skirt: V12, V15, V17
Boots: RV21, RV23

It was designed as a birthday card, so I'm also entering it for caardvarks "My Favorite Things"/July challenge.

Thanks for looking!

New stuff at Paperthreads...Digi Stamps too!

2010-07-23T17:40:00.002-04:00

Hi! Woo-hoo! I have some new stuff up in the store at Paperthreads...including the fabulous Retro Flower Border digi stamp!

And, I've been working on a new type of file, I call them Oodles & Doodles. They're intended to use your pen tool in combination with your blade for a whole different type of decorated diecut. Check out the first one...

I've also got a new 4th of July inspired tangle, one for you java nuts, and a few to get you well on your way with your Christmas/Holiday cards.
Anyway, if you'd like to see all twelve of the new files, you can click right HERE.

Sweet as can be!

2010-07-15T06:51:00.000-04:00

I know she can be sweet when she wants to be! Just had to share this snapshot of my DD in one of her summer sundresses. She even insisted on the turquoise bows in her pony tails.

This is definitely one of those pics to have handy when she's having one of those "oh, so very 4 years old" kind of days!

A peak at me treasures, me hearties!

2010-07-14T07:10:00.000-04:00

I wanted to share some of the pics from the kiddos recent "pirate party". Aaaargh, me hearties...

Here they are at the beginning of what turned out to be a fairly prolonged "sea battle"... (That's my DD, the 4 year old B-day girl hiding squatted down in the back...she's always very hard to get photos of.)

One of my DS jumping out of the pool to attack a rival pirate with his water cannonball...

My DD's cake; it's supposed to be a desert island with buried treasure. I made a chocolate cake with a tunnel of vanilla ice cream inside, frosted with gold frosting and then sprinkled with crushed graham crackers to look like sand. Decorated the top with some cut Mike & Ikes, gold coin sprinkles, and bone shaped sprinkles. I cut the palm tree from my KNK kind of last minute that day...

This year my DS got the cupcakes! Evil skeletons pirates clutching their buckets of gold, gems, & a few old bones!

Finally downloaded some pics from the 4th...

2010-07-09T21:04:00.005-04:00

So, I finally decided to try and take some fireworks photos. They completely frighten me! I am using my old Sony DSC-P100 (point and shoot) and had very little time before we left for the fireworks. I didn't have time to find the tripod or the remote trigger...so these are as good as I got! I did manage to figure out how to change the "dummy" preset scene to fireworks before the lights went out...

In some respects, I'm actually surprised they came out as well as they did considering I was also supposed to be the "ear covers" for my four year old who's afraid of the "BOOMS!"

I cropped them in photoshop, sharpened a little bit, and adjusted the contrast just a touch.

I think I can manage to get some decent 4 by 6 prints out of these anyway this year.

Girl with curl

2010-07-06T07:39:00.000-04:00

I found some curlers like I remember as a little girl. They are the ones with essentially a pipecleaner surrounded by a block of foam and covered with a fabric sheath.

I picked them up on clearance...and of course HAD to try them in my DD's hair.

She has such baby fine hair though, so the curls looked great, for about the first 15 minutes, then started falling fall just under their own weight. Gotta remember to use a setting lotion of some kind next time...but here's the first pic after removing them!

Passing it on to you...

2010-07-05T10:51:00.004-04:00

I went back and forth on an Amazon "Gold box" Deal of the Day on Saturday. It was a cuttlebug for $57. It was the blue swirly one, and included a toolkit. I ended up not getting it, because I knew I could get the cuttlebug cheaper!

And, lucky day! A 50% off coupon in my email this weekend. You can click on the coupon image to get it large enough to print clearly. What will you use yours on?

Enjoy!

Happy Independence Day!

2010-07-04T14:10:00.003-04:00

Just in case you missed it...or live where you don't get access to the special "Google homepages", I uploaded a screen capture from today's. It celebrates both the 4th of July and Rube Goldberg's birthday.

Hope you're enjoying the holiday, the weather is gorgeous here...and will be great for fireworks tonight!

Happy Father's Day to all the papas out there!

2010-06-20T14:52:00.009-04:00

Hope all of you are having a wonderful Father's Day! I have a freebie to share with you today...it's the first Digi Stamp I've actually gone and "put out there", so PLEASE leave me comments and let me know what you think. The pic you see above is how I chose to embellish my card, but the packaged file contains the vintage PA-PA BINGO card (see the black and white digi stamp below).

The zip file contains the PNG and JPG images, but as an added bonus for those of you with electronic cutters, it contains a cut line as well. Now in this particular case...I just put the image 4 times on one sheet of cardstock (it's a 4 1/4 " by 5 1/2 " digi, or a quarter fold) and then ran through my DreamKutz to separate the images. So easy!

So, if you'd like to download and try the PA-PA BINGO Digi, please be my guest! And if you like it, please let your friends know that they can come here and download it themselves too. Terms of use are included with the zip When you click on the download link below it will ask you for a password to complete the download, simply use:

**********

Sorry, this download has expired!

School is almost over...

2010-06-04T08:53:00.006-04:00

My son had his end of the school year ice cream party today. He has 2 more days of Kindergarten left! Oh my, where did the time go?

Just wanted to share some pics of the card I made for his teacher. She's been such a blessing to us this year. Here's the front of the card. The image is a combination of elements from CC Designs. It's actually the Autumn Trevor with the apple and basket from Apple Emma. I just wanted an apple for the teacher and this little guy has his hair sticking up, just like my son's double cowlicks! I just stamped the images, scanned them, then used photoshop to combine the parts I needed.

Now, of course, there has to be a cutter element, LOL! I took the scans, and created the cut lines for the pieces of clothing (sweater and jeans) as well as the apple he's holding. It's actually my first "paper piecing", I think. Printed out the outline (scanned) on the patterned paper, then cut on my KNK. I just love the K&CO denim paper, it looks so real! I popped the apple out in his hand with some small pop-dots. The rest of the image is colored with my Copics...I know, I can't remember the colors right now...I was coloring in the middle of the night, bear with me...I'll try to update later (they're all in the mug in my room, somewhere, LOL!)

Now for the inside; I made a pop-up card. It folds completely flat for shipping, but pops up to show 2 different layers. It was perfect for holding a gift card to the bookstore. I had room on the bottom for my son to write a short note to his teacher, and made my first "kinetic tag" to hide a note from me to her as well.

I put up a side view too, so you can see the layering and the tag pulled out at the right.

Since it was a little thicker (because of the pop-dots), I made a kind-of box-like envelope. Basically I used the Martha Stewart scoring board, and formed two creases (1/8 inch apart) along each side to act as "sides" to the box.

Sealed with a printed apple (from Microsoft clipart, I believe) punched with a scallop punch, signed, and delivered! Enjoy!

Completed pirate invitations are in the mail!

2010-06-01T11:22:00.006-04:00

Whew! Finally got the invites completed over the holiday weekend and off in the mail today!. I though I'd just share a couple of snapshots of how they turned out...

Here's the front. I made a faux layered circle from the background and made a "mat" with some shadow to help save on materials, time, and most of all...postage! I broke out the distress inks and the MM edge distressing tool...such fun!

Here's the straight ahead view of the inside. It was a bit of a challenge to fit all the info in the small strips to the side...but it worked!

An angled view so you can see the pop-up mechanism...

And of course...the back...where I could add the info I forgot, er, couldn't fit, in the inside!

I even added a pirate/crossed swords as a "seal" to the back of the envelopes when I printed the addresses. Thanks for looking!

Avast, me hearties!

2010-05-27T15:00:00.004-04:00

So, I'm trying to piece together some tidbits for the kiddos "pirate party" for their birthday coming up in a few weeks. You already saw the preliminary invitation...

Well, I was running to Meijer for a late night, odds'n'ends grocery stop and saw these cool (though little) inflatable kids pools. Now, since their party is in the middle of June and the weather is hot, we had already been planning on having a water balloon fight. I even found packs of all black water ballons (intended for 40th b-day parties, I guess), so they could fire "cannon balls" at each other.

But, can you believe it? I found pirate ships!

And the best part? They were clearancing them out already, so they were only $15! So, of course, I picked up two of them so they can split up into teams, load a styrofoam chest (treasure chest) up with cannon balls, and have a real out and out battle! It's a bunch of 4-6 year olds, so I think they'll have a blast!

It's a mystery...

2010-05-25T15:35:00.003-04:00

We had perfect weather this weekend. Woke up Saturday to a warm, but drizzly day. It was just right for going shopping for plants for the flower beds and some hanging baskets. There were very few people out and about at the garden centers, so the election was much better!

One of my favorite flowers is the peony.

We found a fabulous deal on a herbaceous peony plant at Home Depot...originally $35, but most recently clearanced to $3! We picked one up on a whim. Now mind you, we have no idea what color of peony we picked (which is why we only got one...), because over time someone had probably switched tags around and the tag on the bucket and the tag on the plant say different things. So, it's a mystery that will have to wait until next summer, but no matter what shade, I'm sure it's bound to be a beauty!

Just a few tidbits I found out while browsing for info on care of this beauty...

Apparently peonies are important in feng shui. Putting a picture or a real peony in the southwest corner of the living room is supposed to bring good luck in marriage to daughters in the house...and potentially romance to the wife...hmmm...but it's a bad idea to put them in the bedroom, because the man of the house may stray. So, better watch where that gets planted...and keep my 3 year old DD away, LOL!

And, the origin of the name "peony" is kind of neat, too...
The peony is named after Paeon (also spelled Paean), a student of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing. Asclepius became jealous of his pupil; Zeus saved Paeon from the wrath of Asclepius by turning him into the peony flower. I'm not sure quite how it was good fortune to be turned into a flower when your teacher got mad at you...but, oh well, they're still beautiful!

There, a botany lesson, Greek history, and feng shui all rolled up in my mysterious, mistagged bargain!

FINALLY!

2010-05-24T10:56:00.006-04:00

Okay, well really not FINALLY, FINALLY...but close enough! Remember I mentioned sharing a sneak peek of the digi stamp I was working on for Paperthreads? Well, I can finally share my preview with you...

Isn't it cute? The best thing is that it includes cut lines for those of you who have electronic cutters (like the KNK, wishblade, craftrobo, silhouette, or cricut/SCAL/MTC).

It makes it so easy to complte a great card! I used my copics to color, and added some stickles to the centers of one flower for some "bling". I added a strip of green cardstock cut with some fringing scissors for grass to cover up the base. Final size on this card was 8.5 by 3.5, so it fits in a standard size envelope for mailing.

This file also has the 7 pop-up elements too so you can add extra dimension to your creations. (You can click on these pics for closer looks!)

Thanks for looking and/or commenting!

(Don't forget, if you're looking for the Michael's coupon for Cricut carts it can be found in THIS post.)

You CAN use your "Blue" Wishblade with Vista or Windows 7!

2010-05-23T08:30:00.006-04:00

(*** you might want to see the UPDATED version HERE *** )

I've managed to figure out a way that you CAN use your blue wishblade with Windows Vista or Windows 7 machines (both 32 and 64 bit OS). And, you can do it without purchasing additional software. To start with, all you need is the original software your blue WB came with (wishblade advanced and the Wishblade controller) and the tutorial I have linked to below. The only other thing you need is a little patience, some computer knowledge, and a "restore point" set on your machine (just in case something goes awry)!

I've tried to make the tut fairly detailed, with screen-shots to help you along the way.

Oh, and please understand that you must accept my terms of use...the fine point is that you can't redistribute this tutorial without my express permission, so please link others to my blog if they are interested in downloading it themselves. It will asked a password for the download...it's

iagreetotou

Click on the green button to download the tutorial!

Please leave me a comment and let me know if you found this helpful! Thanks!

Cricut cartridges at Michael's for 60% off

2010-05-22T10:38:00.002-04:00

Just in case you hadn't heard, it seems like Michael's is trying to thin out some of the older Cricut cartridges. They're the ones previously priced at $69.99, but for the next week (with a coupon) you can pick them up for $27.99!

Everything in its place...

2010-05-21T08:00:00.002-04:00

Part of my project this week has been trying to (re)discover all the cool stuff in my "stash". I have so many things, but once you have so much it's easy to let it become overwhelming!

I've wanted to create some kind of storage for all the inking sponges, holders, felt pads, and make-up sponges I use for inking. I found this cool (and CHEAP!) storage case at Hobby Lobby.

(the pic is linked to the online listing if you want more details)

I think it was with the crafting/beading storage, but I picked it up when it was 50% off (all storage) and it was only $1.99 to begin with!

It has nice small spaces to keep each of the colored sponges separately, and I could label them with my Dymo label maker. The only problem was that none of the spaces fit the handle/holder for my sponges or felts. The dividers are relatively tin, though and I was able to snip out a slot with a pair of heavy kitchen snips. The handle now rests in the groove I made.

So, what do you think? What's your recent "bargain" solution?

I've had a busy day...

2010-05-20T18:09:00.004-04:00

I've been working on birthday invitations for my kiddos...their birthdays are only 1 day apart from each other (they'll be turning 4 and 6 this year!) Of course, everything I do seems to involve my KNK in some way, and this was no exception. I really wanted to figure out how to do a 3-D pop-up galleon that displayed when the card was opened 180 degrees...but...I had no idea where to begin, and these need to get in the mail this weekend! So, moving on...

First thing was creating the card insert, then cutting on kraft cardstock. You can see one here laying on my Martha Stewart Scoring Board (more on that later...I realized today how much I adore that thing!)

Next, I wanted to define the ship's wheel. I masked the back of the card with a scrap of paper tucked through the wheel and inked with Tea Dye Distress Ink from Ranger.

You can see now how it really lets the wheel "pop" from the background. I used my Sakura Gelly Roll gold pen to make little faux brass rings on the wheel.

Now on to the magic! Once the insert is folded and creased, I added a separate cut out skull in white cardstock over top of the kraft. You can see here a side view showing some of the depth. Now I just need to figure out how to do the outside of the card, print the details for the party, and get them into the mail!

Check it out!

2010-05-17T14:11:00.004-04:00

I just had to share this cute pic with you...

debenj (one of the forum members on Paperthreads), had some chalkboard vinyl to use...and since she **LOVES** moose, was looking for a shadow of the great beast.

She used a cutting file silhouette I made to cut her vinyl, applied to the wall of her yummy pumpkin orange kitchen, and voila! Isn't it adorable? A great big moose-y peeking out from the closet. Now, I don't know if you've ever been "up close and personal" with a moose, but let me tell you, I wouldn't want to meet this one in a darkened house, LOL!

It's a perfect spot for a quick note, just to let your family know you're sorry you "Moosed" them!

Starting to organize (again)!

2010-05-16T12:36:00.005-04:00

I've been itching to do some more stamping and playing with my Copics...but first needed to do some prep work and organizing. I got the cutest set of red rubber stamps from CC Designs. I just needed to trim them all so they can be stored more easily.

First, I dug out some old CD cases. I traded out with newer slim cases, so that I could use the thicker ones for my project. The backs of the stamps already had foam and cling material mounting, so that made it easy.

I loaded the cases with the rubber stamps, printed inserts with the names for the spines and the front edge, and stamped an example image for the front.

I'll try and share a sneak of a digi stamp I'm working on later this week!

New files in the store!

2010-05-11T19:14:00.003-04:00

Thanks for being so patient with me, man it's been forever since I blogged...and I think it's been even longer since I had new files up at Paperthreads...so, without further ado, let me share a few sneaks with you.

and my Stick Figures Sports Collection, perfect add-ons to your vehicle family

So, check out bigger previews and the rest of the 13 new files! Thanks for looking!

PSA - Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec, & Benadryl recalls!

2010-05-01T21:59:00.002-04:00

Just to let you know that there has been a fairly extensive recall of McNeil Products for infants and children which includes Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec, & Benadryl. The recall was just announced yesterday! If you're looking for more info, you can check out all the details at their website.

ISO PaisleyPeople!

2010-03-08T08:18:00.002-05:00

PaisleyPeople,

I saw your comment, but need a way to get ahold of you! Please email me at MyScrappingRoom@gmail.com

New Die Cuts With a View stacks!

2010-02-18T07:09:00.001-05:00

I know, I know...repeat after me...I DO NOT NEED ANY MORE SCRAPBOOKING PAPER!

Did it work for you? Nah, me neither! I was at Michael's today and happened to see several new stacks from DCWV (which aren't listed on their website yet), so I thought I'd share some cell-phone pics with you.

First is one for those of you "keeping the family tree". It's mostly sepia/aged colors, with some almost "pre-done" pages to make for some quick heritage scrapping.

Next is a cheery stack with the "new thing", birds.

Which brings us back to school time...and time to "hit the books". Again the colors are aged, kind of shabby chic goes to college.

Ephemera lovers watch out! This stacks already got your altered antiques...

I'm not sure what "Ciao Bella" has to do with the birds, but they are kind of cute. I think they are rather large, however, and would be best if you were a one photo/cluster scrapper.

The last stack takes you back in time again...this one reminds me of toile.

What do you think?

2010-02-17T10:02:00.005-05:00

So, I've been playing around with some blog backgrounds from The Cutest Blog on the Block and I've had a go at creating my own blog banner to try and match the "style" of the background. I'm looking for some honest opinions from you! I'm not quite happy with how the swirlies overlap with the background swirls up top, but I think it might be off balance if I take them away...what do you think?

Please let me know! Just as encouragement...I'm going to give away one of my electronic cutter files to someone randomly drawn from all comments left on this post. Here's a pic of the file (it's not even up in the store yet).

The one on the left is cut at about 3.5 inches tall, so would be great for a card front. The one on the right was just to show you that it cuts great even at 1 1/2 inches wide! That's right, it's the perfect size to use in combination on a tag (like in my TAG! You're it! challenge). I used some older K&Co Patterned paper for the tree leaves and ran it through my cuttlebug embossing folders (D'vine swirls and Swiss dots). I used some distress inks over top of the swiss dots embossed pieces to better match with the color of the large scalloped circle. The trunk is some Paper Studio "leather look" patterned paper, run through the Distress Stripes folder and inked to accent the bark pattern.

Thanks for looking! I hope to "hear" from you.

2/17 8:00 PM // ETA: I played with the image again and eliminated the swirls...just waiting to get the "a-OK" from TCBOTB to make sure I am allowed to keep the edit I did. I hope so! I really like it better without the interference.

I appreciate you!

2010-02-14T23:59:00.003-05:00

Thanks so much for all your support over the last 3 years! That's right! It's the 3rd annual Customer Appreciation Day at Paperthreads!

So first off, ALL of my files are on sale, today only, for 50% off. That's right, even my Monogram Tiles and the rest of my 10 newest files are all on sale for a super great deal! But it ends tonight at midnight, so you'd better hurry!

I also have a freebie to share with you today. It's my Heart Doily file, and includes AI, GSD, KNK, WPC14, and SVG file types, so it's perfect for most any electronic die cutter.

Just click on the photo to download the zip file. Please remember that even though it's shared freely here today, it's still governed by my terms of use. Instead of sharing the file with your friends, send then here to pick it up for themselves! And if you like what you see, please leave some love in the comments below! Enjoy the rest of the Paperthreads Blog Hop!

Paperthreads
JennieBean
Butterfly Designs
Just Laury
Shirley Clark Designs
Sam & Hailey Designs
Keepsakes by Design
Accents by Eddita
I Scrap Designs
Diana’s Designs
Carrie's Creations <---go here next!
Ginny’s Happy Cuts
Shelly’s Art
Forever Memories for You

TAG! You're it! - Challenge at Paperthreads

2010-02-13T17:45:00.002-05:00

Just to let you know...I'm running a tag sketch challenge over at the Paperthreads forum! Check it out HERE.

Just for playing along you'll receive some free cutter files, and you'll have a chance to win some goodies too!

3rd Annual Customer Appreciation Day at Paperthreads!

2010-02-12T21:32:00.002-05:00

Woo-hoo! It's going to be a fabulous celebration at Paperthreads! It's the 3rd annual CAD, and the designers want to give you the presents! Check out the challenges at the forum, activities and special treats on many of the designers blogs, and fantastic sales in the store.

In fact, the sale on all of my files starts in just a few hours! Saturday and Sunday you can get any of my designs for 20% off, but it doesn't end there! Make sure to check out my blog later on this weekend for even more exciting news!

Mojo Monday 124 and a card for Larry

2010-02-07T20:52:00.004-05:00

I finished making my card for the RAK for Larry...you can find out more about this HERE at Shirley Clark's blog.

I wanted to get the pics posted tonight, to make it in time for Mojo Monday's challenge 124. It's a CONTEST this week! Woo-hoo!

Here's the sketch...

And here's my take on it...

I apologize for the lighting! It's quite dark right now...I'll try reposting some better pics when I can get some light tomorrow. You can kind of see the gloss over the windows. I put Mod Podge glossy over the panes of glass and Santa's glasses.

In my haste I forgot to share the source of the Santa art! I downloaded it from Elizabeth O. Dulemba's coloring pages and re-sized before printing it out. Colored in afterwards with copics, of course.

I made the poinsettia on my KNK and then tied "stamens" out of gold colored DMC floss.

Combining Challenges!

2010-02-01T20:46:00.004-05:00

I was so proud of myself last night. I was able to combine 3 challenges into one card! (Of course in the time it took to come up with it I probably could have created three cards...but that's another story.)
The sketch idea itself is another from Card Positioning Systems wk 152.

The Cuttlebug Challenge was to create a vintage Valentine...

The card also fits the rules for the Red Heart Card challenge at Caardvarks. The challenge was to make a card with something red, and to include hearts. I made a Valentine's Day "tangle" that includes hearts, locks, and keys.

The tangle of keys and locks was cut on my KNK with some "lipstick red" vinyl I had on hand and applied to a vintage sheet of music paper I printed out. Please forgive me! I got it as a free download from an online site, the name just escapes me right now and I can't seem to find it in the browser history. The card itself is kraft edges with Frayed burlap Distress ink. I thought the bracket edges reminded me of the triangles in the CPS sketch above.

Thanks for looking!

CPS challenge...

2010-01-27T15:06:00.002-05:00

I finished another card today. This one was inspired by the sketch at Card Positioning Systems. You should check out their inspiration pieces, they're great!

The sketch for this week was CPS 151

Here's my take on the sketch...

Supplies:
Cardstock base: Georgia Pacific
Patterned paper: heidi grace designs
Scalloped edge my own design for the KNK
Figures: Cart-O-Graphics template for electronic cutters
Font: 2 Peas Piano Recital

Thanks for looking!

Snow, Snow, go away!

2010-01-26T21:03:00.001-05:00

I finished the card I was telling you about using the Swiss Pixies Nora stamp. The mat is sanded Garden Gate Whitewashed Coredinations cardstock embossed with the Cuttlebug Snow Sledding words embossing folder.

Swiss Pixies - Nora

2010-01-22T20:23:00.007-05:00

I've had some more time to play! I'll share the pics of the card once I finish it, but I got to use a few techniques on the last image I colored.

Once again, used my copics for the coloring...I need to get a few markers in the sketch form so that I can have better colors for hair. I feel kind of restricted to browns and blacks with the ciaos.

Here's the colors I used...

I used Artic Ice Stickles for her wings, hope you can see the sparkle in the photo! It's so pretty up close.

I colored over the boots with a Versamark pen once I was done shading the copics. I applied detail clear embossing powder and melted, then added a second coating. I think it gives the boots the look of wet galoshes.

I'll pop up pics when I'm done! Thanks for looking.

Another card creation - inspired by Mojo Monday Week 122

2010-01-20T16:30:00.007-05:00

Today's card was inspired by Mojo Monday's Week 122 sketch. Here's the sketch it's based on...

And here's my card...I flipped the sketch on the side since all of the stamps I have are vertically oriented.

I colored in the Apple Emma (by CC Designs) with my Copic ciaos. (BTW, I think I "need" to pick up a few sketch ones too...since I don't have the colors I want for a true redhead!)

(Stamped on GP cardstock)
Hair: E35, E33, E31
Skin: E51, E50, E00
Cheeks: R11
Apples: YR31, R17, R37
Dress: YG03, YG06
Basket: E35, E33

I was pretty happy with the highlight along the crown of her hair and her shoes. I was a little at a loss as to what to do with the apron. Suggestions?

The "Kindergarten" handwriting paper is one I printed to match the copic choices in the stamp. I created the jpg, printed, and then cut the notebook edge with my KNK. The scalloped oval was also created with my KNK.

The strip of apples is glazed cardstock for me & my Big Ideas (Ellen Krans - School Days)

Oops! Just realized I forgot to add the shadow along the edge, well, I can add it later!

Swirly Flourish Card

2010-01-15T20:05:00.002-05:00

Just another quick peek at my latest card. I had originally designsed this for a friend's wedding card, but figured I migh as well fix it up for my cutter files. I'll let you know once I finish the conversions...I am just trying to come up with the best way for print/cuts for Cricut/SCAL/MTC users.

January Card RAK

2010-01-13T10:43:00.005-05:00

Okay, I finished my card (sending it for Aidan, too). Here's a look... I made my own Star Wars cardstock for the card base. Then I found some fonts for different Star Wars languages (Aurek-Besh, Yavin, and Episode 1) and typed "Awarded for Bravery" around the circle. Turned that into the center for a blue ribbon for the front and cut some gold glittery stock for the center of the new Jedi Order symbol.

I am not normally a "lumpy" card maker (oh, foo-ey! I'm not really a card maker at all!), but I HAD to make this one thick. I recreated the Medal of Yavin (SW Episode 1) and a medal with the Jedi symbol and printed them on inkjet Shrink film. They came out awesome!

I inked the back of the Yavin medal with Brillance gold ink to show through the lines I had created and give it some sparkle. I found lanyard hooks at Michael's in the jewelry section and put the shrunken pieces at the bottom. I want him to be able to use the "medals" as pulls on his jacket zipper.

Since the pulls were thicker, I created some cushioning (and the "ribbon" part of the medal) with a piece of foam board wrapped in blue paper to cover the raw edges and them a piece of blue fun foam to give it some extra space. I made a slit up the middle of each so the jacket pull could fit up inside it.

I printed a silk "pillow" to present the medals on.

Lastly, my man Aidan loves his Knock-Knock jokes and is always making up his own (they don't always make sense...but, oh well!). I made up one to be the verse inside my card...

To use the jacket pulls all he has to do is gently pull the medal piece out of the ribbon.

Just a quick note...

2010-01-11T18:35:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am alive! Things have just been a little hairy around here is all...I did make a promise to myself to try and blog a little more regularly. It seems to be the only way I can remember what I've been doing sometimes, ba-ha-ha-ha!

So, I've been working on some cards recently. I'll have more about the card I'm working on for Aidan in the next few days...I've got some experimenting to do before I share pics with you!

Here's a little look at the card I did today.

It's a bright and cheery card. I've used my other coloring of Santa Birgitta, this time using the Red Violet copic color scheme (recipe to come later, sorry I don't have the numbers with me right now...). I also used a yellow copic to add some color to the button that was beige in a previous life, LOL!

I broke open my little DYMO handheld label maker and made the sentiment using white-core cardstock fed through as a strip, then sanded. I really liked how it looked, but it was getting smooshed as I worked on the inside, so I used the DYMO font by Manfred Klein and recreated it using the "reverse" method of generating white text.

January RAK at Paperthreads

2010-01-05T06:01:00.001-05:00

For those of you who aren't aware, some of the folks at Paperthreads have been sending cards as a RAK for those in need of a little pick me up! You may have heard about this one from Shirley already, but if not...

I'm so glad I get to share the person chosen for the January feature with you! I've known Aidan for many years, but have been separated by geography. I had the great opportunity to meet back up with him this fall.

I met Aidan when he was about 4 months old. Both his parents, Don & Darii, were in the Air Force with me in Alaska. Aidan had some "birthmarks" that became more noticable over time, and was finally diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1). NF-1 is a tumor disorder caused by a gene malfunction. It is associated with bone problems, cafe au lait spots (or "birthmarks"), and occassionally causes cancer.

Aidan started having problems using the bathroom when he was about 2 1/2 years old and was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma in February 2005. The bathroom problems were because his tumor was blocking his bladder. His family had to move urgently, as they didn't have the treatment centers needed for chemotherapy in Alaska. Don & Darii also found out that the baby they were carrying (Seth) had congenital heart disease and would need multiple surgeries shortly after birth, so the move needed to be somewhere with cardiothoracic surgical specialists as well. Aidan went through a year of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery and was tumor free for almost 3 years.

He had a local recurrence of the rhabdomyosarcoma in July 2008, again making it difficult to use the bathroom. This time the surgery involved removing his bladder and forming an ostomy, then he started another series of chemotherapy which ran from July 2008 to July 2009.

Through it all, Aidan, his brother and sister (Seth & Rachel), and Don & Darii have been troopers (I guess Aidan might say "Storm Troopers", since he is obsessed with Star Wars). Their faith has remained steadfast and they have served as an inspiration for others, sharing their experience (and struggles) on his Caring Bridge site.

I am told by Don & Darii that Aidan LOVES to get mail (don't all 7 year olds?), so I can't wait to hear about his reaction when he gets all these cards.

Shirley Clark has all the details on her blog HERE. You can also email her at shirley_clark@paperthreads.com to find out where to send your cards. She does ask that they be postmarked before January 29th!

If you have someone you would like featured for February, please send Shirley an email! A feature needs to be someone who needs cheering up. Maybe the person has lost a spouse, lost a loved pet, been in an accident, best friend moved away, found out they have a disease, etc.

Let's get organized!

2010-01-03T00:47:00.006-05:00

Okay, so I admit it! (that's the first step, right?) My scrap room is disorganized! I am trying to get back on track so I can use my things again...and first of, I wanted to get the ends of my Copic ciao markers labeled. I created a pdf with the numbers of each marker (in pretty tiny font - about 8 pt) and tried playing around with what media to print it out onto.
My first try was on the Georgia Pacific Cardstock I plan to use for stamping...but the cap on the markers has a little bit of a "domed" shape to it and the cardstock just couldn't mold correctly.
Take two was a sheet of waterproof polyester label designed for the laser printer. Ugggh! First of all it left "shadows" all the way down the printout even with the printer set to "label" so the fuser would be hot. I figured I'd try punching them out anyway...well, that was strike two for the label...it didn't punch evenly, in fact it "stretched" and tore around the edges.
I decided to settle for plain ole printer paper. Punched out the 144 circles, and used tacky glue to apply to the ends of the caps. Now I tried to be consistent and glue to the cap at the chisel end of every marker...but nobody's perfect...I think I have 3 or 4 on the brush ends, oh well! I swiped across the paper circle with the marker itself, so I have a little bit of an idea what the color actually looks like. Not as perfect a match as on cardstock, but good enough for me!
Here's a close-up of the yummy Copic goodness...

I think I'll try storing the markers in this Magpie cabinet that I picked up earlier this year at Big Lots for $3. I found that cutting a sheet of 8.5 inch chipboard in half fit nicely at a diagonal to divide the box into two halves for different color families.

How about you? What's your first mini goal for the New Year?

I'm finally playing with my Copics!

2010-01-01T19:39:00.006-05:00

I got the Copic Ciao markers for Christmas and finally had a chance to get them out and play. I was coloring the Swiss Pixies Santa Birgitta stamp by CC Designs.

I tried two different ways of coloring using the same recipe...(btw...that's one of my next projects, to label the ends of the Ciao markers themselves!)

Here's my first take...

And then another version...

I think I like the second one best...it reminds me of my DD's round little tummy (especially after Christmas dinner!) What do you think?

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T20:04:00.002-05:00

A Happy New Year to everyone! To celebrate, I've got a super quick sale on all my files at Paperthreads. But you'd better hurry! They're only on sale until the ball drops at midnight!

Merry Christmas everyone!

2009-12-25T00:13:00.004-05:00

A very Merry Christmas to you all! I hope this day finds you in good health, good spirits, and good company!

*stock photo from *anna2202

Wild Wednesday! (and happy Christmas Eve Eve!)

2009-12-23T18:50:00.003-05:00

Whew! It was CrAzY at the mall today! How are your last minute preparations? Just in case...I've got my Santa's Boot Print on sale right now for $1.25! So, snap it up if you have little ones who might be questioning the existence of the "Man in the Big Red Suit"...and let me know what their reactions are on Christmas morning! I'd love to hear your stories. You can't remember what it looks like? Either click the link above...or check out this post HERE.

Wild Wednesday again...

2009-12-16T00:05:00.003-05:00

So, does anyone else think that time is going by WAY too fast?!? I can't believe another week has gone by! How come I'm no closer to being ready for the holidays than I was last week? If you're like me (overwhelmed, exhausted, and ready for Christmas to just get here already...since I won't be any more ready than I am right now...LOL!), I've got just the file for you!

It's my Ho, Ho, Ho Title. Today (until midnight EST - check out my "Official Paperthreads Store Time" in the right sidebar) you can snatch this up for just a buck! It would be perfect for last minute cards, predone layouts, or vinyl for decoration. The file includes the title as shown as well as two cute snowflakes you can use separately. So, stop by and check it out!

Aren't they adorable?

2009-12-14T22:08:00.005-05:00

I just had to share...I got a netbook as an early Christmas present to myself! And that means that I just HAD to get rid of the awful preinstalled background image! So, I added a recent pic of my DS and DD this fall. They look so "grown up"! Now, if they were always as sweet as they look here...hmmmmm...

Okay, here goes...

2009-11-30T09:46:00.003-05:00

I couldn't wait any longer...so here's the pics from my latest creations!

I started out cutting them for gifts and placing on 12 inch tiles...but I wanted to see just how small I could go in vinyl...

...and placed this 6 by 6 inch piece on a glass block.

The Monogram Tiles (Complete) file includes the entire alphabet of pre-laid out monograms. I've even figured out ways for the smaller cutter owners (like WB, craftrobo, and silhouette) to cut the full size of 11.5 by 11.5 inches. Even "Baby Bug" Cricut users can cut up to 8.5 by 8.5 inches!

I've also created a font (aye, yi, yi! another new "addiction") to make it easy for you to type your desired name and add the swash if desired (for shorter surnames). It's included in the file with your purchase!

So...get your order for vinyl (glossy but permanent adhesive if you want to apply sealer over top or matte with a removable adhesive for wall art without commitment) ready.

BTW, if you're new to the wonderful world of vinyl...there's a pretty good tutorial HERE showing weeding and transferring.

What? A tease?!?

2009-11-29T20:55:00.001-05:00

Well, I never...okay, sometimes I do!

And, because I'm feeling particularly impish today...I'm going to show another little sneak of my project today!

So, what do you have to say about that? Hmmm????

A very long weekend...

2009-11-28T21:35:00.005-05:00

Thanks for all the love, I hope you enjoyed the day with family and friends! Did anybody have any great shopping finds to share? I actually went to Walmart at midnight just to have them price match something from Toys-R-Us's ad, but ended up getting a cart full of stuff and sitting in line for the next 5 hours chatting with folks until we could check out at 5 AM. Crazy, huh?!

Okay, so it's killing me not to share more about this next file with you yet, but the conversions have been killer! I am almost done finalizing it, and then will load it to the store, but I've got to tell you, I think you'll love it! Okay, so I'll share just a sneak peek for right now.

Just wait...I'll share the rest soon!

Don't forget! You can still save a bundle on my files at Paperthreads (today all are 30% off and tomorrow you can still save 20%! BF sales at most of the stores aren't that good!)

Thanks to all of you!

2009-11-26T00:43:00.009-05:00

Where does the time go? How can it be Thanksgiving already??

Well, since it obviously is "Turkey Day", I guess I should get on with the good news! I have a freebie for you and a fabulous sale (just my way of saying "THANKS!" to you).
I hope you are all having a wonderful time with family and friends!

I'm having a massive sale on all my files at Paperthreads! Today, Thursday Nov 26, ALL of my files are available at 50% off! If you haven't been by in awhile, check it out, because I have just added 15 new files to the store.

If you don't have time to shop today, don't despair! I'll be shopping (and saving) on Friday...and so can you, because all my files will be 40% off. The progressive sale continues through the weekend, with 30% off on Saturday, and 20% off on Sunday!

And as if that's not enough...I have a little freebie to share with you!

For today only, you can download this file in for your cutter below. There is a password, which by entering you agree to abide by my TOU. The password is iagreetou2009

Sorry! The link for the download has expired.

Enjoy your day!

I'm so excited!

2009-11-24T20:30:00.006-05:00

I'm so excited! I've FINALLY got new files loaded up to the store at Paperthreads!

That's right, 15 new files (some you may have seen if you were a member in the Scrapbooking, Cards, & More Club) including a few that will be just perfect for your Christmas preparations. You've already seen the Santa's Boot Print, now check out my Flourish Tree.
This file includes the swirly tree (which cuts in one piece). It is sized at 4 by 6 inches, so is just perfect for your Christmas card fronts or as an accent on your scrapbooking pages. Think of it with added dew drops, skittles, or even extra buttons as ornaments! What do you think?