Christmas Shadow Box

I've been seeing lots of neat shadow box ideas online lately, and I decided I wanted something just a little more. And I wanted to be able to use the same frame for multiple holidays, even though I'm starting with Christmas.

I love the way this turned out, and I can't wait to work on the next one. Here's what I used to make it:

• Hinged decor frame from Close To My Heart (Cyber Week special 25% off starting Monday 11/30 at 9AM Mountain - also available in black)
• Clear Scraps 12x12 sheet (30% off with code THANKFUL30 through 12/05)
• Cut file from Silhouette Design Store (currently on sale for $.50)
• Indoor vinyl in red & green (Expressions Vinyl is having a 20% off sale with code
  
  CYBERMONDAY2015)
• sheet of 12x12 scrapbook paper for the back of the shadowbox
• 16mm jingle bells
• 24"x36" DCWV Gold Glitzy Glitter Cardstock Sheet
  
  Note: Because the opening is the same size as the clear scraps sheet, I created a "mat" with the gold glitter sheet. Another option if you can't find something like this would be posterboard which you could cover with glitter tape or washi tape.
  
  
  

Family Celebrations - Magnetic Event Calendar

I searched for months for an easy and attractive way to keep track of special events. My family is rather large, and my mom sends cards for everyone's birthdays and anniversaries. I saw several examples on Pinterest, Facebook, and around the web, but none of them was quite right. I wanted something where I could easily add (or subtract) when babies and weddings (or divorces) come along, and I finally decided that magnets were the way to go.

After much thought, and trial & error, I ended up with this:

This was pretty easily put together using a Magnetic Chalkboard from Close To My Heart and some white vinyl cut with my Silhouette Cameo.  The magnets are assembled from Base & Bling Circle Glass Covers from Close To My Heart, Magnetic Sheets from Silhouette, and images printed and cut with the Silhouette Cameo.

The dividing lines for the calendar were created as part of the cut file, but to save vinyl, and probably be easier to place on the chalkboard, you could use graphic tape. Graphic tape is easily found in the art supply section of most craft stores and even office supply stores.

Here are some examples of the birthday magnets. The domed shape of the glass cover distorts the type just a bit, so I was sure to choose a simple font that would still be readable.  The glass covers are easily attached using Base & Bling Adhesive Dots, or Liquid Glass adhesive.  I chose the Adhesive Dots because I had so many magnets to make, and it is faster and less messy. The Liquid Glass adhesive is more time  intensive, and needs a little cleanup, but produces a slightly clearer result.

Here are a couple of examples of the anniversary magnets.  I put all of the magnets for each month in date order down the line, making it easy to have cards ready to go out in the right order. And I can easily rearrange them when the next new addition comes along this Summer!

Want to make one of your own?  Order your Magnetic Chalkboard from me, and I will provide you the cutting/printing files for free (for personal use only) for use with the Silhouette.  If you're interested in a commercial license, or a cutting file for the Cricut, please contact me.

Creations by AR November Release Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the blog hop for November's new releases from Creations by AR. This month we have two great new project files for you, and they both come with a free gift until November 30!

First up, a lovely Stuffed Stocking, and the bonus Holiday Wreath.

 

I used the bonus Holiday Wreath file to decorate the stocking, monogramming it with a stamp from CTMH and adding holly berries with Stickles. I conveniently used my initial, and informed my hubby that he could use this box for a little something for me!

Here's another view:

Since the main part of the box has square corners, it's super easy to put together! I used my trusty Liquid Glass to adhere all of the seams on this project, and I used a Quickie Glue Pen to adhere the wreath. It will look great in any of your favorite papers. I used Fa La La papers from Making Memories that I still had in my stash.

Look, here's a cute little "secret bonus section" - a second box in the toe of the stocking.

Next up, this awesome Pop Up Frosty card with wrap envelope and bonus Snowflake Set.

Isn't that cute?! Another project that's super easy to put together - just follow the directions in the included PDF file.

The file includes circle cuts for the eyes and buttons, but if you're a bit all-thumbs like me, some black brads are the perfect substitute! I used some silver glitter paper for the trim on his hat - I love how it sparkles!

Surprise! It has a built in slot to hold a gift card or a picture. Handy if you're like my family and we finally pass out school portraits at Christmas time!

I decorated the outside of the card to match the inside, using the same pattern paper and some silver glitter tape. I cut all of the snowflakes in the file at 3/4" from white adhesive vinyl.  I find that smaller sizes cut super cleanly and easily from the vinyl, and they are easier to adhere than cardstock.

I love this awesome wrap envelope! Frosty's chin tucks right in behind his scarf to close it. I made a green base to give it a more Christmas-y feel, but it would look awesome with a blue base as well. I used black brads again to make his eyes.

So, how much do you want these project files?! You might even be lucky enough to get one of them (plus its bonus file) for free!  This month we will have two winners: the first for the Stuffed Stocking and Holiday Wreath files, and the second for the Pop Up Frosty and Snowflake Set files. And how do you enter to win? Just like this:
• Leave comments on each blog
• AR FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Creations-by-AR/154314751303824
• AR PCP Group: http://www.papercraftplanet.com/group/creationsbyar

Comments accepted until Nov 17 (12:00 noon EST)
Two random winners will be announced Nov 18 on the AR Blog:  http://cbyar.blogspot.com

Make sure you stop by ALL of the clogs in this hop. Here's the list:

• Adela
• Jak
• Julia
• Lisa
• Lori ---------YOU ARE HERE!!!-----------
• Lyn
• Patti J
• Sue

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you enjoyed my take on these great projects.

Luck o' the Irish!

It's time for another challenge over at Scrappy Frog's Challenge Blog - this month's challenge is to use green in your project.  For my project this month, I used vinyl and made a custom umbrella stand / flower bucket. (We live in a heavily Irish-Catholic area, so many of our neighbors would not limit the use of this to March!)

 

I cut all of my images using Make The Cut software.  I found a simple shamrock image to trace into the software, then did a search for an image using the terms "celtic knot border".  I found several borders, but many were too intricate for cutting from vinyl.  I chose this simple knot design, and after tracing it into the software, I resized it so the border along the top edge is wider than the border along the bottom edge.

A note for those of you new to working on 3-D items: when attaching a border on an object like this that widens, it will naturally want to curve rather than lay straight.  You can account for this in the software by using a Conical Warp, however I find it pretty simple on larger items like this to just adjust it manually.  For this design, I did have to make a couple of snips in the design to lay portions flat, but I find that easier than the measuring required to use the software feature.  For smaller items like mugs and cups, the Conical Warp is a MUST, and pretty easy to use.

That's it for today! I hope you enjoyed my project, and I hope you find some time to come play with us at Scrappy Frog's this month!

Altered Umbrella Stand and BIG News

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. Ever since the problems with Blogger I just haven't had time to get posts written. But to make up for it, next week is going to be full of prizes! Be sure to check back starting on Sunday for a week-long blog candy extravaganza. There will be BIG prizes!

Now, for today's project: an altered umbrella stand! Michael's had this awesome sale last week and I picked up a metal container I've been eying for a LONG time. With three kids, our entry always seems to be a mess, and kid umbrellas are one of the problems. Of course our living/dining room is right at the front of the house, with a fancy paint job & all, so I needed the container to match the color scheme, while still being a little playful. Hello, vinyl! This is what I came up with:

 

I used my Make The Cut software for this, and my SVGs are from Lettering Delights.  The umbrella is from the Weather Girl set, and the border is from Basic Borders.  As luck would have it, Lettering Delights is having a home decor contest right now too, so I made sure to upload this to the gallery there!  They always have some kind of free files available, including printables, so anyone can enter.  Even if you don't use MTC or SCAL, the printables and fonts are super easy to use to create awesome projects!  Make sure you head over to LD, and you can get lots of free items just for creating an account.

Don't forget to come back starting Sunday to find out the cool prizes you could win next week!

Halloween Vinyl Decor

I'm back with a fun vinyl project for Halloween.  I love my Cricut, and making vinyl projects with it is SO easy - they always turn out nicely!  For Halloween, I decided that we needed some new window decor this year and that vinyl was the way to go.  I finally had time today to finish - I think I received my Expressions Vinyl order last week, lol.  I pulled out my Happy Hauntings cartridge, and my vinyl and got to work.

All of my cuts were made at 13.75" high, rotated 90 degrees for the full cuts.  Also, since I wanted to stick these on the inside of the windows but have them face outside, I assembled them "backwards".  That is, I turned the sticky side of the vinyl UP as I assembled the layers.

We have three windows at the front of the house, so I chose a vampire, a mummy, and Frankenstein's monster for our windows.  Here they all are:

They may be a little hard to see in the pictures due to glare, but they turned out really well!  Even the hubs is impressed.  Here's the vampire up close:

I wish I had been able to do his face in a different color, but I didn't care for the green in the handbook and couldn't find a light enough gray for my taste, so I just went with white.

Here's the mummy:

One tip I have here, is to cut the eyes only from the red, instead of the entire base layer in red - vinyl is too expensive for that!  I used my Gypsy to hide the body from that layer and just cut the eyes.

Here is Frank:

He has a lot of layers, but is totally worth it as he looks really cool.  And only the white and black are the full size - everything else is just parts.

Here's the view from the sidewalk:

This is one of the few times I've wished I could have a mat larger than 12x24.  But the vampire and mummy have parts that stick out so far I couldn't make them any bigger.  I think next time, I might venture into multi-mat cuts and assemble them.  Frank could have easily been made larger, as at 13.75" tall, he was only 7" wide, but the others barely fit on the 12" width.

Cricut Circle Weekly Challenge

(Yes, the post for folding that cute organizer will be up later today, lol!)

The Cricut Circle certainly knows how to keep me busy!  They have a new blog up & running and have their first weekly challenge up.  The challenge this week is to use at least 2 cuts from our French Manor cartridge (Circle Exclusive), along with gems or pearls.  As luck would have it, I had another home decor project that I been needing to get done.

My mom gave me this awesome HUGE sconce from the old Home Interiors - she used to be a demonstrator and this was one of the pieces she didn't want to keep for herself.  I've had it for QUITE a while and just couldn't decide where to put it.  I finally decided the other day that it would look perfect right next to our front door, but it really wouldn't look right all by itself because the design is so simple.  I didn't want to clutter up the smallish space with other stuff, and this contest gave me just the inspiration I needed. 

I pulled out some decor vinyl (woo-hoo that I had some great colors on hand to match the room), and decided on my designs.  Here's what I came up with:

I resized the shield shape background with my Gypsy to stretch it a little longer so it is more in proportion with the sconce base.  I was a little upset at first that I only had one sheet of the deep red vinyl; I had thought I'd place this behind the entire sconce.  But I think it turned out rather nicer just adding the accent behind the base.  I added the layered peacock on top in black and silver vinyl.  It took me the LONGEST time to decide on that silver, lol.  The room is mainly golden yellow, deep red, and black.  I could have used white, but I thought the contrast would be too stark.  The silver matches a light fixture at the other end of the room, so it works for me.  What Ireally love, though, is that if I get tired of this, the whole thing just peels right off!  (Who'd have thought that vinyl would become my favorite home decor item, lol?)

Want to see a little close-up of my golden-yellow gems?  Here it is:

It's a little hard to tell in the picture, but I used two size of gems.  The larger size went at the points of what would be a larger diamond, then the small ones filled in for all of the smaller diamonds.  Then I added a little adhesive pearl to my peacock's eye.  Voila!  French Manor home decor accents!  I'm really loving this cartridge more every time I use it.

Party Favors AND Crafts with the Cricut and Vinyl

These were actually made last March, but I never got around to sharing them.  My daughter wanted a Mermaid party for her birthday, and NO ARIEL!  As luck would have it, the Life Is A Beach cartridge for the Cricut had just come out and I ordered it.  It arrived just in time for the party (I don't know what we would have done if it hadn't shown up!), and here are the fun/easy/cheap party favors/crafts we made.

I picked up the buckets & shovels for cheap at the drugstore, and the vinyl is from a sampler pack of vinyl available at printonit.  All of the party guests made the design on the center bucket; the other two are what my other kids got.  We let the girls pick their hair color, and I cut the hair out on the fly.  With a couple of grown-up helpers, the girls layered the vinyl onto their buckets and added their names.

The best part of the vinyl is that it's easy to lift & move, but holds up great.  We still have these buckets over a year later, and if you know me you know that my kids beat the heck out of their stuff!

Here's a closeup of the mermaid (just click on the photo to enlarge).  We used a fine tip permanent marker to draw over the cuts for the facial features.

As an additional idea, my older daughter decorated her hula girl bucket using a Sharpie marker.  She just drew on the extra details she wanted.  You can go a step further using colored permanent markers instead of just the black that she used.