Punches, Pocket Pages and the Fuse Tool; Oh No!

This spread of my granddaughter's first birthday includes punches, a pocket page and the Fuse Tool! Oh my!

I printed a lot of 4x6 photos for this event and instead of creating lots of layouts, I decided to use a pocket page and some flip flaps. This definitely saved time and space in my album. I also like doing this to add interest to my albums.

Check out my YouTube process video to see how to use the Fuse Tool and to see what else I did to make this spread special.

This video also talks about using flip flaps, paper scraps and/or ugly papers. Did you learn anything new from this video? Let me know!

Using Glitter and A New Tool

Hi there! Do you like using glitter in your projects? I'm a so-so user. In other words, I can do without it but mostly because of the mess it often time leaves.

I received a bottle of beautiful green glitter from Jenlee Schoolcraft which I was really excited about, and it also prompted me to buy a new tool...a glitter vacuum.

We'll get to that later, but first, the card!

Watch the video for the process, but basically, I used a combination of clear embossing powder and the Nuvo Pure Sheen glitter to create the card background. I heated two layers of the clear embossing powder before adding the glitter. In a sense, I am making my own glitter paper. The embossing powder absorbed the glitter so it has a slick finish to it.

Once that was complete, I colored and die cut these cute parrots for the focal images on the card. As an afterthought, I probably should have made these birds a different color, but the greens are different shades so it's still super cute! 

Products Used:

Glitter: Nuvo Pure Sheen Olive Green Glitter (Jenlee Schoolcraft)
Stamps/Dies: birds2stamp from The Stamps of Life

Clear Embossing Powder: Stampin Up!

Glitter Vacuum: Recollections from Michaels

Alcohol Markers and Cardstock from my stash

If you are interested in low cost, budget friendly crafting supplies, click over the Jenlee Schoolcraft website. You'll find an assortment of new and slightly used products that vary from stamps, dies, embossing folders, glitter, embellishments and so much more. Use the coupon code, Dorlene, for an additional 10% off your order

Product Review:

Yes, I love it! I made a mess of the embossing powder and glitter but this little vacuum had no trouble picking up all of it! This, my friends, is a great buy! Especially if you're like me and forget to put an under paper on your work area. I got this with a coupon and it was about $11 (normally under $15). Not bad at all!

In November We Strut Cap; Cricut Hat Press

Hello there! Have you had a chance to try the Hat Press by Cricut? I purchased one in December with a plan to make caps for Christmas. Yeah, no...that didn't happen. There was so much going on in December and then I got sick to top it off.

But, I knew I had plenty of time to create this "In November We Strut" cap since our family's annual virtual marathon doesn't start until November. I cannot wait to show it off!

Fonts used: Arial for in and we; Gelato Fresco for November; and BFC College Sports Stencil for Strut

I pressed two different times since I had the white HTV and red glitter HTV. Using the included heat resistant tape was very helpful with this step!

Be sure to watch the How To video to see how I created this fun and sparkly cap.

My opinion of the Cricut Hat Press

Folks, I love it! I don't make a lot of caps but I have done a few. Let me tell you, this hat press made the project so easy and quick! It is bluetoothed (is that a word) so temp and timer is set on your phone which means there's no guesswork. It literally took 60 seconds to press the words to the cap. 

No Brainer!  If you make hats, you must get this product!

WCMD; Scratch Off Card

Happy World Card Making Day! Yes, there is a thing and I try to participate as often as I can. Afterall, I am a cardmaker!

I have a really fun card today. Not only is there a fun fold but there's also an interactive element. Can you say, scratch off card? Yes, that's exactly what this is! 

I bought these scratch off stickers at least three years ago at the Expo from Pear Blossom Press (the same place I bought the lights) and I finally used them. The main reason why I used them was because I purchased this super cute stamp set, In Your Future from Pink & Main. They also sell the scratch off stickers on their website.

After I stamped and colored the images, I fussy cut them so I could add them to my card front & side flaps.

Watch the video to see how I created this card:

The card base is a 5.5x8.5" piece of cardstock and score it at 2", 3 1/8", 5 3/8" and 6.5".

Cut two pieces of patterned paper at 1 3/4" x 5 1/4" for the two outside flaps and two pieces of white cardstock at 2" x 5 1/4" for the card front & the back.

It's a simple fun fold card that folds flat when putting it in the envelope but will pop out when removing it. So fun!

I think the hardest part about this card is that I needed to find patterned paper that fit both a magic theme and a birthday theme. This colorful star paper was perfect for both themes! If you look really close, there are no purple stars in the paper, but it still matches perfectly!

Krazy Kreations Fun Fold Card

I feel like this card has all the things! First of all the cute cupcake sticker from Krazy Kreations, glitter paper (also from Krazy Kreations), alcohol markers, fun folder, sketch, Alice in Wonderland patterned paper and two shapes cut from the Cricut.

I purchased the cupcake stickers at the Expo earlier this year from looking at all the cool samples in the Krazy Kreations booth. I didn't attend a workshop but it seemed easy enough. I did however, check out their website to get hints on how to work with them.

The glitter paper is white so I could use alcohol markers to color in whatever color scheme I wanted. My colors matched the Alice in Wonderland paper perfectly. Although this is not AIW specific, it is so perfect for a birthday! I purchased the AIW paper from Scrappy Boy; also at the Expo.

I used a sketch from Sketch n Scrap and thought this easy fun fold card worked perfectly with it.

Watch the process video especially at the end where I had a big OOPS, but managed to salvage the card!

Attach the sticker to the glitter paper; color the insides of the sticker; fold the card as desired & adhere the fun AIW patterned paper plus some cardstock; use the Cricut to cut a scalloped and regular circle; stamp sentiment in the inside and done!

I love the quality of the sticker & glitter paper from Krazy Kreations! I'm definitely going to look closer at their booth next year at the Expo. I can see how these can be a lot of fun and make stunning cards! Yup, I'd purchase more!

TGIF; Thankful Friday 316

I don’t know about yours, but my week went fast! I’m thankful for that for sure but more specifically thankful for my health.

It seems that most people around me are sick - some with allergies- but a lot just sick. I’m thankful that I’m not. 

I drink a lot of water and every day I add some Hydration & Immunity booster that is from a company called Salud. They have great flavors and are low in sugar.

Try some. You’ll thank me later!

What are you thankful for this week?

Engraved and Painted Rock; LTCCB

It's time for another six week challenge from the Love To Craft Challenge Blog (LTCCB)! You know I love all things crafty so when I saw this engraving tool at Grocery Outlet, I grabbed it. It was less than $5 so what did I have to lose?

I hand wrote the word 'GROW' and some leaves on the side of this flat rock in pencil before using the engraver on it. Ok, gotta tell ya, the rock may have been a little too hard of a surface for this engraver, but it did do what it was supposed to do. 

Now, I have no patience so I basically scratched the surface but I'm sure if you really went over it, it would have a really nice groove. I still recommend getting it since it was so inexpensive & batteries were included!

I used paint to highlight the engraved areas as well as all over the rock surface & sides. 

And it looks so great in its new home - a planter in my backyard!

Be sure to click on over to the LTCCB website to add your crafty project to the challenge or just check out all the inspiration projects!

Be sure to watch this quick YouTube process video to see how cool this tool is!

Gnome Fun Fold Birthday Cards

Have you checked out your local dollar stores for crafty supplies? I'm telling you, the Dollar Tree in my town is bursting with great supplies. Recently I found some 6x6 paper pads so I bought one. There were others, but even at $1.25, it's not a bargain unless you know you are going to use it! 

Honestly, I don't know if the paper is acid free and all that, but for card use, $1.25 for a pad of 24 sheets of paper!?! Heck ya - that's a deal!

I decided to make some cards using the paper and they turned out so cute! I found the card design from Klompen Stampers Blog. You can find the dimensions there as well as a quick look in my own YouTube process video.

I used gnome stamps from Close To My Heart and colored them in using alcohol markers from my stash. Cardstock is from CutCardStock and the other patterned papers are just from my scraps.

This card is a little different since the base is not folded but the small card placed in the triangle pocket is. It's a great place to put your greeting and a gift card if desired.

CutCardStock: Patriotic Blue, Light Blue, Grape Purple and Cougar Smooth White and Cotton Candy Pink and Pink

Embossed Birthday Card

I treated myself to a Sizzix Sidekick and I was pleasantly surprised that not only did it include the cutting & embossing plates, it also included stamps, dies to coordinate with the stamps and two small embossing folders. I was so excited to open it and try it for myself! My first project was using one of the embossing folders.

I used patterned paper was that laying on my desk as well as a punched border to create this super easy card.

Check out the YouTube process video:

I trimmed the embossed pieces to 2.5" height and 2.75" width and cut the patterned paper to 2.5" as well so it flowed. Added some coordinating enamel dots and even tied a twine bow to complete the card.

So fun! I can't wait to create more and more die projects with this Sidekick!

Planter Boxes Updo; Cricut Stencil Vinyl Review

Y'all know I love a good updo and these certainly fit the bill. Hubby made these wooden planter boxes for me and of course I had to jazz them up! 

When adding colors to my projects, I seem to always gear towards our favorite sports teams which is great for color but I didn't want to continue the theme with team logos or obvious sports icons.

Since I planned on stenciling some sort of phrase and using the Cricut Stencil Vinyl I purchased, I went through Design Space for garden phrases and there were a lot. I saw the "Rooting for ya" phrase and it was a light bulb moment! Yes, roots = plants, but it also can be root as in "Root, root, root for the home team". Yes, perfect for the orange & black planter box. 

Check out the YouTube video to see how I was inspired for the second planter box and how I created the stencils in order to add the phrases to them. 

What's my opinion of Cricut Stencil Vinyl? PASS I'll give it another try with a different surface, but I will not use it again for a wood project. It did not stick AT ALL to it. I have plenty left on my roll so I will try on a canvas or possibly paper, we'll see. Either way, I'll let you know.

One of the main reasons for dressing up these wooden planters is because who knows if whatever I decide to plant will grow. I always say I have a brown thumb and cannot grow anything, but this year has really changed. I'm channeling my son since he always had a green thumb. It's very exciting to see flowers bloom, veggies produce and everything in between. And if for some reason they don't, I don't have to worry because these boxes add color to our backyard either way!  Win-Win

If Instagram is your thing, be sure to follow me there since I post more photos and updates.  My account name is @3sons_and_astar.

Anna Griffin Flower Cards II

I'm having a lot of fun with these 3D Anna Griffin flowers I was recently gifted and mixed media collage papers. Check out my first post HERE with two cards that I created earlier and here's another one that I recently created.

See how I put it together by watching the YouTube process video:

I love the funkiness of these cards. It'll be interesting to see if they sell or if people stick to a more traditional look like the iris card above. I'll keep you posted!

You can see this quick video to see how the card on the right was created.

So fun, right? By the way, I'm definitely going to create more of the black writing on white tissue paper. So simple but oh so pretty!

Anna Griffin Flowers

I was gifted a lot of Anna Griffin card making supplies from a dear friend. All these beautiful florals are not usually my style but I loved challenging myself to create some super girly and vintage looking cards.

I used these floral cutouts to create the 3D stacked flowers for the focal images on each card. And then I used a variety of backgrounds from patterned papers, painted book pages, gel prints, etc. Do you remember those beautiful papers I received from the #tradingpaperpals exchange I took part in last month? Well, I used a lot of those for backgrounds too! Check out the post HERE.

Each card is unique and so pretty!

Check out the video to see how the background and cards are put together.

And the final cards!

I must get more of those gold ferns! Aren't they gorgeous?! Stay tuned because I made a lot more than these two cards!

Acrylic Bookmarks

Got another Cricut project for ya. I purchased some acrylic bookmarks from Caluya Designs because I love her SVGs and was positive I’d love her blanks. In fact, when you order bookmarks, you get all the bookmark SVGs for free! It doesn't get much better than that!

There were so many designs but I whittled them down to these. I thought the snarky sentiments were perfect for my daughter and I to use during Summer Reading Marathon. We started SRM since she was six and she'll be turning 30 this year. It's a friendly competition and we love it!

These bookmarks are fabulous! Besides a good price and quick shipping, the size of the bookmarks are perfect since they will work in a small paperback or a larger hardback. Each bookmark has a protective cover on both the front and back of them to prevent scratching.

This was an easy project since the design was already sized for the bookmarks. The hardest part was choosing which design and then the colors. Since this is a small project, I was able to use scrap vinyl which is always a good thing!

The solid color swish is another SVG available and I added them to the backs for even more color!

I added some torn fabric that I have in my stash on one and a piece of cool ribbon that I bought from the Dollar Tree on the other.

What do you think? Cute, huh?

Be sure to check out the YT process video because there are a few things to be aware of when you make these.

Love Never Dies Cup; Jack & Sally

I have received lots of orders this month for T-shirts, cards, cups and water bottle stickers. I love the orders, but it's been a lot. 

I created this special request and just love how it turned out.  After adjusting the image to the correct size, I attached the words to the yellow layer of the SVG. By using Attach in Design Space, it cuts through the image that it's attached to. In this case, the yellow layer of this SVG. 

My youngest granddaughter is obsessed with Jack & Sally so I can't wait to make a shirt for her. Honestly, I should have made a couple more of these cups because I love it so much! 

I purchased the SVG from MagicalCutStore on Etsy.  Just to clarify, the SVG did not include the words "Love Never Dies", I added them in Design Space before cutting.

The cups are from Cups 4 Us. I love supporting small businesses and she has a great variety of cups + lots of free SVG files on her site as well.

Inexpensive Photo Backdrop

I love my local Dollar Tree! I've been collecting these vinyl sticker brick panels for a short time now and finally decided to add them to an old closet door for a photo backdrop (or floordrop - is that a thing?). I'm constantly taking photos of my projects and some need a larger background than what I have.

We did some rearranging a while back and I removed one of my closet doors. Well, that door wasn't made of wood, it was a thin pressboard type of thing. I kept it for a long time and finally I decided to add these vinyl panels to it.

Before adding the vinyl, I measured and cut the door by using a box cutter and long ruler. Once that was done and after a good cleaning, I adhered each brick panel to it making sure to line up the bricks.

These vinyl stickers are a pretty good quality considering they came from the a dollar store.

Check out the short video HERE and take a look at the backdrop in action!

It's great for all projects!

Single Page Layout; Award Ceremony

I created this one page 12x12 layout using embellishments from Dear Lizzy It’s All Good collection.

When I saw this collection, I knew I had to have it all! I even bought extra sheets of this paper:

Don’t you love those hand signs? 

See the YouTube video as I’m putting the layout together. Once I selected the color scheme, the rest was easy to put together.

We are so proud of our daughter for winning After School Program Leader of the Year for our county. She deserved it!

Majority of the embellishments are from the Dear Lizzy collection. The felt flowers are from Queen & Co., and the other random stickers are from my stash. The title was cut using various fonts on the Cricut.