August 2021

Spring Specimen Art AND Silhouette Chipboard Promotion!

⋅

Before anything else, today is the LAST day to enter our musical tote giveaway from Southpaw Crafts! Click here to enter! 

Alright. I was SO excited when Valerie and I were chosen as Silhouette affiliates. I love trying out products for you and offering you a discount!  Right now Silhouette is promoting their new chipboard. Us long time Silhouette users have been waiting and waiting for this, because a lot of other brands of chipboard just didn’t cut right. 



I received a package of their chipboard (along with a dust cover for my Cameo!), and I knew right away what I was going to do with it; my Spring specimen art! Chipboard can provide great stability to a fragile project, be used for 3D shapes or boxes, or even just by itself as a great neutral color. The Silhouette brand chipboard is about as thick as a cereal box.




I started by cutting out my butterflies with the chipboard, using this shape from the Silhouette Store.


  

I used the chipboard setting and it cut perfectly on the first try! (pardon my messy cutting mat!)


**Silhouette tip! Did you know that there’s a built in blade depth ch anger on your Silhouette? No more worrying about losing the plastic ring!**


Next I cut out a whole bunch more butterflies of the same shape in coordinating colors, and started messing around with different wings on different bodies until I was ready to put it all together. 

Now, I am a lazy crafter and often eye things instead of measuring them out. With my specimen art I do not want to measure equal distance between each shape, or stress out about eyeing it when I’m putting it all together. So I came up with, in my opinion, a genius idea. You can change the Silhouette blade for a pen, right? So I created my layout using the Silhouette software (which is much easier to measure and space evenly with), and sent my base paper through the silhouette and had the pen sketch where my shapes needed to go! Now all I had to do was glue them right on the spot and there was no wondering whether they were even. 🙂


So after ALL of THAT, you get this gorgeous piece of decor for your home. Don’t forget to check out the other specimen art that I’ve made throughout the year to put in the same frame!







Connect with us! You can find us here:

Happy Valentine’s Day- A card for my husband

⋅

A special card for a special day and a special someone. When genius strikes, you can’t ignore it. The idea for this card came to my head and I just love that I could use my Silhouette to make it happen on the spot. I didn’t even buy an image, just searched online, imported it, turned it into a cuttable image and voila! Perfection!
I love my husband SO much and we truly go together like PB&J. Hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day and get to spend it with those you love.  

Connect with us! You can find us here:

Happy Valentine’s Day- A card for my husband

⋅

A special card for a special day and a special someone. When genius strikes, you can’t ignore it. The idea for this card came to my head and I just love that I could use my Silhouette to make it happen on the spot. I didn’t even buy an image, just searched online, imported it, turned it into a cuttable image and voila! Perfection!
I love my husband SO much and we truly go together like PB&J. Hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day and get to spend it with those you love.  

Connect with us! You can find us here:

Happy Valentine’s Day- A card for my husband

⋅

A special card for a special day and a special someone. When genius strikes, you can’t ignore it. The idea for this card came to my head and I just love that I could use my Silhouette to make it happen on the spot. I didn’t even buy an image, just searched online, imported it, turned it into a cuttable image and voila! Perfection!
I love my husband SO much and we truly go together like PB&J. Hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day and get to spend it with those you love.  

Connect with us! You can find us here:

Melted Snowman Ornament

⋅


One Christmas tradition our family has is receiving new ornaments each year to add to the family tree. When you’re grown and on your own you get to take all of those ornaments with you to start your own tree! This year I wanted to make our ornaments, mostly because i just didn’t see anything i was in love with. I’m also on kind of a snowman kick, and a lot of melted snowman crafts have made the rounds this year. So cute!

Here’s everything you need to make your own melted snowman ornament:

  • Clear glass ornaments (i found mine at Hobby Lobby), plastic would work too.
  • Fake snow or even shredded white paper
  • Cut outs of snowman parts (I used my Silhouette, but good ol’ scissors would work just fine)
  • A little piece of fabric for a scarf
  • Funnel


Using your funnel to help, put your fake snow inside the ornament. My stuff was particularly static-y and was a pain to put in! I was glad not to be mass producing these 🙂   Then add your snowman parts and move them around until you are satisfied.

 




We’ll be giving these to our boys on Christmas Eve and I’m sure they’ll love them as much as I do!


Connect with us! You can find us here:

Another Fall Project and some Fall Decor

⋅

Well, here in the Valley of the Sun, it won’t truly feel like fall for another few months, but the mornings are cooler, the nights are cooler, and school is in session.  That’s “fall” enough for me!  This weekend I am breaking out the fall decor!  But first, another fall project had to be completed.

I found this tutorial for a rag wreath at Moda Bake Shop sometime last year.  I bought the wreath frame and…..it sat for a year.  First I couldn’t find fabric I liked.  Then I thought I would make a Christmas one.  But then Christmas passed, and I thought, okay, maybe a spring one.  You get the picture.  Finally, this summer, I decided to bite the bullet and pick out some fall fabric.  I found these cute rolls of fabric at Hobby Lobby for $4.99.  I love how they are fall colors, but not “fall fabric”- if you know what I mean.


I put this monogrammed pumpkin on our sofa table.   This is super easy to make.  I printed out a letter in a cute font, taped it to the front of my pumpkin, then used a pushpin to make a dot outline of the letter on the pumpkin.  Then I removed the letter and “connected-the-dots” with a Sharpie, then filled in the letter with the marker.  You could also use a paint marker.  Or even Vinyl.  This was BS:  Before Silhouette!

I found a place for my Fall Jars:

I hung my favorite fall wall hanging  (I wish I could say I made this, but I bought it at TJ Maxx for $8.99) I put out my basket of pumpkins that I LOVE from Joann- I have a lot more ideas and inspiration to keep me going.  I love to see everyone’s fall decor, so send me a link if you have something you love!

Also, if you love fall as much as I do- go to the Fall Nesting Party at The Inspired Room.  I love this blog.

Bathroom “Refresh” with Cutting Edge Stencils and GIVEAWAY!

⋅

You guys.



Our master bathroom is strange.  I don’t know who agreed to this design, but it really is a little bit awkward.

The bathroom is adjacent to the master bedroom, but there is no door between them- just a nice wide arched opening.  (Privacy is so overrated!)



Inside the main part of the bathroom,  you’ll find an extra wide shower, and across from that, the sink and vanity.



The toilet has its own little closet.  I’m living in 21st century America and I have a water closet.  A W. C.  Who would’ve thought?  

I have done basically nothing for my little toilet room except put a little cabinet to hold any necessary items you might need while in there.  But, I have been longing to pretty it up for a while now.  So, I took advantage of one of Cutting Edge Stencil’s brand new stencils to make this little toilet closet a little nicer.  (Did you see my sneak peek on Instagram?) 



(Because it is this little room with a crappy light, it was really difficult to get decent pictures.  I can’t even fit in it far enough back to get a decent shot, so I had to stand outside and lean in.  Everything looks a bit crooked but I promise, it’s not. Bear with me please- this is NOT my best photo work.)




When I checked out the new line of stencils, I was instantly drawn to the Little Diamond Allover Stencil.  I don’t know why.  I am not usually a geometric person, but I just kept coming back to that one.  So I trusted my gut and ordered it.



This is a perfect stencil for a stencil newbie (which I am)!  I didn’t use a roller, though you certainly could.  I just used a few nice stencil brushes, and I used some acrylic paint and chalk paint I already had on hand- simply because it matched the colors I needed.  



I made sure to use a spray adhesive to keep the stencil in place, along with some painter’s tape.  Then, I dabbed just the smallest amount of paint on the brush and filled in each diamond.  I did three coats of the blue and two coats of the dark gray. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out because the diamonds are a little funky- not exactly even.  But when I pulled off the stencil to move it I was thrilled with how it looked.






The blue is from Plaid’s FolkArt line- Baby Blue.  The dark gray is is DecoArt’s Americana Chalky Finish paint in Relic.



Now, I needed a little something for the wall.  I wanted a shelf, no! A canvas print. How about a wreath?  Or a framed quote ?  What quote is appropriate for a toilet room? (Let it Go?)



Then inspiration struck. 








 Michael’s had this 11×14 frame on clearance for $1.79.  I painted it to match the wall, then stuck it and my painted, distressed mason jar on the wall with some Command Strips.  The flowers are a hydrangea bunch from IKEA I’ve had for a few years.  Both the frame and the jar are painted with the Americana Chalky Paint from DecoArt.






I have to admit I am in love with this.  It might be my favorite thing in the whole house.  Right now, anyway.




I finished it off with a new basket to hold the TP- Ross for $4.99.  Because, when you have a toilet room, you need a place for extra toilet paper.



I still have plans to replace the awful glass globe light on the ceiling.  But we’re well on our way to having a much nicer little toilet closet. After all, we do spend a significant amount of time in there 🙂









Want to try out a stencil for yourself?  Cutting Edge Stencils can be used for room redos, furniture makeovers, curtains, pillows, craft projects, and more.   Check out their blog for design ideas!

They are graciously offering one of you $50 to purchase your own stencil!  Enter to win via the Rafflecopter below.  Make sure to read the terms so you know you qualify.  It’s open until Monday August 4th, so get those entries in! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Connect with us! You can find us here:

Another Fall Project and some Fall Decor

⋅

Well, here in the Valley of the Sun, it won’t truly feel like fall for another few months, but the mornings are cooler, the nights are cooler, and school is in session.  That’s “fall” enough for me!  This weekend I am breaking out the fall decor!  But first, another fall project had to be completed.

I found this tutorial for a rag wreath at Moda Bake Shop sometime last year.  I bought the wreath frame and…..it sat for a year.  First I couldn’t find fabric I liked.  Then I thought I would make a Christmas one.  But then Christmas passed, and I thought, okay, maybe a spring one.  You get the picture.  Finally, this summer, I decided to bite the bullet and pick out some fall fabric.  I found these cute rolls of fabric at Hobby Lobby for $4.99.  I love how they are fall colors, but not “fall fabric”- if you know what I mean.


I put this monogrammed pumpkin on our sofa table.   This is super easy to make.  I printed out a letter in a cute font, taped it to the front of my pumpkin, then used a pushpin to make a dot outline of the letter on the pumpkin.  Then I removed the letter and “connected-the-dots” with a Sharpie, then filled in the letter with the marker.  You could also use a paint marker.  Or even Vinyl.  This was BS:  Before Silhouette!

I found a place for my Fall Jars:

I hung my favorite fall wall hanging  (I wish I could say I made this, but I bought it at TJ Maxx for $8.99) I put out my basket of pumpkins that I LOVE from Joann- I have a lot more ideas and inspiration to keep me going.  I love to see everyone’s fall decor, so send me a link if you have something you love!

Also, if you love fall as much as I do- go to the Fall Nesting Party at The Inspired Room.  I love this blog.

Sister’s Challenge {Candy Corn Crafts}: Laura’s Glass Block

⋅

There’s just something about candy corn! I love the vibrant colors. I love how it makes fall feel real. I love how it tastes, and I love decorations that have to do with candy corn! I just knew this had to be our starting material for our Halloween Sister’s Challenge!

Yesterday Valerie showed us her super cute Candy Corn Shadowbox. I love how she used the candy corn as the ground and it looked like the trick-or-treaters were walking on it! It’s so cute, so if you missed it you can click above to see it! 

Last year I made these yarn wrapped candy corns, but this time around I wanted to use actual candy corn.

It had been awhile since I’d crafted with vinyl or glass blocks so I quickly came up with this decoration! 

I got the vinyl image from the Silhouette Online Store and sized it to fit on my glass block. Then I filled the block with candy corn, added some fun ribbon, and now it’s ready to be displayed along with the rest of my Halloween decorations!

What should our next Sister’s Challenge material be? 


Connect with us! You can find us here:

1 2 3 4›»