Fired up the Embroidery Machine for this Valentine Card!!

My Bernina embroidery machine has been feeling a little lonely lately.  I've been paying too much attention to my Cricuts!! Today I decided to dust her off and embroidered a sweet little bouquet of flowers to use as a Valentine's Day card embellishment.  I embossed the card with my Cuttlebug and a Sizzix heart folder.  I used my red Copic to color the stamped message.  I used ribbon from the Ribbon Boutique and the black and white paper is from DCWV.  Next I think I'll try to use some freestanding lace embroidery in a card!!  I just desperately need a snow day to work on my crafty creations!! Just an inch or two will do!!   Thanks for looking!
Patty

A Cowboy Shadow Box

I was anxious to try one of the images I recently purchased from myvinyldesigner.com.  I took advantage of their 25% off sale this weekend and ordered some starter designs. I have the original Cricut Expression which I do not update so that I may continue to use my Sure Cuts Alot 2 software.  I also used my Cricut Imagine and elements from the Old West and Country Carnival cartridges.  The words are from the purchased svg file.  The die cuts are from the Cricut cartridges.  I cut the wording in brown vinyl and adhered it to cream colored card stock.  I inked the card stock heavily with my Martha Stewart cat's eye ink pad, in brown. I also used some stickers from the Paper Studio.  Finally before placing the picture into the shadow box, I looped some knotted jute twine around the inside of the box.  I think this little shadow box will be a perfect accent to my cowboy husband's bathroom!!  Thanks for looking!!
Patty

My New Craft Area!!!! Almost Complete!!

My husband and I have been working on our new crafting area this long weekend.  I am moving my craft stuff from a basement room upstairs.  Last year, disaster struck our house in the form of termites. We had self-treated our log and wood frame house but had never professionally exterminated. Boy did we learn a lesson the hard way! A 20 foot section of our front living room wall had been eaten away before we realized it!!  This was October of last year.  We worked away to tear out the wall, replace it, get professional extermination, all before cold weather attacked. I had always wanted a fireplace, so we used this opportunity to lay a beautiful stone fireplace.  I never knew I could lay stone, but its really alot like icing a cake.  The results were phenomenal.  I was ever so pleased with the results and we have really enjoyed the fireplace's warmth and ambience during the cold,dreary months.   My husband also started doing leatherwork last year.  He had a small countertop set up on the back side of our living room.  He really enjoys leathercrafting near the fireplace.  I soon had the desire to move my craft space closer to his and the fire!! We moved a set of kitchen cabinets that I previously used in my basement sewing room.  My handyman husband built us a custom crafting island with storage under one side and on both ends.  There is an inset area for barstools on the other side.  My Cricut cartridges fit perfectly in the built in shelves on one end of the island.  I put a small desk near the windows, which I just outfitted with wooden blinds, for my sewing maching.  I like to sew and embroider on my Bernina and the natural light is wonderful.  I had recently bought four Jet Max cubes for paper storage.  I place two stacked, on each side of my desk.  My cabinet drawers neatly store all my wooden stamps, Cricut accessories, fabric, and sewing notions.  I have extra storage in the baskets and bags on top of the wall cabinets.  I brought my new Expression 2 from my office space and placed it on the countertop with my Cake and Imagine.  I'll keep my trusty, original Expression near my desktop computer where it will stay hooked to Design Studio.  To finish today's work, we mounted a cork board, shelf for my Cuttlebug and Texture Boutique, and a ribbon shelf above my crafting countertop.  Our next step is to install two hanging lights above our center island and some outlets along the top of the countertop itself.  I think I am going to love my new space and crafting by the fireplace!! Thanks for stopping by!!! Patty

Cricut Imagine + Kate's Kitchen Cartridge+ Printable Vinyl=New Kitchen Canisters!!

I found a steal on these antique-looking kitchen canisters at my local craft store just before Christmas.  I had an ideal in mind when I picked them up.  I decided I would use my Cricut Imagine and the Kate's Kitchen cartridge to dress these tin canisters up just a little!  I used the Cricut printable vinyl and sized the images between 3-5 inches depending on their respective canister size.  It was an easy print, cut, and adhere to each canister.  Afterwards, I used some country ribbon from the Ribbon Boutique to create a border and bow for each canister.  This project took maybe ten minutes total to finish and completely transformed the look of these ordinary canisters!! Thanks for looking!
 Patty

A Head Start on Valentine's Day Cards!!

I decided to use some of my Christmas gifts to create this cute little Valentine's Day card.  Doesn't hurt to get a head start!!  To create the card, I used a white pre-cut card and cut a piece of heart design cardstock from BABS.  The card was then layered with a smaller piece of black cardstock.  I embossed a piece of pale pink cardstock with my new Cuttlebug owl folder.  I was anxious to try it out, I do love owls!! This card also gave me a chance to use my Hampton Arts owl stamps.  The images were stamped with my VersaFine black stamp pad, which was also a Christmas gift.  I am anxious to try out different types of inks with my stamps, so if anyone has any suggestions, all comments would be appreciated!! I inked the embossed portion of the card, just a tad, with my Martha Stewart cat's eye pink stamp pad.  I then spritzed the card with some of my frost Shimmer Spritz.  I created a bow from black string from MakingMemories.  I found this string at a bargain at an Ollie's store that just opened up in my area. I've found some great buys on scrapbooking items there!! To finish this card I added a couple of adhesive gems for the eyes and three glitzy black brads as accents.  The inside of the card will also include a stamped sentiment from the Hampton Arts set.  It will simply read " I Do That's Who".  Have a safe New Year's Eve and a Happy New Year's day!!
Thanks for stopping by!!
Patty

Winter Break Projects

Here are a couple of Winter Break projects.  The first is a tote bag I made for my niece.  She has been very sick and in the hospital.  I used the Cricut Imagine Baby Boutique cartridge for the monogram, bird designs, and swirls, which are printed and cut on fusible fabric.  I sewed a ribbon border using ribbon from the Ribbon Boutique.  I embellished with pink and clear rhinestones using my Easy Glitzer.  I created a matching bow also using ribbon from the Ribbon Boutique, I then found a cute rhinestone dragonfly pin to accent the bow.

 
The second project is an easy bookmark cut from the Animal Kingdom cartridge. This was my first wireless test cut using my Cricut Expression 2 machine and the Cricut Craftroom.  I embellished the bookmark with brads from All My Memories.  I add some coordinating buttons from Dress It Up. My name is formed from stickers from Colorbok. I colored my cardstock moose with my brown Copic marker.  I think I'll make a few more of these for friends and relatives!

Thanks for looking and Happy New Years!!

Cricut Imagine + Iron On Fabric Sheets For Ink Jet Printers

It's a windy, rainy day outside and I have a yucky head cold, so I decided to stay indoors, stay warm, and work with some of my crafts.  I pulled out some of my printable iron-on fabric I had purchased a few weeks ago.  I decided to try printing and cutting on this material using my Imagine.  Through trial and error, I found that the edges of this material need to be taped to the mat with a few pieces of tape.  I also set my pressure on 5 to make sure that the material was completely cut.  I used the Imagine Enjoy the Seasons cartridge to print the tree and squirrel for my sweatshirt.  The ink absorbed into the material wonderfully and was easy to iron on to the black sweatshirt.  I then sewed on some coordinating fall leaves and acorn buttons and finished the shirt with a little gold fabric paint.  I then printed the monogram "P" and bird image from the Imagine Baby Boutique cartridge.  I ironed these images onto a white tote bag.  I think I will sew a matching ribbon around the edges of the bag to add some additional embellishment.  I love the print and iron-on material.  I used the June Tailor Quick Fuse fabric sheets for ink jet printers.  With this material, it wasn't even necessary to flip the images before printing.  Looks like I'll be heading back to the craft store to buy more!!  Have a great week!

Patty