Life's Trivialities

Star Mobile / Craftwell

I'm not one to make home décor unless it's something I can whip together cheaper than buying elsewhere or is something necessary for party decorations, say at Easter or Thanksgiving usually. I needed a project for Craftwell that was, well, quick and easy and home décor. This is what I conjured up.

Were I to have an infant in a crib, I would place this mobile over the crib or in the room somewhere. Alas, my two are grow(ing) and this fun little mobile will not serve as entertainment for a babe in arms. Instead, it hangs in my scrappy space, a fun little something to look at.

I used my Craftwell Cut'N Boss to die cut the gradated stars from Little B and some Craftwell/Teresa Collins embossing folders for the star and then my sewing machine to zip them together. Nothing to it really yet a very fun piece of décor that could easily be replicated. You could cut out clouds, circles, butterflies! The possibilities are endless. The embossing adds a little more dimension.

Be sure to swing by the Craftwell blog for a tutorial on the specifics of this came together.

Easter Napkin Rings / Imaginisce

I am not one to go all out on decorating (unless it's on paper) but I do like to add small touches to the holiday table. I decided this year that these napkin rings would be my piece de resistance with regards to the table setting.

These are dead easy to reproduce! Be sure to swing by the Imaginisce blog at THIS post here for detailed instructions on how to do that, the cut file that I used and other tid bits such as this; using a liquid adhesive bottle as the "mold" for a tight napkin ring wrap! Brilliant, eh?!

SO adorable! They could be used as egg cups too, Mia pointed out to me. I didn't think of that but my creative little side kick has great ideas too!

What are your tastes when it comes to table holiday adornments; do you go all out or more a minimalist, as I am?

 

Make Your Own Glass Ornament / 17 Turtles and Core'dinations

Welcome to my blog if you're new here! My friend Juliana from 17 Turtles invited me to guest design for her with some of her amazing cut files today and you can see the layout I created with some Christmas files on her blog over HERE. I also shared a Christmas ornament that I made with those files and have instructions below on how you can create your own.

Amazing, right? And super simple to make! My daughter's best stroke in swimming is breaststroke so this will be for and later, my son who is a talented backstroke swimmer, will get a matching boy backstroke ornament.

Here's how you make them.

Materials;

Glass or Clear Plastic Christmas Bulbs

1 sheet of Transparency Film

1 cut file per Bulb you are making (Swimming Strokes Girl Digital Cut File by 17 Turtles)

Silhouette or other digital cutting machine

Core'dinations Sticky Backed Glitter Sheets

Snow (Stampendous Mica Fragments)

Sequins (American Crafts)

Ribbon (May Arts)

 

Directions;

1.            Using your Silhoutte cut your transparency film to be slightly smaller than the size of your ornament. My ornament is 3.5 inches wide so I cut my circle to be 3.25 inches wide.

I resized this file from Lori Whitlock available HERE.

 

2.            Again using your Silhouette (or other electronic cutting machine) cut the image that you want from Core'dinations Sticky Backed Glitter Sheets. I used Juliana Michaels' backstroke swimmer and sized it the width of my transparency.

 

3.            Peel back the backing of the Stickey Backed Glitter Sheet to reveal the sticky surface and adhere this to the center of your transparency sheet. Use a bone folder to burnish the back and ensure tight stick. Trim the overlapping edges with scissors.

 

4.            Roll up your transparency as such:

5.            Insert the tight roll into the opening of the ornament. It's kind of like putting a message in a bottle! Once inside, it will pop open and if necessary, use tweezers to center and position the insert where you want it.

 

6.            Looks great, right? But you want a little more pizzazz so here comes the messy part. Using a funnel, add some snow. I used Stampendous mica fragments but you can buy cheaper snow this time of year at the craft store. I wanted a little extra "umpf" so I added some snowflake and star sequins both in front of and behind the transparency.

7.            Snip off the top of the transparency so that you can insert the little silver (or gold) topper back on the ornament. Tie a pretty bow and if you have one of those nifty Imaginisce ribbon cutters, use it to seal off a nice "v" to the ends of your ribbon!

 

Voila! You are finished and now you have a wonderful swimmer to hang on your tree. Or gift to your swimming friend! Or swimming child!

 

 

Feel free to grab a PDF of my instructions Download Glass Ornament_SuzannaLee.

 

Be sure to check out Juliana's Etsy Store for fantastic cut files such as the ones used here and on her blog where I'm guesting today! These particular swimming files come in both boy and girl and with rectangle frames around them as well as "plain" though there's nothing plain about them!

Mother's Day Bouquet / Imaginisce

I'm up over on the Imaginisce blog today, sharing a home made bouquet AND gift card holder. Nothing says I love you like home made!

This is combination of Welcome Spring and the girl My Baby patterned papers and a die cut from Welcome Spring with some serious iRock use! The flowers were cut using the Silhouette Cameo with a few additional bits and pieces to add my own personal touch.

Behind one of those flowers is nestled a gift card! I created a little pocket that the gift card slides in and out of. Just cut an extra flower and don't curl the edges. Apply adhesive on three sides leaving an opening for the gift card. Voila! Pretty simple, eh?!

The two bigger flowers have iRock button adorned centers to jazz them up a bit. When you're using the iRock a lot, I highly recommend taking a break every so often. Turning the iRock off. Not only do the batteries wear out super quickly but it over heats. Take it from me, it took forever to apply those teeny tiny suckers and a lot of patience. Waiting between buttons would have saved a whole lot of angst!

There are two types of flowers with the second having a simple brad for the center. The edges of each flower "segment" are inked for some depth. Each flower is glued (liquid glue) onto a wooden skewer and stuck into the potting soil.

Have you made your Mom (Mum, depending) anything yet for Mother's Day? What have you created? I'd love to see, link me up!

Happy Easter Card / Imaginisce Welcome Spring

Another Easter card from me! I'm up on the Imaginisce blog today with a card that I created using the Welcome Spring collection. Definitely one of my all time favorite Imaginisce collections! Though... Now that I think about it, I probably say that with each collection they release.

I seem to have a bit of a thing for designing on the diagonal lately. It's unusual for me but it's working. Not a complex card at all, none of mine are. They tend to be very clean and simple my cards do. Given that I'm not much of a card maker, clean and simple is the easiest thing for me to manage.

Doesn't that little bunny with her arms wide open just call to have a banner in her hands? I thought she did. As they weren't spread wide enough for Happy Easter, "happy" had to do and Easter had to go elsewhere. The happy seemed appropriate; happy in a grass field of flowers! The iRock and some Hot Rocks make the perfect flower centers for these stamped flowers.

And, of course, some Twinery twine! A shot of yellow above to match that below. Love the hot pink and blue combination.

A less anglutated look at my little bunny friend and her banner.

Easter!! Just around the corner! I'm ready. Ready as I'll ever be... Are you ready?

Gift Wrapping with Imaginisce

Dropping in quickly in this second day of December (!!?!) to share with you some ideas for gift giving with using Imaginisce's latest Christmas line, Colors of Christmas.

The Colors of Christmas collection is just perfect for all your gift giving needs!! I created both a Christmas-y (yes, that's the technical term!) gift bag and non-holiday, more winter themed gift box using the collection. That's what is so brilliant about it; both Christmas and winter/snow all combined into one great collection! Throw in some Hot Rocks along with the bling and it's festivity at it's best!!

First up, an upcycled gift bag. I save things. I like to find a new purpose for "old" things. I covered up somebody elses logo on this kraft bag and turned it into my own gift bag. It would have just ended up in recycling otherwise. Why not put it to good use? It looked just fine, there was nothing wrong with it.

Inspired by the patterned paper with the hanging ornaments, I fussy cut two out and used a die cut journaling spot for the third. "Solid" paper from one of the previous Imaginisce collections was used to die cut the boughs out of.

Everything is on a base of kraft cardstock that I just adhered over the large company logo that I no longer had use for.

This little gem of a gift box was fun to make. I envision a pair of earrings for my daughter in it. It could be used just for a winter gift and does not have to be Christmas if you took the "Noel" banner off.

Wanting to dress up the box some and give it character, I punched snowflakes in the sides and blinged them up a bit. This is THE time of year for the iRock!! Bling everything up!

The hole in the center of the die cut snowflake was the perfect place to insert a loop of ribbon for a fun "pull tab" of sorts that one can lift the gift box open with. Add a little more bling and you're good to gift! LOL!!

I hope you're inspired to create some of your own gift giving amenities this year! Do you have anything you would like to share? Link it up! I'd love to see it!

Embellished Witch Hat (with tutorial) / Halloween Snack

The weather is definitely turning here in Virginia and we are looking forward to the crisp fall air and arrival of both Halloween and Thanksgiving, two of our favorite holiday's. In preparation for those events, I have been working on some fun surprises for the kids.

American Crafts has some really fun Halloween product available at Target.They make it so easy to dress up your home and get into the ghouly spirit! The kits are super easy to put together and come with everything you need. You can make them as they are or, being a bit more crafty, you can embellish to your heart's content and create your own masterpiece. As I have done here with two fun projects.

These spooky creations are a jazzed up version of the witch hat placecards. Still placecards, just with a bit more "oompf". I am hosting a witches tea party later this month (stay tuned!) and these will help the young witches know where to sit at the table. I wanted brims on the hats, an easy addition to make. simple Halloween icons were further adorned with rosette layers. All the "support" to these embellished witch hats were made using the 6x6 paper pack that you can also pick up from Target.

Here's a little tutorial on the making of such embellished witch hats.

Supplies;

• Witch hat placecard kit by American Crafts from Target
• purple cardstock
• circle cutter
• Scor-Pal or other method of scoring for a rosette
• Star Stickers by American Crafts from Target
• 6x6 paper pad by American Crafts from Target
• Slick Writer by American Crafts
• bat cut file
• florist wire

Using your circle cutter, cut a 6.5 inch circle from your purple cardstock. Use a scrap piece of paper to cut a 3 inch circle that you will trace on the wrong side of the purple cardstock to create the opening for the brim of your hat.

Use a pair of smaller scissors to cut all the way across the 3 inch circle and moving around the circle, like an astericks. It is with these "triangles" that you will attack the brim of the hat to the cone. Take a precut hat top and create the cone, per the directions that accompanied the kit. Apply adhesive to the inner part of the brim.

Center the black cone over the purple brim and push up the adhesive backed triangles into the cone, moving all the way around. "Ruffle" the orange layers and adhere one on top of the other as per the kit directions and adher to the edge of the black cone. I suggest using the edge of a fine paint brush to aid with the curling process.

Cut strips from the 6x6 paper pad and adhere two ends together (I used double sided tape). Use your Scor Pal or other form of scoring to create the marks for accordian folding to create a rosette. If you like, before folding the strip, cut along the outer edge with zip zag scissors for a fancier border.

Create the rosette as you would. Use a 2 inch circle punch to cut a circle from an orange piece of paper. Adhere the black and white Halloween image in the center. Using double sided tape, adhere this to the hat. Write on the label with a Slick Writer, labeling however you wish. I added a star sticker for some sparkle.

My bats are cut from my Silhouette with the first adhere using double sided tape directly onto the hat while the top bat is flying from the top of the hat on some floral wire.

And there you have it, a simple kit witch hat that we personalized and added some seasonal elements to!

And if that weren't enough decoration, your party goers need a beverage and snack to enjoy while they visit! Pull up and chair and enjoy some Witch's Tonic and Worm Warts! I used the labels from the accent stickers collection on a bottle and pillow case with a few ribbons and other miscellanous items to dress it up. The Worm Warts sticker is on a rectangle of patterned paper from the 6x6 paper pad with a crossed ribbon behind it and adhered to the pillow case of Rasinets. I used my Imaginisce i-Rock to adhere four little black hot rocks for a touch of "love".

American Crafts generously sent a few of the Pebbles design team gals these products. Be sure to check out the following blogs to see yet more amazing creations;

• Nina
• Amanda
• Renee
• Samantha
• Kathy

You can find these and a few other coordinating American Craft products at Target. Be sure to grab them before they disappear! I know my Target only had the kits left while all the sequins and washi tape were gone.

Be sure to check back in later this month to see the full party scene! If you enjoyed the tea party for two we hosted a couple of years back, you'll enjoy this too.

Happy...

... Valentine's Day!!

For the past eight days, Imaginisce has been celebrating love with the collection Love You More. Sara and I hold up the rear with the final projects today. Be sure to check out the blog and see what all the members created if you haven't already. There are some amazing projects.

I am against providing more sugar/candy that the kids aren't allowed to eat and just sits in the cupboard tempting me for this Hallmark holiday... (Yes, a bit of a Grinch I am!) So instead I adorned the soda bottle carrier and the bottles for the kids this year. They aren't allowed soda either so this is a very special treat made even more special with the personal touch from Mum.

The flag banners made the perfect little straw flags. I used circle punches and some of the round letter stickers to decorate the bottle caps. And those adorable little birds instead of cupids on the heart!!

Mia and I repurposed a giant bag of crayons that we had saved away for a rainy day to make Valentine's treats (of the non-edible varitey) for friends. This paper and sticker collection is perfect for goodie bags, don't you think?

A little bit of love for Valetine's day. Here's wishing you and yours a love-ly day!!

So Stinkin' Cute!

... And just a little bit proud of myself!! Okay, a lot!

I am not a fan of mini-albums. I like them, other people's mini albums look awesome. I have made my fair share of them and they look awesome. But what do you DO with them? My Mum refers to knick knacks as dust collectors. I refer to mini albums as dust collectors. They just sit in the closet, collecting dust. I suppose I could move them to the bookshelf that houses the scrapbook albums. But they don't fit nice and neatly as my Type A (note the highlight, bolded and underlined) personality would have them be...

So when asked to make altered art or a project, most designers resort to mini albums. Or choose to make them and do so with gay abandon. Not this gal!! Practical. I need something practical and usable. This my friends and followers, is what I do when asked to create a project.

 

I LOVE it! We never have enough advent calendars in our house. The kids are always fighting over them and whose turn it is. "No, it's my turn! You did it yesterday!" Sound familiar? And the more interactive it is the better!

See the little pages that you tear off as the days fly by? I have a little tutorial as to the making of this fun little element to share. It's not difficult at all. Do you remember this thing?

It's a perforating blade!! It came with your trimmer more than likely. Mine did. It's been sitting in the nifty little blade storer for... umm... 6 years. Unused. Well now you have a great use for it! If you didn't get one, don't worry, I've seen them in the big box stores next to the trimmers. Not sure about the portable slide trimmers. I've only seen it as a rotary blade. I know I have one for my smaller Fiskars portable trimmer.

Gather your supplies;

• light weight paper (not cardstock, I just used printer paper)
• perforating blade
• trimmer
• ruler
• Xacto blade
• cutting mat
• wet glue (I used a Zig glue pen)

Now that you've gathered your supplies, first things first. You will need to remove your cutting blade and insert the perforating blade.

1. Perforate the length of a piece of letter size paper a 1/4 inch from the edge. Repeat on the opposite edge of the length of the paper.
2. Using your Xacto, or another trimmer, trim 1.5 inches from each outside edge.
3. Now cut each strip 2 inches wide. You ought to have a bunch of rectangles measuring 1.5 x 2 inches with a perforated line 1/4 inch down from the top of a long side of the triangle.
4. Number each one in the manner you choose. I used stickers and stamps.
5. Find an object that has a right angle so as to be able to glue the papers together neatly. I used a small container that I store my Distress ink pads in.
6. Put your last piece of paper down into the right angle. If you have a sharp angle in the corner it would allow for better alignment.
7. Apply wet glue ABOVE the perforation (the smaller strip of paper)
   
8. Perfectly line up the next date on top, lightly pressing to seal bond tighter.
9. Repeat until all 25 days make one neat interactive pile.

I actually did mine in two batches of 10 and a batch of 5. I'm a perfectionist, of sorts. Please refer to the personality type!! I then put the three piles together. Voila!! Your own countdown, interactive calendar!

Each day a child (or adult) can rip off one page. I didn't have enough number stickers to make the whole thing so settled for a Love, Elsie number stamp set that has long been yearning for it's moment.

Christmas day!! Yippeee!! And, if I want, it is reusable. Just slide out the backing and insert a new one next year. Given the wood frame cost me a dollar at AC Moore, I don't know that I will. I might need a new theme!

Mr Gingerbread man is created with a Tim Holtz die, Liquid Applique for the eyes and mouth (love that stuff!), Stickles on the arm and leg icing, sequins and Doodlebug birthday brads. The banner and bits for the mouth and candy are Doodlebug Valentine's stickers while the green trim is from a Doodlebug card. See, you don't have to stick to one line! Mixing and matching works superbly with Doodlebug!

The wrapper on that candy is scrunched up tissue paper and tulle!

Not that I care to rush either Halloween or Thanksgiving but I can't wait to see how much fun the kids have ripping of the days as we count down to Christmas!

Have you created anything for the upcoming Christmas holiday's yet? I'd love to see!

 

Guest Designer!!

Have you checked out the Sketch Support site today? Click on that link there and check it out!!

Mia is this week's special guest designer! She had to make a snowman for a school project and write a letter to her snowman based on a journal prompt. As we sat down to create she told me that she was going to use the sketch the Allison had sent me that she had seen sitting on my desk. The sketch doesn't call for ice skates, those were part of letter that she wrote. While spending the day with her snowGIRL (not man!), Mia was taking her ice skating. We cut those adorable little skates using the Cricut. Check out the detail, there are laces even!!

Mia writing her story/letter;

What a special day for Mia!! She is tickled pink!! Absolutely THE proudest little girl in the whole of scrappy land right now!! THANK YOU Allison for sharing her crafty skills with the crafty world!!