Christmas in July # 7 - charger plate

Hello!!  Sorry I missed yesterday, I was so busy with work and then it was so nice and cool I decided to bake muffins last night to stock my freezer.  Then when it gets hot again I have a quick breakfast ready to go, especially when school starts back up!  Only 18 days!!

So, here is the last project for my Christmas in July week - and although I say it's my last project I still have a couple more cards to share this week :)  Once I started with Christmas it seems I couldn't stop!

 Last year after Christmas, Walmart had these charger plates in red, green and gold marked down to 25 cents!!  I totally stocked up and have an entire tote full ready to be altered!  And I know most people use vinyl when altering the charger plates, but I am either out or I just can't find it in my mess, so I used cardstock.

I started with the center image.  I knew I wanted to use an angel and I knew I wanted to use A Quilted Christmas.  It's the cartridge I chose when I signed up for Cricut Circle and I never got around to using it yet.

I started by measuring the inner circle of my charger (8.25") and made a circle in CCR using Cricut Craft Room Basics.  This way I could layer the angel over the top to get a better sizing instead of having to imagine it - because I am ALWAYS wrong when I try to do that  LOL.  Then I went to A Quilted Christmas and using the silhouette feature, I chose the angel located on button 24.  I started with 7 1/2" and adjusted the size on my circle till I was happy.  I ended up with the angel sized at 6.833" and cut it out of black cardstock.

Then I started on the words to go around the edge of the charger.

I started by measuring the space from the edge to where it starts to dip down - 2".  Based on this, I knew I wanted my letters to be 1 1/2 inches, and I knew what I wanted it to say, I just didn't know what font to use.

Recently, I discovered the text feature in CCR.  OMG this makes finding a font on my cartridges SO MUCH EASIER!!! It used to be that I would type a letter into the image search and just go through them all - what a pain in the hiney!   If you click on text, then add a new text box, a box will pop up on your virtual mat.  You type in the phrase you want to cut out and then just click on the cartridges in the drop down menu.  It will change your font as you click on them so you can see exactly what your phrase will look like!  I love it!!

So by doing this, I came across this wonderful font on the Nursery Rhyme cartridge.  Honestly, I didn't even know this cart had a font!  I thought it was perfect for what I wanted and cut my words out with black cardstock.

I glued all of my cuts/words down with a liquid quick dry glue and I thought I was done.  But my husband said it was too plain and it "needed something, maybe some color or something".  So back I went to CCR looking through my Christmas themed cartridges.  I stumbled on the Christmas flower and the holly berry on the Joys of the Season cartridge.  I played with the sizes until they would fit the space I needed and cut them out.  I added some chunky gold glitter to the center of the flower and added some spots of red glitter in between each of the words.

I was pretty happy with the end result and got a thumbs up from the hubs  :-)

BTW - Christmas is only 150 days away!!!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!!

Linking to:  Little Scrap Pieces

Beach - altered picture frame

Welcome friends!  I have a fun altered picture frame to share today!

I started with one of those dollar frames from Michaels, painted it blue and you can't see it in the pic, but I added a layer of glitter paint as well.  Then I tore some strips of kraft cardstock and layered it on the bottom for sand.  I only glued down the bottom part of the strips so I could distress the edges a bit and then went over it with Tim Holtz tea dye distress ink.

I cut the chair from the Life's a Beach cartridge at 3" and sponged it with a bit of indian corn blue ink.  It's adhered with foam tape to pop it up a bit. The pail and shovel were also cut from Life's a Beach at 1.153".  The flip flops were cut from the Best of 2010 cartridge at 1.361".  I used scrap paper for all my pieces.

The umbrella was cut from Life's a Beach at 3".  The sun was also cut from Life's a Beach at 3".  I inked the edges with tea dye distress ink and raised the center on foam tape.  The bird was cut from Indie Art at 1.5".  This bird doesn't have a solid layer and I wanted the white underneath so I used CCR hide option to erase the lines and cut the piece solid.

I think it turned out pretty cute!  What do you think??

Linking to: BBTB2, Little Scrap Pieces, Jo's Scrap Shack and KraftyGirls

Halloween Rosette Wreath

This is my last day of Halloween week - well, until the fall!

Today's project is a rosette wreath.  I just love these!

The basic idea of this wreath I found on Pinterest and it let me to this great tutorial.

I used various Halloween papers that I picked up last year to make the rosettes.

I used hot glue to attach them to a cardboard circle I cut from a shipping box.

I added googly eyes for the centers of the small rosettes.

And for the large rosettes, I added a circle cut from black cardstock.  Then I found a bag of spider rings I bought at the Dollar Tree last year.  I snipped the ring part off the back with my scissors and hot glued them to the circles of the large rosettes.

I found some Halloween ribbon I had, cut a length to make a loop for hanging and hot glued the ends to the back of the wreath.

Hope you enjoyed today's project!  I'll be back next week with Christmas projects each day.  Have a wonderful weekend!!

Pinterest Inspired Halloween canvas

Hi friends,

Short and sweet today.  I'm crazy busy with work and we have family night at camp tonight  :)

This canvas was inspired by Pinterest:

This is a 7 x 14 canvas I bought at Walmart in a set of 2 for around $5.00.  I used orange acrylic paint and covered the whole thing and let dry.

The witch is cut from Autumn Celebrations cricut cart and is sized at 3.347 and the font is from the Artiste cart sized at 1.125.  I used black cardstock and CCR to get the perfect sizes for what I wanted on my canvas.  I adhered the cuts with a  quick dry liquid glue and then sealed it all with Mod Podge.

I have one more Halloween project for tomorrow and next week will be my Christmas in July with a Christmas project each day!

Hope you are all having a wonderful day!!

Beware of things that go bump in the night

Hello friends!  I'm just going to call this my Halloween week!  Today I have a wall hanging to share with you.

The wall hanging is made of sturdy chipboard sized 10 3/4 x 6.  I painted it black with some acrylic paint.  While that was drying I cut out my words and shapes with CCR.  'Beware' is cut from October 31st cartridge sized at 1.917. 'of things that go' is cut using the spooky font on Happy Hauntings sized at 1.042.  'Bump in the night' is cut from the Bump In The Night cartridge sized at 2.806.  All were cut with orange cardstock.

The ghost is cut from A Frightful Affair sized at 4.528.  I used a light gray cardstock from Recollections pack  'Citrus Blend' and inked the edges with slate ink from CTMH.

I adhered all the cuts with a liquid glue and then used Mod Podge over the whole thing to seal it.

I used my Crop-A-Dile to punch holes at the  top and add black eyelets.  Then I strung a black satin ribbon through and knotted it on the back to hold it in place for a hanger.

I hope you enjoyed today's project!  Have a great day!!

Patriotic Projects - a home decor and card share

Hello friends!  I've been working on some patriotic projects for the 4th of July.

First, I came across a project on Pinterest for a patriotic wreath.  This was really simple to complete.

The link for the instructions are here.  I followed the instructions for the project, and added the tulle and glitter.  And now it's hanging on my front door  :)

 

My second project today is a card made with the CTMH  Home of the Brave stamp set.  This is a promotional stamp set that is available through July 31st.  $5.00 of each of these stamp sets sold is being donated to the USO, the leading, most recognized military-support and services organization in the United States.  Click here to read more about it or click here to order your set today.

Red and blue cardstocks are Recollections brand, white cardstock is White Daisy from CTMH.  The pattern paper is from DCWV - one of those big stacks with 180 sheets.  The cover is missing so I'm not sure of the name of it.  Inks used are CTMH black and ruby, baker's twine is CTMH Baker's Twine Harvest Assortment and the button came from my stash.   

Inside I stamped Home of the Brave and the stars, all from the Home of the Brave stamp set.

I really like how this card turned out and I'm thinking of recreating it on canvas to put up on my mantel.

Don't forget to check out the list of retiring products, once they are gone, they are gone!  Each product is linked so it will take you right to the item in my shop for your convenience.

Also, only 4 days left to place an order to qualify for the drawing for Hostess Benefits and a free stamp set.

and only 5 days left for the June specials!  **the mini banners are gone - instead of the banner you will receive the super cute My Creations Milk Cartons - these are on the retiring product list!!!  Click here for details.

Have a wonderful day!!

Families are Forever

It's Friday!!  Another week almost over, another day closer to summer break.  My son's school has a balanced school year so, while all the other schools in town have their last day today, he will be in till June 4th.  With that in mind I'll be starting on some end of year projects for the kiddos in his class and his teacher soon.  But today, I have a home decor project that I actually made on Mother's Day.  My husband let me sleep in and I woke up to a clean kitchen and a fresh pot of coffee, he cooked breakfast and generally just let me relax all day.  My son made me the cutest mother's day book in school and colored me a picture.  I just couldn't imagine my life any different from what it is and I'm so very grateful for my wonderful family.  Which brings me to my canvas project:

I used an 8x10 canvas I had picked up in a pack of 2 at Walmart.  I used and old DecoArt paint I had, Buttermilk, to paint the canvas.  I trimmed a piece of turquoise paper 1/4" smaller on each side and glued it down with Scotch quick-dry liquid glue.  The pattern paper was from my stash so I'm not sure what pack it came from.  I cut that 1/8" smaller than the mat.  The center mat is 7 3/4" x 4" with a cream layer that is 1/4" smaller.  The sentiment is cut from the Just Because Cards cartridge at 3".  Once everything was glued down I covered the whole thing with 2 coats of Mod Podge to seal it well.

This is it's temporary home.  I am still looking for the right place for it  :)

That's it for today.  I'm working on a party package for a baby shower, those projects coming next week.  For now I have work and laundry and dishes.....does it seem like the 'to do' list is never ever done???  Have a great weekend!!!