J'Adore Card

Hi Everyone

Well we are finally seeing some snow here in the foothills of Colorado!  I guess it's about time, I mean it is January, and it doesn't seem right that for the past few weeks I have been out walking my dog in a light jacket.  I am going to try hard not to complain as we do need the moisture - instead I am just going to stay in my craft room and pull out my ProMarkers and colour.

Here is my first coloured card to enter in a challenge (or two) for 2013.

How adorable is this image?  It was a freebie by the very talented Krista Smith from Saturated Canary (it is no longer free, but available for a reduced rate in her store.)  As I mentioned I coloured her with my ProMarkers, the background paper is from a 6x6 paper stack called Lost & Found (My Minds Eye) and the sentiment I made with my Cameo using a Lettering Delights Thin Font called Swirls.

Here are the two challenges I am entering:

1.  Passion for ProMarkers - the theme there is to 'add sparkle.'

2.  I <heart> ProMarkers - the theme is 'Love is all around.'

Thanks for stopping by today.

Michelle

Hogs and Kisses

Hi Everyone

Today I have a couple of different Valentines Day cards to show you.  Valentines Day quickly became my favourite holiday when we moved here from the UK and my girls were in elementary school.  In the UK Valentines Day isn't that big with children in school (at least it wasn't 14 years ago.)  At my girls elementary school the rule was that you had to give a Valentine card to everyone in the class or no one (treats were an optional extra), they even set aside time in art class and provided kids with materials to make their cards (for many at this particular school the buying of cards would have been cost prohibitive for many parents.)  As one of my daughters has a Valentines Day birthday (much to her chagrin) I used to always be in class that particular day with birthday cake, what a great atmosphere, so many smiles and everyone getting along.

Sadly those days are long behind me and I no longer get to make treats for a class of elementary school children.  So this year I decided to make a few cards and send them to my friends children (anonymously of course!)  Here is a look at the first one.

How adorable is this pig?  It is from a Lettering Delights set called Hogs and Kisses.  The background paper is from a Valentine paper pack sold at Target in the dollar section last year, and of course I just had to mount them on an action wobble spring.

Here is the second card I made (had to include one suitable for my friends four-legged 'kids')

This little dog is also from a Lettering Delights set called Great Scott It's Love.

Here is a look at the cards in 'action'.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Michelle

A box of 'cupcakes' for a new little cupcake.

My project today was a definite 'labor of love'.  I thought it was going to be fairly straightforward, but then I kept getting all these ideas (I blame Pinterest!) and one thing led to another.  My hairdresser (and friend) is about to have her first baby next month, so I knew that I just had to pull out the heat transfer vinyl (HTV) and make some cute onesies and bibs.  Here is what I came up with.

All the HTV was cut using my Silhouette Cameo - it just makes it all so easy. The font I used for 3 of the items is called 'Smiley Monster' - I love how this looks on baby things - one thing to remember when you are cutting fonts is to flip the words (mirror image) before you cut them.  The glittery HTV is some new stuff I bought from Joann's, it is made by Tulip and called 'Shimmer Transfer'.  These sheets have no backing, (so you do not need to reverse images or fonts), however if you cut out letters you have to lift them off the cutting mat individually and try to line them up perfectly on your project.

My next step was to find a way to package these - this is where I become quite distracted my Pinterest!  I found several ideas, but the one I really liked was rolling up the items of clothing with a different coloured sock in the middle to make it look like a cupcake with a cherry on the top.  You then take your cupcakes and present them in a cupcake box.  Here is how mine turned out.  First a look at the empty cupcake box.

This is a fie from the online Silhouette store, the file is designed by Lori Whitlock and is very simple to put together.  Now with the cupcakes loaded.

And all ready to go.

This was such a fun project to make - I really hope my friend gets a kick out of it.

Thanks for stopping by.

Michelle

Feel like a Martini? Get Well Card

Hi Everyone.  Today I am guest designer over at The Bugbytes.  I thought this seemed like an appropriate time to make some 'get well' cards with all the coughs, colds and flu going around - I think that this image could definitely raise a smile.

How cute is this image?  It is from Whimsie Doodles and is called "Dog Martini".  As soon as I saw this image, it made me laugh out loud - brought back memories of my dog Harvey in this very same situation :(

The image is coloured with ProMarkers, and all the paper is from a kit called quite simply 'Dog' by Cloud 9 Design.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Michelle

'Of Course They're Fake...'

Hi

Today I wanted to share with you some cards I made for a friend that I really wish I hadn't had to make.  I know that sounds strange, but once you see them you will understand.

I just love this Sassy girl, and thought that the cards would bring a little 'light relief' to what I can only imagine to be an incredibly frightening/scary situation.

The two larger cards I coloured with ProMarkers, keeping the colours simple and adding some decoration with Card Candi.  The smaller cards I used my Cameo to print and cut, and the sentiment is from an old Stampin' Up set called 'Fashion Statements'.

The digital image is from Sassy Studio Designs.

Michelle

Redskins Sweatshirt HTV

Hi Everyone

I wanted to share this sweatshirt that I made as a Christmas gift for my husband - it was a huge hit.  My husband is a big Redskins fan, (strange as we live in Colorado!)  He became a fan way back in 1983 when he was in England.  He was with some friends and they were watching the Superbowl between Miami Dolphins and the Washington Redskins - everyone else was cheering for the Dolphins so he decided to cheer for the Redskins.  The Redskins won, and he has been a fan ever since (we even had a cheese plant named 'Joe Gibbs' and a fish named 'Dexter Manley' - not sure that will mean anything to anyone who is not a football fan.)

Obviously living in Colorado there is not a lot of Redskins merchandise around, so I decided to get some heat transfer vinyl (HTV) and make something myself.  As luck would have it I belong to a Facebook group (Silhouette Cameo and SD Users) and a lovely lady named Jill posted a tumbler that she had decorated with a Redskins logo.  I decided to be cheeky as ask her if she would mind sharing the file, and she said YES!  I want to re-iterate that Jill made this file, she took the image, traced it and made it into an SVG file.  I have traced a few images for myself and this can take a lot of time and effort for some images - this would be one of those images.  Thank you so much Jill for all your hard work on this.  Here is the logo on the finished shirt.

I used my Cameo to cut the vinyl, I use the pre-set settings for smooth heat transfer vinyl but usually up the blade setting from 2 to 3.  Each of the different colours needed to be ironed on separately, so it is important to check whether the are hot or cold peel.  I get my vinyl from Nick at Craft Vinyl, he has great prices and usually very speedy service.

This is my husbands reaction when he opened the box.

Thank you again Jill, and thanks everyone for stopping by today.

Michelle

50th Pop-Up Mustache Card

Hi Everyone and Happy New Year

My brother-in-law celebrates his 50th birthday early in January, so I thought that I would make this quick card for him.  The file is from the Silhouette online store, the patterned paper I printed myself and is from a set called 'Dapper Dan' (Design by Dani).

Whilst this isn't the most exciting card on the outside, the 'fun' happens inside.

I hope that he enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it.  And if by chance he is reading this (which is highly unlikely) he should remember that he did not receive a rude card poking fun at his age, and therefore should not send a rude card to his crafty sister-in-law who also hits the half century this year :)

Thanks for stopping by today.

Michelle