My First Video Tutorial - Hooping Baby Bloomers

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I know I did and so did my grandchildren.

I have been chomping at the bit ever since my husband and I went out to comparison shop a video recorder that I could use with my crafting, Black Friday! It has been one long month!

Below is my video and I still have a whole lot to learn but overall I am pleased with it. I'm sure a year from now, I will be rolling on the floor laughing at how silly this is. I already found a pretty big mistake at the end (I didn't show the finished item to prove that my technique works)! But I will post a photo below the video for you to see!

I started with an embroidery tutorial because that is the craft that I know the most about. I plan to make videos of scrapbooking too but I don't know a whole lot of techniques yet so it will probably be a while. I may do some product reviews and hauls.

I'm from the south so I'm sure you will get a kick out of my country South Carolina voice!






This is the entire outfit. The top is a little wrinkled and needs to be irioned and for some reason the bloomers look crooked but they aren't. The previous photo proves it! LOL

Thanks for looking everyone.

IT'S CHRISTMAS 2010

Hello! Merry Christmas!

I took the day off yesterday and decorated for Christmas with my 6 year old grand-daughter. Needless to say it took a bit longer than ususal. I am very happy with the way it turned out! You can't tell it in the photos, but my Christmas Tree turns. I bought the Christmas tree stand from Lowes when my husband and I were first married, 15 years ago! I love it. I can't believe it still works.

Below is a photo of some Christmas presents that have lights in them. I bought this at Big Lots some years ago. I love these too.

This is one of my newest purchases. This is an advent calendar house I bought at Target. 3 of the doors were missing little door knobs but I went to AC Moore and bought these little wooden balls, colored them black with a Sharpie and hot glued them in place. The kids are really enjoying this and it gives them a visual of just how close Christmas is.

This is a photo of my cute little Santa Clause that climbs up and down the ladder while playing Christmas music, carring his little light strang. I love him, but after about 30 minutes, the Christmas music loop drives me crazy! You can't tell that the light bulbs are lit in this photo but they are sooo cute all lit up.

I bought these stockings over the last couple of years at Lowes. Love these too. They are large and plush and only cost about $9 at Lowes. I monogrammed everyones name on them (not an easy task) with bright red thread. I bought the stocking holders from Hobby Lobby last year after Christmas for like $1 each!

I bought the ornament light covers on my garland from a local boutique in town several years ago and I used them on the garland because I didn't have enough to cover the tree. I really like the way they turned out.

This is my poor Christmas tree. I bought the tree 2 years ago after Christmas and I really like the tree. It has pine cones on it and looks very real. I am not a great decorator and the tree could certainly use some work. I have the glitter ornaments the kids and I made a couple of weeks ago along with all the different ornaments we've collected over the years. I tried to tuck Santa ribbon around the tree like garland, but I think I need to re-do it. It looks really sad in this photo. I will work on that.

Merry Christmas everyone! From my home to yours.

A BLOG AWARD! ME A BLOG AWARD?

OMG! LOVE THAT BUG gave me, yes me, a blog award!

TO ACCEPT THIS AWARD I MUST DO THE FOLLOWING

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave me this award.

Stacy, thank you so much for this award. I am so excited to be chosen. Here is a link to LOVE THAT BUG!

2. Share 8 things about yourself. (not in any order).

1. I adore my husband, Earle of 15 years! He's truly my best friend.

2. I have an identical twin sister. My mother actually had 2 sets of twins but my older sisters twin died in 1951 3 days after she was born.

3. I have 6 grand-daughters! No grandsons yet.

4. I love to sew/embroider, not just scrapbook.

5. I work for a major telecommunications company.

6. I love Walt Disney World almost as much as my husband.

7. I love college football and Lady Vols basketball.

and last but not least

8. I can't stay off the Cricut message boards and I love watching video tuturials on blogs.

3. Pay it forward to 8 bloggers that you have recently discovered.

(this is the hard part)

1. Reddy's Ramblings - great blog for all things Disney.

2. Softbrn's House of Creativity - I met Softbrn at a scrapbook retreat in Atlanta, GA and I love her blog and her videos!

3. Cricut'ing Carol - great cardmaker.

4. Glued with Love - all kinds of crafts and a great scrap area.

5. Laurens Creative - Great blog with video tutorials!

6. Scrappy Jess - Love her video tutorials.

7. Cricut Cuteness - great tutorials for layouts and cards.

8. Sue's Cricut and Crafts - great cards.

MY HERO WEARS COMBAT BOOTS!

I've been thinking about this layout for a long time. My son is currently in the middle of his 2nd tour in Iraq. I miss him terribly and I've worked on this layout since my last retreat in October but have been unable to finish it becuase I could not decide how to lay it out. My hubby recently bought me 5 new cartridges from Cricut Machine.com when they had that great sale a few weeks ago and I got the Stand and Salute cartridge. I was not disappointed! I love the combat boots. I had to leave in the middle of the boot portion of the project to buy just the right laces and it took forever to get all of the holes the right size because I don't have the big crop-a-dile, only the small one and it would not reach all of the holes! But it was so worth it. It's not perfect by any means, but I am happy with it and I know my sonny boy will be happy with it too!

For some reason the photo below uploads and is rotated as below.....I've deleted it and uploaded it multiple times and it still uploads this way. If anyone knows how I can correct this, please let me know. The photo on the page below is of my Sweet Boy! But don't tell him I called him that!

My son is the one on the far left in the top photo and the 2nd from the left on the front row in the bottom photo. I had to take a 2nd glance at the bottom photo when I printed it out because at first glance he looked like Tom Cruise with that expression on his face! If only......LOL!

USC GAMECOCK LONG ALLS

This is a jon jon I made for my daughters best friend who's baby is turning one next week. Of course she is a big USC fan (but I won't hold that against her), so I had to try this embroidery design on Bryce's outfit. It is called feathermetto which is a cross between a gamecock and the SC Palmetto tree.

These pictures aren't great, but I think you can get the idea. I hope it fits little man! I can't wait to see him sporting this outfit.

I used a black micro check gingham and white broad cloth. The pattern I used was the Childrens Corner Johnny.

LIVE SIMPLY - SCRAPLIFTED LAYOUT

I simply love everything Monique Griffith! I've been collecting the pieces to make this layout and although I didn't have the reddish Bazzill paper, I used my imagine to try and replicate it and the paper for the leaves.

I admit that I scraplifted every single piece of this layout. There were very few deviations from the original layout on www.monkeydoodlecricut.blogspot.com. But I loved this layout so much that I just had to try and reproduce it down to the last detail.

It took me 5 hours just to make the color combinations I needed for the paper and then cut each die cut for this layout but it was so worth the effort.

I used a different ribbon than Monique did. I pop dotted the ladybugs and I gave my little skunk a green eye, but those were my only creative elements to the layout. I'll admit that I have no imagination or creativity of my own so I must create based on someone elses talent.

I hope that Monique at www.monkeydoodlecricut.blogspot.com will know that my scraplifting was because of her wonderful talent and creativity and my grand-daughters photos will be absolutely beautiful on here.

On a personal note to Monique, I hope your surgery this week has gone well. I appreciate your work even more during the struggles you've gone through this summer. You are in my thoughts and prayers and I wish you a speedy recovery.

OCTOBER MAGGIE VALLEY SWARM

This weekend was our last swarm for 2010....we won't be having another one until the early spring of 2011. What a great time we had again this month.

Originally there were only 3 people in the group coming so I brought my hubby to cook for us! The food was wonderful and the company was fabulous. Below is a photo of me and my husband (pardon my bad hair, this photo was taken around 10pm!).

On Friday night we had a pasta dish my husband made in his pressure cooker! It was fabulous. On Saturday morning we had waffles and a breakfast casserole. And Saturday night we had Roast with potatoes and carrots, again made in my husbands pressure cooker! There was lots of candy, cupcakes and homemade bread too.


This is a group photo of everyone that came. From left to right is Brenda, Trish, me, Laura & Shyra. Brenda also brought her mom but she was already in bed and didn't come down for the photo. My husband took the picture for us. It is a little bit blurry, sorry!

This is a photo of the main room with the fireplace and tables. I had just received my new Imagine the day before I came and I didn't even open the box until I got to the cabin on Friday! I haven't attempted the upgrade yet but will work on that when I'm confident the bugs are out.

There was another table upstairs in the loft and even though we can't all see each other we can talk to anyone that may be in the loft area still. It has been a wonderful place to get together and oh so relaxing!

This will be our last swarm until the spring because the weather up here is too unpredictable and with the holidays coming we decided to wait until March for our next swarm. So if any of you are interested in joining our group, there is room to spare, so come join us! The fee includes room and board. You can email me at coggie4556@bellsouth.net if you are interested.

HALLOWEEN GOODY TABLE

This is the candy bar that we created for my grand-daughters 3rd birthday party. I made the "BOO" banner to put on the front of the table and then decorated the table with a black candelabra, little black coffins and tootsie roll pops covered to look like pumpkin faced ghosts. The childrend loved it and had a great time filling their bags with candy, plastic vampire teeth, spider rings and halloween themed pencils.

This is the candelabra I got at Michaels for $14.99.

This is another photo of the table with all the goodies and the banner. I made the banner with my Imagine. It was very easy and I used 2 different halloween packs I bought at Michaels.

This is a spider tee light holder I got at Michaels as well with a fake tee light in it.

These are the pumpkin face ghost suckers I made. At the Maggie Valley Swarm in September, the hostess, Laura showed me how to make these. They were a huge hit with the kids and extremely easy to make. You use a coffee filter, a stamp for the face and twine to tie it on.

MY WEEKEND RETREAT

I went to a weekend retreat in Maggie Valley, NC this weekend. I didn't know any of the women there but boy did we make friends fast! We had a wonderful time. Laura is the organizer, she is in the front row. Brenda is just behind her and Shyra is behind Brenda on your right and I'm on the left and at the top of the stairs is Judy!

I cannot tell you how fortunate I feel to have found this little group. The cabin is absolutely beautiful and it was only about an hour and 45 minutes away from where I live.

Of course I packed too much but I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it!

This is a photo of the workspace that Laura created. She moved the sofa and chairs against the wall and put the wooden coffee table on the covered porch. She put 4 tables together to create a large workspace for each of us. There was a 5th table in front of the stairs.

I debated all week, prior to my trip, whether to risk taking my Imagine. I decided to wrap it in bubble wrap and buckle it into the seat and it worked extremely well. I took a picture for inspiration for others. When I got to the cabin and set the machine up I was fully prepared to recalibrate but it was not necessary.

I worked on 2 double layouts and I made a lovely party banner for my sweet 3 year old grand-daughters birthday in a couple of weeks.

Laura made sure there was plenty of food, drinks and snacks. She cooked a home made lasagna that we baked Friday night, a breakfast caserole Saturday morning and chilli in the crockpot Saturday night.

There will be another retreat in October (I can't wait) and then there won't be another one until March, 2011. If any of you live near Maggie Valley, NC and are interested in attending this swarm, you can find details at www.borntoscrapbook.blogspot.com.

LITTLE STINKER

This is my first card with my Imagine! I like the card and I still have a lot to learn with the Imagine but I can see 2 tiny little imperfections in this card and it is driving me crazy!!!! Can you see them?

I know you can't tell it in the card, but on the wording "Little Stinker" I used POP Dots to make it 3 dimensional.

The background is from Nursery Tails as well as the light green backing of my little skunk. The skunk of course if from Create a Critter.

I loved using the color fill. That is really great.

I'm also using Recollections paper which is about 65 lb paper and I think I am going to get some Bazzill paper at my LSS or some Georgia Pacific from Walmart. When I checked the other day the Georgia Pacific paper is 110 lb and I think that would work better for cards.



P.S. My 2 imperfections......my little skunk man is CROOKED!!! and my background paper is just slightly crooked. Overall, I'm happy with the look and it didn't take me 2 hours to make it. LOL.

CRAFTROOM UPDATE 9/19/10

This is an update to my craft room. I have a very small space and I have soooo much stuff to store in it being an embroiderer, sewer and scrapbooker! I have tons of stuff under my work tables so I have been looking for fabric to match the colors in my room (green, black and white) and yesterday I hit pay dirt! I paid a little more than I wanted to for the fabric but I couldn't be happier with the way it looks.

The photo below are the 2 tables where I embroider, sew and scrap. You can see my new Cricut Imagine on the left of the photo. It is one heavy piece of equipment! I hope to make a card or start a layout this afternoon!

I hate to mess up the room but it is so small that it is easy to clean but it is certainly nice to sit up here and work while it is nice. Maybe I will try to clean as I go! LOL, we all know how that goes.

This is my before photo with my serger and sewing machine! You can also see the canvases that were still on the wall from my when this room was my granddaughters nursery. My serger is now under the table hidden away and I will pull it out when I need it.

This is another before photo, showing the right side of the 2 table areas. This is showing my embroidery machine.

This is my cutting and ironing table area. I cut fabric and paper here. On the right side of the photo, I have a built in bookcase and I have covered it with a curtain to hide the clutter in there.

Below are the before photos, showing the cutting/ironing table and the bookcase and of course the clutter!

THE CRICUT IMAGINE

I didn't think that I would be interested in the Cricut Imagine, but after watching videos of the machine in action I decided that this would be a great tool for me. My husband is such an enabler for me and was all for my ordering it. I actually ordered mine several hours before the actual launch online at midnight.

I struggle so much when choosing paper combinations. It litterally takes me hours to pick out paper and I think that the Imagine will really help in that area.

I also thought that it would be a great value to go with the HSN bundle because 1.) I wouldn't have to pre-order. 2.) 3 cartrdiges are in the bundle instead of 1. 3.) Free shipping and no tax for ordering online. 4.) 30 day money back guarantee.

My machine is scheduled to arrive on the 23rd. I go to a scrapbook retreat on the 24th in Maggie Valley, NC and I can't decide if I should take it with me or leave it at home. I'm seriously considering leaving it packaged for the short trip to Maggie Valley, open it at the retreat and test it out for 2 full days. I will take my bubble wrap with me to make sure it is secure for the ride home.

I'm so excited that I can hardly sleep.

BIRTHDAY CARD FOR LESLIE

One of my co-workers was on vacation last week and it was an extremely long week without her. It was also her birthday last week and we are have a little surprise celebration tomorrow. I broke down and made this card for her. I hope she enjoys it.

I didn't use my cricut other than the basic shape with the sentiment nestled in the middle. I got the shape from SCAL.

I did use another technique I've not done before and that was stamping the sentiment and I embossed it as well. I still have a lot to learn but the embossing really improved the quality of the stamping.

Thanks

ATLANTA SWARM III

Hi everyone! I went to Atlanta this past weekend for the Atlanta Swarm III. What a great time we had. I have never been to a swarm so the entire weekend was a big experience for me. We all brought items from our stashes to donate as door prizes and I was fortunate enough to win some wonder tape, a solutions cartridge (Summer Vacation), and some embellishments.

One of the ladies made us all cricut bug heads that she had covered with UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel). They are so darn cute and so easy to make. She showed us how she made them and I know that I will be using this technique a lot in the very near future. She also showed us how to use glazing pens with Outline stickers! Another great technique that I will be using.

We all brought a layout kit with embellishments and a short journaling about ourselves and one of the organizers took our photo and then we swapped layouts and someone else actually put our layouts together. This was a lot of fun, but boy was I out of my league. Most of the women at the swarm have been scrapping for a long time and they were all so very talented. It was a great learning experience for me though.

Dinner was provided for us Saturday night and lunch was provided Sunday. I chose to go back to my hotel and spend the evening with my hubby who was nice enough to hang out at the hotel Saturday and Sunday while I scrapped all day.

Most of the women got a lot accomplished while they were there.....for me I guess I did too. I finished a 2 page spread with the girls and Cinderella. At this rate it will take me a couple of years to finish our Disney trip from May.

I still had a great time and I can't wait to do it again! There are a couple of swarms coming up in Maggie Valley that I want to attend. One at the end of September and one at the end of October! I'm definitely going to one of them!

I will post my layout pages later on this week. Today was my first day back at work and I didn't get home until after 7:30 so I am dog tired and will be turning in early tonight!

GOT POT?

Ok, let me explain! It's not what you think. I work for a telecommunications company and each month we are given a revenue target to install each month. We call it our Pot! Every day my manager sends us an email to let us all know how well we are building the Pot! I thought it would be fun to make a t-shirt and this is what I came up with.

I used black, matte gold and glitter gold heat transfer vinyl. I found the pot of gold svg online and used Sure Cuts A Lot to design the t-shirt. My first cut out of the word GOT was not in reverse so I had to redesign the word and flip it into reverse a 2nd time before I got it right.

My question mark is a little on the large size but overall I'm very happy with the outcome.



This is a closeup of the design.

ANOTHER FIRST!

This is another first for me. I have seen a lot of posts on the message boards and on YouTube about Heat Transfer Vinyl being cut on the Cricut so when I ordered some vinyl last week I took the plunge and ordered a couple of sheets of heat transfer vinyl.

I must say that I was scared to death that I was going to ruin them but I ran a test cut first to make sure I had the setting right on the Cricut and it cut fine, so onward I went and cut these crowns and names for 2 of my grand-daughters.

I am so happy with the way they turned out. I will definitely be making more of these and I really wish I had had some of this before I went to Disney world in March. I have a ton of projects I think this would be great on.

I used SCAL for this and a crown design I found online. I blacked out the crown and then I created a shadow to give me the effect I wanted. The font I used is Curlz.

Vinyl Birthday Present

This is a Birthday gift that I made for a little girl at church. Our 6 year old grand-daughter was invited to the party so I whipped up this gift for her. I love cutting vinyl with my cricut. I'm not so happy with the background behind Mackenzies name but overall it looks fine.

Mackenzie loved the dry erase board and so did a couple of other girls at the party. Her sister and another little girl have asked for one, so I will be posting a couple more of these soon.

MY FIRST SWARM

I'm going to my first Swarm in August and we were asked to bring prizes from our stash. A few of the things I already had and the rest I bought this weekend.

The T's came from Michaels, the Fiskars punch from Big Lots, the Utility knife came from Walmart on clearance, the Big Whale Punch I picked up a while back at JoAnn's and the Disney - Happily Ever After cartridge is an extra, as I have 2 of them.

I'm looking forward to the swarm but a little nervous too, as I won't know anyone! I won't be totally alone though as my husband will be at the hotel hanging out while I am scrapping the day away!

MICHAELS HAUL - JULY 2010

These are some of the things I bought at Michaels yesterday, with the exception of the punch on the left. I bought that at Big Lots for $5. If you click on the photo you ccan enlarge it to get a better look at the stamps. They are adorable and only cost $1.50. The punch on the right is a 2 piece little flip flop! I can't wait to use this. It was $2.99.

I also bought a rolling scrapbooking cart that is normally $69.99 but I had a 50% off coupon so I only paid $34.50! I'm really excited about that!

The t-shirts below were $2.99 each! I bought them to give as door prizes at a swarm I am going to next month! I also bought one of each for myself. I think they are adorable!

BIG LOTS HAUL - JULY 2010

I found quite a few things at Big Lots this weekend. I found 2 of the Martha Stewart folding self healing mats for $4 each! I saw this mat at Michaels on Saturday as well and it was $29.99! I was very excited knowing that I had 2 of them in my car that only cost me $8! You can see the underside beneath the small items and the inside of the mat underneath everything in the photo. It is very heavy and sturdy. I have found also that it is very easy to wipe small pieces of paper off of it. If you have tried to wipe scraps off of an OLFA mat, it is very difficult to do. I think I am going to like this very much!

I found a Martha Stewart glue stick for $1. Some cute buttons for $1, the clear stamps were .50 and these cute little acrylic frames with little sayings all over them that I can put on a scrapbook page or a card.

In this photo I found the Japanese Take Out boxes and embellishments for $5! I think this is absolutely adorable. The flowers in the package alone are worth the $5. There are chipboard letters and embellishments and foam stamps and gold and silver ink.

I just happen to stumble on these 2 cuttlebug folders that I didn't already have. They were still $2. I saw a lot of the Disney collection of cuttlebug folders/dies at A.C. Moore yesterday as well and Mickey alone was $19.

This photo shows some chipboard embellishments that I found at Big Lots. They were $1.50 each.

MY FIRST DOUBLE LAYOUT!

This is my very first Double Layout! I am so stinking happy with the way this came out. I used Create a Critter for the animals and Micky Mouse Font for the wording. I still have so many photos yet to scrap from our trip to Disney World but this was my first go.

I made my cute little elephant in 3D and used glitter paper too! I love the way she turned out!

To get a better look, please click on each photo.