Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny was here!   And this is why you need a stash of every color of HTV - you never know what color you will need when the urge to vinyl something comes along.

 Here's Cocoa 'guarding' the loot!   Poor little puppy is trapped inside until all the eggs have been found in the yard.     Happy Easter everyone!   : )   Christine

Poor Cocoa!

He was so lonely on his first camping trip over Spring Break without his 'brother' Sam!  My sister came to visit with Cocoa's 'cousin' Yahtzee and he just perked up so,  I can see another puppy in our future.  : )

Here we are on the beach, walking the 'cousins.'  

And here is Master J. flying a kite with Grandpa.

 Lovely, lovely week.  Thanks for visiting with me today.  : )  Christine

Easter Treat Baskets

This past week has seen a 'down sizing' event chez nous!  We traded in our Denali RV for a smaller Lance Camper - now named Elsie (LC  yes?)  : )   One of my criteria in selecting Elsie, was that she has a large enough dinette table to craft on and handy electrical sockets to plug in the Explore.  Despite being perfect in this way, storage in Elsie is a little tight and I have had quite the time fitting everything in ready for our first trip next week.

I found time to make the monthly treats for the children at OHM.   This year I used a little egg shaped basket from SVG Cuts enhanced with glitter card stock and tulle ties.

On the back, I added a stitched die tag from Simon Says Stamp, and a print-then-cut bunny from Create a Critter 2.   Cute!   As I laboriously stamped the Happy Easter sentiment on the tags, I dreamed about the day (coming soon!) when this task would be super easy thanks to the Misti! 

 Thanks for visiting with me today and enjoy your Spring Break!   : ) Christine

Iris Fold Cards

I am totally fascinated with the iris folding technique but despite many attempts, I've not been able to do it!  Then, while browsing the SVG Cuts store, I discovered that Mary had found a way to make it easy enough even for me.  : )   So, this is what I've been playing with all week:-

I used text weight paper, rather than cardstock but even so, I found that I needed to insert pop dots when I matted the front.  Here's a closer look at the heart shape card suitable for a wedding, or anniversary.

Then I attempted the flower shape card and this one was trickier because there are 5 different papers to manage.   This works for a birthday, I think.  I made a mistake with this one but didn't notice until it was all put together.  : (

Mary suggests this smaller flower card as a sympathy card, but I think, with a different sentiment and brighter colors it could work for a birthday too.  I like the shape of this card.

Lastly, I worked on the 'Congratulations on Your New House' card.  I love the iris swirl on this one.

There is one more card in the svg set - a baby buggy card - which is very, very cute but not a true iris fold card.  Gonna need that one soon!


This set is well worth the $6.99 and can be found here.  I've seen some very cute variations on the cards on Pinterest including Halloween and Christmas versions of the house card.  Best of all, I did it!  I made an iris fold card and it was FUN!    Thanks for visiting with me today.   I have to run, Master J. wants a walk in the 'forest!'   : )  Christine

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Here's my version of the SVG Cuts St. Patrick's Day tankard filled with rolos, tattoos, and a gift card for the DGDs.  The girls' Great Grandpa was Irish and today is a special one for them.

This is my second 'try' at this tankard because I could not get the top to fit properly and look neat.  So I cut an extra piece for the top and covered it all up! 

The gift bag is adorned with a print then cut image from the Seasonal Characters digital set and a border punch from Martha Stewart.   Easy peasy and cheap because, thanks to Charlotte's post here, I am saving up for a Misti!

Thanks for visiting today and Health and Happiness t' ye all!   : )   Christine

Leprechaun Trap!

Pop over to the BBTB2 blog and see if you can spot the DT card that inspired the one I made!   Right!  It's the adorable fairy in the birdcage created by Kelly.  However, with St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, it seemed to me that it should be a leprechaun in the cage, rather than a fairy.  And here he is!

Lucky Leprechaun comes from 'Seasonal Characters' and is grinning because he knows that with a little shamrock magic he will be out of the birdcage trap in a twinkling!

The birdcage comes from 'Creative Cards' and the pot of gold on the inside comes from 'St. Patrick's Day.'  The sentiment stamp comes from CardzTV.

This was such a fun challenge over at BBTB2.  It was so easy to find the images I wanted in Design Space that even if I did not have the Explore, I would probably use DS as a search engine!    Thanks for visiting with me today.  : ) Christine

Notes to self on using iron-on vinyl with the Explore

Here in the PNW it feels almost like T-shirt weather!  I've been reading up, watching videos and taking a class on using vinyl so that I can make cute T-shirts for my family.   Here are my notes to self and a picture of my very first finished shirt.

*   Heat Transfer Vinyl SHRINKS!  Choose a design with as few layers as possible.   This Create-a-Friend character has 2 full length body layers, and one layer with everything except the head.  Beneath the yellow boots lie layers of black, skin tone, blue, and a second layer of black - none of which shrank at the same rate.  See?

Don't forget that Design Space has a T-shirt shaped canvas that really helps when laying out a design.

*  The iron - on setting is on the dial NOT in the custom menu!  (No need to explain the reason for this note to self!)

*  Mirror every mat BEFORE messing around with the placement of the cuts.

*  With HTV, the shiny, carrier side goes on the mat.  The Explore cuts through the vinyl but leaves the carrier side intact.  Even if it's not the same color, put the shiny side down on the mat.

*  Trim the vinyl around the cut to make it easier to layer your cuts on the T-shirt.

*  The carrier is sticky so weed out the unwanted bits like the eyes or the middle of the letters before pulling off the rest of the vinyl.  (I only managed to remember to do this once and had to take a picture 'cos I might never remember again!)

*  The sticky carrier makes it easy, peasy to layer the vinyl, but remember it SHRINKS!  Layer from the bottom upwards and the cape goes on FIRST.

*  Decrease pressing time for bottom layers, but give everything a good press through the pressing cloth when the final layer is attached.


So, when I finished the shirt for Master J, I immediately ordered more vinyl from ExpressionsVinyl.com!  I had some red and black scraps left over and I cut out a ladybird that I adhered over a spaghetti sauce stain on a favorite shirt of mine. It's wearable again and very cute!  I am hooked. 

Thanks for visiting with me today.   : )   Christine aka Captain Chaos' Grandma!