Valentines for 2016

Are you a fan of Kim's Card Kits?  I have to admit that up to this point, I subscribed to Kim's site for inspiration but when I saw this month's Valentine Kit, I hit the 'buy' button.  For $17.00 I received 7 card bases and envelopes, matching ribbons, bling, 2 sheets of cute stickers from Pebbles, and cardstock pieces cut to size for each card.  The instructions and pictures were easy to follow and everything was good quality.

I really had fun putting these cards together!   I wasn't, however, able to make them look as good as Kim's pictures so after the second card I used her designs as a starting point and did my own thing.  : )

This one is my favorite for it illustrates perfectly the crafter's mantra that there's no such thing as a mistake, just an opportunity to embellish:-

My wrist continues to heal and I find that I can do more and more with my right hand.  Woo hoo!  I start physical therapy on Friday - not looking forward to that!   : (

Thanks for visiting with me today and take a look at Kim's Card Kits.  I'm thinking that the DGDs might like a kit each to practice their card making skills.   : )  Christine

"Do You Want To Build A Snowman?"

Thanks to the Explore's Print Then Cut capabilities, this one handed crafter was able to put together a cute little January treat for the children at the OHM.

The hardest part was wrapping the covers around the Hershey nuggets and pulling the tape from the dispenser!

I hope they will enjoy building Olaf (with his arms either raised or lowered) before they snack on the chocolate.   :  )    Thanks for visiting with me today.   : )  Christine

Inspired by Pinterest

It was the 'other' Grandpa's birthday a few weeks ago and we celebrated by watching the Christmas Ships and then warming up with a delicious meal at Gustav's.

I took advantage of a recent cart sale at Cricut.com to add the Lyrical Letters 2 font cart to my collection and I am loving the different looks of the fonts.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a text bug in DS and I was unable to change the color of the numbers in my sentiment by the normal method of isolating them in 'edit.'   So, I duplicated the text and changed it all to red.  Then, being very careful to maintain the spacing, I deleted all the letters except the 21 and 40.  Going back to my original text box, I deleted the 21 and 40 making sure to add spaces in their place.  Then it was easy peasy to attach the two text boxes on the mat.

Here's the inner sentiment:-

A simple guy card, but easy to personalize by changing the numbers.  I'll be using this file again!

Update:  Since I did not regain strength or feeling in the fingers of my right hand, it was decided to insert a plate and screws.  I had the surgery on Christmas Eve and had my best present EVER in warm fingers that not only move independently but can also can feel Cocoa's soft, curly coat!  Soooo looking forward to getting back in my Craft Room.   Thanks for visiting with me today.  : ) Christine

Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah!

One of our favorite evenings of the holiday season is celebrating the lighting of the menorah with our DSIL.  He cooks a delicious traditional meal and serves it elegantly in the dining room.  We always have to grab the latkes before Master J devours them all!

Way back in Spring, I bought some beautiful blue holographic foil with the idea of incorporating it in this year's Hanukkah card. When I pulled it out, I realized that the circles and dots would present a challenge in the design of the card.  In the end, I kept it very simple and used a card from Artfully Sent.

The innies:-

Not too many details today as I broke my wrist and typing left handedly is excruciatingly slow!  Boy, do I have rotten timing or what?  Thanks for visiting today.  : )  Christine

80 + Santa's Sleigh Treat Boxes - Check!

Fifty or so report cards due to be carried home in little Kindergarten backpacks midway through December meant that I never had time to craft any of the cute treat holders that land in my Pinterest feed.  How I longed to make the Peppermint Patty snowmen or the Santas with candy filled dangling legs for all my Kinders!

When I retired, I began a new tradition - The Great Pre-Christmas Craftathon and this is my third season of treat making for friends, co-workers and the OHM children.   : )  : )  : )  This year I really, really wanted to make a sleigh containing chocolates and candy and here it is!

And here are my Notes To Self on mass production treat crafting with the Explore!

*  Keep the container simple.  There are some beautiful sleigh svgs available with wonderfully ornate runners.  Choose a relatively simple design like the one I used this year from Lori Whitlock.  The runners are glued on the side of the sleigh body rather than supporting it from underneath.  Much easier to mass produce!

*   Choose a design that does not waste paper even though there may be extra construction steps.  Since the sleigh side pieces are separate from the body, I could get 3 small sleighs from one sheet of 12x12 card stock.  Gluing the pieces together was easy and worth the paper I saved.

*  Choose a design that 'ungroups'  in order to save yourself from the work of eliminating pieces by using the 'hide contour' button.  I liked using different patterned paper for the body of the sleigh and this was very easy to do by changing the color on the Design Space canvas.


*  Do not try to cut ALL the pieces at once.  My browser/router/DS/computer configuration does not like me to make more than 9 project copies so I go back and re-cut a mat as many times as needed by clicking on its icon and making 9 at a time.

*  Add embellishments punched from scraps of paper and don't forget the MISTI for stamping the sentiment.

*  When selecting the candy for the treats, include DH's favorite kinds so he'll volunteer to pack the treats for you.  LOL!

Thanks for visiting with me today.  Happy Holiday Crafting everyone!  : )  Christine

First Batch Done!

Just popping in to share the first (overseas!) batch of cards. 



This design comes from Mary at SVG Cuts and was a lot of fun to put together.  



Thanks for visiting today.  : )   Christine

Turkey Tails!

Two of my favorite Cricut carts are Create a Critter and Create a Critter 2.  Besides being cute, the images are very, very easy to piece together by building upwards from the shadow base layer.  (Not all systems work this way!)   I used the shadow layer from the Thanksgiving turkey image in CAC 2 to create a little pocket on the November treats for the OHM children.

After much experimentation and a new appreciation for my tendency to collect adhesives, I used a combination of glue dots and Scor tape to keep the candy in place. 

The treats are so, so cute but... since my estimation skills are non existent despite having taught this skill in Kindergarten, I now have a giant bag of left-over Jolly Ranchers!  Any ideas?   Thanks for visiting with me today.  : )  Christine