Iowa Mini Album

I had so much fun making this cute mini album that I had to make another one just like if for a sweet friend. Some projects are easier to make two than just one, and this is one of those projects.

Material list: (for one album)
Lori Whitlocks Chipboard Mini Album from SOS
12x12 Heavy Card stock for cover
12x12 patterned paper for the cover/binding
4 sheets of 12x12 patterned paper for the envelope, I used some yellow paper that worked together, ( mismatched brands. what ever was in my stash)
2 sheets of 12x12 double sided paper -for the pages of the book.

Lots of Embellishments, I used the Big ten font  and made lots of cut outs for Iowa, I also Print and Cut the Iowa Hawkeyes, and Go Hawks, and the Iowa logo's from the Big Ten Font. Stickers were also on the album, Ribbon would also had been cute on this.

Watch the video on how to assemble the album, it's not hard just takes time, I do this while watching tv.

I will admit the hardest part for me was figuring out the binding, but once I figured out how to fold it and glue it, it was a breeze.

I plan on using this file a ton for birthday, Christmas, baby, wedding and graduation  gifts.

Cupcake card easel back card

This is a fun card to put together, Lori Whitlock's cutting file is all ready to go, Just cut and assemble! The design work is all done for you.  For another alternative to stamping I typed out my sentiment and used the print and cut feature The Silhouette Cameo has to offer.

MATERIALS  LIST:  

Coredinations Cardstock red,

Coredination Cardstock light Blue

Blanc Boutique White cardstock

DCWV Nana's  Kitchen light blue pattern paper

Paper Studio small silver brads

Silhoutte Cutting Image File lori whitlock cupcake easel card by Lori Whitlock  Design ID #43213

Fonts: Gabriola (FontZone.net) Irish Spaghetti (Dafont.com)

My only notes on this card are: make sure your mat is nice a sticky, as there are lots of little dots to cut out... I liked designing with a tricolor scheme any more colors might take away from the design. 

Oh Snap Card

Need a cute card to mail with pictures? I got you covered! I saw this folder file on SOS (Silhouette's online store) and had one thought as to what I would use the folder for! I equally love the sketch camera, it reminds me of my camera I use to use when I was in High School learning photography. Yes those cute kids in the picture are mine, they make for great models don't you think?

What you will need:

October Afternoon Sasparilla, Pony Express (or any double sided paper that you love)

Coredinations gray cardstock.

Staples cream cardstock

star embossing folder from Paper Studio

Ribbon Boutique 1/2 inch black ribbon

Silhouette cutting file, sketch camera Design ID #43177

Sketch pen (I used black)

Silhouette cutting file 2 artisan pocketed folder by Samantha Walker Design ID #35845

Photographs

Sketch the camera to about 3.5 for the size,  I cut it out with my paper cuter (easy that way)

the emboss the grey cardstock with the star embossing folder using your big shot or cuttlebug.

Cut the folder file,  

assemble the front of the card, remember the ribbon, tape the ribbon to the back of the camera I also used a scrap of the paper at the bottom to add some texture to the card. 

on the inside of the card I found a quote by Ansel Adams: Life is like a camera focus on what's important and you will capture it perfectly. I typed it into Silhouette's designer edition software and the sketched it out with the sketch pen, but really It would have worked out well if I just printed it out and not sketched it. 

As always re-size your folder file to make it fit your envelop if you don't have a 5x7 envelope, I get my big envelopes from our local Halmark card store- the ones they don't want they will usually give you a good deal if you buy a bunch at a time. 

and a big shout out to Memory Bounds Scrapbook store for helping me with selecting my paper

Corn cob child craft with Silhouette

I love crafting with my kidlets, and this worked out great for my P-k and toddler. While painting I talked about Iowa and all the corn and harvesting that will be happening soon.


I used Silhouette cutting file Design ID #33884

Size the corn to be about 6 inches high
I cut out the corn cob on yellow pattered paper and the husk on green paper, 
Then I had kidlets paint the husk with green paint. if you wanted to get more creative you could use a feather or some string to make it fun for them to paint. 
For the cob I gave them red, yellow, and orange pant and a q-tip and had them make dots on the corn.
after waiting for the paint to dry I ran the husk through my Zyron to glue to the cob, I did this because the husk was curling and I didn't want it to curl.

Split Monogram Home Decor

This project was simple to make, but did take more time that I thought but turned out worth it. so here are the steps,

Materials:
12x24 cutting mat
12x24 vinyn
12x24 stretched canvas (I got mine from Michaels)
Acrylic paint
12x24 contact paper

1. watch the youtube video on split monograms and how to do it in Silhouette's Designer software (a great way to learn how to use the knife tool) Then design your Monogram

2. find a cute family quote that you would like with your monogram, This image worked great under the monogram, I have seen some with just the quote on a square canvas. The quote will need to be cut out on vinyl, so make sure you can cut it out.

3. paint your canvas, I use an acrylic wash, (think water color)  I liked the texture look, wait for it to dry  and set it aside.

4. place the vinyl on the mat and cut it out on your Silhouette. Then on to the tedious part ( take out all the negative vinyl part) after that is done take your contact paper and cover the design to transfer the vinyl to the dry canvas. Rub on the image (this is much easier said than done!)  Smile and think I am so awesome to your self and your done!

Here is another tutorial on how to use contact paper as transfer tape go here

Family Scrapbook Page

Did I mention that really love Scrapbook kits and templates?

This page turned out perfect, I love the file you can get it at SOS here

The paper I used was from DCWV Autumn Melody (got it from JoAnns)

here are my notes:
use a spray mount to mount the page layers, so you get an even coat.
use 3 some what solid coordinating pattern paper (there is enough stuff going on don't go to crazy with patterns in the paper)

The Pictures are about 2.5 so close ups and head shots will work best for this layout.

The file is easy to ungroup and change so if you don't like the Family word you can change it to what would fit your need.

Rhinestone projects

Need some bling? here are some ideas, and some quick notes on how to use rhinestones

I really enjoy designing my own Rhinestone images, all of these are my own creations and they were all simple to create. The best way is to find an image using google search, I like to search for line drawings, the simpler the better in my opinion. Then you trace the image in Silhouette Designer edition studio software. after it's traced to your satisfaction you go to the rhinestone window and play with the settings. I like linear fill  for big blocky things and  outline is great for all icons, and simple images. I like to keep the rhinestones close together so I play with the spacing most times.

For the Iowa shirt, btw I love it! I used the Big Ten Mania font found here  and used the Linear setting, changed the spacing to 1mm the Iowa word spacing was set to .30mm with SS10 rhinestones.

Other notes: I highly recommend the Silhouette's Rhinestone Starter Kit, and get the picker upper guy (pick up tool)- totally worth it, and the hot fix rhinestone setter, with out these tools it's hard to get the rhinestones placed perfectly.

Happy Wedding day

This elegant wedding card  is easy to make with Tim Holtz distress ink!

The Rosettes are fun to make, ink the strip with a cosmetic sponge that has ink on it, then clean off  the extra ink so the pearl finish is left white. accordion fold and assemble with a dab of  hot glue on both circles.

MATERIALS  LIST:  

Blank Boutique paper from Hobby Lobby

1/4 Satin white ribbon, Ribbon Boutique

Ranger Ink, Tim Holtz, Faded Jeans ink

White Card Stock

Paper Studio Silver Brads

Silhouette 3d Rosette Flower-Hearts Design ID #21803 

Silhouette Frame border

Font: Kunstler (fontZone.net)

Paper Studio Pop Dots

Hot Glue (for the rosettes)

for a good tutorial on how to make paper rosettes go to http://www.howdoesshe.com/chic-paper-rosette-backdrop-tutorial/

For the blue background (base layered) I just used the same blue ink and inked the edges, then put the white paper on top, then assembled the rosettes and then glued them onto the card, then used the ribbon and print and cut out the happy wedding day sentiment and added the ribbon and the sentiment together. 

I think it makes for a nice elegant card for a wedding

Happy Birthday Card

I love super fun easy to make cards, this one looks like you took lots of time on it, and really all you need is like 20 minutes with kidlets helping you-so less if you don't have two running around "helping" you.

What you need:

Coredination Pink Card stock

My Minds Eye Dolled Up patterned paper

Studio G pink Glitter

Paper Studio Rhinestones

Silhouette Cutting File daniela angelova happy birthday accordion card Design ID #45825 

once you cut it out on your Silhouette, add your paper accent for the frosting, your bling and the glitter glue to the outside square (I had to make it really thick, so it took a while to dry but I wanted it super glittery. 

Vroom Vroom Birthday Boy Coming Through Card

A super easy card to make for a cute birthday boy

To add some depth I traced that last row of automobiles in Silhouette Design Studio, then applied the same color to each piece and print and cut out the card and the 4 pieces, then attached the four pieces to the card with a pop dot. I really like how it turned out!

MATERIALS  LIST:  

White Cardstock

Silhoute Cutting file Design ID #12155 Birthday Card

Paper Studio Pop Dots

Color Printer (Kodak ESP9)

Enjoy!

Baby Whale Card

What a cute little whale! I loved making this super fun card it has a lot of layers and not to hard to make more than just one if needed. I love Lori Whitlock's card files and this one for the time being is my go to card.

Heres the details:

MATERIALS  LIST:  

White Cardstock

Blue Cardstock

Silhouette Cutting file Design ID #42518  Whale with Waves, Design ID #45943 Mail stamp set and Design ID #42687 A2 Lori Whitlock scalloped center step card

Paper Studio Pop Dots

Color Printer (Kodak ESP9)

And if you want a good tutorial on how to make layered card stock stickers, like the one I made for the Whale card, this video tutorial is great!

Hy-Vee now takes digital coupons! Wha Who!

Yes, finally, Hy-Vee has digital coupons for you to use! all you have to do is have a fuel saver card, have it registered on line and then start loading digital coupons to your fuel saver card, this works with regular manufacture coupons, so it's like double dipping! go to http://www.hy-vee.com/shop/coupons/default.aspx for more info!

Words and Phrases Scrapbook layout

I love typography, I find my self spending more time than I need on fonts and phrases, so I am happy that the Silhouette challenge this week was working with words and phrases, When I took this picture of my son eating blue berry jelly toast with jelly all over his face with a big smile, I thought yep life is good, and so here is the layout that describes the summer for him. I equally love scrap book page kits, and this was a page kit from Lori Whitlock, life is good page kit, (2 files) I like them because it takes the guess work out of the composition, and you get to play with all the paper and colors, for me it's one less thing to worry about, and it makes life easier!

Nauvoo Bread

I really enjoy making bread, and since this has been a cold rainy day I thought my house needed some bread aroma to come home too, super yummy and surprisingly easy to make. I also like to make my own bread because it's about $1 a loaf, I get three out of mine so I am saving about $6 every time I make my own bread. My two cents about bread are: make sure the water is warm enough for the yeast to froth, and add only 9 cups of white flour, and 1 cup of wheat germ.

 Here is the recipe:

5 cups hot water
1/2 cup potato flakes
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup powdered milk
2 tablespoons salt
1/2 cup oil or 1/2 cup shortening
2 tablespoons yeast
10 -14 cups flour
Directions:

1 Combine hot water, shortening, potato flakes, powdered milk, sugar.
2 Stir to dissolve shortening, if using shortening instead of oil.
3 When temperature is tepid, add yeast.
4 Mix in 5 cups flour and the salt.
5 Stir to a smooth sponge.
6 Add flour to make a smooth and elastic dough.
7 Let rise until double (about 45 minutes).
8 Punch down and let rise again.
9 Shape into loaves let rise.
10 Bake in 375°F oven for about 35 minutes.


Read more: <a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/nauvoo-bread-248503?oc=linkback">http://www.food.com/recipe/nauvoo-bread-248503?oc=linkback</a>

Welding letters with Silhoutte studio

To weld letters in Silhouette takes a bit of small practice, Silhouette has a good tutorial on youtube, I have posted one that is a great tutorial to watch. I say a bit of practice because if you have never used the welding feature you might have to play around a bit, but once you play a bit you will love it for so many uses I can't imagine not having this simple tool for crafting. I especially love the welding feature for scrap-booking. I love that you can print and cut your journaling with out so many pieces and the title still looks layered.

If you were going to do the journaling box with the title cut out and the body copy welded to the title you would do this:
~ Type out your title in my case it's Mamma's New Man
~ Make a box and type in your journaling.
~ once it's type set to the way that you like it, make sure that all the text is selected to not cut, (I always seem to forget this simple thing and I always have to print a cut again since the silhouette thinks its going to cut out all the small letters, which is why I am welding all of this together in the first place, so click on no cut so you don't forget)
~ Then when the title is selected offset the title to be a bit thicker  usually go a bit more than what is preset at.
~ Once you get the offset to the size that you like group the title and the offset cut (you should see that it will only cut the offset since you said to not cut out the text title)
~ place half the title on top of the text box and weld it together, you should have the title welded to the text box. (this is an easy step if you have welded anything before, if not watch the youtube video that I posted to help you.

I hope you enjoy journaling in your scrapbook as much as I do, I didn't at first but now I really enjoy it because of the welding and print and cut feature that the cameo has. (makes life easier)

Welding Letters and More

I love her tutorial on welding letters, I hope this helps

Fall shape Silhouette Chalange

I love the fall and the one sure sign of fall for our family is Yep, football! This is a simple but cute and perfect card for any foot ball fan, and it doesn't hurt to make a card for Dear Husband and cousin. I love the texture of the football it sets off the card,  here's my supply list and simple instructions.

Silhouette Files I used: football and easel card-pumpkin banner (just used the easel back part)
Brown card stock
Basket Ball textured paper (that is what I had on hand and the football paper was too brown for me.)
Whit card stock

1. offset the foot ball, a tad bigger than the foot ball (for the brown bass of the foot ball)
2. Re-size the easel card back to fit just under the football. You just don't wan the card base to be wider than the football. Then cut the offset foot ball and the card base
3. Cut out the shape of the regular size of the foot ball
4 Cut out the lace's and stripes to the football in white card stock.
5. type a sentiment and cut it out. (I just printed the sentiment in brown type and then cut it on my paper cutter- faster than using print and cut since it's a simple square cut out.)
6. assemble card- make sure that you glue the front side on the tab for the card to fold into an easel.

I will admit this was a fun card to make and I have totally gotten onto the easel back card band wagon and am having fun with this cute little creations!

Bath Salts

As I promised, I thought I would share my awesome bath salt recipe, that is awesome! (love it for so many things) The most expensive thing is the essential oil, but you don't use a ton and it will last for a while, I am learning a ton of things to do with essential oil and I am a bit addictive to it's power.

This bath salt will make you think your in a spa, a great way to unwind after a busy day with kidlets!

Bath Salts (makes 6 - 2 cups containers) with a bit to spare for a bath for you
12 cups Epsom salt (1- 4lb pkg)
1 1/2 cups of baby soap ( I wanted the most gentle soap I could find for sensitive skin)
5-7 drops of Lavender essential oil
4 drops of red food coloring
3 drops of blue food coloring
6, 2 cup containers (I used Zip Lock containers when they were on sale at Christmas)

Mix the soap, essential oil, and food coloring together in a bowl, then add the epsom salt into a big bowl or tub (I used my sensory table tub and had by 4yr old mix it with me) then you let it dry over night or to let it dry outside for the afternoon if it's really hot. Then package them into 2 cup containers.

So getting to the prices of each one,

Salt $4
Essential oil $10 (but for one batch I am going to say about.50, a little bit goes a super long ways)
Bath soap $2 you won't use the whole bottle and I used baby magic with a coupon so it wasn't that much, but average you will spend about $2
Food coloring, I had- free
Zip lock containers .75 But you could easily but the salt into a zip lock bag and save money that way also.
Paper and stickers- free from my stash,
Grand total= 7.25 for all of it, so about 1.25 per gift, I think that is a great deal for something personal that you made with your daughter, I see this working out really well for Christmas.

My inspiration for this recipe is from:
http://paulaparrish.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/diy-bubbly-bath-salts.html

Teacher Gift

Here is a cute little back to school teacher gift, it is just small enough to fit a package of M&M's in, instead of cutting out all the little pieces that the school bus had, I used the print and cut feature and I am happy how it turned out. included on the bus is a cute little apple book mark that I really like also, however next time I will use thicker paper and the book mark will be smaller, but it works and I still like it.

This is where I got my inspiration
http://kreationsbykimberlyrae.com/blog/videotutorialsilhouetteguest/

Materials used:
Silhouette cutting file School Bus Box
Silhouette cutting file Apple bookmark
Staples white card stock
DCWV Celebration paper stack - Red Striped Glittered

I love giving gifts and I hope to post more inexpensive gifts soon, I love making stuff in jars, like cookie and brownie mixes and bath salts. So look for those soon!

One!

So it's my friends Daughter's 1st Birthday and I thought it would be so cute to make this card for her, I used My Minds Eye double sided paper using the Silhouette's baby girl first birthday card ID#  #1752 which I fell in love with the moment I laid eyes on it! I love how it turned out, I used a sticker that said Birthday (I was having issues with the Birthday cut out that came with the file) It was a fun easy to make card, (the best kind of card to make and give)

my next projects I hope to make some gifts for some well deserved friends, I can't wait to blog about the gifts I am making and is it crazy to start thinking about Christmas? I already have a mental list of gifts that I want to make for Christmas presents!

Stock up Prices for the season

I love a good deal, and I am usually not  a big spender in late August or early September but I just thought I would post some of my price points  for seasonal items that are on sale this month.
Back to School:
Markers $1
Crayons $.50
Tape $1
Facial tissue paper $1
Pens Free-$1 per package

Grocery Items:
Zip Lock quart freezer bags 20 count, $1.25 (right now Hy-Vee has them for  $1.50 with a 2 cent FS which is cheaper than my price point.)
Peanut Butter, 12oz-16oz $1
Jelly (standard size) $1.25

Of course this time of year is a great time to stock up on snacks that kids like, there are always coupons and sales. However I really like to go by the 5 min. Rule and so these snacks usually fall into my 5 min. rule, however I did cave in a bit and bought some Rice Crispy treats, because I really don't like cleaning the pan after making Rice Crispy Treats.

Don't forget all the Collage back to school stuff like lab tops, digital storage (like pen drives and hard drives) are also always on sale along with office supply stuff.

I hope this helps when you are deciding if the sale item really is a good deal or not.

Print and Cut on the Silhoutte

Hello, I thought I would post a fun card that you can make, I used my Silhouette and Sizzix Big Shot for this.

Materials used:
Cuttle Bug Happy Birthday emboss folder and Big Shot
Silhoutte
Kodak ESP Printer
Staples card stock (best deal for card stock if you do a lot of print and cuts)
Hobby Lobby girly spring paper
and Pop Dots (Can't seem to get away from these cute little guys)

1. Cut card base out of white card stock, to fit an A2 Envelope. (half a sheet of 8.5x11 folded in half)
2 Run the front side of the card through the Happy Birthday embossing folder through the Big Shot
3 Cut a frame out just a bit smaller from the card base. Then Glue to Card Base.
4 Print and Cut out a birthday cake using your home printer and Silhouette. (my notes: I found the birthday cake by searching and downloading a cake, I then traced it with the Silhouette's design studio.)
5. Use the Font Champagne & Limousines to write Happy Birthday, and find a shape to do a print and cut. (For the print and cut shape I took the shape from a scrapbook kit sold at the silhouette online store re sized it to fit what I needed. I also print and cut both the cake and the Birthday wish at the same time, to save on paper.)
6. Once I printed and cut out I used some shimmer Chalk to add some color to the frosting on the cake. and Inked around the edges of Birthday Wishes. Then I used pop dots to adhere the sentiment and birthday cake.

I would love to know what you think! I made about twenty of these, and give them to my friends that have birthdays.

Doing something diffrent Silhoutte Challange

One of these days I will start posting more than just the Silhouette challenge but until summer is over I am too busy playing with my kidlets. On a side note not saving money much these days.I wanted to make a cute door hanging for my daughter's door to her room and thought this Shadow box from the Silhouette's online store would work out great. I wanted soft fun colors, and I wanted the pictures in sepia tone, since she had on some pretty vivid colors that clashed with the other pictures, The brown and the pink really worked out well I thought. Her name with the swirls were printed then cut on the Silhouette and then I painted on Glitter Glue (stickels) and then embellished the top with rolled flowers (see below for the link)

I have been working on this project for a month and a half and finally got it done, and I love the way it turned out. the Shadow box was fun to make, made me think about the project and I always enjoy getting my mind focused on a paper craft project.

The assembling of the shadow box took attention to detail, I had to watch Lori Whitlock's video a couple times to figure out how to make this (I recommend watching it once before you purchase the file and once after, and then have it up as a reference when you are assembling the shadow box.) You will be glad you got the file and all the fun ideas you can come up with, super fun I must say!

Product use:
6 12x12 white cardstock from  Hobby Lobby
2 12x12 sei patern paper (they don't sell this any more- I horde or collect paper until I am tired of it)
1 12x12 simply elegance paper from Hobby Lobby (rolled flowers)
Silhoutte's online store #id Design ID #26046, Design ID #26048, and Design ID #26049 
Hot Glue (to glue the flowers)
lots of glue, a sticker from HL's paper studio and MissKateCutibles (super cute designs)

Links to References (I like to think I come up with the projects on my own but really-who has time for that!

Shadow Box
Lori Whitlocks video on the project:

Rolled Flower:

Click here for the file

Here is a good tutorial on how to make rolled flowers (don't like to curl the pedals) Thanks Bird's Cards

MissKateCuttibles

Multiples of one shape Silhoutte Challange

I really do love pictures, did you know that I took 3 years of photography in collage? yep, I love my kids and the pics that take of them are endless, so I am always looking for new ways to display the pictures, when  saw this shape I thought for sure there will be tons of usages for this shape, I can't wait to make some for presents for friends and family. It was super easy to cute and to assemble, Thanks to Lori Whitlock's file, Design ID #42114  they are so fun to make! I used a two tone card stock with Basic Grey pattern paper. I was hoping to get a simple brown natural tone for the pictures and I am happy with the way the colors all work together, I love working in monotone colors, and this really worked well with the repetition feel of this project. all in all with the paper I used 5 sheets of 12x12, so about $3 for the paper if you use good card stock and pattern paper.

Side note: the file has gussets, so you could easily use these gussets to make a book with the frames as embellishments, (I was super excited to find that in the file too.)

Cinamon Toast Crunch topping with recipe

http://www.littlebittybakes.com/2012/01/cinnamon-toast-crunch-banana-bread/

I have a list on things that I use for not the thing they are marketed to use for, it's a amazing how much you can save when you use your creativity for every day things, of course Pintrest also has some really great cleaver ideas to use products for other uses.  I just thought I would share one of my favorite usage Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch: I push it through my Kitchen Aid grater and have instant cinnamon toast crunch strudel I use for breads and muffins, I find it useful since I don't have to mix everything for a topping and when I grate the cereal it's the perfect consistency for about 4 batches of muffins/bread, so for me it saves time, and since I buy cereal at $1 per box I know that I am saving money than making a topping.