Bing Bong Flower Button

Speaking of using the Cricut drawing feature, I also made these adorable Bing Bong flower name tags for my ladies. Can you just picture my littles running around singing "Who's your friend that loves to stamp?"? Too much fun!

I used a basic oval shape to form the Bing Bong Flower. That's on one of the cartridges that's retiring soon, Art Philosophy, and it's also one of my very most favorite Cricut cartridges ever and I'm utterly heartbroken it's going away. Well, I'm heartbroken for you if you don't have it, 'cause I'm keeping mine forever! I literally us this cartridge every time I Cricut. I topped off my flower with a standard button and a whole lot of green stickles. I love Bing Bong...and stamping...and glitter! 

Find the Fun Shaker Button

Another Convention tradition for my team is that each year I make a special convention badge for my traveling peeps. This year I found these adorable empty shaker buttons at Michaels. 

Our convention theme this year is based on the movie Inside Out, which has been a big movie around my house considering our recent move. We really love this movie so I made a lot of Inside Out projects. I downloaded a free Inside Out Font, which worked great with my Cricut and the writing/draw option. I had the Cricut write my button saying and cut the round button inserts. Then I added a fussy cut pic of a CTMH mascot names Sticky Boy, and filled my shaker button with glitter and "memory balls". Then I sealed the back with Liquid Glass, just in case!

Day 341: Harry Potter Painted Bag

Ok, so this is the bag that started the whole project ball rolling. Totes adorbs, right? Max was like, "Mom! I need that bag, please." I said, "Max! I need to not have my card charged and then never see the product shipped, thanks." And off to Hobby Lobby we went...

These bag projects were fairly easy and inexpensive. I already had most of the paint colors we needed, so all I bought were the canvas totes (which we upgraded and got these string backpacks) and the fabric medium to mix into the acrylic paints (plus the correct red for Gryffindor as per Max's choice). I used a ruler to sketch in the Harry Potter face and scarf stripes. I used a mason jar lid ring to make his glasses, tracing inside and out to get the thick black frames. I left his eyes the color of the canvas tote and free handed the green pupils, because the books are always better (Sorry, Daniel, we still heart you). Max is over the moon thrilled about his new Harry Potter tote bag, and I only wish we'd found this project before Max's Harry Potter party. It's definitely a Keeper. Have a Ronderful day, Stampin' Friends!

P.S. hee hee...three hours sleep makes puns ever so funny...#sorrynotsorry #harrypotterforlife #idon'tevenknowwhyI'mhashtaggingthisblogpost #don'tletthemugglesgetyoudown  

Day 340: Lego Miniman Painted Bag

Today I'm sharing Gabe's bag, which was by far the fastest and easiest of the three painted totes we made. Gabe could not stop giggling when I showed him the freshly painted bag. 

You can see that my ironing skills leave a bit to be desired, since he looked more wrinkly after I ironed him than before. I was worried that I needed to use a pressing cloth (which are who knows where in my boxes) or a layer of packing paper between my iron and the paint, but after a bit of messing about I bit the bullet and just went iron onto the paint directly and it worked just fine. I didn't slide it back and forth, just did a press and hold for a few seconds motion moving bit by bit to ensure I got every bit of the painted area. My iron was just fine, no clean up necessary, and the design didn't smear a bit! Tomorrow I'll share my favorite of the three bags we made.

Day 339: Yoda Painted Tote Bag

So couple weeks ago Max and I saw the CUTEST tote bag on one of those Facebook ads, and they were offering to give it away for free. Score, right? Except when you looked at reviews for the company making the offer, lots of people were complaining about a variety of issues, and I didn't feel comfortable at all with handing over my credit card details to a company with such a shady reputation. Good thing we are crafty round here, eh? 

So I started with one bag for the youngest child, and then, as these things do, it snowballed into three bags, because every boy needs his own bag. Today I'm sharing Ben's bag. Ok, don't judge me too harshly, because I have never claimed to be an actual artist. I like cutting up pretty paper and gluing it back together - like quilting, but less work! I don't draw much, or even paint much unless you count splattering watercolor paint everywhere, but when your child looks at you with the big blue eyes, and you just finished packing all his toys into big boxes and are prepping him for a big unexpected move, then you get creative for him real fast. So I found a simple Yoda cartoon that thrilled him to pieces. Then I sketched with a pencil until my Yoda sort of looked like the cartoon Yoda. Did you know you can use an eraser on a canvas tote bag?

Once Ben had approved the Yoda, I painted him with standard acrylic paints mixed 2 to 1 with fabric medium. He was supposed to be on a white background, but them someone dropped yellow paint onto Yoda and he ended up hovering over a lake of (tie-dyed) fire. Luckily, Ben thought that was awesomesauce.   After you've finished your painting, you let the project dry for 24 hours and then iron it to heat set the painted areas...now you can imagine these canvas totes draped over moving boxes all over my living room... Although the project was a bit of a departure from the packing I was supposed to be doing, they will be useful during the move, as each boy will be carrying his own car toys and books for the long drive to Portland in their sweet new totes!

Day 327: Lego Crochet Scarf

In the midst of moving, packing, sorting, my oldest son's Lego Robotics team is preparing for state competition this weekend. So in my "spare time" I've been working on a couple of Lego projects for him, including this Lego scarf, as seen on Pinterest. 

Now I am a capable, if slightly indifferent yarn worker. I can crochet fairly competently, and I can knit a bit, but most of the time I'm kind of watching TV or chatting over coffee and not really paying attention. So I was a bit nervous taking on this Lego brick project using the bobble stitch (which I'd never heard of before). Luckily, the instructions and video link on Deb's Blog: FitzBirch Crafts were excellent, and I could whip out little yarn Lego bricks whenever I had a spare few moments. When I presented the finished scarf to my offspring, he was thrilled, which you can totally see in the picture he let me take of him before school today (not). He actually does like it, he just did not want me to take his picture wearing it.  They grow up so fast!

Day 146: Disney Movie Quote shirts

In preparation for our Disneyland trip we watched a ton of Disney movies, everything from Cinderella to Wall-E, Planes to Bedknobs and Broomsticks. They were already in love with the Pixar movies such a Toy Story and Card. Some new favorites are Mary Poppins, Robin Hood, The Sword in the Stone, and  Beauty and the Beast. The cheering when Gaston fell from the castle....oh my. In any case, when we were discussing our favorites the boys were quoting their favorite movies and one more Cricut iron-on vinyl shirt project was born.

Ben's shirt was the first one done. He's been obsessed with Peter Pan for months now, and he even had a Peter Pan themed birthday party. 

Max hemmed and hawed, but in the end he chose Buzz Lightyear, which was the first idea he'd had anyhow. I had to hide the finished shirt from my little tuxedo clad munchkin. He was not happy about all the new glitter duds I wouldn't let him wear!

Gabe wanted a Tow Mater Quote that we all say all the time while walking backwards and being goofy. Of course, he's a backwards driver, so on the back of his shirt is:

Now, the boys and I hatched this plan, so I wasn't sure my engineer of a husband would be on board with the Teal Glitter Disney quote t-shirts. Of course, I should have remembered this is the same dude who wore a t-shirt I made featuring the hand-drawn head of Ernie throughout college. Of course he wanted a Disney Quote shirt! And this is the quote he chose:

  

Peter Pan Quote Shirt CDS File

Buzz Lightyear Quote Shirt CDS File

Tow Mater Quote Shirt CDS File

Mary Poppins Quote Shirt CDS Cut File

Day 145: Creativity Cricut Shirts

Cathy really embraced the quote shirt idea. She had me design three of them because she couldn't choose her favorite. She teaches at an elementary school, so these will be handy for her in the fall!

The Font is from Artiste, and the Swirl/heart element I welded from Art Philosophy shapes.

This one is all Artiste Font.

This last one we added a touch of Disney with the Waltograph font.

Creativity is Not a Hobby CDS Cut File

Creativity is Contagious CDS Cut File

Intelligence Having FUN CDS Cut File

Tomorrow I've got one last set of Cricut vinyl shirts to share - all Disney Themed!

Day 143: Customized Mickey Head Shirts

So with my boys join me at Disneyland after convention this year we (I) wanted to have a family shirt for group photos. It needed to be simple, as I'd be handling production myself, but a bit customizable.

Cricut Iron-on vinyl to the rescue. It's like the summer of all things vinyl around here. So I got some plain red and red glitter iron-on vinyl and set to work. Each person got their name cut out of the Mickey head using the Waltograph font. Most of the boys got the red vinyl and the girls chose red glitter, though there was some switching based on personal preference. It's all good.

Max, my little tuxedo wearing fashionista decided that not only did he want a glitter head, but that his needed to have a bow-tie. Naturally. And since I was cutting him a bowtie...I cut a few more so some of the girls now had silver bows for a Minnie head, too. Max was the only one who wanted a bow-tie though. 

I chose black t-shirts for my little family group, others chose grey or white. The most important thing is that we were together making memories.  

Customized Mickey Head CDS Cut File

Day 140: More Cricut Glitter T-shirts

Today I'm sharing the second round of my team's glitter quote shirts. Sorry for the glare on the screen shots - I thought I'd taken better pics, but apparently, well, not. 

On this design for Bonnie I pulled coffee cup and scissor images from Design Space. The font is Artiste. If I could still drink coffee, I'd totally wear this quote!

I grabbed a shot of what the image should look like when you mirror it before cutting. This is Amanda's quote, perfect for any avid scrapbooker. I added our camera image from Artbooking at the top. Say cheese!

Our sweet Karin chose a quote to inspire herself through this next year. It's a reminder we can all use from time to time.

Today started at 5 a.m., heading out to the CTMH Operation Smile 5K Fun Run. I did not run, but I did enjoy a brisk walk through both Disneyland and California Adventure in my new Tink Shirt with my girls! Then it's Extravaganza day...class after class with some of the top artists in CTMH. Life is good!

Drink Coffee Make Things CDS Cut File

Smile & I Might Flash You CDS Cut File

Believe in Yourself CDS Cut File

Day 137: Disney Pixar's UP Team Pins

On the day this is posting most of my team is setting out to arrive at Convention throughout the day, while I am attending Leadership Day with Cathy and all the other Leadership gals. Tonight at our informal team dinner I'll hand out our annual Team Pins. 

Each year I craft a special pin for my team to wear on our convention name badges. Since CTMH announced that there would be an UP! theme running through the presentations, and UP! is one of my all time favorite movies. I knew exactly what our badges would be as soon as I read that announcement. The cuts are all from the CTMH cricut cartridges. This is the project I was stitching in my Splash Pad Office.

I used the write and cut Cricut Explore functions to make the Stamping Rules banners. It was so simple - I'm really digging my Explore lately! The font is from the Artiste cartridge, and I used the retired CTMH My Legacy writer pens in my Explore. The dotted paper is from Dotty for You. The house is cut from the Enchantment Paper Fundamentals. I also used Teal Glitter paper and Purple Shimmer trim. 

If you want my updates on any Convention news and the new goodies, check me out on Instagram - I post a lot of convention pics during this week. Or join me on Facebook or Twitter, as my Instagram will feed into those too. I will not be blogging the new goodies until September, so social media is the only place to get your sneak peeks!

Adventure is out there!

Day 135: Glitter is My Favorite Color Shirt

So I went back and forth about this for a long time. My team made awesome glitter quote shirts for our Convention team shirt this year. Each of us chose a crafty quote that spoke to us. We cut them out of Silver iron-on vinyl on my Cricut Explore. Cohesive but creatively individual - that's my team! But that means I have a lot of quote cut files to share. Do I put them all in one super mega post? Do I share them one at a time and flood the blog with black t-shirt pics like this? I think I'm going to share them 3 at a time, because I have other stuff to share this week, too. 

This is my Team Shirt quote - are you surprised? The font on all three of these quotes is from Artiste. We will wear these shirts at the opening session on Thursday. We are putting the quotes on Black t-shirts to make the silver glitter really pop!  

This is my design process for Elaine's shirt. Once you have everything where you want it, change all the colors to the same color. Choose "Select All" and click "Attach" on the Layers tab. When you go to cut, be sure to click the box to mirror the image so everything will read correctly once you've ironed it all onto your shirt. 

Some of us also opted to put the CTMH logo and our websites on the back of the shirts, across the shoulders, like Carolyn's design. None of the files below include the CTMH Logo (or our websites), as CDS wouldn't let me share any files saved with that image in it. I'll do a post later on how I got the logo into CDS. That'll have to wait until I get back from sunny SoCal! 

My Favorite Color is Glitter CDS Cut File
Distracted By Shiny Things CDS Cut File
Leave a Little Sparkle CDS Cut File
I highly encourage you to grab some iron-on vinyl and give this type of project a go - it's addictive and so much fun!

Day 134: Tinkerbell 5K Cricut Shirt

Next Saturday will be the second annual CTMH Operation Smile 5K Fun Run. Last year my team tried to order matching shirts from an Etsy shop. she got behind, so offered to ship the order to the hotel. Supposedly she shipped the order, but it was accidentally routed to WDW instead of Disneyland through a carrier error and lost. Excuse after plausible excuse came, but a year after we had paid the gal was still unable to fulfill our order and we finally demanded a refund.  

I still wanted a Tinkerbell work out tank, so I offered to design and cut this shirt for the girls. It was so easy! The font is Waltograph, and I bought Tink in Design space. I had a little trouble with my Hot Fix tool not wanting to set the rhinestones, so I ended up applying them with an iron, setting up the swirl with my tweezers. All our Tink shirts are cut, so we'll be sporting our sparkly Pixie Dust at the Operation Smile run on Saturday!  

Here's the Tinkerbell cut file if you want it - don't forget to Mirror the image so it'll iron-on correctly!

Day 133: Ariel Costume Tank Top

Let me preface this post by saying that I am not a sewer. So if you are one of those amazing sewing experts, prepare to be utterly horrified by this post. I'm sorry in advance. I can stitch a scrapbook page, and even hem my own jeans (a skill which still amazes me every time I manage it), but I firmly believe real sewing should be left up to the experts. Except when I head to Disneyland apparently, and then I lose my head. I blame Pinterest. 

Last year I got this idea that I could build a Snow White princess shirt after finding this tutorial on Pinterest. Raegun made it sound so easy, and hey, I own a sewing machine, so how hard could it be? <facepalm> In truth it was both easier and harder than I expected. The princess sleeves worked like a dream - just like she wrote! Like I seriously felt uber cool when I made them. Then I got the idea to add some trim at the bottom...and some flounces...and those were weird, because pattern-schmattern-I-can-just-wing-it took over. Yep. So tiny hand sewn roses, more trim, and ribbon leaves were added to cover the crooked seams and pleating. In the end I was glad I made the shirt and pleased with how it turned out. Just don't look inside. I thought I wrote a blog post about this, but maybe I just documented the crazy on Instagram...in any case, after wearing my creation around the park (and getting hailed by a little girl waiting for a parade who apparently thought perhaps in her off hours Snow White ditches the ball gown skirt for denim) I felt that it was a success. Thanks, Raegun!

 So since I'm supposed to hang with an 8 year old girl at Disneyland next week, and I have no girls at my house, this year I figured I'd make her a costume tank of her fav princess and we'd be princesses together. Then she said her fav was Ariel. As in the Little Mermaid. Not Rapunzel, or Cinderella, or one of the others I'd convinced myself would be easier than Snow White. She wants a shell bra and mermaid tail. facepalm

> 

So I drank a bunch of iced tea and bought a lavender tank (because I do not believe 8 year old girls should wear actual shell bras) and a trio of sparkly material. Dusted off my pattern-schmattern-I-can-just-wing-it attitude and started hand stitching the material onto the tank. We will call this ruching, because I've never ruched anything before in my life and that's the closest thing I could find to what I did, but basically I cut a piece of material about double the width I was guessing I needed, stitched it on top and bottom, then crunched up the excess and tacked it in place. By Hand. For almost the entire length of Beauty & The Beast, since we've been doing Disney Ed with the boys all month. When that looked relatively even, I started stitching on trim, lots of net ruffles, strings of faux pearls, and these awesome iridescent jewel buttons. I stitched on three layers of ruffles at the bottom and repeated the crazy ruching process for the mermaid belt. All. By. Hand. 

Keep in mind I have no actual little girl to try this on...I did get one boy (who shall remain nameless) to at least try it on for me to help with the bra placement and final adjustments, but no pictures were taken to protect the innocent and helpful party. He was well compensated. On a person the "bra" wraps to the back and looks much less uneven and weird. The green flounces are towards the back of the hip, too, not sticking out all lumpy. Again this year I was reminded that I'm definitely not headed for Project Runway, but I am happy with the effort, and hoping she will love it!  

Day 132: Mickey SOTM Blog Hop Pin

Today I learned that the SOTM Blog Hoppers are making badges for Convention so we can find each other and meet all the awesome artists who make our blog hop something special every month. 

As I'm leaving in just a couple of days, I didn't have a lot of time to pull together a cute badge. I do, however, have a Cricut Explore. So I quickly pulled a cut and write file together, loaded in a .03 My Legacy Writer, and cut a White Mickey head with the "SOTM Blog Hopper" sentiment written on the head in the Artfully Sent font. Then I colored the white cardstock head with a red Shin Han marker, detailed the font with some shimmer gel pen, and ran my clear Wink of Stella brush around the outer edge. I carefully glued on some tiny letters from the negative of a project I'll share next week to spell CTMH, then topped it off with a dotted ribbon bow. Can't wait to meet up with the SOTM Blog Hoppers next week!

If you are a SOTM Blog Hopper and want to make one of these, here's my Cricut Design Space file.

Day 131: Ariel Disney Cricut Shirt

I have cut so, so, so many Cricut iron-on vinyl T-shirts this last week, getting ready for the big trip to California. I'm planning to share the designs (and cut files) over the next week or so, so I hope you like my Disney Glitter T -Shirts!

I'm going to hit Disneyland with my Mom and her adopted daughter first, so I wanted to do something special for the two of them. They both love the Little Mermaid, so for my mom I whipped up this Cricut Glitter Iron-on that I put onto a black tank top. I purchased the single Ariel Image in Design Space. The bubbles are from Art Philosophy, and the Font is from the Artfully Sent cartridge. 

Making an iron-on with the Cricut was so much easier than I anticipated. I made each design in Design Space, then you choose "Select All" and click "attach" on the layers menu. When you go to cut, choose Mirror image so it will cut backwards. You apply the vinyl with the shiny, glittery side facing down. I watched this super helpful video, then went to town!

Here's a link to my Design Space cut file, in case you want to make one for yourself! I'm back to more top secret convention prep - but next week I cans tart sharing some of these projects keeping me elbow deep in Liquid Glass!

Day 62: Making Connections Gerber Daisy Name Badge

So carrying on with the scrappin' my stash idea, I decided to work on my name badge for the upcoming Making Connections meeting in Seattle next week. 

My fabulous second upline Naomi Smith challenged us all to make a name badge for her team meeting. I started with a super old blue metal frame leftover from my Super Hero Album project that's been kicking around in my odds and ends bowl for, oh my goodness, three years. I painted the bright blue frame silver with some nail polish, then added a coat of silver glitter polish to be sure it was shiny enough. I adhered my frame to some Black cardstock and a bit of doily I couldn't bear to part with...I only hoard scrapbooking embellishments. And mason jars. And books.  

Then I added some freshly cut and assembled Gerber Daisies (extra from a project that I'll be revealing very soon), and a few more bits from my catch-all bowl. I miss those sparkly rhinestone flowers...but not that much, since I stocked up big time when they retired. Ahem. In any case, I think my embellie hoarding has paid off on this project. 

I'm gonna link this one up to the Heart 2 Heart Wonderful World Challenge, 'cause what in the world could be better than heading off to a CTMH event to chat, learn, and craft with lots of CTMH friends? Hope to see ya in Seattle!

I'm at Disneyland!!

This week you'll find me posting live from the 2014 CTMH Convention. This year's theme is an Artistic Adventure, and I'm so very excited to be here. Not only is everything shiny and happy here in the Disneyland Hotel, but can I just say that free wifi is awesome!

Today I'm sharing a little convention tradition. Each year I craft a sparkly team badge for my Stamping Rules peeps. This year I used the Base and Bling hair clips as the base for our team badge. I added layers of Disney Ribbons that I got at the Creating Keepsakes scrap expo - from Queen and Co. (I think). I dyed some paper flowers with a red alcohol marker and formed some tiny cricut flowers from Honey CS. The big mickey head flatbacks I got from Etsy, and topped off with a teensy tiny bow. 

I can't wait until my awesome team gals are all here! Convention begins Thursday, but I'll be sharing more art tidbits in the days leading up to convention, and then doing posts on convention activities - plus I've got 3 more hoop art projects to share with you on Friday! 

CTMH New Product Blog Hop

Welcome to our CTMH New Product Blog Hop!  This month we have 30+ Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using fabulous new CTMH products on their blogs. Hopping is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! If you have come here from MELINDA'S BLOG, you are on the right path! Here we go! 

I'm sharing this sparkly jewelry holder that I crafted on a Dollar Store wooden frame. It features the new ProPlayer Paper packet (for the 3-D paper flowers) plus lots of Base and Bling jewels and the new Ruby and Black Mini Medleys. I especially love the Base and Bling word accents, which I used in the flower cluster and to help create the hair clip hanger. That strip of sequins from the Black Mini Medley is meant to hold the new hairclips!

I covered the frame with Glitter Paper, and filled the center with rolls of black felt. That was easy to do with my hot glue gun! The rings just slide right between the rolls of felt. 

Now "Hop" on over to MICHELLE'S BLOG to see her crafty goodness! Be sure to visit all the Consultants Blogs to soak in the variety of great crafting and new product ideas! 

I'm linking this project up to the Paper Issues Project Life Party, even though I haven't done any project life, because that party is making me wish I did...time to get out my Crush book and get going!

Here are some more projects I have made using the new Base and Bling products...plus I posted a new Proplayer or other new product projects almost every day in July! 

Velcro Ring Collection

Trio of Handmade Hairclips

Pins and Needles

Legomania Layout

Love My Silly Family Layout

UR Swell Card

Hope Floats Card

Love U card

I Heart U Card