Another Craft Moment...

Can't believe its been over 2 months since I have posted on here, but when you're in the process of grieving, you totally forget about everything that ever mattered to you or the hobbies that you once did. BUt God is pushing me little by little to get back into my room and start crafting. I have a piece to show you, as this was a special day (April 21, 2013) as my sweet friend Marcie Gray came to California to help ready her parents to move back to Tennessee. In her week of being here, she was going to be singing at Pastor Ron Barker's church in Tehachapi and wanted to give him a momento from some of the "old" members from Panama Church in Bakersfield. We put our heads together and found the perfect verse and then added the names in attendance. I forgot how much I enjoyed designing speciality tiles with a certain verse for someone. This was done on a 12x18 Tile and black vinyl was used. I can't remember the cartridges I used, but will come back and update once I find my notes. Excuse the flash, as the church was kind of dark when it was taken.

Thank You and Update

Good Morning All! It has been a crazy month and a half, but things seem to be looking brighter on this journey we are on.  Before I go any further, this is the card I have made in multiples to send out this week to all who have been so kind, compassionate and johnny on the spot for everything from taking him to his cancer treatments, cooking yummy dinners, cleaning our home, running errands and being there just to give us a shoulder to cry on and who have lifted us up in continuous prayer. There are not enough words in the dictionary to tell them how appreciative we are of the love they have showed us!!!! Hubby had the "Big Surgery" on April 6th. They were able to remove most of the cancer and had stated that the 4 weeks of radiation he had, did shrink the cancer some; but they found that the cancer had definitely spread to the brain in the cavenous sinuses. They removed nerves, muscles and all the other stuff that is in the orbital area of the left eye. His left eye was to be removed, but they left that and his eye will now be permanently closed since he has no muscle to raise the lid. So hence, we begin radiation again in two weeks for the cancer in the brain. Chemotheraphy isn't an option as it was stated to us that the brain doesn't absorb but 1% of the medicine used in chemo. It was a little disheartening to hear that, but on the brighter side my hubby's survival rate went from 2 to 5% to 25%. So Needless to say we're excited about that. Please contniue to pray for him as we still have a very long journey ahead of us. Thanks for looking!

Valentine Cards

Here are a couple of cards I manage to make while trying to keep my mind busy. I used Cricut Cartridges in them and will list them as soon as I get time. They are simple cards for me as I really like to fuss and make them more fancey, but again just hadn't been in the mood.

Baby Card from Art Philosphy Cartridge

Since I have the Cricut Expression and now the new Cricut Expression 2 machines, I figured I had better start making cards instead of relying on store bought ones. My little neighbor Tara is expecting her first and thought she would enjoy a homemade card instead of a store bought one. Working full-time, takes away from the creativity and you gals who are able to stay home and play while kids are in school, my hat is off to you. Someday I will be able too hopefully! This card was made using the Cricut Art Philsophy Cartridge by Creative Memories. It is a great cartridge and I see many cards in the future being made from this very cartridge. I believe I like the E2 Machine better than the original. I mean afterall it has 17 more buttons to do what you wish, bigger screen and most of all it just seems to operate better than the first edition. I thought about selling my first one, but have decided against it; as I know as I began to make holiday gifts I can have 2 going at the same time. I didn't have any baby DP so I made my own, using stamps from different SU sets and the baby's name was made with thicklet letters, although after I had put everything away, I could of used the alphabet on the cartridge. LOL!!!

You Make My Heart Flutter

Hello Ladies! I have just one card to share with you today. I made this using the Cricut Expresson. I think the only way you can see some of the intricate cuts is to make them fit a 5x5 card. I tried a smaller version and it just seemed to be to jumbled together. But am pleased with how this one turned out. Of course I had to use stickles on it and pop the heart to make it stand out. LOL!!! I think this would be a great card to give on Valentines Day and have thought of making about 12 of these for the OWH, but with them being bigger I'm not sure they would fit in the box that they use to ship the cards to our military. Will have to check with Sandy and see what she thinks. I have been busy working on other things in the background and promise to have some items to show to you real soon. I have begun to think about the making of christmas ornaments again like I did last year. I think if I remember correctly I made close to 150 of them and am hoping not so many this year, but we shall see. LOL!!!! Hope you all have a great week!!!!!

Cricuting.....

I have been busy working on cards for OWH and for personal ones as well. I have made myself start using my Cricut Expression. I only have 51 cartridges and two more are on the way from the rewards I submitted. So being that there is a major investment sitting here in my craft room, I figured I better get busy before hubby gets upset. LOL!!! Anyway, I mainly used the following carts for the cards, Sophisticated, Ornamental Iron 2, Straight From The Nest, Home Accents and Fancy Frames. I found if I designed the layout on the Gypsy on how I wanted the card to look, then cut out all the pieces, and then assembled them, it seemed to go faster instead of doing each one by one which would take much longer then having an assembly line going. I really like the new carts they have been coming out with. All the fancy flourishes and frames gives the sentiment a whole different look. Plus I am a girly girl, so the more elegant designs and the curliques they have the happier I am! LOL!!!! It has been an experience though as I have had to learn to set the speed and pressure correctly as not to waste the expensive cardstock. I di find that if I did mutliple cuts on the heavier cardstock, it punched out much easier without tearing the intricate parts of the design of the framing. I have been taking my Gypsy to work so I can play around with designs on my breaks and lunch hour which then saves me time when I get home so I can go right to the Cricut Expression and begin cutting it all out. needless to say I have 4 more baskets full of different designs to be assembled. I am really enjoying using my "E" and hope that the military men and women will like them as well. Next is Christmas Cards as the deadline to OWH is October.

Cricut Expression & Gypsy-So This Is What I Can Do...

Okay, I know that the Cricut Expression and the Gypsy has been around for quite sometime and I have had mine for a year or so, but really had not played with it until hubby asked how come you don't use these? You have 30 cartridges and just had to have them! Needless to say he made me feel really guilty about not using these wonderful "Toys" and since I have seen so many items, cards, wall decor made with these fantabulous machines, I figured it was time to get it out , set it up in my room and get to know how to use it. I even had custom ordered special cozies for the Expression, the Gypsy and the Cuttlebug to match through Kathy's Cozies Etsy shop! I think I was more hindered about cutting the correct size, using the correct pressure, speed and so on. OWH had a challenge for the month of June for the Second Million and stated that although the general cards were being asked for, the military men and women were asking for Thinking of You and Love cards to send home to their loved ones. I began to go through my cartridges to see which ones I could cut to make these requested cards. As you can see I manged to come up with 3 using the machine, besides the cuttlebug and Stampin Up Punches. In making these cards it has now made me want to use the CE more. I spent 3 hours last night working on the gypsy designing new cards to cut for this weekend. I have now become addicted to it and laugh at myself as to why it took me so long to use this wonderful machine. My head is already spinning on sayings I want to do throughout my home with vinyl and Christmas gifts that will be one of a kind. Of course with the release of new cartridges on Hello Thursday, it won't take me long before I am purchasing the newest carts that are being offered. LOL! I hope that these cards that have been made and sent to OWH will be liked by some military person and the one receiving it, will feel the love and warmth from the sender. I plan on making some Anniversary cards that can be sent home as well. Needless to say there endless ideas, and thousands of combinations that can be used to make cards, gifts and so on. Since I'm off for four days due to the long Holiday I will be busy in my craftroom designing and making another batch of cards to send to OWH.

Valentines...

Hope you all are having a great weekend. Mine consisted of being involved in a "Valentine Bazaar" and it was a smashing success!!! I was little apprehensive in being it as I wasn't sure what kind of turn out we would have due to the weather (cold, rain and it being the Superbowl weekend) and not being a really big holiday compared to Christmas, but I was glad I was involved as I sold everything I had made and could have sold more if








I had known it would be such a great success LOL! Here are some of the items I sold. My Photograph cards were a success as well and those pictures can be seen in the archive labels. I made several of these large and small pail containers filled with Hershey Kisses. I was able to find them in bulk at $2.29 lb instead of purchasing several of the 10oz bags at $4.79 a piece! These were a big hit for the mothers who visited the bazaar as a valentine gift for their children to give to their teachers. I did not realize how fast the Hershey filled Sour Cream Containers would go! I stamped the acetate using Stazon Ink to decorate them. Two ladies came in made their rounds through the bazaar, came to my spot and bought them all. Again I could have made 100 of them and I believe there would not of been one left. (I'll remember this next time) LOL! These were so easy to make and I should had thought to make these back at Christmas time. I saw these heart suckers and knew I could do something with them and decided to use my Cricut cartridge Tags, Bags and More to make the cover for these suckers. I ran them through the cuttlebug using the the new Valentine folders to give them a special look. The MS punch I used was the lattice heart. I was fortunate enough to be asked to be in another one in March by one of the other crafters at the bazaar who is in charge of it. So I am now busy working on what I plan on selling and of course ideas are running through my head as I type this and we shall see how much I get done with these grandure ideas running through my head. Hope the Lord blesses you this week in some way as we gear up for Valentines Day.