Friday, January 29, 2016

DIY Chore Chart with Free SVG file


Hello Crafty Friends!!! 
I have a bit of a confession... I am an addict. And sadly I cannot stop myself, help myself, or want to either. I am addicted to Pinterest!!

Pinterest, that magical land where you can find anything about everything!! And, in most cases with complete how-tos!!

Which brings me to today's project. I've seen several posts on how to make chore charts for your children.  I didn't want anything that was bulky or took up a lot of space. So I decided at having a hand at creating an SVG file that can simply be downloaded and cut with my electronic die-cutting machine.


This has to be one of the easiest and quickest projects I ever did!! And you can make one too!!! Because...
I will be linking the file in this post!!

Supplies Used
Electric Die Cutting Machine (I used a Sizzix eclips with ecal software)
Xyron 9" Magnet Cartridge
Core'dinations Cardstock- Fade to Black
Basic Grey Paper- Dear Heart Collection Pack

(Optional)
Ebrush & Sharpie Markers 
Disc Magnets
Hot glue and Glue Gun
Prima Marketing Flowers and Buttons


After uploading the chore chart file into my software, I loaded my mat with a full 12" x 12" sheet of paper. This color will be for my grid lines. I cut the file at 9 "x 11.5".


I think it came out pretty darn awesome. I wanted to make it simple because my children are all pretty young still. And a huge overly detailed one might be confusing to them. I was able to divide the chart and include a "to do" and "done" section... so all your child has to do is move their marker. I also added a little "note" area. This if great for reminders or shopping list. You can find that version of the chart file HERE.

And for those of you who would like the option of customizing your own, I also have a blank chart as well. You can find that file HERE.

This part is totally optional! But you know me... I have to eBrush EVERYTHING!!! I think it adds so much depth and really makes the words POP! I first taped off the word with blue painters tape and airbrushed the words using a teal and a turquoise sharpies.


Once I was done ebrushing I flipped it over and applied 2 way glue onto the entire backside. I applied different patterned papers from Basic Grey's Dear Heart Collection as panel pieces. I think these paper are gorgeous and just perfect add as my chart backer.

If a solid panel look is not for you, and you would like the option of adding different panels to the back of your chart I also have a panel file for you! I sized these panels to slightly overlap each other so be aware that they are slightly bigger than their designated spaces.


After combing the background papers to my liking I gave my entire chart a run through my Xyron Creative Station with the Magnet Laminate cartridge loaded.

And here is my finished chart! 

Now I  can slap it up on my fridge because I just made a Magnetic Chore Chart!! And because the Xyron Magnet cartridge also laminates... guess, what??!! It is also now a dry erase board!!




I used some fridge magnets I had previous made as chart markers. I simply hot glue disc magnets to the backs of buttons. And for a little added decoration I added more discs to the back of paper flowers too... OMG, how stinkin' cute is that??


Here is a closer view of my chore chart...


And here are all the links to download links:

I hope you enjoyed this project!! My children loved it!! And they are the weirdest children EVER!! the very next day, after seeing the chart on the fridge and reading it, my daughter scurried to see what chore they could do on the list so they could move their markers... Weird, right??!! I mean what child actually wants to do housework and chores?? LOL Apparently, mine!! I'm gonna just let that ride because I don't want to break the spell!!

We'll see you next time!!

HAPPY CRAFTING!!
~Mitsy



Sunday, January 24, 2016

Regal Heart Gift Bag

Hi, Crafty Friends!! As promised, here is the coordinating bag to the card I made previously.
Both will be for my bestie... who is also a craftaholic. I hope these put a smile on her face.

Supplies Used
Regal Heart Die (Die-Namites)
Heart Branch Die ( Die-Namites)
Xyron Creative Station w/ 9" Permanent Adhesive Refill
Corrugated Cardstock (DCWV)
Patterned Paper- Bella Armoire (DCWV)
Gesso (Liquitex)
Red Cherry Gelato (Faber-Castell)
Mod Podge (Plaid)
Chipboard
Black, Red Cardstock (Bazzill Basics)
Craft Gift Bag
Hemp Twine 
Red Button

Regal Heart

Heart Branch

First I started by cutting black polka dot paper and chipboard with my Die-Namites Regal Heart Die.
Then I painted the chipboard die-cut with gesso.
Once dried, I rubbed on some Red Cherry Gelatos directly onto the die-cut.
Then spritzed with water and tilted it so the excess would drip off. (You can use a heat gun to speed up dying time).
Once the piece was dried I applied a layer of Mod Podge to seal the color.
Immediately after applying Mod Podge I layered my black polka dot die cut directly over it. Using the wet Mod Podge glues it in place.
Then I set aside to dry.

Once my die-cut was dry I ran it through my Xyron 3" Sticker Maker.

Then I cut out red and black cardstock with my Die-Namites Heart Branches Die. 4  in red and 2 in black.


I'm decorating a small craft gift bag that measures 5.25" x 8.5",
Black cardstock mat measures 5.25" x 5.25",
Red cardstock measures 5"x 5",
Corrugated cardstock measures 4.75"x 4.75",
Black & white patterned paper measure 2.5"x 2.5" each.

I ran all my mat pieces through my Xyron Creative Station. This is going on a gift bag and I wanted a really strong adhesive, so I used a 9" permanent adhesive refill cartridge.

I layered my mats  and then applied my patterned pieces in a diagonal. In the bare corrugated square I layered my heart branches.

Then attached my heart and topped it off with a hemp twine bow and red button. 
And lastly , I wrapped my goodie and stuffed the top of my bag with this red glitter tissue paper I had leftover from Christmas! Yes, Christmas!! That bright Christmas red pulls double duty as a lovely Valentine's Day Red too!!

And here is my finished bag!! I love how these dies really dress up a plain brown paper bag.




And here is my bag paired with the Valentines Day / encouragement card I mad earlier!! 
If you missed it, you can read all about it here!



Hope my bestie loves them!!

And I hope you enjoyed reading about them!!

Until next time...
HAPPY CRAFTING!!
~ Mitsy



Saturday, January 23, 2016

Born to Sparkle

Hello Crafty Friends... So sorry I've been away. I've been having a little computer problems and was unable to post... eeek, a crafty blogger's worst nightmare come true.

So... I have a lot of catching up to do. 
 Let's start with this gorgeous card I made for the Die-Namites Team that also doubles as  a card I made for my bestie for Valentine's Day. It's a blend of Valentines day and encouragement (she's an amazing crafter as well)... and I wanted to make a card that was absolutely her. She likes things dark and goth-y... lots of black. I mean the only thing missing on it would be a skull. LOL

Supplies Used
Winged Heart Die (Die-Namites)
Budding Vines Die (Die-Namites)
Florals Stamp Set (Pink and Main)
Believe Script Stamp Set (Pink and Main)
Patterned Paper- Bella Armoire (DCWV)
Corrugated Cardstock (DCWV)
eBrush (Craftwell)
Spectrum Noir Marker- True Black
Black, Red, & Green Sharpie Markers
Gesso (Liquitex)
Chipboard
Glitter (Spellbinders)
Paper Rose (Michael's)
Diamond Glaze (Judikins)


Winged Heart

Budding Vine

I started by using my Die-Namites Winged Hearts die to die-cut gray cardstock and chipboard.


Then I painted my chipboard die-cut with gesso and set aside to dry.


While that was drying I ebrushed my gray cardstock piece with Spectrum Noir marker in True Black arounf the center of the heart. And for the tips of the wings I used a black sharpie, the roses a red sharpie, and the leaves a green sharpie. 

Surprisingly, the wings were more of a brownish color than a true black. Part of the reason why I used a SN True Black marker in the center.


After I was done ebrushing I sent my die-cut heart through my 3" Xyron Sticker Maker.


Then layered it onto my freshly gessoed chipboard piece.


The white was too stark so I decided to color over it with a red & gray markers. The Gesso made the red really pop!

I topped the heart with diamond glaze and sprinkled some iridescent glitter over it and sealed it with another layer of diamond glaze.

I also cut out 5 budding Vines from the same patterned cardstock as my card base.

My card base measure 6"x 6", the mat 5"x 5", And the corugated cardboard measure 4.75"x 4.75".


I sentiment and leaves are from Pink and Main's Believe Script and the leaves are from the Florals set.

     

I stamped the sentiment in VersaFine Onyx Black and the leaves in VersaMagic Hint of Pesto.

I hope you enjoyed this project... stay tuned I have a coordinating (but not matching) gift bag to go with this card.

Until then...
HAPPY CRAFTING!!
~ Mitsy



Wednesday, January 20, 2016

The Two of Us

Hello, Crafty Friends... Today, I get to show you some of the newest crafty goodness just released during the Winter CHA. This week, Xyron has partnered with the awesomeness of Basic Grey to bring the best of both amazing companies!

These new papers are FABULOUS!! And, it is just perfect for a lovey-dovey layout for me and my hubster. Which is a nice break from making layouts of the kids. We need to document memories of ALL our loved ones... I mean, what would the kids think?? They'll look into family albums and scrapbooks and no mom or dad in site... um, we gotta change that!! 

So, I made this beautiful layout with me and my husband. Even after all these years we're still so much in love!

Supplies Used
Creation Station (Xyron)
eBrush (Craftwell)
Die-namics Fishtail Flags Stax (My Favorite Things)
Garden Greens Die (Sizzix)
Circles (Darice)
Tim Holtz Distress Ink- Vintage Photo,Tea Dye, Old Paper (Ranger)
Jumbo Java (Tsukineko/ Imagine Crafts)
Gesso (Liquitex)
Diamond Glaze (Judikins)
Stencil 6x6 Template (DCWV)
Corrugated Cardstock (DCWV)
Chipboard
Sharpie Markers- Brown, Green, Orange
PITT Artist Pen XS (Faber-Castell)
Crop-a-dile (We R Memory Keepers)
Scissors (EK Success)
Crepe  Party Streamers
Cheese Cloth
Hemp Twine
Spray Bottle (fulled with water)

First, I drew a wave pattern on the backside of the Compassion paper from the Dear Heart Collection Pack. Then I used my scissors and fussy cut on the lines.

The I distressed all around the edges... first, airbrushing the ends with my eBrush machine and brown Sharpie marker. Then roughed up the edges with a distressing tool. I put a few tears in random areas and rolled back the tears.

 Next, I cut out a few of these cards from the Journaling card sheet. I really love the "Getaway For Two" card... I snipped off the corners, punched a whole, and distressed it with Vintage Photo Distressing Ink and spritzed with water. Then, I threaded a couple pieces of twine through the hole to complete my tag look.

The Element Stickers that came in the Collection pack has a cute little frame that reminds me of a Polaroid picture. It was perfect for this old picture I found of me and my hubby... This was a picture from before we got married and it was from our first Easter brunch together.

I trimmed off the ends of the picture. Then, I distressed this and the card panels using Jumbo Java chalk ink.

 I love all the pattern of paper in this collection!! And the 6x6 paper pad has all the beautiful papers from the Collection pack but miniaturized. EEEEKK!! And, they are absolutely GORGEOUS cut out with the largest  Fishtail Flags die .

I mimicked the waves of my patterned paper  with gesso onto my corrugated cardstock. I din't gesso the entire page, just enough to peek out from behind the patterned paper.


For a little more interest stamped and stenciled more Jumbo Java chalk ink throughout. Then I gave my paper a quick run through my Xyron Creative Station.

Before mounting it onto my corrugated paper I took 2 (20 inch) pieces of crepe paper and cut large scallops into the strips. then randomly folded and creased while attaching it to the backside of my pattern paper. Once attached to my base the crepe paper looks like ruffles!!! 

Next, I ran all the distressed and shaded cards, die-cut pieces, and embellishments through my Xyron Creative Station.


Then just peeled and stuck them onto my layout!! While adhering my pieces I thought it would be great to add more definition to my layout. I doodled lines all around the perimeter of my patterned papers.

I cut out a couple of stem using a Sizzix's Garden Greens die and airbrushed with my eBrush machine with green, brown, and orange Sharpie markers.

To make my epoxy embellishments, I used stickers from the Basic Grey Element Stickers Sheet and covered them in Diamond Glaze. For the really huge one. I die-cut a circle from from chipboard and my leftover Promise paper from earlier. I layered the over strip of cheese cloth and topped it with Diamond glaze to give it a shiny, raised, 3D effect. 

And here is my finished layout after attaching my leaves and embellishments...


Closer View


 I love that bicycle!! It's is stinkin' cute pulling that banner!!



My favorite part of this layout had to be shiny glaze!! Especially on this butterfly.

But I absolutely love this one too... I think because of the size of it... IT'S GINORMOUS!!



I hope you enjoyed today's project. 

I would like to give a very huge THANK YOU to Basic Grey for partnering with Xyron this week!! 
I love all the new collections that released at CHA.. They are absolutely AMAZING!! And this collection has been such a joy to work with! I would almost say I had too much fun... but there's no such thing as too much fun, right?!

Thank you all for stopping by!!

And, until next time...
HAPPY CRAFTING!!
~Mitsy


Monday, January 18, 2016

Planner decor with Craftwell dies

Hey, Crafty Friends!! I know there are many of you that have planners! And many of you are CRAZY over planner accessories!! I'll show you quick and easy ways to accessorize and decorate your planners!!

Need something to decorate those blank pages?? Want to turn your drab/ blah pages to cheerful/ upbeat ones... try stenciling!!

Don't have stencils handy or just can;t find one that suits your mood or personality... make your own!! Dies make awesome stencils!! 


Here, I used my Teresa Collins Pocket Die to make a stencil out of vellum... I know what you;re thinking... " Why vellum?", right?! Well, that's easy, 1)Vellum is transparent. I can see exactly where I'm placing my stencil. And 2) Because vellum is a type of paper, it cuts easily and cleanly in my die-cut machine!


To cut vellum with Teresa Collins dies in my Cut'n'boss, I used the following platform combination:

From Bottom to Top
D Plate
B Plate
A plate
Die (with cutting edge faced up)
Paper
A Plate


Look how well it cut!! No vellum... No problem... parchment paper or wax paper will work in a pinch!! And both are transparent enough for precise stencil placement!


Once your stencil is cut out color over your stencil! I airbrushed over my stencil using an eBrush and pink sharpie marker!! Because I only wanted my pattern inside each individual block, I used blue painter's tape to create a border around each section not to get ink on parts I didn't want sprayed. 

Inking with a sponge dauber or ink pad will work also. I just love the way airbrushing looks on paper, it adds a softness to my result without harsh lines.



Since the blue tape is removable, I was able to move it around and use it over and over. 
It's awesome how much more personality my pages have from simple stenciling... but I wanted to kick it up a notch and decorate my pages even more.

I also made my own decorative planner stickers!! And it was easy-peasy!!

I just die cut several of my Teresa Collins Pocket Dies out of gold foil cardstock. And because I used my cut'n'boss machine (that has a ginormous cutting platform), I was able to cut 14 dies at once... and still had tons of room on it to cut more!

I used the exact platform combination above to cut my gold cardstock.

From Bottom to Top
D Plate
B Plate
A plate
Die (with cutting edge faced up)
Paper
A Plate

Look how awesome these came out with that gold foil cardstock!!


Then I ran all my die-cuts through my Xyron 3" Sticker Maker, transforming them into instant stickers!!

Now, just PEEL & STICK!!

Here is a  picture of my finished planner pages..


I accented my pages further by using a little bit of washi tape, some Pink and Main Planner Stamps and some Teresa Collins stickers and die-cut pieces I had in my stash!

At this angle you can really see the shine of the gold foil cardstock! It's is just gorgeous!!

SUPPLIES USED
Gold Foil Cardstock (Grafix)
Baby Pink Sharpie
Teresa Collins stickers
Washi Tape (Tim Holtz, Other)
Vellum


I hope you enjoyed today's project and are inspired to create your own planner accessories!! They are just too fun not to try!!

Until next time...

HAPPY CRAFTING FRIENDS!!
~ Mitsy