Monday, January 30, 2017

Happy Everything!

Hello Crafty Friends!!
It's been a long month and I'm finally getting back to my normal crafting routine. So I decided to perk things up with a bright and cheerful card with lots of warm colors. We've had nasty weather off and on here in Texas and I wanted to make something "HAPPY"!!


For today's project, I decided to use a paper stack that always puts a smile on my face...

It is full with lots of bright colors, florals (not much flowers blooming around here lately), and lots of fun and whimsical patterns!

Other Supplies Used
Autumn Leaves Mini Stack (DCWV)
Stephanie Barnard's Drop-Ins Card Front Dies (Sizzix)
Die- Succulents (Stamps of Life)
Die- Succulents TWO (Stamps of Life)
Mega Runner (Xyron)
Color Pencils - 057, 059, & 101 (Spectrum Noir)
Odorless Mineral Spirits
Blending Stumps
3D Dots (EK Success)
Hemp Twine
Glossy Accents
2way Glue Pen

I started of by die cutting these adorable cacti out of green striped paper from DCWV's Autumn Leaves Mini Stack. I used the same striped paper for all three types of cacti. I die cut one each of the prickly cacti and two of the leafy.

Instead of inking my edges I used color pencils and a blending solution to add depth to my die-cuts. These papers are very high quality and didn't smudge, run, or warp while I did this technique.


I also shaded the die cut pots as well. outlining first with color pencil then going over and blending with the blending solution (aka- odorless mineral spirits). 

I added foam adhesive dots to make the lips of the pots pop. Then added foam adhesive to the back of the cacti as well to make them three dimensional.

Next, I worked on the card base.

I started with these premade A7 Black Cards.

Then I matted it using this colorful honeycomb paper from the Hello Darlin Stack. It was one of the sheets from this stack that immediately grabbed my attention. It is so bright and playful! If that doesn't just scream HAPPY I don't know what does!! In this same stack I also found this sunny yellow paper and a fresh green paper that went together beautifully!

I cut each piece at the following measurements...

Honeycomb: at 4-3/4" x 6-3/4"
Black mat: 4" x 6"
Yellow: 3-3/4"x 5-3/4"
Green: 1-1/2"x 5-3/4"

I shade the edges of the yellow and green papers. Then used my Xyron Mega Runner to layer the all together.

I thought this "Happy Everything" sentiment drop-ins die went perfectly with the HAPPY feel of my card. So I cut out two copies of this die cut, one in black and one in white. Then used a glue pen and attached them together, shifting it slightly to make the black look like a shadow. 

I attached all my die cuts to my card front and pulled my little leafy plant stem forward for added dimension.

Lastly, I attached little bows of twine to the front of each pot.


And here is my finished card...


Here is a close-up...


I really love how this card turned out! And it really does make me HAPPY just looking at it.

We need more BRIGHT and CHEERFUL in our everyday lives...
And this was an awesome start to what I know is going to be an awesome week!

Hope you all find your HAPPY. 
Mine was in my craft room!!





Sunday, January 15, 2017

Unicorns, Unicorns, and more Unicorns

Hello again, Crafty Friends!! 
There is going to be lots going on within the next couple of weeks!! I have a couple major upcoming events and will be gone all next week. I'll be in Arizona for a workshop and for Creativation 2017... and won't be returning til the next week. You may or may not hear much from me till then. I'll try my hardest to at least report in on my Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts. So if you don't follow me on any of those you may want to start!!

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But before I go, I wanted to share with you all these adorable cards I made using Pink and Main's Magical Unicorns stamp set. 



Other Supplies Used
Somebunny Stamp Set (Pink and Main)
Squeakheart Stamp Set (Pink and Main)
Colored Pencils (Faber-Castell, Prismacolor)
Momento Tuxedo Black Ink (Imagine Crafts/ Tsukineko)
Low Odor Mineral Spirits
Chalklets (EK Success)
White Gel Pen (Sakura)
Originals Dies (Sizzix)
Tag Builder Blueprints 3 (My Favorite Things)
3D Dots (EK Success)
Twine
Star Rhinestones

I used the Magical Unicorns stamp set to create all three cards!!


For this card I used The "Sending" from the Somebunny set to and added it to the "lots of love for you" from the Squeakheart set to customize my own sentiment.





Thursday, January 12, 2017

Winter Care Kit

Hello Crafty Friends!! 
It's been a while but I'm back! This will be my last project of the term for Team Xyron. What an amazing ride!! It has been an absolute pleasure working with so many talented and creative ladies and many more amazing companies!! Hopefully I'll be back again for next term to do it all over again! I love my Xyron Family!!

Well, as you all know, it's still winter (aka , cold and flu season). And my household has been going through a bout of the sniffles lately. Partially due to allergies and the other  part because of the weather. 

Our Texas weather is inconsistent and highly erratic. We recently had all of winter poured into one weekend. One day we had 70-80 degree weather and then the next day it dropped to 19... what the heck?!! And that is why we get sick so easily. Warm, cold, warm, cold, wet dry wet, dry. Why can't the weather just make up it's mind already!! AAHHH!!!

My family isn't the only ones affected. Lots of peeps have been getting sick. So I decided to make Winter Care Kits for friends and family who get hijacked by coughs and sniffles!


Supplies Used
Eclips 2 (Sizzix)
eCAL 2 Software (Craft Edge)
Blazing Poppy Die (Heartfelt Creations)
Get Well (Pink and Main)
VersaMagic Midnight Black (Imagine Crafts/ Tsukineko)
Brads
Glossy Accents (Ranger)


The boxes I used to make these kits are a FREE SVG download from SVG Cuts. It is their Cozy Socks Gift Box . I downloaded it onto my computer, extracted the files, then opened them using my electronic cutting software.

One panel is too big to fit on one page, so I opened each piece onto their own page.


Then loaded my paper onto the cutting mat and into my cutter, then let the machine do all the work! It was done cutting in no time!


I loaded a different, yet coordinating, paper for each panel. All paper is from DCWV's Elegant Holiday Stack.
Once my panels were done cutting, I folded them on their perforated crease lines. Next, I used my Xyron Mega Runner on the bottom and side flaps (basically all the narrow flap), leaving the top open flaps adhesive free. 
I used my bone folder to burnish my flaps down securely for maximum adhesion.

 Then, I inserted my "Care Kit" items. Nice warm socks for cold days. Facial tissue for running noses, Cough drops for sore throats. And there still a little more room for packets of tea or pain reliever if I wanted to add those. It's a pretty nice sized box!

 I decided that this box was too plain even with all the pretty paper. So I made a belly band for it.
I cut a strip of paper measuring 1.5" x 12". Then scored it at 2-1/4", 4", 8", and 9-7/8". Folded on the score lines, slightly overlapped the ends and adhered with my Xyron Mega Runner.

I found a tag in my Elegant Holidays stack that went perfect with my box, I cut it out and stamped it with "get well soon" just under the For You.

Then I die cut flower petals and made a couple blooms (one large, one small). And also attached to the belly band.

And here is my finished Winter Care Kit...




Hope you enjoyed this project...

And maybe even make your own Winter Care Kits of your own!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Mitsy