50th Birthday + RAKs!

A fellow math teacher celebrated his 50th birthday this week, so of course I had to break out the number background from the Silhouette store:

(I'm still playing with the depth-of-field on my new lens.)

In the Silhouette Studio, I cut out the center circle, then welded a circular ring to make the window opening.  The dotted paper is from My Mind's Eye Lime Twist "Out of the Blue" paper pack (more on my love for the Lime Twist line a wee bit later), adhered to the back of the number background, then pop-dotted onto the lime green base.  The "5" and "0" just didn't seem right by themselves, so I went back and made an offset shadow for them from black paper, then super-pop-dotted them so they would be above the number background.

And that was not the only birthday celebration this week...mine was on Monday (not 50th, though!) and I got lots of happy mail!  Here they are, in order of arrival:

Samswindle was certainly on top of things as a member of the BRAK group on Splitcoast! I got to enjoy this card all month.  I love that happy pool-ready moose and of course the pink bow just makes me happy.  Definitely put me in the "relax" mode when start-of-school stress started to take over. Make sure to check out her gallery--she has many fabulous cards there.  Thanks, Sam!

Speaking of school, Lindsey picked the perfect apple for the teacher!  The background paper she made herself by using the acrylic block technique, doesn't it look awesome?  You can read all about all the trials she had while making this card on her blog, Bashful Blogging.  She also included a cute little Christmas stamp--thanks, Linds!

Two things I love: pink and long dogs.  Emily must really know me well since she put both of them together to make this fabulous card.  Look at all those happy borders!  You can read her post about it on her blog, Art from the Heart.  Thanks to Emily, I'm also the owner of an entire spool of honeydew twine from the Twinery! Thanks, Em!

Ang broke out the corgi for this card, and a *blinged* corgi at that!  Could that speech bubble be any cuter?  It's like she knew how much Addison loves to bark.  Angela likes to keep her cards a surprise, so this one isn't on her Paper Cupboard blog yet, but you can go over and see the absolutely stunning set of CAS cards that were part of her amazing stampy gift she gave me.  Thanks, Ang!

I also thought you might be interested in seeing my Gallery Idol loot!

I haven't even had a chance to use any of it yet, but I have big stampy plans for this weekend.  Also remember if you promoted me on your blog to use the "contact me" form at the top of my blog to send me your name and address so you can share in the goodies!

Remember when I said I'd talk more about Lime Twist later?  Well, now is later!  I ordered 8(!) paper pads from Two Peas (thanks to my sister's birthday gift certificate) and they accidentally sent My Mind's Eye "Life of the Party" instead of "Fly a Kite."  They are going to send the correct one out, but told me not to worry about returning the incorrect one-how's that for awesome customer service?  Their mistake is your gain!  Since I already have this pad (and love it), I'll give it away to a random commenter on this post.  Let's say Sunday night, midnight central time?

Whew!  When it rains, it pours around this blog doesn't it?  Now I'm going to go get stampy so I can share some more things with you this week!

Supplies:

InLinkz.com

Gallery Idol Final Round: Totally Rad!

Vote here!

I'm, like, so totally stoked to be in the top five, dudettes!  I was waiting for someone to go "psych!" right after I found out! 

But since no one did, that meant I had to make a "party trio."  And since I've been at the beach all week (did my super secret robber-thwarting scheduled posts fool you?), I only had Sunday afternoon to pull everything together.  It was a little wild at the Corgi household for a few hours, especially since I've run out of both "good" white paper and ATG tape!  I went with an Eighties party theme and here is my trio:

In the Eighties, it was not a party until you brought out your pink radio!   I think it was the standard birthday gift for everyone I knew for a year, along with the Cocktail soundtrack.  So to get this party trio started, I made the radio card using my Silhouette.

If you're a bit fuzzy on the original, you can see it here on the Victoria and Albert museum website, which just makes my day that it is on there.  I made the entire radio (except the cassette tape) from scratch in Silhouette Studio, even trying the print-and-cut feature for the first time (which is awesome).  I scored the tape deck at the bottom and only attached the bottom portion so it opens to pull out the cassette:

You could easily put a twenty dollar bill in the cassette (definitely no gift cards in the Eighties, although they might have been better than trying to return 3 extra Cocktail soundtracks to Sam Goody's).

And what tune always gets a party started?

I modified a Silhouette studio bag download by enlarging it to take up two sheets and adding the song title cut-out.  Cutting the letters out of the bag and then backing it with a different color is about 1,000 times easier than trying to adhere each letter, my friend.  Plus it looks cooler, too, right?

Finally, I had great plans for a roller skate candy holder...which probably would have worked better if I had some "good" white paper.  Although I'm thinking now I could have adhered two sheets of "crap" white paper together to make it stronger but that is now, and this is then:

In real life it's a little lot wobbly.  I had a roller skate image from this Skate On card, so I just enlarged it and added some stripes and a velcro strap because, duh, it's the Eighties!  Doesn't hearing that rrrrrrrrrip just take you back in time?  I cut out two skates and sandwiched a box between them.  Then I went to fill the box up with Hersey's kisses and someone thought that was a good time to bring up how center of gravity works.  This is Gallery Idol, Mr Corgi; I've got no time for your science jibber-jabber!   Instead, I folded some skinny strips of paper into "L"s and adhered one to the back of each wheel to give it at least a little bit more stability (and then, shhh, filled most of the box with tissue paper and just put some kisses on top). 

I really am pinching myself over here--I cannot believe I've made it into the final round, especially with all the fabulously talented gals that have been playing!  And it's all thanks to YOU so I have a special present for you to enjoy:

Photo from Zooborns

Ok, so you don't get to keep him, but isn't seeing that little koala face enough of a present?  I thought so.  "What's that, Unnamed Koala Joey?  You'd like everyone to go vote?  Well, if you say so, Unnamed Koala Joey!" 

UKJ also wanted me to tell you to come back and visit tomorrow because I have even more exciting news to share!

Gallery Idol Round 3: You're Sofa Away From Me

Vote here!

This was my brain on Friday morning:

WOOO HOOO!!  WOO HOO!!  PARTY TIME!  I'M IN THE TOP TEN GALLERY IDO-----insert record scratch sound----Fabric?  FABRIC?!?  Are you kidding me?!?!  I've never used fabric on a card before and only have about 3 pieces of fabric in the house and now they're going to make fabric the round three challenge?  Seriously?!?

Ok, ok, think, Meg, think.  What could you use fabric for?  Ruffles?  Flowers?  Or maybe, with a little luck and a little engineering and a whole lotta scor-tape, you could use it to make this:

Ok, ok, good thinking, Meg.  Now, what type of sentiment would you use for a sofa...sofa...sofa....oh, Mr Corgi, go cue up your Dire Straits!



(Ok, I promise I'm not usually this video-happy on my blog, but I couldn't not put this song on this post.)

Now all that was left to do was find a sofa template, cut it out, get fabric, then figure out how to cover it so it looked upholstered!  Well, I couldn't find a good sofa to use, so I made my own by tracing a picture of one in Silhouette Studio.  The legs didn't work from the picture, so I made my own by tracing a picture of a baseball bat, then adding a circle and an ellipse to the ends.   Then I used the internal offset feature to trace the inside for the two cushions.  I cut everything out and then spent some time at JoAnne's.  Did you know the smallest amount of fabric you can buy is one inch?  I need a little bit more than that, so my total amount for fabric was $1.25 and I have enough left over to make a bajillion more couches.

To make each cushion, I started by adhering three layers of interfacing to each cardstock shape (using scor-tape), then cutting to size.  Then I placed it, interfacing side down, on top of the wrong side of the fabric, then folded the fabric over and adhered it to the back, using lots of scor-tape and cutting off the excess.  Then I used my paper piercer and guide to punch the holes for the brads from the back of the cushion and inserted the brads for a tufted look.  The pillow was the same idea, only I used a 1.25 inch square and a button brad that matched perfectly!  Such a fancy couch need some wallpaper, so I used the long decorative stamp from Waltzingmouse's Very Vintage Christmas to make some.  This is why having a stamp index is so handy-I never would have turned to that set for this stamp, but there it was in the "background/flourishes" section, just calling out to be used!

I've got everything crossed over here that can be...even Addison's paws!  Thanks again for all of your support for the past two weeks!!

Gallery Idol Round Two!

(pssst...make sure you check the post below this one for my Growing in Unity week and a chance to win a Unity stamp set.)

Click to go vote!

Whew, what a weekend I had trying to "creatively" use die cuts.  I made a card on Friday that involved probably 100 die cuts that just didn't do it for me when I finished it (but I'll still share it sometime soon).  Saturday I worked on another card in the morning that made me happy, but wasn't sure if everyone else would love it as much as I did (but I'll still share it sometime soon).  Finally, on Saturday afternoon, right in the middle of my shower (when all the best inspiration hits), I came up with an idea that resulted in this card:

SQUEE!

I probably should have warned you about the sweetness level of this card, since it is pretty high.  Everything on the card except the sentiment stamp (from Verve) and the actual swing is a Silhouette die cut.  I used "autumn tree branch" multiple times for the tree, welding them together and cutting them out (the tree is about 8 inches tall).  I used PTI dark chocolate for the card base, and cut out the empty space, leaving about a one-inch strip down the right side and a quarter inch strip along the bottom to which I attached the tree and grass (probably should have taken a picture, but I'm sure you get the idea).  

Then I cut out the leaves.  I actually placed them where I wanted them in the Silhouette studio, then cut them all out in their places (instead of just copying 50 leaves and cutting them out in a line). Then I could use the negative portion of the paper to help place the leaves where I had planned.  I spread some Elmer's glue onto a piece of wax paper and carefully used a foam brush to dot the back of each leave and adhere it.  I have a newfound love for Elmer this weekend.  It dries quick and it stays!  I'm sure Elmer feels sad that he doesn't get as much love in the paper crafting world as he should.  

The girl was a silhouette on a swing already, so I edited out the swing portion and cut her out.  Then I scored her knees and attached her to the swing (which is a rectangle scored and folded into a box), then curved her a bit so she'd sit back in the swing. I punched two holes in the swing and used Twinery twine to tie it to the tree. I used scor-tape on the back of her hands so she could hold the "ropes."  I also added a little bow because every girl needs a bow.  Paper used: American Crafts brown and green, SU Sweet Slumber, October Afternoon 5 & Dime, and Echo Park Springtime.

I'd really, really, really appreciate your vote!  Go here to see all the lovely entries and choose your fave!

An exciting week ahead!

Thank you so much for all the votes on my Gallery Idol card.  I made it to the next round, which is "creative use of die cuts."  Eek!  After seeing all of the fabulous DIY embellishments, I know there's going to be some tough competition. 

The voting will start Monday afternoon at noon Mountain (2 Eastern), which is also when I'll have my card posted here.  You'll also want to stop by all next week because I'm going to be the Growing In Unity Gal.  I'll be showcasing a Unity project every day and there will also be a Unity kit up for grabs.

I'm also going to be in a fun blog hop on Wednesday that you won't want to miss.  So much crafting to do, I better get back to it.

Thanks again for all the support, emails, promoting, comments, and voting.  The warm fuzzies from all of you are the best part of this competition!

Gallery Idol Top Twenty!

So the competition for Paper Crafts Gallery Idol starts TODAY!  You can see the top twenty and VOTE here. Our first challenge was to create a DIY embellishment.   I thought and thought and thought.  And thought.  Ate some chips.  Then thought and thought and thought.  Pinterested.   Thought.  Played fetch with the dog.  Thought.  Talked to Mr Corgi and of course Mr Corgi was talking about the last shuttle launch (sniff!) and finally it came to me!  I could make a space ship....

Out of a Coke can! I remembered seeing something about coke can flowers somewhere so I did a little google research and it seemed easy enough, since many of the crafts were recommended for elementary-aged children.

HA.  Maybe if you don't like elementary-aged children very much.  I'm not saying it was extraordinary difficult, but it was no walk in the park, either.  So I'm going to fill you in on all the ten mistakes I made so you can make your own metal embellishment with carefree ease.

1) Yes, these cans are sharp!  Especially when you first cut them (cut the two ends off with a utility knife, then you can use scissors to cut down the side and clean up the edges).  I never cut myself, but I'm pretty sure there are metal pieces floating around in me where they weren't any before.  Probably should have taken their suggestion to at least wear gardening gloves, except my gardening gloves are in the trash after a poison sumac encounter.

1A) BONUS MISTAKE!  Poison sumac does not always follow the rule of "leaves of three, let it be." Sometimes it can just look like a leafy vine.  You should probably not do any weeding in order to avoid it.

2) The embossing buddy is your buddy!  Don't forget to use it unless you would like a full embossed rectangle.

3) The can is metal. Metal gets hot when you heat it!  Adhere a strip of paper to the back (longer than your metal piece) to act as a handle.  Do this before you stamp it.

4) Even if you used your buddy, you're not going to get a perfectly clean embossing (or maybe you will and I'm just not lucky).  Use a small dry paintbrush to brush away excess specs. Use a black copic or sharpie after embossing to clean up any lines.

5) Cut it out before you color.  Depending on the size of your stamp, it may still want to curl.  I pulled it over the end of my desk and that helped a bit, then I stamped and cut out another ship from chipboard (aka cardboard from back of paper pad), then used glossy effects to adhere them and then sent them through the Cuttlebug.

6) A little glossy effects goes a long way.

7) Put some paper and blank chipboard (aka cereal box) in the Cuttlebug unless you want your rocket embossed with all the previous cuts on your B plate.

Doesn't this look like something you'd find in Dr Horrible's lair?

8) SHARPIE, not copic.  No, no, no copic.  Unless you're going for a distressed finish.

9) The flames are from ethernet wires that Mr Corgi was using to network the house.  They were different colors, though, so I used stickles to recolor them.  Curl the wires (I wrapped them around the paintbrush from mistake #4 and the sharpie from #8) before you stickle, otherwise the stickle comes off like a snakeskin.


10) Ok, not really mistakes but the rest of the stuff that I did: I accordion-folded a two-inch strip of paper and used that to attach the shuttle.  The letters I cut using the Silhouette from  DCWV metallic paper, and the background paper is October Afternoon Campfire collection.  The space ship is from The Cat's Pajamas.

11) BONUS MISTAKE:  FORGETTING TO VOTE!!  One mistake you DO NOT want to do.  :)  So go there now!