Gina's Creative Chaos

First Birthday Party

2016-02-29T14:15:00.000-06:00

My granddaughter's First Birthday party was a huge success. These are just a few of the decorations. We actually had 3 rooms all decorated and hosted about 55 people. You only turn one once! My Silhouette was kept busy! Our theme was cute as a button and I will add some of those decorations later. Cupcates were decorated with Necco candy wafer with sprinkles to look like buttons. I used corn syrup to attach.

First Birthday Poster

2016-02-18T23:38:00.001-06:00

I'm busy making preparations for my grand daughter's first birthday party. What a party it will be! Over 60 guests are expected to this shindig. But she only turns 1 once.

I have a new Pinterest board ....Birthday Party. I love the chalkboard signs so many are making so this is my version.

I created it with my Silhouette software, saved it as a png file at 300dpi then saved it to my thumbdrive. Office Max printed the 20 x 30 inch poster on matte paper so I can smudge a little chalk on it. I also had an extra one made for her scrapbook 8 x 11 size approximately and another 12 x 18 ish size laminated for a yard sign the day of the party. Under $20 with a coupon from Office Max.

Kay from Clever Someday has a YouTube tutorial explaining how to save a Studio file to a png or jpeg.

Thanks Kay!

More birthday projects to be revealed.....!

Crocheting with Love

2015-03-03T12:46:00.001-06:00

I have been crocheting in anticipation of the arrival of my first grandchild. As soon as I learned we were expecting a girl I started perusing the patterns on Ravelry and buying pink and peach yarn.
Christina Elizabeth arrived February 27, 2015 wide eyed and healthy!

I am most proud of my first Corner to Corner blanket. This C2C was made with Serenity Baby and Caron Simply Soft yarns.

I also made a cuddly baby blanket w Bernat Blanket yarn. Though quick it took 5 skeins for the body and borders. But it is so luscious and feels like chenille.

This little hat was from a pattern found on Ravelry. I will add the source later.

More Crochet Projects

2013-12-17T01:14:00.001-06:00

Just thought I would quickly show what I have been up to the last few weeks. I have crocheted several scarves for Christmas presents, DAR silent auction, or to keep. The Mindless scarf is my favorite at this time. I love the self scalloping edge which looks nice folded back lapel style. I just pin under the "lapel" to hold in place. I will get on Ravelry to give proper credit to the designers of these wonderful items. Or you can go to my Ravelry site for more information.

Mindless Scarf

Fast and Easy Cowl

Flight of Fancy Scarf

Artfully Simple Infinity

Autumn, Time to Crochet

2013-11-03T22:40:00.000-06:00

Go Cards- Cardinal Red October Cowl
Infinity Scarf

Cooler weather means time to get back to crocheting. I truly enjoyed watching our St. Louis Cardinals win the games necessary to propel them into the World Series. I worked on this Red October infinity scarf during many of these nail biting games. At the end Boston was a stronger opponent... but I will have this beautiful scarf to remember the outstanding pitching of Wacha, Rosenthal and Wainswright. This scarf was adapted from the Calming Cowl by Indigo Dot found on Ravelry.com.

Teal Chi-Town Cowl
Caron's Soft yarn in Pagoda made this cowl luscious to the touch .
Pattern from Kathy Kelly found on Ravelry.
I made it continuous and also added some picots as well as slight variations.

This fringed cowl I made last year and wore often. I think it was Red Heart yarn from Walmart
and a V-stitch pattern from Jennifer Dickerson Fiberflux.blogspot.com . I made it flat then slip stitched it. Next time I would make it a continuous round. I love the way the purple fell into this pattern ! More of these to come.

Fringed V-Stitch Cowl

Artfully Simple Infinity Scarf

These Artfully Simple Infinity Scarves are fun to make and the added button adds to their appeal. These have been in the top 20 crochet patterns listed on Ravelry.com for several weeks. So simple you can whip them up in no time! Pattern courtesy of Tamera Kelly.

Wedding Glasses

2013-07-31T21:06:00.001-05:00

Wedding Glasses done in vinyl using my Silhouette Cameo.

Great Vibes font Leafy Flourish from the Silhouette store

Font " Shit Happens" from Font Squirrel on Champagne flutes
Font Great Vibes on wine glasses
Flourish "Leafy Flourish" from Silhouette store mirrored
Vinyl GT5 from H&H Sign Supply
Clear medium tack transfer paper
Wordmark.it to display fonts
Glasses from Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

5 bridesmaids glasses
2 sets of wine glasses for parents
4 Champagne flutes for Best man, Maid of Honor, bride and groom
1 pair of larger wine goblets for bride and groom
8 shot glasses - etched with L (not shown)

The Happy Couple

Review of Wordmark.it a font previewing app

2013-07-31T20:32:00.000-05:00

I recently stumbled upon Wordmark, a free app from the Google Chrome store that will display a short phrase or group of letters using the fonts loaded on your computer. Often I think I like a font only to find a letter not looking like I expected or not liking the ampersand symbol. With this app I can quickly scroll through my fonts, select which ones to compare, print a listing of my favorites for reference, or show my preferred fonts to a client. I love it. Here is a screen capture :

With over 1200 fonts on my computer, I can quickly get mired down as to which font to go with. Wordmark helps me to narrow down my selections. And did I mention it is free! Look for it in your app store. I checked it for malware and according to McAfee it was safe to use.

Maybe I will spend some time and delete some of my never used fonts......or not.

Sympathy Card

2013-05-30T22:56:00.001-05:00

From Silhouette Files

Card file Nature Flourish Frame Card

Bird welded on Bird on Branch

Envelope Artisan Envelope ( reduced bottom fold )

finished size 5.25 x 5.25

lined with solid gray cardstock

Hero Arts stamp sentiment

Sentiment and bird on branch repeated inside

Negative from bird used to chalk envelope flap - Lavender Dewdrop

Spring Snow Digital Layout

2013-03-24T22:32:00.002-05:00

I spent a few minutes using My Memories Suite v4 software to complete a layout tonight while it is still snowing! Our St. Louis area received a record 12+ inches of snow today. A friend of mine made a snow Easter Bunny which was pretty funny. My little Sugar wanted no part of the snow once it was belly high on her, but Chloe, on the other hand, loved it. My kitchen floor is strewn with dog towels and will need a good mopping once the dogs stop coming in encrusted with snow. I was too busy taking photos to clean house today ! ok, whats new?

The software is very user friendly and I combined My Memories embellishments with some Samantha Walker digital paper I had handy. ( Will identify later) It was a blank page and then drag and drop some photos, mat and shadow then add the elements and text.
Happy Spring Ya'll !

My Memories Suite first digital scrapbook page

2013-03-13T19:29:00.001-05:00

My Memories Suite v4 first project

I am now tackling Digital Scrapbooking. Not that I need another hobby, mind you, but I need to justify my hording of great digital items. I blame it on Samantha Walker. First I downloaded her designs with the intent of using them in print and cut projects with my Silhouette Cameo. I see all the creative work done over at Jessica Sprague and I think I could do this as well. I have Photoshop Elements 10 which I am using to edit photos for clients and myself. I am strictly self taught, and must admit I have not invested in a class. It is on my to do list.

I was contacted by My Memories Suite to test and review their v4 software. What you see is my first project. They were very generous in providing me with their program and extra spending credit for some basic papers and embellishments. I decided for my first project I would see how easy it is to use digital products I already own. I used a Design House Digital line by Audrey Neal called "Bit of Luck". Can you say Drag and Drop ? So easy. And no glue to dry. It was a bit tricky saving this as a jpeg rather than the album format they default to, but I had only spent 20 minutes playing with the program. I am sure there are zillions of tutorials out there to check out.....another day. They also provided me with a coupon offer giveaway for my followers. Cool. I will set that up in a few days.

Shopping the My Memories Suite site is a bit overwhelming. So much to choose from and the prices seem very reasonable. I will show you the vintage album I'm going to make as a tribute to my mom, using the template album from their site. So.....Stay tuned !

Any one else familiar with My Memories Suite ? Opinions? How many of you dabble in digital scrapbooking ? What software program do you use?

Happy Valentine's Day !

2013-02-14T11:14:00.002-06:00

Samantha Walker's Silhouette files cut perfectly on my Cameo. I cut an offset to line the cover with glitter card stock . I cut the heart flourish from the bottom of the card stock, thus utilizing the positive and negative cuts. Quick, easy, and beautiful.
For these it takes longer to make the envelope than the card!

How cute is this ? I used the Lettering Delights Great Scotty cut file. Took advantage of print and cut features of my Cameo. Added a snowflake, and another scotty for the inside. I love hybrid card making and now that I have the hang of Print and Cut I have far less glue on my fingers!

I am working on the darling Sheri McCully "Lockets of Love" cuts. Still need to apply them to my Whitman Chocolate boxes. Pictures to post later.

You can still get Valentine Day Special prices today at Lettering Delights and Silhouette Online Stores. I have a Lettering Delights link for you to the right.

Hugs and Kisses!

Eagle Scout Card

2013-02-11T13:12:00.000-06:00

I liked the way this Eagle Scout card turned out and it will be quick to reproduce with my Cameo now that all the tracing, simplifying, shadowing / offset and welding has been done.

I started with this Eagle image I found from Google images, from a couple of years ago. I selected this one because the black and white is easy to trace with my Silhouette Designer software

I traced, took off High pass filter and got pretty close to what I wanted by maneuvering my threshold. I decided I would cut my eagle in a dark rich brown and lay it on white and so I enlarged a couple of areas and also deleted some small areas that I thought would be problematic.

When I was happy with my eagle I decided to cut the card with the white offset welded to a window on my card front. I just needed to position my eagle at a slight angle with the wing tips overlapping the window opening. I did not center my window opening on this card, but next time will. It was easy to glue my brown intricate cut eagle to the offset area using Zig 2 Way Glue. I lined the inside of the card front flap with DCWV blue textured card stock, leaving a white area to write my congratulatory note. I added a bit of metallic gold with a Sharpie to the front of the card, but would skip this perhaps next time.

If I can teach myself how to do this, you can too! Thanks to tutorials from Kay at Clever Someday, I am tracing designs without much difficulty !

DC, ch 2 ,DC skip and repeat.... My new Hobby

2013-01-22T20:59:00.000-06:00

I picked up a crochet hook and after watching some YouTube I am now rediscovering this craft. My mother crocheted back in the 70's -80's, and I would watch her, occasionally start a project but I don't remember finishing anything. Mom made ponchos for my sister and I our of granny squares.

I have finished a wide scarf and then seamed a few inches in the back to make it a hooded scarf. Then I started making 8" granny squares with plans for an afghan. My A.D.D. kicked in and I started this scarf this morning. I love this yarn. An unwrapped orphan I found on the shelves of my local Jo-Ann store. It has a luscious hand, just buttery soft and I loved the colors. I stumbled upon a great blog site called Fiber Flux .blogspot.com. The easy to follow pattern I am using is from that site and is called Blueberry Pie by Jennifer Dickerson. She actually has several patterns I love, and may try next.
I took the above shot with my new Nikon D7000 and a 35mm 1.8 lens using available afternoon sunlight, no tripod and a wide aperture. (On the fly) Perhaps I should have gotten the scarf in focus instead of the yarn ! LOL. More photos as I progress.

National Blogging Day of Remembrance

2012-12-17T15:55:00.001-06:00

(as originally posted in Craftaholics anonymous.)

As my prayers are added to the ocean of prayers washing over the Newtown families, I ask that we keep this attitude of compassion throughout the holiday season and beyond.
God Bless you.

2012-12-14T13:23:00.000-06:00

Glass Block gifts for 2012

As usual, I hurriedly finished my blocks, wrapped them and gave them out at our family Christmas party, without taking photos ! Here is a photo of one and I Photoshopped out the smiling recipients face. ( She didn't want her picture on a blog). On this particular 8 x 8 block I used etching cream twice on the face prior to applying my vinyl design. Although the block was thoroughly cleaned with both soapy water and then alcohol, my etching was less then perfect. I left the cream on for more than an hour each time. This is the case with many tempered glass products. It was enough to obscure the glass and diffuse a light placed inside. For other projects I still prefer the look of a piece of vellum placed inside and secured with a glue dot. The vellum method is quick, clean and cheap. All in favor raise your glitter dusted hand.

I combined a couple of the Nativity files I found on the Silhouette online site. It was tempting to buy them all during their big sale the beginning of December. If I find a photo of the other blocks I will post them as well.

Merry Christmas my crafty friends!

Gina's Place Block

2012-11-25T16:29:00.001-06:00

I whipped this block up quickly just before guests arrived for a cocktail party. I used the Silhouette file called retro girl and then chose Lobster font for my text. This was cut with my Cameo beautifully, without snags, which made weeding easy. I used H&H vinyl. Glue dots were used to secure the translucent vellum to the inside of the 8 inch block and they are barely noticeable. While I could place a small set of lights inside, I found it easier to just place the block in front is a small lamp I keep on my baker's rack. This looked great sitting next to pretty martini glasses and the glow reminded me of a bar sign. I noticed a few bubbles in the retro girls but a warm blow dryer, needle prick and Popsicle stick burnishing should take care of that.

This is how I Trick or Treat

2012-11-03T16:30:00.000-05:00

We only have a few homes in our subdivision, sitting on 4+ acre lots. Too much distance for trick or treaters, and so for several years I have made up treat packages to deliver to the neighborhood families. I understand this is now a much anticipated tradition for the kids around here- Treats from "Miss Gina".

These Halloween boxes were simple to put together this year so I ended up making them for all my neighbors and co-workers. The pumpkin boxes held a fistfull of candy as did the candy dishes. These were made available from SVGcuts. Watching Mary put them together in her videos gives me the confidence to tackle her projects. The pumpkin is from Gimme Candy Boxes while the candy dish is from Midnight Jamboree. I used Bewitched paper pad from DCWV as well as Michael's 65lb weight Recollections black cardstock. My Cameo cut them flawlessly - of course!

These turned out so cute that they just may be repeated next year !

Time to get Busy !

2012-10-12T21:45:00.001-05:00

Time to get busy with some Halloween decorations and I am loving SVG cuts offering this season because they are cute and simple. The kind of projects I will actually finish in time ! I plan to make the little pumpkin boxes and send them to the elementary schools I have worked at recently ( substitute school nurse) as a little token of appreciation to the clinic staff members who have been awesome. The plastic covered basket will be perfect to send goodies to my sons who are away at college but still like treats from home, anyone say chocolate chip cookies ? I found the cardstock on sale at Joanns called Bewitched from DCWV.

Posting pictures when I complete these ! Go to SVG Cuts through my link and watch the video Mary did showing the simplicity of these kits !

Time Flew By....my youngest son graduating high school

2012-05-16T02:12:00.000-05:00

First Day of School
Josh being led to the bus stop by big brother, Brandon 1999

Josh Today
A senior, heading off to college this fall

Where did time go? I remember so clearly Josh heading off to kindergarten, so excited to get to finally ride the bus with his older brother, Brandon. Today was his last day of high school classes. Tomorrow he will go to school for a pancake breakfast followed by the "last recess". Graduation ceremony is Saturday followed by "grad night party. My last opportunity to play the "room mom" role I have loved. OK, so no room mom in high school, but I was still able to help plan banquets and award night events. My days are numbered !!!. I am using my Cameo to cut out beach theme decorations for Grad Night, and still need to get some more grad cards made up.

I enjoyed photographing Josh and his friends for senior pictures. I used Picasso to put together his collage, and then had Shutterfly print them. I also had a nice mug made with his swim team photo, then personalized. It turned out nice!

Life is good. My sons have blessed me beyond measure.

Favorite Fonts for Monograms

2012-04-18T18:23:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to share some fonts I use for monograms. Denise over at Paper Pastimes has these available as split SVGs ready to cut at a very affordable price. Well worth $5 not to hassle with splitting them evenly.

Favorite Fonts for Monograms

AMPERZAND ABCDEFGHIJKLMN

OPQURSTUVWXYZ

CARIBBEAN TOOL ABCDEFGHIJKLMN

OPQURSTUVWXYZ

REMESLO ABCDEFGHIJKLMN

OPQURSTUVWXYZ

REGAL ABCDEFGHIJKLMN

OPQURSTUVWXYZ

ZALLMAN CAPS ABCDEFGHIJKLMN OPQURSTUVWXYZ

ZAZOU ABCDEFGHIJKLMN

OPQURSTUVWXYZ

you like me...100 followers on Pinterest !

2012-03-06T23:50:00.002-06:00

follow me on Pinterest GinaDecor

I was so excited to find 100 followers of my Pinterest boards. I am up to 2809 pins on my 57 boards. I could do some thinning out but sometimes find pins that belong in multiple categories. Ever find something amazing and then hesitate...didn't I already pin this?....oh what the heck and pin it again. So far there are no pinning police. One pet peeve is when a Facebook friend shares Every Time she pins something. hello...uncheck that little facebook box. But if it really is knock me over with a feather as I drop dead cuz it's that amazing....then please proceed with that Facebook share.

Pinterest wish......I wish there was a rearrange button inside the individual boards so I could organize them. And I wish there was a quick drag and drop when I accidentally plop that cupcake on my Puppy Love board.

Happy Pinning!

2012-03-06T00:09:00.001-06:00

Lettering Delights is celebrating 20,000 fans on their Facebook page by giving away 20 freebies. Limited time.
Go to their Facebook page and scroll through to find all the freebies or go to this page
Lettering Delights http://ldsolutions.blogspot.com/2012/03/if-you-havent-noticed-weve-been.html
to see them listed in one place and don't forget every Friday they have giveaways for their Facebook friends.
What is nice is if you use Make The Cut you don't have to download them to your PC, they are available when you long in to MTC. Easy - Peasy !

I Got My Cameo !

2012-03-03T18:25:00.000-06:00

Silhouette Cameo

Die Cutting Machine

I almost kissed my UPS man Thursday when he delivered my Cameo. Poor guy was already haggard looking from driving his big brown truck against 40 mph wind gusts. He said it sounded like the roof was going to peel off! At least we avoided the tornadoes that hit all around us. My prayers are with the victims.

My Cameo was ordered early February from Oh My Crafts, taking advantage of their 25% off sale and free shipping. I had many questions and their customer service gal was awesome. Frankly I was really torn between the Cameo or the Eclips from Sizzix. I was told upfront that they were ordering these machines in and the shipping date would be mid- Feb. I received numerous emails from OMC letting me know the expected ship date. When the blizzard affected my delivery I received another email, an apology, and a $5. gift card for my inconvenience. (It was only a week delay all together) Now that is how you do business!

While waiting for my Cameo, I downloaded the Silhouette Studio software from the Silhouette site and began familiarizing myself with the features. I even downloaded the weekly free designs and started my wish list. The software shouldn't be difficult to maneuver since I have been using Sure Cuts A Lot and Mate The Cut programs with my old die cutting machine. ( The one that no longer plays well with others). Since I am so familiar with these two programs I don't know if I will use Studio very often, but we will see. It was a quick -and free- upgrade to have the specific drivers needed to use SCAL and MTC with my new Cameo.

I am so excited!!! Unfortunately my online college classes don't allow much time for playing this weekend. But I will be sure to post my cuttings.

I also ordered some vinyl from Oh My Crafts since they were practically giving it away ! It is not the heavy duty dishwasher and car wash resistant vinyl like what I get from H&H. It is Oracal Exhibition 631 the same stuff you buy from Provo Craft from what I understand. I am anxious to do some wording using the Cameo where I won't be limited to 12 or 24 inch lengths. Again I will let you know how that works out.

Have a great weekend, and please remember the tornado victims in your prayers!

Life is so precious, and things can change so quickly here in the Midwest.

Sympathy Card

2012-02-22T20:33:00.000-06:00

Sympathy Card

Finished size 6x6

Base Cardstock Dark Brown- DCWV Mi Casa

Patterned Papers (lavender and floral ) DCWV Latte 8x8 stack

script stamped on parchment -stamp Hero Arts- Old French Writing

Ink K & Company Sera Fera copper

"Thinking of You" - Hero Arts clear black Memento Ink

Die cut custom designed using Sure Cuts A Lot software - (inspired by Spellbinder)

oval cut with Spellbinder small oval die cut using Sizzix Big Kick

misc lavender ribbon - Michaels Basics

adhesive ATG by Scotch

inside sentiment Someone Remembers

Someone Cares

Your Name is Whispered

In Someone's Prayers

font Amperzand printed on ecru parchment paper scored using Martha Stewart Score Board

envelope made by cutting a 10 x 10 square scoring and folding pattern to interior

notching at 5 " points directions found on SplitCoast Stampers forum

inside of card

Valentine Projects

2012-02-11T16:20:00.000-06:00

Love Me Do SVG kit

SVGcuts Valentine Box collection

Watch the video as Mary shows you how easy these go together. I love the little box. I think it would be cute as a magnetized frame for the refrigerator. Kids love to see their photos displayed around the house.

I should be receiving my new Silhouette Cameo next week and am anxious to play with some of my SVGs, comparing them to the cuts from my Expression. I have enjoyed my Expression, and would have stayed with it if not for the PC lawsuit against Sure Cuts A Lot software. I am always afraid I will do an upgrade or something and lose my ability to cut with SCAL2. My Expression was recently upgraded to version 2.43, so I could play with Cricut Craft Room (not impressed). And I am running SCAL2 version 2.044 and also use Make the Cut version 4.0.4. I really like using MTC when using the Lettering Delights library. They are so easy to view!

Make the Cut 4.0.4 partial work space snip showing Lettering Delights Library

Keep in mind there are trial versions of both software programs available from their sites. They are no longer compatible with Cricut cutters due to Provo Craft actions, unless purchased prior to PC lawsuits last year. Many are still operating these programs because they have the previous versions which contained the necessary drivers. More information can be obtained from the forums at Make the Cut or Craftedge for Sure Cuts a Lot. My links are located on the right sidebar under affiliates.