Scrappin with Sharon and Smokey : RSMobleyDesigns

Zibbet Store! No More Etsy!

2015-03-09T21:03:00.000-04:00

I have changed my store from Etsy to Zibbet. You can now find me here.
https://www.zibbet.com/handmade-with-class

And dont forget my new page is here.
https://www.facebook.com/HandmadeWithClass

Sharon

New Blog and Facebook Page

2014-09-11T19:47:00.000-04:00

Yes, Im keeping this blog but!

My friend and I have started a new blog and facebook page so we can post all our creations and many will be up for sale.

Now that I have time to play every week. I plan to start making cards and projects again. I really miss being in my craft room.

Blog is new so post will be coming soon! Please go visit and like our facebook page and share with your friends as well.

New Blog! Handmade with Class.

Facebook page here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharon

Look at this Scrap Stash!

2014-08-15T14:41:00.001-04:00

I spent all day Wednesday getting my Craftroom back in order and its now all cleaned. And now its ready for me to get busy.

I still have this "Wire Cube" wall for my storage. It's worked pretty good for the past 8 years. But I would really love to have some Ikea Kallax Shelves. I want to put 4 sets of the 8 cubes in here. Stand them up. I already measured and 4 will fit here and they will be as tall as the shelf on the right side with the 3 drawer storage's on them. One day I will have them. As you can see. I recently added one more set of cubes so I could get some stuff out of the walk in closet. I need to turn another sheet into a curtain.

This is the other two walls. From left to right. Printer. Window with my cutter stations. The sizzix eclips1 is under the orange and green cover I made (originally for my old KNK groove I sold) so its a little big but works. Next station is where I do most of my crafting. Next is my sewing station for sewing cards, layout or just plain old sewing projects. Like one I just did for a friend for a Christmas Present for her son. This also gives me 3 stations for friends to come and scrap. Now you might notices from my old pictures. The table (Island) I had in the middle was my station for all my rolls of vinyl and my paper cutters were there instead of on the counter. But its no longer there. When we had family move in. We took that old desk which I didnt like anyway but it worked. We took it apart and got rid of it to make enough room to fill this up with furniture and boxes. So I am looking for a new table to put there.

And this is my old black DVD shelf that I painted and moved shelves and added shelves to turn it in to a ribbon storage. I just love seeing on those pretty colors great me when I walk in the door. But as you can see on the bottom two shelves. One shelf, Left to right, is Spellbinder dies in DVD cases then all my See D's unmounted stamp sets. And bottom shelf is all unmounted stamps sets from Inkadinkado and a few other company's.

So now seeing this shelf in this picture and seeing its full. I have no clue where I will put the other 30 sets I have in that big old bag that has been sitting in my closet for 2 years. Okay, let's move on to that bag. Are you READY?

This is a huge bag from Sams Club. These bags are great for the beach and we use them when we go camping and to hold all the scrap stuff I buy until I can catalog it and organize it.

Here it is from the top. There is a lot of stuff in here. Its pretty heavy. And I have NOT bought anything scrap related in 2 years. So this is like Christmas! LOL!

Okay, here it is all poured out on my nice clean floor. See why I had to clean the room before I started on this. LOL! Are you ready for a list of what was in there?

30 Studio G and Inkadinkado small sets
30 Unmounted big stamp sets
18 Sheets of Stickers and Diecuts
2 Sets of spellbinder dies
8 Cuttle bug dies
3 Cuttle bug folders
1 Hand punch 1 inch circle for bottle caps
29 packs of brads
52 Wood Mounted stamps.
I managed to get the 2 sets of Spell Binders on my excel sheet, printed the label and they are now in DVD cases. And I got 3 sets of stamps, stamped on a paper and cataloged in my Stamp Book. You can find how I do this in the links on the left. Stamp Organization.

I will be working on this for a while. So will be back with update in a few days.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Crafting!
Sharon

I Really Miss Crafting! I Will Be Back Soon!

2014-08-13T10:14:00.001-04:00

Hello Friends,

Wow, its been 7 months since I have posted. Life has been really crazy around here. But think its finally settling down.

You all know I used to watch my little grandson (Little P) 5 days a week. And then his little sister (Little E) came and I was watching both. Then Little P went to daycare 3 days a week while I had Little E. And now Little E is older and now both go to daycare 3 days a week and MeMaw still gets to see them 2 days a week. These too are my life and keep me going. Such a joy to get to have them running though the house. Reminds me of their momma running though the house when she was just a little girl. Hard to believe that they are now 3 1/2 and 1 1/2. Man they grow so fast.

Then we had some family members move in. To help them get back on their feet and start a new life. So my craft-room became the storage room for every thing. It was full, I couldn't even get in there. But as of last week. Our house is now quiet and getting back to normal. And getting my craft-room back in order is number one on my to do list.

Last week, I was able to go in and clean off a space on the end of my craft counter where my sewing machine is. So I could do a sewing project for a friend.

And let me tell you. It felt so GOOD! To be in my craft-room, just me with the radio on and the sewing machine humming. The project turned out great. Sorry, cant share, its a Christmas present so cant post it yet.

With now watching grand babies on Monday and Tuesday. I now have 3 full days to get back to my crafting. Can you believe I'm now 3 years behind on those kids pages. Jeez! I better get busy.

I went and met up with my good friend Jill last week. And she misses crafting as well. So we are planing a weekly play date. And will be working on a new project and will have news to share in the next few weeks. So keep checking in.

On today's to do list:
Finish cleaning craft-room and dust off the Sizzix Eclips!

Go though and organize a huge bag of brand new stuff I stuck in the closet 2 years ago and never opened or put away. I know I have a bought 30 new stamp sets in there that need to be cataloged and put in DVD cases and added to my storage system. If you think I'm kidding, I'm not! I will take a picture and show you all the stuff in this bag. LOL!

So that should keep me busy the rest of this week.

Until next time, Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon

Calling All "Sizzix Eclips" and / or "Ecal" Users!

2014-01-11T22:20:00.001-05:00

Do you own a Sizzix Eclips? Or maybe thinking about getting a Sizzix Eclips! Do you use Ecal with your machine? Are you looking for more info, tutorials or just plain looking to connect with others that have this machine and love it as much as I do! Then you need to read this post!

I have been thinking about this for a while now and just don't understand why there isn't a whole lot of "ACTIVE" blogs or forums or yahoo groups out there. I have been chatting with Becki over at Happy Card Factory and she loves her machine as much as I do and feels the same way about there being a lack of active or hard to find blogs or groups out there that love their machine. Okay, I know Craft Edge has a small section for Ecal users with a little bit of talk on the Eclps but it is not very active. And a little bit of talk on it on the Make the cut forum. But I want a "Dedicated" place to go chat with others on this machine and post our creations and help others.

I mean, the Cricut came out and there was so much about the machine, all the cartridges , things made with each cartridge and so on with that machine. Why inst there any thing like that for the Sizzix Eclips.

I love their cartridges. There is so much you can do with them. Did you know that if your looking to buy one of their cartridges and your looking at the back on the box, it only shows a really simple "Diecut". But really, when you open the book, it shows you, you can do so much with that one image, like turn it in to a

*Picture in Picture (That image cut out of a shape like a Heart or Circle)

*Charm or Tag (with a hole to attach with a brad)

*Border ( You can turn that image in to a boarder and select the size you want it to cut 6", 12", 18" or 24 inches and it will automatically add the number of connected images to make that length.)

*Scoring (you need to update to 2.0 to use scoring but really you should update your handheld to the newest update of 3.0/3.1 you can do that here! Eclips Update

*Mirror (turn your image from facing left to facing right)

You also have "Original, Outline, Shadow, Solid, Embellishment and Pieces!" and you can resize any of these to your needs. Here is a pdf you can open and have a look at. "Sweetalicious and Sweet Tooth" Scroll down and check out the pages for the shapes around page 66. Okay really! You have pieces for the Cupcake Wrappers! How cool is that!

I mean, you would never know you could do all this by just looking at the image on the back of the box. What I do is go to Sizzix.com Cartridges and check out the pdf of each cartridge to see what all that cartridge will do before I buy it.

So I thought I would throw this out there and see how many feel the same way. And see you would feel about some of us starting a Yahoo group, Facebook group or some thing for all of us that love the Sizzix Eclips!

Did you hear today at CHA 2014 that they are releasing a brand new Sizzix Eclips 2 in March. Yes, they are. So I'm sure, there will be more people out there looking for information and tutorials on these machines.

I have a tab above "Sizzix Eclips and Ecal" with a few links to info and tutorials and videos on the Sizzix Eclips and on the left side of my blog I have "Labels" for my Sizzix tutorials for things I make using the cartridges like the last thing I made was a Christmas banner using the Albums, Bags and Boxes 2 cartridge with a tutorial on how to turn Album parts in to Banner Tags and get different sizes to mat your image.

So if you have a Sizzix Eclips and or use Ecal, Thinking about getting a Sizzix Eclips or would love to have a "Active" group of some kind. Leave me a comment and let me know what you would like.

Or if you have the machine and are a active user please post a comment below leaving your blog for others to be able to find you. ( I have moderation on, so I will check all links before I approve to make sure no spam get posted)

Update! Sorry yall, I was away from my blog the past several months with family issues. And have gotten emails about starting up a group. I havent had time to do anything scrapping in the past several months but as of last week, things are back to normal and Im working on getting back in to the grove.

I haven't started a group yet, but in the mean time, there is a facebook group out that is very helpful. Im on there already. So go join, they are very helpful. See ya there. Sizzix Eclips and Ecal Users

Can't wait to hear for y'all!
Thanks for stopping by,
Sharon

Free Kit from SVG Cuts!

2013-12-13T10:23:00.003-05:00

Free Kit from SVG Cuts!

SVG Cuts has given all its fans a FREE KIT (Click Here) as a Thank you to all their customers for this past year! Its only for a limited time.

And while your there grabbing your free kit. Make sure you shop for other kits and use code XMAS for an additional 25% off your total.

If your not a fan of their SVG Cuts Facebook Page. Please stop by and tell them Thank You for the Gift!

Thank You SVG Cuts for all the amazing kits you make all year long. I own so many but so many more I need to get.

Sharon

"Merry Christmas Banner" (Sizzix Eclips Tutorial)

2013-12-04T21:19:00.001-05:00

I have seen several of these banners made on the net and thought I would make one for my fireplace. I didn't feel like making a file for this so dug out my cartridges and looked for some thing that would work. I used my Sizzix Eclips and Albums, Bags & Boxes 2 cartridge. (Tutorial to follow) And ended up making a file for the letters as I only own 1 cart with letters and they are wonky looking. So would not work. So yep, had to make a file for the letters and cut to my Sizzix with Ecal.

Here is my fireplace with new Pine Cone Garland. For years we have had the long strand of plain garland that swagged cross the fireplace and down the sides. Now that I have 2 grand babies in the house all day. We decided to change it up. And use a garland that just laid across the top. I had some issues with the ribbon and will have more pictures coming up in the post with a link to May Arts Ribbon.

This is a close up of the Banner, You can see the Inked edges. I used Adirondack Oregano, first on the outer edge. But after it was done. I thought it needed a touch of red. So I used a light inking of Adirondack Cranberry. On the outer edges. The second layer is light brown, and used Distress Ink in Walnut and top layer Oregano. Then stamped the First and last Letter of both of both rows. And finished off with Silver Rhinestones from Want 2 Scrap.

I was having a hard time with the wire ribbon on my mantle. I had tried 4 times to put in on different ways. And it just didn't look right. So was taking a break and reading facebook and Wham! May Arts Ribbon posted this: "Classic Christmas Wreath for the Bow-Challenged". So I went and read it and posted to see if it would work for Mantle Garland. And Charlene Driggs sent me a message on facebook and said it should work fine. So I gave it a try and Yes! It worked. (Thanks so much Charlene!) Above is a collection of several sets of 3 gathered together to make a box.

Here is the set of 3 wire ribbons. The pine cone ribbon my hubby picked out at Michaels when he picked out the new garland with pine cones. I had to dig in my stash for two others. I only had a few feet of the red one, but made it work.

Here is the mantel with the Ribbon, Poinsettia flowers, Silver ball garland, and a few red ball springs. (Im having a hard time with the color lights. Hubby wanted colored lights this year. I'm a White light and Blue, Silver and White Christmas kind of girl!

Tutorial

Sizzix Eclips, Cartridge and Ecal

I haven't used the cartridges but once to test cut when I first go it. So it was a learning experience for sure. And since there are not a lot of Eclips tutorials out. I am going to walk you though the steps I used to make this banner from a Album file. And some tips I learned along the way.

I used Recollections cardstock and use these settings. Blade 2, Speed 4, Pressure 3

I used cartridge Albums, Bags & Boxes 2 and used the "Fancy Album" on page 22 & 23.
If using the Title Merry Christmas you will need 14 of each layer.

First I cut the back layer as it would be the largest. So wanted to size it first. Here is the screen shot of the Hand held with the "SOLID" file selected. I sized this to 4.16 H X 6.41 W. And Qty 2.

Note that I'm using 8.5 x 11 cardstock. So I placed my cardstock on my Cricut mat in landscap (11 inches is Left to Right) And was able to cut 2 and notice the Right side scrap. Next step.

(yes, you can use cricut mats, just lay your Eclips mat on top and use a fine marker to mark the rounded corners. Cut the corners off and it works fine. I think these stay sticky longer and cheaper to get with a coupon at Joanns)

The Right side scrap you can save till the end and turn it on its side and change your Qty. to 1 and cut another to save paper.

Here you see how the file cuts out of the scrap. So really you get 3 out of 8.5 x 11 if you take the time to use the scrap just make sure you change your Qty to 1. I did these when I had enough of the sets of two cut. And just cut the last 4 on the scraps.

2nd layer is the first "Pieces" I sized this one size down. So it actually makes it have a 1/8 inch border all the way around. So size this to 3.91 H X 6.03 W and Qty. 2 And do the same as above. Cut 2 till 10 are cut then turn and change Qty to 1 and cut last 4 of the scraps.

This is the last layer which is the top. With this one. I used the 2nd image in "Pieces" Notice this one has the holes. I used this one because. I thought it would give me good placement of where to punch the holes. And it worked perfect. This one cutting step changes.

Notice I now have my 8.5 X 11 in the Portrait position (11 inches Up and Down). Then sized it to 3.66 H X 5.64 W and changed Qty to 4. I was able to cut 4 on this one sheet 8.5 x 11.

NOTE: On your handheld scree at the bottom, It will ask you "ROTATE SHAPE FOR LANDSCAPE" hit OK for yes. And it will cut just like you see on screen. And get 4 out of this piece of cardstock.

Pay attention to your edge. Use your laser to check it. With the cricut mat, I think the paper placement is off a little. Its right close to the edge, I usually just use my hand held to move the blade over and down a tad, forgot on this one but it was fine.

I used a Font in Ecal called "Perpetua" and Select all letters and size to 3 inches tall. I inked all my edges. Layer all your pieces. I used my ATG gun. Then use Scotch Quick Dry glue for the letters. When you place your first letter. Use a grid mat to line up the top of one and then line up your next, and take notices of placement of the letter on the first one. This will help you get all your letters as close to even as possible.

Lastly, I used my Cropadile to punch the holes. Remember you cut the top layer with holes. So just center the largest hole punch over the one that is that is in the top layer. And punch all your banner tags. Then I used this new stamp set to stamp the "M & C" in the top left corner. And stamped the "Y & S" in the top right corner. And used another stamp to stamp the centers of each letter with Adirondack Oregano ink. And lastly added A tiny silver rhinestone for the center of the smaller stamp in middle of the letters. And then on the bottom I added a Med rhinestone and 2 tiny ones to the bottom.

Supplies Used:

Silver Rhinestones (Want 2 Scrap)

Sizzix Eclips (Machine)

Ecal (Cutter software)

Albums, Boxes and Bags 2 (Sizzix Cartridge)

Cropadile (We Are Memory Keepers)

Stamps (Recollections Flourishy)

Ink (Adirondack Oregano, Cranberry) (Distress Ink Walnut)

Cardstock (Recollections) Brown, Cream, Deep Red

Glue (Scotch Quick Dry) Love this stuff!

Adhesive (ATG Gold Tape.

Ribbon

Hanging Kitchen Towels (Sewing Tutorial)

2013-11-29T00:54:00.000-05:00

After many years of walking around with a kitchen towel on my shoulder when my kids were small. Half the time I couldn't remember where I laid it down. I remember walking half way though a store with a kitchen towel still on my shoulder. LOL! It was after that. I decided I needed towels that hung on my stove. And you know, they aren't easy to find. I usually found a few at yardsales and picked them up when ever I found them. But now that my old ones are starting to fall apart. I decided it was time to make some like one I bought years ago. So here is a sewing tutorial for these. These are easy to make, but I took a lot of pictures to show you the steps.

Supplies Needed: Sewing Machine, Towels with matching pot holders (Square or Rectangle) , Needle and Thread, Ruffle, Scissors. The set on the left I got at Dollar tree, 2 pot holders and 2 towels $4. And the set with pumpkins came with 2 pot holders, 1 oven mitt, 1 Wash cloth and 1 kitchen towel. $5 on clearance half off $2.50 score at Biglots. I will be working with the Fall one for this tutorial.

This is the Wash cloth, I cut a piece of ruffle ribbon long enough to be 1 inch longer on both side.(This came on a spool for 2.50 from Joanns). Pin the ruffle to the front bottom of the wash cloth and fold the ends around the back and pin.

This is the Kitchen towel with the ribbon pinned to the front bottom and wrapped around the back.

Sew along the ruffle on both the wash cloth and Kitchen towel or 2 Kitchen towels if you have them.

I turned it over, and lined the bottom of the towel just above the bottom of the front (So you don't see it from the front). But you can leave them even if you like. Or if your towel has a strong fold line from the store, just leave it as is. This one didn't have a strong fold so it didn't matter. Pin to hold in place. Then flatten out the towel.

If you have strong fold center line, just go with that. This one did not, so I used a fine marker to make my line across so I would know where the center was. Or you could Iron it to get your center line fold.

I used a Needle and Thread to make a Loose Stitch. Or you could use your sewing machine and set your stitch length to the longest possible.

If you use Needle and Thread pull thread a little to gather and leave the thread attached at the end. (See red Circle) If your using sewing machine to make your loose stitch. Make sure you leave long threads on the ends.

Next, Fold your pot holder in half and pin where the center is (See red circle)

IMPORTANT! If your using a Towel and Potholder with a specific pattern. Turn the potholder over and make sure the loop faces the end with the ruffle (See Arrow). If you didn't use a ruffle. Just make sure you have it facing the front bottom of your towel.

NOTE! If your working with a solid color or stripes or plaid. You can choose to put the look in back so when its closed, your button is in the front. So check that when your buying it, Which would look better to you.

Now that you have it facing the right direction, I pinned the pot holder even with the towel edge. Make sure you line up the center pin with the center line or center fold.

Next, Pin to the other end and pull your end string to gather and tie it off. Then use pins to hold gather in place while you sew.

Hold down the gathers while your sewing. Making sure you end even with your center pin on the end. When done, pull the back thread till the front stitch comes though, pull it out and tie off your ends.

This is how it looks when you flip the pot holder over and fold it in half. This is the front. Since this has a pattern , the loop will hook in the back.

I attached a Medium size button about 3/4 inch wide to the back. (See how the pumpkin is upside down. Important to keep eye on the direction of your pattern. So you know to put look on front or back.

Wash Cloth Hanging Towel

This is how I sewed the Wash cloth. I did a loose stitch with my needle and thread. Close to the edge.

Pull the thread to gather and make sure you leave it attached.

IMPORTANT! Notice the direction of the towel and pot holder. Since this has specific pattern. I turned the wash cloth over with the top facing the right. And the pot holder face up but the top with loop facing the left. Your seeing the end of the pot holder.

Pin both sides, then pull your thread to gather, then tie it off. And pin to the center of the pot holder.

Sew along the center along the edge of the wash cloth.

When you flip it over, you can see the direction is correct.

And this is the back with the button to attach the loop.

And here is finished project. Wash cloth on the Left and Kitchen towel on the Right.

Updated 12/02/13 Added picture of new Hanging Kitchen Towels

Hope you find this useful. Once you do one, the others are super easy. I have several more to make, and will be looking for Holiday Pot holders and Towels on clearance.

Vintage Christmas Ornaments 2013 Tutorial

2013-11-26T11:18:00.000-05:00

For the past few years. I have made Christmas Ornaments for our tree. This year, I made these out of wood cut outs. And love how these turned out.

This will be a long blog post with a tutorial, Do's and Don'ts and lots of pictures. 2 different methods. So lets get started.

Supply list below!

I used Christmas Emporium Collection by Graphic 45, but you can use any paper you like. I wanted a vintage look so used this collection. I also used a different paper for each of the 12 Ornaments.

Cut a piece of paper just big enough to fit each ornament.

Use Mod podge to paint on the front of the ornament and turn your paper over and lay painted side on. When totally dry. Use a craft knife with a new blade to closely cut around the edges.

Use a Emory board to sand all the sides of the wood ornament and to file down any paper edges you didn't cut close enough or to round pointed edges. And it gives a nice finished look. If you use the Basic Grey precision file kit, You can use the small files to sand in small places like the antler ears.

Next I used Vintage Photo distressed ink and a foam make up sponge to apply ink to the edges and back. (Later step for the back).

These don't have holes so I used my Crop-A-Dile to make holes. I used the larger of the two hole punches.

This step I did for the first try. And let me tell you, You need to decide which way you want to go. I laid the pattern paper side down on the Xyron 900 refill. Cut the paper off, flipped it over, and rubbed it really good. Then cut around each ornament so I could work with them one at a time. You have to be really careful when you pull off the front paper. Make sure to hold the edge of the pattern paper or it will pull it right off.

Then I laid them in my blue funnel tray and covered with glass micro beads. Pour a generous amount on. To make sure you get good coverage.

I then turned over the ornament and pushed it down to make sure the micro beads stuck. And then hold and tap the side with your craft knife to remove the loose ones.

This is what they looked like when you clean them off. But! I found that just touching it. The micro beads fell off. So trying to save them. I then used Glossy accents over the entire top. It took a long time because you can not touch the beads. And I wanted to still feel the beads. So I worked in tiny sections and did a little box and then used the tip of the bottle to pull the sides together. And when it dried. It was shinny, and you could slightly feel the beads. Some of the black ornaments look white even though they are fully dried.

This is the second set. This one went much faster because I didn't have the Xyron and cover with glossy step. So as above. Paint on Mod podge, dry completely, cut around the edges and ink the edges. And punch the holes.(I forgot that step and did it last and it was fine).

After you get them ready, I used a generous amount of Glossy Accents and a small paint brush and spread it all over the ornament (Make sure its thick) and then quickly pored the micro beads on. (Sorry for got that picture) And the micro beads seem to stick pretty good.

Tip for the backs. The store stickers would not come off with out peeling in tiny peaces. So I tried using a heat gun and a small spatula. And it worked perfect. So make sure you do that. And then I inked the backs to give them a finished look. Then add ribbon and other decorations of your choice. Use the lighter to heat seal the ends of the ribbon. I wanted to keep them simple and vintage so only used a thin cream colored ribbon and some beads.

If you have any questions, leave a comment.

Supplies used:
Graphic 45 ( Christmas Emporium Collection 2011 discontinued)
Mod Podge by Plaid
Glossy Accents by Ranger
Crop-A-Dile by We Are Memory Keepers
Basic Grey Precision File set
Vintage Photo Distress ink by Ranger and make up sponge
Wood Cut out shapes (Michaels or Joanns)
Clear Glass Micro Beads
Cricut Spatula
Craft Knife with new blade
Fire clicker / Lighter
Embossing Heat gun by Marvy
Blue Funnel Tray
Ribbon and beads
Xyron adheasive

Super Cute Cutter File Site! KaDoodle Bug Designs!

2013-10-16T19:53:00.000-04:00

I haven't scrap-booked or crafted in several months. And in trying to find my craft mojo. I went looking for some new Facebook craft sites. And came across this Super Cute file site. Called KaDoodle Bug Designs

Now that I have grand-babies, I'm finding my style of files is changing to really cutesy files. So this one has some really cute files. And she post really nice Freebie files that are only up for one day. So you need to go like her KaDoodle Bug Designs Facebook page. Make sure to like her page, and then like and share the post. Often she will release a new freebie when it has been shared 100 times. So you can get up to 3 or 4 in one day.

She also has some awesome sales you can sign up for her newsletter here.

Happy Crafting,
Sharon

SVG Cuts "Craft Finalist" Go Vote Now!

2013-09-23T11:45:00.001-04:00

We did it! We helped SVG Cuts make it to #1 in the Craft category!

Now we need to go vote starting today for the next 7 days. Til Sept 30th. You can vote 6 times a day. Just keep hitting the vote button.

Now, the link is super hard to find as the Martha site is not updated but here is the link for you. So pass this link on so others can find it and vote for our favorite SVG file designer.

GO HERE TO VOTE! Sept 23 - Sept 30, 2013.

Thank you all for helping SVG Cuts!

Sharon

Please help out SVG Cuts!

2013-09-10T19:05:00.000-04:00

Hey all,

I just wanted to post and ask you all to go help out SVG Cuts.

(This is the screen you will see and you click the green button in the bottom right, 6 times a day)

They are in the Martha Stewart American Made Contest! And their lead is slipping away. And need your help.

Go to this link and vote for SVG Cuts. You can vote 6 times a day. Just hit the green vote button over and over till your 6 for that day are up. Then go back every day until Sept 22 and vote 6 times a day. Pick a good time that works for you, because you have to wait a full 24 hours before you can vote again.

If you need help remembering to go vote. Then sign up for the "Street Team" they will send you a daily reminder to go vote.

So I'm asking y'all to take 5 mins out of your day and go help SVG Cuts out!

Thanks so much,
Sharon

For Sale! Original KNK Groove Bundle! (SOLD!!!!!!)

2013-04-15T16:24:00.001-04:00

I'm Selling my Original KNK Groove

I currently have 3 cutter machines and selling this one as I have not used it in a year. And thinking about selling one other. But not sure yet. I don't design files any longer and don't have much time to scrapbook as I watch my grandson 50 hours a week, and starting next week will be adding his new baby sister. So I'm selling down my stash and getting rid of things I don't use any longer to help pay some medial expenses.

This will come with:

KNK Groove Machine

Printed 102 page Manual

KNK Studio software CD

KNK Clip art and Font CD

KNK Collection 1 File CD

Power Cord

USB blue braided cord

Serial Cord

Silver Blade Holder

Black Pen holder

2 pen refills

Alignment pen

2 Blade holder containers

1 Blue cap (thick material) blade

2 Red cap (thinner material) blades (used)

1 Used 13x24 cutter mat but in good condition.
Bonus Collections of my flies listed below

NOTE: Software included will need to be activated at a cost of $75 if you want to use KNK studios. But I would suggest you use one of your current versions of software to cut to this machine. I know Make The Cut will cut to it and there are a few others out there that will. If you already own MTC this is perfect. You just need to download the free driver from the MTC home page.

BONUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will also be giving the buyer of this machine a Collection CD that includes 74 of my own cutter files. There are more then 74 files in this CD because I'm including several collections including my Perpetual calendar with 12 full months of files and my newest Mexican Collection with 13 images. All these file are currently up for sale on my blog where you can check them out. Go Here and click on the tabs at the top to see each file.

This is a $175 value at current price of files posted on my blog. And each file contains several files types so you can use one of them. AI, GSD, KNK, WPC, SVG, MTC.

Files on this CD:

RM00001_HalloweenOverlay1

RM00002_Trick or Treat Overlay1

RM00003_Pumpkin Patch Overlay1

RM00004_Picking Pumpkins Overlay1

RM00006_Paper Ball Circle Ornament

RM00014_Fall Tree Leaves

RM00015_Harvest of Memories

RM00016_Harvest of Thanks

RM00017_Turkey Day Traditions

RM00018_Turkey Fever Vinyl Decal

RM00019_Deer Scene Vinyl Decal

RM00020_I'd Rather be Fishing Vinyl Decal

RM00021_I'd Rather be Camping Vinyl Decal

RM00022_The Happy Couple

RM00028_Snowflake Title

RM00029_Christmas Overlay

RM00030_Christmas Cardinal

RM00031_Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

RM00033_Season's Greeting's Sign

RM00034_Happy Holiday's Sign

RM00035_Holly Jolly Tree Card

RM00036_Cut off for Naughty list title

RM00037_Pictures with Santa

RM00038_Christmas Door Card

RM00052_Red Fish

RM00053_Shook Fish

RM00090-91_3D Flowers and Butterfly

RM00093_Perpetual Calendar

RM00094_Card Fronts, Tags & More

RM00106_Christmas Ornament Vinyl Words

RM00107_3D Poinsettia Flower with Matching Tag

RM00113_3D Ornaments 1

RM00114_ Miniature Chocolate Nugget Box

RM00115_Let it Snow Luminary

RM00116_Candle Luminary

RM00117_Season's Greeting's Card

RM00118_Wedding Ring Quilt Mesh

RM00119_3D Calla Lily Flower

RM00120_Fall Pumpkin Luminary

RM00121_Happy Thanksgiving Luminary

RM00122_Thanks Acorn Luminary

RM00123_Baby's First Christmas

RM00124_Merry Christmas Tree Luminary

RM00125_New Arrival Baby Stork Layout

RM00126_New House / Moved Card

RM00129_Lace Up Christmas stocking

RM00132_Raccoon Bear Camping Border Layout

RM00134_Early Arrivals Title

RM00135_Alphabet Blocks and Numbers

RM00136_Baby's First Bath

RM00138_It's A Boy / Girl Banner (can use banner just change letters)

RM00139_It's a Boy / Girl cupcake Wrappers & Toppers

RM00142_3D Easter Flower Collection

RM00143_Flower Blossoms 1

RM00144_Fancy Boarders 1

RM00145_Fancy Boarders 2

RM00146_Fancy Boarders 3

RM00147_Fancy Mats 1

RM00148_Fancy Mats 2

RM00149_Fancy Mats 3

RM00153_Baby Mesh

RM00154_Victorian Flourish

RM00155_Victorian Frames

RM00156_Precious Sleeping Baby

RM00161_Bag of Coal

RM00162_Christmas Cards 1

RM00163_Christmas Cards 2

RM00164_Christmas Cup cake Wrappers & Toppers

RM00165_Snowflake Frame Set

RM00166_Nested Snowflake

RM00168_Folded 3D Pumpkin

RM00169_Vinyl Monogram 1 A-Z (With open space for name)

RM00170_Mexican Fiesta Collection

RMCOL104_ Perpetual Calendar Collection (12 months of files cut to fit 5.5 x 5.5 calendar included)

I'm asking $350 Or Best Offer! plus shipping!

If you have any questions, just email me at rsmobley85@gmail.com
Thanks
Sharon

--
Scrappin with Sharon
My Facebook Fan Page

Bow Holder Tutorial!

2013-03-12T14:55:00.000-04:00

I'm going to be making a bunch of bows for the grand daughters and needed a place to put them. So I made this bow holder. It took about an hour and was super easy. Shipping on one of these I bet would be high because of the size and weight. So I'm going to tell you how to make one yourself and save some money. This one cost me about $16 to make.

Do you remember the frames I painted with my HomeRight Command Max paint sprayer. This is the smaller frame. It's 23 x 19 which is good medium size. And will hold lots of bows. I got this frame at the good will for $5.

Step 1. Get a piece of Poster board and use the cardboard backer from the picture to trace on the Poster board This will be your new backer board to give you a nice finished look.

Step 2. Cut out the part you traced and set aside for last step.

Step 3. Get a piece of batting and trace the same cardboard backer with a maker and cut out and set aside.

Step 4. Get your favorite piece of material and cut it a couple inches bigger on all sides then your Cardboard backer.

Step 5. Lay material on the table. "Right side down". And lay your batting on next (Center it) then lay your Cardboard backer on (Center over batting). "This picture is not centered yet, just showing you the layers step".

Step 6. Next use a Stapler opened up and staple the material to the cardboard backer. Try and pull the material evenly and some what taught so it fits nicely. And make sure you fold corners over nice and flat.

Step 7. Next cut 5 ( More or Less depending on your size frame) for this one 5 worked good. I used 7/8 inch wide. Lay one in the middle then check your spacing for each additional ribbon. For this frame, it worked good to have them about 2 1/2 Inches apart so the ones on the ends are not to close to the sides.

Step 8. Next use the stapler to staple the ribbon to the back side. Do the top row first. Then pull the ribbon from the bottom tight. And staple the bottom. You can do one staple first to hold it in place but make sure you go back and add another staple or two to each so it gives it more holding power.

Step 9. Remember the poster board you cut in the first step. This is where you use that. You will play our fabric covered backer board (Might be a little tight but that is good). Then lay the white poster board down. And use a pair of scissor or flat head screw driver to mash down the the staples that were holding it all in.

And this is your finished "Bow Holder". From this point you can do almost any thing. You can get wood letters for a special little girls name, paint them and attach them. Or you can add hooks or dowels for "Hair bands, or Pony Tail holders.

And for the glass you took out. Don't throw it out. That glass is expensive. You might be able to use it for some thing else. Like, get some scrap wood and make a frame to fit the glass, put some vinyl words on the glass and hang it on the wall or some thing like that.

I think I will use the two pieces I have now to put on top of the Island I plan to make for my scrap room to protect the top. You can cut on it and not damage the table.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my tutorial. Its super easy and took me about an hour (After the frame was painted) to put it all together and cost about $16.

Frame $5 (Goodwill but check yardsales and thriftstores)

Material $5 ( check Joanns clearance rack, use a coupon, check good will, yardsales)

Ribbon $2.50 ( check sales and use coupon)

Batting $2.50 ( Got on sale)

Poster board , Paint, Staples I already had here ($1) LOL!

Now to start on my next project. This one will involve "Mod Podge" I'm not very experienced with it so I hope it goes well. Will be posting that in a few days. With drying time and cutting and all that stuff. LOL!

Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon

HomeRight Command Max Sprayer Review!

2013-03-11T16:03:00.001-04:00

Wow! where have I been the past two weeks. It's been busy here at the "Mobley" house. All kinds of projects going on. And trying to work outside when the weather plays along.

It's been cold, Windy, Overcast and some days Rainy. So with this weekend being beautiful this weekend, Sunny and warm. I took advantage of the great outdoors to play with a new Power tool! This girl just loves her power tools.

This new one is a "HomeRight Command Max" power sprayer.

Do y'all remember my recent post on my "DVD shelf to Ribbon Shelf" post. I posted that I really wanted one of these and planned to get one by the end of this year. Well, I was super excited when HomeRight contacted me and asked if I would like to review one. You just don't know how excited I was at this opportunity.

I have been wanting one of these ever since I seen Gail from "My Repurposed Life" show this machine. She gave great reviews on this machine so I emailed her several months back and talked to her about this one compared to one she used to use. And she loved this one for its ease of use and lack of over spray. That is a must for power sprayers so I was Sold. And knew I had to have one for all the projects we plan to do this summer.

So I started off with a small project as this wacky Florida weather can change in a matter of hours so I figured I would do some thing easy that I could do in one day and also be a good test and learn the machine. And let me tell you. "I LOVE IT"!

So here is what I'm currently working on. I bought these two large wood frames at the good will. The largest one is 31 inches by 20 inches and has some beautiful details in the wood. It was $8.00 at good will.
Although the picture freaks me out a little. (No information on this one) I wont be using that. I have another Idea for this frame. (Post to come later)

The second frame is 23 inches by 19 inches. And was $5 at good will. And about this picture, I pulled it out and it says it was printed in 1976 original printing was 1915. So that is pretty cool. I might keep this print. It's kind of cute.

So I took the backing off and removed the prints and glass (Hm, what to do with the glass?) Will have to think on that one.

I moved them out to the yard and did a light sanding on them to remove any dirt, and gloss so the primer will attach better.

I was using old primer and old paint so the directions say to use a strainer to remove clumps and debris from the paint. So I picked these up at Lowes. They are made by Blue Hawk. The one on the left is 1 gallon reusable mesh strainer. It's a 2 pk for only $2.28. And when using water basted paint or primer, its really easy to wash with water. The second pack is also by Blue Hawk and is a 4 pk of paper cone (Disposable) strainers for only .98 I got these to use with oil based paints and for the stain we plan to us on the fence in a few weeks.

This is what the look like out of the package. So now we are ready to get started. Paint has been stirred and mixed with water, strained and is now ready for action!.

Here you see the large frame painted with Primer using the HomeRight Command Max paint sprayer. WOW! That was super fast. I was so shocked, I just had to snap a picture after the first one. It took only about 2 minutes to spray both frames. Talk about fast. Man, so much better then using a paint brush to get in the small details. I did two light coats of primer.

And here are the frames with two coats of White latex water based paint. I only needed a little paint for this project so I used a old measuring cup. I used a 1/3 cup scoop and used two scoops of paint and one scoop of water and stirred real well and it was perfect.

I totally loved this sprayer because it was so easy to use, it's lighter to hold then others on the market. I have arthritis in my hands so this was a great help and easy to hold. And wow, it was a lot quieter then I thought it would be so that was a plus!

Some how I missed the picture of the water bucket, But make sure to keep one handy. I actually used two, One was for the paint stir sticks, measuring cup, mesh strainer and washing my hands. The other was clean water to add to the primer and paint. And to add the parts of the sprayer you need to clean when your done. Which was also a super easy task.

To clean the Command Max. Take the white bowl off and do some thing with the paint left over. I used a old clean jar to put the paint in and wrote on the label. "White Latex water based paint. Mixed 2 to 1 with water". So next time I need it, its ready to go all mixed and strained.

Next, wash out the bowl with clean water, take the tube off and spray till clean. Put tube back on, fill bowl with clean water and spay till water coming out is clean. Then remove the screw on cap and the winged sprayer, Inner spacer with springs and the brass Nozzle and put in water and wash all and clean the needle on the sprayer. When done cleaning, set parts on a towel to try then put back together. Its that simple. And ready to use next time.

I hope you like my review on the Command Max, I really have been wanting one for a long time and was so glad to have the opportunity to review this one. And these opinions are my own.

Places to get this sprayer:
HomeRight.com $89.99
Amazon $65.58
Walmart $68.75 (Free shipping to store)
Home Depot $69.97 (Check your store for availability)

I'm not affiliated with any of these places. Just helping you find the best deal for you. And again, this machine was provided to me free. And the opinions are mine and I was not paid to make these statements. I truly love this product. And cant wait for the weather to stabilize so we can stain our wood fence.

Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon

I Won a HomeRight Steamer! And Review!

2013-02-28T14:48:00.000-05:00

I follow this super cool blog called "Mod Podge Rocks!" Really! that is the name, and its super cool. She shows you all this cool stuff you can do with Mod Podge. I honestly had no clue there were so many different kinds of Mod podge. I have only two kinds (Mate and Sparkle) and think I will be expanding my collection soon. LOL! But anyway. She was doing this giveaway for a HomeRight Steamer. So I entered, I had entered several different giveaways for this machine because I had been wanting one of these for a while and I was so over excited when she emailed me that I won. I just couldn't wait to get it.

So it arrived and I pulled it right out of the box, read the booklet and was shocked at all the stuff that came with it. Everything in the picture above is what comes with this baby! It was so super easy to use. Fill the cup up with water (It holds a lot) screw the lid on and push the on button. The Red light lets you know its on and Orange light come on letting you know its heating up. In about 8 minutes the Orange light goes off and its ready to use.

I love that it has wheels so you don't have to carry it. This is a great help for me. And I love the long coated hose. Its not cheap plastic so it will last a long time. And all the little parts store under the front tented lid. Just push inward and it lifts right up. So with all this out of the way. I got right to work playing with it.

The first thing I wanted to tackle was my kitchen and the over head Microwave was fist up!

These are the metal mesh screens under the Over head Microwave over the stove. The grease is so hard to get off and our faucet water just isn't hot enough to get it off. And I try not to use harsh cleaners as I have Asthma. So I tried the steamer.

Here is it after I cleaned it with the HomeRight Steamer. The one on the left looks pretty good. So of course I cleaned the one on the Right next.

Next up is the glass door on the oven. As I mentioned I have Asthma and cant use harsh cleaners so you know I can not use Easy off or any thing like that. So you guessed it. I tried the Home Right Steamer. And check this out!

This is half the door cleaned and wiped down (They even include a cleaning towel) I used the wire brush that comes with it. You just spray some steam to heat it up then lightly rub and it comes right off.

Here is the whole door cleaned. It was so nice to be able to clean this and know I didn't have to use any harsh chemicals. I showed my hubby what all I had cleaned when he came home from work and he said. "WOW" Now that is clean. LOL!

I also cleaned the glass top of my stove to remove some burnt on stuff and used it to clean the grill on the top of the Over head Microwave. Then I opened my 2nd Microwave we use the most. Usually I put a cup of water in there and boil it and let it sit for a few minutes and then wipe it out. So with the Steamer. I opened the door. Sprayed a lot of steam in there. And closed the door and waited 5 minutes and opened the door and there was still steam in there. And it wiped out clean. That was super nice.

Next came the floors! Okay so I have two mops I use for my wood laminate floors. And I thought they worked pretty good. So I ran my wonder mop over the floor first then ran my Revel Spray mop over the floor. So by now it should be clean right.

(Notice that long hose and long handle. Makes it easy to get under the coffee table and TV stand.)

Okay, well! What I thought was a clean floor after using two mops. Wasn't so clean.

Look at what it picked up after using two mops. I couldn't believe it. But am now glad to know my floors will be clean for the grandbabies.

I told my hubby he can take this out and use it on his new truck to clean his chrome rims so he don't have to use harsh chemicals on them. He was all excited about that. LOL!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my review of the Home Right Steam Machine.

(Note: My opinions are my own and I was not asked or paid to make this review. If you follow my blog you know I love to review things and I will honestly tell you if I like something or if I don't like it.) And this one I like. HomeRight makes good products.

I know right now there are several blogs doing reviews and giving away one of these machines. So you might want to check them out. Here are a few.

Making Memories with your kids

Barbara's Beat

Mommy Reviews & More

That's all for today!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharon

DVD Shelf to Ribbon Shelf!

2013-02-18T21:29:00.001-05:00

A couple years ago. I want to say maybe 3 or 4 years. (My memory issue make me really bad with time frames) but I think it was that long ago. I bought this black DVD shelf and I had all my Stampin up stamps and See D's stamps and all my unmounted stamps in DVD cases on here. We, recently I sold over 30 sets of Stamp up sets and still have some to get posted for sale. But any way. This left this shelf half empty. And I was really needing a Ribbon Roll shelf. And trying to use what I have to save money. I got to looking at this shelf. And thought, Hm! I can make that work.

So I took every thing off, took it out side, and sanded it down to get the shinny off the shelf so the primer would stick better. I thinned out the primer with water so I could put on two thin coats. And then added two coats of latex white paint. Which I had every thing in my work shop. But let me tell you. I'm still dreaming of owning a Homeright Command Max paint sprayer. I will have one before the year is out. I have other projects that I need one for. And would have been so handy for this project.

The only thing I had to buy was a piece of trim molding for $3. I thought one would be enough, I didn't measure the shelf and I really should of. I was one piece short for the top shelf. But I can add that later. You can see that trim on the 2-5 shelf in the picture below. I painted it and used my air nail brad gun to put in on with staples. These will hold the ribbon in. So they don't roll out.

Also in this picture. You can see the little trick I came up with to take up space on the shelf because its still a little wide for most rolls of ribbon. The shelves are now adjustable for the rolls.

It just turned out that my WRM Keepers Magnetic ruler is exactly 17.5 inches which is the same as the inside of the shelf. So I took some heavy coated poster board out of my craft closet. And marked every 2 inches all the way down length ways. You can see those black marks on both sides of the ruler Then turned it side ways and cut every third mark. This gave me 3 sections of 2 inches each.

After I cut them down to the length of the ruler. I used the ruler to fold the poster board on the marks. And this leaves you with a triangle fold. I used clear tape to tape it together to hold its shape.

Then place in the back of each shelf. This takes up the spare room in the shelf and stops the rolls from rolling back, and the great thing is you just put your ribbon rolls in and reach back and slide the blocker forward and it keeps them in place. How cool is that!

So here is my "New Shelf" All nice and pretty white. And holding all my ribbon rolls I recently bought. And stamps I have left on the bottom. But! They wont be staying there long. Turns out. I need that space for the rest of my ribbon rolls. So I will have to buy some 1x6 and rip it down to fit in the shelf as I don't have any more boards. And more trim. I think I can get 4 more shelf's in here.

Still a few more rolls in this drawer.

And this is how I used to do my ribbon. It was a great space saver. But I really like having them out and see them and I find I use them more. I used to wrap them on these cards. but then you have little creases and I had to use my hair straightener to get them out. And never used them.

And this is how I keep all the left over pieces. And yes, I uses these for album rings and for cards and such. I'm always digging in here. LOL!

Well, I hope you enjoy my ribbon shelf using what I had here. I love it. And now need to find a new project to work on next.

Until next time,

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharon

Family Reunion Invitations "Mexican Fiesta"

2013-02-17T20:34:00.000-05:00

I mentioned a few days ago. I was asked to make the Invitations for our Family Reunion in Iowa. This is my Husband's Mom's side. And most live in Iowa so yep. We will be driving from Florida to Iowa in July and I cant wait. I havent been on a driving trip in 7 years. We used to go on 2 or 3 a year when the kids were growing up.

I made 34 of these invitations. It turned in to a lot of cardstock. Lots of shades. And for the pattern paper. Well that was a job of its own. I went to Michaels and couldn't find a primary color stripe paper. So went to Joanns. And they had one by DCWV. They only had 6 sheets at .59 each. So I got those 6 thinking I could find more.

Well, that weekend, I went to St. Pete with my friend and we ran to the Joanns there and they had 18 sheets and they were now 3/1.00 so that was good but I still needed more. As each card used one sheet of pattern paper. For both inside sides and outer layer on front and Mexican guy blanket. Oh, and the back mat of the title. So later in the week on Friday I started calling all the Joanns around me seeing if they had it in stock. no one local did. So I ended up going about 30 miles out and getting another 18 sheets. So I now had enough to make the rest of the invitations and have a couple sheets left over to do some layouts after the reunion.

So I now had every thing I needed so I got started. I cut the outside card , white mat, and inside green mats by hand but have included those in the file.

Then I was off to cut all the images on my Sizzix Eclips using Ecal. And let me tell you. I was shocked how small some of these pieces cut. So I took several pictures.

Since all of my images are small I was able to cut several colors at one time. I just love doing this, this way, I can cut all at one time and just sit down at my desk and start assembling them with out getting up.

This is the inside. I turned one of my Pepper frames in to a PNG and used it in word to print the inside (personal Info removed)

I cut 34 each of the Parrot, Cactus sets, Mexican Guy and titles along with the pattern paper mats for front and inside x 2. I made 24 first then made another 10.

I cut 3 parts of the Parrot for here. Black is back mat, Blue is part of the feathers there are 5 parts in blue. And the Yellow chest. I used Recollections on this blade 2 depth 3. And the blue parts are super thin and really small and look how clean it cut. I was going to cut this section super slow but it cut fine on speed 3.

Look how clean the pieces cut out. I just pulled the paper off and it left all the pieces stuck to the mat. This is why you always need a good sticky mat with cutting tiny pieces. And use the right blade depth, pressure and speed. And a great cutting file helps as well. LOL! I would rather have a light mark in the mat and know it cuts all the way though.

This is the rest of the Parrot. Green Feathers, 4 pieces, White face and dark yellow feet and beak (4 pieces). Next picture shows how small the pieces are.

I laid these pieces on my gridded ruler so you can see how thin and small these pieces are. The blue are pieces of the Parrots tail. And they yellow bottom is one of the feet and the top yellow are the beak.

After I made the first 24 I found out we needed 10 more invitations. So off I went. I as able to cut all the pieces for 10 parrots in one cut. I did the same for the Mexican Guy and the Cactus Sets. And Titles.

I used red pompom ribbon on the hat, Stickles on the Parrots face, beak, Cactus, and the blanket on the Mexican Guy.

A couple days ago I loaded the file I used RM00170 "Mexican Fiesta" with additional files I didn't use on these. You can see that post listing all the files in the Collection. 13 files in all. Its a big file with several file types. This file does not include the Family Reunion file. I didn't think any one would need that but if you do let me know I can get that to you if you buy the kit.

But remember, this kit can be used for any thing. I originally used part of this file for a Recipe swap back in 2007 and now the invitations. And next I will be using it for layouts when we get back. So you could even use this file if you go on a cruise to Mexico. I included two titles for that.

Every thing I used:

Recollections Cardstock: Black, Red, White, 3 shaded of Green, 2 shades of Blue, 2 shaded of Yellow, 2 shades of Orange, Pink and Brown.

Pattern Paper: DCWV Rainbow Stripe

Cutter: Sizzix Eclips with Ecal

File: RM00170 "Mexican Fiesta"

ATG tape, Scotch Quick Dry glue, Tweezer Bee's, Cricut Mats, Stickles and pom pom ribbon from Michaels.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my post. I'm on to my next project. "Ribbon Shelf"

Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon

New File! Mexican Fiesta!

2013-02-13T13:09:00.005-05:00

Okay, well maybe its not all that new. LOL! But it is new in a way. I have never offered this file before.

I designed this file back in 2007 for a Recipe swap I did and totally forgot about it. Until our family reunion coming up decided on a Mexican Fiesta theme. And remembered I had done this one. But it was on my back up external hardrive and in KNK form. So I got it loaded and got my KNK software working again. And I was able to use my file.

I did make some changes and redid the file and added some new files to it. And added several file types. I Also used this for my Family Reunion Invitations. I will have a post on those later. (This is why I haven't been posting, super busy with invitations)

This file can be used in so many different ways, I have used it to make a "Recipe Swap", And "Family Reunion Invitations" and will be using several of these images in my "Layouts" of all our reunion pictures.

Here is the "New" file loaded for the first time. RM001700 "Mexican Fiesta".

This is a large file and contains a lot of paper piecing's and layers. This is what the file includes:.

1. "Complete Card" with card base with front layer. Inside has 3 layers for each side. One layer has zig zag edge to look like a rug. You can choose to use as many or as few layers as you need.

2. Paper Piecing "Pepper Frame" with Mat and back layer. You can also use this a a frame for your pictures.

3. You have 3 Titles with 2 layers. (Cozumel, Mexico and 7 layer Mexican Dip (from my recipe swap)

4. Fold-able Pennants to make a cute "Banner". They fold so you can put them on a string.

5. "Pepper boarder" Paper piecing (Red, Green peppers with Tops and a back Mat)

6. "Pinata" ( this would be super cute cut out of strip paper)

7. "Parrot" ( has several pieces and back mat) This is my favorite. You wont believe how small I cut this, later post)

8. Single "Chili Pepper"

9. "Cactus Set": Tall Cactus, small Cactus and Sand Mound

10. "Maraca's" have 3 layers

11. "Mexican Guy" paper piecing. Okay I love this one as well.

You can grab this awesome file here: RM00170 "Mexican Fiesta"

File types in this file include: AI /EPS, MTC, SVG, DXF, KNK, WPC & SCUT3

Here is a picture of the Recipe swap I did using this file back in 2007.

7 Layer Mexican Dip Recipe (Download here)

I will have a post soon on the Invitations I made using this file soon. I took a lot of pictures showing how small I cut some of these pieces on my Eclips.

Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon

Cricut Mats in Sizzix Eclips!

2013-02-05T12:43:00.001-05:00

I'm really loving my Sizzix Eclips using Ecal to cut to it. It cuts so smooth (not the Click, Click, Click) that the Cricut does using other software.

I was asked to make the Family Reunion Invitations for our Reunion coming up in July. In Iowa! We haven't seen Iowa family in over 10 years so this will be a nice trip from Florida. And on the way back we will swing by Texas and see my In-laws. We haven't seen hubby's dad in over 10 years as well. His wife has Alzheimer's so we really need to make this trip and see her.

Some things I noticed with the Eclips mats. They are not very sticky and don't stay sticky very long. I mean. I did a lot of cutting for the step card and I did 25 sheets of pattern paper and its not sticky at all. This time frame is far less then the Cricut mats. I mean, I can do a ton of cutting for 6 months before I wash and re-stick them.

So I went to Joann's and Michael's looking for new Sizzix Mat. I would rather use a coupon on them then order full price and pay shipping on the net. You to right!

I have new Cricut mats and held it up to the Eclips mat and they are the same size. So I tried loading the Cricut mat in the Eclips. It took it in and spit it all the way out. I just didn't get why it would do that. I mean, its the same size. Only difference is the Cricut mat has pointed corners.

I posted on the MTC forum and some one suggested cutting the corners off. So I laid the Sizzix Eclips mat on top of the Cricut mat. Used a pencil to trace the corners. Then used my Tim Holts Scissors (red and black) and trimmed the corners. And Wha La! It took it and kept the mat. Funny how a little thing like rounding the corners spits it out. Maybe it's because the laser was still seeing the edge of the corner. Who knows.

But now, We can get Cheap Replacement Mats at Joanns and Michaels.

Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon

Small Paper Trimmer Suggestions

2013-01-31T00:40:00.001-05:00

I am in need of a new paper trimmer. I have tried several over the years and didn't like any of them. Until I got my Tonic Studios one. I use it all the time. But its a little big for taking to crops.

This is the Tonic cutter I have now, and love it, but looking for some thing smaller that cuts good and straight. And is not a Guillotine cutter.

I was looking at a few Fiskars trimmers and some use a wire and most don't get good reviews. Say the wire breaks after a few uses.

And then they have some rotary ones. I was never a fan of the cutterpied so not sure I will like the rotary ones.

And then seen the Martha Stewart cutter. Its kind of unique with the side slider and the blades don't look hard to change. But the reviews say, they are hard to get. Have any one see them in store. Here is a video on how this trimmer works.

This fiskars Euro looks pretty cool but it don't have any reviews yet.

So, what cutter do you have and just love enough to recommend. Post a comment below with your cutter and model or a link please. I need to get one soon.

Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon

My Scraproom! What A Mess!

2013-01-30T13:52:00.002-05:00

(above picture is after)

I don't know about yall. But every time I work on some thing. I have to have a clean room

When I work on a project. My room starts out so nice and clean. And by the time I finish what ever it is I'm working on. My room is a total mess. I mean, About half of every thing I own is out because I use so many different things for every thing I make. So let me show you how the nice clean room above looked after my last project last week. Disney Step Card that I made last week.

Above picture is my counter top and on this end is all the ribbon I have been buying the past couple months to make bows for my granddaughters. And do you know I just counted them and I have 72 rolls on this counter. And that don't include all my ribbon I had from before. I think its time to go to my work shop and build me a ribbon shelf. What do you thing. My paper trimmers got moved here so I could use the Eclips in its temporary spot.

This is my Island in the middle of my room. I needed a little more counter space so this is what I have for now. But I plan to build a nice Island with lots of cubbies on the sides. This is just a old desk and two cubbies. But it works. This is where I usually keep my Paper trimmers (new blog post coming on paper trimmers) But since I still have my cricut on my top shelf and need to get rid of it. Right now this is the Sizzix Eclips home for now. This is where I did my cutting for the Step Card.

This is where I usually do my cutting. My KNK Groove is on the bottom and Cricut Expression is on top. I use the Expression the most but that will be changing soon. It will be coming off and making room for the Eclips.

This area isn't to bad. My printer is on the right and just some left over poly board from my last project (a Vinyl sign for a neighbor)

Now this mess on the side and behind the Island. This is the boxes of stuff left over from the scraprook garage sale we had a few weeks ago and I need to take pictures and get them posted for sale. And you see that Huge picture frame with the weird (kind of Scary) picture. I love the frame and got it for $8 at the good will and plan to make some thing with it. The smaller behind it. Im going to paint and cover with fabric and make a bow holder for all the bows I'm making. So there are 2 projects.

This is all my paper and basket storage. I would really love to have a Ikea Expedit shelf here. Or just build some of my own. One day that will happen. but for now. The wire cubes from Target work great. Right now I have 30 of those cubes in there. No I didn't buy them all at one time. I had some all over my house and just started snagging them to use in my room. LOL! You see some are black and some are white. The IKEA shelf has 25 cubbies and cost just a little more but more sturdy. This is why I would love that system.

Okay, after one hour of cleaning. This is the after pictures. And now its ready to play and make a mess again.

Here is my room all clean. Its about 10 x 13. Don't it look nice and all read to play. I have 4 work stations so when friends come over. They have a place to sit. I also move around depending on what I'm doing.

Main counter this is where all the ribbon and paper cutters were. The end is my sewing station. I keep my sewing machine on top and in the cubbies on the right I have all my threads and stuff. All my fabric is in buckets in the wire cubes. The station next to it is where I sit most after I do all my cutting. My tools and glue and stuff are there.

This is the cutter station. KNK Groove on the bottom Expression on top. But I will be removing it and moving the Eclips up there soon. (Need to sew a matching cover for it) This is where I use my laptop to do all my cutting then move to the station next to it to do all my finishing work.

Here is the Center Island all cleaned and has the paper trimmers back in place. (That is Maya my mini Dachshund in the picture)

This wasn't to hard to clean up. I moved all the boxes in the walk in closet on the left. And closed the Curtains. When I moved back in here a few months ago, I snagged another set of cubes from another room and added them in here. So I need to make a curtain for it. But really hoping to get the IKEA shelf first. LOL

And the last part, Just closed the curtains on this shelf and put the poly boards in the walk in closet. Oh, up top on the stacked drawers. That is a rack I got at the good will for $2 to hold my cutter mats. It works great and keeps them all nice and neat. I really think I cold get 2 Ikea shelf on this wall and do away with this section of wood shelf and slider bins. But we will see.

I don't know why but when I clean my scraproom, it inspires me to want to go in there and play. So maybe I will.

That is all I have for you today.

Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon

Family Reunion Invitations and Flash Back!

2013-01-28T14:18:00.002-05:00

I found out last week that my husbands family is having a Family Reunion in Iowa and we are going. Yay! I haven't been on a driving trip in years since our massive income change. So this will be a nice trip.

We have not seen the family in Iowa in about 20 years so it will be great to catch up. I was asked to design the Family Reunion Invitations and they are doing a Mexican Fiesta theme. So I thought this is perfect.

I know I had done a Mexican recipe layout for a swap. But the bad thing was I designed it in KNK software. And I lost my soft ware after my last computer crash. So I reinstalled my software thinking I could open my files and just copy and paste them to MTC. Well that didnt work. So the only way I could do it was to do a screen shot and trace it in MTC. That was some work.

Well, I emailed Sandy McCauley, My go to person for all KNK and now MTC related stuff. And she informed me that if it has been a year since last install. You can install and register again. Woo Hoo! That worked, and now I am able to just copy my files from KNK and paste in place in MTC. This will save me so much work. I have so many files I never finished or converted to svg or MTC. So this will help alot.

Now. Here is the flash back! I knew I made that file a couple years ago, but im really bad with time frames. I just looked at the file and I designed it in 2007. Wow! I didnt think it was that many years ago.

So I will be working on these and post when I get the final approval from the Reunion host.

And on a side note. We are grandparents again. My daughter had her baby Sunday Morning. 1 week early. She had a little girl and her name is Emma Grace. I just love her name. So now Lil' Punkin is a big brother and I now have the next couple months off to get caught up on their pictures.

Have a great day,
Sharon

Disney Step Card (Free File)

2013-01-26T22:30:00.000-05:00

My grandson's 2nd Birthday is on Feb 7 and he just loves Mickey Mouse. So I made this step card for his birthday card and put his favorite characters (Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Pluto) on there. On the front is Mickey Mouse. And I cut his head out separate so I could put it on a "Wobble". And Donald is on front with Mickey. Next step is Pluto and last step is Goofy.

Paper is from Queen & Company and called Magic Multi Strip and has a bunch of borders. I used those for each of the steps. And used the back side called Magic Flower for the main base of the step card. I bought 2 pieces so I could use both sides.

I love using 2 sided paper because one, its thicker and perfect for this kind of thing. And two, you know its going to match. LOL! I'm the worst and matching paper so now I only buy 2 sided paper.

I made the Step card file in MTC 4.3.3 and saved it as SVG (with seperate layers) and EPS/AI and SCUT3 as I cut it with my sizzix eclips using Ecal. And you can download the free file HERE.

Note that this file is for the Step card with two mats for each step and has dashed and cut lines. "DOES NOT" include Disney Files.

And one last note. We are expecting our 2nd grandbaby on Monday she will be induced and little one will be here some time that day. No name yet, they don't tell us till she gets here. So little Punkin will have an exciting next 2 weeks, New sister and turning 2 and fist sleep over at Gramma and Pop Pop's.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you can use the file.

Sharon

Sizzix Eclips Update and Blade Setting Test!

2013-01-16T17:19:00.001-05:00

When ever I get a new machine. I like to start off with some basic testing to see how much pressure and speed each type of cutting material needs. But did a update first.

So having just set up my Sizzix Eclips and having done the Update on the hand held last night It comes with version 1.1 but there were a couple updates that allow you to do folds and other things in version 2 and in version 3.1 it added the stamp 2 cut and other features. I like the being able to cut several different images on different colors on the same mat at the same time. I haven't tried it yet, but seen it was one of the options.
If you need to update your handheld. Here is the link. You need to know your Serial number (on the back of your hand held ) and what version windows your running. 32 bit or 64 bit. Then go to this link Sizzix Eclips Update.

I wanted to do some basic test cuts on different media using the Machine with the Hand held before I do any thing with Ecal. Because I know the C***** cuts differently whith 3rd party software. So wanted to check this first.

Okay, so on to the test. I used the cart that came with the Eclips "Rockin Janie" This is a simple flower, the inside cuts but is still attached in the center of the petals so you can curl them up. Cute! I cut this flower at the size 1.5 inches. I wanted to make sure it would cut small.

These are the papers I used. So you will know where to start cutting with your medium.

Joanns cardstock (white flower) I used blade setting 1 and pressure was on 3 but I think I would lower it to 2.

Michael's Recollection Cardstock (Pink Flower) blade setting 1 and pressure 3 was perfect. I love this paper, it cuts great on all machines. This cardstock is 65lb weight

DCWV (Green Flower) Textured with white core. Blade Setting 2 pressure 3.

Bazzill (Blue Flower) This bazzill is super thick with a heavy texture. Hard to bend. Blade setting 3 and pressure 3 and it cut out perfect first try as well.

Chipboard (Last Flower) this was a really thick backing off a Paper stack, it was thicker then the heavy Bazzill used to do the blue flower. I used Blade setting 4 and Pressure 3 and it cut fine. But might use pressure 4 next time.

Acetate: Im still testing this one. I test cut some clear acetate from the package of the cartridge and did a Blade setting on 5 and pressure 4 and it almost went though. So I think changing the Blade to 6 will work fine.

Now other tips I found with this test cutting was.

When you load your paper on your mat and line it up with your lines. And then load the mat in to the machine. And it goes in and then out and goes to its home. If you look closely at the blade holder and push down on the pin in the top. It will push the blade down so you will see where it will start. I found out that its right on the edge of the paper. And did not notice this with the first flower. So it cut just a tad off the left side petal.

So on the others. After I loaded the mat. I used the arrow over and down keys on the hand held just to move the starting position a little and it was perfect. So check that on your machine.

The other thing I found was. With using the thicker material starting with the Bazzill. If I just loaded the mat like the others. It had a tendency to not roll back in right and the cut of the outside flower was off from the center cut. So I used the arrow keys on the hand held to move the mat so the thick cardstock and chipboard were under the gray rollers more. Not just on the mat as how it loads. So your image will now cut like a 1/2 inch down from the top. And it worked perfect.. I think the wheels just needed a little more to grab on to.

I just bought Ecal to cut to the Sizzix Eclips from Craft Edge it was $50.99 after using the code under it on the website. And will be working and testing with that soon.

I hope you find this information useful.

Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon