2 Krafty Girls

New Crafty Adventures

2012-04-22T13:28:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been working on some different crafty things here and there. I'm so thrilled how they both turned out and wanted to share them with everyone....

Toothbrush rug

I made this one for my new craft room and I just LOVE it! I found out about Toothbrush rugs while scouring the web for homemade rug ideas. These are so easy to make, no sewing, no special tools! The rug is nice and thick and "cushy" and completely washable. Here are links to a couple sites I used for reference.
Aunt Philly Toothbrush
Rag Rug Cafe

"Quilted" Altered Naked Album

Recently I got a couple "naked" chipboard albums and have been dieing to alter them. Last weekend I was blessed enough to go to a wonderful scrapping retreat with Susan and some other friends so I thought that would be the perfect chance to work on the album. I decided to make a quilt block on the front of this one. I scoured the web looking for quilt blocks I could replicate using my Gypsy and E2. Here's a link to the original post showing this square: The Prfait Cafe (found this one on Pintrest).

I covered all the bare chipboard with Tim Hotlz Picket Fence Distress Stain - love this stuff! I made a file on my Gypsy to recreate the diamond shapes as best I could-this was the hardest part of the whole project, but it wasn't bad. Once I had all the pieces cut out I inked around their edges and added pen stitching. I mod-podged the pieces onto the cover, I know they aren't perfectly aligned but none of my projects ever are! I used my E6000 glue to adhere the button to the center because I wanted it stuck on there really good. I used scor tape to adhere the the ribbon and lace to the binding, the ribbon wraps around to the inside and overlapped to finish the ends. I'm very happy with how this turned out and can't wait to try something else on the next one.

Thanks for looking and have a very blessed day!

Masculine Birthday Cards

2012-02-04T17:58:00.000-06:00

Hi Blogger Friends! Last week I was able to make a birthday card for my uncle and brother (at my mom's special request.) I'm pretty happy with how they turned out and how easy they were to make. I sure don't have a lot of time to craft anymore, but this was a great challenge for me.

This is the card I made for my uncle (my mom's brother). The picture is an actual family pic he sent my mom, I just printed it off my computer and inked it up a bit. It was so much fun using a "real" vintage picture and I know it means a lot to Uncle Ken. I used some old buttons I've been collecting, twine I dyed myself, a page from an old book and the base of the card is some Core'dinations embossed paper that I sanded.

This is the card for my brother. He lives, eats, breaths, and dreams fishing...need I say more?!! Thankfully I found the fish image at the Graphics Fairy (her site always comes thru for me!). I printed it off on some tan textured paper, inked it up and it was as easy as that! I've done every kind of fish card I can think of and this was such a nice change. The other papers are from my collection of Basic Grey goodies.

Thanks for looking and I hope you have a very blessed day!
Connie

Vintage Inspired Tags

2011-12-19T07:00:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends!!! I made these quick tags the other night as an escape from my mounds of paperwork. All the sweet images came from The Graphics Fairy as usual. I did add some sentiments and other things in PhotoShop a month or so ago. The lace is left over little pieces I had laying around and colored with some Distress Re-Inkers. Quick, simple, and easy, that's what I'm all about this year.

I linked this post up to The Graphics Fairy "Brag Monday" and Free Pretty Things "What ever you want Wednesday."

I hope you all have a very blessed and peaceful Christmas!
Connie

Pretty In Pink

2011-10-13T08:00:00.001-05:00

I made this card a while ago for my friend's daughter. She is a girly-girl so this gave me a chance to go over the top with cuteness.

The purse is from Kate's ABC's and I just welded two of them together to make the base. The handle was embossed with Wood grain folder after I inked up some plain white paper with distress inks, and the "fabric" was white paper I embossed with Starry Night (which I inked directly on the folder instead of the paper.) The sweet quilled flowers are from the Flower Shoppe cartridge. Again, white paper I inked with alcohol inks first. These are just the small centers of the flowers and were cut at about 4 inches. As a finishing touch I added lots of adhesive pearls on the front of the card.

Hope you have a very blessed day!

2011-10-12T19:31:00.000-05:00

Thank you Grace for this very sweet surprise!!!!

Antique Tooth Brush Cards

2011-08-09T14:06:00.000-05:00

Recently I decided to make thank you cards for a couple dentists we provide support for. These people end up being family to us and we wanted to let them know how much we appreciate them. I didn't want to make the card a typical "tooth" card so this is what I came up with....

Aren't these antique toothbrush drawings so amazing?! I used this original image from Karen at the Graphics Fairy. I've got to say I love my Photo Shop and Graphics Fairy!!!The tan worn paper image was also from Karen's site as well. The flower was made using a Gluber and my favorite red gingham ribbon. This was my first attempt making one of these and I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

The inside of the cards were pretty basic. I used some clear border stamps for the images and printed the messages on my printer (I edited them out of the picture...)

Hope you like and have a blessed day!

Roses for My Dear "Little" Rose

2011-07-25T18:41:00.000-05:00

Hi friends! Long time no see! I've been crazy busy starting a non-profit org for kids in our area and helping dh grow his dental IT biz....enough of that! Now on to some crafty-ness!

This was the card I made for my daughter's 20th birthday. She is 4th generation (on my mom's side) to have Rose as her middle name and she loves them like I do. There are 20 roses in this flowerpot. I cut them using Sweethearts and my pearl paper which I then colored w/ my alcohol inks. The flower pot is from Kate's ABC's. Paper is by My Mind's Eye and it and the lace came from Hobby Lobby. Cute little clear gem pin came from Sugar Sweet Boutique (LOVE her!)

Inside is pretty simple, some stamps, a little crown punch I blinged and another little rose.....

I hope you all have a very blessed week!

For no reason...

2011-06-11T10:00:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I had a little time to craft and no particular project to work on so this is what I came up with...

A fun little cherry card. I just love this cut from Nifty Fifties, that was my inspiration for this one. On the cherries and leaves I heat embossed the layers twice to make them nice and shiny (hard to tell in this pic.) I used my cute little pink Dymo Caption maker for the words, isn't it perfect? I left the inside blank so I can decide what to use the card for later.

This card was inspired by this cute lady on her Vespa from the Sweethearts cart. I've always wanted to make her. Of course I had to add my paper flowers and some bling. The card background was embossed with one of the new Cuttlebug All In One sets, I used a border from the Thank You set.
I left the inside of this one blank as well.

It's nice to know that I have a few blank cards on hand now for when things pop up.

Have a very blessed day!

I'm gonna get a cavity...

2011-06-07T18:52:00.000-05:00

...from all these super sweet goodies! Last week I won a give-away on Free Pretty Things for You blog. I was given a $10 credit to Sugar Sweet Botique's store, trust me, it was like being a little kid in a candy store! Of course I "HAD" to get more than just $10 worth of goodies, but I didn't spend that much and look at what I got....

Bubble Gum Pink & Sugar White Striped Ribbon, Bubble Gum Pink & Lime Green Checked Ribbon, Aqua & Bubble Gum Pink Baker's Twine, Sweet Treat Sparkling Crystal Pins,

Peppermint Red and White Cupcake Trim, Valentine Mix Pink, Red & White Berry Beads. Jennifer also added some Petal Pink and Baby Blue Pearl Garland Trim and some sweet Pink Paper Crowns!

All the trims were tied up with vintage seam binding (I am so obsessed with that stuff right now!) and Jennifer shipped off my goodies so quick! THANK YOU JENNIFER! (no, I'm not shouting.)

Now, what to make????? I haven't even had time to think about it....maybe next weekend!

Have a very blessed day!

Congratulations Katie!

2011-06-03T21:04:00.000-05:00

Here's the graduation card I made for Susan's wonderful, smart, and talented daughter, Katie. She graduated from high school this past Sunday, with like a million honors to boot! I don't think Susan could be any prouder!

All layers on this card (except the black of course) were cut with my lovley pearlescent Hobby Lobby paper then dyed by me. No regular paper would do for Katie-Miss Artist! Card base is from Elegant Edges and the letter K is brought to you by Winter Woodland. (Yes, I'm being feisty right now, it's been a looooong week!)

Here is a set of note cards I made dear Katie as well. My dear sweet daughter who is friends with Katie approved of all design and color choices. It was nice to have her input because she doesn't craft with me very often. The little tag is a punch I picked up a couple weeks ago at JoAnn's. It's by E K Success and it's slim profile which makes it easy to store. I love the thing! This time the letter K is brought to you by some fancy clear alphabet set Susan and I picked up a few years ago at a scrapping convention. The background stamp (on the tan paper) was a foam backed re-positional stamp from Hobby Lobby. I'm trying to expand my horizons here and try "new" things......

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Free Pretty Things and Sugar Pink Botique

2011-06-01T09:52:00.000-05:00

I won!!!! I won!!!!!!

Yesterday on Free Pretty Things For You blog Karen was having a Sneak Attack give away sponsored by Sugar Pink Boutique. Seeing how I adore both of these blogs, how could I pass up a chance to win some sugary sweet pretties? Now I'm off to shop at Sugar Pink Botique!!!!

Thank you Karen and Jennifer! You are both so very sweet!

A "Cool" Graduation Card

2011-05-20T17:54:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday everyone! Here is a graduation card I made for my nephew. I was hesitant to make him one at first because I sure didn't want it to be cute in any way. I wanted to go a little edgy on this one because my nephew has his own band and plays the drums, among other things.

I found this diamond shape on Elegant Edges-itsn't it cool? I matted it on mirror finish silver paper to make it pop. I decided instead of the usual graduation card I would do Alex's monogram instead, and I love the way it looks!. The monogram was cut using light grey card stock and it was shadowed with black. I pop dotted both the blue diamond shape and the monogram.

Inside is pretty simple, more of the diamond shape, this time without the diamond cut outs in the center, and a stamp. I also made another non traditional graduation card at the same time, but I can't show you yet because it is for Susan's daughter.... :)

Hope you all have a blessed weekend!

Vintage-Red- Bling = ME!

2011-05-15T18:44:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I participated in National Scrapbook Day challenges over at Scrapbook.com. I had so much fun, but I've got to say, I don't like the pressure to create in a set amount of time. :) This mini book was a week long challenge we had to create all about ourselves. It had to be at least 5 pages and could be in any size or format we wanted. Of course I knew I had to go with my beloved color RED! I pulled out all my favorite papers and cut away! The hardest part for me was trying to find pictures I wanted to use in my book. I knew I wanted it to be about my happy place, but for the life of me I couldn't find decent pictures to use of my family and friends-I got very frustrated for sure. Finally on Monday evening I decided to go with vintage images I have gathered from the web-that's when it all came together for me.

Red roses, more red roses, ribbon, lace, buttons, and awesome paper-can't get better than this!

To know me is to know I adore kitties and chocolate and don't think I could face like without either one! All the images I used are from Vintage Resources and The Graphics Fairy. I actually have this kitty print on a tin sign hanging in my home.

I love the ballet, even though I don't talk about it often. My favorite ever is of course the Nutcracker, but not just any one, I love the one The Pacific Northwest Ballet does-it's amazing! And who would I be if I didn't craft constantly? Kinda hard to find a vintage image of scrapbooking.... The red ribbon around the ballerina is more seam binding I colored and pleated myself.

Roses are my all time fav! As for the beach, I wish I could live there (a warm one mind you) my whole life! Nothing relaxes me more than the sound of the ocean and the feel of sand on my feet!

Ok, so who doesn't love having lunch and hanging out with their girlfriends-I know I do! Of course I HAD to add lots of bling to this page. Yes, I know I left out the kids, honestly it's because I couldn't find an image that represented them. This red embossed paper is part of a core'dinations pack from Jenni Bowlin Studio-it is so much fun! All the little tags were made on made on my computer, printed out, cut and inked, easy as that!

Finally, the back cover. I decided to go with this beautiful red flocked paper, it needs nothing else!

So there ya have it, a peek into me.....so what makes you happy???

Vintage Inspired Cards

2011-05-13T17:23:00.000-05:00

First of all I want tell you that I'm so happy it's Friday!
Here are a couple birthday cards I made recently, I couldn't show them until now because the birthday girls had not received them yet....

This first one was made around this Lilly of the Valley image from The Graphics Fairy. The birthday girl adores these flowers so of course that's what I had to do! I added some old lace and buttons from my stash, did some stitching, and there you have it! Can you tell what her favorite color is???? Hmmmmmm.... All the pink, lavender and green paper is an old collection of Ann Griffin paper, I picked this stuff up years ago and I was so happy to find a good use for it.

This second card was inspired by this antique sewing machine image once again from The Graphics Fairy-love her! The birthday girl loves sewing and has one of our grandmother's original foot powered Singer sewing machines. This time the colors for the card were more fall-ish which is a lot more challenging for me. The base of this card was made with a piece of pre-embossed Core'dinations paper, this stuff is so much fun! I dyed some of my seam binding green and pleated it to the front of the card. The dark purple flower was cut from natural muslin and dyed by me once again. I just cut out 4 circles and made a box flower with them.

Here you can see the embossed card stock on the inside of the card. I found a nice Irish blessing and printed it off on my printer and there ya go! Of course I had to add one of my "book flowers" and some vintage buttons I picked up at a local antique store.

These cards were such fun to make and to challenge myself to get out of my usual rut. The hardest part of all this was just picking out paper....it took me days!

Hope you have a fun and restful weekend!

Glittery Gift Card Purse

2011-05-12T09:41:00.000-05:00

I made this sparkly purse to go with the wedding shower card I made a week or so ago. Because the Bride just loves glitter I just had to make the purse out of my Core'dinations glitter card stock. I used the Tags, Bags, Boxes and more cart. I cut the flower embelishment from my favoirte white shimmer paper again and glittered it as well. This cut was from Elegant Edges. This little purse was so fun to make and took no time at all.

Becky's going to get some silk rose petals and put them in the purse with her gift card...what a great idea!

I had so much fun making this set, I can't wait to hear what the Bride thought of them!

I also want to say Happy Birthday to my dear friend Missy!!!

Have a Blessed Day!!!

Layout on Fabric!

2011-05-09T12:49:00.000-05:00

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

page 1...I love how this turned out-it is so ME

A while ago I picked up some fat quarters of fabric I adore at my local quilting store and I've been trying to figure out what to do with them ever since. I figured why not make a layout ON fabric! I used fusible webbing and fused the fabric to a simple sheet of white cardstock, then I ziz-zagged around the outside edges just to finish it off. Instead of pictures, I put some hand made cards on my layout, and a graphic I just adore from the Graphics Fairy. I made a couple of fabric box flowers which I added fabric covered brads to the centers. I also used my cricut to cut several different flower shapes from an old book. I colored the paper flowers with my different ink pads and alcohol inks and they are finished off with buttons from my stash. And finally I HAD to add ribbon, so I decided to gather it add to the edge of the graphic I printed off

page 2-this fabric is just so perfect!

Thanks for looking and have a very blessed day!

I'm linking this up to the Graphics Fairy "Brag Monday." and the Circut Circle's Monthly Challenge for Tic-Tac-Toe. I used multiple flower cuts on my Cricut (Paisley and Kate's ABC's), gathered ribbon, and buttons in the center of my flowers.

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T10:00:00.001-05:00

I hope all you wonderful mommies are having a delightful day! I wanted to share the Mother's Day card I made for my sweet mom... She loves purple, flowers and anything pretty. The fern on this cut brings me back to being a kid, she always had them.

The base of the card and the eyelet layer were cut with Elegant Edges. The wagon, flowers and other images are from Kate's ABC. Once again I HAD to cut the flowers, and butterfly from an old book-just love how that turns out! The flower pots and fern were cut with that wonderful penalized paper from Hobby Lobby. Even after you color it (I used my alcohol inks) the shimmer is still there, it's so pretty! The wagon is topped off with some vintage seam binding I dyed as well.

Here's the inside of the card,once again more hand dyed book flowers and seam binding. I love how cute and ruffly the seam binding is when it's gathered.

Have a very very blessed and restful Mother's Day!

My Paper Lace (not the cartridge)

2011-05-02T15:55:00.000-05:00

Becky asked me to make a wedding shower card for a friend. Apparently the bride LOVES glitter, shoes and dark blue. I got it in my head to make a lace dress with paper. I really wanted to make the dress out of fabric lace but I know I can't cut that with my Cricut, so my mind started racing. ( I don't have any of the paper lace cartridges either.) I took the dress from Nifty Fifties and laid it on top of the "Lace Doily" cut from Cindy Loo (pg. 70,) using my Gypsy of course. I didn't weld anything, just moved the dress cut around on the doily cut until it looked right to me. I cut the "lace" with some beautiful shimmery paper I pick up by the truckload at Hobby Lobby. It's just 8 1/2 x 11 paper they carry with their solid cardstock, this stuff cuts like a dream for me! The solid layer of the dress is also this same paper, just a slightly different shade, and glittered by me. Of course I had to add rhinestones and pearls to the dress. The base of this card is heavy weight shimmery cardstock from Couture Cardstock, the shape is from Elegant Edges, I just welded two of the identical shapes together to make the card. The white frame is my Hobby Lobby paper, glittered again. I've got to say I'm very pleased at how the lace dress turned out, I'll be doing this again!

I hope you all have a very blessed week!

Happy Fairy Tale Day!

2011-04-29T15:07:00.000-05:00

Call me crazy for even posting this today, but I was so enchanted with the Royal Wedding today. I almost didn't get up early to watch it (because we all know how much I love my sleep!) but I did, and it was like watching a real life fairy tale. It was so classic and down to earth, other than the crazy hats, how does someone see around those anyhow? :) So in honor of this historic wedding I thought I'd add this tiara image to the blog today...

Isn't it beautiful?!!! As usual it came from the Graphics Fairy - thank you Karen! She's got the story behind this one on her site

Hope you all have an Enchanted weekend!

Easter Blessings

2011-04-24T12:05:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to wish you all a very Happy and Blessed Easter! We pray you all know the love and sacrifice that makes Easter so special!

Blessed Good Friday and a New Company to Share

2011-04-22T16:29:00.000-05:00

I hope you are all having a very blessed day!

I thought today would be a great day to share with you all a wonderful little company Susan found while she was at a book fair a few weeks ago. I want to support Sarah in every way possible because it's not easy running a business, especially at the ripe old age of 19! Let me introduce you to Sarah who owns Pursenalize It. Her main emphasis is on one-of-a-kind completely customized hand made purses. Susan purchased one from her and I have seen it first hand, it's an amazing work of art!!! She also creates other amazing hand made accessories. Well here's the sincher for me, she also makes Jean Pocket Mini Scrapbook kits! I had Susan pick one up for me, it is so well thought out and planned. Sarah doesn't have them on her webstie yet, but I'm told she will very soon. Here are some pictures of my kit....

Sorry this pic is a little blurry! This is how the kit comes...looks like fun!

This is the kit all spread out....patterned and solid 7 x 7 cardstock, cardboard base pages with adorable little hinges sewn to the edge for binding, each page is clearly labeled. Antiqued binder rings. Denim "ribbons" for tying on the rings. Fully lined jean pockets (can't you just see blinging these babies up?!!!) A templet for punching your holes in the hinge, and finally extra pieces of the cardstock for embellishing or what ever! Oh and of course, very clear and detailed instructions for putting the mini together!

close up of the denim pockets and ribbons

Close up of the cardstock, there are also more pieces of 7 x 7 pale yellow cardstock for adhering to the base pages first. They are each labeled and clearly marked.


Close up of the base pages and extra cardstock.

I can tell you that Sarah has put a LOT of time and work into these kits. I can't wait to put mine together, now I just need to find pictures to put in it! This kit is available in different colors/patterns as well, this is the one Susan picked for me. Isn't it the cutest thing EVER! I will be putting a link to Sarah and Pursenalize It on our blog, go give Sarah some love girls!

Sweet Mini-Book for my Sweet Goddaughter!

2011-04-20T10:50:00.015-05:00

Here is my second mini-book.....I have to say, these are addicting! Connie has been such an inspiration, sharing her ideas and techniques, and of course her passion! So, without further ado....

Here is the cover. I made this for my sweet little goddaughter, Kenna Grace. As you will soon see, she is a treasure!
This is the first layout. Look at those tiny little feet! On the journaling box, I wrote out Psalm 139:13-16, one of my favorite passages!
Sweet! This is my cousin, his wife, and baby Kenna. They really are such a sweet family! I love how the pocket turned out on this one!
What a sweet baby! Don't you just want to snuggle her?! I love this page. I was having a hard time coming up with a way to fit the poem that I wanted on the page in a way that looked nice on the layout. I came up with the idea for the daisy pocket and putting the tag in at an angle worked much better. It ended up being one of my favorite pages.
Here's a closer look at the daisy pocket.
I put the clothesline in for Connie! I think it turned out sweet!
If she isn't precious, I don't know what is!!!
Isn't she adorable?!
Here is the final page. And she is Cute as a Button! This book was SO fun to make!
And this is the back cover. All the paper I used is from K&Company. I used cuts from Kate's ABC's, Paisley, Elegant Edges, and Sentimentals. Thanks for letting me share my book! I hope you like it!

New addiction!

2011-04-18T16:44:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I found a great method for printing graphics (or what ever) directly on to fabric. Ask my family and Susan, I was beside myself with sheer excitement. You would've thought I won the lottery! Of course I got the idea here and here on the Graphics Fairy website. I've been dieing for a way to incorporate her images into something other than paper. I used the freezer paper method.

Here's my first finished project, a Union Jack pillow for Becky who is obsessed with England. I purposley left the edges of the flag raw so it would unravel a bit. I also antiqued the original image a little in PhotoShop. Here is the original image from the Graphics Fairy.

Here's my second project today. I made my mom a little place mat type thing for her room. This time after I printed the graphic, I applied heat activated vinyl to both sides of the fabric. Yes, I know I could've just printed this on paper, but I'm now fixated on printing onto fabric! Here's a link to the image I used from the Graphics Fairy (again!) The color changed a bit after I applied the film to it.

I get to go play with Susan tomorrow and we're so excited! Hopefully I'll come home with lots of awesome projects to share!

Hope you have a very blessed week!

Pincushion in a mini tart pan

2011-04-11T19:39:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago I made this sweet little pincushion for myself. I couldn't stand the thought of having a regular red strawberry one!

Please don't judge my stitching ability! This was the first time I've embroidered in a loooong time!

First, I started out by embroidering this precious little pattern onto a piece of muslin backed with thin batting. The stitching actually went very quickly and I was done with it in a couple of days. I did a simple basting stitch around the perimeter of my muslin circle with a full 8 strands of embroidery floss, so I could gather it up for finishing.

Next, I took a little 3 inch (I think!) mini tart pan and glued some mimi pom-pom fringe around the edge with my Fabric-Tac Permanent Adhesive, you could use hot glue too.

Finally, I stuffed and gathered up my little piece of fabric, tied off the strings and glued it into my tart pin with more of my glue. I think I overstuffed this one a bit much, but I still think it turned out very cute! A few days later my mom "commissioned" me to make another one, this time we tea stained the muslin first and used fall colors. Sorry, no pictures of that one just yet.

I found this pattern in a sweet little book called "Bareroots Favorite Embroidery Stitches" at my local quilting shop, Happiness is Quilting. Every time I step foot in their door, my wallet gets nervous!

Hope you all have a very blessed week!

I'm in love....

2011-04-03T15:53:00.000-05:00

with the new Elegant Edges cartridge!!!! I received this cart in the mail on Friday and I'm addicted already! Here was my first project with it...

I used the bird on her perch from the April Showers seasonal cart and welded the So Tweet to it from the Gypsy Font. The scalloped mat is from Elegant Edges. Amazing what you can design while waiting for an oil change!

Here's the inside, I just had to layer all these papers! I also added some seam binding ribbon I colored with my alcohol inks.

This is one of the beautiful lace/eyelet frames from Elegant Edges as well. I was so giddy as this was cutting! And let me tell you everything I've cut from this cart has been perfect so far!

And finally this eyelet frame as well. I am seriously thinking about just cutting each frame on this cart out just so I can admire them! I have been waiting and hoping for a cart that cuts borders, frames and mats like this for a long time....so thrilled it's here!
The two pictures above are on the layout with the little girl and kitty I showed you a few weeks ago, click here if you want to see it.

Hope you have a very blessed day!