Where oh where Have I been!?!!

Just wanted to update everyone as to why I have been MIA for the past 3 weeks. First, I went to Cooperstown, NY with my DS for a week. His baseball team played at the Cooperstown Dream Park the last week of June - 1st of July! That was great fun. Then returned home for the 4th of July to celebrate with extended family. Then we headed off to Costa Rica for a family vacation where we zip lined over the rain forest, saw lots of wild animals, a real active volcano and so much more. We had a great time. This was through Adventures by Disney. This was our second vacation with Adventures by Disney and we just love them. We went on the Quest for the West one two years ago.

So, now that we have returned and my pain issues with my cervical spine have reduced some what, I hope to be adding some new things in the next week. Thanks for hanging with me and a special thanks to my "followers" I hope I have some good stuff to share with you soon. One of the new things I'm wanting to work on is air brushing with my copic markers! If anyone has any requests of things they would like to see let me know and I'll see if I am up to the challenge. In the interim, I hope you enjoy some of the pics we took in Costa Rica!

Tennis Racquet

Someone on the Cricut MB was looking for a tennis racquet. I had done one way back over a year ago shortly after DS came out. I didn't realize that I had never posted it here on the blog until I went looking for it. Probably never posted it because I wasn't every really happy with it. Anyway - I thought I would go ahead and post it now. I think it also has a tennis ball with it. Download the Tennis Racquet .cut file. It uses the George cartridge.

Joy Fold Card - .cut file to Share for Expression or Small Bugs - George Cartridge

Okay - seems like the "joy fold card" has become all the rage on the Cricut MB in the last few weeks. After DazyCutr (Rheba) shared how to make them with Kaitlyn and myself last week, I discovered a ton of them being done on the Cricut MB, especially in the Card Forum. However, I did not see where anyone had created a .cut file for them. Doesn't mean I didn't miss it, but I didn't see it!! Now, since I have trouble using a paper cutter to cut straight lines, I thought - hmmm. . . . . . I'll create a .cut file with Design Studio and share it with the Cricut World!! I have created two versions at this time. Both use George. One is for the Expression and one is for use with the smaller bugs (The Baby or Original and the Create). Even with the Expression file, you can use 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper. You need two sheets of cardstock or paper. One solid color and one contrasting color or coordinating print. The final finished size of the card is 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" inches. I may try to make a "bigger card" later as well as I like bigger cards then this one!

There are two "bases" which you will cut in the solid cardstock. One is Large (8 1/2" x 4 1/4") and one is Small (7" x 3"). Then 3 "covers" are cut from the contrasting or coordinating print for placement on the "bases". You can see this best from the pictures above. You cut the two bases, then score and fold the larger base at 5 1/2 ", and score and fold the smaller base at 3 1/2"). Then adhere the pattern or contrasting paper to the bases, then attach the smaller base to the larger base to create the card. You then can apply a die cut or some other element to the side of the card to "hold" the card closed if you want (see post below of cards Kaitlyn and I did, one has a duck and the other a boat holding the card "closed".) Notice on the cards that Kaitlyn and I did that we also Did Not use the contrasting paper on the very top of the small base. So feel free to mix it up and use it or not on any of the three places it is cut for! Download the .cut file for the Expression Joy Fold Card. Download the .cut file for the Small Bugs Joy Fold Card. Remember, both use the George cartridge! Feel Free to modify to use another of the Shapes Cartridges if you don't have George! There are no die cuts for "holding" the card closed. Just pick what you want! I believe Kaitlyn's duck was cut at 2 or 3 inches and the boat was 3 I think. You will just have to play around with size to see what works for your element. You can find the original idea and instructions on the Splitcoaststampers site along with a photo gallery of lots of these cards.

Joy Fold Cards Created with DazyCutr and DD Kaitlyn

DazyCutr (Rheba) from the Cricut MB and I try to get together once a week to work with our cricuts. It had been a couple of weeks since we had been able to do so what with the end of school for me and then her Granddaughter getting married in Texas a few weeks ago. So, we finally got together last week. My DD, Kaitlyn, was able to go with me. When we got there, Rheba wanted to know if we wanted to make "Joy Fold Cards". Seems like they had become all the rage in the past few weeks on the Cricut MB while I was "away". It is my understanding that the original form came from Split Coast Stampers. The name was because the lady who created it was creating it for a friend name Joy. (If I can find that link I wll come back and Edit and post it here!)

Since, I had no idea what she was talking about at that point, we said sure. Here are the two cards that Kaitlyn and I made for Father's Day. The Duck Card is Kaitlyn's and the Boat Card is mine. My DS has already claimed the Boat Card to give to his Dad! The Duck is from New Arrival cartridge and the Boat is from the Paper Dolls cartridge (I think!). The words on the Boat Card, "Happy Father's Day" and "You're One of a Kind" came from the Wildcard cartridge (again, I think!). We had a great time making these and a great teacher! Thank you for showing us how to make them Rheba! Kaitlyn has made another for a friend and I have made a .cut file that I will be sharing in just a moment. I hate trying to cut straight lines with my paper cutter so I thought - hmmmm. . . . . . this would be a very simple .cut file to create and so I did! I will make a separate post for it in a moment. I have two versions, one for the Expression and one for the Smaller Bugs (Baby or Original and the Create). Both use George.

Sorry for still being MIA more often then not

Hello. Sorry I have been "out" more then in. It will probably stay that way for a while. First, my darling children are out of school for the summer so I lose time there (but I do enjoy them!! LOL). However, I've also been having a minor health issue that has also kept me away from my cricut, the cricut MB, and my computer for the past couple of weeks more often then not. Long story short - I have some bulging disc issues in my cervical area - due in large part to a prior fusion I had almost 28 years ago. Trying to work through the problems it is causing. So, that is why I have been Out more then In! I hope to improve a little on that. Of course, no one may have even noticed my absence!!! LOL

Graduation Cap Card or Gift Card Holder - Locker Talk Cartridge Used

Here is a "graduation cap" card that I made using Design Studio (DS). Due to its size, you will need the Expression machine and the 12x12 mat. It uses the Locker Talk cartridge. I took the "easy way" out by using this cartridge since it already had the Graduation Cap cutout. You can use the card as a simple "card" or you could use it as a gift card holder (it is big enough as you can see to slip a gift card in). If you want to use as a gift card holder just add slits or hand cut slits for the corners of the gift card or use piece of double sided tape or a dab of repostionable glue on the back of the gift card to attach to the inside. You can fold the card so that the tassle is either on the left or the right which ever way you prefer. Also, I hand cut the tassle off the back side of the card in my pics but you don't have too you could leave the back tassle on the card if you want. (You have to hand cut it off because there is no way to hide it in DS to cut without it because it is one image with the cap!) :( I've had this idea "dancing" around in my head for weeks, just hadn't had time to lay it out and try it until now! Let me know if you do anything with the .cut file. I like to see what others do with my files! DOWNLOAD the Graduation Cap Card .cut file.

Mother's Day Cards - No .cut files

Well, when I went to download a project from my camera I discovered that I had taken pictures of the mother's day cards I had made for my Mom and my Mother-in-law. (I usually forget to take the pictures because I'm usually making cards at the last minute!) So, I thought I would share them. The purple one was given to my Mom. It has a House Mouse Stamp I had colored with Prisma Colored Pencils using Gamosol and then put it on the card back around Valentine's day I think! Then it just set there waiting for me to figure out "who" / "what" it was for! Found the Happy Mother's Day on the Wild Card cartridge and used it to "finish" off my card! Anyone else ever do that? Make part of something and then it has to "sit" until your mind figures out the rest! The other card for my mother-in-law was similar. It had to "jell" a little while before it was used. I used a .cut file from Laurinda on the Cricut Messageboard to cut the card base with the lace look and the slits to run the ribbon through. Then I left it sitting again for weeks trying to decide what to make it into. I originally thought I would use it to make a sympathy card (which I still haven't gotten done) but thought different once I had the pink inner lining paper. Then I thought it would make a cute baby card but didn't have a need for that so it laid on my table for weeks. Then, I finally put it together for Mother's Day. My mother-in-law loves flowers thus the flower on the card. Anyway, they turned out pretty good I think. Now, if I can just remember to ink/chalk my cutouts BEFORE I PASTE them down on a card!!! LOL Thanks for looking.

Hello. Well, not a lot for me to share right now. Still haven't been able to get into the craft room. However, I hated not sharing anything in so long so thought I'd share another .svg file for those who have SCAL. It should come in handy with those of you who like to swim and dive in the summer time. You can download the swim mask , snorkel and flipper .svg file here. Stick with me! I hope to have more to share sooner then later! Thanks for stopping by!