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My Father in law has been asking to hear the songbirds.  Sadly, they're not making a regular appearance as the bird feeders and bird bath aren't set out yet. However, in the meantime, I created this fun piece to hopefully cheer his spirits a bit.  

The birdhouse and lattice SVG files are from Creative Fabrica.  This piece is being featured on their blog, The Artistry, here.  For additional details regarding cutting and assembly of the birdhouses and lattice, please visit the blog post there.  

The recordable EZSound Box is from InviteByVoice and was the perfect way to incorporate the songbirds' songs.  Take a listen:  

 

To record your audio, just follow the easy instructions included in the packaging or watch the video found here. 

Once the recording is done, insert the box into the box.  Attach the button to the back of the box with some adhesive.  NOTE:  We generally switch out the contents of the box every few months, so we don't attach anything permanently.  

On a side note, we're setting up the bird feeders and baths this next week -- they'll be just outside the window by his chair so he can watch them daily.  

 

Fall pumpkin

This was a fun project to work with and it's my own design!  I used an oval from the SCAL Library as a starting point and went from there.  Playing with nodes can be relaxing or just plain frustrating.  Yes, there were a few of those moments during the early part of the process.  

The leaf is a shadow of a png image and filled with a pattern. The veins were dry embossed from the back side of the printed leaf, then lightly sanded to distress and show a little lighter paper.  

The stem was also designed in SCAL using basic shapes.  

I love that this is dimensional and stands on it's own.  From a slight distance this looks like it is made from wood.  

You'll need:
Electronic die cutting machine and associated software
(3) 12 x 12 cardstock (orange) 
(1) scrap of dark green or brown for stem
(1) 6 x 6 cardstock or sketch paper
Printer
Digital paper
Embossing tool and mat (for leaf)
Embossing folder and Big Kick/Big Shot (for stem)
Glue (Bearly Art)
Hot glue gun
ink and blender tool (pumpkin toned)
Assorted items for embellishment 

August cards

Tried to get a head start on August's cards, but I'm still working on them.  I let one of them get out into the mail yesterday without getting a picture of the finished under the sea shaker card.  Might have to try to recreate that one in the future.  

In the meantime, I did manage to get all the ministering cards done in good time.  This was a much easier card to print, assemble and get into the mail just before the end of the month.  BONUS:  Easy to change out the greeting on the front of the card too!  

After creating the design in SCAL, printing and folding the card base, I thought the card front was a little too plain with just the word smile and the patterned paper strip.  So I added a little color using some splattered color on the card front.  The splatters were created using some FSJ Silks I've had in my stash for a few years. It was a good way to use a little of that and it does go a long way.  I chose Cranberry and Sour Lemon as they were the closest to the colors in the paper strip.  When the splatters were dry, the paper almost looked like a little more expensive handmade paper I have always loved.

Adding the printed, cut and inked paper strip popped up with some foam tape, adds the finishing touch to the front of the card.  

Anniversaries start on the first Friday in August.  I wasn't sure I could meet that deadline, but yesterday was a good day for designing in SCAL and getting a little cutting done early in the morning and then printing the card base a little later.   I tried a new technique to me - still needs some refining, but I think it works for this design.  I hope to do a little more playing in Procreate to see if I can get the background just the way I see it in my brain.  Fingers crossed.  


I used the color cube system to choose the colors - I think they blended quite well.  Now to make a palette using that system for a few upcoming projects I'd like to try using Procreate again.  

4 more birthdays to do for August.  Hoping to make a dent in one or two of those today for the grands and then focus on the last two cards for the month.  

Family Reunion

We were trying to explain to the 92 year old that he had quite a posterity.... but he couldn't wrap his head around the number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren he had.  So what better way than to create a visual of that -- and who belonged to who!  

We've done family group shots in previous years -- But that isn't quite the same and doesn't make it any easier at times... so after looking around for the perfect SVG of a tree that could be used as a background for the project, I found one on Creative Fabrica that would work.  It needed to be big... the 8 x 8 original size of the file wasn't going to allow me to put a large enough image for each grouping... so resizing in SCAL 6 Pro was easy enough and the final size of the tree is 20 x 20 inches.  Hobby Lobby has sheets of watercolor paper in different weights in the 23 x 30 inch size and that was perfect for what we needed to cut the tree -- and having a mat in the right size made it possible to cut the tree as one piece.  

The tree is painted with watercolor paint.  We let it dry overnight before taking the next steps.  

The sentiment at the bottom of the tree is foil quilled using a Single Line Font -- I think Gma would have given a thumbs up on that choice.  

We gathered images from family FB pages and special email requests and could fill all but a very few of the spots -- we still have a couple of blank spots yet.  I'm hoping they'll help us "fill" the circles in over the course of the next few weeks.  The goal was to have the tree finished by the 20th in time for the reunion and share at our gathering.  I initially planned on using hearts to showcase the family photos, but found that difficult with many of the photo choices I had -- so we bagged that went to a circle with a shadow behind it.  We popped up pictures depending on the generation for a little more interest and dimension. 

The frame was one we found on Amazon -- we'd purchased it for another project, but the puzzle didn't fit into it -- so the frame has been sitting for over a year waiting for another opportunity to be used.  

It's a keeper!  Gpa loves it and points out many of the pictures he can identify individuals in.  

Happy 4th!

June pretty much blew right by -- and July has popped up on the calendar!  We needed to refresh a few things around here and of course that meant a little holiday decor.  The mantel is filled with lots of Red, White and Blue stuff from years past and now, we have a new small banner.

The gnome Uncle Sam is from My Scrap Chick -- it's a freebie for a few more days...I'm really glad I grabbed it as soon as it was posted.  It's very adaptable from a treat box to a flat design.  And adding a little inking really adds some definition!

They are pretty easy to put together and aren't too heavy for hanging on the banner.

The stars are from the SCAL library (Basic Shapes).  I added an inset shadow and the lettering is cut in 2 layers.  White ink for the blue and red stars and a little pumice stone ink for the white star.  Bearly Art glue for the assembly of both the gnome and stars.  

I added sleeves to the back of each of the elements and then threaded with a ribbon for hanging.  

A new door hanging was also needed for this year's fabulous 4th.  I have a stash of some 12 inch rounds -- did a quick paint with some acrylic full body paint and added some vinyl cuts to the bottom half of the painted round.  The bow uses some leftover ribbon from a previous project and I added one of the patriotic gnomes to finish off the round.  


Hope you're finding some creative time in your creative space.  Enjoy and have an awesome week!  

It's HOT!

Temps climbing into the high 90's and maybe creeping into the 100's have been the norm the last week or so - time for lots of ice, cool drinks and cool treats. 

I saw a cute idea on Pinterest and decided to try to recreate it with my own spin on it for July's ministering stack of cards.  The popsicle file is from Creative Fabrica and the file has several different styles of cool treats in it - so you could mix things up a bit if you wanted.  I decided to do a little hand coloring and while that took a bit of time, it was fun to make up 16 cards and have each just a little different than the others.  


The sentiment was printed on each card front before cutting and the corners rounded.  I added some Nuvo drops for a little more interest and I like the way things turned out.


I used: 
Tombow markers
water brush
pop up dots
Bearly Art Glue
Nuvo drops (asstd colors and clear)
Mod podge  Glossy
Skycut C24
SCAL 6 Pro
AC cardstock (smooth white)
Printer for sentiment on card front and inside

Day 3 - Tag 3

There's a part of me that's sad this Reveal is coming to an end, however I'm ready to move on to some other projects -- including some birthday cards for July that need to go out very soon and for the soon to be 92 year old in mid-July.  

I saw something recently on a reel posted by chibitronics and thought that would be a nice idea and make it so much easier to change the battery in a card or tag.  Sadly, since it was a reel, it's disappeared.  However, you can cut a small 3 sided door where the battery is placed and change out the batter where needed.  There's something similar you could do here. 

 

I've used this basic design for a card before, but have never considered using it for a tag until now.  The tag  base is a simple rounded rectangle.  I did cut a mask for the inking and I like how it turned out.  The sentiment was done using print 2 cut and I used an old background stamp to add a little more interest to the base.  Stamp off first - so your impression is light in color.  The dragonfly's body (from SVG Cuts Dragonfly Lantern) is cut using black paper, but is brushed with some DecoArt Metallic Lustre (it's water based) and then a little pearlex for a little more sheen.  The under wings are cut from some vellum




I added a light and circuit using some copper tape and an LED chibi light.  I think I'll be using the "door" in the future on most of my projects that use lights.  It really is helpful and does make it easier to change the battery when necessary. 

I had some clips in my stash and decided to use that as my hanger.  

Day 2 -- Tag 2

After a recent scrolling time through Pinterest, I found a few tags that caught my eye.  I decided it would be fun to try at least one of the ideas I liked the most.

I found a simple tag shape in the basic shapes library and made a couple of changes to the design.  I found a flower image that looked like something you might get using a die in the Cutters Market files found through the SCAL software.  I sized for a small tag.  You could use the foil quill or a pen to draw the sentiment on the tag, however, I chose to use a stamp.  After cutting, stamp the sentiment.  Ink the edges of the tag shape if desired.

I chose to cut the flower and leaves out of white cardstock and add color using Tombow Markers.  

Grab a plastic sleeve and your Fuse Tool.  After the tool has warmed up, seal 3 sides of the plastic sleeve with the tag inserted between the two layers.  Trim the three side.  Add your sprinkles.  Seal the top edge of the sleeve.  Trim.  Attach a loop of floss, thread or ribbon with a staple.  Secure the flower and leaves using double sided tape to adhere.  

Using the same method as described above, I created a second tag using different embellishments.  The flower and leaves svg is from Dreaming Tree (3dsvg.com).  I resized it at 50% to work on the smaller tag size.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Again, I invite you to hop on over to the Facebook page and see the other projects that have been posted.  Tomorrow is our last day of the reveal.  I don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone has created.

Have a wonderful creative sort of day.  

it's 3 tags of summer time.

And today is the first day of the 3 day reveal.  I decided that for today's tag I would use a basic shaped tag.  I just used two different sized rectangles found in the basic shapes library, union them and add a small circle for the hanging string.  

I found a lovely floral image on Pixabay and thought it would make a great focal image.  I cut and applied a vinyl sentiment*  in a font I had on my computer to the top of the image to finish it off.  All cardstock and vinyl were cut using SCAL 6 Pro (6.056) and the Skycut C24

*Earlier in the process of trying to create the sentiment, I had some issues with my machine.  After a bit of struggle, I was able to finally get a clean cut.  I did try Line Fill under the Effects tab, but the command didn't work correctly.  Not sure if it's a bug yet, but checking if my next attempt doesn't work as it used to on a font I've filled previously.  

I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else is creating over the course of the next few days.  Feel free to drop by our Facebook page to see the images posted by those that are participating.  

More fun in June

The last of the cards for this month are done -- 

Sandy from Simply Crafty SVGs helped immensely with this card design. I love the hexagon pop up cards -- however, this one gave me a run for my money.  My machine didn't like the paper I chose much ... so the original colors I'd hoped to use had to be switched out.  It did approve of the final choices and I do like the way it turned out.

The digi paper is from Polkadoodles (Rebel Collection) and the flowers are from Lori Whitlock (one of her envelope box cards).  I hand painted the flowers and leaves with Vintage Pastels from Art Philosophy.  


Normally, this card would lay flat for mailing, however, I altered the design a bit and now it's a stand up card that won't lay flat.  LOL  I hope the recipient likes it as much as I do.  She's all into flowers this year and volunteers at a community garden.  

I played with this llama design in Procreate.  I like how it turned out and it was easy enough to export as a png and trace in SCAL and use as an svg.  I used Ohuhu markers to color.  I stacked 4 cuts to make it sturdy like a chipboard die cut.  The small adornments on the blanket cut quite well on the skycut using SCAL 6 Pro (6.056), all things considered and this One Year Celebration card is now ready for personalization.  This is for an early July birthday.... 


Looking forward to sharing July's cards with you soon.. I have some unexpected medical testing added to the calendar this month and possible surgery in the near future -- so I did get my July Ministering Card stack completed.  I'll share those very soon.  In the meantime, I've got a few tags to get made before the 24th!  

Have a creative sort of day -- even if it's just perusing pages in Instagram or Pinterest.  Enjoy! 

June and nearly July

Lots on the calendar this month -- and we seem to add a few more things every day. We've still be creating -- but maybe not as much as I'd really like.  

Father's Day is just around the corner so I did a little looksie over on Pinterest, found a sketch I really liked, but the paper was a no go -- it's no longer available!  Drats!  However, I did have something I could use in my digi paper stash (Nit Wit Collections - Manual Labour Collection) that is my usual default for masculine prints.  So using the pattern fill, print and cut options in SCAL 6 Pro was my go to.

I opted to do a little personalizing on both the front for a couple of our sons and again with the sentiment on the inside of the card.  One other thing I really like about SCAL is being able to set a template for the size of the card and then using pre-cut stock, just print the inside of the card.  It's a BREEZE!  

June's Ministering Card stack was fun and a little more cutting intensive, but the Skycut handled all the cuts and the "buttons" were really a fun addition to this card.  

The rose gold vinyl "hello" was the perfect way to add the sentiment for the front of the card.  I now have a stash of kraft colored hearts to use in shakers over the course of the next couple of months!  LOL

Our Mother's Day card was an adaptation of the Orchid Box card from Simply Crafty SVGs.  I wanted a slimline card and the orchids and stem were resized a bit to fit on the card.  I really like how this one turned out.  

I played around with a pocket design and some holographic overlay on some digital clip art.  While I like the images, I'm not so sure about the final use on this project.  

And last, but not least, we have a couple of boys celebrating birthdays this month.  I finished up their cards late last month -- I really like the pop & twist movement in this card.  Interactive cards are at the top of my to-do list whenever I can! 



Since the rest of the birthdays are still coming up -- I guess I'll hold off sharing those images until a little later this month. 

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a creative rest of the month!