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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.  

 

An early start to Christmas makes

I saw a sample of something similar to this explosion box project, but the boxes used on the inside walls of the explosion box were too shallow for what I wanted to accomplish.  So I tried my hand at creating my own version with a little help from a friend.  Finished size is 4.25 x 4.25 x 4.25 inches.  

All patterned paper is digital and I was able to isolate one of the reindeer from the larger paper image and create a "sticker" with it.  There's a reindeer on each side of the box.  SCAL 6 makes it very easy to fill each shape with the paper and size as desired.  All of the images used were backgrounds that were scalable and seamless.  

When you open the box, you'll find 6 mini- cubes on each side panel.  Each cube is numbered.  

Each cube holds a  small single bit candy bar or a couple of hershey kisses.  They will also hold a small charm.  It's makes a perfect Advent calendar for the holidays or could be adapted to celebrate a birthday month or upcoming anniversary.  

I used print 2 cut to create all the panels using a digital paper package call Happy Holidays I picked up from Creative Fabrica a while back.  It's a fun set of backgrounds.  I added a little bling to the red-nosed reindeer in the panels using some flat sequins.  

I think it turned about pretty good!  Day 25 will be an envelope holding a gift certificate or voucher for a family to use during or after the holidays.  

Looking forward to starting another Advent box very soon... we need several more for this coming holiday season!  

May - went fast!

I spent a majority of the month playing with some new ideas -- and grateful to have finished most of them.  

Most of the finished designs are based on finds at Pinterest.  

Late in the month finish... a cute little flip top box with a mini-album insert.  Scraps used for all.  The paper is from Echo Park's Let Freedom Ring collection.  I did create the star cut border using SCAL.  There's some foiling and stamping in this album as well.  

Mo's Digital Pencil is the creator of the above image.  It's so cute and can be adaptable to most anyone's birthday celebration!  

Another image from Mo's Digital Pencil.  It was the perfect image for an upcoming birthday!  

With Father's Day just around the corner, this fun print and cut and digital colored image from Polkadoodles helped create this fun card for the guys in the family!  I hope they like them.  

Two of the boys have birthdays near the first of the month.  This quick make was perfect for them and includes use of scraps, print and cut and cut using the Skycut and SCAL 5 Pro.  I'm really happy this came together quickly and I'm looking forward to using this file again soon with a different color scheme.  

I made a stack of 18 of these to send out in June.  The digital image was from Polkdoodles (Spring bundle).  I used some old spellbinder border dies and created the ENJOY using a font and a few small rectangles to connect "the dots" if you will.  The word is cut on the skycut and the sentiment on the inside was a print using SCAL as well.  

May was busy -- and June is already filling up with plans for creating.  I'm definitely looking forward to more creative time this coming month.  How about you?

 

 

the lull

It's been a while.... but I do have a few things to share.  I loved this image of a tulip as soon as I found it at Creative Fabrica.  I used it for two projects and I love the way it radiates light even on matte cardstock.  

One of the three cards shared in the article -- a fun fold stand up card.  This version is the portrait version.  The card folds flat for mailing.  You'll find all the details at:  https://www.creativefabrica.com/the-artistry/card-making/mothers-day-themed-fun-fold-stand-up-card/

 

As many of you may be aware, I send out a stack of cards every month to a group of women from my church.  It's always fun to create these cards and I hope they enjoy them.  I used the same tulip image, added a dark frame and a gold foiled sentiment.  I love how these turned out.  

 

Here's the results of a cute new file from Simply Crafty SVGs... 

I used a few pop up dots for added dimension on this fun box card and it still folds flat for mailing!  

The Magical Things bundle also from Simply Crafty SVGs will be the perfect centerpiece for our May family dinner.  I was thrilled with how it turned out  

I finished this fun box card using another Simply Crafty SVG file, Cruise Ship Box card.  I added a mini album on the back of the card for the recipient to add a line or two about their trip.  We'll add a travel journal as a gift for them to add photos and more details about the trip too.  

Our oldest grandson has a birthday later this week.  This was a fun card to share with him.  The Smart Phone file is from Dreaming Tree.    

While perusing Pinterest, I came across a fun card, but couldn't find a cut file for the life of me.  Everything was hand cut.  Eventually, I decided to try my hand at creating a cutting file.  It worked!  And here are my results. 

 

That's it for today!    Hoping you've built in some creative time over the course of the next few days!  If not, try to squeeze some in!

2023 5 Tags of Spring - Day 5

It's the final day of this year's reveal.  If you haven't visited the FB page/album and seen all the beautiful makes, today's your day!  There are some amazing pieces from group members and it's always fun to see what others make and create!  

Today's tag is all in pink and white.  I used some digital paper I had in my stash.  The focal piece was generated using swirl and heart shapes found in the SCAL library.  I did use the Symmetrical Mirror command in SCAL to make both sides match.  While not perfect, I did learn a few things in the process and the final results aren't too bad!  ;)  

I used a couple of the small word stamps from a retired Fun Stampers Journey set on a small rectangle scrap of digital paper.  I chose the words to reflect some feelings I was having while creating this for someone special.  

Some small pink acrylic dots were added as well.  

Hoping this weekend offers good things in a creative way for you.  Take care and enjoy!

2023 5 Tags of Spring - Day 4

While looking through some pins on Pinterest, I noticed some beautiful book spines that were being used as bookmarks.  I can't bear to cut up a book, so I thought it might be fun to do a simple spine and use a background paper I created in SPARK.  I added a  resin bezel and an antiqued tag after foiling the "spine"  with some simple lines and fill.  

Using SCAL 6 Pro, I filled the tag shape with the background paper using Pattern Fill.  Print and then foil.  I used two colors of foil, Gold for the broader rectangle shape and pink for the lines.  I left the paper in the upper left corner of the mat and used the WYSIWYG method of adding the foil.  This also allowed ease in changing the foil for the two colors,   Once the foiling was finished, I used the Print 2 cut method for cutting tag.  

I added a gold diamond shaped eyelet tof the ribbon to thread through and hang the heart bezel and tag that had some jewelry rings added.

Thanks again for stopping by - we're nearing the conclusion of this year's reveal.  It's always sad to see it end, but then again, we look forward to the next year's makes.  What's crafting in your creative space this week?  Hoping good things!  

2023 5 Tags of Spring - Day 3

Fun and lots of paper shapes create this fun tag for day 3.  The chocolate bunny is from Simply Crafty SVGs.  It's resized to fit on this mini tag that measures about 1.5 inches wide by 2.5 inches in height.  The flowers and leaves can be found in the SCAL library (SandraCreateinSpain folder)

It's also a good tag to use scraps with.  Add some ink, markers and a bit of glue, it's also a quick assemble.  The small hello is a print 2 cut.  Embossing the tag base adds a little more dimension and it was swiped with an ink pad in an antiquing color.  

Again, thanks for dropping by today.  Set aside some creative time and enjoy nurturing your soul this week.  

2023 5 Tags of Spring - Day 2

using some Pastel Digital paper from Nit Wit collections,  as well as the floral image used in the framed areas of this tag, this tag was a fun make.  I used the faux glassine technique used in the Valentine Tag project shared in this project. 

The Tag is made of a simple rectangle with equal sized and spaced circle cuts. The hanger element is created using a round rectangle and half circle and the Union command in SCAL 6 was used before adding a smaller circle for the twine to go through.  A little bit of antiqued cheesecloth and a word strip were used to finish off the tag.  

I really like the spring colors and hoping they brighten your day as well.  Spend a little time in your creative space this week!  Enjoy!

2023 5 Tags of Spring - Reveal

It's that time of year again!  I'm excited that the group wanted to do it again.  The rules are the same.... and it's just as fun to make new tags again this year.

This pinterest inspired tag was made using basic shapes from the SCAL Library.  It was fun to play with shapes and create the "eyelet" lace.  The pattern fill command is a great way to use digital paper -- all pieces for this tag were print 2 cut.  For deeper color, I used some markers for a more intense color on the flowers, stems and leaves. Markers were also used on the edges of each of the pieces.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Hoping you have some creative time carved out this week.  Enjoy all the possibilities that Spring brings. 

Playing with AI images

I've always wanted to create my own background papers, but found it quite frustrating when trying to create seamless backgrounds.  Creative Fabrica has a set of AI tools on their site that you can access with a subscription.  Thanks to Creative Fabrica's generous gift of 1 month's access, I was able to create a collection of images to use in a playful Pinterest inspired Paper Quilt.  

While I didn't use all the images I created, it was fun to see what the tools would come up with using prompts and then tweaking the prompts for other images that could be used.  Some editing was done in Photoshop Elements and Affinity Designer.  I'm still a dabbler with Affinity, but I did learn quite a bit through this experience as well.  

One of the images I created but didn't use in the project is this one.

It only had one line of flowers at the bottom of the image and I wanted flowers throughout on the stripes.  So I downloaded and saved the file to my computer and put it in a folder shared with my iPad.  Opened Affinity and played, creating a new image and incorporating the stripes and flowers into one new image.  

It was a fun experiment -- I'm not sure I would use the tools often enough with my current library of digital prints to warrant the extra subscription, but in a crunch if I needed something I didn't have, I might use the tools again.    

Here's a link to the completed PAPER QUILT project I completed using the SPARK tools on The Artistry.  I used SCAL 6 Pro and the Skycut to make all the shapes and to save on ink -- you can use the pattern fill command and only fill the shapes with the desired digital patterns you create in SPARK.  

If you give SPARK a whirl, I'd love to hear about it!  Leave a comment!  

Carve out some creative time over the weekend if you can.  Enjoy your play!  

 

 

 

Layers

I loved the images I found in this grouping of cute fairy houses at Creative Fabrica and wanted to do something fun with one of them and use it in a fun frame.  This is the result for this project now being shared on The Artistry at Creative Fabrica.  

Lots of fussy cutting on the focal image - and some added layering for more dimension.  The hexagon frame was easy to assemble, and would be perfect for a series of images on a wall.  The Skycut and SCAL 6 were my go to's for this project.  The SCAL software makes it very easy to do the print then cut and resizing of the frame was also an important process.  Scaling the background image to fit in the frame was a breeze to accomplish as well.  

Again, the step-by-step process for printing, cutting and assembling this project can be found here.  

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you've got some creative time carved out this week and through the month of March!  Hoping that there's a real change in the season soon and we'll be seeing things green up and blooming as we enter Spring here in the Northern Hemisphere!  We've had quite a winter!  Another fresh 5+ inches of white stuff on the ground this morning!