Monday, August 26, 2013

Glass Cutting Boards - Weekend With My Cousin

Last month Linda and I made a trip to OKC and I was able to find some glass cutting boards at Dollar Tree. I have been looking for some for quite a while so I felt quite lucky to find as many as I did. My cousin Teresa had been wanting to do some and since she has a Cameo now we finally got together last weekend and get busy. We had to learn to use the Cameo first which since we used Make The Cut it did make it easier. I gave her some lessons on MTC and after she got home her teenage daughter learned to use it as well and I think they might be out of vinyl by now.

The first cutting board we did was the Chef Boyardee guy with "Bon Appetite". I did a trace and he seemed a little difficult to cut so I did a shadow on him and it helped. Of course it could be that we don't know how to use the Cameo very well. We had a make a call to Linda to get some pointers to even be able to load the dang mat!

I do have to say I like my mat guide on my Pazzles a lot better than the mat guide on the Cameo. I also learned that the clear transfer tape I use is a lot easier to use for placing things than the transfer paper I got at the vinyl shop last month.






The next design we did was a morning rooster. Even though we had to layer the vinyl backwards this was a lot easier to weed than the chef. We also learned that not all vinyl is created equal! We used some of my vinyl on this one and it worked better than the vinyl that came with my cousins Cameo. We found the rooster on an internet search and then I made the sunrise out of another file I had by tweaking it a bit. This one was our favorite.









Our last cutting boards were very simple and my cousin said she wanted a cupcake. She did an internet search and found htis one. I had to laugh because I told her "OMG! I did a file for that one earlier this summer!" This one was a breeze to cut and I think it would have been cute with some colors layered but by the time we got to this one it was getting late and she needed to head home.

Now that Teresa and I have figured out how to use the Cameo I think we will have some crafting weekends coming up!

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Did Some Crafting! Double Wall Tumblers

I decided to take a break from all the work of the real world and do some crafting this weekend. I have been working on some designs for T-shirts so we can get geared up for football season. Luckily this year, thanks to a very generous fan of my work, I will have a heat press to make the T-shirts and it will make it go a lot faster!
Since I couldn't do T-shirts I decided to get some tumblers made instead. The was able to get a trace of some really cool tiger eyes and thought they might look good on some tumblers. I really like how they turned out. It's been awhile since I have done any layered vinyl and I had to remember to start with the top layer and work my way down. It just makes it easier. I did get four of these made. My daughter said she is going to try and sell them for me.


This was the second tumbler I did and I thought the tiger face trace I did would be great with holographic vinyl, and it is but let me tell you it was a P to the I to the T to the A! I have tried working with metallic vinyl before and evidently I forgot what it was like or I wouldn't have tried it this time. Lucky I had a big enough scrap to go back and cut a few of the pieces again. At the bottom the cup says "Tiger Pride". This one will be a one of a kind as far as the holographic design goes.







On the last tumbler I decided to try the tiger face again but this time with some glitter vinyl and put it on a shadow. I also made the Tiger Pride out of the Yearbook Solid font and curved the words on the side. There wasn't enough room at the top and bottom but when I get ready to use it on a T-shirt I will do the words at the top and bottom. I have some holographic HTV ordered from Signwarehouse.com that they have on CLEARANCE right now and I think it will look awesome on a T-shirt.

I still probably won't be posting much for awhile since I am super busy with school starting and having a lot of extra work to do. Hopefully I will be able to start crafting regularly again!  

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Please Take Time To Vote

I have slacked on posting about voting for my friend Carmen because I didn't want people to think they had to vote but now I am asking PLEASE VOTE!!!

VOTE FOR CARMEN

Please read her story and see if you truly feel she deserves to win. I personally do feel she does but that is because I know what all she has gone through for caring for her mother and then with the other family health issues during the last year.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Glass Cutting Board With Vinyl

My friend Linda did a few glass cutting boards some time ago, a really cute WINE one was posted on her site, and I have wanted to do some ever since then. She was able to get some small one's at Dollar Tree but they have been sold out here locally. When we went to OKC last week I lucked into finding a few and  last night I decided to do a design and then once I got the design done I figured I might as well cut it and see how it looked.

I did this one for my Aunt Betty and hopefully she won't see this and I can surprise her with it! I got the idea for the design on the internet and tweaked it for my use. I didn't do a trace of the basic design but I did do a trace for the rooster, barn and sunrise.

The cutting board measures right under 8" in diameter so some of the pieces were a little small and hard to weed out. I honestly didn't even think about the little "legs" underneath and lucked out about sizing it correctly to apply it. One thing to remember is that you have to flip the image since the vinyl is applied to the underneath side of the glass.

I am not sure what other designs I want to do but I don't think they will be quite as detailed as this one, at least not for the small cutting boards!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Sorry For No Posts

I kinda feel behind in posting this past week.

On Monday I was running around OKC with my friend Linda. We went to Graphics Solution Group where she likes to get vinyl. I got some glitter iron-on vinyl for my football t-shirts for this year and picked up some transfer tape. Linda picked up some vinyl for making templates for her new hobby of glass etching with her sandblaster. For lunch we went to our favorite mexican place, Teds! After lunch we hit Tuesday Morning, thinking we were going to get some of that good priced cardstock only to find out it was in the multi-color packs and we didn't buy any. I did get some frames to alter for the Craft Show we will be doing in December. We also hit Hobby Lobby while we were there, neither of us getting too much. I know for sure she was wanting some vinyl but other than that I think she was just wanting to get out of the house for awhile. It sure was hot while we were in OKC and  my feet had started to swell by the end of the day.

          Left - Cankle                     Right - Ankle normally
Although I have been on vacation this week I did go to the school on Tuesday for enrollment and since the kids weren't coming in very fast I just typed up an information sheet for them to fill out and turn into the director. That evening I was feeling a bit off and my legs and ankles were swollen really bad, to the point I had CANKLES! I do not have cankles and for a fat person I actually have very nice ankles and thighs. When I started having a really hard heart beat I decided to go to the ER since I knew that was a sign of congestive heart failure. Luckily my heart did slow down and they did an x-ray of my chest, an EKG and some blood work. Luckily everything turned out okay and the doctor said I needed to cut back on the stress and I have to start taking a diuretic pill. My blood pressure was really high for me but it went back to normal not long after I was in the ER. I was feeling fine by the time I got back home.

My sister came on Wednesday to spend a few days with me. She usually tries to make it down for one visit in the summer and since the summer was almost over it was time for her to get her butt down here! LOL We had a great visit while she was here.

So now here it is Saturday and I only have today and tomorrow of time of left and I feel like I have gotten nothing accomplished! I plan on working on the house that Carmen and I started while she was here but so far that has been slow going. I did get some things put away that was scattered on my craft table so guess it's time to buckle down and do some crafting.

But first I think I need to schedule some posts of files I have done, if I can find them! With school starting I will be super busy and likely won't have time to make new files but then again that is one way I relax so maybe I will have to do that when I get home from work instead or working on paperwork!

Monday, August 5, 2013

Jessie and Bullseye

The things I do for my friends! My friend Carmen sent me a coloring page of Jessie and Bullseye and asked if I thought I could make a file for it. It wasn't a hard file to make, just time consuming. Once I got it done I asked her what she was going to do with it and she said "Oh I don't know. I didn't know you were going to do it" but she did assure me she would use it for something since I made it.

There are some small piece on this and I tried to join the like cuts, except for the white pieces and those are all joined. Of course you can go and split any of the images for easier cutting but for positioning I find it easier to do it that way until its time to cut.

I am off this morning to meet up with Linda and see what kind of trouble we can get into in the big city. Of course we don't really plan on getting in trouble...but with us, well one never knows!


FILE DOWNLOAD -

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Laundry Dilemma, Wall Quote

First off, don't forget to VOTE FOR CARMEN today! And thank you to all of those who are voting and voting daily!

Now back to the laundry dilemma! Recently my washer acquired some issues that I didn't want to have to fix myself. While I was at work my daughter called a repairman and he told her it was going to be $40 for the lid switch, $40 for him to just look at the washing machine to see what the problem was with the drum and I would have to pay that whether he could fix it or not and then the bomb....we had to take the washing machine to him and he was backed up by a few days and didn't know when he would be able to get to it. I knew I would probably be looking at at least $150 to $200 to get the washing machine fixed, which is half the price of a brand new decent washing machine. I am not one of those who thinks they have to have a fancy washer, as long as it gets my clothes clean I could careless if it has digital controls, glass doors, etc.

I started looking at the local Facebook garage sale sites hoping to find a decent washer for a decent price. The other day I came across a lady selling a washer and dryer. I quickly asked if she would sell them separately and waited for a reply. An hour after I asked if they would sell the washer and dryer separate some lady posted she wanted both. She kept telling them she wanted them. When the seller finally posted she would sell them separately and wanted $50 each, the other lady again said she wanted BOTH and would be coming from an hour away. Chuck quickly took the seats out the van and we headed over to get the washer. 

So for the price of the lid switch and gas to get the old washer repaired I got a newer washer!

I have been wanting to do something with vinyl in my washing area but never have done it, one thing is that I could never decide for sure what I wanted *okie has such a terrible time with commitment*. Yesterday I started looking up wall quotes for laundry rooms and came across quite a few I liked. 


These were the first two designs I did and was trying to decide which one I liked better. I loved the sarcasm in the first one but liked the elegant look of the second one. 


I kept looking at some others and came across another quote and that is the one I decided to go with for my laundry area. My friend Amy P. said she thought this one sounded more like me except I needed to put in "Do it your damn self" and my BFF Karen was quick to agree. And to tell the truth, they are probably right about that sounded like me HA HA HA. 


I wasn't going to share the files, simply because I have been feeling a little put out about sharing lately, ya know people wanting you to design things for them and some almost demanding. But then I decided I should go ahead and share them anyway because someone might like to use them and I won't ever use the other two, at least I don't think I would use them but who knows...I might just go on a vinyl my laundry area craze, yeah okay, not likely!

FILE DOWNLOAD

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Candy Crush Saga

I know there are a lot of people that play Candy Crush and there was even someone on the Make The Cut forum that asked if anyone had made files of the game. Well I was playing around and thought I would try and I kept failing miserably! I just couldn't get a clean trace of the images and I am not a guru that can do the node mode thing in Make The Cut *okie thinks she should watch some video tutorials but that would require time and concentration*.

Yesterday I decided to try again and by using the texturize path I was able to adjust some things and get a decent image of the logo and the candy logo. I found a black and white image of the girl so she was a cinch to do, even though she is a little freaky looking. I have actually decided that the man on the Candy Crush game is the Anti-Christ and the little girl is his demon bride. Okay, so I might get a little frustrated with this game from time to time. 

I am not sure what anyone will do with these files but here they are just the same.

FILE DOWNLOAD -
MTC - Candy Crush Saga

Friday, August 2, 2013

If You Love Me....

or even like me, or heck even if you can't stand me...then at least show my friend Carmen a little love. I know some of you know who Carmen is and some of ya'll have probably read posts where I refer to Carmen and right now I would appreciate you voting for her.

I entered Carmen in a Caregiver Cruise Giveaway and this is what I said...

My dear friend Carmen has to be one of the most caring people I know. Her mother, who is 75 years old, lost her eyesight approximately 4 years ago and Carmen went to Illinois and moved her mother to Houston. She has been her mother's caregiver day and night since that time. Her mother also has diabetes and Carmen has to keep a vigilant eye on her mother's medications and diet. Rarely does Carmen have time for herself.

During the last year not only did she have to add to her load of caring for her mother she also had to nurse her husband back to health after he had an emergency quadruple bypass. This was during the middle of her treks back and forth from Houston to Illinois as she was caring for her brother who suddenly fell ill. Carmen and her mother had to make the trip several times during the last year staying for weeks at a time. Carmen saw her brother through finding his diagnosis; follow up appointments, going to treatments, having his leg amputated, seeing he got on disability and then his follow-up after surgery. She was away from her husband and children for months, missing them dearly, while caring for brother and keeping her mother at her side. Her brother is now doing better and she doesn't have to make the long journey north but she continue to remain her mother's caregiver 24/7 365. I feel if anyone deserves a little time away to enjoy themselves it is my most awesome friend Carmen who does so much for others and does so without complaint.

I can't tell you how much I would appreciate you guys showing her a little love and giving her your vote. You can vote once a day.

VOTE BY CLICKING THE LINK BELOW AND FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS...

VOTE FOR CARMEN IN THE CAREGIVER CRUISE GIVEAWAY

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Princess Tiana Ballgown

After Helen sent me 3 different pictures I told her I needed something like a high resolution coloring page and she found one.

It took me about 5 hours to get this one done. Not that the trace was bad but I looked at the some of the smaller items, stamens on the flowers to be exact, and thought they would be very hard to get a clean cut so I worked on getting rid of them.

I am not sure how well this thing will cut and since I have cut some very detailed images before I know you better be dedicated and really want this dang thing to take the time to do it.



FILE DOWNLOAD