Bee Card Challenge Projects

So I'm a little late getting the cards posted but I've had a really busy week. It seems my life is always busy these days and I'm not really sure what I do to stay busy *okie stops and tries to think of what she is accomplishing in her busy life and can think of nothing...absolutely nothing*. 

I had posted the Bee Card Challenge here and in my Facebook group Old Cricut Community to see if anyone wanted to join BFF Carmen and I for the challenge and I did have a few send me pictures or post them in the Facebook group. 

I'll start off with my card. I added some Glossy Accents in the honeycomb to give it a wet look and then added some Fiskars Zings to make it look like honey dripping off the honeycomb. For the wings I did a layer of mica and then a layer of translucent drew on some veins with a Stardust pen. 

I went with a simple sentiment I cut out and left the inside blank so it can be used for about any purpose. 

This card was made by Avra Williams. Avra is part of the OCC group and has been a Cricut friend for years, we met on the Cricut Messageboard years ago. 

I love how Avra made a "trail" behind the bees for their flight pattern. 

BFF Carmen made this card and she said it was a pain to glue all the little letters and I am sure it was but it is so nice! The inside of the card says "great friends are we". 

Linda Guild made two different cards for the challenge, both punny cards. She said she is counting the donut as the half circle in the design. 

Linda loves minions and I bet this idea came to her as soon as she saw the card!

The last card was made by Maureen Sala. She saw the challenge here and decided to join in. She said she downloaded the SVG and opened it in her Explore just fine. Maureen also said "I usually do bright colors, so this card was a change for me.  Pop dotted the bee - it turned out fantastic."  I love the paterns she used and the sentiment.  

I'll get a new challenge posted tomorrow!

Who's Up For A Challenge?

So as y'all know I haven't had time for crafting in quite sometime and BFF Carmen and I were talking about how fun our challenges were when we use to do them and how much crafting we got done and we have decided to start doing a few again and I thought it would be nice to post the challenge in case anyone else wants to play along. Another reason for the challenge is because BFF Carmen has decided she is a fraud, meaning she has all that craft chit but never uses it, and by doing the challenge she can vindicate her fraud status. 

I asked Carmen if there was a specific theme she wanted and she said she didn't want a theme but more of a general card and I came up with this bee card. I figure you can add what ever sentiment you want to the card. 

The file is available Make the Cut and SVG formats so it doesn't matter what machine or program you use you can take part if you can use either of those file types. The only rule is that you have to use the honeycomb and at least one bee, more can be used if you want and use the general layout of the card, meaning the square in the middle and the half circle at the top. Other elements can be added if desired but use the basic elements there. 

Cards will need to be completed by midnight Sunday November 1st. If anyone would like to send a picture of their card for me to post next week just shoot me an EMAIL and I'll be glad to post your project. 

SVG users if you are importing into Cricut Design Space you will need to select all and resize to 4.25" x 5.5" to keep ratio that is show in the picture. 

3 Funerals and A Wedding...CONTINUED

Sorry for the delay in finishing the story....now where did I leave off? *okie goes back to see how her previous post ended*. Oh yes! So BFF Carmen and I had grand crafting plans and they got interrupted on Monday October 12th with some news that would send us scrambling around the rest of the week like chickens with their heads cut off. 

Carmen arrived on Sunday and we were all kinds a chillin and hanging out. On Monday when I got home from work my daughter came over and informed us that she and Chuck would be getting married on Saturday, a mere 5 days, and would be doing this little ceremony on my deck...if that was okay with me of course. Now in all fairness I knew she and Chuck were going to get married and they had planned on going to the court house but found out that the court house no longer performs marriage ceremonies and I also knew she wanted to have the ceremony at my house. She had said it would be them, their roommate, me and the officiant. She had informed me of this a week or two before hand but then had changed her mind and said a few more people would be invited. Now when you think of a few more people you think like 5 or 6, right? In this case the few more turned out to be about 25!

Carmen and I got right to work trying to figure out how to decorate the deck and decided that we would try to enclose the deck to make it a little more private. In a few trips we cleaned out Goodwill of all their white sheets and some sheers. We went to another thrift store and found a few more sheers. At Walmart we purchased some rope lights so there would be more light on the deck and picked up some laundry line rope and eye hooks to run the line through so the sheers and sheets could hang from the line. We also got some tulle with the idea of making swags somehow and picked up some burlap *okie wonders what her daughters fascination is with burlap*. Shiane joined us for a trip to the Dollar Tree and flowers, plates, forks, vases and ribbon were found that we felt would work well for decorating and making Shiane a bouquet. I think the best thing about the short time span was there was really no time to stress. Shiane was grateful for everything we were doing and seemed quite proud that Dollar Tree was the source of decorations.

The exact time of the ceremony changed about 3 times before a time was settled on and then it was an hour later that it actually started. I was concerned about where everyone was going to sit but somehow we scrounged up enough seating for everyone *okie thinks it probably helped that about 5 people were standing so they could take pictures*.

So now for the pictures!

This was taken before the wedding. Chuck and his friends hung out in the back yard while Shiane finished getting ready and waiting for guests to arrive. We weren't too concerned about how the outside of the deck looked since the inside is what was important.

Oh and don't worry, we didn't light the tiki torches! *okie cracks up laughing*

This was the table for the cake and punch. The flowers, vases,leaves, ribbon, plates, candles and shot glasses all came from Dollar Tree. It might be hard to see in the picture but the shot glasses have "Ramsey 2015" on them. Shiane wanted her guests to have a little something to take home with them. It didn't take long at all to get the vinyl cut and put on the glasses. I don't have a better picture of the sign in the back that has the large ampersand on it, it was a gift from her maid of honor. Shiane printed off pictures of her and Chuck and we punched holes in the corners and strung them up for a nice little banner.

I had ordered the cake before I knew there were so many people coming and it was a little small but it worked great. The cake was 8" diameter and fed everyone, the trick is knowing how to cut it! I cut the banner out of adhesive backed fabric on the Explore and then cut the lettering in vinyl. Carmen and I decided chopsticks would work just fine for stringing the banner and they were perfect.

If you look behind the cake you can see the candles. We turned wine glasses upside down and covered the goblet part with burlap and tied it with ribbon and added a few leaves.

This is a view looking toward the front of the deck. The sheers worked great for allowing some nice light in but still allowing for a great deal of privacy. We picked up some mums at Walmart and put them in the concrete pots I have. I had purchased 20 yards of tulle and we used every bit of it. The leaves in the middle swag are just placed loosely in the tulle and the ones on the draped tulle were pinned to keep them in place.




I'm not sure who smiled the most during the ceremony, Shiane or Chuck and they both looked so happy during the whole evening. The empty chair there was mine but I couldn't sit there and take pictures so I ended up standing at the back so I could get pictures. I'm hoping one of the girls got some good pictures as well. I know there were a lot of phone camera's going off during the ceremony and afterwards so there is no telling how many pictures were taken.

Shiane and Chuck had agreed not to smash cake in each other's faces but then BFF Carmen yelled out she would give them a certain dollar amount if they would smash the cake and so ya know what happened....and you can tell from the picture that Shiane got Chuck a lot better than he got her! I think it took him a good 10 minutes to get the cake off his face. He was laughing about how he couldn't get the icing off his skin.




After having cake and punch the adults left and that left the kids friends to have a bit of a celebration. I was so thrilled that they did invite their friends and that so many were able to make it on such short notice and a few more who couldn't make it for the ceremony showed up afterwards. The kids all drank, danced, laughed, smoked cigars, told stories, played cards and just helped Shiane and Chuck celebrate starting their life together as Mr. & Mrs. Ramsey.

While I have suffered some losses over the last few weeks I can sit with a smile on my face right now and see how I am blessed as well. Not only did God know that BFF Carmen would need to be here to keep me from getting into a depressive state, He knew she would need to be here to help me with planning my daughters wedding. I even told Carmen "God seems to know when we will need to be there for each other in person". God has also blessed me with a wonderful son-in-law. While I have considered Chuck my son for quite some time I can now address him as my daughters husband. 

3 Funerals and A Wedding...

My life the last 3 weeks has felt like something out of a movie and about the only movie I can think of to compare it to is 4 Weddings and A Funeral but in my life it has been 3 Funerals and A Wedding.

First,on September 23, was the death of a wonderful lady I had the pleasure of working with at the ICF/MR where I see clients. She had been employed at McCalls Chapel for 49 years and every resident there knew her and she knew them. It was very difficult for some of the residents, especially those that worked with everyday on the yard crew. The day after the news of her death I had to do 3 groups, one included the boys from the yard crew and it was a very emotionally draining day. During those times I always have to set my own feelings aside so I can help others cope with the feelings they are having and I don't always have time to attend to my own grief and process it. I had just started trying to process my own grief when I got news of a dear college friend of mine being involved in a motorcycle accident.

Calvin - October 1992

On September 27th I got word that my friend Calvin had been in a motorcycle accident and I being the optimist I am thought he would be fine. Later in the day I found out that he had succumbed to his injuries and was no longer with us. Calvin was one of "my boys" as I have always called them and this hit me hard. Back in the days of college there were a group of us that were close. I had 2-3 roommates and the boys were at our house all the time, especially on Sundays when I would cook dinner. Luckily I was able to go with my friend Bryant and his wife Stephanie down to Wichita Falls Texas for the funeral on October 2nd, so I didn't have to ride by myself. To be honest I don't know how I would have handled the drive back home alone. Since Calvin was a police officer in Wichita Falls there was standing room only for the services. He was laid to rest in Oklahoma City and we decided to go to the interment because we were worried about Stavie and how he was holding up. Stavie and Calvin were roommates in college and were best friends ever since then. After that we went to Calvin's mom's house and visited with the family for a few hours. I know I had a harder time dealing with the death of Calvin than Jan for many reasons and I still feel myself asking all the why's and if's that occur when we lose people we love. 

A few days after Calvin's funeral I was talking to a friend and I told her "death seems to come in 3's and I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop". When I said that I did mean it but I was also hoping it would not be true but then....the shoe dropped.

Larry, Wendy and I in Las Vegas - Aug 2001

On October 8th I got a phone call from my friend Amy, which was odd since she knew it was the middle of the work day, and she said she had noticed I hadn't been on Facebook and I told her I had been busy. She proceeded to say "I didn't want you to open Facebook and find out about this like I did so I thought it was better that you heard this from a friend" and tells me that my friend Larry had passed away on October 6th. I was glad I was sitting down when she told me because I literally felt myself feel faint and I think I would have went down to the ground. I had tried to call Larry the previous week and he didn't answer his phone and I kept meaning to try again but something would pop up and then I would remember when it was too late to call. I first met Larry in Yahoo Chat back in 1998 and there were a group of us that loved to chat together. We moved on to Yahoo Messenger and our group dwindled down to 4...Larry, Joani, Wendy and I, and we would chat almost every night even if was just for a few minutes. We used the voice chat feature, well they did, I did the typing because I could type faster than talk. We exchanged Christmas presents a few years and I always made them ornaments. I always sent Larry cards I made and he always fawned over them. I have never known anyone who loved getting mail as much as Larry did. Anytime I went on vacation I always sent him post cards, whether it be from somewhere in the Caribbean or even just Houston Larry always knew he could be expecting a postcard. I always knew when it was the Christmas season because for the last 10 years Larry has had a loaf of Stollen sent to me from Dinkels Bakery in Chicago. It was a tradition in his family and he wanted to share that tradition with me. It meant so much to me I even did a "Stollen, not stolen" layout that was posted back in 2011. There is so much I could tell you about Larry but right now I don't think I can type anymore about the sorrows that have happened in the last few weeks. 

BFF Carmen had been planning on coming to visit in October and I just knew I needed her to visit more than ever and was hoping she would be able to make it...I needed something to distract me and keep me from sitting home alone and slumping into a depressed mood. Luckily things worked out and she let me know she would be arriving on Sunday October 11th!! We had grand plans to make our Christmas cards, make some t-shirts and other projects with the heat press and any other great crafting project we could think of...notice I said "had".

On Monday October 12th we got some news that would change any and all plans that we had....and right now I have some other things to do so I'll shall have to post that story tomorrow!

Graphic 45 Mother Goose Mini Album

One of the ladies that attend stamp club frequents Tuesday Morning and she brought 7 different sheets of the Graphic 45 Mother Goose line for us to purchase, for only $1, for the card challenge. The challenge requires that you make cards with the papers that are purchased and then bring them back the next month. It's always a lot of fun to see what everyone comes up with and instead of cards I decided to make a mini album with the sheets I purchased.

I've always wanted to try an accordion album and figured this was as good a time as any to see if I could make one. Now I could go into all kinds of details about what I did on each page but I honestly don't think anyone reads most of the stuff I type so I am just going to say the hell with it and only post the pictures.

I really love how it turned out and I think I might make a few more albums out of this line. I was lucky enough that BFF Carmen was able to get a package of all the sheets from Tuesday Morning and share with me so I have enough to do a few more albums. I'm not sure I will do accordion ones since I have a ton of acrylic and chipboard albums I can use. 

Stampin Up Big Day Tag Card

I decided to get another card done with this stamp set since I had stamped off quite a few images. I had a bit of hard time trying to decide what to do and the card ended up pretty simple but the tag is definitely the focus.

Supplies Used:

Stampin Up Products -

  Big Day stamp set

  Scallop Tag Topper Punch 

  Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie inks

  Old Olive cardstock

Basic Grey Cupcake pattern paper

Memento Ink

Paper Studio brads

1" square punch

Bakers twine

Stardust Pen

Mounting Foam

The Stampin Up tag topper punches make it super fast to make tags. The width is limited to 2" wide but the length can be anything you want. I'm not sure how long the tags are since I just cut them to fit the stamped image.

The image was stamped on white cardstock and I inked around the edges with the Pumpkin Pie ink. After coloring the "birthday" I went over it with a Stardust pen to give it just a bit of glimmer. 

I stamped the "celebrate" on old olive cardstock, fussy cut it and then used mounting foam to make it more dimensional. The "cake" was stamped on a piece of the Basic Grey Cupcake paper, trimmed down and a 1" square punch was used for the ends to make a banner. 

Stampin Up Big Day Birthday Card

I'm gonna be honest and say I wasn't sure about this stamp set when I ordered it but I am always looking for new birthday stamps and now that I have used it I have to say I am lovin the Big Day stamp set! I'm glad I got it when I did since it is no longer available. It was one of the items from Sale-A-Bration catalog back in the spring.

Supplies Used:

Stampin Up - Big Day stamp set (retired), Oval and 2 3/8" Scallop Circle punches

ProMarkers - Crimson, Marsh Green, Moss, Coral, Amethyst, Apricot,  Blue Pearl, Caramel, Cocoa, Blender Pen

Memento Black Ink 

1/4" Grosgrain ribbon

Paper Studio brads

Karen Foster Happy Birthday

Various cardstock

I didn't take a picture of the inside but the sentiment says "and perhaps a little ice cream!" The stamps actually have a lot of versatility to them and I have some images to make another set of 6 cards. When I was stamping the images I texted BFF Carmen and asked if she wanted me to stamp some off for her and of course she said yes.

I used my ProMarkers to do the coloring on the images and I do find that Memento Ink seems to work best. I have tried Stazon in the past and it seems to smear while Memento stays nice and crisp. I used the blender pen to take away some of the color for a highlighted look on the banner, letters and the cake image. 

I guess I'll take a break from making cards for a bit after I use up the other images I have stamped since I have to work on some giftbags for my stepgrandaughter's softball team. I'm still not sure what I am going to do to decorate them but I guess it better be good!

Stampin Up Amazing Birthday Card

I know I make more birthday cards than any other type of card and I think it is because as a general rule people send more birthday cards than any other card. Like I said a few posts ago, my card stash is running low and I am working to restock. Another reason I need to restock is because BFF Carmen is coming to visit soon and I will have to trade cards for the awesome Graphic 45 paper she sent me recently. She will never take money, even if I beg, instead she always wants to be paid in cards or other creations. 

The Amazing Birthday stamp set was another one I ordered in the spring and my groups used over the summer when making birthday cards.

Supplies Used:

Stampin Up

  Amazing Birthday Stamp Set

  Everyday Enchantment paper

  Soft Suede cardstock

  Soft Suede, Cameo Coral Ink

  Lucky Limeade, Coastal Cabana Ink

  Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral Ribbon

  7/8" Scallop Circle Punch

3/4" Circle Punch

Button Hole Punch

Paper Studio brads

Mounting Foam

I actually found the idea for this card in a Google search and really fell in love with it. I did have to stamp off the "TODAY" and "AMAZING" and cut them out by hand but it was worth the time and effort, and then used mounting foam to layer them on top of the original stamped image. I used a button hole punch to thread the ribbon through and tie off. The little "IT'S FOR YOU" was stamped and then punched out with the 3/4" circle punch and then I layered it on a 7/8" scallop circle I punched out. 

I left the inside of the card blank because I am thinking the card can be used for a variety of occasions even though birthday is what I had in mind when I made it. 

Stampin Up Celebrate Today Birthday Card

I ordered this stamp set back in the spring because I wanted to use it for when my groups at McCalls would make birthday cards and I haven't used it for myself until now and I know I'm going to use it again because there are a lot of different things you can do with the stamps and  matching framelits.

Supplies Used:

Stampin Up products -

  Celebrate Today stamp set

  Balloon Framelits

  Itty Bitty Banner stamps(retired)

  Bitty Banners Framelits

  Baked Brown Sugar Ink

  Cherry Cobbler Ink 

  Cherry Cobbler Cardstock

Scenic Route - Sonoma paper

Paper Studio - Cloud Paper

Mounting Foam

The Celebrate Today stamp set has a couple of balloon stamps you can use but for this card I just used the framelits and cut out patterned paper for the balloons but I did use a stamp from the set for the basket. I did have to fussy cut the basket but it was worth it to get the great effect on the card. The sentiment that says "Happy Day" is from the Itty Bitty Banner stamp set that is now retired. The banner is from the Bitty Banner framelit set.

The bottom two balloons are attached directly to the card mat and the top balloon was pop dotted. I crinkled the banners a little so they would look more like they were waving in the wind.  I do wish I would have cut out more of the banners to add to the balloons but maybe next time because I'm not getting the back out of my box to redo them now.

Stampin Up Birthday Blossoms Card

My card stash is running really low right now and I need to work on getting it stocked back up *okie wonders why since she rarely sends out any cards and just ends up giving most of them away to her friends so they can send them out* so I've been trying to think of cards to make. Since BFF Carmen sent me the Graphic 45 Mother Goose paper line I wanted to use it on a card.

Supplies Used:

• Graphic 45 Mother Goose 
• Stampin Up Birthday Blossoms stamp set
• Stampin Up Labels Collection framelits (retired) 
• Stampin Up Pansy Punch
• Stampin Up Inks
• Perfect Pearls
• Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool
• Paper Studio Brads
• Mounting Foam

I wasn't sure how I would like the sentiment stamped on top of the flowers I had stamped but once I got done I thought it looked okay. I always have a hard time stamping on top of another stamped image unless the set is made that way so this was out of my comfort zone a bit. If you look at the flower at the top of the page you can see a little bit of glimmer where I added the Perfect Pearls. The grayish on the petals of the flowers is actually Perfect Pearls, some things are just difficult to photograph and it seems anything shimmery is difficult.

The flowers were stamped on the patterned paper with More Mustard and the green on the leaves with Garden Green. The Pacific Point cardstock and ink went perfect with the blue in the Mother Goose collection and I got really lucky there and then even more lucky was the brads I had match almost perfectly. I added a bit of Perfect Pearls to the middle of the flowers since they looked a little too plain otherwise. And yes...I am getting addicted to Perfect Pearls, thank you for noticing *okie cracks up laughing*.

Now I gotta figure out what kind of card to make next!

I Finally Went To Stamp Club

For those who may not know I attend a stamp club, well at times I attend, that occurs on the first Thursday of the month. I started going probably 5 or 6 years ago after attending a sale that the lady who runs stamp club had and she told me about the stamp club. I haven't gone in quite sometime, mostly because I would forget and then remember after I was already home in my home clothes...okay pajama's *okie wonders who else puts their pj's on right after getting home from work*, and I didn't want to put clothes back on.

Last Thursday was Stamp Club and I finally made it! I had called my friend Linda a few days before and asked if she wanted to go. I was determined I was going with or without her this time but she did say she would like to go since she hadn't been in ages either. I rarely get anything done at Stamp Club because I am too nosy and always wanting to see what everyone else was doing but this time I was going to persevere and accomplish something! That meant I had to get stuff ready in advance so I stamped my butterflies and had them cut with the framelits a few days before Stamp Club.

Supplies Used:

Stampin Up Watercolor Wings stamp set

Stampin Up Bold Butterfly  framelit set 

Stampin Up Washi Tape Punch

Stampin Up Inks

Glimmer Mist - Driftwood

Washi Tape (either Tim Holtz or 7 Gypsies) 

Translucent sheet

Diecut leaves (using Cricut Explore One)

Queen & Co. Pearls

Various Cardstock

Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher

The little butterfly was cut out with translucent sheet which is a lot like vellum but better in my opinion because it prints, cuts and adheres a lot better. I picked it up a few years back at my local bargain store when they got a bunch of crafting supplies in. I was afraid it wouldn't do well in the die but as you can see it came out perfect. 

You can also see the spritzes of Glimmer Mist a little better in this picture. I can't ever get a nice clean even light spray with Glimmer Mist but I still love it just the same. 

The leaves are some I had left over from a layout I did a few weeks ago. I had cut out extra because I wasn't sure how many I would use and that left me with some extra and I was glad I had them since they worked great on this card. 

After stamping the sentiment on Kraft Cardstock I punched it out with the Washi Tape punch. I ordered that punch for the sole reason of using it for sentiments. The Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher was used for adhering it onto the card. 

Everyone at Stamp Club loved the card and it is different for me to do something on a white background but I really liked how it turned out. The stamp set was so well liked that it is out on loan right now!

Pink Cricut Explore One Giveaway...

Sometimes people see titles of news articles, clippings, blog posts and such and read the piece only because the title caught their attention. We often bypass something really news worthy because we don't think it is of interest. I learned that during my short journalism major stint in college.

For instance, the title of this blog post is "Pink Cricut Explore One Giveaway" and it can seem to mean that I am giving away a Pink Cricut Explore but the truth is the giveaway was my previous post that was titled "Did You Read The Explore One Reviews?". And before anyone cries out "that's not fair" I will tell you I don't care. I did it that way on purpose because I wanted the winner to be someone who reads this piece of crap blog that I put hours of work into instead of someone just coming to win something. The only requirement was to leave a comment on that post, there were no hoops to jump through like there are in most giveaways, no one had to follow my blog, follow me on facebook, share the post in 5 different places or anything else. All they had to do was be someone who regularly read my posts and leave a comment....just that simple.

I would like to thank everyone who read all the reviews and commented whether here or on Facebook. I also appreciate all the comments about you guys trusting my opinions and having faith in my honesty when I review products, that really means a lot to me.

To chose a winner I used a number generator and the winning number was 36. I then copy and pasted all the comments that were left before the deadline of midnight Sunday, September 6th. I guess I could have printed them all off and then drew a winner from a hat, or probably a bowl since I don't have any hats, but I didn't want to waste my printer ink or time sitting there and cutting them all apart. This method was just a lot easier for me and let's face it...I'm lazy!

And the winner of the Pink Cricut Explore One is ES who commented "Thanks for this giveaway Okie. I rolled my eyes a bit when I read your "requirements"... should have known they weren't real. :)" and I had to laugh at her comment being the winning one since she directly commented about the requirements to win. 

ES please EMAIL me your contact information so I can forward that to Provocraft and they can send you the prize.

Did You Read The Explore One Reviews?

I know some might think my reviews were short and not enough materials cut but I really didn't need to do more than I did to know that I really really really like the E1! Like I said in my first review the machine is a cheaper price but it still has the same excellent cutting accuracy, aside of the settings glitch that might just be my machine, as the Explore. From what I found the E1 can be bought for about $50-70 less than the Explore Air and if the features of having the built in pen holder and built in Bluetooth isn't an issue it is a great machine to save some bucks on while still having the fantastic cutting capabilities. If you want to cut wirelessly the Bluetooth adapter does work in the E1. I have found I do like to be without the cord because I don't have to worry about it getting in my way.

When Ashish asked if I would be willing to do a review of the Explore One and do a giveaway I told him I wanted to review the machine first before I would tie my name to a giveaway because I didn't want to giveaway something that was a piece of crap that I didn't like. I figured he might tell me to forget it then but instead he agreed *okie sometimes wonder if that man is a little off is rocker*.

After my posts I guess you can tell that I do indeed love the Explore One as much as the Explore and I am in fact doing a giveaway!

This giveaway is for a Cricut Explore One machine, pink in color, and to enter the giveaway you must do the following...

1. Go and like my Facebook page

2. Follow my blog

3. Join my YouTube channel

4. Scratch my back

5. Jump through 3 flaming hoops

6. Register to be one of my minions

7. Do 3 somersaults and 2 back flips while chewing bubble gum........

This is my machine, the winner will receive a new E1

*okie falls out her chair laughing* Okay I am joking but don't ya get the feeling in most giveaways that is some of the idiotic stuff you have to do in order to enter? I mean seriously...why in the hell do you have to follow someone's blog, YouTube channel and Facebook page to enter a giveaway? Personally I think it's to boost their ego's and have them believe that people adore them. Aren't you glad that I don't give a FU..., er....FLIP if anyone adores me or not.

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment ON THIS POST by midnight Sunday September 6th. Yes that is tomorrow night. I am doing it short and sweet as I want those who actually read the reviews to have a better chance of winning! The winner will be announced on Tuesday September 8th. Once the winner is announced I will need the information where Provocraft needs to ship the machine.

So ya see...it's as simple as that!

P.S. I have to approve comments to avoid spam so if your comment doesn't show up right away it's because I haven't been able to approve comments. Please refrain from making multiple comments. 

Cricut Explore Review 4 - Regular Paper

So we know the E1 will cut onion paper, adhesive backed paper and construction paper but how will it do with regular paper? Well I found out when my friend asked if I would help her daughter with a car wash sign.

I thought they were going to bring construction paper but instead it was regular weight paper, like copy paper, in neon colors much like the picture on the left. I didn't tell them I never cut this type of paper in a machine before as I didn't want them to think they needed to go get different paper and I was curious as to how well it would cut in the E1. 

Using Make The Cut I designed the sign the night before they came over so I could just cut it once they came over. I already had it loaded up and saved in Design Space so it was just a matter of opening up DS and get to cuttin. 

As you can see the paper cut fabulously and of course Katy had the cutest sign at the car wash. Evidently it was so cute they decided to laminate it for future use since the Cougann's do fundraisers throughout the year. I did use cardstock making the car and there were like 4 different varieties used and once again the E1 cut them all like a champ. 

Cricut Explore One Review 3 - Construction Paper

I know the Explore will cut construction paper beautifully as I used it to cut out a bunch of tiger paws for my youngest Goddaughter and I wondered if the Explore One, which will now be called the E1 because I'm too lazy to keep typing Explore One, would do just as well. Luckily...I guess it was lucky, my Goddaughter needed a few more paws because she got more residents after I got the E1 and I decided to try it out with construction paper. 

I would like to give a complaint about the E1 at this time. The settings for the paper seem to be a bit off. With the Explore the settings seem to be dead on but with the E1 I had to adjust cutting the construction paper with the light cardstock setting and when cutting light cardstock I had to adjust to the regular cardstock setting. While that might be a huge issue I still see it as an issue. I know how precious our materials are to us and if you are trying to cut something out of your last sheet of paper you want it to be able to cut accurately. For now I would suggest doing some test cuts on different materials to see if your machine is the same or if this is a glitch in my machine.

So after getting the paper setting correct the E1 did a fantastic job of cutting out all the tiger paws from the orange construction paper. Even though the cuts were large and not a test on how accurate it cuts small items on construction paper I was still impressed with the accuracy of the machine.

The white paper used was the Georgia Pacific from Walmart that use to be of fantastic quality but they downgraded it a few years ago and my Expressions and even my Pazzles had a hard time cutting it but the E1 cut it like butter. I used the regular cardstock setting to cut it even though I would consider it light cardstock. 

My Goddaughter was over the other night so we could cut out more signs, footballs this time. for her residents doors. Evidently this is something WE are going to have to do every month. I swear that girl gets me involved in things I neer would have dreamed of doing! But on the upside she did say all the residents left the name paws on the doors for the whole month. 

Now, this is a story all about how

Now, this is a story all about how
My crafting got flipped-turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute
Just sit right there
I'll tell you about the Explore, just not the Air

In Oklahoma I born and raised
In the craftoom was where I spent most of my days
Cuttin and gluin relaxing all cool
And all organizing some buttons next to the tools
When a couple of gals who were up to no good
Started makin trouble in my craftinghood
I made one little post and someone got scared
They whined and cried and said I was rude and not fair

I laughed and joked with them throughout the day
But they kept on talking smack while running away
I told them what they could kiss and then said f*uck it
I turned my Explore on and said 'I might as well cut it'.

*okie fall out chair laughing* Okay, okay I couldn't resist the lyrics and I know some of you were reading with a beat knowing where that little diddy originated and it was more about the comments made on my first post reviewing the Explore One. 

But for realz I wanna share how I ended up getting to review the Explore and the Explore One because I know some are curious and some folks are down right pissed off about it. Since I have quite a few Facebook friends I got a lot of private messages when I first reviewed the Explore about how some people in Facebook groups and the Cricut Messageboard *okie observes a quick moment of silence in remembrance of something that use to be great* were upset that I was choosen to review the machine since I had divorced Cricut a few years back. I thought it was funny and told the dear people who were trying to protect my honor I didn't give a rats ass about what people thought I might have done to be able to review the Explore. 

But here is how it happened. Sometime ago Ashish Arora, the CEO of Provocraft, sent me a friends request on Facebook and I sent him a message that I was curious as to why he would want to be my friend. It was quite a bit later that he messaged me back, stating he was still trying to get use to the whole Facebook thing and my message went in his other folder *okie figures that is plausible enough because she can't even get private messages on her phone anymore* and we chit chatted for a bit and he asked if I would be willing to review the Cricut Explore. I asked if he really wanted me to do that since I give my very honest opinions about products and he said that is exactly what he was wanting. Of course at that time I smirked to myself thinking "he doesn't know what he is in for". I even asked him "Um...Did ya ask Dan about me?" because I knew Dan would be able to convey in person how honest I am about things and he said he and Dan had talked in length. By this time I was thinking that Ashish was completely out of his ever lovin mind! He kept telling me he was very proud of the changes they made to the Cricut and how it was a superb machine and he had confidence in the abilities of the machine. 

Of course y'all know that I am truly impressed with the Explore and quite astonished in the changes Provocraft has made. After my reviews I was approached about being a "product expert" and I agreed but once I received the non-disclosure agreement I told them I would not be able to join that group because I would't sign the NDA that in so much wording said I would not be able to say anything negative about the company for a period of three years. I understand their need for the agreement and they understood that I would not compromise my integrity and honest opinions about products that I try and write about. I have learned over the years that people trust my opinions because I am a straight shooter. After that I thought the correspondence was done but then about a month ago I was contacted by Ashish about reviewing the Explore One and I agreed. 

So you see I didn't need to find something to blackmail Provocraft with so I could get a machine to review, I didn't contact them and beg, I didn't post all over the internet how I would love to review a machine...or anything else. Okay I will admit that I do know there were two dear friends that were suggesting that I would be allowed to review a machine. It was simply one man asking me if I would be willing to review a machine made by a company that I had moved away from in the past. 

Now if you think it is easy to review things think again. Yes, I received the machines for free but...I use my own time to test the machines, my own time to write up reviews, my own time to take pictures, my own time to edit and post and my own materials to cut in the machine for reviews. I have a full time job and crafting is not it. The reviews are done in my free time, something I cherish. I am not compensated in any other way for what I have reviewed. 

And there ya have the story.

Cricut Explore One Review 2 - Adhesive Backed Fabric

So like I said yesterday I didn't ease into review the Explore One I went in all gung ho and just knew that I would quickly find something this machine can't cut. Since the One is cheaper than the Air I figured it probably doesn't cut as well.

Since I tried super thin at first I thought I would go for something super thick and difficult for my next test. My friend Carmen had found a bunch of adhesive backed fabric sometime ago and I haven't used any because I was afraid my machines would just shred it so it has sat on the shelf for quite awhile just waiting to be used. 

I wanted a difficult cut so I decided to cut out a word and not just any word, but a word that is only a little over 1/2" tall and tiny curves in the letters. I was willing to sacrifice a little of the adhesive backed fabric in the name of experimentation and also thinking I certainly had something that wouldn't be able to be cut and it would be worth it!

Sadly...I was wrong! My first attempt didn't cut all the way through but once I changed the settings to "denim" I was shocked to see the results. There it was, on the mat, cut perfectly. I suddenly felt defeated. I mean come on now! Who would think a machine would cut this so small and so precisely! I left the letters on the mat so you guys could see the size of the letters and know I am not lying when I said how small and how well the Explore One cut this chit! I might add that I used the regular blade housing and blade as well. I know the deep cut blade was probably suppose to be used but I don't have one of those. 

A few years ago when I divorced Cricut I certainly didn't expect a reconciliation much less a reconciliation of this magnitude.  Damn you Provocraft! Damn you for making superior machines that so far cut anything I try! *okie stomps off with arms across her chest and mumbling explicit phrases under her breath*

Cricut Explore One Review 1 - Onion Paper

About a month ago I was asked if I would be willing to review the Explore One and I agreed because...well why not! I was curious if the Explore One has the same great cutting capability as the Explore. I do know the Explore One is a bit cheaper in price than the Explore Air. 

I got to choose the color of Explore One I wanted and I went with the pink since red wasn't an option. The other colors available were grey and blue. The first thing I noticed is that it doesn't have the pen holder like the Explore does but since I never used a pen in any of my Cricuts other than to see if it would work that doesn't bother me. I also noticed that the tab next to the blade is smaller which leads me to believe you can't do print and cut but I could be wrong about that since I haven't tried that feature.

I didn't have any problem popping out the bluetooth adapter from my Explore and putting it in the Explore One. My computer recognized it immediately as did Design Space. 

Of course me being me I didn't slowly try out the One, instead I went in with difficult materials that I knew other machines would have difficulty cutting or wouldn't be able to cut at all. For my first try at cutting I grabbed some onion paper, which is more delicate than vellum and didn't figure it would be able to cut it at all. I loaded up some shapes for flowers in Design Space, put the paper on the mat and tore the first piece and I think I might have gotten a bit of a grin like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas because I just knew if the paper tore that easily the Explore One was going to rip it to shreds! I wasn't smirking when I unloaded the mat, instead I was frowning a bit because it seemed that all the flowers cut rather well except the first one. 

Well that frown went to an out right full force face of anger as I took the paper off and left on the mat were perfect little flowers. The first one on the mat was only torn on the paper I wouldn't be using. The wrinkle you see it is where I tore it getting the unused paper off the mat. I think I sat there for a few minutes just staring at the flowers and might have even scratched my head in wondering how in the hell did this machine cut onion paper...ONION PAPER OF ALL THINGS!! My punches won't even give me clean cuts like this with onion paper!

I went ahead and put the pieces together and made this little flower. I wadded up the layers and them straightened them out a little before layering them and putting them together. I spritzed it with some Glimmer Mist and POOF...a nice little Onion Paper flower!