Reindeer Ornaments - Vinyl and Paper

Last year I made some Snowman ornaments that had hats and they were such a big hit that this year I thought I'd try my hand at some reindeer ornaments!

I started working on this file before my carpal tunnel surgery (that will be another post) and I have just been able to finish it up in the last few days because of limited use of my left hand. I am really loving these cute reindeer and I think they will be a great addition to a Christmas tree.

Supplies Used:

3" plastic ornament

Brown Glitter
Polyacrylic

Vinyl - various colors

Cardstock - various colors
Hot Glue Gun

I used Make the Cut to design the elements and then exported the file as an SVG so I could upload it into Cricut Design Space for cutting.

One thing that irritates me about Design Space is that when I import an SVG I always have to make sure the file size is correct because it always imports larger than what the design is suppose to be. My work around that is to always include a base layer, 12x12 in this instance, so I can easily resize to the correct proportions.

On some other sets I made I used the Martha Stewart Branch punch and placed them where the holly is in the picture. I also used some red ribbon instead of cutting a paper ribbon. I think I might add some "snow" to the antlers and ears for the next set I make. 

My carpal tunnel surgery on my right hand is going to be the first week in January and when I have that one done I will have to take off work because I will be a lot more limited to what I can do so I am hoping the sales on this file will help me get some bills paid in advance so I won't be stressing out about having the next surgery done.

If you would like to purchase this file you may do so and once purchased it is yours to do with what you wish, as long as you are not re-selling or sharing the file.

 

IMPORTANT PURCHASE AND DOWNLOAD INFORMATION, PLEASE FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS (I have had people turn me into Paypal because they said they didn't receive the file but they did NOT follow the directions below).

Purchase and Download instructions: Once you hit the "BUY NOW" it will take you to Paypal where you can pay for the item. Once purchase is complete Paypal will redirect you to "Return to Merchant" where you will given the link to download the files from Google Drive. You will need to know where files are saved on your computer in order to open the files. I do not have that information as I don't know how your computer is set up.

1 zip file is included in this purchase.

• 1 PDF files - Instructions for supplies needed, cuts that are in the file and assembling the reindeer ornaments.
• 1 SVG files - Includes all pieces needed to complete a male and female reindeer ornament.

Price: 5.00 

If you missed out on the Snowman Ornament with Gingerbread Bonus last year I am offering a special of the Snowman Ornament with Gingerbread Bonus AND the Reindeer Ornament.

1 zip file included in this purchase.

• 3 PDF files - Instructions for assembling the SVG files
• 3 SVG files - 1 file of Snowman faces, along with the Gingerbread faces bonus. 1 file for Snowman Hats. 1 file for Reindeer faces and elements.

Price: 8.00 

Morning Has Broken - Vinyl Project

During a trip to Houston a few years ago I got a lot of things on clearance, like 80-90% off, to decorate my kitchen and dining area. It's taken me a long time to get everything done and this one frame I had purchased was my final project to get done.

I am a coffee lover and I thought this quote was quite fitting since it is on the wall above the area where I keep my coffee pot. Speaking of which if anyone wants to buy me a coffee pot I would greatly appreciate it since mine has bit the dust. I thought I fixed it this weekend and it worked a few days but now it's back to just blinking at me!

But back to the picture frame. I'm not real sure what was up with this frame, there was no glass but the background you see is what was in the frame already and I just used EnduraMATTE, which is a indoor type vinyl and it went on the paper backing just fine. 

I would write more but I'm too depressed to look at this since I can't even have a dang cup of coffee this morning!! *okie contemplates setting up a GoFundMe account for one of those fancy Ninja coffee makers*.

My Sister's Christmas Present - Altered Cabinet Door

Today I wanted to share the gift I made for my sister and brother in law for Christmas. I always have a difficult time deciding what to get them for Christmas but this past year I knew what I wanted to make for them. 

One day when I was in Goodwill I found 4 glass cabinet doors and I knew I could make something out of them, especially since they were only $2 each and I actually had envisioned the project in my head when I bought the doors although I wasn't sure about the vinyl design at the time.

My friend Karen was here when I made the project and she helped me out by doing the painting while I worked on a design I liked. I had gotten knobs at Hobby Lobby a long time ago for the project so at least that part was taken care of and I didn't have to go shopping for knobs. 

When I do vinyl on glass I generally always put it on the back of the glass so the front can be easily cleaned when needed and the vinyl design is safe from somehow getting messed up. I cut some templates from white cardstock and used a re-postionable Herma Dotto roller to put them on the back so my sister could easily cut pictures to size. I used some double sided tape along the frames so pictures can be added, all she has to do is pull the paper off the tape and place her picture in the frame. 

She and my brother in law seemed to really like the gift. I asked them a few weeks ago if they ever got it hung up and my sister said they hadn't and my brother in law said it was because she hadn't told him where she wanted it and she then said she did tell him...and then I was sorry I asked! *okie cracks up laughing*. 

I gave one door to my friend Carmen when she was visiting one time and then I used another one for a wedding gift, which I will post later on and that leaves me with one more door to alter and I really wish I had a few more of these because they really turn out nice. So when you're out shopping in thrift stores always remember that even the oddest things can be made into something else!

Transfer Tape...8 Years Later

I read so many complaints about people not being able to find a good transfer tape so I thought I would make a post about the transfer tape I use.

Back in the summer of 2008 I needed a good transfer tape that would hold up in the mail but also release well since I was selling Cricut Head Decals at the time. I looked around and decided on the R-Tape Clear Choice from Signwarehouse. At the time I thought the expense was quite great but I didn't want to get complaints about the tape not working, etc. Here it is 8 years later and I am still using the same roll! I have even shared part of this roll with my friend Carmen. She recently asked what the tape was because she thought it was the best she has used and I think she might have ordered her own roll. 

As you can see by the picture my tape has yellowed a little but it still works great and I am able to reuse pieces over and over. 

This particular roll is the 6.5" x 100 yards but they do have other options. I liked this size the best because it was wide enough for most things but if I needed it wider I just add how many more layers I need. 

I have used this on wall quotes but I actually prefer a paper tape that is less tacky so it's less of a struggle. For that I use the R-Tape Conform and it has worked really well. Since I use this tape mainly for wall quotes that I sell or give away I can't reuse most of it and I go through it quicker. And by quicker I mean I have about the same amount of tape on that roll as I do the Clear Choice and I think I bought the roll back in 2010 or 2011. The roll I have is the 6.5" x 100 yards as well. 

Here are the links to the tapes I use:

Clear tape - R-CLEAR CHOICE AT-60

Paper tape - R-TAPE CONFORM 4078RLA

I "heart" Guns & Coffee Decal

One of my daughter's friends loves coffee and she loves guns. She had posted on her Facebook page about how she would love to have a decal out of a picture she posted and I told her "I can make that happen".

I went to work in Make The Cut and was able to design this decal. There is a white base layer and then the top green layer in the design. Once I posted it on Facebook I had some requests about the file and I had to inform a few people that I no longer give my files away.

BUT....

If you would like to purchase this file you may do so and once purchased it is yours to do with what you wish, as long as you are not re-selling the file I have no problem if you make them and sell the decals.

Price: 2.00 

Once you hit the "BUY NOW" it will take you to Paypal where you can pay for the item. Once purchase is complete Paypal will redirect you to "Return to Merchant" where you will given the link to download the file from Google Drive. 

Snowman Ornaments with Hats and Gingerbread Bonus!

Last year after Christmas when I was in Houston I hit up a few Hobby Lobby's and bought a few packages of the 3.25" clear ornaments, there is 4 in a package, that everyone had been using to decorate so I could do some of the glitter ornaments that is all the rage. I really hadn't decided exactly what to do and I have done a few that are personalized. I had gotten some brown fine glitter a few weeks ago thinking I could do some Gingerbread ornaments and I also wanted to try my hand at some snowmen ornaments.  

I  made a file for a Gingerbread face about a week ago and loved it and after that I decided to make some for snowmen but that wasn't good enough and I thought "They need hats!". After two days of designing and tweaking *okie thinks she really needs to get a degree in engineering or something to make this whole process go faster* I was able to get the files done.

I have already posted some pictures in a group on Facebook and got an overwhelming response about how much people loved the ornaments. For once I was pleased with my results, so many times I don't like what I make but ya know they say we are our own worst critics.

Since the hangers are covered by the hats I included a hole in the top of the hats so ribbon can be tied to the hanger and then threaded through the top of the hat. After I got the faces on I thought they looked a little plain so I decided to try some alcohol ink to put a blush on the cheeks and it worked! Just don't be heavy handed with the alcohol ink and if you have some alcohol blending solution it makes it easier to correct any mistakes, or an alcohol blender pen will help with any touch ups a well. I used one of those little triangle make up sponges and just a dot or two of ink and then pounced on paper before pouncing on the cheek area.

 

Decorating the hats was a lot of fun because there are so many options. The file does include a cut for a paper ban but I used ribbon instead. I also included some holly leaves in the file but for mine I used the Martha Stewart holly leaf punch and tree branch punch. The red "berries" are some hot fix embellishments, I believe from Imaginisce. On the lady hat I also added some hot fix rhinestones. The little silver embellishments are ribbon slides. I added some Sobo glue at the bottom edge of the hat so they would stay in place on the ornaments. Guys I can't tell you enough about how awesome this glue is for things that are hard to adhere!

 

Now about the Gingerbread bonus! 

The brown glitter is some that I found at Hobby Lobby, not in the scrapbook department though. I am going to replace their mouths with some white vinyl so they show up better because with the brown glitter they are just too hard to see since they are so thin. 

The girl Gingerbread man *okie thinks that just doesn't even sound right* I added some eye lashes so she would look more womanly, or girly, whichever you prefer. The ribbon is attached with Sobo glue but I think some redline tape would work just as well. 

Putting on the squiggle outline can be a little tricky because of the spherical design of ornaments and I did have to trim a few areas because there are wrinkles after applying. While I feel like I am an adequate designer, I am not a genius in this area and wasn't able to make the file to avoid this. But hey, it's a free bonus!!

If you would like to purchase this file you may do so and once purchased it is yours to do with what you wish, as long as you are not re-selling or sharing the file.

Price: 5.00 

Once you hit the "BUY NOW" it will take you to Paypal where you can pay for the item. Once purchase is complete Paypal will redirect you to "Return to Merchant" where you will given the link to download the files from Google Drive. 

4 files are included in this purchase.

• 2 PDF files - 1 with basic instructions for the SVG files and the other that is a picture tutorial of how to assemble the hats.
• 2 SVG files - 1 file of Snowman faces, along with the Gingerbread faces bonus. The other file is for the hats.

VINYL SALE!!!

I'm not having a vinyl sale because I like my vinyl, although I did share some of it with my cousin recently, but I wanted to share the sale that SIGNWarehouse is having right now.

I got an email about their 'Talk Like A Pirate' Sale they are having on their EnduraGLOSS vinyl. If you have never used this vinyl it is comparable to the Oracal 651 that most people love and right now at this price it is $5.98 cheaper per roll than the Oracal 651. The sale runs through  to Monday September 26th and is limited to what they have on hand so if you need some vinyl ya better hurry and order!

I do personally buy from this company and they have super fast shipping and the most awesome customer service!

***DISCLAIMER*** I was not paid or compensated in any form or fashion for making this post. This post was made to solely share information about a fantastic product at a fantastic price. 

It's Not My Corkscicle!

There are so many brands of the stainless steel tumblers it's hard to keep up! A few days ago when I was out at McCall's one of women out there liked how I had my name on my stainless steel tumbler and asked if I would do hers. I have been avoiding doing the stainless steel like mine because it's not a true smooth surface and like I said a few days ago I don't want people complaining about the vinyl coming off. 

I'm not sure if everyone has seen the Corkscicle brand but they come in some really cool colors and the one the woman had was a hot pink *okie thinks that is obvious by the picture* and I told her I would sacrifice some of my glitter vinyl to do her cup. The mandala is one that my friend Carmen did and was nice enough to share with me. I didn't ask her if I could use it to make money off of it but if she doesn't like it then she can *okie falls out her chair laughing*. 

I was able to use the conical warp feature in Make The Cut to have the image come out looking straight after it was applied to the cup. For those folks who don't have the conical warp feature I really feel for ya because you have no idea what you are missing out on!!

The image was only 3 inches across so you can imagine how small the dots are and I did a reverse weed, where you put the transfer tape down on the whole image and then remove the waste, with the dots. You might notice the slight empty space between the lettering and design and I used another fantastic feature in Make The Cut for that effect. I made a slight shadow of the name and then used the Boolean Join feature to cut way the area so the whole design lays flat instead of having it layered. 

I guess I better get busy on finding some more projects to work on because as I am writing this I have nothing else, zilch, nada to post!

Baby Frame

I have seen a lot of the "baby frame" ideas and while I have plenty of canvas and a few frames around when I got ready to make one I wanted it to be a little more than just the name, date of birth and other birth information so I got a little inventive. 

Remember the shadow box frame I showed a few days ago and I said I had a few more of them? Well I broke another one out for this project. If the store would have had 20 of these I would have bought them all but I think I actually only ended up with like 5 or 6. I think I ended up spending about 80 cents or so on each one as they were like 90 percent off. Anyway, back to the frame.

My niece had her baby Saturday morning and by morning I mean like EARLY! My daughter and I had went up on Friday and stayed until about 10:30 that night and since my niece wasn't progressing I decided we would go ahead and go home. If I had thought to take a contact case, some solution and my glasses we would have waited it out but I really thought it was going to go faster than that, but there is no rushing things when it comes to birthing them babies!

Well dang, okay now about the frame *okie so hates the squirrels that tend to run her life*. Like I said I love the idea of the frames but I wanted it a bit more personal so I got information from my other niece, Amber, and her mother, Teresa *okie would say her cousin but then would have to explain about why her nieces mother is her cousin and thinks that needs a post of it's own* about what Marissa was going to have for the decorations of Lane's room. After they sent me a few pictures I had a good idea about what to do in the frame and what colors to use. Amber was good enough to send me pictures of Lane and didn't even complain when I told her "okay now I need one of him by himself". 

I knew I needed a deer, some chevron and an arrow and I wanted to add a picture of Lane to the frame to make it more personal than just the information so I got into MTC and played around with a few things and once I got my pieces that I wanted I started finding different fonts for the information. Since the deer head was going to be large I knew I could put it in the background and allow lettering to cover it but I needed open space for the other items. Once I got the all the elements in place I moved and resized the information to make it fit where I wanted *okie so loves Make The Cut* and it was rather easy to do. 

Once again I used some burlap for the background *okie wonders if everyone has pieces of burlap laying around like she does* because on this particular frame it just went nicely with the elements. In order to get the pieces to stick to the burlap I use some Sobo glue and guys if you haven't tried this stuff let me tell ya it is beyond A-MAZE-ING! I cut the vinyl in mirror image format so I could put it on the back of the glass, this makes for easier dusting and protects the vinyl a bit more as well. I did make registration marks to make placing the vinyl easier and then just pulled them up after I got the vinyl in place. 

My niece was very pleased with the frame and even posted it on Facebook to show it off. I'll post the other gift I made her tomorrow. 

Police Officer Quote - File Available

Ya know there are plenty of times when you are browsing through Facebook that you see something and you think to yourself "OMG! Self you need to make that" but you really don't have a reason or purpose for making such a thing you are looking at so you just toss it to the wayside. 

When I saw this quote about police officers and their families while scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed I had that thought but I knew exactly who I could make it for. There is a young couple that my kids know, actually the wife was my daughters matron of honor and the husband played football with my son-in-law, and the husband is a member of the police force here in town and I just knew I had to make it for them. Having a degree in Criminal Justice also tends to make me have a very strong respect and love for officers of the law. 

I messaged the wife and asked about what color frame and was glad when she said off white because I had picked up some of these frames at Wall's quite awhile ago and hadn't used any. They were actually for a retirement picture and had a bit of a shadow box look but I figured I could rip out the guts and use them for my own use, which obviously I did with this one. She also said she liked the burlap look of the original quote and luckily I had burlap. On a side note, thanks to my Aussie friend Janell I know know that burlap is called "hessian", so if you are ever on Jeopardy this information might come in handy. 

The process of removing the guts and getting the burlap on there was a process. I tried several things, and I won't bore you with the details, and ended up just cutting the piece of burlap the size of the back of the frame and gluing it down. 

In this picture you can see how there is room between the glass and the back of the frame where the burlap is glued and if you look at the bottom of the frame between the glass and burlap you will see a thin line of chipboard. In order to get the glass to stay in place I had to come up with something and since I don't have any glazier points handy and it was around midnight when I was working on this it was the best I could come up with. I think I cut about 4,827 *okie wonders if she might have just exaggerated a little bit there* strips of chipboard at 3/8 of an inch and then glued strips together until I got the thickness I needed, which oddly enough was about 3/8" of an inch as well. I used some Terrifically Tacky Tape on two sides of the strips, with one side going on the glass and the other on the lip of the frame, to hold it in place. 

Since I have a number *okie is too lazy to walk to her craft closet and count them* of these frames I will be picking up some glazier points for future use. 

While I probably could charge for this file I won't and offer it freely, I figure what's the difference since if someone wants it they can just do a trace of one of my pictures and make their own and it just saves someone time in the future if they want to make one *okie figures she has probably give thousands and thousands of dollars of cutting files away over the years for this very reason, plus she is too lazy to email people back and forth about such things*. 

The Elusive Stainless Steel Tumbler

Like everyone else I heard about how wonderful the Yeti Stainless Steel Tumbler was but I just never could justify the cost of the thing and then all the off brands started coming out and I began to consider getting one. Then...THEN...Walmart came out with one that was only 10 bucks and I knew I would get one for that price. But alas, I never seemed to be able to find one in the store.

Evidently everyone and their mamma has these things and there are kinds of brands such as Rtic, Corkscicle and Kodiak to just name a few and being a crafter I am aware of all the cool colors you can get now and how everyone is decorating them. When I was in Houston Tuesday Morning had gotten some in and they had some nice colors but Carmen and I were too late to buy any when we made it to the store. I was really beginning to think it just was not meant for me to have one of the damn things. And if I am honest I have been quite skeptical about the whole trend so I wasn't like dying to have one but by this time it was a mission. A mission that I had to complete!

Once I returned from Houston I had decided to order one online from Walmart and when I check it said they were in my store! I went the next day and looked and looked and couldn't find it. I finally went up to the sporting good counter and there was another lady there asking about them. The worker told us that he had some in the back and would go and get them. He came out with a box of the 30 ounce tumblers and the lady that was there before me said she wanted 4 and as we were discussing the tumblers another lady came up and said she had came in looking for them as well and needed 2. Both ladies already had them and were singing the praises of how wonderful the tumblers are so I ended up walking out with 3. I figured if they were flying off the shelves that fast I better get one for my daughter and son-in-law as well. 

Now ya know as a crafter who has a wall of vinyl I knew I had to put something on the tumbler. Okay I don't have an actual wall of vinyl but I have a nice collection of different colors. This is actually an older picture and there has been a bit of an addition but I was too lazy to take a new picture. Also the crates have dividers that I made out of cardboard that are more sturdy that what was used in the picture and also keeps the rolls from falling out of place when I pull a color. 

But back to the whole vinyl thing. My concern about putting vinyl on the stainless steel tumbler is that it is not truly smooth and when being washed was the vinyl going to peel up. I know a lot of people are adding vinyl and I have heard a lot say how it doesn't stay but since I have a plethora of vinyl I didn't think the small amount that I would likely use would hurt my stash.

The Samantha font is one of my favorites and I wanted something nice on my tumbler so I pulled a swash from it and then worked with the letters to find some that would swirl but also not swirl too much and this is what I came up with. Now ya may say what many others did "WHAT?? NO LADYBUG??" and I did use ladybug colors so I think that counts for something! 

I did this about two weeks ago and I do hand wash carefully and the vinyl is staying on so far. I did have someone ask me to do one for her and I initially said yes but then said no after all the complaints I heard about the vinyl coming up and I didn't want something returned or someone demanding a refund for what they feel is shoddy work. With that said I am suppose to do one for someone and she promised not to complain if the vinyl starts to peel. 

I haven't done anything to my daughter or son-in-law's tumblers, and not sure he really wants anything on his but I know my daughter does so I will be doing hers sometime in the future. 

Oh and as far as liking the tumbler...ERMAHGERD I LUVZ IT!!! I stop of a morning and get a Diet Coke and the store I go to has the slushy ice and even when I leave my tumbler in the car during the heat of the day my slushy ice is still in there! 

GoVino Beer Glasses

Well they aren't really glass, they are plastic but saying GoVino Beer Plastics just doesn't sound right so GoVino Beer Glasses it is. Anyway, I got a few sets of these at Zipp a few months ago and they have been in my craft closet and when I pulled a set out looking for something else and my daughter saw them she said she wanted a set with vinyl on them. She made a list of what she wanted and I told her I would get them done for her *okie is quite impressed that it didn't take her a year to get them done because it usually does*. 

I couldn't get the saying's completely straight because of the double curve of the glasses. I had to take my time putting the vinyl on and work with it a little to get it to lay flat and thank goodness I was able to pull it up in some places and then put it back down *okie thinks working with a double curve is a bitch* and smooth it out more. I guess I need to work on that double curve issue since I think I have like 3 more sets of these. I couldn't buy just one set when I was able to get like 4 sets for the price of one set. 

My daughter was pleased with the results, at least I think she was. If she wasn't she didn't say anything about not liking them. The glasses say, from left to right -

It's 5 o'clock somewhere

Drink Me

Good Beer Good Friends

It's Beer Thirty 

Established Sign Vinyl Project - File Available

Some of y'all probably remember the 3 Funerals and A Wedding post back in October when my daughter gave me 4 days notice that she was getting married and my friend Carmen just happened to be visiting from Houston and with some quick thinking and fast decorating we were able to pull off a wedding and reception right here at my house. If you don't know the story you can check it out in the link above.

Now that your memory has been refreshed I'll share the "established" floating picture that I made for my daughter and son-in law. I have to say I really like the whole "floating frame" thing since you don't have to worry too much about making a backing to match what decor people might have because it just shows the wall behind it so ya know it's gonna match!

I am always on the look out for frames when I go to Goodwill for projects such as this and I can usually find them for a buck or two, at least I could before the new manager came into play and started pricing things so high. Anyway I did get this one at Goodwill and I think I got it for $1.99, not a bad price! I think the size on it is about 20" x 14.5". Since I don't have a hobby store close I had to get creative with the mat on the frame and I wasn't sure what to do until I remembered I had some Cricut Foil Vinyl!

I used some cardboard and measured out the pieces and then miter cut them using a quilting ruler as my guide and then just covered the cardboard with the foil vinyl. I really liked the look of the "metal mat" and it gives the picture, sign or whatever you want to call it a nice classy look. I do still need to get a large sheet of acetate or have another piece of glass cut to put over the top before they can have it to hang on their wall. 

If you would like to cut this design and add your own initial, name and edit the year, you can download the file below:

Chalkboard Project with Vinyl, Cricut Vinyl!

Well I finally made something for myself and I think I really like it!

I got this chalkboard a few months ago at Goodwill and kept wanting to do something with it but instead of just drawing with chalk I thought I would do vinyl. I finally got around to it yesterday and decided to use some Cricut Vinyl and do a quote on the chalkboard. 

I found a quote but the problem was trying to get it to fit within the bounds of the red. I didn't want it too small because I thought it might look funny but I didn't want to make it too big and have it not fit within the curves. My solution? To put it on the floor and take a picture of it!

Of course after I did that I needed to load the picture into MTC and do a trace. I didn't need a perfect clean cut image, just the basic shape so I could enlarge it to the same size as the board and then I could find out what size I needed to do the quote. Of course me being me I did end up cleaning up the edges a bit just because I could stand all the jagged edges from the black lines. As you can see in the picture all the lines are not clean and neat though so I didn't go overboard *okie is proud of herself for not wasting hours making clean edges on something that wouldn't be cut*. I was able to measure the original and then set the size on my image making it easier to set the size of my quote.

Since the quote ended up being more than 12 inches wide I had to split the quote in two so I could cut it. In order to get it placed correctly for application I put it back on the mat after weeding so I could line it up how I had originally designed it. 

I have heard a lot of negative about the Cricut vinyl but I have to say for this project it really worked out great. I did notice that it is a bit more crisp than the Oracle vinyl which makes it more fragile during the weeding process and one of my letters did tear a bit. Had I been doing this for someone else I would have recut the letter but since it was just for me I used it anyway and you really can't tell where it tore now that it is up on the wall. I certainly wouldn't use this vinyl for permanent applications but for wall quotes or items like a chalkboard I think it is fine since it will be easy to remove if I decide to put something different on my chalkboard at a later time.

I opted to use the paper transfer tape instead of the clear transfer tape I usually use since it is less tacky and I knew it would release from the chalkboard easier. I worked in sections from bottom to top, going horizontal to apply the transfer tape to the vinyl, over lapping the transfer tape on each layer. 

I was worried at first about being able to see through the paper transfer tape and getting the quote lined up correctly but since the background was red it was really easy to see and get it down okay.

Since the Cricut Vinyl is not as tacky as the Orcale or Avery vinyl I am use to working with I used a brayer to help the vinyl adhere to the board better.  For removal I just worked backwards, from top to bottom to remove the tape. This method allowed me to save some of the transfer tape for later use. I didn't get to save it all because I was not paying attention and some of the taped curled and stuck to itself and I didn't feel like fighting it to straighten it out. 

And here is the finished project! I know there are probably some great quotes out there but since this was going in my kitchen and this is pretty much how I feel about kitchens I thought it was perfect! When I showed it to my daughter she cracked up laughing and I think she probably agreed with it.

I do like the idea of the Cricut vinyl being less tacky and leaving me the option to do something else with the board later on. I have to admit it wasn't as horrid as I thought it would be and I think it works great for some applications such as what I mentioned earlier. I will have to try something more detailed later on and see how it works as this was large and there were no problems cutting or weeding the vinyl. 

I have several colors of the Cricut vinyl and I might have to try some wall quotes to see how well it works for applying to walls or doors. 

Grinch Project - Repost

This was a project I made last year when I was reviewing the Cricut Explore while using vinyl.

I actually used the finished project for a dirty Santa gift at school and the girl who ended up with it loved it. The following post was the original post and has the download file available at the bottom of the post. 

Since Christmas is coming up I thought it was worth reposting now in case anyone missed getting this file last year. 

ORIGINAL GRINCH POST:

So last night I was going to work with some vinyl on the Explore for my next review and wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I looked through my files and started playing with a Grinch file and a quote file I had and came up with a new file. I posted it in the Design Space Facebook group to see if it could be read and my friend Jackie pointed out that one word was hard to read so I went back and edited the file and it did work a lot better! THANKS JACKIE!

A few people said they would pay for the file and I had to giggle to myself because obviously I guess there are a lot of folks out there that don't know I very, very, very rarely charge for files I make! Anyway I thought about charging but then quickly decided to make this file free as my Christmas gift to my readers! So many of you guys and gals have been with me for over the years and have shown such loyalty even when I was on my hiatus from crafting that I thought I should show my appreciation! You really have no idea how much it means to me to have people stick with me even when I was gone for months and months!

I did import the SVG file into Design Space, it imported just fine so it should be ready to use once you download the file and then upload into the program and of course as always I have the MTC file available as well.

So to all of you MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ME TO YOU! And thank you so much for always being there to read all my dribble even when I have no files or projects to offer.

When It Rains...Wall Quote

I'm not sure why my friend Amy has me make wall quotes for her when she has a machine and could cut it herself *okie wonders if Amy is just lazy about weeding*, but anyway she told me the other day she was needed a new quote to go with a picture. She sent me a quote and then told me what size she wanted.

I'm sure it will look a lot better on the wall when applied permanently but of course I couldn't do that for the picture since I have to send it to Amy. I really can't remember what size it is set to in the file you can download and since this is something people would want to re-size for their own use it doesn't really matter. This particular one is approximately 24 inches wide. I had to cut it in two pieces since the height was too tall for a 12" mat. 

I had shared the design on Facebook for Amy's approval and a few people asked about the file so thought I would make it easy and just have it available here instead of having to email it to people. 

Once again if you download please at least leave a comment so I know my files are used. Thanks! 

Birthday Banner - My Friend Nancy

So yesterday I posted the masculine banner and today I'm posting a more feminine birthday banner, the one I made for my friend Nancy. We had a get together for her birthday at a mutual friends house, who makes like the worlds best fajita's by the way, and I made a banner with her favorite colors of maroon and teal. Well I added a little silver and cream to the mix as well.

First off let me say it is very difficult to get good pictures of a banner because it is so dang long, so please bear with me having the banner in 3 pictures. 

The flags of the banner are cut out of heavy cardstock and the letters are done in vinyl. I also cut some flourish designs to add on the flags that the flowers are on. I had some sheer ribbon that I used for the bows at the ends of the banner. 

I pulled out some of my precious Petaloo flowers to add for decoration and while I hate using those flowers I figured Nancy was worth the sacrifice.  Big brads were used on a few of the flowers and then brads with crystal centers were used for the others.   

I didn't laminate Nancy's banner because I wanted to sew it together with ribbon and wasn't sure how my Janome Sew Mini would do with sewing through the lamination. Not long after it was hung up I was wishing I had laminated it because the air was very humid and the paper started curling. I might try a small piece of paper laminated through the sewing machine just to see if it will work so I will know for future references and if it does then there will likely be no end to my creating banners that can be stored and reused! 

Birthday Banner - For a Guy

While I haven't been posting in the last few months that doesn't mean I haven't been crafting....okay I've been crafting very, very, very little *okie hangs head in shame* but on a positive note my stamps are all organized! So what do y'all think of my stamp set up now?

Oh yes this post is about a birthday banner for a man *okie is quite amazed at how fast squirrels tend to distract her*! I've made two in the last month or so and while they were both banners they were quite different.

Today I want to share the one I made for my friend Eric. A few of us who hang out at happy hour *okie suddenly realizes she probably needs to post about that as well and thinks  there is a lot she hasn't shared and wonders how long it will take to catch everyone up with the going on's in okie's life* decided to surprise our friend Eric for his birthday and my task was to make a banner and a cake. 

I used 8.5 x 11 kraft carstock for the base of the banner and was able to fit two flags per sheet. I wondered what I wanted to use for the lettering since I really didn't want to waste paper on something that might be thrown away and I came up with using vinyl and in colors I have quite a bit of. This also made it easier for me to laminate the flags since I wanted to try out the laminator a friend sent me.

Since happy hour consists of $1 beers I thought it was appropriate to use beer mug images on the banner. Here you can see the images a little better. It was easy to layer the mug images and the letters. 

You can also see where I laminated the pieces which I am glad I did since Eric said he was going to keep the banner and hang it in his man cave. I trimmed around the pieces with my guillotine cutter so that went pretty fast. 

When I was in 8th grade my mom sent me to cake decorating classes at the local Junior college and I completed all the courses they had available and I then earned extra money decorating cakes and since I lived in a rural area I had a pretty steady income of extra money for a 13 year old. My Aunt Betty and her family moved to Oklahoma when I was 15 and she too could decorate cakes and she taught me how to make a bikini cake using heart shaped pans and baking some batter in mugs that have a fairly round bottom. 

For Eric I decided a bikini cake was the way to go! I was a bit disappointed in it because it should have been smoother but I have concluded that my little Hamilton Beach hand mixer is no match for making decent decorator buttercream icing. While I was not pleased with the results I will say the cake was a bit hit anyway! 

So now y'all can see that I'm a jack of all trades, or is that a jackess? Not to be confused with a jackass of course!

Cricut Explore Review 6 - Glitter Vinyl and Design File Available

As we all know by now I am never easy on my reviews and this one is no different. I had found some small ceramic dish things at my local bargain store for a dime, I think they might have suppose to been used for coasters or something. When I saw them I grabbed all 14 of them and even though I didn't know what I was going to do with them I figured for $1.40 I couldn't go wrong. I posted in my Facebook group Old Cricut Community about what should I do with them and a couple of members suggested making Ring Catchers that sit next to the sink and that inspired me to do a glitter vinyl review of the Explore.

The flat inside diameter of the dish is only about 2.5" and I had to think of what might look good as a design. I wanted something clever and different than just monograms so I could make some to have on hand and not be so personal. During a Google search I found the "When I said 'I Do' I didn't mean the dishes" and thought it was perfect for the wording. During my search for images of rings I came across the silhouette that I used. I know it looks big in the picture but you will believe how small it is in the next picture.

And before anyone asks, yes I did the design in Make The Cut and then exported to an SVG to upload in Cricut Design Space *okie still has no intentions of learning all the ins and outs of CDS since she is quite proficient in Make The Cut*.

I know different types of vinyl cut differently and I wanted to test how delicate glitter vinyl could be cut so I opted to use it for the silhouette of the hands.  I was on the phone with my friend Carmen when I was cutting the glitter vinyl and I said a few cuss words and then said "I hate this damn machine!" and she asked if it messed up on me. I told her "NO! It cut those tiny little lines perfectly!". Carmen said I should be glad since I wanted it to cut good and I told her "Yeah but I'm trying to find something it can't cut!".

When I told her I needed something to show how fine the lines where and that I had nothing to compare it to she asked if the lines were as small as a tick mark on a ruler. I quickly grabbed my metal ruler and told her "yep, pretty much!" and we concluded that would be perfect for showing the true size of some of the line. If you click on the picture and view it larger you can see the detail a lot better. 

MY HONEST OPINION: The Explore went beyond any machine I have ever seen used or tried in cutting the most intricate and delicate design using glitter vinyl.

If you would like to use this design you can download the appropriate file below:

Glass Cutting Board Designs

I remember when I first got my Cricut and I was so hungry for cutting different things and back then the only way to make your own was to weld shapes together. We weren't able to trace images and designing was tedious and time consuming work in those days. I would spend hours manipulating shapes to get new designs and would feel a since of accomplishment every time there was something new to cut. Now days there are many programs that help us with this and of course I still am totally in love with Make The Cut and prefer it over any program that I have tried. Right now they have the program on SALE for $58.36 and personally I think it is worth every penny and then some. The great part is that anytime there is an update you are not charged for a new version like with SCAL and other programs.

One of the most fabulous things about MTC right now is the ability to design and export your design into different file types, the one most popular is the SVG format which can be used with the Cricut Explore. To be honest I have only used one image out of their library and when I was asked to do my review I informed Provocraft that I didn't have any cartridges but I had plenty *okie thinks probably thousands* of files I can use in SVG format and import into their Design Space program.

Last year I spent quite a bit of time tracing images for glass cutting boards. My cousin and I had decided we wanted to make a few and we wanted plenty of designs.

Fast forward to this year and there are a lot of new people to the world of cutting machines. I know in the Design Space Facebook group people are going crazy about the little cutting boards from Dollar Tree and are looking for designs. I should have thought about posting these earlier but it just dawned on me that someone might want to use some of these so I am making the file available. Of course you will have to resize for your own use but each design is made to fit on either the round or square cutting board.

DOWNLOAD FILE: