I love my uncle onesie

I have been wanting to try cutting fabric with the Cricut/cuttlebug for awhile now. But, it's one of those things, I never got around to doing. I usually have to have an actual reason to make something to try a new technique. Well, when a friend mentioned that her brother couldn't find anything to buy his niece that says "I love my uncle", I figured, what better time than now.

This project turned out to be much trickier than I thought. Mostly because cutting letters is too small with the Cricut. I recommend only using the Cricut to cut large/bold items that don't have a lot of curves to them. If someone else has tried this and can recommend a better setting, please let me know! It also could have been the fabric I was using. I plan on trying different fabrics/shapes to get a better idea of what works and what doesn't.

So, I ended up instead using my Cuttlebug. I have a Sizzix alphabet set and the size just happened to be perfect for a onesie. I still cut the heart out with my Cricut though. Did you know you can use Sizzix dies in the Cuttlebug? No need for multiple machines and you have more variety. :)

I used a polka dot fabric that way it was mostly all pink, but had hints of brown and green in it.

Here's a close up of the lettering.

I think it turned out super cute and I hope that she loves it. I used wonder under to adhere the cuts. One thing that I noticed though, don't use the wonder under on extra fabric if you don't plan on using it anytime soon. It loses it's stickiness and won't be able to be adhered to fabric later.

Photo holders round 2

Here's another set of photo holders I made the other day. I used the same brand of paper, just different patterns. You will probably see a lot of these eventually, because they are so easy to do and I have a ton of them!

I made these for 2 sisters that have birthdays a week apart. Since they live together, I wanted them to match, but not be exact, so I just used different embellishments on both of them.

Pic from the side. I used buttons and rubons on the top.

And I gave them the birthday cards I made yesterday with the Bombshell stamps. You can't tell much, but one has brown hair and one has red hair just like the sisters. Rather than put the cards in an envelope like I usually would, I just put them in the place where the photo would normally be and I gave it like that, no wrapping or anything. I think I just loved the cards too much to cover them. LOL

So, really simple and inexpensive gifts to give to someone. Especially, if you are like me and just like to bring gifts for people.
I bought the photo cubes at Oriental Trading if anyone is looking for them.

SCAL + Bombshell

I mentioned the SCAL and Bombshell stamps last month. Well, after some playing around with it, I finally cut some clothes to put on my stamps! I love this idea and I will get soo much more use out of the Bombshell Angel set now than I ever would have thought when I bought it. There are more outfits that you can cut, skirts, shorts, pants, etc and with all the different paper, the outfits options are endless!

I made 2 almost identical cards with it today. The dresses are slightly different, but I cut them both so figured, I'd make it easy and make 2 cards at once.

I used the same paper as my project yesterday, We are Memory Keepers "Tiffany" for the dress and the mat on the cards. I had some random polka dot ribbon that was just barely enough to use on both.

I finally remembered to actually use my punches for once! I used the Fiskers threading water punch on one and the other is a free set I got during Stampin Up's Sale-a-bration. The "Happy Birthday" is from Stampin Up "Well Scripted".

I added some buttons in the centers of the flowers on the paper since the area looked a little too bare. I kinda threw these together quickly because I just wanted to show off the awesome outfits.

Here's a link to where to get the digital download for the Bombshell outfits. http://www.bombshellstamps.com/catalog/item/7118197/7818930.htm You also will need to buy the "Bombshell Angel" stamp set so that you have something to put the outfits on. You will LOVE the stamps from there. They are seriously my favorites ever!

If you don't have SCAL, and want to buy it, go to the link I listed in my blog and use the promo code I listed. Should make it only $54. http://sweetteetle.blogspot.com/2010/03/scal-sure-cuts-lot.html That's the link to the post with the info for you.

Photo holders

Sorry it's been so long since I've put anything new up! Here's a fairly quick and easy project I did. I bought some 3 x 3 photo holders awhile back and they are so easy to cover with cute paper and embellish. I have probably 30 of them just waiting to be decorated.

I've made a couple sets in the past, which I'll post pics of at the bottom, but here's my most recent set.

I used papers from a We R Memory Keepers paper stack called "Tiffany". The embellishments and rubons are from my stash. The ribbon, I just bought on clearance from Stampin Up in a set. I love the bunched together look of the ribbon.

 Picture of the other sides/back.

And here's a few other examples I've made.

Yep, if you look closely, that's me as a baby! :)

These are my favorite types of crafts to make because they are small and squared off so they are so easy to cover without having to do too much extra cutting with a craft knife. And you can easily personalize them for anyone. You can never have to many photo holders IMO. I have another 2 that I'll post in a few days that I'm giving as gifts. I'll just put their cards in the photo part.

New projects soon

I promise I will have some new stuff up soon. As I mentioned in a post earlier, my husband was home on leave for the last month. Since he was only home for a month, we had a ton of stuff to do and I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible, so I really haven't spent ANY time in my craft room. He left again Wednesday night :( But that means, I will have more time to craft to get my mind off him being gone.

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. I'll try to make up for it with a bunch of posts in the next few weeks. :)

Hope you are all having fun and being creative!!

Bombshell art

For those that don't know, once a week, I take a workout class that is the most fun and exciting class ever. It's called Pole~ah~tease. It's a sensual pole class that combines yoga, pole, dance, etc. I look forward to it each week and the class has made me so much more confident than I could ever have imagined. I know people are probably thinking "um, pole, like stripper" but it's not really like that at all. I took the first level last year thinking oh this will be fun and I'll do it for the 6 weeks and that's that. But it was so awesome, that I kept signing up for the next level. I'm now starting level 6 next week!

Ok so you are probably wondering what this has to do with crafts. Well our level 5 graduation was on Thursday. I've had the same teacher since level 2 and she's been completely awesome and makes everyone feel like they can do anything and that they look amazing. So, I decided to make her a mini gift for graduation so I could give something back to her for all that she's done for us.

Of course, this meant I HAD to use my Bombshell stamps. I mean, how can you not. My teacher is a bombshell and deserves only the hottest stamp ever. I decided to frame a layout that I made using the stamp as the main focus.

Here's a cull picture of the completed project. I love how it turned out. I used retired Stampin Up cardstock that I found on ebay. I'd been trying to find the cherry paper from them and so glad I finally got it.

Here's a closeup of the stamp. It's the "Bombshell Angel" stamp. I will probably be using this set a lot soon since there is a SCAL option for the cricut to make different outfits. The bombshell wording is also from the set. I used my Stampin write markers to do the coloring (after using Staz On ink for the outline). I of course added some stickles to do the outfit and hair flower. Then I just sponged on some chocolate chip and I think real rust all around the image.

Another closeup with the working. Express MiE (putting the I back in me:)) is the name of the fitness studio I take the classes at. They have so many different fun classes that make working out enjoyable. I cut the letters out using my Cricut and then stickled all over them. I had to use mono adhesive since the glitter made it too thick for the zig 2 way glue. The "Be yourself...everyone else is taken" is from my favorite "Close to my Heart" stamp set.

I'll also point out the way I fixed a mistake. ha ha That red strip at the bottom, well it wasn't going to be there. But I smudged ink there on accident. So I quickly cut a trim piece of the cardstock from the top and adhered it over the smudge. That's why I like crafts, you can easily cover your mistakes. And, that's also why I decided to put the bow on the ribbon. It was going to just be a strip of ribbon, but the stamp made a mark and I covered it up with the bow.

Ok finally, here's the card I made her. I didn't want to use the same stamp set since I thought that would be too matchy matchy so instead I just pulled out the polka dots and a similar ribbon.

The stamp is Stampin Up Medallion. I think this was my very first SU purchase. I love it, but it is VERY hard to ink up all the way since it's so large. I recommend turning it over and putting the ink over the top rather than pressing it on the ink pad. That way you can see where you miss. I used a bronze embossing powder and heat embossed the medallion.

Hope you enjoy! And if you have any questions, just ask. Also, if any of you are in the Phoenix area and want to find out where to take some super fun workout classes, let me know and I can get you all the info.