The Tornado And My Card

Tonight we are being pelted with rain and tornadoes all around us.  We are very fortunate thus far in that we have only seen rain at my house.  But, all around us, people are losing homes and belongings and lives.  Rain is common in Northwest Florida, and so are some tornadoes during rain storms, but this storm is rated 4 out of 5 as being severe.

So, to help me pass the time and not worry myself to death, I sit here trying to finish this one card.  Are cards really this time consuming?  Do people really appreciate them that much more than a store bought card?  Wow, this is all new for me.  I have always been a crafter and used my cricut for vinyl, etc.  However, not really a card maker.  Now I can see why.

So here it is.  What do you think?

Trouble with my Cricut!

OK, thought I would be a good family member and actually create a list of family members' birthdays and anniversaries.  I started working on cards tonight.  I couldn't even make it through my first one :( without problems.

Look at this:

Apparently, it makes a difference as to what mat you use.  I know, I know...it even tells you what mat to use in the directions.  I guess they tell you that for a reason.  I could not find what I did with my standard grip mat and used the strong grip mat...well, that above is the result.  YUK!!!!

Well, in trying to figure this out while researching others that have had the same issue, I found my standard grip mat.  With finding that, I decided to try it again on that mat..and voila!  It worked!

I will show you the finished card tomorrow.  I'm pooped now!  

Cricut Explore Air!!!!

I recently (finally) upgraded my old Cricut Expression to the new Cricut Explore Air!  I'm so thrilled, I can't even begin to tell you how much I'm enjoying it.  Immediately upon opening, I went to work to learn how to operate and produce the "test" card they walk you through.

 Can I just say, what a cute card?!

Not only was it extremely easy, but so stinkin' cute!  Of course, that wasn't enough for me.  So, I continued to another project that I have been wanting to do for a while.  I am a member to the Lia Griffith website (well worth the money folks) and have fallen in love with so many of her designs.  I recently downloaded the Peony and wanted to produce this, but definitely am not good at fussy cutting.  So, it has been on the back burner for a while.  UNTIL NOW!!!!

I learned how to upload an SVG and even learned that my current Microsoft Edge Browser wasn't a great browser for the Cricut Design Space.  Customer service was even wonderful!  So, I then had to open my Google Chrome browser to find that it worked perfect there when I went to cut, unlike the Microsoft Edge browser.  Anyway, back on topic, the flower is wonderful and in a matter of minutes I had learned how to group portions of the cut together, move some to a new mat and then cut them all as one project.   AMAZING!!!!!  

I'm not great at the petal forming yet, but I think it looks pretty darn good for being my first one!  What do you think?

I was even a good girl and sold my old Cricut Expression today.  Was weird to see it go.  Seems like it has been such a huge part of my family for so long now.  But, it was nice to know it was going to a new Cricut user.  Her Aunt bought it for her to start out on.  Hope she gets as much use from it as I did. 

Anyway, hopefully more Cricut projects to share tomorrow.

DIY Wedding - My Daughter's

For the past two years I have been working on and off on my oldest daughter's wedding.  It turned out absolutely beautiful.  So, I have to share some of my DIY projects with you.

First, I created two backdrops made from PVC pipe.  I found my directions on Pinterest here. I found it so easy to cut the PVC on my husbands Compound Miter Saw.  Trust me women, if I can use it, so can you! 

One backdrop was going to be for the ceremony and the other was for the photo booth.  I found inspiration for the ceremony backdrop from this picture in Pinterest.  I have to be honest, I wasn't as detail oriented as the person who created that amazing piece.  However, mine didn't turn out too bad.

We decided to have the ceremony and the reception in place.  So, the backdrop not only served for the actual ceremony, but then went behind the head table to serve as the backdrop there.  I think it looked great.  Those are large paper flowers in the corners and sheers that I had here at home.



Here is the backdrop during the ceremony and during the reception:

The theme to the wedding was Mardi Gras since it was held on February 6th of this year and Fat Tuesday was on February 9th. 

This was our table views.  I created the lanterns, with the help of The Gentleman Crafter, Jim Hankins.  He designed the pattern for the lantern for me.

On the chargers were individual masks, the napkin and the menu's that I merged into a "Cootie Catcher" or "Fortune Teller" (whatever we called them as kids).  I was inspired by this pin on Pinterest.

Here is my end result.  I created the template in Publisher, I think. 

I also handmade the bouquets.  They were all brooch bouquets.

Here are the guys boutonnieres:

I also added some brooches to the cake knives so that they were tied into the theme:

There were tons more custom decorations. So, I thought I would share just one more.  I created some special glasses for the bride and groom:

I can create custom decorations for any wedding, just contact me via my etsy store or comment below.

Crafter's Window

Centerpieces!

OH MY!   How expensive can these things get?!?  Well, Tiffany would like to have beta fish in her centerpieces.  However, she wants to make sure we have people to adopt them after the reception.  So, that means I need to be prepared for guests to either take home the centerpieces or have something the fish can go home in.

These were some of my original ideas:

 



I originally wanted a tall vase with the flower arrangement on top.  However, I know nothing about fish.  Apparently, they have to have air to breathe.  So, arrangement on top won't work as the poor fishy's won't have any air.  So, off to find something else.  As you know, your centerpieces either need to be low or tall,  no in between!

I love this look:

 


I think we are going to do the long tables and I think of incorporating all three, I love the flowers around the vases as in the first and last one, but love the look of the symatry going down the table in the secondone.  I am going to get as many votives as I can get, turn them all into faux mercury glass and scatter them all over the tables.  I love the third vase, but they are so expensive for the amount of them that we need.  So, they are out.  I think weare going with the tall cylander vase like the first with greenery inside and the beta fish.  I am going to get the square vases from Dollar Tree and do the faux mercury on them too.  Those will have the small flowers in them.  Think they will be Hydrangeas

Invitations

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but we lived in New Orleans for several years while my husband was stationed there.  We all loved it!  So, Tiff decided she wanted a  New Orleans themed wedding and reception.  I researched many types of wedding invites.  I really love the tri-fold type with pockets on the inside. I am going to have a belly band made of satin ribbon with a fleur de lis slider out of rhinestone. The inside will be the masquerade style invite.  Sort of a combination of the following:

I found someone to get me custom fleur de lis sliders at The Buckle Boutique.  She is awesome to work with and love her stuff.  I have someone else doing my graphics for me, Kerri DeBroux Schueller. Once I get all these things, I can create the tri-fold invite to mail.  I will probably mail these in small boxes (gotta love that postage fee!).

I will keep you posted on their production as well.

Wedding Flowers and Bouquets

Last I left telling you about creating for my daughter's wedding. I have created several samples of things that I want to have at her wedding. I thought I would handle this item by item.  First are flowers and bouquets.

I suggested a brooch bouquet to my daughter and showed her the pic of one I thought was pretty and she loved the idea.  I created a FaceBook page where people could donate to the cause and know we wanted to include special pieces from our family and friends.  I have had a lot of people (both friends and family) that have donated so far and I am making my flowers as I get the pieces.  They are at my office on my desk or I would share a pic of some of them with you (will do at a later time).




Now I need to decide if we are using real flowers, silk flowers or home made flowers for the bouquets.  I have fallen in love with Peonies and would love to have them in the bouquets in a soft blush or white.  Sort of  like this:

I have been testing making peonies out of fabric.  I like it in red, but I tried it in white, but the burning (melting) of the fabric shows up and makes it look dingy.  So, that is still a work in progress.  I created this using the pattern at Martha Stewart for the paper Peonies. However, I thought next I would try to create them with the petals from the Martha site, but put it together by sewing it. I will let you know how that turns out.