January 2017

Oh...my poor, neglected blog.  It's been years since I've given it any attention...life got in the way of crafting.  But...2017 is my year to get back to doing what I love and I'm excited to get back to sharing my little crafting world!

Let's start it off with my first project of the New Year...Mini Houses with Matching Boxes!  I recently moved my crafting space from my dining room into my very own craft room and as I was organizing all my stuff, I realized I have an unhealthy obsession with all things Anna Griffin and all things Tim Holtz...two designers at complete opposite edges of style.  So...I thought I'd challenge myself to come up with a project that embraces both designers and this was the result.

This is my very first project using a Sizzix machine.  My birthday and Christmas are near each other so this year I asked for Amazon gift cards as gifts...as I knew I was finally going to get my first Sizzix (the Vagabond 2) and, the first dies I wanted were the Tim Holtz Village Dies.    

Once I had my mini houses created I knew they needed something else...so, matching boxes was what I came up.  The houses fit inside the boxes so that now I can include a little tea light, and maybe a gift card, and use them as little gifts for family friends.  I used my Cricut to make the boxes and, in Cricut Design Space, welded on a different edge to the box lid to create 4 unique boxes.  To create the bow (also using the Cricut), I used leftover scraps of the same paper that matched each house.

Here's what the house looks like in the box.  The bottom of the box was a little too short (at the maximum size of a 12x12" piece of paper)...the little chimney stuck out too high...so I cut 4 additional rectangles of paper and lined the inside of the box to add the height that I needed.  It also gave extra strength to the box, which was an added benefit.

The little tags say:  Home is where your story begins.  It's from a sign I have in my house.  I used my Cricut to make the tags and also do the writing on the tags...which is a wonderful feature available on the Cricut Explores!

Reindeer Balloons

I wanted a fun way to give money to some of the older kids we give gifts to so I put these balloons together this morning.  I rolled up the money and put it in the balloons before blowing up the brown balloons.  I then used the Photo Props Cricut cartridge to cut the antlers from Kraft paper, and just used circles for the eyes.  I glued on a red pom pom for the nose. 

I made up 5 of these for my nieces and nephews kids and taped them up on the walls, which kept them out of the way...and the kids got to take them as they were leaving.  I probably should've added ears but I ran out of time.

Girl Tag Garland

I made this garland for the tacky gift exchange with my family!  The photos are of me and my 3 older sisters when we were young!  It's not really a tacky gift...it's more of a funny gift.  I think my Mom and my sisters are going to be fighting over this!

The dress is cut from the Children Around the World Cricut cartridge (the Dutch girls dress), the collar and bow are from the French Teddy Bear from Teddy Bear Parade, the hat is from Birthday Bash...it's the same hat on all 4, I just cut off the embellishments on 2 of them.  And, the wings are from the dragonfly on Home Accents (the pretend dress stand is actually the antennae from the dragonfly.

The completed Toy Soldier Army

I turned a hexagon box, from the Pretty Packages Cricut Cartridge, into a drum for my Toy Soldiers.  These were gifts for my co-workers.  The Toy Soldier box contained candy and the Drum held an ornament.

And a friend for the Toy Soldier

I used some pieces from Create a Critter to make a Panda friend for the Toy Soldier.

I really love this free svg file from SVGCUTS. 

Toy Soldier Box uisng Cricut Explore and svgcuts

I just opened and set up my Cricut Explore last night and this is the first project I've made.  It's a Toy Soldier box using the FREE SVG file from SVGCUTS.  I'm so pleased with how easy it was to upload the SVG file through Design Space and how easy it was to put the box together.  I'm a new fan of SVGCUTS and will be doing some shopping there today!

Every year I make four little gift boxes for the hostess gifts at a progressive dinner for an Old Car Touring Club.  This year I made these little cricut boxes with a winter white old car scene on the front of the box with a splash of color on the top.

 

The old car is from the Wrapped All Up cricut cartridge, the trees are from Christmas, the snowflakes are from TC's December 25th and the rosettes are from Ribbons and Rosettes. 

 

I used Bazzill Kraft paper for the 4" box and then ran the white panels through my cuttlebug to emboss them.  I tied bakers twine around the car just to give it a little color and set it off from the all white scene.