you like me...100 followers on Pinterest !

follow me on Pinterest  GinaDecor

I was so excited to find 100 followers of my Pinterest boards. I am up to 2809 pins on my 57 boards. I could do some thinning out but sometimes find pins that belong in multiple categories.  Ever find something amazing and then hesitate...didn't I already pin this?....oh what the heck and pin it again.  So far there are no pinning police.  One pet peeve is when a Facebook friend shares Every Time she pins something.  hello...uncheck that little facebook box.  But if it really is knock me over with a feather as I drop dead cuz it's that amazing....then please proceed with that Facebook share.

Pinterest wish......I wish there was a rearrange button inside the individual boards so I could organize them. And I wish there was a quick drag and drop when I accidentally plop that cupcake on my Puppy Love board. 

Happy Pinning! 

Lettering Delights is celebrating 20,000 fans on their Facebook page by giving away 20 freebies. Limited time.
Go to their Facebook page and scroll through to find all the freebies or go to this page 
Lettering Delights http://ldsolutions.blogspot.com/2012/03/if-you-havent-noticed-weve-been.html       
  to see them listed in one place and don't forget every Friday they have giveaways for their Facebook friends.  
What is nice is if you use Make The Cut you don't have to download them to your PC, they are available when you long in to MTC.  Easy - Peasy !

I Got My Cameo !

Silhouette Cameo

 Die Cutting Machine

     I almost kissed my UPS man Thursday when he delivered my Cameo. Poor guy was already haggard looking from driving his big brown truck against 40 mph wind gusts. He said it sounded like the roof was going to peel off!  At least we avoided the tornadoes that hit all around us. My prayers are with the victims.

     My Cameo was ordered early February from Oh My Crafts, taking advantage of their 25% off sale and free shipping. I had many questions and their customer service gal was awesome. Frankly I was really torn between the Cameo or the Eclips from Sizzix.  I was told upfront that they were ordering these machines in and the shipping date would be mid- Feb. I received numerous emails from OMC letting me know the expected ship date. When the blizzard affected my delivery I received another email, an apology, and a $5. gift card for my inconvenience. (It was only a week delay all together) Now that is how you do business!

While waiting for my Cameo, I downloaded the Silhouette Studio software from the Silhouette site and began familiarizing myself with the features.  I even downloaded the weekly free designs and started my wish list.  The software shouldn't be difficult to maneuver since I have been using Sure Cuts A Lot and Mate The Cut programs with my old die cutting machine. ( The one that no longer plays well with others).  Since I am so familiar with these two programs I don't know if I will use Studio very often, but we will see.  It was a quick -and free- upgrade to have the specific drivers needed to use SCAL and MTC with my new Cameo.

I am so excited!!!  Unfortunately my online college classes don't allow much time for playing this weekend. But I will be sure to post my cuttings.

I also ordered some vinyl from Oh My Crafts since they were practically giving it away ! It is not the heavy duty dishwasher and car wash resistant vinyl like what I get from H&H. It is Oracal Exhibition 631 the same stuff you buy from Provo Craft from what I understand. I am anxious to do some wording using the Cameo where I won't be limited to 12 or 24 inch lengths. Again I will let you know how that works out. 

Have a great weekend, and please remember the tornado victims in your prayers!

Life is so precious, and things can change so quickly here in the Midwest.

Sympathy Card

Sympathy Card

Finished size 6x6

Base Cardstock Dark Brown- DCWV Mi Casa

Patterned Papers (lavender and floral ) DCWV Latte 8x8 stack

script stamped on parchment -stamp Hero Arts- Old French Writing

Ink  K & Company Sera Fera copper

"Thinking of You" - Hero Arts clear  black Memento Ink

Die cut custom designed using Sure Cuts A Lot software - (inspired by Spellbinder)

oval cut with Spellbinder small oval die cut using Sizzix Big Kick 

misc lavender ribbon - Michaels Basics

adhesive   ATG by Scotch 

inside sentiment   Someone Remembers

                           Someone Cares

                           Your Name is Whispered

                            In Someone's Prayers

font Amperzand   printed on ecru parchment paper  scored using Martha Stewart Score Board 

envelope made by cutting a 10 x 10 square    scoring and folding pattern to interior

notching at 5 " points    directions found on SplitCoast Stampers forum 

inside of card

Valentine Projects

Love Me Do SVG kit 

SVGcuts Valentine Box collection

Watch the video as Mary shows you how easy these go together.  I love the little box. I think it would be cute as a magnetized frame for the refrigerator.  Kids love to see their photos displayed around the house.


    I should be receiving my new Silhouette Cameo next week and am anxious to play with some of my SVGs, comparing them to the cuts from my Expression.  I have enjoyed my Expression, and would have stayed with it if not for the PC lawsuit against Sure Cuts A Lot software.  I am always afraid I will do an upgrade or something and lose my ability to cut with SCAL2.  My Expression was recently upgraded to version 2.43, so I could play with Cricut Craft Room (not impressed). And I am running SCAL2 version 2.044 and also use  Make the Cut version 4.0.4. I really like using MTC when using the Lettering Delights library. They are so easy to view!

Make the Cut 4.0.4 partial work space snip showing Lettering Delights Library

Keep in mind there are trial versions of both software programs available from their sites.  They are no longer compatible with Cricut cutters due to Provo Craft actions, unless purchased prior to PC lawsuits last year.  Many are still operating these programs because they have the previous versions which contained the necessary drivers.  More information can be obtained from the forums at  Make the Cut or Craftedge for Sure Cuts a Lot. My links are located on the right sidebar under affiliates.

Staying Organized !

I thought I had lost this image.  It used to be the screen saver on my monitor...2 computers ago.  This looks just like my Sugar.  Is it real or digitized ? I don't know but it is too stinking cute.  I think I found it when Google-ing Bichon images, but can't seem to find it again.  I thought it interesting that it was taken on the one year anniversary of 9/11. A room full of Bichons would be therapeutic.

                               So, how many puppies can you find. ?

There is a lesson here.  Organize your digital files.

I have my photos filed like this

Digital Photos

       2010
        2011
       2012
          Family
          Dogs
          Friends
          Vacations
          Scouts
          Sports
           Holidays
           Nature
                 Landscapes
                  Flowers
                   Birds
                  Trees
                   Macro
                    Sky

My SVG collection is somewhat disorganized. I started filing by object

Animals
Children
Frames
Holiday
     Christmas
     Halloween
     Valentines Day
Words or Phrases


Then I started filing by source

SVGcuts
Penny Duncan
Paulo
Lettering Delights

So this will be reorganized right after I redo my pantry, organize my sock drawer, organize under the kitchen sink,  oh yeah and write a paper for my Community Nursing class. (due this weekend).
Better go !






                 

Which Vinyl Do I Use ?

Some time back Clever Someday posted a great schematic to help a crafter determine which vinyl is appropriate for their specific application.  I have referred to this often and find it quite helpful.  This is not my work but a reposting from Clever Someday's blog where you will find a lot of valuable information.

Pinterest has Occupied My Free Time!

    Did you miss me?
 I discovered Pinterest and time just slipped away!
  Are you Pinning?
 Have you heard about it?
 Been trying to check it out and find you are not permitted?








   Here is what you are missing.  Imagine the internet is a stack of magazines. You have a pair of scissors. Cut out that recipe, cute hairstyle, decorating inspiration or anything else that makes you think ooooh !  Now place these clips onto your "boards". You create however many you like, their topic, their arrangement.  Now here comes the fun part...you glimpse other peoples boards. See something you like? Hit the like button. Or better yet "repin" it onto your board. Come up with new categories and give them fresh names.  Here is the best part, each Pin is an instant link to the original website, taking you to the recipe, blog site, originator of that image.    Follow your friends, or strangers with similar interest.  Before you know it you have beautiful boards and countless people are following you, to see what you will pin next.  It is highly addicting.  And you don't have to restrict yourself to repinning what others have pinned. Go to your favorite blog site, you may find a "follow me on Pinterest" tab, and you add them to your following list.  Right away you may want to add a Pin It button to the marquee of your browser ( Pinterest gives you the step by step)  then anytime something tugs at your heartstrings you are ready to pin it.
Soon you may have a following of your own.  So many inspiring, creative people out there sharing ideas, in one place. Pinterest.  Look to see which of your friends are pinning, ask them for an invite ( you can just request permission from P and wait for approval) and see what everyone is pinning about.

you are welcome to browse my boards http://pinterest.com/ginadecor/
It is addicting, you have been warned !


Follow Me !

What Is SVG Cuts?

This is the skinny on SVG Cuts. The site that offers tons of free SVG files plus some great projects that are very economical.  Mary has numerous "watch me make this" videos to view before buying kits.  I browse their site way too frequently!!!

 Happy Fall Y'all !

Today I found some Fabulous fall Subway art at Today's Fabulous Find http://todaysfabulousfinds.blogspot.com/2011/09/fall-subway-art-prints.html. Janet has these as well as other seasonal Subway Art posters she has created for free download at her site and offers them in several colors. Thank you Janet!  Someone new to swing by and visit with! I am going to reproduce mine in vinyl on a store bought frame then put some subtle fall paper inside the frame. I suppose I could also put leaves in the frame. Hmmm....

                                                                 ..................Does anyone else seem to spend more time admiring other peoples creativity and not enough time  getting busy utilizing their own creativity? I am so guilty.  I spend hours looking through the idea galleries at SVGcuts or My Vinyl Designer or Lettering Delights to name a few. And then I have my daily blog list I go through with my coffee several times a week. Then I read the forums at Make the Cuts or Craftedge for Sure Cuts A lot. or Smart Buy Gal.  I learn so much ! But it does take away from my design time.

   This weekend I bought my first set of Letraset Promarkers. (Joann's with 50% off coupon). This set 1 has 12 basic colors and the blender pen. These are the permanent twin-tip alcohol based markers. Perhaps similar to Copics, but not refillable. But $15 for the set.  I stamped some fall images. Googled YouTube Promaster tutorials and practiced while watching others shading and blending with these great markers.  I discovered I need better cardstock to avoid bleed through, and probably order some Gina K  pure luxury as recommended by others.

   Next I got out my Koh-I Noor colored pencils and then blended using my new Promarker blender...Awesome! ( a tip from Gina K )  While in the past I have used odorless mineral spirits (OMS) or baby oil with Q-tip "stubs" the blender pen was effortless and I had such control without leaving a "wet spot" from the OMS.  I promise to post as I finish my images. Keep in mind I was practicing a new technique.

   Does this redeem me from too much lurking and not enough finishing my own projects? no. But tomorrow is another day. I gotta get busy !   

Enjoying the Summer

Brandon diving in ! 

Is everyone enjoying the summer ?  We added a new pool to the back yard, yeah ! Although it was a huge construction project requiring long hours especially for my sweet husband, the pool is now finished and we have been enjoying it almost daily ! Did I tell you I cut vinyl geckos with my Cricut and decorated the pool liner! Too stinking cute! And it brings attention to the drop off! I will post a picture next week!

    I have not put much time into my crafting. I worked with a client with SCAL2 lessons. She and I worked on 30+ multi-layer vinyl cuts on tumblers for her daughters cheer-leading and dance teams. This was an ambitious project for someone new to SCAL and new to vinyl but the results were AMAZING.  Way to go Sheri! I am available for private or group lessons for  SCAL2  and will teach basic  Make the Cuts if anyone is interested. ( I  less familiar with MTC but using it more lately)  My craft room or yours. I am still getting by with the Cricut Expression but am looking into a third party friendly new cutting machine down the road.
    Has anyone been to SVG.cuts blog lately?  Mary has wonderful detailed step by step tutorial videos ! I wish she was my neighbor! I would certainly invite her and Leo to the pool in exchange for some great paper magic tips! ( 3D flowers, pumpkins, pie boxes, lever cards... all too cute)
    Lettering Delights and Make the Cuts have a wonderful new relationship! And if you have the new MTC version 3 your Lettering Delights library is TA DA  right there, easy to utilize. Of course to use this with the Cricut you must keep the PCCPlugin.dll from your previous MTC version before MTC and Provo-Craft went through the ugly divorce ( lawsuit).

Once fall gets here I will catch up on my card making.  Have a  Happy Labor Day enjoying time with family and friends! Stay cool!

                                           

Summer Flowers through my Camera Lens

Tumblin' over Tumblers

   I stayed up all night finishing these before leaving for our vacation. I personalized 10 tumblers and 8 beer mugs. But they turned out just as I had hoped. And the girls got to use their tumblers at the lake.  The photos are not my best, but was taken just before handing them out!  H & H vinyl cut like a dream. I mixed some Lettering Delights floral SVGs along with a floral font, Saru's Flower Ding  and SCAL2 basic shape flower.  There were too many floral patterns to choose from!

cups with printed dots from Gordmans
These didn't need much more that flower w initial but I liked the spiral added

Cups from Gordmans
The white daisy design really popped on the dark blue tumblers!

Walmart Tumbler

Zebra print started with Denise's from Paper Pastime then made a few changes. The reverse has the flip flops for my Sis in law who spends the summer in her flip flops ( she must own 20+) including zebra!

Favorite Fonts Screen Shot

Someone said they had a difficult seeing my fonts previously displayed so here is a screen shot "Snip". Hope this works better. I am still learning this HTML jazz !  

 

Favorite Fonts for Papercrafting

I put together a list of my favorite fonts to use for die cutting ( using SCAL2), or just to print and cut for sentiments. I hope I can post it in the font depicted. I am giving a letter sampling as well. A size 16 is not consistently the same size as you can see. Font names are underlined. You can google for these, they were all free !  I have probably close to 1000 fonts but these are my favs.  Add your in comments please.

Favorite Fonts  bold   size 16   A B C D F G H J L M P R S T & 

                                 

aka Dora       A B C  D F  G H J L M  P R 

Amperzand      A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S  

ArtScript               A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S  

Algerian      A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S  

Balzac     A  B  C  D F  G  H  J L M  P R  S  

Baskerville       A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S  

Beautiful                 A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S  

Belshaw     A B C D F G H J L M P R S 

Blach Chancery     A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R

Balkeno      A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S     

    

Ballpark      A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S 

Boingo        A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S  T 

Cac Champagne    A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S  T  

Caslon Becker 540 Swash A  B C D F G H  J L M  P R  S

  

Curlz  MT   A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S  T

Caslon Initials ABCDFGHR     

CoffeeMilkCrazy     A B C D  F G  H J L M P R S T 

Chocolate Box A B C D  F G  H J L M P R S T  


Crazy Harold   A B C D F G H J L MP R S T 

Creampuff     A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S 

Duvall A B C D F G H J L M P R S T 

Edwardian Medium LET              A B C D  F G  H J L M P R S T 

Fatso      A B C D F G H J L M  P R S T

FontLeroy Brown    A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S  T  

 Geselle                        A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S  T  

Good Vibrations  A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S 

Harrington   A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S  T 

Japan   A B C D  F G  H J L M P R S T 

LD Filigree  A B C D  F G  H J L M P R S T 

       

Nuptial              A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S  T  

Peach Sundress  A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S  T

  

Penguin Attack   A  B  C  D  F  G  H  J L M  P R  S  T 

Puritan Swash  ABC DFG HJ LMP R S T 

Lucinda Handwriting  A B C D F G H J L M P R S 

Regal A B D FG H J L M P R S T 

Rage ABCD FG H JLM PRS T

Shardee    A B C D  F G  H J L M P R S T

Water  Street  A B C D  F G  H J L M P R S T

  

Storybook    A B C D  F G  H J L M P R S T  

This is Embarassing

I multi task. But I don't stay focused on just one project at a time. I see a birthday card, graduation card, and gift for my mother-in-law all "under construction".  This photo is for Creations with Cristine. Yep, it's embarrassing.

Quick Birthday Girl Card

Quick and Easy Peasy card for a birthday girl of any age  

  I only had half an hour to devote to a couple of birthday cards. One for now one for later.   I grabbed my old time favorite Storybook cartridge and used the birthday girl phrase. I  placed this  on top of  the Accent Blackout cut. I used Design Studio to get proper sizing. I then grabbed my Marvy floral punch and EK Success leaf punch, my We R Memory Keepers Big Bite hole punch and ta da done.  DCWV Summer and Citrus cardstock made this June Birthday card pop. The bit of green use on the leaf helped to "ground" it a bit.  I couldn't decide if I liked the flowers centered or diagonal, so I made one of each. I use 5 flowers and curl or bend them for dimension. 

Tip - It only takes a couple on minutes longer to make 2 cards while you have all the supplies out. When coming up with a new card layout one may be your practice card but plenty good enough to give !

"Red Bra Chic" 50th Birthday

     Welcome to the RBC ! Red Bra Chics . This ain't no Red Hat Ladies Club! This is for the 50 year old gal with spunk. Started by yours truly prior to turning 50, but just not ready for the Red Hatters. I had to come up with something for myself and friends because 50 seems to be the new 40 for us. Red Bra Chics it is. Wear it, flaunt it, hide it, you are old enough to decide. So we present the new 50 year old with a red bra usually at a party.
So here is the card I made for the newest RBC, my friend Linda.  This is a multi- opening card, with a front opening bra, the cleavage revealing the letters RBC.  The girls Loved It !

Gate Fold 4 x 6
Font   Riesling 

 

Opens to Retro Bats One font lady

Fold up to discover Red Bra from Princess font embossed with Spellbinder Flowers
This is a Gate Fold cut away to hint at "cleavage" 

RBC from Riesling font creates cleavage when shadowed 

Shows the folds and cuts of a 12 x12
verticals scores at 3 & 9
horizontal scores at 4 & 8

I started with a 12 X12 Gray cardstock, scored at intervals shown above. The red bra was cut in half, placed on the gate-fold and then cardstock trimmed to allow "cleavage to show. RBC letters placed just so the R & B tops peak through.( I removed the black s later to spell chic since it made the c look like an o.)
  Cardstock  used was Michaels Recollections and Jeweled Metallics collections.
 Fonts - Caslon Becker 540 Swash and  Riesling. Dingbat Fonts- Retro Bats One and Princess.
 Bling on ladies hat and earrings from Making Memories collection.
ATG and Xyron adhesives, Martha Steward Score-Board. SCAL2
Envelope  miscellanous patterned paper made at 5x7 size to accomodate thickness of folded card.
            Time Consuming : yes   Worth it : Definitely !!!

10 minute Graduation Card

 

   Yes, I knew about this graduation party for weeks. When did I make the card? Ten minutes before I needed to get in the shower. Which means:
No time to search for unique color combinations, grab something out of the "scrap" basket.
Grab the "congratulations" word design I made up last year and print it out.
Stamp a cap, forget the embossing. Handwrite 2011, Print inside sentiment with Word
Slice and Dice, no time for embossing plates, Cricut cuts, embellishments, just make it and run.
But I did take a second to scan it for future reference.

Office Max card stock  white & gray
"scrap basket" black and metallic silver cs
Stampendous Grad cap  rubber stamp

Fiskar trimmer, 2" Marvy sq punch
ATG & pop up adhesives

Sentiment      Don't Forget Your Sunglasses!
              You have a Bright Future ahead of you! 

Get It Done !    Yes I whipped out an envelope too A2 using my Martha Scoreboard.

Monogrammed Plate Vinyl

I was so busy finishing the plate for a wedding gift I neglected to get a photo taken.

I used the same plate I had used for Christmas presents, but personalized it with the bride and grooms names.

I used the Fontleroy-Brown font, Separated the W using SCAL basic shapes and then added the couples first names.  The W was cut using black vinyl, the first names with brown metallic vinyl, both sign vinyl from H&H.

When I separated the W the further apart they were, the more "off" the angles became, To keep them close I cut the first names at about 1 inch. They didn't cut well even at bold so I ungrouped them and shadowed some of the fragile letters like "e".  I wish I had taken a picture !  Next time I will.

Thanks for looking!