Totes!

Not only is it a pretty fun word to say... but it is also an adorable gift to give people, if you are, oh, say... getting married or something.  :)

I was dying to try out the heat transfer vinyl with my Silhouette and decided to create a small "toten" (hahaha!) of my appreciation for some of the women in my world helping me out with my wedding.

Personally, I think they're pretty great, and the possibilities of what to make with them seem endless.  Final bonus: the heat transfer not only looks great, but was SO easy to use.  And I am guaranteed (according to the woman who sold it to me) that is will not come off through washing and drying.  Yay! 




M.O.H.

 


M.O.B.

 



This is what I thought her tote should say, but she didn't think so, so I added it on the inside!

 



A tote for Nana

 


I couldn't resist making one for myself as well!  They were just too cute!

 

There was one more for my Matron of Honor... but I was a b-a-d blogger and got too excited and mailed it to her before taking a picture!

That's all for tonight.  It was sort of a short but sweet post, but I am working on making 252 (no, I didn't type those numbers in wrong) glasses for my agency's staff appreciation meeting.  I hope they appreciate the glasses!!  :)

It's all about the details

When a co-worker asked me to make her 30 paperweights for her organization I jumped on the idea!  I am so flattered when someone wants to order something, but another bonus was this was my first big order.  It was a little bit of trial and error, and in the end, I realized that I really love double sided adhesive sheets!  :)

Originally, the plan was to go with a bright blue and a green (since those were the groups logo colors).  However, I felt that the colors were too similar.  So it was another trip to the store to get some navy vinyl.  What a difference, right?

The details are so important.  It's what makes your project YOUR project. 

So I made the first 15 and thought I could glue them together.  The texture of the vinyl, plus the component of the glass, plus the fact that it has been about 125 degrees made this part of the project take nearly 3 days to complete due to the fact that the glue wouldn't dry.

We're talking DAYS later... note the glue that spilled over... this also required chipping it off by hand.

The second 15 were SO much easier.  They took me about an hour to do.  4 words people: Double Sided Adhesive Sheets.  They are amazing.  Here is the finished paperweight product.

 From paperweight to coaster, right before your very eyes!

It can also stand up for a more visual aspect since, well, there's probably not a lot of "wind" for a paperweight inside the office...  :)

My co-worker seemed stoked about them, which makes it all worth it!  

The possibilities with these are great though.  I got a monogram paperweight as a graduation gift and I still have it right next to my computer.  Bosses day, secretaries, co-workers... Who wouldn't love something this personalized?

Look Ma! A New Logo!

I might be getting the hang of this blog thing after all... check out the new title of the blog.  That's right, I feel pop-collar cool because I made that!  I also follow blogs now.

(For those of you laughing at me, that's fine... :)  For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about... don't worry about it.)

Have a happy Monday everyone!  Tote pictures to come soon!!

Support... It's not just for bras...

I have the most amazing friends and family.  The comments and compliments have been so great to read.  I feel truly humbled.  In addition, my weekend was really wonderful!!  Friday night I got to make a new family crossword (shown below), which I love!  Also on Friday, I spent more hours than I would like to admit with a friend as we worked to get our non-profit agency a tax exempt code for Wal-Mart.  We needed the code to buy 21 boxes of glasses... and let me tell you, you get some hilarious looks when you walk around Wal-Mart with 14 boxes of glasses in your cart.  Extra bonus: all 21 boxes (which is 252 glasses) are now in my kitchen.  More to come about that at a later date...  :)  I also spent time with two other friends in Lawrence chatting it up and not enjoying my "pickled veggie" salad... but the for the company I would have eaten 20 pickled veggie salads.  Not to mention, I got to give my friend her Christmas present, yeah, no, I'm not early, I'm late.  It was a belated Christmas gift from 2010.  And her response was fantastic!  Making me that much happier with my Silhouette.  (The picture of her etched vase is below.)  Later that day Harley and I went to some friends house for dinner and good conversations, one that might make me feel brave enough to give shopping at Aldi another chance.  And today I spent time working on projects and shoe shopping.  Mix that in with a couple of phone calls with family, and I can honestly say I'm sad the weekend was over, but it was oh so good while it lasted. 

Family Crossword - These are so fun to make.  I hope the family loves it.

Another piece of etched glass... if only you could have seen her face.  She said, "Those are my initials!!!!"  :)

Window Decor

I wanted to title this post "Window Pain" just for the pun of it all, but I couldn't bring myself to do it, because there is nothing painful about using the Silhouette! My sister wanted something to replace the opaque vinyl in the window in her front door. She looked into the cost of getting a custom piece of wrought iron cut for her window and was shocked by the quotes she received. I said to her, "I got this." And my Silhouette did the rest. A little bit of black vinyl later and tada! A custom wrought iron look to her window. I hope she will enjoy it every time she looks at it.

Before....

And after.

Tutu Cute

So I had not thought I would ever jump on the "tutu craze" train that seems to have become so popular, however once I started thinking about an outfit to make for a little girl who is about to have her first birthday, how could I not think tutu??  On my journey I found out a lot about tutu making.  For example, do you know that the "fairy" tutu is longer and more whimsical while the "ballerina" tutu is shorter and sticks straight out?  I followed a very easy tutorial and made this tutu.  I am pretty pumped to see it on!!  Wait until you see the pictures of the full outfit.  It's going to be great.  :)

The Ballerina Tutu

Wedding Gifts Galore

They say that when you become aware of something new that you will notice it all around you.  For me, this is true of weddings.  This weekend I attended a wedding of my sister's best friend.  I made her the etched glass vase that I had posted already.  My mom allowed me to use her gift as a Silhouette opportunity and I helped fancy up a candle for the couple.  Also, a co-worker went to a wedding this weekend and thought of me to make a gift.  (Thanks, Christi!)  And on another wedding note, I started giving out a little gift that I made for some of the people in my wedding.  I have one more to send to someone and then I will share those pictures.  :)  Speaking of giving gifts, I gave my cousin her family crossword and picture frame this weekend, and I think it was a big hit.  Yay! 

I thought I would share some pictures of the gifts made for last weekends weddings and show you how to turn a simple glass vase or a simple plain candle into a personalized gift the couple is sure to love.

It is hard to take a picture of etched glass.  This is the couple's last name monogram and their wedding date is below the monogram.

You can buy this candle and candle stand at any store.  This is my favorite way to make a pure white (or per white, as my mother would say) candle into something great.

I used the same monogram shape as I did on the vase above, I just changed the letter for the couple's last name.  I can remember buying a friend a monogramed candle for her wedding and I spent like $42.00.  Thanks to the Silhouette I think this one came in at around $8.00.

Personalized Dry Erase Board

The Silhouette strikes again!  The last time my mom and I went shopping at her favorite store, I bought a cheap (and might I add hideously ugly) cream and light blue wood board with a picture of a seashell.  Now, if that sounds like something that you have in your home, I did not say "hideously ugly," I said, "not my particular taste."  :)  I am pretty sure I spent a whopping $2.99 on it.  I was telling my mom about a picture I had recently seen that displayed a chalkboard count-down (which was really cute and I'm still looking to make it for someone).  My mom said it would be a cute way to display a meal menu, which she usually creates on the computer and then adds clip art to show off all of her mad technology skills.  Haha!

I thought it would be fun to give her her very own dry erase menu to display for her meals.  I had just enough left over black spray paint and yesterday I spray painted the frame black.  (Note to self - take "before" pictures!)  I bought a role of cut and peel dry erase board, and after my coupon it was $2.50.  Then I spent about 90 seconds making the vinyl design across the top.  I stuck the vinyl on there, and viola!  I can't wait to give this to my mom this weekend when I see her.  So what do you think?

 Here it is without any writing on it, just the vinyl across the top.

Here it is with the menu written on it.

I'm In Training

I am in training to be more aware about blogging.  Additionally, I am in training with my friend Meredith, as we just started doing water aerobics again!  It is so much fun.  Other than that, I have pretty much had my life overtaken by this new crafting obsession of mine.  Loretta the Jetta died on Friday night, and if that had not happened, I'm pretty sure I would be loaded up with new Silhouette supplies to feed my craziness.  I am really thankful that I only have an addicted personality for crafting and not something like heroin... 

There are a lot of great things to come.  I'm working on some personalized kids place mats, some paperweights, some kids clothes, a birthday tutu, and a birthday gift for a one year old that will make you go "awww."  I can't wait to share them.  Until then, I will leave you with a picture of Bentley, since the last one was of him as a puppy and now he is almost a year old! 

In my head I'm hearing the theme song from Rocky to encourage me to keep on blogging!!  Go, baby, go!  :)

So much for resolutions...

My last post made me laugh as I re-read it.  My new years resolution was to post more?  Can you say "Fail"?  But I guess I'll make a half year resolution to post when I have something new to post... how about that?

I haven't had too many projects I worked on in the first of the year.  For some reason, it seems that I spent most my time planning for some big event coming up in November.  :)

But all that is changed now... and I have some exciting news to announce.  I'm in love!  And you might be thinking I mean Harley... but I don't.  I am in love with my Silhouette SD machine!!  This machine has totally changed my crafting life.  It would be an understatement to say that I'm obsessed.  Harley lovingly refers to it as, "the worst gift ever."  But then I remind him that our wedding can be just like back in the day... when couples didn't see each other before they got married.  :)

I have done a few projects so far that I wanted to share with you, but I feel that this is just the tip of the iceburg.  Really, the only limitation is my imagination.  (And by imagination, I of course mean what I find on the internet that I think is cute and I make myself.)

So if you happen to still be checking this blog even now... first of all, that is some dedication.  But also, I really am going to attempt to post more projects as I make them.  I hope everyone is having a great 2011 so far. 

Below are two of the glass etching vases I have made... and a gift for my cousin who just had a new baby.*

*Fine print: If these are your gifts and you haven't received them yet, just act surprised... I got too excited about posting them.  :)