Project 100 - Catching Up

I usually don't post photos of all my crafty projects.  Let's be serious - not everything is worth blogging.  But since I have committed myself to Project 100, I want to be accountable to y'all by showing that I am actively creating my way through 100 projects.  I know it's a bit of a modge podge of projects, but I need to get caught up with my online tally!!!


1.  Charlotte Thank You Cards.  For some reason, it is so hard for me to throw away Charlotte's drawings and paintings.  I know that to most people, they're nothing special.  But to me, the process of sitting down and creating art with her is so precious.  So instead of keeping every.single.piece.of.paper, I decided to repurpose many of them into her embarrassingly belated thank you cards.  ::hanging head in shame::

I cut down Charlotte's watercolor paintings and various pieces of cardstock/ patterned paper down to 4.25" x 5.5".  Next, I ran the paper through an embossing machine with a journaling embossing folder to create writing lines on the backside of the card.  Glue the artwork onto the patterned paper.  I stamped a "thank you" sentiment directly onto the artwork.  To finish the card off, I just machine stitched around the edges.  Super simple but I really like them.  


Supplies:  Stamp (Paper Smooches); Embossing Folder (Sizzix).


2.  100th Birthday Card.  This card was custom ordered through my facebook/ esty shop.  It was such an honor to make something for such a momentous celebration.  100 years - wow.

Supplies:  Patterned Paper (Crate Paper, Sassafras); Cardstock (American Crafts); Brads (American Crafts); Stamps (Lawn Fawn); Other (Silhouette Cameo, Jenni Bowlin Inks, Uniball Signo White Gel Pen).


3.  San Francisco Birthday Wishes.  Here is another custom birthday card for a San Francisco recipient, also ordered through the facebook/ etsy shop.

Supplies:  Patterned Paper (Echo Park, American Crafts); Cardstock (American Crafts, Core'dinations, Martha Stewart); Buttons (My Mind's Eye); Stamps (Lawn Fawn, Paper Smooches); Digital Files (Silhouette Online Store); Other (Silhouette Cameo, Fiskars Cloud Punch, Provo Craft Embossing Folder, Jenni Bowlin Inks).


4.  Blueberry Birthday Party.  I've been helping a friend with the paper products for her daughter's Blueberries for Sal themed birthday party.  Here are some sneaks at the banner, favor tags and invite I made for them.  Can't wait for the actual party next week!

5.  Nursery Name Decor.  An Addie B Designs customer requested some custom artwork to match her son's nursery decor.  I really love how the handstitching turned out on this one.

Supplies:  Digital Files (Silhouette Online Store); Other (Silhouette Cameo, We R Memory Keepers Floss).


6.  Bib Baby Card.  You've seen these before but I still love how adorable they are.  Here is another baby bib card made to coordinate with a custom Addie B Designs bib and burp cloth set.  

Supplies:  Patterned Paper (Echo Park, American Crafts); Cardstock (American Crafts); Embellishments (Sassafras); Stamps (Lawn Fawn); Letter Stickers (Cosmo Cricket); Digital Files (Lettering Delights); Other (Silhouette Cameo, We R Memory Keepers Floss).


7.  Superbowl Cupcake Toppers.  This was one of my first attempts using the print and cut feature on the Silhouette Cameo.  LOVE!!!  I even had a customer purchase a set via our facebook page!

8.  Glass etched glass.  I think I might do a tutorial on this at some point.  I'm slowly getting obsessed with glass etching and the Silhouette Cameo lets me do it with such precision!

9.  Face Die Cuts.  And finally, someone saw my hairclip cards on etsy and requested some face die cuts.  I was so excited to get a "random customer" and ended up making her 50 of these die cuts with various colors and hair styles!  Here's a sample.

So now, the grand total as of today (and counting in project speak)?  12 thank you cards, 2 birthday cards, 1 birthday invite, 1 birthday banner, 2 birthday tags, 1 bib card, 1 nursery decor, 2 cupcake toppers, 1 glass etched beer pint, 3 face die cuts.  That's 26 projects in this blog post!!!  Wohoo!!!


Project 100 Update:  74 down, 26 to go.

Tutorial - DIY Love Message Board (Silhouette Cameo and Adhesive Vinyl)

I originally posted a photo of this love message board on the Valentine's Day blog post.  

The idea originally grew from this project I saw on pinterest which simply has a printed sentiment on patterned paper (you can totally do that without a fancy die cutting machine)!  But for mine, I went a tad bit fancier by cutting some adhesive vinyl with my Silhouette Cameo.  Here's how I did it.

1.  Buy a Frame.  I got this one with a weathered wood look from TJ Maxx for $8.  If we weren't living in such temporary accommodations, I'd probably swipe the frame my mother has with my hideous second grade photo.  

2.  Cut Patterned Paper to Fit Inside the Frame.  I used this adorable heart argyle paper from We R Memory Keepers.  While this paper is relatively busy, I would steer clear of anything too busy or dark.

3.  Cut a Sentiment out of Adhesive Vinyl.  I used a sentiment from Kerri Bradford's "All About You" digital shape set.  I simply opened the image in my Silhouette Studio software, loaded up my Cricut adhesive vinyl and cut away.  I personally found that setting the blade to a setting of "2" (versus the "1" that the software suggests) gave me a much cleaner cut.

4.  Adhere Transfer Tape onto the Cut Image.  Cut down your transfer tape to fit your cut image.  Peel the backing off and place the sticky side down onto the vinyl image.  (Remember to not throw away the backing though - I use my transfer tape about 3-4 times before I throw it out.)  Using transfer tape ensures that your image doesn't get all warped while "transferring" it from the vinyl backing to whatever surface you are adhering it to.  I would also use a popsicle stick or credit card to burnish that tape well onto the image just to make sure it's completely on.

5.  Peel Off the Adhesive Vinyl Backing.  The stick side of the vinyl should now be facing up.  

6.  Transfer the Vinyl Image onto the Glass.  I first place the image down where I want it then burnish it to make sure that the vinyl is actually sticking to the glass where you want it.

Once you're sure that the image is adhered to the glass, slowly peel back the transfer tape.

Then... viola!!!  A beautiful vinyl image right on your frame!

To make "love" stand out a bit more, I cut out just that work in a coordinating colored paper and then taped it right on the vinyl.  

Seriously easy and this idea/ technique can be applied for so many different projects.  Think menu boards, decorated photo frames...possibilities are endless.  So stay calm and craft on.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Tutotrial - DIY Iron On Transfer T-Shirt

Since coming back to Rhode Island after two glorious weeks in San Diego for the Christmas holiday, the first thing Charlotte asks for in the morning is her cousin.  Where's Vivi, she asks me?  When the phone rings, she asks, "Vivi?"  It's really heart-breaking.  She is just obsessed with her older cousin and I so wish we could go back home so they could play together again.

So, inspired by this adorable cousin friendship, I decided to make Charlotte this photo t-shirt using some iron-on transfer sheets.

 

Want to make your own?  It's SUPER simple and fun.  First off, you'll need the following supplies:  

• iron-on transfer sheets (there are a lot of different brands on the market so shop around)
• ink jet printer
• white t-shirt
• iron

1.  Design your t-shirt image.  I created my design using Adobe Photoshop but I'm sure any program will work.  I simply embellished a photo of the cousins with a digital border frame that says "friends."  I resized the image to fit onto Charlotte's t-shirt and then flipped the whole image horizontally.  This creates a mirror image. 

2.  Print your image.  When you print your image onto the iron-on transfer sheet, make sure you change the printer settings according to the manufacturer's instructions.  Then trim very closely around your image.  (NOTE: I DO NOT recommend the brand of Iron-on Transfers photographed below.  It works fine but I noticed that it fades a bit after the first wash.)

3.  Iron your image onto the T-shirt.  Once you figure out where you want your image on the t-shirt, place the image face down and iron it on!  It is seriously that easy.  I personally set my iron to the cotton setting and ironed back and forth for about 3 minutes.  Just check the manufacturer instructions.

4.  Wear and Enjoy!  Viola.  Just like that, you have a totally custom t-shirt to show off to all your family and friends.  Charlotte kept point to her shirt and saying, "Vivi.  That's Vivi."  So ridiculously cute.  I showed my sister and since she loved it so much, I made another matching shirt for Vivi too.  :)

I also used this same technique to make Charlotte's birthday shirt to perfectly match her invites and birthday banner a few months back.

Hope this shows that you don't need a fancy die-cutting machine or a ton of crafting supplies to go DIY.  As always, thanks for stopping by!

Project 100 Update:  33 down, 67 to go.  Since I already had these iron-on sheets and they utilized my digital scrapbooking files, I'm counting the two cousin t-shirts as two projects. 

Sensory Boxes - Autumn

Now that I've been at home with Charlotte full time, I've become much more aware and concerned of how she spends her free time.  While driving cross country and sitting in the back seat, Charlotte did spend a bit of time watching Signing Time or Curious George on the portable DVD player.  We pulled it during meltdown moments and it provided us with a little bit of sanity.  However, now that we are finally starting to settle down in Rhode Island, the DVD has gone "missing" and I am trying to make sure Charlotte gets a lot of stimulating and fun play time.  

While roaming through some mommy/ educational/ crafting blogs the other day (my new obsession), I stumbled onto this post about Sensory Boxes by Pink and Green Mama.  They are essentially indoor sand/ play boxes that encourages hand eye coordination, fine motor development, and provides a fantastic sensory processing integration experience.  Plus, being the wanna-be crafter that I am, I theme the boxes as needed.  

For Charlotte's first box, I thought that a fall/ autumn theme would be appropriate.  Most of the items for the box I found around the house.  But I did pick up a few things at Wal-Mart.

I found a plastic tub and filled it with yellow split peas and black beans.  The yellow split peas look pretty orange and, combined with the black, remind me of Halloween.

Then, I just filled the box up with various goodies.  

I put in some orange play doh (which is quickly turning out to be Charlotte's favorite), measuring cups, orange and black pom poms, Fischer Price Little People toys (the cow and farmer), fake pumpkins and gourds, pine cones, silk leaves, and a toy train.  Here's a close up.

I introduced it to Charlotte after her nap and she spent about 15 minutes digging around.  

 

I placed the box in the kitchen where Charlotte can see it.  Over the past few days, she has actually asked to play with it and discovers something new each time.  It really is fun to watch and play too!  And it goes without saying, definitely supervise your kids with these boxes in case they want to taste a bean or two.  Thankfully, Charlotte has past that stage (or at least I think she has)...

Now I just need to get a mini dust pan and broom to teach her how to clean up.  Those little beans do wander outside of the box more often than not.  :) 

And some other food for thought, the American Academy of Pediatrics on Tuesday again urged parents to limit the amount of television for children under two.  Here is a link to the New York Times article. 

As always, thanks for stopping by.  And if you leave a comment, know that I do love reading them!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Did Charlotte Say?

 
Charlotte had her last speech therapy session (at least in San Diego) this past Thursday.  Our sessions began at the beginning of August.  Two times a week.  Thirty minutes each session.  But even for that short period of time, we could see such an amazing impact on Charlotte's ability to communicate both through sign language and actual words.

One of Charlotte's favorite learning tools at therapy was an altered Eric Carle book.  It's such an easy and simple idea that can be applied to almost any board book.  I wanted to share how we made Charlotte's book (in case anyone was interested).

I started with a copy of a Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle.

Next, I color copied the last page of the book which conveniently includes perfectly sized smaller images of ALL the animals mentioned in the story. 

I laminated this page using a super cheap laminating machine from Costco for about $20.  While the lamintor isn't strong enough to laminate cardstock, it laminates computer paper pretty easily.

I then cut out the individual animal shapes from the laminated sheet.

Using sticky back velcro dots, I adhered the laminated images to the applicable board book page. 

Viola!  You now have a custom made activity book that has endless uses.  When we read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, we ask Charlotte to "take off" and "put on" the little laminated animals.  We have Charlotte match the laminated animals to the book pictures.  We use the little animals as flash cards for words and animal sounds.  It has quickly become one of Charlotte's favorite toys.

And since I think these photos are pretty cute, here are some shots from Charlotte's last speech therapy session with Ms. Ashely.

I am beyond grateful for the therapists that worked with Charlotte every week and who taught us so many techniques to help Charlotte in her language development.  I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before she won't stop talking (just like her mommy).