Happy Halloween From The McVey Family!

I had a little fun this morning over at JibJab making this video starring my family.

Cast:
Son-in-Law Andy as The Doctor
Daughter Taryn as Frankenstein
Son Ryan as the Werewolf
Husband Mark as Dracula
and Me as the Bride of Frankenstein

Enjoy, then go make your own!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

New Projects on the Horizon

First, I'm happy to report that I am now stitch-free!  I had a nurse friend remove them Saturday, and I look almost human again without them.  No Frankenstein costume for me this Halloween! The black eye is now mostly yellow and red and decreasing in size every day. I was actually able to put on a little eyeliner and mascara this morning! 

In hindsight, I feel like I really was being watched over.  It could have been very serious, but just one week later, I feel great! Thank you all so much for your well wishes after my fall.  It was very special to have so many notes from all of you.

On the craft front - our current remodeling has given me a couple of ideas for home decor projects that will get me back to my Cricut.  I have three in my head so far: some framed art, an unusual jewelry holder/display, and a holiday project using the discarded wood blocks from the rubber stamps that I converted to unmounted. (If you missed the video about how to do that, see this post.)  I also realized that I never filmed and shared how I made an awesome, inexpensive ribbon rack, so that's to come as well.

I know Cricut and Gypsy are both feeling neglected, so I plan to get those projects started as soon as I can get this bathroom remodel done and clean up my craft room!  It's amazing how remodeling one room can spin the whole house into disarray. I also have to share with you that a few of my craft tools have come in very handy while working on the bathrooms.  My DH is very supportive of my crafting, but it's always good when he can see how many other ways my stuff comes in handy, know what I mean?

So, in summation, my eye is looking good, my house is looking good, and I should have some projects to post in the coming weeks. Thanks to all of you who have hung in there with me until I could get back to being creative!

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes,

Enabler Alert: You WILL want the IMAGINE when you see the images!

Have you SEEN the awesome images for the new Cricut Imagine???  I've been out of the loop since its release, and I had openly said that I was not buying another machine. After all, I have the Expression, the Baby Bug, and the Gypsy. How could I possibly need another Cricut machine?

Alas, during my recent convalescence (see yesterday's post), I had plenty of time for some one-eyed viewing of videos about the Imagine, and I have to confess, I REALLY WANT THE DARN THING!  I had not expected the images to be so incredibly gorgeous!  The ones in this post are from Snow Angel, one of my favorites from the new Imagine Cartridge Collection.

My followers know that I had started working on breaking up the cartridge image sheets into smaller pictures for loading onto the Gypsy so you can see them easier - and not need your handbooks with you all the time.  (Note: If you search for videos about the Imagine on YouTube, some of the older ones will say it's not compatible with the Gypsy, but Provocraft has since updated the Gypsy software so it IS compatible!  Thanks PC!)  I still have more of the "regular" cartridges to do, and I will continue to work on those, but I confess that I've gotten totally sidetracked by the beautiful new Imagine images!  I've only gotten two done so far (click here to get them), but I'll have the rest uploaded soon, so check back here for updates.  And if you have an iPad, I'll be posting soon about how to view all the cartridge images on it, so watch for that, too.

I can't end this post without a special thanks to Robyn, The Pink Stamper for some major enabling!  When I saw her video about using RGB colors to match my Stampin' Up! paper, AND she used an old non-Imagine cartridge to print and cut images in her choice of colors, all the lightbulbs in my head went off!  Hop on over to her blog to watch a few of her awesome videos and see why you NEED the Imagine!

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes,

My painting disaster

I've had to put crafting on the back burner for a while as my DH and I do some major redecorating in our 25-year-old, very dated home - stripping wallpaper, painting, replacing flooring, changing light fixtures, etc. So far we've completed the master bathroom, and we're now working on the other upstairs bath, which needed the most serious work due to mold. We have literally stripped it bare except for the major fixtures.

I was all set and excited on Monday to spend the entire day prepping and painting, having decided at the last minuted to take the day off from work just for this purpose. I made a trip to Lowe's, stopped for a bite to eat, and rushed home to get started. Not more than 30 minutes into the job, I reached for the far corner, lost my balance, and down I went! I hit my head HARD on an unopened paint can, and I fell against the wall, hitting my hip, shoulder and knee on the way down. I don't remember too much after that except slapping a washcloth against my head to stop the bleeding and telling myself to call my husband and lie down before I passed out. Luckily, I never did pass out, but oh, what a headache.

3 hours, 8 stitches and a tetanus shot later, I left the emergency room. I was home 3 days - hubby's orders - but back at the office today and back to the remodel this weekend. In the meantime, I want to give DH a BIG shoutout for taking such good care of me with hot oatmeal cookies, frozen yogurt and back rubs. On top of all that, he's almost finished with the painting in the bathroom.

The good news is, I didn't spill the paint - and I don't have to spend much time on my hair for a while since people will only see my eye!

BLOG CANDY You Don't Want To Miss!

Today I want to introduce you to a fellow crafter AND Disney addict!  If you love Disney and Disney-related crafts, you'll want to sign up to be a follower over at Disney Dreamer Designs.  Be sure to tell MELISSA(sorry about getting your name wrong the first time) how you found out about her when you visit, and leave a comment before midnight tonight for a chance to win crafty blog candy!  She's giving away a pink ATG gun, so hurry over to enter! Thanks for the candy Melissa, and congrats on over 200 followers!

By the way, I started knitting a "nothing" last night.  Read the post below to see what that's all about!

Knit One, Craft Too

I suspect that many of you are multi-media crafters, as it seems that no crafter ever really just does one thing.  If you're anything like me, you have no less than 5 or 6 projects in the works at any given time.

One of the earliest crafts I tried was crocheting, taught to me lovingly and with superhuman patience by my grandmother when I was just five years old.  Years later, I discovered sewing, largely out of necessity in order to have pants and blouses that fit me at 5'10" tall.  In middle school, I taught myself to knit.  I learned by trial and error, following pictures and diagrams and ripping out many a row until I got it just right.  By high school, I was good enough to knit sweaters for my husband and boyfriend (who is now my husband of 30 years and my biggest fan!) for Christmas.

Various crafts have come and gone through the years.  In college, I learned quilting, needlepoint, crewel and counted cross stitch.  After my daughter was born, I learned smocking and made pretty little feminine dresses for her.  When my son was born, I was a stay-at-home mom and I delved into many crafts, including basket weaving and candy making.

Most of the crafts I've tried were tried out of sheer curiosity, the desire to learn something new, and the ultimate satisfaction of being able to sit back and say, "I created that!"  Some of them were one-hit-wonders, learned just well enough to complete a particular project.  Others resulted in my own little 15 minutes of fame, like the counted cross stitch design that I entered in an international magazine contest, won third place for, received a check for 50 bucks, and had published! 

I've found some crafts that serve more as stress relievers than others, and once in a while, I just get a yearning to pick up a needle and thread or a pair of knitting needles and some soft, fuzzy yarn and find a quiet place to work, lost in my own thoughts.  For me, the best craft for stress relief is knitting.  More than once, I've been know to knit "nothing" just for the fun of it and the relief from the day that it gives me.  It's a mindless, relaxing thing that I can do while watching TV or chatting with my husband, and when I'm done, I can tear it out, roll it back up in a ball, and use it again another time. 

Recently, I called my daughter to see what she was doing on her day off.  She was crocheting a granny aquare afghan.  Surprised, I asked her how she knew how, because I had taught her basic crocheting, but never how to make granny squares. "YouTube," she answered.  "They have videos about how to do anything!"   I couldn't help but feel a little pride.  As soon as I become a grandmother, I'll teach her to smock!

For those of you who knit, want to learn to knit, or know someone who knits, check out this great link with knitting-related gift items: Cafe Press, Knitting Gifts

Yes, I'm OK!

I've started getting emails from some of you asking if I'm OK, so I thought I better check in just to say hi. I've been on a much-needed vacation in Hilton Head, SC with DH and DS this week, doing as little as possible and totally enjoying it!

I haven't even cracked open the laptop this whole week, though I have been using my new iPad to the max! I'm totally in love with this thing - in fact I'm writing this post on it. All I have to do now is get all my Cricut images loaded on it, and I've figured out how!

Anyway, I haven't disappeared again. Just took a week off! DH is headed to Paris without me next week, so I should have some creative time. We're leaving very early in the morning, so I'll be home soon!

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

Images for a DOZEN cartridges newly uploaded!

A Garden Of Words
A Word Party
Base Camp
Billionaire
Cuttin' Up
Gypsy Font
Makin' The Grade
Mickey Font
Old West
Picturesque
Tear Drop
Wall Decor and More

Click the link below my header to go to the whole library!

Gypsies, and iPhones and Blackberries...OH MY!

I've been wide awake until the wee hours of the morning lately, and my brain always refuses to turn itself off when that happens. With all the work I've been doing on the cartridge images lately, I guess it's no surprise that my thoughts turned to them, and I found myself wishing I had an iPhone so I could load all the images on it like I've heard some of you are doing with the handbook PDFs. Suddenly I had a lightbulb moment! I could put my images on my Blackberry!!! So, at 1:43 AM, I was out of bed looking in the dark for my purse with my Berry in it and booting up the laptop.

I have the Blackberry Curve 8530, and I use an 8G micro SD card in it, so I knew I had plenty of memory. With the memory card in my laptop, I created a file especially for the image files and put all the cartridge images in it (above). Notice the search box at the top of the screen in the photo below. This lets me search for the cartridge I want since each file is named by the cartridge name, ie "create_a_critter_01.jpg" in the photo. For example, to find Create A Critter, I just have to start typing "create" and the images will be pulled up for that cartridge.

Now I can enlarge them to fit the screen and scroll through them one image at a time (above). What I didn't think of was that I was going to be able to zoom in on the images to see the details better (below). Can I just tell you how excited I am?!?! Just last night I was in Wal-mart trying to decide between 2 of the new Lite carts, and I couldn't see the tiny images on the back without my reading glasses well enough to decide which one to get. If I'd only had them on my Berry already, I could have easily browsed them! I'm also thrilled that I can zoom in to see layers and colors better - something that you can't do with them on the Gypsy. I know you can also zoom on the iPhone, and they will be even bigger on it than they are on my Blackberry.

I can zoom in on one specific image in each .jpg to see the detail

I LOVE being able to carry all the images with me on my phone so I always have them with me to browse when an idea hits me! I hope some of you out there will be just as excited about it, too! Please do leave a comment if you use them this way. I'd love to have an idea of how many iPhone and Blackberry users there are out there making use of them! And tell me if you've used them on other devices, too. Your comments make my day!

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

AnnS...You were the winner!

AnnS, it's been a week since the drawing and YOU WON!  Please contact me so I can send your Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge to you!  I couldn't find a way to contact you on your profile or your blog.   Where are you???

Images Uploaded for 10 More Cartridges

Basketball
Block Party
Cupcake Wrappers
Dude!
Hoot 'n Holler
Lacy Labels
Lovely Floral
Potpourri Basket
Sesame Street Font
Soccer

As usual, the link is just below my blog header that will take you to the library of all the cartridge images I've uploaded so far.  This group makes 101!

If you missed the video tutorial showing how to unzip them and load them on to your Gypsy, there's a link above for that, too.  Enjoy!

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

Images For 10 More Cartridges Uploaded!

3 Birds On Parade
Carousel
Celebrate With Flourish
H2O
Locker Talk
My World
Rock Princess
Pumpkin Carving
Savory
Slumber Party

Link just below my blog header to the whole library -
91 cartridges available so far!

New Cricut Product??? Look what I found!!

I don't usually post twice in one day, but this was just too exciting NOT to share!  Could this be the new product they're promising us?  A new Cricut that cuts AND PRINTS!!  I know what I'm putting on my Christmas wish list.  Oh, my wallet is groaning already!!

Check it out on Linda's blog, Just A Scrappin'

And, I am a subscriber to Linda's blog, but I JUST realized that she is the owner of the Cricut Cheat Sheets group.  If you don't know about her Cheat Sheets, click on the link at the top of her page to find out how to join.  I have to confess that I rarely have time to look at them when she releases new ones, but it sure is nice to know they're there on the group page as a resource!   Thank you Linda!

If you've tried to contact me and I haven't responded...

...please give me a few more days. As you know, I was away from blogging and crafting for a while, and I was also away from the computer for the most part at home. I work on a computer almost all day, and I'm currently answering about 20-30 emails a day at work, so I've been pretty much avoiding the computer at home except for working on the Cricut cartridge images for the Gypsy Photo App. Last night I decided I better check my personal email, and HOLY COW! I had 643 emails! It took me almost 45 minutes just to weed out the junk mail, and I was still left with over 100 "real" ones. So, if you've emailed me and I haven't answered you yet, please be patient with me and I will.

Most of you have emailed with questions about how to use the .zip files or how to upload the images to your Gypsy, and if you need help with that, please see the video tutorial that I posted Monday. It will walk you through the whole process, step by step. I start with how to create a special folder on your desktop for the files, then show you how to download to that folder and unzip - extract the image files using WinZip - and finally, how to use Gyspy Sync to load the images on to your Gypsy.  I think it will answer all your questions so you can use my image files.

Thank you so much to all of you who have left messages and thank yous.  It is much appreciated and keeps me inspired to do more!

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

Most Recent Uploaded Cartridge Images For Gypsy

I uploaded some new files last night and tonight.  Click on the link just below my header above to get to the full library, and sort the list by date to find the new ones!

Carousel
Celebrate With Flourish
Country Life
Graphically Speaking
Locker Talk
My World
Slumber Party
Speaking of Fall
Speaking of School
Speaking of Winter
Sports Mania

The Winner Is...

Post #62, AnnS!
Ann said...

"Here's my story: Every time I went to a crop I would use Base Camp. I love the font. After one crop I decided to go on ebay and bid on it. I couldn't wait for the auction to end.I started going through my carts to make room for my new Base Camp and what do I find....a brand new, unopened Base Camp. I bought it and forgot all about it. Now I couldn't wait for the auction to end and I prayed I didn't win it...I didn't. lol"

Congratulations Ann, and thanks for sharing your story. Your Every Day Paperdolls cartridge will be on the way to you as soon as you send me an address.  Enjoy!

TUTORIAL! How To Download My Cartridge Image Files and Load Them Onto Your Gypsy

If you don't have WinZip installed on your computer, you will need it to unzip the files before you load them on to your Gyspy.  Click here to dowload the free program.

Here is the video tutorial- I hope it helps!
Or click here to watch it larger on my Tutorials Page.

Images for 10 More Cartridges!

Here are today's uploads:
Baseball
Going Places
Hello Kitty Font
Indie Art
October 31st
Pooh and Friends
Pooh Font
Sesame Street Friends
Simply Charmed
Wedding

Click on the link in my header above to find them all!

Today's New Images For Gypsy Photo App

A Child's Year
Batman
Beyond Birthdays
Campout
Everyday Paperdolls - UPDATED
Freshly Picked
Life Is A Beach - UPDATED
My Community - UPDATED
Superman
Winter Frolic
Zoo Balloo

Click here to download these and images from 55 other cartridges.

Still time to enter to win BLOG CANDYand I PROMISE I'll do a TUTORIAL soon!

If you haven't entered yet, please scroll down to my post from July 13 and find out how!  I'm drawing a lucky winner on Monday, so be sure to enter today!

I promised you all a video tutorial on how to use the images I've been working on for Gypsy.  My husband got home Thursday night from being out of town, so I didn't go anywhere near the computer the last two evenings, but I will get one made this weekend to show you how to download, unzip, and load onto your Gypsy.  I am finding them SO useful for finding the images I want, and for visualizing the colors I need to cut the layered designs.  It's been a big undertaking, and I'm not nearly finished with all of them, but I have to say that it's making me love my Gypsy even more!  If you haven't downloaded any yet, you can click here for the whole list of ones I've completed to date.  I'm adding more every day, so if your favorite isn't there, check back often.  I'll post here as I upload them, so if you're a follower, you'll be alerted when there's one you want.

By the way, no one has asked me about how much space these images take up yet, but I anticipate that someone will eventually.  I'm not sure how to look at exactly how much space there is left on your Gypsy (if anyone knows, please let me know), but I can tell you that when I uploaded my last set of images, Gypsy Sync said I still have 94% memory left.  That's with the images for 57 cartridges loaded, so I'm not worrying about running out of room!

If you're downloading and enjoying the images, please do leave me a comment.  It is very much appreicated!

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

Today's New Gypsy Images

I didn't get too many new ones done last night, but listed below are a few, along with some updated ones.

I've had many emails asking how to unzip them and how to get them on to the Gypsy.  I'm  hoping to work on a video tutorial tonight that will lead you through the whole process, from downloading to viewing on your Gypsy.  I can't promise it will be posted today or even tomorrow, since my DH has been out of town and is coming home tonight, but I will have it online as soon as I possibly can, so stay tuned.  In the meantime, I might get a few more files uploaded if I have a slow day today.

I should also note that, if you are loading updated files to your Gypsy, the new files will overwrite the old ones, so you don't have to delete first.  Super easy!

Independence Day - UPDATED
Just Because Cards
Mini Monograms
Mother's Day - UPDATED
Stretch Your Imagination
Winter Woodland

Click here to download these and all the previously posted image files.

More Gypsy Images!

If you missed the last couple of posts about the images for your Gypsy, no worries!  I have updated some that I wasn't happy with before, and tonight I've uploaded 4 new ones, listed below. 

After you download and unzip the files, all you have to do is connect the Gypsy to your computer, start Gypsy Sync and choose the jpg files, and Gypsy will automatically put them in the new Photo App.  Now you can browse the images on your Gypsy!  Over on the Cricut message board, Jodie said she's found images she forgot she had by browsing the images.  Now that's what I like to hear!  So what are you waiting for? Go get 'em...Cartridge Images for Gypsy Photo App.

NEWLY UPLOADED:
From My Kitchen
Tags Bags Boxes and More
Tinkerbell and Friends
Walk In My Garden

UPDATED:
Happily Ever After
Home Accents
Joys of the Season
Live Simply
Love Struck
Mickey and Friends
Once Upon a Princess

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

It had to happen sooner or later. Oh, and there's BLOG CANDY coming!

Yep, I am offcially addicted to collecting Cricut cartridges now.  Why do I say that, you ask?  Because I now have so many that I can't remember what I have and what I don't have.  This weekend, I realized that I had bought a cartridge that I already had.  And it wasn't a $39.99 mini or one that I got on sale for $29.  Nooooo, I bought a full cartridge, MSRP $89 (though I have never paid that for one).

So, here I was all happy that I "finally" had my Everday Paper Dolls cartridge, I got my Gypsy out and connected it for linking and I got a message - "You have already linked a cartridge by this name."  WHAT???  Not another PC Gypsy error!  So I tried again. Same message.  Now I run upstairs to look in my box of carts, and sure enough, there is one I've labeled "EDPD."

The bad news is that I bought the cartridge twice.  The good news is, Gypsy didn't let me link it again, so the cartridge is still a Gypsy "virgin."  I did already write "EDPD" on it in Sharpie, but other than that, it's new, in the box. 

So, why am I telling you all this?  Because, I have decided to make it BLOG CANDY!!!   That's right, my just-turned-50-and-can't-even-remember-what-I-had-for-breakfast brain lapse means BLOG CANDY FOR YOU!  All you have to do is become a follower and comment on this post and you're entered.  If you're already a follower, just comment! (Don't forget to leave me a way to get in touch with you.) And if you have your own funny memory lapse story to tell in your comment, all the better.  If not, well, I'll try not to hold it against you that your brain age is younger than mine.   I'll draw the winner using a randomizer on Monday, July 19th at 10:00 p.m. EST.

Good luck to all of you!  It's great to be back in Blogdom!

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

More Cartridge Images and some updates!

Here are the cartridges that I have UPDATES for today:
Gypsy Wanderings
Create a Critter
Destinations
Doodlecharms
Dreams Come True
Easter 2010
Heritage
Mini Monsters

and here are the NEW images that I've posted: (link below for all images)

Stand and Salute
Straight From The Nest
Storybook
Snowfriends
Sentimentals
Sweethearts
Preserves
Paper Pups
Paper Doll Dressup
Paisley

Cricut Cartridge Images For Uploading To Your Gypsy

Enjoy!

Cartridge Images for your Gypsy - Updates!

In my last post, I announced that I was working on creating images to upload to my Gypsy so I can use the new Photo App to see all the images on each cartridge.  Well, I wasn't happy with some of them, so I've been working on enlarging a lot of them so you can see them even better.  If you're going blind like me, bigger is better!

I decided that I wanted to fix the ones I'd done before I moved on to doing more, so I've updated and reposted some of them, and I'm working on redoing the others that I felt needed it.  So far I've reposted the following:

Animal Kingdom
Disney's Cars
Celebrations
Christmas Cheer
Christmas Solutions
Cindy Loo

I think you'll find the new ones much better and worth the second download. I'm working on redoing the rest that need it, then I'll move on to others.  Eventually, I hope to have them all for you, so keep checking back!

Cricut Cartridge Images For Uploading To Your Gypsy

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

I'm alive and well and LOVIN' my Gypsy!Here's how I'm using the new PHOTO APP!

Ok, I know I've been MIA for way too long. Thanks to all of you who wrote or posted to make sure I was OK and let me know I was missed. You truly touched me and made me want to get back. Nothing was wrong - other than too much life happening. This is a crazy time of year for me in my job as Community Services Manager for a planned community of over 2700 homes. I handle boating rentals and registration, picnic shelter rentals, boat house staff and outdoor special events, including 4 big parties for about 1500 people, as well as producing a monthly 24-page newsletter and managing our web site. On top of that, we've had two really big special projects, so I feel like I've been living in my office. Then, as you know, my sister and her husband are divorcing, and I spent 2 weekends on the road to help with her move and one weekend with her here. It seems like the last six weeks have passed me by in a blur.

Work is still insanely busy, but I'm making an effort to take some time out for my crafting. After all, Stampin' Up! just released their new catalog, so I have workshops to plan and new crafty toys to play with! I have my first order of the new stamping year coming today - almost $300 worth! Between that and the new Gypsy updates, I can't wait to get back to my craft room!

In the meantime, I've been playing around with the new Gypsy features since the last update, and I LOVE that I now have the Photo App. So many have been baffled about what to use it for, but I immediately thought how awesome it would be to have the cartridge images on my Gypsy to carry with me wherever I go and not have to pull out my handbooks to see details and colors. So........I spent most of last night downloading the image sheets and cropping them into smaller pieces so they are large enough to see on the Gypsy screen. I'm thrilled with this capability, and I'm posting them all to share with all of you as I get them done. All you have to do it download and unzip them, then using Gyspsy Sync, move the jpg images to your Gypsy and start browsing the cartridges!

I'm starting with the cartridges I own, but eventually I plan to post them all, so keep checking back to add to your collection. Click the link below to get started!

Cricut Cartridge Images For Uploading To Your Gypsy

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

Stuff I love!

Inspired by Robyn at My Pink Stamper, I made this little Google search video, just for fun.  It gives you a very quick idea of some of the things I love - besides Cricut, of course!

It's super quick and easy to make one, so give it a try!

"When Your Day Sucks" Bouquet

I'm leaving tonight to go help my sister move into an apartment because she and her husband of 27 years are splitting up.  She's very depressed at the prospect of leaving her beautiful farm in the Virginia countryside and trying to start her life over in an inpersonal furnished apartment.  I thought I would take her something that would brighten up the apartment, give her strength when she needs it, and hopefully make her laugh.
I saw a version of this bouquet quite a while ago made for a 40th birthday, and it said "40 sucks" and had 40 suckers in it.  It could also be used for a hospital gift when a patient isn't allowed to have real flowers and say something like, "Being sick SUCKS. Hope you LICK it soon!"   Whatever you use it for, the recipient is sure to feel loved.

Supplies:

• plastic flower pot

• glass florist marbles

• 1 large green silk  hydrangea stem

• spanish moss

• wired florist picks

• Dumb Dumb suckers

• 1/2 florists foam ball to fit pot

• florists tape

• ribbon, card stock

• wire cutters

• hot glue gun and high heat glue sticks

Using hot glue, adhere ribbon to outside of pot.

Fill the bottom of the pot about half to 2/3 full to keep arrangement from being top-heavy when filled with flowers.

Using hot glue gun, generously put a bead of glue all around the inside top edge of pot and place foam ball so it fits  just inside.  Use a craft knife to trim the edge of the ball if necessary to make it fit.

Using hot glue and doing a small section at a time, adhere moss to completely cover ball.

Using wire cutters, cut hydrangea into smaller stems or bunches. Attach each bunch to florist's pick by wrapping the wire around the stem, then using the florist's tape to cover the stem and about 1/2 of the pick. Push picks into foam, spacing evenly around arrangment.

.

Cut flowers from assorted colors of cardstock.  I used a flower from "Walk in My Garden" and cut at about 4".  Using a craft knife, cut an "x" in the center of each flower.

Attach a pick to each Dumb Dumb as you did with the hydrangea stems by wrapping the wire around the pick and sucker stick.  Insert a sucker pick through the center of each flower and finish by wrapping pick and stick with florist's tape, making sure to press sucker flat against flower and start tape tightly against the bottom and catching flaps that were made by the "x".

Add completed flowers to pot, filling in spaces between hydrangea picks.  Print sign, sandwich pick between front of sign and a back piece, add ribbon, and add to the arrangement.

And the WINNERS are....

The winner for tonight's drawing in celebration of my blog having 50,000 hits and the Blog Candy shown above is.....Staci from New Jersey! (her blog is Precious Memories Scrapbooking and More) Congratulations Staci! E-mail me your addy so I can send your goodies to you!

And the winner of the drawing when I hit 700 followers the other night was Nicole of Croppin Momma Designs! Congratulations Nicole! Your goodies are on their way!

Candy Bar Purse is back just in time for Mom!

I just love seeing what you all do with my designs, and these 3 Candy Bar Purses from Staci at Precious Memories Scrapbooking and More are no exception.  I absolutely adore the way she embellished them with the swirlies and flowers, and her color and paper choices are so cheerful!  Stop by her blog and take a look at her other creations.

I thought this might be a good time to repost these with Mother's Day right around the corner.  I know my mom would love one containing a Ghirardelli chocolate bar and a gift card tucked in the pocket.  If you want to make your own Candy Bar Purses and missed the files the first time around, click here to go to my original post with links to the files for either Gypsy or Design Studio.  You'll also need the George cartridge,12x12 cardstock, and a velcro dot set for the closure.  Have fun with it!

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

Make Room For More Rubber and Ribbon!

I am one lucky lady who has a big room dedicated to my crafting, but with so much room to spread out, I neglected to realize the importance of organizing all my stuff from the beginning.  Once it began to get out of control, something HAD to be done!  So, recently, I started an honest attempt at getting my scraproom in order. After all, if I'm going to continue to invite all of you in for tutorials, I must clean it up. My mom would be horrified at me having company when it's such a mess!

About 6 months ago, I started collecting the Jetmax craft storage cubes.  That was a good start, but I soon realized that they weren't going to solve all my problems.  The three biggest things that needed wrangling were my ever-growing collections of ribbon, rubber stamps, and card stock.  Jetmax makes a couple of units that are perfect for the card stock, but I couldn't find a suitable home for my rubber and ribbon in Jetmax.  In fact, I've been looking for more than 4 years for the "perfect" ribbon storage solution, and my stamps had simply outgrown the space I had available for them.  Something had to change.

I'm so pleased with the 2 solutions I've found for my ribbon and rubber that I want to share them with you, but I've decided to do a whole series of how I've solved some of  my craft room issues, starting with this one about converting your rubber stamps from wood mounted to unmounted.  Thanks to the awesome new storage cases from Stampin' Up! I've started umounting all of my stamps and reducing their storage to about 1/4 of the space they took before.  This is possibly the BIGGEST space saving change I could have made, and I can't recommend it enough!  It's also allowed me to store similar stamp sets together so I can plan my projects more efficiently.
UPDATE: Thank you Jamie for sharing your idea for using the old wood blocks! Visit Jamie's blog to see what she did. I'm totally going to be scraplifting this one!

Below is the link for the video tutorial, along with information on how to order the cases and acrylic blocks.  Take a look and start wrangling that rubber!  And stay tuned for my ribbon storage solution!

Clear-Mount Stamp Storage Cases, (set of 4) $4.95  Item #119105
Acrylic Blocks
118487 Block A (1-3/16" x 1-1/4") $3.95
117147 Block B (1-5/8" x 1-15/16") $5.95
118486 Block C (2" x 2-1/4") $6.95
118485 Block D (2-7/8" x 2-11/16") $8.50
118484 Block E (3-7/16" x 4-7/16") $11.95
118483 Block F (4-7/8" x 6") $16.95
118489 Block G (3/4" x 2-1/2") $4.50
118490 Block H (1-5/8" x 4-7/16") $8.50
118488 Block I (2-1/4" x 5-7/8") $11.95
118491 Block Bundle (Blocks A-I) $69.95

Click the Stampin' Up! logo to go to my site where you can order these products and wrangle YOUR rubber!







click here to view larger on my tutorials page

CELEBRATION - Blog Candy!It's not too late to enter!

Click the image to see it larger

And the WINNER IS.....Staci from New Jersey! (her blog is Precious Memories Scrapbooking and More) Congratulations Staci!  E-mail me your addy so I can send your goodies to you!

WOW!  I can't believe I've hit 50,000 visits already!  I can't thank all of you enough for making me feel every day that my blog is worthwhile.  I love sharing with all of you, and I love being a part of the online crafting community.  I have made some wonderful friends because of this blog, and I hope to make many, many more.

In celebration of my 50,000 visits, in the year that I turned 50 - two big milestones - I have some BLOG CANDY to give away!  Last week I promised you all a peek at my haul from Tuesday Morning.  Well, I decided not to show you and save it as a surprise giveaway instead, so here is part of it - the part I'm giving away!  All you have to do to win is be or become a follower AND leave a comment under this post.  On Wednesday, April 21 at 11:00 PM, I'll choose a winner from the comments and post the winner here. 

But wait, there's more!!   I'm currently at 683 followers.  If I reach 700 by midnight tonight, I'll also give away a pink Target pencil case for storing Gypsy, a 3-pack of styluses (is that the plural of stylus?) that includes one of the new bendable ones to "attach" to your finger for those marathon Gypsy design sessions, AND a surprise package of miscellaneous scrapping and cardmaking supplies.

That's TWO chances to win a prize - one at midnight tonight and one on Wednesday! All you need to do is comment, then spread the word so I can get 17 more followers by midnight tonight!  Easy Peasy!

PS - Don't forget to leave me a way to contact you!  If your user ID doesn't connect me to your email, please leave it in your comment so I can let you know the minute you win!  Good luck!

Had 703 followers by 9:27 PM Sunday!  Thank you all!
THE WINNER OF THE MIDNIGHT DRAWING IS....

Nicole of Croppin Momma Designs! Congratulations Nicole! E-mail your address and I'll get your prize to you ASAP!

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

In Remembrance...

April 16, 2007, it was an unusually cold day, actually snowing in parts of Virginia.  Late that morning, I got a frantic text message from my daughter, "Mom Meg isn't answering her phone!"  Knowing my daughter's impatience and tendancy to panic easily, I texted back, "How long have you been trying?"  She asked in return, "Haven't you heard what's happening??"  At that point, I called her.  I was at work that morning, insulated from the news.  She had already heard that there was a sniper shooting people on the campus of Virginia Tech, and 2 were already confirmed dead.  Meg, one of her closest friends, was there for her first year of graduate school. 

Immediately, I turned on the small television that I've kept in my office at work since September 11, 2001.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  There was live footage from the campus, and you could clearly hear gunfire.  My mind flashed back to my four years there as a student.  I had always loved how peaceful it was on our campus in the little southwest town of Blacksburg, Virginia.  We were a large school - population nearly 25,000 then, but the little town of Blacksburg had only a population of around 8,000.  The student population in 2007 was over 40,000, but the town is still small.  It was unfathomable to me that this was happening there.

Right away, I got on the phone to call my husband and my sister and her husband.  All four of us are VT grads.  Over the next few hours, we tried to get in touch with people that we knew had kids there.  Eventually, my daughter heard from Meg - thank God for Facebook!  As you can imagine, phone lines in and out of Blacksburg were all busy, so many parents tried frantically for hours to reach their children.  Ultimately, it was Facebook that most of the kids used to communicate with each other and with their families.  Later that afternoon, I got another text message from my daughter; "They say 32 dead."  It was a haunting message that I looked at many times over the next weeks, still not believing it had happened.

When word began to come out about the victims, we were shaken to find out that an old friend that we adored had lost his beautiful daughter, and a co-worker of my husband's had lost a nephew.  I felt helpless.  I wanted to help in some way, but there was really nothing I could do but offer words of love and support.  Then I got an idea: I would appeal to all of my stamping friends to send cards to the families.  I posted on Splitcoast Stampers and asked for cards to be sent directly to me, which I then forwarded to our friends.  The response moved me to tears.  Cards flooded in for weeks.  The one pictured here is the one that I made. 

On this day, three years later, I am aching to be on the Virginia Tech campus for the memorial services.  My sister and her son - now a sophomore there - are running in a 16-mile marathon today in rememberance of the 16th of April, 2007.  Please say a prayer for them, and for the families of the vicitims.  Three short years later, it will be a difficult day for them.

Put a smile on your mail carrier's face - VINYL PROJECT!

Here's a quick project that you can do with leftover scraps of vinyl, though it turned out so cute that you just might want to go in search of some specifically for this use.  All images are from the Walk In My Garden cartridge, and I used pieces from my vinyl scraps for most of the images.  I'm lucky enough to use a Cricut Expression and outdoor vinyl at work, and I bring home all the scraps from those projects.

Provocraft makes adhesive vinyl in many colors, and in my area, Joann's carries the largest selection.  Michael's carries limited colors as well.  If you haven't used vinyl before, you'll also need to purchase transfer tape or contact paper for application.  I personally use contact paper because it's so much cheaper.  It's very sticky off the roll though, so place it on your clothing and rub and remove 3-4 times before using to de-stickify it just a bit.

If you've never used vinyl in your Cricut projects and need a tutorial, here's a really good one from Above Rubies Studio.  She used blue tape to transfer, but I prefer the contact paper so I can see through it and get it aligned just right. Take a peek at it, then spruce up your mailbox for spring!

UPDATE: GREAT idea from CherB at Cheryl's Window - use removable vinyl so you can easily remove it and change for the seasons and holidays!

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

Stampin' Up! Reveals New Color PaletteOrder Your Favorites Before They're Gone!

Click the chart above to view

or print a larger version, with

retiring colors page

Stampin' Up! has kept up with the changes in color fads for the past several years through its "In Color" Collections, which were changed each year to complement the standard 48-color palette, plus a neutrals collection.  This year, they're streamlining the system and presenting a palette that contains only 40 colors. Love it or hate it, it's definitely updated to reflect the changes in color trends and customer use.  Stampin' Up! will continue to release 5 new In Colors each year, and they will have a lifespan of 2 years.  That means that there will always be 50 colors to choose from, with 5 new colors per year.

The new color line-up will become effective with the July 2010 catalog, so retiring colors will only be available until the end of June.  If one of your favorites is retiring, I suggest you order well in advance of that, as I suspect that as June nears and they run out of a retiring color, they won't restock.  You can order from me online by clicking here or on the Stampin' Up! logo that is always on this page at the right - part way down the page.  (I'm not a hardcore seller, but every little bit you buy from me helps keep me in craft supplies so I can keep this blog going!)  Remember to also order stamp pad reinkers and extra markers if it's a color you really love!

Here's a complete rundown of what's staying, what's going, and what's making its debut!

Carryover Colors
Old Olive
Pumpkin Pie
Real Red
Regal Rose
Tempting Turquoise
Always Artichoke
Brave Burgandy
Elegant Eggplant
Garden Green
More Mustard
Night of Navy
Not Quite Navy
Bashful Blue
Certainly Celery
Perfect Plum
Pretty In Pink
Rose Red
So Saffron
Basic Black
Basic Gray
Chocolate Chip
Crumb Cake (formerly "Kraft")
Sahara Sand
Very Vanilla
Whisper White

Returning "In Colors"
Melon Mambo
Pacific Point
Tangerine Tanerine
River Rock
Soft Suede
Red Riding Hood
Rich Razzleberry
Wild Wasabi
Pink Pirouette
Baja Breeze

New Colors
Daffodil Delight
Cajun Craze
Early Espresso
Cherry Cobbler
Marina Mist

Retiring Colors
Pink Passion
Pixie Pink
Pale Plum
Orchid Opulence
Lovely Lilac
Lavender Lace
Almost Amethyst
Bordering Bleu
Brocade Blue
Ballet Blue
Brilliant Blue
Taken With Teal
Glorious Green
Handsome Hunter
Sage Shadow
Mellow Moss
Green Galore
Gable Green
Barely Banana
Yoyo Yellow
Summer Sun
Apricol Appeal
Only Orange
Really Rust
Ruby Red
Cameo Coral
Blush Blossom
Creamy Caramel
Close To Cocoa
Going Gray

Don't delay - order your extra card stock, inkpad refills and markers in your favorite retitring colors before they're all gone!  Just click here to go to my Stampin' Up! page to place a secure online order!

Make it a COLORFUL day!
Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

New Jetmax Pieces at Michael's with PHOTOS!

These might not be new to some of you, but they are totally new to the Michael's stores in my city, and trust me, I've been to ALL of them!  The best part is, they are all 50% off at Michael's this week, so if  you've been working on your craft room, this is a great time to pick up some more!  Please forgive the quality of the photos.  I took them with my Blackberry from the boxes when I was there today during my lunch hour.

I bought 2 of these units.  They are $79.99 normally, so I got them for only $40 today.  I think the "drawers" are heavy-duty coated cardboard, so they aren't going to hold heavy books, paints, etc., but what I loved about them is that they have lids on each one, and they fold almost flat, so if you wanted to use one section as a shelf, you could easily fold up the box for storage.  I plan to use mine for yarn and my spare rolls of ribbon where they'll be safe from dust. And yes, I have that much yarn and ribbon!

The glass door cube is my new favorite!  I can picture them decorated in all sorts of ways with cute adornments cut in vinyl on the Cricut.  The unit has one shelf inside and is $34.99.

Finally, a file drawer unit for your 12x12 card stock!  The drawer has rails and comes with 4 hanging file folders.  I'm hoping they will come out with packages of additional folders soon!  $34.99

The workstation cube comes with 4 canvas drawers and a drop-down door that is held closed by a strong magnet.  I got to see this one assembled, and I have to admit that I like it better than I thought I would.  The drawers are fairly small, so the fact that they're canvas isn't a sturdiness issue as long as you don't overload them.  They would be nice for small jars of glitter or embossing powder.  I believe this one was also $34.99.

Additional new pieces that aren't pictured:

Divider set to fit either the 3-drawer cube or the one-drawer cube with shelf.  6 dividers to make 12 sections, $9.99

Mini drawers, fit the top 4 sections of the Embellishment Center. Package of 2, $9.99

Paint Bottle Tray, heavy plastic with 36 wells for storing paint bottles (such as Apple Barrel acrylics) upside down, fits in the full size drawers, $3.99

Peg Boards, hang on the side of any cube, $19.99 (additional pegs sold in packs of 4)

Wall-Mount Magnetic Embellishment Board with 4 Storage Tins, can't remember price, sorry!

Announcing 16 Members of theRoyal Crafting Court!

Click the image to enter the Blogdom

On the second day of April, in the year two thousand and ten, it was decread that all those who freely share their cut files, tutorials, patterns and other craft related treasures on their blogs or web sites, shall be rightly recognized as craft royalty and be granted the right to wear the crown of the Crafting Queen.

As one of my first coronation subjects, SassyLady, put it, this award is for "worthy ladies and gentlemen that share the desire to pass their crafting love and skills to all the subjects in the kingdom without royal fees or taxes." As they spread their wealth throughout the land, these clever subjects deserve to be treated as royalty, with those of use who use their ideas bowing at their feet (or at least visiting their blogdoms and leaving a comment).

The Royal Coronation was kicked off by me crowning six deserving ladies and asking them to go forth throughout the Blogdom and crown other worthy subjects.  The Court is pleased to present to you the first 16 members of the Royal Court.  Though they have not demanded that you pay taxes when visiting their Blogdoms, they do adore comments and will work hard to keep all of their royal subjects happy so long as they feel appreciated. And when you visit my sister Queens, please be sure to tell them that Queen Cindy sent you!

If you know of a Crafting Princess who deserve to wear the crown of the Crafting Queens, please email me and I will invite them to the next coronation!

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

ENABLER ALERT!! Songbird Card Stock Stack

I found this great card stock stack from DCWV and just HAD to have it to go with my new Cricut Straight From The Nest cartridge!  I have no idea what I'm going to make yet, but with this card stock stack and such a cute cartridge, it's sure to be adorable!

The stack includes 36 sheets, each cuter than the next.  I found it at Michael's, and I'm sure Joann's will carry it, too. Be sure to check it out on your next craft shopping trip!

Get rid of those blemishes and under-eye circles!!

Have you ever wished you could make yourself look less tired in a photo, or wanted to remove a blemish that popped up the morning it was taken?  Did the lighting make your under-eye circles look even worse than they really are?  Well, you can easily fix all of that in digital photos, and I show you how in less than 10 minutes! 

If you have Photoshop Elements in any version since 3, you can use this simple and quick technique.  I have even provided you with a photo to download so you can practice along with me.  Just click the link below to download the photo, open it in Photoshop Elements, and follow along with my video.  Pretty soon, you'll be making all your friends and relatives look even more gorgeous than ever!!

Download the photo from the tutorial so you can follow along with me.



Click here to go to YouTube to watch in a larger window

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!Presenting a new award!

Those of you who have followed me for a while know that I started this blog with a commitment to you that I would always offer my files and project tutorials for free.  I feel very strong about that commitment, and I particularly admire other bloggers who feel the same way.  For us, our reward is in knowing that our work is used and appreciated by others, and we get that mostly through comments on our blogs and emails from our followers. That doesn't mean that we don't also appreciate an occasional shout-out!  I know personally that receiving a mention or award from another blogger means the world to me and totally makes my day!

I've been lucky enough to be honored several times by other bloggers' awards, and I wanted to pay it forward and create an award of my own - with a bit of a twist. So...

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!  A Royal Proclamation!
On this date, Friday the 2nd of April in the year 2010, I hereby create this award for all Crafting Queens or Kings!  To be crowned, a blogger or web site owner must share files, templates or tutorials free of charge, and must do so equally for all of the loyal subjects in Blogdom (ie. no "members only" or paid membership blogs, please).  Blogs who sell things are OK, too, as long as they offer something crafty and free on a fairly regular basis.  To crown someone, leave them a comment or send an email directing them to your blog to pick up their crown.

Receivers of the award must pay it forward to at least one other crafty web site or blog, and should link back to the site that crowned them.  If you've been crowned, please send an email to me at Cre8tveLdy@aol.com, along with your web or blog address and the website of whoever crowned you, so I can list you as a Royal Blogger.  (If you need the "King" version of the award, let me know and I'll email it to you.)

I hope you will proudly display this award on your site, and I thank you for being such a benevolent Queen or King who is so generous to your loyal subjects!

And now for the first crowning ceremony, I would like to send you to the following Blogdoms:
Audrey - Cute and Some
Cheryl - Cheryl's Window
Crystal - Design Create Inspire
Elizabeth - 217Creations
Pam - TheBugBytes
Sheila - She's A Sassy Lady

Be sure to be a good royal subject and leave them a comment when you visit, so they know how much you appreciate them!

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

Gypsy Quick Tips

I was over on the Cricut message board last night and came across a thread about a feature on the Gypsy that apparently a lot of people didn't know.  I added a tip of my own that I had recently stumbled across, and then I started thinking that it might be a good blog entry - a few "little known" Gypsy tips.  For some of you, this might be old news, but for others, it will make you love your Gypsy even more!
Here are 4 good ones to know:

1) On the keyboard overlay screen, hold down the upper left silver button and click on any key to see it full screen size.  Release the button and tap again to close it.  This is an awesome one because you can see the image in detail!

2) When you're on a screen that has a list you can scroll through vertically, the left silver buttons scroll through the list one item at a time.

3) On the work mat, if you zoom in as far as the Gypsy will let you, you are looking at your image (or the part of the image that you can see) at the actual size it will cut.

4) When using the search function, searches are case sensitve. All keywords are lower case, so for best results, don't use capital letters when performing a search.

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

Popcorn Box - Updated files and supply option

First, thank you all for your wonderful comments about my Tuesday Treats Popcorn Box.  I have to say that it's one of my favorites, too, even with all the "drama" surrounding its production.  (See yesterday's post if you don't know what I'm talking about.)

I wanted to update you on two things about the popcorn box.  As I explained in my post yesterday, I have reposted the files so that there are actually 4 versions - 1) Gypsy using Plantin and TBBM, 2) Gypsy using George and TBBM, 3) Design Studio using Plantin and TBBM, and 4) Design Studio using George and TBBM.    I redid them after realizing that many of you probably had either Plantin or George, but not both.  If you downloaded the first version, you might want to go back and download it again.  If you have the most recent version, it will say "UPDATED" in the zip file name.  Once you unzip it, you will see that there is a version for George and one for Plantin.  You simply use the one for whatever cartridge you have, and you can delete the other.  I hope now that many more of you will be able to use the file now!

Second, last night I was looking at the service that tracks the hits on my blog.  It tells me where people come from to get to my blog - like a link from another blog - and I often find ones from google.  I love those because I can see specifically what people have searched for to find me.  Anyway, this one had searched for "popcorn card," and there was another entry that I clicked on where the lady had done an adorable little card from a retired Stampin' Up! stamp (that I have never seen and REALLY want now!).  She was using Liquid Applique instead of the Tulip Puffy Paint.  It basically worked exactly the same and gave the same effect, so if you have some LA in your stash, you don't have to run out for Puffy Paint - unless you NEED an excuse to go shopping!!   I'm always willng to be your enabler, and I won't tell your hubby...wink, wink.

Have a wonderful Easter weekend.  Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!