Designers' Calendar

     Welcome to my very first Erica's Design Team project. I am delighted that you stopped by. Grab a cup of coffee and let's talk Cricut! On this day you could use the Imagine, Cricut mini or the Expression 2. I used both the Imagine and the E 2.
     You will need magnetic vinyl, printable vinyl and solid vinyl in various colors as well as Designers Calendar cart and a deep cut blade and housing.

       I have found it so much easier to apply the vinyl to the magnet vinyl before I cut out the shapes.This is especially helpful if you do a shadow layer for your project. I used the Cricut alphabet that came with the E2 to cut my numbers. They were all cut @.75 but I think if I did this again I would make them smaller.* Just be careful the font you choose. You want a fairly stable font. You could probably use Base Camp etc.
     The settings to cut this are: Speed 3, Pressure 5, Blade 6 and multiple cuts 4.
     You need to cut: 14-1's,13 2's, 5-3's,4-4's, 3 each of 5,6,7,8,9,0's. ( Don't you love it when someone else figures out the math, lol).

      I realized after cutting all these #'s that it would be a pain to move them all around every month (another one of those monthly curses!) so I decided to put them on a magnetic stamp shape. I used Elegant Edges @ 1.25" (its 2nd row down, 4th from the right and shift key. I cut these the same way as the #'s adhering the vinyl to the magnetic vinyl as before.
     I LOVE to try new products and, as luck would have it, I had just received my order for Glimmer Glaze by Tattered Angels in. This one is Fuzzy Coconut which is a copper color. So I decided I should try it out on this project. Ohh I like it.!!! To make sure the numbers stayed put I used some really small glue dots to the numbers. Those things aren't going anywhere! Are you ready to see the months?

 
     Before I cut these out I did some test cuts on paper because they weren't all proportional. Here is the list I came up with however you may want to tweak it to fit your needs: Jan.,Feb.,May,July, Aug., and Sept., were @1.5". April was cut @ 1.25" and June,Oct., Nov., Dec., @ 1.0".
     I used the printable vinyl in my Imagine and Snapshot Nature for Jan., March, May and September. The months of Feb and April I used Imagine More cart. You do have to print and cut the months separate from the magnet vinyl for this part. I also cut the other months from various solid vinyl before placing on the magnetic vinyl. I really like cutting it all at once on the magnetic vinyl because it is so much easier and you don't have to "play" getting it to line up right.

   Here you have the completed project. Now go grab another cup of  coffee and head over to My Cricut Craft Room and see what the other DT members have to show you.My Cricut Craft Room

One New Years' Resolution Fulfilled!

        Welcome to all my new followers. I am so glad you decided to stop by.
    I am going to make this quick since I have a LOT of crafting to do. I am pleased to announce that I have made the Design Team for Erica's Craft Room. This is such a great honor and I am so grateful to have this opportunity.
     I discovered her web store in the fall and OMG does she have great prices especially on cricut cartridges. I have been able to quickly build my Imagine library. So, when Erica put out a call for the seasonal Design Team I thought ok its time to start using some of these supplies and start sharing some tips, tricks and yes, the misses as well. This was ONE goal I had for 2012 to apply for design teams. Cross #1 off the bucket list, lol.
     Be sure to follow her blog: http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com and be sure to visit her store which will reopen Jan. 24. FYI my first post for the team will be up Jan. 16th so be sure to mark your calenders. I'll be using my Imagine!!!

Time Heals

        Even though I posted this a few days ago I thought I'd share this with the folks at Pink Cricut since I was so pleased with how it turned out. Please bear with me since there is a story behind this card (isn't there always,lol):
      I hope you are all having a wonderful start to the New Year. I know I am! Unfortunately some people start off with all the bad luck right in the beginning. What astounds me is the way people accept the circumstances. Either they look at the glass half empty or accept things for the way they are and look at it half full.

     By now you are probably thinking what the heck is she talking about, lol. Before I show you the card I made let me explain the reason behind it. I live in a very small town and, like most small towns, there is the go to coffee hangout. It is owned by a wonderful couple couple who have added a deli and ice cream shop. It is so friendly and everyone cares about each other (for the most part!). Anyways the store was closed New Years day and the owners were preparing to watch the Patriots football game. They were making fondue to nibble on when he took the cover off the pot and it burst into flames catching his shirt on fire. As if that wasn't bad enough he tried to rush the pot out the kitchen door when he dropped the pot of burning peanut oil and it splashed on the floor and the flames raced up his shirt and burnt his face and burnt his arms and chest again! He suffered second and third degree burns.
     Now I bet you are asking yourself what does the glass half full/half empty have to do with this? When I finally saw his wife I was obviously concerned particularly about his eyes. She said the eye appointment went extremely well and that there would be no permanent damage to his eyesight. When I asked about his arms she said it was too early to tell if he would need skin grafts but "you know Mary, we can deal with anything. we thank God it wasn't any worse and are so thankful his eyesight is going to be okay. It will be a long haul 'til he is back at work but that's ok. I have a new appreciation for the work he puts in, now that I have to help fill in his time slot as well. It's been an eye opener for me as well."

     I made this card as soon as I found out about the accident and left it for him before I had a chance to speak with his wife. So, under the circumstances, what can you say in a card? How about Time Heals?

Simply, Get well soon

The outside of the envelope.

      I am using a lot of different supplies lately with my Imagine projects and I am just loving the more sophisticated look I am getting! For example I love adding these metal embellishments particularly with masculine cards. I also love using Tim Holtz folders with my cuttlebug. It all came together so well with the Imagine clock paper from The Heirloom cartridge as well as the solid green paper. The litte tag also was cut with the cuttlebug from the tag dies.Except for the sentiment, this would be a great design for a male birthday card. Thanks for listening to my long winded post. Do you have a tendency to look at that glass half full or half empty?

Silhouette Cameo Giveaway

     Even though I am hooked on Cricut machines, this new machine offers so much more. The folks at Expressions vinyl.com are giving away this fabulous machine to one lucky winner on Jan. 25. For a chance to win this machine just click the image on the right hand side of my blog and tell them For The Love Of Art sent you! While you are at their site please be sure to check out their products on vinyl (also for outdoor use) and  their flocking material.Their prices are fabulous. Good luck and I hope you win!!!!

Happy New Year

     As we ring in the New Year I would like to thank all of you who have stopped by and left such wonderful comments. I hope your visit here has been inspiring, insightful and at times, left you with a smile on your face. With that said, I thought I would leave you with the December "kids" who sometimes feel lost in the spirit of the holidays around their birthday but who really warm our hearts with their presence. Before I share the pics of the birthday celebration I also want to let you know there were 2 more birthdays this December: our grandson Nicholas who turned 5 years and our oldest son Michael who turned 38. Although they live in Florida we think of them always. Here are the birthday honorees:

Ben hiding!

Just in time to blow out the candles. Ben turned 5!!!

Steve (my baby) turned 23 years

Ok, so it wasn't Sammy's birthday. His party was on the only day we have had snow; October Halloween Storm. What the heck, we can sing Happy Birthday again!

Cece turns 2 years December 28th.

Last but not least, Steve's girlfriend Renee whose birthday is today! Happy New Year and Birthday Renee.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe New Year.