Monogram Lunchbox (subtitled yes I am alive)

I guess you know it has been a long time since you blogged that Blogger actually changes while you were gone. Long story short (which we all know is NOT my strength) it was a crazy busy year and something had to give - and that was blogging first and crafting second. And while I have slowly been finding my craft again - seriously my Gypsy skills are so bad I mock myself - I haven't wanted to stress myself about blogging. No promises I can be a regular blogger - but when I have the time I will try. You can catch me in the June Birthday edition of Cricut magazine if you miss me badly enough!

Shameless promotion aside - here was a quick and easy gift "bag" I made for a birthday party my daughter was attending. I used a plain metal lunchbox that unfortunately my ACMoore does not carry anymore, some vinyl and some heat set gems studs.

I used the Monogram font from Wall Decor cut around 4 inches if memory serves and them then embellished the various heat set pretties. Excuse the sad bow tying, but if you are a follower you know that is not a strength. This was the perfect size for the gift which was a paperback book and a gift card, and my daughter was excited to bring it because it was unique. I liked it because it it won't get thrown out and she will get to use it again. If anyone knows of any store that still carries these - let me know - I would love to pick up some more.

Baby Onesies

Hello everyone! Can't believe it is time again for my turn at The BugBytes! and that just a few days after this I will get to meet Pam in person! You should all be very very scared at what mischief we will be getting ourselves into - I can't wait!

I thought this month I would share some baby onesies that I created for a friend using heat transfer vinyl - easy peasy and very quick!

 If you haven't tried it yet, heat transfer vinyl is quick and easy - you have to remember to flip the image before cutting so that when you cut it out the image is in reverse ready to be ironed on.


The details: 

 This onesie uses the Street Sign font cut at 2.20 inches. I lifted this phrase off onesies I saw on pinterest - I thought it was cute and it really fit nicely the mom's humor.

This onesie uses an airplane from Everyday PopUp Card (2.20 inches) ,and the font is from Nifty Fifties (1 inch). This was a big hit because it was an ariplane-themed shower so I was pleased it turned out so well.
I apologize for the drive-by posting but I have lots to do and not a lot of time - it's hard work planning to get ready for trouble!

Valentine Ribbon Plate

Happy New Year to my poor neglected followers! I haven't forgotten you, I am just entering my busiest time of the year, and I am meeting my obligation for The BugBytes today, and I wanted you to know that I am still alive but that I will definitely be hit and miss for the next few months.

I actually had another project done and photographed and because I am nuts decided that it was the wrong time of year for that particular project and to make this instead - so I will be sharing the other project next month or the month after. I have had ribbon plates on the brain since my friend Dayna posted this one a few months ago, and was lucky enough to pick up some small ones at Hobby Lobby on my last trip.And after the ease with which this project came together,  I can definitely see some more in my future!

The details: 

The image is from LoveStruck 2010 and is cut at 3.75 inches out of red vinyl. I will admit I had to cut it a few times before I got a clean cut, but it had been a while since I had replaced my blade. In fact, the longest part of the whole process was attempting to cut the image twice before biting the bullet and getting a new blade out (this is about where the mumbling and grumbling started too but that's another story). A new blade was just what I needed, and then it was actually very easy to weed the image, place painter's tape over it and transfer it to the plate. 

I thought the American Crafts XOXO ribbon I had on hand was a nice fit with the image, and I used about a 42 inch length of ribbon, which went all the way around the plate and gave me plenty left to hang the plate. I tied a knot in the back and then a bow at the top which I did not photograph for fear you would all laugh at my sad bow skills. 

This really was a simple and easy project - in fact  - I am sure this blog post has taken longer than the project did! If I am not a frequent poster over the next few months, I haven't forgotten you - just that pesky life getting in the way - I will be back!

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Another Snow Globe Ornament

Hello everyone! It's time for my monthly post on The BugBytes and I am going to share with you another snowglobe ornament, like the one I made for the blog hop, but this one is a little more grown up. I also took a few more pictures so hopefully it is clearer how it all comes together!

 The details: 
So this is a very similar process to my previous post, I begin with a two piece ornament from Micheals and a  3.05 circle cut out of a recycled cartridge clamshell. Then I placed my scene on the acetate with black and white vinyl. The Santa (1 inch), trees (1.80 inch) and the church (1 inch) are from the Christmas solutions cartridge. I cut each image twice (once regular and once flipped) so that it looks the same from both sides. So this is what it looks like before I assemble it.

I filled the two halves with snowflake glitter and then I get ready to place the acetate inside. In this picture you can see there is an inner lip where the circle will fit (ignore badly manicured finger):

The circle fits in perfectly cut at that size and then I have one half of my ornament complete. 

And then I carefully slide the other side of the ornament in and add a ribbon to the top to keep it together. I didn't think it was necessary to add glue until I came home and saw what my two year old had done to it when my husband was "watching" her *SIGH* all that wasted glitter.

Apologies for the bad picture, but I think Yukon Jack is peeking out there to say hi! I hope these instructions help in understanding the process a little better and I really hope there are some of these left on clearance by the time I get to Michael's again!

Holiday Blog Hop & Snow Globe Ornaments

Hello all! Today is the Holiday Blog Hop for the BugBytes Design Team. This is your last stop on the hop and you should have arrived here from Melissa's blog, and when you are done, make sure to go back to Pam at TheBugBytes so that you can add your holiday project to the linky! If you are joining this party already in progress you can also start the hop with Pam's blog!

Apologies to my regular followers for being a bad blog mommy lately and neglecting my blog, I have projects done just no time to write the posts! And more apologies to the hoppers because I really love this project but it totally does not meet the requirements of having red or green or silver or blue. So what my migraine medicine is telling me is that I should go with my inner lawbreaker and say since there is purple in this project and red + blue = purple then this project qualifies. Yeah - let's go with that!!

The details: 

This is a snowglobe ornament that I picked up at Michael's  - they come in two pieces and allow you to place something in the middle. I decided that they were dying to be made into snowglobes and I have had this idea for a long time - so glad it actually worked out! This is also another one of my "recycling" projects because I used my cartridge clamshells as the center of the ornament! (I have a few clamshell pieces....or perhaps a alot). My original photos are taken on my daughter's purple Christmas tree so I thought I would take some without the distracting background so the directions would be clearer.

 I cut a 3.05 inch circle out of the clamshell using my Gypsy - and yes it has to be that size - 3 inches is too small and 3.10 is too big and then placed a 2 inch snowman from Winter Frolic cut in vinyl with some of the layers on one side of the plastic circle. I flipped the image and all the layers and placed the other snowman on the other side of the plastic circle, layering it as exactly as I could over the first snowman. I stamped two different snowman faces using my Peachy Keen Stamps and Stazon ink and colored in the nose with an orange sharpie. I felt like he needed some bling and I especially appreciated I could use two different kinds - one for each side! Who wants buttons when you can have MS mini bling??

I added some Martha Stewart snowflake glitter to one half of the ornament, placed the circle over it, added glitter to the other half and sandwiched them all together. I did add some glue to the inside rim but I am not sure a) that it was necessary or b) that it really worked. Since this was going in my daughter's room I mixed some glow in the dark glitter with the snowflake glitter too, but you can only see it when the lights are out. Oh well - it was still fun!

This project just reinforced my love of vinyl + acetate - they are a match made in crafting heaven! My only regret is I only bought two of these ornaments which means a trip to Micheals is now a necessity and I don't know when I will have the time! I will strive to post my other snowglobe ornament next week.

Make sure you go back to Pam at TheBugBytes and particpate in the linky party! And in case you need it, here is the full blog hop list:

1. Pam 
2. Jeannie  
3. Jen 
4. Carole
5. Lisa Brooks 
6. Audrey  
7. Mila
8. Sheila aka sassylady 
9. Elizabeth 
10. Kelly Millet 
11. Dayna Sabrina 
12. Lori   
13. Denine Vajja
14. Melissa 
15. Allison - you are here! :)    

I hope you found lots of inspiration and have a wonderful holiday season! Happy crafting!

Blog Hop Twine Winner

Happy almost Thanksgiving! (and more importantly Black Friday - yay!) I finally got around to drawing the winner for the twine set and according to random.org the winner is...

which means the winner is.....

Congrats Missie! Please email me your address at goodybagdiva@gmail.com so that I can get that twine in the mail for you! And I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a thrifty Black Friday with lots of wonderful deals!

Nemo Game, Centerpieces, and Mickey Blog Hop!

Hello! we are at the end of my Finding Nemo birthday party week here AND it is finally time for the Me and Mickey's Birthday Hop! Thanks so much Michelle for asking me to hop with  you all and Happy Birthday to Rexann! You should be arriving here from Laura's blog and if you came here directly you can start the hop at Michelle's. Be sure to stop by and wish Rexann a Happy Birthday!

I am going to share with you today the game I created for the kids to play at my daughter's birthday party. Instead of pin the tail on the donkey we played help Nemo find his home! (If you are new to my blog you can check out my other Nemo projects here.)

The details:
The game board is a 12x24 piece of paper and all of the cuts are accessories features on the Best of Pixar cartridge. They were all cut at 11 inches.  To create the "anemone" in the middle I welded two of the cuts together and then did the same with the layer/shadow cuts. By using different shades of pink and doing some light inking I got the anemone effect I wanted. The larger pieces of coral I cut out in different colors and flipped the image for the other side.

For the game pieces I printed out a bunch of Nemos on my printer and hand cut them out (no way was I putting together more Nemos after doing the invitations) and then I laminated them with my YourStory, well actually my daughter laminated them all and it was lovely because it kept her from pestering me and she thought it was soo cool. Because they were laminated, the girls at the party were then also able to write their names on the Nemos so we could see who put what fish on the wall.

This really was a fairly easy to assemble project - I just wish that PC sold 12x24 laminating sheets so I could laminate the board! (It is the same concept I used for my Halloween Haunted House game I just posted that first.)  Here is a picture of my daughter playing the game (and missing).

And then finally I have some super quick centerpieces to wrap up the party that were a big hit (especially with my youngest who is a candy junkie). This is a scraplifted idea that I got from Carrie aka greenbean on the messageboard and again - quick and easy to put together.

The details: 
With some white vinyl and some 77 cent fishbowls from ACMoore (in fact they are currently that price on sale today) I cut some 6's (1.20 inches and 2.5 for the the larger) using the heart font on Rock Princess and a fish from Animal Kingdom (1.50 inches) and I had a pretty fish bowl to fill with gummy and swedish fish. The middle one I stuffed with tissue paper and stuck in the Nemo light up wand we had bought the year before when we went to see the Nemo on Ice show.

Those fish went face and I am sure because they were in pretty bowls and not just because they were candy (yeah right). Here is a picture of the party room all dressed up!

Over to the left you can see the craft project we made, wooden frames from Michael's covered in glitter with seashells from Oriental Trading.  Here is the sample we made to show the girls what it should look like: 

I highly recommend the Martha Stewart craft glue - it held those shells on like nobody's business!

And here are all the works of art drying: 

Whew!! I am tired all over again just typing all this about the party!! It was a huge success and I was so proud that my daughter was able to fill the back of my car with her donations for the SPCA (and happy I didn't have to bring a ton of toys home). She made a new friend when we went to drop it all off, but that friend was most certainly NOT coming home with us.

And that is it! I hope you got some good ideas here - and I can't wait to see what all the other ladies have done. Your next stop on the hop is LaShavia's blog. I also have some blog candy to give away - I will give away a sampling of Divine Twine to anyone who leaves a comment (make sure you leave a way for me to contact you) - you don't have to be a follower but I would love it if you became one! Happy Mickey Hopping and one last Happy Birthday to Rexann!