Happy 1st Day of School!

Several Cool Hours Of Ongoing Laughter!!

It's the first day of school in my area, so I made a set of cards for the three of my children who are going back.  My son told me about the acronym "Seven Crappy Hours Of Our Lives", and I knew I had to come up with something better!  Honestly, none of my kids appreciated these cards, but I had a blast making them!

It feels so good to get back into crafting mode, as well as on a schedule again.  I've been quite sick for several weeks, and finally I feel like I'm on the mend.  I've never gotten such a nasty cold in the middle of August!

How about a calendar?  Yup, made a calendar for September, with you guessed it, a back to school theme.

Once again I printed it out at 8in.x8in.  Last month I made a stand to put my calendars on in this post.  So far it's working out well and I don't miss having a larger 12in.x12in. calendar.

I found a great place to learn Photoshop techniques called Digitalscrapper.com.  They have plenty of free videos, and you can also sign up for Premier which gives you even more videos as well as digital goodies!  This is where I learned to create folded corners, which I tried out on this calendar.  It's an easy technique, but I want to practice a bit more.

Of course with today being the first day of school, I had to take some pictures of my two Middle Schoolers getting on the bus.  They did not want any part of it, but how could they deprive their mother of a scrapbooking opportunity?  I had already made a layout using files from SVGCuts.com.  Making a digital page this way is so quick and easy!  I put this layout together much the same way I did the one in this post.  Now the memory of my daughter's first day of Middle School and my son's first day of 8th grade is on a page.

I decided to include the countdown calendar I made from a previous post in this layout because I wanted to try blending two photos together.  Believe it or not, that was the most time consuming part of creating this page.

That's it for now.  Let me know what you think, or if you have any questions.  Until next time.....
Have a Crafty Day!

Items Used:
 Acronym cards:
 Lunchbag digital paper from Sassy Designs
 Kraft Solid digital paper from Weekend at Home Kit by Kate Hadfield
 Georgia-Pacific white cardstock
 Bebas (Font)
 SNF Sketchy (A+)
 Advert (Font- Are you ready...)

 September Calendar:
 Off To School digital kit from Fancy Pants
 LD Writer's Cramp (Font(colored in)- September, 2015)
 Arial (Font- Numbers)

 Layout:
 Make The Cut
 Miss Baker's Classroom SVG Kit
 School Rules digital collection by Lori Whitlock
 LD Charming Bold (Font-Middle)
 LD Chalky (Font-6th & 8th grade)
 LD Hand (Font- Journaling)




 

Calendar Day: Feeling Patriotic?

What comes to your mind when you think of the word patriotic?  The flag, right?  That's what I thought when I made my calendar for July, the month we in America celebrate the birth of our nation's freedom from tyranny, our Independence Day.  I feel very grateful to live in America, and my calendar shows it!

I used my own calendar grid I created in Make The Cut a while back.  On the top where the striped paper is, I added the words "Land of the free because of the brave" to it, to make it a little more interesting, and because I firmly believe it.  This country is great because of the people who sacrificed and who still sacrifice everything for our freedom!  This calendar puts that thought in the forefront of my mind.

Everything except for the fonts and the overlay of the Declaration of Independence (which are from Lettering Delights) is from Carina Gardner's Americana collection, that I purchased at the One Buck Wednesday sale at Snap Click Supply Co.  Gotta love that sale!

Are you feeling slightly more patriotic after looking at this calendar?  I know I am! 

Here's what I used:
Make The Cut!*
Photoshop
Americana Collection by Carina Gardner
Pride and Freedom Overlay
LD Abe Lincoln
LD Remington Portable

Hope you have a very patriotic Independence Day!

Make something red, white and blue and Have A Crafty Day!
*I'm an affiliate for Make The Cut! because I LOVE it!

June Calendar Day

Ahhh, sweet June has arrived!  Summer is on its way!  Only a few more days left of school for my kids, and the lazy days of summer will be upon us.  I'm not sure what we're doing this summer, but I'm hoping for plenty of days at the beach!  What will you be up to?

I finally got to work on my June calendar, which to me looks more whimsical than lazy days of summer but here it is:

I really like the color scheme of this collection called Snap Happy by Dani Mogstad.  I picked up this digi collection, which has a boat load of images, at Snap Click Supply for 1.99 during the One Buck Wednesday sale.  You should check this sale out if you haven't already, but be careful, it's dangerous to your wallet!  Luckily, DH doesn't read this blog.

Getting back to the calendar, there's only a few things I did differently.  I made my own checkerboard pattern for the grid, and I used the pre made tags included in the collection for the days.  I also used the included alphabet for the title and numbers.  The only place I used a font is for the noted holidays or events for this month.  As much as I like the alphabet for the numbers, it made getting them all lined up a bit more difficult than if I had used a font because each number was on a separate layer.  Of course if I had named the layers as I went along it would have made it much easier!  Hint: Naming layers as you drag them onto your project is a good habit to get into, it helps you keep everything straight as you work.  But you already knew that, didn't you?  Well, let's just say it took me a while to realize it, OK?

Here's what I used in case you like what you see:
Snap Happy Collection by Dani Mogstad
Background Masks Collection by Samantha Walker
TXT Modern Mom (font) 

Hope your summer is a crafty one!
 

Calendar Day: Finally Spring!

Alas, Spring has sprung!  Today was absolutely beautiful.  I've been enjoying the sunshine with my puppy Molly who still has way more energy than I do!  

Believe it or not I actually had my April calendar finished before today.  Not that I've never done that before, but with my sluggish creativity I'm a bit surprised I pulled it off.  Will the world won't end if I don't get my calendar done?  No.  But it was a challenge I gave myself about 3 years ago to create a calendar every month,  and somehow I've managed to do it for much longer than I thought I ever would!  So, without further ado, here's my April 2014 calendar:

 

I love the Spring colors and those Gerber daisies from the Sproutlets Mega Collection by Carina Gardner.  They really cheer me up and make me excited for the warmer weather.  I purchased this collection during the One Buck Wednesday sale at JessicaSprague.com for a dollar.  If you haven't checked that weekly sale out you really should.  There are some great deals to be had on digital papers and elements.  

By the way, you don't have to be a digital scrapper to use digital papers and elements, but you do need software, a printer, and some good white cardstock to use them for physical paper projects.  For software I use Silhouette Studio DE for print and cut projects, and when I'm doing a digital layout I use Photoshop.  To print I use my Epson Stylus Photo 1400 printer that I've had for several years and I love it.  For my calendars I print on regular smooth white cardstock, but if I'm making a print and cut card or 3D project, I use American Crafts white cardstock.  I love the look of the texture with the printing, especially on a card, and it cuts very well in both my Cougar and Cameo.  I enjoy using digital papers since they're reasonably priced, and they don't take up any space in my craft room.  Give them a try on your next project!

Have you ever challenged yourself to inspire your creativity?  Try it out and see if it gets your creative juices flowing!

Here's what I used for this calendar:
Photoshop
Sproutlets MEGA Collection by Carina Gardner
LD Punch Out (Font)
Precious (Font)

Challenge yourself and Have A Crafty Day!

Mid March Calendar Day...In Like A Lion!

Yup, March certainly came in like a lion!  We had snow the second day, and where I live if there's snow on the ground the kids don't go to school.  Good grief!  I used to pray for snow days growing up in New York.  We were lucky if we got one!  So far my kids have had a total of 9 snow days!

So, this calendar has been done for over a week now.  I just got to printing it out today.  Then I realized I never posted it!  Guess my mind's been on other things.  So here it is, a combo of what March is all about, St. Patrick's Day and the blustery weather:

In Like A Lion. Out Like A Lamb!

Instead of the usual calendar grid I decided on the shamrocks, much like the calendar I made last month with hearts.  I clipped two papers on to a mask from a set by Samantha Walker.  The mask shape made me think of clouds, so it seemed appropriate for this calendar.  Since I don't have the charmed life graphic set the shamrock is in, I imported the pdf that's included in the cut it set into Photoshop and did some copying and pasting to create the rows.  To make the month and year title I created the shadow effect like I showed in this post.  To be honest, this isn't my favorite calendar.  I've got a severe case of the winter blahs.  I am so done with the cold, and it's really getting in the way of my creativity.  I'm hoping this month really does go out like a lamb, I need a taste of spring!  I do love the set In Like A Lion from Lettering Delights that I used, however.  The lion and lamb are so cute!

Speaking of cute, there's something else that's been taking up my time lately, and it is VERY cute.  Stay tuned, I'll be revealing that tomorrow!

Here's what I used for the calendar:
In Like A Lion Cut It Set
In Like A Lion Paper Pack
Charmed Life Cut It Set (Shamrock)
Background Mask Collection by Samantha Walker
SNF Simon Says Font
LDJ Fanciful Font
LD Charming Bold Font

Go out like a lamb and Have A Crafty Day!

Free SVG Site and A Paris Themed Shadowbox Frame

Hello there.  I know it's been a while.  That's what happens when I get my car back after over a year of having to share it with my husband.  That means he drove it and I stayed home.  Hey, whoever makes the money gets the freedom and the car, right?  Well, last week that finally came to an end.  You could say I went a little nuts and made sure I was out every day since it was such a novel thing for me to do.  Of course I made visits to my local craft stores.  Hobby Lobby was my first stop, then Michael's and A.C. Moore.  Ahhh, sweet freedom.  Amidst all that, I did create a few things.  Some were Valentine related, and the frame I made could fall into that category, but it's really a gift for my daughter who I happen to love very much.  The cool part is where I got the frame from, but more on that later.  Take a look:

Name and face concealed to protect the innocent.

It's a shadowbox frame using the Be Mine digital papers and elements by Echo Park. The rose is from the Crush On You Boxes SVG kit from SVGCuts.  A side note about that rose: I had to cut it three times before I put it together to form a satisfactory rose.  I don't know what it was, but I had such difficulty getting it to look right!  Originally the paper was darker, more like the darker circles on the patterned paper, but after cutting it two times out of that I had no more.  I had to settle for the lighter color.  The black trim is from Michael's and it has its own adhesive which made it a snap to put on.  I had a little trouble making those corners look right, but I think they turned out ok, just don't check under that rose!  Here's a close up of that difficult rose:

Your eyes are fine, it's the camera that's out of focus!

Not the best picture, but the best I could do.   Now about the frame itself.  I learned about this site called Ideogram from this post at Cleversomeday.  It's pretty neat.  You put in your measurements for one of the twelve available templates and out comes an SVG file you can cut with Make The Cut!, SCAL, Silhouette Studio DE(SSDE) or any software that cuts SVGs.  I used SSDE to print and cut this frame by dragging and dropping the digital paper on to the frame template.  In fact, I laid out the whole thing in SSDE which made it so easy to envision the final result.  One thing I noticed is if I used inches, the frame would not import at the proper size, but if I used centimeters it did.  It's not a big deal if it comes in small, all you have to do is resize it while maintaining the proportions.  

By the way, my daughter loved the frame since she loves all things Paris.  I can't wait to make more of these frames for my other children, they'll make sweet birthday gifts (well, they would if my other children were girls, but since they're boys they'll probably not appreciate them much!).  You really should check out this site, and thanks to Kay at Cleversomeday!  I noticed they added a heart box too, it looks really cool!  I love getting things for free, don't you?  Let me know what you make!

To make the frame I used:
Silhouette Cameo
Silhouette Studio DE
Be Mine Digital Paper by Echo Park
Be Mine Digital Element Pack 2 by Echo Park
Crush On You Boxes SVG Kit (rose)
Celeste's Cutesy Corner Elements SVG Collection (corner on photo)
American Crafts Cardstock (white for printing)
Core'dinations Cardstock (rose)

Now go to Ideogram and Have a Crafty Day!

Calendar Day...And A Tidbit About Clipping Masks In Photoshop

Ready for Spring yet?  I most certainly am.  Too bad we've got to get through February, and perhaps most of March, before hints of Spring start to show.  That good old groundhog in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania saw his shadow, which means six more long weeks of winter, ugh.  One holiday that helps ease my winter blues is Valentine's Day, (I think it might have something to do with chocolate) and my calendar for the month is all about it.  Instead of the usual calendar grid, I created rows of hearts for the days and clipped paper to them.  Using clipping masks is one of the most basic things to do in Photoshop, but I think it's tons of fun.  Take any shape you have and make it look the way you want.  This adds value to your cut files because you can convert them into PNG files using Make The Cut! and use them as clipping masks.   Check out how I did this in my calendar below:

Hearts A Plenty!

Underneath "February 2014" is a notebook shape that started out as an SVG file from SVGCuts.com.  I imported it into Make The Cut! and saved it as a PNG file.  This is necessary since Photoshop will not import SVG files.  I imported the PNG file into Photoshop and clipped some notebook paper to it by putting the paper above the shape and pressing CTRL+ALT+G.  Make sure your paper is completely covering the shape, it helps to magnify what you're doing to be sure.  Depending on the size of your shape you may want to scale down your paper.  You can move the paper layer separate from the shape layer to get the look you want.  When you're all set, press CTRL+E to merge the two layers together.  You now have your paper in the shape of the notebook paper, pretty cool.  The heart shapes for the days and the pink mat underneath were already PNG files I'd purchased.  The cool thing about those is if I decide I want to cut them, I can convert them into SVG files using Make The Cut! as well.  Now that's thrifty in my book, but then again, I most definitely am not the queen of thriftiness (just ask my husband).  So what do you think?  Have you tried this already?  If not, give it a go and have some fun!  Let me know how you do!

Here's what I used to make my calendar:
Make The Cut! software*
Photoshop
Love Story Paper Pack 2 by Echo Park (Valentine papers)
Love Story Element Pack 2 by Echo Park (Journal cards)
Be Mine Element Pack 2 by Echo Park (XO Border)
Babysitting Adventures Paper Pack by Lettering Delights (Notebook paper)
LD Charming Bold Font
LD Remington Portable Font
LD Jub Jub Font
Notebook SVG from Miss Baker's Classroom SVG Kit
Carina Gardner Photo Masks MEGA Collection 

Whew, that was a long list!  Keep warm, and Have a Crafty Day!

*I am an affiliate for Make The Cut!  Thanks for your support!
 

Happy New Year!... and My January Calendar

I hope you had an excellent New Year's and you're ready to start a new year!  My main goal this year is to craft more, post more and shop less!  Of course I'll do that tomorrow since I just finished buying a ton of files at Lettering Delights!  Today was the last day of their site wide sale where everything was $1-$2 and on top of that there was a coupon.  I can't resist a sale like that.  The only thing I have a problem with is having so many files to choose from!  As I downloaded my newly purchased files I noticed all the other files I already have and realized I haven't used a lot of them.  I really want to put them to better use, hence the goal to craft more and shop less.  Do any of you have this problem?  I can't be the only one!

Now on to my January calendar which really didn't make much use out of those files, although I did use one to create the grid for this calendar.  I did something I've never done in Photoshop, create a grid with the marquee tool.  The calendar grid from Lettering Delights was a bit thick and I wanted something cleaner looking.  So I imported the grid and drew on top with the marquee tool using the LD grid as a guide.  I think it worked out pretty well.  Of course I added shadows to the January and 2014 using the method I did a tutorial on in this calendar day post.  I really didn't add much else to this calendar as I thought the paper did most of the work.  I liked it so much I didn't want to cover it up!  Snowy and chilly, just what January should be like!  The funny part is in my neck of the woods I haven't seen much snow!  I am truly grateful for that!

So there you have it!  I think I really like how basic this one is.  What do you think?  I did create another one with paper behind the grid, but I think I like this one the best.  Thanks so much for taking a look and reading my rambling!  Feel free to leave a comment!  In case you're interested, here's what I used for this calendar:

Echo Park Winter Wishes Paper Pack 1
SNF Honeycrisp font (January and numbers)
SNF Chantilly Lace font (2014)
Hip Hip Hooray Everyday Calendar cut it project

Calendar Day and a Photoshop tidbit I learned

So here's my December calendar!  I can't believe 2013 is coming to an end! (Why are these letters so small?  Beats me!  They get bigger down below!)

While making this calendar I learned something so I thought I'd share it here in case I forget then I can always come back and look!  I learned how to make a shadow in Photoshop for the '2013' on the calendar.  There is more than one way to do it, but I think the way I show here is the easiest for me.  Here are the steps I took:

1.Type the characters and under the layer style menu choose stroke.

 2. Select the size (#pixels) and color of the stroke (this is a matter of preference) and click OK.

 3. Create a new layer and draw a rectangle using the rectangular marquee tool.   Fill the rectangle with the same color as the shadow (teal) using the paintbucket tool.

 4. Put the rectangle layer under the character layer (brown), choose the rectangle and shadow layer (teal), right click and select merge layers.  This allows you to separate the layers in the next step.
 

The rectangle is between the bottom shadow layer and the brown letters

 5. To separate the two shapes select the original characters (brown)with the magic wand, right click and choose layer via cut.

6. To make the shadow a solid shape, first duplicate the original (brown).  Close the eye on the top copy because it is above the original and you won't be able to see it unless you do!  Select the original with the magic wand and color it the same color as the shadow (teal) using the paintbucket.

7.Now all you have to do is select both layers and merge them.

8. You now have your original characters as well as a solid shadow shape!

So, was that too confusing?  I've never really written a "tutorial" before if that's what this is!  I'm sure plenty of you know how to do this (it was a revelation for me!), so this isn't for you!  Actually for me it would have been easier to go into Make The Cut and create a shadow in less than 5 seconds, but I happened to be in Photoshop and I was too lazy to open another program and go through that process.  I don't think it's a bad idea to learn things in more than one program either, makes you super knowledgeable!  In case you're interested here is what I used for my calendar:

Carta Bella Merry and Bright digi papers and elements from Jessica Sprague
Calendar Builder graphic set (grid and 'December') from LD
Fonts (all from Scrapnfonts):
SNFSimonsays
SNFSimonsays3D
SNFSunday

See ya later and just keep crafting!  Of course, you could leave a comment too!
                         

My November Calendar...a little late!

So here's my November digi calendar.  I made it using Lori Whitlock's Autumn Afternoon Collection that I purchased from Jessica Sprague.  I know, it's not that exciting, but I wanted to make sure I got it posted before the end of the month!  

I can't believe Halloween has come and gone and I didn't post a thing!  Perhaps it's not too tragic if I dare to post Halloween crafts in November?  Hope nothing bad happens....

These are both files from SVGCuts.com.  Love their files and these were so fun to make. These are both from the Spooky Soiree kit. I didn't get a picture of the tree with the candles on it, at least I don't think I put it on my computer, so this will have to do.  I love the paper on the tree, it's from Authentique.  If anybody sees this, thanks for taking a look and please do comment!  Keep on crafting! 

A Return to Blogging and a Calendar

     I made a resolution at the beginning of the year that I would start blogging again.  Well, 2013 is almost over, and I thought maybe I should make good on that promise to myself.
     Since my last post, I've entered an entirely different world of cutting machine.  More than a year ago I purchased a 24" Black Cat Cougar from That's Scrap Inc.  At first I was quite intimidated by this large machine.  It took me quite a while to get used to how differently it worked from my previous machine.  Eventually I felt more comfortable with it, however there have been some bumps in the road.  Perhaps I'll highlight these in the future.  
     In May 2013 I purchased a Silhouette Cameo entirely because of its print and cut capability and because Jin at Under A Cherry Tree told me to (LOL)!  She has some awesome tutorials and projects using this machine which convinced me to buy it.  I love the simplicity of this machine and I've enjoyed using it.  
     During the summer of 2012 I rediscovered a company called SVGCuts.  I had been to their website before, but nothing there really caught my attention for some reason.  But when I stumbled upon them again, I realized I'd been missing quite a lot!  What caught my eye was a 3D apple in a kit called Miss Baker's Classroom.  I was blown away and I just had to have it!  But they have a secret.  They release a new kit almost every week.  That's how they get you!  It's truly addictive.  The best part is they take the time to present their products in a very professional way.  You get to see the finished product, and not only that you get a video assembly tutorial.  I have yet to find another site that puts as much time and energy into their product and customer service.  And I want to say a big congratulations to the owners Mary and Leo for winning the Martha Stewart American Made Award!  They truly deserved it.
     Of course I am still addicted to Lettering Delights, they have some great stuff too!  LD now offers their cutting files in multiple formats which is very nice!    
     Cutting machines are not the only thing I want to focus on here since digital crafting has caught my eye as well.  I have so many digital supplies now I don't know if I'll ever get to use them all.  I love how little space they take up in my craft room (they're practically invisible to DH's naked eyes!) and how affordable they are!    Speaking of digital supplies, since it's the 1st of the month it's calendar day in my world.  So here's my October calendar I made using supplies from JessicaSprague.com.

The papers are from a collection by Carina Gardner called Haunted.  I also used a template from Scrapgirls.com.  I still have A LOT to learn, but it's the most fun I've had learning ever!  I guess this was a bit long, so if you're still here, thanks!  Feel free to tell me what you think!  Keep crafting and stop by again some time!