Scrap Your Stash - (Reusable!) Ombre Wreath

If you got here via my Scrap Your Stash Facebook page - then Hiya!

I am working daily on getting a Scrap Your Stash website up and running.  The problem is....I know nothing about building an actual website.  Zip.  Zilch.   Nada.  And what I have learned so far is that it is MUCH harder than just starting a blog.  Like a lot harder.  But a website, although it will have some costs associated with it, will give me much more flexibility when it comes to what I can put on it, and that's pretty important to me.

So for now, I'm going to use my blog here at Two at a Time to communicate and post until I get SYS up - which I hope to do in the next week or so.  But I really couldn't wait that long to share my first official Scrap Your Stash project with you!

I finished this wreath last week, but I was waiting until after Easter to put it on my front door.

I found 6 pieces of cardstock from my Stash in varying shades of turquoise and blue because I wanted to create an ombre effect.  I used the Free Shape of the Week from the Silhouette store to cut the peonies from large to small, with a bright yellow cardstock for the centers.

I have had this $4.99 grapevine wreath from Joann for months, but I couldn't decide what to put on it.  Then I had the idea that - with a little extra effort - I could make this wreath reusable!  

Instead of gluing the flowers directly to the wreath, I glued them instead to a thin strip of cardstock that I cut into a semi-circle.  Once they were all secure, I attached the cardstock strip to the wreath with some floral wire.

Now all I have to do is snip the wires to remove the cardstock strip and yippee!  I will have a blank wreath that I can decorate again and again.

At the last minute, I decided to spray the flowers with some Crystal Clear Krylon protectant in the hopes that it will keep the flowers from fading in this hot Florida sun.  We'll see how they hold up.  (I used this because it's what I had in my Stash:)

Here's a few more pics of my front door.  I found the rug at Target and bought it because the color felt so springy so it ended up serving as my inspiration for the colors on the wreath.

Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you all at Scrap Your Stash very soon!

Foyer Re-Do

I haven't really liked the red paint color I selected for the foyer - well, basically since we bought the house in 2004.  It was just too dark.  But there always seemed to be another project that needed more attention (our house was a fixer-upper).  However, last month my husband said it was time for a new couch and I figured now was a good time re-do the foyer too.  I didn't want to spend a lot, and since I enjoy the challenge of re-using and re-purposing, I couldn't wait to get started!Here's what it looked like BEFORE (the blue is painter's tape):

(not sure why this looks so organge-y.  the true color is in the first pic)

\

And here's the AFTER:

Much lighter and brighter,  isn't it!  I really love it!  

Wanna see a closer look at some of the details?  Keep reading...

We had this green and wicker hanging shelf/key thing hanging beside the front door and my husband really didn't want to lose the place he puts his wallet, keys, phone, etc.  I looked high and low for a replacement, but couldn't find anything I liked for the right price, so I bought a $5 can of textured spray paint at Walmart and viola!:

(I'm still looking for some little baskets to put on the shelves but haven't found any to fit just yet)

I saw a cute "Shut The Front Door" saying on pinterest some time back so I decided to make my own version of it.  The wooden letters were $2 each and naked when I bought them from Joann.  I painted them with paint I already had and finished the word in vinyl - again from my stash.  The font I downloaded for free on dafont.com and cut with my Silhouette Cameo:

I was wondering around Old Time Pottery when I came across some drastically marked down clearance items.  I loved the middle of this frame, but the paper around the edge was badly damaged.  I figured I could probably re-do it somehow and for only $1.49 , I couldn't pass it up:

The first thing I did was attempt to remove the heavy, laminated paper that was around the edge.  Goo Gone didn't budge it so I did a quick google search and found that vinegar and water works to remove wallpaper so I sprayed some of that on it and started scraping.  It did scratch the painted wood underneath but since I was going to cover it again, I didn't mind:

I took it upstairs to my scrap room and started going through my stash of paper to see what would coordinate with the throw rugs that I picked up for less than $30 at Ross.  I was so excited to finish this, that I didn't take any pics while I was working on it, but I basically just put the paper over the frame, marked where I needed to cut, and used my paper trimmer for clean, straight edges.  I adhered it with Mod Podge and then put a couple coats on top of that.  Here's how it turned out:

(seriously - how cute is this?!  and for $1.49!)

This little wall is outside the french doors to our master bedroom.  This antique-y table I had in another room fit perfectly on this wall so it found a new home here.  I decided to just prop up the motorcycle print that I found (again on clearance) at Joann's for $8, and surrounded it with some accessories that I already had.  The bowl is a great place for sunglasses and other misc stuff that you always have in your hand when you are coming in the house:

Well that finished up the tour of my new foyer.  It makes me happy every time I walk through it - and isn't that how every room in your house should make you feel??!!

Now....Go Scrap Something!

Britten

:

It's A Happy New Year

I love the beginning of the new year and all the possibilities it represents.

2013 feels different to me.

Maybe it's because I'm not "working" right now. No guest blogging, no design teams, no tutorials, no deadlines...basically I have no formal commitments to anyone.

Before now, this would've sent me into a panic. I would question my worth. I would fret over the tens of thousands spent on my formal education over the years and feel terrible that I wasn't using it to make money. My self-esteem would suffer. I would get depressed.

But I've...evolved. (I hope.)

This year I want to dedicate my time to our home.

One of the things I love about our house is it's 2-story, northern feel and traditional style. But it's time for some updates to the decor. Nothing drastic, nothing expensive. I'm talking about up-cycling, re-cycling, and re-purposing. I want to stop being afraid of stepping out of my neutral-ruled comfort zone. Will I dare to put a coat of paint on real wood furniture? Can I add a trendy chevron print in a way that doesn't look out of place?

I have hot pink hair, several tattoos, & I'm a member of a woman's motorcycle group called The Chrome Divas. Yet my house doesn't reflect this side of my personality. At all.

I'm excited for 2013.

Really excited.

My Last Halloween Card of 2012 *sigh*

It's not just HALLOWEEN today but it's also Card Making Wednesday over at Tanner Bell Designs and here is what I made especially for the occasion:

Picking the paper for the card was easy with Paper Layerz by Megan Elizabeth.  All the colors coordinated easily PLUS her Ink Edgerz in Limelight and 1am matched her paper perfectly (she did that on purpose to make it easier on those of us who are color-challenged!)  The witch shoe and frame are from the Happy Hauntings Cricut cart.

I found the sentiment from last year's Close To My Heart "Wicked" set and used the new Background Stamp from Tanner Bell Designs under it.  The brads are from my stash.

I hope you enjoyed this final Halloween card of the season.  I will be sad to see Halloween over so soon.

Now...Go Scrap Something!

BLOG HOP!

Hey Everyone!

Welcome to Tanner Bell Designs October Release Blog hop! This month Tanner has created some REALLY awesome background stamps! This is something totally different than he has ever done before! If you came here from CourtsCraftCorner then you’re in the right place. If you need to start at the beginning, then head over to Tanner Bell Designs and get to hopping!

I love love LOVE Halloween, so I made this witch card using one of Tanner's new background stamps:

I used Ink Edgerz by Megan Elizabeth and some clear embossing powder to make the diamonds really pop. The witch was made using Paper Layzerz and cut from Happy Hauntings (I LOVE that cartridge!!) and of course, I had to include a little Stickles be-dazzled Drippy Goo punch from Martha Stewart.

You can purchase your set of these amazing stamps in his store HERE!

Thanks for stopping by! Head on over and check out what Ruza has created today!

Now....Go Scrap Something!

Cropped Recap

I was lucky enough to get to go to Wisconsin to be a part of the live Cropped event last weekend.  Even better I got to be in the "Pro" Cropped Challenge that was held on Saturday.  (I think it's pretty funny that Megan considered me to be a papercrafting "pro")

The first round of the Challenge was to create a card in 25 minutes using the mystery products provided.  The mystery package included: white cardstock, Kraft cardstock, a roll of Snazzy tape, a sheet of Sili-Craftz and....a pop can tab.

Here's the card I made:

I used the Kraft cardstock as the base, wrapped the Snazzy tape around the white cardstock, used a punch to cut the heart shape from the Sili-Craftz sheet, tucked the pop tab behind it and attached it with a brad, and cut the sentiment out of the Snazzy tape using the Expression2.  A little Megan Elizabeth Ink Edgerz in Limelight and some more brads and I was done.

Here are the other 3 entries:

Created by (from left to right): Abbey from the Craft-e-Corner blog, Shawn from Craftychics, and Carrie from Craft-e-Corner.

This round was a tie between my card and Abbey's.  The tie-breaker judge selected my card as the winner for the first round.  Carrie was the first participant "Cropped" from the competition.

The second round of the Competition was to create a scrapbook layout with a fall theme in one hour using the mystery supplies provided.  We were given some fall themed scrapbook paper, 2 sheets of Paperlayerz by Megan Elizabeth, a rhinestone sheet...and a Coca-cola can.  This time I came in second place.  My layout is below on the left.  The cute one on the right is Shawn's from CraftyChics:

Where's the coke can you ask?  I took a little creative license and used the can to round out the corners of the layout.  (Shawn actually cut the word "nice" out of the side of the coke can - genius!)

Abbey won the round with this layout:

Since Shawn came in 3rd place, she was the next one "Cropped".  It was down to just Abbey and I for the home decor themed third round.

We were given a shadow box, some Christmas themed paper, Candi's, puzzle pieces, gold thread, Megan Elizabeth Alpha Stickerz, bubble wrap and only one hour.

Here's my Christmas themed shadow box:

Abbey and I both used the bubble wrap to "stamp" on our projects.  The ornaments and Noel were cut from the Close To My Heart Artiste cartridge.  I made the tree by folding strips of paper and attaching them one on top of each other.  The puzzle pieces are stacked under the tree to give it a little height.

Here's Abbey's very clever project:

She wrapped her shadow box like a present, using the puzzle pieces inside so they made noise when you shook the package - just like a real present!

The vote for the third round went in my favor and I was named winner of the "Pro" Cropped Challenge!  What an exciting and totally fun event!  I hope to be invited back for the next one so I can defend my title :)

Now...Go Scrap Something!

Heat Transfer Vinyl Tutorial

I've been posting on my Britten Linn facebook page all the t-shirts I've been making for myself (and a few for Megan too!) to wear to Cropped! this coming weekend.  Lots of you have asked how I made these shirts, so I've put together a picture tutorial for you that will take you step-by-step through the process.

I have used both my Silhouette Cameo and my Cricut Expression to make t-shirts, but since more people have a Cricut, for this tutorial that's what I'll be demoing.  I'm also going to show you how I did this using my Gypsy, but it's not something you have to have.   I like making my own designs or modifying ones that already exist, so I usually use either my Silhouette software, my Gypsy or even Cricut Craft Room when designing my shirts.  But again....software isn't necessary if you are cutting some of the more basic images.

So here's what you'll need to get started:

1.  T-shirt - preferably cotton or a cotton/poly blend

2.  Heat transfer vinyl.  I buy my vinyl at expressionsvinyl.com for several reasons.  I like the Siser Easy Weed heat transfer vinyl they carry, they offer coupons fairly often, shipping is free over $75, and if you order early they ship it out the same day.  

3.  Iron 

4.  Cricut or other electric die-cutting machine and the image(s) you want to cut.

Today I made a shirt for my friend's daughter.  She loves Monster High and this girly skull from the Rock Princess cartridge is one of my favorites.  Here it is on my Gypsy with her name under it.  The font is Alphalicious.  (I didn't realize at the time that I didn't have her name properly centered.  I'll show you how I fixed that in a minute.)

Since the heat transfer vinyl has to be cut face down, I had to flip the text so Keagan's name would be right when I placed it on the shirt.  I decided to flip the skull too.  On the Gypsy, this is easily done by selecting everything and then hitting the flip vertical button as shown below:

I cut it out in paper first to make sure the sizing is right.  I always cut my t-shirt images out in paper first, just in case I have to make adjustments.  I hate wasting vinyl!  So here's the image and text in paper:

I'm happy with the size, so I get my vinyl ready.  I buy mine in a roll, so I cut only what I need.  Another thing I like about this vinyl is that even though it's stored in a roll, it flattens out completely, which means it sticks nice and even to the Cricut mat:

Heat transfer vinyl has two sides: one shiny and one matte.  The shiny side is the clear, sticky, carrier that the vinyl sticks to until it's transferred.  The matte side is actually the back of the vinyl...the part that is adhered to your shirt.  Make sure you place the vinyl on the mat SHINY SIDE DOWN.  I tried to take a pic of the two sides together, but it's hard to see here.  When you have the vinyl in front of you, it's very easy to see which side is the shiny and which is the matte:

The next thing that I always, ALWAYS do is to do a test cut to make sure I am only getting a "kiss" cut.  You do NOT want to cut all the way through so your image pops out.  You only want to cut the vinyl...not the clear carrier on the bottom.  In the pic below, you can see I tested my blade and pressure settings by using a scrap piece of vinyl and cutting a few circles.  See how I've peeled back the circle?  Under that is the clear carrier (you can see my finger underneath).  This means my blade and pressure are correct.  My blade is currently VERY dull so I had the blade on 4 and the pressure on 3.  A newer blade would've cut straight through everything, so always be sure to do a test cut to avoid wasting vinyl and time.

Once your image is cut, you will need to do some weeding.  Weeding means that you are going to carefully remove the pieces that you do not want on your shirt.  In this case, I'm removing the eyes, nose and bow on the skull.  I'll also remove the inside of some of the letters in Keagan's name (the e, a's, and g).  There is a "weeding tool" that you can buy, but I find that using my paper piercer to pull up the vinyl away from the carrier works just fine.   You will also need to remove all of the excess vinyl around the edge of the image.  All that you want left is what is going to be placed on your shirt.

Since I wanted to include a bow in a different color, I cut one separately using a glittery heat transfer vinyl (I was gifted this vinyl and am not sure of the manufacturer, so I apologize).  Unlike the white Easy Weed vinyl, the glitter vinyl is very thick and does not lay flat on the mat, so I had to tape it down:

When I had everything cut and placed on the t-shirt, that was when I noticed Keagan's name wasn't centered.  No big deal...I just cut it off from the rest of the image and placed it where I wanted it.

Now you're ready for the heat!  Most vinyls can be transferred with a regular household iron and firm even pressure, but make sure you check with the manufacturer before purchasing...just to be sure.

My husband found a professional heat press for me on Craig's List some time ago.  This rusty old dinosaur of a machine sat in the garage for many, many months before I moved it to my craft room so I could really start testing it out.  If you've ever gone on vacation - especially to the beach - this is what the souvenir shops use to make the t-shirts with the funny (and usually inappropriate) sayings on them.

Here's the shirt all lined up on the press.  Expressionsvinyl.com also sells a re-usable paper sheet for .80 that I put over my designs before applying the heat.  (I think it's just parchment paper but I'm not entirely sure).  This step isn't really necessary for one layer designs like this, but I like the thought of protecting the shirt and design a bit:

I had already set the temperature (based on what the vinyl manufactuerer recommended) on the press earlier, so it was hot and ready to go.  I lowered the top of the press and locked it in place.  Mine has a timer, but since it's only 13 seconds, I just count it out:

When the time is up, remove the paper protector and carefully peel away the clear carrier sheet.  It is HOT so be careful!  If you find that some of the vinyl is sticking to the carrier and lifting away from the shirt, carefully place it back down and re-press for a few more seconds.

And here is Keagan's finished shirt.  I hope she likes it.   I love that pink sparkley bow!

This vinyl is machine washable.  I wash mine inside out in cold water and hang to dry.  

What do you think??  Think you'll be giving this stuff a try??

Now.... Go Scrap Something!