A winter fireplace

Needed to update my fireplace since Christmas is over. The hat, mittens and sled cuts are in the right hand column of my blog in the cuts to share section. I used black Wall Pops I had around for the vinyl.

Making my mats sticky again...

This is what I use to make my Cricut mats sticky again....It works great.

Merry Christmas to All!

Just getting ready for Christmas

Busy doing shopping, gift wrapping, house cleaning, cookies, school parties and more...

Snowman shirt

I tried my hand at this super simple snowman shirt, and it came out great. Jut a few circles and a triangle. I used all of the shapes from the basic shapes in SCAL. I welded a small oval to the end of the triangle to round it off. Of course I used the heat transfer vinyl. Directions on using heat transfer vinyl are in the right hand column, vinyl basics, try it, it's fun.

Mickey shirts

My friend wanted matching shirts for her 3 daughters for an upcoming Disney trip. I used the heat transfer vinyl. The letters are the girls first initials. I used a real bow and used fabric glue to put it on. On the backs of the shirts I put a different word on each -Dream-Imagine-Believe. (Click on picture for a better view.) The font from the back of the shirts is "Walt Disney". The Mickey head shape I got from the Mickey and Friends cartridge.

The Polar Express quote

We love the Polar Express movie in our house. Here is a quote from the movie and also the Polar Express ticket. The ticket looks like it was punched - the picture doesn't do it so well.

Never too late for Santa

Here are some Santa jpgs for sharing...ENJOY

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=d4c7f4fb6bdc4761ab1eab3e9fa335cae4e69a5ab28e5c09

After you download the .jpgs. For SCAL 2: click on the icon at the top with the tree and horizon, find the file you want and click it, it will come in on the mat. For SCAL 1: open Inkscape (a free download program), Click file – Import, Find the .jpg file you just saved.You will then see the image on the screen. Click Path/Trace bitmap. Click Update in the trace Bitmap window. Click File/Save As – give it a name and it will be saved as an SVG file. Now open SCAL. Click File/Import SVG, find you SVG file and you are ready to cut – you can resize as needed. As always. comments are appreciated, for questions, please email Leslie.crafter@verizon.net, please do not leave questions in the comment section.

Buttermilk Christmas Bread

Another yummy favorite is this buttermilk bread for Christmas. The variations are endless. It is not a sweet bread, but very flavorful with whatever you put in it. It is best right out of the oven with butter (none of that margarine stuff) schmeared on it. You can also put a simple sugar glaze on top (powdered sugar with a pinch of milk). I like to put Turbinado sugar on top - it makes it sparkle and adds a little crunch. The one I made here is cranberry walnut. If it lasts more than 15 minutes out of the oven, slice and toast the next day - super Yum! These make great gifts wrapped all pretty in clear celophane bags and big ribbons. Include the recipe too.

(The first picture is of the finished bread - The second picture is of the dough -it is sticky and looks like two globs of goo.)

Buttermilk Bread

3 1/2 c flour

3/4 c sugar

1 1/4 c buttermilk

3/4 stick (6 oz) melted butter

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 cup dried fruit (raisins, currants, dried cherries, dried cranberries)

1 cup nuts (walnuts, almonds, pistachios, pecans)

Mix all ingredients until just blended , do not overmix. Dough will be sticky. Spoon dough into two piles onto greased pan. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. (should be a golden brown)

Stainelss steel mugs

I made 2 dozen of these stainless steel travel mugs (from Dollar Tree) for a church charity boutique. The vinyl works so great on the stainless surface. I used the outdoor vinyl so they can be handwashed or are top rack dishwasher safe. One is the front view, one is the back view.

FRIDAY SALE

Don't forget the sale at H&H this Friday 12/04. Their sale is 15% off all GT5 vinyl. (8am-8pm central time) This is a great outdoor and crafting vinyl. It's great for windows, glasses, mugs, tiles, mailboxes, platters, glass blocks, etc. It washes great by hand or in the top rack of the dishwasher. Click HERE for a link to their site and use code "120409" at checkout for the discount.

Having trouble finding their color chart? Navigate in the right hand column of their site. Click Vinyl, then GT5, then Build your own 5 pack, then Build your own 5 pack at the top of the list, now scroll down all the way and you will see a little tab that says "Color Chart" - in about the middle of the screen - click on that!

Christmas Apron

I guess with all of this kitchen time, I needed to fancy me up a cute apron! I used the heat transfer vinyl and made the design in SCAL. Hope you like! (click pic for a better view)

Playing with food again

We've started making Christmas goodies. Hand dipped pretzel rods. I use the candy melts I get at ACMoore. The white coating is mint, the brown coating is milk chocolate. We used 3 topppings - peppermint dust, candy cane crunch and peanut brittle crunch. It's so fun and the best part is that we get to eat all the ones that break!

Christmas Countdown Fireplace

I crafted up a Christmas Countdown on my fireplace. I have the numbers 1-25, so on Dec. 1st, we take off the number 1 and so on. I put little tabs made of a clear transparency behind each ball, so they would be easy to peel off. The font is Weehah, and I made the number balls with a font called Combinumerals. I didn't have burgundy wall vinyl, but since I placed the burgundy on top of the white, which is wall vinyl, it never touches the paint, so no worries. (click on picture for a better view)

Happy Thanksgiving to ALL!

What I love...

What I love is Keebler Flipsides Crackers . I tried them for the first time with a coupon and oh, they are good. Keebler got it right with these!

Christmas Images

Here are a set of .jpg images you can use for cutting and crafting. This time I am sharing them in .jpg format, because, well some folks are snagging and reposting my .svgs in other places. Maybe this will prevent this. I'm sorry for those of you who now have to make your own .svgs. Here are the directions.

After you download the .jpgs. For SCAL 2: click on the icon at the top with the tree and horizon, find the file you want and click it, it will come in on the mat. For SCAL 1: open Inkscape (a free download program), Click file – Import, Find the .jpg file you just saved.
You will then see the image on the screen. Click Path/Trace bitmap. Click Update in the trace Bitmap window. Click File/Save As – give it a name and it will be saved as an SVG file. Now open SCAL. Click File/Import SVG, find you SVG file and you are ready to cut – you can resize as needed. As always. comments are appreciated, for questions, please email Leslie.crafter@verizon.net, please do not leave questions in the comment section.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=d4c7f4fb6bdc4761ab1eab3e9fa335cae41a1d2db5d5beed

What I love...

What I love. I love being able to help people with what I do best. I don't always have the money to donate to every charity I want, but I like to think I have creativity and the ability to make crafts and make people SMILE from them. I made these as craft "kits" for some homeless kids who will be at our church this Thanksgiving. The feathers are paint swatches I got free from my wallpaper and paint store - they were all going to be thrown out. The body is from outdated wallpaper books. I just handcut the bodies. I made the beak, feet , gobble and eyes from the Home Accents cartridge - all of the shapes seemed to be right there. I hope they have fun making these.

Christmas Platters

Here's another item to add to your "To Do" list. Make Christmas platters. They make really cute hostess gifts, especially piled high with cookies. I used the outdoor vinyl which is washable.

New VINYL source

I found a new great source for VINYL
It's CnC Signs. (forkedriversigns@yahoo.com)
Here's what I found. Glossy outdoor/crafting vinyl.
25 foot rolls x 12 inches for $8.99 - the vinyl is .35 a square foot
Buy 5-8 rolls and the flat rate shipping is $15.99
Buy 9-14 rolls and the flat rate is $17.99
Here is the breakdown which includes shipping: if you buy 4 rolls, the vinyl comes to .52 a square foot, if you buy 8 rolls, the vinyl comes to .44 a square foot , if you buy 14 rolls, it comes to .41 a square foot.
This is a comparable price of other places BEFORE shipping and then they tack a whole bunch on top.
I have ordered many times and the customer service is great and shipping is fast!

Here are some of the color choices:
CLEAR,CLEAR GLOSS,WHITE,WHITE “Matte” ,BLACK, BLACK “Matte”,ORANGE,PINK SOFT,RED,RED DARK, RED TOMATO,BURGUNDY,PURPLE ROYAL, VIOLET,BLUE SKY,BLUE OCEAN,BLUE Vivid,BLUE DARK,BLUE NAVY,Dk. AQUA (TEAL),GREEN Apple,GREEN Med.,GREEN Dark,YELLOW LEMON,YELLOW Dk. , BROWN,GREY lt. "Matte",GREY dk. "Matte",GREY ,GREY lt.,GREY Dk. metallic,ALMOND/IVORY

You can visit the site here:
http://shop.vendio.com/CnCsigns/category/4525/

Do not checkout at this site, you have to mention code "LCVinylPrices" (remember: LoveCricutVinylPrices) to get these special prices.

They also sell on Ebay - with the price of $8.20 for first item and $3.60 for each additional item. You can imagine how the s/h can add up without this special code! You can check out their profile ebay id CNCSIGNS.
Send your order to forkedriversigns@yahoo.com .

Checkout Code

Need the checkout code and link for FREE shipping to H&H sign supply? It's right there in the right hand column...

What I love...

What I love...is Cranberry Orange Mango sauce.
Are you getting your menu together for Thanksgiving - try this in place of the traditional cranberry sauce. Everyone will be raving!
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
1 fresh mango diced small
1 small can of mandarin oranges (drained) or 1 large orange (diced) or 2 clementine oranges (diced)
Mix cranberry sauce, fresh mango and orange pieces
Refrigerate and eat.
Recipe can be doubled or tripled
Yummy! (and healthy too)

More framed art

Here is some more framed art I did. I used contact paper under the glass and put the vinyl right on the glass. The frames are 11x14.

What I love...

I love my husband for so many reasons, but I am very proud that he is a veteran. On the VETERANS DAY, thank a vet for the freedoms you enjoy today!

Simple Framed Art

I like to make very simple projects sometimes - it's just fast and very satisfying.

I put the vinyl on the outside of the glass. The wood grain design in the frame is just contact paper. The frame is 11x14

The "Give Thanks" .svg is below

http://www.mediafire.com/file/zmjwjqi1m2z/give thanks svg.svg

What I love...

What I love...

I love planning my vacation to Disney World in January. I'm very excited about taking my son for the first time! Even though I've been there a dozen times, this will be a whole new trip!

Give Thanks

Hope you will Give Thanks for these svgs...

Download here:http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=d4c7f4fb6bdc4761ab1eab3e9fa335cab939d749257f2bae

H&H vinyl sale!!

H&H is having a vinyl sale

20% off all GT5 vinyl on Tuesday November 10th

Use the code 111009 at checkout when you click here.

This came from an email I got from them.

Cool Monogram font

I was searching for the circle monogram and came across this. I think it has lots of possibilities!

You can download the free font here:

http://simplythebest.net/fonts/fonts/hm-black_oval.html

What I love...

What I love is that it's the season to make caramel popcorn. There's just something about fall that I love making and giving caramel popcorn right through Christmas. This year I'm mixing it up with "mix-ins". I'm adding mini-M&Ms and in another batch candy corn. Ok, now raise your hand if you want some!

Jar Candles

I decided to try the jar candles with the glass etch vinyl. Here is a situation where I really wouldn't want to mess up with the chemical etching, so I just used the white frosted vinyl that looks like it's been etched. I used the dark etch vinyl, and I like the detail I was able to get with the vinyl - I know I'll do quite a few of these for gifts. I thought some monograms and family names - established dates would be really pretty and make nice gifts.

Christmas SVGs

Here are some new Christmas SVGs to help you get motivated to start your Christmas projects. Plus one bonus file not shown here.

Download here: http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=d4c7f4fb6bdc4761ab1eab3e9fa335cac30203874506c076