Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Guest Blogger!


Hi, my name is Michelle and I am guest blogging here on A Place to Be Happy. In my spare time I like to go to the lake and hang out friends and family. My craft of choice is cutting vinyl with my Expression and Sure Cuts A Lot. I love making files to share and inspire as I get so much inspiration from others, like Leslie!! Here is a project I recently did. I made a graduation banner for my niece. The font on “Congratulations Miranda” is LD Delightful and the rest of the words are Shelley Volante BT. You can download the graduation hat in SVG format here: http://www.box.net/shared/uv02xxehe6

You can find more projects and lots of SVGs if visit my blog at MichellesDigitalCreations.blogspot.com

Happy cutting!!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Best Tips, Tricks and FAQ #5

WHAT'S A GOOD PRICE FOR VINYL?
I've been asked a lot what is a good price for vinyl. You should not pay more than .50 a square foot for regular outdoor/craft vinyl (before shipping).

Rolls come in different sizes and widths, but calculate it per square foot so you can compare apples to apples.
To calculate:take width in inches x length in inches then divide by 144 to get the total square feet
so a 19" roll at 5 yards is 19 x 5 x 36(There are 5 yards and each yard is 36 inches) = 3420 divide by 144 this is 23.75 square feet - so you should pay $12.00 or less.

Also don't forget to add in shipping to get the real price, shipping prices vary and can add a lot.
Good luck and have fun!

Best Tips, Tricks and FAQ #4

GLASS ETCHING DIRECTIONS



So many people have asked how to do glass etching, so here are some basic instructions:

materials needed:

glass item ( plate, glass, tumbler, jar)

Armour Etch creme

vinyl or contact paper

**Armour Etch can be purchased at Michaels and other craft stores, it is pricey, so make sure to use a coupon.

**I find great glass items at thrift stores and dollar stores. You will want to start your first project on an inexpensive item, since you may make a mistake on it. You can even practive on a pickle jar or old wine bottle.


**The best and easiest items to etch are perfectly vertical, like a tumbler glass (or pickle jar). Bulbous wine glasses and vases take more practice, in my opinion.


Here is a cut file with instructions on how to use it. The cut file is in the right hand column





Piece A: rectangle
Piece B: ring
Piece C: inner circle
Pieces D: letters

Choose either negative or positive images. Below the black represents the vinyl pieces and the white is the glass.






The top image uses pieces A & D

The bottom image uses pieces A & C


You get different results from each method.

(These are cut in Plantin, but can easily be recreated in other fonts and shapes)


After cutting, place the vinyl on the glass, make sure it is on where you want it and then press hard on each piece of vinyl making sure you have no bubbles. This is an important step.

I use a foam brush and put the AE (Armour Etch) on with a dabbing motion. You so not want any brush strokes. Make sure you use plenty of the AE - glob it on!


Set a timer for 5 minutes.



When it is done, I use my same foam brush and wipe off the AE into a small bathroom type paper cup. (Put this excess back into your bottle, it is fine to use again!)


When most of it is off, rinse the glass under water washing the rest off. (Make sure you don't have other glass dishes in your sink)


remove your vinyl stencil (you can use it again) and dry your item






Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Best Tricks, Tips, and FAQ #3

SCAL2 Cut n Print


Thanks to all who participated in my Cut n Print tutorial. Here is the script and you can walk yourself through it if you want - have fun. Here are the images which were used with it...
You can just right click on the image and save it to your computer.

script here:

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Best Tips, Tricks and FAQ #2

HOW TO RE-STICK YOUR CUTTING MAT...

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


Monday, May 23, 2011

This is "Best Tricks, Tips, and FAQ" week

I am going back through my almost 3 years of blogging to revive some of the best tricks, tips and sooo many of the frequently asked questions I get...

FAUX GLASS ETCHING



I've has the glass etching vinyl around and finally decided to work with it. it cuts just like regular vinyl and goes on with transfer tape just like normal. It looks like frosted glass, but it isn't - it's vinyl. It's faster, cheaper, and much easier. (and removable) - and dishwasher safe.

There is a certain charm to the glass etched item, and even though I've had lots of success with it, I always have a pit in my stomach when I wash the creme off wondering if I had any bleed through of the design and if the vinyl stencil held well.

Also, sometimes the etching just doesn't show up so well after all of that work. I've wanted to add an etch design to my front door storm window, but wouldn't dare try the real etching, I'll just use the glass etch vinyl.

Just like regular etching, the pics don't show very well - they look like silver vinyl, but the real item is a real white frosty look. My husband couldn't tell the difference between a real etched item and my glass etched vinyl item.


Friday, May 20, 2011

Gift Basket day 5


I had posted this bucket earlier, but here is the bucket all wrapped up.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Gift basket day 4


Made the shirt, waterbottle, and container.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Gift Basket day 3


I made the shirt, bottle and container

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Vinyl Sale- Hooray

Love my projects and want to get some vinyl for yourself? H&H sign supply is having a one day sale on Friday, May 20th

On Friday, May 20 enter coupon code FBFRI to receive 10% off your order. "We are calling this facebook Friday. This is a small way to show our appreciation to our customers and fb fans. Your order must be placed online to receive the discount.

Use this LINK to get there.

Gift basket day 2


More gift baskets, I made the shirts, pails and waterbottles.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Gift Baskets


This week I will feature the gift baskets I have been feverishly helping to put together. I make the stuff and a friend of mine packages and sells it. I have spend so many hours on the stuff. Hope you enjoy a weeks worth of gifts.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Shrink Plastic...It's not just for kids anymore


Remember the Shrinky Dinks and how you used to put them in the oven and watch the magic happen. Now it's a full fledged craft! Check out this video - it is really cool.
http://rangerink.com/artaveapril2.htm

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Beverage Dispenser


I'm so excited about my new beverage dispenser. It's a 2.2 gallon, BPA free plastic container with spout. I can't wait to use it at our next gathering. It's much bigger than it looks!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Summer Flip Flop Shirt


Have made quite a few t shirts for orders - here is one that will put you in a summery mood!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Peace.Love!



Here are a few Peace.Love shirts I made. Simple but cute.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day


Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms out there!!!

Friday, May 6, 2011

Another yellow tote


Yes, this yellow tote was just screaming for a Batman logo. It worked great as a Batman gift tote with lots of Batman goodies inside!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Just a baseball T



I made this for my nephew for his 3rd birthday. For those who don't know it is the Tampa Bay Rays logo and then I put his name and the number 3 on the back. All the pieces actually fit together I was amazed...

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Who lives in a pineapple...


It's a Spongebob bucket. I made this for a gift and it got filled with lots of SPongebob goodies. I think the square yellow tote was just perfect! It was fun doing all of the vinyl layers!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Well-Behaved Women


I made this shirt for myself and then my friend just HAD to have one too, so I made her one. I'm thinking a tile with this saying is in my future!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Its all about the SNAP,CRACKLE & POP


I saw this and knew it was totally blog-worthy! I love this idea and I am going to make one for my sons party in a few weeks (boy colors of course!). We have a few kids with egg allergies, so regular cakes are out of the question, but this is egg free! What a great idea...Find it here:
http://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/kids/party-cakes/rice-crackle-cake