FYI Silhouette Users

For those of you who have a Silhouette machine and are still using the Craft ROBO, there is something better. As awesome as this software is, there is better (like I said before). Somehow, I was out of the loop and did not know that Silhouette had put out their own version of software. I was very confused when I looked at other peoples tutorials and their software looked completely different! Duh! They upgraded! Somehow I stumbled across it last week and I thought I would share it with whomever is interested. Here is where you go to download the new software. And if I haven't mentioned it yet, it is so much better! All those things that you wished you could do in Craft ROBO (like erasing, cutting, viewing the image dimensions, etc.) you can do now! And, the even better part is it's FREE! And all your purchased images are transferable! It's a win-win! I haven't played with the new software a whole lot, but I am going to go back through those tutes that I passed over because I didn't have the same software. I hope this makes at least one person's life a little easier!

And on to a few more projects. This I have shared before, but I added a little more to it. It was to simple for me like it was, so I added a few fabric rosettes. I think it finishes it off quite well.

Lovely!

This picture is hanging in our kitchen. We have a phone outlet in our kitchen that doesn't screw into the wall very well. It sometimes just hangs there and it is kind of an eye sore so this painting is covering that up. It is another frame I had and just painted black. I picked out some scrapbook paper that I liked and put it in the frame. The saying and the flourish I did myself on the Silhouette. I cut it out on some vinyl and applied it to the outside of the frame. Because I change my mind quite often, I put the vinyl on the glass. That way I can change the paper out whenever I want!

Looking back, I should have made the words a little bigger, but over all, I love how it turned out.
I see this picture everday, multiple times a day. This phrase is a constant reminder to find joy in whatever season I am in. No matter what trials, uncertainties, or problems I am having, it is a reminder to rejoice and find joy because our lives are a journey to a much better place. We are just passing through this life. Where we end up is undescribable. I am also reminded of Romans 8:18, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is be revealed to us." (Thanks Krissy for sharing that verse with me) I have so much to be thankful for and even though I will encounter trials, I will learn to rejoice through them!

Me and my new best friend...

I am constantly amazed at what this thing can do! It is awesome. We have been spending a lot of time together. Probably time I should be cleaning, organizing, or exercising. But this is much more fun! This morning I have been doing lots with it. I still haven't mastered the fabric cutting, but I hope to be able to spend some more time on it soon. Here are a few things that I have done.

These are some frames (the two smaller ones) I have had put away for a while. They were boxed up when we were "staging" our house to sell. They could use a painting, but for now thew will do.

This was a sketch done with the Silhouette pen! I love this thing. I just ordered the metallic pens and I can't wait to see how they turn out. I don't have very much, actually none at all, Valentines decorations. So I figured I could make a few. These were quick and easy! My kind of craft!

The first blooms from my Camellia bush! I had to include it in the picture. I can't wait for the rest to bloom!

There is a narrow wall behind our couch that needed a little something. Looking at it now, it kind of looks like it should be in a diner with the diamond background. Oh well. There again, it was cheap and easy. The frame was a light brown wood. I repainted it mixing a green and white I already had.

This was a birthday gift. The buckle was cut out with the Silhouette. I think it really dresses up the gift.

Of course, card making is made much simpler. I have made a few other cards, but I was in a super hurry and did not take pictures. I have a bad habit of that.

I hope to be posting more projects! I hope you have a great day!

I am Back!!!

It has been a while since I could really sit down at the computer and have time to blog. I hope you all had a great Christmas! Ours was wonderful. Busy, quick, but very nice. I got to spend some time with my sisters (who are amazing, I think I have the best sisters in the world!) and my niece and nephew. It is always a joy to be around little ones during this season. Abby the youngest is about to turn 2 is into everything. She tried to pick up a dog's toy from their "toy box" with her mouth! She is too cute. And Manny was all over Pops and his airplane book.

But getting on to one of the most amazing parts of my Christmas.... Remember I said I had two amazing sisters. Well, they are so amazing and thoughtful, they gave me one of these for my gift!

I was so surprised and thankful! And excited! And speechless! They way over did themselves with this one!

The other amazing part of my Christmas was going skiing with my hubs out west. We had a blast skiing 4 days and resting in between. We definitely didn't need a vacation from our vacation when we got home. When we did get home we hit the ground running and haven't slowed down much.

I started watching a friend's two children 3 1/2 days a week. It is very enjoyable, but needless to say I haven't had much "craft/sewing time." Once I get use to the working schedule I hope to reserve Fridays for such a thing.

I have been able to play with my Silhouette and experiment with it a bit. I am trying to cut fabric with it, but haven't been 100% successful. Any tips or suggestions will be very much appreciated! I have many projects floating around in my head and hope to post on them soon. I have some vinyl and Silhouette pins on the way! I can't wait to start using them!

Even though it is a little late, Happy New Year and God Bless!

Finally! We are done!

I know. This isn't a Christmas post. And it's to close to Christmas to be posting about anything else. But I really wanted to share this little (big) project. Remember this post? Yeah, probably have forgotten or given up because it has been so long. Well, we are finally done with it.

A long time ago, it has probably been about 10 years, I saw an episode of Trading Spaces in which Laurie Smith (by the way I love her style) did something similar. Ever since then I have wanted to do this. We had to retire our old (literally) rope bed that was for our guests. It was pretty unsteady and we had to give warnings before people slept in it. I am very surprised it never crumbled. So we needed a replacement and this was cheap and sassy!

I love how it turned out. I still have some work to do with all the accessories. I want to get an ivory colored duvet to replace this white coverlet. And as you will see in the later pictures, we need a bed skirt as well. I am also in the process of painting an end table. And then someday I will move on to getting curtains. I am at a loss on what to do. Any suggestions?

I have to give most of the credit to my wonderful hubs. I could not have done it without him. He worked very hard on this headboard to get it hung on the wall. That was no easy feat. I just hope it stays there!

And of course I need to get an outlet plate to cover up all the outlet wires! Did anybody notice that? It is driving me crazy, but I just keep forgetting to put it on my list. And if it's not on my list it doesn't enter my mind when I am at the store. Good thing we don't have kids yet!

Yes, the room is a little bare. I am working on that. There is a dresser in front of the bed that you can't see in the picture. I want a really fun lamp, maybe blue or green. Actually, the color I am looking for is cheap! I can make do with just about anything!

This little-big guy was not very happy. He didn't like the staple gun. Whenever I picked it up he ran the other direction. Looks can be very deceiving!

I would give detailed instructions, but it's kind of self-explanatory. I had my dad cut plywood that was about 5/8" thick. I think he cut them to 18" square. Then I wrapped each board with batting and stapled it to the back. Then centered the fabric on each board and stapled it. Michael then took a really thin piece of plywood and screwed it on the back to attach all nine pieces together. He made key hole holes in the back and then we hung it. The hanging part sounds easier than it really was. There might be an easier way to do it, but after much brainstorming this was our best solution.

Hope you have a great Friday and weekend!





Linking to: Today's Creative Blog &

One down, many more to go.

One project that is. And many more to go. But that's fine by me! There will always be another project. This has been on my list for a long time. I never did anything with it because I never had a place for it. But now I do. My mom gave me this when I was in college. It was nice for my apartment, but I am trying to keep the college memorabilia to one room, the study. Coat hangers don't have much of a place in a study so it was time to fix this baby up.

I added a few coats of black satin spray paint. Then where the GSU part is showing I cut out some fabric and mod podged it on. Then finished with another layer on top. I couldn't stop there because it needed an extra touch. I added some crimson colored fabric flowers (not red because then it would be red and black and we are not big fans of red and black) to finish it off.

I love how it turned out. I am scouring the house to find some things to go on top. I have a few ideas, but of course I would have to spend money.

This is the entrance from the garage. The dresser below is facing the garage door. This is another project. I want to paint it and glaze it. I can't decide to go green or blue. And of course I would like something for the wall above the dresser.

Putting it to good use!

Pretty flowers.

Enjoy your beautiful fall day!

House Pictures

So here are the pictures I began to post last time, but got a little distracted.... Here is our front entrance. The beautiful wreaths were given to me as a house warming gift from my lovely mom. I added the yellow bows. I think I eventually want to paint the doors green. I have realized that greens are my favorite color, as you will soon find out too... Anyway, I am thinking about Great Green from Sherwin-Williams. That might take a little more convincing from the hubs.

I don't have a picture of the whole front of the house. That will have to come later. 1) because I don't feel like doing it (I just got done running six miles) and 2) there is a guy from water billing in my front yard and I have no idea what he is doing. I don't want to bother him!

Here is our courtyard in the front of the house. It is to the right of the picture above. It has a beautiful crape myrtle tree and lots of plants. I don't know exactly what I want to do with this area, but I do plan to add an herb garden in here somewhere.

Here is our backyard. This is a picture of our sun room.

This is our storage shed and workroom. The room on the right has counters and cabinets. It even has electricity and plumbing. It is Michael's dream to turn it into a man cave. We shall see!

Here is another crape myrtle. I have never seen one like this. The blooms are mostly pink, but there is white around the edges. Apparently the man who built the house was a landscape architecture for which I am very thankful. He did a great job. We have tons of camellias and I can't wait for them to start blooming!

This is our patio in the backyard. It is lacking furniture, but that is way down on the list. We will make do with what we have for now. I love coming out here in the mornings or afternoons and read while Tyler (our crazy dog) plays outside. He loves our backyard too!

Hopefully soon I can give you a tour of the inside! Have a great day!

Rain, Rain

Wow! It has been raining non-stop today. And Monday was the same. I am not complaining; I am so thankful for it. It has been so dry here lately. We really need it. Even though it has been raining, it has been such a pretty day. Sort of bright and cheery. And even getting out in the rain today hasn't been a hindrance. It has been a nice change of pace from the hot, muggy weather we have been having.
Today reminds me of a similar day. I was visiting my sister when she had her last baby, Abby. One day it was raining and had been all day. The older kids were getting stir crazy from being inside so we decided to go outside and play in the rain. They had so much fun running and driving tractors through the puddles. That is one of my favorite memories. Hannah who didn't like to get dirty was soaked and was screaming with laughter running through the puddles. Manny and Hannah were making mud patties. They had so much fun playing with their ordinary toys, but in a whole new way.

Rain can often be such a burden sometimes. We have to deal with getting wet while getting in and out of our cars. And even though we have an umbrella, getting in the car and collapsing the umbrella while not getting wet is a trick I have not mastered! Then we have to deal with wet shoes and tracking in leaves and water into the house. I think you get the picture. But rain is a necessity for life. We need it, the Earth needs it.

Thinking about that day reminds me to appreciate even the most inconvenient situations. The rain was a burden that day. We couldn't go out for a walk around the block or play on the swing set without the obvious happening, getting wet. So we decided to take what we were given and make the most of it. There was no lightening so playing in the rain was harmless. Even though we had to get the kids inside and in the bathtub while they were strongly protesting it was all worth it. I will always be reminded to make the most out of every moment, every situation, because you never know when one of the variables in the equation will change.

I would love to run through the puddles again with Hannah, but that will have to wait until a later time. Who knows, she might be running through mud puddles now, but in a much better place.

I hope you are able to find joy in un-enjoyable situations. I know I find great pleasure in days like today.

Well, this is not how I envisioned this post going. I was planning on showing pictures of the house. Since this post has turned out to be pretty long, I will post house pictures later.

I hope you all have a great day. Enjoy the rain!