The Cricut

I see a couple of questions floating about the cricut and what it is and does so I thought I would at least post a link from you tube about what it is and what it does.  It is very cheesy but it is a good over view here it is:
provo craft cheesy you tube video  I use my Cricut for mostly paper crafting like scrapbooking, it is great for cardmaking too.  It can also help in making vinyl lettering, glass etching and many other craft projects.  It is alittle pricey but depending on how much you would use it- it is worth it.  I bought the expressions which is the larger model.  I thought if I go back to teaching I would definitely use it in the classroom.  However, I really bought it for scrapbooking which helps me cut down costs on stickers and pre-made embellishments because now I just cut them out with my cricut.  My expressions came with 2 cartridges and cost 273.00 and each cartridge can range from $20-on sale to $90 each.  I have friends I borrow cartridges from too.  There are programs out there now where you can use your computer to take the images and cut using your cricut but I am really not that great with computers and get easily frustrated that I have not looked into that.  The smaller personal cricut can be purchased around $100.  You can not use the 40 % coupon from hobby lobby or joanns on these but they do go on sale or you can check craigslist,  and ebay for a deal too.  hope that helps a little bit in understanding the cricut.  Here are some sample scrapbook layouts i did with my cricut- sorry the pictures are not that great and like I said the cricut can be used for more than just scrapbooking.

Another giveaway but this one is from Fancy Pants!!

Blend it baby is holding a giveaway of one of MINE!! It is the st. patrick's day pillowcase dress.  This giveaway closes 2/28 so be sure  to check out blend it baby's blog to enter to win one of my st. patrick's day pillowcase dresses !!

Giveaway to Trotter Sweet Peas

There is a giveaway going on at  Whimsy Couture Boutique.  Go to here website to enter for a $25 gift cerftificate to Trotter Sweet Peas.  She has beautiful children's skirts and some great patterns to try out.  I know I have entered -you might want to go do the same!

Quick Bubble Re-do

I don't know if you saw this adorable bubble from Carters.  It came out last year and I really wanted to get one for my daughter, but I would think of all the other things I needed to buy and talked myself out of it.  Well I found one at Savers the other day.  It is a size 24 mo. and my daughter is a 2T/3T so needless to say it would not fit her.   I figured it would fit her in the top but the length would not be right.  I decided to buy it anyway hoping I could make it work as a shirt.  To start I cut off the crotch off leaving as much length as it allowed- i figured if it was too short i could always add a band or ruffle.

Next I ironed a small rolled hem at the bottom

Stitched a straight stitch on the hem

And I was done and loved how it looked on Kate- I am such a sucker for anything yellow!!

I know this is super simple and really doesn't need to have steps explained but I thought maybe someone has a bubble they loved and didn't think of doing this yet.

Nursing Cover Giveaway

I don't know if you ever used one of these- but they are absolutely awesome.  A friend of mine made one for me, of course I didn't know what it was at first but once I used it I absolutely loved it.  It gave me privacy but with the boning in the top it allowed me to still see my child.  The cover is light so great through the summer so your child isn't sweatin' through the feeding.  If not for you this is a great gift too.  Head over to blend it baby and enter to win this amazing invention!!  Giveaway ends 2/23/10

Bleach Stenciled T Shirts

A friend of mine (Hope from the Mom and Tot Shop in Huntsville, TX) showed me a shirt she did with her MOPS (mother of preschoolers) group. They found all kinds of objects to lay on their shirts as the stencil including wall decor, magnets, etc to make designs on thier shirts.  I decided to try it to make personalized shirts for my kids.
Here is how I did it:
Supplies needed are bleach, spray bottle, letters - I used cricut cuttin' up cartridge at 6", t shirts, adhesive spray optional

Next I layed out the letters the way I wanted them to look on the shirt.  I then sprayed alittle adhesive and pressed them on the shirt to keep them from moving since I was using letters cut from cardstock with my cricut.

Now you just spray with bleach using the spray bottle

spray up and let it fall down to the shirt. Let it dry and peel the letters off.

Then I put it on the kiddos!

Here is another picture of my daughter and I wearing a shirt I put a cross on and then embellished with rhinestones but this was my first one and thought I needed to dilute the bleach so it did not turn out as well

I hope you try this out it is fast and easy!!

Applique on Jeans Tutorial

I always wondered how people did this:

Now that I know, I thought I would share for those of you out there who have been wondering the same.  This is a custom order I had for one of my customers. I will not show you how I made the whole outfit but just how I appliqued on the pant legs.  Let's get started.

1.  Use heatbond lite - my favorite to the back of the fabric you want to applique.

2.  I then cut the length off the pants that i wanted to add ruffles but that is not what this tutorial is about so i am moving on.  Then take the seam ripper and rip the inner seams to the jeans high enough for you to sew around your designs.

3.  Lay out your applique on the jeans the way you want to sew them on.  Peel the backing off and iron into place.

4.  Now head on over to the sewing machine and stitch into place

5. Since this was such an intricate design i used a straight stitch.  To keep from fraying I used the wonderful product- Fray Check around the design.

6.  Stitch up inner seam.

7.  you are done with the applique part- you can also skip all the work and hire me to do it all for you;)