A FUNNY CRAFTING STORY

I was pleased to participate in a card-making event for children in foster care. Below is a photo of the cards I made for girls.

I also made some boys cards and cards for medical workers. When I was done and mailed them off I began cleaning my craft area. When I had finished cleaning and organizing everything I realized that I had not seen the flower die set I used for the cards on the bottom row. I have spent weeks searching and finally had to believe that it had somehow been thrown away. I have been in mourning ever since and trying to accept that with equanimity.

Today I was working in Cricut Design Space and trying to figure out how to share my work. I watched several YouTubes showing how to do that but when it came time to hit the share button I could not locate the link. Cricut kept saying it was saved to the clipboard. Well, I have been searching for days for the dang clipboard to no avail. And then the magic happened and I was successful. 

YIPPEE !!!

So I went back into Design Space to find some other designs I wanted to share and kept seeing an item that I wasn't sure why I had it. It was a line drawing of a flower spray. Lo and behold when I finally fully opened the design it was the flower set that I had been searching for. It was never a physical die. 

I have been laughing for an hour.🤣🤣

THE QUARANTINE HAS ALLOWED ME TO GET ORGANIZED. HOW HAS IT AFFECTED YOUR LIFE ?

     While I hope that all are well, I know that many are not. Some have lost family members, friends, jobs, etc. This is a tragedy that will long be remembered. For me though, so far, I don't personally know anyone who has been so badly affected and feel blessed to be able to say that. Also, there are many who are as stressed by the quarantine itself. Again, I feel blessed to say that I am the opposite of stressed.
     I have accomplished more during this quarantine than I can remember at any other time in my life. For the first week or so I did almost nothing but sleep. And then the adrenaline kicked in. I cleaned and organized four rooms in my house. The room I struggle with the most is my former living room which is now my craft room. During the cleaning marathon, I got all of the large items arranged. While I was very pleased with my accomplishment I found I was still struggling to find things.
     I took a break from the cleaning and organizing to make cards for #BEARLYART for children in foster care and for health care workers. I was so proud of my ability to make three dozen cards in just a couple of days. (then I saw where someone posted they had made hundreds of cards in the same amount of time) Darn those overachievers!

CRICUT CUTIE LIFTED MY SPIRITS

I am trying very hard to keep up with my crafting dreams of publishing a rich library of informative Youtubes, blog posts, and Facebook pages all while attending to multiple medical issues. My daughter, who also had serious medical problems, had been using meditations to help her find positivity in her life. She has been sharing these meditations with me and I have been using them also. Even though my health is improving I have been busy with doctors' appointments and physical therapy. I also needed to prepare for Card Class. So today was the first time in a while that I was able to just play. Thanks to Terrie Wytosick I was able to make a Cricut Cutie and resize it to fit my Easy Press.

Birtthday Card Using Foil Quill Pen

I wanted to make a special Birthday card for a friend and decided to use the We R Memory Keepers Foil Quill Pen. Although I had already played with it when I first bought it I hadn't used it in a while and decided to watch a video first.

The video was clear that you should put tape all around the foil to keep it in place and to keep the foil flat.
On my first attempt, I followed the directions exactly and put the special tape on all four sides.

The tape was covering the paper where the word DAY was and the result was that the word was only partially done. You can see that the tops of the letters are completely filled and the bottoms only have some of the lines. FYI the font is called Karley Sketch in Cricut Design Space.

I redid the cut and put it on green paper. I was very careful to make the foil piece large enough that the tape would not cover any of the design.

I was pleased with everything except that I cut the design a little close at the top but decided to use it anyway.

Above is the inside of the card also with a foil embellishment.

New Cricut JOY mini CRICUT

I just saw the new mini Cricut and am in LOVE !!! (It goes on sale March 1st) As soon as I can get my hands on one I will be more likely to include Cricut projects for my card class to try since it is so portable. I just wish that Cricut had participated in CREATIVATION 2020 so I could have gotten a peek and included it in my budget before spending money on other things not as important. I also would have loved to meet Melody Lane and Ashish Arora in person. Use this link to get a look:
 https://cricut.com/en_us/machines/cricut-joy.html

Tim Holtz at CREATIVATION 2020

THERE'S AN EXCITING NEW ELECTRIC EMBOSSING MACHINE

     Somehow I missed seeing it on display at CREATIVATION 2020, but I noticed it advertised after I got home. It is made by SIZZIX and is called the BIG SHOT SWITCH. What makes it so exciting is that you only need basic plates. Unlike other electronic and hand-cranked models, the SWITCH is able to sense the height of the sandwich and apply the appropriate pressure. The BIG SHOT SWITCH sells for $259.00 which is a bit steep, but, if this would be your first and only purchase of a die-cutting and embossing machine I would say it would be well worth the price.

     Unfortunately for me, I already own four embossing machines. I carefully researched my first purchase when I began card making several years ago and purchased the Evolution Advanced. I chose that one because it accepts a wide variety of dies and embossing folders and has the option of an electric motor.

     Next, I added the Sizzix Big Shot Plus because it accepts up to 9inch dies and larger embossing folders. However, it is not as portable as the Evolution Advanced which folds closed.

     My third machine is the Cricut Cuttle Bug, which I inherited from my sister who stopped crafting, I really like this machine for its portability and relative ease of use. And it handles Anna Griffin dies and embossing folders beautifully. ( I have lots)

     And, finally, I recently bought the Tim Holtz Voyager 2 because I love the Heartfelt Creations products and noticed that they use that machine exclusively.

      I will say that, since I often need to transport my gear to classes that I teach, the Cuttlebug is my go-to machine. So if I were buying my first and, hopefully, only, machine I would have to consider how and where I would be using it. Having not actually seen the Big Shot Switch I don't know about the size and weight of it or if it comes with any kind of carry case. I will be watching carefully to see If this is an item I will be aspiring to in the future. (just kidding. I know I want it now, but can't justify buying)

     If you want to see it in action check it out on youtube