Mini Album Using Recyclables!

I created this little mini photo album for the February Cricut Mini Albums Magazine. I created a similar album on my blog awhile back that you can see HERE. I have additional step by steps a little further down on how you can make a little album with a recycled ribbon spool.  I used the Sweethearts Cricut Cartridge for the cute couple in the Love Bug.  I added a bit of doily and a flower cut from the Mother's Day Bouquet Cartridge. 

Here's a look at the album when it is completely open. :)

The ribbon spool houses the circular photos.... 

Any ribbon spool will work, I just happened to use a Papertrey one.  I took one side off and adhered designer paper to it.  

The bottom portion was painted black and sprinkled with glitter. Glitter always makes things better! :D Cut your pictures into circles with a Circle punch or Spellbinder's circle die.  

Here is the magazine's photo.....Love how they stage the projects!  I wish I could do such a good job! 

It is prom night for Cortney and Kyle's Spring dance....so busy day ahead of me!  :)

Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday to my Cortney!

 18 years ago today, my little dolly, Cortney was born.  No one knew what this little baby had in store for us.  She has taught us so many things about life.  

Patience.

Persistence 

Respect. 

Love. 

Acceptance.  

She is the happiest, most loved little (big) girl in the entire world.  

This poem best sums up what words fail to describe.....

It still makes me cry when I read it.

Welcome to Holland

 Emily Perl Kingsley.

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

She is my Holland.

Beautiful, sweet Holland.

How to Cut Felt Using Your Cricut!

Good morning to you!  I often see questions regarding how to cut felt or other materials using your Cricut.  I have a step by step tutorial on how to do it.  

First, I will show you the card I created using 3 different colors of Papertrey felt. 

I would recommend an image that isn’t too detailed, or you may not get a clean cut.  I chose the peach image from the Just Because Cartridge. 

The  little tag was cut using my Sentimentals Cartridge.  I created a glittery matte for my peach by cutting a paper doily to place behind it using the Paper Lace Cartridge. 

Here are the supplies you will need.  Grab the colors of felt you want for your project and a product called, Heat and Bond.  

You will need to cut the Heat and Bond to the size of your felt.

There is a bumpy side, and that is the side that needs to be placed face down on your fabric.

Put your iron on a medium setting and iron it on to the felt. 

When you are ready to cut, use masking tape to secure the fabric face down to the mat.  This is important to get a clean cut.  

Use the deep cut blade and cut it twice to make sure it cuts cleanly.

Once your image is cut, you can peel the Heat and Bond off.  To add a bit of dimension to my cuts, I stitched around the perimeter.  I added glitter to my cuts, because.....well....I have a glitter problem! LOL!

I did add layers with my paper pieces, seam binding, ribbon, button, and stick pin.  

I hope this tutorial was helpful! If you have any questions please leave a comment or e-mail me, and I will be sure to get back to you!

Enjoy your day!

Friendship

Good morning! I hope you all had a great weekend.  It was finally warmer and sunny here, so I was able to get some gardening done.  It felt good to get outside and take in all of the spring around me!

I have a spring inspired card that uses a pretty set by JustRite called, Friends Antique Labels One.   I stamped the sentiment in Versamark and sprinkled it with white embossing powder.  The frame behind it was done with a pretty turquoise embossing powder. Both pieces were cut out using the coordinating Spellbinder's die, Antique Labels One.

I used JustRite's Embroidered Background stamp.....for the background. ;) It was stamped on Kraft paper using Versamark and embossed in white.  I added flowers and leaves and a bit of twine to finish it off.

This week is going to be a crazy one.  We have Cort's birthday, prom, and Kyle's spring dance.  Lots of preparations in order!

Have a great day my friends!