Family Command Center

It's been a looooooong summer and we decided to unplug a little bit. But with one of my kiddos in school and the other adjusting to being an only child for half the day, I finally have some free time. I'm just barely getting in on the blog train for The Silhouette Challenge this month, but I really wanted to do this one so it would motivate me to finally get this project done.

My first day as a parent of one, I decided to take everything out of the dining room, clean the carpets and rearrange. The dining room doubles as my office. I have a decent craft room, but the lighting in the dining room is so much better. Plus, it isn't shut away from the rest of the house, which is nearly impossible to do when you have one kid or 10. With school starting, we're going to have a lot of paper coming our way. I didn't want B's important papers getting mixed with my work papers. Hence, a family command center!

Sorry for the terrible pictures. My camera charger is missing! So you get cell phone pictures this week.

So here is my command center before. It's a mess. It's disorganized. It's also the previous home to our Deployment Countdown for my step-dad. That has been moved and this wall is going to be a fantastic command center.

No tutorial this time. But I did make this sign. I'm pretty much in LOVE with it. I used vinyl as a stencil and painted. So pretty! And if you're looking close, I know my wall is overwhelmed with EST. 2009. I'll have to change the clock eventually.

Here's the after! Picture a really trendy table cloth for over the book shelf, but black is what I have on hand this week. So top to bottom, left to right:

1. Our Family Sign (LOVE!)

2. Clock

3.Calendar (A must have to keep us all on track)

4.Pictures of my kiddos

5. Clipboard for B's papers, lunch menu, etc.

6. Cork board for art work, notes and other misc. important stuff.

7. E's clipboard (I'll probably use this for myself since E isn't in school yet)

8. No command center is complete without a Hello Kitty blue tooth player.

9.Our fish bowl that currently just holds a moss ball. Coming soon: A beautiful Beta fish.

10. And the messy bookshelf that is still messy (though not as messy as the before picture) but all concealed behind a beautiful table cloth.

This space is going to be so functional! I'm so excited to have all our stuff in one area and to have my office area a little neater.

To check out more home décor from the ladies with The Silhouette Challenge, check out:

1. The Moberg Family // 2. Sandpaper and Glue // 3. American Honey // 4. Weekend Craft // 5. Grey Luster Girl // 6. From Wine to Whine // 7. Cutesy Crafts // 8. Practically Functional // 9. Home At Eight // 10. McCall Manor // 11. Dragonfly & Lily Pads // 12. Adventures in All Things Food // 13. Create it. Go! // 14. Please Excuse My Craftermath... // 15. The Outlandish Momma // 16. The Sensory Emporium // 17. My Paper Craze // 18. unOriginal Mom // 19. My Favorite Finds // 20. Architecture of a Mom // 21. Black and White Obsession //

Trying Something New

Lately I've been in a little bit of a crafting rut. I love to craft and do so often, but a lot of the time, I craft to sell and I've just been uninspired. So I'm trying something new...Digital Instant Downloads! I've done some journaling cards for Project Life type scrapbooks, Potty Training Cards and a few odds and ends. But most recently I've been working on projects to get your more organized. Last Winter I opened a second etsy shop just for paper, clay and metal projects and that is where I'm featuring my instant downloads as well.

The first product I'm offering for the organizer in all of us is a direct sales planner.

I'm pretty excited about it. It includes everything you need to get organized in your direct sales business. I know it's going to help me stay organized with Origami Owl!

 

But now it's back to school time and time for all you students to get organized too! So I'm presenting my Student Planner!

 

A few features of the student planner:

Class Schedule Organizer

2 Page Monthly Spread



Notes Section (There's also a doodle page)

2 Different Week Of layouts to choose from.

 

To see more of this awesome planner, visit my new etsy shop!  More designs to come! If you have a theme you'd like to see, please message me on etsy or leave it in the comments.

 

I'm so excited for this new venture in digital downloads and hopefully it'll lead me to a new passion!

 

 

DIY Chevron Photo Frame

Hey guys! It's been a while. I'm going partially unplugged this summer and when I am on the computer, I'm gearing up for Christmas projects and products. Don't remind me that it's only June, I know and I'm no where near ready for winter, but I just sold on of my Santa Plates the other day, so people are starting to shop.

So on to the project.  My sister is doing her baby's bedroom in grey and red chevron and asked me to recreate a few things she found on Amazon for about 3 times the cost of what I could do them for. I love being able to do gifts for people and they don't have to spend an arm and a leg.  This is one of the projects she gave me...a chevron frame.

Paint your frame your base color. I'm doing white and it took 2 coats. I found this basic wood frame at Michaels. Make sure it is 100% dry. I'd let it dry overnight, because I did not and the final result is not spectacular.

Cut your chevron out of vinyl and apply to the entire frame. Don't weed anything yet. My frame is going to be dark grey, light grey, even lighter grey and white so I labeled my chevrons D,M,L,W for the different colors.

Then I weeded away all the ones that had a D on them for my darkest color.

Then weeded away all the M's for the next shade and painted that color

Finally all the L's for the lightest grey.

Then all the W's for the final reveal. It turned out great except for the fact that I didn't wait for the white to be dry enough and it gave it a bit of a rustic look. So I think I'll sand the whole thing a little bit and even it out. This one will be for me!

 

Other projects on the horizon: A chevron growth chart and chevron clock. I'm so excited!

 

These are soon to be available for purchase in my etsy shop.

Metal Etching

Who knew there were so many things you could do with your Silhouette?  When I first purchased this machine, I didn't have a clue.  Now, just about any project I do, I look to my Cameo for help.

This month's Silhouette Challenge is April Showers Bring MAY Flowers.  I thought pretty deeply about this one. I was going to do a paper flower wreath (which I did and is probably the blog under this one), but I'd seen it before. I was going to do paper flowers in paper terra cotta pots from the SIL store, but I'll be working on those for my son's birthday this month and didn't want to do them already.  So I decided to share my new passion with you all...metal etching!  It is seriously a ton of fun!

Things you'll need:

*Scrap of vinyl

*Metal blanks (copper, nickel silver or brass)

*Jump Rings

*Steel wool (.0000)

*Sharpie Marker

*PCB etchant solution

*Baking soda

*Rubber Gloves and Goggles

First you want to clean your blank with the steel wool. Blanks usually have an oily residue left behind from the cutting process and this will effect the etching.

Next you want to apply your vinyl. I'm showing you two different ways.  The etchant will eat away at the metal that is not covered by a resistant. I will be filling those stencil pieces with black sharpie. So far I have found Sharpie and vinyl to be great resistants. Stayz-on stamp ink works well too but this is a silhouette challenge :) 

You also want to use Sharpie on the edges of your blank. This is very important. If you skip this step the edges of your finished project with be rough and jagged because the etchant will eat away at it.

So again, anywhere where there is a resistant, the metal will not be etched. I like using Sharpie when I want a hand written look and vinyl for more detailed work.  You can see that vinyl gives you a much cleaner edge. I added little dots around the edge for some extra decoration.

Now for etching. I made myself this little foam boat, but most people just use packaging tape to suspend the blank in the solution. Do not let the blank rest on the bottom of your etching container.

Wrap packaging tape all around your boat and make sure the blank is firmly pressed onto the tape. You don't want it to etch the back side.  If you are just using tape, same thing, make sure they are firmly pressed onto the tape.

Put on your rubber gloves and goggles...safety first! Pour some etching solution into a plastic container.  And float your blanks on top of the solution. Again, do not let them touch the bottom of the container. Let it take a nice etchant bath for about 20 minutes. Wearing gloves, take your boat out of the solution and check the depth of the etch. Here is where I usually prefer sharpie because you can really feel where the etching is.  I take a tooth pick and drag it across the blank to check for depth. With vinyl it's a little harder to do, but still doable. If it isn't etched as deep as you'd like, put it in for another 10 minutes. The older your solution is, the longer it will take.  I've etched about 6 times with this batch of solution and it took this batch of blanks about an hour. If you forget all about it, you will come back to an empty boat. It will eat all the way through the metal.

When it's done etching, transfer it to another container with 1 part baking soda to 10 parts water. I usually use Tablespoons. Let that rest for a while. Go do something while you wait. I usually give it 10 minutes or so. Rinse in warm water.  

 

***Please dispose of solution properly. Do not pour down your drain, it will etch your pipes, plus it isn't good for our water.*** 

They look a little rough when they come out of their baths. Give them another swipe or two with the steel wool to shine them up and erase the sharpie. Remember the edges.

Use a metal hole punch to punch holes in the top.

Add a jump ring and proudly display your new creation on a key chain or chain.  I love these!  I think these will be some key chains for teacher gifts...or myself!

 

To purchase some of these beautiful pendants, please visit my other etsy shop.

Want to Check Out More Silhouette Projects?

My Silhouette Challenge buddies and I are all sharing projects on our blogs today, so peruse the projects below for a wealth of Silhouette inspiration!








1. Create & Babble // 2. Kate's Paper Creations // 3. Please Excuse My Craftermath // 4. Tried & True // 5. unOriginal Mom // 6. Mama Sonshine // 7. Adventures in All Things Food & Family // 8. The Experimental Home // 9. The Outlandish Momma // 10. Whats Next Ma // 11. Dream a Little Bigger // 12. Silhouette School // 13. Creative Ramblings // 14. Our Rosey Life // 15. Bringing Creativity 2 Life // 16. Practically Functional // 17. Minted Strawberry // 18. Two Purple Couches // 19. Simply Kelly Designs // 20. Grey Luster Girl // 21. TitiCrafty // 22. My Mom Made That // 23. Architecture of a Mom // 24. My Paper Craze // 25. The Sensory Emporium // 26. Ginger Snap Crafts // 27. Mabey She Made It // 28. McCall Manor //

A Project From The Heart

Disclaimer: This post contains the sensitive topic of miscarriage and loss. It is not a topic I usually include on this blog, but I want to tell my story and explain the beauty behind this project.  I do not sensor much of the story in this post, though I have decided to only include pictures of the project and not pictures of my baby.  Thank you for reading.


We had just finished celebrating Christmas with loved ones. Our son opened plenty of presents, I enjoyed as much food as my pregnant belly could handle.  Little did we know that not all was well with the baby. A few days later, we went to a regular doctors appointment only to be told she couldn't find the heartbeat. An ultrasound confirmed that our baby had indeed passed.  I was 16 weeks along and decided to deliver our baby, hold him, and bury him in our home town. At 11 pm on December 31st, we were admitted to the labor and delivery floor at the hospital. At midnight, when everyone was celebrating, we were waiting. We watched the ball drop on tv from our hospital bed. We watched fireworks out our room's window. Being torn between the joy of a new year and the despair of such a loss. Thinking of all the newness the new year would bring and all the memories we would never create. At 11:11 the following morning we said hello and goodbye to a 1.1 ounce baby boy. We named him Gabriel Russell in honor of my great great grandpa Russell G.  This is truly one of the hardest things my husband and I have ever done. 

For the last three years, we have only decorated his grave site with wreaths, flowers and other lawn decorations with the intention of putting a permanent marker out there at some point. Nothing ever seemed good enough. A stone is so cold and lonely. A wreath is so bare. I decided I wanted a bench out there. A little bench. One fit for a little boy to sit on.  I dreamt up the design, my husband made it a reality.  I stained it, created stencils, and sealed it. An unfortunate reason to have to team up with my husband to create something, but this is the most beautiful thing we have ever created (except of course our two other children).

I wanted to write this blog to tell my story. To let others know that they are not alone. This subject can be so taboo and unspoken. Even though I knew I was not alone, the topic of Gabriel is always so awkward and I felt I couldn't talk about him openly. I've changed my outlook on that. Gabriel is my son and I talk about him as if I've spent the last three years with him, not a mere 3 hours. I also wanted to share the story behind the symbols on our bench and show off the beautiful work my husband did.

 Snowflake flourish (on both ends of the bench): Gabriel was our winter baby. Also, you know the glittery snow? The snow that catches the light in such a way that it looks like silver glitter is falling from the sky? I call that Gabriel snow. I always seem to see it when I've been thinking about him a lot. It's like he's saying hello, I'm still here and I love you.

We will see you again (on back of bench): We do believe we will see Gabriel again. Carrie Underwood's song hit me hard one day. Since then, I can't listen to the song without thinking of our baby. 

 A moment in our arms. A lifetime in our hearts (front of bench): I think this one's pretty self explanatory. We only held Gabriel for a few hours, but he will be forever a part of us.

Top of Bench

These images are on the legs of the bench. I'm not sure why I chose birds to represent Gabriel. But I always do. Sometimes I choose Christmas cards and other things we are sending as a family, that have birds on them so I can sign Gabriel's name without really signing his name. Now you know family :) The little boy and his dog represent Gabriel and my husband's dog. We've always said that the DreamWorks logo (boy fishing on the moon) reminds us of my grandpa and Gabriel.  I thought the DreamWorks logo would be kind of cheesy and thought this one was just perfect. And the boy on the tractor represents our family's love of tractors.

 

The story is not all sad. I have one beautiful little boy who is almost 5 (Brock) and a 2 year old girl (Emma Eve, named for my great great grandma Evelyn G. Wife of Russell). Emma was due January 2nd, 2012 (Gabriel 1.1.11, Emma 1.2.12) which was a sign to me that everything was going to be okay. Of course Emma was fashionably late and came on January 8th. I see a lot of signs in things. Signs that things are okay. Signs from Gabriel and God that they're there for us. Emma being born on January 8th was no different. Because the year before, January 8th, 2011, was the day we buried our sweet Gabriel.

 

"Every little thing is going to be alright"

 

Sketching Just Got Easier!

So there are a lot of bumps and glitches in the new program update, but one thing I love is, sketching just got so much easier!  Before V3, you had to select what you wanted to sketch and unselect what you didn't want to sketch and if you're doing a lot of colors or a lot of copies of one thing, that gets pretty tedious. I even did a video on how to break up the colors so all you had to do was switch colors and tabs in Silhouette Studio. It's pretty much a breeze now.  So while Silhouette America works through the glitches in other areas, I will rejoice in the fact that I can sketch a whole lot easier!

I'm going to work through this tutorial with the assumption that you have no idea how to use the new version of studio. I might not even be doing it right, but it's what works for me and it really allows me to zip through my projects quickly.

You are going to start with sizing your paper. I'm using a letter size sheet of cardstock, so I set my page up like so.

Next, I will be making my card 6x4, so I resize a rectangle to reflect that. I work with just the front of the card first.  I'll make the rest of the card later.

I found these cute files in the SIL store. Crazy, but I have never sketched something I purchased in the store. I was very excited to try it out!

Then I designed by card front. I changed the line colors to the color I planned to use. So here you see I have the circle pink and the bunny brown.

Then I duplicate my rectangle, overlap them a bit and draw a line down the center.

Weld the rectangles together and then change the center line color to a different color. I do this because I'll be perforating the green line. Now I will say this is one thing that I didn't like. I want to be able to set my cut lines for this at the same time. I want the red and green lines to cut at the same time, but for the green to perforate and I couldn't figure out a way to do that at this time. Oh well, the process was already way quicker!

Now it's time to sketch! Here you see all my different line colors as layers.  So first I'm going to sketch the black lines, so I check the black box.

Change to sketch pen option. Use a Silhouette Sketch Pen or use your pen holder to draw it out.

Click send to silhouette and ta-da just the black sketched. I'm so excited to not have to select and unselect all the different pieces!

Then just work through your different layers. Uncheck the colors you don't want to sketch and select the ones you do. Trust me, this is so much easier than it was before!

 

In minutes, I had two super cute cards for Easter! I was even motivated to make a couple more because it was so easy and fast!

 

I hope this was helpful as you start to learn V3 when it comes to sketching.  I'll try to do a video soon.

 

Now let me show you something I've just started selling that you might need to add to your supplies wish list.  A pen roll up! My pens are constantly all over the place. This keeps them all in one place and has a pocket for me to store my extra blades and pen holders.  Much more organized!  Right now I'm doing them as custom orders. Contact me on etsy so I can use fabrics that fit your personality!

 

 

It's a Spring theme for my blogger friends and me! Check out all these great Spring Projects to get you in the mood for Spring (not that that will be hard to do).

1. Dream a Little Bigger // 2. So Much Better With Age // 3. Adventures in All Things Food // 4. Creative Carnival // 5. The Kim Six Fix // 6. feto soap // 7. One Dog Woof // 8. The Experimental Home // 9. From Wine to Whine // 10. Architecture of a Mom // 11. Grey Luster Girl // 12. Minted Strawberry // 13. Designed Decor // 14. Tried & True // 15. Silhouette School // 16. Bringing Creativity 2 Life // 17. Weekend Craft // 18. Practically Functional // 19. Please Excuse My Craftermath... // 20. McCall Manor // 21. unOriginal Mom // 22. Creative Ramblings // 23. A Tossed Salad Life // 24. A Glimpse Into Barb's Life // 25. Kate's Paper Creations // 26. Simply Kelly Designs // 27. Cutesy Crafts // 28. Persia Lou // 29. Whats Next Ma // 30. Two Purple Couches // 31. The Frill of Life // 32. Nearly Handmade // 33. Get Silvered // 34. Ginger Snap Crafts // 35. Life After Laundry // 36. The Sensory Emporium // 37. Monograms & Cake // 38. The Thinking Closet // 39. My Paper Craze // 40. Chicken Scratch NY