A Joy Shared...

Hey Y'all,

 I know I have really been lazy and not posting any of my creations, that is because I haven't made any. Seriously! It has been so muggy here and we only have evaporate coolers for cooling so using that in muggy weather only makes you muggier and very very grouchy! Well it does me anyway. When It is that hot it is hard for me to concentrate or create.  It finally let up on Sunday and Monday I spent all day designing one of my Christmas cards I will send. Yep all day.. I can't show you as some of the people I will be sending them to would see them. Anyhoo, grab a cup of coffee or some Sweet Tea and set with me a spell I promise I will make it as short as I can. Good morning to you and thank you for joining me. (how rude of me not to greet y'all, my mama would be embarrassed)

There is a new kit out but I have been playing a bit with the VW Bus kit.. It is called Surf Shack. As many of you already know I had made a "Groovy" Bus for my friend Judy at her request, Welllllll, When I took it to church on Sunday I was sitting at the table doing one of my jobs I have the blessing of doing and our Youth Pastor came over to me very excited. I had put the Bus on Judy's inbox outside of her door and  Pastor Daniel saw it. I should explain that Pastor Daniel was a huge surfer before he came to our church and lived down in the San Diego area, before joining us in the High Desert.  He came to our church with his blond dreadlocks and wore flip flops all the time. So surfer like!

 As I sat at the table he came over waving his arms and saying did you make that amazing bus???? I said yes and your going to get one. ( I had been told by the Lord that Daniel would love it as I set it on top of the inbox)  Daniel was so excited he could hardly contain himself. I asked him to describe what his bus would look like if he could have one. He told me all about how it would be decorated by the youth at a church in our area, and then finished with but if he had to choose one color it would be hunter green.( all the while his arms a waving around and he is almost dancing as he explains all this to me)  I was smiling and listening and decided to pray first and ask what God wanted this bus to be as well. So this is what I feel God told me to make.
 I cut the bus according to Mary's instructions I used pine Green for the body and latte for the top. ( AC Card Stock Colors)  The frog was a freebie I got off another site I had seen it earlier last week and thought it was perfect. I used Evergreen, Grass and Lemon Yellow for the frog.

 Then I used my sketch pens to put all the scriptures about Trust and Trusting God on the panels.The sketch pens are from Silhouette America. I really like them a lot!

The License plate says Shalom because Daniel always greets us (the congregation) with Shalom Family.. I used Echo Parks A Perfect Summer to make the surf board tops and a large eyelet smashed and hot glued on top with a loop of black and white twine then a white cord with a Velcro circle for the "leash". I used a new hot glue gun I just bought by Surebonder. It is a mini Glue gun that does detail work. I really like it. I ordered it off of Amazon for those interested. A HUGE thank you to Deb and Sandee for helping me with the "leash" for the surf board.  I couldn't remember how it had been fastened to the board and they helped me. The rack for the surf boards was made making two 1/2 wide rectangles and adding two score lines near each end to get the bend right. I cut 4 of each of those to glue two together for strength. Then I used the detail hot glue gun and hot glued them to the top.
 I also used Epiphany tools bubble caps for the hubcaps and the front peace symbol. . I also used Hero Arts metallic Decor for the tail lights.

As Always I will post the link to the kit I used. I need to make one more with the latte and Blue for my Daughter in Law. Then I can get to trying to make that Beer Stein. My Kid and his kids are coming for a visit in a couple of weeks and I am more than a little excited to see them. I Love those grand babies of mine so very much. Jen (DIL)  shares my love for paper crafting so that is nice as well. I will share on my page how the Bus was received but I know he is going to be soooo excited.
Paper Crafting for me, is a joy  that is best shared and that is just one of the perks of making things and giving them. God gave me this special gift and therefore I must share. Blessings to you all and thank you so much for stopping by and reading my blog. Have an amazingly blessed day Y'all.
Love Sharalyn

 Check out the new kit will ya?? I have seen some really cute stuff coming up on that Facebook Page. It is called Farmhouse Kitchen SVG Kit. Happy Crafting Y'all!!!!
Much Blessings to you!

Kits Used:
Surf Shack SVG Kit


NEWEST KIT:
Farmhouse Kitchen SVG Kit

Pumpkin Patch Kids

Morning Y'all

The night I finished my Maple Manor I was sitting at the dinning room table waiting for the dog to finish eating. (she quits eating if we aren't in our spots) Anyway I was thinking about Kathy's Christmas design for the design team and how cute it was. Well then I got this idea and grabbed the first piece of paper that was around. In this case it was a throw away from the mail. I drew a rough sketch and then finished making our dinner. As we were eating my husband heard my machine in the other room making its funny cutting noises and looked at me quizzically. He said what are you cutting now??? I smiled and said " oh just a wild hair I got". I showed him my quickie sketch and he smiled.. That is how these guys came about. So here is the sketch and then I will show you the picture of the finished product.
 So Here is one of the Pumpkin Patch Kids the other is a Jack O Lantern. Oh I heard you grown at my pun!

 So Anyhoo this is how I made these guys. I started with the lantern from Crisp Days of Fall SVG Kit and added the Face from the cute little pumpkin box in Gimme Candy SVG Kit. I inked the card stock Vellum myself with a sponge and pigment ink. Pigment ink dries slower than dye ink. Dye ink has crisp lines and dries a lot quicker. Ok that is your lesson for the day we're done! Just kidding!! so you could do this on your printer using print to cut and you do get a nice color that way but I like to match  colors as best I can with something like this and this way I can try things out without using up my printer ink. I would love the continuous ink system but the new laptop is first on the wish list.

I cut the face out from the Gimme Candy kit. It was from  the cute pumpkin box Mary made. I have found it helps me a lot when sizing things to put it and in this case the lantern on the mat then size it to match or fit what I am working with. I put the lantern together as Mary suggests then I added the face but it is not on the side that you would think. I put it on the side of the lantern so that the "back is just to the right. That way when the gift box below is opened the tea light wont fall out. Clever huh? OK seriously I don't usually think that far ahead.. LOL. Now this wont work for the scarecrow as I just made him just  a lantern. His "pole" is through the box top and glued down to the inside of the box. The "pole" is actually part of a roller from plastic wrap and I cut it to be about 4".  The box is from the One Piece Boxes Kit that we were given for free one year at Christmas. Yep Mary and Leo do that sometimes too! Along with the great prizes they offer and the free kit with a purchase of 9.98. I used the chin piece on the Jack O lantern as well but you can't see it with the big bow.

 The bow was from the Gift Boxes kit and was the large bow.. The Gift Boxes is another great kit but not to be confused with the one piece boxes kit. I added some cute buttons to the Jack O Lantern from Buttons Galore and More and there you have it a cute Jack O Lantern. Easy Peasy right??? The paper was two of Graphic 45 collections the bow is from the Happy Hauntings (last year) and the rest is from Steam Punk Spells. (this years)

To get the piece around the chin area make the lid from the bottle box from Classic Gift Boxes kit and size the pieces to w. 6.572 H. 4.190. Make the lid as you would for a bottle and it will fit over the end of the lantern without blocking the opening for the battery operated tea light. Once you have it in place you can get some hot glue down into the edge and press in place from the inside of the tea light.

Now the scarecrow took a bit more time and like I said before I don't always think ahead in this case that was true.. so don't do what I did do what I tell you. When the once piece box is on the mat before you cut it out measure the end of your tube and make a circle that size for the top center of the lid on your box. If you just put it on top of the lid it will cut it out no problem.. a trick of Thienly's. Cover your tubing with matching paper for the neck of the scarecrow and hot glue the tubing into place. You may need to put a but under the chin, that is what I did to steady it but you don't have to it might look cute wobbling around a bit. Since I forgot to put something in the box on the bottom to weight it down I glued the chin in place so it wouldn't wobble itself right off the front ledge of my house. I used a brown ink pad to sponge some color around the edges of the scarecrow and around the chin area. I then made x's like he had stitching with a brown marker. The Hat or Hair however you see it was made using Leaf #1 from Harvest Country Home Collection. Like I always do I used AC Card Stock (it cuts like butter). The colors were Scarlet, Honeycomb, Wine, and Apricot. The Leaf 1 is cut at size W. 2.440 H.2.044. I used my shaping tools from McGill that I love so much to break the fibers a bit in the paper and shape the paper the way I wanted. The bow is some 2 1/2 in wide burlap ribbon I got a Walmart but I am sure you could find it somewhere else  if you needed. It was a little wider than I wanted but it was what I had. I did put some hot glue in the middle and squished it together but be careful when you do this or you could burn your fingertips.. we ALL know how that feels! OUCH!
The buttons on the top of the leaves and on the bow  are from Buttons Galore and More. I really love their buttons as they are just so darn cute!!! and if you needed a bulk amount for say a button lamp you could get them there too.
As always I will post links to the kits and collections I used. I hope this gets you in the mood for some Autumn. I know school starting again is the next thing and people are already starting to shop for school stuff. Thank you so much for stopping by and reading my blog. It does mean a lot to me when you do and leave me some love. I write because I like to and I love sharing my ideas with you all. Jeannie Lassey came up with the name for these Lantern/ boxes and I think it is a cute name.. give her some love too on SVG cuts Face Book page too please.  Have a great weekend Y'all and Happy Crafting! Blessings Sharalyn

Kits and Collections used:

Crisp Days of Fall SVG Kit

Classic Gift Boxes SVG Kit
 Harvest Hill Farm SVG Collection
One_Piece Boxes SVG Kit
Gimmie Candy Boxes SVG Kit


Supplies used:
American Craft Card Stock: Black, Straw, Scarlet, Honeycomb, Wine, Apricot and Coffee
Graphic 45 Steampunk Spells
K& Company Tim Coffey Fall papers
Buttons Galore and More
2 inch Burlap Ribbon
Card Stock Vellum, Stampin Up

A Place of Rest...

Hi everyone!

I hope your having a great day! On July 8th we finally got to see the new amazing kit for Halloween by SVG cuts. It was much anticipated and waited for and in my opinion well worth the wait! I have seen a few spooky houses but with this kit you could easily turn it into whatever house you wanted. Well... you all know how much I love fall so my Manor became a fall dream house. If I saw this from the road in real life I would faint first come to and do my very best to buy it instantly!!! I love my house and where I live but I long for real fall sometimes. The smells the crispness in the air the sound of leaves crunching under your feet. Oh how I love it all! So grab a cup of coffee or hot apple cider and lets dive into fall for a while. We can escape the heat for a few minutes.

I started with the Maple Manor and used Graphic 45's French Country paper. The AC card stock I used were Coffee, Pomegranate and Latte on the house. Make the house as Mary explains so well in the tutorial video. I wanted my windows to be clear so I used write on Transparency film. I have a huge box that I spent 30.00 on so I have to use it as much as possible. It cuts well on a circut and my silhouette. Another great idea would be to use the kind you can print on and print a stain glass window on a window or two of your house. I used two embossing folders one for the door and one for the accent panels for the top. Both were Tim Holtz  one called Brick and the other was Wood-grain. For the front door knob I used a Hero Arts Metallic Decor in gold. I have talked about these before but I really like them for that certain touch. I used Brilliance Gold dew drop ink pads to ink around the edges of windows and such.
Now that I had done that the fun for me was really about to begin. I started making my house look more like the fall feel I wanted. I have to admit I got lost in the house and wandered around in the yard for a while when I was making it.  I also want to clarify that I have a box of stuff I have cut for other projects and couldn't throw away because I could use them for other things so a lot of this stuff I didn't cut and put together it was in my box already. I went to work cutting leaves from Autumn Elements collection and the size I cut was W 0318 H. 0.580 I cut them on a slow speed of 2 and the colors I used were AC Dandelion, Lemon, Pomegranate, Apricot.  I used my flower shaping tools to bend the leaves up. The vines and pumpkin Leaves are AC Card stock Olive color. I cut the leaves for the pumpkin at W. 0.703 H. 0.485. I am giving you all these measurements but you can make life simple on yourself by bringing in the small pumpkin, stem and leaves and accents. Select all and shrink it all down but I was trying to find the right size for the front step so I went this route instead. Small Pumpkin W.3.619 H 2.094. On this small pumpkin the bottom wont fit right and if you know a way for it to fit right please tell me. It wont matter as though as I hot glued the pumpkin to the bottom step and no one knew till I just blabbed. Also I used my cuttle-bee tweezers to hold the stem and the pumpkin together for a few minutes while it dried. The accents for the pumpkin were cut at W. 3.169 H 1.142 . Now for the really tough part (remember use those tweezers if you have them) The Stem was cut at W. 1.083 H 0.815. I inked the edges of the pumpkin with pumpkin ink from Stampin up and the stem I used an old favorite of mine called Thyme. It isn't available anymore but you might find it on eBay. I started with the vines first then glued the leaves to the vine and then my glued my pumpkin down. then glued leaves here and there and had the sunflower buttons I glued them on and took my 3 heart punch also from Stampin up and made the welcome door mat. the tree is from the card in the Fall Harvest Kit. I had used a wood grain embossing folder on the bark but it was a Cuttlebug folder. then I sponged red and yellow ink on the "leaves" of the trees. I only used two of the trees as I liked it that way. Then I took my linen thread from Stampin up and tied it around the branches to make the swing. I had a piece of a board from the Carmel Apple pie kit I had shrunk down cut and printed from the flower cart I had not used and I poked a hole through the edges to put the thread through and tied a double knot. The owl was a button as well that I had found at the fabric store but I am sure you can get something like that from Buttons Galore. I order a lot of buttons from them as I love the way the look. The acorns flat buttons are from there as well.  I had corn stalks in that box as well I had used from the scarecrow I made a while back. I tied three together with the linen thread and tied it around the post.
I hope your not exhausted from reading all the stuff I did. I am typing it. LOL anyhoo that is how my house came about and I used a lot of scraps and a little bit of this and that. The 1/8 inch red ribbon was from the present that Deb from Deb's Crafty Side sent me for my B day. See I think I am a hoarder of stuff like that. LOL I just can't throw away good crafting stuff. Recycle people!!! I think I have infected my daughter as well cuz on the 4th of July I had given my daughter some of those glow stick things for the grandkids and she opened them and they had these cool tiny paper tubes protecting them and my daughter says to her friend Save those my mother would go nuts over them.. I did as soon as I saw them my mind was spinning with what I could do with them... yep Recycle/ hoarder nut.
 Anyway thanks for stopping by and I hope you got a little relief from the heat walking around my house for a while. I will post some links to the kits and collections I used at the bottom of this Book and as always Happy Crafting Y'all! Blessings, Sharalyn

SVG Kits and Collections Used:
Maple Manor SVG Kit
Pick A Pumpkin SVG Kit
Autumn Elements SVG Collection
Hill Harvest SVG Kit
Caramel Apple Pie SVG Kit
Harvest Hill Farm SVG Kit

Supplies Used:
American Craft Card Stock, Latte, Pomegranate, Lemon, Apricot, Coffee, Dandelion, Olive
Graphic 45 French Country Collection
Tim Holtz Emboss folders, Brick, Wood-grain
Stampin up Card Stock Vellum, Linen Thread
Buttons Galore and More: Buttons
Brilliance Gold Ink
Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive
Hot Glue and Glue Gun

PS. I am working on a little Halloween and more Fall stuff today stay tuned.

Wedding Card for Mom

Hey Y'all,

Sorry I haven't been on here. I have had some issues with my leg knee we aren't sure. All I know is I DO NOT want a doctor pushing on my right hip again! I went Friday last week and he put me in a world of hurt till today.  I tried working on my Maple Manor but I just couldn't sit there. Anyhoo, I have a project I said I would share with you but till now haven't even been able to sit at my computer.

I used High Skies SVG Kit, Silhouette Cuts  or Stampin up on this card.  I have a couple of friends that are Demonstrators for Stampin Up and one that just has a lot of it.

 So the project was a wedding card and we all know how I feel about those! Mom called and said she needed a anniversary card and a wedding card. DOUBLE WAMMY!!!!! I am not a fan of those and have a lot of trouble doing them. Anyway I did get them done and mom was super happy with them. She will send me a check soon.

I started with a gate fold card base and used the framelits dress form set from Stampin up. I made the dress a long dress by only cutting half of the framelit out and used scissors to do the rest. Then I embossed the dress using Sizzix Flourishes embossing folder, then I added tiny pears from Michael's. I took a 1/4 in scrap of ivory ribbon and crossed it in the front then finished it off with one of the roses from the vanilla flower trim from Stampin up. Add some pears for the necklace on the dress form from the framlits set and there ya go! Then I found a suit in the silhouette store and used that I cut thin strips to make the stripes and used glossy accents to make it shiny. I added rhinestones for the cufflinks and tiny black pears for the buttons from Michael's as well.

  When I used the card base and the lattice from High Skies Kit, I broke apart and deleted the cut outs for the card as I wanted the back to be solid. I did try to use SVG cuts but there wasn't quite the suit or the dress style I was looking for, plus my friend Judy lets me borrow her stuff if I have a need and she had that framelit dress set. I don't have that one yet but maybe in the future. Then I  saw a new stamp set in the new catalog that would work perfect with this or for my idea. I bought the Just Married set and used the shoes to stamp on the inside. Now the way I got the shoes to be shiny and still have detail is I used my stamp-a-ma-jig and stamped the shoes with black first then stamped them again with Versa Mark and used a fine detail clear.. I think it was hold on I'll look... yep it was ultra fine clear emboss powder from Hero Arts. Now I would love to say that was my idea but it wasn't it was my dear friend Rose that gave me that Idea. Her shoes I stamped with Versa Mark and then used white embossing powder.
I stamped the glasses and used a tiny bit of Ranger star Dust Stickles for the bubbles. I hand wrote the congratulations on the top and used my Martha Stewart edge punch for the inside edges of the card. For the door knobs on the outside I used the Graphic 45 Metal Brads.

I will add a picture of the stamp set I used and you can get that from any Stampin up Demonstrator, and if you have a demonstrator you get a small discount. It is worth having one I have bought and used a lot of cool stuff from them. The framelits come in this cool plastic envelope with a snap and I really like that it will keep them from getting bent in my stash.

I used a card wrap from the Silhouette online store and tied it all up with a sheer ivory ribbon and one of the cool keys from Graphic 45 called ornate Metal Keys.. I used Secret  Garden paper for the wrap also from Graphic 45. Then end result was quite nice and mom was very happy with it so mission accomplished for now.

So that is what I have done lately I am working slowly on my Maple Manor and will get it done but not as fast as I had hoped. Sitting with my knee bent for while makes it very unhappy. I will post the link for the High Skies Kit for ya. Thanks for stopping by I hope you weren't bored with this one. Hopefully the next post will be my version of Maple Manor. Happy Crafting all! Oh and guess what I forgot to take a picture of the anniversary card before I sent it Ah Yah I am that kind.. LOL  It was just another one of the bird cards but I used a forest green with ivory.. Blessings Sharalyn

 SVG Kits Used:
High Skies SVG Kit

Supplies Used:
American Craft Vanilla Card Stock
Recollections Black Card Stock, Pearls, Rhinestones, Ivory Ribbon, Michael's
Stampin Up Ribbon Rose, one rose cut from ribbon, Sheer Vanilla Ribbon, Just Married Stamp Set.
Graphic 45 Metal Nails, Ornate Keys, Secret Garden paper collection
Hero Arts Clear Fine Detail Emboss Powder
Ranger Star Dust Stickles
 Martha Stewart Edge Punch

A 4th Of July Birthday!!!

Hey Y'all!
Happy soon to be 4th of JULY!!!!!!
I made a center peice for my mother in law to celebrate her 93rd birthday and the 4th. We always go and have dinner with her as a family then watch the fireworks down at her place in Palm Desert. ( that is right next to Palm Springs for those of you that don't know) It is a great time and Hot for sure!!! Where I am gets warm but this year it is blistering hot and humid. It is worse down there but seeing mom is worth it as she is an awesome mother- in law. We don't usually have humidity till August so maybe fall will come early this year.. be optimistic right??? Anyhoo let me stop boring you and get to the centerpiece. Grab some sweet tea or some lemonade and set a spell with me would Ya?

 I used Vintage Rosettes  SVG Kit to make the bottom of the centerpiece using American Craft card stock in Crimson, Sapphire, and White card stock.Then I made the firecrackers from the Stars and Stripes SVG Kit. I made one at the original size then one larger and one slightly smaller. I used the shape menu and made a bursting star design for one cracker then I grouped them together and copy and pasted onto the others. You might have to change the size a bit or turn them so the fit.  I also used the lantern from Crisp Days of Fall SVG Kit but only to get the shape Mary used for the tea lights to fit into. Break apart the lantern and take that shape then delete the rest.(the shape is the heel looking thing) Place it where you want it on the firecracker before you cut it out. Add a piece of Vellum to cover the inside for the star burst and glue the cracker together as you normally would. I did not glue the lid on the small one as I wanted my MIL to be able to take it off to turn off the light if she needed. I wasn't sure she could move her arm the way she would need to get to the light in the small cracker. She has some shoulder issues so I was trying to make it easy for her. I hot glued them down so they wouldn't move but if you wanted it to be easier to store just set them on top and don't glue them down. But I can't promise little hands wont walk away with one then.. LOL had that happen before * ahem* you know who you are little cutie!

Of course I will post a link to all the kits and collections I used and you be sure and ask if you have questions about anything OK?
I used the 3d star from Made in The USA SVG Kit for decorations but sized them down quite a bit. I also used the stars from Uncle Sam's Extravaganza 1 SVG collection and glued them to the back of the 3d stars.  Make the stars as Mary explains so well in the video and hot glue them into place.  Then cut the stars from the Uncle Sam's Extravaganza 1 SVG collection and glue to the edge of the back of the star.
Decorate the firecrackers and add some paper curls and you have a centerpiece!
All of y'all have a wonderful 4th of July! Have some great BBQ, good company and top it off with great fireworks! Thanks for stopping by y'all  and Happy Crafting! Blessings Sharalyn

Kits and Collections used:
Uncle Sam's Extravaganza SVG Collection l
Vintage Paper Rosettes SVG Kit
Stars and Stripes SVG Kit
Made in The USA SVG Kit

Supplies Used:
Echo Park Mini Pack
American Craft Card Stock, Crimson, Sapphire, White
Patriotic Ribbon, Michael's
Stampin Up Card Stock Vellum
Jute Twine