Pink Elephants! Pink Elephants!

Mornin Y'all,
I hope your having a great morning! I have a confession. I have a smash book that I draw (sort of) my ideas in and a few months ago I was getting ideas like crazy. I will be honest most of the time I draw it very basic then never go back and make it or I think I will some day. I always tried to be open with y'all about this but I got a definite  go make that lamp from the Lord. I have no idea why, that is not for me to know right now but he wanted it done and I did it. If you know a little about me by now it is that when something isn't right it doesn't get posted till it is. That is what took me so long to post this.. I have been working on it for a week. I just can't post something when the design of one of the elements is bugging me. So here it is and I do hope you like it.. yep I know it isn't New Years and I Know we are just ending summer.. I told you I have no idea why God wanted it made now but He did.

Start with the champagne bottle that Mary made from New Years Eve SVG Kit.  It is cut and put together just as she does it. I did add some diamond stickles to the bubbles on the bottle and the vellum I used was one I colored myself using my  pigment inks from Stampin up. The color I used was Green Galore, it is an old one but it was given to me and I like to use those and thank God for the gift. (seriously I wouldn't have half the stuff I have if my dear friends hadn't given them to me, I am truly blessed) The paper I used for the accents on the bottle, glasses and lamp shade are from Graphic 45 the French Country collection. The black card stock is simply from Michael's the Recollections stuff. I wanted a smooth almost luxurious look to the bottle so I used it for the accents. The body was AC card stock in the black.
The lamp shade is the coffee cup from the Farmhouse Kitchen kit and I added two extra panels to the cup after I sized it down to W 8.733 break apart the cup and remove the holes Mary added for the handles. I then used the shapes menu and made three rectangles W 2.070 H 1.089 cross them over each other like the lamp shades used to be.. then add an outer circle W.0675 and an inner circle W.337. Go back up to the shapes menu and import two polygon 10 make one W.2.28 and one W 1.50.
Lay the smaller one on top of the other and use the center feature to center both perfectly one over the other. Go to the Path column at the top of the page and click exclude. Lay your grouped top over that and size to fit then choose weld on both the polygon and the circled x to make the one piece top. I have the wooden skewers that I bought at Big Lots here a long time ago and I lightly sanded one of those and put it down into the top of the bottle to see what size I wanted it, I cut it to fit just about 2 1.2  inches above the bottle top. This is where your artistic eye comes in. Lay the completed lamp shade over your stick and then down into the bottle this will help you decide how long you want to make the stick. Hot glue it in place. The trim I put on the lamp shade is one I got from a fabric outlet here in town. Amazing I walked in thinking I wanted the fringe and there that was.. Perfect!!! The lace on the top came from there as well. So here is my point. I took the bottle and the lamp shade in and looked at trim. Don't be afraid to do that if you don't already have something that will work in your stash.

The "bubbles I bought in the floral dept in Hobby Lobby when I met Deb from Debs Crafty Side and Jeannie Lassey for the first time. They are two awesome gals that post stuff all the time on SVG cuts and we had a ball. I wish I could have stayed down there for a couple of days. We hit it off quite well! These are two of my dearest friends on and off that site.
The glasses Oh the glasses!!! that is what gave me such headaches! I knew when I put the bottle top together I wanted to use it for the glasses but being the way I am I really struggled trying to get the bottoms just right! (well right for me) Anyhoo, I ended up using that design I made for the center of the wheels for the skates, with just a few minor alterations. The top part of the glasses I used the bottle top but played a bit with the nodes again. Now if you have no idea what I mean then go to the blog on SVG cuts and type in nodes in the search bar. Leo took the time to explain what they are and how they can be changed, for us visual folks it is a video.  Lots of fun once that word doesn't make your head spin! The glass tops are made of eight pieces and I took 8 more pieces cut then off about a 1/4 of the way down the neck and glued them to the inside to finish off the inside of the  piece. I put shredded paper on the inside and sprayed it with glue then sprinkled some glitter on top to give it a shimmery look. Also I glued prigs of "bridal spray" to the inside of the glasses and to the inside tops of the lamp shade to look like bubbles.
The elephants are from Wild Child SVG Kit and are cut at W.3.169 I used Lipgloss and Bubblegum AC card stock for the colors. Then I sized and cut the glasses, mustache and hat from the New Years Eve Kit to fit the elephants.  The mustache and glasses both have three layers glued together.  Add some funny google eyes and sticks I covered in Radiance type Yarn. ( I used to use it all the time in my Jeans Jackets I made) and you have quite the funny scene. The two elephants are on home made springs with buttons on either side to hold them in place then hot glued to the inside of the bottle and on the back of the elephants. The Sheer Gold ribbon is another bunch of freebies I was blessed with. I made the Happy New Year print & cut circle,  in my silhouette designer addition. I did not cut it but instead used my Epiphany Crafts 25 circle to make the charm.
So there it is silly and fun but so me. I do have a serious side but I have learned to laugh again and to be genuinely happy. I will post the kits and the products I used at the bottom of the page. I hope you enjoyed this silly yet fun side a little early and maybe you'll want to make one around New Years to decorate your house. It is a lamp like I said that was Mary's doing. I mostly decorated it. Have fun and do something silly today. Thanks so much for stopping by and Happy Craftin" Y"all!
Blessings Sharalyn
New Year's Eve SVG Kit
Farmhouse Kitchen SVG Kit
Wild Child SVG Collection

Supplies used:
 Black Recollections card stock,Michael's
Graphic 45  French country collection
Epiphany Crafts 25 round tool and Charm
Ribbon and Trim from stash and fabric outlet
Shredded paper from Dollar Tree
Bridal Sprigs from Hobby Lobby( floral section)
Wood Skewers
Card Stock Vellum From Stampin Up
Google eyes
Diamond Stickles
Glitter

Whoo Hoo Learning can be fun!

Mornin' Ya'll,                                                                                       

Well it has been a while but I had a great time with my son and daughter in law and the grand kids have grown a ton. Taylor is almost as tall as me and I am about 5ft 2" and Thomas is a moose for a four year old. He is as cute as can be too! This one is going to be a long one y'all so make sure you have a big cup of coffee and a comfy chair.

I'll start with how I got the idea. I was sitting her gluing together a shoe for the church's school and looked up at my wall. On the wall is a peg board with all my goodies.. (ya know If I don't see it I forget I have it) so I looked up and saw the keys that I bought from Graphic 45. Now often for me God speaks to my heart with music because I listen a little better I guess. Anyhoo I hear the song in my head "I've got a brand new pair of roller skates you've got a brand new key"... and I get it. ROLLER SKATES!!!! He wants me to make roller skates, and I don't mind telling you I said out loud oh that is good lord. I also thought to myself DUH!!!!! then my brain went to you could make Ice skates, hockey skates and in the back of my mind I seem to remember someone wanted those a few years ago. So that is how I came up with the idea. A conversation with my hubby where he tells me he only skate boarded when he was a kid. So then my mind shoots in all different directions all while he is fixing breakfast. My hubby chuckles and says stop for now and eat. So I did.
I got the skates together fairly quick but it really bugged me that they didn't look just like they should so instead of posting something that was as my son would say" Eh"? I decided to really get busy and work on these. As always I will post the kits I used and try to post the supplies as well for ya. Are ya ready? Ya better go get another cup of  coffee and maybe hit the restroom before you continue..

Start with the high top that Mary made from Back to the Books. Make the shoe just as Mary describes in her video. Love that she does that as sometimes I would just be lost. (my first one wasn't up to snuff)
The Axle under the shoe is actually the top of the small coffin box from Elmhurst Hallow. I added 1/4 in holes to the side pieces at the top of the coffin, and the lower pieces. I also had to add a 1/4 circle  to the small flap to the right top portion so the flap wouldn't show through and the dowel would fit. I have learned to have dowels on hand and if your like me you don't throw away small pieces as you might be able to use them some time. In this case I cut two dowels 5 1/2 inches long then used a marker to color them but you could use paint as well.

I made four circles .37 W and another circle to the middle at .25 W around to fit my dowel. You'll need to make it according to the size dowel your using. Glue the top piece together and then put your dowels through the holes and work it a little so as to make sure they move or turn. The wheels were made in my silhouette designer addition as I am more familiar with it to draw with but I am sure you could do this a well in another program. I took the lemon box from Frutiy Feasta and welded together the top and bottom side pieces then removed the extra score lines but remove the score lines from one first as you know me always the hard way. LOL. Make another circle and put a hole in the center for your dowel to go through this will be the inside of the wheel.

To make the wheel look indented that was tough but easy once I got what I wanted it to look. I made a circle 1.875in W.  then I made another circle inside that 1.00 in W. then I made a lot of skinny triangles to fit all the way around that circle on the inside like Mary has done with some of her designs. Once I got all the triangles in place I made a compound path and subtracted I think make sure you turn that circle into score lines just above your triangles. That gave me the bent in look that I wanted but they weren't pushed in all the way then make a smaller circle to fit on top W 0.75 . The dowel is actually attached to the smaller circle. I found it easier to use hot glue to attach the circle and to add a tiny bit to the triangles to help hold it all together. Then I used the 14 Epiphany crafts circle tool and some cool glittery foil paper I got from Michaels for the middle. The toe piece has been a pain for me as I wanted a look of the toe stoppers and honestly I have tired and tried but when Mary came out with the ear piece for the telephone in the Call me Later Kit I saw the shape I had be trying so hard to create. It would only need a bit of tweaking for me to have it be just right. So I first made it much smaller. My finished piece is 4.125 W . I took out the circle for the listening part then looked at the back which would fit the handle for the phone. I drew three rectangles and adjusted the nodes on it to fit the piece that was missing. I did that by putting them over the piece next to it. Mary has often referred to her designs as putting together a puzzle, that is just what it is like to me. When I put together a puzzle I can see what the shape is that is missing and that is what I look for. In this case I did the same only I made the piece I needed, using shapes putting them together welding it then making a compound path then add some score lines. Make sure you go back and delete nodes you maybe don't need. If you magnify the piece your working on you can see where your machine won't make a straight cut. Deleting the extra node makes the path smooth. I glued it together like Mary said to then hot glued it to the bottom of the shoe and Viola it is just what I was looking for. I thanked God first and prayed a blessing on Mary for making that wonderful piece. ( I was going to be bald in a few days from pulling my hair out.)

The skate key is the first paper design I have ever designed myself from scratch as they say. I looked at a picture of one online and made a series of circles ovals and rectangles to make it. Then I added score lines where I wanted the paper to bend and after only three tries I had the shape. I made it then edited the nodes (made some curvy lines took out extra nodes) I was happy, happy, happy! My first ever design. I proudly showed it to my hubby who said OK in a very non impressed tone. Yep that is my hubby, he has no idea how hard that was for me to design or get the nerve to do but I am learning all over again to have more confidence in myself and my abilities.
Note: I guess it wasn't the first piece as I did make the center of the wheel ah yeah.. Duh again.
When I first started making designs  Mary made three years ago to think I would ever want or make my own designs was way out there. No of course I couldn't do that. Well Mary is an AWESOME teacher. She has no idea what affect she has had on me but I am EVER so GRATEFUL! I learn from her designs. I learn to appreciate how she comes up with these. I have also learned that being afraid of the computer is silly. I don't have to be. I don't have a high school diploma and I don't have a lot of college, just  a few classes I took because I wanted to know how to use my computer better. That was my start and Mary has brought so much into this chapter in my life. Thank you Mary for the Blessing you are to me and to those around you.

Deb of Deb's Crafty side said once I should take pictures of the process of my creations. I tried to do that with this design. It was a rough road for me with the toe stopper but I didn't give up and I am glad. I hope you all enjoy this design and be grateful for the time and energy and thought that goes into each design Mary makes. It does take a lot. Leo even goes so far as to do a video showing us how to put it together. They are perfectly matched and I wish them a long and happy life together. Thank you so very much for reading this "book" and have a super fantastic Crafty day! Happy Crafting Y'all! Blessings Sharalyn

Kits used:
Back To the Books SVG Kit
Call Me Later SVG Kit

Elmhurst Hallow SVG Kit
Fruity Fiesta SVG Kit

Materials used:
Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive
Hot glue Gun
1/4 in. Dowels /5 1/2 in. long each
Epiphany Crafts 14 round Tool
Ribbon
Paper Pack was Take Note by Doodlebug
Solid Card stock colors are AC White, Concrete,Pool.
Embossing folder for toe accent was Stampin up Petals a Plenty

Here is my Entry!!! Go make yours!

Morning everyone!
I have been super busy cleaning up my house for my son and his family but I wanted to let you in on a great deal!! Grab your cup of coffee and join me for a short while. I am drinking Mountain blueberry this morning and let me tell ya when I am out of this stuff nothing else will do!

SVG cuts Facebook page is having another short giveaway. Leo Gives you the 3d shoe from Love Always kit and if you make it and post it with the entry form you will get a free 6.99 gift card just for doing that. AND.... if ya do you have a chance to win a 25.00 gift card!!! that's 6 free kits or collections out of Mary's awesome files!!!!!!

If you haven't tried them here is your chance for FREE!!!! Mary puts a lot of thought into her designs and it shows the first time you ever make one of her files. Leo does an amazing job filming the whole kit in a trailer and then to top it off the do a tutorial so you aren't left hanging with buying the kit and not being able to figure out how to put it together. Add to that music that Leo picks himself to go with the trailer and the whole thing sets you into the mood to make that wonderful kit.  There is a tux and bride dress favor bags an amazing frame and two cards as well. Have a look at this and more of these amazing kits and do yourself a favor and try SVG Cuts your going to love them as much as I do. I will post a link at the bottom here so you can go look at this kit yourself. Look around seriously you'll just love the kits and collections she makes. If your a scrapbook-er there are pre-made pages as well as in some of the kits. Well I am off to finish this delicious
cup of coffee and I may just have another..
This is my entry. The gloves were my grandmothers that and her wedding dress were given to me a year ago. I got a whole box of her gloves she wore and another with all her love letters to my grandpa.. I treasure them all. Thanks so much for stopping by, bless the creator and be the crafty person he made you today!
  Blessings y'all have a super fantastic day Sharalyn
SVG Cuts Kits Used:
Love Always SVG Kit

Supplies used:
Vanilla AC Card Stock
Graphic 45 Ladies Dairy Paper
Epiphany Crafts oval Shape tool
Epiphany Crafts oval Charms
Ribbon and Lace
Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive

Sending a Beer Stein Hug.

Good Morning all!
This Morning I thought I would bring you a little Christmas.. or A Happy Christmas as it says on the tag.
First things first Y'all!

I gave Pastor Daniel His bus yesterday and he was thrilled. I did get a photo but I didn't ask his permission to post it here on my blog so I cant show you but in typical Daniel form the hands went up around his head and his smile spread from ear to ear..  He said it was SOOOOO RAD! Which I do know means it is super cool in surfer talk. He even noticed the license plate said Shalom which he was elated about.

Now on to the Beer Stein. Grab yourself a cup of coffee and join me for a bit. I am drinking french Vanilla as I am waiting on my order of Mountain Blueberry. When I saw the last kit on SVG cuts called Farmhouse  Kitchen I thought of a beer stein. I guess because we had been talking about Christmas in July and my brother had been on my mind a lot lately. He used to surf and he used to collect Beer Steins and Nut Crackers. Dale passed a very long time ago and I still miss him every now and then. So this is my way of saying hey bro I am thinking about you and sending you a hug!

I started with the coffee pot from Farmhouse Kitchen.  I used AC Card stock color Slate and stamped it with a background stamp I had been given called Filigree From Stampin up. It is an old one so if you want that one you might be able to find it on Ebay. I embossed it with silver embossing powder and used a pigment black ink ( color box is what I had) and gently patted it over the top to tone down the paper and the embossing. Have a paper towel handy to wipe of the excess ink. Let that dry and then cut out the coffee pot at about 8 inches tall. I can't tell you exact size because the program didn't save it right.. grrrr. I do remember thinking I wanted the whole thing to be about 8 inches tall at the most so I brought in all the pieces selected them all and then shrunk it down. I made the bottom of the stein first then went to work on the top. I put the top together but don't put the accent pieces on yet.
Those were embossed as well and then inked. Next I cut the knob for the lid. I used the top from the spindle ornament from the Christmas Ornaments SVG Kit. I brought it into my Designer addition of Silhouette and used the knife to cut off the  bottom. I cut it off at the first score line that makes the edge around the ornament. That size I do have, it was cut at 4.200 H 6.405. Now I wasn't sure how I was going to do that so when I figured it all out I had used my scissors to cut the points off the top bend that looks like a triangle but since I did the figuring out you could do the same thing in the program and cut off the pointy edges with the knife. Either way will work fine. Glue the top together and then glue the now flaps onto the top of the lid for the Beer Stein. OH and do this the easy way not the way I did it and use the Versa Mark and I rubbed it on the edges then added the silver embossing powder and embossed it. It was an after thought so well you know.. lol Then glue the accent pieces on and it will hide the flaps you made.

I really wanted to make this pop up like a real Beer Stein but I couldn't get it to work and now that I am thinking about it I am thinking using the hinge that Mary did for that Christmas tree on Spirits of Christmas past might work. You would need to move the handle down or shorten the lid a bit but I think that would work. Ok then I used the spoon from Tea for you and me but I used the back of the spoon and cut the handle off to about a 1/2 an inch long. I used three cuts of this and glued them together then I embossed the edges as well on that and used my favorite tools the McGill flower shaping tools to cup the end a bit. Hint: while the pieces are drying bend the handle a bit so it doesn't split.

To decorate it I used the holly from Christmas in the Village kit and sized those down to an appropriate size for the Beer Stein. The ones on the handle are a bit bigger than the one on the lid. I cut off a couple of the curl's from that so it would have the look I was going after.. use your creative style as always. You don't have to do what I did. I only had two of the red pearls so I used a permanent marker to color the white pearls I had. You can also use a copic if you have those. This works on Rhinestones as well. The tag was from the Christmas in the Village kit as well, I just used the lamp top bottom and made it large enough for me to write Happy Christmas with my Silhouette pens then inked the edges with a red ink pad and gently dabbed the top with my silver ink pad just enough to add sparkle. The red bird button is from you guessed it my fave  Buttons Galore and More.

So there you have it a Beer Stein and it is a little Christmas as well. I will post the links below to the kits I used and thanks so much for having coffee with me. It is wonderful to enjoy your coffee in the morning with a friend. There is a new collection and it is pretty cute so check it out as well when your there. If your not sure you want it I can tell you two things.. It is free with your purchase of 9.98 and it won't be in a week and two, look at the shapes not what it is .. Ask yourself can I used any of those shapes in the future and then remind yourself it is free this week it won't be next week! Don't kick yourself later for not getting it free when you could have. My bum is sore from doing that. LOL  Thanks again Blessing on all of your heads this week, may he keep you safe and you have wonderful week now ya hear?
Blessings Sharalyn

Kits I used on this project were:
Farmhouse Kitchen SVG Kit
Christmas in the Village SVG Collection
Christmas Ornaments SVG Kit
Tea For You and Me SVG Kit
3D Wintergreens SVG Kit