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Monday, March 25, 2013

Happy Easter!

Hi folks,

Today over at Exploring Cricut, we were to make a card, layout, or papercrafting project using an Easter theme.  I decided to make another door decoration for my apartment and I think it turned out really cute!  Have a look!  


I used Create a Critter 2 (I just love that cartridge!).  I cut the shadow at 10.5" and everything else was cut the same.  The Happy Easter was cut at 6.5".  I used regular cardstock from my stash, and some of the Dotty for You paper I had left over from Close To My Heart.  I hung it up yesterday and it looks great!  I used some bakers twine to hang it which came in handy!  :)



Craft on,
Ian

Punch Storage


Hi folks,

Today I'm over at She's A Sassy Lady, showing you how to upcycle something you may not need anymore!  Recently I purchased 3 large stamp organizers from Close To My Heart.  Since I had been storing my stamps in the smaller ones I realized I didn't need them anymore so I wanted to find a way to upcycle them.  I realized that I could fit 2 large punches from Martha Stewart in them so I decided to label the organizer so I knew.  I used a plain grey cardstock cut at 3" and then used Art Philosophy for the letters.  I chose the set with the circles in them so that it added an extra flair.  Since the letters would not fit side by side, I had to off-set them a bit to make sure everything fit on one side.  Now, what can you upcycle?



Craft on,
Ian

Wedding Card


Hi folks,

I am designing for Cricut is Close To My Heart today.  Today I have a wedding card for a coworker that got married a little over a year ago.  I know what you are thinking...man you are LATE!  Well, this weekend she had her wedding reception so I was able to order something for her and her husband off their registry that shipped directly to them and made them this card for the reception.  I used Art Philosophy to make the base and subsequent layers of the card.  One thing I noticed was that the blue and yellow layers did not overlay onto the card as I thought they would.  I had to drastically reduce their size to have it fit - and it didn't even fit perfectly.  :(


I used the card on page 48.  I also used the Pemberley paper pack to make the card.  On the inside of the flower I used a scalloped circle punch and stamped the "best day ever" stamp on to that.  That stamp is from CC1020 It's Your Day stamp set.  I cut it out and pop dotted the scalloped circle onto the card.  The card was cut out at 5.5" so it was a regular A2 sized card.


Thanks for stopping by!

Craft on,
Ian

Friday, March 22, 2013

Just Because

Hi folks!

THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO POST ON FRIDAY!  I JUST SAW THAT IT STILL SAID "DRAFT".  SORRY ABOUT THAT!!

I hope you are all doing well.  Today, I have a "just because" card as I'm designing for Exploring Cricut.  This image came from Summer Celebrations...I guess because I am wishing it was summer.  :)  I chose this image because it could go for anything.  I think it turned out well.


I used a 5x7" card base and cut the tree out at 5.5".  This worked well because I was able to center it in the middle of the card.  I took a cuttlebug folder and added some dimension to the leaves, or top of the tree.  I wanted to spice it up a little bit more so I added some brads to it to give it almost a patriotic theme.  I also used pop dots to give the tree, itself, some dimension.  I hope you like it!



Craft on,
Ian

Monday, March 18, 2013

A couple Online Shopping Hauls!

Hi folks,

Today I have a quick video of some shopping hauls I've done.  I'm officially out of money.  Hahaha.  Seriously though, I'm out.  :)  Anyway, check out the video below to see everything I have received lately.  I hope you are all well!  I also just received notification that I have another package waiting to be picked up.  Here's hoping it's my Gina K stamps!  :)


Craft on,
Ian

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Ever What?!


Hi folks!

Today I have more of an electronic crafty organizing tool, than a paper craft project.  Do you have stamps over running your life?  Are you certain you have that one image, but you just don't remember what set it's from?  Do you wonder about what images might pair well with a certain sentiment?  If you answered "yes" to any of the questions above, than I have the answer for you!

Recently I heard about an app called Evernote.  What is Evernote?  Evernote is an electronic organizing tool for basically any list, or images that you want to catalogue.  Do you have a website that you wanted to save information from, but don't want to clog up your bookmarks?  This is the app for you.  It is available on the iPhone and Android phones as well as Mac and PC.  You can also log into the web-based platform from any computer and have all of your notes accessible to you!  Check out the photos below!


This is the start up screen to Evernote on the iPhone.  Their logo is an elephant, because an elephant never forgets!  :)  


This is the home screen on the app.  This app is FREE and you get 1 MB of storage every 30 days.  At the start of the next 30 days, you get an extra 1 MB (so you can continue to save notes).  You can always upgrade to the Premium version for $44.99 for a yearly subscription that auto-renews (you can turn this feature off at anytime before the year is up).  There is also a monthly subscription which is $4.99.  I chose the $44.99 for a yearly subscription.  Reminder to self - if not using as much in a year - decide to not auto-renew.  Once you go Premium your monthly storage goes up to 1 GB.  For all you collectors, this is a great idea for you!  


This is a list of some of my notes.  I have 107 notes that I can store in folders within the app.  For now, I have 104 stamp sets and 3 other notes I have written.  I can store those 104 stamps in a folder.  I also want to go through my stamp sets from Gina K. Designs, Peachy Keen, and other stamp sets I have acquired.  Each of these notes will be filed in appropriate folders for each company.  My goal is to have all of my stamp sets (and other crafty items like punches, etc.) catalogued by June 1.  It's quite the task, but I'm up to it.  :)  


Here you see C1442 Tailor Made from Close To My Heart.  I took a picture with my iPhone directly from the app.  If you notice above the word "Made" there is a camera.  Tapping that camera will open up the camera on your phone so that you can take a picture.  You title the note "C1442 Tailor Made" so that you can know exactly what stamp set it is.  From there, you look at the images and create "tags".  To the right of the camera icon you will see a microphone and a dark circle with an "i" in it.  When you tap on the "i" an information screen opens (see below).  


This is the information screen, as mentioned above.   This note is in my notebook.  The second line is a place for "tags".  Tags allow you to write certain words that will draw you to that stamp set if you search for a certain word.  Looking at the stamp set, I wrote all words that described the images in the set.  If you allow the app to access your location, you will also see the location of where you took the picture (10 seconds before).  


As mentioned above, you will now see most of the words I chose for this stamp set.  If you look back at the photo, you will see that these tags are appropriate to the stamp set.  I can search for any of these tags, and will be able to find the stamp set easily.  Many of the stamp sets I own have hearts so a lot of the stamp sets were tagged with "heart".  I will search with the word "heart" and all of the stamp sets that have a heart in it will populate.  How cool is that?  

Evernote is a fun app that is accessible almost everywhere you go with an internet connection.  After I finished cataloguing all of my Close To My Heart stamp sets, I was able to file them numerically in the new Large Organizers from Close To My Heart.  Now I can easily find my stamps and certain images that I'm looking for!  I am in no way connected to Evernote (I work in Higher Education) so I'm not being paid for this, but I thought it was the perfect way to organize yourself and your craft room!  

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to comment below and I'd be happy to answer them for you!  

Craft on,
Ian

Monday, March 11, 2013

Saint Patrick's Day Treat

Hi folks,

Today, over at Exploring Cricut, we were to come up with a card, layout, or papercraft project using a Saint Patrick's Day theme.  I wanted to make a topper for a candy bar and when I saw the pot of gold from Create a Critter 2, I knew I had to use it.  The only thing I wish I had done differently was use Lucky Charms instead of a Kit Kat.  Oh well.  You live, you learn.  :)

I took a 3"x6" green cardstock and scored at 3".  I took a white gel pen and added the embellishment around the square.  I then cut the pot of gold out at 2.75" and put the pieces all together.  Next I added Stickles to give the gold a little shimmer.  I used a pop dot and adhered the pot of gold to the green cardstock.  An easy treat in minutes!



Craft on,
Ian

Friday, March 8, 2013

Thanks, Mom!

Hi there,

Today I have a quick card that I created for my mother.  When I was in Wisconsin for the job placement conference last week, my mother was able to take time out of her day to pick me up from the airport and cart me around while I checked into the conference and then into the hotel at another location.  She also took me to lunch and when she dropped me back off at the conference, she gave me my Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day gifts (gift cards!)  I wanted to send a card home to my mom to thank her for taking time out of her day to travel over 2 hours to pick me up and see me.

For this card, I used a 4.25"x5.5" card base from Kraft cardstock.  I took some cardstock from a Close To My Heart paper pack and used my Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the background image.  I wrapped that in twine and placed that on the card.  I then took my Artiste cartridge and cut out the coordinating shape that went along with the stamp set "Hugs & Kisses".  I finished it up with some faux stitching with a red gel pen around the outside of the card.  I hope you enjoy it!



Craft on,
Ian

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Job Search Conference Update (Not Craft Related)

Hi folks,

This post is not about crafting, so don't feel obligated to read if you don't want to.  I wanted to give a small update on how the weekend went and what the next steps are.

The job search conference is over.  It was a very long weekend and I met a lot of great people.  I had back-to-back interviews both Friday and Saturday so it was a lot of talking about myself.  Sometimes I'm not so good at that when I listen to others all day in my job.  :)  I had some great interviews, and some not-so-great interviews.  However, that is the purpose of this type of job search weekend.  You are going to find that you connect with some schools and not with others.

I had a couple 2nd round interviews at the conference which is great.  It could be that they really liked me or they wanted to get a little bit more from me because they didn't see/hear enough in the 1st interview.  Either way - it's another opportunity to let my personality shine.  In most interviews I was able to let my personality show and I think that helped.

Now, from here we wait.  Most schools are on the timeline of not contacting candidates until late-March or early-April.  This is ok.  I'm going to enjoy the downtime and get my nerves back so that if I'm offered an on-campus interview, I'll be prepared.  I know a friend asked me this before so I'll explain it a little better.  An on-campus interview is where they send me to their school and I interview with a lot of people at that school.  They usually invite 4-8 people for 1-3 positions.  The candidates are not all there at the same time - they usually spread it out over a week or two.

So, keep your fingers crossed and hope that someone will invite me for an on-campus.  If not, it's back to my parents basement.  I like to live above ground.  ;)

Craft on,
Ian