More on Ribbon.....

This whole ribbon organization thing is really making me realize that I have a PROBLEM! I have got to get out of collection mode and start USING this stuff! Seriously!

I know that there are a lot of crafters who have WAAAAAAAAAAY more than I do - but I've hit a point where I have got to stop. I have NO MORE room to put things and my craft mess is starting to migrate to the guest room.

As of today, and until further notice, the only craft items I am allowing myself to purchase are:

• Adhesive and other consumable essentials - this might include specific cardstock colors as I run out but NO PATTERNED PAPERS
• Accessories or consumables for my Lynx
• An item needed to complete an IN-PROGRESS project
• Files from svgcuts.com (afterall, they don't take up any physical space in my room LOL)

I'm posting this here to help hold myself accountable!

Anyone else need to join in?

Cleaning my Craft Room ..... and a give-away!

Good Morning All!

I am cleaning my craft room - YET AGAIN! Why is it that no matter how hard we try, it is impossible to keep these rooms organized? Wait, that's kind of a no-brainer - we have TOO MUCH stuff! And, I don't know about you, but my stash is constantly evolving so what worked last month, may not work now.

As I mentioned yesterday, I was working on learning how to cut with my new Black Cat Lynx...... want to get my room cleaned so that I can really enjoy crafting and such again. I cut a bunch of ribbon cards yesterday - I'm changing all of my ribbon from ribbon cards in drawers to hanging along the bottom of my peg board. Hoping if it's visible I will actually USE SOME OF IT! The added bonus for me, all I have to do is swivel in my chair, thumb through the strands and snip off what I want - no more having to pull several samples from a drawer, take them to my desk and then figure out what I want. This should help with my clutter problem - I always have a pile of ribbon cards and spools falling off from my desk because I hate to get up and put them back.

In reorganizing and hanging my ribbon, I am going to have a nice collection of leftover ribbon - I am keeping no more than 2 yards of any ribbon. I was going to toss the leftovers until I decided that maybe some of my readers would be interested in them.

So - here's the deal: I am going to continue to straighten my ribbons and when I am finished I am going to do a GIVE-AWAY or two (depending on how much there ends up being).

What do you have to do to enter? Nothing too hard! Simply leave a comment on this post expressing your interest and share one way that you use ribbon in your crafts!

Once I am finished I will close this thread for comments (it might be a day or two or even a week - there's a lot of ribbon stashed in this room). Using random.org, I will select the winner(s).

Hope some of you might be interested! Can't wait to read some of your ideas!

Where does time go?

Hard to believe it's been over 2 months since I have done any blogging! My computer has been acting up majorly and have had some life events that have kept me busy.

Other than a little sewing, I haven't even done any crafts in the past 2 months. Part of that is that I had been waiting for my new cutter to arrive - which it did last week. Today is the first day I've really had a chance to play with it and it is going to take some time to figure it all out. I envy the people who can just start out with a new machine and instinctively get it right. That has not been the case for me.

That being said, my new Lynx is an amazing machine. When I get it right, it cuts beautifully. When I was debating the purchase, the biggest problem anyone ever mentioned was "operator error" and that is proving to be the absolute truth!

I know that I shared before about my daughter's weight loss journey and her entry into the world of running. She has continued - she is at approximately 116 lbs lost now and has run several 5K events and one 10K so far. She has several more 5K runs on her schedule as well as the Warrior Dash, a half marathon in Ft Wayne and a destination run - the St. Louis Rock N Roll Half Marathon. If anyone would like to follow her journey, Jennifer has recently started blogging. She started out just blogging about her running, but has had several requests for information on how she has made the transition so she is going to start adding some of her tips and some of her favorite low-cal recipes.

Here's her before and after pics:



If you'd like to read her story, her blog is Running for My Life. I know she'd love some new readers!

Well, let me get back to my battle with my Lynx and see if I can win the next round!

Communication from Craft Edge

I received this email this morning addressed to all affiliates explaining what has transpired (I used to have the SCAL2 sales link on my blog):

Dear Craft Edge Affiliate,

This is to provide notice that, as of May 13, 2011, Craft Edge Inc.
has agreed to stop selling, offering to sell or distributing its
software product, Sure Cuts A Lot™ major versions 1.0 and 2.0, in
accordance with the terms of a confidential settlement agreement
entered into with Provo Craft and Novelty, Inc. The litigation between
Provo Craft and Craft Edge will be terminated with all claims
dismissed. To ensure compliance with this settlement, Craft Edge
requests that all our distributors, partners and affiliates completely
stop selling, offering for sale or distributing these versions by no
later than May 27, 2011

Craft Edge greatly appreciates and values its relationship with you
and desires to work together now to close one chapter of that
relationship and open a new one. We will continue to provide quality
software for our shared customers in Sure Cuts A Lot™ version 3.0
and beyond.

Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and
you will not receive a response. If you have any questions, please
email us at affiliates@craftedge.biz

Sincerely,

Craft Edge Inc.

Just an FYI.....SCAL2......

......is no longer available from craftedge.com. The only download available is for SCAL3 which DOES NOT SUPPORT the Cricut.

If you or anyone you know has not purchased SCAL2 and still would like to do so, I've heard that there are a limited number of copies still available at Pumpkin Cart Crafts

In Lieu of a Blog Hop.....

Yes, today was supposed to be the Squash the Bug blog hop. I'm not sure exactly what happened - Ronnie, the person who was organizing the hop, seems to be MIA. Several hop participants have tried to reach her without success. I hope that she is well and we will hear from her soon.

The plan for that blog hop was for us to use files donated by various designer's who sell their svg files online. Since that didn't come about, I thought I would share a few details of the wedding album that I finished a while back - the pages include a mix of my own designs and those of my all time favorite designer, Mary Rudakas of svgcuts.com. (I've included links to all of Mary's files that are still available.)

For the wedding gifts, I used the gift border from the Birthday Elements SVG Collection:





The flutes, bells, and wedding cake are all from the My Big DayCollection:






The cake knife and server are my own design - cut from metallic cardstock, embossed the handles with my CB and added ribbons and pink rhinestone trim.



The title is my design using MTC and the Adine-Kirnberg script font. The beautiful bride silhouette is a retired free design from svgcuts.com.



The shoes are a free file from svgcuts.com:





The tux front, mens shoes and bow tie are files I created in MTC.




The makeup elements are files I created a couple of years ago in Inkscape. All the girls title is from the FREE My Mom's Attic collection at svgcuts.com:

So, if are reading this and haven't checked out the awesome files at svgcuts.com - what are you waiting for? The files are well designed, cut beautifully - and are very reasonably priced.

Have a great week-end everyone!

Another NSD challenge Card

I actually made this on Saturday but forgot to post - it's the first card I've ever made like this and it didn't turn out too bad I suppose. I haven't added a greeting or sentiment yet - will wait until I have a use for the card to decide since this could work for many occasions.

Outside View of Card

View of inside insert

I used the Cherry Blossom Mini Collection from svgcuts.com to embellish this card (except for the cherries which I created in MTC). Click on the photo below to purchase the Cherry Blossom Collection: