I got my swim trunks and my FLIPPIE FLOPPIES!!!

She's done it again...Amanda at Imperfectly Beautiful has come up with a fabulous way to jazz up plain old flip flops into spectacular works of art (loosely speaking). So be sure to go to Amanda's blog and check out the tutorial on how to make these gorgeous rosettes. Then go back and see her tutorial on how to make her version of the flip flops...you can use her tutorial which is fabulous...or you can take make version and run with it...I made the rosettes using her tutorial...this was my first attempt at making these gorgeous gems, and I may have gotten them a little too tight...but they worked for what I was trying to achieve. So then, I decided I would modify her idea a bit. I have two girls, so when I see something that I can utilize in their wardrobe...I always try to figure out a way to use it to my advantage. What I decided to do, was make them interchangeable (I wish Blogger had sound effects...I would definitely have added a lightening bolt sound at this sentence).
I glued felt to the back of my rosettes (which you will notice I didn't do in my picture...I figured out later that I would have to or when they pulled it off the rosette would get tugged on and possibly fall apart...the green one has it's own piece of felt on the back). Then I hot glued velcro dots to the back of them....I then cut an identical piece of felt and added the opposite side of the velcro to the plain piece of felt...(to make this easier..I attached the velcro to itself than added glue and placed the plain piece of felt on top...that way it all lined up).



I then had a rosette with velcro and a plain piece with velcro that can be easily slipped under the shoe and changed out with different color rosettes as needed....












Both my girls wore a pair to school today...



these are perfect for summer and I can't wait to start making rosettes in every color....did I mention I love Amanda at Imperfectly Beautiful...I think I'm going to start a fan club for this woman...she is a genius...

Mother's Day Silhouette's with Cricut

ATTENTION: IF YOU ARE MY MOTHER...DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER!!!
Hello blogger buddies...I've been working really hard on Mother's Day gifts and honestly I just about gave up and bought them all a bunch of color your own pillowcases...(there was a sale at Michael's)....I have been so frustrated that I just about lost my ever-lovin' mind!! So...I don't know if you want to try it, or if you want to go the traditional route...which I feel certain would be so much simpler, but here are the instructions on how to make a silhouette with your Cricut...You will need SCAL, Inkscape (free program), and Photoshop Elements (there is a 30 day free trial for this program) for this project.
First off...I took some mugshots of my doodles...I stood them up against a light background, which believe it or not was very difficult to find in my house, as all the walls are painted in colors. Now...go to Positively Splendid for the tutorial on how to black out the silhouettes with Photo Express...She gives a fantastic tutorial on how to use PE and make these silhouettes...

Once you have finished these, use your Inkscape to convert them into a .SVG file...open Inkscape...import your photo which you saved from PE, make sure you scale it into the rectangular box....open Path...choose Trace Bitmap....then hit ok when the Bitmap box pops up....right click you image and drag the new image to the side...then click on original image and delete it....when you have deleted the original image...drag you new image and back into the rectangle...save to desktop...
Now, there is a tutorial out there that shows you pictures and step by step photos of how to use Inkscape..however, I didn't have them bookmarked...but I feel pretty certain I got it from YouTube.

You are now ready to open SCAL and import the new .svg file....once imported, scale it to the size you need. I used vinyl in my Cricut, but you could use cardstock or whatever you want to make your silhouettes. Hit cut on your SCAL....That's it...yeah right...easier said than done...but I explained it the best I could....
It truly was not an easy project, but now that I have the hang of the PE...I think I will be able to do it a little easier next time...Again, there are plenty of videos on the internet showing you step by step photos of how to use SCAL.

Now, I found some great frames at Dollar Tree...



this was my first visit to this store...who knew they had such great bargains? I assure you ...it won't be the last time I visit...The frames had a decent design but really needed a good coat of spray paint. I took the backs off, well, honestly, they were falling off the back already...the glue was coming undone, I don't know what I expected for $1....but anyway, I removed them and gave them a good coat of Krylon.



Once they were dry, I glued the backs on with E-6000 and put them all back together...



I cut out a piece of cardstock to fit inside the frames and placed the vinyl cutout in the center.



I think they turned out great...and hopefully all the "Mom's" will love them. If effort counts, I should get some big daughter points..




I know the tutorial is relatively useless, but I wanted to get this up before Mother's Day in case any of you wanted to try it...if you have questions or you don't understand my ramblings, I will do my best to help walk you through it...just comment. I have seen this done with tracing paper and black constuction paper...that seems simple enough, but I LOVE MY CRICUT and I'm always looking for new ways to utilize it...I hope all the Mom's out there have a wonderful and blessed Mother's Day. I know my favorite gift are the children that have come into my life and changed me for the better. Happy Mother's Day!!!

Teacher's Gifts...Super easy!!!

Well, I had no choice but to pick myself up the oily floor and dust myself off.It was time to get back to crafting...School is about to end and I have to get teacher's gifts finished. So I scoured the bloggerworld and found a beautiful idea for a gift...please check out and follow Amanda at Imperfectly Beautiful. She is phenomenal and has such unique and creative ideas...She always adds a tutorial and has some of the best ideas for using a Cricut. I have followed her for a while and she has never let me down...be sure to look around on her blog and check out all her tutorials.
So here are my completed teacher gifts...Here are the supplies you will need: First and foremost, click on the link above (for the tutorial); a composition book (.94 at Walmart)


and some decorative paper and/or card stock, and ribbon, . Now, I used Zig two -way glue on mine..only because I didn't have any double stick tape...but I'm sure either would be fine...plus, I'm really bad at lining up my paper, so I needed something I could reposition. Anyway, I really think they turned out great and I hope the teachers enjoy them. My friend Denise is a teacher and she has always said that as much as she appreciates all the gifts that her students bring her for different holidays and end of year...there are only so many places to put decorative candles and only so many body parts she can wash with bath products...however, nobody will ever say that she smells bad!!!!





On a side note: you will notice on Amanda's blog that she has a tutorial on how to make a decorative clipboard. Well, I tried it and it was a nightmare...um...when she tells you to use spray adhesive, USE IT!!! Don't try to use something else...I used it for the initial paper on the bottom, but when I had to reposition the paper it sorta got rippled. So I thought, I'm just gonna use a two-way glue for the top piece...it seemed to be ok, until I Modge Podged...then it bubbled up everywhere!! Oh well, I will definitely try it again, but next time I'm gonna follow the directions to a T...sorry Amanda for screwing it up, you are the Master...I'm your humble servant!! Happy blogging!!!