Two Bears In A Box

Hi Everyone,
I have a bit of a back story for this little box.  I will try to be as brief as I can.  Over the years at work my friend Kathy and I would go on break together. Twice a day for 15 minutes, for about 10 years or so. Maybe even more.  We would walk and talk and pretty much brighten each others day.  Kathy is a dear friend and we were always bouncing stories off of one another. At one point in time we worked in the same department but even when we changed our departments we continued to go on break together. Okay ... here is the story ... one day we were walking along and there on the ground we see one of those pencil topper animals. It was a koala bear.  It was so cute. We picked it up and carefully placed on the branch of a box hedge.  He looked so cute clipped onto the branch.  Every time we would walk we would look for him.  As the seasons would change we would check on him.  Sometimes it was difficult to find him.  That little koala hung in there through rain, snow and the summer heat for years.  We started to notice his fur was falling away.  Time was starting to take its toll on our little koala bear.  And time was beginning to take its toll on me as well.  Diagnosed in Jan. 2016 with pancreatic cancer I was out of work for 10 months.  I was thankful that I was able to return to work for about 4 months or so but as my health failed I once again left work in Feb. '17.  I felt like I abandoned my break buddy.  Kathy and I stay in close contact and one day she called me to tell me that the property owner where our koala was had taken down the hedges.  Our koala was gone! Kathy looked and looked for him but to no avail she was unable to find him.  We were both saddened by this turn of events.  Silly I know, two grown women getting upset over a pencil topper.  In the back of my mind I knew I had to somehow commemorate our break times together and our little koala bear too.  So here is a picture of my little something, something I made for my dear friend Kathy.

I am retiring from my position at work and I will miss everyone from my work family so much but none as much as my dear friend Kathy.  I really had fun with this box and those little bears and Kathy loved them too! Till next time friends, thanks for stopping by.
Lysa

Summer Dishes - It's All About the Crate!

Hi Everyone,
So here's the thing, I am obsessed with dishes. Yup, it's a down right fetish. I change out my dishes for each season of the year.  I get this from my Mom who always was entertaining family and friends.  Her tablescape was as important as the meal that was on it.  I think I knew how to set a formal table by age 5. Keep in mind my Mom was born in 1917 so let us just say she beats Martha Stewart by years and years.  So I figured I would pass on this tradition to my daughter by giving her a set of summer dishes for Mother's Day for her new home.  Along with a way to display them as well. We love a beach theme with a patriotic flare so I chose a set of Tim Cofey dishes called Pier 45. They are a discontinued pattern but with a lot of searching I was able to put together service for 8. Including some red, white, and blue silverware, napkins and drink ware. Even wine charms that I made.  What I want to highlight is the crate that I decorated.  I created a logo for them and used the thermal laser print transfer technique to transfer the logo to the wooden crate.  Here is a picture of how it came out.

I had so much fun putting this together and Sam loved it.  It was the perfect gift for Mother's Day.  Here is a pic where you can see the wine charms I made a little better as well as the logo. The logo is dated 2016 for the year they married.

I told her she needs to have me over for a crab dinner! I think I deserve it, Don't you? More wine charms on the way for sure and a patriotic necklace too!!  Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the warm weather that is finally on its way.
Lysa

Paper Crate Project Summer 2017

Hi Everyone,
I got so excited when I saw a sneak peek of the new SU crate die that I knew I had to make a digital cut file for one.  Sure I like dies but who could be limited to one size. I also did not like the way the die was a 2 piece cut.  The seams show on both front and back when assembled.  That's just wrong in my book,  Not that I am a favor box snob but lets face it I am.
I had so much fun making these.  I filled them with sea shells and sand.  The sand is from the Jersey shore.  And you know us Jersey peeps, we are all about the shore!  I so see these filled with shell shaped chocolate for a beach themed wedding.  A little sign with the couples name and date. Now that's a favor!  Here is a picture of 4 that I made.  I think I will make a few more as well.

OMG! I love them!!!
If you want to try to make one here is a pic of the pdf with instructions.

I printed the paper with my Canon G2000 and all the cutting was done with my Cricut Explore Air2. I loved designing the paper as much as designing the file.
I have the file available as a PDF and an SVG.  You can find the downloads here on my mediafire account:
The PDF is here:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/q3ol23d7jed3s1s/wood_crate_instructions.pdf
and the SVG is here:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/zq1bjktjcmfa92k/wooden_crate_to_post.svg
Feel free to resize this file to your needs.  Please leave a comment as they really make me happy! I appreciate when people link back to my blog.  Please don't sell the file, just share share it as it was meant to be shared not sold!!
Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by,
Lysa

Lindt Bunnies 2017 - I Love This Little Bunny!

Hi Everyone,
I am so happy to say I spent some quality time in the craftroom last week. What got me up and moving was that the Hubster surprised me with a Cricut Explore Air 2.  Now I know I swore off Cricut years ago after the whole law suit against Make the Cut and Sure Cuts Alot. I don't even want to talk about the whole Cricut Imagine debacle but after years of boycotting Provocraft I have returned. And the fact is I love the cutter.  Now keep in mind I collect cutting plotters like a musician collects instruments.  This makes number 11 for me. I really think I have reached the end of the collecting road but who knows I am a bit addicted to them. There are so many reviews and videos on this machine available on line so there is no need for me to say anymore than "Provocraft hit a home run with this Explore Air 2". With that said I thought I would show you some pics of my very first project that I made using it.  First here is a pic of the cutter.  I love the color.  The hubs got it from HSN on their all day craft event. It came bundled with 3 mats and access to their cutting files (Cricut Access membership) for three months.  Which I most likely won't use as I design my own files. Here is the pic:

  I had to clear the space in the craftroom just to make room for it.  I left my Brother Scan and Cut along with my KNK Zing within easy reach so I could use them as needed. 
My Daughter is hosting her first ever family holiday dinner for Easter Sunday so I thought making table favors would be a great project for running the Cricut Explore through its paces.  I had a blast and did not waste any paper as everything cut perfectly. I did use some punches on this project but the box and most of the elements were cut with the Cricut.  Here are some pics:

I really had fun making these and using this cutter.  Now that the software supports .SVG files I can design to my hearts content with my CraftArtist Pro software, save as an .SVG and import the file into Cricut Design Space to cut.  Thanks Provocraft for joining the real world. Now if you would just make an off line software package I would be even happier as not everyone has reliable internet service. Next up I will check out the cutter print and cut functions as that feature is important to me.  Many thanks to the Hubs for getting this for me, it really gave me a reason to keep on keep'in on!
Wishing Everyone a happy and healthy day. Thanks for stopping by,
Lysa

A Picture Really Is Worth A Thousand words (And Dollars Too!)

Hi Everyone,
Not sure if anyone is still with me as my health issues keep me at a minimum crafting level.  I try and try to keep crafts in my life and do manage to get into the craftspace here and there.  I must say the space is a mess and I say everyday I am getting in there to clean up and organize.  Well, that just never happens!  My general health is not great and the month of February was not kind to me. I ended up in the hospital twice. The first time for four days and the second time for six days.  Amazing how the Doctors and Nurses can bring you back to life. Okay enough of the cancer drag and onto the thousand dollars.  A friend at work son is getting married. Yeah, I so love a happy occasion. My friend  Cindy asked if I ever made a money cake as she wanted to give them one at the bridal shower.  I told her "No, only diaper cakes".  After a bit of research I thought the money cake looked like an easy and fun project.  I must say I was a tad nervous when I fell ill as I had $1,000.00 of Cindy's money in my house.  It all worked out as I worked on it a little at a time over the course of 2 weeks or so.  I think I spent about 3 hours total time on the assembly of the cake and the project got me out of my sick bed and into the craftspace (A huge thanks to Cindy).  So let me start by saying I had to put my own spin on the cake.  I started with figuring out the money.  I use my CraftArtist2 software to create the 3 tiers of the cakebase (which are 10", 8", and 6") I then created 3/4 inch circles to go around the base circle placing them in a format of bills that added up to $1,000.00 dollars.  This template was great as my friend could clearly see the bills she needed to get from the bank.  My research showed that most people roll the bill and secure them with small rubber bands. Not me as usual because I wanted all the rolled bills to be the same size.  I had an idea to create 3/4"X1/2" tubes out of the candy bags I use for Hershey nugget crafts and it worked like a charm.  I simply used my wood burning tool to divide and seal the bag and then cut that strip into 1/2 " lengths with a pair of scissors.  Worked great and all the rolls were the same size. If you look close in this picture you can see them centered on the bill.

The best part is when the cake is given to the Bride, all she has to do is pull up on the roll to get the money.  No need to disassemble anything.  Following the template I used glue dots placed on the plastic sleeves to create the strip of bills and then glue dots to attach the strips to the base.  No glue dots touch the money only the plastic sleeve.  I left open spaces for decorative elements.  This worked out perfect to keep the bills centered and organized. Again the template was worth taking the time to make.  Here is a picture of one of the die cuts used to fill the spaces:

Here is a close up of the topper:

Lots of ribbon on the cake make it pretty:

And here is the finished cake ready to go:

I really did enjoy this project. I used my CraftArtist2 software along with my Brother Scan N Cut to make the die cuts.  I want to thank my friend Cindy for inspiring me to get up and get moving.  I also want Cindy to know that I always feel just a bit a part of the wedding and the family when something I made appears at the shower or the wedding.  I am truly blessed to have peeps that still think of me as more than a person who is ill and do their best to help me to keep on keeping on. Much love and blessings to the happy couple for a wonderful wedding and long life together.  Thanks for stopping by,
Lysa