Tp shaker card

Being stuck at home stinks, literally.  I got this cute shaker svg from Queen & Co and made some cards to send to family and a few friends to give a bit of humor.  Everyone thought it was funny and I am glad they all saw the humor. 

I used generic card bases from Hobby Lobby's Paper Studio line, My Favorite Things 6x6 Merry & Bright paper for the background, and cute sequins kit I found at Tuesday Morning for the shaker. 
Thanks for looking!  April 

Paper Pumpkin To You & Yours alternative cards

card 1

This is from November 2018 My Paper Pumpkin by Stampin' Up called To You and Yours.  I was not a fan of the two designs in the kit so it sat in a pile in my craft room until now.  I love the stamps in the set and have been using them since the set arrived but lacked some inspiration what to do with the kit.  The original kit cost $19.99 + s/h, making the cards around $2 each.

card 2

card 4

card 3

card 6 - scraps

card 5

I spread the entire kit across the table, then started looking at Pinterest to find some ideas on how to make the most of the set.  I chose 5 cards that used most of the set and used scraps to make a 6th design.  I made 5 of each card for a total of 30 cards from the original kit of 10, by only adding a pack of ivory card bases from Hobby Lobby that came in a pack of 50 for $6.99.  You can frequently find it 50% off and I keep many on hand.  I have a few scraps left and one of each label, as well as the ribbon.  The card base that was included in the kit was kraft.  I trimmed 1/4" off the long side, then cut each short end at 3 3/4", leaving a half inch piece in the middle with the score line as my scrap.  I cut those apart on the score line and used them for some of my labels on one of the cards and strips for the last card.  Cards 1,2,3 and 5 all use the original card bases.  Cards 4 and 6 feature the liner from the envelopes included in the kit.  I opened the envelope and the inside was a perfect 5 1/4"x3 3/4" mat layer.  I also used the coordinating Garden Green and Soft Suede ink spots from prior kits on cards 3 and 4.  The last touch, was stamping all the envelopes with the bough stamps in Garden Green ink to match the cards.  By the time I was done, the 30 cards cost less than .80 each.  What a bargain to stretch the kit and get the most from your money. 
Thanks for looking!  April

Baby Yoda tote set

My nephew loves Star Wars, even as a toddler (thanks to his mom).  As a toddler, he loves to color so I decided to combine the two.  I sent the family out to pick coloring books, crayons, play and go kits, and a Color Wonder set.  We made sure to get Star Wars, Paw Patrol and Mickey books for him to use.  I had a tote bag in my craft room, as well as canvas pencil/make up pouches I found at Tuesday Morning.  Jennifer Maker came through again with a baby yoda she altered from a licensed Star Wars Cricut image.  I had to pay for the image, but it was only $1.99, and Jennifer offers the altered image on her blog at JenniferMaker.com.  I used Star Wars font to make a title for the pencil case.  It is the perfect size to fit a pack of 24 count crayons and a pack of triangle chunky Crayola crayons.  The most expensive cost was the heat transfer vinyl - black, green, silver, pink, and gray.  Thanks for looking!  April

shine sketch journal

This is a journal I gave as a gift.  I found the idea on Pinterest but the font required purchase.  I swapped the font for one in my system and used the stars from the design.  I used a JoAnn vinyl that has texture and sort of a dirty gold finish.  I really like how it pops on the black cover, even if it was a pain to get to stick to the canvas.  I think permanent vinyl would have been better but it doesn't offer the range of choices in colors and patterns.  Thank you for looking!  April

Jennifer Marker Star Lantern Alternative

Yep, you read it right, I altered the star lantern from Jennifer Maker.  My youngest has his own little tree in his room with his favorite ornaments and last year refused any attempt at a tree skirt or topper.  This year I offered to make him a Mickey topper or a star.  He asked for a star and as soon as I saw Jennifer's, I knew with a little tweak, it would be perfect.  Her team was wonderful about answering my question about how big the finished star was so I had an idea of how much I needed to downsize.
The original star lands around 14 inches and each arm is around 7 inches, way too big for a little 4 foot tree.  My wonderful engineer hubby said that a six inch star would keep the proportion just fine, so I needed each arm to be around 3 inches once folded.  Now, when you are adjusting the size, it's hard to tell on screen, but I cheated by using the score line image and stretched it over the point to the inside.  That gave me a realistic idea of the actual size, then I deleted the score line.  I also deleted the piece with the notch for the pendant light and duplicated an extra of the regular points.  I cut the image on glitter cardstock.  Be ready for a long wait as it took nearly 45 minutes to cut.  The glitter paper setting on the Cricut will cut it twice.  I found it did not need the second pass as it only made more of a mess so I stopped it half way through the second cut.
Be sure to follow Jennifer's suggestion to only assemble 4 of the points before gluing them together.  The last point is much easier to add when you can glue one tab at a time and save the long point for last.
How did I attach it to the tree?  I used scissors and cut a small notch in the base of the star and slid a chopstick with hot glue in it up to the top.  The stick hides well in his tree so I did not feel like I needed to paint.  I do recommend a twist tie to keep it in place.  Thanks for looking!  April