Monday, December 29, 2014

Cricut Explore Monkey Birthday Card

Good morning

Just wanted to share a card that I made.  I have been playing with my Explore quite a bit since Christmas morning and having a blast.  I LOVE THIS MACHINE!!!!

This card, I found a monkey card in the image library in Design Space.  I didn't have to do any welding.  I wanted to make a shaped card.  This made it easy.  But I got to use the pen to write with my Explore and use the score stylus.  It isn't the best card that I have made in my crafting experience but it was fun and I thought it was a cute card.



Friday, December 26, 2014

Santa Was Good To Me

Good morning everyone.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas this year and Santa was good to you.  He definitely  was good to me.  I got my new Cricut Explore and in my stocking was the Bluetooth adapter and the scoring stylus.  I got to play with my toy for a little while yesterday morning before going to my parents for dinner.  I made a couple projects just to try out the pen and the scoring stylus.  I made the starting project...  the Thank You card that I think everyone makes when they first set up their machine and I made a gift card holder from one of the Make It Now projects in Design Space.  I have a feeling I am going to be doing a lot of playing this weekend.  Unfortunately, I had to go to work today and can't play until later tonight or tomorrow.







I am so loving this machine.  I thought long an hard about my good ole Expression machine.  I really don't need 2 machines.  I was going to hold on to it as a back up but I decided to sell it.  I am including the the juke box that lets you load 6 cartridges at a time instead of 1 and 14 cartridges. Also, I have the deep housing blade for the Expression which I am including.  The only thing about the cartridges is that they are already linked to my Cricut account.  Did that long before I got my Explore and even before the Explore was even created.  But the carts do work when loaded in the machine to cut.  Just can't link them to another account.  If you are interested, you can email me  mysticjenn@gmail.com.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

My Cricut Explorer Still In Shipping Box

Good evening.

I am too excited right now.  My theory was correct.  My DH did order my Cricut Explore from Amazon.  The bad news is that he ordered the normal machine not in any bundles.  When I sent him the link to the starter bundle with the extra tools, he already had the machine on order.  He didn't let on at the time that he had ordered already.  I think I am going to see if Amazon will do something for us though.  The starter bundle was the same price as with out the extra stuff.  If Amazon won't help then I will call Cricut.  I at least want the stylus.  I can work around the deep cut blade at the moment by doing custom settings and doing a multi cut for my chip board. 

The machine was not shipped by Amazon but by Provocraft.  I got home today before my DH and there it was on the porch with Cricut Explorer on the shipping box in big bold letters.  I don't think my husband wanted me to know for sure until Christmas morning that I ordered it for me.  But, I still have to wait until Christmas morning to open it.  I can't wait!!!!


The lighting was not great when I took the pic.  It was really under exposed.  I photoshopped it a little.  But it is fuzzy.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Cricut Explore

Good morning everyone!  I am soooooo excited.  My DH is getting me a Cricut Explore for Christmas.  He found a good deal on Amazon.  For $199 I am getting the starter bundle that has the scraper, spatula, set of metallic pens, the deep blade housing, 2 months free subscription to the image library and the scoring stylus.   I can't wait to get it.  The hardest part is that he told me I have to wait until Christmas morning to open it and play with it.  I feel like a little kid.

I have been looking all over Pinterest and YouTube.  This machine is the bomb!!!!  If you have one of these toys, leave me a comment and let me know how you like it.  Even give links to some of your projects you made with it.

Friday, December 12, 2014

Nursing Graduation Card

Good morning blogers!

A realtor friend in my real estate office needed a card for her niece who is graduating from nursing school tomorrow.  I made this card for her.






I am loving the Cricut Craftroom.  I am so glad I paid for the subscription.  It saved me tons of time by not having to create svg files for this card.  I own the Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge, so I was able to use it in the CCR. She was cut at 3" All of the nursing stuff was from this cart.  I popped her up on double foam tape.  I hand drew her face with sharpies.

 The sentiment and graduation cap were cut from Happy Graduation I believe.  I cut a scallop circle and regular circle.  I also popped up the cap on double foam tape.  The sentiment is a single layer of foam tape.  I inked the scallop and sentiment scroll with Walnut Stain Distress Ink by Ranger.

The top part of the background was from just plain old card stock and I ran it through my Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots folder.  The bottom was from an old paper pack that was actually a fabric paper pack where you peel off the paper backing and stick the fabric on your object.  The pack was by DCWV.  I have had this paper pack for a couple years now.

I added some lace from my stash and some flat back pearls.

I dropped the card office at the office this morning and the realtor who I made the card for happen to be there.  She was so tickled over the card and loved it. 

Friday, December 5, 2014

Couple More Christmas Cards For 2014

Good evening.

It is late and I am going to have to get my little butt to bed ( actually not so little) here soon.  But, I just wanted to share a couple cards that I had made. The red based card I did tonight.  I bit the bullet  and subscribed to the Cricut Craftroom monthly subscription.  It is saving me some time right now not having to create svg files from the cart images.  I say it is worth it consider the over 25,000 images and fonts I have access to now.  The licensed carts are not available for subscriptions.  Those I will still have to create my own svg files from them.  But I don't use those very often.

Anyhow, the first card that I am showing you I made over a week ago.  I saw on Pinterest pins that used dryer sheets.  I decided to try it and here is how it turned out.  It is hard to see the glitter on camera, but I tried to display it the best that I could.



The next card I made in CCR since I subscribed.  It was a project file that I downloaded that featured the Quilted Christmas cartridge.  I added some white flat back pearls and a gem on the packages.  I used my Martha Stewart Pine Branch punch and added a few of those and I have these pearl pens.  I used my red one to create faux flat back pearls as berries.


That is it for tonight.  I have to get some sleep.  I was hoping to get another one done, but I ran out of time.  I have a busy weekend.  I have to show a house tomorrow and do some office time in the afternoon and on Sunday I am sitting an open house on a pretty new listing.

Later all and good night.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Free SVG - Snowy House Scene

Good morning.

I saw this cute card online and created an svg in order to re-create it.  I am sharing my svg with you today.

Click Here To Download


The card I saw has this and then some smoke coming out of the chimney and at the end of the smoke trail it spelled out Merry Christmas.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Free Deer SVG

I just thought I would post an SVG file that I created.  It was pretty simple.  It is a silhouette of a deer.

Click Here To Download

Christmas Card #4

Good morning.

I am on a roll now.  I made another Christmas Card.  This was a very quick and easy one.  It has 3 layers.  The top layer I used an embossing folder.. (sorry, can't remember the name) and stamped and heat embossed the "Be Jolly" sentiment.  I hand cut 2 trees from my stash of Christmas designer card stock paper.



Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Third Christmas Card for 2014

Good morning bloggers.  I just finished my 3rd card for the season.  I have fallen behind...  shame on me.  I was hoping to have most of them done by now.  I guess I have to step up my game now.


It is your typical A2 size card.  I used a red base and ran it through my cuddle bug with the brick folder from Tim Holtz.  Then I did a green layer with another folder.  Can't remember the name.  It is just a patterned one.  They are hard to see because the layers cover up a lot.  Just a goof on my part.  The next layer is plain white.  I added a Christmas ribbon at the bottom and the poinsettia frame was cut on my Cricut.  It was an svg file that I created.  I used a yellowish colored Liquid Pearls to create the centers of the flowers.  At the end, I spritzed it with a gold glimmer mist.

Friday, October 31, 2014

Zentangles - Second Attempt and Weekly Challenge 191 Betweed

Hello everyone...

I am attempting to do the Zentangle thing again.  The bug bit me.  I did one a couple years ago and never picked it back up.  Now, at work, we are in our slow season (working in a call center) and have some time on my hands in between calls.  We can't really bring in any crafts (crochet, macrame, etc) that I used to do at my desk.  However, we are allowed pens and paper. The next best thing was trying my hand at Zentangles again.

I am an extreme novice.  I have been browsing Pinterest and seeing so many amazing works of art.  I think, "Geeee  I wish I was that good...  I want to do that."  With that said, my attempts are very amateur looking.  But I guess if I keep on trying I will get better.  I am not real happy with my results.  But they are what they are.  I will share them any how.

The first one was done yesterday.  It was my second Zentangle ever.  and the Second one is for a challenge on Diva CTZ web site blog for her weekly challenge.  This week is about Betweed tangle and is the second pic.

on this one I just doodled and added some purplish pink for some color.

This is a bookmark that I made.  I am going to back it with scrapbook paper and laminate it for my mom.  She has never heard of Zentangles and tried to show and explain to her what they are.  I thought I would make something for her. I still have to get the shading down.  I seem to get it too dark where I scribble with the pencil and it does shade but remains too dark in the middle.  Start with small  projects and work my way up to bigger ones.

Thanks for reading and have a great day.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Polymer Clay Leaves

Good evening.  It is late here in Pennsylvania... almost 11pm.  I spent the evening with my mother beading.  My dh is out of town on business tonight.  I got home around 9pm tonight and decided to play some more.  I am on a macramé and polymer clay kick lately.  But, I created these fall leaves out of polymer clay to use on some Fall themed ATC cards for a swap on Mini Album Scraps ning site.

I conditioned my clay and rolled it out with my roller (shame on me, can't find my pasta maker that is dedicated to my clay work), and I used a tear drop shape cutter to cut out the shapes.  Then I used a sharp piercing tool to do little dotted lines for the veins and then played connect the dots to fill in the lines.  I learned that trick on Pinterest.

Here is another trick I learned on Pinterest.  I found out that you can microwave Polymer clay.  You heard me right.  You use a microwave safe dish, put plenty of water in it and nuke it for about 10 - 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the clay.  The only thing that I read was not to do this in a ceramic dish.  The ceramic changes the composition of the clay and it will break down or something like that.  IT WORKED LIKE A CHARM!!!!  I poured out the hot water and replaced it with ice water and my leaves are super hard.

Then I took red acrylic paint and painted them.  I used a damp paper towel to wipe most of the paint off, leaving it in the crevices.  I also dabbed some paint on the edges.  That was another Pinterest find too.  I didn't glaze them yet.  I am thinking I will leave them as is to make them look more organic than shiny.


Now, just if I could find my pasta machine.  I have not played with my clay in so long that I put it away somewhere.  I had to hunt for all my clay tools too.  Found those.  I looked all over my craft room.  I am either over looking it or it got packed into a tote and taken to the basement for storage when I cleared out my craft room to make room for all of my paper crafting stuff.

Monday, October 6, 2014

My Mom's Birthday Card

Hello Bloggers!

Today I am posting a birthday card that I made for my mother.  Her birthday is coming up here shortly but we celebrated early.  We took her and my dad to see an Elvis impersonator.  That was for her birthday and it included dinner.  So, she already has her card.

I used a deep brown base for the card and layered purple card stock and then Halloween colored plaid designer paper on top of that.  I had some white lace that I sprayed with a brown glimmer mist.  I added a little bling on the lace.  The stamp is of a standard poodle.  My parents have had these poodles for many years.  I used a paper flower and 2 polymer clay roses that I made.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Second Christmas Card and Free SVG

I was playing round with MTC and created this card.  This is the second card for 2014.  There is a die that I wanted to recreate in MTC.  It is the tattered lace deer snow globe die.  I took a card and cut a hole in the front and backed it with dark blue.  I cut the deer snow globe on my cricut.  I am still using a slightly older version of MTC only so that I can continue to use it with my Cricut Expression.

I have always shied away from cutting very detailed cuts because every time I tried, my paper always ripped.  I think I finally got it figured out.  I set my pressure on medium and cut slow and I also did a multi cut of 2x. It worked like a charm.

You can download the svg here.
Below are pictures of my card I made with the cut and the actual die cut itself.




Friday, September 19, 2014

Free SVG - Craft Dies by Sue Wilson - Festive Collection - Holly Sprays CED3013

I was playing around this morning with MTC and made this SVG file.  It is very close to the actual die.  I don't make SVG files out of every die but sometimes I need various sizes and you can not resize dies.

Click Here To Download

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

First Christmas Card for 2014

Hello everyone.  I know I have been MIA.  I have too many irons in the fire.  I keep saying that I am going to get better at posting.  Really I am, or that is my intent.

I took a trip to Michaels over the weekend and stocked up on some supplies, including some new stamps (hadn't bought any in a couple years), card stock, ATG tape and a few other things.  I got started on my Christmas cards tonight.  I only got one made because I had to do some organizing first.  The hardest part about making cards is deciding on what I actually want to do.  I look at so many cards online for inspiration and don't know where to begin.

I am making several this year.  I only send out about 20 each year but my other half likes to give out cards to his co-workers.  I am usually burned out and he buys some cheap cards.  I think this year I am going to make a few simple ones for that purpose.  I am getting a head start after all.  I found myself the past couple years not starting my cards until after Thanksgiving and then I am rushed.  If I am not rushed, perhaps I won't burn out so easy.

Enough rambling.  Here is what I did tonight.


The top one is the outside and the bottom is the sentiment from one of my new stamp sets I got this weekend.  The trees on the front are also a new wood mounted stamp I just got as well.

The ribbon is who knows how old but from my stash.  The card stock used was actually scraps from my stash.  I want to use scraps when I can to use them up.  I hate to waste.  The embossing is from a new embossing folder that I just got today.  The "Tis The Season" on the front is also from my new stamp sets.  The snow was done with a marker.  I did some inking of some edges. And that folks is it.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

My Recipes

Hello all,

I have a new blog in addition to to this one.  Geeese  I should be a blogging queen.  But, this blog and my new one for my recipes will be the main ones that I will start updating regularly.

I started the new blog because I find so many good recipes online and in my HUGE collection of cookbooks and want to share what I make.  I do give my sources for my recipes, whether it was in a book, website or passed down to me in my family.

I was getting tired of cooking the same old things all the time.  I love trying new things.  Go ahead and check it out.  It is only a few days old.  But subscribe, follow etc and watch as I build up my collection.

Http://mysticjennskitchen.blogspot.com


Tuesday, February 11, 2014

I am a Grandma!!!

Hello!!! I know it has been a while, but I have good news. I became a grandma last night. My grandaughter was born at 9:46pm in Jacksonville, NC. Her name is Ella Mae Sinsley. She is tiny weighing in at 5 pounds 6 ounces. The doctors had to induce labor because she wasn't gaining weight like she should. But looks like mamma and baby will be fine. Daddy is my oldest son Aaron. Pictured above is my son with his new daughter.