Minnie Mouse Cake Topper

Minnie Mouse is a popular gal these days! I guess some things never change. I remember my Minnie Mouse themed birthday party. My brother and I both have birthdays in July so we always had to split the cake. Half his theme and half mine. Ah, the memories. 

Back to why your here. I made this cake topper for a little ones 1st birthday. Her cake will look like Minnie Mouse's body and the topper will of course be her head. So cute. Sometimes I wonder how cakes ever get eaten when they are too cute!

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Custom orders available!

Anthropologie Inspired Fabric Flower Push Pins

I know it has been a little while since my last post.  My husband is graduating from dental school this coming May and then we are moving back to our home town. May is a huge month for us. It's the month where a new chapter of our lives begin. So proud of my hubby! 

I have also been super busy with some BIG projects that I just cannot wait to blog about. I won't be able to share any sneak peaks, unfortunately, until sometime this summer. =( I also have a project that I am working on that I will launch later this year. Rest assured, I am working hard. I love being busy with crafty things!!

Now, "Pushing" forward... 

I received an order similar to the Anthropologie push pins. They were on back order so she asked me if I could make them. I have dabbled in push pins before and these were just too cute to pass up. She ordered them as a gift for a co-worker. She will be one stylish co-worker!  

These would be so adorable holding up a note or pictures in an office or even at home. I will be posting a tutorial at some point in the near future. I have included close-ups of the push-pins. I had to ship them out today after I finished them and didn't realize some of the pics have strings on them...ah well. Life "pushes" on. Okay, I will stop with the lame puns lol.

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Custom orders available!

Say NO to SNOW!

Everyone who knows me knows that I strongly dislike the snow and cold. I know I live in a place where this is a high occurrence. Trust me, if I could move, I would. Weatherman/woman said we should expect anywhere from 18-24 inches of snow, high winds, and low visibility. Here is our little car just before the storm came. We had a few inches from the night before but nothing compared to...

 THIS!!

Brings a new definition to "Dude! Where's My Car?" 

I guess I won't be making any runs to the craft store for, well a while depending on when the plow comes. We might never get out then!

Fishing Gift Card Holder Tutorial

I will be showing you how I made the Fishing Gift Card Holder. I will also show you how I made the waves that hold the gift card in place.
So let's get started!!


Supplies


To make the waves:
"Life is a Beach" Cricut Cartridge
Distress Inks: Broken China, Weathered Wood, Shabby Shutters, Forest Moss
Ink Applicators
Embossing Machine
Embossing Folders of your choice ( I used D'Vine Swirls and Swiss Dots from Cuttlebug)
Adhesive


To make the gift card:
Paper Measuring 4 X 6 1/4
Scorer & Scoreboard
Paper Distresser
Distress Inks: 
Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Crushed Olive, Walnut Stain, Stormy Sky, & Faded Jeans
Staz-On Timber Brown ink
Ink Applicators
Stamps of your choice 
(I used some Tim Holtz and a wood mounted Bass stamp)
Craft Pick
Embossing Ink
Embossing Powder
Embossing Gun
Hand Sanitizer
Water
1 Brad
2 Hooks with the tip and barb cut off
(Can use another method if you prefer)
Fishing Line 
(Can use a different material if you prefer)


Part 1
Making the waves

Step 1: Using the waves from the letter "R" function on Life is a Beach, you will cut 2 sections of waves; one at 2 inches and the other at 1 1/2 inches.

Step 2: Cut the 1 1/1 inch strips just like the pic below. Do not cut the larger section of waves.

Step 3: Apply the ink using an ink applicator to the waves.
First Shabby Shutters, then Weathered Wood, followed by Broken China. You can't really mess this up so that makes it stress free! ; )

 
 Step 4: Do the same to the smaller wave sections. You will only need to do the tips so don't worry about inking the base.
Start with Broken China First then end withWeathered Wood.

Step 5: Cut the bases off of the small waves.

Step 6: Once you have your waves inked and cut, place them in embossing folders. The large wave was placed in the D'vine Swirls folder. You will need to run the large waves twice because the entire strip doesn't fit.

The small waves were placed in the Swiss Dots folder.

Step 7: Run them through your embossing machine


Step 8: More inking!! I added more Weathered Wood and (not pictured) Forest Moss on the large waves to bring out the swirls.
I also added more Weather Wood to the small waves (not pictured). 

Step 9:  Glue the small wave sections to the backside of the large waves as in the picture below. Make sure to place the small wave portion so that it will show when looking at it from the front (hoping that makes sense).

Viola! Waves! =)


Part 2
Making the gift card


Step 1: Apply Crushed Olive Distress Ink to entire surface of your 4 X 6 1/4 piece of paper.
Then apply Peeled Paint, Forest Moss and Stormy Sky in the same way.
Step 2: To achieve this background in the pic below sprinkle, with your hand, water and then do the same with the hand sanitizer. The hand sanitizer will pull out the Stormy Sky color.

Step 3: After the paper has dried, distress all four sides of the paper with a paper distresser.


Step 4: Apply Walnut Stain Distress Ink around all four of the edges.

Step 5: Turn your piece of paper over. Ink the top 4 inches in Stormy Sky and Faded Jeans and then ink the bottom portion that is left in Crushed Olive, Peeled Paint, and Forest Moss. Note **There will be spots from the front side but it does make for a rustic effect.

Step 6: Place Stamps, in the Staz-On Timber Brown, where you would like them.

Step 7: Stamp your image on a separate sheet of paper. Ink the image how you like then cut it out.

Step 8: Place a small hole in the fishes mouth where the hook will go.

Step 9:  Cover image with embossing ink, embossing powder and then heat emboss your image. You will need to place your craft pick over the hole you just pierced to keep this hole from being closed by the embossing enamel and to hold the image in place so it does not blow away with your embossing gun.

Step 10: Ink your saying/s on the front sides of the card before scoring. Feel free to personalize what you want your gift card holder to say.

Step 11: Score the green inked portion at the 2 inch mark and score blue inked portion at the 4 1/4 inch mark.

Step 12: Pierce a hole at the top for your brad to fit and place brad (refer to last image to show placement of brad).
Step 13: Place and glue stamped image so that the underside of the brad is no longer visible (the fish is now covering the prongs of the brad).

Step 14: Tie fishing line to hook and place the hook in mouth where you pierced a hole earlier (if you would like). 
Step 15: Glue down hook.


Step 16: Score a thin line at the base of the waves. This will provide a tab to glue. 
Step 17: Match the scored line on your waves to the score line on the gift card and glue down. Let dry.

Step 18: Glue tiny portion of the side of the waves to act as the pocket for your gift card. Make sure your gift card can slide in and out easily.

Step 19: Double the fishing line and tie the two ends in a knot around the hook.
Step 20: Place the loop end of the fishing line around the brad, wrap fishing line around the gift card and place hook around the brad to keep it closed.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you have any questions let me know and I would be happy to help. =)