Snow Days!

My favorite days during the school year are SNOW DAYS! It is always fun to see the kids wondering and anticipating if school is going to close, and when it does to see the excitement on their faces!

So imagine their excitement having two SNOW DAYS in a row! I have a few projects that I want to finish up today and hopefully the kids will join me in the studio this afternoon. Today is their morning to sleep in!!

Quest to Use Every Cartridge I Own! COMPLETED!

Well, still working on the clean out. Progressing nicely, but I wish it was just all gone! Funny thing was I found some old issues of Somerset Studios magazine - we are talking pre-Benjamin magazines! Dated 1998. I started to get rid of them and then, maybe the page fell open, maybe I was mindlessly looking at the pages, whatever happened, not sure, but I saw this really neat project to make mini-books using shrinky dink material. Next thing you know I am looking through this magazine and, yes, it was returned to the keep pile! Broke every rule of getting rid of stuff, didn't I? There are only two of them, but I do plan on looking at them and tearing out the projects I would like to try sometime.

Enough about the purging! On to update everyone about my "other" project involving Cricut! Cartridges have been for sale at ridiculously low prices! I have avoided going to the store, only because I suspect with my obsessive/compulsive behavior, I will end up with cartridges I don't want. I decided to do something a little extreme....

I went through all my cartridges and actually USED them! I decided before I buy any more cartridges, it was time to hit reality that I haven't used most of the cartridges I own. Hence, was born another project!

Armed with my scrap bin, I was determined to make one thing from each cartridge. Rules were to use only scraps - I broke that rule twice - I needed black paper as an outline for many cuts and double-sided paper for one cut. For each cartridge, I went through the book searching for the right cut to hit me. I avoided doing one-layer cuts, and I think there are only two in the bunch. I wrote the name of the cartridge on the flip side of each cut along with measurements for some.

I have 59 cartridges, and 9 on the gypsy only. Truth be told, I am expecting three more cartridges today, and it is my plan to use them right away to include them in my project.

Throughout the week, I plan on blogging about my experience. What cartridges I love, and what cartridges I thought, "Why did I ever buy this?" and what I learned throughout the experience.

It certainly became an obsession for me to complete the project - now I can officially say I have used all the cartridges I own!

What is Going on in the Cricut World?!?!

Something is, that is for sure. Clearing out the gypsys? Clearing out cartridges?

I haven't even used the new ones I received for Christmas!!

Happy New Year!

The new year is here and it is time to....clean out the old scrapbook supplies! I signed up to participate in the garage sale again this year at Scrap Tales, so I am motivated to purge the old! I have decided to get rid of most of the old scrapbook magazines taking up serious cupboard space in the studio - I haven't looked at any of them in years, so it is time for them to move on.

So what else is on the purge list?
Some stamps, wood mounted and acrylic
Punches
...and is it time to get rid of the decorative scissors?

Of course, I have the list of items that I would never get rid of:
Glitter, in any shape or form! (Including Stickles)
Martha Stewart or EK Success Punches
Cuttlebug supplies
RIBBON!
Cinch Tool
Anything Cricut
Copic Markers
Buttons

The boys made me some new shelves to hold more punches and that is working out great! It is so nice to be able to see the punches. I just recently purchased the Ranger spinner - it is kinda a vintage looking rubber stamp holder. The spy stamps the kids purchased in Washington, DC now have home to reside. Interestingly, when I did an on-line search on how to put it together, I saw a note someone wrote about a stand her husband built for her Stickles. She is going to look around for a photo of it - I see a project in the future!

Christmas Party Invitation

I was very happy with the way these turned out! Even better since I had a helper with texturizing all the pieces in the Cuttlebug! Thanks Madeline!

Supplies Used:
Jolly Holiday Cricut Lite Cartridge
Cuttlebug Folders - swiss dot, snowflakes and swirls
Martha Stewart White Flocking on hat
Doodlebug Fine Orange Glitter

Kimm and Rochelle - your invites are in the mail! :)

Simple Notebook for Teacher

I will be substitute teaching for 7th grade science tomorrow, and thought it would be nice to leave a small gift for the teacher. I made this simple notebook using scraps from the scrap bin, chipboard, ribbon and the Cinch. I get to do an experiment and hopefully wear goggles!! lol

New Carts for the Collection

I took time over the weekend to open all the carts that I have accumulated over the past few months and it was so exciting! Create-a-Critter is such a fun cart and believe it or not, Summer in Paris has an incredible 3-D Eifel Tower....and....YES....I did make one and it is sitting on my desk in the office. My sister brought some of her newest cartridges over for me to look at, and Give a Hoot is now on my wish list, although Paisley has moved lower on the list now that I looked through the actual book. She also has the In My Kitchen cart, and although it is a very specialized cart, I can see the appeal of it. I still will be spending some time exploring the carts and will share my thoughts and photos of my projects over the next few days.