Favourite Cutting Machine Challenge

 Happy Saturday everyone, I hope your weekend is going well!

Our challenge for you this week at Hiding in My Craft Room is to make a project using your favourite cutting machine!  This includes dies as you still have to use a cutting machine to press the die through :-)

Our sponsors this week are:

Hiding in My Craft Room

Prize ~ Space Party Cricut Cartridge

AND

Di's Digi Stamps

The prize ~ $12 Gift Certificate to Di's Digi Stamps

So for this challenge, I thought I would show you how I decorated my favourite cutting machines.  Yup, that's right I have two favourites, my Cricut Explore and my Silhouette.  Actually, I have 3 favourites, as I also love my Cuttlebug. It cuts all my dies perfectly :-) But back to my electronic cutters.  I used vinyl to make the decorations and as you can see I kept them pretty simple.  In case you're wondering, the reason I haven't decorated my Cricut Expression is because I'm thinking of selling it.  I haven't used it since I got the Explore almost a year ago.

So, now, it's your turn to make a project using your favourite cutting machine and join us in the fun.  This challenge, #221,  runs till 2:00 am on Saturday, 24 October 2015.  Take a few minutes and visit the Hiding in My Craft Room blog to see all the lovely creations my DT sisters made for your inspiration. Thank you for stopping by today and taking a peek at what I'm creating!

Till next time,

Happy Fall

Another Cake Taker

I enjoy making these - they always seem to come out so cute. Here is another order I got. I love this colour combination and I guess my customers do too :)

Cake Taker

I hadn't done any of these since last summer, but I'm starting to get a few more orders in now. Here is the first one I made. Doesn't it look pretty? By using outdoor vinyl, you can still handwash them with soapy water and the vinyl won't peel off.

Glass Pump Bottle

I'd ordered a glass pump bottle to store my gamsol. These bottles are great as it not only prevents evaporation, but when you pump it gently, it brings up just a little amount of gamsol into the tiny reservoir at the top so that you can dip the blending stumps right into it and when you're done, you just close the lid and voila, no cleaning mess and no storage fuss. It's also safer to work with because even though gamsol is an odorless mineral spirit, the fumes are still there. Since I chose to buy a plain white bottle, I had all these wonderful plans to embellish it. But then I saw this cute little sticker in my stash and thought it perfect for this little bottle. I used the cricut to cut out the letters in vinyl and used that to label it. It was all done in a matter of minutes and I must admit a lot easier than I had originally planned! I love it when a good plan comes together :-)

Working with Vinyl

The students in our school band this year were given water bottles to carry with them to all games and performances. A good thing too, since our temperatures have been hovering in the 100's for the last couple of months! We were asked to put the student's name on the top and on the back so that they would be easily identifiable. Considering we have close to 300 kids, it really needs to be nice and clear. I'd been using a sharpie to do this, but it soon got old as it keeps washing off. I decided to try it out using outdoor vinyl. It really looks great and much neater!

I used the font from Plantin Schoolbook - the top letters are cut at approx. 3/4" and the ones on the back at approx. 1". I say approx. because I actually sized with DS and I forgot to look at the exact size.

Glass Block

I have seen many of these and have always wanted to make one. Recently I finally got the chance. I made this as a birthday gift for a young lady who turned 9 and absolutely loves mermaids. In fact, she has an accent wall in her bedroom that is completely painted with a mermaid scene, so I thought that this night light would go very well with her decor. I will definately be making more of these as I enjoyed it very much. I am thinking of trying it a different way ~ when and if I succeed, I will share it with you :)

Personalized Gifts

Here are another two cake servers that I personalized. I think these turn out great and they are so handy. I use outdoor vinyl, the same that is used to put advertisements on cars, etc. This prevents peeling off when you wash them. You do have to handwash them in cold water and dry them immediately, but they last you a very long time. As some of you know, I'm currently taking some cake decorating classes and get to use mine all the time and I haven't had any problems.

The top one was for my first cake decorating teacher and the bottom was a gift for my son's band director. She was an absolute gem the entire year. It was through great dedication and hard work that she got the best out of her students and she did it in such a way that all the students loved her. Our Junior High band was playing at a level that had judges giving them a standing ovation!

Personalised Items using Vinyl

If you are like me, when you take something to a party, a picnic or just any function really, you loose track of your dishes. I have lost more tupperware this way than I care to remember. Often I don't even realize that I'm missing the container till the next time I need it and can no longer find it. It is then too late to remember where it was left behing. So, with this in mind, I recently bought a cake holder and decided to personalize it. So, using my cricut and some vinyl, I came up with this and I must admit that I'm very happy with it. It was a great hit and I have had a couple of orders for these. I'm also thinking that they make great gifts for teachers for the end of the school year. Now if only I could figure out what to get the male teachers ?!

Another item I personalized was my husband's hard hat. He wanted his name on it, so that when he visits construction sites, it is easy for him to identify his hat amonsgt those of his colleagues. I used my cricut to cut his name using vinyl. Then I used the transfer tape to transfer the cut to the hard hat and voila, one personalized hard hat and one happy hubby :)

Personalized Christmas Ornaments

I decided that this year, instead of trying to find that special ornament for that special person in my life, I would just make them a personalized one. They've been such a great hit, that I have had already a few orders from friends for their families. If you would like one, email me at lenfon@msn.com or call me at 832-492-1342. All orders welcome :) Comments are much appreciated.