Author Archives: deb_m

About deb_m

By day, a teacher. By night, a geeky crafter. I have one hubby, 2 kids, and 4 dogs. I like to take pictures and like it even more when they don't suck. I use a KNK Maxx 24" machine, a Zing, and a Cameo.

Many Thanks

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You can never have too many thank you cards, right?

I needed some cards and I needed them quick. I’m a teacher and I am always needing thank you cards. I saw this design at www.lovesvg.com and I knew it would make a perfect card. The problem is, it needed four different colors. I’m starting to use vinyl a whole lot more on my cards. It’s easier to weed and it’s easier to stick and a whole lot less messy. I am sick of seeing my glue marks all over my cards. The vinyl just looks and cuts cleaner.

Anyway, I realized I didn’t have any brown or red vinyl and so I thought, what if I just used markers and colorthe vinyl the colors I wanted it to be? Well, guess what? It works. And it looks pretty good. I used paint pens, the ones that you use for rocks or other surfaces and I used matte white vinyl. I’m not sure if it would work as well on shiny vinyl, but hey, I wasn’t sure this would work and it did.

I did learn it is easier to color after you weed because you can see the image better and you can sort of ink the sides of the cut pieces so you don’t see white after you weed. I did it both ways and this way was clearly better. You do have to wait a bit for the ink to dry and I even thought about giving it a little spray with acrylic to make sure the color sets. I didn’t for these cards, I’ve been rubbing my fingers all over it and none is coming off.

Anyway, I’m sure someone out there has thought of this idea, but it sure worked for me in a pinch today!

Materials

110# cardstock for card base, matte white vinyl and paint pens (I got these off Amazon).

Machine

Zing with SCAL: used vinyl project setting

red blade

Our family has expanded by four paws

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Hello. I think I’ve mentioned this, but last June, my daughter and I started fostering kittens for the San Diego Humane Society. Over the months, we fostered 22 kittens. Unfortunately, two passed away, but it was a good feeling that we were able to help 20 kittens find their homes.

The day after Christmas, there were 5 puppies available. I had never fostered puppies, but decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, we lost one the first night and the rest were not doing so well. We got them on antibiotics and well… let’s say that these guys have thrived. They were nearly a week old when I got them, eyes closed and had to be bottle fed every three hours, kept warm and had to be stimulated to go to the bathroom.

Tomorrow they go get spayed and neutered and then go to their forever homes. I found them all homes, so I will get to visit and get updates. And well, one is going to stay with us.

My daughter started an Instagram account (@sdfostermoms) if you want to see Lucy’s sister and brothers (Sally, Charlie Brown and Linus)

and the kittens we fostered.

So I designed this little sign to use for our “little announcement.” I kind of messed up because the sign turned out blurry in the picture, but I’m an amateur, so still learning.

I used SCAL 5 and my mac. Hooked up the Zing-a-ling and it was so easy! I just used the “vinyl wall decal” setting. Unfortunately, I cannot get my KNK Maxx 24 to work with SCAL. I hope to fix that soon, otherwise it has just become a very big paper weight because I no longer have a PC. I may have to upgrade Parallels, but I’m hoping to get it to work.

I actually designed this file, looking at some ideas I found on the Internet. It’s a SCAL 5 file. Please use it for personal use only. I used Kimberly Geiswein fonts, so I believe you have to buy a commercial license if you would like to use her fonts for things you sell.

I cut it out with white vinyl. It fits on 8 1/2 x 11 paper (I used black chalkboard paper) and then mounted it on a 9 1/2 x 12 piece of chipboard.

Machine/Settings

Zing; SCAL 5, vinyl wall decal settings

djm_ourfamilyhasexpandedbyfourpaws.scut5

 

Happy Birthday card

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This was probably one of the easiest cards I’ve made in a long time. I downloaded this FREE graphic from lovesvg.com and then printed out the balloon lines. I ended up using a different font for the Happy just because. I cut out the letters in different colors of cardstock and then mounted them with foam tape to give them a little bit of lift.

I think it’s very simple in design, but still is cool.

https://lovesvg.com/2018/12/happy_birthday_balloons_8228/

Machine used:

Zing; red blade, 10/10

Materials:

kraft paper for base

scrap card stock for the rest

printer for background.

 

PS… no pandas this month. Nancy has the panda-cuteness covered. Aren’t those cards adorable?

Last minute gift ideas…

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I work in a school and our vacation time is kind of challenging this year. Usually, we have about 4-5 days off before Christmas, but this year we went on break as of this past Friday. I kind of scrambled to get some work gifts together. I apologize, they are pandas yet again…

If you have Costco, they are currently selling these insulated cups with lids in sets of 4. I bought a couple of sets and decorated them with a panda face in vinyl. Super quick and easy gift.

Then, I made these little Ghirardelli chocolate holders. For these, I did the black with paper and then did the faces with vinyl.

Here is a side view. It is basically a 2×5 piece of card stock with the ends punched with that punch tag from Stampin’ Up. This could easily be done in SCAL by mirroring two tags from the shapes library and welding them.

After all these years, I’ve officially made the switch to SCAL. I loved MTC, but hated that I had to run it in a virtual windows mode on my Mac. I just upgraded my Mac’s OS and discovered Parallels no longer worked, so I knew it was a good time to make the switch..

So far, I feel like the switch will be pretty painless. Sandy McCauley has a neat document put together to help with the transition. I’ve already played with it this afternoon and I am ready to start cutting with it.

Machine: Zing (red blade, 10/10, etc.)

Materials: cardstock, ribbon, vinyl, Ghirardelli (I may have ate more of it than I packaged.

P.S. Sorry this is late. I tried to post Friday, but there was some sort of glitch and I couldn’t. The awesome Chad fixed it so here I am. 🙂

Holiday tags

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Hello all!

I KNOW.  I always use this site! But they always come up with the cutest stuff. I’m not affiliated in any way, but FREE, people. It’s FREE. Unless you want to use it commercially. Then you pay something. But it’s well worth it! Since I don’t charge for the things I make and I just give them away (or keep them), I fall into that Free category. Which is where I want to stay.

https://lovesvg.com/2018/10/winter_coffee_cup_7949/

Aren’t these the cutest? I knew I had to do something with them. So I made these little tags that you can use on gifts. I ungrouped the svg and cut out the base and the coffee lid the old regular way and then I did a print and cut on the faces. I know it would probably look cute with vinyl, but I did it this way this time. Then I used stickles for some added accent.

Easy, quick way to make some tags for the holiday.

Materials:

tag for base, Michael’s ‘brand paper for other stuff

stickles

twine

Machine

KnK Zing

My Zing has served me well, but it’s time to upgrade. I’m eyeing that new Maxx so look for future projects to be made with that. I’m also going to switch over to SCAL because I need software that can run on my Mac. So I look forward to using a new system soon. 🙂