Tag Archives: gifts

Baby Blessings!

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I love to create things for people on a tight budget but make it look like they paid a lot.  Baby items are a great place to demonstrate this!  If you ever go in to a baby specialty boutique store or shop on ETSY you can see this first hand!    You may have seen some things I have done previously but these are new creations!  The first step stool I made was for my neighbor’s new grand-daugther.  And the second one I made was for my friend going to a baby shower.  We originally were going to do something for the baby but we expanded our idea to making a step stool for the “big sister” middle child with their bath theme of Little Nemo.  In MTC studio we imported the images for the step stool, traced them and cut them on my KNK ZING!  Here are the final images of the step stools.  Below is the link for the Ikea step stool in blue. The pink one was from Walmart. Enjoy!

 

side view of Nemo step stools

The next project was the step stool for my neighbor’s first grandbaby Liliana.

Liliana's step stool

Liliana’s step stool

 

back side of Liliana’s step stool

 

I hope I’ve inspired you to try something new!

love hugs and prayers

Carol aka Carolbknits!

Ikea step stool link. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60101063/

Tiles!

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Tiles are so easy to make, are great gifts, and are relatively inexpensive. I usually get  my tiles at Home Depot and have learned to make sure that they are American made. I have also bought some great tiles at ReStore, the Habitat for Humanity resale shop.

The first tile was a saying that I saw online. It was printed and framed. Well, you know that when you have a KNK your mind works differently. You not only see the saying but you immediately scrutinise the font. I didn’t note what font I used, but it was a basic font that came with KNK Studio. I typed Believe in Yourself, did an outline of  Be and You to make them bolder than the rest of the letters, and then cut out the saying.  This tile is a 3×6 tile and the embellishment is from an embellishment set from My Vinyl Designers. I usually make a rectangle the same size as my tile when designing tiles so that I can make sure that everything is the right size and in the right place prior to cutting.

This tile is also a result of a tile that I saw online. Generally tiles come in basic earthy neutral colors. But, add some alcohol ink and you have color!

I used Adirondack Cranberry,Eggplant,and Wild Plum. Because I have had alcohol inks rub off metal before  I used my embossing heat gun to heat set the ink because I was told that would help. I also sprayed it with a clear Matte spray. This did alter the way the alcohol ink looked prior to spraying. It may have worked better if I had sprayed a very fine mist several times. I am fortunate that my husband has a drill press so I use that to drill my tiles for hanging.

I used CentB font for the large L and Passion Conflict for Lilly.  

 

Spiral Stars

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Initially I thought of the stars as Christmas ornaments.  After makind many of them as gifts for friends and neighbors, I’ve decided that they would be great decorations for almost any occasion.  It all depends on the paper you choose.

 These stars were made using vellum paper.  It comes in lots of colors and in most cases, both sides of the paper are the same.  They also look pretty if your paper is different on both sides.

You might consider making red, white, and blue ones for the 4th of July.  Make white, silver, or gold ones for a wedding or anniversary, rainbow colors for birthday parties and baby showers, neon colors for teens, etc.  You get the idea.

One of the most important supplies in making the ornaments is the adhesive you use.  Vellum is a bit stiff and slick and needs a strong adhesive to keep the ornament glued together.  I used the double sided tape called “Terrifically Tacky Tape” and still had to reassemble some of the points.

A link for downloading the file in KNK, MTC, AI, and EPS formats is below.  There are four different sizes of the star and an instructional PDF file.  Enjoy! 

Spiral Star Files

 

 

Its an Operation Write Home Party!

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I recently organized a team-building event for work.  After much internal debate I decided on a ‘giving’ theme to benefit both the team and a charity.  Operation Write Home was a perfect fit.  Not only could the men on the team not deny this theme, but it gave me the chance to play with my KNK for hours and hours these last few weeks – for my day job.  I cut and prepared all the card components for the event ahead of time to give numerous options but also to simplify the task for those who feel they aren’t ‘creative’.  We held the event at a local winery that serves lunch.  And I think every person found their own store of creativity!

In preparation for the event, I wanted to give each person a special Christmas present.  Using contact paper and a scrollwork design cut on my KNK Maxx, I glass-etched candy jars with each person’s last name.  Then I added a little Rub-n-Buff in silver for a brightening effect.  I also made the tags using a tag file that came with my KNK software, a reindeer horns file I created, and a ‘branch’ file created from a jpg imported into MTC.   

 

Now, to explain the ‘team-building’ part of the event.  There were 3 people on each team, and each had a specific role – “product manager”, “engineer” or “customer”.  The product manager had to gather the customer requirements – i.e. the card components – and was not allowed to speak.  The engineer had to provide instruction for the customer to build each card but could not touch any of the components.  The customer had to assemble the cards using all the pieces gathered by the product manager with verbal instructions from the engineer.  Look at what these 3 men and 6 women created:

 25 cards in just one hour – and only one experienced crafter on each team!  I think they did a fabulous job.  Now, I have to run to the post office and get these sent off….

It’s cold season!

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It’s that time of year.  Runny nose, congestion, coughing…bleck!  Keep it, I don’t want any of it!  (Has everyone gotten their flu shots this year?)   Well, we all know the best way to inhibit the spread of germs and viruses is to wash our hands…But we don’t always have easy access to soap and water, so most of us have taken to keeping hand sanitizer ‘handy’ as the season turns cold.   As a special request, I created a personalized bottle for my daughter’s teacher using my favorite medium, vinyl.  For this project I simply used some scraps of vinyl and Klik-N-Kut Studio with a mish-mash welding of files I already owned and a simple Arial font.

     And a close up – I love the fine detail vinyl allows me!

Besides the fact that its 32 oz, this bottle is not likely to walk off her desk!