So Long 2010! You won't be missed!

My husband and I just celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary! Wow, has it really been that long?

Most people use this time of year to reflect on the past year. Boy, do I have a lot of things to reflect on. To say this year hasn't been easy is an understatement. It hasn't been all bad, but I am glad 2010 is coming to a close!

So let's start with that - 2010. 2010 guys!! Wasn't this the year of civilian space travel, flying cars, pop a pill in the microwave and, waalaa! a full turkey dinner done in just minutes! Where's my jet-pack or my robotic dog? We don't have any of that. Things have sort of stayed the same. We DO have cell phones taking over the entire planet, just add arms and legs to the Iphone and you've basically got IRobot - Can you tell I'm an Iwidow? I'm one step a way from becoming an Angry Bird myself. I wouldn't mind Will Smith jumping in and saving me from the dangers of Doodle Jump.

(Oh, sorry honey, this started as an anniversary blog didn't it? Focus...focus)

So Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband of 18 years! It's been a wonderful, crazy ride!

Congratulations to my beautiful daughter who graduated from high school a full 6 months early and was full time pioneering while doing it! I'm very proud of you!

Congratulations to my wonderful son who overcame his incredible shyness, got up in front of our whole congregation and did his first bible reading like a pro! Way to go!

Good bye 2010! I'm glad you're over. And if you see Will Smith, tell him my husband wants an Ipad. I may require his services soon!

TLS Designs is now on Facebook!

Isn't the internet just awesome!

My husband and I have owned several different businesses during our years of marriage. The first thing you learn about any business is "advertise, advertise, advertise"! In the good 'ol days we spent a LOT of money getting our name out there through radio ads, television ads and trade shows. It was all about networking.

The same thing holds true today - It's not what you know, it's who you know.

Fortunately today, we don't have to spend all that money to get our name out there. It just takes a little elbow grease (or in this case - decent typing skills) and due diligence.

Which brings me back to my original thought for today. The internet is awesome!

I have created a Facebook fan page for my internet store TLS Designs. I would love to have some followers. You don't even have to leave my blog! Just click on the "Like" button on the left.

I am now following all the blogs that are following me. See? Networking!! And I would love to have some more Networked blogs as well. It doesn't take very long at all to set up so if you haven't already, set one up!

Thanks again for visiting and please leave a message after the beep..................

I love a good challenge.........

......... especially when they include really cool prizes. So I couldn't resist playing along with these two.

The first one is from Becky's PageMaps.

I recently did a very similar card but this time wanted to try something a little different. I cut out the leaves using my Cricut, and then inked the edges of them. I like this better than the ribbon leaves I was putting around the ribbon roses.

The second challenge is from Sketches In Thyme.










Hope you like them and remember to leave a comment so I know you stopped by!

H2H Challenge

This week's challenge was to use this sketch. I've been playing around with ribbon again and just love the look of these roses.

If you like challenges, go check out their cool website! This week's prize is CTMH's Triple Play Kit. I was not able to get one for myself when they were available, so it would be so cool to win one!

Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a great weekend :)

SVG Templates for Cards

Okay, so let me just start out with this disclaimer as I know there will be some who will get their panties in a bunch. THESE ARE NOT COPYRIGHTED! Phew, okay...got that out of my system.

The designs (which are original artwork) in the books are copyrighted and therefore protected. However, nobody can copyright, or patent, an existing shape such as a circle, triangle, even folder shapes. Therefore, I'm not breaking any laws here.

There is a button to the left that says SVG Templates. That will link you to where the files are and you can download them from there

Because I want these to be Cricut/SVG ready, I have removed all writing, including instructions. Therefore if you want the instructions - BUY THE BOOK :)

I have also removed the score lines on the envelopes.

And lastly, if you open a file that's titled with 3x3, you should know that it isn't necessarily going to automatically open as 3x3 in size. You will need to adjust the size in the program itself. I've kept these in the title so you know what template it is. Simply adjust the width and height of the shape within the SCAL program.

For those shapes that DO NOT have the sizes in the title, but you want to cut it the right size for the pattern, the recipes in the books have the sizes listed.

Well, I think that's everything! Please be patient with me as I work on these templates and get them listed.

Thanks for visiting and have a great day!

Another H2H Challenge!

The Heart2Heart challenge this week was an "out of shape" card. I haven't done one of these challenges for a while. But I couldn't pass this one up, especially after receiving this free SVG file from SVG Cuts. The challenge was to use CTMH products and make a card any shape except a rectangle. Lots of fun!!

Hope you like it, and please leave a comment. Otherwise I have know idea that you stopped by.

Thanks!

Remember those "Magic" Wallet Cards?

Am I aging myself here? Remember these? If you open it one way the gift card or money is on one side. Close it and open it again and it "magically" appears on the other side. I showed this to my kids and they were wow'ed by it. I guess they've never seen them before. Are they a thing of the past? Well, as they say - everything old is new again, right?

These were super easy and fun to make. I hope my pictorial makes sense.

You'll need -

2 pieces of cardstock 3 1/4" by 5 1/2"
4 pieces of patterned paper 3 1/4" by 5 1/2"
3 pieces of ribbon cut 4" each

Lay down both pieces of cardstock side by side. In the picture I have them marked A and B. (You'll want to cover your pieces with patterned paper before laying down the ribbon)

Lay down two pieces of the ribbon on side B. Tape down (I used scotch tape) right side of the ribbon to the back of B cardstock. Next, tape down left side of the ribbon to the back of side A cardstock.

Make sense so far?

Now you'll do the same with the other ribbon. Lay it across side A cardstock. Tape the left side of the ribbon to the back of cardstock A. Next, tape the right side of the ribbon to the back of cardstock B.

Still with me?

Now flip it over and cover with the other patterned paper. Decorate the front however you wish and WaaLaa! A magic wallet card!!

As always, thanks for visiting and leave a note so I know you were here!

Making videos is hard!!!!

First of all, let me just say that I have a whole new respect for people who do the tutorial videos. If I had continued in my efforts, this card would not be on here till next year sometime. So I hope my pictures and explanations will make sense.

The small purple paper flowers and leaves were cut out with my Cricut and SCAL files. I then inked the edges of the flowers with Plum Purple and the edges of the leaves with Garden Green. I used a bone folder to create the "veins" in the leaves. LOVE how they turned out and will definitely be doing that a lot more.

So on to the organdy flowers. These were done with the CTMH organdy ribbon.

I've used the red thread for contrast but of course you are going to want to use the same color as your ribbon.

I use about 18" of ribbon for these flowers.

1) Bend over a small amount of ribbon to make a tail.
2) Start a simple gathering stitch
3) continue the gathering stitch all the way across, gathering it as you go
4) When you get to the end, bend over another small amount of ribbon for an end tail
5) Now slowly push ribbon up the thread to make your flower, pinching the two tails together
6) Put a couple of stitches through the two tails to hold it together and you've got a flower!

I use hot glue to attach these to my card.

As always thanks for coming by for a visit and please leave a comment so I know you stopped by. I will be doing a blog give away very soon for all my followers, so if you like my blog, follow along with me!

Thanks again!!

Trying to use up some old stuff..........

........but I still seem to have plenty left over! It amazes me how far one CTMH paper pack will go.

Here are a couple more layouts I've been working on. It seems like now that it's getting closer and closer to me returning to work, my creativity came back into full gear. Where was it when I had all of this time off? Oh well, I'll enjoy it while I can.

The details: The Chip and Dale came from an SVG file I got from Mardenz (free I might add. Got to love free stuff). The insanely cute kitties are from an SVG file I bought from MyScrapChick. The eyelashes were a challenge, but I love how they turned out. The M&M was some leftover stuff I found going through my stash. I originally planned on it being a card, but it kept evolving until it turned into a layout with a mini-album attached to it.

As always, please leave a comment so I know you were here. I will be doing some blog candy soon, so become my follower and stayed tuned. Thanks for visiting!

Got my Crafting Groove Back!!!!!

Thank you to everyone who left such nice comments. I am doing much better. All the doctor appointments are over and I may even be headed back to work again soon. I appreciate all of the sincere thoughts. It meant a lot.

It's been a while but I did it, made not only several cards but actually did a scrapbook page too! It felt good to be creative again. Still haven't organized things very well, but it's a start. I'll be listing these in my store soon at ArtFire.com. Be sure to visit, the link is at the top left. Thanks for visiting and please leave a comment so I know you were here.