I have a new “craft world” I moved from the high desert in New Mexico to now living on an island in Florida and loving it.  I really forgot how much I love the ocean.  The sound of the waves is so calming and also gives you time to reflect on what is really important in ones life.  Well at least that is what it has done for me.

Anyway, the moving of the old craft studio to the new one has been very exciting.  When I was packing up the old studio, I found things that I forgot that I had or didn’t even know that I had to things that I knew was time to give away.  My girlfriend who is also very crafty works in a large company with alot of crafty people so I gave her scrapbooking magazines, card making magazines and even hard cover books of different kinds of crafts that I knew that I would not need and would be of help to some other crafter.

I do have to say that being organized really helped alot.  And also having the white cubes scrapbook organizers/furniture, are the best for having to change the shape and size of each work station to accommodate a new space.  It took a couple of moving things to different walls but I think I figured it out (for now at least)

I made a workstation just for my Cricut Expression, Gypsy and accessories, and when the rest of my cubes are delivered I will do the same for my Cuttlebug and all of the accessories that go with it such as my embossing folders.  I also have some of my rubber stamp ink pads on the carousel from Stampin’ Up and as you can see the base for this Cricut workstation is storage containers with drawers  for some of my rubber stamps and rubber stamp supplies.

Believe it or not I still don’t have all of my scrapbook cubes or all of my supplies they are on a second shipment from our move.  I can’t wait for them to arrive so I can finish organizing everything.

The natural light in this room is great and it’s also good that I have some lamps around too.

Well let me get back to setting up so I can start making my notes to all of our family and friends with the new stamp that my hubby got me for my birthday.  It’s a We Moved stamp.  I will show it to you in the next post.

Make it a Great Day and don’t forget to leave time to Craft!

]]> http://joanscraftworld.com/organizing-your-craft-room/feed/ 0 http://joanscraftworld.com/a-fun-cricut-card-idea-for-st-patricks-day/ http://joanscraftworld.com/a-fun-cricut-card-idea-for-st-patricks-day/#comments Thu, 17 Mar 2011 03:24:38 +0000 joanscraftworld http://joanscraftworld.com/?p=2474 I hope that everyone is having a nice St. Patrick’s Day today.  You don’t have to be Irish to enjoy this holiday.  I was thinking of what people do on St. Patrick’s day and this is what I came up with.

1.  Go to a Parade or watch it on television

2.  Eat Corned Beef & Cabbage

3.  Drink Green Beer

4.  Where clothing that is Green

Well that is all that I can think of, anyway I found a cute Mug of Beer (or root beer) on the Smiley Cricut Cartridge and decided to make it into a Saint Patrick’s Day card.  After I set it all up on my Cricut Gypsy, I used the Cricut Expression to cut out all the pieces.

I added some lime green Stickles to the foam of the beer, I just have to add some “bling” to this card, it makes it look so much better.  Then used a rubber stamp from PSX (Personal Stamp Exchange) with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink for the sentiment on the cover.

~ Happy St. Patrick’s Day Everyone ~

Make it a Great Day and don’t forget to leave time to Craft!

After looking though all of my Cricut Cartridges, I decided to use my Gypsy and the download cartridge called Smiley Cards.  There is an image of a present that has the cutest smiley face, and I know that it will make Tyler smile when he opens up this card.

What I did to put some “bling” on this card was used some Stickles (cotton candy color) on the cheeks and mouth to give this smile a little shimmer.  I also used two rubber stamps.  One is from Inkadinkado with Tyler’s name and the other is the Happy Birthday rubber stamp from Hero Arts.  The ink that I used is Memento and the color is Paris Dusk (dark blue).

I just think that this cricut card idea turned out fantastic.  Making handmade greeting cards is the way to go!  Wishing Tyler a Very Happy Birthday.

Make it a Great Day and don’t forget to leave time to Craft!

Look how cute this tea cup turned out.

I made a tea bag label with beige cardstock and stamped happy birthday with a Hero Arts stamp set. I layered the tea cup onto first lavender Stampin Up cardstock, that was then layered onto polka dot paper from  DCWV the summer stack paper pack, then one more layer on burgundy cardstock that I also used a border punch by EK Success that has birthday candles.  I used gold stickles for the flames of each candle and then also used Martha Stewart Opaque white marker for the base of the candle.

This is just another great Cricut Card Idea that is sure to be a keeper in your handmade card file.  You don’t need alot of paper for this tea cup so you can use up some scraps that you have laying around if you like.

Make it a Great Day and don’t forget to leave time to Craft!

So after looking though my library of Cricut cartridges, I Love them all, but picking just one favorite would have to be… 3 Birds on Parade.  I purchased this cartridge when it was an exclusive on HSN, but now you can buy this cartridge everywhere cricut cartridges are sold.

This Cricut Cartridge has a bird for every occasion, really fun phrases, accessories for each bird.  Look how cute they are ~ I love the football one ~ Are you ready for some football?

Then there is another cartridge that I received with my Gypsy update, and it has got to be my next favorite.  It is the Smiley Card Gypsy download cartridge.   This cartridge is not available as a cartridge it was only available as a download as a promotion.  I do hope that if you didn’t get this download because you don’t have a Gypsy or the you missed the deadline to get this cute download, that  one day real soon, Provo Craft will make this a cartridge that everyone can have.  The images on this cartridge can really make you smile that is how cute they are.

This past year has been a little crazy, with my health being not so good and just normal life situations that we encountered.  So, I can’t wait for the New Year.  2011 is going to be the best year yet.  I plan on making more cards using my Cricut Expression Machine,also my Cricut Gypsy and Cuttlebug and then sharing all of my Cricut Card Ideas with all of you.   I am looking forward to a fun, happy, healthy and creative year.

Wishing You and Your Family A Happy New Year ~ 2011

Make if a Great Year and don’t forget to leave time to Craft!

]]> http://joanscraftworld.com/my-favorite-2010-cricut-cartridges/feed/ 0 http://joanscraftworld.com/merry-christmas-everyone/ http://joanscraftworld.com/merry-christmas-everyone/#comments Fri, 24 Dec 2010 22:20:21 +0000 joanscraftworld http://joanscraftworld.com/?p=2363 12 Days of Christmas with Joans Craft World

On the twelfth day of Christmas…

Twas the Night before Christmas and all though the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.  The stockings were hung by the chimney with care….

I hope that Santa brings you everything that is on your list.  Maybe a Cricut Expression machine, or a Cuttlebug.  How about a Cricut Imagine or Gypsy, a camera so that you can take alot of pictures and then scrapbook all of those memories.  Or how about a stocking filled with glue dots, tape runner adhesives, copic markers, rubber stamps, and some ink pads.

It doesn’t matter what the weather is like where you live, Santa will find his way through a blizzard or the clearest of skies.  Just last week I thought that I was going to have a white Christmas, but the New Mexico sun came out and melted it all away.  If I really want snow, all I have to do is drive 30 minutes to the east and I can see all the snow that I want on the Sandia Mountains.

Everyone celebrates Christmas differently. There are so many old traditions that are being followed down through generation and there are also new traditions being made.  Today I have been listening to Polish Christmas Carols and singing around my house as I get ready for some friends to come over.  My husband is not Polish he is Swiss/Italian, but after being with me and my family for 30 years  he even knows some of the words.

My family in New Jersey are going to the Christmas mass at 4 o’clock to worship and listen to my niece sing in the choir and my nephew/Godson is going to be an alter server at the same mass.   Then my husbands family is going  to mass together to worship and Celebrate Jesus birth.  I wish we were there to celebrate, but we are so there in spirit.  No amount of miles will keep us apart, we are always in each others heart and even more during the holidays.  Paul and I will be watching midnight mass of television tonight from the Vatican in Italy.  Since I just had my last chemo treatment in the beginning of the month, I still cant be around alot of people so we will be celebrating Christmas mass at home.

After church my family will go back to my sister house for dinner and then opening of presents.  Paul’s family is going to his sisters, to eat lots of Italian appetizers (fresh mozzarella cheese with soprasata) my mouth is watering just thinking of that platter. Oh can’t forget the black olives.  These are the traditions that memories are made from.

However you choose to enjoy this holiday season, just be kind to your fellow man.  Just a simple smile can really make someones day.

Wishing You and Your Family a Very Merry Christmas!

On the sixth day of Christmas…

Hope everyone is having a great Saturday so far.  I just had to share with you the coolest image that I made with the new Smiley Card cartridge that I received when I updated my Gypsy back in October.

It can be a little tricky since there is no manual to compare your image too, but thank goodness for two fellow crafters Robyn and Tammy who work very closely with Provo Craft made samples of each image to share.

The name of this downloaded Gypsy cartridge is perfect, since when you cut out the images using your Cricut Expression or any of the Cricut machines and you start putting them together, you will have a Smile on your face. That is how cute they are.

So to keep in the theme of Christmas I decided to make a really happy Smiley Snowman.  I just love the sunglasses too!  When I was done cutting him out and putting him together I added some polka dots to his scarf using a copic sketch marker.

Make it a Great Day and don’t forget to leave time to Craft!