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/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 third day of Christmas…..

Today we are creating Cricut covers for 2 year planners.

This is so much fun.  I will be using the Cricut Expression machine,  Cricut Doodlecharms cartridge, Cuttlebug with embossing folders and paper from DCWV called the Sweet stack.

Ooops I forgot also a 2 year day planner calendar.  I found these planners by Studio18.  They are so cute because of all the themes that they have.  Since I decided to make cupcakes Studo18 had a cupcake planner with each month showing a different decorated cupcake.  So all I did was decorate the outside cover.

First I cut with my Cricut Expression machine the cupcakes at 2″.   For the icing of the cupcake I used pastel colored cardstock and for the bottom paper wrapper I used craft paper.

Now comes the really fun part.  I used three embossing folders with my Cuttlebug to add some dimension to these cupcakes.    For the bottom wrapper I used the forest branches embossing folder.  I put the craft cardstock that looks like the wrapper into the embossing folder sideways so the lines of the branches really looks like a cupcake.  For the icing I used the new polka dot embossing folder and also the spots & dots.

These were so much fun to make and are going to be fantastic Christmas stocking “stuffers” for our family and friends this holiday.

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

On the first Day of Christmas…

Making handmade Christmas Cards and Christmas Crafts while listening to Christmas Carols, does it getter better then this?  This year I wanted to make different kinds of Christmas Cards, what I mean is not all the same.  So for my first 12 cards I used a stamp set from Stampin’ Up that I got years ago.  I stamped the image using tuxedo black memento ink and colored in the design with Copic sketch markers.  I had some A2 cards that I purchased at Michaels that had such small wintry prints in soft blue and purple colors that I decided to use them.

For the inside sentiment I used a Merry Christmas stamp  from Uptown Rubber Stamp.

Of course that could have been all I needed to complete this Christmas card, but I had to add something else.  I decided what better then to layer cardstock.  I used my Cuttlebug with embossing folders. One layer was with a Snowflakes and the other layer with Swiss dots.  These embossing folders did the trick.  I then put them all together using my pink ATG adhesive gun.

Look how cute my first dozen Christmas Cards turned out.

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

I found a stamp by Stamps Happen, Inc of a cat holding alot of balloons.  I stamped the image using Tuxedo Black Ink from Memento Ink and then colored with Copic Sketch Markers.  It looked a little “dull” so for a few of the balloons I added 3-D Crystal Lacquer for a cool effect.

It still wasn’t the look that I wanted so I decided to use my Cuttlebug with the Happy Birthday embossing folder.  I then cut the stamped image and glued it to the top of the embossed piece of cardstock with my new pink ATG gun (Advanced Tape Glider).  Now that’s what I wanted it to look like.

I hope Ryan likes his handmade birthday card.  I know he will not get another one like it!  Happy Birthday Ryan, enjoy your Birthday.

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

]]> http://joanscraftworld.com/handmade-birthday-cards-are-fun-to-make-with-a-cuttlebug-copic-markers-and-a-rubber-stamp/feed/ 0 http://joanscraftworld.com/another-cute-birthday-cricut-card-idea-made-with-the-celebrations-and-designer-calendar-cricut-cartridges/ http://joanscraftworld.com/another-cute-birthday-cricut-card-idea-made-with-the-celebrations-and-designer-calendar-cricut-cartridges/#comments Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:23:26 +0000 joanscraftworld http://joanscraftworld.com/?p=1907 Our niece Riley’s 11th birthday is next week and again I wanted to made a cute card using my cricut.  What 11 year old girl doesn’t like cake and presents?

So I used those two things for the front of the card.  I cut out the cake  from the Designer’s Calendar Cricut cartridge and the present from the Celebrations Cricut cartridge, both using my Cricut Expression machine.

I cut the cake on plain white cardstock then colored in the image with Copic Sketch markers and then added some “bling” with stickles to the frosting of the cake and the flame of the candle.

The present I cut out on two different shades of purple but again added Stickles onto the bow to add a little sparkle to the present.

I then used my Cuttlebug and embossed a light green plaid piece of cardstock with a star embossing folder, layered that onto a solid piece of purple cardstock and finished with a polka dot bow, using American Craft ribbon.

I think this came out really cute and for the inside saying I printed on the computer:  Happy Cake and Presents Day!

Wishing Riley a Very Happy Birthday!

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

I’ve been making some birthday cards for my Mom and Sister-in-law who’s birthdays are this month and a day apart.  I’ve been doing so much with my Cricut Expression, that I wanted to change things up and rubber stamp these cards and use  Copic Sketch markers to color them in.

I think the best way to say Happy Birthday is with making Handmade Greeting Cards.  When you take the time to make a handmade card,  it is not just a card that you are giving  but it’s also a gift from the heart.

So for the first card I stamped this cute House Mouse Bunny with black Memento Ink and then used Copic Sketch markers for the coloring.  I then cut out this bunny and attached it with pop dots onto the dark blue cardstock panel that was layered on a white card.  With silver ink I stamped the sentiment on the front and inside of this card.  I think this handmade greeting card came out really cute.  I hope that Lin Marie likes her card.

Now for the second card I stamped these beautiful pansy flowers, again with Memento black ink on white cardstock, and colored with Copic Sketch markers.  Then I cut the flowers out and attached to dark green cardstock that was layered on a cream colored  card.  Then I was thinking of what to do next and decided to put these flowers into a basket so I just had to use my Cricut Expression machine to cut out a basket from the Doodlecharms Cricut cartridge, then used my Cuttlebug with a Cuttlebug and embossing folder to put some texture on the basket.  I arranged the flowers on the basket and finished it off with a tiny bow on the handle of the basket.  My Mom is going to love her basket of flowers.

It is so much fun when you incorporate different techniques when making handmade greeting cards.  You sure don’t get caught in a rut this way, and the results are fantastic!

~Wishing my Mom and Lin Marie a Very Happy Birthday~

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