Expressions Vinyl - Siser Week

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This week is Siser Week at Expressions Vinyl!

20% off Siser products  using code: 20SISER18 
this includes all Siser! Even the new PSV! 

We are so excited for this week's Facebook live on Friday with Joe from Siser! Make sure to tune in! 

AND Heat Presses are on sale!

It is a great time to stock up on products for your summer crafting!

Paw Shaped Graduation Card

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Graduation season is coming, and I wanted to make a few fun cards for my daughter's friends who are graduating this year.  Since their school mascot is a Jaguar, the paw gets used a lot on school items so I thought why not turn it into a card.

First, I found a paw shape in Cricut Design Space.  Then I made it the size I wanted the card to be, and duplicated the base piece.  Then I mirrored the base that I duplicated and moved it right next to the original until they were touching.  Then I welded them together at the point that they touch.  I also added a scoreline at that same location so that the Cricut would put a nice line for me to fold the card on.

Next I cut the blue shapes for the paw.  I also did a smaller version of the base for the inside of the card so that I could have the Cricut write a sentiment inside the card.

Shop Pens from Cricut!

Next, glue the piece with the sentiment to the inside of the card.

Then add the blue pieces to the front.  I also cut the numbers 2018 out of a silver glitter sheet that has adhesive on the back.  This made it so easy to apply the numbers to the front of the card since the entire back side was already sticky.  ***HINT:  Place the 0 or the 1 first, so that you can space things out nicely from the center of the card.  If you stick the 2 down first and were too far to the left, the whole year will look off-centered. 

If you want to make this card for yourself, the project can be found at the link below

https://design.cricut.com/#/landing/user-project/69473172

All About Cotton Book Review

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I have fallen in love with crochet again!  Crocheting was something my mother taught me to do as a child, and I made a few blankets over the years but never really did much else with it until the past year.  Thanks to the wonderful books by LeisureArts.com, I have fallen back in love with crochet.  I started off with blankets, since that is what I knew so well, but then I made some baby toys,  a pillow, headbands and messy bun hats.

I think my favorite thing about crafting is that I can see something in a store or in a book that will inspire me, and then I can take that inspiration and create something that is all my own.  That is exactly what I did with the book All About Cotton.

One of the projects in this book is a water bottle carrier.  I wanted to make one of these since when my family went on vacation to Walt Disney World recently I ended up carrying the water bottles we bought.  This little carrier would have been a perfect way for me to hold the water bottle over my shoulder and not loose track of it.

And since I am a Disney fan, and what inspired me was the need for a bottle carrier while at Disney, of course I had to make it in Mickey Mouse colors!

The project in the book used a variegated yarn, which looked really pretty since it will make its own pattern when the colors change in the yarn, but I wanted something "magical" and what is more magical than Mickey Mouse!

I added a couple of buttons that I had to the front to make it look more like Mickey's pants.  

There are a lot of great projects in this book that would be a wonderful way to use up small pieces of yarn.  We all have them . . . the left overs from other projects . . . too big to throw away and so small you don't know what to do with them.  

Another project I might want to try from this book is the oval baskets.  I love that each one is slightly different and has their own personality with the various edging details.  

If you are brand new to crocheting, or you have been creating with yarn for a while, you can find something new to try from the books by LeisureArts.com.  Their books are always easy to follow, have great photos and help you to create what you are inspired to make.

Check out my other crocheted projects by clicking HERE.

LeisureArts.com Website  // Blog  // Facebook // Pinterest

Cricut March Mystery Box

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March is almost over, but there is still time to get your hands on a Cricut Mystery Box for just $29.99.  This box contains products valued at $75.96

Click on the links below for the deals!


MARCH MYSTERY BOX 
Available for only: $29.99 ($75.96 value). 
While supplies last.

Take 25% off supplies all March long. Cutting materials, accessories — you name it.

Free Economy Shipping on orders $99+. Use code MYSTERYMARCH.

Messy Bun Hat - Book Review

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I have been wanting to try making a messy bun hat for a while.  While I do not personally wear buns, I do wear ponytails a lot, and sometimes it would be nice to have something on my head to keep it warm even when I have my hair in a ponytail.

I recently received the book Messy Bun Hats, Plus! from LeisureArts.com.  I love all of the different patterns and variations of messy bun hats in this book.  There is something for everyone!

When I started out, I wanted something that I could wear to school events, so I found this beautiful variegated yarn from Premier Yarns called Frosty.  It has shades of blue, grey and white.

Once I made the hat, I did not really like the look of the band out of the variegated yarn (see image below) so I made some adjustments.  I loved the stitch, but just thought it would look cuter in a solid color.

I grabbed some Grey Heather yarn from Premier Yarns, and started to make the hat again.  I was planning to make it in all grey, but then I placed the grey band I was working on over the top of the variegated hat I had already made and I knew I had the perfect hat when I combined these two colors.

The book by Leisure Arts is really easy to follow, and has great pictures.  I love how easy it is to follow along and watch the progress of your project.  Since this pattern does call out a gauge to follow, I was quickly able to figure out that the hook I was using was too big, and I went down one size . . . which turned out to be the perfect size.

And now, the finished hat with a grey brim and a variegated body . . . I think it turned out really cute!

Since I have a smaller head, the next time I make this I think I will just take out a row or two from the body of the hat, but I am going to give this one to a friend so the size will be perfect for her.

I would highly recommend the Messy Bun Hats, Plus! book.  Find a yarn in your favorite color and jump on in and try one out.  They are fun and easy to make.  This one only took me a couple of evenings to make and I even changed my mind and switch color combinations after making the hat the first time.

Crocheted Headband/Ear Warmers

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Have you ever found a crochet pattern or stitch that you love so much you just want to use it all the time?  That is how I feel about the stitch used to make these Mickey Mouse Headbands!  

The band is made with a stitch that combines a single crochet stitch and a double crochet stitch, so if you can make those two stitches and a chain, you can make this headband.  These are perfect to wear when you have your hair in a bun or ponytail, but still want something to keep your ears warm from a cool wind.

How did I discover this stitch?  It is in the LeisureArts.com book One Skein Baby Projects, and is used to create the blanket in the Teddy Bear Lovely pattern.  I have actually used this stitch several times in the past year to create some full sized blankets.  I just adjusted the number of stitches I used. If you would like to see those projects you can find them HERE and HERE.

For the headbands, I start off with a chain of 55 stitches.  For the circles to make the Mickey Mouse icon made circles in two sizes using the pattern I learned from the LeisureArts.com Teach Me To Crochet book.  I originally used that book to create an Emoji Pillow from the circle pillow pattern, which you can check out HERE.

After making the circles, I just slip stitched them onto the headband.  I made all of these out of Red Heart with Love yarn.  I love how soft this yarn is!  It comes in a lot of amazing colors too.

I hope that this blog post showed you how you can take what you learn in one or two books from different patterns and combine them into a brand new project that is all your own.

I am also selling these headbands on my Storenvy site and on a Mickey Mouse Facebook group I have.  Come check them out!

LeisureArts.com books used included One Skein Baby Projects and Teach Me to Crochet

Shaped Number Graduation Card

Graduation season is just around the corner, and since my daughter will be graduating high school this year I know we will be going to a lot of Open Houses for her friends.  I wanted to make unique Graduation card from them instead of getting the same ones that everyone else will be getting from the stores.

I was able to easily make this 2018 shaped card in school colors using Cricut Design Space.  I used a font that has several layers, and then I welded the shadow of the white outline together.  After it was welded, I made a copy and mirrored it above the original image and added a score line to it to create the card base.

The next step was the gray outline, which I also welded together.  I made a copy of this and welded a square to the inside of it to create the piece for the inside of the card.  Instead of writing something on the inside, I used my Cricut pens to have the Cricut write a nice sentiment on the inside.

I layered the gray 2018 on the outside of the card

Then I layer the gray piece with the sentiment to the inside of the card.

Next I cut the blue 2018 

And last but not least, I layer the blue numbers on to the front of the card.

This is a simple but fun Graduation card that can be made using any school colors.