Yours Truly

I’m so in love with these little boxes from svgcuts.com.  They sure come in handy for Valentine’s Day, too.  After helping my children put together their Valentines, I was definitely in the mood to make something for their teachers, too.  These boxes hold Dove milk chocolate hearts and so does my belly!   I also made a home decor project with the same Echo Park Yours Truly collection.  In fact, I only printed three sheets of 12-x-12 patterned papers from the Yours Truly paper and element kits and had enough to make two boxes with tags and the home decor project pictured below.  I’m pretty sure I can even get a card with embellishments with what’s left over.  It’s a great collection---SO cute!

Candy Boxes and Home Decor Frame Set Supplies

Yours Truly Paper Pack 1 and 2 and Elements 2 available at jessicasprague.com; one-piece boxes svg kit from svgcuts.com; Cuttlebug butterfly and hearts embossing set; twine, eyelets, and ribbons.

Last but not least, I went to a baby shower over the weekend with my youngest daughter, Gwendolen, and we had much fun.  It’s been quite a while since I went to one and it was her first time.  She was so delighted to take part in all the games and belong in a house full of women, talking, bonding, and eating cake.

Baby Girl Card Supplies

Lily Kate paper by Basic Grey; CTMH grey wool and Hollyhock cardstock; Tim Holtz Pumice Stone Distress Ink, Rock Candy Stickles, and Vintage Market die; Dress die by Sizzix; white embossing powder; Alpha stamps with punch by Stampin’ Up; string, embroidery thread and sewing machine.

Hope you all have a Happy Valentine’s Day.  I’m going to inhale quite a bit of chocolate!

Splendid Finds!

I’m in love with these Feedsack papers by Splendid Fiin’s (available at jessicasprague.com), my Cricut, and the spontaneity of finding something that can be useful and made for me personally.  This shelf was found at my local thrift store but needed some drawers to make it more useful.  I printed some Feedsack papers onto thick cardstock,  die cut them using the box from Cricut Sweet Tooth Boxes cartridge (fit to page), added a “handle” using a label from CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge (cut at 1-inch), which was embossed using my Cuttlebug, and attached to the box using brads.  A circle punch was used to cut a half circle at the top of each box so that I can peek at the contents of the boxes.  Voila! In less than half an hour I had something I was proud to display.  I love craft technology!

Hybrid Embroidery Hoop Wall Art Tutorial

I’ve shared a tutorial at Mouse Paper Lovely showing you the process of making hybrid embroidery hoop wall art.  Click on the link above and go take a look-see!

Yipppeeee! It’s Summertime!

Well, not exactly.  Our weather hasn’t been cooperating but the school year is coming to an end and we’ve made plans for a little family trip excursion.  Photos will follow, I’m sure.  Lots of things have been happening lately.  Brandi has graduated community college with her AA and is transferring to State this Fall; Jake will be graduating from high school pretty soon, in about a week and a half; Raiden is READING!  Gwen will be turning 8 by the end of this week (hence the family trip excursion).  I’ve been playing (quite frequently) with my new Cricut Expression 2 (Anniversary Edition).  My hubby got it for my birthday/Mother’s Day present.  It cuts like a dream and I love all the content that came preloaded.  Here’s a sample of the things I’ve been creating with it, especially with all the lovelies I’ve been printing from jessicasprague.com.

Fleuriste Frame Collection Supplies from jessicasprague.com

Fleuriste by Cosmo Cricket—COMING SOON!

Other Supplies Used:  Cricut Happy Hauntings, Elegant Edges, Carousel, and Mother’s Day Bouquet; Cuttlebug/embossing folder; Red River Paper Company photo paper; ModPodge; chipboard; brads.

Thank-You Card Supplies from jessicasprague.com

Fleuriste by Cosmo Cricket—COMING SOON!

Other Supplies Used:  EK Success scallop punch; sewing machine/black embroidery thread; pearl brad.

Teacher Appreciate Gift (Desk Ensemble with Card)

Retro Kids Paper Pack by Kitschy Digitals.

Other Supplies Used:  Cricut Mothers Day Bouquet, Makin the Grade, and Elegant Edges cartridges; sewing machine/thread, ModPodge, Cuttlebug/embossing Folder.

Smile (Calaveras Big Trees Fieldtrip) Layout jessicasprague.com supplies

Kitschy Digitals/Paislee Press Collaboration Curated and Vintage Cameras Kit by Kitschy Digitals.

Other Supplies Used:  Punches, stamps, Cricut, MM jewel brads, sewing machine/thread.

That Boo! Time of Year

Lots of Boo! seasonal goodies at jessicasprague.com  I couldn’t wait to get my hands on them.  Here are a couple of project pictures utilizing the goodies of the season—I plan to do more.  These projects are so much fun and the kiddies love to get involved, too.

Haunted Candy Basket Supplies

Haunted Paper Pack and Haunted Candy Candy by Cosmo Cricket at jessicasprague.com

Other Supplies:  wooden basket or crate from thrift store, buttons, embroidery thread, and adhesive.

Happy Halloween Door Greeting

Haunted Paper Pack and Haunted Candy Candy by Cosmo Cricket at jessicasprague.com.

Jeepers Accent Pack and Jeepers Paper Pack by The Queen of Quirk at jessicasprague.com.

Other Supplies:  Sign found at thrift store and then covered with Cosmo Cricket (mentioned above), Basic Grey bookplates, Prima Flowers, sequins, Cricut shapes using Cindy Loo and Plantin SchoolBook, Twine, HS Bling, and adhesive.

How are your Boo! projects coming along this year?  We’re having a blast with ours and we cannot wait for the pumpkin patch trip.

September Home Decor Project

Oh!  How I love to find things at my local thrift store—Amador Hospice Thrift, especially during their half-off sale—it’s sublime! 

The coffee table pictured below I procured during their last half-off sale, for $3, brought it home, and eagerly got started with the Mod Podge.  I’m absolutely in love with it! 

TIP:  When printing digital elements/paper for decoupage projects, it’s best to print them on paper that is fast-drying, smudge resistant, water resistant, and fade resistant.  I use Epson’s Presentation Paper, Matte.  After applying several layers of the Hard Coat Mod Podge, I also use a few layers of varnish, specifically DecoArt’s DuraClear Varnish, Gloss. 

Girl Friday Conversation Table Makeover Supplies

Girl Friday Candy Candy, Girl Friday Borders, Girl Friday Elements, Girl Friday Paper Pack by Cosmo Cricket at jessicasprague.com.

Crystal’s Rounded Corner Templates by Creativity by Crystal at jessicasprague.com.

Other supplies:  Hard Coat Mod Podge, DecoArt DuraClear Varnish, Gloss, and Epson Presentation Paper, Matte.

Look what ModPodge and Digi Can Do!

We’ve been doing some late spring/early summer cleaning around the house lately and sprucing things up a bit.  It’s really improved my family’s mood and is helping us get ready for the coming Summer season with all of the activities we have planned for the kids’ time off from school.  The reward for me has been updating things here and there using ModPodge and digital products from jessicasprague.com.

We started by updating  the look of Gwen’s activity table in her room. We printed some of the Gingham Paper Pack in Crystal Wilkerson’s Funky Fresh Paper Collection #2, cropping them in different sizes, and then ModPodging them to the table in a random fashion.  Gwen got a kick out of watching me add the papers and helping me do the layout of the pieces.  I wish I had snapped a before-and-after picture, but I was so excited to get started, I completely forgot.  Before, it was just a plain white table, so now it’s much more fitting for the princess that is Gwen—LOL!

After updating for Gwen, we had to do something for Raiden, too.  He was feeling a bit left out.  I found the shelf below at EcoThrift for $1.75—can’t beat that.  We took it home, printed paper from Crystal Wilkerson’s Oh Boy! Papers The ABC’s, and ModPodged them inside the frame of the shelf.  My little boy, Raiden, was thrilled helping me create this shelf custom-made just for him. 

Clicking the above pictures will take you directly to the paper kits we used in the store.   I’ve got a lot more planned for our home, so be on the look out for more home decor posts.  Hope you’re enjoying your summer vacation with your children—we are!

Sweet Summertime & Mother’s Day

Lots of fun crafting done over the weekend, and with Mother’s Day just around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to break out this Perfect Packaging/Dress Me Up template by Kari Holt—so cute and versatile.  I added a cut—the apron—using my Cricut and From My Kitchen Cricut Cartridge.  I printed the template on 12-x-12-inch cardstock.  The template will fit quite a large item.  In this picture, it’s holding a Clinique Happy perfume box.  Gwen wants me to make some for her upcoming birthday party.

Being so inspired by the new Sweet Summertime Elements/Paper/Labels by Crystal Wilkerson, I wanted to spruce some things up I got at the local thrift store.  Below, in it’s previous life, this tray was a brown calendar frame.  I spray painted it white, decoupage some papers, elements, and label on it, and added the knobs.  It’s a hit at my house.

And, again, another thrift store find . . . plate racks and blocks were brought home.  The blocks had some not-so-pleasing images on them.  They look much better now and have brightened up the living room.  I think these would be really cute in a nursery. 

Some scrapbooking, too—I must have been inspired.  These are photos of Brandi, Gwen, and Raiden (minus Jake—always minus—he’s just not always into picture taking but he’s coming around).  They were enjoying fireworks, shade, the pool, and the gigantic sunflower we grew in our front yard last year.  It’s getting that time again—I LOVE gigantic sunflowers. 

We’ve been enjoying the weather at our house, but I know what’s to come—H E A T !  I’m not too pleased with that, but it’s only four months out of the year.   I hope you all have a good Mother’s Day!

Credits from JessicaSprague.com:

Perfect Packaging: Dress Me Up

August '09 A-Z Alphabet Stickers & Rub-ons

The Funky Fresh "Oh Happy Day" Elements

Crystal's {Sweet Summertime} Paper Pack#1

Crystal's {Sweet Summertime} Elements

Crystal's {Sweet Summertime} Labels

Crystal's {Doodley-Doo} 12x12 Borders

Storyboard Album Template Pack

Sitting Pretty Accent Pack

April Provo Craft Projects

Hello, all! Hope you've been enjoying your area's springtime weather. It's been a little chilly here this week, which I enjoy, but I think the kids want it a bit warmer. This month's Provo Craft assignment was to use the Home Decor Solutions Cricut cartridge. I made a stacked box set, some framed art, and a card. The stacked box set and frame were found locally in a second-hand store. The stacked box set was originally decorated with a Christmas theme. I used a 2-inch square from Plantin SchoolBook Cricut cartridge with my Cricut Expression set on autofill mode, and cut out several pages of squares, so that I could decoupage the squares over the Christmas theme. Then I used wordart from the Home Decor cartridge with shadow and blackout to decorate each box. I really like the look and feel of this wordart--something I think is appealing to everyone's eye. Now onto the framed art--Because the frame had a metallic edge to it, I chose to use some foil cardstock by American Crafts. This cardstock is really great to use in conjunction with the Cuttlebug and embossing folders. I found a package of it at Michael's--about 30 sheets, three each of 10 metallic colors--great bang for your buck. The inner window of each panel was embossed using orange foil cardstock, embossed using the Paisley embossing folder with Cuttlebug. I then used the Home Decor Cricut cartridge to cut some bugs and wordart, again using the blue, gold, black, and red foil cardstock. I think this would look really great in a boys room, a garden patio, a green house, etc. Those bugs are too cool! For the card, I used Accent Essentials Cricut Cartridge and DesignStudio software to weld the scalloped square into a card base. Then used Home Decor for the elegantly embellished frame and wordart. That's a picture of Raiden when he was about three days old. It was originally taken using my son's cell phone, so I played with it a little in Photoshop until I liked the way it looked and printed it out for the frame of this card. Hope you like my projects--I sure had fun making them.

Provo Craft Projects for March

I was asked to make a 3D project for Mother's Day. Here's what I came up with using Cricut vinyl, alcohol inks, and the new Calligraphy Cricut cartridge. I cut the images from the latte-colored vinyl. While the images were still on the Cricut cutting mat, I applied alcohol inks, allowed time for them to dry, and then applied the images to the cup using the Cricut transfer tape. I really like how this turned out. The application of the alcohol inks came from necessity. I didn't have any colored vinyl that would coordinate with the cup I had. The cup was purchased from that local thrift store I like to frequent.



For my second March project, I was asked to use the new Sesame Street Cricut cartridges. Again, I used another item found at that local thrift store--the plain black frame. This frame holds a picture of Raiden last month and his current "favorites" list. I think I like this so much, I'm going to have to do another one to keep.



For the third March project, I was asked to use the new Sports Mania Cricut cartridge. As a family, we don't play a lot of sports, but we do play a lot of Wii Sports games, so I took this opportunity to make a layout using pictures I took of our Mii's. Looking through the images of this cartridge, there are a lot you can use even if you don't play sports. I love the clipboard image, which would be quite useful for cards and mini albums. There are also a lot of background images, like overlays, and layout-looking images, as well. This fabulous cartridge was designed by Art Warehouse's Danelle Johnson. It's pretty cool.



I had a lot of fun completing my assignments this month. Thanks for looking!

His First Dance & A Little Peace in My Heart

It finally happened. Jake went to a school dance, and he allowed me to take pictures before he and his pretty girlfriend, Richelle, left for Winter Formal. This is of particular importance because, if you notice my gallery, there are very few, if any, layouts with Jake. He is my teenage boy who detests being in front of my camera, EVER. So here are a couple of shots of the happy couple and a layout featuring the two of them before leaving for the dance.

For the layout, I used the new Cricut Calligraphy Cartridge. With the help of Cricut DesignStudio, I welded the decorative tag to help make the two borders. Also, I used the basic black Cricut pen to draw "Jake and Richelle" on the large tag, and then used a red Galaxy Pen to fill the names in. The basic black Cricut pen was also used to draw around the leafy-type decoration on either sides of the large tag before finally cutting them out. Remember the typewriter I found at a local thrift store a couple of posts ago? I used it to type some journaling on the tag located just below their names.

I made a cut file that includes small, medium, and large borders using the decorative tag from the Calligraphy Cricut Cartridge. Here is the mediafire link--enjoy: http://www.mediafire.com/?zg4dyfvgmgd


Finally, a little peace in my heart. That's what I must be feeling. The other day, I wanted to create a bag that would hold all of my things. I'm a pocket freak! There are 12 found in this bag. Out of necessity and in the spirit of Valentine's Day, I created this bag using fabric found locally at my favorite thrift store and some of my scrapbook supplies--my older Sizzix dies created the felt heart with peace sign located on the front.

Look what I found!

This is my very first blog post! From this blog, I want to post pictures of my family and friends, my craft projects and design team assignments, and my favorite day-to-day things that inspire me the most. Also, from time to time, I will be posting pictures of items I've found at a local thrift store I frequent--that's another passion of mine--I think this one fuels the others. This will be one of those posts. I found this little gem, a Royal portable typewriter, circa late 1950's, last Sunday. I wasn't looking for a typewriter, but for some reason, when I laid eyes on it, I just had to have it! The price tag was $6.50, it was still in fine working condition, and it was just SO cute! Enough said--it was mine. We located a place online, http://www.typewritersupply.com/, that sells the ribbon for it, ordered some, and they arrived just yesterday afternoon. Later today, I'm going to prompt my kind hubby, Rodney, to install a ribbon--I'm just too scared to touch it that way yet. I think it's going to be a great addition to our family and my hobby for so many reasons. Think of the possibilities--instead of running small tags or journaling spots through my printer, I can just put it through this and hope for the best. No more having to use those rubber stamps that look like typewriter fonts, I'll actually be able to use this. I'm sure I'll still use the stamps, too, but this might just be more convenient. Don't you think? Also, from time to time, I might have to complete a form or two that I don't have stored on my computer. I do have experience typing and using typewriters in my previous lifetime as a medical transcriptionist. Most of that experience was using a computer, but my very first position involved using the good ol' typewriter. I'm very thankful for that experience and thankful for this find! What do you think?