Additional Halloween Slider Cards

 These cards are so much fun to make! I'll be posting some fall themed ones soon too!  In the meantime, here are a few more that I created.  Enjoy friends!

Halloween Slider Cards

I watch a lot of You Tube videos, I blame my husband for that, ha ha!  Last year when I was going through all the cancer stuff, it was pretty much all I could do.  It really did a lot for me personally, such as opening my eyes to the crafting world in a whole new light.  I became more familiar with my Cricut machine even though I have owned one since the very beginning!  I had bought the latest model (The Maker) in November 2018, only I didn't even open it until August the following year! I wasn't even sure if that's what was in the box (it was still in the shipping box).  I even took a video of myself doing the unboxing, if I can remember where I dropped that video, it may make an appearance on my You Tube channel in the future. I could go on and on about this but that 's another day.

My point is that I recently watched a You Tuber (if that's what they're called?) that created this really cool slider card. I love interactive cards and that one not only really struck me, but it was definitely a card I could do. There are many that I'm afraid to even attempt!  She did it old school style (using a paper trimmer), I decided to create it using my Cricut! After all, what's the point of owning a cool cutting machine if you don't use it, right?   You can check out her video here: StampingImperfection.  She even provides you with a really nice pdf over at her blog at: Stamping Imperfection.  I will definitely give credit where credit is due. 😉

This a fun card to make and I also recorded it, it's my very FIRST posted You Tube video!  (Not my first recording, but it's the first one that I was able to voice over and have everything match up pretty well). I'd love it if you would check it out, like and even subscribe to my channel!  Please be kind, it has taken me A LONG time to get to this point, a lot of trial, error and TIME. Oh time.....When you're doing a voice over for your video, it's so different than having your thoughts on a blog where you can simply hit the backspace bar if you make a mistake.  😁

I didn't take a picture of the entire process since it only came to me after starting the cards that I would also add this to my blog.  Suffice it to say that all the cutting was a breeze, I will share the file here: Sliding Card Base if you have a Cricut and simply want to just cut it out instead of creating it from scratch.  Here is the link to my video: Halloween Slider Cards.

Here is the card already cut. I used a paper tape, much like the brand Score Tape, on the bottom of the flap as shown. I left 1/8" of space  when applying the tape so that it is easier to align the white piece of paper that will become the slide (I forgot to mention that in my video).

Here is the white card that is used for the slide, it measures 2 3/4" x 4/3/4" to match the opening for the card.  In my file, the Cricut will cut the opening AND score it, there are 3 score lines at 3/4", 2 1/4" and 4".  It is very important to make sure that is completed before you adhere the white slider piece.

Once the slider is adhered, then you will put the tape on the main card, again leaving 1/8" so you can easily align the front of the card to the back panel.  In my video you will see how I use the method I've seen in several other You Tube videos where you only peel a portion of the release paper back. This helps to ensure a straight alignment.

I also used my Cricut to create the fun attachment for the slider. Pinterest is such a great route to find those 'punny sentiments'!  Make sure when you glue this on (I used Art Glitter glue) that you're ONLY gluing this to the mountain fold area, use the bottom valley fold as your guide on placement.

And here are the two cards that I'm spotlighting.  You will see two additional ones on my You Tube video.  I'm also waiting for a stamp set that has all those fun action words so I can add the word "PULL" to the top white area, I'm sure people can figure that out, but adding that will just add another nice element to this fun card.

I ended up embossing the inside sentiments in a silver embossing powder by Stampin' Stuff (something I've had in my supplies for years).  I used some very old Close To My Heart stamp sets.  I highly recommend that if you want to emboss your sentiment, do it before you put these cards together - the heat warped my cards and even though I tried to use the heat on the back side of the cards, it didn't help.  I had to leave something heavy on top of them overnight.  I believe it's because of the tape I used vs. glue.  I hope you like these fun slider cards and I also hope that you will give them a try!  Happy Crafting!

Coffee Clutch

I was recently asked to create some coffee cards to sell for a friend of mine, in her newly found home business company called Java Momma. Java Momma is a home-based business created to sell quality coffee, tea, herbal tea, tisanes and cocoa. Being a lover of both coffee and tea, I was excited to oblige! What further sparked my creativity was using a digital kit and ephemera from an online company called, Taylormadecards4u. I really love how these cards turned out and now they are for sale in my friends online coffee/tea group. I am also entering these into a challenge on Crafter's Castle Blog. Listed down below will be the items I used to create these cards.

For these cards I used Kraft paper, Neehah 80# cardstock, Hammermill 60# paper to print the digital images on, Tim Holtz distressed inks: vintage photo, gathered twigs and brushed corduroy. I also embossed a fancy paper clip to use too. The kits I used to create these cards from Taylormadecards4u were: An English Garden, Coffee and Tea Labels, Coffee Blend Paper pack, Coffee Dictionary Page, Cofee Labels 1, Coffee Labels Set, Tea and Coffees, and Coffee Large Flash Cards. As you can see, I was able to create an amazing variety of coffee/tea/cocoa cards simply using digital kits!

Hello Again!

I used to blog a long time ago, in fact if you're interested or curious, you can check that blog out here: My thoughts, My Collections, My Creations. It has been just over 9 years since I last blogged there! To say A LOT has transpired over those last 9 years, would be quite an understatement! My husband and I raised our two boys, homeschooled them from 3rd/4th grade until they graduated high school. We moved after residing where we lived after 12 years (with another move coming in about 5 1/2 more years).  And so many other life evolving things, one of my brothers passed away at age 42, both of my in laws passed away, my maternal grandmother and my father, along with a few other family members.  But on a happier note, we have chickens!  Currently we have 12.  We have had many come and go over the last 6 years - it's called 'chicken math'. LOL.

As I looked back at my previous blog, it still really rings true to who I am and what I love to do, however I was not really able to change anything and found it a little difficult to navigate and therefore I just decided to create this new blog as I have recreated myself and my direction to where I want to go and what I want to do. I guess you can say a little older now and wiser? Well, I would like to think so but that does not necessarily make it true! In fact, the whole reason why I originally blogged was just to have a record of my life for my kids, I always saw myself as a somewhat of a writer but fell short often to do so (as you will note with the writings lessening as the days drew on). 

In 2004 I was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer and although that was quite a hit since my boys were incredibly young, what that did was bring me to a saving grace through Jesus Christ. I was and am still thankful that I was drawn to live a life of Christ through my circumstances. Fast forward to 2019 and I found myself after nearly 15 years of being a survivor, that I was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer, again. This time, it impacted me a lot more, it was a different cancer and not a recurrence. It was a little more aggressive than the first and I went through the same course of treatment as the first time, except adding radiation (it was not needed the first time). Currently I am a few weeks shy of being 6 months post chemo and I am still having some of the affects that plagued me from doing chemo, however I cannot complain, God has spared my life yet again! I had A LOT of people praying for me daily and I could go into all the details about how each treatment affected me, but that's not what this blog post blog is for (plus you really don't want to know all about those details)!! 

Back to now! I did take a creative hiatus for a few years and when I found out I had cancer again, that helped to pull me out and draw me back to crafting and creating. That's a pretty long story in and of itself but the finer details that came from that is that I had a goal to reorganize my craft room (and with the help of my now adult boys, whom tower over me at 6'2" and 6'5" respectively) we managed a more cohesive crafting room. It still needs some tweaking, but it works for now. I have also been a long time Cricut user from when they first had that small cutting machine and subsequently, I would upgrade them as the new ones came out. That being said, in 2017 I had purchased the Cricut Maker, however it sat in the box that it shipped in (yes it's true) until late last year when I FINALLY got the desire to open it up (I even created an unboxing video on that, need to find that still). :D Which brings me to my next goal, to start my own You Tube channel. I watched so many crafters during my 'down time' through chemo and I had such a desire to start my channel, with my goal being June 1st of this year. Then Covid. Need I say more? 

I have been so inspired by so many wonderful crafters and have found that this new crafting community (to me) has been so encouraging and embracing. I had ZERO intentions of starting my blog back up, yet here we are!! I really hope that I can add content that is worthy, as there are SO MANY AMAZING bloggers and you tubers out there I feel at times, what can I even bring to this crafting table that hasn't already been brought before me? Time will tell I imagine. I have prayed for God's leading in my life and sometimes he closes doors and opens others and we must have faith to allow us to listen and take heed to them. I pray each of you will find your own path and journey should you be out searching for one. I also thank God for each and every one of you that has come here to read my blog or check out my Instagram or even my you tube channel when that gets going. Peace to you all.