Cricut Flower Shoppe

I have this cart for my Cricut and I kept fighting with it. I'd look up instructions and get something to almost turn out, but I wasn't ever really happy.

I have had an epiphany! The flowers are put onto the cartridge display in pieces sorted into columns. If you start at the top of the column, you will have the center of the flower. Then, you simply cut each pattern down the column and you will have the middle and outer petals of the flower. Last, at the bottom of the column, you have leaves that match the flower.

For an initial test, cut everything at the same size. 2.75" is a good start. after you play with your flowers a bit, you'll find which pieces you want to cut smaller or larger. I like to cut the centers up to two times larger because I like they way they look. 

To roll up the center of the flower, start at the outside of the spiral. Roll around a toothpick or needle to start. I use a paper piercer, because it has a nice handle on it. I don't roll around the paper piercer for long, only an inch or two. I remove it and keep rolling. The ruffled edge can do whatever it wants, but the goal is to keep the smooth edge even, to create a flat piece that will glue down to the tab that's left at the end. The angle of the spiral will cause the petals to fan themselves out. Then allow the spiral to spin loose to be just a smidge larger than the center tab. Don't worry that you aren't gluing down the entire spiral. It won't came apart if you glue enough of the first length that you rolled up to create the center.

Once the glue has dried, I bend the petals out with my fingers, one petal at a time. If I try to do too many or bend too far, they will rip or crush and the center of my flower looks a bit worse for the wear. I've found that warm, barely damp fingers also help. Cheap paper is frustrating to work with.

It is dark in my studio at the moment and a picture will be a fail. When I have sun, I'll add photos.

Gypsy Problems

There are times.....

I am trying to get my Gypsy connected to the Cricut Craft Room. This is taking a lot longer than I had hoped it would. I've had to reload the updates to my Gypsy twice now. Or rather, I'm in the middle of the second attempt. It almost made it once but then, foolish me, I attempted to make a purchase while the Gypsy was connected to my computer. I got the dreaded 'Loading' screen, but I simply ignored it and went through  updating the Gypsy a second time.

I'm glad I didn't try this with the Gypsy running on battery power. It would have given out around lunchtime. If nothing happens before bedtime, I'm gonna be frosted.

Cricut Cutting

I was really fighting to get something teensy cut accurately using my Cricut Expression. I finally went to glossy paper and reduced the blade depth by one and the pressure by one and increased the number of times I had the Cricut go over the cut. Voila! (NOT Wallah, BTW) I got a tiny detailed cut perfect!

Remember this. Someday, you'll need this bit of trivia.

Doodley Squat

I've gotten doodley squat done as far as digital scrapping this year. I got a few layouts done in February. There's one from May, one from March. Wow.

Whassup? I don't have a lot of pictures from the move out of Virginia that I want to do anything with and I didn't take a lot of pictures during the move in to Florida and the unpacking. There were a few things that I should have taken pictures of, but I didn't. Lack of pictures is not an excuse.

Lack of time is no excuse. I have plenty of time.

Lack of kits to work with? Hah! I can't even think of trying that. I have plenty of neatly organized kits on my EHD.

I haven't been totally idle. I've created 'we've moved' cards, I finished a mini-book and I've done a lot of pages on the photo carousel. But digital layouts? Not so much.

UnFail!!!

I got two layouts done and am thinking about what to do to embellish two more. The second two will finish off 2006 photos for the Photo Carousel! 2008 is all done and I need to do 2007 and part of 2009 still. I'm claiming half done with the Carousel. I'm glad I can claim progress after a month of nothing.

While I was doing the think about embellishments thing, I made a COSTCO run. I'm usually very good about making a list and sticking to the list. But I splurged on something that I knew I wanted and I found at a good price. I got four photo albums (that all match!) and hold 300 4 x 6 photos each, for a total storage for 1,200 photos! I might need to run out and get two more, but at least, I'll have the project well started. To force myself to make sure that I have enough storage space, I'm going to quickly go through and count up photos... Ha! Quickly. As if...

Paper Cropping?

I went to a friend's house to do paper cropping. I was amazed. I haven't packed up paper and stuff to crop for a long time, I've been doing digital. I got 8 pages done and had a lovely time. But I did not like packing up a lot of stuff. I forgot my solid colored paper. I didn't have the Boot Loopy brads and string that I knew was right there, in the top right hand drawer of the cabinet on my cropping table at home.

I'm going to a crop at a store tomorrow night (Angela's Happy Stamper) and I'll be going digital. I'm just not into hauling all that stuff. I'm spoiled.

I'm going to do a little shopping for more digital stuff from Ztampf! before I head for the crop. Fhung has released some new kits of embellishments and I'll have a lot of fun with them. I'll also be heading right out on Saturday morning after the crop and I'll have something to play with while in the car, if I can only get my laptop to run off the car converter. I had battery issues last time I tried, but I have a new battery now.

Lovely, But Not Me

I got a Basic Gray calendar kit for 2009. It's a pre printed calendar, with planned out pages for you to create using provided punch outs, rub-ons, chipboard and so on. They have complete directions and a hard to see set of black and white photos. It's all color and pattern coordinated and the only thing I must add is my own 4x6 photos.

I don't like it much. Many of the embellishments are not ones that I would have gotten otherwise. They also want me to use a black permanent marker and draw in embellishments. On just about every page, there are directions for me to add lines, add mock sewing or add outlines. I do not use that technique in my own scrapping. Ever. Or so extremely rarely that it might as well be never. When you add in paper choices that are not at all my style, I'm looking at having to complete another month with distaste. I'm finding it to be really limiting and annoying.

When I do my calendar pages, I look at what we did the month before and I create this month's page based on what we did last month. I'm looking at a March page that has swoops and swirls and the word 'wind' on it. The photo I want to use is one of the two of us standing in front of Donald's Tusker House at Disney World. The colors in the photo do not match the paper; in fact the paper makes the photo look worse.

Live and learn, die and forget it. I won't get another calendar kit. I'm now debating if I really want to use it up for the rest of the year. I probably will. I'm too cheap to throw it away, even though I got it on sale. In my head, this calendar is a 'wisheye' project. As in I wish I had never started it.

The Next Set Will Be...

H-D based. I have a lot of photos of us on different rides, and I need layouts for them. If I can do a set of 12 random layouts in a little under 36 hours, I can do enough layouts to take care of all the H-D photos I have selected. Next I'll do a set of Christmas layouts.

Working in sets like this will help me deal with my scraps of paper a bit better. If I just work on the next page I can't ever decide that I've used up enough of a paper and I end up with this growing pile of scraps. My worry is that I get tired of using the paper before the set is complete. I think a set of 12 is a bit much for the spinner. If I work on a smaller set, I'll have less chance of boredom. Eight sounds about right. That would be based on four sheets of 'base' paper and three or four sheets of contrasting paper. Yeah.

Finishing the Set

The second half of the set of 12 layouts for the 7 Gypsies Carousel. I had one cutting error that required me to use an additional 12x12 piece of paper, but I also was using 8.5 x 11 for the solids and I ended up with two sheets that I didn't need to cut into. The full sheets of paper go back into the stash, the scraps are going to be tossed out. Yay! The exceptions are the scraps of cream and dark brown that I use on namy layouts.

Page Sets and Scraps

While trying to use up my stash, I'm running into a problem. There are ever growing piles of scraps. All I can see is that I'm turning my stash of uncut pieces of paper that are easy to store and select for use into a smaller pile of odd shapes and sizes that are difficult to store and difficult to sort through to find what I want.

I'll select paper with a plan of using the paper for a specific set of pages. At some point, I'll have that set of pages completed. I might even have more than that set completed. I'll have added to the pile of scraps.

Why am I keeping those scraps? I have used the paper for the purpose I intended. I might even have exceeded that plan. Why can't I stop there and call that a win? Why must I keep scraps and attempt to get win+ out of them by saving them to use for some future layout?

The conclusion is, I do NOT have to keep those scraps. I am not starving for paper that I must hoard each and every molecule of it. I had a plan for the paper. I achieved what I planned. If I stop there and toss the scraps, I've got a win-win. I used up my paper and I used it to create something. What more do I want?

Gift Paper

A dear friend gave me a stack of 7 Gypsies Zanzibar paper. I added some of my stash of solid 8.5 x 11 paper and I'm making a set of a dozen layouts for my spinner. I'm also making a set of similar layouts to give to my friend (who is also working on a spinner) as a return gift.



The spinner pages are so small compared to a regular 12 x 12 layout, that I will only use about 1/3 of the stack to complete 24 layouts. that's a plus if you are conserving your resources, but since I'm trying to use up my stash, it's a little frustrating. All that work and I will barely put a part of a dent into my stash.

Necessity is a Mother

I used to do a lot of my cropping in one store or another. Every time I'd have some crisis of design, I'd go wander the store and buy something to solve the crisis. But the local scrapping stores have closed and I have this huge stash that I'm trying to use up. So instead of shopping in a store, I go shopping in my own stash.

Right now, I'm looking at a piece of paper that I want to put onto a tag, but I have no tag of the correct size and shape. I also need to figure out how heavy the tag must be to withstand the strain of being an interactive piece of scrapping. Hmmm... I think I'll use a manila folder and do some paper piecing. I can punch an oval and use it as the guide for the shape of the top of the tag and it will cover the plain manila.

I Claim a Do-Over!

Last night, I was working on a layout for my spinner, a 4 x 6 one, and I could not get anything to come out right. I put eyelets in the wrong place, I stuck things down before dealing with the background, I couldn't get the paper to tear correctly... I would touch something and it wouldn't work right. I smashed my way through the layout and went to bed.

This morning, I got out the file, re-printed the photo and I'm starting over. I will use different paper that tears better, I'm not going to put the eyelet in the wrong place and I'll take care of the background before I glue anything down. I'm positive this layout will turn out much better.

Sketches and Scraps

I haven't had a lot of time to crop, so I've been sneaking a few minutes here and there to do sketches for layouts that I can use later. It's working. When I've got time to sit down and crop, I'm working through the sketches and I'm getting a lot done more quickly.

I'm not keeping a lot of scraps these days. I have yet to think, "That scrap of yellow print that I threw away four months ago would have gone perfectly with this layout. Why didn't I keep it?" Nor do I dig through my scraps and find the perfect piece of anything to go with a layout that I'm needing 'just a little more' for. I don't miss the ones that I throw away and I don't use the ones that I keep. Ummm, why keep them?

Taking Stock

I was thinking about how much I have done in the two years I've been doing scrapbooking. I started counting up finished albums. I've completed 18 albums and at least 6 mini books/albums. It could be more mini books. I don't remember them all.

But, if each album has 35-40 pages in it, I've completed at least 650 pages since I started scrapping. It doesn't feel like I've made that many, but I guess I have. And that isn't counting the digital layouts.

I had been feeling badly about the size of my stash. When I counted up inches of cardstock and patterned paper, I could complete an estimated 500 pages with the paper that I have in my studio right now. I had been thinking that I'd be scrapping for many years to come with the paper that I collected in a fairly short time.

I no longer feel nearly as bad about the size of my stash. I know that in one year, I could use up more than half of it. Let's see what happens in 2009.

It Is Later, Now

I have a few layouts that I always said I'd get back to later and then I never did. Everyone has some of these. Ones that need journaling, or additional embellishment. Just something that you weren't in the mood to deal with at that moment and you set them aside for later, when you felt like working on them.

I have decreed that it is 'later' right now.

Two down and a small stack left to go. When these are done, I have even used my 50% off coupons and gotten a new album to put layouts in. I'm tired of putting them into boxes to deal with later. I want them all done, now.

Not Shopping

With the economy doing the nosedive trick, I've cut back on my own shopping. Not for groceries and such, but I'm not shopping for scrapping things. I didn't realize how much I'd cut back until I went to the scrapbook store in the area with my MIL. She got some ribbon to wrap a package and I got nothing at all. I had money in my wallet set aside for 'fun stuff' and I didn't spend any of it.

The more I don't buy, the easier it is for me to not buy. I'm still creating pages, but since I went to digital scrapping, I re-use my digital supplies again and again, without having to purchase more to restock my stash. I've still got a lot of paper to use up and I am still doing many paper layouts. The things that I'm willing to spend money on are tools that I can use for hybrid scrapping.

All Over but the Shoutng

The USMC Graduation album is done! Except for the memorabilia page and a little bit of journaling, it is finito. Yay? I don't know quite what to work on next. I'm puttering around with a mini album I started a while ago. I need to finish the front and back covers. Then what? The decision of what to work on next is as overwhelming as the mountain of tasks I've set for myself.

Even with blasting through this album quite quickly, I am still falling behind. My photos to scrap stack is growing faster than my finished pages pile. And I have been rather productive this month. We had graduation, life and a trip to Disney. Next month will be just as busy. Or rather this month, as I'm catching up on October's events in November and we have Turkey Day, a trip to visit Will in NC, and a tool box recovery coming up in November. Over Christmas, we shall draw a polite curtain.

USMC Planning and Progress

I'm doing better than I thought I'd be at creating the album for Will's graduation from boot camp. My photo sorting went well and I've got the entire album planned. Yesterday, I pulled paper from my stash (I'm trying to use it up) and selected what I'll use for most of the rest of the album. When I counted up, I realized that I'm more than halfway done with the album. Yay! The pre-planning is really helping. I'm not losing momentum.

I do not understand why some scrappers choose paper that matches what folks are wearing when they create a layout. The people in the photos fade right into the background and you can't find them. If you choose a color of paper that is opposite on the color wheel to what is being worn, the person pops out and can be found. Will is wearing a tan shirt for all of the photos, and I can't use paper that is brown or tan. He just fades into the background. I've pulled green and blue paper. He'd pop best if I were to use a purple, but I can't do that to him.

An Inch of Cardstock

I read on organizedscrapbooks.com that an inch of cardstock is about 50 finished pages and that an inch of patterned paper is about 75 finished pages.

I measured my stash. I've got about 500 pages worth of paper. And that does not include my 8.5x11. I don't need to shop for paper for a while. I really don't.

Right now, I want to complete the projects that I've got stashed away. They are taking up space that I could be using for other things. Possibly things that I don't need, but still, those projects are taking up space.

And if I happen to use up a lot of cardstock while finishing those projects, so much the better.