Month: June 2015

Cocoa Daisy Day Planner July Kit Unboxing

2015-06-20 13.56.21

For me, one of the best moments of purchasing a product is the opening of the package. Again, for me, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PRESENTATION. That is an important part of my experience and keeps me coming back for more. Cocoa Daisy does NOT disappoint! Upon opening the box, this is what I saw . . . “Enjoy Every Day” stamped on a fabric bag surrounded by shredded paper. Ahhhhhh . . . it was lovely.

2015-06-30 13.31.05

Normally, the kit comes in a paper bag. However, this month it came in a fabric bag and there was a packaging change announcement inside. Love, love, love that. By the way, that’s Simon. He’s a planner nerd and isn’t he just adorable?

2015-06-30 13.22.34

Next, I pulled the bag out of the box. I seeeee something rouuuund. It kind of looks like it might by washi tape. Hmmm.

2015-06-20 14.03.36

The July kit has a nautical theme – the colors are blue, red and orange. The contents of the kit are:

• 32 double sided daily to do pages
• 1 double sided month tab page
• 5 double sided week in review pages
• 5 double sided weekly overview pages
• 1 3×5 exclusive notepad
• 1 5×7 exclusive planner sticker sheet
• a red and white striped pouch
• washi tape
• exclusive cork stars and geotags
• tags and tabs
• anchor clips
• a sheet of tags from Evalicious
• and an AHOY charm

Here are some closeups of some of the contents:
2015-06-30 13.25.25

A cellophane bag contains cork stars and geotags (they seem awfully thick to me for putting in a planner – we’ll see) and K&Company Smash washi tape.

2015-06-30 13.38.52

Anchor notepad, planner sticker sheet, and a sheet of Evalicious Snip Snip tags (you have to fussy cut these, and use adhesive – they are not stickers).

2015-06-30 13.41.26

Month tab, weekly overview (I call this week-on-one-page), week in review (I call this week-on-two-pages), and daily to-do pages. I am not using the daily to-do pages as much as I thought I would. I have some family get togethers coming up, so I’ll see if I use them for that. I like the glasses at the bottom of the to-do pages – they help you keep track of how much water you drink (something I’m trying to do a better job of this summer).

2015-06-30 13.46.18

There’s a cellophane bag (the kind we used to put our sandwiches in, lol) that holds some the smaller things. There’s just something about them that I really like – they’re almost clear, they make a crinkling noise when you touch them . . . all about the user experience, lol. Inside it are the Ahoy charm (I am such a sucker for these – I’m up to three on my current planner), two anchor clips, two Fancy Pants Making Waves tags with strings attached, and three tabs.
2015-06-30 13.42.59

Last but not least, is this awesome red and white nautical striped pouch. The original description was for a navy and white pouch, but honestly, I am not in any way disappointed with the red. I am lovin’ it!

In the next post, I will show you how I used everything in my Planner.

The Sneak Peak for next month: Macaroons – I can hardly wait!!!

Hey, if you’d like to see some of my other projects, check out my Instagram and my Pinterest board.

As always, I’m Livin’ the Moments . . .

Tractor Card

Dad 3 copy

This was a fun card because I made the tractor completely out of shapes cut from Cricut Design Space. My inspiration is from http://lavender-stamper.blogspot.com/2010/04/timmy-tractor-punch-art-for-boys.html. She used Stampin’ Up punches for all the shapes, whereas I used Cricut cartridges and Cricut Design Space for my shapes. I used the CTMH (Close to My Heart) Artbooking cartridge for the tag, cut it out of CTMH Topiary cardstock, and turned it sideways to make the body of the tractor. Cricut Create A Critter cartridge was used to make the scalloped circle for the large tire, and was cut from CTMH Black cardstock. The flowers for the smoke are also from Create a Critter and are cut from CTMH Whisper cardstock. The circles are shapes from CDS. Two circles are cut from CTMH Topiary cardstock and one is cut from CTMH Slate cardstock.
I created the smokestack and seat by welding a CDS rectangle to two circles on either end. The seat and sentiment insert are cut from CTMH Cashmere cardstock, and the smokestack is cut from CTMH Slate cardstock. I used CTMH White Daisy for the card base. I used a CDS Writing Style font called All Mixed Up. I like this font when I want a playful style of card.

Dad1

I used Heidi Swapp Color Shine Bronzer on the smokestack to make it look metallic and Ranger Perfect Pearls Mist on the smoke to make it look “cloudish” (is that even a word???) I also wanted the card to look “dirty” because its about playing in the dirt, so I used Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Its Brown, creating a cloud of dust effect. My dad’s gonna love it!

Dad2

This is the inside of the card – I used a mixture of Heidi Swapp Color Shine Bronzer and Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Its Brown on the CTMH Cashmere cardstock to make it look mud/dirt spattered.

I love doing projects like this, ESPECIALLY when they come out better than I expect!

Hey, if you’d like to see some of my other projects, check out my Instagram and my Pinterest board.

As always, I’m Livin’ the Moments . . .

Anna Griffin Card

Jan1

Here’s a card I made for my sister’s birthday. Our birthdays are one year and one day apart (I’m older, so luckily we are never the same age at the same time lol), and I make her a card that I would like. This year I used the Cricut Anna Griffin Summer Soirees Cartridge’s Pennants Folded Card (well, that’s a mouthful). Not sure why it’s called ‘Pennants’ because they are obviously flowers???? This is the card in Cricut Design Space. I added the text and used the Ashlyn’s Alphabet font.

Jan2

I used CTMH (Close To My Heart) Cotton Candy cardstock. CTMH cardstock cuts great on my Cricut Explore. It is on the cardstock setting and so far, on my machine, this setting cuts through perfectly with no tearing or uncut sections. TIP: If the material I am using does tear, I turn the dial down one or two notches, and that usually solves the problem.

Jan3

I am using the Pilot Precise V5 Roller Ball – Black – 0.5mm (this is by far my favorite pen because it writes a fine line and looks like I wrote it freehand) on CTMH White Daisy cardstock.

Jan4

These are inserts for the card. The top one goes on the inside of the card and the bottom one goes under the base to create a background/contrast for the flowers.

Jan5

Here is the finished card and envelope. I misted the cardstock with Heidi Swapp’s Color Shine Pink and added Tim Holtz’s Goldenrod stickles to the flower centers, adding dimension and extra color. And I used the We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board to make the envelope. It’s sooooo pretttty!

Hey, if you’d like to see some of my other projects, check out my Instagram and my Pinterest board.

As always, I’m Livin’ the Moments . . .

Hunter Card

Cory1
My brother-in-law is a sportsman who likes to hunt, fish and play beanbags competitively. Last year I made him a card that looked like a fishing vest, so this year is a hunting-themed card, and maybe next year a beanbag-theme??? When I am designing a card for someone, one of the places I go for inspiration is Pinterest. I say inspiration because I’ll find a card idea, and make it my own by changing embellishments, sentiments, or technique. This particular card was inspired by http://www.queenbcreations.net/2014/08/happy-cake-day.html. I created all the pieces on my Cricut rather than using stamps. I had to figure out how to cut an oval out of the base and make the deer, bushes, and tree look 3D. Cricut Design Space has a slice feature that I used to cut the oval out. I sized the oval, placed it on the card base, selected the card base and oval together, and clicked slice. As simple as that. No, really! There are many videos on YouTube demonstrating how to slice.

Cory2

The deer came from the Cricut Disney Classics cartidrige and is cut out of Close To My Heart (CTMH) Cocoa cardstock. The pine tree is from the CTMH Artbooking cartridge and is cut out of CTMH Ponderosa Pine cardstock. The bushes are actually trees from the Cricut Jubilee cartridge and are cut out of CTMH Olive cardstock. The oval is cut out of CTMH Cashmere cardstock, and the card base and envelope are cut from CTMH Topiary cardstock. The font is Ashlyn’s Alphabet and written with the Pilot Precise V5 Roller Ball – Black – 0.5mm.
Next, came my favorite part of card making – embellishments!!! I misted Heidi Swapp Color Shine Chartreuse and Tattersall Angels Glimmer Mist – Its Brown on the card base and the inside of the envelope. I wrapped twine around the card and tied a button on the front.  I used the We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board to make the envelope (one of my favorite card making tools). I also used my Xyron 2.5” Create-a-Sticker machine to put adhesive on the back of the pieces.
I think it came out great, if I do say so myself, lol.

Cory3
Hey, if you’d like to see some of my other projects, check out my Instagram and my Pinterest board.

As always, I’m Livin’ the Moments . . .

Father’s Day 2015

2015-06-17 09.16.10
Father’s Day is Sunday, June 21 this year. I always make a card for my dad, but it’s really hard to find cards for him because he’s doesn’t fish, golf, wear a tie or any of those other traditional dad-type of things. He’s a farmer and I just can’t find many generic cards that feel right. I usually do a simple card and add my own text. This year, I chose a card from the Cricut library that was already designed for me from the Cricut Father’s Day 2015 file.

Fathersdaycopy

I used Close To My Heart (CTMH) Topiary cardstock for the top layer and White Daisy cardstock for the base and envelope. I used the Pilot Precise V5 rolling ball pen. These pens fit perfectly in the Cricut pen holder and have a 0.5 mm point size for writing that looks really nice – some markers have too thick of a point, and don’t look nearly as professional. Because of the openings in the top layer, I adhered it to the card base with a Zig 2-way glue pen. My preferred adhesive is my GIANT ATG (Advanced Tape Glider), but the tape is too wide and would show through the openings. I get carried away with glue and end up with it all over the place – on my work surface – on the card where I don’t want it – all over my hands – on me . . . you get the picture. The world is a safer place when I use the ATG. This time, however, I didn’t have a choice, and I actually only got a little on my fingers (which are only sticking a little to my keyboard keys).

2015-06-17 09.14.31

So . . . a simple card. Next, I used one of my favorite card making tools – the We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch. You can make fool-proof envelopes EVERY TIME!! I don’t know, it’s just that extra impressive addition to the awesome card you made for someone you care about. I have learned NOT to use my ATG to adhere envelopes together though. It doesn’t hold well enough to make it through the postal service unscathed, especially if you’re sending more than just a card – you know, like a gift card, money, or pictures. I feel better about sending the card through the mail when I use a liquid adhesive, in this case I used Scotch Quick Dry Tacky adhesive.

2015-06-17 09.15.32

That’s the card. Simple yet beautiful. There are A LOT of predesigned cards in Cricut Design Space, and they look just as nice as the ones I design. You can personalize them anyway you want, either by adding text in Design Space or by handwriting a message yourself.

Hey, if you’d like to see some of my projects, check out my Instagram and my Pinterest board.

As always, I’m Livin’ the Moments . . .

Sweet Card

June is the birthday month in my family. My great nephew’s birthday is June 10, my daughter’s is June 16, my brother’s is June 20, mine, a nephew’s, and twin great niece and nephew’s are on June 23, my sister’s is June 24, and my father’s is June 25. Lots of card-making this month!
This is my daughter’s birthday card and the process I used to make it:

1. I designed the card in Cricut Design Space

Screen Shot 2015-06-11 at 10.11.30 PM

2. Next, I chose my CTMH (Close to My Heart) papers – Ruby for the strawberries, Canary for the pineapple, Topiary for the strawberry stems and pineapple top, White Daisy for the card base, black for the strawberry and pineapple backgrounds, and then Studio Calico papers for the top and second backgrounds. I used the Cricut Medium Tip black pen for the text.

2015-06-13 21.41.41

3. Then I cut out the design on my AWESOME Cricut Explore. I absolutely love this machine. It has made a world of difference in my crafting – stepped up to the next level of professional-looking projects.

2015-06-13 21.42.45
Next comes the fun part! Embellishmentsssssss – Yessss!

4. I ran the pieces through my Xyron, which makes putting my design pieces together sooooo easy! It puts adhesive on the back so I can attach the pieces together. I have several Xyron’s for various reasons. I have the Xyron 150 X, which is 1 1/2” wide and great for tiny pieces, the Xyron XRN500, which is 5” wide and works for medium-sized pieces, the Xyron XRN510, which is also 5” wide (I know, it is the same size as the XRN500, buuuut . . . it’s . . . an . . . awesome color of green), and I have my first OLD Xyron I got a looooong time ago, that laminates up to 8 1/2” wide pieces (my husband got it for me for school projects).

2015-06-13 21.43.33

5. Then I sprayed the pieces with Ranger Perfect Pearls Mist. This is one of my favorite ways to embellish projects – I just love the shimmer and IMO, there can NEVER be too much shimmer (or glitter).

2015-06-13 21.44.29

6. Next I added Stickles BlackDiamond for the strawberry seeds and strawberry and pineapple leaf outlines, and Tim Holtz Peeled Paint to the pineapple spots.

2015-06-13 21.45.07

7. Finally, I popped up one of the strawberries to add dimension. And this is the finished product:

2015-06-13 21.46.03

Making things for those I love and care for is how I express my feelings for them. It doesn’t matter to me whether they appreciate it or not, because I know how much thought, effort and time is involved. I am not artistic – I can’t draw a stick person – but I am creative and this is how I show my creativity.

Hey, if you’d like to see some of my projects, check out my Instagram and my Pinterest board.

As always, I’m Livin’ the Moments . . .

Queen Mary Tea

2015-06-10 13.23.59

Disclaimer: I am NOT a tea expert – just someone who loves tea 🙂

June 10 was National Iced Tea Day – I LOVE TEA!!

About seven years ago, when my daughter lived in Seattle, I discovered the Queen Mary Tea Room. I was taking a trip out there and was looking for area places we could walk to because we didn’t have a car. The website pictures looked really cute (queenmarytea.com) so we loaded my granddaughter into the stroller and set off to check it out. It more than lived up to my expectations.

I believe it’s been renovated since I was there, but back then it was decorated with bone china and lace. Each person gets their own pot of tea and there were many, many choices. If you go on your birthday, you get to wear a crown and are treated like royalty (pretty awesome). You can also order food from their menu, featuring teatime selections – I can’t remember what we ordered, but we were nevertheless hooked.

Here is how they label their tea products:

“The Queen’s Rules”
1. Bring freshly drawn water to boil.
2. Pour boiling water over tea. Use 1 teaspoon for each 6-8 oz water.
3. Allow to steep for . . . (this is different for different types of teas). If a longer time is allowed, the brew will not become bitter, only more flavorful.
“Important points to remember”
1. For best results, use the purest water available; filtered or bottled.
2. If you are using an infuser, use one that is as fine as possible.
3. Always use clean instruments that are dedicated to preparing tea.

They also list the ingredients (good to know) and whether the tea has caffeine or is caffeine free. Their motto is:  “Be Well, Drink Tea”.

Some of my personal favorites include Irish Breakfast, a “hearty blend of golden tip Assam and high grown Ceylon teas,” Orange Spice, black tea blended with orange slices, apple pieces, cardamom pods, coriander, pink peppercorn, cloves, and cinnamon. For iced tea I’m drinking their Raspberry Peach Tulsi, caffeine free, that is tulsi with hibiscus flower, and elderberry and organic flavors (they no longer have this on their website – bummer). Last but not least, in my list of favorites is the Holiday Harvest that is only sold in the late fall for Christmas. It is very similar to the Orange Spice except it has “cinnamon pieces” vs “cinnamon bits” and “flavouring” (not sure what that is, but suffice it to say, it is very tasty).

Check out queenmarytea.com and try some of their tea. And, if you’re ever in Seattle, they’re definitely a place to visit at 2912 NE 55th Street, Seattle, WA.

As always, I am Livin’ the Moments . . .

Using the June Cocoa Daisy Planner Kit

CocoaDaisyJune3
I finally broke out the Cocoa Daisy June kit supplies and mapped out my month. I don’t embellish as much as I’ve seen others do. However, I do like to be organized and the kit helps me do that. I can look ahead to what is coming up. For example, this month, I have three birthdays and Father’s Day to make cards for (you will see each of these in future posts).
The first thing I do is sort the inserts and put them in order. I have found that, so far, I have not used the one-day-on-a-page pages. I plan to make an extra effort this month to use them. It feels like I am writing my plans for each day three times – I need to figure out why it feels so redundant.
Then I get the embellishments out and spread them across my work area, like in this photo:

IMG_2009

I made the pink ribbon clip out of a coated paper clip and some ribbon that I tied on it. I love it! I also LOOOOVE the fountain pen – a new obsession. I remember trying a fountain pen that my grandmother had and I couldn’t write with it. Not sure what’s different with the new ones, but it writes really smoothly and has a grip that feels natural when writing. It’s a pink Lamy that I got from Amazon, AND it makes my happy . . .

IMG_0080

Here is the week one spread. I take the pages out of the planner when I’m working on them so I don’t have to do contortionist moves around the rings. There is a week-on-one page, and then a week-on-two-pages that gives you more room to write what you need to keep track of. As I am using the pages now, the day-on-one-page seems like I would be writing everything again??? I’m thinking they would be useful on days when I have a lot going on??? I really like the graph lines – I’m not very good at writing in a straight line, I also don’t exactly have the best penmanship, and this is really helpful for both. As I said, before, I’m not really a cutesy, over-the-top embellisher of my planner. IMO planners are a way to keep myself organized and aware of what is coming up. I’m a cardmaker and I take days to create a card . . . deciding on the design, changes I want to make, drying time for stickles and ink, embellishments, etc., soooo . . . I need lots of time, lol.

IMG_2021
Here is my week so far. I use a personal-sized Filofax Domino for my overall planning. I hole-punched the card that comes in the kit and put it in the planner. It’s a reminder to me to be here . . . Now. The planner nerd charm is from the May kit – Too Cute!

As always, I am Livin’ the Moments . . .

8th Grade Graduation 2015

I am a middle school teacher and every year I make cards for my 8th grade homeroom students. This is the 2015 edition of the graduation card.
2015-05-28 09.13.19-1 copy

It is A5 (8.5” x 5.5”) with a 4” x 5.25” piece of Recollections corrugated blue glitter paper, from Michaels, on the front.

2015-06-01 18.32.32

I used a Studio Calico stamp that says “Never let anyone dull your sparkle” to stamp on a 2.5” circle punched out of CTMH(Close to my Heart) white daisy cardstock, and popped it up with Studio G adhesive foam dots. The stamp was inked with CTMH ruby ink and I used Christmas Red stickles on the word “sparkle.”

On the inside I put a picture collage of my students taken throughout the year and a sentiment that said “I think you are awesome. Good luck in high school. All my best wishes, Mrs. Dominique”

I thought they came out great!

As always, I am Livin’ the Moments . . .

%d bloggers like this: