Mrs. Geek

The paper crafting continues

I loved working with the Digicute shop on Etsy. She quickly came up with a PNG file of Toodles that turned out as an awesome paper piecing file after I worked some Inkscape magic on it. I've made a large Toodles and Clubhouse paper piecing to add to the character decorations around our yard.

For the background I omitted the half tone circles from the PNG when I converted it to an SVG file. I used a Martha Stewart circle tool to create the inner circle designs. For the "mouseketools" I used the Sweet Treat & Mickey Font cartridges. I mounted the images with foam squares to add dimension. I think it looks awesome!

 

I also used the files as PNG's with some Avery 1.5" circle labels to make the cupcake toppers. After I printed the desings onto the label paper, I cut pinked 2" circles with two slits in the middle with Sure Cuts A Lot. I inserted a lollipop stick into the slits and then placed the label sticker over the circle.

I'm loving how everything is turning out. I hope once it is all put together the party will look how I imagine it in my head!

Mickey Font Cartridge

Cricut Sweet Treat Cartridge

Martha Stewart Circle Cutter

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Cast of Characters

Continuing the overview of birthday party preparations are the decorations. I plan to have the six main characters from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse decorating our back yard. I bought the 12 x 24 size Cricut mat and found a retailer that sold the sheets of cardstock in the same size. I set the machine to "Fit to Page", but forgot one important thing, always start with the biggest piece. In this case that would be the background image for each character. I ended up just cutting another solid base and offsetting the grey to look like a shadow instead of a complete outline. Another lesson learned was to pay attention to the width of the character as well as the height. for Donald and Goofy they were both wide characters. I should have picked different images that were a bit more narrow and they could have been made taller. If I were going to group the characters together I would have also paid more attention to the ratio of heights. Goofy should be the tallest character and then set the rest accordingly. Since I'm going to scatter the images around our yard it won't be as obvious as if they were right next to each other. Overall I'm pretty happy with how they all turned out.

Mickey & Friends

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The invite

 

Baby Geek is his mama's son. He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so it was a perfect theme for the party.

I saw a bunch of ideas online and have a Pinterest board full of  inspiration. I knew that I wanted to make as much of the party decor as I could. I have the skills, I have the supplies and, for the most part, I have the time. I toyed with trying to create the Clubhouse logo myself but quickly found that to be too difficult. I searched online for an SVG file or a clean image to use to trace in Sure Cuts A Lot. I struck out until I stumbled onto an Etsy shop called Digicute. She has awesome files and I was able to convert the PNG file she created into an SVG using Inkscape, and some instruction from a YouTube video.

I created the paper piecing for the front of the invitation and then did lettering announcing it was "Baby Geek's Clubhouse" I used the fonts Tristan & Jumping Bean to replicate the fonts from the TV show for the front and for the lettering on the inside of the invitation. I bought 5x7 folded cards at the Paper Source and printed the inside and then did the paper pieceings on the cover.

The invites have been very well received and I hope that I'm able to live up to the expectations I've set.

 

Note: To create the windows I made a shape that was a combination of the ovals in the shorts and the individual pieces of window pane. I first used a Cri-Kits pen to draw the window panes. I then turned that layer off and then cut the outline of the window. Much easier than trying to glue down 12 tiny pieces per clubhouse!

Prep for the 2nd Annual Baby Geek Birthday Celebration

I've been prepping for Baby Geek's 2nd Birthday. Last evening I made a test batch of cupcakes so I could see how this little gizmo would do on frosting the cupcakes. I have to say I loved  how it worked. The remainig cupcakes from this batch will go to work with Dr. Geek and I'll make another batch Friday night and frost them Saturday morning. As the week continues I'll share some more of the prep for our birthday celebration!

Paper crafting for fun and profit

A few weeks ago I was asked to make a baby shower banner. Once I completed the banner the two co-hosts asked if I could whip up some favor tags and cupcake toppers. It was most definatly a learning experience. Based on the complexity of the design I under estimated the amount of time it would take to assembly line the pieces. The final product was a huge success! I created one banner with 21 pieces, 4 center pieces (these were a bonus becasue I hade made the critters too big for the banner at first) 24 cupcake toppers and 24 favor tags.

The original hostess was throwing another shower and asked me to make another banner, centerpieces, 18 favor tags, and 18 cupcake toppers.

The second attempt went much smoother I figured out a few better ways to streamline the process. I'm now trying to figure out how to create an online store that I can combine with my blog. I'll keep you posted here.

When a geek paper crafts

In a previous life I was a computer teacher at an elementary school. I've always been a gadget girl and I love to be crafty. I've never jumped fully into digital scrapping, I'm more of a hybrid girl -- using the digital tools to enhance my scrapbooking, photoshop brushes and masks, to add some pizzaz to pictures -- that sort of thing.

The one area where I've really unleashed the power of my digital, gadget geekery is my Cricut machine. Shortly after getting my Baby Bug I heard about Sure Cuts A Lot. I downloaded the trial and I was hooked! The ability to cut any font installed on my computer as well as SVG files made me giddy. I discovered all sorts of nifty places on the web to get files, for a small fee or even free! Some of my favorite hang outs are

• SVGcuts.com
• KerriBradford.com
• LetteringDelights.com

Thanks to some great tutorials on YouTube I've learned how to really customize my own designs and work with files from others.

For instance I watched this video to learn how to create a layered SVG file from a PNG file. IT has been a real life saver as I start on the invites and decorations for my son's birthday party. We are having a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme and I wanted to have the clubhouse on the front. So I was able to find a file from this Etsy seller and then convert the image. She also created a file of Toodles for me as well.

My most recent creation was after watching this tutorial on the Lettering Delights blog showing how to create Belle from their Happily Ever After set. The video shows how to use Make the Cut, but I also watched this video to see how to do the same thing with Sure Cuts A Lot. It took a bit of trial and error but I got it! I'm pretty happy with how she turned out.

This type of thing makes me happy. The computer teacher in me loves when you can solve a problem using your network of online resources!

I don't really have a need for a Belle piecing right now, so I thought I'd give her away to a reader. Post a comment and I'll choose a random winner on Sunday afternoon.

 

I approve all comments before they post so don't fear if yours doesn't turn up right away! :-)

Another re-design

This was my first major attempt at designing a paper piecing with SCAL. In the past I've taught a few variations of this design as a mini book at a local scrapbooking store. This was before I had my Cricut and SCAL so I used CM cutting templates, punches and QuicKutz dies to create the pieces and then showed the students how to put it all together. I printed out clear Avery labels with the letters so they could have the correct font. Most often the studnets would ask me to hand write "The Happiest Place on Earth" and "Est. 1955 because they liked my handwriting.

Once I had SCAL I sat down and designed the piece using the basic shapes and a few fonts. Now I have some Cri-Kit pens and used them so I no longer need to hand write "The Happiest Place on Earth" and Est. 1955. I've also merged the font with the boxes to utilize the negative space and not have to worry about small pieces getting lost.

Finally to add some dimension I used foam squares to raise the letters off the sign. I'm really happy with how it looks and am seriously considering adding it to my Etsy store.

On my scrap table

This past weekend I had lots of fun with my Cricut and SCAL! I created 3 paper piecings.

Two were reworkings of my own designs and one was using an adorable set from Lettering Delights.

First up is the re-work of my Retro Disney World sign. The first version had a much bigger base and the letters were lost and looked to be floating in air. I'm much happier with this design. I think it really makes the design much tighter and gives a better sense of dimension. Oh who am I kidding with this fancy talk.... it just looks better!

And the winners are...

Congrats to Cindy, you have the 4 Parks page topper coming your way and Taylor the Vintage Signage is all yours! Thanks all who stopped by my litte blog. I'm thinking about listing these page toppers on my Etsy store, any thoughts?

 

A big user error for this post. I thought I published this last evening, it helps if I have the status set to publish now instead of draft. My apologies.

Give-a-way!

Since I've gotten such positive feedback for the Disney World paper pieces I've decided to have a little give-a-way. I haven't been to DisneyWorld yet (hint, hint Dr. Geek) so I thought I should share the page titles with those that could use them. To enter leave a comment letting me know which title you want, Vintage Signage or Four Parks. I'll draw the winners Sunday afternoon.

Vintage Signage

Four Parks

Good Luck!

oh and yes you may enter twice if you want a chance at both titles