My Wood Bunny!

Today I thought I'd share an older project with you that I did for the CreativeXpress blog which I had never shown here on my own blog previously!  I love to add personal pieces of home decor to my home when decorating for the different seasons and holidays... somethings that are unique and not seen in every other person's home (not mass produced  holiday decor).  So it's always fun for me to think, "what can I make myself... or what can I re-use and alter to make it my own"?  When I got the assignment to use the Easter 2010 cartridge from Cricut back in the Spring, right away I thought it would be neat to create a standing bunny decoration and make it from a block of wood. 

I first needed a pattern to use, so I selected which image I wanted to use from the Easter 2010 cart. I then used a piece of regular cardstock, adhered it to my 12×12 mat and selected the “fit to page” function on my Cricut Expression machine. This cut the bunny shape to 11 1/2″. The cardstock piece then was used as a pattern to have my bunny cut from a block of wood using a scroll saw (my brother helped me out with this very important part)!

 

Once I had the wood block bunny, I then painted it white with a can of spray paint and then I even sprayed on some Marshmallow Glimmer Mist to give it a little sheen.

To decorate the bunny I chose 2 different Basic Grey patterned papers, a pink floral (Eva collection) and the green and white houndstooth (Sultry collection). I used the pink floral paper as the shadow, cut at 11 1/2″. I inked the edges of the cut image with “Rouge” ink and then adhered this to the wood bunny with Mod-Podge medium. I then cut the regular bunny layer at 11 1/2″ from the houndstooth print and inked the edges with “Moss Green” ink. I faux stitched around the edges of this piece, inked the bunny nose area with the “Rouge” ink and attached cut pieces of hemp twine for whiskers before applying Mod-Podge on the back and layering it over the wood bunny. To complete the bunny, I added a green Kaiser pearl for it’s eye and a white pop-pom for it’s tail. I tied on a pretty green double dot ribbon from BoBunny around the neck for a bow and also added some floral accents which I transformed from white to colored with Glimmer Mist sprays.

Somehow the above picture of the bunny tail keeps getting turned about, but you get the idea! Anyway, I love that you can take images from the Cricut cartridges and now transform them into fun pieces of holiday OR everyday home decor!  Hope maybe I've sparked an idea with you all today, and if you too decide to make some kind of personalized home decor using your Cricuts or other diecutting systems, please do share them with me!  I never get tired of being inspired! 

BoBunny Wall Decor from a Card Sketch!

Yesterday, a new Tuesday card sketch was posted to the BoBunny blog, and I was so inspired by the sketch, only not for a card!  I've been wanting to create a piece of wall decor for my computer/catch-all room using one of the mushroom Cricut cuts and a cute little punny saying that I came up with, so when I saw Juliana's card sketch I thought it was perfect for my wall decor design.  I loved the layers for this design and I had a lot of fun playing with all my BoBunny goodies for this last night.  For now I have this framed in a black 12x12 frame from Michael's but I plan to find a brown or white frame for it to match my room decor.  I hope you all like this as much as I do... it looks really cute hanging up in my room! 

Based on this sketch:

Everything used for this is BoBunny and the solid brown and white cs is Couture Cardstock. 

Another One Bites the Dust!

 Another one of my design team positions, that is!!  And I must say, it was one of the best teams that I've ever had the priviledge of designing for.  But sadly, it has all come to an abrupt demise and I am totally bummed! :(  Anyway, one night last week I was informed that I no longer design for Couture Cardstock. Major financial changes within their parent company, Cardstock Warehouse, has resulted in a complete reorganization and the result is a very abrupt and immediate end to the Couture Cardstock company that I have known and loved designing for these past few months. We are  not certain as to the future of Couture Cardstock, all we really know is that the direction in which the parent company has decided to go, no longer includes the services of the former staff, including our president, CarrieAnne DeLoach, and all of us designers. If you have any questions, you may contact the Cardstock Warehouse staff directly.   :( 

So yes, I am not happy at all.  I LOVED working with the Couture cardstock brand and designing for CC really pushed me into new directions and allowed me to grow in my card designing. I will miss my position drastically... all the CC designers were extremely talented and each had her own unique style, making it one top-notch, amazing team!  I only wish the best of luck to all these wonderful ladies as they go onto their future creative endeavors!  You ALL are fabulous!

Needless to say, the very same night I was given this depressing announcement, I had just finished completing my Couture card designs for the upcoming CHA show for this month!  Talk about a stake through the heart!  Knowing that all the CC designers, including myself, put in so much hard work preparing their projects for display at CHA and now they are no longer needed, is to say the least, very disheartening! Ahhh... well, I will be sure to share them here on my blog and in my galleries as soon as I get them all photographed, so be on the look out! 

Sorry I don't have anything creative to share with you today, but it is the 4th of July today and we were at a family picnic for most of the day.  Now we are home for a bit and dh is taking a nap... and we are thinking about going to the movies later to see the new Adam Sandler movie, Grown-Ups!  I want to go watch it at the drive-in, so we'll see... dh rather have us go to the mall theater to watch it!  I don't think he wants to see the double feature of Toy Story 3, lol! 

So before I end this post for the day, I thought I'd share a few pictures from our day at the Creation music festival we went to this past Thursday... it was freakin' awesome!  Being among some 50,000 praising fans is definitely a site to behold!  Here's a view of the sea of people...

We made our way up pretty close to main stage!  Luckily it was in the 70's that day so we didn't have to contend with the horrid heat as we have in past years. 

This photo is of Michael Taite from the group, The Newsboys, formally from DC Talk!  The Newsboys really put on a great show!  We are big fans of Michael Taite and have seen him several times with DC Talk so it was really neat to see him perform with the Newsboys now too. 

And the last photo above is a group shot of Casting Crowns.  This is another of our favorites.  We've seen them in concert now twice this year and both times have been phenomenal! 

Okay, I gotta go, but... I hope everyone has been having a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend... they always go so quickly, don't they?!