Vinyl Friends Make School Bear- able Panda Head

Hi Dandi Crafters. My daughter's 3 ring binder started falling apart so she needed another one and she asked if we could decorate it. After thinking about it for a bit. She decided on this panda head. She didn't want classic panda colors though. My tween decided that pink and purple were best suited for this job. We both thought the saying was perfect for her school binder.

Go to DtsArt.com website to purcahse the SVG Panda Head w/ Sentiment Die Cut File.

Chipboard Frame Hook Note Holder

Hi Dandi Crafters. I am always writing notes to myself and laying them on my desk. Unfortunately I then inevitably lay something over the note. I like to be able to look up and see the reminder. In other words I like the note to stand in front of me. I can only have so many post it notes stuck to my computer. :^) I had looked around for something like I had in mind but nothing seemed to really meet my needs. I want to be able to write a note and place the note back so I could be reminded. I also needed to be able to grab another piece of paper and not have to have a second note pad.

This is what I came up with. I designed it in Illustrator and brought it into Make The Cut MTC and cut it with my electronic cutter. I cut the frame out using chipboard (think cereal box. I try to upcycle when I can.) I actually use 2 layers of cereal boxes for the frame. I then used some 3M small wire hooks. I used E6000 Glue to secure the hook instead of the strips it came with. I wanted permanent placement. Before I attached the hooks I dabbed them with some alcohol inks to improve the look of them. After I attached the hooks I dressed them up a bit further with faux pearls. I cut out some paper for the pad using my cutting machine. The paper sheets are 4.5 x 3.5. The frame itself is a 5x7 turned on it's side. I was actually pleased and a little surprised how sturdy the note holder turned out to be. Usually my first attempts at an idea need quite a bit more tweaking. Maybe because I had this idea rolling around in my head so long the semantics and how tos worked themselves out. :^) Now I have a cute note pad that has the functionality that I need.

Glass Etched Personalized Casserole Dish

Hi Dandi Crafters, check out this cute casserole dish I made for niece. It turned out super cute. It was rather hard to get a nice shot of the Pyrex dish though. When I thought of personalizing the casserole dish I initially thought I would put her name on the sides but when I got home I realized that this particular Pyrex has a raised pattern around the sides of the dish, so I was going to have to decorate the bottom. I had seen so many cute casserole dishes in blogger land and Pinterest at first I didn’t know how to decorate it. I did know I wanted it to have a bit more of a food theme than I had seen. After giving it some thought I decided I wanted a Bistro Café Sign type of design, so I this is what I came up with.
I created the design in Illustrator
Then used my Make The Cut enabled electronic cutting machine to cut out the design on black vinyl. This design was mirrored before cutting.
I then used Armour Etching Crème to create the design.
After 25 minutes of letting the Etching Crème sit I rinsed it off.
I was pleased with the results. Now everytime she take the casserole dish to a potluck everyone will always know that this dish belongs to Monique.

Pinning and Pinning my way to a Healther 2012

Happy New Year Dandi Crafters! Like many you I found Pinterest. I LOVE to sit at my computer pinnin' and pinnin'. As you can see by my board that I spend a lot of time on that site. If you are not careful you can look up and time has just flown and you have been on Pinterest for far too long and then vow to manage your time better. Yes that happened to me before too. That was before my New Year's Resolution though. No my New Year's Resolution is not to give up Pinterest. "OOOHHH THE HORROR!! Bite your tongue." No my New Year's Resolution, like so many people, is to get fit. My resolution actually started in October. Let me share with you how I spend my hours pinnin' on Pinterest guilt free and a bit healthier too. My husband bought me a Fitdesk Exercise Bike. I LOVE IT!!

Now it doesn't matter if my hour on Pinterest stretches on to an hour and half. I am not wasting time I am getting healthy. Now this isn't going to get me ready to enter the Tour De France but like the pin says,"No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everyone on the couch."  Well see you on Pinterest, I have to go "get healthy now" :^)