Make-It Monday!: Cutting City Map Hearts With A Cricut

I've seen a bunch of projects on Pinterest (like this one) that involve cutting shapes (usually hearts) out of maps.  Usually it has to do with cutting out a specific place or city that holds personal significance.  I've been wanting to do one of these projects, but didn't trust myself to cut a perfect heart shape with scissors, and I didn't own a paper punch big enough for what I wanted.  I have my Cricut, but wasn't sure how to be sure it cut out a particular city...until I decided to "play" a bit yesterday and figured it out! 

So I decided to do a blog tutorial (mostly to show my mom how I did it) and, conveniently enough, it's Monday...so we have a "Make-It Monday" post!
(tutorials are a bit picture-heavy and long, so be warned!)

I used the heart shape on the "George and Basic Shapes" cartridge (ie: the cartridge that originally came with my Cricut)

I used the "real size" setting and made 3 inch hearts

(I had this scrap piece of paper that I already used to cut a heart.)

The piece we need is the outside "stencil" shape. (you can save the inner heart to use in another project)

 Unfold your map and decide what city you want to cut out.  I have a bunch of road maps from my grandma left over from when she and my grandpa traveled the US in their retirement.

Then use the "stencil" as a viewfinder to determine exactly where you want your city to be oriented in the heart.  

I chose Rochester, NY (even though I live off to the west of it now...a little bit north of Medina.  You can see it at the left of the picture.)   But out of all he places I've lived in my life, I lived in Rochester the longest.  My parents still live there, I have a lot of friends there, and my husband makes the commute and works there. And it's only an hour away, so I still go there all the time to shop and visit my parents.

 So when you've determined the placement, use the stencil to cut out a square. (the most important edges to have exact are the top and left edges, since those are the edges that will be aligned in the corner of the sticky mat.  The bottom and right edges don't have to be exact, but I find it wastes less of he map.)

 Place the map square onto the sticky mat.

 I double-check to make sure the edges are right so the heart cuts in the correct spot.

 Load the mat into the Cricut, then use the keypad to choose the design. (obviously, be sure to have the same size and design as you did when you made the "stencil").  Then...the moment of truth...press the "Cut" button and let the Cricut do its thing!

 Then "unload" the mat from the machine...

 Carefully peel the pieces off the mat. (you can save the outer map piece to use for other papercraft projects)

Speaking of Rochester and maps and crafting...check out my fellow RNESTer, Ally's shop Soft Shell Crafts for some cool handmade recycled-map journals! (I'm actually donating a bunch of maps to her when I go through the rest of mine and decide which ones to save for myself to craft with!). 

Happy crafting!

"30 and Beyond" Guest Book!

Okay...you know how a while ago I wrote a post about wanting to have a guest book for my 30th birthday party? (which is tomorrow!)  Mom gave me a half-size sketch book to use for it and I decorated the cover last night.  I spent the last few hours of my birthday having fun crafting!  Couldn't ask for a better end to the day! ;)

 Fold over the top and bottom

 Cut  the corners at approximately a 45 degree angle...

  ... and glue the flaps down.

 Then cut the side corners off at approximate 45 degree angles and glue down

I had written a little poem that I wanted to include on the inside cover...so I rubber stamped it on some kraft paper cardstock and glued it on with some paper button embellishments.

 30 and Beyond! ;)

Art Lesson: Watercolor Paper Dolls

I have a friend I met at one of my early craft shows that made paper art dolls out of scraps of her watercolor paintings.  I wrote about her on the blog a couple years ago when I reviewed the Second Storie Indie Craft Show.

Anyway, I have been inspired by her work and have always wanted to try it myself (even if mine didn't turn out as beautifully abstract as hers).  And since teaching the art class, I have wanted to do it as a project with the kids.  So a few weeks ago on art class day, I got out some watercolor paper, paints, and mini brads and  had the kids make some.

(The big one on the left side is mine.) :)

Big Kids' class...

First I had them use the watercolor paints on the paper, telling them to "scribble" abstract designs with the paint.  Then I had them cut the pieces out to make the arms, legs, head, and body...then attach them with the brads.  I used a large needle to poke holes for them to more easily attach the brads, since it's difficult to poke the brads through the thicker watercolor paper.

Then the next week we did the project in the Little Kids' class... 

The kids all had a lot of fun with this project, and I think they liked making something they could play with later.

Make It Monday: Recycled Coffee Cup Post-It Notepads

I did a "guest post" over at my mom's blog for a tutorial for making her Post-It notepads using recycled coffee cups.

She has so many cool, crafty ideas, but she "hates blogging" because she never knows how to format the posts... so she gave me posting access to her blog...so I kind of act as her "personal blogger" sometimes! (and write the posts as if I'm her) But even though I wrote the post, the work, directions, and most of the photos are all hers. I just tweak the wording a bit, take a couple extra photos, and edit it all together into a comprehensive blog post!

Anyway...please go check it out and leave her some nice comments! And if you make your own coffee cup Post-It notepad, be sure to take some pictures and blog about it, or put them in your Flickr, and post a link in your comment!

Make It! Monday: Post-It NoteBooks

At my request, my mom wrote the original blog tutorial for these cute little Post-It NoteBooks that she makes. I've done a bit of editing, elaborating, and reformatting... but all the craft work shown in this post is all her! (I should get her to do a tutorial for one of her coffee cup cards/books).

Step 1:

First cut your base card stock 7 1/8 inches by 3 1/4 inches. (I used black...since a friend, who was destashing her scrapbooking supplies, gave me a lot of this thick, sturdy, black cardstock.) Crease at 3 1/2 and 3 6/8. (See picture above.)

Step 2:

Create Flowers or circles from punches or what ever design you want. You can even use rubber stamps, markers, geometric shapes, whatever you want! (This is the fun and creative part!)

Step 3:

Glue a 3 by 3 piece of paper on top of the black cardstock (I used lime green), then glue on your embellishment (I used green & yellow paper flowers).

Step 4 (Optional):

If you want your inside cover to be a pretty pattern or a different color from the base cardstock, you can glue some patterned/colored paper on the inside of the cardstock cover.

Step 5:

Finally, glue the spine of the 3 inch Post-It Note pad into the area where you creased for the folds. (OR, alternatively, you could glue the pad to the bottom of the inside of the booklet, but I recommend gluing the spine.)

And there you have it! A cute little Post-It NoteBook to pretty up your regular old boring Post-Its! You can make lots of them with different designs. You can even personalize them. It's a quick and easy project and can be a great little handmade gift!

*A special thanks to my mom for humoring me and writing the original tutorial on her blog (even though she is insecure about her blogging capabilities!), and for providing most of the photos!*

Mother-Daughter Silhouettes Comparison

Mom in 1972.

Me in 1983

Mom (right) and me (left) in 2010.