Hello my crafty friends...wow, it's been quite a while since I've posted...seems like my evenings are full..busy is good, right?

Now a quick recap...

When I last posted, I mentioned that I was using my cousin's Silhouette SD machine.  I used it to cut my favorite shoe pattern

I made 5 pairs and gave 1 shoe to several teachers at my workplace.  The machine made cutting a cinch.  Now I didn't play long with it but these are my observations on it.  While it cut quickly and smoothly, it was a bit louder than my cricut.  I didn't read any instructions, just plugged it in, found my pattern and started cutting.  Never needed to change the needle, no double cuts, one cut was enough to cut my american crafts cardstock.  I had to download the Silhouette Studio program but that was easy and I'm glad that it's mac compatible. I did manage to download some of their free shapes of the week but sadly didn't have a chance to cut any of them.  While I do love the machine and secretly wish for one, at this point, having invested so much time and money into my Cricut, I don't think I'll ever get one.  I love all the stuff that Silhouette has on their website especially the Kerri Bradford phrases and such.  Love those fonts...and there are a ton of svg. files that can be used on the Silhouette which allows for more creative freedom without having to spend money on a cart because you like one or two cuts on that cart.

Basically, what I'm saying is that while it's a great machine and worth the investment, this girl is sticking to her Cricut.

Now as for my Cricut, I continue to use my E2 on a regular basis but have recently also started to use my little Cricut bug.  In fact, I used it to make these little bags found on the Monster Mini cart

I gave the bags to the men I work with.  

Cricut Craftroom

I'm happy to say that I have been playing with the new Cricut Craftroom. Initially, I did have some issues with it, like a disappearing cursor but with the latest updates that problem has resolved itself.  I'm still having some minor issues but nothing that is keeping me from using it and having fun.  

I'm limited on crafting space, usually I use the dining room table.  My computer table is also small but allows me to plug in my little Cricut bug and use the CCR with it. 

I did have to plug in my carts when I needed to cut but I understand that will change soon.  Here are some pics of the screen

 This is the border I created for the house. 

I'm excited about the new CCR and I'm hoping to use it more often.  I'm glad they have offered some free digital images and hope to use them soon.  

Now onto my crafting....this is my latest project

I made these cute little houses using the new Sweet Tooth Project cart that was recently released.  They were used as party favors for a housewarming party.  Now the house is actually a store if you look for it on the cart.  It also has a few more layers to it but since I was doing 25 of these, I kept it simple and only cut the main image.  They measure about 2.75 when assembled and I was able to fit two houses without roof tops on one 12x12 cardstock.  Assembling them was pretty quick and easy. What killed me were the small registration marks that are supposed to guide you when scoring.  They were so small my poor eyes were killing me when I was done.  I did all my scoring on the bus, during lunch, in the Dr.'s office while waiting for my husband.  I used seam binding at the top along with some leaves I cut from several carts.

I did this in about 3 colors and stamp each one with a background stamp just to give it some texture and interest. 

Here's a closer look....I used my crop-a-dile to punch some holes on the leaves so that I could run some twine through them and clustered them together. This made attaching them to the top of the house very easy.

Inside each box, I put 5 Hershey nuggets wrapped in designer paper:

 For support, each box has a small square about 2.25 all around to ensure that the bottom of the house didn't collapse with the weigh of the nuggets.

The border that is running around the lower portion of the house is what I designed on the CCR (see top pics of CCR screen). It's a border found in the Mickey and Friends cart, one of Daisy's accessories.  

Here's a closer look at the houses

and this is how they looked at the housewarming party, when they were put out for the guest..

looks like a little village...

I'm happy to say that everyone loved them, they thought they were professionally done.  No one wanted to open up their house because they didn't want to damage it.  I even was approached by one guest and asked if I had a catalog she could go over to select a few favors for her clients. Turns out she's a dental hygienist and the office is looking for something small to give the patients during the holidays. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything to show her and didn't even offer my number....I think I was in shock at the request...oh well, maybe next time.

Things I will do differently on this project:

• Use a heavier cardstock. These were made with several sheets of the Michaels Recollections and Bazzill cardstock.  I think 80lb cardstock would be better and sturdier....which might eliminate the need to insert a square inside the house
• I stamped my sentiment after the house was assembled and sealed which made stamping difficult.  If you look closely you'll notice the sentiment is not clear...next time I will do this before I assemble
• I glued the top of the house but thinking back now, since I was attaching ribbon to the top, glueing was not necessary.  This way guest can open up the house, take their goodies out and then close it up again.

Well, this is all for now.  If you have come to this point then a sincere THANK YOU for reading and visiting my blog...

Sending you crafting wishes,

Jeanette