Super pretty magnet time!

So remember the magnets I had holding up the Summer Cricut sign a few posts ago?

I made more today as an end-of-year gift for my son's teacher.  And here is the tutorial!

I found this idea originally on Pinterest.  It is super easy, super fun, and super cute.

First up, assemble your supplies.  You will need:

(please ignore my daughter's lunch at the edge there.)

• some scissors
• a pencil
• a sheet of scrapbook paper that you like
• a bag of large clear flat glass stones (available in the floral area of your craft store)
• a tube of E-6000 glue
• a glue gun
• some good strong magnets (the magnets I have pictured are ideal for this--strong enough to hold something to the refrigerator, but not so strong as to rip works of art)
• a nice cup of tea

Trace the stones onto the paper.  I would suggest doing a few at a time--they aren't uniform in size or shape, so that kinda makes this step a tedious one.

Cut the circles out.  Put a glob of E-6000 on one of the stones, squish its paper circle onto the glue.  Repeat for all the stones.

While those dry, enjoy your tea.  You've earned it.  :)

Break out your glue gun, put a dab of hot glue on the back of the paper, and add a magnet.  Once again, repeat for all the stones.  (Realistically, you can use whatever kind of adhesive you think will work best here.  I used Krazy Glue on these--I don't recommend it.  It leaves a dark-ish spot on the other side of the paper that you can see through the magnets.)

And...that's it.  You're all set!

I'd post a picture of the finished product, but I haven't figured out the packaging yet (and I can't find my real camera--had to use my phone for the one I got).  Hopefully tomorrow?

Mama's New Toy: The Cricut

My dear husband gave me a Cricut for Mother's Day.  I love it so far, and I've barely scratched the surface of what this thing is capable of.

The very first thing I made was some letters.  I had a vision in mind for something I wanted to put in the scrapbook of my parents' wedding photos, and the Cricut I got came pre-loaded with the perfect one:

(Those were the photos I got from their reception.)

A few days later, my newest cartridge arrived for it.  I made a card:

I'm planning to send it to my son while he's at camp.  :)  I also programmed it to cut out the envelope, but that was how I learned NOT to use heavy paper for envelopes.  I'll find a lighter paper and try it again.  (The grasshopper in the picture above is also supposed to have a frame around it, but I rather unwisely cut it out of the same light green paper.  So...no frame for the time being.

Then, just to show off the layers feature, I made a little thing:

In the yellow:  the Silhouette feature.  The red paper shows the Layers, and the orange is the Shadow.

Assembled, it looks a little something like this:

(The magnets are a future post--I have more to make!)

The Layers are a little hard to see , but there's two dots underneath the first M, and the other accents are inside the U, the E and the R.

And like I said, I've barely scratched the surface of what I can do.  I know people who have made their own stickers, or vinyl clings, or labels...I could go on and on.

Anywho.  With the number of scrapbooks I have coming up to make, this thing is going to get a LOT of use.  I'm thinking once Adrian's camp scrapbook gets underway, this Summer cutout will go in it.

There are some significant drawbacks to a Cricut--not the least of which is the cost.  The machines are NOT cheap, especially if you want to be able to use all the cartridges they sell.  There is a much less expensive model available, but rather than cartridges, you have to use your computer, and I'm not sure what designs are available that way.  The cartridges are expensive too--if you're lucky, you can find them on sale at the local crafts stores for $35.  Otherwise they're anywhere from $40 to $90.

The sticky mats don't last forever--but I'm told there's a way to re-stick them.  Haven't tried it, will let you know when I do.

What truly sold me on wanting one was when one of the ladies I talk to told me her kids use hers for school projects.  I can imagine this thing will help make any poster cool, no matter how boring the subject matter has the potential to be.  :)  (Cuz let's face it, we all remember some of our class projects being VERY boring.)

My husband is right, my mother would have loved this sort of thing.