Sunday, January 31, 2010

It's a Cold, Icy Day!

Today we have a lot of ice remaining from the winter cold blast that came through on Friday/Saturday.  Church services were cancelled today and we have had a nice day together as family.  Our oldest is heading back to college after a weekend visit as soon as the roads are clear enough to travel safely.  While she is preparing to leave us today, I thought I'd post my latest page in my scrapbook of my dad's life. 

Daddy loved family more than anything else and he was firmly rooted in that conviction.  Because of that I added a page that showed his love for family and his commitment to it.  In order to show how deep that commitment was I thought what better way than to add a tree.  So, if you like the tree on the page shown below you can get the tree svg file for it here.  I used Glossy accents on it to give a little shine, maybe you can see it in the photo.  I hope that it inspires you and gives you a feeling of how important the roots of our families are in our lives. It also spreads wide to show how all of us have an important role of preserving family and continuing the legacy given to us in earlier generations. 

I also have included a portion of Paulo's folkheartelement file that you can get for your own creation.  Paulo is so very talented and I often find myself thinking I need something to pull a project together with one of his creations.  His heart helps pull together the tree and hearts that are so very evident in the love that our family has shared through the years. 

While the ice and snow melt outside I pray that each of you have a blessed Sunday.  Remember to spend time with Christ as He is the giver of life.  Blessings to you all and thanks for stopping by the lil cabin in the woods!

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Chandolier SVG

I am still trying to learn Inkscape and look for opportunities to try creating svg files.  Someone over at the scalhints yahoogroup asked for a chandolier svg file.  So, for practice I thought I would try to create one for her.  If you would like to try it, you can get it here.  I haven't cut it yet, but it looks like it should be okay.

Let me know how it works if you try it.  If I actually cut it, I'll come back and post it.  Thanks for stopping by the Lil Cabin in the Woods!  Blessings to you!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Latest CoWorker Card Challenge

Happy Monday! and it was most definitely a Monday, but I survived and Tuesday is quickly approaching.  The card I had promised to have completed on Sunday is ready a day later than planned, but it turned out pretty close to my coworker's original.  I know, what's all this fuss and challenge between friends?  This is all because of a discussion at work regarding the cost of our "toys".  So, my Cricut Expression does cost more than a few stamps, but you don't know how many Linda has.  She could have bought about five Expressions by now and then some with all of the stamps she has.  The sad part of it all is that she might pay about $15 for a stamp (she does admit spending as much as $35 on one stamp), but then uses it about 3, maybe 4 times.  I create a file or download a free one that someone else made and I can use it once or hundreds of times -- no additional cost to my Expression or SCAL. 



The latest card challenge was one that had a bird that looked very similar to the one shown on my card.  My dear friend paid $15 for her stamp and has used it twice.  I found an image of a bird on google images, imported into Inkscape (BTW Linda -- Inkscape is free).  Traced it, then created the wing, and saved it all as a svg file.  I used Paulo's scalloped dot file for the white border, Penny Duncan's leaves 2 file, and then another border file I made in Inkscape to match the cut on Paulo's file. 

The card background is black, measured at 6" x 6", scored in half.  The finished card should fit in a 6.75" business envelope.  The red heart paper is from K&Company and the white is simple cardstock.  I hope that you can find use for the svg files I have uploaded.  Thanks for stopping by today and I hope to see you again really soon at the Lil Cabin in the Woods -- May God Bless you all!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

3D Valentine Card - A Challenge from a Friend

It has been a busy Saturday -- seems everyday is getting to be that way!  But -- I did have time to work on a card that was actually a challenge from a coworker.  She took a class to make a card similar to the one I am showing here.  I told her I could make it without taking the class and she's giving til Monday to get it done.  I figured as long as I was accepting the challenge I could make it useful and turn it into a Valentine's Day card.  So -- I have no idea what kind of card it is, but it folds flat, then opens up into a 3 sided box.  The original card I was shown didn't have a ribbon that actually wrapped and closed, but I added one along with a soda can top that I colored using Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink.  The ribbon is glued down on one end and the other end is free to slide through the can top.  I don't really like the way the card stands up when it is open, but it stood open good enough for me to get a picture of it. 

On the inside of the card, I used one of Paulo's beautiful svg files. Thank you Paulo!! It is the heartofheart element found on his blog.  On the left side of the card I used the cut file, both the base and top layers - and on the right side I used only the negative of the top layer cut.  I used contact paper over the cut pieces left on my cricut mat, then used my spatula to help lift them off.  Some of them did move but the majority of them stayed put. 

I made the simple I Love You in Inkscape and then pulled it into SCAL to cut.  The font was a little thin, so I used outset in Inkscape to fatten it up just a little without losing the form of the font.

If you know the actual name of this type of card, please let me know.  And Linda -- if you happen to stop by this weekend -- I did it!!! And I still have tomorrow to get the one with the bird done for you.  Girl, you should know better than to issue a challenge to me!  You know I always strive to win!


Friday, January 22, 2010

Busy Week - Only 2 More Layouts!

It has been one of those busy weeks at home so very little time for extra projects.  But tonight I was able to get two more pages done for the scrapbook of my dad.  Once again, I used an svg file created by Penny Duncan Creations and changed up just a bit by me. There wasn't anything wrong with the way Penny designed it, but I made it much smaller than her original and had trouble getting parts of it to cut very clean. I used it for the corners of the photos and they were much smaller than the ones she had used them on. 

I was also able to use the Martha Stewart embossing pad and powders I had recently purchased.  I haven't done much embossing so I have a lot to learn.


Thanks for stopping by and I hope you and your family are blessed! 

Monday, January 18, 2010

Family Layouts


My dad passed away on February 14, 2008 after being very sick for almost 16 years.  We miss him but know that his suffering had been long and hard on his body.  I have been collecting photos of him since that day and keep thinking I'll eventually get them into a scrapbook for my mom.  I finally got around to working on it some today.  I only have a couple of other pages done so this makes about five.  I have a lot of pictures left to add to it and hope to have it somewhat complete by Valentine's Day this year.  It should help get mom through what has turned out to be a very sad holiday for her. 


There were only two svg files used on one of the pages.  One was a frame created by Penny Duncan and I used it to help hide some very tattered edges to an old family photo.  The file did help to pull the page together as it has leaves as do the gerbera daisy flowers I cut from the svg file I created a couple of weeks ago. 

There is one other page I almost have completed, but it has a lot of journaling on it which will tell the story of how mom and dad met.  It is a really sweet story and they had many years together.  They had struggles through the years, but love and faith always kept the family strong. That's the story I hope that viewers of the scrapbook will see. 

Blessings to each of you - and have a wonderful week!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Daffodils are Blooming!


I finally got the daffodil I had been working on finished in Inkscape today, complete with the leaves. It turned out pretty well even though I had a few issues with the trumpet of the flower. I'm still learning my way around Inkscape so I am sure there is a better way to do this. If anyone has any ideas, I would love to hear those. If you want to make the daffodil as it is, or even tweak it for yourself, you can get the svg file here.

I hope that you download the file and have fun using it. I would also love to see how others are putting it together. Blessings to you and your family - and thank you for stopping by the lil cabin in the woods.

Friday, January 15, 2010

My First SVG File!

As a member of SCALhints yahoogroup I spent the first several weeks just simply being amazed at the talent of so many of the members there. I watched as file after file was sent out to the group that the members were designing in Inkscape for members to use in the SCAL program. I finally got up the nerve to try to learn some of the basics of Inkscape and work on my first file. I started out very simple, creating a Gerber daisy which looks simple, but I hate to admit the amount of time I spent in learning and then creating the file.


I posted the file after I had it complete and had made my first flower using it. I really didn't expect much as I hesitantly posted it -- remember, these folks are really good at what they design. Mine is so very elementary compared to theirs. I was once again amazed as member after member requested my file! I just couldn't believe it, but they wanted the file I had been so hesitant about even posting. Very flattered, I simply sent each person making the request the file. After doing that for about 4 days, I decided it would be best to start a blog in order to have a place to post those files. As I continue to create files they will appear here, along with this first svg file of a Gerber Daisy.

If you haven't gotten it yet, I hope you will and leave me a comment letting me know you have. Blessings! Gerbera Daisy SVG

A Tour of the Lil Cabin

Many of you have asked for a tour of the lil cabin in the woods. This is a quick tour of the cabin and I hope that you enjoy it. My sweet husband helped me with the design of the cabin and he really did a great job with everything. I am really blessed to have the cabin and love to share it with friends. If you ever in this neck of the woods, stop by. The coffee is always ready and the company is always welcome.

When you enter the door from the porch you will enter the sitting area. Here is where you can find me studying - it may be for a class I am taking at school or studying God's Word. You can also see that the WII is there for when the girls have friends over or if I decide to get a little exercise from the WII Fit.


This is a view of the downstairs sitting area from the loft. It gives you a better idea of how things look as you enter through the front door (it is really the only door to the outside world). The cabin is very simply arranged but it really does feel like a home away from home. My mom loves to spend the night with us and stay in the cabin. She always teases that she's going to come live there when she gets old. My mom is one of those that will never get old -- just better!


As you travel through the cabin to get to the creative side you first arrive at the sink and bathroom area. When we first started talking about building the cabin, I wasn't sure I wanted to go to the trouble of adding a bathroom. My husband really felt like it was worth adding and now I am really glad that we did. On those cold nights, a trip to a warm bathroom versus running outside to go to the house is very much appreciated.

The next area is the creative side of the cabin. This is where any project that I or even my girls might be working on will be created. The cabinets on the left we got at a really good deal. My husband and a friend from church made the countertops which really looks great. They also match the countertop used in the sink area.






This is the area you can find the Cricut Expression or other tools used to work on the projects we create. My laptop is always connected to the Cricut in hopes of getting to create a new vase of flowers or card for a friend. The work area was created by putting JetMaxx cubes together and then adding a tabletop from IKEA, stained to match the rest of the cabinets. It turned out to be a great way to store my supplies and helps to keep the area neat and clean which makes my husband very happy!

The JetMaxx cubes were part of my Christmas gifts from the family this year. After Christmas, they went on sale at 50% off, so I added several more to make the storage area complete. Now, if I work on a project over an extended period of time, I have places to store it and then pull it out to continue working on it.


Well, I hope you have enjoyed the tour of the lil cabin in the woods. Just like the door says as you leave, Faith, Family, and Friends are always welcome! As you leave, remember to always stay with Christ, for He promises never to leave or forsake you! Come again!

Welcome to the Cabin!


Come in, wipe off your feet, and get a cup of coffee! There's always coffee in the lil cabin in the woods. It is here you can forget all about the issues of the day and let yourself relax. That's what I do here, in the cabin. The possibilities are endless when we let ourselves relax and create. In the cabin, you might find me studying a scripture passage, reading a book, or creating something from paper. Whatever you find, it will be stress free and peaceful. Stay with me and enjoy the moments!

The words I have on the wall on the creating side of the cabin are a quote from Emily Dickinson, "dwell in possibility". Just those words provide inspiration to allowing ourselves to live without the limits that can stifle our creativity. Life today can be so hectic and pressing that we stop enjoying time with ourselves, with our family, and most importantly, with our Creator. As we learn to dwell in possibilities, we can once again connect and remember the reasons we have been placed here in this world and learn to enjoy those reasons again.

Thank you for stopping by! Come again and we'll take you on a tour of the lil cabin in the woods, but remember, once you've stopped by, you'll definitely want to come again! Blessings to you and to yours in Christ.