Lil Cabin in the Woods

Catching Up!

2011-01-01T22:42:00.002-05:00

It's really hard to believe I haven't posted here since September! Time really has passed quickly over the past few months. It was late September when I really began working on finding a location for our local Christmas Bureau. Once a location was secured, it was move in time, then we took applications for more than 2000 families, and then the distribution brought us up to Christmas Eve. It was a hectic time and my blog had to take a backseat behind work and school.

But, not all was work and no play for me - thank goodness! I was able to spend time making mini albums for friends of mine. Here's one of them that I made for a good friend that scrapbooks a lot! I hope she enjoys adding photos of her family to it over the next few weeks.

The idea for the album is a variation on one that Laura Denison did during one of her ustream classes. I changed the binding and the direction of the album pages, but the design of the pages is all hers. I also did different embellishments and other changes that you can see if you compare hers to mine.

Mini Chubby Album

2010-09-16T21:16:00.000-04:00

My youngest daughter loves to take pictures of her and her friends. She puts them on Facebook, prints them and puts them everywhere!! So, to help her with her passion, I made her a mini album to help record her junior year in high school. She's got a busy year, involved in a lot of activities, and she takes pictures at everything.

It's a mini album, but I guess I fed it too much and now it's a chubby, mini album. I also now know why most folks use an alternate way to bind them rather than their Bind-It-All. They have a way of becoming a living organism and taking on a life of their own. Each page is a mat for photos and journaling, then it is also a pocket to hold additional tags to add photos -- and of course, more journaling.

Now, that I've got it finished for her, I have to take her to have the thousand of photos she wants printed. Maybe this is really all my fault. Well, I'm Mom - and it usually is. . .

I created several svg files in making various parts of the mini album. I'll try to get those posted this weekend, just in case anyone is interested in those.

Altered Frame Swap

2010-09-15T16:36:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted in awhile and I have so many things to catch up on. Over at the Creative Inspirations aimoo site, several of us participated in an altered frame swap in August. I was the blessed recipient to receive the frame made for me by Jill from over at Created By Jill. The frame she made for me is below. I received it last week, but my daughter has had my camera with her so I couldn't get it posted until today. Thank you, Jill! I love the frame you made for me!!

I almost forgot! I was "fortunate" enough to get to make an altered frame for Penny Duncan. If you know Penny, you'll know how talented she is, so I have to admit I was a bit intimidated about making something for her. I changed my mind so many times before I actually got it finished. It was even a day late! But, after much fretting, I did get it to her. Here's the picture of what I ended up with.

Blog Award!

2010-08-27T22:43:00.002-04:00

My friend, Celeste from Touched by a Butterfly and fellow moderator at Creative Inspirations honored me by giving my blog an award. I am truly humbled to be included in the list of greats that she gave the award to. As part of the award, I am to let folks know why I started a blog in the first place, and why I continue to blog.

I started my blog in January of this year as a way of sharing svg files. The first file I created was a Gerber daisy and so many people from the Scalhints yahoogroup wanted it that I got behind on emailing it out to them. The only way to get it to everyone that asked, was to create a blog and put the file there. My hubby also had built me a cabin to study (I'm in school) and to spend time with my crafty side so the blog became a way to share my cabin with the rest of the world.

I continue to blog so that I can continue to share any svg files I create so that others can also enjoy them. I don't make them as often as others do because I have too many other hats that I wear in my life. I keep thinking I'm gonna lay some of those other hats down, but they are still there. I also blog because when I find a site that I want to follow, the blog keeps up with all of them so I can visit often.

Now for ten trendy bloggers that I visit often and who also inspire me with their lives and creations - and who display their talent, time, and creations on their blog:

1. Wendy at Wendy's Crafting Times
2. Rita Loyd at Rita's Country Creations
3. Tammy Jennings at OBX Stamping and Crafting
4. Brandi Crimminger at Creative Happenings
5. Wanda at Wanda's Crafts
6. Becca at Amazing Paper Grace
7. Laura at Cricut Card-iologist
8. Christy Hund at Creations by Christie
9. The ladies at Stampin Sisters in Christ
10. Stephanie at Digital Designs by Stephanie

Thanks again to Celeste -- You really made my day!

It Might Be a Sunflower . . .

2010-08-27T20:04:00.001-04:00

Happy Friday, everyone! Over at CreativeInspirations we have gone a little nuts over flowers. Everyone is making flowers for cards or other projects and I have to admit it is a little contagious. Penny Duncan is busy as a bee producing flowers and we've all gotten in the act by making our own creative versions of them. If you haven't seen all of Penny's latest creations, stop by her blog. Whether it is a rose or hibiscus you are looking for, she's got them all ready for you to download and start making your own.

I have a project I am working on for a friend and I wanted a flower that I created myself. I started working on this file with no real flower type in mind, but now that it is complete, it resembles a Sunflower. But since Sunflowers are yellow, I can't really call mine Sunflowers because I have more colors in mind than the ones I have even gotten made. So. . . what should I call it? Take a look and let me know what you think -

If you want to make some of your own, you can download the SVG files here. If you haven't stopped by CreativeInspirations, come on by - we'd love to have you join us! And, I'd like to thank you for stopping by the Lil Cabin -- it's been a pleasure to have you here.

My Blog Candy Has Arrived!

2010-08-26T20:33:00.001-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I was surprised to be the winner of the blog candy from Tammy at OBX Stamping and Crafting. Today, the blog candy arrived and I just had to show you all of the goodies that Tammy sent my way.

There were a lot of goodies as you can see in the photo above, but my favorites are the magnet she made with the summer scene and the notepad decorated with the sweet bluebird and sentiment. Can't wait to get a photo in the frame out in the lil cabin. Thank you Tammy!!

Be sure you stop by Tammy's blog and see what she's been working on lately for Halloween. She's got some really cute cards and the most darling treat bags. I know you will be wanting to make some of your own. I know I am!

Thank you pocket cards

2010-08-15T20:57:00.001-04:00

My youngest daughter recently turned 16 and many of our family and friends joined us as we celebrated her life. They showered her with gifts and she was so excited to have gas money to use once she was able to get her license the following day. She wanted to send thank you notes to the family members that came or sent gifts, so she visited some of my internet bookmarks in search of the perfect cards.

She found several that she liked but the one she really wanted me to make for her is one she found at Splitcoaststampers. It was a cute card with a variety of mixed papers and a pocket to hold the note. We had fun making them and they turned out really cute. I designed a file that we used so we could cut several at one time to save us from cutting each one by hand. The pictures of the majority of the note cards are below. We actually started putting them in envelopes when I remembered that we hadn't taken pictures of them.

If you would like to use the file we created to make the pocket card using SCAL, you can download it here. We would load one sheet of cardstock onto the mat and cut all four pieces - the pocket, the top half, the bottom half, and the belly strap. If we were only making 4 notecards, we would have used 4 sheets of paper, cut all of the pieces from each sheet. After all 4 sheets were cut, we mixed and matched to make up each notecard. We cut the layer with the small notecard that fit the pocket and one larger base to glue all of the pieces to out of white cardstock.

We used different embellishments I had on hand at the top of each small notecard. We printed Thank you! onto the white cardstock before cutting. I used a scrap sheet of paper to determine where the notecard would be cut after it was printed. If you have cri-kut pens, you could probably do this much easier. I haven't gotten those yet, so I'm still relying on my printer and the template method.

Her first name starts with a J so I cut that from 2 different colors of cardstock I had on hand. One was cut at normal and the other at shadow of 2 in SCAL.

If you have questions on assembly, just leave a comment. I'll try to help in anyway that I can.

It's all in a Name - Part 2

2010-08-13T20:51:00.000-04:00

It's always been amazing to me when I realize that my children are really paying attention. My oldest daughter, Jessi, is very talented and artistic, but she's never really asked me to show her how to use my Cricut and SCAL. Not that it is difficult, but you would think she would need some guidance along the way. But, she really surprised me this week. She was babysitting for a young girl that had seen a wordbook that I had made for Jessi after her high school graduation. The little girl wanted a wordbook of her name so my daughter chose the font they wanted and asked me to cut the board for the letters the night before the little girl came. There's so little talent handed down from generation to generation these days that I was happy to oblige. Other than the name, Emily, the only special request was that it include a peace sign at the end of the name. SCAL made that really easy as one is included in the shapes library.

I headed off to work the next morning and just made a couple of notes for Jessi. Things like - the file was saved is here, don't forget you need to cut paper for the front and back side of the letter, and you'll need to use the program Sure Cuts a Lot on my computer to cut your paper. She'd never used it before and I wasn't even sure she knew the name of the program.

Was I amazed when I arrived home to find the book was complete and turned out so very pretty! The little girl wanted the book to be done in black, pink, and silver. So, that's what they did -- and they did it all without me! When I asked my daughter how she knew what to do, she just said, "Mom, I've watched you do it before, why wouldn't I know how to do it?" She's precious! The only thing I wish they had done differently, was take more pictures. They only took one, so I hope you enjoy it.

It's all in a Name!

2010-08-08T22:56:00.001-04:00

I have been working on a wordbook for a friend's daughter that recently graduated from the 5th grade. She's heading off to middle school in two weeks and her mom wanted to give her this book before class begins.

When I first made the book, I only did one page for each letter, but my friend kept finding pictures she wanted to include, so I opened the binder ring and added 1 additional page per letter, then reclosed the binder ring. I was a bit worried about changing the shape of the ring, but it turned out just fine.

I'm delivering the book to my friend on Monday, so I wanted to get the photos loaded tonight. I hope that her family enjoys the book, especially Alexis. She's a precious little girl and I am blessed to know her and her mom!

I Won! I Won!!

2010-08-06T21:48:00.002-04:00

One of the great members of Creative Inspirations posted that she was giving Blog Candy away because she made it to 50 followers on her blog. Of course, I jumped over to be sure that I was in the game. Today, I found out I won! I'm so excited. Stop by and see all of Tammy's beautiful creations on her blog. And, thank you Tammy for all of the great items! I can't wait to get them, especially your creations!

Two of my favorites! Butterflies and hearts

2010-07-30T23:40:00.001-04:00

A butterfly reminds us all of new life and what gives us life, but love from the heart. This file was made with just those thoughts in mind. The file took a while to create, but it turned out so well. I wanted to be sure to share it with everyone so that if you love butterflies - and if you are loved, this may just inspire you to do something creative today!

The file contains a base for the butterflies and hearts, the butterflies - of course, hearts, and then leaves just to give it more definition. I wasn't concerned so much about the colors in the file for this first cut, but it does give us an idea of what the file will look like when it is complete.

After you have selected the base paper, you can cut the file using the bottom layer. The base paper does show quite a bit when the project is done, so you may want to choose a prettier type of paper than I did on this one.

The butterflies turned out better than I could have imagined. I am still learning how to use Inkscape so this was a challenge, but once I had the left side done it was just a snap to copy, flip and join the two halves to get the perfect butterfly. Then, when it was time to cut; it was absolutely perfect. I am still quite amazed that it turned out as well as it did.

I hope that this file inspires you to treasure life and those around you. Love is scarce these days and so are butterflies during these hot summer months. Here's some just for you!

You can get the file here and if you use it in a project, I would love to see how it turns out for you

Do Something Creative - Everyday

2010-07-16T20:09:00.004-04:00

I found that I have a lot of ideas that never come to life because, well, life just gets in the way. So, to help make those ideas have hope for a reality, I decided I needed a bulletin board to post them so I would not forget about them. Not only were they forgotten due to the old adage; out of sight, out of mind. They also were forgotten, because I'm not as young as I used to be.

And, for my project, I really didn't want to spend any money on it, just because if I decide I don't like it, then it will be easier for me to take it down without guilt. I had some 12" and 6" corkboard squares I had gotten on clearance forever ago, used some fabric and ribbon I had on-hand, staple gun, and voila. The bulletin boards looked good, but it needed something.

So, using my Cricut Expression and some vinyl I had, I cut vinyl wall words, "Do Something Creative Everyday" to give it a finished look. The vinyl letters for Do Something Everyday are brown with a little glitter/metallic finish and the word Creative is in a deep plum. The photo doesn't show how well the plum looks with the brown, but trust me -- looks really great.

So the bulletin board and the vinyl wall words accomplished two tasks in one. It gave me a place to start putting all those notes and picture ideas for future projects and it allowed me to do something creative for today.

That's all there is today from the lil cabin, I hope you have a wonderful evening. Blessings to you all!

Has it really been that long?

2010-07-12T18:59:00.001-04:00

Surely it is a sign of growing old when you don't post to your blog for this long - and it seems like it was just last week! It's been a busy few months and I've not spent much time here. Too bad there isn't an award for the most neglected blog. To get back into the swing of things, I'l try to get caught up on some of the creative things that have been happening around the cabin.

My mom's birthday as well as Mother's day are both in May. She's one of those moms that has everything and it is impossible to get her something that she either doesn't already have or that won't add to the endless items already sitting around her house. So, the girls in the family got together and planned an outing for all of us. We made a date for May 29th and met at her home. The only bad thing was that we had a few that got sick (they don't even live together) and a couple that we knew couldn't go beforehand. But we ended up with a group that turned out to be just the right size and we had a blast.

The way we invited Mom to the gathering was with an explosion box. When she opened it on Mother's Day, it only contained the invitation rolled up and secured in the center of the box. After we had our outing, we collected pictures from everyone (we all seemed to have taken the same pictures) and I put it all together for her. We gave it to her just a few weeks ago. It turned out pretty well and now mom can remember the fun we all had together.

Thanks for stopping by, and no, the big bad wolf didn't stop by the cabin. All is still well in the lil cabin in the woods. Blessings to you all!

My First Blog Award - Thanks Yolie!

2010-03-01T20:13:00.002-05:00

Yolie from over at JustYolie has really made my week by giving me my first blog award. She also is so encouraging as she stops by my blog often and leaves me sweet comments on my posts! She's precious and I really am thankful for her.

The rules of this award are to tell you 10 things that make me happy and then I am to pass it on to 5 more people:

1. Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior
2. My hubby who does so much for our family
3. My daughters who make me so very proud
4. My mother who is my real hero
5. The rest of my family who make life special
6. Friends that love me for me
7. All of those that call me Momma G
8. The wonderful people that volunteer with me and do so much for others
9. Long weekends at home with no where to be except in the Lil Cabin
10. Beautiful, sunny days!

I am going to pass this award on to five blog friends. Make sure you check out their INSPIRING blogs!

Here they are:

1. Paulo
2. Kay
3. Connie
4. Shelly
5. Kat

Cards, Cards, Cards

2010-02-15T23:59:00.002-05:00

I've never been much on making cards - I mean, what do the recipients really do with them once they've looked at them and the occasion has passed? Do they keep them and realize the amount of time and love that went into the cards or do they just toss them aside to be forgotten? I am not sure of that answer, but I do know that with these cards, I had a lot of fun making them. Even if they do get tossed, it was worth the effort to let some of the special people in my life know how much I love them.

First up is the Valentine's Day card I made for my hubby. Now, he probably wasn't too fond of the card - it doesn't have a tractor or a police car on it, but I hope he knew I still love him even after all these years. It turned out very pretty - that's not a good term for a manly kind of card, but I am not sure how else to describe it. And - if he thought it was too pretty - he didn't dare say it out loud. Sweet, huh?

I also made cards for both of my girls. I had to get the our oldest daughter's in the mail since she is away at college and it was a couple of seconds after I sealed the envelope and was putting it into the box of goodies I was sending her that the thought occurred to me! I forgot to take a picture!!! Oh well, she's the type that will keep the card until it gets lost in the clutter on her desk. So maybe there's a chance you'll get to see that one. It was one of Yolie's files - I Toadily Love You and was very appropriate as my oldest received a couple of pet toads for Christmas from her beau. The toad was a svg file I found on another site, but for the moment, the addy has left me. I'll edit the post when I remember where in the world it came from.

The card I made for our youngest daughter is definitely not the pretty type of card for a girl. But, if you knew her and how much she loves our potbelly pig, Jillian, it has a whole new meaning. Even in church on Sundays, as I write notes in my journal, she reaches over to draw pictures of Jillian on my note pages. So the card itself isn't pretty but it sure did make her smile.

The final card I have to show you this evening is one I am making for a friend at work. She's expecting her first child and all signs (okay - the ultrasound) says she's having a boy. I made another tri-fold card for this one and it really is sweet. I hope that she likes it - and maybe she'll hold on to it for a few days before it gets lost in the shuffle of putting things away in the nursery.

I hope you enjoyed viewing the cards as much I enjoyed making them. I have a few more baby shower cards for over the next few days, so maybe you'll get to see those too. It seems like everyone is having babies these day! Whew -- glad it's not me!!

Thanks as always for stopping by the lil cabin in the woods. It's been a pleasure sharing just a moment out of my day with you. May God's blessings shine upon your life and as the bumps in the road come upon you, look for the lessons that He may be trying to teach you, one step at a time.

It's a Cabin Day!

2010-02-13T17:26:00.001-05:00

It began to snow late yesterday afternoon and this morning we woke up to a white world. But it wasn't long before the sun came out and the white became very wet. It was still a good day to stay inside where it was warm. I spent the day in the cabin doing homework with a co-worker and then later working on the scrapbook for my mom. I really was hoping to have so much more completed by now, but with classes starting back on February 4th and then work being so busy, not much has gotten done.

I do have a couple of pages to share with you -- and maybe it will inspire me to do more. These two pages show daddy in his early days. I love the picture of him in the hat when he was five years old. It is so very sweet. All of these pictures help me to realize how much my three brothers look like daddy. You can see all three of them in the various stages of his early years.

Have a great weekend and thanks as always for stopping by the lil cabin in the woods. I hope to see you again soon.

It's a Cold, Icy Day!

2010-01-31T13:20:00.000-05:00

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!

Chandolier SVG

2010-01-30T10:28:00.001-05:00

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!

Latest CoWorker Card Challenge

2010-01-25T22:48:00.004-05:00

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!

3D Valentine Card - A Challenge from a Friend

2010-01-23T22:34:00.001-05:00

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!

Busy Week - Only 2 More Layouts!

2010-01-22T22:52:00.000-05:00

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!

Family Layouts

2010-01-18T21:33:00.002-05:00

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!

Daffodils are Blooming!

2010-01-16T19:53:00.000-05:00

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.

My First SVG File!

2010-01-15T22:44:00.002-05:00

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

2010-01-15T21:30:00.001-05:00

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!

2010-01-15T19:25:00.000-05:00

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.