The Wedding....of the YEAR!!!

Can you believe it???  No, me neither.  It's been  F-O-R-E-V-E-R since I posted something in this thing.  I promised the few of you that may check from time to time to see if I would keep my word...YES. I did. Finally. Procrastinator Extraordinaire.
So, what a whirlwind year, to say the least.  My baby boy found someone to share his love with.  A beautiful, inside and out, young lady from the other side of the world.  So yep....there was a wedding one whole month ago already!  And, "Yep"...we went to South Africa for it!!!  What an experience of a life time.  Wouldn't have missed this for anything. They are a perfect match.  Emmi completes him.  And he adores her!  I have a Daughter-in-law!!!

So I was thrilled they asked me to make their wedding invites, but asked if they would give me a direction, since so many ideas are out there to be tried.  They sure did.  This is the pic they sent me.

At first I thought...piece of cake with my machines (errr...I'm a hoarder...I'm up to six now...it's a sickness my husband says. I'm okay with that.)  And of course, with my Make The Cut program, anything is possible. It didn't have to be an exact copy, but they loved the idea of the cut-a-away corner.  Let me tell you....there were many tears.  I had to honestly look at my abilities as well as my time frame to get it all done. 100 plus cards and matching sleeves.  I came very close to telling them we would order the cards and pay for them ourselves.  But I stuck with it.  Had a great big confidence boost with the help of the wonderful people from the weekly webinar through MTC...thanks Bryan!  It was a big help!  And so with many, many nights with only 4 hours of sleep, lots and lots of designing and reworking my pattern, lots and lots of paper snibbles to be picked up off the floor, and many, many glue drops to each one of those corner pieces...this is what I ended up with.
{the cards & sleeves before assembling...}

Ta-Da!!

I think it turned out pretty well. Ü

So I included a square card with the reception info on it, as well as a sheet of fancy-shmancy tissue paper inside each card, then inserted it into the sleeve, put it all into a linen envelope to mail.  That's it.  Mission Accomplished. LOL

Oh...and then there was the engagement party I threw before we left for South Africa.  I wanted to have a photo booth, but really didn't have the $700+ for the 4 hour rental.  So I searched for an idea and decided to go with a Polaroid picture frame.  Threw in some Disney inspired embellishments and props from a digi kit I bought, print and cut and wahlah.  

CUTE and FUN!!

EDITED TO ADD: Because of my strong personal feelings for the occasion, I will not be sharing the file for the card.  Thank you for all the interest! Ü

Wedding Album

Well...this is an 8 x 8 wedding album that I made for a friend back in October.  I used my new Epson 1100 to print these very cool graphic files I purchased from Moonbeam1212's Rosy Glow and Petal Wings at Jaguarwoman.com.  What fabulous eye candy is found at that site!  You've gotta go and see!  I did print and cut roses and butterflies on each page and then pop dotted them for embellishments.  For the front and back covers, I used acrylic sheets and engraved a monogram onto the front using my awesome KNK Maxx.  It did a spectacular job.  I found the "filler" lines for the inside of the monogram in the Make the Cut gallery.  There is a small little glitch that didn't engrave.  I left it as it was, but if I do this again...which I'm sure I will since its so cool and a breeze with my handy dandy Maxxer...I will design my own filler lines because as I've seen since, it is pretty easy to make.  Bound it  with my Cinch...so easy, it cut like butter, even the plexiglass.  Wah-Lah.  Decided to forgo the ribbon on the binding wire.  The bride isn't for all the frilly girlie stuff.  I left it so that she can put her own pics in it too.  The simpler the better.  Ü 

So here you go...some pics I took of this fun project. 

A "Quick" Wedding Card...

...Sure!  Ha!  Here we go again.  I knew about the wedding well before hand.  So the planning started as to what I wanted to make...in my head. The night before...yep...I start designing it in my Make the Cut software.  The DAY of the wedding, 2 hours before the wedding, I get ready to cut it out using my awesome KNK Maxx.  Well, so I started to, but then I decided to change the design a little.  Now we are down to 45 minutes before the wedding.  My hubby has to get there early because he's  an usher, and comes in the room and asks if he should go to the store and pick up a card.  Ha!  FUNNY GUY!!!  No.  Now my plan is, cut it all out, get changed quick, go to the ceremony, come home right after, put it together, stuff some cash in it and put it in an envelope, and go.  Whew.  So run home I did and put it together before the reception.  Then I came downstairs to show my dearest hubby my new creation and waved it in front of him and exclaimed..."there...I saved you $2.50"!!!  hehehe.   He didn't laugh.  Blahahaa!  

KNK Denver Retreat...and Happy 30th Wedding Anniversary!

What a weekend!!! Ü

In May, I told my hubby that when my Cricut "dies"...which it has to get used more often than it does for that to happen...and then when my "back-up" Expression dies following the first...that I had found my next machine. The 15" KNK Maxx.  And I knew who I wanted to buy it from--Sandy McCauley the most dedicated, generous, knowledgeable rep ever! So to my surprise he says "If it will do everything you want it to do...then get it!  Happy Anniversary"!!!  How could I argue with that?  He wanted to get something really nice for our 30th Anniversary.  I did drag my feet just a teenie bit, but decided I better go with it before he changes his mind. ;)  So in June, I joined the proud group of people that now owns a beautiful and powerful cutting machine.

Now, I did notice that there was a KNK retreat lead by that awesome dealer of mine in Denver CO...but it was on the very weekend of our 30th anniversary.  So my mind went to scheming  on how I could convince my dear man that we were taking a small vacation to Denver...and "Oh yeah, I'll be in class all weekend".  Yep...so I dropped it and didn't even mention it.  There were going to be other retreats.  

Well....Sunday August 7th changed all that.  An email from Sandy stated that there was good news and bad news regarding the retreat in Denver.  Good News: There were just a few more spots open for the retreat for anyone interested and Chad from Accugraphics was going to be there all weekend and he was bringing with him the new KNK cutting machine, the Zing.  Bad News: This was going to be Sandy's LAST retreat of it's kind!!!  NO!!!  I need to go yet!!  So without delay, I informed my best bud of a hubby about what the class is all about, gave him my reasons of why I needed to go...to insure our investment in this excellent machine was going to benefit us in the long run.  I told him I knew it can cut more than paper, and I could learn it by watching those great videos Sandy made, and lots of investigating on the internet.  But this retreat was going to be the boost of information I need to jump start me.  To have both of the guru's of Klic-N-Kut in one room, teaching all weekend.  I have to go!! So after putting the cost on paper, and telling dh that I think it would be best that I should go alone because I don't want to miss one minute of class...he said "If this is something you really want to do and can make it happen, then make it happen.  Happy Anniversary"!!!  WHAT??!!  The machine was my anniversary gift, and now this? There is no way I could get him anything close to that as a gift....maybe he considered my being away was his gift...LOL!!  Anyhow, needless to say, everything fell into place within 24 hours. 

So Friday Sept 2nd I boarded the plane and flew by myself for the first time.  Well, just getting to the airport was a feat in itself. The very same time as I set out to leave for my 90 minute commute to Milwaukee, the weather decided to kick in with 70-80 mile an hour wind gusts.  I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE!  Semi's were swerving in the wind.  Rain was coming down hard, cars were going slow...I had to get to the airport! I wondered if I was going to see my first tornado. But not like this!!  I wanted to be in a safe place to see my first tornado...not on a highway!  So trying to use a sound mind, and as I was listening to the radio station keeping me updated on the storm.  There were no tornado warnings, it was a straight wind front going through really fast. Watching for the best time to pass semi's was my mission.  I waited until there was some sort of wind break, line of trees or hillside, and then I would take my shot and hammered pass those large moving obstacles.  I did that for about 40 minutes, and then there was clear sailing.  I did hear about 10 minutes after I got out of my county that a semi trailer did flip over on the highway.  Thank goodness they were behind me.

Okay...fast forward to the retreat.  I got to the meet and greet a little late, but I was there! Ü  What a great time!  What a room full of talent!!!!  Words can't express the fun we had.  The learning...my head did explode by 7:30 pm Saturday night.  I would do it again though!  I got a wonderful welcome from Sandy...it was like we had known each other for a long time.  Oh and then there was Lynn...the master of organization and skills of all types of media!!  Such a wonderful lady.  She even arranged for Linda, who is equally fabulous, sweet and generous, to stop at the Container Store and pick me up a couple of plastic containers for my blades and blade holders and surprise me with them on Sunday.  Judy and Cherrie and all their hard work in coordinating the retreat with Sandy.  Millie, Ouiszee, and Helen, oh my...you ladies are an inspiration!  Thanks to Andrea, my table partner.  She put up with my fidgeting as my daughter calls it. I hope she loves MTC!! Big thanks to Linda and Kim who kept checking on me to see if there was something I wanted to cut.  I hated that I couldn't bring my machine and had to rely on everyone else's.  I tried to get Chad to let me keep the Zing...didn't work.  He didn't even let me carry it into the airport after we were dropped off by the hotel shuttle.  Guess he didn't like the look in my eyes!  LOL  Oh and a BIG THANK YOU to Sandy, Chad and Elina....they decided to leave the hotel and get to the airport really early and we got to share the shuttle ride together.  I got to pick their brain just a tiny bit more! SCORE!

So here are a few pics I took off my cell...I'm really terrible at taking pictures with that thing.

The ZING!

LYNN: the Ultimate Crafty Lady!

Luv her!!

CHAD helping attendee's with MTC

ANDREA: playing with her new MTC program Ü

SANDY teaching us the Tippity-Tip of the iceberg!!!

♥  Thanks Sandy!!!! ♥

The Nugget Boxes that I made for everyone.

These were made with MTC and my Maxx!

Oh what a FUN weekend!  Ü  I'm so happy I had that opportunity!

Another GREAT SALE AT DIGI SCRAP KITS by TRINA CLARK!

Trina Clark does it again with a wonderful sale on her sweet CLIP ART! 
All sets are 88¢!!! You can't go wrong with these beautiful files.  And best of all, they work awesome with Make The Cut!  Bring the images in with a pixel trace, or break it into layers and piece it together to make a dimensional design on your scrapbook page or card.  She has hundreds of fun artwork on her site...and at that price, it won't hurt your pocket book! ENJOY! Ü 

Digi Scrap Kits

AMAZING THINGS HAPPENING OVER AT MAKE THE CUT!!

Have you heard??!!!  Make The Cut V. 3.3.2 has been released and is now available for download!  It is OUTSTANDING! 

Andy and company have outdone themselves and added some very COOL features to this version.  Truly brilliant and easy to use.  And if you love Lettering Delights Graphic Art and SVG's, MTC has integrated the ability to access your SVG's right from the software. Again...BRILLIANT!  There are many other new features I haven't even touch yet...so I'm off to play, and hopefully I'll have something completed to share here. Ü

If you were on the fence about MTC...jump across already and join us. LOL  You won't be disappointed.  And at this great price, it is so worth the investment.  And remember, Andy doesn't charge for updates. Donations are completely up to you!  Isn't that terrific Customer Service?!!?  So if you want to go straight over to buy, this link will take you right to the order form. (again...Ü) 

ONE DAY ONLY!!! 40% OFF At MYGRAFICO.com

One day only...tomorrow July 14th, MYGRAFICO.com will be having a BIG SALE--40% OFF!  Don't miss this deal on some fantastic must have SVG Files, Digi Paper Paks, Printables, and Clipart.  40%!!! WOW!!  Click HERE to get your deals!  Enjoy! Ü
Just look at a few of these adorable sets!

If you want to become an Affiliate too...just click follow this link:
Webmasters Earn Money Here!

Calling For MYGRAFICO Affiliates!

Do you like graphics for digi scrapbooking, card making and print and cut.  Maybe SVG files for cutting with MTC or SCAL.  How about digi paper packs or digi stamps?  MYGRAFICO.com has all of that. Besides they have just started taking applications for AFFILIATES! YAY!  Click on the button below to take a look at what they offer...and if you like, click HERE to sign up for Affiliate opportunities. Ü

SVGCuts 3D Alphabet SVG Kit

Now you can use your cutting machine and Make The Cut! to create custom word art for your home! Create baby names and kids' names for childrens' rooms or create your last name for your family room. Spell out any word to go with any theme in your kitchen or TV room.

Spell out a team name for your favorite sports fan or create just one embellished letter representing your last name for your living room. They also make fabulous gifts! 

Your download includes everything you need to make all 26 letters of the alphabet using any mat size! Even 6x12 mat users can create up to 5.5" tall letters and 12x12 mat users can create letters up to 6.5" tall. 12x24 mat users can even create letters up to 11" tall if using 12x24 paper. Letters shown in photos are 6.5" tall. You can get them by clicking right HERE. Pick up this awesome set today!!! Ü

Free SVG File– 06.15.11 – Step Right Up Caption

Here's another Freebie from SVGcuts!  Use this file with your Make The Cut! software program to add a bit of fun to your layouts or cards.  Actually this would be so cute to cut it out of vinyl and put it on a stepping stool for a kiddie!  They have AWESOME files and well as video tutorials!

Thanks SVGCuts for another little nugget!

Free SVG File – Sure Cuts A Lot – 06.15.11 – Step Right Up Caption