How Lovely Are Your Branches

I know I am miserably behind on my show and tell when it's the middle of January and I'm just now showing off the ornaments that I made for the grandparents. To my credit I did want to wait until they were gifted on Christmas but I am running in super slow motion these days. I blame my unborn child. These were such a big hit and I loved making them even more because they are my children and my beloved niece and nephews. I think I will be forever enthralled with silhouettes, such a simple form and yet so much detail and personality.

The Beehive Is Still Buzzing

The Beehive Custom Silhouette from client's photo

NOTE: My shop The Beehive is now Papercut Kitchen! Please visit my shop Papercut Kitchen by clicking here.

I promise I'm not dead, but my blog must seem that way. I haven't had my own computer for awhile now so I'm very limited in what I can do. It's frustrating and freeing all at the same time because I have to be choosy and because I'm not tempted all day to sit down and do "just one little thing" that turns into an hour or more of little things.

Things in life and The Beehive are trucking along though and I'm continuing to make things for my shop. I'm starting to get more and more inquiries about my custom scrapbooks and silhouettes and am holding my breath that it is a sign of wonderful things to come. Above is a custom silhouette I completed recently and below are the latest premade scrapbook layouts to The Beehive.

Happy Woodland Creatures: 2 adorable layouts in 1! See more images, and make it yours, here

Happy Birthday: 2 fun layouts in 1! See more images, and make it yours, here.

Ignorance Is Not Bliss: Silhouette Craft Robo

Pink Punk Sweetheart Box

NOTE: My shop The Beehive is now Papercut Kitchen! Please visit my shop Papercut Kitchen by clicking here.

So my beloved Silhouette Craft Robo digital craft cutter machine thingamajiggy doohickie's blade has gone dull again. It's only the second time but it made my heart sink with thoughts of the last time I had to replace it (you can read about that here). I started digging around online for the cheapest replacement. Ugh, I live in a town without an adequate scrapbook supply store for a snoot like myself! So I have to stop in the middle of a project, something I despise, and order and wait for supplies. Boohoo for me. Or do I? In this need I learned something marvelous at The Quilling Patch, I can sharpen my own blade, very very easily! All I had to do is cover my cutting matte with tin foil and run it through! No more arm and a leg replacements for me! This site is a fantastic resource for scrappers so check it out: The Quilling Patch. She not only tells you how to sharpen your blade (here) but has free GSD file Friday where you can download free designs and shows you how to make your own cutting mattes!

I also noticed that the Quickutz website seems to be a little deceptive in the selling of their blades. The expensive set (it costs $45 and you can see here) has plenty of details, while there's a much cheaper blade without all the unneeded doodads but they don't have an item description and it actually took me much hunting to realize that was even what it was (it costs $10 and you can see that here). Then I went to purchase it and couldn't. It didn't say out of stock or unavailable it just mysteriously sent me to a page full of other products, including the expensive blade replacement set. Smells a little like fish market to me.

Off to play with my beloved again. I'm working on some new designs for cute little appreciation boxes to add to my shop like the one at the top of this post. Happy Crafting!

Lover's Spat

My beloved was desperately in need of some attention, her cutting mat was wearing out and her blade was getting so dull it was pulling and tearing the paper instead of cutting it. So, the other day while I was scrapping with Mr. Golden Curls I asked if they had these things in stock. "Why yes, right this way." says the pleasant scrapbook store lady "HOLY CRAP! You've gotta be kidding!" I would've yelled had I not had my 3 year old standing next to me. The blade alone, and I do mean a single, very tiny, very lonely blade, cost $36.00! The mats, atleast they came as a couple, cost $18.00! The honeymoon is in danger of being over. I'm pretty sure we'll be able to make up over a roll of $8.00 self-adhesive vinyl though. There isn't much that cute diecut decals, and love, can't fix.

A Superfantastic Christmas to All!

I had such a wonderful Christmas. The boys are both old enough to get very excited about seeing Santa, looking at lights and getting gifts. We put out treats for Santa this year and told the boys about how he comes down the chimney and brings toys. Our oldest, who is 3.5, was a little creeped out by the thought of a large, bearded man entering our home while he was sleeping, but got over it when we focused more on the toys part!

Santa was very, very good to me and brought me, try not to be jealous all you scrappers and crafters, a QuicKutz Silhouette die cutter. For those of you who are not yet jealous, this is a fantastic machine, about the size of a printer, that hooks up to the computer and will cut out any font or shape in any size without needing to buy cartridges at $60+ a pop. I've been drooling over this bad boy for a year or so and my fantastic hubby got all our family and some friends to pitch in. He definitely scored some major brownie points. I also got a postal scale from my parents, yippeee! Now I can stop cheating myself by charging too low on shipping. Now lets hope the post Christmas sales are as good as pre-Christmas.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoys many blessings in the new year!