{crafty} Cut it Up SMBiGBlogHop

Welcome back! We are so happy to have you back for the October edition of our Social [Media] Butterflies blog hop! This month the girls are going to be bringing you a Carve It Up theme--- using our Silhouettes, Cricuts, fussy-cutting, punching, exact-o knife-- our designs will all have a unique cut up piece to it!

You should have come here from Suz's blog, if not head back to the Social Media Butterflies home base to start from the beginning.

I have only had my Silhouette Cameo for about two months, so when the assignment came to do some cutting I knew I had to break it out and play! I am loving both the machine and the software and feel like before long it will become a staple in my every day creating and not just a "project" machine like the Cricut was for me. 

Originally I had decided to do a mixed media project, cutting my letters out to use on an 8x10 canvas. After removing all the letter pieces though I looked at my negative and decided to use it as a mask instead. I mixed some paint, added in a bit of modeling paste and slathered it on. I love the texture and depth it added to my canvas. I have just begun dabbling in mixed media and it is so much fun to get messy...as long as I have plenty of baby wipes near by!

When I cut my letters out I happened to stick a full sheet of 12x12 cardstock down. When I finished using it as a mask I was hit with another little bit of inspiration and decided to let it dry and use it as a base for a layout. 

I will say, it didn't quite turn out as I had planned but I still love the idea itself. One I will have to try again. I used pieces from Studio Calico's Central High kit, adding the map print behind the letters and as a border. I pulled in another Cameo cut with an SC studio file as a base for my layering. 

So there you have it! 1 cut, two projects! Be sure to keep hopping and check out all the great projects this month. And check out the giveaways below!

Shay http://sbookinshay29.blogspot.com/

Suz http://livealifeextraordinary.blogspot.com/

YOU ARE HERE ----> Amanda http://www.somethingsorta.blogspot.com/

NEXT UP -----> Trisha http://www.trisha-grace.blogspot.com/

Corinne http://corinnesmilovici.blogspot.com/

Angel http://kindlelover.blogspot.com/

Jenny http://mycreativelife29.blogspot.com/

Monica http://monicalifeasme.blogspot.com/

Patricia http://harmonyhealthandfaith.blogspot.com/

How about a giveaway? Or better yet how about TWO!?

1st Giveaway - $10 Silhouette download card

~How to Enter~

Comment on any of the blogs or link up with a Carve It Up themed layout on our home page to win a $10 Silhouette Studio gift card :] Each comment will gain you an entry! Giveaway closes Sunday Nov 4th

2nd Giveaway - Newly designed stamp set from Studio l2e
~How to Enter~
"like" Studio l2e's page on FB and let her know I sent you then come back here and comment that you have done so.
For a second entry, become a follower of my blog and leave a separate comment below!
This giveaway will close Wednesday at midnight Pacific, winner will be posted Thursday.

How awesome would these be for Project Life?

Happy blog hopping, and make sure to come back next month on the 29th for our next hop!

{crafty} Christmas Subway Art

I am not a big holiday decorator. I can pin images all day long of mantel displays, wreaths for the front door, vignettes, you name it, but they rarely make their way in to my home. Don't get me wrong; I think they are gorgeous and am in awe of the decorating ability of others. I, however, am incredibly indecisive when it comes to decorating my own home. And when I do make a decision on what I want I tend to want to DIY and it ends up added to a long list of other projects to eventually be done at some future point in time yet to be determined.

Christmas is a little different. I love everything about Christmas and do enjoy breaking out the decorations the day after Thanksgiving and having a little fun with it. I decided I wanted to make a Christmas countdown this year and took to my Silhouette Cameo to see what I could do. I have enjoyed doing a little subway art lately so I created a 12x24 Christmas subway art file and cut it in vinyl using standard Christmas colors and chalkboard vinyl for the ornament. Since I would want to re-use this every year I had a sheet of 1/4" MDF cut down in to 12x24 sections and painted them white. I applied the vinyl over the top, stapled on some ribbon and now it is ready to hang and count down the big day!

I was so excited about this project that I decided to make several for my Etsy shop as well!