Best Friends Layout- TC Posh collection

So I ordered the Teresa Collins Posh Collections with one thing in mind, making my 12x12 shadowbox of a scrapbook layout of my best friend and I throughout the years. My best friend Cynthia and I have been friends since we were 2 years old and we hadn't seen each other since 2004 so when I went back last week she and I got to reunite and let me tell you, it was SO awesome. There is nothing in life like having that good girlfriend, that one true best friend so I'm very blessed that I've had one for the past 23 of 25 years of my life so far.

The pictures are of us throughout the years. The top left one we were about 2 years old swimming in her old swimming pool, the middle one we were at a Backstreet Boys concert in 8th grade (13 years old) with our sisters and the bottom one is one of us from last week as adults!



Did I tell you how much I LOVE the TC Posh collection?!? OMG! It was like it was meant just for me! The papers, the colors, the die cuts, PERFECT. This is a 12x12 layout with a fabric flower that I learned from Vanessa over at the Crafty Gemini. (She is AWESOME with sewing tutorials! I absolutely LOVE her channel!Check her out! Fabric Flower Tutorial



The title was cut out from Storybook using the shadow and regular function keys at 2 1/4". The pink glitter paper is also from the TC collection and cut perfectly with my E2. :)



That's it! When I hang it up I will update with more pics :) Have a great Thursday!

Winner!

Good morning everyone! I'm SO sorry I have been late in posting up the blog hop winner! It's been a crazy hectic week trying to get my son and I ready for our California trip tomorrow! Really quick, here is our winner:

JennyPlace2! Congrats! Please email me at msalmabrooks@yahoo.com with your info so I can send that out to you as soon as I get back! I will be in California from Friday- the 23rd but it will be in the mail as soon as I arrive ;) Thanks everyone for playing along!

*Also- for the next week I will most likely not be posting so have a great week!**

Pinkalicious Birthday Blog Hop

Hi everyone and welcome to the Pinkalicious Birthday Blog Hop!If you came over from Princess Paper Projects then you are in the right place! If not, you can start over at Melissa's blog at Adventures in Heels First off, I want to wish Melissa a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY! She is the one we are celebrating! :) The theme is to use her favorite colors: pink, black and white (which coincidentally happen to be mine as well!;). Now, I have had a crazy crazy busy week since my sister was in town this past week so I want to show case a birthday card I have made tying these colors in! Hope you enjoy!

I made this card for my husband's cousin's daughter when she turned a year old, I love cupcakes (duh!) and of course, pink and black glitter :) The cupcake was cut from the Better Together Imagine cartridge and I used French Manor for the stamped background which was welded on my gypsy. This image is also found in a few other carts. If you need help looking, check out My Cut Search This website will show you where any image on any cartridge is at. I LOVE IT!



**Giveaway**

Not only do you have the wonderful giveaway from the sponsor of this blog, but leave me a comment on this post and I will enter you into my own giveaway which is the Cricut Cake Birthday Cartridge! I will leave this open until Sunday night 7/10 midnight, winner will be chosen by random.org. and you must be a follower to win! GOOD LUCK!! :)

**The giveaway for the actual cart is open to US residents only BUT if you win and you are from out of the country I will send you a $10 Michaels gift card**

Next up is Yellow Bird Creations, she has a FABULOUS project lined up! :)

Recycled T-Shirt (Sewing)

I don't know about you but in my house, we have A LOT of old t shirts just lying around. It doesn't help that my dad is obsessed with skulls and anything "rock" so we have a lot of BLACK tees. LOL. So I was rearranging my bedroom today and decided that I would clean out some of my closet and I found all these skull t shirts that were given to me by my dad. Now, I LOVE skulls and punk fashion as much as the next person but those are mostly my dad's style so I figured I'd recycle them into something. I then went on pinterest and saw that someone had posted a tutorial on how to recycle tshirts and make them into shopping bags (or really any kind of bag you need!). The shirt I used was an extra large (THANKS DAD! :/) so it makes a big bag but you could always use smaller shirts to get smaller bags :) If you are interested i'm going to give you the link to the video on how to do it. I'm by NO MEANS a sewing expert (heck, i'm still in the beginning stages) so it's better you learn from someone who knows what they are talking about. lol

Tshirt bag tutorial



Now, I hemmed (is that the proper word?) the edges to give it a cleaner look but in the tutorial she just leaves it. I was afraid it might fray or unravel so I pinned it and finished it. How cute will these be in pink or any other kind of girly design? I'm thinking I need to bust out my iRock and bling this baby up! :)

Imagine VS Expression- Mickey Mouse and RGB Code book

I have been meaning to do this for a LONG time but I'm actually participating at Crazy about Cricut's blog on Monday to showcase how to help you put together some Disney characters and I thought I would should you a sneak peek here!

So, both of the Mickeys are cut out at 4" except the one on the right is cut from my pink Expression and the one on the left is from my Imagine using just white cardstock! (I printed and cut, including the black base). I will list settings towards the bottom of the post so you can kind of get an idea what worked for me. Obviously, I believe the Imagine Mickey came out way better than the Expression but here are some tips I have learned:

1) CARDSTOCK MATTERS! It truly does! I tried cutting Disney characters with some of the Hobby Lobby 8 1/2 x11 pack and it would just rip. I suggest using a heavier cardstock so the cuts come out nicer.

2) Play with your pressure and speed. A lot of times you will get a completely different cut just from changing your pressure and/or speed. And don't be afraid to use multicut if you see that you need to lower your pressure.

3) Don't cut Disney characters smaller than 4". And even that is pushing it. Depending on how many layers, the rule of thumb for me is that the more layers, the bigger the size needs to be. Besides, on scrapbook layouts bigger cuts will match great!

4) Do what I did and make yourself an RGB code book to keep near your Imagine. LIFESAVER!!!! The Imagine Mickey is true to color as oppose to the Expression where I just used cardstock I had on hand and the Imagine truly made it soooooooo much easier to cut. It didn't move or rip on me once. I <3 my I!



IMAGINE



Expression



Expression settings
**Settings for black base, face and eyes and shoes)
Blade 5
Pressure 4
Speed 4

Shorts
Speed 3
Pressure 3
blade 6
multi cut 2x

Imagine Settings:
Speed 4
Pressure 4
Blade 6

**RGB CODE BOOK**

Seriously a LIFESAVER and A MUST if you are an Imagine owner. I wanted to make a book to keep near my Imagine so I don't have to constantly look up RGB codes so this is what I came up with.

I took a 8 1/2 x 11 Your Story binder and printed out PDF files of RGB codes from Scrapmaster Paradise pdf files. I printed them out and bound them to my book. EASY. I now have them next to my I and it came in handy for when I printed and cut my Mickey Mouse. :) The cover is from Elegant Edges and the font is from Sesame Street.