Mixing Media!

It's amazing what happens when one mixes a little bit of paint on a canvas....

I've always loved painting, but can't even draw a good stick person!  So with a little bit of help from my cricut I was able to create  a little bit of magic!

     The sky truly is the limit! 

Vintage Inspired BELIEVE Christmas Banner Just listed on EBAY!

Close up of letters 'E' and 'L'

This banner was SO much FUN!

I love the vintage 'feel'!

Lots of layering!



 

-Hand crafted Rosettes

-Rose Glittering Stars

-Layered Letters

-Hand tied together with Vintage Lace and Tulle, 

Buttons and Twine

Simply log in to Ebay and search TOBC to view our listings!

Vintage 'Joy' Word Book Just listed on Ebay!

I love creating mini word books! 
Each tells its own story once personalized pictures and journaling are added!

Each page (letter) of this album opens up to reveal hidden messages and surprises!

Heart dangles from the 'J'

The 'O' page layouts

Notice the removable  hand-tied mini book!

I just love the baker's twine binding and cute jingle bells!

A closer look behind the 'J'!

The love family tradition tag pulls out to

reveal a hidden double sided tag!

I LOVE that snowflake!

Reminds me of Granny's house at Christmas time!

Here's a closer look at the inside of the Santa mini book on the 'O' page.

The matte on the left side is removable and slides under the tag for

safe storage.

The tag on the right side has two tags attached together with a swirl clip leaving plenty of room for pictures and journaling!

Pages 4 and 5 of the mini album 

I just love the vintage Santas in this album! 

The 'Y' page layouts...

More removable tags!

A closer look at a few of the removable tags!

Oodles of tenderloving care went in to creating this album!

Stay tuned! This mini word book was created from a cereal box!  SVGs and templates coming soon!

This album was just listed on EBAY!  Simply log in and search for TOBC to see items we currently have for sale!

Basket Full of Gift Tags!

Gift tags galore!

I'm ready to start wrapping gifts now that my tags are finished! 

Find out how I made them below....

Using the tags & bags cricut cartridge, I cut scallop top tags at 3.5", shadow and selected the hole option for the tag base. 

 I used Kraft colored cardstock from my MemoryWorks November Express Kit, and Brown Prism Cardstock. 

Next I cut the layer tag at 2.5", shadow and selected teh hole option.

I cut the tree and candy cane svgs (free downloads below) from the designer papers included in my Memory Works November Express kit, printed the sentiment on BasicGrey white ledger paper, cut out in the shape of a pennant and inked everything!!! 

  I brushed Colorbox velvet fluid chalk on the candycanes for a little color.

Adhered the layers together with my hot glue gun (one of my favorite toys!)

Added a small bow made from ribbon included in my Memory Works November Express kit, strung a piece of twine through top hole for hanging, then brushed on a bit of modge podge and sprinkled with crystal course glitter.  I LOVE the way they shimmer! Can't wait to put them on the gifts under the tree!

Guess I need to get my tree up first!

Happy Crafting! ~Rhonda

Click on links below to download SVGs and Sentiment PDF

Candy Cane SVG


Christmas Tree SVG

Sentiment Set

Halloween Boo! Bear Banner

Good Morning!  The calendar tells me Fall is here in South Dakota, however the weather is making me wonder if Spring has returned!  2" of rain registers in the rain gauge at our home, however just 15 miles away they received 6" and it is STILL raining!  I wonder how many popsicle sticks it would take to build an ark big enough to fit the two mini donkeys, 3 chicks, 1 rooster, Jake (dog), Charli (cat) and Jay & I... the waterway is running like crazy (has been since 4pm yesterday).....

OK... on to the FUN stuff!

Teddy bears and Halloween just seem to go together!  (I prefer 'cute' Halloween things....otherwise I need a blanket to cover my eyes!  --brings back too many memories of monsters under my bed.....!!!)

I designed the bears in inkscape and imported in to SCAL (Sure Cuts Alot), then cut the pieces using my cricut, pieced together, and set aside. 

Topnote pieces are cut using Accent Essentials (blackout) at 4".  I used the Eerie paper set for the next layer, accented, sewed and traced/colored bats, spider webs, etc with glitter pens. Then set aside.

 The bears are chalked, inked and pieced. (eyes are hand painted)  When finished, I sprayed them with sealer to prevent smudging/smearing the chalk.  I used small squares of coordinating paper for the ghost's patches.

The letters were cut using SCAL (Tan Patty), inked with ColorBox fluid chalk (LOVE that stuff), outlined with black glitter pen and coordinating ghost brad added to !. 

When all pieces were finished, I glued layers together, punched holes in each top corner and tied together, leaving about an inch between each, with twine (LOVE twine!);  tied coordinating ribbons to the twine between each pennant, and finished with hot gluing a tied bow and button on each corner!

Enjoy your day!

Free! Spooky Sweets.... Frighteningly Good Halloween Tags!

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted! Believe me, I've been experiencing Cricut, Crafting & Blogging withdrawls!  Some how or another I managed to herniate 3 disks in my neck... yieyieyie... it's not been a fun past couple months..... However, there is good news.... I am now able to type and play with my cricut for a few minutes before having to go walk around, talk to Jake (dog) or just totally go do nothing....
Fall is absolutely my favorite time of year! I love the colors, crispness in the air and of course watching the donkeys & Jake's fur get extra thick!  Mattie (mini donkey) is so adorable when her hair gets thick... it gets extra curly!!

ENUF said! Now on to the fun stuff!!!

These sweets tags are so easy to make!  I used inkscape to design the center (download your own below!), printed out on cardstock and then used my 2" circular punch to punch the centers out.  I used the cricut and accent essentials to cut the scalloped circles (2.5" & blackout) from BasicGrey's Erie scrapbook paper, then glued the center to the scallop, punched a small  hole at the top of the tag, strung twine through the top and Wala!  Cute tags all ready for my homemade Halloween Goodies.... (Wow! I might be ready this year!)

Tip:  I printed my tags on white prism cardstock! I used my paper cutter to cut the paper 8.5" x 11" and then just hit print!  I LOVE the added texture!

Download the tag centers here!

Spooky Sweets Tags -Orange

Spooky Sweets Gray

You could also use these as cupcake toppers!  Simply cut 2 Spooky Treats Tags out and sandwich a toothpick, bamboo stick, or lollipop stick in between before gluing together!

Writing on our walls....

We are having the time of our lives mixing the cricut and vinyl! 

Personalized words add so much warmth to a home! 

For this project we used SCAL to layout the words and the cricut to cut them out on Black Matte vinyl.  The matte finish really gives the right 'feel' in our down-home country rooster kitchen! 

We used medium speed, blade depth of 6 and medium pressure.   It gave us just the right kiss-cut meaning it cut through the vinyl but not the backing, which made it easy to transfer to the sticky transfer paper.  Once on the transfer paper, it was a breeze to adhere to the wall!   

Check back soon to see more writing on our walls!

Get the cut file here!  word.art.the.johnsons.scut2

Let's Go Racin' Boys! - SCUT2 File added!

Being avid Nascar fans, it only seems right our basement bathroom would take on a racing theme!

Using SCAL, I cut 3.5" letters using Glider Girls font from glossy black vinyl.  This was my first attempt at vinyl on the wall!  I KNOW there will be LOTS more!  I really like the way the letters shine..  (hard to see in the photo)
Gives the effect I was looking for!!

I haven't cut the 'Let's go racing boys' yet.... not sure if I want it just below the 'boogity boogity boogity' or on the mirror....   (the words reflect in the mirror) 

Any thoughts out there??  What do you think??

Get the SCAL SCUT2 File here! boogity....scut2

Graduation Pretzel Rod Bouquet

What a fun little gift to give graduation party guests! 

Supplies used:
Pretzel Rods
White Almond Bark
Waxed Paper
Wilton Candy Melts
Small Wilton Squeeze Bottles (one for each color candy melt)
Tall mug
Cellophane Pretzel Bags
Curling Ribbon
Cardstock (I used prism)
2" punch

Using the tall mug to dip pretzels into the almond bark works great!  I like to dip as much of the pretzel as possible!  Lay dipped pretzels on waxed paper until dry. 

Put candy melts in small squeeze bottles and melt in microwave.  I filled the squeeze bottles about half way and it took about a minute & a half to melt.  (watch carefully so it doesn't scorch!!)

You could also use a plastic baggie.  Just cut one of the bottom corners off the bag. (keep the cut small!!)

Drizzle candy melt over pretzels.....

Using cricut, cut desired shape.  I used Plantin Schoolbook and cut stars at 3.5" from Prism yellow cardstock.  I designed the circle tag using photoshop, printed and cut out with 2" circle punch.  Glue the circles on the stars, punch a small hole on top of the star, ink with colorbox fluid chalk, and thread curling ribbon through the hole. Put one pretzel in a pretzel bag, tie on tag and wala!

Graduation Fun!!

Wow! I think I may be feeling some AGE going on!  My baby is graduating from high school this year!...

I had alot of fun playing with my cricut, putting this bouquet together....   I glued a styrofoam ball in an altered snack mix can for the base.  I cut one of Justin's annoucements apart to use for the design on the vase.   I cut letters and numbers using my cricut - shadow & normal cuts and glued them to bamboo sticks ... I used Penny Duncan's Graduation Cap cut - adding a button and handmade tassle - (I used burgandy  & gold embroidery thread to make the tassle). 

I cut leaves with the cricut from Prism Kiwi cardstock.  Folded the leaves in half, inked with Color Box Fluid Chalk inkpad to give the leaves dimension.....
To Make each flower....
I cut a 4"x4" piece of cellophane paper, poked a stick through the middle, and secured it with green floral tape.  Glued a leave of each stick, and a candy on top... and tied a piece of curling ribbon on the stick, curled the ribbon and stuck it in the styrofoam ball.

Justin LOVES Reese's peanut butter cups & Dove choclates.... thus the reason I used them!!!

Just Dancing!

What a beautiful Easter morning in South Dakota!  The rays of sunshine and calm winds are a welcome gift!  Speaking of gifts, Sammie & Hailey love their dance class, so when I saw the Crate Paper Paperdoll collection I knew it was perfect for what I had in mind....a 'Just Dance' glass block light!   A while back while surfing the net, I came upon ShimmyBean's website ... which is where the pattern and inspiration for this glass block came from!  Thanks ShimmyBean!

I cut the Just Dance design from SCAL using my cricut.  Wow!  That black gloss vinyl sure picks up finger prints!!!

Then measured & cut Crate Paper to fit the edges and back of the block. Flower was cut from Plantin Schoolbook.

Happy Easter to all!  Enjoy this beautiful day!

Come on SPRING!!

The snowbanks are melting.... and the waterway is flooding!  Jay is working on the ark so we can rescue Maddie, Paedro, Scoobie, Shaggie, Daphgne and the babies!  Thank goodness they have the hillside!!

The melting snow reminds me of Easter...   I used my cricut to create an Easter Banner!

Isn't she adorable!!  I printed grapics from Cuddly Buddly and used my glitter pens to highlight her!   

You can check out Cuddly Buddly  here. 

The banner is made with basic grey cardstock & BoBunny Delilah paper pack.

There's nothing like a cute banner to Welcome Easter!!

I was SO excited to receive my March MemoryWorks Express Kit!!   Earlier in the week, I happened upon Denise's purse cut file and simply couldn't wait to use my express kit to create a purse album!

I made a few alterations to Denise's pattern and came up with a mini tag album.  Thanks for the inspiration Denise!   I LOVE this paper!  I outlined the flowers using my glitter pens and added pearls and crystals from e. 

The tag on page 2 pulls out from the flower border and the lime green swiss dot tag is hidden between pages 2 & 3. 

Pages 3 & 4 feature flowers cut from Platin Schoolbook at 2.5".  I used my glitter pens to trace around the flowers on page 3 and added pearls from e. to 'pop' the centers of the flowers.

Another hidden tag...

Enjoy your day! ~Rhonda

Sending a little Valentine's Love!

Happy Valentine's Day !!

I was SO excited when I opened my MemoryWorks February Express Kit!  Jay's favorite color is purple, and this month's kit was perfect for the gift I had in mind for him!! 

Here's the recipe!!!

1 MemoryWorks February Express Kit...

1 Air Freshner for his Tahoe....

1 nut washer for the new 'wheels' on his Tahoe.....

1 electricity tester....

1 bag of mini Valentine Snickers...and 1 bag of heart shaped Butterfingers! All wrapped up in an empty pop bottle! Removable tags have a special message on the back!

More Valentines....                                     

Sock cupcakes for Sammie and Hailey packaged in cookie tower boxes!

Baseball Chew for Aaron.....

Hearts Cut with Accent Essentials

Valentine's Cupcakes - Double Cupcake Box

Download the double cupcake box cut file here!

Double Cupcake Box Scut2

  Enjoy your day! ~Rhonda