The Desert

Who said the desert is hot?  Whoever said that has not been to Las Vegas in January.  It has been the weirdest weather ever in the Southwest.  We have had hard freeze warnings the past 5 nights & one morning we woke up to icicles hanging from the bottom of the windows.

It is supposed to warm up to low 60's by the weekend, but whoo hoo has it been cold!

We will hang around here for another 5 - 6 weeks before taking our time heading back to Oregon.  Scrapbook Fun Fest is looming ahead & we will getting into gear in the next few months.

Missing the coast a whole lot!  Getting restless to move on over & explore. 

We were able to meet up with my BIL at the Wynn for breakfast last week.  He looked great & it was fun to catch up. 

Our friend was able to buy his dream house here in Las Vegas & sell his house in Sacramento in less than 24 hours for more than he was asking.  We will be helping him get all his stuff down here.  Fun times & busy times a'coming.

Went to Senior Tuesday movie day last week at Sam's Town & saw "Lincoln".  It really was amazing although Rod fell asleep during some of the longer oratories.

Heading out to a new area near here next week.  More on that!

I have been posting photos on Rod's facebook page.  Didn't get a photo of it, but we went to "Amore Taste of Chicago" for Chicago style pizza last night. It was amazing!  Definitely going back to try some of the other items they have.

Happy New Year 2013

Yep, it's been an awful long time since I have blogged here.  Between packing & storing & choosing & leaving & travelling it has been a very busy time.

I have crafted & Cricutted very little since we started this journey.  I have a lot of my "stuff" with me & I have added as we have visited different cities.  Discovered Hobby Lobby & it is my new favorite craft store.

I did knit scarves - 7 - for Christmas presents so that kept me a little occupied.  I did take a few classes:

• Beading - made 3 bracelets, a pair of earrings & 6 charms for a Christmas Charm exchange.
• Stained Glass - I took this with my husband.  He made a star & I made a candy cane.  It was fun crafting with him.
• Card class - made 4 real cute cards in Pahrump, NV.  When we go back for a month I will definitely take some more.

With the New Year it is time to get geared up for Scrapbook Fun Fest which is May 25.  It seems far off, but I have a lot to prepare like a class for 20.  I have some ideas rolling around that I can't wait to get started on.

We won't be back in Oregon until May 1, but I also want to teach 3 Cricut classes while I am there & before we start our Northern trek through Oregon & Washington & then down through Idaho & back to Nevada.

So hang in there with me & I will be back to creating very, very soon.  I am so ready.

You can also follow our travels at my other blog:
rtdrollinon.blogspot.com

MIA

Yep, I have been missing in action & for a great reason.  We have been wheeling & dealing twice for our house & it has finally SOLD!  Our dream is about to become true.  Whoo Hoo.

We picked up our new "house" yesterday.  It is a 26" trailer & it is amazing!  As soon as my feet touch the ground I will post a lot & I do mean a lot of photos.

More T-Shirt Fun

My new t-shirt.  I used the Nifty Fifties cartridge & cut everything at 10".  There was no wing so I cut it free hand.   The small part of the beak I cut from paper & then hand cut that also.

Using a permanent black fine point pen I went around all the cuts to make them pop.    So fun!

Stand & Salute

I LOVE this t-shirt.  The map is 10".  I took the paper backing & made a pattern to cut the blue in the upper left hand corner. 

I didn't have white fabric, so I made a 2" star template & painted the star in the middle of the blue background.  With a paintbrush, painted in white lines around the blue box. 

The USA looked a little plain so I used the back of the paintbrush & white paint to make the dots.

My New Obsession

As if I need more to play around with, but I am obsessing with taking new & old t-shirts for this Summer & adding appliques I have cut out from fabric with the Cricut.  Here is my first try.  I am going to try making a Patriotic shirt using Stand Up & Cheer cartridge.

Happy May Day

This is the project completed in my "10 Ways To Use Alcohol Inks" class  .

I even tried my hand at making my own Washi Tape using Red Line tape, tissue paper & then spraying it with a combination of Blending Solution & Alcohol Inks.  After I made my solution in a Mini Mister I read that it is very important to avoid spraying it in your eyes.  Beyond the obvious reasons, there is a binding agent in the Blending Solution & can really harm your eyes.

To avoid spraying anything I put in my Mini Misters, whether Pearl Ex & alcohol, or reinker & water, I mark the opposite side of the hole with an X so I know which end to hold away from myself.

Supplies used:

• Alcohol Inks - Clover, Sail Boat Blue & Purple Twilight
• Refillable Pen by Ranger.  I only put Blending Solution in my pen & put my AI in a paint palette.  When it dries up the Blending Solution in the Refillable pen reactivates the dried up AI. 
• Stampin Up tree stamp which unfortunately has been discontinued.
• Eggplant SU cardstock
• Tissue paper
• Red Line tape
• Brown Staz-On

Since Staz-On is also Alcohol based,  & the AI will smear  the stamped image as you "paint" it.  However, when I did "paint" in the blossoms on the tree & it smeared, I loved the effect.  It looks a little like I watercolored the image, but it was done with AI.  I am going to try this with other images.

When I stamp an image to AI "paint" it with the refillable pen, and don't want the smeared or watercolor effect, I stamp it first with Versamark & then use fine line black embossing powder.