Paper Carnival

Hello everyone! I am excited to be back this month with a Silhouette Challenge that I have been meaning to share for a while. These pieces are simple, but very personal to me. Having been trying to get pregnant for three years and going through the process to try and adopt, having a room that was not for any age in case we were placed with children, but a room for our little one was different. During my pregnancy, as I decorated the nursery for Caroline, the wall art was the most challenging part of it all. It was not until I was about 8 and a half months along that it finally clicked. Since my baby shower was in the carnival theme, we decided to go with art that would mimic it.

I bought a few shapes that went along with things you would see at a carnival or circus; A hot air balloon, carousel, & elephant. For a very pregnant and over tired girl, this was an easy project. I already had frames that I had the hubs paint white for me and I purchased mat boards and plastic sheeting to cover the art at Hobby Lobby for a total of $2-3, including the paper to make the paper art.

To get this effect there are two layers to this shape and I used gray and a light pink, her nursery colors. I used foam sticky tabs to help the shapes really stand out. 

Thank you all for stopping by and checking out my little, but special project. If you'd like to see what everyone else did this month click on the links below. If you have a Silhouette and would like to join us please email Lauren at The Thinking Closet. 

DIY Ironing Board Hanger by The Turquoise Home
Silhouette Challenge: Time Zone Bathroom Art by Nearly Handmade
Santa's Christmas Countdown by Tried & True
Nautical Anchor Pillow Tutorial by The Thinking Closet
Christmas Card Ornament with Free Cut File by unOriginalMom
Thanksgiving and Christmas Dual Sign by Architecture of a Mom
Itching to Etch by Get Silvered
Snowman Tag ~ Silhouette Challenge by Whats Next Ma
Thanksgiving Sign by Chicken Scratch NY
DIY Horse Silhouette Pillow by Rain on a Tin Roof
Sketching on Fabric by The Sensory Emporium
Paper Leaf Garland by Lil' Mrs. Tori
DIY Blessing Board - Silhouette Challenge by One Tough Mother
Christmas Pillow by Create & Babble
Glass Painting with Reverse Stencils by Givemeapaintbrush
Chalkboard Thankful Tree by Cutesy Crafts
Bottoms Up! MYO Wine Tag by From Wine to Whine
'Happy Holly-days' Tags for the Swap by An Elegant Touch...
Thank You for Dinner (Card) by Everyday Paper
Advent Star Christmas Countdown by My Favorite Finds
Geometric Fabric Bowls by Please Excuse My Craftermath...
Silhouette Cameo Tutorial: Dual Sided Business Cards by Black and White Obsession
In Case of Emergency Baby Bag Tags by Tossed Salad Life
Christmas On My Mind by Creative Turn
Jingle all the Way! by My Paper Craze
Christmas Lights Garland by Making Home Base
We Are Thankful by 4 You With Love
Seattle Skyline Silhouette by Sowdering About in Seattle
DIY Stenciled Mugs by Coley's Corner

A Stache Bash Shower

As promised here is a look at the Stache Bash Baby Shower that I threw my friend! This is also part of the Silhouette Challenge. I didn't have a particulary challenging project this month, but it was a fun outcome.  This month I made some cute little straw toppers in the shapes of mustaches and some bow ties for a game we played. I never have made straw toppers and only wanted it to be a one part process. So I used the same mustache cut file as I did last month, you can get it here.

I made two small cut lines in the middle of them so I could just feed the straw through. They turned out fantastic. As well I made several little bow ties for the classic "Don't Say Baby" game. If you've never been to a baby shower, this is a great game. I gave everyone a bow tie as soon as they got there. The objective is to not say the word "baby", which is harder than one thinks. Especially at a party dedicated to a baby. Some people really have fun with this and will ask others questions where the answer includes the forbidden word. If you catch someone saying the word then you get all of their game pieces, if you don't catch them in the moment they say it then they are safe. It's a pretty fun game and really is a great ice breaker too.

I also made some of those tissue paper tassels that have been showing up everywhere lately, this was a pretty easy project as well. I found the tutorial here.

At this shower we also had everyone bring a bead for a blessingway necklace. A blessingway necklace is something to give to the mother to show her support for the upcoming birth and it is supposed to give good luck. I took all the beads home and am putting it together for her. I will post some photos of it when I am done. Each bead is to represent something from the giver to the mother.

For the goodies we had the mama's cravings. Which included broccoli, with celery and carrots and ranch cups for dipping. Lasagna rolls with extra sauce. Oreo cookies, chocolate dipped pretzels, and then hershey bars for chocolate. Everyone ate the rolls and veggie cups right up!

This awesome cake was made by my friends sister. It was really the finishing touch to the whole party and brought everything together! Overall this shower turned out great and everyone had fun. This reminded me of how much I love to put on parties and I really don't know how I ever did it before having my Cameo. I hope you enjoyed checking out this little shindig! Thanks Everyone -Alisha

Want to see what my friends in the Silhouette Challenge made this month? Hop around on these links below. If you own a Silhouette and want to a part of this amazing group email Lauren over at the The Thinking Closet and let her know I sent you!

Organizing for Preschool by Life After Laundry

Strawberry Shortcake Party Favors with Silhouette Seed Packets by It Happens in a Blink

Look At Me! Vinyl Decal with Free File by Get Silvered Craft

Stamped Wrapping Paper Tutorial by The Thinking Closet

Titi's Freezer Paper Stenciled Butterflies Onesie! by TitiCrafty

Gender Reveal Fabric Banner by Create & Babble

Monster Crossing Test Tube Holder by My Happy Place

Preschool Lovey Book by A Tossed Salad Life

Front Door Sign by Cutesy Crafts

Paper Pumpkin Banner by Chicken Scratch NY

Fall Decor with the Silhouette by Coley's Corner

Happy Fall Y'all by Tanya's Creative Space

Crafting for Disney: Stroller Signs & Kid Shirts by From Wine to Whine

Halloween Lights by Lil' Mrs. Tori

Customized Disney T-Shirts by DailyDwelling

Craft Room Labels by Super Sweet Life

Tried & True Coloring Print In 3D! by Tried & True

Clean Eating Menu Planning and Magnet Board by The House on Hillbrook

Toddler Growth Chart by Joy and Gladness of Heart

DIY Anthropologie Inspired Chalk Board Storage Jars by 4 You With Love

"Let's Hear it For the Boys!" by An Elegant Touch

Cutting the Cord

This weekend will be one year since we cut the cable cord. Let me tell you, life go's on without it. When the decision was made, it was actually a very easy one. There was way too much money going out of our pockets for something that kept us in the house too often and didn't change whether or not we were a functioning person. To be quite honest, it felt really liberating. I was unusually excited the day that the cable was turned off.

Sorry Jim, we won't be needing you anymore!

When my husband called to cancel, the company almost lost their mind. They tried every trick in the book to keep us. Offering free superior channels, 6 months of lower payments, an extra DVR. The things they do to keep us are always going to end up costing us more money. We wanted to quit to stop paying out the ears for programming we didn't even watch! Now when I sit down to watch something, it is actually something I have been wanting to watch. If I am just bored I will scroll and scroll and eventually give up and do something else. When talking to others about our decision, I was surprised to find that we were not the only ones going this route either.

To keep us entertained we looked into what other options we had, which to our surprise there was a wealth of them. We have always had a Netflix streaming subscription, then we decided to go ahead and also use Hulu Plus. Added up they only cost $15 a month! A far cry from what we were paying on a monthly basis, and it was only going up from there. Now, we get to choose what we watch and when we watch it, nothing wasted on our ends. We also purchased a Roku box to get even more internet channel options, you can find the same one we have here. In our living room we use our Wii and in our room we use our Roku. As for local news we found an old school antenna at Target for only $25. When there is a storm in the area our connection never goes out anymore, which makes me feel safer living in tornado alley.

Every now and then I get a little curious to see what it would cost to go back to cable, the prices alone are enough to scare me off again. Since having a baby that money is now used for things she might need. I could buy a whole stash of new cloth diapers for the price of two months of cable, I'd rather have the new cloth on Caroline. So if your family is trying to make the decision, just jump in and do it! Cut that cord! You'll be okay without 200 channels, I promise. There will be days of wanting to come back, but finally you will forget that you even have that option. One year later, we are one happy family. If you have any questions on our survival methods or how to fight off the companies drop a line in the comment box. -Alisha

UPDATE:

We have now been Cable free for over FIVE years. One of the best decisions ever. And the rest of our family is also cable free too. Instead as a group we all have subscription services on our ROKU's that we share. So we pay for Netflix, someone else pays for Hulu, and then another pays for Sling or something similar. We give each other login info and watch TV that we love, in harmony. If two of the family members are already using the subscription services, we just use the other ones until they are done. We rarely run into any problems. As well we have upgraded to a Roku stick, I will put a link here to check that out.

The newest addition to our Roku family.

 We still have our red Roku, that is now in the master bedroom and our Roku Stick is in the living room. It still is a choice we never regretted and was so much easier than we thought it would be. If you are on the edge, just jump in with two feet. Use the money instead for a fun family day together or pay off some debt. It will be a decision you won't regret. 

Addressing: A Silhouette Challenge

Here goes my first ever Silhouette Challenge! I am so excited to share with you something that I really love. This is a very simple project, but it can make all the difference in the appearance of the final package. I used my Cameo to write out the addresses on my envelopes for Caroline's announcements.

To do this project I used this nifty accessory, you can put your own pens or markers in it and use it to draw or write out designs. Although the pen sizes are very limited.

1. Insert the pen into the pen holder and then put it in place of your blade.

2. Next I opened the Silhouette software and made a 5x7 template since that is the size of the card going in the envelope, this way I still have room left on the envelope around the edges.

Address is blurred for privacy.

 3. I used the type tool to input the address, I used two different fonts here and several lines of text. Fill in the text, insides only, will the fill tool to black.

4. To "print" the envelope you can now go to your cut settings and select the pen option instead of blade. The program will automatically select the custom media and correct settings to use the pen. Now press "Cut" and watch it write it out for you!

I used a little thicker of a pen for this, I am planning on purchasing the Silhouette pen set. They fit the blade area perfect and have a finer tip. As well you can get fun colors and even metallic pens! They turned out pretty well and think they add a more personal touch to send the announcements off to grandparents and family members. I added washi tape to close the envelopes and an address label to finish it off.

 Though this is a simple project, it really was fun to use the Silhouette for something as simple as addressing a letter. I hope you enjoyed! Next month will be an even bigger project! I can't wait to share it. Please leave any questions or comments you may have below. -Alisha



Go check out some other ladies Silhouette Challenges from this month!
If you are a Silhouette user and would like to join us contact Lauren from The Thinking Closet Here.

• DIY Paper Star Lanterns by Me & My DIY
• A Jar of Gratefulness by We ♥ Cards
• Adding Easy Sketch Pen Detail to Silhouette Cuts by It Happens in a Blink
• Laundry Room Labels by Unoriginal Mom
• Kids Step Stool with Sass by Joy & Gladness of Heart
• Magnetic Perpetual Calendar by Everydaypaper
• Silhouette Fabric Ink {An Experiment} by Create & Babble
• Playhouse Signs: Who Will We Be Today? by Suburble
• How to Get a Second Wind Out of Your Gel Manicure by The Thinking Closet
• DIY Graduation Gift by Super Sweet Life
• Oval Coffee Table Reveal & More! by Give Me a Paintbrush
• Stamped Gift Boxes by Coley's Corner
• Monsters University T-Shirt by Tried & True
• Travel Accessories for Vacation Mementos & Business by An Elegant Touch
• A Silhouette Challenge Project by Mel Stampz

Let Me Introduce You to a Friend

I was invited by a great friend, Shannon, to join a group of Silhouette crafters. Every month I will be doing a challenge and creating something new with my Cameo and will share it right here. I hope to share and inspire the craft bug in all of you! First of all, if you don't know what a Silhouette is, let me show you the most wonderful product I have ever owned. Really, the most wonderful.

Silhouette Cameo

Isn't it just beautiful? Anywho, this gadget does all sorts of things for the not so crafty to the glitter and sequin covered super crafter. It can cut paper into just about any shape you can imagine as well as fabric, vinyl, chipboard, magnets, and the list goes on. As well there are tons of products to go with it, such as paper to make your own temporary tattoos, rhinestone template for those cute outfits you see everywhere, screen print stencils. You see, there is so much you can do with the Silhouette. I own the Cameo version, which has the 12 inch wide cutting field, one of the widest in its crafting product category. This means you can really get the most out of your paper or medium of choice.

As well there are no cartridges to buy, none! There is an online store connected to software that comes with the Silhouette. In this store you can choose out of thousands of designs to purchase and add to your library, forever. It is always yours once you purchase it. As well the software pulls all of your fonts into the program so you don't need to buy fonts to use in the program. How wonderful is that? 

Personally I have made quite a bit of personalized cards and wall vinyl decals. Even 250 wedding invites and save the dates at one point. The Silhouette is a trusted friend now, I don't really know what I would do without it now. Honestly to fully understand the machine and it's greatness you should check out Silhouette yourself!

Soon I will be showing off some skills that the Cameo really helps me succeed in. I hope you fall in love with it just as much as I have. I promise you will never look back. 

Here's my Pinterest board of Silhouette ideas and things it can actually help you do!

Happy Crafting - Alisha

Care Bear and Cloth, Among Other Things

First things first, here is our little Caroline at three months old. How has it already been three months? Excuse the iPhone photo for now please. :)

Gosh, do I ever love that face! I think we are going to be in trouble down the road, daddy's ready to fight off the boys. She is bursting with personality and quite a bit of both us is shining through. Especially the stubbornness with either of us. She really, REALLY, lets us know when she absolutely is over something or does not want to even attempt it. We have discovered her tickle spots this week by accident, and her laugh is the most heart warming laugh I've ever heard. We learn something new every day with her.

As many of you know we are using cloth diapers, which has now got me obsessed. Who knew diapers could be so much fun? It is the one thing the hubs and I both love to buy, especially so we can see how cute she is in them. They are a little bit of work, but we are already reaping the rewards. It on'y took a few weeks for the initial investment to start paying us back. As well it is not as hard to do, even with us both working. It only takes a few seconds to throw everything into the washer and a little bit of planning to know how many we need on hand while everything else is being cleaned. 

She has never had a diaper rash. Here and there she might have a tiny red spot, but that is cleared up with some cloth friendly cream made with all natural ingredients. But never more than the one spot. It has been one of the best decisions we have made by far for her. I know though it is not for everyone, maybe I can convince a few of you out there though with reviews and tutorials over the next few weeks. Here is a quick stash photo though in the meantime. 

Missing 2 diapers here. Brands from left to right, Charlie Banana, Sweetpea, & Bumkins pockets. Flips, Rumparooz, & Sweetpea Covers. Inserts, prefolds, and a Snappi at the bottom.

Over the next few weeks I will go over the different kinds I use, what I love or hate, all the fun stuff. Also, how fun are all the colors and patterns?!

Now in other news, which I think we have told almost all family and friends, we will be putting our house up for sale shortly. We have had dreams to move out of state for years now. Finally, it looks like it will become a reality. So I will not be updating projects on the house anymore, I will however show it staged before we list it. I really wish I could have kept up with all the projects we have done over the years and shown you everything, life just got in the way in really big ways a few times. From now on it will be the adventures of us being new parents, selling our home, moving, and settling in. We will buy a house in the future and start from the beginning on here with projects as we go. The hubs even wants to get in on the action of writing posts! I hope you all can forgive me for changing direction and continue to follow us on this journey, we are so excited to share it with you. - Alisha

Keeping the Tradition Alive

Well, I accidentally took a small hiatus from this baby to have my little one. I am sorry I didn't keep up my end of the deal. Being very pregnant, and working on top of that, with a very prolonged morning sickness can make just getting out of bed hard enough.

Three months ago, on the 18th (!), we welcomed our beautiful baby girl into the world. Meet Caroline! Born March 18th 2013 at 12:45 pm. 20.5 inches long and only a whopping 7 lbs 9 oz. Much nicer than the 10 pound baby they told me to expect!

This photo is owned by Alisha Leigh Photography and the use of it anywhere else is prohibited.
Copyright Alisha Leigh Photography 2013

While pregnancy seems like the slowest moving snail, these last three months have really flown by. It makes me sad to think she already has passed her first few days and weeks of life. That she is on her way to a big, bold world, and I cannot slow it down. Becoming a parent has really opened my eyes in a way I never thought possible. There is a love for life that has never been known, I appreciate every day I get to spend with her. Every smile is one that I hold near and dear to me. Not only do I need to worry about caring for her, but I need to make sure I take care of myself for her. 

Now that we have successfully moved her to her own bed, I am hoping to use my alone time in the evenings to write this blog up much more. Big things are happening and I want to share them with all of you! Also I will get to share photos of my chunky little butt! (<<<Caroline!)