My First Book

I have had a relaxing breaking from work. We had Wednesday off! It was so nice even though it rained, I had a little ray of sunshine come over to visit! My nephew Brody came over for his first visit to Auntie's House. He was, of course, an angel. I had not seen him for two weeks and was suffering! The good thing was I definitely noticed he had gained some weight, he was a bit more solid in my arms. My cat, Snookie, also met Brody that day. He had never really seen such a tiny little human. I did keep an eye on the Snookster since he has a reputation, not a good one. I know but here at Casa de Jasper, Snookie reigns supreme. He was up on the back of my chair with his paws on my shoulder, just looking at the little one. He behaved, I was relieved, I could my niece's insecurity and lack of trust. I knew my little one would behave with her little one. They no sooner left and my good friend, Organized One, arrived with her daughter, Little Tart, with a fresh from the oven Cranberry Bread. It was still warm! I love Cranberry Bread! And my friends are great!

So... then I decided to work on my book, Brody's ABC's. I wanted to make a book for my nephew, Brody, using the letters in his name. I had some chipboard, that I cut into 6 inch by 12 inch pieces. I then left two that size, the others I cut to make one of the following- 4 inch, 6 inch, 8 inch, and 10 inch, all were still 6 inches tall. I then chose some basic blue colored cardstock to cover them. Next I decided I like blue with yellow so that it how I did the cover. I used my Cricut Expression  with Nate's ABC's to cut the letters for Brody's and then Plantin Schoolbook for ABC's. I used Nate's ABC's for the pictures. After I finished gluing the pictures onto their respective pages, I decided to laminate the pages. Next time, I will remember that the laminating sheets for my YourStory, are only 11.5 inches long and 8 inches wide. So I used my laminator to laminate the shorter pages and they are great! For the front and back covers I used some clear contact paper and it looks ok. Brody won't mind, this book was made with love! After laminating I then used my Cinch book binder to punch the holes and bind it together. I think it looks awesome! I know my Brody will love his ABC book.  
     
Thanks for stopping by for a visit, don't forget to take some time to do what makes you happy.
Until next time,
Jasper

I really like blue and yellow together. Such a nice combination for a boy.

I used my computer to print out the words in Comic Sans to name the pictures.



Etched Coasters

One of my projects this weekend was to create some new coasters for Casa de Jasper. I must admit they were fun to make and easy! I went to Lowes and Home Depot and bought some 4 inch glass tiles. Home Depot had green and brown and Lowes had blue and green. Home Depot was fifty cents cheaper so... thrifty Jasper will be returning to Home Depot to buy more! Anyways I used my handy dandy Cricut Expression to cut my vinyl. I used the Car Decals cartridge cut at 3.5 inches. I washed the tiles and dried them. I then applied the vinyl, make sure you adhere it well especially around the edges so the etching cream does not seep underneath and ruin your project. I used Armour Etching Cream that I purchased at Michaels- use a coupon because it is not cheap. It was $12.99 for a tiny bottle. The good thing is that I brushed it on one tile at a time and brushed it off of one tile and onto another so I could reuse it. After I brushed it on very carefully, I realized that I should have used some tape to tape off the edges so would have nice edges. Live and learn. They came out nice but, when I make more for gifts, tape will go around the edges!Also, I am going to put some felt pads on the bottom of the coasters or something to keep them from sliding and scratching the furniture. I told Mr. Jasper that there was one with him, one with me and two with the boss of the house on them- our baby, Snookie the Cat! I hope you can follow my procedure if you want to make some. Just follow the directions on the bottle of etching cream.
That's all for now. More later, I don't know what will be my next surprise for you.
Happy Crafting,
Jasper


Mr. Jasper

 Jasper

Snookie

Just a little funny of my Snookie!

Baby Album using Cricut Imagine and Nursery Tails

Well, ever since I bought my Cricut Imagine,I wondered WHY I had bought it! Now I know why I bought it! I love the cartridge, Nursery Tails! I made this album for my nephew, and I think it is awesome! I put in a few pictures but, I really need to get some more of the cutie and fill it up and give it to him. You can't tell from the photos but, I did use foam dots on every page so it has a lot of dimension. It is really thick! I had used my YourStory to bind it but it was too think so I used a different binder with a plastic comb. It does look nice. I think that is it for now, I spent the afternoon with my cousin, crafting of course- I can't say what we were doing in case my aunt checks out my blog!
Until next time, I have a real cool project to show you!
Jasper

This is the cover

This page has his birth announcement- I altered his face and information- for safety's sake!

 

Just another page with a space for notes to baby.

Another page with a tag for journaling. I printed out the patterned paper form the Nursery Tails cartridge, I love the paper!

This page is so cheery. I like the bright yellow metallic paper.

Another cute page! This page needs a cute picture of the cutie having a drink.

I love the overalls on this cartridge.

Another cute page- I made this page with a piece of metallic paper for the background.

Last Page, I live the background paper, I printed out the sheet on the Imagine from Nursery tails cartridge.

October Snow Storm

Wow! We had an unusual snow storm that began on  Saturday afternoon and ended early Sunday morning.We were blessed with 6 inches of the white stuff. It was a very wet snow so we lost power at 4:15 Saturday afternoon and did not get our power restored until today at 4:30. I have never been so cold in my life! 72 hours of take out- thanks to Dunkin Donuts- only place open along with McDonalds. Lines out the door for three days! I spent time at my parents house to use their computer and bathroom and also to charge up all of my gadgets! Things are finally getting back to normal at Jasper's house. I will have some crafts in my next post, too hard to craft by candle light!
Until next time,
Jasper