Color With Me!

 Hey Y'all!

I've been working on my coloring more lately, and have been using a variety of art mediums. Here lately I've been playing around with gel pens, alcohol markers, and colored pencils. 

Photos-

For this first image (Prima) I used Spectrum Noir Tri Blend markers. They are so fun and easy to use! My blending is something I'll continue to work on, but I like the markers. I like how easy they are to take with me, and how quickly you can color something. My only complaint was when popped apart they can be a bit harder to handle, because they are smaller. 

The following lady image is from a set in a previous (years old) issue of a craft magazine. The bears are from Art Impressions. On these I used Gel Pens from Big Lots. They were very easy to work with, and had a fine enough tip for smaller lines. I did find the pens with glitter tend to glide more easily, and looked better than the others.

Next, I worked on a coloring book image, comparing the differences between Spectrum Noir Basics Markers, and Tombow Colored Pencils without attempting to blend. I feel the image is to small to try that comparison. However I'd like to try it for an upcoming blog if it's something you're interested in. Let me know in the comment section below.

*It seems the Basics line from Spectrum Noir is no longer available on their website.

** Tombow 36pc Colored Pencil, I won them in a Holiday Giveaway on Instagram in 2020. 

Chosen Image, I drew the black line to get a halfway point.

Pencil Set.

Markers!

Coloring:

These pencils were so easy to use, and so much color variety! I especially love the way the sunflower turned out. I can't wait to play with them more. So much better than the Daler-Rowney pencils I've been using, and those are pretty good.

Above is no flash, below is with flash.

This particular set of markers had a lot of purples and pinks, and a few shades of red, green, yellow, and brown, but no blue or orange. I found that kind of odd. (I do have more markers from Spectrum Noir I'd like to test out against these, as well as my other marker sets.) I like the vibrancy of the colors, but even the thinner tipped side of the marker is too thick for this scale/small image. 

I had fun testing them out, and like them all, however in the last image that colored pencil sunflower just stands out. What are your thoughts?

Would you like to see more marker or pencil comparisons in the future? Sound off below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Happy Valentine's Day!

 Hey Y'all,

So what are our plans for the day?

Not much. As I've shared before, we're not really into a commercial holiday telling us what we should do.

Flowers, Chocolates, Overpriced Dinner.

That's just not our style.

 

So, what are our plans?

Packing up and leaving this camp spot. Glad this rain ended, even just for the day. And trying to get a few things done with the van- like tire rotation, window tint, etc.

Then headed in the direction we need to go- North and West. Slowly, since we have plenty of time to reach our destination.

What are your plans today? Let me know in the comments below.

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Probably The Worst GRWM Ever... Q & A Instead

I warned y'all.

First it's been chilly and rainy and so I haven't really been doing any getting ready.

I attempted it.

The video sucks so much I'm not publishing it.

Not my best work.

Apologies,

CWC

Let me make it up to you some by doing a Q & A:

The questions can be found here:

200 QU's

1. What’s your favorite way to spend a day off? All my days are days off. Until April, when we start a work camp gig in NW Indiana. That's only like 10hrs a week (each) though. So our days of will be spent much the same as they have the past year- running errands, and exploring the vast world around us.

2. What type of music are you into? I like a huge variety. Not big on big band, swing, heavy metal, or hardcore rap, but I'll listen to pretty much anything. Not loving most of the new pop, but I'm old.

3. What was the best vacation you ever took and why? Since it askes vacation, I'm not going to include the past year, where I'd say either AL or SC.

More specifically either Wheeler Wildlife Refuge, or Santee State Park..

I've been fortunate enough to take a decent amount of vacations/road trips in my life so far. My favorites are Disney, and then it's really vacations that were made awesome by the journey like the first trip with Lisa to NC, or the trip with hubby and MIL that no one believed we went that far (VA to DE and NJ and back in 24hrs)... Fun trips like that.

4. Where’s the next place on your travel bucket list and why? The goal is all 50 states, but we're in IN from April - Oct minus DR appts, so we'll get IL and probably MI while there. (I've been to MI, Chris hasn't.)

5, .What are your hobbies, and how did you get into them? Crafting (Dad worked for JoAnn Fabrics Corp.) Reading (Mom always took us to the library, before we could even read.) Day Trips (We did those all the time growing up, hubby and I have always enjoyed just picking a direction and seeing where the day takes us.) Gaming (We got our 1st gaming system {Nintendo} from one of my Dad's friends, we really only played in the long cold NE Ohio winters, but had a lot of fun playing. Then Hubby was huge into gaming, and introduced sis & I to the Sims, yeah the first one.. We'd play for hours together. Now we own a lot of games/systems and play mainly on our laptops*, though we did bring our Nintendo Switch.)

*Sims 4 for me, Diablo series for Chris.

6. What was your favorite age growing up? Hmm.. probably like 10-13. Still a kid but old enough to do some fun stuff without Mom and Dad.

7. Was the last thing you read? You'll have to check the book blog for that...

8. Would you say you’re more of an extrovert or an introvert? Introvert... until I'm comfortable around you.

9. What's your favorite ice cream topping? Nothing. I like mint or cookies and cream, peanut butter, cookie dough type flavors so they don't "need" toppings.

10. What was the last TV show you binge-watched? Nothing really recent, we did watch all of the new Goosebumps, and have been working our way through Young Sheldon.

11. Are you into podcasts or do you only listen to music? Music. 

12. Do you have a favorite holiday? Why or why not? Halloween, because SPOOKY is fun. Christmas, because magical.

13. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? Salad, or pizza. Different toppings would make it the most versatile food option(s).

14. Do you like going to the movies or prefer watching at home? Home. I can have whatever food/drinks I want. Pause it if needed. Have it at a volume less than bust your eardrums. Yeah, home is better.

15. What’s your favorite sleeping position? Usually I end up on my left side, but really I'm a rotisserie, spinning around all night. 

16. What’s your go-to guilty pleasure? IDK.

17. In the summer, would you rather go to the beach or go camping? Both, beach camping is a thing.

18. What’s your favorite quote from a TV show/movie/book? Too many to list. Hubby and I like to quote movies and then play wrong answers only.

19. How old were you when you had your first celebrity crush, and who was it? Umm.. maybe JTT so probably like 13ish.. I really don't remember.

20. What's one thing that can instantly make your day better? Food, lol. And family. 

21. Do you have any pet peeves? Shitty drivers is #1. East Tennessee is full of them. (Bless their hearts!)

22. Which meal is your favorite: breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Dinner I guess. But I'm all for eat what you want regardless of the clock. Pancakes for dinner? Awesome! Chicken Sandwich for breakfast? Cool, you do you.

23. What song always gets you out on the dance floor? Nope. I dance around the van all the time, but not going dancing.

24. When you were a kid, did you eat the crusts on your sandwich or not? Yeah, most of the time. We weren't picky kids (sis and I) our parents let us develop our own taste.. there was no such thing as "kid food".  We had chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, etc but it wasn't labeled as kid specific food. Mom made one dinner, and allowed for 1 modification. You don't want sloppy joe's? You can have a hamburger. You don't like green beans? You can have a salad. For our breakfasts and lunches we got to choose whatever we wanted (within reason).

25. What activity instantly calms you? Breathe in for 5 sec, out for 5 sec.

These were actually pretty fun questions! I hope you enjoyed.

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

How To: HTV BASICS

Hey Ya'll!

This blog is 2 parts, in the first (top) section I'll go over how to with the Cricut. In the second part, it'll be more basic information about HTV/iron on vinyl.

For this HTV (heat transfer vinyl) how-to I'll be using:

My {Windows} PC (Cricut can also be used through mobile, tablet, laptop, ect. Android, Windows and Apple compatible, though some features are a bit different across the platforms.)

My Cricut & Design Space

Cricut 12x12 cutting mat

Cricut Weeding Tool

Cricut 9x9 Easy Press 

Rainbow Oil HTV by the Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby

Gildan Tee Shirt(s) from Bulk Apparel 

To begin load up Design Space and choose an SVG, create your own, or find one online. The options are endless. If interested in either a how to make your own, or my favorite sites for SVGs let me know in the comments below!

We're going to be working with my husbands (main) company logo, original artwork by Kevin Thompson, modified by me for use with the Cricut and to put on apparel. 

1) Open your design and size it to fit your "blank". This is going on an XL shirt so I chose to go close to max. The 12x12 actual cutting space is 11.5x11.5, similarly the 12x24 mat cuts 11.5x23.5, allowing a half inch mat space. 

2) Click "Make It". 

3) HTV goes on the mat shiny side (carrier sheet) DOWN. All iron on (HTV) projects need to be mirrored for that reason.

4) After I've made sure to mirror my design I move it a little further in and down on the mat on screen, I'd rather give myself a bit of leeway there than have it cut the design off.

5) Select your material, either by the dial on the Explore machines or on screen with the Maker.

6) Load your mat by pressing the arrow buttons. (There is no material on this mat, picture was taken after the fact.)

7)Click cut, the cute little cricut C.

Cutting in progress screen. Depending on the design, and size this could take several minutes. If you're doing a multi color design each color will be loaded on a separate mat. There is a hack around that depending on size(s) and if interested in that let me know in the comments below!

8) Cut has finished, unload the mat.

9) Click finish! This will take you back to design space and your image. 

The computer (phone, tablet, etc) portion is done, so if you want to save your work before closing out it will prompt you to do so. 

This is what my cut out looks like. Because this was so large I didn't have much excess to save, but if you've done a smaller cut use your scissors are cut around your design before weeding to save your vinyl for another project.

10) Weed you design. On these patterned vinyl's, or on white, I like to use my Ott Light so I can better see what I'm doing.

This task can be tedious depending on the design, but should pull up/weed fairly easy.  Some suggestions for if it's not: cut settings were wrong (read the instructions with each brand you're using), bad vinyl which is rare but does happen, or your design is just too small. Most of the time if there's an issue it's the cut not being deep enough. Test cutting with a new material is a great way to alleviate that issue.

11) Prep your material according to the HTV directions.

For this example using my Easy Press I pre-heated the shirt at 305 F for 15 seconds. This is done to get out the wrinkles, and any moisture that may be in the shirt.

12) Press! Since this design was bigger than my press I had to do it in sections. ( Not an issue with my new heat press, yay!) I did 305 F for 30s, in four sections paying close attention not to overlap and "burn" the design.

13) Some HTV is warm peel, some is cold peel, be sure to follow the directions there, as it does make a difference. Peel the carrier sheet, and it's done!

14) All finished! The Easy Press has an auto shut off feature, some heat presses do not, so I always manually shut it off to stay in the habit. If you haven't shut down design space you can do so now, or start your next project!

If you'd like more in depth about any of todays blog let me know! If you're new to Cricut (even if you're not) and make anything new share a link to your project(s) below, I'd love to check them out!

HTV Basics:

Heat transfer vinyl, or HTV for short, is a specialty vinyl polymer that can be used on certain fabrics and materials to create designs and promotional products. (aka Iron-On Vinyl)

Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV) is a material that's easily applied with a combination of heat, pressure, and time. HTV can be applied with a heat press, home iron, Cricut EasyPress, etc. Carriers (carrier sheet) are the plastic backing that comes attached on HTV, and is peeled after heating per manufactures directions.

1) Each brand & type of HTV/Iron-On has specific instructions from the manufacture. These can vary widely, so be sure to keep track of what you're using.

For example:

My top 3 brands heat guides~

Craftables HTV.

Cricut has their own website:

https://cricut.com/heatguide

Siser (North America) has a ton of valuable information on their website.

2) Most all HTV is going to be mirrored, and put on your cutting mat shiny side (carrier sheet) down.

There are a few exceptions to this, mostly with patterned HTV, but those brands will be well labeled. You'll need to purchase and add the carrier sheet (transfer mask) after cutting. I personally find this tedious and more of a hassle than I'm willing to do, so now I tend to stay away from the brands that require it.

3) You don't need to start off buying all the things.

You need a cutting machine, a blank item to add your HTV to,  a design, a sheet (or roll) of HTV, a heat source, and a weeding tool (It's extremely difficult without one).  

I've mentioned my favorite brands above, but there all all types of HTV.  Basics, Glitter, Puff, Glow in the Dark, Holographic, Patterned, Sun Changing, Reflective, Flock, Glossy, Matte, etc. The possibilities are almost endless with HTV, especially when you start layering.

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

A Year FT Van Living! This Year's Travel Bucket List

 Hey Y'all!

Last Year when we started living full time in Brunilda, our 1991 Chevy G20 Conversion Van, we came up with a bucket list for the year. We never shared it with anyone, so we're doing that now.

We liked the idea, and it gave us a bit of a travel goal for the year, so we decided to do it again this year.

Without further ado here's what we accomplished from last year:

We had a lot on our list, and we're grateful to have accomplished most of it!

Here's a list of what we did:

See the eclipse (from Oakridge Campground in Rockport, IN)

Alabama!

Another state- South Carolina

5 State Parks; Warriors Path, Cedars of Lebanon, Harrison Bay, David Crockett Birthplace, all in TN. Santee in SC. 

2 National Parks; Cumberland Gap National Historical Park (KY/VA/TN) and Cuyahoga Valley National Park (OH)

A National Wildlife Refuge/ Nature Preserve; Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (AL) Hatcher Gardens, Edisto Memorial Gardens, Glendale Preserve & Waterfall (all SC) 

(Amanda) Read 52 Books!

Walk A Mile A Day (Average)

7 "Mom & Pop" Campgrounds (our goal was 10); Oakridge Campground (IN) Oh Kentucky! (KY) Cowford Campground (AL) Mammoth Ridge (TN)  Woodsmoke Family Campground (SC) Pine Ridge Campground (SC) Outside Inn (SC) 

15 Free Overnights (outside of family); Planet Fitness (2) Walmart (2) Lowe's (1) Cracker Barrel (9 for sure, maybe more) Tamarack (1) 

Movie Night/Date Night

Any Amusement Park; Kokomo Beach (IN)

Beach Trip! (We didn't make it to the ocean, but we still played on a lot of beaches.)

Day On The Water

2 State Parks Outside of TN (Goal was 5); Fort Boonesborough (KY) Santee (SC)

A Trip With No Interstates; Kokomo, IN to Owensboro, KY

5 Visitors Centers was the goal; We love a visitor center! Richmond, and Berea KY, as well as Welcome to KY Visitors Center, OH Welcome Center, IN Welcome Center, as well as Rockport Visitor Center, Alabama Welcome Center, Athens and Scottsboro Visitors Centers, TN Welcome Center (3) as well as Greeneville and Jonesborough Visitors Centers, NC Welcome Center, SC Visitor Center as well as Spartanburg Visitors Center. (17?)

Our goal was 100 subscribers on YouTube, we've surpassed it now- but at the end of 2024 we sat at 95!

Try a new food monthly! This was easy, and fun to accomplish. From fresh sea food in AL, to the best Brazilian cuisine in SC, and a little Cajun place in IN we had some great meals in 2024! 

4 Lakes (Goal was 5); Wheeler Lake, Chickamauga Lake, Lake Reba, Cherokee Lake

4 Rivers (Goal was 5); TN River, Ohio River, KY River, Holston River

What didn't we do?

Grow Social Media (much)

Eat out 2x max per week

500 Followers/Subscribers

As we said, we're pretty happy with what we did get accomplish! I'm sure there are things we forgot, which is why we're gearing up to track things better this year.

So, what's on the list this year?

3 New States

A Day On The Water

4 New State Parks

Amusement/Waterpark Day

5 Visitor's Centers

Post to Social Media Daily

2 Wildlife/Nature Preserves

100 Subs on  Outland Adventures YouTube- WE DID IT! Currently at 106!

Then 500 Subs on YouTube

Travel By Train/Train Ride

Ghost Tour (Anywhere) - We did one in 2024 in Franklin, and it was okay, we've done them in the past and really had a lot of fun. The one in Chattanooga just was too large and moved too fast.

10 "small" campgrounds (not franchise, or state parks)

20 Free Spots

(Amanda) Read 52 Books!

Get the Drone out 2x month

Hit the beach, look for shells

Another National Park

Try local foods 1x mo

Visit with a fellow nomad

50 Followers on TikTok

50 Followers on Facebook- WE DID IT! Went from 40 something to 165 in January!

Then 100 Followers each!

Collab with a brand

Enjoy Fall Foliage for as long as possible

Camp in 2 new State Parks (Too bad I made this goal for a new one, we've done Warriors' already!)

Ride bikes

Tour a Small Town, See the Goofy Stuff

Visit a Nature Center/Zoo- We did Cleveland Metroparks Zoo last year, and really enjoyed the Rainforest.

Find a cool rock- leave it behind

Make a new recipe monthly

4 Museums (any kind)- We didn't get to many last year- AL Veteran's Museum, and Spartanburg Railroad Museum, Greeneville Museum, Jonesborough Museum, KY Hall of Fame & Museum (Okay maybe we did more than I thought...)

5 Tours, of any kind- Last year we did Mayfield, Ghost Tour, Carnton, Carter House, BMW, Walnut Grove Plantation, Greeneville Car Museum/Tour

Visit Local Libraries (Goal of 10?)

As you can see we have already accomplished some of our Social Media list, YAY! As soon as radiation finishes for me we'll begin our travels again!

What's on your travel list this year? Share in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

What's In My Makeup Case?

 Hey Y'all!

What's currently traveling with? 

Too much, but I really wanted to bring all my new Wet 'n Wild from Christmas...

But first here's the last Makeup Case blog:

https://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2024/11/makeup-swap-out-it-was-past-time-for.html

So, for now I have two cases with me...

The large green case I started with, and the cosmetics bag from the Scooby Doo Collection.

All of both collections does fit in the Scooby case... it's too much to keep traveling with...

I don't plan to take anything out as of now though.

Video of each product, not in depth, just a quick "all this fit in there?" video:

The big case:

All back in, it fit better this time!

Both cases:

Let's see your collection! Tag me on social media! @craftinwife on most platforms or you can find me here:

https://linktr.ee/craftinwife

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

How To: Cardmaking With Cricut Joy

 Hey Y'all!

For this blog I've decided to show you how to make a card using the Cricut Joy, and the card mat. Follow along!

Supplies:

Cricut Joy

Cricut Joy Card Mat

Cricut Joy Insert Cards

Your choice of tape, glue, etc.

I chose this design to base my card off of:

Once I found that I had an idea of what I was going to do.

 I added this image to my canvas, turned it sideways, found a font I liked, added that, welded that together, and BAM! Ready to make!!

Need more detailed instructions? Start here:

First, if you're new to Design Space, I have a whole series on How To: Design Space starting here:

http://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2022/12/how-to-cricut-design-space-on-pc-android.html

http://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2023/01/how-to-cricut-design-space-on-android.html

http://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2023/01/how-to-cricut-design-space-on-pc-and.html

http://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2023/02/how-to-cricut-design-space-on-android.html

http://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2023/02/how-to-cricut-design-space-on-pc.html

(There are more and I'm always updating so a quick search of the blog will help you to find the latest version!)

Other Joy Specific Blogs:

http://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2023/04/i-got-cricut-joy-thoughtsreview.html

http://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2023/04/how-to-easter-basket-tags-w-cricut-joy.html

http://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2023/06/4th-of-july-crafting-with-cricut-joy.html

https://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2023/07/how-to-larger-than-joy-mat-mobile.html

https://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2024/11/how-to-insert-cards-with-cricut-joy.html

https://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2024/07/lets-actually-craft-making-card-with.html

(There are more blogs if you search Cricut Joy in the search bar at the top left of the blog!)

Turned image, added my text, welded the two together, and I'm ready to cut!

Getting the Joy all set:

On card mat is selected.

Material set, it's ready to go!

Mat all loaded, cutting in progress:

All done cutting:

Once I removed the card from the mat, I added the pink insert, with a bit of double sided tape, and the card was complete!

Video:

Any questions? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Bonus Fail Video: