I'm in the Ink

A while back I saw several organizers that people had made using foam board from the Dollar Tree. I had my ink scattered everywhere so I thought I’d give it a shot. So with 2 sheets of foam board, I made this. 

Foam Board Ink Pad Holder

The ink pads were kind of hard to get out of their slot so I made little drawers for them.. I found a box bottom cut in Bags, Tags, Boxes and More by Cricut. I then used a 1” circle punch to cut a half circle on the front of each of the drawers so I can pull it forward easily. One regular size or 3-4 small ink pads fits perfectly in the drawer.

Drawers make it easier to remove ink pads.

The other day I found a bill organizer for 2.00 at our local thrift shop. It looked like this one.

Old bill organizer screaming for attention

 I snapped it up because I had the perfect use for it. But first, it needed a little sprucing up. I was going to paint it white, but I was out of white spray paint. I did, however, have some pink so I decided to go with that. 

A little better 

The finished project

It needed a little something so I lined the back and drawer with some scrapbook paper I had on hand. The shelf space was to narrow with all of the little plastic dividers but removing every other one did the trick and now my CTMH ink pads fit perfectly and I can store my Acrylix blocks in the drawer.
I've linked up over at Little Scrap Pieces 'Show it off Saturday, Linky Party'. (my first one) 

God Bless America

I hope everyone had a safe and fun 4^th of July. We sure did. It was full of laughter, food, friends, family and lots of Fun. I even snuck in a little antique shopping and crafting! The photos I used for my craft project this weekend are of my Grand-Baby’s. The pictures are a couple of years old; I just never got around to making a layout for them. So since they were visiting I got them to help me put this layout together. They enjoyed helping. They enjoy crafts as much as I do.

<picture>

I used the Cricut cartridge ‘Stand and Salute’ for my sentiment and for the background and fireworks at the bottom I used ‘Artbooking’ one of the Cricut Cartridges produced for Close to My Heart. (Pssst! I hear that Cricut and CTMH are coming out with a new cartridge soon! Stop back by later this month for more details)   

The layout came together pretty easily after I put a new blade into my Cricut Expression. That’s a must for intricate cut designs. I started out using an older blade and first it didn’t cut through very well and I ended up having to re-cut a lot of it by hand and then it more or less started chewing out the design instead of cutting it. I finally gave up and replaced the blade and re-cut the background. It cut like butter the second time around. I’m going to write the date I replaced the blade on it’s edge so I can see how long it lasts. How often do you have to change out your blade?

I'm going to enter my layout in the challenges listed below. Stop by and check them out.

They all have fun challenges that help keep those creative ideas flowing.

Die Cut Divas 

Bitten by the Bug 2

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog (FCCB)

Tuesday Throwdown (don't you love that name?)