Update

Hey everyone! I just wanted to update you on what's been going on in my neck of the woods. First and foremost, my son is responding well to his chemo treatment. He is getting a little sick with each treatment and is having to take his college classes from home using the Internet. He tried so hard to physically make it to class. Where his white blood count is so low too it's really not a good idea for him to be around a lot of people. He could get sick very easy and it could be catastrophic to him. One little cold or flu to one person could land my son in hospital. He is taking it one day at a time and is keeping his sight set on the light at the end of the tunnel. He will be cured of this once again but just needs to go through the hell of treatment to get there. I started working at Michaels in September. I was job hunting and I thought maybe I should work somewhere that interests me. I went online to fill out application and I saw they were opening a store close to my home. I filled out the application for that store. It is so cool to be part of the whole process of starting the store from the ground up. I helped with stocking shelves. I also got to play with the cricut to make display projects for the classroom and make signs to put up around the store. One night while working on signs, I was cutting paper with a guillotine paper cutter, I trimmed the tip of my finger off. What a nightmare! It took about two weeks to heal enough so I didn't need bandaid. I was the very first incident report for that store. Once the store opened, I was given the position of sales associate. I love that position. I get to greet people, ask them about their project, and they ask for my advice and opinion. I love to talk about crafts!! I also work the register too. I was really scared at first but I am getting really good at it now and am even training people on it now. I have done demos of products. I grabbed a free project from the yarn section and made a crochet chain link scarf. I have only 6 hours this week so I made the scarf and also got my jewelry teaching certification. I figured since I was going to be home a lot this week I might as well put it to good use! So now I'm certified to teach the jewelry classes. I want to be certified to teach everything! I'm an overachiever like that....lol! It also seems like its going to be fun. Now I'm better equipped to help a customer when they have a question about jewelry. I haven't worked outside the home in 14 years. I've been raising my kids and learning crafts for the 14 years. I love working at michaels. We have the best group of people working there. I love being able to make someone happy. I love being able to save them money with sales and coupons. It seems like I am taking everything I hate about the other michaels I used to go to and making it better at my store. My boss is the best too and the managers. That makes a big difference when the people who run the place love what they do and want to make people happy. I also learn from the message board about people's problems that they have when they shop at michaels. Each employee needs to come up with a tip or suggestion to make the store better and more successful and most of mine come straight from the customers. They are not afraid to say what's on their minds. I do have more hours this week. To tell you the truth I missed the place. I even brought my kids in this week and they got to do a make and take and I got to say hi to my coworkers who I have missed. I hope to be posting some projects soon. I have a cricut cake project planned for the end of the month. Have a blessed day! Heather

composition notebook

cartridge storage tip

Son/family update

I just want to thank you all so much for all the love and support you have give to my son and my family! My son has had his second session of chemo on Friday and is taking it amazingly well! He is (so far) doing so well that he plans to go to stick with starting back up at college on Monday. He has talked with the college about his health situation and they are so nice and accommodating to him! They r letting him take his classes from home on the Internet. He is feeling so good that he is planning to attend the classes on campus. He is surprised at how well he is feeling this time around. I have got to say that I have a feeling that it has to do with all the prayers and thoughts and positive energies sent his way! He just has this strength and attitude I haven't seen before. He is truly my hero!

Another update: the economy has definitely effected my husbands roofing business and it has been very slow the past few years and has reached an all time low since he started his business 16 years ago. Now that my youngest has started school we have decided that it's time for me to get a job and contribute to the household financially. I applied to a number of places with no call backs or anything. Then I got to thinking that I should work somewhere that would interest me and be a positive way to reenter the working world. I wanted something that would make going to work a happy thing. So--I went to michaels.com and filled out an application for their new building that hasn't opened yet. I got called back the very next day and had the interview on Friday. I was hired on the spot and I start this weekend! It's awesome cuz I get to see it from start to finish what it's all about with stocking the entire store, assembling shelves, grand opening! I feel like I'm having a new baby...if that makes sense at all. I got a new project to focus on. I am not going to be making much money but I will at least be able to help a little bit with the bills. We are currently having a hurricane and maybe it will bring with it some roofing work. My husband works closely with insurance companies to get insurance to cover costs of roofing disasters.

My baby starts school for first time tomorrow, my sick son starts college tomorrow too, I start job this week too--some good things are happening for us! Thank you all for being here and seeing me through! I will update if anything changes!

Her son

Hello blog peoples I am the son of the woman that does gemini paper crafts.Since she has left her computer at the moment and left her account open I thought I might aswell post something because I have nothing to do at the moment and as she just said a minute ago she has won $150 on cricuit.com!!

I won!!!

I can't believe it. I got a private message from someone on the cricut messageboard stating I should go check the blog cause she thinks I won $150 to cricut.com. I guess it doesnt count for my spending ban.

My last buy

I really mean it this time. I am not going to buy another thing for myself till after christmas. I have decided to make my last purchase a big one. I am going to buy the close to my heart bundle with the cricut cartridge and the coordinating stamps and stuff. It really is a great bundle plus I get to try out close to my heart product. I love the cartridge. Its so versatile. I love the 3d flowers that are on it too so it saves me from having to buy the flower shoppe cartridge. I plan on ordering it probably next week or week after. I only make $100 a week babysitting and I really stretch that baby out week to week. The cartridge included in this bundle is Art Philosophy and it has a little bit of everything! The only question is what is the best deal and who to purchase from. I don't know anyone here in maine to buy from so I am looking to the Cricut Circle messageboard for people to buy from.

Happy crafting,

Heather

Ok--stupid me!--I forgot to photograph my son's cards we made for him so I have to wait till he gets home from hospital probably tomorrow or next day. My hubby brought them to him and said he enjoyed them all. My 5 year old daughter can't write or spell yet so I just let her scribble on the card and then I translated it below where she wrote. It was so cute.

Sad news

It seems like we were just celebrating my son being in remission from his cancer. He has another cancer tumor in his mouth again. He went for a MRI yesterday and they immediately admitted him to the hospital and are starting chemo. This poor kid was first diagnosed with throat cancer when he was 17 in 2005. He had chemo and radiation and got rid of it. The cancer came back with a vengeance last August in his jawbone. He had surgery where they removed his jawbone and they used his leg bone to rebuild his jaw. He had chemo following his surgery. This time the tumor regrew in the same place as the last one, in his jaw/mouth. They don't think surgery is necessary and that chemo will be enough. Please pray to whatever higher power you believe in that my young son, 23 years old, will be rid of this cancer for good this time. My family prays that third times the charm! Just within the past two weeks he signed up for college classes. He was going before but was sick with cancer. He thought he was passed all that this year so signed back up. He was so excited to be moving forward with his life. The college was so nice to him and accepting and accommodating. He just wants a normal life, a healthy life. He someday wants a family too. He is so great with kids and loves to play. He is so giving and generous and smart. He is my hero and I am so lucky to have him in my life. I am making some cards for me and my other kids to make for him and I will post them here for you all to see.

Have a blessed day and hug your loved ones!

Heather

wedding mini album

PAPER HAUL

I saw on somebody's youtube video there was paper at tjmaxx and marshall's for $5.99 so I went to marshall's yesterday (Sunday) and bought what was left of paper. I also bought a new video camera last week which makes is soooo much easier to upload videos to youtube so look out for more videos to come.

Blogger makes it so easy to add videos from youtube too. Gotta love it!!

Cool storage tip

This one comes from a friend of mine. She and her hubby make jewelry and this is how they store their beads. They have a bulletin board hung up on the wall and have the beads all separated into little baggies. They are put up on the board with tacks. I saw this and i thought it would work with small scrapping supplies too: ribbon, beads, eyelets, brads, even carts. Placed in an easy to access area. This friend of mine has a cricut expression that i sold to her when i got my imagine. I also gave her a bunch of carts with it. She has had it for months and never used it. So i finally went over the other day and showed her how to use it. She is totally addicted to cricut now. She made a project for a baby shower gift and she got a lot of compliments. I love that now we share the love of cricut. I also taught her a bit of cricut craftroom this weekend too. I used my account to show her how to use it. Im hoping that craftroom will be open to all very soon. I cant believe how long its taking them. The worst part is that it seems like they take less time testing products they sell just so they can release it and make money, but now they have something free with not too many bugs and they r taking forever to release it. I hate to be negative but once in a while i have to jump on that bandwagon.

Have a great week crafters!
Heather

mini album project

I am working on a kathy orta inspired mini album. It's wedding themed and I'm using DCWV paper. I am drawing a blank on the name of the stack. I used the duck tape for the binding and a cool clasp. I will do a video when I'm done. I can't wait to show you all the finished project. It's a gift for my cousin who is getting married in September. Just wanted u all to know what i've been working on.

Joann.com order

A month ago I ordered some stuff from cricut.com: 12" embossing borders and quilling kits for cuttlebug. I finally decided to try the quilling kit the other day for a project. I didn't realize that I needed a 12" c plate for them I only have A and B plates. So off I went to the three area craft stores for the long C plate. None of the stores carry the long plates. I went to joann.com and used my coupon there. I ordered the 13" c plate for the cuttlebug. While I was on the site I checked out the sale items. There were copic markers for $3 and since I don't have any and i totally love markers and the copics are totally popular I ordered 8 different colors. I just chose 4 colors I like and then I chose a color close to each of the four for shadowing technique. I can't wait for my order to come in about a week. I would like to do a video on the quilling kit. I am babysitting 3 kids this summer and I am having them decorate tshirts. I had them go through my cricut books and pick out a few images each of what they want on their shirts. Tonight I cut out the images in adhesive vinyl. I will also make a video of the kids painting their shirts and I will show what they look like after. I made two shirts a month ago and they came out beautiful so these should be pretty easy to do--although I will be letting the older kids paint their own shirts hopefully it will go smoothly.

My grandson has come home from the hospital after being in the NICU for a month after he was born. He has lung issues and that caused him to no eat. He is strong and healthy now he just needed a little help to get him started. I havent seen him since he was two days old and I can't wait to see him. I will post a pic of him when I get one.

I hope all of my followers and their loved ones are having a fun summer and are in good health!

~Heather

Create a critter bday card

Bday card with create a critter

Just testing

Just testing

Bday card

I used rock princess for heart and create critter for phrase and back layer i used imagine to print papers and cut from cartridges for both cards. I used blossom imagine cart for pattern and coordinating colors.

Create a critter card

Rock princess

My cricut.com order came today and rock princess was in it. I used the font to make a poster for at the end of the road for my daughters grad party. I used the heart font and used paper from JT imagine cart. I will include pic in next post. I have to send it from my iphone.

My new grandson

I have a new grandbaby! He was born last sunday 6-12-11. He weighed 8.9lbs. My daughter had to take medicine throughout her pregnancy for an illness and now the baby is in the nicu for another week due to withdrawals. He is fine otherwise he just needs a little help for a bit. His name us JJ and he is the sweetest angel. I was there to see him be born and i even cut his cord. His father is a bit of a sissy and cant handle that kind of stuff...lol! I havent been to see JJ for a few days due to him being in the nicu i cant bring my little one in and she is always with me. I will post a pic of him in a bit.

Heather Dumond

Sent from my iPhone

New buys

I hit it big with the lottery this week. Well big for me. I never win anything either. The most I've ever won is $500 ten years ago. I won $1000 on a lottery raffle. I have already spent most of it at cricut.com of course! I finally bought rock princess and create a critter. They were the cartridge and cuttlebug companion bundles. I ordered some cuttlebug borders and some quilling kits for the cuttlebug. I also renewed my circle membership. I took advantage of the early renew special. I am going to need new ink for the imagine one of these days so I was going to order the ink and paper bundle but it was sold out. I check what was in rewards and sure enough there is ink in the rewards for 500 points. I only had enough to get one but when my new carts come in or the points from membership activate I will have enough for the one ink. I can't believe how long the ink lasts. I also moved my scrap area to a room now. I will need to get a space heater for this room in the winter but I like that my stuff is all in one room and it's private for when I do videos. My imagine is still upstairs with my computer but I am going to put my cake down in the room. I will do video showing all my stuff I bought and my new room.

Happy scrapping and happy summer!!

Another shirt

Same stuff.

Tshirt

Made with birthday bash and ouap crown

Grad card

Baby shower card

Painted cricut imagine

I removed the end caps and the front tab thing and spray painted them with purple valspar perfect finish spray paint from Lowes.

Craftroom and cricut imagine

My first attempt at cutting with my imagine using craftroom software was not successful. It would print but not cut. The imagine would spit the paper out the front after printing. I think its a driver problem. I am using windows vista operating system on my computer. I sent my feedback to provocraft hopefully this gets fixed soon.

Cupcake Birthday Card

Cupcake Birthday Card

Card with glass etching

My moms birthday was today and i made her two wine glassed with dragonflies etched on them. I got dragonflies from doodlecharms and gypsy wanderings. The card has the cuts of the etched dragonflies. Super easy and quick!

Resticky mats

Apply 1 or two thin layers to cricut mats to make them sticky and let dry completely before using mat. This works especially good on the crappy non sticky imagine mats.

joann haul 5 15 11

This is the entire video. I dont know why it takes so long to upload videos. It took about four or more hours for this one to upload.

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioi4wy-aky8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Heather

More mini album

Inside card

All items are from imagine more. Spread your wings item separated into layers and some pieces were deleted and not cut. I added dash lines around butterfly.

Card

My daughters high school graduation card. Thats right i got one going out and one going in this year! This is a 5x7 card. I used wrap it up cart for graduate and cap. Imagine preloaded shape behind it with loris garden pattern. Stamped sentiment from dollar bin at joanns and heat embossed on white cardstock. Shape behind it is from loris garden along with pattern. Stamped images on base of card and colored in with pigment ink markers. Dash outlines are from zig fine tip marker. White dots on cap are from my new white paint fine tip pen. The plaque behind congratulations sentiment has been inked and attached to card with yellow brads. I chose these colors cause school colors are green white and gold. Go Bonny Eagle Scots!!

Envelope

Used rubberstamps for background. Jt imagine cart for wings and plaque. Cindy loo for alyssa letters.

Canvas picture for my mom

This is an 11x14 canvas frame. First i painted entire canvas with blue acrylic paint mixed with gesso. I added a few touches of purple acrylic paint to add a little something extra. I made some 3-d paper flowers using shapes from george cart. I varied the sizes and layered them and connected them with a brad. I roughed up the edge of each layer with the edge of scissors-distressed. I inked edges only then i sprayed with my homemade glimmermist and crumpled them carefully. I let them dry completely before assembling. Then i added glass effects too look like water and stickles for sparkles. I added elements from loris garden imagine cart. I ran some twine i got from dollar tree around frame which also doubles as a hanger. There are also cuts from straight from the nest. I cut a square from loris garden with the script pattern on it, inked the edges and curled the corner. I used gel medium to put the things on the canvas which holds very well. My mom likes dragonflies so i added some dragonfly brads to the scene.

More mini album

Words are from birthday bash and apple is from doodlecharms. The bottom page is her pic from that day and her nametag they gave her.

Mini album

I cut this shape from mini monograms i think. Then i cut holes with crop a dile and used metal rings to bind. I decorated the rings. Every page is cereal box covered with patterned paper. I wanted a sturdy album because its my little one's book about being five. It about all the things shes going to learn and do when shes five. The first thing in there is her kindergarten screening. This is when the teachers find out how and where she will fit in to a certain classroom. Also how she interacts with other children and the teachers. They thought she went to preschool because she was so smart and well behaved. Nope she always been at home with me and they told me to keep up the good work. Its so nice and rewarding to hear things like that. Some good came from all the hell i've been going through...haha!! She had so much fun and is looking forward to august when she can begin kindergarten. The letters when im 5 came from birthday bash and sofi came from cindy loo. The fence is my new fiskars punch from joanns.

Yardsellr.com

I am selling wrap it up, and cuttin up on yardsellr.com my name is heather graham dumond or you may be able to do a search for the item.

Craft space

Cricut Cuttin Up Cartridge

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Heather Dumond

207 730 0956

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Cricut Wrap It Up Cartridge

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Heather Dumond

207 730 0956

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Handmade Mini Album

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Heather Dumond

207 730 0956

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Handmade Mini Album

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With cover

More ribbon pix

Storing ribbon

I did this totally by accident too. I places the ribbon on the empty cd spindle on my desk and it fit perfectly. I am going to fill it up and then to keep them dust free i will put the spindle cover on it. Isnt that neat!! I hvent seen this before.