It isn't easy being green...

It's a Kermit the Frog SVG how to post, YYYAAAAAAYYYY!!!!

So if you saw my last post, you know I recently did a Kermit/Muppet themed party for a friend. I tried my hardest to find an SVG for my Cricut to cut some Kermie heads.

Yeah, no, those didn't exist. UNTIL NOW!

So I'm extremely new to the world of paper cutting. My mother found an original Cricut at a tag sale for $10. I've coveted one of these for years. My crafting dreams hung on the fact I could make ANYTHING! Anything ever!

I obviously knew nothing about Cricuts or anyone who had one because I quickly learned that's a crock if I ever heard one.

The first thing I learned is that Cricut is a greedy corporate bunch of chumps. Those cartridges are outrageously priced and, while really awesome in their own way, very limiting. So I Googled like the 20-something with a smartphone I am and found out there's a program that will let you cut anything you want! Sure-Cuts-A-Lot is my absolute godsend. I heart it.

Now, for you goody-two-shoes, law-abiding, "WHY I NEVER!" types, this is where you should stop reading. Seriously. Skip past these next three paragraphs.

Are they gone? Good, let's talk about the fact they don't sell Sure-Cuts-A-Lot for the Cricut anymore. You cannot BUY this program for the original Cricut. Or any other Cricut, I'm pretty sure but I didn't delve too deep; I had a $10 bargain of the century in my hand and I wasn't upgrading any time soon. From what I read, the original version of this program was compatible with Critcuts but they had to update and not include them any longer. Probably more corporate greed and the like, yanno?

So I did what any other 20-something with a smartphone would do. I Googled to find some vendor selling the original version of the software so I could buy it. And when I didn't find that... I found a cracked version of the software.

NOW, LET ME BE CLEAR. I do not condone mass software piracy! If at all possible, I am ALL FOR giving credit where credit is due, giving people money for their hard work, blood, sweat, and tears. You would want to be treated the same as an artist.

(Everyone come back, I'm talking about good girl stuff again!)

But I reeeeeeally wanted to cut stuff. And it was software that was once offered for my machine. And when I buy a Silhouette next (BYE Felicia-Cricut), I will absolutely be buying the full version from CraftEdge. If you have any of the machines that match this program, I CAN'T SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS! Also, download the freeware Inkscape; it's a vector editing software. I haven't quite gotten the hang of all of it but I did read a couple of tutorials and it's the bee's knees, apparently.

Also, if you're trying to convert a vector, png, or jpg image to a SVG, this site does it for free and with a little practice, is now my go-to. Again, I'm a bit green at this (it isn't easy being green...), this has been sufficient to convert my files.


ANYWAY. So you came here for some Kermit goodness, right? I'm going to link you to the files necessary to produce this in Sure-Cuts-A-Lot with some measurements and paper colors. If you want little Kermie's, big Kermie's, different colors and sizes, that's all on you. This is for a roughly 5inch Kermit head that is a nice size for decorations and what I used in this entire party. I have a 6 x 12 inch mat in my Cricut, so I tried to take advantage of as much paper as possible.

Head -- Green card stock (Only 2 per cut)
Eyes -- White card stock (roughly 5-6 per cut)
Smile and Pupils -- Black card stock (8-10 per cut)
Mouth -- Red card stock (about 5-6 per cut)
Tongue -- Pink card stock (15+ per cut)

So you're definitely going to need more green paper than anything else here. I kept all my spare parts in an envelope and just cut heads as I needed them.

Okay! So here's some dimensions in Sure-Cuts-A-Lot. You need to make sure it knows to keep the original proportions and fill in these values for the WIDTH. With this program, rotation doesn't affect which value it thinks is the width or the length so, remember, ALWAYS the width. You can rotate to squeeze more cut outs as needed.

Head -- Width of 5inches
Eyes -- Width of 5inches (does best with 90deg rotation)
Smile/Pupils -- Width of 4.5inches (Best with a 90deg rotation)
Mouth -- Width of 3.75inches
Tongue -- Width of 1.75inches

After you have all the pieces cut out, it's really just a matter of putting this puzzle together. I used rubber cement to adhere the elements. Kermie is then ready to be hot glued to sticks, hole-punched for stringing or any other use of him you can think of! :)

I really hope this is a great resource for someone. It's my first self-made SVG project and I'm really happy with it. I'm giving this free range, so get creative but I so want to see what you do with him!

Stay tuned for couple more post from this party as well as some other project I've been working on. I'm so excited, YYAAAAAAYYY!!!!

Together We'll Nab It

I think my most favorite thing in the world is party planning. In 25 years I've done a lot of crafts. I've made a lot of gifts, a lot of random little artsy things, and I've done a ton of projects. By far, though, my favorite thing to do it to plan a party.

The one thing a retail budget does NOT afford you is extra money to be rubbing elbows every Friday night (a weekend night off in and of itself is shocking!), throwing wine and cheese soirees as you chortle with your other D.I.N.K. twenty-something friends. Denny's is far more doable and realistic.

So when my good friend Joe (Peg Leg Joe as my boyfriend lovingly calls him. It references a gentleman who helped free slaves in the Underground Railroad. It's very much a term of endearment, trust me. Go with it.) came about his 30th year here on this planet, we knew we had to throw him a party. He's a great guy who bends over backwards for a lot of people (deserving or no). It was attempted to be a surprise, but being the sleuth-y and otherwise brilliant gentleman he is, in hindsight, we had some high hopes there. haha

A collector of many toys and an interest in many things, his girlfriend and I set out to create a Muppets theme for him, Kermit specifically, seeing as he is one of his favorite things.

Anyone ever tried to throw a Muppet themed birthday? No? Oh my sweet baby jeebus IT IS HARD! Unlike every other movie or show today geared towards families/children, they are not showered with the praises of a million merchandising options. So we ended up having to rely a little heavily on the theme colors (blue for his favorite and green for the color of Kermit) and I threw a little rainbow connection in there for good measure. ;)

I'm going to do a quick overview today then hopefully go into detail on a few projects, namely creating the Kermit heads (my first SVG project that I created!) and some cake tips that I learned in this process. I've been baking my entire life but this is the first sheet cake and certainly the largest project I've undertaken on my own.

 It all started with the banner; I tried to use this as my jumping off point since it would really be the main focal point

We had the party at a local fairgrounds due to some very nice people who were friends of the birthday boy. Otherwise, it would have been a VERY stressful day trying to fight others for a place at a nearby park that had outdoor grills. We set up by the pig pens (Miss Piggy, are you there?). I also recently learned how to make paper rosette fans, my new obsession!

 

In it's place of glory!

We were on a sort of a tight budget. We crowdfunded the guests to buy him a fancy camera. I found the chip baskets and the sand pails at Michaels. Its amazing what you find on sale during the switching of the seasons!

Also, those straws were amazing. Every party needs rainbow straws, from this point forward.



For activities, I had water balloons for a Swedish Chef Swedish Meatball Toss Challenge. We also had Fozzie's Knock Knock Box which encouraged guests to write a joke, place it in the jar, and whoever made Joe laugh the hardest, won a prize! 

Fozzie's Knock Knock Box

I loved this. I know it didn't fit perfectly in with the Kermit themed but when I saw the "30 Sucks" lollipop centerpieces on Pinterest, it just felt right, ya know?

Blue Raspberry and Key Lime cupcakes rounded off dessert (someone got to one before my picture!)

His throne!

I really had a lot of fun with this one. I took an entire week's vacation; originally, I had hoped to prepare for my upcoming move but it turned into pouring my heart and many hours into this party... which, oh noez, the torture! The crafty introvert had to sit alone with nothing but Netflix, Spotify and a pile of brightly colored paper! Someone call the authorities, that's just inhumane. :P

Sometimes I wonder how I even survive.

Anyway, that's it for now, I think. Look out for some upcoming posts. I'll share my SVGs and my instructional sources on a couple of my favorite items. :)

Happy Birthday, Joe!

All aboard!

Hi there! So I see you have stumbled here. Probably by accident. Most likely without purpose.

Can I preface this with a sorry? I know we just met but I'm entirely sorry.

I know the world doesn't need another blog. And I certainly know my previous track record with blogs (I'm sure I can link you to at least four otherwise, and thankfully, abandoned livejournals of my youth. I won't. Don't look at them. Stahp.) but sometimes... a girl just wants to brag.

Lord knows my family and friends are likely sick of hearing about the latest "lady craft" (as my boyfriend so lovingly refers to them). To them, I'm Martha come to show them how much they suck at trying. To me, I'm just forever pushing away adult type things, buried in a sea of paper or up to my elbows in paint, trying to keep myself occupied. To my boyfriend, I'm an untapped business opportunity, much too modest to market myself.

Frankly, I do this for me. I highly doubt anyone wants to buy what I produce. I digress. Here we are, new acquaintances and I'm just laying it on thick. What I really hope to get out of this blog is a rolling catalog of the things that fall out of my brain. Working retail tends to kill braincells, I'm just hoping to be able to remember how to produce the same thing twice. If along the way someone finds what I've done helpful or interesting, BONUS POINTS!

So here it is! My braggy, kitschy krafty blogging spot. Hopefully you find something interesting. Hopefully I actually keep up on my duties as blogger. Let this be the ceremonial champagne on the side of the S.S. Kraft-o-holic?

Here's to not sinking.