Heat Transfer Vinyl Shirts Using Silhouette and PowerPress Heat Press

Around this time last year, I made a couple of shirts using my Silhouette Cameo and heat transfer vinyl - an "I am this many" shirt and a Bear Down Arizona shirt.

I was using my iron to apply the heat transfer vinyl (Siser EasyWeed) and noticed that it resulted in some uneven application of the vinyl. I made an offhand remark to Greg about how I could see the benefits of having a heat press and behold! We now have a PowerPress heat press! (Thanks, Greg!)

I wasn't trying to hint to Greg that I wanted a heat press - that's not how I roll. But at the same time, I'm not complaining that we have one, especially since I was able to make these team shirts for Greg's coworkers for the local Rugged Maniac race.




The heat pressing part was very straight forward. What took the longest was the cutting and weeding of the vinyl. I also had to re-cut a few pieces of vinyl since some of the cut lines were missed in the cutting (so then I couldn't weed completely) or when I was weeding, some small pieces came off that weren't supposed to.

The design came from one of Greg's coworkers, and I was pleased with how well the Silhouette software handled converting the picture file to a cut file. (See: How to cut a JPEG with Silhouette Studio - the functionality is still there in the Silhouette software, though the exact path to get there may have changed)

Before I embarked on making the shirts, I also did some research on Pinterest and the Silhouette School blog. Based on this Cheaper Alternative to Pressing Pillows: Pressing Pads! post from the Silhouette School blog, I got these Tee Pad It pressing pads from Heat Press Nation. These worked well to prevent seams from getting in the way of evenly applying the heat transfer vinyl, which I had happen on one of my first heat transfer vinyl shirts that I did with my iron.

I have a couple of other projects I'd like to do with heat transfer vinyl, the Silhouette, and the heat press, I just need to find the time to do them along with all the other craft projects!

Goody Goody Gift Swap 2017 - Package Received

It took a little longer than the holidays, but I finally got my Goody Goody Gift Swap package in the mail and phew! I was honestly getting a little worried, haha.




My swap partner was Charity and I enjoyed what was in my package, which included a cute crocheted (or is it knitted?) Instagram cup sleeve, an oh, hello friend wood button, fragrant soap, a pack of branch pencils, and a sun print:




So far, I've had good experiences with this holiday swap and my swap partners, so as long as I have the time and the desire, I think I'll continue to participate!


See also:
Goody Goody Gift Swap 2017 - Package Sent
Goody Goody Gift Swap 2016 - Package Received
Goody Goody Gift Swap 2016 - Package Sent
Goody Goody Gift Swap 2015 - Package Received
Goody Goody Gift Swap 2015 - Package Sent

Goody Goody Gift Swap 2017 - Package Sent

I have an affinity for snail mail and package swaps, and so like I have for the couple of years before, I participated in the Goody Goody Gift Swap again this past holiday season.

For the wrapping, I went with kraft paper and red baker's twine. On the kraft paper, I used white acrylic paint to decorate it, otherwise I felt like the kraft paper would've been too plain.





In the package, I included:

• Gold clipboard with 2018 calendar printable from This Little Street
• Weekly planner pad (with gold embossing!)
• Glitter Hello ornament
• Macrame key chain from Moss Points North
• Colorful phrase pencils
• Fabric flair magnets (that I made myself with a button machine Greg got me!)

Hopefully my swap partner enjoyed her package!


See also:
Goody Goody Gift Swap 2016 - Package Received
Goody Goody Gift Swap 2016 - Package Sent
Goody Goody Gift Swap 2015 - Package Received
Goody Goody Gift Swap 2015 - Package Sent

This Little Street 2018 Calendar

A couple of years ago, while experimenting with gold foil, a laser printer, and a laminator, I made a hexagon calendar where the months were gold foiled and watercolored in a rainbow.

For 2018 (like in 2017), I opted to print This Little Street's calendar:





The PDF is designed to be printed at 8.5 x 11, but I chose to print it both two to a page as well as six to a page so that I could trim down the edges and have smaller calendars to refer to at my computer desk.

For the six to a page, I put them in this Instax photo holder from Heidi Swapp. Look at how cute it is!




The only caveat is that the numbers are fairly small when printed at less than full size, so I wouldn't recommend half-size or smaller if eyesight is an issue (as it would be for me if ever I weren't wearing my glasses or contacts).

I've also been ogling This Little Street's fabrics on Spoonflower. I already have plenty of sewing projects in the pipeline, but nevertheless, visions of quilts floated in my head.

Fun fact: Audrey and I happened to be in a student organization together while in undergrad! I didn't really keep in touch with her, but stumbled on her blog a couple of years ago.

Bear Down Arizona Heat Transfer Vinyl Shirt

I first tried my hand at a heat vinyl shirt using my Silhouette Cameo when I made this "I am this many" heat transfer vinyl shirt for Parker, and it was easier and faster than I had built it up to be in my head.

I'd meant to get to this Bear Down Arizona shirt for Parker a while ago, but finally got to it over the weekend after picking up a plain T-shirt from Wal-mart the week before. Just in time for March Madness!

Just kidding. Too late for March Madness since the UofA didn't make it past the Sweet Sixteen last week. But Parker can still wear this shirt all year, because . . . school pride!



It doesn't show in the picture, but I think I over-applied the heat with my iron on some areas of the design. I can certainly see how a heat press makes sense for someone who makes a lot of shirts.

"I Am This Many" Heat Transfer Vinyl Shirt

Parker turns two in a couple of weeks, and just in time for that, I made this heat transfer vinyl "I am this many" shirt!

Greg got the Silhouette design almost a year ago from a former co-worker, but I didn't make it a priority to tackle this shirt project until recently, leading up to Parker's birthday. I got Siser EasyWeed Heat Transfer Vinyl in black from Amazon to try out.

I also picked up a shirt for Parker from Target. I didn't see any T-shirts that I liked, and the selection was slim seeing as how it is currently winter, so I ended up getting him a Henley shirt that was on clearance. I went with a size 3T so that he'd have the entire year to wear the shirt while he was actually two.



Before I tackled working with heat transfer vinyl for the first time, I did some quick self-education online.

The Silhouette Studio file came to me already reversed, so all I had to really do was make sure that I was cutting the correct side of the heat transfer vinyl (with the shiny plastic side DOWN).

When it came to applying the heat transfer vinyl, I found this How To Properly Iron-On Siser Heat Transfer Vinyl video on YouTube to be helpful. I also found this quick reference guide, Siser Easyweed Application Guidelines, that shows at-a-glance application and care instructions.

I have yet to see how well the shirt will hold up with repeated washings, but my initial impressions of using heat transfer vinyl is (1) this is neat and why didn't I do this sooner, and (2) I should use my Silhouette more!

Birthday Snail Mail

I received some snail mail from a craft blog pen pal (Stamping Smiles Designs) back in November, but was so busy with work that I waited until the holidays when I had some downtime to open it.

I enjoyed the handmade card (and the crafty goodies were a bonus)!





I feel a little guilty that I wasn't as good about sending out snail mail last year. I don't really do new year's resolutions, but I did think to myself that I would try to be better about sending out snail mail (timely!) this year. Easier said than done, I'm sure, when life gets busy!

Goody Goody Gift Swap 2016 - Package Sent

I couldn't pass up participating in this year's Goody Goody Gift Swap, and now that my swap partner (Courtney) has received and opened her package, I'm posting what I sent - the wrapping (which is half the fun) and the goods inside.

For the wrapping, I used gold with neutrals (white, kraft, and brown). I also incorporated feathers and/or doilies into the wrapping:



For the goods inside, I went for two main themes - local and paper goods/stationery:



In the package:

• LetterCraft cactus key chain
• Hello glitter ornament
• Paige Poppe "Follow Your Bliss" greeting card
• Floral origami paper
• Floral notebooks
• Floral star paper
• Gold mechanical pencil
• Colored lead (for mechanical pencil)
• Assortment of white and gold doilies
• Mini corked vial with scrolls (for writing notes!)

See also:
Goody Goody Gift Swap 2015 - Package Sent
Goody Goody Gift Swap 2015 - Package Received

Goody Goody Gift Swap 2016 - Package Received

I finally had a chance to sit down (i.e., no interruptions, at a time of day with decent natural light) and open the Goody Goody Gift Swap package I received from swap partner, Courtney!

I especially enjoyed the journal with the stitched binding and the necklace, which were both handmade. And, pretty washi tape is never a bad idea.

Out of the box:


Unwrapped goodies:


Close-ups of the handmade journal and necklace:






See also:
Goody Goody Gift Swap 2015 - Package Sent
Goody Goody Gift Swap 2015 - Package Received

Goody Goody Gift Swap 2015 - Package Received

This time last year, I stumbled on and participated in the Goody Goody Gift Swap, and I got a good swap partner (Nadia) who sent a very nice package:









The sign-up for this year's Goody Goody Gift Swap looks to be open now - closes December 2nd! I'm tempted to do it again this year, but I'm not sure if I'll have enough time between how busy work has been and being on vacation at the end of the month. We'll see!

See also:
Goody Goody Gift Swap 2015 - Package Sent
Pretty Postal Floral Swap 2016 - Sent
Pretty Postal Floral Swap 2016 - Received

Goody Goody Gift Swap 2015 - Package Sent

Time lately has felt like the saying, "The days are long, but the years are short." It's now mid-November and the holidays (Thankgiving, Christmas, and New Year's) are going to be upon us in no time.

As an aside . . . a quick Google search turned up that this quote is by Gretchen Rubin from her book, The Happiness Project. She writes about the quote in this blog post: The Days Are Long, But the Years Are Short. Add this to the list of things that I now cry about since becoming a parent!

Anyway, I've participated in a handful of swaps before over the years, and obviously, the results can be mixed depending on who you're matched with. I now have about a 60% success rate with a swap partner (or partners) NOT flaking out. It's disappointing when people sign up for a swap, but don't follow through. Last year I stumbled on and participated in the Goody Goody Gift Swap. Fortunately, this swap partner, Nadia, was really good (package I received in a later post!).

Here's the package I sent:



I should've blogged about the package I sent earlier, because now I don't remember what I included in a couple of them! But a few highlights:

• A pocket letter with various crafty goodies
• A mint-colored Instagram album
• A sampling of textured mini origami paper from Mako, our Japanese exchange student from 2010

And some more pictures!








See also:
Goody Goody Gift Swap 2015 - Package Received
Pretty Postal Floral Swap 2016 - Sent
Pretty Postal Floral Swap 2016 - Received

Tiny Letter Snail Mail and Stamp Collecting

I'll occasionally peruse the Search & Explore tab of Instagram. Back in June, I came across an Instagram post by Naomi Bulger, a snail mailer (among other things) out of Australia.

She'd made a bunch of tiny letters and was offering to send them off, so naturally, I signed up, because I cannot pass up an opportunity to receive neat snail mail.






The tissue paper used for the envelopes are from old postcard books, and separated each postcard. A canceled Australian stamp and a little handwritten haiku came inside, sealed with a drop of wax. The vellum envelope that the tissue paper envelope was mailed in also included colorful Australian postage.

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I'm not a hardcore stamp collector, but over the years, I have saved interesting stamps that I came across and do have a little stash stored away. I've thought about pulling them out just to look through them and maybe take some pictures (like, say, sorted by color or themes), but that requires pulling out a bunch of things from the closet and I haven't brought myself to do that just yet.

I say that I'm not a hardcore stamp collector, but I do remember when I was younger (I think middle school?) going to the library and checking out some books about stamp collecting and flipping through them. From those books, I gathered that I shouldn't actually cut stamps out from the envelope and should actually save the entire envelope with the canceled stamp(s). I don't know if that's still true or not, but that's how I stash stamps away now is with the envelopes they came on.

The other thing that I haven't figured out is how to get self-adhesive stamps off of envelopes (unlike the old ones where you use water to activate the glue). To be fair, I haven't Googled or researched it because it hasn't been a priority, but it's crossed my mind!

Paper Party 2016 Art Print

Back in June, I saw on the Oh So Beautiful blog that they were offering to send out extra hologram art prints created for Paper Party 2016 (it's a party hosted by Oh So Beautiful Paper at the National Stationery Show), so I signed up for one of those babies.

I then forgot about it soon after, because when it finally arrived in July, I didn't know what it was until I opened it:



Ooh, so shiny and pretty . . . I'm not complaining about getting snail mail!

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It's been over a month since I sat down and really did any crafting after a busy month of travel in August (both for work and for fun). Although I'm now getting into a busier time of year at work, I'm looking forward to finding some time to scrapbook this month. Last weekend, I printed a slew of 4x6 photos at the Costco photo center, including a bunch of photos of Parker as an infant. Shhhhhhh . . . that I haven't yet finished the set of Project Life baby photo pages that I started for Evelyn's first year . . . shhhhhhh. Oh, and I'm trying to tame the guilt I feel right now associated with not having blogged Parker's 11th and 12th months.