Visual Designs by Chris

Chris Durnan

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Archives for May 2012

Fireflies and Lightening Bugs

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For Mother’s Day we made a few Lightening Bugs. My hubby knows that I love to craft. So he was happy to sit at the table with us and draw some faces and make one. Wow. Can I just say.. He is the best… I really cannot express. We had such a great day and that was the best for me.

 I saw these on pinterest. We made them with plastic Easter eggs we got super cheap, Sharpie paint Pens for the eyes, Bic Mark-its, Glue for the wings, pipe cleaners for the legs, a piercing tool to poke holes in the egg for the legs and antennae, battery operated tea light. Overall looking at them you can see what we did. The best part was holding the clothespin to hold the wings in place.

So here is a fun photo shoot of our silly lightening bugs. We gave two to my Mother In Law and she loved them. Being from Minnesota, as they sit over summer on the patio with friends, I am sure they will be quite the conversation piece with friends. So fun.

Enjoy!
Chris

Clothespins helped the wings dry in place. 
I cut two different types of wings and everyone chose their own style. fun!
These two below in the front are my sons cute smiley ones.
My hubby did the one in the back on the right below
and mine have the white eyes. So fun!
And here is how the light fits in perfect. And makes their little butts light up. I will try to get a night time photo soon.  My MIL loved hers and I love mine. 
We still have another one to give my Mom when we see her next. So fun. 

To get quick fun updates of things going on, you can join my facebook page.

My files in the store can be located here. Thank you for stopping by!

Retro Post – What Should I do Jar?

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Summer is here… wooohoo! So wanted to remind you of this quick project that might help you through the summer months with kids of any kind… grand, greats, cousins, friends. If you have any ideas I  could add let me know. I am looking for self-motivated ideas to add to the list and refresh “the jar” for this summer.
I am  taking new ideas to add on my facebook page to… HERE I’d love to have yours here on my blog or on facebook.

You can see my original post here. 

Here is the original Conglomeration list from that post of ideas you can make your own.

I can say the two hits were freeze a toy and excavate it out, Marshmallow and toothpick model. I don’t know why these were fun but they were for my son!

A conglomeration list.
Make homemade finger paints
Make a masterpiece with sidewalk chalk
Go on a bike ride
Make a treasure map and go on a hunt
Make your own Memory game and play
Create puppets and put on a show
Build a bed sheet fort
Write and illustrate your own story
Make your own movie
Make a card for the next person’s birthday.
Make a crayon/watercolor painting
Write some thank you notes
Create artwork using your hand/footprints
Activities w/ colored pasta
Make old coins shiny w/ salt and vinegar
Play pretend restaurant
Decorate letters cut from the Cricut
Red Light/Green Light
Play “Hot and Cold”
Play Hide and Seek
Make an obstacle course and time yourselves
Make a collage of your favorite things
Make an ABC book
Go on a color hunt
Create sculptures using toothpicks and marshmallows
Make masks from paper plates
Reverse treasure hunt
Make homemade bubbles
Make HUGE bubbles
Wash cars and bikes
Paint cement with water
Jump on tramp
Water games in the backyard
Squirt bottle tag
Learn some origami
Have a dance party
Have a pretend “drive-in” theater
clean up bathroom
paint a chalk mural
play checkers
play with your puppy
brush your horse
brush your dog
learn a new card game to teach M&D
play in sandbox
skate on patio
write a story
clean up patio
take a swim in the water tank
work on a wolf elective
write a thank you note
read for 15 minutes
color a page in your  coloring book
make a card for the next birthday
make something out of a craft magazine
put together a sock puppet show
make your bed
clean up your legos
run through the sprinkler
play uno or guess who?
play with bubbles
fly a kite
clean up your fort area
go through your sock drawer &
matchup socks teach Freckles a new
trick
call someone & tell them a joke
make a bird feeder
fill the bird feeders
write a secret code & mail the message & the code seperate
cut out pictures of your favorite things from a magazine
find a new recipe
cut letters on the cricut and decorate them
work on 2nd grade spelling words
practice scout motto, pledge and handshake
play with Legos
make your own Lego pattern with Lego builder
write and send a cousin a letter cut from magazine letters
write and send a cousin a letter or picture drawing practice crab crawl
make little cars out of boxes and
house goodie
Create puzzles from drawings/photos
Set up a mini golf course
Make pinwheels
Play a board game
Do some school worksheets
Have an impromptu photoshoot w/ props
Draw while blindfolded
Make slime
Make your own “Headbandz” game and play
Freeze things in ice and “dig” them out
Dress ups
Play charades
Research a topic on the internet (w/mom or dad)
Play with the R/C cars
Make a craft from mom’s idea
Straw and cotton ball race on the kitchen table
Do a pretend cooking show
Make finger puppets
Interview family members
Make a family tree
Write in your journal
Do something nice for someone else
Take care of our garden
Do a Wolf Scout elective
Play in the playhouse/swings
Memorize a poem
Do a science experiment
Diet Coke and Mentos experiment
Make up a secret code and write notes
bake cookies/brownies
make homemade ice cream
clean up book shelf.
Make homemade finger paints
Make a masterpiece with sidewalk chalk
Go on a bike ride
Make a treasure map and go on a hunt
Make your own Memory game and play
Create puppets and put on a show
Build a fort
Write and illustrate your own story
Make your own movie
Make a crayon/watercolor painting
Write some thank you notes
Create artwork using your hand/footprints
Activities w/ colored pasta
Make old coins shiny w/ salt and vinegar
Play pretend restaurant
Decorate letters cut from the Cricut
Red Light/Green Light
Play “Hot and Cold”
Play Hide and Seek
Make an obstacle course and time yourselves
Make a collage of your favorite things
Make an ABC book
Go on a color hunt
Create sculptures using toothpicks and marshmallows
Make masks from paper plates
Reverse treasure hunt
Make homemade bubbles
Make HUGE bubbles
Wash cars and bikes
Paint cement with water
Jump on tramp
Water games in the backyard
Squirt bottle tag
Learn some origami
Have a dance party
Have a pretend “drive-in” theater
Create puzzles from drawings/photos
Set up a mini golf course
Make pinwheels
Play a board game
Do some school worksheets
Have an impromptu photoshoot w/ props
Draw while blindfolded
Make slime
Make your own “Headbandz” game and play
Freeze things in ice and “dig” them out
Dress ups
Play charades
Research a topic on the internet (w/mom or dad)
Play with the R/C cars
Make a craft from mom’s idea
Straw and cotton ball race on the kitchen table
Do a pretend cooking show
Make finger puppets
Interview family members
Make a family tree
Write in your journal
Do something nice for someone else
Take care of our garden
Do a Wolf Scout elective
Play in the playhouse/swings
Memorize a poem

To get quick fun updates of things going on, you can join my facebook page.

My files in the store can be located here. Thank you for stopping by!

Turtle – redo .. paint suggestion?

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My Aunt Elise from across the country had these super cute turtle guys on her steps. There are three of them. I saw them and said wow how cute and they ended up on my doorstep. yeah! This is one. I got them and I want to repaint them in style. I have been waiting for the color inspiration. They are like the coated plaster.  I have no idea what kind of paint to use on them. But I found some inspiration color.

I saw this guys at my local grocery store below. He was quite pricey almost half the cost of this table set he was sitting on. Which was also suppper cute! I love those bright colors in my desert brown environment. 
So I want to take some of the colors and paint those little turtles.  A project for summer. Something to keep busy in the evening I just have to add the right kind of paint and so there I am stuck. 
They are not plastic. They are heavy but not concrete. 
So any thoughts? I’ll take them before I start. I love them!
Enjoy!
Chris

To get quick fun updates of things going on, you can join my facebook page.

My files in the store can be located here. Thank you for stopping by!

Card: Thank you

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A thank you card with an Astrology touch. This card was created by Creative Team Member Sussann. I love the simplicity but I also love the Thank you Cards.

Here is what Sussann had to say about the card and the cut.

How elegant is this thank you card? It cut like a dream. It’s so pretty on it’s own, all I did was layer it over a patterned piece of card stock. Instant thank you card. This file is a great value, because it comes with two other card fronts – a congrats and I miss you card front – and an underneath layer with tiny stars! You can find it here – Astrology Double Layer Cards.

Thank you as always to all my Creative Team members. You are awesome! Enjoy!
Chris

To get quick fun updates of things going on, you can join my facebook page.

My files in the store can be located here. Thank you for stopping by!

Cody Update

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So our two border collies have decided to be friends. Often they can be found playing in the arena and annoying Greg’s Rosie (horse). Or more recently snuggling in the house
on the rug. Haha! Freckles didn’t want to hear me razz her anymore about it so she covered her ears.
Enjoy!
Chris



Father’s Day Card

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Welcome to all those visiting from Card A Day Blog. Today my theme is Father’s Day. I was looking through all my pictures and this card just brought a huge smile to my face. I think this was one of my first files offered on my blog over 8 years ago and also one of my favorite and long time Creative Team members, Angie, created it. So lots of yeah and wow.
Plus these colors would be perfect for my Dad! The outdoorsy feel.

You can see more of what Angie posted about it .. here in our gallery.. And yes when you look at the name of the card and Angie listed Design Team 2007. It has been that long she has been on my Creative team. Woohoo! Phenomenal Lady and design. Love everything she does.

Thank you Angie for years and years of creativity using one of my files.

Enjoy!
Chris

To get quick fun updates of things going on, you can join my facebook page.

My files in the store can be located here. Thank you for stopping by!

CT Layout for VDBC

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It seems as though it has been forever since I posted a layout created for Chris from Visual Designs By Chris (VDBC) . Chris, and Lori of Beloved Keepsakes fame, have a QMC that has just finished and this is one of Chris’s files from that collection.

I have used CD00921 – Soccer for this layout. Steve has just started playing Soccer and this week came home with the “Player of the Week” trophy and certificate. Chris’s file was perfect. I have added textures and styles to the cutter files to add dimension, but this layout has also been designed to show that personal cutter files can also be used successfully to create digital scrap layouts as well as traditional paper and card.

created by aussie_caz using PhotoShop CS5

Digi-Cutter Files offered in SCUT, GSD, KNK, WPC & AI (SVG) at www.visualdesignsbychris.com

Cub Camp Visor – HTV project

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First let me apologize if this comes over twice. My phone has had a pending post on my blogger app for about three days and well I decided to quit waiting for it and redo it. I am bummed that the blogger app doesn’t work as well as I’d like because
I’d like to sit in the evenings and do my blog posts. So I am on the look for something new in that venue.

But on to my Cub Camp Visor.

Cub Camp is coming up and I like to wear visors that go completely around in the back. These are harder to find then I thought they would be. When it is 110 outside having a visor hold your hair up off your neck is just a little reprieve from the heat. I wanted a blue visor I could wear to match my Class B Pack uniform and so I made this visor out of heat transfer vinyl (the same as the shirts I made) and some bling I picked up at a retreat with Sandy McCauley. It was fun to do. I ironed the HTV on  to the visor and it was alot easier then I thought it would be with the curve. I actually ironed over the stitching and it stuck well. I didn’t want to go over the stitches, but there wasn’t another way to do it. The bling was a little crazier, but it worked. I freehand placed them and used my Jolee tool to heat set them.  I am thinking about getting another and doing a red white and blue version maybe. We shall see. I just know it will be nice to have something that matches for camp, but will be easy to wear otherwise as well. Hope you like and have a wonderful day!
Enjoy!
Chris

To get quick fun updates of things going on, you can join my facebook page.

My files in the store can be located here. Thank you for stopping by!

Horse Time – Happy Mother’s Day!

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I just realized my Mother’s Day post never published. so here it is a little late.. but so fun!

Happy Mother’s Day!!! Hope you are having a wonderful day. Thought I would share some pics of one of my favorite pastimes with my guys.

We are in that two week time frame of spring here in arizona. Where you can breathe the air without feeling like you are going to combust from the heat. So we took advantage of it and worked with the horses. My son impresses me always as he works with his horse. His calm reminds me of his Dad and his canny knack to get a horse to stop and listen to him.  He has been riding on his own since he was 4. He is a better rider then I am at the age of ….. Well lets not go there.  Here are some photos to enjoy!

Thank you to my hubby for parenting with me and being such an awesome Dad. Without you, I would be at such a loss. We have the best kid in the world, but you are a big part of why he is.
Enjoy!
– Chris

Card: Monogram L

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 Another card by Sussann. Love it. This card is part of a Monogram file I have been giving away on my blog in pieces. Those who are current QMC members have access to those past files in the forum. I’d love to see how you use it. !

Here is what Sussann had to say about the card…..

I made this card using a free file Chris posted on her blog. I cut the initial out of pink and inked the edge. I layered it on a patterned piece of paper, edges also inked. Instant card!

Thank you Sussann!! Enjoy!
Chris

To get quick fun updates of things going on, you can join my facebook page.

My files in the store can be located here. Thank you for stopping by!