Makin' Waves!

Well, I thought I would jump in on a few challenges this week.
Die Cuttin Diva's has a sketch challenge with a kids theme and Fantabulous Cricut has a fun water theme challenge.

So I combined the two into this cutie.

The little swimmer is a cut file from the talented Lisa over at Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons. She has started her own online store with graphics and svg files. This little swimmer is from her store here.

Here's how I did it....
Base card is A2 size
Pattern paper from My Minds Eye
All other paper from my scrap box
Mat/layers cut at 3.75' from Elegant edges
Little Swimmer SVG file from Prettypapergraphics.com
Sentiment from CTMH Making Waves stamp set
Cuttlbug embossing folder seeing spot
Buttons from my stash

Ice Cream Challenge Fun over at Celebrate the Occasion this Week.

To see my Ginger Snap Scrap Design Team day post click here.

I am back with another Celebrate the Occasion Challenge for you this week.
This week the theme is all about ice cream!
Who doesn't love ice cream? Being it has been such a hot summer, this challenge was perfect to try and think about something cool.

I came across a cute cut file for an ice cream truck and little girl.
The ice cream truck just did not work out how I wanted it to, but the little girl sure is cute.
I then cut a couple ice cream cones from the Birthday Bash cart and added them on top of a mat from Elegant edges.
Looks like she is dreaming of a cool treat to find some relief from this heat.

Hope you will hop over and join me and the rest of the DT for some cool treats and show us your ice cream inspired project.

Here's How I did it...
A2 card base on white card stock
Pattern papers all form my scrap stash
Little girl sized and cut from svg file over at Bear Hugs
Peachy Keen face stamps for face
Mats sized and cute from Elegant Edges
Ice Cream cones cut at 1" from Birthday Bash
Sentiment from Scrappy Moms Stamps
Stickles and gem stickers for fun.

Paper Piecing with My Favorite Things

Today is my  DT day over at Ginger Snap Scraps. 


Today I did a card using a favorite stamp line of mine, My Favorite Things and their Pure Innocence stamps, to do a card using the paper piecing method. 

I like stamping and coloring,  I am just not that good at it yet. So a good alternative is to paper piece some of the stamped parts of an image.


For those of you that are not aware of how to do this, it is quite simple. 
You stamp your image on whatever paper your are going to use for the base. 


Now for the fun part. For my card, I wanted to use the cute flower pattern paper for her dress. So I stamped the image onto the pattern paper (Just love this paper. It's from Bo Bunny and can be found over at Ginger Snap Scraps) and then cut around the part of the dress I wanted to have this pattern. 
Once cut out, I just glued it onto the base image. 


Now, I do suggest if you will be doing any coloring with markers to the image, do this first and then add our paper piecing items. I continued and did the same for the top part of the dress and the kite. I did pop up the kit with pop dots for some added dimension.


It's a great way for anyone to use these stamps and create one of a kind looks without having to worry about blending marker colors. 


Here's How I did it....
Base card is yellow Bazzill card stock
Pattern papers all from the Bo Bunny Hello Sunshine Paper stack
Image and sentiment is from My Favorite Things, Aim High
Sparklies from my stash

GSS Christmas in July Blog Hop- Day 2!

Welcome back to day 2 of our Christmas In July Blog Hop with the Ginger Snap Scraps Design Team!

If you came from Ashley's blog then you are in the right spot!
If you want to start form the beginning, click here.

Wow, there were so many great projects yesterday, I can't wait to see what everyone has done for day 2. 

If you missed yesterday, no worries, let me bring you up to speed.

This weekend, the Design Team is featuring projects all about Christmas! Yes, I know, already! But it is only 5 months away!

I found this a great little nudge to get started on holiday cards. I figure one here and there will build my stash so I am ready to send cards in December.

So my card today is a 6x6 card with a kraft paper base again. I really do love kraft card stock.

I used many scraps of several papers for this card, but the red and red star pattern papers were from the Authentique Glory paper Pad. I love this stack and have used it so much that I had to order another one already. You can get one too right now over at the GSS online store.

I used the Elegant edges cart for the mats, the boot was cut at 3.25" from the Just Because Cards cart and the holly leaves from the CM Tis the Season cartridge. I added a brad, some twine, sticker pearls and a bow from my stash. The sentiment is from my very own BugBites stamp set, Mistletoe .

Now I don't want to keep you waiting, there is so much more to see from the DT.

But first there is blog candy!  

GSS is giving away 2 - $10 gift card to Ginger Snap Scraps!

Just leave a comment here and let us know that you did the following:

• Head over to Ginger Snap Scraps and follow the blog!
• Head over to Ginger Snap Scraps on Facebook and like them!

Thank you for stopping by. Now, let's get hopping over to Connie's blog to see what she has in store for us!

Here is the entire line up in case you get lost along the way...

Ginger Snap Scraps - http://ginger-snap-scraps.blogspot.com

Ann - http://annsnovemberrose.blogspot.com

Ashley - http://theglamoroussideofscrapping.blogspot.com

Barb - http://bugbites411.blogspot.com -- you are here

Connie - http://conniecancrop.blogspot.com-- your next stop

Gabrielle - http://gabyspapery.blogspot.com

Janea - http://recollectionalley.blogspot.com

Jessica - http://chick-n-scrap.blogspot.com

Kate - http://scrapperscreativecorner.blogspot.com

Maria - http://joyfulstamper.blogspot.com

Patty - http://creativediva98.blogspot.com

Sarah - http://sarahvaitstamps.blogspot.com

Mother's Day Cascading card

Over at Ginger Snap Scraps, the DT is posting Mother's Day inspired projects.
I recently saw a tutorial for a cascading card here at My Crafty Life. It looked fairly straight forward so thought I would give it a try. It was so easy to follow. The hard part was decorating it.

Looks Like a bouquet of flowers

When the card is flat to mail

I am pretty happy with how it turned out for the first time.
I am stuck on using these great papers from the Lawn Fawn Paper pack. Can't seem to get enough of them.
This and the twine from Twinery can be found in the Ginger Snap Scraps store.


I am also linking this up to the following...Hope you stop over at all these great blogs and join in.
My Paper Craft World Mothers Day Challenge
Fantabulous Cricut 
My Sheri Crafts
More Than Favors Wacky Wednesday
Cardz TV- Mothers Day 

Side view showing how it unfolds

Here's How I did it...
Pink base paper from Bazzill
All pattern papers for flowers from Lawn Fawn 6x6 stack
Flowers cut at various sizes ( 1.35" - 1.65") from Sweet Treats cart
Leaves cut .5" from Walk in My Garden cart
Mat/layers cut from Elegant Edges cart
Mothers Day cut at 2.17" from Mothers Day 2010 cart
EK border punch
Stickles and Twine from the Twinery

Happy Monday- Have a blooming good day!

It's Monday and I had a great weekend scrapping with some friends. I was trying to work on a scrapbook of pictures from a group trip last year. In between pages, I tried to get some smaller projects completed, a gift card, thank you card, etc. 


Paper Sundaes has a challenge this week called "Let's Get Cute" - pull out your cute stamps or images for a project. 
Well, a while back I had picked up my first Pure Innocence stamp. I have ooh'd and ahh'd over them many times, but never made the purchase before because I am not very good with my markers; blending colors, highlighting, and all that good stuff.  
And, I have never paper pieced with a stamped image before. So, this was a good chance to try it. 

The dress was the biggest challenge to get all the little dress pieces trimmed out after stamping on the pattern paper. I am pretty happy with how this turned out. I might have to do this again soon!


Here's How I did it....
A2 base card on Kraft stock with inked edges
All pattern papers from My Minds Eye A beautiful Life 6x6 paper stack
Pure Innocence Blooming Good Day stamp colored with Copic markers
Mat sized on the Gypsy from Elegant Edges
Ribbon from my stash
All edges inked with Tim Holz ink

I'm a Guest Designer Today!!

Happy Tuesday!

I am so excited because today I am a Guest Designer over at Cooking with Cricut. 

This is one of my favorite challenge sites not to mention the great projects and ideas they have each week.

For my Guest Designer spot, I have created this Diva Card using one of my favorite cartridges, Pack Your Bags. 

I think it is one of my favorites because the images are all about travel. I love to travel and travel a lot for work, so I use this cartridge often when scrapping.

I find many of the cuts can be modified slightly for other purposes other than travel or beach scenes. 

 

Example, my card today features this gal with a drink in her hand. She could be strolling in the sun sipping lemonade. But in my case, I gave her a stylish purse and now she's a shopping diva!!

Hopefully she's shopping for scrapbooking supplies.

 

Hope this inspires you to use this cartridge for things other than travel related ones.

Here's How I did it...

Card base is standard A2 size cut using Elegant edges

Pattern is October Afternoon, all other paper is from my scrap stash

Scallop mat cut at 4" x 5.25" from Elegant Edges

Girl/layers cut at 5" from Pack Your Bags

Purse cut at 1.25" from create A Critter

Sentiment from MPS Pinka-licious stamp set

Ribbon is Stampin' Up

Stickles, chalk and doodles with my gel pen.

Peachy Keen Challenge card

I have been meaning to use this drummer girl from the Rock Princess cart for a while now to go with one of my stamps from the BugBites All Year Round stamp set. 

When I saw the Peachy Keen Stamps Sketch Challenge #58 this week, the design popped right into my head. 

I think this would be a great card for a 16th Birthday card. Hop on over to PKS and give this weeks sketch a try.

Here's how I did it....

Card base is standard A2 size

Pattern paper from Echo Park, Reminisce and BoBunny
Drummer girl/layers cut at 4.5" from Rock Princess cart
Face stamped using PKS Happy Lashes stamp set

Top black mat cut at 4.25" from Elegant Edges using the shadow feature
Lots of stickles and bling with my irock
Sentiment from BugBites All Year Round stamp set

BugBites Sneak Peeks Keep On A Comin'!

Only a few more days before the big reveal. 

I still have two more days of peeks for you. 

Don't forget about my give a ways this week. 

I'll be giving away a BugBites All Year Round stamp set EACH day to one lucky follower who leaves a comment on the daily post, Aug 1st-7th. 

Winners will be selected and posted on August 8th when I reveal the entire set. 

So if your are just joining us today, you still have time to leave  comments on the previous days for additional chances to win. 

For today's peeks, Sarah and Jenny have created some super cute things for you.

Sarah

 Jenny

And here is my spooky card.

Here's How I did it...

All paper from my stash

Base of card cut from Elegant Edges

Base embossed with Jim Holtz Cobwebs embossing folder

Window die cut welded onto card base at 2" x2"

Crow w/layers cut at 3.72" from Mini Monsters

Crow hat embossed with Cuttlebug Morrocan Screen

Crow body embossed with Cuttlebug Swiss Dots

Martha Stewart Drippy Goo border punch

Sentiment from BugBites All Year round stamp set

Squiggle eyes and doodles with my gel pen

Thanks for stopping by.

Lemonade anyone?

Wow- it is Thursday already- where does the time go. We had record temperatures 48 hours ago, over 100 degrees, now today feels like we are only going to be in the 60's maybe low 70's. How weird is the weather this year for everyone, right?

I was lucky enough to have received one of the  Provocraft Mother's Day flowers from Robin over at Robin's Creative Cottage. The flower allows me a chance to experience the Cricut Circle for 3 months.  

I have discovered that there is a member only Cricut Circle Blog and they have a bunch of challenges going on all the time. You know how I love challenges. 

So here we go....

We have a local week long summer festival here each year and one of the events is the Lemonade Art Fair.

It's a great event with lots of crafters, fresh squeezed lemonade and music. 

The Cricut Circle Monthly challenge this month is to do a project using at least 4 Cricut Cuts from any cartridge in your design and at least 3 Imaginisce products like their paper, I-top, I-Rock, Stickers, ribbon or any other product they produce in your design. 

I love this brand. They have the cutest paper. 

I put the thoughts of lemonade and the challenge together for a layout that I have already for my pictures that I will have from the art fair later this summer. Isn't this paper just perfect for a lemonade themed page.

The Imaginisce products I used are the Berrylicious Pattern paper, Canvas stickers, ribbon from the Animal Cracker collection and my i-rock for a bit of bling. This was such a fun challenge.

Here's how I did it...

12x12 background paper is Imaginisce from Berrylicious collection

All other paper from my scrap stash

Glass of lemonade/layers cut at 5" from Just Because Cards

Lemons cut at .5", 2.5" & 2.75" from Simply Charmed

Lemonade/layers title cut at 5.05" x 1.82" using my Gypsy from Simply Charmed

Art Fair/layers cut at 1.42" sized with the Gypsy from Mickey Font

Scallop mats cut at 4.5" x 6.5" sized on the Gypsy  from Elegant Edges

Canvas stickers from Imaginisce from Berrylicious collection

Red polka dot ribbon from Imaginisce animal cracker collection

Rhinestones using my i-rock from Imaginisce

PKS Happy Lashes faces

Yellow stickles on the lemon

Glossy Accents on the lemonade in the glass

Less than 24 hours to the Grillin' n Chillin' Bug Hop part 2!

Just a quick reminder to all of you out there that the final weekend of the

Grillin' & Chillin' Bug Hop will begin at 7am CST tomorrow morning, June 4.

Like my little bug in the blinky badge above shows - nothing says summer like a cold glass of lemonade.

So here's a chilled glass of sweet and sour lemon goodness to get you realxed and ready to hop along with us tomorrow. 

Here's how I did it....

Paper from my stash

Base of the card is 2 shapes from Elegant Edges, 4.06", welded together with my gypsy, I used the Shadow cut

Card front cut 3.86" from same Elegant Edges shape 

Glass/layers cut at 2.82" from Just Because Cards

Ladybug/layers cut at  .75" from Doodlecharms

Lemons cut at 1.15" & 1.41" from Simply Charmed

Faces from PKS

Sentiment is from Scrappy Moms

Ribbon from my stash

Glossy accents on the glass and a sprinkle of stickles

See ya tomorrow morning for our Bug Hop and a chance to win a Cricut cartridge!

It's a Bug Hop!

Welcome to BugBites first ever Bug Hop!

To celebrate the beginning of summer, I am hosting two consecutive weekends of Bug Hops.

This weekend it is all about the Grillin’, at least that is what I think of when I think of summer.

  
The smell of charcoal, sitting in the sun on the deck and juicy burgers- that's summer! Block Party is a great cartridge for summer party fun. This 5x7 card is great for a guys birthday or Father's day. I cut the grill king at 5" and the grill slightly smaller. I used the elegant edges cart for the banner after printing my own sentiment.

 

Each designer along the bug hop trail is also featuring a project based on the Grillin’ & Chillin’ theme to inspire you -- they have done an awesome job.  I can't wait for you to see what they have in store for you.

What’s more exciting about this bug hop is you too can participate by creating a project and linking it up here for a chance to win the Kate's ABCs Cricut Cartridge

But, there’s a twist. 

Your project must include at least one Cricut cut and one of the critters that have been hidden within some of the bug stop blogs. Be sure to visit all the bug stops in the list below to find all your critter choices. Then pick one to include on your project before linking up. The critter you pick can be any size, color, sticker, diecut, etc on your project.  Once you have linked your project, be sure to become a follower of BugBites if you  are not already.

While you are looking for the critters, be sure to check out the blog candy that each designer has to offer you as well. 

You don't want to miss out on any of it!

So let's get started. Here is the Bug Hop line up for you to follow.

Barb      http://www.bugbites411.blogspot.com/ ~ your are here
Jenny    http://jennyplace26.blogspot.com/ ~Your next stop!
Kerie     http://kerieskafe.blogspot.com
Larelyn  http://handmadefromtheheart-designsbylarelyn.blogspot.com
Saundra www.luvscrappingtogether.blogspot.com
Amber   www.amberscraftsandstuff.com
Shana   www.scrapinshana.blogspot.com
Sher      www.patternsbysher.blogspot.com
Deb       http://debspaperpassion.blogspot.com
Amber   www.pixiperfectcreations.blogspot.com/
Jessica  http://chick-n-scrap.blogspot.com
Dana     http://iwycd.blogspot.com/
Ashley   http://shellyscrafts.blogspot.com
Debra    http://debican01.blogspot.com/
Lisa      http://indymermaid.blogspot.com
Glenda  http://www.glendascards.blogspot.com/
Pat N    www.patsscraps.blogspot.com
Sherri   http://sherriescraps.blogspot.com
Melissa http://melspurplegiraffe.blogspot.com/

Remember, once you have hopped to all the bug stops, it's your turn to show us your Grillin’ & Chillin’ project.

Bug Hop Challenge Rules:

Be a BugBites follower, include at least one Cricut cut and one of the hidden critters on your project. Project must be linked up by Midnight CST May 30 to be eligible for the prize.


Have fun and thanks for hopping with us!

Grillin' and Chillin' Bug Hop coming soon!

Well, it is raining, AGAIN!

Goodness, we have had enough rain already. 

I want to remind you all that myself and 38 other designers have been getting ready to bring you the first ever Bug Hop x 2, Grillin' & Chillin! 

That's right, we're kicking off the summer season with two weekends of Bug hopping. 

So you can participate with the us, there will be a challenge each weekend with the chance to win a great prize.

Each of the designers over the two weekends will also have blog candy. 

So that's two weekends of of blog candy, prizes and good old Bug Hopping fun! It doesn't get any better than that. It all starts May 28 at 7am CST.

I was catching up on the blogs I follow this morning and saw that 

Card Creations & More by C is having a challenge called Wobbles, Pops or Shakes!

I have not used my wobbles in a while so it inspired me to do a little card for the challenge. 

I have also been playing with my new E2. 

Wow- there is a lot to learn and get to know about this new machine. 

 

One of the carts the machine comes with is American Alphabet. 

There are some great cuts on this cartridge.

I picked the fish and matched it to a sentiment from Scrappy Moms Charmed Life stamp set. 

The fish would be cute on a wobble, bobbing around under the sea....right?

Here's how I did it....

All paper from my stash

Card base,  a scallop circle on p. 23 of Elegant Edges,  was sized using my gypsy to 4.25" square, duplicated the shape and placed it next to the first one to make a folded card. 

I also welded a rectangle between the shapes for better folding.

Scallop circle layers cut at 4.25"  as well from Elegant Edges, p. 23

Fish/layers cut at 2" from American Alphabet, p. 39

Bubbles/layers cut at 2.15" from Sponge Bob 

Sentiment from Scrappy Mom Charmed life stamp set

Gems and doodles with my gel pen as well as a bit of ribbon from my stash

Hippity Hoppity....

I had to travel out of town again for business. Before I left, I took 30 minutes to through together this card and am now up late at the hotel posting it. There are a few challenges out there using bunnies.

This is a mini 3"x 3" card. The secret to doing this super duper quick card is to have a stash of die cuts ready to pull out at any time. Fortunately, I had a bunny in the stash. It was a duplicate from the spring card post here.

The idea to have a stash of die cuts came from a post I saw at FCCB Quick Tip Tuesday's

When cutting a shape for a project, why not cut extra to have on hand. I started to do this and have a very mini stash started. So this morning, I grabbed some shapes and glues them down. 

What I have learned is I really need to build up this stash. makes it so quick and easy to make a quick card.

I am linking this card to the following challenges... 

Cooking with Cricut

Daisy Doodles

Celebrate the Occassion

Cricut Cardz Challenge

 

How I did it....

Bunny and layers cut at 2" from Kate's ABCs

Frame and circle were left over pices from other cuts form other projects. 

Base of card is 6"x3" when folded is 3"x3"

Sentiment is from My Pink Stamper 

Inside sentiment says Happy Easter also from My Pink Stamper

Pink Stamper Blog Hop Challenge

Last night My Pink Stamper had a blog hop with a challenge. I was traveling home from being in Florida on business so got home late and was not up to blog hopping. 

I caught up late this afternoon. The challenge is anything Birthday. 

Wacky Wednesday challenge is also about Birthdays and My Sheri Crafts has a challenge to use buttons. 

As I was trying to come up with an idea, I also came across A blog hop/challenge over at Creative Cutter Room. This

is what finally got me to my final design for tonight's Birthday card. Just so happens to be my DH's Birthday today as well- Happy Birthday!

 This birthday easel card has a little of everything, ribbon, stickles, chalk, a cricut cut, an svg cut, a wobble spring, and more.

You cannot see it in the photo, but the clown has a wobble spring so he wiggles back and forth. 

Here's how I did it....

All paper is from my scrap stash

Easel card base is 4.25" x 10" scored at 5" and 7.5"

Circle frame/layers cut at 5" from Elegant Edges, p. 60

Clown/layers cut at 4.25" from Lettering Delights Let's Play svg file set

Ticket for sentiment cut at 1" from Summer Vacation

Happy Birthday sentiment from My Pink Stamper Sweet Baby stamp set

May your Day.. sentiment from My Pink Stamper Everyday Sentiments stamp set

Sentiments stamp with Stampin Up Nights of Navy

Ribbon & buttons from my stash

Brown and Navy chalk around edges of clown and frame

Doodles with gel pen

Red, yellow, orange and clear stickles

Pop dots, and a Wobble spring on the clown. 

My new Easter CTMH Stamp set and a bunch of Challenges.

Gosh, I feel like I am finally getting caught up with everyone's blogs after being on vacation. I really loved the cruise, but the Wifi on the ship was not as speedy as I would have liked, so I was not able to follow everyone's blogs like I normally do. Not to mention, I missed so many challenges.

So as you all know how much I like challenges, I have an Easter card that fits the bill for a few. 

I recently got a new Easter Stamp set from CTMH, Bunny Love. It is soooo cute! I also wanted to try a cut from a new Cricut cart, Elegant Edges. I used copic markers to color the bunny.

I will be linking to the following challenges....

Creative Sisters Monday Challenge

Fun with Shapes an More

Paper Cutz Challenge

Scrapbookaholic By Abby Challenge #2

Here's how I did it...

Standard A2 card

All paper is from my scrap stash

Frame and layers cut at 3.5" from Elegant Edges

Stamped image from CTMH Bunny Love stamp set

Sentiment from Pink by Design Spring has Sprung stamp set

White baby rick rack

Ribbon from my stash