Monday, February 28, 2011

More Exciting News!!

OK, I am back, did ya miss me? lol!!
I had a hard time keeping all this news to myself for this past week. What an exciting week for me!

So on with the rest of my exciting news for today.....I'm going to be part of the Frosted Designs DT beginning March 1!!!!

I could not believe my email in box when I got this notice. The designers on this team are fantastic and I can't wait to get started. not to mention, you all know how I feel about challenges- Love them!

Frosted Designs hosts weekly challenges that really get he creative juices flowing. They also host a weekly sketch challenge for those of you that like sketch's. Please be sure to stop by to visit and congratulate the rest of the DT this week. I would love it if you all would join in on the fun.

My first project post will be March 11...Yikes I have a lot to do! I better stop writing and get to it.

It's Monday and I Can Spill the Beans!!!

Happy Monday everyone!!

I am so glad Monday morning is finally here. As I mentioned, I would have some news to share soon, well, soon is now. I am going to be starting my term on the new Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog's Design Team!!!  

You all know how I love to do challenges, so I couldn't be more excited. 

If you have not stopped over at FCCB, I encourage you to do so sooner than later. There are challenges, projects, tutorials, quick tips and more. Every day of the week you will find something new. It is a blog not to be missed. 

My first project post is March 7 so please be sure to stop by and take a look and join in on the fun.

Stay tuned for even more news coming your way....

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Have a Scent-sational Day!

Hey everyone--- got tied up working on some other projects yesterday so didn't get a chance to post anything. You'll have to keep checking back because I have lots of cool stuff happening that I will be able to start sharing with you next week. 

Got my new Scrappy Moms Furry Friends stamp set in the mail this past week so had to try it out right away. This card isn't at all animal related, but that is how diverse these stamp sets can be.

So, this is for all of you who follow my blog or just occasionally stop by to see what's happening in my little world. Have a Scent-sational Day!!!
Here's how I did it....
Standard A2 size card
All paper and ribbon from my scrap stash
Perfume bottle/layers cut at 2.5" from the Paisley cart, p.58
A little bling for the center flower
Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder 
Wavy CM trimmer for wavy edge
Furry Friends (sentiment) & Designers Choice (butterfly) stamp sets from Scrappy Moms
Doodles with my gel pen

Friday, February 25, 2011

It's Friday!!!!

Oh my goodness, what a busy week. There is so much going on at work that I have to get done before I go on vacation. Yes, I am getting ready for a long vacation the end of March.. a 10 day cruise. I can hardly wait. 

I have also been working on a big project that I hope to share with you all soon. 

So here is a quick post before I am off to another hockey game tonight.
I have been dying to use this cart, Car Decal 
I will be linking this card to the following challenges
Peachy Keen Sketch Challenge

Here's how I did it...
Base card is 5x5 and on Bazzill purple card stock
All other paper from my scrap stash
The girl/layers cut at 3.5" from Car Decals cart, p. 45
Got to use my new purple ribbon I just got from Stampin Up
Sentiment from Scrappy Moms Designer Choices stamp set

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Feel Better for Aiden

Hey everyone – I am sure most of you have seen this already, but Mary over at CARDZTV had posted this week asking for everyone to help out little Aiden. It's quite simple and takes only a few minutes and some scraps of paper- not much to put a smile on a little boys face.


I was working on a card for a few challenges and switched it up a bit so I could forward it onto Aiden.You will find this card linked to the following challenges as well..Jitterbuggin, Swirls and Twirls; Cooking with Cricut, Scrappy Moms Tuesday Challenge and the Wacky Wednesday Farm challenge. You will find the message from Mary about this little boy as well as how I did the card below.


Hi guys,
My friend, Lisa/
honeybearzdesigns2011 passed the story of this sweet little boy, Aidan, on to me, and asked me to pass it on to you. Let's keep this little angel in our prayers, and send him lots of cards to look at while he's so very sick.
  A Baby in Need of Smiles - Please Help Little Aidan

Tanya from Scrappin KY Momma needs help from all of us crafters. She knows this little boy and his family and would like to send him cards. Here's his story...


Aidan is a sweet lil 2 year old, who was recently diagnosed with T Cell Leukemia. On Wednesday, February 16, he had a port installed in his chest, spinal tap, bone marrow, and chemo in his spine. He did GREAT! This lil guy is such a trooper. His parents have accepted that their BABY has Leukemia.. NOT the easiest thing to accept, but their faith in God, and their
support system, have kept them going. T-Cell Leukemia has a high cure rate although chemo will be continued for quite a while. Lil Aidan LOVES mail, like any 2 year old does. So....
Let's get our crafting supplies out, and send this lil guy some LOVE!!! Pass this on to all your crafty friends. I think we can all take a couple minutes, and make something special for him, that will bring LOTS of smiles, and he can look at over and over. We all know how laughing and smiling can be good for the soul. Let's give him this much for him to enjoy while he's battling this horrible disease. I have no doubt in my mind, that God can perform a miracle in this beautiful child. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.Lets all
come together and put Lots of BIG Smiles on Aidan's and his parents faces.

Please mail your cards to:


AIDAN

c/o Tanya Stilwell

P.O. Box 143

Cecilia
, KY 42724

Thanks, guys...God bless you!


Here's how I did it... 
Brown card stock is Bazzill
All other paper is from my scrap stash
Following cuts all from Create a Critter Cartridge
  • Base of card  welded two horseshoes together from p 59 that measure 4.35" x 5.52". Also, welded a rectangle to both to connect them using my Gypsy
  • Dark brown horseshoe also from p. 59 cut at 4.35" x 5.52"
  • Grass is cut at 1" from p. 45. I welded three of them together to get the correct width
  • Horse and all layers cut at 2.25" from p. 59
Sign cut from H2O cartridge at 2.25" and stamped with sentiment from Pink by Design Country living stamp set
Divine Swirls Embossing folder for card front
Inside sentiment from Scrappy Moms Simple Sentiments stamp set
Chalk for edges, twine for a bow and doodles with my gel pen.

Lucky Leprechaun

St. Patrick's day is coming up soon. This is a really simple card layout that I have used for other things. It is a nice alternative to the typical A2 card even though when folded this is the same dimensions. 


I am entering this into the Cricut Cardz Challenge. The challenge is to make a card for St. Patrick's day but NO shamrocks. 

For the card, I cut my base stock at 8.5" x 5.5", normal, no big deal, right?
Now for the folding. I scored on the 8.5" edge starting on the left at 2 1/8" and at 4 1/4" and then fold to get sort of an accordion fold. now you just decorate it.

Here's how I did it...
All paper from my scrap stash
Striped paper....
  • cut one panel at 4" x 5.25"
  • cut 2 panels at 1 7/8" x 5.25" 
Cut 2 squares at 1.5" and cut in half diagonally to place on the corners of the card
Leprechaun/layers including shadow cut at 4" from Simply Charmed cartridge, p. 32
  • I used my Gypsy to hid his face so I could stamp it
Face stamp from Peachy Keen's Boy Mates Face stamp set
Sentiment from Pink by Design spring has Sprung Stamp set
Doodle with my gel pen.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Hoo- knew there were soo many challenges!

Ok- I have another quick post for you today. 

First- I made the top three again over at Jitterbuggin'. That's two in a row. Wow!
You can find the post for my entry here

My card today is a meshing of two challenges, Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge and Cricut Cartridge Chaos Challenge. 
The CCCC was to use the Paisley cartridge, so I used one of the owl cuts. Isn't she cute. Yes, she is a she! The card measures 6x6.

Give these or any other challenge a try- they are loads of fun!
 
Here's how I did it...
Black base card stock from Bazzill
Patterned paper from My Minds Eye
All other paper from my scrap stash
Owl/layers cut at 3" from Paisley cart, p. 43
Scallop circle cut at 3.75" from Mini Monograms 
Circles cut 3.25" and 3" from Mini Monograms
Used a Maratha Stewart border punch for blue edge
Stamped the eyes on the owl using Peachy Keen Bird Faces stamp set
Sentiment from My Pink Stamper Tweetie Hoo Puns stamp set
Some ribbon, a few sugared brads, and doodles with my gel pen.

Birthday Bird-Day Wishes

It's Wednesday already. 

Watch for a big announcement and some changes to my blog coming soon. I am so excited, but can't share them with you just yet, but soon!

Now to today's project - I have two more challenges to check off my list. Today it is a Birthday Wishes card for Our Creative Corner - Get Wordy Challenge, 
Celebrate the Occassion Challenge, and Frosted Designs FabulousFriday Challenge.

This one was fun. The Fabulous Friday was NO PATTERNED PAPER. The Wordy challenge was to use a sentiment stamp to create a background or layer on your card by stamping it repeatedly.


I just got a new stamp set from Stampin' Up over the weekend, So Happy for You. So I used the Birthday Wishes stamp from it to stamp the blue background in brown ink. The banner cut with bird is from the Birthday Bash cart including the card background with scallop edge. 

Here's how I did it... 
All paper is Bazzill from my scrap stash- just love using up all these scraps :)
Base card cut at 8.5: wide x 5.5" tall from Birthday Bash cart, p.39
   Used my Gypsy to size to the dimensions above.
Bird on flags and layers cut at 3.18" from Birthday Bash cart, p. 39
Birthday Wishes Sentiment on card front from Stampin Ups So Happy for You Stamp set
Sentiment on inside of card from My Pink Stamper Tweetie Hoo Puns stamp set

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Flaunt it Friday Challenge - Merci entry

I am trying to catch up with all the challenges out there this week. The challenge at Flaunt it Fridays is to use a certain cut from the Forever Young cartridge. Boy, this was a challenge for me. It is a cute cut, but what do I do with it. The silloutte reminds me of those old pictures from the 40's and 50's that hung on the wall with a ribbon. Thus my idea for the card was born. 
The striped paper is actually a very pretty rose pattern on the back side. I was planning to use it that way until I turned it over to add adhesive and discovered the pretty stripe instead. You just never know when the right look will reveal itself.

Here's how I did it...
Basic A2 size card
Base paper is Bazzill
I do not recall where I go the stripe paper.
All other paper from my scrap stash
Oval and silhouette cut at 3.5" from Forever Young, p.24 
  (I hid the center outline to get the solid oval)
Emblem frame cut at 3.25" from Forever Young, p.24
Sentiment from Scrappy Moms Designer Choice stamp set.
Added some ribbon and some pearl stickers 
I also chalked the edges of all cuts with brown.

Fun Packages in My Mail Today

Hey everyone. I am trying to get a few posts on the blog tonight. Today was super busy at work. Most times I can post  before work in the morning or at lunch, but today was way too busy. 

Brenda over at Brendascrappyblog sent me a RAK that I won on her blog during the Fantabulous Cricut Valentine’s blog hop. I was so surprised when I heard I won, and today, this was in my mail.
The card she sent is super cute. I love the colors. Thanks Brenda!!

The next package I opened was a Thank you card from Aunt Roxy.  Isn't it cute. I love how she has the flowers coming out of the top of the watering can. What a great idea.
Thanks Roxy!

Blog award- Thank you!

Scarpbooking Craze sent me a blog award- Thanks so Much!
I love getting awards and passing them onto others.


It is an Award given to bring new blogs into the light. It's a great way to share blogs that might not otherwise be noticed and should be. As a recipient of this award I am to pick 3 - 5 blogs, pass it on and do the following:
  •   Let them know you chose them.
  •   Copy and paste the award to your blog.
  •   Have faith that your followers will rally and show their crafty love back out to those awarded.
  •  And have fun!!
So here we go....


Be sure to hop over and check out there blogs and show the love!

Monday, February 21, 2011

No More Snow!

Happy Monday and Happy President's Day. Hope most of you have the day off. 

Well we were spared the huge amounts of snow last night with only about 5-6" here. However, just an hour away, there are reports of up to 17". Thank goodness, that stayed south of me. We are suppose to get another 1"-3" today. The snow plow went through really early today, so woke the dog up. Our dog, Molly, is getting up there in age and doesn't do well with flashing lights. So every time a plow goes through with the flashing lights, she gets really scared. The only solution to help calm her down is to get up and turn lights on in the house.  So once, I am up, I start checking my favorite blog friends to see what they have been up to. It sure is busy on Monday mornings in the blog posting world. 

In honor if this wonderful late winter snow storm, I did up a quick little card for you all. 
I will be linking this over at Fantabulous Cricut for their Challenge Me Monday challenge today as well as the Creative Sisters Challenge and Cooking with Cricut.

The sentiment is from Scrappy Moms Winter Wishes Stamp set. 
(A glance out my window) and the kisses just keep on comin'-LOL!
Here's how I did it...
Paper is Bazzill and scraps from my stash
Snowflake and layers cut at 3.75" from the Wrap It Up cartridge, p. 68
Embossed the completed snowflake with cuttlebug's swiss dots embossing folder
Ribbon from my stash
Sentiment from Scrappy Moms Winter Wishes stamp set
Pop dots to attach the snowflake and star center.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Tea Time

Hey Everyone. Well, I had plans to craft all day in my little corner of our house. It's actually a room where we keep the family computer, is my real job home office and is my craft space. So you can imagine the space I have for crafting is very small. There is a closet where I keep most of my crafty stuff. So I am in the closet alot! LOL.

It was going to be a great couple days of crafting since the forecast here in MN is for a big winter storm that could drop 5"-15" of snow on us depending on which weather forecast you listen to. Then 12:30 pm came and everything went dark, I mean the power went out. Seriously! Ok, perhaps a line was down with all this wind, no problem, might be out for an hour or so. Nooooo, it was out for almost 3 hours due to a sub station something or other.
Had to listen to my son declare every 10 minutes how this was not fun for him. Only thing he could really do was his homework, which I think worked out well :)

Finally, things powered back up and the family is back in their comfort zone with the heat on, laptops booted up and the sound of TV in the background. I took a nap during the outage so am well rested to carry on with my craft plans. 

Before the power outage, I was just finishing up this little treat card to enter into the Cricut Cardz Cup of Cheer Challenge.
I learned how to make this about a year ago when I attended a Stampin' Up workshop. It was such a great Idea I had to share it with you~thanks Tonya!
I apologize for the long post, but I think pictures along with directions for this are important. I do hope you give it a try, they are super easy and fun to give. you could even insert candy or gum instead of tea.

Here's how I did it...
supplies I used
Cut main strip of paper 3.5" x 10.5"
Score at 3.5", 4" and 7" from one end.
Paper cut to 10.5" wide x 2.5" tall
I then cut away diagonally, half of the one square which will be come a pocket to hold a tea bag.
Cut away triangle portion of right panel
Fold at all the scorelines and glue only bottom edge of the triangle piece to make a pocket.
Fold in and glue bottom edge only of triangle on left to make pocket for tea
Cut 2 squares for frame on front of card. One measuring 2.75"x2.75" and another 2.5"x2.5". You could do a scallop circle, oval or any shape you like here to fit your design. I also chalked the edges.

I used a 18" piece of ribbon, found the center and placed this at the center of the spine of the card. 
Place center of ribbon on center of spine
Attach the square frame on top of the ribbon on the right panel, which will be the front of your card. This will keep the ribbon securely in place. 
Place frame on front to secure ribbon in place
Card folded up ready to embellish the front
Next I cut my cute little bird for the front, but you could use any image you like. I used the bird on page 48 of 3 Birds on Parade cartridge and cut it at 3" along with all the layers.
But first, I wanted her to be holding a cup for her tea, so I welded a cup from Gypsy Wanderings to the base layer of the bird at 1". 
I also I wanted to the bird to have the little feathers on the top of her head, so I used the top layer from the bird on page 49 also cut at 3"
Once I had her all pieced together, I added her to the front of the card with pop-dots.

I also cut a little bubble for the sentiment from age 39 of 3 Birds on Parade at 2.85". I know it sounds big, but the image is tiny to start with- this yielded the actual cut image to be about 1" wide by .75" tall.

The last step is to add a 2.75" square box r any shape you like on the inside with your favorite sentiment and insert a pack of tea into the pocket. Now your ready to fold it up and tie it closed and ready to give to a friend.

I added some stickles to the steam, a squiggle eye on the bird, some white gel pen doodles and a heart on the mug using a CM heart punch.

Sentiments are from Pink by Design Spring has Spring stamp set.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

I made the Jitterbuggin' Challenge Top Three!

 
I was so surprised when I clicked over to Jitterbuggin'challenge Blog to enter this weeks challenge only to find a slide show at the top of her blog posting I was in the Top Three for the red, white and black challenge. How cool is that?!
I just had to tell ya.
Jump on over to see the other entries.

What do jelly beans and a PK " Let's Face it Friday Challenge" have in common?

The answer....my little Easter candy dish!

Create a spring-inspired handmade gift using Peachy Keen Faces

I was at my local craft store, Crafts Direct, I think one of the best in the country, and found this cute little glass bucket. 
It is about 6" in diameter and about the same in height. The best part, all their spring stuff is 50% off, so this little container cost me only $2.50.  It's perfect to decorate for an Easter treat container or Easter basket gift for a neighbor, friends, etc.
So, trying to use a cartridge I have not used in a while, I pulled out the Everday Paper Dolls, Freshly Picked, and Easter 2010 cartridges to decorate this container with a Peter Rabbit theme.
Those bunnies are just looking at Mr. McGregor saying... "wasn't me!"  LOL!

Now I just have to keep from eating all those jelly beans. 
Enjoy your weekend!!

Here's how I did it.... 
All paper is from my scrap stash 
Farmer cut at 3" 
  • Body using blackout feature so I could add his face from Everyday Paper Dolls, p.28
  • Clothes, p. 68
  • Garden tool, p. 69
Carrots/layers cut at 2.46" from Freshly Picked, p. 71
Sign/layers cut at 2.25" from Freshly Picked, p.42
Bunnies cut at 2.5" from Easter 2010, I hid the face so I could stamp it myself
Grass cut at 1" from Easter 2010, welded many sections together to go around container
Eggs cut at 1" from Easter 2010
Farmers face from PK Wide Eyed Kids stamp set
Bunny faces from  PK Critter Faces stamp set
Fabric flowers I found in my drawer and added tiny brads to the centers
Chalk and marker doodles
Pretty ribbon around the top
Add jelly beans or any other treat!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Wacky Wednesday and Sketch Challenge

You all know how I love challenges. 
The Wacky Wednesday Challenge and Mojo Monday Challenges are ones that have been out there a few days, but I just did not have an idea, until late last night that is. I put the two challenges together and this is what I got.The ivory paper is shiny so the pictures are not as good as I would hope for but you get the idea.The pattern blue paper for the circle and rectangle frame is an ivory and light blue swirl pattern with glitter. I wish you could see it in the photo. It really adds a bit of sparkle to the card.
Card front
Inside of card
This card is a bit of a different size, it measures 6" wide and 4" tall when folded.
I used the Wedding Solutions and the Holiday Cakes cartridges. It's a bit fancy yet simple.

Here's how I did it...
Beige and blue paper is Bazzill
Pattern blue paper is K&Company
Scallop circle/circle cut at 2.75" from Holiday Cakes cart, p.31
Wedding couple and layer cut at 2.75" from Wedding Solutions cart.
Martha Stewart border punch for top and bottom borders
Baby blue ribbon from my stash
Congratulations sentiment stamp on sale for $2 at my local craft store
Inside sentiment also from my local craft store made by Great Impressions
Sticker Pearls for that elegant feel
Beige chalk
Pop dots for the circle

Yeah it's Friday and an extra long weekend!

Yeah!! It's Friday and I am ready for a long weekend. And yes, I have Monday off work for President's Day. 
Can you guess what I will be doing? Yup- you guessed it, I will be in my little craft corner with my Cricut and Gypsy.

I was inspired to make a birthday card by a challenge over at Jitterbuggin.
 
Earlier in the month I had gotten the Best of Pixar cartridge. It has the cutest cuts of the little girl, Boo from Monsters, Inc., that I thought would be perfect for this birthday card. She is so sweet you can't help but smile when you look at her. Can you hear her giggling?

I have to say, I thought cutting her at 3" was a pretty good size, but boy, are those little socks and arms tiny when they cut. Almost lost a couple of them. 

Don't ya just hate that when you cut small pieces, take them off the mat to glue everything to your project only to discover you lost the top of an i, the shadow of a t or in my case, a little girls sock.
I search my clothes, the floor, and my chair and then finally give and re cut it. Just when I am done, what do ya know, that lost piece reveals itself. LOL! Happens every time. I should just re-cut it from the start.

Here's how I did it...
Pattern papers from Chatter Box
All other paper from my scrap stash
Boo, little girl, and layers including shadow cut at 3" from Best of Pixar, p. 48
Birthday hat/layers cut at 1.25" from Doodlecharms, p. 110
Scallop circle with shadow cut at 3.5" from Mini Monograms
Birthday sentiment from My Creative time Polka Dot "Surprise" stamp set
Peachy Keen Basic Paper Doll Faces stamp set
EK border punch and CM corner rounder punch
White rick-rack
Bit of bling in her hair with my i-rock
Stickles, green & purple chalk, and doodles with my brown & white pens
I attached the sentiment box and girl with pop dots

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Spring is Almost Here!

Wow- what a change in temperature this week. The snow in MN is melting quickly. Temps are expected to be near 50 today so that will help melt more of the snow. This means that my flowers will soon be peeking through the ground. I love spring. Everything is new and fresh. 
and
Emma at My Creative Time has a Throwback Thursday challenge posted today. The challenge is to use the Walk in My Garden Cartridge. How fitting as I am thinking about my flowers. I am also submitting this card for this challenge over at Queen of my Craftroom and Cardz TV Challenge.
This was a bit tricky to get the base of the card to line up correctly so when folded the front and back will match.

Using my Gypsy, I used the shadow blackout button and welded the flower pot and flowers together and then added a square behind the flowers for more stability. I then Sized it to an close A2 size card. 

Once all that was sized and all welded together, I copied it and positioned it to the left  side of the first one, then flipped it horizontally. This is very important or your card may not match up exactly when folded. I welded another square between the two parts so when folded it was not folding on the corner of the flower pot. I also used pop dots on the top layer of the flower pot for some dimension

Then I got to work cutting the fun stuff... all the layers.
All cuts are from Walk in My Garden Cricut Cartridge.

Here's how I did it....
Blue paper base and white card stock from Bazzill
All other paper is from my scrap stash
Cricut cuts from Walk in My Garden using my Gypsey
  • Flower Pot/layers cut at 4"x1.75", p.91
  • Daffodil/Iris and layers cut at 1"x 2.54", p.96
  • Crocus/layers cut at 1.25"x2.54", p.95
  • Tulips/layers cut at 1.41" x 3.36", p.99
  • caterpillar/layers cut at 1.90"x.7", p.120
  • Garden tools/layers cut at 2.67"x2.3", p.106
Cuttlebug Swirls embossing folder for base layer
Sentiment From Scrappy Moms Designers Choice stamp set
A piece of twine and a cute button from  my stash
Chalk, and doodles with my pens

Be sure to stop over and check out all the other creations for the Throwback Thursday Challenge with this oldie but goodie cartridge as well as Cardz TV Challenge and  Queen of my Craftroom
Have a springy day!!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

A Big Thank You!

Yes, once again, I need to thank all of my followers and new followers. You guys really know how to respond to a girls cry to meet a goal. We surpassed my 100 follower goal before my personal goal of March 1. So who knows, maybe we will hit 200 by then. The support is awesome.

I also love reading all the wonderful comments everyone leaves for me. They really make me smile.

So here is a Thank you card for each of you who have have joined and to those of you that may stop by once in a while. 
Ok- I love this butterfly cut and have to admit it is the first time I am  using this cartridge. However, when cutting it, the antenna on the butterfly is very thin so I had to cut it a few times before I got it off the mat without it ripping. 

The sentiment looks messing, but is really meant that way and is part of the stamp-- it is a stamp set that has these little sprays on it to have  more of a distressed look to it.

I have also submitted it to the following challenge blogs. Check each of them out, there are some fantastic projects out there.


Here's how I did it...
Basic A2 card size with base paper from Bazzill
Pattern paper from Cosmo Cricket
All other paper from my scrap stash
Butterfly and layers cut at 2.75" from Rock Princess cart , p.67
Sentiments from Close to My Heart "A Little Thanks" stamp set
A bit of lace from my stash
Stickles, chalk, and doodles with my gel pen