Happy Halloween to all of you ! 

Hope you have a Spooktacular and Safe time tonight !

 

 

I made both of these cards to send friends. 

So fun ! I bet you can spot the washi tape and twine I used.

Happy Mother's Day Ladies

I want to wish all the wonderful Mother's out there a very Happy Mother's Day.  Hope your family treats you especially extra nice. We are celebrating with my Mother in Law and Daughter at our house this year.  Hubby is grilling up some Shrimp Tacos for lunch...yummy !

I made a few things this year for Mother's Day gifts..can't post those cause the special ladies haven't opened them yet, but I did want to share two of the cards I made to honor the special mother's in our life.

this card was made using a doily that I glimmer misted pink,

then added some distress ink to it to mimic the vintage

feel of the My Minds Eye patterned paper I used.

I made the flowers out of paper roses, inked and added leaves.

this card was made with some pretty patterned paper

as inspiration. Again, I added a doily but only distress

inked it.  I did distress ink and glimmer mist the sentiment.

And I loved added the pretty antique lace trim I had in my stash

to this card as well.

Hope each of you have a wonderful Mother's Day...whether you are being celebrated Or

you are celebrating a special mother in your life. 

What's Black and White and Pink All Over????

WHY A ZEBRA OF COURSE !! 
My youngest daughter is having another baby girl on March 24th.  Yeah !  Another granddaughter to love !!!
She chose a Zebra and Hot Pink theme for the nursery.  It is so pretty together. 

Her best friend gave her a baby shower this weekend and I color coordinated my gifts to match the nursery theme.  She loved it !!!

I made the Zebra tags using my Create A Critter Cricut Cartridge.

I even found these adorable Glittery pink Zebra bags at Target

and Zebra striped tissue at Hobby Lobby.

And I made her this adorable card using

New Arrival Cricut Cartridge and

my cuttlebug polka embossing folder for

the white background pattern paper

Here is the "mommy to be" and my

adorable 9 yr old granddaughter. 

She gave the new baby a Zebra pillow pet !  So cute.

She is very excited to be BIG SISTER after all this time :)

Now we just have to WAIT for the little bundle of joy to arrive !!!

Use Your Stash Challenge ...oh yeah !

I have decided to particpate in a USE YOUR STASH challenge on the Cricut Circle Message Board.  Basically, you are challenged to only use up things you already own and not purchase more supplies to complete projects. The challenge is January 1 through March 31st.   Now of course, there are few exceptions such as getting more adhesive,etc. so you can keep working along in the challenge.  You also get to have 1 FREE PASS to purchase something during the three month period if you have a special circumstance such as a scrapbook convention or a special buy you can't resist but you do have to post what that is and justify it to the group.

After looking around at the piles and piles of stuff in my craft room that has gone unloved lately, I thought this was a great way to encourage me to use what I have and enjoy some fun while at it.

So, for USE YOUR STASH #1 I found two Basic Grey card kits I had in my stash and tackled those.  I am nursing a bad cold and just didn't feel inspired to create from scratch but wanted to get something done this week.  The card kits went together quickly and it was encouraging to see my stash pile go down into something that would be used. 

16 cards for birthdays and other events too.  I plan on adding a

stamped sentiment to the inside as I select each card to send out.

and from the scraps leftovers, I made 5 more birthday cards !

yeah, no scraps leftover and now I have 22 cards to send !!!!! 

Okay, who needs a card?  I have some ready for the mail ! 

More Halloween Cards

Here are a few Halloween cards I made to send to the kids in our family.  Of course, I am including a few Halloween treats along with these cards for the kiddos.

I don't usually make Halloween cards but I must say I have been having fun this year making them. And the selection of Halloween papers has been too hard to resist.

I just loved this Halloween paper together.  The

ghost is a 3d glittered embelllishment from K&Company.

I used a Halloween wood $1 stamp from Michaels

for the Happy Halloween sentiment.  It is such a cool font.

Who can resist a spider and his web on Halloween?

This paper looked like it was custom made

for the little 3D embellishment.

Again, I used a $1 stamp from Michaels

for the sentiment.

Something Witchy in the Air !

I made this Witch Halloween Easel Card to send a friend for Halloween. 

Had fun using different cuts from cricut carts and some stickers I had in my stash.

Here is the Easel card opened up. I used black glittered half dome pieces to

use as the stop mechanism for the easel. 

Cricut Circle Blogiversary - Sketch Challenge

One of the perks of being a Cricut Circle member is that we get to participate in craft challenges using our Cricut products for a chance to win awesome prizes.  The Circle is celebrating the Blog Anniversary with an even more spectacular giveaway.  I have decided to participate in a few of them and will be posting pics of my Challenge Entries to share with all of you too.

First up is my entry for a chance to win an Cricut Imagine (it's the only Cricut machine I don't already own) she says sheepishly. 

We are supposed to use this sketch they provided and create any project of our choice using at least two different Cricut cuts from any cartridge we prefer. 

Here is my entry based on the sketch

The Cricut cuts used on this card are all from the new Creative Memories Art Philsophy cartridge including the card base.  And I also used my new Snowflake Cuttlebug embossing folder too.  As you can see, I added some Crystal Stickles to add that special touch to the die cut snowflakes and the embossed piece.  The card is gorgous in person but the shiny paper I choose was a little hard to photograph to get the luscious colors to show better. 

Good luck to all others who enter the contest too!

Thanks Mom Blog Hop Starts HERE

Welcome to the "Thanks Mom" Blog Hop. Thanks for joining us. We hope you enjoy all the wonderful crafty inspiration in honor of mother's everywhere from the talented designers in this hop. 

Besides loads of awesome Mother's Day projects to inspire you, I am also offering up a Blog Hop Grand Prize to one lucky winner.  Just leave "a little love" {ie. a compliment about their project} on every Blog Designers "Thanks Mom" Blog Hop post.  Then pop back to my "Thanks Mom" Blog Hop Post on this thread and leave me a comment that you posted on all blog hop designer along with your email address  to reach you.  I will will draw and post a winner on Tuesday, May 10th here on my blog.

Oh, you want to know what your prize will be?  LOL  Hang on to your Mother's Day bonnets ladies because you can win your very own
Mother's Day Bouquet Seasonal Cricut Cartridge ! 
Woo hooooo!

Alright, time to kick off all the inspiration by sharing my project...{don't forget to leave me some "love too" pretty please} :

I made this adorable Tri-Fold Gift Card Holder to give a Mom so she has a little extra little spending money...who wouldn't love that !   

I used my new E2 and the two exclusive Just a Note and Cricut Alphabet Cartridges to create the tri-fold card.  I cut the card at 5.50 inches.

I added the word "Mom" to the inside of the card with the Cricut American Alphabet cartridge

and outlined the lettering with a white ink pen.

 On the inside of the card, I added a pocket and placed the gift card in the pocket. I added a tab so Mom knows to pull the gift card out. I also cut out the "I HEART You" with the Cricut American Alphabet cartridge. Again, outlining with white gel pen.

Now the card is ready for a signature and to make Mom very happy !

Here is the list of all Blog Hop Designers for you to visit. 

If you loose your way along the hop, come back here to pick up the hop again.  

1. Debbie  Deb's Eclectic Thoughts - START OF HOP

2. Brenda  Random Thoughts of a Scrapbooker

3. Dawn    ScrappyRn

4. Chrissie  Chatterscene

5. Cindy  In Love With Paper

6. Suzanne Cricut Crafting Grammy

7.  Paula Owl Be Scrappin

8. Maria  Stamp Cut Create

9. Robin  Scrappin Delta Diva

10. Heather  Houses Built of Cards

11. Jami  The Paper Farm

12. Dana  Paper Memories

13. Claire  Cricuty Doodah

14. Jenny  Scrap With Jenny

15. Lauren All Things Crafty

16. Cassie  Scrappin Palace

17. Stefani  Styles By Stefani

18.  Heather  Paper Crafters Anonymous

19. Darcy Time 2 Create

20.  Kelly  KBien Designs -  END OF HOP

Don't forget to leave some "love" and then come back here to comment for a chance to win the Mother's Day Bouquet Cricut Cartridge.

Your next stop is at the fabulous Brenda's Blog HERE

Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Hop

Welcome to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Hop ! 

We are so glad to have you hop along with all the participants and enjoy all the inspiration we have for you from the counterfeit kits we made this past month. 

You should have arrived here from Susanne's Blog .  If you missed the beginning of the hop, please go back to Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog to start so you don't miss any of the projects.

This Blog Hop is specifically to showcase the ROLL THE DIE Mini Challenge offered at Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog.  What is the ROLL The DIE CHALLENGE? Well, the host on the blog have some hand made dice they use to give us inspiration to create a project for the challenge from the kit we put together from our stash at the beginning of the month. It is a genius idea! 

This month the Roll of the Die Challenge was ...

 C= Card, Inspiration=Fashion, Embellishment= Bling

And now for my interpretation of the Roll the Die Challenge. Drum roll please....

My "CARD" is made from die cut paper from Hello Sunshine by Cosmo Cricket as the base and layerd over a white blank card. I cut off the right side front of the card about 1 inch so that the lace border I added shows up really well.

My "FASHION" Inspiration was bold prints and lace.  It will be all the rage this upcoming Spring according to the 2011 fashion websites I checked.  Loved the look of adding a lace border made from Martha Stewart Laced Doily border punch to the bold printed pattern paper on the card.

My "BLING" Embellishment is shown on the hand made flower I created by layering a felt flower and crochet flower and then placing a black GLITTER Dome as the center of the flower and the shiny pearl pin.

The sentiment "Be Happy" is a Scenic Route Chipboard piece. This card was so easy to put together since all I had to do was "shop" from  MY January Counterfeit Kit   and follow the Roll of the Die Mini Challenge ingredients.

Thanks for stopping by. Leave me a little comment so I know you stopped by. Hope my intrepretation of of the Roll the Die Mini Challenge encourages you to try to make your own card using the challenge ! Happy Blog Hopping !!

Next stop on the hop is Gabrielle's Blog.  Just click on the link and it will take you right there.

My Contest Entry

Jinger Adams, Provo Craft spokeswoman, is having a Card Contest for her HSN January 20th show. 
I had the supplies you needed to use...Anna Griffin papers, etc plus two the cricut carts, Don Juan and Wall Decor and More so I thought what the heck.....I will enter.

Below is the card I made.

Front of card

Inside of card

Back of card

trying to show you the mylar overlay that is on top

Side view of card to show dimension of card

 I wish you could see the textures on the card better. The Leopard print is flocked, the dark pink is glossy and then there is the transparency overlay that is black flowers and clear.  The Enjoy is cut on cardstock and then has Glimmer mist on it to sparkle.  And the Anna Griffin flower is velvety and puffy and oh so gorgeous.

Well, I had fun making it anyway whether I win or not.  Have a wonderful day everyone !

Be My Valentine Blog Hop with Blog Candy too !

Now that we are well into January, our thoughts will soon turn to how to honor those we LOVE on Valentines Day.  To help inspire you, some talented crafters listed below are hosting a Be My Valentine Blog Hop on Saturday, January 8th.  Come hop along from blog to blog and get inspired to start working on your own Valentines projects.

1) Wamfamily Creations With Kathryn http://wamfamily.blogspot.com/ Start of Blog Hop

2) Craftyscentiments Crafty Scentiments http://www.craftyscentiments.com/

3) Lechristina3 All Things Crafty http://allthingscrafty3.blogspot.com/

4) TinaB Tina Time http://ollieanddextersmommy.blogspot.com/

5) Buggin Out Paper Crafting Chic http://papercraftingchic.com/

6) SamaraGugler Hybrid Artist-Samara Gugler http://samaragugler.blogspot.com/

7) NicoletteSimpson Beyond Scrapin http://.beyondscrapin.blogspot.com/

8) Lissa So Many Crafts, So Little Time http://somanycrafts.wordpress.com/

9) CraftyCreations The Crafty Creation Spot http://thecraftycreationspot.blogspot.com/

10) JenniferHawkins2 Confessions of a Scrapaholic http://scrapaholicjen.blogspot.com/

11) LisaKnight Cricuting with Lisa http://www.cricutingwithlisa.blogspot.com/

12) Scrapincovers Cricut Crafty Clare http://cricutcraftyclare.blogspot.com/

13) Scrapsbygracie Scraps By Gracie http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com/

14) CroppinMomma Croppin Momma Designs http://croppinmommadesigns.blogspot.com/

15) ScrapHappyDeb Deb's Electic Thoughts http://debseclecticthoughts.blogspot.com/ - YOU ARE HERE

16) ScrappyJess Scrappy Jess http://scrappyjess.blogspot.com/

17) Iluvscrpn Ink and Paper Creations http://lezlyes.blogspot.com/

18) Txscrappermom Tx Scrapper Mom http://txscrappermom.blogspot.com/

19) Scrappin Nanapuddin Scrappin Nanapuddin http://scrappin-nanapuddin.blogspot.com/

20) Octoberbeauty Macy Bella Designs http://macybella.blogspot.com/

21) JavaJen Java Jen Creations http://javajencreations.blogspot.com/

22) Oni's Wife Crafty Baskets http://craftybaskets.blogspot.com/

23) Scrappin'Place Scrappin' Place http://scrappinplace.blogspot.com/ - End of Blog Hop

MY BLOG HOP CARDS:  Valentines Day always has me smiling and wanting to make cards for those that I LOVE.  I made the following three cards  for some special people in my life.

 I used the gorgeous new BE MINE Collection Kit from Echo Park...I really like all their paper lines :)  And of course, I couldn't resist using my Cricut to cut out the adorable animal shapes from Create A Critter cart. It is a little hard to tell in the pics but some of the elements are popped up and make the cards more dimensional.  I also plan on adding a little stickles to jazz them up before I pop these in the mail the first of February.

Thanks for stopping by...if you will please follow my blog AND leave me a comment about my Valentines cards by Sunday, January 9th at MIDNIGHT, I will pick one winner to receive the following Blog Candy prize.  Winner will be announced on Monday, 1/10.  {I extended the deadline because some people told me they do their blog hopping on Sunday afternoon and I didn't want anyone to miss out}.

Yes, you could be the proud owner of the limited edition 3 pack of Stickles in

 lovely Crystal, Silver and Black to add some shine to your valentines projects.  Isn't that yummy ?

Be sure and check back throughout the month for more VALENTINES inspired projects.

AND DON'T FORGET TO HOP OVER TO THE NEXT BLOG IN THE LIST

Christmas Cards are on their way !

This year I decided to hand make all my Christmas cards...all 60 of them !  What was I thinking?  It took me several days to get them all made but I am happy with how they turned out.  They are in the mail and heading to their intended destinations so I hope the recipients like them.

I made 4 different cards using some Tim Holtz holiday stamps.  This is the first time I have ever hand colored stamped images before using my Copic markers and Ranger distress inks.  It was a lot of work doing this many but I think I have it mastered now :)
 
For background papers I used some lovely My Minds Eye holiday papers and Bazzill cardstock.  Not sure if in the pictures if you can see all the pretty glitter and embossed texture of the patterned papers but they helped make the cards festive.  I also added Stickles to Santas beards and on some snowflakes with the Reindeer card.

 I used a cute custom made stamp on the back of each card too to personalize it.

Hope everyone likes the cards.  I just might start working on my cards for next year in July ! 

My Adorable "little" Mistake

For being part of the Cricut Circle group, we get an exclusive Cricut cartridge every quarter.  This quarter we received "French Manor" which has gorgous french inspired images.  I have been meaning to use this cartridge all month but as I mentioned before, we have been a bit busy at our house this month.  Tonight I decided no more excuses...those dishes in the kitchen can wait....it was time to create a little project to show off the beautiful details of this cartridge.

 

I have to be honest...it didn't start out to be an adorable "little" card ...I kind of forgot to move the size dial larger. However, sometimes a mistake isn't really a mistake, it is an opportunity, right?
 
This little card is more index card size than a normal card might be. It was cut at 4 inches.  I did the base card layer with blue card stock, then cut the same base card cut again but in the yellow swiss dot. I then cut the bird cage OFF the yellow layer and then adhered the frame that was left of the yellow card base over the blue card base and adhered.  Next I cut just the bird cage in black cardstock and layered over the blue cage.
 
TIP:  The black layer cage needs to be cut 1/4 inch smaller than your card base so it fits better.  I cut this one at 3 3/4 inches so it fit over the blue card cage layer better. It left just a slight blue shadow around the edges which I think worked well with it.   

After all this layering, then you see a yellow swiss dot framed card, with a black cage with slight blue shadow and a blue bird. 

To make the blue bird stand out more, I used a blue glaze pen and covered it so it now slightly shiny.  And added a black eye with a black glaze pen.

To the black bird cage, I added mirrored studs using my new iRock tool.  Love that thing...it was the final perfect touch to the cage.

I backed the image with some Basic Grey paper I had in my stash to add a little more color. I then lightly inked around the edges of the card with Peeled Paint distress ink just to make it pop a little more.

I kinda like my little card....what do you think of it?

What ! More card making...from me ?

I don't really consider myself much of a card marker.  With the exception of Valentines Day recently, I usually don't take the time to sit down and focus on card making.  However, last week I was down with strep throat and once the meds kicked in, I was bored and feeling a little crafty but not up to my usual marathon scrapping.  So, I tried my hand at making a few more cards...this time for some special friends.
I enjoyed creating these little creations to share.

Hello Friend Card

This card was made with some paper scraps, my new Martha Stewart floral border punch,  some glimmer mist, misc pins, ribbon, thicker letters and an old Lux Designs "friend" rub on. I really loved how this turned out. It was such a cheerful little card to send to a friend that I miss and wanted her to know I was thinking of her.

Have a Tweet Day Friend Card

This is a birthday card I made for a special lady that is so talented. I really wanted to send her something fun for her birthday.  A while back I had bought these adorable Glitz Design chipboard birds and matching patterned paper, but I had been hoarding them for just the right project. {LOL}.  And of course, with all my banner making lately, I am addicted to crepe paper ruffles so I happily added that element to embellish this card. 

My friends who received the cards last week both sent me a note thanking me for the cards.  That really made me SMILE so that may INSPIRE me to try making some more cards to share in the future.

Oh...and for those that were asking...My dad is doing pretty well. After a few set backs he was finally able to start his chemo treatment this week.  His MRI showed that the remaining liver is growing back perfectly and they didn't see any signs that the cancer had grown back.  Thank goodness!  The chemo is for 6 months to help make sure there aren't any cancer cells still lurking around.  We feel very fortunate he is doing well but know the next few months may be hard on him so keep him in your prayers still.

Valentines Card Tutorial

As I mentioned in my last post, I was INSPIRED by a product I just happened to notice at a local craft store and thought to use in an unusual way.  It isn't exactly scrap related.  But you could use it to give a scrap gift you create.  Can you guess what it might be?

It is a package of Treat Bags for Valentines Day.  They are clear cellophane with all kinds of Valentines/Love words printed on them. And at $1.99 for 20 of them, there were a steal! I fell in LOVE the minute I saw them and the wheels in my head started turning on what I could do with them. I immediately thought of all the cards I wanted to make for my Valentines.

Here is a little TUTUORIAL on how I used those bags to make a special Valentines Day Card.

TO MAKE THE CARD BASE:
1. Here is the set of Treat Bags                                    
2.  Take out 1 Treat Bag

3. Cut bag into a 3" strip                                              

4.  Here is the 3" strip

5. Unfold the 3" strip and cut off one end so it opens up.   6. Adhere the strip to your card base to fit the size card you are using.  Trim the excess off the sides.  Hint: I Glimmer Misted my card base first and let dry before adding my VD bag strip. After I added the strip to the card, I added a die cut border to the top. You could also use ribbon instead. 

TO MAKE THE FLOWER FOR THE CARD:

1. Cut (2) 1 1/2 "circles and (2) 1" circles from another VD Treat Bag.  Next Cut (1) 1 1/2" circle and

(1) 1" circle from Pink Felt.  Slice a small hole with scissors or exacto knife in the center of each to put brad through. 2. Scrunch all the Treat Bag circles up into tight balls.  

3.  We will be working from top of flower to bottom to layer the flower.  Put brad through the (2) small VD bag circles.  4. Add the small pink felt circle next.

5.  Add the two larger VD bag circles next. 6. Finally, add the large pink felt circle to the back of the stacked circles.

7.  Close the brad on back of the circles. 8.Scrunch the circles with your fingers.

9.  Let go of the scrunched circles and see the flower base. 10.  Add whatever button or jewel you want to the center of the flower.  I recommend using Glossy Accents or Beacons 3in1 Glue to adhere the button/jewel onto the top of brad in the center of the flower.

Here is the final version of the card. I love it was easy to make and inexpensive too ! 

Hope you found this interesting and INSPIRING to try this technique on a card yourself.