Staying Crafty

Good Friend Card

2012-01-25T05:25:00.000-07:00

The papers are all from the My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky 6 by 6 pad. I have left this pad on my desk and have been playing with the scraps created from other cards. This is the 3rd post in a row using that paper and I think all the cards have a different feel. I need to use scraps right away like this more often! *LOL* Less waste and it's very efficient. Once I put the scraps away I tend to forget about them and they go unused. If I use them right away I save time and waste.

I used my Stampin Up Scallop Border punch for all the layers along the button.

The green buttons were from the Michael's $1 bin and I threaded them with purple embroidery floss.

The stamp is from a Stampin Up set called Good Friend that is now retired.

The bird brads are from Oriental Trading. I'm not sure where the purple brad in between them came from.

I used a Sakura Stardust pen to do some stitching lines.

Thanks for stopping by! I know I haven't been around much lately. I've actually been crafty. Just not much to show off. I have been working on a crochet project, but it looks pretty gosh darn boring right now - It will eventually be a snazzy gingerbread house. I've also started knitting, which so far I am horrible at! *LOL* No worries, I'm stubborn and I'll keep practicing. I've also been messing around with my sewing. One of these days I'll actually have something nifty to show you from all that dabbling ;)

Patterned Hearts Card

2012-01-19T06:08:00.000-07:00

All the patterns used are from the My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky 6 by 6 pad.

I cut 3 hearts in each pattern from the Plantin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge.

I wanted to make them as even as possible so I used some strips of paper adhered with removable adhesive around the edges to help keep things as even as I could. It's still not perfect, but far better than I think I would have done without some guidelines.

After I had all the hearts in place I started drawing the lines with my Sakura Gelly Roll pen. I wanted to create a kind of frame. When I was done drawing the lines I didn't like the way the corners looked, so I added some pink dew drops.

The sentiment on the bottom is from SP & Company's set I Love Love. I stamped it in Versa Mark and then embossed it using white embossing powder.

I rounded the top 2 corners on a 1/2 inch setting on my corner chomper.

As a finishing touch I decided to add Diamond Stickles to the pink hearts.

Thank You Teacup Card

2012-01-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

Today I have a sweet little thank you card.

The base is Kraft cardstock and it measures 4 by 4 when folded. The top 2 corners are rounded on a 1/2 inch setting using my Corner Chomper.

The stitching lines were done with a Sakura Gelly Roll pen, truly it's my very favorite gel pen.

All the patterned papers used were from the My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky 6 by 6 pad.

The teacup was cut using the Winter Frolic Cricut cartridge. I custom created the scalloped part by using my Stampin' Up scallop border punch and then cutting little slits in the top so I could make the curve to match the teacup. I was inspired by this Stampin' Up stamp set to use polka dots and then scallops:

Sometimes I find inspiration that way, when I like a product but am not sure I will get it I search for ways to get a similar look with things I already have. The stamp set is called Tea Shoppe and it's in the Occasions Mini catalog that runs until April 30th if you happen to like it and want to get it. I'm not a demo, just passing along the info.

I used the same border punch along the bottom.

The stamp is from a set called Short and Sweet from Stampin Up. The ink color used was Mellow Moss.

I think this will make a nice card for a friend :)

Thanks for stopping by!

The button is from the $1 section of Michael's and the ribbon was in my stash. I threaded the button with embroidery floss.

Baby Boy Card

2012-01-03T07:15:00.002-07:00

I started off with a kraft colored card base. I rounded all the corners at a 1/2 inch setting on my Corner Chomper.

I added a layer of paper from Echo Park's Little Boy collection. It was cut to 4 by 5 and 1/4 and I also rounded the corners at a 1/2 inch setting.

Once the two layers were together I grabbed a Not Quite Navy marker from Stampin' Up and did some stitching lines around the edges of the card.

For the center I grabbed a tag from the Same Echo Park paper line. I used a stamp from Pink By Design's Baby love set and stamped it in Real Red ink from Stampin' Up. I felt like it needed a little something so I found this swirly green clip and added it too. Then I pop dotted the tag onto the card.

For the banner along the bottom I used a Stamp from SP & Company's Ultimate Sentiments 1. I used Stampin' Up's Pumpkin Pie ink and some green bling from my stash. I hand cut the banner and then used the marker I had handy to help me curl the paper. I used 2 layers of pop dots under the part I wanted to stay up.

You Are a Lovely Friend

2012-01-02T06:15:00.009-07:00

I started off with some vanilla colored cardstock. I stamped a journaling area using Stampin' Up's Creamy Caramel ink. The stamp set used was Close to My Heart's Key to My Heart. I cut the tag out by hand.

I grabbed some Smoothie colored ink to stamp the heart from that same set. It is pop dotted up and I added some Star Dust Stickles to the swirls in it.

The sentiment was also stamped with the Smoothie ink and the stamp set used was SP & Company's Mix N Match: Friends.

I popped up the tag onto a layer of paper from Echo Park's Little Girl collection that I rounded the corners on.

For the card base I used Kraft and rounded the corners. I also stamped a woodgrain background using the Creamy Caramel ink and a Hero Arts background stamp.

Confetti Card

2012-01-01T10:36:00.000-07:00

Happy new year!

I hope your holiday season was filled with fun and lots of love.

Today I set out to make a new year's themed card with confetti, and that's not exactly the direction it went in. Now I think this card might be used for a thinking of you, a get well, or maybe for a young girl's birthday.

I started off with a standard A2 sized card base in light pink.

I cut a green layer at 4 inches by 5 and 1/4 inches. I used a Nestabilities die to cut out a circle, and then I embossed it using the Cuttlebug folder called Spots and Dots.

I laid the green layer on top of the pink and lightly traced the circle with my pencil so I could see where to place everything. I used the pencil mark as a guideline for where to stick my flower down. It is a K & Company embellishment. After sticking the flower down I erased my pencil marks.

I grabbed a Stampin' Up Sweet Treat Cup and filled it with confetti. Then I peeled off the backing. The tricky part is sticking down the cup without spilling what's inside. I held the cup up at an angle and lowered my card base down on top of it.

After my Sweet Treat cup was on I glued down my green layer over the top.

To create the gumball machine I used the Stampin' Up set called Something Sweet. I stamped the gumball machine in Pink Passion ink. I attached it using pop dots. To embellish it I added a couple pink rhinestones and I covered the white parts of the machine with Star Dust Stickles.

I added some more pink bling in the top corners, and then finished off with a ribbon and bow along the bottom. To get the bow to sit perfectly straight I attached the ribbon by itself. It has ends taped to the back of the card. Then I tied a little piece of twine around the ribbon where I wanted to stick the bow. You don't see the twine, it just makes the ribbon go inward like it would if you tied the bow with it. I used my Ultimate Crafter's Companion to tie a perfect bow and then attached it with a glue dot.

Little Gift Box

2011-12-14T08:10:00.000-07:00

This thing is tiny. It could hold a little gift like jewelry.

I used the Wrap it Up Cricut Cartridge to cut it out.

To make the snowflake stand out I used some Stickles in Waterfall. I LOVE the look of colored Stickles on white paper like that to create another color without having to add another layer of paper.

For the sides I started off using a border punch by Martha Stewart called Doily Lace on some shimmery blue cardstock. Then I wrapped it around the box.

I used some pink ribbon that has a cool crinkled texture over the blue cardstock.

On top of that I added some lavender ribbon with little snowflakes on it.

I'm really happy with how this came out and it was pretty quick to put together. The downside is after I did all this to the box I realized I made it pretty stinkin hard to open! *LOL* I will manage to slip a gift inside it, but it may get ruined the second the person opens it.

Hugs to all! I miss everyone! I haven't been checking out my favorite blogs lately and I'd love to catch up with ya'll soon :)

Baby It's Cold Outside

2011-12-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

For this card I used:

Cricut Cartridge Winter Frolic.

Peachy Keen stamp set Wide Eyed Kids.

Pink by Design stamp from Christmas Wishes. Stamped in Versamark and embossed with white embossing powder.

Felt Snowflake from Stampin' Up.

White gel pen by Sakura Gelly Roll.

Mirrored gems are from the Irock.

Stickles in Silver (on Skates) and Icicle - on Pom Pom. Before adding the Icicle Stickles to the hat I added some Ranger Liquid Pearls in White Opal to cover the green paper since I wanted it to be white on top.

I used some Stampin' Up markers to add a little detail to the hair and some color for the mouth.

Embossed Tree Card

2011-12-08T22:20:00.000-07:00

Kraft colored card base.

Tree stamps from SP & Company's Ornamental Trees. The trunk was stamped with Stampin' Up's Close to Cocoa. The green part was stamped with Versamark and then I added Stamp n' Stuff Embossing Powder in Green Tinsel, it's from Stampendous.

The sentiment is from SP & Company's Ultimate Sentiments 1 and it's stamped in Real Red by Stampin' Up.

The red ribbon was given to me by a friend :) I put a notch in the top of the card so that the ribbon could slip through and I could tie it like a gift.

Snowflake Boxes

2011-12-05T04:37:00.000-07:00

These little snowflake boxes were made to hold some small glass ornaments.

I used plain white cardstock that was 8 and 1/2 by 11 inches.

I used my Cricut and the Wrap it Up cartridge. I used the fit to page feature and it told me it could cut the boxes at 8 inches, so that's the size I used. Each side is around 2 and 1/4 inches.

Before I assembled the boxes I started off with stamping. I grabbed my Stampin' Up Bordering Blue ink. I used the SP & Company set called Falling Snow to put snowflakes on all sides of the box, EXCEPT the lid. For this particular box the lid and bottom looked exactly the same, so I pretty much got to decide which one to use as the top.

After the snowflakes were all stamped I started using my ink blending tool to rub ink all over the box. I did the lid too for that part. Even though I used the same ink color as I did to stamp the snowflakes it worked perfectly because the blending creates a much lighter effect than direct stamping.

After the stamping and blending was done I created score lines and folded the boxes. I did a bit more inking on the parts where the box folds to give a bit more definition.

I finished off the tops of the boxes with a couple layers of felt snowflakes and a little bit of Icicle colored Stickles.

Tis The Season Card

2011-11-30T05:22:00.000-07:00

I wanted something clean and simple.

I started off with the standard A2 size card base in Kraft and rounded all the corners on a 1/2 inch setting on my Corner Chomper.

I used a Hampton Art stamp. I stamped this neat image with snowflakes and the saying "tis the season" using some Versamark ink. Then I covered it with white embossing powder and heat set it.

I accented the centers of the snowflakes with some light blue bling.

I added some white stitching lines with my Sakura Gelly Roll pen around the image and the edges of the card.

I tied some pretty sheer lavender ribbon in a bow.

Seems all my cards lately have been the quick and simple kind! *LOL* I'm just itching to have some time to play around and do something a bit more elaborate... if I ever catch up on my housework. ;)

Believe In Magic Snowflake Card

2011-11-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday everyone :)

Nothing says winter like snowflakes! I cut this one from the Winter Lace Cricut Cartridge at 4 inches. After cutting it in plain white cardstock I used the Ranger Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool and some Bordering Blue ink from Stampin' Up to give it hints of color. Then I spritzed it with some Marshmallow Glimmer Mist. After that I took out my I Rock and added a bunch of sparkling gems to it. For the finishing touch I used some Ranger Liquid Pearls.

After going to all that trouble on the snowflake I didn't want to do too much to the card to take away from it, but it looked strange against too plain a background. I made my card base Kraft colored. I rounded the top 2 corners of my card using the 1/2 inch setting on my Corner Chomper.

I used the same Bordering Blue ink to stamp a background using the SP & Company Scripty Scripts set. Then I added some color to the edges using the ink blending tool.

I added some retired Stampin Up ribbon, it is velvety.

I stamped "Believe in Magic" at the bottom of the card using SP & Company's Falling Snow set.

I'm really happy with the way this came out. I spent a long time on the snowflake, but it looks exactly the way I wanted it to. It came out a lot more masculine than I expected for something with so much bling and glitter. *LOL* I've just got to keep at it so I have enough cards to send the family for the holiday season.

Thanksgiving Favor Box

2011-11-17T02:00:00.000-07:00

Another quick project to share with you.

My sweet friend Amanda from Amanda's Crafts and More is doing a series called Thoughtful Thursdays and she asked if I'd share a project :) So, this is on her blog today. If you've never visited her before please take a moment to do so. I promise you'll be glad you did. I really admire her work and have LOTS of her projects on my Pinterest page.

Today I created a quick and easy project that would be easy to make lots of. I think one of these on each plate at the Thanksgiving table would be adorable.

I took Stampin' Up's Pillow Box die and some cardstock from the DCWV Autumn Splendor Stack to create the box.

For the tag I took Stampin' Up's Vintage Labels. I used their colors Really Rust and Ruby Red to stamp. I ended up cutting the label out by hand, but I know it coordinates with their oval punch.

The little leaf charm is a Shrinky Dink. It is made from an EK Success Punch. I used some Bright White Shrinky Dink film. I actually prefer the Rough and Ready kind for most projects because I find the Bright White gets streaky easily. For this project I figured streaks would look lovely in my leaves so I pulled this kind out. I colored the leaf with a Copic Marker and then punched a large hole with the bigger hole punch setting on my Crop a Dile. Then I baked it to shrink it.

I attached the charm with a thin red ribbon that I tied into a bow.

Super easy and festive! I could easily see making a bunch of these.

Thanks for dropping by :)

You're Too Kind Glamorous Card

2011-11-16T05:45:00.000-07:00

I wanted something glamorous and sparkly to say a very special thank you to a dear friend of mine.

Here's the supplies I used.

Patterned paper from Echo Park's Be Mine Collection.

Corner Chomper on a 1/2 inch setting.

Diamond Stickles.

Black Diamond Stickles.

I Rock bling.

Eyelet Lace border punch from Stampin' Up.

Sentiment from Stampin' Up's Whimsical Words. Its on die cuts from Nestabilities Labels 1.

Image from The Greeting Farm, she is called Cheeky Glamour.

Copic Markers.

Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestabilities.

I spent a long time coloring and cutting my image, and then added some Diamond Stickles to the centers of her eyes, her eyeshadow, her boa, and the heart on her mirror. I wanted it to look like she was sitting on the punched border piece, so I cut the oval Nestabilities a bit to make that look work.

It's got a lot of sparkle in person.

Yay for playing with my new Copics. I only had really cheap white paper on hand, so I don't think that helped with attempting to blend - but since I have no idea what I'm doing anyways I doubt it mattered much ;) *LOL*

Season of Freezin

2011-11-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

Here's another card. I think I am going to start calling these "stash busters" since this came about from trying to use up old supplies in my stash.

The penguin, paper, and tag are all from a 3 Birds kit from HSN.

The penguin was pretty plain, but I found by adding googly eyes, Yellow Stickles to the beak, and Diamond Stickles to the blades of the skates it gave him a little life. He's up on pop dots.

For the tag I went around the edges with some Diamond Stickles. Then I tied some sheer purple ribbon and adhered this straight down to the card.

I rounded the corners of the card base and layer on a 1/4 inch setting on my Corner Chomper.

In the corners I used some gems from my I Rock. Placing the biggest one right in the corner, and stepping down 2 sizes to get smaller.

I really want to widdle down my stash. I just have too much stuff in this room. If I can de-stash and get all my holiday cards made at the same time I will be a happy camper :)

Simple Penguin Card

2011-11-08T07:05:00.000-07:00

I wanted to use some of the cute holiday papers I've had for since last year and the year before. So I grabbed a stack called Peppermint Forrest that came out at Joanns - I think last year. I really loved this paper that has tons of cute penguins, snowmen, and polar bears on it.

So, I decided to make one of the penguins the focal point. I just cut him out with an oval shaped Nestability. I layered him on top of a scalloped oval Nestability cut in a sparkly red paper.

He's up on pop dots for a little dimension.

The snowflake paper is from the same stack. Cut at 4 inches by 5 and 1/4 inches and then all the corners are rounded on a 1/4 inch setting.

The card base is black, with the same 1/4 inch rounded corners and lots of white gel pen stitching.

Along the bottom of the card I added a strip of white cardstock that had been punched with the Martha Stewart Icicle border punch. I covered the icicles with Stickles and then added a sheer purple ribbon.

I think I may try cutting more things out of my patterned paper this way. Faster than stamping or die cutting the main image, and way cheaper than purchasing a pre-made sticker or die cut. Another option at least. I love purchasing huge paper stacks, and sometimes it's hard to use them all up - so now I have one more way to try and use some of them up.

Starting To Think About the Holidays

2011-11-04T08:14:00.000-06:00

While searching for inspiration for this year's holiday season I decided to go through some of my creations from last year to get inspiration. Below each photo is a link to the original blog post that you can click for more details.

http://stayingcrafty.blogspot.com/2010/11/milk-and-cookies-box.html

http://stayingcrafty.blogspot.com/2010/12/stockings-banner.html

Photo doesn't do this justice, but there is a detailed video to give you a much better idea.

http://stayingcrafty.blogspot.com/2010/12/embossed-acetate-glitter-pocket-with.html

http://stayingcrafty.blogspot.com/2010/12/sweet-memories-layout.html

http://stayingcrafty.blogspot.com/2010/12/seasons-greetings-cardn-with-video.html

http://stayingcrafty.blogspot.com/2010/12/elegant-winter-bird-card.html

http://stayingcrafty.blogspot.com/2010/12/little-penguin-favor-box.html

I hope that you find these inspiring! I am having precious little time in my craft room these days and looking at these past holiday projects sure reminded me that I need to get a move on because the holidays will be here in the blink of an eye.

My Husband's Halloween Projects

2011-10-31T08:05:00.001-06:00

Today I present you with a couple of projects made by my wonderful husband. Typically we joke that I make pretty things that serve no functional purpose, and he makes functional things that are often hideous ;) Of course there are exceptions to this.

We had a carving kit from last year with patterns in it and he and our little girl liked this cat, so he carved it last night. I'm impressed, that type of thing is not an area of skill for me. We have an led light inside that changes colors.

Click on the photo to see it bigger.

Here are the cookie houses he decorated. He found this kit one day at the grocery store and thought it looked pretty cool. For the most part he copied the box. The kids got to put the candy on top. I was very impressed with how well he used the frosting, so I told him he is helping make the next birthday cake! To be honest I think he is a lot more naturally gifted in this area than I am.

So, between my decorations and his we have a pretty awesome dining room for Halloween :)

Here's a quick photo of my set up if you haven't seen it yet.

Click on the photo to see it bigger.

I put together the house and decorated the wine bottles.

Have a happy, safe, and spooky Halloween from the Holders :)

The Costumes I Made

2011-10-27T08:39:00.000-06:00

Here's my little carton of milk and cookie for Halloween.

Unfortunately the cookie costume doesn't look very round when he wears it, but at least it is ultra comfortable b/c he is picky that way. I hot glued the chocolate chips on. I added pipe cleaners in the seams of all the edges that were open - arms, legs, and head. Then I sewed the other sides together. It looks round... until he puts it on! *LOL* At first I was actually pretty po'd but life goes on. Live and learn.

My daughter's carton of milk came together really well. Her hat is a spout. It was very hard to get it to fold nicely - maybe it wasn't long enough. I stapled it together on the backside and left the spout pushed out. To keep it on her head is a strip of poster board that curves upward to fit the shape of her head. Then I stapled elastic on for a strap. The carton is super simple. I used 2 pieces of poster board and folded them in 2 one big section, one medium section, and one small section (for gluing) The straps are also posterboard just stapled on. The word milk is from the Ashyln's Alphabet font by Cricut. The cow is from the Create a Critter cartridge.

Not perfect, but original enough. My daughter loves hers :)

Whimsical Wednesday Card

2011-10-26T07:50:00.000-06:00

Happy Wednesday!

Today I have a fun little card to share with you. I figured this would be fun to give someone with a nice mug and some apple cider or something else to relax and enjoy the crisp fall days with.

This is for the new challenge over at Whimsical Wednesday that starts today. The lovely Cathryn came up with the challenge called Fall Cuties and you need to use an animal on your project.

I have a standard A2 sized card.

I got my adorable squirrel from Create a Critter and gave him some googly eyes.

I used some brown paper that reminded me of bark a little bit - seemed "woodsy" to me.

The gorgeous ribbon is Shabby Crinkled Ribbon from Prairie Bird Boutique. This color was from the Little Boo set. There are lots of gorgeous color combos to choose from.

The red paper sort of looks like leather or something. Kind of a cool pattern. I used my Stampin' Up Scallop Edge border punch along the bottom.

For the sentiment I used a stamp from Tanner, who calls himself Mr Cricut Crazy. This is from his Summertime Fun set. It is pretty cool for a young boy to have his own stamp line :) They are top of the line quality too. Be sure and visit his blog to see what he's been up to.

Make sure you check out Whimsical Wednesday today to see all the designer's sneak peeks and pay them a visit. You can also enter your own project! Super fun :)

I Have a Post On Craft Junkie Too Today

2011-10-20T07:35:00.000-06:00

My dear friend Tracy asked me to do a guest post on her Craft Junkie Too blog today :) I shared my table of Halloween decorations and did a product review of a foam haunted house kit from Michael's. If you want to read it check it out here.

Super Simple Scrappin'

2011-10-19T08:18:00.000-06:00

Although I enjoy fussing over every detail with my cards I rarely do that on my scrapbook layouts. Not sure why exactly. Partly because the photos are the real star, partly because in a huge album of layouts I wonder how much one embellishment will stand out, partly because I get all frazzled and feel like I'll never have time to scrap all my photos if I spend too long on one layout. *LOL*

So, today I present a super simple layout. All the papers are from the DCWV Autumn Splendor stack that came out last year.

On the top of the layout I have strips that are 2 inches wide. The paper has all kinds of words on it like "pumpkin picking" and "family outing" with lots of glitter.

Below that I have another strip that is 2 inches wide. It's a brown gingham type paper. I placed my title on it. The title was cut from the Ashylyns Alphabet Cricut cartridge at 1.8 inches. It's cut out of a polka dot paper. The polka dots are teeny tiny, so they show up well on die cuts.

On the very bottom of the layout I have a strip that is 1 and 1/4 inches wide. Yellow with some soft white flowers.

The main paper reminds me of growing grains or something. I intend to lay 4 photos horizontally that measure 4 by 6. They will cover both pages edge to edge to look like a continuous strip, to fit right in with the other long strips going across the pages. When the photos are laid down there will be a bit of the "grain" paper showing on both the top and the bottom of the photos.

So easy, no stress! By choosing all the papers from one stack and only die cutting a title I was able to whip this whole thing up from start to finish in about 15 minutes with no pre-planning whatsoever. We are planning on going to a farm next weekend for fall festivities and I felt inspired to prepare a simple layout.

Pumpkin Trio Card

2011-10-18T06:50:00.000-06:00

So quick and easy!

Standard A2 sized card base in black.

The purple layer is a cheapie paper I got form the $1 spot at Target last year. It's cut to 4 by 5 and 1/4 inches.

Before attaching that purple layer I wrapped some Shabby Crinkled Ribbon from Prairie Bird Boutique around it and tied it in a bow. This color is from the Little Boo set.

Under the ribbon I added s trip of green spiderweb paper by Recollections that had been punched with the Stampin' Up Scallop Edge border punch.

At the bottom of the card I stamped "Have a Spook-tacular Day" from the Pink By Design set A Haunting We Will Go. I embossed it using some black embossing powder so that it shows up enough on the patterned paper, plus it just looks cool like that :)

For the image on the card I took 3 pumpkin embellishments from a Jolee's Boutique pack and added them to some green spiderweb paper - same as on the bottom. Then I added that layer to a black piece of cardstock. The black layer is about 1 and 1/8 by 3 and 1/4, but I just eyeballed it when I was cutting.

I finished off by going around the edges with some Starry Night Stickles.

Altered Wine Bottles

2011-10-17T06:38:00.002-06:00

These were a total blast to put together!

These bottles are all empty, so I got to recycle something, but you could also use full wine bottles and actually serve them at a party.

On all 3 bottles I used Shabby Crinkle Ribbon from Prairie Bird Boutique. The colors I used were from the Little Boo bundle.

Also on all 3 bottles I used stamps from Pink By Design's A Haunting We Will Go set. From left to right they read "You're Boo-tiful" "You're Purr-fect" and "Eek" These are all stamped onto paper that was sprayed with some Deep Plum Glimmer Mist.

The last thing that was used on all 3 bottles were some awesome keys from Martha Stewart. They are really lightweight unlike real metal keys, but they have awesome color to them and they look pretty real to me. They are attached with some embroidery floss.

On the first bottle I have also used a charm at the top that was made with inkjet printable Shrinky Dink material. I do not know where the image came from as this charm was a gift from a friend. I used a paper from a Recollections paper stack from last year and some green ribbon from Michael's.

On the second bottle I used more paper from last year's Recollections paper stack. This one has kitty cats that are actually flocked (fuzzy to the touch.)

On the third bottle I used some paper from Target's $1 spot from last year. I cut a spider from the Doodlecharms Cricut Cartridge at 1.75 inches. I gave him some blinged out eyes using my Irock and placed a black ribbon string under him that looks sort of like a string he is hanging from.

So glad I got these done!

What I've Been Up To - Teaching My Kids!

2011-09-29T15:48:00.000-06:00

Lots has been going on with me lately. It's been making it really hard to get projects up!

I have been doing preschool at home with my 3 year old daughter. I am doing this 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. She is learning a ton and doing very well, I include my 2 year old son in some of the activities when I can too. Plus the usual cleaning, cooking, etc. She is taking dance and will be starting gymnastics soon, hopefully next week if I get down there to get her registered. I am also trying to practice my sewing and hoping to be making a couple Halloween costumes for my kids.

On a sad note, my grandmother is in the hospital dying. She fell, hit her head, and had bleeding on the brain. They did surgery and had high hopes for recovery, but she isn't going to make it. My father has been out there with her for 2 weeks. She has lived a good life and all that, but it is still hard. My grandfather will not be able to do much without her as he has a very bad back, so he will need to go live somewhere where he can be taken care of. That has been zapping my energy too. It is hard to hear the sadness in my father's voice and not be able to be there with him right now.

So, long story short I am SLAMMED. Lots of transitioning for me. Trying to get into a good routine with the new things we have going on in our lives. I am answering e-mails more slowly and may not be posting too often for a couple weeks.

In this post I've added some pictures just to share. I made a board with the day of the week, month, what we are doing for the day, etc. I am going to start using this with the kids on Monday. It should be fun. Everything is laminated for durability. Lots of pieces to change out store in an envelope on it. Some things attach with magnets, velcro, etc. It took me HOURS, it's exactly this kind of thing that has been making it hard to blog! *LOL* The other pics are the school area and the adorable kids learning and doing projects.

So, if you have trouble getting ahold of me, this is why. I hope to be back at 100% and posting more frequently again in a couple weeks. I am still around, but falling a little behind. Just wanted to let everyone know.

Spending so much time each day focusing on projects and learning has been AMAZING! By far the most rewarding feeling ever. I don't always have "good mom" days or moments. Sometimes I yell at my kids, or get upset that the house isn't perfect, etc. I am really finding this time to focus on them and not think for a second about housework and such has been good for all 3 of us. I just need to adjust to the amount of time it takes and get into a new routine. Finding out what works and what doesn't for when to start, which activities to do, etc.

*Hugs to all*

I look forward to getting my creative mojo back!

Playing With Acetate

2011-09-27T08:23:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to play around with some acetate and see what I could come up with. I buy huge packs at my local office supply store. They are a bit pricey, but last a looong time for projects.

I cut a window in a standard sized card base. It was rather confusing for me, since I am NOT good at measurements! *LOL*

I have a top layer for the card that is cut at 4 by 5 and 1/4 with the same sized window cut in it. The patterned paper is from the Basic Grey Kioshi 6 by 6 pad. I tied a piece of green ribbon around this layer before adhering it.

In between those two layers is the piece of acetate. This way the card looks clean both outside and inside and you can't see the adhesive on the acetate.

I stamped a bird cage from the My Cute Stamps Elegant Birds set using some Cotton White Staz On ink right onto the acetate. For those of you that aren't familiar with Staz On it is designed for stamping on surfaces you can't use other inks on, just like this plastic sheet.

On the inside of the card is a tiny little bird from the same stamp set, also using a patterned sheet from the Kioshi collection. I will write my sentiment towards the bottom on the inside so that it is hidden when the card is closed. Easy enough.

Dance Lessons Layout

2011-09-23T12:13:00.000-06:00

Happy Friday!

Just popping in to share this layout.

The title was cut from Shall We Dance at 3.5 inches I used some Marshmallow Glimmer Mist for a touch of sparkle.

The journaling shape was cut from Once Upon a Princess. The smaller one is 3 inches. The larger one behind it is 3.3 inches, BUT I messed with the width in my Gypsy to make it look like a shadow and I don't know the exact final size. I used some Ranger Liquid Pearls in Petal Pink to create tiny little pearls all around the edges.

The adorable little dancer was cut from One Upon a Princess at 7 inches. I had lots of fun embellishing her. I used a Peachy Keen Princess face. I chalked her cheeks. I took the bows that were supposed to be for her hair and added them to her leotard. I used some Magenta Stickles on her bows and tutu, and also used them to free hand design a little heart. Her tights are sparkling with Marshmallow Glimmer Mist.

Happy Fall Ya'll Card

2011-09-21T08:00:00.001-06:00

I've got another fall themed card today.

This is for the Whimsical Wednesday Challenge Fall Colors. The prize this week is some awesome paints from Creative Inspirations so be sure to enter for your chance to win :)

The base of the card is a chocolate brown color.

I added a 4 by 5 and 1/4 inch layer of patterned paper from the Autumn Splendor DCWV stack. It's got some really shiny gold accents.

The leaves are cut at 3.5 inches from the Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons Cricut Cartridge. I inked around the edges of the leaves to give them a bit of depth, and added them to a kraft colored shadow.

I added some gorgeous Shabby Crinkled Ribbon from the Little Boo Collection. It's from Prairie Bird Boutique.

For the finishing touch I hand cut a little banner in some cream colored cardstock and stamped "Happy Fall Ya'll" using a Pink By Design stamp from the Simply Everything. I love hand making little banners for things these days. I think I'm going a little overboard with that trend! *LOL*

Make sure and head on over to Whimsical Wednesday to check out all the fabulous inspiration, and be sure to enter your own project for the chance to win some fabulous paint from Creative Inspirations!

Fall Leaves Card

2011-09-19T06:38:00.000-06:00

I wanted to whip up something that really had the spirit of fall in it.

The card is a standard A2 sized base in Kraft color.

It has a layer of cream colored cardstock at 4 by 5 and 1/4.

I used a stamp set from Close to My Heart called Autumn Splendor for these beautiful leaves. I used Stampin' Up ink colors: Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, More Mustard, and Pumpkin Pie.

I used the Close to Cocoa marker to do some stitching lines all around the edges, and then added a bit of light brown satin ribbon. To make my knot a little prettier I actually added a separate piece in the center. I folded a piece of the ribbon in half and used Scor Tape to secure it around the middle of the knot.

I thought about adding a sentiment, or something else, but in the end I decided to just show off how pretty the stamping is in all the lovely colors and I didn't want to cover it up or detract from it.

Winner of the My Memories Software

2011-09-16T20:39:00.001-06:00

As Friday comes to a close I've used Random.org to help me pick the winner of the give-away. Congrats to littlen you left comment number 11 and you've won the software :)

Coffee Card w/ A Video

2011-09-16T05:01:00.001-06:00

I wanted to play with the Cricut Lite cartridge Love You a Latte. I stuck with mostly brown and vanilla shades with just a couple pops of pink for a fun and feminine touch.

Here's a quick supply list.

Cut from Love You a Latte at 3.5 inches

Inks:

Stampin' Up Creamy Caramel

Stampin' Up Close to Cocoa

ColorBox Fluid Chalk in Chesnut Roan

Stamps:

SP & Company Scripty Scripts

Stampin' Up Dot Dot Dot

The Paper Studio Coffee Cafe

Other:

EK Success Border Punch Open Scallop

Nestabilities in Circle and Lacey Circle

Twine from The Twinery in Cappuccino

To see me put the card together step by step with a few tips along the way check out the video below.

Thanks so much for visiting! Happy Friday :) I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.

Sewing a Zippered Pouch

2011-09-15T09:31:00.000-06:00

I wanted to learn how to sew little lined zippered pouches. I found this tutorial on You Tube and watched it to help me figure out how to make it. It was a bit challenging for me to sew the zipper, but I managed. You can easily make it any size you want. I used an 8 and 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper for a template. The finished size is 10 by 7 and 1/2.

I'm glad to be continuing my sewing journey and learning new skills. I am so thankful for the people who make sewing tutorials on You Tube!!!

Working With My Memories Software

2011-09-14T06:12:00.003-06:00

*Give Away Alert!!!*

I had a really fun opportunity to try this software called My Memories. I'm going to share 3 projects I made using it, and a little bit about what I thought of the software.

The first thing about it that I liked is that it is both Mac and PC compatible, you just pick which version you want after you purchase it and download that one. I run a Mac and it's working beautifully for me, so that's nice since a lot of scrapbooking software doesn't have that option.

My favorite feature is how easy and fun it is to make circular text!!!! Some basic software programs don't have that awesome feature, and frankly things like Photoshop are over my head so I have a hard time learning to do things like that in that type of software. This was perfect for me, very easy to do.

My Memories comes with all the basic shapes like scalloped squares, circles, etc. You can easily fill any of these shapes with any color or patterned paper to make lots of fun layers and effects with minimal effort.

It includes lots of basic papers like polka dots, and some funky patterns too. It also has some brads, buttons, flowers, etc.

I'm having a lot of fun playing with it!

Here are the projects I made.

The first thing is a simple digital layout. I figured I ought to try my hand at that.

Everything on this layout, except of course the photo was done using only things that came with the software. I started off with a simple textured polka dot looking background. The text along the top was super easy to curve, and I even grabbed a part of the flowers to color the words with to ensure they matched perfectly. It was easy to line all those little rhinestones up in a row, as the software gives an option to copy and paste the item directly on top if itself and not off-set it. This allowed me to just use the arrow keys to move them, ensuring they stayed in a straight line.

My next project shows how much fun the circular text can be.

The circle of black dots came with the software. I simply added my text, chose the color, and told it I wanted it to be a circle. Then I played with sizing a little bit until the spacing was perfect. After printing out the design I cut the circle shape with my Nestabilities. Then I inked the edges and added a pumpkin die cut from my Gypsy Wanderings Cricut cartridge. I added it to a little straw. These would be easy to mass produce as cupcake toppers or to stick in a tiny candy filled box or bag.

My last project is going to be framed, but I didn't want the glare of the glass so I snapped the photo of it plain.

The only thing I added that didn't come with the software is the photo of the ballet slippers. I snagged that by doing an online search for ballet slippers. Basically what I did is take advantage of the basic shapes. They are easy to color and re-size so I created the look of lots of layers. The scalloped rectangle was easily filled with a patterned paper that comes with the software. The beautiful flourish was found in the embellishments. The text was just a font I have on my computer sized and typed out. Really, very quick.

So, I hope this gives you an idea of all the cool things this software can do, and it does come with a lot to get you started. They also have a store where you can go purchase more goodies.

I am able to offer one of my readers a FREE copy of this software - downloadable version. To be entered to win please leave a comment on this post with the following info.

1) Your favorite of my 3 projects today

2) Go to the My Memories website here and tell me one of the kits they offer that catches your eye and what you might use it for.

I will choose the winner on Friday to get their very own copy of this fun software to play with.

If you decide you'd like to buy the software for yourself please use the promo code STMMMS55623

That code will get you $10 off the software, and also $10 to use in the store for kits. The code is exclusive to me, so when you use it you are helping me out and I appreciate it.

Funny Kitchen Card

2011-09-13T11:51:00.000-06:00

This card reads "Countless number of people have eaten in this kitchen and gone on to lead perfectly normal lives" I have to admit, that does a pretty good job of cracking me up.

I used a stamp set called A Woman's Place by There She Goes Clear Stamps.

I stamped the appliances onto some mirrored cardstock using black Staz on ink. I stamped the cabinets in dark brown onto kraft cardstock, and then filled in the handles with a silver gel pen.

I cut out and assembled all the pieces. After that I just added a cute satin ribbon and stamped my sentiment.

I have no idea what I'm going to use this card for, but the idea is so cute that I just couldn't help but make it.

Showered With Love

2011-09-09T07:14:00.000-06:00

Happy Friday!

I started off with a Kraft card base, and rounded the corners on a 1/4 inch setting on my Crop a Dile

The cloud paper is from the My Mind's Eye Lime Twise, Fly a Kite 6 by 6 pad. It's cut at 3 inches by 5 and 1/2. The top and bottom edges have a thin line of Crystal Stickles. Behind it are some scallops punched with my EK Success Scallop Border Punch. This whole layer is up on pop dots.

The little journaling tag was cut from the Echo Park Little Boy collection. I used a stamp that says "Showered with Love" from the Pink by Design Country Living set. Then I added a KI Memories Puffy of a rain cloud.

Along the bottom I added some ric rac ribbon, and 3 white buttons that I threaded with thin slivers of cardstock to match the scallops I punched.

This card was very inspired by a beautiful rainy day we had this week. It felt so good to cool off and for the air to be crisp and fresh instead of just feeling hot. I think I kept it generic enough that it could be used for a simple thinking of you card. Hope you like it :)

Just FYI Nestabilities Work Great on Construction Paper!

2011-09-07T09:13:00.000-06:00

My 3 year old daughter put together these adorable frogs.

She is learning to cut with scissors and that means lots of projects with cutting and glueing.

I had seen this cute kit

I found it very inspiring for paper bag puppet ideas. The kit makes it easy with lots of stickers that come with it, but I didn't want to order it. Can't buy everything, right?!

I knew my daughter would have a very hard time cutting nice circles. Heck, I can't even cut a decent circle, so I decided to try my Nestabilities.

They worked BEAUTIFULLY on construction paper. I got gorgeous, clean cuts with it, and my daughter was able to stack the plates for the Cuttlebug, so all I did was turn the crank for her. She loved it, and it was easy.

When you have kids construction paper is hard to work with. You don't want to use it in your die cutting machine because it will mess up your mat, but even beyond that it tears easily and can bunch up and not cut well. I even find it hard to use in my paper trimmer that has a sliding blade if I'm not very slow and careful about it. So, I was thrilled to find out that this was super easy and effective and thought I'd pass along the tip.

She still got to use her scissors on this project, and then do the circles the easy way. I'm sure we'll be using the Nestabilities again together. Plus, she just thinks it's really cool to get to play with MY toys ;)

Hugs to everyone. I'm trying to keep up, but things have been nuts. I am doing preschool at home and I spend many hours planning our lessons and doing them with her. Then just the usual cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc. I am just really focused on my kids at the moment. It doesn't help I just un-mounted all my rubber stamps to convert them to cling and it took FOREVER and made a huge mess. *LOL* Glad I did it, but that ate up a lot of would be crafting time too.

I have some fun projects in the works - so don't give up on me. I've got some cool things planned for Halloween and such. Coming soon, I promise.

I truly appreciate everyone that stops by! Thanks for reading!

Discovery Bottles Layout

2011-09-05T06:57:00.000-06:00

Here's a quick layout I whipped up.

It is of my daughter making discovery bottles. Basically you get some bottles and let your kiddo put glitter, ribbon, sequins, etc. inside the bottle. They the lid gets sealed on tightly and they get to see how all that stuff floats and moves around in the water. Fun activity for kids around 2-3. It is recommended to glue the lids on for kids under 3.

The paper is from DCWV. I think it's from the Blossoms and Butterflies Stack. I added some gems and lots of different colors of Stickles to the flowers.

There is one 4 by 6 photo, and two 4 by 4 photos.

I used some cool stickers that are clear hearts with stuff floating inside. I believe they are by Jolee's Boutique, but I no longer have the packaging to confirm that. Thought they fit the theme perfectly.

Letter stickers are from the We R Memory Keepers Tiffany's stack.

Ribbon from my stash.

"Little Angel" sticker by 3 Birds from HSN.

Simple page. Think it came out cute and fun. Trying little by little to catch up on my scrapbooking.

For Those of Us Without GPS and Smart Phones - Altered Notebooks

2011-08-31T07:16:00.000-06:00

Hello Everyone!

Today I have a simple and fun little project I whipped up. I purchased these cute little notebooks at a good price during a back to school sale. I altered them using the We R Memory Keepers Tiffany's collection and some Hard Coat Mod Podge. They are the perfect size to fit in my purse confortably and still be big enough to be very useful.

I don't have a smart phone or a gps, or a palm pilot, etc. So, I do all my stuff the old fashioned way. I thought it would be nice to have a notebook for directions. There are some parks, friends houses, etc. that I have a general idea how to get to, but need reminders of some of the street names and such, so I thought I'd just put everything in this Directions Notebook.

The other one is just for helping me make lists, which I am positively obsessed with. It might also end up with to do lists at times, but Shopping List looked so cute on the front of it I decided to call it that, even though it might not always be accurate! *LOL*

If you are cooler than me and have all that fun technology you can always alter these for your kids in school or something. Actually, I think it could make kind of a funny gift to give a Directions Notepad with a map to someone who wants a GPS system, assuming they have a good sense of humor of course ;) You could package it up in a box and write "Low Tech GPS" or "Poor Man's GPS" or something silly like that.

My Daughter's Stocking, FINALLY done

2011-08-29T05:37:00.000-06:00

I cannot believe that this is actually done! Seriously, this is a project I started forever ago. I would spend several weeks working for many hours a day, and then fizzle out and forget about it for a few months.

I am so proud to finally have finished my daughter's stocking!!! Now, I have to start on my son's! *LOL*

This is a felt kit from Bucilla. They make BREATHTAKING designs. I cut, sequined, beaded, embroidered, did some hand sewing, and wa-lah! It's not really very creative since I used a kit, but certainly TONS of hours of work and a lot of love. No one will ever stitch it exactly the same.

I don't have much else to say about this one. I'm super proud, and relieved I finally completed it. If you like this and would like to try some felt kit projects of your own I buy my kits from Herrscheners. I have done some ornaments before and they were SO much fun. So, if you want to try this out that would be a good place to look. I'm sure there are others too, I just happen to start ordering from them a few years back and like them.

Glittery Butterfly Card

2011-08-26T08:09:00.000-06:00

Happy Friday!

Today's card came together pretty much by accident. This isn't at all what I set out to make. *LOL*

I am entering this into the Birthday Bash challenge over at Fantabulous Cricut. The challenge is to make a birthday project.

I went through looking at my usual birthday images of cupcakes and such, and nothing was inspiring me. I happened to find this pretty butterfly on Cake Basics and decided to use it.

I cut the top layer in black, and a back layer in white.

I took the top layer and carefully added some thick Red Line Tape all over it. Then I dumped some loose Martha Stewart Glitter over the exposed tape.

I attached the white layer behind it and then cut away the excess tape

This would have been easier if I had a full sticky sheet to cut out as the solid butterfly, but I didn't. You could also kiss cut a material like that so that you could remove each section separately and more easily get a variety of colors. I'd love to try that sometime, but today I used what I had on hand.

I took the butterfly to my Martha Stewart Score Board and made lines where the wings started so I could fold them up easily.

I went with a square card base. The corners are all rounded on a 1/2 inch setting.

I went around the edges with one of my Chomas Creations Gel Pens.

Along the bottom I used my EK Success Open Scallop punch on some pretty cardstock that is somewhat metallic looking.

I added some black satin ribbon.

The sentiment was spelled out using 2 different SP & Company stamp sets from their Mix & Match line.

Thanks so much for visiting me today :)

Hostess Card

2011-08-24T06:19:00.001-06:00

Today I have a hostess card to share with you. Since I didn't put a sentiment on the front I could also end up using it as an invitation to dinner card instead.

All of the patterned papers are from My Mind's Eye from their Lime Twist collection. This is the Happy Go Lucky 6 by 6 pad. I used 5 different patterns from that paper pad on this card.

The adorable image is from a set called Hostess With the Mostess by Amber Ink. I've been looking for a set like this for a long time and was so excited to find it. She has it available as a clear stamp set, which is what I bought, or a digital one. There are several little items that can go on her tray and a sentiment too.

I used some Copics and a couple Stampin' Up markers to color his skin, hair, eyes, and mouth. Everything else is paper pieced using my patterned paper. Lots of hand cutting so it did take awhile.

I added some Ranger Liquid Pearls in Petal Pink to the top of the cake to be the frosting.

I layered her onto a couple Nestabilities dies, and went around the white one with some Crystal Stickles.

Along the bottom of the card I used my EK Success Open Scallop border punch. I placed a small strip of white cardstock behind the scallops because I thought it looked too busy to have the pattern showing through them.

I added a bit of satin ribbon from Stampin' Up.

The top two corners are rounded on a 1/2 inch setting using my Corner Chomper.

Thanks for stopping by today :)

Trio of Mini Halloween Cards

2011-08-22T01:00:00.001-06:00

Hello Everyone!

I am so excited for Halloween coming up. My husband and I really enjoy the holiday, so I figured I'd start nice and early on some fun projects.

This fun little trio of cards is my last project as a design team member for Scrapbookaholic By Abby. It's been SO much fun!!! Be sure and head over there today to see the rest of the design team's fabulous creations.

The cards are all 3 by 3 black cardstock.

I went around the edges with my Sakura Gelly Roll pen. It writes so smoothly and really showed up well against the black.

All of my images are cut from the Cricut Cartridge called Happy Hauntings. I cut them all at 2.5 inches, but I had to use real dial size for the bride of Frankenstein head because she was a tiny part of a larger frame.

I used three fun colors of twine from The Twinery in Lilac, Mandarin, and Stone.

The images are all attached with pop dots to give them some dimension. I used some Stickles for Bride of Frankenstein's hair and a did some inking and embossed lines on the pumpkin (but they didn't show at all in the photograph *LOL*)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Being on this design team has been a lot of fun :) I've been glad to share the fun with the rest of the team, and would like the thank the lovely Abby for having me as part of it!

Baby Girl Card

2011-08-17T06:00:00.000-06:00

It's time for another fun and fabulous Whimsical Wednesday Challenge. This time the challenge is called Three Times a Charm. You need to use 3 colors, 3 Cricut cuts, and 3 of an embellishment such as a button, brad, bow, etc. This time around I actually came up with the challenge, so if you think it stinks you can blame me ;) *LOL* Actually I do think it's a bit tricky - but sometimes it's good for force yourself to think a little harder.

I used the Baby Steps cartridge and cut these adorable little shapes out at 2 inches. I hid some details on the bottle and bib to avoid other layers that required more colors. I used a My Pink Stamper stamp to stamp "Sweet Baby" on the bib, but it showed up very pale so I went over it with my Sakura Gel Pen.

The embossing is done with the Spots and Dots Cuttlebug folder.

I hand cut a little banner and stamped Congratulations using an SP & Company stamp.

I added 3 buttons, some faux stitching lines using my Sakura Gel Pen, and plenty of beautiful Stickles.

Be sure and head on over to Whimsical Wednesday today! The rest of the design team will have lots of fun projects to share and you'll be able to share your own creation for the chance to win an awesome prize :)

Art Table Layout

2011-08-16T07:46:00.000-06:00

Hello Everyone!

Today I just wanted to share this layout I made of my daughter getting an art table last Christmas.

The paper is by DCWV I think it's from the Blossoms and Butterflies Stack.

The photos along the top are cut to 4 by 4. The other photo is 4 by 6.

The crayons are from Simply Charmed. I added some Peachy Keen Princess Faces and some Stickles.

I just layered them onto a blue piece of cardstock and cut it down to look the way I wanted, leaving a little room for me to note the occasion using my Sakura gel pen.

I have to say that I was totally inspired to make this layout because of Cindy! She does beautiful things and I just love visiting her blog :) Recently she has made not one, but two posts using these adorable crayons from Simply Charmed and some Peachy Keen faces - so I couldn't resist and had to do something fun with them too. Be sure and check out her blog. You'll love it!

The Dress I Sewed

2011-08-15T06:39:00.000-06:00

I did it! I did it! I sewed myself a real dress that is actually presentable enough to wear in public. Nothing short of a miracle I think. I've always been terrified of my sewing machine. I have dabbled in little projects like aprons, but nothing this involved. It was a real challenge and one heck of a learning experience.

For those of you that might be sewers here is the link to the pattern I used. It's for knit fabrics.

I'd like to take a moment to note. It isn't perfect! There are some mistakes. I can tell it isn't even in the shoulders and tends to slope to one side. But oh well. Still a wearable garment, and very comfortable too. I am pretty short, so buying a dress like this would have been hard. In fact, the pattern came with 3 lengths, and I took the "mid length" one and still had to shorten it a few inches. I can only wear it with high heels even after that adjustment. *LOL* I'm about 5 foot 1 and 1/2.

That's it for today! Just wanted to share. I worked pretty hard on this for several days. Honestly there isn't anything crafty I don't want to know how to do. Sewing my own clothing has been on the to do list for a very long time. So, it feels good to have finished my first dress. Now that I have a bit more confidence I hope to try and do more sewing in the future.

Clear Crayon Box

2011-08-13T06:00:00.046-06:00

Hello everyone!

I have a super fun project to share with you today :) I created this for the Back to School Blog Hop hosted by Jovan. If you are hopping along the trail you should have arrived from Theresa's Blog. If not, head on over to Jovan's Blog to start the fun.

My daughter isn't school aged yet, so back to school doesn't carry as much meaning for me as it does for some, but it is a reminder to make sure I keep working with my daughter to help her learn and grow each day. My son too, but he is a bit younger with a far shorter attention span! *LOL*

I purchased some transparency sheets that print in a laser printer, they also make them for inkjet printers. I bought a huge box at a local office supply store.

I used a graphic set from Lettering Delights called Smiley Supplies. I set the crayons up near the middle of my paper and spelled my daughter's name so it says "Tiffany's Crayons" since the picture says crayons on it.

I printed this out in the center of my transparency sheet.

I determined that I wanted my box to be about 3 and 3/4 tall by 4 inches wide, and about 1 inch deep. I did a little math and figured out that I wanted to cut my transparency sheets at 5 and 3/4 tall by 6 inches wide. Then I used my Ultimate Crafter's Companion to make the box. It has a box lid and a box base section, so it automatically makes the lid a bit larger. If you don't have one of those you will need to make the lid slightly bigger or adjust your score marks. I scored on the second line all the way around, which is about 1 inch for the Crafter's Companion.

It was hard to get the plastic to score nicely, but I did manage it. I used Score Tape to secure the box together. It does show up a lot, but I figured any adhesive would show, and this stuff is REALLY nice and strong to hold the plastic together.

I just placed a paper there behind the image so you could see a little better, I didn't adhere it.

The box holds 24 crayons right now, and honestly I could fit another layer if I wanted to. I really only needed to make it 3/4 inches deep - but those measurements would have been harder so I just went up to an inch.

I'll be giving this to my daughter as a special way to store her crayons. She loves to organize and arrange things so this is perfect for her. If you want to give these as gifts it would be a good idea to secure them closed with a nice ribbon since the lid comes off so easily.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

To continue the hop please head on over to Carri's Blog!

Don't forget to join in on the challenge at Jovan's blog back where you started as well :)

Sew Stylish Card w/ A Video

2011-08-12T12:49:00.000-06:00

Happy Friday!

I wanted to do a sewing themed card, and actually used my sewing machine to stitch on it. I had lots of fun making it :)

Here's the video for you with all the details.

Pretty Bat Card

2011-08-11T07:31:00.000-06:00

Here's a simple, but very pretty card.

The paper is from DCWV from their Midnight Spell Stack.

The stamps are from Close to My Heart from their Beware Set.

I stamped in Versamark ink and used Stampendous Pearlustre embossing powder in Amethyst. I think it is really stunning on black cardstock.

I just cut around the flourish of bats by hand. For the circle I trimmed the tips of the bats wings and then grabbed a circle Nestabilities die. To avoid cutting the wing tips I put them on top of the die, away from the cutting blade. This is easy and it works great. The only thing is that you have to cut deeper into the wings than the Nestability cuts, so you do end up with tiny cut marks on your finished piece. Honestly, they aren't really noticeable. If that doesn't make any sense you can watch this video from Paper Prairie & Ink that explains and demonstrates it very clearly.

Halloween is my favorite holiday and last year I barely got a chance to make anything for it. So, this year I'm starting early :)

Thanks for visiting and have a crafty day!

My First Stamp Made with the Teresa Collins Stampmaker

2011-08-10T09:01:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone!

Today's post is basically a product review to share my experience with the Teresa Collins Stampmaker. It is a long post, but I wanted to be very thorough about exactly how it went for me.

I have been wanting one since it was announced, but I watched and waited. Listening to all the feedback. A lot of people had complaints and problems, but some people were making gorgeous stamps and I heard that the customer service was amazing. So, I took the plunge and ordered one from HSN that came with some extra stuff to get me started including a DVD from Above Rubies Studio.

Here's the deal! I'm glad I bought the product. It does work. I am pleased with the stamp I created. I am going to tell you about the whole process and what I did and didn't like about it.

First thing that happened was I was confused about how to get my negatives to print black enough. Apparently laser printers are not good for this, so I used my regular inkjet printer. I was able to get good results. I set it to use the maximum amount of ink and all that. Took a little playing with, and was actually the hardest part of the process for me. Now that I know the settings that worked on my printer it will be easy for all future projects.

I was pretty paranoid about exposing my polymer packets to much light since it is possible for them to harden if exposed to certain lights. I actually turned the lights off in my kitchen while I was prepping my stamp packet. I had enough light in the room next to it that I was able to see. I don't think this level of paranoia is necessary, but I wanted to be safe and not sorry.

I spent awhile really pushing the clamp together. If the polymer isn't "smushed" evenly I could end up with a part of my stamp being higher and then it wouldn't stamp as well. Because I had the lights off I figured I could spend as long as I wanted and it wouldn't hurt anything.

I turned my stampmaker on a couple minutes before I inserted the packet. That way it had a chance to warm up.

I did use the "flash process" which is where you put the stamp in the wrong way for a very short amount of time to get a thin layer of polymer all over. I heard this was good for intricate words and tiny stamps. I counted 1, 2. Very quickly! Then removed it. VERY short flash time was perfect.

I set my timer before I placed the stamp in so all I had to do was push start the second I put the stamp in. I just used the timer on my microwave.

Cutting into the polymer packet was freakin' gross! *LOL* It smells, and it's SUPER sticky. DO not use your favorite scissors. Yes, it washes off, but eww. My hands felt SO nasty. I really hate being sticky so I did hate this part of the process.

ABSOLUTELY do this over a sink. It is supposedly possible to do this with a bowl of warm water. Honestly, I can't imagine doing that. I spent several minutes at this even with super hot running water.

First I rinsed the stamp to get a lot of the excess off. Then I gently rubbed my fingers over it while still running the water. I added a little dish detergent. I found that kind of stuck to the polymer and was messy, but needed. Finally I grabbed the brush that comes in the kit and went to work. I used sort of a circular motion. I focused on using one end of the brush and doing tiny sections at a time. The stamp I made was small and delicate. I didn't want to scratch it up or tear it. So, I took my time. No rush, just VERY slow and careful. I held the stamp up many times to look at different angles and check for extra polymer in the tiny spaces in between the letters.

The last step was super easy. I just put a little water in the plastic tray they provide. Then I used the timer setting on the machine for how long to harden it.

Here's my stamp used a couple times. Once in Craft pigment ink and once in a Classic Stampin' Up pad. The photo isn't the best because the camera focused incorrectly. It did stamp well. Not 100% perfect, but very well. WAY better than the cheap clear stamps. Not as evenly as the more costly photopolymer stamps I have purchased, but pretty close. I think a lot of that has to do with user error too. The scrubbing didn't exactly feel natural to me. I may have over scrubbed some sections.

Here's the breakdown of my opinions at this point.

I am glad I purchased it. I think it was worth the cost, and the refills are pretty affordable.

I don't think it is as easy as they acted like it was on HSN. The mess the polymer packet makes it pretty bad. My hands took forever to wash. I did have luck cleaning polymer off my countertop with minimal effort but my poor hands had to be scrubbed half to death. I might try gloves in the future, but I suspect they may stick worse and make the process more difficult.

Timing is everything. You have to pay attention to what you're doing. The machine has lights, but really you do a fair amount of work too. If you want instant gratification and no mess this probably isn't the product for you.

So yes, it works. I'm a happy camper :) It isn't mess free or only a 5 minute process. However, it doesn't take hours either. Now that I know how to get my negatives to print I imagine that once I had a design ready I could print the negative, cut it, and do everything else to create the stamp in under 20 minutes counting getting everything out and putting it away with full cleanup time.

I hope maybe this review helps some of you that maybe have considered this machine. Truly I would recommend it, but only if you are willing to deal with a bit of a mess and some effort on your part.

The Write Stuff Layout

2011-08-08T01:00:00.020-06:00

Click on the Photo to See it Enlarged.

Today's layout is one that I whipped up for the latest challenge over at Scrapbookaholic By Abby. It's a Back to School Challenge. Be sure and head over there to check out what she and the other ladies made, as well as be able to link up your own creation.

I started off with a 6 by 6 inch sheet from the Echo Park Summer Days pack. The lines sort of reminded me of lined paper for writing.

I layered it onto an burnt orange colored piece that's 6 and 1/4 square.

I added a pencil from the Simply Charmed cartridge. I embellished it with some Sakura gel pen, some Stickles, and some googly eyes.

I spelled out "You've got the write stuff" using some flat letter stickers, my gel pen, and some Thickers.

I finished off this area with some green and pink buttons in the corners.

All of my photo mats are 3 by 5.

For the pink strip along the bottom it's about 1 and 3/4 inches wide. I punched it using the EK Success Open Scallop border punch.

Girlie Zebra Card

2011-08-04T14:20:00.000-06:00

Just popping in with a fun little zebra card to share.

The background paper is from Me and My Big Ideas, cute huh?!

I used my Cricut to create this card.

The little zebra is from Create a Critter and is cut at 2.75 inches. The flower in her hair is part of a K & Company embellishment. Simple googly eyes, and then for her nostrils I added Black Diamond Stickles. For her ear and her mouth I used some Liquid Pearls in Petal Pink.

Emma is cut from Ashylyns Alphabet at 1.15 inches. I covered it in lots of Stickles.

Is is from the same cartridge, using the skinny font at 1 inch - very tiny letters were hard to work with!

The three is from Sweet Treats, I just wanted a super fat 3 and knew there were fat numbers on that cartridge. It's cut at 2.25 inches. I cut it using some paper from the My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky pad. I outlined it with some Stickles. It's layered on a scalloped circle cut with my Nestabilities, but you could easily cut one from a cartridge.

There's my card! I love being able to make personalized ones like this that include a name and an age. Kids cards are the most fun :)

So, the reason I've been MIA this week is that I've been sewing! I am actually attempting to make myself a dress. I go back and forth between being excited about my progress, and wanting to throw the thing out the window. *LOL* Of course I've been doing other things too, but the sewing is the reason I haven't done my usual crafty projects and postings this week. Glad I got to whip this card up today and had something fun to share. Not so sure the dress will be worth sharing.

Hippity Hoppity Happy!

2011-07-29T07:33:00.000-06:00

Just a quick project to share with you. I made this card for my grandparents so instead of going really blingy I wanted something a little more subtle.

I'm not going to get into all the ink colors I used because I think a lot of them are retired now.

The bunny stamp is by Stamavie and it's called Peek a Bunny. I stamped it onto watercolor paper and then used a blender pen and my ink pads to color it in. I added a bling in her bow and sponged the edges.

The paper is from the Once Upon a Time Mat Stack by DCWV.

The ribbon is form Stampin Up.

The bottom is border punched with Stampin Up's Scallop Edge border punch.

I used a stamp from Pink By Design's Simply Everything set that says Hippity Hoppity Happy!

That's pretty much it. It took me a little time to color the bunny but everything was really simple to put together. I just eyeballed when I was cutting and didn't worry to much about the specific measurements.

Ruff Day Side Step Card

2011-07-27T08:00:00.001-06:00

Hello everyone! I'm so excited to share my card with you today! The new challenge over at Whimsical Wednesday is to have some fun with folds and create something other than the standard A2 card. It really inspired me to do this side step card, and I've been wanting to try a side step card for a very long time. Be sure and head over there to check out the challenge. You can see all the inspiration from the whole design team, and also enter your own project for your chance to win an awesome prize!

There are a couple of sizes of side step cards. This one folds into a 4 and 1/4 by 5 and 1/2 size to fit in a normal envelope. There are videos on Youtube of how to make them. The video I used for reference was made by Mary over at Cardz TV. You can watch it here. I did change the last fold line from 6 and 3/8ths to 6 and 2/8ths. I tried twice and it didn't fold flush before. Very likely my own mistake, but if you run into that problem you can try making that modification.

The grass at the bottom was created using a Martha Stewart border punch.

The rest of the cuts are all from the Cricut Lite Four Legged Friends cartridge.

The dog is cut at 2 inches. I added brown flocking powder to his ears to make them soft and fuzzy. He also has some Cinnamon Stickles on his nose and Waterfall Stickles on his collar.

The bone is cut at 3/4 inch. I used some Diamond Stickles to accent it.

The bowl is cut at 3/4 inch. I embossed the food portion with the Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug folder, it turned out SO cute like real little pieces of dog food. I also added some Cinnamon Stickles along the bottom.

The house is cut at 2.75 inches. I embossed the roof with the Candy Cane Stripes Cuttlebug folder. I went around the blue parts of the house with some Waterfall Stickles.

The stamp is from My Pink Stamper's Punny-Licious set.

I added one last detail by using my white gel pen to do some stitching.

Thanks so much for visiting me today :)

Be sure and try a fun fold and enter it at Whimsical Wednesday. I can't wait to see everyone's fabulous creations!

One In A Melon Card

2011-07-27T07:00:00.000-06:00

I started off this card by creating the look of background paper by stamping over and over again.

I used a 4 by 5 and 1/4 inch piece of white cardstock.

The stamp set I used was by Clear Dollar Stamps and it's called Fruity Fun.

I did some measuring and used tiny strips of paper to help me mark rows so that I could get my stamps at least close to being in an even pattern.

It wasn't easy, especially since each watermelon is made with 3 separate stamps using 3 different colors. It proved to be just that many more chances to mess up! *LOL* Although I am super happy with the results :)

I sprayed my stamped layer with some Marshmallow Glimmer Mist. It didn't photograph at all, but there is a subtle shimmer in person.

I layered my new background onto a green card base.

Then I went around the edges with Diamond Stickles.

I stamped a watermelon by itself onto a scrap of white cardstock. Then I went over the green part with Diamond Stickles, and the seeds with Black Diamond Stickles. I used a couple pop dots to adhere it on the card. This way it has dimension and sparkle to make it stand out from the rest, like that special "one in a melon" hardy har har.

I created a banner cut by hand and I curled it, and then used pop dots in the center to help in maintain it's curl. Same thing I did on a card just the other day. I'm having fun with that technique at the moment.

I created this card for the Bright and Fun Challenge that Tracy over at Craft Junkie Too is having. Be sure and head over there to check out what everyone else has created! It's lots of fun over there. She also has lots of linking parties going on regularly now so you can share your work, and find lots of other projects to inspire you.

It will be my last challenge for Tracy. It's been SUCH a blast!!!

A Cut Above the Rest

2011-07-25T01:00:00.001-06:00

When I think of summer I think of yardwork! *LOL* It's actually something I dread, but I thought I'd make the idea of mowing the lawn look cute for this card.

This is for the latest challenge over at Scrapbookaholic By Abby. The theme is anything summer.

I started off with a standard A2 sized card base in green.

I cut a white layer at 5 and 1/4 by 4 and stamped it using the Hero Arts Clouds background stamp.

I used my Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons Cricut Cartridge to cut this little lawnmower at 3.5 inches. To make it cute I did some faux stitching and some dots using my Sakura gel pen. I also added a couple of mirrored IRock gems to the wheels.

I created a fun little banner that is just hand cut and I stamped "A cut above the rest!" using Pink by Design's Simply Everything set. I curled the banner and then used pop dots in the center, but glue on the ends so that it stayed very curled looking on the card. I added a little bee in front of it, hoping to make it look like the bee is pulling the banner.

I finished off with some more gel pen stitching around the edges of the card.

Make sure and head on over to Abby's Blog today to check out the rest of the DT projects! You can also enter your own project for the chance to win some awesome Sakura gel pens. They really are wonderful to work with and can add a lot of great detail to your projects so it's a pretty sweet prize :)

Get Well Soon Card with a Video

2011-07-22T07:19:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone & happy Friday!

I have a video for you today of putting together this simple get well card. I figured it would be nice to have one in my stash.

The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's Sincere Salutations

The image stamps are from a Close to My Heart set called With Love

That, and the rest of the info are all in the video below :)

Using More Scraps to Make Tiny Cards

2011-07-21T09:26:00.000-06:00

I decided to use up some more scraps I had laying around from recent projects and also use some cute stickers by EK Success from their Sticko line that I've had in my stash for a little while and haven't used.

The polka dot card started with a scrap of Echo Park paper from their Summer Days collection. I cut it down to 2 and 1/4 square. The blue layer is 2 and 3/4 square and the card base is 3 inches square when folded. I used the dots on the paper as my guideline for where to place my cute little stickers. I think the effect is really fun.

The little squirrel card is 3 and 1/4 wide by 2 and 3/4 tall when folded. The Thinking of You stamp is from Stampin' Up's Sincere Salutations. The paper along the bottom is from Stampin up and has a pattern of leaves on it. I used the Martha Stewart grass punch on it. The top corners are rounded using a 1/4 inch setting on my Corner Chomper. I added some stitching lines with a white gel pen and a purple Stampin' Up marker.

It feels great to be able to whip up such cute little mini cards quickly and minimize waste at the same time.

Thanks for stopping by today :)

Using Some Scraps

2011-07-20T10:55:00.000-06:00

This little card was made using a few scraps. It measures 3 and 1/2 by 4 and 1/4.

I based the size on the blue scrap which is what I started the card with. I saw the large polka dotted scrap and decided to emboss the blue piece to coordinate using a Cuttlebug folder called Polka Dots.

I cut another piece of green that has little tiny polka dots using a scalloped oval Nestabilities die. I used my paper piercer to punch little holes in each of the scallops. Then I stamped "hey hottie" using Versamark ink and embossed it with some white embossing powder. This allowed my sentiment to stand out and be clear and easy to read on a patterned paper.

To finish I attached all my layers to a Kraft colored base and did some faux stitching wiht my gel pen.

It felt great to use up some scraps that were laying around from recent projects. To be honest I do throw away a lot of my smaller scraps. I know I shouldn't, but sometimes I just get overwhelmed by the mountain they can become and usually only save scraps that are at least 4 by 4. It was nice to use a couple pieces on this card that were smaller than that.

Thanks for visiting :) Planning to shoot a video tonight and I'm crossing my fingers I can actually get it done.

Bunny Teapot Card

2011-07-19T09:45:00.000-06:00

I tried something new for the first time ever and purchased this cool sheet by Reddy. It's called a DieCut print. All it is is a base image and several punch out diecuts that layer on top of it to create a dimensional effect.

Here is a view from the side so you can see where I did some of the pop dotting to create a real depth. Some of the layers I just glued on flat to avoid excessive bulk. In the photo they don't look much different, but in person they do add additional detail.

I had fun putting this together. In the future I would use a thinner pop dot if I could.

I really wanted to cut a frame around this and pop dot it up, but my measuring skills and math are pretty bad and this image was one of the measurements I had a hard time working with. Once we get down below 1/4 inch measurements I am easily confused.

So, I decided to take the easy route and just layer it on top of a patterned paper from My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky 6 by 6 paper pad. I created a Kraft colored card base. I rounded all the corners on a 1/4 inch setting using my Corner Chomper.

If you want to see what these kits look like you can check them out on this site. I purchased mine locally at a stamp expo.

I figure if I ever want to I could create this effect myself if I find an image I really like. It would be VERY time consuming to carefully cut so many small layers, but it could be done.

You Are My Sunshine Spinner Cards

2011-07-15T20:56:00.000-06:00

I just want to pop in to quickly share these cards I made for a summer swap I'm having with some of my local friends.

I created a spinner card for the first time not too long ago and I decided I wanted to make another design of one for the swap. In case you missed my previous post I'll briefly explain that a spinner card like this is made using 2 pennies with a pop dot in the middle. The image goes back and forth, spinning around along the track created in the card. There are some great tutorials on Youtube of how to make them.

The patterned paper is from Die Cuts With a View. To cut the spinner track I used a rectangle and a couple circles in my Gypsy that I stretched and manipulated.

The sentiment is from the Just Because Cards Cricut Cartridge. I added some little doodle dots with my Sakura white gel pen. I layered it onto some purple cardstock, with some Lavender Stickles along the edges. Behind that piece I used 2 pieces of green that were border punched with the Stampin' Up Scallop Edge Border Punch.

The sunshine I used is from Create a Critter, but I hid the face using my Gypsy and then stamped a cute little one on using my Peachy Keen stamps from the Dolly Dumplins face assortment set. Of course I couldn't resist adding some bling, so I used some yellow Stickles too.

These really are such fun little interactive cards to make. Here's a photo of the whole set of 8 that I created.

Sammy Saurus Banner

2011-07-13T08:09:00.000-06:00

Here's a banner that I made for my son's second birthday. It was actually really super simple.

I used the Dinosaur Tracks Cricut cartridge. It already has these banner letters and shapes set as part of the cartridge, even including the holes for stringing them.

I used my Gyspy and found out that if I cut them at 5.5 inches I could get away with only using 4 sheets of cardstock, one in each of my color choices. So, that's the size I used.

When they were all cut out I strung them onto some of the curling ribbon that came with a helium tank and balloons I purchased for the party. To make the banner a bit more even I added an image of some dino tracks to the side that says Sammy so it would have the same number of blocks as the side that said saurus.

The part that took the longest was trying to get the letters spaced out evenly and using tape to keep them in their places. I just eyeballed it and it was a bit uneven, but it looked close enough that I didn't think it was worth shifting them all around again.

Thanks for stopping by :)

The Magic Wand Layout

2011-07-11T01:00:00.000-06:00

This is a layout of my daughter from last Halloween.

I have created this for the latest challenge over at Scrapbookaholic By Abby. She is challenging everyone to use bling. I used gems and glittery letters so I have lots of bling on my project, but it's certainly one of my favorite things :)

I started off with a 12 inch piece of purple cardstock and added a sheet of paper from a 6 by 6 pad of Basic Grey paper from their Kioshi line in the top right corner.

I placed little bits of different colored bling gemstones in the centers of some of the flowers. Then I started spelling out my title using some sparkly Thickers. I added a piece of satin ribbon along the very bottom of that paper.

I added another small strip of paper from that pad below it. I could have used a full 6 inch sheet again, but since a lot of it would have been covered by a picture I cut a strip that was about 2 and 1/2 inches wide and just a little bit got covered. I finished spelling the title with the Thickers on this piece.

All of my photos are 4 by 6, but the one on the bottom right is partially covered by another photo and is now about 4 by 4.

I did my journaling on the small block of purple that shows from the original sheet. I used my Gelly Roll pen from Sakura and it worked great even on the textured cardstock.

If you'd like to play along and join in on the challenge you can head on over to Abby's blog to enter your project for a chance to win an awesome prize from Kich N Blues.

Here's the basic rules:

Link your ORIGINAL post with your project up to Mr. Linky (on her blog)

Mention that your project is for her challenge

Project must be entered by the deadline before Mr. Linky closes.

Project must be on the challenge topic.

Have fun!

Ribbon Banner With Kitchen Elements

2011-07-08T17:00:00.004-06:00

Hello everyone! I have a very special project for you today :)

This is part of the Whimsical Wednesday Blog Hop. If you're already hopping along you should have arrived from Gigi's Blog. If not, and you'd like to start the hop from the very beginning please head on over to Whimsical Wednesday to begin the fun.

For this hop we all made banners that will be sent to a nursing home. This cause is very special to me. My mother is a nurse and I spent a little time at a nursing home she used to work at. Many of the residents get very lonely and something colorful and fun on their door would really make a big difference and bring a big smile to their face. You can find out more by visiting Whimsical Wednesday and clicking the link they provide.

These are the AWESOME sponsors for our blog hop and what they are giving away for prizes :)

Patsy from the Prairie Bird Boutique is giving away...

Your choice of one bundle of Shabby Crinkle Ribbon

Babette from The Kraft Outlet is giving away....

their "Inspiration Play Pack"; This is a collection of The Kraft Outlet's top selling items valued at over $45. The play pack comes with 10 yards each of the red and brown baker's twine, an assortment of 50 of the plain and grungy tags, an 8 sheet assortment of their cardstock and text weight papers, an 8 envelope assortment, one sheet of Kraft labels, a set of their vintage dictionary pages, 1 yard of black twill tape, and a CD full of 100 graphics and backgrounds.

In addition The Kraft Outlet is offering 10% off all purchases made during the entire month of July. All you need to do is enter the code JULY10 at checkout.

The grand prize for the blog hop is a Gypsy, donated by Stephanie. In order to qualify for that grand prize you must leave a comment on each of the designers' blogs. At the end of the hop please return to the Whimsical Wednesday blog to leave a comment saying that you finished the hop and left a comment under all the posts.

The hop will run through Sunday and end at midnight EST.

Now, onto my project.

Since banners are super difficult to photograph here's a couple shots of the die cuts before I assembled them into a banner.

All the cuts are using the From My Kitchen Cricut Cartridge. I set everything at 6 inches EXCEPT the pie, which was cut at 4 inches. I cut that one shorter because it is much wider than it is tall.

For the apron I embossed the pockets with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and then added a couple pink buttons to them.

For the cupcake I added some Fruit Punch colored Stickles.

For the pie I embossed the top with the Swiss Dots folder and added some Fruit Punch Stickles to the cherry.

For the mitt I embossed it with the Argyle folder and added a ribbon near the top.

For the jar I added some stitching lines around the Kraft colored parts of the lid and wrapped some pink and white twine around the center. I used some thick glue dots to attach the cherries so that they would sit nicely above the twine.

Here is a quick view of one of the backs. All I did was cut pieces of paper smaller than the die cuts and put a ton of adhesive on them, then I sandwiched the ribbon in-between. If you want a cleaner look in the back you can just cut the blackout version of each of the cuts to create a sandwich to put the ribbon in. In this case I decided since it was the back this was OK.

Thanks a bunch for stopping by today :)

To continue hopping please head on over to Carlene's Blog!

Bun Bun Layout

2011-07-07T08:20:00.000-06:00

I started off with a sheet of cloud paper from Erin Lee Creative.

I used a stamp set from Hero Arts called Simple Things to stamp the house and the sentiment.

I colored the house using a few Copics and some Stampin Up Markers.

I cut the sentiment out with my Oval Nestabilities.

The stickers of the bee, butterfly, and bunny are from an EK Success sticker sheet.

"Bun Bun" is spelled using some Thickers.

The grass along the bottom is using some Stampin' Up paper with a subtle dot pattern on it and it's punched with the Martha Stewart Grass punch.

To create a journaling spot I used a couple of die cut brackets by Doodlebug. It's from their Welcome Home collection and they call these die cut sheets Cute Cuts. I attached 2 brackets to some white paper that I cut to the width of the brackets. I trimmed away the excess paper so that the brackets form a frame & added a few more stickers from EK Success to the top.

Our Back Yard is on another Doodlebug Cute Cut and spelled out using some letter stickers from my stash.

I added some Stampin' Up ribbon that I pleated.

The photo mats along the bottom are 3 and 1/2 by 4 and 1/4. When I put the photos in I will probably leave about 1/4 inch size difference so that a border of that color shows like a frame for each of the photos.

This is actually a scrapbook page about a little bunny that lives in our yard. I've become really attached to the little critter and watch out the window to see him nibbling grass, scratching his ears, etc. I get such joy out of watching him, and my son adores him as well - loving to sit in my lap pointing over and over again saying "Bunny, Bunny"

I have been feeling really frustrated with my scrapbooking lately so I decided to scrapbook something fun that I happened to feel inspired by last night.

Our yard is ugly, really - it looks like nature threw up with everything unkept and horribly planned. We are slowly working to fix it, but time and money are always hard to come by. This little bunny has given me a real appreciation for our yard even as it is. He's a great reminder to stop, take a breath, and just enjoy a moment. My backyard might be ugly, but it's got an adorable little critter that calls it home.

Thanks so much for visiting!!! Truly, from the bottom of my heart I appreciate those that stop by. It's a bright spot in my days to share my creativity and learn from other bloggers, gals on the messageboards, etc.

Have a crafty day :)

Dino-Mite Goody Bags

2011-07-06T06:00:00.000-06:00

Today Tracy over at Craft Junkie Too gave us the choice to design anything we wanted without a specific challenge.

My son's 2nd birthday party is coming up this weekend and I needed some cute goody bags for the fun party favors. So, I purchased some lunch bags to embellish. I figured the extras would be fun to do crafts with my daughter.

I used the Dinosaur from Create a Critter cut at 4 inches and did a lot of embossing. The yellow layer is embossed with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Folder, his body is embossed with the Mosaic Texture, and his belly is debossed (which just means the impression is going into the paper instead of popping out of it) with the Japanese Scales folder. I added some cute googly eyes as well. Always super easy, and really fun for critters.

The bags all feature different Stampin' Up patterned papers. The color is all the same, but some have dots, leaves, etc.

I attached the dinos with Action Wobbles, which I think is the real treat for the kiddos. The dinos look adorable wobbling back and forth.

I added a strip of cream cardstock toward the bottom of the bag in between fold lines. The phrase was made using my Gypsy to weld together letters from A Child's Year.

To close the bags I folded over the tops & punched 2 holes with the larger setting on my Crop a Dile. Then I threaded some ribbon through the holes.

I'm sure the rest of Tracy's team has lots and lots of wonderful inspiration for you today, so be sure and head over to her blog to check out all the fun. She also has regular linking parties where you can share your own creations and other fun ways to connect and be inspired.

Don't Miss the Fun At Whimsical Wednesday!

2011-07-05T19:00:00.000-06:00

I am excited that I will be designing for Whimsical Wednesday for another term! It is an AWESOME challenge blog that you really should check out if you haven't yet.

There will be an awesome hop happening this Friday you'll really want to check out :) There are some designers staying on and some new ones being added too, so it will be loads of fun to see everyone's projects.

The challenges happen every week and you have the opportunity to win some pretty awesome prizes for participating.

Hope to see you there, and that you share your wonderful creations for the challenges :)

I hope everyone is doing well. I am so behind on e-mails, blog visits, and all my other crafty goodness at the moment. So, I apologize to my dear friends for being behind on commenting and such. My children have really been keeping me on my toes and I just can't seem to sneak away much.

Peel Better Soon

2011-06-29T06:20:00.000-06:00

This is an extra special challenge card for Whimsical Wednesday.

This week both card teams have come together for our challenge, to make get well cards for a very special little boy. Angelo, who is the grandson of Margie from Bella Bug Creations, is going through a very difficult time right now. He underwent brain surgery last week and will begin chemotherapy next week. You can read more about Angelo at this post over at Margie's blog. We hope that you will all join us and make a card for Angelo too.

I decided to use the Create a Critter cartridge for this one. The paper is from DCWV and so is the strip along the bottom. It's a sticker that came with the paper pack.

To dress my monkey up a bit I used some brown flocking powder on the body, glossy accents on the nose, and googly eyes.

I gave him an extra large banana that is also from the same cartridge, but I did have to use my Gypsy to hide the face the banana originally had. I stamped "peel better soon!" from the Pink By Design set called Country Living. The stamp was originally one long phrase and I cut it so it would be easy to stamp in this arrangement instead. I could have also used masking, but I found this easier and as long as you only cut the spaces between the parts that actually stamp it doesn't hurt anything.

I rounded a couple of the corners with a 1/2 setting on my Corner Chomper.

Hopefully it makes him smile :)

Whimsical Wednesday is always a fun and inspirational stop. This week it would be extra special if you would like to participate. Head on over there now to see the rest of the Design Team's creations and to link up your own.

My Daughter's Star Mobile

2011-06-29T06:00:00.000-06:00

Tracy over at Craft Junkie Too is issuing a new challenge today. It is Hooray for Red, White, & Blue!

I decided to create something with my 3 year old to decorate the house for the 4th. I cut several stars with my Cricut. I did use regular cardstock because cheap kids paper would ick up my Cricut mats. After I cut the stars I punched holes in the top of them.

My daughter colored all the stars by herself. Then I helped her go around the edges with some glitter glue. Although you can only see 5 stars, she actually colored 10 and we glued them together back to back.

Last I helped her thread some yarn through the holes and I hung the stars from this baby sized hanger.

It was so much fun to use my Cricut to help create a fun memory for my daughter and me.

Be sure and check out what the rest of Tracy's DT creates today :)

Seek Sweetness Ice Cream Card

2011-06-28T05:47:00.000-06:00

This is a 5 and 1/2 inch square card.

The patterned papers are from the Echo Park Summer Days 6 inch pad.

I used my Nestabilities to cut the oval, scalloped circle, and the shape for my sentiment.

For the sentiment I cut a labels 1 die, and then cut it in half. The stamp is from My Pink Stamper's set called Sweetest Cupcakes. I finished off with marker drawn stitching lines.

The ice cream image is a stamp from Unity's Mix Up of Cuteness set. I colored it with Copics and Stampin' Up markers.

The swirly metal pieces are from Close to My Heart. I used Score Tape to adhere them.

There are 3 layers of paper along the bottom. The yellow layer in the back is 2 and 1/2 inches tall. The green layer is about 1 and 3/4 inches tall & is punched with the EK Success Open Scallop punch. The layer of ice cream cones is 1 inch tall. I cut that so that just one row of ice cream cones would show.

The final touch is that the top 2 corners are rounded on a 1/2 inch setting with my Corner Chomper.

Thanks for visiting :)

Patriotic Card

2011-06-27T01:00:00.001-06:00

It's time for another challenge over at Scrapbookaholic By Abby and this time around it's to use red, white, and blue.

I kept my card very simple.

The front of the card is a shimmery red cardstock.

There's a blue layer that is 4 inches by 5 and 1/4 inches embossed with the Cuttlebug Stars folder.

There is a 1 inch strip of white cardstock punched with the Stampin' Up scallop border punch & accented with blue faux stitching lines.

I pleated some red grosgrain ribbon.

The embellishments are all from K & Company.

Be sure and head on over to Abby's blog to see the creativity of the entire design team and also to enter your own project for the chance to win a fabulous prize :)

Here's the basic rules:

Link your ORIGINAL post with your project up to Mr. Linky (on her blog)

Mention that your project is for her challenge

Project must be entered by the deadline before Mr. Linky closes.

Project must be on the challenge topic - this time around it's to use the colors red, white, & blue.

Have fun!

Have A Ball Spinner Card

2011-06-25T01:00:00.004-06:00

Hello everyone and welcome to my crafty little corner of the web :) My fun card project today is for the Beach Party Blog Hop hosted by Abby! If you'd like to start the hop from the beginning please head on over to Abby's Blog. If you are already hopping along you should be coming from Angelica's blog.

So, today I've made a spinner card.

If you've never heard of one before the basic idea is that when you tilt the card back and forth you have an object that spins from one side to the other. It's actually pretty easy to create the spinner using 2 pennies with a pop dot in the center of them. I don't want to make this post too terribly long winded since I'm toward the tail end of a long hop - so I will provide a link to a helpful Youtube video on a spinner card. I did not create this video, I just found it while searching online - check it out here!

In the video the gal uses a punch to create the card slit. I used my Gypsy and the George and Basic Shapes cartridge to create mine. I stretched a rectangle long and skinny, and added 2 circles onto the ends, welding everything together.

The boy and girl are from A Child's Year. The boy is cut at 2.5 inches and the girl is cut at 1.75 inches.

The ball was made using a circle Nestability and my own hand cutting, but there is one on the Life's a Beach cartridge that looks just like it.

The patterned papers are from Echo Park's Summer Days collection, except the red polka dots on the ball are from Stampin' Up.

The sentiment is from Pink By Design's Simply Everything set. It says "Have a Ball" pretty fitting, huh?

Thanks so much for stopping by. Remember to leave everyone some comments for your chance to win prizes from fabulous sponsors like Market Street Stamps, Sakura, Kich N Bleus, and KaDoddle Bug Designs.

To continue along on the hop it's time to head on over to Ashley's Blog!

You Make Me Smile Card

2011-06-23T05:55:00.011-06:00

This is the sort of card I made just because. Something bright and cheerful to make someone's day :)

Both of the patterned papers I used are from Echo Park's 6 by 6 pad from their Summer Days Collection.

For the polka dot layer in the center I cut it at 2.5 inches square. I was really careful about where I cut the polka dots though, because I knew I wanted to place the sun over the orange polka dot.

The sun is a felt embellishment from the KI Memories line of Puffies, this is from the Happy Day set. I really need to just sit down and make my own. I hand sew felt things all the time! *LOL*

I went around and created a border using some light blue ric rac and some purple buttons.

The yellow layer is 3 and 1/4 by 4 and 1/2.

I stamped the sentiment "You make me Smile" from Pink By Design's Simply Everything set using Versamark and white embossing powder.

The strip along the bottom was punched with the Fiskars Threading Water punch.

All corners on the card base and yellow layer were rounded at a 1/4 inch setting using my Crop-a-Dile.

Also, just a side note... I ordered my Echo Park paper from this place Pumpkin Spice along with some stamps and I was really happy with how fast they arrived, the prices, and how much they charged me for shipping. I didn't order anything 12 by 12, so I'm sure shipping would be more, but I just had a good shopping experience and thought I'd mention it. I know I always try and shop from places I've seen people recommend. I've heard good things about them before from other crafty peeps as well.

Thanks for visiting me :) I hope maybe this card brought a little sunshine to your day, especially if the weather isn't nice where you are.

Berry Sweet Layout

2011-06-22T06:27:00.022-06:00

Click on the photo to see it enlarged for detail.

The only way to catch up on my scrapbooking is one layout at a time, so here's a step in the right direction :)

The paper I used is from the Imaginisce line called Berrylicious.

I stamped a journaling area using some SP & Company stamps and then cut it out.

This was the part of the layout that took the most time, but it was still easy. I made this cute little title embellishment with a stamp set called Fruity Fun from a company called Clear Dollar Stamps. I just love this because you get lots of different fruit and also fun sayings to go with it.

The strawberry I used is 2 separate stamps, so it's super easy to get the separate red and green. To spell out "Berry Sweet" I actually cut apart a stamp that said "Berry Much" to just use "Berry" and then used the stamp "Sweet." I used orange and blue to match the colors of the shirt my son is wearing, and also the colors in the paper.

I cut this out with an oval shaped Nestability, then added some brown stitching lines. I cut a larger scalloped oval Nestability in yellow, and pop dotted my white piece onto it.

I'm really happy with this colorful and fun layout, and it was easy too. I hardly ever fuss too much over my layouts. As much as I'd like to, I just feel like getting them done faster is better.

Thanks for stopping by today! :)

Simple Thinking of You Card

2011-06-20T06:30:00.013-06:00

Here's a fun little card I whipped up that could come in handy for many occasions. I could easily see it being used to cheer someone up during a difficult time, or encourage them during an exciting new chapter in their lives. It's pretty generic.

I created a shaped card by folding a white piece of cardstock in half and then using my Nestabilities scalloped Circle - what you do is position it so that it isn't cutting where the fold is. You will end up with the part where the card folds not having the scallops, but I just covered this up with my patterned paper, which is by Stampin' Up. I just cut the exact same sized scalloped circle die and layered it over the card front.

I stamped Thinking of You from Stampin' Up's Sincere Salutations in some Versamark ink and then embossed it with some white embossing powder.

I stuck on this fabulous felt kite embellishment by KI memories, they call these felt embellishments Puffies and this is from the Happy Day set of them.

To finish off the card I took out my Sakura white get pen and went around all the scallops. Then I used a circle shaped Nestability as a sort of stencil to help me draw a circle of stitching lines as well, creating a sort of framed look.

This was very simple and quick. I really wanted my special felt embellishment to stand out without a lot of distractions around it and I think this card worked well for that.

I'd Rather Be Stamping Card for a Sketch Challenge

2011-06-17T22:36:00.000-06:00

I decided to really push myself and do a sketch challenge. I really stink at sketches. I don't know why, but they just baffle me. I decided to go ahead and try this sketch challenge over at There She Goes.

Here's what the sketch looks like:

I'm pretty happy with my card. I started off with a standard A2 sized card base in Kraft colored cardstock.

For the strip on the left I used some Die Cuts With a View paper from their Sweet Stack and punched it with the Stampin' Up Scallop Border Punch.

For the triangle on the right I used some Stampin' Up patterned paper.

For the center I used a Hot Pink layer that is 2 and 1/2 by 3 and 1/2 inches. It's up on pop dots.

The vanilla layer on top of that is 2 and 1/2 by 1 and 1/4. It's up on another layer of pop dots for even more dimension.

The stamp set I used is called Loads of Fun and it's from There She Goes. I stamped the laundry basket in some Memento ink and colored it in using my Stampin' Up markers and an Aqua Painter. I didn't want the colors to be too dark or harsh, so watercoloring was a great way to accomplish softer colors while still being able to have more variety than just using pastel shades.

I used a couple really cool and sparkly Sakura gel pens on this card. I used the Pink Star color around the vanilla layer and the Copper Star all around the edges of the card, the border, and the traingle shape. It's subtle against the Kraft color, but very pretty - it does show up far better in person than on camera. I really must consider some other lighting to get better photos of my cards.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamped Polymer Clay Charm in a Card

2011-06-17T07:31:00.001-06:00

I made a polymer clay charm using some white polymer clay and a stamp. I used a stamp set from Unity Stamps called Mix Up of Cuteness. After I stamped the image into my clay I simply cut it out with an Exacto knife and then added the hole for the findings to go through. I baked it according to the directions on the package and then painted it with some acrylic paint. I finished off with some Stickles.

I wanted to showcase the charm in a card and I decided the best way to do that was a window. I considered lots of ideas and this is what I settled on. Before mailing the card I put in in plastic cover to help protect it.

I started with a standard sized Kraft card base. I used my Nestabilities to cut a circle in the front of the card.

I cut a vanilla layer at 4 inches by 5 and 1/4 inches and placed a circle in the same spot on it. To determine that I traced the circle with a pencil while having the vanilla piece temporarily adhered to the inside of the card. After it had the matching window I embossed it with the Dvine Swirls Cuttlebug folder and adhered it.

The card without the charm in it. Still very cute when it's removed.

To create the hot pink frame I used another Nestabilities die with a lacy edge, and then put that piece through the machine again with the same circle die positioned in the center. You can always tape down your Nestability for any of these parts that need to be placed very carefully.

Along the bottom I have a pink strip that measures 1 and 1/2 by 4 inches and it's embossed with the Seeing Spots Cuttlebug folder.

For my border I used the Fiskars EK Success punch called Open Scallop. This piece is stamped with a sentiment from SP & Company's Ultimate Sentiments 1.

I added a stamped cupcake with similar colors to the inside of the card so it will look exactly the same when the charm is removed, minus the dimension that the charm has. I just taped the charm over this piece.

Here's a look at the inside of the card, I think it's pretty cute with that cupcake floating around in there so I decided not to embellish it further.

I am entering this, and also one of my other projects from the link into the TGIF linky party over at Craft Junkie Too. It's a lot of fun, you just link up your recent projects and get to see what everyone else has been up to as well. Be sure and check it out!

Be Happy Card - Inspired by a Scrap Room Photo

2011-06-15T07:30:00.018-06:00

Hello everyone!

I whipped up this little card for the newest challenge over at Whimsical Wednesday. Our fearless DT leader Stephanie sent us this gorgeous picture of a scraproom and told us it was our color inspiration for this week. We all had to use to colors red and yellow, and we could chose another color/colors from the photo for our project. I chose purple, which I saw in a photo box on the desk.

My card is 3.25 inches square. Just a little bitty thing.

I cut the flower from the Cake Basics cartridge. I believe I cut the shadow at 2.75 inches and the flower at 2 and 1/2. I wanted a wider shadow than the image normally has. I cut a small circle separately and filled it in with yellow Stickles. I curled up the edges of the flower and added some little dots of Xmas Red Stickles for a little more interest.

I used a stamp set from SP & Company called Mini Card Creations 1. I stamped the little frame in a purple ink, but it wasn't exactly the color I wanted since stamping on yellow changed up the look a bit. Going over the frame with Lavendar Stickles really made it truly purple like I wanted.

I stamped Be Happy from the same stamp set in some red ink and called it done.

This was a nice simple little card to whip up :)

Now, let this photo be your inspiration as well! Head on over to Whimsical Wednesday to see what the other gals game up with and to link up your own creation for a chance to win an awesome prize.

A Housewife With a Little Attitude

2011-06-14T07:13:00.003-06:00

Click on the photo to see it enlarged for detail.

I am drawn to vintage looking images of cute housewives. So, when I saw this stamp set called Domestic Goddess from There She Goes Clear Stamps I just HAD to get my hands on it.

Years ago I did a just for fun photoshoot with some quirky photos and I wore this red polka dotted dress. I really need to buy one similar to it, as I didn't own the one in the photo. So, in honor of that dress I made this one red with white polka dots, here's one of the photos from that day with me "vacuuming some rocks." Told ya it was quirky ;) *LOL*

There are some pretty funny sentiments that came with this set, and I decided to use the one that says "Please leave a message after the tone. Beeeep...." Little miss smarty pants there thinks she's being real funny, maybe it's a bill collector, or a nagging relative. *LOL*

Here's my card recipe:

Yellow card base in standard 4 and 1/4 by 5 and 1/2 A2 size

Dashes and dots drawn with a blue Stampin' Up marker

Blue cardstock 3 and 3/4 by 5

Vanilla colored layer is 3 and 1/2 by 4 and 3/4, I embossed it with the Cuttlebug folder called Seeing Spots

A scalloped oval cut with Nestabilities using some paper from the Cricut Celebrations stack - it's got small circles on it.

Oval shape cut out of white cardstock with stamped image on it. I had to cut out the area around her hair before cutting with the oval Nestability. Then I just popped that part of her through the top of the die so that it wouldn't cut.

The image and sentiment are 2 separate stamps from the Domestic Goddess set. I colored her with some Copics for her hair and skin, and some Stampin' Up markers for everything else. One thing I really love about the Stampin' Up markers is that on of the sides has a super fine tip you can use for writing or getting into tiny little spaces. The Copics are great for blending and making things more realistic. I am a total beginner to coloring techniques, so I love being able to use both kinds of markers together to get a nice look.

Thanks for checking out my fun card today!

Father's Day Toolbelt Card

2011-06-13T01:00:00.000-06:00

Masculine cards are always something I have to think pretty hard about. I try to refrain from bows & sparkle as much as possible.

For the main portion of my card I used a piece of Kraft cardstock. I stamped it with a woodgrain background stamp by Hero Arts using Stampin' Up's Close to Cocoa ink.

I used the Cricut Lite cartridge called Handy Man. I cut the tool belt at 2.25 inches. I added various little details like a bunch of stitching lines and some silver brads. I accented the dots that should be the holes in the belt with some Sakura white gel pen so they are more visible. The little belt buckle is a mirrored piece of cardstock.

For the blue piece along the bottom it is cut at 1 and 1/2 inches tall by 5.25 inches wide. I stamped Happy Father's Day using a couple of the SP & Company Mix n Match sets. "Happy" is from the Basics set and "Father's Day" is from the Holidays set. I used Whisper White Craft Ink from Stampin' Up. I went around the outside with my Sakura gel pen in white, and then finished off with some mirrored Irock gems in the corners.

I created this card for the new challenge over at Scrapbookaholic By Abby. Although, there is a sketch and I didn't do a very good job following it. I had a bit of creative block this time around. So, please be sure and check out the inspiration on Abby's blog. Although I made a cute card I really struggled with the sketch.

The sponsor is Sakura and they have a great pack of 6 gel pens up for grabs. I LOVE their gel pens. I used one on my card today, and really adore some sparkly colored ones I have as well.

Here's the basics of the rules, but be sure and review them again on when you get to Abby's blog.

Link your ORIGINAL post with your project up to Mr. Linky (on her blog)

Mention that your project is for her challenge

Project must be entered by the deadline before Mr. Linky closes.

Project must be on the challenge topic - this time around it's graduation.

Have fun!

Craft Room Tour

2011-06-09T17:59:00.000-06:00

I'm excited to share my craft space with all of you :)

We've lived in this house for about 8 months now. During that time I have completely re-arranged this space 3 times. I am finally super happy with the way everything is organized and find it really pleasant to work in and easy to keep clean.

I do have to keep some things in the basement for lack of space, such as my crafting books & magazines, yarn, fabric, and things that are for other types of crafts, such as my cross stitching kits. Once we finish our basement I will get a bigger room down there and it can all be in one place.

Enjoy the video - I hope it gives you a few ideas, or just that you enjoy the peek into my space.

Refreshing Summer Drink Card

2011-06-08T06:00:00.005-06:00

Honestly, this card was so quick and easy I actually feel guilty. *LOL*

The cut is from the Life's A Beach Cricut Cartridge. I went pretty closely with the colors shown in the handbook. I accented the pineapple cup with some Yellow Stickles. The orange slice is sponged. I added some detail to the straw using a Sakura Gelly Roll pen in Pink Star. The Umbrella is accented with some Waterfall colored Stickles.

The card base is Kraft colored. I added a layer that is 4 inches by 5 and 1/4 inches that I ran through the Cuttlebug folder called Seeing Spots. I really love the larger polka dots - super fun :)

Since this was so easy to do I think it would be perfect for invitations to a bbq. You could easily incorporate a sentiment or just leave the front as is.

Today all the designers over at Craft Junkie Too have all sorts of fun, summery projects to share with you. Be sure and head over there to check them all out.

With the lovely weather we've been having here lately I am certainly in the mood to make some more bright and fun projects. Maybe I can hang them on my walls when the dreary winter days hit.

My Decorated Bathtub Area

2011-06-07T13:15:00.000-06:00

Click to see a larger version of the photo.

I thought I'd share my new place to relax. Finishing up this project has been keeping me out of my craft room. Awhile back I posted a photo of this area around my bathtub which I had just finished painting. I was trying to figure out how to decorate this mirror - I finally finished everything.

The mirror was one we took out of another bathroom and I thought it would be a great piece for behind the bathtub, but not plain. Some people were kind enough to make some wonderful suggestions. One of the things mentioned was swirls, and another thing mentioned was a frame. I was originally going to try to add some words as well - but then I found this wonderful textured glass looking privacy film for a window. I cut it down to size and put it on my mirror. I just love it!

I was tickled to find the wreath on sale at Michael's for $5. The candles are the fake LED kind and are from Target.

I put together this vase for a finishing touch. I purchased the flowers on sale, but I'm on a tight budget and couldn't get a new vase too. I had this plain vase on hand - it is fat and I had envisioned a tall skinny vase instead, but I decided to jazz this one up a bit and make the most of it. I happened to have some raffia laying around and so I used it. Then I just used some Scor Tape to attach some ribbon in kind of a fun design. I think it turned out a lot more fun than the plain vase.

I am just on such a kick lately with my house. Cleaning, decorating, organizing, etc. I have accomplished a lot and it feels so good to feel like many rooms are completely done now. I don't have a ton of money to spend, so I can't replace larger things, but I can do little projects and make the most of what I've got.

A craft room tour video will be coming very soon :)

Thanks for stopping by.

Fly Layout

2011-06-03T19:01:00.000-06:00

I haven't done a scrapbook page that I really love in a long time. This one finally worked out the way I wanted. As usual, I had a HORRID time photographing it. *LOL* Much cuter in person.

Here's some of the basic info.

The word "Fly" was cut from the Straight From the Nest Cricut Cartridge. I added Stickles in Magenta and also Glitz Stickles in Mermaid. The butterfly is an embellishment, I believe from K & Company.

I drew some fun stitching lines in loopy designs to make it look like my daughter was in motion. Those lines were drawn with the Sakura Gelly Roll pen in Green Star. I did some stitching around the whole purple portion of the layout in the Sakura Gelly Roll Pink Star pen, but it is more faint and didn't show up as well in the photo. In person it has a nice pink tint and a pretty subtle shimmer.

My journaling area was created by using a couple Nestabilities dies. I stamped some lines onto it so I could write.

The paper along the bottom is from 3 Birds - a line from HSN. I added ribbon to the top of that paper with a clear charm in the middle that says "Dream" and I attached it with 2 lavender colored brads.

Dentist Card

2011-06-01T13:07:00.000-06:00

I started off with these great embellishments from K & Company. They are from a line called Life's Little Occasions that I found at my local Joanns. Lots of different sets of cute stuff. I picked up several in different themes.

I knew I wanted it to say something nice along with the word dentist. So, I pulled out my trusty SP & Company Mix & Match sets. "You Are A" is from the Friend set and Wonderful is from the Family set. They were stamped using some Whisper White Craft ink from Stampin' Up. I thought I was pretty clever to use the sticker as part of a sentiment so now it reads "You are a Wonderful Dentist."

For the dental tool embellishment I had lots of fun making my own paper designs. The green layer was just plain cardstock that I stamped with my Stampin' Up Dot Dot Dot stamp using Versamark, then I embossed with my Stamp N Stuff embossing powder in Kaliedascope - which is basically clear with a little sparkle. I rounded the edges with 1/4 inch setting on my corner chomper.

For the layer of blue behind it I sponged a piece of vellum with some Soft Sky Stampin' Up ink. I added a plain layer of vellum behind it, because if I stuck it straight onto the Kraft color it would darken too much. I also rounded those corners on a 1/4 inch setting.

I rounded all 4 corners of the main part of the card on a 1/2 inch setting using my Corner Chomper. I love that I can punch through multiple layers with ease using it. I finished off with some stitching lines done with my Sakura gel pen.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Graduation Card

2011-05-30T01:00:00.000-06:00

I'm showing you the photo of the inside of the card first because I think it's actually cuter than the outside! *LOL*

This is my project for the latest challenge over at Scrapbookaholic By Abby. See the end of the post for more info on that.

This is a standard A2 sized card. I printed an image from the Kich N Blues collection called Kich Graduates. I colored her in with some Copics and some Stampin' Up markers. I also used a white Sakura gel pen to bring out the outlines in the black areas.

For the sentiment I stamped "Congrats to You" from SP & Company's Mini Card Creations 1. I cut it out using a scalloped oval Nestabilities die and then used the same ink I stamped with to sponge it and give it an interesting look. I cut a larger scalloped oval in green and gently sponged the edges of that layer with the same blue.

For the bottom I added a strip of patterned paper by DCWV that is 2 inches tall. I did NOT put adhesive on the top or in the middle, which creates a pocket for money or a gift card. I decorated the top with a strip of blue cardstock that I punched with the Fiskars Threading Water punch.

I finished off with some stitching lines done with a Stampin' Up marker.

Here's the front of the card. The whole card front is covered with the same patterned paper as the inside pocket.

I added a grey layer that is 3 and 1/2 inches by 4 and 3/4. To the bottom of that I added a piece of blue cardstock that is about 2 inches tall. It's punched using the Stampin' Up Scallop Edge punch. I stamped the sentiment "It's Your Day!" from SP & Company's Ultimate Sentiments 1 using some Craft Ink from Stampin' Up.

The graduation cap is from the Everyday Pop Up Cards Cricut Cartridge. That cartridge has a lot of great images that don't have anything to do with pop up cards. I cut it at 2.25 inches and blinged it up with some various colors of Stickles.

To finish of the front I did some more stitching lines and tied a ribbon.

Please head on over to Scrapbookaholic By Abby to see what the rest of the team came up with and enter your own project for the challenge!

We have some really great prizes for this one!!! 3 people will get the Kich N Bleus Grad Collection and we also have $20 Gift Certificate from KaDoddle Bug Designs. Fun, huh?!

Here's the basics of the rules, but be sure and review them again on when you get to Abby's blog.

Link your ORIGINAL post with your project up to Mr. Linky (on her blog)

Mention that your project is for her challenge

Project must be entered by the deadline before Mr. Linky closes.

Project must be on the challenge topic - this time around it's graduation.

Have fun!

Hang In There Pop Up Card with a Video

2011-05-27T23:18:00.002-06:00

I had so much fun putting this card together! Here for the inside you can see the pop up I created with some additional details and a punched frame I made.

Here's a closeup of the balloon.

Here's what I did to the outside of the card.

I stamped on the ribbon and solved the problem of my cloud image not repeating properly when stamped.

For those who just want the supplies

Cloud Background Stamp is by Hero Arts

Cuts on the Front are From Country Life Cricut Cartridge

Sentiment from Pink By Design's Country Living Set

For the inside I used the Everyday Pop Up Cards Cricut Cartridge

Martha Stewart Ribbon Loops Punch Around the Page Set

Sentiment from Pink By Design's Country Living Set

Here's the video with all the details & plenty of little tips and tricks along the way:

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This project is the featured guest designer post over at the Cricutolics forum. Isn't that fun?! If you're interested in a forum to talk crafts they have several sections for you to talk in.

Make Lemonade Card - Finally a Video Too!

2011-05-26T14:21:00.001-06:00

Front of Card

There are a lot of fun details for this card. The inside is as nice as the outside, and I actually like it better. I used a stamp set from TPC Studio called A Slice of Life. To see me put it together go ahead and watch the video below.

Inside of card

It feels like it's been forever since I did a video. This one took me an extra long time, but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things and shoot for one a week from now on.

If the Shoe Fits... Tag

2011-05-25T06:00:00.020-06:00

It's time for me to share another fun project for the awesome challenge blog Whimsical Wednesday. This time around the challenge is to make a tag - and you must use bling. Isn't that FUN?! Be sure and visit Whimsical Wednesday today to see what the other gals came up with - and to enter your own creation :)

For my project I cut a tag from the Wrap it Up cartridge at 5 inches. The shape kind of reminded me of a shopping bag. I added a strip of purple bling along the top. I also added little green bling in 4 of the corner areas - and then went around with a Sakura gel pen in the color Green Star! Such a stunning effect.

I stamped the sentiment "If the shoe fits... but it in every color" from Pink By Design's Shopaholic Set. I just love all the fun and girlie sayings in that set.

I added some blue polka dotted ribbon from my stash near the top of the tag.

I cut 3 different color combinations of shoes from the Cricut American Alphabet cartridge on the E2. I cut them all at 2.5 inches. I took each one and added Diamond Stickles to the swirl on the heel. Then I added 3 pieces of bling with my Irock to the holes in the front of the shoe.

I added the shoes to the tag starting at the bottom and stacking them. They just sort of nestled perfectly together.

I hope you enjoy my fun and ultra girlie project today! Now head on over to Whimsical Wednesday to see more inspiration and share your own fabulous work :)

Birthday Decortions - Including Cake Made With the Cricut Cake Machine

2011-05-23T01:00:00.005-06:00

So, today is my daughter's 3rd birthday. We had her party on Saturday and it works out that my dear, sweet friend Tracy shares the same birthday and all this birthday fun fits in perfectly with her birthday blog hop.

You'll want to see all the fun and inspirational birthday themed ideas, and be sure to wish Tracy a happy birthday - so if you're doing the hop you should have arrived from Jessica's Blog. If you have not started the hop yet you can head on over to see Tracy - the first stop on the hop and our special birthday girl :)

Today I'd like to share the decorations I made for her party. I will focus mainly on the cake I made using the Cricut Cake machine

Here's a photo of the supplies I used. Everything seemed to work just fine. The cake was good and moist and I would buy any of these products again in a heartbeat. These were all readily available at my local grocery store.

The first thing I had to do of course was bake the cake. I baked it in 2 round pans that were each 9 inches. I used some triple berry jelly in the middle to put the two layers together.

The next step was frosting the cake. I am by no means an expert at this - but I think it came out fine. The imperfections seem so much less noticeable later after all the decorations are added. Someday I'll learn to fondant a cake - but not today :)

The next step was preparing the gum paste. The mix I bought needed water and A LOT of kneading. My arms were so sore. I was already tired after just making the gum paste - then I had to work the color into it. Oh my goodness. I think that was by far the hardest part. Here are my four colors all done and ready to be cut.

To use the Cricut Cake machine you need to roll the gum paste out onto the Cricut Cake mat. First you spread some Crisco onto the mat with a pastry brush and then you just add the gum paste and roll it out. I TRIED FONDANT LAST TIME AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE GUM PASTE FOR THIS MACHINE INSTEAD!!!!!! The fondant had to be frozen after being rolled out on the mat and I still had a lot of trouble. The gum paste cut like a dream. Here is a picture of some cuts on the mat.

Here's a picture of a bunch of the shapes sitting and waiting to be applied to the cake. I cut all my shapes first so that I could have them all at hand when I went to see how I wanted everything to fit on the cake.

Here's the finished cake on the party table.

Here's a close up shot of the finished cake again.

This took up pretty much the whole day before the party - but my gosh did it feel good to see it all done and see my daughter's excitement over her birthday cake. It may have a lot more imperfections than one bought from the store - but it was made with a whole lot of love, and I did truly enjoy the process (all except the mess it left in my kitchen *LOL*)

Here are a few more quick photos of things that I made.

This little decoration went on the back of her chair at the party table. I cut it using my new E2 machine and the Cricut American Alphabet Cartridge. Then I blinged it up with some Stickles.

Here's a large sign. It's hard to see much detail but the presents have a bunch of glitter on them, and the letters have some bling.

My favorite thing at the whole party was this banner I made. I spent hours custom making the paper doll using the Cricut Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge. I think he came out exactly how I wanted.

Here's a shot of the whole banner.

Here's a shot of the top so you can see my special doll. He is supposed to look like my daughter's favorite TV show character - and she chose him for her party theme.

Here's a quick shot of a couple of the banner letters. I just alternated these 2 color combos.

Thanks for stopping by my bloggy little corner of the world today! I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse of all my party planning. I go absolutely INSANE over my children's parties. I don't invite a ton of people or anything - but I go nuts over wanting every little detail to be just so and take great pride in making a lot of the decor myself.

Now it's time to continue the blog hopping fun and head on over to Shawn's blog for some more inspiration.

Totally Custom Paper Doll

2011-05-20T08:46:00.000-06:00

I put a ton of work into this yesterday to get it just right. My daughter is having her 3rd birthday party tomorrow and for her theme she chose her favorite TV show - which is about this little boy named Caillou.

Here is a photo of one of the party items I purchased that shows what he looks like.

I wanted to replicate his clothing and his face as much as possible. The face was drawn on by hand (and it really shows *LOL*)

For the clothing the first thing I wanted to make sure and get right was the collar on his shirt. I started playing with my Everday Paper Dolls Cricut Cartridge and I didn't see a shirt like that, but I did see a nightgown with the right kind of collar.

You can see the nightgown next to the finished doll. I did a lot of hand cutting to change the sleeves and turn the gown into a shirt. I cut the gown in red a second time, and that time I just trimmed away the collar portion. I added 3 brads for the buttons.

The shorts were cut from the cartridge, but I did have to trim the sides to fit under the shirt.

The socks were cut by hand.

For the shoes I cut them once in blue and once in red. I cut the bottoms off the red ones and then layered them on top of the blue ones. For the green parts I took a scrap from a letter I had cut out earlier that day that was sort of curved and I hand cut it to make the little portions for the tops of the shoes.

I think it turned out really well. I haven't decided exactly how to display it at the party, but when the party is over I know I will be using it in her scrapbook.

Always remember - you can do A LOT with the crafting stuff you already own. Try and think about things in new ways. Sure, it takes a little more time - but it can be really fun to make something truly unique.

Chipboard Flower Bouquet

2011-05-18T10:21:00.000-06:00

I have a fun project to share with you today. Awhile back I made an order from Oriental Trading and saw this chipboard flower kit on clearance for like $2.50 and figured I'd go ahead and get it.

I had a lot of fun putting this together. The kit came with way more flowers than I ended up using. So, I got to pick and choose which ones to use and how to layer them. All I did was trace each flower onto the back of my paper, cut it out, and then attach the paper with Scotch Quick Dry adhesive. I layered 2 flowers on top of each other also using Quick Dry.

View of the top of the flowers - the color is off in this photo.

To attach the chipboard to the plastic stems that came in the kit I used some Scor Tape.

All the papers I used are from Stampin' Up. I also added some ribbon to the vase. For the front I stamped "You're never more than a thought away" from Stampin' Up's Whimsical Words set. I cut it out with a circle shaped Nestability, and layered it onto another Nestability shape.

Once I had all my supplies together this went pretty quickly and I'm really happy with the results.

Thanks for stopping by today :)

Stay crafty!

Hello Kitty Box

2011-05-16T01:00:00.045-06:00

Hello everyone! Today the fabulous Abby is having a new challenge starting! She is challenging everyone to make a bag or box using Hello Kitty. If you don't have any Hello Kitty stuff don't worry - just search online for pictures like I did.

For my project today I searched on Yahoo for some Hello Kitty images. I just printed one I found and cut it out.

I used the Wrap it Up Cricut Cartridge to cut the box at 8 inches - which is the biggest it would go on an 8 and 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of cardstock. It is actually very small when put together. Each side is about 2 and 1/4 inches square. So, it's super cute and would be nice for some small candies or a piece of jewelry.

For the top of the box I tied a ribbon around the lid, then added my image on pop dots, and finished off with the adorable sentiment "Luv Ya!" from SP & Company's Artsy Heartsy stamp set. I actually stamped it onto the top of a post it note and then cut it out, so I didn't even have to bother with adhesive.

For the sides of the box there were 2 that cut as plain squares. For those I just added 2 and 1/4 inch square pieces of patterned paper from the Cricut Celebrations stack - all the other papers are from that stack as well.

The other sides have this fun balloon design on them. I added a piece of patterned paper behind the balloons - otherwise the box was open and things would fall out. I had to hand cut the center balloon so its' a little screwy. *LOL* The other 2 balloons cut as a layer for the box. After the balloons were all assembled I added some dashes and dots around the frame and a little bit of green bling in the corners.

Now that you've seen my project be sure and head on over to Scrabookaholic By Abby. You can see the rest of the Design Team's creations and also enter your project for a chance to win a fabulous Hello Kitty watch.

Here are the rules to enter your project into the challenge!

Link your ORIGINAL post with your project up to Mr. Linky (on her blog)

Mention that your project is for her challenge

Project must be entered by the deadline before Mr. Linky closes.

Project must be on the challenge topic - this time you need to make a bag or box and use Hello Kitty.

Have fun!

Thanks So Much Teapot Card

2011-05-11T05:00:00.004-06:00

You're going to want to make sure and check out Whimsical Wednesday today! The challenge is called "Take Shape" and you're challenged to make a shaped card! What fun, right? There are tons of possibilities with this. Be sure and head on over to the Whimsical Wednesday blog for fun and inspiration from the design team as well as to read the official rules and link up your own fabulous project!

For my project today I decided to make a teapot shaped card. I found this teapot image on the Ashlyn's Alphabet Cricut Cartridge. I sized it at 4 inches and created a shaped card. I cut the card base in vanilla cardstock. I cut the teapot again in some Basic Grey paper from their Kioshi 6 by 6 pad.

I inked around the edges with some Close to Cocoa ink from Stampin' Up. I tied a bow on the handle with some pink ribbon that has white stitching in it. The pink gems are just some self adhesive bling from my stash. For the sentiment I used a Nestabilies scallop oval die on some Stampin Up designer paper. I inked the edges and then stamped the sentiment using Stampin Up's Sincere Salutations. I attached this to the card with Pop Dots to give it a little dimension and interest.

Thanks for visiting today!

This is my second post of the day. I also made a teacher thank you gift for Tracy - so be sure and see that before you go :)

Thanks Teacher Bookmark

2011-05-11T04:59:00.000-06:00

Tracy over at Craft Junkie Too asked us to create end of school teacher gifts. This is what I came up with. I cut the bookmark from the Plantin' Schoolbook Cricut Cartridge at 7 inched wide (turn the fit to width button on your Expression and then set the dial to 7 inches.)

The apples were cut from the Country Life Cartridge at 2.42 inches - but you could just cut them at 2.5 - I used a Gypsy. For the apple on the left I added some Glossy Accents to make it shiny. The apple on the right I added some Xmas Red Stickles to make it sparkly.

I used some foam Thickers to spell out "thanks." I had to fiddle with them a lot to get the placement right, but I think it came out kind of fun and still easy enough to understand.

Along the top I tied some pretty green and white ribbon and added some self adhesive green bling from my stash around the circle opening.

For the finishing touch I went around the edges with a red gel pen.

To be honest I'm not sure how well it would work as a real bookmark because of the depth of things like the Thickers... but I still think it's very cute. Be sure and stop by Craft Junkie Too today to see what the other gals created!!

Yum Cupcake Card

2011-05-10T07:34:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone :)

I was playing around the other day and threw together this simple cupcake card.

The cupcake is from the Sweet Treats cartridge. The base is in Kraft cardstock, and the wrapper is a paper from Echo Park's Be Mine collection. I added some Diamond Stickles to the sprinkles.

I used some fun and sparkly Thickers to spell out "Yum" and I used the little star symbols on either side just for decoration.

I rounded the top 2 corners on a 1/2 inch setting on my Corner Chomper and then went around and made little dots with my Coffee Ice Stickles.

Very simple - and very sparkly! I hope you'll check back tomorrow as I have 2 fun projects to share. Stay crafty!

My New Dining Room

2011-05-09T10:30:00.000-06:00

Click on the photo to see it larger.

Hello again everyone. I realize that home decor isn't my usual topic - but it's been a huge part of my days lately. I have always dreamed of having a nice dining room and that dream is finally a reality. I painted this accent wall all by myself.

We are on a pretty tight budget and working with things we already owned with a few inexpensive additions. The only things I just purchased for this room are the picture frames and the paint.

I love these frames! I got them at Target for $10 a piece. So, for only $30 I was able to display 12 4 by 6 photos. I could easily hang them in a different configuration later if I switch things around & it will be pretty easy to change out pictures if I want to since they are standard sized photos.

Normally I don't like too much "stuff" in places because I think it can look cluttered and it's a pain to dust. However, in this room I decided to display many items. I figured it keeps the room for feeling to stark and cold with all the dark furniture - plus they are conversation pieces, and as an added bonus it's also the room the kids aren't allowed in so things are less likely to break.

The hutch itself belonged to my in-laws. They left it in their basement unused for many years. When we rented the home from them we fished it out of the basement and started using it - and it came with us to our new home. In and on the hutch are a variety of treasures. I have china from one of my grandmothers, and silver from the other. Crystal my husband purchased cheaply during his trip to Prague. A couple things I've had since I was a child, some special gifts, and various fun finds from flea markets and other shopping trips.

The clock in the room belonged to my grandmother. All the working parts are missing so it is just for display. To be honest I don't intend to get it fixed. I'm not much for the noise of a traditional clock.

The table and chairs were DIRT cheap and we bought them several years back for only $200 new. I do love the look of them, but of course they are very scratched up and such since they are cheaply made. I am hoping to either purchase or sew some chair covers and table cloths in different colors to change with the seasons, but I can't get to it right now.

Thanks for visiting today! I have a really cute card scheduled for Wednesday for sure - and if I get lucky I'll try and work on one to post for tomorrow.