Radioactive Love

 

Today I have a layout that I would like to share with you.  To create my layout I used this wonderful file from Too Cute by Jessica called We Have Great Chemistry.  Now I'm going to admit that I did not paper piece all of this together.  Instead I used a combination of piecing and print 'n cut.  My boy and girl are both print 'n cut and everything else is pieced.

 

The larger hearts are from the Cricut cartridge Create a Critter.

 

The stamped sentiment on the black board is from the recently released stamp set by Pretty Cute Stamps titled We Have Great Chemistry.  It's almost as if this file and stamp set were made for each other.

Fight Like a Girl

Welcome to another DoubleClick Connections Skittles Challenge.  For the next two weeks our challenge will focus on the color pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness.  Create any kind of project but use the color pink.  I don't personally know anyone who is fighting breast cancer but I have a family member that is battling three forms of cancer.  That's right THREE.  And let me tell you what he's not going down without a fight and so far he's winning!!

 

For my project  I used the bear from Create a Critter - cut at 3".  For my awareness ribbon I used Stand and Salute.  I cut the ribbon at 1" then ran it through my Xyron and applied some MS glitter in cotton candy pink.

 

At the bottom corner of my card I used Caramel skittles from the Summer release to tie in with the browns on my bear.  Finally, the sentiment was actually printed using my printer.

 

And now be sure to check out the other wonderful designs our team has put together for you this week.  Then create your own project, link up and play along with us for your chance to win a fun prize.

 

In the meantime don't forget that you can always replenish your Skittles stock here. 

 

 

Oh Nuts!

 

This morning I'd like to share a fun shaped card that I put together using one of the squirrels from the Nutty For Fall file by Too Cute by Jessica.  I absolutely could not resist when I saw these adorable bucked teeth and chubby cheeks.

 

To create the shaped card I used the base layer from the acorn on the Create a Critter cartridge.  I welded two of them together using a rectangle from George to create my center fold.

 

The stamped sentiment is from the This 'n That stamp set by Cardz TV Stamps.

 

And there you have it - a quick, easy, fun shaped card for Fall.

Now I'm off to enter this in the Fall challenge over at Die Cuttin' Divas.

Child Friendly Thanksgiving Place Setting

I originally created this project back in 2010 but wanted to share this with you as we draw near to Thanksgiving this week.  Plus I noticed that my original post referenced the instructions being in a newsletter that is no longer available.......

 

Of course I can't take credit for this idea as it was based on inspiration I received from Scrapbooks, etc magazine.  In the article it showed great ideas for setting the table for the holiday and one of those ideas was a paper pieced turkey as a crayon holder.  Immediately the lights went on and I thought what a great idea - now let's expand it and that's just what I did.  So without further delay here are the instructions......

 

Child Friendly Thanksgiving Table Setting

Supplies Needed:

8 count box of crayons

Rubber band & piece of string/ribbon

1 ½ sheets Fall themed paper    

8 ½ x 11” sheet of white or off-white paper

Cricut ink pen

Design Studio or Gypsy

 

Cricut cartridges:  I used Thanksgiving, Create a Critter, A Child’s Year, PPDU and Animal Kingdom, TBBM

To Create Placemat:

1.       Using the guidelines provided in Design Studio or Gypsy place a variety of Thanksgiving related cuts on the mat staying within an 8” x 11” area. 

2.       Replace the Cricut blade with one of the ink pens and print the images.  Ink edges.

3.       Cut a 12” square paper to 9 ½” x 12”.  Adhere the white page to printed page.  Ink edges.

 

To Create Personalized Silverware Pocket:

1.     From TBBM cut one of the tag pockets in blackout (and no hole) at 11 ½”.  See pages 112& 113 of the handbook.

2.     If your paper is not a double print place your paper print down on the mat before cutting.  This will keep your print on the outside of the pocket when folding and putting together.

3.     Create name tag by cutting a pumpkin from Create a Critter at 1 ¾”.  Hide the facial contours to allow for writing the child’s name on the tag.

4.       Adhere tag to pocket.

To Create Crayon Holder:

 

1.       Using Create a Critter cut the turkey and needed layers at 2 ½”.  Ink edges.

2.       Build the layers for your turkey EXCEPT for the very back tail piece.

3.       Prick two small holes in the center of the very back tail piece.  Tie rubber band to the tail.

4.       Adhere tail piece to the turkey to complete build.

5.       Add crayons by wrapping rubber band around them to hold them in place.

 Note: Crayon holder was scraplifted from the December 2010 issue of Scrapbooks, etc.

Colors of Fall - Gobble, Gobble

Happy Friday everyone and welcome to our Colors of Fall challenge over at Cardz TV.  This week our Go to Galz made cards, layouts and other projects featuring the colors of Fall:  red, orange, gold, brown and purple.

For my project I decided to alter a charger plate for some Thanksgiving style home décor.  It doesn't show up very well in the picture but the charger plate is purple and my gobble, gobble is cut from a lighter purple metallic paper.

My turkey and the gobble, gobble are both from Create a Critter.

The stamped sentiment is from the Cardz TV Stamps set "Happy Days".

And now that you've seen my project be sure to check out the other awesome ones created by our team.  Then after you've been amply inspired, create your own, link up and play along with us.

I can't wait to see what you create. 

Erin Go Braugh - St. Patty's Challenge

Happy Wednesday everyone.  I know things have been quiet on my blog lately but that's only because they've been so chaotic behind the scenes.  We've had a lot going on in my little part of the world and that means not as much crafting time.  But I still haven't forgotten about it and can't wait to get back to a little routine.  In the meantime, I do have a design team challenge to share today......

 

Cricut Cardz Ch#127 "Erin Go Braugh" - where this week we're making cards for St. Patrick's Day using Green, Black, and White ONLY and using any cartridge(s).  I have to admit that I struggled with this one because I personally found it challenging to create a card while staying within the alloted color scheme.  But eventually I got it and this is what I came up with.

 

For my card I used:

 

A Child's Year for the shamrock

 

Create a Critter for the horseshoe (embossed for a little texture)

 

Cricut Craft Room Basics for the font (welded together)

 

On the inside of my card it says "To have you as a friend"

 

And now that you've seen my take on this week's challenge check out the other great designs our team put together for you this week.  I gotta tell you the ladies really rocked this challenge.  Don't believe me?  Check it out here and then when you're done being inspired, create your own card, link up and play along for your chance to win 1 set of Cardz TV Stamps 

Come play with us!

...

Love You Because Mini Album

For Valentine's Day I always make a little something (besides a card) for my husband.  Not because we can't afford gifts but because 1) it's hard to surprise him since we do everything together and 2) I want it to come from my heart and not a big box store.  So this year as part of his gift I made him a mini album listing some of the reasons I love him and I wanted to share just a couple of the pages with you.

This was an easy album to make.  For my pages I cut 3" circles from chipboard and backed each side using paper from the SEI Think of Me mat stack.  Then using my Crop O Dile I punched holes for my ring binder to hold them all together.

My cover features that cute little Teddy Bear from the Teddy Bear Parade on an action wobble. 

On the inside I alternated using pictures and cuts from Create a Critter along with my "reasons".  

The mats I used for my "reasons" are from the Cricut Alphabet, one of the E2 Anniversary built in cartridges.  

The heart is from Cricut Alphabet and the Sexy verbiage is from Suburia.

And since I used a variety of scraps on this project I'm going to enter it into the Super Scraps challenge over at Hiding in My Craft Room.  There's still time to play as the challenge ends tonight.

No Monkeying Around....Be Mine

Happy Wednesday everyone.  I have some exciting news for you!  Cricut Cardz Challenge has changed its name to CRAFTY Cardz Challenge so that we can open up our challenges to include any cutting machine that is out on the market.  So that means you can use your Silhouette, Slice, Sizzix or any other machine to come play along with us....

This week it's all about cute critters - and of course Valentine's.  For this week's challenge I used the Life's a Party and Create a Critter cartridges for my card.   These cuts were great for this card because it made it one of those quick, easy and done in 30 minute cards.  And with all the Valentine things I've been working on I needed a card like that this week.  LOL

Now that you've seen my take on this week's challenge hop on over to Cardz TV to check out all of the other awesome designs our team put together for you.  Then after you've been amply inspired, create your own, link up and play along with us. 

I'm also entering this one in to the Super Scraps Saturday challenge over at Hiding in My Craft Room.  So if you're using up scraps you should come play along there too.

Baby Sitter's Information Station

Now here's a great little idea if you or someone you know has the need for baby sitting services.  I found this idea in an old craft bazaar book I picked up at the thrift store.  Of course I had to "modernize" the idea and put my paper crafting skills to work.  LOL

For this project I started with a couple of unfinished chalk boards I found at Michael's. My mom had some chalkboard paint on hand so she painted the blackboards for me and then I stained and polyurethaned the wood for a nice finish. I then had my wonderful husband drill a couple of holes for the ribbon to slip through.

To dress up the boards I turned to a couple of my favorite cartridges:  Create a Critter and Baby Steps.

From CAC, cut the giraffe at 4" and the duck at 1" to coordinate with the ribbon I used for the "hanger".

From Baby Steps, cut the baby boy in the tub at 3".

I then chose coordinating buttons for each board and viola - a great gift idea for new parents or anyone who uses a baby sitter for that matter.

Pretty great idea for minimal cost I thought, and so very fun and easy to do too.  And just think of all the possibilities - larger boards, dorm rooms, kitchen message center, honey do lists, kids chores, so on and so forth.

Cancer Stinks

Happy Wednesday everyone.  Today I have a special card to share with you.  This was made for this week's “Let's Hear it for the Girls!” Cricut Cardz Challenge where our directive was  to make a card for Breast Cancer Awareness using any cartridge(s) and colors you’d like.

Now I admit I have not lost any friends/relatives to breast cancer but I have lost loved ones to other types and still have others who are currently battling this ugly disease, including my own father who is battling three different types of cancer.  All I can say is that he is one heck of a fighter and with the loving support of my mom he's kicking tail. 

So back to my card - for this one I used:

Create a Critter for the skunk
Graphically Speaking for the comic "callout"
Stand and Salute for the ribbon in the skunk's hand

And now that you've seen my card be sure to hop on over to Cardz TV and check out all of the other great cards our DT has created for this week's challenge.  This was a tough one but every one of the ladies did an awesome job. 

When you're doing being inspired be sure to create your own, link up and play along with us.  And speaking of playing along I'm also including this card in the die cuts challenge going on over at Hiding in My Craft Room.

Owl Always Love You

So this week I am the featured DT Member for the Just A Scrappin' team and as part of my feature I was asked to create a card to go along with the Q&A.  Now when I thought up (boy does that sound "Southern" lol) this card I had a much grander vision of the way it would turn out and, I guess, in the end, it's not too bad.  Although I was hoping that at the very least my appeture would work a bit better. 

Appeture Close Up

Anyhoo.....I used Create a Critter for my owl, April Showers for the butterfly, and Sweethearts for my tree.  When I laid the tree cut out on the mat though I stretched it just a bit so that my tree trunk would be a little bit wider for creating the appeture.  Once removed from the mat, I used my exacto blade to make a cross cut then grab each corner with a pair of surgical grips and rolled the paper back to create my opening.

On the inside of the card I adhered my owl so that its face fit center to the opening on the front.

Now, if you'd like to see the questions that were asked of me and delve a little bit more into what helps to keep me 'sane' take a gander over at the DT member feature on Just A Scrappin'.

Toadily Awesome

Happy Thursday everyone!  I am happy to announce that I (along with several other ladies) have been chosen to be a part of the Just A Scrappin Design Team.  There are two teams, each of which will bring you a new challenge to play along with every week beginning today.

For our first challenge - Anything Goes.  That's right - Anything.  But, you have to use green and then any other color/s you choose. 

Keeping in theme with my create a card around a quote this week I give you my "toadily" awesome card.  Now I will say that I took numerous pictures of this card because it honestly looks so much better in real life that it has turned out in any of pics.  And out of all of them this one was the best; however, my poor frog looks like he's gone way over the cuckoo's nest.  LOL  But I digress.....

For this card I used:

Pooh Font for the "U"
Sesame Street Friends for the frog
Create a Critter for the lily pads

The lily pad flower is a brad that I had in my stash.

Now that you have seen my creation why don't you hop (no pun intended) on over to Just a Scrappin to check out the other designs created by our wonderful.  Then create an Anything Goes design of your own, link up and play along with us.  (You have one week before the next team shares their design.)

Birthday Snap

As I was thumbing through the pages of the current issue of Paper Crafts Magazine I saw a crab shaped card that had the phrase "oh snap" on it.  Immediately this card caught my eye and I knew that it was going to be inspiration for a card to come.

Today just happens to be that day.  One of my girlfriends is celebrating her birthday this week and given her 'snappy' personality - not crabby but fun and quirky - I wanted to use that phrase for her card.  At the same time I'm also creating a card for the Bitten By The Bug 2's Water Theme Challenge.

For this card I used:

Life's a Beach for the font, birds and the little mound upon which my palm tree sits
Create a Critter for the crab
Doodlecharms for the palm tree

My beach was created using sand paper and my little mound was also cut from sand paper.  I also embossed my water to help give it a bit of a wavy look.

Pocket Birthday Card

Last week I saw several cards in my reading list that was called pocket cards.  Well of course I got curious and had to take a look.  Seems there's this new stamp and die set (can't remember by who) that's come out and it's all about pockets.  Great idea, but I thought well heck there's got to be a pocket cut somewhere on one of my Cricut cartridges so I went to My Cut Search and sure enough there was one.

Since I needed a birthday card for my mom I decided to use this newly found pocket cut and incorporate it into my card.  I used:

Old West for the pocket
Create a Critter for the worm, happy birthday sentiment on the pocket and the balloons

The heart shaped balloon was adhered to an action wobble.

You Did It!

It's time for another installment in the Cricut Cardz challenge series and our team has some awesome designs to share with you this week.

Of course this challenge came just in time for me because my #4 child graduates from highschool tomorrow evening.  It's amazing how quickly the time flies, but we'll have next year off and then the two years after that our last two will graduate.....

For my card this week I used:

Autumn Celebrations for the stack of books
Create a Critter for the owl
Locker Talk for the graduation cap

My background paper was some that I had left over from the graduation announcements I made last month.  It's from Sandylion and is called graduation caps - clear foil.

And now that you've seen my creation for this week's challenge hop on over to Cardz TV and take a look at all the fun designs our team created to inspire you.  Then create  your own, link up and play along with us.

Just 4 You

My daughter's birthday is this week and I sit here wondering where the time has gone.  Twenty two years seems like a long time but it has seriously gone so quickly that even I don't know what to think.  Growing up I used to tell her (and all the ones thereafter) that I was going to put a brick on her head to keep her from growing.  Of course back then they all thought that was funny and even now it will elicit a little giggle from her.

Now I realize this card I've put together for her is a little "childish".  I know this.  However, the one I had in my head that I spent hours on this morning before and after church ended up in the circular file.  Why you ask?  Well it was a glorious three tier pop-up cake.....my first one ever.....and much like my real life baking skills it flopped. I won't bore you with the details but I will say I tried to salvage it and the more I tried the worse it got so I had to give it up.

For this card though I used:

3 Birds on Parade - the bird originally had a cupcake in its hand which I removed so it could hold the balloon

Create a Critter for the font - I cut away the balloon "string" and replaced it with memory wire

From This to That - Diaper Cake

My girlfriend Kari called me last week asking for help with some die cuts she needed to embellish a diaper cake she was making for another one of her girlfriends.  Well after talking about what images, sizes, colors, and fonts she wanted we came up with all the pieces you see here.

That's over 40 leaves - about a dozen of which I embossed and stamped for some added texture; 20 bananas, 2 palm trees and the name Ayden cut twice and 'shadowed'.  The leaves and banana are from Create a Critter, the font is Life's a Beach and the trees are from Stretch Your Imagination.

Kari was happy with the cuts and I asked her to please share pics of the finished cake so that I could blog about it.  Well she shared as asked and I'm glad she did because it turned out beautifully....

Warm and Toasty

It's official.....my Christmas card season has now begun.  And this is my first card - inspired by a stamped one I saw in the current issue of Paper Creations.

For my card I used:

Create a Critter for the lamb

Just Because Cards for the word "Ewe"

George for the rectangles

The lamb's scarf is a scrap of eyelash yarn, and speaking of the lamb - I pop-dotted her layers to give her a little bit of dimension.

Bambi

I received a RAK in the mail the other day and inside the package were a couple of pages torn from old books.  At first I was thinking that was the craziest thing I'd ever seen but then I kept looking at the pages thinking "why not?" and thus this card was born.

For this one I used Create A Critter for all my cuts.  The deer was cut at 3 3/4" and the darker brown layer was covered in flock to add texture.  The butterflies were cut at 1".

This was a very simple car but with the addition of the pages taken straight from the book Bambi it has wonderful life breathed right into it.

Growing Old is Mandatory......Birthday Card

Here's a simple but yet fun birthday card for one of those "over the hill" occasions.  This card was created to join in on the fun for the Card Creations: Favorite Occasions Week Birthday Challenge in the Moxie Fab World .

For this card I used:

Paper Dolls Dress Up for the clown
Create a Critter for Happy Birthday

The inside sentiment says, Growing old is mandatory.  Growing up is optional.  ~ Chili Davis