Thursday, January 31, 2013

Thanks a Ton

I thought it was finally time to try making a pop-up card.  I have owned Everyday Pop-up cards for awhile and used a few images from it for other cards and projects, but I have never tried making an actual pop-up card.
It is always good to have an extra Thank you note in your stash so I selected the Thanks a Ton page to work with, but I cut the card base from a different page in the book. I added some decorative tape to jazz it up.
Next I cut everything I needed for the inside and out. The elephant for the front went together easily.The "Thanks a Ton" pop-up was a little harder to work with, but I am satisfied with my first attempt.
I think I will keeping trying on these. Hope you are having a great week. I am enjoying getting ready to send out fun notes to people each day for The Month of Letters.  Maybe this one will go to someone soon.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

A Bright Birthday

January is a busy month for birthdays for me.  Which is great because there are a few birthday challenges going on right now for me to be part of. When I sat down to make this next card I thought it would be for my Mom, but than decided it would be a better fit for my mother-in-law who likes brighter colors.
This card actually started with some dollar bin Target ribbon. These packages only have about 12 inches of each ribbon, but they are great for cards.
I put a base together with matching colors and placed the ribbon on as a frame. I added the third ribbon style as a bow.
I decided on a large flower for the center and cut one from the Mother's day 2010 cartridge. I also cut a leaf for my flower and the "Happy Birthday" using Create-A Critter. All that was needed was a little gem to dot the "i".
I repeated a row of ribbon for the inside and was ready to wish my amazing mother-in-law Happy Birthday.
This card is being linked up to the Pink Cricut Tuesday Link up party and for the following challenges this week.
Little Scrap Pieces Fun Friday Challenge: Birthday
My Craft Spot: Monday Challenge: Wish Big (Anything Birthday)
Have a wonderful day!

Sunday, January 27, 2013

A Month of Letters: Prep & Planning

Recently, I have been introduced to A Month of Letters. Basically, this is a challenge to simply mail one item each day of the month of February to someone. You can mail anything and to anyone! Who doesn't love getting mail? I joined up and am in my planning and prep stage as the new month begins this Friday. That means looking at my stash  of cards and making some ones to send.
I made this fun snowflake card with 2 cartridges I have never used before: When It's Cold Outside and Mr. Frosty, an Imagine pattern cart. The first step up printing the fun pattern and created the base for the snowflake. I embossed two edges of a blue backing before putting it onto this cardboard brown fold.
I select a snowflake and placed it on top with no extra fuss as I really enjoyed the look. Now for the inside...
I bought this set of Martha Stewart snowflake stamps over the holidays and I decided to play with them a little to create a frame for a note with another edge of embossing.
Now, I have at least 1 card ready to go for The Month of Letters. Maybe you should think about trying out this fun month challenge.  Prefect inspiration to take time out and think of those your love or exchange a note with someone new.

Only 4 More Carts in my collection never used!
CARTS LEFT TO USE:  50 States,All Wrapped Up (Imagine) Block Party, B is for Boy, Campin' CrittersChore Chart,Christmas, Destinations, Father's Day, Greek Alphabet (CCR), Hoot 'n' Holler, Mr. Frosty (Imagine), Out of CharacterPack Your Bags,Pagoda, Paper Trimmings, Pooh & FriendsPreservesSavorySesame Street Friends,Something to RememberSophisticated, Summer in ParisSuperman, Thanksgiving Table Decor (CCR), Tie the Knot, When It's Cold Outside

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Purple Valentine

Good morning all. Happy Saturday. Today I got to my craft room and forgot I had left my desk looking like this...
BUT see that purple base with the orange post-it?  I had forgotten to finish my card for this week's Die Cuttin' Divas challenge.  So after a quick clean up I completed a simple Valentine.
The challenge this week was to use an edge punch and ribbon. I had some scraps of this polka dot ribbon and because purple is my husband and daughter's favorite color I have a ton of it in my paper collection so I went with a purple theme. I used my ek success punch and created this layer on the card before adding the ribbon.
Next, I selected this double heart cut off the Disney Dream's Come True cartridge. I like that it looks like wood (Pocahontas section of the cart!).  I also cut the word LOVE using my Opposites Attract cart.  I added these to an embossed white base (to tie in more polka dots).
The final touch was a little heart brad and a simple inside repeat of the edge pattern.  Happy that I got this card finished this morning.  I might tell you the reason I got distracted and did not finish it the other day very very soon. Have a wonderful day.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Now that I finally got new ink for my printer I wanted to try out the print and cut feature on my Cameo again. This is such a fun twist in my scrapping. Everything in the layout except the title and main paper in back was from a print and cut set.
I bought Valerie Foster's page-kit-kitsch and set up to print and cut the whole set filling an 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Do not forget to add the registration marks (I did once before and do not think I ever will again).
Once everything was cut I selected photos and trimmed them to the right size before printing more of the designs in different sizes.  I used the borders on one side of my layout and then added a title that I cut using a font called, a red bucket.
The final touch was some journaling and since I had already created some lines with the paper borders I just used those as my guide to add my notes about this cold day kite flying adventure.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Engaged At Last!

Over the holidays my amazing cousin got engaged. She met her fiance about 3 years ago and they both make each other so happy and encourage each other to grow on a daily basis. I could not be happier for them. I made this engagement card for them.
I started with some pretty decorative tape and a center embossed section of roses before I added the fun ring and congratulations both cut from my Sweethearts cartridge.
I added some Glossy Accents to the diamond before moving on to finish the inside with a little strip of decorative tape and a fun stamp from Pink By Designs Inner Princess set.
I will be linking this up to the Link Up Party Pink Cricut and because of my shiny gold paper and Glossy Accents I think I added something "shiny" to the card so I will join the fun at My Craft Spot  this week as well. Hope you are all having a wonderful week.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Smile Jar: Cricut FANatics

Good morning and happy Monday everyone. Today is my day to post over at Cricut FANatics. For my first post of the year I am sharing my Smile Jar.
I made this jar to store the different reasons my family and I had to smile during 2013. If we are ever having a bad day we can pull one out to read and at the end of the year we can sit together and read them all. I have seen a variety of ideas like this in Pinterest and a good friend, who went thought breast cancer in 2012 reminded me of the idea shortly before the year began. We add to our jar all the time and I look forward to enjoying these fun things at the end of the year...it is never to late to start you own.
For more pictures and all my details please head over to the Cricut FANatics site to check it out.
Carts used: Create -a- Critter, Splish Splash, Tags, Bags, Boxes and More, George & Basic Shapes.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

What's Cooking Card

Happy Sunday everyone. In my quest to use all my cartridges I have been making some cards for my stash. Today I have a simple card to catch up with a friend. This card was made using the fun dish off the Savory cartridge. I added some bling to make it a little more fun.
For the inside of the card I pieced some red and white together and added some deco tape (Martha Stewart) and a cute stamp form the Kids Incorporated Set by Scrappy Moms.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. Tomorrow is my day to post over at Cricut FANactics. I hope you will join me at this fun blog.

6 Carts left to use in total.
CARTS LEFT TO USE:  50 States,All Wrapped Up (Imagine) Block Party, B is for Boy, Campin' CrittersChore Chart, Christmas, Destinations, Father's Day, Greek Alphabet (CCR), Hoot 'n' Holler, Mr. Frosty (Imagine), Out of CharacterPack Your Bags,Pagoda, Paper Trimmings, Pooh & Friends, Preserves, SavorySesame Street Friends, Something to RememberSophisticated, Summer in ParisSuperman, Thanksgiving Table Decor (CCR), Tie the Knot, When It's Cold Outside 

Saturday, January 19, 2013

So Many Challenges...


I love taking part in fun challenges, but often do not get crafting time during the school week so I have to select which ones I want to be part of each week. That is why I love when I find a way to combine different challenges I want to be part of. This week I am being inspired by Penguins at Die Cuttin Divas and the color challenges at Pink By Design and Cameo Creations, plus I am getting some new lunch box cards made for my daughter.
The first thing I had to do was gather my colors for the different challenges at Pink By Design (pink, brown & white) and Cameo Creations (pink and brown).
The next step was cutting this cute little arctic penguin created by Sarah Bailey (Design ID #23641). I love how he looks in brown and pink tones. I added a little "love you" stamp from the Pink By Design Rain or Shine set to his cute tummy.
This next card used a double heart cut on my Cameo (came with my machine). I cut it twice and placed them over each other to get the whole row. I placed the hearts onto a pink backing and added two stamps from the Our Kids set by Pink By Design.
For the final card I cut the fun "I love you" word bubble (also came with my machine I think) and placed it on some layers of pink and brown. Hope everyone is having a Wonderful Saturday. Thanks for visiting.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Peace Out

I do not know if it is trend among all 1st graders, but mine is obsessed with peace symbols. When she sees clothes, backpacks, shoes, even Jeep tire covers with a peach symbol on it she flips out. When she found this fun bedspread it was a no brainer for her Christmas gift.
Such a big gift is not always easy to wrap so I only wrapped the pillows and put a large peach symbol tag on the bedding set.
I cut 2 large peace symbols off the Groovy Times cartridge and adhered a piece of looped ribbon in between them. Then I added her name using the Cricut American Alphabet letters.
Of course this tag would not have been complete without some bling, so I added a bunch of gems using my I-rock.  She loved her bed set  on Christmas morning and the tag hangs from a bulletin board in her room now.
I also added these vinyl peace symbols to her wall. I used my Imagine to print the colors on before cutting the symbols. The colors are off All Wrapped Up. Thanks for stopping in for my simple post today. I forgot that I had not shown this yet!

Happy weekend to all (3 days for me!!!)  Hope to get some fun projects done this weekend.)

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

U R Fabulous

I have a new pen pal and I am so happy. Who doesn't love getting mail in your mail box that is special, not a bill or advertisement? I love it and when that fun note has been hand made by fellow crafter it makes me smile even bigger. It makes me want to create a special card to send back right away.
For my card I used a fun file from Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons. Lisa designs such fun svgs and also stamp sets for Pink By Design. I cut the shapes using my Cameo and it cut so well. I added the fun sentiment stamp off the Pink By Design, Bracketful set.
Of course I also added my new favorite thing, decorative tape, to the front and inside of the card. These tapes are both from Recollections.
I made this fun New Year's themed card to send back to Quilt Frog after I got this adorable winter themed card in the mail.
She likes decorative tapes to. She used it on the envelope!
It is so much fun having someone to send notes to. Thanks Quilt Frog for making my day!