Friday, February 28, 2014

Girls Love Mail

February is coming to an end and I am happy to say that I successfully mailed out a letter, card or package each day this month for the 2014 Month of Letters project! I have once again enjoyed getting to know some new people and making fun cards to send.  I also discovered Girls Love Mail.
Girls Love Mail gives the gift of hand-written letters to newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. All you do is write a note - uplifting and encouraging to provide support and send it to Girls Love Mail. They send out the letters to different treatment centers in the special envelope above.
I ended my Month of Letters by writing a new note each day for this week's mail and I hope it helps provide a smile to a new breast cancer patient at this hard time.

For more information on Girls Love Mail please visit their website or Facebook page.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Mardi Gras!!!!

Welcome to Tuesday!! We are one week away form Fat Tuesday so over at Die Cuttin' Divas we thought it would be a great time to start the Mardi Gras celebration!  This week show us your Mardi Gras inspired projects.
I decided to go towards the cute, but was thinking about all the stories you hear about people getting their beads!! Think my cute teddy would get lots of beads?
I started with my base bear at 3 inches. I added the rock-star dress layer and some Stickle beads to her. She had to have a fun little mask as well.  I found this one on the Designer's Calendar cartridge. That cart just has so many fun icons on it for the different months.
I hope you will celebrate Mardi Gras with us at Die Cuttin' Divas this week.

Supplies:
- Teddy Bear Parade Cricut cartridge - bear and dress
- Designer's Calendar Cricut Cartridge - mask
- Stickles - Gold and Patina
- Tim Holtz embossing folder swirls

Monday, February 24, 2014

All About You - Fantabulous Cricut Challenge

  Happy Monday and welcome to another Monday challenge with Fantabulous Cricut!

Challenge #199: All About You
Use your favorite colors
My favorite color is green, but I love adding small touches of pink into things every now and then as most people do not see the pink girly side of me often.
I wanted something with all sorts of fun patterns so I started with some fun washi tapes first.
The next step was picking my image for the card. I decided to stick to the all about me theme and pick something I love to do - reading. I recently made a fun wall display for my school with a bunch of these books and it is such a fun cut I went with it right away.
I continued the tape on the inside and added another stamp to complete the card off. This card has been placed in the mail to a new pen pal I met during this fun Month of Letters!  I hope you'll play along with u and show us projects made with your favorite colors.
This Weeks Sponsor

Carri~abusybee from DoubleClick Store3 Bags of Skittles

 To qualify for the prize, be sure to use at least 1 Cricut cut on your project and if it's not obvious, let us know what cartridge you used.

Supplies:
- My Community Cricut Cartridge - open book
- Cuttlebg Small Polka Dots embossing folder
- Various washi tapes (mostly Recollections and Trendy tape)
- Pink By Design Love Today stamp set
- Dew Drop Memento Ink - Rose Bud 
- Dew Drop Brilliance Ink - Graphite Black
- Scotch Pop-up Foam Squares

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Whale of a bag

I mentioned on Tuesday that I would be all about the animals this week and forgot to post this cute little whale bag I made for a baby gift.
I went looking at the registry and found a cute whale bumper they had selected and gotten as the only sign of the bedroom theme (which is what I usually go for with my baby bags). Off I went to find a whale I liked for the bag.
B is for Boy had this cute one so I went with it. I really liked that he had the spray coming out on top!! before I could put him on the bag I needed some layering behind him and went looking for some fun patterned paper to make it all pop.  With a little embossing I think I got a cute look.
The books and toys I got fit in just right and the Mommy to be loved it bag and all (when I walked in everyone said, "Show us your bag!!"...Thank goodness I had the time to make this or I would have been a big disappointment!!)

Thanks for stopping by.  You still have time to enter some fun challenges this week.
The Die Cuttin' Divas are loving their pets this week and Fantabulous Cricut has a fun sketch to play with. I hope you get some crafty time this weekend.

Supplies:
- B is for Boy Cricut Cartridge - whale
- Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder
- Crystal Stickles

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Of"FISH"ially the Best!

Good day everyone. I hope you are having a wonderful week. This week we are continuing the love over at Die Cuttin' Divas. This week is Love your pet week!!
I do not currently have any pets, but over the years I have lived with dogs, cats and a few fish ( in our college dorm we had several over the years). I found this cute stamps and decided I would make a fun fish bowl like card!
I just bought these embossing folder frames that allow you to emboss only parts of your paper, while leaving a place for an image or stamp.
I was planning on putting my stamp in the empty space but felt the empty space made the perfect fishbowl for my Create-A-Critter fishy. I got my cute fish put together and onto my card base and something was missing. I added hand stitches around the edge...still??? BUBBLES!!  I used a simple black pen to trace around a few of the embossed bubbles for my fish and just right!!!
Thanks for visiting this week.  Have a great one. I am going to continue my animal theme with a simple but cute gift bag later this week.  Until then check out the rest of the fun projects at Die Cuttin' Divas and join in the fun with your pet projects!!

Supplies:
- Create A Critter Cricut Cartridge - fish
- Cuttlebug Embossing folder - tiny bubbles
- Pink By Design - Sweet Grams 2 set
- Darice Easy Frames

Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Valentine's Day!!!


Just wanted to wish everyone a 
Happy Valentine's Day! 
Here is our 2014 Valentine from Shutterfly!
Hope you are spending it with those you love!  

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

You've got the WRITE stuff!

Valentine's is in 2 and I finally finished making this year's teacher treat bags to give to the wonderful people I work with. This is the 4th year I have done this for my coworkers and I think there are still a few teachers who do not know it is me that does it each year!!!
I loved my animal pun bags last year so I went looking for good puns for this year as well and found many using writing utensils - what teachers has enough pencils??? I bought some fun Valentine's pencil to go with my candy treats!

I decided to go easy on myself and not spend as much time gluing different things together - enter the print and cut feature on my Silhouette machine!!!  I found this great image in the Silhouette Store (on sale!!!)
Design by Amy Robison
I got rid of the arrows and cut out the scallops hearts only. I also ungrouped the designs and after changing the heart base color I brought it to the front and added my own text boxes to have a variety of the WRITE sayings on my treats.
I used the different colors of lined paper from the DCWV Everyday Essentials stack to create the topper piece. I punched holes in the paper side to make it look like actually notebook paper. The final touch - this cute pencil from Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons.
I had a special helper put all the candy into the bags this year, which made it a lot faster for me. 106 bags made with love and all ready to be put in mailboxes tomorrow after school so they great teachers Friday morning. Now we have to finish my daughters!!! - I'll share those soon!!

Supplies:
- DCWV Everyday Essentials paper stack - colored notebook paper
- Silhouette Store - Design 54354 by Amy Robison
- Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons - pencil from Back to School Cutting Files
- Fonts - Cafe Rojo, Appleberry, Digs My Hart

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

I'd Be Blue Without You

As we approach Valentine's Day on Friday the team at Die Cuttin' Divas wanted to be a little nontraditional with our Valentine's. This week's challenge is to make a card with no red or pink!!  I decided I would go Blue!!!
I came up with the sentiment and went with the blue theme from there!! I used a variety of Cricut Cartridges and lovely shades of blue to make my card complete.
On the inside, I added a simple, but just right stamp for the occasion!! Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you will check out the rest of the Design Team's nontraditional Valentine's and maybe play along with us this week!

Supplies:
- Graphically Speaking Cricut Cartridge - "Blue"
- Billionaire Cricut Cartridge - "I'd be without you"
- Designers Calendar Cricut Cartridge - hearts
- Cuttlebug Embossing folder - Cross My Heart
- My Creative Time - 100% Sweetness stamp

Monday, February 10, 2014

Use a Heart Challenge with Fantabulous Cricut

 Happy Monday and welcome to another Monday challenge with Fantabulous Cricut!

Challenge #197 I Heart You
Use a heart
My favorite heart cut is from the Designers Calendar Cartridge. I use it often as it seems to work all the time and I love the simple shape of it.  I needed a Thank you card for the amazing team of Club Level Staff Members at Disney's Wilderness Lodge who were so great to us during our holiday trip.  We will be sending a Valentine's Day thank you package so this card is just right.
I started out with some fun washi-tapes to create a frame and added on my embossed heart under the wonderful Mickey ears cut - which of course needed some sparkle!!
I hope you will join us this Valentine's Week at Fantabulous Cricut and show us your projects with a heart on them.

This Weeks Sponsor
Jaded Blossom
Winner will receive the Love Stings stamp set
To qualify for the prize, be sure to use at least 1 Cricut cut on your project and if it's not obvious, let us know what cartridge you used.

Supplies:
- Disney's Mickey Font Cricut Cartridge - Mickey Ears
- Designers Caleddar Cricut Cartridge - Heart
- 5x7 Polka dot Cuttlebug embossing folder
- Black Diamond Stickles
- Trendy Tape - both tapes

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Mickey Gift Tags

Happy Wednesday everyone. Hope you are having a wonderful week.
I wanted to share the simple tags I made to attach to some simple souvenir gifts we bought for my coworkers and daughter's teacher while we were on our fantastic Disney Vacation.
I cut out some simple circle tags using the Creative Memories Circle cutting system and added on the Fun patterned Mickey heads to complete the look.
I can not say how thankful I am to the team I work with who had to cover for me the week before winter break when I had my appendix out. These simple gifts were one small way to say it. As you can see I was well rested before our trip!!
If you are looking to plan your Disney Vacation I have to recommend using an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. Erik at Destination Orlando, Etc is not only my amazing husband, but a knowledgeable Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. Many people do not know that when you work with an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner you pay them NOTHING. They get paid from Disney and have access to the best Disney deals available. Please feel free to contact him with any questions you have, even if you do not book with him he is happy to offer advice and would love for you to like his page to hear planning tips! IN FACT...right now he is having a giveaway of a $50 credit towardsyour Disney trip.  To learn more head to his page listed above.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

A Sweet Sketch Card with Die Cuttin' Divas

Today is one of my fabulous co-workers 30th birthday! It is also time for a brand new sketch challenge at Die Cuttin' Divas - Put those two things together and this is what you get...
One sweet birthday card for the birthday girl. She happens to love sweets so I thought this would be just right for her. I selected the cute cupcake cut and went looking for papers to get just the look I wanted.
I cut the cute cupcake using the fun patterned paper using papers in my stash - love this fun pattern with the pink and green.
The cupcake is from the Birthday Bask Cricut Cartridge and I loved the cherry on top the most. I added it to the card base with some pop-up foam squares.
The inside got a little more of the fun patterned paper and later a personal message to enjoy the next decade!! Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you can join us at Die Cuttin' Divas this week.

Supplies:
- Birthday Bash Cricut Cartridge - cupcake
- Pink By Design - Say It Sweet stamp set
- Scotch Pop-Up Foam Squares
- Dew Drop Memento Ink - Rose Bud

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Month of Letters - Year 2

Happy February to all. (I know I am a day late!!) Last year I took part in a fun writing campaign called the Month of letters. Well, I once again am going to join in the fun.  I put my first piece of mail in the mail late yesterday!!!

Here are the details of this challenge from the site:

The Challenge

I have a simple challenge for you.
  1. In the month of February, mail at least one item through the post every day it runs. Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch.
  2. Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items.
All you are committing to is to mail 23 items. Why 23? There are four Sundays and one US holiday. In fact, you might send more than 23 items. You might develop a correspondence that extends beyond the month.
Write love letters, thank yous, or simply notes to say that you miss an old friend. Send a fabric swatch from your new dress. A feather you picked up while on a walk. Whatever it is, let yourself step away from the urgency of modern life and think about an audience of one. Think of it as sending 23 little gifts. And, who knows, you might enjoy going to the mail box again.
Feeling intimidated? It’s fewer words than NaNoWriMo and I know how many of you do that. Join me in The Month of Letters Challenge.
Sincerely yours,
MRK signature