Creations in Bloom

Thank You cards

2012-03-03T14:46:00.000-05:00

I saw on the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog that their challenge this week is a color challenge.

#100 – FCCB Color Challenge
Use the three colours associated with Fantabulous Cricut (purple,green and turquoise) somewhere on your project

So I was in need of some thank you cards and this is what I came up with:

When will I learn to stop using Shimmer Paper when I'm going to be taking a picture!?!

It really is hard for me to photograph it but it sure looks pretty in person.

I cut the flowers from the Best Images of 2009 cartridge.

I cut some strips of the same papers to fill up some space.

Stamped the leaves and the sentiments.

Added a metal button to one card and a turquoise stone to the other.

Inked the edges and ta-da! : )

Two cards that came together pretty quickly.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Come back again soon.

Cupcake Card

2012-03-03T06:46:00.000-05:00

The challenge over at Cardz TV this week is to make a card with a birthday cake or a cupcake on it using any colors and any cartridges we want.

Here's my card.

I used the Best Images of 2009 cartridge for my cupcake.

The papers are all DCWV

except for the brown polka dot base layer on the cupcake. That's Echo Park.

The sentiment is a stamp from Sweet Stamp Shop's "Scootin by" set.

I used Stickles on the cherry.

I used my crimper on the cupcake wrapper.

Inked all the edges with Colorbox Chestnut Roan ink.

I used my Marvy corner rounder to round one edge on each layer.

The cupcake is popped up with foam squares.

That about covers it for this card. Thanks for taking a moment to look.

Monogram Frame

2012-02-28T13:56:00.000-05:00

Over on the Bitten by the Bug 2 blog, the challenge is:

Any Cartridge Monogram Challenge

Here's what I made

I plan on hanging this in my youngest daughter's room which is done in Winnie the Pooh.

I used the Disney Pooh Font Set cartridge.

I cut the jars at 4.50.

I cut the shadow for the jars at 4.75.

I cut Pooh, Piglet & Tigger at 2.50.

The bows that I added to the top of the jars are from the Best Images of 2010 cartridge.

I added a rhinestone gem to the middle.

The background paper is from DCWV Lemon Flower Stack.

I hope you'll head over the BBTB2 blog and check out all the design team samples and everyone's entries. Lots of amazing ideas there.

Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you'll leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Have a wonderful week.

Birthday Things to Do - My Creative Time

2012-02-23T22:29:00.001-05:00

I made this birthday card for my brother-in-law. I saw there was a "linky" party over on the My Creative Time's blog. You need to use a stamp from one of Emma's 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Edition sets. You can check out all the details HERE. I was blessed to win 10 of her stamp sets through the Everyday Cricut blog and I'm just loving all the great sentiments. Thankfully one of the sets was from her 2nd Edition. That would be the "Turn that Frown Upside Down" set.

The sentiments "Don't worry by happy" & "smile..." are from the 2nd Edition set.

I actually used 5 My Creative Time stamp sets in all:

Turn that Frown Upside Down

Many Greetings

My Favorite Sayings

Camera Shy

Honey Do List

It's hard to tell from the picture but on the clip board, I stamped the clip part a second time and cut it out and popped it up with foam dots.

The paper is DCWV Tattered Time.

The "gear" circles are cut from Cricut's Elegant Edges Cartridge.

The ribbon is from my stash.

I put a little "star" gem on the flash of the camera.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my card. I hope you'll take a moment to leave a comment.

(word verification is off.)

Best Wishes & Congratulations

2012-02-22T21:38:00.000-05:00

I made two cards because I was inspired by this card:

made by Kim at Joyful Creations with Kim.

I just absolutely love everything about her card.

Here's my interpretation:

The shimmer paper was probably the wrong choice for picture taking purposes.

It sure looks pretty in person. : )

I used the cricut craft room to line up my images in the grouping that I wanted.

I used the Best Images of 2010 cartridge.

Then just cut them out on the the paper I wanted to use.

Then I picked my background paper and adhered it.

Added my sentiments and a teeny bit of embellishment and all done!

The sentiments are from a Fiskars Stamp set.

I think I'll be making more of these in the near future.

Thanks so much Kim for the inspiration.

Happy Birthday Brooch Card

2012-02-22T18:49:00.000-05:00

Today's card is one I made for a friend's mom who is turning 90 years old in March. I was inspired by the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Me Monday #99 challenge. It's to use fabric, lace or other trims in your project.

Here's what I came up with:

I used the Cricut Craft Room to weld my Elegant Edges image together to make the card base.

Then I cut the top layer a little smaller.

I added some pretty yellow ribbon from my stash to bring out the yellow of the brooch.

I had that pretty lace doily forever and finally broke down and used it.

I really wanted to hoard it... shame on me!

The brooch is something my mom picked up at a garage sale for me to use in my crafting.

I love taking old items and repurposing them.

I just removed the pin from the back and glue dotted the brooch to the card.

The happy birthday sentiment is a rub-on.

My papers are all DCWV

I added some liquid pearls to the corners and that's it.

Thanks for taking a look. I hope you'll take some time to leave a comment.

(I turned off that crazy word verification part!)

Have a blessed week.

You've got STYLE

2012-02-21T21:51:00.000-05:00

Over at Bitten by the Bug 2, the latest challenge is to use the garden boot cut from Nate's ABC's. Or another boot cut from a different cartridge if you don't have it. You can check out the details and see the design teams creations HERE.

I used the Create a Critter cartridge for my boots.

Here's a close up of the extra boots. : )

I wasn't sure what direction the card was going to take until I put the chickie on the numbered card. It made me think that she had a pair of boots for each day of the week, month, year! lol.

So that made me decide to put her in some boots and showcase a few of her many fabulous other pairs.

I used papers from my scrap pile. Most of them are DCWV.

The sentiment I made on my computer.

The chickie and the boots are all cut from Create a Critter.

The red and the green scalloped frames are from Elegant Edges.

Thanks for taking the time to look. I hope you'll also take a moment to leave me a comment. (I have word verification turned OFF) I'd love to hear your thoughts. Have a great week. God bless.

Purple and 1 other color - Thankful Thursday Challenge

2012-02-21T13:18:00.000-05:00

I decided to participate in another Thankful Thursday challenge over at D.L.ART's blog. The challenge for this round is to use purple and only one other color.

I used paper from the Old World Stack from DCWV. Two shades of purple ribbon from my stash. The Thank You stamp is from Fiskars. The pink flower is a Daisy Pink Jumbo Blossom from Making Memories. The purple brad is also from Making Memories. I inked the edges with Martha Stewart Lilac ink.

Thanks for taking the time to look. I hope you'll hop over to Diana's blog and play along.

Have a wonderful week. God bless.

Birthday Card

2012-02-18T14:01:00.000-05:00

I made this birthday card for my sweet husband. His birthday is coming up on the 25th.

Here's a close up of the bottom. I cut out an extra "February" & "25" so I could pop them up.

I thought that would be a cool way to showcase his birthday.

I cut the window frame card from my new Tags, Bags, Boxes & More 2 cartridge.

I also cut the Happy Birthday and the white frame from the same.

The number strip and the number 43 are cut from My Minds Eye paper.

The Calendar strip and the Scallop are from Crate Paper's border Portrait Collection.

I'm entering this into the Thankful Thursday Link Up Challenge over at DL.ART's blog.

For this challenge you could make anything.

Thanks for looking. Hope you have a spectacular weekend.

U R Sew Fun

2012-02-16T15:03:00.000-05:00

I'm entering the following card in two challenges:

1) Challenge Me Monday #98 over at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge blog
Fun with Puns challenge

2) Cricut Cardz Challenge 102 over at the Cardz TV blog.
A Stitch in Time - make a project using real or faux stitching, any occasion, any cartridge, any color

Here's my card:

Close up

Inside

My double "stitches" are done using the We R Sew Stamper tool. (I'll be honest, I'm not having the best of luck with this tool. I bet other people do great with it. I probably just am not using it right.)

I used the Nifty Fifties Cricut cartridge for the Sewing Machine,Dress, Dress Form and for the "UR Sew Fun" letters.

Most of the papers I used are from my scraps. The background paper is DCWV.

Ribbon is from my stash.

I used Martha Stewart Lilac ink to ink the edges.

I used my Marvy corner punch to round two of the edges.

The "You are the Best" stamped sentiment is form My Creative Time's "My favorite sayings" set.

I used sandpaper to rough up the gray layers.

I think that covers everything.

Thanks so much for looking. Don't forget to leave me a comment. I love hearing your thoughts on the project.

Couples Heart Challenge

2012-02-15T14:39:00.000-05:00

Today's post is for the Bitten By the Bug 2's Couples Heart Challenge. I don't own the Cricut Love Struck 2010 cartridge that the challenge is based on but I do have the Spring Fever Holiday cartridge and it has a Couple Heart for me to use.

I decided to make mine a wedding or anniversary card.

The sentiment says "Congratulations to the perfect couple" It's from My Creative Time's "many greetings" stamp set. I added some pearl flourishes and inked the edges of the card and ta-da! : ) My papers are from DCWV. The shiny gold of the couple looks so much nicer in person. It didn't photograph well.

Thanks for taking the time to look. Every comment is a blessing so don't forget to leave one. ; )

My Pink Stamper Blog Hop Challenge Feb 2012

2012-02-11T21:06:00.001-05:00

Robyn over at My Pink Stamper has issued a challenge as part of her blog hop. The challenge is to make a project with the following criteria:

Use the color red, a circle, a pink ribbon and MORE THAN ONE My Pink Stamper stamp. (If you don't own any of my stamp sets yet, that is okay! Use what you have). Also, use a die cut with this challenge! Anything will work!
so... I don't own any of Robyn's wonderful stamps yet. I sure would love to win some! So here's my chance with this challenge. She's giving away 6 of her stamps sets, winners choice! *Squeal* My card is for my littlest girl for Valentine's day.

The stamps I used are from My Creative time. "You're so sweet" is from the "This & That" set.

"I love you with all my heart..." is from the "My Favorite Sayings" set.

I have my pink ribbon, the color red, the circle and a die cut. I cut my ladybug from the Create-a-Critter Cricut cartridge.

I drew the white hearts in with a gel pen and added the grass (using my fiskars punch) to pull a little of the green out of the patterned paper.

Thanks for looking. Hope you'll play along and submit an entry.

CAS-ual Fridays, The Clean And Simple Challenge

2012-02-10T15:31:00.000-05:00

Over on the CAS-ual Fridays blog, they have a weekly challenge. This weeks challenge is Clean & Simple Paper Piecing.

Here's my card:

I don't think you can see the sentiment well in the picture -

it says "turn up the Music and float away"

I used the cloud stamps from the Sweet Stamp Shop's Scootin' By set

I used the sentiment and the volume stamp from the Sweet Stamp Shop's Old School Rock set.

Thanks for looking. Hop on over to CAS-ual Fridays and join the fun with your own project.

DCWV February's Stack-a-holic Template Challenge

2012-02-09T21:48:00.000-05:00

So HERE'S the challenge for February from DCWV. Make a layout using DCWV papers using this sketch from Sketch Savvy.

And here's my version of the sketch.

The majority of layout is using the Tattered Time Stack (which I won --- Thank you Erin!)

The gears are from one of the papers from the Tattered Time Stack. - I just cut them out and used them for my circles. I added some colored pearls to the centers to brighten them up a bit.

The "May 1962" letters are also one of the papers from Tattered Time which I cut out and used as my banners.

The light aqua paper is from the Textured Cardstock Stack-Brights.

The brown shimmer paper is from the Holiday Shimmer stack.

The Flowers are from The Craft's Meow grab box I recently bought.

The "Jim & Andrea" were cut out using my Nifty Fifties Cricut cartridge.

My parents will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this May. That's a whole lot of love! I'm making them a scrapbook in celebration of this awesome event!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you'll take some time to leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

For Sebastian

2012-02-08T15:39:00.000-05:00

I saw a post on Jessica's blog, Chick-n-Scrap that tells of the need for cards to be made for a little guy named Sebastian. You can read more about his story Here. I was incredibly touched by this story and immediately made a card to mail to him. He'll be having surgery on February 15th.

I hope that you'll also take a moment to make him a card and get in the mail. Here's the addresses:

If you can help out, please send a card to him so that it arrives no sooner than February 15th.

Sebastian Dixon
c/o Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital
1005 Joe DiMaggio Drive
Hollywood, FL 33021

If you're worried about your card arriving too soon or too late, feel free to mail it to me and I will make sure it gets taken to his hospital room.

Sebastian
c/o Ms. Brown's Class
Greynolds Park Elementary School
1536 NE 179 Street
North Miami Beach, FL 33162

If you do make a card, you can link it up on Tsuruta Designs blog. She's having a give-a-way of a $25. gift card to The Crafts Meow, if you're the name drawn from the entries.

Thanks for taking the time. : )

DCWV Valentine Card

2012-02-07T16:57:00.001-05:00

DCWV is having a contest on their Facebook page. You can check them out HERE. You just have to post a picture of a Valentine card made using DCWV papers by February 14th. They'll have a random drawing and the winner will get 3 of Erin's favorite new stacks from the CHA show!!!! Count me in!

Here's the card I made using the Love Letters stack for the most part. The red paper embossed using my Sizzix Hearts #4 embossing folder is from the Holiday Shimmer stack. The "Cherished", "Bird", "For my Love" and the "Heart" are all cut out from the journaling tags page of the Love Letter stack. Sure makes it easy to embellish. : )

Thanks for looking. Have a wonderful day. Each comment is a blessing. Don't forget to leave one. : )

School Valentine's

2012-02-06T07:53:00.002-05:00

I wanted to make Valentine Cards for my son to give to his classmates. I had him look at the Create-a-Critter cartridge book and he picked out a different image for each of his classmates. I got the idea for making the 3x3 card from Jeri at Bug 'n Me Creations and she also gave a list of really cute sentiments to use along with the Critters. I made up a few of my own too. It was a fun project.
Anyway, here's a look at the cards:

A little closer look.... I'm wishing I hadn't written their names on the front but what's done is done.

The Peanut Guy is my son's favorite. He thinks it "hilarious!"

So the Sheriff's badge sentiment I came up with is: You're definitely one of the good guys.

The Peanut Guy's sentiment I came up with is: I'd have to be nutty not to wish you a happy Valentine's Day.

The Rainbow sentiment I came up with is: May your Valentine's Day be as wonderful as all the colors of the rainbow.

To make these cards a little EXTRA FUN.... I made each of the characters a magnet! So the kids can take them off the card and put them on their fridge or something. : )

Since I it was an after thought I didn't "hide" the metal washer. If I had planned it out, I would have put the washer underneath the green layer. : )

I added a magnet to to the back of the Critter

and ta-da!!! It's attached and super fun for the kids.

The card for his teacher has 3 magnets. She collects monkeys. So we made her this:

As you can see from the above picture, I had lined them up all the same. But since they are magnets on the washer, you can move them around and put them however you would like. My sweet son wanted them to look like they were doing a cartwheel and this is how he lined them up! Love that boy!

Well, that's my very long post for today. I hope it gave you some ideas you'd like to try.

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful and blessed day.

Cardz TV Cricut Cardz Challenge 101

2012-02-01T16:15:00.000-05:00

I've recently started following the Cardz TV blog and they have challenges using Cricut Cartridges. Challenge 101 is "Be My Valentine!" Make a card for Valentine's Day, using any cartridge(s) and using any colors you'd like.

My son is loving penguins lately and I know he wants a penguin on his Valentine card. So here is what I made him.

I used the Create-a-Critter cartridge for the train and the penguin. The hearts and the sentiment are stamps from my Happy Owlentine's Day stamp set by The Craft's Meow. I just double stamped the "Whoo" part to give it a train sound. : ) He's 5 and I thought he would really get a kick out of seeing his picture on the card. I should have picked a better one of his face but I was being lazy and already had this picture printed that I could cut out and use. The papers were all from my scraps pile. Yay me for using up some of those. Using up those scraps is one of the great things about the Cricut.

Thanks for looking. I enjoy your comments, so don't forget to leave one! ; )

Be Mine card

2012-01-28T20:32:00.000-05:00

I am posting this card to participate in the January-February Card Sketch challenge over at The Craft's Meow. I had recently won the Happy Owlentine's stamp set from them and I just purchased one of her Grab Boxes that was loaded with goodies. She still has Grab Boxes left for sale. You can check it out HERE.

This is the sketch for the challenge:

Here is my version of it:

Everything I used on this card was from The Craft's Meow Grab Box or was the Happy Owlentine's Stamp set. The only thing that wasn't is the Stickles Glitter glue and the Liquid Pearls. Oh, the ribbon was from my stash. I cut the brown circle from my Elegant Edges cartridge at 3.75 on the "shift" level and the white circle was cut at 3.50 without the shift.

Here's a close-up:

I stamped the owl/arrow image all in red but I didn't like the way it looked when I was done. So I stamped the image again in brown ink on the same background paper and then cut it and paper-pieced it over the red. I really am pleased with the way it turned out. I colored in the heart eyes in red and put a little Stickles glitter glue over them and also over the arrow. The felt flowers needed a center and I chose the White Opal liquid pearls. I inked the edges of the card base and the papers in brown Studio G ink.

Thanks for looking. I'd love to hear your comments.

You can also participate in this challenge up until February 14th.

DCWV January Stack-a-holic Template Challenge

2012-01-20T15:43:00.000-05:00

I'm really enjoying these DCWV Stack-a-holic template challenges. They sure do motivate me to get some scrapbook pages done. You can check out the challenge details HERE.

Here's my take on it.

I used the Lemon Flower DCWV stack

Check out all the texture in these papers! Love them!

The monkey's are pop-dotted but it's hard to see in the picture.

I wrapped green floss around the branch cut to give it some personality.

Check out the contest over at DCWV's blog. You have until January 31st to enter.

The monkeys were cut from the Create-a-Critter Cricut Cartridge.

The "Let's Hang Out" was also cut from Create-a-Critter.

The branch was cut from Zoo Balloo Cricut Cartridge. I welded two of them together in the Cricut Craft Room.

The Striped background was cut using the Elegant Edges Cricut Cartridge.

The Banana circle was done on my computer. As was the journaling.

Thanks so much for looking.

Door Hangers

2012-01-16T22:33:00.002-05:00

We had a party for my daughter's first birthday. It was a family party with all her cousins from both sides of the family there. Most of the cousins are much older and the typical "treat" bags just don't work for them. I wanted to do something different. I found these foam wavy door hangers at Walmart. They come 9 to a pack. I can't remember the price but they are really cheap. So I made one door hanger for each of the kids and decorated them specifically for each of them. I apologize for the picture quality. I was in a big hurry when I took the pictures so there's a lot of shadow.

I used my cricut machine for most of the images. I used the Create a Critter, Nifty Fifties, & Graphically Speaking cartridges. The papers were from my scrap stash. I used some stickles, some liquid pearls, some stickers and some gems. Some of the letters for the names are rub ons; some are pre-cut, some are stickers, some are from the Cricut Cartridges. I think they were well liked by all that received them.

Thanks for taking the time to look. I'd love to hear your comments. Do you have a favorite?

Happy Owlentine's Day

2012-01-09T14:31:00.000-05:00

I won a stamp set called Happy Owlentine's Day from The Craft's Meow. (Thanks Lisa!) It's such a really cute set. I've made my first Valentine cards using this set. I realize that I need to get a set of good markers. And on top of that, I need to learn how to color better but all in all the cards still turned out pretty good. Here's what I've done so far.

The yellow on this looks much better in person. I stamped this one without the balloon. This set has so many possibilities. I also like the non-traditional look of this one.

This one I used my new Sizzix Texture Boutique. LOVE it! The embossing folder I used is the Sizzix Curlique. The owls eyes are done in Petal Pink Liquid Pearls to give them texture and pop.

Sorry the picture is so bad on this one. I fussy cut out this stamp and pop-dotted just the owls and the swing to make them look like they are swinging.

This one is definitely my favorite. I love the simplicity of it. I stamped "I love you to the moon and back" on the inside.

Thanks for taking the time to look. I hope you'll check out The Craft's Meow. They have a lot of great stuff.

God Bless.

One,pink,green,brown (DL.Art Challenge)

2012-01-04T15:09:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year! I recently followed along on a blog hop for DL.ART. It's Diana's first Blogiversary and I enjoyed the creations on each of the blogs that participated. She issued a challenge to create a project using elements that were given as clues along the hop. Here's the card I came up with for the challenge:

My sweet little pumpkin turns one this month. So I made this card for her birthday.

The "one collage" was cut using the Graphically Speaking Cricut Cartridge. I added some white gel pen to the "1's" that are vertical to make them stand out a little more. The papers are all DCWV. The dark pink and the green I believe were from the Street Lace stack. The heart is using the Glitter Cardstock stack. The flowers are from Hero Arts. I added little pearls to the centers from Recollections. The ribbon is from Craft Smart and looks much cuter in person. It didn't photograph well.

Thanks for taking a look. May your day be blessed.

Snow much framed snowman

2011-12-21T22:55:00.000-05:00

Here's a little framed snowman that I made for my Aunt as her Christmas present.

I used DCWV paper for all of it except for the scarf. That was a scrap piece of paper and I'm not sure what brand it was. I cut the background using the Elegant Edges cartridge. I cut the snowman from the Christmas Cheer Cricut cartridge. I cut the words using the Jasmine Cricut cartridge. I used the "shadow" feature to make it a little thicker and I traced around the edges with black marker to make them stand out. I drew in his eyes and mouth with black marker. Added some bling buttons and bling flower on the hat and that was it. Super easy and super cute.

Thanks for taking the time to look. Blessings to you.

Gift Card Holders

2011-12-18T22:53:00.000-05:00

Robyn over at My Pink Stamper is having a 12 days of Christmas event. Her challenge today was to make a gift card holder. Here are some that I made for my nieces and nephews. The gift card came as an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet so I needed to make something much larger than most gift card holders. I also decided I didn't want the holder to have a Christmas look to it. I thought maybe they could hang it on their bulletin board or use it on a desk or something. Anyway... here's what my holders look like:

Thanks for looking. Hope you have a blessed day.

In Memory

2011-12-16T06:19:00.001-05:00

In memory of my dear little brother

Jim Carlson

January 23, 1971 - December 14, 2011

I miss you so much already.

Christmas 197?

Jim & Dad...two peas in a pod

Thanksgiving 2007

Jim with his wife & 4 kids

You have given me so many many memories. I love you more than words can say.

Rest in peace my little brother.

Framed Verse

2011-12-09T10:09:00.001-05:00

Just a quick post today. I made this framed verse for a family friend as her Christmas present. I was able to get a great deal on the frames from Michael's. I'm hoping to make different versions for different family and friends.

So here's the one for today:

This is it without the frame so you can see it without the glare.

Close up of some of the details

Here it is finished in the frame.

I'd like to also show you really quick one that I made for my mother-in-laws birthday a couple months ago. I didn't get a picture of it in the frame but it was the same frame as above. I cut the poodle from the Summer in Paris Cricut cartridge and the background shape from Elegant Edges. It looked really sweet in the frame.

Thanks so much for taking the time to look. May your day be blessed.

DCWV December Stack-a-holic Template Challenge

2011-12-04T15:36:00.001-05:00

It's that time again! DCWV has posted their December Template Challenge. You can find all the details HERE. Here's what the template looks like:

Here's my interpretation of it :

I used the DCWV Doodlin' Around Stack for the background paper and the jounaling tag. The Bronze colored paper that makes the circle design is DCWV from the Shimmer stack. The matt paper and the Wheeeee title were done with paper from the DCWV Brights stack.

The bronze circle design was cut from the Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge using the "Design 1" frame. I cut it using fit to page. The "Wheeee" title was cut using the Art Nouveau Cricut cartridge. I welded it together in the Cricut Craft Room. The Journaling Shape was cut from Elegant Edges using the oblong feature on "Circle 2."

The crocheted ribbon was from my garage sale stash. My version of the stick pin is a toothpick that I colored with a metallic bronze marker and then added the "Fun" circle that is a cut out from the Doodlin Around Stack. The white lettering is a gel pen.

I liked this template so much that I made another layout using the "punched out parts" of the Design 1 frame that were left over from the first layout.

Here's how it turned out:

I used the Doodlin' Around stack for this layout too.

Thanks so much for taking the time to look at my post.

I appreciate all comments. Each one is a blessing.

Party Time Birthday Card

2011-12-03T06:19:00.001-05:00

Today I'd like to share a sparkly birthday card that I made for a relative.

I had a hard time capturing all the sparkle.

I used DCWV glitter stack paper. I used Diamond Stickles around the silver circle. The ribbon is from my garage sale stash. The stickers I am sad to say I don't know who made them. I had cut up the packaging to make it fit where I wanted to store it and didn't save the company info. I wasn't blogging then so I didn't think about needing that. I'll do better in the future. : )

Thanks for taking the time to look. Would love to hear your comments. Each one is a blessing.

Thank you treat containers and cards

2011-11-19T15:03:00.001-05:00

I made cards and treat containers for all the office staff and my son's teacher at his school. I just wanted to tell them thank you for all they do to bless us and Aidan's education.

I'll apologize in advance...my pictures aren't the greatest. The lighting in my craft area is really horrible and my camera isn't focusing all that well. ( could be because I dropped it a few months back...hasn't been the same since!)

So, here's what I made.

These are the cards

Close up of a few of the cards

Here's the treat containers

I'm so happy with my ribbon flower. This was my first time making my own.

Silly I know, since it's not that hard. Yet, I'm still excited about it. : )

Side view... I only put ribbons on a few.

A little different view... I liked the look of it. ; )

Thanks for taking the time to look. Leave me a comment. Each one is a blessing!

In case I don't get another post in .... Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Pinkalicious Blog Hop Challenge

2011-11-12T18:35:00.001-05:00

Today's post is a scrapbook page I made for the Pinkalicious Blog Hop Challenge. The hop was so much fun & I just had to participate in the challenge. Robyn wanted us to make a scrapbook page or mini book using our Cricut and her My Pink Stamper sets (if we have them.) I sadly do not own any of her fabulous stamps....YET! You should check out her site on the link above. You won't be disappointed.

So here's my layout using my Cricut and some stamps:

My Dad came for Grandparent's Day at Aidan's school

All the cardstock is from DCWV. The only thing that isn't is the striped paper. Sorry I don't know who makes that. A friend had given me a ton of papers she wasn't using and that's one of them.

All the blue words are lifted up with foam & are stamps from Fiskars. The ink is Color Box Blue Iris.

The tan heart was cut from the Spring Fever Cricut cartridge and lifted up with foam squares.

The "Grandparents" ribbon is so fabulous but I don't know who made it. Sorry.

Both layers of the frame and the journaling tag were cut using Elegant Edges from Cricut.

The little tags under the words were cut using punches from Stampin' Up.

The bling is from Hero Arts. My journaling is computer generated.

Thanks so much for looking. Every comment is a blessing to me.

Moxie Fab 365 Card Week - Celebrating Relationships Challenge

2011-11-09T21:39:00.000-05:00

I'm hooked on Moxie Fab's blog. So much great stuff on there. Today I'm sharing a card that I made for the Moxie Fab 365 Cards Week - Celebrating Relationships Challenge. You can check out the details HERE.

I chose to have my card be for Grandparents Day.

Inside of the card

Here's the details: I used DCWV papers. I inked the edges with Martha Stewart Lilac ink. The gems are from Recollections. The "One in a Million" stamp is from Fiskars. The ribbon and lace are from my garage sale stash. The butterfly is cut from a Cricut cartridge but I can't remember which one. Sorry. On the inside I added a computer generated message and I fussy cut one of the flowers from the DCWV paper. I also rounded the top edges of the card with my Marvy corner punch. I think that about covers it.

Thanks so much for looking. : ) Comments are always a blessing.

DCWV November Stack-a-holic Template Challenge

2011-11-06T14:49:00.000-05:00

I really loved having that extra hour due to Daylight Savings Time! I was able to knock out 90% of my layout for the DCWV November Stack-a-holic Template Challenge. You can see the details for the challenge HERE.

This is the template

This is my take on it

Close up of the right side

Close up of the left side

Close up of the bird... he's so cute!

So here's the details: I used the Textures & Finishes Stack by DCWV for my papers. (There's 3 different patterns from this stack represented.) I used a Hero Arts bare branch stamp from their Fanciful Swirl Alphabet set to make my border. The felt leaves are from Hero Arts. The other two fabric leaves under the bird are from Michaels. The awesome glitter bird and parentheses are from The Colorful Life chipboard collection by DCWV. The chipboard tag is from Heidi Grace Designs. It was white and I inked it with Tim Holtz Distress Ink -vintage photo- and then wiped it off to achieve the softer color. I let it dry overnight. I tried writing my kids names but that didn't turn out well at all. My handwriting is awful! So to cover it up and not lose the tag, I made a computer generated tag with their names and ages. The "Fall Leaves" sentiment is a sticker from Reminisce and sits on a two layers of frames that I cut out using the shadow function from the Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge. I inked the edges with my Color Box Dark Brown ink. I think that covers everything.

Thanks so much for looking. May your day be blessed. : )

Button Tree Card

2011-11-03T14:45:00.000-04:00

I am a follower of Hero Arts and they recently posted a video on how to make a button tree. You can see the post HERE. I was really inspired to use up some of my massive button stash (thanks Mom!) and this is the card I came up with.

I didn't do it exactly as Shari Carrol of Hero Arts did. (Although I have my clear buttons set aside and will try it when I get a chance.) I used white/cream buttons on a patterned background and streaked them with glitter glue. The papers I used are from DCWV. I cut the tree using the Christmas Cheer Cricut Cartridge. One in the patterned paper and then one I offset in the red. I popped up the tree with foam dots. The stamp is from Stampin Up. The white paper is actually glitter paper but it doesn't look like it's showing up all that well in the pictures. I really had fun making this card and have plans for at least two more like it.

While I was working on mine, my 3 year old daughter said she wanted to play with buttons. So I gave her a bunch of buttons and used my ATG gun to put down a Christmas tree shape with glue that she then stuck her buttons on. When she was finished, we added glitter to cover up the left over glue. She then stamped the Merry Christmas stamp on the cards. (It's from Stampin Up) I inked the edges of the cards. She even made one to look like a wreath.

I hope you enjoyed today's post. Thanks so much for looking. : )

Hero Arts November Contest

2011-11-01T21:22:00.000-04:00

Ok, so today Hero Arts started their November Contest. You can check out the details HERE. One of the options is to make a card with bling. I LOVE BLING! So I was very excited to see what I could come up with. I had it in my head that I needed to make a card for a relative that lives far away to send her for Thanksgiving. This is what I came up with.

It's so hard to capture all the sparkle in pictures, isn't it?

I haven't decided on the inside sentiment yet. I'm thinking either "we're part of the same family tree." or something simple like "for you."

Here's the details. I used DCWV papers. The striped background paper is from the "Green Stack." It doesn't come with the glitter on it. I wanted to make this card with extra bling, so I used my atg gun to run glue lines along the card and then covered them in glitter ( Barbara Trombley's Original Art Glittering System, Ultra Fine Nirvana Transparent...to be exact.) I cut the tree from the Cricut Alphabet cartridge that came with my Expression 2. I added lots of Hero Arts bling with the blue gemstones and used the Hero Arts Fanciful Swirl Alphabet stamps to make my sentiment.

Thanks so much for looking. I'd love to hear your comments.

Holiday Card - Hero Arts

2011-10-25T21:31:00.000-04:00

I made this card for the Hero Arts October 2011 Contest. You can see the details HERE.

I made a holiday card and used a Hero Arts stamp that isn't from a holiday set. That's part of the challenge.

The inside says: from our house to yours

I used DCWV papers from the Christmas Combo stack. I cut the fireplace on the Cricut from the Christmas Cheer cartridge. I cut it at 2. I added some purple bling gems from Hero Arts. The purple ribbon and gold ribbon are from my garage sale stash, as is the sparkly poinsettia. The layout is from the contest too. There were three different sketches to choose from. I might need to try these contests more often. I really had fun putting this together. Thanks for looking.

Crafty Colors

2011-10-23T16:02:00.000-04:00

Today I'll share a card I made last month for my sister-in-laws birthday. She recently started a tie-dye business called Crafty Colors. You can find her on Facebook HERE. I had her email me some pictures of her shirts and I printed them out on cardstock and cut them out. I used one of them on the birthday card that I made for her.

I really love being able to personalize cards for my family and friends. I try to use things that are really special to them.

I used the rest of the pictures she sent me to make her a custom shadow box. Here's how it turned out:

Those are all shirts she made.

If you are at all interested in tie-dye, you should check her out. She can ship just about anywhere. You can also find her work on her etsy shop. Just click HERE. Thanks so much for looking.

Sweetest Day Treat Bag

2011-10-15T14:19:00.000-04:00

I just hopped through the "My Pinkalicious Blog Hop" and was totally inspired by all the great treat/goodie bag ideas that everyone created. You can check out the The Pink Stamper site HERE. The challenge was issued to make something of our own and link it to their site. I was shocked to be reminded on Edna's blog, Create with Expression, that today is Sweetest Day. I hadn't done anything for my hubby yet. So I made this treat bag for him. Good thing he works on Saturday. ; )

I cut the topper out using the"Coupon Back" cut from the Cricut Spring Fever Holiday cartridge. The I Love You and the hearts are also from this cartridge. The paper I used is from the White Out collection of We R Memory Keepers. I added a little bling and some handwritten sentiments. Now to make a quick card to go with it. : )

As always, thanks so much for looking.

for the "I Feel the Love" project

2011-10-15T05:45:00.002-04:00

I follow a blog called Funky Cards created by Madison. She has a monthly "I Feel the Love" project. You can check it out HERE. This month is to make birthday cards for a sweet little boy who's turning two. His name is Ethan and he has a rare liver disease and had to have a transplant. This is the card that I made for him.

Aren't those 3 dimensional stickers so cute!?!

He also has an 8 year old sister named Haley. Some people are making cards for her too. I thought that was a sweet idea. So this is what I made for her.

Thanks so much for looking.

Baby Card

2011-10-13T08:56:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post to show you a card I made for my cousin's baby shower.

I fussy cut the train and layered it on top to give it the 3D look. You can see that in the below picture.

This is what the inside looks like.

I used all DCWV papers. The ribbon is from my garage sale stash. The "Congratulations" stamp is from Fiskars. I inked the edges in Jumbo Java brown or Hint of Pesto green by VersaMagic.

That's all for now. Hope you enjoyed the card. Be blessed and be a blessing.

Dream

2011-10-09T14:43:00.000-04:00

Here's a card I made with a new cartridge that I just received. Thank you to Cheryl at Pink and Paper for the Summer in Paris cartridge that I won from her blog. This cartridge has so many intricate and pretty designs to choose from. I was really drawn to the hot air balloon.

I cut the balloon at 5.25. Sorry I don't remember what papers I used. I was up pretty late playing with the cartridge and was pretty tired when I finally made a card. I cut the buildings by hand and colored in the windows with a colored pencil. The "dream" stamp is from Fiskars and the green pearls are from Hero Arts. The inside of the card reads "May all your dreams come true." That was stamped with a Stampin Up stamp.

Thanks so much for looking. Comments are really appreciated and totally make my day.

You Rock

2011-10-08T12:12:00.000-04:00

Today's card was made using my new Cricut Expression 2. It came pre-loaded with a cartridge called "Cricut Alphabet." There's so much stuff packed into this cartridge. It's so cool! I chose to use the "You Rock" sentiment because I love how the shadow of it has the guitar. What a fun graphic! I've been reading on a lot of other people's blogs lately that they are using up their scraps and was inspired to do the same with this card. All the papers are from my scrap box. I think that, with the exception of the blue background and the card base, the papers are from We R Memory Keepers White Out collection. I love how the torn edges of the blue background paper give it an "edgy" look. I had fun with this one. I'm looking forward to exploring more of this cartridge.

Thanks for looking. Have a blessed day.

Sending Warm Fuzzies

2011-10-03T16:35:00.000-04:00

So I should be posting the cards I did on World Card Making Day but I didn't get much done. I spent the time I had available trying to figure out how to get my Cricut Expression 2 to work with my Cricut Design Studio software. NO success. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I tried all the "fixes" I could find on the Cricut message boards but nothing has worked for me. I did get a card done today that I'd like to share with you. It's a fall themed card that I made using the new Felt Leaves from Hero Arts that I received as a result of one of their give-a-ways. Thank you Hero Arts. These leaves are so cool.

Close up so you can see the Felt Leaves from Hero Arts

This is the bottom of the inside of the card

I also stamped some leaves on the envelope

Details: I used We R Memory Keepers papers from the White Out collection. The green ribbon was from my scrap stash. The white cord has gold metallic thread in it. I used orange glitter brads from We R Memory Keepers on the leaves. The stamped sentiment is from Hero Arts. The stamped leaves on the envelope and on the inside of the card were done with a stamp I got out of the dollar bin at Michael's.

That's my card for today. Thanks so much for looking. Please leave me comments or suggestions. I love hearing from you.

Sympathy card

2011-09-29T14:17:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I'm working on cards to give to my Mom as her Christmas present. She's asked for quite a few sympathy cards. This is one I just made yesterday. My style tends to be very simple. I'm not the best at adding layers or a lot of detail. (I'm hoping that I get better at that in the future but for now it is what it is.) So I made this card and took a picture of it for my file. This is the picture:

It's not a bad card, I don't think, but it seemed a little too simple even for me. So I stared at it for awhile and then added some faux stitching to it.

And this is how it turned out. Better? I wish I had a steady hand to make my dashes look a little better. I did stamp the flower image on the inside of the card and also on the envelope to give it a little something extra.

That's my card for today. I'm hoping to get quite a few cards done on World Card Making Day. I'll probably be sharing more with you then. Thanks for looking.

A few cards

2011-09-26T14:38:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd start out with showing you some of my favorite cards I've made so far.
First up is a card I just made yesterday. It's for my MIL's birthday at the end of October.
The stamp is from Stampin Up and the papers are all from DCWV. The "love always" stamp is from Fiskars. The stamp actually has a border around the words but I taped them off so I just inked the words. I inked the edges of the card base and the white paper with Pink Geranium from Martha Stewart. I inked the green paper and the oval sentiment with Dark Brown from Color Box.

I also used Studio G glitter glue on the flowers to give them some bling. I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out. I hope my Mother-in-law likes it.

Next I'll share the card I made for my brother and his wife. They just celebrated 18 years of marriage yesterday. It's a pretty simple card but I thought it was cute. I cut the giraffes from my ZooBalloo Cricut cartridge. I think I cut them at 4. I also cut the grass from this same cartridge. The Happy Anniversary stamp is Hero Arts. I took the picture before I went back over the sentiment with more ink. It needed to be darker. The bow on the girl giraffe was just a piece of scrap cardstock that I cut to look like a bow and I drew around it in black marker. It's hard to tell from the picture but I inked around the card base in a blue to kind of look like the sky.

Anyway, a simple card but cute.

Lastly, I'll share a thank you card I made for a friend who gave me some hand me down clothes for my daughter. The paper is from DCWV Nana's Nursery stack. I cut out some of the dresses to make the banner and used rub-on letters to spell out thanks. I made them stand up with some foam squares. I'm not sure where I got the orange strip of paper I used. Sorry about that. The string is some green floss.

So thanks for looking. I hope you enjoyed your time here.

DCWV September Stack-a-holic Template challenge

2011-09-22T21:47:00.000-04:00

I absolutely love DCWV stacks and have made a layout for their September Stack-a-holic Template challenge.

To see the Template and learn about the challenge, click HERE. I used the Citrus Cardstock stack. The little squares were done digitally and printed out to add to the layout. Not sure if that will count in the challenge but I knew I wanted smaller pictures to run along the left side and doing it on the computer was the best option for me. I really liked the template and had lots of fun making it. Thanks for looking.

Ribbon Storage

2011-09-22T14:13:00.000-04:00

My mom would undeniably be my biggest fan. She supports me in so many ways with my crafting (and everything else for that matter!) I had been telling her that I needed to find a way to get organized especially with my ribbons. I had them in grocery bags all over my craft space and was always digging through the bags whenever I needed a ribbon. So my mom drew a design of what she thought I needed for my ribbons and showed it to my dad. My dad built it. And now I have fabulous ribbon storage. (As a side note, I do buy some things new but most of what I work with are things I'm re-purposing or things that my wonderful mom has bought me at garage sales. The majority of my ribbons are from garage sale finds.) So anyway, here's how I keep my ribbons now:

The beginning

2011-09-22T10:56:00.000-04:00

Ok....here goes. I'm really quite nervous about this and probably shouldn't be. I've only recently started following other people's blogs and I'm not sure I'm ready for my own but here goes. My goal is to share my creations and to learn from others so that I continue to grow and bloom. Most likely I'll be posting my card creations. That's been my main focus lately. I'm sure I'll throw in a few scrapbook pages and projects for my son's classmates and teacher. Anyway, for those of you that read this, thanks for looking and God bless you.