Wink!

It's the last Friday of the year!  That means it's also 2012's last challenge at Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges.    Our last challenge of the year is:

Question: Are you completely worn out from this busy time of year?

Theme: ANYTHING GOES!

I am always worn out by the end of the Christmas season. With my family and my husband's family, it feels like we're all over the place for the time surrounding the holiday.  I love spending time with our family and friends, but I'm always ready for a break afterward.  

When you're worn out, what better way to relax than a nice, hot cup of hot chocolate?  That was the inspiration for this card.  It's a shape card that I cut from Smiley Cards.  I cut two of the shadow of the cup in black at 3 inches.  Then I did not cut the main image, which would normally be the black that shows through in the face.  There are two different blue layers, and of course the cute cheeks that are characteristic of the faces from Smiley Cards.  

Do you know the easy way to make shaped cards?  You don't necessarily have to use Cricut Craft Room or a Gypsy to weld things.  When you cut two identical copies of the background (in this case, the shadow) cut, you can score part of the back copy, fold it over, and adhere them together.  In this case, I scored about a half inch down from the top of the card and adhered those parts together.

Do you need a crafty break after the rush of the holiday season?  Head over to Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges and check out what the rest of the DT has for you.  Then head to your craft space and make something to join us!

Pet Sympathy card

I made it into my craft room today, but definitely not for the reason I wanted to.  We got a call last night that my in-laws are going to have to put their family dog, Chloe, to sleep today.  If you've followed this blog for awhile, you probably can guess that I love my own dog Sophie like a child.  It breaks my heart to think of anyone having to face this decision, let alone people that I love.

I used a black card base with white cardstock.  I embossed the white cardstock with the clouds embossing folder by Darice.  Since the folder is vertical and I wanted the card to be horizontal, I had to emboss it twice- the die cuts are covering the areas where you can tell I did that.  For the die cuts I used Paper Pups, with the shadow feature and the main image both cut at 2 inches.  Chloe is a chocolate lab, so I cut the dog in chocolate brown.  I colored in the halo with a Sharpie and then put Stickles over it.

Inside the card, I stamped a sentiment from Scrappy Moms Stamps "Raining Cats and Dogs" set.  

Steamin' Hot

Surprise!  I had some time to get into my craft room this week (although admittedly this card was made in about 10 short crafting sessions instead of doing it all at once.)

This is an A2 card.  I used some pink cardstock as the card, then layered red cardstock and then a green patterned paper from one of my Christmas stacks.  I also used the red cardstock behind the sentiments to make them stand out.

The sentiments and picture are freebies from The AlleyWay Stamps.  I printed the sentiment three times- twice on regular white paper and once on a candy cane striped paper from the same Christmas stack as the green paper.  I paper-pieced the striped paper onto the white paper and colored in the heart with a red Sharpie, then pieced that onto the plain one as well.

I'm entering this card into the Be Inspired challenge at AlleyWay Stamps.  I was definitely inspired by the colors and stripes of their picture this week.

Merry Christmas!

Hi bloggy friends!  Happy Friday and happy challenge day at Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges!  Today, our challenge is:

Question: Are you celebrating anything this month?

THEME: MAKE ANY TYPE OF CELEBRATION PROJECT

This month, we celebrate Christmas.  When I saw this challenge, I thought that it would be fitting to make a card that didn't have cute little elves or festive animals, but that represented the true meaning of what we celebrate this season: Jesus!

This card is on a kraft base.  I used pastel blue paper for the background, I'm not sure why it came out so bright in all the pictures I took.  I used some off white squiggles that I won in a prize pack from Julie at Cricut Chirp Challenges.  I cut Jesus from Winter Frolic.  His face was too small for me to want to cut his features, so I drew the eyes and mouth on with gel pen and colored in the cheeks with colored pencil.

I stamped the sentiment with My Creative Time's "Gift Card Sentiments."  

What are you celebrating this month?  Come to Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges and show us your celebrations!  You can stop by first and check out the inspiration from the rest of the DT ladies, and then get a-craftin'!

Holiday Clean and Simple Shape Card

Are you all super, super busy right now?  I am!  I feel like my craft room is calling to me, but I just don't have enough time to get into anything too detailed right now.  I REALLY wanted to use my new Winter Woodland cartridge, though, so I decided to go the super Clean and Simple route.

This card was cut at 3 inches.  I started to cut it at 4, but it came out way too long.  I cut two copies of the background shape in kraft cardstock, scored the top of the back one, and glued them together.  Then I cut the letters in green and red and also cut the layers (the holly) in green and red.  I thought it was a little TOO simple, even for what I was going for, so I added some Stickles in Green and Christmas Red to the holly.  They're still wet in the picture....I got impatient.  :)

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Paper Playtime- Winter Fun                                                       

Exploring Cricut- The Most Wonderful Time of the Year                

My Craft Spot- Christmas Shape Card                                    

Fantabulous Cricut- Shape Card                                                

Die Cuttin Divas- More Holiday Spirit

Snowy scene

Happy Friday everyone!  Time for another weekly challenge at Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges.  This week, we're answering the question:

Question: Is it SNOWING where you are? 

Theme: MAKE A PROJECT AND INCLUDE SOME SNOW ON IT

I prefer it to not be snowing.  Let's never speak of it again.  ;)

This card is a bigger card than I normally make.  I wanted to be able to include my whole scene, so I pulled out my biggest envelope, measured it, and worked backwards.  It wound up being 5.5 inches tall by 8 inches across.  I wrapped some snowflake ribbon that I had left over after making a dog treat holder for Sophie a few winters ago for the top.  I got it at Hobby Lobby, but I don't know if they still sell it.

My entire scene is cut from Jolly Holidays.  The house is layered on foam dots, the rest of them are adhered directly to the card.  The house is cut at 5 inches, the tree at 4 inches, the birdhouse and mailbox at 3 inches. It's a simple card in terms of not a lot of background, but with so much detail in the cuts I think the simplicity works.

Time to come on over to Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges and make a snowy card yourself!  There's plenty of inspiration to be had by the rest of the design team over at the blog.

I'll also be entering this card in the following challenge:
For Fun Challenges- I'll be Home for Christmas

Jaded Blossom December Challenge

This month, because it's their one year birthday, there's a special Crafter's Choice challenge going on at Jaded Blossom.  I happen to have just ordered four new stamp sets from them and to have *ahem* a few more on my wish list, so I wanted to try some of them out.  This one's going to be a little more picture heavy than most of my posts.

For this project, I made a gift box and six cards.  The gift box was cut from Wild Card at "Fit to Page," which just so happened to be 7 inches with a 12x12 mat.  I used some patterned paper from Paper Studio's "Happy Hootin' Holidays" stack, which I bought at Hobby Lobby to use in my December Daily/Christmas journal.  I cut the liner in green patterned paper from a K&Company pad that I bought at Michaels.   I can't seem to find it online, and I already threw away the evidence of my shopping spree the cover of the pad and all the embellishments (yes, I bought the entire line), but I will update this post if and when I figure it out.  I stamped the postage stamp and sentiment in brown from Jaded Blossom's "Santa Mail" and put it in the top corner.

Next we come to the cards.  Each card is 4 inches square, and the tag on the front is cut from Elegant Edges at 3.5 inches.  All of the twine is hand made.  Each card as a faux front that is 4x4 inches that I used to wrap the twine around, then adhered down to the real front of the card.  These first two cards were made with Jaded Blossom's "Christmas Wishes" stamp set.  I love it!

The wedding dress and sentiment on the grey card are from Jaded Blossom's "Wedding Wishes" set and the tree and sentiment are from their "Simple Sayings" set.

The tree and saying below are, again, from Jaded Blossom's "Simple Sayings" set and the pumpkin and sentiment are from Jaded Blossom's "Thanksgiving Wishes" set.  

Here's the final product, all ready to gift!  I adhered the back of the box together with some washi tape and it's all set!

Snowman

I'm on something of a nontraditional colors kick this Christmas.  I wish you could see my December Daily/Christmas journal- it's so full of pinks, bright greens, and teals...I love it!  

I cut this little cutie from Create a Critter 2 at 4 inches.  I didn't really think until I had already glued it together that it has a top hat and pink accessories...I guess it's a boy snowman who isn't afraid to show his feminine side.  There are black Stickles on his hat, which you can't really see.  

I used some patterned paper from Paper Studio that is brown, pink, and sea green over kraft cardstock.  Then I put a strip of sea green along the bottom and stamped a sentiment from Pink by Design's "Scripted Year" stamp set.  

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Red Carpet Studio Challenges- Frosty the Snowman
Pink by Design- Nontraditional Christmas colors

Bright Christmas trees

Are you in the Christmas spirit yet?  I'm working really hard this year to try to keep it magical.  Here's a card I made using free digital stamps from Alley Way Stamps.

I printed the trees at 4 inches and colored them with a hot pink and light green Sharpie, then cut them out.  I used the snowflakes Cuttlebug folder on the card base for texture, then put some sheer green ribbon over it for an accent.  You can't tell too well from the picture, but the three trees are adhered to the card using foam adhesive.

This card is being entered in the following challenges:

The Alley Way Stamps- Be Inspired
Little Scrap Pieces- It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Reindeer card

I've already sent out my Christmas cards, but the ideas just keep coming!  I've always loved this cute little reindeer face from Doodlecharms, but never had a good reason to use him...until I saw that he was this month's challenge cut at Simply Crafts!

This card is made of white cardstock with some patterned paper from The Paper Studio.  I inked both around the edges with blue ink.  The reindeer is cut from Doodlecharms at 4 inches and I inked him with a little brown around the edges.  His mouth is traced with a gel pen and his nose is...wait for it...a Hershey's kiss wrapper!  I like how shiny they are and it gave me a good reason to eat one....or more.  ;)  I just glued it down over the nose that was cut on the cardstock.  That's why it's a little angled on some sides...it was hard to wrap around the cardstock perfectly rounded.

I used some off-white ribbon as an accent, and stamped it with a sentiment from Jaded Blossom's Winter Wishes stamp set.  The pictures makes it seem like the stamp is kind of hard to see, but it doesn't in real life. I couldn't get a picture that showed it well, because every time I tried to use the flash I would get a horrible glare off of Rudolph's shiny nose.  ;)

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Simply Crafts- December/ Doodlecharms reindeer      

Play Date Cafe- Mountaintop . . . Icy Blue . . . Snowflake           

Christmas tag

Am I the only one loving the nostalgia of the current polaroid trend?  I went to Michaels the other day and bought frames that are meant to make your regular picture look like a polaroid.  Craziness!  This tag is following that trend.  Sorry for the bad picture- I wanted to get the whole tag in the picture, so it ended up kind of small.

I made this simple polaroid shape on Microsoft Paint.  How 90s of me, right?  But it worked.  Then I pasted in some Paper Smooches digital stamps- the sentiment is one stamp, and the gifts are another.  Well, actually the gifts stamp is a grouping of three.  I flipped it once and then isolated just one of the packages to put in the center. I tried to color them in with sharpie, but I need some finer tipped ones for a project this small (it's about 4x4) so I went with colored pencil instead.  Good thing I had thought ahead and printed more than one.  Coloring is so cathartic on stressful days.

Next I cut it out, adhered it to a piece of patterned paper- can you tell the paper had red stripes from this teeny picture?- and cut it out again.  Then I punched the hole in the top corner and strung ribbon through it.  I kind of wish I had a smaller hole punch so I could have used twine, but it worked out in the end.

I'm entering this tag into the following challenges:       

Paper Smooches Sparks  Polaroids/Camera
DL.Art- Anything Red and/or Green

Let it snow

Good Friday to you! Are you ready for another challenge at Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges?  This week, we're doing a color challenge:

 Question: Are you decorating this month? What colors are you using?

Theme: MAKE A BLUE AND WHITE PROJECT

I love decorating for the holidays.  LOVE.  I love getting out all of my gingerbread decorations and Christmas ornaments.  Sophie gets a little confused- I'm not sure dogs remember well enough to know that this is something that happens temporarily every year- but she usually calms down.  I'm hoping to go out shopping during the after-Christmas sales this year and get myself a beautiful white tree and turquoise ornaments and next year be able to put a special tree in my craft room.  *crossing fingers*

The card I made for today is so simple to make!  I cut an A2 card base from light blue cardstock and put some blue snowflake patterned paper from All Seasons 2 (from Paper Studio) over it.  

The sentiment on the card is cut from Winter Frolic.  It's three layers- the white shadow, the dark blue sentiment, and the light blue accent letters.  I always forget that about the sayings that cartridges have, or I think of them only being for titles on scrapbook pages or something.  But the fact of the matter is that used alone, they can make really nice, simple cards!  

I finished it up with three little gems from Hobby Lobby in the corner and it was done!  I think I may make some more cards using Cricut sentiments.  

Take a break from hanging those holiday lights and go check out Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges to see what blue and white creations the rest of the DT has come up with!  Then pull out your blue and white scraps and come join us!

I'll also be entering this card into a few challenges:
My Craft Spot- Merry Christmas
Die Cuttin Divas- Holiday Spirit
Scrappy Moms Stamps- Christmas Time

Christmas bird

Today I've got a card with the bird from Jolly Holidays.   I used a background paper from the All Seasons stack from Paper Studio.  I also used some red snowflake ribbon from my stash.  The bird's eye wasn't well defined, so I traced it with white gel pen and then went over that with silver stickles.

It's kind of hard to see in the picture, but I stamped "Merry Christmas" from My Creative Time's 'Gift Card Sentiments' set in the top corner.

This card is going to be entered into the following challenges:

Exploring Cricut  Christmas Card                              

Paper Playtime  Christmas Colors             

Winter Wishes

Now that Christmas is coming closer, I am having a great time with the Jolly Holidays cartridge!  This was the first cut that I made from it back when I bought the cartridge, and then I had put it away in my extras drawer, and decided to pull it out to play with it!  I used white cardstock as my background paper, embossed with the Polka Dots Cuttlebug folder.  I punched it on the edge with the Martha Stewart loops punch.  It's actually a punch around the page punch, but I only wanted the edger for this one.  I used an old scrap of Paper Studios paper for the blue snowflakes on the other side- I have a ton of these because they were leftovers from last year's Christmas cards.  Then I put Mystic Green Stickles on the handle (they're so dark you can't really tell) and used Candy Cane Stickles on the red part of the umbrella to outline it.  

I know that I cut the circle tag from the Cricut, but I can't remember what cartridge it was from.  Any circle would do.  Then I punched it with a regular hole punch and strung some white ribbon through it.  I stamped it in blue with the Stampendous Everything Happy stamp set.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Fantabulous Cricut- Holiday Wishes

Merci!

It's Friday yet again!  Time for another challenge at Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges and another chance for you to play along with us!  

This week's challenge is:

Question: Do you hoard crafting stuff?

Theme: USE YOUR FORGOTTEN STASH ON YOUR PROJECT

I am not TOO bad at hoarding supplies.  That's mostly because I've only really been serious about crafting for just over a year, and I have a set budget that I keep myself to every month so that I don't go crazy with buying stuff.  Although, I think the people at my local Hobby Lobby are starting to recognize me, so maybe I'm fooling myself.  :)

The forgotton stash on this card is the "Merci" tag.  Back before I had my Cricut, in the days when my entire craft supply stash fit in one two shelf cupboard, I bought a couple of card making kits from the Target Dollar Spot.  The tag, and the patterned part of the tag behind it, are from one of those kits.  I had stuck them away in a die cuts drawer when I started making my own sentiments and doing more stamping, and completely forgotten about them.  

I used the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder on the card back and added a strip of pink cardstock behind the tag to make it stand out.  Then I cut the Eiffel Tower from Wall Decor and More in pink and gray.  

What about you?  Do you have some forgotten stash that you could dust off to join us this week?  You can check out the blog at Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges to see what forgotten goodies the rest of the DT was able to find.

SPARKS challenge

Paper Smooches SPARKS is having another Picture Perfect challenge going on right now, which was totally inspiring to me amidst my sea of Christmas season crafting.  Inspiring enough, in fact, that I actually slid aside my December Daily album and happily made room on my craft table to create- which is a big feat right now.  

This card is on a cream base, with Echo Park patterned paper.  I used some yellow ribbon- I had a heck of a time smoothing out the wrinkles from when it was in the packaging- to accent it.  The bird is a freebie from Paper Smooches which I printed on white paper and colored in with Sharpies.  I hadn't realized how well Sharpies colored until recently- basically no stoke lines!  Then I stamped the sentiment with my Paper Smooches letter stamps.  I've had requests for more "thinking of you" types of cards and less specific ones, so I think from now on I'm going to challenge myself to use challenge themes either for these types of cards or birthday cards, to help keep down the stack of really specific cards I'm accumulating in my craft room.

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was my husband's birthday.  I always struggle a little to make his cards, because he sees every single card I make so there's no surprise factor in my Cricut cuts.  I recently saw a tutorial here at Jaded Blossom for Triple Stamp Cards, and I thought it would be a good thing to try, because he's never seen me make one of these before.  I used a My Craft Spot stamp for the sentiment in the middle of the card.  I thought about using the same Jaded Blossom stamp that was used in the tutorial, but the morning I was making his card I stopped at Joann's and saw this great swirl for $1 so I thought I would give it a try for a different look.

Thanksgiving Banner

This year I hosted Thanksgiving for the very first time!  You've already seen my dessert toppers and placecards, now it's time to see the last piece (which was actually the first that I made, but I wanted to save it for a surprise just in case anyone checks out my blog occasionally.)  To help decorate for the party, I made this little banner for our fireplace.  I cut the banner and shadow from Birthday Bash at 6 inches.  The letters and letter shadow are also from Birthday Bash, but they were cut at 3.75 inches.

The turkey in the middle is from Create a Critter, cut at 5.5 inches.

All of the cardstock is Co'ordinations.  The ribbon is ribbon that I've had in my stash for years.  Sorry for the bad picture, it's hard to get a pic of a banner!

I'm entering this into the following challenge:
DL.Art- Anything Goes/Linky Party

Cat-itude

Happy Black Friday!  I hope you're not awake right now, sitting in line somewhere reading this on your phone as it posts.  :)  If you are, the good news is that Fridays are challenge day at Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges!  This week's challenge is:

Question: Are you Busy this time of year?

Theme: ANYTHING GOES!

Am I busy this time of year?  YES!  Between the multiple Thanksgivings, getting all of the Christmas shopping done, my husband's late-November birthday, and having our house on the market...it'd be safe to say I'm a little busy right now.  

I put the green patterned paper (from the Basics 12x12 pack from Paper Studio) on a hot pink card base.  Then I put bright blue washi tape over it (it's brighter than it looks in the picture).  I cut the cat from Four Legged Friends.  

I punched the flower from a Fiskars punch that I bought.  For 5 dollars I have all the small paper flowers I could ever want!  Then I put a gem in the center of it.

The last touch was stamping the sentiment (it says "You've got Cat-itude!") from Scrappy Mom's Stamps "Raining Cats and Dogs" stamp set.  My sister is about to finish her first semester of grad school, and she loves cats and bright colors...so guess where this card is headed???

Do you have a little bit of time in your busy schedule for some relaxation?  Go over to Pause, Dream, Enjoy challenges and check out the DT inspiration.  Then take a little time to make any craft you want and post it for the challenge!

Yappy birthday card

I haven't had much time to make any cards lately, it felt so good to get back into it!  I've spent most of my crafty time lately working on getting my December Daily album started- I'm so embarrassed of how messy my scrapping table is!

I decided to make a birthday card to go into my stash.  It's almost birthday season in our house.  It's an A2 card with patterned paper on top, then another layer of the cardstock, and a strip of the patterned paper along the bottom.

The dog is from Create a Critter 2, cut at 3 inches.  He's supposed to be a graduation dog, but instead I cut the birthday hat and noise maker that were from one of the other buttons.  I doodled over the swirl at the end of the noisemaker with a gel pen to make the pattern more prominent.  The collar is just a scrap that I cut out of the pink paper to fit the neck.  I stamped the sentiment from Scrappy Moms Stamps (Raining Cats and Dogs set) in dark purple, and added the three dark purple buttons on the side.

Cut it up Challenges- Buttons, buttons everywhere

Paper Playtime- Anything Goes

Scrappy Moms Stamps- Cuddly Critters

Thank You

It's Friday, aka challenge day at Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges!  This week's challenge is:

Question: Who do you need to give a THANK YOU to?

Theme: MAKE A THANK YOU PROJECT

There are so many people I need to say Thank You to.  I never think of Thanksgiving as a time to say thanks to people as much as to be thankful for the things I've been given, so this is an interesting reminder for me.

Sorry the picture isn't too good.  It's actually a white card with orange and teal stamping.  I used the Hero Arts "Large Open Flower" to stamp the background.  I covered it with a piece of teal cardstock.  Then I cut out a shape from Elegant Edges and stamped the Thank You sentiment from Inkadinkado's "Thank You Sentiments" set in the same teal ink that the flowers were in.  It's a simple card, but the colors are the focal point.

So now it's your turn to be thankful!  Go check out the inspiration from the rest of the Design Team at Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges and join us in making a Thank You project!

Thanksgiving placecards

Last week, I made some Thanksgiving cupcake toppers. They went over pretty well here, so I decided to continue on with that theme for the Thanksgiving dinner that I'm hosting this year.

I used the exact same Create a Critter 2 cuts in the exact same colors.  I'm a little obsessive about things matching.

I made placecards out of dark brown cardstock and adhered a little bit of patterned paper with a brown, orange, yellow, and green polka dots.  Then I stamped our names in white ink using Lawn Fawn's "Harold's ABCs" set.  I'm still trying to get the hang of white ink, so it's not perfect and I ended up with white ink all over my hands.

I only made two for now, because I want to show them to my husband tonight when he gets home from work and see what he thinks before I mass produce them.  I'm trying to decide whether to add in the Create a Critter turkey as well or whether to just stick with the mammals.  Good thing I have a week to decide...

I'll be entering these placecards in the following challenges:

Fantabulous Cricut- Pilgrim’s Progress

Die Cuttin Divas- Color Challenge

Turkey

Gobble gobble!  This turkey is cut from Create a Critter 2.    I added some stickles to his hat for a little sparkle.  I put him on an A2 card, but he was slightly too tall to look good on a bottom-opening card because he took up the whole thing, so I had to make it a side-opening card instead.  I used a cream base with a yellow checked patterned paper from KI Memories Classics.  Then I added some matching ribbon- I think from American Crafts.

Because there was open space above his head, it looked a little empty...but I'm a little on edge about stamping after losing a stamp down the drain the other day (even though my husband was able to retrieve it) and am not in the stamping mood right now, so instead of adding a sentiment I added a leaf embellishment that I had in my stash.  I have a whole drawer of little stickers and embellishments that I've gotten over the years for scrapbooks but didn't need the whole thing, and now that I have my cricut I forget to use them sometimes, but I thought this leaf was the perfect colors to match.

This card is being entered in the following challenges:
CardzTV- Attitude of Gratitude
Simply Crafts- Thanksgiving Turkey
My Paper Crafts- Anything Goes/Use your stash
DL.Art- Thanksgiving
Simply Create Too- Use your stash
 (I used an old embellishment & ribbon, and my cardstock is scraps from a banner I made recently)
Little Scrap Pieces- Happy Thanksgiving
Bitten by the Bug 2- Turkey Challenge

Sweet as Pie

Happy Friday, everyone!  How are you all doing this fine, fall day?  Since it's Friday, it's time for another challenge at Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges!  This week's challenge is:

Question: Are you planning a feast this month or attending one?

Theme: FOOD & BEVERAGE PROJECTS THIS WEEK

I will be attending a few feasts this month.  I always especially look forward to having Thanksgiving with my parents and sister, because they have all the old goodies that remind me of Thanksgiving as a child.  I look forward to the day when I might be the one preparing Thanksgiving dinner, but it won't be this year!

To represent this year's feast, I picked one of my favorites- apple pie!  It's cut from Create a Critter 2.  It only has two layers, because it's one of the accessory cuts.  I was feeling in a bright and cheerful mood that day, so I picked orange and blue as background colors.  

The "Sweet as" sentiment was cut from Baby Steps at .5 inches.  The "Pie" is cut from Storybook at 1.25 inches.  Then I added the blue bling arrow, which was sent to me in a prize pack that I won from Exploring Cricut.

So, ARE you going to any feasts this fall?  While you're waiting for the tryptophan to wear off, go over and visit Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges.  There's DT inspiration all over the place over there! Then head to your craft space and make something to play along!

Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day is right around the corner!  I always have a hard time with patriotic types of holidays- I think when the Fourth of July rolls around next year I'll have used up all of my red, white, and blue ideas.  This card is an A2 white base.  The blue polka dot paper is some digital paper that I downloaded for free, but I can't remember from where.  I dumbly saved the file names as the color of the paper but didn't include the source.  If you know where I got it from, let me know so I can give credit where it's due.  

The four pennants are cut at 1.5 inches from Birthday Bash.  I used blue and red ink to stamp "USA" all over them with my Paper Smooches "Alphadots" stamps. 

I used some dark blue We R Memory Keepers brads with home made red/white/blue baker's twine to hang the banners and some red ric-rak from Hobby Lobby.

This card is being entered in the following challenges:
Exploring Cricut- Veteran's Day
Paper Smooches Sparks- Trend Watch: Typography

Spa bear

I really like all the occasions the bears can dress up for on Teddy Bear Parade.  This bear is getting ready for a spa day. I cut her at 3.5 inches.  The rubber duck is on a foam dot for added dimension.

This card is actually based off of a sketch.  There are multiple layers, although it's kind of hard to tell from a picture. The first layer is the white base.  The next layer is the burgandy paper, and the next layer is the pink and white stripes.  Next is the oval (cut at 3.5 inches from Baby Steps), which is on a paper with a very faint diagonal stripe.  Then the bear and the tag.  I put some pearls in the four corners.

The sentiment on the tag is from Scrappy Moms Stamps set "Raining Cats and Dogs." I just cut out a rectangle around the sentiment and then chomped off the corners with a punch.

This card is being entered into the following challenges:
Scrappy Moms Stamps- Teddy Bear Picnic
Die Cuttin' Divas- Sketch Challenge

Thanksgiving Cupcake Toppers

As much as I love baking, I haven't been doing much lately.  I've been trying to keep sweets out of the house in yet another attempt to lose a few pounds.  But yesterday I was feeling the urge to bake, so I decided to make some cupcakes.  I wanted to do something special for these- because who knows when the next time I'll have baked goods in the house will be- so I made some cupcake toppers.  I got to use my two favorite hobbies together!

Here are a picture of one of each design of toppers I made.  The toppers were all cut at 2.5 inches.  The squirrel and bear are from Create a Critter 2.  The two circles are from Elegant Edges.  I stamped a sentiment from Simple Sayings by Jaded Blossom onto each of the circles.  I'm going to tell you a secret- I have a long list of Jaded Blossom stamps that I want to buy because I love their designs, and because I've been wanting to have stamp sets for each season/holiday that were versatile for cards as well as treats.  So by this time next year, I plan to have a set for each season/holiday.  :)

I’m entering this into the following challenges:

Jaded Blossom- Thanksgiving Treats 

Go Fish Challenges- Color Challenge- Yellow/Orange 

CardzTV- I’m so Thankful  
Paper Playtime- Autumn Colors

Circus

When I saw the inspiration picture for this week's challenge at Alley Way Stamps, the first thing that came to mind was a boat.  But I don't have a boat by them, because I'm limited to the free digis (for now) because I spent all of my scrapbook budget for this month already on two albums and some page refills.  You gotta love when you need the basics.

Anyway, when I was perusing their free digis, I saw the circus tent and was immediately reminded of the inspiration picture.  The banners had really stood out to me, and the circus tent had a banner too.

I colored the tent with my colored pencils.  The word "party" is also one of their digital stamps, that I put into the flag before I printed it.  I used some blue cardstock, then layered it with patterned paper, then more of the blue cardstock that had been embossed using my Cuttlebug and a Lifestyle Crafts (aka Quickutz) folder.

My finishing touch was the three rhinestones on the lower banner.

This card was made for Alley Way Stamps Be Inspired #14 challenge.

Pumpkin Man

I'm ready to get started working with a fall color scheme!  Halloween was fun to work on, but I think I'm ready to move on.  This card has a kraft base.  Then I cut a layer of off-white, then a layer of patterned paper from Paper Studio's All Seasons II stack.

The pumpkin man is from Stretch Your Imagination.  I cut the shadow at the same off-white as I used for the background.  Then I cut the blackout image in orange and the silhouette image in dark brown.

I put some light green ribbon across the top and three green buttons along the bottom to finish it off.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:
Red Carpet Studio Challenges- Pumpkins and Halloween
Celebrate the Occasion- Fall
Fantabulous Cricut- Seeing Spots
Die Cuttin Divas- Anything Goes
The Play Date Cafe- Colors: Cinnamon/Squash/Vanilla/Sage

Orange and brown

Happy Friday!  It's time for another challenge at Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges!  This week, we'll be talking about: 

Question: Are the leaves turning colors yet where you live?

Theme: MAKE AN ORANGE AND BROWN PROJECT

I love the leaves turning colors!  Fall is my favorite!  That's the only thing that I like about living in the midwest.  The leaves are definitely turning here, and it's so peaceful.

For this card, I was inspired not just by the colors, but by trees as well (although I do realize this is not really a fall tree).  A few weeks ago I was out of town for a conference for work, and was thinking about this pretty flourish tree by Jaded Blossom stamps- it and the sentiment are both from the Simple Sayings set- and decided to make a simple card that focused on the stamp.  

I cut a regular A2 sized card in brown, then cut the orange a quarter inch smaller on each side.  Then I stamped the tree and sentiment on the same color orange and cut around it.  I cut a piece of brown that was a quarter inch bigger than it.  Under the tree, I have some brown washi tape from We R Memory Keepers.  I popped up the tree for a little flourish.  Then I added some brown pearls for a finishing touch!

Has fall come to your home yet?  Play along with us at Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges this week!  You can head over to the blog for some more inspiration from my fellow DT members and add your own projects too!

Christmas tag

Today I have a tag to share with you!  I cut this tag from Plantin Schoolbook at 6 inches (which made it 4.5 inches wide).  I used some kraft paper for the shadow and some patterned paper from The Paper Studio for the tag itself.  Then I cut some sea green cardstock to go across the tag where I could stamp the sentiment "Merry Christmas" from My Creative Time's Gift Card Sentiments.  I had to mask the sentiment to get it that far apart, but I wanted the snowgirl in the middle.

The snowgirl is cut at 5.25 inches from Jolly Holidays.  I love the snow people on that cartridge- their smiles are just so me.  I haven't put any ribbon or twine into the hole yet because I haven't decided exactly how I want to use it- as decoration, as a kind of card, or as a tag for a present.

This card will be entered in the following challenges:
My Creative Time- Large tags
Paper Playtime- Anything Goes

Three stars

I am having a lot of fun playing along with coloring challenges!  I still love my Cricut, but I feel like stamping and coloring is giving me a whole other side of cardmaking.  There's a challenge at Paper Smooches Sparks right now that is a photo inspiration.  Here's my take on it:

I used the free digi stamps for the stars.  They're actually supposed to be 4th of July related, but I colored them to match the colors from the inspiration picture instead.  I put them on a piece of Recollections patterned paper and then matted that onto some grey cardstock.

The yellow cardstock on the bottom was stamped with my new Paper Smooches "Alphadot" stamp set.  Loving it!  I thought I had lost the number 0 down the drain the other day after washing some ink off, and I thought I was going to die.  Luckily, it had stuck to the sink and survived.

Candy

It's time for another challenge at Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges.  This week's challenge is:

Question: Who loves candy?

Theme: MAKE A CANDY-LICIOUS PROJECT

I like candy, but not as much as many people.  If we have chocolate in the house, I'll eat it.  But I don't ever crave it and I don't mind when we don't have any.  

This card was made with Smiley Cards.  I cut the candy at 3 inches, including the shadow.  I put the patterned paper on an orange card base.  I don't know what company made the patterned paper, because I got it from a garage sale.  I used some scraps of pink paper as an accent to match the pink cheeks.  I stamped the sentiment from Pink by Design's Big Thoughts

Are you a candy fan?  Make a candy-licious project and post it at Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges.  There's plenty of inspiration there from the rest of the DT as well.