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.

Happy Birthday!

You can never have enough birthday cards, right?  With fall comes the end of our family's season of no-birthdays.  Winter and Spring are full of birthdays almost every week.  So having a stockpile is going to be very helpful for me.  For my stockpile cards, I tend to go pretty plain, because I don't know exactly who they're going to be for.

This A2 card has some cupcake patterned paper along the bottom.  I believe it's from a Paper Studio stack. Then I cut the cat jumping out of the cake from Birthday Bash at 5 inches.  I stamped the sentiment from My Craft Spot's Birthday Wishes stamp set.  Now I have a cute card to pull out when I have one of those "so-and-so's birthday is TOMORROW" moments...especially if we're in the process of moving whenever that may be.

I plan to enter this card for the Cricut Chirp Challenge Blog's Birthday Bash challenge.

Hope squirrel

I think I've mentioned before that one of the things I love about the Birthday Bash Cricut cartridge is that they have little hands that can be holding anything.  This cute little squirrel is supposed to be holding a number 1.  Instead, I cut a pink ribbon for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and have the squirrel holding that.

I put my squirrel on some patterned paper I had in my scraps.  Then I added some Fruit Punch Stickles to her tail for a little extra sparkle. I stamped the word "Hope" in the bottom corner with My Creative Time's "Inspiring Words" stamp set and then put three little gems underneath that match the color of the squirrel's fur.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Die Cuttin' Divas- Shimmer, Glimmer, Gloss
Cardz TV- Let's hear it for the girls

Creepy Crawler

Will this be my last Halloween card of the year?  Every time I start to feel Halloweened out, I get one more good idea...so who knows.  The background of this card is cut from Elegant Edges.  I seriously need to start pulling that cartridge out more often.

I cut this little bug from Create a Critter 2 at 4.75 inches.  He's really easy to put together because he's only three layers!  Then I stamped the sentiment up the side with my brand-spanking new Lawn Fawn stamp set- Harold's ABCs! 

I'm entering this into the following challenges:
Cut it Up Challenges- Eek! Boo! Ahh!
Cardz TV- Fall-oween
My Crafting Channel- The g'houl times
Exploring Cricut- Happy Halloween
My Craft Spot- Little Monsters

Get Well Wishes

Today I have a "Get Well" card to share.  It's just a regular A2 card, with patterned paper from Recollections.  I put a green ribbon around the top to compliment the green in the pattern.  The bandage was cut at 2.5 inches from B is for Boy.  I popped it up on foam adhesive, and then added the felt star (which I can't remember where I got it from) on another foam square.  

The sentiment on the bottom is from my new "Alphadot" set from Paper Smooches.  It was so fun to stamp with!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Little Scrap Pieces- Use Blue
DL.Art- Sympathy or Get Well Card

Spoooky

Time for another Friday challenge at Pause, Dream, Enjoy!  This week's challenge is:

Question: Do you love a good Ghost Story or Campfire Scary Story?

Theme: MAKE A PROJECT "NIGHT" PROJECT (Owl in tree; ghost in mansion)

I don't like ghost stories! I don't like being scared at all.  Maybe that's why my Halloween projects are usually some sort of cutesy thing.  

This challenge was a real, well, challenge for me.  I wanted to get away from my cute Halloween images.  I don't have any of the Halloween specific cartridges, so I went to Celebrate with Flourish.  This is about as spooky as I get.  I cut the image at 4 inches and included the shadow feature.  I love that this cartridge has shadows.  None of my other Lite cartridges do.  Here's a tip: if you're overdue for a new blade in your Cricut but putting off changing it because you're cheap, don't try to cut anything from Celebrate with Flourish at a small size.  It didn't cut too smoothly.  I realize it's my own fault, but thought I would pass along my little tidbit of wisdom so you all can save yourself the headache.  :)

I embossed the actual card front with my Spots and Dots Cuttlebug folder.  I added some bats paper from All Seasons 2 (by Paper Studio) as an accent.   

Come play along with us at Pause, Dream, Enjoy!  Head over and see what the rest of the Design Team has for you and then add your own creation!

I'm also entering this into the My Crafting Channel- The gh'oul times challenge.

Boo

I am on such an embossing folders kick lately! I just got this one in the mail today- it's the Spiderweb folder by Darice.  I had to use my flash on my camera to get a picture where you could see it.  It's a perfect addition to my newest addiction.  :)

Because I wanted to showcase my new embossing folder, I cut the card in black at 4.25 x 5.5 inches.  Then I cut a piece of bright orange paper at 4 x 5.25 inches.  The black paper that I embossed is cut at 3.75 x 5 inches.  I ran a piece of green ribbon across the bottom as an accent

The word "boo" and the dog are cut from Paper Pups at 2.5 inches.  I used the shadow feature to cut the purple so that the white outline would stand out against the word.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Paper Playtime- Welcome to BooVille
My Craft Spot- Emboss it!
More than Favors- Halloween
My Crafting Channel- The gh'oul times

Batty for You

I'm continuing my digi stamp exploration.  These are from Alley Way Stamps.  I used some patterned paper from my stash as the background.  I printed the bat and the sentiment on vellum, then cut them out.  The bat was colored with colored pencils and then glued onto white paper so that you couldn't see the patterned paper through it.  I used some stickles to outline the bat's wings.  Oddly, the stickles color that best matched the purple colored pencil was actually called Pink.  I love that little bit of sparkle.  He's popped up with adhesive squares for a little extra dimension.  

The sentiment on vellum was glued onto a strip of purple paper.  I used some orange washi tape to cover up the spot where you could see the adhesive through the vellum.  :)

I'm entering this into Alley Way Stamps' Be Inspired Challenge and My Crafting Channel- The gh'oul times.

Candy bag

I thought I'd try a little 3D project for a change of pace!  I cut this bag from Plantin Schoolbook at fit to page on my Cricut Expression.  It was easy to figure out how to put it together, but much harder in execution!  I have pretty tiny hands, but it seemed like every time I stuck my hand inside to fix the placement of the little tabs, it would make other tabs pop up.  I finally got it together, though!  

To decorate the bag, I cut a purple circle from paper from the Paper Studio Basics pad in a circle, again using Plantin Schoolbook.  I used the jack-o-lantern cut from Create a Critter 2, and the yellow splotch (which reminded me of pumpkin guts for some reason) is from Accent Essentials.  I cut the green tag from Plantin Schoolbook and then made the hole bigger with a hole punch.  I threaded some homemade bakers twine in green and purple through to attach it.  For the picture, I tucked it behind the purple a little so you could see the whole thing in one picture.

I used two sentiments from Jaded Blossom's Simple Sayings- "Smile" and "For you."  I haven't made it to the grocery store yet to get any candy to put it in, but I will soon!

I'm entering this into the following challenge:
Jaded Blossom- Halloween Treats
My Crafting Channel- The gh'oul times

Boo!

It's Friday- time for another challenge at Pause, Dream, Enjoy!  This week's challenge is:

Question: Are you afraid of the dark?

Theme: INCLUDE THE WORD "BOO" ON YOUR PROJECT

Honest truth?  I may be a little afraid of the dark.  Only when my husband isn't home, or I have to take Sophie outside to do her business after dark.  :)

Can you tell I like more of the cutesy Halloween projects?  This card has two different cuts from Simply Charmed.  They're from the same key, and were both cut at 3 inches.  I used some black cardstock, orange paper from Paper Studio's The Basics pad, and some purple washi tape from Target.  The sentiment is stamped on a piece of gray paper from the dollar bin at Target using Jessie's ABCs by Lawn Fawn.  I decided to pop the gravestone up on popdots so you could tell that the ghost is coming out from behind it.

What are you waiting for?  Hop on over to Pause, Dream, Enjoy- see what the rest of the DT has created and play along!

I'm also entering this into the My Crafting Channel- The gh'oul times challenge.

Another update

Bad new for me- the sale of our house fell through.  I'm working on getting my craft room all re-unpacking into its old space.  For now, all of the ideas that I have for my new crafting space will have to continue to percolate in my head until we sell the house and move to a new one.  I tell you, crafting has been a God-send through all this.  What a great way it has been for me to deal with the stress!  So for now, I'll let my regular crafting schedule resume.  :)

Happy Haunting

And my Create a Critter 2 streak continues.  I knew it would.  

This is another Halloween card.  I've noticed that there are a lot of Halloween related cuts on Create a Critter 2.  For this card, I used the phrase "Happy Haunting," without the extra layer.  I had to cut it a few times to get it the right size for the length of the card.  I wished then that I had been using Cricut Craft Room, but my husband needed the computer so I was cutting the old fashioned way.  I want to say that the size that ended up fitting was about 2.5 inches, but I moved that dial up and down so many times that you shouldn't quote me on it.  

Then I added the bat cut on some foam adhesive.  I had similar sizing problems with the bat.  My initial 3 inch bat was huge, so I dialed it down a few and he fit better.  Then I used some white gel pen to doodle just a little on him, so he wasn't so plain.

I'm entering this card into the following challenge:

Simply Crafts- October 2012

My Crafting Channel- The gh'oul times

Guest Designer at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog

Hello!

I am so excited to be a guest designer for Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog this week!  Since today is Columbus Day, this week's challenge is to use a ship on your project.  Here's my take on the challenge:

This is an A2 sized card.  The card is actually on off-white cardstock, but you can't see it well in the picture. Then I cut a piece of red cardstock just slightly smaller than the A2 size, and a piece of patterned paper just slightly smaller than that.  The patterned paper is from the ProvoCraft Celebrations stack.

I cut my ship from Pack Your Bags at 3.5 inches, including the shadow.  I love to use the shadow features when they're available, because with that outline around the shape you have more flexibility in the patterns of paper that you can put behind it.  It gives it more definition.

The smoke coming out of the ship has silver Stickles on it.  No pollution coming off of my boats- just sparkles!  I used Glossy Accents all over the water.  Unfortunately, the picture didn't pick up the shine and it just looks kind of splotchy.  It's shiny in real life, I swear!

My finishing touch was to stamp the word "Enjoy" in blue ink in the top corner.  I used Pink by Design's "Big Thoughts" for the sentiment.  I really like this set, and based on how much I've used it since I got it just a few weeks ago, I'm thinking it's going to go into heavy rotation as one of my favorites.

So there you have it- my ship.  Now head over to Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog and see the rest of the inspiration from their awesome Design Team.  Then you can add your own creation!

My first attempt at coloring

Well, it's not my first attempt at coloring EVER.  I have filled up many Disney princess coloring books and I still have my old 96 Crayola crayon set from my childhood.  Organized by color, of course, because that's just how 5 year old me rolled.

Anyway, Paper Smooches is having a Sparks challenge inspired by woodland creatures.  I haven't been able to get any of their clear stamps yet (I'm on a buying freeze until we're settled into our next place- but they're on my wishlist, believe me) so I decided to go with their digi stamps again.  I don't have any experience with grown-up type coloring, so I had to use my colored pencils to color in- I don't own any copics or anything.  I used the owl, branch, and squirrel digi stamps.  I cut the squirrel off of the word he was hanging on and made him hang on the branch instead.

I used a piece of patterned paper from the KI Memories "Classics" stack.  I covered it with some yellow cardstock down the middle.  Then I put the "Thanks" digi stamp across the bottom and covered it with some brown washi tape from We R Memory Keepers.    I really enjoyed coloring the digi stamps.  I know that I will need more practice, but it was so fun that I think I'll keep practicing.  I'm excited to have some actual stamps, because I'm not technological enough to print the words on anything but printer paper, or maybe vellum if I'm feeling crazy.

Card Making Day continues!

I'm continuing my weekend of new techniques with digi stamps to celebrate World Card Making Day.  This time, I tried my hand at paper piecing.  It was fun, but I think I need some practice with my scissors skills...or else maybe I need a better pair of scissors.  :)

I used a sketch provided by Paper Smooches for this card.  Both of the pieces of patterned paper are from the All Seasons 2 stack by Paper Studio.  Then I used a Paper Studio embossing folder with holly on it for the next layer.  I rounded the corners and inked around the edges in green ink.  

See the heart made of candy canes?  That was my paper piecing project!  I printed the picture on white and red paper.  I cut out the heart on the white paper, then cut out every other piece of the red one and adhered it to the white.  It came out pretty good, I think.

This is going to be it for me today, because I have real-life plans that are going to last the afternoon.  Come back tomorrow to see my third foray into the world of digi stamps!

World Card Making Day

Did you know that today is World Card Making Day?  As such, Paper Smooches stamps are having a day of challenges, along with prizes that I would be ecstatic to win.  

This card actually meets the requirements for two of their challenges: it has pink on it in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and it's a one layer card (ok, it's one layer plus a little washi tape, but washi tape is really thin so I think that counts).  

I've been experimenting with different ways to use digi stamps.  For this card, I went with printing it directly onto where I want it on the card.  The word "love" is a digi stamp from Paper Smooches.  I printed it onto the white cardstock so it would end up in this corner.  I just used Microsoft Word- so easy!

I used my Cuttlebug and a Hobby Lobby embossing folder for the hearts that are at the top.  They also go over a little ways onto the back, which I think is kind of cool.  Then I used some pink washi tape from We R Memory Keepers on the spot where the embossing stopped, and a quick and simple card is done!

Spoooooky scene

I am so loving the new Create a Critter 2 cartridge!  I like that it has all of the icons and accessories that help you create a little scene.  That's what I decided to do for this Halloween card- a spooky little scene.  

This is just an A2 card.  I managed to fit everything onto it.  I put a piece of purple patterned paper from Paper Studio's Back to Basics stack as the background.  Then I cut the Halloween tree in black at 4.5 inches.  I put a piece of yellow paper under its face, because it doesn't have a layer.

Next, I cut the moon and clouds cut at 2.5 inches.  The fence was cut at the same size.  The jack-o-lantern is at 1.5 inches.  Each of these cuts is from a different page of the manual, but they can all work together.

I'm entering this into the following challenges:
Paper Playtime- Trick or Treat
My Craft Spot- Boo to you
Bitten by the Bug 2- Tree
My Crafting Channel- The gh'oul times

How's it waggin'

This card is full of my favorite things!  If you take a look at my labels on the sidebar, you'll see that Create a Critter (the original) is by far my favorite cartridge.  So when I knew I was going to play along in the My Favorite Things challenge at Scrappy Mom's Stamps, I knew immediately that I'd want to use it.  In real life, my dog Sophie is one of my favorite things, so I chose the terrier cut from Create a Critter.  

When my husband and I were dating, it was in the heyday of MySpace and I used to fill out these questionnaires that would float around the site.  One of the questions was always "what's your favorite color?" and I would always say "pink and green."  He read my questionnaires and the first bunch of flowers he ever got me were pink (with green stems, of course!).  Nowadays, my favorite colors have shifted and I'm more of a teal kind of person, but I decided to go with pink and green for this card as a nod to him.  I used a piece of green patterned paper from the KI Memories Classics stack, some pink cardstock for the dog's collar, and some pink Target brand washi tape, which I layered on white cardstock so you could see it.

I cut the bone also from the same button as the dog on Create a Critter, and put a stamp from Scrappy Mom's Stamps "Raining Cats and Dogs" on it.  

I'm entering this card for the following challenge:

Scrappy Mom's Stamps- My Favorite things

The Great Pumpkin

It's Friday, so it's time for another challenge at Pause, Dream, Enjoy!  This week's challenge is:

Question: Do you decorate for Halloween?

Theme: MAKE A PURPLE & ORANGE PROJECT

I do decorate for Halloween, just barely.  The only thing that I really put up for Halloween is my banner.  I'm thinking when we get into our new house I'll start making banners for every holiday/season, because I really liked making it.  

For my very first card as a Design Team member at Pause, Dream, Enjoy challenges, I decided to use my Celebrate with Flourish cartridge.  I cut this pumpkin at 3 inches.  The background paper is from the DCWV All Girls stack.  The card itself is white, with purple inked around the edges (although you can't really tell in the picture). 

The orange strip of paper along the bottom is punched with the Fiskars Threading Water border punch.

Now it's your turn!  Head over to Pause, Dream, Enjoy to see what the rest of my DT sisters have for you and to play along with us!

I'm also entering this into the My Crafting Channel- The gh'oul times challenge.

Believe

With October being breast cancer awareness month, many blogs are having pink challenges right now.  I chose the cloud that's raining down love from Create a Critter 2 and cut it at 3.5 inches.  Then I cut the cloud base again (the part that's pink in the picture) in white at about 2 inches, cut the raindrops off, and used it to stamp the word "Believe."  That sentiment is from Inspiring Words by My Creative Time.  

I used patterned paper from Amy Tangerine's Sketchbook 6x6 pad for the background over a gray card base.  Then I added some washi tape by Queen and Co.  I think it's technically from their Disney line, but I just like the black with polka dots as a general tape to have.  I added some Stickles in "glam pink" to the hearts and three small pearls as a finishing touch.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Fantabulous Cricut- Get 'em squished

Celebrate the Occasion- Breast cancer awareness

Link up for Pink- Second annual Link up for Pink event

Sweet giraffe

Remember awhile back when I posted this zebra card (which, by the way, made the Top 3 at Pause, Dream, Enjoy challenge blog way back before I was a DT member)?  Well, I decided it was time to add a little, girly friend for him.

Just like the zebra, I cut this giraffe at 3.75 inches.  She's from Sugar and Spice Cricut Lite.  I tried to mirror the design of the zebra card, so I used a stamp to stamp the sentiment on a little tag and used the same paper to put a strip across the top.  Then I added a green button in the same spot.  Now I've got matching cards!