Thanks!

I'm continuing to work on building up my "Thank You" card stash right now.  This card is on a hot pink base (why do so many cardstock packs come with so much hot pink?), with a layer of black cardstock and then another layer of white cardstock, which I embossed with the Chevrons folder by Sizzix.  Then I put a strip of We R Memory Keepers washi tape along the bottom (I like that it's leaves, and it goes with the flower on the stamp!)

The stamp that I used is by Hero Arts.  I stamped it a few times to make sure I had the dimensions right, then I got out my Accent Essentials cartridge to cut the circles.  In case you have this stamp set, the dimensions I used were:

Black scallop: Shift/Shadow of Accent6 @ 2 inches
Pink circle: Shift/Shadow of Accent1 @1.75 inches
White circle: Shift of Accent1 @1.75

I left the white circle on the Cricut mat and stamped the stamp directly on, so that it would stay in place.  Then I adhered the three layers together and put them on with a foam square!

This card is being entered into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Challenge- Anything Goes                     

CASology- Circle

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

Christmas Countdown

It took me until after Christmas, but I finally finished my advent calendar! It will be all ready for next year.  I have so many Christmas cuts on various Cricut Cartridges, and it seemed like a fun project that could last through the holiday season (and boy, did it!)

The base of the calendar is a cookie sheet (a large size, I can't remember the dimensions exactly).  I used two sheets of paper from the Paper Studio All Seasons 2 pack for the background.  I wanted to make the background look kind of like a present, so I accented it with some burgundy paper, which was from my stash.  It was a slightly lighter color on the other side, which makes me think it may have come from the Provo Craft cardstock that was part of my Cricut Essentials pack, but I could be wrong.  My husband drilled two holes in the top and sanded them down to make them safe, and I strung two pieces of ribbon through to hang it up.  One ribbon is a sturdy, silver ribbon with sparkles.  I'm pretty sure it was left over from my wedding.  The other ribbon was some miscellaneous burgundy ribbon that I thought would add to the effect of it looking like a present.  True story: I originally bought that ribbon to make a bell to hang from our back door so that Sophie can ring it to let us know she needs to go outside.  I probably got it from Hobby Lobby.

Next came the Cricut-ing part.  As I said, I used many cartridges.  I broke the pictures down into two rows at a time so I can go through and tell you where I got them.  My cardstock is almost all from Paper Studio, with some of the Provo Craft thrown in here and there.  I varied the cut size between 2-3 inches, depending on the cartridge.  It took a little trial and error, and unfortunately I didn't think to write down the sizes.  

Days 24-22: Lights cut from Create a Critter

Day 21: Gingerbread house from Stretch Your Imagination, circle from Accent Essentials

Day 20: Sled from Stretch Your Imagination, circle from Accent Essentials

Day 19: Tree from Winter Frolic, circle from Accent Essentials

Day 18: Ornament from Winter Frolic

Day 17: Presents from Winter Frolic

Day 16: Holly from Stretch your Imagination

Day 15: Cup from Winter Frolic

Day 14: Mitten from Simply Charmed

Day 13: Reindeer from Create a Critter

Day 12: Bird (I think it's a partridge in a pear tree) from Winter Frolic, circle from Accent Essentials

Day 11: Snowman and Snowglobe from Doodlecharms

Day 10: Ornament from Winter Frolic

Day 9: Snowflake from Accent Essentials

Day 8: Hat from Simply Charmed

Day 7: Gingerbread man from Smiley Cards

Day 6: Penguin from Winter Frolic

Day 5: Stocking from Winter Frolic

Day 4: Candy cane from Simply Charmed

Day 3: Mouse from Winter Frolic

Day 2: Star from Winter Frolic

Day 1: Jesus from Winter Frolic

Then I wrote the day on them with gel pen, two-sided taped a magnet on the back, and it was done!

Can I take a second to talk about Day 7's Gingerbread Man?  I don't own a gypsy, and I only joined the world of Cricut about half a year ago, so I was sad to find out that I had orignally missed the boat on Smiley Cards.  I love the little images on there and the silly faces, and this Gingerbread Man was one of my favorites.  When Cricut Craft Room was released to the public and the ability to download digital cartridges was announced, I was so excited that I could finally have access to Smiley Cards!  Yeah, $50 (plus tax, FYI) is kind of expensive for a cartridge that you don't physically possess, and I won't be purchasing the digital cartridges willy-nilly, but I'm glad I went ahead and got this one. It's really easy to use- you just design the mat in Craft Room, click "Cut." hold the mat in place, and it loads and cuts in one fluid motion.  You can choose to cut only portions of your mat or the whole thing at once, depending on how you've loaded in your paper.  It was great and I highly recommend it for cartridges like this one, that are only available that way, or for ones that are retired or hard to find in stores.