Poodle card

It's Friday!  Woohoooo!  For today's card, I decided to start out with the cute, girly poodle from the Create A Critter cartridge.  You can't really tell, but her darker pink hair was made by spraying some of of the same pink as her body with a layer of pink walnut spray followed by a layer of Heidi Swapp white spray.  It gave it a really nice shimmer, and made it a pink that was darker than her body but still matched well.  I put some Flamingo stickles on her bows and added a tiny rhinestone for a little added sparkliness.

After I'd made the poodle, I decided that too much more pink was going to make it look like Pepto Bismol had spilled on the card, so I went with the blue card base and the two scrap pieces of patterned paper from my scraps bin.  I added a little label sticker and stamped the sentiment from Pink by Design's Scripted Year on it using StazOn ink.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge- Animal Antics

No Lion

Ok, we had a bit of a snafu with a less-than-speedy bank employee and it delayed closing of the sale of our house for...awhile. But we're in our new place now and I'm getting everything organized.   I REALLY missed my craft room!  You guys, I seriously think I was going through withdrawals! Since it took us longer than expected to move, it has taken me longer than expected to get my craft room up and running.  I'm hoping this will be the last of my pre-made posts and I'll be back to creating new projects and joining in challenges soon. 

This was one of my early experiments with shaped cards.  I kind of cheated though- I had made the lion for a door decoration for my office at an old job, and when I left there I brought it home.  I basically measured it, cut two shadows of the same size (in safari green, I thought it was fitting) and just threw it together.  I felt so guilty about how quickly it came together that I used Cotton Candy Stickles on his cheeks and tongue to add another touch.  

Also, after saving up gift cards since Christmas, I finally had enough money to buy my Silhouette Cameo!  I had it shipped to my parents' house so I knew it would be safe until the move was over, and just picked it up a couple of days ago! Time to start learning how to use it!

Panda card

I made this card really quickly one night, but I like the way it came together.  I guess my lesson for this card is that you don't have to spend hours and hours on every single card.  I already had cut the panda out for a previous challenge, and then didn't end up using him.  I happened to have just bought the WRMK painted brads, and the dark red matched my chevron strips exactly, so I added one up in the top corner.  It's something that I could use for any occasion, depending on what I decide to stamp on it!

Tell a joke!

In our house growing up, one of the most- shall we say "well loved"- jokes was this one.  When I saw that Fantabulous Cricut was having a "tell a joke" challenge, I immediately wanted to use it.  I used a blue card base and some patterned paper from the KI Memories Classics stack.  The cheese is from Create a Critter.  The sentiments were printed on my printer, and then I cut them out with my paper trimmer (the banner shape I just cut by hand).  I added a few blue buttons in the top corner for a little embellishment.

I'm entering this card into the following challenge:

Fantabulous Cricut- April Fools (tell a joke)
Craftin Desert Divas- Cute as a Button

Congrats!

I just got the Paper Smooches Clipboard stamps and dies and I was so excited to use them!  I think they're a really good addition to my stamp collection.

This is an A2 kraft card.  I cut a piece of purple and blue flower patterned paper that I had in my stash and put it on the base.  Then I cut a butterfly from my Create a Critter cartridge.  I cut both layers 2 and 3 in the same yellow, then used Yellow Stickles on layer 3.  I used two black rhinestones for its eyes.

Next, I stamped and then diecut the binder clip from my Paper Smooches sets and popped it up on foam squares.  I also cut a banner on light blue cardstock and then stamped the sentiment using Paper Smooches' Alphadots.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Paper Smooches SPARKS- Trend Watch: Butterflies

Pumpkin Spice- Spring Animals or Insects
All That Stickles- Yellow

Easter card

Since Easter is this Sunday, this is probably my last Easter card for the year.  When I was little, the "Easter bunny" brought me games and toys more than candy, and I had about 3 straight years when my basket had a cute stuffed lamb in it, so lambs are very Easter themed to me.

I started with a card cut from the card feature on Birthday Bash.  I embossed the green layer using a polka dots 5x7 Cuttlebug folder, put some cute polkadotted ribbon around it, and then stuck it to the card.  The lamb I cut from Create a Critter and the basket and eggs are from Doodlecharms. After I had them stuck down I realized that it needed something more, so I hand-cut the banner and traced it with my versamark pen, then stamped on the sentiment from Jaded Blossom's "Simple Sayings."  I finished it off with a few gems. 

This card is being entered into the following challenges: 
Pile It On Challenges- Dots                                                                                          

Exploring Cricut- Happy Easter                                                                                  

Fantabulous Cricut- Easter Greetings                                                                     

Bitten by the Bug 2- Card Feature                                                                            

Cut it up Challenges- Lion or lamb                                                                            

Die Cuttin Divas- Embossing and Ribbon               

Hippity Hoppity- Easter's on its way!

Have I got an Easter-filled card for you today!  I had a ton of challenges this week that all were related to Spring/Easter kinds of themes, and I had such a fun time getting them all to work with one card.  Also, I may have gone a little crazy with Stickles.  As in I had to go downstairs and eat lunch while I was waiting for every.single.thing that I made for the card to dry.  

Ok, so I started with a kraft card, with some pink cardstock and a strip of paper from an Echo Park 6x6 pad (I think it was from Country Drive).  Then, I cut the little Easter bunny from Create a Critter 2 at 3.5 inches and also cut his basket at 3.5 inches.  I cut the eggs from the same page at .75 inches.  The bunny got some cotton candy Stickles, the basket got lime green Stickles, and the eggs got both, as well as a few dots of lavender Stickles on the polka dot egg.  

Next, I cut the kite from the Create a Critter (it is on the giraffe page).  I can't remember the final cut size, I just kept upping it by one notch until the stamp I wanted to use fit.  :)  The stamp is from Pink by Design's "Artisan Tags 2," which is such a great and versatile set.  The kite also got a little lime green Stickles- it couldn't be the only non-glittered thing on the page, right?  To finish off the kite, I used three pieces of twine and tied itty-bitty bows for its string. 

This card is being entered into the following challenges:
Pink by Design Stamps- Easter
Fantabulous Cricut- Spring is in the air (kites/balloons)
Bitten by the Bug 2- Eggceptional Easter Eggs
Die Cuttin Divas- Use a bunny
All That Stickles- Lime Green
Craftin Desert Divas- Easter Eggstravaganza
My Paper Crafting- Spring
Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog- Easter/Spring

Smiling Bees

You probably think I've been a busy bee this week- so many days of posting in a row!  Get it, busy bee?  Hahaha!  Anyway, the Trend Watch challenge this week at Paper Smooches Sparks was "Smiles."  I thought of the smiling bee free digi that they have, and that's where the idea for this card came from.

First I used grey cardstock (actually, that was my last step, but I like to start out with the nitty gritty details) and a piece of green cardstock embossed with the Honeycomb cuttlebug folder.  Then I cut the beehive from Create a Critter, and cut the heart off of the top because I didn't want it for this card.

I printed the freebies at two different sizes- the bigger bee was printed at wallet size, and the smaller ones were printed at contact sheet size.  I colored them all in with sharpies, and cut off the antennas that they already had.  Next, I colored some white twine with black sharpies, cut it to the right size, and then taped it to the backs of their heads.  I adhered them with foam squares to the green paper using the thinnest foam squares I had for the small bees and the thickest ones I had for the big bee.  To finish them off, I used some recollections black rhinestones as the bumps at the end of their antennas.  You can't really tell from the picture, but the rhinestones are only sticking to the twine- not to the card- so the antennas kind of move around.  That's why their antennas look kind of like they're going in all sorts of crazy directions in the picture. :)

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

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

Santa's sleigh

I've been on kind of a Christmas kick recently.  I'm trying out a bunch of different ideas and still haven't quite settled on what I want to do for my Christmas cards this year.  Last year, they were done in August!  

This is one that I'd had floating around in my head since the Create a Critter 2 handbook was released online.  I just got Create a Critter 2 last week, so this is one of the first cards I've made with it!  The sleigh was cut at 3 inches and all the reindeer were at 2.25 inches.  The two standing reindeer are from CAC2 and the Rudolph is from the original CAC cartridge.  I put a piece of string from the sleigh to the back reindeer to show that they're hooked up and ready to fly.  It's hard to see in the picture, but Rudolph has Glossy Acccents on his nose.  After all, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer had a VERY shiny nose.  :)

The sentiment is a leftover sticker that I had from some projects I made a few years ago.  The background paper is from All Seasons 2 by Paper Studio.

This card will be entered into the following challenges:

Exploring Cricut- Trains, Planes, and Automobiles (aka transportation)

Stinker

As soon as Create a Critter 2 was announced, I fell straight into the frenzy that swept across the internet.  Create a Critter is my most used cartridge, so it was definitely one that I wanted more of.  I made this card with the first Create a Critter.  The skunk was cut at 3.5 inches and then I gave him some googly eyes.  I love how well these guys take googly eyes without looking weird.

The patterned paper is from my brand new All Girls mat stack from DCWV.  Remember when I said that Julie from Cricut Chirp had sent me some mats that I loved and was looking all over for?  This was the stack!  When I saw it at Joann's, I snatched it right up!  I was so excited.  It's kind of hard to see in the picture, but it's a green gingham pattern.  Then I added some pink polka dot washi tape from Target to compliment the little guy's facial features.

The phrase is stamped with Jessie's ABCs from Lawn Fawn.  The other day I bought a non-Lawn Fawn alphabet set from a garage sale because it was cheap.  Bad choice. I tested it out on scrap paper and it looked so bad compared to this set.  I think I need to just save up for another Lawn Fawn alphabet if I want some variety in my alphabet stamps.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:
Cricut Chirp- Create a Critter Craft
Paper Playtime- Gingham + Die Cut

Buzzing by

I was at a garage sale last weekend, and they had an unopened 6x6 pad of Echo Park's Country Drive.  I was so excited, and snatched it right up (while trying to explain to my husband why I was so excited).  I knew as soon as I looked through it that the first paper that I was going to use was the honeycomb/bees paper.  So I did.

This card is on black cardstock (for some reason it looks green to me in the picture).  The paper is of course, Echo Park.  The honeycomb pattern is one side and the blue strip with the two bees is from the other side.  I cut the Create a Critter bee at 3.5 inches and used foam adhesive squares to pop him up.  

See the tag?  It's from the dollar section at Target.  It's supposed to be one of those little sticky notes that you put in the page of a book to mark something important, but I just inked up the edges and glued it down.  I liked that it had a flower pattern, because bees love flowers!  I stamped it with a sentiment from Jaded Blossom's "Simply Sentiments" stamp set.  I just bought two stamp sets from them and really like them both.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:
Jaded Blossom: Crafter's Choice
Celebrate the Occasion: Hey Honey!

Flamingos

So there's a story behind this card.  Last weekend, I was talking to my husband and I was telling him about the challenges that were out and one of them was a flamingo challenge.  I was kind of blankly talking about different ideas to do and he said "you should make a card about lawn flamingos!"  It's kind of a joke in his family that they talk about the tacky lawn flamingos that people have, so I thought it was a great idea.  So...here it is!

This card is 5x5.  The patterned paper is from Recollections.  I used the Cuttlebug "Just my Type" borders on the blue strip of paper.  The house is cut from Create a Critter at 2 inches- it cuts relative to the size that would match the animal that is the main cut.  The flamingos are from Life is a Beach at 2.5 inches.  I added a couple of buttons to the top and it was ready!  I'm typing this before he gets home from work (but it's publishing just slightly after he gets home) so I hope he likes it!

I plan to enter this in the following challenge:
Pause Dream Enjoy- Flamingos or pink

Hot and Spicy

When I saw that Paper Playtime was having a challenge called "Hot and Spicy," I spent a lot of time going through my handbooks looking to see if I had a cut that was chili peppers or something. I do not.  :)  I decided to go with this happy bowl of noodles from Create a Critter.  I imagine that they're spicy noodles, which is a pretty good bet for me because I think everything I eat is too spicy.  I cut the noodles and bowl at 3 1/2 inches, with the white shadow to help them stand out from the background.  

I stamped the sentiment with Jessie's ABCs from Lawn Fawn.

I'm entering this in the following challenge:
Paper Playtime- Hot and Spicy
Cricut Chirp Challenge Blog- Anything goes

Back to School

Back to school time was always one of my  favorite times when I was a kid.  Weird, right?  I just liked spending the time with my mom and sister, driving all over for school shopping, getting new stuff to start off the year right.  This little card is for my mom, who still works at the elementary school that I'm a proud graduate of.

I cut the card base to A2 size.  The patterned paper is from the All Seasons 2 stack from Paper Studio.  I thought the crayons were perfect.   I cut the apple from Doodlecharms and the worm from Create a Critter.  See how I made a bite out of the apple?  Someone gave me a corner punch that is a kind of a backwards scallopy thing with a design inside.  BUT, if you make it so that the corner doesn't go in all the way, it just cuts a bite mark looking chomp out of it.  I made the twine with white yarn and a blue Sharpie.  I tied it in a bow on the front, which was much harder than it looks.  Then I stamped the sentiment from Holiday Occasions from Joy's Life.  

I'm entering this in the following challenges:
Cardz TV- School is cool
Cricut Chirp- A buzzing bug bow

This little piggy

First off, let me apologize for the not so great pictures for the next couple of days.  My husband lent our camera to a couple we know whose camera broke two days before they left for vacation, so for the week I'm at the mercy of my not-so-stellar Android camera.  I'm using Picasa to try to edit them as best as I can.

So, as I mentioned before, I'm not an outdoorsy person.  I do remember trying to go fishing with my dad when I was a girl, but I was always too afraid that when I put the hook over my head (I don't even know what it's called) to get ready to throw it out, it would accidentally stab me instead.  So, my fishing hobby kind of died before it started.  Nonetheless, here is a card with a little cutie going fishing.

This card is slightly smaller than A2, because it was made with a premade base that someone gave me.  I think it's about 5.5 x 4.  The yellow background paper is from the 8x8 Basics stack by Paper Studio and the strip is from the ProvoCraft Celebrations 6x12 stack.  I cut the piggy from Create a Critter at 3.5 inches and the fish and fishing rod from Simply Charmed at 3 inches.  The flower in the piggy's hair is a puffy sticker that I got from Dollar Tree.

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Cardz TV- Anything Goes

Pause, Dream, Enjoy- Sports/Hobbies

Pile it On- Cute as can be

Paper Playtime- Anything Goes

Bitten by the Bug 2- On the Farm

Fantabulous Cricut- S'more anyone? (camping)

Die Cuttin Divas- Anything Goes

I have a pretty busy week this week, so I decided to give myself the challenge of fitting as many challenges as possible onto one card.  It helps that this week there are 3 "Anything Goes" challenges, but it was still kind of tough.  It's pretty easy to come up with cards that only fit one or two themes, but even without the Anything Goes challenges I needed it to fit four different themes!  Yet it's still totally my style.  :)

Yet another Christmas idea

I'm still in the process of testing out some various ideas for my Christmas cards this year.  I kind of want something simple, because we will *hopefully* have moved by Christmas and our cards may double as "we've moved" announcements, which would mean I'll have to make a whole ton of them.

This card was made with only scraps and supplies that I already have.  I cut the word "Joy" from Create a Critter at 2 1/2 inches (cut to length of 5 inches).  I used white cardstock as the background, and stamped it with a little snowflake rubber stamp.  I don't know who makes it; it was given to me in a whole lot of craft supplies that someone I know didn't want anymore.  The ribbon is from that same "haul."  I used Doodlebug red ink.  I'm a novice at pigment ink, so please forgive the few smudges that may be visible in the picture.  I tried to cover them with the ribbon.

Although I am still in love with my snowman couple, I think that this card may be closer to what I may make,  for Christmas, although not exactly what I will probably end up with.  The price would certainly be right- I'd only have to go get a couple of pieces of cardstock and maybe a red dye ink pad.  ;)

I'm entering this in the following challenge:
Cooking with Cricut- Christmas in July using scraps

Snowman Couple

I'm not sure why, but this might just be my favorite card ever.  It looks kind of simple, but it actually took a lot of cutting.  I'll start with the background and go up to give the recipe:

Card is an A2 sized light blue card.  The white part was cut on the top with an EK Success punch and then I used some of the Target washi tape to put across it (it's the two lines of blue dots behind the snowmen).

Both snowmen are cut at 3 inches from Doodlecharms.  I put the snowlady together upside down so she'd be facing the other way and outlined their mouths with gel pen.  I colored the areas of their buttons black and colored their noses orange (so I didn't have to make the entire layer cut again just for the two noses on orange paper).  

The snowman's hat is from the worm page of Create a Critter, cut at 3 inches.  I put Black Diamond Stickles  on the band.  His scarf is cut from Winter Frolic at 3 inches.  It's from Snowman 2.  I assumed that since I cut the snowman at 3 inches, that accessories from other figures cut at 3 inches would also fit.  For him, it fit perfectly!

The snowlady's flowers were cut at various little sizes from Create a Critter's Zebra page.  They've got just a little Glam Pink Stickles. Her hat is from Winter Frolic's Girl 5 at 3 inches.  Her coat did not quite fit at 3 inches because her body is so much wider than the body of the little girl it was made for, so I ended up cutting that at 3.75 inches.  

I popped the snowmen up on popdots so they would stand out a little.  The sentiment is a leftover that I bought at Hobby Lobby a few years ago in a packet for some Christmas presents I was making, so I have no idea who makes it.  It had a clear backing, so it was perfect for this spot.

I plan to enter this card in the following challenges:
Simply Create Too- Use it two times
Cardz TV- Christmas in July
Bitten by the Bug 2- Christmas in July
My Craft Spot- Christmas in July

Christmas in July!

It's about time to start thinking about the design for my 2012 Christmas cards.  Can you believe it?  It takes me awhile to do them, between getting the supplies, planning it out, and them assembling them all.  Here is one of the possibilities for this year.  It's unlikely that I'll choose it for my final design, because I did blue and snowflakes last year and I want something kind of different, but I still think it's kind of cute.

I got the patterned paper from my All Seasons 2 stack from Paper Studio.  The cuts are all from Create a Critter- the igloo is with the penguin and the lights are from the reindeer's page.

I plan to enter this in the following challenge:

DL Art- Christmas in July
Go Fish Challenges- Christmas in July
Exploring Cricut- Christmas in July
Die Cuttin Divas- Christmas in July