Happy Memorial Day

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day.  Please take a moment to remember our service men and women who are currently serving or whom have served in the military.  I personally am grateful and thankful for all of our veterans and those currently serving in our military, including my friends and family members, among them my dad and husband, who have served (or are serving) in our military and am thinking of them today.  I am also grateful to the families of our veterans as they sacrifice time with their loved ones while they are overseas and fighting for our country.

THANK YOU!

Have a blessed day.

My Pink Stamper Challenge - Father's Day

Robyn over at My Pink Stamper posted a challenge to make a Father's Day project.  Those who participate in the challenge and link their project to her post will be entered in a drawing for a Cricut Expression donated by ProvoCraft.

Since I still hadn't made my dad a Father's Day card yet, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity, and motivation, to get it done.  I left the card pretty simple...but I really like how it turned out.

For this card, I used the Wild Card cartridge.  I cut the "Happy Father's Day" phrase from a dark red Coordination's cardstock using the phrase feature key at 5.32".  The card base is cut using the same key that has the "Happy Father's Day" phrase on it at 5.63" - no feature key selected.  I cut the base layer twice.  Once out of the Best Occasions cardstock (sorry - don't remember the stack name) with the window opening and once out of brown cardstock with the window hidden using the Hide Contour feature.  The frame around the window was cut from Best Occasions cardstock using the frame feature key and the same key as the previous two cuts.  It was cut at 5.91".  In order to make the wording "pop" a bit - I used the inside cut from the frame piece and cut it down so the phrase fit but still let a bit of the brown cardstock show around the edges.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!  I've been relaxing and spending some time in my craft room and on my Gypsy.  I got a couple things done this weekend so will try to get those items posted during the week.  Have a wonderful day....

Blog Candy

Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend....no crafting for me this weekend, unfortunately.  However, I've been catching up on the Cricut MB and on the blogs I follow.  I came across a post that led me to Debbie's blog (Passion for Crafts) and her very generous blog candy post.

Stop by her blog and check out her blog candy post.  While you are there, check out her awesome projects and sign-up to be a follower.

Have a great week.....

Mother's Day Card

Good Morning all -

First, I want to show you the Mother's Day card I made for my MIL.  I'm a bit late posting this as I was waiting on my hubby to send me the picture of the card he took with his cell phone before giving her the card.

This is an A2 size card.  I used the Mother's Day cartridge and cut the "lace" at 4" and layered it on the shadow.  I also cut the "Mom" using the regular and shadow cuts.  I don't remember what size this was cut at.  For the inside, I printed "Happy Mother's Day" on a piece of paper and adhered it.

It's a very basic card that still came out somewhat elegant.  I really love how the colors pink and brown look together.

(Sorry for the pic quality - hubby had to take with his cell phone as I forgot to take a pic before giving it to him to give to my MIL along with her present...and then he forgot to take a pic with the camera before leaving the house.)


Have a great day.....

Simple Wedding Card

I'm going to a friends (and co-worker) wedding this evening.  I just got home from running some errands...now I've got to rush to get ready, as I have to pick up another friend so we can ride to the wedding together.

Last weekend, I made this wedding card -- I scrap lifted the design from Robyn over at My Pink Stamper. The card is 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" and the couple is cut at 4" using the Wedding solutions cartridge  The red paper is embossed with the embossing folder from the Love Language Combo Set using my Cuttlebug.  I added Frosted Lace stickles to the veil.  For the inside, I used a Stampendous stamp that says:  "The joining of two hands makes One Heart!"

Have a wonderful afternoon.....

I Won :)

Hi there....I hope everyone is having a great week.  Unfortunately, for me, today was a rough day at work....by the time I got home, I was definitely not in the best of moods.  I decided to log on and check out what's been going on in blog land today....as I was catching up on my blog readings for today, I came across the post on Tracy's blog (Craft Junkie Too) announcing the winner of the $25 Gift Certificate to PaperTrey Ink for submitting a Mother's Day project....I can't believe I won.  What a great way to end the day. Thanks Tracy!!!

I entered the Mother's Day card that I made for my mom during My Pink Stampers National Scrapbook Day Challenge #1....to view the card I entered , click here.  When I called my mom on Sunday to wish her a Happy Mother's Day, I was glad to hear that she really liked it...and that it arrived in time.


Hopefully, I'll be able to post the wedding card I worked on over the weekend tomorrow night....I still need to take a picture of it.  Until later....Have a wonderful day.

Million Hit Giveaway over at Obsessed with Scrapbooking

Joy over at Obsessed with Scrapbooking is having a giveaway in honor of reaching 1 Million hits on her blog.  It is an awesome and HUGE giveaway.  She's giving away 2 of the limited Summer seasonal cartridges, Summer Vacation and Summer in Paris, a 12 x 12 package of SEI Happy paper, and a package of Tim Holtz grungeboard.  And, as if that wasn't already enough, she is including another item.  But, since I want to hold you in suspense just a little bit and leave you with a bit of a surprise for when you visit her blog to look around and enter, I'm not going to share the last item with you.  But I can tell you that it is an awesome prize.

Stop by her blog and check her out and leave her some love.  She is a very talented lady and has a lot of awesome projects posted on her blog as well as on the Everyday Cricut blog, she is the co-owner of that blog.


I hope all the mom's out there have had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Thinking of You

Happy Saturday all!  I hope you are having a fabulous day.  The weather here is beautiful out - can't wait to enjoy the day.  Last night I went to my friend Vicki's monthly crop.  She is a Creative Memories consultant and hosts monthly crops - we always have a blast! 

One of the ladies who attends regularly had a death in the family and Vicki asked if one of us "Cricut girls" would cut out a "Thinking of You" phrase so we could make a card for her.  Since everyone else was busy with a project, I offered to make the card for her so everyone could sign it.

This is the card I ended up with - I kept it pretty simple but I like how it turned out.  I used the Sentimentals cartridge to cut the "Thinking of You".  The butterflies were made using the Creative Memories butterfly punch.  I punched them in both the light and dark purple card stock and then attached them at the body of the butterfly and bent the wings of the light purple butterfly up to add some dimension.  The flower paper is from a DCWV mat stack.  For the yellow card stock border, I used the Martha Stewart Daisy Lace Edge punch.  Added a bit of ribbon and.....Voila.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek.  Hope you've enjoyed your visit.  Have a great day.....

Couple Teacher Appreciation Cards

Hi everyone - Wow, it has been a busy weekend.  Unfortunately I didn't make it through all of the MPS NSD Challenges....but I was able to complete 10 challenges and ended up with 11 cards.  Woo Hoo!!

Yesterday, while delivering the 2 Teacher Appreciation cards to my co-worker, another co-worker and dear friend, saw the cards and asked me if I would make her a couple cards for her adorable twins to give to their teacher.  Of course, I couldn't say no.  Her little boys are too cute!

So, after the birthday dinner for another dear friend yesterday night, I "threw" these 2 cards together.  The picture didn't come out too well.  For the most part, I mirrored the cards I made over the weekend for the MPS Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look.  Hope you enjoy these.

NSD - My Pink Stamper Challenge #12

Challenge # 12 was "Critter-licious" and the challenge was to make a scrapbook page, card, or project using an animal or critter.

I decided to make the following birthday card for a dear friend whose birthday dinner I am going to tonight. 

I thought this Hippo was just too cute and had to use it.  :-)

For the base of the card, I started with a 5 x 7 card.  The blue mat is cut to fit.  I used the Create a Critter cartridge for the sentiment and the Hippo's.  The larger Hippo is cut at 2 1/4" and the smaller, "baby", Hippo is cut at 1 3/4".  I also cut out one of the grass bunches at each size.  The "pond" is cut at 2" as is the 'Happy Birthday' sentiment.  I embossed the 'Happy Birthday' using the Swiss Dots embossing folder.  The "pond" is embossed with the Divine Swirls embossing folder.  Since this was Coordinations cardstock, I sanded it to get some texture.

Have a nice evening.....



Edited to add details.....

NSD - My Pink Stamper Challenge #9

Challenge # 9 was titled "Take Shape".  For this challenge, you had to make a shaped card, shaped scrapbook page, or shaped project.

In keeping with the Birthday theme I used for Challenge # 8, I decided to cut a cupcake card from the Sweet Treats cartridge.  I cut the card using the Fit to Page feature....and ended up with a 6 1/2" cut.  I then used the 6 1/2" setting for the remaining cuts/layers on this card.  I used the Distressed Stripes embossing folder on the bottom of the cupcake and Divine Swirl embossing folder for the flower.  I also sanded both embossed pieces for a bit of distressed effect.

Well, sorry to say, I didn't get all 12 challenges completed.  I'll probably go ahead and give the remaining challenges a try during the week....I just won't be able to enter them in the Challenge for the prize drawing.

Thanks for playing along with me and checking in on all of my projects.  I hope you have a great week!

NSD - My Pink Stamper Challenge #8

I've made it to Challenge #8 - "Love My Color".  The purpose of this challenge was to make something monochromatic (which means only 1 color with a neutral color) and add a flower.  The color I chose for this challenge was pink - I used a couple different shades of pink.

For this card, I started with an A2 base out of pink cardstock.  I cut the 1st mat at 4 x 5 1/4" and embossed it with the Happy Birthday Cuttlebug folder.  I used Coordinations paper and then sanded the embossing to show the white core.  The next mat is cut at 3 x 3 1/2" and is embossed with the Script Cuttlebug folder.  Again, I used the same Coordinations paper and sanded the embossing.  I took a small strip of scrap paper in the same color and used an EK Success border punch for the scallop edge.  I adhered this at the top of my 2nd mat.  I then wrapped the ribbon along the seam to hide it.  Last, I added some Prima flowers and a beaded flower brad from K&Company.

Sorry for the poor picture quality.  My camera battery died and so I tried scanning the card....Due to the brad, I don't think it scanned very well.

NSD - My Pink Stamper Challenge #7

At long last, here is Challenge #7....only 5 more to go.  Not sure I'll fit them all in before bed tonight.  I won't have time to craft tomorrow as I have to go to work and then in the evening I have a dinner commitment for a friends birthday.  We'll see....I hope to at least get one or two more in tonight. :)

Challenge #7 was "Hey Dad" and the purpose of this challenge was to make something for a "Dad" or a guy in your life.  I quickly, and I mean quickly, put this card together.  I had to finish it quickly as I needed to start dinner.

For this card, I used an A2 size base and cut the tie at 2 1/2" from Designers Calendar and the "Dad's Day" at 2" from the same cartridge.  I  used an EK Success border punch at the bottom of the front.  Again, I tried to use some more of my gigantic mound of scrap paper.

Well, I'm off to make dinner...

NSD - My Pink Stamper Challenge #6

Hope you all are having a great Sunday.  My goal today is to try and finish up the NSD Challenges that Robyn, My Pink Stamper, had posted on her blog yesterday.  Below is the card I created for Challenge #6 - "Kids Craft, Too."  The idea was to make something with, or for, a child.  Since I do not have any children, I decided to make a birthday card for my nephew whose birthday is June 21.

I just recently bought the Robotz cartridge - the robots are too cute - and I thought it would be a good cartridge to use for my nephews.  The inspiration for this card actually came from the Robotz cartridge handbook.  This card is the project that is highlighted in the handbook - the primary difference between my card and the handbook card is the sentiment.  The handbook illustrates the card as an invitation ("Party Time") and I decided to turn it into a birthday card.

The size of the card is 6 x 6 and the Robot is cut at 5 1/2".  The wording is cut at 1".

I think it turned out really cute and I'm sure he will love it.  Have a great day.....

NSD - My Pink Stamper Challenge #5

Well, at long last, I finally got Challenge # 5 - "Teacher Appreciation Days" - ready to go.  This challenge had perfect timing for me as one of my co-workers asked me to make 2 Teacher Appreciation cards for her so she can give them to her son's teachers.  So, I used this challenge to make both cards.
 

For both cards, I used the Preserves Cartridge and cut the apples (and all layers) once at 2" and again at 2 1/2".  I used Apple #3 and Apple #4.  The apple paper is some that I got in a paper back from the $1 Spot at Target.  The "Thank You" sentiment is from the Sweet Occasions stamp set by My Pink Stamper.  I also used the Divine Swirls embossing folder on the green strip of paper on the one card.  I used my Inkadoo white gel pen to add some doodling around the edges of the flowers.

On the inside of the cards, I used a white mat so that my co-worker can write a nice note to her son's teachers and then added a flower on the corner.

Well, on that note, I think I'm off to bed.  Sadly I didn't manage to keep up with the challenges and get all 12 done....so I'll resume with Challenge #6 in the morning and try to finish up the remaining 7 challenges tomorrow.

Good night all.....

NSD - My Pink Stamper Challenge #4

The NSD Challenge #4 over at My Pink Stamper's blog is "I Like You the Least."  Want to guess what that challenge means???  The idea was to use your least favorite or least used cartridge.  This was another hard one for me as I have over 40 cartridges but due to work and other obligations I haven't really had a chance to use most of my cartridges...some I've only used once or twice and some I haven't used yet as they are still new and I haven't had a chance to play yet.  Today is definitely a good day to start. :-)


So, for this challenge, I decided to use Accent Essentials for 2 reasons: (1) I've never used the cartridge and (2) I never seem inspired by the cuts on the cartridge.  I kept my card pretty basic.

I started with an A2 size base in white.  Next I cut the DCWV paper at 3 3/4" x 5".  The strip of paper down the middle is cut at 1" x 5".  The flower is from page 77 of the Accent Essentials handbook and is cut at 3" using the shadow layer (white), base layer (yellow) and shift key (green).  I decided to run the flower through the Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots embossing folder before pop-dotting it onto the card.  Then I added a bit of ribbon and punched the tag using an EK Success punch.  The sentiment is from My Pink Stamper Sweet Occasions stamp set and is stamped in green ink using a Stampabilities ink pad.

Now, on to Challenge #5....

NSD - My Pink Stamper Challenge #3

So.....Challenge #3 was "Thinking Outside the Box". For this challenge, you are supposed to do something to your scrapbook layout, card, etc, that you wouldn't normally do. Hmmm....this got me thinking.....which of the many ideas that I've seen on the message boards and other blogs should I give a try since I am not too adventurous. :-)

The 1st thing that popped into my mind was to try a Gate-fold card. All of my cards are always the generic cards and open at the side/bottom to reveal the note. I thought the Gate-fold card idea would be neat to try since it opens in the middle to reveal the note inside.

This is an A2 size card. I took an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of white cardstock and cut it in half so I ended up with a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece of paper. I then scored and folded the card at 2 1/8" from the left and right edges....this left me with a 4 1/4" center piece and the 2 flaps which meet in the middle. I covered the base in the black & white striped paper. I used the Give a Hoot cartridge and cut the butterfly, it's layers, and the shadow at 2 1/2". Again, I used some scrap paper I had laying around. The sentiment is a little metal plaque that I got in a swap. I wanted to add some bling, so I added some little rhinestones to the butterfly and used Black Diamond Stickles on the antennae and the bottom of the butterfly.

I used pop-dots to adhere the left half of the butterfly to the left side of the card. This way you can use the butterfly almost like a tab to open the card.

So, what do you think? Are you participating in the challenges also? I better get a move on...Robyn has already posted #5 and #6 will be on it's way shortly and I'm just now finishing up #3. Wow....

NSD - My Pink Stamper Challenge #2

I'm a bit behind - Challenge #3 has already started and I'm just now finishing #2.  Challenge #2 over at My Pink Stamper's blog is "Just Scrappy".  The challenge was to use your scraps for a project.  Luckily for me....I have a TON of scraps just laying around.

For this card, I used a 5 x 7 card base in white.  Next, I used the Create A Critter cartridge to cut the turtle at 2 3/4" and all layers are cut at 2 3/4" also.  For the sprigs of grass, I used some random sizes.  I pop-dotted the turtle and grass sprigs for some dimension.  I used the Cuttlebug Diamond Plate folder on the turtle shell layers.

The stamp is from My Pink Stampers Sweet Occasions stamp set and is stamped in Chocolate Chip from Stampin' Up.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look.  Good thing the deadline for submissions is Monday....not sure I'm going to get all challenges done within the 12 hour block. :-)

NSD - My Pink Stamper Challenge #1

The 1st challenge over at My Pink Stamper for National Scrapbook Day is "Mother Dear, I Love You So."  The challenge is to make something special (card, layout, or other item) for your mom or someone dear to you.

Since I still needed to make my mom a Mother's Day card, this challenge was perfect!  I used the Create A Critter cartridge to make my card.  The koala and all of it's layers were cut at 3".  The sentiment was cut at 2".  I used mostly scrap papers for this challenge.

I also used the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder on the sentiment to add a little something and pop-dotted the koala to add some dimension.

Looks like this is going to be a busy day with lots of posts. :)  Hope you enjoy!  If you have some free time today, join in on the challenges over at My Pink Stamper.   It looks like it will be a blast!

Baby Shower Card

Hope everyone is having a great day!  Here is another quick card I made the other night.  I didn't do any crafting last night as hubby and I had a date night.  We went to dinner and the movies.  Ironically, we saw the movie "Date Night" while we were on our date night. :)  The movie was pretty funny.

Since today is National Scrapbook Day, I'm planning on doing some crafting.  I'll be joining in the fun at Robyn's (My Pink Stamper) blog and joining in on the challenges she has going on.  She will be holding challenges from 10 am to 10 pm - for a total of 12 challenges and 12 prizes.  If you have time, you should join in.  Alright, on to the card I made.....

My co-worker whom I made this card for is decorating the baby's room in pink and brown....so I figured I would do the card in pink and brown to match her theme. 

I started with an 8 1/2 x 11" piece of brown cardstock and cut it in half to get an A2 size card.  Then I cut a piece of pink cardstock (it has a white core) to fit the front but leave a slight border at the to and bottom.  I embossed it using the Cuttlebug Argyle Embossing folder. 

The baby carriage was cut using the Mother's Day seasonal, limited cartridge using both the regular and shadow cuts.

Next, I adhered a piece of ribbon to the bottom of the pink cardstock.  I also used my EK Success Scalloped Scallop Border Punch to add some detail to the bottom of the card.  Lastly, I added some stickles to the top 2 corners on the front of the card.

For the inside, I cut a piece of white cardstock to and used a stamp from the Cloud 9 Designs Simple Thoughts - Baby set for the sentiment.  The stamp was stamped using Stampin' Up Craft ink pad in Chocolate Chip. 

I just received my 1st Stampin' Up ink pads within the last week - I ordered Chocolate Chip and Whisper White.  This is the 1st project I made using my new ink pads....and I have to say I love these ink pads.  I will definitely need to buy some more.