Sunday, May 31, 2009

SCS Limited Supply Challenge #222


OK, so I have been thinking for awhile about making a kaleidoscope using patterned paper. My mom had made a baby quilt for my son using this technique, so I used that quilt for the inspiration. When the challenge was announced, I knew that this is what I had to do. The paper used here is from the 2008 DCWV Christmas Stack. HERE is the link to the challenge thread.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

FCTSC Card Sketch Challenge #6



Here is the card that I made for the Card Sketch challenge at From C to Shining C, you can find this challenge HERE. I used Papertrey Ink paper in Lemon Tart and Ripe Avocado. I also used PTI ribbon in Lemon Tart and Spring Moss. The plaid ribbon is from Michael's $1 bin. The marigold cut is a SVG file from SVGCuts.com. I cut this on my Cricut Expression using SCAL. I really liked how this turned out, and I think I will be using this Sketch as an outline in the future!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Fabric...what can I do with Fabric?


Well my mom is a quilter, and it drives her crazy that I can't seem to do anything with sewing. It's bad, and I mean bad. So anyways, a few years ago, she gave me a bag of her scraps to experiment with using fabric on cards. I hadn't done much with it, but in honor of her birthday I decided to give it a try. Since Cricut supposedly can cut fabric I thought I would give it a try. I had difficulty with plain one piece of fabric, and there was no way that I would be able to cut with the seams that are in this fabric scrap, so I had to come up with another idea. With the double stick fusible webbing on the back of the fabric, I used my Cricut markers and low pressure setting on the Cricut, and drew this butterfly on the back of the fabric, and then cut it out by hand. Not the best method, but at least I knew that it wouldn't ruin my blade. I also used the Versamark Dazzle ink pad and stamped butterflies all over the yellow (Lemon Tart from Papertrey Ink). I also used a Cuttlebug embossing border on the side, and decided that I liked the reverse side the best. I used my ribbon hole punch and tied some delicate pink ribbon into a bow to mirror the butterfly. Needless to say, my mom was impressed that I finally did something with fabric!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

SCAL Users....It is time to Rejoice!


I am in awe at this great find this morning! Click HERE to be directed to get this free dingbat font that looks amazing! I will be using this today, and can't wait to see what it looks like!

Monday, May 25, 2009

FCTSC Card Sketch Challenge #5



Here is the card that I made for this challenge (From C to Shining C). It is kind of hard to see in the picture, but I embossed the entire patterned paper in a holographic embossing powder that I got at Hobby Lobby. It really makes the card shimmer. I cut the star using my Coluzzle (still upset that it was discontinued) and the stamp on the star says Imagine and have a butterfly image. Very cute, now I just have to figure out who to give it to!!

FCTSC Color Challenge #5



Here is the card that I made for From C to Shining C's color challenge. The colors were brown, light blue, pink, and green. I was having difficulty with this one for some reason, still not sure why, so I decided to have some fun with my Cuttlebug! I used 4 different embossing folders on the card, I think the brown is Stylized Flowers, green is Swiss Dots, the pink is Bloom Dots?, and the blue is Distressed Stripes. The stamp on the pink is a little postmark that says Thinking of You, not sure where I got that one from. I actually really like how this turned out, I typically only use one embossing folder per card, so this was a change for me. It definately added a lot of interest!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Pop Up Treat Holder







This was so cute and fun to do. I saw a video tutorial on You Tube, check it out here, and I decided to recreate it. My son Jared just finished his first year of pre-school, so I decided to make these for his classmates. He loved them, kept calling it his "Dinosaur Candy". I used Fern cardstock from the Paper Company to go with the Green Croc Skin paper also from the Paper Company. I got both at Joann's. The dinosaur was cut from the Paper Doll Dress Up Cricut cartridge. I made 20 of these, and it only took about 2 hours. It was worth it to see the smile on my little boy's face!!!

Tri Fold Shutter Card




Here is my card for the Try a New Technique challenge at Splitcoast Stampers. I had a great time making this card. I decided on a Christmas card because I want to get a head start so I am not in a rush to get them done later. I used DCWV 2008 Christmas Stack for the patterned paper, and the sled, large snowflake, and the Winter phrase were cut on Cricut's Stretch Your Imagination cartridge (a great cartridge for the cardmaker!)

Beee-utiful Polka Doodles Challenge


Here is my card for the first Polka Doodles challenge. As you may have guessed by now, I like the clean and simple approach. When I first started cardmaking, I loaded up my cards with embellishments so much that it got to the point where it was overwhelming. I had to teach myself to keep things to a minimum. This sketch had a lot going on, so I didn't want to add anything extra to it. The bee was cut with the Pooh and Friends Cricut cartridge, the yellow side panel was embossed with the Cuttlebug Forest Branches embossing folder. The stamp set is an old Hero Arts set and I do not have the name of it. I purposely stamped the phrase crooked because I was trying to re-create the flight of a bee. I think this would make a great baby card, especially because it is gender specific. Now I just need one of my friends to get pregnant (hint hint Christina hint hint)!!

Graduation Card







My husband and I are going to a graduation party for the daughter of a co-worker. Neither of us knows her very well, so I had trouble deciding what I wanted to do. I decided to try to make a waterfall card, and it was not as complicated as I thought it would be. Robyn The Pink Stamper has a great video tutorial on how to do this card. The mortar board cut was from SVGCuts.com, and I used Sure Cuts A Lot to cut it on my Cricut. The patterned paper is actually from the 2008 DCWV Christmas Stack, and the pink is Raspberry Fizz from Papertrey Ink. Papertrey Ink has this Perfect Match system and the ribbon is Raspberry Fizz stitched ribbon, and it goes great with the patterned paper. It doesn't show in the picture, but the stripes in the pattern have a stitched edge to them. Very cute.

Color Challenge & Limited Supply Challenge


I actually combined two challenges from Splitcoast Stampers into one card. The Color Challenge was to use Orange, Red and Blue. The Limited Supply Challenge was Circles, with the restriction of only using 1 stamp set. I did not use any stamps on this card, but I did use two Cricut cartridges. The Oh Happy Day is from the Wild Card cartridge (if you are a cardmaker and don't have this cartridge, it is a MUST have!) and the lollipops are from the Mickey and Friends cartridge, it is the icon border on one of the Goofy buttons. To keep it simple, I just used one of my fine tip Bic markers to make the dots along the edge. Not a fan of the color combo, but sometimes that is what a challenge is all about, trying something you wouldn't ordinarily try!

Clean and Simple #15 Challenge


This is my creation for the Clean and Simple #15 Challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers. The challenge was to use Black, White, and 1 Bold Bright Color. It just goes to show that a card does not have to complicated, this one took less than 10 minutes to put together.

Teacher Appreciation Gifts




I made the notebook and candy tin that you see in the pictures above for my son's teachers. They really turned out so cute! The candy tin was pirchased from Papertrey Ink. I love their stuff! The candy inside are Hershey Nuggets, wrapped in patterned paper 1"x 3" each. The flowers were some that I had in my stash, not sure where they came from. The notebook is simply a composition notebook covered in patterned paper. I covered both sides of the cover using paper from DCWV Spring Stack. Then I took a 3" strip of coordinating cardstock and attached to the binding. The "F" was cut using the Cricut Doodletype cartridge. Lovin' my Bug!!! I can't take credit for these projects, I have seen them in numerous places online. They are quick and easy projects, and I think I am going to make up some extras to have on hand for when I need a quick gift!


Friday, May 22, 2009

Starting my Blog!

Hi all!

I have been scrapbooking and cardmaking for more than 10 years now, and I love it. I admit that I haven't done much in the last few years as I have been incredibly busy raising my two sons, Jared and Mason, as well as working in the family business. Recently, my husband and I converted a room in our house to be "Mommy and Daddy's Time Out Room". With this, I finally have a place to craft! Much easier than the kitchen table with the kids running around. I am going to work on getting some pictures and other info on here as soon as I can, so check back soon.