It's Cricut Monday

I really am going to try to add a Cricut project every Monday. I have just loved owning my bug. It is such a great tool that I know will grow more valuable in time. I am late posting because my project today is somewhat comprehensive and took a little longer than usual to make.

I made a baby mini album as a gift for a friend's upcoming baby. She is of course having a boy. I thought this would make a cute announcement type mini album. I am going to put his name on the front. Inside is room for photo and I stamped places to fill in date, weight, and length.


Contents: Paper - Paper Studio and Heidi Grace; Ribbon - from my stock the polka dots is American Crafts; Flowers - prima; Bling flower - Paper Studio; Baby Bottle - cut using my Cricut (Doodle Charms Cartridge); Album made with card stock cut with my Cricut using the Design Studio and George Cartridge

I hope she enjoys this as I hope you do to. Thanks for looking!

New Favorite Color Combo

I was looking through my paper and realized that green and orange is one of my favorite color combinations. So, I quickly went to work putting together a needed Happy Birthday card. Simple, yet fun!


Contents: Paper - MME; Ribbon - The Paper Studio; Flower - Paper Studio; Button - from my stock; Stamp - Michael's $1 Stamp; Stamp colored with Copics; Glitter - Sugar Glitter by Doodlebug Designs

As I am typing this, I have realized that another new favorite of mine is glitter. I love to use it in small or unsuspecting ways. Of course, the trick is to always go back and seal your glitter to keep it into place.

Celebrate Friends

I am to the point where I could really use some new/fresh stamps. I have looked and looked. There are so many options, but nothing is sparking me. So, I am on a quest to find something fun and fresh. Any thoughts?

Here is another creation with the rub-ons. I used just the corners here. Much fun!


Contents: Paper - MME; Rub-ons - Cloud 9; Flowers - Prima; Transparency Saying - JoAnn's

Thanks for looking! All comments are always appreciated. :)

Love . . . expressed in Rub-ons

I am blessed to have the most wonderful husband. He is such a romantic. It is so much fun to make love cards. Sadly, these are the cards that sell the least. But, I still have to throw one in every now and then.



Contents: Paper - MME and Paper Sudio; Stamp - Michael's $1 Stamp; Ribbon - generic; Rub-ons - Cloud 9 Design

This is the first time I have ever used rub-ons. I must say that it was a wonderful experience. I get all the hype about them. They were super easy and really added such a cute and sparkly accent to the card. I will definately be dabbling in them more.

Snowflake Anniversary Card

This "Happy Anniversary" card turned out so cute. I made it for my in-laws whose anniversary is on the 31st.


Contents: Plain Cardstock; Snowflake Stamp - Michael's $1 stamp; Anniversary Stamp - unknown; Glitter - Sugar by Doodlebug Designs




I have been very ill throughout December. It has been crazy. However, I do plan to restart my Cricut Monday's and adding more projects.

Enjoy! Thanks for looking!

Baby Girl

I seem to make and sell more baby cards than any other type of card (well, wedding runs a close 2nd place). Here is another baby girl card - quick but cute!

Paper - Bazzil and Paper Studio; Flower - Bazzil; Brad - Paper Studio; Embossing - Cuttlebug; Stamp - Technique Tuesday

My Favorite Christmas Card

I just completed my very favorite Christmas card that I have made of all time. It is a fun card with a new twist on an old idea. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Merry Christmas!


Credits: Pattern Paper - Cloud 9 Design; Santa Shape - Cricut from the Doodlecharms Cart; Cardstock - Bazzil; Buttons - generic; brads - Paper Studio; Nose Colored with colored pencils

Fun and really not too difficult once you get passed the Santa!

Basic Cricut Card - George Cartridge

I have really been enjoying my new Cricut. I am hoping to have some time to really get some projects done with it. So far, I have pretty much only done basic things with it. I think it will come with time and patience (and a few more cards).

Card Details: Paper - My Minds Eye and Bazzil; "Thanks" cut with my George Cart; Ribbon - generic

Thanks for looking! I am going to try to post a "Cricut Creation" on every Monday. I'm sure I will miss a few here and there, but that is my goal. :)

Digi Scrapping Highlight

I have really enjoyed being on the Creative Teams for several designers. This is a really fun and creative outlet for me. I am not certain low long I will continue or if I will ever go back to designing. But, I am going to enjoy this for now. Here is a layout I made using Doreen Stolz's Smells Like Autumn digital kit.



Thanks for looking!

Baby Boy Card

Here is a baby boy card that I used 3 different stamps on. This is such a quick, fun yet very cute card.

Stamps used: Swirl - Autumn Leaves, Quote - Michael's, Welcome Baby - Technique Tuesday

Other: Solid Paper - Bazzil; Dotted Paper - The Paper Studio; Ink - Walnut by Stampabilities

Early Christmas Present

I was so excited that I got an early Christmas and Birthday present rolled into one. My birthday being on December 21st finally has its advantages. :) I am now the proud owner of a new CRICUT!! I couldn't be more excited. I really didn't think I would ever really need or want one. However, my mom kept insisting (yeah, she really had to twist my arm) that I watch the cricut infomercial. For the first time, I could really see the benefits of this tool for me. So, I waited until the insane sales on Black Friday and was able to get one. Yeah!

So, I am going to add to my creative line up my cricut creations. Hey that is a cool name! My very first project made 100% with the cricut is a topper or title strip thing.


The inspiration to make a pumpkin hit. I know it is a little behind the season, but I am sure there are a few of us that have not scrapped our pumpkin patch photos. :) This was so much fun to think of. I can't wait to share more in the future.

As always, thanks for looking!

Better Photos

I have been somewhat disgruntled about the images of my cards. After MUCH trial and error, I think I have found a decent solution. Here is my Thank You card that I made a little while back. The photo really didn't do the card justice. So, I reshot it. What do you think?

Here is a link to the original: Click Here

It's a Boy

It is official. Some of our best friends are due in late February. It's a boy. We are so excited because it is their first child. :) I made this card for her just form me. They are contemplating another cross country move and I thought she needed a little encouragement.

Credits: All papers are the Paper Studio; Stamps - Michael's $; Inks are generic black; colored with Copic Sketch markers

Oh, How I wish I could do it all!

Yes, that is me! I am the one who tries to do it ALL. I was just looking through all the pictures of my cards. Let me tell you how disappointing it is to realize that I haven't been taking pictures of my most recent things. I made over 30 cards last month and cannot account for a single one. I knew I was letting some go without photos, but I didn't realize I let them all go. Sigh!!

Anyway, here is another wedding card I made in the black and white swirls. Again, another fun and easy card. Enjoy!

Credits: Autumn Leaves Swirl Stamps, Congrats Stamp - JoAnn's; Black Brad - Paper Studio; Ribbon - Fabric Dept

My All Time Favorite Cake

I know I haven't posted as much of my scrapbooking as I would like to. I am going to try to keep up my posts with all my projects. :) This is a fun page showing my all time favorite cake. It has lots of stamping (my favorite) and lots of swirls (my second love). I chose to cover up the journaling with some decorated vellum to keep it from distracting from my overall design.

Credits: Paper - MME; Flowers - Prima; Brads - The Paper Studio; Both cake stamps (Michael's $1); Swirl Stamps - Autumn Leaves; Beaded element - mine

Hitting My Stride

I am back to stamping for a few days. (maybe, we'll see) I have been busy with my current design teams for the past week or so. I have had some pretty fun things to do though, so I am definately not complaining. I really like the variety in my crafting adventure. I don't really feel as if I ever get bored doing something. Mostly, if I am losing my creativity with something, then I can pick up in a little different flavor and recharge. I feel as if I am finally hitting my stride. I am past all the learning curves and trial and errors. I really believe that I know what my style is and enjoy it. No more trying this or that (hey, I am talking style, not technique). It is a good place to be and a long time coming.

Here is one of the cards I came up with this evening. I just thought it turned out so adorable. It is a Thank You card that is definately girlie!

This is an A2 card on a white base. I cut the pink paper (unknown) on the side with a scallop. I then attached the pink flower paper and the pink paisily paper (The Paper Studio). I glued the ribbon on over the seam. I stamped and watercolored the girl image (Me and My Big Ideas) and attached. The "thanks" stamp (Michael's $1) was also watercolored but attached with pop dots. I tied a bow and attached at an angle.

Thanks for looking! Until next time...

To Redo or Not to Redo . . .

. . . that is the question! I have really had a hard time with this. I have several scrapbook pages that make me cringe when I look at them. The scrapbooker in me says that I cannot let go of these awful pages. However, the artist in me says that they have to go. In the end, we need to do what will make us feel good about our books. For me that will be to take it page by page. I do not plan or intend to ever completely redo all past pages. However, when the inspiration hits me, I will redo a single page or double page spread here and there.


Here is a double page spread from photos a little over 2 years ago. I never really captured the memory of what we did properly. This 2 pager really gives me insight into the memory I want to carry forward.

Notes: This is my first ever digital 2 page spread (or at least that I can recall). The elements and paper are from Theresa Borntreger's Zoo Bound kit found at GDS. If you need to do some zoo pages, I highly recommend this kit. It is so fun!

Hybrid Brag Book

I made a fun little project this weekend for my DH's birthday. It is a small 4x6 bragbook. This was super easy to do. I made the little layouts digitally and quickly with the templates from Amy Fenner's template set. I printed, cut and glued them to cardstock. I punched a hole in the corner and secured with a binder ring. I then went back and embellished each page. Simple, quick, easy, and fun!


Here are some closeups of some of the pages:







Credits: Amy Fenner's "You're A Star Brag Book Template Set" - found at GDS; Amy Fenner's "Grunge Princess" - found at GDS;
Overview Layout was made using a Template by Amy Fenner found as a freebie on her blog

My First 6x6 Accordion Album

I finally broke out! I made a 100% paper project. I made, from scratch, my very own 6x6 accordion album. This was such a fun project for me. I wanted to make something special for my DH as yesterday was our 11th Anniversary of our very first date. So, I wrote a little poem and made a mini-about us album. I put a line of the poem on each page. Then I went back and found some older pictures of us. I printed in black and white with a slight sepia tone (hard to see in the photos) As for the individual page designs, I treated each "v" section like a double page spread with the exception of the font and back covers.



Credits: Pattern Papers - MME from the Bohemia collection; Stamps - Technique Tuesday, Autumn Leaves, Michael's $1 stamp, and MySentimentsExactly; Flowers - Bazzil; Ribbon - Various from sewing departments; Other items used - Cuttlebug Alphas and shapes, Scalloped Circle punch, Scalloped Square punch, inks, fiskars templates, scallop sissors, mini star punch, and black gel pen

Thanks for looking! This was one of my favorite things to put together in a long time!

Summer Fun

Okay, I just did a very fun digital layout. I have been bouncing so much between the two that it was nice to do something totally digi for a change. :) And, I did it start to finish! Yeah! So, without further ado, here is my layout, Summer Fun.



Credits: Digital Kit - Theresa Borntreger (godigitalscrapbooking.com); Grass Brush - mine; Font - MaryDale; Photo - I think my sister might have actually taken this photo :)

New, Easy to Use Links

I have been working on updating my blog a bit with fresh info and easier navigation. Take note of the easy to use links just to the left. You can quickly find what you are looking for now. For instance, if you want to look at just all the cards I have posted, click on "Cards". It will go and get all the posts that I have flagged as a card post. Some of you only come for just my cards, just my digital layouts, or just my scrapbook pages. Now you can get to exactly what you came for.

YEAH!

I am going to keep moving things around and adjusting over the next week. We'll see if there is anything new in store! :)

A "Stamp & Scrap" Happy Birthday

As many of you know my daughter's 1st birthday was this past weekend. We had a great celebration to honor her 1st year of life. I worked hard to get everything prepared to make it a spectacular event. I cooked chicken and rice in a mushroom sauce . . . I made the works. I thought I would share the photos I actually took of all the decorations. I hope you will find inspiration in all the hard work I did. I am a tad sad because I didn't get pictures of everything, but I tried.

You could pretty much call it a "ScrapArtist" birthday because most of the papers came from their In Vogue kit. I found that kit to have some of the most inspiring and gorgeous papers. I also did a lot of stamping on many of the items with the cupcake stamp. Other products used: Basic Grey Papers, MissMint Papers, Michael's $1 cupcake stamp, Michelle Coleman digital elements, ScrapArtist flower templates, and tons of decorative and patterned ribbon.

My inspiration all started with this banner. I conceived the idea to do a large banner but wanted something that I could reuse next year. LOL!

This is the serving set for cake and ice cream.

This is the front of the invite. It was made with MissMint patterned papers; I thought they went so well with the other papers. I actually printed them to cut and adhere directly to the card. No extra cutting or gluing. I added the cuttlebugged swirls kraft paper to the top. This isn't the correct card. I actually put swirls on the background of the white paper with the cupcake. Sigh. . .

This is the hat that I made especially for the birthday girl!

These stand up cards were used to mark the food at the serving line.

I made this banner to be interactive and changeable with each year. Each tile has a letter of her name on it included with the embellishments. I used photo corners to attach the photos. I will pull out the photos and use different ones next year.

This is a random deocration on the mantle. I just decorated the existing candles.


Last, is a slightly altered picture frame. I just put a touch of color and fun on this frame.

It's a Girl

Here is the companion to the previous boy card. The credits are the very same.

I just think that these turned out so cute. I know everyone who bought them just loved them. I hope you have enjoyed the week. I will most likely not post until Monday, but you never know. :)

Yes, I still DigiScrap

I am still scrapping digitally. I never really stopped; I just took a slow down sabbatical. I am actually designing again, just not full time nor at any store. I am making things for myself. ;) I will share from time to time. I am also on Andrea Gold's CT. That has been fun. I enjoy the creating process again. I am also at DigiScrapShak as a LifeGuard. That has been tons of fun. It is definately a new community for me. Although I don't think I have found a "digiscrap home", I have enjoyed the stay.

Here is one of my more recent layouts:


I love the blended picture in the background layouts that I have seen lately. This is my very first attempt. I have to say I am not 100% there yet, but with practice I'll get it right.

Credits: Paper - E. Fern; Photo Corner and Swirl - Gina Cabrerra; Flower - Michelle Coleman; Buttons - Rhonna Penner, Andrea Gold, and Doreen Stolz; Alpha - Shabby Princess; Bracket Stamps - Amy Teets; Fonts - Honey Script and Roxburry XT2

It's a Boy

Okay, I have 2 friends and we have all had kids pretty much about the same time. Literally just weeks and in one case a few months apart. They are BOTH pregnant again. No, not me this time. :) In light of thinking about the new upcoming joys in life, here is a baby boy card. Although, they both have 2 girls. I will post the girl look alike tomorrow.


Credits: Paper - Paper Studio; Ribbon - WalMart; Stamps - Studio G; Other items used - Scalloped Circle Punch, Colored Pencils, Walnut Stampabilities Ink, White Jouraling Gel Pen, and Fiskars Shape Cutter.

Original Wedding Swirl Card

This is the card that inspired the previously posted purple wedding card. I had made a reference to it, so I thought I would post it.

Contents: White Cardstock; Swirl Stamps - Autumn Leaves; Flower Stamps - Technique Tuesday; Blue Middles are pen doodles; Baby Blue Sheer Ribbon - unknown; Now and Forever Stamp - Michael's $1; inspiration - inspired from another card (when I run across it again, I will post here.)

Thanks for looking!

Wedding Wonder

I was making some wedding cards with fun swirls on them. This card hit me in pieces. It was a total blast designing it.


What I did: I cuttlebugged the white background then chalked it with purple then disstressed the edges with violet dust ink; I punched out the purple circle scallop and doodled on it in white; I hand drew a dress from and cut from white cardstock; I tied a bow around the waist with Hobby Lobby ribbon; I glittered the bottom of the wedding dress; I attached a sheer dot lavendar ribbon from Wal-Mart; I stamped white flowers ($1 Michael's stamp) and attached with purple brads from JoAnn's; I stamped the "Now and Forever" ($1 Michael's stamp) and chalked the edges; it was attached with pop dots

Lively is Ready to Roll

Finally, I have finished getting it all together! I made a small kit for a color challenge and thought I would share it. I really loved the colors and if time permitted I was going to add some more elements to it. Obviously, time got away from me, but I'll still share anyway. :)

I didn't make a preview, but here is a layout that I did with the kit:


All of the papers are used in this layout. You can get it here! Just remember to not share links. Please send them to my blog to download. I will keep it up until the end of August. Enjoy!

Father's Day Card

I know this is a tad late, but you can tell from my gap in posts that I have been busy. Here is a Father's Day card that I made. I made several and forgot to share. I will try to put up another tomorrow. Enjoy!

I love how this came out. Contents: Paper - unknown; ribbon - Hobby Lobby, Eyelets - from Gina K.;Alpha stamps - My Sentiments Exactly (upper case) and Stampabilities (lower case)

More Happy Birthday Cards

We traveled this weekend, so these are some cards I did a few weeks back that I never took the chance to share. Also, attention Digital Scrapbookers, I made a little mini kit for a color challenge at godigitalscrapbooking.com. I am going to get it ready and share it with everyone. Yeah!

Credits: Paper - MME; Prima Flower; Queen and Co. Brad;
Ribbon - Basic Grey; Stamp - Michael's $1 stamp colored with pencils
















Credits: Paper - Basic Grey; Prima Flowers; Stamp - unknown

I had an awesome experience . . .

... purchasing from Gina K. Designs. I cannot say enough about the service. I was fortunate to catch the scallops in stock. I goofed up my order and ended up making duplicates. I was shocked that Gina called me to help me straighten it all out. That impressed me so much. It is always exciting when you do business with someone whose heart is really in what they do. So, a big thanks to Gina K. You can read her blog here. I read it pretty much daily. You should also check out her awesome stamp collections. I will be making an order soon! You can shop at her store, here. Look for the "Shop Here" button. You won't be dissappionted!

I thought I would share a couple of birthday cards that I made recently.



Credits: Paper - MME; Stamps - Michael's $1 stamps

I colored the images with water color pencils.










Credits: Paper - MME; Stamps - Michael's $1 Stamps

I colored the same as above.


This card is my favorite of the two. I love the blend of colors.







Thanks for looking!!

Making More Cards

I am back to making cards. Well, I have several to make in the next day or two. Keep watching. I will try to post as many as I can.

I needed to make some more masculine cards. I love this congratulations card came out. It is so elegant, well to me anyway.

Credits: Paper - MME; Brads - Queen and Co; Ribbon - American Crafts; Stamp - JoAnn's

From the Rising of the Sun...to the Going Down of the Same

This is another page of favorites. This page features what I like about sunrises and sunsets. I really enjoyed making this page.












Contents: Smooth Cardstock; Prima Flowers; Vellum Printed with Abermale and Mahogany fonts, Cuttlebug Alpha - Fancy Pants; Stamps - Autumn Leaves

The photo is one we took from our back fence.

I hope you enjoy!

Expecting . . .

. . . no, not me! But I did make a fun pregnancy card I wanted to share with you.

Credits: Papers by MME; Prima Flowers; Queen and Co Brads; Michael's $1 stamps













I have been so spurratic in posting. It seems just as everything dies down and I get back to posting that things pick up again. We have more orders to fullfill soon, so I will be crafting in the background once more. However, I will try to update my blog regularly. (notice I didn't say daily)

Next Page Complete

I finished up page 11. This is the second page of a two page spread continued from yesterday. I thought I would get it posted so that they would stay together. See May 14th post for credits.

Year-by-Year

I am really trying to catch up on my kids year-by-year books. The idea is that for every year of their life, I would create a professionally printed and bound book highlighting their year. These books are only 20 pages long but trust me more work than meets the eye. I try to hit highlights only and use less than 50 pictures for an entire year. Also, because these are meant to be coherant books and not just scrap books, I keep theme and colors consistent throughout. I haven't worked on these since before my daughter was born. So, hopefully, you will get to see several pages coming through soon. :) That would mean that I am making progress.

I finished page 10 this morning. Page 11 is predominately done but needs some touch ups. The papers are from the P4D BCA 2.0 release about 2 years ago. I will have to do some digging to remember the exact artists. The alpha is from that kit too by Meredith Fenwick. The flowers are from the Digital Diva Design May 2007 monthly mega kit - "May Morning" (I changed the colors). The ribbon is mine.

Note: This would be Oct 2005. (Yes, I know a tad behind)