Congrats to the Mr and Mrs

It has been a LONG time since I posted.  Sorry.  Seriously, I have been working away in the background, but I have severely neglected this blog.  It seems I am a feast and famine blogger.  :)  My husband has a cousin that is getting married today.  This is the card that I made for them.

I really loved creating this little card.  For me this is WAY out of my "box".  I made the scalloped card on my Gypsy and cut it out with my Cricut.  On the inside, it read "Congratulations to the Bride and Groom."  Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of it before it was signed and sealed.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope this is the start of many more posts to come.  No more dry posting spells.  :)

Supplies - All Papertrey Ink unless noted:
Stamps: Tag Its, Love Tags, Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: True Black
Paper: True Black, Stampers Select White
Other: White Glitter (Doodlebug); 1/2 inch Score-Tape; 1.75 inch Circle Punch (EK Success)

Just Moved

Ok, I totally did not or have not moved.  Well, I moved 4 years ago.  I just made this for a friend.  I wanted to share as it is made with tons of stuff from my Cricut.  I hope you are having a great week.  We went to see "Shrek the Musical" last night and had a ball.  Otherwise, we are gearing up for the holiday weekend here in the States.


-All Papertrey Ink unless noted-
Paper: Aqua Mist, Smokey Shadow, Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise
Ink: Fresh Snow
Stamps: Up, Up, and Away
Die Cuts: Platin School, Gypsy Font, DoodleType (Cricut by Provocraft)

Teacher - You mean the world to me

Welcome to one of my very first shaped cards.  I made a shaped card about 2 years ago, which was my first.  I don't typically do these, but when the Create blog challenged us to do a star shaped card I pulled out my Gypsy and began creating.  I learned a lot!!  It wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it would be.  Maybe I will venture into them more often.  Also, I need to finish my teacher cards.  Yes, they are not done, and we started Thursday.  :)  Only 3 more!!!



Stamps: Make the Grade (Taylored Expressions)
Paper: from the Key Ingredients Kit (Taylored Expressions)
Flower: Kaiser Kraft
Other: Dark Chocolate Ink, Pure Poppy Button, Chocolate Bakers Twine (Papertrey Ink)
Die Cuts: All stars cut from George Cartridge on my Cricut

Happy Birthday

I made a card for Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #125.  I always admire all of Taylor's cards and never took the chance to play along.  This was a fun sketch and I had a blast making this card.

Thanks for looking!



Stamps: Beautiful Blooms II (Papertrey Ink), Wishful Elegance (Verve)
Paper: Spring Moss, Vintage Cream, Kraft (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Spring Moss, Tea Dye Duo, Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink)
Die Cuts: Beautiful Blooms Dies (Papertrey Ink), Circles and scallop square (George and Gypsy Wanderings cut with my Cricut)
Other: Woodgrain Impression Plate (Papertrey Ink), Rustic Twine (Papertrey Ink), Copics
Sketch: TESC #125

Guess Who Loves You?

I am sharing a fun card that I instantly fell in love with.  No pun intended.  I think I like it because it isn't too girlie so any guy would be ok receiving it.  Thanks for looking!!




Stamps: Owl Digital Stamp by Brian Lock (The Digi Shack), Clouds from Up Up and Away (PTI), Swirl (PTI), Sentiment from Tiny Treats: Valentine (PTI)
Ink: Fresh Snow, Dark Chocolate (PTI)
Other: Branch from Serenade Cart (Cricut), Kraft Paper (PTI), Brown Paper (Bazzil), Copics

With Gratitude

 I hope everyone is doing well.  I am having a ball in NYC.  Thanks for looking!



Stamps: Round and Round (PTI)
Die Cuts: Serenade (Cricut), 1.75 Circle Punch (EK Success)
Paper: Green (Cosmo Cricket), Brown (Bazill), Stampers Select White, Aqua Mist (PTI)
Ink: Fresh Snow, Dark Chocolate, Tea Dye Due (PTI)

Life

Thanks for looking today!  I am traveling to NYC.



Stamps: Life (PTI)
Die Cuts: Serenade (Circut)
Paper: Spring Rain (PTI), White Tissue Paper (inked with Tim Holtz Distress Ink)
Ink: Spring Rain, Fresh Snow (PTI), Tim Holtz Distress Ink
Other: String (DMC Floss), Swing (Re-purposed chipboard), Brown Felt (Hobby Lobby)

Be Fabulous

I am going to be in NYC for a week starting tomorrow.  So, if the blog-o gets a little stale, I am sorry.  I had good intentions to make up some cards and post some scheduled posts.  I am running out of time and do not know if I will get them up in time.  Ekkk!!  Let's just say that we don't have all the details final yet.  Double Yikes!!!!    Thanks for looking!  I will see you on the flip side!




Stamps: Polka Dot Basics (PTI)
Die Cuts: Gypsy Wanderings (Cricut), Scallop Border (PTI)
Paper: Pink Leopard (wall paper sample book that was given to me), Dark Pink (MME)
Other: Black Felt (PTI), Tiny Pink Flower (MM), Jewels (dollar store), Copics

ScrapbookPal Design Team Entry

Papertey Blog Hop - March 2010

Thank you for stopping by today.  I am participating in the Papertrey blog hop.  How fun!!  This month we were supposed to do something with buttons.  Oh my!  I am not a button person.  I cannot remember the last time I put more than one button on a project.  Ekk!  I pushed and pushed my creativity until I came up with this card.




This was such a fun card to put together.  The original inspiration came from a technique form Betsy Veldman.  She gave some great tips for dies.  She said to cover one in buttons.  When I read it, a light bulb went off.  I could surely cover a die cut in buttons, right?  Well, as it went together, the buttons on the die looked somewhat silly.  I scratched the card, but resumed when new inspiration hit.  Yeah!!  I love it when that happens!  :)  As it turns out, I was going to emboss the sentiment with white, but that darn quality ink from Papertrey REALLY shows up on kraft card stock.  So . . . I dug around and found this red.  This might be my first successful embossing - ever.  I love the look of the white embossed and have wanted to try it for a while.  Let me tell you that this red makes me want to do lots more embossing.

Stamps: Polka Dot Basics (PTI), Flowers ($1 stamps), Grass (Autumn Leaves), Birthday Wishes (SillyLeAnn 1.0 - yes, I make my own stamps)
Paper: Stampers Select White, Kraft, New Leaf (PTI)
Ink: Fresh Snow, Pure Poppy, New Leaf (PTI)
Die Cut: Serenade Cartridge (Cricut)
Ribbon: Hobby Lobby
Buttons: My Minds Eye
Embossing Powder: Pure Red (Ranger)
Floss: White DMC Floss

Filled with Blessings

We are going to a Marriage Conference at our church this weekend.  Yeah!  My husband is off so I will most likely not be around AT ALL!  Today's share is a set of cards I made for our guest speakers at the conference.  The couple coming to talk is a husband and wife missionary team.  She is just adorable, so I wanted to make her something unique that she probably doesn't get everywhere.


Credits:  Stamps - Papertrey Ink from the Autumn Tags 2009 set and the Fall Elegance Set; Pattern Paper - My Minds Eye; Bucket Die Cut - Cricut from the Doodlecharms Cart; Brown and Kraft Paper - Papertrey Ink in Dark Chocolate and Kraft; Flower Punch - EK Success; Jewels - Dollar Tree; Brown Ink - Papertrey Ink's Dark Chocolate; Orange - Tangerine Chalk Ink

Cutting with SCAL and my Cricut

Welcome to Cricut Monday!!

I have tried to share something that I have made with my Cricut each Monday.  It doesn't always happen, but I try.  :)


Today's card is a hybrid of sorts.  I made a tree with flowers and decided to use prima's instead of cutting flowers.  I really like how this turned out.  I hope you enjoy!
Credits:  Tree Cut - my design; Sky Paper - Cosmo Cricket; Tree Paper - my digital paper; Flowers - prima; Jewels - dollar store; Bible Verse Stamp - Everyday Blessings from Papertrey Ink

Digital Cutting and Puchasing Shapes to Cut

I know there is a lot of debate over which is the best cutter out there.  I am certain that there are pro's and con's about every machine.  You really need to find those and figure out which one most meets your need.  I personally purchased a cricut.  I am by no means touting that it is the best machine, but simply the best machine for me. 

Reasons I love my cricut:

• It is compact, easy to store, easy to get out, and easy to put away.
• I can find blades, mats, etc. at many local stores (Wal-Mart and Hobby Lobby are both within 2 miles from my house).
• I can use it with my computer (go to http://www.craftedge.com/ to find out more) to cut any true type font I own.
• I can design any shape I want to cut and cut it on the computer.
• I can get wonderful cartridges that have such cute graphics on them.  (watch online - many online stores get very competitive with pricing and you can pick them up for much cheaper than the regular price).
• I can take it anywhere that I have power and still use it.
• I am able to cut with my computer, but not bound to it.
• I can do cart swaps with my friends.  If I want to use a cartridge that I don't have but a friend does, we trade carts for a few days.  You cannot trade, share, or swap digital files though, only the physical cartridges.

Here is my write plate decorated for the fall using vinyl, my cricut, and SCAL.


For my plate I used a design by Tay that can be purchased at http://www.peppermintcreative.com/.  It is easy and fun to get pre-made designs.  It takes a lot of the guess work out of a project.  Tay gives good instructions with her downloadable "Vectors for Vinyl Cutting Machines" (a fancy way to say a pre-made file that you can import into SCAL and cut)  There are tons of shapes, decorations, die cut images, and such to fill your day with cutting.  You can use them for all types of things: cards, scrapbook pages, home decor, paper crafts, just to name a few.
Credits:  Graphics - Tay's Pumpkin Patch Commercial Vectors for Vinyl Cutting Machines available at Peppermint Creative; Vinyl - Expressions Vinyl

Look at this Cutie

I adore this wooden tree.  I picked this up at JoAnn's on clearance for $1.  I painted it, and it sits on my mantle at various seasons and times in the year.  Here is the tree adorned with adorable hearts.


Credits:  Patterned Paper is My Minds Eye, Hearts were cut with my Cricut using the George and Doodlecharms Cart's

Down but Not Completely Out

I had my wisdom teeth out this week, but I still wanted to share my
newest Cricut Creation using SCAL. I used SCAL and two different fonts
to make a gorgeous Scripture to go under my newest find. I saw this
cross from across the store and immediately knew I had to have it. I
have been wanting a scripture in our living room for a while and was
pleased with the outcome. So pardon my "hopped up on pain meds" post.
I hope you enjoy what will probably be my only share this week.

Sent from my iPhone

Die Cut Set

HAPPY CRICUT MONDAY - on Tuesday!
I have tried something new.  I made a set of baby die cuts and little embellishments.  I love playing with graphics and SCAL - and then cutting with the Cricut.  This was a creation using a combination of SCAL and my own graphics program.  The Baby Girl is a font.  I added the shadding as I didn't like the shadow look that is included with SCAL for this particular font.  I designed the flower shape, the pieced rattle, and freehanded the onesie.  The flowers and rattle I embellished with glitter, pens, dootles, etc.  I added a touch of sparkle to the Baby Girl.  The onsie is chalked with a touch of sparkle as well.


Sorry about the photo.  No matter what I tried, I couldn't get the sparkle to look as gorgeous as it does in real life.  I didn't try to hard.  Maybe someday I will re-shoot one.

Happy Cricut Monday!

Here is my latest Cricut creation. I haven't shared a Cricut creation in a while and thought I would showcase a simple, quick, yet totally cute card. If you are in a crunch, find a mild pattern for a back drop. Cut a simple sentiment is a bold color. Done! It is as easy as that. You can add a touch of embellishment, too, if you wish. I added a small jewel on the dot of the i.

Credits: Paper - My Minds Eye, Die Cut - Congratulations from the "New Arrival" cartridge, Jewel - dollar store

My First Vinyl Cut

I saw something similar in some pictures that I was looking at for ideas. They put something like this on their wall and lifted the idea - more or less. I used some random fonts and cut it with SCAL using my Cricut. This was my first vinyl cut with my Cricut. It was AWESOME! I will be doing more. It went on easy-peasy. I have some suggestions to you, though. You will need some sort of transfer medium. I used delicate surface masking tape for this one. I like cutting all the way through the vinyl. Then, I arrange it onto the masking tape. I pull off the vinyl backing and put it on the wall, masking tape and all. Then gently pull the masking tape off of the vinyl letters and it is in place. I put this one in the play room. My son is posing by it climbing on top of the slide.

Edit: I have no idea why this photo is so blurry. I took a quick closeup for you.

Laundry Room

We moved into our house about 3 years ago. I have been moving at a snails pace getting it decorated, painted, etc. I have always wanted to do "something" with the Laundry Room. I love having a dedicated space - as opposed to our walk through laundry room at our old house. So, I made this to spruce up the walls. I haven't painted or anything else, but this helps a little.

I used a frame that I had at the old house and haven't been able to repurpose here. I used digital papers as the mat - I printed them and then used them. The letters are also digital papers that I printed and then cut with my cricut - I used a font on my computer with SCAL. I added a few embellishments to the letters and then adhered them to the page. I drew some clothes in a graphics program and filled them with digital papers as well. I printed them on card stock and then hand cut them. I attached them to the ribbon with staples. Many people say I should have used tiny clothes pins, but I didn't want them to fall off. I also thought the clothes pins would clutter it up so to speak.



Credits: Papers - Laura Burger (Boone Hall), Clothes - drawn by me, Ribbon - from stock, Flowers - from a Scrapbook kit purchased at Sam's Club

Zoo Page Border

I did another swap. It was a zoo themed swap, and I had page borders. This was a very good swap as all the items I received were excellent. I was extremely impressed with everything. I don't really know why I keep participating in swaps. I don't paper scrapbook anymore. It is just so much fun coming up with something that I hope will bless all the participants. This border was such a fun project. It came together so easy from beginning to end.

I had a vision for this almost immediately. This was one of those projects that came out very close to conceptalization.

Credits: Paper - Bazzill Cardstock, Animal Die Cuts - Cuttlebug, Tree Die Cut - Cricut from the Paper Dolls Cart, At the Zoo Letters - Cricut from the Doodletype Font, I chalked the animals, hand tore the ground, and hand cut the grass.

Thanks for Looking!!

Fun Card for a Friend

I want to share with you a really fun card that I made. I thought this could work for so many things: birthday, thank you, thinking of you, etc. I love this sassy lady and plan to use her again. I cut it from my cricut and it cuts with a prego belly. I altered it a bit so it could be used for more occasions.

Credits: Paper - Paper Studio and Bazzil, Die Cut - Cricut from the "New Arrival" cart