Thursday, March 31, 2011

Engagement Card

Tonight I am posting a card I made for a cute couple at work that just got engaged.  I made them a little card to congratulate them :)  I do know they will both appreciate the little note.  I pulled out a neglected cartridge and used that for this card-- I do love pulling out my least used carts and making some very fun cards with them.  I also used the tiny key tag punch from SU on this card-- that punch is so fun.  I hope you enjoy my simple card for the night :)  I wish I was better able to capture the fun paper I used for the diamond! 

The Deets:
Cricut Catridge: cut from Sweethearts cart
Paper: SU blue and white, Silver and sparkly white DCWV
Other: SU ribbon, SU punch

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Still Thinking Spring!

I am still thinking Spring...the weather here is turning out to be quite nice!  I hope it continues.  So seeing that the weather is so nice and I HAD to pull out my new stamps that I picked up from Peachy Keen this card was what I came up with.  I had made the comment that I needed to really begin to challenge myself and to try some new things-- so I did for this card.  I tried my hand using my Peachy Keen Stamps-- love these little faces!  And the ribbon techinique I used is also new for me--and I kinda like how it looks-- it's fun and easy and makes the card pop.  I am adding my card to the fun challenge I found at Scrapbookaholic By Abby and the challenge was to create anything Springy!  And I think this little chickie screams spring :)

The deets:
Cricut cut from Create A Critter--about 3 inches I think...
Paper: Georgia Pacific white and DSP from my stash
Stamps: PKS critter faces!!! Love em! and of course My Pink Stamper-- love them too!
Ribbon: SU! white grosgrain
Other: white jelly pen, glossy accents

Monday, March 28, 2011

Looks Like Spring!

Thanks for joining us for another challenge with the lovely ladies at the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog!  I hope you stopped by the main blog to see all of the other awesome spring themed projects from the awesome design team!

I love this bird!  How stinkin' adorable.  I cut this bird at 3.5 inches from the Nate's ABC cartridge and I love how it turned out.  I am so glad I've been spending some time digging through my stash of papers to use up.  The cloud paper I used is from K and Company--I love it!  I'm sure I picked it up just because I thought I needed clouds--but upon further investigation I LOVE the gridlines on this paper-- it's in an Old Olive-ish color and I really like it. 

I've not played a lot with this cartridge but I do love the layers it offers and the attention to detail in each of the layers is fun.  I did tweak the beak on the bird a little bit as I didn't like how the worm or something or other looked in his mouth :) So I chopped it off!  I also changed up this card by not using a standard A-2 size.  This card will fit in a business size envelope easily.  Enjoy!


Recipe
Cricut: Nate's ABC cartridge--bird and all layers cut at 3.5 inches
Paper: SU for solids, and Kand Company DSP
Ribbon: SU grosgrain
Other: dimensionals and a googly eye

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Dino-Mite!

I was surfing the internet and came across this awesome challenge blog: Challenge By The Page.  Wow what a great way to host a challenge.  I love this idea and really need to spend some more using all of the pages within my cartridges-- not just my favorites.  I really think this challenge will help me step out of my crafting comfort zone!  I do know my style is pretty fun loving and quirky-- perhaps the more challenges I do the more I will challenge myself ;)  haha feel free to <insert an eye roll> here :) Yes, a challenge is meant to challenge me!  I get it. 

I did of course have no problem using my Create A Critter cartridge and the challenge was to use a cut from page 50 of this cartridge.  So I did-- I will admit this is the first dinosaur I have cut! The paper is from an AMAZING find I found at Marshalls--who would have thought to look for paper there--it was a kit with a bunch of cardstock, ribbob, buttons and a big set of thickers-- for $1.99--what a steal!  I did it as a long card and I think I was quite clever in stamping my sentiment a few times in an open space on the dsp!

Recipe
DSP, solid paper and ribbon all from American Crafts
Dino cut from Create A Critter
Stamp: My Pink Stamper
Other: googly eyes and stickles

Friday, March 25, 2011

I Love Sushi!

Oh my goodness it's sooooo true-- I love sushi...you name it it's likely I love it when it comes to sushi.  I enjoy it all sashimi..sushi...ahhhh now I'm hungry!  So enough about food...on to my card.  I am have had my eye on this set from Amuse for pretty much forever.  I kept putting it off and putting it off.  But when they have the HUGE sale a couple weeks ago I knew I had to put it in my order-- and I must say I am NOT at all disappointed.  I love it! 
I am of course creating with the lovely and talented ladies at Stamping 411.  The sketch challenge they are offering is awesome--as per usual for these ladies.  I love checking out what all the other talented ladies do for these challenges--it is so inspirational!  I do definitely see I need to work on my bows-- it's a little sad looking-- but I love the sentiment and stamp so much that I'm just ignoring the bow :)  I hope you enjoy it as well!

Recipe
Paper: SU solid, unsure of the DSP
Ribbon: from $ Tree
Stamps: Amuse Art Stamps
Punch: SU 1/2 inch circle 

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Bug Me Anytime...

So I am not terribly fond of bugs-- unless of of course one is referring to my Cricut but that's about the extent of my bug love.  The lovely and talented Barb over at Bug Bites is having a "buggie challenge."  And well because I love her blog I just had to enter...it doesn't hurt that she is offering some super cute bug I mean blog candy!  I am waiting to win her challenge... heck I even left space so I can add the sentiment "Bug Me Anytime"  from the set she is giving away--the set I will be winning!  :)  Ahhh a girl can dream--so wish me luck in her challenge.

My little bug was cut from the Create-A-Critter cartridge...please don't mind that he appears to be missing a layer-- I had a small craftastrophe so this little guy is missing a layer!  Oh well I think he still looks adorable.  And as you can see I left a hefty portion of empty space to add my sentiment... (sending up good thoughts) and the ribbon and gemstones gave it a bit of a pop.  I really like the black rhinestones...they sparkle a tish bit more in real life--my photography leaves A LOT to be desired!  And I'm just not sure I used the right ribbon--not to make excuses for my card but it does look cuter in real life with the sheer ribbon!  But alas I hope you enjoy this card!

Recipe
Bug cut at 3 or so inches with the Create a Critter Catridge
Paper: DSP I believe is American Crafts? Black is SU! and Green is DCWV
Ribbon: from Mike's
Gemstones: from WM I believe--again I took off the outer packing!  Sorry!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Hockey!

Ugh...what a day!  I can't believe how just this weekend I was running around outside with no coat enjoying the lovely spring weather and today...well wow... I had to bust out my coat, mittens and a hat :( I was so looking forward to spring and was loving that I could finally see the grass---but as I look out my window all I see is blowing and drifting snow!  

But I will not let the weather get me down too much!  For this post I am sharing a card I made for some great friends whom I spent last weekend with-- ahhhh it was so much fun!  We spent time in St. Paul and had a great time at the X!  A good time was had by all...well maybe not everyone but I know I had a blast.  My friends are huge hockey fans so I found this card to be quite fitting for them and even tailored the colors to their team!  I am entering this card into the challenge over at Celebrate the Occasion.  The challenge over there this week was to create a thank you card but to make sure it included a tag!  I really love how this card turned out!  I hope you enjoy it too!!

Recipe
Cricut Cuts: Tag and Tag holder from TBBM
Net, stick and puck from EPD, and thanks--not sure :(
Paper: DSP from my stash and solid from Recollections
Other: Brad Making Memories, Ribbon Bazzill

Monday, March 21, 2011

Happy Birthday! FCCB Challenge Me Monday!

Happy Birthday!  Lots of birthdays are happening in the month of March.  The challenge for this week at FCCB Challenge is "Happy Birthday"-- create a birthday card or project! 

I created this cutie for the FCCB challege and I really love how it turned out.  I will be giving this birthday card to my friend Christina who will be celebrating her birthday this week!  I love, love, love the cartridge I used for this--Birthday Bash!  This little bird on the banner is cute!  I really like how easily this cartridge layers!  The background paper again is from my stash-- darn me for not thinking when I cut it all into 6x6 pieces--opps!

Recipe
Cricut Cartridge: Birthday Bash
Paper: SU! for all solids, DSP--don't know :(
Other stuff: My Pink Stamper sentiment, googlie eyes and blue puff

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Hello Baby!

Tonights card will soon be on its way to Kansas.  My friend EJ (who is an awesome follower of this blog) a friend from college just had a little boy today!  I hope she's resting and not trying to keep her blog and the blogs she follows up to date :)

I do enjoy how this little guy turned out-- however, as I am making cards and I am trying super duper hard to use up my scraps I have noticed that many of my cards are starting to all look alike-- perhaps I will have to take the plunge and cut into some new paper...hmmm we'll see I guess!

So I cut the little stork out from my new Gypsy--wowzers--that is quite the device let me tell you!  I kinda love it!  So I'm not sure what size I actually cut him out at nor the layers as I just set it to fit the size scraps I had lying around.  But wow...again the Gypsy rocks my socks off!  Thanks hubby!  I will also be adding this card to challenge over at Celebrate the Occasion.  The theme for the challenge is "New Arrival" and I think my stork is perfect!

Recipe
Stork cut from Wrap it Up Cartridge
Paper: solids all SU, unsure of DSP
Stamp: sentiment SU!
Punch: SU! Modern label
Other: twine and rhinestones M's

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Cute as a Button!

Ahhhh I can't believe it is Tuesday already--where oh where does the weekend go??  I'm really looking forward to the next couple of days-- I have Thursday and Friday off from work and we're headed to the St. Paul for so good ole fun!  We will be spending time with some great friends from here in St. Cloud but also will be meeting up with some friends from ND-- I am really looking forward to it.

On Sunday I ran into J's to pick up a couple of things and walked out with a new cute stamp set.  That set is where my "cute as a button" sentiment is from.  I had some paper in my stash as well-- there was a sheet with buttons already on it but I think that would have been overkill so I used the paper that had some stiches on it and I'm okay with how it turned out. 

The sketch I used from this card is from Stamping 411 and I love, love, love the sketch challenges these ladies put out-- they rock!  If you've not checked them out I highly recommend that you do!


Recipe
Paper: SU! for solid and DSP is from my stash that I cut down to 6x6 from 12 :(
Stamp: from J's
Buttons: from my stash
Ribbon: Bazzil rick-rack
Punch: circles and label SU!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Hip To Be Square!

Hi Everyone!   I am so glad you are able to join me for another FCCB Challenge! The challenge today is to create a project that is a square...and for an extra added twist use green and gold!  I had a ton of ideas running through my head-- all through grade school, jr. high and high school my school colors were green and gold so I that was the first option I considered-- but after much cutting and a little frustration--NOTHING was working for me!  



So I decided to create a square card in honor of Saint Patrick's Day!  I really love how this card turned out and it was super easy to put together.  I used mainly solid color paper from Stampin' Up and the gold glittery piece of paper is from We R Memory Keepers--from a  "Foil Glitter Flock" adhesive rub on kit-- NO clue if these are still available or not.  I picked mine up ages ago for a $1.00 at a discount store here in town.  But I love the glitter--I've never tried the other pieces in the kit :) 

Recipe:
Cricut: Designer's Calendar
Paper: SU! and gold glitter WeRMemoryKeepers
Other Stuff: gold ink pad to use around the edges
Gold cording from SU--long retired I'm sure

Friday, March 11, 2011

I heart Amuse!

Hope this post finds you all doing well today.  I am hoping the nasty weather that is happening all around doesn't afftect my little world here in MN.  Sending lots of thoughts and prayers out to the people affected in Japan and to friends and families of those folks all around the world.  Our godson lives in Hawaii with his parents and all is well witth them so that definitely makes me feel so much better knowing they are safe and sound!

A simple little card for you all today-- a set of cards actually.  Like I had stated in an earlier post I love Amuse and their products rock my socks off!  So I made a simple set of anniversary cards from one of my Amuse cuties.  They are having a huge sale right now so I'd stop by and check it out if I were you!   These are super simple-- I punched some circle, stamped my image used my Aqua painters and that was about it!

Recipe:
Paper: SU, Red Riding Hood, Elegant Eggplant and Night of Navy and some random white
Ink: same as colors above + Stazon
Punches: Marvy Punches Circle and Scallop
Stamp: Amuse for the couple, sentiment SU!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Thanks A Melon

I had to play with my Simply Charmed cartridge---I'm not completely sure I love all the faces but I'm hoping once I get my Gypsy I will be able to omit the faces completely!  I do love many of the options on this cartridge.  This card was one I created for ABC Challenge and Cricut Cardz Challenge.  The theme for the ABC Challenge is P is for Pearl-- I love using pearls on my cards!  And the Challenge at Cricut Cardz was to make a tall card... I decided to make a long card :) 

I used my stamps from My Pink Stamper again tonight and I LOVE how this card came together.  I did cut it a little bit so I did have to chop off some of the top of my watermelon-- oh well nothing a little scissors couldn't handle. 

I must say I love the idea I had when it came to determining the background for my oval-- I was planning to use a scallop oval but it didn't look right so I was digging around and the piece left over from the red cut of the watermelon was perfect!!  So I trimmed it off of the full sheet and viola!

Recipe:
Cricut Cut: Simply Charmed
Paper: SU! and the red gingham is from Making Memories
Stamp: My Pink Stamper
Other stuff: Pearls

Foxy....foxy lady!

Nope... this is not a day dream scene from Wayne's World :)  But... I do have a super cute card to post today if I do say so myself.  I received this new stamp in the mail the other day from my super awesome Secret Stamping Sister--check out Splitcoaststampers for more information and tons of creative ideas to spark your creative side.

Again...you all know I love Amuse! and my Secret Sis sent me this little cutie along with some other goodies--a super stinkin' adorable little truffle box.  Once I have instructions I shall need to make one of those little cuties!  This fox is called "Artic Fox" and is from Amuse.  The designer paper is from my local craft store and on the reverse side it has a bunch of animals on it.  Sorry I don't again know the brand of paper-- my store has an outlet and I will occasionally...okay often pick up some random sheets here and there and give them a good home :) 

And a little ribbon from stash... I think I shall sob when I run out of this satin chocolate brown ribbob... I just love it sooooo much-- but have NO idea where it came from!


Recipe
Stamps: Amuse Artic Fox, sentiment from My Pink Stamper
Paper: solid SU, DSP unknown
Punches: random circles :)
Other: unknown ribbon, brads from M's

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

When's our Tee Time?

I'm thinking Spring and golf that's forsure...I'm not really impressed with the fact that we're suppsed to get more snow here in MN.  Ugh I'm ready for spring to get here!  This card I have put together for a few birthdays--so I have made multiples of this one. I found the original design on Momo's blog and I thought it was sooooo amazing I had to make a few for myself. 


Recipe
Paper: SU! and DCWV
Cricut: Everyday Paper Dolls for all of the cuts except the black wheels
Punches: SU! 1 in circle punch
Stamp: sentiment from Amuse--LOVE Amuse!!

Monday, March 7, 2011

FCCB Challenge #50

Today the challenge over at Fantabulous Cricut is to use a tree! Any type of tree will do!  So pull out your cartridges and join the lovely and talented Design Team members :) 


For my tree...I used a tree from Serenade which is a solutions cartridge.  It was a fun cartridge to play with.  I will admit this was my first cut from this cartridge-- it's definitely different to get used to not having the book to go along with the cartridge but I think I managed to do okay.

I could not decide on a sentiment for this card so at this point I have just decided to leave it blank--let me know if you have any ideas!! 

As I was putting the card together I found a random sheet of printed designer paper in the blue and that served well as the background and sky!  The leaves needed a little bit of something so I used some stickles to brighten up the card.  The grass was cut out using my trusty grass punch from Martha.  Then as I was finishing the card I decided it just needed a little bit more and I decided clouds it was.  I had already turned my cricut off and didn't know of a cloud cut off hand-- so I used my punch from SU! the cupcake and used the frosting from the cupcake as clouds for my card! 

Recipe
Cricut Cartridge: Serenade Solution tree cut at 5.5 inches
Paper: Unknown blue, all other SU!
Punch: SU! Cupcake Punch
Other stuff: Diamond Stickles

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Another Stamping 411 Challenge

Oh dear...another daisy card-- I know, I know...but it's sooo cute!  I just couldn't resist playing along with the lovely ladies at Stamping 411.  I am sure many of you are thinking...oh boy here she goes again...another challenge!  Yep, I know but I love 'em they are so fun. 

I knew for this challenge I had to use my sizzix daisy die-- also available from SU! I believe.  Most of my paper is from SU! the polka dotted paper is from my stash--so lord only knows what brand it is etc.  And I am pleased to report I am using more of my stash bit by bit!  I used a scrap of SU! Really Rust to make the brad with my I-top which serves as the center portion of my daisy.  The three brads are yet another piece of my stash-- I was quite pleased with how well they matched my card. 

Recipe
Die: Sizzix Daisies #2 die
Paper: Solid color SU, Old Olive, Really Rust, Whisper White
Unknown designer paper
Brads: The BIG one I made it!! Whoohooo! little ones no clue
Ribbon: SU! Old Olive grosgrain

I must...

I must STOP hoarding product... seriously why must I live in constant fear that I will run out of buttons or glue dots or stickles!  Yikes!  I must overcome the need to hoard versus use. 

Today I decided to play with my new cartridge "Just Because Cards."  It was a super sweet deal at one of my favorite craft stores of alllllll time!  Yay Crafts Direct!!!  If ever you are able to make a trip there you will not leave disappointed.

I have idea what I will use this card for but it's cute and I love the little lemon.  I used mostly SU! paper-- I'm unsure of the DSP-- it was a scrap I had left over and I don't know who it's by.  I am pretty sure I picked it up years ago when my favorite craft store in Grand Forks, ND closed. 

Recipe
Paper: Mostly SU, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip
the yellow paper is the reverse of the printed DSP
Cricut: Just Because Cards
Buttons: who knows!
Ribbon: SU Certainly celery--looks sooo light in my picture
Diamond Stickles on the "Up" and leaves

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Tons of Fun...or A Huge Thanks...

This little elephant just screams fun!  It was a Zoo Theme Challenge at More Than Favors.  I of course decided to play along.  I put aside my Create-A-Critter and I used one of my newest cartridges-- Birthday Bash and I am quite pleased with how this elephant came out.  I again was using up the scraps that were strewn about my table-- yes, the kitchen table... I could just as well re-name it my Cricut Cutting Station!  I do more "cooking" on my Cricut than on the stove! 

The stamp is from My Pink Stamper and I am unsure about the pink designer paper-- I believe it might be from a Die-Cuts-With-A-View stack...a friend and I often split the paperstacks so we can have more designs without all the excess paper...haha excess paper....silly me :)  The solid shimmery gray I know is from DCWV and the pink is SU!


 Recipe:
Cricut: Elephant cut from Birthday Bash at 3.5 inches
Paper: DCWV and SU!
Stamps: My Pink Stamper
Punches: circles and scallop circle from SU!
Ink: SU!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

A tired owl!

Good Evening Everyone!  I hope this post finds you all well and enjoying the evening.  I can't believe how cold it was here in MN today :( Such a disappointment as it had been so nice here...there's even talk about snow...soooo not impressed by those words.  Tonight of course I decided it was time to do yet another challenge this one was to use one of my feathered friends...so I picked an owl I had not used yet...but alas it was from my Create-A-Critter cartridge.  I used all random scraps of paper that I had lying around... I think all of it is from Die Cuts with a view.  The challenge can be found at Robin at My Pink Stamper--my HERO!  I promise I did use another cartridge tonight!!!  I just haven't put that card together yet :)   This owl kind of looks like I feel... tired and wore out! 
Recipe
Cricut Cut: Owl and Branch cut at 3 in. from Create-A-Critter
Paper: Die Cuts with a View...the base card is SU! Tempting Turquoise
Stamp: My Pink Stamper
Punch: Small Oval from SU!


Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Best Fishes!

Today my project is all about fish!  I love goldfish and the shaped card challege over at FCCB was the perfect excuse for me to make this cute little card...which then turned into more of a project!  So last night I started making a set of Thank You cards to give to a friend who will doing some job interviews in the next couple of days-- so I set to work on those.  The thank you cards were very simple-- I used a white card base and I also used some random colored pieces of paper I had in my stash.  I embossed the colored sheets with my Cuttlebug and a thank you folder. 

Then I remembered over at the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog the challenge this week was to do a shaped card-- so the hamster started running at full force that's for sure!  So I pulled out my trusty Create-A-Critter Cartridge and whipped out a fish... the layers of the fish ended up being a big bust as I had hit the real dial size button on accident!  Opps! 

So I cut the fish out 4 times-twice for the base and twice for the top layer in orange at 3 inches. And I smashed the card together at the tail so it was able to be a "card."  I added a little white gel pen around the edges and did some highlighting with a sponge and some orange ink.  I then added the "best wishes" sentiment which is from My Pink Stamper. 

Enjoy! 

How I started out... a simple thank you...
Then I decided I needed more colors....20 cards in total.

The fish...minus all the layers :)
Ta-Daaaaa!  The final package!
Recipe
Cricut Cartridge: Create A Critter cut at 3 inches
Paper: Stampin' Up
Stamp: My Pink Stamper
Bag and Ribbon...from my stash I think the baggie is from M's