Shape Card for Fantabulous Cricut--Later Donated to Cards for Soldiers

I am submitting this shape card for the latest challenge at Fantabulous Cricut ( http://fantabulouscricut.blogspot.com/2012/12/challenge-me-monday-142-shaped-card.html ) and the challenge is to do a shape card.  This isn't a Christmas card but I always need get well or cheer up cards so this one will do well.  The image is from Cricut From My Kitchen Cartridge.  I just did the shadow twice in Design Studio, flipped one and welded.  I'm thinking this would be great for a Starbucks gift card!

Magic Reindeer Food

I saw this idea at the wonderful blog http://cardztv.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-12-days-of-christmas-card-12.html and knew I'd have to do one.  I don't have Winter Frolic (it's on my wish list) but did have the Cricut Create a Critter cartridge which has a really cute reindeer, too.  I used some digital paper for the background and a scrap of white for the snow.  I added google eyes, a tiny red fuzzy nose, stickles for the scarf and put it on an action wobble.  The Christmas lights on the computer generated sentiment on the inside of the card are old stickers.   The grandkids are gonna love this!

Advent Calendar using Graphic 45 Nutcracker Sweet Collection and Kaisercraft Advent Calendar Kit

I saw an advent calendar at http://luvleescrappin.blogspot.com/2012/10/graphic-45-nutcracker-sweet-advent.html and thought it was just amazing--even more than amazing!  A few days later I went to see the Nutcracker with my daughter and two youngest grankids, and my grangirl was absolutely enthralled with the Nutcracker.  That's when I knew I had to do this for her.  I was so excited to be able to get everything I needed (and on sale, too!) at a local scrapbook store, Memory Bound ( http://www.memory-bound.com/) .   It was time consuming as the original creator said, but oh so worth it.  I used felt for the curtains (if I ever make another one, it will be with a good quality felt) and I am not happy with the star on the tree that I got at WalMart (still thinking of something to do with that).  And I need a rat...like for the Rat King...and want to put it by the packages but haven't found exactly what I want.  The advent calendar form was a kit from Kaisercraft and you can see other examples at http://www.kaisercraft.com.au/blog/kaisercraft-advent-calendar-3-ways/

The window frame is from page 36 of Cricut French Manor--I welded two in Design Studio and turned it sideways to have a window with  panes 3 wide and 4 lengthwise.  The small packages are Cricut cuts too--the very small one by the nutcracker under the tree is the pop-up box from page 59 of Tags, Bags, Boxes and More 2; the box by the gingerbread man is from page 120 of Tags, Bags, Boxes and More--I used a qullling tool to curl the flower tightly so that it looks like a bow; the gable box is from TBBM2 and the last box is from age 69 of CTMH Artiste cartridge-I used DS to hide the cut out on the inside of the lid.  The curtain rod took a lot of thinking and brainstorming with my sister, cousin and cousin's daughter before we could figure it out!  I used one of the cuts from Storybook for the outside corners (didn't take picture of that) but as shown on the original creator's video, the paper is 12 x 12 and the box is a tad over 13 x 13 so something was needed to cover the corners.

 

Warm Winter Wishes using Cricut Winter Woodland

This is a card I've done before and loved it so here it is again.  I used Cricut Winter Woodland for the cardinal on page 59 and the phrase of page 67 which was cut on phrase, shadow and blackout.  The line underneath wishes was supposed to be green with little red berries but I just wanted to continue the red and white dotted theme.  The circles behind the cardinal were cut with the cricut using George with the black circle cut just a tad bit larger than the white one.  I think I saw a similar card to this on the internet awhile back and that's what inspired me but I don't remember where!

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge

I am sooo excited!  My Pilgrims and Indians got voted Top 5 for this challenge!  http://fantabulouscricut.blogspot.com/2012/11/wednesday-winners-challenge-137.html

Hug those you love

I just wanted to say that Life Is Short.  Hug those you love.  Tell them everyday how important they are to you.  My wonderful brother-in-law that I made the bra/panty card for, did very well after his initial surgery but three days after being released from the hospital,  he and my sister were sitting on their patio, opening cards that had been sent to him, when he had to be rushed back to the hospital.  He passed away three surgeries and a week later due to complications from the inital surgery.  The tragic irony is that according to his doctors, he would have survived the pancreatic cancer. 

He was the best of brother-in-laws, a true friend.  My sister started dating him when she was 16 and this will be an ongoing difficult journey for her and all the people who loved Sandy.  I don't believe in the word "closure" in situations like this, but she is finding comfort and strength through her faith, her friends and family.

So, be sure to enjoy each day as none of us is guaranteed tomorrow.  My wonderful sister and  brother-in-law:

Thanksgiving Pilgrims and Indians

My two youngest grankids were so sad when the Halloween decorations were packed up, so I cut out the Pilgrims and Indians from the Cricut Thanksgiving cartridge for them to put on their mantle.  I also cut out the main imagine in thin board (cereal box) to give it some sturdiness.  I cut them at 10 3/4" and after assembling and putting them beside each other, noticed that the lady Pilgrim and Indian were taller even though they were cut at the same size.  I may remake these for them next year and downsize them just a tad but the grankids were tickled with them and they didn't notice or care that the sizes were a little bit off.  I am submitting this for a challenge at the Fantabulous Cricut Blog http://fantabulouscricut.blogspot.com/2012/11/challenge-me-monday-137-pilrgrims.html .  The picture doesn't show the colors because the picture was taken with a cel phone .  The sign "Faith, Family, Friends" and the little owl and squirrel on a strawberry are wood and ceramic but could easily be done with the Cricut, too.  The faces on the Cricut cuts are hand drawn.

Two Halloween cards using Cricut Teddy Bear Parade

Here are two cards I did using the wonderful Crucyt Teddy Bear Cartridge. On the witch card, the Bingo card is a free online printable http://www.halloweenbingocards.net/ and I used action an action wobble on the image. The background paper is from the DCWV Ghosts and Goblins Matstack pack (from last year). The inside sentiment is from a My Favorite Things stamp set and a Melissa Frances stamp set. I used little strips of the front mat paper to liven up the inside.

The second card is also done with an action wobble on the image and the background paper is from the WONDERFUL Teresa Collins Haunted Hallows pack that I got at Hobby Lobby (thanks to enabling by a fellow cricuteer!). The inside sentiment is computer generated and the pumpkins are die cuts from K&Co. (My sister gave me a big assortment of these)

Halloween Card using Cricut Autumn Celebrations

I used Cricut Happy Hauntings for the grass and Cricut Autumn Celebrations for the tag and the silhouette of the trick or treaters. I used some old, old paper for the background...I wanted to use the cut of the trick or treaters but it would just fade away when using some of the starry-type paper that I had on hand but they stood out so well using a scrap of this old paper. Some golden oldies are worth keeping, I guess. I used the Martha Stewart glow-in-the-dark glitter on the tag and a little piece of orange/white twine. On the inside, the sentiment is computer generated and the candy/pumpkin are some of the K and Co. die cuts that my sister gave me.

Pop up Halloween Card

I was inspired by a card I saw on the internet awhile back. I like to give credit where credit is due but I didn't save the link....so thanks to that crafter for making me want to do a card similar to hers!

Another thing I don't remember is who made the background pattern paper..I gotta start taking better notes. The pumpkin is from Cricut October 31st (sooo glad I got this cartridge back when Cricut.com had that great sale) and placed on an action wobble...which is fastly becoming one of my favorite card elements. On the inside I cut two slits on the patterned paper and then adhered it to the card base so that the house and fence would be "popped" on those little pop-out areas. The house is from October 31st, the fence is from Cricut MS Seasonal (welded several together and shrank them in DS to make a better scale to fit the house), the frame for the sentiment as well as the sentiment were from Cricut Happy Hauntings. I used the MS glow-in-the-dark glitter on the sentiment and the ghost is another one of the K&Co die cuts my sister gave me. To get the white layer for the frame, I took the inside of the black frame that cut out, traced on a piece of white paper and cut it just a teeny bit bigger so that I could have a white space to put the sentiment on.

I like the way this cart turned out but I've got to tell you that the house took a little bit of work. I cut it once in black. Then in DS cut another one in yellow but hid all the window cuts (lots of clicking on little tiny squares), then cut a third in orange but hid the cuts on all the windows, the back porch and the little squares in the porch area as well as the narrow slits by the porch and on the left had side so that a solid orange would show through.

Two more Halloween Cards using Teresa Collins paper

I am such a fan of Teresa Collins...I have all her Cricut and Imagine cartridges and buy any of her paper that I can find and her embellies are always the best.  The Halloween paper I found at Hobby Lobby is just wonderful!

The background paper of the words and spider webs as well as the orange paper that has circle glitter dots (hard to see in the pictures) is from the TC paper pack Haunted Hallows that I got 50% off at Hobby Lobby last week. The word collage is from the Cricut Teresa Collins cartridge Chic and Scary, the ghost is another one of the die cuts by K&Co that my sister gave me. I used a jelly roll stardust clearstar pen on the spider webs, spider and outline of the skull. On the inside the web (also used clearstar pen on it) and the pumphin flourish are from Chic and Scary. The sentiment is a Paper Trey Ink stamp

This second card is totally like the first one with the exception of a different type of ribbon. The inside frame and hat are from Chic & Scary and I added a square yellow bling to the hat band

Halloween card using Cricut Wild Card

I did this envelope from Cricut Wild Card at fit to page on a 12 x 12 piece of cardstock and then did the card at the size it showed (think it was 3 1/2 or 3 5/8, something like that). I used some old Debbie Mumm halloween paper to line the envelope and it turned out to look great with this card. I cut one pumpkin layer option and two of the the stem and grass layer. To get an orange pumpkin for the envelope, I placed the orange cardstock on the mat where the pumpkin was to cut (thank goodness for DS!) and that saved me a lot of wasted orange paper (rather than having to cut out a whole envelope and trim off the pumpkin). I used just a scrap of yellow to put between the black and orange layers on both the card and the envelope. The "Pumpkin Patch" sign is from October 31 and I just put a scrap of white paper behind it to make the cut out letters show better. The sentiment is from a My Favorite Things stamp set. This makes a small card and envelope but it will fit in an A2 size envelope for mailing.

Get well card for Brother In Law...slightly R rated

I have a wonderful BIL that I've known since I was 16 (and trust me, that's been a few years). He recently underwent a Whipple procedure for pancreatic cancer and has been given a very good chance of beating this because it was found so very early and hadn't spread to any of the lymph nodes. Spiritually and emotionally, he is as solid as a rock but physically, he is struggling to recover from this massive surgery. So I decided to make one of these cards to cheer him up. DH laughed out loud when he saw it and said any guy would love to get a card like this.

I used a heart from Cricut Hannah Montana, did two-flipped one, and welded in DS for the card base. I did two other separate hearts the same size and made templates out of them for the bra and panty. I then traced those onto some FABULOUS Teresa Collins paper called Posh:Black Lace (isn't that black lace look just great for this card? I'm tellin' ya, I LOVE anything by TC!!), cut out those by hand and adhered on the card base. I used very thin strips of the paper on top of some black ribbon for the straps and some Recollections pearls for the necklace and the middle of the bra, a SU punch and black paper for the black lace trim around the top of the bra and the waist of the panties. The sentiment on the inside of the card says "Now that I have your undivided attention......GET WELL SOON!!!!"

After doing this card, I think I'll do three things differently on the next one:
1. I will have the pearl strings hang a little more, rather than go from bra strap to bra strap...would look more like a necklace
2. The "tramp Stamp" would be centered a little more
3. I'd do the black punch strip for the legs on the panties as well.

Want to win a set of ProMarkers?

I don't have any type of alcohol markers but would love to....and here's a chance for some lucky somebody to win some.  Head on over and check it out
http://going-buggy.blogspot.com/2012/10/win-complete-set-of-promarkers.html

Cricut FANatics September Challenge Winner!

I just found out that I won the September Challenge for the Cricut FANatics!  WAHOO WAHOO!!  I won a $35 StampinUp Gift Certificate from http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/robingoens/ !! WOOP WOOP!!!!  I love SU products and their paper cuts so well in my Cricut!!   I love this blog...so many great ideas and challenges to encourage our creativity.

Please come join the challenge...the October challenge will post on October 5th and I can't wait to see what the challenge will be!
http://cricutfanatics.blogspot.com/2012/09/cricut-crafty-challenge-1-winner.html

Cricut Fanatics Challenge #1

I did this card for the Cricut Fanatics Challenge at http://cricutfanatics.blogspot.com/2012/09/cricut-crafty-challenge-1-back-to-school.html and it was fun to do.  The background paper was from the DCWV "The Grade School Stack", ribbon around the inner mat was from WalMart, buttons from Michael's, memory thread in the buttons from Michael's.  The schoolgirl was cut from the Cricut Teddy Bear Parade cartridge but I used a ribbon bow in her hair instead of the one on the cut, the book in her hand is from Cricut Campin' Critters, the easel chalkboard is from Cricut Old West and the "Way to Go" on the blackboard is from George.  I just had to glitter up those cute glasses by running the cut through the little Xyron and using some Martha Stewart red glitter.  The apple on the easel is from the schoolgirl cut and is topped with Glossy Accents.

"End of Summer"

I had so much fun doing this card .   I love riding my scooter in the summer or at least until it gets over 100 degrees—then it’s like riding around in a convection oven!   I used Cricut Create  A Critter for the sun and clouds, Cricut Heritage for the fence, Cricut Paper Pups for the dog and balloon, Cricut Walk in My Garden for the bigger flowers and Cricut My Community for the road.  The stems for both the smaller flowers and larger flowers are from Cricut Plantin Schoolbook.  That cut had flower heads on it, so I just put the WIMG flowers on top of those.  The smaller flowers and the centers of the bigger flowers are a punch I bought at WalMart years ago that looks just like a regular hand-held hole punch but it punches little flowers instead of a round hole.  Used stickles for the centers of all the flowers and twine for the balloon string.  The stamp is from the company  Stampers Best and I became familiar with them when I started doing cards for soldiers and found out they were a big supporter of this cause.  I just love this lady on the scooter and anybody who knows me will recognize me—even tho my scooter doesn’t quite look like this and my hair is shorter.  Hahahahaha.  This card just makes me smile.

 

The sentiment for the inside of the card was found on the internet, just in passing somewhere, can’t remember where, but this saying is just tooooo true!!!

 

I won a cartridge!!

I recently won a cartridge--I chose "Over the Hill"-- from the wonderful Cricut FANatics blog...check it out at http://cricutfanatics.blogspot.com/ . Scroll down to the September 8th entry to see where I won. I didn't have to do anything but comment on the blog posts to be entered. Try it...maybe you'll win next!! Plus they have some fantastic ideas and tips for having fun with your Cricut.

Guest Designer Entry for the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge using Cricut Campin' Critters

This is my entry for the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog for September 10 as Guest Designer at http://fantabulouscricut.blogspot.com/2012/09/challenge-me-monday-128.html .  The theme is transportation, any mode.  I recently got Cricut "Campin Critters" and just adore that cartridge!  I wanted to use the car in it and since we'd recently gone on a great camping trip with some friends, I did a little tie-in to that trip (See blog entry on 09/05/2012).  Sorry this is so long but I did some tweaking to some of the cuts and need to explain so that nobody goes looking for cuts that aren't actually in the handbook.

The background of the card was done using the "Enjoy the Seasons" Imagine cartridge.  I printed and cut the design a bit bigger than the A2 size card, trimmed it and put it on a green mat before attaching it to the kraft-colored card base.  The road was from Cricut "My Community".  The label used for the sentiment is from Cricut "Storybook" and since it didn't have a shadow, I just cut the label again just a tad bit bigger in black to use as a shadow.  The sentiment is computer generated.  The chair and umbrella hanging out the back window were from Cricut "Everyday Paper Dolls" and all other cuts were from that dang cute "Campin Critters".  I used little tiny googly-eyes on the deer and a black pen for detailing on the car.  I also put little pieces of yellow scrap paper for the headlight and tail light, and grey for the tire hubcaps and then put the layers on the beige shadow cut.  I had to make some of the cuts several times to get the different colors/patterns but think it was worth the effort.

The inside of the card uses the same Imagine cartridge background as the front of the card only cut a bit smaller.  I did the "layers" option so that the background would cut and print without the trees.  I loved how it printed "curly cues" in the middle because it worked exactly right for the placement of the porcupine from "Campin' Critters" and the fire which was from Cricut "Create A Critter".  The porcupine has googly eyes that were a little bit bigger than the ones on the deer and the marshmallow was done with liquid applique puffed up by a heat gun to make it look real and to add some depth.  I did a little tinkering with the outhouse sign as the arrow pointed left and I needed it to point right.  So I cut off the pointy part of the left side of the sign and hand cut a pointed end on the right.  Added a small strip of white paper to the back of the sign to highlight the cut out words, then put that on some black paper to hand cut a shadow.  The part of the sign sticking into the ground was hand cut also.  The sentiment is computer generated.  The sign looks like it says 'nuthouse' instead of outhouse but either way, it just makes me giggle!

I also usually like to do a card liner so I used a paper from the Imagine Cartridge "Good Old Days"

And lastly, for the seal on the envelope, I used the sign on Page 38 of "Campin Critters".  I cut the first layer that says 'camper' in dark green and the other layer that says 'happy' in lighter green.  Then I used DS to do another first layer in yellow but used the hide contour feature to eliminate cutting out the word 'camper'.  I then put the dark green layer on the yellow, then the light green layer on the very top to make the tri-colored seal.

 

SO ....  THANKS FOR CHECKING OUT MY CARD AND SPECIAL THANKS TO THE FANTABULOUS CRICUT CHALLENGE BLOG FOR ALLOWING ME TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS WONDERFUL CHALLENGE !!!!!!!! 

Fantabulous Cricut Spotlight Guest for Sunday September 9, 2012 and Guest Designer for Challenge Me Monday, September 10

I am so jazzed right now...I am walking on cloud nine.  The wonderful Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog has asked me to be a Spotlight Guest for Sunday September 9, 2012 and to be a Guest Designer for Challenge Me Monday, September 10.   This is such a honor to be asked to participate with such wonderfully talented crafters.  Please tune in...I will post the blog links when available. 

Here's the blog link:  http://fantabulouscricut.blogspot.com/2012/09/spotlight-sunday_9.html

Recent Camping Trip

Hubs and I have become friends in the past years with a group of friends who we have had so much fun with.  On the weekend before the fourth of July we went camping with them and had a blast.  We loaded up our camping stuff on their boat and headed off to an island--totally deserted.  No electricity, no running water.  No cable.  Just heat and sun and water and fishing and boating and cooking out.  We do bring a lot of the comforts of home with us...like air mattresses, smores,  lots of adult beverages and a duck blind with a self-contained potty and shower.  I mean roughing it is one thing but we gotta be civilized about it!  We called our little piece of the island the "Redneck Riviera"

Redneck Riviera at night with our homemade redneck tiki torches

Sunset

Fishing at dusk

 

Deer that DH was able to capture on pics...how the heck did a deer get to this island?????  It looks kinda weired because he had to zoom in to the max on my little camera to be able to capture this.

 

 

Light Box

I feel almost like Paul Revere...my lightbox is coming, my lightbox is coming!  DH is a fan of online sales and gets all kinds of daily emails on them.  He had heard me grinching plenty of times about how I needed one and knew I had been doing a little research on prices on Ebay.  So...he ordered one for me!  It should be here tomorrow!  WAHOO!!!!

Card with no Cricut

I am a natural born Texan but had missed out on a right-of-passage experience....tubing down the Guadalupe River...until I was in my later 50s.  A friend who is called our "social commander" organized a trip for about 11 of us and we had a blast.  I did this as a thank you card for her back in 2010.  The background image was a free teacher's template on the internet (I have since lost the link).  The sentiment is computer generated and the stamped image is called "Blanche" from Art Impressions (http://www.artimpressions.com/Product.asp?Sku=K1605) .  I love their stamps and have about 20 of them on my "wish list".  After stamping and coloring with Prismacolor pencils, I cut out the image, attached it to a piece of blue paper and then trimmed around the blue, to create my own "shadow" of the stamped image and pop dotted it onto the card.

Pre-Kindergarten Treats

I made these for my youngest grandson's pre-k graduation.  They were so easy to do, using scraps of paper for the bag toppers, a computer generated sentiment and the cute Owl from Campin' Critters.

Cricut Imagine Thank you Card

I did this thank you card using the Cricut Imagine cartridge "Greeting Cards Inside and Out".  It printed out in a kind of brownish-grey, not a pretty blue or red-grey.  So I decided to use a new product (new to  me) called Glitter Dust.  It comes in an aerosol can and in different shades...this is "Iridescent".  It says to use in a well ventilated area as it leaves a sort of shellac finish over everything.  I loved the way it jazzed up this card.  I made the cut just a tiny bit too small for the gift card to fit in the slot so I had to use my scissors to lengthen one end...it doesn't look great in the photo but looks much better with the gift card in it!