Coffee?

I had the "From My Kitchen" cart out and decided to make the coffee pot that was the deciding factor in me purchasing the cart. Well, sort of. So, I made two pots, put them on ready-made cards, inserting a little money and off they will go to college students for a little treat. I've been meaning to do that for a couple of months...

The First Robins of Spring

This is obviously not something I have created, but I love those first Robins of Spring. These are perched in the neighbor's tulip tree, which I see has buds! Spring just has to be around the corner.

Project 365 - first full week of January

I finished my first two page photo layout. I was having trouble finding paper in my stash that would go behind all 7 photos without clashing. Leslie decided that she was going to use a neutral background paper in her 365 book and I decided that was the best idea yet. So, I'm scraplifting from Leslie and I am going to use Kraft paper (which I actually already had). Some of the paper has subtle designs which I like.

I have enjoyed trying to come up with my journaling cards using Cricut cartridge designs. It's a great way for me to meet the cartridge challenge. I love that car--it is from Graphically Speaking. The flower is from Tinkerbell, the snowman from Christmas Cheer (I was a little worried how I would use that cartridge) and the basketball is from Sports Mania. The other exciting item I used was the sequin snowflakes. They could probably be considered antiques, they have been around so long.

I will work on photographing the layouts. Definitely needs help.

Sewing - February ATC Swap

Here is another one of those projects where I started with one idea and ended up somewhere else. I used to quilt before papercrafts took over my room. So, I decided for the sewing-themed ATC I would like to incorporate some quilting project. I had purchased a Seminole Patchwork book (quite a few years ago) and thought that would be good for an ATC.

Well, I think I am a little out of practice in the sewing area. Geez.

Then back to the drawing board. I was able to locate "paint" on my computer without my kids' help and drew a tulip quilt block. I colored it in, printed it and then practiced sewing on paper.

Finally--finished card. It's okay, but maybe I need to get that sewing machine working a little more often!

Covered box

I wanted to give some hand made cards to a friend's mother but wanted something prettier than a zip bag to put them in. As a shipper for the Cards for Soldiers project, I get a lot of packages. One gal, Joan, makes her own boxes for shipping. I'm a saver--aren't we all. So, I used one of her boxes and covered it.

This was the first I time I had covered a box and what I discovered was putting paper on the in and out of the sides for both the top and bottom makes the fit snug. So, I used the crop-o-dile to add a piece of ribbon with an eyelet to the bottom to help in opening the box. The "T" is from the Storybook Cricut cartridge. I just love the bird that is cut from Indie Art. On the final version, which I did not take a picture of, I put a dull yellow as the top layer of the bird. Just thought it needed a little more color.

This is some of my favorite paper. The flower print is from Anna Griffin. The lavender is from K&Company. I purchased quite a few sheets and have used it to alter several different items including this notebook that I write swap info in and a few other things I don't want to forget.

January, 2010 COM

The Card of the Month swap starts off the year with designers choice. Mine is Jade with Jute.

I'm pretty excited about the card. I used my brand new cuttlebug embossing folder entitled Journaling and also used two stamps from my "collection" that I had never used. The flower image with colored with Prisma pencils. I wasn't wild about the white around the edges, but I had a limited supply of the color paper I needed. The paper was a giveaway at an Archivers swap by Bazzill Basics. The line is Fourz and these sheets are from the Mossy Green collection.

Project 365 - Introduction

I'm off and running with my Project 365. The thing that is slowing me down is waiting for photos. I would prefer to print my own but I need a little more practice so I'm not wasting ink and paper. In the meantime, I'm "sending" them off to Shutterfly on a free 50 photo Archiver's deal. This is my title page. I needed Leslie and daughter to help with (well, really to do) the flowers.

Page 2 is a calendar that shows the whole year. I'm excited that I used the fancy cut paper and some Grungeboard that I HAD to have and have now finally used.

My first page shows Friday and Saturday photos. I'm going to begin my weeks starting on Sundays and ending on Saturdays. This page got me ready to start a full week with a 2 page layout. Right now, I'm having fun making my journaling cards match the subject. I'm finding all kinds of images to cut with my cricut. Who knew everything I could possibly want is on the cartridges I already own!

Crackle ATC swap

The January ATC swap theme was crackle. I wanted to try the heavy embossing powder method. I did locate some Melt Art brand Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel at Michael's. I looked at Archivers and Joann's first and didn't see anything similar there although I may just have missed it.

I was thinking of the brown ware pottery when I started the project. Here is an example of what I mean by brown ware. I believe there are many interpretations on what it is.

I used the Inkadinkadoo Mindscape hummingbird stamp with Color Box Brown ink. I believe it is the first ink pad I owned and Leslie gave it to me. (See what she started...) I inked the edges and lightly on the front. The card on the left in the picture is before I started adding the UTEE. I put 3 coats of UTEE on the cards. It was fun to watch, sort of like melting puddles of water. I may have held the heat gun on the card a little long and that is why it is darker, however, it accidently made the card look exactly like I wanted. I put the card in the freezer for a few minutes and then crackled them. I ran the ink pad over the crackles to make them more noticable and rubbed off the excess ink, which also darkened the card.

Tangerine with Tears COM

December's Card of the Month theme was Tangerine with Tears. I had seen some Basic Grey paper in the Ambrosia line that I thought would work perfectly and I loved the orange and grey papers. First I had to locate some because it is an older product and I didn't have any. Finally found some on the internet and had to order 3 - 6 x 6 stacks just to make sure I had enough. (insert sheepish look here) The orientation of this card is supposed to be portrait.

My daughter didn't think anyone would know what it was, so changed the card to open in landscape form. I was pleased with the finished card.

Gift cards

Just wanted to post the last three flip flop cards I make to send Archivers gift cards to Leslie and friends. Used some Basic Grey that I had and the middle one is from the latest Christmas Basic Grey line-Eskimo Kisses.

ATC Swap - Fuzzy

Okay--who chose this theme?? Oops, it was me. Fuzzy? I don't know what I was thinking.

I think I had some idea of fun flock and the Cricut Paper Pups cartridge. Since then I got some "Velvet Blossom Trim" in a grab box from Maya Road and decided it was a good fuzzy. But how to use it? So, here is my process and hope the final picture is an outstanding ATC.

Still wanted to use that fun flock. So, Maya Road ribbon and bugs...

YIKES!

I recently purchased some lovely stamps from Inkadinkado entitled Mindscapes. So, again, bugs and the velvet ribbon.

I think the ribbon is such a deep color that is where I am making my biggest mistake. So:

Well, better, but outstanding?? At this point I e-mailed pictures of my attempts to my wonderful sister Leslie and her response was: "Was there another option? LOL" Good ole Leslie.

Sorry some of the pictures are a little fuzzy (pun!) I think the camera needed new batteries. In the meantime and while several days pass: I want to give you a couple of links. I absolutely LOVE Maya Road products. Everything they have just appeals to me and I have purchased one or two of their items... Take a look: http://www.mayaroad.com/

Also, I would like you to see the Inkadinkado Mindscape stamps. Look closely to see that the designs are made up of other pictures. The butterfly has fairies, the dragonfly is made up of birds, the ladybug has a dragonfly, the 5 point star is butterflies and the hummingbird is also butterflies. See that butterfly that makes up the whole hummingbird wing? Here is the link: http://inkadinkado.eksuccessbrands.com/zoomimage.aspx?pid=95017

So, finally, I revisited and explored my original thoughts. Okay--maybe original ideas can work. I used the Paper Pups cartridge for the dog (of course), the card and the sun. AND I got to use that fuzzy ribbon I had. So, the ribbon, dog, and sun are fuzzy and I'm happy. And relaxed finally.

Cricut Cartridge Storage

Before I begin my explanation of cartridge storage, I have to say that options 2 and 3 were both "designed" by Sherrie (Cricut MB name Cardjunkie). She is so clever and comes up with wonderful ideas no matter what she is working on--storage, cards, scrap pages--you name it, she has the best ideas.

I recently changed my method of storage for Cricut cartridges. I loved them in the original boxes until I got too many to store and access easily. Next, Leslie made me a "suitcase" that held the books in the bottom and velcroed the cartridges on the lid. That worked well also--until I got too many to store in that system.

So, now here is the latest storage solution which I like the best. The cartridges are held in a floss sorting plastic container available in about all crafting stores. I purchased mine at Hobby Lobby (but have also purchased them at Michael's and Joann's) for I believe about $2. It was found in the crafting area. There were also some in the sewing/floss aisle for about $5. Apparently, they cost more if you are going to store floss in them! You can store 36 cartridges in one case and then you have to quit purchasing carts. Yeah, right!

The keypad is stored inside the book and the books are set up right in this Sterilite container also purchased at Hobby Lobby. It may have been on sale at the time but was around $5. It measures about 5 1/2" high, x 8" x 13".

Then, the floss box will fit inside the large box on top of the books and everything is together and easy to carry.

Be inspired November ATC

This is our last creation for the Be inspired ATC group. We are all so busy that we are taking a break from this swap. My card is pretty simple but kind of follows my original idea--which is pretty amazing since my first ideas rarely work. Here is the inspiration:

and this is my card:

Project 365 Scrapbook

I can't believe how much time passes between my blog posts. I mean to post more, but life....

I got to do some Christmas shopping a couple of days ago. Well, I may have done a little shopping for myself also. I am so excited about this Project 365, and after consulting with sister Leslie about possible scrapbooks and scrapping options, decided to go with the 3-ring scrap binder for 12 x 12 pages. I did my shopping at Archivers with a 30% off coupon.

There were several options, including books by American Craft, We Are Memory Keepers, Pioneer and Making Memories--in fabric, fabric with stitched designs (very tempting), plain leather and embossed leather. Page protector options were the full 12 x 12 page and one with six pockets for individual photos. Prices were comparable. One company's albums were a little more, another company's protector sheets were a little more. So many choices! After emergency cell phone calls to Leslie, I finally decided on the green embossed leather from Making Memories with the full page protectors.

And here it is:

Next step on the project will be the title page.

Project 365

At the beginning of last year I heard about Project 365. The idea is to take a photograph per day and scrap it with some brief journaling. It appears that a common layout is one week on a two page spread. I'm leaning toward that format if I think I can get 52 pages in a scrapbook.

But, of course, the most important part was preparation. I altered this composition book with Basic Grey Phoebe and LilyKate papers. I have printed some articles on the project which I will insert and also keep other ideas, lists and perhaps journaling until it is scrapped with the pictures.

Here are the articles I printed just in case you are interested too: http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/images/stories/magazines/creating_keepsakes/January2009/365GreatIdeas4.pdf

and also http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/images/stories/magazines/creating_keepsakes/January2009/365ideas.pdf

Flip flop card

I finished a birthday flip flop card. As I stated in a previous post, I made a file on design studio to cut the card. It makes it so much easier to just score to the cuts and fold. No measuring! The cut file is available. Just let me know if you would like me to send it to you.

Your card base should be cut at 5 1/2 x 6 3/4. I designed the flip flop cuts so you can line your card up in the upper left corner of your mat with no space between the edge of the sticky part and the beginning of the card edge.

The paper I used is double sided from "My Mind's Eye". Bohemia, Bliss "Darling Daughter" floral/pink. The other shades of pink on the flip are from other papers in the line. The stamp color is Cranberry from Close to My Heart. And look--I actually used some of those thousands of flowers I have purchased. I tipped the edges of the flowers with the Cranberry also.






(I have to say this looks so much better in person!)

Gift can reaction

My nieces really loved their gift cans. And that made me very happy also. The littlest one who likes Barbie asked my sister how I knew her favorite character was Sleeping Beauty. Kids--she was supposed to think it was Barbie!! But, it worked out.

Father's gift card

Dad always gets a gift card from Golf Galaxy. I would have done a golf card but LESLIE borrowed my Sports Mania cart so she could make Dad a Golf Galaxy gift card holder. (No, really, I didn't have an idea anyway) So, I decided to try the flip-flop card. Jill posted on her blog the link to the Split Coast Stampers tutorial and I am including it here also: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/swing_flip_flop_card/

The paper was left over from a project last year. I'm not sure of the manufacturer. The snowflakes are from both Graphically Speaking and from A Child's Year. The gift card will fit perfectly on the back of the flip.

I finished this at about 1:00 a.m. and went to bed. When my eyes popped open this morning, I thought I bet I can use design studio to make this card easier to make. (I hate all that measuring, partial line cutting, partial line scoring.) So, I got on design studio and after a couple of minor adjustments, I think I have it right. Below is a birthday card I'm making. I'll finish it up later, but I wanted you to see the cut. Then, the scoring lines are easy--just score to the cut. I'll give more details later.

Mother's gift card

Now, just so you know, I'm not waiting until the last minute. Our family Christmas is still a couple of days away! This is the card I made to hold Mother's Half-Price Bookstore gift card.

The card was cut from A Child's Year. The frame lines cut as strictly lines. So, I took my new utility knife because it was handy, and cut a little wider opening so you could actually see the frame. I'm thinking that I could alter it in Design Studio to widen the lines next time.

I have loved those eyeballs in Graphically Speaking since I got the cart and now I have finally used them. The book is also from Graphically Speaking. The paper is, of course, double sided Basic Grey from the Christmas set a year or two ago. The letters on the inside are the stickers from that set--not enough "r's" so two colors. The gift card will fit perfectly attached to the inside top of the card in the frame.

CFS altered notebook

Okay--this isn't my work, but it is my paper and notebook. I needed a place to help keep the tally on the Cards for Soldiers challenges. My sister, Leslie, designed and covered this for me. The paper is Basic Grey--my favorite company for papers.