Jessica's Gift Card Holder

My niece Jessica is a wonderful artist ... after graduation next spring, she hopes to attend college to study art. So, of course, I got her a Michael's gift card for Christmas and made this gift card holder for her. I used the elf from Hello Kitty Greetings, cut at 8 inches. I added white velvet flocking and Martha Stewart tinsel glitter to the fur trim and red velvet flocking on her hat and shoes. I used Stickles on the bow in her hair and, just for fun, hot-glued jingle bells to the tips of her shoes. On the back, I cut patterned paper using the blackout feature and adhered it to the main image. Then, using Tag, Bags, Boxes and More, I cut a little envelope for the gift card. I really like this one ... it was such fun to make!

Be Merry

This is the last of my Christmas cards. I made a dozen of these to send to family and friends. The patterned paper is from a DCWV Christmas pack and, for the light teal layer, I used a snowflake stamp from Stampin' Up with Champagne Versa Mark to create a soft back ground. The 'be merry' is a stamp from Whipper Snappers. I used a Martha Stewart punch for the leaves and added some self-adhesive pearls.

For the inside, more Versa Mark snowflakes on a medium teal layer. The sentiment stamp is from Stampendous.

Happy Christmas to Cora, too

I think this is my favorite card of the season ... it's the 'girly' version of the card I made for Isaiah (December 15th post). This one's for my little friend Cora who is truly a pink kind of girl.

Christmas Bella Card

This is one of my Christmas cards for this year. I made a dozen of these for my sisters and some special 'girl friends'. The image is from Stamping Bella, colored with Stampin' Up markers. The sentiment stamp is from Stampendous. I used the George cartridge to cut the circle and rectangles, the Gypsy Wanderings cartridge for the scalloped circle and the Tag, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge for the sentiment tag. The edges were inked with Tim Holtz Distress Ink.

If you look closely, you'll see I used Martha Stewart tinsel glitter on Bella's hat and boots, and I used Martha Stewart microbeads for the holly berries. Martha has come up with some really cool bling!

For the inside, I used the Winter Woodland cartridge for the holly and Gypsy Wandering for the "Fabulous". The inside is not quite what I had in mind, but it's works. Overall, I'm happy with this one ... hope you like it too!

Happy Christmas Isaiah

A little card for my neighbor Isaiah ... he's almost 2 years old. The image is a Penny Black 'Slapstick' stamp, colored with Copics and cut with my circle Nestibilities. The scalloped circle was cut using Gypsy Wanderings and the snowflakes were cut using Winter Woodland. I'm really liking the non-traditional colors. Hope Isaiah likes it ...

Snowflake Notecard Set

My husband and I went to a neighborhood Christmas party tonight and I needed a hostess gift, so I made a set of four note cards using a snowflake (cut at 3.5 inches) from the Winter Woodland Cricut cartridge. I 'sparkled up' the snowflake with a little Martha Stewart tinsel glitter, then added doodling and some ribbon ... quick and easy.

I also stamped and embossed snowflakes on the envelopes (Stampin' Up stamp), and added three more glittered snowflakes (cut at 3.5, 3 and 2.5 inches) to decorate the gift bag. I tied the snowflakes to the gift bag with clear monofilament thread make them look as if they're floating or maybe falling.

Celebrate Today - Birthday Card

This is a card a made for my husband's birthday ... he's an avid deer hunter. I never seem to be happy with the cards I make for men and wasn't sure I liked this one at all, but it's growing on me. I used my Gypsy to create the layout. The deer is from Gypsy Wandering, the tree is from Wild Card, the fence is from Paper Doll Dress Up and the clouds are from Hello Kitty Greetings. The sentiment is a stamp from Papertrey Ink's Mega Mixed Messages set. I finished it off with some inking and doodling. You'll notice there's not even a little bit of ribbon, and I'm okay with that ... kind of!

Happy Birthday Cupcake

Here's a quick little card I made for my friend Karen. The cupcake is from Home Decor, flipped and welded. I used my Gypsy ... I don't have Design Studio, so this is the first time I've made a shaped card. I can see myself doing more of these. The frosting layer was run through my cuttlebug and I used some Crystal Accents on the cherry for a little shine. Then I added a little ribbon because, well because I just have to. Pretty simple, but I like how it turn out.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope all of you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday, and for those who don't celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you're having a marvelous Thursday. Please know that I am truly thankful for all the wonderful friends I've made on the Cricut messageboards and here on my blog. Thanks to all of you for your support and inspiration.

This card was designed with Gypsy using George Basic Shapes and Gypsy Wanderings. The tree stamp is from Whipper Snappers (colored with Stampin' Up markers) and the sentiment stamp is from Stampin' Up.

With My Apologies

I borrowed a cookbook from my neighbor Linda and, instead of returning it promptly, I scooped it up and put it away with my cookbooks and then forgot about it. Well, six (ouch) months later, I find it ... oops! So, in an attempt to get myself out of trouble, I made a Gooey Butter cake and this card for her.

The image is a Mo Manning digital, colored with Copics. The sentiment is computer generated and I used a Martha Stewart punch for some detail.

Well, Linda loved card and the cake was good too, so all is good and I'm forgiven!!

Halloween Treats Holders ... Just a Little Late

Okay ... Halloween was three weeks ago, but I was so please with the way these turned out, I thought I would post them anyway. I made these for my co-workers ... this was my first Gypsy project. I used Tags, Bags, Boxes & More for the base and welded a ghost and bat from Paper Doll Dress Up on the top. They were cut from double sided Stampin' Up paper. Then I "layered-on" ghosts and bats and added a little doodling. The tags were made using Nestibilities and a Stampin' Up stamp. When folded, these are just the right size to hold a Ghirardelli chocolate square.

I especially like that I was able to cut 3 treat holders from one 12x12 sheet of paper with very little waste!

It's Another October Birthday Card!

This is a quick and simple birthday card I made for my friend Lisa ... I had to be careful and not make it too "girly". I used my Gypsy to lay it all out. The argyle card base is from Wild Cards (Lisa loves argyle ... I be she has a hundred pairs of argyle socks), the ovals are from George and the dog and butterfly are from Paper Pups. I used some brown "pearls" for the dog's eye and to add a little detail to the butterfly. And, since I think no card is complete without ribbon, I added a little bow. This was a fun card to make and Lisa was tickled pink!

Another October Birthday

I made this little card for my friend Lori ... it actually kind of looks like her. The image is a digital from InStyle Stamps, colored with Copics. I used my Martha Stewart Drippy Goo punch to make the "icing" and then covered it with a thin layer of Crystal Affects to add a little shine. The card base, the striped layer and the oval frame were all cut on my Cricut using Gypsy Wanderings ... this is my first Gypsy card. I finished with a handwritten sentiment and a little ribbon. Hope you like it.

A Card for My Sister and Copic Creations Challenge #13

About the time I was learning to use my Copic markers, DeeDee sent me this sweet little Tilda image. I colored her and set her aside ... not sure how I wanted to use her. Then I came across this wonderful pumpkin stamp from Whiff of Joy and knew it would make a great little 'seat' for Tilda. I whipped up this little card for my sister's birthday, and, as luck would have it, the current challenge at Copic Creations is pumpkins. Perfect!!

Lanie's 1st Birthday-Three Clovers Challenge #32, Simon Says "It's a Stitch Up" and Pile It On Challenge #17

My great niece celebrated her 1st birthday on Saturday and I thought this Mo Manning image was just perfect for her card.

I colored the image with Copics, then cut the image and mat with Nestibilites. The #1 is a Cricut cut from the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge and the balloons were cut using the George Basic Shapes cartridge. The patterned papers are digital ... the floral is from a Funky Hand cd called "Funky Word Books" and the gingham is from the "Sweetest Thing" set from Designer Digitals. I added some stitching and a little doodling for detail. Lanie and her parents loved the card, which is really what it's all about.

And, just by chance, this card works perfectly for the current challenge at Three Clovers Designs. Check out Kerry's great blog.

Happy Birthday Frog - Gotta Love Dustin Pike

I needed a birthday card for my friend Becky who's crazy for frogs and knew I couldn't go wrong with a Dustin Pike image. I used my Copics to color this sweet little guy (don't you just love that face!) and added the sentiment using a stamp from Papertrey Ink. I finished the edge of the designer papers with a Martha Stewart punch, added a chocolate gingham ribbon and topped it all off with a little butterfly button. I had no idea where I was headed with this when I started, but I really like how it turned out ... simple, but cute ... I think Becky will like it too!!

A Card for Jill

Wow, it seems like forever since I've made a card ... there just aren't enough hours in the day!! Anyway, I finally had a chance to spend some time in my craft room and make this birthday card. Isn't this just the cutest image? It's a digital from Mo Manning ... you can see all her images here. I chose this image because she looks amazing like a girl my daughter grew up with (I really shouldn't call her a girl anymore as she just celebrated her 25th birthday) and I thought she would enjoy a card that looked her. I colored the image with Copics and added a little glitter to the skirt. The papers and ribbon are from Stampin' Up and the little butterfly is a button from WalMart. I used the swiss dots Cuttlebug folder and the tag was cut with my Nestibilities. The sentiment is a stamp from Papertrey Ink's Mega Messages set. Lots of fun to make, and with any luck, it won't be another month before I make it to my craft room again!

Rach's Blog Candy -

Rach has some great blog candy up for grabs ... check out her blog here.

Blog Award ... Yeah!!

I received this award from my friends Lorrie and Bug Junkie, and what a great award it is! I've met so many wonderful and talent people since starting my blog ... I feel blessed to be included in such an awesome group. Thanks so much friends.

Now, here are the rules for this award: Copy and paste the award logo and use it on your own blog. Nominate 5 other bloggers you feel have become part of your circle of friends. Link to your nominees within your blog post. Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award. Include these instructions on how to pick up the award in your blog post. Link back to the person who gave you the award in your blog post, to show your appreciation.

And here are my nominees:

Chrissy

DeeDee

Jeannie

Margie

Ramona

Visit their blogs, you won't be disappointed!!

Note Card Set - Storybook

I needed a quick birthday gift, so I made this set of note cards. The cards are A2 size. I used the Storybook cartridge for the monograms ... cut them at 4". The black card stock and the "Just Because" stamp are from Papertrey Ink. The green card stock is from Bazzill, and the patterned paper is from a Designer Digitals set called Simple Classics No 2.

I added a few flat-backed pearls and a little gingham ribbon ...

Then, to complete the set, I recycled an acrylic box to use as a holder for the note cards. I embellished it with a strip of patterned paper, edged with a Martha Stewart punch. Added more ribbon and a flower made with die-cuts from my stash. Topped it off with a card stamped with a Penny Black stamp, clipped to the top of the box. Just a quick and simple set!!

Heard You Caught A Bug - Get Well Card

This is a card I've entered in our County Fair. One of the categories is Get Well cards and I wanted to make a fun one.

The image is a digital from Dustin Pike ... I printed the image on a plain piece of card stock, then using the Center Point button on my Cricut, cut the jar around the image using the Doodlecharms cartridge. I colored the 'bug' with Copic markers and then covered the jar with a thin coating of Glossy Accents to make it look glass-like. To make the lid, I cut another jar out of gray paper and snipped off the top, then inked it using a metallic ink. Finally, for the base, I cut another jar from pink card stock using the Shadow feature.

The flowers were cut using the Walk in My Garden cartridge ... I added buttons, twine, some doodling and leaves made using a Martha Stewart punch. All the card stock is from Papertrey Ink and the designer paper is from K and Company. The sentiments were computer generated.

Here's a peek at the inside. I've entered four cards total. I should know the results of the judging this evening. I'll let you know I did ...

Penny Black Week 57 ~ Swirls & Copic Creations Challenge 8 ~ Botanicals

I fell in love with this stamp after seeing a wonderful card my blogging friend Brenda made with it (visit her blog here). The stamp is called "Love Blush" and since it's a Penny Black stamp, I though I would use it for this week's challenge ... which is to add swirls to a project. I'm also using this card for Copic Creations Challenge ~ Botanicals. Links to both challenge sites are on the right side panel of my blog.

I wanted the swirls to subtle, but didn't have a swirly background stamp. Sigh, now what to do? Then I remembered I could make a stamp using my Cricut. With the stamp material, a really sticky mat and the deep cut blade, I cut a swirly design using the Storybook cartridge. This is the first time I've tried making a stamp and it worked perfectly ... if you haven't tried this yet, I highly recommend it!! Using my 'new' stamp on an acrylic block and VersaMark Dazzle ink in Champagne, I stamped swirls on navy cardstock.

Then I colored my stamped image with Copics (I'm secretly quite proud of how it turned out) ... layered the image on a digital paper from a Designer Digitals set called Sweetest Thing ... and added the frosted Martha Stewart gems, which, just by luck, match the striped paper perfectly.

This is a birthday card, and is 5.5" square, so I added the navy satin ribbon, hoping it would look somewhat like a birthday present. So, how'd I do? Let me know ...