Cricut 360° Blog Challenge #8 ... Back To School

Happy Friday! Here's my project for this week's Cricut 360° Blog challenge ... where we're headed "Back To School".

For my project, I decided to alter a notebook. I started with an inexpensive composition book and covered it with paper I printed using my Imagine and the Imagine More cartridge. Then I used my Gypsy with George & Basic Shapes to make the chalkboard frame and backed it with black cardstock. The font is from Lyrical Letters ... sized and welded with my Gypsy.

I added some frosted gems (from Martha Stewart), lots of ribbon and a cute little owl charm.

Of course, I needed an apple, so I went with the apple and books from Hello Kitty ... sometimes I forget what a versatile cartridge this is!

So, there you have it! Now it's you're turn ... head on over to the Cricut 360° Blog and show us your "Back To School" stuff!!

Thanks for stopping by ...

Cricut 360° Blog Challenge #7 ... Old West

It's Friday, and you know what that means ... another Cricut 360° Blog challenge. This week we're headed out west to find our inner cowgirl!

For my card, I chose a digital image from Bombshell Stamps. They have great vintage images and I just love this cowgirl! I used PhotoShop Elements to change the line art color from black to brown, and then used Copics to color the image.  The patterned paper is from K & Company and the cardstock is from Papertrey Ink. The frames are from the Elegant Edges cartridge ... I used my Gypsy to size the frames to fit my card base. To make the tarnished gold frame, I cut the image from a cream colored cardstock, inked it first with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink, then with a bronze color Ink Spot and finished with a spritz of Tattered Leather Glimmer Mist. I then ran it through my crimper to give it a some dimension. My image is pop-dotted and to finish, I added a little crochet thread and a metal star I found in a old jewelry box.

I added a computer generated sentiment to the inside of the card. It's a quote from Dale Evans ... it really brings back memories of watching Roy Rogers and Dale Evans on Saturday afternoon (I'm dating myself here!) and I thought it was perfect for my vintage style card.

Now it's your turn ... mosey on over to the Cricut 360° Blog and see the great projects my design team sisters have created. I hope you're inspired to join us this week.

Thanks for stopping by ...

Cricut 360° Blog Challenge #6 ... Refreshing

It's Friday and time for another Cricut 360° Blog challenge. It's been crazy hot so we're going to try to cool things down with some refreshing projects!

For my project, I tried to recreate one of my favorite things: an Olive Garden Italian Margarita. My, oh my ... they are yummy!

There are martini glasses on a couple of Cricut cartridges, but no margarita glasses, so I used my Gypsy to make my own. I welded an oval from Plantin Schoolbook to the top of the martini glass from Smiley Cards to create the margarita shape. I cut it two times, one from white cardstock and one from frosted Shrinky Dink material. I used a Copic marker to ink the frosted side. It's kind of hard to tell from the picture, but I inked the stem of the glass with a light blue Copic marker. I used Glossy Accents to adhere some clear Martha Stewart micro beads to the rim. Then I used more Glossy Accents (just on the side edges) to adhere the Shrinky Dink layer to the card stock layer.

I like my margaritas 'on the rocks', so I used more the of Shrinky Dink material to make ice cubes. The rounded squares are from George and Basic Shapes. I used my Gypsy to weld three together to form a base. Then I cut three separately. I inked the frosted sides with a light blue Copic marker, and then embossed them with the Tiny Mosaic Cuttlebug folder. I used clear dimensional dots to attach them to the base and slipped them in between the Shrinky Dink material and the cardstock. I like how they look like they're floating. Of course, every margarita needs a straw ... I used a pipe cleaner (slipped behind the white cardstock) to make mine!

The orange slice is from Preserves. It looked a little flat, so I glossed it up with a thin coat of Glossy Accents. For my sentiment, I used Thickers from American Crafts. They're actually yellow, so I inked them with the same Copic marker I used on the margarita.

Oh, and I guess I should tell you my card is a 6" x 6" square and the designer paper is from Stampin' Up. I hope you join us for this week's challenge ... I'd love to see your refreshing ideas!!

Thanks for stopping by ...

Cricut 360° Blog Challenge #3 ... For Parents

Once again, I am absolutely amazed at the reponse we had for Challenge #2 ... are you ready for Challenge #3 from the Cricut 360° Blog? Well, July 24th is Parents' Day and we're making projects in honor of moms and dads everywhere.

For my project, I started with a small, inexpensive frame ... the inside dimensions are about 4" x 11". I removed the glass and covered the backing with some patterned paper from Michael's. Then, using quick dry glue, I added  a crocheted trim to the inside edge.

I then selected word art from several cartridges and used my Imagine to print and cut. All of the papers were printed from the Imagine More cartridge. For each word, I selected a pattern and solid paper. Both printed and then cut at the same size. All the edges were inked using a coordinating Stampin' Up marker. I off-set the solid paper to create a shadow effect. Each word is pop-dotted ... they kind of look like they're floating! I finished by adding self-adhesive pearls to the background and the edge of the frame.

At that point, I thought it needed a little something else, so I decided to add a flower. I used the Mother's Day Bouquet cartridge and Imagine More patterns for the flower petals and leaves. Those were inked, as well, and I added a pearl, some crinkle ribbon, crochet trim and a little copper wire to finish. I'm really happy with this little flower. If you haven't tried making flowers with the Mother's Day Bouquet cartridge ... you're missing out!!

Here are the cartridges I used for the word art:

Family - Gypsy Wanderings cut @ 2.3

Together - Graphically Speaking cut @ 1.8

Forever - Home Decor cut @ 2.4

Love - Beyond Birthdays cut @ 1.4

Oh, I almost forgot ... everything was spritzed with Pearl Glimmer Mist ... for just a little sparkle!

Now it's your turn ... for our random drawing this week we have an Echo Park 'Dots and Stripes' paper pad. Good Luck!!

Thanks for stopping by ...

Cricut 360° Blog Challenge #2 ... Thank You

 I am so excited about the response we had to our first Cricut 360° Blog challenge! It was wonderful to see everyone's entry ... you all are seriously talented. After such a great first week, it's appropriate that our next challenge is to create a 'Thank You' card. The only rules: create a circle shaped card and, of course, use your Cricut. Here's what I came up with for this week:

I got my inspiration for this card from Michele Kovack. She is one of the design team members for the Circut Circle blog and she recently did a tutorial on using your Cricut to cut felt. The trick is to stabilize your felt with Heat & Bond or Wonder Under. Then you place it, felt side down, on your mat and cut using a deep cut blade. Two more tricks: tape the edges of the felt to your mat and keep your cuts simple. The felt will shift a little, so intricate cuts won't work well.  

So, to make my card I used my Gypsy and Elegant Edges to create the base out of a cream colored cardstock. Then I cut two mats, one from a peach colored cardstock (using the shadow feature) and one from a patterned paper.  The next layer is a doily that I inked with distress ink and spritzed with Glimmer Mist. The peach is from the Preserves cartridge, cut from three colors of felt. I did some embroidery stitches to dress it up a bit and added a button to the center. My little tag is from Tag, Bag, Boxes & More and my sentiment stamps are from My Pink Stamper (You're a Peach!) and Papertrey Ink (thanks). The felt and cardstock are also from Papertrey Ink.

So, there's your challenge ... I'm really looking forward to seeing what you all create ... and remember, we'll use random.org to select our weekly winner. This week the prize is a paper pad from Echo Park. Also, you just might be chosen as one of our weekly Top 3 and be entered in our monthly giveaway. Have fun creating!!

Thanks for stopping by ...

Flamingo Jelly Bean Jar

I have a co-worker who is crazy for flamingos ... her birthday was last week and I made this for her. I cut the vinyl with my E2 and it cut like a dream!

The images are from the Life's A Beach Cricut cartridge. I used my Gypsy to eliminate some of the smaller details and placement marks ... everything layered nicely and I'm happy with how this turned out.

All in all, this is a quick, easy and inexpensive gift ... unless you count the $10 worth of Jelly Bellies!!

Thanks for stopping by ...

Frank Got a New Boat!!

My husband, Frank, got a new boat this spring ... this was a really big deal really around our house! I used my Cricut and vinyl to cut the registration numbers (that go along the sides) and then Frank decided I should 'dress up' the back of the boat, too! Love it ... another reason to play with vinyl!

I used my Gypsy to lay this out and weld the letters. The font for the names is from the Lyrical Letters Cricut cartridge and the other font is from the George and Basic Shapes Cricut cartridge. Now, I was going to leave it at that, but Frank suggested adding a little fishing pole and make it look like an exclamation point. Who knew he could be so creative!? This pole is from the Simply Charmed Cricut cartridge and is actually pretty realistic looking. I thought it needed a little something else, so I added the bobber. I made the bobber by welding shapes from the George cartridge ... I'm really proud of that little bobber ... it's my favorite part of this!!

Here's the story about the other name on the boat: Tatum is the 4 year old grandson of one of Frank's fishing buddies. Tatum is just a sweetie and he adores Frank. Now we're not quite sure what Frank said to him, or when he said it (because Frank talked about this boat for months!), but apparently he told Tatum something about having to save money so he could get a new boat. Well, a few weeks before we got the boat, Tatum's mom stopped by our house with a dollar and instructions to give that dollar to Frankie 'cause he needed money for his new boat ... too cute! We figure this makes him a co-owner, so his name is on the boat, too!!

Thanks for stopping by ..

A Happy 5th Birthday to Cricut

Provo Craft is having a layout challenge to go along with the launch of their new Expression 2. The launch is scheduled for  April 26th on HSN. They're giving away 5 of the new machines and also showcasing some of the entires. The challenge was to create a 12"x12" layout with a birthday theme, and you could enter up to three layouts. I decided to give it a try ... here are my two entries:

For this one, I used my Imagine and the Elise cartridge to print the patterned paper and the cream colored paper for the squares. I embossed cream colored squares with the Number Collage Cuttlebug folder. The lettering is from the Lyrical Letters Cricut cartridge ... sized and welded with my Gypsy. The cupcake is from the Simply Charmed Cricut cartridge. I crimped the wrapper and pop dotted the layers.

And for this one, I used Gypsy Wanderings for the 'Happy Birthday' and Plantin Schoolbook for the '5'. The 'th' are stickers from American Crafts and all the patterned papers are from Stampin' Up. It's hard to see in the pictures, but there's lots of stitching and I used a Martha Stewart border punch on the mats. I finished with some ribbon and lots of buttons.

I've only done a few layouts and wasn't really sure what I was doing, but for the most part, I'm happy with the way these turned out. I have little expectation of winning, but I really did enjoy making these ... and who knows, maybe I'll get to catch a glimpse of one of them on HSN.

Thanks for stopping by ...

A Card for Sweet Grayson

This is one of my all time favorites ... I'm so pleased with how this turned out. A sweet little card for a sweet little baby boy on his Baptism day.

I used cardstock from PaperTrey Ink to make the 5.25" square card base. The patterned paper is from Echo Park and is a very pretty, pale seafoam green ... that layer is 5" square. The white layer is 4.75" square and I embossed that with my Cuttlebug and the Polka Dots folder (it's one of the larger 5"x7" folders). I also rubbed a little soft green chalk over the embossing ... it's very subtle, so it's hard to see in the photos. The cross is from the Wedding Solutions Circut cartridge, cut at 4.5". I cut base layer from the patterned paper using the blackout feature. The top layer was cut from a white textured Bazzill paper.

                                      

The little lamb is from the Paper Doll Dress Up Circut cartridge. It was cut three times at 3". The first layer was cut from a medium shade of gray cardstock. The other two layers were cut from white cardstock. For the white layers, I used the hide contour feature on my Gypsy to eliminate the cut for the ear. On one of the white layers, I trimmed off the face, tail and hooves. On the other white layer, I trimmed off everything, leaving just the body. I ran this layer through my Xyron and then covered it with white flocking powder. To finish him, I used a black gel pen to color his eye.

The butterfly is from the Create a Critter Cricut cartridge, cut a .75". I cut two of the base layers from the medium gray cardstock, then one 'layer 1' from a light yellow cardstock. The 'layer 2' was cut from a seafoam green cardstock. Then I cut two more of the 'layer 1s' (one flipped) from the green cardstock ... I adhered the flipped one on the back of the top butterfly and the other one the top of the bottom butterfly. When I put the two butterflies together, I only adhered the bodies. This made a cute little 3D butterfly, and really, it's much easier to make than it sounds!

Now here's a look at the inside ... the sentiment is computer generated. I layered this over more of the patterned paper and added a few self-adhesive pearls. I really enjoyed making this ... hope you like it too!!

Thanks for stopping by ...

Baby Shower Gift Tags

My daughter and I went to a baby shower on Sunday. We took gifts for the mom, dad and new baby ... so I made tags for each. The tags were made using Tag, Bag, Boxes & More.

The 'for' is from Cake Basics, sized and welding using my Gypsy. The 'mom' and 'dad' cuts are from Beyond Birthdays.

 The 'baby' cut is from Gypsy Wandering.

The papers and card stock are from Stampin' Up. I added a little doodling and self-adhesive pearls and gems. Quick and easy!!

Stacey's Happy Birthday Smiley Cake Card

This is a card I made for my daughter's birthday. Isn't that a happy face? It's from the Smiley Cards Cricuit cartridge.

I used my Gypsy to weld two of the base images together to create a shaped card and sized the layers to fit. I ran the 'frosting' and candle 'flames' through my Xyron and then glittered them with Martha Stewart glitter. The cheeks and cake plate were embossed with UTEE.

I used Tags, Bags, Boxes and More to make a gift card holder and the sentiment is computer generated. We both started diets on January 1st, so I thought the sentiment was appropriate!!

If you'd like the Gypsy file for this ... click here.

My Pink Stamper Blog Hop Challenge Card

 Thought I'd try the My Pink Stamper Blog Hop challenge ... if you'd like to try too, click here.

This is from the Lacy Labels Cricut cartridge. I used my Gypsy to weld two labels together to create the card base, then sized and cut the layers to fit. I ran the scalloped layer through my Xyron and glittered it with Martha Stewart glitter. The heart is stamped with a sentiment from My Pink Stamper's "Family and Friends" set, then embossed with UTEE. I love how this turned out ... hope you like it, too!

If you'd like the Gypsy file, click here.

Beer Gift Card Holder

My nephew asked me to make a gift card holder for a card he was giving to his dad. I got my inspiration for this card holder here ... thanks, Enfys! To create the shape, I used my Gypsy to weld an oval shape from George and Basic Shapes to the top of the mug from Gypsy Wanderings. I also used my Gypsy to hide the details on the mug. I then cut the mug four times: once from cream card stock, once from gold card stock, once from vellum and once (flipped) from patterned paper. I clipped the handle from the gold card stock and then layered them all together. The foam was created with Tulip Puff Paint. I added a computer generated sentiment and a pocket, from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More, for the gift card. It's not quite as I had pictured it in my head ... but I think it works!

This Year's Fair Entry

This is a shaped card I made to enter into our county fair. The cake is from the Wedding Solutions cartridge. Using my Gypsy, I welded it to a rectangle from the George and Basic Shapes cartridge. The patterned paper and cardstock are from Stampin Up. I used UTEE to emboss the cake stand ... it really made it look 'glass like'. I added some flowers, pearls and lots of stickles. 

Here's a look at the inside ... the sentiment is  from Verve Stamps.

By the way, I did get a First Place ribbon for this one!

Golfer's Birthday Card

I used my Gypsy and the George and Basic Shapes cartidge to create the golf club and ball. I used Cuttlebug folders to dry emboss the golf ball and the golf club head & handle. I also embossed the golf club head with UTEE.

The grass was made using a Martha Stewart punch and the sentiments are from Verve Stamps.

My Pink Stamper Design Team: Summer Fun

Okay, so this is a little out of my comfort zone. I'm a cardmaker, not a scrapbooker. In fact, this is the first layout I've ever done ... but the idea popped into my head and I had to go with it. This is my buddy Jake playing in his pool filled with water and brightly colored balls. Yes, Jake has his own pool ... which is just one of the reason we're known in our neighborhood as the crazy people with all those dogs!

I cut the dog, collar, buckle and tag from Paper Pups. The dog was cut with my Gypsy using the Hide/Contour feature ... which is my new favorite thing. I was able to cut the ducky floatie in three different colors without any waste. I couldn't find paper I liked for the floatie, so I used a hole punch to make polka dots from scraps of card stock and then adhered them to the white base. This was a real test of my patience ... but I like the end result.

I love how the collar, buckle and tag turned out! I used my Cuttlebug and the Herringbone folder to dry emboss the collar. The buckle and tag were cut from the cardboard from a paper stack. I inked them with silver ink and embossed them with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE). I attached the tag to the buckle using a couple of jewelry finds so it actually dangles ... yeah ... very proud of myself!!

The circles were cut using "George and Basic Shapes" and I used the center point key when I cut the pictures. The journaling is computer generated because it would make me crazy to try and do that by hand! Here you can also see the cute border ... it's a EK Success border punch.


 The splash is from "Create 
a Critter". I embossed the water drops with UTEE. I 
cut a few more, snipped off the water drops and embossed them to use as embellishments. 

I added sentiments using the My Pink Stamper's "Family & Friends" set and a little doodling. And, since I don't have an album for this, I framed my layout in a 12" x 12" shadow box. 

Now, hop on over to My Pink Stamper to see the other Design Team "Summer Fun" projects!!