Cricut 360° Blog Challenge #10 ... Grandparents

Welcome to Challenge #10 for the Cricut 360° Blog. Grandparents' Day is September 11th, so we're making projects just for them.

For my card, I chose designer papers and cardstock from Stampin' Up and a flower from Art Philosophy. I cut the petals three times and layered them using large glue dots. I added some doodling, a big button and a little seam binding. The sentiment is a stamp from Pink By Design. All in all, it's a simple card, but I love the bright colors. Now, head on over to the Cricut 360° Blog to see what my design team sisters have come up with ... their projects are awesome, and be sure to link up your Grandparents' Day creation ... I look forward to seeing it!!

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° Challenge #1 ... Invitation

Yah, I'm so excited ... it's finally here ... the first challenge for the new Cricut 360° Challenge blog! To get started, we've created invitations to invite you to come and play along with us.

For my card, I used white cardstock from PaperTrey Ink to make a 6"x6" base. The frame was cut using the Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge, embossed using the Polka Dots Cuttlebug folder and then lined with some polka dot paper from Stampin' Up. The balloons and the Cricut head were cut using Cricut Decals, which is one of the 'built-in' cartridges on the Expression 2. I used my computer to print the sentiments and then inked the edges of the balloons and added crochet thread for the strings. All the images on my card are 'pop dotted' to give it some dimension.

I hope you like my little card ... now it's your turn. For more inspiration, hop on over to the Cricut 360° Challenge blog to see what the other design team members have created ... you'll be very impressed. When you get to the blog, be sure to click on the 'Rules' tab at the top of the page. That's where you'll find all you need to know about our challenges.

Wait, there's more: We have a prize this week. We will use random.org to select a winner from this week's participants. Up for grabs ...

a 6"x6" Life of the Party paper pad from Basic Grey.

And even more: each week the Design Team will pick three weekly favorites. Those selected will receive a badge to display on their blog. Then, at the end of each month the Design Team will select a monthly winner from the weekly favorites, and that winner will receive prize, too! How much fun is that!!

So, get busy ... I can't wait to see what you all make!

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 ...

Simply Charmed ... It's Your Birthday!

I recently sold some of my cards ... yah for me! A friend asked if I would make a couple of birthday cards for her to give to her mother and mother-in-law. I made six, to give her a choice, and she pick three ... this was one of them.

I used patterned paper from Echo Park, cardstock from Stampin' Up, and a flower from the Simply Charmed Cricut cartridge. I dressed the flower up a bit with some doodling and I used pop dots between each layer. The sentiment is a stamp from Verve Stamps. I stamped it using Versamark ink and then embossed it with white embossing powder. To finish, I added a little blue ribbon. Simply and fun!

Thanks for stopping by ...

It's Your Birthday Sundae!

Here's a card I made for my friend, April. April always appreciates my cards ... I love that! Anyway, my cute sundae image is a digital from Pink Petticoat. If you're interested in digitals, you should check them out. They have lots fun images to choose from and have digital papers, too.

 I colored  this with Copics, added a little glitter, then used Glossy Accents on the cherry and dish. The scalloped ovals are from the Lacy Labels Cricut cartridge. I  pop dotted the pink and purple layers and used an Action Wobble to attached the layer with the image. Finish it with some Stampin' Up ribbon and a sentiment from Verve Stamps. Oh, I also used a Stampin' Up border punch to finish the bottom edge of the blue layer. Too cute!!

Thanks for stopping by ...

For the Dogs

This was entered in the following challenges:

Circut Circle Blog - December Challenge

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog - #39 Gifts Galore

Frosted Designs - Ribbon

Fussy & Fancy  Friday Challenge - #25 Anything But a Card

Pile it On - #48 It's All in the Wrapping

Really Reasonable Ribbons - #13 Anything But a Card - Winter

Each year, my neighbor Diane hosts a neighborhood Christmas dinner party and I always make a gift to take to her. For this year's gift I decided to make glitter ornaments and a gift box.

Diane has three, much-loved dogs so I thought it would be fun to make the ornaments for the dogs. I used the "floor wax" technique and red Martha Stewart glitter to make the glitter ornaments. If you're not familiar with this technique ... check out this video. Using my Gypsy and Lyrical Letters, I sized and welded the letter of their names and cut them out of white vinyl. For the back of the ornaments, I cut this cute little dog using Paper Pups and the star from the Christmas Solutions cartridge. The dog's eye was too small to cut from the vinyl, so I used a paint pen to add a small dot. Each ornament is topped with a little red and white gingham ribbon from Stampin' Up.                                                     

The gift box is a 6" x 6" paper mache box. I painted it with three coats of Light Buttermilk Americana acrylic paint. I used paper from the DCWV Homemade Christmas stack to cover the sides and top of the box. The red striped ribbon is also from Stampin' Up. I adhered two pieces to both the box bottom and top, making sure they 'lined up' when the top was placed on the box. I added another piece of patterned paper to the inside of the lid to hide the ends of the ribbon. For the bottom of the box, the ribbon ends are hidden by tissue paper. I then tied a big bow on the top of the lid.

The tag and phrase were cut from the Winter Frolic cartridge using more of the DCVW paper and card stock from Stampin' Up. The tag was cut at 2.5" and the phrase was cut at 2". I used pop dots to attach the phrase to the tag and added some bronze pearls.

Here's a look at the complete project. Hope you like it ... thanks for stopping by!

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!

It's Not Easy Being Pink Blog Hop!

Welcome to the My Pink Stamper's retiring design team's blog hop. We're taking this time to thank Robyn for the wonderful opportunity of being part of her first design team. If you've arrived here from Emma's blog, you're doing fine. If you just wandered into the blog hop, here's a list of everyone participating ... I don't want you to miss out on anything.

Julie

Agnes

Emma

Jo (that's me)

Karla

Pam

Rowena

I'm very happy to be part of this blog hop. Because of my association with Robyn, I've had lots of 'firsts' over the last four months: my first time as a Design Team member, filmed my first video, made my first scrapbook layout, and now, participating in my first blog hop. Thanks, Robyn, it's been a fun ride.

For my 'Thank You' gift to Robyn, I decided to make  an altered box. I chose this project for a couple of reasons. One, I found a special little gift and I thought it would be fun to put it in a decorated box that she can keep and use as a memory box. Two, the project I submitted for her Design Team call was my Altered Baby Gift Box and I thought this would a fitting way to end.

So here are the details on my project: It's a 10" x 10" square paper mache box ... about 5" deep. I painted the inside white, the base pale pink, and the lid bright pink using acrylic paints. The printed papers and cardstock are from Stampin' Up. The flower was cut at 6.5" using the Cindy Loo cartridge.

I used the Lyrical Letters cartridge and my Gypsy to cut the 'My Pink' ...

and 'Memories' is from the Graphically Speaking cartridge.

                                                                                                                          To complete the box, I added a 'skirt' to the lid using a Martha Stewart border punch and finished it with a little satin ribbon.

Now, on to the fun stuff. This is what I'm offering for my blog candy:

There's a K & Company 'Black & Ivory Fusion' paper pack, 10 sheets of cardstock, 4 rolls of ribbon, some pearl trim and an Inkadinkado clear stamp set called ' Circles and Dots'.

All you need to do to be entered for a chance to win is leave a comment and a way to contact you (I'll ship to anywhere in the world!). How easy is that? I'll keep entries open until midnight CST on Sunday, July 25th and post the winner on Monday morning. So, don't be shy ... let me know what you think of my project.

Thanks for visiting! Now, hop on over to see the awesome project Karla has to show you.

My Pink Stamper Color Challenge

There's a challenge today at My Pink Stamper. Robyn has asked us to create a project using the colors Brown, Orange, Pink and Green.

This is what I came up with:

Recipe:

Size - 5.25" x 5.25"

Card stock & Paper - brown, Papertrey Ink; all other, Stampin' Up

Cricut - Owl from Cindy Loo, cut at 2.75"

Sentiments - My Pink Stamper "Tweetie Hoo Puns" stamp set

Extras - Satin ribbon, self adhesive pearls, Stampin' Up border punch, Whisper White craft ink and dimensionals

Don't forget to visit Robyn's blog to see what the other Design Team members have created ... I'm sure you'll love them all!!

My Pink Stamper Design Team Project - Family

The design team theme for May at My Pink Stamper is "Family". My husband and I both have large families ... he's the second of eight children and I'm the youngest of six. So I thought I would make a calendar/card holder to help keep track of everyone's special days. This is actually a very quick and easy project ... I'm sure I'll be making more of these for gifts!

I used the Card Organizer tutorial from Splitcoast Stampers ... look for it here, and the calendar is a PDF file ... you can find it here.

The details -

Size: Front and back covers 6.25" x 8", inside pages 6" x 7.75"

Paper: 12" x 12" double sided paper and coordinating card stock from Stampin' Up

Cricut: Owl and branch from 'Create a Critter' 

Sentiment: Stamps from My Pink Stamper's Everyday Occasions and Simply Sweet Occasions sets; stamped with Versa Mark

Extras: Ribbon, Cuttlebug and embossing folders, computer generated calendar, Bind-it-All


Now, head on over to My Pink Stamper to see what my design team sisters have come up with ... their "Family" projects are AWESOME!!

Two Quick Graduation Cards

Just a couple of quick graduation cards using Wild Cards and a stamp from Stampendous. On the inside, I made a gift card holder using some card stock and the Stampin' Up slit punch.

2 Sketches 4 You Challenge

I made this for the current challenge at 2 Sketches 4 You. For some reason, I really struggled with this one and I'm still not sure I'm completely happy with it ... but, it's growing on me.

The cake is from the Wedding solutions cartridge, cut at 3.25" and the label is from Storybook. The dark pink strip was edged with a Martha Stewart border punch, and the patterned paper and sentiment stamp are from Stampin' Up.