Jinger Showed My Layouts on HSN!

Well, I didn't win the contest, but Jinger showed my layouts during the first airing on HSN. Check out this video ... my layouts are the 4th and 6th shown. Provo Craft received almost 500 entries. They were so impressed with the response they added five more categories. They gave away 10 new Expression 2 machines. How cool is that? Thanks to Provo Craft for sponsoring such a fun contest and congratulations to all those who won ... your layouts were fabulous!!

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 ...

Vegas Birthday

My daughter turned 21 years old on Friday the 13th, January 2006 ... the perfect setup for a Las Vegas birthday vacation. We stayed at the Paris Hotel and got this great nighttime picture of the Eiffel Tower replica that's in front of the hotel. So, when the Cricut Circle announced their French Manor  cartridge contest, I decided to make a this for Stacey and use it as my entry.

 It's a 10" x 10" shadowbox. The frames, cut using the French Manor cartridge, were colored with a bronze ink and embossed with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel. I attached them to the mats for the pictures and then "pop dotted" them to the base with foam dimensionals. I etched the glass using the Eiffel Tower (also from French Manor) and the 'Vegas' from the Tie The Knot cartridge.

 The journaling is computer generated.

My project wasn't selected as a contest winner, but I had a great time making this and Stacey loves it ... that's really what it's all about anyway!!

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!!