Happy Valentines Day!

One of my goals for this year is to make more items for my girls. Usually I have been caught up with teachers gifts and all kinds of other projects but this year I wanted my girls to come first. No home made Valentines for my children's classmates, handmade special treats for them. I made the mailboxes and treat boxes from the Cricut Lovestruck 2010 seasonal cartridge. My littlest is all about pink but I couldn't help using kraft cardstock for the mailboxes and stampinup's real red ink and last years stamp set, Love You Much, that coordinates with a set of heart punches and their scallop ....Love that! I wrote a special note for each girl with what I love about them in their little mailboxes and I hope they feel loved and special since they are to me! My wish for everyone today is that somehow they feel loved and special. Happy Valentines Day!

The gauntlet is thrown!

Lovestruck 2010, Desi
The challenge is officially on! A friend was chatting recently and commented on how we all have some very unused carts for our Cricuts. One ting led to another and now we officially have a challenge to use all our cricut carts. One a week from our list that hasn't been used over the year(if ever). And so it begins. :) Now I know I will be posting at least once a week. For this weeks challenge I sorta cheated. I used my new seasonal cartridge for Valentines day decorations. Hopefully I can post a list and try to be more diligent with next weeks efforts! This is going to be fun!

Back-up!

Happy New year everyone! Yes, it's a more than little late, but I haven't been on to my blog for quite some time because of a massive computer failure. Thankfully all my pictures are on an external hard drive. Phew! Please everyone, have at least one reliable back-up for your most important things!

But onto much happier things. If you haven't already checked it out, head over to Stampin up's site for their super sale! I picked out more than a few things to start gearing up for teachers appreciation committee projects. I like to bring in samples and I was very excited to try my new toys from the sale and from Christmas! Very handily I also needed a few thank you gifts...So far I have made the bucket from the stampin up/Sizzix Bigz XL die as well as a few other "containers" These dies are so simple to use, I don't even think my Cricut could do better. I know shocking! LOL.

I also made a cute clear box with another Sizzix die in appreciation for a neighbor shoveling my whole driveway. The stamped design is part of a new clear stamp set from Stampin up(Vintage labels), and works perfectly with their scallop punch. I stamped the sentiment inside separately and positioning was a snap since you can use the rubber stamp with your acrylic blocks! The larger scallop is the co-coordinating Real Red paper. Real Nice! It worked even more easily with cardstock which I then embossed with my A2 embossing folder. I have more detailed pictures of that one somewhere if anyone is interested in a "tutorial" :)

For my neighbor who watches my littlest during Daisy meetings, I made a little mini (4X4) notepad using some leftover chipboard and paper with my BIA. It was easy to make a few for samples and it would fit a small post-it notepad as well...Stay tuned for more TAP sample projects! :)

Happy Birthday to someone special!

For a special friend I attempted my first Stair step card! I really hope she liked it..it was a super special birthday, her 80th and I am lucky to have met her.Verna is a joy to know with her wit and wisdom. She is so funny and charming and knows how to say a lot in just a few words...hmmmm something I am trying to learn...LOL

So, this was last years mantle, and I am not sure what to do for this year! It would either be a Nativity or maybe just this one again since I have a cut file all ready to go...any votes? :) I do have the new Winter Woodland cart for some 3-D houses and of course I spruced things up a bit on the mantle but we'll see where creativity and time take me this year! I loved that the moon was glow in the dark vinyl!

All I want for christmas...

Well almost...LOL One of the special things I would love for christmas is the new Gypsy by Provocraft/Cricut! They are giving one away at the Gypsy challenge blog...check them out here at The Gypsy Spot. Good luck to you too!

Christmas has arrived!

I had great fun today finishing up some cards for a friend overseas.....Afghanistan to be exact! Catie, my online scrapping friend, and I used Skype to have a virtual crop and it was a blast. It was so nice that we could share ideas and she was able to help suggest some things for me to try...so how did I do? :) I was able to do 22 cards this afternoon. Probably a record for me. So now I can concentrate on my own christmas cards. :)

Daisy Dolls

I just had to share one more...The girls all made paper dolls for an activity and we then used them for our cookie booth poster!

Post-it trick

Some of you out there already use this trick but it's such a good one I wanted to share ....I use a post-it note to line up tricky cuts and flip it over to apply my adhesive. It makes placement easier if you line up the bottom of the post-it with the bottom of your image/text.

Family Albums

My Daisy troop was learning about family, heritage and culture, so we made some family albums. They are 8X8 with white chipboard covers and five white cardstock pages. I was able to use my Cropodile big bite to make the holes for the book rings. On each page I used a 6X6 patterned paper from a set of Target dollar bin papers. Next I cut some scalloped squares(Accent Essentials) and a scalloped half from 8.5X11 papers and made them up in different combinations for the girls. It was a pretty quick project since it was the same elements throughtout. The girls had a good time sharing stories about their pictures. One of the Moms (thank you Teri!) created titles and phrases as well as a page to put on the inside of the covers with questions to fill in about their families and themselves. I had so much fun watching them create and their personalities all really came through. We had scallops and stickers and paper embellishments and they really came out nice. It was a little hectic, and I was so grateful for all the help I got from the Moms! It's such a good group of girls and Moms!

Some sad news...

So, I know I promised some new projects and I have been busy working on things, but I had a washing machine accident recently. Seriously. My DH was trying to be helpful after several really busy weeks and so he decided to do some laundry. Well, it was very unusual for me, but I had put something in my pocket. Something very precious as a matter of fact....my SD card which was full of fall pictures and projects!!! Since one or two were gifts I am left trying to find things to post, but to no avail. So, I will have to get busy again and show something new! We have been working on fall crafts, and we'll be putting up some vinyl, plus some mini scrapbooks I've been working on for my Daisy troop...due today! :)

Simple gifts

As cool weather starts in our area I always get into a cozy mood, wich generally also means crafting and baking! We've been apple picking, pie and cobbler making, and doing some fun fall activities and one rainy day my oldest daughter came home with an Amish Freindship Bread starter. Can you believe this is the first time we have ever made it ? Well even though I doubt the Amish put vanilla pudding in thier bread, it was yummy and my friends will surely be grateful to get some of their own...I decided to make mine a little more friendly by putting it into a small lunch sack with the directions a small loaf and the starter. Since I was looking for an activity for my Girl Scout troop, I googled the starter. One site has a good recipe for the bread and directions here...but you can also get the directions for starter on the allrecipies.com site.

It also gets me thinking about one of my favorite books I read to my girls. It's called Simple Gifts and it an illustration of the Shaker Hymn. I found it online recently here for a friend, and it keeps running through my mind. It is truley a gift from God to be able to be simply kind.

But Wait there's more!

Hello everyone. I know, I haven't posted much in a while, but with the start of school and Girl Scouts I've had to readjust my schedule! But I have been working on some crafty projects so within a few days I will post! Upcomming projects include a "never-ending card", a new layout and old layout I wanted to share, and a super wonderful set of SCAL projects! I have been playing and learning inkscape so I have some Dora the Explorer and friends files plus an extra special project to share.....a 3-D creation I am working on! :) Can't wait to share, but today it's off to the apple and pumpkin farm. Enjoy your day!

Scrapbox givaway!

I would love to have one of these great storage cases. One of these would allow me to have all my scrap stuff handy but out of reach of little hands! Plus they offer individual storage items like ribbon boxes and etc. Who wouldn't love that! Enter to win your own at the Cristmas with the Cricut blog. Good Luck! Here's a link to the Original Scrapbox store so you can see all the wonderful options. :) Enter this code when you place your order to get $100 off your shipping: 100Writes

The Gypsy!!!

I wanted to be sure everybody knows where they can find the HSN Gypsy offer online. You can see the details and even buy with the 5 FlexPay option at $59.99 payments and free shipping. Two full carts--Gypsy Wanderings and Gypsy Font--as well as Don Juan. Add in the car charger and bag. Very cool! Get it now and you can also get 500 extra points in Cricut Rewards for a total of 700!

All in a day...

I was looking forward to using a kit from one of the deal of the day sites(can't remember which) and so I grabbed these pics of my B from Mothers day at the zoo. It's the My Minds Eye, Laundry Line set of papers and embellishments(Flirty "Embrace"?). The colors are so pretty and the striped cardstock is actually glittery and shiny. :) I had a quite a few papers and embellies, and let me tell you this made it so easy to put together. I used some basic cardstock stash and a cut from my Cricut cart Storybook...also my Martha Stewart border punch. Then stuck on the chipboard shapes and rub-ons. Of course it needs a few finishing touches and journaling but it was great to get stuff done so quickly. This could be an option for taking to crops!

Cricut celebration!

Wow! Cricut is celebrating their 100th cart, Winter Woodlands! I have to say I can't wait to get one of those carts for myself. :) I have had tons of fun in the snow and I love the idea of creating a winter village with my girls that's 3D! DH dug his childhood train set out a few year ago and a village would be a great addition this year. I can even see a gingerbread house not made of cookies this year as well as bunny houses and playthings. Not to mention the beautiful embellishments for the winter season scrapbooks. Way to go Provocraft, it just keeps getting better and better. I love my cricut for getting me back into scrapbooking and crafting. Your company has truly enriched my life, and what more could you ask for? Check out the new cart at their website here.

From this:

To this:and then some! After weeks of pushing paper and pictures around I finally got this one done! I cut out many more extras but ended up with something I am reasonably happy with. The font is Hello Kitty and New Arrival for "love" and the clipboard is from Fabulous Finds. The stamps are from Close to My Heart, two different sets.

I will most likely add some journaling around to fill in a bit but am glad to move on to another project. In fact it's one I can really be excited about. I will be trying a new technique for a challenge RAK my friends are offering and also sending it on to a very special boy. My friend Megan's nephew was recently diagnosed with an brain tumor. I am happy to report the doctors got it all out, but he still has a little ways to go before he is all recovered. I am hoping to cheer him up just a bit. Please add Jackson to your prayers, and tune in soon for the finished product...in a few days! :)

Frogs and Toads

I am so excited to say I finally got some scrapping done! All this in one day! I have continued the idea of challenging myself to add new things to each lo and this one was lots of fun. The toads crown(paper pups) is glossy and glittery with some really cheap Joann's glittered embossing powder ( going to try UTEE and MS glitter next) and several fonts are for a large "title." There's a bit of Spica glitter pens around the large cirlce and the word princess which didn't show on camera, and I layered the lettering with patterned paper. Even if it was a little too conservative with the colors, I am getting better about having more on the page. The greens are a little mixed but not too obvious in person... and I wish I had more imagination for embellishments, but ....Best of all it is complete! (I added more journaling on the back and I think this style suits me.) Thanks for looking!

A Baby boys album

I recently finished up an 8X8 album for a friends baby. One year later I have learned a lot and been able to use up some "boy" papers. :) Thanks so much to my fellow cricut board members who inspired me and whose ideas I have used here with my own interpretations of colors and etc....