Jingle Belles 18 : Cardstock Christmas

Where does the time go????

Hello all!!! I took a little break this past week ... it's just been so crazy around here!!! My two daughters had a birthday this month and then Easter came , along with it , Spring Break for my kids (we were gone out of town visiting family for the week) and now I'm planning my son's birthday which is this Sunday ( three birthdays within a month, what was I thinking??????!!!!) but his actual party isn't until next weekend! Oh, and it's mine and my DH's anniversary on the 3rd , and I can't forget about Mother's Day!! I haven't had much spare time for crafting, even though I've managed to sneak some time visiting my fav blogs. This week's Jingle Belles challenge seemed to be just what I needed .   Guest designer, Jess Moyer has given us the recipe to use  cardstock for our layouts. No designer paper, absolutely none at all , hmmm..... I can do that right? I simply have to put away my lovely pile of Christmas-y papers and go through my stash .


Here's what I came up with for the cardstock challenge...........

I pulled out my Martha Stewart border and corner punches for the background . I only did one corner and two sides because I never seem to get all sides even and besides, I like this better anyway!!! I stitched a double line for a little definition . The date circle is from a journalling tablet from Little Yellow Bicycle , which I embellished with a couple of stamped and cut out ornaments from Stampin' Up! and just 'cause I love 'em so much, I also added some teeny tiny green rhinestones ( love those $-store goodies!!!) around the circle. The sentiment and label are both from Stampin' Up! as well as the cardstock ; Crumb Cake for the base and Riding Hood red for the mat. The little doiliy is another fabulous find from the dollar store , I just inked it up a little with Kiwi Kiss ink ( SU). The sentiment and the smaller ornament are stamped in Real Red ink and the other one is in Kiwi Kiss ink.

So there  you have it , my card for this week's challenge. Go check out those fabulous gals at Jingle Belles!!!

Until next time .... happy crafting!!

Cricut's Wrap It Up : Disney autograph books

Happy Monday !!! Hope your weekend was fabulous!!! Today , I thought I would share something I made for my friend's children. They are going to DisneyWorld this week and I offered to make her kids their very own autograph books. I made one for a boy and one for a girl using one of my newest cartridges: Wrap It Up.
Here they are:

I made these simple books by cutting thin chipboard into 53/4 squares and for the inside, I used the white sheets that came in my scrapbook albums( trimmed a little smaller). They are the perfect weight and I don't have to use up my precious cardstock ( I live in a very rural area, so I can't afford to run out!!!). I bound the books together with my Bind-It-All.

I didn't have any pirate DP on hand so I searched through my stampwheels and found this one from SU... it matches the Ahoy Matey stamp set which has been retired for a few years now. It's been so long since I used a wheel on my page! With all the details on the ship , I really didn't need need much more on the cover , except his name, of course!

I really love this Disney paper and so it became the starting point for this book. The color palette is girly , but not too girly! Iused Stickles inside the windows for a little bling and outlined Maddison's name so it would pop off the page .

When we went to Disneyland I didn't have the tools to make these books, now I wanna go back just so I can make them ( oh, and also because we had soooo much fun there,too!!!!!!)!

Until next time..... happy crafting!!!

Cricut Cardz Challenge #70 : Easter cupcake holder

Good evening crafty friends! Despite all those fab design recipes out there, I haven't felt  like making too much the past week  and what I did make felt .... well, they were uninspiring to say the least!!! So last night I sat down and browsed through some of my fav blogs again and then  I started cutting, and stamping and the next thing I know  I had made a card !!!!!**** woot-woot**** This week at Cricut Cardz Challenge the DT have provided us with a yummy spring recipe ..... we are invited to make a Easter cupcake ( or treat) holder and we can use whichever cartridge we like!!!  I recently purchased Simply Charmed and it has so many adorable images on it!!! I found this cute little chick and I just had to use it for this project!

The little chick, I just love his googly eyes, is cut a 1 3/4 " and fits nicely on this basket cut at 4 3/4 " from Sweet Treats cart. I cut a 1/2 " strip of brown cardstock for the handle and decorated the basket with dp ( Reminisce line) that I've had tucked away in my stash!

The little flower on the band is from a diecut from Stampin' Up! which I dipped in ultra thick embossing powder for an epoxy effect and then added a metal flower brad ( also from SU) to it. I covered the band in Marina Mist grosgrain ribbon and made my own paper shred with scraps of cs and my crimper.  this is the perfect sized container for mini chocolate eggs or even a mini cupcake , if I were so inclined as to bake some!!!

Anyway, now I think I'll make a companion card for this little fellow!! Yup, I think my mojo's back!!! Yippee!!

Until next time.... happy crafting!!

Jingle Belles: Diecuts challenge

Hello all! A week has come and gone since I last posted.... I really couldn't seem to find my creative mojo this past week! Everything I made just felt so blah and lacking!! *** sigh*** Have you ever felt like that? What's a gal to do???!!! Get crafting!!!  I was thrilled to see my blog friend, June Houck as the guest designer this week at Jingle Belles!!! I love checking out her blog regularily ( hmmm, is that spelled correctly????) 'cause she's got oodles and oodles of great projects posted!!! This week, June gave us a recipe for our JB challenge this week to use a diecut ( think Cricut, Sizzix, purchased, whatever ya got!!) for our card and of course she posted an adorable sample !!!
I don't know if my mojo's back, but I am so determined to stick with JB weekly challenges!!!! I love seeing my ever-growing stack of Christmas cards just waiting to be mailed!!! I feel so accomplished already !!!!! :-)
 Anyhoo , back to the challenge; here's what I made ....

Lot's of diecuts for this card! I used my SU scallop circle die for the card base and my Cricut ( George cartridge) for the circle which I embossed with a Cuttlebug  snowflake folder. The tag is from Winter Frolic and is inked in Marina Mist , the same colopr cardstock for the circle mat and all the inking. SU snowflakes die are spritzed in Glimmer Mist ( really wish they would show up better in the photo!!! urgh!!) and I added a glimmmer brad to hide the foam popdot I put on each snowflake. Oh, and of course, I stitched the circle mat and the ribbon.Finally the sentiment is  SU's Christmas Greetings set.

Thanks June for the inspiration!!!!!

Until next time... happy crafting!!!!!

Sisterhood Of Scrap Birthday Bash challenge

Hello all!! A friend invited me to an online crop last night at Sisterhood of Scrap , who are celebrating their 4th birthday bash with lots of fun challenges and prizes,too!!! For this particular challenge we have to use the following on a birthday layout:
4 Buttons
4 Brads
4 Different Patterned Paper
4 Balloons
4 Flowers

Wow, that's a lot of stuff for one layout!!I really had to think about what I wanted to do ... and after much deliberation this is what I came up with........

Whew!!! All those elements on this page...talk about leaving my comfort zone!!!! But you know what?  I like this finished page ( may change the pic!!) and I may just try another scrap challenge that gets me thinking!!!!

Anyway, now I just gotta figure out how to upload to the Sisterhood of Scrap forum.... hmmm, now that could tak awhile!!!!

So, until next time.... happy crafting!!!

My Digital Studio scrapbook layouts

Good evening! I thought I would share some of my scrappages that I made using My Digital Studio. I really love this program because it's so easy to use... I can't tell you how many other programs I tried and hated!! They were either too limited for craetivity or I had no idea how to use them!! MDS is perfect for the novice digi scrapper but if you're advanced then you'll love this ,too!! I also like that I can download elements from other sources and they work with MDS! Easy-peasy, that's what I'm all about these days!!

To make the brads align in a circle, I added a circle punch and lined up the brads around it and then removed the circle. The birthday elements are downloaded from Summer Driggs' s blog, combined with MDS elements.I changed the background several time before I selected this one... I wanted it to be bright and cheerful.

This layout was based on a sketch that I found online. I like that I can add my journalling later without having to change the layout!

I like being able to layer photos on each other , like  on this layout. I can have several photos without crowding the page.The sketch and the elements here were found/ purchased from online sources.

Thanks for looking!

Until next time.... happy crafting!!

Jingle Belles: Batman Smells!!

Hi , it's me again! The challenge for Jingle Belles last Friday was so appropriate for April Fool's Day.... Jingle Bells: Batman Smells!

Those DT ladies are challenging us to make a funny, quirky Christmas  card to celebrate the lighter side of the season! They posted some amusing ( and fantastic) samples to get us chuckling and hopefully inspired. But me? I wa so stumped... I have a ton of Christmas stamps but they all seem to fall short of funny! I checked out the submissions for inspiration ..... and while I was smiling , I still didn't feel any closer to coming up with an idea!!!! ***grrrrrr**** . My favourite was June's Gingerbread Man 's Bite Me card! My card was inspired by her fabulous creation!!! Go check it out!!!! I wanted to participate in this challenge because I have a somewhat twisted sense of humour!!!!!

I had to really search through my Cricut cartridges to find this one! I found this guy on a rarely used My Community cart. I used liquid applique to outline his arms and legs and for the "bite" I simply  used my scallop circle punch.  The sentiment is from SU! , which I  heat embossed to mirror the outline on this fellow.

So, once again I'm so late in posting for this challenge, but better late than never ( is that becoming my motto lately??????).

I'm already looking forward to the next challenge!!!

Until next time.... happy crafting!!

Altered tag Birthday card

Good morning everyone! I thought I'd share this card I made last week.I was playing around with my stash of embellishments and I came up with this altered tag. Nothing too fancy, just a K& Company chipboard tag with some funky ribbon and a paper flower. The flower center is more shapes form K & Co. .... I have this really cute tin full of them just sitting in a drawer!!!

I treid a sponging technique with my Tim Holtz blending sponges but personally, I find the plain ole' cheapo sponges from Stampin' Up! easier to use! Plus I can cut the sponge into wedges and get 4 instead of one!!! I think I'll keep these sponges for blending alcohol inks only.

Anyhooo....... the card base is inked in Always Artichoke and Daffidol Delight and I embossed the bottom strip with a border embossing folder from Sizzix. The stamped image is from SU 's  Watercolor Trio set.

All in all, a pretty simple card! Thanks for looking!  Have  a great day!!!!

So until next time.... happy crafting!!

Give A Hoot : Nature Lover birthday card

Hello all! Welcome to Monday, I hope you had a fantastic weekend! Mine was pretty hectic..... my daughter turned 12 on Saturday and she had a group of girls over for a slumber party! A room full of giggling preteens equals one super noisey,crazy and fun night!!!!
Rebecca is a big time nature lover.... quite often she packs her camera and notebook and heads outdoors to enjoy the beauty of nature , no matter what the season. So, for her birthday I wanted to make a card for my little naturebug!

 The Give A Hoot cartridge has  this really neat earth image, all wrapped up in a bow! I cut off the "s" from Nature Lovers . I used my Cricut marker( in brown) to draw the heart earth , for the inside of the card, instead of cutting it out and the greeting is cut from another cartridge, but I really can't remember which one!!!!! I used DWV paper for the background and the cardstock, border punch and birthday sentiment are from Stampin' Up!. So that's my card for my little Nature Lover!!

 Thanks for looking!

Until next time.... happy crafting!!!!

Cricut Cardz Challenge #68: House card

Hello all!  Welcome to Friday... te first of April ( already!!). Hope you didn't have too many April Fool's Day tricks played on you!! :-) Mother Nature is playing a trick on us with yet another storm!!!!  This terrible weather just gives me a good excuse to stay all cozy and warm inside..... and , of course I'm gonna play with some of my favourite blog challenges,too!!!
Cricut Cardz Challenge 's DT has come up with a challenge to make a card using a house image and lace/flourish . Well, ever since Wednesday I've been thinking about what kind of project I would create. This one had me really stumped, but I don't have much time to play around with it as my daughter's BDay is tomorrow and I have a ton of things I must do before her party!!!

So here's my card for this challenge....

 I used  the house image from April Showers , and the clouds are cut at various sizes from this cartridge as well. For a little dimension, I used Liquid Applique on the small cloud and heat set it so it would be puffed. The fence is a border punch from Martha Stewarts crafts and I handcut the grass. The cardstock , DP, label, lace ribbon ,ink and sentiment are all from Stampin' Up!. The brads are from Michaels.

So there's my card for this week and  now I'm off to make some cupcakes and decorations for my DD!

Have a great evening and until next time....

Happy Crafting!!!