~How many nuts are you?

The weekend challenge that inspired this card was to create a project, card, etc. for a celebration or party.  For some reason, I had squirrels on the brain that day.  I think it was because they were irritating me by eating all the seed out of the bird feeder.  ;-)

Anyway, I digress.  The card is really not a card, but an oversized tag for a birthday.  I used the acorn tag from Close to My Heart - Art Philosophy at 6".  I then cut two solid tags at 6.25 and 6.5 to layer it.  The squirrel was cut from Folk Art Festival at 3".   I pieced together the phrase from many different carts as follows:

How - Lyrical letters at just over 1"
many - Opposites Attract at 1"
Nuts/You - Just Because Cards at 1.5"
Are - Just Because Cards at .5"
? - Chalkboard Fonts at 1"

A little ink, a little ribbons and voila!  I will save this birthday card for a special someone having a special day who may or may not be driving me "nuts".  Haha!  Thanks for stopping by!

~Smile

The weekend challenge that produced this card was a picture that was posted of a poppy field that we were to use as inspiration for a project.  David saw the Wizard of Oz when he looked at the picture and while I could "see" that I really wasn't interested in doing a Wizard project, although I've seen some really cute Dorothy's done with the Teddy Bears on Parade cartridge.

I focused on the poppies themselves and some of the colors on the picture.  I wanted to try to use the negative space from a cut and I also wanted to use my new Home Décor Vinyl Wall Art cartridge.  Although I have yet to make anything vinyl with it, these poppies sure make a great card!  Another one for my card stash!  The poppy group was cut at 4".  The Smile phrase was cut from Create a Critter at .75".  I curled the inside of the poppies for a little dimension and instead of dealing with the teeny tiny pistals, I used glitter glue for the center of the flowers.  Thanks for stopping by!

~A summer mini album - or - Sun Part II

This is another project that was already in the works when the "use the Sun" challenge was posted.  I had this fabulous paper and knew that I wanted to try making a mini album using the Close to my Heart - Artiste cartridge.  I cut all the pieces at 4.25" tall.  The inside pages were each cut twice to give me more surface for MORE pictures.  I love to make these mini's of Tacoah so I can give them to my mother-in-law.  They don't get to see each other often, so she really enjoys having these little albums and showing them to visitors who stop by.

The sun on the front of the album was printed and cut using my Imagine and the Imagine More cartridge at 2.5".  I cut the face twice and pop dotted the face off the main sun and also pop dotted the sun off the page.  I have been trying to use my Imagine more, so I take every opportunity to use those wonderful cartridges.

Once I finish this, I will post some of the interior pages.  Thanks for stopping by!

~Ok - who stole my summer?

Seriously!  If you know where it is, please bring it back!

I've also noticed there hasn't been much activity here since July.  I have been crafty, I've just not taken the time to post anything on my blog.  There have been a bunch of challenges on the Cricut message board that I've participated in.  Some are weekend challenges with different themes and then there is a running pig vs. teddy bear challenge (don't ask) for our new Circle cart - Charmed.

So without further adieu, here is the first of the weekend challenges. The challenge was to do a project (card, layout, décor) that used the sun somewhere in it.  I made the following card.

The background card with the soak up the sun phrase is one of those Project Life type cards.  This batch was made by Recollections (I think).   The sunbathing beauty was cut at 2.5" inches from Fun in the Sun light and I used actual sandpaper for the sand.  I added a little bit of washi tape just because.  I'll put this in my card stash and send it to someone who is "blue" over the winter.   Thanks for stopping by!

~A Special Thank You Card

I really, really like this card.  And not just because I made it either.  :-)  I love the colors and the sturdiness (it has tons of layers) and the simplicity. 

I made this card to thank a very special someone who gifted my Church's CCD program with an Inspired Heart cartridge when I could not find one to purchase anywhere.  I just <heart> my crafting community and I hope when she gets this card, she will feel the love.

The card base was created from Close to My Heart Artiste (love, love, love this cart!) at 4.25".  I cut it twice and adhered the pieces creating a sturdy base.  On the front I layered several more patterned papers (all from MME) and then added the hummingbird cut at 3" from Art Nouveau.  I inked all the edges of EVERYTHING and on the inside of the card, I added the flowering vine cut at 4", also from Art Nouveau. 

I have never before made a card this heavy.  It was costly to mail, but oh well, I think it was worth it.  I will definitely use this card base again.  Thanks for stopping by!

~A Birthday Card for Mom-in-Law

My mother in law is one of those rare people that still hand write letters and mails them.  So, she genuinely appreciates a hand made card.  It's also tough finding a gift for a 90 year old who has everything, so I made her a little Angel pin to go with her birthday blessings.  This was the first time EVER that I have used my Cricut Pens too!

Recipe for the card below.

I started with a French patterned paper from MME Lost and Found and cut the center circle out from Paper Trimmings at 4.2 inches.  I backed this piece with white cardstock.  Next I cut the vines for around the center from Create a Critter at .875.  The Birthday Blessings was "cut" onto the white cardstock backing using my Cricut Gel pens and George and Basic Shape at 1.5 inches.  I hand colored the inside of the letters.  I love the glittered look of this.  The butterfly was hand made using a template from Simply Sweet @ 2.1 inches.  I hand colored this and added wire antennae.  He is foam dotted from the page.  The little flowers placed here and there were fussy cut from a 6x6 MME pad called Indie Chic - Saffron.  Some were pop dotted from the page.  All had pink highlighting added by marker.  The green leaves were hand cut and inked and I added seam binding colored with TH Distress ink and burlap twine.  I topped this with a coordinating Recollections brad. 

Inside, I embossed a piece of white cardstock with Cane Back Chair and hand made the little Angel pin and the pin holder.   She is referenced in the birthday wishes I eventually put on the other side of the card.

This was one of my more labor intensive cards, but I really like the way it turned out.  Thanks for stopping by!

~Congrats and Best Wishes

I don't know about you all, but I have a really tough time with masculine cards. This is for a coworker who has retired from my company to move on to greener pastures (not true retirement) and will be signed by everyone in his former workgroup.

I made the card by welding two 5" images from Cricut Essentials and cutting it twice.  The base paper wasn't double sided, so I adhered these two back to back to form the card base.  I then cut 3 more at 4.5"; two in yellow (for the inside mats) and 1 in plaid (for the outside front).  Finally I cut one more at 4" in the yellow for the outside front.  All pieces were inked.  The Congrats phrase was cut from Twinkles Toes and sized to fit the 4" mat using CCR (yes I've used it a couple of times).   The inside phrase was cut from Cricut Alphabet (&) and Birthday Bash (Best Wishes).  I used hide contour to hide the heart in the postage stamp.  The finishing touch was a bit of twine tied around the fold of the card and I made a matching envelope from the same paper as the base of the card.  Thanks for stopping by!