Friday, July 29, 2011

Hippity Hoppity Happy!


Just a quick project to share with you.  I made this card for my grandparents so instead of going really blingy I wanted something a little more subtle.

I'm not going to get into all the ink colors I used because I think a lot of them are retired now.

The bunny stamp is by Stamavie and it's called Peek a Bunny.  I stamped it onto watercolor paper and then used a blender pen and my ink pads to color it in.  I added a bling in her bow and sponged the edges.

The paper is from the Once Upon a Time Mat Stack by DCWV.

The ribbon is form Stampin Up.

The bottom is border punched with Stampin Up's Scallop Edge border punch.

I used a stamp from Pink By Design's Simply Everything set that says Hippity Hoppity Happy!

That's pretty much it.  It took me a little time to color the bunny but everything was really simple to put together.  I just eyeballed when I was cutting and didn't worry to much about the specific measurements.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Ruff Day Side Step Card



Hello everyone!  I'm so excited to share my card with you today!  The new challenge over at Whimsical Wednesday is to have some fun with folds and create something other than the standard A2 card.  It really inspired me to do this side step card, and I've been wanting to try a side step card for a very long time.  Be sure and head over there to check out the challenge.  You can see all the inspiration from the whole design team, and also enter your own project for your chance to win an awesome prize!


There are a couple of sizes of side step cards.  This one folds into a 4 and 1/4 by 5 and 1/2 size to fit in a normal envelope.  There are videos on Youtube of how to make them.  The video I used for reference was made by Mary over at Cardz TV.  You can watch it here.   I did change the last fold line from 6 and 3/8ths to 6 and 2/8ths.  I tried twice and it didn't fold flush before.  Very likely my own mistake, but if you run into that problem you can try making that modification.


The grass at the bottom was created using a Martha Stewart border punch.


The rest of the cuts are all from the Cricut Lite Four Legged Friends cartridge.


The dog is cut at 2 inches.  I added brown flocking powder to his ears to make them soft and fuzzy.  He also has some Cinnamon Stickles on his nose and Waterfall Stickles on his collar.


The bone is cut at 3/4 inch.  I used some Diamond Stickles to accent it.


The bowl is cut at 3/4 inch.  I embossed the food portion with the Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug folder, it turned out SO cute like real little pieces of dog food.  I also added some Cinnamon Stickles along the bottom.


The house is cut at 2.75 inches.  I embossed the roof with the Candy Cane Stripes Cuttlebug folder.  I went around the blue parts of the house with some Waterfall Stickles.


The stamp is from My Pink Stamper's Punny-Licious set.


I added one last detail by using my white gel pen to do some stitching.


Thanks so much for visiting me today :)


Be sure and try a fun fold and enter it at Whimsical Wednesday.  I can't wait to see everyone's fabulous creations!

One In A Melon Card


I started off this card by creating the look of background paper by stamping over and over again.  

I used a 4 by 5 and 1/4 inch piece of white cardstock.  

The stamp set I used was by Clear Dollar Stamps and it's called Fruity Fun.  

I did some measuring and used tiny strips of paper to help me mark rows so that I could get my stamps at least close to being in an even pattern.  

It wasn't easy, especially since each watermelon is made with 3 separate stamps using 3 different colors.  It proved to be just that many more chances to mess up!  *LOL*  Although I am super happy with the results :)

I sprayed my stamped layer with some Marshmallow Glimmer Mist.  It didn't photograph at all, but there is a subtle shimmer in person.

I layered my new background onto a green card base.  

Then I went around the edges with Diamond Stickles.

I stamped a watermelon by itself onto a scrap of white cardstock.  Then I went over the green part with Diamond Stickles, and the seeds with Black Diamond Stickles.  I used a couple pop dots to adhere it on the card.  This way it has dimension and sparkle to make it stand out from the rest, like that special "one in a melon" hardy har har.

I created a banner cut by hand and I curled it, and then used pop dots in the center to help in maintain it's curl.  Same thing I did on a card just the other day.  I'm having fun with that technique at the moment.

I created this card for the Bright and Fun Challenge that Tracy over at Craft Junkie Too is having.  Be sure and head over there to check out what everyone else has created!  It's lots of fun over there.  She also has lots of linking parties going on regularly now so you can share your work, and find lots of other projects to inspire you.

It will be my last challenge for Tracy.  It's been SUCH a blast!!!

Monday, July 25, 2011

A Cut Above the Rest


When I think of summer I think of yardwork!  *LOL*  It's actually something I dread, but I thought I'd make the idea of mowing the lawn look cute for this card.

This is for the latest challenge over at Scrapbookaholic By Abby.  The theme is anything summer.

I started off with a standard A2 sized card base in green.
I cut a white layer at 5 and 1/4 by 4 and stamped it using the Hero Arts Clouds background stamp.

I used my Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons Cricut Cartridge to cut this little lawnmower at 3.5 inches.  To make it cute I did some faux stitching and some dots using my Sakura gel pen.  I also added a couple of mirrored IRock gems to the wheels.

I created a fun little banner that is just hand cut and I stamped "A cut above the rest!" using Pink by Design's Simply Everything set.  I curled the banner and then used pop dots in the center, but glue on the ends so that it stayed very curled looking on the card.  I added a little bee in front of it, hoping to make it look like the bee is pulling the banner.

I finished off with some more gel pen stitching around the edges of the card.

Make sure and head on over to Abby's Blog today to check out the rest of the DT projects!  You can also enter your own project for the chance to win some awesome Sakura gel pens.  They really are wonderful to work with and can add a lot of great detail to your projects so it's a pretty sweet prize :)

Friday, July 22, 2011

Get Well Soon Card with a Video


Hello everyone & happy Friday!

I have a video for you today of putting together this simple get well card.  I figured it would be nice to have one in my stash.
The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's Sincere Salutations
The image stamps are from a Close to My Heart set called With Love

That, and the rest of the info are all in the video below :)


Thursday, July 21, 2011

Using More Scraps to Make Tiny Cards


I decided to use up some more scraps I had laying around from recent projects and also use some cute stickers by EK Success from their Sticko line that I've had in my stash for a little while and haven't used.

The polka dot card started with a scrap of Echo Park paper from their Summer Days collection.  I cut it down to 2 and 1/4 square.  The blue layer is 2 and 3/4 square and the card base is 3 inches square when folded.  I used the dots on the paper as my guideline for where to place my cute little stickers.  I think the effect is really fun.

The little squirrel card is 3 and 1/4 wide by 2 and 3/4 tall when folded.  The Thinking of You stamp is from Stampin' Up's Sincere Salutations.  The paper along the bottom is from Stampin up and has a pattern of leaves on it.  I used the Martha Stewart grass punch on it.  The top corners are rounded using a 1/4 inch setting on my Corner Chomper.  I added some stitching lines with a white gel pen and a purple Stampin' Up marker.

It feels great to be able to whip up such cute little mini cards quickly and minimize waste at the same time.

Thanks for stopping by today :)

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Using Some Scraps


 This little card was made using a few scraps.  It measures 3 and 1/2 by 4 and 1/4. 

I based the size on the blue scrap which is what I started the card with.  I saw the large polka dotted scrap and decided to emboss the blue piece to coordinate using a Cuttlebug folder called Polka Dots.  

I cut another piece of green that has little tiny polka dots using a scalloped oval Nestabilities die.  I used my paper piercer to punch little holes in each of the scallops.  Then I stamped "hey hottie" using Versamark ink and embossed it with some white embossing powder.  This allowed my sentiment to stand out and be clear and easy to read on a patterned paper.

To finish I attached all my layers to a Kraft colored base and did some faux stitching wiht my gel pen.

It felt great to use up some scraps that were laying around from recent projects.  To be honest I do throw away a lot of my smaller scraps.  I know I shouldn't, but sometimes I just get overwhelmed by the mountain they can become and usually only save scraps that are at least 4 by 4.  It was nice to use a couple pieces on this card that were smaller than that.

Thanks for visiting :)  Planning to shoot a  video tonight and I'm crossing my fingers I can actually get it done.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Bunny Teapot Card


I tried something new for the first time ever and purchased this cool sheet by Reddy.  It's called a DieCut print.  All it is is a base image and several punch out diecuts that layer on top of it to create a dimensional effect.  

Here is a view from the side so you can see where I did some of the pop dotting to create a real depth.  Some of the layers I just glued on flat to avoid excessive bulk.  In the photo they don't look much different, but in person they do add  additional detail.


I had fun putting this together.  In the future I would use a thinner pop dot if I could.  

I really wanted to cut a frame around this and pop dot it up, but my measuring skills and math are pretty bad and this image was one of the measurements I had a hard time working with.  Once we get down below 1/4 inch measurements I am easily confused.  

So, I decided to take the easy route and just layer it on top of a patterned paper from My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky 6 by 6 paper pad.  I created a Kraft colored card base.  I rounded all the corners on a 1/4 inch setting using my Corner Chomper.

If you want to see what these kits look like you can check them out on this site.  I purchased mine locally at a stamp expo.

I figure if I ever want to I could create this effect myself if I find an image I really like.  It would be VERY time consuming to carefully cut so many small layers, but it could be done.

Friday, July 15, 2011

You Are My Sunshine Spinner Cards


I just want to pop in to quickly share these cards I made for a summer swap I'm having with some of my local friends.

I created a spinner card for the first time not too long ago and I decided I wanted to make another design of one for the swap.  In case you missed my previous post I'll briefly explain that a spinner card like this is made using 2 pennies with a pop dot in the middle.  The image goes back and forth, spinning around along the track created in the card.  There are some great tutorials on Youtube of how to make them.

The patterned paper is from Die Cuts With a View.  To cut the spinner track I used a rectangle and a couple circles in my Gypsy that I stretched and manipulated.

The sentiment is from the Just Because Cards Cricut Cartridge.  I added some little doodle dots with my Sakura white gel pen.  I layered it onto some purple cardstock, with some Lavender Stickles along the edges.  Behind that piece I used 2 pieces of green that were border punched with the Stampin' Up Scallop Edge Border Punch.
 
The sunshine I used is from Create a Critter, but I hid the face using my Gypsy and then stamped a cute little one on using my Peachy Keen stamps from the Dolly Dumplins face assortment set.  Of course I couldn't resist adding some bling, so I used some yellow Stickles too.
 
These really are such fun little interactive cards to make.  Here's a photo of the whole set of 8 that I created.  



Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Sammy Saurus Banner



Here's a banner that I made for my son's second birthday.  It was actually really super simple.

I used the Dinosaur Tracks Cricut cartridge.  It already has these banner letters and shapes set as part of the cartridge, even including the holes for stringing them.

I used my Gyspy and found out that if I cut them at 5.5 inches I could get away with only using 4 sheets of cardstock, one in each of my color choices.  So, that's the size I used.

When they were all cut out I strung them onto some of the curling ribbon that came with a helium tank and balloons I purchased for the party.  To make the banner a bit more even I added an image of some dino tracks to the side that says Sammy so it would have the same number of blocks as the side that said saurus.

The part that took the longest was trying to get the letters spaced out evenly and using tape to keep them in their places.  I just eyeballed it and it was a bit uneven, but it looked close enough that I didn't think it was worth shifting them all around again.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Monday, July 11, 2011

The Magic Wand Layout


This is a layout of my daughter from last Halloween.

I have created this for the latest challenge over at Scrapbookaholic By Abby.  She is challenging everyone to use bling.  I used gems and glittery letters so I have lots of bling on my project, but it's certainly one of my favorite things :)  


I started off with a 12 inch piece of purple cardstock and added a sheet of paper from a 6 by 6 pad of Basic Grey paper from their Kioshi line in the top right corner.  

I placed little bits of different colored bling gemstones in the centers of some of the flowers.  Then I started spelling out my title using some sparkly Thickers.  I added a piece of satin ribbon along the very bottom of that paper.

I added another small strip of paper from that pad below it.  I could have used a full 6 inch sheet again, but since a lot of it would have been covered by a picture I cut a strip that was about 2 and 1/2 inches wide and just a little bit got covered.  I finished spelling the title with the Thickers on this piece.

All of my photos are 4 by 6, but the one on the bottom right is partially covered by another photo and is now about 4 by 4.

I did my journaling on the small block of purple that shows from the original sheet.  I used my Gelly Roll pen from Sakura and it worked great even on the textured cardstock.

If you'd like to play along and join in on the challenge you can head on over to Abby's blog to enter your project for a chance to win an awesome prize from Kich N Blues.  

Here's the basic rules:
Link your ORIGINAL post with your project up to Mr. Linky (on her blog)
Mention that your project is for her challenge
Project must be entered by the deadline before Mr. Linky closes.
Project must be on the challenge topic.
Have fun!

Friday, July 8, 2011

Ribbon Banner With Kitchen Elements


Hello everyone!  I have a very special project for you today :)

This is part of the Whimsical Wednesday Blog Hop.  If you're already hopping along you should have arrived from Gigi's Blog.  If not, and you'd like to start the hop from the very beginning please head on over to Whimsical Wednesday to begin the fun.

For this hop we all made banners that will be sent to a nursing home. This cause is very special to me.  My mother is a nurse and I spent a little time at a nursing home she used to work at.  Many of the residents get very lonely and something colorful and fun on their door would really make a big difference and bring a big smile to their face.  You can find out more by visiting Whimsical Wednesday and clicking the link they provide.

These are the AWESOME sponsors for our blog hop and what they are giving away for prizes :)
Patsy from the Prairie Bird Boutique is giving away... 

Your choice of one bundle of Shabby Crinkle Ribbon

Babette from The Kraft Outlet is giving away....

their "Inspiration Play Pack"; This is a collection of The Kraft Outlet's top selling items valued at over $45.  The play pack comes with 10 yards each of the red and brown baker's twine, an assortment of 50 of the plain and grungy tags, an 8 sheet assortment of their cardstock and text weight papers, an 8 envelope assortment, one sheet of Kraft labels, a set of their vintage dictionary pages, 1 yard of black twill tape, and a CD full of 100 graphics and backgrounds.

In addition The Kraft Outlet is offering 10% off all purchases made during the entire month of July.  All you need to do is enter the code JULY10 at checkout.

The grand prize for the blog hop is a Gypsy, donated by Stephanie.  In order to qualify for that grand prize you must leave a comment on each of the designers' blogs.  At the end of the hop please return to the Whimsical Wednesday blog to leave a comment saying that you finished the hop and left a comment under all the posts.  

The hop will run through Sunday and end at midnight EST.

Now, onto my project. 

Since banners are super difficult to photograph here's a couple shots of the die cuts before I assembled them into a banner.


All the cuts are using the From My Kitchen Cricut Cartridge.  I set everything at 6 inches EXCEPT the pie, which was cut at 4 inches.  I cut that one shorter because it is much wider than it is tall.

For the apron I embossed the pockets with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and then added a couple pink buttons to them.

For the cupcake I added some Fruit Punch colored Stickles.

For the pie I embossed the top with the Swiss Dots folder and added some Fruit Punch Stickles to the cherry.

For the mitt I embossed it with the Argyle folder and added a ribbon near the top.

For the jar I added some stitching lines around the Kraft colored parts of the lid and wrapped some pink and white twine around the center.  I used some thick glue dots to attach the cherries so that they would sit nicely above the twine.

Here is a quick view of one of the backs.  All I did was cut pieces of paper smaller than the die cuts and put a ton of adhesive on them, then I sandwiched the ribbon in-between.  If you want a cleaner look in the back you can just cut the blackout version of each of the cuts to create a sandwich to put the ribbon in.  In this case I decided since it was the back this was OK.


Thanks a bunch for stopping by today :)  

To continue hopping please head on over to Carlene's Blog!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Bun Bun Layout


I started off with a sheet of cloud paper from Erin Lee Creative.

I used a stamp set from Hero Arts called Simple Things to stamp the house and the sentiment.

I colored the house using a few Copics and some Stampin Up Markers.
I cut the sentiment out with my Oval Nestabilities.

The stickers of the bee, butterfly, and bunny are from an EK Success sticker sheet.  

"Bun Bun" is spelled using some Thickers.

The grass along the bottom is using some Stampin' Up paper with a subtle dot pattern on it and it's punched with the Martha Stewart Grass punch.

To create a journaling spot I used a couple of die cut brackets by Doodlebug.  It's from their Welcome Home collection and they call these die cut sheets Cute Cuts.  I attached 2 brackets to some white paper that I cut to the width of the brackets.  I trimmed away the excess paper so that the brackets form a frame & added a few more stickers from EK Success to the top.

Our Back Yard is on another Doodlebug Cute Cut and spelled out using some letter stickers from my stash.

I added some Stampin' Up ribbon that I pleated.

The photo mats along the bottom are 3 and 1/2 by 4 and 1/4.  When I put the photos in I will probably leave about 1/4 inch size difference so that a border of that color shows like a frame for each of the photos.

This is actually a scrapbook page about a little bunny that lives in our yard.  I've become really attached to the little critter and watch out the window to see him nibbling grass, scratching his ears, etc.  I get such joy out of watching him, and my son adores him as well - loving to sit in my lap pointing over and over again saying "Bunny, Bunny"  
I have been feeling really frustrated with my scrapbooking lately so I decided to scrapbook something fun that I happened to feel inspired by last night.  
Our yard is ugly, really - it looks like nature threw up with everything unkept and horribly planned.  We are slowly working to fix it, but time and money are always hard to come by.  This little bunny has given me a real appreciation for our yard even as it is.  He's a great reminder to stop, take a breath, and just enjoy a moment.  My backyard might be ugly, but it's got an adorable little critter that calls it home.

Thanks so much for visiting!!!  Truly, from the bottom of my heart I appreciate those that stop by.  It's  a bright spot in my days to share my creativity and learn from other bloggers, gals on the messageboards, etc.

Have a crafty day :)

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Dino-Mite Goody Bags


Today Tracy over at Craft Junkie Too gave us the choice to design anything we wanted without a specific challenge.

My son's 2nd birthday party is coming up this weekend and I needed some cute goody bags for the fun party favors.  So, I purchased some lunch bags to embellish.  I figured the extras would be fun to do crafts with my daughter.
 
I used the Dinosaur from Create a Critter cut at 4 inches and did a lot of embossing.  The yellow layer is embossed with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Folder, his body is embossed with the Mosaic Texture, and his belly is debossed (which just means the impression is going into the paper instead of popping out of it) with the Japanese Scales folder.    I added some cute googly eyes as well.  Always super easy, and really fun for critters.

The bags all feature different Stampin' Up patterned papers.  The color is all the same, but some have dots, leaves, etc.  

I attached the dinos with Action Wobbles, which I think is the real treat for the kiddos.  The dinos look adorable wobbling back and forth.

I added a strip of cream cardstock toward the bottom of the bag in between fold lines.  The phrase was made using my Gypsy to weld together letters from A Child's Year.

To close the bags I folded over the tops & punched 2 holes with the larger setting on my Crop a Dile.  Then I threaded some ribbon through the holes.

I'm sure the rest of Tracy's team has lots and lots of wonderful inspiration for you today, so be sure and head over to her blog to check out all the fun.  She also has regular linking parties where you can share your own creations and other fun ways to connect and be inspired.



Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Don't Miss the Fun At Whimsical Wednesday!


I am excited that I will be designing for Whimsical Wednesday for another term!  It is an AWESOME challenge blog that you really should check out if you haven't yet.  
 
There will be an awesome hop happening this Friday you'll really want to check out :)  There are some designers staying on and some new ones being added too, so it will be loads of fun to see everyone's projects.  
 
The challenges happen every week and you have the opportunity to win some pretty awesome prizes for participating.

Hope to see you there, and that you share your wonderful creations for the challenges :)

I hope everyone is doing well.  I am so behind on e-mails, blog visits, and all my other crafty goodness at the moment.  So, I apologize to my dear friends for being behind on commenting and such.  My children have really been keeping me on my toes and I just can't seem to sneak away much.