Friday, July 30, 2010

Thank Yous

I really liked the sketch challenge today over at 365 Cards. This is my take on it, along with the challenge from Alphabet Challenge, which is "N is for Nature." The papers are from DCWV Flower Power stack. I used some ribbon and stamps I had in my stash. I love the purple and green color combo. I also made another thank you card today for a couple of other challenge. The sketch comes from Cardabilities. I really like doing circular cards, but I so rarely do it, that it is a fun little challenge when I actually do make one. I used the color challenge from this week's Paper Cutz Challenge. Their colors are red, white, blue, black & yellow. It is a different color combination, definitely not one I would have ever picked, but it was a lot of fun to put a card together with this combo.

The card was made from Wild Card. I used a Martha Stewart punch for the lacy border and a couple of scalloped circle punches. I used my Nestabilities for the labels. I stamped on the the thank you with some yellow ink. I card is made using core'dinations paper. I then used some sandpaper to get the yellow to show through.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

All Kinds of Owls!

For some reason all three cards I made today were owl cards. I didn't really plan it that way, but it turned out that way. :) I made the first one as a good-bye card for a friend of mine and her family. They are moving to Georgia. Her husband is in the Army and he is being stationed there. I used the Cricut Lite cartridge, Hoot 'n' Holler for this one. I thought the sentiment was perfect and the little owl family couldn't be better for this card. I used the animal crackers paper stack from DCWV for the patterned paper. The second card I made today was for a couple of challenges. The first is today's sketch from 365 Cards and the second is from Doodle Dragon Studios, which is to make a friendship card, using one of Dustin Pike's images. I chose to use the owl image because I had a sentiment stamp that said, "owl be thinking of you today," and I really wanted to use it. I used George and Basic Shapes to cut the ovals that the owl is matted on. The background stamp is from Stampendous. I used the distressed stripes embossing folder on the cream strip of paper for some more texture. I wrote out the "hi friend" by hand and stamped my sentiment on the inside. I really like the monochromatic look. My eye is drawn to the owl because of its orange feet and beak. I just love this image, it is too cute. I really like a lot of Dustin Pike's images, check them out here. My final card for the day was for the Jitterbuggin' challenge this week. This week's challenge was to follow the sketch, make it a children's birthday card, use the color purple, and of course use your Cricut. I used Hoot 'n' Holler on this one again. I also used George and Basic Shapes for the circles. All the paper on this one came from the DCWV Latte stack.

O Happy Day

I just got this House Mouse image about a week ago and have been wanting to use it. The Crafty Creations Challenge this weeks is "summer lovin'," and to me nothing says summer like ice cream. Especially enough ice cream to put yourself in a sugar coma. ;) Hehe! I matted the image with brown and pink cardstock. I used Beyond Birthdays for the sentiment, cutting it in the same pink and brown cardstock. I wanted to keep it really simple because I like the image so much.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Get Well Soon



The challenge this week at Cricut Cardz is to make a get well card and use only the colors: black, white, green and blue. I used an SEI paper stack called Black Orchid. I have had this pack for a while now, but have rarely used it. I'm not sure why because it is some great paper. It was perfect for this challenge because there were a few papers in it that were black, white, green and blue. It must have been fate! ;) I used the sketch from 365 Cards to make this card. I got the sentiment from Beyond Birthdays.

Music to My Ears

I think this card is a perfect summer card...so full of color and warmth. I was just in the summer mood because it is actually sunny today. It seems like we have had a lot of rain this summer. That's probably because this is the summer my husband and I have been doing all our vacationing. Oh well, as long as we get some sunny days here and there. This one is for a few challenges today. The layout of the card comes from Card Patterns, sketch #74. I played around with this sketch for a while before I came up with something I liked for it, and I really like how this one turned out. I used summer colors to work with For Fun Challenges this week. I also went with Cuttlebug Challenges and used their "CHA CHA CHA Challenge," which was to use something inspired by music, dance or energy. All the paper came from the DCWV Flower Power stack. I used the Hannah Montana cartridge for the butterfly/guitar cut and the music notes. The "congrats" is from Beyond Birthdays. I also used my Cuttlebug to emboss the flowers on the bottom. I wasn't sure how it would look when I started that part, but I like the texture it lends to look at the bottom of the card. I did some doodling on the letters and guitar to finish it off. The inside sentiment says, "your accomplishment was music to my ears." It is pretty generic, but I didn't have anyone specific in mind when I made it. Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Simple Wedding Card

This was such a simple card, but I think it turned out so elegant and beautiful. This card was made using the sketch over at 2S4Y. I loved the sketch and to me it just screamed to be made into a wedding card. I used a white card and layered on a glittery off-white piece of paper that I embossed with the textile embossing folder on my Cuttlebug. I then used a glittery white piece of paper and a scrap of silver paper I found in my stash. I layered them all together and then tied some white ribbon around it and put it all on the white card. I used Sweethearts and my Cri-kit pens to draw out the heart with the people silhouettes, then I cut the heart out using the shadow feature. I'm still figuring out how to get the pens and cuts to line up, but it worked out pretty well. I mostly wanted to get the people, which I did so it all works out. I used some pop dots to lift the heart off the card and it all came together so nicely.

Monday, July 26, 2010

A Couple of Birthday Cards

The challenge at Bitten By the Bug 2 this week is to use the ice cream cone from Stretch Your Imagination. I just love ice cream and knew I had to do something with this cute little cone. I used some blue gingham paper for the background of my card. I cut the ice cream cone at 5 1/4" and the oval is from George and Basic Shapes, cut at 5 1/2." I embossed the cone with the Tiny Mosaic folder and the oval with the Happy Birthday folder. I used some glossy accent on the cherry and glitter on the ice cream. I added some ribbon as an accent and I think it will make a nice birthday card. I went with blue, hoping I could use it as a card for a boy. I think a little boy would like it, let me know what you think. :)




My other birthday card was for three different challenges. The challenge at Fantabulous Cricut this week is "at the zoo." I was looking at my ZooBalloo cartridge and I wanted to use the elephant, hippo, and rhino. Once I chose those cuts I thought the color challange over at Picture Perfect Creations would be the way to go because their colors are: white, grey, and yellow. I then decided to use the sketch from the Critter Sketch Challenge this week. Each animal was cut at 2 1/4" and then I used some grey ink on the edges to accent them. I doodled on the white background to create the spaces for each animal. I then used a couple of star punches for the fourth square. I stamped "happy birthday" on the front and on the inside I wrote, "hope it's huge!" Enjoy.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Boxed Set of Thank You Cards


This boxed set of gift cards was so much fun to make and it is for a bunch of challenges. I love how bright and fun it feels. I spent the day out on the lake kayaking and soaking up the sun. So when I came home I wanted to make something fun and cheerful and I think I succeeded with these cute little thank you cards. The challenge over at Just Us Girls this week is to use a template and create a 3D project. I found this template for a 4 1/2" box, for 4"x4" note cards, over at Mel Stampz and knew I wanted to make another little set of thank you note cards and put them in a matching box to give as a cute little gift. I made five of the same matching cards, using the sketch over at 365 Cards. I thought this sketch would be perfect for the little note cards I wanted to make. My inspiration for the theme came from Cupcake Inspirations. This week they had a cupcake with a beautiful shade of blue icing with a daisy on top. This was perfect for what I was thinking: bright, cheerful and fun. My final challenge that I incorporated was at Pile It On. This week's challenge over there was "stretch that plastic." I used some old plastic packaging and cut out all the bees so that their wings would be transparent. I then used black and yellow paper for their layers. All the cuts-bees, beehive, and daisies-come from Walk in My Garden. I used yellow rick rack up at the top and some black pearls to add some accent. I popped up the daisy on the card. All the centers of the daisies have yellow stickles to make it even more cheerful. For the inside of the card I stamped the sentiment, "many thanks," on yellow paper and matted it on black. I made the envelopes to match, using the same blue as the background of the cards and box top. I then placed a small daisy in the corner.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Over the Hill

This is a card I made for the Paper Cutz Challenge, which was to make something with wheels; and for the Alphabet Challenge Blog, this week is "M is for Men," so make something for a man. This was such a simple card to make, but I really like how it turned out. I used DCWV paper, this one was the Guy Stack. I used the diamond plate paper for the background and the diagonal stripe for the accent paper. I used Camp Out to cut out the ATV. I cut it at 2 3/4" out of black paper. I then cut it out again using the blackout feature and grey paper. I used a stamp that I thought was appropriate for a card with wheels on it. I used the striped paper on the inside again, then used a light tan and Camp Out again for the ATV tire track. I cut that one out at 1 1/2" out of dark brown paper. Masculine cards are tough to do, but I think this is a good one. I need to make more so I have them on hand when I need them.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Black & White Birthday Card

Here is a couple of matching cards I made this morning. They are for the Jitterbuggin' challenge, which was the sketch, to use black and white with one accent color, to use a punch and of course to use Cricut somewhere in it. I was struggling with a theme to use when I saw the Throwback Thursday Challenge at My Creative Time. It was to make a birthday card using Celebrations. I combined the two and came up with these great cards. I used George and Basic Shapes for the
circle and the squares. I used Celebrations for the balloons, cake and stand, and the word celebrate. I then used three scalloped circle punches for my accent.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Maybe a Cupcake Would Help?

All right, one more for the day and then it is time to get ready for bed. I have a busy day tomorrow. This one is for four challenges. For Fun Challenges has a sketch challenge this week. Over at Cricut Cardz Challenge they are asking for projects made using a cake, cupcake, cookies or candy. Crafty Creations challenge is to make something happy or sweet. And finally, Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge is a 1,2,3 Challenge: 1 ribbon, 2 design papers & 3 embellishments.
I made this one at 4 1/2"x6 1/4" with white cardstock. I then used DCWV Sweet stack to cut the background paper, just an 1/8" smaller. The cupcake paper is also from the Sweet stack, cut at 4" square. I cut a white circle at 3 1/2" using George and Basic Shapes. The cupcake image is a chipboard shape I had on hand. The ribbon is Debbie Mumm and the buttons were from my stash. I used cotton candy Stickles to accent the circle and the the rectangle on the inside of the card. I used an Inkadinkado stamp for the sentiment on the inside.

Bun in the Oven



Today's challenge over at 365 Cards is "What's Cooking," where your project had to have something to do with the cooking of food. When I saw this challenge I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I used the From My Kitchen cartridge and cut the oven out of yellow at 7" and in again in black, but with the blackout feature. I cut out the middle of the yellow oven, where the door would go. I then cut out the layers and when I glued on the oven door, I only did it at the bottom so that I could open it up. On the inside I used the Cuttin' Up cartridge and my Gypsy to weld the sentiment, "bun in the oven?" and cut it out in black. I used alphabet stickers to write out the "congrats." I attached an easel to the back so that it can stand up, since it opens in an unconventional way. I have a friend who just found out she is pregnant and I think this will be perfect for her.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Purple Butterfly and Bees

I really like how this card turned out. I used the sketch from the Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge. I love those Peachy Keen stamps, I just wish I had some to have used on this card, but the ones I have worked very well for it. I used a nice chocolate brown card, which doesn't look like it in the picture, but it is. I then found this great purple ribbon that I wrapped around the card and then used the rest to tie the knot and adhered it on the card. I cut the rectangle and squares with my paper trimmer. I used a light lavender and a light tan. The I stamped my images on. I adhered the two squares on the card and used pop dots to pop up the butterfly image. I left a sentiment off, that way I can use it for any occasion, but I think I like it as a sympathy card. That way I have one on hand, just in case I might need it. It was nice and simple card that I thinked turned out really sweet.

Queen 4 a Day

This week at Made by Momo she challenged everyone to a "Girly Affair," where the challenge is to create something super girly. I chose to use the Once Upon a Princess cartridge, what could be girlier than that? I chose to make the gift bag with bows on it. I used the fit to page feature to cut it as large as possible. I then cut the sentiment, "Queen 4 a Day" at 1 3/4" out of the glittery yellow paper. I glammed it up with Stickles on the sentiment and the bow. I used two types of ribbon on the bottom of the bag and some pink gems. I am not used to doing really girly projects, but it is fun to do every once in a while and I like how this one turned out. Enjoy!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Flower Thanks

This is a card I made that fulfills three challenges. I used the color challenge from Picture Perfect Creations. Their colors were cajun craze, baja breeze, rich razzleberry, and regal rose. I would never have chosen these colors together, but I really like how they work. It was definitely a fun challenge to put these colors together in a way I liked. I used Mojo Monday's sketch challenge for the layout of my card. I really liked this sketch and thought there were so many options for it. My theme came from Paper Playtime. Their challenge this week was "Flower Power," you could take that however you wanted: hippies, 60's, gardens, bouquets, etc. I decided to literally go with flowers, a lot of them. My background paper is stamped with Tsukineko Memento Bahama Blue ink with a Hero Arts stamp called Heart Flower Border. I used George and Basic Shapes to cut the circles and squares. The large blue circle is embossed with my Cuttlebug using the Stylized Flowers folder. I used Sweet Treats to cut out the other flowers. The two flowers in the sqares are cut at 1 1/2" and the middle flower is cut at 2 1/4." I cut the "Thanks" at 1" using Gypsy Wanderings. I then added some pink pearls and grape Stickles. I wasn't sure on this one as I was putting it all together, but I really like how it all turned out in the end.

Thank You Note Cards

I made some quick thank you note cards today. I used Cupcake Inspirations for the color inspiration: pink, red, cream, white, and mint green. I also used 2 Sketches 4 You for the sketch. It was such a nice simple sketch that I wanted to keep it nice and clean and I thought it would work perfectly for some notecards. I love having note cards on hand, they are perfect when you need something quick to send out and they also make nice gifts. I used some scraps I had sitting in my stash for the paper. I used Martha Stewart punches for both the border and for the butterflies. The "thank you" is a stamp I have had for a while.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Hip, Hip, Hooray!



Here's a card for the Cricut Cardz Challenge, where the challenge this week was to create a card using the actual card feature on your choice of cartridge. You could also pick any colors or any theme for your card. I chose to use the cartridge Sweet Treats. I really liked this present and decided to use it to make a fun birthday card. I haven't been using purple a whole lot lately, so I chose this as my main color. I also loved this fun patterned paper that I had in my stash. I cut the present at 8" out of the dark purple and used the patterned paper to cut the base of the present and a light purple for the box top. I liked the "hip, hip, hooray " sentiment on this cartridge and cut it out at 2" in the dark purple with the shadow feature. Then I cut out the normal one in a plain purple, one hip out of light purple and the hooray out of a glittery yellow. I used some K&Company flowers to decorate the present. On the inside I just wrote "it's your birthday." I did some doodling on the package and I like how it all came together. Enjoy!

Two More Cards

I've been busy tonight. I got two more cards made, both for some challenges. The first card was for Mojo Monday's current sketch challenge. I had a hard time trying to figure out the theme I was going to do, but I looked at my stamps and hit jackpot. I have a sentiment one I haven't used yet, but have had for a long time, so that set the whole tone for what I was going to do. It says, "coffee and friends are the perfect blend."

I had some great paper from DCWV called Nana's Kitchen. I used that for my colors and Lyrical Letters had the perfect cuts on it to finish off the card. I used some gems for the dots of the 'i' in both hi and friend. I used the same paper on the inside and stamped my image with Tsukineko Dew Drop Chalk Ink in the perfect color, "jumbo java." I like how it all turned out and have the perfect person to give it too. :)



My second card of the night was for three challenges. The first was Card Patterns, which was the sketch I used for the card. The second was for My Sheri Crafts, where the challenge was to create a project with "critters" incorporated in it somehow. The third challenge was for Just Us Girls Challenge. This was a color challenge, the colors were: orange, navy, green, & cream. I created this card incorporating all three of these challenges and I absolutely love how it turned out. I left off any sentiment so that I could use it for pretty much any occasion. The navy blue background is actually shimmery and I wanted to use that as most of my color, so that the other colors would pop even more. The orange, green, and cream were all scraps from my stash. I used my Cuttlebug and one of my flower dies to create the flowers that I put in the corners. I didn't know what to put there at first, but when I came across this die I knew it was perfect. I then used Create a Critter for the butterfly. I wanted a fairly simple butterfly and this one was perfect. I used some crystals for the eyes and then used some orange peel Stickles to glitz up the edge of the wings. I used some pop dots to lift the butterfly off the base and I think it all came together wonderfully.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Squirrel Appreciation Day

Who knew this holiday even existed? I didn't until I came across a challenge over at 365 Cards, where we were tasked with making cards for an obscure, silly holiday. I just had to participate in this one, so I Googled "silly holidays" and found a lot of them. There are some really random ones out there. Anyways, when I saw Squirrel Appreciation Day I knew I just had to make a card for it, since squirrels are so under-appreciated. ;) I know you are just dying to know when this fantastic holiday is so you can have your wild squirrel parties; it is January 21st. A ways off, but I know everyone will come up with some great ideas by then. ;)
I made this cute little 4"x4" card. I used a yellow scrap that I had, 4"x12" and scored it at 4" and 8". Then I folded over the ends to make it open on the diagonal. I used some ribbon from my stash as my closure. The patterned paper is DCWV Animal Crackers. The squirrel is from Give a Hoot, cut at 3 1/2" also made with scraps in my stash. The little acorn on the inside is the accent feature of the squirrel in Give a Hoot. I'm not really sure who I am going to send this one too, but I have a few months to figure it out. Hmm....maybe my brother, this is his type of humor. Enjoy!

Friday, July 16, 2010

Caterpillar Hi

Just a cute little card to say "Hi." This one is for the Cuttlebug Challenge Blogspot. The challenge is to use a garden critter...one with legs. I loved the little caterpillar from Stretch Your Imagination, so I wanted to use him. I also used the Cuttlebug. Both for embossing the background and to make the flowers (I have the instructions in an older post on my blog if you are interested). The "hi" is from Sentimentals. I love all the colors on this one, makes me want to be outside enjoying all the warmth and sunshine.

Sweet Pea

My entry for a couple of challenges: Jitterbuggin' and 365 Cards. The challenge at Jitterbuggin' was to follow the sketch, use pastel colors, use a Cricut cut, and use at least one button. Since it was pastel colors I thought a baby card would be perfect, especially since I have some cousins who are expecting. I used New Arrival for the pea pod and the "sweet pea" sentiment. The challenge at 365 Cards was a "Create-your-own" sort of challenge. They gave us four lists and we were supposed to pick one item from each list and create a card using them. List A - Pick a Pattern: I chose toile, which is my background. List B - Color Trio: I went with blue, lavender and green. List C - Embellishment: I chose to use buttons (mostly because they were required for the Jitterbuggin' challenge also). List D - Shape: I went with the circle, which is behind the pea pod. I think it is a nice sweet card that any one of my cousins would love to receive, that's what I hope at least.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Storybook Owl Birthday Card

The challenge this week over at Bitten by the Bug 2 is to use the owl from the Storybook cartridge. I love this cartridge, so many beautiful cuts. I decided to use the sketch from the Crafty Creations challenge. I used the accent/frame feature on this cartridge to cut out the scalloped owl frame. I then used the accent blackout feature to cut the frame again. I had this great paper on hand and knew it would be perfect for the idea I had in mind. The "birthday girl" sentiment is also from Storybook. The flowers are from K&Company, I had them in my stash and when I found them again I couldn't believe how perfectly the color worked I knew I would just have to use them. The ribbon is Debbie Mumm. I wasn't sure I would be able to find any pink ribbon in my stash, I don't usually buy pink stuff, but I did have some on hand and it also worked really well. I used some flat-backed pearls in the corners of the frame and vintage photo Stickles on the body of the owl and the rest of the frame. The eyes are just circles cut at 1/2" from George and Basic Shapes. I then used a couple of pink crystal gems. The inside is the same paper and flowers as the front. I don't really make too many really girly cards or projects, but this one was really fun and I think going out of my typical comfort zone makes me really be creative sometimes. I think I will have to do it again. Enjoy!