Krafty Girls - A New Challenge Site!

Okay, so if you have been reading my blog, by now you know that I am getting addicted to challenges!   I love how challenges get me thinking about projects that I could make and to use items and techniques that I wouldn't normally use or, on the other hand use stuff the I already have! 

There's a new challenge site called Krafty Girls, they will be kicking off their challenges on February 14th.  

As they are getting ready to launch their site they have a great give-a-way.  They are giving away a Cricut Cars Cartridge so SPEED on over to Krafty Girls and find out how to enter!

Good luck everyone and thanks for stopping by. 

Baby Boy Card -- Blue Baby Blue!!

Well, I found yet another challenge site! YIPPEEE!  

Shopping Our Stash or "SOS" is a weekly challenge blog which evolved from a personal desire to focus on using the supplies the site creator had on hand or shopping her stash instead of always thinking she had to have something new! She stared taking inventory of all of her stamps and supplies and quickly realized she would feel better if she actually started using more of her supplies that have remained untouched!   She created the blog and challenges in hope that you will join in the spirit of the blog and shop your stash first when crafting! There will be some "side-challenges" that focus on organizing, storing, and becoming aware of what we have on hand! 

After reading around the site, I was inspired to SOS (shop my stash), reduce my scraps pile (BOY---do I NEED to do this, my scraps pile is out of control!!) and have hand-made cards and embellishments on hand when needed. 

 My OUT of CONTROL Scraps Pile!!!

This weeks challenge was to shop your stash for items that are BLUE.  You can have other colors, but make sure the focus is the color BLUE.  I created a baby boy card.  

A friend of mine is pregnant and she does not know the sex of the baby yet so I'm taking a chance on BABY BOY BLUE!!!  :o)

Recipe: 

Cricut Cartridge: Wrap it Up 

<Onesie> card feature -- sized fit to page (8 1/2 x 11)

I also cut 2 circles at 6" for the inside of card.

Cardstock: The Paper Company Seaside collection and 

I think the onesie is DCWV, but I am not sure 

-- that piece was in my scraps pile. 

Stickles: Waterfall

Misc: Glitter stickers, baby blue ribbon

Inspired by and created for the following challenges: 

ShoppingOur Stash Challenge 36: Winter Blues

Little Scrap Pieces Challenge – Use Blue 

 

CAUTION!!!! CAUTION!!!! CAUTION!!!! CAUTION!!!! CAUTION!!!!

Challenges are addictive! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Grease Lightning!

The One Hour Challenge this week at Club CK was to create a layout using a tv show or movie as the inspiration.  I knew exactly which photos I wanted to use!  As I was making this, I wondered what I ever did without my Cricut!  I would be lost with it now. 

Recipe

Cricut Cartridge: Nifty Fifties 

Cuttlebug Embossing Folder: Swiss Dots

Stickles: Yellow

Pen: Glaze Black (for the music notes)

Various cardstock, patterned paper, rub-ons

Linking this to: 
DL.ART's Thankful Thursday Challenge

Thanks for stopping by.

Thank You Card...From the bottom of my heart!

Did you know that today is 

Squirrel Appreciation Day????  

I didn't even know that day existed but the NUTTY crew over at Die Cuttin Divas issued a challenge to use a squirrel on a project in honor of this day.  

In the spirit of  Squirrel Appreciation Day, I would like to thank the squirrel's in my back yard that play (I really mean taunt) my Yorkie, Bailey!  She has so much fun chasing them around the yard and  up the tree.  I love the way her ears flap when she runs really fast.  

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

 Imagine layout - Squirrel's cut at 2.5

All patterns and colors selected from Heirloom cartridge.

  Recipe: 

Cricut Cartridges: Imagine Heirloom, Create-A-Critter

Stamp set: My Pink Stamper Sweet Goodness (altered)

Cardstock: White, Vanilla, and Strawberry

Paper Studio Embossing Folder: Doodle Hearts

Glaze Pens: Black, Red, White

Pens: Golden Star, Black

Misc: heart rhinestone, ribbon, foam tape

Inspired by and created for:

Die Cuttin Divas Challenge #48 - Squirrels

DL.ART's THANKFUL THURSDAY -

 A THANK YOU CARD PREDOMINATELY YOUR FAVORITE COLOR

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you are having a GREAT weekend.

"Cool" Card

The weather is still chilly outside, I won't say "COLD" because one of my visitors said it was -24 in her area of Canada - me personally - I'd never come out of my haven if it was that cold!  Hope the grocery store delivers or that I stored up enough stock pile of Aunt Sheila's delicious home canned goodies (she makes the most amazing home canned salsa!) to last to the next warm front......when it is -24 degrees outside - what do you consider warm?!?!?!?!  

Recipe: 

Cardstock: Bazzill White, Recollections Lumiere (blue)

Vellum

Cricut Cartridge: Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art (cut at 1.5")

Cuttlebug Embossing Folder: Snowflakes

Glitter: Recollections Snow

Misc: charms, ribbon, pearl, foam tape

Inspired by and entered in:

FCCB #94 Snow Fun

Birthday Sundaes #39 Inspiration Photo

Little Scrap Pieces - Anything Goes

ABC Christmas Challenge 2012 - A -- Anything Goes
My Craft Spot Monday Challenge #41 - Snow much fun
Getting Cricky "Let it Snow"/Use Embossing

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope that where ever you are...you are safe and warm!

Cards, Cards, Cards....

Today has been a card making day for me!  Diana over at DL.Art had a "Thankful Thursday" Challenge.  Her challenge was to create a thank you card -- any colors -- any reason (up to 3 cards).  I don't know about you, but I can always use thank you cards.  Here are the cards that I am going to submit. 

Cardstock: from my scrap pile - One heart...one mind., pink, white

Stamp: Clear Art Stamps - Support the Girls

Variegated pink colored floss

The "Thanks for the Support" is raised up by foam tape. 

 Diana's card inspired this card....notice the steaming cup??? 

Although I do prefer to think of it as cocoa instead of coffee :o)

Cricut Imagine Cartridge: Enjoy the Season

Cardstock: from my scrap pile 

Cuttlebug embossing folder: Perfectly Paisley

Foam Tape

 I left the ribbon banner blank so that I could put the person's name on it. 

 Stamp: My Pink Stamper Sweet Goodness

My third and final (for tonight), general all purpose "Thank You" card.  

Cardstock: Recollections Signature "Lumiere" from my scrap pile...

I know what kind of cardstock this is, I buy a package (or two) every 

time Michael's has it on sale!

I can't remember where the glittery flowers were from.

NOTE: This picture does not do the cardstock justice, it has a very nice shimmer to it. 

Thanks for stopping by!

The Blog World - a treasure trove of amazing sites!

It's cold here in Kansas (17 degrees as I type this) and I've been doing a lot of blog hopping!  WoW -- there are some fabulous blogs and very talented ladies out there in blog space.  I have been amazed at the creativity, I've tried to keep notes on some of the ideas that I have come across but at this rate I'm going to need a new idea journal!  

Along my hopping through sites I came across the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog where they encourage Sharing, Creating and Inspiring Cricut users.  Let me tell you -- "Fantabulous" does not even begin to describe their blog! They have daily inspirations  Challenge Me Monday's, Quick Tip Tuesday's, Thursday's Tutorial's.....get the idea???  Hop on over there to check them out.  

I decided to take part in their challenge - Challenge Me Monday #93 - Man Time.  My "little one" isn't so "little" any more....I am now looking up to him!  Like any typical teenager without a car (he's only 15) you can find him attached to his xBox 360 controller playing MW3, Battlefield 3, AC and others with his friends.  Since that is a prevalent part of his weekend ritual that was my inspiration for this card. 


Also hopping along, I came across Birthday Sundaes...where it is all about Birthday Card Challenges!  I am having SO MUCH FUN!!!!

 Sorry about the glare the buttons, they are glossy and look really cool IRL. 

Foam tape to pop-up the controllers. 

Oh -- and do you like how sneaky I was adding bling to the card??  :)

Recipe: 

Cricut Cartridge: Wrap It Up

Cardstock: Bazzill White and Black

Glaze pens: black, yellow, red, blue, green, white

StazOn ink: Blazing Red

My Pink Stamper: Sweet Goodness

(the only My Pink Stamper set I own....more are definitely on my wish list!)

I altered the saying by masking off the word "sweet" and adding a hand written "Rockin'"

Thanks for stopping by!  

Memories of Grandma!

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about my Grandma McCoy.  I'm the first "scrapbooker" in our family and I find myself trying to write down the little things as I think of them so that I can tell the story later in my scrapbooks.  I did just that in the layout below.  I created this layout in September 2011 to incorporate multiple challenges over at Club CK. If you haven't checked out Club CK, you should! 

 The challenges were:

• Journal about your Grandma! (http://clubcreatingkeepsakes.com/blogs/for_members_only/archive/2011/09/01/journaling-challenge-journal-about-your-grandma.aspx)
• One-Hour Challenge - Use Word Strips On A Layout (http://clubcreatingkeepsakes.com/blogs/ck_community/archive/2011/09/06/one-hour-challenge-use-word-strips-on-a-layout.aspx)
• Issue Challenge #2 (Sept 2011) hosted by Erika H. - Create a layout, card or embellishment that has some form of clustering.  http://clubcreatingkeepsakes.com/forums/t/89011.aspx

I even used up some scraps  - the patterned paper and blue card stock were both from my scrap file.

I am in the process of getting photos out of <cringe> shoeboxes  and old  photo albums with yellow pages <cringe some more> and at least get them into photo safe storage containers.  As I find photos that spark memories, I have been jotting them down and placing them with the photo, hoping that they will spark yet other memories that I can capture when I start to scrapbook. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Give-A-Way Alert!

Tracy over at Owl Be Craftin' is having a give-a-way to celebrate her 100th post.  You can check out her give-a-way here.

Pass it along.....the Liebster Blog Award

I'm a new follower for each of the talented ladies below and would like to share the Liebster Blog Award with them. 

If you want to see some amazing Copic detail work stop by to see Crystal at Creations by Crystal.

I can't wait to see what creations Claire at Three Waters Creations will make just by using her stash! Check out her blog for some fun handmade cards. 

Haven at Haven's Haven has some great layouts that she used sketchs as her inspiration.
 
For some neat DIY projects and layouts visit Beth at My Serendipity.

For some more cards head on over and check out Stephanie at paperANDi.

Here are the rules:

• Choose 5 up and coming blogs of fewer than 200 followers to award the Liebster to.
• Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
• Post the award on your blog.  Link back to the blogs you have given the Liebster to so everyone else can pay them a visit.

By the way if you choose not to receive this blog award I won’t take any offense but just know the spirit that is intended with it.

My FIRST blog award!!!!

I am SO excited!!!! What a great way to start of 2012!  I have received my FIRST Blog Award!!!!  Kathy from 3 Spoiled Dogs and a Cricut honored me with the Liebster Blog Award!  

Thank you Kathy!  

Here are the rules:

• Choose 5 up and coming blogs of fewer than 200 followers to award the Liebster to.
• Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them. If you are not a follower of theirs, that might be a nice way to show appreciation for the award.
• Post the award on your blog.  Link back to the blogs you have given the Liebster to so everyone else can pay them a visit.

How to Make A Sock Cupcake

I had a request for the instructions on how I made my sock cupcake.  

Hope you enjoy! 

Here are the items you will need: 

Cricut Imagine

Cupcake Wrappers Lite Cartridge

Yummy Imagine Cartridge

white card stock

spa socks

red pom pom

 I used the new Cricut Craft Room to design the cupcake wrappers. 

I LOVE how you can use a piece of plain white 12x12 cardstock 

and get 3 totally different patterned cupcake wrappers using the Imagine!! 

Cupcake Wrappers Lite - Flowers2-s

Yummy Imagine - Pattern on page 38 (for the brown cupcake wrapper)

 The width is set at 10 inches. 

The height is set at 4.167 inches. 

You can get 3 cupcake wrappers on each 12x12.

This size fit my thick spa socks the best, you may need to

 increase or decrease the size depending on your socks. 

 My pink spa socks are from JoAnn's.  They are thick and very fluffy.  

Start by laying the socks out one on top of the other. 

 Begin to loosely roll socks, using the bottom as your guide.  

I rolled mine so that the heel would be an extra layer of  "icing."

Continue rolling....

 Done....now you just need to tweak it a bit to look like layers. 

 I pinch the inside layers a twist them a little to create a space for the cherry (pom pom).

 Using the bottom of the sock as my guide helps me to roll the socks so they are flat on the bottom.  They fit into wrapper nice and evenly. 

Add a cherry (pom pom) and VIOLA! 

You have a cupcake with ZERO calories and is just as sweet! 

If you make your own sock cupcakes, I would love to see them!  

Sock Cupcake & Matching Card

I brought in the new year spending time with my family, scrapping, organizing and blog hopping.  I came across Diana's 1 Year Blogaversary (I didn't even know there was such a thing!)  at DL.Art.   She had several designers lined up and as you went to each designers blog you needed to find the 4 designers that had a clue so that you could create a project for a challenge to win a Sweet Tooth Boxes Cricut Cartridge (and from my previous posts...you know I LOVE Cricut Cartridges).  I also wanted to use my new stamp set!  

I made a birthday gift (sock cupcake) and a matching card for my entry. 

Inside card reads: You are number 1 in my book! Happy Birthday to someone so sweet!  Just relax and snuggle up and take a load off your feet!  

Recipe: 

Cricut Cartridges: Imagine - Yummy, Cupcake Wrappers, Hannah Montana

My Pink Stamper: Sweet Goodness

Ink: Timber Brown

Cardstock: Brown - Bazzill Sugar Daddy; Pink - Coredinations Gemstones Pink Diamond; Green Glitter - Unknown

Stickles: Cotton Candy, Crystal, Magenta, Firefly, Copper

Misc: Felt ribbon, pink spa socks, pom pom

Thanks for stopping by and please stop by Diana's blog and wish her a happy blogaversary! 

My first set of My Pink Stamper stamps!!!

Oh what fun!  I received my FIRST set of My Pink Stamper stamps in the mail last week and I can tell you already........

I LOVE THEM!!!!!

I purchased Sweet Goodness because of it's versatility.  There are stamps for birthday, anniversary, Valentines, thank you, encouragement, miss you, and friendship...just to name a few.  

Another first for me, I purchased my first Copic marker (C3 - Cool Gray).  Thank you Michael's for a 50% off coupon.  I chose this marker because I've seen a lot of people use it for creating a shadow.  

Stayed tuned for my first project using my new stamps!  It's really sweet!

Starting Off the New Year........

Organizing!

I decided to continue re-organizing my scrap space today.  

Today I focused on my Cricut cartridges, books and overlays.  As I was making my list of Cricut cartridges that I own I started wondering...when does it stop being a hobby and when does it start being an obsession?    I had NO idea I had over 100 cartridges!  I knew that I could create a card, scrapbook layout or mini-book on just about ANY subject with the cartridges that I had (and THAT is a great feeling).  

I love crafting and try to craft at least weekly.  Even though I probably think about a project (or projects) several times in a week (thank goodness for idea journals) - the reality is most weeks I only get to play once or twice a week. 

I've posted my storage idea before but I filled in the containers (which are previous Plano tackle boxes) 

and got all of my books and overlays in one place. 

Easy to find and now all in one place.

Thanks for stopping by.