Crusin' Layout

Hey, everyone! Sorry I've been so quiet! I'm trying to get ready for CHA.... there's still so much to do! If you want to see HOW I created this adorable layout check out the Cutters Creek Design Team Blog for all of the details!


Thanks for stopping by! I'll have more from CHA this weekend!!!!

Hello Thursday!!!

Hello again! So now that the Hello Thurday posts have officially gone up I can share the new ones here on my blog as well! I showed the ones that "leaked" earlier but the pics were not as good as I would have liked. But I wanted to make sure that I didn't leak ANYTHING that I wasn't supposed to... so I used the photos from the JoAnns.com website... but I have bigger ones from my *other* source! Just click on the photos to make them larger and thanks for checking in!

Campin' Critters

This is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE of the new releases! I MUST have this NOW! I've been waiting for a fun camping/outdoor cartridge like this for a while and the character are soooo cute!! Plus the 3D objects on this one are really fun!

Florals Embellished

This has some really cool cuts and I would love to play with it to see if it's for me. It does look really pretty though.

The next couple I posted about earlier but I have better pics now:

Kate's ABCs

Formal Occasion

Baby Steps

All Sports

A brand new Cricut Cake Cartridge:

Martha Stewart Birthday Cake Art

I think this is set up beautifully! What a fun idea!

And the NEW Imagine Cartridges:

Bubble Gum Art Cartridge

Some really fun patterns here!

Buccaneer

I am in LOVE with this one!

All Wrapped Up

I'm looking forward to seeing more info about this one...

Well, that's it for this edition of Hello Thursday! How many of these new releases are on your MUST HAVE list?

Cricut Circle Weekly Challenge #16: Cute As a Button Sketch Challenge!

This week on the Circle Blog they said "Babies are definitely “cute as a button” with their sweet little faces and tiny features. In honor of our Baby Theme, this week we challenge you to create a SCRAPBOOK PAGE or CARD using the sketch below. Your project doesn’t need to follow the sketch exactly, but it should be apparent that you used it as inspiration. Feel free to turn it on it’s side or move elements to fit what you are doing. In addition to using the sketch, (and at least two Cricut Cuts) we also want you to incorporate STAMPING and BUTTONS (of course!)."


So since I have ALL of Evie's newborn pictures that I need to scrap.... I decided to scrap some pictures from the Pumpkin Farm, LOL! I know, I should have done baby pictures BUT I won these My Mind's Eye Blackbird papers a couple of months ago and I really wanted to use them! Since I'm a 2 page scrapper I decided to S T R E T C H the sketch a bit and I am just THRILLED with how it came out!


Yes, that IS a Pumpkin Man mooning you in the middle of the layout! You just went back to look at it bigger didn't you? Bengston's Pumpkin Farm has some of the BEST decorations! Now to scrap some of the rest of the photos from that day! I cut my title from the Hello Kitty Greetings and Birthday Bash Cricut Cartridges...


Are you wondering where I incorporated stamping in this layout? Check out my ribbon. I actually hand cut the scallop in the ribbon and then stamped the pumpkin row from the matching My Mind's Eye Stamp set (yep, won that too!) and then added little dots along the scallops with my marker. I was really happy with how this came out! If you're wondering where the cute flowers came from... some we in my stash box which is a mix of Primas and Close to My Heart flowers mostly and MOST of them (including the puffy orange heart) are Chick'n Feed from Two Chicks Designs!


Here's a close up of my "Pumpkin" flower... the stem and leaves are a Pine Tree button turned upside down! It's fun to occasionally feel clever when you come up with something like this, LOL!

I hope you enjoyed looking at my layout! I really had fun making this one and I'm inspired to finish scrapping all of these pics from this outing... now to find the TIME!

Hello Thursday: Part 1

In the Provo Craft world today is Hello Thursday, the day when they show all of the new release cartridges! Even though I am in the Cricut Circle and have see ALL of the new ones, I'm going to share the ones that you can currently see on the Joanns.com website. I figure I'm not giving anything away if it is publicly available.... So with out further ado, here are the newest Cricut cartridges from Provo Craft:


Baby Steps
I think this one is so cute! What a great addition to the New Arrival cartridge. I am looking forward to adding this to my collection as I still have a TON of baby pics to print, let alone scrap!


Kate's ABCs

I am so in love with the cartridge. The sister to Nate's ABCs (from last Hello Thursday) this is also on my wishlist!


Formal Occasion

This is fun, especially if you have some school dance photos to scrap. I have some of the posed pictures from when my friends and I went... way back in the day, LOL! I have been wanting to get them in a book and now I have to perfect cuts to compliment them.


All Sports

This is a pretty fun sports cartridge. I think I may break down and get this one too because Penny decided that she want to try soccer this spring. But I'm going to wait for a pretty good sale because there are so many others that I *need* night now!

I'll be back later today with MORE once the release is official! I also have a layout to post today too!

300 Follower Celebration!!!

I'm so excited that I made it to 300 followers! I would like to say "Thank You" to each and every one of you for taking the time to look and my projects. I appreciate each and every comment that is left on my blog too. So I'm sure you're wondering what I'm going to give away.... well, I'll tell you... right after I show you another one of my projects!


This is one of the layouts I submitted for the Imaginisce Design Team call back in December. I am super proud of it! I used the Twitterpated paper line from Imaginisce and my Create a Critter Cricut cartridge. The title is cut from 3 Birds on Parade (if I remember right) and I also used my i-top to make the cute little fox brad!

So... isn't Evie a cutie pie... of course these photos are almost 2 years old now... Time really flies! Anyway, I'm sure by now you REALLY want to know what is up for grabs... It's one of my favorite Cricut Cartridges:

PAISLEY!!!!

Yep! This has some of the cutest images on it! So how can you win?

1. Well, if you're NOT already a follower, become one!
2. Leave me a comment (only one per person please) on this post before 11:59pm on February 2, 2011 (I will be at CHA for 6 days so I won't be here to pick a name... but I will be blogging from CHA so keep your eyes peeled!!!

***** EDIT ******

I got snowed out of Chicago so I just got home! I am going to leave this contest open through the weekend so please leave your comment before 11:59pm Sunday February 6th! And tell your friends because if they mention that YOU sent them and they are the winner I will be sending you a gift too!!! I sent home 2 boxes stuffed to the gills with goodies from CHA... not to mention my suitcases were also full..... so I have some swag to share!

I will pay for shipping to the US only. Other countries are welcome to enter but shipping will be your responsibility if you win. If I hit 400 Followers before I return I will add a mystery goodie bag to a 2nd winner so please, share this with your friends!!!

Precocious Paper Hair Clips

I wanted to do a different sort of project this month for my Precocious Paper Design Team project and I've been seeing all these really cute hair accessories lately.... so I decided that the Sweet Dots Felt and Fabric flowers would make the perfect hair clips! They would be so fun for any little or big girl to receive as a gift and they were pretty simple to make!


I simply covered a clip with some cute red ribbon. Then ran a line of hot glue and stuck my Sweet Dots Flower into it! But I also wanted a fun way to present them as a gift...


I created this card with my Hello Kitty Greetings Cricut Cartridge and instead of cutting out the flower that goes on her head I just skipped that step and clipped on the flower clip that I made instead! Now I have a beautiful gift to give to a special little girl :) Now you should hurry over to the Precocious Paper Etsy Store and grab some of these fun flowers to play with too!

Cricut Circle Weekly Challenge #15: Feeling Frosty!

Whew, I made it... just under the wire! I wasn't going to play because I've been so busy on other projects that I almost said "Forget It!" I was down with a migraine most of today and the dog has been sick so I finally took her to the vet... waiting on test results so I'm guessing that the stress isn't helping my creative juices any. Oh well...

This weeks challenge was to use Winter-inspired elements to fuel your creative juices on your next Cricut project. The challenge is to incorporate white paint, metal, and a snowflake cut on your project this week.



I used my Cuttlebug and the Snowflake folder to emboss my background sheet. Then I swiped my white paint dauber around the edges. Next I added my 4" snowflake from the "When It's Cold Outside" cartridge and the two 1" ones are from Accent Essentials. The word "peace" is actually a metal brad and I attached it to a piece of ribbon. Then I blinged it out with my i-rock, of course! I think it took me about 20 minutes to create this and I think it's really pretty! It's amazing what a deadline can do!

Glimmer Mist Flowers

So did last weeks Tutorial Tuesday post on the Cutters Creek Design Team Blog make you hurry over to the Cutters Creek Store and stock up on the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist? If you did you're going to want to try the ideas in this post! If you didn't I sure hope this post will put you in the shopping mood!

Grab some scrap White Cardstock and a scalloped circle punch or Cricut or Spellbinders die and punch a bunch of circles! The punch I used makes circles that are about 2" but you can actually go a little smaller or larger based on your preference!

I punched about 15 circles here. I figured if I'm going to make my own embellishments I might as well make a couple while I have all of my supplies out...

Next I grabbed one of my favorite script background stamps and my Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Walnut Stain. You can really use whatever image you want but I LOVE the look of the words. You could even grab a single word stamp or use some alphabet stamps to spell a word and stamp it repeatedly. I like to stamp both sides of my punch but you don't have to... in fact you don't really need to stamp at all!

Next I grabbed three bottles of my Glimmer Mist, Walnut Gold, Coffee Shop and Tattered Leather. I really want a lot of depth in this project. As you will see a bit farther down the post you can also do this technique with a single color... Also notice I have my Bazzill Splat Mat covering my desk. This is really important because it will keep you from dying your desk as well as protecting it from the heat of your heat gun.

The first layer is the Walnut Gold. I just did about one or two sprays per flower. Two things to remember, mix your spray WELL before spraying and keep your hand moving while you are spraying.

I repeat the spraying with the Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist trying to sort of hit different areas.

Finally I used the Tattered Leather. Then layer another paper towel over the top and flip it over and repeat on the other side!

Next you're going to want to crumple your circles up into a nice wrinkly ball. You don't have to crush it... you just want some nice wrinkles. Now, grab your heat gun and dry them a little bit.

Next you are going to un-wrinkle them a bit. You want some of the creasing to stay so don't totally flatten them out. Grab that heat gun again and dry them all the rest of the way.

Here's what you will end up with. At this point these should be completely dry. On a side note, you may tear one or two while you are unfolding them (if you look closely you will see I did) and it's NO big deal. It adds to the character of your finished flower. But, if it bugs you... it's a good idea to initially punch and stamp a few extras...

Now, before I put my heat gun and my Glimmer Mist sprays away I decided that I wanted to create a card for this lovely flower to adorn so I grabbed a piece of lace from my stash and spritzed it with Coffee Shop and Vintage Pink.

Then I stacked up 5 of my scalloped circles and stuck my paper piercer through the center. Then I carefully added my brad to the center. This brad is covered in pink corduroy but it looked too "new" to go with my card so I gave it a little spray of the Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist.

Then I stuck a Pop Up Glue Dot to the back of my flower. I used the Pop Up Glue Dot because my flower has so much dimension I really wanted it to stick to the front of my card well.

After adhering the lace this is my completed card! I haven't decided what occasion this card will be for yet. I love that I could literally use this for ANYTHING! Sympathy, Birthday, Thinking of You... it really is what ever you make it!

I also have one more quick idea for you. I used the same technique as above with punching and spraying these flowers. I only used only one color, Purple Pansy, to mist these and I didn't have to stamp them because there was already a pattern on the paper.... any guesses to what this started life out as?

Here is one with out the mist.... give up? It a security envelope that one of our bills came in! Take a look at some of yours next time you are paying the bills. There are some really fun patterns that most of us just toss in the trash or shredder! This paper is a bit thinner than cardstock so you want to be a tiny bit gentler with it when you are crumpling and uncrumpling it!

Poke through your stack with a paper piercer and find a pretty brad for the center....

And you end up with THIS beautiful flower! You never knew garbage could look so amazing did you? Now, Glimmer Mist adds beautiful sparkle on its own but you can add a little more by pulling out your....

Icicle Stickles! Yep, I had to add even MORE bling to this flower! But what should I do with it.... another card.... nah, been there done that.... a layout? I should but I just don't have the TIME! I know....

A hair clip! I just hot glued some green ribbon to a plain clip. Then added a looped piece to make the "leaf" and finally hot glued my flower on top of that!

And here's my daughter modeling it. Yeah, the flash sometimes makes her eyes go funny... but doesn't she look cute?

Want to find out how YOU can win some Glimmer Mist of your own from the Cutters Creek Store? Check out my post one the Cutters Creek Design Team Blog for details!

Cricut Cartridge Font List

Oh my gosh! This really nice scrapper named Narelle Darley, Girl From Oz, created this fabulous list of all the Cricut fonts with examples onto her blog, Cricut Lovers Guide to Design Studio! And she's providing the download for free! Just click HERE for the download link!
Here's a preview of the document she created:


Isn't this a GREAT list? I know I'm printing a copy for my idea binder today! Thanks, Narelle!!!!

Elmo Card

So I've already been neglecting my blog this year, LOL! It's because I've been so busy creating projects and planning my trip to CHA-Winter (The Craft and Hobby Association trade show)! I'm super excited to have the opportunity to go... even if it means leaving my girls for almost a week. :(

So on a happy note, there are a pair of new babies in my family, my husband's cousin had a baby boy, Evan, and my cousin had a baby girl, Kyrsten! I will share the baby cards later but I wanted to share the Big Brother card I made for Evan's big brother. I used the Elmo's Party Cricut Cartridge to make this Pop Up Card. I am so thrilled with how easily this card came together. And the matching envelope is sooooo cute! I'm going to need a TON of red paper because I decided that I am going to make Evie's birthday invitations with this same card and envelope....


I used Fit to Page to size my envelope. I don't remember the size now but I think it was about 5 or 5 1/2" for the card and envelope. Remember to get the envelope size first so your card won't be to big for it's envelope!


The Elmo cuts in 2 pieces and you score him and then attach the top to the bottom. I was sort of surprised that this was so simple. And it's so cute! I made sure to use high quality Bazzill cardstock to put this together so that the Elmo would be sturdy. Then I just cut the blue squares to cover the front and back of my card (the card has some marks to show you where to place Elmo in the card and they do go all the way through the card). Then I cut Elmo's face and used my Gypsy to weld "Christopher" for the from of the card. I think I used the Sesame Street font for the name here. Anyway, if you have a kid that loves Elmo, or are thinking of having kids, this cartridge is super cute and easy to use!

Sparkly Cat Card

Today I just have a super quick post. This is a new card I created with Glimmer Mist, American Crafts Glitter Paper, my Cricut Create a Critter cartridge and my i-rock.


Want more details? Check out the Cutters Creek Design Team blog for the new Tutorial Tuesday!