Thursday, April 28, 2011

Exciting News!! I made the Thankful Thursday Design Team!!

Good morning Everyone!  I hadn't intended on being MIA this week but unfortunately, my body had other plans.  I've been spending a lot of time between my bed and the couch and the girl's have been forced to play a lot of "who can keep their eyes closed the longest"!  Mommy has been winning most of the time!  Anyway, I'm sure it will pass soon (I hope).

I do have some exciting news to share!  I have made the Thankful Thursday Design Team over at Crazy about Cricut!! 
My girls are thrilled  because I told them this was their DT too!  Thankful Thursday is a family oriented challenge every other Thursday.  The challenge and most of the projects are designed with family in mind and the goal is to get you crafting with your kids (young or old)!  If you don't have kids, you can still join in the fun by crafting with a family member of any age!  How fun is that!

Sorry I don't have a fun project to share today.  Hopefully by tomorrow I will be back in the swing!  Make sure you stop by Crazy about Cricut today to meet the rest of the talented and inspirational Design Team!  I hope you will grab your kids or a loved one and join us for our Thankful Thursday Challenge next Thursday! 
Have a great day!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Thank you so much!!

I have been in bed sick all day (and most of the weekend) so I thought since there is little to no crafting going on here, I should get this posted.  I'm so sorry it has taken so long for a few of them.  I need to acknowledge 5 more blog awards that I've received from 5 very talented crafters!   I really appreciate all my followers/friends and all of your encouragement and I hope you will go show these lovely bloggers the same kindness you show me!!  Now, in the order they were recieved...

These blogger friends have passed their Versatile Blogger on to me!  I love visiting each one of their blogs!
Sandra at 365 Days of Cricut 
Melissa at Crafty Gator
LaLa at Scrappin' with LaLa

The next award I want to acknowledge is a Best Friend Blogger from Vero at Mommy's Crafty Creations!   What an honor to receive another one of these! 



And one more award today is a Stylish Blogger Award from Arlene at WaterDots! 

I thank each of these ladies for these lovely awards and make sure you go visit their blogs!  They all have the most wonderful creations and I know you'll be happy you stopped by!  I want to pass these on to each of my followers because you all deserve them!  I hope to be watching the launch of the new Cricut 2 tonight but at this moment, I am not feeling up to it!  Hopefully, this illness will pass soon so I can get back to what I love! 
Thank you for the awards and thanks for stopping by! 

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Birthday Sundaes Challenge #6- Special Challenge

Happy Easter everyone!  I hope you all have family and/or friends to share this Easter Sunday with!  We are having a Special Challenge this week at Birthday Sundaes!  The Design Team has created some special projects to inspire you!  No Birthday cards this week!  The Challenge is to create birthday gift packaging, party favors, invitations, cupcake toppers/wrappers, banners, treat boxes, etc.   My Oldest E(her birthday is not until next Feb..hehe) requested a Rainbow Butterfly Party so here is what I came up with for my Special Birthday creation!
Everything was created using the Once Upon A Princess Cart. 
This treat bag is made by taking the bag image and welding the butterfly to it with the Gypsy. 
The invitation was made by again using the Gypsy to weld two shadows of the butterfly. 
I hand cut the tag and stamped it with a Stampin' Up! sentiment. 
These were my most favorite creation!  I made them with fun colored bendy straws!  To re-enforce them, I bent a second straw and slid it up through the center!  It was all I hand on hand and so far they seem to be holding up!  The girls love them! 
I added a rainbow ribbon tail to each Butterfly Wand and the girls couldn't be more thrilled with how they turned out!  Now lets see how many times between now and next Feb my oldest changes her mind for her Birthday Theme!
We had so many wonderful entries last week for the Anything Goes Challenge!  I hope to see your crafty creations again this week for our Special Challenge at Birthday Sundaes!  Make sure you check out the rest of the awesome DT creations!  Thanks for stopping by!  Have a very blessed Easter!

Friday, April 22, 2011

MMM... LO

One last post for today!  This one is for the Getting Scrappy Challenge.  Last Saturday's challenge was Fun with Food.  This is the layout I played with for the challenge.  It's very simple because I'm running out of time this week! 
I'm sure many of you have a ton of pics with your little ones eating corn on the cob!  It is one of the funniest foods for them to eat because a lot of times, the cob is bigger than their heads!  This is my Oldest E's first corn on the cob pic!
I could have cut the cob with my Country Life but I like the effect I got from using my 1/2 circle punch to make it! 
I added a little corn field using one of the Paper Dolls carts.  I also added some Baker's Twine from My Craft Spot and a Stampin' Up! Button. 
I'm keeping this short because I am running out of time to get it linked.  I had planned on making a layout for the Hanging with my Peeps challenge too but there just was not enough hours in the week!   Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great night!

No Time for Catching Butterflies: Get Well Soon Card

First, I want to thank all my old and new friends for stopping by with your well wishes for my new position with the My Craft Spot Design Team.  I am humbled with the number of you who stopped by and have liked what you see!  I promise to continue posting fun and inspiring projects for you and I plan on visiting many of you this weekend!   Thank you!
So, have I mentioned lately that I love Kate's ABCs Cartridge!  My daughter picked this image for a Get Well Soon card.  She said she would be sad if she was too sick to catch the butterflies!  My Craft Spot's Monday Challenge #4 this week is Get Well Soon and we're playing for a chance to win your favorite set of Hand Dyed Crinkle Ribbon!
For this card I used Kate's ABCs and My Craft Spot Inside & Out Set #1 
I also made a ruffle of ribbon using the Snow White Crinkle Ribbon.  
What's great about the Inside & Out stamp sets are that they come with a sentiment for the outside and inside of your cards!   
Products Used:
  • American Crafts Cardstock
  • Stampin' Up! Cardstock and Top Note Die
  • Kate's ABCs Cricut Cartridge
  • My Craft Spot Inside & Out Set #1 Stamp Set
  • My Craft Spot Hand Dyed Crinkle Ribbon and Baker's Twine
  • Martha Stewart Border Punch
  • Divine Swirls Cuttlebug Folder
  • Basic Grey Button
  • Signo White Gel Pen
Other Challenges:
Flutter By Wednesday #151 Open Challenge (must use a butterfly, angel or fairy)

There is still time to join in the fun, so head over to My Craft Spot and link up your Get Well Soon project! 

My 3 E's Project: Easter Treats

The kiddos preschool is closed until next Wed so we've been very busy crafting!  I haven't been posting many of my kids projects lately so I thought today would be a great day!  Here is the project we worked on today for the grandparents (no peeking Mammy and Nokomis)!  I'm linking them up to Crazy about Cricut's Thankful Thursday Challenge
I do not know who to credit for the idea of these punch bunnies but they sure are cute!  I received one similar to these as a gift last year from a SU! friend and I thought it would be a fun project that the kiddos could easily make!
We are filling these cute little creatures with the Easter cookies we made today! 
 These little punch bunnies are so easy that I made them with the preschool class on Wed before their party. 
They love playing with the Big Shot!  It gives them a chance to show me their muscles!! 
Each kiddo made a card for his/her parents!
 Here is my Oldest E showing me her muscles today!  She cut all the bunny bodies with the Top Note Die.
And here is Middle E using the Gypsy to cut the bags.

Even my Baby Monster got in on the fun!   I think most of the pics speak for themselves!  I am not going to share the particulars on the bunnies because I do not know who created them and for all I know, it may be a Demo who sells their templates.  If you know who the original creator is, please let me know so I can credit them for their creative idea!  It sure is a fun project to make with the kiddos and if you have time, make sure you check out Thankful Thursday, grab your kids (big or small, yours or someone elses) and get crafting! 
I've been busy today, so stop back later for some more creations!

I have found the creator of these incredible little bunnies thanks to Krysta at KLM Designs!  There is actually an entire set of them!!  They are from Tammy at Dream, Create and Share and she has the turtorials posted on her blog!  Make sure you check them out!! They are so much fun to make!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Exciting News!! I'm part of the new My Craft Spot Design Team!!

Hello my friends!  I have some exciting news I have been dying to share with you!  Kimberly from My Craft Spot contacted me to be a part of her very new Design Team and of course I said yes!! 
Her new line of Clear Stamps are so much fun and I love her Hand Dyed Crinkle Ribbon, not to mention the Bakers Twine!  I have been having so much fun playing with the products!  You can see some of my projects by clicking HERE
We would love for you to stop by My Craft Spot to meet the talented Design Team, so Kimberly has decided to give away some fabulous Blog Candy!  All you need to do is visit each one of the DT member's blogs and leave a comment on their post today!  A winner will be chosen from all the DT blog comments by random.org!  Easy enough! 
I made a card to share with you today using the Sweet Sentiments Set #1, Milk Chocolate Crinkle Ribbon, and Chocolate Bakers Twine.  The inspiration for my card...we have our first camping trip of the season planned here in a few weeks and we can't wait!   My girls can't stop talking about it so this is what I came up with!


Products Used:
  • Cosmo Cricket Mr. Campy Paper
  • Stampin' Up! Card Stock, Ink and Button
  • Summer Vacation Cricut Cartridge
  • My Craft Spot Sweet Sentiments Set #1
  • My Craft Spot Milk Chocolate Crinkle Ribbon
  • My Craft Spot Chocolate Bakers Twine
If you haven't been to My Craft Spot yet, make sure you stop by to check out the wonderful products and to meet the new DT!  Links to all the Design Team Members are also listed to the right!  If you are coming from My Craft Spot, I would love for you to take a look around!  Please be sure to leave me your blog address if it is your first time here!  I love to meet new friends!  Thanks for stopping by and thank you so much Kimberly for this fun and exciting opportunity!  I feel so blessed to be working with you! 

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Celebrate the Occasion Challenge #10

Good morning Everyone!  It's Design Team 2 week at Celebrate the Occasion and this week our challenge is a sketch challenge.  I'm not that great at sketches because I do not like to follow any rules when I scrapbook.  Yeah, I could have just made it easy on myself and made a card but that wouldn't be a challenge, would it!  Here is my layout for CTO Challenge #10.
I finally cut into my Green Stack from DCWV.  It was hard because I just wanted to keep it forever (yes that is the paper hoarder in me talking), but it matched the sketch pattern so well!  I had started out with several other ribbons for my tag, but they left too much bulk on the page.  I finally pulled out some of my new Hand Dyed Crinkle Ribbon from My Craft Spot.  It tied beautifully and because it is so delicate, it didn't leave a big bulge in my daughter's scrapbook! 
 This pic is from a camping trip several years ago.  My Oldest E, who was 2 at the time could not stay out of the trees for the entire hike.  She climbed one every few steps!  My kids are monkeys and they've had the surgeries to prove it!  My two oldest have both had displaced elbows from falls that required surgical pinning (thankfully it didn't happen on this fun camping trip).  You would think that would be enough to keep them grounded but no!  They climb every tree and everything else they possibly can!

Products Used:
  • DCWV Green Stack
  • Stampin' Up! Card Stock, Punch and Buttons
  • Lyrical Letters Cricut Cartridge
  • Wild Card Cricut Cartridge
  • My Craft Spot Hand Dyed Crinkle Ribbon
Here is the sketch for this week and we would love if you played along!  The rest of the design team has some wonderful inspiration waiting for you over at Celebrate the Occasion so swing by and check it out!  Link your project up by Sunday April 24 11:59pm EST for a chance to be entered into the monthly drawing!
Thanks for stopping by today!

I actually messed up on this challenge!  The challenge is supposed to be a birthday sketch.  Oppsies...I told you I don't do well with sketches!  They get me everytime!  Anyway, if your playing along, make sure it is a birthday themed project! 

Monday, April 18, 2011

Moolah in Your Bank Card

I was just going through my pictures and realized I never posted this.  I also realized that I haven't posted some awards too (So Sorry).  I have another award to add so I promise I'll get to them this week. 
I guess it is appropriate to post this one today since taxes needed to be post marked today.  My kiddos just love this one!   I almost made a cow bank just because of the way they were saying "MOOOO-LAAAHH"!  It was really cute!

Don't you just love the Sweet Treat Cups from Stampin' Up!   We had a fun money lesson when filling it!  I had to handwrite this sentiment in honor of my girls new favorite word...Moo-lah! 
I do believe that after this card, I am about done with using my scraps!  I took on Sonia's challenge over at Scraps4Fun back in the beginning of March and the challenge was to grab your scraps and use them up before reaching for new paper.   After the end of the challenge you get rid of what is left of your scraps.  At first I thought there was no way I could discard a single piece of my beautiful paper however small it was, but now after looking at just my scraps for the past month and a half, I'm ready to get rid of them.  I am getting down to the knitty-gritty of my scraps and I want to play with my paper stacks again!  After this card, I will be giving the remainder of my beloved paper scraps to my girls to play with!  Thanks for the fun Sonia!  I hope everyone else was successful!

Products Used:
  • American Crafts and other bits of scrap pile paper/CS
  • Everyday Paper Dolls Cricut Cartridge
  • My Craft Spot Baby Blue Bakers Twine
  • Buttons are from my stash
  • Money from the US Treasury Dept (hehe)
Challenges:
Cooking with Cricut #25 Cash in Your Stash
Scraps 4 Fun Use Your Scraps Challenge

I hope you still have some Moolah in your bank after this tax season!  If not, let me know and I'll send you this card..hehe!  Thanks for stopping by today!


Just Hatched LO

One of the perks of volunteering at my kiddos preschool are the fun pictures their teacher (who is also a photographer) takes of all of my girls.  The second that she showed me this pic, I started singing in my head, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" and now every time the girls see the pic, they sing the song too! 
I knew I had to run home and scrapbook this picture, and I knew I wanted to use the chick from Simply Charmed but it turned out to be a tricky pic to scrapbook!  The colors in the picture are so bold and bright, that I had a hard time matching them up!   This is what I ended up with.



I would have loved to move the picture up and place the journal egg elsewhere, but the girlies slapped them down before I had a chance to place them.  Normally, this wouldn't be a problem to pull up but I had to use glue dots (which are permanent the second they hit) for the entire LO because I am out of my ATG tape!  GASP...can you believe that hoarder me let myself run out!  I have so many projects to get done that I haven't had time to run to Michael's.  
I did finally finished all of my Easter Orders and now I am pressed for time to finish my projects for the school.  Here is one of the little guys I am working on.  The bunny is from Oriental Trading but I am adding the cross around his neck so it relays the real meaning of Easter to the preschoolers!   The girls are doing their part by punching out all the scalloped ovals!
Products Used (LO):
  • Stampin' Up! CS, Large Oval Punch and Ink
  • Simply Charmed Cricut Cartridge
  • My Creative Time Color Me Happy Stamp Set
  • Stickles
Products Used (Bunny):
  • Bunny from Oriental Trading
  • Stampin' Up! Scalloped Circle Punch
  • Indie Art Cricut Cartridge (cross)
  • My Pink Stamper More Faithful Sayings Stamp Set
  • StazOn Ink
Challenges:
K Andrews Simply Sunday Challenge I'll Sing You a Song Challenge
FCCB Challenge Me Monday #56 Do the Bunny Hop (Use a Bunny or Chick)
Scraps 4 Fun Use Your Scraps Challenge

Sunday, April 17, 2011

You Make Me Smile Card

***Scroll Down for Birthday Sundaes #5***
I couldn't sleep tonight so I thought I would put together a quick card for a few challenges.  Do you remember how happy your first bike made you when you were little?  I do, and that was the inspiration for my card tonight!  My oldest daughter got her first bike for Easter several years ago.  She squealed with excitement so I thought this would be a fitting card for Easter or Springtime!
For this card, I needed to add a border, so I used my sewing machine with the thread pulled out to make a nice, even stitch around the edges.   I am also having so much fun playing with my new stamps and ribbon from My Craft Spot!  I am loving this soft Hand Dyed Crinkle Ribbon!  It ties so easily and nicely! 
Products Used:
  • Scrap Pieces of American Crafts CS (leftover from my bunny cards)
  • Stampin' Up! Top Note Die
  • Kate ABC's Cricut Cartridge
  • My Craft Spot Sweet Sentiments #1 Stamp Set
  • My Craft Spot Hand Dyed Crinkle Ribbon
Challenges:
Scraps 4 Fun Use Your Scraps Challenge
FCCB Spring Fling Cricut Crawl (use the colors pink, green, yellow)
GAB #11 Theme Challenge (Borders)

It is Palm Sunday today and I hope you have a very blessed day!   Enjoy your family, friends, or what ever makes you happy today!  Thanks for stopping by!  

Birthday Sundaes Challenge #5

It's anything goes this week at Birthday Sundaes and the Design Team has whipped up some fabulous Birthday cards to inspire you!  I needed another boy birthday card this week so here is what I came up with!


I have fallen in love with this little lion from Life is a Party!  I think he is adorable and he was such a fun cut to pop up with dimensionals!  I also had the perfect paper scraps for this little guy's card!  I hope he likes it!  I'm sure he will because even my girly-girls loved it! 
Products Used:
  • Stampin' Up! CS, Punches, Dimesionals, Ribbon
  • SU Family Phrases Stamp Set, Ink for stamping and sponging
  • Scrap Pile Papers
  • Life is a Party Cricut Cartridge (lion)
  • Once Upon a Princess Cricut Cartridge (frame)
  • White Gel Pen
I'm also going to enter this for Die Cuttin Divas Challenge #10

Make sure you check out the rest of the Design Teams Anything Goes Birthday Cards and link up your card at Birthday Sundaes by Saturday April 23.  Remember they must be New Unposted Birthday Cards with a Birthday Sentiment on the front!  I hope to see you there!  Thanks for stopping by today!