Blessings Card with Ornamental Iron & Cindy Loo

I have been spending my days at home lately so I have no reason to feel like "Thank Goodness It's Friday" (TGIF), but I do!  This has just been one of those weeks where no less than three mornings I was convinced it was Saturday... Then I fully woke up!  Seriously. 

I made this Blessings card back on Monday, but I am just now getting it posted.  I used three cartridges - Just Because Cards, Cindy Loo (for the word Blessings) and Ornamental Iron (the frame).  I had intended this to be a sympathy card, but I realized given my color choices it would be a wonderful first communion card, Christening card, etc. 

I wanted to give you a close up of the Ornamental Iron frame.  This is just one layer of a multi-layer cut, but it works so well well as a decorative frame.  I used a muted color printed cardstock behind the frame and matted both on lime green cardstock. 

I used three different flowers and a brad to create the floral embellishment.

I ran the ribbon under the lime green layer, around the top layer of the card and tied the ends into a simple square knot.  I thought my edges were too small for a bow - though I usually prefer a bow!

I stamped a simple phrase inside the card using my Theresa Collins phrase stamps.  The phase is stamped on white cardstock, matted on a pink print and adhered to the inside of the card. 

I will be back tomorrow with a new project to share - it will be the third Saturday of the month and that means it is my day on Everyday Cricut (love Joy and Melanie and their site)!!

Cricut Birthday Bash - Third and Final Layout

Wow, was yesterday a fun day, or what?  Are all of you as tired as I am?  I am going to confess to taking a late afternoon half hour nap to get through the evening! 

I was super exited to have won an Expression II first thing yesterday morning!  I could not believe that I went to bed after 2:00 am and got up at 6:00 am to watch more HSN and interact with Provo Craft on FB.  Imagine my shock when they posted the 6:20 am winner and it was me?  I was on the phone with MFK (my friend Kathy), who I had just awakened.  She had been up until 3:00 am watching HSN!  I felt horrid for waking her - she is almost always up very early - but she says it was okay since she was talking to me when I won.  What a good sport and GREAT friend!!

Today's layout is the third of the three I entered into the Birthday Contest.  This design took a design from my data disc DVD set and incorporated a few changes to come up with the Cricut Birthday layout.  (So is anyone like me and wondering WHAT PC plans to do with almost 500 birthday layouts?).   I used Imaginesce Birthday Bash cardstock along with Bazzill and glitter cardstock to create this layout. 

The decorative background piece was created in Design Studio using a cut from Cindy Loo, welded together multiple times to form a square.  I used medium weight glitter cardstock and multi-cut the page two times.

Similar to my Cricut birthday layout, I had fun with a birthday hat.  I thought the number 5 needed a birthday hat topper.

I finished the layout with a few gemstones, doodles, ribbons, and Imaginesce birthday candles and chipboard circle.  I cut a flower and mounted the circle on top.  I used a thick line of zip-dry glue to hold the candles on the corners. 

Thanks for stopping by today and thank you for all of the kind wishes from yesterday!!  I will be back tomorrow with a new - NON-birthday project! 

I read yesterday now that the Expression II release is over we all have to move on to the Royal Wedding (both being historic events and all!!).  Well, more on this later in the week but.... MFK is having the girls over on Friday morning (arriving at her home between 4-6 am) for a royal wedding bash!  I'll keep you posted......

Cricut Circle Crop - Atlanta

Hello everyone.  I am here in Atlanta getting ready for the first ever Atlanta Cricut Circle Crop!!!  Can you say EXCITED???  Thursday night I met 18 other women who are also victims of this horridly addictive disease we call CRICUT!  Yes, every one of them is totally and completely Cricut addicted!!

Susan in SC, from the Cricut Message board, and I joined a large group for dinner at Carrabas and then a smaller group for dessert at the cheesecake factory.  (Little side note:  how does one remember the difference between desert and dessert?  Dessert has two S's and you know you always want more dessert than you want desert.  Okay that was our lesson for the night).   I am stuffed and I suspect I will have to live on water, fruits and veggies next week as all of my weight watchers points have been spent!

Back the the Circle Crop.... The last I heard there are 44 or so of us attending.  Theresa Collins will be popping in to share her latest kit with us and walk us through assembly.  Provo Craft has promised great door prizes and loads of fun. 

Two FABULOUS women from the MB arranged the group dinners (yes, I said dinnerS - there is another Friday night) and a couple of swaps.  There are two swaps - a goodie bag swap and a ribbon swap.  I brought 25 one yard lengths of Stampin' Up ribbon to trade in the ribbon swap.  And I made (with the much appreciated and enjoyed help of MFK and her sister Kimberly) 50 3.3 inch boxes to hold the circle trading cards.  Since everyone is supposed to bring 3x3 cards I thought they could use boxes in which to store their cards.  The boxes are my contribution to the goodie bag exchange. 

The boxes were a quick cut on the 12 x 12 mat using George and Basic Shapes, some quick pre-marked scoring, a Cricut Circle logo on the front and my signature stamp watermarked onto the bottom of the box.

Best of all, I designed the box so that it only needs two lines of glue to hold it together!!

My 3 x 3 Circle Trading Cards were created using my computer and printer, as well as the Cindy Loo cartridge.  I don't know WHAT I would have done without Kathy's and Kimberly's assistance on assembling the cards.  The Cindy Loo cut was a challenge to cut this small.  After Kathy and Kimberly left I finished the cards by adding gems using my I-Rock gem setter and color on the bird and some leaves with Copic markers.    The back side of the card has my name and Busy with the Cricky information.

I will keep you posted on  how the Cricut Crop developes..... I am so ready for all of the fun!!!  I must dash off now as I do not want to miss a thing!!!

Rejoice Christmas Card with Cindy Loo

Hello everyone - it is a Bitten by the Bug 2 Monday with our weekly challenge kicking off my week of Christmas themed projects.  As most of you know, there is a "challenge" cut each week at BBTB2 which the Design Team must use in our projects.  This week's challenge cut is Flourish 3 from the Cindy Loo cartridge.  I have incorporated the flourish into my Rejoice Christmas card.

My base card was cut using one of two card options on the Cricut Circle cartridge, French Manor.  Each cut on French Manor has two card features - I chose the full image cut out card and selected this wonderful French Horn.  I created a French Horn base layer and using Cricut Design Studio - utilizing the "Hide Select Contour" option, I removed the inside cuts on the base layer horn.  I attached the base layer behind the green card front.  I also cut a top layer of French Horn, this time with the cut outs included and using pop dots, attached the horn over the green layer.  Between the gold and green layers of the horn you can see this week's challenge cut, Cindy Loo's Flourish 3, coming out of the horn in triple layers.  The flourish represents the music of the French Horn.

While at CHA last summer I purchased quite a few sheets of "peel offs".   I confess that I purchased peel offs in several colors and brought home peels for myself and my scrapping girl friends!!  I framed the front of the card using gold peel offs, both around the outside edges and around the plain green rectangle at the top of the card.  I added the gold peel off title, Rejoice, to the upper right front across from the flourish on the upper left..  Peel offs were also added around the mouth piece of the horn and the bell end of the horn. 

I added a scrap of lovely SEI Christmas paper behind the horn in the cut out area of the card.  I played with several color and a prints until I settled on this light blue and white print. 

The inside of the card has a white cardstock lining with a thin rim of green showing around the edges.  I finished the inside of the card with a strip of gold peel off under the signature area.

The front of the card was finished by trying a pretty silk ribbon around the horn.  I also used my Martha Stewart branch punch and added evergreen branches on either side of the bow knot, growing up the edges of the French Horn.

I really like this card and plan to duplicate it for a couple of friends to use.  I will be back tomorrow with the second of my Christmas week projects.

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day and BBTB2 Monday.  I hope that all of you have had a lovely long weekend.  We have had a nice relaxing weekend, I even managed to spend most of one full day in my scraproom.  It was very nice, I finished two BBTB2 challenges with The Sound of Music playing in the background!

This week's challenge cut at Bitten By the Bug 2 is a Reader's Choice where we had to use a number from the Mini Monograms cartridge.  I chose to use numbers as part of the face on my clock.  The clock is from the Picturesque cartridge.  I used the Amy Chomas mini pen holder and glitter pens to add the numbers to the clock face.  Amy's products are fabulous - in fact, I have added her button to my sidebar so that you can find her with ease.

The clock shadow cut used a super-heavy weight glitter cardstock.  I normally use the "multi cut" feature set for 2 cuts when cutting glitter cardstock.  This cardstock was soooo heavy it needed three multiple cuts to cut completely through.  The clock was affixed to burgundy Swiss dot cardstock. I used my favorite Stampin' Up border punch on the edges of the burgundy matting.
 
I used my printer to add a sentiment to the from of the card prior to cutting out the card.  I think this will be a wonderful anniversary card as the sentiment reads:  Every minute spent with you you makes me smile.  

I finished the card by adding layered flowers with gem centers over the clock flourish. I used three different flowers, white, black, and black & white.  I also added a smaller flourish in the blank area.  The small flourish was cut using Cindy Loo.

Please do go over and check out the design team projects at BBTB2.  I seem to be one of the few who was not ready to embrace Halloween just yet.

Tea & Sweet Shoppe Card AND BBTB2 Blog Hop

Hello and happy Monday.  Welcome to my Tea and Sweet Shoppe!  This week's challenge cut at BBTB2 is the Genie Lamp from the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge.  I ALMOST went with a cute oasis scene on my card but then I decided to take the road less traveled and add my lamp to a line of assorted teapots.

I have to tell you that I do not think I have ever used this many cartridges on a single card.  I used Paper Doll Dress Up, Just Because Cards, Sweet Treats, Tie the Knot, George, A Child's Year, Dreams Come True, Once Upon A Princess, and Cindy Loo.  Each of the teapots is from a different cartridge, as are the cakes. 

I like the store window effect I created by welding two shapes from George in Design Studio and then adding layers.  And of course I had to add pearls and gems to my sweets and shelving.  I used copic markers and my Ranger white gel pen to embellish the teapots, cups, and sweets.

I kept trying to find a way to add large flowers and ribbon, but the additions distracted from my main store window effect so I did not use them.    Instead, I finished the card by adding a swiss dot cardstock mat inside the card and cutting a "sweet" phrase with the Cindy Loo font.

I believe I mentioned a BBTB2 BLOG HOP!!  Yes it is our blog hop week.  I have some sweet blog candy up for grabs - just leave a message below and you will be in the drawing for a CUSTOM CROPS GIFT VOUCHER!!!  That's right!  Free shopping!!

After you leave your comment below and become a follower if you'd like, you should hope on over to the blog of the VERY TALENTED THERESA!  I cannot wait to see what Theresa made this week; she is such an amazing artist- quickly - go!!

Happy hopping!

My Saturday At Everyday Cricut - Lazy Summer Days

Happy Saturday everyone.  It is the third Saturday of the month and that means it is my day to share a project at Everyday Cricut.  I have a summertime project that is colorful and fun, made from the Cindy Loo cartridge.

I also have a cut file to share, Lazy Summer Days, located in the list of downloadable cut file in the left column of of this blog. The layout requires only two cartridges, Plantin Schoolbook and as stated above, Cindy Loo. 

If you have not already been by Everday Cricut today you may want to do so now.  There are more photos of the layout and the chance to win some great products if you leave a comment.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great Saturday!!

Twin Graduation Cards Using Cindy Loo and Hello Kitty

I had to make graduation cards for a set of twins this week.  That was a challenge.  I used Cindy Loo, Hello Kitty (though the cards are Kittyless - GASP!), Hello Kitty Font, and Just Because Cards.  Have you seen the frame feature on Cindy Loo.  Oh my goodness, they are adorable.  I went with a simple flower trimmed frame as I need to pop the cards into the mail.  But WOW - such choices.

I really like that the cartridge has the layer cuts for the frames.  That made me very happy because normally I have to use Design Studio and McGyver the extra pieces. 

I used the diploma cut from Hello Kitty Greetings to fill the frame on the front of the card.  After I photographed the cards I added each of the girls' first initials to the teal seal on her card.  I thought that might personalize the cards a bit.

Inside the cards I added a yellow matting and the word Congrats, cut from the Hello Kitty Font cartridge.  I also added a little flower to the lower right corner of each card. 

I am a few days late making the cards so I had to rush them into the mail.  The twins are fabulous girls and both are so excited to be off to college this fall.  And yes, they are going to the same college!! 

Cindy Loo Circle Card - with Video & Cut File

Happy Monday everyone!  I did not have the correct cartridge for the weekly BBTB2 challenge so I am going to share a project I created for Custom Crops.  I used the new CINDY LOO cartridge and made cute circle card. 

Cindy Loo has loads of adorable doily cuts, florals, flourishes, trees and wildlife.  This one card covers several fo those areas listed:  doilly, wildlife, & trees. 

Go to my page at Custom Crops - just click the blinkie in the upper left column of this blog - and you can view the video as well as read the article and see photographs.  And did I mention that the cut file is at Custom Crops for free download?  Oh yes - Custom Crops has it all today!!!