Happy Birthday to "Ewe"

Here is a fun Birthday card I made using the Birthday Bash cartridge.  I combined 5 challenges with the card too!  Craftin' Desert Divas (Birthday), Exploring Cricut (Down on the Farm), Whimsical Designs (Pile It On), Die Cuttin' Divas (Anything Goes), and the sketch comes from Mojo Monday.  I had fun encorporating all of these challenges!  I so wish I had some of the fun pun stamp sets that so many of the crafters have created, but until then I am fine using the phrases that the different Cricut cartridges have to go along with the cuts.  My paper comes from Cloud 9 Designs "Fiesta Gloss", I used Swiss Dots embossing folder for the wool, and a couple of flowers from Michael's bargain bin.  I have put together a video to show how it all came together...

FCCB Challenge #171 - Shape Card

 

OH MY GOODNESS! This card drove me CRAZY!!! What a challenge it was for me, but I am so glad that I stuck with it and finished it. Don't get me wrong, I am super excited that FCCB has this challenge to create a shape card, I had never done one before, so I am happy that I finally did, but WOW! What a learning experience it was for me. I used Wrap It Up for the fun school house card, Designer's Calendar for the "Back 2 School" phrase, and Simply Charmed for the paper and pencil. The pattern paper all comes from the DCWV Grade School pack. I did some free hand cutting on the inside mats and tried faux stitching for the first time ever. My video goes into more detail of how this all came together. Honestly, I am not in love with this card, but it works. When I showed it to my husband he said, "What happened?" Mainly because this card is so far from my regular style. But that's okay, it is always good to step outside of your comfort zone, figure things out, experiment and learn - trial and error, right? My 4 year old son is excited to give this to his preschool teacher next month and that's what matters. I hope you will join us this week over at FCCB for our Shape Card challenge, I am excited to see your projects and anxious to learn more of the secrets behind the shape card feature!!!  I will also be entering this card in CardzTV challenge they have going on this week.

 

Joy in July - Rudolph Style!

 

Fun! Fun! Fun!, another Christmas in July project!  Little Scrap Pieces, BBTB2, and HIMCR have all issued challenges for Christmas in July.  Seeing as how it is almost August, they barely squeaked by :)  This fun card was made using Create-A-Critter and Mini Monograms.  Cute little Rudolph, he just makes me smile, was cut at 3" and popped up on some dimensionals.  The "JOY" circles were cut at 1" with two shadow circles behind; one at 1" the other at 1 and 1/4 inch.  My patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye Dear Santa stack.  The ribbon is just a silky/satin white, not sure where it's from.  Hope you like!

Make a Splash!

Once summer hits, it's pool parties every weekend with my family.  My parents have one of the LARGE above ground pools that we set up every year and my whole family is over there every Saturday swimming.  So in honor of Pool Parties and Trips to the Beach, I made this fun summer card and will be entering it into Little Scrap Pieces and Bitten By The Bug 2 challenges this week.  All my pattern paper comes from a Recollections pack from Michael's, with the exception of the water wave paper; that paper came from a pack from Wal-Mart.  The fun beach ball and "splash" come from Create-A-Critter.  I love the colors in this card, so bright and sunny!

With Sympathy

Unfortunately we all have to make cards for certain occasions that are more solemn than birthdays or thank yous.  My mom asked me to make a card for a co-worker that recently lost his dad.  I did take this opportunity to use a couple challenges that I could incorporate into a nice sympathy card.  My Craft Spot issued "Sew Fun" this week and Die Cuttin' Divas issued "Twice is Nice".  I pulled out my We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy tool and gave that another whirl - jury is still out on how I feel about this crafting tool, but this time it seemed easier than the attemps before.  I used Songbird for the birds on the outside and inside.  The layout is from Mojo Monday and I really like how the card came together.

FCCB Challenge #170 - Fruit Salad

It's another Fabulous Challenge Me Monday over at FCCB - Fruit Salad! This week we are challenging you to create a card, project, or layout using any sort of fruit.  So get those Cricut's chirpin'!!!  Here is a video of how I went about putting my card together:

 

 

I used Celebrate with Flourish for my YUMMY! Chocolate Covered Strawberry and Mini Monograms for the flower/scallop the strawberry is popped up on. I inked the edges of my awesome new paper (My Mind's Eye Indie Chic) with some Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink. I found some flat back pearls from a Michael's $1.50 bin that worked perfectly and my sentiment, well watch the video to see how that came about :)

 

The inside of my card I did something a little different. I have never done this before, but I made a little pocket, like you would for a mini album, and a tag from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More. There is space for another sentiment stamp on the front of the tag and the back is ready for a hand written note. You could also use the pocket for a gift card or something fun like that! I do like how this card turned out and I am excited to actually give this one away!!! (I find myself hoarding my cards - does anyone else do that?)

 

 

And because the papers and colors for this card are some of my absolute favorites, I am going to be linking it up with Whimsical Designs this week.  Hiding In My Craft Room's challenge for the week is Freestyle, and Paper Playtime's challenge is Pattern Paper, so this fits the bill for those too!

Birthday Boys and Ice Cream Cones

 

This cute little card is what I came up with for the Die Cuttin Diva's challenge this week.  In July we celebrate freedom, pioneers, and ICE CREAM!!!  I needed a little boy birthday card and so I pulled from my scraps and assembled this fun card.  Also, this is my very first card using Peachy Keen Stamps!!! I am so excited to FINALLY have these adorable stamps in my collection.  I can't believe I waited so long to get them!  Anyway, I used the Simply Charmed cartridge for this little Ice Cream Cone, and used Memento Tuxedo Black ink for the face and sentiments.  I did use a white gel pen to dot the eyes and both the ice cream cone and "Celebrate" sentiment are popped up on one thickness of foam tape.  Hopefully, you will check out my video to see how it all came together!  Thanks for stopping by!!!