The Dragonfly Chronicles

AND WE HAVE A WINNER!

2011-02-21T17:09:00.001-05:00

This is so exciting... Congratulations to Brenna! Winner of my first (and not my last) Blog Candy Giveaway!

Brenna wrote:

what a great giveaway!! Congrats on 100 Followers, and I've checked out your blog and there will be many more followers!! can't wait to see your new creations!! I have posted your giveaway on my blog sidebar at http://brennasblitherings.blogspot.com
thanks for the chance to win!!
Brenna

Sunday, February 20, 2011 11:17:00 PM EST

As today is Presidents Day, I will be contacting you and getting your goodies in the mail tomorrow!

Thank you to everyone that participated and I hope to be in contact with you all soon!

Again, Congratulations to Brenna!

rbanderson@live.ca

This and That... and Blog Candy - YUM!

2011-02-16T09:12:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone...
What a busy few days this has been. I have to learn how to turn off the automatic pilot in my car that keeps turning whenever it sees a Joann's! I can't believe the great bargains that I have found there lately! Paper stacks for $1.97! Clear stamp sets for $1.00 wow! I am going to have to shop in another town just to avoid that store!

I have been busy also working on a new over sized tag. I have one to make for winter and one for the up coming spring season, at least that is the rumor that spring is coming. My goal is to have one of the tags for each season and use them as a home decor item. I love to decorate and these window will look great in the living room!

Oh, I wanted to let you know that I have added a link on the Flower Shower Mini post a page or 2 back for you to download the Design Studio cut file. I have tried to email the file as an attachment to several people and either my provider or theirs won't allow the file to go through. This should be easier and everyone should be able to get the file if they want it. Here is a direct link to the POST.

Ok.. now for the really good stuff... BLOG CANDY!
I am approaching 100 followers and when I reach that magic number I will be do a drawing for Blog Candy. Below are pictures of the goodies the winner will receive.

This is a book I made. I have several of them myself and keep one close by at all times!

In order to be eligible for the giveaway:
1- You must be a follower of my blog
2- Share the giveaway on your Blog, Facebook or Twitter
3- Leave a comment on this post with contact information and links to step 2

Thats it... short and sweet. Posts will be accepted until Midnight on February 20th, and I will pick the winner on the 21st. at Noon. Good Luck ... This is really exciting!

From the Unfinished Project Department

2011-02-12T14:31:00.000-05:00

I really am in the mood for summer! I have finished a mini that I started when we got back from our summer vacation to Cape Cod. I wanted to have it done long ago but with the holidays coming it did get started but never finished. Below is an experiment, I got Smilebox and am trying it out. I hope this works. Feed back would be appreciated.

This will send you to another site, so if you don't want to do that, I will understand.

Photo slideshow generated with Smilebox

Thanks for stopping by... Stephanie

Welcome New Blog Followers

2011-02-11T15:47:00.001-05:00

I usually send out a quick note to new blog followers telling them how much I applicate their following my blog, but lately Friend Share has been down and I cannot use the same method to send out a thank you. So I would like to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU! To all new blog followers and another Thank You to those of you who have been with me for a while! I enjoy this blog so much and know that you have here with me really gives me that boost I need to keep going!

Flower Shower in the Middle of Winter?

2011-02-07T14:07:00.003-05:00

Hello... Yes, its been a while but I am sure you know how it goes, busy with work, family, studying, and trying to squeeze in scrapping and blogging makes for some interesting juggling!

But I have found a little time to work on a mini. I am so desperate for summer at this point that I went ahead and made a Summer mini! There is a hill on its way to becoming a mountain in my front yard that is not melting and we are going to get more snow before this is over... ugh!

Ok.. On to the good stuff.. The mini was made out of "money envelopes" that I designed using Cricut's Design Studio. I wanted to have something that wasn't going to be to heavy and easy to work with. All the paper and embellies in and on the album are from the DCWV Flower Shower Spring Stack. This is last springs collection and it is beautiful wonderful papers in this and the embellishments and sticker packs are great too!

Here is a short (ok.. not overly long) video showing the Mini..

If you would like a copy of the DS file leave me a comment and I will forward it to you. I used only the George cart. to make it but I am sure if you don't have that one I could make it using Plantin Schoolbook. UPDATE - You can now download the file at this link!

http://www.4shared.com/file/MQUpqfKo/large_money_envelope.html

I have tried to send it out to people but I think the file is to large or people are not accepting attachments... either way, you should be able to get it here!

Thanks for stopping by, Leave a comment... I love reading them and knowing what you think!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T15:11:00.000-05:00

I am so excited about the new year and all the great things that I am sure it will have in store for all of us!

I have started a Yahoo Group for folks that are new to the Cricut and want to get to know more about these wonderful machines. The focus on the group will be on monthly challenges and chat sessions along with Ustream classes and chats. I am very excited about this and would love to have you join us. The group is new and there aren't a lot of us but it is growing and I am sure that as we move on more and more folks will join and will be sharing their knowledge!

Here is the first challenge from the group that I will share with you, if you would like to join the challenge, the link to join the group is below on the side bar to the right!

Challenges are going to be a monthly event and everyone can post their challenge project in the folder for that month. Sometimes the challenge will focus on a technique or an idea or a tool. Each challenge will require you to use your cricut. The object of each challenge will be to get us using 1-what we have and 2 our imaginations!

Each month between the 1st and the 3 of the month the challenges will be posted and you will have 3 weeks to complete and post them. If you post your challenge on your blog, please be sure to send a message to the group with your blogs address so we can visit you there as well!

If you have experience with one of the features/techniques listed please bring that knowledge to the group. I want to learn from you and this is a great way to do that! Check my YouTube channel each month for detailed instructions on how to use each feature in relation to our monthly challenge.

1- Cricut Valentine's day cards - based on a song title, using the cricut cartridge of your choice. Your card should be an A2 size card and have at least 1 Cricut image.

I will share my Valentine's Day card with you (as soon as I make it!)

Again... Happy New Year to you and yours!

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-13T13:41:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone! I love Christmas! The only other holiday that comes close the the fun factor is Halloween. Thanksgiving is my family favorite and I look forward to this time of year for all the fun and good times spent with friends and family.

I have been crafting and creating and am so excited about the things that I have finished. Last year I made Coco mugs for coworkers and this year, I am making mini albums. The minis that I am making are the 1 page wandering minis that are quick to put together and look wonderful. I have spent time decorating the cover and am leaving the insides plain so that they will have the opportunity to decorate them as they see fit.

Here they are a few of them that I have completed so far. I have a few more to make. Luckily, I can make 2 or 3 in an evening. because the insides are blank and I use my Cricut to cut the tags for the inside of the minis!

I used DCWV paper from last years Holiday Collection and this years Christmas Combo 8x8 pack. What nice paper! There are a few more but you get the idea, and the idea behind each is much the same. I am going to make one of the little Pizza boxes that Mary from CardzTv demo'd to pack them in. It will be nice to have a small box to match the albums paper or color scheme.

Months ago,. I was watching videos on Youtube and saw a memo board made on a Cookie Sheet done by Northrose42. I was so very inspired by this that I had to 1 - buy the Create a Critter cartridge and 2 - make a board for myself.

I was at Joann's and I love their Clearance Section... and was very happy to find some of the nicest paper I have ever seen. It's by K& Company designed by Tim Coffey called Tuscan Sunflowers. BEAUTIFUL Paper! Anyway, that is what I used for my memo board and I have a sunflower boarder in my craft room!

I also used cork paper from Karen Foster Design, that I cut in half and then trimmed both halves to fit the bottom of the pan. I stacked them so that they would be better able to handle tacks when I need to put something on it. (the cork paper comes with an adhesive on the back... how hand is that!)

For Birthdays I used a stamp that I bought from AC Moore and don't remember the maker... but its a nice stamp with the months listed around the stamp and you can circle the month that you are using. I stamped 6 blank index cards on the front and back so that I can turn it over once the 6 moths are over and use them again.

I have to say that I had some sheet magnetic material available and used it for some of the elements but it was not strong enough to work well through the paper, but store bough magnets worked well.

The clips on top are book binder clips and I will use them to hang the pan I might have to get larger ones but these seem to work for now.

I will post again soon, as I have more projects to share... Hope to "see" you again soon!

Christmas Cards Part 2

2010-11-28T11:23:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!

Here is the second batch of cards I have made for this Christmas Season. Some are really simple and quick to make and 2 will need a Cricut to create. I made Snowmen from the Joy of the Season cartridge. One of the things I really love about the Expression is that you can use that fill the page option or if you know how many exactly you need use the Quantity Option! I wanted to make 12 Snowmen and was able to just enter 12 and the size I wanted to have the snowmen and I was ready to go. Very nice!

Card 1 - 3 Snowmen

3 snowmen cut 4 inches. I did color in the eyes with black marker, the pieces that were cut with my circut were just TOOO small! The ribbon behind is a wired velvet ribbon sold on a large spool. It is a really nice ruby red that you really can't see well in the picture.

Card 2 - Poinsettia

Quick and easy! this card has a pre-made Poinsettia with a little bell and wired ribbon (I ran into a good sale at a local surplus store) and connected the ribbon to the green paper and adhered it to the card base.

Card 3 - JOY

Ok.. I really cheated here.. I was going through my scrap pile and found 3 green squares that were left over from another project... I had stickers from a paper pack... and there you have it a card! Instead of using Sticles on the squares, I used the Quickie Glue Pen by Sakura to draw my Faux Stitches and then glitter for a bit of bling on the card. The background layer is from DCWV as were the stickers.

Card 4 - Gatefold Snowman

Another quick card, a simple gate fold with a band across that has DCWV paper from their Christmas stack from last year cut to show only the wording, my Snowman from Joy of the Season and Green cardstock from AC Moore. I drew on the snowflakes with a red and purple glitter pen.

Thanks for stopping by. Please Leave A Comment!

Christmas Cards

2010-11-26T13:14:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone! Today the day after Thanksgiving I have taken a moment from the craziness of Black Friday to post a few cards that I have made lately. I was going to make cards using mostly Cricut cuts, but it turns out the cards that I found myself making only used one cut from the Christmas Noel cartridge and the rest were based on paper, and ribbon and things cut from stencils.

I really enjoyed working on these cards, it became a challenge to make as many cards using 8x8 or 12x12 sheets of paper and digging out the punches from the drawer and put them to use.

OH... speaking of punches I used the Martha Stewart branch punch to make the wreath on one of the cards and found that the punch was a bit stiff. It was not working the way I expect a MS punch to work. Oiling a punch is not a good idea, as you will be wasting several punches and much time trying to get the oil off the metal to avoid the oil on your good card stock. What to do... I tried the wax paper technique, that worked for a bit but then the punch quickly began to get hard to punch again.
After much Winnie the Pooh type thinking... I came up with a plan...

I took a sheet of computer paper and sprayed WD-40 LIGHTLY on the paper. I then punched and punched until the punch was easy to use again. This worked great. Once it was easy to punch again, I got a clean piece of paper and punched 3 times and saw no oil! YEAH, it worked and the punch is as good as new!

Okay.. on to the cards. I will be posting 3 cards today as I am running out to yet another store in a few moments... Tomorrow I will post another batch!

Card 1 - Joy Banner

This is a standard A2 card that I inked around the edges with Vintage Photo, the banners are triangles cut from Bazzill card stock and the background paper is from DCWV. I used an EK Success punch to make the banner trim and the pompoms are trim that I got at Joann's a long time ago! Buttons are attached with Fabri-Tac (this is great stuff!)

Card 2 - Noel Glitter

This is a very basic card. I loved how quickly it went together and will be making more for the folks at work. This again is an A2 card with red and green card stock. The ornaments were cut from an old stencil and mounted with foam tape. Stickles was used on all the ornaments and NOEL was written with it as well. Faux stitches were placed on top and below the green card strip.

Card 3 - Wreath Christmas

And now for my favorite card! I made the wreath and used paper from the DCWV Christmas pack on black cardstock with white cardstock as the first layer. This card is just larger than an A2 card measuring 5 3/4" x 4 1/4" (just a bit larger). I decorated the wreath with Stickles to make it look like it was lit, very nice effect. Merry Christmas was stamped with Versa Mark and black embossing powder. The punched strip on the side is a Fiskars punch (Sorry I don't know the name of it).

So there are my three cards. More tomorrow... Gotta run, I know there is a sale somewhere calling my name!

Thanks for stopping by!

CardZ Size Information

2010-11-11T22:14:00.001-05:00

Hi Everyone!
I am going to start a Christmas Card Series and wanted to be sure that when I say "This is an A2 size card" you and I would know what I was taking about!

Below is a chart that will give you both Card and Envelope sizes:

Card Size Envelope Size
A2 = 4.25 x 5.50 4.275 x 5.75
A6 = 4.625 x 6.1875 4.75 x 6.5
A7 = 5x7 5.25 x 7.25
A8 = 5.25 x 7.875 5.50 x 8.125

Now that we have the measurements for the various card sizes, I think I will be mostly using the A2 and A7 card sizes.. they are easiest to cut and to make envelopes for is you don't have a ready made one available.

I also bought the Cricut Christmas Card Cartridge and will be making all the cards on that cartridge. Some of them are just lovely... (ok, they are all really nice.)

I will be making videos showing how to make many of the cards and also the method for making envelopes that I really like and use all the time.

So, I am going to get busy in the scrap room and will be chatting with you all soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

Let's Hang Out!

2010-10-26T01:00:00.002-04:00

Hi all ... Taking a break from all the Halloween happenings and was thinking of a friend that I haven't seen in a while and thought I would send a card to set up a date to get together. This is a standard A2 size card and the little monkey was cut from the Create A Critter Cartridge. He is double sided, so when making him I cut one base, 2 layer 1's and 2 layer 2's. His is "hanging" from a thread that is strung through a 1/16" hole that is on the fold 1/4" from the cut edge. The cut out space for the monkey is 2" x 2 3/4" I didn't do it with this card, but if, ok.. when I make it again I will repeat the pattern paper on the back of the card, to complete the look of a window.

The Let's Hang Out! was written by me. I like to hand write on my cards when possible. It adds just a extra touch of me to the card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cricut Cake Mini Demonstration

2010-10-24T17:28:00.001-04:00

Cricut has done it again... They are introducing a new machine. The Cricut Cake Mini! Its a Cricut Cake the same size as the Create with all the "advanced" features on the create. Amazing!

It's in the SIGN

2010-10-04T14:51:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I just step back and look at my scrap room and think 1-I really need to reorganize things to be able to find things easier and 2- I have so much stuff that I really need to reconsider the next time I think to buy paper or embellies. 3- I need something for the walls!.... Well 2 out of 3 ain't bad!

So I have decided to sort out a few drawers and to make things a bit easier for me. And then I sat down after running across a few things that I forgot I had and decided to make a sign. I love the "Live, Love, Laugh" signs that I see in stores and on cards... and decided to make something for my wall. (somewhere in between all of this I did go to AC Moore, they were having a 40% off sale on paper!)

I used Pagoda for the symbols and MTC to make the words. I really thought this was nice but knew it needed something more. I used a black gel pen to outline everything, and some Prima flowers and some trim with jewels on it. I punched holes using my Crop a Dile and strung orange and black ribbon to hang it with. All very nice!

Ahhh... so nice, and now I have something inspirational for my scrap room wall.

I am a member of SOC - there is a badge on the right, if you would like to check it out... Anyway, I am hosting the October Cricut Challenges and my first challenge to the group is to create a tag. Now I am not talking about your ordinary tag. I challenged folks to use their Cricuts to cut out the tag and use the FIT TO PAGE option! The tag has to be a fall theme and have the word FALL or AUTUMN on it. So, as the hostess of the challenge I posted the following tag.

I used the window from the Christmas Noel cartridge with the fit to page feature and for "glass" I used acetate I got from a package. My tree, and lamp post are from Graphically Speaking, and the pumpkins and leaves are from Doodlecharms. The small branches are from a Martha Stewart punch, and the sign on the lamp post are 2 circles layered with leaves and branches. I plan on making one of these window tags for each season!

Halloween Greetings and Mini Haul.wmv

2010-09-26T07:59:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone! I wanted to make a card for a good friend of mine who LOVES shoes, and thought I would share the making with you. I like cards with lots of color and a little bling, and this card has it all!

Heres the video:

Leave a comment, Post a link ... Talk to you soon...

Never Ending Card Tutorial

2010-09-23T19:38:00.001-04:00

Hi Everyone! After many false starts here is the tutorial for the Never Ending Card. I hope you can follow along. I did not mention in one section that you MUST have your BOTTOM 2 pieces of cardstock going in one direction and the TOP 2 pieces going in the OTHER. This is very important and I am sorry I didn't say that in the video, although there is an annotation that will tell you.

Here's the video:

If you make a Never Ending Card, post a link below. I would love to see your cards!

Thanks for stopping by!

I've Taken the Plunge

2010-09-22T14:27:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking about doing a video for the longest time. I have been so worried about how I sound ... lighting... and what ever you can think of I worried about it.

But I spoke with Yoliebean and she told me to not worry and to just go ahead and do it. Thanks Yolie for the encouragement!

So, here it is... My first video and my first Never Ending Card. Wow.. Let me tell you ... for a card bas that is more than easy to put together this card take a lot of thought and time getting your papers and embellies together..

Here is the video:

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. Better yet, if you have made a Never Ending Card post a link below so we all can see your creations!

Have a great day!

Quick Card...

2010-09-19T09:39:00.002-04:00

I wanted to make a card for a friend that I hadn't spoken to in a while and I didn't have much time to devote to a complicated card... so I got out my favorite tree stamp, a Martha Stewart border punch and a ready made card (more on that in a minute) and the result is the card below. Instead of leaves stamped or drawn I used Stickles to represent the changing leaves. I like the effect!

Ok.. now on to ready made cards... I was in Big Lots and found a package of cards with envelopes 20 cards to a package for a DOLLAR! Yes, a one dollar bill! Alright... so by the time I was through it was more than a dollar because I couldn't just buy one pack. Now I have them in white, off white, tans/browns and one pastel pack. I am all set unless I need a larger card base! Thanks Big Lots!

How to use CricutSearch.com

2010-09-18T10:23:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone! Hope you are enjoying the beginning of fall. The weather here in Maine is getting crisp and more fall like every day!

Have you visited Cricutsearch.com? I love this site. It is another one that I highly recommend. If you own more than 1 or 2 cartridges and you really want a cut of a peace sign are you going to sit around and look through all of them? NO... you're going to Cricutsearch.com and enter your search and it will bring back images of the cuts from the handbooks from all the cartridges that have peace signs!

No more hunting. Just a quick search and you are on your way! Below is a video from the great folks at Cricutsearch.com explaining in much better detail how to use their search tool.

I hope you like this, I can't believe how excited I am about it... Let me know what you think, Leave a comment below!

SOC Friday Night Challenge

2010-09-17T23:18:00.001-04:00

I love a good challenge, and this sketch challenge was a good one! I love to sketch and working with this one was easy. I saw it and knew what I wanted to do. An empty cage with the words Miss you... kind of tugs at the heart strings huh?

Sandi Genovese is on the Web!

2010-09-11T02:13:00.002-04:00

This Weekâ€™s Episode â€“ September 9, 2010

Hi Scrappers! I have great news. Sandi Genovese from "Scrapbooking" on the DIY network is now doing web based shows! I am so excited. I have enjoyed Sandi for years and have learned so much from her.

I first became aware of her when she did guest segments on the Carol Duvall Show. I remember being completely jealous because she always had the neatest toys ... I can recall thinking there was no way I would ever be able to afford a die cutting machine like she used. (I think it was s spellbinder!)

Now I own a Cricut and a Cuttlebug and cut things out all the time! How time does fly and things change. Check out Sandi's Webipsodes at the link above. You can also download them onto your Ipod and Ipad and watch them while you have down time or waiting in line... and the episodes are free on Itunes!

OH, just a little FYI, I have just completed a really cute Vacation Mini and will post a VIDEO! Yup, I got a great deal on a camera and am going to give putting little videos on the blog a try. Sigh... I am not ready for my close up!!!!

And another thing, I hosted a Cricut Image Swap on Scraps of Color (see my badge in the sidebar) and it was a great success! I will be posting pictures of the wonderful cuts that we have swapped this weekend!

So until them...

Evernote... A Bloggers Best Friend

2010-09-08T07:37:00.001-04:00

Hi, a bit of a departure for me, but today I am going to recommend a website, program, app/life saver! And the best part is that for the basic option of this application its FREE! Yup, something this wonderful is FREE!

Its called Evernote. It it located at www.evernote.com. Let me tell you, you will want to run not walk and get this on your Computer, Smart Phone, Ipad, Ipod touch...

Why? Because when you are a blogger and you surf as much as I do you find great things and then you either do one of 2 things. You save the bookmark and try to remember which of the 200 bookmarks has that cute card that you wanted to talk about because you made one like it and want to give credit to the originator... Or you want to put a link to that site in your blog because there is too much information to repeat on your blog. EVERNOTE to the rescue! You can save a note on the web with the information, a clip of the page itself, or just the address of the blog with a description you write to jog your memory.

I am also teaching classes at AC Moore and need to know what I am doing for each class and what materials the students will need and exactly what I am teaching each class. EVERNOTE to the rescue. I have a folder or notebook for AC MOORE and list each class and what I am teaching etc.. Now when I go to the store and talk to Kim about the classes... I can call up my notebook via my smartphone and not have to depend on my memory! This has saved me a ton of times!

School... I can't even begin to tell you how useful this is. Assignments, notes (mine and fellow students) Each class has a notebook...

Christmas... shopping just got wonderfully easy! Each person has a page in the Christmas Notebook... Ideas found on the web, pictures of items that you saw in the store with notes re: cost, size, color, store name... all helpful to make shopping easier..

Ok.. I think you get the message... its great and I am sure you will enjoy it and depend on it like I do...

My Perpetual Calendar

2010-08-31T15:31:00.000-04:00

Hi, I love small desk calendars, but hate buying one every year. I love my Cricut, and got some coasters from a local restaurant and thought, I can do this! So with the help of stuff from my stash, and my Storybook cartridge I made this sweet little Calendar!

For the recipe ... I used 2 4x4 inch coasters that I covered with paper from DCWV "Flower Power Spring Pack", what pretty paper! The letters and numbers were all cut using the Storybook cartridge. Each month is done in a different color, to reflect the month. The letters are cut in black to help me see them quickly!

The binding was done with my Bind It All and the wire is 3/4 inch white. Decorations... I hit the stash and found flowers, bling, jewels and used some Stickles... because everything is better with Stickles!

Here's a shot from the side. I have seen online may calendars with 2 more sets of Owires to act as a base... but I like this. I used ribbon that was 2 1/2 inches and attached with some of the best glue around Its called Fabri-Tac. It stands without problems and is very quick drying.

I am currently working on a mini vacation album... when I get a little further on with it I will post pictures!

Hope you are staying cool.. It is hotter than hot here! Type soon!!!

Coffin Treat Box and more creative crafts projects, templates, tips, clip-art, patterns, and ideas on marthastewart.com

2010-08-29T23:47:00.000-04:00

Coffin Treat Box and more creative crafts projects, templates, tips, clip-art, patterns, and ideas on marthastewart.co

I love Martha Stewart and think that she and her design team come up with some really amazing stuff. This time, it's something just in time for you to start crafting before Halloween gets here!

If you didn't get the Happy Hauntings Cricut Cartridge this is just for you! Its a Halloween Coffin Treat Box. On her site you can watch a video on how to put it together and a template for you to download with instructions. To quote Martha, "I'ts a Good Thing"

Cards, Cards, Cards

2010-08-21T08:41:00.000-04:00

I metioned before that I have been busy creating cards and here are a few more of the cards that I've been working on. This first card is a Triple Tier Card that I found on line. I don't remember the site address, but the idea is not my original one. I did enjoy making this one and it is a quick card to make ... when you push the top 2 tiers inside the card it fits well into an A2 envelope!

I love this card! It's a combination of a slider card and an easile card. 3 basic pieces and your done. Its a nice card that when made into larger format can house a picture when you slide the pull tab up.

I have seen this card demonstrated several times on Youtube and thougt I don't know... I don't think I could do that.. but one day I wanted something for my desk that would remind me of my dogs. I decided to give this a try and here we are! and you know what??? Its not hard to do at all and was quick. The problem with my card? I hand cut the images from card stock and that took a long time!

Ahhh... You know on some of the cricut cartridges that are trees and such that you can make "3D" by slicing up the center to the middle of the image and then doing the same on the second piece and connecting them to create the tree or whatever? Well this is what I did with the card. It can be decorated on 4 sides and stand on its own.

Ok, let me know what you think! I love comments and ideas. So post a comment, I read every one!

AC Moore Midnight Madness in the evening!

2010-08-20T00:11:00.000-04:00

Check out the link above for a great coupon for 25% off you regular priced items at AC Moore on Sunday from 6-9pm!

Not quite Midnight but savings is savings!

Amazon.com: Cuttlebug Machine for Die-Cutting and Embossing with Bonus Tool Kit: Kitchen & Dining

2010-08-19T14:58:00.000-04:00

Amazon.com: Cuttlebug Machine for Die-Cutting and Embossing with Bonus Tool Kit: Kitchen & Dining

Wow... what a great price for this bundle. It comes with a paper trimmer and scissor set. It's only 39.99 and because of Amazon's shipping policy it ships FREE! Yes, that's right Free 2 day shipping. This is a great deal. Oh... Its the very pretty Blue! Not the original green Cuttlebug.

So check out the above link and save a bunch!

Great Deals at AC Moore

2010-08-16T19:48:00.001-04:00

Hi! Just checked out AC Moore's flyer for this week and noticed that they are having a great special on Rubber Stamps. Wood and Clear BOGO FREE... Yup... Buy one get one free.. that is awesome. There are some sets that I would love to have and I just got my 2 yes thats right 2 10.00 coupons from AC Moore so I am 20.00 ahead of the game! YooHoo!!!!! See you there!!!

And for those of you that like to shop with coupons, this weeks AC Moore coupons for you to print out!

http://www.acmoore.com/images/upload/week33_10couponsol.pdf

Show Products - CreateAndCraft

2010-08-11T00:36:00.001-04:00

Show Products - CreateAndCraft

Have any of you been to this site? Its a site for a shopping channel in England. Why would you watch it you ask... Because, they do really good DEMOS! Yes, step by step demos of the products and techniques that are needed to create the cards, layouts and other goodies at home.

Now you can buy from them here in the States.. but the shipping will make it almost impossible... but hey...Its worth taking a peak just to see a few good demos..

OH and did I mention that this shopping channel is all about Crafting? No, ooops.. sorry ... it is and that is the hook for me that keeps me going back to see what they are doing next!

Card and scrapbook crafting over there is a bit different than here and its nice to see what people from "away" (that's a Maine term) are doing!

Cricut Saturday

2010-08-06T10:27:00.002-04:00

What? How long has it been? I don't know and I don't want to think about it. I am just moving on!!!

Its Saturday and I have been busy over the past few months, (I know, I wasn't going to mention time.. but hey it happens). I have been ill... had surgery... have gotten better and have been scrapping and card making.

I have so many projects to share with you but I will start with the 2 latests and work my way backwards with a sprinkle of new projects as I go along until I'm caught up.

A while back (there goes that time thing again!) I posted about sketches for layouts. Well my focus has changed a bit since then and I am totally into cards at the moment. I needed something to help me focus my efforts and keep my sketches in one place. So, I created my Sketch Book.

One sheet of Bo Bunny card stock (Petal Pushers- Posies) cut to 11 1/2 x 9 1/2 with the corners rounded with the 1/2" side of the Corner Chomper. Letters were cut with my Cricut using the Cuttin' Up cartridge. Letters were cut at 2 1/2".

The Insides.....

I drew three boxes that are 2.5" x 3" with maybe .5" space between them and enough room on the bottom and top for quick notes about embellies and other goodies that I would like to add to the card. Now, this paper is regular computer paper taken right from my printer. Folded in half, there are 6 sheets, I tried more but found that it didn't lay nicely when closed so I came up with the 6 sheets.

If you're interested, I can send you a PDF of the inside sheet that you can just print out for your book. Leave a comment with your email address and I will send it out to you!

Project #2

I LOVE Splitcoaststampers.com and stop in often to see what new projects they have posted often. What a great site for inspiration! So, one day while feeling that I needed a little inspiration I stopped in and saw this Click here a lovely card box, and had to try it. Now, when you look at it don't be scared off by the number of steps or the amount of tools they say you need. It's not as bad as it looks and it's a full day project if you don't sit and do this alone for the day... but if you take your time the end results are more than worth it...

There is my version made with K& Company's Designer paper. I think it only took 4 sheets of 12x12 to complete this, the cards were extra ...

The cards were cut with A Child's Year Cartridge for the Cricut and the ladies were cut from the Forever Young Cartridge. Misc images were cut from the Storybook Cartridge as well as the word addresses on the address book. I love making things that leave you feeling like you have done good work and this was one of them!

Ok... I am going to do it.. Talk about the new Cricut machine... The Imagine. This video from Obsessedwithscrapin on Youtube is one of the best I've seen. Lots of good information and detail.

I am not sure what I think of this new rendition of the Cricut. It is not an increase in cutting size, I was hoping to see a machine that would truly allow for actual 12x12 cutting not the 11.5x11.5 we have currently with the Cricut.
The printing has it major advantages. You can customize your color choices for background papers and print. this is great... but I have a large format printer and can print anything I want with it for background paper and use that in my scrapbooks or cut out the papers with my Cricut.

The one thing that I will be getting are some of the new mats when they are out. they are supposed to have better adhesive, and last longer. That would be a nice change.. Although I take good care of my mats, cleaning them often with baby wipes (the kind without oils or lotions) and have only used 2 in the 9 months that I have had my Expression.

I am a huge tool girl.. and am usually first in line saying I WANT that or I NEED this.. but I am not feeling this with the new Imagine. Maybe as time goes on and I see what people are doing with it I might have to give in and start a Imagine account so that I can get one (I save for everything .. I don't do credit cards).. but the jury is still out on this. There are 2 other Cricut machines that are due out this year ... so I am not going to put all my eggs into the Imagine basket just yet!

Let me know what you think of this machine... I'm interested in hearing what you think.

Cricut Saturday

2010-03-28T16:20:00.001-04:00

Retired Cartridges:
Well its been really hard keeping up with the coming and goings of cartridges lately from Provo Craft. They have retired 4 cartridges over the past 2 months and one of them is a really big surprise. Tags Bags Boxes and More has been retired!
Here is a list of all that are being retired. I am not sure when they are going to no longer going to be available, but I have a feeling from what I have read that they are no producing any more of these carts and when they are gone that will be it. So if you want one of theses I would get on it right away!

Tags, Bags, Boxes and more
BlackLetter
Designer Calendar (this is strictly rumor, I haven't seen official word from Provo Craft that this is retiring.)
Stamped
Christmas
Street Sign
I think one of the reasons for the Designer Calendar to be on this list (which I found on the Cricut Message Board) is because of the new combo cartridge that PC is offering. It contains both Christmas Noel and Designer Calender. You can get this directly from PC and they are currently offering free shipping!

And then there are the new cartridges:

Give a Hoot
"Just Because" Cards
Preserves
Straight From the Nest (exclusive to HSN) Serenade is getting a wide release!
Robotz
Create a Critter
Nursery Rhymes
Independence Day (Seasonal) Summer Vacation (Seasonal) Summer in Paris (Seasonal) Elegant Cakes
Holiday Cakes Birthday Cakes Cake Basics (with the Cricut Cake^TM machine)

Get out those credit cards and checkbooks ... These are really cute!

Cricut Tips and Tricks

Have you seen this? Its a sheet for blade settings from Cricut.

You can get a printable copy of this from cricut.com/news. This is really handy to have. There is another guide available from AboveRubiesStudio.com On this awesome site you will also find Megan's newest offer.. A FREE ebook, "10 Hot Trends for Scrapbooking and Card Making" This is a great book and there is a lot of good information in it.

Best project found online:

I love the Cricut message board. There are so many talented people there and they are always willing to share what they know. The project that I found that I want to share with you so that you can take a look is: A Wedding Cake. This is just beautiful. I can't even tell you how lovely this is. I want to make one for a friend that is getting married, and so many others for different occasions.

I am off to do some more crafting... It is a grey day and perfect for listening to a book on my Ipod and scrapping!

Please leave a comment... I really love hearing from you!

Project Thursday

2010-03-26T22:44:00.001-04:00

Lots going on lately, but I have made a few things that I would like to share with you.

I am loving card making lately and find it to be so much fun and something that I can complete quickly and have a wonderful sense of accomplishment. Knowing that you can start a project and complete it and deliver it to the intended person all in the same day is a good thing!

This card was made using the Serenade cartridge to cut the bird cage. The background is made using the Cuttlebug folder Birds and Swirls. The little bird house is a button that I cut the shank off of, and the chain on the birdcage I made with craft wire. I really like this card and the picture really doesn't do it justice. The actual colors are much richer.

Yappy Easter! From the Paper Pups cartridge. the eggs are ovals from George and the basket is from Doodle Charms. This card was Fun Fun Fun to make.

I made "It's a Boy" for a contest. I had to make a paper doll and use glitter, chalk and dress it up. I used everything asked for and the face was drawn with Micron marker.

I like to sketch my layouts and cards and I have to tell you, this card looks NOTHING like what I planned. The title was supposed to be a pyramid and the baby was suppose to be crawling. But as I was working on the card I realized that it just wasn't going to work for me. So we have the card above.

Last project for this Project Thursday... Something for my mom...

I think this is sweet and I know my mom will love it. I am going to put Easter grass in it and then some candy and a small gift. This basket was cut using Plantin School Book. The flowers are from a kit I bought at Big Lots. I used Stickles on the leaves and flowers. I cut the flowers using George. Mom loves these colors and I tried to put it all together into something that I thought she would like and would be able to put out for months! LOL...

Well... Its almost Cricut Saturday... I have a few things to share... so come back tomorrow!

Please leave a comment, I love to hear what you are thinking...

It happened again...grrrr

2010-03-16T13:29:00.000-04:00

I don't know why this happens... but for some reason no one was able to leave a comment on my blog. I have gone into settings and changed things around AGAIN and it should work now. Please leave a comment if you have read previous posts and were not able to do so.

Something New

2010-03-14T19:35:00.000-04:00

I have been scrapping and doing some shopping and there is one thing that I have to share with you all.

Tim Holtz sells these little swivels that are used to attach charms and other things onto minis and cards and anything else that you can think of. WELL... I was in Wal-Mart last night and found in the fishing isle little swivels that come in 3 different sizes that I saw there but I bet they come bigger than the ones that I saw. They look exactly the same!
The thing that I like about this most is that the brass ones can be colored with Alcohol Inks and work with any project!

this is the swivel from Wal-Mart they are 12 in a package for less than 2.00 These do not come with the small chain attached, but this affords you the opportunity to use whatever works best for your project!

these are the swivels from T.H. and they are 3-4 dollars plus shipping if you have to order online for 12.

Also, There is currently a really wonderful sale on Cricut Cartridges going on at The Cricut Machine. They have full cartridges for 29.99 and other really nice items at great prices.
While I am rambling on, have you noticed that the price of the Gypsy is coming down? I have seen it on sale at Ohmycrafts.com for 155.00 with a coupon! That is a major savings compared to the opening day price of over 300.00 at HSN!

Last thing for todays Something New... Have you been to your local AC Moore lately? Mine is changing in a major positive way! They have introduced 7gypsies products and are bringing in new Cuttlebug folders and LOTS of stuff is on clearance special. I have had a great time going through the various bins there!

See you on Project Thursday!

Leave a COMMENT! Thanks!

Project Thursday

2010-02-11T19:18:00.000-05:00

I have been busy working with Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day coming up there is always someone that should be getting a card! A few layouts have been planned and I am going away for a little R&R this weekend so, I will be taking the camera with me to have pictures to go along with the pictures. I will post them when finished!

Now for the cards:

Valentine's Day cards are fun and easy to do when you love the people you are giving them to. Here are a few of them ones that I have made.

Done with Heart Blocks Cuttlebug folder and a Fiskars edge punch. The hearts were covered with paint, chalk and the "be my valentine" is from the Wild Card Cricut cartridge.

This is a really small card. Measuring 3.5 x 3.0. The card is red on the outside but lined with a bright yellow. Paper punch, Hidie Grace flower, white ribbon and cuts from Wild Card Cartridge finish off this sweet little card.

I have a thought to do a series of cards based on Motown love songs. This is the first one. Stevie Wonder's "I just called to say I love you" was the idea here. Can you think of other songs?

On one of my favorite mail groups CCOTM (Cricut Cartridge of the Month) we discussed masculine Valentine's day card. This is my take on it. Wild Cart, Doodlecharms, and My Community carts were used for this and the paper is from the Safari pack from DCWV.

And my last card for this Project Thursday is a St. Patrick's Day card that I think is just too cute! I love the paper doll cartridges and would love to have the Peach Keen Stamps for faces but that is not in my budget right now, as many of you kmow I want to get an ATG gun, so the stamps will have to wait. I found a great video on Youtube teaching you how to draw faces on dolls. So, I cut 20 faces using the blackout feature on PDDU and then watching the video again and again... until I got something I could live with I drew lots of faces.

Well, that's it for now. Please leave a comment, you know I love to hear what you think!

Cricut Saturday!

2010-02-06T13:21:00.000-05:00

We all use some sort of glue when using our Cricuts and I have been really considering the cost of this. So.....

Tape Cost Comparison
I have been trying to decide if I wanted to get an ATG gun. I know that so many have one and really like it and that they find it to be a suprior bonding tape, but I have been using the Ad Tech tape runner because it's local and I can just run to Wal-Mart and pick up a refill or 2 and be back home scrapping within 20 minutes.

But how many trips have I been making to Wal-Mart? So I have done a little comparison.

ATG tape refill – 3.49 for 36 yards
Ad Tech refill – 2.50 for 8.75 yards
Glue Glider Pro – 6.99 for 40 feet or 1.11 yards
Scor Tape – 4.50 for 27 yards
Terifficly Tacky Tape – 3.50 for 5 yards
JVC Tape (for ATG) 1.99 for 36 yards

Ok, now that we know how much each costs, if we base the per yard cost on 36 yards this is the break down:

Ad Tech 36 yards will cost 10.44 or almost 3 rolls of ATG tape or 108 yards of tape.
Glue Glider Pro 36 yards will cost 18.36 cents or 4 rolls of ATG tape or 144 yard of tape.
Scor Tape 36 yards will cost 6.12 or almost 2 rolls of ATG tape or 72 yards of tape.
Terifficly Tacky Tape – 36 yards will cost 25.20 or 7 rolls of ATG tape or 252 yards of tape.

Now I know we don't use TTT for more than just holding things that really need the extra stick, but sometimes I really use it a lot because I know that I need something a bit stronger than the Ad Tech glue for a larger project. So, I have convinced myself that an ATG gun is the way to go.

So, the cost of an ATG gun at www.framingsupplies.com is 41.69 plus shipping and at www.cropnstick.com it is 41.60 plus shipping. I have checked Ebay and have found that they are much more there.
There are lots of other tape runners out there but I focused on these because they are the ones that I have used and know best.

Please leave a comment, I love to hear what you're thinking! Thanks

Something New

2010-01-18T15:28:00.003-05:00

Welcome Something New Monday!~
I have been busy over the past few days and have been thinking about a lot of things I would like to share with you. Some of it is now and some of it is just things that I have been thinking about....

Scraps...
I have a ton of scraps! What do you do with your scraps? How do you store your scraps? I know some of you have elaborate systems to store your scraps, and others just have a nice pile of them... I just bought a expanding filing folder and store them by color. This is working so far.
The other thing I have decided to do with my scraps is use them! I have a sketch book and have been working on layouts that will use them as well as some cards. The end results often don't look exactly like my sketch but close enough. The art of creation often leads in different directions! Below is my layout using circles cut on my Cricut using GBS.

Ok, here is the sketch that I based the lay out on, and this is what it turned out to be.

Not quite the same but the idea is there. The use of the left over paper along with the journal tag worked out well I think.

So, circles, squares, rectangles, any shape that you can manage to cut will work out really well to use of your scraps and get you being productive!

Oh, and if you are making cards, make more than one. I thought I was the type of person that only wanted to make one of anything, but I find that if I am already making a card and have the extra paper (not using only scraps to make the card) that making at least 2 works out great. You have one to give and one in reserve to give again later.

Cuttlebug...

When I was surfing the web I found people doing wonderful things with their embossed images. One of the things that I liked the best was the coloring the raised portions with ink, chalk, even crayons! Well I tried these and lets just say that I wasn't really successful. Then I thought I would give by brayer a try. It worked out much better for me than the other methods I tried....

I haven't tried it with a solid color inkpad but that is coming!

Site of the week...

This week I want to share my favorite site for shopping. Have you tried www.froogle.com? This is one of the best ways to see prices for comparisons and to find out who is selling the item you are looking for. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

New item of the week...

I wanted to get some paper for Valentine's Day. I went to my local A.C Moore (they had a great sale on my favorite paper DCWV $19.99 packs for $10.00) and I looked around and saw lots of the same things that I either had seen before or had at home... Sigh... Then I saw Libby! Libby is the manager of the scrapbooking section, and I mentioned what I was looking for and she said that there was a new paper that wasn't put out yet and she would get it for me. Well, when I saw it I knew I had to have it, and wanted to share with you to keep an eye out for it. You will love it too!

I couldn't resist! Valentine's Day with a Halloween twist! I love the skull and cross bones, The pack is called Madly in Love. Black, green, red, pink not all the colors for Valentine's Day but they are yummy together.

Well, thats it for now, I will be back on Thursday to share some of the projects I have completed.

Don't forget to leave a comment! I love Comments.

Cricut Saturday!

2010-01-17T02:27:00.001-05:00

Ok.. so technically its Sunday, but I have had the worst day... We ran out of oil and no one could come out and fill the tank. After not being able to find someone I did some research and found that I could put some diesel and that should hold me over until Monday. Well enough, I make 2 trips and get 10 gallons of diesel and thought everything was going to be fine... NOOOOO. NOTHING WORKED! I pressed the reset on everything and still nothing worked. I found out that the furnace needed to be bled. Oh Really, Bled!!! What the heck is that? YouTube to the rescue! I watched a couple of videos on how to do just that and was delighted to find out that it wasn't as hard as I thought and it could be done. Well, I get my son and off we go down to the basement knowing what to do armed with YouTube knowledge sure that this will take just a few minutes and we will be warm again.
Well, no one told us that not all furnaces were made the same that the the bleed valve wasn't going to look the same on my furnace as the one in the video... and then when we figured out which one was the darn valve it was seized on there and would not move. SIGH.... Now what you have to understand is that I live in a 110 year old house and the furnace although not original equipment ... it is darn close!
I started to get a little frazzled and my son took over and with a cooler head was able to figure it all out and got me back into a warm house, Thank You Brendon!

Now that that is over, onto Cricut Saturday!

There is much discussion going on over at the Cricut.com message boards. It was place on the board by and Administrator that there was going to be a major announcement at CHA later this month. The thought is that there will be a new Expression with a touch screen AND that the Gypsy will built in! Now, I just want to be sure that you all understand that this is rumor and that there is nothing to confirm this coming from Provo Craft. But, what fun if that is the case!

Speaking of CHA, is anyone going? I can't it is across the country. There is a site for you can go to to get some info on the companies that will be presenting its HERE.

Other News from about Cricut... 2 promised cartridges are not being produced according to a blog that I follow "Just a Scrappin'" Here . I don't know why they are not coming out with them but I for one am disappointed. I was looking forward to the European Decor cartridge.

6 new Cuttlebug folders were announced on HSN. 3 are A2 $4x6) size and 3 are the larger 5x7 size. These folders are geared towards Valentine's Day. The names of the folders are:
Romance - A2
Chandelier - A2
Queen of Hearts - A2 (this one is really nice!)
Conversations - 5x7 (the folder is covered with conversation hearts... another cute one!)
Emily's Bouquet - 5x7
Medawlark - 5x7

These are not even listed on Cricut.com, I just checked!!! To see them go HERE . They are 24.95 plus shipping.

Thank you for indulging me with my earlier rant and I hope you enjoyed today post.

Please leave a comment... See you on Monday for something new!

Project Thursday

2010-01-14T21:34:00.001-05:00

I love Project Thursdays! It keeps me on my toes and scrapping or card making. This week I have been busy working on an explosion box. I have seen them done 2 different ways and thought I would take a stab at combining these techniques to come up with something a bit different.
The first type of explosion box is from a 12x12 piece of card stock, scored at 4 and 8 inches on both sides creating a 4 inch box in the middle. has the 4 corners cut out.

If you like, layers are added each with the corners cut out but the layer is a bit smaller than the next. 11 1/2 in square then 11 inch square and so on up to 4 or 5 inner layers. This is a very nice box that holds a lot of pictures, or other goodies.

The other is a 12x12 piece of card stock (a sturdy double sided card stock is best) that is also scored at 4 and 8 inches on both sides (just like the other version). You will cut on the 4 inch score line on each side.

When you are done with this one all 9 boxes can be decorated with pictures, tags, or a 3D decoration in the center. It's really up to you. I know many have seen or done these before but I had to look around for instruction that I could understand and thought I would share these with you.

Now, I made version 2 and used that as the base of my explosion box and then made several layers ala version 1 and I would like to point out that you really need to use a strong adhesive when attaching the layers, these boxes will be touched, tugged a lot and really need to be secure.

The box when done will need a cover and I have made them 2 ways, folded origami style - if you are interested I will post a tutorial on how to do this, or a simple folded square, which is below.

If you cannot read the directions on the cover graphic, click on it and it will take you to a blowup of the graphic.

Now here is my explosion box!

The small box in the middle is from Tags Bags Boxes and More cut at fit to page. The card stock is DCWV , and My Minds Eye.

I am going to make another one and this time I think I will leave the layers all at 11 and 1/2 inch square to have more room for larger picture. I will post it when it is done.

Next week I will have cards from the Wild Card Cartridge. Do you have this cartridge? If so how do you use it? Cards, layouts? It's a very versatile and the font is really one of the best. I do not have lots of cartridges but I would like to do a focused Project Thursday by including at least 1 project from one of my cartridges each week until I have to restart OR buy a new one. LOL...

See you next week. Please leave a comment!

Something New

2010-01-11T15:11:00.001-05:00

Ahhh... Monday, with the night over and coffee in hand I bring you a few things that I think are REALLY cool...
Chatting, surfing and experimenting has brought some good things my way this week. So, here we go...

I have found a new Deal of the Day site! its www.bazzzinga.com This site is brought to you by the great folks at Oh My Crop.com. I love the deal a day sites. You can really save some money with them.

Do you own a Gypsy? Are your fingers getting tired holding that tiny stylus? I found a great solution, The DS Comfort Stylus! It is a flexible stylus that wraps around your index finger and you use like other pointing stylus but its like you are actually pointing at what you want and you don't have to worry about dropping it and it rolling under the couch!

You can see it HERE. I don't have a Gypsy but I do have a touch screen phone and use it for searching the web and email and just about everything and this would be great...

Another video for you today, Tattered Angles will be introducing a new product called Glitter Glaze at the Winter 2009 CHA. I have watched this video several times and cannot wait to get my hands on some!
Take a look and let me know what you think!

Don't forget to leave a comment! Have a great day, see you on Thursday!

Cricut Saturday!

2010-01-09T17:05:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my first Cricut Saturday! I am going to be passing along interesting Cricut tidbits and links to sites that you might find helpful. So here we go...

Do you Twitter, or Tweet? I do and although I receive more tweets than I could ever send, its a lot of fun. Did you know that Provo Craft Tweets too? Yup, they do. You can check them out Here They have give aways and some really lively conversations. It might be worth checking out!

Have you been to this site yet?

http://susanbluerobot.blogspot.com/2008/01/helping-with-letters-on-sides-of-cards.html

It is a FANTASTIC site and the tutorial that the link takes you to is exciting! I can't wait to give this a try. It teaches you how to cut letters on the top and side of your card. Go and check it out if you have Design Studio it is a MUST learn experience!

Were you one of the luck people to get their Circut Expression on Black Friday from Wal-Mart? The Serenade Cartridge is just about the cutest thing. There is currently no word as to when it will available for separate purchase, but id you would like to see some of the great things on it take a look at this video on the Cricut.com site.

http://www.cricut.com/movies/default.aspx?id=8

Hope you enjoyed Cricut Saturday! See you on Monday for Something New!

Project Thursday

2010-01-07T16:52:00.000-05:00

This is the first Project Thursday and I have a few cards and layouts to share. I have 2 layouts that I made to put pictures of us with the family pups. Rocky and Chloe aren't crazy about their pictures being taken but in the end we get great pictures!

The papers and stickers are from a $1.50 kit from Big Lots! It had 6 double sided sheets and stickers, rub ons, Rain Drops, and chipboard stickers. This page will have Rocky and me, and the next will have pics of Jess and Chloe.

Now for the cards!

I have started making the birthday cards for friends and family for the year. Oh, and of course there is Valentine's day which happens to also be Jess's birthday so I have been making a few cards to see which I like the best to give to whom...

Here are a few:

This first card was made for my brother Jonathan. His birthday was the 5th. He is a really great guy and my best friend. He turned 50 and commented when talking about his b'day cake that instead of putting on candles his wife should just set the darn think on fire! Well I had to put lots of candles on his card!

But the best part of the card for me is the "sentiment" inside! I used the the Wild Card cartridge to cut the candles. I used the Auto Fill feature and it cut 18 candles on my paper. On each candle I used a yellow Micron Brush Art marker to color the "flame" and Worn Lipstick Stickles to highlight them.

The inside of the card, I like to hand write my sentiments so I wrote "So many candles... So little Cake!" Jonathan thought that was really funny!

The empty cake dish was also cut from Wild Card all of these are found on page 61 in the booklet.

This next card I made for a friend who love pink and I haven't spoken to in a couple of months. I miss chatting with my friend and sent this off today...

Inside I used the cut that says Miss Talking To You. This is another card from the Wild Card cartridge. and can be found on page 58. The paper is from A.C. Moore and it cuts really well on the E. the yellow is from a random stack of card stock that was in an old scraping bag that I found the other day. I don't know who the manufacturer is.

and the last card is I think my personal favorite. I made my first poise flower and my first gate fold card so I hope you like it.

The front of the card wouldn't stay closed, I put the tab closure to help with that. It worked out really well. The paper is from K&Company the Wild Saffron pack. Very nice paper with a good weight and it cuts well. The heart was cut from George and Basic Shapes. So was the circles that I used to make the flower. The stamps are from Studio G. I love those little stamps. The insert is white card stock from A.C. Moore and I used the heart as a template to ink around it.

Phew.... I hope you like this and that you leave comments. If there is something that you would like to see let me know.

Something New

2010-01-07T15:21:00.000-05:00

Sorry this is late... but life has a way of getting in the way! I have been so busy working and helping my son with his search for a job that I have not had much time on the computer. But while I was surfing the web I found the greatest thing.

Martha Stewart.com has a great family tree that would be wonderful on a scrapbook page. You can find it HERE. There is a PDF of the template that you can download that link is HERE.

On M's site she has this framed and it looks lovely, but I was really thinking that it would be a great 2 page spread in a heritage album. Every family has at least one person who keeps the records of our family. You can be the one or help the person who does!

The Last of Christmas Scrapping!

2010-01-04T15:33:00.008-05:00

promised here are pictures of the last scrapped project of the 2009 Christmas Season. I made a tag album for Christmas memories for Jess. It's housed in tissue rolls and is I think really cute. Its my first attempt at this sort of album and it went together quickly. The thing that really helped was cutting the icons with the Cricut and using one base color and then choosing background papers to coordinate with the background papers.

I used 7 rolls and I made 2 tags for each roll. I used the Tags Bags Boxes and More for the tags. The icons were cut from Joys of the Season. The background papers came from the DCWV Christmas Stack. This stack had 180 sheets and some REALLY nice designs, many would be great for a 12x12 layout. I will be using this stack for a few seasons to come!

Christmas Tag Album

The front of the album with a belly band. I used the belly band to help keep the album together, the "pages' don't really lay flat so the book fans out and takes up a lot of space!

I used red tags in every tube, but alternated with tan and green tags to make up the other tag in each tube.

This flower is the only element that is not truly Christmas. But it is red and I really liked the color and I embossed the brad in the center with UTEE and red pigment ink to get the color I wanted for the center.

The snowman had such tiny cuts that I used my Micron pens to color in the scarf, hat, button, and eyes. For the hat I used a scrap of black card stock.

The mittens have some home made "Flower Soft" for the cuffs! It worked out really well and I used Scor Tape to hold it all on.

The cuts on the left are the middles of all the ornaments that I used in the album. Waste not want not!

The ball ornament has to be my favorite cuts on the album. The colors work together so well

The back cover, I love the snowmen, they came from the Doodlecharms cartridge. Its the only cut that wasn't from Joys.

Another last minute project was a card for a coworker. We had our Christmas the Sunday after Christmas due to schedules. It's a farm scene, because I at time with affection call her "cow"! When I thought of what to make for a card, this was a natural. The inside (which I didn't get a picture of) says, "Have a very Mooie Christmas!" LOL... I thought it was really funny. There is also a gift card holder pocket cut from TBBM. It fit the card perfectly!

I made several of the cereal box gift boxes to hold the smaller gifts this Christmas and this is one of my favs. Its simple and just has enough bling on it to make you look at it and say "Ahhh, thats nice!".

I made several scarves, you know the fuzzy kind? Well when you pack (and I mean pack) them into one of these, you have to tape the box cover down so that it doesn't spring out at the wrong time!

This was a great Christmas and I really enjoyed making so many different things and the learning that went along with it was wonderful!

Please leave a comment, I would love to know what you think!

HAPPY NEW YEAR...Blog Updates and News

2010-01-01T08:48:00.000-05:00

Ahhh... the first post of a new year! I am so excited about all that this new year will bring. Cricut will be introducing new cartridges later this month and I have my eye on a few of them... If you haven't seen them you can take a look at them Here.

As you can see I have changed the blogs layout. My new motto for the year is Simpler is Better! So, away with 3 columns and lots of flashy things, and Hello to simple straight forward beautiful things.

Later today or over the weekend I will be posting a few of the last minute items that I made for Christmas, and then its on to Birthdays, Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day.

I have cards to make for all of them!

I am going to post new cards once a week on Thursdays, so mark your calendars and come back to see the new posts.

Mondays I will try to post Something New... What's that? Well, it will be something new that I have learned, I love learning new things and want to share with you all the goodies I come across.

Saturdays will be all about the Cricut and Cuttlebug. What's happening with Provo Craft's wonderful machines and discussions about new cartridges, tools, embossing folders and dies. I am excited about this and can't wait to get started.

If there is anything specific that you would like to see me review, or discuss here let me know. I will do my best to get the latest information for you.

All of this will start on Monday January 4, 2010!

Please leave a comment: I would love to know what you're thinking!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T12:53:00.000-05:00

Hope you all have a wonderful heart warming Christmas season.

Rocky and I wish you a

Merry Merry Christmas!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2009-12-16T11:40:00.001-05:00

Getting ready for Christmas is, and I'm sure you will agree one of the busiest times of the year. I have been making presents, money this year dictates that I make most of the presents that people will be getting this year. I have enjoyed going through stored yarns and knitting mittens and hats and scarves and fingerless mitts. It is a really nice hobby... Not paper crafting.. but nice none the less~

I have made cards for most of the family that are off already in the mail in hopes that they get there in time for them to have them and be able to put them up and enjoy them.

Here is one of the cards... I made my own "Flower Soft" and used it for snow.

Cocoa Mugs for folks at work, there are always people that you want to let know that you are thinking of them during the holidays but can't really afford to buy presents... these mugs are great to say Happy Holidays! I saw these on the web and couldn't find the cut file and didn't know how to make one, I asked a friend and she said "Oh, those are so easy!", and she showed me how to create files in Design Studio and I made this mug. I think it came out nicely...

The mugs were made with George. I hate to admit it but she was right ... It wasn't that hard!

On one of my favorite Yahoo groups "The Frugal Scrapper" a fellow member, Judy made a really cute card of a pyramid of penguins. When I saw it I had to tell her how much I liked the card and that I thought a card with the same idea but with snowmen would be to cute. Judy said that if I made one that she would like to see it.

Well here it is... I like it, I like it a lot and wish I had thought of it before, because it would have been this years main card.

These little guys are from Doodlecharms and the hat is from Everyday Paperdolls. I tore the what Wal-Mart cards stock and I also cut the snowmen with it. The gold sticker letters are from Creative Memories. Nope,thats not Stickles... its glitter glue from Wal-mart. It looks really nice, even if it's not the pricer Stickles...

I work in a hospital and in the mornings when patients would like something to eat, we offer them cereal from small individual boxes. I was looking at the boxes and talking to a friend and decided that they would make great gift boxes! Here is what I came up with... I have more boxes and will be making more for some of the smaller gifts that I have to give.

The penguin is from Joy of the Season, and the ice cubes are from George. I ran the cubes through the Cuttlebug with the Tiny Bubbles folder. The paper I used to cover the box is from DCWV's Christmas Value Stack.

Phew... I'm not done yet, but I know I will enjoy the entire process, and will post more later!

Please leave a COMMENT ... I'd like to know what you think!

Publish Post

Autum Mini Album

2009-12-16T10:42:00.003-05:00

I taught a class on making mini albums and this is the album that the class was based on.

This album is based on all the things that I enjoy most about the autumn season. Football, changing colors and weather, Halloween and Thanksgiving to name a few.

There are tags, and swingers and pockets all over the place and room for pictures on the larger tags that are in between each set of layouts. (the yellow tag there is one of them)

I don't have more pictures, but my favorite pages was the Halloween page. The purple tag sticking out is from that page. Lots of fun making this album. Most cuts were done with the Cricut and I used Doodlecharms, Wild card Base Camp, George and Basic Shapes and Everyday Paper Dolls.

The goodies added were from my stash - flowers, charms, buttons, and other goodies. I also finished a 2010 album that is small and will hold one or two pictures from each month to highlight what has happened that month.

I thought this was a good idea because it will force me to get out the camera more often!

Please leave a COMMENT... I'd love to hear what you think!

Black Friday... Ugh... But I feel like a winner!

2009-11-29T08:15:00.001-05:00

Where to begin with my Black Friday Saga? I was so excited about Wal-Mart's advertised Cricut Expression for $188.00 and my cell phone company was going to run a major special where all phones (even SMARTPHONES) were FREE!!! So after working all night, and coming home and cooking all day I turned in for a "disco nap" so that I could be up and ready to shop at 3:30 AM. Wal-Mart was opening at 5 and US Cellualr at 7. I only wanted 2 things and was confident that my plan was going to be a go!

Little did I know that all stores were opening early to cut down on the number of people standing out in the cold and to prevent a repeat of last years disaster where a poor man lost his life when opening the doors for shoppers and was trampled to death. So, I head off and notice as I pull up that the doors to Wal-Mart are open.. OH NO.. When did they open? I had a sinking feeling that all the Cricuts were going to be gone. I walked in and the first thing I saw was a woman with a black Cricut in her cart.. Oh no.. this is not good. I moved down the isle where the scrapbooking supplies are and Nope... nothing. Asked a clerk and was told that I walked past them, that they were ALL GONE. I asked a manager and was told that there was no more, if weren't any there they were all gone. UGH.....

I was so disapointed that I just walked out of the store and didn't look back. I sat in my car and continplated what to do now. And then it came to me... Go to Brewer, its just over the bridge and if they don't have any there you can honestly say you tried.

So off I go to Brewer and pull into the lot and yes, this store is also open. I park and go in and ask where the Cricuts are. The clerk didn't even know what a Cricut was but directed me to someone that did. He took me to the display and there was a complete display with only 1 Cricut missing.

I was able to get the color I wanted and came home very happy!

Oh... as an aside... I just checked Ebay and the colored Cricuts are on there for 250.00 and up!!!

Just learned something new!

2009-11-23T14:54:00.000-05:00

I was working on a page and really wanted to get a reverse image done on my Cricut. Well, for those that have the Expression or Create this is not a problem. But,. those of us (and this includes me) who have the original Cricut this is not possible.

So I sat and pondered this problem... Now... to most of you I know this is not going to be news but when the light bulb went off for me I was doing the happy dance!

I put my pattern paper I was using FACE DOWN on the cutting mat and cut the image out! When I peeled it off the mat there is was in reverse! I felt so smart! and I got just what I wanted!

See, both chairs are facing each other! How cool is that!!!!

Welcome Back Me...

2009-11-23T13:28:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since I have been able to post here and a lot has happened. I have finished 2 minis and started on a third! The third mini is using the great papers and embellishments that came with the November kit from Magpie Kits. I really would like to get an album ready for the new year that would be ready for my newest interest ... Black and White pictures. The colors are muted and are really perfect for B&W photos.

The Theme of the album (I love a good theme!) is "Cherish these Moments" I got it from a tag that was one many in the kit. It was perfect and reflected how I feel about friends and family. We need to cherish every moment as we don't know how many more we will have.

This is the beginning of the album, pages in a mini are never in the order that I create them but this is what I have so far. I am happy with them and can't wait to get some free time to work on it more.

I am so EXCITED! November Kit is here!!

2009-11-02T15:58:00.000-05:00

I just woke up from a nap, before going to bed (I work overnights!) and checked the mail and there on the porch was a package from Magpie Club! My November full kit is here! I opened it and looked though it and WOW is all I can say. This kit is LOADED! I will post some pictures later, before I break into it and start working. I think this kit will end up as a mini album It has just the right amount of good stuff to do a really nice one!

Looking for Some Help!

2009-11-02T10:46:00.001-05:00

I have been told by a few people that they are not able to post a comment here on my blog (insert pout here). If you are a visitor to my fledgling blog could you please leave a message to let me know that you were here and if you cannot get a comment to post please send me an email at This Address to let me know so that I can get in touch with Blogger and figure out what could be wrong...

Thanks so much!

Happy Day After Halloween!

2009-11-01T11:05:00.000-05:00

I have been so busy with getting ready for Halloween that I didn't get a chance to post this layout. I made it for my dogs. Rocky and Chloe, a Boston Terrier and a Papillon respectively. They are going to have a sitting with costumes soon and their pictures will go on this layout. I couldn't help myself. When I thought of the harvest moon, everything else just fell into place.

I used one of the great papers from Tara's kit as the base and yellow Bazzill cardstock for the moon, dog and tree. The grave stones were cut from AC Moore's paper in Lavender.(Yeah, I know Lavender for a gravestone is kind of strange, but I wanted to go over it with a few inks to get just the look I wanted.)

I used Green, Black, Gray, and a little blue from Stamping up, the exact colors I am not sure of because I am downstairs and the ink pads are upstairs. (I will post them later)

I cut everything from the Paper Pups cartridge. It is a really cute cartridge!

Magpie Club Kit

2009-10-29T19:24:00.003-04:00

I ordered a kit from the Magpie Club (link is over to the right under my favorite things) and it came in no time at all, I spoke with Tara via Email several times about the kit and she is just the nicest person!
Her club offers 2 types of kits, the full kit and a budget friendly kit that she calls the Credit Crunch Kit. I wanted to order the full kit but (Yeah for her, Boo for me) it was sold out. So I got the CCK and it had great paper and goodies in it.

Once I got the kit I was so excited to get scrapping and then The Creeping Crud..... grrrr...

But that is over now and this is the first layout from the kit!

The only things that I added to the page that didn't come with the kit are the 2 little black bats. I cut them with my Cricut using the Wild Card Cartridge. These can be found on page 68 in the booklet.

I was going to add a spider web also from the same page but thought that would be overkill and left it off.

Thanks Tara for making these great kits and I can't wait until the November kit becomes available!

Found Some Great Sites

2009-10-29T14:43:00.002-04:00

Well, now that I am over the creeping crud, I have been online and looking for great sites to share. The first site I found is ScrapDazzle. This site is really great, just about anything you want you can find there and for REALLY good prices. You can do a search by price, which I really like because if you have a limited amount of money to spend you can search within your budget and not get bummed by looking at things you know you cannot afford!
There are over 25 pages of items Under a DOLLAR! Yeah, I like this site!

The other site I found is for those of us that have had that moment when we are sitting in front of blank scrapbook pages and have no clue what to do with the pictures and paper and other goodies you have picked out. This site is Stickersnfun.com. They have layout sketches that go back to April of 2006! There is also a book that they offer with 500 layout designs if your interested, but I don't know if I will ever get through all the ones that they have generously offered for free!

Another one I just thought of that I check out almost daily to see what they have to offer is ohmycrafts.com I get their newsletter and they have a discount of some sort almost every day! Check them out and sign up for the newsletter you don't have to buy anything, but its nice to know that if you want something there might be a deal going on that will be just what you are looking for!

For the frugal scrapper these sites will be a great help getting the neat things we want and then helping us do really kewl things with them!

I LOVE SHOPPING!!!!!

2009-10-21T21:19:00.000-04:00

I have had this same stinking cold for DAYS now and have not felt like doing much of anything. But today I forced myself to go out for a while and went to AC Moore because they were having a good sale on paper. That was good.. but I was now in the Scrapbook Shopping Mode! So, off I went to JoAnn's .

Well there I found that they were having an even better sale on paper... but... (okay, I admit it, I am a paper snob) I didn't like the paper they had so, I walked around and found their clearance section. (Insert Angels singing here) There was all kinds of scrapbooking embellishments! I was so excited... that I had a seat on the floor and went through it all and found the things I wanted. 97 cents for a set of 3 hinges... not bad. 97 cents for velum frames, I can live with that.

I go to the register and the clerk tells me that all the scrapbooking clearance items were 50 cents!!!!! OH BABY! I was so happy, but also tired. I am going back tomorrow to look over the bin again. there were a few things that I didn't pick up because I thought a dollar for them was a bit much considering they were kind of beat up... well at 50 cents, they are so mine!

Oh My.... Sorry Santa!

2009-10-21T00:18:00.001-04:00

Remember just a few days ago I said that I wanted to get a Big Bite? Well I was in Wal-Mart and as always I made a quick run through their clearance section... And what to my wandering eyes should appear??? A Big Bite and it was only (get ready for this... you won't believe it!) $10.00, yes, that's right I said ten dollars.
I was so excited, I bought it and came home and and couldn't wait to show Jess what I bought....

Well all I heard was "TAKE IT BACK!" What? Why? It was such a good deal...

Then it came to me, I had mentioned that I would like one for Christmas and I think Santa went shopping a little early this year and somewhere in the house is a Big Bite waiting for Christmas morning... Darn...

Now the thing you have to understand is that I wanted the original Crop a Dile ... and that was on the list... and when I bought that at AC Moore for 50% off I thought wow what a great deal... Little did I know if I had only waited, yeah... they had the original Crop a Dile for 10.00 also, in the case with the eyelets.. Sigh... oh well...

So, I have stopped buying things and will let "Santa" know if there is a really good deal out there somewhere!

Paper Pups

2009-10-18T11:59:00.002-04:00

I am so excited! I was cursing Craig's List and found someone selling the Paper Pups cartridge! I sent an email asking if it was still available, (the post was almost a month old) and a wonderful woman wrote back saying that it was. We made arrangements for me to get it. Smooth transaction! Craig's List was better than Ebay because I didn't have to wait for it to be shiped and there was no shipping to pay!

What a cute cartridge! Lots of great images and phrases. Puppy Love, Yappy Easter, Hug, Walk... are a few of the melded phrases that come on the cartridge. I can't wait to get started making cards and adding some of these images in cards and scrapbooks! I have been sick for the past few days and am not really feeling any better, but I have been watching videos on YouTube and have been getting lots of great ideas for when I am feeling better and am ready to get back to work!

Cricut Personal Die Cutting Machine/ To Gypsy or Not to Gypsy???

2009-10-13T10:12:00.002-04:00

I bought my Cricut a month ago from HSN. They had such a great combo package that I couldn't refuse. The shipping was much faster than they said it would be, the package arrived with everything they said would be in it. I plugged it in and hours later went to bed happy in knowing that my little Cricut was safe in my office/craft room.
Ok.. so why, you may ask do I sound like I am not so happy? Well, to be honest I love that little thing and I have made some really cute cards and scrapbook pages and I have even made a mini album from scratch using several images from the 9 cartridges I have. (Yeah, I know I've only had it a month and already I have 9 carts!) But when I go to YouTube.com and look at the things others are making and the difference in size... oh how my mouth waters for an Expression... So as you can see to the right, I am saving up for one. I will get it from HSN again because they have the best deals AND they usually have Easy Pay so you can extend your payments over a set number of months. Once I have the Expression I don't know what I am going to do with the little Cricut... but it will be staying with me for a while at least (can't hurt to have a back up in case something goes wrong).

Ok, onto part 2 of this post. I have seen many videos that PC as well as some really talented people have posted on the Gypsy and I have to say that I am not convinced that I need one. I have to say that having the ability to design while waiting for my doctor is not a priority for me! And taking something like the Gypsy to the beach... Yikes! Do you know what one grain of sand will do to that machine? NOPE that is not another of the wonderful selling points for me. The only thing that might bring me over to the Gypsy side is fact that there are 2 exclusive cartridges built in to the Gypsy. I have discovered that I love having the carts and that EBAY is a poor girls best friend when it comes time to make your dollar stretch and to feed that cartridge habit! So, I will continue saving and buying my one cartridge a month and hold off on the Gypsy for the extended foreseeable future.

A really quick card made for a wonderful co-worker who made zucchini relish for us! YUMMY is an understatement!

My New Second Favorite Tool

2009-10-09T15:50:00.000-04:00

I have a Crop A Dile! I love this thing. It does all I thought it was going to do and them a few things that I didn't think of.

First, it punches holes in two sizes and that really makes setting your brads and grommets really easy. And that was a hint... it sets grommets. Makes life so much easier when you can set a brad without a hammer... lol... I can't tell you how many strange looks I got when I wanted to do that in a scrapbook or card and I was looking for the hammer. lol..

It is quiet, it is fast and it can be done with one hand. All of this makes using this a real treat. The only drawback that I can see with the original Crop A Dile is the fact that you are limited in how far in you can place a hole. The original Crop A Dile is really only good in that respect for working on the edges of cards and pages.

To solve this problem We R Memory Keepers have come out with the Crop A Dile 2 called the "Big Bite". This one is able to reach into a page up to 6 inches. Which is right in the middle of a 12x12 scrapbook page. I am still a hammer girl for the middle of the page. I am not sure I will be getting one any time soon... but one is in the future, because you can never have too many tools!

Back to the original Crop A Dile, I just saw a video on how to use it for embossing! This is the unexpected extra that you can do with this tool that I didn't even have in my mind that you could do. There appears to be 2 ways to do this.

First you can make your own template by using chipboard or thin plastic and punching the design you want. Then using that place the card stock over the plastic and using and burnishing tool emboss the paper... Easy enough!

Second, that the one that I tried and found to be a bit tricky is to use the Crop A Dile to lightly press the card stock using the brad setter. I tried this also and I have to tell you I thought I broke the darn thing because I didn't realize that the buttons on the base recessed. When I saw that circle of paper (yes, I squeezed too hard and made a hole instead of an impression) I was completely upset and when I "not so gently" placed it on the table, the paper popped out and the button returned to normal! PHEW!!!!!

Scrapbook Deal of the Day

2009-10-09T09:18:00.000-04:00

I have rediscovered scrapbooking and I am once again addicted! Not just scrapbooking but making my own mini albums from chipbook has really captured my imagination. Things have changed so much in scrapbooking since I was a Creative Memories consultant. Now pages that are interactive, have height and amazing embellishments.
So, when I decided that I was going to start working on albums again I discovered that I needed to restock my stash with up to date goodies. Where to start? Well I went to my local shops (AC Moore, JoAnns) and discovered that yes, they have some of the goodies I wanted but not at the prices I wanted to pay! So off to the net I went and found some amazing sites... They are Deal a Day sites. These sites only sell one item a day for incredible prices. There are lots of them but from the research and from chatting with others I believe these are some of the best.

Scrapbook Steals I like this site because their shipping is only $5.00!

Crafty Steals They have really unique items every day.

Flowers to Flourishes Today's deal has only $3.99 shipping!

Crop Chocolate This site has a blog attached and has information about other deals.

And the first site I found and the one that MANY people rave about is:

Peachy Cheap They have completed samples posted every day with the items offered.

So, this is where I started building my new bigger better stash... Hope you get to check them out, you might get some really neat deals... Not every site has something every day that might interest you but the great thing is that there is always tomorrow and another deal!