Mr. & Mrs.

This is my submission for the most recent challenge over at Whimsical Scraps and Bugs. The design team once again did a great job! We were to use an ampersand from any of the Cricut cartridges. I used the one from Graphically Speaking. The rest of the title is from the Calligraphy cartridge. I used a SCAL design for the frame and a ttf for the butterfly. I embossed the butterfly with the Divine Swirls Cuttlebug folder and traced the raised part of the image with silver stickles. I decorated the frame with skittles (which are in stock again at Michael's--they're a seasonal item in the wedding section and I think their true name is Decorative Accents).
I took the design from sketch #14 over at Unscripted Sketches. It was my first time using a sketch from that site, but it won't be my last! I love the basic sketches that give the freedom to make them your own! If you've never been there, I'd encourage you to check it out.
Thanks for looking!

California Poppies

I'm not sure this layout is complete, but at least it's on its way. I may add some corner flourishes to frame the collage of pictures but then again I may just leave it alone. These pictures were taken a few years back when the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve had a particularly good bloom. So pretty!
'California' was cut with the Calligraphy cartridge--I want to say it was the Gratitude function. 'Poppies' was cut with a TTF from SCAL (and it was so so easy to weld the letters together and give it a shadow--with a simple click of a button). The flourish and the flower below the picture of the single poppy was cut from Home Decor.

Here are some closer looks:

Thanks for looking!

Heritage

I created this layout for a challenge at Whimsical Scraps and Bugs. The challenge was to use sketch #81 from Mojo Monday (pictured below) and a favorite verse or quote. If you have looked at my blog recently, you'll already know that I love Mojo Monday for their creative card designs. This time, though, I wanted to use the sketch to create a layout. I chose Psalm 127:3 for the verse which says, "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him." The picture is of our firstborn on Easter of 2007 with my hubby Scott. The paper is from the DCWV "All About Boys" stack. The title font is from the Cricut Calligraphy cartridge and the frame for the verse, the stars, and the circles at the bottom are all from Graphically Speaking. I hand-sewed the borders and the circle around the stars. The circles at the bottom have a stamp on them that says "a son is a blessing; a son is a gift." Brads in the center finish it off.

Thanks for looking!

With sympathy

I realized I didn't have a sympathy card in my stash when I needed one, so I had to make one. This is what I came up with--the sentiment and scroll is from the Calligraphy cartridge. The frame is from the Storybook cartridge. I embossed the background with the Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder and ran a white inkpad over the dots for a little bit of contrast. I wanted to keep this one simple and to the point...sympathy cards are not my favorite to have to send. :(

Thanks for looking.

August 10

I was looking through stacks of old pictures the other day and realized I had several pictures people had given to us from our wedding. So, I set them aside and planned to do a few pages. Here is the first (and only one so far).
My goal is to keep these pages simple and clean looking, using certain elements throughout to keep with a unified theme. On this page, I included our invitation, as well as a wedding program. I left the program so that it could be opened up on the page to remind us of our ceremony.
I used the Martha Stewart border punch "Scallop Holes" along the right side of the program (thank you, Susy), along with my new Calligraphy cartridge I got for Christmas (thank you, Mom and Dad)!
"August 10" is cut from the Calligraphy cartridge using the Inspiration feature. I love this cartridge because it's like getting 5 calligraphy fonts in one cartridge--each feature is a different font, and each on is beautiful! The heart with the swirls is also on the Calligraphy cartridge.

Close-ups:

with the program open:Thanks for looking!