Thank you, Oh My Crafts!

I am a Facebook fan of Oh My Crafts, an online crafting store that offers a variety of items, including a large selection from Provo Craft's line. Earlier this week, they sponsored a facebook challenge to post a favorite childhood project, be it a layout, card, or any other project. They chose 2 winners to receive the newly released 'A Child's Year' Cricut cartridge. I submitted this layout, which I completed awhile ago of Jonah learning how to ride his tricycle.
I was very pleasantly surprised when Oh My Crafts notified me to let me know that I had won! Hooray! A Child's Year is one of the cartridges that I'm very excited about and it was next on my list of cartridges to buy. Click here to see some of the images that it will cut.
Thank you, Oh My Crafts! I'm very excited to receive my new cartridge and put it to good use soon!

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!

Happy Birthday (picture heavy post)

My sweetie pie turned 30 yesterday and I thought I'd share the dessert I made for him. I was even able to use my Cricut for it!! I got the recipe and idea from Bakerella. Check out the website for more seriously cute ideas! The 'fries' are sugar cookies and the 'hamburgers' are cupcakes, brownies, and frosting.
The complete 'meal':
Scott used to work at In-N-Out (a California burger chain) while in high school and college, and he was recently gifted an apron, so I thought I'd run with the theme. I downloaded the logo from the internet and imported it into Inkscape to convert it into a .svg file which I then cut with SCAL. It was my first inkscape project, and it wasn't as complicated as I thought it would be. Wow--I'm excited for all I can do with this program! There is a link to purchase SCAL on the right hand column of my blog, if you're interested.
Then I altered the logo a bit to make a few "Happy Birthday" fry holders:
Here's a closeup of the burgers:
I made the paper trays as well--from a template included on Bakerella's site. I had to alter the size of the fry holders to accomodate the logo--I didn't want to make the letters any smaller so I had to make the holders larger. Here's a serving:
Here are a couple shots of the burger assembly--my favorite part is getting to figure out a way to 'clean up' the brownie scraps!
Putting on the 'ketchup, mustard, and lettuce':
The burger tray:
Jonah looking forward to his dessert:
Noah approves!
Thanks for looking!

Dreams Come True

The boys had fun with their cousins on the morning we left for Disneyland. Megan and Emily dressed up like princesses for them to help them get excited to visit the princesses at Disneyland.

Here are some cuts from the Dreams Come True cartridge. I can't wait to use them on our scrapbook pages from all our Disney trips! On a sad note, my Signo gel pen went dry and I need to find another. Forget trying to use the tiny eyes and teeth that the Cricut cuts out. I much prefer drawing those in.

Please excuse the lack of photo editing. I deleted the pictures from iPhoto before I got a chance to crop or edit them. Also, I cut out Chip from Beauty and the Beast but could not find him for the picture.

Thanks for looking!

Surprise!

This post is dedicated to my father-in-law, who so lovingly made me his very first homemade card! He said it probably wouldn't make it on BirdScrap, but he was wrong!
Dad, thanks for taking the time to cut out every letter and make a handmade card for me! It was such a surprise and really appreciated. I love you!

simply WILD about you

This is the card I made for the most recent challenge over at Whimsical Scraps and Bugs. We had to make a project with an animal from any cartridge. Be sure to check out everyone else's work, too, when you have the time. There are some really talented members on the design team. There were so many cartridges with animals to choose from--I had a hard time but I finally settled on Zooballoo. I just love those animals, and I think they look really cute using nontraditional colors. I used Opposites Attract for the title and I thought I'd use some older paper with animal prints for 'wild.' The circle stamps behind the title are some of my new stamps from JustRite Stamps--I love them and you'll be seeing more projects in the future with them. It's actually one of the borders to be used with a monogram or message inside, but it can stand alone, too. I love that all the stamps are so interchangeable. More for the $$.

Thanks for looking!

...and while I was at it...

I also borrowed my mom's Sesame Street cartridge and cut out a bunch of characters. My boys love Sesame Street, and we call Noah a cookie monster because he is always asking for a cookie. I'm sure I'll find a good use for them!
Ease of use on this cartridge varied by character. Elmo was easy; Abby Cadabby...not so easy, but doable (I cut her out at 6").

Thanks for looking!

More for the Disneyland album

A few days ago I posted some princess cuts I had made. I also borrowed mom's Winnie the Pooh cartridge and cut several characters. By the way, the Winnie the Pooh characters are much, much *much* easier to cut than the Disney princesses. Here are the results:
I can't wait to get these into their albums! I had to hide them for now because Jonah just wants to play with the characters like they are toys, and if you've ever seen what he does to his cars, you'll understand why I had to put them out of reach!
Thanks for looking!

thanks

How cute is the new Life's a Beach cartridge? This is my first project done with it--a thank you card to my parents for giving me the cartridge for my birthday. I cut it at 4 1/4" so I could put it in a standard A2 size envelope. I love the card feature--so quick, cute, and easy! The font I used for 'thanks' is also included with the cartridge. Bonus! I can see where this will easily be one of my new favorites. Here's how I decorated the inside of the card:
I will be away from my computer for the next few days, so I'll look forward to posting some more projects next week.

Thanks for looking! I hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July celebration!

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!

Groovy--my first project using SCAL!

Can I tell you just how much I'm going to love Sure Cuts A-Lot (SCAL)? Wow...I feel like a tidal wave of new cutting possibilities has just washed over me, and it's nearly overwhelming. For now, at the suggestion of other SCAL users, I am sticking to downloading true type fonts (TTFs) from the several internet sites available. The options are almost endless out there! Apart from fonts (like my 60's 'Groovy' font? It's called Action Is) there are tons of dingbats (wingbats--what's the difference?) like the arrow, the peace sign, the flowers and the uber-groovy silhouettes, complete with bellbottoms. How much fun can a scrapper have?

In addition to SCAL, I used the Home Decor for the flourish at the bottom (cut at 1") and I did a little bit of Cuttlebug embossing action on the arrow and some of the flowers using the Perfectly Paisley folder. The scallop along the top is Martha Stewart's Scallop Dot border punch. I inked the edges with a white inkpad to give it a bit of distressing.

Incidentally, you may notice a new link on my blog along the righthand column. I've added a button that has a link to where you can purchase Sure Cuts a Lot. I love the program so much that I've decided to become an affiliate with them. If you're interested in buying SCAL or have any questions, please contact me! I'm just a beginner and I've got a lot to learn (like Inkscape), but I'd be glad to share what I know so far! Stay tuned for some more links that I'll be adding to my blog--I will be linking various font sites and helpful SCAL websites and blogs.

Thanks for looking! Please tell me what you think!

Happily Ever After

During a recent trip to Disneyland, my 3 year old decided he wanted to go visit some princesses. Much to my husband's chagrin, we stood in line so our boys could meet them. Little did either of us know that our Jonah would be such a Prince Charming. He loved all of them so much!! Here are a couple of pictures:
PRECIOUS!! (Okay, if you don't think so, look at them again through a mother's eyes.)
Well, with 2 boys running around and another little boy on the way, I didn't know that I could justify the purchase of the Disney Princess cartridges, but my mom generously let me borrow hers so I could cut out some princesses for our Disney books. We still need to meet Snow White, but we've seen all of the others shown below. Here's the result of the Happily Ever After cartridge:

Those princesses really take a lot of patience to cut! A tip: invest in a white signo pen. Even if you could get the whites of the eyes and the teeth to cut out using the Cricut, they'd be murder to glue! Most of the full princesses are cut at 6". The busts are cut at 3 1/4". The prince and princess cuts are at 7 1/2".

Oh, and my husband is planning on taking Jonah camping. Very soon. ;)

Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday Cupcake Card

My son Noah turned 2 earlier this month. It's hard to believe how fast the time has gone but it is a joy to watch him grow. This is the birthday card that I made for him. It is made using the Card feature of the Hello Kitty Greetings cartridge, which I found at a steal on clearance at Target!
I used a different Cuttlebug folder for each part of the cupcake--Numbers Collage for the bottom, Swiss Dots for the chocolate, and Divine Swirls for the icing. Finally, I used stickles on the cherry, the swirls, the dots, and the 2. Easy and fun!
Thanks for looking!

Check out Going Buggy!

Enfys over at Going Buggy is giving away a very generous gift of some of her favorite things. If you've never visited her blog, she is a very talented cardmaker and you will no doubt enjoy stopping by! Leave a comment on her post for the chance to win.

Thank you, Leanne!

Thank you, Leanne, for this blog award! I am honored! Be sure to click on the link to see Leanne's lovely creations--she is a fellow design member on Whimsical Scraps and Bugs and a wonderful encourager.
I haven't purposefully been neglecting my blog--I guess life has been a little crazy lately! We've had a lot of ups and downs and we are looking forward to what God will do next--these are exciting times for sure!
My craft room has been on the lonely side lately, but I have completed a few projects. I still have to take pictures of them though, so stay tuned...

Just Thinking of You

Well I'm not sure this could have been any easier. This is another card from the DCWV kit I recently bought. I simply cut out squares of coordinating paper (if I remember correctly they are 1 1/4" square) and used one of the stickers that also came with the kit. I used Martha Stewart's Scallop Dot border punch on the white paper underneath and inked the edges of the card and the squares.
It's nothing fancy but it does make for a quick card to have on hand when you need to send something in a hurry and still have that personal touch!

Thanks for looking!

Micron Pen Sale

I interrupt this crafting blog for an advertisement...

I love Micron pens. I use them for a variety of things--not only for scrapbooking and cardmaking (they are great journaling and doodling pens) but also for marking in my Bible because the tips are fine enough that the ink doesn't bleed through the thin pages. If you are familiar with Kay Arthur's studies and her method of marking the text...or if you just enjoy underlining or writing notes in the margin, you will find these pens ideal.

Anyway, for the month of June, my church's bookstore (for purposes of full disclosure, my hubby is the current manager) GBI books has these pens on sale for $2.19--and if you buy 5 or more, you get free shipping. If they should happen to run out of stock, they will honor backorders throughout the month of June. Just thought I'd pass this info on for those that are either looking to stock up at a good price or to try them out for the first time!

Dad

This card was made for the latest Whimsical Scraps and Bugs challenge. We were issued a Mojo Monday sketch (#88) and asked to make a Father's Day card using masculine paper and a Cricut cut. The patterned paper I used is from Basic Grey--it is actually 2 sided paper-one side with the dots and the other side with the stripes. I embossed the brown cardstock with Cuttlebug's Spots and Dots folder and inked the raised image with Tim Holtz's Distressing Ink. The circle was cut from Plantin Schoolbook, as were the letters and shadows to spell 'Dad' and the bird was cut from 5o states--I believe the cut is Wisconsin's state bird. I cut the little bird at 1 3/4". The ribbon is Offray and I got the spool from WalMart--10 yards for...47 cents! And they carried probably around a half dozen colors. Yes, please!!!

Thanks for looking!

Honest Scrap Blog Award!

Thanks, Crystal, for nominating my blog for this award! Crystal is one of the ladies that makes Whimsical Scraps and Bugs possible and she does beautiful work! Go check out her site when you have a chance!

There are a few requirements to accepting the Honest Scrap Award and they are as follows.
A) I must thank the person who gave me the award and list their blog and link…
B) I must list 10 honest things about myself.
C) I must put a copy of the The Honest Scrap logo on my blog.
D) I must select at least 7 other worthy bloggers and list their links.

Okay, 10 honest things...some will be obvious but you may learn a thing or two about me, too.
1) Papercrafting is my favorite hobby and it helps me relax and unwind.
2) I strive to live for the glory of God and my single greatest goal is to hear 'Well done, good and faithful servant' when I am done with this life.
3) I learn something from my children everyday.
4) I love my family dearly; they are my greatest earthly blessings.
5) I have mixed feelings about moving from California to Illinois later this summer--sad to leave the familiar behind and all I've ever known but excited for the future and all that awaits us there.
6) I have a serious sweet tooth.
7) My hubby is a much better cook than I am. He enjoys cooking, too, and often treats me to a delicious meal that he 'just thought up in his head.'
8) We are thrilled to be in the process of buying our first home...a Victorian home built in 1900 with original woodwork and lots of charm!
9) I think having 3 boys so close in age (oldest is 3 and youngest is due in Oct) will be the greatest adventure and the greatest challenge of my life.
10) I love silence. I know, due to #9, I don't get much of it and truthfully when the boys are away the house is just too quiet. But I love having time to think, study, pray, relax, and focus.

My nominations for 'Honest Scrap' (drum roll please...)
1) Amy (Scrapping Mommy)
2) The Daily Scrapper
3) Southernbelle Scrapper
4) Monique
5) Tammy
6) Jenny
7) Diana

Another DCWV card

I stole the design for this card from Mojo Monday-it's sketch 86. I used the green card base and cut a strip of coordinating paper (included in the DCWV card pack) to go along the bottom. I used Martha Stewart's scallop dot border punch and added orange Stickles in the small holes to add some glitter. I found some dark blue paper in my scraps stash and embossed those pieces with the Cuttlebug's 'Spots and Dots' embossing folder. I then inked the raised image with my white VersaMark ink. The sentiment is a sticker that was also included with the DCWV pack.
Thanks for looking!

Thinking of You

A couple of weeks ago, I was shopping in the scrapbooking aisle of Big Lots and came across something I'd never seen before from DCWV--a pack of ready-to-make cards with coordinating paper/stickers. I think it had 20 cards, if I remember correctly, and I paid...$3. Deal! They were made to be 5 1/2" square, but I don't have any envelopes that size, so I trimmed them down to regular A2 size. (5 1/2" x 4 1/4")
So, these were two of the cards in the stack and I finished them quickly by simply adding stickles around the circles and tying ribbon around the bottom. I used an exacto knife to cut a slit in each card on either side of the 'you' circle in order to thread my ribbon underneath.
Couldn't be easier!
Thanks for looking!

dream

The journaling reads:

"I've always loved sitting out on the rock jetty at Morro Bay, with the sea stretched as far as the eye could see...listening to the waves crash against the rocks & feeling the ocean spray...
Secretly, I fantasized about being proposed to at this very spot...ideally it would be as the sun was sinking low on the horizon, with my groom-to-be on one knee, presenting me with a beautiful diamond ring.
Little did I know that, less than 4 years later, a boy named Scott would make this romantic dream of mine come true!!"

This is my submission for the challenge over at Whimsical Scraps and Bugs. We had a color palette to work with, and we were encouraged to use our Cuttlebug along with our Cricuts, of course. I based the design off a sketch from PageMaps. You can find it in the February 2009 archives here--you'll have to scroll down a few to find it.
I used Thickers for the title, Plantin Schoolbook for the hearts and the bracket, Swiss Dots and Perfectly Paisley embossing folders, and some buttons along the bottom of the journaling. The faux stitching is done using a stamp from Studio G and lightly tracing it with brown and red pens. The subtitle on the heart was made using rub-ons from Autumn Leaves. The paper is from the DCWV summer stack.

Thanks for looking!

Flowerpot card-thank you

Here's another flowerpot card I promised in a recent post. This was actually the first one that I made. I used Walk in My Garden for the flowers & leaves, and I used stickles to add some sparkle. The stamp is from Studio G and the border on the flowerpot is Martha Stewart's Scallop Dot punch. Here's what it looks like when the sentiment is revealed:Thanks for looking! I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend. If you or someone in your family is a member of the military, a special thank you to you for your sacrifice! Happy Memorial Day.