Lena's Creations

Speedy Recovery

2012-02-17T00:00:00.000-06:00

A couple of posts ago, I posted a Good Luck card that I made for a friend, who lives in South Africa, and was undergoing surgery at the time. Well, she's had her surgery and from what her hubby told me, it all went well, so now I'm sending her this card to wish her a speedy recovery. This is the first time I think I ever made a 3-D flower card. I enjoyed making it although it is time consuming but it was very relaxing. The saddle is from Old West cartridge. The fence is made using a MS punch. I then made score lines to resemble the different wood slats. The clouds are cut using the Pooh & Friends cartridge. You can't see it very well unless you click on the pic to make it bigger, but the sentiment on the cloud says "Hope you're soon back in the saddle". She'll get a kick out of this since I now live in Texas.

Male Birthday Card

2012-02-16T00:00:00.000-06:00

Here is a card I made for a friend with a little "western" flavour :). I used my trusty Old West cartridge which had been neglected for quite some time. The bandana and denim papers were from my stack of scraps that I'm slowly but surely using up.

I found this cowboy toast on a website called "Cowboy Poetry". Hehehe, I think he will get a kick out of this!

While shopping at a local scrapbook store, I came upon this stamp, and of course I had to use it ... after all, it's the truth :-) Wonder what Hallmark would have to say about it????

Red Velvet Cupcakes for Valentine :)

2012-02-14T19:18:00.001-06:00

No crafting today, but definately some baking. I made these red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing. They were delicious! I made the hearts and the roses out of gumpaste. The hearts were cut with regular cookie cutters. The roses were made with a mold I bought in Holland while we were on holiday there almost two years ago. I also cut a tiny little bow and put it on each heart.

To add a little pizazz, I dusted over the heart and roses with pearl dust, and used the flower cupcake holders that I bought at Michaels.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T00:00:00.000-06:00

Wishing you all a very happy and love-filled Valentine's Day!

Cake Taker

2012-02-13T00:00:00.000-06:00

I hadn't done any of these since last summer, but I'm starting to get a few more orders in now. Here is the first one I made. Doesn't it look pretty? By using outdoor vinyl, you can still handwash them with soapy water and the vinyl won't peel off.

Using up Scraps Birthday Card

2012-02-10T00:00:00.001-06:00

Like a lot of you, I have a drawer full of designer paper scraps. Some of them are a little more "designer" than others lol, but in the end they are all part of my patterned paper scraps, which I have been trying to use up. It was with this in mind that I made this card. Started with the green, purple and white paper and built the card around it. I used pencils and gamsol to colour the flower and then Spellbinders to cut the pretty frame around it. I pop-dotted it {is that even a verb :-)} to give it some dimension. The Happy Birthday ribbon tag is also from Spellbinders. I bought the inside sentiment stamp a while back and have been waiting to use it, now was the perfect opportunity.

Good Luck Card

2012-02-09T00:00:00.001-06:00

You may remember from previous posts that I have a very dear friend that was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. After her first mastectomy and rounds of chemo she has beat it and is now a survivor!!! However, she is still facing her second mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. I made this card to send to her to wish her luck with the upcoming surgery and to let her know that she is in my thoughts and prayers. I cut the horse shoe from the Toy Story cartridge and the 4-leaf clover using Designer's Calendar cartridge. The cardstock, designer paper, ribbon and gems are from my stash. I added the little gems because, let's face it, the card needed a little bling ~ the gems are actually hot pink just like the mat cardstock but they came out looking more like rubies in pic.

Another Congrats Card

2012-02-08T00:00:00.001-06:00

Hi everyone, this is the congrats card I made for Tanya when she won the blog candy from Rosie's Birthday bloghop. It is rather simple, but bright and happy :) I hope she liked it.

Love You This Big!

2012-02-06T17:53:00.005-06:00

Those of you that know me or have followed my blog for a while know that I'm very traditional and after being on a red, black and white valentine card spree, I decided to make one that is totally out of character for me because of the colours. My colours for Valentine are definately red, pink, black and white with a little silver to add pizzaz, but this card has none of those colours! I think it came out pretty cute though and I'm going to enter it in the Paper Playtime challenge. I think it matches the sentiment beautifully. What do you all think?

Congrats Card on an Awesome Performance!

2012-02-06T00:00:00.001-06:00

We had an awesome Saturday. My son had his sole & ensemble contest. He made a "1" on both his sole and his awesome ensemble. They played a jazzy version of "When the Saints go Marching In" and it totally wowed the judge! Afterwards they went to play at Dunn Bros in Friendswood and the crowd totally loved them. We took him out to dinner to celebrate his success and I made him this card. It had been a while since I last used my Quarter Note cartridge, but it sure came in handy yesterday. As you can see it's a very simple card, but honestly I just didn't have the time to make it more elaborate and I kinda like the way it came out.

Altered Journal

2012-02-02T13:06:00.004-06:00

I bought this journal and matching pen at M's for my daughter. Although it was pretty on its own, I thought that it needed a little extra something, so i decided to personalise it. The mat was made using the Elegant Edges cartridge. I then used her initial in bling, of course, and a few roses. The little paper roses are from my stash. They were actually a very pale baby pink, so I took my bic marker and coloured the edges of the petals to make them look like the ones that were printed on the side. I'm glad I found the bling "S" in the light green colour. Not only does it match the journal perfectly, but it's also the colour of her birth stone which is the peridot.

Last Valentine Card for 2012

2012-01-30T22:04:00.003-06:00

Well, I guess I'm all done with red, black and white valentine cards, for this year anyway. I made the final card that I'm going to need for Valentine 2012. It is being sent to Portugal, so I thought this was very appropriate and I'm happy with the way it came out. The heart on the front of the card is from George. The hearts on the inside of the card and the mailbox are all from Doodlecharms. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder called Hearts Blocks to emboss the white mat on the front of the card.

And the Winner is ... TANYA!!!

2012-01-30T07:46:00.003-06:00

Congratulations, Tanya!!!

You are my blog's winner for Rosie's 45th Birthday Blog Hop!

I have sent you an email with the details.

Thank you everyone for participating in this celebration of Rosie's Birthday. I hope you all had fun blog-hopping with us!

Hugs,

~ Lena ~

Rosie's Birthday BlogHop

2012-01-28T11:34:00.003-06:00

Hi everyone, just a small reminder that you have till midnight, Sunday, January 29, to hop along with us and leave a comment. I will announce the winner for the candy on my blog on Monday. You will find the post for the blog hop here :-) Also, if you subscribe to my blog by email, remember that you will have to click on the blog heading/post title in order to go to the actual post to leave a comment. Do not hit "reply" to your email because it will go to a "Non-reply blogger" address and I have no way of seeing your comment. Enjoy your weekend!

Rosie's 45th Birthday Blog Hop

2012-01-27T00:00:00.007-06:00

Hi and welcome to Rosie's 45th Birthday Bloghop. I'm so excited to be participating in this hop - it's my very first! I hope that you enjoy it and find lots of inspiration along the way.

Here is the card I made for Rosie for her birthday. Happy Birthday, Rosie, may you have many more filled with joy, love and good health!

Here is a pic of the inside of my card. I always try to carry the theme onto the inside of the card so it adds a nice finish to it, but I always keep it simple.

What would a bloghop be without blog candy? Gasp, I have no idea! So before you hop onto the next blog, be sure to leave a comment on this post in order to be entered into the draw for this blog candy. I would love it if you became a follower of my blog, but it isn't necessary to be entered in the draw. I thought that with the Valentine holiday just around the corner, this would be useful to finish off your Valentine projects. Please be sure to leave a way for me to contact you, if you're the winner. Good luck, everyone. Thank you for joining us today in helping Rosie celebrate her birthday. In case you get lost along the way, here is the line up of this awesome hop.

Rosie
Kari
Zeni
Trell
Rosa
Lena - You are here
Gloria

Rosie's Birthday BlogHop

2012-01-25T07:47:00.003-06:00

Hi everyone, just a note to let you know that on Friday, 27 January, we will be celebrating Rosie's birthday with a fun blog hop. So don't forget to check in and join the fun.

I'm on a Roll :-)

2012-01-25T00:00:00.000-06:00

Yup, I sure am - another red, black and white valentine card. This one is going to my mom. I think it turned out cute - I also got to play with my pearl pen for the inside flowers. Hadn't used it in a very long time.

Another Red, Black & White V-card

2012-01-23T00:00:00.001-06:00

Well, I guess Enfys from Going Buggy has set me off on a new trend, and I'm loving these red, black and white valentine cards. I had the darnest time photographing the front of the card because I printed Riley, the raccoon, on photo paper so the colours would be more vibrant. Riley is a digistamp from Degital Delights. I think that this card will go to my son ... a 15 year old boy ... hmmm ... what do you all think? Well, I think he'd better like it since his mommy made it for him :-) :-) :-)

Red, White and Black Valentine Card

2012-01-19T14:05:00.006-06:00

If I don't come up with something that I like more, then this will be the Valentine card for my hubby. It's not quite what I had in mind, but I think it turned out okay. I started this card with the ribbon - I just loved the ribbon and built the card from there :-) The kiss is from Tie the Knot and the mat is from Elegant Edges and is popped up with pop-up foam squares. The little hearts at the bottom were done using a Martha Stewart punch. I'm really enjoying using the foam squares as they squish flat and pop up again when released. This is great for cards being mailed - prevents a lot of damaged cards because of raised layers. Since this card meets all the requirements for the challenge that Enfys has going on her blog this month, I'm going to join the fun and enter her challenge.

1st Valentine Card

2012-01-15T21:10:00.003-06:00

I remember that when I was growing up, Valentine cards were just for those "in love" ... whether it was your boyfriend or hubby. I remember the excitement of receiving those special cards from that someone special ... and the ones signed "secret admirer" were so much fun! The search for that secret person and then the cherry on the top was realising that it was indeed from the one whose attention you had been hoping to catch during the last couple of weeks! :-) Anyway, as the years went by, Valentine cards became a way to show love to all the loved ones in your life, be it your other half, your kids, siblings, parents, etc. Since my SIL was visiting us from Holland, I decided to give her her card and little gift early - this way she got to take it with her when she left us today to go back home. This is the card I came up with and I think it turned kinda cute. The inside is stamped with the Valentine day message and also with a few little hearts. The frame and tag were cut using Spellbinders dies while the strawberry was cut at 2" using the Hello Kitty cartridge.

Birthday Calendars - October to December

2012-01-10T16:57:00.004-06:00

Here are the last 3 months. I had a lot of fun putting these together but was very happy when they were all done :-) Now it's time to start thinking about Valentine and birthday cards, and definately time to get back into my scrapbooking. Oh, and I have to tell you that I was invited to participate in a blog hop - I'm so excited, it will be my very first time participating in one. I will give you all the details soon. I hope that you will join me and the other crafty friends.

Birthday Calendars - July to September

2012-01-09T22:45:00.003-06:00

So here are the calendars for the 3rd quarter. Can you tell yet which is the one made for my daughter who lives in the US? :-) Yep, that would be the one celebrating the 4th of July. I love the squirrel from the animal kingdom cartridge and since all the recipients live in the Northern Hemisphere, it was an easy month to do. As you can see I use the same squirrel in all the cuts for the month of September but as I said before each one is unique even if it is just a slight difference.

Birthday Calendars - April to June

2012-01-06T16:25:00.003-06:00

Here are the calendars for the months of April to June. I really like the little gnome from the Freshly Picked cartridge, can you tell? :-)

Birthday Calendars - January to March

2012-01-05T22:55:00.003-06:00

You may remember from a post a few months ago that I was busy making birthday calendars for my family for Christmas. Now that everyone has received them, I can actually post them on here without ruining any surprises :)

So here are the first 3 months. As you can see, although some have the same cuts, I made sure that there are some differences, whether it's in background mat or different colours used for the various cuts or in the position of the months. I really tried to make them unique.

I honestly can't tell you how many cartridges I used for these, but I can tell you that I lost count at 8! I will post the next lot of pics within the next few days, and by the end, you will be able to tell which one was made for the one family member that actually lives here in the US :)

Card for 85th Birthday

2012-01-04T16:20:00.004-06:00

Here is my first card for 2012! I wanted this card to be dignified and yet pretty and fun, I hope I achieved that. What do you think? I must admit that I'm enjoying playing with my Spellbinders die cuts.

Ready or not, 2012 is here!

2012-01-01T14:55:00.005-06:00

Just stopping by to wish you all a wonderful 2012! May it be filled with love, joy and good health ... and let's not forget a little wealth to keep our crafting addiction going :-)

Christmas Thank You Card

2011-12-28T16:44:00.003-06:00

Here is a Thank You card for one of the musical directors. I tried to keep it simple and manly, but still festive - did I succeed? I can't believe that another Christmas has come and gone - they certainly seem to go by faster with each year I get older! We spent a lovely time with our family - it was very relaxing and festive at our home during these holidays, and let's not forget very delicious too :) Once again, like almost every year, one of my New Year's resolutions is to lose all the extra pounds, but honestly who can even think about that at this time of the year?

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T16:20:00.002-06:00

Just taking a moment to wish you all, my crafty friends, a very merry and blessed Christmas and that the New Year be filled with love, joy and good health! Thank you all for taking the time to visit my blog and for the wonderful comments that you have left :-)

Tag Christmas Card

2011-12-22T22:11:00.003-06:00

As you know, I was running late making my Christmas cards, so when I saw a packet of wine bottle tags, I decided to buy it. I cut these tags and used them to make the last few quick Christmas cards. I think that they came out pretty festive considering they were really quick to make. I hope the recipients like them too. What do you think?

Picture Christmas Cards

2011-12-17T21:42:00.005-06:00

Here are a couple of Christmas cards I made using a picture of my son. I think that I will make quite a few of these and send to family. This was one of my son's highlights this year. He really enjoyed his swim with the dolphins in Miami, Florida. I like the blue card because it goes better with the whole water theme, but I like the green and red one too because it's definately more Christmas-ee. Not too sure which one I like best so I think I will just make a few different ones :)

More Home Decor

2011-12-15T18:05:00.003-06:00

As promised here are another couple of pics of some of the decorations in our home. The first is of our Christmas village. I can look at it and picture Christmas at an old town in England in the 1800's. It's just so pretty! This was a set we bought 13 years ago when we first came to the US and it is my hubby's baby to put it up every year. He's so good about it too, every year, he changes it around and does something with the landscape, so that it's different. The church on the very left of the "village" is not part of the set but matches beautifully. It is an exact replica of a cathedral in The Netherlands. I forget in what city it is right now - will have to ask hubby and edit this post with the correct info later on :-)

The second pic is of the fireplace in our living room. I turned on the fireplace just for effect for the photo lol, although the flames don't really show up that well in this pic. With temperatures in the 80's like today, we really don't need it going, but when the cold does hit, we thoroughly enjoy it :-)

I wish Christmas lasted longer, I wouldn't mind having the decorations out for at least 3 months or so. I love our new home but I especially enjoy it more at Christmas time!

So for now I have a small request - how about you taking some pics of your home and sharing it with me, by leaving me a comment with a link to your blog so that I can come visit you.

Home Decorating

2011-12-14T17:26:00.005-06:00

Christmas is without a doubt my favourite time of the year. I enjoy everything about it; from the fact that we celebrate Jesus' birthday, to the hussle and bussle of shopping, cooking, decorating, gift wrapping, etc. etc. And of course let's not forget the wonderful time we spend with family and friends. It truly is "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year"!

I haven't had time to do much crafting because I've been busy decorating our home and have enjoyed every minute of it. So, today I thought I would share some of it with you ... the first pic shows our largest Christmas tree which is in our rotunda, the second pic shows our front door. I will share more with you tomorrow.

Santa Card

2011-12-13T11:55:00.001-06:00

Very simple and easy card. The image is from Digital Delights, the papers from my stash, sentiment is computer generated. I need a few simple and quick cards in order to get my cards sent out on time!

Christmas Card for Hubby

2011-12-12T12:01:00.003-06:00

I made one of these bra/panty cards for Valentine a couple of years back and my hubby liked it very much. This year I thought I would make the "Santa" version for Christmas. It won't be a novelty but after being married for 26 years, it'll still be fun ;-) At first I used a snowy white boa, and although it looked a lot better, the card would have to be bigger because the boa just took over the whole thing. This is a 6.5" x 5" card and I think it worked out okay with the smaller boa looking trim. The bra/panty are embossed with the Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder which gives it the lacey appearance. I have since trimmed the panty "between the legs" as that lil bit of card showing from underneath was just annoying me. Now you can't see that lil edge anymore :-)

Another Pedestal Card

2011-12-09T09:48:00.004-06:00

On this card, I embossed the bottom half of the card with the snowflakes folder and used one of my stamps for the image which was coloured with Bic pens. The rest is pretty much the same as the previous card, except, that I used my YourStory cutter to trim the sides to give it the wavy edges.

Pedestal Card

2011-12-07T22:08:00.004-06:00

A very easy card to make that is always well received. I coloured the image with Bic pens, and used a gold metalic Sakura pen for the ball. I got this digi-stamp/image from someone and cannot remember who! It was being given as a freebie last week and I thought that it was a very simple but elegant image. If anyone knows who was giving these away, please let me know so that I can link it to this post. I used a MS punch around the page for the laurel leaf effect.

The Nutcracker

2011-12-05T13:10:00.005-06:00

My son was invited to perform as a guest trumpet player at the Greater Houston Youth Orchestra on Sunday evening. Their music was all from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. It was absolutely amazing! Needless to say, we are very proud of him. After the concert we took him out to dinner and we presented him with this card and a little gift that I had put together. The gift was made up of a souvenir T-shirt from the concert, a Nutcracker ornament for his Christmas tree and a few "ornament" swiss chocolates. He was surprised with the gift and loved the card, which of course made me even happier. The Nutcracker on the card was cut at 5" using the Christmas Noel cartridge. I used the maraschino baker's twine for the side of the card and added the trumpet charm. I have since discovered a faux pas on this card - the nutcracker actually has a black mustache and a snowy white beard. Well, what's up with that? :-)

Christmas "Trumpet" Wreath

2011-12-03T00:21:00.003-06:00

My son has the best private tutor! He goes way above and beyond the call of duty, so to speak. He makes the lessons fun while instilling a love for music and for playing the trumpet. I made this Christmas wreath to give him as a small thank you. As you can see, it is very music themed and ofcourse it had to have a trumpet.

Christmas Card with Santa

2011-11-29T23:19:00.003-06:00

This Santa is a digi stamp from Degital Delights. They have the cutest stamps! The one thing I love about digi stamps is the fact that you can size them to fit your project. So this Santa is printed at 1.5" and then cut out using a Spellbinders die. Very easy and simple card to make. I need to make a few more quick and easy cards because I still need to make quite a few and the 1st of December is right around the corner.

Sympathy Card

2011-11-29T23:15:00.003-06:00

Words are never adequate at a time like this, so I try to keep my sympathy cards simple and meaningful. A friend just lost her dad and even though he is in a better place, he will be sorely missed by his family, friends and all those who knew him.

Best Hubby!

2011-11-25T23:12:00.003-06:00

If you have been following my blog, you know that not only did we celebrate Thanksgiving these past few days, but also our 26th wedding anniversary. The cricut imagine machine has been on my wish list for a while but not at $400 +. Thanks to Black Friday, my hubby bought me one as an anniversary gift :-) Plus, it came with two extra cartridges! I'm so excited, I can't wait to begin to play with it. I will have to start searching for blogs and youtube videos for tutorials as I haven't a clue where to begin. I remember learning all about the cricut expression, so I'm sure I'll have this one figured out in no time, or at least I'm hoping :-)

Wedding Anniversary Card

2011-11-21T14:59:00.005-06:00

This is the anniversary card I came up with for my hubby. It's our anniversary on Wednesday - 26 years! I love these book easel cards and although a little bit more labour intensive, they are always so pretty. My hubby normally displays the anniversary card I make for him each year in his office - i'm hoping this one will make the cut :-) I'm going to enter this card in this week's challenge at My Craft Spot, since their challenge this week is all about easel cards.

Snowglobe "Fred"

2011-11-15T12:29:00.002-06:00

I'm really enjoying this stamp ... can you tell? :-) To make the shaped card, I welded two of the snowglobes, set at blackout, together using DS, and cut at 5". I then cut another single snowglobe, decorated it and glued it to the front of the card. This card fits in a 5.25" x 5.25" envelope. I have never added extra postage when mailing out a card this size card and not one of them has ever come back, so I think that this size still fits in the USPS standard size regulations.

Another Snowman Bob Card

2011-11-14T07:20:00.001-06:00

I'm really loving this stamp. It always stamps clean and it's fun to colour in. I've been using my Bic markers to do that. Again, I have taken a pic of the inside of the card to show those of you that have asked me what I do with the inside of my cards. As you can see I try to match one of the elements from the front of the card but I do keep it very simple. Have a wonderful day :)

Sammy, the Christmas Penguin

2011-11-11T08:23:00.004-06:00

Brrrr ... this card looks very cold with all the blues in it :-) I thought this image was very cute - even a penguin can look in wonder at the star that symbolizes Christ's birth, so why can't more people do the same? The circle stamp is one I've had for a while but don't often use. Papers are from my stash - I have quite a large stash of loose sheets and a drawer full of scraps that I'm trying to use up. Were I to guess I would have to say that the solid blue is Bazzill cardstock and the snowflakes is from Paper Studio since I remember that I got it at Hobby Lobby. The penguin was coloured in using Bic markers.

Christmas Waterfall Card

2011-11-10T09:56:00.004-06:00

Waterfall cards are always fun to make, but these little elves give it just the right amount of Christmas charm. I coloured the images using my Bic markers. The papers are all from my stash as is the ribbon and the Christmas tree brads.

Unicorn Birthday

2011-11-09T07:33:00.002-06:00

While sorting through my junk mail yesterday, I found this beautiful picture of a unicorn. I'm going to a birthday on Saturday of a little girl who just loves unicorns and this picture was perfect. I had decided to use the unicorn from PDDU, but then saw this and decided to use it instead. I think this card turned out cute and it definately was very simple to make. Some of you have asked me how I decorate my cards on the inside. I try to add something that matches the theme of the card, so in this case, I used the same scalloped mat for the sentiment. Sometimes, I will use the same flower, or in case of my Christmas cards for example, if it is a snowman card, I will punch out a couple of snowflakes in the matching colours and attach them to the one side of the sentiment. It varies with the theme of each card, but I do always try to incorporate something to give it a more finished look although I do keep it very simple.

Now to vent a little ... I've signed up with every organisation that I could find to stop all my junk mail and telemarketing calls. Obviously it hasn't helped since I still get calls and yesterday I had 22 items in my mail - 19 were junk and the other 3 were bills. Not very interesting mail at all! I guess it could have been worse, it could have been the other way around. Yikes!!!

Snowman "Bob"

2011-11-07T08:51:00.006-06:00

Doesn't he look cute and happy - a little country, but very cute and happy. I saw this stamp at Michaels and just fell in love with him. I decided to call him Bob to diffirentiate him from Fred. I love the way this card came out. I had originally placed a self-adhesive snowman border but didn't like it as I felt didn't really match the card at all, so I covered it up with the ribbon. I like the effect of the ribbon much better.

Ornament Card with Snowman "Fred"

2011-11-04T08:09:00.004-05:00

Very simple and ease card to make. The ornament shape was cut using the Winter Frolic cricut cartridge and then resized on DS to fit Fred. I used markers and chalks to colour and shade in the ornament. The embossed mat was done with the Sizzix Snowflakes folder. I then added a little blue gem to the centre of each snowflake. You can't see from the pic, but the snow droplets and his scarf all have glitter making the card very sparkly :)

Christmas Cardinal

2011-11-03T07:12:00.003-05:00

This image is actually a combination of two stamps. I was able to make the cardinal look like it's perched on the branch, by using the masking technique and by having a son with great drawing skills :) Although I masked the cardinal, the branch stamp is a rubber stamp and therefore I cannot see through it while stamping and so missed it by a little bit. After several tries and still missing, my son decided to help mom out and draw in another branch for the cardinal to perch on. Didn't he do a great job? I'm just so happy with the way this came out, that I may try it again without all the frustration because now I know that I can get him to "fix" it for me :) You're probably wondering why I couldn't just draw a branch in there myself? Well, that's because my artistic skills are totally non-existant ~ I can't even draw a stick figure with ruler!

Halloween

2011-11-02T07:14:00.006-05:00

Life has turned a little crazy the last few days and I haven't had the chance to do anything craft related, but I thought I would share a few photos of our Halloween. If you've been reading my blog then you know by now that I'm a weenie and don't like anything creepy for Halloween. Well, between my husband with his creepy and morbid decorations and my son with his totally creepy and scary costume, I was at a loss this year. My son decided to dress up to stand by the door to give out candy. Well, he finally gave up after the 3rd little one ran away screaming without her candy. Being 15, at first he thought it was hilirious, by the second child, he didn't think it was so funny anymore and when the 3rd kid, a little 4 year ballerina princess ran away screaming, he told me to take over because he was done :). At first, I was a little worried about this sense of humour, but in the end he did his mommy proud!

The first pic shows the cake I made - not exactly what I had in mind but ran out of time so I had to improvise. It tasted good and it's almost all gone, so I guess in the end that's what matters the most.

Hope you all had a fun Halloween - if anyone would like to share, it would be great!

Poinsettia Card

2011-10-28T08:44:00.004-05:00

I've been going through my embossing folders and decided that I need to start using them more often so that I can justify having bought so many of them :-) So I started by using this Poinsettia one. Isn't it pretty? I ran the clear star glitter pen over the embossed images and used gold stickles for the centers. The red poinsettia was cut using the Celebrate with a Flourish cartridge. I cut two layers of the larger flowers. One layer I glued down flat, the second, I ruffled it up a little. Then glued the smaller layer, also slightly ruffled, on top. I used 3 small gold gems for the centers of these flowers. Very simple and quick card to make.

Cowboy Fred

2011-10-27T08:31:00.002-05:00

Well, actually since I gave him a star, he's been promoted to sheriff :-). If you read my posts on a regular basis, you'll know that most of my cards get sent overseas, so I figured this would be a great card. The snowman "Fred" is a stamp from Great Impressions, the cowboy hat is from the PDDU cart. The sentiment is computer generated.

Cardinal Happy Holidays

2011-10-25T22:40:00.003-05:00

I don't normally use craft paper to make cards, but thought that with this image it would work out well. This is a 9" x 4" card which fits in the regular business sized envelopes. However, I bought a packet of the craft envelopes because I think it goes better with this type of card. I used my Bic markers to colour in the tree, cardinals, pinecones and holly. You can't see it on this pic, but I used the StampinUp! dazzling diamonds glitter for the snow.

Halloween Teddy Card for my Daughter

2011-10-24T23:56:00.004-05:00

This card was for my daughter - I just love this Halloween Teddy - too cute! I coloured it with my Bic markers and cut it out with the circles Spellbinders. Both the ribbons are from my stash. The paper is from Colorbok.

Fred, My Snowman :)

2011-10-20T08:05:00.004-05:00

Here is my snowman, I named him Fred since Frosty was already taken :-) He is just so cute and happy! My LSS had this stamp as it's stamp of the month and I just loved it. I bought the branch stamp too and using one of their ideas, I put them both together and love the way it came out. I'm not too sure that you can see it clearly, but I double stamped the branch stamp and pop dotted the ornaments to add a little dimension to the card. I will be making a few more "Fred" christmas cards, but in the following cards, Fred will be sporting various winter accessories to go with his very pretty scarf. Stay tuned ...

Very Simple Christmas Card

2011-10-18T10:09:00.003-05:00

It's been quite a while since I used my Wild Card Cartridge. I keep forgetting that it has some beautiful shapes that you can use for different cards for the different seasons. Here is one that I find is always a classic. Very easy and simple to make. The green and red mats were cut using George and the Poinsettia flower is from the music notes collection from Making Memories. I did add the little red layer just to make it pop more. Added a little sentiment tag, a ribbon bow, some stickles and called it done!

Nemo Birthday Card

2011-10-17T09:18:00.002-05:00

My little nephew is turning 5! I made this very simple and easy card for him. The background is a digi-background from Digital Delights. Nemo was cut at 3.5" from the Best of Pixar cartridge. I put him on an action wobbler so when you touch him it looks like he is "swimming" :-) The little sea creatures and sentiment were stamped using Stazon Ink because I printed the background image on glossy photo paper. And voila one fun card for a 5 year old!

Christmas Trumpet - Take 3

2011-10-14T07:50:00.003-05:00

As I told you yesterday, I was going to try to emboss this trumpet image. I used silver instead of gold. Maybe because my son's trumpets are silver I just always picture a trumpet being silver lol. I guess the image does pop more, but it is still very difficult to find the tiny little leaves and the minute little berries to colour. You can't colour in the ribbon because most of it will emboss with whatever colour embossing power you are using. The card as such came out okay, I guess, but I just can't get this image to do what I had had in mind when I purchased it. It's just one of those things ... I had to have it and now it's going to sit in "the box". At least it won't feel lonely since I have some other such things in "the box" :-)

Christmas Trumpet - Take 2

2011-10-13T10:18:00.003-05:00

Here is another card I made using the trumpet stamp. I don't know, I'm just not getting into this stamp. I have visions of what I want it to look like, but nothing I do seems to come out the way I want it. Even the pic won't come out right lol. You can see the glittery trumpet but you can't see that the ribbon has been coloured blue to match the cardstock. This card looks better in person, but still not my fav. I'm going to try to gold emboss the trumpet next - see if that will make a difference. Look out for that post tomorrow.

Christmas Trumpet

2011-10-12T09:39:00.003-05:00

As you all probably know by now, my son plays the trumpet in his high school band, so anything related to music normally catches my eye. And so it was with this stamp from Michaels. I was a little disappointed though because it is very hard to distinguish the little leaves and berries once it's stamped and I did try various inks. Well, it was more of a hit or miss but I guess in the end it came out okay. I'm going to try it on a few more cards with different colour combos and see if it gets any better :) Any suggestions would be welcomed!

Halloween Puppy Card for my Son

2011-10-11T07:07:00.005-05:00

Isn't he the cutest? I coloured him with my Bic markers and added a "furry" brad to the spider's body. I wasn't raised celebrating Halloween but I do enjoy this holiday :) although I very much try to keep it on the side of "cute and fun". I have a story to share with you ... my first Halloween in America was not as exciting as you would think - I walked around the neighbourhood with the children and let me tell you that some people go all out with their decorations lol. Being a weenie by nature, I cut my kids' trick or treating short and locked myself in my home. I thought the whole country had gone mad and possessed by some kind of evil! I could see me having nightmares for the foreseeable future! :-) Of course I soon realized that it was all done in the name of "fun", but I didn't find it very funny at the time, especially when my neighbours started telling me about all the possible dangers involved in the candy that my children had gotten. Needless to say, I spent the rest of the evening going through their candy with a fine tooth comb. It went a lot better the next year and the year after that and it didn't take us long to get into it too :-) The only thing I miss now is that my kids are both too old for trick or treating - I wish I could turn back time, but then don't we all?

Tink Birthday Card

2011-10-10T10:09:00.004-05:00

Here is a very colourful card I made for my lil cousin who will be 5 next week. Using the cricut I first "drew" Tinkerbell using the cri-Kits, then went back and cut it. This made it a lot easier as the only layers I then had to cut was the dress and the hair. For the wings, I first used a silver cri-Kit to "draw" the details on vellum and then went back and cut the layer out. I handcut away the wings on the original Tinkerbell cut and just added the vellum wings. I added the mini pompoms to her shoes. Happy Birthday was cut using the Hello Kitty cartridge. The papers are all Bo-Bunny, the ribbon, flowers and butterfly brad are from my stash. TFL

Same Image, Different Card

2011-10-06T21:18:00.002-05:00

As I mentioned before I love this image, so I've been making a few cards using this stamp. Here is another version of this Christmas card. Very simple and quick to make, but hopefully still elegant and festive.

Christmas Tree

2011-10-05T09:10:00.003-05:00

I love this image, it has such a Christmas-ee feeling to it, and the plus was that it was real easy to colour in with my Bic markers. Not much where you can go wrong :-) Sprinkled a little iridescent glitter for the snow and called it done. Nice and simple.

Another School Project

2011-10-04T16:26:00.003-05:00

Oh how I wish I had had my cricut when my daughter was in high school! It would have been so much fun working on her "girly" projects! Now, I have to make do with helping my son by just cutting out the titles of his projects and/or visual aids. Better than nothing, I suppose :-)

Pink Boo Boo Bear

2011-10-03T09:21:00.005-05:00

With October being Breast Cancer Awareness month and me having a very dear friend going through the recovery of breast cancer, when I saw the Think Pink Boo Boo Bear digi stamp from Digital Delights, I knew that I would have to get it to make this card for my friend. I think it came out very cute and very happy, so hopefully it will bring her joy when she receives it. I also found this beautiful and very meaningful poem which I thought perfect for the inside of my card. Unfortunately, she is very far away from me, so cards, regular chats and prayers is all I can do to be there for her right now.

I'm going to enter this card in the "Pink" challenge at HIMCR. I may enter it in a couple of other challenges too ... if so, I will come back and edit this post with their links. I'm not much of a challenges participant, but I'm trying :-)

Jesus is the Reason for the Season

2011-09-30T08:11:00.003-05:00

This card didn't quite turn out the way I wanted, but it turned out okay, I guess. I love the image and the sentiment, I just wanted to have done more with it, but couldn't think of something that would put the emphasis more on the sentiment. With all the gift buying, the party planning, the travelling arrangements to be near loved ones, and the stress that accompanies all this, we sometimes forget the real reason why we celebrate Christmas.

Gifts Juggling Elf

2011-09-29T16:23:00.004-05:00

I love the way this card turned out - very happy and festive, even if I say so myself :-) It's a bit of a pain that most embossing folders are made for the 4.25" x 5.5" cards. My cards are normally in the 5" x 7" or 5" x 5" range. I did get a stash at Michaels not too long ago ~ 50 cards, sized 5" x 6.5", plus envelopes for $3.33. Can't beat that price! Anyway, in order to emboss the larger mats, you have to run it through the embossing machine twice but this often leaves a very noticeable line in the embossed image. So in order to cover this up, I make sure that when I run it through the second time, it is at a place where I would want to place a ribbon and voila, you can't see it. The elf and sentiment are from a SU! stamp set. The embossing folder is Snowflakes by Cuttlebug. The cardstocks are all from Paper Studio and the gingham ribbon is from Walmart. I used Bic markers to colour the image.

Cute Lil Angels

2011-09-28T16:04:00.004-05:00

This was love at first sight lol. As soon as I saw this cute stamp, it went straight into my shopping trolley. Aren't they absolutely adorable? I'm sure by now you have noticed that I like the traditional colours of Christmas ~ the greens, reds, golds, silvers and blues, but I had to make one of these lil cuties a girl, plus the fact that I love pink! You can't see from this pic but their coat faux fur and the snow at their feet is all done with SU!'s dazzling diamonds. It is indeed a very sparkly card!

Male Birthday Card

2011-09-27T00:01:00.003-05:00

Taking a break from Christmas cards to make a birthday card for my brother. Very simple but I think, very attractive and manly. The log and ship are from SU! Open Sea stamp set. The sand dollar was a button, but I cut off its shank and turned it into the perfect embellishment for this card. The twine is Maraschino colour from ... actually, I don't know where it's from. A friend bought a bunch of different colours and then we went halves on all of them but I don't know where she bought them from. I'll have to ask her and then edit this post with the correct information. Sorry crafty friends, but it's just after midnight and I don't think she would appreciate me calling her at this time to ask. I think it would ruin a perfect friendship :-)

Horse Drawn Sleigh Ride

2011-09-26T00:39:00.002-05:00

This is the same image I used before but this time I used my Bic markers to colour it in. I just love this stamp and would love nothing better than to go for a horse drawn sleigh ride in the snow - how romantic! But it would have to be a short one :) because I hate the cold and would quite happily spend Christmas at the beach the way I did when I was growing up. Sorry folks, there goes the whole romantic sleigh ride idea hehehe.

Noel Card

2011-09-23T23:54:00.003-05:00

Went to Archiver's yesterday and bought a couple of beautiful Christmas stamps. I don't go to this store often because it is an hour's drive to get there, but when I do I spend a couple of hours browsing through all their goodies. I could have easily bought a lot more. I coloured this stamp using my Bic markers. The 'O' in Noel is stamped twice, cut out and pop dotted over the orginal. It gives it beautiful dimension. It was very easy and simple to make and (gasp) no cricut again.

Christmas Card

2011-09-22T22:06:00.001-05:00

As I've said before, I have about 76 Christmas cards to make, so I'm just going to keep working at it and will share with you the different cards I come up with. I know that I will run out of ideas and will probably scraplift a card here and there, but when I do I will post a link to the orginal crafty friend. The snowman is a stamp, the mat behind it was cut with the Elegant Edges cartridge. The white mat was embossed with the Snowflakes Cuttlebug folder. Since most of these cards will be mailed to overseas destinations, I have to try to keep the embellishments to a minimum. Not only because the cards will get damaged in the mail, but also because the weight greatly affects the postage pricing.

Christmas Angel

2011-09-22T07:08:00.002-05:00

I fell in love with this stamp the minute I saw it and the fact that it was 40% at Michaels, was definately an added bonus. I think that this is such a pretty angel and so easy to work with too. I will be making more Christmas cards with this stamp, a series of angel cards so to speak. I hope you enjoy them too!

Congrats Card

2011-09-21T08:02:00.005-05:00

My SIL just got a new car, so I made her card to wish her many hours of happy and safe motoring. I turned Luigi from the Cricut Cars cartridge into Luigia since I wanted this to be more of a girlie car ;-)

Glass Pump Bottle

2011-09-20T11:35:00.004-05:00

I'd ordered a glass pump bottle to store my gamsol. These bottles are great as it not only prevents evaporation, but when you pump it gently, it brings up just a little amount of gamsol into the tiny reservoir at the top so that you can dip the blending stumps right into it and when you're done, you just close the lid and voila, no cleaning mess and no storage fuss. It's also safer to work with because even though gamsol is an odorless mineral spirit, the fumes are still there. Since I chose to buy a plain white bottle, I had all these wonderful plans to embellish it. But then I saw this cute little sticker in my stash and thought it perfect for this little bottle. I used the cricut to cut out the letters in vinyl and used that to label it. It was all done in a matter of minutes and I must admit a lot easier than I had originally planned! I love it when a good plan comes together :-)

Poinsettia Card

2011-09-19T17:49:00.003-05:00

I just love how this card came out - so clean and so simple and yet pretty, even if I say so myself. The poinsettia is cut from the Winter Woodland cartridge. The edge was cut with a MS punch-around-the-page punch called Laurel Leaves. I stamped the sentiment with versamark and heat embossed it with green tinsel embossing powder. I will definately be making a few more of these!

Winter Wonderland Card

2011-09-18T22:50:00.003-05:00

A friend lent me her Elves set from SU! and I've been playing with the cute little guys :-) They are just such happy little fellows! I used my Bic markers to colour them in. I'm really liking these markers ~ great value for the price! This is a stair-step card. The little trees were cut using the Winter Frolic cartridge and were cut at various sizes between 1 1/4" to 2". The picture came out a little small but if you click on it, you will be able to see the card in more detail. The "snow" is done with Dazzling Diamonds from SU! TFL

Working with Vinyl

2011-09-16T09:57:00.005-05:00

The students in our school band this year were given water bottles to carry with them to all games and performances. A good thing too, since our temperatures have been hovering in the 100's for the last couple of months! We were asked to put the student's name on the top and on the back so that they would be easily identifiable. Considering we have close to 300 kids, it really needs to be nice and clear. I'd been using a sharpie to do this, but it soon got old as it keeps washing off. I decided to try it out using outdoor vinyl. It really looks great and much neater!

I used the font from Plantin Schoolbook - the top letters are cut at approx. 3/4" and the ones on the back at approx. 1". I say approx. because I actually sized with DS and I forgot to look at the exact size.

Baby Gift Basket

2011-09-15T21:55:00.002-05:00

I made this gift basket for a friend to welcome her new baby boy into their family. It has a pack of diapers, baby lotion, baby bath gel, baby shampoo, wipes, wash cloths and a Pooh Blanket Buddy. I hope the new mommy likes it since the little guy is too little to care either way :-)

More Swim with the Dolphins L/O's

2011-09-14T22:03:00.002-05:00

In these layouts, I used stickers, stamps and my cricut. I used the LIAB cartridge to make the cuts for the seaweed and the dolphins and then by using the negative forms, I was able to ink the images onto my paper. I had fun making these layouts ~ totally different from the previous set but I think they came out pretty.

Christmas Card - Colour blending with gamsol

2011-09-13T20:49:00.004-05:00

I definately like this gamsol blending. It makes the pictures look so smooth without all the scratchy lines! I've had this image for a while and I finally got enough confidence to colour it. I'm quite happy with the way it came out - I'm such a newbie at this. I will be making more Christmas cards using this image and maybe in the process mastering my gamsol blending :-) For the mat I used the Center Point feature on the cricut to cut the white and then the shadow feature to cut the red. These images are from the Elegant Edges cart. The sentiment was computer generated and cut using the Spellbinders Gromet Tags set.

Halloween Card

2011-09-12T23:32:00.006-05:00

I've been reading a lot about all sorts of colouring in markers, pencils, blending tools, etc. So even though I can't colour to save my life, I thought I would investigate some of these techniques. I have some beautiful stamps, that I just had to have but have yet to use due to my lack of colouring skills. I used my water colour pencils to colour in the above stamp. I have a long way to go to learn about shading, etc., but at least I was able to blend it well enough and of course I did stay within the lines ;-) I used the clear glitter pen on the hat and on the Boo. I will be trying out regular pencils next and blending it with gamsol and I've also ordered a set of Bic markers. I see a lot about copic markers, and they truly produce beautiful results, but at their current price and my lack of skills I think it would be a total waste of money for me to invest in them at this time. Maybe one day, if I manage to master this. One can hope ... If any of you crafty friends have any instructions, tips, etc. to help me along with this, I would be very happy if you would share them with me.

School Project

2011-09-11T21:43:00.003-05:00

My son had a project this weekend where he had to come up with a slogan for a contradictory statement and then put something together to sell the idea. After researching his information and getting his pictures together he told me he needed a title that would stand out, so I made his title using my cricut. The font is from the MS All Occasions cartridge and it's cut at 1". He was happy with the way it came out and I was glad to help :-) Now we are both crossing fingers for a good grade.

Christmas Card

2011-09-08T23:56:00.003-05:00

Here is my first card for Christmas 2011. It was very simple and easy to make. I think this is the cutest stamp with the momma bear and little cubs. I bought it at one of the after Christmas sales last year and have been waiting all these months to use it ;-). For the snow I used SU! dazzling diamonds. I haven't quite decided on what our Christmas cards are going to look like this year, so I'm making several trial runs :) I normally have about 72 cards to send out, so I will have to keep it simple, especially since I have a few calendars to make too.

Craft Room Revamped!

2011-09-07T18:05:00.007-05:00

Yes, it's done! I'm so happy with the way it came out. As you probably noticed by now, I like to have a place for everything and everything in its place :) As you can see this all came out perfectly and with the added bonus that I have practically everything I need within arm's reach! I don't know if that makes me organised or just lazy, my crafty friends, but I'll let you decide. I'm just too excited and happy that it worked out that way! This is one view of my desk with my embellishment centre, my cricut and all my odds and ends in the different boxes. I love my see-thru boxes - I keep things like stickles, glues, glitters, alcohol inks, cuttlebug folders, clear stamps, die cuts, etc. in them. On the top shelf I have a few of the items I make on display. I don't only do papercrafts, I also make diaper cakes, wedding towel cakes, gift baskets, party favours, and the list goes on. I keep all my records filed neatly in the different binders.This is a view of the other side of my desk and the major new addition to my room. These cubicle units that I got at IKEA are just great not only for the added storage, but my hubby made a top that goes over them both, and that gives me extra counter work surface. This is where I do all my cutting, cuttlebugging (word?), etc. At the end against the wall, I have drawer units which I use to keep all my paper stacks. I can put 4 to 5 stacks in each drawer. They are all labelled by season, colour, etc. On this pic. you can see that I was very generous and gave hubby a little corner of my room for him to pursue his hobby which is painting. Since the window is on that side of the room, it was perfect for him.

I had already posted this on an earlier post, but here it is again as the view from opposite side of my desk. The large cupboard is where I keep all my things for the non papercrafting goodies. And yes, everything in it is also all stored in boxes. I just love pulling out what I need, work with it and put it back. Easy peasy!

Storage Share - Clear/Cling Stamps

2011-09-06T07:33:00.004-05:00

I hope that by now, you are not totally bored with all the storage shares. Since I've been revamping my crafty corner, I haven't had space to create anything and since some of you have asked about my storage, I thought now would be the perfect time to share it with you.

So for today, I'm sharing with you how I store my clear stamps. Very easy - I place them in CD covers, and then into a box they go. I keep them in categories, such as holidays, fonts, swirls, florals, etc. These boxes fit perfectly side by side on one of my shelves.

The revamping is almost done and I'm so excited - it's going exactly has I'd envisioned it. I have this great hubby that is able to convert my dreams into reality!

Storage Share - Wood Mounted Stamps

2011-09-05T16:09:00.003-05:00

A while back I decided that I would convert all my wood mounted stamps into cling stamps. I did this to quite a number of them and then I decided that I didn't like it. I buy mostly clear stamps, but occasionally I do get the odd wood one. I bought these boxes at Walmart - they are great in that are flat-ish, see through, have a lid, and are stackable. This way, I can keep them stored by season, it's easy to see what is in what box, are dust free and they fit perfectly in one of my cublicles.

My problem with converting my stamps is that I can't seem to line them up properly to stamp the image on the reverse side, so when I take them off the wood, it's always a hit or miss for me to stamp exactly in the place where I want the image to go. Not very bright, I know, but hey we all have our thing ;-)

Storage Share - Scraps

2011-09-03T22:11:00.008-05:00

So this is how I store my solid colour scraps, in hanging folders in a box bought at Walmart. This works great for me. In the tag section of each folder, I put a piece of cardstock indicating the colour range in that specific folder so when I pull it out, I can see all the different shades I have. I normally only keep scraps that are bigger than 4" x 6". Anything smaller than that, although it kills me, I throw out. This decision came about a while back when I had a bunch of smaller pieces that were just cluttering up my space in the box and in the end I wasn't really using them.

My printed scraps are another story. At the moment they are all thrown into this drawer, but this is not working for me at all. In fact, it is the most painful thing I have in my craft room right now. The problem is that I'm not too sure how I want to organise this. Do I want to organise them by colour or by theme? In both cases there are some that overlap and there in lies my problem. So, if any of you crafty ladies/gents has found a solution for storing your printed scraps, won't you please be so kind as to share it with me? I really would appreciate your help with this.

Storage Share - Embossing Folders

2011-09-02T11:57:00.006-05:00

Here is a quick look at how I store my embossing folders. I got this idea and .cut file from Okieladybug. I bought my box at Walmart and as you can see the folders fit perfectly. I emboss one side of the folder so that I can immediately see the effect when I'm looking for a specific pattern. It's easy, contained and clutter free, just the way I like it :-)

Storage Share - Ribbon & Cricut Cartridges

2011-09-01T08:47:00.013-05:00

Some of you wonderful followers have emailed me asking me about my storage. Well, I don't have as much as some of the very talented crafters out there, so my system works for me. In fact, I'm in the process right now of revamping my crafting corner, which by the way, has pretty much taken over the entire room :-). You start small, but it eventually grows!

So for my first share, here is how I store my ribbon and my cricut cartridges. I bought a narrow CD tower at IKEA. I tilted the shelves and that is how I keep my ribbons in place. You can see in the second pic that the back pegs that hold the shelves in place are one slot down from the front ones. With the tilting, the spools stay in place at the back of the unit. I got so tired of dealing with the storage unit I had with the dowels. As you can see I like to store mine by colour and it was always such a pain to insert a new ribbon spool into the colour family when they were in the dowels. Also, inveriably it was always the one in the middle that would be finished and need to be replaced. This way, I just add in and take out what I want without any problems.

As for my cartridges, I bought the double wide CD tower also from IKEA. I've been looking at the various boxes and binders that you can buy in order to minimize the storage space for the cartridges, but to be honest, I like mine in their original boxes and right where I can see them all at a glance. This helps remind me of what cartridges I do have. You might think that if I need a reminder then I probably have too many, and you may be right, but I love all of my cartridges and do use them all :-) I keep all my Disney cartridges together on the top shelf. My solution cartridges are in the double cartridge boxes and I keep those together on the bottom shelf. Also on the bottom shelf are all my cake cartridges. All the others are kept inbetween in alphabetical order. It just helps me find it fast when I'm looking for a specific one. I think they fit perfectly on this unit and I still have space to add any future ones that I may want to purchase ;-)

Since these units are the same length and depth, they look great side by side right next to my big closet, but that is a storage share for another day. If you have any questions, please email me and I will try to help.

Baby Boy Card

2011-08-30T11:06:00.005-05:00

When I saw a tutorial from Jackie Topa, I figured that sooner or later, I would be making one of these cards since I think they are so pretty! Now was the perfect opportunity. I made my card a 7" x 5", which means I had to sit for a while figuring out the cut sizes, but once I got it done, it was very easy to put together. The cardstock is all from Colorbok and the rocking horse image is cut from A Child's Year cricut cartridge at 2.75"

I love the way it came out. I hope the new mommy will like it too!

Band Banquet Layout

2011-08-24T15:26:00.003-05:00

I've been wanting to use my large music notes punch for a little while now and when I found this picture of the band banquet I knew it would be perfect! The title was cut using MS Seasonal Cake Art. The ribbon was threaded through the mat but using the MS ribbon punch. I love this paper from Making Memories. You can't quite tell from the pic, but each little dot, on the sides of the black stripes, is shiny. I added two silver flourish brads on the pic as well as silver pearls on the title and on the ribbon.

Back to College Card

2011-08-21T22:23:00.004-05:00

Here is the card I made for my daughter to wish her a great year in college. This card was also made using the SU! Open Sea stamp set.

Back to School Card

2011-08-19T00:50:00.004-05:00

I made this card for my son - out of the ordinary since there aren't any school related cuts or embellies, but I think it portrays our message for him. The stamp is from the Open Sea set from SU! and the sentiment is just computer generated.

Thank You Card

2011-08-18T00:41:00.002-05:00

Another card made without using any cricut cut! I'm trying to use up my supply of scraps that seems to have a life of its own and grows all by itself with each passing day. I did get to play with my punches and my stamps to put this card together, added some pearls and called it done!

Airbus A380 Layout

2011-08-17T07:35:00.004-05:00

While in Holland last summer, we were fortunate to watch the A380 Airbus fly into Schipohl airport. It was doing a test run, to see if the runways, gates, luggage belts, etc. were all compatible. It is the largest commercial aircraft in the world today, with a capacity to carry 525 passengers. My husband and son were very impressed with this aircraft, but what struck me the most was how quiet it actually flies. When it flew right over our heads, I expected this thunderous roar considering it's size, but it was just a quiet buzz. Very impressive indeed! On this layout, I used the MS punch to cut the grass and the Pooh Font cartrige to cut the letters.

Wedding Card

2011-08-16T12:56:00.003-05:00

A couple of years ago, these cards were making the highlights on the Cricut Message Board. I've always liked them but until today, I hadn't tried to make you. I used Plantin Schooolbook, MS Seasonal Cake Art and Wedding Solutions cartridges to make this card. I like the way this card turned out, just not too sure how to include the message for the happy couple on the inside ... :-)

Favour Boxes

2011-08-15T16:11:00.005-05:00

Over at My Craft Spot, this week's challendge is gift bags and boxes. This got me thinking about all the different favour boxes I have done in the last year and how cute some of them turned out to be. The square flat ones were using mostly for weddings, especially Brazilian weddings where it is customary to give away a cookie called "Casadeiro". Aren't they cute? Some of the others were made for birthday parties and some for bridal showers. There's been quite a lot more, but unfortunately I don't always remember to take a pics of them. Go over to My Craft Spot and take a peek at the beautiful boxes they have there for your enjoyment and inspiration here.