PUMP IT UP - LO

I love LO's that incorporate a lot of pictures, especially since I tend to take a ton of photos at every event.

This LO is really super easy and quick to complete. I just stuck with the 3 colors of card stock to match the inflatable play equipment in the photos, added a few random circles, completed my journaling on vellum and added my title, cut from the Mickey Font Cricut cartridge, to finish. All in all, only took me about 45 minutes. I think I took the longest time on it making sure my blocks all lined up neatly.

Kind of plain and simple but used quite a few photos so I am happy with it.

CELEBRATE WITH BELLA - CARD

This birthday card for a friend was inspired by the martini glass charm that I re-purposed from a gift that I received at Christmas. I am always pulling buttons off old clothes or looking at old beads, rhinestones or sequins to use them for my crafting. So when I saw this charm hanging off the label I thought of Cosmobella and her martini glass. A few circles of colored card stock, kraft paper, bling, ribbon and a Studio G sentiment and the card inspired by a mixed drink gift set is complete. ;)

I THINK I CAN - LO

This LO was very simple and very quick to put together. The photos are from a trip to the Train Museum we took our niece and a few of the daycare babes to. They have a huge play area on the second floor with 3 huge play train tables. One of them has a tunnel and a clear dome you can pop into in the middle of the table and watch the toy trains as they ride by you. Super fun!

The title was cut using the Base Camp Cricut Cartridge and I cheated with a pre-painted wooden train embellishment from Michael's. Like I said, simple and quick.

LOVE KEEPS OUR HEART'S WARM - LO

I know, I know, yet another snow day post. :) I really love this one though as it is not too often that hubby and I take pics of ourselves....and even rarer that I actually scrap them, as I HATE being in front of the camera and am way more comfortable behind it. The girls took these pics of us and I could not help but scrap them as we had so much fun that day and well...I love this man of mine. LOL

The snowmen are a pp pattern from Cropy Cats. Nothing else really to this one except a few buttons and a heart punch.

Great, looking at these photos, I realize I hate this jacket, makes me look like the Michelin Man. LOL!!

SANTA BABY - LO

Is this not the cutest Santa you have ever seen? These photos are quite old of my nephew Landon as he is 4 years old now, but I could not help but to share this LO I did of him dressed up in his Santa outfit.

The title and Ho Ho Ho was cut using the Cricut Base Camp cartridge (a oldie but goodie), the presents are Quick Kutz dies and the Santa is a paper piece pattern from Windows of Time.

Anybody else just not quite ready to admit that Christmas is over? Sigh.... :)

ALL ABOARD - CARD

Here is a birthday card that I made for my sweet little nephew Ashton, who turned 1 yesterday. My SIL threw the cutest party for him with a train theme. She even dressed him as a little conductor, complete with pocket watch. TOO CUTE!!

Back to the card, the image is called Billy Rides a Train and was purchased from Pink Cat Studio. This is my first purchase from them and certainly will not be my last. Tons of cuteness there! The background paper is Charles from October Afternoon and the embellishments are a few strays I had laying around.

I am really happy with the card overall, but I do need tons more practice with my Copics and still struggle coloring and shading really small areas with them. I tend to stick to simple images with minimal detail thus making it easier to color. I will have to challenge myself to use more complex images. Hmmm...I guess that means more stamp shopping. ;)

Here is a pic of the cutest little conductor you will find anywhere!!

A FABULOUS BIRTHDAY - CARD

If you have not checked out the Slumber Party Cricut cartridge yet, you must. This cart is just fabulous for those that have girls of any age. We have a young friend, of the family, that is celebrating her birthday this weekend. I decided to make this card for her to match the cute little Barbie make-up kit we got her.

All of the cuts from the Slumber Party cart were cut at 2". The sentiment is a Studio G $1 stamp from Michael's. A little ribbon and some bling and you have a fabulous card for a fabulous little girl.

I also made a some treat bags for the chocolate shoes, sunglasses and lipsticks that I made for her to hand out to her party guests.

SNOWMEN ARE THE COOLEST - LO

Here is another LO of our trip to the snow. Doesn't this look like a picture tutorial on how to build a snowman? LOL The snowman is a paper piece pattern from Cropy Cats and the title is cut using the Opposites Attract Cricut Cartridge.

Hope everyone is having an excellent Monday!!

IT'S SNOW TIME! - LO

I just love the photos on this LO. We had the best time that day in the snow. Ever the ladies that we are, we posed ever so gracefully for the 3rd photo from the left. This is one of my favorite photos of the girls and I. It truly captures our relationship with each other. We are always silly and totally ridiculous, but I would have it no other way!!

Did you all notice my new watermark? A BIG BIG thank you to my friend Jeri from Crafty J's Place for not only creating the watermark for me but for being ever so patient as I attempted to get it copied and pasted on my photos. I admit I am very challenged when it comes to this kind of stuff but after a dozen or so e-mails back and forth and lots of swearing on my end, I finally got it. Thank you Jeri!!

DIY LIGHT TENT

I am not sure if anyone else out there in blogland has this same problem (I really don't think so as so many of the blogs I stalk have awesome pics on their posts) but I REALLY struggle to get good quality photos of my projects once they are completed. I have tried all sorts of light, different spots, and different settings on my camera, but it never fails to disappoint. I always have a glare, or a shadow, or the color is off.

Until now that is......look what hubby made for me....a light tent!! I am so excited. He found this tutorial on how to make an inexpensive light tent and whipped it right up for me. The total cost of the materials was right around $20. Cheap compared to what the light tents tend to go for...but better yet...it really does make a difference.

Here is the front view of my light tent.

The top and sides are covered with fabric.

This is a before pic of one of my cards prior to having the light tent. Lately I have been trying to take photos outside for better light.
Here is a photo of that same card taken using my light tent. A big difference...right? Yep hubby did good. :)

THE SECRET'S OUT

I can now share my exciting news with you all. I have been chosen along with several other fantastic ladies to be a DT member for a new challenge blog called CRAFT US CRAZY.

At Craft Us Crazy you are welcome to use any and all company brands and products. We would love to see all walks of crafts...decoupage, stamping (Rubber or Digital), altered, 3D, LOs, Die cut projects, anything as long as its made by your talented hands and it follows the Challenge theme!!!

Please join us on February 3rd for our very first challenge!! In the meantime please take a peek at the other DT members that I am honored to be working with:

Jeri M
Mary B
Jeanette C
Christina P
Bettina B
Rebekah L
Lynne H
Lauren M
Sam J
Julie T
Sharron M
Frea K
Genevieve S
Lori H
Tammylee N
Maria A
Kym W
Savahanna V
Kim G
Guylaine S

ATTITUDE!!!

Yes I have it, or rather my blog does. My good friend, Jeri of Crafty J's Place, queen of the attitude herself :), presented me with this blog award.

The best part of this award is that it comes with a $5 gift card to Digis with Attitude when you complete all of the requested requirements. Cool right? You can get all of the details here.

The first requirement is to list 3 things that make you different from everyone else. This is super hard for me as I really do not give myself that much thought...LOL.

1) I totally crack myself up. While I understand that everyone thinks they are funny...I honestly think I am down right hysterical....and I have been told by my hubby and two daughters that I am all alone in this thought. Hmmm....

2) I am OBSESSED with notebooks. I mean obsessed obsessed. I have them for everything and anything: menu notebook, to do notebook, diet notebook, house decorating notebook, Christmas planner notebook, deadline notebook, and I have a notebook that lists the notebooks I plan on altering. It's a sickness and I am sure that there is a 12 step plan somewhere but I am still in the denial stage and not ready to get help.

3) Fire and flames FREAK me out. I was in a house fire when I was younger and really do not care for any type of fire. Campfires are not my thing, we do not use our fireplace and it took me forever to be comfortable with a gas stove. Silly I know but what are ya going to do?

The second requirement is to pass this award along to 5 other bloggers...that is hard as there are so many I admire, but I do stalk these ones more than others:

Amy at A Thousand Sheets of Paper

Debby at A Scrapjourney

Cindy at Cindy Haffner's Corner

Rachel at Paper Crafting Place

Sheri at PaperCrafty

The third and final requirement is to post this award in your sidebar with a link back to the Digis with Attitude Challenge Blog.

Thank you Jeri and Digis with Attitude for this awesome award.

HAPPY DANCE, HAPPY DANCE!!

I am doing the happy dance today for a couple of reasons. The first one I can't tell you about just yet, but make sure to check back with me in a few days. The second one is because hubby is making me a light box so I can take better quality pictures of my projects. He purchased most of the supplies yesterday and is off today and tomorrow so I am really hoping he will be productive and complete it before Wednesday. ;) I will make sure to provide pics once it is completed.

BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE

Happy Monday morning. I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas holiday! We had the most amazing Christmas ever and I am sad to see it over already. Time to start planning for next year. LOL

I just thought I would pop in and share these cute little hot cocoa packet holders that I made for all of my daycare babes and other young friends. You can find the tutorial here at Whimsie Doodles. Which is where the digi image is from as well. They were super simple to make and took no time at all.

I'm off to start taking down the 7 (yes I said 7) trees that we put up and the many many decorations. My goal is to have them down by Thursday night so I can enjoy my 3 day weekend with no chores ahead of me.

TIS' THE SEASON

It's a good thing I work well under pressure as there are only 3 more days until Christmas and I am almost (LOL) done with my Christmas cards and just about done with my gift projects.

My oldest daughter Brittany made one of our good friends some wine charms for Christmas so I helped her out by whipping up this cute little box for her to present them in. I found the tutorial here at Splitcoaststampers. It was super easy to make and looks super cute with a Whimsie Doodle digi stamp!

I hope everyone else is on track with their Christmas crafty "to do" list. :)

DRAGONFLY BIRTHDAY - CARD

Why is it when I spend hours on a card I am not as happy with it as the one that I literally threw together at the last minute and spent practically no time on? Does this ever happen to you? Below is an example of a card that I totally threw together for a friend of my daughter. I don't know if it's the simplicity of it or the color ( I love purple!!) but I am quite happy with how it turned out.

The stamp is from Great Impressions, colored with in with Copics. The patterned paper is from my scrap stash. I added some stickles to the wings and some bling. The sentiment is a Studio G dollar stamp from Michael's.

I just love simple!

ORNAMENT PARTY - INVITE

How many of you that own the Cricut actually look at the sample project that they always list in the handbooks? I never have before and I own plenty of cartridges. I recently won the Winter Frolic Cricut cart at a Swarm I attended and was familiarizing myself with the handbook. This card was the sample project listed. Simple, cute and perfect for my ornament exchange party that I am throwing in a few weeks.


The card base is 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 and the ornament was cut at 4 1/2. Super quick and easy. Hmm, think I will be looking a little more closely at my handbooks in the future.

HPY B DAY - CARD

How cute is this shaped card? I found the idea and pattern for this card in a magazine. To be more specific v. 8 of Paper Crafts Card Creations, the designer of the pattern is Kim Hughes. Her card looks way better but I am still happy with this one. I just wish my license plate letters fit a little better I really had to crowd them in as you can see. :) For those wanting to give this card a try here is the link.

MOUSE - CARD

Mouse, mouse, mouse!! This is what greets me every morning when little Miss Shelby walks through my door for daycare. We have begun a ritual of snuggling on the couch with a big blanket and watching Mickey Mouse Club House until the rest of her friends arrive and we have breakfast. She even hands me the remote to turn on the TV and our new favorite show. So what kind of card do you make the most adorable two year old ever for her birthday? Well, mouse, mouse, mouse of course.

Minnie Mouse was cut at 4 " from the Mickey and Friends Cricut Cartridge. Is it just me or are these characters ridiculous to put together at this size? Minnie almost ended up with no mouth or eyes. I swear the only way to work with the character cuts are on a LARGE scale. That means gigantic birthday cards though and where does a gal find envelopes to fit a birthday card with a 12 " Minnie on it?

LET'S GET BASTED!!

Just how hilarious is this image?!? The minute I saw this over at Whimsie Doodles I new I had to have it and knew exactly what I was going to do with it. I think it makes the perfect wine bottle hanger for a host/hostess gift. Don't you?

I hope everyone had a wonderful Turkey Day and enjoyed plenty of "basting"...LOL!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!!

CRAFT US CRAZY DESIGN TEAM CALL!

Happy Monday morning to everyone! I thought I would share this DT Call information with you all. Click here for the link to read all about it or read the information below that I copied and pasted directly from the blog:

"Hello and thanks for stopping by!! Crafts Us Crazy is a brand new bi-weekly challenge blog! If you love crafting, then I hope you'll consider going on this new venture with me. Either as a designer or as a sponsor!

If you're interested in being a sponsor, please email me, ~JERI~ at CraftUsCrazy@cox.net and put SPONSOR INQUIRY in the subject line so it doesn't get lost! We would love to help show off your products and get your business out there!!

Now for the design team call part of it!! At Craft Us Crazy you'll be able to use whatever images and products that you have, as long as it goes with the challenge theme of course, but you'll also have the opportunity to work with some great sponsors as well. So if you enjoy working with crafting products and love to share your creativity and talents with others, I would love for you to submit your name and work for consideration.


DT Requirements would be --

•Be dependable and an active blogger.
•Able to submit and post on your blog a minimum of one project every two weeks on time. You're due date for projects and challenge themes will be given out with plenty of notice and time to work.
•Display your CRAFT US CRAZY DT badge on your blog, along with our DT Group link list.
•Leave comments for our challenge participants! We want them to know they're loved and appreciated! So thanking them is a MUST!
•Willing to participate in special events, such as blog hops, special sponsor requests and so forth. Again all of these things will be given to you with plenty of notice.
•Tell everyone about our new challenge blog and spread the word about our wonderful sponsors each challenge. We definitely want them to know they're loved and appreciated!!!
•Be able to take quality and clear pictures of your creations.
•And more than anything...the ability to HAVE FUN!! To let your creativity run wild and then share it with the rest of us so we can drool lol
•Be able to commit to a 3mth term.. Feb 02, 2011 - May 02, 2011


To Apply --

•Using the Design Team Call badge above, please re-post this DT call on your blog, so that we can get the word out about our new challenge blog opening.

I believe that's it, so if you think this is something you may be interested in, click HERE and include the requested information below
In your email....

•Please tell me a little about yourself and what crafting you like do. Such as altered items, Scrapbooking, Cardmaking, 3D, and so forth. All are welcome to apply.
•Include a valid email address for contacting you and links to your blog and any galleries you may have.
•List any DT experience you have, current and past and for who. You DO NOT have to have DT background to be considered, so don't let that stop ya!!
•Let me know if there's certain areas in the DT that would interest you to lead. Such as Sketch artist, Challenge Theme Coordinator, and so forth.

This Design Team call will close on Dec. 21, 2010, and all chosen applicants will be contacted by Jan. 02, 2010 (who knows what sort of New Years Eve we'll all have, and I would want us to remember being contacted..lol)

Any questions please feel free to contact me anytime!
MSN Messenger - Craftyjsplace@hotmail.com
Email - craftuscrazy@cox.net

Even if you're not interested in applying, we would love for you to help us spread the word about our new challenge blog!! :) If you do re-post our Design Team call on your blog, whether applying or not, please leave your name in the comment section below and I'll draw a random winner for a $15 Gift Certificate/Coupon Code to your favorite online store(if available, if not you'll be asked to pick a new favorite lol).
Winner will be announced with Design Team announcement on Jan 02, 2011.

UPDATE--I was emailed and asked if you could twitter and facebook this post...YES!!! Please do! For each place you post this posting, please leave a SEPARATE comment for each time and you'll receive that number of entries in the drawing!! Thanks!!
Please leave all contest comments on this blog! Thanks again!
Thanks and Good luck!! "

***Please remember that the above was cut and pasted from the Craft Us Crazy Blog. Please leave all comments there***

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - CARD

Happy Monday everyone. Just stopping by to make a quick post with a birthday card I completed last week. I swear my "to do" lists are spiraling out of control between all of the birthdays and the holidays coming up. I am in awe of those that make blog posts daily of their projects. How do you do it? Please let me in on your secret. :)

I received this image from a image swap last year. It's a Penny Black image from the Critter Party set. Hope everyone has a great week. I am currently working on 20 Christmas Party invites and am hoping to finish them up this week to share with you all.