Happy Mother's Day!

Ok, it's not Mother's Day today, but since I didn't start the blog until mid-May, I missed posting this card.  I hope everyone is enjoying their Memorial weekend.  We spent about 14 hours of it driving to visit family.  We are at home, sweet home again, and busily trying to catch up before the work week begins! 

For this card, I used a dark purple cardstock for the base and used a corner rounder for all four corners.  Then, I used the Mother's Day 2010 cart to cut the sentiment and the gorgeous doily-type background.  I layered the sentiment with the shadow, and used pop dots behind the words, mounting on top of silver and purple papers--both of which I used the corner rounder on , as well.  Before adhering the sentiment "tag" to the card, I added a lop of decorative ribbon by stapling it, using a purple staple.   ~Hoppy Crafting!

Owl Birthday

I LOVE my Gypsy and I LOOOOVE the font and shapes carts that came pre-loaded (Gypsy Font & Gypsy Wanderings).  I found this owl on Gypsy Wanderings and cut the owl from a patterned pink paper and the shadow from brown cardstock.  I added bling for eyes and a cute flower embellishment because, of course, the owl was a girl. Ha ha!  Before adding the owl to the card, I embossed the front of the card with a Cuttlebug folder.  Then I inked the branches and layered "Happy Birthday" cut from brown and cream cardstock, also from Gypsy Wanderings. ~Hoppy Crafting!

Heart Flowers

Have you ever noticed how tulips look alot like hearts?  I used Walk In My Garden to cut the flower pot and the stems/leaves for flowers, but really wanted to add more dimension to the flowers than by using paper.  That's when I decided to use some heart brads that I had in my stash.  Before adding a mix of red, pink, and yellow "tulips", I adhered the pot and stems/leaves to a dark pink paper cut slightly smaller than the pink card base.  Once I had the brads in, I adhered the dark pink to the card to "hide" the backs of the brads.  I decided the card was still a little plain, so I added a small flower stamp on the top lip of the flower pot and added a pink border along the top of the card, made with a Martha Stewart border punch.  ~Hoppy Crafting!

Celebrate U!

Sometimes in the midst of crafting, I look at my giant collection of rubber stamps, and wonder how I ever used them all before.  Aha, those were pre-Cricut days!  I still LOVE the variety of rubber stamps I own, I just don't feel like I used them enough....So, for today's card, I used SU's "All About U" stamp set.  I chose a nice marigold for the card base,and use a Versamark watermark pad to stamp leaves all over the base.  Next, I stamped the word "celebrate" and the giant "U", using SU Tempting Turquoise, then cut out around the "U" and trimmed the "Celebrate" down.  Finally, I added coordinating flowers, held together by a gorgeous light brown bling brad.  ~Hoppy Crafting!

"Cricut Whisperer"

Fellow friend and scrap-addict, Brenda, blogged about our new carts and had some very nice things to say about me, her "dealer".  Ha ha!  She has dubbed me the "Cricut Whisperer" during the past couple of weeks, and I love it!  Check out her  post : http://happyhall4.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-dealer-delivered.html  
Thank you, Brenda, for the kind words and spin on our "addiction"....I think we both need a 12x12 step program....Ha ha!

Happy Birthday, Grandma

Here's the birthday card that I made for my dear spit-fire of a grandmother, who turned 88!  I started with a cream-colored card and inked it with SU Close to Cocoa.  Then I cut "Grandma" w/a shadow cut from the Mother's Day 2010 cart.  I used a Quickie Glue pen to mount the writing to the shadow, and then both to the bottom of the card.  Next, I cut "happy birthday" from Paper Pups and glued it at the top.  I wanted to add a little bling, and so I added two layered flowers, held together with a black-jeweled brad.  
 ~Hoppy Crafting!

Scrap-a-razzi Heaven!

Last week, a couple of friends and I got in on cricutmachine.com's excellent cartridge sale ($22.95 for most carts!), and we placed one BIG order!  Today, they came!  We were all totally excited and absolutely CAN'T wait to play with our new carts!  We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our Cricut's!!!

Paint + Fish + Kinders= FUN!

Today I'm sharing a craft project that my kinder kiddos did (with the help of some awesome adults!)!  In preparation for our upcoming field trip to the beach, each child got to make their very own fish-print t-shirt.  I'm not talking run of the mill plastic fish, veggie shaped fish, or even cookie cutter/sponge fish....I'm talking about previously swimming Tilapia, sacrificed to a paint marinade. :o)  

This morning, I prepared the test subjects, umm....I mean the "stamps" (he he!), by taking out of the freezer and making sure each was as dry as possible.  Once my first parent helper arrived, we got the acrylic paint out on plates, the table moved outdoors, and some water to clean the fish between paintings. We had already prepared t-shirts, by placing a layer of paper inside each (to prevent the image from leaking through to the back).  We called kiddos out two or three at a time and each chose their very own design.  Some kiddos made dots or stripes. Others made solid colored fish with highlighted fins.  Yet others made fish with red "lipstick" on their mouths.  Each child had their own idea of the perfect "rainbow fish".  I loved their designs and they totally enjoyed this project! 

The awesome adults helping today made things run smoothly, and I'm happy to say that we got all of the kids done (almost 50!) between the two classes. Thank you to everyone that helped us!  We will sure enjoy wearing these on our day to the beach! 

Here are some easy steps to do this project:

*Take a frozen fish & dry all moisture possible

*paint with your favorite acrylic paint colors

*Turn over and press (and roll, & shimmy) the fish on the front of a t-shirt w/paper in between layers

*Rinse fish in water, dry, & repeat

****HEAT SET shirts inside-out in dryer for 15-20 minutes****VERY IMPORTANT to preserve image!

*Wash fishy t-shirts

*Wear and ENJOY! 

My AWESOME Fish Paint Crews! THANK YOU!!! :o)

Monkey Business

I have a friend who absolutely HATES sock monkeys! I can't say that I'm the biggest fan of them, myself, but my friend loathes them. My husband and I have bantered back and forth with her, since the Kia commercial came out that has the sock monkey driving and the other life-size toys playing around. Until that commercial, her dislike for these creatures had never surfaced. Of course we banter all in good fun, and I thought that using Stampin' Up's Sock Monkey stamp set to make her a birthday card this year would be fitting.
I was going for a monochromatic design theme, with the purple/lilac used in the background, but the sock monkey and his accessories are stamped on white, inked around the sides with SU Close to Cocoa, and embellished with watercolor pencils and dimensional glaze (to make arms, legs, & face shine). On the cupcake top, where I also added dimensional glaze, I embedded glitter. I also found the "celebrate" stamp in my miscellaneous collection of sayings. I added a yellow star brad over the existing star on the stamp. For the cupcake and hat, I added foam dots behind each to raise them off the page a little. Hope you enjoy this card! ~Hoppy Crafting!

Happy Day!

I wanted to make a quick and pretty card for a friend, so I got out my Storybook cart and cut this gorgeous brown flourish! I used a standard A2 size and yellow cardstock for the card and randomly inked with SU Close to Cocoa. Then I used my awesome Xyron adhesive machine to run the flourish through and evenly coat it with adhesive so I could apply it to the center of the card. Next, I used two small orange brads in the center of brown paper flowers, and adhered them with a Zot adhesive dot. Finally, I cut a piece of ribbon and tied it onto the "Happy Day" tag that I had left over from a previous project, and adhered the tag to the card. ~Hoppy Crafting :o)

**Oops! Sooo sorry for the somewhat blurry photo!!

Baby Shower Card

For this card, I started with white cardstock for the base, then used a cypress green cardstock to punch a lace pattern in with a Martha Stewart border punch. I cut a circle-patterned paper to layer over the green, then took a solid pink, cut a 1" strip, and adhered it on top of the green. I thought the solid pink was too plain, so I used an Impress starburst/flower rubber stamp (www.impressrubberstamps.com) with VersaMark watermark ink to stamp the image across the pink. Then I tied a pink polka dot grosgrain ribbon to cover the seam between the patterned and pink papers. For the embellishment, I stamped "Welcome Little One" from the Stampin' Up Riveting set and punched it out using a 1" circle punch. Then I stuck it into an inverted bottle cap using a large Zot Dot (adhesive dot). Behind the bottle cap, is a scalloped circle from the Easter 2010 cartridge, cut at approximately 2". I adhered the scallop to the card with pop dots to add dimension, then used another Zot Dot to hold the bottle cap onto the scalloped circle. ~Hoppy Crafting!

Baby Shower Card

Here is another baby shower card that I made for a girl. I used a cute pink/green gingham print cardstock for the card base. Then, I cut a strip of flower-patterned paper, from My Minds Eye, to go in the middle. I adhered that on top of plain pink cardstock that I had used a Martha Stewart border punch on.
For the middle, I used the Stampin' Up set Riveting, stamped with Pink Passion and Petite Rose ink, then punched the image out with a 1" circle punch. I cut out a 1 1/2" pink scalloped circle from the Easter 2010 cartridge and adhered the stamped image to the top. Finally, I added pop dots to the back of the new medallion and centered it on the card. I hope you like it! :o) ~Hoppy Crafting!

Arrrgh, Matey!

I LOVE Paper Doll Dress Up! This has been one of my all-time favorite carts, since acquiring it a couple of years back. It never ceases to amaze me at how many "hidden" designs there are on this cart. Case in point, this pirate card! I was invited to a birthday party for a 6 year-old-to-be, and his theme was Pirates. I decided to make the card coordinate with his party theme, and found this cute little kid, clothes, hook, map, chest, and flags on PDDU!
I started with a cream-colored card and randomly inked it with SU Close to Cocoa to give it depth. I then added some torn paper that was linen/sand-like. Then, I put my Cricut to work! I was able to lay everything out on my Gypsy and cut it all at once (what a TIMESAVER!), then all I had to do was pick things off the mat and embellish! For the boy, I used Pebbles, Inc. chalk to add a "dirty" appearance to the clothes. I also used pink chalk to give 'rosy' cheeks. The eyebrows were drawn on with a black marker, but the eyes are blue due to a small blue paper glued behind the eye holes. The mouth is done the same-layering white and red to give a life-like look. I aged the map by wrinkling and inking, as well as tracing the trail and gluing a small red square behind the X. I used foam dots behind the child and map to give dimension. For the pirate flags, I copied two onto the Gypsy and then flipped and welded them at an angle. I also added white paper for the skulls and drew on the eye sockets, nose, mouth, etc. For the treasure chest, I added a metallic accent color. The 6 year-old enjoyed his card, but I know his mom (fellow crafter) probably appreciated the card a whole lot more--she knew the time invested in a project like this! :o)

Baby Shower Card

I made this quick little baby shower card to give to a friend of mine. I started with a white cardstock A2 card and inked the edges with SU Close to Cocoa. I cut coordinating brown cardstock a bit smaller and textured the sides, then added the flower strip from a piece of 12x12 paper I had laying around. Next, I added the pink polka-dot ribbon and tied a faux knotted bow on it. Then, I cut "congrats", with a shadow, from Beyond Birthdays and hung metal baby feet with a cute button brad from the bottom. I also used foam dots to pop it up off the card. The card was relatively quick and easy to make, and I've loved the pink/brown color combination for a few years now. "Hoppy" Crafting! :o)

Facebook | Oh My Crafts!

I'm feeling pretty awesome tonight! I entered my "30 Sucks" tree project in Oh My Crafts Facebook Competition for a spring project....and I was one of three winners!!!! Yay me!!! This, and the Pink Stamper challenge, have been the ONLY things I have ever entered with my projects. Guess I'd better keep it up. Who knows what lies ahead? :o)
Facebook | Oh My Crafts!

CONTEST WINNERS

Cakes, continued....

While we're on the subject of cakes, check out this birthday cake I made for a friend's son's birthday. He was having a detective-themed party and wanted the characters from the Spy vs. Spy comic. I had absolutely NO CLUE who these characters were, but my friend gave me a picture to follow. I think the 9x13 turned out well. The boy LOVED his cake, and his friends were amazed as well. Sometimes a little cake is all it takes to impress 10 year-olds. :o)

Just like 10 year-olds, I have learned that grown men are easily impressed, as well. The other cake is a Ms. Pac-Man cake that I did for a friend's husband. It was a quick job, and yes, I know it's not perfect. I was looking at a picture message on my cell phone to figure out where all the lines of the game went. To add to the pressure, my friend brought it over and watched over my shoulder every decorating move I made (she was supposed to be at Bible study, but it was cancelled...so she snuck over w/the cake to surprise him that night). Gotta love pressure! Just thought I'd share these two recent creations of cakes. Happy crafting!

Baby Shower

Today was my friend/ co-worker's baby shower. I was super excited to see her reaction to the diaper cake I made for her! We had the shower in the staff room after school, and even early this morning, people were putting their gifts on a special table for her. I took the diaper cake down early as well. Every time I popped into the staff room today to check my mailbox, run a note to the office, etc., I kept hearing people comment on the "cake" and wondering if it was a "Cindy" creation. When my friend saw it, she said it was too pretty to dismantle...it might just need to become a permanant fixture in the baby's room. (Yeah, until that frightful 2am realization that she's out of diapers, then that puppy's toast!) :0)


Ladies and gentlemen, I swear I can "Cricut-cute" ANYTHING! If I can make diapers look like an edible cake (seriously, a co-worker thought it was a real cake!), then I'm sure other items wouldn't be too difficult. After sending a friend a picture of the finished cake last night, she replied, "Is there anything you can't do? Any craft you've never done?". I know there are many things I haven't tried, but I have been a life-long crafter and tried MANY projects. I think what makes me different from some people, is my fearless nature of tackling a new and exciting creation. Do I always know the exact steps to pursue? That's a resounding NO! I enjoy figuring things out as I go, and if I don't know how to do something, I find the answers and teach myself. Sometimes you just have to dive in and take chances. Live life with glitter, eyelets, flowers, die cuts, ink, and bling!

Diaper Cake

This week's theme seems to be babies. I've been asked to make baby cards for an upcoming shower, as well as for a few other showers throughout the summer. There have already been two coworkers who have had babies this year, and now there's a third expecting in the fall. Since her due date is right at the end of summer/beginning of the school year, she won't be returning in the fall for us to throw her a baby shower, so we're having one on Wednesday.

I went to Target on Sunday, fully intending on making life simple and buying her a cute gift card (since I've been too busy as it is), then making a custom baby card, but....I made the mistake of walking down the baby aisle. Twenty minutes later, I emerged, carrying a box of diapers, some baby toys (teething ring, rattle, safety bath duck, etc), and ribbon. Needless to say, my dear husband, who had been waiting (sleeping) in the car, was not amused at the box of nappies (nor the amount of time for the "quick" trip I had promised). LOL!

Last night I hit the project with full force, and have got to say that it doesn't look half bad for around two hours of work. I still have some "finishing touches" to add (the Cricut is my friend, he he he), but it is mostly ready for the reveal tomorrow.

Supplies:
*84 Pampers Swaddlers
*3 Pink 12x12 sheets of cardstock, cut in 3" strips
*Martha Stewart lace border punch (to punch both sides of all strips)
*1 spool/4 yards of baby-themed 1 1/2" wide ribbon
*Plain white ribbon/yarn, etc to tie tiers together (will be hidden by decorations)
*1 Clear plastic plate 14-16" in diameter ($ Store was great for that!)
*Micellaneous baby themed decorations (rattles, baby blocks, booties, etc)
*Floral wood pick w/wire to create top ribbon
*Micellaneous baby toys (teething rings, rattles, etc) to add functionality to gift
*1-15" dowel rod-inserted through middle to give stabilization of cake
*Tape, Glue Dots, Roller Adhesive

Still missing:
*"It's A Girl" sign from Beyond Birthdays
*Baby tags from Gypsy Wanderings
*Plaques from Storybook
*"Congratulations" from Wildcard

"30 Sucks"

My friend, Angie, was complaining earlier this year about how she was going to turn 30. She just thought it might really suck...from there, (and a little web inspiration), this project was born! I bought a terra-cotta pot, a styrofoam cone, moss, pink acrylic paint,ribbon, and some Dum-dums.

From my Cricut, I cut somewhere around 200 (or more) flowers of different sizes from George and Basic Shapes and Walk In My Garden. I cut the words "30 Sucks" from the Old West cart (I welded the letters together on my Gypsy before cutting). The plaque that "30 Sucks" is glued to, is from the Mother's Day 2010 cart. Butterflies are cut from Gypsy Wanderings and have two gemstones of bling near their centers. I cut both the top layer and shadow for the butterflies.

To get started with the project, I painted the terra-cotta pot two times with pink acrylic paint (letting dry between coats...where I cut flowers). Then I used a glue gun to adhere moss all over the styrofoam cone, except for about an inch at the bottom. (Note: You can't really see much moss, except in a few places.) Once all was dry, I carved the bottom of the styrofoam cone to fit snugly, and hot glued it in. From there, I started at the bottom and layered dum-dums with 2 or 3 different flowers per treat, until covered to the top. I tied and hot glued a cute pink with black polka-dot ribbon on the pot. The butterflies are taped to a short green wire, which is pushed into the tree. The "30 Sucks" plaque is supported by two short green wires, which were adhered between the layers of the plaque, then stuck into the top of the tree. I used a silver marker to accent the signage. I also added two paper flowers on each side (the daisy was leftover from a set I had bought at Michael's).

This project took nearly a whole bag of dum-dums. I had intended to use only 31 (so she'd have one to grow on), but I needed more for coverage. The birthday girl seemed to love her "sucky" birthday tree, and I loved making it! I apparently LOVE to torture myself, because now I have another "project" in the works for a friend's baby shower at work, Wednesday. Stay tuned for updates on that! :o)

Sooo Cute!

Ok, I know I'm gushing, but I just found this ADORABLE background at Simply Blog It Backgrounds (simplyblogitbackgrounds.blogspot.com)! The bird even nearly matches my Create A Critter bird card, how perfect! Now I just need to find one with frogs...hmmm...the blog novice will continue to look. :o) Hope everyone has a great start to the week!

My Pink Stamper Challenge: Green, Yellow, & Brown

So, I was web-surfing today in all my infinite free time(Ha ha ha!), and saw that My Pink Stamper (www.mypinkstamper.com)had a challenge posted for today. The challenge was to create a card using the colors green, yellow, and brown. Ironically, I already had a card created using those colors and Basic Grey paper, but decided to put my creativity to work instead of using an "old" card design. I am very pleased at how this thank you butterfly card turned out! I'd love to hear your feedback!

Here's what I used:
*11" of Green Cardstock, folded in half to make a 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" card
*Brown paper cut 5 1/4" and distressed on edges, then inked with Stampin' Up Close
to Cocoa
*Green print paper cut 5" with brown ribbon taped 3/4" from the bottom
*"Thanks" stamped in SU Close to Cocoa on 3/4" x 7/8" yellow; mounted on brown to
create a border; Two 3D Dots underneath for dimension
*Butterfly cut using Gypsy Wanderings: Top cut at 3 3/4" and Shadow cut at 4"
Shadow is inked with SU More Mustard
*Bling is Martha Stewart Brown Gemstones

Up & Hoppin'!

Ok, I'm moving into 2010. I'm probably about the only person I know who doesn't have a blog yet...so here I go. My friend, and fellow scrap-a-holic Brenda, told me that this is "totally easy"...so we will see. :o) My hope is to share some fun scrapbooking (and other papercrafting) projects with my fellow crafters. I LOVE my Cricut, LOVE making cards, and ENJOY sharing the tips and tricks I have picked up over the past few years in this ever-changing hobby. Once I have the rest of the blog up, I hope to turn this into a type of Julie/Julia project...365 days of creations....Wish me luck, fellow bloggers!
~Cindy