Speedy Recovery

I wanted to make another card for my dad during his recovery from heart surgery (which was today and went well).  I had seen a card by All Scrapped Out during a challenge that was my inspiration.  Her card was very pretty and feminine.  I needed to make mine more manly since it was for my dad.  My intention was to use some of my scraps, but I just wasn't finding any color combos I liked in my scraps today.  This project just took way longer than it should have.  Here's what I ended up with:

The turtle is from Create a Critter.  His shoes are from Everyday Paper Dolls.  I used my Gypsy to make them the right size for the turtle.  The circles for the sentiment are from Graphically Speaking.

In addition to my inspiration from All Scrapped Out, I should thank Split Coast Stampers for giving the dimensions for a horizontal pedestal card.  The one measurement they didn't give is for the little card that gives the design something to rest against so the card doesn't close.  I made mine 2.5 x 5.25 inches.  I would also like to thank Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog for their clever idea on how to print on die cuts rather than using the Center Point feature on the Cricut.  (I've had my Cricut for a year and still haven't used that feature yet!)

This card will be entered in:
Flaunt it Friday challenge #4--using the turtle from Create a Critter
Paper Issues "New" challenge--Create a Critter is a new cart for me, and dad's got a new heart valve

Faulty valve? Well wishes for heart surgery

My dad will be having heart surgery on Dec. 27th.  He has never had any health problems, so he seems a bit nervous about such a big procedure.  One of his Christmas gifts is going to be a pair of comfy pants to wear during his recovery.  I decided to make him this card to give him a smile before surgery and let him know that everything will be alright.  I made it a pedestal card so he can display it in his hospital room if he wants.

Here's the basic info:  The background paper with the cars is from DCWV stack 6.  The circles and bolts are from Graphically Speaking (I have really used that cart a lot more than I ever anticipated when I bought it).  The mechanic and his hair and clothes are all from the race car driver from Everyday Paper Dolls.  His face is from Peachy Keen Stamps PK-570.  The wrench is from Indie Art (Thanks to the free Gypsy download!).  The green, blue, and brown squares were run through the Diamonds in the Rough Cuttlebug folder.

This card will be entered in Cute Card Thursday's sketch challenge #144.  It will also be shared at the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog.  Although there is no challenge there this week due to the holidays, they are inviting people to share what they are making.

Fabric Advent Calendar

I followed along on an advent calendar blog hop a few weeks ago.  The projects were beautiful, but were all made of paper.  I kept thinking that after spending that much time on a project, I'd sure want it to last a while.

I've had this fabric advent calendar, made by my aunt, for as long as I can remember 

Several years ago I made a similar one for my best friend's son.  (I wasn't taking pictures of my projects back then.)  When her second child came along, she asked if I'd make one for him too, which I gladly did.  This year, her daughter is three, and I made her this one.  This time I changed from a Christmas tree design to a wreath.

Here's the basic info:  The red background is corduroy.  The wreath is fleece.  The fabric strips at the bottom are divided into little pockets and hold the wooden discs, one of which is hung each day.  The wooden discs were purchased at the craft store and painted white.  One one side I glued on pictures I had cut from Christmas cards.  I always enjoyed the two discs on my calendar that had family pictures on them, so I asked my friend for a few pictures of her family for the ones I made.  The loops to hang the ornaments are made of ribbon and the ends of the ribbon are glued under the pictures.  On the other side of the discs are numbers.  My calendar has numbered white buttons to hang the "ornaments" on, so I had to match the number on the disc to the number on the buttons.  On the first two calendars that I made, I sewed on tiny jingle bells.  On this one, I sewed on red buttons.  The bow is store bought and is plastic.  I attached it to the wreath with velcro so it can be detached and won't get smashed when the calendar is folded up for storage.

I still enjoy hanging an ornament on my advent calendar each day.  I hope my friend's children enjoy theirs as much as I do.

Snowman Soup

I wanted to give a little something to some of my coworkers.  I first saw a Snowman Soup project on The Happy Stamper's blog during a blog hop.  There seem to be many versions all over the internet, so I don't know who the original author was.  Here is my take on it:

The mug shape, snowflake, circle, and tag are all from Gypsy Wanderings.  I welded two of the mugs together with my Gypsy to make the card.  The snowman stamp was free from Peachy Keen when I placed an order this fall.  Inside the card is the following poem, along with a packet of hot chocolate:

Was told that you've been good this year,

Always glad to hear it.

With freezing weather already here

You'll need to warm the spirit!

So, here's a little Snowman Soup

Complete with stirring stick.

Add hot water and sip it slow,

It's sure to do the trick!


I put the cards in a bag with some Hershey Kisses, a few marshmallows, and a mini candy cane.


This project will be entered in the following challenges:
Paper Playtime #29--snowmen
Paper Issues--Holiday project

Teacher gift

I made this stationery set to give to a volunteer teacher.  There are 8 cards in the box for her to use, and one that is for her telling her thanks for all her hard work.  The box is a recipe box from the $1 bin at Michaels that I covered in paper.  The idea for the box came from a video done by Momo.  The flower on the card is from Gypsy Wanderings.  The brown paper was run through the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder.

This will be entered in the following challenges:

Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge #42--use embossing

Cute Card Thursday challenge #142--floral frenzy

Snow!

I made this card for some friends who are fanatical snowboarders.  The words all came from the Graphically Speaking cartridge, from page 56 in the manual.  That is the requirement for M.A.G. Challenge by the Page's challenge #6.  I did manipulate the images a bit with my Gypsy.  I used the Hide Contour feature on the word "Powder."  I hid the outside line so the image would cut as solid letters rather than an outline of the word.  I also hid part of the image that would have cut with the word "SNOW."  I wanted to include the snowflakes that are on that page in the manual, but I found them to be so skinny at parts that they were a bit difficult to cut.  So, I settled for running the blue background through the Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder instead.  I plan on putting a sentiment inside that reads something like, "May all your holiday wishes come true."

Snowy Christmas Card

I used my new Winter Frolic cartridge for the snowman.  He's small enough that I don't think I could have done his face without my new Peachy Keen stamps from the Winter Faces Assortment (PK 520).  I used the Hide Contour on my Gypsy to hide the face on the cart so the Cricut wouldn't cut it.  The snowflake is from the Christmas Solutions cartridge.

I think this may be the most challenges I've combined into one card so far!  This card will be entered in:

Flaunt It Friday's challenge #1--use the snowman from p. 29 of the Winter Frolic Cartridge
Paper Cutz challenge #70--use 2 kinds of patterned papers
Paper Playtime challenge #28--a project with snowflakes
Cute Card Thursday challenge #141--blue theme
Mojo Monday challenge #168--sketch

Winter anniversary card

My in-laws will be celebrating their anniversary soon, and since they live somewhere tropical, I thought it would be fun to make them a card with some snow!  The only thing I used my Cricut for on this card was the snowflake, which is from the Christmas Solutions cartridge.  The snowflake border punch is a Fiskars embossing punch.  The ribbon is from my stash of ribbon that I've saved from shopping bag handles and such to recycle in my card making.  The sentiment was printed on my computer.  Now that it is done, I'm debating whether I should have run the light blue background through the Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder.  I'm sure my husband will let me know when I show it to him!

This card will be entered in the following challenges: Skipping Stones Design sketch challenge #52, Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog's Challenge Me Monday #38 (using ribbon), Paper Cutz Challenge #69 (Anything Goes), and Cute Card Thursday challenge #140 (Blast from the Past--I'm doing Challenge #128, using material--the ribbon).

A little banged up

I usually make my cards as the occasion arises, personalizing them for the recipient.  Today I decided to make a card for a couple of challenges, even though I don't have a recipient in mind yet.  This card is for the Skipping Stones Design sketch challenge #51.  The theme is based on the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #36  : a project having to do with being sick.  Technically, mine is for recovery of a physical injury, but since their design team featured a band-aid, I figured this fit in that category.

I cut the oval from Calligraphy Collection and ran it through the Cuttlebug Spots and Dots folder.  The car is from Smiley Cards.  (My Pink Stamper cut out one of each of the base images and offers a downloadable file, which really helped in figuring out the layering from that cart, since there is no handbook.)  I decided to put googly eyes on the car because the ones from the cart cut too tiny to even work with.  I crumpled the fender on the card and inked it a little.  The sentiment inside will read: "I hear you're a little banged up."

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells...

I whipped up a couple of these cards tonight to enter in the sketch challenge at Skipping Stones Design and in the challenge at Cute Card Thursday #138 (Anything Goes).  The bell with ribbon is from the Christmas Solutions cartridge, thanks to the free Gypsy download!  The green circle behind it is from Graphically Speaking.  The white strip at the top was run through the Holly Ribbons Cuttlebug folder.

Thank you

Several of my coworkers got together last week and bought me a beautiful plant for the passing of my uncle.  I knew that I wanted to make them some Thank You cards.  Then my friend Nicole told me about the challenge at Mojo Monday.  I had never made a card based on a sketch before, but I am quite pleased with how it turned out.  I will also be entering this card in the challenge at Paper Issues, using scallops.

The brown scalloped rectangle is from Graphically Speaking.  It was cut at 4.25x2 in.
The yellow rectangle is also from Graphically Speaking.  It was cut at 3.75x1.5 in.
The blue shape that the sentiment is stamped on is from Calligraphy Collection.  It was cut at 1.5x2.25in.    I had to cut the image in half (This worked well since I was making several cards anyway and could use both halves.) and then trim the ends so they were flat and at 1.5 in.
The branch and flowers are from Gypsy Wanderings.  The branch was cut at 4.25 width (linked to height).  The flowers were at 2.10 width (linked to height).  They are perhaps a bit big, but if they were smaller they would have been difficult to work with.  I added a dot of glitter glue to the center of the flowers.

Happy Birthday!

My niece's birthday is coming up.  She's going to be 22, so I didn't want a card that was too childish or too "senior" for her.  I used the wine (or champagne?) glasses from Calligraphy collection.  I used the Hide Contour feature on my Gypsy to delete one of the glasses.  I then doubled the design.  On one, I hid the line for the inside of the glass.  (This was cut in white.)  On the other, I hid the line for the outside.  (This was cut in pink.)  The result was having a glass that looks like it is full rather than cutting an outline of a glass.

I decided to make a tall card mainly because of the size of my scraps.  The idea for making a tall card came from Mary at Cardztv.  These cards fit in a business envelope.
I felt like it was missing a little something and decided to add some buttons I'd gotten a while back, since the colors were about right.  I like the bright colors on this card, and didn't want to cover them up to make a plain colored square for the sentiment to be stamped on, but it doesn't show up all that well on the patterned paper.

Ten year anniversary card

My half sister and her husband will be celebrating their 10-year anniversary on November 11.  I made this S-fold card for them.  (Thanks to Mary at Cardztv for showing me how to do an S-fold card.)  This card will be entered in Momo's Tuesday Challenge for the week of November 2.  The challenge was to use embossing.  I used my Heart Blocks Cuttlebug folder.  The cartridge I used for the 10s was Graphically Speaking.  I used my Gypsy to adjust the size so they would fit just right on the card.  

Wow!  The 10/ten design on the left hand side was quite delicate to cut out!  I had to use my Exacto knife to help get out the inside of all the numbers and letters.  It is a little fuzzy in spots, but I was just thankful that it didn't rip!

Thanksgiving birthday card

My uncle's birthday falls on Thanksgiving this year, so I wanted to make a combined birthday card.  I used the Gypsy Font and the cornucopia from Paper Dolls Dress Up.  This card will be entered in the Cricut Cardz Challenge #46 (anything goes), Paper Cutz Challenge #63 (anything goes), and the Paper Playtime challenge #20 (orange as main color).

Update 10/30/10

Uncle Pete passed away last night.  He will be greatly missed by many.  As his youngest daughter posted on Facebook, "I just take comfort that he can once again hear and has no physical problems now that he is in heaven."

Another music card :)

If you haven't noticed by now, just about everyone in my husband's family are musicians, and all of his siblings' birthdays are in the fall.  His brother Emilio plays sax, but I couldn't find a sax on any Cricut carts (They really need to make an all music cart.), so I used the Treble Clef sign from Curisve 101 to make this card.  I just got a Gypsy 2 days ago, so I am pretty proud of myself for making a card with it already!  I used 2 of the image with the "shadow blackout" feature selected.  I had to use "hide contour" to get rid of the paintbrush that also came with this image.  Then I flipped one of the images, put them back to back and welded them together.  I cut out another, regular version of the image in black with no features selected.  This card doesn't have a lot of room to write inside, but it could be used for just about anything--"Just a note," "A note of thanks," etc...

You Rock card

My sister-in-law's 16th birthday is coming up and she likes to sing, so I used the sentiment idea from one of Mary's cards and changed up the design.  The background was run through the Cuttlebug Spots and Dots folder.  The star is from Graphically Speaking, page 41, cut at 3 inches.  The microphone is from Everyday Paper Dolls, page 44, cut at 3.75 inches with Real Dial Size on.  I cut it twice, once with glitter paper and once in black and did my own layering.  The brads were an awesome Goodwill find!

Breast cancer awareness

I am doing a walk for breast cancer awareness tomorrow with some colleagues.  I wanted to make a thank you card for a friend who made a donation to our team.  The bra is the hula girl's top from page 42 of Paper Doll Dress Up.  I ran the bra through the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder and added a little bling in the middle.  The background is run through the D'Vine Swirls Cuttlebug folder.  At the bottom, I ran a ribbon across and then attached the sentiment on top.  This card will be entered in the Paper Playtime challenge #19 (week of Oct. 4, 2010), using ribbons, buttons, or rhinestones.

Baptism card

This is actually only a corner of the card I created for a baptism recently.  The main part of the card was based on a card from My Pink Stamper's site.  I added this shell and water drops to symbolize the baptism.  The shell is cut from Paper Doll Dress Up (from the mermaid on page 43) and the water drops are from Every Day Paper Dolls (page 42).  I chalked the edges of the shell.  I think I will be using this idea for future baptism cards, but making it bigger, the main focus of the card.

Happy Holly Days!

This is another Mary-inspired card.  It is 4.25 x 5.5 inches.  I cut the holly paper at 3.5 x 4in, but I think I would cut this slightly longer next time to allow for a little more overlap with the green paper, which I cut at 2 x 4 inches and ran through the Holly Ribbons Cuttlebug folder.  The holly was cut from Stretch Your Imagination.  I cut it at 2 inches and mounted it on foam tape.  (I had tried 2.5 inches and that was too wide, but I think next time I'd try 2.25.")  I printed the sentiment on the computer and trimmed the corners with a Creative Memories corner punch.

Cub Scouts card

I needed to mail my nephew a check for the popcorn I ordered from him through Cub Scouts, so I thought I'd make him a cute card.  It took quite a while, but I'm really happy with how it turned out and his mom told me he looooved it!
The card is 4.25 x 5.5 inches.  I used Everyday Paper Dolls and Paper Doll Dress Up.  Here are the cuts and sizes I used:

EDPD:
doll 3"
sign from page 40 at 3" with Real Dial Size ON--This was actually an accident.  I didn't realize I had it on from a previous project!
shirt and hair from page 54
shorts from page 71
shoes from page 34
clouds from page 42, run through D'Vine Swirls Cuttlebug folder
fire from page 40.  I cut this out twice, once in gray and once in yellow to create my own layering.  I colored the logs with a brown marker on the yellow one.  I cut out the rocks from the gray and glued on the yellow.  Then I outlined the flames with an orange marker and chalked with orange.
marshmallows from page 40.  I also did some layering on this one.  I cut it out once in white and once in brown, cut out the white marshmallows and glued them on the brown.

PDDU:
scarf from page 36 This is from the Raggedy Andy doll --Don't tell my nephew!  :)

The boy, sign, fire, and marshmallows are mounted on foam tape.  Peachy Keen Stamps (PK-570) for the face.

My first post! A birthday card

I want to thank Mary at Cardztv for inspiring me to make my own blog.  This first posting is for her Sept./Oct. 2010 Create a Card challenge in which you must create a card without using a Cricut.  This was indeed a challenge for me, since I didn't even do cardmaking before owning my Cricut.  I made this birthday card for my brother-in-law.  He is a bass player, so I used some paper from DCWV's Rockstar stack.  I ran the brown paper through my Cuttlebug.  I kind of feel like this card is missing something, but I guess if I made it too fancy it wouldn't be "manly!"