Sunset layout

Last summer my husband and I vacationed in Michigan.  On our last night there, we took a rowboat out on the small lake at our campground.  We took along a bottle of wine we bought locally and the fudge we had purchased on Mackinac Island a few days earlier.  We got some beautiful sunset pictures.  I was taking forever choosing a layout (I've found I always like layouts better when I find them online rather than when I slap the pictures down myself.)  Today, I happened to find a layout via Pinterest that had the same number of photos I was working with, and in the same direction.  That had to be the layout for me!  And, even better, the layout was part of a current challenge!

Here is what I came up with:

As I was taping down the last items on the second page, I realized that I had focused a little too much on each individual page and not the 2-page spread.  The line of black stars across the middle doesn't line up at all.  Oh, well.  I'm not going to tear it apart now.  At least the pages coordinate.

The black circles were cut with a punch and embossed using the Tiny Stars folder by The Paper Studio.  Here is a close-up of the embossing on the black circles:

The sentiment on the left hand page ("Recipe for an Enchanted Evening") came from a tourist booklet I picked up in Michigan.  The black stars are from Doodlecharms.  The "Under the Stars" sign on the right hand page is from Campin' Critters.

This layout will be entered in the following challenges:

Pamela's World of Scrap--layout #237b (I flipped the left and right pages.)

Desert Island Craft Challenge--#56 diecut/punch, dry embossing, sentiment

Paper Playtime--#12 Everything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Challenge--Transport

CAS-ual Fridays--CFC105 Mapquest/Travel theme

Baby Shower

My little sister is expecting twins in February and her best friend and I are throwing her shower.  Since my sister is a scrapbooker, we knew she would love home made invitations.  Since we needed around 50 of them though, we didn't want them to be too complicated.  We decided a baby bottle design would be simple enough and give us the space we needed for our information.  We used the bottle from Doodlecharms.  I changed the proportions on my Gypsy so the invites will fit in a business envelope.  I used Opposites Attract to print "Twins!" on the ring of the bottle with my Cricut markers.  The colors are a bit non-traditional, but my sister doesn't know the genders of the babies and we had access to a large quantity of free cardstock in bright colors, so we thought this would be fun and eye catching!

(Identifying information has been hidden for privacy.)

This card will be entered in the following challenges:

Cricut Cardz Challenge #118--Anything goes

Peachy Keen Challenge #40--Word up!

Little Clair #26--New Arrivals

Catching up on my school album

I have been teaching since 2003 and had initially been keeping my school pictures in a regular slide-the-pictures-in-the-slots album.  The problem was that every year we get a staff picture and a class picture that are too big to fit, so I decided to scrapbook my school pics.  I had a scrapbooking day at my sister's house this weekend and got a few pages done.  This one is to showcase the letter of recommendation I got at the end of my internship.  (I erased a few of the identifying details for privacy.)

All three of the images on the left side are from Doodlecharms.  The strip of pencils at the bottom is from  The Paper Studio's "School Days" paper pack.

This layout will be entered in the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday #188--sketch challenge

Scrappy Moms Stamps Terrific Tuesday Challenge--Doodlecharms

More Than Favors Wacky Wednesday #57--anything goes

Tuesday Throwdown #72--primary colors

Scrapbook page re-do

Four years ago, when school was out for summer, my then-boyfriend of 3 months and I embarked on a road trip to New York City--to get married!  When we returned, of course I wanted to scrap the pictures of all of our adventures.  My new husband even helped me.  There were two pages that always bothered me though.  They were soooo simple.  One of them was the first page of the book:

The apple die cuts are from the Ellison machine at my school!


Four more years of scrapping and cardmaking experience and a couple of challenges I saw this week inspired me to redo that first page.  Here is version 2:

The map in the background is a road map that was being thrown out at school.  The letters are from Opposites Attract.  The apple is from Doodlecharms.  The buildings are from Plantin Schoolbook.  I plan to use the leaf of the apple to recreate the journaling from the original page.  I tried cutting out the gray top layer of the buildings from silver glitter paper.  I increased the blade depth and the pressure and even did multi-cut, but wasn't able to cut through that paper.  So, it is plain gray for now.  I have to admit, I haven't adhered everything down yet, because I want to see if I can find some kind of spray shimmer/glitter for those buildings.  Does anyone out there have any advice for cutting glitter paper or for any type of glitter that you can apply evenly over a large surface?

This page will be entered in the following challenges:
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog #62--Remember this: special person, time or anniversary
Paper Cutz challenge #94--beach or travel
Totally Papercrafts #69--get fruity (The Big Apple!)
Celebrate The Occasion #16--School's out!  must include an apple

Thanks a melon!

I recently won a blog challenge at Cardztv and got an awesome prize package.  I wanted to make a cute card to thank Mary.
The watermelon on this card is from Doodlecharms.  I used the hide contour feature on the Gypsy to get the little lines on the rinds drawn on with the Cricut markers.  I cut out some of the seeds bigger to have some extra ones for accents on the side.  The turquoise paper was run through the Spots and Dots Cuttlebug folder and the brown paper was run through Swiss Dots.

This card will be entered into the following challenges:

Peachy Keen Stamps--sketch #52

More Than Favors--Wacky Wednesday #39: pink, brown, teal, cream (I hope it is OK I have a bit of green.  I noticed one of their sample cards did.)

Ashley's Scrappin Palace--summer project

School Days layout

I went scrapbooking with my some friends last weekend.  I've given up on scrapping all of my pictures (I'd never keep up!), but I try to scrap big trips I go on.  I haven't been on any trips lately, so I decided to scrap my pictures from school--the staff and class pictures won't fit in a regular slide-the-picture-in-the-slots album.  This is the title page I made:

I actually used the design from the cover of a stack of paper by The Paper Studio for inspiration.  The word "School" is from Opposites Attract.  "Days" is from Cursive 101.  The apple is from Doodlecharms.  The pencil is from Locker Talk, but I was using my Gypsy and didn't have the manual with me, which is helpful sometimes to figure out layering.  To make a long story short, I tried stretching an image on the Gypsy, it didn't turn out so well, and I had to make a few "adjustments" with a scissors.  So, this pencil doesn't quite look like either of the ones on the cart.

This page will be entered into the following challenges:
Paper Cutz Challenge #92--teacher appreciation
My Time to Craft #142--use a die cut

Mother's Day card, version 2

In a previous post, I mentioned that I had some left over cuts and wanted to try another, slightly different version of the Mother's Day card I made.  Now I've got one for my Mother-in-Law as well!

This time, I only used the flowers from Doodlecharms, with the Peachy Keen faces.  I added the sentiment at the bottom on a shape from Calligraphy Collection.  The purple rectangle was run through the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder.

This card will be entered in the following challenges:
Die Cuttin' Divas #12--Mother's Day
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #57--Mom's the Word
Cricut Cardz Challenge #71--Mother's Day
Celebrate the Occasion #11--Mother's Day
Creative Cutter Room--Linking party

Mother's Day card

The butterfly on this card is from Indie Art and the flowers are from Doodlecharms.  The oval was actually a scrap from a project I did last night.  (I'm so proud of myself for finally using one of those extra die cuts I save!)  The purple rectangle was run through the Cuttlebug folder Swiss Dots.  The faces in the flowers are Peachy Keen PK-570.

If I were to make this card again, I would probably make the flowers smaller or put a bouquet of them in the center of the oval rather than the butterfly.  I always put extra shapes on my Gypsy mat when I make a project in case any of them don't cut well.  All of them did cut well this time, so I have extras and may try some of those other variations.

This card will be entered in the following challenges:
Really Reasonable Ribbon--Challenge #22 Violets and Lilacs and Plums, oh my!
Peachy Keen Stamps Let's Face it Friday challenge #13--Mother's Day card using Peachy Keen faces  (This was my first time using the faces on something other than a paper doll!)
The Sweet Stop--Sketch challenge
Cardztv--Mother's Day card using blue, purple, green and white
More Than Favors--Cricut Cartridge Chaos Challenge #14--Indie Art

That's what little boys are made of!

I recently made a batch of baby girl cards and needed to make some boy cards to even things out.  The sketch at Skipping Stones Design had 3 panels in it, and that made me think of the Nursery Rhyme, "Snips and snails, and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of."  It was easy enough to find a snail and a puppy (on Create a Critter), and since it is pretty hard to find a "snip,"  I went with an insect from Doodlecharms!

This card will be entered in 

Skipping Stones Design sketch challenge #70 

Totally Papercrafts challenge #60, "One for the boys."

Lezlye's Ink and Paper Creations--Best of 2011

Cooking with Cricut--Favorite project of 2011

Sweat Pea

I know several ladies who are pregnant (including 4 of my Scrap Girls!) and my best friend just had a baby girl, so I decided it was time to get going on some baby cards!

The brown rectangle is 2x4.75 in.  The pink rectangle is 2x3.5 in.  The bottle is from Doodlecharms.  The "Sweet Pea" embossing is from the Cuttlebug set "It's a Girl."
This card will be entered in the following challenges:
Cute Card Thursday sketch #149
More Than Favors--Wacky Wednesday #23--colors green, brown, and pink

Sweet!

In looking at the requirements for the challenges out there this week, I decided to make Valentine's Day cards for my two new nieces.  The cupcake is from Doodlecharms.  The image comes with a birthday candle, but I just cut that off with scissors after the Cricut cut it out and added a heart, from the same cartridge.  The frosting was run through the Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirls folder and the red background was run through the Heart Blocks folder.  The triangles in the "banner" at the top are also from Doodlecharms.

I used the Cricut markers that I got for Christmas for the first time on this project.  Calligraphy Collection was the first font cartridge I ever purchased for my Cricut, after much deliberation over all the styles that are out there.  I have been so disappointed at how the letters cut though.  In certain areas, they seem to just get too skinny and they are nearly impossible to get off the matt in one piece unless perhaps you cut them REALLY big.  The markers were a good way to use the font on that cartridge.  Thanks to my sister Ann for getting me the markers, and to the Scrapbooking Grandma for her video on using the markers on a Cricut die cut image.

This card will be entered in the following challenges:
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge blog #44--neglected cartridge.  The challenge was to use a cartridge you have not used in 6 months or more.  I have just had my Cricut for a year, and when I went through them, there weren't any that quite met that criteria yet.  I have only used Doodlecharms once recently, however, and while I have used Calligraphy Collection for basic shapes, I'm sure I have not used its font in over 6 months due to the challenges with it I described above.
Cardztv--cupcake challenge
Cricut Cardz Challenge #59--make a Valentine's Day card for a child
Skipping Stones Design--sketch challenge #61
My Time To Craft Challenge #125--embossing
My Pink Stamper--something yummy
Paper Playtime #35--anything party related

Thanks "snow" much

After Christmas, my husband and I went on a mini trip for a couple of days to visit relatives of his.  His great aunt was the first that we visited, and as always, she had a gift for us.  So, I wanted to send a thank you card for the gift and will also be sending her photos we took with her that day.  Here is the card I created for her:

I used Graphically Speaking for the lighter blue rectangle with the rounded corners and the oval.  The snowman is from Doodlecharms.  His hat is from Snow Friends (I used my Gypsy to make sure it was the right size.) and his face is from Peachy Keen Stamps Winter Face Assortment (PK-520).  If I were to do it again, I would have run the layer under the snowman through my Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder.

I want to thank Mary at Cardztv.  I won the Snow Friends cartridge from one of her Christmas in July challenges--the first thing I ever won from a challenge!  I also want to thank Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog again for sharing their awesome tip on how to print on die cuts.  I'm sure I'll be using that technique on many cards to come as well.

This card will be entered in the following challenges:

Skipping Stones sketch #59

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog #42--winter warmies (winter clothing/accessory)

Paper Cutz Challenge #73--use metal (see brads at the bottom)

Totally Papercrafts #48--Thank you card
Made by Momo--snow theme