Mother's Day and My Cricut; FCCB

Happy Monday and welcome to another Monday challenge at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog!

Challenge #325-Mother's Day
Make a project about Mother's Day.

This Weeks Sponsor

Create a project inspired by Mother's Day

To qualify for the prize, be sure to use at least 1 Cricut cut on your project and if it's not obvious, let us know what cartridge you used. If you use a Cricut Explore machine, at least one cut must be from the Cricut catalog of images.

If it isn't a card, you will get two entries into the drawing!

Here is my project-

I don't know why, but I had a hard time starting this year's Mother's Day card. I pulled out the Create-A-Critter II cartridge and started cutting out the Mother's Day bear. Oh my, she's so cute! I know, I know, that seems to be my fall back cartridge, but it has everything and is so stinkin' cute!

So, I cut the bear and the #1 mom sentiment...now what? I seriously was in a creative funk. I started pulling patterned papers, different color cardstock and eventually one thing led to another and I came up with this. And I LOVE it! I mean how cute is this polaroid?

I added some bling but otherwise kept it pretty simple.

I also created the "polaroid" using my cricut machine. In Design Space, I pulled up two squares and adjusted them into rectangles. I put the smaller rectangle in the larger one and sliced it out. I made about 10 of them just to have on hand. The base size of the larger rectangle is 3 3/4 x 5. I hope you love it as much as I do!

Now it's your turn... make a card or any project for Mother's Day and link it on the FCCB blog.

TGIF; Thankful Friday #40

I can't believe it's Friday already! Since I've been on vacation, days didn't really matter. I flew out of Tucson Wednesday morning and I was so happy to come home! I've never been away from my family for so long.

This week I'm thankful to my sister and brother-in-law. They made my week fabulous! We went everywhere and I didn't have to do much of anything. I still need to go through my photos but I took some amazing shots. We visited a couple of art shops and I purchased some handmade cards that I plan to frame and place in the Command Center. I love supporting local artists - isn't that what we're all about?

It was weird not creating anything for an entire week so I did spend a few moments in the craft room last night just to poke around. I do plan on spending more time in there this weekend.

Happy Friday!

Card Inspiration with Quick Quotes

I'm getting vintage with the Secret Garden collection. Gosh, this is another beautiful paper collection to work with! It's so pretty. Awhile ago, I purchased four sets of vintage ephemera that I love to look at but hardly ever use. The colors of this sets match the Secret Garden collection so perfectly that I just had to use them for these cards!

The first thing I did was cut the Secret Garden GN104 sheet into 3 3/4 x 5" panels. After cutting the panels, I inked each one a different color with Powder Puff Chalking Ink (Deep Sea, Vanilla Cream, Cactus and Lipstick).

Then I went through the ephemera packs and started pulling items and layering them until I was happy with the way they looked. Before adhering, I inked the ephemera pieces with the same color Powder Puff Chalk Ink that was used on the patterned paper panels.

I inked the butterfly with Vanilla Cream and Lipstick  Powder Puff Chalk Inks.

Don't you love those cork butterflies?!

Each card has at least five layers, a butterfly, enamel dots or pearls, and a stamped sentiment. By combining these products, I created an updated vintage look. I know, it sounds like an oxymoron, but I really think it's a thing!

Quick Quotes Products Used:
Secret Garden GN104 Paper
Powder Puff Chalk Inks: Deep Sea, Cactus, Vanilla Cream and Lipstick

Other Products Used:
Vintage Ephemera Packs by Jill Brown
Enamels Dots/Pearls by Queen and Company
Various Sentiment Stamps from my collection

You Are My Happy!

I'm still in Tucson, but I wanted to share a card that I made before I left. My friend Katie sent me a video of Jennifer McGuire (is that her name - I forget) sharing her inspiration for a wreath builder template using the MISTI. Katie also shared templates that she created herself. I printed them on regular copier paper and placed them down on the mat in my MISTI.

Super cool!

I don't have the link to Jennifer's YouTube video, but I'm sure you could search it for instructions. You can see the mistake I made with the leaf (dang it!), but it's still super pretty. I definitely need to make more.

And...since she's my happy, here a photo of me and my granddaughter as twinsies! Her words not mine. LOL

Flower Stamps:  CTMH
Sentiment: CTMH
Color Silks: FSJ (if you are interested in purchasing either splashes or color silks, they are on sale now on the Fun Stampers Journey website. 20% off! If you don't have a coach already, please enter my name before you submit your order)

TGIF; Thankful Friday #39

As I mentioned before, I am on vacation in Tucson with my sister, brother-in-law and my mom.

This week I'm thankful for accrued vacation time. I may have been thankful for this once before, but let me tell ya, being able to leave work and still get paid is a pretty awesome thing!

I'll have my own photos soon, but this is what I'm hoping to see lots of while I'm in Arizona.

Have a blessed weekend!Be sure to let me know what you are thankful for this Friday.

QQ and San Antonio Day One

Happy mid-week everyone! I'm here to share the process video I made using the new Secret Garden paper collection from Quick Quotes with photos from my trip to San Antonio.

This paper is so pretty with vibrant, colorful flowers and prints. I knew they were going to be perfect for my San Antonio trip photos. Even though I pulled out Deep Sea, Lipstick, Light Moss and Bermuda PowderPuff Chalk Inks to use with this collection, I ended up only using Deep Sea and Lipstick to ink the edges of all the papers and embellishments used for these layouts.

I didn't show this in the video, but I added this title onto the small pocket page layout.

In case you didn't understand my instructions on making your own fishtail banners, here's a recap:
Cut your paper the size you want your banner. On the side that will be the bottom (fishtail), measure or eyeball the center of the width of the paper, and then snip up until you reach the size you want for your fishtail. Then trim off the triangle portion from the bottom left corner up to the top of the snip and repeat on the other side from the bottom right corner up to the top of the snip. Hopefully this photo will help:

The nice thing about the shape of the PowderPuff Chalk Ink pads is that they are perfect for these tight areas that need inking.

Thanks for watching and be sure to watch out for the Secret Garden paper collection coming out soon.

Quick Quotes Products Used:
Secret Garden Paper Collection
PowderPuff Chalk Inks: Deep Sea, Lipstick

CWS Mid Month Inspiration

Hello there! It's already April 15th and time for a mid-month inspiration with Creative With Stamps.

My first post was with a large bubblegum machine image from our sponsor, Pattie's Creations. This card was made by reducing the size of the digi stamp and creating a customized background. I dropped a large splash of watercolor paint on each machine and then blotted it; one color at a time. I used a bright color cardbase since the "patterned paper" was pretty soft. I then embossed the sentiment in black. Still CAS but so different from the first card.

There's still time to play - create a card that fits the current challenge (CAS + Sentiment) and link it at the Creative With Stamps website.

Good luck!

TGIF; Thankful Friday #38

Another Friday! I had a busy week and I'm so glad it's Friday. As most of us know, next week, April 17th, taxes are due. We have to pay...yup, long are the days when we had our four big tax deductions. We've had to pay for the past seven or eight years. So normally I would never be thankful for Tax Day, but you know what...I'm turning over a new leaf and actually being thankful for taxes due.

Taxes due means that we were fortunate enough to make money...to be employed...to be blessed. I may not ever say this again, but what the heck, why not be thankful for taxes due?!

I'm hoping many of you had much more than that to be thankful for this week.  Share in the comments what you're thankful for this week.

WOYWW #462

Hey there and happy WOYWW! Every Wednesday, Miss Julia from Stamping Ground hosts a linkage for anyone to post a photo of their work areas. It gives us a chance to take a peek into others' craft rooms, desk, area, tables, etc. It's a great way to get inspiration, meet new friends or just be nosey! I do a little of each...hee hee hee.

So without further ado...here's my desk:

I just completed decorating two water bottles. One is for my mom and the other is mine. I am also trying a new project with the MISTI and a template to make a wreath. A friend of mine showed it to me and it looks pretty cool. I'll try to remember to post photos later. Those black/white design papers are actually sticker strips to customize. I bought them from the Dollar Tree. I thought I'd give them a try.

I'm super excited because I'm taking a road trip with my mom, sister and brother-in-law to Tucson next Wednesday. They are in the process of moving so I'm going down with them to check out their new house, help them with some unpacking and then just visiting the area and relaxing. I'll fly back home without being a mother or a wife for seven days. Don't get me wrong, I'm gonna miss everyone at home, but I sure do look forward to just being a daughter and a little sister.

Don't forget to click on over to the Stamping Ground site and check out some of these work areas. And have a great week!

QQ April Project; Scrapbooking

Hey there, I'm here to show off a layout I did showcasing our trip to Santa Cruz. Can you believe we didn't even go to the beach?! We went for a concert and my daughter-in-law had to go to Pizza My Heart for dinner. Which was totally worth it!

I used FIVE different patterned papers from the Navigator collection from Quick Quotes for this layout. Using paper collections is great for mixing and matching patterned papers - no need for guessing, the collection does all the work for you! I also used Tropical Punch, Bermuda, and Deep Sea PowderPuff Chalk Inks with this layout. I used them to edge papers and punched elements and also for the stamped title.

I hope you can also tell that I made a shaker element on the bottom right. I used some tiny beads and  sand from my stash and punched elements from the Navigator Quotes and Phrases sheet.

Here's a close up of the shaker box:

And the stamped title:

I adhered the flags with the same foam tape as the shaker card to balance the page thickness throughout the layout.

With the exception of the white cardstock I used to mat the photos and stamp the title, all paper products are from Quick Quotes.

Quick Quotes Products Used:

Navigator Paper Collection

Navigator Quotes and Phrases

PowderPuff Chalk Inks Used: Tropical Punch, Bermuda, Deep Sea

TGIF; Thankful Friday #37

Well, I'm a little late in this Thankful Friday post. It's Spring Break time in our town even though I still have to work. It's been a nice, quiet week and that is what I'm thankful for this week. Because it's so quiet at work, ssshhh...don't tell anyone, but I've been able to do some of "my work" while at work.

I hope everyone had a blessed Easter and if you have a Spring Break, that you are enjoying that time as well.

What about you? What are you thankful for this week? Please share in the comments below. Until next time...

Junk Journal Tip In; YouTube Video

Hey there, I told you I was planning to add more videos to YouTube. Can you believe I'm doing it? LOL If you haven't already, click the SUBSCRIBE button to see all my videos!

This is a quick one showing how to add a tip-in into your junk journal. You can, of course, do something similar in your planner, art and travel journals, or just about anywhere.

I hope you enjoy it.

Here's a photo of the final page:

The sentiment and stamp are from the same set from Unity Stamp Co. I just bought a bunch of sentiments from their sale pages.

FCCB: Anything Goes with the Cricut

 Happy Monday and welcome to another Monday challenge at the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog (FCCB)!

Challenge #323-Anything Goes with optional twist: Sequins

Make any Cricut project with optional Sequins

This Weeks Sponsor

 Spiegelmom Scraps!

 The prize is this wonderful sequin collection-

To qualify for the prize, be sure to use at least 1 Cricut cut on your project and if it's not obvious, let us know what cartridge you used. If you use a Cricut Explore machine, at least one cut must be from the Cricut catalog of images.

If it isn't a card, you will get two entries into the drawing!

I decided to do a scrapbook layout for the Anything Goes challenge this month. I wanted to use just black, white and red for this layout and I pulled it off. I used the CTMH/Artbooking cartridge for the cupcake & "celebrate" title and Simply Sweet for the birthday circle. Images from the Simply Sweet cartridge was the weekly freebie on Design Space.

I also opted to use sequins and enamel hearts all over the page and cupcake. I love this photo and I love the way the layout turned out!

Now, join the fun. Click on over to the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog and link your Anything Goes project. You know what...click on over there anyways and be inspired by the Design Team and the other linkers' projects. You have a Cricut...now use it! LOL

Cartridges Used:
CTMH Artbooking
Simply Sweet (Design Space weekly freebie)

CWS; Second Anniversary

Happy April Fools Day, Happy Easter, Happy Birthday to my nephew AND to make it more exciting...Happy 2nd Anniversary to Creative With Stamps!

The challenge at CWS for April is:

Sponsor:

Etsy Shop

3 images 

(for Random Winner)

And a Bonus Prize:

I created a card using a bubblegum machine digi image from our sponsor, Pattie's Creations. I loved this image so much and ideas were churning in my head. This month, I veered away from the standard A2 card and made a long & skinny one instead. This card is super colorful and so fun! I'm not really sure if it qualifies for CAS, but it is cute AND it was simple to make.

Here's how I made it:

First I sized the image and printed it on white cardstock. I colored the image with Crayola paint brush markers and a silver marker then added embellishments with a white pen, clear Wink of Stella, and dimensional glaze on the gumballs; added patterned papers to the card base; adhered the image using foam squares and stamped the sentiment within the "globe".

I made two cards, on this one, I used markers w/a water brush and glued mini pompoms for the gumballs.  Love it too!

Here's a photo of both:

Now, it's your turn...create a card for the CAS + Sentiment challenge at Creative With Stamps and link it before the end of the month for an opportunity to win a prize. Good luck!

*I bought the mini pom poms at the Expo last month with no plan to use them so soon. In fact, usually when I purchase an odd product like this, it sits around for at least a year or two before I use it. Even though I HAD to have it. I know you know what I'm talking about. LOL To my surprise, I used it pretty quickly and I can't wait to make more of these cards. I absolutely LOVE how both of these cards turned out!!