Friday, June 25, 2021

TGIF; Thankful Friday #183

Happy TGIF; Thankful Friday! This week I'm thankful for my family. Not just my kiddos, but my extended family too. We visited cousins for the first time in a long time; we had a nephew stay with us for a couple of days; and my sister came over to visit - all in a week!

I don't know if it's because we had limited contact due to the pandemic or that I just love spending time with my family - but no matter the reason, I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to spend time with them & actually like them.

I told myself I needed to take a photo when we were all together on Tuesday, but of course I didn't. You know, as a scrapbooker, I need to be slapped. Taking pictures should be my "go to"! LOL

Either way, it was still a good time!

How about you? What are you thankful for this week? Leave a comment and share!

Thursday, June 24, 2021

Month In Review Layout Using a Sketch

Hey there! Do you work with sketches when creating layouts? I love to use sketches especially when I'm experiencing creative block and need a jump start on my layout. This Month In Review (MIR) single page layout was using a sketch from Scrapping The Day Away with AnnMarie.

If you love to scrapbook, then I strongly encourage you to click over and become a member of this new scrapbooking site. My friend, AnnMarie has created this one stop spot for scrapbooking and is so much fun! There's a free membership and paid membership and both offer scrapbooking & more scrapbooking fun. She had asked if I wanted to be part of the first Design Team for her site and of course I said YES.

Here's my layout:

A quick process video:
Details:
  • The teal base patterned paper is a map and I placed the 11x11 piece of floral paper right on top of it.
  • I chose the floral because it had the teal to match the map paper and also the red to coordinate with the photo. I chose the teal map paper for obvious reasons!
  • The strips are 1.5 x 12" but as you can see from the video, one of them was cut in half to make two .75" strips.
  • Circles are 2.75" and were cut from a punch.
  • The fun die cut embellishments are from the Simple Stories Going Places collection.
  • Black Liquid Pearls were purchased from Close To My Heart.
This was a pretty simple MIR layout since there wasn't much going on this month. Do you create MIR layouts? I got this idea from Janet* of RTS Scrapbooking years ago and have created a MIR ever since. Her intention was to do this for December versus creating a December Daily album, but I thought it was a great idea for each month. There is always something going on during the month which don't necessarily need an entire layout to document but you still want to record the memory.

*Janet has stopped creating new content video on YouTube but her older videos are awesome! She has moved over to Patreon.

Monday, June 21, 2021

BBTB2; Masculine Project Challenge


It's my turn to host the current two week challenge at the Bitten By The Bug 2 (BBTB2) challenge blog. I chose the challenge theme of...masculine. I know we've all been making great masculine projects with our Cricuts for Father's Day, now let's show them off!

I made these simple, inexpensive & cool customized drink coasters using some mini pallets I found at the Dollar Tree and of course, my Cricut.



I filmed a quick process video so you can see how quick & easy this project is. I hope you decide to do something like this on your own!

Since I didn't have any wood stain and I wanted these to have some color, I thinned out acrylic paint with water and sponged it on. They look great! I then did a "D" search in Design Space and this simple "D" from the Split Monogram set popped up. I did have to unlock the image to stretch it out a little in order to fit the pallet but other than that, it was that simple!

Check out the video to get more details:

I wrapped them up with a six pack of hubby's favorite beer to make this the perfect Father's Day gift!

Be sure to click over to the BBTB2 site to check out the Design Team projects and to link your masculine project as well. Please be sure to mention how you used your Cricut for your project! 

Friday, June 18, 2021

TGIF; Thankful Friday #182

Happy Friday! This week I'm thankful for my new car! Yup, I got a new car. It has the "new car" smell and only a few miles on it AND it's new! 
It's a KIA Seltos...it's considered an SUV but it's pretty compact. Pretty fun, huh?
How about you? What are you thankful for this week? Leave a comment and let me know!

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

WOYWW #628

It's been awhile since I shared my desk on WOYWW. I've been busy crafting and living life and just keep forgetting. This time I set a reminder so I wouldn't forget. LOL

So happy "What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday" to you. Click on over to the Stamping Ground website where Julia's been hosting this Wednesday linkage for years! It's nice to take a peek into everyone's craft spaces and be inspired by their work and their lives.

Here's my desk - semi-cleared off since I am working on centerpieces for a 3rd birthday party and need lots of room. I purchased 3D number SVGs to cut the pieces with my Cricut. I'll show the final project once I'm all done. It's strange, Cricut Design Space has 3D letters but not numbers. But the SVG was not very expensive so I'm not too upset about it.

I'm excited about these centerpieces because I can see how I can do something similar for any occasion that involves a number.

Be sure to click on over to Julia's blog to see more desks and to link a photo of your workspace too.


Tuesday, June 15, 2021

You're A Star; Inky Card

Look at this fabulous inky slimline card I made! I decided to go with rainbow colors as a homage to PRIDE month. I'm probably the last to know this, but my daughter is the one who taught me the whole ROYGBV (Roy G Biv) saying for the colors of the rainbow - they didn't teach that little hint when I was growing up. This really helps when putting the colors in the right order.


The majority of the products are from Close To My Heart (CTMH) since I made this card for the current challenge at Heart2Heart challenge blog.

Here's the process video:


More photos of the card:



Products Used:
Stamp Sets: Take Note and Love Life (these are both older sets and probably no longer available)
Inks (in rainbow order): Cranberry, Cotton Candy, Honey, Buttercup, Olive, Indian Corn Blue, Gypsy
Black Archival Ink
Cardstock in black and white are from my stash
Color Silk (splashes): Sparkle and Gold from Fun Stampers Journey (Spellbinders)
Gold adhesive backed stars from my stash (I think these came from CTMH as well, but not 100% sure)
Misti

In case you're wondering, the slimline card dimensions are 3.5x8.5".  The inside mat is 3.25x8.25.

UPDATE!  I won the June challenge for this card! I'm a Heart 2 Heart Challenges Darling!



Sketch N Scrap Layout Challenge #227


Hi there. I am almost finished scrapbooking my 2019 photos (I feel like I've been saying this for a long time now) and so ready to start 2020. Sketch N Scrap has their mid-month layout sketch out and it's a good one. 

The sketch:

Here's my layout:
Close Up of the title & embellishment:
Isn't that North Pole or Bust bus cute? I cut that using the Doodlecharms collection from the Cricut. You'll noticed that I also cut some trees for the top left corner. The title was also cut with the Cricut. I used the offset feature to create two shadows around the words.

Your turn...use this sketch or either June sketch to create a fun layout. Be sure to link it to the Sketch N Scrap challenge site before the end of the month!


Friday, June 11, 2021

TGIF; Thankful Friday #181

Happy Thankful Friday!

This week I'm thankful for the new gray hairs that are showing up on my head. I know, that sounds nuts, but instead of fretting about them, I want to embrace them.

They show me that I'm living a longer life; I've been (and still) going through some things; and help me appreciate what I've gone through in my life - good & bad!

So if you see me, no need to tell me that you notice I'm getting a little gray.

How about you? What are you thankful for this week? Let me know in the comments.



Monday, June 7, 2021

Bitten By The Bug 2; County Fair Challenge


The newest challenge at the Bitten By The Bug 2 (BBTB2) challenge site is...county fair/fair. I know it's summer and the perfect time to celebrate the county fair, but you know what...? Since my kiddos have grown up, we rarely go to the fair anymore. I struggled with this challenge but then had an AH HA moment...Quilts! 

One thing I always love about the fair are all the crafty exhibits. My mom is a quilter so we always loved these entries.

I used the Tile Stencils in Cricut Design Space and added paper scraps from the Sunday Afternoon paper pad from DCWV. I also have a stitch/sewing stamp set that I got the sentiment from and the flower quilting.




I hope you're inspired to create something with this week's challenge them and link it to the BBTB2 Cricut challenge site before the due date.

Saturday, June 5, 2021

Sketch n Scrap Card Challenge #195


I've said it before and I'll say it again...I love working with sketches! Check out the new card sketches at the Sketch n Scrap  challenge blog.

I decided to work with Sketch #195. I created a process video - be sure to check it out below. The sketch:

Basically, after fiddling around, I decided to turn the sketch to the side and add the focal image going vertical instead of horizontal.

I just bought this cute elephant stamp set recently and I love how cute the images are and versatile the sentiments are.

Here's the card:

Here's the video:

Details:
  • The papers were scraps from my scrap pile and the yellow flowers is a washi tape adhered to white cardstock before adhering to the card.
  • Black pearl drops
  • Variety of alcohol markers
  • Clear glitter marker
  • Stamp set from Whimsy Stamps


Friday, June 4, 2021

TGIF; Thankful Friday #180


Happy Thankful Friday! This week I'm thankful for taking the last three days off. I always do this to myself...my back hurts, I'm in a funk, but I continue to go to work. Well this week, I took Wednesday through Friday off and didn't even respond to work emails! I'm so proud of myself.  LOL

 I hope you take time off when you need it, when you can. Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

June MCK Announcement

The card we'll be making during the Monthly Card Kit Live Event is a tunnel card. This is the one we'll be making together during the event:


And the extra one that you'll make on your own:

Aren't these great! The featured card is perfect for a sympathy, thinking of you and/or get well.

If you're interested in the Live Event and the Monthly Card Kit, click over to the tab on the Home Page and read all about it and then click over to my FB page to sign up for the event!

I'm having a ton of fun with these "craft with me" videos and enjoying this crafty time with my friends and family!

 

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

LTSCB; June No Rulz Challenge


Wow, I can't believe it's already June! Summer is here and we surely feel the heat in California. Time for a new challenge at the Love To Scrap Challenge Blog. This month's challenge theme is...No Rulz.

I played it pretty safe by stamping and creating this fun sunflower triple layer card. The boot & flowers are one large stamp. I stamped it three times (well the two additional times, I only stamped all the flowers and then only the one on the bottom right). I colored all the images, fussy cut and then used foam adhesive to lift up the layers.



I believe you can see what I mean by this perspective.

After I adhered the white cardstock & image to the card base, I felt like it needed something. So I used a small paisley stamp to stamp a background; inked the edges; and put a sentiment.

Cute, huh? Now it's your turn...what will you create with your stamps this month? Be sure to link your project to the LTSCB before the end of the month!


LTCCB; June


Happy Summer Month! It's June 1st and time for a new challenge at the Love To Craft Challenge Blog (LTCCB). As always the monthly challenge theme is...Anything Goes.

With birthdays coming up this month, I created this paper birthday banner for the birthday boy. He's a 49er fan and it was perfect to add a festive touch!


All pieces were cut with my Cricut. I added gold splatters all over each banner piece to add some fun to them.

Now it's your turn. Click over to the LTCCB, check out the DT project and then link up your crafty project before the end of the month!