BBTB2 Birthday Challenge; Frozen Theme

Time for another fun challenge on the Bitten By The Bug 2 (BBTB2) Cricut challenge blog. The current challenge theme is...BIRTHDAY!

OMG! I love these centerpieces I made for a three year old's Frozen themed birthday! I purchased the 3D numbers SVG from THIS shop in Etsy and they were so easy to put together. It took a little bit to figure it out at first but then they went together very smoothly.

Check out the process video:

I did "all the Design Space things" with this project...

• Offset - added to the banner to add another layer
• Print & Cut - the Elsas
• Kerning - used this new feature to type Carina's name. This saves a lot of time & patience when using script fonts. I did ungroup the "C" and lowered it a little in order to fit inside the banner.
• Slicing - I sliced her name out of the top layer of the banner
• Contouring - The second largest snowflake had a circle cut out in the center but I needed it to be solid
• Cutting...duh!

I made a total of seven of these babies! Using the cordless SUREBONDER hot glue gun sure did make it easier!

I ended up adding some more of the punched small snowflakes to the top left of the front side and added "Carina" to the center top of the back side (these were the cut outs from the banners) and used one punched snowflake to dot the "i's".

I hope you check out the video and I hope you give me a thumbs up and hit the subscribe button for more videos of crafts I'm creating in the Command Center.

I used poster board for the 3's for sturdiness. I purchased the silver, teal & purple glitter papers from Michaels. I ran out of the teal and knew I needed to take another trip to Michaels, but stopped at the Dollar Tree first. As I was roaming the store, I saw that they have glitter paper. And guess what...in the colors I needed. There are three 8.5x11 sheets in one pack! Dang, I wish I would have know that earlier since the 12x12 sheets at Michael's were $1.20 each (on sale).

I'm telling you, Dollar Tree is stepping up in their craft department. I recommend that you check out your local Dollar Tree before heading out to another craft store!

Now it's your turn - link up your BIRTHDAY Cricut project at the BBTB2 site before the contest date ends.
 

Heart 2 Heart Staycation Challenge

I finally got a chance to use the In This Together scrapbooking kit from CTMH over the weekend. I have lots of photos of the activities we did when live changed. The funny thing is, it was actually pretty fun at first. We made sure to coordinate family activities that we may not have enjoyed if everyone was off doing their own things.

Now, I know it was a serious manner, I'm not saying it wasn't, but it was nice spending time in closed quarters with the family. During the beginning of the Shut Downs, two of my four kiddos were living at home and the third one had to come home since his dorm closed. Hubby and I were not lonely at all.

I created this two page spread using the kit and a sketch from the Make It From The Heart Vol. 3 booklet.

I asked each one of my kiddos to send me a photo of them wearing masks and none of them did. But I did get one of my granddaughter, me, hubby and my sister & nephew.

Here are the single sides:

I have plenty more layouts to complete for this time, but this was the first one. I'm entering this in the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Site for CTMH products. Click on over there for inspiration!

UPDATE:  I won the challenge!

TGIF; Thankful Friday #191

Happy Friday and boy, am I thankful! We are not near any fires, but near enough that it affects our air quality. The air has been horrible but I'm thankful that the air has cleared over here and the temperatures have also cooled down.

No A/C, just fans. I love it, but everyone else in the house is hot. Don't get me wrong, I'm hot too, but I just prefer fans over the A/C.

Here's a picture I took one morning when the air was thick:

Isn't the sun interesting?

Let me know what you're thankful for this week by leaving a comment!

Christmas Scrapbooking & A Video

I've got another YouTube video up and wanted to share more details on the blog. It's so much easier to type it here than on the little box in YouTube (at least in my opinion).

Check out the video here:

And here are the deets...

I followed a sketch, but the sketch did not have cutting dimensions. Here's what I did:

Left Side:

 Vertical strips are

Black cardstock = 2.5 x 12; White Print = 5 x 12; Red Print = .5 x 12; Red Stripe = 2 x 12

Holly Square = 4 x 4

Right Side:

 Horizontal strips are

Holly = 4 x 12; White Print = 3 x 12; Red Stripe = 2.5 x 12; Black cardstock = .5 x 12

Holly piece on the top row is 3 x 4

The journaling mat is a 4x6 card from my stash.

All the embellishments are cut from the Cricut. Here are some close ups:

WOYWW #638

Happy Wednesday and Happy WOYWW! I have some time this morning and needed to post this photo of my desk. Why, you ask...  I'm adding a photo of what my desk looks like as part of a ongoing linkage at Stamping Ground. Take a peek. You'll get to see what others are working on - it's so much fun! 

Here's my desk:

I'm sad because my cute red/black polka dot scissors are in its last stages of use. These are cheap-o's that I bought at Walmart, but I love them.

Those super cute gnome cards were made over the weekend and the stamp are from Close To My Heart (CTMH). My friend bought them so I stamped out a bunch on white cardstock. I used watercolor pencils and a water brush to color them in. I love them so much! They are so cute and guess what? I placed an order for them! I didn't think I needed them until I used them. Ok, ok...I guess I don't really need them, but they are super cute and I definitely WANT them. LOL

The other card towards the top is for the current Monthly Card Kit that I offer.

Be sure to click on over to Stamping Ground site to link a photo of your desk or just be a little nosey!

Sketch N Scrap; Card Sketch #200

August is here and it's time for new monthly sketches at the Sketch N Scrap challenge blog. I love that there are two card sketches and two layout sketches each month - plenty to get you motivated!

I worked with card sketch #200:

Here's my card:

Don't you love that bear!?!

What I did:

I pretty much followed the sketch exactly. I punched a 2 3/4" circle out of vellum before adhering the stamped bear image. 

I used the following supplies:

 FSJ is now Spellbinders

 I bought this at Tuesday Morning.

Now it's your turn! Be sure to link your card on the Sketch N Scrap site before the end of the month.

TGIF; Thankful Friday #190

Happy Thankful Friday! This week I'm thankful for gatherings. We had two birthdays this week and it was so much fun gathering with the family.

Share in the comments what you are thankful for this week. 

Happy Birthday to my two favorite Leos!

Junk Journal Flowers

I always have fun when playing in my Junk Journal. These flowers were super simple but make such a great addition to this "ugly" spread in my journal. Check out the YouTube video to see how easy it was to create!

Close Up:

The video:

You discover treasures where others see nothing unusual.

Don't you love the fortune I used on this page? I this is is perfect for the reuse of these flowers!  

Products Used:

White & Caribbean acrylic paint

Tim Holtz Distress Crayons

White POSCA Bold paint pen

Regular pencil

Sharpie Fine Point in  Black

Black uniball pen

Be sure to check out my other Junk Journal videos by going to the Junk Journal playlist in YouTube! 

BBTB2 Challenge; Under The Sea

Time for a new challenge at the Bitten By The Bug 2 Cricut challenge site. The current challenge theme is...Under The Sea. Everytime I read or say the challenge theme, I hear Sebastian from the Little Mermaid singing. Is it just me? 

I tried a technique that I've never done before and I really don't know how I feel about it. This is a Peek-a-Boo Glitter Glass. Basically, you add small vinyl cuts along the outside of the glass and then by using Mod Podge & glitter, you cover them up. The way it works is that you only see the vinyl cuts by peeking into the glass, not the outside. Now I've seen these before but never make one - seems easy enough. Was it? I'm not sure.

What do you think? I think I'll give it another try, I'm just not sure if my choices were the right ones on this. I sealed it with two coats of spray Mod Podge with the hopes that the glitter will stay put. If you decide to try one of these yourself, remember when washing the glass, do not submerge into water when cleaning. Clean the inside of the glass only since soaking it in water will cause the glitter to loosen and fall off. The last thing we need is loose glitter!

I used the shells from Stretch Your Imagination and Shellabrate from the Idieh Design sets. I definitely love the "shellabrate". I love puns and this one is perfect!

Now it's your turn...click over the the BBTB2 site and link your Under The Sea project before the challenge is over.

Sketch n Scrap Layout #231

It's the middle of August and time for a new sketch at the Sketch N Scrap challenge site. I love using sketches when starting a layout. It sure makes it easier to get started!

Here's the latest sketch:

I love the tags on this sketch and was super excited to use it with the last of my son's college graduation photos.

Close Ups of the Clusters:

I pulled out my stamps to embellish this layout and I'm super happy how it turned out. A lot of stars, some sequins and lots of scrap papers.

The only full sheet of paper I used is the 12x12 navy cardstock for the base. I love using up scraps!

Be sure to create a layout using this sketch or any of the sketches on the SNS challenge blog before the end of the month!

Sketch N Scrap Layout #230 Challenge

Sketches, sketches and more sketches! That's what you'll find on the Sketch n Scrap challenge site. Each month features two card sketches and two layout sketches and they are fabulous! The sketch I'm using today is:

And here's my layout:

What I did:

I followed the sketch as far as the layered papers but just added many more photos. I started doing this a few years ago. I challenge myself to take at least one photo a day during December and then create a "sort of" December Daily layout. Sometimes it takes more than one 2 page spread, but I printed photos in smaller sizes to fit as many as I could on two pages. This is the right side of the 2-page spread. 

I didn't use many embellishments since the photos took over that role, but I did cut the "December" title with my Cricut and did some random stamping here and there.

Now it's your turn! Turn those photos into scrapbook layouts and be sure to link your finished product to the Sketch n Scrap challenge blog before the end of the month.

TGIF; Thankful Friday #189

Friday! Do you know how much I love you? School is getting ready to start and it's been super busy at work. Lots more phone calls and visitors. But hey, the week sure did go by quickly. This week I'm thankful for...homemade tamales. I bought some from a woman outside the grocery store this week. I know what you're thinking...bought them from some woman outside the grocery store...what?!?

This is the norm in my town and these were good! She also had beans & rice and homemade salsa. So good and I didn't have to cook dinner for two days!

What are you thankful for this week? Please share in the comments!
 

Five Day Cricut Challenge; Day #5

Today is the final day for my personal Five Days of Cricut Challenge. I wasn't sure what to do for this final day. Honestly, I started one project but then realized I needed a portion of it to dry overnight and I just didn't have that kind of time for this particular challenge. So I saved that project for another day (you'll see it soon) and started a new one. 

I purchased a bunch of venti size cups so I decided to personalize one of them.

See the video here:

I love the state cut. I purchased the SVG from Design Bundles. The bundle includes all 50 states and I want to say four different styles for each state. This one is my favorite! Pretty cool.

The video shows the vinyl as red, but it's really a bright pink. I almost used a neon pink, but my daughter said it was too bright. LOL

The cup holder was created by wrapping two empty vinyl rolls with patterned paper and then creating a triangle base with the same patterned paper and adhering it to the back. This works perfectly for these type of cups as well as coffee cups, glass mugs & wine glasses.

I had a lot of fun with this challenge but it was really a challenge. I had to start and finish a project plus all the other stuff involved when posting on YouTube. 

If you're not already, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the notification bell so you can be notified of all my new videos.

Five Day Cricut Challenge; Day #4, Scrapbook Overlay

Day #4 of my personal Cricut challenge and I've already made something using regular vinyl, HTV, and cardstock. This scrapbooking technique is one of my favorites to do with the Cricut. I've done something similar here and here. This one is pretty simple, but it's perfect for the last two photos of Christmas 2019.

Be sure to check out the YouTube video here:

After cutting and adhering all the paper layers. I added black pen border around all the embellishments, some black splatter and gold sequins. I also added some strips of scrap paper to add fishtail banners here and there. The patterned papers are both from Quick Quotes. As an afterthought, I should have used a solid cardstock for the overlay, but it was in mid-cut when I realized it and it was too late. I didn't want to waste that gorgeous green patterned paper!

There's only one day left of the Five Day Cricut Challenge I put on myself and I'm having so much fun! What will I make tomorrow???