Celebrate the Occasion: Challenge #27 - Circle-Shaped Card

Tuesday means it's time to Celebrate the Occasion!  We're celebrating any event this week with a circle-shaped card.

I'm always making cards for other people, but this week I actually made a card for me.  I love funky glasses and have worn fun frames since my first pair of glasses in college, so I made a cute "just because" card with my signature frames:

 

Card Details:

• Card Base - Studio G (5" diameter)
• Papers - patterned paper by American Crafts - Everyday; green cardstock by Bazzil Basics; all other from scraps
• Cricut Cuts - glasses and background from Nifty Fifties, page 53; font for "hi" sentiment from Doodletype
• Cuttlebug Embossing - background layer with Spots & Dots
• Other - inking with green Colorbox petal point ink pad; gems from Michaels $1 bin; top layer of glasses on pop-dots

Join us in making a circle-shaped card at Celebrate the Occasion this week.  I'm eager to see what you make, so leave me a comment pointing me to your awesome projects!

Fantabulous Cricut: Challenge Me Monday #74 - Birthday Bash

Happy Monday!  It's time for another great challenge at Fantabulous Cricut.  This week's theme is Birthday Bash -- so join along with your birthday cards, scrapbook pages, and party items!

I'm always needing birthday cards -- especially for my friends' children -- so I made a robot card for a little guy who turns 4 next month:

Card Details:

• Card Base - Recollections (A6)
• Papers - robot paper from Pressed Petals - Boys Will Be Boys; red cardstock by Bazzil Basics; all other cardstock by The Paper Studio
• Cricut Cuts - robot from Boys Will Be Boys, page 64; balloon from Birthday Bash, page 23 (Layer 2); font for "4" from Birthday Bash
• Cuttlebug Embossing - "4" with Swiss Dots; balloon with Traffic Jam; circle background with Spots & Dots
• Other - google eyes from Target $1 spot; string from stash; robot and balloon on pop-dots

I love making projects with bold colors, and this card definitely is bright and cheerful!  It's even kid-approved; my son saw the card the next morning and thought the google eyes were silly and fun.

Now it's your turn to link up your Birthday Bash projects at Fantabulous Cricut -- can't wait to see what you create!

Couponing After Dark

The reason I haven't been crafting so much after dark lately is because I've been getting serious about my other "C" hobby -- couponing!

I've always used coupons here and there, but I got serious about saving money when my husband lost his job last year.  I thought I was doing pretty well until I saw Extreme Couponing on TLC -- and then I realized how much more potential these little newspaper clippings have!  I took a class from Coupon Kristin a few months back, and now my couponing is going into high gear.  My savings on most shopping trips averages around 50% -- and I think that's awesome for a newbie!

Here's a small purchase I made tonight at Walmart:

Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls (8 ct) - $1.98
price-matched to HEB (8/17 circular) - $1.00 x 5 = $5.00
- 2 x $0.50/2 manufacturer online printable coupon
=  $4.00/5, or $0.80 each

CapriSun Juice Pouches (10 x 6 oz) - $1.74
price-matched to Randalls (8/17 circular) - $1.49 x 3 = $4.47
- $1/3 manufacturer peelie (found on this shopping trip!)
= $3.47/3, or $1.16 each

Dial Liquid Soap (9.375 oz) - $1.47
price-matched to Kroger (8/17 circular) - $0.88 x 2 = $1.76
- 2 x $0.35/1 manufacturer coupon
= $1.06, or $0.53 each

French's Mustard (14 oz) - $1.48
price-matched to HEB (8/17 circular) - $1.00 each

Skinner Quick-Cook Pasta (16 oz) - $1.38
price-matched to Foodarama (8/17 circular) - $0.69 each

Kraft American Cheese Slices (12 oz) - $2.98
price-matched to Foodarama store coupon - $1.49 each


Crunch the numbers, and you'll see I bought $32.48 in product for just $16.79 (plus tax) -- that's a 48% savings!

This was my first trip to do both price-matching and coupons together -- and I didn't have a single issue.  Sometimes Walmart gets a bad rep for customer service, but my local Neighborhood Market has great cashiers.  The checker even said, "WOW -- you saved A LOT!" and when I thanked her for being patient with me she said, "That's why I'm here -- to help you save money."

So, do any of you crafters also do coupons?  I'd love to hear your stories!

Simple 40th Birthday Card

I'm easing my way back into crafting with a simple birthday card for my brother-in-law.  He turns the big 4-0 next week, so what colors are more appropriate than somber black and silver?

 

Card Details:

• Card Base - Studio G (5x5")
• Papers - silver cardstock by Bazzil Bling; all others are The Paper Studio
• Cricut Cuts - font from Doodletype
• Cuttlebug Embossing - Happy Birthday
• Other - red brads from 7 Gypsies - Angelo; "40" on pop-dots

Masculine cards are difficult for me, and I wish this card had turned out better.  But my bro-in-law likes minimalist things, so hopefully he'll like it.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Birthday Sundaes:  Challenge #22 - It's All About the Brads
CAS-ual Fridays: CFC #16 - Embossing

Texans Football Treat Box

Is crafting as therapeutic for you as it is for me?  I've been super-busy preparing for our upcoming MOPS semester and for a friend's baby shower, so my Cricut has had to take a siesta for the past week or so.  And -- you know what? -- I've been a very cranky, unhappy person!  Maybe it's just withdrawal, but I tend to believe this obsession hobby makes me a better person.  (Or, at least, a more fun person to be around -- and hubby agrees.)

I did find time on Saturday to make a little something for hubby.  I've been wanting to do a 3D item, and this football box was an easy, fun project to celebrate the start of the NFL pre-season.  Hubby is a die-hard Houston Texans fan, of course!

Project Details:

• Papers - brown cardstock by Me & My Big Ideas; all other cardstock by Recollections
• Cricut Cuts - football box from Wrap It Up, page 70; font from Birthday Bash
• Other - doodling with white Gelly Roll pen

This little box was super easy; the entire project took just an hour, start-to-finish.  The blue and red papers are an addition to the box pattern, and I doodled line marks and yard numbers to make it look like a football field.  (If I were to make another, I'd make the band green, though.)  I filled the box with blue and red Jolly Ranchers.

Hope you enjoy this little project; I think hubby did.  Now onto figure out a challenge or two to get my creative juices flowing again!

Celebrate the Occasion: Challenge #25 - Back to School

The record-setting temperatures may say it's summer, but the calendar shows school is just around the corner!

To welcome the new academic year, Celebrate the Occasion is featuring back-to-school projects this week.  So open that new box of crayons and join our design team for some great school projects!

My project is a double-page scrapbook layout of my son's Beautiful Butterflies class from last year.  It was his first year at preschool, and he absolutely LOVED it.  His teachers were the best, and he made lots of little friends that he's eager to see again when his school begins after Labor Day.

Project Details:

• Papers - patterns by American Crafts: Everyday; cardstocks by C'ordinations and The Paper Studio
• Cricut Cuts - butterflies from Create a Critter, page 64; crayons from Simply Charmed, page 52; scissors and glue from Simply Charmed, page 54; bear from Doodlecharms, page 105; backpack from Doodlecharms, page 119; car from Boys Will Be Boys, page 61; "beautiful" from Paisley, page 53; font for "BUTTERFLIES" is Opposite from Opposites Attract
• Other - lots of inking with Colorbox petal point ink pads and Le Plume II markers

I can't believe I used seven cartridges on this project!  Maybe I was having a little too much fun making die cuts of preschool objects...

You can link up your own back-to-school project at Celebrate the Occasion now through Sunday, August 14, for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from PaperTrey Ink.  I can't wait to see your school-themed projects!

I'm also submitting this project to My Sheri Crafts:  Challenge #66 - Back to School.

Fantabulous Cricut: Challenge Me Monday #72 - Let's Get Buggy

It's Challenge Me Monday at Fantabulous Cricut!  This week's challenge is "Let's Get Buggy", so grab your bug spray and a flyswatter and check out my buggy project:

Card Details:

• Card Base - DCWV Brights (A2)
• Papers - plaid by My Mind's Eye: Magnolia; all other cardstock by The Paper Studio
• Cricut Cuts - bee and flowers from Paisley, page 25
• Cuttlebug Embossing - unidentified flower pattern on front background strip; Paisley on flowers inside
• Other - flower petal embellishments by Recollections; gemstones from Michaels $1 bin; inking with Colorbox petal point ink pads

I had a blast trying something new for this challenge -- a spiral pop-up card!  I love how the flowers just burst forward when you open the card.  I learned this fun and easy technique from Split Coast Stampers -- check out their tutorial to learn how to add a spiral pop-up to one of your projects.

The FCCB design team has more awesomely "buggy" projects for you to see, so crawl on over to Fantabulous Cricut for this week's challenge.  You can link up your own buggy project for a chance to win a great prize.

My First Giveaway - WINNER!

Thanks to everyone who entered my first giveaway!  I'm so blessed by you, my crafty friends, who support me and my blog!

The winner of my favorite bargains, as selected by random.org, is...

GEORGIANA!

Georgiana said...

Congratulations! I knew you could do it! I already follow both and I submitted to CTO. I am #6. I may even have time to enter Fantabulous within the next day or two. : ) Thanks for the chance. Georgiana Carson's Creations coachfans at cox dot net

Special Delivery Stork Card

Our family had a busy weekend, so I only got to craft a little here and a little there...so sad!  But I did finish this card -- another baby-themed project!

Card Details:

• Card Base - 9" x 4"
• Papers - clouds and dots by American Crafts - Everyday; cardstock by The Paper Studio
• Cricut Cuts - stork and sentiment from 3 Birds on Parade, page 70
• Cuttlebug Embossing - bird's wing with Victoria; blanket with Swiss Dots
• Other - inking with cyan Colorbox petal point ink pad and butterscotch Le Plume II marker; ribbon is CelebrateIt Basic Narrows; cloud background, stork, and sentiment on pop dots

Our MOPS group was asked to take meals to a new mom in need, so I'm including this card in the box I'm taking.  I thought it would be nice to include something unexpected and special.

I also wanted to play with some of my new cartridges, and this is my first time to use 3 Birds on Parade.  Even if I'm not crazy about birds all the time, this cart has great "non-birdy" sentiments for common occasions.

I tried to keep this card simple, but I'm not so sure I succeeded.  Oh well, I'm still submitting to CAS-ual Fridays Challenge CFC13, since they did inspire me to make a long card.