Guest Designer for My Sheri Crafts: Challenge #82 - MSC Turns 2!

I'm so honored to be featured as Guest Designer at My Sheri Crafts this week -- especially as they celebrate their second anniversary!  I love all the inspiration the designers bring each week, and this week is packed with project ideas for a child's birthday.  This challenge is perfect for me because I'm always making something for my son's toddler friends.

For this special occasion, I decided to make a shaped card with fun, cheerful colors:

Card Details:

• Card Base - gumball machine from Wrap It Up, page 44, cut @ 5.5 inches
• Papers - solid cardstock by Recollections; blue polka dots by Heidi Grace Designs
• Cricut Cuts - gumball machine from Wrap It Up, page 44; tag from Wrap It Up, page 63
• Other - sentiment stamp by The Paper Studio; bakers twine from Really Reasonable Ribbon; patterned embellishments by Recollections; doodling with white Gelly Roll pen

I've seen some super cute versions of this card using colorful buttons.  But as soon as I saw these patterned button embellishments in my stash, I knew they were calling my name for this project.  The colors work for a child's birthday card, but I think a fun-loving adult would enjoy it just as much.  :)

Again, I'm super-honored to be part of the MSC team today.  Head over to My Sheri Crafts to see what the other designers have made in celebration of their second anniversary!

I'm also entering this project into the following challenge:

My Creative Time - Throwback Thursday Challenge / Episode 336

Fantabulous Cricut: Challenge Me Monday #101 - Luck of the Irish

Happy Monday! So crazy it's already March, isn't it?  The holiday most people associate with March is St. Patrick's Day -- and I especially like that day because it's my birthday!  Because of my connection to March 17th, I'm excited about this week's Luck of the Irish challenge at Fantabulous Cricut.

Our sponsor this week is Jaded Blossom Stamps, and I got to play with their cute Luck of the Irish stamp set:

I made a shamrock easel card to celebrate the little bit of Irish in all of us this time of year:

 I used Jaded Blossom Stamps for the sentiment and the small shamrock stamp to adorn the message area:

Project Details:

• Card Base - Easel (5x5")
• Papers - cardstock by Bazzil; patterned paper by K&Company
• Cricut Cuts - shamrocks from Celebrate with Flourish
• Embossing - shamrocks with Cuttlebug's Floral Fantasy; background with The Paper Studio's Mesh Texture
• Other - stamps from Jaded Blossom - Luck of the the Irish; white ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon; green ribbon by CelebrateIt Basic Narrows; Colorbox green ink pad; coloring with Le Plume II markers; shamrocks and sentiment on pop dots

How do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day?   Get in the mood for all things green with this week's Luck of the Irish challenge at Fantabulous Cricut.

One other item of note...St. Patrick's Day is my one-year anniversary of papercrafting with the Cricut!  What a truly awesome birthday present -- the gift that has kept on giving me tons of creative crafting therapy!

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

BBTB2 - Shamrock Challenge
Jaded Blossom - Green Challenge
My Sheri Crafts: Challenge #80 - Happy St. Patrick's Day

Fantabulous Cricut: Challenge Me Monday #97 - Love Is in the Air

Today I get to share with you a very special card -- my hubby's valentine!  He promised not to check my blog so I can post it before Valentine's Day and for Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Me Monday #97 - Love Is in the Air.  (So, hubby, you better not be reading!)

Our sponsor this week is K Andrew Designs Art Stamps, and she shared with the design team some awesome stamps to complete our "love" projects.  I received this Mini Heart set with both sentiments and images:

And here's what I created:

Card Details:

• Card Base - Paisley, page 28 (Card Function) @ 4.5 inches
• Papers - pattern by K&Company; cardstock by Recollections
• Cricut Cuts - hearts from Doodlecharms, page 26; tag, frame, and "heart" sentiment from Lovely Floral
• Embossing - frame with Cuttlebug's Kassie's Brocade
• Other - stamped sentiment by K Andrew Designs; key by Recollections; inking with red Colorbox ink pad, and brown and pink Stampabilities ink pads; ribbon and glitter from stash; tag and hearts on pop dots

I'm so proud of this card -- it's my first shaker card!  The photo doesn't capture it well, but the heart has a piece of recessed plastic that encloses both the key and lots of red glitter.  My inspiration -- and tutorial -- for making a shaker card with the Paisley cartridge came from a video at Above Rubies Studios.

Would you like a chance to win some K Andrew stamps?  Join us at Fantabulous Cricut with your "love" projects this week for a chance to win!

I'm also submitting this project to the following challenge(s):

CardzTV: Cricut Cardz Challenge #101 - Valentine's Day
Die Cuttin' Divas: Challenge #50 - Anything Goes
My Sheri Crafts: Challenge #78 - Love Is in the Air
Paper Playtime: Challenge #67 - Hearts or Love Theme

Snowman Panda Explosion Box

And here's my second of two explosion boxes for my son's preschool teachers.  For this box, I chose a snow theme and also included the classroom panda mascot.

The outside...

...and the inside exploded!

Here's two closeups of the snowflakes and 3D elements:

Project Details:

• Papers - patterned paper by ADT - Wisterberry; solid cardstock by Recollections
• Cricut Cuts - 3D snowman from Winter Woodland, page 74; panda from Create a Critter, page 58; scarf for panda from Winter Frolic, page 35; snowflakes and tag panel from Winter Woodland, page 35; "For You" sentiment from Winter Frolic, page 56
• Embossing - lots of layers with Cuttlebug's Snowflakes
• Other - plaid ribbon by American Crafts; white ribbon from stash; snowflakes and sentiment on pop dots

The lighter-weight paper helped this explosion box stay "open" more than my previous one -- except for the panel holding the gift card, of course.  I didn't create a flap for the gift card since it actually matched the colors and theme so well; I just used my ATG gun to smack it down.  I'm also pleased with the bow on top of the lid.  I don't make pretty bows, but this one turned out quite nice!

I'm entering this project into the following challenge:

My Sheri Crafts: Challenge #75 - Let It Snow

Sorry for the quick entry, but me and my little guy are off to deliver these presents to his teachers!

Fantabulous Cricut: Harvest Blessings Cricut Crawl

Welcome to Cricut After Dark and the Fantabulous Cricut Harvest Blessings Crawl -- Fantabulous Cricut's version of a blog hop!

It's fall and everyone at Fantabulous Cricut has decided to create projects to give thanks for our Harvest Blessings!   Each Design Team member will be featuring an original fall project that includes brown, orange and red – along with at least one Cricut cut.

If you've come from visiting Jennie at EarthyScrap, you're in the right place! If you've just happened across my blog and would like to play along with our Fantabulous Cricut Crawl, start HERE .

Make sure to check out each DT member's blog for some awesome inspiration. There will be prizes along the way at some of our DT members' blogs, and there will be a Grand Prize up for grabs for a participant who submits a Harvest Blessings project at FCCB!

My project is a turkey place card/decor, inspired by this winner from Michaels' 24-hour Gypsy Challenge in 2009.  I don't have a Gypsy or the cartridges used, so I improvised with my own -- and I really like the result:

Project Details:

• Papers - stripes by Me & My Big Ideas - Autumn; cardstock by Recollections
• Cricut Cuts - feathers are <trap1> (Upright) from Opposites Attract, page 62, cut at 3 inches; body is same, cut at 5 inches, rolled and taped; head is <round> (Upright) from Opposites Attract, page 63, cut at 1.75 inches; beak is <yourday1> (Italic) from Cricut Classic Font, page 71, cut at 0.75 inches folded; waddle is <turkey1> (Layer 4) from Simply Charmed, page 61, cut at 1.75 inches (real dial size); tag is <cute> from Playtime, cut at 2.5 inches; "grateful" sentiment is <pilgrim> (Phrase) from 3 Birds on Parade, page 41, cut at 1 inch.
• Embossing - feathers with The Paper Studio's Doodle Borders; tag with Cuttlebug's Swiss Dots
• Other - inking with brown Stampabilities ink pad; hand-drawn eyes

Because one of my harvest blessings are you, my crafty friends, I have a little giveaway, too.  It's one of my super bargain finds -- a QuicKutz embossing folder!

To qualify for the giveaway, please leave a comment on this entry.  I'll select a winner with random.org on Monday, November 21, around 7am (Central).  Please note I can only ship to US residents at this time.

Now it's your turn! Let's see your Harvest Blessings projects!  Make sure to include a Cricut cut somewhere on your project and be sure to use the colors Brown, Orange and Red as well.

Next stop is Jewel's blog, My Beautiful, Crazy...Scrappy Life.  Go and see what she has in store for you today.  And when you're done, make sure to link up your project to FCCB's Fantabulous Cricut Crawl post to be entered into the contest!

Happy Crawling!

I'm also submitting this project to the following challenges:

My Sheri Crafts:  Challenge #73 - Be Thankful
Whimsical Designs:  Challenge - Happy Turkey Day

Game Day Football Layout

My husband loves football and the Houston Texans -- and "loves" may not even be a strong enough word!  His love for football is so great, he leaves church in an absolute rush on Sundays to get to the car and turn the radio to the Texans game.  He then jumps out of the car before we pull into the garage to get to the TV as quickly as possible.  Yes, my husband has issues for the sixteen weeks of football season.

For the past three years, hubby has also been working to instill his love of football in the next generation.  Our little guy is finally old enough to understand more about the game this year.  He knows a few key words/phrases like football, touchdown, and Go, Texans -- which is about as much as his mommy knows too!

I made this game day layout this week to show what a typical Sunday afternoon looks like at our house.  The photos are from last season when the little man first began paying attention to Daddy's obsession:

Here's a closer look at the embossed football and handmade "field" I made with numbers from the Cricut Classic Font cartridge:

Project Details:

• Papers - patterns from DCWV - All About Boys; cardstock by Recollections
• Cricut Cuts - football from Boys Will Be Boys, page 31; banner and "GAMEDAY" font from Birthday Bash; yard line numbers from Cricut Classic Font
• Embossing - football with Cuttlebug's Swiss Dots
• Other - ribbon by American Crafts; inking with brown Stampabilities ink pad; football on pop dots

I'm submitting this project to the following challenge:

BBTB2:  My Pink Stamper Challenge - Boy Crazy
My Sheri Crafts:  Challenge #72 - All About Sports

Icky, Spooky, Creepy Halloween Wall Decor

Halloween is so much more fun as a parent -- I think that's why I've been really excited about decorating for the holiday this year.  My little guy is totally into spotting pumpkin and ghost decorations in neighbors' yards, so I decided to make a wall hanging to put on our front door:

 Here's some close-ups of each panel:

Project Details:

• Papers - patterned paper from ATD - Spookytown Collection; cardstocks by Recollections
• Cricut Cuts - background panels from Elegant Edges, page 25; all other cuts from Mini Monsters - spider, page 54; ghost, page 42; pumpkin, page 61; spider web, page 74; trees, page 73; fence, page 72; "icky", page 28; "spooky", page 42; "creepy", page 31
• Embossing - pumpkin with Cuttlebug's Distressed Stripes; spider belly with Cuttlebug's Spots & Dots; spider's bow with The Paper Studio's Doodle Borders
• Other - pre-made glitter bow by Momentum; inking with black Stampabilities ink pad, green and purple Colorbox ink pads, and ultramarine and butterscotch Le Plume II markers; buttons and petal embellishments by Recollections; googly eyes from Target $1 Spot; spider, spider's bow, ghost, and pumpkin on pop-dots

I hung the project on little man's bedroom door to get a good photo with a solid white background -- and now he thinks it belongs there!  I'll have to sneak it to the front door when he goes down for a nap.

I hope you like my project.  It's definitely the most ambitious Cricut adventure I've had since my retreat last month.  And now I'm in the Halloween spirit!

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

BBTB2:  Crafty Sprouts Contest - Halloween Project with Purple
Cooking with Cricut:  Challenge #56 - Purple and Green
Cricut 360º:  Spooky Halloween Blog Hop & Challenge
Decorate to Celebrate:  Challenge #11 - Halloween Party
My Sheri Crafts:  Challenge #71 - It's the Great Pumpkin!
Paper Playtime:  Challenge #58 - Say It with Sentiments - Use Buttons and Bows

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.

God Bless Texas Card

Fourth of July is nearing, but today I wanted to celebrate a place that's just like its own country -- TEXAS!

I moved to Texas after college graduation, a common story in Houston.  It's a running joke in our city that it's hard to find a native Houstonian -- and it's true!  But as soon as I got here, I knew Texas was different.  I remember walking around Walmart soon after I arrived and finding an entire Texas-themed bathroom set -- shower curtain, rugs, toothbrush holder, soap dispenser!  You'd never find that sort of thing in my native Louisiana.  (I mean, seriously...pelican decor?  It just wouldn't happen.)  Texans have a unique pride in their state that's strongly rooted in individual freedom and personal responsibility.  I love Texas!

Here's my patriotic *Texas* card -- simple but fun!

Card Details:

• Card Base - DCWV Brights (A2)
• Papers - textured cardstock by The Paper Studio; non-textured cardstock from scraps; glittery star paper from The Paper Studio - Birthday Extravaganza stack
• Cricut Cuts - star from Simply Charmed, page 68; font for "TEXAS" from Birthday Bash (Font/Font Shadow)
• Cuttlebug Embossing - red, white, and blue flag sections with Distressed Stripes
• Other - doodling with white Gelly Roll pen; "God Bless" sentiment printed with computer

My design originally began as a Texas flag with the white lone star, but I had to move the star upward to accommodate the text.  Then I switched the white star for one with a little sparkle -- such a simple card needed a little pizzazz.  I used the Distressed Stripes embossing folder to make the flag look like it was made with old, wooden boards.  That rustic feel is totally Texas!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Amber's Crafts and Stuff:  Challenge #16 - Red, White, & Blue
Celebrate the Occasion:  Challenge #20 - 4th of July (Red, White, & Blue)
Fantabulous Cricut:  Challenge #66 - Happy 4th (Use Red, White, & Blue)
My Sheri Crafts:  Challenge #63 - Independence Day

Father & Son Tiger Card

My son and I had so much fun creating this tiger-themed Fathers Day card for my hubby.  Hubby loves tigers, so we chose to modify a cat from Create a Critter with orange and black stripes -- and it looks very tiger-like!

Of course, mommy did most of the designing, but my two-year old son is getting quite proficient at loading the cutting mat for me!  He wants to pretend "JonJon's cricut" while I'm working, so I now have to be sure the power cord is unplugged when not in use.

Here's our resulting easel card:

Card Details:

• Card Base - Easel Card (5x5")
• Papers - striped paper from My Mind's Eye: Magnolia; textured cardstock by The Paper Studio; all others from scrap
• Cricut Cuts - all cuts from Create a Critter; tigers are <cat1> on page 29; flag from page 28 without Layer 1; sentiment from page 49 (phrase); letters for "GRRREAT" from Opposites Attract using both Opposite and Opposite Shadow functions.
• Cuttlebug Embossing - Dots & Spots on green background layer
• Other - doodling and faux stitching with white Gelly Roll pen; inside sentiment printed with my computer; pop dots elevate tigers, flag, and "GRRREAT" sentiment.

My son created artwork with his crayons to insert into the envelope, too.  (Just like Mommy, he does his best work in PJs and with a snack.  See the rogue animal cracker?)

 

I also wanted to do a handprint with him, but it just wasn't happening this morning.  He's usually super eager to get into my ink pads, but I guess the Terrible Twos were rearing their ugly head.

Hubby will be away on his mission trip on Fathers Day, so I'm packing this card in his luggage for him to open Sunday.  I hope it makes him feel loved even when away from us on dads' day.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Cooking with Cricut:  Challenge #38 - Fathers Day
Cricut Cardz Challenge #79 - Fathers Day
My Sheri Crafts:  Challenge #61 - Fathers Day

Flower & Vines Mothers Day Card

Yep, it's another Mothers Day card!  Inspiration for this card was Card Patterns Sketch #113:

I made a few adjustments, but the result is my favorite card to date:

Cartridges Used:
Birthday Bash
Lovely Floral

I need lots of practice on bows, huh?  But it was nice to challenge myself.

I also used the Cricut's centerpoint function for the first time with this card.  The sentiment is printed from my computer on white cardstock and then inserted into the Cricut to cut a circle around it.  I'm going to try this technique again soon with something more complex.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Celebrate the Occasion: Challenge #11 - Mothers Day
Die Cuttin' Divas: Challenge #12 - Mothers Day Is on the Way
Fantabulous Cricut: Challenge #57 - Mom's The Word
My Sheri Crafts:  Challenge #55 - Mothers Day

Easter Bunny and Egg Treat Holder

I made my first 3D, non-card creation tonight!  It's a treat holder -- big enough for a cupcake -- but holding plastic eggs for the photo.  It turned out so cute, I just might give it to my co-teacher with chocolates in the eggs.

Cartridges Used:
Birthday Bash
Doodlecharms
Stretch Your Imagination
Wrap It Up

I really like the flourishes from Stretch Your Imagination used as running vines on the fence.  I repeated the look on all four sides, with eggs where the corners meet.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

BBTB2 - Easter Solutions 2010 or Any Egg
Cricut Cardz Challenge #70 - Easter Cupcake Holder or Wrapper
Fantabulous Cricut - Spring Fling Project (using pink, yellow, and green)
My Sheri Crafts Challenge #53 - Bunnies