You're a Great Catch - Father's Day Card

I made this for the Imaginisce June Challenge. It is a sketch challenge using over 75% Imaginisce as well.

I made this for my Father-in-Law who I call my co-dad. He's fantastic and he'll be fly-fishing in Idaho during Father's Day so he is receiving this WAY early! For me, he was a great catch of a father-in-law. He is wise, patient, kind, and caring. I got super lucky. 

Recipe:

• Cricut Cartridge: Campin' Critters™
• Cuttlebug Folder: D'vine Swirl Emboss Folder™
• Patterned Papers: (note: all the Happy Camper links go to the Imaginisce blog)
• Imaginisce: Happy Camper "Thermal Jammies"™ (stripes)
• Imaginisce: Happy Camper "Gone Fishing"™ (brown polka dots)
• Imaginisce: Happy Camper "Fresh Air"™ (orange polka dots)
• Imaginisce: Happy Camper "Tree Hugger"™ (wood dock)
• Imaginisce: Happy Camper "Fireside Fun"™ (green)
• Imaginisce: Happy Camper "Don't Feed the Bears"™ (hills with little trees)
• Solid Colors:
• Core'dinations: Tim Holtz Kraft Core in Nostalgia™(lots of different colors)
• Bazzill Basics in Java™
• Jillibean Soup in Kraft™
• Sentiments:
• My Pink Stamper: Happiest Moments™
• My Pink Stamper: Even More Punny-licious™
• D'stress by Imaginisce™
• Imaginisce Colored Foam Tape in White™
• White Gel Pen
• Ink: Memento in Rich Cocoa™
• Paint: Jenni Bowlin in Seed Packet™

Fashionably late. Hope it was great!

***Note: I am SOOO sorry, but I am getting super spammed with super bad stuff. So I have turned on word verification TEMPORARILY and will be taking it down in a week or two - hopefully weeding out the anonymous spammers. I hope you understand! I personally hate word verification, so it won't be up long!***

Hello! This is my Shop Pumpkin Spice post which means I got almost EVERYTHING on this card from Shop Pumpkin Spice! It looks like she is sold out of one of the On the Bright Side Paper Pads, but the other one is the one I have used more anyway! I love them both. 

I had a GREAT time making this card and actually spent two days working on it (of crafty time... I didn't stare at it the WHOLE day. lol.) So I am really pleased with the result! I hope you like it too! 

I chose to use the two different embossing powders on this card and line them up - a tricky thing, but it was really fun from concept to execution. 

***SORRY! Taken down for publication in Cricut Magazine - the December issue!***

Recipe:

• Patterned Paper:
• My Mind's Eye: On the Bright Side - One 6x6 Paper Pad™
• My Mind's Eye: On the Bright Side - Two 6x6 Paper Pad™
• i-rock by Imaginisce™
• Hot rocks in Pink, Black, and Clear™
• Sentiment: My Pink Stamper: Birthday Crazy™
• White Gel Pen
• Brads:
• My Mind's Eye: Lost and Found 2: Breeze "Everywhere" Decorative Brads™
• My Mind's Eye: Lost and Found 2: Sunshine "Sunshine" Decorative Brads™
• Card base: Canvas Corp Square Cards with Envelopes™
• Cartridges:
• Sweethearts™
• Everyday Paper Dolls™
• Create-a-Critter™
• Cuttlebug Folder: A2 D'vine Swirl Emboss Folder™
• Ribbon: From Kris Swain's Etsy Store in Light Teal

Bless this little nest

Well, I was busy with friends over National Scrapbook Day so I haven't gotten to participate in any of the super fun challenges, but I am catching up! :)

I made this one for the Cricut Circle Recipe Challenge. 

I used the Shop Pumpkin Spice May Kit to create this card! It features My Mind's Eye Indie Chic!

This card is a little busy for me. But I had a great time making it! There was a LOT in the recipe challenge.

Recipe Challenge:

At least 3 Cricut Cuts

A Bird, Bug, or Butterfly

Three Patterned Papers

Yellow

Stitching

You are what makes life so super sweet!

I decided to make this card because I had just gotten some of these materials and I was excited to use them. Don't forget to pull out your Echo Park Summer Days for this year's summer treats! It's from last year, but I still love it! Make sure to pick up the matching solids because they come in SO handy when trying to match these colors! 

This will probably be for my husband.. Of course I am the green one since my favorite color is green and he is the orange one because sometimes I take a bite out of him. Mean wifey! ;) I'm so cheesy. 

Recipe:

• Cricut Cartridge: Simply Charmed™
• Patterned Paper:
• Echo Park: Summer Days "Red/Green"™
• Echo Park: Summer Days "Die Cut"™ (background)
• Echo Park: Summer Days "Blue/Orange"™ (blue)
• Cuttlebug Folder: D'vine Swirl Emboss Folder™
• Crinkled Ribbon in Sunflower
• Sentiment: My Pink Stamper: Sweet Goodness™
• Eyelets

Shop Pumpkin Spice is doing something super fun for our normal blog hop because it falls on National Scrapbook Day. So make sure to stop by the blog for a TON of inspiration!!! 

Diana's One Year Blog-aversary Blog Hop!

Happy Blog-a-versary Diana! I had the pleasure of getting to sit next to Diana in a crop and she is SO passionate about crafting! I'm sure this will be a super fun hop! You should have gotten here from Diana's blog herself! I am your second stop! If not, please start there and wish her a happy blog-aversary! 

I was really honored to be asked to be a part of it! I know that Robyn (My Pink Stamper) is also on the hop and she is such a great friend and inspiration. She is also Diana's inspiration so I wanted to do a card that was inspired by Robyn too! Of course it had to be using the Create a Critter cartridge, her FABULOUS stamps, and in her "style". I hope you like it and participate in the challenge with us so that you could win a prize! 

Welcome to DIANA L.'s  DL.ART  1 year blog-a-versary blog hop.  Including me there are 14 stops you will be making.  On these stops, you will find four people with a word; that will give you the clues, for the ingredients you will need, to complete your project.  Each designer will have a project that will inspire you and also have some clues as to what the ingredients are. You will have until Jan 6, 2012 @ 11:59 to link you project. Once you have linked your project, you will have a chance to win the Provo Craft Cricut  "Sweet Tooth Box cartridge" at the DL.ART site.

Recipe:

• Cartridge: Create-a-Critter™
• Sentiment: My Pink Stamper: Sweet Baby™ 
• Cuttlebug Folder: D'vine Swirl™
• Ribbon: Kris Swain's Etsy Store in Tickle Me Pink™(Please let her know I sent you if you stop by!)
• Patterned Paper: Styles and Essentials™
• Bo Bunny Double Dot™
• Martha Stewart Glitter in Tinsel™
• Glitter Glue by Clear Snap™
• Glossy Accents™
• White Gel Pen

Here is the complete line-up:

http://dianamlarson.blogspot.com/

http://courtscrafts.blogspot.com/ <--You Are Here! :)

http://amyscraftingspace.blogspot.com/

http://hawaiipaperparty.blogspot.com/

http://littlescrappieces.blogspot.com/

http://www.scpapercrafts.com/

http://flowerdiscosscraphut.blogspot.com/

http://girliascards.blogspot.com/

http://doubleclickconnections.blogspot.com/

http://chick-n-scrap.blogspot.com/

http://creativediva98.blogspot.com/

http://www.believedreamcreatewithmaria.com/

http://dianamlarson.blogspot.com/

Now, head on over to Amy's blog! Be sure to scroll down on her page to see some super cute santa and reindeer holders. They are darling! 

Before you go... leave a comment and you might want to write down my secret word! That's right, you just found one of the four! My word is GREEN because it is BOTH Diana and my favorite color!

You have until the 6th to play along in the challenge to win the Sweet Tooth Boxes prize at D.L. Art! 






AND as a SUPER special treat, My Pink Stamper has GRACIOUSLY allowed me to give away one of her stamp sets! I am going to be giving away Sweet Goodness! It's perfect for giving away goodies AND for those Valentines coming up! Leave a comment here and I will draw a winner on the 6th! THANK YOU MY PINK STAMPER!!!

Reindeer Card

Good Wednesday morning to you all!!!! I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!!! 

Today I am sharing with you my Shop Pumpkin Spice card! I really like it for some reason and I hope you do too!!! 

The reindeer are embossed. It's kind of hard to see in this photo, but they are swirly. :)

Recipe:

• Cartridge: Cricut Christmas Solutions™
• Cuttlebug Emboss Folder: D'vine Swirl™
• Patterned Paper:
• Echo Park Paper: Season's Greetings "Christmas Ads"™ (newspaper)
• Solid Paper:
• Echo Park Paper: Season's Greetings "Green/DarkRed"™
• Echo Park Paper: Season's Greetings "Red/Cream"™
• Echo Park Paper: Season's Greetings "Teal/Dark Green"™
• i-rock by Imaginisce™
• Hot Rock Compact in Jewel™
• Twine: My Mind's Eye: Holly Jolly Decorative Trims™
• White Gel Pen
• Ivory Ribbon: PTI

We have our Shop Pumpkin Spice Blog Hop this weekend! The DT call will be officially announced then!

Core'dinations Rainbow Set of Cards

Hello! 

I hope you all had so much fun hopping along with us and I can't wait to find out which of you won things! There is still time to get your comments in, so check out Artful Delight's blog HERE for all the details. Also, don't forget to play and link up to the challenges in case you win the 6 months of kits! What a HUGE prize! 

Now, for today I wanted to participate in the Core'dinations color challenge! There is still time to play! :)  Instead of putting all of the colors on one card, I made a card set. I picked out my twine from the Twinery and matched the Core to that. I think they look SUPER good together! My Core colors came from Roy-G-Biv™ and Elements™.

Everyone always needs thank you notes, so these little ones are perfect to tuck in places or leave behind when you are staying at someone's house!

OUT FOR PUBLICATION! Back in September of 2013

OUT FOR PUBLICATION! Sorry! Back in September of 2013

Recipe:

• Core'dinations Paper
• Cuttlebug Emboss Folders:
• D'vine Swirl Emboss Folder™
• Forest Branches Emboss Folder™
• Clockworks 5x7 Emboss Folder™
• Argyle Emboss Folder™
• Seeing Spots Emboss Folder™
• Checkerboard Emboss Folder™
• Twine from The Twinery at Shop Pumpkin Spice
• Buttons from my stash
• Sentiment: My Pink Stamper: Sweet Baby™

Have a Joy Filled Christmas!

I made this for the new releases of the My Pink Stamper stamps - in this case: Biggie Christmas. This is fabulous stamp set and I simply bent the stamp around on an acrylic block to make it match the curve of the  snowman. 

A lovely lady named Jennifer asked me what cartridge it came from - I have been addicted to the Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons Cartridge™ recently. You can order it from the Creative Memories site HERE or through any CM distributer. You can see all of the projects I have made with it by scrolling down and on the right side, I have "tagged" each one with the label "Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons". Thanks for the inquiry Jennifer! 

Have a Joy Filled Christmas

Recipe:

• Cartridge: Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons™
• Cuttlebug Folder: D'vine Swirl™
• Sentiment: My Pink Stamper: Biggie Christmas™
• Bo Bunny Double Dot: Chocolate Dot™ (brown)
• Bo Bunny Double Dot: Ocean Dot™ (turquoise)
• Bo Bunny Double Dot: Slate Dot™ (dark blue)
• Stickles in Diamond™
• Glossy Accents™
• Crinkled Ribbon: Kris Swain's Etsy Store in Deep Aqua (if you order, please tell her I sent you in the comments section)
• jingle bell from my stash

This qualifies for the Jingle Belle challenge: Bling on the holidays! I thought both the stickles and the jingle bell (tee hee) would count as bling! :) 

Relax

This is my second project using Artful Delight's August Card Kit! There are only two left!

For this bath tub, I used Kate's ABC's! Its definitely one of my new favorite cartridges!!!

Relax

Recipe:

• Cartridge: Kate's ABC's™
• Cuttlebug Folder: D'vine Swirl Emboss Folder™
• Crinkled Ribbon: Kris Swain's Etsy Store in Sunflower™
• Patterned Paper: 
• Glitz: Vintage Blue Collection "Toile"™(Artful Delight August Kit)
• Glitz: Vintage Blue Collection "Stripe"™(Artful Delight August Kit)
• Glitz: Dance in the Sunshine "Damask"™(Artful Delight August Kit)
• Solid Paper: 
• Bazzill Basics Sunflower Medium™(Artful Delight August Kit)
• Bazzill Basics Blackberry Swirl™(Artful Delight August Kit)
• Stickles in Silver™(Artful Delight August Kit)
• Sentiment: Authentique Journey Collection Petite Type Square Alphas™ (Artful Delight August Kit)
• Glossy Accents™
• Liquid Pearls™
• Hot Rocks Compact in Pink, Black, and Clear by Imaginisce™ (eye of the ducky)

Remember to play along in this month's sketch challenge where you could win next month's kit!!!

I spy with my little eye.... and a WINNER!

The Cricut Circle is having a monthly contest and the theme is "Road Trip" to make something that can be used on a road trip.

Well by now I am sure that you are becoming acquainted with my good friend June. She has 9 year old twin girls with Autism and I wanted to make something for them. They have been road tripping all over the East Coast for their summer vacation so I wanted to make something that was re-usable and something that held their attention for a little bit. So I thought I'd make an I Spy book! 

The recipe for this would be epic so I will put some of the highlights below.

I am certainly not done with it. It needs some fun embellishing, but for now I couldn't wait to show you all! :) 

Recipe:

• Cartridges: 
• Create a Critter™ (sun, clouds) 
• Birthday Bash™ (letters)
• Straight from the Nest™ (grass and flowers)
• Life is a Beach™ (cruise ship, lighthouse, birds)
• Kate's ABC's™(jar, letters for what was being spied (ex. red, small, tall))
• Wall Decor and More™ (elephant)
• Nifty Fifties™ (bowling ball)
• Cuttlebug Embossing Folders: 
• Forest Branches™
• D'vine Swirl™
• Paper Lace II Companion Folders™
• Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye: Fine and Dandy™
• Album: My Mind's Eye: Fine and Dandy™
• Sticker Stacker:  My Mind's Eye: Fine and Dandy™
• Turquoise Rhinestones: My Mind's Eye: Fine and Dandy™
• Stickles in Orange Peel and Diamond ™
• Glossy Accents™
• i-rock™
• Hot Rocks in Glitter™

I hope you enjoyed it and it inspires you to make one for someone small in your life! 

I also have a WINNER from my My Pink Designer post!!!!

Gayle, I have emailed you your certificate number. If you have any questions or didn't get my email, you can email me at CourtsCraftsBlog@gmail.com! Congratulations!

I am a guest designer in July for a new challenge blog called Polkadot Door Designs and there will be a blog hop coming up on the 1st.... 

Also on the 1st I am going to announce that I am a guest designer for another manufacturer... can anyone guess who it might be? :) I am VERY excited about it!

My Pink Designer and GIVEAWAY ALERT!

Well, since I started the term with a complicated welded card from Create a Critter (which I can't show here because it's being published. :)), then I thought I would end it with one too. 

This card is going to my friend Bridget who is having a baby girl very soon! I got her a little outfit so I will be sending this along with it. :) I hope she likes it! 

We have had SUCH a fabulous team this term! I can't believe that it has been six months! So while some people are staying and some are going, I wanted to take a minute to say thank you to the incredibly sweet and generous ROBYN for not only picking me to be on her DT but for becoming such a close, wonderful and cherished friend, to Maria for being our incredible DT leader and for all of the support from my DT sisters! You all have been FABULOUS to work with and ever so sweet! 

I also thought that I should have a giveaway and what better to give away than a set of Robyn's stamps! :) Scroll down for details!

Little One

I know it should be the cow jumping over the moon, but I just LOVED this little lamb and had to use it after seeing my friend June use it along with My Pink Stamper's Punny-licious HERE. So she inspired this idea.

Designer's Notes:

I used Glossy Accents on the hat, white parts of the sheep, and both stars. Then I dropped loose fine glitter into the wet Glossy Accents and it gives it a shimmery, dreamy effect that is beautiful in person. 

This is the Sweet Baby stamp set that I have used SOOO much! You can look at all of Robyn's stamp sets and see which retailers carry them HERE.

Recipe:

• Gypsy
• Sentiment: My Pink Stamper: Sweet Baby™
• Cartridge: Create-a-Critter™
• Cuttlebug Embossing Folder: D'vine Swirl™
• Cardstock: Colorboc and Paper Trey Ink™
• Patterned Paper: 
• Echo Park: Country Drive "Clover Meadow" (pink floral on lamb) 
• Echo Park: Country Drive "Sundress" (orange floral on stars)
• Echo Park: Country Drive "Bee's Knees" (yellow honeycomb on moon)
• Echo Park: Country Drive "Flutterby" (pink swirl on hat and bows)
• Echo Park: Country Drive "Journaling Cards" (white with pink x on hat)
• i-rock by Imaginisce
• Hot Rocks Compact in Jewel and Pink, Black and Clear by Imaginisce™
• Glossy Accents
• Glitter: Pixie Dust by Jerome (vintage)
• Adhesive: Martha Stewart All Purpose Gel Adhesive
• Ink: Colorbox in black

So that you can choose which stamps you want, I am going to give one lucky winner a gift certificate to Pumpkin Spice - my amazing sponsor!!!  I am actually giving away $20!!! 

Now pop on over to My Pink Stamper's website to see what the other Pink Designers have created for our final post of this term! 

Don't forget to leave a comment on this post to win the gift certificate! I will choose a winner on the 29th- the day after my parents' wedding anniversary! Check back here to see if you have won! :) 

My Pink Stamper Pink-alicious Blog Hop!

Robyn's challenge to us for this week was to make anything we felt like that reminded us of summertime! 

You should have gotten here from Lori's blog. If not, start here at My Pink Stamper's blog! 

I give myself a little more "leave" when it comes to ice cream in the summer. You all pretty much know that I am in a condo, but I am also on the top floor and get sun from about 1pm on. So while it's FAB in the winter and we literally turn on our heaters maybe once a year, in the summer it can get a little hot--- and stays hot as there is almost no one with AC in San Francisco. So ice cream or my particular favorite - Frozen Yogurt (adoringly called "FroYo") is my new thing. BUT there aren't any Cricut Cartridges with FroYo on them (Provo Craft are you listening!?! :) :) :)) So ice cream is the next best thing. :) 

I made this card using Artful Delight's June Kit and of course My Pink Stamper stamps!  

Design notes: I welded these two images on my Gypsy. BUT with Cricut Craft Room coming out, everyone will be able to do it!!! :) 

Recipe:

• My Pink Stamper: Sweetest Cupcakes™
• Gyspy™
• Cricut Expression™
• Cartridge: Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons™
• Embossing: D'vine Swirl Emboss Folder™
• Cardstock: 
• Bazzill Basics Blush Red Medium (Artful Delight June Kit)
• Paper Trey Ink Vintage Cream
• Patterned Paper: 
• Crate Paper: Portrait "Bouquet" (Artful Delight June Kit)
• Crate Paper: Portrait "Something Blue" (Artful Delight June Kit)
• Glossy Accents
• Stickles in Diamond
• i-rock by Imaginisce
• Button and Twine: Paper Trey Ink

Now head on over to my good friend Cristi's blog! 

Oh, and it's my birthday today. :) Tomorrow I have a pot-luck scheduled with a bunch of friends! :) Hope you all have something fun planned for the weekend!

Love

This is a deceivingly simple card. I did weld the house shapes together on my Gypsy to create the card base, but from there the design paper did all of the work. Almost everything on this card came from Artful Delight's May kit (which is sold out!!!) BUT the reveal for June's kit is up and I love it!!!! Check it out although pics don't do it justice. I think this one will go fast so pre-order it if you love it! 

Have I told you all lately how much I love my Cricut Expression? I'd love to get an E2 and an Imagine, but I LOVE my Expression. Anyway, if you ever have any questions about it, please let me know! :) I'm happy to answer them! CourtsCraftsBlog@gmail.com

Recipe:

• Cricut Expression™
• Gypsy™ (On sale for $99!)
• Cartridge: Create a Critter™
• Embossing: Cuttlebug D'vine Swirl Emboss Folder™
• Patterned Paper:
• Echo Park Summer Days "Scallops" (pink - from Artful Delight May Kit)
• Echo Park Summer Days "Banners" (purple - from Artful Delight May Kit)
• Echo Park Summer Days "Scene" (background - from Artful Delight May Kit)
• Cardstock: Bazzill™ (from Artful Delight May Kit)
• Stickers: 
• Echo Park Summer Days "Element Stickers" (flowers and green scallops used as grass - from Artful Delight May Kit)
• i-rock by Imaginisce™
• Hot Rock Compact in Jewel and Pink, Black and Clear™
• Sentiment: My Pink Stamper: Friend-tastic™
• Colorbox in black
• Button and twine: Paper Trey Ink
• Black pen for doodling 
• White gel pen
• Foam Dimensionals

Honeybees and Artful Delight!

I loved this month's kit by Artful Delight. Check out the blog here where you can get plenty of inspiration from all of the designers using the kit. 

This kit is just PACKED with goodies! I think there is only one left! If you want it, you better snatch it up!  ****Update! It is now sold out!!! :( Sorry friends! Get in on next month's because it is going to be FABulous! ***

I also made this card for Betty Bee's Buzz. This week's theme is "It's summertime and the living is easy". My mom used to cut up watermelon for me every morning and I had it for breakfast so when I think of summertime, I think of her and watermelon. 

Recipe:
Paper: Echo Park: Summer Days "Scallops"™ (from Artful Delight May Kit)
Cartridge: Designer's Calendar™
Embossing: D'vine Swirl Emboss Folder™
Buttons, ribbon, and twine: PTI

Next month's kit will be revealed soon and I LOVE it! I know you all will too! 

Come back tomorrow and see the card that I made. I am really excited to get to share it with you! :) 

PKS Guest Designer - Woodland Themed Party - Banner

This is the last day as a Peachy Keen Guest Designer and it certainly has gone by quickly!!! Thank you SO much to Peachy Keen for having me! I hope you all enjoyed my projects!

This week's Let's Face it Friday challenge is to use a banner on your project or make a banner, etc. Hop on over to Peachy Keen to see the prize that you could win for playing along! It's on my Peachy Keen wish list! 

OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :) 

Close ups of the banner:

OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :) 

OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :) 

OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :) 

ALL of the paper I used came from Pumpkin Spice! They are all things My Mind's Eye, Echo Park, and so much more! Definitely check them out!

Recipe:

• Cartridges: Create a Critter™, Sweethearts™(tree), Birthday Bash™ (banner, letters, balloons)
• Embossing: Swiss Dots Emboss Folder™, A2 D'vine Swirl Emboss Folder, A2 Argyle Emboss Folder™
• Stamps: Peachy Keen Stamps 755 ™, Peachy Keen Stamps 490™
• Cardstock: 
• PaperTreyInk (True Black, Vintage Cream, Dark Chocolate)
• Cricut (green for the tree)
• Paper: 
• My Mind's Eye: Stella and Rose: Mabel "Joy" Woodgrain Paper™
• My Mind's Eye: Good Day Sunshine: "Writing on the Wall Paper"™
• My Mind's Eye: Fine and Dandy: True Blue "Daydream" Paper™
• My Mind's Eye: Fine and Dandy: True Blue "Splendid" Paper™
• My Mind's Eye: Fine and Dandy: Tickled Pink "Radiant" Paper™
• My Mind's Eye: Fine and Dandy: Tickled Pink "Delighted" Paper™
• My Mind's Eye: Fine and Dandy: Tickled Pink "Lovely" Paper™
• i-rock by Imaginisce™
• Glam Rocks in Pearl™
• (for the cheeks) Design Memory Craft: Mix and Match Sampler™
• Black Sharpie 
• White Gel Pen
• Ink: Colorbox in black
• Twine from the Twinery in Caribbean™
• Stickles in Christmas Red and Waterfall™
• Glue Arts Extreme Adhesive Squares™
• Glossy Accents
• Ribbon from my stash
• Crop-a-dile
• Eyelets
• Foam Dimensional Tape

drum roll please.......................................

For my Friday giveaway and the last of my blog-aversary prizes is a YourStory machine! I LOVE my YourStory and bought one just for one of you!!! 

Thank you SO much for taking this journey with me! I just started crafting in January of 2010 and from then until now it has been such a wonderful adventure. I have met SO many wonderful people and new friends! You all encourage me every day! 

Honey Bee Showcase- Jingle Belles Christmas Card!

Welcome to this fabulous Wednesday! 

Today we Honeybees are cross-pollinating (get it!?!) with the Jingle Belles thanks to my fabulously sweet friend June!! She is a guest designer for them and we have Lauren who guest designed on Monday for us! They are a couple of ladies dedicated to making Christmas cards all year long so that it doesn't overwhelm you come holiday season! So they have a different challenge every week. This week's challenge is to use a die cut! Mine is of course Cricut made! Hop over to Jingle Belles to play along and hop over to Betty Bee's Buzz to play with us too! Two chances to win! :) 

I have been doing SO much crafting recently and just keep thinking about how blessed I am that I have such a supportive and encouraging group of friends and family! That includes YOU out there in bloggy world! 

SORRY! OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :) 

The picture above didn't show the Glossy Accents so I went to take another picture and accidentally hit the button and this picture resulted and for some reason I really like it! :) 

SORRY! OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :) 

ALL that you see that made up my card came from PUMPKIN SPICE except for the twine, glossy accents, liquid applique, cartridge, and embossing folder. But all of the paper and embellishments came from the two My Mind's Eye Christmas lines from last year and they are both on sale at Pumpkin Spice along with Meadowlark!

SORRY! OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :) 

Now hop on over to Betty Bee's Buzz and Jingle Belles too and play along with us! I thought I would have a hard time getting in the Christmas mood, but I had a blast making this card! 

Happy Birthday!

Hello! I have been MIA for a little bit. My husband's birthday was last week and he found out he had to go on an impromptu trip to Poland and China! So the rest of my week was spent getting him ready for that and a good portion of it was at the Chinese Consulate. He left on Saturday for two weeks and I am so lonely! But luckily a friend needed help with her kiddos so I have spent the week with her gorgeous 1.5 year old and their 7 week old son. It has been so much fun! 

THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN DOWN FOR PUBLICATION!!! :) 

This card is for my best friend's husband named Phil for his 27th birthday. He's just a big kid so he will love this! 

Designer's notes: I fussy cut the owl and 2 and 7 from the patterned paper that came in the kit. ***I have gotten a few questions about what fussy cut means (I love getting questions and helping out so ask me ANYTIME - You can always email me directly at the email address listed on the top right of my blog!) Here is the answer: 

Fussy cutting is cutting out anything with a pair of scissors that is not in a normal shape that you punch out. For instance, it is used a lot when stamping an image, coloring it, and then cutting out the exact figure - instead of using your Nestabilities, shape punches, or Cricut Center Point feature and cutting it out that way. So I used a pair of embroidery scissors in this case to cut out just the owl out of the pattered paper. If I had used a oval punch to simply punch it out, it would not have been "fussy cut". I hope that makes sense and thank you for asking ladies! 

I used Glossy Accents this time to make the line that twine was going to sit on to make the banner and that worked great! I got that tip from Jenny at Wee Memories. 

I also used the Glossy Accents on the party hat, balloon, nose, feet, and leaves. It definitely added a nice "pop" factor. 

Lastly, I bent the "Happy Birthday" stamp to fit the contour of the branch which worked wonderfully! 

Recipe: 

Artful Delight's March Kit (only 4 left!!!)

Twine from the Twinery in Cappuccino™

Sentiment: My Pink Stamper: Sweetest Cupcakes™

Glossy Accents™

Cartridges: Birthday Bash™ (banner) and Straight from the Nest™ (branch) 

Cuttlebug Folders: Swiss Dots™ and D'vine Swirl™

i-bond (cordless glue gun) from Imaginisce™ (to glue the rope to the card)

d-stress (sander) from Imaginisce™ (I sanded the blue edges of the banner)

Glue Arts Glue Glider Pro™

This card also qualifies for the Cricut Circle's contest of a man card with three elements that they listed. I used distressing, twine and string along with two complete Cricut cuts (banner and branch).

I hope this brings you inspiration on doing boy/man cards which are hard for a lot of us! 

Don't forget to play along with Artful Delight's sketch challenge this month where you could win next month's kit! It's rumored to have papers from 3 different collections! Don't quote me on that, but I am really excited about the possibility! 

Also, Artful Delight is having a GIVEAWAY over at their Facebook Page (click on the link). Like them and let them know Courtney sent you over to say hello and good luck winning! Leeanne is always very generous! 

Be Mine

Hello to you all! It is the day after Robyn's birthday so HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBYN!!!

Today at My Pink Stamper's website the Design Team has been showing you projects made with either Love-alicious or Happiest Moments AND the color pink! I LOVE the Love-alicious stamp set! I think it's fabulous. For this project, I decided to use the "Be Mine" for a card and treat box. I hope you like it! 

 Recipe:

Sentiment: My Pink Stamper: Love-alicious™

Cartridge: Cake Basics™, Tie the Knot™

Embossing folders: D'vine Swirl™ and Swiss Dots™

Cardstock: Paper Trey Ink™

Paper: Echo Park: Be Mine™

3D flowers: Roly Rosies by Imaginsice™ (LOVE these)

Twine: The Twinery

Ribbon: stash

Black bling: Want2Scrap

i-rock by Imaginisce™

Hot Rocks Crystal Compact by Imaginisce™

white and black embossing powders by A la Mode™

Heat Embossing Gun by EK Success™

Buttons: Paper Trey Ink™
The flowers were put together and adhered to the box using the i-bond™ (LOVE it!)
My d-stress™ was used on the edges of the flowers as well as smoothing out the Cricut cut of the heart.

Crop-a-dile and eyelet™

 I really love this treat box. It just makes me happy on the inside! :)

*****EDIT*****
I have been getting a lot of questions on how I made the treat box and I am SO excited that it inspired a few of you!!! So here are the instructions! :)

The box was cut from Tie the Knot on "fit to page" on a 12x12 mat using Echo Park Paper. 

Next I used my petal roller by Imaginisce to make some roly rosies. I also used the D-stress to smooth and distress the edges.

I adhered those using my glue gun to the side (flatten it out of all of the next parts - but keep putting it together to make sure you are getting things where you want them on the box - and then flatten it again) 

Then I used my i-rock and the template for swirls that comes with the green and pink flowers i-rock kit. But I used the i-rocks from the crystal compact (all links to these things are above under "recipe" except for the green and pink stencil kit which is found here: http://www.imaginisce.com/ProductDetail.aspx?id=1243). 

Lastly, I cut out a heart from the Tie the Knot cartridge (it was the "blackout feature" of the heart that says "thank you") at 1.75 inches. 

I heat embossed that with white embossing powder and of course MPS Love-alicious stamps. I used my crop-a-dile to punch a hole and add a silver eyelet and then put some pink twine through it and tied it around a roly rosie. Clip the end, and you're done! :) 

Let me know if you have any more questions! I am happy to help! :) 

I made the card to match because the Cricut Circle is doing the month long contest where you have to "case" one of the projects on the blog along with using two cuts from the Cricut and two sponsors. My two sponsor were Echo Park Paper and Imaginisce! Here is the card I cased which was by Michele Kovack:

My card ended up a lot "busier" than hers, but all of the elements are still in there! :) 

Thank you SO much for stopping by today and make sure you pop on over to the My Pink Stamper blog to see what the rest of the DT has created!