Back to my SCRAPBOOK!!

My poor daughter's scrapbook has been so neglected. I have been keeping myself busy with cards and projects for Halloween and Christmas. So last night I decided to get upstairs and get a layout done. I had one sitting on my table that I did not like AT ALL!

I wanted to change it up and add more color to it. Her cute bathing suit was inspiration for my color selections. It was an easy fix by adding a few cuts from Accent Essentials (pg. 1).

For the second layout, I looked on the message board on cricut.com to see if there was LID challenge going on. I could only find people searching for one, so I took it upon myself to find a sketch and post a new challenge for the week. I loved the sketch and it worked well with the previous page that I had just finished.

I found some great sayings out of the Stampin Up! catalog and used my H2O cartridge (for the first time) to add the title and sprinkler. Last, but not least (it's actually my favorite part of the whole page) was the paisley from the Paisley cartridge. I added a couple pop dots to give it some dimension and called it quits!

I love how they both turned out. TFL!!

Stylish Blogger Award!

I received this award from Gloria over at Girlia's Cards. Many, many thanks Gloria! Her blog has some really great cards, so take a minute and check it out. In accepting this award the recipient must following these guidelines. Thank the person for sending it to you and Link back to their blog. Tell eight things about themselves and pass it along to eight people in return.



Eight things about myself:
1. I love my family. I've been married for 13 years and have a beautiful 3 year old daughter.
2. I have been teaching 4th grade for 13 years.
3. I am about to start graduate school to work towards my masters in Informational Media Education.
4. I got my first cricut about 5 years ago.
5. My New Year's resolution is to be more organized.
6. My favorite food is mexican, with sushi being a close second.
7. I would love to be on stage singing or dancing, but I don't excell in either one.
8. Last, but definately not least I love my Lord!

I would like to extend this award to the following people in no particular order. These ladies are some very talented crafters and I hope you get inspired by visiting their blogs. I certainly do everytime I stop by. Thanks for your inspiration ladies and congratulations!!

1. Robyn at My Pink Stamper (she sparked all of my cricut madness!)
2. Dedrah at Blondies' Creative Place
3. Jean at Jean's Crafty Corner
4. Deb O at To Be is To Do
5. Michelle at Meesh's Pieces
6. Dorcas at 4 Crafty Angels
7. Karlee at Karlee Krafts
8. Shelley at Shelley Chic

Treats & Tags

I was super busy the day before Christmas putting the finishing touches on my packages with these adorable tags for each of my gifts. I used the Winter Frolic cartridge. The To/From stamp I found at Michaels and I added Stickles for a little sparkle. I used the Christmas Cheer cartridge to make these ornament treats. I used the blackout feature to make my cuts easier and less intricate. On the back of each ornament is a peppermint patty, attached with double faced tape. Again, I used Stickles to add a bit of pizazz!

Goodies & Goodie Bags

Last night I busted out 16 little Peppermint Patty Snowmen! There are a total of 4 circles with a York Peppermint Patty sandwiched between the bottom two circles. Also, there are pop dots between the other layers of circles. I just put the final touches on them tonight so I can hand them out to some co-workers tomorrow. Of course I scrap lifted them from Michelle from the cricut message board, but they were pretty easy to make. It was pretty tidies getting the arms and holly laid out on my Gypsy. I hid a lot of other parts and did some major resizing! I cuttlebugged the circles using the dots folder and used blue ink around the edges. The noses were cut free handed and I used Stickles for the eyes and berries. I added the knotted ribbon for the scarf and I cut a tag for him to hold. I had this cute little stamp that came in a set at Michael's that I thought went along well with this little guy.

I also made 5 Santa Pants gift bags for Karli's daycare friends. I stole this idea from JeansCraftyCorner. They aren't perfect, but I figured they would do for a bunch of 3 year olds!I loved the idea and am sure the kids will love them. I filled them with 2 pop-up coloring books (from Oriental Trading), crayons, puzzle and of course CANDY!! The left side is the front and the right is the back.  The To/From Stamp came from Michael's.  Thanks for looking!

Christmas Cards - 26 of them!!!

I have finally finished 26 custom made Christmas cards!! I started last week and have done a little bit here and there. Today I was determined to get them finished. Now I have to pick up some envelopes and labels to have them in the mail by Tuesday! Robyn over at mypinkstamper.com is also having a Christmas Card challenge that I will enter in. Hopefully I will be the lucky winner of her latest DVD! I did 4 different styles of cards. Which one do you like best?

Birthday Cards......6 of them!!

Last night I made 6 birthday cards for 6 different girls! To make it easy on myself I did the same exact card for each of them. Robyn over at mypinkstamper.com is also having a birthday card challenge! So maybe I will just win myself a new Birthday Cake cricut cartridge!!! I used her stamps as inspiration and came up with this cute hippo card using the Create-a-Critter cartridge. Since I tulle every package at Christmas and it was handy, I added in a tulle ribbon tied around my mat that was cuttlebugged with my favorite embossing folder, Seeing Spots. Added googly eyes, a little bling with my I-Rock and Stickles and called it quits! Thanks for looking!

My Neglected Blog!

I have been so busy with work, Karli and everyday life that I have been totally neglecting my blog! I have done a few cards and crafts while I've been away so I thought today would be a great day to share!

There has been 2 babies born in the last couple months that I've made cute cards for. The first is for my cousin's baby boy, Parker and the second is for my new nephew, Abel.

The next card was for our neighbor that worked so hard re-roofing his own house. He practicall did it all on his own and it looked beautiful when he was finished. This card makes me laugh!

For Thanksgiving, I made turkey napkin rings for both sides of the family. I just hot glued ribbon on the back to tie around the napkins. Super easy and super cute!

So now that I've caught up with my blog, upstairs to my craft room! I am setting aside my Christmas cards for the night to make some birthday cards!!!

Cricut Swarm

On Saturday, October 23, I attended my second Cricut Swarm. I was armed with only one bag of supplies. My goal was to complete my goodie bags for my class and maybe even some bookmarks. My goodie bags were completed and turned out really cute (see post below), but the bookmarks will have to wait! Robyn (My Pink Stamper) and her bestie, Karlee (Karlee Krafts), Okie (Okieladybug's Scrap N' More), my talented scrappin' buddy, Dedrah (Blondies' Creative Place), and about 20 others were there and we all had a fabulous time. There were some really great door prizes including lots of stamps (some donated by My Pink Stamper), paper packs, punches and even a Cricut Cartridge! We are looking forward to our next Swarm hosted by Dedrah and me! Fun times!! Here is a quick slide show of some pics taken from the Swarm.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My Pink Stamper - color challenge

Here is my project that I made for the My Pink Stamper color challenge. The colors were to include pink, purple and green. I whipped this cute little treat bag (along with 29 others) at today's Cricut Swarm in Norman.

Not so fun Sympathy Cards

I really don't like making sympathy cards because that means someone has lost a loved one and their heart is hurting. Sadly, one of our students at my school is in the hospital and is not expected to live much longer. The mom is a fellow Cricut lover and scrapper and I wanted to make a very special card for her. I saw a Joy Fold Card over at Made by Momo's blog and thought I would make one. I liked the name of the card too. Maybe she will find a little joy knowing that so many teachers loved and cared for her son. After making it, I realized there was not enough room for all the teachers and staff to sign, so I improvised a little and added an additional fold out flap to the inside. I also made a matching envelope that I thought was sweet. The "With Sympathy" is from Wild Cards and the frame is from Storybook and raised with pop dots.

After making the Joy Fold Card, I went ahead and made another one using the same color scheme in case we needed another one to sign. This one was much more simple and has more writing room. I used MPS Everyday Occasions stamps on both of the cards.

Fun Birthday Cards

On Labor Day, my husband's family gathered to celebrate 2 birthdays. My niece, Angela, turned 16 and my sister-in-law, Stacy, turned 36. I whipped out a couple of cards for them in about 30 minutes! I had such a fun time making these cards since they were so perfectly suited for them. I first started making the zebra print tri-fold card for Stacy, but remembered the cute zebra in a car on the Paisley cartridge. I quickly "changed gears" (lol with my pun) and made it for Angela. I used Create a Critter for the word Sweet and used Sweet Treats for 16. I embellished with a flower, rhinestones, and some stickles and this is how it turned out! Don't you just love it!?

I remembered how much Stacy loves owls and it just so happened that the Paisley cartridge had a really cute one. This card was super easy to put together and I added a MPS stamp from Punnylicious. Instead of using the cut out flower on the wing I used a Prima flower with a little bling for the center and some googly eyes!

These two cards might just be my favorite ones yet!! They make me smile and I LOVE THEM!

Peachy Keen Design & Color Challenge

Here is my take on the Peachy Keen Design & Color Challenge. The colors were apricot, teal and orchid. I found the perfect pictures that went along with the color part of the challenge, but in the photograph it looks more yellow than apricot and the teal looks blue. It looks pretty boring as is, but maybe I can find a little saying or something to spruce it up a bit. Any suggestions are appreciated. I am just happy to have had the time to get a layout done and get 5 pictures down on paper!!

Winter Challenge with My Pink Stamper

I finally made time to escape upstairs to create something. I was having withdrawals to say the least!!! I decided to do a quick Winter project to submit for the Winter Challenge going on at My Pink Stamper's blog. I have been wanting to make a little box since I saw Dorcas at 4 Crafty Angels make one during a recent blog hop. I just purchased the Martha Stewart Scoring Board yesterday and I knew my first use of it would be a box. I LOVE BOXES!! I had this cute flourished paper by My Mind's Eye that I wanted to use and it went perfectly with my Cuttlebug's Victoria Embossing Folder. I used Christmas Cheer for the circle ornament and added stickles and a piece of holly ribbon. The circle is attached with popdots.

My big surprise!

I have been feeling like I've been neglecting my craft room and blog since school started back a couple weeks ago. I miss creating once or twice a week, so I was delighted when I got a message on my blog from Georgiana over at Carson's Cricut Creations to check out her blog for a surprise.  She chose me to receive this:

Yippee!!!!

Since this is only my second blog award I am elated!! So here are the blog award rules:

1.  Thank the person who rewarded it to you. Thank you, thank you, thank you Carson's Cricut Creations for my blog award!! I am honored that you like what I do and I appreciate all the kind words of encouragement that you give.

2.  Copy the award to your blog. (done!) 

3.  List 3 things you love about yourself.

      1) I am very expressive! I am pretty excitable and feel that people often feed off of my upbeat personality. They also can read me like a book on how I am feeling at any given time!

      2) I love my creative side. I could spend hours scrapbooking, making cards or some kind of project. 

      3)  I smile and laugh a lot! Someone once mentioned my crow's feet on my eyes while I was in college and my only comment back was that it happens to people that smile all the time. I've loved my crow's feet ever since!!!

4.  Post a picture that you love on your blog.

My favorite picture of our outdoor photo shoot.

5.  Pass the award on to 5 other inspirational people.

Erin at Erin Lee Creatives

Pinke at Expression by Pinke

Dedrah at Blondies' Creative Place

Sheri at My Sheri Crafts

Rosi at Sweet Delights Paper & More

I am continually inspired by these bloggers, as well as many more. I follow and visit these sites at least once a week to see what creative pieces they've created. I hope they all are as excited as I am to get this fun award!

Birthday Card for an OSU fan (makes ME want to puke!!)

Marcus's best friend, Robert, is celebrating his 40th birthday. Since he is an OSU fan (and forty), I decided I would make him a special card. I think he will really get a kick out of it! Those of you that don't know about the head football coach of OSU, he went on a tirade a couple of years ago, defending one of his players. His famous I'm a man. I'm 40 speech was aired nation wide and has since been a joke ever since. If you would like to see his press conference, click here.

Shopping at Tulsa's Creating Keepsakes Convention!!

Today I got to go to the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Tulsa!! I had no idea what to expect since I had never been to a scrapbook convention before. OH MY! Major sensory overload!! I had no idea where to start or what to look for. My first stop was Eyelet Outlet & Brads. I found some cute flip flop brads, tropical drink brads, and some button brads for $1.00 each! I got some Stickles priced 6 for $10.00 and some paper. I did not need anymore paper, but for $2.00 for each pack, I was sold. I got 3 stacks and a pack of 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock. Then I found what I think was the deal of the day! I found some paper that were cut into different shapes. There were 2 sizes of flowers, a giant tag, a circle, a star, 2 styles of scallops and 2 styles of zig zag edged paper as well as 10 sheets of 12x12 whole sheets that were the same colors. When I got home and opened it up, there were 10 different colors for each shape!! That is 100 sheets for $7.00!! We did hit the mother-load at 2 of the dollar vendors. One is Dollar Scrapbooking and the other was Scrapbuck. I found LOTS of bling, some great gel pens, felt flowers, paper flowers, cute halloween stickers, some more brads and then some board books. The "girl" board book was $1.50 and the "princess" and "baby" were $3.00 buy one get one free!! I also signed up for monthly layouts at Treasure Box. I thought 6 pages for $21.00 wasn't bad at all. Let's just see how long I can keep up since I will get a kit each month! Check out all my pictures of what I brought home from my Tulsa trip.......

My First Blog Award

A couple of weeks ago I did a challenge for My Sheri Crafts. I posted an altered binder and composition book I made for a neighbor. Well, Sheri loved it and I won my first blog award, the Ooo-La-La award! I am thrilled to win since it is an award that was chosen and not picked from random! (Check out my new button on the right!) Now, I am keeping my fingers crossed to win the $25 gift certificate to her store at the end of the month.

Back to School Project

My composition notebook was such a hit, my neighbor, Brittany wanted to make one for her new teacher. She came over and we got busy creating! We chose to use the Hello Kitty Greetings for the front and Making the Grade for the back ribbon and apple. We personalized the front with her grade, teacher's name and school's initials. I am sure her teacher will love it!

This will also be the perfect opportunity to participate in Emma's, My Creative Time Throwback Thursday Challenge. We were suppose to use the Paisley Cartridge, but mine didn't make it in time. (I won it on ebay for $17 this week!) The winner of this challenge will get some great teacher stamps from Peachy Keen Stamps. Wish me luck!

ETA: I use Mod Podge to adhere the paper to the notebook and then after adding my cuts I do another layer of Mod Podge over it. It gives it a nice shine to it!!

Birthday Gift & My Sheri Crafts Challenge

We have a birthday party for our neighbor, Brittany, today. She is turning 11 and I wanted to make her something special because she is so sweet. At first I made her an altered initial to hang in her room. I added some flowers, some bling, and the saying Peace Love Brittany! She loves peace signs so I found the perfect paper from Hobby Lobby. My friend, Robyn, suggested I do an altered journal. I found composition books on sale at Walmart for 25 cents and stocked up for later projects. I used my Create A Critter cartridge for the butterflies and ladybug. For her name I used a frame from Storybook and welded her name inside. I also thought I could do a binder for her to take to school since we start back next week. I used the same peace paper and covered the front and back. Her name is cut out from Cuttin' Up, the flowers are from Sweet Treats and the winged heart came from Hello Kitty Greetings. I came across a pen set that would go perfectly with the peace sign paper which inpired the paper selection for her composition book. For her gift bag I used Sweet Treats. I am excited for her to open her gifts and am sure she will love it!

It just so happens Sheri at My Sheri Crafts is having a Back to School Challenge on her blog. So this will be submitted on her blog for her challenge! The winner will get a $25 gift certificate and Lord knows I love to spend that money on craft supplies, so wish me luck!!