2011 Goal - Scrapbook 2010!

So I have decided on my crafting goal for 2011. I am going to get the entire year of 2010 scrapped before 2011!!! That might not sound like much to some of you, but I have some major catching up to do. I'm not even half way through Karli's 2008 pictures! :( I have decided to put that on the backburner and I've set a plan into action! I will scrap January '10 pictures this month, February '10 pics in February, March '10 pics in March and so forth. At the beginning of each month I will print off only that month's pictures of last year. Once I am caught up for that month, THEN I will go back to my '08 pictures and work forward. I even thought about doing 2009 and 2010 simultaneously, but I might never get my 2008 pictures done. I want to hear your goal for the new year. Anyone care to join me on my crafting goal for 2011? Thoughts &/or comments are welcomed!

My Pink Stamper Design Team Challenge

My gal, Robyn, over at mypinkstamper.com has 2 openings for her design team based on this challenge. We have to use our favorite cartridge and her favorite colors of pink, green and brown. I have several favorite cartridges, but I remember the excitement that I had when I purchased Life's a Beach. I love the summer and have TONS of lake pictures that I can use with this little gem. It has wonderful beach themed images as well as phrases and the cutest "beachy" font! I am submitting a layout for this challenge. Wish me luck!!

Recipe:
Phrase: letters were 1 3/4"
Flower Border: 2"
Frame: brown layer is 8 1/4", pink is 7" (this is my favorite frame from Storybook)
Mermaid: 4 1/2"
Palm Tree: 5 1/4"

My phrase was welded together using my Gypsy. I added some brown lines on each letter to make it look like palm tree bark. The flowers were cut using the border function. I used Dots embossing folder and Cuttlebugged the brown layer of the frame. I embossed the mermaid's tail with Seeing Spots and the leaves of the palm tree with the Victoria folder. I used an Action Wobble under the mermaid to make her have some movement. Pop dots were used under the coconuts on the palm tree and pink frame. Green gems were added to the dots of the "i"s, and the flowers. The mermaid, leaves on the palm tree and flower border were embellished with stickles.

Here is the finished layout! Comments are welcomed.

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?