Welcome 2012 Cupcakes

My dear hubby got me a Cricut Cake for Christmas and I used it to make the toppers on the following cupcakes for our New Years party:

I used a modeling chocolate (which is  a mixture of chocolate and corn syrup) for the toppers.   I searched the web and found the information on Hungry Happenings Blog very helpful to make the modeling chocolate using white candy melts.  The modeling chocolate is sticky enough so that you don't need to use shortening on the mat. Just roll it out directly on the mat and cut.  I let the cuts harden on a cooling rack for a couple of days prior placing them on the cupcakes.

The cuts for the numbers are from the Hello Kitty Font cartridge sized and welded together using  Cricut CraftRoom.  Here's a close up of one of the cupcakes:

Thanks for letting me share and wishing you all a Healthy and Happy New Year!

Dear Santa Shirt

This is a quick project I made that I intend to wear often this holiday season:

The tunic shirt is from Costco. The font is from Lyrical Letters Cartridge and I used Cricut Design Studio to flip the phrase and it's cut from Silhouette flocked heat transfer vinyl. I then ironed it onto the shirt.  Here's a close-up:









The poinsettia is a Dress It Up button I picked up from Michaels.

Easy peasy and the Silhouette flocked heat transfer vinyl cut wonderfully with my Expression.

Snowman Explosion Box - Gift Card Holder

This months Circle Magazine Challenge is to use the Circle exclusive cart Sophie for at least three cuts to create a holiday project.  I decided to make a Christmas gift card holder explosion box:

The large snowflake, the frame around "Merry Christmas" and the border on the front of the gift card pocket are all cuts from Sophie.  For the border, I welded several of the same snowflake cuts using Cricut CraftRoom and cut it out of scrap piece of sparkly silver vinyl.

The snowman in the centre is made with three pompom glued together. 

I used black half-beads for the eyes and a piece of a red rubber band for the mouth.  To make the "carrot" nose, I used  a piece of orange tissue paper with white glue rolled and shaped by hand.  The arms are toothpicks (with the point cut off), ends split into three and coloured brown.The top hat is back duct tape over black card stock cut freehand (to give it a more organic look) and glued together .

The stamped snowman image is the same one I used in a card I had posted in November. This time I embossed a cut portion of aluminium food tray which is sturdier than the aluminium foil I used with the card.







I intentionally made the outside of the box simple to contrast with the overkill of elements on the inside.

Supplies Used:
Cricut Expression & Cricut CraftRoom Application
Cricut Sophie Cartridge
Cricut Ashlyn's Alphabet Cartridge

Cuttlebug Embossing Folders from the Winter Wonderland embossing folders set

Inkadinkadoo Clear Stamp

Embossing Pad and Stampendous Embossing Powder

Ribbon from my stash
Studio G chalk ink and Copic Markers (to outline card stock)

Self-adhesive foam mounts

Self-adhesive rhinestones, confetti, plastic "mirror" snowflakes from the Dollar Store

Aluminium food tray

Solid and sparkle card stock are Recollections brand

Patterned card stock is Anna Griffin Georgette Christmas Collection

Martha Stewart Glitter

Orange Tissue Paper

White pompom - (three sizes), Cotton batting and Felt

Duct tape

Black half pearls

red rubber band

Toothpicks

Ribbon Flower from my stash

White pearls, black pearl, black pin and a thin piece of black plastic punch with a circle to make the snowman stick pin.

Thanks so much for looking. 

Bilingual "Merry Christmas" Charger Plates

I decorated a couple of charger plates that I picked up at Michael's with vinyl scraps that I got from a generous local sign shop.  The first is a [surprise, surprise] Croatian-English bilingual plate:

I used the Winter Woodland cartridge for the font, the Inspired Heart cartridge for the nativity scene and the Wrap-it-Up cartridge for the snowflakes.

The second is a French-English bilingual plate:

I used the Lyrical Letter's cartridge for the font and the tree, the star on the tree is from the Graphically Speaking cartridge (welded with Design Studio) and the Picturesque cartridge  was used for the scrolls.

I think the charger plates are a fantastic quick project that has a lot of punch for a small price.

Butterfly Birthday Explosion Box

This week's Cricut Circle challenge is to shop your stash and incorporate purchased flowers into a project with at least 2 Cricut Image Cuts.  I decided make an explosion box gift card holder. 

The flower was bought ages ago from the Dollar Store and I used Copics to colour it to coordinate with the colours in the rest of the box. 

I used six cuts from Accent Essentials on the cake plus a scalloped circle (also from Accent Essentials) the under the "celebrate" metal tag.  The metal ribbon with beads is from Pier 1 (I got it on clearance after Christmas a couple of years back and this is my first time using it in a project). 

Sorry for the lack of a detailed supplies used list, but it is December and I'm a little swamped with the stuff that interferes with crafting.  I will be posting another explosion box later this week and I promise a supplies list will be provided for that one.

"Dancing Santa" - Christmas Tag

Here's a tag (well actually 19 tags) I made for an online Cricut Circle Canadian Members Christmas tag swap (which was open to US residents as well):

 

 I decided to use a Santa cut from the Christmas Cheer Cartridge as the focal point for the tag, because he looks like he's dancing to me and that appealed to me. 

 

There weren’t many criteria beyond a size requirement (retagular: maximum 3"x5", minimum 2"x3" or round: 4"x4" maximum or oval: 4" maximum any direction) – simply to decorate a tag any way we’d like with a Christmas or winter theme and to try to use at least 3 embellishments. 

My tag is four inches tall and opens like a card.  The inside is stamped with "to" and "from".

To make the stick pin, I used wire, cut to about 3 inches  and wrapped it twice around a knitting needle to make the loop at the top.   The wire was in the hardware section of the Dollar Store and I got a 150 foot (45 metre) roll for $1.25, so a super cheap way to make stick pins.   I then added my beads and a drop of glue to the last bead to hold all the beads in place. I trimmed the excess from the  "pin" to fit after the glue was dry.

I made the fan fold rosettes using my Martha Stewart Scoring Board. I started with a 1inch by 12 inch strip of paper cut on one of the long side with the Your Story Trimmer wave blade, fan folded it, glued the ends together to make a circle, stood the circle up and then pushed the top edge down toward the centre, so that the wavy side was on the outer edge of the rosette. This was glued onto a .75 inch circle to keep the rosette together.

Looking at the finished tag, I really should have inked the Santa like I did the rosette.   Oh well, too late now. I did pop up the Santa with foam mounts.


The sentiment is table confetti.  (I glued several pieces together to give it some more definition).

Supplies Used:
Cricut Expression
Cricut CMTH Art Philosophy Cartridge (tag)
Cricut Accent Essentials Cartridge (circles)
Cricut Christmas Cheer Cartridge (Santa)
Martha Stewart Scoring Pad
Dritz Green 2-part Eyelets
CMTH Celebration My Acrylix stamp (“to” & “from”) and green ink
Ribbon from Michaels and Dollar Store
White Inkssentials Enamel Accents (pompom on Santa’s hat)
Dollar Store Duramax 20 Gauge Galvanized Steel Wire
Beads from a Dollar Store Bracelet
Knitting needle (size 4mm)

Fibre Craft Lacquered Holly Leaf

Table Confetti (“Merry Christmas”)

Your Story Paper Trimmer

Patterned Paper: DCWV The Christmas Combo Stack

Solid Cardstock from my stash

Black Faux Leather Con-Tact Paper (Santa’s mitts and boots)

Self-adhesive foam mounts

Copic Markers (inking the Cricut cuts)

Hot glue and glue stick.

Thanks for looking and I hope you like my tag.

Linked on OMC.

Simple Birthday Card & My Neglected Husband

Do you know the saying "the shoe maker’s son has no shoes”? It refers to the cobbler spending so much time repairing the shoes of his customers that he doesn’t have the time to repair his children's shoes.  Well, that's how my husband feels about my card making these days.  I've been busy making gift tags for a swap (come back tomorrow to see the tag), so I threw together the following simple card for his birthday from scraps in my stash and using the Cuttlebug A2 Happy Birthday folder:

He made it known that while he thought the card was cute, he was a little disappointed he didn't get a more elaborate one.  I'll have to make it up to him on the next card I make for him.

Snowman Christmas Card

Here's a card I made to a online Cricut Circle Canadian Members Christmas card swap (which was open to non-Canadians as well):

The size of the card  was to be 4.25 x 5.5" and we had 17 participants, so we each had to make 17 of our cards for the swap.  I centred my card around this pretty filigree snowman stamp and embossed aluminum foil.

Supplies Used:
Cricut Expression
Cricut Ashlyn's Alphabet Cartridge (frame cut centre contour hidden with Design Studio)

Cuttlebug Embossing Folder from the Winter Wonderland embossing folders set
Inkadinkadoo Clear Stamp
Embossing Pad and Stampendous Embossing Powder
Ribbon from my stash
Studio G chalk ink (to outline on the Cricut cuts)
Self-adhesive foam mounts
Self-adhesive rhinestones from the Dollar Store
Aluminum foil (folded so it is two layers thick)

Cardstock from my stash

Thanks for looking.

Halloween Costume

My hubby and I dressed as characters from the Grease movie for our annual Halloween party. 

I was a Pink Lady

 

and he was a T-Bird

For his costume, I used repositional Con-Tact paper to put the lettering and logo on his leather jacket.  The "T" was cut from Cricut Base Camp cartridge, the "BIRDS" was cut using the Cricut Sans Serif cartridge and the bird was cut from Cricut A Child's Year cartridge.

After the party, I removed the Con-Tact paper.  It did remove a little colour from the leather jacket, but nothing too noticeable.  He'll be able to continue to wear the jacket.

Here is the Design Studio cut file if you're interested.

Thanks for looking.

Witching Hour Clock

I decided to alter a clock for Halloween. (If you haven’t guessed already, Halloween is one of my favourite holidays.)

Here’s the clock:

Here's a close up of the bottom of the clock with a little less glare:

Supplies Used:
Battery Operated Wall Clock
Cricut Expression
Cricut Celebrate With Flourish Cartridge (witches)
Cricut Chic and Scary Cartridge (web)
Cricut Accent Essentials Cartridge (circle)
Cricut Ashlyn’s Alphabet Cartridge (“witching hour”)
Martha Stewart fine glitter
Halloween Confetti (ghost)
Recollection Pumpkin Stickers
Hot fix Gems
Xyron
Vinyl
Paper from K&Company and solid cardstock from my stash

Thanks for looking

Halloween Fridge

I’m decorating my home in preparation for a Halloween party we’re throwing.  I decided that my bar fridge needed something, so here is what I came up with:

I think the finger prints on the fridge that show up in the picture add to the spook factor I  (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it). 

Supplies Used:
Cricut Expression
Cricut Happy Hauntings Cartridge
White Con-Tact Paper

Thanks for looking.

Blog Hop Winner

Thank you to everyone who visited during the So...What's New?" Blog Hop especially those that took the time to comment.  I really love reading what you have to say.

On to the winner, there were 34 candy pumpkins in the jar pictured in my post on October 8, 2011 and only one person guess the right amount - CONGRATULATIONS  Blingdazzler!

Please contact me (click on my profile picture and then hit the email button) with your address so I can send your Cuttlebug folder out to you.

Cat Halloween Card

This is a layout I created for the Cricut Circle Blog’s Blogiversary Sketch Challenge.  The challenge was with to create a project using at least 2 Cricut Cuts based on the sketch to the right.

Here’s my entry.

In the top right corner is a plastic spider that I covered in glue and then sprinkled with glitter.

The cat cut was run through my Xyron and then sprinkled with flocking powder.  The pink nose was hand cut and I added the whiskers next to the nose.  The eyes are a dollar store flower jewel petals, coloured green and black with a Sharpie.

The purple pumpkin was stamped with the sentiment and covered with UTEE.  After it was heated, the stamped sentiment was difficult to read, so I went over it with a black sharpie.

Supplies Used:
Cricut Expression

Cricut Chic and Scary Cartridge (cat and pumpkin)

Plastic Spider

Martha Stewart fine glitter

Black half beads

Xyron

Recollections Flocking Powder

White hair from an old Halloween wig (cat whiskers)

Plastic flower jewel

Black and Green Sharpie Marker

Studio G Stamp and Versafine Ink Pad in Onyx

Suze Weinberg Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel

Recollections Ribbon

Paper from K&Company and solid cardstock from my stash

Thanks for looking.

Man’s Best Friend Layout

This is a layout I created for the Cricut Circle Blog’s Blogiversary Recipe Challenge.  The challenge was with Cricut machines to create a project using the following “recipe”: 1) A Title; 2) At least 2 Cricut Cuts, and 3) At least 3 buttons.

Supplies Used:
Cricut Expression
Cricut Graphically Speaking Cartridge (title)
Cricut Accent Essentials Cartridge (frame)
Cricut Wall Decor and More Cartridge (film strip)
Cricut Paper Pups Cartridge (bones)
Cricut Paper Dolls for Everyday Cartridge (hydrant)
Black buttons
Paper:  Martha Stewart Travel Multimedia Pad, DCWV The Shimmer Stack, DCWV the Blossom Song Stack, GCD Studio Paris Nights, and some from my stash
Copic Markers (inked the Cricut cuts)

As well as, I am submitting this as my entry for the third challenge for the inaugural Cricut Circle’s Canadian Online Swarm which challenge was to create a pet or animal scrapbook layout using texture, lumps/bumps and  at least one Cricut cut.

This was a hard layout to do because we had to put our dog down in June due to her failing health and scrapping with pictures of her brought out a lot of emotion.

Halloween Tealight Holders: "So...What's New?"--Blog Hop Day 2

Welcome back for the second day of the "So...What's New?" Blog Hop.  Again, if you arrived here from My Mind's Dust Bunnies, you are heading in the right direction.  If not, then you will need to go to the  TX Scrapper Mom blog and start the hop there.

Sticking with Halloween, my project is a set of altered tealight holders:

I found these candle holders at Michael's on clearance at three for $1 (can't beat that) and thought they'd be perfect for Halloween.  I used Con-Tact brand paper rather than vinyl for this project because of its price and because I like the marble print on the paper.  

Supplies Used:
Cricut Expression
Cricut Chic and Scary Cartridge
Orange Glass Votive Holders
Black Marble Con-Tact Paper

I'd love for you to comment and let me know what you think of my tealight holders.

Also, I am offering a prize from my blog for the hop, but  you will have to read my post from yesterday (So...What's New?"--Blog Hop Day 1) to find out how to win and what prize is that I am giving away.

The next stop on the hop is the My Craft and Chat Cafe blog.

Halloween Card: "So...What's New?"--Blog Hop Day 1

Welcome to the first day of the "So...What's New?" Blog Hop.   If you arrived here from My Craft and Chat Cafe, you are heading in the right direction.   If not, then you will need to go there to start the hop.  I will be offering a prize from my blog, but you will have to read to the end to find out how to win and what the prize is that I am giving away.

 My project is a Halloween card.  Here's the front of the card:

I embossed the pumpkin cut and background cream paper using the Cuttlebug embossing folders. The sentiment was stamped, sprinkled with silver embossing powder and heated to melt it.  

Now onto the inside of the card:

To make the "pop-up" feature, I had welded tabs to the bottom on the boo cut to attach it to the bottom half of the card. Then, a piece from some plastic packaging was used to connect the boo cut to the ghost cuts.  Finally, a scrap piece of transparency was used to attached the ghost to the the top half of the card. 

Supplies Used:
Cricut Expression
Cricut Design Studio
Cricut Paper Dolls Dress Up cartridge (moon cut)
Cricut Chic and Scary Cartridge (pumpkin cuts)
Cricut Happy Hauntings Cartridge (ghost cuts)
Cricut Holiday Cakes Cartridge (boo cuts)
Cricut Hello Kitty Font Cartridge (tabs for boo cut)
Cuttlebug Skeleton Scroll and Distressed Stripes Embossing Folders
Craftsmart Rubber Stamps and Embossing Pad and Stampendous Embossing Powder
Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page Spider Web Edge Punch
Memento Dye Ink in London Fog (ink the embossing on the cream card stock)
Copic Markers (to outline on the Cricut cuts slightly)
White Gel Pen (dots on the boo cut)
Ric-Rac and Grosgrain Ribbon from Celebrate It
Self-adhesive foam mounts
Purple, Green, Yellow, Purple Orange Recollection Card Stock
Cream Card Stock from my stash

Well, I hope you enjoyed my card enough to leave me a comment about it. To enter the giveaway for the prize of your very own Cuttlebug Skeleton Scroll Embossing Folder on my blog, just leave a comment on this post with a guess as to how many candy pumpkins are in the jar beside the card in the above photos. Only one guess per person allowed. Closest guess without going over wins. If more than one person has the right answer, I'll randomly draw from the correct answers. Your comment must be posted before10am CST on Monday, October 10th, 2011 to be eligible. Be sure to check back on Tuesday to see if you've won.

The next stop on the hop is the My Mind's Dust Bunnies blog.

Monochromatic (Brown) Halloween Card

This is a card I created for the Cricut Circle Blog’s Blogiversary Monochromatic Color Challenge.  The challenge was to create a project of your choice using a monochromatic color scheme at least 2 different Cricut cuts.

I stamped the dress with part of an Inkadinkadoo stamp and clear embossed it to add some texture.  I also clear embossed the boots to make them look shiny like leather.

Supplies Used:
Cricut Expression
Cricut Wrap It Up Cartridge (witch cut)
Cricut Accent Essentials Cartridge (Circle cut for sentiment)
Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes Embossing Folders
Studio G Clear Stamp (sentiment)
Inkadinkadoo Snowflakes Clear Stamp (pattern on dress)
Embossing Pad and Stampendous Embossing Powder
Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page Spider Web Edge and Corner Punches
Martha Stewart Glitter in Smokey Quartz
Stampcraft Dye Ink in Coffee (ink the Cuttlebug embossing)
Ribbon flower from my stash
Copic Markers (to outline on the Cricut cuts and color the ribbon flower)
Brown Tulle from Michaels
Self-adhesive foam mounts
Cardstock from my stash

I really love the way this card turned out.  What do you think?

3D Haunted House

The fourth challenge for the inaugural Cricut Circle’s Canadian Online Swarm was to create a 3D haunted house embellished with Cricut cuts, stamps, etc .  It could be a luminary, a gift bag, a lunch bag, a treat bag, an ornament, or part of a Halloween village.

I decided to make the haunted house box from the Cricut Wrap it Up Cartridge (love this cartridge) and here it is:

 

The purple roof was embossed with the Cuttlebug Mesh Embossing Folder while the grey portion of the house was embossed with Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes Embossing Folder and inked with Memento Dye Ink in London Fog.

Any suggestions as to what I should put in it?

Thanksgiving Themed Card

The second challenge for the inaugural Cricut Circle’s Canadian Online Swarm was an autumn or Thanksgiving themed card with the following three criteria:

1. use at least 3 “holes” anywhere: punch, torn, square, round, large or small

2. use vellum/plastic/transparency

3. Use a Cricut cut, your choice of image.

In addition, the Cricut Circle Blog’s Weekly Challenge #42: World Card-Making Day Challenge!  is to create a card that  includes at least 2 Cricut Cuts.  So, I decided to make one card for both challenges.  Here it is:

The “holes” are the negative cuts of the maple leaves from the Cricut Wild Card Cartridge.  The sentiment is cut from the Cricut Holiday Cake Cartridge in vinyl and adhered to a piece of transparency The tag is cut from Cricut Tags, Bags, Boxes & More Cartridge.  The Turkey is cut from Cricut Animal Kingdom Cartridge, but I replaced the feathers with a “half” rosette made with a 1.75 inch by 9 inch strip of paper fan folded.    The turkey body was embossed with one of the Cuttlebug Animal Print Embossing Set folders.

Patterned cardstock Paper is from a set I bought at Costco and I have no idea who makes it.  Gold ribbon was from the Dollar store, while the Ric-Rac and Grosgrain Ribbon are from Celebrate It.

Thanks for looking.  I’d love to hear your comments.

In Memory Of Summer Layout

I have a confession to make.  Scrapbook layouts scare me.  Those large pages of blank paper are intimidating.  That’s why I mainly stick to cards.

Well, you can just imagine the panic that hit me when I saw the first challenge for the inaugural Cricut Circle’s Canadian Online Swarm was a scrapbook layout “in memory of summer, RIP” with the following  three criteria:

1. flowers, butterflies or bugs, at least one Cricut cut

2. stitching (your choice how: hand, machine, rub-ons, stamped or doodled)

3. a favourite quote.

After I stopped hyperventilating, I came up the following (my very first scrapbook layout using the Cricut):

I almost never get pictures of me with my daughters (I’m usually always behind the camera), but I searched the shots from our vacation this summer and found a couple of me and my daughters to use  for a double 12X12 layout.  (Yes, yes , I know you are looking at the pictures and wondering how in the world I could be the mother of two teenagers  when I look so young --- ok, clearly the hyperventilating has caused me to  become delusional, so at this point I suggest you just humour me and agree that I look young).

The flowers cuts are from the Cricut Pagoda cartridge, the stitching is machine stitched and the quote at the bottom right hand corner is from one of my favourite songs by Canadian singer Bryan Adams , Summer of  Sixty-Nine.  It was printed using MS Word and reads:

Oh when I look back now

That summer seemed to last forever

And if I had the choice

Ya - I'd always wanna be there

Those were the best days of my life

Paper is from the  DCWV – The Black Current Stack along with  cream cardstock and black paper from my stock.  Title was printed on a transparccy and is a part of a cut on a circle on the Cricut Accent Essential Cartrige.Bling embellishments are from Prima Marketing Inc.  – Say it in Crystals.

I love to hear what you all think of my first Cricut layout,