Hip Hippo Hooray

My niece is turning 4 this week.  Her birthday party was last weekend, so she has already received the card I made - loved the hippo.

This card is 5-1/2"x4-1/4".  There were a lot of layers to put together on this card.  I don't usually make cards with so many "little pieces", but I was really happy with how it turned out.  The Xyron makes putting all those little pieces together so much easier than glue!

The items I used for this card were:

• Cricut Expression
• Gypsy
• Xyron
• The Christmas Card Stack by DCWV
• The Fun in the Sun Summer Stack by DCWV
• Create a Critter Cricut cartridge
• Cuttin' Up Cricut cartridge
• From My Kitchen Cricut cartridge
• Just Because Cards Cricut cartridge
• Turquoise Stickles by Ranger

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you've had some crafting time this week.

I'm linking up to:

Cupcake Birthday Card

I'm back today with another birthday card for a dear friend of mine, Tracy.  Hopefully you get the card in the mail before you see it here. :-)

This was another card that was inspired by Pinterest.  See the original HERE from Kassidy at the Inking it Up Crazy blog.

This is an A2 (5-1/2"x4-1/4") card.  It was made with scraps from my stash.  The inside is simply stamped with Happy Birthday.  Here are the rest of the details:

• Cricut Expression
• Gypsy
• Cuttlebug
• Xyron
• Create a Critter Cricut cartridge
• From My Kitchen Cricut cartridge
• Just Because Cards Cricut cartridge
• Stamps from the Close to My Heart Cricut Art Philosophy collection
• Spots and Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder
• Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder
• Craf-T Chalks Kit #2
• Magenta Stickles
• Ribbon (from my stash)
• Foam tape
• Black Exclusive Inks stamp pad by Close to My Heart
• Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Spritz by Tsukineko

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope to see you back again this week for some more new projects.

Feminine Birthday Card

Sorry for the lack of posts this week.  I forgot to schedule posts before I left with my son for his college visit this week.  I meant to post this birthday card that I made for my mom yesterday. Happy belated birthday Mom!

I will be back tomorrow with the "recipe" for this card; I just wanted to make sure I got it posted before it was really belated (although I did make sure she got the actual card on her birthday).

Sports Theme Birthday Card

Yea!!  It's Friday and the start of spring break here.  No major plans for us ~ a couple of college visits this week as we try to narrow down the decision, and my daughter still has her activities to keep her (and us) busy.  I know I promised some more scrapbook layouts today, but it's a special day!

Today is my nephew Jack's birthday.  Happy birthday!!  We wish we were closer to celebrate with you, but we'll see you soon.  Jack, like many 11-year old boys, loves to play sports.  That love of sports was the inspiration for his birthday card.

This card is 4-1/4"x5-1/2".  I used the Gypsy when creating this card.  It really helped me visualize what sizes I needed to make the bat and balls. 

The supplies I used for this card were:

• Paper from my scrap stash
• Tombow adhesive
• Xyron Creative Station
• Cricut Expression
• Sports Mania Cricut cartridge
• Designer's Calendar Cricut cartridge
• Gypsy
• Black Exclusive Inks stamp pad from Close to my Heart
• Dutch Blue Exclusive Inks stamp pad from Close to my Heart
• ColorBox French Blue Chalk Ink
• 3x3 My Acrylix Block from Close to my Heart
• Stamps from the Cricut Art Philosophy Collection from Close to my Heart
• Say It In Style My Acrylix stamp set from Close to my Heart

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hopefully you are looking forward to a weekend full of crafting.  See you soon a new project.

18th Birthday Card

I wanted to share something different today.  Today I'm going to share the birthday card I made for my son's 18th birthday.  I can't take credit for the design ~ it's something I found on Pinterest.  If you want to see the original idea, you can see it HERE; it came from JulieH on the Cricut message board.

The card is a 6x6 square with the fold at the top.  The yellow mat is cut using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge exclusively from Close to my Heart at 5.87" wide.  The "happy birthday" mat is cut using the same cartridge but at 5.75" wide.

The "18" is cut from the Plantin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge and cut again using the shadow feature at 5.5" tall.  "Jonathan" was cut from the font on the Wild Card Cricut cartridge and welded using my Gypsy.  I played with the size until I was happy with the way it lay over the 18; I would make it a different size if using a different length name.  As JulieH explained in her original directions, I cut Jonathan three times, ran them through my Xyron, and attached them together to make it thicker.

On the inside, I cut a mat from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge at 5.75" wide.  The sentiment is cut at 5.5" wide from the Create a Critter Cricut cartridge.

Here are the supplies I used:
Cricut Expression
Xyron Creative Station
Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge from Close to my Heart
Plantin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge
Wild Card Cricut cartridge
Create a Critter Cricut cartridge
Black cardstock (from my stash)
Yellow cardstock from Hobby Lobby
Multi Colored Bday Words from The Paper Studio
Solid Glitter - Silver from The Paper Studio
Solid Glitter - Turquoise from The Paper Studio
Clouds from Colorbok

Hope to see you back at my blog soon!  Stop back tomorrow as I'll have some more of my scrapbooking layouts. 

Birthday Card

My mother-in-law's birthday is this week, so I whipped up a "little something" for her.  With fall right around the corner, I was feeling like fall colors.

This is an A2-sized card.  I used my Cricut and Art Philosophy cartridge for the cupcake.  I cut the cupcake twice and then cut the liner apart from the cupcake so that my liner was a different color.  The cupcake was cut at 2-1/2".  I kept the inside very simple; it is a stamp that came in the Art Philosophy Collection.

I used foam tape to make the cupcake "pop" from the page.

The supplies I used for this card were:
- Smoothie cardstock from Close to My Heart
- Olivia B&T Duos paper from Close to My Heart (retired)
- Off-White cardstock from DCWV
- Art Philosophy Collection Cricut cartridge and stamps from Close to My Heart
- Organza Ribbon from The Ribbon Boutique found at Hobby Lobby
- Shimmer Designer Brads from Close to My Heart
- Smoothie Exclusive Inkpad from Close to My Heart
- Black Exclusive Inkpad from Close to My Heart
- Jet Black StazOn Inkpad
- Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel from Close to My Heart

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope you have a great week.

I am linking this card up to:

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Today is my daughter's birthday.  Happy Birthday sweetheart! 

I don't know about you, but I have a terrible time finding time to craft cards for my kids now that they are older and don't go to bed at 8 pm.  I just find it hard to get my craft mojo going at 10 pm once the kids are in bed.

I whipped this card up late last night.  I knew I wanted to make something lime green and hot pink.  What other colors are there for a pre-teen girl?  I decided to use a black base and accent with a little white.

The card is a 5x7 base.  Believe it or not, this is the first time I ever heat embossed (the initial).  I have had the supplies for ages, but hadn't tried it yet.  I love the look, and it was so much easier than I had anticipated.

The inside of the card was just a few stamps I had on hand to make it cute without being TOO cute.

Here are the supplies I used:

• Black and white cardstock from my stash
• Lime green and hot pink cardstock from DCWV's Fun in the Sun Summer Cardstock Stack
• 2" Scallop Circle Punch from Close To My Heart
• Bubblegum inkpad from Close To My Heart (retired color)
• Jet Black StazOn inkpad
• Friendship Alphabet Large stamp set from Close To My Heart
• VersaMark stamp pad
• Clear Embossing Powder
• Dashes, Dots & Checks ribbon from Michaels
• Say It In Style stamp set from Close To My Heart
• Happy Forever stamp set from Close To My Heart (no longer available)

That's it for the night.  I'm off to join the family - finishing a movie and enjoying cupcakes (slightly smashed) to top off the birthday girl's day.  Have a wonderful evening!

This is what happens when you send two 17-yo boys after the cupcakes....but they still taste good.

TinkerBell Card and Scrapbook Pages

Today is my niece's third birthday (Happy Birthday Sweetie!).  The party is tomorrow, so I've been busy creating not only a card for her gift, but a two-page scrapbook layout for her mom to capture tomorrow's party.  I'm going to apologize in advance for the poor photography.  Winter seems to be hanging around here and with it the poor light.

She is having a TinkerBell cake for her party tomorrow, so I stuck with the theme for both her card and the layout.  I was VERY tempted to go out and purchase the TinkerBell cricut cartridge, but commonsense took over.  It really isn't a cartridge I would use enough to justify the cost; my daughter's too old, and I only have one niece.  I happened to come across a TinkerBell scrapbooking page kit at Hobby Lobby and decided it had enough stickers and paper to create both a card and matching layouts (and I decorated a plain green gift bag) and it didn't cost me nearly as much (and it was on sale).

Card front (sticker says Perfectly Precious)

Card Inside

Envelope

Two-page layout (white place markers for my sister-in-law to add photos)

Close-up left page

Close-up right page

Supplies used:

• Paper and stickers from Disney Fairies Theme Pack by Sandylion
• TinkerBell Stickers by Sandylion
• Gypsy inkpad from Close To My Heart (Z2190)
• Lime Green Stickles by Ranger
• "3" cut from Cuttin' Up cricut cartridge cut at 4"
• All other words cut from Mickey Font cricut cartridge (who is cut at 1", look cut at .66" and negative image used)
• Layout was based on the Supporting Cast layout from the Imagine book by Jeanette Lynton

Birthday Card

Remember this envelope from a couple days ago?  I finally got the rest of the card completed and ready to share with you - just in time for my sister-in-law's birthday today.  Happy Birthday Erin!

I think that sometimes we are our own worst critics.  I really wasn't happy with this card when I completed it, but it is starting to grow on me.  In hindsight, I think I would have switch the solid yellow paper with the larger flower patterned paper.

This is a 5.5-inch square card.  The yellow square is 5.25-inches.  The next two layers are the tag and tag shadow from the cupcake button on Gypsy Wanderings cut at 5-inches.  The cupcake and shadow were cut just slightly smaller than 2.5-inches; I was simply trying to make it cover the cupcake outline in the tag, so I was resizing it with the Gypsy.

All paper for this project came from The Sorbet Stack by DCWV.  The edges of the cupcake were inked with jet black StazOn ink.  The frame and yellow square were inked with pastel pink Cat's Eye chalk ink.  I added dimension by using foam tape to attach the frame as well as the cupcake.

And, finally, the inside...There is another 5.25-inch square that is inked in black. with the Happy Birthday phrase and shadow  cut at 2-inches (I think).

So, there's my card.  It's the first I've created in awhile and definitely the first I've used my Gypsy to design. 

This card is being entered in My Pink Stamper's birthday challenge and the Craft Your Passion challenge #42 to use two patterned papers.

Hope you have a great crafty day!

Birthday Card

I don't know who will be the lucky recipient of this birthday card.  I'll put it in my card stash for the summer; there are a lot of birthdays during the summer months in my family.  This card qualifies for My Pink Stamper's NSD challenge #12 to create something with a "critter".

Front

Inside

Supplies used:

Cardstock from my stash

Say it with Bling from Want 2 Scrap

Black Diamond Stickles from Ranger (for the pupils)

Turquoise ribbonFX from Hobby Lobby

Paisley Cricut cartridge (the frog is cut at 3" with shadow and layers)

3D Foam Square (adhesive)

Black pen

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Card

This card is for my husband's birthday later this week, so hopefully he's not checking in my blog this week. :-)  This card is also for My Pink Stamper's NSD challenge #7 to make something masculine.

This project also showcases Close To My Heart's stamp of the month for May.  Check it out on My CTMH website.

Front

Inside

Now, I am a self-confessed paper addict.  I love to purchase, hoard, and never use paper.  I am trying to get better.  I raided my stash and ended up using paper from a set I purchased in 2007 (gasp!) and hadn't used at all.

Supplies used:

CTMH Serendipity Heart of Winter Project Pack (papers and "dot" die-cuts)

Z280 Natural Hemp

D1421 Cherish the Moment ~ May stamp of the month

Z2140 Outdoor Denim Exclusive Inks

Thanks for stopping by!  E-mail me or stop by my website if you are interested in purchasing the May Stamp of the Month.

Butterfly Birthday Card

Here is a birthday card I've made for my mom (even though her birthday isn't until next week).  This is an A2 sized card.  The base is made from green cardstock from the Fun in the Sun Summer Cardstock Stack by DCWV.  The rest of the paper is from the 180 Paper Pack II by The Paper Studio.  The organdy ribbon is from Jo-Ann's.

The butterfly is cut at 3" (I think) from the Hannah Montana Cricut cartridge.  This is the butterfly on page 75 of the handbook using the Pop Princess feature as well as the blackout.  I embellished the butterfly with some crystal stickles by Ranger and pop-dotted it onto the card for dimension.  The edges of the card and the striped paper are inked with Close To My Heart's citrus inkpad.  The Happy Birthday is from a stamp set I picked up on clearance somewhere.

Have a great day - it's starting to feel like spring here!

Birthday Card

I've had some time to get some crafting in this week.  I've completed one birthday card and have another almost done.  This card is for my nephew who's turning 8 very soon.

This card qualifies for this week's challenge over at the new Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog.  This is their first-ever challenge, and I am excited to participate.  The challenge for the week was to create a project that includes the word "birthday" and a balloon shape.  It also has to include at least one Cricut cut somewhere.  It also qualifies for the challenge this week on the Cricut Cardz Challenge which was to make a child's birthday card.

This is a 5x7 card.  All papers came from DCWV's Fun in the Sun stack except the white cardstock.  The balloons were cut on the Cricut using the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge.  They were cut at 5", 5-1/2" (and flipped), and 5-3/4".  I also cut the shadow for each of these.  I used a black inkpad to ink in the balloon strings before I adhered them to the shadows.  I also used a black pen to outline the balloons.  The balloons were attached with foam tape to make them seem like they are floating right off the card.

The sentiment is a Close To My Heart stamp from the Say It In Style set.  It is stamped using Close To My Heart's outdoor denim ink.  The edges of the card and red block are also inked in this color.

The green satin ribbon is something I picked up at one of those great sales one of the craft stores seems to have every so often.  I don't know what brand it is.

I forgot to snap a picture of the inside of the card.  It is white and has the "shift version" of this ballon cut at 5-3/4" in the dark blue paper.  Because this balloon has a longer string on it, the balloon itself is much smaller.  It worked nicely for an inside accent.  If I remember, I'll try to get a photo before I send out the card.

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be posting another card soon.

60th Birthday Card

My dad's 60th birthday is soon, so I've been working on a card for him.  Have you ever had one of those "well, duh" moments.  I had one of those while working on this card.  I used the car from the "enjoy the ride" button on Graphically Speaking, and I just couldn't figure out what some of the icons were.  Oh well, if I couldn't figure out what they were, I decided they must not be important.  Off I go, creating my card, putting the layers of my car together.  My husband came up to see my progress later and says, "Your car could really use some wheels".  Well, DUH - the light went on; the unknown icons.  We had a good laugh over that one.

On to the card, you already know I am using Graphically Speaking Cricut cartridge.  I cut everything on the front of the card using that cartridge.  The spotted paper on the front of the card comes from the Fall In Love Glitter Book by My Mind's Eye.  The red and black cardstock came from the Fun In the Sun stack by DCWV.  I inked the edges of the card and added some accents to the tires and the enjoy the ride using a white gel pen.

On the inside of the card, I cut Happy Birthday using the Wild Card cartridge onto the spotted paper from the front of the card.  I glued it onto some of the leftover black cardstock and cut a freehand cloud around the words.  I added 60th with my white gel pen and "stickled" around the edge using Black Diamond stickles by Ranger.

Hope you enjoy and maybe got a laugh at my "dense moment" with this card.  Have a great crafting day!