BOO to you! Cricut Circle Monthly Challenge Sept. 2011

SEPTEMBER MONTHLY CHALLENGE: Window Dressing Challenge!

One of my favorite things about my town is Main Street with its many cute and quaint shops. One of my favorite things is to take a casual stroll down the street and take my time looking at all of the beautiful windows. For this next challenge, we want to see you give your next project a “window” element of some kind. Almost like you are dressing your own window into your project.

I used the Cricut cartridges Happy Hauntings and October 31 for the cuts and the sentiment Boo to You is embossed in black from My Pink Stamper's fall set Spook-alicious.  I distressed the cardstock with ink, sandpaper, metallic paint and a SU distresser.  I inked the ghost and jack-o-lantern's edges in black.  I then used glossy accents to add depth and interest to the pumpkin and pop dotted it on to the card.  

Robot Party Birthday Card

I just received the Cricut event cartridge Robot Party and knew it would be perfect for this week's Cricut Circle Weekly Challenge:
Weekly Challenge #41: Interactive Elements Challenge! The Challenge: For this next challenge, we want to see you add an interactive element to your project.

 

Materials Used:

•  Robot Party event cartridge: Pg. 17 , , <CrdBase> all @ 5.0"; Pg. 18 <HappyBdy> @ 1.5"
• Stampin' Up card stock Not Quite Navy & Baha Breeze
• Core'dinations gray card stock
• Stampin' Up wire
• Silver eyelet and brad from my stash
• Adirondack metallic silver acrylic paint dabber
• Pop dots

This was a fairly easy project.  I simply selected my card stock colors (3) and cut the card at 5.0" relative size.  I then dabbed all the gears with the metallic silver paint dabber. Next I added the eyelet to the right side gear.  I connected it to the card with a brad so that the gear can spin in a circle.  I then adhered the card base to the card and inked the edges with the metallic silver paint dabber.  Lastly, pop dotted the last two gears on to the card front and finished it silver wire haphazardly placed.

For the inside, I cut, dabbed and added the Happy Birthday phrase found on Pg.18 of the handbook.  I also used "zipper" scissors on the edge of the card for added interest.

Stay tuned for a couple of more projects I am working on with this cart in the next few days.  Until then, scrap and then scrap some more.  =)

Second Chance Banner Contest

I was simply amazed at all the banners that my crafty friends created!  I wish everyone was a winner because each and every banner was a winner in my eyes!  I would like to host my own second chance contest at winning a prize for your banner.  Now, my prize isn't a E2 (lol), but you do get to win a prize of your choice from my blog candy stash (anything from a 6x6 paper pad to a Cricut cartridge).

Sound like fun?  All you have to do is link your CRICUT banner to this post by this Friday evening 11:59pm.   I will use Random.Org to select a winner on Saturday morning. Until then, happy scrapping!

HSN Contest Banner #2

Here is banner #2 for the HSN contest highlighted in yesterday's post:

I used the banner template I created for the birth of my daughter earlier this year.  I added some more elements to it to make it more "shabby" and 3D.  I thought I was overdoing it, but in retrospect, I think I should have added some more cuts.  I am hoping to see it on TV Sunday night.  =)

HSN Contest Banner #1

Here is the banner I created for the HSN Banner contest for the E2 Launch.

From Jinger Adams on Facebook:
I hope you'll join me as I help launch the Cricut Expression 2 on HSN! We'll be on air on 9/26 at 12AM (which is really Sunday night), 1AM, 4AM, 8AM, 11AM, 12PM, 5PM, 9PM and 10PM EST. There's going to be a fun launch party at http://www.facebook.com/OfficialCricut, starting at 9:00PM EST Sunday night (9/25) - we'll be featuring our star bloggers, announcing the E2 Design Challenge winners, answering questions about the E2, sharing projects and tutorial videos, and of course we'll have giveaways (maybe something special for those that stay up with us during the wee hours). We hope you'll join us!

The original contest announcement was a follows:

On September 26th at 12:01 AM EST Provo Craft will launch the Cricut Expression 2 on HSN. We want everyone to join in the fun by designing a pennant banner for a chance to be one of FIVE lucky people to win the new machine when it debuts on HSN (If you're a Circle member and your design wins, you'll also receive $150 credit on Cricut.com!).

Here’s how. Send an original pennant banner to enter to win the brand new Cricut Expression 2. If you watch every airing on HSN you might also see your design on live TV with Jinger. 

It was fun trying to come up with what I was going to do with my banners.  I had lots of ideas, but ran out of time and energy so here is what I came up with for banner #1:

I thought it was good, but after seeing all the banners my crafty ladies posted, I am hoping for it to atleast be seen on TV.  ;)

Shhh... Mums the Word: A Texas Tradition

When we were on our house hunting trip in Texas, we saw these elaborate ribbons in a couple of the homes we viewed.  My daughter and I thought, "Wow, this girl must be really popular and really talented, look at all her ribbons!".  Well, it wasn't to soon after we moved here that we learned what those ribbons actually were: mums. 

"Homecoming mums are a Texas tradition that began in the 1920s. Fresh Chrysanthemum Flowers were originally used with a few ribbons and were given to boyfriends and girlfriends. In the 1960s, homecoming mums began being made from silk flowers with additional items added to signify what activities the students were involved in. The Homecoming mums have become a huge tradition in Texas and many girls keep the Homecoming mums to adorn the walls of their room to remember the year."
This year, my daughter decided she wanted one.  Now, no real crafter would actually  (open your mouth in horror) "buy" one, so off to the craft store we went.  Our first stop was at Joann's.  We carefully deliberated and decided on the ribbons we were to use ($40.77 worth).  Joann's didn't have everything we needed so off to Michaels we went.  Now Michaels was a whole other Oprah.  They had a gazillion things you could buy to make these mums or you could just buy a pre-made one for $29.99.  I seriously reconsidered just buying one as my daughter added the fake flowers, trinkets and you guessed it...more ribbon.  $58.00 dollars later we were armed and ready to create.  The scary thing is that this past weekend were coupon commotion days and I used several coupons, my VIP discount pass at both stores and it still came out to a total of $100.00!!!  WOW!!!
My next step was to create. I found directions on how to make mums from HERE:

The final product.

Just a sampling of all the ribbons we used.

Making the points (I double backed mine).

The ribbons adhered (Yes, that's my husband's pool table/my extra craft table...shh...don't rat me out!) ;)

A close up view.

Add your trinkets.

My military braid.  I LOVE how it came out!

My diamond back braid.

The mum portion in all it's glory.

My "not so little" girl.

She's so cute!  :)

I actually really like the way it turned out.  It was something I never created before, I had fun looking up directions and deciding on the design, and I learned how to make several braids that I can incorporate into my card making and/or scrapbooking.  Once I started looking up prices on the mums and how much additional items cost once you customize, I actually came out ahead.  I would have paid mega bucks for a mum like this one, especially with all the layering, braids and quality of the ribbons used.  Elaborate mums can cost as much as $300!!!  Not only that, I spent time with my daughter shopping, designing, creating and marveling.  You can't put a price on that!  =)

Entered at:

Spooky ~ My Pink Stamper Monthly DT Post, September 2011

This month for our My Pink Stamper Design Team Day, we were assigned to create with Robyn's new Spook-alicious Stamp Set.  I decided to go back to my first love and create a layout.

Materials Used:

• Cricut cartridge Elegant Edges: Page 49~ Book @ fit to page
• Cricut cartridge Mini Monsters: Page 42 ~ Spooky, Layer 1, Layer 2 x2, Layer 2 , Base Shadow all @ 4.0"; Page 74 ~ SpdrWeb2 @ 5.5"
• My Pink Stamper Spook-alicious stamp set
• Core'dinations core essentials card stock
• Cloud 9 Design Seasonal paper pad
• DCWV Midnight Spell stack
• Black stickles
• Stampin' Up black journaling marker
• Stampin' Up Whisper White craft ink
• Stampin' Up scallop punch
• Chipboard letters from stash
• Black fiber from stash
• Clear embossing powder

When browsing through the Elegant Edges booklet, I thought that the book feature on page 49 looked like a tombstone when you shifted it right side up.  Once I had selected the main shape, the rest of the page elements just came together.  I added a spider web to the background and a spider hanging from the front of the tombstone.  What do you always expect to see in a graveyard?  Why, a ghost of course!  I doodled on the ghost to make it match the designer paper and added black stickles to the web, the ghost's eyes and mouth and to the spider's legs.  For additional texture, I distressed the edges of the ghost dsp and sanded the green core'dinations card stock.  To tie in the whole page, I embossed the phrase "Spooky" in white craft ink from the Spook-alicious stamp set. 

Thank you for viewing this month's My Pink Stamper design team post.  You can purchase the Spook-alicious stamp set HERE.

A "Butterfly Award"!

I'd like to thank Brenda at Random Thoughts of a Scrapbooker for awarding my blog the "Butterfly Award"!

To accept the award, I must answer the following questions and then pass the award on to 10 other blogs.

1. Name my favorite color - Purple of course!

2. Name my favorite song - The Humpty Dance by Digital Underground
3. Name my favorite dessert - ANY kind of ice cream
4. What 'wizzes' me off at the moment? When my coupons aren't calculated right!
5. My favorite pet - Dog
6. Black or white? Hmmm...I wear a lot of both
7. Biggest fear - BUGS!  Yikes!
8. Best feature - My smile
9. Everyday attitude - My glass is half full
10. What is perfection? A night full of sleep and a day all to myself
11. Guilty pleasure - Crafting
12. When I am upset I... go to pantry  =(


I would like to present the "Butterfly Award" to...

1. Janice at Craft Place   ~ AWESOME flower tutorial!
2. LaShavia at Crafty Pink Butterfly ~ So many neat posts on her newer blog
3. Rosewise at Confessions of a Scrapaholic ~ What cool calling cards
4. Mary at Mary's Crafting Spot ~ Love your homemade patterned paper
5. Donna at Nana Donna's Card Dreams ~ Unique cards and color combo's
6. Shari at Shari's Cricut Circle Madness ~New blog, cool projects
7. Cindy at Scrap-Obsessed ~ Awesome layouts and sketches
8. Sheila at She's a Sassy Lady ~ A plethora of crafty ideas and tutorials
9. Mel at Doxie Mel Designs ~ One crafty lady
10. Liz at 217 Creations ~ Detailed, beautiful work

Congratulations ladies and thank you for the inspiration!

My Blog Makeover Post Winner!!!!

Good Morning!  I had so much fun reading your comments and changed up a couple of things from your feedback.  Thank You!  I am happy to announce the winner:

June Houck said...

I like the fun color scheme and how the banner perfectly coordinates with the background. I also like the tabs at the top to click; very professional and useful! Pretty new look :)

I love that cartridge with the fruit: apples, pears, cherries, etc. So cute!

September 18, 2011 6:38 AM 

Congratulations June!  You have until Friday, September 23 to claim your Cricut Preserves cartridge.  Yea!

Thank you again Chris for designing such a great blog for me.  I LOVE IT!

I also invite you  to stop by tomorrow to view my My Pink Stamper design team's monthly post.  See you then!

My Blog Makeover and a Giveaway!

I am so super pleased with my new blog makeover! Chris from ChatterScene redid my blog and I LOVE IT! She was fast, receptive to my requests and delivered an end product that I cannot be happier with! Not only that, but she is super reasonable in her pricing. If you have been considering giving your blog a new look, I highly recommend her! If you would like to see what she offers, just click on the page entitled "Custom Blogs" on my top bar. I think you will be surprised at just how reasonable she is. To celebreate my new look, I am giving away to one lucky winner, a cartridge of your choice from the following:

All you have to do to qualify is leave me a comment or suggestion on what you think of my new look! Please also include your cartridge choice in case you are the winner! I will choose a winner Monday morning 09-19-11 using Random.org. Thank you for stopping by and I hope to see you back!

Cricut Circle Blog Weekly Challenge 40: Glittery Card Sketch

The Challenge: This week we want to see your interpretation of the following card sketch. Please include some kind of glitter or bling on your card.

I just bought the Imagine patterns cartridge Heirloom and couldn't wait to use it!  The butterfly paper was my inspiration in creating a project from the sketch.  I also discovered a new technique by default in creating the 3D butterflies.  I will add a tutorial on how to make these in the next few days. 

Materials Used:

• Cricut cartridges Hannah Montana for the butterflies and Flower Shoppe for the flower
• Stampin Up Small Script stamp set
• Stampin Up cardstock in Ruby Red and Very Vanilla
• Stampin Up craft ink in Ruby Red
• Stampin Up printed vellum
• Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder
• American Crafts brad

WINNER! Sept. My Pink Stamper Blog Hop

WOW!  What a bunch of cool 3D projects my teammates made for this blog hop!  I have all sorts of ideas churning in my head to use with the School Days Stamp set.  Now, on to my winner of  the Cricut Preserves cartridge:

Rebecca said...

I love this! I need to get this cart! Great job!

September 9, 2011 8:31 PM 

 

Congratulaions Rebecca!  You have  until Friday, 9-16 to claim your prize.  A special "Thank you" to everyone for visiting!  I enjoyed all your lovely comments and hope to see you back! 

Creating with Kate's ABC's

You are what makes life so super sweet!

Materials Used:

• Kate's ABC's
• My Pink Stamper's Sweet Goodness stamp set
• Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder
• Stampin Up cardstock in Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa, So Saffron , Pink Passion, Whisper White and Blush Blossom
• Pretty in Pink DSP
• Stampin Up organza ribbon
• Stampin Up Eyelet border punch
• Stampin Up Scallop punch
• Stampin Up Certainly Celery craft ink
• White Signo pen
• Yellow Stickels

I created this card for my stash since I recently acquired Kates ABC's and wanted to play with it.  It's pretty straight forward in directions: A2 size card, emboss layers, add.  Cut images (the cuts are from page 60 with all the layers), adhere.  Embellish with ribbon, Signo pen and stickels.  Easy peasy!  I created a layout  HERE as well.   I want to make something with the adorable little shoes on page 42 next!  =)

Don't forget to come back tomorrow to see who the winner of Friday's Pinkalicious Blog Hop blog candy is.  See you then...

I am also entering this card in the following challenge:
Really Reasonable Ribbon - I got you babe