Christmas Gifts - Glitter ornaments

Yes, I know, Christmas is over! Things were so nuts right before Christmas that I made these gifts but didn't have time to post them. They turned out so cute, that I wanted to share even though it's after Christmas. Maybe they will inspire you for next year. The first gifts are glitter ornaments. I know that many people have posted these this year. I made them last year for my son's 1st grade teacher and for my little one's daycare provider but this year I got a little more inspired!! I have to give a great big thank you to Joy at the Everyday Cricut blog which is where I saw these posted last year. I made mine just like she did using Pledge with future shine to coat the inside, then Martha Stewart fine glitter. I love this project because my kids can shake the glitter around so they have helped make it. This year I decided to make one for my oldest son's teacher, and also for the music and P.E. teacher. The red one I've posted was the one I made for the music teacher. She does such and amazing job and I wanted her's to be special. I used Garnet glitter, then cut the B from Winter Woodland at 1 1/2" with the shadow in white and then in black. I wanted to put music notes around the ornament and didn't have Quarter Note yet. (I got it for Christmas!!) I had just gotten my Winter Frolic cartridge and was thrilled to find the music boarder that went with the carolers. I cut it four times at 1" in black vinyl and then put it around the middle. The blue ornament was for my other son's daycare provider. I had given her one last year with her initial, so I wasn't going to do one again. But, my 3 year old wanted to do one like his big brother. I did this one with lapis blue. I cut the nativity from the Inspired Heart cartridge at 2" but the curved borders would not lay flat so I cut them off. I cut the Bethlehem star from one of the boarders on Winter Frolic and the star border was from Winter Frolic as well cut at 1" I hope you enjoy these!! Thanks for looking!!

Cricut Circle Monthly Challenge

I'm so excited that I'm finally doing one of the challenges on the Cricut Circle blog! It's just under the deadline, but that's ok! The challenge this month was to make something that would be a gift. We had to use at least two cricut cuts, the color red, ribbon, a tag from a cartridge and a phrase from a cartridge.

I made a gift bag to hold the candle I made. It's a belated Christmas gift for someone, so I went with a snowman theme so it would work for winter as well. I cut the "bag" portion by using box #1 from the Christmas Village seasonal mini. Thanks to an earlier post from the circle blog that inspired this idea!! I cut the box at fit to page in white cardstock so it would be sturdy, then again in blue snowflake paper from the DCWV Christmas stack from last year to cover it. For the front and back of my "bag" I cut snowman #2 from the Winter Frolic cartridge at 6". I cut the body in white textured cardstock which I ran through my cuttlebug using my Swiss Dots folder. The shadow I cut in dark blue. I cut the layers in light blue for the top of the ear muffs then again in red so the other parts would be red. I flocked the mittens, scarf and ear muffs with red flock from Doodlebug. I used the carrot layer for the nose, but I didnt' like the pink cheek layers so I simply chalked the snowman's cheeks with pink. Then, I used my glue glider to attach the snowmen to the front and back of the box. The tag was also cut from Winter Frolic from the same snowman. I cut the blue at 3" and the patterned paper at 2 3/4" so it would be solid. The phrase was from the same snowman and cut at 2 1/2". The ribbon for the handle and the tag was from some Christmas ribbon that walmart had last year that I stocked up on after Christmas!

The candle was made using a technique that I first saw on the Stampingscrapping.com blog. I stamped the image which is by Great Impressions on tissue paper. I added some color with bic markers. Then, I laid the tissue paper on the candle and covered it with wax paper. Using my heat gun I went over the candle until the tissue paper had melted into the candle.

I hope you enjoyed my project. Good luck to all those who entered the challenge!!

Butterfly Thank you Card

Life is crazy!!! And as it usually works out, right after I join the blog motivation support group on the Cricut Circle Message Board, life gets so crazy that I haven't had time to post on the Message Board, much less my blog.

Last month my grandmother passed away. She was an amazing lady. One of her favorite things was butterflies. I made these thank you cards for my church and the school where I worked for the cards and flowers. I decided to use butterflies in her honor.

The base of the card was made from white 12x12 cardstock that was cut in half, then cut at a length of 9". This makes a card that is 6" x 4 1/2" and fits perfectly into the invitation envelopes that you can find the the Walmart office supply section. The brown and rose colored cardstock were both from Core'dinations the Nostalgia stack. I cut the brown 1/8" smaller than the front of my base, and the rose 1/4" smaller than that. The patterned paper is from the Laundry Line stack from My Minds Eye and was cut 1/4" smaller than the rose piece. All of the layers were inked with Chestnut Cat's eye ink. The butterfly was cut with the cuttlebug combo die and embossing set. I used cardstock from the jewled Core'dinations stack and sanded the embossing. Some pink skittles acctented the body. The tag was from the Heritage cartridge and cut at 3/4". The sentiment was from Penny Black, and stamped in Chocolate ink from Close to my Heart. I attatched in on brown satin ribbon from Walmart, and added the antique embellishments from the Paper Studio in the corner.

On the inside of the card, I cut the layers the same size as the front, substituting the cream colored cardstock for the patterned paper. The butterfly inside was cut at 1 1/2" from Home Decor in the patterned paper with a shadow from the rose color.

I hope you have enjoyed this card. I know my grandma would have.

Seasons Change

Life has been insane!!! Between teaching school, responsibilities at the church we pastor, two kids which includes scouts and flag football I have been running crazy! Unfortunately, that means I've had precious little time in my craft room lately and when I have been there, I'm too tired to think! I do have a card in the works that I was hoping to post tonight, but hopefully I'll get it done to post tomorrow. I did, however, want to post a picture of the bulletin board I finished at church last night. It's kind of funny that I haven't posted a picture of any of my bulletin boards from church or school on here since this time of year that's what I use my cricut for the most!

The board is covered with brown craft paper. The ribbon boarder is from some seasonal ribbon from Walmart. I love using ribbons for my boarders because I roll them back up and they are already cut the right size to use again! The leaves in the corners are from Stretch your Imagination. The ones without the gold outline embossed on my cuttlebug with the Divine Swirls folder and inked with copper Cats Eye ink. The letters were cut at 4" from Nursury Rhymes. The pumpkin is from the Thanksgiving mini cartridge. I cut it at fit to page on my 12' x 24' mat. The green and orange are from pack of cardstock from Hobby Lobby. Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoy!!

Fall is in the Air!!

I love fall!!! I love the colors, the smells, and most of all the cooler weather! We aren't officially into fall yet, but when we had been averaging 105 every day here in Western Oklahoma and then have days with mornings in the 50s and highs in the 80s, it makes me feel like fall is on the way! While in my scraproom this past weekend I felt inspired to make a fall themed card.

The card base is the white, premade 5x6 card. My first layer was dark burgandy cardstock from Hobby Lobby cut at 4 7/8" x 6 7/8". The next layer was New England Ivy from Close to My Heart cut at 4 1/2"x 6 1/2". I embossed this piece with my Cuttlebug using the Autumn Type Folder. I inked over the embossed area with a Copper Cat's Eye ink pad. I cut the scalloped oval from Lacy Labels at 4 inches. The shadow piece is Autumn Terracotta from CTMH. I inked all the edges with a chestnut Cat's Eye ink. The stamped image is from Stampendous and called Harvest Angel. I colored her with my prisma pencils using the Goo Gone technique. I accented her wings, halo and scrolls on her skirt with Copper Stickles to give her some bling. The gold ribbon is from Hobby Lobby, and the jeweled leaf accent is from a pack of buttons in the fabric section of Walmart. I tacked it to the ribbon with gold thread.

For the inside of the card I again layered the burgandy and New England Ivy cardstock. The leaf accent was cut from Stretch Your Imagination at 2 inches using Autumn Terracotta and gold from the Die Cuts With a View. I have to say that the leaves on Stretch Your Imagination are my favorite leaf cuts to use! The stamped sentiment is also from Stampendous and was stamped in Chocolate ink from CTMH.

I hope you have enjoyed this card as much as I enjoyed making it!

Tales from the Cut Drawer!

Does anyone else have a cut drawer? "What is a cut drawer?" you ask. Well I don't know about you, but many times when I'm finished with my project I end up with extra cuts. Usually they are flowers as I tend to cut out more than I need. Sometimes they are cuts that I made thinking I wanted one size, and then after it is cut realize I needed a bigger size. Now like most of you, I HATE wasting my papers and cartstock. Especially if it's the good stuff!! Now I won't cry over a piece of cardstock from the 100 sheet pack from Hobby Lobby, but let me cut something I can't use from DCWV cardstock or Heaven forbid my Core'dinations, well...I don't want to think about it. Yes, I do make test cuts with cheap cardstock if I'm really not sure what size I want. But sometimes I end up with a cut that I decide I want just a 1/2 inch smaller. Other times, I make all of the cuts I think I want for a layout or card, but when I actually start putting it together I decide I don't want to use some of them. Those things (along with all the extra flowers!) get sent to "The Cut Drawer!" I have one drawer in one of my plastic organizers from Walmart dedicated to these extra cuts. They are great inspiration for new projects especially if you are in a hurry!! Need a quick card or embellishment? Just open the cut drawer and see whats there!

This card came from that wonderful cut drawer! When making the purses in my last post, I originally cut the cherries at 3". I had cut all the layers and assembled the cut when I realized it was too big for the purse. To the cut drawer it went just waiting for another day and another card! I put this card on a 5x7 white card base. The black and red cardstock was from Hobby Lobby. The black first layer was cut at 4 7/8" x 6 7/8". The red layer was cut at 4 1/2" x 6 1/2". I embossed the top with my Cuttlebug using my Swiss Dots folder and punched the bottom edge with the Threading Water Punch. For a contrast piece, I cut a 2 1/2" strip of the black polka dot paper I had used on the purses. The cherries are from the Preserves cartridge and cut at 3" using Christmas glitter cartstock from The Paper Studio. I wanted a sentiment piece, so using the Lacy Labels cartridge I cut a label in black and white at 3". The sweet word art was a part of the label and was cut with a scrap of red glitter cardstock. Green ribbon from Walmart finished the front. As always I love to add something to the inside as well. I layered the black, red and white cardstock graduating 1/8" each time. The cherries inside were cut at 2". The sentiment is a stamp from Penny Black that I stamped in Cranberry ink from Close to My Heart. And, of course, all of the edges are inked.

I hope you have enjoyed this card and it has inspired you to check out what might be hiding in your cut drawer. Or, maybe, to start a cut drawer of your own! Have a Cherry Good Day!!

Purse Collection

Hey, everyone!! I can't believe it's almost September. I haven't posted for a few weeks because I've been busy getting my classroom ready and starting school. Here in Northwest Oklahoma we start really early!! We started school on August 12! Anyway, I made these a couple of weeks ago, but have just now had time to post. I was really excited about these, because they were actually the first order I have ever done for anyone. I made these for a lady at our church who loves to give these as gifts!

So, on to the project. The purses were all from the Forever Young cartridge and cut at fit to page. I used the purse on one of the flower buttons that doesn't have any cut out. On the polka dotted and houndstooth purses, I cut out the patterned paper (from Paper Studio) out at fit to page, then trimmed off the bottom flaps and the closure flap. After gluing the paper on top, I folded the purses fastened them with Terrifically Tacky Tape. (I love that stuff!!) I wanted a variety of embellishments. The cherries were from Preserves, and cut out using glitter cardstock from a Christmas Mat stack from the Paper Studio at Hobby Lobby. The hearts are from Sweethearts. I cut the red one out and used both the positive and negative image on a white glitter blackout image. The zebra shoe is from Forever Young. The Eiffel Tower is from French Manor. I didn't have any black glitter cardstock, so I ran it through my Xyron and glittered it with Martha Stewart glitter. The medallion is also from French Manor. I cut it out in red glitter cartstock and the layer in black. I cut out the layer again in red glitter and cut the center out to layer. The rhinestones are self adhesive.

I love these little purses! My friend has already given several away and has already told me she will want more. She has sent them to family, given them as graduation gifts, and others. They make great gift card holders, money holders, small gift holders, or even chocolate holders!! Maybe you have a friend who a purse would make her day!! Get out your ForeverYoung cart and put a smile on someones face! Thanks for looking!!