Oh, My! What Big Ears You Have?!

Last weekend we not only celebrated we not only celebrated Mother’s Day, but we also celebrated my youngest daughter’s birthday. Her real birthday is actually in July, but because of Independence Day, most of her friends are usually out of town or have family plans. This year we decided to avoid the conflicts and have her birthday party before school gets out. She wanted to have a picnic for her birthday party, so I asked her if she wanted to do a Teddy Bear Picnic or something along the lines of a fairytale. She decided to go with Little Red Riding Hood and I was thrilled! I have always loved fairytales and especially Little Red Riding Hood. The wheels starting spinning and we started planning … if there is anything I love as much as scrapbooking it is putting together themed birthday parties. Love it, love it, LOVE it!!! Here is a quick look at all of the fun we had.

I was so lucky to find baskets at the dollar store, along with gingham printed napkins. I used the print-and-cut feature on my Cameo machine to cut out Lil’ Red Riding Hood shaped tags for each basket using the “More Happily Ever After” artwork by Lettering Delights. (The wolf can be found in the Villians and Sidekicks set HERE.) I also decided to sew each girl a Red Riding Hood out of felt. THANK YOU JoAnn’s for such great coupons! Each hood only cost me a couple of dollars and I used a free pattern I found online from FleeceFun.com HERE. If you are my mom or sister reading this, you are probably in complete SHOCK that I decided to sew. I hate sewing fabric … infact, I haven’t touched a sewing machine since 8th grade (well, except for to stitch on my layouts). It was actually FUN! I liked challenging myself to do something out of my norm. And because felt doesn’t fray and didn’t need a lot of hemming, I couldn’t mess it up too badly, right?!

I wasn’t sure if the girls even knew the Little Red Riding Hood story, so we started the party by watching this cute lil’ story video I found online. I was worried that it might be a little too “slow” for them, but they were glued! They were so quiet, just soaking it all in and it set the tone for the rest of the party perfectly. (I love when little kids get into pretending. )

The girls got to pack their own picnic and then ventured out into the backyard to find the best picnic spot. They looked so cute sitting there on the blankets … they kept looking around nervously wondering if the Big Bad Wolf would come. Big Sister dressed up in a long black cloak and decided to sneak around to surprise them. They saw her the entire time, but the anticipation made them squeal like crazy.

The girls also made a stuffed animal friend. We found a great company here in Utah called Kozy Creation that will actually come to your house with a machine and do it all in the comfort of your living room. Kami and Andrew are AMAZING! This is the second time we have used them … Maryn had a pretend sleepover party a few months ago and she and her friends got to make a furry friend to cuddle with. If you are in Utah, be sure to check Kozy Creation out.

The girls played more games outside (Pick a Bouquet for Grandma and Colored Eggs, or in this case “Colored Cookies”), sang to Camryn, gobbled up red velvet cupcakes, and opened presents. It was so much fun!

Mother’s Day was just as fun! Here is a Mother’s Day card that I made my Mother-In-Law using leftover bits from the April 2013 Scraptastic Club Kit, “Awake My Soul” along with a sentiment and flowers from my stash. We went to church in the morning, the kids showered me with cards and presents (new cookie sheets, a cookbook, new seat cushions for my outdoor table, and lots of pretty handmade cards), and made me lunch. I got to take a long nap and then they made me dinner before going to visit my In-Laws that night. It was relaxing and perfect!

I know this post is a few days overdue, but thanks for letting me share last weekend’s festivities with you. It took me a few days to recuperate and get back into the swing of things. I’ll be back tomorrow with a couple of layout shares. Hope to see you then!

Cuttlebug Anna Griffin Embossing Folders – POPPY

I’m back with Day 2 of my Cuttlebug Anna Griffin embossing folders projects. Today I will show you the projects I created using the POPPY embossing folder.

POPPY Embossing Folder

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Wedding Invitation

SUPPLIES:

Cricut Machines Used:  Cricut® Expression Electronic Cutting Machine, Cuttlebug® Machine

Cricut Cartridges Used: Cricut Picturesque Cartridge, Cricut® Paper Lace 2 Cartridge, Cricut® Lacy Labels Lite Cartridge

Cuttlebug Folders Used: Cuttlebug® 5” x 7” Embossing Folder & Border, Poppy; Cuttlebug A2 Embossing Folder, Swiss Dots

Other Supplies: Cardstock (cream shimmer), Creamy Brown chalk ink, Computer & Printer, Scoring tool, Photo corner punch, Adhesive, Terrifcally Tacky Tape, Foam squares

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Seed Packet Card

SUPPLIES:

Cricut Machines Used: Cricut® Expression Electronic Cutting Machine, Cuttlebug® Machine, Cricut® Gypsy Handheld Design Device

Cricut Cartridges Used: Cricut® Sentimentals Cartridge, Cricut® Holiday Cakes Cartridge, Cricut® Florals Embellished Cartridge

Cuttlebug Folders Used: Cuttlebug® 5” x 7” Embossing Folder & Border, Poppy

Other Supplies: Cardstock (white, gray, lavender, aqua, dark moss), Patterned Paper (green polka dot, pink floral), Ribbon, Mini safety pin, Seed packets, Creamy Brown chalk ink, Corner rounder, 1/16″ hole punch, Adhesive, Foam squares

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Four Seasons Framed Artwork

SUPPLIES:

Cricut Machines Used: Cricut® Expression Electronic Cutting Machine, Cuttlebug® Machine, Cricut Craft Room^® Design Software

Cricut Cartridges Used: Cricut® Serenade Solutions Cartridge, Cricut Noah’s ABC Animals Cartridge, Cricut Craft Room® Basics Exclusive

Cuttlebug Folders Used: Cuttlebug® 5” x 7” Embossing Folder & Border, Poppy

Other Supplies: Cardstock (light cream smooth, cream textured, kraft, dark brown, pink, soft red, soft orange, moss, aqua), Patterned Paper (green/cream pattern, green polka dot), Ribbon, Buttons, Mini black pearl stickers, White pearl stickers, Dark brown Embroidery floss & needle, Twine, Brown spray ink, Dark yellow spray ink, Creamy Brown chalk ink, Brown chalk ink, Paper piercer, Sewing Machine & cream thread, Edge distressor tool, White frame (with 8″ x 10″ opening), Adhesive, Foam squares

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I hope you will back tomorrow for the final installment of my Cuttlebug Anna Griffin Projects! See you then!

Winter Cricut Projects

Last weekend, we were hit with a HUGE snowstorm. We received 24″ within 12 hours and school was cancelled the next morning. My kids were excited to be home from school and the girls ventured out to play for a bit.

Maryn LOVED the deep snow. Here she is *trying* to make it to the front door … she gave up halfway and came back.

Snow angels are a little hard to do in deep snow.

Cam wasn’t that big of a fan. She wasn’t feeling well and wanted to play so badly. But it was too darn cold. She took a few obligatory photos and then headed back inside with the dog.

In the spirit of snow, I thought I would share a few wintry projects for you that I created for Cricut awhile ago using the Snow Folks Cartridge.

HOT COCOA KIT

A clear craft paint can makes a cute container to make a hot cocoa kit with. Just layer together hot cocoa mix and marshmallows and add a tag with instructions. It’s sure to warm up someone’s day! Instructions and a Cricut Craft Room cut file can be found HERE on the Cricut.com website.

SLEDDING PARTY INVITATION 

Are you getting friends together for a sledding party soon? This window invitation would be a fun way to get everyone excited. Instructions and a Cricut Craft Room Cut File can be found HERE at the Cricut.com site.

I LOVE WINTER Scrapbook Page

This fun and happy snow page uses the Bella Blvd. Winter Wonder collection. I added a heart to the title block over the existing heart with the Doodlecharms cartridge. The heart and snowman are embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, and the snowman’s sled gets a woodgrain texture with the Distress Stripes embossing folder. Instructions and a Cricut Craft Room Cut File for this project can be found HERE on the Cricut.com site.

Thanks for coming by today! I hope you are staying warm in your neck of the woods!

BasicGrey Knee Highs & Bow Ties

Oh, how I love CHA time! For those of you who may not know … CHA stands for the Craft & Hobby Association trade show that happens twice a year for the craft industry. It is a show for retailers to preview and order all the goodies that the crafty companies will be releasing in the near future. It is also a time that designers, like me, get giddy as can be because we have new TOYS coming down the pipeline for us to play with. Eeeek!

BasicGrey has begun their reveals on the BasicGrey Blog and oh. my. GOSH! Wait until you see everything!!! I’ll share with you my projects as I can, but be sure to peruse the blog so you can see all the delicious product images.

BasicGrey KNEE HIGHS Collection

First up is a card using the Knee Highs collection. (I love the names they come up with for the collections … doesn’t this just take you back.) I’m a sucker for bright happy colors … makes me excited for the warmer Spring and Summer days ahead! I used the vellum tapes to create the layered stripes on this card (I adhered them to white cardstock first and then cut it out), then I layered a few vellum hearts on top.

BasicGrey BOW TIES Collection

Oh, yes!!! The Bow Ties collection for boys is TO DIE FOR!!! My favorite image from this collection? … The cute little potato bugs, or roly polies, or whatever you call them. When I was young I used to “collect” these little bugs and make little houses for them in shoe boxes. They are too cute! I can see myself using this collection a LOT! The colors are perfect for scrapping family memories. Here is a page from our road trip last year.

Thanks for coming by all this week! I’ll be back with more on Monday!

Have a fantastic weekend!

It’s a Jolly Holiday

Creative Memories has a brand new Cricut cartridge out called Holiday Frames & Tags. I created some holiday themed projects using this cartridge, but honestly, this is one of those cartridges that you will be pulling out all year long.

DEAR SANTA

Use just the shapes from the tags to create accents for your page like I did with the tree and snowflakes here (snowbank is handcut).

Use the frames as a journaling spot. This cart also includes some FANTASTIC fonts!

Find the design cut file for this project in the Cricut Project Center HERE. (Note: You must own the Holiday Frames & Tags cartridge to cut from the design file.)

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS ACTIVITY COUNTDOWN

I wanted to create a countdown that could be draped across my mantel. I cut out 12 envelope shapes, bending the flap backwards and adhering in place. this create a “pocket” for me to string the envelopes together on a ribbon. Inside each envelope are family activities and traditions that can be done on the days leading up to Christmas.

Find the design cut file for this project in the Cricut Project Center HERE. (Note: You must own the Holiday Frames & Tags cartridge to cut from the design file.)

INVITATION

This cartridge also includes a couple of rosettes! I decorated the front of this invitation with one.

Find the design cut file for this project in the Cricut Project Center HERE. (Note: You must own the Holiday Frames & Tags cartridge to cut from the design file.)

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The kids are out school at the end of this week, so I will be as busy as an elf trying to get as much done as I can before they are home. If you don’t see me around much, just know that I am working away in Santa’s Workshop! Hehehe!

Merry Christmas!

25 Ways to Embellish Your Cricut Cuts

Hi Bloggy Friends! Are you ready for an ultra-long post today?!

Back in May for National Scrapbook Day I created a video class of sorts for the Cricut Circle Members showing them 25 different ways to embellish your Cricut cuts. I thought you might like to peruse all the ideas I created samples for since these are ideas you can really apply to ANYTHING! Premade die cuts, stickers, etc.  I’m still learning the ins and outs of video-making so bear with me (one of these days I need to learn how to add background music), but I thought you might enjoy seeing these ideas. At the bottom of this post you will find the Gypsy file for this class (for my Cricut friends. The samples are all created using images from the Just Because cartridge) and a PDF with the little tags and BONUS card sentiments (in case you want to use each idea to create greeting cards, in lieu of an idea deck). Enjoy!

***CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD the GYPSY FILE for this Project***

***CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD the PDF File that accompanies this Project***

Thanks so much for taking the time to look through my “class”. I hope you like what you see!

See you again soon!

Mother’s Day Card

Last Thursday’s Cricut Craft Room digital cartridge release was all about Mother’s Day. I had the opportunity to create a card using the Mother’s Day Moments images.

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I used some really great NEW papers from Die Cuts with a View. I LOVE their cardstock stacks. This one called The Coral Couture Cardstock Stack includes both shimmer and glitter cardstocks along with regular textured cardstock. I mixed several of them together to create the flower bouquet on this card. I also used a beautiful sheet of DCWV patterned paper from the Serenity Stack as the background of my card. A huge THANK YOU to Erin Madsen of Die Cuts with a View for sending me some of their delicious papers to play with! Thanks, Erin!!!

I “shopped my stash” and added in a few other elements on this card. The text patterned paper, rhinestone brads, and cream trim are from My Mind’s Eye. I used a scrap of Hambly transparency to help anchor my flower bouquet cut. I also stamped (phrase by Stampin’ Up) and layered together some Basic Grey Curio journal spots for my card sentiment. That gorgeous crinkle ribbon was a gift from my friend, Kristen Swain. You can see more of her gorgeous ribbons in her Etsy shop at www.scrapinkris.etsy.com

Below are the other Mother’s Day Cricut Craft Room Exclusive digital image sets that were released. Please stop by the Cricut Blog to see the projects the other designers made with these images. The corsage is to die for! There is also some cards and a coupon book for Mother’s Day, as well as some GORGEOUS Mother’s Day word art. I adore the flowers on these phrases . . . they almost have a vintage edge to them. LOVE!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

A Few Halloween & Christmas Projects

Hello! I know the holidays are long past, but I have a few festive projects to share with you that I created for the Cricut Circle Blog. Who knows, maybe a few of you are working on those holidays now?!

First off, some Halloween cards! These cards feature the Pet Shop Lite cartridge . . . I just couldn’t resist dressing up these little critters in their own Halloween costumes! Hehehe! I think it would be fun to dress them up for other holidays, too. Like maybe for St. Patrick’s Day in a few weeks?!

The patterned papers were created with my Cricut Imagine machine. The text paper is from the Imagine Vintage Papers cartridge, the other papers were created with the Imagine Black & White cartridge . . . I just sent through colored sheets of cardstock! FUN! I spritzed them a bit with black shimmer spray. I also embossed the kraft background with my Cuttlebug machineand the Mesh Texture embossing folder. Creepy, eh? The web is from the Chic & Scary cartridge.

To give some texture to my creepy tarantula, I used Black Soot Distressed Embossing Powder by Ranger, and then added flocking to the tan parts of his body. His beady little eyes were created with black dimensional paint.

The tarantula card seemed to be a little too heeby-jeeby for the Circle members . . . LOL! But I also created a whimsical card with the Pet Shop Lite frog. I added a witch hat to his head with the Autumn Celebrations cartridge.

Again, the orange patterned cardstock was created by sending an orange sheet of cardstock through my Cricut Imagine and printing a black pattern on it with the Imagine Black & White cartridge by Teresa Collins. The background is embossed with my Cuttlebug and a folder from the Art Deco Embossing Folder set. All of the embellishments are from a 2010 Noel Mignon Halloween kit.

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How about a Halloween page?

I used a Noel Mignon 2010 Halloween kit to create this page. The title and trick-or-treaters silhouette were cut with my Cricut Expression machine and the Autumn Celebrations cartridge. The bats are from the Teresa Collins Chic & Scary cartridge.

I like to cut the titles out more than once on different patterned papers. I then cut the words apart and layered them together. I cut the whole thing again with a cream cardstock and used it behind as an offset shadow.

When I initially posted this page on the Cricut Circle Blog, I received a lot of sweet comments on the machine stitching in the background. I *wish* I could take credit for that, but the cardstock came that way. Cool, right?! It is a pre-stitched cardstock sheet by We R Memory Keepers.

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Finally, I have a Christmas project to share with you! For the October Hello Thursday projects with the Cricut Stencil cartridge, some of the designers were lucky enough to be sent an airbrush system by ColorArtz to try out. I was one of those lucky gals! I had been wanting to create a burlap stocking and knew that the ColorArtz airbrush system would be the PERFECT thing to add color to the nubby texture! I had such a blast with this!

First, I used the Creative Memories ’Tis the Season cartridgeto cut out a stocking shape that I could use as a pattern for my stocking. I pinned the pattern to the burlap and then cut it out. I used the ColorArtz tool to spray each piece with the lime green and red paint. Worked like a charm!

Next, I wanted to add some design to the top of my stocking. I used the Cricut Stencil cartridge and Cricut Adhesive Backed Stencil Material to cut out to stencils in an argyle pattern. I first painted the red diamonds with the ColorArtz airbrush tool, let it dry (which didn’t take long at all!), and then layered the green ”stitches” on top with the second stencil. I LOVED the way it turned out!

How fun with this be to create rustic pillows for a front porch bench for the different holidays?! I definitely will be playing with this tool again!

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I used the Creative Memories ‘Tis the Season cartridge to create the pattern for the stocking above, but I also used it to create the following Christmas scrapbook page with the adorable Creative Memories Holidazzle papers.

LOVE the titles, holiday icons, and label shapes on this cartridge!

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Whew! Well, thanks for stopping by and taking this little trip down “holiday” memory lane with me! I hope you are having a great week!

Happy Scrapping!

Jana

Happy Belated Heart Day!

How was your Valentine’s Day? We had a lot of fun around here! I made a few more Valentine boxes with my Cricut to match my kids personalities. A bunny box for Maryn and a skull box (we call it the Love You To Death box) for Owen.

   

We made the kids Valentines to match each of their personalities. (I didn’t get the greatest pics, so bear with me.) Owen is into card tricks at the moment, so we used the King of Hearts card image from the Imagine Greeting Cards Inside & Out cartridge to create his cards.  Maryn loves to bake, so we made her cupcake valentines (an idea created by Roree Rumph for the Cricut Circle Blog) using the Sweet Treats and Ribbons & Rosettes cartridges.

         

Camryn is our little love bug . . . she initially wanted pink ninja, but settled for pink ladybugs instead (Paisley cartridge).

 

Maryn dressed up for her Valentine Party, Owen gave the girl he likes a single rose and asked her to be his Valentine, and Jensyn received her first roses from the boy she has a crush on!

I had an assignment to scrap a Valentine’s Day page for My Mind’s Eye, so here is Jensyn with her flowers. She was beaming with happiness! I used the My Mind’s Eye Love Me papers for this page, along with some older goodies from my stash (pink glittered chipboard elements are from Making Memories, and the chipboard letters are from Heidi Swapp). The chandelier stamps are from the My Mind’s Eye Lost & Found collection, and the rhinestone brads are from the Lush 2 collection.

I also created a few postalette-style valentines from the Noel Mignon Charm School Kit. I used my Cricut machine to cut an envelope. Cut off the sides (choose a design with short shallow sides so that the top and bottom flaps have a nice overlap), and decorate! I used stickers and baker’s twine to close my postalette. So much fun! Opening the card is like unwrapping a little present!

 

 

We had a great Valentine’s Day, and hope you did, too!

See you next time!

Jana

My Latest Cricut Projects

Hi, Everyone! I have been busy creating some new projects for Cricut using their latest Craft Room Exclusive cartridges and I thought I would share them with you here. Cricut Craft Room Exclusives are digital cartridges that you can purchase to use in conjunction with Cricut Craft Room, the free online design tool. They just came out with some SUPER CUTE Valentine carts . . . just wait until you see them!

If you are a mom or a dad, you will appreciate this first digital cartridge, because it will help you to create those Valentine Boxes for your kids this year! They have two super cute options in the Valentine’s 3D Mailboxes Cricut Craft Room Exclusive cartridge. The bear comes from the Cricut Craft Room Exclusive called Valentine’s Sweets. To see all of the NEW Craft Room Exclusives released this week, click HERE. To see all of the Craft Room Exclusives, browse Cricut.com HERE. All three of my elementary-aged kids loved these boxes so much, that they all want the same one, just with a different icon on the front to match their personalities. Yay! That makes it easy for me! I’ll just roll them out assembly line style!

The letters for my daughter’s name were cut out using the Boys Will Be Boys cartridge (love that font!). All patterned papers are from the My Mind’s Eye Lime Twist “Life of the Party” collection.

Next up, are some totally cute cards for Valentine’s on the digital cartridge called Valentine’s Sentiments. I think these would make the CUTEST Valentine’s for kids to hand out to their classmates. I created a shaped cart using the Chocolate Box shape.

The other digital cartridges released this past Thursday are Musical Notes and Chinese Characters. Check out the Cricut Blog Post by CLICKING HERE to see projects the designers created with these cartridges.

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But that’s not all! There are five more digital cartridges that were released the week before last that I haven’t shared with you yet. For that week, I worked with the Political Parties cartridge to create the following scrapbook page.

All papers are from the My Mind’s Eye American Made collection. The title was created with the Don Juan Digital cartridge, and the cream border tucked under the red/blue border was created with the Ribbons & Rosettes cartridge.

Other digital Cricut Craft Room cartridges introduced the week of January 5th were . . . Fiesta, New England Shore, Philadelphia, and Roman Numerals (I soooo want to make my own customized wall clock with this one!)

Thanks for letting me share and get “caught up”! Enjoy the rest of your weekend . . . I hope it’s a long one for you!

See you next time!

Jana