CreativeHighs

Valentines Day

2012-01-26T12:52:00.000-07:00

I made this "Be Mine" banner for Valentines decoration with my mom. It's fun to have something up that's pink and lovey-dovey. It hangs over our stairs so it's in a central place in our house. I haven't quite figured out what to do with that space yet, so something short term will keep me tied over till I can figure it out. My mom spiced it up with the sparkle letters, it was fun doing something crafty for v-day! (thanks pinterest for the idea!)

Happy Valentines Day!

(if you have a cricut I used the stretch your imagination cartridge)

Thinking Chair Cake

2012-01-06T11:07:00.002-07:00

My nephew is really into Blues Clues right now, so for his 4th birthday he was going to have a blues clues birthday party! I volunteered to do the cake and came up with this idea that was SUPER EASY! I baked a cake in a round cake pan and a bread pan. I then let it cool and cut a few inches off the round cake pan, and cut out a little piece of the bread pan for the seat of the chair and WHA-LA! there you have a big red thinking chair from blues clues. I would have liked to do fondant instead but I was out of time, so this was as fancy as it got.I also went to the store and bought notebooks and we played a little game of blues clues at the party. I made three little paw prints like you see on the cake and put them all over the house to create clues. Because it was in december the clues lead to what was going to happen on the 25th, but you could put clues up on anything! We drew a picture of a snowman, a nativity, and a tree, and little Noah solved the puzzle, it was Christmas!

Octopus

2012-01-06T10:54:00.002-07:00

Here is another amigurumi animal. This is the first of many that will go on the baby mobile. I didn't really have a pattern I just made a ball then I Googled how to make curly cues and attached them to the ball and then glued on little black eyes. Isn't he cute?!

Amigurumi Elephant

2011-12-30T12:55:00.002-07:00

My sister-in-law introduced me to the world of Amigurumi, which is Japanese mini crochet animals. I fell in love with so many of the darling little animals, I had to learn to crochet and get started! So my first crochet project ever is this little elephant! If you want the pattern, I got it at www.lionbrand.com

I'm going to make a mobil for Max with a bunch of different animals, this one is a bit big for a mobil so I put a rattle in it, and it will be a fun toy for his room. So fun! You'll have to "google" Amigurumi and check out all the amazing little animals and things people have made!

Wedding Card

2011-12-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

My niece was married recently and here is a card I created and gave to them. The stamps are from Papertreyink.

Sunday School Cards

2011-12-01T12:54:00.000-07:00

Each week I make a card for the students in my Sunday School class. I try to tie it in with the lesson.

I used my new Cri-Kit pens and my gypsy to cut out and draw on the money. Then I cut 1/10th off to show the amount that we pay to the Lord on our increase.

This card was fun as the lesson talked about forgiving others. The lesson had us fold up paper airplanes and then fly them. This would be someone who had no burdens with regards to hurtful feeling of another. Then we put a weight on the wing representing the burden of not repenting and then we flew the airplane and it would just dive to the floor.

The TPLOC stands for "The Pure Love Of Christ" which is Charity.

The Worth Of Souls is Great. Each person had a different set of puzzle pieces. This showed that each of us are unique. At the end of class they were able to put the puzzle together and glue it onto their card.

I love the different faces each shows. This lesson was on attitude and how it can make a difference in our lives.

This little girl is working. It came from "A Child's Year" cartridge. I also made the little boy for the boy in my class.

This lesson was on keeping the Sabbath Day holy. So inside the little envelope is a set of cards - two of each to determine if that activity is something we do on the Sabbath.

Here is a picture of the cards inside.

The Word of Wisdom promises us if we take care of our bodies with good healthy food we will be promised even hidden treasures. I used the card feature in Life's A Beach cartridge.

This card represents the lesson on "Controlling Our Anger". I used the sheriff badge from Old West and cut it out of two colors of medal.

This pump represents a story I told about a man who finds himself stranded in the desert. After much walking in the dry heat, he finds an old ghost town and a water pump. After realizing the pump won't provide water without being primed and because he is so thirsty he is beside himself, knowing he will die. He discovers a note by the pump that says buried in front of the pump is some water to prime the pump with a request to be sure to fill the water bottle up before putting the bottle back for the next person. He looses all confidence in priming the pump and decides to drink the water in the bottle. This only gives him a small about of water. With the pump he would have had an unlimited supply.

This lesson was on Obedience. Each letter has a scripture having to do with Obedience.

This was an illustration of how we can take lots of baby steps to become perfect. This was cut from the Micky Mouse cartridge.

This lesson teaches how we can know for ourselves that Jesus is the Christ, our personal Savior.

This is a priesthood blessing we receive usually around the age of 16 that is helpful in guiding us for the rest of our lives. It is meant for only the one receiving it and can be a great blessing in the recipient's life.

I told a story about some geese migrating and how they each take turns in the front position. Just as members of the church we can help and lift others and be of service.

This is a picture of Thomas S. Monson, our prophet. He is the leader of our church who receives inspiration from God.

We have a symbol in our church of an iron rod. This represents holding on to the word of God. If we hold on to the "rod" we will follow God's commandments and return and live with him again.

We believe in personal revelation. Each of us can pray and read the scriptures and find answers to our questions.

We each have the Holy Ghost to guide us. Jesus was our example at his baptism the "dove" is the symbol of the Holy Ghost that descended upon him. It is a gift we treasure as it helps us throughout our lives as we remain worthy to receive it.

Baby Blessing Outfit

2011-12-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

Recently our little grandson was blessed in church. I crotched him this sweater. It was from a 1947 pattern can be found at http://www.antiquecrochetpatterns.com/surplice-sweater.html however I made a lot of changes because my cotton thread was larger and my baby was smaller. I did take some elastic thread and put it through the back ribbing to pinch it in a bit. Made all the difference. I will have to post a picture of him all dressed up. The booties were made to match with the gray trim. The outfit is made of white silk.

Baby Afgans

2011-12-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

I have been busy crocheting baby afghans. They are both out of a book called Our Best Afghans by Leisure Arts. I think I picked up the book at Michaels Crafts.

This one is called Diamond Trellis. I did a different boarder than it calls for. I used a baby soft feather weight yarn.

This one has a very vintage flavor to it. It is called Twirling Pinwheels. I made 52 of the pinwheels and whip stitched them together. Each pinwheel took me about an hour. I did a little picot boarder. I used the NaturalCaron Spa yarn. It is sooooo soft!

Both mothers loved the blankets for their new babies.

Thank You

2011-12-01T12:50:00.001-07:00

It is fall and some wonderful friends invited us to dinner so I made this card as a thank you. I used the new Tim Holtz Autumn Gatherings decorative die strip. The Thank you is from Papertreyink.

Inside I used an embossing folder and did a little sanding.

Happy Birthday

2011-12-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

Here are a few birthday cards I have made. Enjoy! If you have questions on the products or techniques I have used feel free to comment.

Husband Survival Cards

2011-12-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

Our Women's church organization recently asked that I put together a group of cards that would be for a man to give to his wife. So we made an Anniversary, Valentine's, Sew Sorry, Birthday and Mother's Day card. Cute idea! So my friend and I stayed up late one night and cut out each piece and put them in baggies for the ladies to assemble. They did a great job. They gave them to their father in laws or brothers.

I recently got an Epson 1400 printer so I have been purchasing digital papers. This paper set is from Stampin Up. The advantage to printing is I never run out and I can scale the size down to fit the card. This card is pretty much all Stampin Up stuff.

This is the anniversary card. It is all PapertreyInk stamps and dies. The outside is from Flower Fusion #4 "I couldn't have done it without you!" Inside from Flower Fusion #5 it says, "It's the little things you do that mean so much!" The flowers on the outside are also die cut from the matching flower on #4.

This is the Birthday card. It was made with the Spellbinders Label One die. You could also use the Stampin Up Curly punch. PapertreyInk also has Vintage Labels that match the Labels One die which is what I used for the little brown "stitching" stamp. The sentiment is from Stampin Up Well Scripted set.

Here is the Valentine's card. The red heart paper is one of my digital papers from Lettering Delights. The words are from PapertreyInk.

This Sew Sorry card has a cute old fashion sewing machine from Heritage cartridge. The paper is digital Stampin Up. I just made the size of the print a lot smaller before I printed. The little love tag is from Stampin Up's Tiny Tags with the Stampin Up Tiny Tag's punch.

Dynamic View

2011-07-31T18:31:00.000-06:00

Looking for something in particular, but can't remember how to find it? Check us out HERE! You'll find it lickety-split and get to see a lot more of our work. Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day 2011

2011-07-27T21:01:00.002-06:00

This is the card I made for my mother for Mother's Day. It uses SEI and shiny gold paper in the back ground and several Stamp'in up stamps. I colored the flowers with my Stamp'in up crayons and used a water brush to soften the look. The ribbon is from Micheal's.

Here is the inside. I used more SEI paper and gold paper. The white paper is punched with an EK punch on the edge just using one of the designs. The sentiment is a Stamp'in Up stamp.

Congrats Graduate

2011-07-27T20:57:00.004-06:00

Our DIL recently graduated from University of Phoenix in Family Counseling. We are so very proud of her. It isn't easy to do with a busy two year old son to care for too. She was honored with a blue ribbon around her neck indicating a high achievement in academics. So the owl is just doing a little showing off!

I use the Owl punch from Stamp'in Up. the leaf is from What A Hoot Cartridge.

Here is the inside of the card.

Yummy Artisian Bread

2011-07-27T20:29:00.004-06:00

I haven't ever posted a recipe before, but this one is too good and too easy not to share. A friend of the family gave us this Artisan Bread recipe. Here is a picture of my first loaf. Boy was I surprised that a 1/4 t yeast and no second rising time would produce this kind of lift. The crust is hard and chewy and the inside is moist with big holes, just like you pay the big buck for.

Here is the top. Yes, it tastes as good as it looks.
Please make a comment if you make it and tell me what you think.

Artisan Bread

3 C Flour

1 ½ tsp Salt

¼ tsp yeast

1 ½ C Water

Mix flour, salt and yeast together in a large mixing bowl. Add water, mix until all is moistened. Cover with plastic wrap and sit on counter for 12 to 18 hours (overnight). I always make this before I go to bed at night.

Preheat oven to 450 degree with Dutch oven and lid inside oven. Any heavy cast iron lidded 3 qt or larger casserole will work. Heavily flour counter top and place dough from bowl to counter on flour. Dough will be sticky as it has a high water content so coat your hands with flour too. Gently coat wet sticky dough with flour and form into round disk, tucking edges down, ending with smooth side up. Do NOT knead. Handle as little as possible, you don't want to disturb the bubbles to much.

Sprinkle dough with corn meal top and bottom. I usually put some cornmeal in the bottom of the Dutch Oven. Place dough, smooth side up in the Dutch oven, no need to grease pan. You can make cuts on top in the dough if you want at this point. (I didn't) Place the lid on the Dutch oven and close the oven. Bake 25 minutes. Open oven and take off lid and bake for 5 minutes. Bread should be golden brown. Let rest 30 minutes before slicing.

Happy Birthday SIL

2011-05-26T21:32:00.003-06:00

It was our SIL's birthday in April and our daughter put together a fun birthday party at a local roller skating rink. I found this cute bull with skates in Birthday Bash and couldn't resist. The paper comes from My Minds Eye's Antique Dots collection.

Our son in law is very shy and so I thought this was fun to put "Party Animal" on the inside of the card!

Baby Blanket

2011-05-20T00:13:00.002-06:00

I have three grandchildren coming in 2011. I have a tradition of crocheting each of my grandchildren baby blankets. This is the 8th one I have made for them and have made many others along the years... This one is for little Talmage. He was born mid April and his mom requested this gray yarn. It is so soft and nice. It is made from the Natural Caron Spa yarn.

Fun Thinking of you Cards

2011-05-19T23:35:00.002-06:00

Here are two thinking of you cards I sent to my daughters.

This one has no Cricut... I know shock! I used my new PTI dies and the Amy Butler paper stack. I love the felt flower...

This one I used the My Minds Eye Antique Dots Stack along with my stash of antique bottons. No Cricut on this one either...

Grandson's Birthday Card

2011-05-19T21:57:00.003-06:00

Here is my take on the birthday card "Wanted for stealing hearts"! This was cut from Paper Dolls cart and the WANTED sign was a free font I got off the Internet.

Here a little lasso!

Giddy Up!

Here is the inside.

Happy Anniversary!

2011-05-19T21:48:00.004-06:00

End of April, first of May are my two daughters wedding anniversaries so I made them each one on these cards. I wish I could take credit for it, but alas it is a copy - with of course my take on the colors. Both my girls love to quilt so I thought this would be a fun card for them.

Here is the inside.

Easter Dress

2011-03-30T23:29:00.003-06:00

I bet most of you think I just paper craft, but don't be shocked to see a sewing or crochet project shown every once in a while! I wanted to make an Easter Dress for my only grand daughter. There is this fabulous fabric store called Material Girls that I went to and found this cute pattern by Pink Fig. As we were measuring out the fabric I realize there was enough to make two dresses! I have an adopted grand daughter who lives next door. She is 18 months. So I make the 2T dress for her shown below first. It is so big she won't be able to wear it until next year! Oh well...

Back of dress

Hoot-errific

2011-03-30T23:23:00.002-06:00

Here is another card sent to my daughters. We have fun sending each other cards. I have been wanting to make an Owl card.

This was an owl from Give A Hoot cart. The back ground is the SU background that I watermark stamped and then heat embossed it with clear powder.
It "raised the grain" on the tree trunk and gave it a great glossy shine.

Happy Birthday Andi!

2011-03-30T23:13:00.002-06:00

It was my daughter-in-law's birthday the end of March and this is the card I made for her... She is such a gem, a true treasure in our lives, not to forget to mention as well a wonderful mother to our grandson and supportive wife to my son. We celebrate her good and joyous life, for all she has accomplished and still yet to do.

This card is on dark gray with white embossing from SU. You can't see it but around the boarder is more flourish stamping, but with a watermark. Inside is another butterfly with watermark stamping. The butterflies were cut from Wall Decor. I learned that if you cut them on low pressure and multicut they turned out beautifully.

Ticket to Love

2011-03-30T23:00:00.003-06:00

I sent this card to my daughers a few weeks back. It was a way I could express my love to them. I used "Just the Ticket" from PaperTrey Inc. I also found a card that was similar to this for some inspiration.

Here is the inside. I used the SU set called Well Scripted for the sentiment.

The best part about sending cards is the telephone call I get that says,
" Mom I got your card today!"

Happy Birthday Grandson

2011-03-09T20:07:00.002-07:00

Another birthday for a sweet grandson! He turned 4!

I used a zig zag punch out of a bunch of different colors. Made a frame and wove the strips together. I cut the robot out placed it on top. Fun and colorful for a 4 year old. I said in the card that the robot had as many hands as he was old! He had a smile on his face as he counted the hands!

Pin the Caboos on the Engine!

2011-03-09T20:03:00.002-07:00

It was our grandson's birthday in January and his theme was trains. There were about 20 cousins and small friends who all played the game pin the caboos on the engine. I made the train from the Micky Mouse cart and put numbers on all the cabooses so each would know what number they had and could tell who was the winner. It was a lot of fun!

Sunday School Cards

2011-03-09T19:12:00.006-07:00

I teach the 12 and 12 year old's in Sunday School. Each week after the lesson is over I give them a card that has all the points of interest we talked about, some scriptures and quotes. Here are some of the cards I have made for them.

This lesson was on the 3 kingdoms of Glory. The Sun is the Celestial Kingdom, the Moon is the Terrestrial and the Stars are the Telestial. 1 Corinthians 15:40-42

Here is an illustration of how the spirit leaves the body after death.

This lesson was on Adversity. It teaches that it is not always bad, often there is a silver lining that comes from our trials. Isn't that the reason we are here on earth?

This lesson was what we need to do to prepare to meet God.

Isn't is great that families can be together forever?

This lesson was on loving our brothers and sisters - inside it says "Best Friends". It was given around Christmas time so the tree cutting by a brother and sister was a great cut for this card. It was from A Child's Year cart.

This card represents the goal to be married in the temple for all eternity, not just until death. I used Stretch Your Imagination cart.

This lesson was about home.

A commandment, Honor thy Father and Thy Mother .

This was a book that explained all about the Plan of Salvation.

This was a lesson being Clean. There was a great story told about the snapping turtle that didn't like to be caught, but with a board with bent nails the turtles would catch their fins on the board and would not be able to get away. We talked about how Satan is like the board ready to catch us if we let him.

Family History - I used the new cuddlebug embossing frame and computer generated the words. The tree is from Heritage cart.

This lesson was on Adam and Eve... could you guess! It is the apple from preserves. I used my scallop SU punch to take a bite out of the apple!

This lesson was on Agency. I wanted to show black/white /gray so they would understand their ability to make their own choices. It was all generated in the Gypsy.

It's A Boy!

2011-03-09T19:03:00.005-07:00

I recently went to a baby shower and made this cute little 5X3.5 card. New size for me but I really liked it.

Used Create A Critter Alligator cut at 1.5 inches. I hand cut my mound of dirt and put a few clumps of grass. Used a little brown chalk ink to make them all look a little "dirty"! I love those Peachy Keen faces on the sun.

February Birthdays

2011-03-09T18:49:00.003-07:00

Both my husband and my oldest son's birthdays are on February 8th! It is fun to celebrate them together.

This first card is for may husband. If is from Nifty Fifties cart. There is a lot of bling with shiny and sparkle paper.

This is the inside.

This is my son's birthday card. He likes sports. I used the Boys Will Be Boys cart for the ball. I think when I took this picture I was still figuring out the corners. I think the final card just had black corners. I love how the cuttlebug worked its magic on the ball!

Here is the inside of the card.

Carlie's Jumper

2011-01-16T15:17:00.001-07:00

Carlie made this sweet jumper for my 4-year old daughter. The fabric was a darling autumn corduroy. The only problem is that she was in the middle of moving from one state to another and wasn't able to finish it. So I took it home with me and well, it took me a while too before I got around to it. In the end I did finish it off and all I had to do was add a little bias tape to the edges! Then I let the creative streak roll and put a little toole around the bottom (which really made the skirt flair) and made this pretty rose to give it some sparkle. My daughter LOVES it. Loves to TWIRL in it. And loves to tell everyone her AUNT CARLIE made it for her!

Sooo Many Family Birthday Cards

2011-01-15T22:51:00.002-07:00

There have been soooo many birthday in our family. Most seem to come from Sept through March. So here are a few for you to enjoy!

The new Country Life Cart had this cute Sweet Pea that I couldn't resist for one of my daughters birthday cards. One of her nick names is "Sweet Pea". Needless to say she loved the card. I welded it together with my Gypsy.

Here is the inside.

My oldest daughter does everything with such a great flair so I made her birthday card that was all about flourishes. I cut a big "B" for Birthday from Wall Decor and used Flourish paper (SEI), flourish cuts and flourish punches with a silver bow to give it some added detail... remember "it's all in the details"!

So of course the inside says, "You are the flourish in our lives!"

Our youngest son turned 31 this week. He loves the snow and skiing. Last year I made him a cake card and he didn't like it... He will never live that down! Isn't it amazing how ungrateful and blunt kids can be!!! J/K. So this year I knew I would be safe with the ski theme. It was a big hit! This cute bunny and "Snow much fun" is from Winter Frolic Cart.

Here is the inside of the card. I used Birthday Bash for the cut.

My one an only grand daughter turned "5" this year. Grandpa gave her a Unicorn for Christmas last year and she has a hard time putting it down. She is our little princess so I thought she would like this very sparkly whimsical card. The only problem is when we called to wish her a Happy Birthday I realized the card said 4 not 5... dumb grandma. So at Christmas she came and I fixed it... now it says 5!!! I used the Swiss Dots folder on the Unicorn and the MS punch around the blue edge. I also used the sickles glitter glue on each of the swiss dots and pink mane. You really have to see this card in person to enjoy it. The Unicorn is popped and has a sparkly pink Chrystal eye!

Here is the inside. More glitter glue!!!

Little "Roo" turned two and his birthday theme was the ocean. I welded the ocean waves to a rectangle to create the underwater space. I used a lot of Life's A Beach cart.

Here is the inside. It was a whale of a fun time making this card!

My sweet grandson turned two on Jan 13th so this is his birthday card. His birthday theme is trains. The fun Imaginice paper is full of trains and the three car train is popped with button wheels and a monkey falling out the back. I used my gel pens that fit in the Cricut and with the Gypsy I was able to write the words Happy happy Birthday and then change the pen for the blade and cut the flag out using Birthday Bash cart. What did I do before all this technology! Inside it says, "...from me to you, Happy Happy Birthday Carter's turning two!"

Halloween Paper Dolls

2011-01-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

My daughter had a Halloween party too! Since I was in goody bag mode, I volunteered to bring them for her party. But these were combined as a party craft too. Paper Dolls Dress Up has some darling Halloween costumes. I cut out all the elements and the dolls, then brought them for each child to assemble their own. It was fun to see how they decorated their bags!

While I was busy cutting out Halloween Paper Dolls, I cut some out that were a little more elaborate, then laminated them so my sweet little girl could enjoy playing with them. She LOVES paper dolls!

I thought I'd add a few cute ideas from the two parties I attended. Look at these amazing chocolate spider webs!

And this fantastic Halloween fondant cake!

It was even wired with lights!

Here's three of my four beautiful children! Happy Halloween!

Halloween Goody bags

2011-01-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

I made these cute goody bags for my son's classroom party. 30 of them! I used a cuttlebug spiderweb embossing folder to emboss them. The folder was exactly the right dimensions to fit over the whole brown bag. This gave me a continuous spiderweb design all the way around the bag.

The spider comes from Paper Dolls Dress Up cart.

Bunch of Flowers

2011-01-13T13:16:00.001-07:00

These sunshine warm colors just made me feel like a vase full of flowers! Maybe making this card in the fall was my soul wishing the summertime would linger a little longer. All these cards are part of the card bundle I made for my son's teacher. I purposefully tried to make them "theme free" so they could be used for just about any occasion.

This vase and flowers cut is found in the Celebrations cart. It seems almost hidden in that cart since I never think of flowers when I look at that cart. I always think candles, balloons, presents, and party hats, so when I saw this, I just fell in love.

Assorted Fun Cards

2011-01-12T22:26:00.011-07:00

I feels so badly I have been so busy with the holidays that I have not posted in such a long time. I have been busy card making however! Below are some of the cards - enjoy!

A small card, simple using the holiday embossing folder with a gold bell from Christmas Noel cart. I used some fun glitter paper and cut it 6 times and it still didn't want to detatch! Glad I got a deep cutter for Christmas! It will come in really handy when I go to cut glitter paper...

I just love those Cuddlekids animals. So I made a bunch the other day and created this simple baby card. The "for baby" stamp is from SU.

A friend of mine lost his mother so I mailed this card. In the obituary it talked about how "sweet" she was so I thought I would add that to the card as a reminder.

This is one of my first tries at these folded accordion pleat circles. They are easy to make, but getting them to stick was the biggest trick. It seemed everything I used the silly thing would pop back open! So finally I used some heavy duty glue, put a whole bunch on and set a heavy object on top for the night - that finally did the trick! The circle cut is from Wild Card Cart.

Here is the inside - I embossed and used the SU stamp and the Swiss Dots folder.

I just got this fun MS punch and wanted to show case it. The flowers in the inside are SU stamp I cut around and popped. The windows were a little tricky - had to get out my exact o knife, but it was worth the work. With the punches you have to cut a certain size for the corners to match, so this card is a 5x7 finished.

Here is the cute SU stamp in the inside.

Some Christmas Gifts

2011-01-12T22:03:00.005-07:00

Last year and again this year - since it seemed to be a big hit,

my friend, Lauren and I make cards to give as gifts primarily to our

"mothers". Below are the ones we made.

A fun and easy birthday card!

Used some embossing folders and designed the squares in my Gypsy and Mini Monograms.

Don't you just LOVE this SEI paper! Hope you can see how beautiful it is!

I created this car in my Gypsy and Graphically Speaking. I wanted it to fit in a A2 envelope so I fattened it up a bit. I added the grill using the shiny silver paper. Fun "chrome"!

Here is the inside. Fun male card...

Always looking for that easy classy male card. Hope you can see the embossing details. We took some sand paper to the white core brown paper and watched the Happy Birthday appear, just like magic!

Here is a sweet sympathy card. Just stamping on this one. All SU stamps.

Just used the George cart to cut some flowers in some retro colors and cut a peek a boo window so when the card opens, SURPRISE, the flower is still there!

Wall Decor Cart, I created the scalloped card in the Gypsy.

Pretty simple SU giraffe and a oval cut from George Cart.

I hope you can notice all the pin marks that make this card "quilted".

This is similar to my other wedding card with a twist of red. Made with the Wedding Cart and a Sizzix embossing folder. We can't forget the MS edge punch too!

Ready Set BLOW!

2011-01-12T21:46:00.004-07:00

This cute card was made for Morgan, yes, I will claim her as one of my granddaughters. I seem to be lacking in grand daughters so so happy to have one more. Morgan's parents live in our south side apartment and we are just best friends. As Morgan was growing up she had her mother's stuffed piglet she loved, until she tossed it out the stroller in the park and it was gone :(. So I thought I would add Piglet on her birthday card so in year gone by it would remind her of her friend she enjoyed during her first year of life. This was made with Sweet Treats cart.

Copying mom

2011-01-12T14:49:00.001-07:00

Well, after mom's all white wedding card made the Cricut Chirp (congrats mom!!!), I just had to copy her! Here's my run with it. Too bad I probably won't get 6000+ viewers like she did! hee hee.

Elegant flower

2011-01-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

I also included this card in the bundle that went to my son's teacher. I REALLY liked how pretty it is. It was built with several different layers, but I added some pop dots in between the layers to give it some dimension.

The paper had glitter built in and was so pretty, I just didn't feel like the card need any additional embellishments. The flower came from the Storybook cart.

Pumpkin Card

2011-01-12T13:02:00.001-07:00

I made some more cards this year for my son's teachers. This one was a cute Pumpkin!

I got the pumpkin from Paper Dolls. They have my favorite pumpkins on that cart! I also used a Cuttlebug embossing folder to give the pumpkin a little texture.

Cricut + Fabric = cheap cute stockings!

2010-12-23T22:04:00.003-07:00

We aren't living in a permanant situation right now, and our family is still too young to make stockings that will be cute and that I want to last forever so this year I bought 3 stockings at the dollar store and decided to make my own temporary stockings. I ironed on the fusible interfacing to the fabric and then cut the names out on the cricut and ironed them on. This took me all of 30 min from start to finish and I'm so glad I have something temporary and cute! (scooter is the name of our dog, we wouldn't do that to a child! )

Wedding Card

2010-10-12T21:13:00.006-06:00

Here is a wedding card I made using the MS punch and the Wedding/Marriage cart. I love the white on white cards. I used some clear embossing powder on the top heart to give it that special bling touch.

Here is the inside. I also used the clear embossing powder to help the words pop.

It's a Party on the Card

2010-10-12T20:55:00.004-06:00

I work with a wonderful tech guy in Atlanta who helps me out all the time. He has become a good friend and his birthday gives me an excuse to really thank him for his extra efforts with me and my merchants. Anyway, below is his birthday card. He is getting married a few days after his birthday so I wrote in the card that with the wedding coming up he was turning into a monster and so just wanted to invite a few of his friends to the party!

Here is a left side view, mostly done using mini monsters cart. The number 29 is from the Robotz cart and the Happy Birthday is from Create A Critter.

Here is a right side shot... Got'a love the glitter! Isn't it all about the bling!

Deal Pickle

2010-10-12T20:43:00.003-06:00

My SIL's first day on the job with a company called Deal Pickle, a new soon to be live website we are all excited about for discount coupons. My DD came over in the morning and said she wanted to make a card to take to her husband. So this is what we came up with. She later text me to say one of the owners wants to buy a Cricut!! Pretty funny...

Here is the inside of the card. It is a phrase from Graphically Speaking Cart. I just loved the glitter paper on this. It just makes the card pop!

Sympathy Card - Cats

2010-10-12T20:30:00.002-06:00

We got news a few night ago that my MIL's neighbor, Mary Lou passed away suddenly. She loved cats and we would often hear stories about them from my MIL. She was my MIL's walking companion. they would go walking every day for a mile. MaryLou was a wonderful friend and support to my MIL.

I found these cats on the A Childs Year cart and used my G to weld them to this fun frame. The paper is from SEI. It is really beautiful paper and the photo just doesn't give this card justice.

Here is the inside of the card.

Bird House - Welcome Home

2010-10-12T20:24:00.004-06:00

Here is a card for my daughter welcoming her back to Salt Lake City. I had fun using the bird from Home Decor. I think it is my favorite bird PC has created. The bird house and green leaf behind are from the Cindy Loo cart.

Crowned with Glory

2010-10-12T20:15:00.002-06:00

I have been sending cards to my daughter who lived in Idaho, but last weekend she moved near me so she will just have to come see me now! I am so glad to have her close by. This card was created using the Summer Vacation cart. I used Cri-Kits gel pens in my Cricut to draw the words inside the card.

Here is the inside with the gel pens.

Card Night!

2010-10-12T11:22:00.000-06:00

I got together with a couple of girlfriends for a card night last week. We certainly have a good time when we do this! They humor me in my home-life rantings. We sympathize over pregnancies--the belly aches thereof and excitement of adding another bundle of joy to the family. There is usually some mention of husbands in the conversation. Giggles. Rolling of eyes. Laughter. And then the "ooohs and aaahhs" as the cards come together.

The theme this time was seasonal miscellaneous. That meant the sky was the limit!

Here is Rebecca's autumn card. I'm so glad she used the SYI leaf silhouette! It is a favorite and I was hoping to find a good way to use it. She also taught us a couple of fun distressing techniques. Thanks Rebecca!

My Christmas card: (the outside) I was thinking of New York City when I created this card. Modern, weathered, yet traditional. I don't know if I captured it, but I certainly put in plenty of elements!

The inside.

Rebecca's Halloween card. I liked her tri-fold idea and how she brought it together with the sleeve. My little girl liked all the sparkles! It seems I make a Halloween card at least once a year and I can see this one will work perfectly! (That is, if I can muster up giving it away!)

Both of Katrina's cards are so elegant! I would love to make a hundred of these and give them to all my dear friends and family.

The pearls in the deer's antlers were so pretty!

Here is Katrina's second card. I have a difficult time deciding which one I like better. This one is very classy too! It was my first time using fabric other than ribbon in a card and I fell in love immediately.

Here is my second card. I went with an autumn theme and really wanted to learn something new. This particular technique is called "Iris Folding" It was my first time doing it and I definitely learned a few things along the way. I will post a future blog with a tutorial to show you how to do it. Unfortunately, I ran out of time when I was preparing for this card, so I feel like it is missing elements, but nonetheless, it was fun to try! (Thank you to my sweet friends who humored me with this card!)

The inside.

Baptism Card

2010-10-12T10:15:00.001-06:00

My nephew just got baptized so my kids and I put this card together to send to him. We are so proud of him and wished we could have been there!

His dad was the one who baptized him, so that is why there are two people. We used velum paper to be the water.

Looking back now, I wish I would have used a gel pen to "cut in" their faces. They look so bland! They must have looked better in real life because I mailed it off just like this!

Here's the inside.

Autumn Wedding

2010-10-12T10:09:00.000-06:00

I made this for my brother-in-law and his new bride. I love the square cards that SYI has! The brown paper with the creme, classic laid embossed paper made it look so elegant (and a perfect match for the autumn season). The bow got a little off kilter after being in the envelope, but I wanted to catch a picture of this card before we gave it to them.

Birthday Purse

2010-09-19T14:45:00.002-06:00

My daughter-in-law celebrates her birthday today. I wanted to make her something different so I thought of a purse instead of a card. This purse was cut from Forever Young at 4 inches. It is great the way it doesn't need any glueing. I added a bunch of bling and a fun flower on the outside to dress it up.

Inside is a Happy Birthday stamp from SU and a lot of BLING! The base of the purse was perfect to add a "little" something special. Don't us girls always say we like small packages!

Close up of the Happy Birthday embellishment.

Mother's Birthday Card

2010-09-19T14:39:00.002-06:00

Friday was my mother's 84th birthday. Maybe I shouldn't say that because now you can guess how old I am! Here is a card I made for her using Stretch Your Imagination cartridge. I cut three of the paisley patterns out and popped some of them, added some tulle and gold rope.

Below is the inside of the card with gold embossing powder.

Have a SWEET Day!

2010-09-19T14:25:00.002-06:00

This is a new technique for me. I went to the Scrapbook USA show recently and there was a company called Cri-Kits that has a great system for writing instead of cutting on the cricut. I got out my Gypsy and welded the Cafe (shadow) cut from My Community cart together on one page and on the second page placed the Cafe cut where it would be aligned with the cut. First I put in my black pen in the holder and replaced it with the Cricut cutting blade housing. I "cut" the face of the Cafe with the pen. Then I replaced my cutting blade back into the Cricut and cut the shadow Cafe cut. It was so easy and simple. Some of the Cricut cuts have a lot of detail and you don't want the cuts, you want the outline. This is a great solution. I like the thin pen lines over the Cricut felt tip pens in this case.

The little girl cut is from A Child's Year. Another cute cut would have been the couple sitting at the Cafe table in the Tie the Knot cartridge.

On the inside of the card is computer generated.

Thinking of you...

2010-09-19T14:14:00.000-06:00

So I went to Scrapbook USA last week and found a company called Cri-Kits. They were selling both pens and embossing pens and pad for the Cricut. I succumbed! Here is a sample of the embossing on Vellum. The design is from Cindy Loo cartridge. Go check out www.Cri-Kits.com website and you can see tutorials on how to create fun designs by embossing instead of cutting.

The flower paper is from SEI "Bissette" collection. I picked up some great SEI paper at the scrapbook fair that I am very excited about. You can't see in the picture, but the flower paper has great sparkles and shine that is a nice contrast with the flat vellum. The ribbon is from SU.

Hello!

2010-09-19T14:01:00.003-06:00

Here is a card I sent to my daughter who lives in Idaho. She usually text or calls and says, "Mom, I got your card today." But the week went by and no call about the card. I called her and said, "Did you get my card?" and she said no. Hmmmm... the only thing I could think of was the USPS wanted more postage and was sending it back... sure enough I got the card back, but it wasn't for more postage, it said the address was insufficient! Well it is the same address I always put so not sure what was "insufficient". I had even put the last 4 numbers of the zip code. Oh well....

This is from the Wall Decor cartridge. I covered up the holes with buttons.
The paper is from SU.

Here is the inside.

Belated Birthday Card

2010-08-31T13:54:00.029-06:00

It was my SIL's birthday in early August. All our family except him came and it was a crazy time. He had to stay home as he is a Pathologist and had a rotation in St. Louis he couldn't miss. So after everyone left I realized he didn't get a birthday card from us. The card was made from Mini Monsters. I am sorry you can't see the head is popped and the eyes are sunken. I used the MS drippy punch on the side and also inside. In our family we also like to put our arms out and say,"I love you this much". Our grandchildren are really good at it! So my dear SIL, I hope you know we love you "THIS MUCH"!

Here is the inside of the card. A little orange gave it a great pop!
The font is that bloody one. Pretty fun stuff!

Thinking of You - Fruit

2010-08-31T13:54:00.028-06:00

Sometimes we all need a "pick me up" card. I sent these to me DD's. They do so much and are so busy, I just wanted them to know there is sweetness at the end of the day with all their accomplishments. The card is simple with a SU stamp from "Fruit Stand" stamps. I used some Lasting Impressions paper and a bit of ribbon to tie it together.

For the inside of the card I was in a store and saw this saying. I just loved what it said.

Get Well Soon

2010-08-31T13:54:00.027-06:00

A friend in the neighborhood had surgery and this was a simple card I made for her. I used the Serenade cartridge for the flowers and leaves. A MS punch was used along the bottom of the card.

This is the inside. I used a SU stamp for the square and saying.

Welcome Home

2010-08-31T13:54:00.026-06:00

My MIL recently moved into an Assisted Living Facility. We are glad she has found a nice place to live after leaving her home in CA. We will be more excited when she come to live in UT and spend time with us! I did really well in the MIL department! She is a wonderful person and makes me laugh a lot! I love being around her. Home Decor cartridge had this fun Welcome sign. The paper is from American Crafts, Craft Fair. I thought the little houses in the back were just perfect for this house warming card. I used the SU scallop punch around the bottom.

Here is the inside of the card.

The inside "Home" is from Home Accents cartridge.

Baby Boy Shower Card

2010-08-31T13:53:00.011-06:00

I recently went to a baby shower for a good friend of mine. I came across this cute robot in the Robotz cartridge and thought is would make a unique baby boy card. I made the circle words with MS Word and gave the robot a couple of "eyes" on for a more fun effect. The corner punch is from SU.

Here is a close up shot.

Here is the inside of the card.

Returned With Honor

2010-08-31T13:53:00.010-06:00

My SIL's brother recently returned home from a mission. I wanted to make him a welcome home card. When I think of returned missionaries, as I have 5 of my own, they all come home with these treasured shoes. It represents hours and hours of service, love, dedication and sacrifice, to name a few. My only regret on this card is the shoes look to new. I should have roughed them up a bit so they would look like old shoes. Oh well, maybe next time!

The inside of the card said, "Welcome Home"

Wedding Card

2010-08-31T13:52:00.017-06:00

My cousin's son was married in August. This card was created by using Tie the Knot cartridge. I just think this cut is so elegant. I cut out the white and then the gold piece. I ran the cuttlebug - Swiss dots for the white piece. The card ended up being a 5x7 size. I printed their names in the middle of the heart using my computer. I got lucky on the placement!

Here is a close up if the heart.

The inside of the card uses the Cuddlebug embossing folder.
I just cut it down a bit with some gold paper behind to make it pop.

Graduation Time

2010-08-31T13:52:00.016-06:00

My nephew recently graduated from BYU. His claim to fame was he was the BYU mascot, Cosmo! At Sunday dinners we would always drill him on what Cosmo was up to. So now that he isn't it anymore we can tell people. It is very secretive, as no one is to know who is Cosmo.

I used my MS Word to create the round message and embossed with the cuttlebug for the congrats message. It was done with blue metallic paper so the Y really popped. Inside I found some quotes from famous people that were inspirational.

Thinking Of You - Lime Card

2010-08-31T13:52:00.014-06:00

I think this lime in the Preserves cart is so cute. I couldn't resist making a thinking of you card for me DD's. This one is good to make in two's because you have to cut out the wedges twice. You might as well make two while you are at it! The stamp is from SU Curly Cute stamp set.

Squirls Aren't So Bad!

2010-08-31T13:51:00.012-06:00

My DD hates squirrels! I found this cute one in the Cindy Loo cartridge. I made it into a shaped card and used a bit of cuttlebug swirl on the tail. How could someone not love this cute little soft animal? The mushrooms are popped out to give some dimension.

Here is the inside...

Brilliant!

2010-08-31T13:51:00.005-06:00

My DD recently created herself a banking job. She is BRILLIANT! So her first week on the job I sent her this job to let her know how brilliant she is. I used my Gypsy to weld the word BRILLIANT to the back ground paper and then cut in green the word Brilliant with some pops for a 3 dimensional look. This was all created from the Forever Young cartridge.

On the inside it said, "Here's to wishing your first week on the job is fabulous!"

Seasoned With Love

2010-08-31T13:50:00.004-06:00

Here is a thank you card for a wonderful weekend and food with my DD and SIL. This was made with the Wall Decor cart. The red image is the boarder option and the inside is the pepper shaker.

In side of card.

A debt paid

2010-08-31T12:31:00.001-06:00

At the end of the school year last year the mom I carpool with and I were in the thick of talking one day when we should have been picking our children up from school. We were not horribly late, but were definitely the last ones there. As my friend arrived, the teacher watching our kids simply said,

"Oatmeal chocolate chip"

"what?" my friend didn't understand at first.

So she said it again.

"Oatmeal chocolate chip. That's what you owe me for watching your kids."

Somehow the last few days of school got away from us....and then the summer flew by....before we knew it, school had started again. Each visit to school reminded me of those cookies we owed! So with the first week of school already under our belts, I made good on our debt. Along with it, I threw this card together. (I'm embarrassed to say that all of the elements for this card came from my scrap bin.)

Here's the inside.

Sign up sheets

2010-08-31T12:12:00.000-06:00

I made these sign up sheets to recruit some help for our women's meeting at church. This first one is for set up, take down, etc. All of the signs are from Graphically Speaking cart. I just love all the attitude that cart has!

This next one is a sign up for food.

The last one is for help in our children's class.

Emma's apron

2010-08-31T10:24:00.000-06:00

It must be little girl birthday time because it seems my daughter has had quite a few birthday parties to go to! I was itching to make each one an apron, so I found a picture of one online and ran with it. Here's Emma's!

For the "E" I used Storybook cart to cut out with, then I ironed it on with stitch witchery and finally hand stitched around the edges with black cro-sheen yarn to give it definition.

The style these days is so casual, and I new we'd blink and these girls will have outgrown these aprons, so I pulled out my hem foot on my serger and just did a serged edge. I used my gathering foot to make the pleats. It was the first time I have had success with it and I just love how they turned out!

Birthday Thank You

2010-08-31T10:10:00.000-06:00

Here's to all the dear family and friends who gave my son birthday gifts this year. His birthday is on the 4th of July, so you get a little of that theme in the card. "Satisfaction Guaranteed" just seemed to be the perfect phrase for my very active 6 year old!

Graphically Speaking cart and Cuttlebug embossing folder. The "thanks" on the inside is also a Cuttlebug die cut.

inspiration

2010-08-31T10:02:00.001-06:00

i saw this t-shirt on a teen-age friend of ours the other day. i'll be honest, i coveted. i love the simpleness of it. all lowercase letters. basic font. bold red and white contrast. i LOVE the message! inspiration hit and i knew i need to decorate with this. my kids need to see this on our wall, or towels, or something....i'm not sure where yet, but somewhere.

Guy's birthday card

2010-08-31T09:53:00.000-06:00

I decided one day to challenge myself and make a guy's birthday card for all the men in my life. My husband is one of eight boys in his family and I have 2 of my own brothers, so with dad's included, I made entirely TOO many of these!

The cart is Graphically Speaking. Here's the inside.

quilting techniques

2010-08-23T21:21:00.005-06:00

I learned this technique from the amazing quilter and owner of Jilly Studio at the quilt show in salt lake a great applique trick so I thought I'd share it here...

1. take your pattern and draw it on a piece of FREEZER PAPER (you can buy this at the grocery store next to the aluminum foil) , then iron it between two pieces of freezer paper (3 pieces total), this makes a pattern that can be used over and over again.
2. Iron the shiny side down to the wrong side of your fabric
3. Cut out 1/4" or so around the freezer papered pattern. (if your edges rounded you'll need to clip them a little around the edges so that they flatten down a bit)
4. Spray starch into a bowl and paint the 1/4" fabric that's showing around your pattern.
5. Iron the edges that are wet from the starch into the pattern.

6. pull the freezer paper pattern out, and you have a turned in edge piece ready to applique!

Cherry Blossom Quilt

2010-08-23T19:49:00.000-06:00

Its finally finished! I've been working on this quilt for some time now and now that I've given it to Jenny Sue who is having a baby girl this week! (Jeffreys sister whom I love!) I learned a new applique technique that works really well and is easier than other ways to applique. all the flowers are hand sewn and the binding is hand sewn. I came up with the pattern and the ideas myself and couldn't be more proud of how it turned out! I used my awesome new machine (baby lock quilters choice!) to quilt it with small flowers mixed in with the loops. My favorite part is the ruffle boarder!

Sympathy Card

2010-07-07T10:38:00.001-06:00

Recently my cousin, Ellen passed away. I made this card for her brother's family. It is inspired by Donna Mundinger. She made a beautiful black and white version.

Anniversary Box

2010-07-07T10:30:00.002-06:00

My husband and I celebrated our 36th wedding anniverary on June 28th. He is so wonderful to me, always bringing me flowers throughout the year and surprise presents, I have to laugh because he rarely gives me gifts on the day of an event. But that is ok with me because I would rather him do it randomly and surprise me than feel he has to give me a gift because it is traditional. So I thought instead of a tie or shirt or something basicly meaningless, I cut a box from Tag, Bags and Boxes from clear thick plastic. It cut really easy. I embossed the top with the heart folder. I wrapped it in yellow because that is his favorite color! I made a tag from Tie the Knot cart. I made the circle "Reasons I love You" with my computer. I easily came up with 36 reasons I love my husband and curled them around a pencil so they would fluff up a bit in the box. He had a great time reading all the reasons. Then he said, "Only 36?" and I said, "Well, next year I might be able to come up with 37!" We had a great time and he said one of the best gifts I have given.

Tag

Fun New Cards to See

2010-07-07T10:11:00.005-06:00

Here are a few cards I have been making for all different occasions.

This frog is from Paisley.

This cute dino was cut from Create a Critter

Inside

Just had to try the new Robotz cart. Nothing like a loving family!

A cute little Russion Doll card from the Paisley cart.

Good Things to Come

2010-06-21T09:07:00.000-06:00

Thanks A Bunch

2010-06-19T11:55:00.004-06:00

My daughters and daughter-in-laws and friends know they are welcome to come to my craft room anytime. That is why I have it. It was fun to have my daughter-in-law (and grandsons) come. Here is a card she made for a friend.

She used SEI paper, WIMG for the words. The flowers were cut from the the new Serenade Cart.

Thank you Flower Card

2010-06-19T11:48:00.001-06:00

Here is a thank you card for a special person in my life.

I used a MS punch as the strip under the flower and a Stampin Up boarder punch at the bottom. The flower is made with several different flower cuts, any can be used. There is a link to a tutorial in an earlier post if you are interested in seeing how they are made. The background stamp is from Stampin Up. I used gold ink.

Don't you love this cut? It is from the Calligraphy Collection. I cut it in gold paper.

Jeep

2010-06-19T11:33:00.003-06:00

Recently my husband and I went to a place by Escalante, UT called Hole in the Wall. We had some friends drive our jeep down as the 55 mile road was all dirt and rocky. We had a great trip. When we came home they had returned our jeep back to us with a full tank of gas and spotless clean. So I made this "Thanks" card from the jeep saying how much it was needed and how appreciative the owners were too!

The jeep is the bus cut from Doodlecharms and the Thanks is from Walk in My Garden. I used ther Gypsy to weld a shaped card. It is hard to tell but the inside of the wheels, headlights and the back extra wheel is shinny silver paper.

Damask Round Pillow

2010-06-18T16:13:00.001-06:00

I haven't posted any of my "crafty" projects for a while, mostly because I have about 15 of them going on- most of them quilts and they usually take a while (you'll see them eventually I promise!) However, I went to the fabric store the other day and there in the clearance isle was this beautiful piece of red damask fabric calling my name saying " buy me I'm only $2.00!! So last night, a little red trim, a round pillow and the drive to actually finish something and this is what I came up with! (p.s. isn't Jeffrey cute!?!)

Dahlia Card

2010-06-16T21:42:00.000-06:00

Here is another take on the Dahlia fold. The stem comes from Stretch Your Imagination cart. I just used the blackout feature, then embossed it with the Cuttlebug. This is also a tri-fold card, so I used the band around the bottom to hold the sides in.

I made a few of these, but let me tell you, a lot of love went into them. I'm definitely being selective about who they go to!

Bathroom mirrors

2010-06-16T14:01:00.000-06:00

Okay, this post is not a card post! But I've been creative lately in a different sort of way. I've been drooling over this framed mirror tutorial and wanted to give it a try. So here is the end result!

Sorry about the random roll of toilet paper in the pic. You see that cute 2 year old in the corner of the mirror? He's got a love for unrolling fresh new rolls of toilet paper into the toilet. Do you have any idea how much toilet paper costs these days? Good thing he's cute.

I made this with MDF board. I don't have a table saw (yet), so I had the guy at Home Depot cut me three strips at 3.5 inches and one at 5 inches wide. I used my hubby's brand new miter saw that he got for Christmas to cut the lengths right. I also bought some small crown molding. I painted everything then sanded down the edges to give a distressed look. Then hung it all directly on the mirror with liquid nails. That's right, not a single nail was used! The secret is to buy the liquid nails that sets in 15 minutes. Worked gloriously! I plan to paint this bathroom a nice, soft tan color, so I pre-painted the edges before I glued the frame boards on. The cost was $15.

Next I did the master bathroom. I think the fresh new blade made all the difference when I cut these boards. Again, I pre-painted the boards, then distressed them. The cost was about $40 for this one. In the tutorial, she used two different kinds of boards, but I didn't want such a big frame around mine and money was an issue since I was also in the middle of replacing my transmission and overhauling my computer. Ugg. so I picked an A-symmetrical baseboard piece that was a little on the large side. I love how it turned out!

The shower curtain is on its way out and someday I'll be done with baby mode and can take my changing table pad out of my bathroom, but for now, this is currently my favorite room in the house!

Teacher gifts

2010-06-15T21:16:00.000-06:00

My son's teacher retired this year and we wanted to give her something special. Here is what we came up with. The cart was A Child's Year of course! The frame was a cheapy $5 frame from Wal-Mart and the ribbon I bought at a garage sale for $2.

Here is the gift we gave the Student Aid teacher too. The kids did a lot during the year with nature and animals. Every week they had a different animal hosted in their classroom and at the beginning of the year the teacher took them outside into the fields, found a monarch caterpillar, brought it inside and watched it transform into a beautiful butterfly! The little boy silhouette was just perfect for this memory.

Birthday Thanks Yous

2010-05-18T14:44:00.000-06:00

It was my son's second birthday at the end of April. He has some wonderful Aunts and Uncles who were most generous with birthday gifts. One of those gifts was a bulldozer! I didn't have a bulldozer cut, so I used this dump truck cut from Everyday Paper dolls. There are two different embossing folders used here as well and a MS punch.

The other BIG hit was a Fire Truck board book with matchbox fire engine. You can see the embossing a bit better with this one. I loved the water drops print on the paper! It just seemed perfect for what I was trying to accomplish! (The fire truck was also Everyday Paper Dolls.)

I really wanted to say, "Hose me down, your gift was so HOT", but my husband pulled the reins on that one. He's probably right, but coming from a two year old, I don't think it would have been too "sexy" sounding! ha ha! Just the same, they really were "FIRE"-tastic gifts!

The cards were hand stamped by my sweet two year old!

Dahalia Fold Birthday Card

2010-05-18T14:29:00.000-06:00

It was mom's birthday last week and here is the card I did for her. It was a cross fold on classic laid paper (cream). Here's the tutorial for the Dahlia.

Here's the inside. I designed the wording in Word, but should have done it in Photoshop. I think it turned out nicely just the same. Of course it was filled with "X"s and "O"s since we are so far away and can't be there in person to help her celebrate! Happy birthday mom!

Baby Invitation

2010-05-13T08:44:00.003-06:00

I threw a baby shower for a friend a few weeks ago, I love using the cricut for cards and fun things, especially if I can make something cute and simple- I ended up making about 40 of these invites and it really didn't take me that long! I used the new arrival cartridge and choose the cute pregnant image and hit the card button. The machine cut the card out for me. Then I typed up the invite and printed it out on green paper, ran half the green through the cuddle bug to give the lady her dots, glued it in the inside of the card and finished the invitation off with a little bling on the purse. so simple and cute !

Mother's Day Cards - Priceless

2010-05-10T20:03:00.002-06:00

Here are the two Mother's Day cards I made. The first one was for my mother. She loves orange, green and brown. I learned how to make these flowers from a tutorial at http://craftspotbykimberly.blogspot.com/search/label/Episode%208

Be sure to take a look. They were easy and fun to make. There weren't any sizes given on the tutorial. Any size will work. I cut out 5 flowers. The bottom two flowers are cut at 3 inches and the top three are at 1.75, 1.75 and 1 inch. I used flowers from Sweet Treats, A Childs Year, Walk In My Garden and Forever Young. Any flower cuts will work, but use both solid flower and frilly ones. I didn't have Glimmer Mist so I used water. Another tutorial said they used Glimmer Mist and then spray starch. I kept it simple with using water, glaze and MS glitter. Since the flower is thick, I cut the puff envelope from Marriage cart. It has a little cut out and the flower showed through for a really fun presentation.

This one is for my Mother-In-Law. She just had open heart surgery so we celebrated Mother's Day in the hospital. She was so cute... every hospital employee who came into the room she insisted they see her new bathrobe, nightgown and the handmade card. She was so cute!

Thank you to my Bee Keeper

2010-05-02T16:54:00.005-06:00

My MIL received a bottle of bee balm from my daughter's FIL, Mark, who happens to be our bee keeper. She was so happy to receive this gift and it was very generous of Mark to ship it to California for her. I told my MIL I would make a thank you card for her to send to Mark. It also happened to be the cut of the week at the BBTB2, so I will sneak my submission in before the week is over.

The cute bee and hive are from Sentimentals cart. The Thanks is cut at 4.75 inches to fit in a square 5 inch envelope. The Thanks is from Don Juan Cart. I used some green shading on the edges with some black dots. The flowers are a MS punch with cute buttons in the center. The inside hive is cut at 2.5 inches and the grass is from Paper Dolls cut at fit to length at 4.75. If you haven't used Fit to Length, it is a great feature on the Expressions. Enjoy!

Here is the inside of the card.

A First Anniversary

2010-04-26T10:53:00.003-06:00

Our daughter and SIL just had their 1st wedding anniversary. I saw this cute card on Spitcoast Stampers and thought is was way cute. Here is my take.

A Birthday Card for Grandma!

2010-04-26T10:52:00.004-06:00

My husbands mother just celebrated her 86th Birthday. She loves roses and saw this cute cut in HM cart. I did some CDS to make a shaped card. I would have used my Gypsy, but in the Storybook cut it had 3 holes where I didn't want them so went to CDS to use the hide contour feature. Sure wish that was on the Gypsy...

Don't we all! Anyway the job got done.

Here is the inside. Sorry the sun and my camera were not cooperating so the pictures leave much room for improvement...

Clap Clap

2010-04-26T10:24:00.003-06:00

Our son-in-law just graduated from BYU this past week. I wanted to make a fun card to show him how proud we were of him.

The outside of this card is not too exciting, but just wait until you open...

Pretty fun huh? Since this is a graduation card, I showed my husband and he said, " You should have said CLAP CLAP for the CAP!" So after I took the picture I added "For the CAP". The Score-Pal came in real handy because you score a line 4 inches from the bottom and then score lines every half inch until you have 4 inches left. You fold back an forth until you have an accordian look where you can glue the hands.

Here is one more angle. The stars are from HM and George. The Congrats is from WC and the hand is from DJ.

A Cycling We Go!

2010-04-26T10:06:00.001-06:00

This is a male birthday card I created for a friend. Those male cards are aways a challange, but with the cobblestone background paper by KMA, Simple Expressions and the cute black SU buttons in the wheels, it looks pretty fun! The bicycle is from the H cart and the inside is from GS.

Inside

Fast, Easy, cheap & DARLING earring frame!

2010-04-25T10:15:00.004-06:00

This week has been one of the craziest weeks I've had in a long time! Graduation, anniversary, moving, leaving my job, and still I had to fit some crafting in there somehow! I currently have my earrings hanging on a ribbon across the widow in our bathroom. I thought it was cute for a while, but it just looks so unfinished and un-cute! So, I called a few girlfriends, we went and got picture frames from the thrift store and lace from the fabric store and 3.00 later this is what we came up with! They turned out quite well, if I do say so myself! I painted the wood Ivory and then I hot glued the lace on, but I've read you can staple the lace on as well. Now I have a real place to put my earrings!

Peonies

2010-04-22T16:14:00.000-06:00

My sister-in-law showed me how to make these when she was visiting. (Yes, there are MORE creative Highs!) With a 4 year old in the house, these were a must do to complete her hair-dos! Check them out!

First you cut out some different sized circles. Use a synthetic fabric. For best results use organza or I really like nylon lining (the stuff you would put under a satin dress or skirt.) Some synthetics just give you a burnt look and don't curl, so test out your fabric first to see if it will work. Also, your circles don't have to be perfect. I even used some ovals and uneven curvy edges.

Next you take your fabric and brush it ABOVE the flame. The heat will burn it. Don't get it too close or your fabric will catch on fire. Be careful when touching the fabric edge, it's hot!

Soon you'll have a pile of petals! Pile them together smallest to largest and sew a cross in the center to give them a pucker. I found some vintage buttons or beads for the centers. I also glued alligator clips so I can snatch them up and put them on my shirts or in my own hair!

Viola! Beautiful!

Card Night

2010-04-14T15:09:00.000-06:00

Last night I got together with 4 very talented ladies for some card making fun! We each designed our own card, then brought the makings for everyone else. So we all walked away with 5 beautiful cards AND we learned a few techniques in the making! The theme for the evening was "Miscellaneous". Meaning you could make whatever type of card you'd like. Here are their creations:

April made a congrats card. I really liked her bright and cheery colors.

She knows exactly how life is. Don't we seem to accomplish MANY great things all at once? Just circle the appropriate occasion inside! And I love the tiny note box in the middle!

These buttons were my favorite. I need to do more with buttons!

Rebecca made this "get well soon" card. If I received this card, it would surely put a smile on my face.

The paint chips were so clever!

Here's the inside of the card. The velum added the perfect touch by not taking away from the "paint" theme.

So cute!

Lisa made this "thinking of you" card. We all loved how it opens in the center and I liked the fun edges on each paper.

Her whole card was warm and soft and just darling!

Both Lisa and Katrina's cards had some rubber stamping in them which I just love. Katrina did a "birthday" card and brought a new technique for us to learn along with her. You can check out more of her amazing paper crafting here.

I should have made Katrina stay another 30 seconds and tie my bow for me. I stink at bows on cards! Nonetheless, it gave the finishing touch and was a beautiful card to create!

Oh, I almost forgot! I did one too! ha ha! So here's my birthday card. I decided it would be good for a grandmother aged person since it talks about "age" and feels a little sophisticated. The cut was Storybook "cockatoo" for the tree with bird.

I designed the circle with the saying, but I swiped the words from a quote book.

The frame is a belt buckle from fabulous finds.

Cute Ruffle Pillow

2010-04-06T21:30:00.001-06:00

Our bed was looking a little sad with only one cute pillow- so I decided to make another one! I did get the idea from another blog- but I don't remember who to give credit to for the idea of doing the ruffles. Forgive me. I decided to post some pictures of the start to finish just in case you want to make your own someday!

1. Start with an old jersey t-shirt (preferably XL) I got mine from the DI for 1.00
2. Cut 2 14 x14 squares, or however big you want your pillow. Make sure to measure before you cut so that you will have enough fabric on the shirt left for the strips.
3. Then cut about 10 20" strips that are 1.5 inches wide.
4. Put your machine on it's biggest stitch and stitch right down the middle of the strip. make sure you DON'T back stitch and that you have thread hanging over the ends so you can pull it easier.
5. Pin the all the strips to one end of one square. (for my next pillow I'll do them closer together)
6. Pull from the bottom tread, or the bobbin thread - this was easy to keep track of because of the way the fabric curled- as you can see in the above picture.
7. After you've ruffled the fabric pin it in a straight line to the square in several places.

8. After you've scrunched all the strips and pined them, sew right down the middle of the strip where the original thread is.
9. Now that all the ruffles are sewn on, pin the back of the pillow to the front, making sure to pin the ruffles on the two long sides away from the edge so that you don't sew them into the edge of the pillow.
10. Turn your pillow right side out and then stuff it. I made a flower from scraps that I had from other projects, I didn't sew it on, it's just pinned, this way I can trade it out for a red flower when I get around to it.
Doesn't it look cute?! I'm kinda proud of myself! Happy sewing to you!

Glass Etching

2010-04-06T21:20:00.002-06:00

This weekend my mom and I decided to try out some glass etching! we got the idea from the Create Studio Blog lucky for me my mother has every cricut cartridge you can imagine! We started out playing on one of her vases, and I'm sure there will be many more projects to come- this was so easy! and you really don't need a cricut it just makes the cutting out a lot easier if you're doing something with detail. here's a few pictures from start to finish...
we started out with a clean glass area and a pitcher that needed some extra love...
Then we cut out the design my mom wanted on her pitcher on the cricut out of vinyl (you can use contact paper too) Then we put the vinyl on the vase, this picture shows that because the project was a round shape, I had to cut with an exacto knife to make sure all the areas were matching up.Next we used a foam brush to cover the exposed glass area with this cream (which is about 9.00 for the small jar- but guess what you can use it over and over again! and if you find a coupon for 50% off at a craft sore it's not too bad!)
We scraped the cream off and put it back in the jar and this is what it looked like when we took our pitcher to the sink. We washed off all the excess cream and then pulled the vinyl off and look at the final project!
We also did this with the last name "High" on one of my mom's pyrex pans and it turned out great! what a fun wedding present right?