Giveaway, and Vintage style tags!

I have a giveaway package for you, with lots of goodies sure to spark some creativity! The Hello Kitty font Cricut cartridge, The Pop-Up neighborhood Cricut cartridge, A typeset cuttlebug embossing folder, a set of Cricut Ink cartridges {markers} and a sweet chipboard mini album. To enter to win, leave a comment below  telling me what you will miss the most about summer!

 I will miss the ability to sleep in, I love when school is out and we can stay up late, eat meals well into the late night, and have the occasional sleepy slow morning! Oh how I will count the days for school to be out again! :)

I also love the activities of summer, I live to be outside, I can sit by the water for hours, but I can't sit in front of the TV for more than an hour or two! These vintage Bicycle tags remind me of a time when folks had to make their own entertainment, long bike rides, croquet, and walks in the park. Too bad those days are gone, but the adoration for them will never be!

Sweet little elements like, cotton thread and silver bells add a whimsical touch.

These tags were cut using the Cricut Craft Room exclusive digital bicycles cartridge, it does not look like an heirloom cartridge, but if you put your mind to it, most any image can be softened with the choice of papers, or embellies! {I said almost} I can't see some things working...but who knows you might invent a new trend!

Whatever you do this weekend, make it happy!

Tweet Tweet!

Hi Yall' I hope you are hanging in there with me as I get back in the groove, reacquaint myself with my craft room, and dodge a few boulders this week! I know not all of you have a Cricut Imagine, but if you do here is a card showing several ways to customize your cuts....if you don't maybe these ideas will come in handy when working with tags, and printed papers...so don't leave just yet...stick around and take a look! :)

Stitching a printed layer adds texture, and visual interest, plus takes away the "carbon copy" feel of printed images. Adding elements such as this fringie-ish trim, and quilled flower add luxury to the project. A chain, and foam tape to pop the bird cage away from the bird give the image a more "realistic" spin. Stamped, printed, die cut, it doesn't matter...if you add embellishments to them they become your personal artwork, and not just another cookie cutter image.

Check out the metal effect I achieved by inking the cage in a metallic ink and embossing powder! I know its another one of my "more is more" cards, but when you are having fun, more IS more!!! 

Don't jump ship on me just yet my friends, I promise I will be back to a regular schedule after Labor day....in fact lets do this right! I will be announcing a holiday giveaway on Friday AM !!!

happy creating!

If The Flip Flop Fits....Island life

Summer days are behind me, Chelsea has been back to school for a week already, and we are trying to get settled back into a more structured schedule. The key word is trying! I am having a shameless love affair with the snooze button, because going to bed early is so against my nature. I think I am better suited to island life, where the attitude is relaxed and casual outdoor living is king! Ah paradise!!! 

This frame was embellished using cuts from the Pack your bags Cricut cartridge, the wooden frame was painted a bold green and paired with hot pink flowers! Strips of paper were curled to create tendrils all around...one of my favorite cheap tricks! 

I placed a photo of Meagan with the Florida Keys sunset as seen from our balcony in the background. This cruise photo is several years old, but it still reminds me of how amazingly relaxed and refreshed we were on our trip! I could spend the rest of my days sailing walking on the beach and sipping cocktails.....but until I find a genie in a bottle to grant my wishes, I will just dream of Island life!

As always happy creating!

A Year To Remember mini Album

As I think of all that has happened in the past 8 months there are several occasions that jump to the forefront. These are typically the things we preserve, through photos, scrapbook pages, and journals, usually months if not years after the event has occurred. The photos can help tell the story but the little details or funny happenings can become a little fuzzy in your memory after time goes by {or is that just me?} ;)

Enter the concept of a month by month mini album, a 12 page album using the SRM calendar companion stickers. I used a file folder cut from the "from my Kitchen" Cricut cartridge and cut all of the pages with a paper line that has multiple coordinating  patterns, and filled in each with one photo depicting a moment or event from each month.The idea of one page at a time is so much less daunting than an entire album all at once, especially to a new scrapper! 

I look forward to adding new photos and personal memories to the rest of this album! I do have a few hints to help you with your own month by month album. Choose papers that work well together, and are not too season specific, use small black and white photos. They allow room for embellishing while still letting the photos be the real star of the page. Small moments can be forgotten over time, so include those as well as big events such as Christmas or vacations. Assemble the album, and keep all the scraps in a container for future use, you may want to add extra elements using your papers as you go! Most importantly enjoy the process, share the tiniest details .......because that is where the real story of your photos and of your real life truly live!

Speaking of real life, check back with me in the next few days for more projects, and some great photos from our summer adventures!

Birthday Balancing Act!

As I promised, I have more Birthday boy fun to share with you! You see I have two nephews with birthdays just a couple of days apart, so its double the fun..and that means double the cards!! This is for an adorable 2 year old who is a ball of seemingly never-ending energy! The original cut has the elephant balancing on one ball, but I added the second as a nod to his age...however it did make the cut quite tall! So making it fit and all work was a bit of a balancing act...I {heart} a challenge!!  :)

If you are paying close attention you can see that I had to fill the top of the ball in with the negative part of the cut, I think it may have looked better to hide that contour, a lesson learned...I'm still learning all of the time and that's why I pointed it out to you, so you can be gentle on yourself when you mess up, and just roll with it and put that knowledge to good use for next time!!!  :) 

 On the right side of the card I added two blank tickets, I layered sentiments with SRM stickers, and the banners are one of the border stickers backed onto white cardstock and hand trimmed.  Mr. elephant was solid blue, but felt a bit "blah" so I embellished him with a white gel pen! 

The star stickpins were made from leftover cuts, and the coin was found in one of my jars of vintage buttons. Its so cute, I wish I had more of them!!! Ooooh maybe I can add them to my list of treasures to hunt for! :)

Ahoy Birthday Boy

How about a sailing crocodile?  My sweet nephew Vincent just turned three, he is just the cutest thing ever! Its fun for me to make boy themed cards and layouts, as I had girls and pink was the ruler of my universe! I wanted layers of blue, blue, and more blue for this card! I usually make a card to fit the theme of the gift, but *blush* I am late sending it out....and still need to get a gift! I'm a little giddy about about the idea of shopping for him! :)

I cut this cute croc with the Cricut Crocs rule cartridge at 3.5" and added the water waves cut for the background. Clouds were cut from paper I printed on the Cricut Imagine using the Hopscotch colors and patterns cartridge. The adorable greetings are SRM stickers Happy Birthday and 

 Birthday we've got your border. I also added a few swipes of highlighting with a white gel pen.

Another little guy had a birthday this week too, so stop back by for even more birthday fun! Until then..happy creating!

Happy Anything.....

An all occasion card is a must to keep in your stash, sometimes I like to send a card for no reason at all. Just to say hi, or send a little unexpected cheer to a friend. I need to do that more often! I have to admit that I have been a bit lazy about remembering birthdays, anniversaries, and thank you's {i'm not proud of that} especially since I am a card maker! Maybe I can make up for that with a just because! ;)

This card is a combo of Cricut, cuttlebug, stamps, and a sketch! I used the Cricut home decor and

 pretty pennants cartridges, distress stripes and Victoria embossing folders, as well as the vintage collage emboss plus folder to make the ticket shaped tag. The sketch is  mojo monday 252 sketch, that I'm just getting around to using....better late than never! :) I had fun working on this one, even if it took waaaaaay longer than it should have...and a bigger mess than I dare show you! I would feel so much better if you would tell me I'm not the only slow sloppy crafter! LOL

Sunshine Makes Everything Better!

This fun little shadowbox was a wallet gift box in its previous life, I saved it for quite some time before I found the perfect new use for it. I sent this to a special teen in my life that was going through a particularly hard time and had attempted to take his life..... words can do no justice to explain how thankful I am that he has another chance to live the life he was meant to. I wanted him to know that he is a ray of sunshine, bright and warm, and needed. Most of all that he is loved!

The sun and clouds have layers and layers of yummy dimension, the sun was cut using the Cricut Pack your bags cartridge, and the clouds were cut from an American crafts patterned paper. It really was fun to put together, and not overly complicated...just happy!

I love to craft, to cut and glue, and glitter, and stitch, but I especially love it when I am making something for a specific person, I feel like a little bit of my heart gets glued right into the project....and I suppose it actually does in a manner of speaking. I bet yours does too! :)

Happy creating~