Trying Out Some New Stuff

Hi Everyone,
(I realized after my original post, I didn't put a title on it; now it has one!)
Geez, I haven't made anything for a while, and I'm suffering from withdrawal!  I needed to make something, and I'll share that in a minute.

Let me first ask you.  Do you ever get to the point with this wonderful hobby of ours that you buy and buy and buy so much stuff, that you finally put up your hands and say, "Enough, I don't need another piece of paper, or embellishment, or new Cricut cartridge."   HUH!?   For me, well..........ALMOST!

I've said to myself many times, I have so many supplies, I could probably craft away for years before I'd have to really buy anything.  But, of course, I just couldn't resist going to Joann's for their sale on Cricut cartridges this week for $29.99!  Yep, I bought 2 of them:  Pack Your Bags and Simply Charmed.  And they also have a lot of items they've put on clearance, like 50-cent embellishments from K&Co., Soft Spoken, and Craft Essentials.  They also had some small Fiskar punches for $.97 and a set of 6 Sizzix texture plates for $.97!!!  Great bargains, and I just couldn't pass 'em up.

Anyhoo, here's the card I made with a new Cuttlebug embossing folder I also just bought--all Cricut accessories are 25% off right now at Joann's (sounds like I work for Joann's, doesn't it?!  But I don't)--so I took advantage of that and bought a set of cutting mats while they're very reasonable, and some vinyl too!  I've never cut on vinyl before, but I'll check it out!  Oh, and if you haven't tried this yet, try to pick up some of the Post-It Craft Paper that is also marked down to $.97.  I think it may have been originally priced at $5.99 for a pack of 6 papers.  It is really easy to use and great for layering.  My Joann's had all colors.  OK  here's my card...

I'm loving this card; gave it to my husband 'just because' I wanted to make something using the new embossing folder I bought and stamps that I've had for ages and have never used.  I used Kraft paper for the card base, 4.25 x 5.5; DCWV Latte Cardstock Stack (green); Fiskars 3-in-1 Valentrio corner punch; sentiment on front is Studio G clear stamp from Michaels, embossed with MS bronze embossing powder.  I finally got it to turn out pretty good this time--I think because of the shiny paper.  The sentiment on the inside is a wooden stamp from Michael's dollar bin, stamped with bronze metallic ink but not embossed (that stamp is so cute!).  And I used tiny copper brads for the owl's eyes.  Also inside, used MS doily punch for layering.  So do you like it?  And how are your craft supplies holding up?  Do we ever have everything we'll always NEED?  Probably!  But not everything we WANT.  Thanks for stopping by.

Winner from the Christmas in July Blog Hop!

I really had fun in this weekend's blog hop hosted by Expressions by Elaine.  Great projects and very talented crafters.  Thanks to everyone who came by and commented.  Your comments are SO much appreciated.  I love sharing what I do.  And welcome all new followers.  So happy you decided to follow along. 

OK, so let's get to the good stuff.  I will announce the winner to my giveaway, which is shown below.   It includes a set of Indadinkadoo border stamps and of course, some Christmas bling--penguin stickers, snowflake bling, star and present stickers, dimensional embellishments by Soft Spoken, some Studio G xmas clear stamps, and a Santa Claus set.

I received 37 comments on Day 1; 21 on Day 2 and 19 on Day 3 for a total of 77.  Then I used random.org to pick a number from 1 to 77.  And #59 is the winner.   It is...     
                                      
                             Shen from MyCuriousCrafts said...

                  Pat, what a super cute card...love it. Great work! ~Shen

                7/24/2011 2:56 AM

Congratulations Shen!  Send me your addy so I can mail out your goodies.  And I'll try sending one to you too!

Honorable Mention from My Pink Stamper!

You probably know that Robyn announced her My Pink Stamper design team on Saturday night.  This is for the second term of 2011.  More than half of the designers are staying on for this term (13 to be exact), and Robyn named 7 new members.  I entered the challenge since I would love to be on her design team.  So I watched her live video last night.  Karlee was there and they were having a great time. She named the seven new members, and I wasn't one of them.  Then she went on to name the Honorable Mentions(5 of them) and she said my name!  I had to wonder a minute if she meant me!  But I went back to that post and checked the number as well, and it WAS ME!  It was exciting.

As the winner of an Honorable Mention, Robyn lets you pick one of her stamps sets.  Very nice!  So I got close this time; maybe next time, I'll make the team.

Some of you have already congratulated me and I really appreciate it.  I also want to thank all of you that follow me and visit regualrly.  Here's the card I made for the challenge.

Christmas in July Blog Hop, Day 3

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for coming back for our 3rd and final day of our Christmas in July Blog Hop,  hosted by Elaine from Expressions by Elaine.  You should have arrived here from Kimberli @ http://kimberliscreations.blogspot.com/.   If you want to start at the beginning, go to Elaine's blog shown below. Here's my project for today, a Christmas card. 

This card was made using the Jolly Holidays lite cartridge.  I cut the house at 4" and the tree at 2".  I used kraft paper for the card base which measures 6-1/2 by 3-3/4.  Blue, red, green and white papers from my scraps. Then I used a Fiskars scrolly border punch.  I like how it looks.

So, last chance to win my blog candy.  Here's my giveaway.  I'll chose a winner out of all three posts on Monday, 7/25.

Your next stop is Shirley @ http://lookatmycutestuff.blogspot.com/.  And don't forget that Elaine has a Cricut cartridge to give away if you visit and follow all the blogs on the hop.  So after you have stopped at all the blogs, go back to Expressions by Elaine and leave your name at Inlinkz for a chance to win!

Here's the full line-up if you need it.  Thanks so much for joining our hop this weekend!-- Pat

Elaine @ http://expressionsbyelaine.blogspot.com/
Jessica @ http://jessicascraftshaque.blogspot.com/
Sylvia @ http://bellascrapbookdesigns.blogspot.com/
Lisa @ http://indymermaid.blogspot.com/
Amber @ http://pixiperfectcreations.blogspot.com/
Rochelle @ http://twotearsinmybucket.blogspot.com/
Jen @ http://www.jenscraftcorner.com/
Cely @ http://hawaiipaperparty.blogspot.com/
Chris @ http://chatterscene-mom.blogspot.com/
Kimberli @ http://kimberliscreations.blogspot.com/
Pat @ http://patsscraps.blogspot.com/     --- YOU'RE HERE ---

Shirley @ http://lookatmycutestuff.blogspot.com/

Tiffany @ Sparkledmemories.blogspot.com

Georgiana @ Carsonscricutcreations.blogspot.com
Candace @  scrappin2littleprincesses

Christmas in July Blog Hop, Day 2

Hi Everyone and Welcome Back!

This is Day 2 of the Christmas in July Blog Hop, hosted by Elaine from Expressions by Elaine.  You should have arrived here from Kimberli @ http://kimberliscreations.blogspot.com/.  I'd like to first thank everyone who visited yesterday and commented on my Christmas card.  I received so many sweet comments, and they are much appreciated.  Thanks so much.  Hope you'll like today's project as well.

It's not a card.  For each season or holiday, I love to display appropriate decorations around my house.  In my kitchen, I have this small plate rack that I change out with different plates.  For summertime, I have these pretty bird plates.  In the fall, I put up my apple plates.

Well, I haven't been able to find any Christmas plates that I've liked.  So I bought these wooden ornaments last winter at Joann's and thought I could decorate them myself with something I like. 

I was really having trouble at first because I planned on using this side which included two raised trim rings on each ornament, and I just couldn't figure out how to cut around all this stuff!  So I turned the ornaments over and worked with one large circle area.  And this is what I came up with!

From my Christmas stash from last year, I found the HoHoHo bling, and knew I had to use that somehow in my project.  So after scoping out some of the Santas I had on various cartridges (using http://www.mycutsearch.com/, of course), I decided on this Santa Face from Doodlecharms.  I used 3 different coordinating papers from my DCWV Christmas Combo stack and cut the face using the blackout feature so I could use some PK stamps for the faces. Santa was cut at 3-1/4".  Using my Lacy Labels cart, I cut the layered circles, red shimmer cardstock at 4" and gold cardstock from my stash at 3-1/2".  Here's a close-up of them all.



I hope that maybe I've provided a little inspiration for you today.  I must say that I am amazed at the talented ladies in this hop.  Each one of them has their own special touch, and I, myself, have been inspired by their creativity.  I'm thrilled to be in their company.

Remember, that I have some candy to give away, and if you comment on my post on each day of the 3-day hop, you'll have more chances to win.  Here's my giveaway.

Your next stop is Shirley @ http://lookatmycutestuff.blogspot.com/.  And don't forget that Elaine has a Cricut cartridge to give away if you visit and follow all the blogs on the hop.  So after you have stopped at all the blogs, go back to Expressions by Elaine and leave your name at Inlinkz for a chance to win!

Here's the full line-up if you need it.  Thanks again for stopping by.  Come back again tomorrow for the 3rd and final day, and more inspiration! -- Pat

Elaine @ http://expressionsbyelaine.blogspot.com/
Jessica @ http://jessicascraftshaque.blogspot.com/
Sylvia @ http://bellascrapbookdesigns.blogspot.com/
Lisa @ http://indymermaid.blogspot.com/
Amber @ http://pixiperfectcreations.blogspot.com/
Rochelle @ http://twotearsinmybucket.blogspot.com/
Jen @ http://www.jenscraftcorner.com/
Cely @ http://hawaiipaperparty.blogspot.com/
Chris @ http://chatterscene-mom.blogspot.com/
Kimberli @ http://kimberliscreations.blogspot.com/
Pat @ http://patsscraps.blogspot.com/     --- YOU'RE HERE ---

Shirley @ http://lookatmycutestuff.blogspot.com/

Tiffany @ Sparkledmemories.blogspot.com

Georgiana @ Carsonscricutcreations.blogspot.com
Candace @  scrappin2littleprincesses

Christmas in July Blog Hop, Day 1

Welcome and thank you for joining us for the Christmas in July Blog Hop.  You should have arrived here from Kimberli's Creations .  If you just happened to stumble upon this hop, and you want to start at the beginning, go back to Expressions by Elaine  so you don't miss any of the wonderful projects we have to share.  Elaine organized this hop and I'm thrilled to participate!  PLUS she has a terrific Grand Prize to give away if you visit and follow all the blogs on the hop.  So after you have stopped at all the blogs, go back to Expressions by Elaine and leave your name at Inlinkz for a chance to win!

Now onto my creation for today.  A few months back, I found the Trim the Tree seasonal cartridge on sale at Joann's, so I took advantage of the low price and bought it.  Just like other seasonal cartridges, this one offers an image and a layered cut for 25 Christmas designs.  It is VERY intricate!  And oh so lovely.  Here's what I made--my first Christmas card for this year!

The card base is 5x7" in slightly off-white card stock.  The plaid pattern is from DCWV Christmas Combo printed matstack and I didn't even trim it.  The 4.5 x 6.5 mat fit perfectly.  Next layer of green is also from the same matstack and the cream color is from my stash.  Both of these were corner punched with a Fiskars punch called Heritage (3-in-1 corner punch).  The cream paper is embossed with Cuttlebug Snowflakes and inked up with Antique Linen Distress Ink.

This picture, taken with a flash, shows off the red shimmer paper I used to cut the top layer of the sleigh (DCWV Shimmer Stack).  I used red and green stickles on the "leaf-like shapes" and some gems that were the "petals" of a gem flower that I took apart.  And little gold stars!  Black cardstock from my stash provides the bottom image.  The sentiment is a Mary Engelbreit stamp, and I used a red gel pen to fill in the star.                                                                          

Then I popped up the sleigh and popped up the white/green mat too.  See the close-up above.  And shown below is the inside of the card.  This sentiment is from Studio G.

And that's my project for Day 1 of our hop!  So how about some candy?!  Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win some delicious Christmas embellies.  And a set of Inkadinkadoo border stamps.  I've bought several different styles of border stamps lately and love them!  For more chances to win, be sure to come back for Day 2 and Day 3 of the hop.

Now, your next stop is Look at My Cute Stuff , so hop on over to her site.  Here's the total lineup in case you missed anyone!        

Elaine @ http://expressionsbyelaine.blogspot.com/
Jessica @ http://jessicascraftshaque.blogspot.com/
Sylvia @ http://bellascrapbookdesigns.blogspot.com/
Lisa @ http://indymermaid.blogspot.com/
Amber @ http://pixiperfectcreations.blogspot.com/
Rochelle @ http://twotearsinmybucket.blogspot.com/
Jen @ http://www.jenscraftcorner.com/
Cely @ http://hawaiipaperparty.blogspot.com/
Chris @ http://chatterscene-mom.blogspot.com/
Kimberli @ http://kimberliscreations.blogspot.com/
Pat @ http://patsscraps.blogspot.com/     --- YOU'RE HERE ---

Shirley @ http://lookatmycutestuff.blogspot.com/

Tiffany @ Sparkledmemories.blogspot.com

Georgiana @ Carsonscricutcreations.blogspot.com
Candace @  scrappin2littleprincesses

Thanks for coming to the hop today.  Be sure to stop back again tomorrow for more creative ideas!  -- Pat

My Pink Stamper Design Team Call

Hi Everyone,

I decided to try out for Robyn's (My Pink Stamper) Design Team. Many of you may share this same story, but it was Robyn who actually introduced me to the Cricut and to this terrific Blogger world.  I found her site last summer, and admit that I am now totally addicted to everything Cricut and to blogging.  I've met so many talented and friendly blogger buddies willing to share their creations and knowledge. 

Robyn will be choosing a handful of people to serve 6 months on her upcoming team! To apply for the Design Team, you need to post a project for this challenge by 11:59 pm CST tonight.   There are several requirements that you need to meet like posting to your blog regularly for at least 3 months; not serving on other DTs that sell product that is similar to her stamps (don't you just love them?!); and making a project specifically for this challenge.  I haven't been on a Design Team, this would be my first, and I meet all the other "minimum" requirements.
 The challenge is to make a card, scrapbook page, or other Cricut project with your favorite Cricut cartridge using the following colors......Orange, Turquoise, Green, Brown, (other optional color of your choice).  I wanted to make a shape card and use an MPS stamp, and I stayed with the four main colors.  Here's what I made. 

Here's how I did it:

Card is cut from Wrap It Up cartridge at 6", using the Card feature, and several different layers.

Butterfly is cut from the Birthday Cakes cart at 1-1/4" with layer.

Orange patterned paper is DCWV Amber Autumn matstack; other solids are from my stash.

Embossed the brown cardstock with Cuttlebug Tiny Mosaic embossing folder.

All the stamps are from Robyn's Bunny Punnies set, stamped with Memories Chestnut ink.

Also inked up all the edges.

Inside sentiment typed from computer and I rounded the corners on the paper.

It was fun to make this card.  Cricut's shape cards are great!  Hope you all like my creation, and especially you, Robyn.  TFL!  I would love to be on My Pink Stamper's Design Team! Wish me luck!  -- Pat

It's Crafty Chics Birthday!

I made this card to say Happy 40th Birthday to Shawn of Crafty Chics.  You may also know her as the mom of the family that created MyCutSearch.com.  And if you don't know what that is, then click on the link and go there now!!  It's the best tool any Cricut user could ask for!  All you need to do is type in the word of an image you're trying to find in ALL the cartridges that ProvoCraft makes for Cricut.  For example, I typed in the word "shoes" to find out what cartridges contain shoe images. 

Go read their story; it was a total family effort to build this useful search engine made specifically for the purpose of defining what images can be found on which Cricut cartridges.  And it's totally free to use (although they'd appreciate any donations).  

So Shawn decided to have a Birthday Card Contest and this is my entry.  Some of Shawn's favorite things include Mickey Mouse, scrapbooking, and shoes.  So, I hope you like this card, Shawn!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  I sure do appreciate My Cut Search.  Hope you had a great day!

I will also link this post to Made It Myself Mondays Linky Party.

My Funky Lampshade

Ever since I revamped my craft room back in February, I never put the finishing touches on my hanging lampshade.  I had made this shade from a metal bucket I bought at Michael's.  It was plain aluminum and when I saw it, I knew it was perfect for a hanging lamp. So I spray painted the whole thing white.  My husband cut a hole in the top for me, and we bought a hanging light kit from Ikea.  I used some acrylic paints for the outside of the bucket.  I was trying to match the blue, green, and yellow color theme of my living room.  At the time I originally made this lampshade, my craft room was an office, so I "borrowed" one of my blue accent chairs from the LR to have a nice comfy chair in my office that I could use for reading or watching TV.

Here's the original lampshade that I painted in green, yellow, and blue when I brought the blue chair from my living room into my office.  The color scheme actually comes from the ottoman.  My sofa and loveseat are made with that material, and after the furniture was delivered, I found that same material at Joann's and made the ottoman to go with the blue chair.  I was going to change the curtains to match the theme, too, but never got around to it!

Anyway, back to the current story here...I had painted the yellow area on my lampshade red to match the new colors in my craft room.  But I could never find the right bead trim to finish off the bottom of the shade that went with my new colors--green and red.  Until this past Friday!  I did some shopping at my local Joann's store and they had a bunch of stuff on clearance, including some funky-looking dangling circle trim for only $.50.  So I bought them not really knowing if they'd match or if I'd really like them.  BUT to my surprise, after adding a little ribbon and the new funky circles, I think the shade looks pretty good.  What do you think?!

My First Mini-Album

My husband and I took a short overnight trip for our anniversary this past weekend.  We went to Peddler's Village in Lahaska, PA.  It's a quaint shopping village with unique stores, restaurants, and an Inn.  We had been there once before last October, and really liked it there, so we went back.  After we had returned from that trip last fall, I knew I wanted to preserve the memories we had made with the many photos we took.  I had been wanting to make a mini-album for some time and this was the perfect reason to do it.  I had just gotten my Cricut Expression back then, but hardly had any experience with it.  Since I already owned a Sizzix BigKick, I decided to get a die that was an "Album Cover and Page" to make a mini-album. 

This die was perfect.  I liked the shape of it, and it punched 3 holes down the left side on each cut.  So all I had to do was put 2 diecut pieces of cardstock together with adhesive, and voila, a two-sided page.  Then I added my pictures and embellishments. The size of each page is 3" H x 4-1/4"L.  Now remember, I made this mini-album last fall, not just now upon our return from our mini-trip!  That would be pretty amazing if I had made an album in one day, now wouldn't it!!  Here's the cover page.

All the patterned papers came from the DCWV Amber Autumn matstack, 4.5x6.5, so not much waste of paper.  I used textured cardstock for all the solid color pages.  Here's a few more pages.

My husband is on the left and that's me on the right.  Notice all the beautiful flowers.  The landscaping was so beautiful throughout the whole village and so well maintained.  I used butterfly and dragonfly mini-punches to decorate the edges. 

I did some journaling (typed on my computer) and created a pull-out card from behind the picture.  Had a few of these throughout the album. 

The flower shapes were cut using my Cricut and the Accent Essentials cartridge.  I probably only had 4 cartridges then--the ones that came with my original bundle!  The back cover is green to match the front cover, and left un-embellished. 

So that's my first mini-album; in total there were 19 2-sided pages, and 32 pictures!  Glad I could share it with you. Yes, it's simple, I know.  But that was my first one and now I kinda know what I'm doing, so I should be able to improve upon the next one!  Thanks for looking; appreciate all your comments. 

My 14th Wedding Anniversary

My husband and I will celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary this weekend, and I made this card for him.  I love how it turned out, and I think he'll love it, too.   It was fun to make!

 

Here's How I Did It

White base card is 5 x 6.5".  The black patterned papers are from Making Memories 8x8 B&W Paper Pad that I picked up at Tuesday Morning for $1.99 (one of my good finds!).  Ribbon is from Michael's $1 bin.  His & Her towels and towelbar are cut from Sweetheart cart at 3".  Used Cuttlebug Paisley folder to emboss the towels.  Some red bling to show up the towelbar.  The sentiment is computer generated. Popped up the towels and sentiment.  Inside I used the same paper and punched the black with my heart border punch from Recollections (I'm really liking that punch).  "Happy Anniversary" is stamped with Hero Arts clear stamp set, Everyday Sayings.  It has 20 nice sayings-all on the small size, but really nice fonts.  Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!  Appreciate your comments.

Fun Silly Card!

OK, you're gonna laugh at this -- I have to share it.  I made a trip to Tuesday Morning the other day and rooted through their craft items, and found a couple good bargains, I thought.  Picked up this Marvy punch, wondering what it was supposed to be.  I thought it looked like a spout of water, or a squirt or water, or a splash, and started thinking of several ways I could use it.  So I bought it.

Tonight, I pulled out my Create a Critter cartridge, and cut out the cute whale (at 3 inches).  I cut off the spout that was there because I thought the punch would look better.  Stamped some Peachy Keen eyes on it and drew in a mouth.  And I just made a small note card (3-1/2" square).   Here's my card.  I think it turned out cute, don't you?

Well, here's the funny part.  The punch had a sticky label on it that I pulled off.  I hadn't noticed this at the store, but the label said "lily" on it.  Ummm, maybe it's just me...but I'm still having trouble seeing a lily in this punch, even when I tried this.  What do you  think?

Thanks for reading my li'ly story!

I Made an Easel Card!

Finally, I made an easel card, and it was easy; well at least the easel part was!  I had the same technical difficulties usually experienced with making a card.  Didn't cut the image large enough at first, cut the wrong color for the layers, paper shifted on me because my mat is worn, yada yada yada.  BUT, in the end here's what I produced!

I started with red cardstock cut at 4-1/4" x 11", then scored that at 5-1/2" and 8-1/4".  Fold the first score inward and the second score upward or in the opposite direction.  In  the end, this makes a 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" card.  Then I cut another piece of red cardstock 4-1/4"x5-1/2". layered it with the stars paper, and adhered it to the upward fold (see Split Coast Stampers for full instructions).

All cardstock was from scraps.  Used the Block Party cartridge to cut the rocket which wound up being 5-1/2" with layers.  Used glitter glue to sparkle the explosion and the rocket.  The sentiments are a Studio G $1 stamp. The white paper inside is punched with Fiskars Americana 3-in-1 punch, and the blue paper is punched with Fiskars In Stitches border punch (I think I love this new punch!).  How did I do?

I want to enter this card into the following challenges (there's so many going on this weekend!!):
     Scrappy Moms Stamps - Use Stand and Salute cartridge or something similar
     Cupcake Inspirations - use red, white, and blue
     Fantabulous Cricut Challenge - Happy 4th; use red, white and blue
     Part Time Tuesdays - 4th of July card
     Celebrate the Occasion - 4th of July (red, white, and blue)
     Scapbookaholic by Abby Challenge #8 - use red, white and blue
     Paper Issues Link Up Party - Share your red, white and blue project
    
Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July holiday weekend!  Enjoy!

I won a Cartridge!

What a way to start my weekend!  I just learned that I won the Cherry Limeade cartridge from Joy of Obsessed with Scrapbooking.  Can you believe that!  I'm super excited, especially since she had 785 responses on her post about the new Hello Thursday carts.  What are the odds of that?!  You all know Joy, I'm sure, but go see the wonderful projects she made with the new carts.

AND a big special thanks to TAMI B for letting me know I won!  What a good blogger buddy she is--sorry you didn't win this, Tami! Hope you're not too mad at me!  Tami makes such adorable cards, go visit her blog and show her some love.

Thanks, Joy!  Thanks, Tami!  Looking forward to the 3-day weekend!! Woohoo!!