Saturday, March 29, 2008

Boring!

Yes, I did create today, but I can't share most of it because it's for my Quacker Secret Sister. I did make some cards for our deacon family birthdays, though. I had to make *7* cards for males. Yikes!!! Those are always the hardest. So, in this case, I made one and copied it for the rest of them. The background is done in either blue or brown, but they are the same other than that. Because so many needed to be made, the design is simple. I figure that they are going to throw the cards away, anyway.



The card base is vanilla. Night of Navy is embossed with the Cuttlebug spots folder. The image is stamped on very vanilla in basic black - but stamped off once - and colored with WWC and the aquapainter. I used brads on the corners just to dress it up a bit. Nothing fancy, but it will work for our deacon families - most of which we've never met.....





Last night, we went to the local high school's production of Cats. Excellent show. They did an awesome job. Anyway, Jaydin loved it. We thought she would be frightened of the Cats in costume, but she wasn't. Here she is with Old Deuteronomy ....

I have a picture of her with Macavity, but it's not a good one. She really, really, really REALLY loved him, and he was the bad guy! LOL!! That kind of scares me for her teen years and what kind of guy she'll choose. Macavity was really awesome with her, though, and if she wanted to date a guy like him when she's older, I'd be quite ok with that. :)


A couple more....

Jared got his hair cut -

The back before .....

The front ....







The new cut ....

Jaydin wanted her yearbook picture made at classes yesterday. I thought she did pretty well.



And she kept telling me it was her turn .... so she got it done *several* times.











Until next time ... sleep well, dream big, laugh often, smile much, pray incessantly, and have a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!

Thursday, March 27, 2008

I've had the desire to create this card for a while. I didn't have the particular colors in mind - just the shape. Creating the shape in the Cricut Design Studio *had* to be easier than making it with 4 circles and 2 squares, right??? Actually, it was. Creating the circles and putting them together just right on the square can be such a pain. The shape was created in the software using a 3" square and four 3" circles welded together. The card, cut from Tempting Turquoise, was stamped in Only Orange and Tempting Turquoise and embellished with Primas and MM brads. The circle tabs were stamped with the canvas background. If I were doing it again, I would better plan my embellishments and stamp layout, but for the first one, I'm pleased.

The card is shown open









and closed ....






So, let me know what you think and give me suggestions on how to better embellish something like this.





Thanks for looking. Sleep well, dream big, laugh often, smile much, pray incessantly, and have a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Busy, busy, busy!!!

So sorry that it's been so long. Easter and the preparations for the holiday really took up a lot of time for me last week. The Haven didn't even SEE me last week. :(

Tonight, my Cricut was put to use, along with the CDS, to make this card.



Walk In My Garden, Zooballoo, George, and Paper Doll Dress Up were all used for this card. The base is Garden Green, the flowers and words are Apricot, the tabs are Really Rust, and the flower brads are from MM. The ribbon knots are made from Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon.



So ... let me know what you think!! I will try to create again tomorrow.



Sleep well, dream big, laugh often, smile much, pray incessantly, and have a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

As Promised. :)

Ok .... I love the scallops and the cut out flowers on this card, but I'm not nuts on the pink flowers in the middle. Perhaps, it would have been better with some designer paper?? I just don't know. I do like the effect of the embossed layer of brown and the bright pink ribbon. The card was cut with 2 rectangles welded to a scallop edge. Three flowers were placed at the bottom corner to add some more dimension. The Paisley folder for the Cuttlebug was used for the chocolate chip layer. Pixie Pink was used for the pink flower with a large brown brad in the center. The large SU oval punch was used for the 'Smile' sentiment. The base of the card is Mellow Moss




Now, this one ... I *love*. It was inspired by Robyn (The Pink Stamper) and the theme of the cards she did the other day. I just love this little bird from Stretch Your Imagination and had to use him. When I thought about the fact that he has those cute little music notes with him, I couldn't resist putting him together with the Allegro Cuttlebug embossing folder. The SU green is embossed with that and embellished with the great pink taffeta ribbon. Almost Amethyst is above the little bird and is stamped in Craft White with the flower from Dare to be Darling. The color was used again with the large oval punch from SU to make the Smile sentiment oval at the bottom of the page. It was embellished with wonderful green flower brads from MM. The bird was cut using Barely Banana. His feet and music notes were cut from Only Orange.



I cut some things for Sunday school today, too. Hopefully, I will remember to take a picture of our projects and post it on here, too. I think the kids will learn from it.


Big storms this weekend in Georgia. Be safe all.


Have a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!

Friday, March 14, 2008

Coming!!

Ok .... I know ... I've not posted in a couple of days. Sorry!! I have cards to post tomorrow, though. I didn't have my camera with me tonight to take a picture. I promise to have some tomorrow!



But ... since I don't have cards, here are a couple of pictures of our beautiful day this week.



My happy girl!!!






The sky on our day out. Is that blue, or what??? Gorgeous.





Jaydin and her pretty flower.








Don't you want a flower, too????







Look!! I found the flowers and a butterfly.








Just running and having a great time on a great day. :)







Hope you have an awesome weekend!! Enjoy all that you get to do, and I have a great, big, beautiful tomorrow.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Challenged?

Our Quacker thread started coming up with challenges each month for our Quacks to try. Each month, a different person will challenge the others with several challenges. The goal is to complete the challenges before the month is over. This month our challenges are ....

1) Make a card that would fit in a legal envelope.....8 1/2 x 3 3/4
2) Find a card in the SCS gallery that you like and case it, making it all your own
3) In honor of St. Patrick's Day, make a card using all greens and one neutral (white, grey, ivory, etc).
4) Make a masculine birthday/thinking of you/thank you card....with NO BROWN!!! 5) Send a card to a fellow Quacker.

Tonight, I chose to tackle the 'green' challenge.


My green card was cut with the Cricut and CDS using George and Mini Monograms cartridges from green SU paper. The neutral that I used was Very Vanilla - also SU. From Petal Prints, the leaves were stamped using WWC (Old Olive). Dots were put in every other scallop just to add some interest. The ribbon is a green grosgrain from ... somewhere, and the little buckle is from the Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware set from SU.






The inside of the card is kind of plain, but I did add a sprig from Petal Prints to embellish it. Now, it can be a card for any occasion.






The second card that I did tonight has *nothing* to do with our challenges. :) A friend of mine has a child that made a very important decision last night, and I wanted to let her know that I'm thinking about her. This card was cut using the Cricut and CDS, as well. The butterflies were embossed with the Cuttlebug and the Butterflies folders. Paper used - SU Whisper White and Blush Blossom. *Big* pop dots were used to really set the oval up and out.




Ok ... let the comments fly. OH! By the way, Robyn, the Pink Stamper, is giving away some fantastic blog candy this week!!! Drop by her blog to sign up - http://thepinkstamper.blogspot.com/.




Have an awesome night and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Two Bugs with One Card

Ok ... I didn't kill 2 bugs with one card, but I did USE 2 bugs on one card. :) My niece - actually, *great* niece - will be dedicated tomorrow in church. For this occasion, I wanted a special card. I wanted it to be crisp and soft.

The cross is fashioned from Accent Essentials and George, and the oval is from George, as well. The Fleur de leis (is that what it's called???) is welded to the top of the cross which is made from 2 long rectangles. The background is embossed with those wonderful butterflies from the Butterfly Combo. It doesn't do more than one at a time, but I moved the folder around on the paper and got a wonderful effect. I love the look of it. I used Whisper White for the background, the shimmery white (SU) for the cross, and blush (SU) for the oval. No stamping on this one, but I think the card works well for the purpose.



I'd love to know your thoughts.




Have a great night and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow.

Friday, March 07, 2008

No Cricut Tonight

In a little over a week, I need an anniversary card for my cousin. I wanted to use the Cricut, but it just didn't come together like I planned for it to. This one came together easily, though. Whisper White makes up the base, and it was run through the Cuttlebug Swirls embossing folder. Basic Gray is the middle layer, and the top layer is, once again, Whisper White. The flower from Friendship Blooms was stamped in Staz On and colored with WWC. Pink flower brads from MM embellish the corners and a small knot of pink taffeta ribbon.


Tomorrow, the plan is to make several Cricut cards. I will post just as soon as I can.


So ... what do you think of the anniversary card?




I hope you have an awesome night and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Baby Boy Card

One more card for the day. This one was made with a pregnant friend in mind. Her shower is in a couple of weeks, and she's having a boy.

This is not the best picture. I think it's because of the white on white. Anyway, I pretty much like the way it turned out. I used the Cricut and CDS (duh ... don't I always?!) and the New Arrival cartridge. The designer paper is from SU and has blue, green, and yellow dots. The brads were MM. I welded the 'onesie' to another one to make the shaped card. Then, I cut the top of the onesie again with the scalloped edge and cut the sailboat out of blue SU paper. You can't see it because I forgot to take a picture of it, but I cut another onesie layer in blue and adhered it to the inside to cover where the brads are. The inside is also stamped with the hand from the set I'm Here, the baby verse from Curvy Verses, and Congratulations. When I stamped the hand, I inked it in blue, but stamped off once to make it lighter, and I stamped the words in Going Gray to make it softer.


Let me know what you think!


Have a great, big, beautiful tomorrow. :)

Froggy, Froggy

Another Cricut card today. This one was made for my niece - who will probably read this and see her card before she gets it ::::rolling my eyes::::: - because she loves frogs.

The card was made by welding the frog to the princess crown (both from from Paper Dolls) and welding both of those to a rounded rectangle from George. It was cut from Old Olive SU paper and the crown was cut again to allow for layers. The 2nd layer of the crown was cut from gold paper - non-SU. Primas with flower brads were added to the bottom to add interest and dimension to the front. Stickles were also used on the crown to make the sparkles. One of those great Cuttlebug butterflies was added to the inside. It was cut from Almost Amethyst.




Hopefully, I will have another card to share tonight. Depends on this nasty headache.


I hope you guys have an awesome day and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!

Saturday, March 01, 2008

To Cricut or Not to Cricut

It's so hard sometimes to know what to choose when I start a card. Today, the first card that I worked on was already cut out and ready to be 'created.' The second card just ... came to be. LOL! It started as an experiment with distressing ink and ended up as a sympathy card.


Fortunately, the flower card today turned out MUCH better than the one from yesterday. It still needs ... something ... , but I'm just not sure what yet. The card was cut using the Cricut and CDS and the Walk In My Garden cartridge. Two flowers were welded together to make the card and leaves were welded to the front image. Another flower was cut to layer on top of the card base. This allows the leaves to show from underneath and gives dimension. The butterfly was cut and embossed using the Cuttlebug embossing/cutting die combo called "Butterflies." The center of the flower was also embossed. Scoring the butterfly in the middle allowed his wings to stand up and to give dimension to the card. The flower was stamped in Linen in Only Orange, and then, Friendship from Wonderful Words was stamped in Going Gray. The butterfly was attached to the card with a little MonoAqua and a small black brad.



This card started with sponging the distress ink all over a plain white card base. Linen was then stamped on top of that in Basic Brown. Great effect. I really like it. I used Almost Amethyst and Summer Sun watercolor crayons to color one of the flowers from Petal Prints directly on the stamp. It turned out much lighter than I expected, but I still like it a lot. It made a good background. The leafy stem was also stamped on the background with Certainly Celery crayon, but it is very, very light. Summer Sun paper was used for the mat. Basic Brown was used to color the edges, which were distressed with the SU distressing tool. For the focal image, the same flower was used, as well as the Linen stamp and distress ink, but instead of the Almost Amethyst crayon, Perfect Plum was used for a darker image. I like that a lot. The leafy stem was stamped using the Old Olive crayon. The focal image was attached to the Summer Sun mat with 4 small brown brads. Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon was used to embellish the front, and With Heartfelt Sympathy from the With Sympathy set was stamped in Basic Black .


The second card (sympathy) is my favorite of the 2, but I hate that I didn't use the Cricut on any part of it. I did cut a bunch of flowers and such for my Sunday school room. I can't wait to put those up on the walls tomorrow!

Ok ... let me hear what you think!


Have a terrific day today, and remember, there's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow shining at the end of every day!!!!!! :)