Crazy About Cricut Challenge

I'm pretty excited...I am entering my first blog CHALLENGE!

I have been really afraid to try a challenge, because I just don't have a lot of confidence in my crafting abilities yet, but I figured I should just "go for it"!

Crafting is art after all...and I should just be creative how ever it best suits me and not worry about my project being "perfect".

(This is something I am learning, slowly but surely!)

This challenge is hosted by none other than the very talented Jenny at Crazy About Cricut and is in honor of her  Birthday, which was April 4th!

She also celebrated her 2nd Blog-a-versary on April 16th!

So, if you get a chance go and check out her fab blog and wish her a belated happy b-day & happy blog-a-versary!

The challenge is to Create a project about something you love (It can be your love for crafting, for the outdoors, or for someone you love, anything), or a birthday themed project.

I chose to create a layout about something I love...VERY MUCH, and that is my precious new blessing from God, my Granddaughter C!

Sorry the pictures are not that great, It took me so long to finish this project that I had to hurry and get the photos taken so I could post this in time for the challenge deadline...(nothing like waiting until the last minute!) :)

Supplies/Tool List:

Cricut Expression

Cricut New Arrival Cartridge

Cricut Kate's ABC's Cartridge

Me & My Big Idea's 12x12 Patterned Paper - Fashion District Big Paper Pad - #RBPS-05

DCWV Matchmakers Cardstock Mat Stack, 4.5" x 6.5" - Lt. Green Olive, Brown

DCWV Match Makers White Core, Textured Cardstock, 5"x7" - Lt. Peach/Pink

DCWV Mariposa Cardstock Matstack, 4.5" x 6.5" - Glitter Pale Yellow/Green, Glitter Mauve Pink

Offray Double Face Satin Ribbon, 1/8", Orchid

Single Face Satin Ribbon, 1/4", Milk Chocolate (From Really Reasonable Ribbon)

Karen Foster Design Eyelets, Brown

Martha Stewart Edge Punch, Ribbon Threader, #M284008

American Crafts Remarks Journaling Sticker, Lil' Tykes

Tweezer Bee Tweezers

Memories Direct Mini Stamp Pad, Purple

Xyron Create-a-Sticker, 1.5"

Zots 3-D Glue Dots, 1/2"

Glue Dots Roll, Clear Lines, 1"

Recollections Foam Adhesive Mini Circles, 1/4"

Kokuyo Dot-n-Roller

Super Stik Glue Stick

Zig 2-Way Glue Pen, Squeeze & Roll

Notes:

Cricut New Arrival cartridge - (1-1/4", baby, shadow, blackout) Pg. 124

Cricut New Arrival Cartridge - (2-1/2", It's  a girl, circle) Pg. 90

Cricut Kate's ABC's Cartridge - (2" , Sweet w/Butterfly) Pg. 29

Hope you'll like my layout...Isn't it great that I made something BESIDES a Thank-you card??!! LOL!

Please let me know what you think,  just leave a comment below.

I LOVE hearing from you all!

XOXO

Lisa

Gift Bag for Baby C!

Hello there, I am finally back with a project...sorry it has been awhile, I'm still a bit slow at creating!

To celebrate the arrival of our precious Granddaughter C, we had a welcome dinner for family & friends last week.

I had previously ordered a cute little photo book from Shutterfly showcasing C's birth and her first time meeting her family and luckily it had arrived the day before the dinner celebration.

I wanted to make the gift even more personal by making a gift bag for the book so here is what I created:

I was pretty happy on how it turned out, even though it was fairly simple...I just love the new Baby Steps Cricut Cartridge, and that is what I used for the baby on this bag.

Here is a picture of the other items I used to make this gift bag:

Supplies/Tools List:

Cricut Cartridge: Baby Steps (p. 24) - Moon Baby, 3"
Cricut Cartridge: Kate's ABC's (p.29) - "Sweet", 1-1/2"
Paper Images Plain White Gift Bag (from Big Lots)
Pink Satin & Lace Trim (Unknown Brand, from my sewing stash)
DCWV Mariposa Collection Card Stack 6.5" x 4.5" (#MS-003-00054)
Misc. Card Stock from my Stash
Recollections Foam Adhesive Mini Circles
Glue Dots, Glue Lines
Copic Sketch Marker, #RV32 Shadow Pink
Fun Expressions Stamp Pad, Pigment Ink (various colors), #65/80170 (Oriental Trading)
Studio G Stamp Pad, Dk. Yellow/Gold #VP0017
Zip Dry Paper Glue
Elmer's Craft Bond Glue
Thermo-Web Super Stik - Permanent Glue Stick
Zig 2-way Glue, Squeeze & Roll Pen
Spongit Stick, Sm. Circle/Teardrop, #4439 (Loew Cornell)

Moon Baby was cut out at 3" and all pieces were inked on the edges for depth, with the exception of the face & hands, because I made the mistake of gluing the layers before I inked and I didn't want to mess up the face, so I just left the ink off of that area.

Instead of using the die cut cheeks, I used the Shadow Pink  (#RV32) Copic Marker to fill in the baby's rosy cheeks.

The word "Sweet" was cut at 1-1/2" from the Kate's ABC's cartridge using glittered cardstock from my DCWV Mariposa stack.

I placed the ribbon around the entire upper edge of the bag using Glue Dots Glue Lines, which worked fabulously! (No mess and it stayed secure!)

To give the die-cut a bit of dimension I used pop dots (Recollections Foam Adhesive Mini Circles) to raise it up slightly.

All finished and ready to wrap up for the dinner party!

I took the gift to the dinner and C's little Sis B opened it up:

She was very excited about the book more than the bag...which is of course to be expected and fine by GiGi (Grandma!).

She did tell me though...that she thought the baby on the bag was so cute!

Her Mommy (K) liked it too and they both posed for this pretty picture for me.

Okay, so I know I'm getting a bit off the "crafty" track here...but I just have to show you this precious picture of my awesome Husband with his new GrandGirl Princess!

Brings tears of happiness to my eyes!

Hope you all enjoyed my project and will come by again soon!

Leave a comment if you'd like...I'd love hearing from you!

Lisa

This Project/Post is linked up to the following sites/Linky Parties:

A New Card & Happy Birthday to My Dear Friend Melissa

Whew! Finished another card...took me awhile, but I was a little bit faster this time, so I'm hoping with each additional one I will get faster!

Hubby was getting tickled that at 4:00 am this morning I was still working on it.

He probably wonders why I don't just go and buy one...but he knows how much I love to "create", so I'm sure he's figured out my insanity!

This card is a special one because I made it for my dear friend Melissa who's Birthday is today.

Happy Birthday Melissa!

Thank-you for being such a good friend to me and always being there when I needed someone.
You're awesome!

This card was supposed to be finished yesterday, so that I could mail it to her (she lives about an hour away from me) or take it to her, but...as usual, I struggled over all the little details and it took me longer than expected.

So, my blog followers will see it before the recipient...though I think I will e-mail her a link to my blog so she can see it on her Birthday!

Here it is:

Here is a picture of the items I used to make this card:

Supplies:

Cricut Imagine

Cricut Cartridge: Kate's ABC's

K & Company Blank Cards & Envelopes, White

DCWV Adhesive Paper Prints Stack, 6"x6" (#MS-012-00003)

Joy's Life Mother & Daughter Stamps

Joy's Life Father & Son Stamps

Studio 112 Clear Mini-Stamp (#60-30437)

Studio G i-clear Clear Acrylic Stamp Block (#VC0028)

Black Stamp Pad, Mini (Unknown Brand)

Sanford Color Pencils

Small Metal Flower Brads (Unknown Brand, but I think I got them at Target)

Wrights Baby Rick-Rack, White, 3.70m

Zip Dry Paper Glue

Kokuyo Dot 'n' Roller Adhesive, 1/3"

Zots 3-D Clear Adhesive Dots, 1/2" dia. x 1/8" thick

Directions:

I used a pre-made, white, blank card from K & Company and placed a 4 x 6 piece of patterned adhesive paper on the front.

I glued down a piece of rick-rack on the bottom edge of the front of the card.

I cut-out the teacup on page 35 of the Kate's ABC's cartridge, using my Imagine and colored cardstock.

For the sentiment background on the front of the card I cut out the square shape with rounded corners (included on the Imagine machine) at 3.0" and a smaller one at 2.8", using textured white cardstock and used the color printer feature of the Imagine to color these squares just to make things a bit faster.

The sentiment was something I just came up with, because thinking of my friend Melissa reminded me of a time when we went and had coffee together when I needed a shoulder to cry on and she was there for me!

I printed the sentiment in Microsoft Word using the Catholic Schoolgirls Intl. BB Font.

I first printed the sentiment on plain printer paper in my Lexmark X4975 Printer, then lined it up with the cut out sheet I had left over from cutting out the square shapes.

When I had it lined up properly, I put a piece of white cardstock on my Cricut mat and printed the two squares in color, but did not cut them yet.

Then I placed that same piece of cardstock in my printer and printed the sentiment onto the square, placed it back into the Imagine and then cut it out. 

This took a little trial and error before I got it just right, but I didn't have to waste any good card stock to do it, just a few sheets of cheap printer paper!

This may sound a bit confusing, but what I did basically was cut out two sets of the squares, one to act as a "template" to set-up the sentiment in MS Word and one that was actually used for the card.

Does that make sense?

It would be better if I did a video for this, but I know many other Cricut-teers out there in YouTube land have done videos explaining this, so I didn't want to be too repetitive.

I will try to find one that explains this and link it here...it's basically a way to make any Cricut machine perform like an imagine. 

I added one final piece of  "bling" (which I agonized for hours over whether I should or not!) to the corner of the sentiment...a metal flower brad.

Okay, for the Inside of the card I used some very cute stamps from Joy's Life to stamp the sentiment and a mini-stamp from Studio 112 of two girls drinking coffee for the corner accent.

I decided to color the stamp to give the inside of the card a pop of color...it seemed a bit bland without some color.

Hope you liked the card and thanks for stopping by!