"The Magic of Winter" Layout and A New Challenge at Exploring Cricut!

Good Morning My Crafty Friends! How was your weekend? Hopefully it was wonderful, restful and productive! Ours was terrific with our busy Saturday and Sunday family dinner. I do cherish anytime the big kids are able to make it over for a visit!

Ok, now on to our amazing new challenge at Exploring Cricut.
Challenge "Cricut Choice"  Create a card, layout or paper craft using any cartridge you would like.  It must include the color blue, two Cricut cuts, and at least one pattern paper. What are you going to make for your entry? Be sure to visit the blog to see what the other talented designers have created for their twist and take on this week's challenge!

Our family has a snow trip coming up so I thought a layout would be a great idea. (of course, living in California right now, we don't have much snow. We love the warm weather, but we do need the rain for sure!) I love 2-page layouts as we have a large family and typically alot of photos!

I decided on  the Winter Woodland and Elegant Edges Cartridges.

Magic of Winter image on page 68 cut at 4.50" including the layers
Squirrel image on page 57 cut at 2.25" including the layers
Rabbit image on page 58 cut at 2.25" including the layers

The photo mats are from Elegant Edges oval image on page 25 cut at 3.50" and 4.0"

There were a couple of snowflakes on the word art and I cut those several times on white glitter paper and used four of them in the word art for extra dimension. I had a few left over and used those in the layout as well. The little squirrel and rabbit were adhered with foam tape and I used the Cuttlebug for some embossing. The only extras I added were a few pearls. The background paper is from DCWV The Four Seasons stack and since it already had some images and prints, I didn't need to add many extras.

Are you ready to get started on your challenge project?  Be sure to head on over to Exploring Cricut to link up! Thank you so much for stopping by today!

"Purse" Gift Card Holder for Exploring Cricut

Hurray, the weekend has arrived! I am so excited to have made it through another wonderful week of kids, hubby, homeschooling, work and life!

I am sharing a project I created for my Design Team post on Exploring Cricut .
Please be sure and stop by as often as you can for some Crafty Cricut Fun! And don't forget...a new Challenge is just around the corner, and you won't want to miss this one!
 
A sweet little friend of ours is turning 7 very soon and since she is a "big girl" now, we thought a gift card would be a fun birthday present.

I immediately went to one of my favorite oldie but goody: Forever Young Cartridge! Did I mention that there are several little purse designs to choose from? And I do mean alot! Of course what little girl doesn't love a purse right?

Purse pg. 70 cut at 5.34" (fit to page)
Flower 7 pg. 70 cut at 2.25"
Hat pg. 57 cut at 2.0"

I cut these images using all of the layers. I used the Swiss Dots Folder, foam tape and a few pearls. The paper is from the DCWV Blossoms and Butterflies Stack.

Have a wonderful weekend and thank you so much for stopping by today! Don't forget a new Challenge begins soon over at Exploring Cricut!

It's Challenge time at Exploring Cricut!

Happy Monday to you all! How was your weekend? How are you doing with those resolutions??? One thing I am trying to spend more time doing is crafting! It's a great way to relax a bit and unwind. And...I am always so happy to have created something for someone else.

Are you ready for a new Challenge at Exploring Cricut?
Challenge: "Winter Wonderland" Create a card, layout, or paper craft celebrating winter and snow.  Any colors or cartridge. This is going to be such a terrific challenge, so many possibilities! Make sure to head on over to and check out the other amazing projects our Design Team has created.

I am sharing some bulletin board decor I made for our little homeschool. It was time to change to  a "winter" theme and this little banner was a perfect addition.

I used the Fall and Winter Tablescapes cartridge. I have used this quite a bit over the past few months. The cuts are simple, not too fussy and easy-to-assemble. A must for a quick and easy project. The font is from Cuttin Up and for the background banner pieces I used my new Elegant Edges Cartridge.

Fall and Winter Tablescapes:
Rosettes pg. 18 cut at 2.0" (cut four for each rosette)
Snowflake pg. 20 cut at 2.25"

Cuttin Up!
Font cut at 2.25" including shadow feature

Elegant Edges:
Snowflake pg. 47 cut at 5.0"

Thank you for stopping by today. Please be sure to visit Exploring Cricut to link up your challenge project!

Set of Simple Country Notecards for Exploring Cricut

Good morning my crafty friends. How has the new year been for you so far? It seems to take a bit of time for me to get fully back into the swing of the regular routine. I sure do love the holidays.

I am posting as a Design Team member for Exploring Cricut . This wonderful little blog is full of inspiration using our Cricut Machines. Each day has a new project posted by one of our Design Team members and there are also Challenges too! Are you new the the Cricut? Maybe you've had one for some time and need some creative ideas or tips....then be sure to check it out!

Today's project is a set of note cards I made for a friend who has  a January birthday.
I decided on the Country Life Cartridge for these little gems.
Tractor pg.32 cut at 2.5"
Clothesline pg. 59 cut at 2.25"
Pigs pg. 40 cut at 2.50"
Cherry pg. 49 cut at 2.25"

I cut these with all of the layers using my scraps. The background paper is from DCWV Crafty Stack.....so perfect. I stitched around each card with my machine and ran the images thru the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Folder. I did a bit of simple inking and used foam tape for dimension. The sentiments are from Pink by Design Country Living Stamp Set.
I kept the card design very simple as the images were just so stinkin cute! I packaged them in a box I recycled from a PTI stamp set,  tied a simple ribbon bow and that was it.

Thank you for stopping by today. It means so much. Please visit Exploring Cricut for some wonderful projects!