"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!

New Year's Challenge for Exploring Cricut!

Happy Monday everyone! I do hope you had a blessed Christmas with family and friends! Ours was delightful... a full house!

It's time for another challenge over at Exploring Cricut! A wonderful blog dedicated to all things Cricut!
Challenge: "Happy 2014"  Create a card, layout, or papercraft celebrating the  New Year!

Our daughter Sara is  going to a swing-dance get together on New Year's Eve and I thought a layout for this occasion would be the perfect New Year's Challenge project!

I recently picked up the Formal Occasion cartridge and couldn't believe the perfect images it contained for just such an occasion!

For my layout I chose the following images and cut them including the layers.
"New Year's Eve" phrase on page 38
"Picture This" phrase and camera image found on page 39
"Dancers" image on page 48
"Stomp" phrase on page 51

The paper is from DCWV

Be sure to visit Exploring Cricut and click on each Design Team member's blog to get some great inspiration.
Thank you so much for stopping by my little blog. It sure does make my day!

Simple Christmas Layout for Exploring Cricut!

Good morning everyone! Happy Friday and I sure hope you had a blessed  Christmas! Can you believe how quickly the day came and went? 

For my Design Team post for Exploring today I decided to create a simple layout.

I chose the santa, Christmas trees and "Merry Christmas" phrase from the Winter Frolic cartridge.
The images were cut at 4.5" including the layers. I ran them through the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder and added some stickles.
The paper is from DCWV

Thank you for stopping by my little blog today and please visit Exploring Cricut for some wonderful holiday inspiration using of course the Cricut! The Design Team members are quite creative, I am always amazed at the projects I see!

Challenge Time at Exploring Cricut!!

Happy Monday everyone! Are you ready for another wonderful challenge? You are going to love this one. A perfect excuse to create something Christmas themed for Exploring Cricut
Challenge: "It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas" challenge .  Create a card, layout, or paper craft for Christmas

Our wonderful neighbors brought us a fresh wreath for our door. How very thoughtful they are. I just couldn't wait to add some homemade embellishments and ribbon to make it even more delightful!
I used my Imagine Santa's Village cartridge to create my embellishments. I used lots of foam tape for dimension, distress ink and stickles of course!

The toy images were cut at 4.0" and the stockings were cut at 3.0" with all of the layers.

Ok, now it's your turn....first make sure to visit Exploring Cricut for some wonderful inspiration, then create your project and enter the challenge! Good luck everyone!
Thank you so much for stopping by my little blog today!

Christmas Cards and Tags for Exploring Cricut!

Happy Friday everyone! It's hard to believe Christmas is just around the  corner....Wow I still have so much to do!
Today's project is my Design Team post for Exploring Cricut. I would love it if you would take a few minutes to visit and see what delightful projects have been created using our fabulous Cricut machines.

I created three Christmas tags using A Quilted Christmas cartridge.
The santa and snowman were cut at 6.0" with all of the layers and the sleigh at 4.0" with the layers. I was pleasantly surprised how easy they were to cut and assemble. I stamped a simple "to" and "from" sentiment on each and punched a hole to add some ribbon.  I decided not to embellish much but did add a bit of sparkle....

My two little cards are for some little cousins...both girls and so darling. It was a perfect excuse for me to use some of the cute little images from the Winter Frolic cartridge.
 The images were cut at 3.75" with all of the layers. I embossed them with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder and added some Stickles for sparkle.

Thank you so much for stopping by today.
I encourage you to do something crafty today!

Fun Birthday Tag for Exploring Cricut!

Hello and happy Friday after Thanksgiving!

Did you have a wonderful day? Ours was spent with family and  friends and we really enjoyed the day! Are you shopping today? If so, I hope you get some great goodies....

I am so happy to be posting for Exploring Cricut's daily post. I have been so inspired with all of the crafty holiday projects lately.
Today's project is a quick birthday tag I added to a bottle of bubbly for a girlfriend's birthday party.

I decided to use the Forever Young cartridge. It's one of the first cartridges I purchased after getting my Expression. I loved the girly images and the purses are adorable.  Each image also has a purse feature which make great little favor or goodie bag. So of course with 3 daughters it was a must-have:)

I chose the image on page 26 and cut her at 5.0" including the layers. My paper is from an older K & Company stack.

The tag itself is a PTI die and the sentiment is from  Pink by Design's Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun Stamp set. Since the party was an 80's theme (yes we had to dress up...the things we do for girlfriends...) of course the sentiment fit perfectly. Anyone remember that song??

Thanks for stopping by today and have a wonderful weekend!

"Count Your Blessings" Thanksgiving Challenge at Exploring Cricut

Good morning everyone and welcome to this week's challenge at Exploring Cricut

The challenge:"Count Your Blessings" make a card, layout, or paper craft celebrating Thanksgiving using your Cricut Machines. This is a wonderful challenge as I know we all have much to be thankful for. I know I have many blessings in my life!
 
For my project I decided on some table decor for Thanksgiving Day. This is the one holiday where everyone has an assigned seat with a place card, and a favor of some sort. We usually have anywhere from 10-15+ for dinner so I usually like to keep the projects  fairly simple so they can be easily produced.

I used the Tablescapes Fall & Winter Cartridge. 
I cut the box at 2.0" and the leaf that is on top also at 2.0". I ended up cutting two leaves so that I could glue them back to back since my paper was not double-sided.

The napkin ring was cut at 3.0". No gluing, a snap to cut and put together.

Next came the place card cut at 2.25". Simple to score and fold. Again cutting a couple of extra leaves for a little embellishment.

The little leaf  on the glass was cut 2.0" also gluing two together for some added dimension. I ended up using a mini glue dot to add it to the glass. I got the idea to add it to the glass from the cartridge handbook.

The only thing extra I did was to ink the edges. I may go back and add a few more embellishments or perhaps make some of the boxes out of a patterned paper. That's the fun part about using my Cricut....the possibilities are endless!

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I do hope you will visit the DT's blogs and check out their wonderful "Count Your Blessings" projects and be sure to enter your project in our challenge!