Back to School 2014

Well, it's that time of year again...back to school!  This year our district decided to go back a week earlier - my daughter didn't seem to mind, but I wasn't ready for it at all.  I did manage to put together a quick Back to School Emergency Kit for her teacher.  Might as well start off school on a good note.

The tag printable is from CraftsUnleashed.com.  

The container was from Wal-mart and we filled it with Minion band-aids, Tide To Go pen, Chapstick, small lint roller, candy bars and chocolate, tiny stapler, tic tacs, hand sanitizer and these really cool Pilot B2P pens - they are pens that are made out of recycled water bottlers.

I think her teacher really liked the kit.

Independence Day Challenge

Happy {belated} Independence Day!  I haven't had much time or mojo to be creative lately, so I decided what better way to start the creative juices flowing than with some challenges!

For my project, the bear is cut at 4.25" from the Cricut Teddy Bear Parade cartridge - one of my favorite cartridges.  The pattern paper is from DCWV Summer Dream paper stack.  The stamp is from My Pink Stamper.

I'm entering my project into the following Challenges:

• BBTB2 Independence Day Challenge
• My Craft Spot Monday Challenge #142 - Patriotic
• Paper Issues In The Navy Challenge
• Fantabulous Cricut Challenge - Anything Goes
• Shopping our Stash #158 - Red, White and Blue
• DL Art - Thankful Thursday Challenge #135 - Patriotic

Teacher Appreciation 2014 - Part II

Following are a few more of the cards we put together for teacher appreciation week.  We didn't have as much time this year to get too creative with our cards and gifts, so this year we primarily gave gift cards.

For the music teacher...

For the gym teacher...

Teacher Appreciation 2014

It has been a really busy last couple of months, especially as we headed toward the end of the school year.

I'm a bit behind on posting the teacher appreciation gifts.  I was a bit behind on making them too and usually had to stay up until midnight the night before to get them done.

We give her teacher a gift each day during teacher appreciation week and then something to each of her four encore teachers (art, gym, music, spanish).  One of the gifts was a grill kit.  We loved this idea so we decided to make two of them - one for her primary teacher and the other for her art teacher.  We included red gingham paper plates and napkins, mini condiment squeeze bottles, grilling tools (tong, spatula & grill brush), A1, grilling spices, grill wipes, BBQ oven mitt, towel, hamburger timer, gift card and my daughter made a Rainbow Loom hamburger charm.  

 Of course no gift would be complete without a handmade card.  

Good Luck Treat Bags

As many of you may know, my daughter is in competitive dance - and she loves every minute of it.  The Senior team at the studio she attends is going to Worlds, which is a super big deal for them.  This talented group of girls range in age from 13 on up.  Of course, no treat bag would be complete without some additional pizzazz with added Cricut cuts.

With how busy I've been, I had to make 20 of them pretty quick and not have too many layers or tiny pieces...my daughter helped, she just loves the Cricut and anything crafty.  Here's the finished product and some of the Seniors:

The dancer cut is from Wall Decor and More.  I love this dancer, she looks so graceful and is only 2 layers.  The world shaped like a heart is from Give a Hoot - also only 2 layers.  On the back of the bags is a sticker that has "Good Luck Seniors" 

V-Day Party Recap

I can't believe how fast the time flew at my daughter's 3rd grade Valentine Party.  The party games were a huge hit with the kids!  We played Cupid Bingo (see the February 14th post here) and every child got to spin the prize wheel.

I had really wanted the craft station since that would have been right up my alley, but even adults don't always play nice.  I ended up with the game station and decide I was going to make it the best station ever.  My daughter told me that her classmates could not stop talking about how great my station was and what a great party planner I am - yep, my station totally rocked!

Here's some pictures from the party:

Happy Valentine's Day!

I want to wish all of you a very Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm sorry I've been away for so long (exactly 4 months).  My new (well, not so new anymore) job has kept me so crazy busy that I rarely have time to do much else.

I do have some projects to share with you.  At the beginning of the school year, I signed up to volunteer for the valentine's party for my daughter's 3rd grade class so I've been busy putting everything together.

Tuesday night was spent making candy coated Oreos for my daughter's competitive dance team - I forgot to take a picture, but I hear rave reviews back on them.

Last night we made and decorated 100 mini donuts (some donuts were "injured" during this process). 

Treat toppers were next.  The owl is from CAC2 cut at 2".

I'm hosting the Valentine Party with 2 other moms.  I took the game station (I wanted the craft station but we won't go into that...)

The game for the party will be Cupid Bingo.  The bingo balls were made with ping pong balls and Cricut Vinyl.  Bingo Cards I created in Excel and the finishing touch are conversation hearts as the card markers.

I was also able to borrow the prize wheel from work and am so super excited about it - what kid doesn't love to spin the wheel and win a prize!  I'll post pictures later - I have to get everything wrapped up and get out the door in a few minutes.

Birthday Dude

The fall months are always extremely busy for me.  Lots to do and only so many weekends to cram it all in.  This weekend was jam packed with events.  Friday was Halloween Hauntings at our public museum where the kids dress in costumes and trick or treat throughout the exhibits.  Our favorite was the creepy corridor which was like a mini-haunted house.

On Saturday, we went to the Carroll University homecoming game.  Just as we got there for the parade it started to downpour.  Luckily we were prepared with umbrellas.  The weather cleared up nicely for kick-off and the sun even came out.

Finally, today (Sunday), we went to our second pumpkin farm this season.  The weather was a tad cold/windy but not too bad.  We had a great time    

Today is also my nephew's birthday and with all of the activities, I hadn't had time to make him a card.  Once we got home, I knew I had to get one put together.  I bought the Cricut Dude cartridge a while back since I knew he'd be outgrowing the cutsie cuts that are on most of the cartridges that I own.

Here's what I came up with:

It will go out in the mail tomorrow - better late than never is my motto these days!

Splish Splash

Wow, I can't believe how fast time flies!  Things have been busy, so there hasn't been much time for crafting the past month although I did manage to finally get a one-page layout done.  

The title is from Animal Kingdom.  Bath is from Baby steps and the adorable bear is from Teddy Bear Parade.

Christmas In July Blog Hop - Anything Goes

Welcome to the Christmas in July Blog Hop!  We have a great line-up of talented Cricut crafters who will be sharing their creativity with you today. And, we have a giveaway - a Christmas Village cartridge!  You can earn entries by following and commenting on each of the blogs in the hop. You get one entry for each comment!  Since this is the fourth and final posting of the series, all entries will also be eligible to win the Christmas {Noel} cart on July 31st.

If you arrived here from Brenda's blog you're in the right spot.  If not, you'll definitely want to start at the beginning with Paulette http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/ so you don't miss any of the fabulous projects.  

I was hoping to have more than one project for you this week, but unfortunately life got in the way.  So, the project I'm sharing today is a 12x12 Christmas layout.

Patterned paper is DCWV The Homemade Christmas Stack and DCWV The Heirloom Christmas Stack.

I cut Merry Christmas from the Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art cartridge at 2" in a dark red and a dark grey cardstock.  The red cardstock was slightly offset on top of the dark grey to give a shadow appearance.   The present is cut at 2.5" from the Christmas Solutions cartridge - gold paper was hand trimmed to fit behind the cut out.  Lastly, I cut the ornament at 2.9" from Winter Frolic.  I added some silver stickles and pop dots for dimension.  It's pretty simple right now, so I may come back at a later date and add some more Cricut cuts to the page.

Thanks for stopping by!  Your next stop is Donna

In case you get lost along the way, here's the full line-up.

1~Paulette at http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/

2~Sis at http://papercraftscissors.com/
3~Maria at http://stampcutcreate.blogspot.com/
4~Laura at http://www.coolbeansbylb.blogspot.com/
5~Brenda at http://happyscrapper64.blogspot.com/
6~ Lisa at http://addictedtothecricut.blogspot.com/     
7~Donna at http://carolinascreativecropper.blogspot.com/     
8~ Cindy at http://www.inlovewithpaper.blogspot.com/
9~Angela at http://angiespaperpassion.blogspot.com/
10~Theresa at http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com/
11~Beth at http://seaswancreations.blogspot.com/
12~Betsy at http://betsymcreates.blogspot.com/
13~Loraine at http://www.lorainespaperplayhouse.blogspot.com/

Christmas in July - Christmas Card Blog Hop

Welcome to the Christmas in July Blog Hop!  Each Saturday of the month there will be a different hop featuring holiday themed projects.  We have a great line-up of talented Cricut crafters who will be sharing their creativity with you today. And, we have a giveaway - a Christmas Cards cartridge!  You can earn entries by following and commenting on each of the blogs in the hop. You get one entry for each comment!

If you arrived here from Diane's blog you're in the right spot.  If not, you'll definitely want to start at the beginning with Paulette http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/ so you don't miss any of the fabulous projects.  

Now on to my projects:

For the first Card, I decided to use blues as my main color palette.  The pattern paper is from DCWV Winter Combo Matstack.  The snowman is cut from Winter Woodland at 2.7".  Snowflakes are cut at 2" from Accent Essentials.  I used the iRock to adhere 2 blue and 1 green gem to the snowflakes to add a little sparkle.  Broken China Distressed Ink was used on the edges of the light blue square.  Finally, pop dots were used to adhere this friendly little guy.

This next card I used more traditional Christmas colors.  Pattern paper is from DCWV The Christmas Matstack.  Santa is cut at 2.5" from the Christmas Solutions cartridge and white flocking was added to his hat and beard.  He is adhered with pop dots for added dimension.  The circles were cut in graduating sizes from Plantin Schoolbook.  The smallest circle was cut from white paper and colored with Peeled Paint Distressed Ink to give it a shaded look.  Prima Flower poinsettias and 3 black iRock gems were added as finishing touches to help balance the card.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Your next stop on the hop is Linda at http://ladybuglair.blogspot.com/. But before you go, be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win this week's cartridge giveaway.

Here's the line up:

Paulette at http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/

Sis at http://papercraftscissors.com/

Diane at http://dianesdribble.blogspot.com/

Lisa at http://addictedtothecricut.blogspot.com/   << You Are Here

Linda at http://ladybuglair.blogspot.com/       << Next Stop

Donna at http://carolinascreativecropper.blogspot.com/

Cindy at http://www.inlovewithpaper.blogspot.com/

Fran at http://lovebugtimme.blogspot.com/

Colleen at http://scrappycol.blogspot.com/

Theresa at http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com/

Beth at http://seaswancreations.blogspot.com/

Christmas in July Blog Hop Starts on Saturday

Hi Everyone!

You won't want to miss the Cricut Christmas in July Blog Hop.  Each week in July there will be a different Christmas theme to help inspire your Christmas Creativity.  The hop will start off Gift Card Holders on July 6th. 

And, if the inspiration isn't enough, there will also be a prize each week and another one at the end of the month. You can earn entries into the prize drawings by following and commenting on the blogs in the hop! 

The prizes are:
Week One- Gingerbread Cart- Hop starts July 6- Winner to be drawn July 12
Week Two- Christmas Cards Cart- Hop starts July 13- Winner to be drawn July 19
Week Three- Trim the Tree Cart- Hop starts July 20- Winner to be drawn July 26
Week Four- Christmas Village Cart- Hops starts July 27- Winner to be drawn July 31

Here's a list of blogs for the first week (July 6) ~ Cricut Christmas Gift Card Holders
1~Paulette http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/
2~L.B. http://www.coolbeansbylb.blogspot.com/
3~FranTimme http://lovebugtimme.blogspot.com/
4~gonescrappin' http://scrappycol.blogspot.com/
5~scrapsbygracie http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com/
6~SeaSwan http://seaswancreations.blogspot.com/
7~BetsyBoo http://betsymcreates.blogspot.com/

Happy 4th of July!

Circleville NSD 2013 - The Crazy B's Challenge (button, brad, bling and a baby)

My entry for the Cricut Circle NSD Crazy B's Challenge.

The baby is from the Baby Steps cartridge.
The bling is the the pearls on her hair bows and the crystal microbeads on her bib.
Three pastel colored brads and
One translucent pink button complete the challenge.

Circleville 2013 NSD~ Go Big or Go Home! Challenge

Here's my entry for the Go Big or Go Home! Challenge.  A few years back we had some gorgeous fall colors in our neighborhood.  They were so spectacular that I just had to capture some pictures.

CIRCLEVILLE NSD " OH THE PLACES YOU'LL GO" - CARD SKETCH

Here's another card!  This one was a sketch challenge.

I made this card for my 7 yo daughter - she had team dance auditions today and she made it to the next competitive team!  This is such an accomplishment since she's only been in competitive dance for a year and all  of the other girls on her current team, who have been taking competitive dance much longer, stayed at the same level.  I am so proud of her passion and all of the hard work it took her to make it to the next level.

Circleville NSD Celebration! Ease On Down The Road

Another project for the Cricut Circle NDS challenges.  I'm quickly running out of time to submit any more projects, but I've definitely been having fun getting some accomplished and stepping outside of my crafting comfort zone.

This one is an Easel Card.  I still have the sentiment to add to the bottom, but will be waiting until I decide the lucky recipient of the card.

CIRCLEVILLE NSD 2013~It's All About Perspective

I've wanted to use this cute from Nate's ABC's Cricut Cartridge for the longest time.  Today it dawned on me that this cut would be perfect for the Cricut Circle NSD - It's All About Perspective Challenge.


I cut the base layer 4 times and trimmed the boots out of it 3 times. On the boot furthest away, I just layered the cardstock boots to add some extra dimension letting it pop a slight bit away from the cattails and on the closest boot I trimmed the boots apart and used pop dots to bring it closer to the front. For the umbrella, I inked the edges and used pop dots in the middle but glued down the bottom and the edges to give it a curved appearance. I completed the cut by covering the boots with diamond glaze to give them a shiny rubber look.

CIRCLEVILLE NSD 2013~TIC TAC TOE~ THREE IN A ROW

This challenge for NSD is to simply choose 3 elements in a row to complete a project!

I chose to use the last row - use a flower, buttons and ribbons.

Another Teacher Appreciation Gift

I have another teacher appreciation gift to share with you.  My daughter and I decided to make a pencil vase similar to some I had saw online.  We went to Dollar Tree and bought a drinking glass and 3 packs of pencils for a total cost (without flowers) of $4.  I put the hot glue on the glass and my daughter affixed the pencils.  I think it turned out fabulous!

We also purchased Water Beads from Michael's in order for my daughter to more easily transport this to school and not have to worry about spilling water from the vase.  Water Beads are polymer beads that hold and then slowly release water over time.

We added colorful flowers, a ribbon from my stash and a cut handwritten tag that said "Thanks for helping me bloom."