BFF Birthday

I asked my best friend if I could borrow her Old West cartridge to scrap a few horseback riding pictures for my Gma. She said that she liked the cartridge, but couldn't get much use out of it and wanted to see what I came up with. As it turned out, her birthday was right around the corner, so I thought I'd use her cartridge to make her a card. This cartridge really is perfect for her as she is a country girl.



I wanted "25" to be the center point of the front of the card (there are certain birthdays where you have to include the age on them, and 25 is one of them.) I made the cowgirl hat to fit my BFF's tastes: (the bright pink was picked out using the Imagine's RGB colors,) and I placed a star jewel on it. "Quarter of a Century" was written using the Opposite's Attract cartridge (welded together with my gypsy.) The cow (a favorite of my bff) was made using Create a Critter, the balloons are from Best Friends and the grass is from Zooballoo (and welded with the gypsy.) The font and the hat are from Old West. Everything that didn't require the gypsy was cut and colored using the Imagine and white paper. I don't own my bff's favorite colors in cardstock (bright pink and bright blue) so the Imagine was perfect for this project.

Dog Beach

One of my favorite weekend trips is to the Dog Beach. It's such a beautiful spot just north of Santa Barbara. We'll often see sea lions, crabs, star fish, and other fun wildlife. Goofie (the dog) never gets tired of chasing his ball into the ocean. He's an excellent swimmer.

The sun was cut from Create a Critter. I used the hide condor function on my gypsy to hide the face so I could use the sun as a journal block. The sea lion was also cut from Create a Critter. The fish and dolphin were cut from Life is a Beach. The Goofie Dog was cut from Paper Pups and the tennis ball was from Everyday Paper Dolls. The wave was from Graphically Speaking. I tore a piece of brown paper to create the sand and I triple matted the picture and used my corner rounder.

Beaver Thank You Card

My Auntie is continually spoiling me. Not only with goodies, but with inspiration as well. She showed me a card that she made using the skunk from Create a Critter. The skunk was purple! I love purple and thought it was the cutest card. She then brings out a package of tiny purple bows and gives them to me along with red paper with white polka-dots. I have been looking for this paper for years! (Perfect for Minnie Mouse!) So I made her a Minnie with the paper (finally Minnie is wearing the proper clothes!) and made this card to send to her. This card is really out of the box for me. But I wanted to stretch myself and use some of the ideas that she's taught me. My aunt always uses the best patterned paper. Her colors always coordinate really well. Mine aren't perfect, but I think it's a step in the right direction. :-) The beaver is from Create a Critter and the paw prints are a EK boarder punch. The ribbon is from Michael's dollar bin. The flower that the beaver is holding is a button. I threaded yellow embroidery thread through it. And the beaver is wearing one of the lovely bows that my Aunt got me. I hope she likes it!

City Birthday

I made this card for my cousin Joey's 13th Birthday. He loves New York and just about any other city one could think of. The sky-scape is from Going Places. I welded two together and used the hide condor feature on the windows and created my own windows so I could hide the number "13." The plane and the banner are from Stand and Salute. The sentiment was cut out using Pooh Font (Marker Feature.)

Creative Escape

I made this card for a Cricut Circle Contest. The bridge is from Pooh and Friends, The butterfly is from Create a Critter, the sign is from Everyday Paper Dolls, the grass is also from Everyday Paper Dolls, but I removed the cats-eye and put on the flowers (with stickles) from Gypsy Wanderings. The sentiment is also from Gypsy Wanderings. I added Glossy Accents to the water under the bridge. I "cut" out the bridge first with a Cricut marker, then I recut using the actual blade. I like the overall affect. :-)

Another Post-It Holder

So I needed Post-It holder for my scrap table (I go through post-its like crazy!) and this is what I came up with. I used a piece of cardboard saved from a paper stack and covered it with the butterfly paper from DCWV's Spring stack (on sale at Joanns.) I just love all of the Create a Critter cuts. The bird was cut at 3 inches. The center of the flower was accented using Liquid Pearls (lemon yellow) and then I covered the entire flower with Inkssentials Glossy Accents. (I didn't mean to cover the liquid pearls, but the glossy accents just seeped over it! I'm glad that it did though, it made it more uniform looking.) I also covered just the wing with glossy accents.

Painting My ATG Gun

Yesterday I painted my ATG gun. It was a lot of fun! Here's a quick tutorial on how I did it...

1. The first thing that I did was pick out my paint. I looked at several home improvement stores, Walmart and Joanns. The only plastic spray paint that they had was in black, white or brown. I asked a worker at Lowe's about priming first and then painting with a paint that wasn't made for plastic. He said that he would not recommend it. I searched the web and found that some ladies who painted their ATGs with different paints had mixed results. Because I didn't want to risk ruining my ATG, I decided to keep searching for different plastic paints. I finally found a pretty blue at Michaels (Krylon Fusion for Plastic) and picked up the Krylon Glitter Spray as well. The glitter spray said it would work as a finish on any paint.

2. Next I prepared my ATG for painting. I went over it with a damp paper towel to remove any dust. Here is what my ATG looked like at that point:
3. Next I removed the tape: You can wait to paint your ATG when you run out of tape, but because I was between projects, I didn't want to wait. So I simply cut off most of the used tape, leaving enough to wrap around the wheal when I was finished so I didn't have to waste any of the unused tape.

4. Next you'll need a Phillips Screwdriver to remove both the wheals that the tape sits on.

5. You cannot remove any other parts without risking damage to your ATG gun, so it is best to take the time to cover them with blue painters tape. Remember that paint will go into any nook that isn't covered with tape. Here's what mine looked like after I taped it up: I forgot to take a picture of the other side of the lid. I covered everything with the tape other than the little window that had "Scotch ATG" written on it. I wanted to paint over that. :) You can paint the lid if you would like. I like the look of the lid as is, and I like being able to see the tape through the lid.

6. Go over your ATG one more time with a damp towel. Make sure you get off any dust or fingerprints.

7. Paint your ATG! Follow the instructions on the back of the spray can. You should always paint in a well ventilated area and have something to wipe off any drips that may occur. I originally put my ATG in a box lid and surrounded the area with garbage bags so I wouldn't get paint everywhere. My instructions said it would take 15 minutes to dry. So I painted one side and when I went to "check" on it 15 minutes later, one of my garbage bags was lying on top of it! Some of the paint was smudged so I sanded it down with fine sandpaper. After that I found it easier to hold the lid of the ATG while I was spraying it. It only took a few minutes for the paint to dry. I did several coats, allowing it to dry completely between coats. Lastly, I sprayed the glitter spray. The glitter covered all defects in my painting skills. I love how it turned out.

8. The glitter sray can said it would dry in 10-15 minutes (it actually took less than 5). But not to handle it until after 2 hours. So after it was dry to the touch, I let it "settle" for 2 hours inside before removing all of the tape. The tape was a lot easier to take off than to put on! I then screwed the wheals back in and replaced the tape. Here is what my completed ATG looked like:

9. Finally, I added a few stickers and a ribbon (I needed some purple!).That's it! It took me most of the afternoon, but it was a lot of fun! :)

Freezer Tee Shirt

Every year my Uncle takes his boys on a camping trip. This year most of the Miller family decided to tag along. We usually get together every few years anyway so it was about time for another family reunion. And what a better spot than Yosemite National Forest? I've made freezer t-shirts before and had been looking for an excuse to make another one. I'm one of those people who takes a billion pictures every trip. (After all, you need pictures for scrapbook pages!) I was originally just going to put a camera on the front of the shirt and call it a day, but I came across this sign on the way to a hiking trail. I thought it'd be funny on the back of my camera shirt. :) The camera is from Going Places, the font is from Ashlynd's Alphabet and the heart is from Create a Critter. I used my Gypsy to space out the words the way I liked it and cut out the flipped image on freezer paper. It is very important to cut the flipped image as you need to iron the shinny side face down but you have to cut the shinny side face up on the Cricut (it wont stick face down.) So if you don't flip the image then when you go to iron it down it'll be backwards. I usually iron down the negative of the image and use it as a stencil. I thought it'd be fun to do the "Warning" opposite by ironing down the positive image and painting all around it. I bought the shirt and paint at Joann's. You can get the freezer paper at any grocery store.

From the Pets

My best friend is house-sitting for us while we go on a family trip to Yosemite. It's quite the task as she'll be watching a crazy dog and a bunch of needy cats along with a bunny and a lizard. I made her this card to show our appreciation. The cat and dog image (isn't it the cutest??) is from Paper Pups. The ribbon is from Michaels dollar bins and the paw print border is an EK boarder punch. The stamp is the same dollar stamp that I used on the bird house card. I used the same Sticko bubble/tile sticker to make the paw print embellishment. This paw print was actually cut from ribbon that I also found in the dollar bin at Michaels. My circle punch wouldn't cut out the ribbon all of the way, but it left an indent so I was able to cut it out by hand.

Birdhouse Card

This card is for my Aunt and Uncle who live in Park City, Utah. My aunt loves bird houses, so I thought up this card for her. The bird house is from Stretch Your Imagination. It doesn't have any layers, but I used the hide condor feature on the gypsy and created my own. The flowers on the bird house were welded together and layered (from Create a Critter.) I used pearl stickles for the center. Similarly, the bird didn't have any layers but I used my gypsy to create some. The bird is from Home Decor. I used Inkssentials Glossy Accents from Ranger Ink on the bird's wing. It created a bubble affect and I just love how it turned out. The ribbon is from Joann's and the stamp is a stamp found in Michaels dollar bins.

Piggy Card

This card is for my "Auntie" and her family. It is her "fault" that I am into scrapbooking and card making. (I'm sure that she'll gladly accept the blame.) She makes the most gorgeous scrapbooks and fun cards and inspired me to take up the craft. I love looking through her creations and getting ideas. I recently received the Peachy Keen stamp set that is used to coordinate with the Animal Kingdom cartridge for my Birthday. The first two things that I made were penguins (for my sister) and this pig for my aunt. The stamps have set sizes listed to cut the Cricut images out. But I also cut some smaller images and larger images and found that the stamps look nice on those also. Make sure you cut the image in Blackout so that the eyes and other facial features don't cut out. I chose to use the new hide condor feature on the gypsy instead so I could keep the other cuts by the legs and ears. I then inked the pig and used pop ups. The red mat was embossed using the Swiss Dots folder. The patterned paper is from a DCWV pack that I found on clearance at Joann's.

Another TY Card

So I liked the last card so much that I wanted to make another one for my grandmother. I changed the colors and used a EK border punch to make the cards different and to suit the receiver's different styles. For the center of the flower I used a half inch circle punch and punched out a flower from some patterned paper that I bought at Joann's. I then placed a Sticko tile sticker over the paper. It gives it a bubbled appearance. I thought that the sticker and the punch were the same size, but they're not! Luckily it was easily fixable using my gypsy. I simply layered two circles (from Walk in my Garden, but any circle would do) creating a circle border. It took a couple of cuts to get the sizing exactly as I wanted, but I cut out a bunch and saved the file so it wont be hard to create more of these.

Thank You Card

I couple of friends bought me the Opposites Attract cartridge and other goodies. Therefore I had to make them a card using that cartridge! This cartridge has been on my want list for a long time and I'm excited to finally have the chance to use it. I love how the different fonts can over lap to make this look. They both also have a shadow, so I can use them individually. (I seldom use fonts without their shadow.) The flower was cut twice using Walk in my Garden and offset to create a layer. I made the center of the flower myself and I'll post a closer picture in the next post.

Cars Birthday Card

Tomorrow is my Uncle's Birthday. He loves Nascar so I thought I'd make him a card with a car on it. I immediately thought of the Cars cartridge. I've cut many images from the "extras" on this cartridge, but I hadn't tried a character yet. These are hard to cut! There are a lot of tiny layers. I ended up omitting some because I couldn't figure out where they were suppose to be on the image. I think it turned out alright despite the difficulties. Lightning McQueen was cut around 3 inches. The background was cuttlebugged using the Happy Birthday folder. I also cut out the racing flags that are included in the cartridge and put one set on the envelope and one on the inside of the card.

Life is A Beach

These pictures are from a family snorkeling trip. All of the images are from Life is a Beach. As you can tell, I went a little over board with the Stickles. There have been a few different versions of this layout on the Cricut Message Board and I thought I'd try my own twist. :-)

“Critter-licious”

My uncle has a birthday at the end of the week and I've been stuck as to what type of card to make for him. (Boys are hard!) :-) This is what I came up with. The vines are attached together with a brad so the monkey can swing revealing the message behind him. It says "Just Swingging By To Say" and the inside reads "Happy Birthday". The Monkey is from Create A Critter and the saying is from Alphalicious welded together with the gypsy. :-)

I am using this card as my entry for the My Pink Stamper final challenge which was to create a project using a critter. :-)

NSD Challenge #12

“Kids Craft, too”

NSD Challenge #6

This challenge was to create a project for a child or with a child. Today happens to be my youngest cousin's birthday (although her party isn't for a couple of weeks.) So I made her this card using Create A Critter. I welded the shadow feature of the dog and it's flipped images together using the gypsy. The dog's collar is string with a butterfly charm as the tag. :-)

"May Day"

NSD Challenge #10

This challenge was to create something with flowers or somethign Springy. I cut hearts from the Create A Critter cartridge and layered them into flowers. The centers are buttons or stickles. :-)

“Love My Color”

NSD Challenge #8

For this challenge we had to create a project using one color and one neutral. I was stuck on this challenge. My sister came through and created this design. :-)

“Hey Day!”

NSD Challenge #7

As you can tell, I'm not doing the challenges in order. I am going to try to get them all done before the Monday at midnight deadline though! I'm doing the challenges throughout the day (and the rest of the weekend) as I have time to complete them. Every time I go back on the My Pink Stamper website there is another fun challenge or two that I want to try!

This challenge was to make something for your Dad. I thought I'd make him his Father's Day card, even though Father's Day isn't for another month and a half. :-)

“Teacher Appreciation”

NSD Challenge #5

I originally was going to make a post-it holder for the "Getting Scrappy" challenge, however I didn't have scraps big enough to cover the cardboard. So I was happy to see this challenge pop up. I'm going to give this to my mom who is a vet tech. She works extremely hard and is deserving of this challenge which is to make something for some one you appreciate.

This post-it holder was "scrap-lifted" from Dawn. Mine differs from hers in that I cut the base out of cardboard and then covered it with patterned cardstock. The dog is from Create A Critter and the dog tag reads "Made with Love."

Here is Dawn's YouTube video on how to make the Post-It holder.

"Thinking Outside The Box"

NSD Challenge #3!

For this challenge we had to use something we normally wouldn't use on a scrapbook page. My sister and I thought a lot about this challenge and came up with many "odd" ideas before we remembered our elementary school days. We found some old crayons and used a pair of worn out sissors to make crayon shavings. We then melted the shavings between two peices of wax paper using my heat gun. After peeling off the top peice of wax paper we saw that our shavings created a marble affect when melted. I used a simple flower punch to punch out the wax paper and glued them on our card.

Getting Scrappy

Back again for Challenge #2! The second challenge is to use scraps. I plan on making a post-it note holder, but I don't have any post-its! I see a run to Staples in the near future. But I'm still in a creative mood, so I'm going to come back to this challenge and work on Challenge #3... :-)

"Mother Dear I Love You So"

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

Today I am participating in My Pink Stamper's challenges. Here is my project for challenge #1: "Mother Dear, I Love You So".