Erin has been to the Netherlands several times before, but she has never been in the country when the tulips are blooming.  She thought they would be too late to see any this trip, but on their way to the airport in Amsterdam to leave, they found this field still in bloom.  Brett snapped the picture and Erin posted it on Facebook.  Once I saw the picture I knew I wanted to do something special with it.

Bitten by the Bug 2 has a frame challenge that began on May 7, right around the time I first saw the picture, so I designed my layout around that challenge.  We were to use a Cricut frame on any project.  The challenge ends today, so once again I am getting my project in just under the wire.

I have to first say that on this layout I finally used my Cricut Imagine.  It has been sitting in the box for some time.  I read some of the problems people were having with their Imagines and it took me quite a while to get up the courage to fire it up.  I discovered that the cartridge that came with my Imagine (Imagine More) was defective.  Luckily I had another cartridge I could use to get the machine running.  I called Provo Craft customer service and they are sending me a new cartridge.

I did manage to get it printing and cutting.  I am having some issues with the machine not cutting each time though.  Sometimes it just spits the mat out after printing.  I will play around with it some more and hopefully it behaves.

For this layout I printed the background paper on the Imagine.  I used a pattern from the Yummy cartridge and filled an 11″ square with the design.  I love that I can now print my own paper!

The solid color cardstock is mostly from Core’dinations, with a little Stampin Up thrown in the mixture.  For my swirly frame, I used the Cricut cartridge Fancy Frames.  I made the tulip frame in Design Studio by welding four corner shapes together from the Art Nouveau cartridge.  I welded just the shadow layer (black layer) only.  I cut the other layers separately so the tendrils would overlap on the center sides.  I also cut some extra tulip petals so I could layer them on the flowers and inked all the flower petals with some Tim Holtz Distress ink.  Here is a close-up of the frame.

The title is cut from the Bloom Cricut Lite cartridge.  Erin posted on Facebook shortly after she arrived in the Netherlands that she was hoping to tiptoe through some tulips, so this was a perfect choice for the title.  I used pop-dots under the title.

And, finally, to balance out the left side of the layout I added three butterflies from the Indie Art cartridge.  I cut three different layers, and on the last layer I only glued down the inside portion of the wings so I could bend them up.  I added some Stickles to the wings.

I have been playing around some in Cricut Craft Room and have to say that I am impressed by what it can do.  As with the Imagine, I have read some problems people have encountered with CCR, so I haven’t tried cutting with it yet.  I just didn’t have time to try it with this project, but I want to share what my project looked like laid out in CCR.  It is a great design aid because you can color your layers and see exactly what your project will look like.  For my background paper, I tried several different patterns before I decided on this one.  With the click of a button I could see what a different pattern would look like with my layout.  I think the final project looks pretty much like what I laid out in CCR.  I made a few changes as I started working on the layout, but this was my blueprint for my project.

• Cricut cartridges:  Art Nouveau, Bloom, Fancy Frames, Indie Art
• Cardstock:  Core’dinations, Stampin Up
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink
• Stickles

To celebrate National Scrapbooking Day ( May 5), the Cricut Circle blog hosted a two-day online event.  There were challenges, tutorials, games, question-and-answers sessions — all kinds of fun.   Unfortunately I was not able to “attend” much of the live portion, but I did manage to make a project for one of the challenges.

When the Circle blog event was posted, I had just finished making eight beach pail gift card holders for a Kelly doll convention (Kelly is Barbie’s younger sister).  So I decided to make another one for the Color Challenge.  The challenge was to create a project using the color inspiration that they provided, which is shown below.  You had to use at least two Cricut image cuts on your project.

This is the picture the Circle blog provided for the color inspiration:

I made this card so that the sand section pulls out of the pail, similar to the flower pot cards where the flowers pull out.  I laid out the entire design in Design Studio.  I used Life is a Beach cartridge for the pail and shovel.  I glued around the outside edges only, leaving the oval section at the top open so the pocket holding the gift card would slide in.  I welded a rectangle from George & Basic Shapes to the sand to form the holder.

All the solid cardstock is from Bazzill and the printed pattern paper is from Graphic 45′s Tropical Travelogue collection — such beautiful paper!  I made the trim on the rim of the bucket using the patterned paper and cut the handle from a darker shade of cardstock.  The sand is cut from some glittered cardstock I bought at my local Joann’s.

Here is a picture showing the sand pulled out of the pail — holding the gift card.

And another picture, showing  a close up of the gift card holder.

I decided to add a small tag to the card, so there would be a place for some writing.  I welded two shell shapes from Picturesque together to form the tag.  The top detail piece on the shell is cut from a piece of off-white glitter cardstock.  The shell flips open and there is a space on the top and bottom for some writing.

• Cricut Cartridges:  Life is a Beach, Picturesque, George & Basic Shapes
• Graphic 45 Tropical Travelogue paper
• Bazzill solid color cardstock
• Glitter cardstock

OK, now I will see if I can add some details.   The picture in this layout is of our dog and it was taken in 2006, shortly after we adopted her from a rescue group.  Fifi was in foster care for about a year before we got her, so we decided to keep the name she came with — even though it was not high on my hubby’s list of dog names.

Fifi also came with a few issues, the most worrisome was that she nipped.  We talked with our veterinarian about the problem and she recommended a dog trainer–Fifi likes to refer to her as her personal trainer.  Anyway, the trainer seemed to do the trick as Fifi has not nipped since getting individual and group training.

At the end of the year, the trainer had a party for the dogs.  She does this each year and always chooses a different theme.  For 2006 the theme was Prom.  The dogs all came dressed up, but once they walked for judging they got to get undressed and get down to some serious partying — which included running in the dog park and lots of doggy treats.

This was the first  (and so far only) time that Fifi has dressed up — and I wanted to make her something special to wear.  I altered a dog pattern to make her frilly dress.  I also made a matching cover for her leash.  I was surprised that Fifi did not mind wearing the dress.  After walking for the judges, Fifi was chosen as a Prom Princess and her award was a new chew toy.

 I used a paper stack from Die Cuts With a View called The Chateau Lavender.  I laid out my design in Cricut Design Studio and I used the Once Upon a Princess cartridge for the title “Princess” cut and Don Juan for “Prom”.  The frame was cut from Elegant Edges, the throne from Formal Occasion and the dog and crown from Paper Pups.

 I did some heat embossing on the frame using some Stampendous products that I recently bought.  The embossing powder I used all over the frame is called Fran-tage Shabby White Opaque.  It is chunky and has lots of gold glitter in it.  I also added some Stampendous Shaved Ice on top of the powder before I heated it — the Shaved Ice adds chunks of bling.  My only problem was trying to keep it from blowing all over.  I heated the frame from underneath, as Stampendous recommends.

 I cut a throw rug to go underneath the throne using George and Basic Shapes.  For the white on the crown, I heat embossed it using the same Stampendous products that I used on the frame.  I did some chalking on the pup.

I used Stampendous Fran-Tage Lavender Crushed Glass Glitter on the princess hat in the title and used Stickles on the star that dots the “i”.  The last step was the small flowers, which are Recollections brand from Michaels that I recently got on clearance.  I used Stickles in the center of the flowers.

• DCWV The Chateau Lavender
• Cricut Cartridges:  Don Juan, Elegant Edges, Formal Occasion, Once Upon a Princess, Paper Pups
• Stampendous Fran-tage Shabby White Opaque Embossing Powder, Lavender Crushed Glass Glitter, Shaved Ice
• Recollections flowers
• Stickles

The second banner that I made for the HSN design challenge does not use any paper or cardstock – I decided to create a banner using heat transfer vinyl and applique.    I ”hung” my banner on a gray Bella sweatshirt.  This was my first time cutting heat transfer vinyl and fabric with the Cricut and I was so impressed with the results.

This was a last-minute entry.  I had been working on the layout and design for a couple of days, but it got down the the weekend before the challenge ended before I was able to start cutting.  I stayed up all night to finish the sweatshirt so I could get it to the post office in time to meet the deadline.   I wish I had better pictures of it.

The banner is cut from black twill using the B is for Boy cartridge.  And, yes, I cut it on my Cricut!  I then cut the banner pieces from heat transfer vinyl (love the lime zebra print) and applied the pieces on my black banner base.  The Cricut lettering is from the Cricut Everyday cartridge.  From there I embroidered two hearts and some strings on my sweatshirt and then appliqued the banner pieces onto the heartstrings using a heavy satin stitch. 

I also cut a large sunburst design from Ornamental Iron 2 to apply above the banner.  I used two semi-circles and welded them together in Design Studio.  I cut this design from a metallic heat transfer vinyl.  Here are two close-up pictures of the back.

To decorate the front of the sweatshirt I again used Ornamental Iron 2.  I cut a scroll design for the right front and added the word “Create” using Paper Lace II.  They are cut from two different shades of metallic heat transfer vinyl but both look silver in the picture — probably from the flash.  I cut a winged heart design for the left front using the Rock Princess cartridge and the lime zebra print and silver metallic vinyls.

• Cricut cartridges:  B is for Boy, Cricut Everyday, Ornamental Iron 2, Paper Lace II, Rock Princess
• Heat transfer vinyl
• Black twill

On Monday, September 26 at 12:01 a.m. EST, Provo Craft is going to launch their newest machine — the Cricut Expression 2 on HSN.  They posted a challenge to design and make a banner and they are going to give away five new Expression 2′s to some very lucky winners.  You were able to make two banners to enter, so this is the first banner I made.

I knew the competition was going to be tough because there are so many talented Cricut users, so I tried to think a little “outside the box.”  For some reason, hanging a mini banner on a glass block was my first idea.   I originally planned on using etching cream to frost the glass, but because I was using a small string of LED lights I ended up putting glass marbles inside to help hold the lights in place.  

The banner is made using Bazzill and Core’dinations cardstock.  I used the Birthday Bash cartridge for my banner base.  The green frame was cut from Lacy Labels, the scalloped circles from Mini Monograms, the regular circles from George and Basic Shapes, and the black valances were cut from Straight from the Nest.  The Cricut lettering is from Cricut Everyday and I cut it out of a glitter cardstock from DCWV.  I used two Swarovski crystals on the antennae.  I added some small flowers punched from a Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page combo called Flower Shower and used lime green Stickles for the centers. 

The pieces on the glass were cut from vinyl — the white fancy scroll frame is from Ornamental Iron 2 and the Bug head is from Cricut Everyday.  I was impressed with how well the Cricut cut the vinyl.  Here is a picture of the block all lit up.

I decided to decorate the back of the block too and I used the same frame that I put on the front, cut from Ornamental Iron 2.  I recently bought this cartridge and I am lovin’ it!  It has some beautiful designs on it and I think they look great cut out of vinyl. 

The phrase and Bug head on the back are both cut from Cricut Everyday.  And here is a picture of the back of the block with the lights on.

To hang the banner on the glass block, I glued some black & white dotted ribbon around the edges using Terrifically Tacky Tape.  I strung the banner together using DMC’s Memory Thread.  I sewed and glued the ends of the Memory Thread on the banner.  To cover up my stitches, I punched some more flowers and glued them on top.  I also scattered a few flowers on the front and back of the block.  I tied some wide Cricut green organza ribbon around the entire block and made a big bow using my Bowdabra. 

The last picture is of the side of the block.

• Cricut cartridges used:  Birthday Bash, Cricut Everyday, George and Basic Shapes, Lacy Labels, Mini Monograms, Ornamental Iron 2 and Straight from the Nest
• Cardstock:  Bazzill, Core’dinations, DCWV
• Cricut vinyl
• DMC Memory Thread
• Terrifically Tacky Tape
• Martha Stewart Flower Shower punch
• Lime green Stickles
• Swarovski crystals

I decided to make my dear hubby a Father’s Day card from our dog.  Her name is Fifi and she is a rescue dog — part Pomeranian and part Chihuahua.  She is such a daddy’s girl that I figured he would enjoy it.

I call her our Smoochy Poochy because she loves to give kisses.  She also loves toys — her favorites are the fake fur bones with squeakers inside.  She has an assortment of them in all different types of prints — from giraffe to leopard prints. 

I made this card to enter into two challenges.  The weekly challenge at the Cricut Circle Blog is a sketch challenge, so I followed that for the layout of my card. 

The latest challenge at Cooking With Cricut is a Father’s Day related project that includes a Cricut cut.  I used several Cricut cuts on this card.

I couldn’t find a dog that looked like Fifi, so I opted for this cutie on the Paper Pups cartridge.  I chose this one because the dog is on its back and Fifi has a tendency to go “belly up” while she is sleeping.  The dog is lying on an envelope that she has so thoughtfully placed one of her squeaky bones inside for Dad.  The ribbon and bones are from Paper Pups also.

I used Doodlecharms for the envelope, Beyond Birthdays for “Dad” and Sans Serif for “#1″. 

The solid cardstock is Bazzill and the printed paper is all from Basic Grey — their Lauderdale collection.

For the inside of the card, I used Paisley for the “xoxo” and Simply Charmed for the “Happy Father’s Day” sentiment.  I added another bone inside.

• Cricut cartridges used:  Beyond Birthdays, Doodlecharms, Paisley, Paper Pups, Sans Serif, Simply Charmed
• Bazzill cardstock
• Basic Grey — Lauderdale collection

Weekly Challenge #33 over at the Cricut Circle Blog is called the Sweet Summertime Challenge.  You have to incorporate the shape of your favorite summertime treat and use a stamp somewhere on your project.

My summertime treat is easy — it’s the same treat I love all year long — ice cream!!  That being said, I knew right away what my card was going to have on it.  But I decided that I would not only include an ice cream cone but also the ice cream shop.

The lastest exclusive cartridge for Cricut Circle members is Pop-Up Neighborhood.  I was looking through the handbook and really liked some of the buildings.  While I didn’t use the pop-up feature on this card, I did take the bakery and turned it into an ice cream shop. 

In Design Studio, I laid out two of the bakery shadow shapes and welded them together at the top.   I remembered the cute little hippo from Birthday Bash, who is blissfully running with her ice cream cone, and knew I wanted her on my card too.  So I laid out the hippo shape onto my base and welded that also.

I cut the shapes from the Sweet Stack by Die Cuts With A View.  The solid color cardstock is from Bazzill.  I used just the two cartridges — Birthday Bash and Pop-Up Neighborhood.   Oops, I just remembered a third cartridge that I used — the Lite cartridge Twinkle Toes.  I cut the banner for the shop name from it.

For the windows on my ice cream shop, I used graphics from Provo Craft — from their pccrafter.com site.  I thought they were perfect with my design.  I used a stamp to do the name of the shop.  I found a clear stamp in a set that I bought from K & Company that said “The Scoop” and when I saw it I knew that would be the name. 

I used the Cuttlebug on the front door, the Distressed Stripes folder, and also on the ice cream cone, the Mesh Texture folder.  I needed something with a small pattern because the ice cream cone on the front of the card is quite small and this folder was great.  It gives the look of a waffle cone.  I used coarse glitter on the ice cream itself and red Stickles for the cherry on top.

This is a happy and fun creation and when I look at my card I can’t help but think of a book Erin had as a child.  It was called Yummers! and featured Miss Emily (a pig) and Eugene (a turtle).  When I look at the pink hippo, she just looks like she is running along thinking, yummers!!

The patterned paper on the inside of the card is from daisyd’s.  I made another ice cream cone, this time a little larger, to adhere to a corner.

• Cricut Design Studio
• Cricut cartridges:  Birthday Bash, Pop-Up Neighborhood, Twinkle Toes
• Cuttlebug folders:  Distressed Stripes and Mesh Texture
• DCWV — Sweet Stack
• Bazzill solid cardstock
• Coarse glitter
• Red Stickles

Here I am, getting another project submitted with just a few hours to spare.  I guess I work better with deadlines closing in on me, although I do not care for the stress.  But who can I blame for procrastinating?  Yep, no one but me!

I decided to make a birthday card for my niece and this is my first time trying to make something that looks vintage.  I love the look of vintage but didn’t know how well I would do trying to create it.  I am happy with how it turned out, especially for a first try.

The paper I chose is the reason I went for the vintage look.  I picked up a pad of paper by Bo Bunny when I was shopping last week.  It is the Gabrielle Collection and there are some beautiful designs in it. 

The monthly challenge for May at the Cricut Circle is the Tic Tac Toe Challenge.  The object is to pick three prompts in a row from a tic tac toe grid and to include at least two Cricut cuts.

I chose a diagnoal row, going from the bottom left to the right top — which consisted of:  use a cut of a flower shape, use a ruffle, and use some buttons.

Because the paper is so pretty, I decided to use a frame around one of the designs.  I cut the frame from the Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge.  I made my ruffle from a piece of seam binding and laid down a piece of lace on the paper before adding the ruffle.  The pearls on the ruffle are actually white buttons that I colored with my Copics.  I cut the shanks off the button before gluing them on the ruffle.

The flowers were the most time-consuming part of my card.  I cut them out of plain off-white cardstock using my Accent Essentials cartridge.  I inked all the edges and then formed the cuts into roses.  I sprayed them with Glimmer Mist — sure wish the sparkle showed up in the pictures. 

I cut the leaves from the same off-white cardstock using the Picturesque cartridge, inked them green and then ran them through my Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots folder.  The butterfly is from the Martha Stewart Elegant Cake Art cartridge.  I found a button in my stash that matched the butterfly beautifully.  I added some Memory Thread to the button and glued it on the body of the butterfly.  On the lacy layer of the butterfly, I added some sparkle using Glossy Accents and Diamond Dust.  I also used Distress Stickles on its body.

I cut some tickets using Wall Decor & More and inked them a light coral color.  I cut the tickets at 2″ and they fit the stamp set perfectly.  I then stamped them with a stamp set from Autumn Leaves called Ticketed. 

The inside of the card features a different piece of the Bo Bunny paper and another ticket.

I used lots of foam dots on this card.  Here is a photo showing a side view so you can get an idea of the dimension that this card has.

Since I can’t put this card into a normal envelope, I made a box to hold it.  But I need to take a picture of the box.  I will post the picture once I take it. 

I’m back with some pics of the box.  I ended up adding my niece’s name to the top of the box, which I cut from Storybook.

• Bo Bunny – Gabrielle Collection
• Cricut cartridges used:  Accent Essentials, Elegant Edges, Martha Stewart Elegant Cake Art, Picturesque, Wall Decor & More
• Cuttlebug folder – Swiss Dots
• Glimmer Mist
• Seam binding
• Stickles
• Autumn Leaves stamps – Ticketed
• DMC Memory Thread
• Glossy Accents
• Diamond Dust
• Buttons from stash

This is my first “major award”  — and what did I win?……A new Cricut Expression E2 — whoooo hoooo.  It has already arrived and I hope to start playing with it soon.  Thank you so much Provo Craft!!

I created this layout to enter in the latest Cricut Circle Blog weekly challenge, which ends in just a few hours.  This is a sketch challenge and you have to follow the sketch posted on the blog.  It always takes me time to come up with inspiration, particularly when doing layouts.  Hopefully as I gain more experience the ideas will come more quickly. Now for a little background info about this layout.  Erin (my daughter and co-conspirator on this blog) is currently living in Taiwain and is a huge Disney fan.   She has visited all five parks many times.  She got bit by the Duffy Bear bug while on a visit to Tokyo Disneyland.  Duffy is Mickey Mouse’s teddy bear, sewn by Minnie Mouse to keep Mickey company while traveling.  Notice his face is shaped like Mickey’s head.  While Duffy was exclusive to Tokyo Sea, he is now being featured at Disney World, Disney California Adventure, and Hong Kong Disneyland. Erin brought me a Duffy and Shellie May (the girl version, and still only available at Tokyo Sea) on one of her visit’s home.  She has since given me a Duffy bear from Hong Kong Disneyland, and I added two of my own from California Adventure.  While Erin’s bears have traveled all over the world (Japan, Hong Kong, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Tahiti, Belize, to name a few), my bears are content to reside mainly in California. Living in Taiwain, Erin is about 15 hours ahead of our time here in California.  For Cinco de Mayo, she posted pictures of one of her Duffy bears celebrating Cinco de Mayo on her Disney travel blog, Pooh’s Travels.   She dressed him in his outfit from Mexico and shows him sitting at the dinner table with a meal of chicken taquitos and mango margaritas spread out before him.  As soon as I saw her post I knew I had to do something special with one of my Duffy bears for Cinco de Mayo so I could send pictures to Erin. As my hubby and I had plans to go to Acapulco restaurant for dinner on May 5, I dressed my bear in his serape and sombrero and he tagged along.  Yep, we took a bear to dinner!  The older I get the less I seem to care if people think I’m crazy! I took a couple of pictures of him sitting in the booth with chips and salsa.  And my hubby is the one who put the chip in Duffy’s paw and moved the salsa close to him.  But the coolest part was that the restaurant had this beautiful young lady acting as a greeter for Cinco de Mayo and she was all dressed up in a gorgeous outfit from Mexico.  On the way out of the restaurant I asked her if Duffy could take a picture with her and she obliged.  I couldn’t wait to get home and send the pictures to Erin. When I first saw the pictures, I thought Duffy looked like he was sitting in a cantina and a song immediately came to mind — El Paso, by Marty Robbins.  So I included the first two verses when I sent Erin the pics and decided to include them on my layout too.

The patterned paper I used on this layout is from Basic Grey, their Life of the Party collection.  The cartridges I used are Elegant Edges for the stamped background mat and the diamond trim at the bottom of the pictures, Old West for the title, Mickey & Friends for the Mickey heads (I welded one to a rectangle for the tag that pulls out at the top), and Wild Card for the sombrero.

• Basic Grey — Life of the Party
• Cricut cartridges:  Elegant Edges, George & Basic Shapes, Mickey & Friends, Old West, Wild Card
• Stickles

This is my first layout ever — and I really struggled with it.  Up to this point I have just made cards with my Cricut.  I have no trouble deciding and laying out what I want on my card fronts, but doing a 12″ x 12″ page proved to be a challenge. 

I wanted everything on my layout to flow and look like it was put there for a purpose.  I even went to the Cricut Circle Blog and watched their tutorial again on how to do a layout.  After watching the video I felt I had a better grasp of things, but once I started cutting I wasn’t so sure. 

The patterned paper is from SEI — their Happy Day collection.  Since I had the paper pad in my stash and knew I wanted to use it, that is the only thing I was certain about on this project.  Once I got my background paper laid out and the banner done, then the rest sort of came together.   I laid out everything in Design Studio before I started cutting anything. 

The large scallop square background is cut from the Cindy Loo cartridge.  The banner, the cat jumping out of the cake, and the gifts are all from Birthday Bash.  The streamers are from Celebrations and all the circles are from George. 

I think I cut the center circle at 7″.  Then I measured and found the center and started slicing the circle, but didn’t cut it all the way from edge to edge.  I left about 1/2″ intact at each edge of the circumference.  I glued it to the layout right-side down, so that when I pulled back the slices the pattern paper showed.  Before gluing each of the points down, I cut a ring of solid turquoise cardstock to cover the raw edges of my sliced circle.  I added some white rick rack to the ring.  Then I put adhesive on each of the points of the slices and adhered them to my layout. 

Side view so you can see the dimension of the layout

This was my first time making rosettes and I used my Martha Stewart scoreboard to make the pleats.  That was a lot of fun, except that making those score marks every 1/4″ is hard on arthritic hands. 

I used lots of Stickles — I coated all the letters in the banner.  I think the color I used was copper.  I added Stickles to the gifts, the cake, and all the streamers got coated in them.  I used DMC Memory Thread to string up my banner and for the center of the button on the rosette.  I love that stuff — it’s so easy to work with.

Close up of the title banner

Close up of the cat in the cake

Close up of the gifts

The little “birthday bash” tag was cut with my Cuttlebug using the Tiny Tags die.  I did the sentiment on the computer.  Oh, also did lots of inking and doodling and stitched the turquoise cardstock to the pink cardstock with my sewing machine. 

• SEI Happy Day paper
• Cricut cartridges:  Birthday Bash, Celebrations, Cindy Loo, George & Basic Shapes
• Cuttlebug — Tiny Tags die
• Stickles
• DMC Memory Thread