Sunny Snail is Thinking of You!!

 

Erin is back in Taiwan after a lengthy visit here in the US.  I had lots of fun while she was staying with us.  We attended CHA every day and even managed to get in a scrapbook expo in Anaheim right before she left.  Once she got home to Taipei and settled in, she wanted to do a challenge together.  So we have been busily working,and thanks to Skype, we were able to scrap together.

A member of the Cricut Circle recently had surgery and I wanted to send her a card to wish her a speedy recovery and let her know I am thinking of her.  I thought doing a challenge would be a perfect way to accomplish this.  And here is a little Duffy “spokesbear” model to present my card:

The base of the card is green Bazzill bling cardstock.  The glittery print cardstock is from two different DCWV paper stacks, Blossoms & Butterflies and The Glitter Stack.  I used a yellow bling cardstock from Bazzill for the contrast, sun and snail body. 

I laid out my card in Design Studio and I cut the sun, snail and flowers with my Cricut.  I used Create a Critter for the sun, Birthday Bash for the snail and the Bloom Lite cartridge for the flowers.  I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the sun and the snail.  I embossed the snail with four different embossing folders, Swiss Dots, D’Vine Swirl, Plum Blossom and Mesh Texture.  I inked the edges of all the pieces to give them some depth.  I used Stickles on the center of the flowers and an atyou Spica glitter pen for the cheeks on both the sun and snail.  The sentiment on the envelope the snail has in his mouth is from a $1 clear stamp I purchased at Michaels.  I used lots of pop-dots on the sun and snail, popping up layers and also the completed pieces. 

I am loving all the baker’s twine that is so popular right now, but  I have not purchased any yet.  When I was in Michaels a couple of weeks ago, I found some Lily Sugar ‘n Cream Twists string/thread in the yarn department that reminded me of the twine.  It was on sale so I bought a few different colors to see how it would work.  I wrapped some of the blue around the bottom of this card and I think it looks pretty good.  I attached a charm to the twine with a little hanger that is from Making Memories.  I think they are called garment pins. 

For the inside of the card I added a couple of flowers that I cut out twice so I could layer them together for some dimension.  I used Stickles for the bling on the center of the flowers.

This was a fun card to create and I am happy to say that my card qualifies for the following challenges:

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog – Challenge #51 “Hip to be Square” -green & gold

Cooking With Cricut – It’s A GREEN  SCENE!

The Cuttlebug Spot –  All Tied Up: twine challenge

The Cuttlebug Spot –  Oh so Charming

  • Bazzill bling cardstock
  • Die Cuts With a View paper stacks
  • Cricut cartridges:  Birthday Bash, Bloom (Lite), Create a Critter
  • Cricut Design Studio
  • Cuttlebug Embossing Folders:  D’Vine Swirl, Plum Blossom, Swiss Dots
  • Twine:  Lily Sugar ‘n Cream Twists
  • Making Memories garment pins
  • Charm from my stash
  • Stickles
  • atyou Spica glitter pen

Asian Inspired Panda St. Patrick’s Day Card

After months of travel and procrastination on cleaning my office/craft room, I finally had time to sit down this week and wanted to make a card.  Since this would be only the fourth card I’ve ever made to date, participating in some of the fun blog challenges out there might give me some design direction.

I’m now back in Taiwan and one of the ways I keep connected with Mom back in the U.S. is to craft together! She picked a few of her favorite challenges and we each came up with our own unique take on the required elements.  For this card, a few of the elements include green & gold, square card, use of a charm, twine, along with Cuttlebug and Cricut cuts.

To pay homage to both my Irish roots and my current life in Asia, I decided to combine the both and do an Asian inspired St Patrick’s Day card using a few of the new supplies exclusively available here in Asia.

Asian inspired St. Patrick's Day Card

Close up of St. Patrick's Day card

The card is 6 x 6 and uses a variety of papers I had laying around (not entirely sure which stacks they are all from – sorry!).

The large square paper cuts on the background and the oval on the panda were made with Cricut using Plantin Schoolbook.  (Took the circle shape and just made it an oval).  The yellow printed paper’s three sided border was made with Martha Stewart’s Punch Around the Page punches.

The stamped string of lanterns up top are some of my favorite new photo-polymer stamps from Lawn Fawn.  The string and Chinese lanterns are from their Lunar Lights collection and I used the shamrock in the Hats Off To You collection and just turned it upside down to “hang” them as well.  I colored them with Copics, and popped them up on some glitter green cardstock.

Lawn Fawn stamps used to make shamrock & Chinese lanterns

The Happy St. Patrick’s Day sentiment is also Hats Off To You stamp collection. I took a dark yellow ink pad & rubbed the paper with a makeup pad to give it a more yellow appearance.  It’s also popped up several times using the green glittery cardstock and a scrap of the yellow paper.

Sentiment also uses Lawn Fawn stamps

On the bottom I used a $1.00 ribbon find from Michaels that has green and yellow flowers.  The border of shamrocks is a local Taiwan-made die.  I just bought this last week, which was my first weekend back in town since leaving in January.  It’s so cute and the main reason I wanted to make a St. Patrick’s Day card for these challenges.  I used Marigold Glimmer Mist and then took a dark green ink pad to shade the edges.

Border die is from local Taiwan scrapbook and stamp store

Shamrock border die

I was a bit overzealous and decided to try a shaker and after hours of unsuccessful attempts of cutting a frame border that fit the perimeter of the shaker, I ended up going in a different direction.  The panda in the shaker was cut using a Cuttlebug style die purchased from a local store here in Taiwan.  The locally made die comes with the panda and a bamboo stalk as well.

Panda shaker element

Panda die from Taiwan

The panda’s hat is part of the Lawn Fawn Hats Off To You collection.  I cut it out and colored it with Copics.  The shamrocks in the panda’s hand were cut from the border design die and I used three smaller ones along with the tiny pieces left from the Martha Stewart punches to create the “shaker” elements. They reminded me of little hearts and provided an easy addition to the shaker.

Since I couldn’t manage to cut the right size frame for the shaker oval, I used small prima flowers all around the edges.  These are Summer Fun and Limeade “Iced Got Flowers” jars.  The centers on the flowers are jewels in the Imaginisce set for the I-rock tool.

The background paper on the panda is embossed with a bamboo stalk folder only available in Taiwan as well and matches the panda die.  Although supplies here are anything but inexpensive, I love picking up these great designs that I’ve never seen produced elsewhere (yet).  I used a dark orange ink pad to give some dimension to the bamboo stalks and then sprayed the paper with marigold glimmer mist again.

Bamboo embossing folder from Taiwan

The panda charm and twine are both items I picked up in my Taiwan scrapbook shopping travels as well.

Close up of panda charm

On the inside of the card, I went very simple and just used a Plantin Schoolbook square cut paper embossed with the Provo Craft Bamboo folder.  Again, I used some ink to give the bamboo stalks and the inside card edges some shading.

The challenges we are entering include:

The Cuttlebug Spot: All Tied Up: twine challenge

The Cuttlebug Spot: Oh so charming

Fantabulous Cricut: Hip to be Square -Green & Gold

Cooking with Cricut: Challenge 21: It’s a GREEN SCENE!

Snow Bird

 

Here’s another card that I made for several challenges and I had a lot of fun making it.  Unfortunately it will be my last card for a while.  The next couple of weeks are going to be filled with embroidery and trade shows.  CHA is coming up at the end of the month and Erin is flying home from Taiwan to attend with me. 

There’s lots of sparkle on this card as the little snow bird makes his winter home in a warm mitten.  The solid cardstock is from Bazzill and the patterned paper is called Snowflake Waltz and is from Daisy Bucket Designs.

I wanted to do a cardinal for my bird, but I wanted a chubby little guy and I couldn’t find one on any of my Cricut cartridges.  I found a cute bird on Straight from the Nest and decided to use him.  As I was laying out the card in Design Studio, I kept trying to figure out how to make the bird into a cardinal shape.  My solution was to use a lower case “v” from the Mickey Font cartridge.  I turned it upside down and welded it to the top of the bird’s head.  I used Copic markers to color the dark spot on his face.  I’m pleased with how he came out.

The circles are cut from the George and Basic Shapes cartridge and I used my Cuttlebug to emboss both of them.  The mitten is from Simply Charmed, the large snowflake is from Joys of the Season, “Snow Bird” is from Straight from the Nest, and the bird’s scarf is from 3 Birds on Parade. 

I added lots of bling to this card.  I heat embossed the large snowflake on the front using holographic embossing powder.  I put some fine snow on the sentiment using Martha Stewart glitter.  The coarser snow is also from Martha Stewart.  The small snowflake on the mitten is a Martha Stewart punch.  I added rhinestones to the centers of the snowflakes.

While I was working on this card, the song “Snowbird” by Anne Murray kept running through my head.  I printed part of the chorus and put it on the inside of the card.   The snowflake on the inside is from Joys of the Season.

 Here are the challenges I am entering and the requirements for each:

Jitterbuggin – For the Birds Challenge – follow the sketch, add a Cricut bird and use something pink.

Fantabulous Cricut – Challenge #42 Winter Warmies – create a project using some type of winter clothing or accessory.

Cooking With Cricut – Glittermania! – glitz up your project.

The Cuttlebug Spot – Inspired by a Song – find inspiration for your project in a song.

  • Bazzill cardstock
  • Designer paper – Snowflake Waltz from Daisy Bucket Designs
  • Cricut cartridges:  3 Birds on Parade, George and Basic Shapes, Joys of the Season, Mickey Font, Simply Charmed, and Straight from the Nest.
  • Cricut Design Studio
  • Cuttlebug
  • Copic markers
  • Ranger holographic embossing powder
  • Martha Stewart punch
  • Martha Stewart glitter
  • Rhinestones from stash

 

 

Provo Craft Card Making Contest

Provo Craft is going to be announcing a new product on HSN on January 20, 2011.   Anna Griffin is also going to be introducing a new product on the same day.  Provo Craft is sponsoring a card making contest and the winners will receive both new products.  After each airing on HSN, two winners will be posted on Jinger Adam’s Facebook Page.

The requirements for the contest are that you create a card using at least one Anna Griffin product and one or more of these Cricut cartridges:  Don Juan, Wall Decor & More, and Winter Lace.  Entries have to arrive at Provo Craft offices no later than Tuesday, January 18, 2011.

I just mailed my card today, January 13, and I am hoping it arrives it time.  I sent it priority mail and it just has to go from CA to UT, but with this being a holiday weekend I am going to be holding my breath.

I went searching through my stockpile of cardstock because I was pretty sure I had some Anna Griffin paper somewhere.  I found two different paper pads, one with soft, subdued pastel prints and the other with bright, wild prints.  I opted to go with the bright prints and paired them with Bazzill solid cardstock.

My card is 5.5″ square and all cuts are from Wall Decor & More, with the exception of the tag.  The tag is cut from Don Juan.  The sentiment is computer generated and says, “When I am with you….My heart takes flight.”

I cut several layers for the butterfly and pop-dotted him on the front of the card.  I used Stickles for the butterfly’s body.  The ribbon is from Michaels — I got it on clearance at 70% off.  I attached the tag to the bow using a cell phone charm strap.

The inside of the card features more Anna Griffin paper and  hearts cut using Wall Decor & More.

  • Anna Griffin cardstock — Peyton Collection
  • Bazzill cardstock
  • Cricut cartridges:  Wall Decor & More, Don Juan
  • Stickles
  • Ribbon from Michaels
  • Cell phone charm strap

Bring It On — 1st Card of 2011!!

 

I haven’t posted in a quite a while.  I’m still busy with the business, so that is a good thing.  I decided to take a little down time and make a card.  The nice thing is that this card fits so many challenges that are starting off the new year. 

I made a whimsical snowman, who is looking up and telling Mother Nature to “bring it on!”  He is all prepared — he has his snow shovel at the ready.

The patterned paper is by Die Cuts With a View (DCWV) — from one of the holiday stacks that I picked up at Jo-Ann’s.  I cut the snowman with my Cricut using the Doodlecharms cartridge.  I used Design Studio to hide his face so I could move his nose to the top in order to have him looking up into the sky.  I sure hope this is what he looks like, and not some strange looking snowman/unicorn creature.

The snow shovel is cut from the Sesame Street Friends cartridge, the snowman’s scarf from 3 Birds on Parade, the large snowflakes from Accent Essentials, and the snow flurry swirls are from Calligraphy.  I printed the sentiment on the computer using a free font that I downloaded.  It has little snowmen faces peeking out of the letters.  I colored the letters using Copics.

I cut the flurry swirls from a transparency sheet (acetate) so they would be clear.  I then took some white paint and dabbed on them to give them a little opacity, but not too much.  I wanted them to remain in the background when I glued on all the small snowflakes, which I made using a Martha Stewart snowflake border punch.  I used the negative cuts (the part that usually gets thrown away).  Gluing those little snowflakes was a tedious job.

The finishing touches include a small metal star charm hanging from the snowman’s scarf and some rhinestones in the centers of the large snowflakes.  The charm was gold but I thought it looked too stark on the card, so I took my Copics and changed the color. 

 

I placed three of the large snowflakes on the inside of the card:

Here are the challenges that I am entering :

Circle Blog Weekly Challenge #15:  Feeling Frosty!  The requirements are to use white paint, a snowflake and something metal.  I think I covered all of those bases with this card.

Jitterbuggin’ Challenge – Sketch 29 – Let It Snow!:  The requirements are to follow the sketch, use blue somewhere on the card, and include something snow related.

Fantabulous Cricut – Challenge Me Monday #41 – Snowy Delights:  The requirements are to create a project using snow or snowflakes.

Cooking With Cricut – Snow Fun!:  The requirement for this challenge is any project with snow or winter-time activities.

Made By Momo:  Make something with a snow theme.

My Sheri Crafts Challenge #39 – Winter:  What winter means to you. 

  • DCWV patterned paper
  • Cricut cartridges used:  Accent Essentials, 3 Birds on Parade, Calligraphy, Doodlecharms, and Sesame Street Friends
  • Clear acetate (transparency)
  • Martha Stewart snowflake border punch
  • Charm from stash
  • Rhinestones
  • Copics

Up On The Wooftop for Jitterbuggin’ Challenge – Here Comes Santa Claus!

 Ho, ho, ho!
Who wouldn’t go!
Ho, ho, ho!
Who wouldn’t go!
Up on the rooftop
Click, click, click
Down thru the chimney with
Good Saint Nick

The above chorus is the inspiration for this card.  I haven’t made a card in so long that I finally took a little time and came up with this card for this week’s challenge at Jitterbuggin.  Now I have to put all the papercrafting supplies away and get back to embroidering. 

I don’t know why, but this card seemed to take forever to make.  I’m glad I didn’t keep track of the hours I have in it — it would probably be embarrassing to admit I took that long.  

The challenge was fairly easy — no sketch to follow or any requirements other than to use a Santa on your card.  I sure hope Santa Paws counts because he is certainly busy up on the wooftop with his little kitty helper.

I laid the card out in Design Studio and used a house from the Cricut Lite cartridge Jolly Holidays for the roof.  The house is over 10″, but I laid it on the mat so that the house part was off the mat and the only part that cut was the roof.  I wanted the roof to fill the entire front of my card, which is 5.5″ square.  The house design I used has Santa’s feet hanging out of the chimney, but I trimmed them off for this card.  I also used the hide contour feature of Design Studio to hide the footprints in the snow that are on this particular house. 

The patterned paper is all from various DCWV paper stacks and the solid white cardstock on the front is Pearls from Core’dinations. 

Santa Paws is cut from Paper Pups.  The cat is from ZooBalloo and his hat is from Jolly Holidays.  I printed the sentiment directly on the Pearls cardstock, leaving an extra space between the words so I could add a small rhinestone.  The strands of lights are from Create a Critter and I glittered the bulbs.  The snow on the roof is from Martha Stewart.  I added bows from 1/8″ ribbon to give a festive look to the lights.

I cut Santa’s sack from Paper Pups and put it on the inside of the card.  The sentiment is a $1 stamp that I got at Michaels. 

  • Cricut Design Studio
  • Cricut cartridges:  Create a Critter, Jolly Holidays, Paper Pups, Zooballoo
  • DCWV — various paper stacks
  • Core’dinations Pearl cardstock
  • Martha Stewart Snow
  • Glitter, rhinestones, rubber stamp — all from Michaels $1 bins
  • Ribbon from stash

Jitterbuggin’ Gifts Galore Challenge and Fantabulous Cricut Ribbon Challenge

 

I haven’t been able to make many cards lately because this is my busy time of the year with the embroidery business.  I’ve had two machines running since Thanksgiving.  I’m taking a short break this weekend to go away with hubby to celebrate our 44th anniversay.  I wrapped up a couple of embroidery jobs on Tuesday and found time to make a card. 

I made this card to enter into two challenges.  At Jitterbuggin, Sherri asked us to make a card with a gift theme.  The sketch is not mandatory this week — we just have to add a bow and some bling — and, of course, use our Cricut.

At Fantabulous Cricut we have to use ribbon somewhere on our project and, again, have a Cricut cut on it.

I made a card with a little mouse bearing a gift, which he wrapped up so prettily and tied with a bow.  The designer paper is Christmas Mint from SEI.  I used glitter cardstock from Core’dinations for my bling.  I am really happy with the way it cuts in the Cricut.

The little mouse is from the Winter Frolic Cricut cartridge.  The frame he is mounted on is from Lacy Labels Lite cartridge and I cut the tag from the Very Merry Tags cartridge.  The printing on the tag, “not a creature is stirring”, is a download I got from the Cutting Cafe.  I wanted something small and didn’t have time to try and put text on a circle myself, so I was happy to find the saying I wanted for a very reasonable price — just 99 cents.  The text on the inside of the card is also from this same download.  I cut out the text for the tag using my Cuttlebug and Nestabilities scalloped circles.

I cut the tag, the scarf, the bow on the present as well as mats from the glitter cardstock.  I found a piece of 1 1/2″ wide green satin ribbon in my stash and tied it around the middle of the card.  I attached the tag to the bow with a scrap of ribbon edged in metallic gold. 

The inside of the card has another little mouse and I cut this one from the new Birthday Bash cartridge.  When I laid out my card in Design Studio, I planned on putting this mouse on the front of the card and the mouse with the gift on the inside of the card.  But once I started cutting out the pieces and laying out the actual card, I decided to switch mice.  I thought the mouse carrying the gift looked better on the front of the card.  Oh, I almost forgot — for both mice I used very small pom poms for their noses. 

  • SEI Christmas Mint paper
  • Core’dinations glitter cardstock
  • Cricut cartridges:  Birthday Bash, Lacy Labels, Very Merry Tags and Winter Frolic
  • Cuttlebug
  • Spellbinders Nestabilities
  • Text for tag from Cutting Cafe
  • Ribbon and pom poms from stash

Jitterbuggin’ Challenge – Let’s Give Thanks! – Thanks From the Bottom of My Heart

The current challenge at Jitterbuggin’ is to follow the sketch, add a Cricut cut and emboss something. 

I’m not sure where my colors for this card came from — I must have been in a “bright” mood.  I recently received an order from Stampin’ Up and it was sitting in a box and I started pulling out colors.  All the colored cardstock is from Stampin Up’.

I embossed the three center sections using my Cuttlebug and the following folders:  Spots & Dots, Textile Texture and Forest Branches.  I inked each folder with a different color of ink and then ran white cardstock through the Cuttlebug.  The white scalloped trim around the center section is a Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page set called Scallop 3-Dot.  I used just the very top part of the punched piece — the top dot.  I had to piece it because my cardstock size was not the exact size to take advantage of the punch-around-the-page feature.

I used my Cricut to cut out the skunk from the Create a Critter cartridge.  I also cut the heart-shaped balloon from Create a Critter.  The “thanks” is cut from Don Juan.  I attached some ribbon to the ballon and then attached it to the skunk’s hand.  I added a bow to the ballon. 

For the inside of the card, I cut another heart from Create a Critter.  I printed the sentiment on the computer.  I added another bow to the inside heart.

  • Stampin’ Up cardstock
  • Cricut cartridges:  Create a Critter and Don Juan
  • Cuttlebug folders:  Spots & Dots, Textile Texture and Forest Branches
  • Martha Stewart Scallop 3-Dot Punch Around the Page set
  • Ribbon from my stash

Speedy Turtle – Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog – Challenge #36 Achoo!

Here is my card for the current challenge at the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog, which is to make a project that has something to do with being sick.  I don’t know why, but this challenge stumped me.  I couldn’t think of anything exciting that I wanted to make.  I started several different projects before the light bulb finally went off and I had a clear vision of what I wanted to make.

The card base is Bazzill cardstock, the patterned paper is Basic Grey, and the solid that the turtle is cut from is Stampin’ Up.  I cut the turtle using my Cricut and the Create a Critter cartridge.  Since I am wishing the recipient a speedy recovery, I figured I needed to give my turtle some running shoes so she could speed things up a bit.  I cut the shoes from My Community and laced them up with some white cording that I found in my stash.  I used the Cuttlebug embossing folder Swiss Dots to emboss the bottom edge of her shoes.  I also gave her a hat, which I cut from Paper Doll Dress Up.  The label that the sentiment is printed on is from a Lite cartridge, Lacy Labels.  I used Create a Critter for the flowers and the tufts of grass.  I added pearls to the centers of the  flowers. 

The flowers on the inside of the card are also from Create a Critter. 

  • Bazzill cardstock
  • Stampin’ Up cardstock
  • Basic Grey designer paper
  • Cricut cartridges:  Create a Critter, Lacy Labels (Lite), My Community, Paper Doll Dress Up
  • Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder
  • Pearls
  • Cording from my stash

Cricut Circle Magazine Challenge for November – Little Deer Shaker Ornament

 

The first thing I have to say is how excited I am again — my penguin shaker ornament card was one of the winners at the Fantabulous Cricut Challeng Blog.  Thank you so much FCCB!!

Now on to the Cricut Circle magazine challenge, which I forgot all about when I made my penguin shaker ornament last week.  I posted my ornament card on the Cricut message board, and a fellow Circlet asked me if I was going to enter my card in the Circle magazine challenge.  She was even kind enough to give me the link.  I went to the website and reviewed the rules and saw that the project must be newly created, so I figured my penguin card would not qualify — especially since it had just won a challenge.  With time running out on the magazine challenge, I decided to create a new shaker ornament card especially for it. 

For this challenge, which is only open to Circle members, the project has to have at least four Cricut cuts and also use one other Provo Craft product — like the Cuttlebug, Yudu, etc. 

I made another shaker ornament card, only this time I put a deer inside.  I used Core’dinations Core Couture cardstock for the ornament — I like it’s glittery look.  I used the ornament from Joys of the Season cartridge.  I used Cricut Design Studio to weld two ornaments together to make the card.  I also welded a rectangle from George and Basic Shapes to the bottom so that the card can also stand alone if it is not hanging on the tree.

The deer is one of my favorite cuts and he is from the Cindy Loo cartridge.  The snowy hills are from Country Life, the trees from Christmas Cheer, the poinsettias from Winter Woodland, and the tag is from Very Merry Tags.  I cut the poinsettias from white cardstock and inked them blue.  I edged them using a Krylon Silver Leafing Pen and added silver Stickles to the centers.   

I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the background cardstock in the shaker using the Snowflakes embossing folder.  I also embossed the tops of the ornament, which I cut from silver metallic cardstock, using the Herringbone embossing folder. 

I used a Martha Stewart border punch to make the snowflakes that shake around in the card, using the negative cuts from the punch. 

As I did on the penguin ornament card, I put the silver tops on the insides and back of the card.

  • Core’dinations Core Couture cardstock
  • Cricut cartridges:  Christmas Cheer, Cindy Loo, Country Life, George and Basic Shapes Joys of the Season, Very Merry Tags and Winter Woodland
  • Cuttlebug embossing folders:  Herringbone and Snowflakes
  • Martha Stewart snowflake border punch
  • Silver Stickles
  • Krylon Silver Leafing Pen