Exploring Cricut - Down on the Farm

Happy Monday! Time again for Exploring Cricut's Challenge week. The challenge this week is "Down On the Farm" You are to create a card, layout or project using at least one farm animal with your Cricut.

I decided to try and get caught up on some scrapbooking. It has been super crazy around our house what with summer vacations, getting someone off to college and everyday life. I haven't had much time to create as you can see from my lack of sharing lately on my blog. Hopefully, that will change soon once fall arrives:)

I created a 2 page 12 x 12 layout featuring the cute Create A Critter duck.

Sorry the lighting is so off. The title shows up a lot better in person. The tag is from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More and I added a shadow in kraft paper to it with some ruffled white ribbon.

The cute duck got some Yellow Stickles added to her wings and her water has some blue Stickles added.

Recipe:

2 12 x 12 pages.

Papers -My Mind's Eye Indie Chic Nutmeg Collection and scraps 

Peter & The Wolf - Ashlyn's Alphabet

Duck - Create A Critter

Water - Create A Critter

Tag - Tags, Bags, Boxes and More

Twine, Yellow, Blue Stickles, Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by and check out my DT sisters for great inspiration!

Annette

Winner of a Exploring Cricut Christmas Blog Hop

Hello to new and old friends! Thank you all for joining in the Christmas Hop. I hope you all got a good start on your holiday projects.

The winner, chosen by random.org for my blog goodies  is Pam at Scrap-N-Sew Granny. Congratulations Pam!!! Please send me your info so I can get these right out to you.

Thanks again for joining in the fun:)


Annette

Exploring Cricut - So Blue

The blog hop is still going on for a chance to win a prize go here:)

The week has flown by and it is my day at Exploring Cricut. Around my house we are busy getting ready for college. I found this idea on Pinterest and thought it would be so fun to try with my Cricut.

I first painted the embroidery hoop that I got at Michael's with some acrylic paint. I sent this aside to dry, which was super quick, promise.

Here are the supplies I started with. If you decide to do this 3 was not enough for the floss and I had to run and get another one. I didn't split the floss thread as we wanted it to be as thick as possible. So, they were threaded as is.  I had some left over muslin that I cut down to size and placed in between the hoops. I adhered the flower with a little bit of tape runner as this was just to keep it in place.

Pay close attention to your flower pattern. I should have started on the inside instead of where my needle shows in this picture.  By sewing the middle section first this will allow your flower to have a cleaner finish for the end result. I then added some french knots to the middle and Stickles with buttons for some more sparkle. This is lightweight enough to go on her wall and the sparkle will hopefully catch the light:) 

Recipe: 

Flower - Martha Stewart Elegant Cake Art

Embroidery Hoop 10", Floss, Stickles, buttons

The Christmas challenge ends on Saturday and we sure hope you decide to join in the fun!! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Annette

Exploring Cricut - Christmas In July Hop!!

Happy Monday! Who is ready for a Christmas Hop? If you hopped from Emily then you are in the right spot. If not, hop back to the beginning, Exploring Cricut, so you don't miss a thing. The list is below if you get lost along the way!  Our Design Team has some awesome projects for inspiration and at the end you will be able to enter the challenge to show us a Christmas project. Don't forget to use your Cricut for the challenge.  This hopefully will give you a jump start on your holiday preparations.  You have until Saturday to enter our challenge:)

I decided to get busy with a Christmas layout. We always have fun trimming the tree and last year was no different. After doing so many years of holiday layouts sometimes it is hard to think of new titles for wonderful memories. When I was looking at the pictures of this event I saw a lot of bling on the ornaments as well as the tree. I thought it would be fun to give the title some extra sparkle. Hope you enjoy!!

I added stickles to the tree stamp.

I cut the "bling" out and then adhered to the creme paper. I then stickled the word with red adding glittery floss for some more texture. All that is left to do is add a journaling block on the red circle. 

What would a hop be if it weren't for candy inspiration!! To win: Let me know you are a follower and how to get a hold of you in the comments below. I will draw a winner Sunday evening. Good luck!!

Here is the line up for the hop. Be sure to start at the beginning so you don't miss a thing:)

Sharon http://meemeescreations.blogspot.com

Donna  http://wwwkindredkreations.blogspot.com

Georgiana  http://carsonscricutcreations.blogspot.com

Rae Ann   http://joyinart.blogspot.com

Emily  http://emilyqueenofallthingscrafty.blogspot.com

Annette  http://mymindsdustbunnies.blogspot.com You are here

Michelle N  http://justanutterpapercrafter.blogspot.com Next

Kathy  http://kathy213-kathyscorner.blogspot.com

Michelle S  http://cricutcrazyscrapper.blogspot.com

Liz  http://unikbyyes.blogspot.com

Diane  http://happyscrapperdiane.blogspot.com


Recipe:
2 x 12 2 page layout
Bo Bunny, K& Company, AC papers
Stamp frame - Create a Critter7.72
Elelgant Edges Scallop Edge 1.86"
"Bling" - Forever Young 2.95"
Circles - George and Basic Shapes 8.31", 3.72",1.84"
Red and gold Stickles, red and gold floss, Gold wire ribbon

Head on over to Michelle at  http://justanutterpapercrafter.blogspot.com/ for your next wonderful creation!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Annette

Exploring Cricut - Flower String Art

Happy 4th of July!  It is my turn today to share at Exploring Cricut. I decided to share a project my daughter, Emma, created using the Cricut and string art. Do you all remember doing this? I do, and boy, the Cricut would have made this so much easier!!

She is getting ready for her freshman year at college and working on projects to decorate her dorm room. I think she hit a winner with this one. She chose a flower from Cindy Loo.

She got a board from Michael's and painted it yellow on top and green around the edge. Using acrylic paint this dried very quickly.

Lay newspaper down and also something cushy underneath your project. We put some placemats and a laptop sleeve to protect table and give some cushion when hammering. The next step was to lay the negative of the flower on top of the wood for placement.

As you can see the nails were hammered around the edge of the negative. The curves took more nails/sq. inch to make sure there would be a good curve. The nails were from Home Depot - Wire Nails #18 x 3/4". They had a very nice head to work with and the string stayed put.

Tie your floss in a knot around a nail head to start. Here you can see Emma started with the edge of the pink flower and once done began zigzagging the pink through out the flower. There really is no wrong or right way to weave; whatever looks good to you:)

She continued that process  with the dark pink and green. When finished weaving tie a knot around another nail head and tuck under floss. Once the stringing was finished, I added green stickles to the nail heads around the green area; and pink stickles around the pink area. This really gave it a nice shimmer:)

Recipe:

Flower - Cindy Loo 10"

Yellow and green acrylic paint

Oval frame, embroidery floss in 2 shades of pink and 1 green

Green Stickles, Cotton Candy and Fruit Punch Stickles

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to enter our challenge by Saturday!

Annette

Exploring Cricut - Celebrate!

Good Morning!! Are you up for a challenge? Well, at Exploring Cricut we have one for you celebrating either 4th of July or Canada day using your Cricut. Your project must include a flag.

I decided to create a layout for the 4th of July using red, white and blue. 

 For my flags I used pennant flags to showcase the word July. I put silver brads in each of them.

The stars were cut using George and I clipped the edges on the bottom so they could peak out from the mats.

Recipe:

12 x 12 2 page layout

Pattern paper - Doodlebug

White, red and blue papers - American Craft

Stars - George and Basic Shapes 7.83", 4.29"

Hearts - George and Basic Shapes 1.22"

"USA" and "July" - Storybook1.62", 1"

Pennants - Birthday Bash 1.90"

Brads, buttons, twine, Fiskars punch

Thank you for stopping by!

Annette