Exploring Cricut and More - Little Lady!

Hello!  I have another layout to share of my sweet puppy, Olivia. I am really trying to get my pictures cleaned up, but boy does time not always permit that.  She will be 2 in December and if feels like we just got her. These pics were ages 1-3 months.

I used both my Expression and Cameo to create these cute pages. It is so nice to be able to do that. I really feel like I'm getting the best of both worlds. 

Recipe:
2 page 12 x 12 layout
Title - Fonts from computer
scallop Border - Silhouette Online Store #17064
Pennants - Silhouette Online Store #29292
Top Note - Storybook

Thanks for stopping by!

Annette

Happy Birthday Exploring Cricut Blog Hop

Hello! It is Exploring Cricut's 3rd birthday and we are celebrating. If you hopped from Emily then you are in the right spot. If not, hop back to Exploring Cricut so you don't miss a thing:) You can join in the fun by creating a card, layout or paper craft celebrating a birthday event. You can use any colors, but you must use your Cricut and include at least 1 button, brad or jewel. Our Design Team has some awesome projects for inspiration  You have until Saturday to enter our challenge:)

I decided to create a 2 page spread for my daughter's upcoming 14th birthday. She is not a huge pink fan so I kept it to a minimum. I used Diamond Stickles on the "girl' part of the title.

The butterflies were glued with Glossy Accents just down the middle. Prior to adhering I folded the butterfly in half so the wings would pop up. I then added Fruit Punch Stickles to the antennas and middle.

I chose to use these red buttons for my cupcakes. The cupcakes were cut from the pattern paper. To have the button lay flat I took some nail clippers and snipped the plastic loop off the back and adhered with Gossy Accents. 

There is blog candy to win too! 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 Saturday. Good luck!!

Here's the line up for the hop:

Sharon http://meemeescreations.blogspot.com

Donna  http://wwwkindredkreations.blogspot.com

Lori  http://scrappinsaints.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 
Michelle S  http://cricutcrazyscrapper.blogspot.com
Liz  http://unikbyyes.blogspot.com
Diane  http://happyscrapperdiane.blogspot.com

Recipe:
2 page 12 x 12 layout
Pattern and yellow papers - Doublesided Crate Paper
Blue Polka Dot Paper - Bo Bunny
Pink Vellum Paper
"Birthday Girl- Storybook 3.19"
Butterflies - Create A Critter 1.46"
"Make A Wish - Birthday Bash2.40"
Swirl - Gypsy Wanderings 4.38"
Glossy Accents, buttons, Diamond, Fruit Punch, Yellow Stickles

Now hop on over to Michelle for some more birthday fun!!

Thanks for stopping by:)

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

Exploring Cricut - Graduation Board

Hello! Today is my day to post at Exploring Cricut and I'm so sorry it is late. What a week! My Mom was in the hospital until Tuesday and now my parents are staying with me until she is feeling better. So, needless to say I am totally off my schedule and I apologize.

As some of you know, I have a graduate this year and we are having a party this weekend to celebrate. I created a high school board of some of her times during high school using my Cricut:)

I used the computer to add the poem and words throughout the board. I also popped some of the pictures up with styrofoam to give a little more dimension. 

Recipe:

Flourishes - Cindy Loo, Sweethearts, Storybook and Straight From the Nest

Gold paint, brads

You have until Saturday to enter the challenge and get the chance to win goodies from me and some of my DT sisters!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Annette

Exploring Cricut Project - Back to School 2012

Good morning! Glad you popped over today as it is my turn to share at Exploring Cricut. I have a 2 page layout of my girls on their first day of school. I used quite a few cartridges for this one and really had fun with the apple theme.

I used white on the eyes and then Glossy Accents over the entire eyeglass.

Recipe
12 x 12 2 page layout
Apples - Doodlecharms .95", 2.37"
Catepillar Create A Critter 2.46"
Face on catepillar - Peachy Keen Stamps
Border - Martha Stewart Elegant Cake Art 1" x 12.25"
Pink Tag - Tags, Bags, Boxes and More 3.29"
Rosettes - Ribbons and Rosettes 1"
Creme note - Storybook 2.08"
Sentiment - My Creative Time
Metal sentiment - Making Memories
Black and Diamond Stickles, Glossy Accents, ribbon, black ink, white pen

Thanks for stopping by and remember, the challenge ends Saturday, September 1st.

Annette

Valentine Treats

Good Morning! Are you all getting into the Valentine spirit? Today I have a cute little treat bag that came together in a snap. One of my favorite cartridges is Storybook. There are so many hidden gems on this cartridge and I always find just the right thing to use for it.

I am sad this year as I have no kiddos who need treat bags anymore. However, adults like a little treat too: so I'm thinking to whip up some for by Bible Babes:)

Recipe:

Top Note - Storybook 2.70"

Puppy - Sweethearts 1.37"

Papers - Bazzill

Bag - Michael's

Sentiment - My Pink Stamper

Googley eyes, black ink

Entering:

More Than Favors Wacky Wednesday Love theme

Cooking With Cricut  Child's Valentine using pink, white and red

Decorate To Celebrate Valentine

Thanks for stopping by!

Annette

Exploring Cricut Daily Project - Lover's Lane

Good Morning Everyone! I'm so glad you stopped by as it is my turn to share with you a project for Exploring Cricut. I have a Valentine's layout for you and it was so much fun to do. I used quite a few carts to accomplish this one and a lot of stickles:) The name was chosen because my husband's hometown has a street called Lover's Lane and I have always thought it was a very pretty road to travel; perfect for a Valentine page.

Once I have decided on a theme I like to use my gypsy to map out the cuts so I can see how big everything needs to be. From that point, I will either make a tab for each item to cut or group by color. For this particular layout I chose to have a tab for each cut instead of color. I wanted to make sure that the cuts stayed together since there were so many pieces per item.

As you can see, I changed my final layout once I cut them out because I didn't like that the road was hidden. The border was welded together to fit the length of the 12 x 12 pages.

I really like the letters from Storybook. I haven't used this cut very often and it was helpful for me to have the booklet out so that I could make sure and get the right accent frame to go with each letter.

I used the white Signo pen on the wheels and then I added Glossy Accents to it as well as to her shoes, lights and Stickles on basket.

Glossy Accents was added to the cat's heart, the cat and dogs' black eyes and the dog's collar.

Recipe:
12 x 12 2 page layout
Papers - Crate Paper Farmhouse, Bo Bunny Crazy Love, DCWV, stash
Border - Elegant Edges 1.02"
Title - Storybook 1.31"
Apostrophe - Indie Art (actually a rain drop) .79"
Girl w/scooter - Sweethearts 3.45"
House - Everyday Pop Up Cards 3.15"
Heart chimney - Sweethearts 2.85"
Volkswagen car - Sweethearts 1.62"
Road - Paper Dolls for Everyday 2.69", Argyle Cuttlebug folder
Tree- Sweethearts 4.99"
Dog - Sweethearts 2.19"
Grass - Paper Dolls for Everyday 1"
Cat - Sweethearts 1.92"
Peachy Keen Critter faces
Stickles - Fruit Punch, Xmas Red, Stardust, Firefly, Cinnamon, Golden Rod
Liquid Pearls - White Opal and Pewter
Ribbon - Joann Fabric's
Prima flower, brown ink, pop dots, Glossy Accents, white signo pen, black micro pen

Thank you for stopping by! Don't forget to enter the challenge over at Exploring Cricut. We'd love to see what you create:)

Annette

Monogram Coaster Gift Sets

Good Morning! Today I wanted to share a quick project. For those of you who might be needing a gift over the weekend this one might be the one. I saw over at DCWV the tiles that Erin made when she was on the Michael's cruise and really liked them. I belong to a bible group called "Bible Babes" and there are about 14 of us. Every year we have a Christmas pot luck dinner. This year my bff and I wanted to do something for everyone and came up with the monogram coasters.

We used My Mind's Eye paper to complete our coasters. The good thing about this paper is that it is double sided so that helped with coordinating and we didn't have to get as much paper. I would suggest if you get paper that is raised in anyway you should adhere the ModPodge to the tile and the paper before laying it down. The glitter polka dots needed the extra glue to get all areas smooth. I would also suggest a brayer if you have one.

Glitter Alert! As we all know some glitter papers do not stay on the paper. This was one of them:) So, if you don't want little flecks on your project I would suggest picking a paper that the glitter stays put. We didn't mind on the polka dot as it was not overly heavy and just looks like part of the paper. DCWV has very good papers and the glitter doesn't budge:)

Even though tiles are called 4 x 4 they are really 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" so we got 4 squares out of 12 x 12 because we covered the tile completely. It definitely would be more cost effective to cut your squares 4 x 4 and get 9 squares per sheet. Our tiles were a left over so we really didn't have a color option, but if purchased we probably would have gotten cream to coordinate with the paper, and had a little of it showing. The tiles are around 16 cents at Home Depot.

It is a little difficult to read but the stamp verse is from Hobby Lobby and it is Isaiah 49:16. The "to" and "from" are from Emma at My Creative Time. The tag was then inked with brown. 

Now they just need to be wrapped and they are ready to go. Since we have left over paper, these will be cut into strips and run through the crimper to be filled in the bag.

If you decide to do this project I would love to see what you have made:)

You will also need:
4 x 4 tiles
paper of your choice (a 12 x 12 will yield 9 squares if you aren't covering the entire coaster.)
ModPodge
clear spray
felt circles to put on the back
Letters - Storybook cartridge

Entering:

Fantabulous Cricut

Thanks for stopping by!

Annette

Leaves

Hi! Today I am working on a Thanksgiving card. I kept it really simple and am also entering in a few challenges. The white, in person, really makes it very crisp. I wonder if anyone has taken the real leaves and put Diamond Glaze over them for a project to preserve them. I might have to try that too. If anyone has I would  love to know if it worked or not:) That would be really pretty for a card.

Recipe:

A2 base

Papers - Stash

Leaves - Gypsy Wandering 2.76", Stretch Your Imagination 1.47", Lyrical Letters 3"

Topnote - Storybook 3.28"

Sentiment - My Pink Stamper

Gems - Basic Grey

Black, Walnut Stain and Champagne Inks, Zig Brown Pen

Ribbon - Stash

Entering:
You Had Me At Craft - Anything Goes



Pile It On -Thanksgiving or Give Thanks
Stuck On U Sketches -Leaf Die Cut
A Muse Studio - Thanks

Thanks for stopping by:)

Annette

Halloween Layouts

Well, I am finally get done some layouts from last year. I have been scrapping all my life in one form or another. I really started scrapbooking when my oldest (16) was a baby. I didn't care for the baby books that were out way back when and wanted to do something different and came across Creative Memories. Boy, have things changed since then.

Today, I am entering the challenge at Paper Playtime. The challenge was to use black, orange and purple on a project. I used a few different cartridges to get this layout done. 

This layout was inspired from another blogger, Bling Queen. I really like the background papers. The orange paper with the embossed bats are really fun:)

Recipes:

Ghost Layout:

Papers - DCWV Ghosts and Goblins Stack, Basic Grey Eerie Witches Brew, K& Company, Bazzill

Frame - Storybook 2.86"

Flourish - Cindy Loo 2.10"

Orange Ghost - Paper Doll Dress Up 5.17"

White Ghosts - Mini Monsters 4.40" and 5.17"

Circle - George and Basic Shapes 2.18"

Purple Scallop Circle - Happy Hauntings 3.00"

Spooky - Happy Hauntings 2.13"

Black Ink, Stickles

Halloween Layout:

Papers - Making Memories, Doodlebug, Bazzill

Walkway - Paper Dolls for Everyday Cuttlebug Folder - Tiny Bubbles 1.46"

Title - 2.04"

House - Mini Monsters 5.91"

Light Post - 3.26"

Monster in Hole - 2.00"

Witch - 5.91"

Cauldron - 1.17"

Free Rides - 0.66"

Tombstone - 2.67"

3 Eye Monster - 2.52"

Tentacle Monster - 3.13"

Spiderweb border - sorry don't remember maker of this one

Black Ink, Stickles, Signo Uniball White Pen, Glossy Accents

Thanks for stopping by:)

Annette

Thinking of You

There is a new challenge site that started called Go Fish Challenge affiliated with TradeFish Designs. I hadn't heard of these stamps before and really like their sets. They will have challenges on the 1st and the 15th of the month. The 1st challenge is "anything goes." I chose the soft colors of green and purple today.

Recipe:

A2 card using Stampin' Up for base

Butterfly - Storybook 3.59"

Frame - Cindy Loo 2.29"

Liquid Pearls - White Opal

Sentiment - Michael's

Thanks for looking!

Annette

Hi There!

Good Morning! Today I pulled one of my favorite cartridges, which is Storybook. It has so many great features. I got my stamps from Emma at My Creative Time and am so excited to work with them. I haven't had much time to play with them, but am hoping that time will free up some for me so I can:) I am really anxious to work with the gift card die. I will post when I get one done. I really like this paper stack from Basic Grey. I have used a lot of it as it seems to go for a lot of different occasions. I like how this pulled some good fall colors out too.

Recipe:

A2 Card Base - Stampin Up

Pattern Paper-  Basic Grey Urban Prairie

Solid Paper - Bazzill

Owl - Storybook pg. 34, height 2.70 on gypsy

Tree limb - Storybook pg. 34, height 3.64 (cut the owl off)

Stamp - My Creative Time

Punch - Fiskars

Thanks for stopping by!

Annette