Zebra Card

A few weeks ago, I was asked to make a card for a little girl at our church.  The card was from her teacher, saying goodbye as she transitioned into another class at church.  Here's what I came up with.

I used the zebra and wording from Create A Critter.  This sentiment normally comes with a balloon behind the "4", but I cut that off and put a flower in it's place.

I added stitching for accent and put the zebra on with foam dots to make it stand out.  The ric rac (isn't that what it's called??) is felt and I got it after Halloween on clearance last year.  I don't have any of the cut sizes on this one because my Gypsy froze and didn't save my work as I was cutting.

That's all for today folks!  This isn't my normal style of card, but I was trying to make it appealing to a 9 year old girl.  Hopefully she liked it.

Blessings,

Cheryl

Interested??

I'm sure some you already know, but I just found out that Saturday is World Card Making Day! I’m behind the times here! Anyway, I wanted to do some fun things on the blog to celebrate and for one of them, I’d like your help. I would love to share cards from some of my followers during our celebration. If you’d like to have your card featured here on Saturday, please email your name, website/blog (if you have one) and a picture of the card you’d like featured to blondiee975@gmail.com. I will randomly choose several of you and share your creations. I love drawing inspiration from other crafters and can’t wait to see what you share!


Blessings,

Simply Charmed - Week 4

So today is my last day to explore Simply Charmed, and I must say, I'm relieved.  I had a really hard time with these projects.  As I mentioned before, I've just been hitting a wall when I sit down to work on a project and this was no exception.  Then, of course, I couldn't get a good picture of this card no matter how many I took or how I changed the lighting.  So irritating!!!  Anyway, here's what I have to share with you today.

In person, this paper has soft greens and coral-ish pinks (I know, that's not a real word!).  But in the pics, it just looks harsh.  Oh well!  I used Simply Charmed for the flower and cut it at 3.5".  The paper came from a stack by KI Memories. 

The stamp is from the dollar bin at Walmart - I love this stamp!  I added a flower button with some white twine tied through it.  I purposely frayed the twine, but it's hard to see with the reflection.

Here's what I did for the inside of the card.  I think a card is so much better if the inside matches the outside.  I must admit, I don't always take time to jazz up the inside, but I like them much better when I do.  Do you jazz up the inside of your cards?  If so, how?

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  It was great to share with you all!  I feel like my "crafty mojo" is coming back slowly, so I hope to have alot more to share with you soon.

Blessings,
Cheryl

Winner!!

Woo hoo!  I'm here to announce the winner of the birthday drawing. I had issues with Blogger last night so I couldn't post it until today.  The winner, by random draw is....

Chris (C.A.R.) said...

I'm very thankful that God's plan for me is so much better than what I had "planned" for myself. (I had my first child at 36, second at 38 and just had my third at 41. - Age is just a number.) So happy to hear you're excited about your birthday. Enjoy it to the fullest. Happy birthday Cheryl!

Congrats Chris!  You won a Cricut cartridge!  =)  Since it's a birthday surprise, I won't tell you which one.  Please respond to my email with your contact info and I'll get it shipped this week.

Blessings,

Cheryl



Aloha!

Aloha!  Happy Monday to you all!  I have a different project to share with you today.  My sister-in-law threw a Hawaiian themed wedding shower over the weekend.  They asked everyone to bring gift cards in lieu of gifts and she asked me to make a card box to sit on the table.  I wasn't sure what to make it look like, so I just guessed!  Here's what I came up with....

I had forgotten to take a picture until I was on my way out the door with this, so please ignore the dirty cutting mat and messy desk behind it!  I used Life's A Beach for all the cuts.  I covered the box with blue paper for the sky, then added the sand and the water.  I used the font from this cart for the words.  Since there's no shadow feature, I just layered the different colors on the letters.

I added the trees, birds and a cute little crab.  It's hard to tell in the pic, but I covered the crab with glossy accents to make his shell shiny.

On the other side, I added some flip flops.  I was really debating on whether I should add more to the front??  I didn't want overkill, but it also seemed a little plain to me.

This is one side of the box.  I thought this hula girl was super cute, but too big to put on the front with the wording.

Here's the other side of the box.  I added some cute little animals to this side.  I was going to go back and add more details, but I just ran out of time because some things came up while I was working on it.  Hopefully this worked for her.  I was unable to attend the shower because of a previous commitment, so I wasn't able to see if it went well with the other decor.  I had no idea how to make a "card box" or what it should look like, so I was totally flying blind on this one.

Blessings,

Cheryl

Simple Cards

As I mentioned previously, I finally broke down and bought Elegant Edges over the weekend.  I only had a few minutes to use it the night I bought it, but wanted to try out some of the cuts, so I made the following cards.

As I said this is SUPER simple.  I cut the scallop shape from my newest love, Elegant Edges.  I cut the base and shadow in white and just layered them. 

I stamped the sentiment (Hero Arts, I think...) and put on with foam tape for dimension.  I actually went back later and added some blink and inking, but don't have a picture of that.

For the next card, I cut the border from Elegant Edges.  I had no plan for either of these, but was itching to use this cart the night I brought it home, so I just played around for a few minutes before bed.

I used the border feature for this cut.  The paper and stamp are from the dollar bin at Walmart. 

I added a button with some twine tied through it because the red looked sorta plain.

Don't forget, I'm having a giveaway this week.  You can view the post here.  Since I will be super busy tomorrow, I have decided to extend the deadline to Sunday, so you have a few more days if you haven't entered yet.  I will draw a winner on Monday.

I am working on several cards using this fabulous new cartridge, so I'll share those soon, hopefully.  I have you all have a blessed and fabulous weekend!

Blessings,
Cheryl

Good Morning!  I wanted to start off today by saying thanks so much to all of you for your kind words and birthday wishes.  I feel so blessed to have gotten to know some of you through email and I love, love, love hearing from you! 

I have a project to share with you from this month's highlighted cartridge, Simply Charmed.  This should have been posted yesterday, but I was off celebrating my birthday with a horrible dinner at Applebee's.  No joke!  You know those dinners where everything is bad?  That was it.  My husband was really upset because he felt like my birthday dinner was ruined, but we had a nice time together, so it was fine.  I couldn't decide what I wanted to eat, and they have this Chicken Fajita Roll Up that I love there, so we went.  To summarize - Our waiter pulled a great disappearing act for the entire meal (no drink refills, napkins, etc), they left the sauce and onions off my hubbies sliders (only meat and bread!!), they left the dipping sauce off my meal (my favorite part) and then we couldn't find him for the check and sat forever just waiting on him to appear.  On top of all this, our food took forever to come out and was soggy like it had been sitting in the kitchen under a warming light for a long time.  The best part of my meal was my Dr. Pepper (which never got refilled).  Honest.  Ok, I'm done griping.  Onto the card... 

I have a disclaimer - I am not loving this card.  I know I'm always super critical of my work, but this one is just...lacking.  I decided to go ahead and share with you because, well, I spent a long time on it and why not?  =)  I know you all are so kind you'll love me anyway, right?  In spite of a rough looking card?  I don't hate it, but I don't love it either.  Anyway, here it is.

I think these little Russian doll cuts are super cute.  I don't find many situations where they apply, so I have to use them on generic cards when I cut them.  The doll is cut at 3.5".  The card is 4"x9" to fit into a #10 envelope.

The sentiment is stamp from the new dollar bins at Walmart.  They have some pretty cute stamps, if you can find them.  Our is always sold out, so I got lucky on this one.

I added the cute little doll with foam dots for dimension.

Thanks for checking out my project today.  I have to share my excitement with you - I finally got Elegant Edges!  Yippee Skippy!  I have looked for that cart forever at a reasonable price.  I am working on some projects now using that cart, so I'll start sharing soon.  I am falling in the love with it quickly - it has some great cuts!  Have a fabulous Wednesday!!

Useful Gypsy Information

Wow. This is my second post of the day. I'm just full of hot air, aren't I? Don't answer that! 

I wanted to share some information that some of you might find useful. If you frequent the Cricut website, you may have noticed that the Cricut Craft Room is live and ready to use now. I have been really excited about trying this out, so I was thrilled when I discovered this on Friday. I needed to do a project using Life's A Beach, so I borrowed it from my friend. Of course, I can't load it on my Gypsy, so I was going to have to cut the old fashioned way (which is unheard of in this house since Gypsy came along). Since the Craft Room was ready to use, I decided to use it with my friend's cartridge over the weekend. It's really nice because it offers the ability to do many things like Gypsy and/or Design Studio and it's all saved in your online account. I created all my cuts and hooked it up to my Cricut. It then prompted me to do a firmware update on my Cricut. BAD IDEA! Long story short, everything worked fine until I disconnected from Craft Room and went back to make some stuff with my Gypsy. I plugged in my Gypsy and got an error when I hit the cut button. It was telling me my Gypsy needed to be updated and may not cut properly. I had just updated my G and it was current.

So, I called PC today. They told me that they are just discovering (a little too late, in my humble opinion) that the firmware update for Craft Room isn't compatible with Gypsy. And I had to download a trial version of DS to get the firmware back to the correct version (on my Cricut) so it would cut properly with Gypsy. The customer service rep from PC was super nice and helpful and now Gypsy is back to normal.

I wanted to pass this along so none of you run into this. She told me you'll have to choose - Craft Room or Gypsy - but not both. I am a Cricut addict and love their products, but feel this was poor planning on their part. I have several friends that I have swapped cartridges with over the years, and the thought of being able to use them with Craft Room is really appealing to me since it offers welding, hide/contour, etc. Sadly, my experience with Craft Room was bittersweet. It was great to be able to use it in that way when I couldn't use Gypsy, but not worth the hassle with the firmware issues. Hopefully this will help some of you not make this same mistake!

Blessings,
Cheryl

Happy Birthday to me (almost)...and a Giveaway!

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope you all had a great weekend.  Mine went by super fast, but was nice.  I was able to craft alot on Saturday and yesterday between church, so I'll be sharing those goodies soon.  But....for today, no project, just a post. 

Tomorrow is my 36th birthday.  Yikes.  I feel like I'm getting old very quickly.  Now, I realize that's not old to some, but it sure feels that way at times.  It really bothered me when I turned 30, but the birthdays since then haven't really bothered me so much.  Until this one.  Not sure why really.... closer to 40, maybe?  OMG.  Closer to 40?  Did those words really come out of my mouth?  I still feel like I'm a 20-something and have my whole life ahead of me.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I don't think it's all coming to an end just because I'm inching toward that big 4-0 mark.  But as my birthday has approached this year, I've reminisced alot.  As I've mentioned before, I'm Miss Type A Personality.  Big Time.  I'm a planner.  I love a well laid plan and when it comes together, it's even better.  When I was younger, I had it all planned out.  You get the picture.  I just knew by this point I would be living the in this perfect house with a white picket fence and a husband, daughter, son and dog.  I would be a stay at home mom, and because I'd married a wealthy man, we'd have it all (what is "all"?  who knows...).   I'd have a spotlessly clean house and my children would never behave badly and we'd be the most perfect family ever.   (ha ha...now I'm just being funny) Well, needless to say, that didn't happen.  I have no house with a picket fence.  I have no daughter, son or dog.  I don't stay at home but instead go to work every day.  And we aren't wealthy.  Yet.  =) 

OK, I'm really not having a pity party.  I said all of that to get to this point.  As life happened, I hit alot of bumps, and sometimes potholes, in the road.  There are many things that haven't worked out as I'd planned.  And because of my personality, I've spent way too long analyzing where I went wrong on certain things or what I could have changed.  But you know what?  None of it matters now!  What has happened before is over and done.  And the best laid plans in the world don't make us happy.  (That was a hard lesson for me)  So, what's the point of all my rambling?  I just wanted to share with you that I am so grateful that tomorrow I'll be celebrating my 36th year of life on this planet.  God has blessed me with so many wonderful, unexpected things along the way.  I'm excited for my birthday tomorrow.  Not because of gifts or parties or cake (don't think I'll have much of that...ha ha), but because there are so many people that don't have the life or blessings that I have.  And because God has me inscribed in the palm of his hand and I can't wait to see what He has in store for the next 36 years! 

To celebrate my day, I want to bless you all with a giveaway. Enough of the serious stuff, right?  On to the fun!  I can truly say that this blog has been one of my biggest surprises and blessings.  I like to talk way too much and never thought anyone would want to read my ramblings or see my cards.  And you all keep coming back!  You rock!  So, for my birthday, I'm going to give one of you a surprise.  I'm not telling what it is, because birthday gifts are so much better if they're surprises, right?  To win, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post with your contact info.  You have until Friday to enter and I'll draw a winner on Saturday morning.  Good Luck!

Blessings,

Cheryl

Flower Thank You

I've been in a creative slump lately.  Don't you hate it when that happens?  I sit down at my desk and stare at the Gypsy screen trying to come up with something.  And I have nothing.  UGH!  So, I choose some paper and still...nothing.  UGH!  And this goes on and on and on.  I have found that if I let this continue, it gets harder and harder to get back in the swing of things.  So, last night, I made myself sit down and make a card.  I must admit - I re-made this card like 5 times because I was unhappy with it, but now I like it!

The base and mat are from Ashlynn's Alphabet.  I welded the shadow pieces together to make the base.  I didn't write it down, but I want to say I cut the scallop shape at 3.50". 

I cut the flowers in graduated sizes from Serenade Solutions.  I ran them through my Cuttlebug to emboss them and added a wooden button with some twine.

I used foam to make the flower several layers high and give it dimension.  Now I just hope it fits in my envelope!

The stamped sentiment is from the dollar bin at Michael's.  I inked the edges of everything and slapped it on there - Voila!

I would love to hear from you - What do you do to boost your creativity when you're in a rut?

Blessings,

Cheryl

Quick Project!

I wanted to share a quick project with you today.  As I've mentioned before, I always make a favor for our monthly ladies meeting at church.  This month, my original project was not working out like I planned, so I had to make a last minute substitution, and I made bookmarks.  They were really easy and fast and would be great for a party favor or to add to a card as a little something extra.

For each one, I used word art from Gypsy Wanderings.  It has GREAT word art!  Each word was cut at a slightly different size.  I tried to keep them all around 5"-6" long and 2" wide when sized on my mat on screen.  Please forgive the background that doesn't match at all.  I have no idea what possessed me to use the kitchen counter instead of the plain white table for a background!  I was at church and in a hurry and it must have been a blond moment.

To make these, I welded a circle onto the shadow of each word.  I then placed another circle on top of it (not welded) so it would cut like a hole punch.

It took a little trial and error to figure out what size I wanted the holes to be.  This could vary based on the width of your ribbon.

As you can see these are sorta plain.  Since I was in a mad rush, I just used paper scraps I had on hand.  I hope to make more later using patterned paper, embossing and some bling.  I think you could really spruce them up and have fun with them! 

There are tons of artsy, swirly words that you could use from many different cartridges.  This is just a sampling of what I chose.

I hope you all have a fabulous day!

Blessings,

Cheryl

Simply Charmed - Week 2

Good Morning to you all!  Today I want to share my second project from my exploration of Simply Charmed.  If you have a Gypsy or Design Studio, I think you'll find this cart very versatile as you can hide the faces or keep them if you want it more whimsical. 

I used one of the present cuts for this card.  I really like how the bow sits up on top of the present.  I hid the face using the hide/contour feature on my Gypsy so it would be solid on the base of the present.  I welded the shadow together to form the card base and the base and all layers were cut at 5.5".

The tag is from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More - One of the best carts ever, in my opinion!  I cut the tag and shadow at 1".  I added a stamped sentiment, a silver brad and put it on the card using foam tape for dimension.

To complete the card, I added details and stitching with my white gel pen.  The patterned paper is by DCWV.

I made two cards, each with a different color bow.  These cards were super simple and quick.  This would be a great, easy project when you're in a rush for a birthday card!  I'm sure I'm not the only one whose forgotten a birthday until the night before and had to rush around making a fast card, right?  That's all I have for now.  Have a great day!

Blessings,

Cheryl

Friday Funny!

Happy Friday everyone!  I have had a super busy week, so I don't have a project to share with you today.  I am working on a couple of time consuming things, so I'll hopefully share those soon.  Because I know you were all on pins and needles - and waiting to hear this - I finished the majority of my cleaning in the junk room I spoke about last week!  Yippee!  Like I said, I'm sure you were just dying to know if I got it done or not, so I had to share...ha ha. 

Since I don't have project to post, I thought I'd share a funny link with you.  My husband saw this on "Attack of the Show" last night and we thought it was seriously hilarious.  These guys can rock!  =)  Enjoy!  Here's the link to the You Tube video in case you can't see it below:  Dancers
 

 I'm impressed with their skill, how about you?

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday!  I will be back soon with some projects to share.

Blessings,
Cheryl

A day late....

Happy Wednesday to you all!  I am a day late posting this, so my apologies.  I was due to post the new project from the cartridge of the month yesterday and since I had the day off work and was "in the zone" cleaning feverishly, I totally forgot!  Major blonde moment!  Anyway, since it's a new month, it's time for a new cartridge.  This month, I'll be exploring Simply Charmed.  At first, I was hesitant to buy this cartridge.  I like alot of the cuts, but I don't want everything I make to have a smiley face.  So, when I got my Gypsy, I ordered it right away because I can hide the faces if I want.  Sometimes they're cute, but sometimes, they just don't go, you know?

I made this card for my brother's birthday.  He turned 32 last week and I wanted to make a silly card because I sorta feel like neither of us ever grew up!  I will be 36 this month and I still feel like a kid at times.  I have wanted to use this burger cut forever.  Since I was giving him a gift card to a burger restaurant, I thought it would be perfect.  Not your normal birthday card, but oh well!



The burger comes from Simply Charmed.  I used patterned paper for the lettuce, tomato and meat.  It looked sorta boring with solid colors.  I inked the edges with brown ink and added wiggly eyes.  I love this little burger man!! 

I cut the fries and box by hand because I don't have a cart with fries on it.  I inked the edges of the fries as well using brown ink.  I put some of the fries in there using my ATG gun and some using some foam tape so there would be some dimension.

The stamp is from a cupcake set by Hero Arts.  I stamped it in black and then embossed it with clear powder.  I think embossing is grand, don't you?  It makes my cards happier, I'm sure.

On the inside, I stamped "Happy Birthday" and added a sleeve to hold the gift card.  Although this was simple, I enjoyed making this card.  Sometimes it's such fun to just be silly, isn't it?  I love fancy, detailed cards, but occasionally it's great to do something completely silly!

One last thing....  A few months ago I asked for your input on my cartridge of the month selections.  There were many requests for me to use Elegant Edges.  I haven't forgotten your requests; I just don't have that cart.  I will confess a big secret to you guys if you promise not to tell - I am really cheap when it comes to buying cartridges!  (Gasp!!!)  I have looked for this cart on EBay and it's going for around $50+ and I just haven't been able to pay that much yet.  If you all have any suggestions on a good place to find a great deal on this or other carts, I would love to have your input.  I am keeping my eyes open and will purchase it one of these days.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Blessings,

Cheryl

TGIF!!!!

I'm sooooo happy it's Friday, aren't you?  For those of you in the good ol' USA, it's a holiday weekend, so for most of us that means an extra day off work.  Woohoo!  I took an extra day off, so I don't have to go back until Wednesday.  If you can't tell, I'm really excited to have the long weekend.  I have big plans to clean out my spare bedroom.  It honestly looks like some type of natural disaster hit that room.  It started out being pretty organized, but as we've accumulated stuff, it's gotten totally out of control.  My hubby calls it my "Monica Closet".  I don't know how many of you were fans of the show Friends, but Monica was a character on there that was normally very organized and clean.  Her husband discovers this closet in their apartment that's locked and he's dying to know what's in there.  Once he gets it open, it's piled to the ceiling with miscellaneous junk.  So, Charles calls the spare room my "Monica Closet" because normally I like things very tidy and in order.  I gave up on this room a long time ago.  Here's a link to the clip from the show, if you'd like to see it:  Friends - The Secret Closet  (Disclaimer - My spare room isn't quite as bad as this closet.  Just had to clear that up!!)

Now, on to more important things.  Today, I wanted to share a birthday card I made.  At first, this card wasn't making me smile.  But as it evolved, I really like it. 

For the base of the card, I used the card feature on Life's A Party.  This card base is actually supposed to be a coffin for an over the hill party, but I love the shape so I used it.  For the liner, I used the hide/contour feature and hid the wording.  The cupcake comes from Birthday Bash.  I think this is my favorite cupcake cut on any of the carts I own.  I just love that cheerful cherry on top!

All the patterned paper is from a stack by K&Company.  I cut the cherry and leaves twice and layered them for some dimension.  I used red craft foam instead of regular foam dots so it's not as noticeable from the side.  I inked all the edges with brown.

On the cherry, I added a white highlight with my gel pen, inked the edges and then added Glossy Accents.  I was behind the times and just bought my first bottle this summer.  How did I ever live without it?  =)

I stamped the sentiment (from Michael's Dollar Bin) and then added some twine to finish it off. 

On the inside, I just added a plain liner and stamped Happy Birthday.  My hubby, whose opinion I ask before giving any cards away, said this was a "winner", so I'm thinking of making more of this style to have on hand.  I was thinking maybe some with bright pinks, greens, blues and maybe even one with black and white paper.  The possibilities are endless...especially since I continue to buy paper packs and my supply is growing!

I just realized I've rambled on quite a while now, so I shall stop.  I hope you all have a fabulously blessed and happy weekend!

Cheryl