Masculine Birthday Card

I needed to make a masculine birthday card and boy was I drawing a blank. Then I remembered that I had picked up some copper craft metal at J's a few days ago and decided to make that work. I like the way it turned out, lots of texture but very simple, perfect for the recipient. Thanks for taking a look.

No cricut on this one, obviously. All of my paper is from DCWV stacks. I embossed & distressed the brown background paper to look like leather and used the same embossing plate on the copper. Then I popped the copper up on foam tape, added a button, some leather cord with beads, a couple of grommets and a very few doodle dots. I think he is going to love the different textures.

Meow lite cartridge... a blog hop win!

I was so excited to get home from work today to find the cartridge I won from Pamela (you  must visit her blog) during the blog hop! I got to choose from any of the lite cartridges and I chose Meow. I had so much fun playing with it tonight, I am so glad I picked this one. Thank you thank you thank you Pamela!

*** Oh and Pamela sent the cutest card with my cartridge - Thanks Pamela, so cute!! I almost missed it because it slid out of the package under the cartridge and right under the dining room table. ***

These little cats are so cute and playful I had to make that the theme of my card.

Actually I was inspired by my own two cats. Tigger is young, playful and full of energy and the orange and grey cat on this card represent him. My older cat Pilgrim, is aloof but lovable, a bit clumsy (aren't cats supposed to be graceful?) and quite chunky. The white pudgy cat causing the birthday sign to tilt and the black cat tangled in the yarn represent Pilgrim. Pilgrim also has solid black long fluffy fur and green eyes and sometimes you can't make out any of his features, just his eyes so I wanted the black cat on the card to look like that too. So this card gives you a glimpse of the kitties in my household, they are very entertaining and bring us lots of joy! I hope you enjoy!

Cardz TV Christmas in July Challenge #4

Well this is the last of Mary's challenges at cardztv.blogspot.com and I am going to miss doing them! This challenge was to use a christmas tree on your card.

I chose to do an easel card because I wanted to put lots of dimension on my card. I used single and double layers of pop dots to put the gifts on a strip of cardstock, then popped that strip up on pop dots in front of the tree, which is also popped up. (Whew! Thatsalotta pops!)

Here are the supplies I used:

Christmas tree was cut from Create A Critter cartridge - I cut 3 of these and then cut the levels with scallop scissors and inked and layered the pieces to give my tree lots of dimension.

All paper is from DCWV - cardstock, Christmas Stack, and the tree was cut from an 8x8 sheet called green stained.

The sentiment is from Lizzie Anne designs Little Bits cling stamp set

Stickles to add lights to the tree, a foam sparkle star and ribbon from my stash, sakura glitter pens and dew drops to embellish.

Nestabilities labels #4 to cut the shapes for the sentiment.

I hope you enjoy, thanks again Mary for another fun challenge!

Christmas in July Cardz TV Challenge #3

Well I am not sure if I made the deadline for posting this card, but that's okay, I had fun making it anyway. This is for Mary's Christmas in July challenge # 3 over at Cardz TV. The challenge was to use ribbon/lace/buttons... all 3 or any combination. This is a 5x7 card and all of the cuts are from Winter Woodland (just got it and was dying to try it out), with some sheer ribbon twisted around the trees. I liked the look of the ribbon twisted around the tree and will probably do a few more like this. Anyway, thanks Mary for another interesting challenge, I will be on time next time! :)

Want Blog Candy???

Now here is a fun way to celebrate your birthday! Jodi at Inked Inspirations is offering blog candy... for her own birthday! Click over to Jodi's Blog now for your chance to win. Thanks Jodi!

Thanks so much for a fun blog hop! And the winner is...

First let me say how much I enjoyed the Cricut Card Fairy Blog Hop this past weekend! Congrats Crystal on a successful blog hop!


To my new friends who visited me, thank you so much! I was overwhelmed by all the sweet wonderful comments, you are all truly appreciated!!


Now... who won the goodies you may ask?? First let me tell you about the process. I use a program called 'The Hat' from the good folks at Harmony Hollow Software. It is a freeware program so feel free to try it out. It is great for doing random draws or randomly matching pairs of names for a swap, etc. So basically I load all the names into 'the hat' and click on draw, at which time a name is randomly drawn. Here is a screenshot of the draw:

So congratulations to 4boysisjoy! Please use the contact form to send me your address so I can mail your prize.

Welcome to the Cricut Card Fairy Blog Hop!!!

I am so excited to be a part of this great group of crafters, and the first Cricut Card Fairy blog hop!! If you are hopping along from the Peacock Paperie, welcome to my studio, you are in the right place! If you landed here accidentally and want to start at the beginning of this fun blog hop (and maybe pick up some goodies along the way), and learn more about Cricut Card Fairies, you can do that by clicking here .

Speaking of goodies, just follow me, then leave a comment on one of my featured projects, and you will be entered to win an assortment of wonderful embellishments, 13 packages in all! If you already follow me, just leave a comment and you will be entered! Good Luck!! Check back Monday morning to see if you are the lucky winner. Winner will be chosen with a random draw.

So relax, stay awhile, check out my featured projects, and then continue the hop to Light Whimsy for some more fun!

Thanks for hopping by!!

Blog Hop Featured Project - Cutting Intricate Card Windows

I have been having such fun with my Cindy Loo cricut cartridge, especially the doilies, they are so cute! So when I saw the new hide contour feature on the Gypsy, I wondered if I could use that feature to hide the outside cut of the doily and cut an intricate window in a card. The anwer is yes!!

This first card is for a Cricut Card Fairy mission and the assignment was to make a pink get well type card. I don't usually do much pink, unless it is mixed with brown or some other color, but I decided to embrace the pink, as you can tell with this card.

I used one of the doily cuts on the Cindy Loo cartridge and my Gypsy to hide the outside cut and position the cut on my card. I actually love the way it turned out!

This next card was done using the same technique, a different Cindy Loo doily, and no pink! I'm not sure if it shows in the pictures but it has a peachy/ivory/teal color theme. I love this card too, I think I will be doing more of these cuts!

Check out my next project before you go,

the link to continue hopping is there.

Blog Hop Featured Project!! Super Easy Quick & Breezy Cards with Cuttlebug Embossing Folders

How many times have I wished I had time to make a card before heading out somewhere?? Well, I was playing around with my Cuttlebug embossing folders and decided to try some really quick but still cute cards. Here is the result.

This card is so simple, embossing, coordinating paper, and layer, layer, layer! So easy and quick!

On this next card I used the Cuttlebug journaling folder. This gave me an instant card layout, just added some flowers, rick-rack and a sentiment and voila! Instant card!

I hope this gives you some ideas for super easy quick & breezy cards of your own. Continue with the blog hop by heading over to Light Whimsy but don't forget to follow/comment before you go for a chance to win a prize! Check back here Monday morning to see if you won. There will be a random draw from all entries.

Thanks for hopping by!

What an Honor! And Neverending Card

My blogspot neighbor Dorcas over at 4 Crafty Angels has surprised and honored me with a blog award! Who would have thought?! If you have not visited her blog, go check it out, she is such an inspiration and you will love her work! Thanks Dorcas!! As soon as I get the 'rules' in order and figure out how to do it, I will pass that award on.


Now I want to post a card that I just did for my daughter's upcoming birthday. This is a neverending card and if you have not done one of these, try it. It is surprisingly easy to do and so much fun. Click this link for a great tutorial by Dawn at Dawn's Stamping Thoughts. (Dawn is awesome!) Anyway, I have been wanting to do one of these for the longest time and finally got around to it and I am glad I did because I think it turned out cute. Check it out!

Here is the front of the card and you just keep opening it.

Now here is the first open:

And the 2nd:

And the 3rd:

And then back to the front: (I know...neverending right?)

Anyway, I know my daughter will love it and I hope you do too!

FYI: I used paper from DCWV, My Mind's Eye and Bazzil. I printed the Happy Birthday lyrics and cut with Nesties Label #8, Not sure where the musical note stamp came from but I stamped it with Memento Dew Drop ink. The butterflies were punched with a fiskars punch. I added just a touch of bling with Sakura glitter pens. Thanks for looking!

Cardz TV Christmas in July Challenge #2

Mary over at Cardz TV has issued another Christmas in July challenge. Check it out, the only requirement is that you include a snowman. I cut my snowman from the Doodlecharms Cricut Cartridge. Thanks again Mary for a great challenge, at this rate I might just get my Christmas cards out on time this year!! ;)

Sympathy Card

I always have such a hard time with sympathy cards, and this was especially hard because it was for a man and I didn't want it to be too lacy flowery, so this is what I came up with. It is very simple, I used a sympathy quote I repeated over and over and printed on my computer for the word background, a couple of distressed flowers cut from tan and brown paper, distressing all over, black ribbons and buttons and a simple sentiment stamped in black. I hope this helps anybody else who has the same block when it comes to sympathy cards.

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Sorry for the poor image, this card is tan, black & brown. What is up with my camera?  I made this card for a welcome home card using a technique I saw in a video for the reeds in the vase. I wanted to link to that video here but I can't find it now. Anyway I will try to explain it.Use a paper with a tiny design, or stamp a tiny background on your paper, and score it - lots of close scores flipping the paper front and back as you go. I used a crackle design paper from DCWV in tan and brown, the same as the strip below the vases. Then take your paper - about 3x3 or however long you want your strands to be and slice very thin pieces. I used the fiskars small guillotine type paper cutter. The thinner the strips, the better. They will curl and wave slightly which is just what you want. Gather them together and voila! Reeds! I used the vase from the Walk In My Garden cart for this card. Hope you enjoy!

Christmas in July Challenge #1 from Cardz TV

Mary at Cardz TV has issued a Christmas in July challenge. This one requires the use of the colors pink, green, red, white and black only. This is my attempt at meeting her challenge. I cut and layered  the birdhouse and backgrounds in pink and green and the bird is layered in red and black, all on a 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 white card. I used Cricut cartridges Cindy Loo for the birdhouse and scalloped backgrounds, Straight from the Nest for the bird, and Create a Critter for the Christmas lights on the birdhouse. I added a little stickles for sparkle and the sentiment reads - There's no place like home for the Holidays. Thanks Mary for a great challenge!! This is my first and it was fun!

Sailboat Spinner Card

Hello! This is my first post to this blog. I will be posting pictures of cards I make. I have been so inspired over the past months by so much creativity on the blogs I visit, I am hoping to return the favor! Enjoy!

This card is actually a spinner card... well that does not spin. The sailboat actually slides across the card behind the waves. I used a square foam dot between the pennies to keep it from spinning. The sailboat was cut using the 'Life's a Beach' cricut cartridge.