Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is my birthday (cue the Beatles soundtrack) and I wanted to celebrate with you, the people that read my blog and all the wonderful folks that take part in the different challenges.

So, I am giving away one Martha Stewart cartridge (the winner can choose).  If you don't have a cricut, I will gift you with a set of  Tim Holtz stamps and stickles.  It is a you choose give away.  How much fun is that?

In order to win you must:
1.  either subscribe or follow my blog and
2.  leave a comment on this post telling me which of my projects you like best.

Please leave me a way to get in touch with you if you win.  I will use random.org to select a winner on March 25th.

Doesn't that sound like fun?

Bah Humbug Aperture Card

This seems simple enough but it wasn't.  First, I needed to look-up and make certain I understood exactly what an aperture card contains.  After assuring myself that I just needed to have holes in my card I was off to the races.  For some reason I decided this card would be embossed.

So, I needed to choose an embossing folder.  Let me tell you I went back and forth over folders for a couple of days.  Eventually, I was starting to run out of time and patience.  If you enlarge the photo, you should be able to see the lovely embossing I did with my Cuttlebug and Sissix embossing folder.  Again, I'm not certain what the folder is called.  I promise labeling and organizing my folders is very high on my list of things to do.

After I embossed the red Core'dinations paper from the Jillibean coordinating stack I pulled out my circle Nestabilities and cut a hole in the middle of the embossing.  Now, I'm not certain that is the best way to do make this card.  When I ran it back through the Cuttlebug with the Nestie some of the embossing became  a little less pronounced.  However, I don't think I could have lined the Nestie up in the middle without having the embossing already on the paper.  Any one have a suggestion?

Speaking of lining up the Nestie.  I don't want to tell you how many times I had to cut the card base to get that circle in the correct place.  Lets just leave it with I have lots of scrap kraft paper waiting for new projects.  Luckily I use it quite a bit.  I had to line up all three layers and cut them to get this card to look "right".  The embellishments are simple and straight forward but I think they are fun.  The hat pin, button, twine an patterned cardstock all come from Jillibean Soup.  They call the patterned kraft cardstock one of their "staples".  I think they names of their papers are so cute.

I added a ton of dimension to this card.  The button has two pop dots stacked on top of each other and then placed behind the button.  The Core'dinations in pop dotted and so is the sentiment.  The sentiment stamp comes from the Inkadinkado Holiday Wishes set.

Another St. Patrick's Day Card

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

I've made at least a dozen St. Patty's Day cards this year.  This one is definitely a favorite.  To start with, it has kraft cardstock on it.  It must be good if it has kraft (and it would be good for the Kraft Journal challenge).  Second, it is one of Mary's cuts from SVGCuts.com.  This one is just one layer from the Celtic Card SVG Kit. (This makes it eligible for the SVGCuts.com challenge this week - something from the St. Pats or Easter or Spring collections).  The kit is lovely and all that but you know me, I don't like doing things the way someone else has done them and I love the intricate cuts without a lot of adornment.  I think I could get 4 or so cards out of just that one kit.  I recommend checking it out.

I also saw a wonderful cut today at Fantabulous Cricut. Check out Maquel's card here.  It came from the Blackletter cart and would be wonderful for a St. Pat's card.  I'm going to enter this in the Fantabulous challenge for this week (green, gold and square)

I wanted to place the sentiment on the front of the card.  Initially I used one of my nestabilities but the curves and edges didn't match the base I had created so I tried, again.  Speaking of the base, I made it by copying the celtic knots, then using the shadow blackout feature I made it solid but the outside edge follows the edge of the knots.  Then I copied it two more times and moved the edges until they were the size I wanted and mostly matched the curves.  I'm very pleased with the way the sentiment tag worked out.

The sentiment is an acrylic stamp from Flourishes called Irish Blessings.  I used Versamark and gold embossing powder to make it stand out.

Here is a close-up of the sentiment.  The photo doesn't do it justice, I'm afraid.  It is very tough to photograph gold embossing.

Irish Blessing:

May you always have

A sunbeam to warm you,

Good luck to charm you,

And a sheltering angel

So nothing can harm you.

What is happening to me?  I am the one that always made one card for one challenge and then moved onto another one.  This card is for three, count 'em three, different challenges.  

I still have so many things to get done, though.  I need to make two birthday cards for Thursday and I haven't finished my Bah! Humbug! challenge for this week.  All of that is after my "regular life" -- the school book fair, swim lessons for the Wonderkid and a huge project that WILL be done by Friday afternoon.  I'm also planning some type of surprise for Friday (it is my birthday -- shhh! don't tell).  I haven't decided exactly what I'll do to celebrate but I've received so many wonderful gifts from the blogosphere that I want to give back.

St. Patrick's Day T Shirt

Last night I made the Wonderkid's t-shirt for St. Patty's Day.  I was feeling very together since I have another two days before he needs to wear it.  This is what I ended up making.

The shamrock is from a shape card I won from The Cutting Cafe.  Regina has some fantastic items in the store.  I'm especially happy with her sentiments in a circle and some of the background papers.  The shamrock originally had a mirror image attached to it but I "hung" it off the edge of the mat and only cut one shamrock.

I would have preferred a different color of green for the shamrock but I ran out of the dark green.  As soon as I'm done with this post I'm off to order more Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV) from Nick at CraftVinyl.com.

The "100% Green" and the recycling symbol are from the Spring Holiday Cards cart.  A little hint if you are cutting it out using vinyl or just looking for the "off cut", put a smaller box around the design so you don't waste all of your vinyl.

Here is a screenshot of what I mean.

You can click on the picture to make it larger.

The original design has a box that is much bigger.  You can see I used the "hide contour" feature for that box and for the face on the recycle symbol.  The edge of the original box is between th 6 and 7 inch marker.  I put a much smaller box around it using my George and Basic Shapes cartridge.  I have that cart and the Plantin cart in my Jukebox at all times.  That way I don't need to switch it back and forth because I use it constantly.  

The other reminder, don't forget to flip your design when using HTV.  You will be cutting on the "wrong" side which is the side that is less shiny.

For this shirt the white layer went down first, the green layer was next and the black was the final layer.  The Wonderkid has already given this shirt his approval.  He told me this morning it is "Bootiful".  I was afraid we would have a fight about whether he could wear it today or had to wait.  Delayed gratification is not his strong suit.  I wonder where he gets that?

Pop back tomorrow for a couple of cards (I think I'm going to be up to my ears in green this week) and maybe a banner or some fun stuff for this weekend's Farmer's Market.

Bluemoon Scrapbook Layout Sketch

This is my take on the Bluemoon Scrapbooking monthly challenge.  Here is a link to the challenge in case you want to join in.  They have a really incredible prize package, you get $40 to spend at Bluemoon Scrapbooking.  Do you know how much damage I could do with $40?  They have some stamps from Australia that I have been coveting.  They also have a little bit of Jillibean Soup paper and canvas stars.  Don't buy all of it though, I want to stock up on what they have. 

Here is a copy of the sketch.

I must admit, sketches often times help a layout come together very quickly. I hadn't used them until very recently but I'm starting to love them. 

I've had this Jillibean Soup paper on my mind for the last few weeks and I must admit I adore it.  I thought it looked fantastic with the Wonderkid's sweater.  If you click on the picture you can get a close-up of the entire layout.

Here is one portion of it.

Does he look like trouble or what?

The outer layer is Jillibean Soup Kosher Salt from the Lentil Soup collection.  I was on their website looking at papers and I couldn't find it.  I may be a very unhappy person.  I NEED my papers and I think I used the last piece of this one.  I'll show you a little trick later in this post, though.

The upper textured layer is from the coordinating Core'dinations Jillibean Soup stack.  I didn't sand it this time, although I thought about it for quite some time.  I loved the way it looked without the sanding.  It is crisp and clean this way.  The button comes from my stash but the bakers twine is a Jillibean Soup beanstalk.  They have a package of red and brown bakers twine.  It is so soft, I was amazed at how wonderful it feels.  

I used a Tim Holtz stamp from Stamper's Anonymous for the circle in the middle of the layout.  It is part of the Visual Artistry sets.  I don't know where they hide the names of each set so I can't help you find it any more than that.  I used Tea Dye and Frayed Burlap Distress Inks.  All of the cream paper has the edges inked with Chestnut Color Box inks.  It matchs the dark brown of the Jillibean Soup papers very nicely.

I promised you a little trick.  It was killing me to cover 10.5 inches of this paper and not do a single thing with it. So, I cut out the center (No one will ever notice except for you and me, and you won't tell, will you?)  Here is a picture of the back of the layout.

I know the photo isn't great but I took it after I turned off all the lights in my light box.  The Jillibean paper is around the Core'dinations.  I couldn't stand the thought of wasting all that paper.  Some might call my cheap, I consider myself frugal and maybe just a little bit of a hoarder.  If I had known I might have trouble finding more of this paper, I would have cut even more of the paper.  Isn't it yummy?  I haven't decided what to do with the piece I cut but I can easily get a couple of cards out of it or even use it as part of a layout.  That piece was big enough, it could be an 8 x 8 layout base.  So, do you blame me?  Am I crazy?  Do you do the same thing?

I think I'm going to go work out a better way of photographing 12 x 12 layouts.  I can't stand the angle that I have on this one.  I haven't photographed a layout in so long I hadn't worked out all the issues.  I'm also thinking I want some new Bristol board for my light box.  It never seems to end.

On a side note, if you are ever in Colorado and looking for a good photographer.  Andrea Flanagan is fantastic.  She took this picture of the Wonderkid.

I think I'll be back tomorrow with a t-shirt for the Wonderkid to wear on St. Patrick's Day.  

Tiddly Inks Kraft Card

This is going to be a quick post with only one picture but I'm very pleased with this card.

The challenge over at Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog was to use Kraft Cardstock on a card with a Tiddly Ink image.  That wasn't much of a challenge for me.  I think I have more Kraft Cardstock than anything else.  It is interesting inking on Kraft as opposed to white or other lighter colors because you can't do a lot of shading.  It seems to make my work look better since I don't think shading is my strongest suit.

The boards are two copies of the one in Carpenter Joe's hand (click on his name to go to the store and buy him).  I made them much bigger and cut them out of his hand.  The interesting thing, the spot where it looks like I was drawing the continuation of that knot in the Tim Holtz Wood embossing folder is actually the edge of Carpenter Joe's hand.  It lined up when I wasn't looking.  I didn't even notice until I was taking the pictures to post here.

Christy over at Tiddly Inks released some very cool new digis, she calls them Gothic Pin-ups.  They are a ton of fun and well worth a look.  You can find them here.  She has 6 girls and 3 papers to go along with them.

So, what do you think of my card?  Is my inking getting any better?  Don't you just love Carpenter Joe?  I think I'm going to put this in the Wonderkid's lunch bag tomorrow.  I went to his "Narrative Review" (his school's version of conferences) and they said he was amazing.  The entire time they were talking I kept thinking, "Whose child are they talking about and can I take him home tonight?"

Bah Humbug Embossed Card

I wanted to pop in for a moment and tell you I'm not MIA.  I've been working on a shape book and it has become all consuming, then I have two more BIG projects to get done before I hope life might be back to normal.  I'm working on a banner for the Farmer's Markets and I want to send one of my brothers a banner for St. Patrick's Day.  Hopefully I'll be able to post each of those very soon.

However, I couldn't let two weeks in a row go by and not join in the fun at Hum Bug Hall.  Ladies, I loved this one.  It was so much nicer than flying things.  Those flying things just kept flying out the window (or maybe Dr. Who put them in the Tardis and whisked them away).  Where ever they went, they can just stay there for the time being.

Back to the embossed card.

In my overachieving way, I decided not only to dry emboss the card but also to heat emboss.  The wreath is a  Cuttlebug folder.  I can't remember the name of it right now but if you really want to know, I can try to find it.  (One of my other upcoming projects is organizing all of my embossing folders).  I then used Perfect Medium pen from Ranger to put glue on the petals of two Poinsettias.  I went a little crazy with the gradiant gems from Creative Charms.

I took a recent recommendation to heart.  I made certain I added a sentiment now so I wouldn't need to do it when I was scrambling to get my cards out.

Here is the inside.

A touch more embossing just to stay with the challenge.

I hope you like my offering for this week.  I'm going back to my current responsibilities but I hope to have a couple more projects this week.

Shape Card

I have a quick post for you today with a fun simple card.

This file came from the Cutting Cafe.  They were part of a blog hop and I won it.  Woo hoo on winning and blog hops and thanks to Cutting Cafe.  It came with all three layers and two circle sentiments for the middle.  What a deal.  If you are interested in it, you can find it here.

This is the inside.

I added a circle the same size as the sentiment so I could write a little something on the inside.

I didn't do ANYTHING to this card or the cuts.  It felt incomplete but I think I could use it.  Can I whine for just a moment.  Do you know that I can't find a single embossing folder for St. Patrick's Day.  I want a combo set, shamrocks and then one like Stu Kilgore does with a little scene but honestly, I'd take ANYTHING right now.  Do you think anyone has one?  If you know of one, let me know.  I'll run right over there and pick it up.  I'm getting desperate here.  I might actually break down and make my own.  It isn't my preference but what is a girl to do?

I know I still owe you an update on my Teresa Collins class but the Wonderkid has been sick and I'm trying to get him better in time to start swim lessons.

What do you think of the card?  Would you send it?

Bugaboo Green Sketch Challenge

I'm still making St. Patrick's Day cards.  I love St. Pat's Day.  I don't drink beer, and especially not green beer but it is the day before my birthday so as a much younger adult I would go out for St. Pats and just continue the celebration into my birthday.  My brother is the same way about New Year's Eve, his birthday.  

After I made these cards and started writing the post, it occurred to me that they aren't predominantly green.  They have green in them but that certainly isn't the main color. So, I don't know if they will be "acceptable" for the Bugaboo Challenge but I can't wait to send them to a couple of friends.  I think they'll love them.

Here is the sketch they asked us to use.

For the yellow one I turned it on its side.  

I also embossed the yellow card topper with a brocade 5 x 7 Cuttlebug folder.  The images and mats on each of the cards have been cut using a Nestability Labels Eight.  I think the colors came together perfectly.  What do you think?

Here is the other card. 

This one reminded me of a cross between Mardi Gras and St. Pat's.  Given how late Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday and Lent are this year, it seemed like a fitting color choice.  I love this image from Bugaboo.  I have a few of the other St. Pat's images on my coloring tray.  I'm hoping to get them done very soon.  

Here is the sentiment on the inside of each.  It has a good bit of detail.  Don't adjust your set, that is not a smudge it is designed to look that way.  I'm thinking about stamping this with embossing powder and using it as my Facebook picture on St. Pat's Day.

I have a couple of cool things coming up and hopefully I'll have something to show from my Teresa Collin's class.

The MOJO is back

I considered taking a break on any crafting until next week.  I'm going to a Teresa Collins class hosted by my LSS, EMI Scrapbooking, on Saturday and this morning my guiltiest of pleasures happened -- Cleusa our cleaning lady came.  While this is one of my favorite days, it also means EVERYTHING gets put away, including all of my crafting items.  With all the interruptions (including life), my mojo was seriously shaken.

Add to all the other life things that happened, this box should have been very easy and IT WASN'T.  It is two of the cuts on the Cricut cart Bags, Tags, Boxes and More.  Normally, a cut like this would all be on one button.  The outside might be a regular button and the inside would be the shift of that same button.  For some reason, they put these two parts of the same box on two separate buttons.  OK, enough of the cut I'm too excited about the final product to get hung-up on the silliness of the cuts.

Lets get into the fun part.

First, the paper.  I am a huge fan of Jillibean Soup. I bought some of the Christmas Kraft paper last fall and I haven't been able to bring myself to use it.  I just take it out and stare at it every now and then. However,  I couldn't wait to play with it and I love everything about it.  This is part of the Atomic Soup line and is called Quart of Quarks.  Not only do I love the paper, but I think the names are all so cute -- everything is soup based.

Whenever I'm making boxes and other 3-D items, I liked to use double sided papers so the inside is as pretty as the outside.  Don't you love the other side of this paper?

The other exciting part of Jillibean Soup -- there is a matching Core'dinations stack.  Yippeeee!!! This is one of the embossed papers.  The stack has red, brown, green, blue and a white washed salmon/peach color. I sanded the front to bring out the numbers a bit more.   Now, I'm not normally one to buy the embellishments from a line.  I would rather make/find my own, but the embellishments with this line are so much fun.  The button comes from the Jillibean Cool Beans.    And...

Check out this very fun sticker border of the periodic symbols.  (You can click on the picture to make it bigger).  Doesn't it look perfect with the paper and the digi stamp.

The stickers next to Geeky Glen are also part of the Jillibean Soup page of stickers.

I've completely ignored the other piece of this project, the incredible digi stamp from Tiddly Inks.  You know how much I love Christy's images and playing along with the Tiddly Ink Challenge.  Part of why this works so well, the image is PERFECT.  I couldn't be happier with the entire package.  I am going to design a set of cards (I'm sure you'll be seeing them soon) which I'm going to put in this box and send to a Geeky friend of mine.  Don't you think she'll LOVE it?

This project was started as a challenge at Flaunt if Fridays.  Normally I don't consider myself a flaunt it kind of a person but this project has me excited enough to FLAUNT it.

Thanks for looking and hopefully I'll have something for you tomorrow.