Paper Play/Crafts 4 Eternity

Crafts4Eternity/Paper Play challenges

When I saw the Crafts4Eternity sketch this week I almost put it aside as too complicated. But then I came across the Paper Play 3-D challenge and thought, what could be better to make 3-D than a sketch with lots of layers. This is the design I came up with. The supplies I used:

White, light blue and medium blue cardstock
Blue print paper
Cuttlebug-Divine Swirls embossing folder
Cricut-Mini Monograms, Wedding, and Stretch Your Imagination cartridges
Clear Rhinestones
Sentiment-The Cutting Café

My base card is six inches square. For those of you who are great artists or have been at this a long time and have lots of patterns to use, this sketch may not have seemed too difficult. I’m not even sure what shape you would call the bottom two layers. There might be a Cricut cartridge with this shape but I don’t have it. My solution to get these shapes was to print the sketch twice, cut out each shape and trace the design onto my papers. I used the print paper for the bottom layer and the light blue for the layer on top of that. Then I cut my scalloped circle from the medium blue with my Cricut Mini Monograms cartridge at 4 ¼” and embossed it with my Cuttlebug. Since this is a birthday card I decided to use a present for my image. The Stretch Your Imagination cartridge had what I was looking for, the present and a nice fancy frame cut. The present is 1 ¼” from the print with the light blue paper as a shadow and the frame is 3” cut from the print paper. My sentiment came from The Cutting Café’s All Occasion scalloped circle set. I shrunk the one and a half inch stamp a little to be able to cut it with the scallop punch I have which measures 1 7/16”. Using the Cricut Wedding cartridge I cut one white cardstock flower at 1” with a ¾” blue center and two ¾” white cardstock with ½” blue centers putting rhinestones in the middle of each. Then I just started layering using foam squares. I really do enjoy making monochromatic cards. It’s a challenge to get papers that are close in color but different. That usually takes the most time—looking through my stacks and stacks of papers. Can you ever have too much paper? My husband thinks so!!!

3Clovers,CuteCardThurs,ABC,2Sketches4U

CuteCardThurs, 3Clovers, ABC, 2sketches4U challenges

I’ve been saving this pear paper for a fruit challenge and this week both Cute Card Thursday and Three Clovers had one. ABC’s challenge this week is Y for yellow and I used a 2 Sketches 4 U sketch. I only needed a few supplies for this card:

Turquoise cardstock
Patterned papers-DCWV Summer Stack
Fiskars edge punch
Cricut-Plantin Schoolbook and Joys of the Season cartridges
Yellow polka dot ribbon
Yellow button brads
Red rhinestones
Sentiment-The Cutting Café
Scallop circle punch

I was overjoyed after I cut my red patterned paper for my base card and found it had a pattern that helped me lay out the other papers on top of it. I used my Fiskars border punch on the outside edges of the pear paper. (Math and measuring not being my best asset). My oval was cut from the Cricut Plantin Schoolbook cartridge at 3 ½”. I found this cute pear on the Joys of the Season cartridge. It’s cut at 2 ¼” and shadowed with turquoise cardstock. I popped the pear off the oval with foam dots and added yellow button brads. I put a few red rhinestones on the pear for a little bling. My sentiment is from The Cutting Café. I love this polka dot ribbon that I found at my local craft store. I meant to go back and get some more but it’s probably too late now.

BBTB-MojoMonday sketch-Little Yellow challenges

When I saw the challenge this week for BBTB using the Going Places cartridge I wasn’t sure I could come up with a reasonable design for restroom looking people. After thinking on it for a couple days I decided to make an anniversary card for my husband. We have been married for 36 years and this past year has been a challenging one. He has been such a support for me through the whole breast cancer journey. Then when he decided to retire this year, at his retirement party he spoke about how he never could have had a successful career as a police officer without my support. It made me realize how much we’ve been through together. For the sentiment on the outside of my card I chose the word Together and printed it in black with a gray shadow. The inside of the card says …we can do anything. I used the Mojo Monday sketch #97 and added the pearls on the buttons and the black lacy paper for The Little Yellow challenge. The supplies I used for this card:

Black and white cardstock
Black, white and gray striped paper
Black and white lacy print
Cricut-Going Places cartridge, Plantin Schoolbook cartridge
Black Buttons
Pearls
Black and white ribbon

Since I wanted a more masculine look for this card I used black and white papers. My couple cut from the Cricut Going Places cartridge is 2 ¾”. It sits on top of a Plantin Schoolbook circle cut at 3 ½” shadowed with a black circle. Where the stripe and lacy papers come together I added a narrow ribbon and embellished with just two black buttons topped with pearls.

One Stop Challenge/Card Patterns #25Belli Blog

I thought I should jump on the bandwagon with this card. I’ve seen a lot of Christmas in July challenges this month. Who wants to think about Christmas when you’re trying to enjoy summer? Here in upper Michigan you would hardly know it’s summer. This has been the coldest summer in years. Me—I’m not complaining. I don’t do heat very well so I think temps in the mid to upper 70’s are perfect. This week the One Stop Challenge site is doing the Christmas in July theme so I went with it. This card also qualifies for the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge (three buttons, two designer papers and one ribbon). The card has a faux metal tag on it for the Belli Blog challenge and I used the Card Patterns blog sketch #25. The supplies I used for this card:

Light Green, dark green, beige and gold cardstock
Green and red patterned paper-K&Company
Green sheer ribbon
Cricut-Joys of the Season, Wild Card, and Tags, Bags and Boxes cartridges
Red star buttons
Color Box chalk ink-Warm Red

This is a standard A2 card. My paper edges are all inked with Warm Red. I used my Cricut Wild Card cartridge to cut the red scallop edged paper with the liner function key on. I had to cut two pieces down to size and put them together to get the look I was going for. I added the green ribbon to hide the seam. The green patterned paper is cut
4 x 2”. My holly came from the Cricut Joys of the Season cartridge. The gold tag came from the Cricut Tags, Bags and Boxes cartridge. I just used my computer to print the Merry Christmas onto the beige paper in red. The only embellishment I added were the three star buttons.

BBTB challenge/Allsorts sketch

What’s better in the heat of summer than an ice cream cone? That’s the yummy image I used for this card for the BBTB contest. The challenge was to use the word yummy. I could find a million things that I think are yummy. No wonder I need to lose some extra pounds. I chose to use a sketch from Allsorts challenge along with their color scheme suggestion of chocolate and marshmallows. The supplies I used for this card:

Pink, red, light brown, dark brown and white cardstock
Pink and brown plaid paper-Sweetwater Scrapbook
Cricut-Doodlecharms cartridge
Cuttlebug-Swiss Dot embossing folder
Stickles
Brown ribbon

This card is 5 1/2 inches square. I placed the ribbon around the middle of the pink base card so I could tie it shut when I finished. On top of that I placed the brown cardstock rectangle then the pink and brown plaid paper over that. I used my Cuttlebug to emboss my white cardstock before placing it onto the pink cardstock. My ice cream cone came from my Cricut Doodlecharm cartridge and I cut it at 2 ¾”. I cut two pink scoops so I could layer them. I used clear Stickles around the edge of the top scoop and popped it with foam. The red cherry is attached to the underneath scoop. I used my computer to print the “yummy” in brown ink on white cardstock and backed it with dark brown. I will send this card to my three grandkids that don’t live close by and will include some ice cream gift certificates for their local ice cream place. I will be taking a few days off from card making because my youngest granddaughter (she’s 2 ½ years of energy as my husband says) will be joining us in our camper for a few days. I hope the weather is better than the last two days of non-stop rain or it’s going to be a rough few days. If the weather cooperates she will really enjoy the lake.

Stampin for the Weekend-Card Patterns Bonus Sketch 26

For this card I used one of the most beautiful pads of paper I have ever had and it’s from K&Company. The paper is so pretty I don’t want to use it. I’ve only used it once before, but no two people are more deserving of this paper on cards than my two aunts that mean so much to me. This color scheme (strawberries dipped in chocolate) came from Stampin for the Weekend and I used Card Patterns bonus sketch 26 for more inspiration. The supplies I used for this card:

• Beige and brown cardstock
• K&Company print paper-Bailey-2 sided
• Brown organdy ribbon
• Brown button
• Flower brad
• Sentiment-The Cutting Cafe
• Cricut-Mini monograms cartridge, Wedding cartridge

I used one side of the print paper for the middle section of the card and the stripe on the backside for the ends. This is a standard A2 card. I cut a scalloped circle from the Mini Monogram cartridge at 3 ¾” with real dial size on. Then I printed the sentiment from The Cutting Café (http://thecuttingcafe.typepad.com). This sentiment came from the Extended Family Birthday set. There are actually sentiments that can go in the middle of the large circle stamp but I chose to use a flower in the center. The flower came from the Cricut Wedding cartridge. The three layers are cut at 1 ¾, 1 ¼ and ¾”. I put a fancy brad for the center of the flower and added an organdy bow with a button in the center to finish off the card.

BBTB Weekly challenge

Once again Regina came up with a great challenge for BBTB followers. I have to say the only thing I have used my Cricut Mickey and Friends cartridge for is classroom bulletin boards and displays. I originally bought it to scrapbook several trips to Disneyland and Disney World. I haven’t gotten around to those pages yet. I need more hours in the day. Or I need to figure out a way to go with no sleep so I could be in my craft room 24 hours a day. Using the ring cut from this cartridge was a definite challenge. I had to put my thinking cap on. Anyway, for this card I used the colors of red and brown that came to mind from looking at the Stampin for the Weekend blog. They had a couple photos of red tulips and strawberries dipped in chocolate to draw inspiration from. Yummy, wish I had some. For this card I used the following supplies:

• Beige, red and brown cardstock
• White Vellum
• Print paper-DCWV
• Cricut-Mickey and Friends cartridge
• Beige Organdy ribbon
• Heart Shaped Rhinestone
• Cuttlebug-Divine Swirls embossing folder
• Martha Stewart Glitter

This card was very easy to put together. The ring was cut at 1 ½” out of gold paper. I used white cardstock to cut the gem and topped it with a piece of vellum to tone down the brightness of the white. On the vellum I used glitter to make it sparkly like a diamond ring. I used a computer font for my sentiment and printed it on beige paper in brown. For embellishment I simply added an organdy ribbon bow with a heart shaped rhinestone in the center.

Bitten By the Bug using Stamps and Smiles Sketch

I’m not sure how I missed noticing, until this morning, there was a contest going on at Bitten By the Bug. I hope I’m not too late, if so, I have another cute card in my stash. The challenge is a summer themed card with yellow buttons. I knew that I would use two things when I started this card—The Cutting Café’s new Summer words set and my new Cricut cartridge Life is a Beach. One of my favorite things about summer is being able to wear flip flops. They just make my toes so happy, so I decided I would use flip flops on a card. I used a card sketch from Stamps & Smiles for this card. The supplies I used:

• White and Brown (craft paper looking) cardstock
• Yellow polka dot paper
• Blue flip flop paper-Me and My Big Ideas
• White flowers
• Yellow buttons
• Orange rhinestones
• Fun in the Sun orange ribbon (Target's $1 bin)
• Cricut-Life is a Beach cartridge, Plantin Schoolbook cartridge
• Color Box chalk ink, orange
• Sentiment-The Cutting Cafe-Summer word

This card is 4 x 8 ½”. I used yellow polka dot paper on top of my card base with a strip of flip flop paper cut 1 x 8 1/2”. I used my Cricut Plantin Schoolbook cartridge to cut three 2 ¼” circles. I inked the edges of each circle with orange. I cut the flip flops from brown cardstock (this paper made the flip flops look like they were made of cork) at 1 ¾” and used the yellow polka dot for the straps. I put yellow buttons on the flip flops to embellish them and meet the criteria for the contest. I mounted them on the white circle with foam to pop them. I printed my sentiment on the third white circle using the 2” Summer word set from The Cutting Café (http://thecuttingcafe.typepad.com/). I embellished with the fun in the sun orange ribbon and white flowers with orange rhinestone centers.

Dare U 2 Digistamp/Jane's sketch Saturday Challenge

How excited was I when I saw Dare U 2 Digistamps' challenge this week was one of my favorite color combos? I love to make cards in pink, black and white. I have lots of papers with those colors. I used Jane's sketch from Saturday Challenge. These are the supplies I chose to use for this card:

• White, pink and black cardstock
• Pink and black print paper-KaiserCraft Blushed Romance (two-sided)
• Swiss dot vellum
• Cricut-Mini Monograms cartridge, Doodlecharms cartridge
• Cuttlebug-Divine Swirls embossing folder
• Sentiment-The Cutting Cafe-Word stems
• Pink and Black ribbon
• Pink rhinestones
• Fiskars-Scallop punch
• Martha Stewart glitter pen-Silver

This card is a 5 x 5 square. I cut a square of the pink print paper to top my base card and added a strip of polka dot print backed by white cardstock. The edges of the polka dot paper are trimmed with the Fiskars punch. To the top of that I added a scalloped circle cut from black with the Mini Monograms cartridge at 4" then embossed it with my Cuttlebug and placed it on top of a 4" scallop circle that I cut with the shadow blackout feature on. Before I attached it I added the pink checked piece of ribbon to the card. Then I started to work on the layered dragonfly which was a total pain in the neck. I learned some very valuable lessons from this little dragonfly. Number one, do not use Stickles on vellum, it causes puckers in the vellum. The other thing I learned was vellum needs to be cut differently than regular paper when using a Cricut machine. I had to put the speed on low and the pressure on medium. I ruined a lot of my piece of vellum before I figured those two things out. I'm lucky I had enough to finish the dragonfly. Anyway, I cut the dragonfly at 2 3/4" from the Doodlecharms cartridge out of pink card stock and two out of Swiss dot vellum. I attached the first Swiss dot dragonfly to the pink. The second Swiss dot dragonfly is outlined in silver glitter pen for a little sparkle. I just glued the middle section to the other layers so I could bend the wings for dimension. To finish the card I added my sentiment from The Cutting Cafe (http://thecuttingcafe.typepad.com/), added three pink rhinestones to the corner and small pink rhinestones for eyes on the dragonfly.

Mojo Monday Sketch/Papertake weekly challenge

Some of you may know from reading my blog that my husband retired this year after 25 years on the police force. As a present for ourselves we bought our "traveling retirement home" (a brand new luxurious 5th wheel). We have been vacationing with it on the shore of Lake Huron in Northern Michigan and are having a super time. This is most definitely my favorite thing to do (for the Papertake weekly challenge). I thought I should make a card with the colors of the sand and water because it is so beautiful to me. I also wanted to use my new Cricut cartridge-Life is a Beach. This is a great cartridge. I bought it because it has a lot of Hawaiian things on it. I wanted to use it to scrapbook our trip to Hawaii last year for our daughter's wedding (on the beach) and to see our son (who is a Marine stationed there). We spent a glorious month, again on the beaches with the beautiful sand and water. I used the Mojo Monday week 94 sketch for this card. Other than the images and sentiment from the new Cricut cartridge everything else on the card are scraps from my stash. The title words and lighthouse image are cut at 2 1/2" and the seashell charm is cut at 1 1/2". I inked the edges of everything with Colorbox chalk ink in Creamy Brown. For embellishments I only added a little bit of lace and a pearl on the charm.

Dutch Dare Challenge

I've seen so many cards made with cupcakes but I've never made one myself. When I saw the Dutch Dare sketch this week it was the first image that came to mind, so I thought I would do my first cupcake card. The supplies I used for this card:

• White and green cardstock
• White vellum
• Blue and green print paper-DCWV Summer Stack
• Green and white print papers-Current (been in my stash for a long time)
• Cricut-Doodlecharms cartridge, Plantin Schoolbook cartridge
• Sentiment-Digital stamp from The Cutting Cafe
• Green and blue rhinestones-Me and My Big Ideas
• Blue flowers-Bazzill
• Green polka dot brad
• Stickles

This card is a 5 x 5" square. I topped the card with half print and half green cardstock. I used a digital stamp from The Cutting Cafe (http://thecuttingcafe.typepad.com) that says "A Life Filled with CUPCAKES is a Good Life". It is part of the Sweet Things collection. I cut a 4" circle with my Cricut Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. I printed out the stamp on a scrap sheet of paper then took my circle and taped it on the scrap piece directly over the printed image and ran it through my printer again. Then I took the circle and placed it under the blue printed paper and on top of the green cardstock. I cut a 3" circle from green cardstock and put it on top of the half circle sentiment image. I cut my cupcake from the Doodlecharms cartridge at 2" with real dial size on using a green stripe and a coordinating green and white print. I cut the cupcake out of white vellum and placed it over the stripe to make it look more like a cupcake pan liner you would use for baking cupcakes. I used some Stickle on the edges of the cupcake top and placed a few rhinestones on for bling then used foam squares to pop it off the cupcake bottom. I added a few more rhinestones onto the print paper and finished the card off with a few flowers with rhinestone centers and a small piece of ribbon with a green polka dot brad. Looking at this cupcake card makes me really hungry for a real one...chocolate with vanilla frosting and sprinkles on top. In my dreams for now.

Squigglefly challenge

I was so very excited last week when I won two free Squigglefly images from doing their blog hop. I just had to use one of them to make a card for this week's challenge. The challenge was to use just one image that you could color and one embellishment. How hard is that? Just one embellishment!


For this card I used my Cricut Wild Card cartridge with one of my favorite cuts, the scalloped circle card. The supplies I used were very basic:

• White Cardstock
• Flower printed ribbon (for my embellishment) from Offray
• Squigglefly Image-Fairy Pretty Garden
• Cricut-Wild Card cartridge

Since this was my first attempt at using a Squigglefly image I wasn't quite sure what I was doing as far as sizing the image. My only previous experience was using digital stamps from The Cutting Cafe (http://thecuttingcafe.typepad.com/ (which I absolutely love and highly recommend). The images (sentiments) I've gotten from there are pretty simple and easy to use. I was quite proud of myself for figuring out how to get this fairy image printed onto this card on the front and facing the right direction (because I am totally not a computer wizard). There were probably directions on how to do this on the Squigglefly website, but I'm vacationing in my 5th wheel without internet access unless I go to the local library or an internet cafe. Luckily, there are both within walking distance for when I want to post on my blog. I cut the card from the Cricut Wild Card cartridge at 4". Then to get the image onto the card I opened the file that I had downloaded, saved and extracted to My Documents. I used the 4 x 6 image. I clicked the icon that looks like a drawing with a pencil at the bottom of the window under the image. It says (when you scroll over it) "closes this program and opens the image for editing". When the file opened in that window I was able to rotate it so it was upside down on the screen. (By doing this it made the image be right side up when I folded the card at the top). Then I went to my print preferences, clicked on Effect and sized it down to 50%. I printed it out on a scrap piece of paper first and found that it was just the right size for the front of my card. I took the cut card and centered the front of it on the scrap piece of paper exactly over the printed image and taped it to the paper. Then I ran it through my printer and low and behold the image printed exactly where I wanted it in just the right direction, first time. My next problem was what to do with the image now that I had it on my card. I'm not fortunate enough to have any of those Copic markers that I see everyone talking about on their blogs. It is my next big purchase I make. If I was at home I would already have them. Being in a campground makes it difficult to purchase things online and have them delivered. But when I get back home... So I had to make do with the few markers and glitter pens I have. The Cricut cuts the openings in the card that I wove my ribbon through, to make the most of my one embellishment.

BBTB, Sketch & Stash, Creative Card Crew

For this week's Bitten by the Bug challenge you were asked to use the house from the Cricut Wild Card cartridge (this is one of my favorite cartridges and I use it a lot). For inspiration I used the sketch from Sketch and Stash for this week and I used ribbon on this card (as with most of my cards) for the Creative Card Crew Tuesday challenge. The supplies I used to make this card:

• Beige, Brown, Green cardstock
• Print paper from the DCWV Green Stack
• Cricut-Wild Card Cartridge, New Arrival cartridge
• Brown polka dot ribbon
• Bazzill brown flower
• Brad (don't know where it's from other than my stash
• Rhinestone flowers from my stash
• Color Box chalk ink in Chestnut roan and Lime pastel

I cut the base card from the Cricut New arrival cartridge at 5 1/2". The house is actually cut out as a card but I just used the front. I cut the house from the Wild Card cartridge in beige at 4". Then I cut the house in green at 4 1/2" for the shadow. I did cut off the chimney to give the roof a cleaner look. To complete the house I cut the door (at 1 1/2"), the circular window and roof were cut with the liner function key on and cut out of dark brown at 4". I inked the edge of the beige house section with brown to make it stand out then inked the edge of the green shadow paper and mounted it onto a rectangle of dark brown. A lot of textured cardstock has a white core which is noticeable after you cut it. I'm not particularly fond of seeing that white edge so I almost always ink the edges with ink about the same color as the paper. I love the DCWV Green Stack (made from 70% recycled paper) which I just purchased because I feel like I'm helping the environment when I use it. The print paper is cut 2 1/2" x 4" and placed on the base card behind the house. I wrapped the polka dot ribbon around this piece before placing it onto the card. I added a flower with a brad on top of the ribbon. For a little bling I added the green rhinestone flowers on two corners (though they do look green in the picture). I decided to make use of the fact that the door opened on the house to stamp a sentiment (Just for You). For the inside of the card I used my computer to print out "Congratulations and much Happiness in Your New Home" onto beige paper and backed it with dark brown before putting it on the inside of the card. I will be sending this card to my daughter and son-in-law who just moved into their first house purchased as a couple last weekend.

Stampin' for the Weekend, DareU2Digistamp, Cute Card Thursday

It's hard to believe the 4th of July weekend has come and gone. It doesn't seem possible that school has been out for over three weeks already. I guess that's because I spent most of the time sick. It was nice to be back at the campground in our 5th wheel even though I'm not completely recovered. I still have fluid in my ears and can't hear anything out of my right ear. I was encouraged yesterday when it started making crackling noises, but nothing today.

I met three challenges with this card-Stampin' for the Weekend, Dare U 2 Digistamp, and Cute Card Thursday. I started this card with the sketch from Stampin' for the Weekend. The image is from the Cricut New Arrival cartridge and the sentiment is a digital stamp from The Cutting Cafe. The supplies I used for this card:

• White, beige cardstock
• Print paper from DCWV Nana's Nursery
• Digi stamp from The Cutting Cafe's baby collection
• Cricut-New Arrival cartridge, Mini monograms cartridge
• Cuttlebug-Swiss Dots embossing folder
• Flowers from Bazzill
• Colorbox chalk ink-Rose Coral

My base card was cut from New Arrival at 5 1/2". I cut a triangle from print paper and placed it on top of the base card. Then I cut a 3 x 5" rectangle and rounded the two outside corners to match the contour of the card. I cut a scalloped circle from Mini Monograms at 3 1/2" and put the cute dress I cut at 2 1/2" from the New Arrival cartridge after I embossed it with my Cuttlebug Swiss Dot folder. I inked the edges of the dress with the Rose Coral ink. Before printing the sentiment I reduced it to 70%. I placed it on top of the polka dot print paper after inking the edge. To finish the card off I added the faux stitching and the flowers. The embossing on the dress is for the dareu2digistamp challenge and the faux stitching is for the Cute Card Thursday challenge.

ABC Challenge-Letter U/Three Clovers Challenge

This week there were a lot of challenge sites looking for patriotic cards. I missed most of the deadlines, oops. The ABC Challenge letter this week was U and that seemed like the perfect way to use my new Cricut cartridge, Stand and Salute. I highly recommend this cartridge. My main use for this cartridge will be to do my son's Marine scrapbook album. But I can see lots of other uses for it. I like that it has a ribbon on it that can be used for so many causes. For me, it will be a pink ribbon for breast cancer, as I am working at this moment to become a survivor. Onto this card. The supplies I used:

• White and Blue cardstock from DCWV
• Red patterned paper from Scrapbook Wizard Paper
• Martha Stewart glitter pens in red and blue
• Buttons from my stash
• Red floss
• Star rhinestones from Me and My Big Ideas
• Cricut-Stand and Salute cartridge

I cut the United We Stand phrase from the Stand and Salute cartridge at 4" and used the frame feature. I placed that on the front of my white cardstock. Then I cut the flag from the cartridge at 1 3/4" in red and blue, using just the corner of the blue and gluing it onto the red. I outlined the blue square with the blue glitter pen but it doesn't show up very well in the photo. I cut two blue fireworks at 2" and used the glitter pen on them too, which shows up a little in the photo. It looks way better in person. I ran the red floss through the buttons and attached them to the firework pieces and put one in each corner of the card. I cut the two stars at 1" and put them on each side of the phrase. A little glitter pen on them and a star rhinestone in the middle to finish them off. I will be using this card as part of a centerpiece on my table for the 4th of July.

Stamps and Smiles Sketch/Summer colors

I've had this paper and color scheme in my head for awhile now just waiting for the right moment. I really had to improvise on this one. I realized after I printed the ice cream cone from the Sweet Stuff collection at The Cutting Cafe (http://thecuttingcafe.typepad.com) that I didn't have any markers to color the cone. They are all sitting up north in my 5th wheel that my husband and I left because we were so sick. We had to come home and get to the dr. for some antibiotics. He seems to be getting better, I don't know what my deal is. The dr. said I have a sinus infection and alot of fluid in my ears. I can barely hear anything and what I do hear sounds far away. The dr. thinks if I use a nose spray it will clear my ears out. Can you tell I'm a little skeptical? I'm calling the dr. back tomorrow. I'd really like to get back to my vacation.

So back to my card. I had to use chalks to color the cone because that's one of the few supplies I brought home with me. It didn't turn out too bad, if I may say so myself. Supplies I used for this card:

• Green textured cardstock from DCWV
• Patterned paper (stripe and polka dot) from Making Memories
• Rick rack and ribbon from The Paper Studio
• Color Box chalks in Lime Pastel, French Blue, Creamy Brown, and Orange
• The Cutting Cafe printable stamp (ice cream cone) from the Sweet Stuff collection
• Blue and orange flowers
• Green polka dot brad
• Cricut-Stretch Your Imagination cartridge (card base), Plantin Schoolbook (ovals)

I cut the base card from the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge at 5 1/2" with real size on then topped it with the 5" square of striped paper and a 2 1/2" strip of polka dot paper. I cut a white oval from the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge at 4" then the orange oval on shadow. Before I printed the stamp onto the white oval I reduced the size to 85%. I added the rick rack behind the orange oval then mounted it onto the card adding the stamped ice cream cone on top. Then I colored the cone with the chalks using cotton swabs. (Hey, you use what you have available). For the finishing touch I added the ribbon then placed an orange flower on top of a blue flower and put the green polka dot brad in the center and attached it to the ribbon.

How come the directions sound so simple but it took me all afternoon? Oh, I know why, I stopped to go to Michael's to pick up my new Stand and Salute cartridge for my Cricut. Can't wait to use that! Now I can start on my son's Marine scrapbook. I went to the mall, too, to pick up some of my favorite foot lotion (I Love Shea) from Bath and Body Works and got a new pair of navy blue flip flops from Macy's. Then my husband and I went to the Farmer's Market in town and ran into old acquaintances and had to chat. I guess it makes sense now why it seems it took me so long to complete this card.