BBTB2 Ice Cream Cone Challenge

Happy Monday!  Time for this week's BBTB2 challenge.  I was super excited when my Design Team Sister, Penny, asked the team to create a project with an ice cream cone theme using any Cricut cartridge.  I hadn't had the chance to use my Sweet Tooth Boxes cartridge yet and was so happy to see it had an ice cream cone box.  I cut this project out at 8".  I don't know about you, but I sometimes find the directions for the
3-D projects to be a little lacking.  So I will usually make up a sample using white cardstock before I use my good paper.  After cutting the sample I was able to see that I didn't need to use 12 x 12" paper.  Good thing, too, because I don't travel with any.  Since moving into the RV with limited storage space I just have 8.5 x 11" cardstock and 6 x 6" paper pads.  I used Bazzill Basics Dotted paper for the ice cream scoop and the top scalloped layer of the cone.  For the bottom of the cone I used kraft cardstock that I embossed with diamonds using a Sizzix folder.  I found the most important part of this project was to make sure I scored each piece very well.  So keep that in mind if you make any 3-D project.  I embellished my cone with a beige gingham ribbon, pink button, tag I cut from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More and my stamped sentiment is from Cardz TV Stamps Sweet Talk set.  We are on the road traveling this week so if I don't get by your blog's to visit, that's why.  We're on our way back to Michigan where we'll be spending the summer and be able to visit with kids and grandkids.  I'm hoping to be back to my blog within a couple weeks.

Cutting Cafe Blog Hop Winner

I'd like to announce the winner of The Cutting Cafe Blog Hop is

Lucky Number #37-Michele who said:

I love the pin wheel and the colors are so cute! I love the tiny little sentiment - Follower #550 Woot!! TFS

Michele, if you'll email me at thomasjeri55atyahoodotcom I'll see that you get your pinwheel file from The Cutting Cafe.  Congrats and have FUN with it!



BBTB2 Ladybug challenge

Boy, is April zooming by, or what?  Here we are on another Monday and there's a new challenge over at BBTB2.  Our fabulous DT sister, Krista, asked us to use a ladybug or bumblebee for this week's challenge.  I have a fondness for ladybugs and I have this fantastic sentiment from a Cardz TV stamp set called Think Spring.  I used my favorite ladybug cut from an oldie but goodie cartridge, Doodlecharms.  I needed a daisy to go along with my ladybug and found this one on the Lyrical Letters cartridge.  This was a quick and easy card to put together.  I started with a card base of white cardstock, added a mat of green Bazzill cardstock and a patterned paper from Jillibean.  I cut my daisy at 4".  There is no shadow cut or layers for this daisy so I cut the flower three times from yellow, green and white cardstock and then cut and pieced it together.  I used the yellow for the bottom layer and used my Gypsy to hide the contour of the flower center so it would not cut out the middle.  Then I cut the green and white cardstock without hiding the contour so the hole would cut from the center to allow the yellow middle to show through.  My ladybug is cut at 1".  Before adding these two cuts to the front of the card I added my sentiment that I stamped onto one end of a 1' strip of cardstock.  Then I added it to a piece of green cardstock cut at 1.25".  I tied a red ribbon around it then added it to the card.  Then I placed the flower and ladybug onto the card.  I did not add any pop dots for dimension because I'm mailing this off to my granddaughter in Michigan and wanted it to be flat for mailing.  I hope you'll get a chance to play along with us this week at BBTB2.  You can use any Cricut cartridge to cut a bee or ladybug, but remember it must be a new creation and not a back link to a previous project.  Thanks for stopping by.

Cardz TV Stamps Color Me a Rainbow

It's time for a new challenge at Cardz TV Stamps.  For this weekend's challenge Mary asked the DT to use the theme "Color Me a Rainbow" using the colors pink, blue, green and yellow.  We were also allowed to use a little black or white.  This challenge will run April 20, 21 and 22 (Sunday at midnight).  Mary will be giving one set of Cardz TV Stamps to one lucky winner.  I used black cardstock for my base card and topped it with a mat of a blue swirl paper from My Mind's Eye Lime Twist 6x6 paper pad.  The frog and lilypad are cut from the Create A Critter cartridge.  I used Bazzill Dotted Paper for my frog which is cut at 4".  I used yellow for his belly and pink for his cheecks.  I couldn't resist using googly eyes because they were larger than the eyes the Cricut cut.  I also put the frog on a wobbler so it would jiggle around.  I'm sending this off to my granddaughter and knew she would love it.  My sentiment is from the perfect Cardz TV Stamps Set to go with the Create a Critter cartridge called Critter Captions.  I stamped directly on the lilypad with Momento Black Tuxedo Ink. 

I hope you can play along with this weekend's colorful challenge for the chance to win two sets of Cardz TV Stamps.  If  you've never used any of Mary's Cardz TV Stamps I can tell you that they are very high quality polymer and stamp like a dream.  I'm so very lucky to be on the Design Team and get to create with these stamps.  I had the most exciting surprise a couple weeks ago when I got to meet Mary.  She made a trip to Florida to visit family traveling in her camper.  Of all the places her and her hubby could have stayed they just happened to pick the campground that my hubby and I have been living in since October.  We had the best time together, even though the visit was very brief.  I can't wait until she decides to make another trip down so we can have some more fun together and I hope the next trip will be longer.  (If she can just get that hubby of hers to retire.  Hint, hint Wayne!)  Love you guys!

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY TODAY!

Cricut Cardz Challenge #106 April Showers

It's time for a new Cricut Cardz Challenge and this week Mary asked the DT to create a card with an "April Showers" theme.  I used one of my favorite cartridges, 3 Birds on Parade, for my adorable chickie holding the umbrella.  Isn't she adorable?  I made the umbrella with a pretty pink flowered scrap of Jillibean paper and then gave her matching boots.  My background cloud paper is from Creative Imaginations.  The sentiment is from the same cartridge.  After I finished this card I thought I should have added a layer of grass at the bottom so the poor little chickie looks a little more grounded.  She kind of looks like Mary Poppins coming down from the sky.  LOL  Oh well, no time to take it apart and add the grass.  I'll remember this for the future though.

The Cutting Cafe Fun with Dress Forms

Have you ever made a card and been super happy with how it turned out?  I love how this card came out and I'm so excited to share it with everyone.  I knew when I got this fabulous file from Regina at The Cutting Cafe I was going to have some great fun with it.  The set the Design Team is highlighting this week is the Fun with Dress Forms set.  Regina picked the perfect name for this set because it is fun, fun, fun.  There are two shaped cards in this set, plus 28 images (assorted tops for the dress form) and 12 sentiments.  I decided to do some paper piecing on my card because I had this polka dot paper I wanted to use.  I'm obsessed with any clothing that's polka dots.  If I could find a dress that looks like this I would definitely buy it.  I wanted my card to look elegant so the papers I used are from a 6x6 paper pad by Creative Imaginations called Cream and Black.  The base card is black cardstock and I topped it with a cream and white damask print.  Then I printed the sentiment on a strip of paper from the pad that had some black flowers printed around the edge with a notebook paper look.  It made the sentiment easy to line up because of the lines.  After printing it I placed it on a piece of black cardstock.  The sentiment is a 1 x 4" strip and the black cardstock is 1.25 x 4" strip.  The dress form is cut from black cardstock and topped with my polka dot dress.  I cut the flower for the dress from a houndstooth patterned paper and added a black rhinestone to the center.  On Wednesday you can see the rest of the Design Teams projects using the Fun with Dress Forms set so be sure to check The Cutting Cafe Blog for them.

BBTB2 Birthday Balloons

It's my turn to host this week's BBTB2 challenge and I asked my DT sisters to make a birthday card using balloons from any Cricut cartridge.  It's Birthday month in my family.  All four of my daughters were born in the month of April.  One birthday each week for the month.  I usually make cards for them individually and nobody gets the same card, but this year I condensed the project because life has been hectic here in the process of getting a new home.  (More to come on that in a future post).  I also had a surprise visit from a fabulous friend and someone that I admire very much.  I was lucky enough to meet Mary from Cardz TV (Stamps).  She was visiting some family here in Florida and ended up staying in the same campground we're in.  It was an incredible surprise for both of us when we found out we'd be in the same place.  What a fabulous time we had with her and her husband Wayne.  Fabulous and fun people and it was such an honor to meet them.  So as a result, all my girls are getting the same basic card, just in different colors.  This is a shaped card that I made using a cutting file from The Cutting Cafe.  I cut my base card from kraft cardstock and my flowered letters are a paper from My Mind's Eye.  I cut two balloons from the Lyrical Letters Cricut cartridge and grouped them together by tying some pink and white twine around them.  A little doodling with a white gel pen finished the card off.   I hope you'll be able to join the balloon challenge this week at BBTB2.  You can use a balloon cut from any Cricut cartridge, but remember you must make a new card to enter the challenge.

The Cutting Cafe Word Shaped Card

This week at The Cutting Cafe the Design Team is focusing on word shaped cards.  You'll be seeing a few variations of this Happy Shaped Card on my blog this month because it's birthday month in my family.  I have four daughters and all four of them were born in the month of April.  For this card I cut the SVG file base from black cardstock.  For the top printed paper layer I used an Authentique paper.  The birthday sentiment came from another Cutting Cafe set called Birthday Fun.  I made the sentiment look like a banner by using a square punch and punching the ends.  I embellished with a black gingham bow, flower button and a little doodling with a white gel pen.  You'll want to be sure to check The Cutting Cafe Blog on Wednesday to see the rest of the DT word shaped cards.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

The Cutting Cafe Jar Shaped Card

Do you remember collecting bugs in a jar when you were little?  That childhood memory was the inspiration for my design for this week's inspiration post at The Cutting Cafe.  The Design Team is featuring projects with the Jar Shaped Card set.  I cut the base card out of Basic Grey wire mesh looking paper using the SVG file.  I used a metallic gold for the jar lid and then a scrap of blue gingham paper to look like fabric on the jar under the lid.  I used a piece of acetate as a top layer to make it look like more like a glass jar.  Then I used my Cricut to cut the bugs from the Doodlecharms cartridge.  The grass came from the Plantin' Schoolbook cartridge.  I placed the bugs and grass under the acetate so they looked like they were in the jar.  The butterfly was cut from the Gypsy Wanderings cartridge and I placed it on top of the acetate on the "outside" of the jar.  I cut a tag from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More and added a spring sentiment from a Cardz TV stamps set called Think Spring.  For a finishing touch I added a red gingham ribbon and tied the tag on with a bit of twine.  I was so happy how this card came out and I hope you like it, too.  You'll want to be sure to check The Cutting Cafe Blog on Wednesday to see the rest of the design teams projects.

Happy Retirment

When a dear friend and neighbor asked me to make a retirement card for her about a month ago, I totally forgot.  Talk about feeling terrible.  So I had to make this card up more quickly than I like to.  My mind lately is on a totally different aspect of life and it's been a little hectic for me so I turned to one of my favorite challenge sites for inspiration, Mojo Monday.  They had a perfect sketch to go with the digital stamp I wanted to use from The Cutting Cafe called--what else--Happy Retirment.  I started with a base card of white cardstock and added a blue mat.  My patterned paper is Authentique and under it I added a punched border.  A small scrap of blue that I trimmed with my square punch to get the points and embellished with a small piece of polka dot ribbon and a white flower with a button center finished the card off.