Last Cutting Cafe Post

All good things must come to an end.  Today I'm posting my final Design Team creation for The Cutting Cafe:(  Since this is the last posting for some of the current DT members we were able to create our choice of projects.  Perfect time to get a head start on all the birthday cards I'll need in the next few months.  For my card I used Miss Regina's Candle Shaped Card cutting file/template.  This is a quick and easy card to put together.  I chose to cut my pieces by hand after printing them.  This file comes in PDF, SVG and MCT options so you can use a cutting machine, also.  I had a scrap of this glittery star patterned paper so used it for the candle stripes.  Going with the star theme I added a layered star and stamped the word celebrate on it.  A small tag tied on with red jute and some yellow Stickles on the candle flame finished the shaped card off.

I have truly enjoyed my term designing for Regina.  I'm going to miss my weekly Cutting Cafe projects, but know that you will continue to see projects using Cutting Cafe files on my blog.  They're addictive and I love using them. Thank you, Regina, for allowing me the opportunity to be on your Design Team.  My admiration for you and your talent will never dim.

The Cutting Cafe Wine Bottle Shaped Card

It's almost time to ring in the new year so at The Cutting Cafe Blog this week the DT is featuring cards using the Wine Bottle Shaped Card and the Wine Glass Shaped Card.  Obviously, I used the wine bottle shaped card.  This cutting file/template comes with a matching envelope, five circle sentiments, 2 regular sentiments, and some cute wine stopper tops.  Sometimes I just get tired of pulling out my cutting machine.  I don't have a craft room so every time I need to use my Silhouette or Cricut I have to haul them out and set them up on the dining table.  When I'm finished I have to put everything away or else we wouldn't be able to sit down and have our dinner.  LOL  So for my card this week I just printed out the bottle onto cardstock and hand cut it.  It didn't take any time at all, in fact, less time than it would have taken to get my Silhouette out and set up with my computer, get the card laid out onto the mat screen, get the mat out, load the paper onto it, etc. I cut the base card from a beige cardstock then topped it with a pretty green patterned paper from K&Company.  A couple years ago, when cork first started coming on the papercrafting scene, I found this set of cork flower stickers.  I had completely forgotten about them and came across them when I was pulling out the patterned paper for the wine bottle.  I was going to use a piece of cork for the stopper in the bottle and thought it would be a nice touch to add the cork flower to the bottle.  With the cork flowers there were some scalloped circles and I've been wondering if I could stamp on cork.  Sure enough it worked.  After stamping Happy New Year on the cork I put it onto a tag.  I tied a pretty polka dot wired ribbon around the neck of the bottle and attached the tag around the ribbon.  For a little more embellishment I added some pretty sequins and a little bit of Stickles.  I was disappointed that they didn't show up better in the picture. I know this is a busy week for everyone, but on Wednesday after the presents are all unwrapped and your ready for a little relaxing check in at The Cutting Cafe Blog to see the rest of the DT projects.  Merry Christmas, everyone!

Annual Christmas Card

Finally, I've gained control of the Christmas preparations and I'm feeling good about it.  My cards are made and in the mail, the presents are bought and in the mail (because we are not with our family for the holiday), the cookies are baked, and the food is ready to be prepared for Christmas dinner. Today I thought I would share my simple but elegant Christmas card I made to give to friends and family this year.  My Christmas card list has grown in the last few years as we've made so many new friends in our retirement lifestyle. Yes, we've become snowbirds and it appears that we've made the perfect decision judging by the weather reports we are seeing from upper Michigan.  As I write this there is another Winter Storm Advisory, while we are enjoying the most glorious weather with sun and warmth down in Florida.

Anyway, because I needed so many cards the last couple of years I have decided to come up with a design and mass produce.  It made life so much easier last year so I stuck with the same plan this year.  I've always loved the white on white look and always think it looks elegant.  I made my base card with white cardstock then matted a shiny gold mat onto the top of it.  Then I took another piece of white and embossed it with a beautiful Cuttlebug winter embossing folder featuring a cardinal on a branch.  I used a sentiment from My Creative Time and heat embossed it in gold.  That was it, easy peasy.

The Cutting Cafe 3-D Christmas Ornament Set

 

We're continuing with a Christmas theme this week at The Cutting Café and the focus for our Design Team projects is ornaments.  I'm showcasing a set of 3-Dimensional Christmas Ornaments.  This set comes with two different ornaments, one divider box and lids (one with a window and one without window).   You can make your ornaments as full as you'd like.  For mine, I used six of the ornament sections per ornament.  I used the SVG file and my Silhouette to cut all my pieces.

 



Before attaching all the pieces I cut a piece of red glitter ribbon to sandwich between layers to serve as the ornament hanger.  I embellished the ornaments with a green die cut bow and a die cut silver jingle bell.  Here is a photo of the box all done up to give as a gift to a friend.  I simply added a tulle bow and a tag.

You'll want to make sure you stop by The Cutting Café Blog on Wednesday to see the rest of the Design Team's ornament projects.  Thanks for coming by.

The Cutting Cafe 3-D Christmas Trees

The holiday season is in full swing now.  I'm sure most of you have decked the halls by now.  I must confess, not much decking has gone on in my house for several reasons.  We just returned from a trip to N. Carolina to visit our son and his family and I'm a bit behind.  We've also had a hectic schedule since returning.  How I ever managed to get anything done before I retired is a mystery to me.  I must apologize for the quality of my photo.  I really had a difficult time getting a picture of this project.  This week's Cutting Café project is made with the 3-D Christmas Tree Set Template/Cutting File.  This set comes with two different types of tree cuts in SMALL, MEDIUM and LARGE sizes, two different size boxes to make into presents and a tree window card.  My Silhouette machine came in handy for cutting all the pieces of this file.  Each of my trees has four sections that are glued together to make it three dimensional.  After assembling the trees I blinged them up adding gems and stickles.  A few presents scattered around and my little scene was complete.  I'm so glad that I have this little grouping of Christmas trees on my dining table.  In our tiny 500 sq. ft. place we don't have room for a Christmas tree so I have to look for other ways to bring the holiday spirit into my little space.  To give the trees a little weight to make them stand up I've placed them on small flower "frogs".  I hope you'll have time to stop by The Cutting Café Blog this week to see the rest of the DTs projects. 

The Cutting Cafe Christmas Bag Topper

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Now that you've had a weekend of Christmas shopping (or even if you didn't) you're going to need some good ideas for gift presentation.  I've got just what you need.  This week at The Cutting Café the Design Team is featuring projects with Christmas Bag Toppers, Stocking Boxes, Christmas Shaped Milk Cartons and Candy Cane Boxes.  You're sure to find just the container you need.  I used the Christmas tree bag topper and small gift bag for my featured design.  The Christmas Bag Topper Template and Cutting File comes with 17 different bag toppers, a small and large bag with and without windows and frames to put around the windows in the bags.  There are also 19 sentiments included with the set.  I cut the bag from a plaid patterned paper, the bag topper base from kraft cardstock and the Christmas tree from a green polka dot.  I added a few die cut presents around the base of the tree and a die cut star to the top of the tree.  A little twine and a tiny tag completed the bag.  The tag sentiment is from The Cutting Café Christmas Mini Words.  Now make sure you check out the rest of the DT projects on The Cutting Café Blog on Wednesday.

Cardz TV Go To Challenge Galz Christmas Treats

Happy Black Friday!  I hope you all had a fabulous Turkey Day.  As you read this my husband and I are enjoying a long awaited trip to visit my son, daughter-in-law and grandson Kameron in North Carolina.  My son is a Marine so our time to see him is so limited and it's such a blessing to be with him for this holiday.  It has been over eight years since we've been with him for a holiday celebration.

So let's see---today you are one of two kinds of people---either a shopper or an avoid at all costs, never enter a store type.  I'm not sure which I'll be today, but have been both a shopper and a stay at home girl in the past.  What I know for sure, is today at Cardz TV you will see some fabulous creations for treats to give friends and family for Christmas.  The Go To Challenge Galz have outdone themselves to bring you some great inspiration.  I've made this stacking/nesting set of four boxes into an adorable snowman.  When separated each box will fit inside the box below it, which I must say, is what drew me to this file.  That and my love/obsession with snowmen.  I love the fact that I can use it as a decoration and if I don't use it to put little treats in I can save it for next year and it will hardly take up any storage space in my tiny 500 sq. ft. home.  This is the perfect treat holder for all my friends that live in small campers or a park model like I do.  This is Silhouette file #35047.  I left it exactly the size it comes in the file.  It was really so quick to put together.  All I needed to add were some buttons and a couple great Cardz TV sentiments.  Both Frosty and There's SNOW one like you came from the Cardz TV stamp set Snow Day.  I hope you'll have the chance to play along with our Cardz TV Challenge for a Christmas Treat Container.  Add your creation with the Mr. Linky feature at the Cardz TV blog and you'll have the chance to win some Cardz TV stamps.  The challenge runs until December 6th.  Thanks for stopping by today.

The Cutting Cafe Table Decor

This week at The Cutting Café the Design Team is showcasing some of their favorite files from the store.  I decided to use the cute little Wheelbarrow Treat Box Template/Cutting file.  I wanted to add a few fall flavored décor items to my little home.  Most of you know that hubby and I live in a small (500 sq. ft.) park model "cottage".  Living in such a tiny space we don't have a lot of room for holiday decorations, but I still like to scatter a few touches around.  I found a package of "table scatter" pumpkins at Target recently in the $1 bins.  As soon as I saw them I knew they would look really cute displayed in this wheelbarrow on my dining table.  I used my Silhouette and the SVG cutting file to cut all my wheelbarrow pieces and used scraps from leftover projects.  At the base of the wheelbarrow I added a little grass that I cut from the Grass Shaped Card template, also from The Cutting Café.  Then I scattered a few leaves and a pumpkin in the grass.  I added a small bow and a tiny tag (My Creatvie Time die) and stamped the word Fall onto it then attached it to the handle of the wheelbarrow. 

The Cutting Cafe Turkey Card

 

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!!!  It's almost turkey day and I'm very excited about that.  Not because Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, but this year we will be traveling from Florida to N. Carolina to spend the holiday with our son, daughter-in-law and grandson in their new home.  My son (who is a Marine) has been assigned to a new duty station and we are beyond excited that he will be closer to Florida so we can see him more often.  His little guy is 2 1/2 now and we've only had the opportunity to see him a handful of times.  He's at such a fun age now and it will be wonderful to spend more time with him.  We're hoping we can entice them to visit us in Florida, too.  Perhaps a bribe for a trip to Disneyworld will do the trick.

 

Now onto my turkey card.  The Cutting Café design team is highlighting Thanksgiving projects this week using the Turkey Shaped Card, Gobble Word Shaped Card or the So Thankful Circle set.  I combined the Turkey from the Turkey Shaped Card with one of Miss Regina's new Step Card Templates. I also used the Thanksgiving Day Printable stamp set for my sentiment and the gobble words on the card.  I cut the step card base from black cardstock.  The gobble words are printed on a yellow patterned paper from my scrap bin so I'm not sure of the brand.  I also used scraps to put Mr. Turkey together.  Isn't he just the cutest turkey?  I printed my sentiment on another piece of the yellow patterned paper then assembled all the pieces together for one fabulous Thanksgiving card.  If you'd like a chance to win some Cutting Café files make sure you head over to The Cutting Café blog and leave a comment.  Miss Regina has one winner every week. 

 

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and get the chance to spend time with family or friends.  I can't wait to make some family memories.  I'm sure I'll have a picture or two to share with you of my grandson when we return.

My Creative Time Holiday Tag Challenge

I just can't believe that I'm already making gift tags for my Christmas packages.  Where on earth did this year go?  The good thing is my tags will be a much quicker project this year after purchasing Tag Dies from My Creative Time.  I've only had the dies a few weeks, but have used them constantly since they arrived.  Talk about happy mail.  The set comes with two dies...one has pointy ends and the other is scalloped on the bottom edge and, of course, they come with Miss Emma's signature stitching embossed into them.  For my tag (which I will be entering in the MCT Holiday Tag Challenge hosted by Miss Katie) I used the tag with the scalloped edge because I think it has a more feminine look to it and this is a girly tag.

Here is the list of My Creative Time Products I used to make my tag:

• Card Sentiments-Do Not Open 'til the 25th
• Girls' Night out Stitched Dies-Dress, belt, hanger
• Holiday Tickets-Celebrate your inner ELF
• Post Card Add-Ons-Santa Stops Here (stamped on button)
• Stitched Button Dies
• Stitched Doily Die
• Stitched Fun Ticket Dies
• Tag Dies

It sounds like it has a lot of elements to it, but the tag was very quick to put together.  I used a double sided paper for my tag so it looks pretty on the backside, too.  The paper is from an older stack that I've had in my stash for a number of years made by Best Creations.  I have to give a little shout out to my BFF Jennifer for cutting me some of the Doilies because I don't have the die myself.  We had a little swap and I cut a few things for her from dies she doesn't have.  I cut the doily in half to place under my dress.  Before placing the doily on the tag I cut out both layers of the Stitched Tag Die using red for the bottom layer and white for the top layer and added my Elf sentiment to the right side of the tag since I was going to place the left side under the doily.  I cut the dress from a pretty patterned red paper, and the hanger and belt from black card stock. I used some tiny ball fringe to decorate the bottom of the dress and added Glossy Accents to the belt to give it a patent leather look.  The dress is popped using dimensional foam.  I stamped the "Don't Open 'til the 25th with Hero Arts Red Geranium ink.  Next I added a beautiful striped Stampin' Up ribbon to the top of the tag.  I cut a large round button from the Stitched Button Dies and using the same red ink took the circular sentiment Santa Stops Here from the Postcard Add-Ons stamp set and stamped it onto the button.  I added some red jute through the button and tied a double bow behind it before adding it to the ribbon.  Voila---done!!! Here's a closer view of the tag showing the stamping detail a little better.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope I've inspired you to at least start thinking of all the Christmas projects you need to do.  

The Cutting Cafe Step Card

I was super excited when Miss Regina from The Cutting Café came out with some fabulous Step Cards.  Of course, the DT is here this week to show some fabulous designs for the STEP CARD TEMPLATES-CUTTING FILES.  This set comes with five different step cards.  For my Beehive card I used the Side One Step card and the Beehive Shaped Card for the hive, bees and buzz background paper.  I used the SVG file and my Silhouette to cut it.  No fears though, if you don't have a cutting machine the PDF files are simple and easy to use for hand cutting.  I started with  white cardstock for my base card.  After I cut it out I measured the front panel and the side panel so I could cut background pieces.  For the left hand side I used a blue cardstock and printed the buzz background from the Beehive Shaped Card on it.  Then I cut the background for the left hand side of the card from this printed paper.  Next I cut the beehive top layer, black shadow and beehive hole and assembled the beehive for the right hand side.  I added some stitching lines with my fine point black marker and white gel pen.  Last, but not least, I cut the bee and bee layers using vellum for the bee wings.   The bees are popped up using some dimensional foam.  For the front I added a die cut picket fence to the card and then placed my sentiment (which is from the Beehive Shaped Card set) on it. I love how bright and cheerful this card came out. Make sure you stop by The Cutting Café Blog on Wednesday to see the rest of the DT projects using the step cards.

The Cutting Cafe Pizza Box

I just can not believe that it is November already.  The holidays are approaching rapidly which brings me to my project today for The Cutting Café.  This week the Design Team is featuring projects using the PIZZA BOX TEMPLATE/CUTTING FILE.  Love, love, love this file.  I've already made several projects with it.  For my first project today I made an embellishment box for a friend as a Christmas gift.  For the pizza box I used an older DCWV Craft Stack with this cute button paper.  I used my Silhouette and the SVG file to cut the box.  If you don't have a cutting machine this file comes in PDF format and is very easy to cut by hand and assemble.  I wanted my box to be sturdy so I cut it twice-once from kraft cardstock and once from the patterned paper and then I attached them to each other before assembling the box.  This file comes with inserts for the inside, either four smaller inserts or two larger inserts.  For this box I used four inserts to hold all my embellishing goodies. I added some white crocheted flowers, brads, eyelets, googly eyes, ribbons and buttons.

I couldn't stop with just one project.  For my second box I made a little sewing kit that includes thread, needles, needle threader, seam ripper, scissors and buttons.  This would make a good gift for a college student.  I remember putting together a couple of sewing kits for my daughters when they went off to college.

I used the same DCWV paper stack and again made the box two layers for sturdiness.  I added a tag to the front of the box with a sewing sentiment from my stamp stash.

This Pizza Box file comes with two boxes, a solid box and a box with a window on the top, 4 mini inside divider boxes, 1 half insert divider box, one mini card and one envelope template.  I used the mini cards and the envelopes for my Cutting Café project last week.  Here is what it looks like with the small note cards and envelopes.

I'm sure you could find even more uses for this fabulous file and you can see more great projects from the Design Team on The Cutting Café Blog for more inspiration.  Thanks for coming by today. 

My Creative Time Thanksgiving theme challenge

There's a Thanksgiving theme challenge going on over at MY CREATIVE TIME hosted by Miss Glora.  It's kind of funny because I had just been telling my friend the other day that I had an idea for a turkey using Miss Emma's new rosette dies.  Then low and behold, I see Miss Glora's project for the challenge and she made turkeys with the rosette die.  Since mine is a little different than her's I went ahead and made my turkey for this challenge.  You can see a complete list of all the different My Creative Time products I used on this project at the end of the post. To construct my turkey I started by cutting a base to build the turkey on, I used the Stitched Circle die from the Scalloped Stitched circle die set for this.  Next I cut the larger of the two rosette dies from the Scalloped Stitched Rosette Dies from brown cardstock and folded it up using the lines marked on the cut for the accordion folds.  I used a hot glue gun to add this layer to the circle.  The next layer is the scalloped circle from the Scalloped Stitched circle die set and I cut it from dark red cardstock.  I hot glued this piece onto the brown layer.  Then I went to the smaller of the two rosette dies and cut it using a scrap of orange patterned paper.  For the turkey's face I used the larger circle button from the Stitched Button die set and for his gobbler I snipped off one of the scallops from the scalloped circle.  Now that my turkey was finished I set him aside while I made the envelope I was going to put him on using the Scalloped Stitched Envelope Die and kraft cardstock.  I love this new little envelope.  Miss Emma made it to fit the Stitched Journal Die cards, which I use obsessively.  Once the envelope was assembled I made a little pumpkin from the medium size Stitched Hexy Die.  I cut it from an orange polka dot scrap and hand cut a little stem from a scrap of green cardstock.  I attached a small hemp bow to the top.  Then I cut a small leaf to put next to it using the All Around Holidays leaf die.  For my sentiment I cut both layers of the Stitched Fun Ticket Dies.  I added the turkey sentiment that came from the Mixed Holiday Sentiment stamp set and embellished the ticket with a few leaves using the tiny leaf stamp from the Postcard Add-Ons stamp set.  I placed the ticket on the envelope first.  I wanted to put the turkey on top of the ticket so it looked like he was peeking over the top with his little gobbler hanging onto the ticket.  I popped up the pumpkin and leaf with dimensional foam.  After I attached Mr. Turkey I stamped the postage mark and stamp using stamps from the Postcard Add-Ons.  I made a little card to write a special note on to place in the envelope.  I cut the card using the Stitched 3x4 Journal Die.  The Grateful sentiment at the top of the card is from the Holiday Tickets Stamp set, under that I placed a decorative line from the Build a Postcard stamp set.  Then I used one of the stamps from the Journal It stamp set for the lines that I will write my message on. For a finishing touch I added another small leaf to the card.  Here is a photo with a little closer look at the envelope.

 

 

I used the following My Creative Time Products:

• ALL AROUND HOLIDAYS stamp set
• BUILD A POSTCARD stamp set
• HOLIDAY TICKETS stamp set
• JOURNAL IT stamp set
• MIXED HOLIDAY SENTIMENTS stamp set
• POSTCARD ADD-ONS stamp set
• SCALLOP & STITCHED CIRCLE DIES
• SCALLOPED STITCHED ENVELOPE DIE
• SCALLOPED STITCHED ROSETTE DIES
• STITCHED BUTTON DIES
• STITCHED FUN TICKET DIES
• STITCHED HEXY DIES
• STITCHED JOURNAL DIE (3X4)



Cardz TV Stamps Challenge #39 Let Us Give Thanks

 

 

Happy November!  Thanksgiving is only weeks away and the Cardz TV Stamps Go-To-Galz are presenting Thanksgiving projects this week.  For my sweet little card I made this adorable scarecrow from the Cricut Simply Charmed cartridge.  Isn't he so darn cute?  I used Graphic 45 French Country paper collection for the scarecrow's shirt and overalls.  I paired this little guy with a pre-made background from last year's Simple Stories Harvest Lane collection.  I simply made a base card from kraft cardstock and placed the pre-made paper element on the front.  Then I added the cute little scarecrow.  Love, love, love it.  I stamped my sentiment from the the Cardz TV Stamp set Thankful For You right onto the background paper. The only embellishment I needed to add to this card were the two teeny tiny red buttons on the scarecrows overalls.  In less than 10 minutes this card was complete.   I hope you'll play along with this challenge.  You'll have until Nov. 14th to link your project at the Cardz TV blog for your chance to win some Cardz TV stamps.  Have FUN!

The Cutting Cafe Gratitude

 

 

I'm such a sucker for different types of boxes and bags.  I love having unique ways of presenting my handmand cards.  This week for The Cutting Café the Design Team is showing gratitude projects using the With Gratitude Printable Stamp set or the Grateful Word Shaped card.  I've also used the new PIZZA BOX CUTTING FILE/TEMPLATE.  This set has so many possibilities because it comes with the pizza box, inserts for sectioning off the box and templates for notecards and envelopes.  The papers I used are from Kaiser Kraft.  I love that this stack came with some cute little die cuts in it.  I used one of them for my sentiment label on the outside of the box.   I added a pretty little paper bow to dress up the box.

 

I used the note card template for a set of notecards and some pretty vellum envelopes for the cards to go in.  It's always nice to have some thank you cards around for those occasions when you need to thank someone for a random act of kindness or a little surprise they presented you with.  The thanks sentiment circle came from The Cutting Café With Gratitude Printable set.  This set comes with lots of fun stuff, 75 images in all.  It has 10 colored scallops, 18 phrases (9 colored and 9 black and white), 10 backgrounds and 19 sentiments.

The Cutting Cafe Halloween treat bag

Hello Friends.  So glad you stopped by today.  I think this may finally be my last Halloween post.  I've made lots of little treat holders to give to our friends.  Since Regina asked The Cutting Cafe design team to make a project this week using any Halloween file, it was the perfect opportunity to finish up my holders.  For this treat bag I used two different Cutting Cafe files.  I'll start with the cute Pumpkin Bag Topper.  This little guy came from The Cutting Cafe's Halloween Bag Toppers Cutting File/Template.  This is a really fun file that has eight different bag toppers, 14 sentiments, and four bag templates-small and large, with or without a window.  I used an older Cosmo Cricket Halloween stack for all my patterned papers.  I cut the bag topper itself from a black print then I cut the pumpkin layers and assembled the pumpkin and attached it to the topper.  Next I cut my bag from kraft cardstock.  It's the small bag from the set with no window.  I thought the bag looked a little too plain so I added a piece of patterned paper to the front.  Before I attached the topper to the bag I did a little doodling with a white gel pen and fine point black marker.  I looked through some of the other Halloween files from The Cafe to see what caught my interest to embellish the bag.  I chose a cute little bat from the Halloween and Fall Basics Images Set. I printed him and fussy cut him then added a couple small googly eyes.  I popped him up with a little foam tape and added him atop my sentiment.  Are you ready for Halloween?  If not, and you need some treat holders head on over to The Cutting Cafe.  Regina has so many to choose from.  Your sure to find the perfect one.  Make sure you stop by The Cutting Cafe blog on Wednesday to see the rest of the DT projects for even more inspiration.

Cardz TV Challenge #38 Ghost and Goblin Party

It's time for a Ghost and Goblin Party at Cardz TV this week.  As you can see I used a ghost on my card.  I'm not sure if my design this week translated onto paper exactly the way I wanted it to.  I wanted to do something different with the spelling of the word BEWARE and when I saw this bat cut on the Cricut Happy Hauntings cartridge I thought I could make it look like the letter W.  Maybe you have to have a vivid imagination to get a W out of a bat, but it sounded like a good idea at the time. LOL  I started with a black base card cut at 3.5 x 7.5.  I was proud of myself for stamping my own background for this card.  I wanted a really subtle chevron look so I used a light gray cardstock and stamped my chevron with Versamark Dazzle Frost Ink.  It has a little shimmer to it that doesn't show up too well in the photo.  I added a big full moon and a silhouette of a bat along with two clouds.  I stamped the Spooky sentiment from the Cardz TV More Spooky Sayings stamp set.  Next I cut my letters from the Plantin' Schoolbook cartridge from scraps of MME Mischievous paper stack.  The letters are cut at 1.5" as well as the bat.  For a final spooky touch I added a ghost to pop off the page with some dimensional foam.  I hope you can play along with our Ghost and Goblin Party challenge.  Link on up over at the Cardz TV blog until 10-31 for your chance to win a set of Cardz TV Stamps.

The Cutting Cafe Halloween Pillow Box Treats

It's Sunday and time for another Cutting Café featured set.  This week Regina asked the design team to create pillow boxes using any theme.  I wanted to have a few treats on hand for friends on Halloween.  Since we live in a 55 or older community we don't have any trick or treaters, but we usually get together with friends.  I used the Assorted Pillow Box cutting file to make my boxes.  I resized them so I could fit four on a mat and cut them with my Silhouette using the SVG file.  All my patterned papers are from Bazzill.  I won them from Scrapbook and Cards Today a couple years ago.  Like most papercrafters I have a hoard that seldom gets used.  Now that I don't have a house with a craftroom and we spend part of the year in Florida and the summer months in Michigan it's become difficult to store a lot of supplies.  I'm trying to use what I have.  I admit, though, it's very difficult for me not to buy new 6x6 paper stacks.  I love them so much.  On a recent outing with my Bestie, Jennifer, I told her to slap me if I picked up any paper and not to let me buy it.  Being the good friend she is and also having a paper addiction, she did not hit me when I found a Simple Stories paper pad on clearance at Hobby Lobby.  We both recognize a good deal when we find it.  LOL

To embellish my little boxes I cut tags for each one using a tag die from My Creative Time.  I added a scallop circle to each tag and then my sentiment which is from The Cutting Café Assorted Halloween Word Circles.  I added black and white gingham ribbon to each tag then tied on smaller tags with words from the Halloween Mini Words printable stamp set.  Each of these boxes will hold small Hershey chocolate bars or two (square) mini bars of candy.  Don't forget to stop by The Cutting Café Blog on Wednesday to see the rest of the DT projects.

The Cutting Cafe Halloween Trio

*Note: I so apologize to my friends who left comments on this post previously.  I accidently deleted some comments instead of publishing them.  Please note that I read them and truly appreciated them.  A lesson learned, be more careful before hitting the keystroke.*

Welcome Friends and Followers!  I'm so happy to finally be back and ready to post after our fall travels and returning to Florida.  It seems as though I've been gone a long time even though I had posts on my blog while we've been traveling because I scheduled them in advance.  It's actually been about a month since I've been able to craft and I was worried that mojo may have taken a hike. So this is the first card I had time to sit down to make, how fitting that I was able to do it on World Cardmaking Day.  This week at The Cutting Café the Design Team is featuring projects made with one of several of Regina's files-Halloween Trio, Crazy Candy Corn or A Bunch of Monsters.  I decided to use this pumpkin trio so I could enter my card in the pumpkin challenge going on over at My Creative Time.  My patterned papers are from MME Mischievous 6x6 paper pad.  As you can see I paper pieced my pumpkins using a polka dot and a stripe that I placed on the diagonal.  I love how it turned out.  I added two of my new favorites from MCT- the Stitched Ghost Die and the Stitched Party Banner.  I wish you could use a ghost for something other than Halloween because I just love this cutie patootie ghost.  I cut him from vellum to make him look more like an apparition and tucked him behind my pumpkin trio.  I used the party banner so I could use the word Boo, because everyone knows that's what ghosts say, right?  You'll want to make sure that you stop over at The Cutting Café Blog on Wednesday to see the rest of the DT projects.  Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

Cardz TV Challenge #37 Breast Cancer Awareness

 

 

I got to choose this week's challenge at Cardz TV and I wanted to go with a theme that is near (literally) and dear to my heart and that's Breast Cancer Awareness.  I've almost made it to my four year anniversary from when I had a bilateral mastectomy because I had breast cancer.  As you may know October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and pink is the color associated with it.  I like to give little cards to friends or family members as a reminder for them to get a yearly mammogram.  For my card I used a 3x4 journaling die from My Creative Time to cut the base and background piece for my card.  I used the MME Madison Ave. 6x6 paper pad for all the elements on my card.  My ribbon was cut from the Cricut Stand and Salute cartridge.  The pretty flowers are made with an Impression Obsession spiral flower die and they're embellished with tiny pink pearls in the center.  A little American Greetings pink twine and my sentiment from the Cardz TV Stamps More Encouraging Thoughts stamp set finished this little card off. 

I know that I've said this on my blog for the past three years, but it bears saying again, I am living proof that EARLY DETECTION saves lives.  Please get a yearly mammogram so you can continue to make happy memories with your loved ones for years to come.

The Cutting Cafe Chinese Take Out Box

For this week's Cutting Café assignment Regina asked the DT to make a project using the Chinese Take Out Box template.  I needed to make a couple Halloween treats to give my granddaughters before we left Michigan to head to Florida.  I used a kraft and black patterned paper from Colorbok that I picked up at Walmart.  I used the SVG Chinese Take Out Box with a window so my candy treats would show through and cut it with my Silhouette.  My cute little embellishment button was also a Walmart find.  The little card was made with the Cutting Café Halloween This and That printable stamp set.  I simply printed the cat and sentiment onto some kraft cardstock then cut a black base to fit it on.  I apologize that my post is short and sweet today, but we are on the road traveling back to Florida.  Just a couple more days before we arrive and can get settled in and back into a routine.

The Cutting Cafe Acorn Shaped Card

Fall is definitely in the air here in northern Michigan. It's time to head to Florida to our winter home,  In fact, as you're reading this we are on the road traveling.  It was really nice to see some fall color before leaving Michigan.  We missed it last year, but the weather this year was much cooler so the trees started to change color early. 

Today I'm sharing an Acorn Shaped Card for my weekly Cutting Café project.  I found an old autumn paper stack from Recollections when I was packing up my supplies to head to Florida.  When I saw this cute fall print I thought it was perfect for my card.  I cut my shaped card base using the SVG file and my Silhouette.  I added a top layer of the blue print and made the top of the acorn from Bo Bunny Double Dot.  I added some machine stitching to this layer.  Next I fussy cut a tree/leaf and a squirrel from the patterned paper to embellish the acorn top.  My sentiment is from The Cutting Cafe's Welcome Fall printable stamp set.  A small rust colored button with a little spiral of blue wire running through it completed this card.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you're enjoying the blessings of Autumn wherever you are.

Cardz TV Stamps Challenge #36 Fall Colors

I love the colors of fall and it's always been my favorite season in Michigan.  It's nice to see the leaves changing and to go to the cider mill for fresh apple cider before we head down to Florida for the winter.  In fact, I love the season so much that hubby and I got married in the fall.  We are celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary this weekend.  It's our last weekend in Michigan, so a little bittersweet as we see our family for the last time this year.  This week's challenge at Cardz TV is to make a project using the fall colors of red, orange, gold and brown.  I made a base card from brown cardstock and topped it with a plaid from the Bo Bunny Apple Cider paper stack (last year's).  Next I added a dark red polka (Simple Stories Harvest Lane) dot circle that I stitched onto the plaid background with a zigzag stitch and my cute little traveling Janome sewing machine.  My leaf is cut from a Silhouette file (#4002) and embossed with Cuttlebug's Moracan Screen.  I cut a couple Cutting Café Scalloped Borders (SVG) and layered them together then added an orange ribbon.  I stamped my sentiment from the Cardz Tv Stamps Thankful For You stamp set and then cut it into three shorter strips, which I popped with dimensional foam and stacked. 

My Creative Time Birthday Challenge

Today I have a FUN birthday card to share.  My bright, cheery papers are all from the DCWV 6x6 paper pad called The Birthday Wishes stack.  These papers have a little bit of a glossy sheen to them and need Staz-On ink so the stamping won't smear.  I decided to make a long card to accommodate my banner across the top.  I used the following My Creative Time sets to make this:

• Stitched Party Dies-for the balloons and banner
• Stitched Mini Frame-for the frame
• Chocolate Greetings Die and Stamp Set-for the long banners
• It's All About You stamp set

My base card measures 3x6", yellow layer 2.75x5.75', and blue layer is 2.5x5.5".  After assembling the base of the card I cut two of the banners from the Stitched Party Die.  I wanted room between the two banners to add my mini frame and sentiment.  My sentiment was heat embossed with WOW Pink Bubble Gum embossing powder.  Next I cut two long banners from the Chocolate Greetings set and stamped the sentiments on them with Staz-On ink and added them to the banner across the top.  I pop dotted the sentiment in the mini frame.  To add to the birthday theme even more I cut some balloons from the Stitched Party Dies and arranged them on the left side of the mini frame sentiment using some pop dots for a bit of layering.  I added one more of the little ribbons from the Stitched Party Dies at the base of the balloons to finish off the project.  This card fits perfectly in a business size envelope. 

I'll be putting this card into my stash of birthday cards for friends.  We are just days away from heading back to Florida for the winter months.  We have lots of friends down there that have birthdays through the winter and it seems I'm always in need of cards down there.  So proud of myself for getting a head start.  Perfect timing, too, to add my card to the Designer's Challenge over at My Creative Time for their birthday theme.  Now it's time for me to pack up my supplies for transport back to Florida.  I'm so going to be having crafting withdrawals.  My supplies are always the last thing I pack so I can use them right up to the day before we leave.  I'm not looking forward to the long drive from Michigan, but I can't wait to get back to our little place and some warmer weather.  Fall has definitely arrived in Northern Michigan.

The Cutting Cafe Overalls Shaped Card

Snips and snails

and puppy dog tails

That's what little

boys are made of.

 

Were celebrating little boys (or maybe bigger boys) this week at The Cutting Café Blog.  Regina asked the DT to create a project for boys using the Overalls Shaped Card (my choice), the All About Boys printable stamp set (my sentiment), or the Funny Car Treat Box.  I just love the cute little Overall Shaped card and have used it before for both boy and girl cards.  I cut the base card from white cardstock and topped it with a denim looking paper from the Graphic 45 French Country paper stack.  All of my trim pieces were cut from another paper from that stack, the red gingham.  I remember when my son was young he would often follow his daddy around working on projects around the house with his little plastic tools in his pockets.  That's where I got the inspiration for my card.  I added a hammer and a screwdriver to the pockets that I cut from a Silhouette file.  After I assembled the card I printed out the sentiment onto a circle and attached it, with a little dimensional foam, to the front of the card.  The star on the front of the bib pocket is also part of the file's accessories.



The Cutting Cafe Apple Treat Box

We're celebrating Back to School at the Cutting Café this week.  Regina asked us to create a project using the Apple Treat Box, School Borders or Bus Shaped Card.  I'm always up for creating a 3-D project, especially treat boxes.  I love treat boxes for every occasion and often use them to send treats to my grandkids for a surprise.  This Apple Treat Box would be perfect for a little Back to School treat.  I cut the box from kraft cardstock and the top layer from a scrap of MME  I decided to print the round sentiment onto a die cut circle that I placed onto a scalloped back then I added it to the front of a die cut tag.  A little ribbon, twine and a button completed this project.

My Creative Time Designer Challenge The Colors of Fall

It feels like Fall here in northern Michigan.  I can't believe the whole summer is just gone.  Our time here is quickly coming to an end and we'll be heading back down to Florida soon.  Fall was always my favorite season when we lived in Michigan.  I loved seeing the trees changing color and I always hope that we'll see a little of that color before we leave our camper in late September.  Yesterday we were driving down a country road and saw a field of pumpkins which inspired my card today that I made for the My Creative Time Designer Challenge.  The current challenge has an inspiration picture to take colors from. 

I used the MCT Stitched Hexy Dies to make my little pumpkins.  I cut little stems for them by hand and added them to the top of the pumpkins along with a little twine bow.  My little crescent moon is made from the MCT Stitched Circle Die and the clouds are the MCT Stitched Cartoon Cloud Dies.  To make the crescent moon I cut the stitched circle and then placed the circle die on top of the first cut with just the crescent shape showing and ran it through my Cuttlebug again.  I added a few little twinkling blue star sequins to finish the card off.

Cardz TV Stamps Challenge #35 Celebrate the Harvest

Summer is winding down and it's time to finish harvesting the crops.  It's been a great year for crops here in Michigan.  Well deserving farmers are celebrating after almost total crop losses last year.  Last year at our annual campground end of year celebration we had a never before tasted treat that some friends brought to the gathering.  It is a tradition in their family to make a batch of cherry liquor each year.  The cherries are picked and placed into jars with sugar and whiskey, sealed up and not opened until Christmas time.  So our friends, Jay and Linda, brought a jar of their cherry liquor and cherries that they had made the year before.  I just had a sip of the liquor, not being a drinker myself, but the best part of this creation is the soaked cherries.  I admit I had more than a few of them and they were yummy. 

My husband said, after that experience, that he was going to make some of his own this year.  Lucky for us our friends remembered him saying that and on a recent weekend at the campground they were nice enough to bring us a couple pounds of cherries that Jay and his mother had picked just the day before.  Off hubby went to the store to buy canning jars.  Now you have to know that my husband does absolutely no cooking.  He can make one thing and one thing only, French toast.  My adult kids still beg for that treat.  By the end of the day we had our own six quarts of cherries all set to soak for the next six months, enough to give one to each of the kids before we leave to head back to Florida and take some for ourselves to be shared with friends on Christmas Day.

I made this cute little cherry card as a thank you to our friends for bringing us those cherries.  I used the Cardz TV Stamps Love in a Jar stamp set to make this card along with the perfect background paper from DCWV Sweet paper stack.  It was so easy to make by stamping the jar onto white cardstock and the lid onto silver paper, then the cherries with some red and green ink.  After stamping I fussy cut the pieces and put them together then popped them up on the card with a little foam tape.

The Cutting Cafe Favorite Things project

 

It's time for my Cutting Café project for the week.  We have a new term starting and some new designer's joining the team.  Regina gave us the option of highlighting any of her files this week.  I thought it was the perfect opportunity to share something really FUN that I recently got to participate in, thanks to Regina.  Have you heard of this new fad-My Favorite Things parties?  You can find lots of ideas for these gift exchange parties on Pinterest.  The basis of the party is to gather friends together and exchange gifts of your favorite things.  Regina decided to do a mail gift exchange for craft items and organized a group of her friends into teams of six (including me).  Each person on the team was asked to purchase a gift or gifts for the amount of $5 and then mail them off to the other members of the team.  So I had to purchase five of the same item(s) for my team members.  If you are a crafter you might think it impossible to find something for that small amount of money.  I decided to put embellishments and ink pads into my bags.  The little chevron bags are from Doodlebug Designs.  Inside my bags I put my very favorite ink for inking edges-Color Box Cat Eye chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, some Doodlebug pink and white twine, buttons, Tim Holtz mini paper clips, rhinestones, and wooden conversation bubbles.  All of my favorite things to embellishment my papercrafting projects.

 

 

Everything went into the bags and then I added a tag printed from The Cutting Café A Few of my Favorite Things printable stamp set.  I embellished the tag with a piece of pink burlap ribbon, pink and white twine and a tiny pair of scissors I cut from a My Creative Time die.

 

It was so much fun looking forward to the mail arrival until all of the packages arrived from my team mates with their Favorite Things inside.  When I get back down to Florida I think I may just have to host my own Favorite Things party with a group of my friends and this time do it in person.  FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

Cutting Cafe Blog Hop Winner

Happy Saturday to you all.  I don't usually have a post on Saturday, but today I have a winner for The Cutting Café Blog Hop.  I was so pleased to see that many of you liked my December Daily card deck.  I really enjoyed making this set of cards for my granddaughters Paige and Payton to help them countdown the days until Christmas.  If you missed my first post with my project you can see it HERE.  As promised, one lucky person is the winner of a December Daily set from The Cutting Café.

  And the winner (picked by random.org) is #26 Sharla who said:

 

 

Wow, this is absolutely fantastic! I've never done the December Daily, but it looks like a wonderful way to start a new tradition. Your cards are beautiful!

 

Thank you so much for visiting my blog, Sharla, and for your sweet comment.  If you will email me at thomasjeri55atyahoodotcom I will see that you get your own December Daily set so you can start your own family tradition.

 

Thank you to each and every one of you who visited and left such nice comments.  They are truly appreciated and accepted.  I've decided to post a few more of the cards I made to, hopefully, give you a few more ideas for your own December Daily projects.  Happy crafting!