At the Zoo!

The challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is "At the Zoo"!  As soon as I heard the theme, I knew exactly what I wanted to do - all based on a stamp from Digital Doodling.  I am forever calling my youngest a cheeky monkey and was so excited to find the stamp (which I believe is/was a freebie).

I used Design Studio to manipulate the cage and shadow from My Community to fit the card.  I cut the shadow in black and the cage itself from metallic paper.  The grass was also cut from My Community, with contours hidden for the bottom layer.  I used Zooballoo for the vine and cut it in three layers - the stem, the leaves and then a silhouette of the leaves.  I did used a green gel pen on the leaves and grass and also inked the edges.  The monkey was cut from Create a Critter.  I used metallic brown paper for the bottom layer, velvet cardstock for the middle layer (which I cut twice) and regular cardstock for the top layer with which I then used flocking (given to me by my friend at Maganda Memories).  I added some black gems for the eyes and some glossy accents for the nose.  I printed off the sentiment and then cut the paper to size, using my Stampin' Up ticket corner punch.  The background paper is from a pad I received with my very first baby Cricut years ago.

If you haven't already done so, head over to Fantabulous Cricut for this week's challenge.  We'd love to see your zoo themed creation!

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Birthday Card for a Little Girl Turning 3

This afternoon, we will be attending the birthday celebration of a little girl who is turning 3.  I made this card for her.

The patterned paper is from g-c-d and the cardstock is all Recollections.  I used Ashlyn's Alphabet for the large frame and its shadow, but substituted a fancier inside using Home Decor (done with Design Studio by hiding the contour original oval from Ashlyn's Alphabet and lining up the new image of Home Decor).  I then cut the number 3 (and its shadow) from Jubilee.  I manipulated this a bit in Design Studio to make it fit the frame a bit better.  I ran the back mat through my Cuttlebug using the Polka Dots folder.  I also ran the pink mat behind the number 3 through the same folder.  The top layer of the frame and the number 3 are both popped.  I sugared the top layer of my 3, tied 3 ribbons and added 3 buttons. I loved making this card - perhaps because my favourite number is 3!

I will submit this card at:
Made by Momo's girly challenge
Turned Gypsy where anything goes for the chance to win a Superman cartridge

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Christmas in July

This week at Fantabulous Cricut, the theme is Christmas in July!  I decided to use a frame for my project - something I've not done before.

Most of the papers I used are from DCWV's Holiday Stack.  I cut the lamb at 4.5 from Paper Doll Dress Up.  I cut a few layers.  For the top layer, I cut just the "wooly part" and embossed it.  I drew along the raised portions of the embossing with a glue pen and added glitter.  The manger was cut at 4 7/8, also from Paper Doll Dress Up.  I cut an extra manger with a different paper, and then cut just the straw portion to have a bit of contrast.  Baby Jesus was cut at 3.75.  Again, I cut a few layers, with the top layer in patterned paper.  I embossed the blanket with my Cuttlebug.  Most letters were cut at 1 7/8 from Opposites Attract.  I also cut a shadow for each layer.  The L was cut from Nursery Rhymes at 2 7/8.  I glittered the top layer of each letter.

After I had assembled it all, something seemed missing.  I tried fake straw, some flowers, buttons, and finally decided on some raffia in a bow.  I'm not 100% sold on it at this point though.  At least I've got a few more months until Christmas to think!!

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Triathlon Card

(Egad!!  I've just realized that I spelled Triathlon incorrectly on this card!!  Oh well, my husband still appreciated it!!  So much for my background in editing...)

First of all, I would like to thank Rhonda from Scrap Happens and Amanda at Bella's Crafty Creations for the blog awards earlier this week!  I've put the awards on my sidebar.  I've just been so busy with assignments that I don't feel like the best of bloggers, but was able to make a card today (albeit a simple one) and have been trying to get to most of my favourite blogs to comment!  I also learned that I won a mini-album from Rhonda at Scrap Happens!!  Each week, she takes ideas and the winner gets an album made specially from Rhonda!  Her work is fantastic and so creative. Thank you so much, Rhonda!  I can't wait to see what you make!

I made this card for my husband who ran his first triathlon today.  It was actually a try-a-tri, so not the full event but still a hang of a lot more than I could do!  I had far too much homework to go with him although I would have loved to have been there to cheer him on.  He just phoned to say he made it through the entire event without stopping.  I'm proud of his efforts and training (as well as his nice looking physique!!).

I used Going Places for the icons and Mickey Font for the title.  I also ran the top portion of the paper through the Cuttlebug with my new Polka Dots folder that I found locally (couldn't believe it!).  I then used my Scoreboard to add a distinguishing line between the embossed portion and the plain cardstock.  It's pretty simple, but it feels so good to make something!!  Now, back to the books...

(I'm entering this card at Sentimental Sundays, where this week's challenge is "For men".)

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Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #18

This week, the challenge at FCCB is to create something with a cool treat (as an optional shape card).  I decided to go for a lemonade stand!  This card took me a bit more time than usual, but I am so pleased with the results that I say it was worth it!

I started by welding some shadows of the lower case letter "l" from Pooh Font Set.  (In case you haven't seen this cartridge, one of the fonts looks like bits of wood.  That's the font I used for this project.)  I resized the letters to get the look I was after.  I also welded a shape from George and Basic Shapes to be used as the back of the card.  I then cut the wood three times - twice on regular cardstock and once on some woodgrain pattern paper that I found. I was really trying to make the card look like it was made from planks, so the combined layers make the "wood" thicker than usual.  I ran the woodgrain layer through my Cuttlebug and also inked it.  I then assembled all the bits in the shape of a lemonade stand and added brads for nails. 

I then cut two layers of grass from Zooballoo (one was flipped in Design Studio).  I cut some little flowers (also from Zooballoo) and created centers for the flowers with a little punch.  I drew in the middle of the flowers with a Gelly Roll pen.

The little butterfly was cut from Paper Pups.  For the back layer, I used Design Studio to hide the inner contours before cutting.  I also used my Gelly Roll pen to draw a few spots on the butterfly's body, and turned up the top layer of wings for added dimension.  The tips of the butterfly's wings are glued to the window frame of the lemonade stand.

I used the creamer from Everyday Paper Dolls for a pitcher.  The little glass was made by welding the sleeping bag (!) from Everyday Paper Dolls to a little square with rounded corners from George and Basic Shapes.  I cut these images twice - once using transparency and once using a light yellow cardstock.  I recently purchased some vellum adhesive, and used this to adhere the cardstock to the transparency.  I very carefully adhered the bottoms of the pitcher and glass to the window frame.

On the inside of the card, I used a piece of sky patterned paper.  I also used Jasmine to cut some photo corners just to give the inside of the card a more polished look.

After all this, I remembered that I'm really not a huge fan of lemonade!  I do, however, love to stop at the stands set up by young entrepreneurs in the neighbourhood on the hottest of summer days.  The price of the lemonade is well worth the big smiles that come from serving a paying customer!

I will also enter this card at Cute Card Thursday where this week's theme is summer, at Aud Sentiments where the challenge is to use no sentiment, and at Cupcake Craft where the challenge is to use acetate somewhere on the project.

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Just Because Card

I made this card after classes this afternoon.  I needed a break and everything inside me was crying "Create!" - so I listened.  I like the simple, clean lines of this card.

I embossed the white cardstock with my Cuttlebug hearts folder as well as a 2x2 "just because" mini folder.  I used my (new) Martha Stewart score board for the score lines.  I welded together two cats from Going Places in such a way as to make their tails into a heart.  I cut both a shadow in navy and regular layer in white for those.  The top layer is popped.  I punch a heart from red cardstock and placed it behind the tails. I added a few gems, and had a card!  Now, it's back to the books for me!

I will enter this card at Bitten By the Bug 2, where we have been challenged to use either the dog or cat cut from Going Places, and at The Cuttlebug Spot, where we have been challenged to pull out those 2x2 folders or dies.

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Blog Award and CSN Giveaway Winner

First of all, I would like to offer a huge thanks to Angi at Cokie Pop Paper (that name always makes me smile) for presenting me with the Cherry on Top Award.  I feel so honoured and humbled that she would select me - and the timing couldn't be better.  I've had an "ugh!" day and this is just the boost I need to get me through my homework this evening.

The rules for this award are:
1. Thank the person who gave this award to you
2. Copy the award and put it on your blog.
3. List three things which you love about yourself.
4. Post a picture you love.
5. Tag five people you wish to pass this award on to.

Now, for three things I love about myself.  I've never been very good at this sort of thing, but here goes:
1.  I love that I take the risk to try new things even though I am a creature of habit who hates change.
2.  I love that I never seem to run out of creative ideas for my cards and projects, even if some of those ideas do come to me in the middle of the night!
3.  I love that I am kind, gentle, and patient.  I know that my friends and family love me because of who I am - not because of what I do or what I have.

Here is a picture that I love.  It was taken just before my gran passed away earlier this year.  She's holding my cousin's little Iona in the photo, and there is also a framed picture of my dad on the table behind them.  My gran was such an incredible woman.  She has left an amazing legacy and I feel blessed beyond all measure to have been loved by her.

Five people that I wish to pass this award to are:
1.  Jenny at studio j
2.  Donna at Popsicle Toes
3.  Laurie and Kel at Serenity Scrappers
4. Joyce at The Joy of Scrapping
5. Liz at Marigold's Craft Page

And here, finally, is the winner for the CSN Giveaway.  I went to Random.org and the number that came up was #4 ~ Domestic Diva!!  Domestic Diva, please contact me with your name (I have your email) so I can forward the information along to CSN Stores.  Congratulations!!

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Animal ATCs and a Set of Thank You Cards

I love to participate in the ATC swaps on the Cricut Message Board.  It's such a wonderful way to learn new ideas and techniques.  I keep an album of my ATCs (and the ones I have received) as a reference tool.

I just finished a number of sets with an animal theme.  Here are my cards:

Group 1A: Butterflies
The butterfly is from Paper Pups and the scallop circle and circle frame are from Mini Monograms.  I used Cuttlebug folders on the circle frame and the background.

Group 2: Birds

The clouds are from Paper Pups (stickled) and the birds are digistamps from Tortagialla, coloured in Paint.  I used thick thread for the feathers.  I embossed the background with a Cuttlebug border folder.

Group 3:  Zoo Animals

I cut this giraffe from Create a Critter and embossed the background paper with a Cuttlebug folder.  I used stickles for the giraffe's eyes.

Group 4: Farm Animals

(E.B. White's Charlotte's Web was a favourite growing up.  I still own my tear-stained copy!!)  The image is computer generated and I cut the corner from Jasmine, which I then embossed with a portion of a 2x2 folder.

I also created this set of thank you notes for Serenity Scrapper's Quotes and Notes week.  The ladybird image is cut at 3" from Nursery Rhymes and the little frame was manipulated for size and then cut from Ashlyn's Alphabet.  I used my new gel pen set and holder (from Chomas Creations) to draw Thanks, using the font from Tear Drop.  Again, I had to manipulate the size in Design Studio.  I used smaller pop dots for the sentiment frame and larger ones for the ladybirds.

Amy Chomas has a video tutorial on using the gel pens and holder on her blog.  You can access the video here.

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Canada Day Blog Hop Winner

I was so excited to be part of the Canada Day Blog Hop.  A huge thanks goes out to Heather of Princess' Paper Projects for organizing it all - and for inviting me to take part.  I hope we can do this again at some point!!

The winner of my Canada Day Blog Hop Stampin' Up "Picture This" acryclic stamp set is #66 - MiamiKel!!  Congratulations!!  Please send me your shipping information (smallbitsofpaper (at) hotmail.com) so I can send you your new stamps!!

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Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #17

I am so excited to be part of the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog Design Team!  Thank you so much, Robin, for offering me this position.  This is my first official submission as a member of the team.

This week, our challenge is creepy crawlers with a bit orange.  I actually like insects, with the exception of earwigs.  Fortunately, there are no earwig cuts on any Cricut cartridges!

The little ladybirds (ladybugs) on my card were cut from Walk in My Garden at 1".  I cut 12 of them in pink (one for the inside of the card) and 1 in orange.  The back layer is green and the shadows are all blue.  I heat embossed the orange ladybird to make her stand out even more.  I cut a heart from George and Basic Shapes after manipulating it in Design Studio to get just the right dimensions.  The patterned paper used for the background is Cosmo Cricket and everything else is regular cardstock from my stash.  I also used some cotton "ribbon".  The little flowers on the inside of the card were made with a punch.  The ivory border has a computer generated sentiment.  I also used some Cuttlebug border folders for the straight lines as well as the embossed flowers on the ivory border.  A Stampin' Up border punch was used for the card's inside as well.

I hope you can join us at FCCB this week!  I'd love to see what you create!

(I will also enter this card at The Cuttlebug Challenge blog, where easel cards are the theme of the week.)

If you have not yet entered my CSN Stores giveaway, you have just a bit more time to do so.  Head here to enter to win a $40 gift certificate.

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Candy Store Card

If you have not yet had the opportunity to enter my Canada Day Blog Hop giveaway,

you may do so here (giveaway open until Sunday, July 4).

If you have not yet had the opportunity to enter my CSN Stores giveaway,

you may do so here (giveaway open until Wednesday, July 7).

I was so excited to find a wonderful tutorial at Jeannie Phillips' A Place for My Cards blog.  Jeannie used her Cri-Kits pens to create a lovely café card, with the majority of the contours being penned instead of cut with a blade.  I was so excited when I saw her card and tutorial (which is in two parts, the first of which can be found here) and could not wait to give this a go with the new gel pens and gel pen holder I just received from Amy Chomas at Chomas Creations.  I had won the set in a challenge at Fantabulous Cricut.  (I have just been accepted to join the design team at Fantabulous Cricut!!  I am so excited and humbled that they would choose me to join their talented group of crafters.  Head to Fantabulous Cricket on Monday to see the first of my design team creations!!)

I had been especially struck with the look of Jeannie's card and would have liked to have simply recreated the one she had made.  It's quite striking with its black and white contrast.  However, I decided to try something to make my card my very own.  I decided to use the candy store from My Community and put lollipop trees in front.  The lollipops are cut from Doodlecharms and I used glitter for the top portion.  I also cut a little sweet from Christmas Cheer which I put inside the card.  All layers are popped for a bit of dimension.  Although Jeannie's instructions are for creating a card with a Gypsy, I was easily able to transfer her ideas and created my card with Design Studio.

This card was such a simple one to make.  I love its simplicity.  Thanks, Jeannie, for sharing such a great idea!!

Also, Amy (of Chomas Creations) has a wonderful video tutorial which provides instructions on the use of the gel pen holder with the Cricut.  Click here to access the link.

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Canada Day Bog Hop and Giveaway!

Happy Canada Day!

Joyeuse Fête du Canada!
Welcome to my part of the Canada Day Blog Hop. If you have just arrived from Holly's Scrappily Ever After blog, you've landed in the right spot!  At the end of this post, I'll let you know where to go (and provide a list of all blogs involved).

I decided to make a banner to showcase for our blog hop.  I've seen a number of banners created by Sammye Jo at 62 Cards and felt that they were such a bright and cheerful way to decorate for any festivity.   With Canada Day in mind, I attempted one of my own!  I'm so pleased with how it turned out and plan to hang it outside today as we share celebrate our country's birthday with family.

To create my banner, I used the scalloped squares from Mini Monograms and added circles in the upper corners using Design Studio.  The circles were added for the ribbon used to tie everything together.  (I have noticed that the Celebrations cartridge has very similar squares with little circles in all four corners.  Those could also be used.)  I arranged the scalloped squares so that four could cut on a mat, so they are just shy of 6" each.  I used Pooh Font Set for the letters and hid the contour of the middle of the A letters in order to replace the centres with little maple leaves.  The maple leaves were cut from Create a Critter.  I also cut a larger leaf to go on one of the scalloped squares.  For the first square, I cut the sweet little beaver from Create a Critter.  I also cut a little red leaf for his front.  I used one of the leaves leftover from an A to go on that square as well. 

After gluing all the letters and images down, I turned the cards over.  I used a bit of tape to hold the ribbon in place at the back of each card so that they would remain 1" apart from each other.  I then alternated red and white tulle between each of the scalloped squares.  Voilà!  My banner was ready to go.  Now all I need is food, family and fun and we're good to celebrate!

Your next stop on the blog hop is Kerry's blog at MommaK Crafts.  Hop on over and see what she's got to show you!!

Now for my giveaway:  I am offering a brand new Stampin' Up Picture This acrylic stamp set to a random winner.  All you need to do is comment on this post.  If you are a follower of my blog, leave me a SECOND comment indicating as such in order to get a second entry.  Although this is a Canada Day, I am inviting my friends from all over the world to join our celebration!  Please leave a way for me to contact you should you be my lucky winner.  I will draw one name on Monday, July 5 from all entries received by Sunday, July 4 at midnight EST. 

(If you are in Canada and need a Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Mandy Reedyk is a fantastic creator who can sell to anybody across Canada.  She's full of wonderful advice and ideas - and makes a delicious chocolate chip cookie to boot!!  She's an expert on all things SU.  You can contact her through her website: Kids' Collage.)

Here is a list of the blog hop participants, in order, should you have missed one:
1. Heather at Princess' Paper Projects
2. Nicole at Canadian Nickel Scrapn
3. Tracey at The Cropping Canuck
4. Holly at Scrappily Ever After
5. Kate at Small Bits of Paper - That's me, so you are already here!
6. Kerri at MommaK Crafts
7. Amanda at Bella's Crafty Creations

If you have not yet had a chance to enter my CSN Giveaway, head to this post and enter now!

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