An update, Will be crafting again

Hello Crafty Friends!

Since today is a reflection on what we were doing 10 yrs ago, I thought I would say that 10 yrs ago on Sept. 11, 2001, it was hot in Oklahoma, I was a week away from turning 35 and 2 weeks away from giving birth to my daughter. I was at work where I just happened to handle inside sales for New York and New Jersey. A year before, I had actually been to NYC and been in the twin towers.

Thank you to all of you for understanding my time away from crafting and blogging. And, thank you to those who posted some encouraging thoughts and words. I truly appreciate it!!

Things for now are calmed down. My FIL is still in the hospital but going through rehab. He spends 15 more days there, but will not leave till he can walk out on his own. He had a quarter size tumor on the right side/forehead area removed. It was stage 2 and was a type of tumor that is normally found in youth/twenty yr olds.....not 73 yr old men. So that was actually a good thing. If you remember high school biology, brain works opposite sides of the body. So tumor is on the right, removal effects left side of body. Due to temporary brain swelling etc, (effects the nerves) has to regain function on the left side of the body. He has to learn how to chew food, without biting his tongue, take small bites of food and learn to swallow the right way . For now cannot have meat. His speech is marvelous. He has to retrain his brain/body connection on how to use muscles in left arms and legs. Everyone (Dr.'s and physical/speech therapists) are just amazed at the progress.

And, we got marvelous news today that an MRI of his spine (to see if the cells had migrated to the spine...as this type of tumor can) is totally CLEAN!! YEAH!! So, he will only have to have radiation and not chemo.

As for my Mom, she had another stent put into her artery. That one was 95% blocked so she was just a walking "potential" heart attack. She is doing great too. She just hates being on the blood thinner meds and stuff.

I have just been so stressed out, worried etc. Now that things are calmed down some, I will be crafting again. Gotta go check out what challenges I can create projects for. : )

Won't be blogging for a few more weeks-- family crisis

Hello Crafty Friends!

I have some very personal family things going on now and they need me. In all of the 14 yrs I've
been married...I've never seen my hubbie cry. We found out today that my FIL is in the hospital with what appears to be a quarter size tumor on the front/forehead part of the brain. They are doing another more detailed MRI Tuesday to determine all the stuff like nerves around it etc and to help them when doing a biopsy. He's a vibrant, giving and loving man who loves to golf. We don't know the extent of things yet but since they live locally, need to be available for my MIL and hubbie.

Then, my Mom just told me tonight that she has an appt with her cardiologist on Wed, as she has been having some issues. She had a stent put in 2 yrs ago.

If anything, just say a prayer for strength for me as I help my family keep it together. I tend to be a worrier and over analyze things and I just need a sense of calm to help others now. And, my prayer is that when they do the biopsy for my FIL this week that it will be better news than what our minds are letting us think. And for my Mom, my best friend that her heart is ok.

I can only hope through all these situations that my ENTIRE family realizes and believes that GOD still loves us and performs miracles all the time and that we always need to look to HIM for comfort, answers, peace, love, faith peace and....healing.

Thank you all for understanding my short spell away from blogging. I miss being crafty and entering projects in all the challenges. I really wanted to share a few things about my new imagine.

Hello, I'm going to be away the rest of the week

Hello Crafty Friends!

So sorry I've been unavailable. DD is starting school in a week and have had a ton of stuff going on to get her ready. I've also been busy trying to figure out my imagine--which I STILL love. We got a new cat (Lucy, a 3 yr old white and grey female) and trying to get our other cat Poofy from "slapping her silly" has been a lot of work LOL

And, I've been painting the house. I get in these moods where I need a kick in the behind to get creative enough to craft again. I just haven't been feeling crafty the last couple of weeks. So, I decided to repaint the interior of the house instead to get myself back to feeling creative again LOL

Happy crafting to you!

My time with the Imagination day 2

Ok, I really think I'm in love. I'm not trying to be an enabler but....I'm so happy I got the Imagine over the Expression 2. Set up was a breeze, just follow the directions for the quick set up that's included. Update your gypsy. Update the Imagine with the white cord included --hook to your computer and click on cricut sync. Took all of 15 minutes. Suggestion for that: a message kept popping up for me to install the "PnP driver" I wouldn't do it because I don't like downloading unknown stuff to my laptop. I later found out you MUST download the "PnP driver" to your computer because that is what helps give prompts/ gets the updates from sync to the Imagine. Once I did that....easy peasy. After I did the Imagine update, then I was able to officially download a cart to the gypsy.

This morning I put in my Winter Woodland cart and decided to print/cut one of the birds. I laid everything out with the gypsy. Was able to pick the colors through that. (because I had my Enjoy the Seasons cart already downloaded to the gypsy) There were 3 layers to the image I wanted to do. I colored one layer yellow, one brown and one layer blue. Then sized it and printed it out....easy peasy. No laying out the paper colors on a mat or anything. To me, the cuts are crisper and cleaner and seem to go together more exact.

Only drawbacks for me today are: I'm so use to using all the creative features with the gypsy and you just can't do that with the gypsy/Imagine(like hide/contour, weld etc) But, the coloring your individual layers the way you want on ONE sheet of white paper is greate (and not laying out all the pre-colored paper) You cannot print a "combined" colored layers as ONE image with gypsy to imagine. You have to color/ print/cut the individual layers through gypsy to Imagine and glue together. Where as if you wanted to color individual layers JUST through the imagine, and then combine as ONE printed image to cut....you CAN do that. (make sense?? LOL)

Other drawback (I think) is you don't have control over how close your images print (even with using the gypsy to the Imagine) and so it seems I have more paper waste. I don't know about you but when I lay out images on my gypsy, I'm zooming in trying to cram and rotate stuff around as close as possible to minimize paper waste. So, I suggest if you are printing/cutting to load up that 12 x 12 pc of paper with lots of stuff. Otherwise, you will be trimming your scraps.

One cool thing you can do is called cache'. That is where....let's say....I have up to 3 printable paper patterns from my "enjoy the seasons cart" that I LOVE and want to have available stored to the imagine to use for another Imagine cart. I can take ONLY 3 and no more patterns from any imagine cart and store as part of the color/pattern choices for future carts (including the regular cricut carts) You can easily delete and add new patterns to store to the imagine...but can only have a max of 3 at a time.

I had a question of what videos did I watch to help me learn what to do:

First of all, I went to the cricut board and asked questions and read everyone else's questions. I also watched these

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzxscxk69s4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDk_Fen6MXM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w18PZB2LEbA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gbJrx-HPMI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5HS5qh6PKI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/user/provocraft#p/u/38/hW3OXhAmZX4


That's it for now....

I have quite the "Imagination"

Hello Crafty Friends!

I know I haven't been around very much. I just needed to take a little creative break. Guess what knocked on my door today? It has quite the "imagination!" LOL

So far, I have plugged it in, put the ink cartridges in, put the Imagine More cart (that came with it) in to do the update, and used one of my carts to just play with some printing. My family will only allow me to have ONE of my new carts to use now before my birthday ( chose Enjoy the Season to play with).I have to wait till September for my bday present to get the other 4 carts: Better Together, Best Friends, Kate's and Yummy.

I haven't updated it through Cricut Sync yet....kinda afraid to. So far, it was easy to use. I really want to try to get to the technical stuff of printing off individual layers and be able to color those however I like and then to be able to use my regular carts with it.

Probably my only "Uh-Oh, why did I do this moment " is with the size of the machine. It is HUGE!! and if space is an option for you then...wait to purchase till you have a permanent spot for it. This is a machine that has to stay where you put it at because (1) you calibrate the print/cut based on where it has it's home. you move it, need to re-calibrate it. (2) it's heavy and just for that you don't want to move it. (3) It takes up a lot of space on the work space.

But....I am already really happy with it. Once I can get really creative with it and use to it, I know I will be in love with it. It is easy to navigate through the screens, and I figured things out before even opening the book. I had looked at lots of videos first to get familiar with what to do.

I can also say that if you get an imagine, the first cart I would try to get is enjoy the season. It is just so stinkin' cute and versatile with different images for seasons/holidays.

Ok, tell me I'm bad.....and a crockpot recipes

Hello Crafty Friends!

Sorry I've been MIA, been trying to get some scrapbooking done, it's been hot, we've been inside mostly during the day (41 days of over 100 degrees and yesterday was 113) and trying to keep the kids from seriously hurting each other LOL Do you know that feeling? LOL
I've been using the crockpot a lot since it's too hot for the oven.

Ok, I've decided to get an Imagine (rather to have dh get me one for my bday in Sept)
Is it bad I've gotten a couple of carts cheap on ebay before I even have the machine? LOL
I got Best Friends for $16.10 and Kate's for $20.50. UPDATE: I guess I'm the proud owner of an Imagine for $134.88 Shhhhh...don't tell hubster I bought my own bday present for him to give to me.

Here is a crockpot rib recipe I made yesterday. It is a regular for us and everyone loves it!!

Crockpot Pork Country Style Ribs

**However many packages of Pork Country Style Ribs you need (I use 1 or 2 depending on how many in the package) Can use bone in or deboned. I must say that beef country style ribs don't come out as good in the crockpot.

**McCormick Grill Mates Sweet and Smoky rub
** 1 cup of BBQ sauce, I water it down with 1/2 cup of water
**(optional) sliced onion

I rub the ribs all over lightly with the rub
Place sliced onions and bbq sauce in the bottom of the crockpot
Put ribs on top and cook for 6 hours.


Here is another recipe I used on Sunday and there is usually enough left over the next day for either BBQ sandwiches or I use it for beef stroganoff or even stew or chili.

Roast

1 chuck roast
1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2 cups water
1 bay leaf
**Optional vegetables

I brown the roast in a skillet on top of the stove with a little cooking oil (to seal in the juices)
and sprinkle with a little garlic powder and black pepper.

Mix water and Lipton Onion Soup Mix together.
Pour into crockpot, place roast on top with bay leaf and optional veggies. I cook on low for 8 hrs. However, I find in my crockpot it's usually done in 6.

Wow! Aug. 1st already... Please make Cards for Madison at Funky Cards

Happy Monday Crafty friends!

I've got some projects for challenges to create this week. I spent the weekend organizing aaaAAAlllllllll my paper LOL (do you feel like that?) Since I do double 12x12 layouts (1 for dd and 1 for son, then if I'm lucky...one for the "family") I always get 6 pcs of whatever paper I want for the theme of the pics. Then, if I really like the paper I will get an extra sheet or 2 for cards.

Well, I have been lately digging into my stash for my layouts to do cards. So,I spent the weekend re-organizing the paper. I separated out all my printed paper scraps and the oddball one of a kind papers vs. the printed papers I had even numbers of for the scrapbooks.

I got one 2 of those big zipper 14 x 14 cases and organized my paper for cards (by Easter, V-Day, Christmas, Halloween..., then seasons, School, Winter, BDay, Flowers, Animals, etc. So now I know exactly where to go for the paper for cards and can keep better track of my scraps.

On a different note...

Please go check out Madison at Funky Cards. She has a special monthly project called "Feel the Love," where she fins someone who is going through a rough time and needs some love through cards, and their spirits lifted.

This month she found a special family where one of their children who is 7, has a brain tumor. Her name is Kate, and she also has a brother who is 6 and a sister who is 9. It would be awesome to make cards for all the family. I hope you will consider doing this for the family.
It is such a wonderful opportunity to share our talents/craft while lifting someone's spirits.

Have a great day everyone!

Have a Good Weekend Everyone!

Hello Crafty Friends!

Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend. Me and the family and been having a Christmas in July movie night. Let's see...we've watched Santa Claus 1, 2, 3 and Elf. LOL Christmas should be really fun for us this year because the 3 yr old is finally understanding it. And, we actually get to decorate a tree with all my favorite ornaments (instead of decorating the tree halfway up with unbreakable ornaments (do ya remember those days?? LOL)

Anyway, I've been busy cutting a bunch of Fall and Halloween cuts and putting together. Trying to determine if I need "Happy Hauntings" or any other Fall carts or if I can make do with what I have on hand.

My Curious Crafts Blog Candy

Good Evening Crafty Friends

Please go stop by the creative Shen's blog My Curious Crafts. She reached over 200 followers and is giving away some blog candy. She has a terrific blog and is such a sweetie!! Go check it out.

I won my first PKS Challenge

Hello Crafty Friends!

Hope all of you are having a cool and crafty week!
I've been so out of the loop this week, trying to get stuff caught up.
I went to the Peachy Keen Stamps site today and realized I won sketch challenge #56
Here is what I won

SPELLBINDERS SHAPEABILITIES (Tags Fancy Two)

This was the first challenge I won at PKS and this little card below won 2 challenges last week.

Sorry for my little shout out, but isn't it always nice to know your creativeness and time spent doing something you love gets noticed? Thanks for letting me share :)

Happy Monday

Hello Everyone!

Well, I had a relaxing weekend with the family. I'll be hanging low this week working on Terri's cricut cuts I owe her for my blog candy! You will get them this week and it will be worth the wait Terri cause I'm fixing you up. LOL Thanks for being so patient. I'll also do a few challenge cards but my real goal this week is to do some scrapbooking.

Just what I needed. My 9 yr old is home, her school starts 1 month from today--hard to believe. She had fun in Colorado Springs. It seems they have a pesky bear visiting my SIL's neighborhood. Kinda scary!! My dd said Friday morning, they were eating breakfast on the deck and my MIL whispered "Girls, don't move!" The bear was probably 30 feet from them passing through their yard!! I'd be praying to God--"Please make me invisible to Mr. Bear!!" LOL It seems the bear went 2 houses down and sat in the neighbors big fountain in the front yard and had a big bath!!

But, get this...the neighbors have called the game warden because the bear came down 3x last week (even got into another neighbors open garage and dug in the refrigerator and helped himself) The game warden says "he can't do anything unless the bear comes inside your house!!!" (scratching my head in disbelief at that)

Anyway, they went to the Cheyenne mountain zoo and I saw this picture and thought it was just hilarious!! This is my 15 yr old nephew


And, here is my girly girl

I won a M.A.G. Challenge

Hello Everyone!

So today was just kinda one of those days for me that I should've just stayed in bed...
I get ready to leave my house and the car is dead. Called AAA and they jump started me but said it was a bad cell in our 1 yr old battery. So I had to go to Sears to replace it. In the process of going, this freak of nature occurance happened and as I was stopped at a stop light behind another card, just at the precise moment when the light turns green, my body decides to have a sneezing attack and...YEP! You guessed it, my foot on the gas rear ended (not bad thankfully) the car in front. My SUV was ok, we are blessed to be physically OK, it put a dent in her 10 yr old Honda. Of course, she calls the police and I get a $150 ticket.

So, I got my battery replaced and then when and returned some crafty stuff and other stuff I "wanted" but didn't need, to make up for the money/ticket. So...I vow to NOT spend any money for crafty stuff till my bday in Sept unless it is solid color paper. LOL

And, my DH wants me to spend $50 on an 8 am to 3 pm defensive driving class "just in case" State Farm pulls a driving record. (plus we get a discount on our auto for the class)

If I was a major drinkin' girl, a HUGE margarita would be in front of me right now. LOL
Just a quick post that, I won my first M.A.G. Challenge today for this card

Cricut 360 I won top 3 on Challenge 3

Wow! I got home from work tonight at 10 pm and was so surprised to see that the first time I entered Cricut 360's Challenge and I won top 3 for this. :)

Card 4 Cooking w /Cricut #43 Lollipop, Whimsical Wed. # 15, BDAY Sundaes #18

Hello Everyone!

My 9 yr old called me from her cousins in Colorado and said it was 55 this morning & she was wearing a sweatshirt today. WHAT??!! Are ya kidding me LOL It is like 106 EVERYDAY here in OKlahoma. She will not want to come back home on Saturday....LOL I miss my little princess.

On to my project.....





So, I created this card for 3 challenges. It actually challenges my brain to see how many challenges I can get out of one card. Is that bad of me. LOL

So, my starting place for my idea was:

1) Cooking With Cricut Challenge #43 (to create a project with a Lollipop)

2) I have a friend Lolly (believe it or not) and sometimes she gets called "lollipop" and her birthday is coming up soon and...her favorite lollipop is the "Tootsie Pop." She is old enough to remember the 1970's commercial for "How Many Licks does it Take to Get To The Center Of A Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop" with the turtle and the owl (Do you remember that?)
--So This was my true inspiration for the card--
3) Whimsical Wednesday challenge #15 was to create a card using scraps. Well, who doesn't have a ton of scraps laying around?? And, you had to take a picture of the scraps you used (That will be below)

scraps I used

4. Birthday Sundaes #18 was "Anything Goes" meaning to create anything you want for a birthday card as long as there is some sort of birthday sentiment on the front.


Details:

Card is a pre-bought white 5 x 6.5 card base. All papers used were scraps.

--Blue cloud paper was cut with Lacy labels at 4.75 x 6.25.
--Owl was cut with Give A Hoot at 2.75. I hid any facial features. And the beak I sized down to 2.10. Added wobble eyes.
--Turtle was cut with Birthday Bash at 1.25 and hid the facial features so I could draw on.
--Grass was cut with EDPD at 1.76 x 6.89 (I cut the cattails off)
--Circles for lollipop was from Lacy Labels at . 1x1.04and cut 6x and glued together and pop dotted for depth and thickness. Then for the raised up middle of the lollipop, I just took the same circle and "squished it" (chain link off) at .12 x .75 and cut it 5x and glued together
--Graduation hat from Locker Talk and at 1.09 x 1.57, tassle at 1x.80
--Glasses from EDPD cut at 3.45 x 2.05
--Finally, an actual lollipop stick to be the lollipop stick and cut off slightly. Glued on with Scotch quick dry.
--Sentiment on the front "Snappy Birthday" from My Pink Stamper "More Punny-licious
--Sentiment inside the card was computer/printer generated with Minya Nouvelle font

Card for 3 challenges: Peachy Keen # 56, Cricut 360 #3, Frosted Designs,

Happy Wednesday Everyone!!

This is a card I made for 3 challenges: Peachy Keen #56 which was based on a sketch. Cricut 360 which is to make a project for Parent's Day and Frosted Designs "Quote That" which was to create a project using a quote.

1) Sketch came first (PKS)
2) Card is made for my Parents for Parent's Day (Cricut 360)
3) Quote is from the Stevie Wonder song (Frosted Designs)



This is the Peachy Keen Sketch I used

Details:
Card size 5 x 6.5 from white cardstock. Red outer mat 4 7/8 x 6.5, turquoise cloud mat 4.5 x 6 & house print mat 4 3/8 x 5 3/4. Corners were rounded with a CM rounder. All printed paper is from American Crafts "Abode" and the solid cream and kraft paper is Recollections from M's. Ribbon is from J's, twine from LSS and yellow button from M's $1 bin. I stitched the twine through the button and the ribbon.

Computer generated quote, printed on printer in Minya Nouvelle font. Then corners were rounded.

Stamps used: Peachy Keen (sun is "snow cuties"), Grandpa( Wide Eyed Kids) Grandma (Princess Faces) Used sakura jelly roll pen for eyes and a magenta water color pencil for the lips.

Carts Used:
Car Decals--Grandma and Grandpa at 2.5. The solid background was cream so I could stamp the face on it. Outline was kraft. I didn't use any of the facial details that cut. I cut the glasses off. Then, I cut the outline again in gray and cut off just the hair for both. I used hide/contour and cut just the clothes in the paper print I wanted. Used brown ink to ink in for the shoes and purse handle. All were glued together and pop dotted.

Sun was cut 3x with Simply Charmed and glued together for thickness and then pop dotted.

Card for FCCB #69 "Cold Treats"

Hello!! This is a card I did for Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog #69
Create a project with a cool treat. It has been just miserably hot in Oklahoma. I just cannot remember it being this bad for so long. I meet myself coming and going watering the flowers.
So, what better to do for this project than a snow cone. And, a really cool and product appropriate sentiment "Ice, Ice Baby!"



Details:

This is an A7 card Solid papers are Core'dinations. Orange polka & purple gingham is some "oldy but goody paper I've had a looooong time from CM.
Green mat cut at 4.75 x 6.75 using the rectangle from Ashlyn's Alphabet.
Orange polka rectangle mat cut at 4.5 x 6.5 from Ashlyn's.
Purple gingham is a scalloped rectangle from lacy labels cut at 4 x 6.
Orange sentiment label is a punch from fiskars.
The Stamp is MPS "Winter Punnies" and black Staz-on dye ink.

The snowcone is from Carnival and cut at 4.35 x 2.21. I actually cut the snowcone (image 1) 5 x in white and glued four of them together. Then, I cut one out same size in pale pink but used hide/contour on the lettering on the cone so pink would show through for the lettering/detail on the cone.

The last white snowcone layer...how did I make it look like a snowcone you ask. I'm really not sure LOL I had to play with it for a bit. But here goes the explanation

White Martha glow in dark glitter--because it is chunky glitter. 3 paper bowls, 3 plastic forks, homemade glimmer mist (made with distress inks from Concord grape and Shabby Shutters) and Adirondak alcohol ink (sunset orange)

Ok, so I played with coloring the glitter first. I tried just a few drops straight from the bottle of the distress inks and it just balled up and wouldn't mix well. So, got the idea to spritz with the glimmer mist. Actually not a bad idea because it gave the glitter a bit of a sheen. I did this with the concord grape glimmer mist and the shabby shutters glimmer mist. The trick is to fluff and fluff with the fork & mix well. I didn't have orange mist so I used the orange alcohol ink. It worked well.

I took the white cardstock snowcone and did the first vertical section in green. I applied Scotch quickdry glue kinda thick but spread with my pinky evenly on 1/3 of the section and then quicly sprinkled and lightly patted down the glitter onto the glue. Then, did the same thing with the other 2 sections. I let it dry like 15 minutes and shook off the rest. Had to fill in some tiny gaps with more glue/glitter.

Then, I was afraid the glitter would still come off. Got the idea to dob on some glossy accents over the whole thing. Then went back and sprinkled a little more glitter on top of that. The glossy accents acted as a glue to adhere everything together. There is no glitter coming off this thing. LOL Plus, it added some really cool dimension.

Then, I cut just the snowcone part away from the cone and glued down on top of the thick layered snowcone I had glued together. Popdotted it and adhered to the card.

Card for M.A.G. Challenge #35

I'm entering this card in the M.A.G. Challenge #35.
You had to create a project using only images from page 55 of the Rock Princess cart.





Details:
This for me was a tough one to do.
Then, I kept looking at the wings and all I was seeing was a funky looking butterfly. LOL
So, I went with that thought.

This is an A2 card. (4.25 x 5.5) Used beige pre-bought card base. All printed paper from Canvas Corp. Solid pinks and black are Core'dinations.

Cut pink stripe with fiskars cutter at 4x5.x5.25 and black dot cut at 3.5 x 4.75.
I used the Image 1 and shift 1 for my card. The solid dark pink (image 1) was cut at 4.10 high x 3.06 (yellow link was turned off) The light pink (image 1 shift for wing details) was at 4.10 x 3.06 and then I duplicated. flipped one layer/kerned, grouped and welded together. (because I wanted the wing heights to be the same)

Then, I cut the black lightening bolt at 3x 1.46 to make it look like a body for a funky butterfly.
The butterfly was popdotted before placing on the mat.

Sentiment inside....I haven't thought of one yet. Maybe "I love you no matter what!" LOL

Card for Madison at Funky Cards "Feel the Love" Project

Here is a card I'm sending to the wonderful and thoughtful Madison at Funky Cards. She has a special monthly project where she finds someone who needs their spirits lifted and some love.
Stop by Madison's blog and check out what she does. She is an inspirational young woman.

This month, she found a very special little 3 1/2 yr old girl named Marley Moore. She was diagnosed in Aug. 2009 with a tumor on her brain, by her optic nerve, the size of a lemon. The surgeon was able to remove a large portion but that evening, as a result of trama to the brain for surgery, Marley suffered a stroke. That left her right side paralyzed. She, her family (and her big sister Mia) are dealing with a lot. They just within the last week found out that the tumor had grown by approx 10%. They need lots of encouragement, prayers and positive thoughts.

Please, please consider doing a quick cute card for the girls and even her parents'.

Here is my card

Marley's Card

Mia's Card (big sister)

This is a 4 x 6 card, done on the gypsy and expression.
Patterned paper is Canvas corp (pink & ivory dot, pink & ivory stripe, pink/ivory floral and pink/ivory swirl)
I used the postage stamp cut from Gypsy Wandering, sized 4x6 and duplicated, grouped & welded. The pink striped rectange mat is from Ashlyn's Alphabet, sized at 3.20x 5.40.

Cotton candy is from Carnival Lite and sized at 4". Layer 1 was white, layer 2 was pink cardstock. I then covered layer 2 with scotch quick dry adhesive and quickly poured pink MS flocking for a yummy look.
Inside the card: I cut coordinating pink pattern paper for inside of card. On the left I stamped Emma's "Inspiring Words (Accents)
On the right, I stamped Robyn's MPS "Pinka-licious"

NOTE: The Sock Monkey Card is something I made for a challenge last month and he just makes me smile and I love him so. You can get directions for him HERE

My Pink Stamper Design Team Call Entry

Robyn at My Pink Stamper over at My Pink Stamper is accepting project entries for her design team! Those that follow me know I am not on any design teams yet but I know it's time for me to start searching it out. It's something I REALLY want to do. I'm one of those crafters who doesn't want to be on 2 or 3 teams and spread myself thin. I really want to be on one team and focus my all on that. I have LOTS of MPS stamps, love them and use them a lot and it just "FEELS" right for me to try for a MPS spot. If it happens YIPPEE SKIPPY and I will give it full attention. If not then guess what....I'll be trying again LOL

The challenge is to create a Cricut project using the colors orange, turquoise, green, brown and other optional color of your choice.

At first, I had lot of card ideas spinning in my head. I went to her stamps I had for inspiration and then went through my papers. I finally went to bed last night still undecided and not quite feeling right to do a card.

I woke up at 7 am this morning and I just "knew" what I was doing..a layout!! And, it was like the specific paper in a paper pad I had was speaking to me....crazy huh? LOL

So, here is my official entry for the My Pink Stamper Design Team Call. It truly was fun to do and a labor of love.


The lighting for the colors may not be best but the colors are a lime green and a light turquoise color

My inspiration started with:
1) This book that my 9 yr old dd loves. It is also a storage book (flip it open) I always tell her she is "unique."



2) Then, the paper I almost felt I dreamed about was from K & Company, Carolyn Gavin "Greenhouse"paper pad I had. There was one specific paper I was thinking about...it had a brown background with turquoise and orange flowers. No other colors. Was it meant to be? LOL
3) After I knew I wanted to do a layout, I remember 3 of my dd's fav colors are...turquoise, brown and lime green. Her room is even done in these colors and also hot pink. My DD is in Colorado for 2 wks visiting her cousins and I miss her lots, so it just seemed to fall into place to do this layout for her.



Layout: a double 12 x 12 layout, images cut with gypsy and my cricut expression
Papers used are: various papers (8 in all) from the K & Company Carolyn Gavin "Greenhouse paper pack. My optional color was cream paper (for lettering and flower),solid green (for the grass) and solid brown (for layout base) all from Core'dinations.
I did use white cardstock in the printer/with the computer for my printed "unique" sentiment.

Other supplies used: Brushed Corduroy, Orange Peel & True Blue Stickles for the centers of the flowers. Orange MS chalk ink to ink edges of the lettering. Black Staz-On dye ink pad for the stamped sentiments on the flowers. A turquoise flower brad from Recollections, brown/cream twine and a green metallic starburst sticker for the "fake cork board." I used the Cuttlebug & swiss dots embossing folder on the cream colored lettering. Adhesives wereScotch quick dry and 3m ATG and pop dots for some of the frames.

Stamps used: All are My Pink Stamper. Some of the sentiments I just blocked off or didn't use the entire saying.

Family & Friends
"Fun"
"Fabulous"
"Happy"
"Special" (Something Special)
"Treasure"

Winter Punnies
"Cool"
"Adorable" (Snow Adorable)

Details:

Solid brown cardstock for base. Took the floral (brown, turquoise & orange floral and cut scallop edge with gypsy/expression at 11.5 x 11/5 using Gypsy Wandering frame cut.

Wording/Title was cut using Nate's ABC's at 2"for each letter. The wording was grouped & welded together. Cut 2 x and glued together for thickness. Then ran through cuttlebug. (not the green paper)

Grass was from Everyday Paper doll and cut in green at 2.75 x 11.55 (the yellow chainlink was turned off on the gypsy)

Photo Mats: Rectangles are from Ashlyn's Alphabet (3 x 5, 3 x 4.70, 3.30 x 4.80) and the curvy rectangle was from Lacy Labels (4 x 6 and 3.5 x 5.5) Cork Board was 3.5 x 4.5 for cork paper and 4 x 4.8 for the brown "frame"

Flowers: Kate's ABC's, I used some of the "layer" cuts for the flowers (which are smaller) and then sized up. Flower sizes were various: 7.1 x 3.68, 6.80 x 3.53, 6.65 x 3.45, 6x 1.67

I hope you enjoy this!