Yes, I know that officially summer doesn't start until June 21 (or something like that) but we all know that in our hearts, summer started yesterday. :-)
We had a nice, long weekend. Hubby did some work in the yard. I played in my art room. We cooked lots of yummy foods. Overall, a very nice time BUT we both have today off as well so the fun continues! lol
I have been in hyper card mode this past week. I didn't realized that I was until I pulling all the photos for today's post. My My I was a busy girl. :-)
I needed a Father's Day card for hubby (from the cats). Hey, don't judge me! ;-)
I used Create a Friend for this little fellow. He normally holds a spatula (great for BBQ invitations) but I switched that out for the cat dish from the Meow cartridge. The background is embossed with one of the folders from Cuttlebug's Retro Kitchen set. I had the Explore write on the apron because it just looked like it needed something.
It is hubby's job to feed the babies their canned food every morning....and they let him know if he is running late. Boy do they let him know! lol
Next I made this little diaper bag card. All the parts come from Doodlecharms (except the tag). I cannot take credit for this design, I found it on Pinterest. You can see it here http://liveloveandscrap.blogspot.com/2010/08/diaper-bag-shape-card.html She has a wonderful tutorial video and she has all the measurements on her blog.
I love that the bear and bottle are removable from the pocket. So cute!
Last Friday, Joann's was having a sale. Cricut cartridges were $19.99. Now I need more cartridges like I need a hole in my head. But c'mon! $19.99! So I picked up Cindly Loo and Birthday Bash. This adorable Snail is from Birthday Bash. The background layers are from Elegant Edges. The pink layer was embossed with Cuttlebug's Musical Flourish.
I let the Explore write the Hello on the card. How can you not love a machine that 'hand writes' for you? Especially when your hand writing is as bad as mine?! lol
But we are not done yet folks! lol
Saturday we headed out to one of the local strawberry farms. There is nothing like fresh strawberries! These were so sweet and juicy. I could have eaten the entire box....but I didn't lol
Instead I made this card. How can you not smile when you come face to face with a happy bowl of strawberries? The berries come from Simply Charmed. The tablecloth from Elegant Edges. I embossed it with one of the folders from Cuttlebug's Paper Lace set.
Yesterday, in the Let's Learn Cricut Explore facebook group, someone posted a photo of an oven box they had created. It was so adorable! She tried to share the file (you can share your cutting files with the new Design Space---how cool is that???) but I couldn't get her file to cut. I kept getting errors. (she has since fixed her file and I can cut it - woohoo) But after all that trying, I was really in the mood to make an oven lol I decided to make an oven card and see if I could add a 'twist'. The oven door really opens! But it also opens in the back as a card as well so I can add sentiments or a message inside. :-)
The stove image is from Suburbia, the pot and pan come from From My Kitchen, the oven mitt and phrase are from Nifty Fifties, the tab that holds the door closed is from Artbooking but I know I have seen them on I think Tags, Bags Boxes and More or Fabulous Finds and the steam coming out of the pot is from a cup of coffee on the Winter Frolic cart. I also welded the steam and a small circle onto the phrase to create the question mark.
I had so much fun designing this card that now my mind is swirling with more ideas for other similar cards.
I sat down late last night (since I didn't have to work today - yay) and created the following card.
Yep, a toaster where the toast comes out. :-)
The toaster is from From My Kitchen, the bread is from Wild Card 2.
My thought was that you could write your message on the part of the toast that is inside the toaster or on the back. This morning I tweeked the design and turned the toast into an actual card you can open. That is what happens when you create way past your bedtime....better ideas come when you are fully awake lol
But, last night I did add a note to the back of my toast. :-)
That is all I have for you today (I am sure you are very thankful for that lol) But I have already designed a refrigerator that I hope to get cut sometime today ;-)
Until next time, Happy Crafting!
Ok, let me start with.....Rain, Rain Go Away!!!!!!!!!
It is pouring even as I type. I know spring is just around the corner, my ornamental plum is beginning to bloom. But these downpours could stand to lighten up a bit...in my opinion. :-)
Here is the current view from my art room window.
Enough whining, on to the art!
I am entering a contest....I have not entered a contest in years and YEARS! And never one for Cricut. But, since I have fallen back in love with my machine and am totally obsessed with it I figured why not?!
This weeks challenge on the Fabulous Cricut Challenge Blog is "Pick a Holiday". I chose Christmas. Is there a better holiday???
I love this card! It is simple yet elegant (in my opinion lol)
I used the Joys of the Season cartridge and added highlights and shading with Prismacolor pencils. The background was embossed with Tim Holtz Sheet Music texture fades folder.
I think this might be the design I use for this year's Christmas cards!
Of course I could have used the following card for the challenge as well! I made a birthday card in a box for my Mom (her birthday isn't until June but I am obsessed and making ALL my cards early lol)
I love the concept of these cards! You can find instructions in lots of places online and tons of video instructions.....just search for "card in a box". The cool thing is that it folds up flat and fits into a standard envelope for mailing!
I used several Cricut cartridges for this:
Birthday fairy ~ Teddy Bear Parade
Packages ~ Celebrations
Cupcakes ~ Celebrations and Simply Charmed
Text - Create a Critter
The background paper on the box flaps was embossed with Cuttlebug's cupcake background folder.
Here is another view. Notice the embossing is reversed on the front flap....on purpose...so that the text would adhere better. :-)
And finally, the ATCs.
I belong to a few online art groups but I think those things are falling by the wayside. None of them are very active any more. You very rarely see anyone post anything. Possibly because Yahoo has made such a mess of the groups pages that it is next to impossible to figure them out or use them (but that is a whole other issue)
Anyway, the Bad Babies started talking the other day...complaining about the weather but at least they were talking. And we are going to have a SWAP! The first one in ages!!! We are having an ATC color swap. I take this to mean the ATCs have to be colorful since we are so sick of gray! lol
We have to create 3 ATCs. I completed 2 of them yesterday and have an idea for the third.
ATC #1
The background paper is from DCWV Garden Party stack. The butterfly is from StampIt and the text stamp is from Tim Holtz.
The butterfly is colored with Prismacolor pencils. The text was stamped with ColorBox chalk ink and then highlighted with a Sakura pigma micron pen.
I think this one definitely fulfills the 'color' criteria. :-)
ATC #2
My second card goes back to my love of French images.
I again used the Garden Party stack for my background paper. The white flowers and swirls are a glitter embossing already on the paper (which created a wonderful resist when I added the distress ink to the edges). The trees stamp is from Inkadinkado stamped in black StazOn and the foliage added with acrylic paints. The word Paris is from Impression Obsession and the Eiffel Tower comes from the French Manor Cricut cartridge.
Until next time.....Stay dry, keep warm and keep making art! :-)
Summer has to be my least favorite season. Yes, we have flowers but they come with pollen! And we have vegetable gardens, which I love, but they are a lot of work and mine did not grow well at all this year. And the heat! Yuk!
I am an Autumn person. I love the weather, the colors and the PUMPKINS! I am anxiously awaiting fall!!! :-)
I didn't have a whole lot of crafting time this week but what I did have I made the most of...
Last Saturday evening, while hubby was grilling dinner, I wanted to see if I could whip up a little something.
I grabbed my Simply Charmed cartridge and some scrap paper and made this little guy. He is cut at 2 1/2 inches and shaded with chalks.
And since hubby wasn't quite ready to serve dinner, I headed back into my play art room and made him a tag to live on. This was cut from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More at 3 1/2 inches and 'aged' with distress inks. I typed up the text with Word and cut it with decorative scissors.
Isn't he cute? I am thinking I might send it to my mom to use as a bookmark as she randomly tells me she is craving a cupcake.....although looking at one all the time might not help that problem lol
Sunday morning as hubby was cooking breakfast (no he doesn't do all the cooking lol) I stamped this fellow from the Happy Fall Y'all Stampin' Up set, colored him with Prismacolor pencils and then inked up the 6" tag with distress inks.
I had to wait until later in the week before I had time to work on this again.
I ran the tag through my Cuttlebug using Tim Holtz Texture Fades folder called Sheet Music. I then rubbed distress ink on the embossing to make it show up more. And finally mounted the tag on some paper that looked like peeling paint.
A couple days later I headed back to my Cricut. :-) I was in the mood to make an ATC. I used Create a Critter for the adorable panda and stamped the bamboo with a stamp from VivaLasVegas Stamps.
And finally, this morning, I made my Thanksgiving cards! I told you I made the most of what little time I had lol
This dapper turkey also comes from the Create A Critter cartridge cut at 2 inches. He is shaded with chalks and mounted on a background that I embossed with Cuttlebug's Autumn Type folder. The 'gobble' was resized a bit in the Cricut Craft Room before cutting.
Just another little project that I threw together one evening.....Hubby saw me browsing through the Teddy Bear Parade leaflet and thought I needed to make a bear with a camera. There is a bear on that cartridge that has a camera but he is dressed for a Hawaiian vacation. I mixed and matched the clothes (a great feature about this cartridge), switching out his shirt for a plain one, adding a baseball cap and glasses. Now he looks just like my hubby....who collects and restores vintage cameras and is NEVER seen without a baseball cap lol
I hope you all have a wonderful week!
I am already thinking about Christmas cards!!!! And Pumpkins! lol
