2014 was a pretty good year for me so 2015 has a lot to live up to. Here's hoping for a great year!
But before we get into what's new, let me share a couple things that I did during the Christmas holidays.
I finally made the Christmas card for hubby (I was literally down to the wire lol)
I stamped this gorgeous cardinal from the CTMH B1403 To You and Yours set. I Colored him with watercolor pencils on a Cricut cut. I then cut a few more layers to go under him.
Here is the finished card. I embossed the yellow layer with one of the folders from Anna Griffin's Joyful Expressions set.
And just a few days before Christmas SVG Cuts released a new kit. It was so adorable that I had to make a couple of the items.
Isn't this just the cutest little gingerbread boy? And he is a box! How cool is that?
He is from the Santa's Sweets kit AND the kit is still free! What an awesome gift from the great people at SVG Cuts! Here is the link so you can get your free kit before they switch it back to $6.99.
This is the Candy Cane house from the same kit. I didn't want to use it for candy canes so I removed the holes in the roof and cut a hole in the back to insert a tea light. It made an adorable decoration on the coffee table over the holidays.
And lastly, digi-playground has been having a sale (psst it is still going on) and I picked up this adorable barrel purse file. I reduced the file size so that I could cut it on a 12x12 mat and the purse is still about 4x7 and that is not including the handles. I have real purses that I carry that are this size lol When I find some 12x24 paper I will make the full size purse....and possibly carry it around!
And now we can move into 2015!
I have been having crafting withdrawals since Christmas. Today was the first day since Dec 24 that I have been able to make anything. It was really starting to drive me nuts!
I wanted to make a couple Valentines. And then I got this idea. I think it was a good one but I tend to not always be in step with the rest of the world lol
I have a collection of vintage Valentines. Ones from the 50s and 60s. You know, the ones with the adorable graphics and corny sayings we got back in school....not the lame cartoon character and super hero ones of today that seem more like advertisements than sentiments.
Anyway, I got the idea to take those cards and try to recreate them in a more modern format. They make a great jump start for my brain lol
Here is the original...
And here is my remake...
The bee and hive are from Create a Critter. The honeycomb embossing folder is from CTMH.
Here is another original...
And my take on it...
The dancers, records and player are all from Nifty Fifties.
I may do a few more of these. I had a blast searching for images and playing around.
I have one more card to share today. I was on pinterest last night and saw a card. The original artist created it using the Stampin Up! owl punch...or so she said. I haven't bought any punches in decades and none of them are bigger than maybe an inch. You remember them, tiny leaves, flowers, hearts. They basically make confetti lol
Anyway, I ramble lol I thought the card was adorable so into Cricut design space I went and found lots of owl cuts.
The pink owl is from Create a Critter 2. The blue one hails from Hoot n Holler. His branch is from Create a Critter. I embossed the front with Darice's woodgrain folder. The sentiment inside says " 'Owl' always love you"
So now that we have gotten the new year under way let's hope it continues with lots of crafting and lots of blessings!
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
