Holiday Marketplace

My BFF and I went to a local holiday craft show. Although I didn't find a gift for anyone I was buying for, I did find some beautiful picture frames that are perfect for our dining room. I added some vinyl above the center frame using the Cricut and CDS. I used the Opposites Attract cartridge and some accents from the Storybook cartridge.

LB's Hat

This is a hat for our four year old friend LB. As you might have guessed, she LOVES pigs! Her mom saw a hat similar to this at a craft consignment store and asked that I try to recreate it. Here's my version with an i-cord, coiled nose, garter triangles for ears, buttons for eyes and a sweet, short curly cue for the tail.

A bit late

This pic is a bit late in coming, but it's my Jack-o-Lantern from 2009. This was my first attempt at sculpting rather than carving. The pattern was from from Fantasy Pumpkins - which is a FAB site. Be sure to check out his Death Star pumpkin - a true master! I definitely needed to thin out the walls of the pumpkin, but I love how it turned out!

Cricutting

Jen C. at jensbrainthings came up with this WONDERFUL cut file. It was made for the Expression (on the 12 x 24 mat), but I only have the baby :( I also wanted to make it in reverse so it could be inside the window. With a lot of shifting the design around, I was able to reverse it and make it Baby Bug compatible. I just LOVE it. I used the Crafts Etc! brand of vinyl from Hobby Lobby. The entire piece is about 25 inches high and 16.5 inches wide. Once cut, I placed it on my quilting ruler, and covered it in painter's tape (a poor man's transfer paper).

Lots of cards at once!

Sheetload is a blog with a free e-zine that gives you a sketch and cutting instructions to make 6-8 cards or card fronts at a time. I found it was great to use up a bunch of scraps!

Karate is AWESOME!

J took Karate lessons last summer, and I'm just now getting around to scrapbooking the pics. Here is a SUPER Simple LO I made of his first broken board.

Hoppy Easter

I saw a title similar to this on the Cricut Message board many months ago, but I didn't like the font they had used. I made this one using all Doodletype and the Cricut Design Software.

Have a great birthday p-aargh-ty!

Our young friend, Dylan, will be having a party soon, and it seems to be pirate themed. Ahoy there, and have a great party. This card was made using my Cricut and it's Design Software. The original idea is from Cricut Butterflies and she got her inspiration from Susan's Card. I omitted the pirate hook and boots. The treasure chest should have been on the card, but a 3 year old pirate ran off with it LOL!

Happy Birthday Pop Up

I received this card for my birthday, and thought, "Hey, I can re-create this in DS!"


Below is my first try. It's not embellished yet, but I think it turned out okay.

Happy Owl-o-ween

I found this cute saying at ThriftyGranny's Blog, and I love the 3D owl stickers I found at Michael's. I designed the scalloped circle using Susan's scalloped circle tutorial and CDS. The trick or treat stamp is one that was RAK'd to me, and the stamp around the scalloped circle is my brand new toy. It's the monogram stamp from JustRite Stampers using the small font set. It's just a simple notecard, but isn't it cute! I'll be sending this one to my nephews.

Money, money, money, money

Here 's another money book that I've made. This time, it's for my nephew. He turned the big 1-0 a couple of days ago, and I'll be seeing him a week to give him his gift in person. Hope he likes it!





Materials:
Card stock
Rhinestone
Chalk for the front
CDS
Skittles
Embroidery Floss
JustRite Stampers Monogram Stamp
JustRite Stampers Small Font Set
Ribbon

Things you didn't know...

Jenny tagged me.


5 little known things about me...


1. I'm adopted. I can't believe my parents picked me from this picture. I sort of look like a baby Mr T. sans gold chains.

2. I knew DH and I would get married as soon as he asked me out on a date. I just had to convince him *wink*.

3. I have two tattoos, and no I don't have any pictures to share. They really look like one tattoo, but they were done at two different times. The first one is a butterfly on top a yin yang (the butterfly represents being born again - the etymology of both my first and middle names and the yin yang 1) because I was a dumb college girl and 2)I love the concept of the 4 laws of the symbol). The second is the Chinese symbol for dragon (my Chinese zodiac birth year).

4. I'm a closet (well not anymore) of all things Arthur. He is my fave character in a book, and I've made my kids fall in love with the PBS cartoon.

5. I have a celeb crush on Christian Bale. Not just of Batman fame... I've loved him from afar since Empire of the Sun. Even when he was a not so nice Nazi in "Swing Kids" I loved him - LOL!

Jack-o-Lanterns

Jen came up with this great 3-D jack-o-lantern. The moment J saw it, he said, "We can put candy in there." A new treat box for him was born. Looks like I'll be making 21 of these, too (just like the candy boxes of my July 31st post). Her cut file is available at her blog and it is baby bug compatible! Thanks, Jen!

To avoid the monotony of having to make the exact same jack-o-lantern, I've made a couple of other faces to add to the fun.

Congratulations, Susan!

Susan just hit 200,000 hits! Congratulations, Susan on this HUGE milestone. I would not be able to do anything in CDS without your wonderful tutorials and your willingness to share your talent with us. Thanks so much! Susan is having a give-away to celebrate her accomplishment. Go check out the link and add a comment to enter her blog candy contest!

p.s. Heather's give-away is still going on. There are 5 different days/contests to enter.

The Money Book

http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2008/09/mazel-tov-for-a.html

I love this idea! An envelope full of cash, while fun, seems a bit impersonal. This is my version of the bank book posted on the link above.

Here are a couple of pictures of the outer box.


Here is a picture of the box opened and a picture of the book. I used my brand spankin' new JustRite Stampers Monogram stamp for the front of the book. I love that it is SO versatile!

Check out this blog http://www.heatherscrapsnwraps.blogspot.com/! She's having a great blog candy give away! Her paper crafts are so beautiful :o)

This is a Wolf-Proof House that J built for school. It was pig week, and their class read a number of versions of The Three Little Pigs.

Click on the picture to get a better view... First stop, the front yard. Of course, the three little pigs have a pet, and that pet is a dinosaur. Note the opposite end of the yard. There is a well placed video game because it is common knowledge that wolves are easily distracted and LOVE video games. There are also trick doors on the sides of the house that open up to brick.


A view from above. There is a chimney and fire place in the house and there is always a fire just in case the wolf thinks that that is his in.


Front view. I knitted a net that the pigs could use to drop on the wolf if the lasers failed. The front door is secured with a "laser limbo" system. Another well known fact is that wolves are unable to limbo. The wolf might try to limbo, but he will be lasered upon trying, thus the pigs remain safe.


It was so much fun coming up with ideas as a family for this house, and J loved decorating it!

This was my entry for a 12 month swap on the Cricut Message board. The party hats are from Doodlecharms and were welded together with Cricut Design Studio. The cupcake is from DC, too, and the sprinkles on the cupcake are skittles. The letters are from Doodletype.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I've got a great and beautiful excuse. Knitting progress is really boring to blog about when it's lace and all jumbled up. I'm doing my best to finish the Rona Shawl from http://www.knitpicks.com/ before the Olympics are finished. Here are some in progress pictures. Julia is coming along as well - I'll get back to that sweater after August 24th. Neither of the pictures really do the color justice. It might be closer to the pic on the right (definitely not as pink as the picture on the left indicates). Oh, and I joined the Mystery Stole 4 KAL last week! That will start on Sept. 4th! Are you in?!?

DH and I are celebrating 8 great years of marriage today. Here is a card I made for him using my Cricut and the software.