Birthday time!

My son's birthday is November 1st. :)  We're having his birthday party today! Since we're having it at a pizza place, I did not make a huge pile of decorations or anything, but I did make the invites and some masks for the kids. My son chose a hard theme to decorate for... and I was lazy. LOL

Here are the invites:

My son wanted a wolf theme for the party. There's a story here:  When I was pregnant, two of my good friends were also pregnant. We were talking names one day and one of them said "if it's a boy, we're naming him Aidan Wolf" and the other friend said, "What a coincidence, we're naming ours Frederick Wolfgang".  So I said, "wait a minute! I want in on that! I'll put wolf somewhere in my son's name!"  So we all did! Kevin James Wolff is part of the wolf pack of boys born in 2006. ;)  Anyway, my son thinks it's cool and wanted a wolf themed party.  He told me the imagery he wanted as part of the theme and I made the invites accordingly! The card base is from Cricut Wild Cards and the wolf portion is from Pumpkin Carvings. :)

I also made the kids some masks to wear.

I made two each of all the masks, the cats are the only ones that are different from each other though. These were made from the Cricut digital image set Animal Masks.

And guess what! Everything was made using my stash. :)

Flower Spray Swap

Hello everyone!
In September, I participated in my first online swap, on the Cricut Circle messageboard.  We all made flower sprays! The picture above is mine, I made flowers from paper using a rolled spiral flower that I cut with my Gypsy and Cricut, then using wire and beads, I attached them all together. They were very easy but after making so many of them, my fingertips were SORE! lol

In the process of making my sprays.

Here's what the other ladies made!  (my photos do not do justice to how beautiful these are!)

Our hostess, AmyS, made this one. Her Website

 This one is by BulldogMommy. Go to her website

 This lovely spray is by FredaC and here is her blog

 This is by GrannyAnne and here's her website

 I love these colors. By Scrapperbecka CreationsWithBecka

 By KauaiMelody at her blog CricutMelody

By Erika: her website here

Thanks for stopping by!

What Happens at the Crop...

...Stays at the Crop!!

This is a USE YOUR STASH layout I did with pictures from Scrapaganza's last Favorite Things crop, the summer of 2011. Our theme for the crop was a Las Vegas style theme, including tshirts we had made that said What Happens at the Crop, Stays at the Crop. One of my co-workers, her hubby dressed up as nightclub Elvis, we had lots of fun games and a costume contest.

In August, Cricut Circle members had access to all the digital cricut image sets, and I made as many cuts as I had time to make for pictures I knew I'd want to scrap. At that time, I knew I would be scrapbooking these pictures, so I used the Las Vegas digital image set to cut the dice and the Las Vegas sign.

The diamond background in red was cut using Artiste, and I welded 4 of the diamond backgrounds together to make the background for this layout. I wanted something evocative of playing cards but didn't want to spend the time welding one image at a time... then I found this diamond background on Artiste.

Everything is from my stash, from the scraps I cut everything from, to the ribbon, papers and Charlene's Button Box buttons! :) 

Thanks for stopping by!

This Boy

USE YOUR STASH! :)

Here's another layout I did at the Lorado Scrapbook retreat. Again, I used my stash! The only new thing on this layout is the mask I used to mist spray the background... it is a Studio Calico "Mr Huey's" mask that I bought at Lorado. I forgive myself for buying it because it helps me use up the HUGE stash of mists that I have! I think tools that can be used over and over don't count, right?  lol  Everything else was in my stash though.  The rub on that I used for the title has been in my stash since October of 2008! When I first started scrappin', and I bought it at a scrapbook garage sale! lol

up close and personal

The blue pointy circle in the background is from my cricut, the cartridge is Art Philosophy. :) The red star button is from Charlene's Button Box.

Thanks for stopping by!

Storm Chaser

USE YOUR STASH!  :)

This is a "use your stash" layout. I pulled out some old Kaiser Craft "Marakech" paper that I had in my stash (I have LOTS of Kaiser paper in my stash... topped only by G45). The paper is so old I couldn't find it listed on their website anymore lol.  I also had some 7Gypsies gaffer tape (which I like better than that washitape that's all the rage).  I used the cricut to cut the sign outline (Street Sign), the cloud (Pop-up Neighborhood) and the lightning bolt (October 31st).  The cloud is embossed and then I stickled the embossed pattern with Distress stickles in a grey color (can't remember what color that was). The title is from some OLD thickers from my stash. I bought probably 4 packages of those black thickers before I got my cricut.... LOL... I've been trying to use them up!

a little close up of the cloud

Our local museum has the movie "Tornado Alley" playing right now, and this Tornado Intercept Vehicle is featured in that movie. Our son was pretty in awe of getting to see the TIV in person! I am impressed by the ingenuity of it's builder.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lorado/Taft Scrapbook Retreat

Since October 2011, I've been going to a scrapbook retreat at a state park in Illinois in the spring and fall. It goes from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, and it's the best, funnest, most relaxing crop I've ever been to! I would have to be on my deathbed to not go to the future crops!

So I thought I'd share a few pictures of this year's crop. :)

Here's me, at my scrap table. The view out the window behind me is pretty much what the whole site looks like. :)

a froggy friend outside our scrap room. We also saw turkeys and other wildlife. No bears though. ;)

These are my scrappin' ninjas. :)  We like to go to crops together! We are standing next to the building that was our dorm and our scraproom.

There are several building, and one might be scrapping in one building, and sleeping in another. It all depended on how far you were from the dining hall. Our building was farthest from the dining hall, so our sleeping and scrapping were in the same building. The meals are provided by the Taft staff, and are wonderful!

there were a few scrappy contests, and my friend Katie won best name tag - a crown of course!

Someone made crown cookies with our names on them, one for each person in our scrap room!

Lots of shenanigans went down in our scrap room... and I can't post most of the pictures or I might discover some nasty pranks in my scrap gear... so this is all you get. ;)

I used my iphone to take a panoramic shot of our scrap room. We had 14 ladies in this room total! There were 70+ at the crop.

My sweet hubby schlepped all my stuff in from the car while I watched from the couch.

I slept a total of 2.5 hours Friday night. That was IT for the whole weekend! I pulled an all-nighter on Saturday. I barely made it home... I think the only reason I did make it home is that we all drove home through a storm, and I SWEAR I drove under a funnel cloud on the way... so half my drive was adrenalin and fear keeping me awake!  Next time, if I want to pull an all-nighter, it will be on friday night... I have decided that I need at least 4 hours sleep the night before driving home!

Oh, and did I get anything done? why yes, yes I did. :)  Here's a sneak peek... you'll see more of this stuff in future posts!

Thanks for stopping by to visit!

Nuts About You

Hello all! Today was my turn to share a project on the Cricut FANatics Blog! This is the project I have posted there. If you haven't been by that blog, you really should go! It's a WEALTH of project ideas and inspiration!!!

I have a few friends that have asked me to create kits for them, and this is one that I finished up not too long ago. I really like how this one turned out.

I loved the title, but I worried that the words might get lost on the busy background paper, and there was no shadow option for it. But, you don't always have to use a shadow of the shape, all you need is something to set it off... and I thought two acorns welded together as a background for the title was perfect. In fact, I liked it more because it was different from the usual phrase shadow.

"Cutesy" pages like this can seem more "grown up" after inking the edges of everything with dark brown ink. I found this out when one friend, who'd seen these pages in their initial stages before ink, and then saw it later when it was completely done... She didn't want a kit at first, it was too cutesy for her. But the inking changed her mind completely.

The ribbon is seam binding that I had dyed using Distress Stain in Fired Brick color. I laid down a strip of tacky tape adhesive, then as I laid down the ribbon, I pinched pleats in it. This gives the layout texture and dimension, more than even pop dots can! 


Thanks for stopping by!

Fall Blog Hop prize Winner!

Crafty TeacherOctober 6, 2012 7:48 PM

Oh my gosh that is super cute!! That would be a fun project to do with my girls or students too. I like that you used purple with the orange. :)

Congratulations Crafty Teacher! as soon as I get your mailing address, I'll send out these stamps I have for you!

Falling for Halloween Blog Hop (day 2!)

Welcome back to the Falling for Halloween Blog Hop, day 2!

I'm so glad to see you here!  If you missed yesterday's Blog Hop day 1 post, just scroll down! (and make sure to see everyone's day 1 projects!)  I hope you enjoy all the crafty inspiration in this blog hop, I sure am! 

You should have arrived here from Maria's Stamp, Cut, Create! blog. If you missed the beginning of the hop, please go to Maria's blog to start so you don't miss any of the projects. :)

Read to the end of the post to win BLOG CANDY!  :)

My project today is a Fall scrapbook layout. I do like making cards and other projects, but my primary love and the reason I got into the papercrafting hobby was for scrapbooking. :)   What else do we do in the fall besides Halloween? Apple picking, of course! These pictures are from our 2011 visit to the nearby Stone's Apple Barn and Orchard, where you can pick yourself or just buy at the "barn" store. We chose to pick ourselves. :)  You get a ride out to the apple variety trees of your choice on a hay rack, which will come back by and pick you up if you need it. My kiddo enjoyed picking apples. :)

I used some Jillibean papers I had in my stash. The tree on the right was cut from Stretch Your Imagination cricut cartridge. It also had apples for that cut but I forgot to put them on! LOL  That's okay. I didn't lack for apples on the page. :)  Up in the top left corner is a handmade apple button by my friend Charlene at Charlene's Button Box. I am a confirmed addict of her gorgeous buttons. I had so many buttons in my stash that I had to vow at the beginning of this year that every layout I made would have at least ONE of her buttons on it. haha! And they do! Sometimes I forget to put the button on before I take a picture of the layout, but they always have one before I put them in my books!

Well I hope you keep hopping through the blog hop! Please stop by Paulette's blog next!

(keep going for the BLOG CANDY!)

Here is a list of everyone in the Blog Hop! Don't miss any of them! :)

Maria      stampcutcreate.blogspot.com

Michele   scrap-n-dance.blogspot.com (You are Here)

Paulette  http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/ (Go HERE Next)

Cindy      http://www.inlovewithpaper.blogspot.com/ 

Beth         http://seaswancreations.blogspot.com/

Renee     icameisawicreated.blogspot.com

Debbie   www.debseclecticthoughts.blogspot.com

Khrista   http://creativeandcraftyteacher.blogspot.com/

Angela   Angie's Paper Passion

Nadia   http://www.withglitteringeyes.com/ 

Donna   http://CarolinasCreativeCropper.blogspot.com/

Diane   http://dianesdribble.blogspot.com/

Sara    www.sarawandrews.com

Michele   www.michelegreen.com

 

Blog Candy Time! :)  Yeah, all you need to do to win this Tattered Angels Nature Graceful Journey set is leave a comment on today's blog post. If you leave a comment on yesterdays's blog post as well, you get TWO entries in the drawing! I will draw the lucky winner on Monday!

 

Falling for Halloween! Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Falling for Halloween Blog Hop. Thank you for joining us to enjoy all the wonderful crafty inspiration for the fall and Halloween season!  You should have arrived here from Maria's Stamp, Cut, Create! blog. If you missed the beginning of the hop, please go to Maria's blog to start so you don't miss any of the projects.

Read to the end of the post to win BLOG CANDY!  :)

Last year I saw a wonderful project that inspired me, in one of the Northridge publications; the Simply Handmade Sewing issue in 2011, look on page 18 for the witch hat by Brianne Neville! There's a tutorial in that issue, but it's a fairly easy project to recreate!

click images

I bought my paper mache witch hat form at Michael's, it was very inexpensive. You just need to cut a bunch of circles from your favorite Halloween cardstocks. (I cut mine with a cricut at about 2 inches or so)

Distress the edges with ink or scrape them, then layer them on the hat and bling it up or dress it up with paper "roses" and tulle. It was really easy!  I did paint my hat brim black first, though Brianne did not for hers, so it's up to you to paint or not. 

This sweet little hat is probably my favorite Halloween decoration in the house right now. :)  I hope you are inspired to make your own!

Thanks for stopping by for the Blog Hop! Please stop by Paulette's blog next!

(keep going for the BLOG CANDY!)

Here is a list of everyone in the Blog Hop! Don't miss any of them! :)

Maria      stampcutcreate.blogspot.com

Michele   scrap-n-dance.blogspot.com

Paulette  http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/

Cindy      http://www.inlovewithpaper.blogspot.com/ 

Beth         http://seaswancreations.blogspot.com/

Renee     icameisawicreated.blogspot.com

Debbie   www.debseclecticthoughts.blogspot.com

Khrista   http://creativeandcraftyteacher.blogspot.com/

Angela   Angie's Paper Passion 

Nadia   http://www.withglitteringeyes.com/ 

Donna   http://CarolinasCreativeCropper.blogspot.com/

Diane   http://dianesdribble.blogspot.com/

Sara    www.sarawandrews.com

Michele   www.michelegreen.com

Blog Candy Time! :)  Yeah, all you need to do to win this Tattered Angels Nature Graceful Journey set is leave a comment on today's blog post. If you leave a comment on tomorrow's blog post as well, you get TWO entries in the drawing! I will draw the lucky winner on Monday!