New Cricut & Some Cards

I've had a Cricut die-cutting machine since they came out, and finally upgraded to the Explore Air 2 a few weeks ago. My Expression worked perfectly fine, but I wanted to upgrade to some of the new features!

The top card uses the fun maze piece from My Favorite Things and the rest was cut out using my Cricut. The swiss cheese feature was super easy to put together in design space. I simply added the cheese holes to a rectangle using the slice feature.

I used the Cricut writing tool for the sentiment on the banner.

This card is CASE-d from the wonderful Melania Deasy - I love her style and beautifully blended backgrounds!

Maze Products

- MFT Maze Piece

- Cricut Explore Air 2

Happy Birthday Card

- Distress Oxide Inks

- Cricut Explore Air 2

I love this week's color challenge, it's full of fresh, vibrant colors that make me happy. I love color! I decided to step outside my comfort zone with the card size and made a non-traditional card at 3 1/2" x 6". The beauty of having the envelope maker is the freedom to play around with different card sizes.

I created the background for this card using my new Pacific Point watercolor pencil that came with this month's "A Sara Thing" Paper Pumpkin kit and then just layered several balloons and clouds on top.

Papertrey Come All Ye Faithful

A Christmas card for a friend who has an adorable pooch!

Papertrey City Scene

Finally got a few cards made. I love this Papertrey City Scene stamp set!

Ed Hardy-Inspired Tattoo Card

I'm tired. So tired as I write this post. Emotionally and physically. Tomorrow is the memorial service and internment (I probably spelled that wrong). It's going to be a long day as the internment will be at the Florida National cemetery which is at least an hour and a half away. I've been doing a lot (everything) to get ready for this. Cooking, organizing, phone calls, etc...

Anyway, it's not all bad. We've had such an outpouring of love from our church that it's a little overwhelming. The service will be nice, and maybe I'll sleep tomorrow night for the first time in a while. Next week Olivia has to have a brain MRI for some vision problems she's been having. So actually I may not get any rest for a while. Pass the ativan.

On to the card. A very nice lady gave me her Ed Hardy purse after I complimented her on it. As a thank you, I made the card above. I used my new Cricut Expression to cut the heart and sentiment, and handcut the white tattoo-style banner. The gold is stamped using Tim Holtz stamps and foiled with my Stampee foils (look for a review of that stuff next week). I'm so happy with this card because a) it's the first crafty-thing I've made in a while and 2) I did what I want without feeling like I had to buy anything to do it. I was inspired by a similar card made using the Cricut Indie Art cartridge, but I didn't have the money to buy the cartridge, even though I know I'd use it a lot. I went through my supplies and realized I could get the look I wanted with supplies I've been hoarding. Isn't that a great feeling? The red heart is stamped with a flourish stamp and the wings are from a set of chipboard pieces. I'll look up the manufacturer if anyone is interested, I just don't happen to remember.

Cosmo Cricket Snorkel Thank You Cards

(make sure you scroll down, there are two cards in this post)

Today was the last day of swim lessons. I can't believe the summer is almost over! We started out with a two-week session and the instructors were so much fun, so relaxed and so accomodating that we stayed for the entire six-weeks. It was a great diversion while I was studying for the bar exam and my DD really learned so much. God bless lifeguards and anyone who works with children!

I made a couple thank you cards, and a batch of homemade brownies for the lifeguard staff at the pool using my Cosmo Cricket Snorkel paper. The large "Thanks" stamp is from Heidi Swapp, everything else (except the goggles/pti) are from Cosmo.

Have a WONDERFUL weekend! We are going to hit Busch Gardens and Disney World over the next few days, and just relax and have a few more fun days together until school start.

Papertrey Day at the Beach Flip-Flop Card

Here's another Papertrey Ink Day at the Beach card. This time I used all Stampin' Up! papers, including the new In Colors (Bermuda Breeze, Rich RazzleBerry, Crushed Curry) and kraft. Enjoy!

PAPERTREY INK: STAR PRINTS

This one has been sitting on my desk for a while, but I just haven't gotten around to finishing it and taking a photo of it. It's all Papertrey except for the Martha Stewart ribbon and Stampin' Up! kraft cardstock.

Happy Friday :)

BASIC GREY: JUNEBUG THANKS

Does anyone else love the little Basic Grey paper pads like I do? Everytime they come out with a new line, which seems to be every other week these days, I try to grab a paper pad if I have a little extra cash. It's the cost of two Starbucks coffee drinks, and the prints are smaller and perfect for card making.

My LSS just received Junebug and Lemonade from Basic Grey, and while I loved the pretty prints in Lemonade, the Provencal colors of Junebug really caught my eye. Here's a card I made last night! Very little stamping, just the "Thanks" from Stampin' Up! and polka dot backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms.

What are you doing today? I am starting work on property law and we might take a little break and go to the mall today. :)

PAPERTREY DAY AT THE BEACH

Ahhh summer. I have to enjoy it vicariously through my stamps since I'm too busy studying to do much else. Maybe we'll go to the beach for a couple hours next week, I'm feeling the need to get out of the house.

Anyway, isn't this cute? I was thinking of a really colorful beach towel when I made it. I stamped the background using the stripes from Let Freedom Ring and stamped it using colors from my Gaugin & Lautrec Palette Cubes (Paris Lights, Claret & Beaux Arts Blue). I used the same colors on the flip flops, then overstamped the thong using fresh snow and embossed with white embossing powder.

Recipe
Ink: Palette:Paris Lights, Claret & Beaux Arts Blue (Ellen Hutson)
Stamps: Let Freedom Ring, Day at the Beach (PTI)
Paper: Raspberry Fizz and Stampers Select White (PTI)
Accessories: Cosmo Cricket Snorkel green ribbon, unknown brad, white embossing powder

Happy (day after) Flag Day

RECIPE
Stamps: Let Freedom Ring & Text Style (Papertrey)
Ink: Pure Poppy Red & Fresh Snow (Papertrey), Blue (Palette), Tim Holtz Distress
Paper: White & Kraft cardstock (SU!)

GUIDELINES II: ENJOY LIFE

This is sort of a wacky color combination right? Summer sun, raspberry fizz, ripe avocado and dark chocolate are used with the Star Prints, Guidelines II & Text Style sets. The sentiment says "Enjoy Life"

Everything from Papertrey. Let's leave it at that!

So - go forth and ENJOY LIFE :)

Have a great week!

Basic Grey Porcelain

No time for a post today, just a card pic. I hope you are having a great week!

Recipe:
Paper: Basic Grey Porcelain, Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream & Sweet Blush
Ink: Papertrey Ink Berry Sorbet, Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress
Dies: Spellbinders Labels 4, QuicKutz Flourish
Miscellaneous: Kaiser Green Pearls, Making Memories Crystal Brad, Hero Arts Rhinestones, Anna Griffin Brass Stencil

Hello Kitty Teacher Card

I made this Hello Kitty card using school colors for one of the office staff at Lizzy's school. There are few little Hero Arts gems being used for buttons, and the outfit is supposed to be a grey shirt with black & white polka dots. Sorry for the crappy photo!

The die is a Sizzix Hello Kitty die that I used in my Big Shot/Big Kick.

This could very easily be a graduation or birthday card, just substitute the appropriate sentiment.

Thanks for looking!

Take Time to Relax: Papertrey Ink Day at the Beach

This very simple card was inspired by some of Nichole Heady's creations posted during her Day at the Beach countdown. The card base is raspberry fizz, the flops are stamped with fresh snow, and then the little thong image is overstamped with with some berry sorbet. The box is outlined with a white gel pen. Simple! Not as cute as hers, but it's not too bad. I put some little Hero Arts gemstones on each flip-flop.

Happy Tuesday & thanks for stopping by.

Que Sera Sera Anniversary Card

This was a ten-minute card. I found out at the last minute that two long-time family friends are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary today. Can you imagine? Me either. With that in mind, I wish I could say that I spent hours planning and perfecting this card, as certainly a 65th anniversary warrants something really special.

But let's be real, there sometimes just isn't time for that. This is one of those situations where being a stamper and having a stash comes in handy. I was able to pull enough together to make a decent enough card in a short time. And really, isn't that what this hobby is about? I know for a lot of people it's purely a matter of creative expression. And I feel that way as well, but I also do it for the practicality of it. There are so many occasions that require greeting cards, it's very satisying to be able to put it together myself.

I don't know what's wrong with my photos these days. Maybe I should try to put together a light box? It really ended up being a pretty card, mostly because of that Que Sera Sera scrapbook paper from K & Company. I don't know either of the stamp companies, but I cut the butterfly out and colored with Prismacolor pencils. Gold embossing using powder keg gold EP.

Thanks for looking!

Oh Happy Day Teacher Card

This card is similar to the School's Out card from a few days ago. It uses the same Cosmo Cricket Snorkel paper and Papertrey Day at the Beach stamp set.

I've finally found a nice place in my dining room stamp area to keep my sewing machine set up. I see this done on so many cards, and I love the look. It's very easy, just like sewing on paper. The only thing I have to remember is not to put adhesive where I think I might be sewing. The adhesive gums up the needle and the presser foot.

SUPPLIES
Paper: Pure Poppy & white cardstock (Papertrey), Snorkel patterned paper (Cosmo Cricket)
Ink: Versafine Plumeria, Palette Claret, Papertrey Fresh Snow, Tim Holtz Tea Dye & Broken China Distress
Accessories: Spellbinders Nestabilities, Cosmo Cricket Snorkel ribbon, brads, sewing machine

Birds Galore

Good news, Papertrey is going to replace my lost polka dot flip flop stamp. Kudos to them for having such great customer service. I think it's a smart move to be flexible about allowing customers to be flexible when a single stamp from a set has to be replaced.

Here's today's card. Maybe a little too busy?One thing I changed after I took the photo was stamping the bird in berry sorbet, which is a little darker(same colorI used for the "thanks" sentiment). This really pulled the whole card together.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies
Stamps: Inkadinkado Birds Galore, Stampin' Up!, Cornish Heritage Farms Polka Dot Backgrounder
Ink: Papertrey Berry Sorbet, Stampin' Up! Pink Pirouette, Tim Holtz Distress Tea Dye
Paper: Que Sera Sera (K & Company), Sweet Blush, Lemon Tart & Vintage Cream (Papertrey)
Accessories: Bling (Prima), Rubon(K & Company), Ribbon (Cosmo Cricket)

School's Out! Teacher Card

How's this for a teacher thank you card? LOL. I know that not all teachers would really appreciate this one (I know I wouldn't - I haven't had a bikini bod in a veeerrrry long time), but the teacher I have in mind will probably like it.

The supplies should all look familiar. The stamps are from Papertrey Ink's "Day at the Beach" set, and the patterned paper is Cosmo Cricket Snorkel. I also used some Snorkel ribbon, a Cuttlebug embossing folder and a few other miscellaneous items.

Speaking of my stamp set, I lost one of my flip flops! Ahhhhhh! It's the polka dot flip flop. It's so cute and it's my favorite of all the stamps. I've looked everywhere. Such a bummer. That's one problem with these little clear stamps, they are very easy to lose and super hard to fine. Please cross your fingers that I find it!

SUPPLIES
Paper: Cosmo Cricket Snorkel, Stampin' Up! Baja Breeze & Tangerine Tango, White (Papertrey)
Ink: Pure Poppy (Papertrey)
Accessories: Spellbinders Oval Nestabilities & Double-ended tag, brads, sewing machine, ribbon (Cosmo Cricket)

The Joys of Summer

Another teacher card. I don't have much to share today so I'll just leave you with a picture of the card. All supplies are from Papertrey, except Prismacolor pencils and white EP.