JOY Christmas Banner

There is still time to make a banner for Christmas. This one is pretty fast since there was only 3 letters!

Materials: DCWV 12x12 Holiday Collection Christmas Stack - 2009, Cricut "Plantin Schoolbook" Cartridge, Cricut "Accent Essentials" Cartridge,

Woodland Forest Service Birthday Party

I haven't posted in FOREVER but the good news is that I had a very good excuse and lots of new things to share.

The following are photos from my sons 2nd birthday party. My husband works for the U.S. Forest Service so I thought it would be fun to have a Woodland/Forest Service Party.



The invitation was a 3 dimensional card. It folded for mailing and then "popped" open so you could stand it up. The party information was printed on the back.



Door Sign



Outside Party Area



Beverage Table



Close-up of the felt banner that I made. I thought the outside area needed a little color so I cut felt pieces into triangles and sewed them together connecting them with a wide ribbon.



It took a while but I found paper that was VERY close to the color of U.S. Forest Service trucks.



This is the second time I've made hats for a birthday party. I bought two sets of party hats at our local 99 cents store and covered them with my own paper. I disassembled one to use as a pattern. You can make your own completely from scratch but these already have the stretchy string.




Every good party needs something to do. To tie in to the theme, I decided to have the kids paint their own wooden bird houses. As you can see the kids (and even some of the adults) were very involved.





Finished Bird Houses



Sweets Table.



Milk and Dark Chocolate Owl Suckers



Edible Chocolate Bird Nests



Edible acorns. Mini Nilla wafers with Hershey kisses and Reese's Peanut Butter Chips. I used a lighter to quickly melt the chocolate a bit to make it stick to the wafers.



Party Favor Bags.



Materials: Cricut "Camp Out" Cartridge, Cricut "Create A Critter" Cartridge, Cricut "Everyday Paper Dolls" Cartridge, Cuttlebug Embosser and Die Cutter

Martha Stewart Craft Coupon

Do you subscribe to Martha Stewart Living? In this months issue there is a coupon for 50% OFF any one regular price Martha Stewart Crafts Item. This is a big deal since Michaels coupons EXCLUDE Martha Stewart items. I'm going to be getting at least one of the punches that I've been drooling over.

There is also a printable coupon on Oprah's website, also for 50% OFF an one regular price Martha Stewart Crafts Item. Oprah Show viewers can download the in-store coupon before 11:59 p.m. CT on Wednesday, October 6, 2010 on this site: http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Martha-Stewarts-Craft-Kit-Essentials. The in-store coupon can be redeemed at any Michaels location between October 5, 2010 and October 16, 2010.

Rides

Very simple layout. I still don't like my own writing. I think it makes things look messy. And I don't like messy.



Materials: Cricut "Opposites Attract" Cartridge, Cricut "Mickey and Friends" Cartridge, Sandylion Disney 12x12 "Mickey Phrase" Paper, Signo White Uni-ball Impact Pen

Mickey's TOONTOWN

I won't lie to you. It took a long time to cut out and assemble the characters. Well worth it though, don't ya think?



Materials: Cricut "Mickey Font" cartridge, Cricut "Mickey and Friends" cartridge

The Tea Cups

Materials: Cricut "Mickey and Friends" Cartridge, Cricut "A Child's Year" Cartridge

The Happiest Place on Earth & Mickey Mouse

Materials: Bazzill Basics 12x12 Medium Scallop Circle Cardstock "Beetle Black", Sandylion Disney Collection 12x12 Paper Pack "Mickey", Cricut "Mickey Font" Cartridge, Cricut "Mickey and Friends" Cartridge, Creative Imaginations Magic Collection 12x12 Silver Foil Paper "Magic Castle", Cricut "Paper Doll Dress Up" Cartridge, Signo White Uni-ball Impact Pen

Haunted Mansion & Space Mountain

Materials: Sandylion Disney Collection 12x12 Paper Pack "Mickey", Bazzill Basics 12x12 Medium Scallop Circle Cardstock "Beetle Black", Reminisce Black and White Collection Patterned Paper "Basic Stripe", Signo White Uni-ball Impact Pen

Disneyland Week

Make sure you come and visit everyday this week because I will be posting a new 2-page Disneyland layout everyday.






Materials: Cricut "Mickey Font" Cartridge, Cricut "Mickey and Friends" Cartridge, Sandylion Disney Collection 12x12 Paper Pack "Mickey"

Girly Stuff: Chipboard Name Sign and Dress-Up Area

I've been busy this Sunday trying to get some projects done around the house. It's all in preparation for my sons 2nd birthday party. The party is not until November but I'm making a lot of stuff by hand and want to get some projects out of the way around the house first before I dive into the birthday projects. Plus, I like the house to look nice for my guests.


The first project I did today. It's for my daughter, Olivia. I used pre-cut chipboard letters from my local scrapping store and covered them with paper. I traced the letters onto the paper first (be careful because it's easy to trace them on backwards). Then, I glued them onto the chipboard and sanded the edges with an emery board. My crop-a-dile was used to punch holes in the top of each letter. This doesn't actually hang straight and needs the help of a few glue dots.

Materials: 5 1/2" chipboard letters, My Mind's Eye Magnolia 12x12 paper, Crop-a-dile, white ribbon, emery board, paper snips





The second project was completed a few days ago but it's also part of my daughter's room so I figured I'd post it here also. I had this idea in my head for quite some time before it actually became a reality. I'm a big thrift store and garage sale shopper so we've ended up with quite a bit of dress-up stuff. We never seem to have enough space for it all and if you hang things in the closet, the kids can't reach it. I bought the shelving and closet rod at Lowe's. I set the shelving as low as it could go without the dresses dragging on the ground. The top shelf was made from a piece of scrap wood. I painted them both white to match her dresser.

Cricut Search

What a great website! I will definitely be bookmarking this site!

Here is some information from the site:

"CricutSearch.com will save you time when working on your scrapbooking, card making or paper crafts. You will no longer have to flip through all of your Cricut handbooks or cheat sheets to find the perfect image to complete your crafting project. Just type it into the search box and we will show you all of the choices you have.

Make sure to save the link to CricutSearch.com on your computer. Next to your scrapbooking paper, paper punches and tape runner, CricutSearch.com could be your most important scrapbooking and card making tool. When you think of scrapbooking and card making we hope you think of CricutSearch.com."

Boy Baby Shower

Here are some things that I made for my BFF's baby shower a couple of years ago.

This was the invitation. It was a sliding card. The tag slides out and has all the information and a map on the back. The mom-to-be stamp was from the $1 bin at Michaels. I colored her in with some chalk. All of the other products are from Stampin' Up, including the cardstock "It's a Shower" stamp, and background stamps. I used a circle cutter to make the oval cutout on the top. Then, used the paper-piercing pad, tool and template from Stampin' Up to accent the top.

Materials: Stampin' Up Bashful Blue 12x12 Cardstock, Stampin' Up Apricot Appeal 12x12 Cardstock, Stampin' Up Paper-Piercing Tool, Stampin' Up Mat Pack, Stampin' Up Canvas stamp, Stampin' Up Something to Celebrate Stamp Set

Next is the party favor. I used Stage 2 baby food jars. My sister-in-law gave me a bunch of them that she had been saving. Her husband thought she was crazy for keeping them but they sure came in handy didn't they? The information was printed on my inkjet. The little duck is a Cuttlebug die cut. If I made these favors again, I would paint the lids. I filled the jars with chocolate teddy grahams. You can also use the smaller (Stage 1) jars and fill them with M&M's or other candy.

This is a Baby Bottle Six-Pack and was used as a table decoration. It's super easy to make. Paper was cut and then glued to a beer six-pack carrier (you can also sometimes find white carriers at your local scrapbooking store). The only tricky part was cutting the paper around the handle, which I had to cut with an exacto knife. Use the Terrifically Tacky Tape if the paper needs extra hold. You'll need 6 baby bottles. I used Gerber classic bottles. They were plastic but glass ones would look nice also.

Materials: Beverage Six-pack carrier, K and Company - Grand Adhesions - Brenda Walton Collection - Boy Clothesline

And of course no baby shower would be complete if I didn't scrap it. Here is both the shower and my layout for the days before the arrival and then birth day.






Materials: American Crafts 12x12 Paper Baby Collection "Georgie Porgie", American Crafts 12x12 Paper Baby Collection "Little Boy Blue", American Crafts 12x12 Paper Baby Collection "Three Bears", Stampin' Up Barely Banana 12x12 Cardstock, Stampin' Up Bashful Blue 12x12 Cardstock, Stampin' Up Apricot Appeal 12x12 Cardstock, American Crafts Occasions Boxed Ribbon Baby Collection "Mockingbird", Cricut New Arrival Cartridge, Cricut Paper Doll Dress Up Cartridge, Cricut Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge, Prima flowers

Thrift Store Find!

I had to share my recent Thrift Store Find. It's a wing back chair with what looks to be newly recovered fabric. Only $15! Can you believe that?! The wood on the legs could use some sanding and re-staining but other than that it's perfect. It's a much more updated look than the chair we had in this spot, which was forest green with a floral print. I love thrift stores!

Check out this blue Cuttlebug with Bonus Tool Kit for $39.99!!

Can you believe this? What a great price on the Cuttlebug!! $39.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. If you've been wanting a Cuttlebug, now's the time! Plus it's the cute blue one!

Click here to order!

I just ordered this because I have been wanting one to emboss cards.

Family Portrait: Circa early 1980s

I'm slowly working on an album that contains pictures from my childhood. It's a long task but the other day I finished one page. This is my family. I don't exactly know what year it was but I'm guessing somewhere around 1980. You gotta love the hats in this picture. My dads cowboy hat with the big feather and my older brothers baseball hats are so 80's. Lots of Tim Holtz stuff here. I LOVE Tim Holtz. His hardware is awesome and I love his masks (more of those to come in future posts). Most of the flowers are Prima, except for the hydrangeas. Those are from an old outdated floral arrangement/decor that I dis-assembled.

Materials: K and Company "Charlotte" 12 x 12 Paper Pad, K and Company "McKenna" 12 x 12 Paper Pad, Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip 12 x 12 cardstock, Provo Craft Cricut "Storybook" Shapes Cartridge, Advantus - Tim Holtz - Idea-ology - Metal Foliage, Advantus - Tim Holtz - Idea-ology - Metal Corners, Heidi Swapp - Ghost Clocks - Clear, Prima Nursery Rhymes flowers, Prima Forever flowers

The Original Scrapbox Giveaway!

One of my favorite Cricut blogs, Obsessed With Scrapbooking, has a fantastic giveaway from The Original Scrapbox! They are giving away a giant cutting board. If you win that, then you are entered into the drawing for the Limited Edition Workbox! The Workbox is one of their most popular and sought-after items. The Workbox had been around for a while, but this month a shipment of New Limited Edition Workboxes in four different styles of wood is on its way.

Click here to enter the contest.

If you are selected as a preliminary winner of the cutting board, you will then be entered into the grand prize drawing held on RachelleWrites on August 27, 2010. On that date, Rachelle will select a winner from all of the finalists to receive one Limited Edition Workbox (value $1495.00) in the winner's choice of color/style of wood.

August Cricut Cartridges and Giveway Alert!

One of my favorite blogs, Obsessed With Scrapbooking, is showcasing the new August Cricut Cartridges AND is giving away 3 different Cricut cartridges for 3 different people to win! Click on the box below to check it out!

Cheerleading Bucket

Part of reason that I haven't been posting lately is that my daughter started cheerleading this month. She cheers for the Yucaipa Junior All American Football. We have practice three times a month and starting next month, a game every Saturday. The girls bring a bucket (originally a paint bucket) with them to games to keep their stuff in and sit on when they are not cheering. I wanted to share some pictures of the vinyl that I used to decorate her bucket. Everything was cut with my Cricut using a variety of cartridges, including Hello Kitty Greetings, Opposites Attract, George, Paper Doll Dress Up, Everyday Paper Dolls, and Plantin' Schoolbook. The only exception is the megaphones. The ones on this picture were a rub-on that didn't stay on. I cut new megaphones using the Everyday Paper Doll Cartridge. I used vinyl made by Cricut and also bought vinyl on e-bay because it came in the additional colors that I needed, blue and gold. I think the vinyl has stood up well, especially since it's being dragged around by a 5-year old in dirty fields.

Christmas in August?

I know, I know. It's supposed to be Christmas in July but I'm a day late. Anyways...now is the time to start thinking about those projects for Christmas. Why? Because if you have a big project and don't start it now, they won't be done by Christmas. I decided last year to make a banner for each season and/or holiday. I'm getting ready to start one for Halloween but wanted to share the one that I made last year for Christmas first.

Materials: DCVW Holiday Collection: The Christmas Stack, Cricut "Accent Essentials" Cartridge, Cricut "Plantin Schoolbook" Cartridge

Newport Beach

I haven't posted anything in a while. Sorry for that. We've been busy with playdates and other summer activities. We had a campout in the backyard a couple of nights ago. The kids had so much fun!

Anyways...I thought since it's summer I would try to get some of my summer layouts done. This is my daughter Olivia playing in the sand at Huntington Beach in June 2007.

Materials: Prima - E Line - Flower Embellishments - Orange Mix 4, Paper House Productions Claude Monet 0116E Branch of the Seine Paper, MME Magnolia paper

Watermelon Baby Carriage

Just wanted to share a little watermelon baby carriage that I made a few days ago for a friend's baby shower. This is not difficult to make but allow about an hour and a half for all the cutting and fruit balling. If you want to save time, you can cut the melon into squares instead of balling it all. I dug out my tools for carving pumpkins this time and they helped a lot. This is the first one that I made with the scallop top and I think it's cuter than a straight edge or using a V-shaped blade. I sheared off the bottom of the melon first to make it sit level. I traced the scallops first before cutting them with one the small pumpkin carving knives. The handle is carved out the piece that comes off. The wheels are held on using two long skewers that go all the way through the width of the melon.