Commissioned cards for Womens Conference in Virginia

Will come back and post later..just need to get these on my blog :)

I am all settled into my new place finally and have begun crafting. I've been commissioned to make two cards for a widow friend. Here is the cards I made on Sunday.

Love

Forgot to add these two pictures to last post. Was interrupted and just realized they were not showing up...uhmm because I never loaded them. LOL!!! Thanks for looking.

Cricut Expression & Gypsy-So This Is What I Can Do...

Okay, I know that the Cricut Expression and the Gypsy has been around for quite sometime and I have had mine for a year or so, but really had not played with it until hubby asked how come you don't use these? You have 30 cartridges and just had to have them! Needless to say he made me feel really guilty about not using these wonderful "Toys" and since I have seen so many items, cards, wall decor made with these fantabulous machines, I figured it was time to get it out , set it up in my room and get to know how to use it. I even had custom ordered special cozies for the Expression, the Gypsy and the Cuttlebug to match through Kathy's Cozies Etsy shop! I think I was more hindered about cutting the correct size, using the correct pressure, speed and so on. OWH had a challenge for the month of June for the Second Million and stated that although the general cards were being asked for, the military men and women were asking for Thinking of You and Love cards to send home to their loved ones. I began to go through my cartridges to see which ones I could cut to make these requested cards. As you can see I manged to come up with 3 using the machine, besides the cuttlebug and Stampin Up Punches. In making these cards it has now made me want to use the CE more. I spent 3 hours last night working on the gypsy designing new cards to cut for this weekend. I have now become addicted to it and laugh at myself as to why it took me so long to use this wonderful machine. My head is already spinning on sayings I want to do throughout my home with vinyl and Christmas gifts that will be one of a kind. Of course with the release of new cartridges on Hello Thursday, it won't take me long before I am purchasing the newest carts that are being offered. LOL! I hope that these cards that have been made and sent to OWH will be liked by some military person and the one receiving it, will feel the love and warmth from the sender. I plan on making some Anniversary cards that can be sent home as well. Needless to say there endless ideas, and thousands of combinations that can be used to make cards, gifts and so on. Since I'm off for four days due to the long Holiday I will be busy in my craftroom designing and making another batch of cards to send to OWH.

Valentines...

Hope you all are having a great weekend. Mine consisted of being involved in a "Valentine Bazaar" and it was a smashing success!!! I was little apprehensive in being it as I wasn't sure what kind of turn out we would have due to the weather (cold, rain and it being the Superbowl weekend) and not being a really big holiday compared to Christmas, but I was glad I was involved as I sold everything I had made and could have sold more if








I had known it would be such a great success LOL! Here are some of the items I sold. My Photograph cards were a success as well and those pictures can be seen in the archive labels. I made several of these large and small pail containers filled with Hershey Kisses. I was able to find them in bulk at $2.29 lb instead of purchasing several of the 10oz bags at $4.79 a piece! These were a big hit for the mothers who visited the bazaar as a valentine gift for their children to give to their teachers. I did not realize how fast the Hershey filled Sour Cream Containers would go! I stamped the acetate using Stazon Ink to decorate them. Two ladies came in made their rounds through the bazaar, came to my spot and bought them all. Again I could have made 100 of them and I believe there would not of been one left. (I'll remember this next time) LOL! These were so easy to make and I should had thought to make these back at Christmas time. I saw these heart suckers and knew I could do something with them and decided to use my Cricut cartridge Tags, Bags and More to make the cover for these suckers. I ran them through the cuttlebug using the the new Valentine folders to give them a special look. The MS punch I used was the lattice heart. I was fortunate enough to be asked to be in another one in March by one of the other crafters at the bazaar who is in charge of it. So I am now busy working on what I plan on selling and of course ideas are running through my head as I type this and we shall see how much I get done with these grandure ideas running through my head. Hope the Lord blesses you this week in some way as we gear up for Valentines Day.

Sweetest Ever

Hello! It has been awhile since I have posted, but have been busy creating and just haven't taken the time to post as I finished each project. Saturday I was invited to a SU Stamp-n-stak and wasn't going to go, but decided it would be fun. Out of all the favorites she had in our packet to make 20 cards (4 each) I fell in love with the Hostess set "The More the Merrier". She had stamped the cupcakes and then provided the necessary papers and ribbon. I only made one and then came home and put my own twist on it as I cannot get myself to be just a plain simple type card gal. LOL!!!

I just had to add more in-color cardstock, dp, stickles, and of course scallops to decorate it up more and I needed the CB effect on the card stock itself. All the coloring of the images, ribbon and solid cardstock are the new In-Colors and the dp is the Razzelberry Lemonade. I changed up the layout from the original card she had as a sample so I could call it my own. I think this card would be fun to give to anyone for any occasion. Thanks for looking.

Whew!!!! Hot! Hot! Weekend!!!!!

I am not sure where you all live but if you live anywhere near the central part of California, then you will know the temperatures were a scorcher this weekend and looks to be that way into the middle of the week. Saturday was 110 degrees, Sunday was 113 and tomorrow, Monday they are prediciting 115 degrees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The grandkids visited this weekend and were in the pool only about 4 hours as there was no way we could be out there all day. Those sweet babes would of looked like a burnt tomatoe. They had sunscreen on, but still they could of had heat stroke even at their young age. They left today and I was able to get a card made. A very simple one but still a nice card. It's nice once in a while to not make a big fuss over a card and worry if it has enough embellishments on it. LOL!!!! Supplies: Stamps-SU Priceless, Ink: SU So Saffron and Pink Passion, Embellies: Gold Rhinestones and sheer ribbons; Paper-SU So Saffron, Pink Passion and Whisper White. CB Folder-Swiss Dots.

CONGRATS!

I could not help but select this image and make it a special card for my sweet precious granddaughter. She has been in dance since she was two years old and is now 7 and Friday is her last recital until the fall classes begin. I always present her with a miniature rose bouquet and a card to say "You Were A Shining Star". My sweet friend Carisa RAK'd me these images on a day that I was feeling blue. This little Stampingbella MissMatch Ketto reminds me of Mikayla. She thinks she is a princess (of course to Grandma she is..LOL!!!) and when she dances she is always right on step never missing a beat and gives 110%. Pink is her favorite color. I think she will be quite pleased with this card all because it is in her favorite color pink, its glittery, has a crown with tiny rhinestones at the tip of it and it was made expecially for her by G'ma Dee. I think I may have to purchase several more of these sweet stamps, as they all seem to resemble my sweet Kayla in one way or another. Supplies: Paper-Bazzill Tink Pink, Polka Dot Paper-Bazzill Creative Imaginations Pizzazzill, Prima Flowers, Pink Rhinestones,-Markers: Prismacolor Mulberry and Blush Pink, SU Stamp Sentiment-Say It With Scallops, Martha Stewart Punch, Nestabilities Oval Plain and Scallop and Cuttlebug Scalloped Die

A Rose Is Just A Rose...

This picture I think has to be my all time favorite. This beautiful rose picture was taken in our neighbor's yard during one of our evening walks (DH always has his camera around his neck in case he spots something worth taking a photo of or an opportunity for a great picture for a card LOL!!) and if you didn't know better, you would of sworn that the rose buds behind the large rose was just placed there, but NO this is how it was growing on the bush. In fact all of JoAnne's roses were blossoming like this. Of course my DH was ecstatic and couldn't wait until we got home from our walk that night for me to upload and see what it looked like. And here you have it. This card took me awhile to assemble as I had to figure out the pleating and knew I had seen it done with tutorial instructions from one of the DT members for a specific stamp company ( I promise to locate it and place the link HERE). I had to search through endless files of papers to get the right combinations to pull the colors out of the rose to make it pop. I realized I had the perfect papers sitting in front of me from a previous project the whole time I was searching..LOL! I began the card at 5:00pm and finished it around 10:00 pm. Again I finished the inside of the card to make it complete. If you have not discovered the newest and easiest way to make a bow, head on over to Sharon Johnson's Blog and order the Bow Easy. I am so glad I purchased it and now my bows come out perfect everytime with the tails behind it instead of one in front and one behind. You'll wonder how you ever made bows without it.
Supplies: Paper-SU Pink Pirouette and Kiwi Kiss, Paper-PTI Berry Sorbet, Stamp-SU "Say It With Scallops", Cuttlebug 2x2 Die, SU Top Note for inside of card. 1/2" Pink Satin Ribbon and MS Pearls.

Bras and Panties and Lace Oh My....

Is this just not the cutest? I was in a swap that was themed bras and panties. I wanted to make sure that they were within good taste but wanted to reflect the lacey and feminine part of it as well. It took me a couple of days to figure out how I could achieve the lacey look. I first had decided maybe I would just use vellum as it is shear and could somehow add the look of lace to it by free drawing the scrolls and rosettes but then....a light bulb went off in my head and I it seemed I couldn't work fast enough on a draft one before creating the ones I would submit. It finally dawned on me that why not use acetate? Its clear and we all know lace is a see through material, but now how would I add black to it and give it a lacey effect? First of all I needed to cut out the pattern for the bra and panties that was given as the template for the swap and then let the creative juices flow. Hmmm..I know run it through the Cuttlebug and use the embossing folder D'vine Swirl to give it the lace effect. Now to color it I tried several markers, but they just wouldn't stick to the outside of the embossing, I decided to flip it over and color the indentation of the swirl with a black sharpie. Next I added the clear strecthy ribbon which just happen to be printed with a scroll design on it which I had found at the local LHS. I used velvet ribbon for the waste band on the panty and of course I had to have a cute butterfly tattoo. Add a little shading to give depth to the bra and Viola! a "Black Lacey Set".

Paper: Acetate
Stamps: Studio G Butterfly
Ink: Black Sharpie broad point
Tools: CB and D'Vine Swirl Embossing Folder
Embellishments: Plastic ribbon and a Black Flower Brad and Ice Stickles.