Irish Unicorns?

Do your grand-daughters love all things unicorn?  Mine do and when I saw this unicorn bundle from Lori Whitlock, I HAD to buy it.  The bundle included a gable box which would be just perfect for St. Patrick's Day with a little Design Space magic.

I added shamrocks from Home for the Holidays, Anna's Seasonal Soirees, and CTMH Flower Market.  I imported ears from another Lori Whitlock file and welded them onto a diamond shape so they would stand up behind the shamrocks.  Lastly, I duplicated the horn and flipped it horizontally to make the horn golden and glittery from both sides.  Easy peasy!

There is a gable box in Tags, Bags and Boxes, and there is also a very similar unicorn image in DS by LoveSVG.  Check it out!

I'm linking my treat box up with the "Show us you Shamrocks" challenge at BBTB2 and the "St. Patrick's Day" challenge at FCCB.  It's always fun thinking up something a little different for the seasonal challenges!   Thanks for visiting on this sunny Saturday.  : )  Christine

An Apple for the Student

I knew it was coming, but did it have to come SO fast?   Master J started Kindergarten last week which means no more Friday adventures with Grandma, Grandpa, Katie and Cocoa.  Sigh!  He loves Recess and Lunch but is not enamored with the schedule and routines.

I chose to go with a school theme for the OHM treats this month and, of course, I had to create special ones for Master J and the DGDs.

I adapted the fireworks box from Sweet Treats using the hide contour and resizing tools and glued on the apple from the Serenade cart.  I duplicated and flipped the apple to attach to the other side of the box.  The sentiment "School is Cool"  was written with the Beadwork font.  (This is my new favorite font!)

The boxes were filled with lots of treats and I popped a Dr. Seuss eraser in each.  A little twine, ribbon, and a brad and I was done.  Such a fun project!  Pop over to the BBTB 2 blog and prepare to be inspired by the DT's apple projects.  : )   Thanks for visiting today.  I'm off to call Master J and see how his day went.  : )  Christine

April Showers, Baby Groot and Paper Spinners -

Time surely flies by when you are having fun!  Let me tell you that I am MUCH happier with my new home now I have flowers, shrubs and vegetables busily growing in the garden.  The birds scold us if we let the feeder sit empty for too long, there's a beautiful white kitty in the neighborhood that loves to have it's ears scratched, and we have discovered a source for fresh eggs that are almost, almost as good as my girls used to lay!

Today I want to share the OHM treats that I have created in the past few months.  Here's the little baskets of Rolo flowers I made for the children in May.

The basket comes from the Art Philosophy cart and is sized at 5 inches high so that I could get two on a page.   I embossed the basket with the Gingham cuttlebug embossing folder.  The flowers come from a variety of carts, (Forever Young, Paper Lace 2, Artistry, and Sweet Treats) and all have a center large enough to fit the Rolos.  You can't see from the pics, but I bought the pastel foiled Rolos that are available at Easter time for this project. The label comes from Tie the Knot.

Having made something pretty and traditional for the May treats, I opted to go for cute and up-to-the-minute for the June treats -  Baby Groot!

He comes from the Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy image set and I made him detachable so that the children could play with him.  Oh so cute!  The label comes from Spring Fling and the font I used is Cricut Sans.  I love how solidly this font prints.

Baby Groot is attached to the MCT Stitched Favor Box die (here) cut from Tim Holtz Kraft Core paper and embossed, by turning it crossways, with the Retro Kitchen Wallpaper 5 x 7 folder so that the craft side shows through.  I tied plenty of knots in the twine when I attached the label to the box and I accepted the fact that I might be the only one amused by this.  LOL!

Of course, I had to make an extra one for Master J who carried it around all day.  : )   : )  : )

Lastly, here's July's treats including a simple fidget spinner made from paper. I used the bit left over when a pop dot is removed to add height behind the brad and attached the brad VERY loosely so that it would spin freely.

After I had figured THAT out, these were very easy and quick to make.

Did you make it through this loooong catch up post?  It may not make complete sense since I am watching Anna Griffin on HSN at the same time and blogging is my method of resisting temptation.   : )    Thanks for visiting today.  : )  Christine

Edited to add - Hmm.  The movie doesn't work.  Still figuring things out!  Sorry!  : ( 

Snowflake Treat Boxes

Just a quick post to share a couple of the snowflake treat boxes I made for the children.  The box comes from  Tags, Bags, Boxes and More 2 and I 'tweaked' the top by adding a little tab to keep the box closed as I wanted to glue the second, glittery snowflake down flat.  The box is 3.5 long and 1.5 wide and fits 3 or 4 candy treats inside. 

I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment on either side of the box using Hero Arts Unicorn pigment ink and Ranger white embossing powder.  I am totally in love with this look right now!  I have to give a shout out to Sunny Studios for the lovely little snowflake stamps from the Snow Kissed set.  They stamped perfectly!

Thanks for visiting with me today.  : )  Christine

Owl Pillow Box Treat Holders

I am soooo late with the September treats for the children at OHM although I have had the file designed for weeks.  I love this owl pillow box from the new Lori Whitlock 'To You From Me' cart.  The box itself actually closes the way it is supposed to do although I had to retrace the score lines as my Gen 1 Explore does not do a consistent job of scoring.  (Do you hear justification for the new Explore Air 2 that's supposed to be out soon? LOL!)

I had to 'slice' apart the wings because they cut as though they were placed on the sides of the owl and this was a huge waste of paper.  This is an easy fix that's worth doing when cutting multiples of a design.

The original owl has a heart on his belly but since I wanted to add an apple and a sentiment there, I used 'hide contour' to eliminate the heart.  The sentiment comes from 'Autumn Celebrations' and I customized it by slicing off the pumpkin.  I stamped the belly with one of the background stamps that came with my CTMH 'Flower Market' bundle.  If you don't look too closely, they kinda, sorta look like feathers!

The apple is, of course, everyone's favorite image from 'Doodlecharms.'  Pop over to the BBTB2 page and see how many of the DT used this apple! I am linking my project with this week's challenge but wish, wish, wish that there were lots of entries to inspire me.  Sigh!  Thanks for visiting with me today : ) Christine

Picnic Basket Treat Boxes Plus Ants!

It rained today!   We NEVER have rain in early August and we were very busy splitting logs for the winter, and stacking them to season, when down it came.  So, not a good day for a picnic in one of the lovely parks in our corner of the PNW.

I was thinking of picnicking as I put together the little boxes of treats for the OHM kids this month.  These things are so, so easy to make with the Envelope Punch Board and can be sophisticated or simple depending on the paper and embellishments.  Here's the tutorial I followed - http://www.gingersnapcrafts.com/2014/03/tiny-gift-boxes-with-we-r-memory.html
Easy peasy!

I added a picnic basket from the Family Album cart and a butterfly punch from MS.   As I packed the saltwater taffy in the boxes, I added six card stock ants also from the Family Album cart.  My hope is that the children enjoy using the ants to play practical jokes on the staff at the residence!

Thanks for visiting with me today, and watch out for ants on your picnic   : )  Christine

Santa's Stash

The challenge at the Card and Craft Club in December, is "Old Time Christmas" and the items to be used include paper, a clothes pin, and a paper mustache.  I left it until the last minute.  (Really? LOL!) and all I could come up with was a Santa face on one of the cocoa cups that I have been creating for co-worker gifts.  Actually it turned out kinda cute, but I expect everyone else had the same idea! 

I used the Santa from the Doodlecharms cart, and sacrificed some of the Graphics 45 "Twas the Night Before Christmas" stack for an old fashioned feel to the container.  What is more 'old time' than a Santa who is NOT watching his weight?   Thanks for visiting with me today.  : ) Christine

FCCB Back to School Challenge

It's been a while since I joined in the FCCB weekly challenge so when I saw the theme "Back To School" I had the idea to enlarge the school house treat bags I made for OHM and fill them with goodies for the DGDs. 

I liked the grade level banners on K-12 image set and wanted to incorporate them into the design.  I cannot believe that S and G are going into 2nd and 4th grade!

 I also added a couple of sentiment cuts from one of the very first carts that I ever bought 'Locker Talk.'

Check out  the DTs inspiring projects at FCCB.  Wow!

It still feels like we are living on a building site as the new barn sloooowly rises on the site of the old barn.  We haven't ever had so much traffic up here as wood, doors, windows, siding and roofing arrives.  The concrete truck is due again on Friday, and the Honey Bucket maintenance guy (thankfully) visits regularly!  On the bright side, the noise and bustle seems to be discouraging the critters and it looks like we'll have a bumper crop of corn this year.  Thanks for visiting with me today.  : )  Christine

Back to School Treats

We had a lovely week up in British Columbia camping at the Brae Island resort.  It was only marred by the knowledge that this will probably be the last trip for our grand old border collie, Sam.  : (  Much as he loves all the extra attention he gets from the other campers, he was glad to be home, off the leash, and sleeping on his own soft bed.

As anyone with a garden knows, the veggies don't stop growing just because you are on vacation and we came home to zucchinis, green beans and peas demanding to be picked and packed away in the freezer!

In between loads of laundry, I started work on the Back to School treats for the shelter children at OHM.   My DGDs are cramming the last weeks of 'freedom' full of activities and I am so glad NOT to have the stress of getting my classroom ready, although I still miss teaching Kindy every day.

This simple little school house box comes from SVG Cuts and I added an apple brad to the center of the stamp from MCT for added interest.  (And, truthfully, I've had them forever and not ever used them!)

Thanks for visiting with me today.   
                                                        : ) Christine

Cars!

A few weeks ago, I was thrilled to win the Hello Kitty Greetings cart from Scrapalette's blog - Around the Block.  One of my favorite cuts is Kitty in her car and this image now graces my 'fridge.

Kitty was the inspiration for August's OHM treats.  I found the svg file for the car on the SVG Cutting Files site, but there is a similar car on 'B is For Boy' that I could have adapted.   All the cute little animal drivers come from Create A Critter.

  I added a little suitcase on the back and filled the cars with candy.   Almost as cute as Hello Kitty!

I am linking my project with the 'Travel' challenge at BBTB2.  There are some great LO examples from the DT this week. 

We finally finished log splitting last night and we have rows of stacked wood drying in the sunshine.  Amazingly, my one and only stack is still standing!  Our next job is to clean out the barn before it gets demolished next week.  Construction on my DH's shop (AKA the Man Cave!) starts in a few weeks and will, hopefully, keep him very busy supervising.  Lots of crafting time for me!!!!   Thanks for visiting with me.   : ) Christine

A Cup O' Cheer for St. Patrick's Day!

I loved this cocoa mug that Susan made for the CARDZ TV Valentine challenge and found it on the Silhouette store AND as an svg from Lori Whitlock.   I wondered if the Explore would cut the svg and so tried to import it into Design Space.   Apart from the funky score lines, it worked!

I love that the software separates out all the layers and allows me to add color so that I can get an idea of how it is going to look when it is put together.

I 'hid' the heart and the center petals in the mat and imported the shamrocks from Celebrate With Flourish.  (I have never been able to cut the left shamrock properly, and the Explore did no better. My 'work around' is to cut the right shamrock again with the card stock reversed so that I can flip the image over when I layer the cut.) So nice to have imported images and Cricut cuts in the same software and cut on the same machine.  Oh the possibilities!

I am linking my mug with the 3D challenge #2 at CARDZ TV.  It seems appropriate! 

Thanks for visiting with me today!   : ) Christine

Shamrock Treat Boxes

    My poor Expression is tired out from overwork and I keep asking my Gypsy girl to do things she is not capable of and then I get frustrated with her limitations.  : (   So sad that they have to make way for the Explore and her new software, Design Space when they have served me faithfully for 5 years or so.  But it is what it is, as my sister says, and now, I'm waiting, waiting, waiting!  My new Cricut has shipped and is wending its way westwards from Tennessee complete with Anna Griffin projects ready to cut at the touch of a button! 

The crafting must go on!  This little shamrock box comes from the Silhouette on-line store and was resized to about 1 1/2 inches square.  Just right for 8 pieces of gold - well, Rolos really!  They are all ready for the reception area at OHM.  I just love making these little treats each month!

Thanks for visiting with me today and don't forget to stock up on Girl Scout Cookies!      : ) Christine

Sparkle and Bling!

I had a lovely day yesterday!  I was invited back to school to help with some math testing for the end of the first trimester.  It was wonderful to see everyone and to get to know the new Kinders.
Lovely as that was, I was happy to leave at the end of the day knowing that I was free to play in my craft room.  No grading!  No lesson plans!  No Report Cards!

Here's what I was playing with - Christmas treat boxes sparkling and shining all ready for the latest challenge at the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog!

                      Challenge #188: Sparkle and Bling

   I used Anna Griffin's Winter Wonderland cart to create the snowflake and poinsettia.  I do love the DCWV foil papers and their Glitzy Glitter line.  Can you see that I used my new TH Distress Glitter in the center of the poinsettia? I backed the embellies with glittery tulle from the Bridal aisle at J's and added some bling to the center of the snowflake.  Can't get much sparkly or blingy than that, right?  LOL!

Happy Thanksgiving!   Happy Thanksgivukkah!  And thanks for visiting with me today.  : ) Christine

What to do with left-over Halloween candy...

... fill Thanksgiving treat boxes!  We had a wonderful weekend with our 3 grandchildren but the house went from bright, energetic and noisy, to dark, damp and dull when they left.  Unfortunately, I consoled myself with left-over Halloween candy as I set about cleaning up.  I HAD to do something with it before it all vanished and so I made these little treat boxes for Thanksgiving.

The box pattern comes from the Silhouette store and since I just love that Create A Critter turkey, I added him to the front instead of the one that came with the pattern.  A few leaves cut from the cart at 1" decorate the top.

I am linking my little box to the challenge at Exploring Cricut where the challenge is "Cricut Choice"   Make a card, layout, or paper craft using any cartridge and any theme, but it must include 1 pattern paper, 2 cricut cuts, and 3 different colors.  

and to the

Cardz TV Go-To Galz Challenge #39 

“THANKFUL" 

Thanks for visiting with me today!  : ) Christine

Spider Time!

Fall is definitely in the air and the Halloween spiders are trying to cocoon my house in spider webs, yuck!  We SO enjoyed our end-of-the-year camping trip to Champoeg State Park with my sister.  We introduced her to Geocaching and I have to tell you that she is persistent!  LOL!

The RV is now cleaned and ready to be winterized and I was able to get back into my craft room to make these Monster Bash treat boxes for a local homeless shelter where DH volunteers.  And no, there isn't a pumpkin box top!  That was made with a little Gypsy magic. : )

   Thanks for visiting with me today.  :)  Christine

Treat Boxes

Don't you just love these little treat boxes from Samantha Walker? Linda at the Paper Boutique blogspot featured them this week and I ran right over to the Silhouette store to download the file.  (Like I need an excuse to hang around the on-line store, right? LOL!)

The paper is from my new DCWV Pumpkin Patch stack and I filled the boxes with yummy chocolates.  We are having overnight visitors from Canada this weekend and since Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up soon, I plan to leave these little treat boxes in their room. 

It looks like a wet weekend coming up for us.  Hope your weather is better!  Stay dry and thanks for visiting with me.  : ) Christine