What's a girl to do...

when DH announces that it is time to send out the Christmas cards to friends and family overseas and the resident card crafter is still making THANKSGIVING cards?  Why, run right over to SVG cuts and download their Merry and Bright files!

I love this first one because it uses scraps and like everyone else, I have boxes of scraps!  I added glittery tulle and sequins since I thought this design had a 'quilt' feel to it.

The 'JOY' shaped card came together quite quickly and is easy to mass produce although since I am quite incapable of making two cards exactly alike, embellishing took a little extra time.

The painters are coming in tomorrow, so I will be staying out of the way and crafting in my room.  What a sacrifice!  LOL!   Thanks for visiting with me today.  : )  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

The first card of Christmas...

is quite nostalgic!  I made several 'quilt' cards way back before I bought my first Cricut but could NEVER get the pieces to fit together nicely.  I was reminded of this technique by Mary at CardzTV and as I have a friend or two who quilt, I resolved to try to make a Christmas quilt card.  

The idea of a button and thread on the center square is totally scraplifted from Mary and was a much nicer (and easier) embellishment than the faux stitching and knots I used to do.   I added a holly sprig from Winter Wonderland as this seems to be my favorite die cut this year and I have quite a few made up ahead of time. (They are easily put together when the resident football fan has possession of the TV remote!)

Thank you for visiting with me today : ) Christine

"What does the Turkey say?"

We had quite the PNW rain storm yesterday but that did not deter DH from taking the drift boat out to fish on the Lewis River!  After Dinner, he sat by a roaring fire drying his rods, line, and tackle boxes while watching Monday night football and I escaped to the craft room to get this card out of my head and onto paper!

My three DGC are enamored with Ylvis and the video "What does the fox say?" (I like it too!)   I have been seeing fox cards on Pinterest and wanted to make one for J  with an interactive element.  This is my first try at a teepee card and I love that there are THREE surfaces to decorate!  I used Create a Critter for the fox and the turkey - who is on an action wobble, and the stamp comes from CardzTV.

I am linking my project with

  "Count Your Blessings" 

challenge at 'Exploring Cricut'

Animal Crackers: Use an Animal

 challenge at 'Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog'

and the challenge at Bitten by the Bug 2

You're a Turkey - Turkey Challenge 

 

 

 

Thanks for visiting with me today!  Stay dry!  : ) Christine

  

Trigonometry anyone?

Last year I wanted to make a star fold card for my DSIL to wish him a 'Happy Hanukkah' but 45 report cards kinda got in the way!   So last night I went up to the craft room determined to figure it out.
I wanted the height of the equilateral triangle to be 6 inches and knew the angles had to be 60 degrees but where to go from there?   DH to the rescue and had it all worked out to 3 decimal places.  Three decimal places?  And where was the protractor?  
After wasting several sheets from my ugly paper stash, I did what I should have done to start with and looked it up on the Internet.   Peggy, at Daily Grace Creations had a tutorial here and with a bit of tweaking, it worked!   And here it is, sparkly DCWV paper and all!

Cool, huh?  Now, the first day of Hanukkah falls on Thanksgiving this year and I found this little image on the Silhouette on-line store.  DSIL has a great sense of humor and will enjoy this sentiment - I hope!

Well, time to put the roast beef in the oven and bake a carrot cake - courtesy of Mr. Duncan Hines!  Enjoy the weekend!    Thanks for visiting with me today.   : ) Christine

Hershey Nugget Holiday Treats

I am LOVING this DCWV Holiday Glitzy Glitter stack!  It cuts wonderfully - just look at the camels' tails and blankets - and doesn't spread loose glitter inside my E, on the floor, over my desk and on my clothes!   Loving it!

These are the December treats for the OHM.  Mary at CARDZ TV made Halloween treats by stamping on address labels and wrapping them around Hershey Nuggets.  I had to try it, and then demonstrate to DH who thought that I had unwrapped and re-wrapped the nuggets and was a little dubious about taking them to the shelter!

Forgive the pictures!   It is a dark and dreary PNW day outside and I was endeavouring to show you the paper's lovely sparkle and shine.  The treat topper is from Elegant Edges and the cuts come from Inspired Heart. 

I am entering my treats in the Hiding in My Craftroom challenge using die cuts.  Pop over to see all the fun creations at

http://www.hidinginmycraftroom.com

 HIMCR #124 - Die Cuts

Thanks for visiting with me today!  : ) Christine

MIA

Well, I HAVE been crafting -

eighteen of these little treat boxes for DH to take to OHM today.  When he told me that this would probably be his last volunteer day before Thanksgiving, I went into panic mode and scrambled to get them all done in time!  

Today, I plan to start on their Christmas treats.    

        Thanks for visiting on this rainy, PNW day!    : ) 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

Menu Planner

Roree Rumph posted the inspiration for my menu planner on the Cricut Circle Blog last year.  (I do miss popping on there with my morning cup of coffee and really hope that PC will revive the idea of a daily blog.  Facebook is just not the same!) I have made several of them for friends and family.

The papers and images come from the Imagine cart, 'Kate's Kitchen' and the menu cards are attached with velcro.  The board is inserted into a 12x12 pocket protector and three lines of magnetic tape ensure it sticks firmly to the 'fridge.

We have all our favorite dishes written on the cards and plan our week's menu before we grocery shop.  When we are being adventurous and trying a new recipe, we post a sticky note on the planner.  Just the other week, a Looneyspoons recipe for pork loin made the transition from sticky note to menu card!

The one card that doesn't change is "Fish and Chips' on Friday for, as our DD says, "The world would come to an end if Mom and Dad didn't eat fish and chips on Friday!"   And now you know what's for dinner tonight! 
                                Thanks for visiting with me.    : ) Christine

Bat Slider Card

... straight from the Silhouette store!   I was inspired by Katie from 'Crafting With Katie' to try a slider card and found this one ready to cut in the store.  After reading the directions, I watched a YouTube video and that made putting it together MUCH simpler.  (If you've never seen one of these interactive cards, the bat rolls as he 'flies' down the curved slit in the card. )  Now I can't wait to design one for myself - maybe one of the 'Five Little Pumpkins' rolling out of sight!

  Thanks for visiting with me today  : ) Christine

11/01/13      Just have to add a picture of J enjoying his Flying Bat card! 

Pop-Up Halloween Card

Only one more Halloween card to make now this one is made for my DGDs.   I like this simple mechanism and wish I could figure out how to attach something similar to the bottom of the card. Hmmm!
I used the Happy Hauntings cart again and Doodlecharms for the spiders.  I was trying to make a card to fit the color challenge at CardzTV but fear I may have used too much cream!  My spiders wouldn't show up against a purple background.   It is what it is!

Thanks for visiting with me today : ) Christine

More hexagons...

Do you have a stack of embossing folders that you've never used?  I have, but after creating this anniversary card, my stack is quite a bit shorter!

I really like the quiet gentleness of the CTMH Huntington paper but found I had to soften the corners of the hexagons with TH Distress Tea Dye to compliment the look.

Now I have to make this design again to use the rest of my unused embossing folder stack!

Thank you for visiting with me today.  : ) Christine

Monster Bash Luminaries

We had a lovely day out in the Gorge with some friends this weekend.  The weather was glorious and we had wonderful views of Mount Hood and Mount Adams as we toured the area around Hood River. Such fun!

I put together a couple of the luminaries from 'Monster Bash' to use as treat bags for our friends.  They were so easy to put together and looked quite spooky with the orange tea light flickering behind the haunted house.  I added some of their favorite chocolate treats and tied the top of the bags with black sheer ribbon.  Don't you just love this flocked paper from an old Martha Stewart Halloween stack?

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

The Colors of Fall

This stamp came with my latest batch of CTMH goodies last week.  I love it!  I instantly thought of the Colors of Fall challenge over at CardzTV and here is my card.

Did you know you can run little pieces of metal through the Cuttlebug?  I 'm probably the last crafter in the U.S. to find this out but I love the embossed results.  Gonna try this on a Christmas card as soon as I can get the chaos in my craft room straightened! 

Thanks for visiting with me today.  : )  Christine

Flying Witch Easel Card

Have you seen the wonderful 'Floating Easel' cards that are popping up on Pinterest lately?  I was sure there was a way to make one using a cut from one of the gazillion Cricut cartridges I own and here it is!

I used a card cut from French Manor for the base and folded it into the traditional easel card.  I added the frame cut from the same key and secured the witch with fishing line stolen from DH.
I also used the Monster Bash, Chic and Scary, and Paper Trimmings cartridges and now you know why it is SO important to have a gazillion cartridges!  LOL!

It was difficult to photograph the card since I kept getting so many confusing shadows.  But, it did look amazingly spooky!  Thanks for visiting 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

Birthday Cupcakes

We are just back from a lovely weekend camping with friends at Offut Lake.  While the fishing crowd fished off the dock and from boats, I glued together cupcakes and arranged and rearranged and rearranged them trying to find a pleasing effect.  The idea came from something I saw on Pinterest

(http://www.patchesofpink.com/2011/02/cupcake-picture-frame-what-to-do-with.html)

and I knew it would solve a little problem.

So... one of the things I miss is sending cards to our parents now that they are no longer with us.  I always feel the need to celebrate their birthdays in some visible way.  Hence the Cupcake Wall Decor.  
 I made two "Happy Birthday" tags, one pink and one blue, that can be attached with the butterfly clothes pin.  I can't wait to put it over my mantel for the first time on November 5th.  Look closely to find the cupcake that reflects one of my MIL's favorite activities!    LOL!
                         
                                  Thanks for visiting with me today.  :) Christine

Vinyl and the Silhouette

Here is one of my projects this week.  In the kitchen, we have white IKEA back splash panels which are easy peasy to clean but not very pleasing to the eye.  I decided to cut out the names of herbs and spices with 'Frosted Glass' vinyl from the Silhouette store and randomly apply them to the panels.  It was SO easy to do and the best thing is that I can remove the vinyl when I tire of it!

The photos are not the greatest, but you get the idea.  It was so much fun that I am walking around the house wondering what else I can vinyl!   LOL!  Thanks for visiting,  : ) Christine

A Silhouette Project

I am still learning the intricacies of my Silhouette Cameo and am often surprised at how the cut turns out!  This subway wall art piece is much 'blockier' than I had imagined and to soften the overall look, I went with this very curvy tree - which turned out far 'curvier' than I anticipated. But... I like it!  (Sorry about that window reflection on the glass over the piece!) 

Can you tell that I am missing decorating my Kindergarten classroom according to the season?  LOL!

Thanks for visiting with me today.  : ) Christine

Playing with hexagons...

is harder than you would think!  Being absolutely terrible at estimating quantities, I cut 8, (yes 8!) of the larger hexagons and then could only fit 3 or 4 on the card!  Naturally, I cut fewer of the smaller hexagons and, of course, had to go back and cut more!

It isn't easy to arrange them in a pleasing shape, especially when wearing a fuzzy sweater that acts as a hexagon magnet! 

Anyway, here are the two cards I managed to complete,  Not thrilled with either of them.  So, on to Plan B - totally scraplift all those beautiful hexagon cards on Pinterest.  Good plan!

Thanks for visiting : ) Christine

'Charmed' is in the house!

My new Cricut Circle cartridge 'Charmed' arrived in the cutest little box!   There's been quite a buzz on the Circle board about this cartridge and here is my contribution to the chatter. 

Don't you love the bright colors of these Back-to-School notebooks?  The initials are embossed and the charms tied on with black CTMH hemp.  They are not going to last 2 minutes, (LOL!) but next time the girls come over we'll redo them with shrink plastic.   Fun!   

Thanks for visiting with me today and have a great Labor Day weekend.  :) Christine

Now that Summer is almost over...

We've had a busy few weeks chez nous with a camping trip to Fort Langley in B.C. and all the beans, peas and zucchini in the garden deciding to ripen at once!  I am not freezing another bean until next year - the deer can have whatever's left!

I have made many of the holiday subway art collages from the Cricut 'Word Collage' cartridge but there are chunks of time when I have nothing appropriate to hang in the spot over the mantle.  So I set out to make something for Fall, but got sidetracked by the floral images on 'Art Nouveau.'  (This is what happens when I leave 'stuff' out instead of putting it away!)

So although Summer is almost over (!!!!) I have this wall art to remind me of it's glory!  Thanks for visiting today.  : )    Christine

Pretty Pennants

I am the Queen of banners having made over a hundred (very simple) name banners for my students' birthdays!  However, I haven't made very many banners for adults so I was really looking forward to embellishing and maybe over-embellishing, a banner for my sister. 

I chose the CTMH paper from my Laughing Lola pack for the base and cut the pennants from the Cricut cart - Pretty Pennants.  You've probably heard this before, but the CTMH paper cuts like the proverbial butter!  It really does!

Unfortunately, when I got the letters of her name pop dotted on the pennants, the matching papers were so pretty, the intended bling-fest came to a screeching halt. Sigh!  So here it is, plain but pretty.  Hope she likes it!   Thanks for visiting with me today!  : ) Christine

Town Car(d)

I found time to play with my new CTMH goodies today!  It has been a loooong time since I made a stamped card and there was a lot of trial and error involved in getting the images kinda, sorta the way I wanted them.  Here it is!   Thanks for visiting today.     : )  Christine

WooHoo!  My first challenge!   I  am entering this card in the

Cardz TV Go-To Galz Challenge #33 

“Seeing Red" 

Outside:-

and inside:-

Retro card!

I am trying to clean and reorganize the craft room and I came across a book of Cricut cards from way back when!   I was astonished at how much styles have changed.  For fun, I made a card using one of the early Cricut carts, Walk In My Garden, the oldest DCWV stack I could find, some spirelli thread, the still useful  Falling Water border punch and some metallic alphabet charms.  Here it is!   Now I MUST get back to cleaning up.  (sigh!)  Thanks for visiting today. :) Christine

A - haunting we will go!

It was so much fun creating the 'Love you a Latte' cascading card that I had to make another! This time the theme is 'A Haunted Graveyard.'  So much fun - except the owl.  I don't like the black owl.  I think I should have cut him from gray cardstock.  Ah well!   Thanks for visiting with me today! :) Christine

Edited to add:- Just FYI there's a link to the directions I use to make my cascading cards on this post.  TFL  Christine

It's a learning curve!

One of my summer goals was (is!) to scrapbook my DGD's first years.  So, since I am a scrapbooking novice, I bought the Cricut "First Few Years" and started on page 1.   This is my second attempt at this page and this is the one I'm keeping!  I like the orange and pink.  It says 'girly and funky' just like G.
I am also learning lots about photographing my 'stuff.'  For example, NEVER use an orange sticky note to cover up the journaling! LOL!   Thanks for visiting with me today.  :) Christine

Cascade Card

Here's my first attempt at a cascade card.  I think it turned out kinda cute!  The coffee images are cut at 3" and 2" from the Cricut Lite cart "Love you a Latte."  The stamped sentiments are from a set by CraftTV.  Enjoy!  Christine

'A Child's Year' birthday card

This is one of my favorite carts since it has SO much on it - images, icons, phrases and a font.   The card is for our DGS' first birthday and I used the phrase "Happy First Birthday" for the inside.  Turtles have to appear on any card for J.  Can you see them on the background paper?  Thanks for visiting today.  :) Christine

'Creative Cards' Birthday card

I'm loving the 'Creative Cards' cart!  Here's a quick guy card.  :) Christine