Exploring Cricut Wonderful Wednesday

Hi! I love to go to the older cartridges and make cards, and this one was made from Stretch Your Imagination.

Use the card feature to cut this card (I cut mine at 5"). The plain green cardstock wasn't doing anything for me, so I embossed the card using Darice's Snowflakes embossing folder. Better, but not there yet. So I used a watered down white ink to run over the entire front of the card. Way better, but I wanted some sparkle so I colored each snowflake with Sakura Gelly Stardust gel pen. Finally! I added a two sided paper that was a light gold on one side, and a patterned gold with Christmas trees on the other side. Finished off the inside with ivory paper with stamped sentiment & image. Added a green gingham ribbon & voila! A Christmas card very different from the "store bought" ones!

Make some unusual cards yourself with the older cartridges!

FCCB Use an Animal Challenge

This week, the challenge at FCCB is to use an animal, and this is my project-

 

This was made with the AG Winter Wonderland cartridge. The stag was cut using the flip function out of Gold Wausau shimmer paper at 3 1/4", with scrap paper for the layers. The same scrap paper was used to cut the sentiment at 2", with the addition of maroon cardstock. The white shimmer paper is by Wausau also, embossed with a Darice snowflake embossing folder, then matted with the maroom cardstock. Maroon ribbon by American crafts completes the card.

I hope you like it!

Exploring Cricut Be Thankful Challenge

Hi! This week's challenge is Thanksgiving, and this is the November insert for my monthly tray project.

All cuts were done with the CCR Thanksgiving Seasonal Digital Package. I learned a whole bunch during the process which wasn't always pretty! My laptop updated to Windows 8, and no amount of tricks would get that  @#$%^ CCR working. I finally uninstalled the Windows 8 "upgrade" (HAH!) and got it to working.
All the cuts were cut with basic cardstock scraps, and the Happy Thanksgiving stamp was a $1 find at Jo-Anns, which was stamped on scrap bg paper with brown Studio G ink.

I can't wait for the Christmas one to be done, I think your gonna like it!

I'm also submitting to the following challenges:
2 Creative Chicks Challenge #8
BBTB2 You're A Turkey Challenge 
Rose Blossom Garden Fall/Thanksgiving Challenge

Let's Create a Friend!

This week on Wonderful Wednesday, I made a card for my brothers birthday with the Cricut Cartridges "Create a Friend" & "Celebrations". I made the "school nerd" because at 50+ years, he's gone back to college! It makes my head spin thinking about college classes at our age-LOL! Here's the card-

 

I'm on a real mission to use up my scraps, and everything  I cut was out of scraps! The Universal Overlay with the new cartridges makes this SO easy. I cut the boy at 4" for all layers, and cut the balloons out at 3" with the Celebration cartridge.

Give this new cartridge a try!

Exploring Cricut Challenge-Anything Goes!

Hi! This weeks challenge is Anything Goes, but you must use at least-

1. 2 Cricut Cuts
2. 1 Patterned Paper
3. 3 Colors

So here is my project-

I used Creative Cards Cartridge, button 31& cut at 5" for the card-the paper is TPC Studio Retro Christmas & plain white cardstock. On the banner I put a  sentiment cut from the Teresa Collins Dec. 25th cartridge. This was Colorbok green glitter paper cut at 1 3/4". I also foiled the left side of the banner red to play off the green foiling of the designer paper.

I hope you like it-Creative Cards is a wonderful cartridge for quick & easy cards!

FCCB Challenge #185-Anything Goes!

Welcome to a Fantabulous Cricut Blog Crawl!

A blog crawl is our version of a Blog hop. We are opening up a DT call, please see the FCCB Blog for more details.


Welcome to this weeks sponsor-

They are giving away a bag of crafty goodness to one lucky challenge participant, so please enter your projects!

Be sure to visit each of the Design Team members' blogs to see their projects.

If you get lost along the way, you can go back  to the main page and use the links there.

When you are done with the crawl, go back to the FCCB blog and link up your project.

 The challenge is Anything Goes! We want to see your Cricut projects. To qualify for the weekly prize for a fabulous sponsors, you need to make sure to have at least 1 Cricut cut.

Blog Crawl List:

Cindy

Jackie

Kim

Amy HS

Emily

Heather 

Lynn

Missy

Nikki

Rebecca

Michelle

Caterina

Joneita

LB 

Amy T

Here is my Project:

I used Ornamental Iron for this card. Not only does it have cool looking wrought iron gates and fences, it has a Window Feature! I cut the window at 5", and colored it to resemble stained glass with Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers. It looks like a church window to me. The sentiment is stamped on vellum, and a word of caution-ink dries very, very slowly on vellum. Use the least amount of ink to get a good stamp. A blender pen also removes smudges!

I hope you like it! You're next stop is Catarina!

I'm also entering this card at My Sheri Crafts Sympathy Card Challenge.

Wonderful Wednesday with Exploring Cricut

First off-I love Mercury Glass-always have but couldn't afford the prices they want on certain pieces. I came across a do-it-yourself tutorial on mercury glass, got my supplies together, and made about 7 different pieces. This last one (my pumpkin) I did on a whim. I saw mercury glass pumpkins in a popular home decorating catalog-but $40!!!! No way! Here is the link to the tutorial I followed-April Moffat, but they are so many others if you do a search.

It really pays to prep well so excess spray doesn't go everywhere, especially on the outside of your glass-

Follow the tutorial, and your pumpkin (Wal Mart has them right now for $5.88), will look like this-

I then cut a orange metal flake vinyl for the pumpkin face using the Happy Hauntings cartridge, page 100, layer 2 for the feminine face version of Dracula (I think so anyway), and added to the pumpkin.

I hope you enjoyed this project!

Exploring Cricut Halloween blog hop

I've always wanted something I could personalize with all the holidays. At Craft Warehouse (other stores may also have it), I found this tray that is specifically made to change out items! It has glass to protect whatever you want to put in it to decorate it, and I thought Halloween would be a great start!

 

Ingredients:

1. All background papers are from Creative Memories Halloween 2012. I mounted them onto black paper to create dividing lines.
2. Mummy, Dracula, and the Witch are on the Happy Hauntings cartridge, all cut at 4"
3. The Word block is from Chic & Scary cut at 5".
4. I did stain the frame, but you could also paint it.

I can't wait to decorate it for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines, etc. This is going to be a fun, ongoing project!

I'm also entering this at The Pink Elephant Halloween challenge.

FCCB Fall Or Halloween Decor Challenge

At FCCB this week, the challenge is to make Home Decor that is Halloween or Fall Inspired. I chose Fall, and the colors of my project are definitely autumnal!

This is a frame I picked up for a buck at a yard sale. I spray painted it dark brown after I did a little sanding and repair work on it. I then took 20 guage black wire and stapled it to the frame in a continuous zig-zag pattern.

The flowers are made from various blooms on the Mothers Day Bouquet cartridge. The big flowers I cut three different flowers with three different cardstock. The little flowers were cut twice out of the same colors. The beige I sprayed with Tattered Angels Coffee for a pretty shimmer. I added Pearl Brads to the large flowers and regular pearls to the small ones. The flourishes were cut with the Home Decor cartridge out of Sage cardstock.

After adhering the flowers and flourishes to the frame I added mini clothespins to the wires. It's now ready to put pictures or cards on display!

Thanks for looking!

Wonderful Wednesday at Exploring Cricut

This card is a snap to make! A couple of years ago, I was at a Stampin' Up party and saw in the catalog a set of 6 sentiments that I just had to have! I am semi-famous for my offbeat quirkiness. But when I saw the sentiment I used on this card, I knew just what I wanted to do!

Frankenstein is from the Happy Hauntings cartridge, cut at 5". The stamp was Versamark Ink and white embossing powder. The black cat is a paper punch from Creative Memories, as is the paper.

Super simple!

I'm also entering this at Cut It Up Halloween Challenge.

Exploring Cricut Birthday Blog Hop

Hello! Welcome to Exploring Cricut's 3rd birthday! And we are having a blog hop, so if you've just found my blog, here is the line up so you can enjoy some great Cricut projects-

Sharon http://meemeescreations.blogspot.com

Donna  http://wwwkindredkreations.blogspot.com

Lori  http://scrappinsaints.blogspot.com

Rae Ann   http://joyinart.blogspot.com

Emily  http://emilyqueenofallthingscrafty.blogspot.com

Annette  http://mymindsdustbunnies.blogspot.com

Michelle N  http://justanutterpapercrafter.blogspot.com (You are here)

Michelle S  http://cricutcrazyscrapper.blogspot.com (Go here next!)

Liz  http://unikbyyes.blogspot.com

Diane  http://happyscrapperdiane.blogspot.com

In celebration, here is my Minnie Mouse Card!

Minnie was made with the Mickey and Friends cartridge, cut at 4 1/4". This is cut all with scraps of black, white, pink, green and flesh colored cardstock. A pink rhinestone completes Minnie's bow.

The green Frame was made using the Cindy Loo cartridge cut at 5". I took a paper trimmer to the inside edges for a little more room.

The banner is part of the Artiste cartridge by CMTH. It was cut at 1 1/4", stamped with the matching stamp  and mounted onto the chipboard in the Artiste collection goodies.

I am giving away blog candy for one lucky commenter-but if you become a new follower, you'll get 2 entries! The blog candy consists of: Cosmo Cricket Buck Naked Alphabet Chipboard letters, pink Zva Creative bling flourishes, and Pieces of 8 bottle caps!

I hope you liked this card, and the next stop is Michelle S! Have a fun hop!

FCCB Challenge #181 Eat your cake

Hi! This weeks challenge at FCCB is to make a cake or cupcake imaged project. I'm in desperate need of wedding cards, so I made this-

Here's how to recreate this wedding cake card-

1. Cricut Cartridge-Wild Card page 63, cut @ 5 1/2".. Cut regular white cardstock (I used Neenah) in blackout for liner. The decorative paper is Bumblebee Vine by The Paper Co. (Jo-Anns) using the regular card cut. Adhere layers.
2. Added bling and paper Roses from Zva Creative along cut lines.

Simple, yet elegant. I hope you like this.

Overlay & Moxie Fab Challenge

I loved the inspiration photo over at Moxie Fab World! I've had this idea all week and couldn't make it until I reorganized my craft room. This is what I came up with:

 

The overlay was made with the Artbooking cartridge for Cricut. The panel underneath was embossed with a light coat of Sea Lavender Ink by Martha Stewart (which is the shadow ink shade for the sentiment, Ocean is the overlying color). Close to my Heart sentiment, American Crafts resin & pearl brads, Zva Creative roses.

This is the inspiration picture from Moxie Fab World-

So if you would like to join this challenge, go here 

Another challenge I'm entering this in is at BBTB2 Overlay challenge.

I am also entering this in the Hobby House challenge-Roses.

Thanks for looking!

ETA: This card was chosen at BBTB2 as the Project of the Week!

Wonderful Wednesday at Exploring Cricut

Welcome! My project today is from the Freshly Picked cartridge. I need more thank you cards, so here's one I whipped up for today!

Once I found my background paper the colors for the cuts just fell into place. I cut this image and all layers at 5". After adhering all layers, I chose a Technique Tuesday Ali Edwards stamp and brown ink for the sentiment. A layer of pearls finished off the bottom of the card.



Very easy to do, so give it a try!

Exploring Cricut "In the Kitchen"

At Exploring Cricut the challenge this week is to make a project with a Kitchen theme. I used "From My Kitchen" to dress up a recipe box & apron from Target.

The top picture is the most accurate color of the recipe box-I don't know why it came out so dark on the individual pictures...

I used a light & medium chartreuse cardstock, and a little piece of orange yellow that is on the measuring cup. Here are the sizes-

1. Recipes, page 43, cut @ 2 1/2"
2. Oven Mitt, page 53, cut @ 3"
3. Hot Pad, page 52, cut @ 3"
4. Measuring Cups, page 47 , cut @ 2 1/2"

For the apron-I didn't have my Heat N Bond available, so I tried Pellon Wonder Under to cut the fabric with-it freakin' didn't work! I've cut GOBS of fabric with Heat N Bond, but since I was out-what to do? A light bulb went off (dim, to be sure) and I cut the cleaver at 8" with the thinnest paper out of my OMGWWIT (oh my gosh, what was I thinking) stash and used it as a pattern to cut the fabric out. After fusing a rectangle to resemble a cutting board I fused the cleaver and zig zagged the edges. Voila!

 I'm pretty sure I'll never have trouble finding this!

So get busy with a Kitchen themed project and enter the Exploring Cricut Challenge.

FCCB Transportation Challenge #179

At  FCCB, the challenge this week is to make a project with a Transportation theme, and here is my project:

I wanted to do something different, so I chose an easel card. There are a ton of tutorials out there if you've never made one. Here's the process I did:

1. Make easel card. I used Wild Asparagus cardstock.
2.  I covered the easel portion with the blue polka dot paper, and added clouds From the Groovy Times cartridge. The motorcycle is also on the same cartridge, and this was cut @ 2 3/4" out of scrap paper.
3. The easel "stop" I made by stamping the road from Papertrey Inks School Time set onto black cardstock, and embossing in white. Use pop dots to elevate the road.
4. Sentiment is from Creative Memories Mod collection, cut in half and positioned on right hand side of card.

It's kinda fun making a different type of card, don't you agree?

Exploring Cricut Woo Hoo Wonderful Wednesday

I love this cassette tape from Indie Art-this is actually a card for a friend of ours winning yet another Sprint Car Championship (His 11th in 7 years, or something like that). 

Here's the ingredients:

1. Indie Art-cassette cut at 4" out of black & light gray cardstock.
2. Background paper unknown-but green and black are his favorite color combo's.
3. Paper Smooches Word Salad-Congratulations
4. CTMH Artiste Stamp-#1
5. Computer generated song title (If you've never heard the song, it's pretty hard core rock-but it's great for any sport).

This can be used with anyone you have a song with-friends, spouses, co-workers, etc. Have fun with it!


Thanks for coming over from Exploring Cricut!

FCCB Challenge-ABC or 123

The challenge at FCCB this week is to create a project using at least one Cricut cut letter or number. Here is my project-

This is from the Artbooking cartridge from Close to my Heart. I used a Cricut marker to draw the letter first, then replace the marker with the blade and cut. Super simple, and looks great!

Supplies used:
Black cardstock
light teal cardstock
black and white Damask paper-My Minds Eye
ribbon-American Crafts
teal Cricut Marker-Fashion Color Palette

Easy peasy-and took only about 10-15 minutes (tying the bow took 10 min, I swear!)

FCCB Vinyl Education continues!

For today's project-I purchased this vinyl composition notebook from the $1 Store. I added the vinyl letters I made so that my Mother-in-Law would have a notebook she could use to make notes on the cards she makes. She really liked the one I made for myself, so I couldn't resist giving her a "just because" gift.

I used the black outdoor vinyl from Cricket Vinyl Supplies. I really like the vinyl cover with vinyl letters-makes it waterproof! Pick a font that you like and go for it-this is the basic font in the Cricut Craft Room.

Remember, if you order this week and use the code: fantabulous you can get 15% off your order.

Exploring Cricut Back to School

Hi! Here in the Rogue Valley, school always starts after Labor Day, so this card is real appropriate for where I used to work!

The cartridge I used was an oldie, but a goodie, Locker Talk. For this card, I used the crayons (button 5, cut at 2") and the phrase (button 4, cut at 4") and cut them out of scraps.  The ribbon is Craft Essentials mini spool from Jo-Anns, and the background papers are unknown.

I also used the flip function on half the crayons so the tips pointed different directions for some visual interest.

Thanks for joining me today and make sure to enter the Back to School Challenge today at Exploring Cricut!

I'm also entering this at the Rose Blossom Garden   School Theme Challenge, Cuttin' & Stampin' Challenge Back to School