Sunday, October 31, 2010

Test Tube Candy Holders

This is a project I've been working on for a while! I got the Martha Stewart test tubes on sale at Michael's and remembered seeing some cute paper holders someone had made for them. I found them here http://www.lisasomerville.com/ After much trial and error, I was able to create a cut file on the Gypsy for my own test tube holders. I only did a single one, but plan to work on a double one shortly.

These were made with they Gypsy cut file, then decorated with various Cricut cuts, stamps, border punches and ribbons.
This is the only double one I made and I used the template at Lisa's blog and hand cut it.
Have a fun and safe Halloween and thanks for stopping by!
Maria



Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Circle challenge #4, BOO!

This is my entry for this week's challenge and my first stair step card. I was able to get a couple of pictures before my camera battery died, and of course the main one is a little blurry. Oh well.
I got the directions for the stair step card from the Splitcoast Stampers sight. All the images are from the Cricut Mini Monsters, except the tree, which is from Paper Doll Dress Up. The dotted paper is from Bo Bunny and the rest was made from my scrap stash. The ghost was cut from vellum, one of the challenge requirements, and his face is a Peachy Keen stamp. The monster in front is covered with Lime Green Stickles and the tree with Martha Stewart Hematite glitter. The stamp is from My Pink Stamper, the Spooky Puns set.
A couple of close ups showing some of the detail. I love that mummy!
Thanks for stopping by!
Maria

Sunday, October 24, 2010

An Imagine Birthday Card

Good Sunday afternoon! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. I've spent most of my time working on baby shower invites and decorations and this card for my mother in law. Her birthday is next Saturday.
The background paper was created on the Imagine using the print paper feature. It basically allows you to create a 12 X 12 piece of printed card stock. The pattern is from the Blossom Imagine Art cartridge. The fence and flowers were also printed and cut on the Imagine with images from the Bloom Lite cartridge. The colors used are also from the Blossom cartridge. The fence cut was mounted to the card base with foam tape. The sign is from Camp Out and the sentiment is computer generated. Eyelets from Making Memories were attached then some decorative wire was threaded through them so that it could "hang" on the fence. Jewels from Recollections were added to the flower centers and the flowers were covered with Pink Crystal Color Lacquer. The butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch, punched out twice. One butterfly was mounted to the card with foam tape, then the second to that one with more foam tape.
Here's a close up of the butterfly. I love the dimension. And here's the inside of the card with more of the punched butterflies and edging done with Stampin Up Barely Banana ink. I did write the verse myself, though it wasn't too difficult!
Thanks again for stopping by and checking out my work. The card got my husband's approval, so hopefully his mom will like it too! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Maria

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Stampin Up Only Santa Card

I'm participating in a card swap hosted by my SU rep, Barb (aka snowmanlover). She requested that we make our cards using only SU products. This was actually hard for me because I really wanted to add some Stickles or other bling and I discovered that I don't have any SU ribbon or sentiment sets. I ended up using one of the older sets, Happy Ho-Ho Holidays.
All stamps are from the the same set. The card base is made from Glorious Green cardstock and is cut to A2 size.The tag was hand cut and stamped with Tempting Turquoise and faux stitching was added with a Real Red marker. The Santa is colored with Watercolor Wonder Crayons and adhered to the tag with dimensionals. A real red corduroy button was added to the top of the tag. The lower layer was cut with the Scallop Trim border punch and faux stitched with the real red marker. The sentiment was also stamped with real red. The lace border is a piece of glorious green cut with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch. A real red corduroy button with twine was also added. The bottom layer is real red embossed with the Sizzix Large Dots embossing plate.
This was a fun, if not challenging card to make. Definitely made me realize how much I rely on my Cricut and other embellishments. Guess it also means I need to buy some more SU products!
Thanks for stopping by!
Maria

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Circle Blog Think Pink challenge entry

Hi everyone! This week the Circle Blog's challenge is Think Pink. We were challenged to create something using 2 cuts and to include 3 of the following: Pink, ruffles, scallops, jewels, flourishes and glitter. The prize, or I should say prizes, are awesome. They are giving away 1 Pink Expression with the Pink Journey cartridge and 5 additional Pink Journey cartridges. I am coming down to the wire with my entry, but no way was I going to miss out on this opportunity!
My entry is a tribute of sorts to my sweet poodle, Dixie. This picture was taken of her when she was about 3 months old. She's 5 now, but still looks at me with that same expression. The whole pink frilly thing is kind of ironic though, because Dixie is not this type of poodle. She loves nothing better than to play fetch, and if there is any mud anywhere, she'll find it. We used to have a koi pond in our back yard, and I swear, every time she came home from the groomers she would head straight for it and jump in! She is definitely a unique personality and I couldn't imagine life without her.
All the paper is from Stampin Up. The poodle was cut from the Once Upon a Princess cart, run through the Xyron and covered with Martha Stewart Onyx glitter. The sentiment is from Forever Young and cut from shimmer paper from WalMart. A SU Eyelet border punch was used on the pink border. The lace is from Kaisercraft and the jewel flourishes from Prima.
Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did making it. Thanks for stopping by!
Maria

Monday, October 11, 2010

Last one, Circle Weekend Challenge!

Well, here is the final card for the Circle weekend challenge. This one was a color challenge with the SU colors black, pumpkin pie and bashful blue. I found out after I had already made my card that you're supposed to use mainly these colors and can add in some neutrals if necessary. As you can see, I used other colors and just included the challenge colors. Ah well, I really like the paper and have been wanting to use it for something!
The ghoul is from Mini Monsters and is cut from green glitter paper from the DCWV Midnight Spell solid stack. The sentiment is a $1 stamp from Michael's and the label is SU bashful blue cut with a Nestability inverted scallop circle. The spider is a brad from Recollections. The background paper is from Bo Bunny, The Whoo-ligans collection. The border is SU pumpkin pie and was cut with the Drippy Goo punch from MS and another which I can't remember the name of!
This has been a fun weekend of challenges. I've never done this before and will definitely be up for doing more!
Thanks for stopping by.
Maria

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Going Buggy Blog Candy

Envys at http://going-buggy.blogspot.com/ is giving away some really nice blog candy. To enter just go to her blog and leave a comment. Check it out, there's some really neat stuff.
Maria.

Imagine cards, Circle weekend challenge #2 and 3

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. The the second challenge this weekend was to create something for any holiday. I chose Christmas since it is my favorite and I need to start thinking about this year's cards.
This card is a 4 1/2" square. The white piece was cut with a Lacy Scallop square Nestability, the largest of the set. The print square in the center is from Imaginisce, the Cottage Christmas collection, and it was stitched to the lacy square. All the image cuts were made with the Imagine and Winter Frolic cartridge. The colors for the mouse and letters were made using RGB codes from tayloredmkt.com. The shadow and box were printed with a pattern from the Imagine More cart. Peachy Keen stamps were used to make the mouse's face. His body is outlined with a brown Copic Glitter marker. Red and pink Stickles were used on the bow and mouse ear.
For the 3rd challenge were were given a sketch. I found this Stampin Up Something Sweet set that I haven't used and decided to use this sentiment. Again, the Imagine was used for all the cuts and everything is from the Imagine More cartridge. The small squares were cut with George and Basic Shapes. The background paper is from my scrap stash. The faux stitching was done with a brown Copic glitter marker. (I really like those things!)
Whew, I think that's everything! This has been a lot of fun so far and I think has really gotten me motivated to get some stuff done. I have one more challenge to complete for this and the Circle Blog. I think I may use the same for both. I also have a fun Halloween project that involved creating something on the Gypsy. Hopefully I'll get those done this week too.
As always, thanks for stopping by!
Maria

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Circle board weekend challenge, using circles

Confused? Well, over on the Circle message board there's a weekend challenge going on for those of us not lucky enough to go to the Cricut Swarm in Utah this weekend. A different challenge every day and some folks have even donated some nice prizes. The first challenge was to make something with circles on it.
I decided to find a stamp I hadn't used yet and go from there. When I found this one I immediately thought of the Rock Princess cartridge and when I came across this image, well, it all just fell into place. I used Mini Monograms for the circles and the stamp is from Unity. I covered the bike with Crystal Color Lacquer and a light sprinkle of MS glitter. The flower brad is from OTC. The background paper is My Mind's Eye.
Here's a close up of the stamp. Now, mind you, I never would have told my girls this when they were teenagers, but I guess there's nothing wrong with being a little daring once in a while!
Thanks for stopping by!
Maria

Friday, October 8, 2010

First Imagine Card (and a little about my saga)

After deciding I was not going to buy an Imagine, I caved and bought one during the HSN launch. It arrived sooner than expected and I was very excited to get it up and running. Slight problem though, it would not do the cut calibration. How quickly my excitement turned to frustration as I realized there was something wrong with my I. I called PC the next day and after a little over an hour of troubleshooting, it was determined that I did indeed have a defective machine and it would have to returned and exchanged for another. Happily they did get my new Imagine to me quickly and this one has worked like a charm. I still wasn't sure if I would like the I, but the more I use it the more I see the possibilities, especially since you can use the original cartridges in it too. Well, enough rambling, here's my card...
I used the Imagine More cartridge for all the patterns and cuts. I created the background by cutting a 51/2 in square with GBS then trimming it down to my usual 51/2 X 41/4. I used a scallop border punch on the strip across the bottom. Then I added an MPS stamp from the More Punny-liscious set and some buttons with twine. I did use foam tape on the scallop circle and the cow, but it's hard to tell from the picture. I'm hoping to get some more time to play this weekend.
Thanks for stopping by!
Maria

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Cricut Circle Weekly Challenge #1

The Circle Blog is up and running. Every week they are hosting a challenge and all the entrants will be put in a random drawing for $25 credit with Cricut.com. This week's challenge is to use the French Manor cartridge to create a project. It must include 2 cuts and some type of jewels or pearls. Here is my submission.
The bird and background label are, of course, from French Manor. The paper is from The Paper Studio Seasons Greetings stack. The bird was cut from a shimmery off white MS paper. The stamp is from Flourishes and is heat embossed with Clear Tops Bright Chocolate Brown. The flower was made with Wright's lace and a Recollections pearl was glued to the center. The small pearls around the label are also Recollections. You can find directions for making the flower here:
http://craftcastle.blogspot.com/search/label/Lace%20Ribbon%20Flower
Thanks for stopping by.
Maria

NSD 2015 Challenge: Leave You In Stitches

Hi all and welcome to my blog. It's been a long time since I've posted here, but I'll fill you in on that another time.  Today, ...