Altered Box Swap

A few of the Circle members participated in an altered  box swap and yesterday was opening day. We started out with a plain 7 X 7 chipboard box  and  decorated them. This is the box I created for my partner.

 

All the paper used is from the Recollections Regent Street stack. First, the entire box was inked with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. A paper doily was sprayed with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mist, placed on the lid and then some pearl flourishes from Want 2 Scrap were added. The wood butterflies are from Close to My Heart and were sponged with CTMH Lagoon ink then also sprayed with the Perfect Pearls. The label and circles are from the Elegant Edges cart and the letter K is from Quarter Note. It is covered with a thick layer of glossy accents.

 The flower is from the Art Philosophy cart and the edges are inked with the CTMH Lagoon ink. It was also misted with the Perfect Pearls. A pearl bead was added to the center. Lace from Recollections was placed around the edges of the lid and a bow was placed at the seam. A button and baker's twine were tied to the center. Some flat backed pearls were placed on the corners of each side of the box.

 

The inside of the lid was decorated too. It was first inked with the Walnut Stain Distress ink, then corners from the Jasmine cartridge were added. The large label is the same as on the top, just without the holes cut. The smaller label is a Nestabilitlies Label 18. The quote is computer generated. More of the pearl flourishes and a small wood butterfly were added to complete it.

 Along with filling the box with crafty supplies, we were also to include one handmade item. I decided to make some crochet flowers and also included some small hearts that I already had.

I didn't just want to put them in a plastic bag, so I made a paper one to hold them. This was made with the Cameo with a cut from the Silhouette store. The paper had the same design as the one I used for the box top, but I got the placement wrong, so most of it ended up on the back, side and bottom of the bag! Oh well, it left room for the tag, which is also from Silhouette.

Lastly, I made a card to go with it. The strawberry cut is from Rock Princess and I replaced the flowers with more of the crochet flowers. It's not my favorite part of the project as I think I got a little carried away with the white gel pen!

Hope the recipient likes the box. I know I enjoyed making it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday!

Today is my youngest daughter's birthday and I used my Cameo to make her card. One of my favorite things about this machine is the print and cut feature. Basically it allows you to print an image on your printer, then cut it out with the Cameo. Some images require a little work, such as tracing, but this is done with just a click of a button. I still say there has been learning curve for me with this machine and the software ( I have the Designer edition which allows for cutting SVGs and other types of files), but the more I play and learn, the more I like it!
The image is from Digi My World and is called Staci Big Wish. I did add some stickles to her dress and some Glossy Accents to the cupcake top. The sentiment is one I purchased from the Silhouette Store. The top layer is glitter paper and it cut quite easily with the Cameo. I also added a bow, made with three pieces of Baker's Twine.
The background paper is My Mind's Eye from the Holly Jolly stack. Yup, it's a Christmas paper, but the colors worked great for this card. The sentiment papers were from my scrap stash and the Staci image was printed on plain old Georgia Pacific white card stock. Almost forgot to add, I put the Staci Image on an Action Wobble to make it a little fun!
Thanks for stopping by!

Here's my beautiful daughter at a little over a year:

and now all grown up with her own family:

Altered Box Swap

Just a quick post to share a bit of a project I've been working on. I'm participating in an altered  box swap along with some other Circle members. We all bought the same box and are decorating them and filling them with goodies for a partner. It's a secret swap so I have no idea who is making my box, which makes it that much more fun. Since we haven't mailed the boxes yet, I thought I'd share a peek of the box I decorated.

Sorry for the tease, but I'll share more pictures after reveal day. Hope my recipient likes it as much as I do!
Thanks for stopping by!

Paper Easter Baskets

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. Ours was really nice, spending the morning with our girls' and their families, then having the rest of the day to ourselves to just relax. It was pretty perfect, except for missing our son, which I don't think I'll ever get used to. I was working like crazy getting Easter crafts done, not that I did a lot, just waited until the last minute. When will I learn?
If you remember, I got a Cameo a few months ago. I'm still getting familiar with it, learning how to use Studio and having fun finding files to cut. One of my favorite places for files is SVGcuts.com and that's where this basket came from. The set is called Hippity Hoppity.

I made these for my daughters and their husbands. I used their favorite colors and of course filled them with their favorite goodies. They look complicated, but actually went together quite easily. The nice thing about SVGCuts is that they have tutorial videos for all their file sets. Makes it nice if you do have a question.
The printed purple paper, flowers and pearls are all from Recollections. The white is Colorboc textured paper and the solid paper (pink and purple) is from Coordinations.  For the polka dot basket, I used the Imagine and printed from the Bubblegum Stripe cartridge. The buttons on the basket are from Silhouette and I used the print and cut feature with the Cameo for them. The X's in the centers are made with Liquid Applique. The basket handles are attached with large brads.

Also part of the set was a file for this cute carrot. I made one of these for each of the grand kids and filled them with jelly beans.

Here's a pic of these grand kids I'm always talking about; Carter, Felix and Gianna. It was quite impossible to get a picture of the three of them all smiling and all looking in the same direction at the same time!
Thanks for stopping by!

Chocolate Bunny Easter Card

Hi everyone. I made this card for a color challenge on the Circle board. The colors in the challenge were Stampin Up colors, and I don't remember the exact ones, but they were pink, yellow and brown.  I didn't use the exact colors, but came close.

The background papers are Cosmo Cricket's DeLovely collection. The card base is SU Early Espresso. (Ok, I guess that must have been one of the colors in the challenge, ha). I tied 1/2" pink grosgrain ribbon and 1/4" yellow grosgrain ribbon around the card. The little doily is Martha Stewart and the paper flower and jewel are from my stash. The bunny is cut from the Easter 2010 cartridge. He was cut in brown, then heat embossed with brown embossing powder. I wanted him a bit shinier, so I also embossed him with UTEE. It had some kind of reaction with the brown embossing and created the white swirly areas on his ears, head, feet and back. He's adhered to the card with foam tape. The sentiment is a $1 stamp from Michael's, stamped with Early Espresso ink.
Hope you enjoyed my little bunny card. I have a few more Easter projects that I'm finishing up. Hope to get everything finished up but I have a feeling I'm going to be working until the last minute this year. Story of my life! If I don't post before then, I hope you all have a very Happy Easter!
Thanks for stopping by!

SweetSassyDiva Birthday Blog Hop, Day 2!

Welcome to day two of  the SweetSassyDiva Birthday Blog Hop! We're still celebrating Bobbi Jo's birthday with more great birthday projects. If you've hopped over from Dana then you are in the right place. If you've just popped in to visit my blog and would like to join our SweetSassyDiva Birthday Blog hop from the beginning , please go to Bobbi Jo's blog.

My project today is a birthday card with a little Texas flair! The stamp sentiment and little horse shoe are from the new Country Charm set from  My Favorite Things.  Instead of the little cowgirl stamp from the set, I decided to use the cowgirl image from the County Fair cartridge. I used the Gypsy to design this and used the hide contour feature so that the facial features didn't cut. I drew them on later and also added some additional details like the stitching on her skirt and the buttons on the vest, which are made with Liquid Pearls. The frame cut is from Elegant Edges and the paper is by Cosmo Cricket, Wanted. The sentiment tag is also from Elegant Edges. The little stars are heat set jewels from Tulip. The plaid paper is from the Yee Haw paper stack from the paper studio and I stitched the edges with gold metallic thread from Sulky. The bow is made with raffia and the horseshoe is attached to it with the same gold thread.
Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed my project today. If you missed yesterdays post, you can scroll down to see it, as well as a complete list of the hop participants.
Remember to leave a comment for a chance to win today's blog candy. [it's pretty much the same as yesterday's, just different stamps :) ]

I'll be drawing the winners on Wednesday the 14th. Thanks again, I really appreciate all of your nice comments! Please be sure to hop on over to Cori's blog. 

SweetSassyDiva Birthday Blog Hop!

Welcome to the SweetSassyDiva Birthday Blog Hop!
We are celebrating Bobbi Jo's (SweetSassyDiva) birthday this weekend March 10th and 11th. Each day will feature new projects and also some yummy blog candy giveaways! I am so happy that you could join us for this super fun blog Hop showcasing Birthday Themed fun. This is a TWO-Day hop so, be sure to catch both days for maximum celebration and ideas.
If you've hopped over from Dana then you are in the right place. If you've just popped in to visit my blog and would like to join our SweetSassyDiva Birthday Blog hop from the beginning , please go to Bobbi Jo's blog. Bobbi Jo has a  WONDERFUL Grand Prize for one lucky hopper, the Cricut Circle cartridge, Sophie! To be eligible, please visit each blog in the hop and leave a comment. Also, become a follower at http://sweetsassydiva.com/ and be sure to leave a comment there as well. One random winner will be chosen on Wednesday, March 14th, giving you plenty of time to finish the hop.

My project today is a side step birthday card. Directions for these cards can be found all over the web, simply search  side step card. They are super easy and fun to create! The bear image and Best Wishes tag are both from Birthday Bash.  The cupcakes are from Birthday Cakes. The presents are from Storks Delivery. The white border is punched with the Wavy Dotted Scallop punch from EK Success and I added a piece of green ric rac to finish it off. I used Crystal color lacquer on the balloons to make them shiny and various colored Stickles on the bows and cupcakes.

This is the blog candy I'll be giving away today. To be eligible, please leave a comment on today's post. I will randomly choose a winner from each day's comments.
Thanks so much for stopping by today. For more fun and great projects, please be sure to hop on over to Cori's blog. 

In case you got lost along the way, here's a complete list of all the participants:
Bobbi Jo http://sweetsassydiva.com/
Lucy http://www.love2createitall.blogspot.com/
Michele http://www.michelegreen.com/
Gaby http://www.gabycreates.com/
Mindy http://grammiescraftroom.blogspot.com/
 Lori http://www.scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com/
Missie http://createdbymissie.blogspot.com/
Jennifer http://scrapaholicjen.blogspot.com/
Paulette http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/
Anita http://www.anitaandbugs.blogspot.com/
Brenda http://happyscrapper64.blogspot.com/
Dana http://papermemories4u.blogspot.com/
Maria http://stampcutcreate.blogspot.com/ 
Cori http://createdbycori.blogspot.com/
Michele http://chelescrafts.blogspot.com/
Sandy http://thecraftycreationspot.blogspot.com/
Jenny http://crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com/
Suzanne http://cricutcraftingrammy.blogspot.com/
Brenda http://www.friendscraftinwithfriends.blogspot.com/
Shawnee http://quiverofangels.blogspot.com/
Sylvia www.bellascrapbookdesigns.blogspot.com/