Paper Craft Weekend Challenge- Use Your Stash

This past Saturday's challenge over at the Paper Craft Weekend Challenge Blog was to use your stash. I liked this one because I actually got out some stuff I haven't used in a while.

The card base is  41/4" by 51/2" dark brown paper that was in my scrap folder.The polka dot paper is cut 1/4" smaller than the brown base  and is from My Mind's Eye Stella Rose collection. The striped paper in the center is the back of the polka dot paper. A piece of cream card stock was punched with the Martha Stewart Arched Lattice border punch and placed under the striped paper. The ribbon is Vintage Vanilla crinkle ribbon from My Craft Spot. The stamp is from an old set, which unfortunately, no longer had the company's name on it. It was stamped with Versa Magic Chalk Ink, Tea Leaves. The entire image was then embossed with two coats of UTEE. It was placed on a slightly larger piece of  green print paper, also from my scraps, then this was placed on another slightly large piece of cream card stock. This was then added to a brown  scalloped rectangle cut from a small Nestability. It is adhered to the card with Dimensionals from Stampin Up. The flourish is cut from the Cricut E2  Cricut Essentials cartridge. The pearls are from Recollections.
There's still time to create and post to the challenge blog if you'd like. They also had some great tips for organizing your stash . This was a fun challenge and it made me realize that I really need to use more of what I have. Maybe I'll make that a New Year's resolution, not to buy anything for a while but to use what I have. Yeah right!
Thanks for stopping by!

Winter/Christmas Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Winter/Christmas Blog Hop Hosted by Paulette from Around the Block by Scrapalette.  If you're already following the hop, then you will have arrived here from HappyScrapper64 , but if you just happened to stop by my blog today, you can start at the beginning of the hop at  Around the Block With Scrapalette .

My project for today's hop was inspired by a sign I saw while shopping recently. The sign in the store was a simpler design with just a picture of a package and the sentiment. Still, I knew I needed to have one, because, I'm embarrassed to admit, I have been known to peek at a present or two over the years!

In the end my design ended up much more elaborate than the store sign and for once, it turned out just as I pictured it in my head!  The finished size is 12 X 14 so I had to make background paper to fit. I did this by alternating strips of lt and dk green card stock. At the seams I used a zig zag stamp and red glitter embossing.

The hand is from the Sentimentals cartridge. The original image was holding a card, which I simply cut out.  Some white lace was added to the sleeve cuff as was some small ric rac. A white button was embossed with gold embossing powder and a tiny pearl was added to the center.

The packages are from Jolly Holidays, pretty much used exactly as they are, except the top was cut from the larger package so that it could be "propped" open. All the images were cut twice and adhered together with foam tape for dimension. The letters are from the Elegant Cakes cartridge, welded with the Gypsy. They are cut in white then covered with Martha Stewart Crystal Fine glitter. For a fun final touch, I used a variety of white buttons to create a border. 

I also have some yummy blog candy up for grabs. To be eligible to win, simply leave me a comment on this post. Also, please be sure to leave me a way to contact you. I'll draw a winner on Tu, 11/8.

 Thank you so much for hopping with us today and I hope you enjoyed my project. Your next stop is Chris at Scrappin-Nanapuddin. Have a wonderful weekend!

Chic and Scary Halloween Card

Hi everyone. Just wanted to share quick card I made yesterday.

The background paper is from the DCWV Ghosts and Goblins stack and I added some wavy stitching as a border around the card. The witch is cut from Chic and Scary at 3.5". The flowers and tag are from the Art Philosophy cartridge. (I need more practice making these!) Pearls from the Stampin Up Pretties Kit were added to the flower centers. The image and flowers were sprayed with Black Magic Glimmer Mist. I really over saturated the Witch image with it, but I like the blotchy effect it gave it. The sentiment stamp is from Scrappy Moms Happy Hauntings stamp set.
Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a fun and safe Halloween!

Paper Craft Weekend Challenge- Something New

A while back Allison and Caroline from the Cricut message board started their own challenge blog called Paper Craft Weekend Challenge The weekend starts with a challenge on Friday then another one is issued on Sunday. It's fun, laid back with no time constraints and really no rules! Check it out sometime if you have a chance, you can click on their name above or I have their button on my left sidebar under Favorites.
So, this weekend I was able to get the Sunday challenge done, which was to try something new. Last year I did a project with the Martha Stewart test tubes and some test tube holders that I designed on the Gypsy. This year I found some test tubes  here and since they are much smaller in diameter (I ordered the 16 X 150), I had to come up with a new way to present them. I used two cartridges I haven't used before and, of course, the test tubes. Here's what did:

Both the images are from the Cricut Lite Bump in the Night cartridge. The paper is Recollections and DCWV.  On the first one I used the MS Drippy Goo punch  and the sentiment stamp is from My Craft Spot. The sentiment on the second one is from Scrappy Moms and the tag it's on is from George and Basic Shapes. All ribbon is from Michael's.
To get them to stand up, I used the easel cut from the Fancy Frames Project Cartridge.

I cut it at 51/2" out of heavy kraft paper and glued it to the back. Before I attached it, I cut slits on the front piece to put the ribbon through.
Hope you enjoy my fun, new test tube project. Again, please check out the Paper Craft Weekend Challenge.
Thanks for stopping by!
Here is the post for my other test tube project, if you're interested. Test Tube Holders

Halloween Pails re-post

I originally posted this last year, but thought it was worth repeating! Unfortunately I haven't seen these pails at Michaels recently. I hope they bring them back.

A few weeks ago I found these cute plastic pails for $1 at Michaels. I thought they'd make perfect Halloween treat buckets so I grabbed a few to decorate for the grand kids. I love how they turned out.

 I used Oracal vinyl, and even though this was only my second time to use it, it was much easier than I expected it to be. I added some bling to the purple one and cute buttons to the others. Here's a list of the carts used:
Hello Kitty Font
Mini Monsters
Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art
Paper Doll Dress Up
Sesame Street Font
Pumpkin Carvings
Simply Charmed
Boys Will Be Boys (The spider's mouth is two worms welded together)
This was such a fun project, I want to make more! I'll have to think of some more kiddos I can make some for!
Thanks for stopping by!

One Design, Two Birthday Cards

My Mom's and Mother in law's birthdays are just two weeks apart. This year I decided to try making the same basic card for each of them, just changing the images up. It's not like they are ever going to be together to compare them and even if they did, I don't think either one of them would really mind. Well, I hope not anyway!

So, as you can see, I started with the same basic design for both cards. The card base is a 51/2" by 41/4 " piece of  kraft cardstock that is embossed using the  Sizzix Bowstrings folder. The printed paper strips are from My Minds Eye Stella Rose collection. The paper is double sided, so I used each side for the strips. The bottom one is edged with the Eyelet Border punch from Stampin Up. A piece of vintage dyed twine from My Craft Spot was tied around the strips and threaded through a clear button from Stampin Up. The tag was hand cut and the stamped sentiment is from My Pink Stamper stamped with Stampin Up Chocolate Chip ink. The brad is also from Stampin Up.
The images on both cards are from the Cricut Lite Live Simply cartridge.The bird's nest was outlined with Cinnamon stickles and yellow stickles was used on both flower centers. The scallop circle is cut with a Nestability. Martha Stewart coarse glitter was used on the bee's wings. Finally, the images are adhered to the card with dimensionals.
I liked this idea so much that I'm toying with the idea of making up several cards with the same basic designs to keep on hand, then just adding the sentiments and images to suit the occasion. Who knows, next year everyone on my list may get the same birthday card! Well, except the guys. I may have to come up with something more masculine for them.:)
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Birthday Blog Candy Winner!

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in my birthday makeover give away. I really appreciate all your kind comments! I'm so glad so many of you like the new look and that some of you have decided to contact Chris too. Now for the fun part. The winner of the blog candy is:

CottageRose, who said... Happy Birthday, Maria!! Love your new blog look!

 

Congratulations! I'll be contacting you so I can get your prize sent out!

Again everybody, a great big thank you for visiting, for leaving comments and for following me. It really does mean a lot to me!

Hugs and Smiles!