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/

Trying Something New

About a month ago I bought a new die cut machine, the Silhouette Cameo. I'd become intrigued with the many projects I was seeing using SVG files and started thinking seriously about expanding my abilities beyond what I could do with the Cricut.  After reading lots of good reviews on the Cameo I decided to take the plunge and buy one. There has been a bit of a learning curve for me with the software, but I am figuring things out and the more I use it, the more I like it. And it seems like everyday I learn of a new site to go to for files, a lot of them for free.
So, here is one of my first projects, a charger plate from Michael's that I decorated with vinyl. The cuts are  from Kim Bright at Creative Bling.

The Cameo cut the vinyl beautifully, even the small delicate pieces. I also added some yellow jewels to the flower centers. Gotta say, I'm really happy with this one!

In case you're wondering, no, I'm not giving up the Cricut. At this point I have way to much invested in it to do that, and besides, I like using the Gypsy to create and don't think I could give it up. I will say that I have become disenchanted with PC as a whole though and am especially unhappy with the lack of quality control in their products these last couple of years. My Imagine sits here unused because I am constantly fighting with calibration issues and it's just so frustrating  that I'd rather not use it than try to deal with it. Sad, because I really enjoyed using it when it worked right.
Anyway, just wanted to share my latest creation with my new machine. Hope you enjoy.
Thanks for stopping by!

Onsie with HTV

 What can I say, I really like working heat transfer vinyl! This time I made a onsie for a friend's newborn baby boy.

I saw this on a shirt in an online catalog and decided I had to use it. The Texas shape and word are from 50 States and the font is Mickey Font. If you haven't given HTV a try, you should. It's so fast and easy.
Both my daughters loved this design, so I guess I'll be making one for each of my grandsons too. Sorry about the picture. Another one of those times when I almost forgot to take a pic until I was wrapping it.
Thanks for stopping by!

50th Birthday Card

Let me start this post with a disclaimer. If you don't care for raunchy humor, you probably won't like the sentiment I put on the inside of this card.
I made this for one of our best friends who is going to celebrate a big birthday soon. I know he'll appreciate it, because I'm pretty sure it's how he feels!

My thought was to create an elegant looking card on the outside so that he would be that much more surprised when he opens it and reads it. The papers are from a Recollections stack called Regent Street and I like the classic look they have. The numbers and letters are from Billionaire and I used the Gypsy to weld the letters. The stopwatch is from Old West and the top note shape is from Art Philosophy. I added ribbon and a small buckle from my stash to complete the card.
And here's the inside sentiment:

It's really not too bad, but I know not everyone appreciates this type of humor. I can't wait to see my friend's face when he reads it, I know he'll get a kick out of it. The sentiment isn't my original idea, I actually saw it on a card I found online. It was just too perfect not to use!
Thanks for stopping by!