Cute Critter Valentines

Hannah and I finished her class Valentines over the weekend.  I asked her to choose 1 or 2 images for her Valentines from the Create a Critter cartridges.  I really hoped she was going to choose an owl (because I love owls), but despite my attempts at persuasion, she didn't (sniff).  She chose a kitty and a birdie for the girls.  The bird with the heart wing didn't have a hat, but H. insisted that it needed one, so we cut the hats from another page.  I love that she has her own artistic/creative eye.  Her choice for the boys was the cute fire dog.  One of her classmates really loves all things fireman and fire engine related, so all the boys are getting this puppy.  She helped me choose the paper colors and then we cut all the pieces out with the Cricut.  She and I glued all the layers together.  She did much better placing and fitting things together than I anticipated, so my OCD didn't kick in too much.  :)  Then we put together a few items in baggies (pencil, erasers, notebook, stickers) and taped the finished critters to the baggies with a cute sentiment on the back.  She can't wait to take them to school for her friends!

Birdies and Kitties for the girls.

Fire house Puppies for the boys.

Love These Layouts!

It's February and love is in the air...and on my craft table! Today I want to share two recent layouts that I really love.
First up: "Me & You."  Even thought this photo of my husband and me is out of focus, I love the candid nature of it and that we are both smiling and looking happy.  Sometimes those imperfect photos make great layouts! This one uses some of the new Fancy Pants "Be Loved" collection.  I really was drawn to the water color feel and soft palette.  So many little elements are available with this collection, too.  I altered my background sheet by drawing a large heart, sewing the outline with pink American Crafts twine, and then adding some paint and pink chalk to the inside.  I also added twine in other places - the tags and several cross stitches on the left side.  The "me & you" sentiment was cut with my Cricut - Graphically Speaking is an old cartridge, but still one of my faves.  The pink glitter border strip is from Teresa Collins.

I picked up some new My Minds Eye yesterday at Scrapdoodles and had a little fun.  I also recently added a couple of new cartridges to my collection, so wanted to use them right away, too.  The beautiful background sheet is from MME's Now & Then, "Dorothy" collection.  The heart doily (LOVE) was cut with my new Edge to Edge Cricut cartridge.  The title is also from a new cart - Small Talk Frames and Tags.  The rest of the elements are MME.  I'm really loving the phrases and mini letters available with this collection.

Thanks for visiting! I hope you have a LOVE-ly day!

Design Team Wednesday - Echo Park Head Over Heels

I know it's still January, but I'm ready to move out of winter and on to something warmer!  "Head Over Heels" by Echo Park hits the spot for me.  This traditional color palette with a spattering of turquoise will heat up any of your "love-ly" layouts and projects.  I have two layouts to share with you today.

This first layout highlights a sweet photo of my favorite girl.  The blue papers complement her blue eyes perfectly and I love the way the arrows point towards her and the direction she's looking.  The small strips, "I just love you." were cut from a 12x12 sheet and I used pop dots to give dimension to the page.  The cluster of sentiments are from both the coordinating stickers to this collection and the sheet of 3x4 journaling/accent cards.  I also made a few heart strings to hang for decoration - just machine sewed some of those little strips and a 3-layered heart made from patterned papers. They were quick and will add a cute accent for Valentine's day decor.

My second layout also utilizes a great print - mini bicycles built for 2! So cute! I emphasized the number "2" for this layout in the papers, stickers, and mix of 3x4 cards.  I used a couple more of the little "I just love you." strips and a few stitch stickers from SRM.  Overall, I love this layout even though the photo of my husband and me is fuzzy and a bit out of focus - it's definitely a tribute to the two of us.

You can see Echo Park's entire collection, "Head Over Heels" on their site, but you really should go see it in person along with the other great Valentine's Day papers available in Scrapdoodles now.  Thanks for checking in!

Valentine Shirt

Hannah wanted a pink shirt with a heart to wear for Valentine's Day.  What's a crafty mama to do?  Make one of course!  I found a shirt in her drawer to use (cuz I'm cheap frugal that way).  I cut out a stencil of plain cardstock with my Cricut - this cute "xo" heart is in the "Hoot 'n' Holler" cartridge.  I helped it stick to the shirt with a little temporary glue stick around the edges and the "xo" and then just a bit of painter's tape around the outside edges to help keep it in place as we painted.  I had some pink glittery fabric paint on hand (go figure :)) that was perfect.  Hannah had a fun time helping with the paint.  She was so excited she could hardly wait for it to dry!  On Valentine's Day, she went all out with pink wardrobe choices - from her toes to her multi-bowed hair accessories!  Such a sweet Valentine!

I know it's Wednesday, but here's my

Monday Report:

For the Week of February 11 - February 17, 2013:

• Embellished shirt with Cricut stencil and fabric paint
• Made a big heart Valentine for Daddy (Cricut)
• Worked on layouts for upcoming online classes (2 additional cartridges used)
• played with new stamps from Teresa Collins

Watercolor Hearts

Hannah and I had a bit of fun with watercolors and coffee filters this week.  We painted several large filters, let them dry and then hand cut out heart shapes from them.  We cut out some big ones and she stuck them up on a window - they are so pretty with the light coming through.  I also cut several small hearts which I then made into cards for her to send to grandmas and grandpas for Valentine's Day. 

For the cards, I used a plain white cardstock base and sewed the hearts onto the card with a diagonal stitch in black.  I then used a black pen to doodle on an arrow point and fletching.  The thread is secured by applying some Glossy Accents to the ends.  I used various love stamps and a little pink ink below the heart for a sentiment.  It was a fun and easy project to do.  Hannah loved the painting part and I had fun turning her art into a card to send to family.

The Monday Tuesday Report:

For the Week of February 4 - February 10, 2013:

I created 1 more Valentine treat (new kid at preschool),  12 watercolor heart cards (3 different stamps), and 4 birthday cards using the Hoot'n'Holler cartridge and 1 stamp.

Cute Birthday Cards:

  
This is my weekly check-in for My Creative Classroom's "Use Every Stamp" challenge, which I turned into a "Use Every Cricut Cartridge and more stamps, too" challenge.   You can sign up for this FREE class called "Use Every Stamp."  just by signing up to receive the Newsletters and then you can participate in all the forums.  There is also a blog that posts from the class and will even have opportunities to win free seats in other MCC classes. 

Everyday Love with Chipboard Masks

This week's Scrapdoodles Design Team post is all about LOVE!  I believe in documenting the everyday kinds of love in my scrapbooks - not just the big events and milestones.  This week I'm using two different "love" lines now available at the store - American Crafts (XOXO) and imaginisce (Love You More) and some really fun and versatile chipboard and acrylic accents from Maya Road.  The American Crafts and imaginsce lines went really well together so they are combined in my two layouts.  Lately, I've been experimenting with misting and when I saw the days of the week chipboard accents from Maya Road (which, by the way, are on SALE this week and next at Scrapdoodles!) I immediately saw the page in my head.  I simply laid out the chipboard on a full sheet of 12x12 paper in a sunburst pattern and used my Tattered Angels Mist (Red Velvet) to cover it.  The mist dries fairly quickly, so I didn't have to wait long to pick up my chipboard and admire the negative left on the page.  I added several strips of patterned paper from these collections behind my photo to create a "mat" for it.  My title was cut with my Cricut (Graphically Speaking).  I also added a clear acrylic heart to my page.  I adhered tiny gems around it to emphasize its shape.  There are also several accents around the page that were cut from the patterned papers or found in my stash.  I finished it off with a couple of sentiment stamps (MME).

My second layout is similar in theme, but I really wanted to use the actual chipboard shapes this time.  I love how the mist covers the chipboard so nicely!  I adhered them to my page using glue dots.  For this page I also added another masking and misting feature, this time using another one of the clear acrylic elements from Maya Road (love).  I also did a little bit more heavy dripping on this page, which I really like.  The hexagon patterned paper from imaginisce is awesome.  Here I cut out a few pieces and arranged them diagonally behind my square photo.  For extra dimension, I wrapped twine around the photo and mats.  The strip at the bottom of the page is also imaginisce and is sewn down at the bottom edge.  I hope you're able to come into the store to see these two layouts!  The misting was new to me and I really love that it's so forgiving in terms of technique.  There are a lot of possibilities.  Did I mention that Maya Road Chipboard is on sale?

More details:

And one last project for you that was so easy to put together!  Scrapdoodles has these cute clear acrylic pillow boxes in several sizes.  All you need is a little patterned paper and embellishments to create some super cute Valentines!  Stop by and see my cute version - but don't eat my m&ms!  Then find some cute love papers and craft up your own version to give to your sweetie.

Valentines and Use Every Stamp Report

The Monday Report:

For the Week of January 28 - February 3, 2013:

I created 3 12x12 layouts, 2 felt pins, and 10 Valentine's Day treats for my daughter's preschool class.  I used a total of 5 different cartridges.  I also used 4 different stamps from 2 sets.

This is my weekly check-in for My Creative Classroom's "Use Every Stamp" challenge, which I turned into a "Use Every Cricut Cartridge and more stamps, too" challenge.   You can sign up for this FREE class called "Use Every Stamp."  just by signing up to receive the Newsletters and then you can participate in all the forums.  There is also a blog that posts from the class and will even have opportunities to win free seats in other MCC classes. 

Here is a pic of my Valentine's Day treat boxes.  The cute little bug is from Create A Critter 2, as is the leaf.  The stamps are from Stampin Up's "Everyday Flexible Phrases" set.  I bought the clear pillow boxes at my local scrapbook store, Scrapdoodles.  LOVE THEM!

The layouts I created this week were either for my upcoming class at MCC "Cricut: Scrapbooking Through the Year" or for my Design Team week for Scrapdoodles, so I can't show you any of them.  But...check back on Wednesday because I'll be able to post my Design Team layouts then - and they are awesome, if I do say so myself ;).  Here's a little sneak of a close-up of one of the layouts featuring some stamping with some My Mind's Eye acrylic stamps.

Be sure to stop back on Wednesday to see the full layouts!

Here are the two super cute felt pins I made for my daughter's teachers.  I used the heart with wings on the Create a Critter 2 cartridge to make a template for the red and white felt layers.  The eyes are black beads, mouth is black thread.  I added crystal stickles onto the wings and yellow glitter glue to outline the halo.

Happy Crafting!

My goal is to report in every Monday, so check back often and keep me accountable!



Valentines and Love Cards

Over at My Creative Classroom, the talented Deena Ziegler is offering a class called "Lovestruck" and I have the privilege of participating in it.  I wanted to share a few cards that I recently made with some of her cute printable sentiments provided in class.  They were easy to put together with her printables, some cute papers (from my scraps stash), a little doodling, and fun washi tapes.  Thanks for the inspiration, Deena!

Valentine's Day Fun

Just thought I would share a few Valentine's Day projects we've been cooking up here at home.

First, I found these bubble tubes on clearance and thought I could transform them into cute Valentine gifts. 

I punched some circles out of cardstock and adhered them to the plastic circle handle, then Hannah added the glittery heart foam sticker.  I made a tag saying "You Blow Me Away" and Hannah added another foam sticker (okay she added one or two and then was "done" so mama had to finish the rest).  I tied them onto the bubble wand and "tada" ... very cute and inexpensive Valentines.

We also had fun making these "toilet paper roll heart stamps" we saw on Pinterest.  I just shaped the roll for Hannah and squeezed out some paint and she went to town! 
She loved the stamp and it was easy for her to use.  When she was done stamping, she moved on to painting - on paper, then the tp roll, and finally her fingers - then mama called it quits :) 
When the stamped images were dry, I cut up some of the paper and adhered it to a pink cardbase.  We added some more foam stickers and "tada" ... more cute and easy Valentines.  Hannah signed her "H" and we put some in mailbox. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

New Years and Valentine Layouts

Do you make New Year's Resolutions?  I like to think about the year past and set some goals, so I guess I do make resolutions.  This year I decided to create a layout to reflect some of these goals of mine.  I picked up some fun American Crafts products for this layout.  I normally scrap very girly pages so it was a nice change of pace to pick up some selections from AC's CHAP line.  I came home with three sheets of double sided papers and a pack of chipboard shapes.  I used my Cricut (Jubilee font and Printing Press numbers) for this page and journaled the rest in pen.  The "2012" in the letter "O" is cut from a calendar.  I'm thinking I'm going to hang this layout so I can be reminded of my New Year's thoughts and goals.

While I was at my favorite scrapbook store - Scrapdoodles in Fredericksburg - I was "lovestruck" by the wonderfully sweet selection of Valentine's Day papers and embellishments.  The neat thing about a lot of these papers is that they can be used in all sorts of layouts.  I could see many of these sweet sentiments in baby layouts, anniversaries, wedding, and in my layout here - just a fun shot of my daughter on the eve of her 3rd birthday.  For this layout I used 2 patterned papers from We R Memory Keepers "Love Struck" collection.  Also from this collection you can see one of the super adorable bottlecap embellishments (I think I may have to make a hair bow for Hannah with one of these) and two of the tags or mini cards.  I am also using some cute ribbon from Pebbles.

Check out the sheet of tags - they are so cute!  

 I used two on my layout and then made two quick bookmarks.  I added a little ribbon and then adhered a triangle pocket on the back of the tag so it sits snuggly on the corner of my bookpage.  I'm thinking I will make a few quick and easy cards with the remaining tags on the sheet.  One of the tags says "Love at first sight" and I think it would be perfect on a baby layout or new baby/baby shower card.