Happy Birthday To...

Me! (It's actually on Tuesday the 26th!) Yes, it's back again! Why does it come around so much faster now that I'm getting older?
Well, I've already had the most wonderful gift given to me - my new Grandson - so who could ask for more, right? Yes, but a grandma must scrap about her new grandchild and to do that, a grandma must purchase, ah, treat herself, to more supplies! So as an early birthday gift to myself (like I really need an excuse! lol) my two friends & I went to the Scrapbook Expo last Friday. We had a blast! I saw a few old friends (Lisa, don't forget our crop plans!) and we shopped til we dropped - literally! The Gaylord Texan is a beautiful place, but it's huge - especially when you've shopped from 9 am until 6 pm and then have to lug all of your new scrappy goodness ALL the way to the parking lot! (For $18 to park, they should have had someone to carry my bags AND me to my car, lol!) But it was a perfect day and for my birthday today, I'll have plenty of pretty new stuff to organize, I mean use! I also treated myself to two of the newest Cuttlebug embossing folders. They are the larger ones so I can't wait for them to arrive and play. Also two new carts - well, not new but new to me! They are both lite carts that I never bought and now I can never find them so I got them both in the digital format since they were on sale this weekend. Oh, and my favorite scrapbook shop, The Crafty Scrapper, is holding a new Tim Holtz die for me to pick up and I'm sure I'll HAVE to pick up a few extra things, since it IS my birthday! (So what excuse shall I use for the other 364 days? lol) Now I need to get busy and create!

Here is a photo of me and my best buds after our long day of shopping. And here's a few projects that I was working on - no Cricut with these but they're still crafty! The first are little bow ties that I made for my Grandson. They have little snaps on the back so his Mom can simply snap them onto his onesies. Aren't those so cute? I got the idea from a site called One Young Love. The next project is a wreath that I made from wooden rulers, crayons, and chalkboard cardstock for my daughter-in-law's classroom when she goes back to work. I'm not quite finished with it yet - I still need to write her name in the middle and add a few finishing touches.

Well, that's all for now but I have some very exciting news to share with you in a few days! So make sure to come back to visit!

So until next time, Happy Crafting!

Angie

A Quick Valentine’s Gift!

Here are a couple of quick projects for those last minute Valentine's Day gifts. The first one is a simple note card:

I cut the cardstock at 3x6 to make this into a 3x3 card and added a 3x3 piece of patterned paper to the front. The scalloped border is from my 'old faithful' cart - Plantin Schoolbook! Even with all of the newer carts around this one still is a wonderful cart with so many great images. I cut out about 10 borders in cardstock at 0.5". I also used Accent Essentials to cut out the heart in glitter paper at 2.25". After inking the edges of the scallops, I adhered them to the card by staggering the borders, added a piece of ribbon with glue dots, and the heart with small pop dots. Once finished I decided that it needed one more thing so I punched out a tag shape (Jewelry Tag) and stamped a Valentine's sentiment (Teeny Tiny Wishes) on it and adhered it to the heart with a tiny red brad. Both the the punch and the stamp are made by Stampin’ Up! Then I was satisfied that it was finally finished!

Next is a Tag Treat Holder:

Again, I used Plantin Schoolbook. This image is on page 71 (shift/Italic). It's one of those images that I often don't pay attention to and skip over but it makes a cute little treat holder by scoring it in the middle and folding in half. It was cut at 8" with the Fit to Length feature turned on with my Expression and scored at 3.75" and again at 4.5". I added two little hearts cut with the shift/Tall Ball feature (found on the same page) at 2.5", adhered them on to the tag, and tied it together with some twine. This would be great to give to someone with a piece of chocolate inside (think Ghirardelli chocolate squares! Yum!)

I think I will put both of these little gifts into this gift bag that was made with Plantin Schoolbook (see, I told you it was still a great cart!):

This was cut with the Fit to Page feature turned on. After putting it together with Scor-Tape, I adhered some ribbon and my flower on it. I cut three flowers out at 3” each, the leaves were cut out at 2”. After the flower was cut, I inked all the petals and rolled them towards the back with a paintbrush to give them some dimension. For the brad, I took a plain silver one and applied VersaMark ink to it and then a pink shade of ColorBox ink. I then dipped it into some Iridescent Ice embossing powder by Stampin’ Up! and used my heat gun to melt it on the brad. Instant color change! You can use this little trick to alter any metal brad to suit your needs. Now you don’t have to have every color of brad in your stash! (Or DO you?!?!)

  (Click on the photos to enlarge any of the images)

I also just want to say “Thank You” to Carolyn and Gena from The Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie for inviting me to teach at the shop this past weekend. I had such a wonderful time and I can not wait to go back to teach (and shop) again! My students were the GREATEST and I now have 5 more crafty friends! Thanks to all of you for signing up! If you live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area (or coming to visit) and have never been to The Crafty Scrapper then get there as fast as you can! They have a wonderful and knowledgeable staff, great classes, and the shop carries everything that you need for scrapping & crafting.  It is THE place to go here in North Texas!

Today is also my day as Guest Designer over at Cricut FANatics! Please stop by to leave a comment and to see what the other designers have created!

So whatever you give (and receive) this Thursday, I hope that all of you have a sweet and happy Valentine's Day! Thanks for visiting and until next time, Happy Crafting!

Teddy Bear Valentine’s Cards

Here are two Valentine Bears that I made with the Teddy Bear Parade cartridge. I used Cricut Craft Room to weld two Bear images together to create them into Valentine’s Day cards. I’ll show you how easy this is to do.

My bears are 5”. I took two images of the bear base into CCR and then flipped the left image so that the two images will match up perfectly when closed. I then moved them just close enough to have the ears and hands touch. While the image is highlighted, a box will appear that says WELD and DON”T WELD. Make sure that you check the WELD button. The images will automatically be welded when cut. Here is the screen shot of what it should look like:

Next, I finished cutting all of the other layers out. I used two different kinds of brown cardstock for each bear, both by Core’dinations – Burnt Sugar (on the right) and Brownie. I also used Core’dinations in Black Soot and in red, white, and lavender glitter cardstock.

I can never just leave a project alone after it’s made! I’ve got to ink, distress, and add more “stuff”. For these bears I inked them first with Distress Inks, added Glossy Accents to parts of the bows and arrows, and then I added a little red heart to their bodies with red Stickles.

It’s really easy to make shaped cards from many of the Cricut images in CCR! I hope this has helped and inspire you to try to make some also. 

I also have some good news! I will be teaching Cricut classes at The Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie starting this weekend. This is a great scrapbook shop with so much to offer! So if you are in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area please check it out!

Thanks and until next time, Happy Crafting!

Diaper Tricycle

Here is another gift for my Daughter-in-law and my new Grandson. It’s not my original idea - I got the inspiration from my friend and Cricut Circle Sister, Paulette (AKA Scrapalette). Please check out her fabulous blog, Around the Block with Scrapalette to see all of her terrific projects.

Isn’t this just the cutest little baby gift? It’s perfect for a baby shower! My favorite are the baby socks used for the handles! And it was very easy to make, too. It only takes one package of diapers, 2 bibs, 2 receiving blankets, one pair of socks, one small baby bottle, one baby washcloth, and 2 diaper pins along with some things that I’m sure you already have at home – one empty paper towel tube, toilet paper tube, ribbon, and some glue dots. Here is the direct link for the instructions and supplies from Scrapalette’s blog – Diaper Tricycle! I think this is something different and unique! (Thanks for the idea, Scrapalette!)

So until next time, Happy Crafting!

Introducing… My First Grandchild!

I am so excited to introduce my Grandson, Charles! I never could have imagined that being a Grandma could be this wonderful! But this little bundle of joy has stolen my heart and when we’re apart I miss him so much. I could sit and hold him FOREVER! I am overjoyed, forever grateful, and so very blessed!

Just a few hours old!

Grandma’s in heaven!

My little Super Bowl Baby! Isn’t that the cutest face?

Thank you for visiting me and my Grandson!

I’ll be back to show you a couple of crafts that I made for his arrival.

Until next time, Happy Crafting