Get Inky! Song Challenge 13: The Birds and the Bees

On September 16th, a new challenge started at the Get Inky! Challenge blog. The challenge is to create a craft based on the classic Jewel Akens song (Let me tell you 'bout) The Birds and the Bees. It's my day to post inspiration at the Get Inky! Stamps blog to get those creative juices flowing.

My card is a square one measuring 4.25" x 4.25" from The Paper Studio. I created the love scene to match the elements of the song by printing and cutting a pre-made scrapbook page from the Cricut Imagine Nursery Tails cart. I then embellished with Stickles, Distress Ink and Get Inky! Stamps - the bees, flower, heart, love to be exact - from the Buzzing Bees and the Love Bugs stamp sets available on Etsy.

Supplies:

• Get Inky! Stamps - Buzzing Bees, Love Bugs
• The Paper Studio - card base 
• Stickles - midnight blue, green
• Bazzill basics white card stock
• Nursery Tails Cricut Imagine Cart
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Faded Jeans

I hope you create a masterpiece to enter into Challenge 13!

La-Vie

Kraftie Kre8ations Celebrations and Thankfulness Blog Hop (DAY 3)

Welcome to Day 3 of the Kraftie Kre8ations 

Celebrations and Thankfulness Blog Hop!

To view the lineup for all four days of the hop, visit the Kraftie Kre8ations blog. One random winner will receive a gift from Kraftie Kre8ations! To be eligible you must:

1. become a follower of the Kraftie Kre8ations blog
2. leave a comment on each participants blog, all 4 days of the hop
3. Join the FB Group (http://facebook.com/groups/kraftiekre8ations)
4. Have FUN!

***EXTRA blog candy from me!!! Follow my blog (let me know you did in the comments) to win some American Crafts baker's twine! So you can make a wreath of your own!***  

As you hop along with the Kraftie Kre8ations Design Team and Facebook group members, we hope you will be inspired to create your own fall project and link up using the inLinkz on the Kraftie Kre8ations blog sidebar.  Our color palette (see below) is an amazing representation of the changing colors of fall leaves.  Create ANY fall project (including Thanksgiving).  It can be a layout, card, mixed media project or an altered item. The sky is the limit!

For the occasion I created a fall wreath adorned with Cricut cuts and wrapped in twine, burlap ribbon (from The Paper Studio) and baker's twine for my craft room door. It was truly a labor of love!

I've always wanted to create a wreath like this but knew it would be time consuming. Although it's only 7 1/5" across it took FOREVER to cover in twine. It took more than 15 small spools of American Crafts twine to cover the form. To boot, I used a floral ring from the dollar tree and it was very difficult to work with. Next time I will get the styrofoam wreath (and stop playing LOL). 

The title is cut at 3.25" from the Celebrate with Flourish Cricut Cartridge using American Crafts foil cardstock, red linen cardstock (stash) and blue and brown cardstock from Bazzill.

Using the Cricut Imagine, I printed and cut the leaves and their layers from the Nursery Tails cartridge at 5.5" and added red glittered accents and yellow bling from Recollections. Instead of layering the leaves, I used the layer as a separate fern adornment for the wreath. Blue wired ribbon completed the look.

Thanks for hoppin' by! I hope to see your entry in the challenge! Your next stop is Carolyn's blog for more fall fun! 


La-Vie

2 Peas in a Pod - Diaper Cake and Cupcake Pics

Baby showers are my best business these days! I love it! I crafted a diaper cake and matching cupcake picks for a shower for twins next month. The theme is 2 peas in a pod. I love this color palate for babies. Don't you? Believe it or not, I have had people think my diaper cakes are real cakes, LOL. When I am carrying it, they always offer to help and look really worried that it might fall over. I guess that means they look as good as a real one. I'm smiling from ear to ear! 

This three tiered diaper cake is accented with ribbon from hobby lobby and a topper that matched the cupcake pics.

     

   Diaper cake -

• 100 diapers
• Sheer ribbon, decorative ribbon
• cake support
• Terrifically Tacky Tape, Scotch ATG, Xyron

   Topper -

• pastel green oval  - cut at 5.5" from Cricut Cart Just Because Cards (stencil-S pg 40, key 17) - Recollections cardstock
• scalloped oval - 7" from Cricut Cart Create a Critter (phrase-S pg. 60) - Bazzill cardstock
• peas  - 10.6" from Cricut Imagine Cart Nursery Tails - Bazzill Basics white cardstock 
• 2 - cut at 2" from Cricut Cart American Alphabet - DCWV glitter cardstock
• Terrifically Tacky Tape, Scotch ATG, Xyron

Cupcake Picks

I designed these picks with my Cricut Imagine machine. For some reason it would not cut the small peas icons after it expertly printed 30 images. I had to fussy cut each one out. I was HOT!!! But the Elizabeth crafts spring action fussy cut scissors really made the process painless. I have tendinitis in my hands and can't usually do all that maneuvering with scissors. I need to call Provo Craft to get the advanced calibration directions.

30 Cupcake picks -

• blue toothpicks
• Jolee's Boutique - White icing dots 
• Clear and Simple Stamps hybrid ink - Espresso your style
• Stampin' Up Occasions Alphabet
• pastel green oval  - cut at 1.25" from Cricut Cart Just Because Cards (stencil-S pg 40, key 17) - Recollections cardstock
• scalloped oval - 1.50" from Cricut Cart Create a Critter (phrase-S pg. 60) - Bazzill cardstock
• peas  - 2.0" from Cricut Imagine Cart Nursery Tails - Bazzill Basics white cardstock
• 2 - cut at 0.5" from Cricut Cart Cricut Alphabet - DCWV glitter cardstock
• Terrifically Tacky Tape, Scotch ATG, Xyron

Challenges

Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything goes
D.L Art - Anything goes
Pin and Tack - Anything goes
Party Time Tuesdays - Anything Goes


La-Vie

The Fine Art of Scraplifting - Baby Milestones Layout

Ok, I hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane this past month while I shared all the projects I created (and then made my own) at CKC events. It's time to start showing my orginal designs again. So it's all me now! LOL.

I love to be inspired by other crafters on Pinterest or other sites. You never know when inspiration will hit. I caught FIRE when I received an email with a milestones layout (shown at the bottom of the post - wish I could rember where it originated) as I was working on an instant scrapbook for baby's first year and was looking for a fresh new way to show milestones. I scraplifted the sketch and made it my own. I am VERY VERY excited and pleased with the results. I encourage you to scraplift something you see me or someone else making today!

I kept the major aspects of the layout with the vertical strips and the accents going across the page. I expect that the family that received this book will alternate the pictures and hand written journaling as shown in the inspiration layout. However, the layout that inspired me was for a girl, so I need to transform it to a boy layout. I did so with the color pallate, font and the use of stars instead of scallop circles.

The page covers Baby's first smile, first bath and first tooth.

• Font - Cricut Cartridge Mickey Font
• Embossing - Cuttlebug Word Collage
• Smiley Face button - Recollections
• Bath silhouette, Tooth - Cricut Cartridge A Child's Year
• Striped cardstock - My Mind's Eye - Wild Asparagus

This page covers the first solid foods, Crawling and Walking. Additional supplies include:

• Bib/Peas - Cricut Image Cartridge Nursery Tails
• Crawling baby - Cricut Cartridge New Arrival
• Walking silhouette - Cricut Cartridge A Child's Year - note: this cut included a beach bucket in the left hand of the child. I cut it off by hand to acheive the look I needed.

Here's some close ups....

Here's where my inspiration began!

If you love it, let me know! If you have scraplifting tips, share 'em! Thanks for stopping by.


La-Vie

Upscale Instant Scrapbook for Kara's Baby Girl

 (pg 20 of 20)

Alas, we have come to the end of this instant scrapbook. The family has already begun taking and inserting pictures into this treasure.

This last page is where they will write reflections about the first year or a love note to their baby girl now turned 1. I love all of the whimsical animals on the nursery tails cart. And actually the whole scene was print and cut on the Cricut Imagine. To give the page interest, I perched each animal on foam tape which gives it height. I enhanced the title cut by adding stickles. Adding buttons to a baby layout is icing on the cake. The whole layout is attached to a paper lace scalloped page from HSN 3 birds on parade line called All Dressed Up.

With a little pen work to highlight the hills and valleys this quick layout is complete. I had lots of fun pulling all these layouts together to create a lasting keepsake for a close friend. I hope you enjoyed it too!

La-Vie

P.S. How many of my 63 faithful followers are crafters? How often do you craft?

I'd like to start hosting challenges and doing giveaways on my blog. Are you interested?

Please list your answers in the comments section on this post.

Upscale Instant Scrapbook for kara's baby girl

(16 & 17 of 20)

My newest layout obsession is Mosaic Moments http://wishinthewind.com/index.html grid paper which allows for perfectly spaced mosaics. I have been including a milestones layout in most of my instant scrapbooks. It requires a myriad of pictures highlighting the baby's first year milestones. While I have experimented with several types of layouts this one I love best. I learned this basic layout in the Mosaic Moments class at CKC valley forge.

I printed my own stone paper and grass paper with my Cricut Imagine Nature Cartridge. Using punches of various sizes I created the squares for the grid. I accented the pages with clues to the milestones with a tub and sneakers by Jolee's, a bib and baby food print and cut from the Nursery Tails cart, a baby and tooth cut from New Arrival.  I love how it came out!

 I applied glossy accents to the bib and dipped it into Martha Stewart crystal fine glitter.

La-Vie

Cricut Circle Weekly Challenge #43: Feeling Gifty Challenge!

I'm headed out of town this weekend to celebrate a good friend as she enters motherhood. I created many things for her as gifts but this wreath was a first! This is a double-duty craft as it also is an entry for the Cricut circle weekly challenge feeling gifty. The project has to be made to give away and had to include 2 cricut cuts at least. I just finished making this and am rushing to get it posted.

First I started with 0-3 month onesies and a t-shirt. I stamped each with stamps from my stash and hyhbrid ink from Clear and Simple Stamps. The  Clear and Simple Stamps as well. I added the bling with my glitz 'n go tool by Kandi.

Cricut Imagine print/cuts - Nursery Tails "It's a girl", Flowers - Lori's Garden. All layers are raised with foam tape and sprayed with tsukineko sheer shimmer spritz.

I started with a dollar store trip for the wooden wreath 18" and wire ribbon, 3 packs of garland foliage. After wrapping the garland and tying it on the frame, I added the flowers with hot glue. Using curling ribbon for gifts I tied on the shirts which are bound with hair rubber bands. I love the results! Hope you and the mom-to be does too!

La-Vie

Instant scrapbook baby boy - Hester

This is one of the simplest layouts in the scrapbook as well as one of my favorites. The famous picture of the baby sleeping will adorn this page. I started with a blue bazzill cardstock and randomly stamped a star image. I stamped the star twice before re-inking which created lighter and draker stars. I filled in the lighter stars with crystal stickles. I love definition stickers. The definition of Angel is shown on the bottom right and the word Angel is magnified with a clear circle embellishment.

The main embellishemnt is the sweet dreams title print and cut from the Cricut Imagine Nursery Tails cartridge. I printed the layers and assembled with foam tape. To add a little pizazz, I added stickles in firefly, crystal and honey brown. Add stickles to Imagine cuts carefully as the ink can run. The blue dot embellishements are Clear and Simple Stamps.

La-Vie

Cricut Circle Blogiversary - recipe challenge

This Cricut Circle challege called for a project that includes 2 cricut cuts, 3 buttons, and a title.
I decided to create a scrapbook page for an upcoming instant scrapbook I will create. I love, love, LOVE how it came out and how quickly it all came together.

I used Cricut Imagine cart Nursery Tails. One of the bonus items on the cart is this lovely outdoor scene. I print and cut it fit to page so it turned out just smaller than 12x12. I mounted the page on a scallop 12x12 page from HSN's 3 birds All Dressed Up layered layouts.

The title is cut from Nursery Tails as well and raised with foam tape and true blue stickles. (I love stickles glitter glue!!) I added a glittered heart button detail to adorn the sun.

I love all the critters on this cart! I printed and cut most of them and placed them in the scene. They are popped-up as well. I added 3 more buttons to the trees and added pen detail to the grass and tree.

A view of the animals popped up with foam tape. Wish me luck!

La-Vie

Cricut Circle Blogiversary - Imagine Print & Layer challenge

This challenge called for 2 Cricut cuts, printed paper using the Cricut Imagine and a layered element that was printed and cut from the Cricut Imagine. I chose to use the Nursery Tails cart to create a girl baby card. I started by chosing a stock image in the machine and filling it with a paper pattern from the cart. I like this pointy shape on cards and scrapbook pages. To accent it, I drew fauz stitching with my zig millenium pen and added peach colored pearls. The layered accent from Nursery tails is the scallop oval, white oval, bunny in the pea pod and words that say sweet pea. I decided not to use the text and to handwrite with my zig writer marker.  To accent the layered cuts, I assembled it with foam tape left over from the round dots (waste not, want not...) and I used my favorite color stickles - Firefly. The shimmer and shine is just magnificent.

this side view shows that each layer is raised up with foam tape. Wish me luck! I really want to win a Cricut Cake machine so I can be the fabulous baker I am meant to be!

La-Vie

Instant Scrapbook Baby Boy - gift bag and greeting card

I purchased this bag at Target so that I could put the scrapbook in it for delivery. I decided to coordinate the look of the scrapbook cover with the bag and greeting card to make a set. Using Cricut Imagine Cartridge Nursery Tails I printed/cut Bazzill basics white cardstock at 10". I also cut an extra bird and frog so that I could use foam tape to create a raised image. Then I attached it to the bag with adhesive. I did this on both sides of the bag.

The greeting card was created with Cricut Cartridge Wild Card. It's the doily card cut at 5" from double sided paper from the American Crafts baby "peek-a-boo" line. Using the Nursery Tails cart again, I print/cut the same images at 3" on Bazzill basics white. Just like the bag, I added dimension by adding tiny foam tape squares from EK Success. Ribbon from my stash added that extra cuteness.

Inside I added a sentiment from Stampin Up with Clear & Simple Stamps ink leaving plenty of room for writing a special message to the new mom. And this concludes my exploration of my very first instant scrapbook. Hope you enjoyed it!

La-Vie

Instant Scrapbook Baby Boy - Cover and Page 1

It's been quite a while, but let's just say life and clients got in the way! I'm delighted to be back and to share a project I created for a baby shower gift. A friend of mine wanted to give her sister-in-law a very personal, yet useful gift for her second child. What do you give to the person who already has all the big baby stuff? That's right...an instant scrapbook so that she can easily record her new baby's first year.

This was quite an undertaking because I had never created a scrapbook without pictures before and was very nervous about creating pages that forced someone to use pictures of a certain size etc. But I quickly got over it and created a product that I am very proud of. And it was very well received by the mother-to-be so mission accomplished!

The album is by Recollections. It's a boy is printed on Bazzill basics white cardstock and cut at 10" with my Cricut Imagine Nursery Tails cart. The font stickers are from my stash and the foot and hand prints are from Stickopotomus. Finally, the blue button stickers (that remind me of that candy that came stuck to paper strips when I was a kid) is from Clear & Simple Stamps in the color called Your style blue me away.

I wanted the first page to showcase the family the baby was being born into. I pulled out the autumn leaves 6-min scrapbooker family set I purchased from Wal-Mart some time ago and found the perfect coordinated items, such as a journaling block, ribbon, embellishments, etc. for this page. DCWV adhesive mat stacks are the best for quick placement of pictures.

• Our family - chipboard stickers - autumn harvest collection
• family names in black - EK Success sticko dimensional font stickers
• mom's name - mark richards crystal stickers - crystal script alphabet
• Best occasions metal dots
• DCWV adhesive mat stack (neutrals)
• creative memories corner rounder

La-Vie

Challenge #7 - National Scrapbook Day

National Scrapbook Day Challenge #7 - Make a scrapbook page
http://www.mypinkstamper.com/2011/05/national-scrapbook-day-challenge-7.html

I decided to make a page with pictures I normally wouldn't highlight. Sometimes the best  moments are found in every day reality. I created this page with the Cricut Imagine using Nursery Tails cartridge. The whole page was print on Bazzill basics white paper. I love my imagine!! I then added Gromlets to the suns to make them more fancy and a smiley face button from my stash. The mat is Die Cuts With A View adhesive mat stack and the ribbon is from my stash.

La-Vie

Challenge #12 - MPS National Scrapbook Day

This past Saturday was national scrapbooking day. My Pink Stamper posted challenges hour by hour throughout the day. The big prize is a Cricut Imagine machine, however there are several great prizes available. Luckily, she is allowing everyone who wasn't able to participate on Saturday to enter the contests today by 1am EST. There were 12 challenges in all and I created projects for 10 of the challenges in under an hour for each one. The sad part is that I did not get a chance to upload all my creations. The time ran out on me. But I had fun so it was worth it!

Challenge #12 - create a scrapbook layout, card,  etc. with a kid's theme http://www.mypinkstamper.com/2011/05/national-scrapbook-day-challenge-12.html

My daughter started playing soccer with a YMCA team recently, so I created this decor for her room. The background was printed and cut using the Cricut Imagine and Nursey Tails Cartridge. This is a scrapbook page that I printed a third of the size. The soccer girl was cut using the Cricut Expression 2 from the internal cartridge Cricut Decals (pg 33 sports II). I used Bazzill basics paper in white and pink. The star power stamp is from my stash.


La-Vie

Cricut Circle Weekly Challenge #25

To enter this contest I had to make a creation with my Cricut Imagine machine with at least 2 cuts. I decided to make a baby card for my friend who recently had her third child, a baby girl (her others are boys) so I wanted to make something special.

I started with a glitter cardstock base made by Craft n Craftin' (GCS008 Ocean Blue 12x12). Using Bazzil white cardstock and Cricut Imagine Cartridge - Nursery Tails, I printed and cut the main image twice (once as a complete image and once as layers). Therefore, this card includes 5 cuts. I inked the edges of the white portion of the card and the butterflies adn dragonfly to make them stand out more.

As you can see in the second picture, I used foam adhesive to create different heights with the butterflies and dragonfly. I heat embossed each butterfly with clear embossing powder to give it some shine. I used my versamark pen to allow the embossing powder to stick and then heated it with a heat gun. Finally, I used smooch top coat to highlight the remaining smaller butterflies and added 2 colors of stickles to accent the message. No card is complete without ribbon so I added some at the bottom and attached it behind the bow with zots small glue dots. While the top 2 pictures are the stickles wet, The last picture shows the glitter glue (stickles) when it is dried.

Wish me luck! I haven't won any challenges yet but the winners are randomly selected so it's anyone's chance!

La-Vie

Diaper Cake

On the day of my sister-in-law's babyshower, my 5 year old daughter and I made this diaper cake. I watched several youtube videos on the subject and got to work. We used a half case of size 3 huggies little movers diapers. My son had grown out of them and I wasn't sure what to do with them.

My daughter rolled all of the diapers and I tied gift curling ribbon around the middle. The trick is to roll the diaper tight and to hide the picture and name of the diapers. The curling ribbon used to hold the diapers is concealed under the brown ribbon. Rubber bands work well too.

The base of the cake has an inside layer of a few diapers that are lined up and tied with the curling ribbon. Then an outer layer was created around that. The next layer has one fewer layer and the top layer only have one set of diapers. I used my cricut imagine to print and cut the cake topper. I used the nursery tails cartridge and I printed a mirror image so that it would match up on both sides. I sandwiched a popsicle stick inbetween and stuck it into the one diaper that makes the top tier of the cake.

To finish it off, I wrapped the cake in ribbon and printed two each of the animals to match the thank you cards I created. Inking the edges helps the images to stand out. I made the larger animals for the bottom of the cake and made the smaller ones for higher up on the cake.

For the base, I used 3 scallop circles layered to make a big enough space to support the entire cake. It came out beautifully for a first try. Everyone thought it was a real cake and kept asking if I needed help carrying it at the shower.

Here's the recipe:

• brown ribbon
• diapers
• popsicle stick
• thin curling ribbon
• 3 large scallop circles
• cricut carts - animal kingdom, new arrival, zooballoo - 2 of each: monkey cut at 5" & 4", giraffe at 5" & 5.9" & lion at 4" & 5"
• imagine cart - nursery tails
• googly eyes

Comments please???

La-Vie

Baby Card using Cricut Imagine - Nursery Tails

It's been a while since I posted to my blog, but I have been crafting for pay! Yes, my first job as a paid professional! Yeah! Now that that's done, I am back to share more of my projects with you.

I'm spending some time over the next week on baby items I have made. Here is a baby card I made for someone who had her first child recently. I used my cricut imagine machine to print and cut these images. One of my new tricks is using curling ribbon (used for gifts usually) because it's inexpensive, available in a lot of colors and patterns. The only drawback is that it cannot be tied into bows. So I added a bow from a scrap of ribbon from my stash. All the shapes, colors and patterns were included as a part of the imagine machine and nursery tails cartridge. For the inside of the card I used a decorative scissors and another imagine cut. The stamps on the outside and inside are from stampin' up.

Happy Crafting!

La-Vie