Happy Bear Day with the Cricut:)

First, I wanted to show off the invitation that I made. The "You're Invited" is cut from Old West. The Bear is drawn with the cricut black markers and is cut from Christmas Solutions (one of the freebie gyspy downloads last fall). The grass is layers of the drippy glue border punch from MS. I was proud of the cards. I just wish I would have delivered them all. (I made them on Saturday, forgot to bring them to church on Sunday and woke up Monday with Strep. Then the next Sunday, none of his friends were at church. I emailed the Mother's that I have email addys for and delivered one.)
The Happy Bear Day sign was made from Storybook, cut at 5 inches. I used my gypsy and used the layer feature for 3 layers to make sure that I got each letter and every third color followed the yellow, blue, green pattern. The Polar Bear is from Animal Kingdom and drawn with a blue marker. I've had those markers for years and only recently have I developed a love for them. Right now I'm crazy about them and cant wait to get my hands on the cri-kits, but that's to wait until my own UWYH challenge.
I used the same polar bear for the pin the heart on the bear. This was based on putting the heart in the bear at Build A Bear Workshop. I used my 12x24 mat and drew the bear on 2 pieces of white paper. Then I used the hide contour feature (my favorite feature) and hid all the inner lines to give my cut a little more strength). Then I adhered it to the DCDW All about Boys paper. (PS, I love that stack and I highly recommend a UWUH -use what you have- challenge). This paper was perfect for my project and far to busy to use on my scrapbook projects. I cut out a heart on the bear and put in a heart on the bear like a puzzle. Then I used the encaps feature on Plantin Schoolbook to make the hearts with the numbers in them.
Next the kids did a relay to dress the bears. I cut out 2 paper dolls at 11.50 inches. I used my handy dandy marker to draw out two bear faces from Toy Story and glued them right over the face. One bear was a basketball player and one was a baseball player. Nathan played T-ball and loves basketball, so they were coined after his 2 favorite sports. The basketball jersey wears the number 6 in honor of his 6th birthday. (PS, after the party we went to Build A Bear and he did get his bear a basketball uniform.)
The last cricut project I did for the party was "Musical Bears". I downloaded a wonderful MP3 Album off walmart.com called "Teddy Bear's Picnic" and had several diecuts of bears from A Child's Year and Christmas and did a standing version of Musical Chairs.
I think Nathan and his friends had a good time at Nathan's Bear Day party, at least I hope so:)
Happy Crafting!

Father's Day Card

Here is a card that I made for Father's Day. I made it 4.5 inches by 5.5 inches. The blue base is from A Child's Year, then I adhered white vellum behind it. The phrase is from Holiday Cakes. I made 2 of those, one in green and the other is leftover Little Yellow Bicycle (so cute!) and embossed the trimmed green layer to speak to the base layer:)

Enjoy:)

Chore Chart (Joke's on Me)

Growing up, I was notorious for hating our family chore chart. Yes, I was that child. I resented it and hated doing the dishes with a passion. I would usually spend 3 hours doing them because I was so passive agressive. (Really, who was I punishing?) However, the wisdom of my has dawned on me of having a chore chart. I've always had the boys do some chores, but I've come to really understand that I'm not doing them (or future roomates/spouses) any favors by letting them have free time when there's work to do. So, Thank You Dad, Mom, Ap and Bear for putting up with me for 18 years. Em, I love you and miss you and everyone dearly.



FYI I purposefully left in our "daily routine" schedule, to add more laughs for my family. Me, who doesn't like to be too burdened with schedules or routines has adapted. I've learned that without schedules and routines, it is true chaos here and causes misery for my family, especially one of my childern, therefore I adapt. I also have a morning routine and an evening routine. Those are laminated and hung outside the boys' room.

French Manor Funny

Ok, maybe I'm about to prove what a real nerd I am, but here goes.

To me, this is really funny:

Page 42



Page 70


Check out "Card 1", they are identical.

French Manor + Story Book = a lot of projects coming up

I made this quick simple card for my son's lunch today. I simply used one of the cards on French Manor and Welded his name into it with Story Book and then put a piece of green paper behind. Voila! I love it. He was pretty excited to have a neat surprise in his lunch...Apperently, however, his teacher made him throw it away and he was upset about it.

Anyway, the card is 4.35 inches tall and I just sized the letters to fit across. So, if I did a longer name, such as my son Nathan, they would have to be shorter letters or have to use the tall setting for the letters...Using the contrasting cardstock behind helped give the center letters a little more strength.



I think that these two carts compliment each other nicely:)

Howdy Pardner!

This is my belated post for the previous week challenge on the cricut circle blog:




The card base is from Smiley Cards and the rest of the cuts are from Old West. The theme of the contest was Appreciation and we were to make a money or gift holder item. :)

Happy Crafting:)

Thank You Barn Card

This is a fun card I made as a Thank You for the Elementary School Music Teacher in honor of the wonderful performance she put together for my son's grade. They had a barn and animal theme and the kids did a great job.

I did my take on a gate card. I did a similar card to this recently, but wanted to give it some more detail. I welded the words "Thank You" to one side of the fence, then adhered the layer onto them. Welding the letters helped both place them more evenly and made them much easier to glue.



I thought this little tractor was just so cute. I think it was from Everyday Paper Dolls, but am no longer certain.


I used my swiss dots CB embossing folder for the white layers. I think it gave it just the right touch. I also used a white gel pen to give some additional details. I love how the barn doors open on this card for a small message:)

Enjoy and Happy Crafting:)

:)

I am so pleased to have been discovered by Carolyn, my friend from the Cricut Circle and have been reconized on her blog:) Thank you for noticing my little crafty blog:)
Here is her address: http://cccscraproom.blogspot.com/ She has a lot of fun things on her blog:)

Some blogs that I have recently discovered:
Carolyn: http://cccscraproom.blogspot.com/
Alex: http://www.youhadmeatcraft.com/
Brittany: http://curlylocdiva.blogspot.com/
Kerri: http://caresofkerri.blogspot.com/
Lori: http://scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com/
ScootinGranny: http://scootingrannysworld.blogspot.com/


*** 8 things about me ***
1:) I always knew that I wanted to grow up to be a wife and mother and artist. I feel like scrapbooking and cardmaking is my artistic outlet and I am grateful that I am a mother. Being a mother is the most wonderful and difficult role. I think motherhood is a divine role to play on this earth, roles being played by people who have thier own children and wonderful inpsired ladies who are mothers to others' children.

2:) Until Saturday, I was the proud owner of an old classic VW bug. I loved my car, but it was time to sell it. I'm thrilled that it is going to a home where the new owner is extremely excited and the bug will have 2 new siblings: a bus and a ghia. Eventually, it will get a change of clothing: red to OK cowboy orange and cream.

3:) I grew up in Midland, Mi. I miss my town, but do not miss 9 months of cold. Midland is a wonderful town full of parks and converted an old railway line into a fitness path called the RailTrail. I spent many hours cycling on it, rollar blading and running.

4:) My plans for this year involve reading, crafting, cycling and learning more about Asperger's syndrome.

5:) I've lived in my town in OK for about a year and a half. One of my favorite places is the Library. Because I am near OKC, the small library here is part of the Metropolitan Library System and I can order books online from anywhere in their network and pick it up here. When my boys were little and we lived elsewhere, they were horrid at the library. Now they love to come and feel the bag (or bags) stuffed full of books.

6:) I have 3 sisters and my parents. We are all very close, except my little sister lives the UK. I dont get to communicate with her very often unless she happens to call. I wish all of us lived closer together.

7:) I have 3 sons and they are all 18 months apart. That is the way God sent them to me, not exactly how I would have planned it. However, they are such nice little guys and I love them so much. They are just now getting to where they will play outside with out me worrying so much about them doing something hiddeous and its making my life a lot easier. Now that my youngest is 4, I'm getting to where I feel like I can breath and can mostly use the bathroom without company.

8:) I want to win the lottery, but am too cheap to purchase a lotto ticket. Until then, I will be a couponista. I love to get a good deal. My lastest good deal that I'm going to score this week? I have a CVS coupon for $5 off claritin, a manf. coupon for $5 off claritin and just printed of a CVS coupon for $5 off a purchase of $25 or more. Yes, I'm going to rock CVS once again and that is why I keep coming back...


Thanks for reading:) Happy Crafting and have a wonderful day:)
Katie

Disney Pop Up Card

I am so excited about the concept of this card. Yes, in the grand scheme of things, it is pretty simple. However, I see this as practice of what to come and a start of a new idea. Recently, I hosted a family email contest of Disney Trivia. The winning family, my sister and her group, won. Their prize is a custom disney card. Yes, it did turn out more simply than I wanted, but I'm new to cardmaking and I think its ok to come up with an idea and re-make it and tweak it as I go along. I also know that I have a short attention span sometimes too...Maybe next time I will make the platform look more like a drawbridge with some thin ribbon supporting it and more details on the ground...

The castle is from PDDU, cut at 6 inches. I actually used a tag from ACY for the platform. The strips of paper used to create the pop-ups are from me and of course, Mickey and Minnie are from Mickey and Friends. I did something new this time with them: this is the first time I've ever used the gel pen for the white layers. I still cut the face layer and used stickles instead of piecing the other layers. They are only cut at 3 inches and some of those pieces are ridulosly small at larger cuts...I'm not thrilled with how it turned out, but I'm not sad either. Its just ok. Its a little easier than paper piecing, but it also takes a long time to dry...

Here is a view of how it folds together. Having to items to pop-up was a little tricky for me, especially since I've never done anything pop up before. However, I figured it out and it works. The girls are at the front of the card with their picture facing up. Mickey and Minnie are closer to the crease of the card and lay face down.



Now you can see a side view:


Here is my stickled version of Mickey and Minnie:


The total card: The castle doors really do open with a special message that says "Aunt Katie loves you".


Thanks for looking;) This project has got me fueled for some really great ideas:)

Me in my "crafting space"

This is me working on a Mickey and Friends cut tonight. My 5 year old son took this picture:) My crafting space is literally on the floor in our living area. I have a small bookshelf with supplies, my scrapbook bag, a pile of paper stacks with here and there stuff in it and a storage bench that houses my cricut, gypsy and sizzix machine. All of my other goodies are in my son's room on a shelf, paper organizer and in the closet...I'm doing the best I can in a small home. All of my sewing stuff lives in the garage...However, I like working on the floor. I can spread out if the kids aren't around.




Pics of my Mickey Project coming soon. I am excited about this one:)

Mother's Day Cards

These were inspired by Vicki on the One Hour Challenge. She made the most adorable geranium cards in a flowerpot with a note coming out of the top. This is my take on it. I used the picnic basket on Everyday Paper Dolls and welded 2 together. The second one is rotated 180 degrees, and the two baskets are welded at the bottoms. The card then folds down, rather than up like a traditonal card. The flowers are also welded on and they are from Plantin Schoolbook, as are the leaves. The paper is from My Mind's Eye:) The tag is cut with my sizzix.

May Calendar Page

I had fun making this page. This was my promise to my sons that we would in fact do camping soon. Last year we were so excited to do it and it was too hot or windy or rainy...We will be camping this year:) I used ACY tags welded together to make the zig zag square and campout for the tent.

Happy Crafting!

Cad-nt-bury our Appreciation (x-post)

I accidently posted this on my family blog (oops), but ment to share it here. Just a simple fun project.

These are the cute little teacher appreciation gifts my son took to his teachers today. I hand wrote the sentiment with "We cad-nt-bury our appreciation for you" on each tag...I just hope they like cadbury milk chocolate bars:)

I actually didn't used my cricut at all for this project. That is a bit unusual for me, but nevertheless, I'm sharing because this was such a fast project. I had a CVS coupon for the chocoate bars, buy 1 get 1 free. Then, I used some scrappaper, leftover from my Caramel Corn project, and cut it at 6 inches wide. Ideally, I would have cut it wider, but I was using scrappaper (My Mind's Eye). I wanted to use the same paper for each project, so I cut it to 6 inches long. It wasn't quite long enough on the back, but I didn't think it mattered and taped it. I also used on of my MS around the page punches to give the left side some interest. I had some scrapribbon for the tag.
Speaking of the tag, once upon a time I used my sizzix machine and tag dies and cut up all my scrappaper into tags and embossed them. This has been a big asset to me. I always have a plethera of tags on hand for a quick label, gift or what-knot. I
I used a Mickey Mouse punch with some of the same scrappaper to give the tag a little bit of interst.
:) I hope you enjoyed my project. I've spent more time typing about it than actually doing it:)

Carmel Corn Recipe and Page

This is my mother's recipe. I truly love it and am pleased to share it:

Carmel Corn

1 Cup Butter
2 Cups Brown Sugar
½ Cup Corn Syrup
1 tsp Salt
½ tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Vanilla
6 quarts popped popcorn

Melt Butter, stir in brown sugar, syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring. Then boil 5 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat, stir in soda, and vanilla. It will foam. Pour over popped corn and mix well. Turn into a shallow baking pan. Bake in 250 degree oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove, cool and break apart.

Birthday Scrapbook page for a Girl!!!

I was soo going to enter the E2 contest from Provo Craft, but only completed this one page...I used B is for Boy, A Child's Year and Birthday Cakes:)

Enjoy:)

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner Card

This is a card I made for my Dad. I had a silly email contest and he was the winner:) I've been wanting to make a card similar to the style of the cards on exclusive cart on the E2 and this is my attempt. All of the cuts I used were from Old West, except for the little chicken inside the card. She is from Everyday PaperDolls (cut at 1.5 inches). The barn was cut at 5 inches and I welded a fence to either side of it. Then I similiply assembled the barn with the red and white layers and embellished them with my white gel pen and a fine tipped black scrapbooking pen. I just glued the white layer onto the fence. (which was 2 inches). There is another layer available for the fence posts, but I thought with the phrase it would just be too much.



I cut "Winner Winner" with the flourish style letters at 1 inch.



The rope style letters (which I adore and my first time using them) are also cut at one inch.

My message, written after I took the pics, was written in a white gel pen on the backside of the fence.



I hope you enjoyed my card:) Happy Crafting:)
Katie

One hour challenge Recipe: Ginger Soy Lime Marinated Shrimp

Ginger-Soy-Lime Marinated Shrimp

2 Large Shallots, peeled and chopped
1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, smashed
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup peanut oil
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 pounds large shrimp, shells and tails on

Place shallots, ginger, garlic, soy, lime juice and sugar* in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the green onion and oil and blend until combined. Season with black pepper to taste. Place shrimp in a large bowl, pour the marinade over, and let marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes. Preheat a grill to high. Remove shrimp from the marinade and grill for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side. Serve on brown bags, if desired.

* I used a TBSP of sugar. I also used an electric griddle and it turned out well. Next time, I might put the shrimp on skewers to make turning them easier.

Butterfly Card with Seranade

I finally used my serenade cart! I think that was the last physical cart that I own that I haven't yet used, but that's not the reason that I picked this cart for this project. A member on the circle board posted about a family friend that has just been through (going through, I should say) a sad tragedy. The son/husband/father had served several tours in Afganistan and surrounding areas and was killed. So terrible and he left behind some little boys who are about the same ages as some as my gang. I wanted to make a card of a butterfly because I think butterfly's are a symbol of peace and hope. I did it in red, white and blue. While I was coming into my decision on the card design, my dear online frind Kathy also had a death in the family. Her mother, so sad. My mom and I are extremely close and I will be devestated when its her turn to return home. Anyway, because the colors of my card are more suttle, not screaming "PATROTIC", I made a duplicate card today for Kathy, but personalized it.


I used my Gypsy for this project. I welded 2 butterflies at 3 inches on White Cardstock. Then I cut out the identical butterfly base alone on a creamier white and adhered it to the folded card. I used both wet glue on the antenne and body and my GGP on the wings. Then I put the blue body on and the red layers.

I was thinking of putting a shadow on the back to give it a little more OOMFF and stability, but then I realized that it would be difficult to open...

New Friend Blog Fun:)
I got a comment on my last blog post leading me to Andi's fun blog:
http://sparkymom76.blogspot.com/ and I'm delighted with her fun blog. She has 3 boys about the same age as my own "wildboyz". My own sons are 7,5.5 and 4. They are all 18 months apart. Mom life is sometimes a crazy time, but I dearly love my boys. Anyway, please check out Andi's fun creations. She just won a stylish blogger award and linked me as a newfound blog:) She shared 7 fun facts about herself and I will do the same:

1. My family is my life.
2. I run and bike and have done to USA Triathalon Association sanctioned Duathalons (run (5K), bike (about 15 miles), run (5K). Tons of fun and last time I ran as an athena (over 150 lbs (I was 153)) and got 3rd place in that group.
3. This year, I dont think I'm going to do a duathalon, but hope to make it up to Cincinatti to visit my dad while he's on a work location and we hope to do a century ride: 100 miles in 1 day.
4. I need to get my booty cycling to be prepared for #3. (lol)
5. I enjoy sewing, but have zero desire to sew clothes for my sons at this point. So, I do about 1 or 2 sewing projects a year. I would like to do quilting, but that takes up so much room that that hobby is on hold.
6. I love Strawberry Shortcake and my strawberry themed kitchen.
7. I'm a clutterbug that loves organization...

I hope to have some more scrappy stuff to post soon. The last few projects I've posted have been really simple. I will post something more sophisticated soon...

Happy Crafting:)

Tuesday 3/22 1 Hour Challenge: Manhatten Clam Chowder

The patterned paper is basic gray, the cauldron is October 31, cut at 3 inches and the "steam" is from Holiday Cakes.

This is one of my very favorite recipes:)

New Challenge: St. Patty's Day

I was scanning this in, literally, right at the last minute. Unfortunatly, I was a hair too late, but thought I'd post anyway. The paper is core d'nations (the best CS ever), the hat is from ACY and the other die cut is from Old West:)

Happy St. Patricks Day:)

The poem is from www.oopsey-daisy.blogspot.com. My friend Alison does the most amazing projects:)

CC Weekly Challenge: Man Week

The challenge was to pick out 3 elements from the provided list and use them on a page. I chose twine (the net), paint and stars.

I really like the concept of this page: using my bruce picture with all 4 of my guys in it literally exploding through a sunken ship. I truly think its unique and brilliant. However, I feel like this page is incomplete. I The only ideas I have is to add a title to the net, or a big red arrow (or 3) to add emphasis to the actual picture and some funny journaling, on the strips. All I know is that I've filled the requirements for the challenge, so I'm posting, but I'm not quite ready to put this one away...
One other thing I did on this LO, that I've never done before, is sand my core'dnations paper. I did the boat (cut from Going Places) in an up and down sanding to distress it to look worn down and I did the water in a round, flowing pattern to look more believable. My son was a little hysterical with the noise of it, but I like the result. I used paint to make the shark burst.

Well, if anyone happens to read this and has any wonderful ideas to make this page fabulous, I'd love to hear them:)
Happy crafting!

Wall-E

I'm posting this to share with someone on the cricut MB who is trying to make Wall-E. I'll admit that even at 11 inches, he was a little tough to piece together. Sometimes those details are just so tiny on the characters. I haven't completed the page yet, still need to add the title...Maybe that would be a good project for tonight...

Cookie Tips: Tuesday recipe 1 hour challenge

I was so excited to buy the Sesame Street Friends Cartridge from my friend Brittany yesterday that I made this cute cookie monster last night. He is cut at 6.5 inches:)I think the background paper is Little Yellow Bicycle.

April Calendar Page

I'm a little bit in love with that cute little bird on with the umberella, so I couldn't resist using him one more time. This time, I used different papers and used a green to match the umbrella, unstead of yellow (thanks to the hide contour feature). I also made the boots a different pattern then the umbrella. The wording at the top is from Holiday Cakes:)

In April, I will add in a couple small cropped pics...:)

Have a great weekend:)

Fairy Tale character LO and Calendar page

I'm so excited. I just bought a blank calendar at Hobby Lobby and started a scrapbook calendar. I did a couple when Jeffery was a baby, but the challenge of having 3 babies took its toll on me and I felt like it was too much pressure. However, my youngest baby is now 4 and is a big boy and I can breathe! It happened all the sudden and I can get scrappy stuff accomplished. I like having a personal scrapbook calendar and even though this isn't a "designer page" its personal to me. I just cant wait to have my Mom come next week and have a picture of her with my boys on St. Patty's day:)
The patterened paper is from my DCDW "All about boys" stack, Almost all the other paper is from Core D'nations, my new favorite paper product. Seriously, it cuts like butter and I'm thrilled.
Die cut details: the rainbow is my first experiment with toggeling with shapes with my gypsy. The circles are from Dinosaur tracks (the tags). The Shamrocks are from A Child's Year. The Leperchaun and the Pot O'gold are from PDDU and "March" is from Old West. (PS I just ordered Designer's Calendar last night off the rewards site. I dont expect it anytime soon, but I've had my eye on it for a few years and finally ordered it:))I used my swiss dots embossing folder on "March".

Have a crafty, fun week:)

Cricut's newest cardmaker

I made two identical cards with 3 birds on parade, but at 5 inches and the card base is from Smiley Cards, but around 5.9 inches:) I embossed the rain drops and white background with the Swiss Dots Embossing folder and the grass is my drippy goo punch from Martha Stewart.

I am new to card making, but am going to put forth effort to become better at it:)

Recipe LO for Golden Sweet Cornbread

I made this layout for the Tuesday 1 hour challenge on the cricut message board. I recently discovered an amazing recipe for cornbread on www.allrecipes.com. I use melted butter in the place of vegetable oil. This recipe,as is, is very sweet. On allrecipes.com, there are many alterations to the origional recipe to fit specific tastes. I like it sweet with both butter and honey.



The Sunshine paper is from the Paper Patch. Pocahotas is cut with my cricut and the leaf is from a bug's life on the Best of Pixar Cartridge.
:)
Have a crafty day:)
Katie