Stylish Blogger Award!

Wow!  I am so surprised and honored yet again to have received another award!  A huge thank you to Joann at JLopez Designs for this award!!  For this award, you are asked to thank the person who gave you the award, tell 7 things about yourself, and pass the award on to 15 other deserving bloggers.

7 things about me:
1. I love shopping
2. I love sweets - anything and everything!!
3. I love peanut butter - especially with apples or chocolate
4. I am not a girlie girl - not many skirts in my closet!
5. My favorite color is blue - all shades!
6. I am a reality TV junkie
7. My sweetie and I have a dog and a cat - that unfortunately don't get along quite as well as he and I do....

Deserving bloggers that I'd like to pass this award on to:
Wendy  http://scrappydownunder.blogspot.com/
Sarah  http://sarahscraftsandstuff.blogspot.com/
Barb  http://barbshobbyhighlights.blogspot.com/
Diane   http://dianesplacetowaste.blogspot.com/
Steph   http://www.charmingpapercrafts.blogspot.com/
Annie   http://creativeunwinding.blogspot.com/
Suzanne   http://suzannekistler.blogspot.com/
Julie   http://livelaughlove2scrap.blogspot.com/
Coley   http://www.coleyscraftcorner.blogspot.com/
Jennifer   http://lambcreations.blogspot.com/
Brenda   http://teach4u-teach4u.blogspot.com/
Misha   http://madebymisha.blogspot.com/
Katie   http://katiepotatiewikipotatodong.blogspot.com/
Karla   http://kreativekarla.blogspot.com/
Kelly   http://kellyskardz.blogspot.com/

Thanks again Joann!!

CTO Challenge #10

This week the challenge over at Celebrate the Occasion is Birthday and you must follow the sketch.  I have never followed a sketch before and quickly found this to be quite a challenge!  I really enjoyed it though and think I need to follow sketches more often!!  Here is my creation.  Thanks for stopping by to check it out!

Recipe:
Cardstock from my scrap stash - mostly Recollections, some Bazzill
Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Candle from Birthday Bash cut at 2 1/2 inches
Ribbon from Pebbles
Sentiment from Inkadinkado
Stickles

Easter Bunny

Easter is this Sunday already, and I needed to make a few Easter cards.  This card will also work for a couple of challenges, which is always fun!  Over at Fantabulous Cricut, the challenge is to create a project with a bunny or a chick.  The theme for the Wacky Wednesday Challenge over at More Than Favors is Easter.  I decided to make a z-fold card with the cute bunny from Create a Critter.  Here is my creation - thanks for stopping by to take a look!

Recipe:
Solid Cardstock from Bazzill and Recollections
Patterned Cardstock from DCWV
Bunny from Create a Critter cut at 3 1/2 inches
Eggs cut from Doodlecharms at 1 inch
Grass from Plantin Schoolbook (used my Gypsy to size it appropriately)
Sentiment from My Pink Stamper's 'Happiest Moments' set
Stickles

Happy Birthday Honey!

Today is my sweetie's birthday and this is the card I made for him.  I know it's not a 'typical' birthday card, but it's very fitting for him.  My sweetie's hobby is brewing beer.  I'm not a beer drinker, so I can't really say if his beer is good.  However friends and family say it is and keep asking for more so it must be!!  This card was also my first attempt at a welded card.  I got the beer mug image from Smiley Cards and hid contours on my Gypsy.  I also cut out the main image 2 extra times - once in a yellowish-brown color to represent the beer, and again in vellum to lay over the beer layer in an attempt to make it look more like it was in a mug.  I aded some jewels to represent the bubbles in the beer and added swirls to the foam on top.  The 'Cheers' wording is the Phrase layer of the mug.  Hope he likes it!

Recipe:
Cardstock from Bazzill and Recollections
Mug welded and cut from Smiley Cards at 5 inches
Phrase cut at 3/4 inch
Tim Holtz Swirls embossing folder
Jewels and Stickles

Cupcake Gift Tag

Tomorrow is my sweetie's birthday.  This was a quick and easy tag that I made to put on his birthday present.  I got the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge with the Gypsy update last fall but haven't used it yet, so I was excited to check it out.  I haven't made many tags and think I need to start making more for gifts that I give.  They can add so much to the present and really don't take too much time!

Recipe:
Cardstock from Bazzill and Recollections in my scrap stash
Tag from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cut at 3 1/2 inches
Cupcake from Wrap It Up cut at 2 1/4 inches
Sentiment from Hero Arts 'Cupcakes' set
Ribbon from American Crafts
Stickles of course!

Baby Book

The baby book I have been working on for the past month or so is finally complete!!  I had so much fun working on it and want to share a few pictures of some of the pages.  I got the idea for this book from Missy over at Quick Chick Designs.  The first page of the book has the baby's name, room for a couple pictures and a spot for the parents to enter the birth info (date, length, weight, etc).  Then I created 2 page layouts for Expecting, Arrival, Going Home, Family, Furry Friends and Bath Time.  Those pages are followed by 2 page calendar layouts, with the calendar on the left so the parents can write any events they want to document, and an almost blank page on the right so they can add pictures (I couldn't resist adding a Cricut image to those pages!).  The last 2 pages in the book is for the baby's first birthday.  I am so excited to give our friends this book!

Here is an example of the 2 page calendar layout for May.  All the other months follow this same basic design, with a couple of images decorating the calendar page and another image in the lower corner of the picture page.

Here are some of my favorite months (it was hard to pick just a few!).

And finally a close up of the Baby Bunny I put on the April picture page.  That image is just so darn cute I couldn't resist posting this pic!!

What a fun project!!  Thanks for stopping by to look!

Baby Boy!

Our neighbors are expecting their second child any day now - a little boy.  I have been having so much fun making baby cards and a baby scrapbook for good friends of ours.  They just had a little girl and I must admit, I was a bit stumped on what to do for a little boy.  Apparently I have just as hard a time making cards for baby boys as I do for grown men!!  Over at Scrappy Moms Stamps, the Tuesday challenge is New Arrival.  Perfect for me since I need to get a card made for our neighbors!  Here's what I came up with - thanks for stopping by to take a look!

Recipe:
Cardstock from DCWV and Bazzill
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder
Onesie cut from New Arrival at 3 1/2 inches
Ribbon from Making Memories
Sentiment from 'Sweet Baby' by My Pink Stamper
Jewels, pop dots and stickles

CTO Happy Easter!

This week over at Celebrate the Occasion, the challenge is to create something for Easter or Spring and you must use a punch.  Well, I just got the Martha Stewart 'scallop 3-dot' Punch Around the Page, so I was excited to try it out, and how could I pass up making an Easter card when there are so many cute Cricut images to choose from?!?  I decided to make a 5 1/2 inch square card so that the punched layer would fit nicely on top.  Here is my creation.  Thanks for taking a look!

Recipe:
Cardstock from Bazzill and Recollections from my scrap stash
Scallop 3-dot Punch Around the Page
Chick in Egg cut from Simply Charmed at 3 inches
Sentiment from 'Happiest Moments' by My Pink Stamper
Googly eyes, pop dots and stickles

Happy Birthday Future FIL!

Today is my future father-in-law's birthday.  My sweetie's family has 'taco night' almost every Saturday.  Most of the family lives within about 10 miles of each other and my future father-in-law is one of 8 kids, so there can be a pretty big crowd for tacos.  My sweetie and I decided to host taco night in honor of his dad's birthday.  We invited a few other close family friends and are now expecting almost 40 people this evening!  12 pounds of ground beef, over 200 taco shells, all the sides - we think we have enough food!  As I've mentioned before, I have a hard time making cards for men.  I think I finally succeeded in not making this one too girly!

Recipe:
Solid cardstock from Bazzill and Recollections
Patterned cardstock from DCWV
Ribbon from KI Memories
Balloons cut from Birthday Bash at 4 3/4 inches

ISU-MU Football Game Layout

I am an Iowa State Cyclone and my sweetie is a Missouri Tigers fan.  This rivalry has been hard on me because the last few years the Tigers have had better football and basketball teams than the Cyclones.  We still enjoy the games and I wear my Cyclone gear with pride on game days.  Last fall we went up to Ames for the ISU-MU football game.  We had a great time with great friends - though I do have to say it was pretty cold!!  I had fun with these pages, combining paper with our school logos, football paper and the football player image and some of its accessories from the Everyday Paper Dolls Cartridge.

Recipe:
Solid cardstock from Recollections
Football patterned cardstock from my stash
Team logo patterned cardstock from Sports Solution
Football ribbon from the dollar bin at JoAnn's
Title font and shadow cut from Birthday Bash at 2 1/2 inches
Small 'M' on football player's jersey cut from Birthday Bash at 3/4 inch
Football player, goalpost and footballs cut from Everyday Paper Dolls at 6 inches
White Sakura gel pen and white chalk on footballs

Blog Awards!

Wow!  I am so surprised and so honored to have received 2 blog awards this week!!

The first award I received is The Versatile Blogger Award.

The rules for this award are:
1. Thank the person who sent it to you
2. Tell 7 things about yourself
3. Send this to 15 bloggers

So first, a huge 'thank you' to Sandra at 365 Days of Cricut!! 

7 things about me:
1. I work in IT.
2. I run and have a goal of running a marathon in all 50 states
3. I am engaged to a wonderful man and we are going to be married next January
4. I love elephants.
5. I enjoy all kinds of puzzles.
6. I hate snakes!
7. I used to be a golf teaching professional.

The bloggers I'd like to pass this award on to:
Kelly http://kellysmemorycraft.blogspot.com/
Kate http://sassyandscrappykate.blogspot.com/
Heather http://heathersthisnthat.blogspot.com/
Valerie http://bestisyet2be.blogspot.com/
Jamie http://craftygirl21.blogspot.com/
Maricela http://scrapbookingrocks2011.blogspot.com/
Vicki http://paperandprims.blogspot.com/
Michelle http://scrappinforkenzie.blogspot.com/
Vero http://mommyscraftycreations.blogspot.com/
Barb http://barbshobbyhighlights.blogspot.com/
Lauren http://scrappinwithlala.blogspot.com/
Peggy Sue http://icrea8cards.blogspot.com/
L.B. http://coolbeansbylb.blogspot.com/
Mary http://kraftingmama.blogspot.com/

The second award I was so honored to receive is the Liebster Blog Award. 

The rules for this award are to thank the person that sent it to you, and then to pass it on to 3-5 more bloggers.

So a big 'thank you' to Missy at Quick Chick Designs!!

I'd like to pass this award on to:
Connie http://createdbyconnie.blogspot.com/
Suzy http://scrappinsuzy.blogspot.com/
Anna http://adorableannagrams.blogspot.com/

Thanks again to Sandra and Missy!!