MCS #57

Happy Friday Eve!  This week over at My Craft Spot, the challenge is Buttons and Bows - include buttons and bows on your project.  I was in need of a card for my step-niece whose birthday is next week and I got the Yummy Imagine cartridge not too long ago, so I decided to pull it out and see what I could find.  As I was flipping through the handbook I saw this image with a swirl on it that looked like a letter C.  Since her first name starts with a C, I thought it was perfect.  The pattern paper is printed from the Yummy cartridge as well.

I decided to make an easel card and put the cupcake on an action wobble, then I added a few bows and buttons.  I love how quickly a card can come together when I use my Imagine!  I have to admit though.....when I saw this image and as I was putting the card together, I thought it was a cupcake.  Now I look closer at it, and I wonder if it's supposed to be a candy....  hmmm.....  Think it will pass for a cupcake??  One with no icing anyway??  LOL!!  Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

Recipe:
Solid cardstock from Bazzill and Recollections
Pattern cardstock printed from Yummy
Cupcake from Yummy cut at 3 inches
Sentiment from Hero Arts Cupcakes set
Crinkle ribbon
Twine from American Crafts
Buttons from my stash

CTO #64

Good evening everyone!  I hope you are all having a great week so far.  I can't believe June is nearly here!!

The card I have to share tonight is one I made for my sweetie's best friend's daughter.  She's celebrating her 10th birthday.  She is into zebra print these days, and I knew I had some zebra print paper in my stash.  I decided to go with a zebra as well - I think the image of the zebra in the car from the Paisley cartridge is so cute.  This is what I came up with for her card.  I'm going to enter this in the challenge over at Celebrate the Occasion.  The challenge this week is Anything Goes!  Thanks for coming by to take a look!

Recipe:
Solid cardstock from Bazzill and Recollections
Patterned cardstock from DCWV
Zebra and car from Paisley cut at 3 inches
Twine from My Craft Spot
Rub-on sentiment
i-rock gems
Button from my stash
Black and white Sakura gel pens

Memorial Day Cupcakes

Good afternoon!  I hope you are all enjoying the holiday weekend!!

The past few years, my sweetie and I have been going to a Memorial Day celebration in town with his father and some other family and friends - basically whoever wants to join us!  It's a great event, with a performance by the symphony followed by a spectacular fireworks show.  We go down early to stake out a good spot on the grass hill and enjoy a picnic dinner during the show.  We're headed down there this afternoon and I decided to make some cupcakes for everyone.  My good friend Missy made pink lemonade cupcakes a few weeks ago and they sounded delicious - very summery, which I thought would be perfect for our picnic.  I printed out some flags from Enjoy the Seasons and cut off the bottom part of the flagpole.  Then I glued two images together with a toothpick in between so the flags would be decorated on both sides.

Thanks for coming by to take a look and I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Recipe:
Cake:
1 package white cake mix
1 small package vanilla instant pudding
3 Tbsp sweetened pink lemonade drink mix (like Country Time Pink Lemonade Mix)
2 tsp lemon zest
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup oil
4 egg whites
6 drops pink food coloring
Frosting:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
2 Tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla
zest from 1 lemon
2 pound package (7 1/2 cups) confectioners sugar
3 drops pink food coloring

1. In a large bowl, whisk cake mix, pudding mix and dry lemonade drink mix together.  Add sour cream, lemon zest, water, oil and egg whites to the dry mix.  Beat with electric mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes.  Use a strong mixer - this batter is thick.  Mix in food coloring.

2. Scoop batter into 24 lined muffin tins.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until cupcakes don't look wet and a toothpick inserted in one comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely before frosting the cupcakes.

3. Prepare the frosting by creaming butter, shortening and lemon zest together.  Then add lemonade concentrate, milk and vanilla with a mixer.  Beat until smooth.  Gradually add the sugar, mixing well until light and fluffy.  Beat in the food coloring.

4. Pipe frosting onto the cakes.

Graduation Card

Happy Friday and start of Memorial Day weekend!  We have a lot planned for this weekend, and I'm looking forward to it all!

I had a bit of time this evening to get a card created.  One of my cousins is graduating from high school in a few weeks, so I went ahead and got a card made for her.  I decided to make a shaped card and used my Gypsy to weld two hats together.  Earlier today I saw a post  on the Cricut Circle blog about using twine to fill in shapes on your project.  I knew I wanted to decorate the tassel of the hat somehow, and I wanted it to be in my cousin's school colors (black and gold).  Well, when I saw that post this morning, I decided to give it a try.  It was very easy - I ran the tassel through my Xyron upside down, the put the twine on the adhesive, starting by going around the outside of the image and working my way in.  I like the dimension that it gave.

I'm going to submit this card into the challenges at Fantabulous Cricut and Celebrate the Occasion, both of which are hosting Graduation-themed challenges this week.  Thanks for coming by and have a fabulous weekend!

Recipe:
Graduation hat from Wrap It Up cut at 4.45 inches
Twine from My Craft Spot
Rub-on sentiment
Black and white Sakura gel pens
Glossy Accents

Die Cuttin Divas Challenge #66

Good evening!  I hope your week is going well.  I'm excited that tomorrow is Friday and that we have a three-day weekend ahead!

This week over at Die Cuttin Divas, their challenge is Buttons, Banners and/or Birthdays.  My birthday card stash is very low and I have a number of family and friends with birthdays in the next few months.  I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to start building up my stash again.  I got my inspiration for this card from Pinterest, which originally came from Courtney Lane Designs.  I tried to keep this card simple and guy-appropriate - always hard for me.....I think I did okay.  ;)

Thanks for coming by to take a look!

Recipe:
Solid cardstock from Bazzill
Patterned cardstock from DCWV
Banner shape from Birthday Bash cut at 3.7 x 5.0 inches
Frame shape from Elegant Edges cut at 2.75 and 2.5 inches
Rub-on sentiment
Ribbon from Pebbles, Inc.
Twine from American Crafts
Button from my stash
Black Sakura gel pen

Kopy Kat Challenge

Good evening!  This past week has gone by so fast!  I've been busy with things other than crafting, but lucky for me I've had a lot of outside activities lately and the weather around here has been wonderful.  I hope you're enjoying the weather as well!

I was introduced to the scrapbook-blogging world by my good friend Missy a little over a year ago, and I must say, I am so thankful!  I have learned new techniques, learned about new products, and most importantly I have been so inspired by all the creations I see out there in blog-land!!  This week over at Krafty Girls, they are honoring just that - being inspired by others.  The challenge is to create a project that is scraplifted from someone else that inspires you.

I saw this card on Pinterest and thought it was great.  I loved the layers, the loops, the bow....  I was definitely inspired and knew that one day I would create something similar.  Following the links from Pinterest I found Kassidy's blog and am so glad I did - so many more great projects full of inspiration!  Well, when I saw the Krafty Girls challenge this week I figured this was the perfect time to recreate Kassidy's card.  Here's my version - thanks for coming by to take a look!

Here's Kassidy's original:

Recipe:

Solid cardstock from Bazzill and Recollections

Patterned cardstock from The Paper Studio

Layer with loop border from Elegant Edges cut at 4.25 inches

Cupcake from Sweet Treats cut at 3 inches

Ribbon from Pebbles, Inc

Twine from American Crafts

Button from my stash

Rub on sentiment

Glitter

Black Sakura gel pen

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there!!  I hope you all have a wonderful day and are able to enjoy it the way you want to.  My mother moved to Arizona about 15 months ago, so we're not able to spend the day together.  I miss her a lot, but she's coming to visit in a few weeks and I'm really looking forward to that!!

The card I have to share today is the card I sent to my mother for Mother's Day.  I recently got the Flower Shoppe cartridge (as you can probably tell from some of my recent posts!!).  I wanted to use one of the flowers from that cartridge, and I also wanted to do something a little different than a standard A2 card.  I still kept it the A2 size, but instead used the gate fold.  I also used the same patterned paper on the inside of my card for a little something extra.

I'm going to enter this card into the challenge over at Celebrate the Occasion.  The challenge this week is Mother's Day.  Thanks for coming by!!

Recipe:
Solid cardstock from Bazzill and Recollections
Patterned cardstock from DCWV
Mum flower from Flower Shoppe cut at 2.5 and 2.25 inches
Leaves from Flower Shoppe cut at 1.7 inches
Swiss Dots and Polka Dots embossing folders
Sentiment from My Pink Stamper's Happiest Moments set
Pearl gem

Mother's Day Envelope

Happy Saturday!  I hope you're all having a great weekend.  Are you all ready for Mother's Day tomorrow?  Earlier this week I made a card for my sweetie's step-mother.  You can check it out HERE.  Because the flower has so much dimension to it, there's no way to fit it in a standard envelope.  My good friend Missy gave me the great idea of using a kraft bag instead.

I kept the decorations on this bag pretty simple and similar to the card.  I folded over the top of the bag, then used my Crop-a-Dile to punch holes and add eyelets to feed the ribbon through to keep the bag from tearing.  The possibilities are endless with these bags and I'm looking forward to using them some more!

Thanks for stopping by to take a look and have a wonderful weekend!

Recipe:
Kraft bag - 5.25x7.25 inches
Solid cardstock from Bazzill and Recollections
Patterned cardstock from my stash
'Fun' flower from Flower Shoppe cut at 1.75, 1.5, 1.25 and 1 inches
Twine from My Craft Spot
Crinkle ribbon
Pearl gems
Crop-a-Dile and eyelets

Half Marathon LO

Good evening!  I hope you are all having a fabulous week!  I've been busy at work, but have still managed to find some time to craft, so I can't complain!  Plus, the weather around here has been wonderful the past few days which is always a bonus!

The project I have to share tonight is a layout I created for a half marathon I ran last fall.  I keep all of my race bibs and try to print race results from the internet and think a scrapbook is a great way to keep track of races that I run.  Unfortunately I don't always have pictures of the race, so my layouts center around the race bib, results and finisher's medal.

I'm submitting this layout in the "Let's Get Moving!" challenge that Missy over at Quick Chick Designs is hosting in honor of National Scrapbook Day.  Thanks for coming by to take a look!

Recipe:
Solid cardstock from Recollections
Patterned cardstock from DCWV
Title from Lyrical Letters cut at 1.5 inches
Date from Lyrical Letters cut at 1.25 inches
Tag and shadow for journaling from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cut at 4.3 inches

FCCB Challenge #110 - Mother's Day

Good evening and Happy Tuesday!  My sweetie played in a golf tournament this afternoon, so I was able to get some craft-time in after work today.  It was much needed as I still needed to get a couple of cards done for Mother's Day so that I can get them in the mail.

The card I have to share this evening is the one I'm going to send to my Grandma.  I wanted to use my Imagine again and I saw this cute image in the Enjoy the Seasons handbook.  I love how quickly cards can come together when I use my Imagine!  I cut the image with all its layers so that I could pop up the flowers and banner to give the card a little more dimension.  The sentiment is one that has the three words stacked on top of each other, so I taped off the words and stamped them one at a time to get them to fit on the banner.  I added some pattern paper that I printed with my Imagine and voila - her card is complete.

I'm going to submit this card in the challenge over at Fantabulous Cricut.  The challenge this week is Mother's Day - make a project for your mother, grandmother, etc using her favorite color.  Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

Recipe:
Solid cardstock from Bazzill
Pattern cardstock from Enjoy the Seasons Imagine cartridge
Flower image and banner from Enjoy the Seasons Imagine cartridge cut at 4.9 inches
Sentiment from My Pink Stamper's Happiest Moment's set
i-rock gems

Die Cuttin Divas Challenge #63

Good evening!  The card I have to share today is one I've had in my mind for nearly a week and I finally found the time to get downstairs and get it made.  The challenge this past week over at Die Cuttin Divas is a sketch challenge.  Here's the sketch we were asked to follow:

I just recently got the Flower Shoppe cartridge.  I've seen so many wonderful creations using this cartridge recently and I decided it was one I just had to have.  When I saw this sketch, I thought a flower from Flower Shoppe would be a great addition to this card.  Because my flower turned out to have so much dimension to it, it's definitely not one that will be going through the mail.  This card will be going to my sweetie's step-mother.  I plan to decorate a craft bag as a pseudo-envelope for this card.  Perhaps you'll be seeing that post sometime soon.  :)  Thanks for coming by to take a look at my card and have a wonderful week!

Recipe:

Solid cardstock from Bazzill and Recollections

Patterned cardstock from my stash

'Fun' flower from Flower Shoppe cut at 2.5 inches

Martha Stewart Ribbon Loop border punch

Sentiment from My Pink Stamper's Happiest Moments set

Pearl gems

White chalk on edges of flower

Picture Frame

Happy May Day!  We've had a pretty cloudy day today.  I hope you're having better weather where you are to start the month of May!

A while back I created a picture frame for my cat.  I promised my sweetie that I would make one for his beagle as well.  Oh who am I kidding?  They're OUR animals now and they both have taken special places in our hearts.  :)  I designed this frame similar to the frame I made for the cat so that they would look good hanging near each other.

I decorated a plain white chipboard frame, painting the sides of the frame chocolate brown, adding the pattern papers and some brown ribbon over the seams.  Then I added our dog's name, a cute dog image from the Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge and covered the entire thing in Mod Podge.  Then I added a simple bow and button accent and of course a picture of our pup.  Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

Recipe:
Solid cardstock from Bazzill and Recollections
Patterned cardstock from We R Memory Keepers
Name from All Mixed Up cut at 2 inches
Dog from Everyday Paper Dolls cut at 2.5 inches
Ribbon and twine from American Crafts
Button from my stash
Chocolate brown paint and Mod Podge