Busy with the Cricky

Baby Carriage BBTB2 Challenge/Blog Hop

2012-01-30T10:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Monday morning and welcome to the monthly Bitten by the Bug 2 blog hop. If you are following the blog hop, you probably arrived here from awesome Jeri's awesome blog where you oooh'ed and aaaah'ed over Jeri's project. This week is just like a regular week at BBTB2, with our fabulous design team co-leader, Carole, selecting the weekly challenge cut, except this week you get to visit each team members' blog to see how the challenge cut was used.

For those new to the world of Cricut, each week the BBTB2 design team is presented with a single cut that we must use in a single project. We then ask you, our readers, to consider playing along and creating your own project using the Cricut challenge cut.

This week Carole chose the baby carriage from the New Arrival cartridge. And even though I do own New Arrival, I decided to use the sweet silhouette cut from A Child's Year cartridge and create a baby girl show invitation - because let's face it, I have been into the invitations in the last two weeks!

I used two cartridges to create these cut baby shower invitations: A Child's Year and CTMH's Art Philosophy. (I have NO IDEA what I did before Art Philosophy was released!). I used Art Philosophy to cut the oval and scalloped oval used to mat the silhouette cuts. I used A Child's Year to cut the two silhouette layers. I did minimal embellishing of the silhouette, simply adding two buttons on the wheels.

I cut two background layers, one in dark brown card stock and the other in craft card stock. I then added a sweet tiny pink floral print card stock to the top of the craft card stock. I topped this layer with clear vellum printed in hot pink ink.

I finished the entire card by adding a pink and white striped bow accented with a jeweled hat pin. I thought the pen was the perfect feminine finishing touch.

I did mention the BBTB2 blog hop this week, right. The next stop on the hop is at the blog of very talented and very nice Theresa - Tree Frog! I hope you enjoy the blog hop and that you drop by later in the week and check out my additional posts for this week!!!

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While I have you here, I would like to remind you that tomorrow is the last day to order Close to My Heart's Stamp of the Month set, Little Reminder. The 25 piece stamp set is available only through 1.31.12 for the special price of $17.95. Or with a $50 Close to my Heart order, you will be prompted during check out to purchase the Stamp of the Month set for only $5.00!! For more information on the Stamp of the Month set or any Close to My Heart products, visit my CTMH on-line store.

Bridal Tea Invitation

2012-01-27T19:54:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone! I have FINALLY finished the invitations which I have worked on off-and-on all week. This invitation is for a bridal shower for MFK's (My Friend Kathy's) son Kyle's future bride, Ashley. Kyle's aunt Kimberly and I are co-hosting a bridal tea in two weeks. I had to finish the invitations in order to get them in the mail today - and I succeeded! The last thing Doug and I did before leaving Aiken for the weekend (we are in Chattanooga visiting his mother) was stop by the post office. AND YES, I did pay twenty cents extra per envelope because of the bow!

I used Cricut Craft Room and three Cricut cartridges to create these invitations: CTMH's Art Philosophy, A Child's Year, and Kate's ABC's. The most time consuming part of the cutting and assembly, as you might have guessed, was cutting and assembling the little girl with the tea cup. She did take a while, but the details were worth the effort! In the original cut the little girl is reading a book (I think). I used scissors and trimmed away the book area and added in the tea cup.

I printed the pastry layer cardstock using the Yummy Imagine Cartridge (oops, I guess that means I used four cartridges). I then printed the invitation information on vellum and added the vellum layer over the pastry cardstock.

I finished each invitation with a a two inch wide striped ribbon bow, attached with large glue dots. The only problem that I foresee is that the bride to be does not like pink!! Oops.

I will be back with a new post on Monday morning for the monthly BBTB2 blog hop. But in the meantime, I am in Chattanooga enjoying my in-laws. Anyone know any good scrap stores in the Chattanooga/Hixson area??? :-)

Theater-Drama Class Bulletin Board with Cricut

2012-01-24T06:00:00.001-05:00

Several months ago I mentioned that I had assisted my future daughter-in-law with bulletin boards for her Theater classroom. Crissie wanted to post photos of her students performing and as well as have a place to post auditions and other information and I agreed to help her.

I cut medium size tickets and in an effort to assist with her "word wall", a wall with words of study for her courses, I cut the word wall words inside the tickets and Crissie used them as a border on her board. She was thrilled to have the words displayed in a way that added to her board visually, yet was decorative and represented theater!

I also cut large tickets, with cut outs of the phrase "Admit One" included on one end. Crissie used this large tickets as matting for photos. She posted photos of her students performing. The large tickets were cut initially in red cardstock with gold backgrounds. However on her visit this week Crissie asked for a few more large red tickets as well a some large gold tickets.

I also cut a stage scene for Crissie's bulletin board. She placed this in the center board and added some title cuts that I gave her after these photos were taken. I apologize for the low resolution of some of the photos, but they were taken with Crissie's phone camera.

Crissie told me that she has received a number of compliments on her bulletin boards and was quite happy that her co-workers and students noticed the changes to her classroom.

3-D Flowers with Cricut and BBTB2

2012-01-23T08:01:00.056-05:00

My goodness that weekend went by quickly, but yes, here it is already Monday. And you know what that means - It's Bitten by the Bug2 day. This week's challenge cut, the Cricut cut used by the BBTB2 design team to create the projects for the week, was selected by my fabulous design team sister, Jeri Thomas of Bug N Me Creations. Jeri chose to use the six petal flower on the Bloom cartridge. Jeri requested that the team use the flat cut flower to make 3-D flowers to share this week.

I do not own the Bloom cartridge so I used an eight petal flower from the Serenade cartridge and created my 3-D flowers. I used the same technique that I used to make flowers for my mom's birthday party. I cut five flowers the same size, and one smaller flower.

I folded four of the flowers into quarters and secured the folds by placing a small glue dot on the inside of the flowers on the second fold. I then adhered the four flower quarters to the fifth flower, which remained flat. I then used a smaller cut of the same flower to create the centers and I finished the flowers with button gems available from Close to my Heart. If you would like detailed info on assembling these flowers you can go to this previous post of mine for details.

I topped the flowers off with a 3-D butterfly cut from Close to my Heart's Art Philosophy cartridge. This is my favorite butterfly cut, ever!

I used the Sweet Boxes cartridge to cut my box. I used pink cardstock for the bottom of the box and white cardstock for the box top. I wrapped the box in a pink and white striped ribbon before topping the box with the 3-D flowers.

I want to remind those of you who like to collect the Close to My Heart Stamp of the Month sets that you only have one more week to purchase this month's Stamp of the Month, Little Reminder. I especially love sentiments that come with this stamp set. You can purchase the stamp set on it's own for $17.95, or with a $50 purchase you can get the stamp set during checkout for $5.00! You can purchase the Stamp of the Month set, the Art Philosophy cartridge and all CTMH products at my Close to My Heart on-line store!

Thanks for stopping by today and please do remember to go by Bitten by the Bug 2 and check out the design team's awesome work!

Baby Boy Shower Invitation for Everyday Cricut

2012-01-21T03:00:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone! I am finally back to the joy of crafting! And when I return to crafting I do it with a bang! I spent many hours on Friday cutting the elements for this adorable baby shower invitation - fourty-four baby shower invitations!! However, the timing was perfect as this is my day as Saturday Designer at Everyday Cricut.

For details on the cartridges I used, visit the Everyday Cricut blog. As a bonus, Everyday Cricut's Friday post features wonderful photos of the TEN new cartridges released this week!

To download the Cricut Craft Room cut file, look for the list of craftroom cut files in the left column of my blog and select the title, Baby Invitations.

Not Quite Ship Shape Layouts

2012-01-18T23:32:00.000-05:00

I wanted to give you a quick up date. The root canal went as well as humanly possible. My dentist is a god amist mortal dentists! I should be completely back to normal by the tomorrow.

I am so looking forward to sharing the layouts from my cruise scrapbook but I need just a day or two more. I found a ton of things to do today and did not finish the scrapping or the journaling. Also there are still a number of pages yet to finish. On the up side, I really like the way the cruise scapbook is coming together!

Soon, very soon I will have projects to share!

Missing From Blog Land

2012-01-16T22:16:00.001-05:00

Hello readers! Yes, I am still missing from blog land... well, sort of. I do not have a project to share today, nor did I complete my Bitten by the Bug 2 project this week. I am not feeling quite like myself. I have an unhappy tooth.

I broke a tooth on some EVIL caramel corn. I will be spending Tuesday morning at the dentist undergoing step one of a root canal. :( I am a bit nervous, but on the other hand, I am ready for the pain to be gone!! I am hoping that by the end of the week I will have a happy tooth again!

I did manage quite a bit of scrapping over the last weekend as I was at the lake with my scrappy girlfriends - along with my antibiotics and vicodin! I spent much of the weekend scrapping the photos from our November cruise - as well as being moody, spilling tea in MFK's van and being the person who was using MFK's Expression when it DIED!! Not my best weekend. I still have about 8 - 10 pages of cruise to scrap before the album will be complete. Of course I also have to go back and do the journaling on the pages I completed/nearly completed at the lake (about 18 pages). I have the photos grouped and I have a plan so the remaining pages in the book should come together easily, if not quickly.

I do hope to have some pages to share with you soon, as well as some baby shower invitations that I making for one of my Grandmother-to-be friends!

Think good thoughts about my tooth today, if you get a chance!!!

Birthday Party Decor

2012-01-10T06:00:00.076-05:00

Here she is, my mom - the birthday girl. To me she does NOT look like she is 75, especially with her tiara I supplied for her birthday party. She seemed to truly enjoy her party, the guests, the gifts, and especially the food. I had spent the week before her party baking and preparing foods. In the end I served Beef Brisket, Shrimp cocktail, Spinach-Feta balls, Macaroni and Cheese, Cheese platter, Veggie and dip platter, fruit platter, and rolls. Additionally there were lots of sweets!

Last week I shared the invitations that I sent to the guests. I used a pink, black and white palette. I continued the color scheme and the princess crown theme through the decorations. Using Teresa Collins Black and White Imagine cartridge, I printed both sides of white cardstock with the crown print. I cut the sheets with Ribbons and Rosettes, to make the large black and white rosettes. I cut pink scalloped centers and added the same glitter crown cut to the rosettes.

Most of the rosettes were double sided so they were wonderful for center pieces on the tables. The exception was the very first rosette - the prototype - was single sided. I ended up using the singled sided rosette in the napkin/plastic ware basket.

I used the same rosettes in bright pink buckets on the tables with the Cricut flowers. The flowers are the same design as the Mother's Day Cricut flowers from last year. I used assorted pink print cardstock to cut the flower pieces. I finished each flower with a tiny center flower with a gemstone.

This is a close up of the flower with a white background.

This flower was created with a fun pink plaid.

This is the napkin/plastic ware basket in an off center photo so that you can see some of the 3-D details.

I used extra crowns and crowns on scalloped circles to decorate the buffet table. Below is a view of the shrimp tower and cheese platter. I also found five inch skewers with tiny rose buds on them to stick into the cheese!

The fruit platter and spinach-feta balls are surrounded by crowns.

My nephew, Carter, was very interested in Granny's tiara. He knew it was a girly toy, but wanted to try it on anyway. I completely encouraged Carter's exploration of his royal side!

Finally, I snapped a quick photo of my mom and my honey, Doug, at her party. She was nervous as the evening began, but she settled down and had a nice evening.

Bookworm Caterpillar Book Marker

2012-01-09T04:14:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday everyone. I am back from my mom's 75th birthday party and I can report that everything went wonderfully. The food was a huge hit, as were the cricut created decorations. More on that tomorrow. Today is a Bitten by the Bug 2 Monday. Our new team co-leader, Carole, selected this week's BBTB2 challenge cut - the Caterpillar from Walk in My Garden. I decided to improvise a bit, and I chose to use a different Caterpillar - the one on the Create a Critter cartridge.

I made a bookworm book marker featuring my gentleman Caterpillar. The Caterpillar was cut at 5 inches tall and is dressed in various cuts from the Billionaire cartridge. He is wearing his reading glasses and is reading a copy of that nature classic, "Gone with the Worm". I love to mix and match my cartridges to create fun looks, and this book marker is a great example of one of my mixes.

Be sure to drop by BBTB2 today and check out the design team projects - they put my cute little bookworm to shame. He should just go bury his head in a book and hide!!!

Thanks for stopping by today and I will be back tomorrow with photos of the b-day celebration.

Susan's Almost World Famous Yeast Rolls Recipe

2012-01-05T01:01:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone. I have been totally busy cooking and making decorations for Mom’s 75th birthday party…. Friday is getting closer and closer and I am not quite ready yet. However, I have faith that by Friday I will have finished everything I need to do.

I was asked to post the recipe for my rolls when I posted the photo of them over my Christmas break. These are NOT quick rolls, but they are not difficult and worth every minute you invest in them. They truly are THAT good! You mix, rise and shape the rolls on the first day and then you bake them the next morning. They smell and taste SO GOOD straight from the oven.

Ingredients:

4 Cups of Water
1 ½ Cups of Sugar
1 Pkg of dry yeast (NOT Rapid Rise)
1 Cup of Shortening (I use Crisco)
1 Tbsp of Salt
4 Eggs, beaten
14+ Cups of All-Purpose Flour (I use unbleached)
¼ Cup of sugar
¼ - 1/3 Cup of milk

Very Important – begin the rolls around 1 pm (depending on how early or late you prefer to go to bed)
Combine 4 cups of water and 1.5 cups of sugar in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil and boil continuously for 5 minutes. Pour the boiling water into a very large bowl and add 1 tablespoon of salt and a cup of Crisco. Let the water mixture sit and cool unit the temperature is between 105 – 110 degrees (roughly 45-60 minutes). Add the dry yeast to the mixture and let it develop for five minutes. Add four beaten eggs and mix well. Add 6 cups of flour and stir. Add another 5 cups of flour (or so) until the dough is firm enough to handle. Roll the dough onto a floured surface and begin adding flour and kneading. Knead the dough until it is firm but elastic and not too sticky.

Put the dough back into the large bowl and cover the bowl with a clean dish towel. Let the dough rise for four hours. Punch the dough down and let it continue to rise. Two hours later punch the dough down a second time.
You are now ready to shape the dough into rolls. I cannot stress enough that if the yeast was proofed correctly, this dough will rise!!! I “pam” several large baking sheets and place dough balls (a bit larger than a golf ball) onto the baking sheets. You may also choose to put three quarter size balls into regular muffin tins and let them rise to become Parkerhouse style rolls (see the photo for the risen PH style rolls). I fold the dough around itself creating a smooth top for the rolls. Cover the pans with clean dish towels and let them rise in a draft free area over night.

The next morning preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the rolls for 15 minutes (approximately). While the first pan is baking, mix the milk and ¼ cup of sugar in a small bowl. As you remove each pan of rolls from the oven, using a pastry bush, glaze the rolls with milk and sugar mixture.

This recipe make about 60-70 rolls, depending on how large you shape the rolls. I ALWAYS freeze any rolls that are not eaten on day one. The texture of rolls changes slightly as they age. By freezing the rolls they stay Day 1 fresh all of the time.

I usually just wrap the frozen rolls in foil and reheat them in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes. My kids will microwave a single roll and snack on them, but they are better from the oven.

I hope you enjoy the rolls if you decide to bake them.

Birthday Party Invitations

2012-01-03T06:00:00.064-05:00

Hello everyone. Yesterday I mentioned that I am hosting a celebration for my mom's 75th birthday this Friday. Originally I planned for the event to be a surprise party, but upon further reflection I decided to get mom's input on the guest list.   And I was pleased that I did.... She provided info on some of her older cousins.

I mailed 25 invitations to some of my mom's friends and to our family members. I used my Cricut and the Girl's Make-Up Party cartridge to create the invitations. Going with my somewhat ridiculous theme of "Princess", I chose a pink and black color palette.  I used basic Bazzill cardstock for the pink shaped base card and black shaped front. I found the hot pink sparkle cardstock for the crowns and the polka-dot paper at my local Hobby Lobby.   I added a solid pink shadow to the crown as well as a small strip of bling.   I used white Close to My Heart ink to stamp the "You're Invited" phrase.

The inside of the invitation was a bit more complicated. I began by setting up a Microsoft Word file with six text boxes. I placed the invitation text into the text boxes and printed the text on white 8.5 x 11 inch cardstock. I returned to my Cricut Craftroom file and placed six shaped squares on the virtual mat. Using a ruler I measure the exact location of each text box on my printed page and moved the boxes on the virtual mat to line up with the printed boxes.

I have used this technique of printing and cutting previously, though never quiet as successfully. I managed to hit the cutting correctly placed the first time and that has never happened before. Below is the inside of the invitation, with some of the text redacted (Mom's last name and my home phone number).

I cut extras of the crowns on the cover of the invitations to use in the middle of the Rosettes I plan to cut with Ribbons and Rosettes and use as decorations at the party. I will share the rosettes later in the week! Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-02T12:14:00.000-05:00

Happy 2012!! It's the first Monday in the new year and the first Bitten by the Bug 2 post of 2012! We have had some some changes at BBTB2 while on break. Heather, who has done a fabulous job with the blog and team, had to step down from managing the design team due to the arrival of her new Grandson! However, the design team, the BBTB2 blog and the weekly Cricut challenges will continue. My very talented and super-amazing design team sisters, Donna Mundinger and Carole Lowe Beath have stepped up assumed the leadership roll in continuing the team. Woo-hoo for Donna and Carole.

So the new year is already bringing new changes! The first Cricut challenge cut of the new year was selected by my adorably sweet design team sister, Krista Norman. Krista is such a sweetie and I just love working with her! Krista chose the ice skate cut from the Winter Woodlands cartridge.

I used the Cricut Expression 2 and cut the skate, the skate shadow, the boot, and the bow at 2.5 inches. I attached the skate to the card using pop dots to give the skate a "hanging" effect.

I used lots of blues and silver to give the card a cold feeling, though I think this may make a great January birthday card.

Speaking of January birthdays, I am hosting a party for my mom's 75th birthday this week so I will be sharing some of the projects I have made for the party on my blog later this week. Also, I did get the request to share my roll recipe and I will do that this week also. After such a long break from my blog and paper crafting in December, I am excited to get my life back to normal!!

Please remember while you are out to go by the Bitten by the Bug 2 site and check out the design team's projects. They out did themselves after their holiday break!!

Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-23T21:55:00.000-05:00

It is looking a lot like Christmas at my house! The snowmen are standing guard in the front year, the perfect lawn decor for the woman from Michigan who now lives in SC. The palm tree is wrapped in lights. The inside of the house is decorated.... And now the baking us underway!

So far I have made five pounds of fudge, a batch of magic bars, and 6 dozen yeast rolls! On Christmas Eve I plan to make cream cheese spritz and divinity!!! Yummmm.

Our packages are all wrapped and the stocking stuffers are all sorted by person and ready for Santa. And with so much finished, that gave me an opportunity to abuse my scrapping girlfriends and create a new elf video featuring Beth, Pat, Suzanne, Kathy and Me!

I wish you and your family a lovely Christmas, happy holidays, and wonderful new year!

Getting Ready for Christmas

2011-12-19T03:38:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday - only six more days until Christmas! Are you ready for the big day? I have not been paper crafting, unless you count wrapping packages, so today I am sharing a few photos of a few of our Christmas decorations.

I am going to confess that for some reason I decided to cut back on our festive decor this year. It usually looks like Santa sent the elves and they went crazy decorating. For some reason I chose to go with festive, but not over the top.

Above is our tree. Yes, only one. Usually there are two or three Christmas trees. This year I did not put up the other two. I did, however, put all of my favorite ornaments on the large tree. What I love most about our main Christmas tree is the years of memories that are associated with each ornament. So many of them bring to mind special memories and events. Our ornaments are a mix of handmade, purchased, girl scout made, preschool projects, ornaments from school through the years, Waterford, Wedgwood, china, crystal, etc. And it all blends to create a fun and festive FAMILY tree.

Elsewhere in the room the stockings are hung on nutcracker stocking stands. We have two large Christmas collections - nutcrackers and Santas. I thought the nutcracker standing hangers would blend nicely with our other nutcrackers, which are on the shelves above the mantle.

I set up an iron tree (oops, does that count as #2) in the entry way, along with the advent calendar and festive snowmen.

There are three nativities on display this year. This one is on a shelf with a wax tree and a palm tree (edited out of the photo). Clearly I need to find more desert-ish accessories!

I do hope to get back to my scraproom this week - especially as I cleaned it on Friday. But there is still baking to be done, more wrapping to complete, and some stocking stuffers to pick up (for my hubby and my 21 year old son - why are guys the hardest??). I do have a few projects designed that I would like to cut and share with you, but I have decided to make no promises until after the holidays.

And finally, one last look at the tree by night.

Travel Cold Beverage Cups

2011-12-13T05:40:00.005-05:00

I have one final post about our anniversary cruise. My friend Peggy gave us few really good tips on useful items to take along. One of Peggy suggestions was Acrylic Tumblers to use with our soda/juice plan. Peggy told me that if you take along you own larger tumbler that the bartenders would fill them with soda or juice instead of the smaller on-board glasses. She was right and the tumblers were sooo useful!

Doug and I each purchased the "bubbles" plan where we had unlimited sodas and juices on board ship. For me this was more of a virgin cocktail plan than a soda plan. I drank a lot of pineapple juice, orange juice, grenadine, and sweet & sour mix drinks. I am not a huge soda drinker, but I did have a few of those. I did not want the inevitable "I am a 51 year old woman hot flash" that comes with true cocktails, so the virgin cocktails were perfect for the cruise. Two of the bartenders enjoyed creating new juice concoctions for me to enjoy.

The night before we sailed I went to Target and found these two acrylic tumblers. I used vinyl that I had on hand, along with three cricut cartridges. For my tumbler I cut my initials and two sizes of pink and green circles.

For Doug's tumbler I cut green, white, and black circles as well as his initials in black vinyl. I also cut the skull and crossbones from Indie Art in white vinyl. I think Doug secretly liked his pirate motif tumbler because he used it the entire week!!!

Thanks for coming by today. I will be back tomorrow with an Imagine project to share.

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One final note: Remember that THIS FRIDAY is the last day to order Close To My Heart products and receive them by Christmas!!! You can shop CTMH by click HERE for my on-line store!!

'Tis the Season Tag with Winter Frolic

2011-12-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Bitten by the Bug 2 Monday! At long last we are back from our Thanksgiving break! This week my very talented design team sister Lori Warner chose the weekly challenge cut. Lori chose "any Christmas tag from Winter Frolic cartridge". I decided to use this pretty shaped tag and the 'Tis the Season (tree4) cuts from Winter Frolic.

I cut my base tag in two layers, a bright pink metallic cardstock, and the top, smaller layer in a white on white print from SEI. I used heavy white sparkled cardstock and cut the snow for the bottom of the tag - under the dancing trees!

I used the Close to my Heart Art Philosophy cartridge and cut the circle and scalloped circle to/from tag. I used three Close to My Heart stamps, all from the December 25th (C1469) set, to stamp the circle.

I love the festive look of the dancing trees. My daughter told me that she loves the fun, non-traditional colors used on this tag. I finished the card by adding a green tulle bow to the top.

I found several colors of 6 inch tulle at Joann's and have enjoyed using the red and green through the holidays. I also have black and white. The black was great during Halloween.

I hope that you have a great Monday. I will be back tomorrow to share a quick vinyl project.

Happy Holidays Card

2011-12-09T01:17:00.001-05:00

I know you are never going to believe this, but I am finally, FINALLY feeling better! I am down to just a bit of sniffing & snorting - you know, the joyful sounds of winter!!

I am feeling so much better that I have not only finished my holiday decorating, I also had a Close to My Heart gathering at my friend Beth's house on Wednesday night. Thank you, Beth!! This is the card that the ladies made during the gathering.

I took pre-cut kits along with ink & stamps, ribbons, pop dots, and gems for each of the attendees to use to create their cards. Each of the card kits was cut using only the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge. The ladies especially liked the shape of the base cards, which I cut with red cardstock.

Each of the ladies stamped their holly leaves using the A Holiday stamp set (A1115) and they stamped their tag using the Holiday Cheer stamp set (B1381).

The printed cardstock on the cover of the card is also a CTMH product - it is from the "Believe" line. The sentiment on the inside of the card was stamped on smooth white cardstock with holiday red ink. The stamp is from the Christmas Love (D1492) set.

I took an assortment of ribbons to trim the cards as well gems, brads or buttons to use on the holly leaves. I chose red gems, though in this photo they look more pink/purple than red. The card was a hit because not only was it easy to assemble, it is also mostly flat so it should mail nicely. Not to mention that it is a cute card!!

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Rock the Block!

Join the craze BEGINNING DECEMBER 19th! When you place a minimum order of $25 from the Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book or from my CLOSE TO MY HEART ON-LINE STORE , you can get two new products for just $15: the My Creations® Collage Cubes (a Spring/Summer 2012 sneak-peek product!) and the exclusive My Acrylix® Rock the Block E-size stamp set (available only during this promotion). That’s a retail savings of almost $30!

You’re going to love the way the collage cubes and the Rock the Block stamp set work together for interactive, 3-D fun.

I just received my rock the block kit so I will craft my own Rock the Block project to share with you next week.

In the meantime remember the cut off to receive orders by Christmas is December 16th. You can place an order through my on-line store until next Friday and still receive your products in time for Santa. Have your significant other email me if he/she needs guidance!!

Studio J Digital Scrapbooking

2011-12-05T00:24:00.000-05:00

I expected to have a "happy Bitten by the Bug 2 Monday" post for you today. However, the design team decided that we needed a second week off to focus on the holidays and try to catch up in our lives. I had already designed my project for today so as my friends and DT sister Donna said, I am ahead for next week.

So instead of a Christmas-themed BBTB2 post, I am going to share one of my first attempts at digital scrapping. But first, I have a confession.... I have been a scrapbooking snob! Truly, I have been. I thought of Digital scrapping as inferior and not "real" scrapbooking. I am willing to admit that I have amended my opinion. In my winter of on-going illness (I now have a nasty head cold) I have had lots of time to sit with my computer and I decided to check out digital scrapping. What I have learned is that digital scrapping has its merits and its place in the scrapping world!

Since I am a Close to My Heart consultant, I decided that I should learn to use the CTMH digital scrapping program, STUDIO J. I purchased a three month membership to Studio J and found the on-line program to be SUPER EASY to use.

In brief, once you enter the program you will select the "paper" pack you want to use, then you will select a layout made with that paper. The membership opened up a lot of extra choices for layouts and other details. Once you begin "scrapping" you may change any paper element, add or remove elements from your pages, change a photo box to a text box or vise-versa. You can color your elements and embellishments, add stitching, borders, tags, etc. The layout above was made on only my second time playing with the program!! I was especially excited about how nice the digital paper looked with my photographs!

On the left page, above, I made several changes to the base layout I selected. I add "matting" to each of the layouts, I changed two of the paper patterns to there papers within the package, I added the scroll border at the bottom as well as the white stitching and I added the flower to the left edge. I changed the buttons and added a ribbon to the buttons. I also changed the font and font color.

On the right page, above, I made a few of the same changes - paper selections, scroll border, stitching, and photo "mats". I also added the "sticker" to the lower right corner, the text box with the date, the scroll design and flower embellishment to the top of the page.

Once I finished my pages, I clicked the links and purchased my pages. I purchased the JPEGs so that I could share them on my blog, but I also purchased the printed papers. For $13 I was able to purchase the printed 12 x 12 pages, the JPEGs, and cover shipping. If you order more than two pages at a time, the shipping could be shared (the base price for the printing and JPEGs is only $6.50) and that would bring down the total cost of each double page layout. I think my Mother-in-law is going to love a digital book for Christmas!

* * * * *

If you have no interest in STUDIO J and would like to continue with your paper crafting, consider purchasing CTMH's Art Philosophy cartridge set. The set comes with the Art Philosophy cartridge, three LARGE sheets of coordinating chipboard sets, and three coordinating stamp sets. A $125 value for $99!

And as a bonus, when you purchase the Art Philosophy cartridge set or any $50 in CTMH products, you will qualify to purchase the December Stamp of the Month set, MAD ABOUT YOU, for only $5!! And after the holidays you will have a new stamp set that will enable you to get a jump on Valentine's projects!!!

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1. Do not add the Stamp of the Month to your cart - wait until you are prompted during check out in order to receive the special $5.00 price.

2. The ordering cut off to receive orders in time for Christmas is December 16th. Give those Santa's a nudge if you are hoping to find CTMH products under the tree!!!

Package Trimming with Cricut AND a Cricut Stocking

2011-12-02T01:51:00.002-05:00

I am participating in a Christmas swap and I spent part of yesterday wrapping my swap items and embellishing my packages with Jingle Bells, stamped Cricut cuts, ribbons and twine. I wanted to dress up my stocking stuffers so that they were more fun for my secret sister, as well as featured Cricut cut.

I started with the Lindor Truffles at the top of this post. I cut two holly leaves from the Art Philosophy cartridge and stamped with with the CTMH stamp set A HOLIDAY, which features the holly set. I then added a knotted ribbon and two jungle bells. Yes, I truly did hand sew the bells onto my packages.

Next I cut some of the same snowflakes that I used on yesterday's Christmas card (cut with the Art Philosophy Cartridge) and stamped them with the same snowflake stamp. I sewed a bell in the middle of one of the snowflakes but not the other. Using glue dots, I affixed the snowflakes in the middle of red and white ribbons. Such a nice finishing touch to a simple wrapped package.

My next package was trimmed with a Christmas tag cut using A Child's Year cartridge. I designed these three layer tags last year, and we loved them so much that I decided to make more of them for this year.

Finally, I wanted to share a couple of photos of the stocking I stuffed for the swap. The swap originated on the Cricut Circle message board. I thought since the circle brought me into this swap, my stocking should be decked out in Cricut circles!

I used iron on flocked fabric and cut the Cricut Circle logs. I then ironed them onto the stocking. I welded a border of Cricuts for the top of the stocking.

The last thing I am sharing is a photo of the top of the stuffed stocking. I have packages that will not fit inside the stocking, but over all I think the stocking is cut with the decorated stuffers peeking out of the top.

For more information on the Close to my Heart Art Philosophy cartridge set, visit my

CTMH on-line store by clicking this link.

Rock the Block!

Join the craze! When you place a minimum order of $25 from the Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book (until January 31, 2012), you can get two new products for just $15: the My Creations® Collage Cubes (a Spring/Summer 2012 sneak-peek product!) and the exclusive My Acrylix® Rock the Block E-size stamp set (available only during this promotion). That’s a retail savings of almost $30!

You’re going to love the way the collage cubes and the Rock the Block stamp set work together for interactive, 3-D fun. Watch this video to get more details from Kristine Widtfeldt, Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Season's Greetings Christmas Card

2011-12-01T06:02:00.065-05:00

I am pleased to report that I am finally feeling better. My tummy is still a bit uncomfortable but overall I am soooo much better!!! In fact, I finished straightening my scrap room and made a card today! The card took longer than it should have as I had to update my cricut's firmware, but whatever.... it gave me more time to plan.

Do I even need to tell you that I used my favorite cartridge - Close to my Heart's Art Philosophy? I used a standard 5.5 x 4.25 inch card. I cut three snowflakes cut at 1.7 inches in white cardstock. Using Close to my Heart Believe cardstock, I cut the plaid strip at 5.5 x 2 inches, and the background striped piece at 5.5 x 3 inches. I sewed the plaid strip to the striped background and affixed the layers to the card front.

I used sets of Close to my Heart stamps on this card - SNOWFLAKES and HOLIDAY COMMENTARY. I really like both of these stamp sets!! I used the Season's Greetings phrase and stamped it in red ink onto the bottom of the white base card.

Using the same CTMH red ink, I stamped the snowflakes onto the shadow snowflake cuts. After adding twine to the middle of red buttons, I used glue dots to affix the buttons to the middle of the three snowflakes.

Today is the first day of the December Stamp of the Month set, titled Mad About You. The set normally retails for $17.95, but this month only, with a $50 purchase you can get the Mad About You stamp set only $5.00.

If you are still making your Christmas list, don't forget about the Close to my Heart Art Philosophy cartridge and the stamp of the month set!!! You Santa is welcome to shop at my on-line CTMH store.

Last Day to Order Holiday Wishes Stamp Set

2011-11-30T10:33:00.000-05:00

Today is the last day that you can order this lovely stamp set, Holiday Wishes!!!

When you place a minimum order of $25 in My Acrylix^® stamp sets, you can add a new D-size Holiday Wishes stamp set for only $5.00! That’s a significant savings off the full retail value of $17.95 US. You may buy one Holiday Wishes stamp set for every $25.00 in qualifying stamp sets you purchase. As a creative bonus, many of the images in the set coordinate with our Cricut^® Art Philosophy cartridge for added cutting and stamping fun!

To see more Close to my Heart products click either of the links above or click here to go to my CTMH on-line store.

I hope that who are interested will be able to take advantage of this great stamp set at this great price - $5.00!! ***Note: You will be prompted to add Holiday Wishes during check out.***

I had hoped to make a cute card with this stamp set to share with you today, but... Remember that icky stomach virus? I am dealing with "Icky Virus V2". That's right, I got it a second time. I actually had some real food tonight and I am waiting to see how my system handles it. But honestly, I am SO ready for this to be over!!

Home with Sick People

2011-11-27T23:12:00.001-05:00

I know, I know! I said that I would be back to crafting today. But, the best plans sometimes have flaws, or in this case, viruses. While I am completely over the yucky virus of last week, my son and future daughter-in-law have been sharing a particularly ugly illness. So, as I explain what has been going on at our house I am sharing a few more cruise photos (Sorry, but that's all I have).

Crissie is on has been on antibiotics for the last week to combat bronchitis. While visiting Crissie's family, Aaron came down with a horrific stomach virus. They made it to our house on Saturday, only to have Crissie come down with the stomach virus! And we heard today that Crissie's mom also go the evil the stomach yuckies!

Aaron and Crissie were forced to stay an extra day just to relax and recover, which disrupted my promise to return to crafting by Monday. They will be able to leave for home in the morning (Monday) as both seem to be feeling much better, though I am not sure either of them is completely well.

I will get back to the scraproom on Monday!! I actually have been having scrapping withdrawals and cannot wait to relax in my scraproom and create!

Happy Anniversary to ME!

2011-11-23T12:30:00.000-05:00

I must apologize for being away for so long! I so enjoyed our 30th Anniversary cruise; neither Doug nor I wanted to exit the ship! We are already talking about our next cruise.

We arrived home last weekend and after unpacking and making my way through a mountain of laundry, I began to settle back into normal life. Or so I thought. On Monday I came down with a virus - an unpleasant virus. I am feeling totally, completely recovered today, which is wonderful as today is my actual anniversary!

30 years ago today this cute little couple married:

I think we were 12. Okay, maybe we just look 12!!! We were 21 and 22!

I am going to share a few photos of the cruise with you and offer a promise that by cyber Monday I will be paper crafting again!

View of the Lido deck from deck 12:

View of the Atlantic Ocean:

The Atlantic by night:

The food was AMAZING:

Loved the towel animals:

More dessert:

Key West:

First formal dinner:

A tiny Key:

Goofing off in the Bahamas!!

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels!

Hello Kitty Christmas Gift Box - Greatest Hits

2011-11-18T06:00:00.004-05:00

Today is the last day of my Greatest Hits week of posts. Sadly it also the last day of our 30th anniversary cruise.... Today's project is this fun gift box and card set I created using the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge and the Hello Kitty Greetings cartridge.

I used Cricut Design Studio to design the project. I placed the Christmas tree from Hello Kitty on the front of the box so that it would cut out with the cricut. I then cut the frame and the packages and added to the front of the box. Oh, and you know that clear plastic that the Cricut cartridges arrive packaged inside? I always save the flat sides to use for windows in cuts. Yes, that is what I used cover the tree cut.

Kitty was cut as a small card so that she could open to reveal a special holiday message!

I cut two scalloped circles and stamped them with a JustRight holiday stamp. Using a small wire ring I attached the tag to the red ribbon bow at the top of the package.

As I said above, today is final day of our 30th anniversary cruise. We will be back in our own bed by tonight! Yesterday was a fun day at sea and last night was our second formal night. It was also the night the cruise line celebrated our anniversary with us in the dinning room!

Home for Christmas - Greatest Hits Christmas Layout

2011-11-16T06:00:00.032-05:00

Hello everyone! Today's project is another Christmas Greatest Hits - Home for Christmas layout! I love this layout! My favorite things about this is that it is so colorful and so fun! I like the red, white and light blue color scheme. And I ADORE the train!!

I used Cricut Design Studio to create this layout. I welded the train pieces and I used the hide select contour feature to block part of the train cut.

Below is a photo of the design studio screen. This will give you some idea of how I created the train cars. I placed a box over the top two-thirds of the right hand car to cut away that section. I used the hide select contours feature to remove the window cuts from both box cars and the decorative cuts from the left hand car. The two layer of cuts are both on this one mat.

Finally I am going to share a close up of each of the two pages. The cut file is available for free download in the left hand column of my blog. The title is Home for Christmas Layout.

I am still on my anniversary cruise!! Yesterday we toured Key West - I will have a lot to tell you about that! And today we are in Nassau, The Bahamas! It's a good thing I brought two huge media cards along for my camera!!

So while I am away, please remember that my Close to My Heart online store is open for all of your CTMH needs! Frankly I am hoping that you are all shopping because I have been spending on this trip!! LOL.