The Crafty Kitchen

My Sisters Baby Shower

2013-01-01T10:00:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year my crafty friends! I hope everyone had a great New Years Eve. Our was pretty snowy and slushy.

I have a LOT of older projects and photos bumping around in my laptop that I really want to share with you guys. I hope you don't mind a few posts of some not-so-recent creations! I really wanted to make my first post of 2013 something that I did back in the spring of 2012. My sister recently had her first child and I wanted to throw her a baby shower and flex my crafty muscles. So I did! I just wanted to share a few of the things I made for the shower.

These were originally going to be tags for the cake pop favors I was going to make, but between illness and a major baking fail they never came to fruition, so I added the tags as confetti on the tables. The scallop, circle and tag are all My Creative Time dies, and the Precious Baby stamp is from her die and stamp set Teeny Tag Greetings. I seriously can't get enough of miss Emmas stamps and dies!

The onesies for the banner came from my Every Day Pop Up Cards Cricut cartridge. The actual pop up cards on that cartridge are kind of infuriating to put together to I rarely ever make them, but some of the images are actually useful for other projects. The font is from A Childs Year. I welded the letters into the onesie with my Gypsy, then punched holes in each arm and strung twine through each one. The tiny clothespins were from Michaels.

I love making things with the glass craft blocks! I cut different sized circles out of contact paper and placed them in a random pattern on both sides of the block. I sprayed the entire block with frosted glass spray and then removed the contact paper for a cute polka-dot block! The wooden cow cutouts were from Hobby Lobby, aren't they cute??

This might have been my FAVORITE part of the shower. I wanted a fun activity for the guests to do, so I thought up a Onesie Making Station! I thought it would be really useful for my sister to have a bunch of inexpensive onesies on hand, since I've heard newborns can be messy :). My family was a little iffy on it when I told them abot the idea, but once we got to the shower and a few people started making them EVERYONE jumped in and had a great time. I simply gave them puff paint and a bunch of different baby themed iron ons and they went to town!

My gift to my sister was a scrapbook (which I am MAJORLY BEHIND ON, ouch). I provided her with 4 or 5 pages to get her started. This is reminding me I REALLY need to make more pages for her! Sorry sis!

I think everyone was really happy with the shower. I only have one sibling, and my fiance is an only child so I figured this was my one chance to throw a family baby shower and I went all out! My nephew is now 8 months old and getting cuter every day :)

Have a great rest of your week everyone! Thanks for stopping by!

Hey Guys, Remember Me?

2012-12-31T11:16:00.001-06:00

Oh. My. Gosh.

It's been awhile, eh? I've fallen off the map for almost two years.

I have to admit, when I disappeared, I had a LOT of things going on. Not so great things. Life things. Things I'd rather not discuss on my blog. You get the picture. I moved and my craft stuff was mostly in storage for almost TWO YEARS. It was not fun, y'all. Not fun.

However, after getting over a few major hurdles, I'm happy to report that a lot of AMAZING things happened to me in 2012:

*I lost over 40 pounds and two jean sizes (not to my goal yet, but still!)
*I got an amazing new job
*I got engaged to the most amazing man on the planet:

and

*We bought a beautiful house together this fall, complete with my own crafting space!

The aforementioned Most Amazing Man on the Planet has been begging me for AGES to get back into blogging, because he loves when I craft things. He also does a little blogging himself (you can check out his photography here and his super cool NHL logo graphic renderings here) and was sad that my blog had been abandoned. He always loves when I make things for him and other people. And I do too. I lost the crafting bug for awhile when my Cricut and other supplies were stored away but I'm slowly getting my mojo back. I've made a promise to him, and to myself that I'm going to start blogging regularly. I have no idea who even reads my blog anymore (hello, out there!) but I want to start doing this again for me.

So, now the hard part: Where in the heck do I begin? Waaay back in the spring I hosted a baby shower for my sister (and my now 8 month old awesome nephew), where I DIYed pretty much everything. I also crafted a TON of Christmas presents this year for friends and family. PLUS, our wedding this spring is going to be 80% me and my craftiness. I still love my Cricuts, but I'm drooling over the Silhouette Cameos. I hope to post more home decor projects as well, as I now have a whole house to decorate :)

So, here we go. One post at a time, trying to get back into the swing of things. I'm going to try to do one post a week to start out, and ramp it up from there as inspiration strikes.

To all of my followers reading this, thanks for coming back and reading this post. Hopefully I'll be blogging things that you will love, and will hopefully inspire you.

2013 is shaping up to be a great year :)

$19 Cartridges at Michaels!

2011-07-22T10:46:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! Just an FYI that Michaels marked a handful of carts down to $19 today. At my store I saw;

*Destinations
*Songbird
*Forever Young
*Freshly Picked
*Wall Decor and More
*Everyday Pop Up Cards

Go snag 'em while you can!!

Home Decor with my Yudu

2011-07-15T08:53:00.009-05:00

In between making a ton of t shirts, I decided to try my hand at home decor with my Yudu. I was loving these posters I had seen on Etsy, but couldn't justify paying $20 for it (picture from CafePress):

Luckily the actual image is public domain so I had my boyfried, who is a whiz at all things image editing take the image and make it into an 8 x 11" transfer for my Yudu.

I bought canvas from Michaels with a coupon that applied to sale items when they were already 40% off. The acrylic paint was less then 25 cents. I used the entire bottle to cover the canvas, since I knew I wouldn't be using it again.

I screened the canvas using white Yudu ink. I also made a matching t-shirt (pictured below). Just a few passes and it was ready to go!

I knew I wanted to frame my canvas print, but open back frames are SO expensive, even with a coupon! So, I found a super cute white frame on clearance at Michaels for $9.00, and simply took the glass and backing out. I think it fits the canvas perfectly and looks great. And all for waaaaay less then if I had bought a poster myself.

I am so happy with how this project turned out. I can't wait to use my Yudu for more home decor projects! Oh, by the way, Yudus are on sale until Sunday for $99. This is the lowest I ever see them go (I bought mine for this price a few months ago) so if you haven't gotten one yet, this is a great deal!

Speaking of Michaels, have you seen their new iPhone App? It is so awesome. It stores all of the store coupons right on your phone, plus has an event schedule for stores in your area. It's free in the app store!

An (almost) totally non-Cricut card!

2011-07-13T17:52:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! So, obviously, I've been absent. Again. This summer has been incredibly busy and fun, which has not left me much time to blog. Also, I was hired by a co worker of my mothers to create a scrapbook for her sister, so that pretty much took up all of my crafting time for the past few months. But it's done, and super cute, so expect a post on that later. I'm going to try to ease my way back into blogging, maybe just a few posts per week, but I appreciate all of my subscribers sticking with me!

I made this card before I started the scrapbook project using a die-cut flower pad from K & Company. I don't usually buy this type of thing, since I have my Cricut, but the flowers looked too cute to pass up.

I simply punched out each of the die cut flowers, and all of it's layers, and popped them up on pop dots to add dimension.

I added Glossy Accents to each of the flower centers. I love the shine :)

The only Cricut cut I used was the vase from Pagoda. I didn't have my Gypsy with me at the time, so I couldn't hide the flower in the center. I wish I would have, but I think it still looks cute.

The butterfly is also from the K & Company pad. I added Stickles to the outside of the wings.

I've really gotten into decorating the inside of my cards. I would usually just leave them blank, but I've started using coordinating paper to give it a little extra touch. The sentiment and flower stamps are both from a Pink By Design Stamp of The Month Set. Seriously, if you haven't checked out PBD, please do. She has the cutest stamps!

I hope you enjoyed this card, and it's good to be back :)

Do you YUDU?

2011-04-27T09:37:00.001-05:00

Now I DO!

Yes, I jumped at the chance to buy a Yudu for $99 at Michaels a few weeks ago. I had heard mixed reviews about it, but when I told my boyfriend I could make him customized t-shirts for his photography business, he went out and got it for the both of us! Isn't he the best?? Sorry, I'm not sharing him ;)

There she is! My beautiful baby :) I did A LOT of research before I tried to burn my first screen. I read some HORRIBLE reviews of the machine, and the emulsion sheets, but luckily I had very few problems when I used my Yudu for the first time. My emulsion sheet burned pretty perfectly on the screen. The only mess up I had is that when it came to rinsing out the burned emulsion sheets, I scrubbed a little too hard and one corner of the design washed off. Luckily, I fixed it with tape and we were good to go.

Here's the front of my first Yudu shirt! I used Speedball Opaque white Fabric ink, as I was worried about the Yudu ink on black. My own regret is that I didn't pull white through the icon first, and then pull yellow over the white. The color would have been much brighter had I done that. But besides that, I think it turned out great!

Here's his URL screened on the back of the shirt (shameless plug, LOL). I didn't get it entirely straight, but he loves it so I'm OK with it. I also made him another shirt that is white with black ink. He's also asked me to make him a sweatshirt, and I can't wait to try it!

In a few days I'll have another Yudu post for you. I wanted to try screening on canvas, and I can't WAIT to show you the results! I also hope to have a Yudu video tutorial for you guys soon!

Have a Doggone Good Birthday!

2011-04-25T09:16:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone! I hope you had a FABULOUS Easter weekend. I had a very busy few days filled with family, friends, and fun, and now I'm EXHAUSTED! I wanted to share a birthday card with you I made a few weeks ago.

I bought the Four-Legged Friends Cricut Lite cartridge on Black Friday and I've only used it once since I bought it. I really wanted to break it out and use it again, and the perfect opportunity came when I needed to make a birthday card for my boyfriends mother. She has a little Yorkie named Molly, and I thought the Yorkie from Four-Legged Friends would be PERFECT on her card!

This is an A2 size card made from craft cardstock. I matted the card with white glitter cardstock and a green plaid paper from the DCWV Dots, Stripes and Plaids stack. I used an EK Success border punch and inked around the edges of the plaid mat with Peeled Paint Distress Ink.

I cut the yorkie at 3 3/4" out of Recollections cardstock. I gave her a little shading with my white gel pen and also gave her dots for her eyes. The metal flower is from Making Memories and gives her the perfect feminine touch. The dogs from this cartridge are pretty easy to layer. The only con is that the cartridge booklet gives them really strange color combinations so it's hard to see what colors go where. But I think she turned out really cute!

"Have a Doggone good birthday!" is from the Pink By Design Furry Friends stamp set. I punched it out with an EK Succes punch, matted it with the white glitter paper, and stitched around it and the base of the card. I finished the card with a really cute ribbon that continues the stitching in pink.

But I didn't stop there!

I really got into decorating the inside of this card as well. I added a little border strip along the top. All of the paw prints are from Furry Friends as well. I love the travelling paw prints!

I continued the paw print theme on the matching envelope and the back of the card. I love my little personalized stamp from my Martha Stewart stamp kit!

That's it for today! Have a fabulous week friends! I have a few more things for you this week, including some things from my newest obsession: my YUDU!!

A few cuts from Damask Decor

2011-04-17T01:21:00.000-05:00

When I first heard about the Damask Decor cartridge, I LOST MY MIND. I am a damask FREAK. I have damask plates. Damask bowls. Damask cups. Damask coffee cups. I'm pretty sure I own every piece of damask patterned paper known to man.

So, when I wandered into my Michaels earlier this week and saw one, lonely Damask Decor cartridge behind the registers, I HAD to get it. I rarely ever buy carts at Michaels, simply because I can usually get them for cheaper online, but right now the newer carts are going for almost $60 on eBay so I decided to go for it.

I teach a few scrapbook and paper crafting classes at Michaels, so while I was waiting for my students to arrive last night I broke out the classroom Cricut and did a few quick cuts from Damask Decor, and I fell in love. They are all absolutely gorgeous. Here are a few of the cuts:

This is the "Heart" image with the shadow. They have special damask flourishes for every season (Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc) and this is one of them. So elaborate and gorgeous! The cart has layering options, but I think it looks so elegant in all one color.

I love love LOVE the card and envelope feature on this cartridge. I cut the card and card front at 4". I also cut the matching envelope but forgot to include it in this picture. How gorgeous would these be for little thank you cards? They have corresponding tags as well!

Expect a lot more from me and Damask Decor soon. I have SO MANY ideas!

Party 'Til the Cows Come Home!

2011-04-15T16:58:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone, and can I get a TGIF??? I can't WAIT for the weekend! I have a quick card to share with you today. My younger sisters birthday is next weekend, and I was asked by my mom to make her a cake (pics to come when I make it), so I decided to make a card to go with it.

I should preface this by saying my sister and I are POLAR opposites. I'm the girly, crafty, book smart, musically inclined one, and she's the sporty, tomboyish, nothing-fancy type. One of her life goals is to life on a farm and raise cattle, and I am a CITY GIRL through and through. So I knew I would need to make her a simple card without a lot of embellishments and "girly" stuff. My sister raises and sells cattle on my family's 40 acres (which I have never visited, like I said, farmwork is NOT for me), so I made a cow shaped card using my Gypsy for her.

I used the shadow feature on Create a Critter and welded two cow shadows together to form the base of the card. Then I just assembled the cow like normal on the front. I love using my Gypsy to make shape cards , she makes things so easy!:)

I used pink Core'dinations Gemstone cardstock for her nose and udders, and ran them through my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder to give her a little something extra (I know my sister likes simple, but I HAD to do something!)

For the inside, I cut the main part of the cows body again in white to give me somewhere to write. "Party Til the Cows Come Home" is from Pink By Designs "Take the Cake" stamp set. I punched it out with an EK Success punch and added a little stitching with my white gel pen. No inking or anything. Trust me, I was DYING to break out my distress inks but I had to keep reminding myself that this was for my sister, NOT me ;)

I added a little stitching on the front, and that was it! I hope she likes this card, and the cake I'm making next week. I've been told I need to make a simple white cake with very simple decorations and no fondant. Soooo not what I usually do. The things you do for family ;)

I'm BACK! (with a card too!)

2011-04-14T11:36:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

I just want to apologize for being gone for so long without an explanation. To make an INCREDIBLY long story short, my life got pretty crazy back in February and is just now getting back to some sense of "normal". I'm fine, but there was a time where I just did NOT have the time (or energy) to craft or blog. My poor Cricut was terribly neglected. I also felt like I was losing a lot of my "crafty mojo", and didn't really have any good ideas. I was doing a lot of crafting for design teams, challenges, etc but none really for ME. Last week I finally booted up my Cricut again and everything came rushing back, so of course I had to bring my blog back to life! I PROMISE to keep blogging as much as I can, hopefully 2-3 projects a week for awhile. Once I'm able to move and put my craft room back together (another long story) it will be much more then that! :)

Also, I FINALLY HAVE A NEW DIGITAL CAMERA! No more shots with my iPhone! That, and I discovered my boyfriend has a super AWESOME professional light box so now I can take MUCH better pictures.

The card I wanted to show you today was one I made MONTHS ago for a Design Team that I never got around to posting, but I absolutely love it so I wanted to make sure I posted it.

We had to create a card based on a movie. One of my favorite movies is Moulin Rouge, and I love the quote "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return". I wanted to create a very vintage looking card with red as the main color that focused on this quote. This is what I came up with:

The patterned paper is from the DCWV Black Currant stack. Iinked everything with Vintage Photo Distress Ink to give it that aged look.

The quote is computer generated, and I punched it out of cream colored cardstock using an EK Success punch. I inked the edges, popped it up on Pop Dots, and added two gems using my i-Rock.

In the movie, they call Satine the "Sparkling Diamond", so I knew I wanted a diamond somewhere on my card. I found this heart shaped "diamond" on the Hannah Montana cartridge and thought it would work perfectly. I both layers from red Core'Dinations cardstock, then ran the first layer through my Xyron and added red Martha Stewart glitter. The red flowers are also from my stash with gemstone brads in the center.

The word "Love" is from the Martha Stewart Elegant Cake Art cartridge. I used my i-Rock to add the "..." in bling after the word love.

Here is the rest of the quote on the inside of the card. I punched this out using the same EK Success punch, then glued it to a piece of red cardstock and cut around to create a shadow.

I LOVE how this card turned out. It looks vintage and lush, which reminds me of the Moulin Rouge.

I'm so happy to be back! I want to thank all of my subscribers that emailed me over the last few months making sure I was OK. I'm sorry if I didn't get back to all of you, but I really appreciated you thinking about me! I promise I will have more cards and projects to come very soon! :)

The "Thank You" Blog Hop!

2011-01-28T09:00:00.002-06:00

Good morning everyone! Today is the first day of the "Thank You" blog hop. You should have just come from Erikas blog! This blog hop was put together by the lovely Raven to give a big THANK YOU to Madeline of The Shabby Vanity for our blog makeovers!

I don't know if any of my early followers remember my original blog design, but it was BAD. I have no graphic design or HTML experience and it basically looked like it was thrown together by a fifth grader :) I decided I wanted a more professional look so I used Madeline and her "5-Minute Makeover" plus some other a la cart items that she offers. I could not be happier with the final result. Everything looks professional and organized, and I LOVE my banner! When I received word about this blog hop I couldn't wait to participate!

One of my favorite things about my new blog look is the cute cherry theme she has running throughout my blog. From my background to the screen on my Gypsy I'm juggling, it's everywhere, and I love it! I wanted to make a thank you card that incorporated those cute cherries, and this is what I came up with!

Recipe:

Wild Card Cricut Cartridge
George Cricut Cartridge
Paisley Cricut Cartridge
Peachy Keen "Everyday Character Faces" Assortment stamp set
Scrappy Moms "A Pinch and a Dash" stamp set
Ribbon from Michaels
Stickles

I cut the card base from the Wild Card cartridge, and then made two layering circles using George and my Gypsy to line them up. The cherries are from Paisley cartridge and I used my favorite Peachy Keen face stamp set and pink chalk to give them an adorable touch. I used Action Wobbles underneath each of the cherries so they pop up and wobble back and forth (hence the sentiment). I used my white gel pen for some doodling and the whites of the eyes, Stickles on the leaf, and voila! An adorable thank you card.

...you didn't think that's all I had for you today, did you? How about a little blog candy?? I have TWO Martha Stewart Christmas punches to give away!

Wanna win a Poinsettia Vine Edge punch and a Present Punch and Stamp Punch? Here's what you need to do:

Become a follower of my blog
Leave me a comment on this post (make sure you leave a way for me to contact you)

I will draw a winner on Monday, January 1st and email the winner. You'll have one week to get back to me or I'll have to draw someone else.

Your next stop is Angela at Creative Craftin. Make sure to check out everyone's projects!

Here's the list of everyone hopping today, and don't forget to stop by Madeline's blog and show her some love!

Raven-   http://love4stamps.blogspot.com/

Ruthie-   http://septemberninth.blogspot.com/

Theresa- http://www.thescrapbookingqueen.com/

Jennifer- http://crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com/

Erika-   http://cricutlove1.blogspot.com/

Kristin-   http://kristinscraftykitchen.blogspot.com/ (You are here!)

Angela- http://creativecraftin.blogspot.com/

Melissa- http://www.melissastampingvoila.blogspot.com/

Michele- http://www.nowstampthis.blogspot.com/

Zeni- http://www.scrappyzeni.blogspot.com/

Madeline- http://theshabbyvanity.blogspot.com/

SSD Design Team: "Love" Toilet Paper Roll Mini Album

2011-01-27T08:12:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone! This week our project was to make something for Valentines Day BESIDES a card or layout using our Cricut. I made an adorable Valentines Day toilet paper roll mini album using both my Gypsy and my beautiful new blue Expression, plus my favorite new Martha Stewart punches.

Recipe:

*Toilet Paper Rolls (I used 4)

*Patterned Paper

*Cuttlebug or Big Shot (for flattening rolls)

*Martha Stewart Elegant Cake Art Cartridge

*Cricut Classic Font Cartridge

*Tags, Bags Boxes and More Cartridge

*Scalloped Flower Gypsy File

*Cinch or Bind It All

*Martha Stewart String Lace and Cherish Hearts Border Punches

*Martha Stewart Heart Lock and Key Punch

*Martha Stewart Flourish Heart Punch

*Pink By Design "All Girl" and "Scripted Year" stamp sets

This would be a cute little album to tuck those Valentines Day mementos in. I love making these little albums! I want one for every season of the year :)

Here's a video walking you through each page:

I wish I could claim ownership of the gorgeous flower file, but I got it from Jen from her awesome blog. It's just like the Sizzix 3D flower die, but you can cut it with your Cricut at whatever size you want!

"Favorite Things" Blog Hop Winner!

2011-01-21T10:17:00.000-06:00

First of all, I want to thank EACH and EVERY one of you that participated in the hop and left me such lovely comments. I read each and every one of the 105 comments I received. I love you all!

I used Random.org to pick a winner!

And the winner is..... Vanessa!

Congrats Vanessa! You have one week to email me with your shipping info (click the cupcake on the left hand side of my blog), or I'll have to pick someone else. Don't forget to email me! :)

Speaking of blog hops, there's ANOTHER one coming up next weekend!

Join me for a blog hop thanking the lovely Madeline from the Shabby Vanity. She gave my blog the beautiful makeover you see here, as well as a bunch of other crafty ladies, and we've gotten together to give her a big THANK YOU! There will be a lot of awesome projects, yummy blog candy, PLUS you can win a 5-minute makeover from Madeline! Be sure to stop by my blog on the 28th to find the full list of participating blogs!

SSD Design Team: Valentines Day Box

2011-01-20T08:06:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! This week at SSD our challenge was to create something for a Valentines Day Party. I love to make a little something for my friends every year around Valentines, and this year I've decided to do chocolate covered Oreos (expect a blog post on that later!). I wanted to make a cute box and tag to package the cookies in, and the boxes on Wrap It Up are just too cute not to use. I used the blank box on the cartridge and cut it out of cardstock from DCWVs "Nana's Nursery: Baby Girl" stack. Can you believe I don't have a stack just for Valentines Day? I'll have to rectify that soon ;)

To spruce up the box, I used my new Martha Stewart Ruffled Heart Punch All Over the Page punch. It punches a PERFECT window for these boxes and it was so easy to use! I'm in love with these punches, I'm sure eventually I'll have them all :)

The tag is also from Wrap It Up, and I used clear Stickles on the flower. The "To" and "From" stamps are from Pink By Designs Christmas Wishes Stamp Set.

Hope you enjoy! I know my friends will love these. Stay tuned tomorrow, I'm going to announce the winner from this past weekends blog hop! Sorry it took so long, this week has gotten away from me for sure!

"My Favorite Things" Blog Hop!

2011-01-15T09:00:00.001-06:00

Welcome to The Crafty Kitchen and the ...A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS Blog Hop!
If you've come from visiting Lisa at My Lil' Bits, you're in the right place! If you've just happened across my blog and would like to play along with our fun hop, you can go to http://www.inkingitupcrazy.blogspot.com and start at the beginning. We would love to share a few of our favorite things with you today!
Each Design Team member will be featuring an project made especially for this hop using their favorite crafting tools and techniques. Make sure to check out each member's blog. There will be some fun prizes along the way, AND there will be some AWESOME ideas!

It was so hard for me to choose my "Favorite Thing" because I have SO MANY, and they change all the time. Currently, my two absolute favorite things are my Pink By Design Stamps and my Martha Stewart punches. Sarah over at Pink By Design makes the most wonderful stamp sets. They are of amazing quality and are so versatile. Although I adore my Cricut I'm also a punch junkie and I'm OBSESSED with Marthas punches and craft products. Her new Valentines Day punches are GORGEOUS, so for this hop I decided to make a card using a few of her new punches.

Recipe:

Recollections Craft Cardstock
Pink patterned paper from Michaels
DCWV Midnight Spell Stack (glitter paper)
Martha Stewart Cherish Hearts Border Punch
Martha Stewart Flourish Heart Punch
Pink By Design "Scriped Year" Stamp Set

To create this card I used two of Martha's new Valentines Day punches: the Cherished Hearts border punch and the Flourish Heart punch. I think the Flourish Heart is my absolute FAVORITE punch right now, so I wanted the card to feature the gorgeous punched image.

I actually punched out two hearts, one in craft cardstock and one from the pink glitter paper, and layered them slightly off-center from each other.

The sentiment is from one of my absolute favorite Pink By Design Stamp sets, Scripted Year. Scripted Year can truly be used all year round and the font is just gorgeous.

Are you ready for some blog candy? I figured a Martha punch would be a fitting giveaway today, since they are some of my favorite things :)

Even though the holidays are over, I know a lot of us are still scrapping Christmas, and this Punch and Stamp Set by Martha Stewart will look great on a layout, or for next years Christmas cards! The punch comes with three different clear stamps to make three different gift boxes, and they store neatly inside. So adorable!

In order to win, here's what you have to do:

Be a follower of my blog
Leave me a comment on this post telling me one of your favorite crafty things!

You have until Monday, January 17th to leave me a comment on this post. I will then use random.org to find a winner, and post the winner here on my blog. The winner will have one week to contact me, if I don't hear from them in a week I will have to pick someone else.

That's it for my Favorite Things today! Your next stop is Jessie over at Scrappy Jess. Hop on over to see what she has in store for you today!

Here's the full list of today's blog hop, make sure you visit everyone! They have some GREAT projects for you!

Kassidy -http://www.inkingitupcrazy.blogspot.com

Lisa – http://www.lisa-craft-blog.blogspot.com

Kristin – http://www.kristinscraftykitchen.blogspot.com (You are here!)

Jessie – http://www.scrappyjess.blogspot.com

Jamie – http://www.jmecreations.blogspot.com/

Susan – http://www.itsmesusanp.blogspot.com/

Erika –http://www.cricutlove1.blogspot.com

Celeste –http://www.ccscards.blogspot.com/

Amanda –http://www.amandascraftsandmore.blogspot.com/

Meagan –http://beyondpaperdesigns.blogspot.com/

Rebecca –http://www.creationswithbecka.blogspot.com/

Theresa – http://www.thescrapbookingqueen.com/

Have a fabulous weekend everyone, and have fun hopping!

SSD Design Team: "I Like Your Style" with Nifty Fifties

2011-01-14T07:20:00.000-06:00

This week over at SweetSassyDiva our challenge was to create something using one of our new cartridges. I snagged Nifty Fifties during PaperCrafting Pros $13 cartridge sale, but I was a little apprehensive about using it. I was born in 1985, what in the heck was I going to do with all of these fifties images? Well, fear not my friends! Nifty Fifties is a truly versatile cartridge and you can make SO MANY wonderful things with it! Wanna see what I did?

Recipe:

Nifty Fifties Cartridge
DCWV Black Currant stack
i-Rock and gems
Martha Stewart black pearls
My Pink Stamper "Pinkalicious Puns" stamp set

One of the first images I was drawn to on the cartridge was the dress form and the cute little sock hop dress. I cut the dress form from glitter paper and the actual dress from the Black Currant stack. The dress comes with a buckle but it was too small to really work with, so I blinged up the dress with gems instead.

The sentiment is from the My Pink Stamper Pinkalicious Puns set. I KNOW, I KNOW. I didn't use a Pink By Design Stamp! Are you shocked? Trust me, I wanted to, but I don't own the Shopaholic stamp set...yet. Sarah, if you're listening, my birthday is next month ;)

All kidding aside, this is a great girly stamp set with lots of fashion sayings, and "I Like Your Style" went perfectly with the dress.

SO, there you have it! If you ever have the opportunity to get Nifty Fifties (and it's going for really cheap these days) you should! You'll be surprised what you can create with it :)

Vintage Flower Headband using the Imaginisce i-Top!

2011-01-12T14:31:00.000-06:00

Remember when I told you I was in love with the Imaginisce i-Top?

Well, I wasn't lying. It had me at hello. I also knew as soon as I bought it I wanted to use it for more then just papercrafting. Sarah over at Pink Cricut posted a video a few months ago that showed her making headbands, clips and rings for her daughter. I loved it, but since I don't have children (yet), I knew I needed to expand on that idea and make accessories for adults to wear as well.

I love lollipop flowers. They're easy to make, impossible to screw up, and they come out adorable every single time. I couldn't think of a better vintage looking headband then a lollipop flower headband, so I set to work creating one.

Don't you just LOVE IT!!!! I've got to share the recipe with you, because it is just too easy for you NOT to try it for yourself!

Recipe:

Imaginisce i-Top Tool
Small Twist Daddies
Imaginisce Headbands
Satin Fabric
Spellbinder Nestabilities- Standard Circles
Cuttlebug
Lighter or candle
Wide Ribbon
Hotfix Crystals
Feathers

I cut the circles out of the poly satin fabric using my Nestabilities and my Cuttlebug. I know a lot of people make lollipop flowers using the Sizzix Circles #2 Die, or you can also cut them freehand. I burned the edges of each circle with a lighter and then glued them all together with hot glue. I used my Crop-A-Dile to punch a hole in the flower and then secured it to the headband using a Twist Daddy.

I made a short tutorial showing you how it's done:

The BEST part of this headband is I can make the flowers in a bunch of different colors, then simply pop them on the twist daddy and I have a headband that will coordinate with almost any outfit!

I truly hope you give these a try. What a great way to repurpose your papercrafting tools!

SSD Design Team: I-Top Snowman Card

2011-01-08T06:00:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! This week at SSD out challenge was to recycle something into a project, or use something new we got for Christmas. I combined them both into this card.

Even though Christmas is over, it is still definitely winter in my neck of the woods, so I decided to make a winter card. I used my new Imaginisce I-Top that I got for Christmas to make a snowman out of brads. Isn't he cute?

The i-Top was SO EASY to use and makes perfect brads every time. Wait until you see my next project where I used ribbon and the i-Top, they're FLAWLESS :)

I used Recollections craft cardstock for the base and patterned paper from DCWVs Winter Combo stack. The twine is recycled from a package I got for Christmas. The sentiment is from Pink By Designs "Winter Fun" stamp set, which I punched out using an EK Success Punch. The snowflakes are a Martha Stewart punch.

Speaking of Pink By Design, did you see that Sarah released some new stamp sets this week? She also now carries super cute twine in her shop, and she started a Stamp Of The Month Club! I HAD to join that one, we all know how much I love my Pink By Design stamps :)

Have a great day everyone!

Haven't done one of these in awhile...

2011-01-07T14:11:00.000-06:00

A Haul video that is! I also expect this to be one of the last haul videos I do this year, to keep with my "Use What I Have" 2011 goal! I think I'm set for the rest of the year at this point ;)

My Goals for 2011

2011-01-02T22:21:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed their New Years weekend. Some of you are probably still recovering like me ;)

I've decided to set a few goals for myself for 2011. I say "goals", not "resolutions", because resolutions are those superficial things you set on January 1st and never follow through with. I'm hoping 2011 will be a better year for me then 2010, and I wanted to set some goals to make sure they happen. I want to list them here so I can hold myself accountable for them later. No worries, my regular crafty posts will resume tomorrow :)

Kristin's 2011 Goals:

Read at LEAST 50 books, and keep track of each one

I LOVE to read but I haven't been reading as much as I should lately. I not only want to read at least 50 books, but I want to try genres that I usually never read, or would never think of reading. I'm hopefully getting a Nook for my birthday because I already own so many books I'm running out of room! You can also lend e-books free from the library! So, if you have any good book recs, let me know :)

Jog with my dogs at least three times a week

Not only will this be good for me, it will be great for my dogs. Dixie is full of energy and if she gets more exercise hopefully she will stop destroying my things ;)

Take more pictures

I need to start taking more pictures of my family and friends, so I will have plenty to scrapbook!

Make at least two cards a week

I really want to try to send birthday cards to all of my friends and family this year, but in order to do that I have to MAKE them!

Use up the supplies I HAVE, instead of buying more

I've only really been crafting since this summer, and I have already accumulated a TON of stuff! I have an awesome new Expression, Gypsy, Cuttlebug, Cinch and many other useful tools. My punch collection is slowly growing. I own a ton of cartridges and a whole SLEW of Cuttlebug folders and dies (Nestabilities are my new obsession). I have plenty of things to keep me busy!

Sing more. Stress less.

Most of my bloggy friends don't know this, but my #1 passion in life is music. I'm a classically trained vocalist and I've been preforming since the 6th grade. I'm also a HUGE perfectionist when it comes to my voice. I practice obsessively and if I don't think I can do it flawlessly, I won't do it. I'm hoping to branch out this year and sing genres I'm not used to singing for fun and hopefully NOT STRESS OUT ABOUT IT!

So, there you have them? What are your goals for 2011? I would love to hear them! Happy New Year everyone!

Michaels Ad Sneak Peek!

2010-12-31T12:30:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! I got my hands on the Michaels ad for the week of January 9th, and I just HAD TO SHARE!

All cartridges that are normally $69.99 will be 9.99!!!!!!! So awesome!

Here's a picture. It also adds it excludes Imagine carts and you can't do rain checks :)

Have a fabulous New Years everyone! Here's hoping for a great 2011!

The Last of My Christmas Projects!

2010-12-30T18:24:00.000-06:00

Here is my LAST "Christmas Project" post of 2010. I promise!

Do you remember the altered recipe box I made a few weeks ago for the Post It Blog Hop? Well, I showed my Mom and she thought they would be wonderful gifts for her co-workers. She wanted me to make some things to fill the boxes as well, so I decided to put a set of 3x3" cards and envelopes in each box, along with a monogrammed Post-It Note Holder. I made SEVEN of these bad boys, and each one was different!

The only Cricut cut I used was for the monogram, and I used the Martha Stewart Elegant Cake Art cartridge. Most of the patterend paper is from Recollections (I took my Mom to Michaels and let her pick out all the patterned paper), and most of the solid paper is Post-It Craft Paper!

Each one had a different Martha Stewart border punch around the top, and I used Stickles on each of the monograms (hard to see in the photos). I bound all the Post-It Note holders with my Cinch!

These are extremely cute and SUPER AFFORDABLE gifts. The recipe boxes were $1.00 at Michaels, and we bought the paper and ribbon during a sale. The Post-It Note holders are made from 4x4 chipboard coasters I got at Michaels on clearance for 30 cents a pack!

Yummy Holiday Cookies!

2010-12-29T10:33:00.000-06:00

I needed to make a huge batch of cookies for a few holiday events last week. I decided I didn't want to use my Cricut Cake, not because I don't love her (BECAUSE I DO), but because I love making Royal Icing flood cookies. They taste so yummy and the possibilities are endless with what you can do with them.

I think the mittens and the candy canes were my favorite. I used a Christmas cookie cutter set that I have had for AGES for the shapes. I colored a batch of the stiff royal icing to outline, and then once they had hardened, I added water to the remaining royal to make it flood consistency. I colored them to match the outlines, filled squeeze bottles, and went to town.

The mittens were fairly simple. After I flooded the red and white into the mitten and allowed them to dry, I piped white stiff royal on top.

To get the awesome swirl effect, I flood filled the candy canes with white, and then while they were still wet I made red and green stripes. Because it is still wet the colored stripes sank into the white. I then took a toothpick and just made lines down the candy cane. Super simple and it really creates a gorgeous effect.

Here's the recipes I used for the cookies and for the icing. If you're planning on making shape cookies, this is the all time go-to recipe. It doesn't spread when baked, so your cookies retain their shape.

No Fail Sugar Cookies – NFSC

Ingredients

6 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 cups unsalted butter
2 cups sugar (white granulated)
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring (I like almond myself)
1 tsp. salt

Instructions

Chill for 1 to 2 hours (or see Hint below)
Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350
degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges. This recipe
can make up to 5-dozen 3 cookies.
HINT: Rolling Out Dough Without the Mess — Rather than wait for your cookie dough to
chill, take the freshly made dough and place a glob between two sheets of parchment paper.
Roll it out to the desired thickness then place the dough and paper on a cookie sheet and pop
it into the refrigerator. Continue rolling out your dough between sheets of paper until you have
used it all. By the time you are finished, the first batch will be completely chilled and ready to
cut. Reroll leftover dough and repeat the process! An added bonus is that you are not adding
any additional flour to your cookies.

I got my royal icing from Bake at 350. Actually, I get a TON of my recipes there. She rocks :) She even has picture directions, so you really have NO EXCUSE not to make these cookies!

Martha Stewart Valentines Day Goodness at Michaels!

2010-12-28T17:00:00.000-06:00

I'm taking a break from my post-Christmas posts to share with you the new Martha Stewart Valentines Day display at my Michaels. There are TOO many things I want, so I just had to share!

She has some really great die cuts and glitter this season. My personal faves:

The glitter glue pens. Don't get me wrong, I love my Stickles, but if there was anyone I would give them up for, it would be Martha! I will have to try these out!
Valentines Day Stamp Set. Cute sentiments and three great colors!
Die cut butterfiles. An ENTIRE page of pink, glittery die cut butterflies? I'm in love! :)

Now to the good stuff: THE PUNCHES. She has a really cute Valentines Day paper pack and mat pack, but let's be serious, I mostly care about the punches. She has some GREAT new ones this season (I'm not sure what the Fiskars punch is doing there, but oh well). I purchased three punches, and there is still one more I want. My faves:

Filagree Heart Large Punch

I'm OBSESSED with this punch. I love the way it looks and can be used for more then just Valentines Day. I don't think I could get something that intricate in that size to come out well with my Cricut.

Heart Lock and Key Double Punch

Don't quote me, but I'm fairly certain she has released this punch before. I'm almost positive my friend has one, but I don't, so I had to get it!

Cherish Heart Border Punch

I love the scalloped border! I think this will look so cute on so many different cards.

There is also a really cute stamp and punch set and two heart Punch All Over the Page punches (which I also plan on getting).

Make sure you check out your Michaels and see if they have rolled out their new Martha stuff yet! Also, all of her Christmas stuff is on clearance right now, so if your M's has any left (mine only had two things left), make sure to grab them!

Handmade for the Holidays: More Word Books

2010-12-28T07:55:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone!

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas weekend. Was Santa good to you this year? He was extremely generous with me! On top of some wonderful jewelry and clothes, I got the Stand and Salute cartridge, an i-Top plus accessories (Can't WAIT to play with that one) and....my Aqua Expression! I already knew I was getting that (since I waited in line for it on Black Friday LOL), but it was great to finally be able to open that box! I was also finally able to play with the two cartridges that came with it, Playtime and Classic Font. Great carts!

I know Christmas is over, but I have a TON of projects I completed last week that I want to share with you!

I made two more word books for Christmas this year for family members. I had full intentions of making FOUR, but I ran out of chipboard PLUS they are incredibly time consuming (and frustrating when your Gypsy won't do what you want it to do!), so two was all I could manage in one sitting.

I wish I had pictures to share, but I actually finished the books on THE DAY they had to be given to family so I didn't have time to snap anything!