Designs by Lesleyanne -- LA's Cricut

Cricut Cake Princess castle cake!

2011-11-28T10:01:00.000-08:00

My younger daughter is turning four, and loves princesses and Disney, so for her cake this year I wanted to make something special. It's her first "big girl" party with her own friends coming, so she was pretty excited! I used my Cricut Cake machine: a great purchase, but I have some pretty important tips for new users. Hope they help, since it's much different than cutting paper!

First, here's the finished cake. It is a vanilla flavoured cake with buttercream filling and icing. It's pretty smooth on the outside, and might look like fondant covered, but the only fondant is the pink/purple castle and words.

It's a tall cake, about 6" high.

My big helper (behind) and the birthday girl (in front)

The wire wiggly thingies were added on location. Looked really cute and finishing, but they don't travel well and can move around too much. Blowing out the candles:

The inside (which was yummy, even if the colours are horrifically neon!)

So, here are my tips and recipes that I've found are most successful:

General cake decorating tips:

Start early!

The cake won't go stale, and the cake itself needs time to "settle" if you're making a stacked cake! If you need it for Saturday I follow this schedule:
Wednesday: Bake cake, allow to cool. Level, fill and crumb coat. Set aside (in fridge if filling is perishable).
Thursday: Make fondant. Wrap up tightly and set aside. Apply top layer of buttercream to sides and top. Smooth well.
Friday: Decorate with fondant. Cover with plastic wrap, and you're ready for tomorrow!

Level your cake

Please, I beg you: Level it with a big long serrated bread knife. Cut off the dome on top and have a nice snack, or feed it to the kids!
If you don't level each layer, you may not notice it on the bottom layers, but the top ones will be clearly domed and it's next to impossible to fix it with filling:

Use gel food colouring, not the grocery store liquid stuff

Believe me, it's worth it. Don't use much: this whole cake was tinted with under 1 teaspoon of total colour! The cakes used 1/4 tsp of each Violet or Rose Wilton gel colour, and the fondant about the same. I use a knife tip and just dip it out. You don't need much (except for black or red, but that's a different blog post :-) It's available many places, including Walmart and Michaels.

Smooth your buttercream

I use an off-center spreading palette, and dip it in hot water. This prevent too much sticking, and melts it just a little to get a nice finish. Clean off and dip often!

Marshmallow Fondant:

Here's the recipe I use. This made enough fondant to do this cake with about 1/5 of it leftover.

A small amount of Crisco shortening(not margarine nor butter)
8 oz marshmallows
15 oz icing sugar (powdered sugar)
1 to 2 tablespoons water

Rub a glass bowl with the shortening to coat. Add marshmallows and water. Melt in microwave, heating for 30 seconds, then stirring, and repeat until they are melted.

Rub a mixing bowl or the bowl of a bread machine bowl with more shortening. Dump in melted marshmallows and add icing sugar. Mix with a bread hook or paddle. Allow to kneed, at least 5 minutes. You're looking for a ball of fondant that has everything included, no dry bits, but not sticking to the sides of the bowl. If it's sticky, add a small amount of icing sugar, a tablespoon at a time. If there's dry material still, add water, drop by drop. This is the trickiest part: You want the fondant to be leaving the sides of the bowl, just past the sticky point, but not in any way dry. It takes practice. Start early!

Smear a piece of plastic wrap with shortening, and wrap up the fondant tightly. Wrap in another piece of plastic wrap, then put in a baggie. Set aside for at least a day.

To tint: Wearing clean plastic gloves, wse gel colors and add a little bit of color (1/4 tsp at most) to a small ball of gel. Kneed until evenly distributed. Return the tinted ball to the remainder, then kneed until completely added and coloured. Gel colors tend to develop over time, so the colour might enhance over the next day. You don't need too much color for this step!

MMF Tips:

Start early!

Use a dough hook or your bread machine, lid left open so it doesn't heat

Weigh your measurements

Baking is tricky and measuring by cups is highly inaccurate. It's best to scale your measurements if possible. My kitchen scale was fairly inexpensive, and is my most used baking tool!

Cricut Cake Tips:

Did I mention this one already?

Start early!

Cricut cake is tricky at first, until you get the feel of your machine and how to cut best. I live in a VERY dry environment, so I think this helps me with fondant, but make sure you have lots and lots of time to work with your cake.

Roll out you fondant thinly and evenly

I can just start to make out the circle lines on my mat with my fondant. That's my best thickness for fondant. Thinner and it's too hard to hold it's shape when taking off the mat, thicker and it takes multiple passes to cut.

Freeze it!

After rolling out, I freeze my mat with fondant on it, for about 20 minutes. I've left it for up to 5 hours, and it was fine as well.

Use multiple mats

I had three mats going with this design, so I could be cutting while the other two were freezing.

Test your design on paper, if you can

I have a cricut expression as well, so I precut my intended designs on it with paper first, then tried to up against my cake to ensure a good fit. It makes tweaking measurements a little easier and faster.

Getting stuff off the mat and onto the cake

First, "weed" the cut. This means to take off all the excess fondant from the design, including inside the piece. Save this fondant, you can reroll and reuse. Don't try to lift the piece with a knife or spatulla, you could bend it. Instead, flip the mat over onto a piece of wax paper. Bend the mat upwards, and use the tip of a knife or thin metal spatula to start the fondant peeling off on the wax paper. The fondant should be touching the wax paper as you continue to bend the mat backwards. You can give it some help with the spatula, but it should start to peel off all on it's own. You'll be left with the fondant perfectly shaped, but upside down on the wax paper (that's good!). Brush the back of it lightly with plain water, then attach it to the cake. Peel off the wax paper, and you're done!

Buttercream Recipe:

3.6 oz shortening
4 oz margarine
2 tablespoons milk or cream
16 oz icing sugar (powdered sugar)

Cream together shortening and margaring in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar slowly until all incorporated. Add milk, then beat thoroughly until light and fluffy.
If too stiff, add milk drop by drop until easier to use; if too thin/soft, add sugar by the tablespoon. Environmental conditions will impact the siffness/softness of your buttercream, so adjust to suit your kitchen. Keep icing covered with plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out when not in use.

Okay, that's all my tips and recipes for today. Hope that help you get more use out of your cake. It's so worth learning how to use it!!

Summer fun -- Picnic!

2011-07-15T15:01:00.001-07:00

I AM CANADIAN!

2011-06-24T21:36:00.001-07:00

I don't have any photos that need scrappin' for Canada Day, July 1st, so I decided to do a little journal page about my first ten years in Canada. I became a citizen in 1986, and wanted to be able to tell my daughters the story of how we came to Canada and a bit about some of the places I've lived, and why it's so important to be to be Canadian. The embellishment is a famous Canadian-ism, "I AM Canadian". It's from a tv commercial, that went viral in the days before viral was.... well... viral. LOL
Here's the LO, and the video. Happy Canada Day!

Font is Tinkertoy, printed on vellum. Most other supplies are bits and pieces from my left-over drawer! Gotta love using up that stash!

I am Canadian videos:

I am Canadian by the Arrogant Worms:

I am Canadian RANT!

And just for fun: William Shatner's I am Canadian:

Sand-tastic!

2011-06-17T19:15:00.001-07:00

I love clean and simple scrapbooking, and I think this is a good example of having pictures the most important part of the page, but having clean and elegant lines. Plus, it has some of my favorite things :-)

Left side:

Right side:

Up close:

I really enjoy using the old dymo embossing label maker, and a while ago I got this script typeface. How fun is that!

Supplies:
Paper: DCWV Photo Stack 2, blue cardstock
Ribbon: 1/8" wide generic ribbon
Flowers: Recollections Boutique Fleur
Font: LDJ Old Typeface
Label: Dymo label maker

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-11T08:37:00.001-07:00

This week's challenge at My Sheri Crafts is Father's Day! Here's the card I made for my girls's daddy, who often says he lives in a circus!

Paper: from my stash, brand unknown
"Go Wild" stamp: Lots of Pun by Joy's Life
Cuts: "Roar" from Create a Critter; pop-up from Everyday Pop-up by Cricut

Happy Father

2011-06-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

New Designs -- BUGS!

2011-05-28T20:02:00.000-07:00

I have four new designs posting at Die Cut Designer this weekend! I love them: Dragonflies and Butterflies. They're more sophisticated/realistic cuts, not cartoon-y, so I hope you enjoy them!

Cupcake!

2011-05-27T22:07:00.000-07:00

This week's challenge at My Sheri Crafts is a recipe, something I've never done before. Use:
1 Button
2 Designer Papers
3 Flowers

So, I made a LO to commemorate my littlest DD's first experience with cupcakes! She was, and continues to be, a little girl who doesn't enjoy unusual textures on her hands, so she kept her hands well out of the way and devoured this chocolate yummy by sticking out her tongue and leaning forward. What a great idea, I think I might try it next year on my birthday! Not sure how many people would want to share my cake after I did it, though!

Supplies:
1 brown button
2 papers: K&Co Tim Coffey Tuscan Sunflowers
3 flowers: by prima
trim ribbon: K&Co BW Flora & Fauna Vellum Adhesive borders
cuts: frame is from Paper Lace by Cricut; title font: Adore
tags: unknown brand, sprayed with Glimmer Mist Sunflower

Flowers as Accents

2011-05-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

My girls love spring babies, and this petting zoo is always at our community Summerfest. I love this paper, but can only take small doses of such a busy pattern. This LO is based on a PageMap, and works really well to incorporate that pattern but with balance.

Supplies:
Paper: DCWV Blossoms and Butterflies stack, solid cardstock
Dry embossing: Cuttlebug Swiss dots
Prima flowers
cut: Elegant Edges by Cricut
Rhinestones
ink for all edges

Transportation!

2011-05-19T20:08:00.000-07:00

My DD has this great electric scooter! It's usually the first toy to make it out of storage when spring finally arrives! Here she is on her first scooter ride of the year!

Supplies:
Paper: DCWV Mod-Retro stack
cuts: Campin' Critters (scooter) and Elegant Edges (tag) by Cricut
Random letter stickers from my stash!
I-rock gems

Donating our Hair -- not SB related (yet!)

2011-05-03T22:15:00.000-07:00

My DDs and I got our hair cut and are donating to Locks of Love, an organization that makes custom wigs for children. I wanted to share my pics with you! I can't wait to scrap these!
Befores:
Hannah (aged 8)

me:

Teagan (aged 3 1/2)

Afters:
11.5 inches:

11 inches:

(Mine was 20 inches)

"THE HAIR!"

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this worthy organization! While we do not personally have a family member or friend who is in need, there are many children who are, and I am so proud that my girls would do this. They do this in honour of my mother who died of cancer when Hannah was 2 and before Teagan was born.

ps. Happy Mother's Day :-)

Another pop-up card

2011-04-30T21:23:00.000-07:00

This one is the Bird Cage from Everyday Pop-up Cards by Cricut. I made this for my new Step-mother for mother's day. This is definitely one of the simpler pop-ups, but I enjoyed it!

A Quick Card

2011-04-22T23:26:00.000-07:00

Shhhhh! Don't tell him, but DH's birthday is coming up soon! I made him this card, using Everyday Pop-Up cards by Cricut. I like this cartridge, this is my fourth card, but this one was definitely the easiest!!

Supplies:

Cricut cartridge: Everyday Pop-up Cards
Cardstock: all from my bits-and-pieces left overs!
Stamp: Autumn Leaves "Light the Candles"
Embossing Powder: Stampendous! Winter Wonderland Opaque

Everyday Pop-up Cards: Onesie and Flower

2011-04-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

Still loving the designs on Everyday Pop-Up cards, but I think the mechanism on this card is the trickiest I've done so far! I made this Onesie card for a friend who recently had a beautiful baby boy:

The mechanism is really hard to see, but here's the pinwheel inside:

I made a tutorial with one of the other cards using this mechanism of turning to open. I hope this helps, but it is a tricky card, and it doesn't always collapse to close smoothly!

Thanks for coming by! Let me know if this post and video helped you!

Bunnies!

2011-04-16T00:48:00.000-07:00

Here's one side of my Easter LO from pictures from last year:

The background bunny circle is part of a SVG kit available on April 23, 2011 from DieCut Designers.

The forum is open! Come and check it out! Lots of exciting things coming!

Everyday Pop-up Cards: Get Well Spoon!

2011-04-14T21:47:00.000-07:00

I know there's a lot of trouble with this new Cricut cartridge, but I love it. I really do. I'm mechanical and spacial, so the challenge of no instructions is almost like a test. The Birds card was an easy one; the coffee cup was more of a trick! I hope you like what I did, and while I haven't made a video of it, you might be able to get the idea from the pictures. Thanks for visiting, and please comment if you like my work!

The coffee cup assembly comes with what looks like a random rectangular cut (also on the cupcake assembly). I sat with this for days, and ended up building the cup without it. After I assembled it, I realized that the rectangle was meant to be inside the coffee cup, to support the "coffee" and "steam" lid. Here's what it looks like with the lid off:

When the card folds, the internal support pulls the lid down and everything lays flat. Without it, the lid does not fully push up when the card is open:

Supported, the lid is slightly lower than the top of the mug, as though it really was an almost-full cup of coffee:

This really is a lovely design!

My measurements:
Standard A2 card (4.25"x5.5")
Coffee cup on front (base) cut at 3"
Phrase on front cut at 2"
Coffee cup inside (pop-up) cut at 3"

Suggestions: I feel that the coffee cup pop-up could likely be cut larger, at 3.5" or even 4". There's lots of room on the inside. However, at 3" it was not particularly hard to assemble if you could figure out all the bits. :-)

I hope that helps with a visual of what it should look like! I think this cartridge is really interesting, and I can't wait to give this card!

Thanks for stopping by!

Die Cut Designer!

2011-04-14T08:38:00.000-07:00

DieCutDesigner forum

DieCutDesigner Shop

Lovebirds: Everyday Pop Up Cards

2011-04-08T23:06:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited to get a new cartridge from Cricut, called Everyday Pop Up Cards. It's lovely, but sadly does not come with operating instructions! LOL. The "pop up" part is a little confusing, and since it's so new, there are very few tutorials. I made this card for my dad and his new wife with the intention of doing a photo tutorial, but honestly these things need a video! So, another day I'll try a different card and make a new video. However, there are quite a few different ways to assemble the pop-ups, with most cards having both an icon-type pop-up and a phrase pop-up, and each might be assembled/attached differently. I guess it's trial and error until Cricut puts out some instructions!

Anyhow, here's my card:

Here's the inside pop-up. Very cute, but a little hard to see in the photo, since it's white-on-white. The birds have dimensional wings, and the whole heart pops forward:

The attachment points on the back of the heart, and a view of the dimensional wings:

This was one of the cuts, but I simply couldn't figure out how to make it work correctly. The cuts on this key are for the heart, one bird, 2 wings, and a bird on a long tab. It's clear that the birds assemble into the heart where there are slits, but I'm not sure how to get the long tab to work so that the bird is "hovering" over the other. Perhaps I cut it too big??? So, I ditched that bird and recut the other in reverse, and attached him instead. I'm just as happy with the result.

A view, looking at the opened card, from another angle. Hard to see the white-on-white dimensional birds, but they do look great in person!

I think this cartridge is great, but I might wait for further instructions before I attempt some of these cards! However, very creative and I love the idea!

My New logo!

2011-04-06T21:08:00.000-07:00

I'm working on some new logos to go with my banner:

Rainy Day Fun!

2011-04-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

It is currently snowing in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and we're under a heavy snowfall advisory for April 2nd, 2011. Crazy!!! So, it seems a bit ironic to work on a LO that has spring in mind, since I have no real idea of when spring's going to arrive here!

The main die cuts on the LO feature two of my new designs, that will be available in svg packs. I'm really excited about these, especially the tags and borders!

The left side:

and right:

Tag close-up, but take a look at the "ribbon": it's hard to see in the photo, but it's actually a stripe of micro-beads. Looks great in person!

One of my favorite fonts, and cuts so nicely:

Supplies
Paper: K&Co Susan Winget "Nature"
Fonts: 2Peas Cherub
Tag: fancy shapes3 book.svg ***this is a soon to be released svg pack, available April 23, 2011 from Die Cut Designer***
Border: border raindrops.svg ***this is a soon to be released svg pack, available April 23, 2011 from Die Cut Designer***
"Ribbon": Martha Stewart Microbeads in Blue Topaz

Creative Team Call!

2011-03-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

I've decided to start selling SVG kits! Don't worry, I'll still maintain my freebies here and continue to give away designs, but I'm beginning to assemble more specific svg kits and want to distribute them at a reasonable cost. So, I'm looking for two or three creative people who would like to receive each month's designs for free, then post their creations! Here's a sneak peak of one of the first svg kits, called "Fancy Shapes":

Creative Team Requirements:

1. You will receive all my month's designs for free, and in return you will be expected to create at least two projects. These can be layouts, cards, minibooks, or any other paper project.

2. If you have a blog, I'd like you to post on your blog with a link to my online store and blog, as well as post to any messageboard you are a member of. You will be asked to post to one particular MB, to be determined later. If you don't have a blog, that's okay: just post on more messageboards!

3. High quality photos are important!

4. Please don't share the files. They are for your own personal use.

5. If you would like something in particular designed, I'll do my best to accomodate you.

6. This is a 6 month term, to last end-April to end-October.

To apply:
Please email me at lesleyanne_b@hotmail.com with your name, blog address, messageboards you follow, any other DTs you are a part of, and attach or link to 3-4 of your favorite projects.

I am considering all types of paper artists who love svgs! All experience levels are encouraged to apply!

Spring is Coming!

2011-03-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

... but not to Calgary, Alberta! It's been snowing here, and is still snowing. It's going to be a late spring! But for My Sheri Crafts challenge this week, I made a spring LO and a new idea to share.

The LO:

I'm beginning to try to use my stash in more creative ways, and so many of my LOs have my old alpha stickers on them and the Jolee embellishments. I still like using them, but haven't bought any in years! Time to use them up!

I love sewing on LOs:

Supplies:
Paper: SEI Poppy Paper pad
Embellishment: Ladybug by Jolee's by You
Alpha Stickers: Me & My Big Ideas "mambi minis"; Martha Stewart "Holly Alphabet"
Journal tag: Deja Views "Love journal sticker tablet"

And a quick tutorial:

I got these MS felt alphas after Christmas for super-cheap at Michael's, but I couldn't really think of how to use them. There's not enough to make a big title, and they seem pretty limiting. But, after a close look, I realized that I could probably slice the holly off them!

Using a sharp exacto knife, slide it under the holly and gently slice through the top layer of the underlying felt:

Here it is, next to an unchanged letter. Looks like it never had anything there!

And the completed title. I've very happy with the outcome! And, happy to use those letters in a different way!

White on white

2011-03-19T00:35:00.000-07:00

I love the effect of tone on tone, and this week's challenge at My Sheri Crafts is monotone. Here's my white on white LO, which is so lovely in person, but a little hard to appreciate in a photo. :-(

There's white stitching around the border, along with two layers of vellum!

Oh, and I LOVE my new Imaginisce I-rock tool. It heat sets jewels and rhinestones. Very cool, and I have a fabulous template to share with you all very soon on a later post!

My first cut from the cricut cartridge, Winter Lace. I love snowflakes, and got this one because you can NEVER have enough snowflakes where I live!

Hope you all have a great week! I'm counting the days until Spring Break -- I've very much in need of some crafting catch-up time!

St Patrick's Day!

2011-03-12T00:49:00.000-08:00

I've done my first "live" tutorial in honour of St Patricks Day! Being an active teacher, my hands are really destroyed after working with kids (and washing them constantly!), so I've never made a tutorial where my hands were seen before. Instead, I've stuck to computer tutorials. Well, it's time to break out of my box! Here's this week's project, bobby pin ribbon Shamrocks:

and the video tutorial on how to make them. They're lots of fun and pretty simple once you get the hang of it!

Please feel free to go to my channel on Youtube to view it bigger and in HD!

And here they are in "hair"! This is actually my daughter's dance wig, but I'll have a chance later this week to take some "real" photos :-)

Mardi Gras

2011-03-05T19:46:00.000-08:00

Here's DD and her fabulous face paint, for Carnival. Fun days!

Paper: DCWV Street Lace
Martha Stewart Monarch Butterfly edge punch
Cricut Hannah Montana cartridge (butterfly die cut)
Font: Grenouille ("Mardi"); Liorah BT ("Gras")

Boys!

2011-02-25T00:39:00.000-08:00

I have so few little boy pictures to scrap, but I enjoy doing my DH's baby and childhood pictures when I can. Here he is at maybe 6 months old. Whatever happened... LOL!

Supplies:
Paper: Gartner "Cruise Voyage paper pad"
White and blue cardstock
Ink pads
Spellbinders: long scalloped rectangle
Rhinestones
blue Dewdrops

All about my girls!

2011-02-18T21:57:00.000-08:00

I'm working on my most recent holiday and it's so hard to pick "the best" pictures! But, these are some of my favorites: not because they're well shot or particularly exciting, I just love the memory the photos evoke. The littler one had braids for the first time, and was SO impressed with them. The bigger one whines and cries, but it makes her feel like her holiday has begun!!! And I just love not having to deal with mucky dirty hair for the week! LOL

Supplies:

Paper: Me and My Big Ideas "Sunshine"
Cuts: blue lace from Cricut "Paper Lace" cartridge
Ziggy ITC font for Braids
EK Success "Lattice Chain" edge punch
Sticker: Making Memories Beach wordfetti
Ink: Cricut markers (brown) for paper lace; Memento ink for other edges

2011-02-11T21:39:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is approaching quickly, and I made a LO for my DD from our recent trip to Mexico. She went swimming with the dolphins, and got a giant pink dolphin stuffie for a present. She loves it, so I made a "love" themed page for her album:

Hearts were cut first, dry embossed, then edges were inked. Each heart is different!

First time I've ever used rick-rack on a page. Love the effect, but took a bunch of glue dots to hold both the ribbon on the page and the die cuts to the ribbon.

Supplies:
Cuts from Cricut Plantin (hearts) and Winter Woodland ("love")
Paper: Me and My Big Ideas "Destination Paradise"
Embossing folders: Sizzix Valentine set #4 and Love Set; and Cuttlebug d'vine swirl
Dye Ink
Rick-rack ribbon
glue dots and ATG adhesive

Anniversary LO

2011-02-04T21:19:00.000-08:00

Well, this is a little different! My Sheri Craft's challenge this week is Anniversary. So, I thought I'd do a card. Then I thought, no no no, I MUST work on my scrapbooks. So, you'd think that I might have a LO to do of my own marriage and anniversaries? After all, we've only been married (oh dear Lord) 15 years?!?!?

Turns out... No. I have no anniversary pictures. LOL.

So, next best is family. Here's LO of my DH's great Aunt's 50th wedding anniversary. They were such a fabulous couple! Our great Uncle passed away a year after this, and great Aunt 5 years later. They were fabulous right 'til the end. I can only hope my marriage is so successful and blessed.

Enjoy!

Supplies:

Paper: DCWV Glittered Alphabet Stack and DCWV Glittered All Dressed Up Stack
Die cut: Spellbinders Lattice Pendants
Punched Board: Fiskars Threading water
from my stash old gold stickers and a bit of ribbon

Chinese New Year!

2011-01-28T22:43:00.000-08:00

This week's challenge at My Sheri Crafts is Chinese New Year! I had fun making this kanji and a Hello Kitty, and think they go together very nicely! The download for the character, which means "good luck" or "good fortune" follows at the end of this post, and I just used up scraps for the card. Happy Chinese New Year to you all, on February 3rd!

Hannah's Apples

2011-01-21T19:05:00.000-08:00

Love this week's challenge, Organic, but usually when I'm eating it! A LO was a bit of a trick, so I made a page of my DD's tree:

Love the dimensionality of the embellishments!

Supplies:

Paper: DCWV Eco Stack
Martha Stewart stamps
Versamark and red embossing powder
Black Dew Drops
Letter stickers

Happy Birthday to me!

2011-01-17T21:13:00.000-08:00

My Birthday was this past weekend, so I thought I'd show you a LO I created for a previous birthday party:

Bless her, my mum made that cake for me yearly until I was grown, and occassionally afterward. Pound cake,with a layer of whipped cream on top, then covered with tinned mandarins. I suppose those little oranges would have been quite the treat in 1976 Belfast, N. Ireland!

Supplies:
Cricut cartridges: Storybook and Graphically Speaking
Paper: solid cardstock and K&Co Wild Saffron
Liquid Pearls
ATG adhesive
matching brad
Colourbox ink pads
Martha Stewart "Happy Birthday" ribbon
Spellbinders: Blossom
Tattered Angels glitter mist: Sunflower

To make the grunge flower:
Use spellbinders to cut 4 different-sized flowers in coordinating cardstock. Mist lightly with water, then crumple together. Allow to dry slightly, then uncrumple and layer largest to smallest. Attach layers together with a brad, then fluff and mist with Tattered Angels. Allow to dry.

Enjoy! (I think I might make one of those cakes for my girls this weekend!)

Editing!

2011-01-15T20:01:00.000-08:00

My Family and I returned back from holiday two weeks ago, and I've been slowly going through the 1585 photos that we took. Oh dear, how to make a scrapbook of all those photos....??? Well, I started with picking my favorites, and editing. I'll have a tutorial on how I did the choosing and organizing a manageable amount, but today I wanted to show you the importance of editing. It can take a nice picture and make it something special!

Here's the original:

Obviously I didn't take this! Thank you to the lovely lady who did, but couldn't she have waited for that guy to move? And the background's so busy. I'm only interested in my family.

So, using my favorite free editing software, GIMP, I cloned regular sand and got rid of the walking man coming out of my shoulder. Then I looked again, and decided to get rid of the other background noise. Here's the cloning result:

Looks a bit strange, but just wait... a crop to 8x10 proportions, and this one is ready to print!

This crop was done in GIMP, but you could easily do this after uploading to the photo developer. Did I mention GIMP is free? And it's quite similar to Photoshop. I <3 GIMP!

Don't forget that I have done GIMP tutorials on cloning and tidying up photos. See my post on Photo Restoration or watch the video I made for that post at my Youtube Channel.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Little Bit of Bling!

2011-01-15T10:15:00.000-08:00

Today's LO is using old set of pictures, in which I wanted to convey a sense of excitment. I think I managed it with the bold and kind of crazy paper:

I know, lots of us are afraid to use those big crazy bright patterns in large quantities. I say, GO FOR IT! Up close of left side:

Right side carries over the colours, but more muted to add emphasis to the journalling:

Cheese-y pun!

The journalling, done with a white ball-point pen. I always prewrite on blank paper and edit. Then I test the pen I want to use on scrap. I had tried black and brown first, but the white looked so much better!

Supplies:
DCWV Summer Dream Stack
Fonts cut with SCAL2: Brush 455BT ("Fair") and Crazy Girlz Blond BTN Lt (everything else)
Frosted Lace Stickles
Rhinestones
Ink (all edges)

Snow Much Drama!

2011-01-08T15:08:00.000-08:00

This is from DD#2's first encounter with snow:

Supplies:
Paper: Me & My Big Ideas "Sugarplum"
Cricut Cuts: Wall Decor and More, Gypsy Wanderings, Gypsy Font and Cuttin' Up
Cricut markers
White Snowflake brads

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T00:54:00.000-08:00

See you in the New Year, I'm away on holiday for a week, taking lots of pictures that might (or might not) get scrapped!

My Sheri Crafts -- Mists and Sprays!

2010-12-23T17:23:00.000-08:00

A simple LO for My Sheri Crafts this week! The theme is Mists and Sprays, and I've used Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist on the Giraffe of this page:

It's very pretty in person, and blends all the colour together nicely :-) I really enjoyed making this little guy; it's a cut from the fairly new, Birthday Bash cricut cartridge.

Supplies:

Paper: K&Co Gypsy Baby
Paper Ribbon from my stash (unknown brand)
Giraffe and 3: Cricut Birthday Bash
Brads and Eyelets: Making Memories
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Sunflower

Glitter Christmas Ornaments

2010-12-23T13:39:00.000-08:00

This week, my two daughters and I made those Glittered Christmas ornaments that seem to be all the rage on the crafting boards this year! Here's the ones we made:

Supplies: Pledge Future Shine. This can be kind of tricky to find, but I got mine in the floor cleaning section of Real Canadian Superstore (Canada). I've heard it's available in Wal-mart, but not in the regular cleaning section. Here's what it looks like:

Martha Stewart Fine Glitter. I bought the 24-pack one, and did this project with a classroom thirty grade 5/6 students. We used about two-thirds of the glitter, but ended up with 60 glittered balls (and they were none too careful! It got spilled and spread all over the room!). This stuff goes a long way!

Glass Ornament balls from Michaels
Ribbon
Vinyl or stickers
Cricut and font cartridge of choice (I used Winter Woodland)

Instructions:
1. Open Glass ball. If dusty, rinse and allow to dry.
2. Pour in about an ounce of Pledge Future. Swirl around, coating entire inside. Drain back into bottle for reuse. Allow to drain completely, about a couple minutes.
3. Use a funnel to pour a generous amount of glitter into the ornament. Shake to coat thoroughly. For two-tone ornaments, carefully swish glitter just where you want it. Drain excess.
4. Replace lid. Cut vinyl letter or shape and adhere. Hang with ribbon and enjoy!

My 8 year old daughter did this with no assistance, just supervision, and my just-turned 3 year old did the pouring and holding with help, and very much enjoyed the shaking and applying stickers!

My Sheri Crafts -- Celebrations

2010-12-10T22:38:00.000-08:00

This LO is with pictures from a fabulous company Christmas Party in 2008. I love the paper, Me and My Big Ideas: Sugarplum, and the cuts are from Cricut Christmas solutions cartridge.

The whole Double Layout:

Left Side:

Right Side:

Journaling, done on vellum, dotted with a white marker, reindeer drawn by hand:

Santa's beard and eyebrows were done with the same paper, but flocked in Martha Stewart white flocking. Beautiful in person!

Now, make sure you check out My Sheri Crafts this week and enter the challenge!

2010-11-26T20:58:00.000-08:00

This week's challenge on My Sheri Crafts blog is "Hello"! I thought about using this expression in an unexpected way, on a LO. So, here's my "Hello Reader" LO of Hannah as a baby, reading a fabric book:

Love all the glitter on this page. It doesn't come through as nicely on the photos, but "Hello" and Elmo's book are Stickled!

Supplies:
Sesame Street and Friends Cricut cartridge
Stickles
Foam Dots and adhesive
Paper: Me and My Big Ideas, "A Kid Like Me"
Font for "Hello": Vivaldi, cut with Sure Cuts A Lot 2

Cutting Chocolate with Cricut

2010-11-20T20:30:00.000-08:00

My lovely eldest daughter has her 8th birthday fast approaching, and since it's in mid-December, we decided to have her party this weekend. I've always wanted to try cutting edible materials with my cricut, so I got out my retired Baby Bug, washed her down, got out my deep cut blade housing and set up for some edible cutting!

I made some Marshmallow Fondant and melted some white chocolate and coloured it with pink food colouring. I made some cuts on the fondant, which were quite successful, but DD decided she wanted the bunny pan instead of a round cake decorated. I still used the fondant for decorating, but only cut DD's name with the white chocolate. I think it turned out really nice, and she was thrilled!

My Sheri Crafts -- I am Thankful

2010-11-20T20:21:00.000-08:00

In celebration of American Thanksgiving, My Sheri Crafts is doing a Thanksgiving challenge week! It got me thinking of what I'm thankful for, and I found this old picture of my mum. I don't remember seeing it much, it must have been in an old album, but it really inspired me. So, here's what I did with it:

And, I used my newest and most favorite cricut cartridge, Paper Lace. I love it, truly! I can see using it often, just like some of my favorite punches.

Supplies:

Paper: K&Co Tim Coffey Tuscan Sunflower
Liquid Pearls, Platinum
Cricut, Paper Lace for both embellishment and font
Brads

Photo Restoration with GIMP tutorial

2010-11-12T22:41:00.000-08:00

For this week's LO I restored an old childhood photo. Here's the original:

And the edited version:

Major fixes were the large damaged area bottom right and the extensive scratching and discolouration. Less noticeable but important to the finished picture were the correction of the background and removal of the wire on the right. Here's a quick tutorial on how to do fixes like this using free software called GIMP:

Best watched on Youtube in 720p for a sharper video :-)

Thanks for stopping by! Love to hear your comments :-)

My Sheri Crafts -- Bears!

2010-11-11T13:31:00.000-08:00

My Sheri Crafts challenge this week is Teddy Bear themed. I found this old photo of me, and decided I'd make a cute little Teddy LO for my "All About Me" book:

November 1st I was able to download six free cricut cartridges for my Gypsy, and fortunately I only had one already. I was thrilled to gain the Christmas solutions cartridge, as I'd already wanted it but couldn't justify buying it since I already had Christmas Cheer and Winter Woodland. Here's my first cut from it, the teddy bear:

He's embossed with the A2 embossing folder, Textile Texture. I cut first, then used a cricut marker, then ran through my cuttlebug and chalked with Pebbles Chalk. Love that stuff, love the effect.

I'm forever a sucker for some of the MS punches, so this one got me last week. It's a new one, called Cherish. It's a PATP set, and it's beautiful! I'm sure it'll make it on to many of my LOs!

Supplies:
DVWC WB Gypsy Baby Stack
Martha Stewart Cherish Punch
Ribbon
Martha Stewart Antique Gold Glitter
Cuttlebug A2 embossing folder, Textile Texture
Pebbles Chalk

My Sheri Crafts -- Remembrance Day

2010-11-05T21:58:00.000-07:00

This week's challenge on My Sheri Crafts is special: it's Remembrance Day (Veteran's Day for our American friends). My Uncle Stewart is a retired member of the British Armed Forces, and this is my favorite photo of him, on exercise sometime the 80's. Being so far away, I didn't grow up knowing him; but on visits to Northern Ireland as an adult, I have grown to appreciate what an amazing man he is.

Supplies:

Martha Stewart "Modern Garland" punch
Paper: DCWV "At Home" stack
Glossy Accents and Distress Stickles ("Broken China") on Uncle
Heritage cricut cartridge

Please check out the other inspirational projects atMy Sheri Crafts and enter yours!

Finally, I'd like to share this video with you. It was shown to my students on a field trip last week to the Calgary Military Museum. Please check out the Military Museum if you can. It's truly fabulous, and well worth a full days visit.

All Canadians who fall in the line of duty are repatriated through the base at Trenton, Ontario, and driven to Canada's chief coroner in Toronto. This has been the procession of the 152 men and women who have died in Afghanistan since 2002.

My Sheri Crafts -- Get Well Soon!

2010-10-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

How appropriate! My littlest helper, "Wiggles", is almost three and on Friday night became quite ill. She vomited all over her daddy and again on me. Poor little one. As I write this, she's asleep on the floor, lying on a towel, beside me. She doesn't want to move, just stay close by.

Funny enough, our challenge on My Sheri Crafts this week is "Get Well Soon" and I made this card:

I like the cuts, from Just Because cricut cartridge, but I LOVE the ribbon detail. It was inspired by the paper weaving our kids do in school, but is a nice touch I think!

Make sure you enter your card (or other craft) in My Sheri Crafts blog this week!

Have a great weekend, and safe Halloween!

My Sheri Crafts -- Halloween!

2010-10-23T20:02:00.000-07:00

My Sheri Crafts is getting ready for Halloween! So is my class, and we made these fabulous water bottles:

Supplies:
Cricut vinyl
Cricut Happy Hauntings
Transfer tape
Halloween coloured ribbons
Glow in the dark beads

Make sure you enter your project at My Sheri Crafts for a chance to win!!

My Sheri Crafts -- Boss' Day Challenge

2010-10-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

A quick little gift for My Sheri Crafts challenge: Boss's day! Make sure you enter your card or project for a chance at winning!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUsBvkfQKUw&feature=fvw#

My Sheri Crafts -- Stitching Challenge and MS Doily Tutorial

2010-10-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

This week's challenge at My Sheri Crafts is "Stitching"! I love using my sewing machine on LOs, but I got this fabulous package of stickers from my LSS a while ago, that are actually meant to be stitched. Fun, huh?

Here's an up close of one of the stickers, stitched with metallic thread:

And the finished LO:

Another fun detail was making the doily that partly mats the photo.I love my Martha Stewart punches, and I'm always looking for ways to use them on things in new ways. I've made circle doilies before (see here) but this one doesn't require cutting into the pattern and uses a corner punch!

How to make the doily, using a Martha Stewart corner punch:

You'll need a circle and a corner punch. Not all punches work equally well. I'd suggest punches that have a sloping entry/exit into the pattern, or just experimenting.

This circle was cut 7.25".

Start punching! I flip my punch over to see exactly where the punch will occur. Keep the design close to the edge.

Line up the next punch section. Your pattern repeats should overlap, but not get too close.

The result. The last punch may not line up exactly. Since this will be layered under a photo, it doesn't matter. If I was going to use it and have it all show, I would "hide" the not-perfect lining up bit with ribbon or a prima flower.

There's a little triangle bit left over from the punch.

The triangle bit can be left, or removed with an exacto knife.

Fun! I hope you like this technique. It's a great way to extend the use of those fabulous punches (and go get some more!!)

Make sure you hop over to My Sheri Crafts and enter your stitching project for a chance to win!

Breast Cancer Card

2010-09-30T22:34:00.000-07:00

Run for the Cure

This week's My Sheri Crafts challenge is Think Pink for Breast Cancer. I made this card:

Instructions: Download and cut card sneaker.svg from the download box at the bottom of this post. Cut card base at 10.5" wide on dark pink. Cut proportional top layer in light pink. Chalk all edges with Pebbles Inc chalk. Layer and adhere. For most of my paper product, I use an ATG gun, especially with cards where I want it to stick and not move!

To make the awareness paper ribbon: cut a strip of paper 3/8" wide. Fold twice to create the ribbon shape, then trim ends on a sharp angle. Adhere together, then add a gem to the middle.

The following download box has access to all the cards I've made SVGs for. This one is the "card sneaker.svg" Enjoy!

Please make sure to enter your creation at My Sheri Crafts to have a chance at a great prize!

A Masculine Layout

2010-09-24T22:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo and LO of my grandfather. I believe this photo was taken in about 1945 or a bit earlier, and it's been housed in a terrible frame with icky gummy tape and cardboard box behind it. What a relief to have it out! The matting was already showing age spots and what looked like mold. It hadn't gotten into the photo yet, so this was a joy to make a LO that might stand the test of time a bit better.

Supplies: all paper K&Co Blue Awning; tag K&Co Wild Saffrom; ink for edges; distressing tool for all matting; #12 embroidery thread for sewn edge.

An interactive seasonal poster

2010-09-18T00:43:00.000-07:00

A preschool idea for this week's My Sheri Crafts Autumn challenge! My youngest daughter's daycare is always looking for posters and things for the kids, and this month they requested autumn and trees. Wow, I had no ideas, until I thought of making them an interactive poster. Here's what I came up with:

The poster is 24" x 36" poster board. Everything is laminated, and the leaves/blossoms/snowflakes have a piece of velcro attached to the back. There's small strips of the matching velcro on the poster. DD is almost 3, and loved to pull the leaves off and replace them with another season. The season title is slid into a pocket cut in the laminate at the bottom. All are cricut cuts and regular school-grade cardstock, but boy does my mat now need a good cleaning!!!!

Apologies for the glare: laminated cardstock does not photograph with a flash too well :-)

Make sure you check out My Sheri Crafts for this week's challenge: Autumn! Hopefully I'll get the girls playing tomorrow with the poster, so you can also see it in action! Thanks for stopping by!

Duplo fun!

2010-09-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

A simple LO, but a cute svg for the LO -- Duplo! The SVG is the Duplo logo, with "fun" welded on with a LegoThick font.

Supplies:

Duplo.svg (see below)
LegoThick font
Martha Stewart Playground paper pad
Yellow ribbon

Thinking of You

2010-09-10T18:48:00.000-07:00

My very fabulous and great good friend and colleague is undergoing treatment for Melanoma. I desperately hope for a good outcome for her! She's such an inspiration to me with her quiet grace, dignity and faith. This one's for her:

Now, hop on over to MySheriCrafts blog and post your "thinking of you" creation for a chance to win!

Supplies:
Both Sentiment and Loopy border from Bird's Cards
Nestabilities Scalloped Square, Circle and Petite Scalloped Circle
JustRite Stampers: 1 3/16" Tiny Words Borders & Centers Set
Colorbox black inkpad
Pebbles Ink Chalk Shimmer
Cuttlebug Swiss dots embossing folder
White cardstock
Pop Dot adhesive, ATG adhesive

Instructions:

1. Trim cardstock to 10" x 5". Score at 5" and fold to create card.
2. Cut one 4.5" x 4.5" white cardstock and emboss with Swiss dots folder. Adhere to base card.
3. Cut Loopy border 4.25" square. Adhere to base with pop dots.
4. Print sentiment on cardstock. Cut with square nestabilities. Adhere to Loopy border with pop dots. Colour Cala Lily with Pebbles chalk.
5. Stamp interior sentiment with JustRite stampers. Cut with circle nestie. Cut coordinating petite scalloped nestie. Chalk edges. Adhere together and to interior of card.
6. Enjoy!

How do I love thee? A sonnet to Picturesque

2010-09-05T18:44:00.000-07:00

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love your beautiful images as I hit preview
My soul reaches for you, when nothing else will do
For the beginning to end of my cropping days

I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and OTT-light.
I love thee freely, as I crop each night;
I love thee purely, as I enter my scraproom to play.

I love to cut your butterflies
Whether in a tag or floating free
My admiration I cannot deny

You're my newest friend, last to join gypsy
A variety of elegance, on you I rely,
I shall always love you, signed your devotee.

The original: Elizabeth Barrett Browning

And the LO:

Picturesque arrived mid-week, courtesy of my friend Allison from the Circle. The tag and butterfly is from the cartridge. The font is Edwardian Script ITC.

Splash! A swimming LO

2010-09-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

Here's my entry for this weekend's Cricut Circle Challenge! The contest is to create a LO in celebration of Labor Day activities. Well, our family loves to swim! Here we are at the local pool, which thankfully has a little wading pool for the little people!

Wish me luck!!

Supplies:

paper: DCWV Summer Dream
Cuts: all from Cricut: Once Upon a Princess
Memento ink for the edges
Circle cutter

Happy Labor Day!

2010-09-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

For My Sheri Crafts Labor Day Challenge , I made a gift for some of the hardest workers I know: my aides! I've also always loved those little cupcake wrappers, but since Canadian Walmart only carries four of the Cricut Lite cartridges (and at $50!!! Crazy!!!), I made my own svg to share with you! You can cut this with SCAL, SCAL2 and MTC, and if you don't want the "thank you" text to show, choose "blackout". You'll also need a pair of fuzzy socks to roll into a "cupcake". Enjoy!

So, hop over to My Sheri Crafts blog and enter the challenge for a chance to win!

My Sheri Crafts Challenge #20

2010-08-27T20:52:00.000-07:00

This week's theme at My Sheri Crafts is Baby! You'd think that'd be an easy one, but I ended up with three LOs that I just didn't love. Finally I made this simple design of my mother holding her first granddaughter. Hannah is 9 days old here, and she's wrapped up in my baby blanket.

Supplies:

Papers: DCWV Whimsy stack, light pink cardstock, light peach cardstock, pink vellum
Circle Cutter
Fiskars Sunburst border punch
Corner Rounder
Pebbles chalk Pearlescent jewel tones
Basic Grey Wholy Cow! rub-ons #293
Spellbinders Nestabilities: Circle LG and Scalloped Circle LG
1" wide lace ribbon
Adhesive

Instructions:

1. Round corner on picture, then mount on light pink cardstock. Round cardstock corners.
2. Cut a 7" diameter circle in pink vellum.
3. Cut one strip of 1" x 10" light peach cardstock. Punch one edge. Chalk punched area.
4. Cut one circle using nestabilities in light pink. Cut coordinating scalloped circle in light peach. Emboss edges. Chalk edges. Adhere together. Apply rub on.
5. Cut lace ribbon to 10".
6. Layer and adhere from the bottom up: vellum circle, mounted photo, sentiment. Adhere to base paper. Adhere punched strip and ribbon as shown.
7. Enjoy!

Make sure you check out My Sheri Crafts and enter this week's challenge! You could win a $25 gift certificate!

Ma Petite Artiste

2010-08-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

Here's Hannah at 2 1/2 painting. Love the picture she made me, so I mimicked it with cuts!

(My Little Artist)

Supplies:

Paper: red, green, light green, brown, blue and yellow cardstock; DCWV Animal Crackers
Create a Critter (frog and dragonfly) and Everyday Paper Dolls (grassy reeds) cricut cartridges
Nestabilities scalloped oval
Cuttlebug Spots and Dots embossing folder
Stickers: Sandylion Alphabet-Vintage Mix (Ma), Making Memories brad alphabet (petite), Making Memories Shimmer Holiday red (Artiste)
Making Memories Antique brass 1/8" brads
EK Success punches: Large dotted scallop and swiss cheese corner

Label Instructions:

Emboss a 4" x 5" rectangle using Spots and Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder. Cut a large oval using nestabilities, then emboss the edge using the nestie. This will flatten out the entire label, and your stickers will adhere well. Sand the circles lightly for more emphasis. Ink edges, then apply title. Done!

I'd love to SEA you!

2010-08-19T23:34:00.000-07:00

This week's challenge at My Sheri's Crafts is "Missing You". I made this little card, to send to a dear friend that I haven't seen lately:

Supplies:
Solid cardstock
Pebbles Chalk
Cricut cartridge: Create a Critter and Life is a Beach
Adhesive
Joy's Life stamps: Lots of pun

Instructions:

Cut card base was cut from Life is a Beach. All other cuts were from Create a Critter.
Assemble sea life, then chalk all edges to create depth.
Layer and assemble.

Now, hop on over to My Sheri Crafts blog and enter your creation! Remember to use my coupon code las-cricut to get 10% off purchases of over $25. She still have the best deal on ATG-50s and her Pebbles Chalk prices are great too!

Hannah and her Bucket Full of Dinosaurs

2010-08-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

When Hannah was 2, she loved dinosaurs! She has tons of these plastic ones, and her favorite thing to do was make them "kiss". She had about 5 brontosaurus, and would make the two biggest kiss like mommy and daddy, then she'd line up all the babies.

The inspiration for the page is a TV show called Harry and his Bucket Full of Dinosaurs, shown on Treehouse and YTV in Canada. It's a cute, cartoon show where the play dinos come to life in his imagination.

Supplies:
Paper: Colorbox (My Wildlife Paper pack) and solid cardstock
Ink for edges
All shapes cut from Cricut Create a Critter
Font is Missy BT, cut with SCAL2: Blue is normal, white is shadow 4.5, light blue is 9; everything welded.

Thanks for looking!

Those darn rub-ons!

2010-08-08T13:48:00.000-07:00

I have a hate-hate relationship with rub-ons. I hate them. And I hate that I hate them. So, I keep trying.... here's my latest attempt. They're really sweat rub-ons, I just can't seem to manage them! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Basic Grey- Wholy Cow! rub-ons
K&Co Wild Saffron stack
Dragonfly brads (unknown brand)

Baby you can Drive my Car!

2010-08-03T13:23:00.000-07:00

Oh Baby! Was this one ever fun to do! I scraplifted this design from summer 2010 Scrapbooking and Beyond, but my pic is from 2008 when Wiggles was 9 months old (wow, what a healthy sized baby! LOL) I rarely fussy-cut photos, but this one begged for this treatment!

Paper: NRN Designs and solid cardstock
Title: "Baby" from Gypsy Wanderings (cricut), "car" from Nursery Rhymes, "you can drive my" are stickers
Tree: Zooballo; Sun: Gypsy Wanderings accented with Straw distress Stickles

Blog Candy Winner

2010-08-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

Congrats to number 88, Dawn for winning the Joy's Life stamps :-) Thanks to everyone for entering! It was fun hosting this giveaway!

Dawn said...
What a cute bunny, and so unique. Thanks for sharing. Love a chance to win these stamps.
July 28, 2010 9:02 PM

Insane rabbits!

2010-07-31T09:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture from my front yard of one of the crazy jack rabbits that inspired my bunny card this week. They really are nuts! Make sure you enter my blog candy by scrolling down 2 posts! Look for the crazy bunny!

Scrap your Stash Challenge

2010-07-31T08:49:00.000-07:00

Over on the Cricut Circle Messageboard, I'm one of the hostesses for the daily challenge (I'm Tuesday and Thursday :-). This weekend was "Scrap your Stash -- paper" and I have literally scrapped with scraps this LO. Here's a before pictures of what I planned to use:

And here's my LO. Hannah used to love the movie Shrek, so I used a title based on the movie that has entered our family's lexicon, and she really did enjoy our special weekend homemade waffles. It's hard to see in the picture of the picture, but she's clapping her hands full of whipped cream.

I think tonight we might have waffles for dinner! Thanks for stopping by. If you haven't already entered my blog candy, please scroll down.....

Supplies:

Random paper, scrap of ribbon
Fonts: Arial ("And...mornin'") and Hello Kitty ("Waffles", the font, not the cricut cartridge).

Day 3 Joy's Life.com Give-A-Way

2010-07-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a crazy busy summer already for me -- we've been away camping for almost the entire month of July! But, I'm back, and with a give-away!

In June I was a guest designer for Joy's Life for her cute stamps, Lots of Pun. She's now going to give one of my readers a set of these great acrylic stamps! Hurray! They are a great match for Create a Critter cricut cartridge, but I recently got Live Simply and I adore the little bunny. He reminds me of the jack-rabbits that live around my house that are just a little insane looking! So, I made this card to celebrate a friend's birthday:

For the stamp blog candy, please leave a comment on this post. You don't have to follow, but I do need a way to get a hold of you if you win :-) Winner will be chosen by random.org on Monday August 2, 9 am (MDT). The lucky winner will receive their stamps via 1st Class in the US and Internationally or Priority Mail and this give-away is open to international entries. Here's the whole stamp set from Joy's Life:

So, quick! Leave a comment!

Life's Better in Glitter

2010-07-14T22:11:00.000-07:00

Another DD layout -- this time, she got into some makeup glitter, and it went EVERYWHERE! On this design, I trimmed Hannah out, then put a gray cardstock shadow on her, and printed around the edge. The words were also "Type on a path" in SCAL2 (another tutorial I think I'll do, it's a handy little feature!) and underlined in gemstones. Of course, no page about glitter can be complete with glitter, so the word was Stickled.

Supplies:
DCWV Pocket Full of Posies cardstock; coloured cardstock
MS Floral Lace border punch
Flower sticker
Gemstones
Stickles
Font: Corbel (although Arial is a close match too)

Handy Hannah

2010-07-10T22:03:00.000-07:00

Building our swing set years ago, Toddler Hannah wanted to help. Here's her building the fort section, and my little obsession with circles is fufilled:

Supplies: We R Memory Keepers Promenade - Dance Card cardstock
Font: Hadley
Dots on border are Liquid Pearls

Gymnastics

2010-07-04T21:42:00.000-07:00

A cute and simple little LO this time, but I just love the fonts for it!

Supplies:
DCWV Pocket full of Posies cardstock, solid cardstock
Fonts: Spumoni ("Gymanstics") and Xpressive (everything else)

Happy Canada Day!

2010-06-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

Canada Day is a special day for me. Although I wasn't born a Canuck, I have lived almost my whole life here, coming to Canada when I was my youngest daughters age right now. I've married a born and bred prairie boy, and my girls are growing up loving this wonderful country! I wouldn't have it any other way! Our family usually takes in the festivities of Canada day, and today I'm participating in my first ever Canada Day Blog hop with The Canadian Paper Trail -- a new blog I have the pleasure to DT for. So, here's my LO created from last year's fireworks (always a challenge to take pictures of fireworks!) and my girl's expressions:

Your next stop is the final one, The Canadian Paper Trail! If you came here first and would like to check out all the other stops on this blog hop, please go to The Canadian Paper Trail where you can pick up the "trail".

Supplies: Canadian paper (brand unknown), black cardstock, red with stars vellum; Wall Decor & More and Home Decor cricut cardridges.

Thanks for dropping by, and Happy Canada Day!

Debossing with your cricut: Robot Puppy!

2010-06-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

There's lots of buzz about debossing and embossing with cricuts, so I thought I would try out an old trick I use on cards! On score lines in my cards, I usually use an inverted blade and "draw" a score line. Works like a charm! I really don't have the money right now for a whole kit, but love the look! So here's what I did:

1. Take out your blade housing and remove blade.

2. Insert blade with pokey-side inside the blade house. The "wrong end" will be sticking out.

3. Set to about 5 or 6 depth.

4. Put housing back in your machine. Choose your paper. This image was done on metallic Making Memories paper (see supply list below). I did not use a cushion or embossing mat underneath, although I will try out a spellbinders mat someday when using cardstock. However, the metallic worked great without! Design or choose your image, and cut!

5. Enjoy your debossed image!

Other instructions:

This LO was made with Robotz, and the Robot Puppy is cut in standard cardstock, inked edges and then has a layer of Glimmer Mist pearl applied. The ink ran lightly, but I like the look!

Supplies:
Paper: Martha Stewart Playful Pink paper pad
Making Memories "Slice" paper multipack (metallic green)
Fonts: 4MyLover

How Exciting!

2010-06-22T06:16:00.000-07:00

I'm the featured designer over on Joy's Life today! Here's a sneak peak of my mini-book:

I would love it if you hopped on over to take a look! Joy's got the cutest stamps that go with Create a Critter, which I really love. They stamp beautifully!

Thanks for visiting!

My First Birthday

2010-06-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

This is me, on my first birthday! The original photo came out of a magnetic book, and is in bad shape, but I managed to get it into useable shape, I think. However, This page needed to keep it simple, and so I decided to use my MS punches and make a pretty little border. Love those punches! Here's the result:

Supplies: Fonts: LA Headlights BTN (my, birthday) and Vivaldi (First)
Paper: ? from my stash
Martha Stewart punch and flocking
Atg and xyron sticker maker
ribbon
Prima flowers

1. Create lace doily frame using Martha Stewart Doily Lace edge punch using strips of paper 1.25" wide. The picture in the sample is 6.5" x 7" and required two 1.5" x 12" strips of paper.

2. Punch strips with selected punch.

3. Cut into punched strip to first dot.

4. Make a gentle curve in the border, tucking each section of tabs behind the next tab.

5. Lay down a layer of adhesive at the edge of the back of the photo.

7. Starting at an inconspicuous spot, gently bend around the photo, Match the joint if necessary.

8. If unable to completely match beginning and end, use embellishment to cover this area.

9. Cut title, then use adhesive to apply flocking. Shake loose, then adhere to page.

10. Adhere photo to page. Embellish.

I hope you found that helpful! There's a few punches that this works especially well with, mostly the ones that are scalloped edged. Try some out, and let me know how it works!

Thanks for commenting, and linking back to me if you try this out. I'd love to see what you make!

The Toothpick Princess

2010-05-29T14:48:00.000-07:00

My DD Hannah, at 2 years old, loved to walk to the grocery store to help mommy shop. In their deli department, she'd eat any and all the samples offered. They were always on toothpicks. Soon, she refused to eat anything unless presented on a toothpick, thus becoming, "The Toothprick Princess"!

Supplies:

Paper: DCWV Once Upon a Time cardstock, coloured cardstock
Fonts: vtks Black ("the"); Chinese Takeaway ("toothpick");
Cricut cartridge: Hannah Montana "princess"
Assorted rhinestones
Stickles, gold
Vellum
Adhesive
Gold Ribbon
Martha Stewart String Lace Punch around the Page

Garden Bug

2010-05-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

Supplies:

Paper: My Mind's Eye: Bohemia Backyard "Sunny Days" Floral/Brown
blue and brown cardstock
Martha Stewart Pansy border punch
Light blue stickles
Create A Critter cricut cartridge (for the snail)
Font: Tinker Toy

CD notebook

2010-05-22T21:57:00.000-07:00

I made this little notebook for my daughter, Hannah, who loves to have her little secret place to write and draw. It's also the challenge over at MySheriCrafts blog. Hop on over to see what the rest of the Design Team made, and enter your own project too!

CD Notebook

Supplies:

Cardstock: K&Co Classic K Margo
2 old cd's (or dvds)
Heavy duty scissors
Crop-a-Dile Big Bite
Nestabilities: Circle and Blossom
Colorbox ink: Basics
Ribbon
Bind-it-all and 3/4" O-rings
K&Co Bright Pastels flower 3/16" eyelets
ATG gun and adhesive
White printer paper
Matching solid cardstock
Just-Rite stamps: 1 3/16" Tiny Words, Borders and Centers set and Wood Stamper.

Instructions:

1. Measure 2 cds 4.25" across and draw a straight line with a sharpie. Cut with heavy duty scissors. This creates the binding edge.
2. Cut 2 cardstock circles, 4.65" and adhere one to each cd. Trim off excess at binding edge. Ink edges.
3. Cut about 25 pages of white printer paper 4.55" diameter circles. Use cd as template to trim binding edge.
4. Punch 6 holes in cds and paper, finding the middle and aligning with the middle of the Bind-it-all.
5. Bind with 3/4" O-rings.
6. Embellish binding with ribbons.
7. Using the Crop-a-Dile, punch 3/16" holes along right edge of cds. Set flower eyelets.
8. Using coordinating cardstock, cut a darker nestabilities blossum and emboss. Ink edges. Cut a smaller circle in cream cardstock, emboss, and ink edges.
9. Stamp sentiment using Just-Rite stamps and Colorbox inks. Adhere to front cover below eyelets.
10. Enjoy!

Puddle jumper

2010-05-22T21:53:00.000-07:00

My husband refers to these photos as Hannah's escaped mental-illness patient days. That child always wanted to wear what SHE wanted to wear. This was the standard outfit -- raincoat, favorite pink boots and jammies underneath! Fortunately, it fits the day here, where she's off to jump in puddles behind our fence.

This picture was perfect for something I like to do: cut elements into photos. If you look carefully, you'll see I've cut raindrops into the photo, then replaced them on the mat. I also enjoyed using Create A Critter for something different (the title) and one of my all-time favorite cartridges (I love silhouettes!), Nursery Rhyme. Thanks for visiting!

Supplies:

Font: Teardrop
Paper: K&Co Wild Saffron
Blue and cream cardstock
Blue and brown cricut markers
Teardrop.svg (follows post)
Nursery Rhyme and Create a Critter cricut cartridges
Glitter
Glue

Instructions:

1. Crop photos to size, then create a cardstock piece the same size for testing cut on. Arrange teardrop shapes on virtual mat, copy/paste and resize to create double cut lines, then run test cut to ensure proper placement. Adjust if necessary, then cut photo. Back photo with mat, then place teardrop cuts.

2. Cut "Rainaway" (Nursery Rhyme) at 5" on blue. Cut blackout on cream, trim off duck with scissors. Ink edges, or use a cricut marker. Adhere together.

3. Cut "Splash" (Create a Critter) at 5" in cream. Draw with blue cricut marker. Use glitter on the water splash.

4. Arrange all on base cardstock. Adhere. Enjoy!

Naptime!

2010-05-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

Hannah used to go go go go! until she dropped. Here she is in 2004, knocked out on the couch. This LO is the reason I recommend and love SCAL2 to my cricut buddies: even if you're only going to use it for fonts, it's fabulous! One-click shadowing! I made the title in shadowed fonts, then unshadowed and cut with patterned paper. Easy-peasy!

Supplies:

all paper is K&Co Classic K Margo
Fonts: Melanie BT, Cheddar Salad BTN Quill, French Script MT, Pharmacy, French111 BT

Girl with Doll silhouette

2010-05-15T18:25:00.000-07:00

I've working back in time: this is my DD#1, Hannah, in 2004. When I showed her the LO, she thought it was her little sister, who is that age right now. Very sweet. I love the silhouette cuts on Nursery Rhymes and A Child's Year, but I wanted a girl and doll in long grass to match Hannah, so made this one instead. Hope you all like it!

Supplies:
Silhouette girl with doll.svg free download follows this post
Nestabilities: scalloped rectangle
Basic Grey Eva and Granola buttons
Embroidery floss
Ribbon
Brown and yellow cardstock
DCWV Posies Glitter Print cardstock
Chalk
Stamping Ink
Cloud 9 Clear Stamps-Simple Thoughts Girl
Corner rounder
ATG adhesive

Instructions:

1. Cut Silhouette girl with doll 6.5" on pink. Cut again shadowed on brown. Shade with chalk. Glue together.

2. Attach ribbon 1.5" from right edge.

2. Round corners of photos and mats, then mount photos on mat and arrange on layout, overlapping ribbon slightly.

3. Layer Silhouette on top of photo and ribbon.

4. Use nestabilities to cut tag, then stamp sentiment. Chalk edges. Arrange on page with slight overlap.

5. Sew on 6 buttons with embroidery floss.

Caution!

2010-05-13T23:13:00.000-07:00

*** warning, toddler nudity! ***

Again, photos of Hannah from 2004: here she is doing her two favorite things: Being naked, and colouring on the wall. She had her own wall space, and was allowed to colour only there, which worked out well. I have since painted over the site, and I kind of wish that I didn't! Now, at seven years old, she is an exceptional illustrator.... maybe from starting so young?

Supplies:

Paper is unknown -- it came from a big Costco box of paper for my classroom, but fit this LO so well!
Download the "Caution" sign for SCAL2, or make one with GrilledCheese BTN and a rounded square
Cuttlebug Spots and Dots embossing folder
Autumn Leaves Scribbles Alphabet
Memento Rhubarb ink pad
Stickopotamus vellum sticker tags

Most of my files are svgs, but this one is not. It was created in SCAL2.

Little Mommy

2010-05-12T22:52:00.000-07:00

Continuing the Mother's day theme, I made this LO of Hannah in 2004. She's being mommy's helper and taking care of her baby and the house. Who knows where she learnt to vacuum, that's not in imitation of me!!

Paper is K&Co Addison Blue Gingham
Fonts: "little"Aharoni and "mommy"4 my Lover
Red Stickles
Hello Kitty Greeting cricut cartridge

Thanks for visiting

New carts -- but not announced yet!

2010-05-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

I have the scoop! Well, not really. Custom Crops has on preorder four new carts, but they haven't been announced yet. In case they get pulled, I've saved the images! So for your viewing pleasure, here they are!

Mother's Day LO

2010-05-08T17:08:00.000-07:00

Well, it's not an actual Mother's Day LO, but it is my mother, and it is a LO! :-) Here's my mum, in a series of pictures, of her doing her favorite activity, sailing! She was an avid enthusiast, and came to it later in life when my dad was approaching retirement. This is for my own personal scrapbook, "All About Me" -- which has very few pages! Isn't it hard to scrap yourself??

Supplies

Paper: K&Co Blue Awning and K&Co Sea Glass
Graphically Speaking Cricut Cartridge
JustRite Wood Stamper Damask kit
Spellbinders: Circle and Classic Scalloped circle
Fiskars Threading Water border punch
Foam dot adhesive
ATG tape and gun
Pebbles chalk
Cat's Eye Colorbox inks
Martha Stewart embossing powder blue
Font: French 111 BT (love that one, but must be cut shadowed at 1 or more!)

Instructions:

1. Using Graphically Speaking, cut 11" compass rose in brown, and 11" blackout compass rose in blue. Chalk all edges. Layer and glue. Arrange at top of layout, trim away excess.

2. Using French 111 BT font and SCAL, cut title and shadow. Ink. Adhere.

3. Mat one photo with blue paper. Trim 3 edges flush. Cut right edge with Threading Water punch. Arrange photos on Layout and adhere.

4. With Spellbinders, cut Scalloped circle in brown and circle in ivory. Chalk edges. Stamp with JustRite stamps, then emboss in blue. Use foam dot to adhere with dimension.

Mommy Dog

2010-05-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

Another of my dog's pages: These pictures are taken about six years apart. That dog was so kind and patient with her girls; she often acted like a doggie "mommy" to them. It's also interesting to see the difference a camera will make: the left photo is of my older daughter, taken in 2003 with a cheapy point-and-shoot film camera. On the right is my littlest girl, taken 2009 with my DSLR.

Supplies:
Brads
K&Co Gather Together paper
Fonts: French 111 BT ("Mommy"); Comic Sans MS ("do"); Kiltro (doggie "g")
Pebbles Chalk

Thanks for the visit!

Niamhe's first Christmas

2010-05-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a memory book of my dog, Niamhe (pronounced "Nee-vie"), who very sadly and suddenly passed away April 19, 2010. She was just nine, and our first girl. Here's her first Christmas LO:

Paper is K&Co Secret Santa.
Font is Melanie BT
Dog is Create a Critter
Holly is Stretch your Imagination
Title was given dimension with Glossy Accents

Thanks for dropping by!

A Matchbox!

2010-05-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

I love cute litte boxes. This is my first box svg I've made, and it's for a mother's day present. You can also see it on My Sheri Crafts Callenge week 3. I cut it on a 12x12 sheet for the example, but the svg is made for 8.5x11" paper. If you do resize, make sure you keep the proportions! This box won't work if you skew it!

And the download:

Community Helpers Poster

2010-04-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

My youngest daughter's daycare is so wonderful, but they don't have much "stuff"! They ask for volunteers, but people are busy, and they don't get a lot of help. So, my older daughter, Hannah, has started to volunteer her time and effort for the benefit of the daycare. Two weekends ago, she helped her daddy fix the gates on the daycare. This weekend, she helped me cut and assemble a new poster for the toddlers, called "Community Helpers":

We used Cuttin Up for the title, and Everyday Paper Dolls for all the people. Faces are hand-drawn. We cut the people in white, and Hannah coloured them with my most favorite markers for kids, the Crayola Multicultural colours. These are sometimes hard to find, but they come in markers, pencil crayons and crayons. The set of 8 has all sorts of skin tones. Did I say I love them?

I hope you'll leave a comment for Hannah. She's seven and a Brownie and is learning the value of community service. This is her first self-motivated volunteer activity, and I'm very proud of her!

Free Cartridge!

2010-04-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I already have this one! I've used it a lot already, the images are totally my style. It's a nice compliment to having A Child's Year, with similar style but new images. Love it! Here's the font that's on that cartridge:

For a chance at winning this cartridge, go to My Sheri Crafts for details. Don't forget to use your coupon code las-cricut for a discount.

Nesties Font

2010-04-23T20:14:00.000-07:00

I've added a direct download box for my Nesties Font, so if for some reason you didn't get it before, please feel free to download directly. Please link to my blog if you use it -- I would love to see it in action!

Spinner card

2010-04-20T16:37:00.000-07:00

I'm not normally a card maker, but I do like these cute Spinner cards. Here's my take on this fun little card, along with a SVG for download and a mini-tutorial!

Supplies:
Monarch stamp set by Inque Boutique ("flutter")
Gemstone Insects stamp set by Inkadinkado (butterfly)
Dotted Wave punch by EKSuccess
Wild Raspberry cardstock K&Co
White, cream and light green cardstock
Brown and orange ink pads by Versacolor
Pebbles chalk
2 pennies
3D Dots double-sided adhesive foam
Glossy Accents
spinner card overlay.svg
Plantin Cricut Cartridge

Instructions:

1. Cut the cream cardstock 5.5" by 8.5", score at 4.25" and fold in half, making an A2 card. Set aside.

2. Cut the Spinner card overlay using "card spinner overlay.svg", or create a spinner opening with punches and scissors. Ink edges in brown. Trim bottom of overlay with Dotted Wave punch. Line up on cream card base (but do not attach!), then stamp sentiment on the cream showing through window.

3. Cut grass border from Plantin cricut cartridge, size 5.5" x 1.2" in light green. Cut grass/flower border size 5.5" x 2.2" in white. Ink edges. Using chalk, colour flowers. Glue grass on top of grass/flower border. Punch bottom edge with Dotted Wave punch. Glue on spinner card overlay. Set aside.

4. Stamp butterfly in orange ink on white cardstock. Trim. Cover in Glossy Accents. Allow to dry.

5. Assemble spinner assembly: Using a square foam dot, stick two pennies together in the middle. Using another foam dot, stick butterfly to pennies.

6. Using 9 foam dots, attach spinner card overlay on cream card base.

7. Gently bend spinner card base slightly and insert spinner assembly. Overlay opening should be between the two pennies.

8. Slide and enjoy!

Challenge week 1

2010-04-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

Our first challenge is posted over on My Sheri Crafts and they look great. Here's a preview of mine, and a freebie svg flourish!

Design Team at MySheriCrafts!

2010-04-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed something new on my blog! I've just joined an incredibly amazing and talented Design Team over on My Sheri Crafts Blog. Sheri has a great webstore with really good prices and lots of specials. Better yet, if you use the coupon code las-cricut when you checkout, you'll get 10% off your order of $25 or more. How sweet is that?

Our first projects go up over the weekend, and I'll have a new tag-like flourish for free download. See you tomorrow!

I'm a winner!

2010-04-09T22:06:00.000-07:00

Monique Griffith had simply the greatest blog candy, and I'm the ecstatic winner of three (yes, three) winter mini cricut cartridges! Happy days, I don't have any of them. Hope you can pop over and see her blog if you haven't already, it's pretty awesome!

Thanks again, Monique!

The Best Part are the Ears!

2010-04-06T21:32:00.000-07:00

Fonts used:
TypoUpright BT
Grilled Cheese BTN
Rabbit Ears

Cartridges:
Bunny ears from Paper Doll Dress Up

Paper: Martha Stewart Playground Multimedia Pad

Punches: Martha Stewart Punch-around-the-page Pansy

Earler this week, I was in search of good titles. I always have a hard time with this part of my scrapbooks, and sometimes I just don't title pages! So, I was very happy to stubble on The Perfect Title! A warning: many of the links to pictures and examples seem to be broken, but the subcategories of titles is great! Not too much, not too little. This title was originally, "The ears are the best part" -- but I obviously wanted the word ears to have the most importance!

Thanks to the girl's grandma Judy who sent them their Easter ears this year. The girls loved them!

The Whole Fairy Book

2010-04-02T12:22:00.000-07:00

It's done, and I'm sooooo happy with the results. In general, the layouts are simple, but I do so love the large format pictures. Here it is:

If you happen to live in the Calgary area, the photographer Aileen of ToyBox Studios is fabulous. I don't think I've ever met such a patient lady, and I was thrilled with the photos.

Thanks for visiting!

Mice

2010-03-31T23:02:00.000-07:00

Another layout of my girl's fairy book. "Mice," you might say, "in a fairy book?" Why yes. Here they are:

This is the 2nd to last of the pages for this book. I should have the whole thing online by the weekend. Hope you're enjoying seeing the sneak-peeks of the cuts I'm using! My cuts were shadowed with chalk, penciled in accent lines on legs, ears, eyes and nose, and chalked pink ears; all on sparkly paper! File download follows:

More Celtic Knots

2010-03-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

Still working on the fairy album, and I needed a nice big long knot for this layout:

I created it in inkscape to be 20" by 3", and spread it on a 24" mat with center matching a center joint where I placed my two letter sized papers. Then I drew with a marker and cut.

While working on this knot I created it in a smaller version, a small round-end version, and a shamrock knot. Here's what they look like, and all are available for download following the post. Hope you enjoy them!

knot long.svg

knot round end.svg

knot shamrock.svg

knot short.svg

DRAGON!

2010-03-23T07:01:00.000-07:00

My littlest person, Teagan, loves her dragon!

She also likes paper! So, I've made this little dragon for her (and for my fairy theme book, a work-in-progress) in the Webkinz style:

I have a few versions of this dragon that you can download: The webkinz-style one above, the dragon with paws in front, and another with paws and no horns. I hope you'll let me know if you use one of them! Thanks for visiting!

Stretch the Dragon!

2010-03-15T22:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a sneak peak at a layout I'm working on, and the dragon that goes with it!

I'm doing up my girls' fairy pictures from last year, and the whole album has a fairy tale type theme. Lots of Tinker Bell used, but Hannah Montana too -- but no suitable dragon! So, here's Stretch! She's based on a Teresa Wentzler design, which is a freebie available here. While TW's design is freely reproducible, I would appreciate it you do not share my svg, but direct others who want it to my blog instead.

Anyhow, Stretch is also painted on my front hallway arch. I love her :-) I'm pretty happy with how she fits in with the Hannah Montana icons, too. Enjoy!

Here's the sneak peak of the companion side, with HM cuts.

I think Stretch the dragon matches the pegasus nicely! Download her before but be warned: she's LONG! I cut her at 10" by 1.25". Also, she does not shadow well except at 1 and 1.5; she does blackout nicely though! More dragons later, and the completed Fairy scrapbook in a couple weeks! Thanks for dropping by!