Got Chocolate?

     Ericas Craft Room Challenges. I just had to enter this challenge when I saw the colors. Are you ready to have your mouth water?

     I don't know what I love more, using up some scraps or having the use of some amazing patterns in the Imagine cartridges, lol. For this wonderful chocolate image I used the Imagine Everyday cart. Doesn't it just make your mouth water?
     I used the Imagine More scalloped oval cut @ 3'' and chose the chocolates. I also cut out a solid brown piece of card stock cut @ 3.5". Both images were inked with walnut stain (think chocolate glaze, lol).
     The rest is fairly simple: a few scrap strips and some journaling. The background pink card stock is embossed with the hearts cuttlebug folder and I used some rain drops in the top corner.
     C'mon let's see what you can come up with. I'd love to see your creations!

Challenge Time At Going Buggy

     My cyber friend Enfys is having a challenge at Going Buggy. http://going-buggy.blogspot.com/2012/01/going-buggy-challenge.html.  I entered with my Hang In There Card but thought some of might also be interested in joining in on the fun! Just follow the link. I can't wait to see what you come up with!!!

 This is my take using the Red, Black and White!!! Ooh La La!

Ornament Boxes

Christmas Ornament Boxes

     Well have I ever been busy, lol. Along with trying to do Christmas shopping, filling ornament orders and doing Birthday shopping/baking, I haven't forgot I had promised to show you the packaging my ornaments come in.
     First I ordered some clears boxes from www.clearbags.com. These turned out to be the perfect size but, they needed something to hold the ornament in place. I hope you realize by now that there isn't anything you can't do with a Cricut! I used the Sweet Tooth Boxes cart and used a cupcake holder cut at 6.75. The patterned paper was done using Santas Village cart and I even made a matching tag. I just love how the Imagine can resize the images to the appropriate size object so everything is proportionate! One thing if you plan on making these is to use a sturdy cardstock for the base.
     We have 6 December birthday's (ughhh!) so I finally bought a Cricut Cake to kind of help me out yet I haven't had a chance to play yet. This week I have to dive in so I'll post pics on how I do, wish me luck!!!
     Also Tim Holtz is in full swing with his 12 tags of Christmas and can I just say WOW! I hope to complete a few and I'll definitely share these gems as soon as I finish. I think it's going to be a creative week!!!

Mr. And Mrs. Claus Ornaments

     I am totally in love with the new ProvoCraft cartridge Santa's Village. When I first saw this cart I was in awe of the fantastic images and rich colors in the graphics. I knew I wanted to make some ornaments and it has taken me a while to figure out how to transform what I have in my head onto the glass ornaments!
     I tried waterslide decals but I was not happy with the results. They looked like a sticker I put on glass. That is definitely not my style, lol. I tried doing the images on card stock but I was not happy with that attempt as well. Sometimes my ideas just pop in my head will I'm in the shower and that is what happened this time. Finally, success!!! Okay, okay here are the pics and details. Without further ado: Tada......

     Isn't he fabulous? Believe me the picture does not do him justice! I started with clear glass ornaments that have a flat front. I stocked up with them several years ago @ M's end of the year sale. I used beacon's Glitter It! glue and Martha Stewarts Glitter to finish the inside of the ball and to set the stage for my design.
     I finally realized the I could use the printable vinyl that came with my Imagine cricut machine to print my artwork. Brilliant idea! I cut it at 1.6" and found it was the perfect size for my ornament. I then just cut a plain circle out of the vinyl and layered the image in the middle. Once it was afixed to the glass ball I used Triple Thick Gloss Glaze by Americana on top of the image and let it dry overnight. I had tried other finishes but they had a tendency to pool or drip of the edges. Some of the finishes needed more than one coat or were not thick enough for what I wanted to accomplish. This finish was perfect.
     One note about this finish is that youhave to brush it on. I globbed it on and it does have a few air bubbles doing it this way. However it seems to give it some character with the air bubbles, almost like it is snowing. Wait a minute, why not make it snow? I pulled out some stickles and added some to create the illusion that it is snowing! Another great idea!!!! I used a gold cording to hang the ornament with and voila, it's done.

     Aren't these just adorable? You have Santa, Mrs. Claus, the Toy Shop and there are images to use for penguins, trains, rocking horses, reindeer etc. the possibilities are endless. I will be adding these to my etsy shop as soon as I figure out the shipping, lol. Hope you enjoy these and don't be afraid to leave a comment and tell me what you think!

Chalk Holder

     With the holidays coming I thought I'd make a few teacher gifts. A while back I bought these chalk painted flower pots and decided it was time I did something with them. They were a clearance item from Pottery Barn so I boght a few. I have one that holds my cricut markers but thought they would make a perfect holder for chalk to give to a teacher.
     I cut the images of both a girl and boy in vinyl from A Childs' Year cartridge. The shadow layer is in white whereas the top layer is in red. I also cut the image a third time out of card stock but cut the "apple" part off so I just had the leaves to work with.

     The bottom was sort of plain so I added a simple white picot ribbon and a few clear rhinestones. Add a box of chalk and you have a simple teachers gift! I do have a few for sale in my etsy shop. By the way, the snow is 5 days since our historic October snow storm. Maybe I'll get a lot of crafting done this winter.

Nativity Card

     This is one of the religious cards I made for this upcoming Christmas season. I just love the simplicity of it. The green cardstock has a nice sheen to it as well as the cream background. I decided to emboss the cream card stock with the swiss dots cuttlebug folder to add a little texture to the card. (I love texture!)
     The Nativity image is from Cricut "Inspired Heart" cartridge. This cart is amazing! I also made another Christmas card from this cart but I'll have to show you when it's finished (it's still a work in progress, lol).The cartridge has some great cuts especially for sympathy. I have a lot of ideas for those.
     I also added a gold card stock star but can't remember which cart I cut that one from. (guess I'm going senile!). I wanted a somewhat primitive look so that's why I chose the brown background paper but it needed to be dressed up a bit. I happen to have a lot of this textured ribbon so it just finished it off nicely.

     I have been adding sentiment inside some of my cards lately and found this one in a book i recently purchased.Say It With Style is a great book of quotes and it is great for card makers. I bought mine through Annies Attic. Hope you like this latest offering. I have some new photo emulsion I am trying on my Yudu Cardmaker screens. I am getting ready for when my Word Collage cart arrives because I have big plans for this cartridge, lol.

Joy Christmas Card

     It seems forever since I shared anything with you, lol. I did promise to post some of my latest projects so I thought I'd get you in the mood for the holidays with one of the cards I recently made.
     I had a lot of fun designing this card. I decided to use my Spellbinders die of these cute little frames. They were perfect for the JOY letters. For those of you that follow me you might remember the Nautical invitations I made this summer. Well I had some of the silver card stock left so I wanted to use some of it up so I used it for the JOY and the bar to hold the letters. The letters were cut from cricut Base Camp @ 3/4" and they fit perfectly. The ribbon is from my stash as well as the prima pointsettas. I also had some bakers twine sitting around and that really seemed to brighten this card up!
     Hope this puts you in the mood to start thinking of those holiday cards. Do you do religious, seasonal , scenic or jolly cards for the holiday? I'd love to know!