It's May!

Erica's Craft Room 100 Cricut Cartridge Blog Hop Day ONE

Welcome to Erica's Craft Room

100 Cricut Cartridge Blog Hop

You should have started at http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/  if not please start at the beginning

     Wow, it's May already. Can you believe it? May means flowers, Mothers' day and, of course, since it is the first week of May that means it's time for Erica's Craft Room Blog Hop! Just wait 'til I show you what I made for this Hop! If you came from  Sarah's  then you are in the right place. If not you will want to start @ the beginning with the lovely Erica. 

     This Hop was so much fun to create for. I used the following cartridges for my projects: Luau, Art Nouveau and Damask Decor. First I'll show you what I used the Luau cart for.

     A few weeks ago I showed you my "Hang Ten" layout using this same cart. I made several of these Hibiscus flowers to play around with. These leftovers were the right size for a card. I cut these at 2.0" and 1.75". I sprayed these with Candy Apple Red Glimmer Mist. I wanted the centers to really sparkle so I pulled out my Xyron sticker maker and ran the shadow layer through it with the right side facing down on my machine. This made a perfect base for my glitter.

     I put the 2 layers together (flower and Blackout) and I then sprinkled some Martha Stewart glitter on the sticky side and pressed it down with my finger to make sure all the glitter was adhered. This is a super easy way to apply your glitter. I added some Liquid Pearls in Gold Pearl to the stamen of the flower and a few dots around the center. I cut the leaves @ .75" and inked with Rangers Peeled Paint. All that was left was to add some pop dots to the flowers for some dimension. BTW the card base was from a pack of ready made cards by DCWV. If you are looking for any of the products I used here you can find them in Erica's Store. This is a great time to stock up since she is having a great sale for the whole month of May. You can get 33% off everything except for Provocraft items. Happy Mothers' Day to all of us!!

     I wanted to make this card interactive so I added a hidden tag. I cut the tag at 2.5". I can't remember which cart I used but you could use any cart with a tag feature. The Greeting is a rub on and, with a little ribbon and a brad, you are done. I even added a rhinestone to one of the flowers on the background paper.

     This next card is one of my favorites. Erica has Swaps over on her blog and this die cut was one of the Swaps I participated in. We had to make a die that was 4" and use the colors: blue, purple and green. I cut the tulips from the Art Nouveau cartridge on page 30. + shift @ 4". I also used Layer 1 for the Tulip heads.

     The center petal was cut out of glitter paper however I used some Stickles on the outer petals. The leaves were misted with white Glimmer Mist and, once dry, I embossed them with my Cuttlebug and a folder from the Oriental Bundle. I was so fortunate to find this wonderful background paper in DCWV Tres Chic. It was perfect for the braid I used on the outer edge of this card. If you would like to take part in one of Erica's challenges,  you can find them here Swaps.  She also has challenges with sketches that are provided on a regular basis. I can't wait to see what die cuts I get in return from this swap but I thought you might like to see what I created with mine.

     My last project is this beautiful tag from Damask Decor. I used the image on page 51 and cut it @ 4". The top layer is from the Luxury Stack by DCWV. This has a wonderful pearlized print and went so beautiful with  this particular cut. I used a pearl ivory cardstock for the blackout piece and added a little silver ink to the edge. I had this silver leaf and baubles hanging around on my craft table so, with a little tulle, this became a great way to finish off this tag. I have already stamped the "to" and "from" on the back so I just have to find the perfect gift to attach this too, lol.
     Well I hope you have enjoyed my projects and that you feel inspired to try some of them. Now it's time to head over to the amazing  Heather E and she what surprises she has in store for you.
     In order to have a chance to win some prizes, you must comment on on the blogs. Should you get lost along the way, here is the line up:

Line up

Saturday

Host- http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Liz - http://tryin2craft.blogspot.com/

Jenny R - http://myimagitivity.blogspot.com/

Kathy- http://3spoileddogs.blogspot.com/

Dana- http://danascraftycorner.blogspot.com/

Doris - http://mybugandmecreate.blogspot.com/

Janet - http://janetscreativeworld.blogspot.com/

Patti- http://sweetpsscrapbooks.blogspot.com/

Erica- http://ericasprojects.blogspot.com/

Miranda - http://www.nanasscrapspot.com/

Tonya - http://ittybittyladybugs.blogspot.com/ -

Sarah W. - http://www.craftingwithsarah.blogspot.com/<---- You came from here

Mary - http://mary-fortheloveofart.blogspot.com/ < You are here

Heather E. - http://pinkpunkcosmo.blogspot.com/   <----Next stop

Tracy - http://scrappininthewoods.blogspot.com/

Marji - http://fstampaholic.blogspot.com/

Blog Candy http://ericasblogcandy.blogspot.com/

A Whale Of A Time!!!

    
     Welcome to Theme Day Thursday! I'm so glad you decided to stop by. Yes, I have a new look to my blog and hope you feel more at home here. Hey it's spring so it was time to freshen things up a bit!!
     Today at Erica's Craft room we were to create a project with a Beach theme. I am always amazed when I go through my library of cartridges ( yes I have enough to call it a library!). You would be astounded at the images that you can find on the least likely places. For example I used Life's for  A Beach for some of my images but, I also found some really neat die cuts on Stretch Your Imagination and (believe it or not: Sponge Bob Square Pants and Pack Your Bags). I have a lot to share with you so let's get started.

   
After almost two weeks of rain (can I just say torrential!!) in Hawaii we finally had 2 beautiful days so my daughter wanted to show me the famous spot on Oahu where the whales winter over. There is a lookout spot where the tide rushes into the rocks and sprays up like the blow hole on the whales. Thus the name Blowhole Lookout.

   
 I found the whale border on Life's A beach cartridge on page70. It was cut @ 1.5" for the height out of a gray shimmer pack from recollections.For a shadow I cut it again in black card stock and off set it from the gray. I added some black pearl embellishments for the eyes.
     I found the whale stamp on Pack Your Bags on page 56 and used the stamp feature.I believe I cut this @ 2.5". I cut all the layers and then added stickles to the water spout using Star Dust and Waterfall colors and again, a pearl for the eye. When I cut this out I loved the separate whale and the negative part of the stamp so I decided to use these to my advantage and turn them in a journal tag. The only thing I had to do was cut another layer of the water spout!
     I bet you are wondering where I got the wave die cut from.: Sponge Bob Square Pants!!! That's right. After looking at all my carts this was the most realistic looking waves. You can find the image on page 47 under Icon. I cut 4 sets then inked them with distress inks Evergreen Boughs and Tumbled Glass. I used liquid Glass as an adhesive and Donna Salasar's Sugar Sparkle for the glitter. Now let's follow the turtle as we head on over to the next page!

     It was so nice here in the sun so I had to add this phrase.I found this on Pack Your Bags on page 44. I used a cream card stock but inked the sun with Dried Marigold and Antique Linen distress inks and also used Perfect Pearls Lemon Sparkle on the sun. I also cut it again in black and offset it on the page.
     This spot is near the Blowhole and is sort of an inlet where the turtles get swept in with the tide. There is a beach area where people sunbathe and swim with the turtles. Unfortunately it was too windy and cool for us to venture in.

     Most of the turtles die cuts are from Stretch Your Imagination on page 41. These were so much fun to make!!! First I cut them at different sizes out of brown cardstock. I had left these on the mat until I inked them with both Frayed Burlap and Forest Moss distress inks. I wanted a realistic look and something that would bring out the sand and rocks in the photos. I cut the layers as well and ran them through my cuttlebug with the "Tiny Mosiacs" embossing folder.
     Now for my absolute favorite cut on this whole layout. this would be the "shelled turtle. You can find this imagine on Stretch Your Imagination on page 73-S. I love this turtle! I used the CCR tomake sure the layer fit and hide the outline of the shell. I cut this out of black shiny card stock. I will share a tip with you. Rather than try to glue all these tiny pieces on the shell leave them on the mat and remove the cuts you don't want and leave the tiny pieces on the mat. I use a piece of transfer tape (the kind you use for vinyl transfer) and apply to your cuts. I then trim the edge of the tape and run it through my Xyron machine. After you remove the Xyron backing I place it on my die and gently put into place. I can then use the Cricut "hook" to jockey it into position and then smooth it down! Easy Peasy!!!! I had just gotten some new liquid pearls in with the most fantastic colors and this was a project just begging for it.I used the Avocado to outline the areas between the shells and the  outer edge.
     Sorry this is so long but I just had to share. Although a lot of the Cricut cuts are cute, with some ink and the right cut you are able to achieve a very realistic look.
     If you are looking for products like the ones I used here, please visit Ericas Shop as she has a fabulous sale going on . Believe it or not she is giving 33% off your order! Here are the details:

      The 33% off code is 33 and it will take 33% off your total purchase, except ProvoCraft items (Cricut cartridges, they are only $15-$32 EVERYDAY :)

     Erica is also giving away 3 free action Wobbles. You heard that right FREE! Just head back over to http://www.mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/ and on the right side bar you will see where you can  follow the instructions on where to send a self addressed stamped envelope for your 3 FREE Action Wobbles from The Scrapbooking Queen.

     You will also want to download the most up to date Cricut cartridge list directly from Erica's blog on the top left. She has also posted the Excel and Word formats for you all!

     Lastly our design team is having a garage sale!!! Whoo-Hoo! What fun! Next Thursday our sale will kick off. Right now the group is "closed" please request to be added to the group and once we have all of our items listed I will APPROVE you into the group....

The crafty garage sale is Thursday April 26- Saturday April 28

EVERYONE will get approved into the group on Thursday the 26th.

This is the crafty one

http://www.facebook.com/groups/135244386606507/

     Our anything but Crafty Garage Sale will be Sunday April 29- May 2

and this is the non-crafty sale

EVERYONE will get approved into the group on Sunday April 29

http://www.facebook.com/groups/226289120806147/

    

     At this time it is only open for Design Team members to sell their items. This is a temporary group and will be deleted after the event.... I know there are other crafty sales and crafty auctions. This is not to replace any of those. This is a one weekend only event.

     Wow that's a mouthful but I just didn't want you to miss anything that is going on with our FABULOUS Design Team!!!

     Also, I would love if you would head back over to Erica's Craft Room to see what the rest of the Design Team has to show you! I hope you have a wonderful week with the week end coming up.

Hang Ten!!!

     Are you ready for vacation yet, lol? Well I had an unexpected trip to Hawaii to help my daughter after some surgery. So when I saw today was Theme Day Thursday @ Erica's Craft Room, and that the theme was vacation I figured it would be the only way I would scrap any part of this trip.
     Please keep in mind that I am a card maker and am WAY out of my comfort zone yet I am so happy with how this turned out. It rained 12 out of the 14 days I was there however we did have one evening where we went to downtown Honolulu and went to this fabulous park.

     Where do I begin? This beautiful park had statues of a Queen who was reading books to children. It was surrounded with palm trees that were all light with lights. There were even lanterns hanging from the trees. I wanted to remember these so I used the Luau cartridge to cut the lanterns@ 4" wide and 1.861 high out of black card stock.. I then cut 3 sets of the layer feature @ 3.208" x 1" high from different colors. I used my Xyron X to adhere the layers, added some stickles and some black bakers twine. If you need some stickles, bakers twine or other supplies, please be sure to visit Erica's Shop, she has some awesome products over there.

      No matter where we went people make this hand gesture called "hang ten". It's sort of like waving high or goodbye. Believe it or not the Life's A Beach cart has the hang ten symbol, lol. The image is on page74 and I cut the main image @ 3.5" x 4" with the layers @ 1.792" x 2.569" for the fingers. I inked them while they were still on the mat then added pop dots to the fingers. The back side has journaling on it. Since I had saved the coffee wrapper it seemed like a good spot to tuck the hand in.

     Naturally I had to use the "Paradise" from Life's A Beach. You can find this on page 33 under Title words. I cut it @ 6" x 3.111. I wanted a blackout but this image didn't have one so ....CCR to the rescue! I sized it @ 6" x 3.125 and, using the edit button, I blocked out the center of the letters. Again I cut 3 sets out of different colors, then cut them apart to have a multicolored sign. I popped the letters in my Xyron X again (love this little machine!) and after everything is adhered added so stickles.

     This is a picture of how I set up my mat. I love designing in the CCR. Once I have it designed I just place the colors on my mat and cut!!

     This is the right hand side of the page. Notice the second set of lanterns in the top right hand side. I made a tag in the CCR using the Luau cartridge and the Hibiscus image. I cut the image  @ 2.25.

     This has to be my favorite element I created for this lay out! You can find this image on the Luau cart. I cut it @ 4.5" and cut the layer of leaves 3 times out of velum. The layers are separated by pop dots, adorned with stickles. The center has a brown pearl from creative charms.
     I hope I have given you a few ideas and please pop back over to Erica's Craft Room to see what the rest of the team has to show you.

Funniest Place I Have Crafted

     Wow 2 posts in 2 days! Well I wanted to share with you a funny story. My husband and I went to Florida over Memorial day week to visit our son, daughter in law and 2 of our grandchildren. I am not a person to sit still so I always have a craft project with me (knitting, crochet, tying ribbons on tags and yes, making stickers). I also have my gypsy by my side.
     On this particular trip our flight was delayed 5 hours before we even left. This was when all the tornadoes were breaking out in the Midwest. I had my new camera with me and snapped this shot of a bird inside the terminal. ( Yes, it was inside, lol!!)

     Once we finally bordered I was totally bored. I had read every magazine and could not turn on my gypsy just yet so I decided to continue working on the wedding invitations.I pulled out a circle punch and strips of blue sheen card stock I bought with me. Then I pulled out my Xyron X and started making my ship's wheel stickers for the back of the invitations. Funny thing is that no one questioned me! The Xyron works best in high altitudes. When we had gone down years ago for my grandson's Baptism I was using my Zig pen to glue crosses on tags for chocolate pops I had made. Bad idea. At that altitude the glue just runs out of the pen! Ink does the same thing just so you know!

     Where is the craziest place you have crafted. Leave me a comment I'd love to know!