Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year my friends! I hope you all have a wonderful time with your loved ones.

Wow, look what I received, my first blog award!

I was surprised and honored to find out that Greengirl Scraps chose me for the Stylish Blogger Award! I'm thrilled and so thankful! After a slow November this award has really put some pep in my step. It's so nice to know that people appreciate the work I put into my blog.

This is a pay-it-forward style award. Here are the rules:
1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this
2. Share 8 things about yourself
3. Pay it forward to 8 bloggers that you have recently discovered
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their awards.

8 Things About Myself:

1. My favorite vacation location is the beach.
   
2. I am a huge music lover and received a scholarship to college for my vocal skills.
3. My favorite color is red.
4. I love to watch movies.
   
5. I have been blessed with an amazing family. I have two younger brothers who I couldn't be more proud of.
6. I am an absolute perfectionist and neat freak.
7. I love Pilates.
8. I'm a petite girl, but I'm feisty, sassy, and proud of it!

Now to pass this award on to 8 more deserving bloggers, in particular those who I have recently discovered:

Okay, I'm still working on this part. I really want to share the love with bloggers who are up and coming like me and haven't received as much attention.

See you back here soon.

More Holiday Cards

Well, I'm on a Christmas card kick now. There are so many amazingly adorable holiday themed Cricut cartridges that there was just no way I could stick to one cartridge for all my cards. In fact, I'd still like to make some cards with Jolly Holidays.


For this first card I used my Imagine and the Snow Angel cartridge. I cut my image at 3 1/2-inches with all of his layers. For added dimension I embossed the white cardstock.

In this picture you can see the embossing a little better.

On my second card I used a die cut from Peachy Keen Stamps. I love these gingerbread men. Peachy Keen also includes face stamps with their dies which is fantastic.



Details:

• Cardstock-Papertrey Ink: A2 size cards
  
• Pattern Paper-Imaginisce 'Polar Expressions'
• Snow Angel Cricut Cartridge-pg. 15 cut at 3 1/2-inches with layers
• Cottage Cuts (Peachy Keen Stamps) Shape Die-Gingerbread Doll: cut twice using my cuttlebug, once with brown cardstock and then with white cardstock
• Cuttlebug Embossing Folder-Holly Ribbons
• Sentiment Stamps-Papertrey Ink: 'Signature Christmas', 'Inside and Out-Holidays'
  
• Papertrey Ink-buttons and twine
  
• Tulip Heating Tool with gems from Imaginisce
  

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed my cards and can use them as ideas and inspiration for your own holiday projects. I always appreciate your comments. See you soon.

Holiday Cards

Good morning SassyLady friends, this is Kate from Sassy and Scrappy. As everyone knows the countdown to Christmas is on, and most of us are feeling the pressure. I thought it would be fun to challenge myself to use one cartridge and the same color combination to create 4 different Holiday cards.

This is the holiday paper pack that inspired me. I like how it combines traditional Christmas colors with some unexpected colors as well. This is an 8 x 8 stack from Papertrey Ink, and it's a great size for cards.

I used the 'Winter Frolic' cartridge and picked 4 images; snowman, angel, reindeer, and the little boy making a snow angel. I used my Gypsy to lay out each image and all of the layers.

As you can see I separated the layers by image. Of course you could choose to separate items by color, if you prefer that instead. And if you only want one image, such as the snowman on all of your cards, you could place as many snowmen as you needed, or would fit, on one page and then separate your layers. I think that's probably the most efficient way to go, but I love this cartridge and couldn't decide what I wanted to use, lol.

Here are all of my images ready to be assembled. I kept these cards pretty simple since my goal is to make...well, a lot! You can choose to dress them up, or even dress them down depending on the amount you're making and time restraints. Here are my finished cards:


I added some doodling, ribbon, peachy keen faces and some glitter to my finished images. As, I said though, I tried to keep them all pretty simple. Here is an example of another snowman card that I "dressed up". I used more glitter, added buttons and even bling.


Details:

• Pattern Paper: Papertrey Ink-'Sugar Plum'

• Cardstock: Papertrey Ink-Spring Rain, Plum Pudding, Dark Chocolate, White, Pure Poppy

• Ribbon: Papertrey Ink-Pure Poppy, Spring Rain, Plum Pudding

• Peachy Keen Stamps-Critter Faces, Princess Face Asst., Snow Cutie Face Asst.

• Embossing Folder-Basic Grey by Sissix, 'Snow Caps'

• Glitter-Martha Stewart

• Sentiments: Papertrey Ink-Signature Christmas

Thank you Sheila and thanks to all of you for stopping by and checking out my project. I hope this will give you some inspiration and maybe a few ideas as well. I love to hear your comments and if you have a chance stop by blog and visit me. I wish you all the best and have a wonderful holiday season!

What happened to November?

I want to apologize for my lack of posts in November. I guess I've been lacking inspiration and struggling with health issues, which have led to a pitiful amount of work.

I'm excited about some upcoming projects. The holidays are my favorite time of year, and I've got LO's, cards, and even some gift projects to share. So, stay tuned!

Take care and I look forward to seeing you very soon.

Sunday Share

Hello. I want to share a couple of projects I've worked on in the last week. I'm pretty excited about this first project because it's so quick and my mind is filled with possibilities. I used my Imagine on this one and I'm very pleased with the way it turned out.
I purchased an 8x8 canvas album from Joanne's and some iron-on fabric sheets for ink jet printers. The brand is Quick Fuse, in case you're curious, and comes with 3, 8 1/2 x 11-inch sheets. I placed the fabric sheets on my Imagine mat and chose a couple of images from the 'Boys Will Be Boys' cartridge. The patterns and colors of the images are from 'Imagine More'. Isn't this so fun?! I'm really excited to do some more playing.


Next is a fun 6x6 card I made for my SIL to take to a baby shower. I was told the card was for a boy and given a few colors. So I had to use my new 'Birthday Bash' cartridge. I absolutely love it, there are so many fun images along with a font, phrases, cards and tags. This cartridge is really versatile. Did I convince you to purchase this cartridge yet?! Maybe some pictures will help, lol.



I cut the elephant and all his layer at 4-inches. The scalloped square is from 'Accent Essentials' and cut at 5 1/2 x 5 1/2-inches real dial size on my Gypsy. The solid cardstock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) and the pattern paper is Fancy Pants. Both of the tags (outside and inside) are die cuts from PTI and the stamps are from PTI as well. I added some stitching, twine from PTI, and an orange button from StampinUp.

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate all of your comments.

Fun Fall Layout

Hello my scrappy friends. This is Kate from Sassy and Scrappy and I have a wonderful fall LO to share with you today. I took these pictures last week and was totally inspired to get them scrapped. I love fall, the colors and smells that lead to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Here is the original layout I designed in my Gypsy. You will notice a scarecrow in this picture that didn't end up on the layout. I kept him though! I also added a lot more leaves.













On this layout I sewed two pieces of paper together. To do this I used tape to attach the cardstock together (see picture). It worked, but it isn't very strong. In the future I think adding a strip of paper to the back of the 2 pieces of cardstock would be a better option.












Here is a picture of the paper in my Janome Sew Mini. I love this little thing.












In this picture you can see the stitching













Here is a close-up of the title and journal tag


















And here are the two pages of the layout





































Details:

• Mat sizes 4 1/2 x 6 1/2-inches
• Title-"Fall" cut from the Country Life at 3.75-inches
• Title Mat-Lacy Labels 4.08-inches
• Maple leaves-Create A Critter cut at 2, 2 1/4, 2 1/2-inches
• "Other" leaves-Everyday Paper Dolls cut at 3 1/4, 3 1/2, 5-inches
• Journal Envelope-Die Cut from Papertrey Ink
• Journal Tags-Papertrey Ink
• Satin Ribbon from Papertrey Ink
• Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher
• Ink from StampinUp!, Papertrey Ink and Colorbox Chalk
• Brown Cardstock-SEI
• Pattern Paper-MME 'Ooh La La'
• Basic Grey yellow brads

A big thanks to Sheila! I hope you enjoyed this layout and thanks for letting me share it with all of you!

Halloween Goodie Box

Hi friends!

I made some cute Halloween goodie boxes for my nephew's Kindergarten class. I wish I could say I came up with this idea...but I didn't. I learned how to make these "sour cream containers" from Okie at Okieladybug's Scrap N' More. You can find a great video tutorial here















Details:

• All the cardstock is from My Mind's Eye 'Boo Too You' collection. The box was cut at 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches.
• Marvy Uchida paper crimper
• Mini Monster Cricut Cartridge-Mummy cut at 2 1/2 inches
• Glossy Accents

Once the containers were created I placed a mini fruit roll and squishy frog inside.













As you can see this is a very simple project. I didn't do any inking or stitching. When it comes to 5-year old children I usually don't spend as much time on their projects since it will probably be in the garbage can within an hour, lol. As long as they don't throw it away while I'm standing there, it's okay. There are certainly a lot of different ways this cute box can be decorated and could be used for adults as well as children.

I really appreciate you stopping by. Please let me know what you think.

Imagine Card

Good evening. Why is it that my creativity peaks when I should be sleeping? I woke up way too early with a design for a card all laid out it my head. I wasn't going to get up to do it right then, so I quickly drew it out. Crazy, huh?! I knew if I didn't write it down I wouldn't be able to fall asleep because I would be trying to make sure my brain would remember it all on it's own. Good Luck.















Sorry about the glue glare.

















Details:

Imagine More-striped background paper cut at 6-inches and trimmed to 4 x 5 1/4
polka dot background paper cut at 6-inches and trimmed
Simply Charmed-pumpkins cut at 2-inches, with layers 1 and 3
RGB Codes from Papertrey Ink for the green and orange on the pumpkins

• A2 size card-Papertrey Ink, Fine Linen Cardstock

• Everyday Character Faces from Peachy Keen Stamps

• Ribbon-Papertrey Ink Fine Linen (Saddle Stitch)

• Button-StampinUp!

• Sentiment-Papertrey Ink

• White Sakura Gelly Roll Pen

I also did some stitching around the mat of the card with my Janome Sew Mini


I hope you enjoyed this card. Hopefully tonight I won't wake up with another crafty vision.

Imagine Layout

Hello friends. Today I want to share a layout that I made completely with my Imagine. Now, it takes some time and getting used to, but there are tons of possibilities with this machine, especially with future updates. Of course when the Gypsy and Imagine can communicate I'll be a lot happier...A LOT. And if I had my Gypsy I'd also be able to share the sizes of my cuts, but I didn't write them down and I don't have my Gypsy to refer to. Sorry.

















Cartridges used:
Imagine More
Simply Charmed
"Stock" Shapes from the Imagine

The top note diecut is a stock shape pre-loaded into the Imagine. The pattern is from the Imagine More cartridge. I used the fit to page function to size and cut the shape. 'Good Times' is also from Imagine More and I cut this out using the layer function. I didn't change any of the colors, I just used what was preset on the cartridge. I wanted to mention that the face of the sun doesn't have an even white edge around it. I don't know if this is a quirk of the image or if the alignment/calibration is off. I didn't have an issue with any of the other cuts, so I dunno.

You can see what I'm referring to in this picture:









The tree and little bird are from Simply Charmed. The color palette I used is the same one from the Imagine More cartridge, so I just chose the colors I wanted to use. I believe the tree was cut at 5-inches and the bird at 1 1/2-inches.













The little journal tag in the left corner is also from the Imagine More cartridge. I picked one of the layers from another image to create a small space to journal. I also used a stock rectangle from the Imagine and filled it with a pattern from the Imagine More cartridge. I believe I print and cut it at 7-inches and then trimmed it down to 4 1/2 x 6 1/4-inches to mat my picture.










The buttons are from StampinUp! and the twine is from Papertrey Ink. I did ink around the edges of several of my images and did some doodling. I think those two things add a lot to any project, but especially those made with the Imagine print feature. The small sentiment below the tree is from Papertrey Ink which I stamped in Tempting Turquoise from StampinUp! The brads are from StampinUp! as well.

This was a pretty simple page, but I think as I get to know the machine better I will be able to expand my horizons. Until then, small steps. Thanks for stopping by!

My First Imagine Project

Here it is, my first Imagine project! This card was inspired by Emma's Throwback Thursday Challenge, the Circle Blog Weekly Challenge, and the Circle MB Challenge.

Emma from My Creative Time asked us to create a card using Create A Critter and the color orange. The part I forgot about until I went to post it, is that it's supposed to be a 'shape' card. Oops, I guess I'll be sitting this week out. The weekly Circle Blog Challenge was to create a "girly" project using ribbons, bows, pink, etc. in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And finally, the Circle MB Challenge was to incorporate a circle into our design.

Here's what I came up with.

















My card base is 5 1/2 x 5 1/2. The scallop circle is a stock shape from the Imagine sized at 5 inches. I used the Best Friends cartridge to add the sky background to the scallop. Originally my plan was to use the Papertrey Ink RGB codes on this card, but I decided to stick with the color palette from Best Friends instead.

The sheep is from Create A Critter and cut at 3 1/2 inches. I only used the base image and one layer. After I cut her fur, I placed it in my Xyron, upside down, so I could use the adhesive to add my glitter. I don't use my Xyron very much, but I love it for this purpose. The adhesive works perfectly to adhere the glitter.

I also cut the sun from CAC, at 1 1/2 inches (I think). I inked the edges with Stampin Up! Only Orange. Then to pull in the blue from the sky on the scalloped circle, I inked the edges of the base of my card with Tempting Turqouise from Stampin Up!

The buttons and twine are all Papertrey Ink and I thought the bows added an additional nice girly touch to the card. Her face is a stamp from Peachy Keen Critter faces. And then to add one more pink touch I decided to use some pink and white polka dot ribbon to make some bows to accessorize my sheep.

There you have it, a very simple, but sweet card. I hope you like it. For my first Imagine project I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you back here soon!

Layout-Built Tough

It's my first day as a Sassy Lady Design Team Member! This is Kate from Sassy and Scrappy, and I'm so excited to share this layout with you today.

I was inspired to create this layout from a work day at my parents house. We removed some cement from their backyard that has caused some water issues in their basement in the past. My brothers, sister's-in-law, nephew, and myself all helped my parents out. We managed to get our work done and I even got to use a jack hammer for the first time! I wasn't sure that I would be able to do it since I'm on the petite side, 5', but let me just say, it was pretty cool.

I started my layout by designing it in my Gypsy. I used the 12x24 mat to lay it all out and get an idea where I want things to be. Below you can see my sketch.














After my layout was designed I grouped my items onto 4 different pages to cut out on my Expression. I was able to use 5 different cartridges on these 2 pages. That is a huge reason I love my Gypsy so much! It's so easy to find the design elements I want to use and really utilize all of my cartridges. Here's what I used:

Boys Will Be Boys-title, truck, and hammer (I actually didn't end up using the hammer, but I did cut one out)
Everyday Paper Dolls-shovels
Create A Critter and Plantin Schoolbook-grass
H2O-sun

Here are all of the assembled pieces before adhering them to my background pages.












I inked around the edges of my photo mats and title using Papertrey Ink Chai and Chamomille. I decided to double mat my pictures so I cut them at 4 1/4 x 6 1/4 and 4 1/2 x 6 1/2. I inked the grass with Green Galore and Glorious Green, and the sun with Only Orange, all from Stampin' UP! I also used my white Sakura Gelly Roll pen to do some doodling on my truck. And lots of Basic Grey buttons!

I also added some stitching around two of the background papers. This is the first time I've actually sewn on a project, so I wanted a stitch that would be forgiving, such as the zig zag. It also has more of a rugged feel to it, I think. The journal tag is a die cut from Papertrey Ink.













Another first for me is the Martha Stewart Metallic Glass Microbeads. I added these, as you can see above, to the top layer of my dump truck. I attached a piece of Scor-Tape to the top of the truck and then dipped it into the beads. I also placed the truck bed in the tray and rolled more beads over the adhesive and applied some pressure with my fingers to help them stick. I thought the beads would add a nice texture to the truck, as well as simulating gravel...but much cuter of course!


























I used dimensional adhesives to pop up both layers of the title, the shovels, truck and sun. I applied glossy accents to the back of the buttons to glue them on the background paper. For whatever reason I don't feel like glue dots stick very well. I know, I'm the only one in the crafting world who doesn't love them! They tend to "pop up" when I use them, which I don't like, so I use liquid glue instead.



































I really appreciate all of your patience and support as I begin my journey as a Sassy Lady Design Team Member! Thank you.

I have news!

I'm one of the new design team members for She's a Sassy Lady!

I feel truly honored that Sheila has allowed me to be a part of her amazing blog and her incredibly talented design team. I feel truly fortunate and blessed to have received this opportunity.

My first post will be Wednesday, October 6 so please come by She's a Sassy Lady to see what I've created for you. And of course, let me know what you think. Thanks again Sheila!

Calling Card and Gift Tag

Good afternoon! As a Cricut Circle member we were asked to create our own "calling card" to give out to fellow circlettes at events or to be used in contests/giveaways for door prizes etc. I haven't been able to attend any swarms or gala's, but I'm hoping one will come to the Northwest. Anyway, the reason I made mine are to include in some RAK's (Random Act of Kindness). And since I finally finished them, and sent out my first package, I thought I'd share it with all of you.












The paper is Basic Grey and the cute frog is from Paisley. I used my Peachy Keen stamps for the face. All of my vital information-address, phone number email, are all printed on the back.

Onto the next project. This is a tag I created for a Christmas Tag Swap that I'm involved in on the Message Board. Isn't she cute! I adore the Winter Frolic cartridge and I'm really looking forward to making some Christmas cards.

All of the elements on this tag are from Winter Frolic. Once again I used Peachy Keen stamps for her face. I found out that the stamps created for the Once Upon A Princess cartridge are a perfect fit for the faces on Winter Frolic! The paper is My Mind's Eye from the Colorful Christmas paper line.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed these little projects! See you back here soon.

Layout-Let Them Eat Cake

Good morning. Today I want to share a layout that I put together with some picture's from my nephew, Micah's 5th birthday. The layout's look so much cuter with the pictures, so I had to include them! The 2 adorable girls are my cousin's Emma and Marnie (Margaret) both 4.

Layout Details:
All of the paper is BoBunny
Photo Mats (Emma & Marnie)-mat #1 5 inches and mat #2 5 1/4 inches
(Micah)-mat #1 5 1/4 inches and mat #2 5 1/2 inches
Center PP-6x12 inches
Journal Tag-mat#1 2 3/4 x 3 1/2 inches and mat #2 3 x 3/4
I used a stamp from Prima for the journal lines and 'You Make Me Smile' is a sentiment from Papertrey Ink Signature Greetings. I embossed my sentiment with some silver Zing embossing powder.

All of the cuts are from Simply Charmed, which by the way is an absolutely adorable cartridge! Let me apologize in advance in regards to the title. I created my own shadow, but for some reason I don't have the measurements in the Gypsy.
'Let them eat'-1.50 inches
'CAKE'-2.0 inches
The cake and all the layers are cut at 3.0 inches
Party Hats-3.0 inches

All of the ink, ribbon, twine and buttons are from Papertrey Ink. The jewels are Imaginisce and set with my Tulip.



















































Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed looking at this LO as much as I enjoyed making it! See you soon.

HUGS!

Hey friends! I wanted to share this fun card I made for one of my fabulous circle friends, Dawn (aka NurseViper). I feel so incredibly blessed to have met so many new friends! I digress. Dawn has been going through some really difficult times, so I wanted to send her some goodies, and of course, a big hug!

My message board name is froglegs, which is a nickname I was given in high school. I'm not a frog collector and they aren't my favorite animal, but for some reason I've found myself using frogs on my projects several times recently.

Onto the card...












I cut this cute frog from the Paisley cartridge at 2 1/2 in. with all of his layers. I also cut the shadow feature, but when I was looking at it on my Gypsy it just looked way too big, so I re-sized that to 2.4 in. The cute little top note shape that I stamped my sentiment on is from Once Upon a Princess. The shape is cut at 1.15 in and I created a shadow which I cut at 1.31 in.

All of the paper is from a Heidi Grace designer pack "Rectro Verso".
Buttons-Basic Grey
Twine-Papertrey Ink
Scallop Border Punch-SU
The bling is from Imaginisce, which I attached with my Tulip.
'Hugs'-My Pink Stamper Everyday Occasions
Black Sakura Gelly Roll Pen
Ink-Papertrey Ink

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and I hope you like this simple and sweet card. Have a great day!

I'm back, and we're back to school!

I'm back, anyone miss me?! Although I have been away from my blog for far too long, I assure you I've been working. I made a lot of 'Back to School' projects for my Mom's co-workers, as well as my nephew's new Kindergarten classmates. They were really fun to create, but I was ready to take a break!

From what I understand, there is a die similar to these "milk carton" shaped boxes at Stampin'Up!, but mine were all created by hand. I learned how to make these from a tutorial that Trish did, on her blog, TechniquesbyTrish. She has some really great videos, so check her out!

The boxes are about 3 1/2-inches high and each side is just over 2-inches wide. The boxes I made for my Mom's co-workers were muted tones, with more "mature" patterned paper. I cut out the apple from Create A Critter, and added a cute peachy keen face. Apparently I was too tired after making all of those to remember to take pictures...bummer! But lucky for you I remembered to take photos of the boxes I made for my nephew's class. And here they are in all their primary colored glory!



























The solid paper is Recollections, and the pattern papers are from the DCWV Grade School paper collection.

I cut the frog from Create A Critter at 1.75 inches and his adorable face is a stamp from, of course, Peachy Keen. I actually used the mouth from the cart and stamped his eyes using the Everyday Character Face Parts (PK-494). I used my white gelly roll pen for his eyes and some chalk for his cheeks.

My nephew, who is now officially a Kindergartener, stamped the sentiment and added the treats. 'First Day of School' is from a set I picked up at Michael's by Teacher Clear Stamps, and they have lots of great school related images.

The scalloped circle is a Martha Stewart punch and the twine I tied the boxes with, is some cheap stuff from Fred Meyer. I ran out of my Papertrey Ink twine, but not to fear, I ordered more!

I hope you enjoyed this little project and I'll be back soon!