Male Birthday with Plaid

Hi, today I have a card I made using the CTMH Roxie papers.  This card was created following the sketch this week at Sketches by Carly, Carly posts a new sketch every other Friday so you still have time to play along besides you could win 10 digi images of your choice from Bugaboo Stamps.

I love the papers in the Roxie Pack, there are some for males and some for female.  For this I used the plaid paper and some of the solids.  The circles were cut using Art Philosophy and so was the tan border.  I Cuttlebugged the black circle with one of the folders that comes in the Asian folder set, then also Cuttlebugged the tan border using some border folders.
The happy birthday is a stamp from the CTMH Just a Number stamp set.   The happy birthday is set up as one word after the other but my circle was too small to stamp it that way so a month or so ago I watched a video (sorry can't remember who)where she took the stamp and only put the happy on the bottom of the block and then folded the birthday up along side the block and stamp each word one at a time.  I hope this makes sense.  If I find that video I will add a link and give her credit.  It is an ingenious idea.
The red circle I stamped with a Sweet & Sassy image.  Also the background red seemed so plain to me so I took my MS score board and scored it at 1/2 inch increments, turn it and cross scored it again at 1/2 inch increments.  The card is a 5 1/2 inch square card so it would not fit into an embossing folder, but in the end I think I like this better.
I am glad that you stopped in and remember hop on over to Sketches by Carly and play along you have till 5/10 to make your card.

Challenges for this card
Sketches by Carly  sketch  ends - 5/10
Make it Monday  Always anything goes  ends 5/5
Cards for Men   Texture   ends - 5/6

Mom's Mother's Day Card

I wanted to share with you today the card I created for my Mom for Mother's Day.  I am really loving how this turned out, and thanks to the CTMH Dotty For You paper pack it made it real easy to put the papers/colors together.

The sentiment is a stamp from the set that comes in the Pemberley Workshop Kit.  The saying says it all for me and is exactly how I feel about my Mom, we are very close and act more like sisters or best friends.

This was my first attempt at making flowers using the cut on the Art Philosophy cartridge it took a bit of working till I got the hang of it but I a very pleased with how they turned out.

I found it easier to glue then together using you glue gun as that is an instant stick rather then trying to hold them in place till the glue dries.  I sometimes am lazy about dragging out my glue gun and waiting for it to warm up, but this time I did and I am glad I did.  For one thing I spritz them a bit with water before I rolled them up to make the paper easier to work with so that made them a bit damp when I was gluing them together and regular glue would not have held as well.  I was going to place a pearl or something in the center, but I wound them so tight that it was not needed.  The leaves I also cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge but it was not a leaf cut but rather a cut for a tree that I cut small, I liked the jagged edges that made it look more like a rose bush leaf.  I scored them a bit to make it look like the veins in the leaves.

I think this is my favorite butterfly cut.  I only glued the center of the top layer to the white and also only glued the center to the card so that it looked more "free", then added a few pearls. 

I want to share with you how I did the center piece of this card.  It is a cut from the Art Philosophy cartridge but it is not opened center and it does not have a shadow or plain background cut.  So I placed one image on my mat using Cricut Craft Room copy and pasted to add another exact image.

I went into the hide contour screen and removed each of the center cuts so I would have a solid background when I was done.  There are a lot of little cuts and each had to be done individually so it took a little time.

When I cut it out I had one in Colonial White and one polka piece of paper from the Dotty pack but the center was solid, I forgot to take a picture before but this is what it looked like.

 The center solid piece I hand cut away from the rest so I would be left with the frame with the fancy corners.

I still have to finish the inside as I want to write up a very special verse for my Mom.

Thank you so much for stopping in and I hope you like my Mother's Day card.

Just a reminder if you like the papers I used on this card CTMH has a promotion going on till the end of May where you can get the Dotty For You pack of paper for $5 with any order of $35 or more and if your order is over $50 you can also get the stamp of the month for $5 and the May stamp of the month is a great one especially if you like Sunflowers I wish I had a link or picture to share.  You still have a couple day left to get in on the April stamp of the month.

Challenges for this card

My Sheri's Crafts   Mothers Day card with flower   end  5/12
Crafty Catz  Anything Goes   ends  - 5/4
Poodles Parlour  Anything goes  ends - 5/13
The Pixie Cottage  For Mom  ends - 5/1
Simon Says Stamp  Anything goes  ends - 5/1
Little Darlings  Flowers  ends - 5/8
Make it Monday  Always anything goes  ends - 5/5

Fun Dotty For You card

Hi everyone hope you are all looking forward to the weekend.  I made a card to send someone to thank them for a CTMH order they placed with me.  I wanted to create is using some of the things she ordered.

Isn't it fun?  All the papers are from the Dotty For You pack that is on special right now for just $5 when you place an order for $35 or more.  The papers are so fun in this pack, especially if you like polka dots.  This special will run through May31st.
Everything on this card was cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge, since I got this cartridge it seems to be all I am using lately it is great!  So many times I go to make a card and need that ribbon or banner cut and could never find it but the Art Philosophy has it and with CCR you can stretch it wider or longer whichever way works for you.   I Cuttlebugged the Lagoon strip using a Sizzix folder.
The butterfly was also cut using the Art Philosophy.

Now the front I stamped with the Lagoon ink using a stamp from April's stamp of the month set You Are.  You can get this stamp set till April 30th for just $5 when you spend $50.  It is a great set especially for scrapbooking.
I finished off the inside with some leftover scrap pieces I had.

I will right a note inside something on the lines of "Fun is what you are going to have playing with all your new things"
Well thanks for stopping by and hope you have a fabulous day.
Challenges for this card
Make it Monday  always anything goes   end - 4/29
Kaboodle Doodles  embossing  ends - 4/29
Creative Inspirations  Anythings goes  ends  5/1

Some Re-organizing in my Room

It seems I am on a forever quest of re-organizing my craft room.  I use a walker to get around so I am always trying to get things set up so they are handy for me to reach from my desk.  PLUS I keep buying new things so I need to rearrange and make room for them.

So I thought I would share a few pictures with you of what I have been up too.  First I had my clear/unmounted stamps in 3 ring binders slipped into sheets protectors, well it worked out but I wanted to get them all into DVD type cases.  So I found these clear plastic binders from Univenture.  Mine had just 2 rings instead of the 3 but they would work the same.  

At first I ordered a thinner binder that fit about 4 sets of clears stamps in them.  But when I reordered, I ordered the thicker ones for the thicker stamps I have like Gina K stamps.

And here they are all lined up on my shelf.  Some are still empty waiting for me to  unmount my wood stamps and put them on the cling stuff.  Yikes what a big job I have tons of wood mounted stamps.

You can see the thinner ones on the right side and the thicker ones on the left.  My plan is to make a 3 ring binder with all the stamps pictured in there and then reference each binder that I will number later.  It will make it so much easier when looking for a stamp to just flip through the pictures then pull out the right case.  I like that they snap shut also just in case a stamp was to come loose it would not get lost.
Now I have also been trying to get my cartridges all handy and organized too.  I am one of those that just can't give up those boxes, I like them better kept in there it does create more of a storage problem but it is my preference.  So I ordered a media cabinet and my great hubby put it together for me yesterday.

Well it still was not big enough to hold all my cartridges, YIKES I think I have too many if that is possible. :).  Another thing is that the shelves were like a fracture to short for me to stand up the boxes so I had to lay them down, but by doing that I could fit more in there.

I could stack some more on top of the laid down ones.  But then I had to get out my handy little label maker and label what each one is on the bottom of the box.

I wish it would have held more but I am still happy with it.  I got everything in it except for my Font Cartridges and my Solutions Cartridges.  I use my image carts much more so I put them along with my Imagine cartridges handy.
And here is just another shot of my room, this is right to left of me when I sit at my desk.

 Well I just wanted to share what I have been up to, I am far from totally done with my stamp storage but at least it is a start.  Thanks for stopping in.

Smile It's Your Birthday

Hi everyone, today I created this card following the sketch this week at Mojo Monday.  I love to play along with them whenever I can because they have some great sketches.

Although it looks like a rather simple card it takes some work and patience to line up all those squares do they are straight and evenly spaced.  The paper is from the DCWV Taj Mahal stack, I picked this pattern because I thought it would work well when all the squares were lined up.  Each square is 1.75 inches, as I cut each one I marked them on the back ie row 1 left top, row 1 center top etc, this way I was sure to get them in the right place and not have to put them all back together like a puzzle.  Then I glued each one in place using removable adhesive, after they were all placed I picked them up one at a time and glued them down.  Don't look too close as there are a couple that are slightly off.

The scalloped circle I cut from Art Philosophy as was the tag.  I hand cut one of the circle patterns from the paper and pop dotted it onto the scalloped circle.  I added a button to the top of the tag and stamped the tag with a stamp from the CTMH Wonderful You set that came in my consultant kit.

I stamped the sentiment on the inside and added another cut out circle from the paper.

Thanks for stopping in and if you get chance why not play along at Mojo Monday.
Challenges for this card
Make it Monday  Always anything goes   ends - 4/28
Mojo Monday  sketch   ends - 4/28
Wags n Whiskers  anything goes  ends - 4/25

Male Happy Birthday

Sometimes it is so hard to make male card, at least for me, I seem to want to add flowers to everything.   Well every Wednesday I try and participate in a weekly challenge on the Cricut message board and when I see a sketch that I can turn into a male card I try and make one just for my stash.

I have had these screw head brads for some time and when I saw this happy birthday cut on the MS Birthday Cake cartridge I thought they would be perfect for it.
The bottom brown strip I used a punch to make slits then wove my bakers twine back and forth across it.
Basically that is it, thanks for stopping in and hope you have a great day.

Cute as a Bug

I have a cute simple quick card for you today.  The Just Because Cards cartridge makes these cards very easy, as it has the image and the saying cut.

I mounted my ladybug and yellow checked paper and added the saying which I dotted with my white gel pen.  I also covered the red part of the ladybug with Diamond Glaze and added googlie eyes.  That's it!!   Couldn't be any simpler.

Thanks for stopping in to take a peak at my blog today, hope to see you back soon.

Challenges for this card
Crafty Catz  Checks/Stripes    ends  4/26
Paper Play  Animals Antics   ends 4/25

Gerbera Daisies

Hello everyone, hope you are all having a fabulous weekend and are finding a little time to do some crafting :).
Today I have a card to share with you that I made following a sketch from a challenge on the Cricut message board.  I love love how this card turned out if I can brag for a minute.

All the papers are printed with my Imagine using the Imagine More cartridge.  You can't really see it too well but I Cuttlebugged the turquoise border with some CB border embossing folders.  The oval in the center I cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge, this is one great cartridge, it has such a wide range of cuts on it and if you are a card maker this is a must have cartridge.  The happy birthday is a CTMH stamp from the 4 My Friend stamp set.  The leaves I punched using my MS branch punch, I think it went perfect with the daisies.

Although I did make this card myself I can not take all the credit for it, the amazing Gerbera Daisies I made following a tutorial posted by Ali on her blog called The Misadventures of a Multi Crafteer wow make sure you stop on over and check out some of the other great things she creates.   I became a follower and will be checking back often to see what else she has come up with.   I was surprised at how fast and easy they are to make as they look a bit complicated.  I set up a cut file in Cricut Craft Room where I cut 15 of the larger part, each flowers uses 3 and  I think 16 of the center part, each flowers uses 4 of this cut.
Well thank so much for stopping by and I would love the hear what you think of this card.

Pug Birthday Wishes

Hi everyone, I want to share a card with you that I made for my granddaughter that just turned 17.  She loves Pugs and has two of them so when I saw this Doodle Pantry digital image I could not resist.

I colored the Pug using my Copic markers, then did the hinge method and cut him out using the Art Philosophy cartridge.  The background plaid paper is a Jak Heath design, she creates some beautiful things and they are all FREE, isn't that amazing. There is a wide variety of papers and flowers to cut out, be sure you visit her blog Jak Heath and look for the "Freebies" on the right sidebar.  I just put plain white cardstock into my printer and it printed out beautifully.
I added some crinkled ribbon and bow across the bottom and stamped a birthday wish on a circle.

For the inside I just used some more of the paper I had and stamped a saying inside.

Thanks for visiting my blog and would love it if you left me a comment.

Sweet Sixteen

I made this card following the sketch this week at Mojo Monday.  It was designed for a girl turning 16 that loves Zebras and purple.  It seems that Zebra is a very popular print right now.

Isn't it cute?  I just love the way it came out and the color combination, one I would never had done myself if it had not been requested.  Most the cuts are from the Art Philosophy cartridge, the scalloped circle, and the banner. The numbers is cut using Sophisticated cartridge.  I Cuttlebugged the light purple using the happy birthday folder.  Oops forgot where the "sweet" came from.

I sprayed the 16 with Glimmer Mist and then covered it with Diamond Glaze.

Glad to stopped in to say hello and hope you are having a Happy Easter.

Challenges for this card
Allsorts  Bingo  Purple/Stripes/Ribbon   ends - 4/12
Make it Monday  Always anything goes   ends - 4/15
Forever Friends  embossing  end - 4/30

Happy Birthday Pretty Flowers

Hello everyone hope you are having a fabulous Easter week-end so far.  This will definitely be a bittersweet Easter for us.  Our granddaughter-in-law and great-granddaughter leave on Easter morning to fly to New Hampshire to live as a family with our grandson that is stationed there.  I am so very happy that they get to finally be a family with their own home, but so very sad as we will miss that great-grandbaby tremendously.  We hope to make a trip to New Hampshire in the summer and visit them but meanwhile it will be rough adjusting without them here.
Well Monday is that granddaughter-in-law's birthday, so here is the card I made for her.

I created this card using the papers in the CTMH Pemberley Kit, as I have said before the papers in this stack are beautiful.  The wooden branch on the right is also from the Pemberley Workshop Kit, I sprayed it with Glimmer Mist and added some pearls to the leaves.  This card opens just half way across the front, you can see what I mean in this picture.

The happy birthday is stamped using Indian Corn Blue with one of the stamps from the Celebration stamp set that comes in the Art Philosophy Collection.   Then using one of the stamps in the Card Word Puzzle stamp set I lightly stamped flowers on the from yellow panel to make a background to match the flower paper.  This stamp set is so versatile because you can make so many phrases just putting the words together.

The flower I cut also using the Art Philosophy cartridge, sprayed it with Glimmer Mist and crumpled it up.  Then I added a piece of crinkle ribbon across the front.

Inside I will stamp a verse.  I like the way the branch still shows when you open the card so that the inside looks a bit dressed up.
Well thanks for stopping by to take a look, a very Happy Easter to you and your family.

Challenges for this card
Wags n Whiskers  Say it with Flowers   ends - 4/12
Sir Stampalot  Happy Birthday  ends - 4/30
Simon Says Stamp  Use your favorite tool (Cricut) ends - 4/11
Make it Monday  Always anything goes  ends - 4/15

Art Philosophy Flower

Today I have a card for you that I made using the papers that are in the Stella paper packet and of course cuts using the Art Philosophy cartridge. 

 The flower I cut was from page 68 in the handbook, I cut it  and rolled it up starting from the outside edge, glue it to the tab/base that is in the center after rolling it up and then added a pearl to the center, it is as easy as that!  Then I added some leaves that are part of the Stella Canvas shapes.   The card is a 5 1/2 inch square card using Lagoon paper and and then again one of the pattern papers that come in the Stella paper packet.  In the center I cut a shape from the Art Philosophy using Colonial White and then shadowed it with Lagoon paper.
 Here is a closer picture of the flower.

On the center panel I stamped the happy birthday from one of the stamp sets that came with the Art Philosophy cartridge collection.  There are many CTMH stamps that coordinate with the Art Philosophy cartridge.  Then added a butterfly stamp from the Card Word Puzzle set.
For the inside I did it very simply using the same papers and some more of the stickers from the Stella Canvas shapes.  You can also order the Stella Workshop on the Go and all these papers plus some more goodies, check it out.

I will stamp a sentiment inside later, I am waiting on some sentiment stamp sets that I ordered.
Well I am glad you stopped by and hope that you enjoyed my card and remember it is April now so there is a new Stamp of the Month set, take a peak HERE all you have to do is order $50 in product and you get the Stamp of the Month set for $5.