Throwback Challenge

Hey everyone!  :)  This week's Throwback Challenge Emma posted is to use Celebrations cartridge for a Christmas theme project.  This was a toughie.... Celebrations is mostly birthday related.  Some of the posts are soooo creative.  Mine isn't very creative/original but I did think a lot on it ;)  I didn't want to use the presents... too easy.  ;)  So I went w/ the numbers.  I decided to make a Christmas tag.  Here's what I came up with...

front (flash washed out the green colors)

back

(A Christmas tag in front of my little pumpkins looks kinda funny)

This was pretty fast to put together once I decided what to do.  I'm thinking of making more of these for the "biggie" Santa gifts... wouldn't take long at all. 

This little tag is 3x3.  The edge of the kraft cardstock is inked w/ a cat eye ink in Warm Red.  The patterned paper is from the new DCWV Christmas Combo stack.  

For the front... the circle scallop tag (page 123) is cut at 2.25 inches.  The numbers (page 82 & 86) I cut at 1.25 inches.  I added a little gold brad.  

The back "to" and "from" (page 129) is cut at 1 inch.  I added some left over paper from the front and the Christmas light chipboard is from American Crafts.

Pretty easy.. just like usual with me :)  Hope you like it and thanks for looking!  :) :) :)

Cheers
-Amanda

Last of Halloween projects

Hi everyone!  Hope you all have had a great weekend and fun Halloween.  I'm home tonight handing out candy... unfortunately I don't get many kids here :(  I love seeing them all dressed up.  I went last night to a 80's themed Halloween party... it was sooo much fun!  :)

So I wanted to do a quick post of the Halloween projects I haven't posted up yet.  First is the goody bags I made up.  I made about a dozen of these but only had 2 left when I remembered to take pics.  I used to just plain ol' brown paper lunch bags....

I kept them very simple.  Just my cuts and ribbon to tie them.  I used October 31st for the spider and Mini Monsters for my toothy pumpkin.  :)  Both were cut @ 5 inches.   The bags held a lot of loose candy and then a few crafty things.....

First up pencil holders from Made by Momo: 

I used paper scraps and popped up the cuts -- they are from Pumpkin Carvings.

I did a couple of candy wrappers.  The candy bar wrappers are from various sites but I used the measurements and such from here:  http://www.kerryspapercrafts.com/?p=920

More Mini Monsters and of course Scrappy Moms stamps.  

The next one is a candy box wrapper that I borrowed from Jean @ http://jeanscraftycorner.blogspot.com/2010/10/day-2-of-halloween-projects.html  She has had a Halloween project every day this month and man... she is crazy talented!!!  When I saw this idea I immediately saved it because I knew I wanted to make them! 

here you can see how the box just slides right out

Aren't those so cool.  Such an original idea she had.  Loved it.  I used Storybook for the top note, Pumpkin Carving for the mouth and stitches and Mini Monsters for the eyes.

The last thing that I haven't posted before is a little "BOO" sign I made using the 4x4 chipboard coasters from Michael's.  I liked the way this turned out....

I put this together in my Gypsy.  Almost all the cuts are from Happy Hauntings.  The font is from that cartridge... isn't it such a cool font.  Love it!  The moon, web, and flying witch are all from October 31st.  I inked it all up to give it a dirty/grungy look.  I also frayed the edges of the ribbon holding each coaster together (Can't see it very well in this pic) to keep it looking grungy kind of.  I was happy with how it turned out.   Expect a few more of these... I found the coasters in a clearance bin.. 33cents/package.  I stocked up big time, like bought way more than I need.  LOL  :)

I love Halloween!  :)  Now onto Thanksgiving and of course Christmas!!

I hope you have a great night... I'm going to try and finish up my Throwback Challenge.  Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers
-Amanda

Halloween Decor

Hey there blog world!  :)  Hope you had a good week.  It has been crazy hectic around here lately... which is partly to blame for the lack of posts up on the ol' blog recently.  I sat down today during my lunch and made out my weekend 'to do' list.  It's gonna be pretty busy weekend as well.  Hopefully November will be quieter and allow me more time to craft & post :)

Ok, enough of my rambling.  I have a quick little Halloween Home Decor project I did.  Now I saw this idea somewhere online, I thought it was one my blogs I have in my Google reader but I've been through it twice and still can't find it.  Soooo... if this is your idea or you know where I saw this, blog, message board... etc Please Please let me know.  I always want to give credit and link back to the original.   So - this is not my idea but I thought it was too cute to not do.  And sooo easy.

w/ flash... I have terrible lighting

w/out flash, no glare but not color acccurate

I loooove the way these turned out!  They are on my side board in my dining room right now with some other Halloween-y decorations.  I love silhouette pictures so when I saw these I knew they were going to become part of my Halloween decor.  I picked up the black frames at the Dollar Store and I had all the paper... so this was a very inexpensive project, a whopping $2  LOL  ;)

I put it all together in the gypsy (which I'm sooo in love with, BTW!) so I'm not sure the sizes of the cuts.  The images are from Happy Hauntings.  Paper is from DCWV Midnight Spell.

Hopefully I'll get my last Halloween projects up and posted before Halloween is past.  ACK!  Time flies.  I still have a little something I want make using the chipboard coasters too....  

 I hope you all enjoy your Friday night and the weekend!!!  

Cheers

-Amanda

Momo's Tuesday Challenge #15

So the newest Tuesday Challenge is to make anything other than  card.  I made some more gift bags.  :)

First up a birthday one...

Since I had Celebrate With Flourish out I decided to get a jump start on some Christmas gift bags....

I really like how the Christmas bags came out.. Love the cuts on Celebrate With Flourish.  This was all made with random papers in my stash.

Thanks for looking!  Hope you're having a great week!  :) 

Cheers

-Amanda

It's been awhile

Wow.  I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted.  I've been busy and creatively kinda fried.  Oh well.... that happens sometimes, right?  I have to finish up my Halloween goodie bags though so I better get going!

So what I've been busy with....

I did a bathroom re-do.  It had been awhile and I was bored with what was in there.  So now it's all fresh and new and I love it.  I went with grey, turquoise, and white as my colors.  Very calm and fresh.  :)  I also did a re-organization of my craft space.  It's a small area so I'm always looking for ways to be more efficient!

I also spent a few days here last week...

So much fun.  I love San Francisco.  On Tuesday we went to the Giants vs Phillies playoff game 3 (Giants won 3-0).  That was for him.  This was for me...

Mumford & Sons concert.  Wednesday night.  It was amazing!  Love that band.  (This is just a random video I found on youtube, but it's my fav song)

I also picked up a new toy...  

Yay!  A Gypsy.  I had been thinking about it and going back and forth on getting one.  Than Provo Craft announced that big promo deal and I just couldn't pass up the deal.  So I've been having fun playing around on it... watching videos, etc.  

That's about it for me.  I've got a few challenges i want to try to kick start the creativity.  I also need to post up Momo's Tuesday challenge that I finished but just haven't posted.  

Thanks for stopping by... if anyone is still out there after my little hiatus.  LOL  Take care. 

Cheers

-Amanda 

The last two

So here are the final 2 challenges for World Card Making Day hosted by Christina @ creationswithchristina.com/.  I have to say I really liked all of these challenges and some really did challenge me (hello Christmas tag, LOL).  


Challenge # 7 was to make a Birthday card... 

Birthday cards are always good to have on hand but I can't ever seem to get a good stash of them... something to definitely work on.  For this card the presents were cut @ 4 inches (too small?) from Celebrations cartridge.  Both of the patterned papers are from KI Memories (my fav!).  Added a few buttons and a simple ribbon.  I don't know... this might work for a guys card??  Or are the buttons/ribbon too much?

The last challenge, #8, was to make a card with a pumpkin on it... 

I love that little pumpkin.  He was cut @ 2.75 inches from Stretch You Imagination.  I'm not sure on the paper.  The sentiment is from Scrappy Moms A Haunting We Will Go set.  I added some black bling on each corner and that was it for this card.  I like it a lot though.


So there you have it.  All 8 challenges completed.  I loved working on each and everyone of these.  Thanks for stopping by to check them out.  I really do appreciate you taking the time to come to my simple little blog and comment, etc.  Thanks!  :)


Cheers
-Amanda

EEK!

I made another Halloween card... this time for Robyn's Halloween/Fall Project.  I made this one in Design Studio.  This is first time I've laid out the card before cutting like that.  I think I like it... I'm really happy with this card.  Hmmm... maybe I do need a Gypsy.  LOL

What do you think?

I'm not sure on the sizes since I did it through Design Studio.  The web & spider are from October 31st Solutions cartridge and "EEK" is from Happy Hauntings (this just came in the mail, so excited!).  All the paper came from my scrap drawer.  I'm really liking this one :)

Thanks for looking!

Cheers

-Amanda 

#5 & #6

Still posting up the challenges from World Card Making Day hosted by Christina @ http://www.creationswithchristina.com/.

Challenge # 5 was to make a Christmas tag or gift card.  This was certainly a challenge for me.

Wow.  I need tag help!  LOL  Definitely not my strong suit.  This tag was cut @ 4.5 inches from the Joys of The Season cartridge.  I did my own layering, cutting it 3 times.... white (just the tag shape, I used Design Studio to take out all the cuts inside the frame), red, than the stripped paper from KI Memories.  Added some red bling around the frame and some white sheer ribbon.  I see such cute tags online but had some trouble coming up with something I loved.  I'll probably use this one on a scrapbook page.

Challenge #6 was to make a card using a fall image or stamp.  Here's my card...

I found the pilgrim's hat on Designer's Calendar when I was using the ribbon from challenge #2.  I thought it was pretty cool.  Designer's Calendar is really under used for me.  There are some cool cuts on this cartridge... I need to start using it more.  I cut the hat at 2.75 inches.  The patterned paper is from DCWV's Amber Autumn stack.  The top one is more reddish, the camera flash pulled it pink in this picture.  I added some ribbon (love that ribbon, I think it's my favorite in my stash), white gel pen to bring out some of the cuts on the hat, and inked up the edges.... another simple one from me :)

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll be putting up the final 2 challenges later tonight or tomorrow.

Cheers
-Amanda

Cute?

I made this card late, late, late last night.  Actually it was early this morning.  I'm going to use that as my excuse for being kinda blah about it.  I made it for Robyn's "cute" challenge @ My Pink Stamper.

I did another Christmas card....

I love the Hoot N' Holler cartridge and think the owl is really cute.  I'm just not in love w/ the colors.  The owl was cut at 3 inches and the branch at 2.  I'm not sure who makes the paper.  The stamped sentiment is from Michael's dollar bins.  Pretty simple one.  :)

Thanks for taking a look.

Cheers
-Amanda

Crafty Pumpkins

Last month during a blog hop (how fun are those!) I saw the cutest little pumpkins here:  septemberninth.blogspot.com.  She has all the instructions and even a video.  I knew the minute I saw them that I would be making them.  Well I've actually ended up making 3 sets... one for me and 2 for my best friends each!  These are sooo easy and a really affordable craft.  Those with kids... as long as you do the hot gluing I'm thinking the kiddos could help with wrapping/tucking the fabric around the toilet paper.

So here's the first set I made....

Not the greatest picture but you get the idea.  What do ya think?  I adore them and think they are just too cute!!!  

For all the instructions and supplies click the link ^^^ up there ;)  Ruthie did an awesome  job with showing step by step instructions and pictures.  

Thanks for looking :)

Cheers

-Amanda

Random mix

I'm slacking!  LOL  I keep meaning to post up what I made for the World Card Making Day challenges that were posted over on creationswithchristina.com.

I already posted challenge #1 the sketch.

Here's a few more...

Challenge #2 was to make a card w/ pink as the main color.  Here's what I came up with...

The pink paper is from DCWV Sweet mat stack.  The ribbon is from Designer's Calendar cut at 3 inches.  I didn't even know I had that ribbon cut, someone mentioned on the cricut MB that they found the ribbon using http://www.cricutsearch.com/.  If you haven't used the site I can't recommend it enough!  A-mazing!  Added a couple Prima flowers and brads and this card was finished! :)

Challenge #3 was a Christmas card.

The "joy" was cut from Lacy Labels (can't remember how big).  I added a little bling for the dot over the "j".  Thought it added a little holiday sparkle, LOL.  Some quick ric-rak at the bottom.  Easy!!

Challenge #4 was to use the colors orange, purple, and green.  I made another Halloween card and used up scraps (one of my favorite things to do!).

The green paper is left over from another card I made and is from DCWV's Midnight Spell stack.  Purple card base and some orange ribbon.  I stamped the Spooky on it, which is Inkadinkadoo from Joann's dollar bins.  Couldn't be an easier card.  :)

I'll post up challenges 5-8 later.  These were fun to work on.  I love challenges :)  Thanks for looking and I hope your week is fabulous!

Cheers
-Amanda

MPS Saturday Challenge

Hi blog friends :)

Robyn over at My Pink Stamper put up a Saturday Challenge to create something Winter related.  I'm thinking with all the challenges on the internet (message boards and blogs) I can make a serious dent in my Christmas cards :)

So here's what I came up with this morning for Robyn's challenge...

I liked how this one came out!  I rounded all the corners for the layers.  That holly paper... oh my goodness I've had that for as long as I've scrapped I think (since 97-ish).  Does feel nice to finally use it.  The circles are from Mini Monograms and cut at 3.75 inches & 3.5 inches.  The holly is cut from Stretch Your Imagination at 1.75 inches and popped up.  Added a little doodling with the white gel pen.  Pretty simple.. just like I like it!  :)

Thanks for taking a look!  

Cheers

-Amanda 

Long time no type :)

Ack!  I knew I hadn't posted in a few days but since Tuesday!  Boo to me!  LOL  The week got crazy with work... that's always in the way of our fun, right!  ;)  I still worked on some crafty things and I've got all my challenges to post up from World Card Making day that creationswithchristina.com had.  I just didn't have time to upload pics and all that.  So expect lots of posts the next couple days!  :)

I do have a little something to share right now.  You know I have to have a project & picture on all my posts ;)

So my sister in law helped me out HUGE this week with a problem.  I had to do something for her to show her how much I appreciated the help.  A week or so ago on the cricut message boards someone (in passing) mentioned a candy bar cake.  I had to investigate... off to google I went, and once I saw them, knew I would be making one.  Well... my sister in law is a huge choco-holic so this was perfect for her!

Here's my first attempt at a candy bar cake....

It's kinda hard to make out the layers, but there are 3 separate layers.  I've got some curly ribbon on top and I did use my cricut on this project... The scallop circle I cut from Mini Monograms and the "thank you" is from Alphalicious.  

I think it turned out so cute and I really like it.  I'm going to be making another one to take to work for when we celebrate our October birthdays.  I can't wait to give it to my sister  in law today! :)

Thanks for looking and I'll be soon with some challenge posts!

Cheers

-Amanda

Queen for the day

I didn't have time to post yesterday but I have been working on all the challenges Christina posted for World Card Making Day on Saturday on her blog.  I don't have time this week to sit down and do them all at once so I'm just doing them when I can fit them in.  I enjoy sitting down for a bit of quiet time after a hectic day to do something I enjoy.

Challenge 1 was to make a card based on a sketch and here's what I did...

This is for a girlfriend that just got a promotion at work (even though it looks like a little girls card, lol).  A group of friends are getting together to celebrate with her (we're calling it her "Queen for the day drinks and dinner party"!! lol ) so I made her this cute little card.  She loves all things crowns/tiaras so I hope she'll like it.

The patterned paper is KI Memories and was scraps laying out on my table from a project I was working on (altered pocket calendars, I'll post them soon).  The crown is from Rock Princess and cut at 3 inches.  The Fab stamp is from Scrappy Moms.  This was a pretty fast card to put together.  

Thanks for taking a look.

Cheers

-Amanda

Another no Cricut card

Mary at cardztv challenged everyone to make a card w/out the Cricut.  Here's what I came up with...

Those little guys remind me of Mini Monsters kind of.  I just cut up a couple pieces of paper from the DCWV Midnight Spell stack.  The strip of monsters and the "Monster Mash" both come from that stack.  The black polka-dot paper is American Crafts.  This card was so simple and quick to put together.  I think it turned out pretty cute though :)

Thanks for looking :)  Hope you are all having a great day!!!

Cheers
-Amanda

this week

Anyone else insanely inspired and motivated after so much blog-world activity this weekend.  There were so many cool blog hops and challenges for World Card Making Day.  I have so many ideas swirling in my head and wish I didn't have that pesky work to go to.  I'd much rather stay home and craft :)

I really loved all of Christina's challenges at http://www.creationswithchristina.com/.  My goal this week is to complete every challenge she posted.  I have them all written down and on my craft table ready to get going on them!  

How about some non-paper craftiness??  I wanted to share with you a Halloween wreath I made....

This is on a gate in the front of the house... right by where I set up a spooky little cemetery. ;)  I think I'm going to get that all put up this week too.  Man I love Halloween.  

Hope everyone has a fantastic week!  I have a long "to-do" list that I guess I need to fit in around all the crafty stuff I want to do too.  Take care!

Cheers

-Amanda

Z Fold

Happy Sunday everyone.  Hope your having a blessed day!

I made something I've never done before.... a Z fold card for cricutcardzchallenge challenge 44 which is to make a Halloween Z or S fold card.

Here's my card...

I really like the way this turned out and it wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.  While I was working on this card I decided to challenge myself over the month of October to try out other card folds to stretch my creativity.  I'm kinda excited to try out some new techniques.  :)

So the card details.... the patterned paper is from DCWV Midnight Spell stack.  I'm really enjoying this stack... it's getting pulled out quite a bit lately.  The spider is cut at 1.25 inches from Doodlecharms.  The spider web is cut at 2.5 inches from Mini Monsters (of course... I can't seem to make a Halloween card w/out that cartridge).  The stamp is from Inkadinkadoo and it's one of the $1 clear stamps.  I believe I picked that up at Joann's.  I stamped it on a piece of scrap Bazzil paper that was laying on my table.  At first I didn't like it because the image wasn't crisp.. you know it never stamps very well on textured paper.  I moved on to finishing up my card and the stamped image grew on me... I kinda liked that it was rough and worn looking.  I think it works for a Halloween card.

I hope everyone has had a great weekend.  I've had a very low key one with lots of crafting... it was kinda perfect :)  Just what I needed.  Thanks for taking the time to stop by.

Cheers

-Amanda

Some Like It HOT HOT HOT!

Seriously -- it's so HOT here!  I guess California didn't get the memo that it's Fall and October.  We have had some blazing heat the past week or so.  Where I live it gets really hot in the summer, 100 degrees isn't uncommon.  This late in the year though... no!  I'm over it already!  Yesterday I got in my car it was 102.  Gag!

So when I got home to work on Momo's Tuesday Challenge using stitching and the colors green, yellow, and orange I wasn't feeling very fall at all.  I started looking through my cartridges to see if something inspired me and saw Life Is A Beach -- I thought to myself I wish I was going to the beach!  LOL :)  Than I pulled it out and started looking through it.  This is pretty much a lift of the project card in the booklet... I loved it.  It was cool and refreshing looking.

Ahhh... I need one of those!  :)  I think this turned out cute!

I used the card feature cut at 5 inches.  The pineapple and all the layers were cut at 3.5 inches.  The blue pattern paper in the window is from DCWV Summer Dream stack.  I used some tea dye distress ink on the pineapple.  The letter stickers are American Crafts.  Used my white gel pen for my stitches and dots. 

Has everyone made a card for World Card Making day?   So much great stuff posted out there in blog land today.  I think I spent too much time online and not enough creating ;)

Thanks for looking.

Cheers
-Amanda

boo!

How about a Spooky challenge?  Robyn at mypinkstamper is doing a challenge right to submit a spooky Halloween card.  I couldn't resist  :)  I still have a few more Halloween cards to make so this was a good way to get going.  Of course I used Mini Monsters... that cartridge has sure gotten a work-out lately LOL

Here's what I came up with...

I think he's more cute than spooky :)  Also... I don't know what it is about Mini Monsters but I just have to use the google-y eyes on them, and usually 2 different sizes.  

The details:  the patterned paper was in my holiday paper stash and I have no idea who makes either one.  I inked it up and got messy with the ink on purpose.  I cut my little ghost out at 3 inches and popped him up.  For the ghost I used Design Studio to do the Hide Contour Feature on his eyes since I knew I wanted to use the google-y eyes. The ribbon is some of Michael's Halloween ribbon.  The "boo" is old Heidi Swapp chipboard.  Added a few buttons and that's it.  Easy-peasy! :)

I hope everyone is enjoying there weekend.  I slept in late and it felt soooo good.  I don't have much planned for today, I'll probably spend most of it enjoying some craft time and trying to stay cool.  Man, it's been crazy hot out here in CA this week.  

Thanks for looking... I'm sure I'll be back soon with more to post :)

Cheers

-Amanda

October Birthdays

I already started on my October birthday cards.  I wish I could get to a point when I have a nice stash stockpiled.  Seems like I make them and out they go.  Oh well.

Here's what I started with...

Isn't she so sweet.  The flash faded out the colors because it's a lot brighter in real life.  The little owl is cut at 3.25 inches from the Hoot N Holler Lite cartridge.  I really need to use that more, I really like it.  The stamp is from Scrappy Moms. 

Thanks for taking a look.  I need to finish up my October birthday cards and few other projects.  Should be a fun, full weekend.  Happy Friday!!!  :)

Cheers

-Amanda