Family Birthday Tracker

Hello friends. Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas.  I enjoyed every minute of our celebrations with our families.  We are so blessed. : )

I did my first real Pinterest project.  My mom saw this birthday tracker on pinterest and told me that was what she wanted for Christmas.  So I did my best to create one for her.  I think it turned out pretty good.

I bought the base from Michael's.  I added the hooks to the bottom. They were gold which I didn't care for but I decided I could spray paint them along with the base.  I used Krylon dual Paint + Primer and it worked beautifully.   I cut the letters for "Family Birthdays" using my Cricut and DCWV paper.  I wish I had centered it better but I'd already mod podged them and couldn't move them. Poor planning on my part.

The letters for the months of the year, I just stamped on the wood.  It didn't come out quite dark enough so I went over them with a Sharpie.  I also used the sharpie around the edge of the frame.  The tags are  circle tags you can get at an office supply store. I think there were 50 in the package. I gave my mom all the extras so she could add anyone else to the bithdays that I might have missed. 

I hot glued a flower to the center just to add a little interest.

Not bad for my first attempt. ;-)

I received some super scrapbooking products for Christmas.  Hopefully I'll have some nice things to post for you coming up in 2014.  

Thanks for taking a look.

God bless.

-Chris

January 2013 Stack-a-holic Challenge

So I had mentioned in my last post that I wanted to also tackle the DCWV January Stack-a-holic Challenge for the layout.  I struggled a little with this one but in the end I'm happy with how it turned out.

Here's the sketch:

I turned it on it's side to make my layout.

Here's my version:

(you can click on the picture to see it larger)

My niece is turning 16 at the end of March and I'm making her scrapbook albums as her present.  This is page one. : )        ( I need to get crackin'!  )

I mixed and matched the DCWV Neon Chic Stack and the DCWV Green Stack.

I used DCWV Green Stack chipboard elements plus a few pearl gems and some fabric flowers from my stash.  I used foam letters to spell out her name but I don't remember what company those are from.

Thanks for taking a look.

Have fun getting crafty.

-Chris

Partly to Mostly Awesome

Happy day to you.  My post today is a birthday card I made for my niece who's turning 10.  I saw over on the Create Blog that they posted a January 2013 Card Blog Challenge and it's based on a color challenge.

I combined this with the DCWV Jan 2013 Card Sketch Challenge that's based on this sketch:

And this is the card I came up with:

(click on the picture to see it larger.)

Because of all the glitter and shiny paper (and ok, because I'm not a great photographer,) I couldn't get a great picture but this really is super cute in person.

I fussy cut the yellow sun and the duck images and used pop dots to give the card some fun dimension.

The sentiment says ... "you're partly to mostly awesome"

It's from Paper Smooches. 

So are the sun and cloud stamps I used to showcase the # 10 for her 10th birthday.

The papers are all from DCWV. 

The light gray base is from the Black Currant Stack

The "Chartreuse" green is from The Shimmer Stack

The patterned paper is from the Doodlin' Around Stack

I hope to be participating in the DCWV layout challenge too. That will probably be my next post.

Thanks for looking.

God bless.

-Chris

More Gift Card Holders

A very happy new year to you!  Hope you're off to a great start to 2013.  I'm afraid to type this for fear it will turn out to not be true, but I think we are all finally healthy (for the most part.)  One of the 5 of us has been sick since Thanksgiving.  I'm one exhausted Mama. From what I've seen from everyone's posts on Facebook, it's been a rough time for sickness all over the country. So here's to a HEALTHY new year.

In my last post I shared a gift card holder that I made following a step by step instruction from another blog.  I needed a few more card holders at the last minute and was trying to think what I could do and I came up with these.

I made each of these really big... I fit them to fill a 12x12 cutting mat on my Cricut.  I cut each image normal and then one flipped for the backside. I figured out that if you score the back side that it allows your image to stand up when opened and doesn't mess up your image on the front.  I just glued the top portion together to leave enough room to add the gift card and sentiment on the inside.  Because I didn't want my gift recipient to peek or really to know that there was anything inside the "Tag", I added velcro to keep it closed.  That worked out really really well.  The Reindeer one turned out to be my favorite as I made it stronger and with more decoration than the others and it can be used as a decoration next year.  These were a huge hit and I share them with you now because you can use any image and do them for any occasion. 

I really had fun with them. 

Thanks for looking and have a blessed craft-filled day. 

-Chris

Supplies:

My Minds Eye patterned paper

Colorbok textured cardstock

DCWV cardstock

ATG Glue gun

Zots Glue dots

Zig 2 Way Glue Pen

Googly Eyes

Flowers from my stash

Snowman & Penguin images cut from Christmas Cheer Cricut Cartridge

Reindeer cut from Create A Critter Cricut Cartridge

Grow Grow Grow

Here's another layout for my sister's album. This time I did use DCWV papers and the DCWV July Stack-a-holic Challenge layout.  So now I can enter in the challenge.

My papers are from the DCWV Lemon Flower Stack.

I cut the words using the Cricut Craft Room Basics letters that I welded together.

The glittered flower is part of one of the patterned papers in the stack. I just fussy cut it out.

I added some pearl flourishes and called it a day. : )

I've been bad about getting posts up on the blog.  I've been so busy with this album.  I've made 24 pages so far and have hardly shown anything here.   Having 3 little kids keeps me busy and time gets away from me.   I'll try to get some more posted soon. 

Hope you have a blessed day.

-Chris

What do you remember?

So to continue with my sister's 50th birthday scrapbook, today's layout is one I did using the July DCWV Stack-a-holic Challenge sketch. (I can't use this as an entry because I didn't use DCWV papers - need to do another layout to enter but wanted to share this layout with you all.)

Here's my layout:

I used the Habitat Collection (Recollections) for my papers. 

The butterfly and little flower are from DCWV Street Lace Chipboard set.

The year numbers are from Cloud 9 Designs.

I did something a little different with this page.

As you can see at the top of the page is a question, "What do you remember of 1983?"

If you pull that tab up, you get a card  to write down memories of the year as shown below.

Since I am making this album for my sister and have limited pictures and memories, I thought it would be great if she could jot down a few memories after she receives the book to make it more complete.

This is a picture of the pocket I made on the back of the page to hold the card.

I'm hoping she thinks this is a good idea. LOL. If not, I can easily remove the card and it doesn't take anything away from the page itself. 

Hope you are all off to a wonderful crafting start to your week.

God Bless.

-Chris

Fairy Dust Birthday

I'd like to share with you a birthday card I made using some digi-stamps from Bugaboo Stamps.

I wanted to participate in their Stella Says Sketch Challenge 109.

I'm getting used to these digi's and am really starting to have some fun with them. 

If you haven't tried them, I highly recommend it. 

Here's the sketch:

So here's my card:

I used the digi image of Girl Fairy Birthday Dust from Bugaboo.

It comes with the sentiment. "Birthdays are regular days sprinkled with fairy dust"

I colored her using colored pencils.  

I added Stickles to her petal skirt. And on the circle of the sentiment.

You can't see it in these pictures but I added Glossy Accents to her wings.

I really like the effect of the Glossy Accents.

The glitter paper for the mat is from DCWV.

The calendar paper is from Foof-a-la's Hall Pass collection.

I trimmed the paper with the Fiskars grass punch and added some ink and stickles.

The pink ribbon is from my stash.

I added some gems and doodled around the edges.

That about covers it. 

Hope you found something to take away from this card.

Pop on over to Catch the Bug Challenge Blog if you'd like to participate in any of their challenges.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Owl my love birthday

Thanks for stopping by. I'm so glad you are here.

 My project today is a card that I made for an upcoming birthday. 

(you can click on the picture to see it larger)

I used a premade white card base.

The patterned paper is a 4x6 matt from the DCWV "Green Stack."

It already has the funny little owl up in the corner.

I added some Craft Smart brown and gold ribbon.

The gray and yellow "moon" layers were scraps already in those shapes.

The owl was cut at 2inches from the Cricut Create a Critter Cartridge.

I added some googly eyes to him. 

The stamped sentiment is from The Craft's Meow "Happy Owlentine's Day" stamp set.

I added some dots around the edge of the card and the owl (hard to see.)

I inked all the edges with Color Box ink in Chestnut.

That about covers it.

Thanks for taking a look. 

Have a wonderful day.

Level Up Birthday Card

I have a nephew that will be hitting double digits in May.  I made the following card for him using the sketch from the DCWV April Sketch Challenge.  This is the first time DCWV is having a card sketch challenge. Of course I couldn't resist it and have to play along. : )

I used the Generation Tech DCWV stack for my patterned paper.

The "Level Up" is a tag you can cut out from this stack.

The solid papers are from the Citrus DCWV stack.

I cut the "speech bubble" from the Graphically Speaking Cricut Cartridge.

The ribbon is from my stash.

The "Play" is a shrinky sticker from a company called Around the Block

I inked all the edges using Studio G inks. 

Thanks for stopping by.  I'd love it if you'd take a moment to leave me a comment.

If you're inspired, I'd really love for you to become a follower. : D

Stella Says Sketch Challenge 108

I decided to try the challenge over on the Catch The Bug Challenge Blog.  It's the Stella Says Sketch Challenge 108.  Here's my version of the sketch:

I used the Pig-Cupcakes image from Bugaboo Stamps (You can find it here)

I colored the sweet little piggy using colored pencils. 

The patterned paper is from DCWV "Sweet" Matstack.

I added a strip of turquoise cardstock, a pink button tied with some silver thread.

And wrapped the other end of the strip with the silver thread. 

Matted everything on brown cardstock and ta-da! 

Short and sweet!  : D

Thanks for taking a look.  Hope you enjoyed your time here.

Come back soon.

(I've turned off word verification...if you're finding it on here, please let me know. Thanks.)

DCWV April Stack-a-holic Challenge

You're probably going to be seeing lots of layouts from me in the upcoming weeks.  I'm working on an album to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary.  So lots of pages to get done. : )

Today's layout is one I made using the template for the DCWV April Stack-a-holics template challenge.

Here's my layout:

 (you should be able to click on the picture to see it bigger.)

Here's the template:

I used the DCWV Mainstreet Stack for my papers. 

I cut my "reminisce" title from one of the word pages in this stack.

I also cut out the little picture frame from another page. 

I did my journaling on my computer.

The flowers were cut from my new Spellbinders Layered Flowers dies that I won from Nina B.

Thanks Nina! 

I added some buttons that I glue dotted two together and then put a pearl on top.

A couple of blue butterflies and some more pearls and I'm done. 

Thanks for taking a look.  I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments.

(I turned off word verification ... (I hope!)  if you find that it's still on, please let me know so I can fix it. Thanks!))

Happy Birthday From the Heart

For this post I have a birthday card to share with you. 

I made this using a free digi stamp from The Craft's Meow.

They are having a Birthday Bash from 3/17 - 3/21 in honor of their 1st birthday!

They issued a sketch challenge.

Here's the sketch

Here's my take on it

(you can click on the picture to see it larger)

The sentiment is the free digi from The Craft's Meow.

It reads "Happy Birthday from the Heart Because that is where all great wishes start."

So I used a pink cardstock for the base.

Cut a rectangle out of some green with pink tiny flower DCWV paper and then used my new Fiskars Combo Border Corner Punch. I like the look it gives.

I cut the pink heart out from my computer at the same time I did the digi sentiment.

I cut a silver tag from DCWV paper.

added some pearl flourishes

inked the edges of everything

and also drew over some parts of the sentiment with a pink marker.

That's all folks!

Hope you enjoyed your time here. Come back soon. : )

Don't forget to check out The Craft's Meow blog and enter the challenge. There's plenty of time and they have all kinds of awesome stuff happening for their first birthday too.

I love you more than...

I don't know if you are familiar with Bugaboo Digi Stamps ... I'm new to their products and I have to say that they have so many cute images.   I got a set that has to do with chocolate chip cookies... yum! ... and it's really cute.  You can check it out HERE. 

I made this card for their Catch the Bug Sketch Challenge. 

Here's the sketch:

Here's my take on it:

(you can click on the picture to see it bigger)

The senitment says "I love you more than I love chocolate chip cookies"

I started with a Kraft card base. 

Added some green checked paper from DCWV Nana's Nursery Collection

I printed out my Bugaboo Digi stamps and colored them with Sugar Loaf Markers.

I cut apart the digital sentiment that came with the Bugaboo Cookie kit and inked all the edges. 

I added some stamped hearts and some faux stitching and the red ribbon.

Thanks for taking a look.  Hope you'll come by again soon.

You are Classic - birthday card

My Father-in-law's birthday is this weekend.  He's so hard to buy for because he already has everything. But at least I know he won't be getting another card just like this one.  lol. : )

Here's what I made:

I cut the car and the word "classic" from the Nifty Fifties Cricut Cartridge.

The hearts I cut by hand. (I needed to add something pink to meet a challenge criteria)

The stamp sentiments are from My Creative Time.

The ribbon is from my stash.

All the papers are DCWV except for the striped background paper. That's Echo Park.

I'm entering this in a couple of challenges:

1) My Creative Time's Imagine That Challenge

(I don't own an imagine, so I used patterned paper)

(You had to use Teal, Red & Pink)

2) DL.ART's Thankful Thursday Challenge

(anything goes)

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hope you'll come back soon.

Your comments are blessing.

Cupcake Card

The challenge over at Cardz TV this week is to make a card with a birthday cake or a cupcake on it using any colors and any cartridges we want.

Here's my card. 

I used  the Best Images of 2009 cartridge for my cupcake.

The papers are all DCWV  

except for the brown polka dot base layer on the cupcake. That's Echo Park.

The sentiment is a stamp from Sweet Stamp Shop's "Scootin by" set.

I used Stickles on the cherry.

I used my crimper on the cupcake wrapper. 

Inked all the edges with Colorbox Chestnut Roan ink.

I used my Marvy corner rounder to round one edge on each layer. 

The cupcake is popped up with foam squares. 

That about covers it for this card.  Thanks for taking a moment to look.

Monogram Frame

Over on the Bitten by the Bug 2 blog, the challenge is:  

Any Cartridge Monogram Challenge

Here's what I made

I plan on hanging this in my youngest daughter's room which is done in Winnie the Pooh.

I used the Disney Pooh Font Set cartridge.

I cut the jars at 4.50.

I cut the shadow for the jars at 4.75.

I cut Pooh, Piglet & Tigger at 2.50.

The bows that I added to the top of the jars are from the Best Images of 2010 cartridge.

I added a rhinestone gem to the middle. 

The background paper is from DCWV Lemon Flower Stack. 

I hope you'll head over the BBTB2 blog and check out all the design team samples and everyone's entries. Lots of amazing ideas there. 

Thanks for taking the time to look.  Hope you'll leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Have a wonderful week. 

Birthday Things to Do - My Creative Time

I made this birthday card for my brother-in-law.  I saw there was a "linky" party over on the My Creative Time's blog.  You need to use a stamp from one of Emma's 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Edition sets.  You can check out all the details HERE.  I was blessed to win 10 of her stamp sets through the Everyday Cricut blog and I'm just loving all the great sentiments.  Thankfully one of the sets was from her 2nd Edition.  That would be the "Turn that Frown Upside Down" set.

The sentiments "Don't worry by happy" & "smile..." are from the 2nd Edition set. 

I actually used 5 My Creative Time stamp sets in all:

Turn that Frown Upside Down

Many Greetings

My Favorite Sayings

Camera Shy

Honey Do List

It's hard to tell from the picture but on the clip board, I stamped the clip part a second time and cut it out and popped it up with foam dots. 

The paper is DCWV Tattered Time.

The "gear" circles are cut from Cricut's Elegant Edges Cartridge.

The ribbon is from my stash.

I put a little "star" gem on the flash of the camera. 

Thanks for taking the time to check out my card. I hope you'll take a moment to leave a comment.

(word verification is off.)

Happy Birthday Brooch Card

Today's card is one I made for a friend's mom who is turning 90 years old in March.  I was inspired by the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Me Monday #99 challenge.  It's to use fabric, lace or other trims in your project.

Here's what I came up with:

I used the Cricut Craft Room to weld my Elegant Edges image together to make the card base.

Then I cut the top layer a little smaller.  

I added some pretty yellow ribbon from my stash to bring out the yellow of the brooch. 

I had that pretty lace doily forever and finally broke down and used it.

I really wanted to hoard it... shame on me!

The brooch is something my mom picked up at a garage sale for me to use in my crafting.

I love taking old items and repurposing them.

I just removed the pin from the back and glue dotted the brooch to the card. 

The happy birthday sentiment is a rub-on. 

My papers are all DCWV

I added some liquid pearls to the corners and that's it. 

Thanks for taking a look.  I hope you'll take some time to leave a comment.

(I turned off that crazy word verification part!)

Have a blessed week. 

You've got STYLE

Over at Bitten by the Bug 2, the latest challenge is to use the garden boot cut from Nate's ABC's. Or another boot cut from a different cartridge if you don't have it.   You can check out the details and see the design teams creations HERE.

I used the Create a Critter cartridge for my boots. 

 Here's a close up of the extra boots. : )

I wasn't sure what direction the card was going to take until I put the chickie on the numbered card.  It made me think that she had a pair of boots for each day of the week, month, year!  lol.

So that made me decide to put her in some boots and showcase a few of her many fabulous other pairs. 

I used papers from my scrap pile. Most of them are DCWV. 

The sentiment I made on my computer. 

The chickie and the boots are all cut from Create a Critter.

The red and the green scalloped frames are from Elegant Edges.

Thanks for taking the time to look.  I hope you'll also take a moment to leave me a comment. (I have word verification turned OFF)  I'd love to hear your thoughts.  Have a great week. God bless. 

Purple and 1 other color - Thankful Thursday Challenge

I decided to participate in another Thankful Thursday challenge over at D.L.ART's blog.  The challenge for this round is to use purple and only one other color.

I used paper from the Old World Stack from DCWV.  Two shades of purple ribbon from my stash.  The Thank You stamp is from Fiskars. The pink flower is a Daisy Pink Jumbo Blossom from Making Memories. The purple brad is also from Making Memories.   I inked the edges with Martha Stewart Lilac ink.

Thanks for taking the time to look.  I hope you'll hop over to Diana's blog and play along. 

Have a wonderful week.  God bless.