2011 Calendar Blog Hop!

Welcome to my first blog hop!! If you are hopping along the months then you should have arrived from Summer and Jennifer's blog at Cricut Diaries. If not, be sure to start at the beginning and check out all the amazing bloggers and calendar layouts!  The hop runs December 28, 29 & 30th.

Also, if you are hopping along you can be entered into a drawing for some fantastic candy because our host Karelj from One By One The Flamingos Are Stealing My Sanity is donating a brand-new cricut cartridge: Designer's Calendar!!  In order to be eligible to win you need to leave a comment on each and every stop on the hop and include a way for her to contact you in each comment. She will choose a winner by random.org on the 31st and announce it on her blog and contact the winner personally. So keep hopping and good luck!!

Here is the list of participating blogs:
1. January and April: Celeste at Touched by a Butterfly at http://touchedbyabutterfly.blogspot.com/
2. January and September: Jessica at Overjoyed Scrapper http://www.overjoyedscrapper.blogspot.com/
3. February: Christel at Scrappin' Sista http://onescrappinsista.blogspot.com/
4. February and March: Karelj at One By One The Flamingos Are Stealing My Sanity http://karelj.blogspot.com/
5. March and July: Diane at Crafting This Moment http://www.craftingthismoment.blogspot.com/
6. April: Bonnie at A Scrap Above http://ascrapabove.blogspot.com/
7. May: Michelle at Peanut Butter and Jelly Designs http://peanutbutterandjellydesigns.blogspot.com/
8. May: Natalie at Timeless Legacy Designs http://timelesslegacydesigns.blogspot.com/
9. June: Lisa at Lisa's Paper Butterflies http://lisaspaperbutterflies.blogspot.com/
10. June: Jamie at Glitter, Paper, Stamps, Oh My! http://jamieisacraftymomma.blogspot.com/
11. July: Summer and Jennifer at Cricut Diaries http://cricutdiaries.blogspot.com/
12. August: Denise at Starlight Scrapper http://starlightscrapper.blogspot.com YOU ARE HERE!!
13. August: Gina at Gina Thornton Stamping http://ginathorntonstamping.blogspot.com/
14. September: Deb at If It's Groovy http://ifitsgroovy.blogspot.com/
15. October: Rebecca at Creations with Becka http://www.creationswithbecka.blogspot.com/
16. October: Lora at Notes From The Scrapbook Lady http://scrpbooklady.blogspot.com/
17. November: Belinda at Queen Bee's Musings http://www.queenbeesmusings.blogspot.com/
18. November and December : Col at Col's Creative Corner at http://www.scrappycol.blogspot.com/
19. December: Deb at Tidbit's Place http://tidbitsplace.blogspot.com/


The layout I created is for the month of August. I love the summer months and with the snow and cold we are dealing with right now I needed to escape a bit and get lost in some warm thoughts.  And what says summer better than flowers, butterflies and kids chasing bubbles?  LOL!!

I no longer own a cricut, I replaced it with a Silhouette, but if you are a bug owner you can recreate my layouts easily using any similar cricut designs.  I've listed the materials and specifics below for these 12x12 layouts but if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

PHOTO LAYOUT:
Purple mat = 12" x 12"
Periwinkle mat = 11.5" x 11.5"
Pink swirl paper = 11.25" x 11.25"
Light Pink Doily mat = 7.75" diameter (Silhouette design: "Scalloped Flowerd Circle" by Samantha Walker)
Lavender mat = 5.5" (Silhouette design: "Nested Frames Tags" by Alaa' K)
Photo is 4x5 but 4x6 fits nicely too
"August" font is Murray Bold and cut at 130pt and then shadowed
Periwinkle Loopy Border strip =1.25" x 10.25" (Silhouette design: "Loopy Lace" by Loni Stevens)
Misc leafy branch cuts (Silhouette design: "Leaf Branch" by Karla Dudley)
Butterflies were made using Martha Stewart punch and then I added Stickles
I added flat backed pearls to the doily mat
I added some doodling on leaves and fake stitching around mats using coordinating colored markers

CALENDAR GRID LAYOUT:
Purple mat = 12" x12"
Periwinkle mat = 11.5" x 11.5"
Pink swirl paper = 11.25" x 11.25"
Lavender Matt = 10.5" x 8.5"
Periwinkle Loopy Borders = 1.25" x 10.25"
Grid: I welded simple flowers in my cutter's software and cut from med pink, then printed the numbers on light pink paper using my printer and punched them out using Martha Stewart scallop 1" circle punch.  I also printed the days of the week on white cardstock, trimmed them to 1 5/16" x 5/16" and glued onto a green 10" x 1/2" strip.
I added another leafy branch, more Stickled Martha Stewart butterfly punchouts and doodled around mats.
I wasn't sure if I needed the year anywhere on the layouts but decided to add a hand drawn/cut tag and used floss for the tie.

Papers:
Purple and lavender cardstock and bright blue for butterflies is CTMH
Periwinkle cardstock is Bazzill
Pink swirl paper, green, medium pink and light pink cardstock is Creative Memories
Dark pink for "August" is American Crafts cardstock
Stickles color is Crystal

Thanks for visiting and Happy Hopping!

Your next stop is Gina's blog at Gina Thornton Stamping

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and yours a happy and safe holiday filled with friends, family, love and laughter.  And may you each find a bit of magic in the season ;)

{{hugs}}

Snowmen note cards

I made four sets of blank note cards for teacher gifts using these adorable stamped SU! snowmen.  I colored them with my Bic markers, added a touch of stickles and matted them on cardstock embossed with my Cuttlebug folder.  Each set included two of each design and were bundled inside some SU! flat tin boxes that I covered in wintery DCWV papers.  The tins are a smidge smaller than A2 size so the cards are too which meant hand making the envies.  Thank goodness for my Kreate-a-lope envie template - the "RSVP" size was perfect! 

Thanks for visiting!

"Just A Note" card gift set

I wanted to make a note card set for a Kindergarten teacher and I decided to use a bunch of Dustin Pike images that I've been collecting.  I colored them with my Bic and Copic markers - no fancy shading, just simple solid coloring and a little "texturizing" on a few with the colorless blender.  I made a basic box to hold them from some very thick cardstock and added another image to the box top. 

These are pretty basic and only took a couple nights in front of the TV to finish.  I really should make a set for myself to have on hand too  ;)

Thanks for visiting!

Nested Star Ornament

I was inspired by Anna Wight when I saw her star ornaments here and thought these would be perfect little somethings to give my peeps at Christmas.  I had a couple sizzix dies that nested nicely that I used to cut chipboard that I saved from the back of some paper packs.  I covered them with DCWV papers using mod podge and trimmed with my craft knife and then added a touch of chalk ink to the edges.  I added a cute heart button, some floss and a teeny bell, then twisted some wire to hang it and decided to add eyelets to be sure the holes didn't tear since they are punched so close to the edges.  These were really simple and fun to make, and next year I may do variations of this kind of ornament and give sets to my family as gifts.

Thanks for visiting!

Frosty The NOMAN

My daughter still has a few cute ways to say certain words with one trend being that she usually skips the "s" sound if it is in the beginning.  Last week when I asked her what I should put on the front of the holiday cards for her teachers she told me "Put a NOMAN on them mommy!"  LOL!  How could I resist that request?!!  

So I made 6 of these Frosty cards for my daughter's teachers and bus drivers.  The design is by Hero Arts and was cut with my Silhouette.  At first I thought I was gonna whip out these cards quickly because the design was one piece and just a silhouette outline cut with no layering.  But when I put them together they just looked like they needed a little something.  So I added googlie eyes...  Then buttons...  Then ribbon... and feathers.  So much for the quickie cards, LOL!  But I know the recipients will enjoy them so it was worth it.  The ribbon was the trickiest part because when I cut it the little rope part that makes loops kept winging out and I had to glue and hold til they behaved. 

 

This aqua blue card stock is one of the prettiest color in my stash.  It's from CTMH and is textured and very thick with a lighter shade of this color on the back side.  LOVE CTMH two tone!  And even though it is thick it cuts like butter in my Silhouette.  Frosty is cut out of Georgia Pacific cardstock which I also used to make the 5"x5" card base.   

I will be proud when my daughter eventually gets all her words right, but for now I will giggle and enjoy hearing her singing Frosty the Noman because that is one thing I will definitely miss.


Thanks for visiting!

Calendar

I wanted to make a little something to mail along with our Christmas card to my husband's aunt (not the same dancing turkey aunt, lol!).  I decided to make her a little 6"x6" calendar with the tear away pages and discovered that my Storybook Creator 3.0 software has an unbelievable calendar tool.  Oh how I LOVE LOVE LOVE that software!

I used my Silhouette to cut the gorgeous frame which is actually created by using four of the freebie flourish design that Kenzie Daley posted a challenge with last week.  If you want to participate check it out HERE but hurry - she's picking a winner tomorrow.  Papers were all Creative Memories as was the paper flower and the punch that made the teeny butterflies.  The leaves were punched with a Martha Stewart punch.

You know, I was so excited to find the calendar tool that I never stopped to double check the dates for each month - gosh I hope they are correct, lol!


Thanks for visiting!

One Egg Different From the Rest...

Some days I get more than my fair share of children's tv and music, and some days it just makes me smile.  This is from Jack's Big Music Show and I dare you to watch and NOT find yourself singing along and bouncing to the beat too!

 

 Thanks for visiting!

 

'Twas The Night Before Christmas, the Buddies version

Once upon a time, in a far away cyber land of cricuts, a few crafters met in a Babbling Buddies chat thread and became good friends. 

Last year to celebrate those friends and fun times I revised The Night Before Christmas poem with some personal touches just for my buddies.  I also created this mini album from paper towel tubes (just couldn't get past the ick part of using toilet paper tubes, lol!) and sent it to my buddie Deb in our first GIBBS swap.  I painted the tubes, then used Creative Memories papers, added a K&Co sleigh sticker on the cover, some stamped and stickled embellishments, and a tag in each 'pocket' with the poem.  Here are the words:

'Twas the night before Christmas
and all through the house
no buddies were crafting
they were clicking their mouse


Chatting on-line
with friends far and near
who they met on the message board
earlier that year


Each night they’d meet up
in the same babbling thread
sharing stories and laughing
until time for bed


They’d talk about families,
swaps, pets and food,
eat oreos and vent
to cheer up their mood


The buddies were nestled
all snug in their chairs
with hopes of a day
lotto winnings they'd share


And visions of a turtle
who walks down the street
holding onto a ticket
that will allow them to meet


Then what to their wondering
eyes should appear
but a post typed in caps
“COUPON SALE, click HERE!”


More rapid than eagles
buddies clicked on that link
then ran to their cars
before you could blink


To the LSS
the courses they flew
with a purse full of cash
and credit cards too


Still dressed in their jammies
from their head to their toes
(but when shopping a craft sale
anything goes)


Their eyes, how they twinkled
their smiles, how wide
the thought of a sale
made them giddy inside


They spoke not a word
but went straight to the store
filled their baskets with papers,
stamps, inks and more


They chose things they needed,
some things they did not
didn't matter too much
’twas a sale, so they bought


Then off to check out
with their coupons so treasured,
and review their receipts
proud savings measured


They sprang to their homes
logged back on their pc's
posted pics of their finds
for their buddies to see


Then they hid their new stash
tucked well out of sight
and signed off with "Merry Christmas"
“Sweet Dreams” and “G’nite”

 

I still laugh reading my version and remembering all the goofy stuff we talked about.  (The reference to the turtle was always good for some hearty laughing - the kind that made you either snort or spit your soda on the keyboard if you weren't ready, lol!)

And I still smile, remembering each of the friendships I've made.  My cricut days are long gone but my buddies are still as close as my laptop. 

I love ya buddies!  {{hugs}} to you all!!


Thanks for visiting!

Secret Santa Banner and Card

My daughter needed a Secret Santa gift idea for a friend at school so I suggested a banner.  Her immediate response was "Great idea mom!  Can you make it for me by tomorrow?"  LOL!  I showed her a few ideas and she loved the Magnolia papers and the accordion fold rosette thingies so we went with those mounted on cutouts using my Spellbinders Labels Four - these may be my absolute favorite nesties!   I cut out the letters using my Silhouette and the Oklahoma font.

She also asked me to make a card.  I showed her a bunch of ideas and she picked one of my Bellas - yippee!  I LOVE coloring these and adding lots of Stickles for sparkle.  I used my Season's Greetings Cuttlebug embossing folder with some gold mirror paper for the background.  Nothing says 'holiday' like sparkly and shiny!

It does make me sad that my daughter is not a crafty kind of girl, **pout**, but she does appreciate what I create and I always get a "You're the bestest mommy!" when I come through for her, LOL!

Thanks for visiting!

Thanksgiving Card

My hubby's aunt had some ankle surgery and has been stuck in a cast for 8 weeks, ugh.  It's coming off this week, (YAY!!) but she may not be able to make the two hour drive to spend Thanksgiving with us so I am sending her a little card.  She's not the kind of person to sit still much so this has been a long two months, and I wanted to put some humor in it for good cheer in case she does have to stay up north.  I don't usually get to make Thanksgiving cards so this was fun to get to use some of the turkeys from Dustin Pike.  Pattern paper is K&Co, border punch is Martha Stewart's Lattice Arch and I popped dotted the turkey on the front a bit to give some dimension.  Nothing fancy, just fun, and I hope it gives her a good chuckle!

Happy Turkey Day!!


Thanks for visiting!

Is it spring yet?

The trees are bare now, no more beautifully colored leaves to look at to help distract me from the fact that I'm already wearing my thermals and it's not even Thanksgiving yet.  So I'm posting a pic tonight from this past spring, when the air was warm and the lawn was growing faster than my hubby could mow it.  He is usually quite meticulous with his lawn trimming, he likes the golf course kind of look, so he may not see the beauty in this field of clover of a lawn that we had at one point, but I couldn't help snapping it.  It reminds me of the Horton Hears a Who story, lol!  And I love that there is only one single purple flower in a sea of white. 

But as pretty as it was, it was a bit dangerous too.  There were so many busy bees doing their thing that my daughter and I had to be really careful when we walked out to her swings.  We would concentrate and carefully watch the ground where our feet were stepping as we walked in a funny zig zag path to avoid them.  The neighbors must have thought we were loony, LOL!

So on this chilly night I'm gonna put my warm socks on,  grab an extra blanket for my lap while I watch TV and forget that it's gonna be down to the 20's this week.  Ohhhhh.... it's gonna be a long winter.  If it snowed it would be easier to deal with, somehow it doesn't feel so cold when there's something pretty to look at.  I guess until it does I'll just stare at my field of clovers. 

Think warm thoughts :)

Get Well Card

I made this card for one of my bestest peeps using a Dustin Pike image that I colored with my BICs.  My idea was that the owl's bed was sitting on a tree branch and the sentiment was supposed to represent the moon.   I showed it to my dear hubby and asked if he 'got' it, and he just kind of answered a hesitant "Sure..." in a way like he was more clueless than usual, lol!  I know better than to show him or ask him about any of my crafting because he really doesn't understand any of it and just gives me a quick glance with a helpless smile and nod.   But every once in a while I decide to toss something out at him just for ha-ha's. 

Oh well, although I'd love him to ooh and ahh over every little thing I make, I guess I'll settle for the loving smile that I do get that says 'Do I have to understand crafting?  Can't you just be happy that I'm happy if you are?', LOL!  And after all, I confess, I really don't understand or want to learn more about some of the sports he watches either - but I AM happy when he is happy too.

I used textured Wausau paper for the "branch", Devine Swirls cuttlebug folder for the "sky", and the font in the "moon" is called Boring Showers (how funny is that?!!).  I also pop dotted the owl and moon to add some dimension.

Have a happy Veteran's Day, and a sincere Thank You to all those who have or are serving our country.

Thanks for visiting!

Two Birthday Cards

I have two sisters with birthdays today (twins) and one with a birthday on Thursday - three family birthdays in one week just should not be allowed, LOL!  So, unfortunately, but predictably, my cards to them will be late.  I mailed two of them today so at least the postmark is on time, lol!

I used some awesome Dustin Pike images, my BIC markers and my Copic markers.  I'm liking the Copics a bit more each time I use them, and loving my BICs every time.  I even played a bit with my blender to give the dinos and turtle some texture, loving that too!

Thanks for visiting!

Copics and BICs

I'm still trying to get the hang of my new Copics, but when I was making this tiny note card I decided to use my BICs instead.  I really love all the 36 colors in my set, but even the pastels are pretty saturated so I decided to do a little teamwork between my BICs and my Copics. 

This worked great for me!  I was able to warm up a few areas by going over the BIC colors with my Copics, and I used the colorless blender to clean up one spot that got a little more outside the lines than I wanted.  

This may be the perfect way for me to ease into Copics and not get too discouraged!  :)

Thanks for visiting!

Copics

If you know me, then you know that anytime somebody starts talking Copics that I put my fingers in my ears and start singing "la-la-la,  I caAAaan't heEEear yoUUuu!"  I do this because I know me, and my addictive personality, and if there are hundreds of colors available, then I would feel the 'need' for every one of them.  The less I knew about these markers the better.

But, funny thing about friends, and especially crafty friends, they feel the NEED to SHARE, and I've reluctantly learned enough about those Copic critters to finally cross the line and here are the newest additions to my crafting tools:

My LSS became a Copic retailer this summer, and after selling some unused items at their tag sale earlier this month I used my profits to invest in some basic shades to try using on my House Mouse and Hedgie stamps, along with a couple of greens, but I still need to get a red for some Christmas images I want to color.  My buddie Deb also sent me some pretty colors and the blender one - I really appreciate your kindness Deb, even though I still can't help thinking that you are trying to help get me hooked and drag me down with ya!  LOL! ;)

I'm practicing but stumbling alot with them, trying hard to figure out the highlight thing mostly.  Without an "Ah-Ha" breakthrough soon though I don't think these things will get me into too much trouble and I'll stick with just a couple dozen colors.  It has definitely given me a new appreciation for the talent of all of you that use them, I was an admirer before but now I am just totally amazed!

Thanks for visiting!

Tree card

I made this note card last month for a Yahoo Group swap that was titled "Anything Trees".  We could make tags, inchies, cards, whatever we wanted as long as we used a tree theme of some sort. 

I had lots of ideas but had been so busy at the time I decided to keep it pretty simple.  I rarely heat emboss my projects even though I really love the look, and it seems that every time I use this technique I find myself wondering why I don't do it more often.  To add a bit more pizazz I also used my trusty Sew Mini for the stitching.

Thanks for visiting!

Castle Card

What kind of birthday card does every preschool princess require?   A pink and purple royal palace card of course!  LOL!  I used a super cute and super easy Silhouette design by Samantha Walker, then added some ribbon and Star Dust Stickles (my absolute fave).  This was for my peep Diana's daughter, but my daughter liked it so much she requested the same card for her next birthday!

Thanks for visiting!

New England Autumn

I've been a New Englander my entire life, but I'm still amazed when I see the gorgeous fall colors.  I find myself driving around town with a silly smile on my face, admiring the trees.  On sunny days the leaves look like tiny stained glass windows with the light behind them, and on cloudy days the trees still have a subtle glow to them with the yellows and oranges and brighten up the air.  Simply breathtaking.

These pics are for you Deb, my desert buddie, a little peek at the last couple weeks in one corner of my world!  ;)

 Sept 29

Oct 10

Oct 12

Oct 18

Oct 21

Thanks for visiting!