Count Your Blessings!

Can I just say that I really love SCAL? And I really love being able to cut vinyl with my bug. This is my latest home decor project. I needed something tall to go on this shelf (but I think this plaque may be a little too tall, so I'm not sure if this will be its final home), and I thought this saying would be perfect to go by all our family pictures and just above where I keep all the scrapbooks. Because we are definitely blessed! I created this plaque using the Amazone ("count your") and Americana ("blessings") fonts, as well as a dingbat font called Beautiful Ornaments 3 for the flourishes. I left a space at the bottom because it was going behind other stuff, but if I hang it on a wall I'll put a current family photo in that space.

On the same note, here is my latest layout, created for Regina's Bitten By The Bug blog. This week's challenge was the "Lucky" shape from Alphalicious, I thought it would work perfectly with my pics from Mother's Day, because that's how my family makes me feel. :) I sized the cut and shadow in CDS. PP is from Cosmo Cricket, Dutch Girl line, and the little flower is a Martha Stewart punch. TFL!

Entries for the Rummage Challenge!

And the winner is... Sarah S., for the adorable Father's Day card!
In second place, I just loved Tonya's "Pretty as a Flower" layout -- very creative use of the acrylic frame, and I really liked the patchwork paper scraps.

Great job, everyone! And thank you so much to Aubrey, my bug-lovin' friend who helped me pick the winners!

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in this challenge! It was great fun to see the different and beautiful projects people created with long forgotten supplies. I also loved hearing how you all stepped out of your comfort zone. Here are the entries -- I'll post the winner soon!

And here is the card I created! I spun my Clip-it-up with my eyes closed, and my finger landed on a pack of Making Memories "believe" rub-ons in the Christmas section. I wasn't much in the mood for Christmas, but I thought it would work great on a grad card for my little sis! I used paper and ribbon that I've had in my stash for ages as well, just to keep in the spirit of the challenge! The only new thing is the adorable owl stamp, which I just bought at Archiver's. So cute! "class of 2008" is cut with Base Camp at 1".

More SCAL projects!

This SCAL program is just lots of fun! Here are a few more projects I've done over the past week or two:

This little strawberry is from a dingbat font called "Ichigo." The green part is embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, then I used my corner rounder and cropadile to create the scallop on the bottom (man, I wish I could find that cute Fiskars Threading Wather punch!).
























This one is my hubby and me -- the word "THERE" is cut with a font called "Euphorigenic." The pp is from Fancy Pants and the stamps are CTMH.

























Last but not least, this card uses the "French Script" font, which I just love, and a heart from George. PP is from Wild Asparagus.


To see more SCAL projects, please see the posts below!

Card for Kazan's sketch challenge

I made this birthday card for my little sister using the sketch for the challenge over at Kazan Clark's awesome blog. I was really trying to capture my sister's style, and I was so happy because she loved it! Once again I used my pen tablet to draw the birdie, then converted it to an SVG filea and cut it out with my bug using the SCAL software. I am so glad I bought this software -- it's opened up a whole new world to me! PP here is My Mind's Eye, Magnolia line. The flowers and rub-on are from Fancy Pants. TFL!

Here's a link to the sketch challenge -- a really great set of Souffle pens is the prize, so it's worth giving it a try!

http://nunutoolies.blogspot.com/2008/05/sketch-challenge.html

And don't forget our very own "Rummage Challenge" -- you still have plenty of time to enter! All the details are in the next post down!

The Rummage Challenge! Fun Prizes, too!

Last week I finally bought a Clip It Up, which allowed me to clean out my giant bin of embellishments and get them organized. I was amazed at all the things I have that I hadn't seen or thought about since I bought them! And I was thinking, I bet everyone has a bin or a scrap drawer or a closet where things just disappear. So here's the challenge:

With your eyes closed, rummage through that black hole stash and pick one thing, then make a project with it! It can be some kind of embellishment, a long-forgotten scrap of paper you've been saving for some reason you can't remember, or anything you've had for a long time and just never used. And remember, you can't pick it on purpose -- you have to have your eyes closed! I can't wait to see everyone's creations! Post a comment with a link to where you've posted your project -- the deadline for entry will be Sunday, May 25th. Then I'll announce the winner on May 26th!

And here are the prizes you can win! Depending on how many entries I receive, I'll probably divide this up into a grand prize and a smaller runner-up prize.



I'm going to have to take some better pictures, but here's what's in the pot:
- Fancy Pants borders rub-ons
- Fancy Pants "Mulberry Road" flowers
- Making Memories cloth flowers - Blue and White mix
- Making Memories cloth pockets
- DCWV 6x6 accordian album
- Scrapworks "Color Rubz" summer-themed rub-ons
- Scrapworks "Hugz&Dotz" accent and alpha stickers (2 sets)
- Scenic Route chipboard alpha in tan
- Making Memories copper sheets
- Sizzix manila envelope die (can be used with Sizzix or Cuttlebug machines)
- Making Memories "desination" rub-on alpha
- We R Memory Keepers "Garden Path" chipboard tags
- Making Memories "Eclectic Brads"
- Pioneer photo corners
- Elmer's adhesive runner


I'm going to be taking on this challenge as well. What got me started on this whole kick was actually trying to use up some of the scraps from my scrap drawers, which were offically overflowing. Here are some of the fun cards I made:

I'm in love...

So a month or so ago I took the plunge and bought Sure Cuts a Lot, the software you can use with your Cricut that allows it to cut any TTF font (including dingbats!) on your computer, but I haven't gotten much of a chance to play with it until now. Well, I discovered that not only can it cut fonts, but it will also let you cut any SVG file. With the programs I have, that basically means I can cut anything I can draw -- yippee!

I've been doing some reorganizing and in my scraproom and needed to find a new home for my flower collection and the magnet board I did a while back. (I'm sure some of these flowers would like to find a new home on a project -- since I almost never use them -- but that's a post for another time.) I bought this shelf unfinished from the craft store, and I'd also just bought a big pack of Quickutz vinyl on a really great deal at Costco, so I decided to fancy it up. I drew these flourishes and the little birdie using my Bamboo pen tablet (love it!), then turned them into SVG files and cut them in vinyl with SCAL. Voila! I LOVE how this turned out! I used Cricut Design Studio to create the rows of dots for the ledge. I think I'm going to have a LOT of fun with these new toys.

Goal accomplished! The boys' birthday layouts...

I started planning these layouts right when I had the pictures taken after the boys' birthdays in December but it's taken me this long to make it happen. I'm SO glad I wrote down all the little things I wanted to put on for each of them back then, because they've already changed so much and it's only been a few months! I wanted these to coordinate but be different to reflect each boy's personality. They also fit perfectly with another of Robyn's National Scrapbook Day challenges: to make your own background paper.

Here are the details:
All the PP and chipboard is from Scenic Route (LOVE this collection for kid pages!)
For Joshy's page I printed the journaling and circle, then cut it out. I used my Cricut (George cartridge) to cut all the circles, then just fiddled until I liked the way it looked.
Sammy's page is pretty self-explanatory, but the big photo corners are from the Cricut Jasmine cartridge.

TFL, and hope you all enjoyed National Scrapbook Day! And wow, I'm noticing I REALLY need to clean my scanner glass!

Sammy's first scrapbook page!

I was totally inspired by one of the challenges on Robyn's The Pink Stamper blog today, to make a really simple scrapbook page. She posted an adorable video of her 6-year-old son making a layout, and I thought it would be lots of fun for Sammy and I do the simple scrapbook page together. So we browsed through lots of different pictures on the computer, and he picked this one to scrap. He picked out this paper and what the different colors should be, did all the gluing and placing (I gave him some suggestions on that), then he did the journalling all by himself. He's pretty proud of the finished product, and so am I! The biggest challenge for me was trying not to totally micromanage him. This is going to be the first layout in an 8x8 album of pages that Sammy helps make!

Exciting News!

Okay, by now everyone who regularly checks out my blog has probably already heard this, but just in case you missed out...

WE ARE HAVING A GIRL!

I'm just a wee little bit excited, if you call jumping around like a crazy woman and giggling giddily every time I think about it a wee little bit. :) Stay tuned for lots of girly projects to come!

In other news...

Happy National Scrapbook Day! May 3rd is the big day, and I am hoping to get in some fun projects. My friend Robyn is going to host a big celebration over on her blog with challenges and goodies and more of her amazing tutorial videos, so be sure to check that out at The Pink Stamper. That's where I'll be hanging out! My goal for tomorrow (since it always helps to make a goal public) is to get the boys' birthday layouts done. I've had them planned since the end of December but things keep getting in the way. No more!