Last but not least!

And now, without further ado, the last two projects I have to show you from my weekend scrap-a-thon!

This is a quick card I made for a dear friend who has been going through some hard times.  All the paper and elements are from Crate Paper, and I hand-cut the hills.  The scallop border at the bottom is my handy-dandy SU punch and the umbrella came from the Cricut Create a Critter cartridge.




And now, the layout I was most excited to complete!  If you've been around my blog for a while, you might remember that 3 years ago my sweet sister Carissa, who had Down's Syndrome, passed away rather unexpectedly.  I was pregnant with Eliza at the time, and we gave her the middle name Carissa when she was born.  I have always felt a special connection between the two of them.  Well, we used to call Carissa "Sunshine Sissa."  And now that Eliza is finally starting to talk, she calls herself Sissa.  In fact, she's very proud of it and introduces herself to everyone (whether it's strangers at the store or her daddy when he walks in the door at night) by running up to them and announcing: "I Sissa!"  It's just a sweet little thing that I want to remember forever. And isn't that what scrapbooking is all about?  After I thoguht I had finished the layout, I decided I really wanted to reinforce that connection, so I added a tiny picture of Carissa and a little butterfly looking down from above.  Perfect.

The papers here are from Imaginisce and the printed and canvas butterflies are from Making Memories.  The little pink butterfly at the top (by the pic of Carissa) is an EK Success punch.  The letters in "Sissa" are from the Cricut Lyrical Letters cartridge.

Thanks for hanging out with me over the past few days as I shared all these fun pages!  Now I am all sorts of in the zone, and I'm sure I'll have more pages to show you soon!  Have a great weekend!

Aliens and High Heels...

Okay, I lied.  I realized I have 4 projects left to show you from last weekend, so I'm going to do two today and two tomorrow.  I know, you're dying of suspense, right?!

This first one is Josh, my hilarious middle child.  That boy has an imagination that spans the universe.  Last summer he informed us that he was actually an alien visitor from another world, and soon nearly everything out of his mouth began with: "Well, on MY planet..."  He is still adding to the list.  I wrote down a whole bunch of things from when he first started saying it, but it disappeared.  Lucky for me, we were staying with my husband's parents at the time and my awesome MIL had also written them down.  Always good to have a backup, people!

I used the Cricut Zooballoo cartridge for the title, George for the star, and Everyday Paper Dolls for the little alien and ship.  I'm 99% sure this paper is from Crate Paper.

The second layout for today features my little cutie Eliza.  She is as girly as they come, so my SIL hit it right on the head when she brought her a little pair of high-heeled dress up shoes on a recent visit.  Her immediate love for them and talent for walking in them just had to be documented!

This paper is from Imaginisce.  I used American Crafts rub-ons for "baby's" and the pink foam stickers for "new."  The white felt letters in "shoes" are from KaiserCraft.  I didn't have any purple Tiny Type letters (and you know how I love those), so I made my own for the remaining words in the title.  The flowers are from Doodlebug.  I cut that scallop square in the background with the Cricut Accent Essentials cartridge.

Okay, so tomorrow will really be the last day of my little posting spree.  See you then!

More scrapbooking fun!

Hello again!  I'm excited to show you a few more scrapbook pages from my weekend getaway.  These first two feature my sweetheart oldest kid Sam.

Seriously, don't you just love that smile?!  Oh, these pictures just warm my heart.  The yellow paper is from Cosmo Cricket and the floral is from Basic Grey.  The letters are from the Cricut Jubilee cartridge and the floral accent is from the Gyspy Wanderings cartridge, and of course there are more Tiny Type letters for "this smile."  The ivory string is actually candlewick yarn that I found at the thrift store quite a while ago.

This one makes me happy, too.  I took these photos on his first day of school because I've decided to be a rebel and skip those cheesy school pictures altogether.  These capture his personality so much better!  The stripey paper here is from We R Memory Keepers, but I'm not sure who makes all those cute little accents.  I got them in my goodie bag at the expo and I can't find the package now.  If I find them, I'll update this.  The title letters are cut from the Cricut Stamped cartridge.

One last layout for today!  This one is our family hiking to Timpanogos Cave on Labor Day last year.  I used a Becky Higgins sketch and the title is from the Cricut Jubilee cartridge.  I hand cut the mountain range and the green "vegetation" lines and created the sun with a circle punch and some paper strips.  I haven't been doing a lot of "event" scrapping lately, so it was fun get into that mode again.  This is the kind of layout that I print out copies and put in the family scrapbook for my parents as well.

(Click to enlarge)

That's all for today!  Thanks for stopping by, and check in again tomorrow for the exciting conclusion of my scrapbooking marathon! :)

Hope Your Birthday is Magical!

I am so in love with the artwork on the Once Upon a Princess cartridge that I received from ScrapbookPal.com!  It's very cute, with just the right amount of spunky-ness to keep it fun and un-cheesy.  I also received great embossing folders that are made to coordinate with the artwork on the cartridge (what a great idea!) and these neat Smooch inks.  They come in what looks like a little nail polish bottle, and they have a fabulous metallic finish that is great for accenting.

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For this card I first embossed the background and then sanded it to bring out the details.  I then cut the little fairy at 3 1/4".  These multi-layered cuts definitely take a while to cut and assemble, but they are so adorable it's worth the extra time!  I used the apple green Smooch ink to add the little metallic dots to the edge of her dress and hat, which was such a nice touch.  The little cloud-shaped label and the phrase "Magical" are also from OUaP.  I used my SU scallop border punch to create the grass below.

Here's another sweet little cut from this cartridge.  I cut this angel at 3 1/2" and paired her with a great quote to create a bright, happy card for someone I know who needs a pick-me-up.  I colored her halo with the Olive Green Twist Smooch, which comes out a nice deep silver color.

Thanks for looking!  This cartridge is definitely one of those that gives you a TON of artwork to work with -- between all the cute little dollies, the great icons, the phrases, the labels, and the alphabet, I've barely scratched the surface!

Cricut Chirp! (More on cutting felt with the Cricut...)

Exciting day for me!  I was spotlighted in the Cricut Chirp, a newsletter for Cricut owners.  After doing more experimenting with cutting felt, I put together some pictures and more tips for cutting felt and submitted it.  Since this answers a few questions I've gotten since my first post about cutting felt, I thought I'd post the little segment here, too.  Fun stuff!

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

Name: Tomi Ann Hill
About: I'm a 31-year-old mother of three and a certified Cricut addict. I've been papercrafting for about 13 years, but it's only been a passion since I first got my hands on a Cricut nearly four years ago. Now I can't get enough, and I've expanded from papercrafting to using my Cricut for all sort of fabric crafting as well!
Tomi Ann's Project: Fabulous Felt Clippies
Cartridges Used:
- Home Decor
- Mini Monograms
- Plantin SchoolBook

Instructions: I am willing to admit that I have an addiction to cute little accessories for my little girl, and a whole new world has opened up to me now that I learned how to use my Cricut to cut felt for creating little clippies!

Here are my best tips for cutting felt:

1. Only use wool felt. The cheap polyester stuff from the craft aisle, or that you buy on the bolt won't work. Wool felt is actually a blend of wool and rayon, and it is much stiffer and nicer than the polyester stuff.  The best source I've found for wool felt is www.woolfeltcentral.com.  They have over 70 colors, and the price is the best I've found.  I've also bought wool felt locally at a quilt shop.

2. Use a stabilizer, just as you would to cut out other fabrics. But peel the backing paper away before you load it onto your cutting mat. That backing paper sticks to the mat terribly and isn't needed during cutting. You'll save your mats and your sanity if you just take it off beforehand! (This works for other fabrics as well.)

3. Load the felt onto the mat adhesive-side down.

4. I cut mine at blade depth 6, speed and pressure at max. You may need to adjust for your machine. Check your blade housing frequently to remove the felt-fluff buildup. You may need to use the multi-cut function to get a finished cut.

5. Make sure you run a lint roller over your mat after cutting so get any remaining fibers off. For the projects pictured here, I used wool felt in a variety of colors and cut it using the Plantin Schoolbook (for the flowers), Mini-Monograms (for the scallop circle), and Home Decor (birdie) cartridges. I also used buttons, beads, and big brads for extra embellishment. I mounted the finished shapes to alligator clips, snap clips, or pin backs. Voila! Fabulous custom accessories, made in minutes with my Cricut!

Another way to win a Gypsy!

Wow, the Cricut world is all a-buzz with news of the new Cricut Gypsy. I just found this great site called Cricut Cartridges Helper, and they're also giving away a free Gypsy! Just visit the site to find out how to win a Cricut Gypsy, then look around and see all the great advice and help they have for Cricut users!

The fruits of a very fun weekend...

This past weekend was such a blast. About every 6 months we have a Cricut SWARM -- a crop with a bunch of my online Cricut friends from here in the area. On Friday we cropped and shopped (well, mostly shopped) together at the Scrapbook USA Expo, then on Saturday we had a crop at a local scrapbook store. So fun! And amazingly enough, I actually got a ton done this time! My goal was to get a lot of scrapping done, since I've mostly been making cards lately.

I've been planning this lo since Eliza was a month old -- these are pictures from her month-day every month, ending up with this adorable pic on her 6-month birthday. I got the pics printed in B&W because the colors were all so different. There are three tags with more 6-month photos and journaling behind the big photo. The PP is from Basic Grey, and the flowers are from MM and Heidi Swapp. I cut the 6 with Base Camp at 3 1/2", and the letter stickers are from October Afternoon.


Aw, my cute little Josh. He is so afraid of my mom's big dog, Beau. Beau just a big puppy and thinks the boys are puppies, too, so he gets a little exuberant. Joshy usually runs straight in from the car to Nana's house, but one day he mustered his courage and told Beau to "SIT!" and he actually did it! I happened to have my camera out -- lucky day! The chipboard letters are from Scenic Route and rub-ons are from American Crafts. The paw prints are from the Cricut Paper Pups cartridge and the pp is from Basic Grey. I used embroidery thread to sew on all the buttons -- thanks again to my friend Amy for reminding me to stick the buttons down with glue dots before trying to sew them on -- sure saves a lot of hassle!


This one is not my favorite, but I was glad to get a lo with so many photos done! Last November we took a little ferry trip with my in-laws and it was so fun.






These last two are for my album about Dan and me. I usually just have one photo at a time, so I do this book in 8x8. This first one is our first couple picture, taken right when we started dating so Dan could show me off to him mum. We're so young! The pp is from Chatterbox, and the little branch dies are from Sizzix. I cut "Beginnings" at 1" with the Cricut Base Camp cartridge. I used a Heidi Swapp edge distresser for the edges of the paper -- it's my favorite cheap tool!



This pic is from only a couple weeks later, from the few days in between when Dan asked me to marry him and when I said yes. In my defense, we'd only been dating a couple weeks and he really took me off guard! :) There's a big long story that goes with it, which I think you'll be able to read better if you click on the pic and get the bigger version. The pp and chipboard letters here are from Scenic Route, and the ribbon is from SU (yay, Sale-a-bration!). Letter rub-ons are from American Crafts.


Of course, I couldn't leave cards out completely!

This one is an ATC (artist trading card) for our crop. I completely spaced the swap until I got there, so that was my first project of the day. I embossed the background with the Cuttlebug, then used my SU "Pocket Silhouettes" set and scallop and ticket corner punches to put together the rest. Phew!



This one was for our "Rummage Challenge," which I was in charge of. Each participant, before leaving home, was supposed to go to THAT PLACE in their scrapbooking area where supplies just pile up and get forgotten -- you all know what place I'm talking about! -- close their eyes, and rummage around. The thing they brought out was their main supply for the challenge, then I also rummaged in several of my areas and brought more supplies they could incorporate. It was cool to see how creative people could be! One of my rummaged supplies was a Mary Engelbreit desk calendar from 2002 -- I've kept it all these years because the illustrations were so wonderul and I knew I wanted to make cards from them someday. I picked this sweet quote and used scraps from my "Beginnings" layout to create this card. The label and scallop border punches are from SU.


I was half packed to go home when I decided I really wanted to finish just one more project, so I made up a few of these cute, quick cards. The background is embossed with the Cuttlebug, then I cut the scalloped oval with the Cricut Storybook cartridge. "Happy" is cut from Base Camp at 1". To make 5 quick cards, I loaded 5 scraps of bright adhesive paper on my mat and cut the word "happy" on each one. Then I just took one letter from each for each card. I outlined each oval and wrote "birthday" with a black marker. Easy peasy, and so festive!


Phew, you made it to the end! I had a blast this weekend, and it was wonderful to have so much to show for it. My kids thought the scrapbook pages were great -- they just love seeing themselves on layouts. Can't wait til our next SWARM!

Congratulations Lovebirds!

This one is for my little brother Dan and his new wife Carrie, who just tied the knot yesterday! I would be concerned about them seeing this before they get a chance to open it, but I'm guessing they have better things to do at present than check my blog...

Teal and brown were their wedding colors, so I thought this Basic Grey paper was the perfect choice -- of course with a little red thrown in for the color of love... :) I used the Mojo Monday sketch for this week. The birdies came from the Cricut "Joys of the Season" cartridge (2 Turtledoves!), cut at 3", and the big background heart came from the George cartridge, cut at 4". I cut the scallop edge on that center strip with my new Stampin Up border punch, and the sentiment comes from the "Congrats" set in the current Sale-a-bration catalog -- still working my way through all my new goodies! :) TFL!

These little piggies!

It's been quite a while since I got some 12x12 pages done -- I've been mostly doing cards and mini-albums lately. But I just had to scrap these adorable pics of Eliza with her first pigtails! Isn't she just the cutest thing? It is so stinkin' fun to finally have a girl to play with and to scrap for!

This layout is yet another tribute to stash scrapping. I've had all these supplies for months or even years! I couldn't find background paper in my stash that worked for the feel I wanted, so I found a round foam stamp and painted the polka dots on myself. It turned out just as cute as I'd hoped! I drew the wonky scalloped square myself as well on an ooooooooolllllddddd piece of patterned paper I thought I'd probably never use. But it was perfect for this page! I painted the chipboard shapes and sprinkled them with transparent glitter. TFL

Supplies:
Felt and chipboard shapes: Fancy Pants
Patterned paper: Paper Pizazz
Cardstock: DCWV
Title letters: Cuttlebug Olivia alphabet
Pig: Cricut My Community Cartridge, cut at 3"