Fun new projects -- spending ban in full swing!

Well, I'm halfway through the month of October and I haven't spent a penny on supplies. Whew! It gets easier as I get out of the habit of checking all the ads and surfing the great shopping sites.

The best part about it is that I've still been having lots of fun creating stuff! Here is a layout I made for my album about my hubby and me. I just took this picture off the wall and decided it needed to be scrapped ASAP so I didn't forget about it, because it's such a fun memory. I haven't been a huge fan of this paper, but it worked just perfectly with the crazy striped shirt I'm wearing. This PP is from DCWV, and the circles and paperclip were cut with the Cricut (George and Fab Fins carts). The big eyelet is from We R Memory Keepers, and the definition strip is from Memory Works.



Part of my "use what you have" quest is to really use up all I have, so after I finished the layout I made some quick cards with the scraps. I was able to get 3 cards AND that layout out of this single piece of PP and a couple sheets of cardstock. Not bad! This "u" stamp is from Pebbles, Inc.



Here are a few of the cards I've worked on over the past couple of weeks. As you can see, I'm still obsessed with scallops! I've created nearly all these scallops with the Coluzzle circle template -- I LOVE doing that!



This one uses an adorable Stampin' Up stamp and some great paper from CTMH. The little flowers are cut with the George cartridge. After I scanned it, I thought it was missing something and I went back and sprayed the whole card with glimmer mist -- very cute touch.



This one is for one of our employees whose cancer has returned. I did these scallops with my corner rounder. The paper is Crate Paper, and the letter stamps and cuts are from the Quickutz Sophisticate set, which I got for $30 at the Scrapbook Expo (score!).



This is another one I made at the expo -- I love this Treehouse Designs paper. The flower is an Autumn Leaves stamp. I used my Cutterbee stitchng piercer to make the holes for the stitching -- just love those things! The rub-ons are from Making Memories.



This is one I made for Regina's BBTB blog (http://regina-bittenbythebug.blogspot.com) -- the challenge this week was using the scallop shapes on the Mini-Monograms cartridge. Right up my alley! I just love this totally fab paper from Sassafrass Lass, too. I also used a Sassafrass Lass stamp to do the dots inside b, and a dymo labeler for "is for birthday."



I made this one at the expo, too -- I just totally fell in love with this Crate Paper doing a make-and-take with it at the expo, so I had to buy some to play with. More scallops, of course, and a flower and oval from the Cricut George cartridge. This rub-on is by Pebbles, Inc., and the giant brad is from We R Memory Keepers.

And last but not least!




If you'd like instuctions on how to make this cool folding card, check out this link:
http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tm.aspx?m=1154158

Thanks for looking!

My goal for self-control...

Well, I've heard it said that a goal is just a wish if you don't write it down, so I'm going to go public with my goal in the hopes it will motivate me to DO IT. I have been spending WAY too much on craft supplies, and even though I really do use it, I am still bringing stuff in way faster than I'm using it. I think I probably have a year's supply of scrapbook stuff, just waiting to be turned into something wonderful.

I do not, however, think I have the willpower to go a whole year without making a scrapbook purchase. But I'd like to see how long I can do it! My concrete goal is to make it through October without making a single purchase. One week down, and so far I've been good. I haven't even looked at the ads or browsed online. I even had to go to the craft store last week (just for picture frames!) and I did not even stray in the direction of the scrapbook section. The fact that even that is so hard is just evidence to me that I need to work on this goal.

After I make it all the way through October, I will reevaluate. I may need to make some small purchases for necessaries (adhesives and inks are the things I go through fastest), but I am committed that I will not buy any more paper until I have made a significant dent in what I already have. It's pretty sad when I honestly cannot fit a single additional piece of paper into my vertical storage shelves. I am going to get creative and use all the beautiful things I've been collecting! It is my quest to see how long I can go, though it may be hard with all you enablers out there.

I'm trying to decide right now if I should build in an exception for a couple of the new Cricut cartridges coming out between now and Christmas. I wouldn't do it except I had a great Christmas present for my boys and nephews all planned out, and I really need Paper Dolls to make it happen. I think I'll go through my plan and see how much I REALLY need it -- maybe I can do it with what I already have, or even wait until next year. One of my nephews is currently 7 months old and the other is being born today (yippee!), so I don't know that they really NEED an alphabet book right this second. Argh. I'm so excited to make it, though! I think I'll just see how well I can do it without, and if I can't do it without, I'll just use it as a reward if I can make it all the way to the Dec. 1st release date without buying anything.

Wow, that was a lot of rambling. Thanks for hanging in there if you made it this far! Anyone want to join me on this quest?

Thanksgiving card and envelope for BBTB Challenge

Our challenge this week was to use the card and envelope from the Christmas Cheer cartridge, but it didn't have to be for a Christmas card. I decided to go for Thanksgiving instead, and I found this lovely Wild Asparagus paper to fit that theme. The flower is a Quickutz die I just picked up at the Scrapbook Expo, and the stitching embossing around the sentiment is a Cuttlebug embossing folder, which I sanded to make white. On the envelope I made the little tie things by setting a couple of extra large eyelets and wrapping string around them, along with a little tage from Christmas Cheer.

Thank you!

Blogging is a funny thing -- you post comments and projects, but you're never really sure if people see them. But over the past week or so, I've had several unrelated people say, "Oh, I saw that on your blog!" It means so much to me to know that people are actually reading and enjoying my blog, so I just wanted to say thank you to you all! I really appreciate all the warm fuzzies you send me, too. Hope you're having a lovely day!

CD Date Book -- bound with Bind-it-all

This is the project I worked on during the SWARM his past weekend. I made it for a couple different reasons. I'm a consultant for Memory Works, and I've been meaning to make a bunch of products using just the contents of one of the kits (to show in case I ever do get around to having parties and such!). I use my Cricut so much in my paper crafting, I wanted to do this one without. I did use it to cut the circles, but that's all. The pattern papers and chipboard are all from We R Memory Keepers. I bound the book with the bind-it-all -- a little tricky with the cds, so I think I need more practice on that. But I sure like the finished result! And I definitely need a date book -- for being such a dedicated card maker, I sure miss a lot of birthdays and such!

My first Bind-it-all project!

Yay for the Bind-it-all! I can tell I will really love it. I made this little guest book to go on a shelf in our guest room. I thought it would be so fun to have a little mini-book of all the people who come and stay with us. The book itself is about 6" x 4 3/4". The paper is from Wild Asparagus and the die cuts are all made with the Cricut. "Friends" is from Jasmine, cut at 2 1/2" (for 'friend') and 2" (for the 's'), with shadow. The tulip bunch is from Walk in My Garden, cut at 2 1/2" on border mode. The tag is from George, cut at 2" with shadow.


This is a view of the inside cover. I used the same cut from Walk in My Garden, plus a scallop circle tag from Alphalicious. "Welcome" is from Zooballoo, cut on silhouette mode at 1 or 1 1/4".



This is what the rest of the pages look like -- the left-hand side is for the guests' entry, then the right is a mat where we can put a little picture of them from their visit.



Thanks for looking!

Yay, More Christmas!

As promised, here is a card made with some of the goodies from my little spending spree this week! I just could NOT resist these Hero Arts stamps -- I have a serious weakness for the cute little birdie trend happening right now. Then for the stitching I used the new cutterbee piercing bugs. They work great! They don't pierce deep enough to go through 3 layers of heavy cardstock, so I had to do a little repoking, but they go through 2 just great and one like butter. I'm so excited, because I love doing hand stitching, but piercing all those little holes gets really tedious.

I colored the stamp with watercolor pencils and embossed the background with the Cuttlebug, then sanded it to bring out the design. I made the scallop with the Coluzzle circle template -- big thanks to Keligirl from the Cricut MB who suggested that! Fun, fun stuff!

Stay tuned til Monday, when I'll be able to post a project I just finished for Regina's design team using my new Bind-it-all!