Fun and Mental Changes

I DID NOT want to get this machine!  I DID NOT want to love it!  I DID NOT want to own another product produced by Provo Craft..... EVER! Years ago I fell IN LOVE with paper crafting!  Shortly after my quick fall down the rabbit hole, by sister bought me a Cricut Personal Cutting Machine.  It was the latest and greatest papercrafting tool on the market and ran on infomercials pretty much non-stop!  It came with 2 cartridges and a 12" x 6" mat that allowed you to cut any image on the cartridges up to the size of the mat.  IT WAS AWESOME..... however, ALL of the images were geared for teachers with very basic images that were child-like, and to buy new cartridges would set you back about $90..... WHOA!  But I loved it and KNEW the technology would advance, and so it did.  In fact, by the time the Cricut Expression was introduced followed by the hand-held design studio called Gypsy in 2009, cartridges were down to about $20-$...

I just ADORE the Copic Airbrush system that I got for my birthday this year!  "But it's not your birthday."  I KNOW!  I scored it back in February and have had a BLAST playing with it ever since... I'm so spoiled! So the card featured here is a make and take that is scheduled at Paper Vineyard (Chandler, AZ) on April 2nd.  Since a Cricut Swarm will be happening that day with the theme "Margaritaville", I decided to run with the lime imagery.  I used my Cricut and my Gypsy to create templates and then used the Copic Airbrush to create the lime pattern.  After that, I used that TOTALLY ADDICTIVE Glitter Ritz and the burnish technique to create the "ribbon" band and then finished this off with creating a SCRATCH & SNIFF LIME for the top of the card!  SOOOO FUN!!!  I can't wait to do these with everyone... I just hope I bring enough! *** You'll notice that the simple addition of the American Tag HomePro nailheads really...

This week over at Paper Vineyard's design team, I was challenged to make something "lush" using the new My Mind's Eye products that arrived in the store last week, so I went GOLD BABY!!!  The gold Starfoam stickers were the perfect touch to make what would have otherwise been a pretty, but basic card, and make it elegant.  And the new Tim Holtz Type Charms are out of this world!!!  I was really pleased with this one that took me all of ten minutes to complete (gotta love those stickers) but looks like it's worth a million bucks!  Now I have to add..... this ended up being what it is because the piece of My Mind's Eye paper that I was using for the design team design ended up taking on a life of it's own so I ended up having to use remnants to make today's project.  But it was worth it.... check it out!  My VERY FIRST ultra-mini album!!!  This thing is like 3" x 3"!  I LOVE how it turned out.  Now you need to see it i...

So this is for paintedbluestars! She just got herself a new Cricut and sent me an awesome email asking for cartridge recommendations. Wow.... that's kind of a brilliant thing to do and I suddenly wish I would have done the same thing back when I first started out, so, I thought I'd post my response to her. Thanks paintedbluestars for sparking a blog post! :) CONGRATULATIONS!!! I'm so sorry for the delay with this response. I've been sick since before Christmas (can you believe my incredible timing?!?) and JUST NOW got to see a doctor! YIKES... Merry Christmas to me. Luckily for me though, I get to recuperate while watching the Twilight Zone marathon on Sci-Fi this weekend! YAY, just in time for New Years!!! Anywho.... which cartridges you should get is really based on what you are looking to do with your new found gem. If you are just a card maker, I would have totally different suggestions than if you are using your Cricut for scrapbooking layouts or crafting. But sin...

Update: Gypsy Sync has been replaced with Cricut Sync but uploading is still quite similar to the original procedure. For more info on the original instructions for Gypsy Sync, click HERE . Also, it is this blogger's advice that prior to installing Cricut Sync, Gypsy Sync should be removed from your system (not a requirement though). Here are the updated steps to upload your favorite Gypsy cut files... 1.) Locate files you would like to upload, most likely from a file-share source (all of mine are with Media Fire). Download, saving the item to your desktop. 2.) Connect your Gypsy to your computer (USB cable) and turn it on then open Cricut Sync. Cricut Sync automatically searches for an update for your Gypsy. If your Gypsy is up to date, you will receive a message stating it is up to date, click "Ok" and a Gypsy Projects list will appear. 3.) From there, click on "Add Projects" and choose the file you saved to your desktop. That's it! :) Give a try for yours...

SECOND POST FOR TODAY!!! Ok folks... here she is!!! That didn't take as long as I thought! So, I used the Tags Bags Boxes and More Cricut cartridge for the box and then created the popcorn stripes decoration using George and Basic Shapes Cricut cartridge and finally the font for the name was done using the Don Juan Cricut cartridge (name is not included in the cut file). Cut File: Popcorn Box Cut File I plan on filling this with candy and sealed microwave popcorn. I will be altering and embellishing the plastic that wraps the microwave popcorn.... I might have to feature the final product here after the first of the year.... hmmmmmm!!! Note: Layer 1 is the box, layer 2 is the front strip decoration, layer 3 is the back decoration. Have fun with this one!!!!

Wow... what a holiday season it's been!!! I feel like I'm dreadfully behind!!! So today I'm gonna have TWO posts for you. First, I want to announce the winner of the "hidden digi" from the Make It Crafty Blog Hop that ended on December 24th. I used random.org to pick a random winner from all the wonderful comments that everyone left. Thank you to everyone who joined us for the hop and a special thanx to all of you who had such nice compliments for me. I will be sure to let you all know when Make It Crafty has posted the masking tutorial (with a link of course)!!! So the winner is: FREA!!! "Frea said... You're masking worked out perfectly. It's a great card. Greetz, Frea" Frea, you are the winner of the "hidden digi" from the Make It Crafty Blog Hop. Click HERE and pick out a single digi you would like me to send you, then email your choice to me at fittertwit@yahoo.com . Congratulations, I know you are going to LOVE working with the...

So for today's post, I am featuring this place card over at The Bug Bytes . Be sure to click on the link to check out the deets for this project. The Bug Bytes is THE PLACE to go for ANYTHING Cricut!!! Also, I wanted to remind everyone that I will be announcing the winner of the blog candy on October 15th... there's still time to enter. Click HERE if you'd like to win the October 31st Cricut cartridge. AND, I've also got the Halloween challenge going until Halloween night for a chance to win THREE Tickled Pink Stamps... and my faves at that! Click HERE for details to enter your "Crazy Halloween" project for the challenge. Have a great one folks... hope you enjoyed this super simple project!

MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! So I tried to make the title sound really spooky and ran out of room to include my evil laugh... hahaha! WELCOME HOPPERS! Are you thoroughly spooked and amazed? I know I am! You already know that today is the start of our Halloween celebration with a blog hop organized by my good friend Nicole of Canadian Nickel Scrap'n . If you're currently hopping, you should be arriving here from the Fabulous Eulanda's blog ... wasn't that Caramel Corn Box AWESOME?!? If you haven't arrived from Eulanda's blog and are just now joining us, hop to the bottom of this post for details on how the blog hop works. And now for my scary good fun before you head over to Gloria's blog on the next stop of this hop. Today I've got the "Welcome" sign that I will be hanging in my foyer this Halloween. I used my Simple Frame Gypsy cut file as well as the pumpkins and faces from the Pumpkin Carvings Seasonal Cricut Cartridge (just like the one I will be g...

Ok, I'm back with the last part of the Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante book preview! I'm skipping page 4 of the book because I'm going to be using it for a tutorial here over the upcoming weekend, but lets kick start with page 5. Page 5 was simple to do using my Cricut, my Gypsy and the Storybook cartridge to create this gorgeous frame. This page is really for anything, stamping, journaling, pictures.... anything. In fact, the theme for this page is "Be Anything". The page 6 theme is "Be Accomplished". This vintage ledger sheet in the Steampunk Debutante line was perfect just the way it was. I inked the edges, but otherwise, did nothing else to embellish this page. I figured a nice list of accomplishments would be all the embellishment this page needs! How many of us passed notes in school? How many times were those notes more about the intricate paper folds and less about the note themselves? It's amazing to me how most of the skills I le...

You know, it's really sad that it takes a give-away to get me to finish a project! hahahahaha! But here I am, FINALLY, finishing a "Congratulations on your engagement" card! GEEZ! I do have a cut file to upload on this, but the cut file is a bit of a mess, so as soon as I get that fixed, I'll be sure to post it. But until then, here's how I made the diamond ring. I used the oh-so-awesome diamond from the Hannah Montana Font cartridge (you know, the one that I'm giving away next week). You can find the diamond on page 68 and button 41 for those who number their image pages. I added it to my virtual Gypsy mat and manually sized it to 2.70 wide x 1.82 high, and placed it in one corner of the mat. I then added the diamond ring from the Sweethearts cartridge (page 47, button 16) and sized it to 2.04 wide x 3.12 high. I placed that on a different corner of the mat. I then placed the yellow and grey papers on the physical cutting mat to correspond with where the item...

Ok ... so the time has come. I've got some BRAND NEW, NEVER BEEN USED, STILL IN THE PLASTIC Cricut Cartridges to give away over the next couple of months and it starts with one of my ALL-TIME FAVORITES...... Hannah Montana! YAY! I LOVE this cartridge! It's got the most beautiful guitar images along with musical notes and FIVE fonts! I used the regular font and the rock star font to create my Father's Day card this year (see above). I also used the Hannah Montana cart (see below) to create a beautiful butterfly (FREE Gypsy cut file HERE ), and am currently working on a project using the gorgeous solitaire diamond. There's a rose and lips and decorative hearts, even a Pegasus ! There's just so much on this cartridge.... I use it a lot! To call this a "font" cartridge is terribly misleading. It's been a long time favorite and now I'm THRILLED to be able to give it away to one of my awesome readers! So here's how to win: Become one of my follower...

So yesterday's post included this Frankenstein from the Happy Hauntings Cricut cartridge (I SOOOO love that cart!) except he was wearing a frown. You can check out the post HERE . Well, late last night I decided to play around with the 'hide contour' feature on my Gypsy and created.... Happy Frank! He is exactly the same as the Frankenstein featured in yesterday's post... well except that I didn't cut his legs off... hahahahaha! Anyway, he measures 6" x 3" and I'd like to find him a good home. Anyone interested in getting a little goodie in the mail from FitterTwit? If you are, leave a comment on this post with how you will care for him (i.e. what project you will be using him on.... cuz I'm just curious... LOL). Oh, and be sure to include an email address where you can be contacted. And for the heck of it... I'm gonna throw in Happy Skully too! ;) It will be nice to keep them together! *** I've never given away cuts before, so if there is ...

HALLOWEEN IS COMING!!! Yep... I'm full-on crazed with the upcoming holiday!!! I will be pulling out my decorations next week and to get myself pumped, I started browsing the Cricut.com message board for inspiration.... and it delivered! Now typically I like to create original work, but after looking at the AWESOME inspiration on the Cricut.com message board.... well, I couldn't help but scrap-jack these amazing creations! I absolutely ADORE the new Happy Hauntings Cricut cartridge and while browsing through the Happy Hauntings cartridge thread, I came across this AMAZING card that used the "Friend. Good. - Frankenstein" stamp from Stampin Up (I believe that the set is called Smarty Pants and is discontinued... sorry!), but I happened to have it, WHAT LUCK! Off I went to create this amazing friendship card that I will probably send out long after Halloween is over and done! Thank you rhondah for this wonderful inspiration!!! And then THIS picture of gruesome perfect...

Alright... by now you all know that I'm a Lemon Head! Every year I complete (or attempt to complete) The Master Cleanse also known as the Lemonade Diet. So when Pam over at TheBugBytes invited me to be a guest on her blog to feature a project from one of the new Cricut Cartridges... OF COURSE the lemon-themed images on the Just Because Cards cartridge JUMPED out at me (JBC is the featured cartridge of the month)!!! Now, for the record, I haven't officially completed 40 days yet. The longest I've survived The Master Cleanse was 25 days. I'm hoping that by completing this scrapbook page, I'll be inspired to finish the cleanse with ACTUAL before and after pics. Pray for me people... hahahahahhahaha! I completed this whole project on my Gypsy. You can get the free cut file HERE . I shared a couple of tips over at TheBugBytes, that I wanted to share with all my readers here. First, for all of you who may not know what a cleanse is, here is a GREAT link ... suffice it to ...

Hi there gang! Here's a little project journey that included one of the newer Cricut cartridges.... Sentimentals! I got the Sentimentals Cricut cartridge a short while ago and LOVE how versatile this cart is!!! Is it just me, or is Cricut making EVERY cartridge a must have? UGH! Sentimentals is proving to be no different! * So I spent about an hour coloring this GORGEOUS Lisa Victoria Dragon image, cut it out with my Cuttlebug and a Spellbinder's Nestibilities die and sat it aside while I figured out what to do with this little gem. A couple of days later Sentimentals arrived in the mail and as I was browsing the idea book, the flower card and matching envelope JUMPED off the page at me. "How PERFECT to go with that cute little dragon I finished just the other day!" Typically, a card that doesn't have patterned paper and ribbon is usually quite boring to me, but this card just seems to work in it's simplicity! The AWESOME dragon and the flower die cut are plen...

I DO NOT own a Cricut Cake. I WILL NOT own a Cricut Cake (famous last words, I know)! I keep reading in my Cricut circles about all the delicious and decadent cakes and cookies that are being created with this new Cricut Cake fondant cutting machine... WHO IS EATING ALL THESE CAKES AND COOKIES!?! For my own sanity and waistline, this is one gadget that this gadget girl will have to pass on. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy those wonderful Cake images in my own way. So here is my SUPER SIMPLE "Thanks a Bunch" card that I made using my new Holiday Cakes cartridge. YES! The cake cartridges work in a regular Cricut machine just like any of my other cartridges and the Cake cartridge uploaded to my Gypsy perfectly fine. I can't speak about all the other Cake cartridges, but this particular cartridge has some really amazing round frames (like the lace-like one that is pictured) as well as awesome borders and images. Pictured here is the pumpkin image I cut along with ...

So Kraftin Kimmie Stamps is having an "Anything But A Card" challenge and I JUST COULDN'T help myself. This doorhanger JUMPED into my head as I read the challenge title and away I went. The stamp that is pictured here is one of TWO of my favorite rubber stamps of all time and BOTH of my favorite all-time stamps happen to be Kraftin Kimmie stamps.... so this challenge is PERFECT!!! Now let me add, I altered the stamped image a bit. What makes me LOVE this stamp so much is how CRAZY Drucilla looks with her "cracked" smile while she's jabbing pins into her dollie. This stamp makes me laugh every time I see it (like I'm seeing it for the first time... every time)! But for the purpose of my "do not disturb" door hanger, that AWESOMELY HILARIOUS smile wouldn't work. But with her expression altered, little Drucilla would be just as funny on this project! So I taped over the mouth and the eyebrows with Scotch tape, stamped the image, colored it th...

Wow! Today is a special day! Not only is today the LAST day to enter my Favorite Things Birthday Give Away (which is TOTALLY HUGE BTW!!!), but today is also my FIRST design for the Gyptians!!! YAY!!! So here it is... my Mardi Gras mask. I ordered a "Carnivale!" stamp, but it hasn't arrived yet, so this project isn't quite finished, but the Gypsy cut file is! Here's the link to upload the file: GYPSY CUT FILE So I used George and Basic Shapes for the basic mask/eye area, Storybook (my all-time favorite cartridge) for the flourishes as well as accent essentials. Accent Essentials was only used for one of the "feathering" flourishes, so if you are going to embellish with REAL feathers and don't have accent essentials, just delete the feather from the cut file. This file includes the mask and the shadow. Everything is already welded and ready to cut... just click the link above. I hope everyone here likes it. This is one of those cut files where once I ...

I have been in my craft closet ALL DAY!!! Wow! That is a record even for me. I've just had quite a few things piling up that I wanted to get done, after all, I'm preparing for the Copic invasion. I want my workspace free and clear for their arrival. Yah... I really am THAT obsessed! hahahaha! So anyway, a Ms. Denise Hill over at Paper Pastime sucked me in to a challenge of sorts. She used gel pens in her Cricut making the most adorable designs. I mentioned that I had the gel pen assembly since last year and hadn't ever used it... do you think I could just leave it at that? Oh No! I committed myself to making something. So here it is... well, it's the START of something anyway. I'm waiting on some supplies to be restocked at my local Joann's to actually finish what will end up being an awesometripular old world card. But in the meantime, if anyone is intersted in using this design yourself, I have uploaded it to my cut file library that is found in the right mar...