Fun and Mental Changes

I WON THE GYPSY!!! I cannot believe it!!! If you don't know what a Gypsy is, here is a GREAT video to show what it does for craft projects made with a Cricut machine.... click here ! So, I got off the phone with BettyBee and Maggie (who, by the way said that I could swipe this pic) of http://cuttingabove.blogspot.com/ a little while ago! I honestly don't know what to say... I'm speechless. That HAS GOT to be a first EVER!!! But the words that DO come to mind are "thankful" and "gratitude" and "I'm oh so honored!" I had the pleasure of speaking to these incredible ladies for a while today and I want to tell you that they are REALLY good people! They were so genuinely happy for me I almost started crying! And they were quick and generous with applauding the paper crafts they saw on my blog.... yes gang, they did check out our links, they said that they started three days before.... and I'm so blessed to have had the opportunity even to ...

The CD case you see here will one day house a photo compilation as a wedding gift. But for now, it just needs to dry! :) In the meantime, I'll share with you how it's done! I used my FAVORITE Cricut cartridge and cut out "Once Upon a Time" as the introduction to a lucky couple's fairytale. I did the title cut in purple and the shadow cut in navy and then tapped the sides with brown cat eye ink to make the title stand out. The BEST part of this project though was the MESS I made making the background paper. That's what I'm excited to feature today. If you click on the pic to enlarge you will see that the background is slightly shimmery. That was an added bonus to doing this project and one that I didn't expect AT ALL. Here's the low down. Knowing that I was going to be wanting a "crinkled", aged effect, I picked a paper that was slightly thinner than regular cardstock because I'm going to get it wet and the thinner stuff will dry with ...

This happy holidays card started as a cover page to a chip board "Organic Recipe" mini book I was planning on putting together. I still am going to complete the mini recipe book (as it is a Christmas gift for someone I love), but this particular card turned out so amazingly beautiful that the whole entire project segued into the greeting card you now see and I axed the word poultry that I cut from the From My Kitchen Cricut cartridge. Although I have been incredibly inspired as of late with the release of the Provo Craft Gypsy and the Gypsy give away being sponsored by Cutting Above (TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO ENTER THE GIVE AWAY!!!), I don't really send out Christmas cards. I prefer to send handmade Thanksgiving cards. In fact, I'm KNOWN for my Thanksgiving cards. I didn't send out Thanksgiving cards one year and got MULTIPLE phone calls letting me know just how loved those handmade cards really are.... I'll include a sampling at the end of this post of previo...

Sometime back I received pieces of a Stampin Up stamp set that I've never really used and couldn't throw away. Right after I got my Cricut machine, I made the cutest paper lion from the sampler cartridge I got with my Cricut . I didn't know what to do with this lion but I kept him. A few months back I made a welcome sign that I intended to cut at 4 inches and forgot to turn the size dial on my Cricut ; I ended up cutting a pretty shabby looking welcome sign at 1 1/2 inches instead.... I saved it. The other day I cut out the silhouette of a sun and (of course) saved the scraps. So here is today's projects.... I lovingly call this one Bits and Pieces. This card is the reason that scrappers save EVERYTHING!!! I bought the brand new Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge at Michaels Craft Store a couple of weeks ago when the cartridges were on sale for #39.99. That's right folks! I got one of the BRAND NEW cartridges for $39! I couldn't believe it. And when I opened up t...

So yah, winning the Gypsy would be WONDERFUL! But how great is THIS!?! THANK YOU BETTYBEE for this awesome card. Mine didn't turn out quite like yours did. I didn't have all the materials that you had on your tutorial ( click here ) on the Cutting Above blog, so I improvised with aluminum foil from my kitchen for the swirled tree and simple glitter embossing powder on cardstock and a hole punch for the glitter ornaments. So, it's pretty, but I was convinced that I could do better.... mine just wasn't turning out as nice as BettyBee's did! So here it is again in black, red and silver.... I LOVE THIS ONE!!! The second time's the charm! This card is going to someone VERY special this year for Christmas! BettyBee... thank you again! LOVE the blog, love this card and love that you guys are giving away 2 Provo Craft Gypsies just like the one that debuted on HSN September 24th!!!!!!!!!! Provo Craft Gypsy winners will be announced October 4th... there's still time ...

This little martian ROCKS! He was cut out from the new Cricut Everyday Paper Dolls (cut at 4"). I used a black marker to define ears, eyes, mouth, etc. And again, printing the wording out on my printer with "Girlz are Weird" font. I used a rubber stamp from Stampin Up's Stars and Swirls stamp set in three coordinating colors and added decorative flowers and brads. Finally I added a little pink star clip and glued everything down. I used some dimensionals on the wording to make it "pop out"... cute pun I thought! LOL This cartridge is everything and a bag of chips! And this little dude (the martian) was worth the price of admission! How seriously cute is he? I mean, wouldn't this little guy look so cute painted on a little boy's bedroom wall?!? It would be so super easy to do. Cut this little guy out in vinyl and then stick the vinyl on a wall as a stencil or template. Use a little bit of paintable caulk (from your local hardware store) on the tip o...

Wow! I'm STILL inspired since the Provo Craft Gypsy debuted on HSN ! Check out ALL my posts from the past week and a half. Crazy! hahahaha ! And with Cutting Above's Gypsy give away... I can't seem to stop! I was reading one of the comments on a Cutting Above blog post from a reader by the name of Beadz who said, "I used my Cricut tonight with Design Studio and kept having to exchange carts. Gypsy is going to make this so easier!" Well Beadz ... I second that! This card was made using the new From My Kitchen Cricut cartridge and the Hello Kitty Greetings cartridge... and I DON'T have design studio! While many of the projects that I have done this past week were super quick and easy, this one took a little longer and I can EASILY see how the Gypsy will make creating a card like this MUCH easier! I'm so psyched for this contest. The winner is announced on October 4 th and I can't sleep I'm so excited! Click on the link above.... I think there...