Vintage inspired HalloweenTreat Box

Yep! I'm still working on Halloween, both decorating and craftwise. Chances are I'll still be stringing up lights when the first little goblins are ringing the doorbell. I was playing with my new Stampin'Up stamp wheel when I noticed the size was perfect for the side of a cakebox I had cut with my Cricut Expression from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More. I was so inspired by Regina's challenge on Bitten By The Bug! I used the window and the fit to page feature which was 9". I covered the window with acetate so you could see the treats inside. The stamped images had the same feel as some of the vintage '50's Halloween paper decorations I had unearthed during my trip to the attic. I still have many of the things I had as a little girl. My parents saved EVERYTHING from my childhood. (I was an only child. LOL) In keeping with the vintage feel I limited my color palette and embellishments. I used the scary fence Martha Stewart punch along the bottom and gathered some black tulle on top. The flowers were inspired by DeeDee's tutorial (Happy Fall Y'all) on the Hallmark Ladybug's website. Click HERE for the link. (I wish I had reread it before I attempted them but they turned out okay.) I used brads for the centers and added a tag from a card kit from Dream Designs. None of my ribbon seemed right so I ran some of my stamping practice paper through my crimper and cut it into thin strips and looped them on top. I love the way it turned out.

Kitty in the Moon

I know it's only 2 more days 'til Halloween but I'm still working on cards. This is for my BF in MI (and she'll understand if it's late LOL). It was inspired by some paper mache Halloween decorations we both bought when I was visiting her. She's as much as a nut about decorating as I am and we call each other frequently for moral support during the whole process. (NO, I'm not done, Becky. are you?) Anyway I took some poetic license on the design. I welded circles from my Cricut Accent Essentials cart for the base, added the moon, kitty and bat from Paper Doll Dress Up. These are all popped but I was in such a hurry to get this posted I forgot to take dimension pics. The witch's hat is from Pooh & Friends and I stickled the band. The tiny bats are the off cuts from the Martha Stewart bat border punch and I added a big bow and star buttons from Favorite Findings. In the inside I used both a square and oval punches from Marvy. (Sometimes it's just easier to punch) Also added some drippy goo. The broom is also from PDDU and I heat embossed the handle with Tim Holtz distress power which gave it a cool rough texture. The sentiment is also heat embossed using my prize from SistahKiki's Halloween card contest. (Yea!) Now I better get this baby in the mail!

Witch's Shoe

I'm so excited! With this card post I'm officially up to date. Boy I better start creating or you'll have nothing new to look at for awhile. Hopefully this will encourage me to speed up my production. I'm such a snail when it comes to crafting. LOL I made this card using Cricut design studio and the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge welding a rectangle from Plantin Schoolbook to the witch's shoe for a stocking. The papers are from BoBunny, Debbie Mumm, DCWV, and Provocraft. Because the shoes come is pairs on the cart I used the 12x 24" mat and cardstock to fit them both in. I suppose you could try and move one of the pairs off the mat to cut on a smaller one, but this way I've got another base to decorate. (Let's see if that happens before Halloween. LOL) I used the drippy goo and bat border punches (the little stars were added with another punch) for her sock cuff. You really couldn't see the cutouts because of the striped paper so I stickled some orange paper and put it under the border to make it show up better. The frogs are also from PDDU , the web is a MS punch and the little spiders are brads. This was my first time using my cropadile Big Bite for the giant eyelets which I laced with ribbons. There is a whole lotta pop dotting going on and I was thrilled to find black ones made by EKSuccess. Inside the sentiment was cut directly from cardstock and backed by 4 punched scallop squares. The little feet were sent to me by a cricut mb member who liked my other paper clip cards and had found additional colors. (Isn't that sweet? People are sooooo generous over there.) I couldn't resist adding a passed out froggie and spider hanging upside down. Whew! STINKY FEET.

Fall ATC My First Swap

My dear friend BeeCherryLady from the Cricut message board just loves to share. She's had a great time participating in Swaps on both the Cricut message board and SplitcoastStampers and now she's become a hostess. She's particularly fond of "little things" so ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) were a natural. I decided to participate because it's alot easier to make 10 of something only 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" than a full size card (and she would have been mad at me had I not joined LOL). The theme was "Favorites", as in what is your favorite thing to use as an embellishment on a card. Since I'd just spent a bazillion $$ buying brads at the Scrapbooking Expo that was my choice. I cuttled the background with divine swirls, added autumn leaf brads from M's, ribbon from Adornaments by EKSuccess, and fashioned copper wire strung with a few seed beads into the word "fall". This was so much fun to do!

U R so Tweet!

I made this card for my dear friend Shelly from the Cricut message board for sending me some of the cutest Christmas ribbon. Because she always does such awesome work (be sure to visit her blog!) I really agonized over this. LOL Scouring my cartridges I came across this adorable birdie (cut @ 2") from Stretch Your Imagination and finally it all fell into place. The background paper is Basic Grey, the branch is cut @ 1" from Zooballoo, the "U R" is from Plantin Schoolbook @1 1/2", so is done in alpha beads and "tweet" cut @ 1" is from Animal Kingdom. Nilda sent the little skittle like flower and the musical notes are a brad.

Leafy Branch Thank you

I really love the leafy branch Cuttlebug folder but never used it until I found this paper. It matched so beautifully I had to get it and this is the card I made. I used a premade card from M's and cuttled a piece of cream card stock, cut it in half, and trimmed it to fit the diamond shape. I adhered panels of the patterned paper to each side and made a band to hold it closed. The ribbon slide says "gratitude" but I think the design would be suitable for many occasions by changing it out.

Santa Face

This is the first time I actually made multiples of a card, 10 of them for Nilda's Christmas charity challenge. Once you've decided on a design it's amazing how much quicker things go doing it assembly line style. I welded the Santa Face in shadow with DS. His beard and moustashe are cuttled with divine swirls, and stickle around the outline. The cuff of his hat is flocked and a pompom and little holly sprig from Stretch your Imagination were added. The berries were too tiny to cut so I just used a punch and shined them up a bit with glossy accents. Some google eyes and a pompom nose gave him a whimsical look. All of the layers were pop dotted for dimension. The sentiment is cut from Christmas Cheer with tiny punched holly leaves added for color.

Peace Dove

I love trying new card folds. I found the instructions on SplitcoastStampers and tweaked the measurements slightly to add more to the right side when it was closed. The pretty double sided paper is Life is Beautiful "Starry Night". Just love my new CB die/folder combo. For the sentiment I stretched the scalloped circle from Accent Essentials into an oval and again used some metallic letters from M's. The snowflakes are from Jolee's boutique.

Holly

Another quick but elegant cuttlebug card, this one using the Holly folder. Just a few red adhesive jewels, some gorgeous textured paper (that was already cut to the perfect size-WooHoo!) and a stretchy cord I found in my kitchen desk junk drawer. The peel off is from my friend B-bug from the Cricut message board.

Joy

I love the texture the CB embossing folders give to a card and love it even more that you can make an elegant card as quick as a wink. I used the little fancy frame folder and punched them out with my scalloped square punch. Added a few score lines, some ribbon, and those fantastic metal letters I got at M's.

Let it Snow

One of the reasons I wanted to do this blog is to be able to participate in challenges and easily link my card. This was for a challenge on the Cuttlebug Spot. We were to sand the embossed areas. I never linked this card to the challenge because I wasn't really thrilled how it came out but thought I'd post it here anyway. I used the Snowflake folder and Swiss dots. I love the technique, but I really ended up with too many layers making the card REALLY heavy. Love the Favorite findings little snowman though. The cute ribbon was from Michaels and was packaged to look like an ornament.

Debbie Mumm Christmas Cards

Well friends I'm in the home stretch. I'm finally posting cards made in October. I had no idea I had made so many cards since getting my Cricut but I wanted a record of everything I've done from the beginning. Thank goodness I didn't wait any longer than I did to start this blog! These were a quick bunch I did for a Christmas charity challenge. I used the darling penguins from the Debbie Mumm Harvest and Holiday stack and they practically made themselves. Just a little extra matting and an embellie or two and they were done.

Birthday Shoe card

I made this card for my BFF whose only birthday wish was a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes. This is as close as she got. LOL (Notice the red sole. Have you ever priced those babies?) Since it was a birthday card I chose to make the front a slice of cake. I used Tags, Bags, Boxes and More and was inspired by the BBTB cakebox challenge (and especially Nilda's take on it) and besides, I had given her a dessert serving set in the shape of a shoe and purse on a previous occasion so I knew she'd get it. I cuttled the top frosting with divine swirls, used the Martha Stewart Drippy Goo and Lace punches for decoration and fashioned a candle out of cardstock. I attached a stickled flame with wire and used Glossy accents to simulate dripping wax. I made a template from an innersole and sandwiched in some florist's wire to stiffen and shape the sole and hand cut and folded a heel. The tag was cut from Plantin Schoolbook and the words were from the Birtday wishes CB die/folder combo.

Smiley Dog

Here's a cute little shaped card I did with Design Studio and Paper Pups. The paper I used was inspired by the cute rub-on sentiment. I added a bone paper clip from WalMart and some ribbon and Primas.

Sleepy Hollow (My First Contest Entry)

This card was inspired by an old root I found on a walk. It reminded me of the scary tree in Sleepy Hollow so I took it home and made this card. The background paper is actually text from the book which I distressed and highlighted some of the words. The full moon is cut twice and popped using Accent Essentials. I used Storybook to cut the window for the diorama and sprayed the cardstock with black gold glimmer mist. The side panels were cuttled with distressed stripes to make it look like bark and the antique gold metallic letters are from M's. I added a scary pumpkin brad and the off cuts from the Martha Stewart bat border punch. Because they were too small to pop dot I fashioned wire in a sort of flight pattern and adhered them back to back. I thought this card would be fun to enter in the Halloween card contest on SistahKiki's blog and I WON!!!!!!! For my prize I chose the Haunting Halloween stamp set from Stampin'Up. ( because of the kitty) WooHoo! Thank you so much Kimberly and all who voted for me.

Birthday Cake inspired by Regina

This birthday cake card was inspired by a beautiful card Regina Easter (BBTB) posted on the Cricut message board. Her talent is amazing! It is the wedding cake from Wedding solutions welded with Design Studio into a shaped card. I cut the cake several times in both pearlescent paper from Best Occasions, and the DCWV Glitter stack. I then cut the layers apart and popped them sequentially to add dimension like a real cake. I cuttled the base with Swiss dots, and added frosting with the now famous Martha Stewart Drippy Goo punch. Then came a sweet bow and LOTS of prima flowers and skittles. The inside 75 was cut from Storybook and cuttled with various border folders. "Birthday" is from Zooballoo and "blessings" from Beyond Birthdays. The words were accented with tiny adhesive pearls. I LOVE this card and was so excited to receive a mention in the Cricut Chirp newsletter.

Don't Go Nuts

When I saw this paper in the DCWV Fall Glitter stack I thought, "What the heck am I gonna do with that?", but when the opportunity arose to make a get well card (a male one at that) it came in pretty handy. I used the squirrel from Animal Kingdom, "Nuts" is welded in Design Studio using Mickey Font, and "Get Well Soon" is from Beyond Birthdays. Jasmin corners from my MB friend JennyJanus, the acorn is hand cut from the paper and the leaves are various punches.

Thinking of You MCPT

This is my second attempt at MCPT (Magic Colored Pencil Technique). I love my new stamp because it has such a fall feel. The card went together quickly from cardstock from the DCWV Fall Glitterstack. I added a few skittles and some fine hemp and it was done.

SpongeBob Birthday

The Cricut Card Fairies are a group from the message board who make cards for others. We receive requests for cards for many occasions both happy and sad and I enjoy the opportunity to show I care while doing what I love. This card is for a little boy turning 6 who loves SpongeBob. I was lucky enough to have some wrapping paper that I used for his face. I cuttled the background with the Happy Birthday folder and cut a big 6 from Plantin Schoolbook. His name was done with puffy alphabet stickers and his hat and noisemaker is from Celebrations. The inside sentiment is done with the Make a Wish die and folder combo.

Happy Bee-Day

I had a blast making this for my dear friend Leah from the Cricut message board. Her mb name is BeeCherryLady so of course a bee themed birthday card was in order. It is my first spinner card, and my first word pop-up. The card was made using my Cricut Design studio for every aspect. I used A Walk in my Garden for the bee, hive, and flower cuts, Plantin Schoolbook for the welded words, and George for the honeycomb effect (which was inspired by JustforSharing from the Cricut mb). The little bee on the front spins from side to side when the card is tilted. I read SusanBlueRobot's tutorial on how to do word pop-ups for the inside. Her instructions are just awesome! I added bee brads on wire to simulate flight as well as lots of doodling. I even made some tiny cherries out of skittles and DMC floss by her name. This is my favorite card yet!

A "Cheeky" Anniversary Card for my DH

I wish I could say this card was my idea but it was not. I saw it on the Cricut message board awhile back and unfortunately did not write down the creator so I cannot give credit where credit is due. I made this for my husband for our 33rd anniversary. I thought about doing something more romantic but thought he might better appreciate the thought that after all these years he still does it for me. The card was made with design studio using the mermaid bra from Paper Doll Dress Up. The sentiments were from Zooballoo and A Walk in my Garden. I added lots of heart raindots to emphasize the point.

Anniversary Card

I did this Anniversary card using a premade card from Michael's. The papers are from the DCWV Luxury and Metallic stacks. I cuttled the diamond pieces with divine swirls and cut the heart from the Wedding Solutions cart and cut them in half with an organdy ribbon underneath to tie it closed. The initials and sentiment are cut from Storybook and lots of adhesive pearls were added for accent. The butterflies are a Martha Stewart punch. I think it would make a lovely wedding card as well.

Halloween Pop-ups

I did these cards for a charity auction back in August. Sometimes it's kinda fun when the paper does most of the work. In this case it's all from the DCWV Fall glitter stack. I guess I didn't take a pic of the cards when they are closed, but when you pull the ribbon the front pulls up revealing the sentiment.

Lots of Strawberries

I'm always anxious to see what's going on at Bitten By The Bug. Regina's challenges are so much fun and her design team is amazing (that's something I aspire to when I grow up! LOL) I've never quite gotten up the nerve to join in her challenge but I'm ALWAYS inspired! That's what happened here. All of these cards were inspired by her Strawberry challenge entries. The cut is on the Indie Art cartridge. The little wine charm on the last set says "berry much".