Monday, December 27, 2010

Holiday Gift Tags

Holiday gift tags
Crazy busy is how you can best describe the last couple of months for me. Between teaching, coaching cheer leading and holding auditions for the Spring play at my school I have not had a moment to myself.  I was hoping to get a lot more crafting in, but things have just not played out that way. 

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas and is looking forward to New Year's Eve (I love this night, but often find myself in bed before midnight hits!). I have to say that Christmas was a wonderful day and my daughter really enjoyed herself.  We stayed in our pajamas all day (my mom made them for the whole family with fabric she found last year on a major sale!). 

While I mentioned that very little crafting has been going on for me I did manage to cut out all sorts of stencils for my daughter's Godfather that he used to etch glasses he was giving as gifts.  I also made an assortment of gift tags after finding amazing holiday lights wrapping paper at Mejer.  My husband will tell you I was a little nutty about getting them made. He is not stupid, he knows that when I get an idea in my head and start working on it I do not let up until I get it the way I want.  I used the light bulb from Christmas Cheer to make these and they looked really great under the tree. I also made several to put on the scrapbook page I plan on making soon.  
Christmas Cheer was used to make the light bulbs. I used the basic shape plus the shift function of the basic shape to create the black toppers.
I am hoping that with my remaining days off I can get in some scrapbooking (I got one for my daughter and she would like to start as well) and will have many pages to share with you.  I have really gotten comfortable with my Gypsy and I got a wonderful pink cover for it from my husband this holiday season.  I am looking forward to the Disney Classic Cartridge coming out as the play I mentioned earlier is Alice in Wonderland and all the images on this new cart will be soooo helpful. 

OH yeah...I almost forgot.  I got a YourStory Photobook for the holidays. I bought it for myself, but that still counts.  When it arrives I will get started making some projects with it right away.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Imagine Pattern & Color Tags

It has been a little while since I was able to create anything.  I have been working on some holiday cards when I get the chance, but time is very full right now.  I am happy that I get to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with my family tomorrow and even more looking forward to setting up my home for the rest of the holiday season.

Now that I finally have received my replacement Imagine I am trying to get to know it better. I do not feel like I am comfortable with it at all, but I am trying to get a grip on the basic features.  I am not sure I have it calibrated the perfect way yet, but I have so much paper scrap that I do not mind doing that over and over again. (I am hoping it will be right when I really start to work on projects with the machine but I am still getting some small cutting errors on the edges of certain images so...)

What I have done is collected several cartridges for the machine.  I bought it on launch day on HSN so my machine came with Imagine More, Nursery Tails and Best Friends. I got lucky and also got Lori's Garden for free because of the deal the Cricut Circle deal (it finally arrived this week). I also purchased Imagine More Cards and Yummy during a great sale at Michael's and recently took advantage of the Cricut sale and bought 3 pattern carts: Elise, Hopscotch and Audrey. 

I am talking to much when I should be showing you what I am making for each cartridge I now own.  I saw this idea on the Circle I think???  Basically I am cutting out samples of each pattern and color that a cart comes with and storing them in the boxes with the cartridge.  I am finding that the color on the screen is not what prints so this will come in handy for picking patterns and colors in the future.    I am tying them togetehr with a little leftiver ribbon and well that is that.  Here is what I did with Hopscotch...

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Cheerleading, Drama Club, Halloween OH MY!!

I want to play with all my fun Cricut items.  I have got a whole bunch of new cartridges over the last few weeks (thank you Gypsy download and Cricut Circle), but I have not had a chance to use them at all.  I did a test cut using Smiley Cards, a cartridge I want to explore much more, but that is really all I ave had the time for. 

I should not really complain too much, I have been having a wonderful time.  My family and I are enjoying being busy with all sorts of fun.  We went to Boo at the Zoo last weekend and I had cheer leading tryouts at my school this week.  All fun things.  I do hope to get some crafting in this week!!  Happy Halloween!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Performing Arts Board

About 2 weeks ago my principal came to me and asked if I wanted a bulletin board in the hallway to use for Drama Club stuff.  I was super excited about having the board. After a little thought, I decided that I would make it a performing arts board so that my school's choir, band and orchestra would also benefit from the space.

I am happy with the results. I used The font on Wild Card and some images from Gypsy Wanderings and Locker Talk. I will post more images once the board sees a little more action.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Think Pink Challenge

                             
I was looking through the new Cricut Circle Blog this morning and saw the new Weekly Challenge. It read "Think Pink, Use Pink, Ruffles, Scallops, Flourishes, Glitter and Jewels ( incorporate any 3 on your project) In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month we wanted to do an ultra girly challenge to celebrate the strength of girls."
I knew that I wanted to do this right away. I looked at the exact rules and guidelines (had to include at least 2 cuts to qualify) and started to think about what I wanted to do.

This was the first time I was taking part in a challenge like this and I wanted it to be some of my best work. I have been doing a lot of cards lately and started thinking that I would for this, but than I decided to look at some pictures of my daughter to see if I could do a layout instead. As if she was reading my mind, my daughter started playing dress-up. I knew right away where I wanted to take my layout.

The result is one of my favorite layouts ever!  We always are telling our daughter that she can be whatever she wants to be (currently she wishes to be a princess, a teenager, and a teacher) and we also always talk about what a great personality is coming out in here lately. I wanted this layout to show my view of "Think Pink" and "celebrate the strength of girls." As a teacher I see girls who think they cannot be want they want all the time and I do my best to encourage them the other way. As a Mom, I know I will do the same for my daughter. I want her to grow up knowing

"You can be Anything, But always be You!!"

 All the paper is DCWV (The butterfly background is from The Spring Stack, the rest is from The Card stock Stack).The font for the page is Cherry Limeade (Lite Cartridge). The two scallop circles were made using Lacy Labels (Lite Cartridge). I cut the girls using Everyday Paper Dolls and their clothes,hair, and accessories are a mix between that and Paper doll Dress Up. I used Varsity Letter (Lite Cartridge) to make the S on the cheerleading uniform. I used jewels by Me&My Big Ideas to dot i's and exclamation points and to add a little sparkle to hair bows and crowns.





Sunday, October 3, 2010

Spoiled! Spoiled!


Just Because Cards for the card & Lyrical Letters for the wording &
spiders! OH yeah, I embossed thepaper with my new Cuttlebug!
So I am one spoiled lady! After getting a Gypsy this week from my wonderful hubby, I decided that I would spoil myself a little more. When I saw the weekly ads for Joann's and Michael's I knew I was going to spend some money on myself. (Lucky for me another quarter just ended and my Teacher Pay Teachers money is arriving in the mail this week. Good thing as I have already spent it.) 
My shopping stash!


I decided that YES I would make holiday cards this year. I went to Joann's for the paper (All stacks on sale 40% off this week). I got all of the DCWV holiday and winter stacks and  one called Black Currant.  I was so happy because the signs were not 100% clear on the holiday stacks being on sale but they were and I got my teacher discount on top of the 40%!!!

Now the big spoil: After seeing the Michael's ad for 40% off Cuttlebug and Slice items I jumped onto the bandwagon and bought a Cuttlebug of my very own.  I was so sure I never would but seeing all these amazing projects just pop a little more because of the embossing I had to have one. I waited for a good sale and am happy that I got one.  I also got several embossing folders and might get more this week (have to check-out other stores to see what they have!) 40% off is pretty great.

 I played the rest of the afternoon with my new Gypsy (still trying to get the hang of it) I made a few cards and I am happy with the results. I am feeling good about my choice to make our Holiday cards this year and hopefully will be equally pleased with those when they are ready to go out.

*Oh yeah, I should mention I also got: Birthday Bash, Nifty 50's and Sweet Treats on ebay this weekend! Totally spoiled!! 

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

I have a GYPSY!!!

I am loved!  I am loved or my husband has gone crazy for Cricut!? Today my amazing (fantastic, wonderful, adorable, loving, caring etc.) husband came home with a special gift for me.  I have looked at buying the Gypsy several times and because I have Design Studio have talked myself out of it each and every time.  This weekend I was ready but missed the Joann's sale.  My husband bought me one at Michael's today for $150.  I was stunned and have spent most of the evening saying, "I can't believe you did this!" Look out craft projects, I am armed and dangerous.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

New Carts & Cards



Well my wonderful husband spoiled me today.  I was a little upset because my Imagine is not working. I want to scream and yell about it, but I know that won't really help me out. It will print, but will not cut. Thankfully someone else on the Circle message board had this problem as well and Provo Craft said that it happened in test runs a little bit.  Hopefully all I will need to do is call and they will send me a return mailing label and than...a new Imagine!!

Now for the spoiled part...I do not have a Gypsy yet.  I have been going back and forth about getting one and still I am not convinced I will get one, but it was on sale at Joann's for $150 and that made me really think about it. Of course I thought about this sale one day to late (the sale ended yesterday)! It is also this price at Walmart according to the website, but out of stock online.  We decided to go check out a local Walmart to see if they had one and I was going to take the plunge but they did not have one. My husband said we could go to another store, but I took this as a sign that I am just not ready YET!!  I did however get 4 new Lite cartridges: Bloom, Lacy Labels, Slumber Party and Celebrate with Flourish.  SPOILED!!!
Feeling Groovy words, Wild Card
card. The spiral paper is from DCWV
Sweet Stack (has apple on the bottom
that I cut off)


 I made 2 cards today, one using Lacy Labels & Just Because Cards and the other using Feeling Groovy and Wild Card.  I am happy with the way they turned out. The friend one is going to my best friend who is always there for me when I need her. The other is going into a card box I am trying to start so that I can have homemade cards on hand all the time. I figure I better do something with all the paper I have collected (which I also organized this weekend).

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Green With Envy!

I made this card earlier this week to send to Green Girl, a fellow Cricut Circle member who won an Imagine at a meet-up. I had been meaning to make this card much earlier but as we all know time gets away from us. I finally decided it was time to make the card (mostly because I loved the idea in my head) even though I had already bought my own Imagine.  I waited to post the card here so that she could get it before I shared.  I had fun making it.  I used Everyday Paper dolls to make my green girl and Tear Drop for the letters.  I also used a Peachy Keen Stamp for the very first time!!  I was happy with the way it turned out and got it in the mail right away!!

Monday, September 20, 2010

It is Here!!!

Okay so a short post to say: MY IMAGINE IS HERE!!! It arrived this afternoon and my husband texted me to say I have a great reason to come home today (which is funny because i think he and my daughter are reason enough but you get where he is coming from).  I texted back "Imagine that!"  So happy and very excited to play with it this week.  I was thinking of taking a silly photo hugging the thing, but it is rather large and my husband said he would not take part in such silly behavior!!  Oh well.  It is here.  Stay tuned!!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

I finished it!!!

I finally finished our family scrapbook for our Disney Vacation.  The trip was in June of this year so it was not really that long but I so wanted t finished before school started.  I knew that If I did not get it done I would leave it and not finish it forever. I am so happy with the way this album turned out (all 63 pages). I feel like I grew as a scrapbooker while I made this and I know that I will have these memories present in a way that shows how I really felt while we were on the trip.

Now that I have bought the Imagine from Provo Craft I can only begin to think what will be created, but I know that I will use it well.  I was on the fence about buying it, but my husband told me he could see that I would use it for many projects.  He also helped me move all the furniture in my office/craft space so that I can keep it and my Expression out all the time. Gotta love husbands!!

I wish I was better at updating this blog, but with school started it has gotten a little harder to do.  I have used my Expression so much since school began and many teachers are asking about the machine that will be arriving at our school soon. Thanks Provo Craft. I will post more pictures soon.

Here is a photo of the cover page for the Disney book.  I made this 9 square layout using Plantin Schoolbook last year for something else and I am sooooooo happy I saved the file because I now use it all the time. Happy Crafting to all.

My goal is to post one new project each week so I hope you will keep checking in.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Back to Scrapping

I have been so busy with school and getting things done for teaching that I have not had much time to do any scrapping lately. Thank goodness for 3 day weekends.  I was able to sit down and finish up the last few pages of our Disney trip scrapbook. (Okay I'll admit that I have some leftover pictures to create a collage page and cover..but mostly I am done!)

I feel like this is my masterpiece scrapbook.  I put so much work into it and wanted everything to be as good as I possibly could make it.  I did several pages more than once to get them right and used my Expression to do a lot of cutting.  Out of 62 pages only about 16 do not have some type of Cricut Cut on them. I am very happy with the way it turned out and I know that it will always be a special way for us to remember this first trip to Disney.  We plan on going back over and over...we may even join the Vacation Club, so I know that this first trip will need to stand out somehow.

Here is one of the last pages I did. I was pretty excited about it for a few reasons:
1. I used paper that I thought I would not have had a chance to use (a "letter K" page from a black, white  and silver glitter stack I got)
2. I found wonderful silver paper (AC Specialty Paper: Christmas Foil at Hobby Lobby)
3. The letters turned out awesome. (They are from Once Upon A Princess)

Friday, August 27, 2010

Sleepy

The first week of school is over.  I am...SLEEPY!  Getting back into the swing of things is difficult, especially after having all that free time to do whatever you want. I am happy to report I did not have too much trouble getting used to the wake up time (about 3 hours earlier than I slept this summer!) and so far so good. My students are quiet.  This is not a bad thing for most teachers, but I am not most teachers - give me a little noise please! 

I am looking forward to doing some mind melting scrapping this weekend.  I feel like I am a little bit in withdrawal. I used my all the time in the summer...several weeks it was everyday and now I have not touched it in 5 days.  I hope it still loves me and will work. I want to make some cards and  finish up the last few Disney Pages so wish me luck. It is the last weekend of the August Challenge and I can head back into a craft store soon...what will I buy???

Enjoy your weekend.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Scrap Wild

I spent my last free day working on the Disney Scrapbook.  I got 6 pages finished and I had a lot of fun making them. I always enjoy my time in the scrapbook room. I get so caught up in each page that the time gets away form me. When your stomach starts to growl you know you need to finish a page, look at the clock and go feed yourself. 

From My Kitchen: Utensils, Mickey Font: words
Mother's Day 2010: vine and flowers, Lyrical Letters: wording
Doodletype: wording
Today I even used a cartridge that I have never used before (Mother's Day 2010) to make one of my pages. Over at the Cricut Circle forum someone suggested that we use all of our cartridges so I am trying my best to do just that. As part of the August "Use what you have" Challenge I actually set the goal of using as many of my carts as possible during the month so it is easy to piggyback onto this new challenge.

I will be honest I am counting cartridges even if all I do is cut one shape from them...let's face it sometimes you just need George & Basic Shapes for those simple shapes.  In addition to Mother's Day & George, today I used Mickey Font, From My Kitchen, Lyrical Letters and Doodletype. I also am starting my count from August 2010 instead of going back into old projects to see what I have used.  I know I have used some of my cartridges a lot (Plantin Schoolbook is on at least on bulletin board a year at school) and others not at all. I wanted a fresh start so that is that. I will be posting pictures both on the main page of my blog and on the My Cricut Cartridges pages as well.      
Not a single Cartridge Used!! Just great
ribbon and stickers.

I do not always use my Cricut for my scrapbook pages! Every now and than I do not have a need for it to complete a page. I will admit I always want to find a way to use it, but than I remember that I survived years of scrap booking without it so I  let it go and enjoy the page I made.

Tomorrow I head back to work. I have a feeling my posts will be a little more school related for awhile (unless I have time to create some things over the weekends!). The school year often gives me a lot to think about so I am sure I will want to share.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Enjoying the last few days

It is almost time to go back to school.  Several schools in my area are already starting classes, but my district will not begin until next week Tuesday.  Us teachers will report on Friday and Monday for those wonderful meetings we have each year to prepare for the year. That may sound sarcastic but they are actually important for getting the basic changes that have been made under control, plus they feed us a yummy breakfast on Friday morning!

I am spending my last free days getting some things done at home and scrap booking the last few pages from our vacation this summer. The album is almost complete.  I just finished two pages from the day we stopped at each of the four parks in Disney World for a little bit. I'm not kidding.  We hit all 4 in one day!!  We started in Animal Kingdom, went back to the hotel for a pit stop (I had to change my wet shorts from the rapids ride) and then went to Hollywood Studios - where it poured on us and we saw Handy Manny in the Playhouse Disney Live Show.  After we took a boat over to Epcot to walk the World Showcase and meet more princess characters. Finally we took the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. We saw Mickey's PhilharMagic, went to the Tiki Room and rode a few rides before we all wanted to pass out from exhaustion.
It was a fantastic day! You can check out my Tiki Room page on the My Cricut Cartridges page.

Hopefully I will get more pages done tomorrow and be able to finish it up this weekend. Summer is coming to an end!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Crazy Card Day

Cindy Loo: Thanks & frame
I have decided that I like making cards.  I REALLY like it.  I am finding all sorts of new ways to be creative and know that this is going to be something I continue to explore.  My mother-in-law was here this weekend. I showed her the first cards I made and she was pretty excited about this new creative venture so she took a peak at my cartridge wish list and I got two treats before she left: Rock Princess & "Just Because" Cards (thanks JoAnn's for the awesome sale and an extra 20% off with teacher discount!!).

This morning I knew I wanted to make a "thank you" card for my mother-in-law. I also wanted to play with the new cartridges and see what else I could do with them. I had so much fun and am happy with the results.  I made 8 cards this afternoon (for the August Challenge I brought my cartridge use total up to 25!!)

I made 6 cards all with the same theme to use at the start of the school year. This year our theme for Back-2-School is "Rock Your Learning" I wanted to have some cards to give to  my co-workers who are always so helpful.
Rock Princess: Guitar and Rock Star
Walk In My Garden: Thinking of You
I also used Design Studio to see if I could weld a word to the top of a card and it worked out pretty good. I basically did what I learned from the tutorials for making a word book, but with the word welded to the bottom of the card. I wasn't so sure it would work, but it is one of those ideas that gets into your head right before you go to sleep at night and it completely bugs you until you try it out. I have seen so many beautiful cards that I am sure I must have seen this done, but could not remember and had to try it out.


All cards & envelopes were made with
Just Because Cards 
It may sound funny funny, but I think I like making envelopes the best. I used bright and colorful patterns and just stuck white labels on them so the postman doesn't want to hit me. I think if I was getting one of these in the mail that just seeing the envelope would make me smile because I would be pretty sure it wasn't a bill or junk.

I have jury duty tomorrow morning and it will be a busy back to school week.  Teachers report on Friday for meetings and the new class of 8th graders arrive next Tuesday.  I am getting really excited, but know it will cut my scraping time back. I hope everyone has a great week. Thanks for stopping by to see things the way I see them.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Disney Scrapbook Continues

After not wanting to work on the Disney scrapbook for awhile I found my rejuvenation today and got 4 pages done.  I have about 10 left until the book is 100% finished. It was such an amazing trip for my family.

We were in Florida for 9 days: the first three in Vero Beach. We enjoyed visiting with my "aunt and uncle" (My Mom's best friend and her husband) and spent a lot of time at the beach. My daughter and husband had never played in the ocean before so it was fun to watch them explore the waves and build sandcastles - even if it was hot.

Once we arrived at Disney World the trip only got better. I was so overcome with emotions.  I just wanted everyone to have a good time and had worked so hard on the planing part that I had to settled down and enjoy everything. 

Working on the scrapbook has been so much fun, all the memories come flooding back.  I get a little tired of scrapping when I do too much at a time, so I took some time away and worked on other projects, but today I was very pleased with what I did and I know it will not be long before I complete the whole book for us to enjoy until our next visit.


I used the Disney Dreams Come True Cartridge to do this page.
I love the was the gold made everything look better.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Back 2 School Work

I put it off for as long as I could. I had to get some work done for my classroom today.  I wanted to scrapbook and make cards all day (cards are my new obsession) but I need to be a little responsible. Hopefully tomorrow I can really create with the Cricut.

I got all my start of the year letters rewritten with the changes that needed to be made done.  I also am fully planned for the first Chapter of Social Studies (I love that I am organized enough to go right into my binder and find what I need!!) and my English curriculum is set for the first week as well. It felt good to knock these things out today. I need to go into the building tomorrow to make my copies and hang up my wall display.

I can not get into my classroom until next week, which may be a problem. I have jury duty!!!  I know super fun times ahead. I decided not to ask to have it postponed because than I would be missing time in the middle of the school year.  I only hope that I do not have to go to jury duty every day next week or my classroom will not be set up fully in time for the first day...which I will hate!  Send me good wishes please.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

A Card to be Proud of

I did it! I made a card!  To be honest I actually made one earlier this week, but I was so excited about getting it in the mail that I did not take a single photo of it.  Today when I made another I kept saying to myself (out loud enough times that when I was finished my husband reminded me) "Take Pictures!" and I did.

This card is for my cousin and his wife, who called to tell us they are expecting a baby in March.  My cousin was so cute when he told me and I can tell they are looking forward to the adventure ahead. This baby, if it is a boy will be the only one caring on the family name so as much as I want them to have a girl as wonderful as my own...a boy would be pretty awesome too.

I used Wild Card for the envelope and lining, Celebrations for the card, Doodletype for the word art and Stretch Your Imagination for the baby buggy. The paper is all from the Tiffany's stack by WE R Memory Keepers (Hobby Lobby!) I love this stack because it comes with coordinating papers (some with glitter), alpha stickers, alpha chipboard and die cuts. 

NOTE TO SELF AND OTHER NEW CARD MAKERS:
Save files if you cut the card using Design Software or your Gypsy.  I was making this and thinking..I will never remember how I did this and the sizes I used from the different carts to recreate the basic card and envelope and than...OH YEAH, I can save this file and go back to it again when I need help.

I have gotten such great tips and advice from my fellow Circle Members and all the projects they have shared is really what got me inspired to make some cards and use the piles and piles, drawers and drawers full of paper I already have. Thank you Sasha for the August Challenge: so far I have used 16 different cartridges, created my first 2 cards, 3 scrapbook layouts, a wall display for school and...spent no money at a craft store! To all others in the challenge goo luck! We have 8 days under our belt!

Friday, August 6, 2010

Think About Getting Involved Display

Drama letters: Cherry Limeade, Masks: Locker Talk
Cross Country: Plantin Schoolbook, Runner: Sports Mania 
Ever since I got my Cricut machine I have used it to enhance my classroom and create projects to share with my students. Because I am the director of the school play each year I have often created a wall display outside the gym to celebrate the cast and their hard work. As I have grown ore confident using my Cricut I have branched out and made displays for sports and other activities going on at school. Last year I made over 40 Paper doll Cheerleaders to celebrate my cheer team.  I love creating things to display around the school and my students love when I bring my machine into school  to help them add that special touch to their own work.

ART: Cherry Limeade, paints: Locker Talk
Intramurals: Varsity Letter
Balls & Basketball: Sports Mania
This year I am going to continue making a wall display to support our sports teams and other clubs, but I wanted something for the start of the year to encourage the students at my school to get involved in one of the many sports and/or clubs that we offer. I decided on the following idea:
"THINK ABOUT... GETTING INVOLVED!"

Soccer and ball: Sports Mania
Yearbook, camera & book: Locker Talk
Lit Mag: Cherry Limeade

I used 11 different cartridges to put this all together and I can not wait to go put it up on the wall at school. I hope it will encourage the students to become active during the year.  If nothing else I hope it at least gets the kids to "Think About" it.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Gearing Up for Back to School & Random Thoughts

I know people think I am nuts for what I am about to say, but I LOVE BACK TO SCHOOL TIME! I love the shopping (hello sales on everything it seems) the preparing and well I love welcoming new students into my classroom. So, when August rolls around and I can start getting ready it just makes me smile. I get super excited when I start seeing commercials and adds in the paper.  I love walking into a Target and going to the back to school section!

I had a meeting today to work on our curriculum and it was very productive. I feel that after 10 years of teaching I am finally figuring out the kind of teacher I want to be and am loving sharing it with my coworkers as we work to make the year great. The goal of the team I am working with on this curriculum is that we will not have to start all over every year anymore.  Here's hoping!! We have worked hard on everything and I have high hopes that we will be successful.  We are ready for the school year and eager to see results.

I also am looking forward to drama club and cheer leading starting up again. These are the two after school activities that i work with and I enjoy them greatly.  I have so much fun getting to know the students who come out for these activities and we always have so much fun. This year's show is Alice in Wonderland and I am really looking forward to seeing where we take it.

RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- I am doing great with the August Challenge (Do not buy anything new and use what you have!) Yesterday I made 3 pages for my Disney Book and I used 4 separate cartridges. I even used one I have never used before!

- I can not eat anymore cake balls.  I made some for our dance party (which was a quiet success) and feel like I am going to be eating them for the next year,  I was happy that my coworkers seemed to enjoy them today.

- I do not want to cook today.  I have been trying hard not to eat out to often and to cook more, but today is not the day for that.  So, let's call the pizza delivery man.

- I can not stop thinking about different things I want to write about for the novel I am working on. To bad they all are different stories.  I need to carve out some writing time and get words to paper.

OK, that is about all for now. Friday I am going to make cards (the first ones I have ever made with my Cricut) Check back for pictures.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Scrapbooking isn't the only thing I care about

This blog isn't only for my scrap booking attempts, successes and excitement. It is for me!! Selfish? Yes, I am. I wanted a place to talk about me.  I talk too much in general, but lately I feel like no one is listening.  That made me feel pretty sad and so when I joined the Cricut Circle and saw all these fun blogs I figured even if no one read my blog at least I was getting out what I wanted to say.

Scrap booking isn't my the only thing I care about. It happens to be something that I am doing a lot of this summer so it is getting a lot of attention, but I have other thoughts as well.  This is what is on my mind right now:

I miss my grandfather.  He passed away in January, just shy of his 90th birthday. He was a wonderful man. He was stern at times and did not always want to change his ways, but when he was with his family he was a happy guy always ready to lay a not so appropriate joke on you. He had 3 children, 6 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. I have been cleaning the house a lot this weekend (a rare thing for me as I do not like cleaning at all) and happen to come buy a photo of him and my daughter that is one of my favorites. She was his first great-grandchild and I still think about the day we told him I was pregnant.

He was one of the only people that my husband and I got to tell in person. We went over to his apartment for dinner on night and I brought him a card. It had a picture of a baby playing the drums. On the inside I wrote, "maybe your first great-grandchild will be a drummer. We can start looking for signs when he or she arrives in May." It took him a few moments, but than he got this look on his face that I have seen many times. It was as if he had a question and was confused.  He looked at the note again and than asked if this meant what he thought it meant. When we confirmed it he smiled and hugged us both. When we cleaned out his apartment after he passed away, we found the card sitting in his side table with some other important notes and cards. I miss him when I look at that card (now hanging  in my office).

This is just one other thing I care about, but I felt that I was not totally being me by only talking about my Cricut and creations of late.



Sunday, August 1, 2010

Disney Word Book/August Challenge

 used Doodletype for the letters, George & Basic Shapes
 for the Rectangles & Mickey Font for the mouse ears.
I wasn't so sure I would be able to make a word book, but as soon I saw them posted on other peoples' blogs and in the Circle Message Board I thought I would try.  I got some great help from Circle Member Rosina. She sent me this link: http://invinciblesummer....03/creating-a-wo-1.html

I followed the directions and low and behold I created a word book all of my own.  I consider this my practice word book.  I used card stock paper and it is not all put together yet, but I am pretty excited of what I have accomplished so far.

I look forward putting the rest of this together to have on my desk at work. I also want to get some chip board and make some word books as gifts for people. I am super happy with this new trick..which is an old trick for most Cricut owners.

AUGUST CHALLENGE:
A fellow Circle member, Sasha, has given us a great challenge. For the entire month of August do not buy anything new! No paper, cartridges, stickers, nothing!!  The "use what you have challenge" is just what I need.  I am happy to report that it is the first day of August and so far I have not bought anything new! Okay so I only found out about the task this afternoon and I did not leave the house today...I can make it the whole month. Good luck anyone else taking on this challenge!

Fun Times at The CHA

I had a really great time at the CHA Super Show as I mentioned before, but I wanted to share soem of my photos and favorite moments with you.

First off I got to meet a bunch of Circut Circle Members at the meeting they held for us Friday morning. It was a very excited group of people and we celebrated being part of the new group.  They showed us the new machine Imagine!!! (Yes I will be buying one very soon!) and they gave away a tone of prizes.  It looks like they have great things in store for the Circle and I am excited to be in on this wonderful group.  I even got to meet the cricut!


I aslo got to meet Robin from My Pink Stamper. She was really sweet and fun to be around. She has a new line of stamps and I got some to use in my own scrapping.  I got a set called Buggy Punnies: Very cute! Check them out for yourself at her site..link on my page.

It was a great day.

Had a great time with CustomCrops.com at the 2010 Summer CHA Super Show!!

This is the photo I took at the CustomCrops.com booth at CHA!!!
I met Green Girl (Michele) on the way into the Circle Meeting & we stayed together all day!!

Saturday, July 31, 2010

CHA: Fun, Friends & a Headache

I wish I had felt better last night.  I HAD SOOOOO MUCH FUN AT THE CHA SUPERSHOW!!

I wanted to talk about everything I saw and experienced as soon as I got home, but I had a small headache during the day and it blew up into a full blown migraine last night.  It wasn't pretty. I couldn't even look at a computer screen let alone think about typing anything.  It was a little bit of a buzz kill, but now that I am feeling better I can take some time to share.

For starters I went to The Circuit Circle Meeting.  Right before I walked in I met another member and it ended up being a great thing. We spent the day with each other walking around the show and talking.  By the end of the day many people we talked to thought we had come there together and had known each other for awhile.

At the meeting they talked a lot about what they hoped the Circle would be for all its members. It was a great talk and we got to ask a lot of questions. They told us they really wanted the Circle to be more than free stuff. They wanted it to be a way for members to connect to other members..well I guess that worked out for me and my new friend.

I have a lot more to say but today is a busy day for us. It is National Dance Day!!!  We are having some people over mainly just to enjoy each other's company, but if dancing breaks out..so be it!

I will add more about the CHA including pictures..soon!!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Calling Cards at Last

Phone is From My Kitchen
Letters are Billionaire


I have my Internet back!!!  Thank goodness for the repairman who was here a few hours fixing our phone, Internet and TV service..YES all 3 were out for 2 1/2 days (try telling your 4-year-old who only gets to watch about a half hour of TV daily that she can not watch any because the TV is broken! Not pretty.) I am much more dependent on my Internet and TV than I should be, but we all have our vices.

Pop is Cherry Limeade

Flower is French Manor

NOW: The calling cards, The calling cards.  As I mentioned before creating only 1 or 2 designs in repeat mode would not really work for me, but when I started I had no clue what I wanted to do.  I headed for my scrap bin and that is where I stayed.  I only used what I had in scrap paper to make these calling cards...even the little gem stickers were left over form my daughter's birthday party invites...Can I call this recycling or being green?  Here are a few of my favorites. I included the carts I used in the details.  Hope to share some at the CHA tomorrow!!!
Hello is Cindy Loo
THIS IS MY FAVORITE!



Wednesday, July 28, 2010

It Not My Fault

It really isn't my fault that I failed my mission yesterday. I made 20 fun calling cards, took pictures and was all set to upload,BUT no Internet! It will not be up until tomorrow at the earliest! As it is I'm getting a pedicure and typing on my phone just to say I'm sorry. Hopefully I can fix all soon.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Calling Cards for Cricut

I had a wonderful weekend: worked on cleaning up the house (made 2 trips to Goodwill with things I did not even know I had anymore so I will not miss them) to get ready for all the room changes that will soon be occurring, had some down time with my husband and daughter and made my Mom's day when we took a family photo with my sister and her family: ALL 8 of us smiling (sort of)!

BUT...all weekend I was thinking about the fact that CHA is this week and I have not even started on the calling cards.  Last night I finally decided I better do something about it.  I did not get very far, but I have all these ideas swimming in my head so I am making a promise to myself and anyone else who reads this that I will have some done by the end of the day!! 

I got started by making address labels on my computer with all my contact information.  I was happy to find I had only clear labels so now they will pick up a background a little better..Now onto creation phase.  Check back to see if I meet my own challenge.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Exciting Family News

Last night the phone rang around 9:30.  I was surprised to see someone calling so late.  When the phone rings the number actually pops up on the TV so we can see who is calling (a very fun feature by the way). I saw that it was my brother-in-law, John. I called up to my husband that it was his brother and than it clicked in my head...he was engaged!

Melissa and John  have been together for a few years and she is a perfect fit for him.  She is so sweet. She also makes amazing treats: peanut butter cups and chocolate covered cherries..YUM. I knew John had been looking for a ring so I instantly knew that was why he had called us so late. I flew up the stairs as Erik answered the phone and I shouted out to both him and Melissa, "Are you engaged?" They told us the short story of how it happened and we were all very happy! They plan on having the wedding next summer sometime.  My daughter will now have a second Aunt and I will have my first sister-in-law.

My Mother-in-law, Sue, is so excited to have another girl joining the family officially. For a long time it was her and her boys.  When I came around John was a freshman in highschool and now he is getting married. I look forward to the family growing - I can only hope they will provide me with more nieces or a nephew if I am lucky!!  Congrats to them and my whole family.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Expression For My School!!!

I got the call!!

I am so excited. The school I work at will be getting of of the Cricut Expression machines that Provo Craft had Circle members make nominations for!!  I look forward to teaching others how to use it.  I also plan on getting the school some extra mats and paper to use.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Long Day (but good)

I am finally sitting in front of my computer for the first time all day long. I'm not saying that I am attached to the thing, but let's just say it often ends up going on vacation weekends with me.

I spent the day with my sister, Jenny. It was a wonderful day.  She lives in Nashville so days like this are far and few between.  If I take too much time to think about it I get sad so I am only going to focus on our great day today. It wasn't that we did anything special or different; I helped her return her rental car, we did a little shopping, had lunch and worked on making these yummy cake ball treats that she is bringing to her husband's family reunion this weekend. (I will come back to the cake balls later!!!)  It wasn't what we did, it was that we just had time together. We had my adorable niece, Emery, with us as well, but she is only 14-months-old so she isn't a big obstacle for our talking time.  I miss having sister time like this more often. She moved to Nashville right after my daughter turned 1 and it was really hard on us - do not even get me started about crying in the airport after I helped her drive down there.


I only wish that after the nice fun day with my sister, my four-year-old, had behaved as well.  She is pretty good most of the time, but 4 has been a challenge for us.  She is learning to talk back more, listen less and hates automatic flushing toilets - which can be a problem if you are at Disney World and they do not have any other kind.  Today she decided that she hated bath time. What is usually never a problem was a screaming mess this evening at my Mom's house. It didn't get better after that, which makes me question if she really had a nap today at camp? She is all tucked into bed now and tomorrow is another day. It is easy to forget anything bad form the day when they look so sweet sleeping.

NOW...CAKE BALLS
This wonderful invention is my new favorite dessert treat.  I would give you a recipe but their isn't one except this: 
1. Make any flavor cake you want. Bake it in any size or shape pan you want.
2. Let it cool than take it out of the pan and crumble it up into a bowl (my sister uses a fork I used my hands to break it up really small).
3. Add a whole can of cake frosting (again your choice on flavor) to the cake and mix it really good.
4. Roll the cake/frosting mixture into small balls (really roll them and pack them fairly tight and put on wax paper)
5. Put these in the fridge for about half an hour.
6. Melt some chocolate coating (they have colored stuff at Michael's and other craft stores, but you can get chocolate kind at the grocery) and dip each ball into it and fully cover.
7. Let the candy coating cool and there you have it. CAKE BALLS1

I am sure somewhere online you can find a more formal recipe but that is all there is too it and they are so amazingly yummy.

Well I have not had a chance to watch So You Think You Can Dance so I am heading to TV land and than to sleep.  Have a great tomorrow. I'll check in again soon.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

I think I'm going to like this!!

Well I am in full blown blog mode.  I seriously couldn't get to sleep last night thinking about what I wanted to post this morning and tomorrow and so on...

I knew that I wanted to make some changes to my blog layout and style and so I headed to kevinandamanda.com right away this morning.  On this website you will find so many amazing things. I have a button for the site to the right, but let me just tell you.if you do not already know about this wonderful place: recipes, scrap booking ideas (including a cute cardboard book for the summer), free fonts for your computer and digital scrapping, blog help, photo tips, dog stories and more.  Check it out and if you want to change your blog titles and dates to an different font than what is offered on your blog service.  Mine is called peamissywithamarker and you can get it at their blog for FREE!


HOW I'VE USED MY CRICUT LATELY:
I am always excited when I use my Cricut Machine (a die cutting machine for making well?? anything). I am trying to stay updated with my scrap booking but it isn't always easy to find the time during the school year when I am teaching and so I get back logged.  This summer I finally rearranged my office/scrap area so that my cricut is set up all the time (I used to get it out, put it away, get it out, put is away every time I wanted to use it..what a mess.) Now that it is out I have used it almost everyday.

Here are some of the things I have done lately with my Cricut that I have really loved or give good samples of the new Lite carts:
This is the countdown I made before our Disney World Trip. It hung in my daughter's room and we took a number off each day. It made the wait a little easier and we got so excited every night.

The Magic Kingdom is done in Lovely Floral's font. The teapot is from Once Upon a Princess and the font is Feeling Groovy (Lite). The Supercalifragilistic is made with Billionaire (Lite).

This is  my favorite page from the Disney Scrapbook so far. The hat and Disney wording are from Mickey Font. The Princess letters are Blackletter.
This year for my daughter's birthday we had a Fairy Tea Party. I made all the invites using Everyday Paper Doll and Paper Doll Dress-up.  I made a group of larger fairies to hang all around the party. Here is one.