Santa Frog Snow Globe

Every year, we have a tradition to check out the crazy holiday lights in my neighborhood with my brother, sister-in-law, and two little nephews.  This year we all loved some cute frogs wearing Santa hats in one family's yard, so I had to incorporate this idea into my Christmas card for my brother's family.

I began by welding together two of the blackout version of the snow globe on the Cricut Christmas Cheer cartridge, at 5 1/2".

I adhered the circle layer, cut in patterned paper, and added a little bit of snow that I hand cut from glittered cardstock.  The frog is from the Noah's ABC Animals cartridge, cut at 2 1/2".  I added a Santa hat cut at 3 1/2" from the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge.  Once the frog was adhered, I added another circle of clear cardstock, using 1/8" Scor-Tape around the edges of the circle.  To cover up the Scor-Tape, I went around the edge of the clear cardstock circle with Zig 2 Way Glue, and sprinkled glitter on top.

My sentiment is from My Creative Time's All Around Christmas stamp set, and I heat embossed it with gold filigree embossing powder.

Recipe:

Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate, Stamper's Select White, Pure Poppy, Ocean's Tide, Ripe Avocado, Simply Chartreuse, & Clear Cardstock

DCWV "The Christmas Stack" Patterned Paper

DCWV "The Glitter Stack"

Martha Stewart Crystal Fine Glitter

My Creative Time's "All Around Christmas" Stamp Set

Versamark Ink

Gold Filigree Embossing Powder

Quick Halloween Thank You

I love using the My Creative Time Small Talk stamp set for making quick and easy notecards.  One of my students gave me some adorable Halloween decorations, so I made this card and envelope for my thank-you note.  The card is 3 1/4" square, with the orange patterned paper cut at a 3" square.  Both the dotted border and the "Boo!" are from Small Talk.  I cut the envelope at 3 1/4" from the Cricut Walk in my Garden cartridge.

I cut two different ghosts at 2 1/4" real dial size, since I didn't know which one I would like better on the card.  I ended up using the one from Smiley Cards for the card and the one from Paper Doll Dress Up on the envelope (I didn't want to waste it).

Recipe:

The Paper Company Kraft Cardstock

Recollections Halloween Patterned Paper (orange)

Cloud 9 Design Seasonal Paper (envelope)

Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White Cardstock

My Creative Time "Small Talk" Stamp Set

Peachy Keen "PK-570 Basic Paper Doll Face Assortment" Stamp

Papertrey Ink True Black Ink

VersaMagic Jumbo Jaba Chalk Ink

Gilby's Makeover Walk

Welcome to Gilby's Makeover Walk!  Wendy, over at Gilby's Crafster, just got an awesome blog makeover and is celebrating with this "Doggie Walk"!  If you just stumbled upon this post, be sure to head over to Gilby's Crafster to see her cool new look and to begin the walk!  In honor of the makeover, Wendy has asked each of us to do some type of makeover project.

For my makeover project, I decided to play with the cute tray shown below that my mom bought for me years ago.  I love it how it is, but I thought I could also easily transform it for different holidays without harming the original tray.  

For my project, I decorated a 12" square piece of cardstock and then just laid it in the tray. If I ever wanted to prop the tray up, I could just use some removable adhesive to make it stick temporarily.

Within the 12" square, I made 4 smaller squares by layering 5 9/16" squares of patterned paper onto 5 13/16" squares of solid cardstock.  To decorate this first square, I cut these words from the Cricut Word Collage cartridge in black.  I then used my Gypsy to hide all of the words and just cut the pumpkin again in orange.  Unfortunately, my Gypsy died this week, so I don't have access to the sizes of any of my cuts for this project.

For this square, I made some fun Halloween Bingo cards using the new My Creative Time Anyday Bingo & Crossword stamp set.  I love this set because you can create any word that you want on your Bingo card.  The witch is cut from the Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art cartridge.

This square has two more fun cuts from the Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art cartridge.  There are a lot of gems on this one!

Finally, to create this square, I cut two pumpkins from Create a Critter and put them on poles that I had cut 1/4" wide using my paper cutter.  My little ghost and alien costumes are from the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge.  I was excited to "hang" them from my clothesline using these cute clothespins that I've had for a while, but never used. 

Recipe:

Core'dinations Black & Cloudless Cardstock

Papertrey Ink Terracotta Tile, Simply Chartreuse, True Black, & Stamper's Select White Cardstock

My Mind's Eye "Mischievous" Patterned Paper

My Creative Time's "Anyday Bingo & Crossword" Stamp Set

Papertrey Ink True Black & Smokey Shadow Ink

Sakura White Gelly Roll Pen

Copic 100 & YR18 Sketch Markers

Michael's Googly Eyes

Papertrey Ink Rustic Jute Button Twine

Lara's Crafts Clothespins

Now, you are going to want to be sure to visit each blog on this walk and leave a comment.  There are some fabulous "Puppy Treats" (blog candy) that you will not want to miss out on.  I want to thank all of our wonderful sponsors!  You can see the full list on Gilby's Crafster.  For a chance to be one of the seven winners, just leave a comment on each stop by 10:30 PM EST on Sunday!  Your next stop is the talented Kendra!  Here is the entire line-up:

Wendy: http://www.gilbyscraftster.blogspot.com/

Angie:  http://atuttletime.blogspot.com/

Brynn: http://www.flairandfrillscreativity.blogspot.com/

Edna:  http://expressionbypinke.blogspot.com/

Emma:  http://www.creativetimeforme.com/

Glora: http://glorascrafts.blogspot.com/

Jana: http://janabailey.blogspot.com/

Katie:  http://www.craftingwithkatie.com/  <-- YOU ARE HERE

Kendra: http://kendrawietstock.blogspot.com/

Paul: http://craftyblogocks.blogspot.com/

Princess Penelope: http://thescrapbookingqueen-princesspenelope.blogspot.com/

Shar: http://scrapendipity.blogspot.com/

Tanya:  http://little-scrapper.blogspot.com/

Theresa: http://www.thescrapbookingqueen.com/

Tracy:  http://www.craftjunkietoo.com/

Veronica:  http://blog.vkdesigncompany.com/

My Creative Time September Sneak Peek #4

It's Day 4 of the My Creative Time September Sneak Peeks!  We saved the best for last!  Build a Banner  kit is just too cute and a blast to play with!  This kit comes with 4 patterned background stamps and 4 dies!  So fun!  I'm showcasing a banner today on a cute Halloween layout of my son and his cousins back in 1999.  The little construction worker is mine. :-)

For my banner, I used just one of the two different banner shaped dies, along with the rosette and circle dies.  Don't you just love the embossed stitching on the banner and circles?  The other GREAT thing about this set is that the alphabet from My Creative Time's Anyday Bingo & Crossword (sneak peeked on Tuesday) fits into the circles perfectly!  The polka dots on my banner are from one of the pattern background stamps in this kit.  I also used another My Creative Time die, the Stitched Oval Die, to record my date.

Since my son was dressed as a construction worker, I thought it would be fun to add a ghost wearing a hardhat to my layout!  The ghost is from the Paper Doll Dress Up Cricut cartridge, cut at 6 1/4", and his hardhat is cut at 4 1/4", from Paper Dolls For Everyday.

Listen up "My Creative Time" friends!  We are giving you an opportunity to win the BEST PRIZES during Sneak Peek Week, with a total of SIX winners being announced during Friday's Stamp release!  All you have to do is leave a comment HERE, as well as on the rest of the design team's blogs for a chance.  There are some AWESOME prizes with this release!  Here's what to do to qualify:

1.  Spread the word to the world on Facebook & to whatever connections you have about this release.  Let us know that you did so on My Creative Time's Facebook page, OR just tag Emma in your post!

2.  Just comment on ALL of the designer's blogs EVERY DAY during Sneak Peek Week!  That's ALL you have to do to qualify for the giveaways!

The winners will "randomly" get chosen, and Emma will announce all six winners on Friday, September 16th, at 8:00 AM PST, in her video during the release of this AMAZING new stamp collection and dies! Good luck!  Get onto Facebook now and start spreading the word!  And don't forget to stop by My Creative Time to see Emma's and the rest of the design team's projects!

Recipe:

The Paper Company Kraft Cardstock

BoBunny "Double Dot Designs" Patterned Paper (green grid)

Recollections Halloween Patterned Paper

Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White, Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, True Black, & Simply Chartreuse Cardstock

Martha Stewart "Drippy Goo" Punch

My Creative Time "Build a Banner Kit" Stamps & Dies

My Creative Time "Stitched Oval" Die

Papertrey Ink "Simple Alphabet" & "Mini Scrapbook Series:  Library Ledger" Stamp Sets

Peachy Keen "PK-491 Everyday Character Faces" Stamp Set

Papertrey Ink True Black Ink

Recollections Brads

Trendy Twine

My Creative Time July Sneak Peek #3

Today Emma and the My Creative Time design team is giving you a sneak peek of Emma's new stamp set: All Around Halloween. This set is SUPER cute, and there are so many things that you can do with it! For my card, I cut a ghost from the Cricut Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge at 2 3/4" and a bird dressed up as a ghost from 3 Birds on Parade at 2".

For my sentiment, I first used the My Creative Time Curly Label die to die cut some orange cardstock. I stamped it with the coordinating frame from the Inspiring Words {Accents} stamp set and then added the sentiment from All Around Halloween.

Now, listen up "My Creative Time" friends! We are giving all of you an opportunity to win a prize during Sneak Peek Week, with four winners to be announced during Friday's Stamp release! All you have to do is leave a comment here, along with the rest of the design team's blogs for a chance!

AND, we are giving you ANOTHER opportunity to win...

All you have to do is "SPREAD THE WORD" about My Creative Time's "8th Edition Stamp Release" happening this Friday @ 8 AM PST! You can announce it to all of your Facebook friends! If you don't know how to tag Emma in your post, then feel free to go to My Creative Time's Fan page HERE and let her know how you spread the word! We will randomly choose a winner from there to win a prize! Emma will be announcing the winner on Friday morning in her video during the release!

Recipe:

Papertrey Ink Kraft & Orange Zest Cardstock

Papertrey Ink "Halloween Prints" Patterned Paper

Core'dinations Textured Cardstock

My Creative Time's "Inspiring Words {Accents}" & "All Around Halloween" Stamp Sets

My Creative Time's "Curly Label" die

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Circle Magazine Challenge

Click here for the Race for a Cure Blog Hop!

This month's Circle Magazine Challenge is called "All About the Teacher Contest". We were asked to use our Cricuts to create classroom decorations or cards for our favorite teachers. Since I am the teacher, I did something a little different. I brought my Cricut to school and let my favorite students (all of them) use it to create a project that is now decorating our classroom. Each of my 2nd graders researched somebody who made a difference in our world. Today they had a ball using Everyday Paper Dolls and Paper Doll Dress Up to create 16" versions of their people. They chose the clothes and accessories, picked out papers, and learned how to cut with the Cricut! They turned out really cute. Here are close up pics of a few of them:

The winner of this challenge gets a Cricut Expression and 5 cartridges for their school! I don't know if my project will make us eligbile, but after seeing what my kids created, I know a lot of the teachers at my school would love to have one for all of us to use.

Wobbling Penguin Card

Here's a fun card that I made for my niece, who is currently obsessed with penguins. The penguin is attached to the card with an Action Wobble, so she can make him wobble like a bobble head! Very fun!

I used the "print and cut" feature on my Imagine with the Snow Angel cartridge for the patterned paper and the icicles. I made the snowflake paper by cutting a 4" square with rounded corners, and then trimmed it to 4" x 3 3/4". The icicles were cut from the Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art Cricut cartridge at 1.5", flood filled with Snow Angel colors.

Because I wanted a stiff cardstock for my penguin to be able to wobble easily, I used the "cut only" feature on my Imagine and cut him on Papertrey Ink cardstock. The penguin is cut at 3" from Create a Critter, and his Santa hat is cut at 6" from Paper Doll Dress Up. I cut the hat once in red and once in white to create the layers.

The white base of the card is 4 1/4" x 11", scored at 5 1/2", and the red layer is 4" x 5 1/4". I used my Corner Chomper on all of the corners.

Recipe:

(all materials Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise specified)

Provocraft White Textured Cardstock

Pure Poppy, True Black, Stamper's Select White, and Summer Sunrise Cardstock

"Holiday Button Bits" Stamp Set

True Black Ink

Pure Poppy Topnotch Twill Ribbon

Sakura White Gelly Roll Pen

Action Wobble

Be sure to stop by Creative Critterz Imaginations today to check out more fun Action Wobble projects with the Imagine!

Circle Weekly Challenge

Here is my entry for the Cricut Circle's first weekly challenge. We had to use two cuts from French Manor and add some bling. The French Manor cuts on this card are the bird bath, cut at 2 3/4", and the scalloped oval, cut at 1 3/4". The tree is from Paper Doll Dress Up, cut at 5", and the leaves are from Designer's Calendar, cut at 1". The grass is from Plantin Schoolbook, cut at 1".

Recipe:

(all materials Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise specified)

4 1/4" x 11" Dark Chocolate Cardstock, scored at 5 1/2"

4" x 5 1/4" Pure Poppy Cardstock

3 3/4" x 5" DCWV Patterned Paper

Tree cut in Dark Chocolate Cardstock and embossed with Woodgrain Impression Plate

Leaves in Terracotta Tile, Pure Poppy, and Summer Sunrise

Fountain in Vintage Cream and Dark Chocolate, With Pure Poppy bird

Studio 18 Rhinestones

Bird's eye made with Black Diamond Stickles

Scalloped Oval cut in Dark Chocolate

Sentiment from "Asian Fusion", stamped with Versamark Ink, and heat embossed with Gold Filigree Fine Art Powder

Color Box Cat's Eye Ink for edges

I used leftover leaves to dress up the inside of the card:

My Pink Stamper Halloween Challenge

It's time for a challenge with the My Pink Stamper Design Team! Robyn asked us to create something with her Spooky Puns stamp set (check here for retailers that sell this adorable set). Even if you don't have her stamps yet, you can join in the fun on mypinkstamper.com by creating a Halloween themed project with your Cricut. Be sure to check out the awesome projects by the rest of the design team when you are there!

I had so much fun creating this haunted house for my classroom! I brought it into school yesterday, and my 2nd and 3rd graders loved it. Of course, they think they should all get to make one as well. :-) I used Happy Hauntings and cut the house at 11", which created a 20" haunted house! The black paper for the house came from 12" x 24" Provo Craft cardstock, and the windows were created with Papertrey Ink vellum. The rest of the papers are from Core'dinations or are Papertrey Ink cardstock. All of the sentiments (Eeeek!, Happy Halloween!, Boo!, and Trick or Treat) are from the My Pink Stamper Spooky Puns stamp set, stamped with Papertrey Ink True Black ink.

Alien Trick or Treater:

Paper Doll Dress Up, cut at 3"

Seeing Spots Cuttlebug Folder

Michael's Google Eyes

Ghosts:

Happy Hauntings, cut at 2" and 2 1/2"

Small Pumpkins:

Gypsy Wanderings, cut at 1 1/2" and 1 1/4" and Create a Critter, cut at 1 1/4"

Peachy Keen face stamps

Spider:

Designer's Calendar, cut at 1.94" and welded to a narrow rectangle on Gypsy to create a thread

Michael's Google Eyes

Large Pumpkins:

Happy Hauntings, cut at 3"

Bat:

Happy Hauntings, cut at 2 3/4"

Skeleton:

Happy Hauntings, cut at 4"

Mummy:

Happy Hauntings, cut at 4"

Xmas Red Stickles

Frankenstein:

Happy Hauntings, cut at 4"

Tom Sawyer Island Layout

Here is the last layout from our 1998 trip to Disneyland! This one focuses on Tom Sawyer Island. The sign is cut from Everyday Paper dolls three times at 6.14" and cut apart to give it the green grass, dark brown sign post, and light brown sign. I ran the post through my Cuttlebug with the Papertrey Ink Woodgrain Impression Plate and inked the edges with PTI Chai ink. I also added some Recollection brads to look like nail heads. "Tom Sawyer Island" is stamped with the PTI Simple Alphabet Stamps in PTI Dark Chocolate.

The mountains are cut at 9.12" from Paper Doll Dress Up and inked with PTI Smokey Shadow ink.

Background paper is from the DCWV Green Stack, green paper is PTI New Leaf cardstock, and the rest of the cardstock is Recollections.