My new favorite layout!!!

So, a few days ago, one of the gals on the Cricut website posted a link to Tami Potter's site (http://www.tamipotter.com/). She mentioned that she had taken Tami's class at a CKC and enjoyed it. I checked out Tami's site, and she does fantastic things with photo mosaics. Her work was completely different than anything I've ever done, and I found myself inspired by her. Then I looked at her blog, and fell IN LOVE with her "Howl-o-scream" layout. Maybe I'm just a sucker for all things Halloween, but I found myself going back to this layout over and over. Well, my SIL had just emailed some pics of my BIL and their kids, and they were absolutely perfect for this type of layout. I decided to give it a go, even though I didn't have Tami's special gridded paper. ***I am SO proud of this layout!!!*** I just keep looking at it over and over, like I did with Tami's. I thought it turned out so great. I used 3 warm fall colors of Bazzill cardstock, some acetate, acrylic letters, and Stickles. That's all!! Okay, less talky, more showy...here it is:


Here is a close-up of the kids grasshopper hunting:

Here's my BIL and their handsome son in the beautiful aspen trees:

And here's a close-up of their daughter - she's a cutie-pie:

I die-cut these letters out of acetate (transparency sheet/report cover) using the AccuCut. I put Goldenrod Stickles all over the back of each letter, and when they dried, I adhered them to the cardstock with my ATG.

The word splendor was computer generated and printed onto the gold Bazzill. Then I took a couple of self-adhesive acrylic letters I had in my stash, and stuck 'em on. I covered them with Cinnamon Stickles.

Again, acetate letters with Stickles on the back side. This is a much better picture than the one above, it shows a more true color.

"Hoppy holidays" spring card

In my most recent card class, I taught various types of pop-up cards. I knew I wanted to include a "spring" card, the name of which has nothing to do with the season, and everything to do with the fact that when you take these babies out of their envelopes, the top part "springs" upward. I wasn't sure what I wanted to put on my card...until I found this cutie-patootie frog. He's part of a very cute set by Hero Arts, but I immediately knew he was the one for my card. I used Bo Bunny Double Dot papers in red and green, plain white cardstock, Staz-On black ink, Stickles, ribbon, computer-generated text, Rain Dots, and the word window punch from Stampin' Up! I cut the white circle behind the froggy with my Cricut Expression and the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. I cut the red scalloped circle using the Mini Monograms cartridge. I also tried my hand at paper piercing. It was my first time doing both paper piecing and paper piercing. I think I like them both...

Here's the card:



Here is a close-up of the adorable little froggy. I love him! I stamped him onto the green double dot and onto the red double dot, then paper-pieced the red scarf onto the green frog. I then used Black Diamond Stickles on his eyes and on the black dots on the scarf:

Close-up of the "hoppy holidays". I printed the computer-generated words onto the red double dot paper, then used the word window punch. I used two little red Rain Dots on each word.

Here's a close-up of my first attempt at paper piercing. Not too shabby... :)

Blue Christmas

Another card that I taught in my pop-up card class was this free-standing pop-up. I am so in love with this style of card, and it is surprisingly easy to make. I used Bo Bunny Double Dot paper and plain white cardstock, which I embossed with the Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder. I also cut a large snowflake for the base, using a Cuttlebug die. Stamp is by Hero Arts, stamped with black Staz-On ink. I used Frosted Lace Stickles around the stamped image and on the snowflake die. I used some fun blue "eyelashes" on the front of the card. Enjoy!



Another view:

Here is what the card looks like when it's folded and ready for mailing:

Here is a close-up of the snowflake and the eyelashes. To make the snowflake more substantial, I first adhered my white cardstock onto a piece of thin chipboard, then I used the Cuttlebug die. That way I didn't have to worry about cutting out the cardstock and the chipboard separately and trying to match them up and adhere them after they were cut. I put a thin layer of Frosted Lace Stickles over the snowflake. I adhered it to the card so that it would stand up as the base folded down. I used Glossy Accents as my adhesive:

Here is a close-up of the embossing and the stamped image. I used Frosted Lace Stickles around the edge of the blue cardstock:

"Love the Fall" sliding pop-up card

Here is another one of the cards I taught in my pop-up card class. This is a sliding pop-up card. The patterned paper is My Mind's Eye, the cardstock is Bazzill, the tree was cut from the Stretch Your Imagination Cricut cartridge, the "love the fall" stamp is Studio G (and was sent to me by my wonderful Cricut secret sister, sugarbbmom!), and the little leaf stamp is by Autumn Leaves, quite appropriately. Both stamps used Colorbox Cat's Eye chalk ink in dark brown. I outlined the tree and the fall stamp with cinnamon Stickles, and used crystal Stickles on the leaves of the tree. I tied a piece of raffia under the tree trunk. Here's the card lying flat, ready for mailing:

Here's the card with the slider pulled out, "popping up" the tree, and revealing the window where you could write your message:

Here is another look at the tree popped up:

And here is a blurry, but close-up, picture of the lovely stamp. I just love all the detail of this Studio G! You can also see the thin line of cinnamon Stickles surrounding the stamped image:

Best witches

My friend Stephanie, who loves Halloween like I do, just got a new job! So I made her this card and sour cream container to "witch" her good luck! The sentiments are computer-generated (Bewitched font), and I printed onto the ribbon. I really love this trick, and should do it more often. The black patterned paper is by 3 Bugs In A Rug, orange paper is Lasting Impressions, witch stamp is Studio G (wooden), image is stamped with black Staz-On and colored in with Stickles. The black and white star and the orange frame around the witch are Making Memories Glitter Stickers (Spellbound collection). I used my Fiskars Threading Water punch on the card, and my paper crimper to close the sour cream container (which contained mini Reese's cups...mmm...). Here's the set:
The card by itself:
Another view:
Close-up of ribbon on sour cream container.

Happy Halloween pop-up

So, I love Halloween, and I can't get enough of it right now. I'd been wanting to make a free-standing pop-up card ever since I saw one of Dawn Griffith's YouTube tutorials. They are so easy, but produce such a great result! One of my Cricut secret sisters sent me this cute spider stamp, and I was so excited to get to use it. I embossed the background with the Cuttlebug spider web embossing folder. I made sure to use a white-core paper; when I embossed it, I placed a piece of carbon paper on top of the orange paper inside the embossing folder. The black carbon transferred onto the orange paper, then I sanded all the raised parts to reveal the white core. Papers are Making Memories, spider stamp is Stampendous, happy halloween stamp is Studio G, ribbon is American Crafts, white gel pen for doodle dots, Staz-on black ink.

Here's what it looks like closed and ready for mailing:
Here it is free-standing:
Close-up of the happy halloween stamp:

SWEET envelope album...this may be my favorite project EVER!!!!

I am so in love with this project! This is a minibook I created using envelopes adhered to one another in an accordian fashion. I created this envelope album for my Cricut Expression 201 class at Pages In Progress. Everything you see (minus the ribbon, of course) was cut with the Expression. All cuts are from the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge, except the word SWEET on the front cover, which is from Storybook (thanks, Lorena!) The double-sided patterned paper is the "Color Me Pink" line from 3 Bugs In A Rug. The colored cardstock is Bazzill (colors are Red Hot and Parakeet), and the white is just the Georgia-Pacific cardstock that you can buy by the ream at Wal-Mart. The white pen is Marvy's Gel Excel. I used my Scor-Pal for scoring all the envelopes. Leave me a comment with your email if you'd like a cut list with sizes. Here is a picture of the front cover:
Close-up of front cover:
Here is the front of the envelope album all stretched out:
Here is the back of the album, showing how the top flap (the smaller of the two flaps) is attached to the envelope above it:
Here is the first page under the front cover. Each page has a rectangle on the front of the envelope for a picture or journaling. The corners of this rectangle must be rounded with a punch (or by using a cartridge with a rounded rectangle on it). For my class, I try to keep all the cuts on one cartridge, since I know that people who have the Expression will have Plantin Schoolbook. Inside each envelope is a larger rectangle for a picture:
Second inside page:

Third inside page:
Fourth inside page:
Fifth inside page:
Sixth, and last, page:

Berry happy birthday

Here is a card I made for a berry special lady on her birthday. I got to use one of my new Cuttlebug border embossing folders, and I love it! I also got to use my first Stampin Up! stamp ever (Tart & Tangy). The embossed scalloped circle around the stamp is also Cuttlebug. The sentiment is computer-generated (font: Boopie). I also used my Scor-Pal, ribbon from my stash, a Rain Dot, and Le-Plume markers.
Here is a close-up of the stamp and embossing.

Love 2 travel

Here is a mini-book that I taught today in my "I love Cricut Expression 201" class. All cuts from chipboard, patterned paper, and cardstock were made with the Cricut Expression and the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. Patterned travel paper is Love, Elsie (by KI Memories), cardstock is Bazzill. I love this paper and the colors, and I think it turned out really well. Here is the front cover:
Here are the inner pages:

More Halloween cards...YAY!

Well, my friend Stephanie came over again, and we made some more Halloween cards. Here are mine. I finally got to use the Grungeboard and the Tim Holtz Distressed crackle paint I've had for months. I used the crackle paint on the Grungeboard skull. I love the way it turned out. Patterned paper is Making Memories, and the glitter cardstock is DCWV. I free-hand stitched with black floss at the top and bottom of the glitter cardstock. Ribbon is from my stash.
Here's a close-up of the Grungeboard with the crackle paint on it. The thicker the application, the better the results.


Here's the second card. Patterned paper is Around the Block. Spider stamp is Heidi Grace, and is covered with Black Diamond Stickles. Glitter cardstock is punched with the Fiskars Threading Water punch. The sentiment was done with the Dymo label maker. Ribbon is from my stash.
Here's a close-up of the Stickled spider: