You're only young once...

...but you can be immature for a lifetime. That is, at least, according to this cute ole' gal! I LOVE HER!!! I've been wanting to use this stamp on something, and she worked herself into my "I Heart Cards" class for April and frankly, stole the show. I love belt buckle cards, and this stamp lent itself to one beautifully. The image and the sentiment are actually one stamp, but I cut them apart to use separately. I colored her in using the magic colored pencil technique (aka Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits - big thanks to SusieB for introducing me to that!!!) The scalloped circle is a punch (2.5"), and I dotted the scallops with an American Crafts memory marker (fine tip). Paper is My Mind's Eye, stamp is Inkadinkado, and I used a small oval punch (punched several times in small increments), to create the "buckle" through which the belt slides.

You're a hoot!

I've been eyeballing this polka dot paper from Basic Grey (can't go wrong with Basic Grey, that's for sure!), and I've also been wanting to use this cute owl stamp from Inkadinkado. Well, I paired them up, and I love the result! I used them to create this window card for my "I Heart Cards" class this month. I used a large circle punch (2.5") to create the window for the bird, and a small circle punch (maybe 5/8 or 3/4"?) to create the long window at the bottom. To do this, punch several times in very small increments (think nail clippings...eww...) until you reach the desired length. The sentiment was computer generated (honey script), and the cardstock is Bazzill.

Happy Birthday

This is a waterfall card that I tought in my "I Heart Cards" class for April. It is so named because, as you pull the tab on the bottom, each of the squares with stamped images flip up and over, like a waterfall. When the tab is pulled out all the way, it reveals the message "Happy Birthday". Patterned paper is SEI (orange is back side), cardstock is Bazzill, stamps are part of a clear happy birthday set by Kelly Panacci for Sandylion, pull tab is an AccuCuts die.

thinking of you

Here is another cute little criss-cross card that I taught in my April "I Heart Cards" class at Pages In Progress. Patterned paper is SEI, cardstock is Bazzill, stamp is part of a clear set by Kelly Panacci for Sandylion.

Makin' a SPLASH

Summer is a comin'! Again, I needed pictures for my layout, so I got Terri, the owner of Pages In Progress, to let me use her precious grandson. This was the layout for my I Heart Cricut 101 class for April, and the ladies loved it! All cuts are from George and Basic Shapes. Patterned paper is SEI and the cardstock is Bazzill (color Lakeshore). For the bubbles, I cut various size circles and traced around them with my American Crafts Ultimate Gel Pen (thanks to Robinn for RAKing that to me!). Then I filled them in with Glossy Accents. Love that stuff!

LOVE you

I made a plea to my wonderful message board friends at the Cricut site for a picture of a kiddo to use in my layout. Several answered the call, and I decided to use Stephanie Castro's beautiful daughter in this layout for my I Heart Cricut 101 class for March. Thanks again, Stephanie! All cuts are from the George and Basic Shapes cartridge. Patterned paper is Piggy Tales. The little journaling hearts say "your eyes", "your smile", "your spirit".

10 things I love about you

I thought it would be fun to make a cute little tag book for my I Heart Cricut 201 class for February, and since it's not really "Valentine-y", I taught it again for my March class. Most of the cuts are from George and Basic shapes, with the exception of the scalloped circle (Mini-Monograms) and the letter "u" (Alphalicious). Patterned paper is We R Memory Keepers. I made this for my DH, and he loved it...

100% BOY

Here is another very simple layout that I taught in my I Heart Cricut 101 class at Pages In Progress. This layout is from the February class, and again features my cute little nephew. Patterned paper is Deja Views. All cuts were made with the George and Basic Shapes cartridge. The square is a journaling pocket that holds a star-shaped tag that says "You looked so cute in your birthday suit!"

SWEET

Here is a very simple layout I taught in my I Heart Cricut 101 class back in January. All the cuts were made with the George and Basic Shapes cartridge. The negative cut of the word "SWEET" was backed with clear packing tape (sticky-side up), and sprinkled with Diamond Dust. Paper is Cosmo Cricket. As we have no children, I'm always using other people's kids for my layouts. These are my adorable niece and nephew. Aren't they SWEET???