Pumpkin streusel bread...mmm...

I found these cute little loaf pans at Michael's, and immediately knew I wanted to make pumpkin streusel bread for Halloween gifts. They cost $1.00, are oven- and dishwasher-safe, and Michael's usually carries them in different colors and themes. I also got the clear bags at Michael's, and it just so happened that their credit card machines were down, so everybody in the store got 20% off their entire purchase for paying cash. YAY! Anyway, I used this recipe. And the recipe made enough for 4 of these mini loaves, with plenty of streusel to top each one. I realize there are only 3 loaves in these pics, and you may be wondering about the 4th one...let me just say, it was delicious ;). For the tags, I used a Studio G $1 stamp on patterned paper by DCWV. I used Stickles glitter glue on the word "boo". Ribbons are Making Memories, and I secured the tags to the ribbons with silver brads. I thought they turned out really cute!

Another view:

Orange tag, close up:

Green tag, close up:

Purple tag, close up:

Here is what the cream colored pan looks like:

Here's what the black pan looks like:

A view of all three loaves:

A few Cuttlebug cards

So, my mother-in-law got a Cuttlebug a few months ago, and I've been wanting to get together and play Cuttlebugs! Well, we finally got to do just that! The boys went out shooting, and we made some adorable cards. Then we went to Carrabba's for dinner...mmm...Carrabba's...my favorite...(drooling)...
...um, back to the cards. On this one, I used the Swiss Dots A2 embossing folder, and the cute little elephant is from one of my MIL's sets. I used my Scor-Pal to score the lines between which I stamped my sentiment and put ribbon. Purely by coincidence, I had pre-cut a bunch of 2" x 2" squares to use with the smaller embossing folders, and after we had embossed the elephant, I saw this scalloped chipboard frame and wondered if they'd fit together. They fit perfectly! And as luck would have it, I had 2 of them, so we could each use one on our cards. The frame is Making Memories (last year's Valentine line), and the stamp is Studio G. Ribbon was from her stash.
Here's a close-up of the little elephant and the frame. I don't know if you can see it or not, but I took a Prismacolor marker (cool grey 10%) and went over the lines of the elephant. I used a little Frosted Lace Stickles on the flower.

Here is another card I made. I used the Swiss Dots on the upper half of the card, and Perfectly Paisley on the bottom half. The stamp is Studio G, and the embellishments are Making Memories (again, last year's Valentine line). I also used my Scor-Pal and embroidery floss.

Here's a close-up of the embossing and a chipboard corner embellishment.

This next card turned out cuter than I thought it was going to. I really wasn't pleased with it as I was making it, but it's growing on me. The frog is from one of the smaller sets that my MIL has, and the background is the Tiny Bubbles A2 folder. The bookplate is Making Memories (you guessed it, last year's Valentine line), and the LOVE stamp is Studio G. The "u" stamp is Hero Arts, and they were colored with Prismacolor markers. The pearly brads were from my stash, and the ribbon was from my MIL's.

Last, but not least, I made this "you're so sweet" card. I scored a line with my Scor-Pal, and embossed the upper portion with the Swiss Dots folder. Below the score line, I used a Martha Stewart border punch, and filled in the larger holes with Fruit Punch Stickles. The black and white chipboard frame and the plastic embellishment inside it are by Making Memories (you know which line). The plastic embellishment was actually a flower with a pink center. I stamped the "you're so sweet" using a Studio G stamp and Staz-On ink, and then place the flower behind the chipboard frame. I trimmed the flower petals that stuck out past the frame.

Here's a close-up of the chipboard frame, the plastic flower embellishment, and the stamp.

Thanks for looking!

l o v e wordbook (Cricut Expression 201 project)

Okay, as promised to the students in my class...here are the page-by-page pictures of the word book we made in the Cricut Expression 201 classes on January 23 and 25. For those of you who are seeing this for the first time, this is a word book that spells out "love." I really like the look of the premade word books that are out there, but altering them is not always that much fun. So, I designed a word book that incorporates the Cricut Expression. For the base of the book, I used chipboard that was cut with a paper trimmer. The book is 6" tall, and there are five pages. The page widths are 2", 4", 6", 8", and 10". The patterned paper that covers the chipboard was also cut with a paper trimmer in the same sizes. The remainder of the cuts you see were cut using the Cricut Expression machine and the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. The patterned papers are American Crafts, and the cardstock and brads are Bazzill. Ribbon is May Arts, "xoxo" stamp is Studio G, and the two corner stamps are Heidi Swapp. All were stamped with black Staz-On. The binder rings are from OfficeMax.

Here is a picture of the back side of the cover and the "L" page.

Here is the back side of the "L" and the "O" page.

Here we have the back side of the "O" and the "V" page, showing one of the corner stamps.

And here is the back of the "V" page, showing the other corner stamp, and the "E" page.

This was a fun little project to design and teach. Please feel free to post any questions about the book or cut sizes. Thanks for looking!