Fatnabulous Cricut Challenge #12: For Baby

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is to make a project for baby...a shower gift, card, album, etc.  I love to make baby projects...one of my most favorite gifts to make using my Cricut. 

I do have a confession to make:  I'm not home right now and since I forgot to upload a photo of my "baby" project before I left town, I have to show you one of my projects from a while back.  SORRY!!!  :)

This is a photo of half of the shower invitation I made for my sister's baby shower...the side that's cut off just has the shower information printed from my computer.  Hard to believe my niece had her first birthday this weekend...oh, how time flies!

I used New Arrival to make the stork and baby/blanket, and George to cut the small flowers.  The papers are from Michael's.  To add extra detail to the blanket, I covered it in white tulle and cinched it at the top with ribbon.  I also added rhinestones to the flower centers and used pop dots for dimension.  For the baby's face, I layered green cardstock behind the eyes and pink behind the mouth, with some "rosy cheeks" added by applying pink chalk.

I hope you'll head over to FCCB and check out all the design team projects...there is a ton of great inspiration!

Thanks for looking and have a creative day!  :)

Teacher Bookmarks

As part of the Mess Maker's class gift for her preschool teachers, I was asked if I would make a bookmark for each teacher.  Ummmmm, yeah!!!  I can't resist the opportunity to make something for someone!  :)

For these bookmarks, I cut a piece of dark brown cardstock at 3 1/4" x 7 1/2".  I added a slightly smaller piece of blue patterned paper on top...it has sort of a "vintage" feel to it.  Then I printed each student's response to the question, "I like Ms. ____ because...".  I added the class name and school year to the top, trimmed it slightly smaller than the blue patterned paper and adhered the strip on top.

I cut the children die-cut from A Child's Year at 2" and adhered it to the bottom of the bookmark.  To finish, I added an eyelet to the top, threaded ribbon and hemp through and added wooden beads to the ends of the hemp.

They have somewhat of a "vintage" look to them.  I hope they'll like them...they've been GREAT teachers to the Mess Maker all year and I sooooo appreciate them!  :)

Ribbon and Flower Mobile

Since I recently made the Monkey Mobile for the Noise Maker's room, I decided it was time to update the Mess Maker's ribbon mobile, since it's been hanging as is for about 3 years now.

I recently updated her room, changing the colors up a bit.  So, I took all the previous colors of ribbon off, and added brighter, more "girly" ribbons.  Then using several cartridges (Wedding, Accent Essentials, Walk In My Garden) I cut boldly colored flowers and attached them randomly on the ribbons.

Each flower has a button accented with a rhinestone in the center.  She LOVES this new mobile and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  Now they both have new room decorations...whew!  :)

FANTABULOUS CRICUT Challenge #11: Flowers For May...

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is "Flowers For May": use at least three flowers on a project.  I made this birthday cake box and added three dimensional flower accents!

For this project, I used the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge to cut the box and the small tag.  I used Accent Essentials to cut the scallop edge border and the flowers.

Each flower has 5 layers, cut at 2" (2), 1 1/2" (2) and 1" (1).  I embellished each flower by adding a rhinestone center and rolling the petals over my stylus to curve them.  I used a standard size hole punch to punch through the center of the pink flower, and just slid it down over the candle and glued in place.

To finish, I stamped "Happy Birthday" (CTMH), attached the tag with some narrow ribbon and adhered "snowball" pearls to the scallop edge.

Be sure to head over to FCCB for some fabulous Design Team projects and inspiration!

Have a creative day!!!  :)

FCCB Scrappin' Saturday Feature: Make Your Own Lace Cardstock!

For today's Scrappin' Saturday feature over at Fantabulous Cricut, I featured my own "lace cardstock"...just like the ones that cost a fortune at the scrapbook store.  Only this one is made with just a plain sheet of cardstock and my Cricut!

I selected the image I wanted for my background (this one is from Wild Card) and used the Fit To Page function which cuts the image as large as possible, in this case 11 inches.

You could also achieve as large a size as possible by using Design Studio and stretching your image as large as needed to fit your page size.  Either way you'll end up with your own custom "lace cardstock" at a fraction of the price!

Head over to Fantabulous Cricut for daily inspiration and weekly challenges!!!

Happy Scrappin'!  :)

FANTABULOUS CRICUT CRAWL WINNER!

Today's the day...the winner of the Cricut Crawl has been announced over at FCCB (you'll have to head over there to find out who it is!!!)

And the winner of my individual prize, for incorporating my featured element:  Using the Cricut Die-Cut negative on a project......

Jennifer Hawkins!!!

Look how Jennifer incorporated the large negative of an apple as part of her background!  Isn't that clever???  I just love this idea and will be using it myself for sure.  Thanks for playing along with our Crawl Jennifer!

Please email me at The Household CEO @ live . com (no spaces) to give me mailing information so I can get your prize to you!!! 

Looking forward to the next Cricut Crawl and seeing what everyone comes up with!  :)

Monkey Mobile For The Noise Maker's Room

The Mess Maker has had a ribbon mobile in her room since almost day one and I decided that (a year later) it was time for the Noise Maker to have one, too!  Since he has animals all over his room, I thought the monkey swinging from the vine from Create a Critter would be perfect!

I cut out 20 vines using the "Fit To Page" function and adhered two together to make 10 long vines.  I hot glued them to the inside of an painted embroidery hoop.  Then I cut out the monkeys and hot glued them onto the vines.  To finish, I used Design Studio to weld three bananas together to form "bunches" and hot glued those randomly over the vines.

Then I hung it onto his light with green ribbon.  That's it!  Thanks for looking and have a creative day!  :)

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #10: Bags & Boxes Bonanza!

Our challenge this week over at Fantabulous Cricut is called "Bags & Boxes Bonanza": Make a 3D project AND use the color black somewhere on it.

Hmmmmm...I've been in such a spring/summer mode lately, that I wasn't sure what I could make that kept with the spring/summer theme, but would still incorporate black.  But, since I'm totally addicted to the Create a Critter Cartridge, it wasn't long until I found this super-cute little ladybug and knew what I would make...a cute little ladybug gift box!

I made the box base by cutting a piece of black cardstock to 6 3/4" x 8 1/2".  I scored at 2 1/4" inches on all four sides, then cut on score lines as shown:

Next, I folded up the cut sides and adhered them to box sides with Terrifically Tacky Tape:

Once I had my box constructed, I cut my ladybug and layers, making them just big enough to hide the box when looking at it from the front (3 1/2").  I added some flowers, brads and ribbon to embellish this little "lady".  Then I attached the ladybug (and a back plain black ladybug die cut as well) to the box with TTT. 

To finish, I added a 1 1/2" strip of black cardstock for the handle, attaching it inside, and added red paper crinkles in the box.

Hope you like my ladybug box!  Thanks for looking and have a creative day!!!  :)

The Noise Maker's First (REAL) Haircut!

We took the Noise Maker to get a haircut several months ago and ended up with a few cut lines in his hair, with very little length taken off and NO style put into it whatsoever.  After brushing his hair out of his eyes for the millionth time this morning, we decided to take him to get a REAL haircut...you know, at one of those cartoony-kids'-haircut places.

He was soooooo good!  Sat very still, looked where the stylist needed him to look, smiled and was generally content while the cutting took place...

And now he looks like such a Big Boy!!!!

Note to self:  Do not ask the stylist to cut it shorter than she thinks she should in the front.  He looks somewhat like Jim Carrey in "Dumb & Dumber" when his hair lays just right.  Oh well...  :)

FCCB Scrappin' Saturday Feature: Printing Onto Die-Cuts

I have had several inquiries on how I print onto my die-cuts after they're already cut out on my Cricut, like I did for the Monkey Birthday Invitations...so I decided to feature this topic for today's Scrappin' Saturday at FCCB!

I don't know about you, but I prefer printed text over my own handwriting (which is messy!) on my layouts, because I know that I can correct mistakes before they're on my pages forever!!! :) So this is how I add journaling and printed text to my die-cut embellishments (including journaling blocks, page accents, card embellishments, and any other shape you want to add computer-generated font to) AFTER they are already cut out!

I have used the "Center Point" button on my Cricut to try and cut out a journaling block after I've already printed my text, but I find that I always manange to make it crooked or skewed, thus ruining the cut and the journaling.

So here's my method of ensuring even, centered journaling on whatever cut you decide to use:

1. In your word processing program, type your text exactly how you want it on your die-cut, making sure to leave enough space between them if you're printing multiple journaling spots:

2. Print out your text on regular printer paper. At this time, I place my die-cuts (which have already been cut to the size I need for my layout) over the text and adjust the size/spacing of the text as needed to make sure it all fits nicely within the cut. I typically print out several pages until I get it just right:

3. Add a very small amount of adhesive over the center of each journaling spot:

4. Turn your paper over, hold it up to a light or window and take your die-cut shapes and center them over the journaling area. By using only a tiny amount of adhesive, you can easily remove the die-cut and reposition it over the journaling:

Do this for each die-cut shape you want journaling on.

5. Run your paper back through your printer, with die-cuts attached, the same way it went through before:

6. When finished printing, you'll have perfectly placed journaling on your die cut:

7. Gently remove each die-cut shape and add to your project with additional adhesive:

That's it! I've never had a problem with my die-cuts separating from the paper in the printer or my paper jamming in my printer when the die cuts are going through, but I suppose each printer is different. I just have a very inexpensive HP Inkjet printer from Wal-Mart.

So that's my tutorial.  I hope you found it helpful!  Remember that you can do this on ANY shape your good ol' Cricut can cut...so experiment!  And then let me know if you tried this and how it worked!

Happy Scrappin'!

5x7 Recipe Books

I made these 5x7 recipe books using the CTMH My Creations Binder.  I covered them in CTMH Silhouette papers, then cut a marquee frame from Accent Essentials.  The letters for the titles were cut from Cursive 101.

I made a table of contents on the front insert in each binder with a list of the recipe categories (printed on my computer). 

This is an attempt to organize my TRILLIONS of recipe cards!!!  Now I can just get a bunch of 5x7 notecards, punch holes and stick recipes to them or write on them.  WHEW!  :)

Thanks for looking and have a creative day!  :)

Monkey Birthday Invitations (Create a Critter)

My neice (who is also my God-daughter) is turning one on May 29th and I got to make her birthday invitations!!!  My sister and her husband call Avery their "little monkey" so the theme for her first birthday was pretty much decided a long time ago.  :)

My sister likes the "Pink Mod Monkey" themed party supplies, so the colors and girly monkey are inspired by those.  For the monkey I used Create a Critter...can I just tell you this is my ALL-TIME-FAVORITE cartridge?!?!?  I used black cardstock for the base, medium brown for Layer 1 and light brown for Layer 2.  She's cut at 3".  I added a flower to her head to make her a "girl monkey", which was cut from Wedding Solutions.

I added some leafy ribbon I purchased from my LSS to the top left corner, punched a mini hole in the monkey's hand and added a small ring to hang her from the vine...she swings!!!  The scallop circle and circle were cut from Storybook and I printed the wording onto the circles after they were cut.  I added a ribbon to ground the circle and attached the the circle with foam adhesive to make it pop.

I made the inside by just running the cardstock through my printer before trimming it and constructing the card base.  The monkey is from my Micorsoft Word Clipart...how cute is she???

Thanks for looking and have a creative day!

Teacher Appreciation Card (Create a Critter)

I saw a similar card to this made by Donna Mundinger, posted on the Cricut MessageBoard.  I thought it was soooooo super-cute that I made one of my own, changing things up a bit based on the supplies I had on hand.

I used Create a Critter for the apple and worm, Walk In My Garden for the flower and Tags, Bags, Boxes and More for the tag.  The inside holds a photo of my daughter with a little thank you note along with a giftcard.

To dress it up a bit, I placed it in a cello bag and added a bag topper, inspired by one I saw on My Pink Stamper.  The scallop circle is from Storybook along with the initial.  I added coordinating ribbon and had a cute, packaged giftcard for my daughter's teachers!

Thanks for looking and have a creative day!  :)

Fantabulous Cricut Crawl: Using The Die-Cut Negative On A Project!

Welcome to Organized Chaos and the Fantabulous Cricut Crawl...our version of a progressive blog hop!

If you've come from visiting Candace at Scrap-A-Doodle-Dee, you're in the right place! If you've just happened across my blog and would like to play along with our Fantabulous Cricut Crawl, start here.  A full list of participating Design Team members/blogs is available at FCCB.

For our Fantabulous Cricut Crawl, each FCCB Design Team member has chosen to feature a specific element related to using the Cricut. There are a wide variety of techniques and elements that will be featured, so make sure you stop by each DT member's blog to take a look!

There will be plenty of prizes along the way...one at each stop for a participant that incorporates that Design Team member's specific element on a project.  And don't forget about the GRAND PRIZE!!!  This will be awarded to the participant that incorporates the most featured elements into ONE project!  How fun is that? :)

The element I've chosen to feature today is....

USING THE DIE-CUT NEGATIVE ON A PROJECT

I will be featuring several ideas on how you can use your die-cut negatives (formerly scraps!) to customize your own creations!

This shaker card was made using the negative of the rattle die-cut from New Arrival.  I cut the image to use on another project, and then kept the negative of the cut for this project. 

Just trim around the negative and then adhere a piece of acrylic or transparency to the back of the opening.  Then place adhesive foam around the shaker portion of the negative (shown below):

 Next, fill the compartment with anything you want (I used seed beads) and attach a piece of cardstock to the back...then you're ready to adhere your shaker to a card!

You can also use the negative for a stencil!  I didn't adhere mine down, I just held it in place with my fingers, but you could certainly try repositionable or stencil tape to help the process.  This image is from the A Child's Year cartridge.  I used the negative of the profile image to ink the coordinating tag.

Then I lifted the negative and attached a piece of ribbon to the top for a quick and easy tag for a scrapbook page, card or project.

You can also stamp directly over the image and combine that with inking for a "patterned" effect.  This is a bird image from Home Decor.  I used the negative to stamp and then rub ink over it to define the image.

You can also try chalk to stencil in your negative.  Here I used varying shades of lavender to make a subtle background for a card element.

You could use the stencil technique to create a one-of-a-kind background for a card or layout, or even to customize your title letters on a page.  The options are really endless!

Now it's your turn! See if you can incorporate the use of a die-cut negative on your project! I can't wait to see what you come up with!

To be eligible to win my prize, simply leave a comment on this post and let me know you've included my featured element on your project.  And I'd love for you to sign up to follow Organized Chaos, too!  My prize includes everything pictured below:

Contents:  letter stickers; chipboard letter stickers; chipboard shaped albums with coordinating die-cut papers, ribbon, journaling tags & die-cut shapes; 6x6 fabric-covered album; 4x6 adhesive cardstock stack; Clear Resist ink pad; Liquid Aplique; Martha Stewart glue pen!

AND, don't forget that the participant that uses the most featured elements on a SINGLE project will win the GRAND PRIZE!  Visit Fantabulous Cricut for details!
 

Next stop...Nana's blog, Younique Reflections! Go see what Nana has in store for you today... And when you're done, make sure to link up your project(s) to FCCB's Fantabulous Cricut Crawl post to be entered into the contest!

Happy Crawling!!! :)