Green Eggs & Ham (Well, sort of)...

The Mess Maker requested Green Eggs & Ham for breakfast.  She's been REALLY into the Cat In The Hat and Dr. Seuss lately.  Well, I don't keep ham slices on hand and didn't have any lunch meat in the fridge.  Why not bacon???  Close enough!

She didn't seem to mind...

Paw Print "Zoboomafoo" Birthday Invitations

A friend of mine has a daughter that is about to turn four and loves the show Zoboomafoo...so she requested Zoboomafoo invites.  If I'm being honest, I had never heard of the show before she mentioned it!  So I looked for it on On Demand, and it's really a super-cute, educational show!

Anyway, she wanted zebra print and hot pink as the color scheme...and she requested a paw print.  Now I have a pretty big collection of Cricut cartridges...I consider it a slight addiction.  But believe it or not, not one of them had a paw print image.  So out came the Design Studio and George and I was able to come up with a basic paw print and backing:

The base of the invitation is half of a 81/2" x 11" sheet of cardstock, cut lengthwise.  The two folds are made by scoring the base of the invite at 2 3/4" on both ends and folding toward the front.  I addes pieces of zebra print paper to both of the front flaps, and also inside of each flap.  The inside wording was printed on my computer with the Happy Sans font (LOVE IT!):

(I put an envelope in front of the party details to protect privacy)

Once I completed the base of the invitation, I added the paw print cut from black and pink glitter cardstock, with a tag (from George) that says "party!".  Looks like a WILD TIME to me!!!

P.S.  She hired someone to bring a live Lemur (just like the one on Zoboomafoo) along with some other critters to the party...how fun is that???  :)

Have a creative day!

Little Monster Treat Bag: FCCB Challenge #33--Halloween!

I FINALLY got the Cricut Mini Monsters cartridge, just in time for this week's Fantabulous Cricut Challenge...Halloween!  The assignment was to make anything having to do with Halloween. 

This cartridge has all the pieces needed to create this "Little Monster", except for the googly eyes I added.  Super-simple to make and I think it turned out pretty cute.  What little goblin wouldn't like to receive this little treat bag with a Halloween surprise?

Be sure to head over to FCCB and enter your own Halloween project for your chance to win this week's prize!

Happy Crafting!!!  :)

Fall Wine Glass Charms: FCCB Challenge #32 Leaf Theme

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is to create a project using a leaf for Fall!

I haven't made wine glass charms in a while, and thought this was the perfect opportunity to make some new ones to celebrate this gorgeous season!  They're soooooo easy and really turned out pretty cute!  To make the leaves, I used the Storybook cartridge and cut the leaf (shift "B") out of clear shrink plastic at 2 1/2" three times.  I inked each leaf using a different color of Adirondack (Tim Holtz) alcohol ink with a sponge dauber.  Then I punched a hole at the top of each with a standard size hole punch.

To shrink the plastic, I used my heat gun.  The two sides of the leaves wanted to overlap a little while shrinking and not lay completely flat, which actually made them look a little more "realistic" and less one-dimensional.  One shrunk, I added them to a silver ring and added some coordinating glass beads and the ring of leaves to a metal charm loop.

That's it!  Hope you check out Fantabulous Cricut's FANTABULOUS prize for this week and enter your own Fall leaf project for your chance to win!

Have a creative day!  :)

Blog Candy Winner!!!

Thanks to everyone who left a comment linking up your favorite stamped projects for my blog candy giveaway...wow, such a wide variety of awesome inspiration!

And now for the winner......

#6 goatesgirl

who said:

"well I don't really use "real" stamps that often although I have been starting to lately...I do love digi stamping though and my favorite thing to do woth stamps is make thenm look different either by paper piecing, adding stickles or liquid glass, bling whatever...here is my fave thing I did with a digi stamp"

Clicke HERE for more information about this awesome card!

Congratulations "goatesgirl"...you've got some fabulous "real" stamps to use on your next project!!!  Please contact me at the email address below with your mailing address to claim your prize!  You have two weeks to claim your stamp sets!!!

TheHouseholdCEO(at)live(dot)com

Have a creative day!  :)

BLOG CANDY!!!

I just read The Berenstain Bears Meet Santa to the Mess Maker and it's put me in the mood to "give"!  Soooooo, up for grabs is a brand-new full size Close To My Heart Stamp Set ("True Friends, no longer available) along with two mini Stamp Sets ("Bee Mine" & "Dream", also no longer available).  These are high-quality, clear stamps and are perfect for card-making!

To be eligible to win, you must be a follower and leave a comment on this post with a link to your most favorite stamped project.  I want some stamping inspiration, so let me see those beautiful creations!!!

Contest is open from now until Saturday, Oct. 16th.  Winner will be announced Sunday, Oct. 17th.

Good luck!  :)

"Man Made Card"!

This "video tutorial" is for any of you that have husbands who want nothing to do with your scrapbooking and papercrafting hobby, claiming that it's too "girly".  NOT ANYMORE!!!

I found this video by Stamping School over at the Stamp Goddess' website Fabulously Artsy and just had to share...super funny! 

Unfortunately, my husband probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a wrench and pliers, so we own absolutely none of the items used in this tutorial.  Oh well, maybe it will help someone else out there in Blogland with a "non-crafty" husband...  :)

Altered Wall Clock: FCCB Challenge #31--"On The Wall"!

This week's challenge at FCCB is called "On The Wall": create something to hang on the wall!  I have been needing a clock for the Noise Maker's bedroom and I've had this clock sitting around in a closet for a while, so I figured I'd do-it-up "Cricut style", using the Boys Will Be Boys cartridge.  Can I just tell you how much I LOVE this cartridge????  Sooooo fun for little guys!

I cut circles for each number, and added the numbers for 12, 3, 6, 9 (you know because I can barely tell time as it is, much less without ANY numbers to reference!).  Then I just chose images from the cartridge and cut them out with layers in coordinating colors and slapped them on the circle of patterned paper I cut to fit the clock face.

Now taking the hands off and putting them back on was a little tricky.  Took me a while to figure out.  But it's back together now and I think it turned out pretty cute.  Be sure to head over to Fantabulous Cricut and enter your own handmade wall decoration for your chance to win this week's prize!

Happy Crafting!!!  :)

Update on MS Walk and Fundraising Goal...

I am so happy to have made my goal of $225 in pledges and support for the MS Walk in November!  Thank you to everyone who has made a donation or pledge on my behalf.  My team is doing really well, having currently raised a total of $1,595.00!!!

I am so thankful for the support and encouragement of family and friends, as well as individuals I've never met who have been generous enough to donate to such a great cause.

Since I've met my initial goal, and I still have over a month left before the walk, I have raised my personal goal to $300!  That's only $75 more, but I want to keep trying to support the cause as much as I possibly can.  So let's make this thermometer rise to the top (again!)...

If you are able to make a donation or sponsor me for the 2010 MS Walk, I would greatly appreciate it!  You can donate directly to the National MS Society online, via my Fundraising Website.  Funds collected go to research and treatment for individuals living with Multiple Sclerosis, including my friend Colby.

Thank You!!!  :)

Halloween Treat Bags For Teachers!

With Halloween coming up, I wanted to give the Mess Maker's preschool teachers something sweet.  I came up with little treat bag covers to dress-up a plain little cello bag with their favorite candies!

For each bag cover, I cut a piece of 12x12 black carstock in half (2- 6"x12" pieces).  I trimmed one of the pieces to 10", then scored one end of each piece at 2 1/2".  I scored the other end of the 12" piece at 2".  Then I adhered the two 2 1/2" sections together to form one long strip.  I folded along the score lines and folded the 2" flap over the end of the shorter piece and had my cover.  Then I placed the cello bag with candy inside the cover, punched holes at the top and threaded ribbon through to secure it.  Here is a side view:

To embellish, I covered the front with cute little pumpkin paper by the Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby).  I added a die-cut pumpkin (Create a Critter) and printed "No Tricks...Only Treats!" onto it.  I tied green leaf ribbon to the stem and adhered it on the front.  Then I cut two candies from the Mini Monsters cartridge and adhered them on the flap.

Hope the teachers will get a kick out of these "sweet treats"!  :)

Have a creative day!

"BOO" Card: Circut Simply Charmed

I just got the Cricut Simply Charmed cartridge a couple of weeks ago and I am absolutely loving it!  Sooooooo cute!  This is one of the Halloween images from the cartridge and I thought it would be perfect for a little Halloween card!  I love this little bat...almost looks like a sweet little guy...except for the teeth!!!

I also cut the headstone from Simply Charmed and used it as a background for the tree cut.  Then I added the sentiment and drew in some faux stitching around the pieces for detail.  Hope you enjoy!!!  :)

"Royal Cupcakes": FCCB Challenge #30 Natl. Bake & Decorate Month!

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is called "National Bake & Decorate Month": create a project that has something to do with baking...and if we have the Cricut Cake, we can use that to create something tasty as well.  Well, I don't have the Cricut Cake.  :(  But that didn't stop me from whipping up something tasty!!!

I made some chocolate chip cupcakes and decided to dress them up a bit in honor of this week's challenge.  I have to brag a little on the super-cute graphics...because I didn't make them!!!  My friend Tommie, from OhMyGluestick! designs graphics that you can use for party decorations, including these little "party circles" which I used as cupcake toppers.  This set of four designs is from the "Alice In Wonderland" set (which was one of the featured free sets a while back!) and features the ace, spade, heart and club.  How fun would these be for a card game get-together or royal-themed party???  OMG! has an Etsy shop with TONS of graphics for party decor, and she does custom designs as well.  Go check her out!

Okay, to complete my cupcake toppers, I punched each image using a 1 1/2" circle punch.  Then I used my Cricut to cut a 1 3/4" circle (George & Basic Shapes) to mat the image and a 2" scallop circle (Storybook) to mat the circle.  I added stickles to the dot borders on each image to give them some sparkle and added a rhinestone in the center of each.  To finish, I attached them to lollipop sticks and tied coordinating ribbon around the sticks.  Super-easy and super-quick, and I think they're pretty stinkin' cute!

Hope you'll visit both OMG! (for fabulous party decor ideas) and Fantabulous Cricut to enter your own "Bake & Decorate" project. 

Have a creative (and yummy) day!!!  :)