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!

Sock Cupcakes!!!

I've been meaning to post these for a while, but I just forgot about them until tonight!  "Rach1" on the Cricut Messageboard was SOOOOOOO kind to send me the DS .cut file for the wrapper.  THANK YOU!!!  You can check out her blog at Rachie's Scrap Spot.

All it takes to make this is your Cricut, a sheet of paper (this is a print by Sandylion) and a pair of fluffy socks (I got these from the M's dollar bins!).  Oh, and a pom pom for the cherry on top.

Simply roll up the sock, toe first, and place inside wrapper.  Gently pull the inner-most part of the sock up and adjust the layers as needed.  Then pop a pom pom on top and ta-da!  What cute, inexpensive gift!

Top view:

I plan to put these individually into some cello bags, wrap a cute ribbon and a tag on them and give them to teachers, friends, etc. when I need a last-minute gift!

Thanks for looking and have a creative day!!!  :)

Bikini Card :)

I LOVE making cards, but I typically just get one of those store bought generics for my husband for his brithday, Valentine's, etc, mainly because he's a guy and I always think he could probably care less what's on a card.  BUT, then I saw an example of one of these and decided he would DEFINITELY appreciate this kind of handmade card!!!   :)

The base, bra and panty were cut with Design Studio (see below for file details).  I added some red trim to the top of both the bra and panty.  Then I cut the hearts with George and ran them through my printer to get the sentiments.  The heart on the bra is attached with a rhinestone crystal.

The only problem with this card is that it SOOOOOOO is not true to life!  It's amazing how absolutely dissimilar it is to my body.  HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Jen over at Jen's Brain Things was kind enough to send me this Design Studio .cut file for this cutie.  If you would like this file, just head over to her blog and send her a quick note.  She's awesome!  :)

February CTMH Workshops!!!

Here is a look at the projects for the workshops I'll be teaching in February!  I'm sooooo excited about these super-fun crafts...

It's back!  I'm teaching another cupcake class...I'm calling this one my "Red Velvet" cupcake, in honor of Valentine's Day!  We're using CTMH's That's Amore papers for this yummy treat!

I'm super-excited about my new monthly workshop, "Word Book Wednesday"!  One Wednesday a month, we'll be making a different word book.  This month's theme is "LOVE" for Valentine's Day!  Using CTMH's Silhouette papers and coordinating embellishments and stamps, create an album about the "LOVE" of your life!

This is a super-fun refillable notebook!  Covered in CTMH's Emporium papers, this bound notepad can be refilled once the original notepad (included) is gone.  This is great to keep in your purse or by the phone to take down messages!

This accordion baby album is made from a CTMH True Fit Folio!  It's been altered to include 12 pages and comes complete with tags.  Using the new Topstitch collection, this album can be customized for a boy or a girl...here I've used primarily blues and browns for a boy.  The options on this one are endless!

I'm doing my monthly Home Decor Club differently now...rather than having a financial commitment each month, I will allow anyone interested in the project to pay just the project fee...no commitment required!  It's new name???  "Hot Home Decor"...a monthly workshop in creating beautiful projects for your home!  This month we'll be making this birdie wall hanging, inspired by a similar one by "An Altered Obsession" I saw here. Mine is made with a mosaic of CTMH's Grace papers, Hemp and a twig...Spring is just around the corner!

I will be holding a monthly card workshop using the Workshop On The Go kits...this month's kit is Topstitch!  Create these beautiful cards using one of three workshop options:  basic card workshop, WOTG kit or WOTG kit + embellishments.

Also available this month is a Super-Saturday crop from 10-5!  You'll create your own 9x9 album using a CTMH album, one Level 2 paper pack and coordinating My Stickease Assortment.  You'll also have full use of my stamps, inks and tools, including my Cricut and 26 cartridges!

For the beginners out there, I'm hosting a "Scrapbooking 101" and Open House, to introduce you to art of scrapbooking, stamping and papercrafting.  I'll teach you the basics and let you know what you need to get started with this awesome hobby!  We'll have a FREE Make-n-Take, too!

I'm looking forward to crafting with you!!!  :)

Make Your Own Word Books!

Photo from ACherryOnTop.com

I have been wanting to make my own word books for quite some time now. I just recently mastered Cricut Design Studio (I know, welcome to like 1998)...and after browsing some awesome and super-informative websites/blogs, I found this tutorial at ACherryOnTop.com that shows you how to make them, step-by-step! There are several tutorials out there, but I especially like this one b/c of the thorough explanations and detailed images.

I need to know how to do this because I am starting a new monthly CTMH workshop called "Word Book Wednesday" and will be offering a different word book each month!  I thought it necessary to know how to do this on my own to help keep class fees down.  :)  Check back in the next day or so to see the Word Book I'll be teaching in February...LOVE is in the air this month!!!

"Autumn" Banner For The Mantle

I have to admit that I have had Cricut Design Studio for about two years and have NEVER used it!!!  So the other night, after watching an infomercial for the new Cricut Gypsy, I decided to play around with it...OMG!  It's AWESOME!!!  So much easier than I anticipated and sooooo many features that help customize your creations.  LOVE IT!!!  So now I don't feel like I need to run out and purchase the Gypsy on the release day!  :)

This banner is a creation that meets the criteria for several current challenges:

1.  SPCC:  Hoppin' Combo (orange, green, light brown, dark brown color combo)

2.  Creative Belli Blog:  Create a fall/halloween themed item

3.  Use It Challenges:  Challenge #27

4.  Practical Scrappers:  Blog Hop Challenge

To make the triangles for this banner, I used the birthday hat image from Doodlecharms.  I resized and stretched the image in DS and then cut them out on dark brown cardstock.  Then I cut the same triangles out of this beautiful Basic Grey paper and adhered them together.  Because the short edge of the triangles were somewhat rounded (that's how the image is cut), I had to use my trimmer to cut the edge into a straight, even line to form a perfect triangle.

Using scraps from the patterned paper, I cut 1/2" strips the same length as the tringle edges, cut them with scallop-edge scissors and glued them on all three sides of the triangles.  Then I inked all edges.  I punched holes in each upper corner and connected the triangles with light brown ribbon.  To make the charms, I cut small leaves from Doodlecharms, inked the edges, and then muted the tops with chalk ink.  Using a needle and thread, I attached them to each bow, allowing them to dangle between the triangles.

To spell "AUTUMN", I used the Storybook cartridge and cut the letter bases out of dark brown cs.  I cut the accent/layer out of medium brown and matted them on the back instead of the front.  Using a flourish stamp covered in liquid glue, I then stamped randomly over each letter.  I sprinkled brown flocking over the glue and shook off the excess.  I heated the flocked images with my embossing gun to set the powder.

For the first and last triangles, I cut leaves from Storybook out of dark brown cs and flocked them as well.  I also cut an acorn out of orange cs (using Doodlecharms) and inked/distressed it.  I added two layered flowers with a brad center and layered the embellishments on the triangle.

To finish, I took the flourish stamp I used to do the flocking, and used dark brown ink to stamp randomly over the triangles around the letters.  It was a somewhat time-consuming project, but I LOVE the results!!!

Thanks so much for looking!!!  :)