I was in the "Cricut Chirp"!!!

I recently posted a bunch of layouts I completed at some weekend crops to the Cricut Messageboard.  And I just found out a few days ago that I was highlighted in the May 2011 edition of the Cricut Chirp, Provocraft's monthly Cricut newsletter...WOO HOO!!!!

So honored that they thought highly enough of my work to feature my layouts!  Here  is a sampling of the layouts...the rest can be found in my original blog post, HERE.

Thanks for looking and for all the kind words...I appreciate it!  :)

Lots O' Layouts!

I've been to two weekend-long scrapbooking retreats in the past several months and I actually almost completed the Noise Maker's baby scrapbook during those two weekends (only two pages away!). 

Here are the one-page layouts I've done:

"Laugh...It's Contagious"

"Bumbo Buddies"

"Splish Splash"

"Learning To Walk"

"1st Hair Cut"

"So Happy"

"My Little Monkey"

"All Boy"

"8 Months"

"Gone Bananas"

"Siesta Key Beach"

"Happy New Year"

"Dino Baby"

"First Trip"

"Summertime"

"The Poop Face"

"Happy Father's Day...NOT!"

"Daddy...You Hung The Stars"

"Great Expectations"

"Baby Cakes"

"Sweet Dreams"

" I (heart) You"

A few of these have been inspired by some I've seen in magazines and online ("Happy New Year", "8 Months", "So Happy"), but most are my own!  :)

Here are my 2-page layouts:

"Who Loves You...Sissy Does"

"Happy Birthday Monkey"

"Grandparents"

"Family"

And here is my "Flip Flap" layout:

"Baptism"

The bottom photo is actually the front "page" of a series of photos, attached to page with CTMH's Flip Flaps...

Journaling is hidden behind!  All I have to do is cut a slit in my page protector, and you can flip through the photos while it's in the album...cool, huh?

Thanks for looking!  :)

You Are My Sunshine Layout: FCCB Challenge #38--Ribbon!

I love ribbon...along with Cricut cartridges, it's an absolutely obsession!  I use it on almost every project I make.  So how fun is this week's Fantabulous Cricut challenge: Ribbon!?!?!?!  You can use any cartridge, any cut on any project...you just have to incorporate ribbon!  :)

For this layout, I used George to cut a 6" circle for the sun in the upper left corner.  I trimmed the sides to be flush with the page and punched holes along the bottom border to thread my ribbon into.  Both the ribbon and the strips of patterned paper mimic the sun's rays.

For the title, I used Storybook and used hot pink to make the shadow for each letter.  I also used Accent Essentials to cut the layers of the flowers.  I curled each petal, inked them, layered them together with a brad and then added a button (with ribbon!) for the center.

I used my CTMH Edge Distresser on almost every piece of this layout...so fun!  Gave it some fun texture, too.

  I also used my Autumn Terracotta ink (CTMH) to give everything an orange, "sunny glow"!

Hop on over to FCCB and link up your own Cricut ribbon project for your chance to win this week's prize!

Happy crafting!  :)

"Thankful" Layout: FCCB Challenge #37

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is called "Thankful For": create a project about something you are thankful for.  That's easy for me...my kids!  :)

I used the CTMH Twitterpated papers on this one, which I have to admit are my favorite CTMH papers of all time!  The photo was taken almost a year ago, right before Thanksgiving, and I love that both of them are smiling (it's rare to capture both smiling at the same time in photos these days!). 

I used the Cricut Cindy Loo cartridge for the tree, deer and leaves for this layout.  The kids were cut from A Child's Year.  The title is made with letter stickers, also from the CTMH Twitterpated line.  I also added several brads and some journaling printed on the computer.

Hope you like it!  Head over to FCCB and enter your own "Thankful" project to be eligible to win this week's FANTABULOUS prize!

Happy Crafting!  :)

"Little Yankee" Layout: FCCB Challenge #29--Natl. Sewing Month!

This week's Fantabulous Cricut Challenge is called "National Sewing Month", in honor of...National Sewing Month! :) We had to use some type of stitching on our project, whether by hand, machine or even faux stitching. I went for the machine stitching, since I love the look of it and don't use it much...and now I remember WHY I don't use it much... Basically, I suck. HAHAHA!

I have had this paper for years and years...really. And I thought the colors went really well with the colors in the photo, so it finally got put to use. For the argyle (did I spell that right???) pattern, I cut diamonds with my Cricut (George and Basic Shapes), adhered them to the yellow carstock strip and then sewed diagonally across them to create the argyle look.

The title is from the Cricut Boys Will Be Boys cartridge (one of my new FAVES!)...I cut the base of the sentiment out, and instead of using the "man" part of the cut, I found the word "Yankee" in the Yankees font somewhere online and printed it out, cropping it to fit in the box. Perfect with the Noise Maker's little Yankee's outfit, huh? :)

Pretty simple layout, but I love the color combo and it's one of my most favorite pictures of my little guy! Hope you'll head over to FCCB and play along with this week's challenge with a sewn project of your own!

Happy Crafting! :)

FCCB Scrappin' Saturday: Job Layout Challenge!

I'm excited that we are having our first Scrappin' Saturday Layout Challenge today at Fantabulous Cricut (FCCB)!  I made the layout above for this challenge.

We are offering a prize...a Cricut Alphalicious cartridge goes to the winner!!!  The requirements are to make a layout about your job, featuring YOU, and to use at least one Cricut cut somewhere on your project.  Fun, right?  Participants have one week to complete their layout and submit to FCCB.

For my layout, I used the FABULOUS American Crafts Dear Lizzy collection papers.  These are leftovers from the class I took from Elizabeth Kartchner herself!  I love these papers...they just make me happy!

I used my Cricut George cartridge to cut the hearts and circles (to make the spiral flowers).  I lifted the edges of the hearts for dimension.

The spiral flowers, which I learned from Elizabeth Kartchner, are really simple.  You just spiral cut a circle (any size), leaving a small round portion uncut in the center of the flower.  Starting with the outermost end, begin rolling inward until you've reached the center.  Then just put a brad through the center of the flower (grabbing the innermost piece of the rolled flower) to secure it.  Using your hand, you can gently but firmly press down on the entire to flatten it out somewhat.

I also used the Street Sign cartridge for my title ("proof") and for the small arrows on the photos.  This layout is based on a sketch by PageMaps:

PageMaps is having a layout contest using this sketch.  The prize?  American Crafts Dear Lizzy collection products!!!  Hee, hee...

Happy Crafting!