Housewarming Card with Cricut Wild Card Cartridge

The card

After reading many posts about the Cricut Wild Card cartridge, I decided I HAD to have it! Since then, I have not had a good occasion to use it!! I tried one card to play with and never quite "got it."  Today, we finally needed a card for something. We went to a housewarming party for our cousins who had a terrible fire in their home this past Christmas. Fortunately, everyone was able to get out of the house safely! Unfortunately, their house could not be salvaged. After a long wait, they were finally able to move into their new home last month and we were happy to be able to celebrate with them! This celebration called for a card and I knew just the card to create. I used the Wild Card cartridge to create the little house card. That is the fourth button from the left on the bottom row.

The best tip I can now share is one that many other bloggers have mentioned (with a twist). When cutting these adorable cards, make sure to cut out the envelope first on "fit to page."  PAY ATTENTION to the size you are given when it actually cuts (if you forget to do this, insert another piece of the same size paper and pretend you are cutting it again, but click "OK" instead and it will tell you the size that was cut. Then, you are supposed to turn off "fit to page" and turn your dial to the size indicated for the envelope. My twist, however, is that the envelope is VERY snug if you do this. So, I turned the dial to the envelope size and then clicked down once more to remove 1/4" from the card. This made the card fit into the envelope MUCH better!!

In addition to the image and the shift image, I used the layers on this and the phrase and icon for the envelope. Also, I added Stardust Stickles to the window pane and the door, because what kind of Glitter Panda would I be without using GLITTER!! Finally, I added 2 stamps to the card in various places ("Hi There" and "Yeah for you!". This was a brand new set of stamps I JUST bought on sale, so it adds another item that is new for the card to make it perfect for the October Something New Paper Craft Weekend Challenge!
Please let me know what you think!

Here are more images:

The envelope

Inside the card

Got these Studio G Clear Stamps for $1.00 in clearance bin at A.C. Moore!

Fashion City Skyline

I have already shared the beginning of my son's room makeover project, but what kind of mom would I be if I didn't share my daughter's as well? This project would not have been possible without the help of my fab sister-in-law and brother who spent most of their vacation here working on it with me...and by with me, I mean doing most of the work and giving me the direction I needed to get it done!

The amazing part about this room makeover is the amount of work that was handmade versus store bought. Aside from the bedding, the lamp a large picture and a couple of frames, every other component had a handmade element!  In the photo above, the cityscape was ENTIRELY hand painted, the curtains were made by my sister-in-law, and the chinese lanterns were bought (but started out white and we sprayed them silver).

Below is a before and after from a different angle. Unfortunately, I didn't think about the before shot until after we moved the original furniture out of the room, but you can get the idea here.

Before

After!

It is important to note that this room started with a little inspiration. Click here to see the inspiration room we used to create this fun project!

There are a number of other noteworthy elements in the room, but I will save those for a later post!

Link Up Love Party with K Andrew

Today's post is not a new project. I have decided to try something new to explore more of the members of the Cricut crafting community! The Link Up Love Party with K Andrew seems to be a fantastic way to do just that! I sent my son to school today with his snack for lunch in this adorable bag and he came home so excited that everyone started singing the "Purple People Eater" song when they saw it. I even had a good friend tell me her son and another boy were talking about how cool my son's bag was at lunch today!! I thought this Halloween inspired project would be great for the Link Up, so I am sharing him again. The hand sticking out of his mouth just cracks me up!! If you'd like to know how I made him, just click back to my previous post and all of the info is waiting for you.

Now, it is your turn to join in the fun! Join the Link Up and meet some new crafters along the way. Maybe you will get an idea or two also! Here's how you participate:

• Link Up Party runs from Tuesday 10/18 to Tuesday 10/25. Winners announced 10/31 *Grab my blinkie and post on your blog's sidebar
• You must be a follower of the Getting Cricky blog
• Create a new blog post that is titled Link Up Love Party with K Andrew. In your post, you must mention that the link up love party is a way to get to know each other and find new blog inspiration, mention Getting Cricky with a link back to it
• Post your favorite project that you've done in your blog post THAT HAS TO DO WITH HALLOWEEN!!  That could be a card, layout, treat holder or decoration, anything halloween related.
• Copy and paste the link up code from Getting Cricky into your blog post so the Inlinkz will show up on your blog
• Place the Getting Cricky blinkie on your page
• Spread the word so everyone can join in!
• You must visit, follow, and comment on the 5 people before you AND the 5 people after you in the Inlinkz. It would be fantastic if you would visit as many as you can--maybe everyone? If you are one of the first 5 then you will need to blog the ones before you and a few more after--as long as it's a minimum of 10 near you in the link up tool/gadget
• If you do not do the above your link will be deleted, because it's just not fair to those who work so hard linking up and showing love to the ones on the list.

Crazy Fantabulous Purple People Eater

Hello everybody! Today's post will be a quick one because I am hard at work grading papers, however, I wanted to participate in the Fantabulous Cricut Monday Design Challenge #82 and the Crazy About Cricut Monster Mash Challenge, SO...I went literal this one (based on the Fantabulous description), but blinged him up a bit...here is my recipe for this cute little guy:

• Monster - cut at 6" from the Best of 2010 Cartridge, but originally on Mini Monsters (4th monster on the top row)
• For the medium and dark Purple paper I used Canvas Home Basics 3 lb scrap pack
• I flipped the monster over to the side without all of the scoring and cut off one horn
• Instead of using both eyes, I used one to match the song!
• I cut the eyes and fangs using the scraps I had left over from the apple goodie bag I made the other day. 
• For the hand in his mouth - Forever Young Cricut Cartridge - Gloves cut at 2" on Shadow feature
• I used the notch for the glove design to fold the hand under the monster's mouth layer - this made it look like he has the hand sticking out of his mouth! Love that part :)
• I thought it would be funny to write delicious on here - I used Graphically Speaking and cut it from the yellow paper in the scrap pack at 1"- Image28 using the Type feature
• Finally, I glittered him up using Stickles in Stardust for the word delicious and in lavender for his cute little wings

I hope you like my one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater! He will make an excellent lunch bag for my son tomorrow!!!

Other contests I have entered with this project include:
The One Stop Craft Challenge
Cupcake Inspirations

Harvest Preppy Cupcake Display

My best friend from college just had a fantastic birthday party for her 4 year old daughter D! Knowing that I had to contribute something fabulous, I decided to make toppers for a cupcake display. The party was held at a local farm and all of the children got to go on a hay ride to pick pumpkins. Knowing that pumpkins were involved (and are a fab design element for fall), I decided to incorporate them into the display. My friend is all about the preppy pink and green (think Lily Pulitzer) and wanted the pink incorporated into the color scheme for the party. So, with all of this in mind, I created coordinating cake toppers to be used for the display. The green paper on the pumpkin toppers coordinates with the green on the "D" toppers, tying the whole look together!

First I created the pumpkin toppers. The flower shaped, orange with white polka dot layer on the bottom was created using the Cindy Loo cartridge (one of my FAVORITES!). The button is in the middle of the third row (the fifth from the left OR right).  Then, I used the Classic Font cartridge for the simple circle. Finally, the stacked pumpkins were created using the layer function with the letter B button on the Speaking of Fall cartridge. Next, I created the "D" toppers using simple Recollections pink and green cardstock from the Essentials package. I cut the bottom layer using the same flower shape from the Cindy Loo cartridge and the "D" was cut from the Classic Font cartridge.

Finally, I affixed the topper to long thin lollipop sticks. I bought a package of 100 a while back, so I had a bunch left over!! I used simple scotch tape on the back for this step, but if you are worried about the look of the back, you can tape it and then use another flower or shape on the back and attach with a 2 way glue pen or another adhesive of choice.  The cupcakes were displayed on the fabulous cupcake stand I picked up with a friend at the local Sam's Club (Check the bakery department for this). It was not very expensive and we bought it together and switch it back and forth whenever we have a party!

The timing of this project could not be more perfect...I am going to enter this project into the current  Cooking With Cricut Challenge #55 - Cake, Cupcake or Teddy!!

My Son's Fantastic New Urban Inspired Room - A Work in Progress

The completed wall!!

My sister-in-law and I completed an amazing makeover on my daughter's room this summer (will feature her room in another post soon) and my son wanted in on the action. Since my sister-in-law lives all the way in Tennessee, I had to do this one on my own. My son loves hip-hop and even takes lessons, so he wanted a room inspired by a hip-hop theme. My sister-in-law suggested a faux brick wall to create an urban feel and I loved the idea! So, with the help of another teacher from my husband's school (who I can not thank enough for all of the help she gave me), I spent 2 days straight painting bricks. The bricks were created via a combo of stencil and free hand techniques. The stencil was created using paper that she cut the brick shape out of and then laminated.  There were 3 bricks on the stencil, 2 on bottom and one on top to help create the staggered effect (pic of the stencil is at the bottom of this post on the left).  Here is a photo of the wall before the process began:

Before

The wall was painted light gray first, and then the dark gray was used to create the bricks. We used sponge brushes that were the width of the brick height which was a very helpful tool. The beginning of the process went VERY slowly, but gradually, we built the wall up and were able to fill it entirely. I had considered distressing the bricks out at at the edges, but when I tried, I wasn't happy with it, so I finished filling in the entire wall instead! I included a couple of pics of the process below...I will be adding vinyl graffiti to the wall and will be adding a number of other touches that I will post as soon as I finish the project!

After about 6 hours of work

 

After a day and a half of work

My Pink Stamper Blog Hop Project!

My goodie bag!

I decided to use My Pink Stamper's Blog Hop as an excuse to give myself just the push I needed to get my own blog up and running! I am super new at this, so I hope you enjoy it! I got my Cricut just a month ago, so I am still in the basic stage of using it. After watching MANY videos, especially those posted by My Pink Stamper, I have begun to build a repository of tips and tricks that are starting to pay off. For my Blog Hop project, I combined the challenge of creating a goodie bag with an idea that I had brewing in the back of my mind. One of my favorite "treats" to give at a party is an iTunes gift card. I buy them in packages of 3 $10 gift cards and they make great prizes for baby or bridal showers!! At my sister-in-law's baby shower this month, I used the Cricut to create little wood purse goodie bags for the winners of the Baby BINGO game. Those were simple, as you can see below left:

For this challenge, however, I thought I would pay a small tribute to Steve Jobs with my goodie bag creation. I just got the Wrap it up cartridge and as soon as I saw the little apple on the cartridge, I knew I had to use it! I used the same bag as above, the Flower9 purse on the Forever Young cartridge. I took a 12x12 sheet of Recollections Precious Metals card stock in silver and cut the purse using the Fit to Page button. That cut the purse at 6 1/2". Before assembling the goodie bag, I used a white American Crafts galaxy marker to create the faux stitching. I used the Wrap it up cartridge to create the 3 layers of the apple and cut them all at 2 1/2". I added the stitching to the apple and then I assembled the apple using Pop Up Glue Dots to add some dimension. I attached the apple using one more Pop Up Glue Dot and then realized I hadn't added a stamp. I REALLY want to get some My Pink Stamper stamps, but I don't have any yet and wanted to participate, so I grabbed this little "sweet" stamp at A.C. Moore this morning when I tried to take my daughter there for a cupcake class (I didn't realize I had to sign up in advance so the class was canceled because nobody else signed up!). I used a silver pigment ink pad and stamped "sweet" in the middle of the apple. It was hard because it was already attached to the bag, but next time I will stamp it BEFORE I attach it! So the finished product is below and I hope you like it. You could add little apple flavored candies to this, but since I am allergic to apples, my gift card is the perfect option. I added one picture of the finished product and one with the little gift card sticking up so you can see the bitten apple logo on it. The card fits PERFECTLY in this little bag. Definitely a keeper! Thank you Robyn, My Pink Stamper, for being my "teacher" and (without you even knowing) giving me the push I needed to start blogging for real! Please leave a comment to let me know what you think.

The little gift card is sticking out when the bag is open