Dotty for Dad

Hello again! I am guest blogging on Cricut is Close to My Heart today!! Here is my post:  I hope everyone had a wonderful Father's Day...I know we sure did. Today, I want to share the card I made for my wonderful father and my amazing husband. I was inspired by the 7" x 5" R Card artwork on the back of the Dotty for You paper pack. I found this card to be quite versatile, and I was able to make just a few changes to make it masculine instead of feminine.

I started with a 7" x 5" card base for both cards. One in Kraft and the other in yellow. For both cards I added the big dot paper as the background. This took the place of the butterfly paper from the back of the paper pack. I cut this later at 4" x 6" so it wouldn't show from behind the frame layer I added next.  I cut the frames using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge <Rctngle1> image at 4". For the Kraft frame, I used the mini yellow polka dot paper and for the Yellow frame, I used the blue mini polka dot paper. Both the big dot layer and the mini dot layer were added with dimensionals to give the card a fun twist.

Before I added the frame layer, I turned it over and added some green ribbon to it so it would show though. I used my trusty liquid glass adhesive to secure it to the back and put the adhesive on the back of the frame so it wouldn't show. Then I added the dimensionals and attached the frame. Finally, I used my Cricut Wild Card cartridge to cut the Happy Father's Day sentiment at 9 1/2". That is the <father> image on page 66. Both my father and my husband loved the cards and I hope you do too!!  See you soon!

Panda Hugs!
-J

Happy Passover!

Happy Passover to all who are celebrating!

Although we are busy getting ready with last minute preparations for Passover, I couldn't let the holiday go by without a card to share! My sister in law brought my shamrock easel card to Ireland and said it was a hit, AND they used it as the centerpiece on the table for St. Patrick's day, so this time, I made an easel card so we can use it for decoration on the table too! Needless to say, the Passover images are few and far between on my Cricut cartridges, so I used the "Passover" sentiment from Designer's Calendar and the Star of David from the same cartridge. The card base is an easel and I used my shaker card method to put the star in the background with the blue glitter my son, Cubby, picked out. The two rosettes are from the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge and the method for creating them can be found here.

Panda Hugs!

J-

Glitter Panda

Light it Up Blue for Autism Awareness

You may be wondering my blog is written in blue today. Here is my explanation: When I set out to create a card for every holiday, I thought about the fact that there are many little awareness days throughout the course of the year. Although I can't create a card for EVERY one of them, some are so important, I just can't pass them up. Today is one of those days.

Today is World Autism Awareness day. According to the Autism Speaks website, "the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its estimate of autism prevalence in the United States to 1 in 88 children (1 in 54 boys and 1 in 252 girls)." Look at the number of friends you have on facebook. I have 370. 1 in 88 would touch at least 4 of my friends. When I think about the number of their friends and family, those numbers increase exponentially. Today, chances are either you, or someone close to you is personally affected by autism.

As a special education teacher, I have taught many autistic children. They are all unique in their own ways. One student I taught for two years is exceptionally funny. He has channeled his sense of humor into some of the best screenplay writing I have seen by a teenager. One student just participated in the school musical and I had never seen her look so happy! So as you go about your business today, take a moment to consider that the more we are aware of something, the more we can do to help. 

You can join me, and Autism Speaks in celebrating World Autism Awareness Day by taking part in their "Light It Up Blue" campaign "to help shine a light on autism." Use blue to light up something on the outside of your house, wear blue, anything you can do to "light it up blue." You wouldn't believe how many people and organizations have joined in the campaign today! The Empire State Building, Paris Stock Exchange, CN Tower and MY BLOG are just some of the few. Visit the Autism Speaks Light it Up Blue campaign page to see even more.

Recipe:

Card Base

• Plain piece of card stock - Cut 8" x 6" and score at 4" to make  4" x 6" card.
• Cricut Art Philsophy cartridge - RCTNGLE1 p. 44 - white cut at 3 1/2" & blue striped paper from the DCWV Sweet Stack cut at 3" 
• Sponged the edges of all layers and embellishments with Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink

side view shows dimension

Embellishments

1. Big pink sunburst cut from Cricut Art Philsophy cartridge - FLOWER2 (shift button for SHAPE5) p.66 at 4" was added first with 3D Foam Tape
2. Next, I added the long peach patterned frame from the DCWV Sweet Stack - cut from Cricut Art Philsophy cartridge - SHAPE4 p. 56 cut at 1 1/2" - I added a twine-like yarn that I got for $1 at the craft store and taped it underneath the paper and then added the layer with more 3D Foam Tape
3. The top Doily-like flower was added next. It was cut from Cricut Art Philsophy cartridge - CIRCLE3 p.41 at 2 1/2" on the regular button for the peach patterned flower shape from the DCWV Sweet Stack and the layer button for the lt. pink doily shape
4. I added tiny adhesive pearls to all of the holes in the doily
5. Then I used a dimensional to add the puzzle piece with the word "Speak" printed on it - I made this on my computer from a free puzzle digital stamp image file from Aimee Asher. I layered the word on it in my word processing software and printed it on blue card stock - then I used my micro scissors to cut it out

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

DCWV April Stack-a-holic Sketch Challenge

CR84FN Color Challenge #51 Use Pink, Peach and Light Blue

Little Scrap Pieces - My Favorite Things Challenge
Used MY FAVORITE crafting item - the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge
for all of the cuts on the card!!

Teachers...and Easter

I am so excited to be on SPRING BREAK! 

Even though I love my job as a teacher, I always feel like the little break we get, at this time of year, allows us to stay fresh and enthusiastic for our students.  Teachers, not unlike many other professions, always have to be "on."  Whether we are having a bad day, just received awful news or simply are not feeling "well," we can not let these emotions or feelings interfere with our classrooms. From 8:00 - 3:00, every day, we put on our smiley faces and let the kids know that there is a friendly ear waiting to hear all that interests them, a patient person to help them deal with all that troubles them, and a knowledgeable guide to point them in the direction of any assistance that they need. 

So, it is understandable that since we have to keep smiling, even in the face of difficult situations, we have the occasional need for a moment to ourselves. One to enjoy our families, take care of our health problems and just re-energize for the rest of the year. Spring break is a wonderful time to do this. Not only because it comes after a long period without a break from school, but also because it is a time to celebrate the spring holidays, like Easter and Passover.

Although we do not celebrate it personally, we always participate in the Easter activities in our community. The revelry of the Easter bunny and Easter egg hunts have become family, rather than religious activities. Today, we have our 2nd Annual Easter Egg Hunt Block Party. All of the children on the block get together to hunt for eggs, win prizes and eat the awesome food made by the wonderful parents on our block! To celebrate the occasion, I made this VERY simple Easter card. I hope you enjoy it!

Panda Hugs!
J-
Glitter Panda

Recipe:

Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge (from Close to my Heart) - Cut the egg card base Shape9 on card button (pg. 57) at 5" - you can use any patterned paper for this - I used a very tie-dye looking paper from my SEI Couture Stack

Cut the Shape9 on decorative layer button (pg. 57) at 5" - This looks better with a solid color that you pick from the patterned paper - I added this layer using dimensionals to give it a layered look

The stamp was a $1 craft store find from Studio G

Irish Eyes Are Smiling

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! If you are celebrating, I hope your day is full of fun and excitement!! We're going green here to celebrate. Although the holiday is today, my card was actually ready last week and is now finding its home in IRELAND! I knew I was going to make a card to celebrate my Year of Holiday Cards, and always love when I have a fabulous use for my cards. This one was great because I sent it to my brother-in-law's family in Ireland!!

I don't have the recipe for this one because I had to make it in a hurry, but you can find the recipe for my easel cards here. I used the shaker card process as well for the top layer. This was nice and easy because I used tiny shamrock die cuts from the Cricut Designer's Calendar cartridge inside (all shamrocks on the card, including the cutout are the same cut at different sizes), so the foam tape could have small gaps without the filling falling out. For embellishment on the top card, I hand stitched the card with my white gel pen, and added green Recollections crystals. On the bottom card, I added rainbow ribbon with green glitter ribbon over it (both are taped down under the layer), and stamped it with my Studio G stamp that has a horseshoe with the words Luck O' the Irish all the way around.

Panda Hugs!
-J

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Sentimental Sundays Challenge #93 - Go Green or RECYCLE!

Simon Says Stamp - A Bit O' Green

Use it Tuesday Challenge #27 - Green! - (used my go to Recollections paper, my crystals from my stash, and Offray rainbow ribbon I have had for 100 years!)

Feelin' Like a Diva

 Today was a spectacular day. The sun was shining, it reached 70 degrees and a hint of Spring hung in the air. It was one of those days, for me, when I just feel like a diva. I found myself walking around a local outdoor shopping center with a little more "spring" in my step. With my flowy dress, fab Gucci sunglasses (I splurge because they're prescription) and high heeled boots, I felt like a movie star! I went shopping and it was ALSO one of those days where I loved everything I tried on!

Thinking about my mood, I am convinced that is the combination of the two holidays today that did the trick. The first is Purim, a Jewish celebratory holiday that celebrates freedom from destruction for the Jews in ancient Persia.  It is a day of feasting and partying and is often celebrated by dressing up in costume and giving charity to those less fortunate (kind of the opposite of Halloween, you dress up and leave charity at the door - the costume ensures that you remain anonymous). The heroine of the Purim story is Queen Esther. Esther was only allowed to see her husband, the king when he summoned her. The punishment for disobeying this command was death. However, she went against to decree in order to appeal to her husband King Ahasuerus. She asked him to spare the Jewish people from the plan an evil man named Haman had to persecute them. Her success saved the Jewish people, and for that, she is considered a brave, heroic woman. That brings me to the second holiday of the day, International Women's Day.

According to the International Women's Day Website, "International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900's, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies...IWD is now an official holiday in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zambia. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers." Hmmm...why haven't the men here caught on?!

So, in honor of these two holidays, I created a card in honor of Queen Esther, a brave, heroic historical figure who just happens to be honored on the same day as a holiday that celebrates women as a community! I made another easel card, but this time I used my Cricut Once Upon a Princess cartridge and some more of that fab SEI Couture stack too!

Hope you enjoyed my little "lesson" of the day, and the card. Happy crafting!
Panda Hugs!
J-
Glitter Panda

Happy Leap Day!

Since today was a rare occurrence, it seems appropriate that it was full of surprises! The best surprise of the day happened right at the end of the school day. My last class of the day is a workshop format and things are always happening all at the same time. Near the end of class, a friend/colleague walked in with a "delivery." Since today was not a special day in general (no birthday, anniversary etc.) I couldn't imagine what it was for. It turns out that the delivery was a GORGEOUS bouquet of flowers from my husband! I have been pretty sick lately and tend to just keep going as though everything is fine. Being a mom and a teacher, I am needed in many different directions, so I don't have the time to stop and take care of myself all that often. This typically means that I end up even sicker than when I started and then I have to get myself back to feeling well again. The card with the flowers basically said that he knows how hard it has been for me to be so sick and he knows this will get better soon. It was SUCH a thoughtful thing to do and I was thrilled!

Since it is Leap Day, I decided it was holiday enough to make a card. This was probably not the best decision, considering that I am exhausted and should have come home and gone to bed. Instead, I set out to create a "Leap" Day card with a cute little frog from the Cricut Once Upon a Princess cartridge. My first mistake was forgetting to run the frog through the Cuttlebug before he was assembled. I tried to do it after, but it messed the whole thing up. I decided it wasn't terrible and kept moving forward. I thought "glitter fixes everything!" SO, I grabbed a new tube of glitter to cover some of the less attractive areas on the frog, but it wouldn't come out of the tube. So, I squeezed a little harder and...

 This is what happened!! So, I apologize for the lack of card, but by the time this happened it was late and I decided it was a sign that I needed to get to bed!! If you've taken the time to read this post, I would love to hear about your craziest crafting disaster. Here's hoping I don't have another like this until the next leap day!!

Panda Hugs!
J-

Fat Tuesday

When I decided to make make a card for every holiday, I had very little idea just how many holidays there actually are! That being said, it's Fat Tuesday (aka Mardi Gras). Fat Tuesday occurs on the day before Ash Wednesday and is named for the practice of eating heavier foods before the ritual fasting season called Lent. Instead of a card today, in keeping with Mardi Gras tradition, I decided to make a mask instead. I had a lot of fun making this and my daughter has already claimed it for show and tell tomorrow!

Panda Hugs!
J-

Recipe

I used the Me & My Big Ideas Bliss Matstack and cut out the mask on the green patterned paper at 11 1/2" using the <October> event button on the Cricut Designer's Calendar cartridge

Then, I cut two more of the same masks at 11 1/4" in purple and yellow

I removed the bottom of the second two masks, leaving only the decorative strips at the top

I used zig adhesive to attach the two decorative strips and placed them in a staggered manner so you can see all the colors from the front.  The image to the right shows the back of the mask and how the layered strips were attached.

Finally, I alternated tiny pearls and jewels to decorate the front of the mask and bent the feathery pieces in different directions to make them stand out more.

I am entering this into the following challenge:
Little Scrap Pieces - Use Green

Happy Birthday Mr. Presidents

It's President's Day....that means another card in the Year of Holiday Cards series. This one is simple but glittery...just like me! I used the Cricut Designer's Calendar cartridge for this one on the <April> button, but with the event feature activated. This gave me the silhouette for Washington and Lincoln. I used Recolections cardstock and cut out two circles and attached them to the circles to let the shapes stand out and then used some adhesive and glittered them up with blue Studio G glitter!

Panda Hugs!
J-

Wind Beneath My Butterfly Wings

When I saw the Cookingwithcricut.com Love Song Blog Hop theme, the song "The Wind Beneath my Wings", by Bette Midler, immediately came to mind. I am obsessed with the Rock Princess cartridge, so I used the butterfly from it and some pretty lace, ribbon and DCWV  Bella Armoire stack paper to create this layered card. I placed circle and scallop with the LOVE sentiment just beneath the butterfly wing to hint at the song title.  I have been creating so many cards for Valentine's day that I am not including the exact recipe here, BUT if you would like the details, let me know and I would be happy to send them to you!

I hope you'll also check out my teacher Valentines and the little poem I wrote for the night before Valentine's day...HERE!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Cooking with Cricut - Love Song Blog Hop Challenge 
Throwback Thursday Challenge Episode 312 - Bugs Theme

The Night Before Valentine's

'Twas the night before Valentine's and all through the house,

Not a creature is stirring, well me, but no mouse,

The cards were set out on the mantle with care,

With the hope that the Stickles would dry via air.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of Valentine's danced in their heads,

And Momma with her Cricut while Daddy was asleep,

Changed the speed and set the blade depth, careful not to cut too deep.

When out of the Cricut arose such a clatter,

As she used the Create a Critter cartridge with paper on the mat(ter),

Two Valentine's for teachers and many more for friends,

Embellished with lace and ribbon and white Galaxy gel pens.

Since it's late and I am tired and this poem's end is in sight, 

Happy crafting to all and to all a good night!

Here are the the cards I made for Bunny and Cubby's teachers. I went with these adorable apples from Create a Critter because they are just too darn cute!!

Happy Birthday Dear Trees...

Suprise, surprise, another holiday is here! I never realized how many holidays there are on the calendar until I started my card making adventure.

Today is Tu B’Shevat, the 15th of Shevat on the Jewish calendar.  This holiday is known as the “New Year for Trees." The literal significance of this holiday has to do with a seven year growing cycle and helps to determine in which year a tree is ready to be harvested for fruit. To celebrate, many people eat fruits that grow on trees, particularly in Israel, including grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. Many Hebrew schools hold what is referred to as a Tu B'Shevat seder, in which the children enjoy many different fruits.

My holiday card adventure gave me a chance to take a break from making Valentines, so I thought I would try something creative. The card I made for Tu B'Shevat is simple, but I think it properly celebrates trees. It is my first stair step card, so I am still getting the hang of it, but my son loved it and that is all the encouragement I need to keep trying!

Recipe

Stair Step Card Base

1. Start with a piece of card stock cut to 5 1/2" X 10 1/2"

2. Score at 1 1/4", 2 1/2", 4 1/4", 6" and 8 1/4"

3. Fold up and down for alternating score lines (mountain/valley style)

4. Decorate each step

5. The the first step is 1 1/4" x 5 1/2" - I used green recollections card stock for the border. It is cut from the Cricut Holiday Cakes cartridge, pg. 51 <Baby3> at 1 1/4".

6. The second step is 1 3/4" x 5 1/2" - I used brown recollections card stock, the same cut for the border as step one, but this one was cut at 1 1/2". I used my paper trimmer to cut it to 5 1/2" in length.

7. The third step is 2 1/4" x 5 1/2" - I used green recollections card stock for the border. It is also cut from the Cricut Holiday Cakes cartridge, pg. 51 <Baby3>, but this one was cut on the plain base function at 1 1/2".  I trimmed this to 5 1/2" as well. Next, I added some LACE stretch ribbon on top of the border.

Scallop Doily

The embellishment for the first step is a doily from the Cricut Cindy Loo cartridge <Doily4> cut at 2 1/2".  The top is cut from DCWV Mariposa Matstack glitter paper and the shadow is cut from brown recollections card stock.

Tree

The tree for the third step is the <tree> image from the Cricut Best of 2010 cartridge cut on the regular button and the shift. I attached it using dimensionals so it stands out too.

I am entering my card into the following challenges:
FYI Challenge #23 - The levels of the church reminded me of the stair step card & they both have a religious component
Shopping our Stash Weekly Challenge 38: Hearts, Valentines and/or Lace

Happy Groundhog Day!

Happy Groundhog Day! Every time I blink, another holiday pops up, just like this little groundhog who is checking things out.  To be honest, with the 63 degree weather, this little guy probably came out early and was sunbathing on the beach in NJ yesterday!!

Last night, I was talking to my friend who inspired me to start my Year of Holiday Cards extravaganza, and we were having a hard time coming up with ways to celebrate Groundhog Day. I suggested that either she should repeat everything she says twice, or make shadow drawings. If you have any suggestions, leave me a comment and I will suggest them to her. I had a lot of fun with this card and with my new Cricut Designer's Calendar cartridge! I thought it would be perfect for my holiday-based endeavor and, immediately, it has come in handy.

Recipe

Card Base

Card is the <Milk> card from Just Because Cards cut at 5 1/2" from the

Martha Stewart Woodland Critters Stack

All of the layers are cut from Recollections cardstock

Yellow layer is cut to 4 1/2 X 4 1/2 and embossed with flowers on my Cuttlebug

Orange layer is cut to 4 X 4

Wood Grain strip on top is cut at 4 X 2 and is the flip side of the paper used for the base card

Groundhog with shadow

Brown groundhog is cut from Designer Calendar cartridge cut at 3 1/2"

White shadow is the same cut at 3 1/4"

The black hole is the <Skunk> cut from Create a Critter at 2"

I used a white gel pen to go over the contour marks on the groundhog to make them stand out more and used Stickles on the white shadow and the black hole for a glittery effect

I used two layers of dimensionals to attach him so he would stand out more than the sentiment

Sentiment

<March> Cut in brown and white, both at 1" from the Designer's Calendar cartridge

I layered the two colors on top of each other for a shadowed effect

Then, I added Stickles to the white layer to up the sparkle effect

I used one layer of dimensionals to make the sentiment pop!

I am entering this card into the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp - Animal Antics

G'Day Mate - Happy Australia Day

G'day Mate! Happy Australia day. If you just stumbled upon us here at Glitter Panda, you are so lucky! Today we have the second card in our new Year of Holiday Cards EXTRAVAGANZA!! Since I had never heard of Australia Day, you might be interested to know that it is the official national day of Australia.

To celebrate Australia Day, my friend bought Vegemite. In case you aren't a Vegemite expert, I did some research for you. According to the Kraft website, "VEGEMITE spread is a nutritious and versatile food. Proudly made in Australia, it’s one of the world’s richest known sources of Vitamin B." It is a concentrated yeast extract that Australians use on toast because "It’s far more tooth and gum friendly than jams or choc nut spreads, without compromising on taste." Who knew?!

Today, while my friend was eating Vegemite with her family, I was assembling this super cute Koala card in honor of the holiday. I actually cut ALL of the components out yesterday. They were so much easier to cut because I designed everything on my BRAND NEW GYPSY!!! I added the side view of the card because it is hard to see the dimension from the front. I used dimensionals to attach the black circle and then more to add the Koala. Her flower in her hair is also dimensional!! My daughter LOVED this card so I think she will give it to her teacher for Valentine's Day (although she did say she wanted to keep it for herself!).

Recipe

Koala

Koala - Cricut Create a Critter cartridge p.49 - cut at 2 1/2" ("Koala,"layer 1, layer 2)

Flower - "Koala" Accessory & Accessory shift - I added a little jewel in the middle for some bling

You can't see it from the picture, but the Koala's top layer is a shimmery white Recollections paper from their Precious Metals collection

Beary Sweet Sentiment

Beary - Gypsy font - I used my NEW Gypsy to weld the letters together

Sweet - Create a Critter cartridge p.61  - "Skunk" on Phrase feature

I added another jewel after the sentiment for an extra pop

Card Base

Cricut Just Because Cards cartridge - "Truck" cut at 5 1/2" using DCWV Bella Armoire
Red square and black circle were scraps I had from previous projects!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

My Creative Time - Throwback Thursday - Valentine's Day Challenge
My Sheri Crafts - Challenge #77 - New Things (used my NEW Gypsy to weld letters and to design the card)

A Year of Holiday Cards - Chinese New Year

A good friend of mine made a unique New Year's resolution. She decided to celebrate every holiday on the calendar for an entire year! To kick off her year of celebrations, last weekend she invited our family, together with another friend's family, to celebrate the Chinese New Year with her. With such great company, the night was already sure to be wonderful...and it was! After a fantastic meal of homemade Chinese food, the children lit sparklers and popped those little poppy things (I have no idea what they are called!)  We all had such a great time!!

After the dinner, I found myself inspired to put my own spin on her idea. So, I have decided to create a card inspired by the holidays that she celebrates this year. By the end of the year,  I will have created a cultural cornucopia of cards!!

I hope that I will soon be able to start a challenge on my blog where others can join with me to create the holiday cards as well. It will be a celebration across the web that embraces many cultures and traditions.

The card I have featured today was created to celebrate the Chinese New Year - the year of the Dragon.

Recipe

Dragon and flower6: Cricut Pagoda cartridge (p. 34 & 55) - Recollections card stock

The dragon is attached with one layer of dimensionals. I used a white gel pen to add a little eye.

The flower is assembled using dimensionals between each layer (black, red, white) and then a jewel is glued to the middle of the flower. The white swirls on the red part of the flower were created with a white gel pen to mimic the design on the actual base card

Sentiment: Cricut Wild Card cartridge - Recollections card stock

Card Base - Cricut Just Because Cards cartridge - "Truck" cut at 5 1/2" using DCWV Bella Armoire

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

 Bitten By the Bug 2 - Bloom Dimensional Flower Challenger (used Pagoda flower instead)

Die Cuttin' Divas - Challenge #49 Buttons, Bows and/or Bling

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes Challenge