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

You Rock - Tiny Valentine

Today's post is super quick.  As happy as I am, sometimes cyberlife is a nice escape from the craziness that is real life.  I have been trying to get in as many Valentines as I can to make sure the kids have cards to give to everyone special in their lives. My daughter is a total diva (even at 6 years old), and I love to make super cute things for her. So, I saw a couple of challenges this week that inspired me to create this teeny tiny Valentine. Also, I just got my new Rock Princess cartridge and HAD to use it right away...I hope you like it!!

Side view to show the wing dimension

Recipe

All layers are Recollections cardstock

Card Base

I used the Gypsy with Cricut Just Because Cards - I took the second card on the cartridge and changed the dimensions to 6" width and 3" height to come up with a 3" X 3" card

I used the square on the Cricut Classic Font cartridge for the yellow layer and changed the dimensions to 2.25" X 2.25"

Sentiment

The "You" is cut from the Cricut Rock Princess Cartridge at .75" - It is the heart font on the cartridge

I welded it to create one solid word piece

Winged Heart

Cricut Rock Princess Cartridge - Regular cut, shift cut, layer 1, layer 1 shift and layer 2 all at 1.5"

I bent up the top layer of the wings to give it a more 3D look

Attached it to the card using dimensionals and then added Stickles to the wings and a few other areas for some extra shimmer

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Scrappy Moms Stamps - Terrific Tuesday Challenge - Rock Princess!
Fantabulous Cricut - Challenge #96 - Valentiny Cards

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

These Little Piggies...

We were so busy all weekend that we didn't have a minute to stop.  My son had a basketball tournament and I must say he played EXCEPTIONALLY well.  I was such a proud mom!!  Now that the weekend is over, it's back to school and midterms start at the end of this week.  With all of the grading on the horizon, I am sure I will not get a lot of good quality crafting time, so I took a little while this evening to get into the upcoming holiday spirit. Love is in the air. Valentine's Day is fast approaching and I wanted to create a card to celebrate! I LOVE "punny" cards and this sentiment was perfect for a mother/child Valentine. I hope you like it as much as I do :) I went into my stash this week and found the fabulous Sweet Stack from DCWV. I have had it for quite some time and realized it was perfect for Valentine's colors and designs!! I also pulled out my Stickles for the first time in a while.  I have been working with loose glitter and thought it would be nice to go back to the Stickles for a change.

Recipe

Card base

Just Because Cards cartridge "Flower2" p.52 cut at 6"

Card stock is DCWV- The Sweet Stack

Little Piggies

Create a critter cartridge "Pig" p.28 - Mommy cut at 2 1/2" and child at 2"

All of the card stock is by Recollections - the base was cut from black, lighter pink for layer 1, darker pink for layer 2 and lighter pink for layer 3 (snout)

I used Stickles on the little snouts and the skirts for a little touch of bling

The piggies are attached using dimensionals to give the card more interest

Hogs and Kisses Sentiment

Just Because Cards cartridge "Pig" p.70 cut on the Word feature

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Use it Tuesday - Challenge #24 All About Love (used my Stickles and The Sweet Stack)
Sentimental Sundays - Challenge #86 Die Cuts
Sassy Lady Valentine Challenge 

Just Chillin' - Create a Critter Just Because

Just before bed this evening, my daughter reminded me that she needed an outfit for 80s day tomorrow.  Being the last minute diva that I am, I feel I rose to the challenge. I found a neon shirt that is just too small on her and quickly googled "make an 80s shirt."  Luckily, 2 videos popped up and I was able to follow the directions to create a very Flashdance looking creation. I grabbed an old pair of baseball socks from my son's drawer (he doesn't play anymore - basketball is his game now!).  I cut the toes off the socks and had the perfect pair of legwarmers. Add to that a pair of bright turquoise leggings and a white tank underneath and "she's a maniac, maniac on the floor!"

sorry for the blur, no pics of the kids online :)

The reason I didn't start on her outfit sooner was because I was at school somewhat late this afternoon. I am the yearbook adviser and we have deadlines to meet, so that means some late days at this time of year. Luckily, I love being a teacher.  Every day, there is a new challenge and every day is different. You never know what will happen.  One day, the kids are on the edge of their seats, ready to learn something new, and the next, they are pushing just a little harder to see what they can get away with.  A student said something in school today that I found so funny I actually laughed until I was crying!  A good attitude and a lot of heart makes every day an adventure.

Since midterms are coming up, it is very busy at school. It is hard for me to do my crafting any time other than the weekend. SO, when I get an hour to myself, I like to try to fit in a cute little card that I can enter into a challenge or two.  This card was inspired by the Cooking With Cricut Wednesday challenge this week. The little penguin is using his adorable scarf to keep himself warm. In my rush to get the card done, I went CRAZY with the glitter. In hindsight, I would have backed off the glitter on the igloo and the penguin and just used it to give the snow a glittery effect. I loved the phrase and after cutting it, I realized the blue color was VERY close to the color of the sky, so I glittered that up too, thinking it would stand out more. When I saw it was still too close, I cut my own little cloud and placed it behind the words. This served to give the card a little more dimension AND to make the words POP! I hope you enjoy this little guy!

Recipe

Penguin and Igloo (shift)- Create a Critter Cartridge p. 39

All components cut at 2"

The Penguin, Igloo, Layer 1, Layer 2, Igloo Shadow and Phrase (on regular and shift) were cut using Recollections card stock. I added black Studio G glitter (keep buying this from the $1 bin at my local craft store!) to the black part of the penguin and silvery blue glitter to the igloo. I used Zig to make zig zag glue strokes on the igloo and then added the glitter. Then I scraped it off to give the igloo a more icy look.

Card - Just Because Cards - Bird p.39

The Card base was cut on Real Dial Size at 6" using Martha Stewart's Woodland Critters pad. For the snow layer, I cut at 6" using the shift function with Real Dial Size turned off. Finally, I added iridescent Studio G glitter to make the snow shine and then attached it to the card using monoadhesive.  After the card was assembled, I added the Penguin using pop dots to give him more dimension. I also used pop dots for the Just Chillin' sentiment. Finally, I cut a cloud from white paper, added monoadhesive and slid it under the Just Chillin' sentiment.

I am entering this card into the following challenges/link parties:

Cooking with Cricut - Winter Warmies Challenge
Anything Goes Challenger Blog - Challenge 58 Anything goes at Anything Goes 
Use it Tuesday - Challenge #23 All About Winter
Jaihart - Sundays are Lovely Link Party

Love you a Latte Card - Just Because

I made sure to vote on my way home from school today. It was very late, but I think every vote counts! When I got home, I had a wonderful treat waiting for me! The Just Because Cards cartridge was sitting on the counter, all wrapped up in the shipping packaging, just begging to be opened!!

There were two challenges I have been thinking about since the weekend and, after I put bunny to bed, I had a few moments of free time to craft! I told someone today that crafting is my therapy. I am able to focus on my creativity, not because someone NEEDS me to, but because I WANT to! So, I treated myself to a therapy session courtesy of Just Because cards and this is what I came up with. The two challenges are the Getting Cricky Simply Sunday Tea Time Challenge and the PDCC106 based on the colors pink, yellow and gray. The result was a gray, pink and yellow card featuring, my hot beverage of choice, a latte!

I combined the "Love you a Latte" sentiment (#11) with the Milk card (#9) base in yellow. I cut the envelope first on the fit to page button (4 1/4").  The houndstooth print envelope is cut from a BEAUTIFUL 12x12 pad I have from DCWV called Bella Armoire. I cut the card at 4" to make sure it would fit nicely into the envelope. The shift for the card is the strip of houndstooth paper that matches the envelope.

The sentiment was too small at 4" so I recut it at 5" out of the pink paper and then cut the shift with silver paper (both from the Recollections packages). The teacup and teacup steam (teacup layer) were both from Once Upon a Princess and were cut at 1". I attached the teacup using dimensionals to give it a pop and then applied a TINY bit of Star Dust Stickles to give the coffee mug a shimmery finish.