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

Link Up Love Party With K Andrew

Since I am new to the world of crafting AND blogging, one of the best ways to connect to others is through challenges, blog hops and link up parties. This Link Up Love Party with K Andrew is the perfect way to get to know each other and find new blog inspiration. I am so happy that this Link Up is Valentine's themed, because I just finished my adorable Valentine's card and am so excited to share it. To get the recipe for this card, check out my previous post! Also, please check out the other fantastic submissions on the Getting Cricky with K Andrews Blog.  Then, join in the fun by linking up your project too!

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

How to Use Your Cricut Gypsy

I am finally the proud owner of a brand new Cricut Gypsy. I am VERY excited about this wonderful birthday present and can not wait to get started. I thought I would post to keep track of my progress with this fabulous new toy.

The day I got the box in the mail, I should not have been shocked when it was not as "plug and play" as I expected.  I quickly figured out how to apply the screen protector and put it into the nifty new sleeve it came with, but after that, things got a little more complicated.

I tried to load my first cartridge and the screen informed me that I needed an update to get the cartridge to link properly. So, a word to the wise...when you get the Gypsy, the first thing you will want to do is to use the USB cord provided and connect it to your computer. I have a Mac and was able to connect and access the provocraft.com/gypsy site and download the syncing application.

After running the install for the application, I had to update the firmware for the Gypsy. On the screen, there is a message that says, "Updating Your Gypsy" and a warning that says not to "power off, disconnect or unplug (my) Gypsy."  The Gypsy is supposed to power off when the update has completed and then it must be restarted after the shutdown is complete.

Next, The screen turned black and it was unclear whether it was "sleeping" or actually shut off. The screen still said to restart the Gypsy after it was shut down and that is why I was slightly confused. (I the blue light to the right of the Gypsy indicates that it is turned on, so if that does dark you can safely assume it is off) I pressed and held the power button and that turned the Gypsy back on with the message "connected" on the screen. The message on the computer screen indicated that it was "downloading data file." It also said, "inactive" while the percentage went from from 0-100%.

After quite a while longer of waiting, I did get it working and have already started using it ;)

Family Snow Globe Shaker

 
Today was such a fantastic day. I am on a three day weekend from school, so I have more time to craft! The kids both have school projects that are due soon and we spent the day working on them. After checking out the Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue blog hop over at Cooking with Cricut, I decided to use the idea as inspiration for my daughter's family snow globe project! It turned out to be a complete success!! I wish the picture was as cute as the final project in person, but I think you can get the idea. Please excuse the little black squares, I REALLY wanted to share the project, but I don't like to post pics of my kids on the internet.

I also removed our family name (I had my daughter write it in crayon to feature her fantastic Kindergarten writing skills!) It is in the middle of the frame on the bottom on the finished globe. I know the recipe is a little complicated, but the final project is so much fun that I hope you'll think it's worth it!

(Complicated) Recipe

Snowglobe:

Base - Cricut Doodlecharms cartridge - 10" - on blackout - blue paper

Top of globe - shift cut on blackout - 10" - white paper

Clear snow globe effect - shift cut on blackout - 10" - acetate patterned paper from K & Company Cara Marie pad

Gold border (used to hide the dimensionals creating the barrier for snow/glitter - same as top of snowglobe - shift cut on blackout - 10" - then cut again at 8 1/2" using center point feature OR use the Gypsy to place one inside the other and cut

Snow on bottom - cotton balls

Sky background - My daughter's artwork!

Snow/shimmer - Studio G iridescent glitter

Used Elmer's craft bond (needed liquid glue) to attach acetate to gold border

Used Square dimensionals to create a border around the entire white globe top to make sure the glitter wouldn't escape - do NOT remove paper from dimensionals until AFTER glitter is poured in

People:

Bodies - Cricut Everyday Paper Dolls Cartridge basic doll image - 2 1/2 for kids & 2 3/4 for adults

Clothing - Girls  - WintrG & WintrB on pg. 36 & 37

Frame for our family name on the front:

Cricut Sentimentals cartridge - Frame2 - white paper - 4 1/2"

Gold overlay - Frame2 - shift cut - gold shimmer paper (Recollections)

I am entering this project into the following challenges:
Little Scrap Pieces - Anything Goes Challenge 
The Cuttlebug Spot - Winter Time Challenge - texture = cotton balls used for snow

Let it Snow!

Happy New Year! I am so excited for 2012. The new year always brings with it an opportunity to start anew. I love the idea of a clean slate and am hoping for a fantastic year!

My card for today is a celebration of winter. It has been a snow-free winter for us so far, but that didn't stop me from creating this card for some good snow karma. Everybody needs a snow day once in a while and this card says...bring it on! I chose this dot embossed card because it reminds me of snow, and I added a little extra bling with the jewels to make it "Glitter Panda" worthy too!!

Recipe

Cricut Holiday Cakes Cartridge - Plain phrase feature - Winter5 - Shift (p. 77) - Let it snow - cut at 2" - Dark blue color from The Paper Co. - Snow Day pack

Cricut Holiday Cakes Cartridge - Mittens - Winter2-S & Winter2 (pg. 47) - cut at 3" - Dark blue color from The Paper Co. - Snow Day pack

Jewels - Assortment pack

Ribbon - leftover scraps- added under each mitten, just before gluing, for 3D effect

Card and envelope - Die Cuts With a View Embossed Cards Boxed Set - Dots design

Die cuts added using Zip 2 way pen

I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Getting Cricky "It's A Celebration" - celebrating snow!
Shopping our stash Challenge 34 - All that Glitters, Sparkles or Shines Challenge
Little Scrap Pieces - Copy Cat Challenge - Winter 
Simon Says Stamp - Spots &/or Stripes Challenge