S-fold card

After a few months of making cards, I was ready to branch out and start trying out new folds.  So this is my first attempt at an S-fold, and it was so easy, I can't believe I waited this long!  I found a great page on Split Coast Stampers with all of their tutorials on many different card folds, and you can find them by going to the home page (http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/) and clicking on "projects". 

For this one, I used cardstock from DCWV Sweet Stack (I highly recommend this pack to everyone), with yellow and pick plain cardstock.  The flower was from an old embellishment set I got from HSN of all places, and the pink gem was from Michael's.  I just inked a little silver along the edge of the pink, added a ribbon, and that was it.  Also, after this was taken, I cut a square of yellow cardstock with a sentiment for the inside, and fit it to hide perfectly behind the pink square.  I am planning on making a stock of these to have on hand, they were that easy.  This was for a friend's sister, so I hope she likes it!  Thanks for visiting today.

Princess birthday card

This card was for a little girl (not sure of the age), requested by a friend of mine.  So once I heard she likes Disney princesses, I decided on the Dreams Come True cartridge, with one of the newer princesses.  Belle is my favorite, so I decided to go with her in a nice, simple pose.  Simple - HA!  These cuts are very detailed and the pieces can be very small - the Disney carts are not easy to deal with!  But I just love the images and results.  Belle was cut at 3.5"x4.5", and the glitter cardstock is from DCWV Sweet Stack, which is one of my favorites.  Ribbons are from Michael's, and the name Brooke was cut with MTC and the Crayola font.  Thanks for visiting!

Baby girl card

Yet another cut file from http://www.myscrapchick.com/!!  I really do love Kristi's work, and it shows!  This is another cut file from her "Animal babies" collection, and I cut her with MTC at 4.5".  The stamped sentiment is from SU, and the papers are random pieces from Michael's.  Thanks for visiting!

First Communion Invitation

A friend of mine asked me to do some invites for her son's first communion, so this is what I came up with.  She requested a gold and red color scheme, so I used the red for the base cover and embossed it with a CB folder from the wedding set, and the cross is a cut from MTC.  I hope she likes them!

Purse box

Since we have yet another snow day here in Philadelphia, I am taking the day to work with my Cricut.  So far, I made this purse with MTC and a file from http://www.myscrapchick.com/.  This is from the "30 boxes and more" collection, and I love this little purse!  I cut it as large as I could on the 12x24 mat, and it's the perfect size for a gift card, jewelry gift, or anything small!  Didn't do much to it, other than add a ribbon for the handle and a flower on the front.  Thanks for visiting!

Easter treat bag

I couldn't wait to try out this treat bag, which is a file from MTC.  I made it a little bigger than I would normally, but this was a test run, so I need to play around with it a bit.  I also put white cardstock behind the chicks to make them stand out a bit more.  If you look closely, you will see the chicks from the Easter card below are the leftover cuts from this treat bag!

Prayer request

Normally I wouldn't post something like this, but I have an issue that is really bothering me and I was hoping to just get some thoughts and prayers.  Since I finished my Master's degree in August of 2008, I have had no luck finding a full-time job, and therefore, all of my massive student loans have been deferred since. 

I just a phone call today from the governement that I am no longer being allowed to defer, and must begin repaying now, even though I can't make it paycheck to paycheck in my part-time job I did manage to find.  The woman made it very clear that she does not care, that I can just default and ruin my life, it doesn't matter to her.  (Yes, she actually said that).  In these times of extreme economic circumstances, are you kidding me?  This is what I get for trying to "better" my life??  Really??

So, I need a miracle at this point.  Any thoughts or prayers you can offer would be greatly appreciated, because at this point it seems I have no choice but bankruptcy.  This is all really depressing considering the reason I am in this situation (trying to "better" my life), and the fact that I am facing a future of financial ruin - no wedding, no house, no kids - nothing.  I have been crying for about 5 hours straight now, so thank you for your time, if anyone is out there and reading!

Kim

Spring card Kit card

Thanks to Barb, aka Snowmanlover, for putting together these Springy card kits.  I love the papers, and this is the first card I made from the kit.  It's pretty plain and simple, but I was so excited to throw something together to see the color combos!  The chicks are leftover cuts from an Easter treat bag cut from MTC (yeah, leftover!), the scallops are from MTC, and the grass is from Plantin Schoolbook.  Finally, the stamp is from the $1.00 bin at Michael's!  The chicks and the scallop are all pop dotted for some dimension also.  Thanks for visiting!

This is ONLY a test....

This box was made with MTC and a file from My Scrap Chick (link below).  I actually found 12x24 paper at Michael's from K & Company - finally!!  Some of the prints are so-so, and for me, this is one of them.  However, I wanted to try out this paper using it to make boxes and/or bags from files I bought recently, and the paper ended up being perfect for it! It's shiny on the white side, and just heavy enough to make a solid box, without the hassle of cutting chipboard and switching to a deep cut blade. 

Since this is just a dry run, I obviously need to play with proper dimensions for the heart overlay, but I am pretty excited about how the test run turned out for now.  I'm really hoping K & Company comes out with more packs of 12x24 paper (Spring/Christmas/Winter????), because I really think people will scoop it up for boxes and bags, whether you have the Cricut cartridge or use SVG's to cut.

This file is called "Spring Gift Box", and for those of you with MTC (like me) or SCAL, you can purchase it for only one dollar here:

http://www.myscrapchick.com/

Thanks for visiting!

I've been busy!

This is the first time I have done cards en masse, so any comments are welcome!  A friend of mine asked for eight cards so she could refill her stash, so this is what I came up with.  I wanted to make some feminine, some more masculine, so I hope that was accomplished.  I am only including one picture of the insides, because I did all of them same for simplicity's sake!  Ok, here are the specs:

***The cupcakes are from Sweet Treats, cut with DS at 3" x 3.5" 

***The frames are from MTC cut at 3.5x4" and 3x3.5"

***The brackets on the inside of the cards are from Plantin Schoolbook cut at 1" x 2.5"

All stamps are from SU birthday set, the cupcakes are embellished with Stickles, and the swiss dotted paper is Bazzill  Basics.  The other patterned papers are just loose sheets from Michael's.  Thanks for visiting!

V-Day loot!

My sweet boyfriend got me all of this for Valentine's day, along with a nice big box of chocolates!  Love these Edible Arrangements, for anyone who hasn't seen them before.  Hope everyone else had a wonderful day!!

Snowglobe deer

In keeping with the current theme of our lives here in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, I am posting this deer snowglobe shape card I made for Christmas.  I used the Divine Swirls CB folder for the base and the deer, generic glitter for the globe itself, and JOTS for the deer and globe cuts.  I used DS to weld the tops of the two snowglobe cuts together, and you will definitely need your 12x24 mat for this one.  The card ended up being 5x7.5, so make each globe that size, and then weld just slightly at the top.  This will allow it to open bottom to top.  A little bit of gold Stickles along the base, and it was done! Thanks for visiting!

Blizzard cabin fever!!!

Ok, so once again we are in the midst of a blizzard - for anyone who is counting. that's the second in four days.  So I took the opportunity to make a card with the limited scrap supplies I have at my boyfriend's place.  Piglet was from a file by Stacy, and you can find her amazing stuff at http://www.stackyscraps.com/.  The sweet treat cups, of course, are from Stampin' Up, and the paper and ribbon are from Michael's.  This is pretty simple and plain, but like I said, I don't have access to my full array of supplies right now, so this will have to do.  Thanks for visiting!

Ornaments for the cause

I know, I know, Christmas is long gone.  But I have been working tonight on a couple of ornaments that I am going to be doing as part of a fundraiser in November for a cancer event.  The one on the bottom doesn't look pink (it looks red, I know), but it is a dark pink representing breast cancer, and the purple for ovarian cancer.  This was a great technique for glittering the ornaments that I learned from the Holidays with the Cricut ladies (formerly Christmas with the Cricut), and you can find a link to them to the right or below.  The ribbons were cut using white vinyl and stained with the coordinating ink colors.

http://www.cricutchristmas.blogspot.com/

Birthday card

This was a birthday card for a toddler that someone requested, and they told me that he loves trucks.  The Mickey and Friends cart had this perfect truck and border feature, so I went with that.  I did pop dot a lot of the elements, even though it does not show up well here.  This was when I was first starting out, so it's a little plain and boring, but it was all a learning process.  Thanks for visiting!

SNOW DAY!!

Well, for anyone who lives East of the Mississippi, we are in the midst of a huge storm right now.  For where I am, it's a classic Nor'Easter, and Philadelphia is buried in snow right now.  Unfortunately, I am snowed in at my boyfriend's with no access to my Cricut ---   : (    -----, so I guess we will just go shovel or something.  Anyway, in keeping with the theme, this is the Christmas card I made for my bf for Christmas, so I figured it would be an appropriate post for today.  The penguins and snowglobe came from the JOTS cartridge, and I used my Cuttlebug on the background.  Thanks for visiting, and stay warm and safe if you are getting this storm!

Baby card

This is a card I literally threw together in 3 minutes, so it's not really that good, or ready to give, but I HAD to share the paper piecing for the duck.  I used MTC to cut the duck, but the pattern came from a website with absolutely amazing designs for very reasonable prices.  If you have MTC or SCAL, you MUST check out this site, which I will list here, and also add the button for her blog onto my sidebar.  Kristi and her design team do great work, and they also send a freebie each Friday, if you subscribe to the newsletter.  I will definitely be using these files a lot now.  She has many different themes and styles, so check it out:

http://www.myscrapchick.com/index.htm

The adorable blue paper is part of an Anna Griffin Stack - I love her papers - and the paper ribbon is from Michael's.  The "small wonder" stamp is from SU!, and it's the Whimsical Words set.  Thanks for visiting!

Birthday card

I made this one for my brother, who is a total outdoorsman.  If he could live in the mountains in a log cabin, he would, so I decided to make that the theme of his card.  This is a simple window card, actually the first one I ever attempted, so I made the log cabin show through the window.  All of the cuts are from Camp Out, and I used a little inking for the deer and the "grass".  Threw in a couple of clear stickers, and voila! Thanks for visting today!

HAPPY Monday.....

OK, so this is not a project, I know, but I just had to post this today.  I went to the Philly Car Show last night with my boyfriend, and he could not get me away from this Corvette Stingray.  I just stood there staring and drooling for at least 20 minutes, after which he finally dragged me away.  But I wanted to dress up my blog with my dream car for today.  Enjoy!!!!

PS - I took these pictures will my CELL phone!!  That's right, my cell phone.  Not bad for a little LG phone, huh?    : )

Pro Bowl Sunday

OK, so I'm not a big fan of the pro bowl, but since several of my Denver Broncos are in it this year, I figured I would post this plate I etched in honor of them today.  I used MTC for the image, and then used Armour Etch cream, letting it sit for about 20 mins.  Getting a good picture of it was tricky, so please ignore the white sheet of paper behind the plate!  Thanks for visiting!

Simple Snowflake

This was a Christmas card I made this year, and I really liked the simplicity of it.  The silver is foil cardstock from American Crafts, the white layer is embossed with Cuttlebug, and the snowflake was a Recollections chipboard pack from Michael's.  Since they are calling for snow in our general area (Southern NJ/Philadelphia), I decided to go ahead and post this, and hope!  Thanks for visiting today!

Pooh bear sweet treat

I am just loving these sweet treat sweetheart cups!  This time, I cut Pooh from a dingbat file using Make the Cut, and filled the heart with red hots.  I also love this background paper from Michael's.  Thanks for visiting!

Update!!!

Ok, after further review, and some advice from the message board, I finally came up with this final card.  the wonderful ladies on the Cricut message board suggested a "65" in place of the ribbon, but my boyfriend now says he has no idea how old his dad really is - ummm, ok then.  So here is the design I went with.  thank you for your input and interest!

Birthday card

I made this card last night for my boyfriend's dad, who is turning 65 Monday.  He seems to think the cupcake is too kiddish for his dad (insert smack to the back of the head here), but I like the way it turned out.  I used Cuttlebug Divine Swirls for the cupcake, which is from Doodlecharms, and the stamp is from SU.  The light blue base was cut to 10x7 to make it a 5x7 card when folded.  The bottom layer is an open piece from Michael's.  Thanks for visiting today!

Anniversary card, first card ever made

It's not a Valentine's card, but maybe it could pass for one??  This is the first card I made, EVER!, and it was for my boyfriend on our 2nd anniversary in October.  I used Wild Card for the "love" and on the inside, I used champagne glasses and flower vines from Stretch Your Imagination.  The white layer at the bottom was heart embossed paper that I bought at Michael's, and I can't find it now.

Vacation layout

Here is a layout I did from a vacation to the Turks and Caicos - LOVED IT!!!  I wanted to make this page special, and I was pretty happy about the way it turned out.  This was loooong before my Cricut days, and I felt like putting a little retro into my day and my blog!  The vellum was a hand-tear, and those clear stickers are the best!  Thanks for visiting.

Hello Kitty!

I love Hello Kitty, even though my nieces are too old for her.  I used the Hello Kitty Greetings cart for this, and the Stampin' Up! full heart punch and sweet treat cups for the cut out balloon.  The additional hearts are just cast-offs from the punch, with a couple of stickers from Michael's.

Love, Philly style

For those of you familiar with Philadelphia, this was my attempt at using the sweet treat cups to pay homage to the statue in Love Park.  The "O" in that statue is slightly askew, so I used the cut from Home Accents, snipped off the heart, and turned it slightly.  Probably could have turned it even more, but for a first shot, I guess it's OK.  Also, it doesn't show up well, but I embossed the pink layer with the new Cuttlebug hearts folder.  Thanks for visiting!

Anniversary Card

Here is a 25th Anniversary card I made for my brother and sister-in-law last month.  The heart and "25" were pop-dotted, although it is hard to tell from this picture.  Another MTC creation purposely kept very simple.

Get Well card

Hello and happy Monday!  Well, not so much here on the East Coast, with all the rain and flooding.  Oh well, on to a happier subject - an oversized get well card!  I saw one of those huge Valentine's cards at CVS, and it gave me the idea for this.  My mom recently had surgery, so I wanted to make her something cute for the bedside.  I used MTC for the image, and used Cricut 12x24 cardstock to make the card 9x12!  I also used the Cricut markers and the Wild Card cart for the "just a note" sentiment.  The original file was from La's Cricut and Scal here: http://las-cricut.blogspot.com/
Thank you for stopping by and looking today!!

Kim V.

Etched mug

In honor of the NFL championship games today, I figured I would post a mug that I etched for my boyfriend, who is an Eagles fan.  I used MTC for the image, and Armour Etch cream.  The mug was from Wal-Mart, of all things!  Hope this picture shows up well enough.

Thanks, Barb!

A big Thank you to Barb, aka SnowmanLover, for linking my blog today!  Thank you so much!  I have visited her blog more times than I can count, so if you haven't yet, give it a shot:

http://www.snowmanlover.blogspot.com/

You can also get the Sweet treat sweetheart cups through her.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

"Bee Mine" sweet treat card

Here is an experimental  card - I'm not real sure about the bottom part, but I am really into this technique right now, so more to follow.  The bee image was from the Make the Cut! gallery (see links for info), and the sweet treat cups are from the Stampin' Up Occasions mini.  Hope you enjoy my first official post!

Welcome!

Well, I finally did it, after months of considering it - I officially have a blog!  I will try to post as often as possible, so hopefully someone can find inspiration from my posts and links.  There are a lot of people from whom I get inspiration, and I want to thank all of the ladies (and men!) on the Cricut and Make the Cut! messageboards.