Valentine Monkey

This card was inspired by a gift my nephew gave my Mom last year for Valentine's day.  It was a red monkey that, when you press his hand, says, "Me bananas for you."  So I decided to make this for my Mom to give to him this year.  I embossed the body with the Hearts Cuttlebug folder, and the monkey and sentiment are from Sweethearts.  However, you can't see the best part of this card, which is the fact that I made an action wobble for this little guy, so that he swings back and forth.  It's so much fun, and I followed the tutorial here in order to make my own.  Maybe I will try to get a video of this wobbling and see how it turns out for posting.

On the inside, I put a rectangle on the mat in the Gypsy, then threw on a few of the heart XO cuts from Sweethearts.  I decided to take the inner portions of the O and the heart  in order to finish it off properly.  It didn't look right with them empty!  The paper is a loose pattern from Michael's, and the ribbon is also from M's.  I highly recommend checking out this video by the Paper Boutique for the wobbler instructions - I LOVE this.  I got the 26 gauge wire from the bead aisle in Michael's, if anyone is interested in trying it themselves.  Thanks for visiting today!

Winter birthday card

Here is another birthday card for a friend, and since hers is a January birthday, I decided to make it a snowman theme!  I used the snowman from Gypsy Wanderings with a Peachy Keen face stamp, some snowflake stickers from Recollections, a tag from Create a Critter, and the paper from DCWV.  The stamp is an SU stamp, and I actually added some white thread into the holes on the tag after this picture was taken.  I added some diamond stickles to the snowman (although they look blue in the pic), and pop dotted the scarf for some dimension.

The ribbon is from Michael's and the inside I am opting not to show, since this person is one of my followers, and she may not have received it yet!!    : )    Thanks for visiting today!

Copycat t-shirt

A couple of months ago, my boyfriend and I went to the Flyers arena (Philadelphia hockey team, for those who do not know), and I saw this t-shirt that I LOVED.  After seeing the price and experiencing dizziness for a few seconds (it was $60), I promptly said to him, "I could MAKE that."  So that's what I just did!  I got the heat transfer vinyl from HH Sign Supply, the rhinestones from Michaels - they are the Jolee's Swarovski elements in 3 different sizes - and I used the iRock tool and MTC's rhinestone feature. 

I am pretty happy with the way this one turned out, so I hope you like it too!  I traced an image of the logo that I found on Google, made it into a cutting file, then cut out the different pieces in the appropriate color vinyl, ironing each on in layers.  I then used the iRock to put each rhinestone on using the template I got by employing Make the Cut's rhinestone feature.  The embellished piece is 5.5" x 4.5", and it took about 20 minutes from start to finish - and it all started out as a plain black, $5 tee from Wal Mart!!  I love how the flash caught the shine in the stones in this picture!  What does everyone think?

Winter Wonderland

OK, we have all seen snow before, but this was just so pretty when I woke up this morning, that I couldn't resist!  We only got about 6 inches, but it was enough for both my nephews and myself to have off of school and work, respectively.  So, I am going out later to bean them in the head with snowballs, so thanks for visiting, and I will have a new project tonight!!

Forgotten Christmas card

I realized I completely forgot to share the card I made for my boyfriend for Christmas this year!  Oops!

This is pretty basic, but I think it turned out cute.  I used Winter Frolic for the snowman, but drew on the face myself because I'm not a fan of the faces on those cuts, sorry!  The penguins were cute from Joys of the Season, and again, I drew the faces on, this time because the penguins were cut so small that the faces did not turn out right. They are about .75" tall, and the snowman is about 2.5" tall.  The patterned papers were from last year's DCWV Christmas stack, and the snowflake background mat is from this year's DCWV Tis' the Season stack.  I used some MS glitter on the snow to give it a little shimmer, and the stamps is from Scrappy Mom's Stamps Winter Wishes set.  That's about all, so thanks for visiting today!

Birthday card inspired by MPS challenge

First off, I did NOT enter this in Robyn's challenge for her design team call because, well, I'm not at that level.  LOL.  However, I was inspired to take up the challenge, since I had never actually done one before, and it came to me pretty quickly once I picked my theme.  This is a card for my friend whose birthday is next week, and I love this little cupcake from Create a Critter.  The tag is also from CAC, the stamps are from SU!, and the paper is from DCWV Glitter Stack.  I used some glitter on the cherry and Stickles on the stem, and the gems and ribbon are from Michael's.  The overall card is 5x7, and the cupcake is 3.5"x3.75".  To finish it off, I used Divine Swirls on the icing and Swiss dots on the base.  Well, that about covers it, so thanks for visiting today!

Valentine treat bag

No, your eyes are not deceiving you, this is the same file as the bunny bag.  I decided to think outside the box SLIGHTLY and make it into a Valentine box. 

I sized it to fit a 12x12 sheet of paper, which is a loose sheet I got last year at Michael's.  I then replaced the bunny with a valentine teddy file someone uploaded to the MTC gallery, I replaced the egg flourish over the door with a heart flourish from last year's Mother's Day cart, and the window boxes were changed too.  I used a welded heart file from the SVG cuts Valentine candy cherub set, and welded a rectangle to the bottom for the base, then pop dotted the white layer and the entire window box.  A few dots with my gel pens set it off nicely, as did the stickles on the front heart flourish and door, along with the epoxy sticker.  I feel like something is missing, but for now, this is OK, I guess.  Thanks for visiting today!

A really, really early test cut

I should be working on Valentine's stuff, but I recently got this from SVG Cuts, and had to test it.  I sized it larger than it's supposed to be because I wanted to make sure there weren't any too tiny cuts at its intended size, but this was nice and easy.  Making it smaller will also allow me to use more patterned paper and dress it up.  I used some pastel 12x24 paper I got at OMC, and then used DCWV glitter paper and a pattern from the Sweet Stack to add some color.  I also would pop dot the window boxes and the bunny, but I don't have any pop dots at my boyfriend's!  LOL.  Also, I think next time I will use Peachy Keen Critter faces for the bunny!  Below are all four sides of the bag, turning the bag to the right each time.

So, overall this is 9"H x 5.5"W.  I can't wait to do it for real and use pretty patterned paper and see how it all comes together.  Guess these will be my Easter treat bags this year, so until I do these for real, I hope you like my little test cut, and thanks for visiting today!

Happy New Year to all of my followers and friends!

I made this card today, simply because I felt like actually crafting again for the first time in about a week.  Once it was finished, I thought about who I should give it to, and then it hit me - this card is for all of you!!!  All of my followers, readers, commenters, and friends out in blogger land.  Having just started my blog almost a year ago, I have been so appreciative of all of your support, encouragement, feedback, and comments!!!  So, to all of you out there, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!  I hope 2011 is a wonderful year for all of us, having had my fair share of CRAP this year.  The crap will never go away completely, but my hope for all of us is that we have a great year!  So, here's to all of you!

Oh yeah, I used Wild Card for all of the cuts, and clear acetate which I colored with alcohol ink for the bottle.  Some swiss dots on the cork, Divine Swirls on the "foil" label, and the last two letters of Moet on the main label finished this card.  Thanks for visiting, and happy 2011!

Look at this face!! : )

I got a lot of grief for this from men - namely my boyfriend and my best friend's husband.  Am I the only one who thinks it's cute???  It was only on her for a minute, and she was eating treats while it was on, so she was fine!!  Although, she does have quite the look of shame on her face, doesn't she??  Oh well.....she came over and curled up on my lap a minute later, so she couldn't have been too mad! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and I will probably start making some projects again later this week.  If you have some time off like me, ENJOY!!!!

Merry Christmas, blogger friends!

I just wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.  Hope everyone has a great day!!!

Last minute cards

So, today I realized the one pitfall of having my Mom and brother buy cards from me - all of my brothers and their families are possibly about to get 3 sets of the same card.  Yuck...SO...off to work I went.  I made these pretty quickly, and I love easel cards, so it was fun!  Let me start by saying I scraplifted this from the Cricut MB, but I have no idea from whom, so I apologize for that!  I did change mine up a little, if that helps, lol.  I used Winter Frolic for the trees, Winter Woodland for the tags, and DCWV Tis the Season paper (not cardstock) stack for all of these.  I added stickles for lights, and used Divine Swirls for some texture.  I also cut the middle layer in the darker color and pop dotted it for some interest and dimension.  The stamps are from SU!  Well, that about covers it so, thanks for visiting today!

You HAVE to try this website!!

A friend of mine came into work yesterday, and said, "You have to go to this website - it's so much fun."  Well, I was hooked.  It's a site where you can customize a free, yes FREE, phone call from Santa to anyone you want!  You can input your own phone number so it looks like the call is coming from your phone.  And if they don't answer??  It leaves a voice mail.  I made one for my boyfriend, and he pormptly sent me a text that read: "Don't you have work to do at work?"  Nope, not this week!!  HAHAHA!!  I sent one to my Mom from her cat, and she called me cracking up.  Highly recommend it!!  Here is the website:

http://www.sendacallfromsanta.com/

Have fun, everyone!!   : )

Simple Christmas nativity card

I threw this one together in about 2 minutes, and the choice of papers aren't my favorite, but I am at my boyfriend's today, and didn't bring my stacks with me, so....this was kind of a last minute, "Oh crap, I forgot to bring the card to include in his parents' package."  Sooo...I went in the other room and searched through some scraps and found these, which ended up being the exact sizes I needed.  Phew!

I used Inspired Heart for the cuts, and the tag was from Winter Woodland.  I am addicted to the pop up cards now, and they are so easy, why not jsut pop it up??  LOL.  The stamp on the outside is from Scrappy Mom's stamps, and the inside are both SU! stamps with Real Red ink spot.  The card base is paper from Anna Griffin, and the inside mat is a K&Co piece.  I think that about covers it all, so thanks for visiting today!

Santa gift bag

Well, I can't believe that today is the last day of school!!  We are officially on Christmas break as of 2:00 PM today, and it is going to be nice.  Of course, I'm still going to have to be there for the sports, but at least it will just be a couple of hours each day.  Hooray for break!

So, I put this together for my friend at work, and SVG Cuts has done it again!  This is from a set called Big Christmas Bags, and they certainly weren't kidding.  This Santa is 11.5" tall - what a great set for gifts!  I made it out of some thicker cardstock to give it some strength, and then used regular cardstock for the details.  The picture doesn't really show the details well, but here goes.  For his hat, I used paper from DCWV that says Ho Ho Ho all over it - can you see it?  Also, his beard, mustache, and pompom on the hat were all run through the Cuttlebug with Divine Swirls.  I used 1/16" pop dots on the mustache, and 1/8" on the nose and eyebrows, which also is not visible here.  Some more patterned paper on the sides from DCWV Tis the Season, and that finished it off.  The second picture is the assembled gift all finished with tissue paper and a ribbon to top it off.  It really looks much cuter in person, seeing all the dimension and details.  Oh well - thanks for looking today!

A few more cards by guest designer Noah...lol

He wanted to do some cat themed cards for our family members with cats, so I used My Scrap Chick's Cat's Life set, and Peachy Keen Stamps' Critter Faces.  I thought they turned out really cute.  Again, he picked out all of the papers and patterns, the faces, embellishments, stamps, etc.  The inside of all three are the same, so, again, one picture is sufficient!

These are the last of the cards, so thanks for visiting, and I am letting him read all of your comments, so thank you!

Christmas star bag

Another from the SVG Cuts set, this is really easy too!  They do a great job of putting these SVG's together to make them super simple to assemble.  This is the star bag from that set, and I decided to leave off the "Joy" banner and make it out of a cardstock with words on it instead. 

The tag was cut from Winter Frolic at 2.5"x1.6", and I added some small adhesive gems to the tree to give it a little bling.  The paper was from DCWV Tis the Season pack, and I really liked the non-traditional color scheme.  I believe my Mom is going to use this for giving a gift card, and it is the perfect size for it.  A little tissue paper and it will be ready to go!  Thanks for visiting today.

Another Christmas gift box

This is another in the set from SVG cuts that also included the double gift bag below.  I really, really like this set, and it is easy, despite the mistakes in folding you can easily see on this one, lol.  It was definitely a test run, and I have some playing to do with the siazing of the scalloped layers, but all in all I think it turned out OK.  I used DCWV patterned papers, with the one for the base of the box being from last year's "The Christmas Stack" and the scalloped layer patterns from this year's "Tis the Season".  I used plain white and hit it with the CB Divine Swirls for one of the layers, and finished it off with some adhesive gems. 

If you have MTC and want this set, go here, to find it.  That's about all, so thanks for visiting today!

Super cute cocoa holder!

This was so easy and turned out so cute!  I got this set from Treasure Box Designs, and I love it!  I am definitely going to make more, and next time I think I will try using my Peachy Keen snowman face stamps with it!  I sized this to hold a standard cocoa packet, and then the snowman layers to scale.  The snowflake paper is Bo Bunny, and I got a bunch of these loose at Joann's.  The first picture is empty, and the second is with the cocoa inside.

Hope you like it, and thanks for visiting today!

My turn, finally! Lol

I have been dying to try these Christmas bags and boxes from SVG Cuts for a couple of weeks now, and finally had some time last night!  This is one of only five adorable patterns, and I didn't really do it justice.  I'm not entirely happy with my selection of patterns and embellishments, but I was so excited to just try it that I didn't put a whole lot of thought into the details, lol. 

Anyway, this was all done on 12x12 paper and the overall bag is 9" high and 5" wide.  The inside area of the bag that would hold a gift, etc, is 4.5" H x 3" W, so it's a good size.  If a company ever makes 12x24 Christmas or holiday patterned paper, you could make this even larger, but oh well (hint, hint someone!!!).

SVG cuts broke this down into 2 pieces, and it was really easy to put together - I highly recommend this set for anyone with MTC or SCAL.  The patterned papers are from DCWV new Christmas stacks this year and I got them from Michael's.  The stickles are uneven, but again....rushing in my excitement to get it together, lol.

Hopefully I can get the rest of these done this weekend and show you more.  So much I want to do, so little time!  Thanks for visiting today!

More of my nephew's Christmas cards

Here are a couple more we worked on this weekend.  I plan on actually making something myself soon, I promise!  For these, we used the Mickey Christmas Cuttlebug die and for the deer card we used Jolly Holidays.  I really like that cart, by the way, and can't wait to use my Peachy Keen face stamps with the elves and Santa!  The inside of the card is the same on both, so I only took one picture.  I figured for simplicity's sake, we would keep it the same.  He did all of the stamping, except the wheel, which is an SU! wheel.  The tree is from a Recollections set I picked up at Michael's. Thanks for visting today!

My first ever pop-up card!

And boy, did I fall in love with this technique.  It was so easy with the tutorial from Split Coast Stampers site, and this was created by my 7 year-old nephew Noah.  Here's the story: a couple of weeks ago, he came to me and said, "Aunt Kim, I was wondering if maybe one day we could spend time together and you could help me make Christmas cards with your machine for everyone in the family."  WELL, how cute is that??  He quickly ran off all of the themes he wanted, and my mind started going.  Once he said gingerbread house for one, I knew it was time to try a pop-up card.

For this, I used a MTC and a My Scrap Chick set called North Pole, and it is so adorable!  I did use Jolly Holidays for the gingerbread man, simply because it was a simple cut.  I added a few stickles to him, pop dotted some elements of the house. and did the pop-up portion of the card.  My nephew did everything else.  he picked out all of the colors, the papers, the layout, the ribbon, and the saying!  He wanted me to write inside, "Run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man."  So that is exactly what I wrote, and you should have seen his face when it was all done.  Well, actually, you can see it below!  Lol.  Of course, I wasin charge of the Cricut and the glue, but I was so impressed with what he came up with.  Sunday we are doing a few more, so stay tuned.  Thanks for visiting today!

Cookie box

This is an entry for our cybercrop over at MTC that I made.  Dana over at SVG and MTC files graciously provided it to everyone for this challenge, and here is what I did with it.  This is nice and big, and it was cut out on two pieces of 12x12 Bo Bunny paper.  I used vellum for the cutout area, and the tag is a basic tag with Amy Chomas' gel pen holder and St. Nicholas font from Freefonts.com.  The final product is 7: tall and 7" wide, and it was so simple to put together!  Thanks, Dana!

Probably not deserving, BUT....

Two wonderful ladies have passed along an award to me, so I wanted to take a few minutes to acknowledge the honor!  I do truly feel honored for this one, because I feel like I have been neglecting my blog lately.  Long story short, I have been working a TON and crafting has been put on hold right now.  I'm also spending most of my spare time trying to get all of my Mom's Christmas decorations up for and with her, since she is still walking with her cane and cannot do much.  I even got on the roof last week - aren't you all proud??!  I'm shocked I didn't break my legs!

Anyway, on to the subject at hand!  Stacy at Love that Bug, and Maria at Stamp, Cut, Create both gave me this award, so I want to start off by thanking them!  I have "known" Stacy for a while in blogger land and admired her great talent, but Maria is a new blogger friend, so I had an amazing time discovering her blog - she is AWESOME!!  Given the rules of the award, I would love to give it back to her having just discovered her, but I guess that would be silly!  So, what I can do is encourage all of you to head on over to Maria's and Stacy's blogs and check out all of the great projects they have been working on lately (check out Maria's test tube candy holders)!

OK, this is really long, so here are the rules for this award:
1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award - DONE!

2. Share 8 things about yourself
3. Pay it forward to 8 blogs you have just recently discovered
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about the award

8 things about myself:
1.  I work TOO MUCH!!!  Lol
2.  I have seven nieces and nephews, ranging in age from 23 to 7!
3.  I got a Master's degree that I will never be able to use.  Blah....
4.  This was the sixth Thanksgiving without my Dad, and I still cried like a baby all day Wednesday.  Ugh.
5.  I discovered crafting and card making a year and a half ago after seeing the Cricut infomercial!
6.  I am JUST starting to get into stamping, but will never have the time or patience to do the whole coloring in thing.  God bless those of you talented people who do all of that!
7.  I sometimes tend to be clumsy, and my boyfriend points and laughs.  : )
8.  I love animals, and cry and look away when I see those stupid commercials with Sarah McLaughlin singing, with pictures of abused animals flashing on the screen. 

Now, the 8 blogs I would like to pass this along to (disclaimer: they may not all be recently discovered, sorry):
1.  A Beanie Creation
2.  Greenbean's Crafterole
3.  TX Scrapper Mom
4.  Creating With Scrapbooks
5.  Cut By Connie
6.  Card Creations By Lorraine
7.  Staying Crafty
8.  4 Goofballs

Thank you again Stacy and Maria for passing this along, and I hope to get some actual crafting done this week!