Celebrating Dads and Grads At The Cuttlebug Spot

Hey yall! Happy Monday! Happy Memorial Day! I have company at my house and we are having a ball! My Mom, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew came up for a short visit. It's been so fun having company!!! I haven't had much time to scrap, but that is ok....I can always scrap later. But I did sit down yesterday to make a card. As some of you may know, we took the month of May off at The Cuttlebug Spot for some much needed rest. However, we are starting things back up again this week. This weeks challenge is 'Dads & Grads' and I believe it is set to post on the Cuttlebug Blog tomorrow. Nilda is feeling a little under the weather, hence the delay. Feel better Nilda! We are creating either Father's Day or Graduation projects. I chose to make a Father's Day card. I used the Houndstooth and Distressed Stripes embossing folders on this card. I dug into my scrap bins for all of the materials on this card. I am still on a mission to use up some of my scraps. This card is a basic easel card...one of my fave card designs. I also did a bit of stitching with my sewing machine and used a Martha Stewart border punch. Of course, I used some of my fave Helmar adhesives on this project. I used Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to adhere the ribbon and the card front to the base. I used Helmar Quick Fix Adhesive Runner for attaching the rest of the card and Helmar Zap Dots to pop up the button and calendar card.

'Happy Father's Day'

The calendar card is from Jenni Bowlin and I circled the day that Father's Day lands on.
These alphabets are from Kaisercraft.
I received this button in a button swap years ago. I cut the tag out using my Sure Cuts A Lot Software and Cricut Expression. The ribbon is from American Crafts and the brown twine is from Jillibean.

Be sure to head on over to The Cuttlebug Spot tomorrow and check out the other dt projects if ya can!!! As always, thanks for stoppin' by my blog! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday! I am going to spend the day working on some layouts using the June kit from Scrapbook Circle. The kit looks so yummy and I can't wait to dig in! I will share those with ya on Tuesday.

Happy Scrappin'!!

Easy Embossing Technique

Hey yall! Happy Friday!!!! I'm so glad the weekend is here! And you wanna know why?!!! My Mom, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew are all coming up for a few days! I'm so excited! I haven't seen them since March!!! Yay! Anyways, I wanted to share a new embossing technique (picture below) I played around with this week using Helmar Clear Zap Dots. As a Helmar DT Member, I am responsible for posting to the Helmar blog and since I am too lazy (LOL) to retype all of it, I will give ya the link....Easy Embossing Technique. Here is a pic of what I will be showing ya....

Now, here is the layout I used these one...'She Exudes Femininity.' This is my bff from high schools little girl, Olivia. I scrap her often and she is just a doll!

I also got the chance to play around with some 'Coffee Shop' Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and Tattered Angels stencil on the background of this layout. How fun was that!!!! Also, if you will notice on the blue patterned paper, I used another new tool (or new to me) called the Purple Cows Freestyle Mouse. This is just the bee's knees I tell ya! LOL. It glides across your paper like butter and all of the neat blades it comes with....wow! Love it!

I also embossed the title.

To show dimension of butterflies....

I hope you will try out this technique! It is so easy and fun! Also, I hope all of you have a fabulous weekend!! Take care of yourselves and Happy Scrappin'!

Thanks for stoppin' by!

It Certainly Is 'Sweet'!!!

Hey yall! Happy Thursday!!! I hope you all are enjoying this gorgeous afternoon! The weather here is just about perfect! The sun is shining and a light breeze is blowing...I love it. I finally feel like summertime is here. With our funky weather these past few weeks, it felt almost like the end of winter/beginning of Spring. Just looking out my window today immediately got my creative juices going and I had a bundle of energy. So, as I sat down to play, the doorbell rang. It was the mailman with my June kit for Scrapbook Circle. I was more excited than usual because I ordered the 2 extra add-on's that come with this kit. I saw the June add-on from Echo Park and immediately had to tear into it and play. I just love these papers and embellishments! They are so beautiful! I immediately noticed the pinwheel patterned paper and decided to make some pinwheels of my own to match. Of course, I had to pull out my favorite Helmar adhesives for this page. I used a combination of the Quick Fix Adhesive Runner, Scrap Dots, and Zap Dots. Also, I got the opportunity to play with my new toy...the Imaginisce I-Top Brad Maker. I picked this up this past weekend while teaching with Cristal in KY. It took me a few tries to get it down, but I think I have it now and this is going to be a new favorite toy. I just love how I now have the chance to make a brad to match anything I am working on just by using this tool and some patterned paper! Love it! Now, everything you see here (except the pearls, Jenni Bowlin alphas on the banner, Coredinations cardstock, and thread) were all pulled from the kit.

"Sweet Summertime" (the name of this kit inspired my title)

This is Carter Tarter enjoying the pool on Memorial Day 2006. I miss him being this age!!! But he still is a sweet little boy. AND guess what?!! He is coming to see us this weekend! Yay!

To show dimension of the pinwheels...I used Helmar Scrap Dots to adhere these.

I hope you have enjoyed this layout today. It is so great to be back to scrappin'!!!! I have missed sitting at my desk to create and blogging! I am now off to work on another layout, which I will share with yall tomorrow. I also am working on some Sesame Street stuff that someone ordered. I will share that too as soon as I finish. As always, THANK YOU so much for stopping by my blog! I really appreciate it! Have a fabulous afternoon and Happy Scrappin'!

Cri-Kits Embossers Are Ready For Pre-Orders!!!!

Hey yall! Happy Tuesday! I am finally done cleaning my house and ready to sit at my scrappy desk to work. I have been hired to make some Sesame Street characters for a friend at my Mom's school. Her little boy is having a Sesame Street themed party and I am going to be making some things to sit down in a bucket for the centerpiece on the table as well as a banner. I have never done any Sesame Street characters, so I am excited about that. I will be sure to share those with ya as soon as I get them finished.

But, before I started to scrap, I wanted to tell ya that I received a message from the wonderful people at Cri-Kits. They are the company who make the fabulous Cri-Kits pens I have been using here lately. Well, they have a awesome new product coming out called the Double Ended Embosser. Now, anything you can cut or draw with your Cricut, you can emboss!!!! How cool is this going to be! They are now taking pre-orders and if you order now, you can save up to $7! I know I can't wait to get my hands on one and try it out! I just wanted to pass this info along to any of you Cri-Kits lovers.

Ok, off to scrap. I hope to have some scrappy stuff to share with you in the next day or so! I have missed posting, but it just takes me a bit of time to get back in the routine. I hope you all have a glorious day! Happy Scrappin' and thanks for visiting!

Super Tired Monday!!!

Hey guys!!!! Happy Monday....well, kinda wishing you that a little late today, huh?! LOL. I do hope you all are having a fabulous day so far though! I am just about beat! As yall know, I spent the whole weekend with one of my best friends, Cristal. I promised I would tell you all about it, so I wanted to make sure I did that today.

I flew into Nashville on Thursday morning. My flight was like 40 minutes early...how rare is that?! So, while waiting on Cristal, I chatted it up with the nicest little old lady. I was immediately so glad to be back in the South where everyone is so friendly!!! Me and this lady just had the best time laughing and chatting. Cristal arrived shortly after and we immediately went to Cracker Barrel to meet up with her good friend, Adrian. Adrian was just the sweetest girl! I loved hanging out with both of them and we laughed so much! I was so glad to meet a new friend. After eating, we then drove to Cristal's house and started packing up the kits I mentioned in the post below this one. It was a lot of work, but definitely fun!!!! I just knew our class would be a hit at the Cave City Convention Center.

So, on Friday, I slept in just a tad while Cristal took the boys to school. Once she got home, I got up and we piddled for a bit before getting ready to go to see Gage and Justice (Cristal's 2 youngest sons) at school. Gage was going to be in a play called 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar.' He was just absolutely adorable and I am so glad I got to see it. Justice sat next to me while Cristal video taped the play. Justice and I just talked and talked. He is such a sweet young man! After the play, we checked the boys out of school early and went to grab a bite to eat at Krystals. I LOVE eating at Krystal! We do not have any up here in PA and I miss them so much! After eating, we went to a local scrappy store so Cristal could pick up some eggs....yes, you heard me right, eggs. LOL. She buys farm fresh eggs from the lady at the scrap store. Can you believe I did not even go in? Me and Gage sat out in the van and chatted it up. After that, we all drove back home and finished up the last bit of preparation for our trip to KY.

We left for KY a little later than expected, but that was ok. We originally had planned to take the back roads to Cave City in order to avoid that Nashville traffic. Well, wouldn't you know it....we hit a road block due to a bridge being out and had to find another way around! LOL. But we had so much fun in the car! I do not think I have laughed as much as I laughed this weekend in a long, long time! So, we finally arrived at the scrapbook store in Cave City, KY that we were suppose to meet/greet at. It was so fun to meet all of the ladies at the store and to help demo some Purple Cows and Imaginisce product.

After the meet/greet and demo at the store, we checked into our hotel. Of course, it had to be an experience too! LOL. We were assigned a room on the first floor and can you believe the door did not even lock?!!! We slid that little credit card looking key into the lock and thought it had opened. So after we went in the room, Cristal said...'Hey Aymee, go outside and see if you can get in the room.' So I go outside, shut the door, and opened it right up again without a key!!! So we had to go back to the check in desk and ask for a new room. They moved us up one floor. We then settled in for the night.

We woke up super early on Saturday in order to be at the Convention Center in plenty of time for the morning staff meeting and to set up our room. I just cannot tell you how excited I was to actually be helping out!!! I have never helped to teach a class and I was giddy as all get out! There were close to 200 ladies there and we were going to be teaching the same class 4 times to around 50 people in each class. As I helped to set kits and so forth out on the tables, I thought more and more about all the people I would be standing up in front of and have to admit...I got a little nervous. But once our first class started and we began talking, the fears immediately went away. Everyone there was just so nice and we all had a fabulous time. Cristal opened up the class with a little introduction and demo on some tools. She showed them all how to use the Purple Cows Trimmer and Imaginisce I-Top tool. After the demo, we showed them how to complete 2 layouts. If you would like to see the 2 layouts we did, go check out Cristal's blog HERE and you can see those.

We opened up with the first layout you see on the link above. The layout involved taking this beautiful sheet of patterned paper from Imaginisce and tearing it into strips. Well, this was an experience in itself. I guess me being a freestyle scrapper for such a long time, I did not think anything of tearing paper. But several of the awesome ladies there just could not tear the paper. I guess it all depends on what kind of scrapper you are and what rules you follow when scrapping. I myself do not follow many rules...LOL. So teaching this class really helped me to see that we are all so different and do things different ways. I guess I had not given that much thought before. I mean, I always notice different styles, but it's different in person. I thought it was so amazing to see each individual lady's take on the layout. They all did things a bit different and each layout was simply beautiful!!!! I loved how they all mixed things up and they even showed me several great, new ideas! It was so awesome!!!

Next, we moved on to the second layout you will see in the link above. This layout involved one of the COOLEST tools....the Purple Cows Freestyle Mouse! I had never had the opportunity to play with this dandy tool until the class. I just loved it! It glides along the paper and cuts like butter! LOVE IT! So while Cristal was teaching, I walked around the room and demo'd this tool to all of the ladies. Each of them were just in love with it as I was! All of their layouts turned out just as fabulous! Again, they all put their own unique spin on it and being able to walk around and see all of their work was so awesome. Not only getting to see their work, but just talking to each lady was so amazing! We all just cut up and laughed! It was the best time! We also gave away several RAK's, including the Imaginisce I-Top tool, in all of the classes! The ladies just loved this as well!

In between each class, the ladies had the opportunity to go into the large conference room of the convention center and crop, shop, etc. While they did so, Cristal and I would set thing up for the next class. We taught 2 classes and then had a break for lunch. At around 5:30 or so, we were all finished up with our classes and went into the big conference room where all the ladies were cropping. While there, we sat at a table so that we were available for demo's if need be. Now, I know I was supposed to be teaching, but I had to sneak off and do a bit of shopping too! Tee Hee! I bought all I needed to work with my new Imaginisce I-Top tool!!! I cannot wait to try this baby out! It is just the neatest thing! If you do not know what this is, it is a tool that allows you to make your own brads. I bought all 3 sizes of the punches and am excited about those as well. Those can be used to make some super cute flowers. I am looking forward to trying those out. One of the ladies who worked with us that day had the cutest carrying case for your I-Top!!!! Now, don't tell Brandon, but I have already went on Ebay and bought one to match! Shhh! LOL! I also got my hands on the new Imaginisce I-Rock tool. This is another tool that I cannot wait to play with!!! Also, we swapped kits with the rep from Little Yellow Bicycle. So we both scored some super cute stuff! She even gave us a bag that we could use while cropping. How nice was that?!!!

Overall, I just had a ball meeting all of these new people! I am in love with teaching/assisting! I would love to help Cristal out again and SOON! Wink Wink Cristal if you read this! Tee Hee! It was just so much fun and I had the best weekend! After the day though, I think Cristal and I both were ready to pass out. We went back to our hotel and chilled for a while before going to sleep. We had to get up around 3:30 am in order to get dressed and drive to Nashville. I had a 6:45am flight! The weekend went by so fast!!! I knew it would, but I enjoyed every single minute!!! Thank you to Cristal for inviting me and letting me help! It was a time I will never forget!

I hope yall have enjoyed reading about my trip. As soon as I get some pix to share, I will be sure to do so. I know Cristal took some, but she has family staying with her and is super busy right now. I hope all of you have a great week and thank you for stopping by my blog! I am going to finish cleaning up my messy house and return to the normal routine! I can't wait to get back to my scrappy desk!!!

Happy Scrappin' everyone!

Good Friends, Good Paper, Good News!!!!

Hey guys! Happy Saturday! As yall know, I am in Kentucky right now hangin' with my scrappy gal pal, Cristal. The scrappy convention is tomorrow and we are just so thrilled!!! It is going to be so much fun!!!! But, I had to check in to share a few pix with you guys now.

I flew into Cristal's hometown, Nashville, on Thursday. We spent all evening packing up 200 kits!!! It was a lot of work but just so much fun! We had a ball!!! As we worked, I am reminded of how blessed I am to have so many wonderful scrappy friends. Me, Cristal, Ziggy, and a new pal, Kelly, all just laughed and laughed as we worked.

This is about 1/3 of the paper!!!! Isn't it awesome?

A little taste of the ribbon.....
Me and Zig both got papercuts....we are now blood sisters...ha ha
Workin' the night away......
It took us nearly 5 hours to kit them all up.
That did not include packing.

Ok, now ya'll heard about the "Good friends" and the "Good paper."
I am in Kentucky in my hotel room, tired but so excited
about the "Good News".........

I am so happy to announce that I am a new design team member at Scrapbooking From The Inside Out!!!!! AND the best part is....Cristal will be returning for a second term! I finally get to work with my girl again!!!! Yay!!!! We have not worked together
since Leslie had us on her amazing DT. She is such a great friend and inspiration to me and I know this wil be so much fun!

Well, I hope all of you are having a fabulous weekend! I have got to hit the hay. We have to be up early tomorrow. Thanks for stoppin' by! Big hugs to all of ya!!!!

Doing A Little Double Duty

Hey guys! Happy Thursday! Today I wanted to share a quick card that I have created with you. I spent all day yesterday preparing for my trip and doing odd jobs. When all was said and done, I still needed to sit at my scrapbooking desk and work on a card. I knew right away that I would turn to the May kit from Scrapbook Circle. This has been such a wonderful kit to work with and I knew it would make my job so much easier. I was able to pull this card together in about an hour...which is good for me. I am such a slow scrapper and can work for hours, or even days, on one project. That is why I love working with scrapbooking kits...all the supplies you need are in one place! I also wanted to do a bit of multi-tasking with this card. I needed to create a project for my weekly design team blog posting for SBC and for a challenge that is being hosted. So, that is what I have done with this card. I love being able to knock out two things with one project! I do not do it too often, but it is nice to be able to do so when you need to. All that you see, with the exception of the brown cardstock, rhinestones. and felt trim all came from the May kit. Of course, I also had to use my favorite adhesives from Helmar. I used the Helmar Quick Fix Adhesive Runner for the card, Helmar Zap Dots to pop the butterflies up for dimension, and Helmar Quick Dry Craft Glue to adhere the felt trim.

"Thanks"

I cut these butterflies out using my Cuttlebug Butterfly die/embossing combo. After cutting them out, I decided to spritz them with a bit of 'Coffee Shop' Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist. I just love the way this stuff shimmers! So awesome! I also added some rhinestones for bling.

Well, that is all for me today. I hope you have enjoyed this post. I am off for a little scrappy vacay in TN and KY! I will be back home on Sunday and back to scrappin' by Monday! I'll be sure to blog about the trip for you guys! So, I will go ahead and wish all of you a happy weekend! I hope you can find some time to relax, go out on the town, or do whatever it is that you like to do! :) As always, thanks for visiting and Happy Scrappin'!

Another Wonderful Scrapbooking Resource!!!!

Hey guys! Happy Wednesday!!! It is so blah and rainy here in PA. It has been for the past few days. But I believe the storm is about to pass and we may see sunshine soon! Yay! Too bad I won't be here for it though because tomorrow I am flying to Nashville!!! I'm so excited for this little getaway scrappy trip! I am going to be hanging out with my scrappy gal pal, Cristal (aka Pinky), and helping teach a scrappy class in KY. I promise to share all the details with yall when I return home. I will be back on Sunday. I just wanted to let yall know why I would be MIA. I do have a blog post scheduled for tomorrow though, so be sure to check back if ya can.

But today, I wanted to share a new scrappy resource I was introduced to....the Memory Scrapbooks Blog. I was contacted by Memory Scrapbooks a few weeks ago and today they have my blog featured! Yay! I am so excited! Thank you!!! If you can, do hop on over to their blog and check it out. Memory Scrapbooks.com sells high quality archival and acid free scrapbooks and scrapbooking supplies direct to consumers. Their blog is also a wonderful resource for scrapbooking tips and new product information. I hope you will enjoying browsing their site as much as I did!

I hope all of you have a fabulous evening! Thanks, as always, for stopping by and Happy Scrappin'!

GEMiny Cricket

Hey guys! Good Morning Monday! Excuse my corny title today...it's all my tired mind could come up with...LOL! A new week is here and it's gonna be a busy one! I have been so tired these past few days. I have not been sleeping very well at all and am not sure why. I keep on having these oddball dreams and waking up. I hope it will pass soon. But, I won't let it get me down because I am SO EXCITED this week!!! On Thursday morning, I will be flying to Nashville to see one of my best scrappy pals, Cristal. We are going to be hanging out and then traveling to Kentucky for a class she is going to be teaching. I am going to be her assistant I reckon'. I hope I do ok. I've never done anything like this before, but want to help my girl out any way that I can. So towards the end of the week, I will be going MIA until Sunday. I fly back home on that morning. It's gonna be a short trip, but I just know we are going to have a ball!

Anywho, I wanted to share a card I finished up this weekend. This project is for a post on the Helmar Blog. If you would like to view that post, go here. I used the Helmar Premium Craft glue, Helmar Gemstone Glue, and Helmar Quick Fix Adhesive Runner on this project.

I cut this gate fold card out using my Cricut Expression and SCAL software. If you are interested in this svg (it's FREE!!!), go here. Once there, you will have to scroll down a bit. This particular card is the 12th one down. Be sure to check out all of her other fabulous files while you are there. They rock!!!!

To show the dimension of the gems....

Here is the inside of the card. I used the Cricut 'Summer In Paris' cartridge.

The back of the card to show off my personalized stamp. If you are interested in a personalized stamp, check out the Cri-Kit's site. You can contact them once there to get a price quote. I just love this stamp!!! It is so easy and fun to use!!

I want to thank you for stopping by today! I hope you all have a wonderful week!!!! Happy Scrappin' and Big Hugs!

I'm A Helmar FANatic!!!

Hey yall! Good Morning! It's Friday!!! I have a new Helmar Project to share with you today. For full instructions and supplies used, please check out the Helmar blog HERE.

I created this fan last night while online croppin' via Skype with my BFF, my Mom, Carol. We always have the best time croppin' together! To create this fan, I used my Cricut Expression Die Cutting Machine and SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) software. If you are interested in any of these SVG's, here are the links you will need:

For the fan pieces, go HERE. This is a new, or new to me, blog. I just found it yesterday and the files found there are absolutely gorgeous!!!!

For the Victorian lady silhouettes, visit my svg blog. I will be adding them all in just a few minutes.

Now, on to my project....

I used my Cuttlebug and Swiss Dots embossing folder to add some texture to the silhouettes.

To show dimension...

I hope all of you have enjoyed this project and have a fabulous weekend!!! Have fun and Happy Scrappin'! Thanks for dropping by!

Home Tweet Home

Hey yall!!! How are ya?!! I hope all of you have had a great week so far! First, I want to apologize for not posting so far this week. I have been scrapping, but it has all been DT work that I am unable to share yet. Then, I took the day off yesterday for some much needed rest. I was majorly stressed out and just not feelin' the creative vibes at all. But it did me good, because I felt much better today. Mom and I online cropped via Skype tonite and had so much fun! I pulled out my May kit from Scrapbook Circle to play. I have had a svg on my computer desktop for months for a birdhouse that I just have been itchin' to use. So I decided to play with it tonite. I first cut the birdhouse out using the My Minds Eye Lush Green flocked patterned paper that was included in the kit. I then added a roof on the top using brown cardstock. After I had the base of my birdhouse finished, I decided the roof needed some dimension, so I added rows of cream colored lace to act as 'shingles'. I also incorporated some more lace, patterned paper, rhinestones, twine, and Crate paper chipboard. I added a little acrylic birdie that I have had in my scrappy stash forever. Last, I inserted a wooden dowel into the bottom and secured it with my hot glue gun. After it had dried, I inserted the whole piece down into a topiary we have in our home. I had so much fun with this! I was going to take the birdhouse out after photographing it, but I think I've decided to just leave it in for a while. Tee Hee! Here is the birdhouse....

(note...click on the pic to make it bigger so ya can see. Oooh, and excuse the quality of these photos. I took 'em inside tonite.)

Up close view of the birdhouse....
If anyone is interested in the svg for this birdhouse, shoot me an email at aymee810@yahoo.com and I'll be glad to share it with ya! As always, thanks for stopping by my blog! I hope you all have a fabulous day and Happy Scrappin'!!!!

Ta-Da! A New Look....

Ok guys, I think I am finished with all of my changes to the blog. I did not do too much, just changed the background, header, and some of the graphics. Now, off to scrap! Have a great day everyone!

Under Construction....

Mornin' Yall! Happy Saturday! I was up at the break of dawn this morning. I just could not sleep. It takes me a bit to get going in the morning, so I did not want to sit at my scrappy desk just yet, so I thought I would tackle another to do on my list. I've been wanting to change up my blog a tad....new banner, new background, new graphics. Yall know me, I like to change it up quite often. So if you are visiting and things look kinda funky, pardon my progress. I hope it won't take too long to get it looking like I want. We will see! LOL. Yall have a fabulous day!!!!

So Tweet

Hey guys! The weekend is officially here! Whoo hoo!!!! Anyone have any fun plans for the weekend? To be perfectly honest, I do not have anything planned. I would like to go out to dinner with the hubby if possible and maybe go shopping. I need clothes...BAD!!! I have nothing to wear and I have a lot of events coming up. But we will see! Anyways, I have a layout I wanted to share with you. As a member of the Scrapstreet team, I am required to post on the Scrapstreet blog. Well, yesterday was my first time to post and I wanted to share my layout with you guys too. I blogged about the usefulness of fabric when it comes to scrappin'. If you would like to read more about it, go here. I have posted instructions on how I used the fabric you see in this layout, so check it out if ya want.

"So Tweet"

All of the patterned paper is from American Crafts...more that has been in my scrappy stash for quite some time. I'm glad I finally used it. The alphas are American Crafts and Making Memories. I also added in some Stickles glitter glue. The background cardstock is Coredinations that I sanded the edges for a rough look. Oh, and was in a bit of a slump the day I did this page, so I turned to a sketch from Liz Qualman at My Little Sketch Blook....love her sketches!

Carter and my Daddy, who Carter calls Popaw Ron, spent an afternoon playing on the sun room floor. They always have such a good time together!

Yall know how much I adore some dimension on a layout right? I love the dimension this fabric/ribbon gave to this layout. I used Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to secure the fabric into place. I also used the Helmar Adhesive Runner and Helmar Zap Dots to pop up the little birdies.

That is all for me today. I really do hope that all of you enjoy a relaxing, peaceful, but FUN weekend! Take care of yourselves! As always, thank you so much for stopping by today! Happy Scrappin'! Hugs!

Still CRAZY for Cri-Kits!!!

Hey everyone! Happy Thursday to ya! Do yall remember me mentioning that fabulous new product called 'Cri-Kits'? They are gelly pens that you use with your Cricut die cutting machine. They can be used with any cartridge as well as SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot). Well, I received the metallic set of pens in the mail the other day and had to play!!!! I created the SVG for this peacock in Inkscape. I will be putting this SVG on my SVG blog for free soon. I have gotten a tad behind with all the computer funk I went through and need to get settled again, so bear with me if ya can. :) So, I drew the peacock on and then I added some special 'feathers.' Do you remember on Monday me raving over the Crate Paper patterned paper that was included in the May kit at Scrapbook Circle? Well, this is what I was raving about....as I was cutting out the paper for the layout I did (see Monday's post), it clicked in my head....I see peacock feathers!!! Well yall know me and the thing I have for peacocks! ROFL! So I had to create something with the paper and this is what I came up with.

To show some dimension....

Now, another new thing to tell ya!!! Did you know that you can order personalized stamps from the good people over at Cri-Kit's?!!! Well, you can!!!! Simply drop them a line at info@cri-kits.com for a price quote. I have always wanted my own stamp to stamp on the back of my cards, layouts, etc. So they made me a stamp that resembles the digi stamp that I put on all of my artwork in Photoshop before posting. I used it on the back of this card for the first time.
Isn't this just the neatest?!!! And it adds that personal flair! You can have them do anything you would like! So think of all of the possibilities!!!!

That's all for me today. I hope all of you have a wonderful day! Take care, thanks for stoppin' by my blog, and Happy Scrappin'! Hugs!

SBC Blog Hop RAK Winner!!!!

Hey guys! I hope you are having a great day! I wanted to post the winner of the Scrapbook Circle Blog Hop right quick. I had 77 comments. So I put the numbers into a true random number generator at random.org and the first number pulled was.....#19!!!!!!!

So that means that ASHLY is our winner! Yay! Congrats Ashley! I will email you today! I also want to thank all of you for stopping by my blog to enter! I hope you will visit again soon! I promise to host another RAK soon! Also, I have a new layout for ya today....it is in the post below this one.

Yall have a fabulous day! Take care and Happy Scrappin'!

Bee Mine

Mornin' Yall! I hope you are having a marvelous day so far! I am up and at 'em early. I wanted to take a minute to blog before I start my day. I have a layout I wanted to share with you. This layout features the Cri-Kits gelly pens that I have been using lately. First, have you ever had this happen to you....you are browsing online and spot the cutest scrapbook paper. So you go around to all of your local scrappy shops and it is nowhere to be found. Yeah, you could order it, but then you would have to wait for it to arrive in the mail. Well, if you are inpatient like me at times....LOL....I have another idea for you....make your own!!!

I was browsing and found this paper from Nikki Sivils...isn't it adorable?!!!! I love it, but could not find it anywhere. So it inspired me to make my own. I went online and found a honeycomb pattern that I liked. I opened it up into Inkscape and made my own SVG. I then pulled it up in SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) and 'drew' it onto some Coredinations cardstock using the yellow pen from the Cri-Kits Glitter Pen set. I then found a bee and added a few bee's using the black pen. Voila'....my own patterned paper. I sanded the edges of my Coredinations cardstock a tad. Here is what my paper looks like.

"Bee Mine"

Here is the layout I created using the patterned paper. I have had a thing for bee's here lately. I cut the honeycomb pattern out using SCAL. The black checkered patterned paper is from Graphic 45. I cut the bee out using the Home Decor' cartridge. I also added in some trim, stitching, and some strips of paper that I punched with a Martha Stewart border punch. The alphas are some from my scrappy stash...Thickers. These are some that I have had for a bit and never used. I'm glad I finally used them. Also, I pulled out my favorite adhesives from Helmar for this page. I used the Helmar Adhesive Runner, Helmar Zap Dots, and Helmar 450 Quick Dry

To show dimension.....

Bumble Bee....

I will be adding the SVG's for the 2 honeycomb patterns and bee on my SVG blog. So if you would like those, hop on over to scoop 'em up.

As always, thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous day! Happy Scrappin'!

Happy 4th Birthday To Scrapbook Circle Blog Hop!!!!

Happy Tuesday my fellow crafters! Today, we are celebrating one of my favorite scrappy sites, Scrapbook Circle, with a blog hop!!! The site is celebrating its 4th anniversary!!! Yay! There are a lot of crafty ideas as well as PRIZES to be given away! So I hope you will hop along with us! Each of the design team members from Scrapbook Circle with be debuting a layout using the marvelous May kit. I am first up....so let's get hoppin'!!!

Here is the order of the hop:

Scrapbook Circle Blog

Aymee (you are here)

Jill

Diana W.

Diana F.

Lisa

This May Kit is stuffed full of all sorts of Crate Paper, Basic Grey, October Afternoon, Glitz, Elle's Studio, Jenni Bowlin, and Pink Paislee goodies! I love it! Be sure to hop on over to the idea gallery for this month to check out all of the creations the dt have come up with so far!

This is the 4th layout I have created using the kit. I started out with some 3x3" squares of left over patterned paper that I had. Then, I used my Cricut Expression and SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) software to cut shaped paper out of green cardstock. I only used a portion of it, adhered with Helmar adhesive, and stitched along the edge using a zig zag stitch. This picture is of Carter when he was a toddler. He was out playing in the grass with his best pal, his doggy, Sadie. I tied some of the white tulle around the photo. The 'butterfly' is actually a flower from the Crate Paper chipboard. I cut some of the flowers stamens off and turned it upside down to make a 'butterfly.' I adhered it with Helmar Scrap Dots. I then took some jute and stapled it to show the 'trail' of the butterfly. The alphas are a mixture of Glitz and Pink Paislee. I just love the rustic look of these Pink Paislee alpha's. They are so cute! This was a simple layout to pull together, but I really enjoyed creating it.

"Silly Sweet Sadie"

To show some dimension...I pulled out those handy dandy Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots for the butterfly. I also used the Helmar Adhesive runner on this page.

Now, on to the PRIZE!!!! I have a super cute set of 6 clear stamps from Inkadinkado that I would like to give away!!! This set is called 'Floral Flourishes.' It looks like it would be a very versatile set! To be entered for the chance to win this stamp set, simply leave me a comment on this post. If you could, leave me a blog link or email address or something so that I can get in touch with you if you are chosen the winner. I will randomly select one winner using random.org tomorrow (Wednesday). Here is what the stamp set looks like....

Good luck to all who enter!

Now, on to the next blog on the hop. You will be visiting Jill next. You will absolutely love her! Jill is one of my favorite artists! So inspirational! Have fun!

As always, thanks for stopping by my blog! I hope you have a wonderful day! Happy Scrappin!

Scrapbook Circle May Reveals

Hey yall! Happy Monday! It's time to start another week and another month. As usual, I can't believe another new month is here! Jeesh! Time is going by way too fast for me. But maybe that means summer will go by quick...LOL. I don't care for the heat. I like the spring and fall! :)

Anyways, I wanted to share a few of my May design team reveals for Scrapbook Circle. This May kit is awesome!!! Be sure to check back tomorrow for another reveal, more info on the kit, AND a chance at a prize!!!! Wink Wink!

"Urban Cowboy"

This layout is of my nephew Carter. I have to tell you the story behind this page. I came home one day with this gaudy looking hat that I had acquired at a scrapbooking convention. It was a felt cowboy hat that was pink with black flames! Well, Carter had to have it. He was so funny looking! He was stripped down to nothing but undies (fyi...Carter is one of those kids who hates clothes and if he is at home, it's undies all the way! LOL). He had the hat on and carried around his toy gun. He peeked up from under the hat long enough for my Mom to snap a pic. This face just cracks me up!!! Ha ha! Anyways, about the layout....everything you see, with the exception of the cardboard, cardstock, and staples, were pulled from the May kit at Scrapbook Circle. I used the EK Success 'Swiss Cheese' border punch on some teal gemstone cardstock to mimic the pattern on some of the patterned paper. I stapled the jute trim to mimic a 'rope lasso.' I used the Helmar Adhesive Runner and Helmar 450 Quick Dry on this layout.

To show some of the cutwork and dimension.... (Don't you love this Crate Paper??!!! I just love the pattern! It was begging to be cut. Also, be sure to stay tuned this week....I have another idea that I have used this paper with...tee hee.)

"Pickin' Punkins"

Another layout of Carter....this time at the pumpkin patch. He insisted on picking up his own pumpkin, but it looks like the one he chose might of been a tad on the heavy side. I started out this layout with a base of embossed Coredinations cardstock that came in the kit. I sanded it a bit so you could see the embossing. I then laid a shaped paper template over the top and used some Glimmer Mist in 'Coffee Shop' to mist the edges. After it dried, I used my sewing machine to add a stitch to help define the shape. I love the Crate Paper chipboard that came in this kit! It is just the coolest! I used the Helmar adhesive runner and Helmar Zap dots on this page.

See that face? ROFL! Gotta love him!

To show some dimension...I used Helmar Zap Dots to pop up the chipboard.

"He Smiles....And Our Hearts Sing"

Next up, another Carter layout using a photo that I love. I found the idea for this title in an old scrapbooking magazine that I was browsing through while waiting at the doctors office, so a scrap lift on that part. Everything on this page, with the exception of the alphas, brads, and the ric rac, are from the May kit. The alphas are some older Jillibean Soup that I have in my scrappy stash. I am still on the quest to use up some of my older supplies and clean house a tad. I sanded the edges of this photo. I also used a set of Marvy Uchida scalloped oval punches. Also, once again, I used Helmar Zap Dots and the Helmar Adhesive runner on this page. Love me some Helmar!

Isn't he cute?!! I think so, but I guess I am partial! Tee Hee!

As always, thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a fabulous week!!! Take care of yourselves and Happy Scrappin'!!!!