Challenges!!

I had some *extra* time on my hands, and although I don't normally make any Easter cards, I thought I would make one for my mother-in-law, as she always prepares a large meal for the whole family (25+ people) during every holiday, and it never seems like she gets enough 'thanks' for it! Plus, I have had the Disney Classics cartridge for a while now, and haven't really played with it! Hee hee!! There are plenty of Easter challenges out there in the blog-o-sphere right now, so I thought I'd enter some!!

I am entering this in the following challenges:
My Sheri Crafts: Bunnies
Cooking With Cricut: Easter
More Than Favors: Easter
Die Cuttin' Divas: Tag-You're It!


Recipe:
Cricut Cartridges: Disney Classics, Create a Critter, Doodlecharms
Cardstock: Stampin' Up! and other scraps
Cuttlebug Folders: D'Vine Swirls, Distressed Stripes
Stickles: Silver, Lime Green, Cotton Candy, Yellow, Waterfall, Gold, Lavender
Ribbon from the Target Dollar Bin
Tag from my Stash
Sakura Black Glaze Embossing Pen (Can you believe I actually stayed away from the White Gelly Roll pen?!?!?!?! Oh, I'm having withdrawals! LOL!)



Thanks for looking, and Happy Easter to you all!! :)

Celebrate the Occasion!! Challenge #10

It's time to Celebrate the Occasion again!! This week, the Design Team was asked to create a Birthday project that is inspired by the following sketch:







I'm not usually good with sketches...so this was a difficult challenge for me, although I was fairly happy with how it turned out. I created this card for my neice, who just turned 6...I had to keep the embellishments to a minimum since this one was sent in the mail. I didn't want it to get ruined! :)







And a close-up of the mini cupcakes:





Recipe:

Cricut Cartridge: Sweet Treats, Accent Essentials

Cuttlebug Folders: D'Vine Swirls, Happy Birthday

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! and My Mind's Eye 'Bliss' stack

Sakura white gelly roll pen

Stamp from Recollections







Now, use the sketch to stir those creative juices!! Fix up a little somethin' somethin' and head on over to Celebrate the Occasion and link up your project!!

Spring Fling Cricut Crawl Grab Bag WINNER!!!!!

Thanks sooooo much for all of your sweet comments and a HUGE WELCOME to all of you that decided to follow my blog!! It just floors me that I am almost at 200 followers!! WOWZERS!!! Thanks everyone!! :) Many of you asked if I could give dimensions of my cards and purse so you could re-create...what a compliment! Since you asked, I will work on a photo tutorial for you, as I had to maneuver some things with my Gypsy. So please be on the lookout for that!

Now, for the winner of the SURPRISE grab bag.....dun-dun-dun-dah!!! Drawn by RANDOM.ORG.....

True Random Number Generator
Min:1 Max:74
Result:55
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

YAY!!!!!! #55 was Amy E, who said...
What an awesome way to package a set of cards for someone!

Congratulations, Amy!! I will be emailing you for your shipping address so I can get your AWESOME goodies out to you!!

***By the way, I tried, tried, and tried again to get the Random Number Widget to post on my blog and it would NOT work....so I had to copy and paste the wording...sorry!!***

FCCB Challenge Me Monday!! "Do the Bunny Hop!!"

It's that time again!!! One of my favorite days of the week!! It's Challenge Me Monday over at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog!!! This week we were asked to create a project using a bunny or a chick....well, of course I had to create something for Easter! I thought about it for a while, and since I don't normally send (or make) Easter cards, I thought I would create SUPER SIMPLE treat bags for my nieces and nephew....to be honest, I'm not crazy with how they turned out....I wish there was more to them. It just seems like something is 'missing', ya know? I guess we are our own worst critics though!! Anyway, without further ado....this is what I came up with! (Be gentle with the comments, please!! I'm fragile! LOL!!)


As you can tell, it is SUPER hard to see the words, "Happy Easter" on the treat bag toppers!! And it was too late to re-do them! They look a little better close up....as you can see below....




Recipe:
Cricut Cartridges: Create A Critter, Jubilee
Cardstock: Stampin' Up! and DCWV 'Butterflies and Blossoms' stack
Sakura White Gelly Roll Pen
Treat Bag contents: Bunny Ear Kit Kat, JellyBelly Jelly Beans, BubbleGum Eggs

Now, it's your turn!! What can you come up with, that has a bunny or a chick? Figure something out and head over to FCCB and link up your project!! Can't wait to see what you all create!!!

******I will be posting the WINNER of my 'grab bag' blog candy from the FCCB Spring Fling Cricut Crawl later today! Good luck to all!!******

Fantabulous Cricut Crawl!! (with some blog candy!)

Welcome to Paper Maine-iac!! and the fifth Fantabulous Cricut Crawl...Fantabulous Cricut's version of a blog hop!

It's Spring Time, even though some places may not look like it :) and everyone at Fantabulous Cricut has decided to have a Spring Fling! Each Design Team member will be featuring an original Spring project that includes Pink, Green and Yellow on it along with at least one Cricut cut.

If you've come from visiting Lisa N. at Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons, you're in the right place! If you've just happened across my blog and would like to play along with our Fantabulous Cricut Crawl, start HERE.

Make sure to check out each DT member's blog for some awesome inspiration! There will be PRIZES along the way at some of our DT members' blogs, AND there will be a Grand Prize up for grabs at FCCB for one participant that submits a "Spring Fling" project at FCCB!

How fun is that?

For my project...
I created a Spring purse from the Forever Young Cricut cartridge!



And look what's inside....adorable matching notecards!!!



Perfect for a quick gift, or make a few to sell at a craft fair or bazaar! Very simple to do....and you could use any colors/papers, and change them up for the seasons!

My Recipe:
Cricut Cartridge: Forever Young
Cardstock: Stampin' Up!
Patterned Paper: DCWV
Ribbon from my stash
Gold ribbon embellishment from my stash
VersaMagic Dew Drop Chalk Ink in Olive Green
Sakura White Gelly Roll Pen

And now it's time for BLOG CANDY!!! I've put together a scrapping GRAB BAG! What will you win? Only the winner will know!! :) SNEAKY, SNEAKY!! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and make sure to leave a way to contact you. I don't require you to become a follower, but I always love gaining new friends...and I promise that you won't be sorry if you do decide to follow!! I will draw the winner next Monday, April 18th using random.org! (or at least I'll try....I've never used random.org!! I hope it's easy!! LOL!!)

Now it's your turn! Let's see your Spring Fling projects! Make sure to include a Cricut cut somewhere on your project and Pink, Green and Yellow!

Next stop...Marlene's blog, Scrappin' Cookie. Go see what she has in store for you today... And when you're done, make sure to link up your project to FCCB's Fantabulous Cricut Crawl post to be entered into the contest!

Happy Crawling!

Celebrate the Occasion #8!!

It's Celebrate the Occasion Design Team day!! This week, the challenge is "anything birthday, but make sure to include a flower". This was easy for me, since it was my niece's 11th birthday this past weekend, and she is such a girly-girl...anything I make for her can include flowers!! This is what I came up with:



Recipe:
Cricut Cartridges: Birthday Bash, Forever Young
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder: Happy Birthday
Cardstock: Stampin' Up!
Sakura White Gelly Roll pen
Black Gel Pen
Ribbon from my stash



Thanks for looking!! Now, get crafting and head over to Celebrate the Occasion and link up your project!! You have until Sunday, April 10th at 11:59pm EST to enter! And you could win the awesome monthly prize for April! Click here for more details!!

Beach Birthday Cake, using Cricut, but not the Cricut Cake!

I usually use the "Wilton Shaped-Pan" method for the birthday cakes that I make...but when my niece asked me to make her a "beach scene"....I had NO IDEA what I was going to do!!! I do not have the Cricut Cake, nor do I want it...I only make cakes about 5-6 times a year, so it's not really cost effective. And a lot of the 'samples' of Cricut Cakes I've seen....well, I think they look cheesy. (Sorry if you use the Cricut Cake, but it's just my humble opinion...) Unless you practice, practice, practice, I just don't think that you get super clean lines and perfection that a professional baker gets...no matter how easy it seems! Soooo....then I decided that I could just make a tiered cake, and frost it like the ocean....add some finely crushed graham cracker crumbs on the top of the cake for the sand...and make all sorts of die-cuts with my Expression and Life's A Beach cartridge, attach 'em to long toothpicks and VOILA!!

This is Miss Zoe's Beach Scene Birthday Cake!!


A friendly dolphin and shark among the blue water...


An octopus and a sea turtle, too...


A fun sand castle and some awesome buried treasure on the beach...


A Beach Ball, Crab, and Shovel and Pail for some fun in the sun!


Hula Girl, Palm Trees, and a Sun shining high with birthday wishes!!


I used my white gel pen and stickles to make the die-cuts stand out...I also added a wave border around the top tier. I was happy with the way it turned out...I may have to use my Cricut for more of my cakes!!! Now, if only there was a 'Madagascar' cartridge...That's what my other niece wants for her cake in June! Augh!! Gotta get my thinking cap on for that one!! :)

Thanks for looking!!