Gingerbread Girl Shaped Card - My 1st for the Holidays!

Doesn't she look good enough to eat?  I've been dying to make my little gingerbread girl since I saw Momo's adorable card here made using the cute little gingerbread man from Smiley Cards.  But I wanted to make mine pink and girly, which is strange since I have such a tough time making ANYTHING pink and girly.  Having 3 boys (I do have one daughter too) will do that to you!!  I'm sending this to my sister and her 2 1/2 year-old daughter for the holidays...my sister loves pink and brown and her daughter is often likely to be dressed in those colors!

I'm entering my card into the Holiday Project Challenge at Cooking With Cricut.  Did you hop with them over the weekend?  It was their first holiday blog hop and it was loaded with inspiration!!  The challenge is to make a holiday project using a Cricut or other die cut.  I think my gingerbread gal fits the bill!  :-)

Recipe

Gingerbread girl layer - cut from Smiley Cards in tan cardstock

Gingerbread girl shaped card layer - welded two together with my Gypsy, cut once in patterned paper, once again in tan cardstock for the inside of the card and to give extra support

Bow - enlarged the bow tie and made a shadow layer using my Gypsy

D'vine Swirls folder for embossing

Patterned paper - My Mind's Eye 'Bloom & Grow' stack

Cardstock - Recollections

Brown Creative Memories marker for faux stitching

Making Memories trim for pink pom poms (thanks Paula!)

Glitter

Enjoy the day!

~Sharon



Birthday Card for My Nephew - a Hamburger!

My nephew Alex's birthday is coming up in December and I thought I'd make him a birthday card before I began focusing on holiday crafts.  He'll be 14 this year...he's a star athlete, a big ol' teddy bear, a great cousin to my children and a lover of most foods (what 14 year-old isn't??).  So I thought I'd make him a card with food on it...something a teenager would like.  My 9 yr-old son is always suggesting I make cards with hamburgers on them (funny, huh??)....and I thought this would fit the bill for Alex.  Here's my card:

Recipe

Hamburger - cut from Locker Talk, all layers and shadow
Burger patty - embossed using CB distressed stripes folder

Rounded rectangle for sentiment - cut from George & Basic Shapes

Rectangular shaped card - George & Basic Shapes, welded with my Gypsy

Patterned paper - My Mind's Eye 'Everyday Tango' stack

Cardstock - Recollections
Cat's Eye chalk ink
Pop dots

Sentiment printed on my computer

I'm entering this card into My Creative Time with Emma's Throwback Thursday food challenge to make any project that has to do with food, using an older Cricut cartridge.  I used Locker Talk for my burger.  That cartridge also has images of french fries, a pizza slice and soda.  I'll be using it for more cards soon (I have quite a few teenaged nieces and nephews!!).  I inked it, popped it up with pop dots and used a simple rounded rectangle to write my sentiment.  The inside of the card says..."Hope your birthday is full of YUM!" 

I'm also entering the card into the Wacky Wednesday #15 - Color Challenge at More Than Favors by Paula.  Paula's challenge is to use the colors brown, green and blue on a project. 

Sarah's Room

My daughter Sarah turned 7 two weeks ago and pretty much threw her twin brother out of the bedroom they shared.  It was time for them to go their separate ways, but, as anyone with twins knows, it wasn't easy.  For me, anyway!  I thought they'd miss each other.... and those nights I could hear them laughing and whispering, the many times he begged her to stop her 'chit chatting' and the occasions she was all fired up that he wouldn't stay up to talk with her.  :-)  I was wrong.  I guess it really was time.  He's now bunking with his 9 year-old brother and, despite the fact that they are SO unlike each other, it has worked out well.  Both boys love to sleep...I think this is their common bond!!  No chit chatting in THAT room!

So, Sarah and I shopped for her new room and purple seems to be the flavor of the moment.  She chose pink, purple and green bedding with lots of flowers and butterflies.  I decided to make her a sign for her door...to declare the room as hers alone.  Of course, she loved the idea.  Lots of giggling.  And here's what we came up with:

Recipe

Patterned paper - from a RAK (thanks Nancy B.)

Cardstock - Recollections

Scalloped ovals - cut from A Child's Year

Base ovals - cut from George & Basic Shapes (these were cut from cereal boxes for support; the scalloped ovals lay on them)

'Sarah' - cut from Mickey Font, welded with my Gypsy & embossed with CB d'vine swirls folder

butterfly - cut from Create A Critter, antenae glittered and covered with Glossy Accents, wings embossed with d'vine swirls

American Crafts flowers

skittles made by a friend

Bic Mark-It markers

Purple ribbon from WalMart

I'm entering this project into Wacky Wednesday #14 at More than Favors.  This week Paula has an 'anything goes' theme....even I can do that!!  :-)  

I had intended on entering Christina's challenge at Card Creations & More by C but I ran out of time.  :-(   Christina's challenge was to try something you've never done before (cut cardboard with my Cricut) and use purple as the main color.  Thanks for the challenge, Christina...sorry I didn't make the deadline!

Have a great weekend everyone!





What a Difference A Day Can Make!

Here in southeastern Massachusetts, we can experience some gorgeous fall weather.  Although it's usually in the 50's about now, we had a few days of 70 degree weather last week.  (My kids pulled out the shorts I had packed away the previous weekend!!)  This is truly my favorite time of year.  I love pulling on warm sweaters and fuzzy socks, smelling stews cooking in the crockpot, watching football and soccer games in the crisp, fresh air and baking apple pies for my family. 

I also love to witness the change of the seasons in nature.  We have a beech tree in our backyard that produces the most beautifully colored leaves.  This year I decided to chronicle the change by taking a series of photographs, which I will, someday, scrapbook.  But I had to share these 2 photos....the change in colors over a 30-hour period is incredible in my eyes. 

Being able to experience autumn in New England certainly makes it easier to brave the winters!! 

Halloween Table Topper

I wish I were a crafty girl like my sister who can draw like a pro and just whip up an unbelievable craft at a moment's notice.  She got all the crafty genes.  But I did put together a table topper for my kids for Halloween...and I think it's pretty darn cute!  Thanks for the inspiration ladies...I've seen a few like this while blog hopping.  :-)

This was the centerpiece on the kids' table at the Halloween-themed birthday party I hosted for 3 of my children last weekend.  They were all born during the last days of October...maybe that's why they LOVE Halloween SO much!  The purple pail was from the Target Dollar Spot and all of the Halloween cuts, including the witch on the front of the pail, are from Cricut cartridges...except for the green and purple bats and the words 'boo' on the layered circles.  Those are from the Peachy Keen Stamps 'Nikkity Knack Cat Gang' set...aren't they cute?

I'm submitting my project into a few challenges (are you surprised??):

Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge Blog - Let's Face It Friday: Week #3 - Create a home decor item based on a harvest/fall theme using Peachy Keen stamps.

Fantabulous Cricut - Challenge Me Monday: Frighten Me...or Not! - Create a project using a Halloween idea...scary or not so scary.

Paper Playtime - Challenge #22: Halloween - Make any Halloween paper project.


Thanks for stopping by!

My First Blog Award!! :-)

I am THRILLED to receive the 'Sweet Blogger' award from Jen, the Purple Scrapbooker!!  I haven't been blogging for very long, just a few months, so this came as such a terrific surprise!!  Thank you Jen!!  Be sure to check out Jen's blog HERE....she makes some of the cutest cards!!  :-)

I'm so happy to know that my creations are enjoyed!  And I'm thrilled to have a few followers too!  :-)  I will be happy to pass this award along soon to 5 'sweet' bloggers.

I have a couple of projects to post too.  Just have to find a minute between the soccer, basketball and football practices, field trips, homework, school literary magazine, Halloween party planning and preparations for a birthday party for THREE of my children this weekend...oh my!  Fall is so busy at my house...and I KNOW I'm not the only one!!  :-)

One little, two little, three little pumpkins....

Well, there are only two in the picture, but page down and you'll see my third little pumpkin in a previous post.  To be fair, I guess I should scrap my fourth too!  But that's for another day.  I LOVE, LOVE this picture of my twins sitting in a pumpkin patch on a gorgeous fall day 6 years ago.  They hadn't yet turned one...and all they could do was SIT!!  Oh, those were the days.  Just plop 'em down and know that they couldn't go anywhere fast!  :-)  I laugh when I see how chunky they both were...they were each just over 4 pounds at birth.  How quickly they grew!



Recipe

Patterned papers - My Mind's Eye Bloom & Grow stack

Cardstock - Recollections

Tree, 'little' - Simply Charmed

'pumpkins' - Plantin Schoolbook, welded with my Gypsy

Martha Stewart pumpkin border punch

Cuttlebug d'vine swirls on tree

Cuttlebug distressed stripes on tree trunk

Orange peel Stickles on leaves

Cat's Eye chalk ink in chestnut roan

White Gelly Roll pen; black and brown Creative Memories markers for doodling & journaling

Button from stash to mimic hole in tree

Pop dots

I'm submitting this page to a couple of challenges:

Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge 38: October Inspiration - Create a layout or project (no cards) based on the season.

Got Scraps?: First Monday of the Month Challenge - Create an Autumn or Halloween scrapbook page or card.

The Paper Variety: Week #4 Challenge - Draw inspiration from one of their designers' pages.  I was inspired by Melissa's road trip page.  I loved that she used one old photo of the kids and the corrugated letters for her title.  I, like Melissa, scrapped one older photo (although mine wasn't quite as old as hers!) and I used a 'corrugated' effect on the tree trunk using the Cuttlebug to emboss with the distressed stripes folder.  Pretty cool, huh?  Thanks Melissa for your inspiration! 

The Scraproom Blog: Week #40 Challenge - POP-DOT something on a layout.  I chose to pop dot a few leaves on my tree and really liked the dimension they added.

Thanks for looking!!