chignon's 23 things

fun give away on Royal Things blog

2012-01-30T20:44:00.000-06:00

I just like the fun question/ fill in the blank request for a chance to win a MS cake cartridge. Visit Royal Things blog for the entry but peek around for some inspiration!

crafty resolutions

2012-01-01T22:57:00.000-06:00

I made a lovely layout to hang in my craft room to remind myself of the goals and resolutions for the 2012 year. I know I will get side tracked many times but this will be a great reminder to get back on track!

The back cut lace and shape shadow is from Cindy Loo cart (cut at 10.5 inches) and the daisy flowers are from gypsy wanderings cut at 1.2. I printed the resolutions on my home printer and cut them apart using my trusty Fiskars trimmer. Each purple flower had a small dot of lilac pearl pen for the center.

a gift for Bobby

2011-12-31T20:51:00.000-06:00

My oldest DS will be having surgery on Monday and he's not too happy about that. To cheer him up I made this little popcorn gift.

He loves popcorn with butter and salt and I thought he would enjoy some different popcorn treats. I utilized my new Imagine machine to make the project. The popcorn container is from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge and filled the pattern from the Imagine more cart. The letter B, attached with a brad, was made using the Mickey font and Imagine More. The popcorn container cut-outs are from the Cricut Light Carousel cart and colors from the Imagine cart.

On the back of the popcorn container cut-outs I glued on print outs of names of pop corn recipes. I found lots of yummy recipes by doing a search on the internet but I only chose ones that I can make with the ingredients I have on hand. My plan is to give Bobby his gift the night before surgery so he has something positive to cheer him up.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T23:37:00.002-06:00

I've been busy with work and crafting and sending cards to loved ones. But never too busy for a little black Friday shopping preparation. I discovered the Target ads and just have to laugh :) Here's a fav. Enjoy!

cuttlebug circle challenge

2011-10-15T00:24:00.000-05:00

I will be attending a conference soon and wanted a fun folder to keep my papers organized. I used Kates ABCs and Alphalicious and Create a Critter for the cuts and lots of different cuttlebug folders to create the fun texture.

Cricut Circle challenges

2011-10-13T23:36:00.000-05:00

I have been busy creating but just not blogging. So what have I been making???
I made window/bulletin board for my library to start the school year.

The students like my large, easy to spot bathroom pass

I made a "Cute As a Button" layout for the recipe challenge:
1) a title - Cute as a button
2) at least 2 cricut cuts - I used my gypsy to weld buttons for a border, Kate's ABC for the title, New Arrival for the circle and footprints, Mini Monograms for the scalloped circle.
3) at least 3 buttons - used real buttons for another border and one button in the center of the flower on the title.

I made page dividers for an inventory book for the exclusive Circle Cart challenge
Exclisive cart used was Cricut Everyday. There is also a little from Alphalicious for some of the letters. Each card in the photo is for a section of my inventory book (6in x 4in) so I can have the information with me when I shop. I have a list of all the cartridges and highlighted the ones I have; a sample of all the cuttlebug folders, cutouts of cuttlebug diecuts; sample of Viva pens, stickles, etc.; samples of ink pads, chalks, embossing powders, flocking material; list and samples of markers - all to be held with the paper rings. After assembling, I even added a bit of ribbon to jaz up the book.

I used a sketch to make a decorative cover for an old popcorn tin - to be used to collect paper scraps! The peacock, feather, V monogram are from Art Nouveau and the flowers from one of the preloaded e-carts on the E2.

Another layout using orange for a monochromatic color challenge. Carts used: Everyday Paper dolls, Accent Essentials, A Garden of Words.

Lesson Plan Book Layout

2011-08-29T22:12:00.000-05:00

I like to decorate my lesson plan book each school year and this time around I did a fun playground inspired theme. I couldn't bring myself to make a traditional school playground, I wanted a little taste of home. I grew up around cornfields and I pass some on the way to work so I had to have a field behind a fence. My parents had a tire swing when my children were small and we shared lots of giggles and family time on the swing. When I found the tree and swing on Pop-up Neighborhood I knew the layout for my planning book.

All the cuts are from Pop-up Neighborhood except for the school year numbers and the little dude gliding down the slide. The numbers are from Nifty Fifties cart and the little dude is from Winter Frolic (he's supposed to have some skis!)

I used some real twine salvaged from some rustic packaging and and untwisted the ends to make the hair/fringe on my sliding dude.

The same twine was used for the rope on the tire swing.
The yellow corn stalks are cut from bazzil paper, black and silver slide from my stash and the scarecrow and boy's clothes are from scrap stash.

The rest of the paper was My Minds Eye. I slicked up the tire swing with some Viva decor and added grass tufts with a green viva pearl pen. I get a nice happy feeling when I see the layout and hope it will serve to make me smile during the hectic school days to come!

apartment decor

2011-08-24T12:04:00.000-05:00

Two of my children moved into their own rooms/apartment for college this month. My son had no interest in what I could make to decorate his walls but my daughter was delighted to have me make a vinyl cut out.

So I used my trusty Cricut and some black vinyl I bought at Craft's Direct and went to town.

The frames were cut using Ornamental Iron 2 and I did some hide contour with my gypsy.

I think the chandelier is from gypsy wanderings (we did this a couple weeks ago) and I made it a big as I could using a 12 x 24 inch mat. We added some self adhesive bling from creative charms after adhering the vinyl to the wall.
There is even a frame to jazz up her backpack hook.

My DD loves the fancy addition to her apartment bedroom and we even used some scrap vinyl to cut out her name. These we used to identify the cabinet and drawer she is using in the kitchen of the shared apartment!

Volunteering on Saturday

2011-08-21T10:10:00.000-05:00

I did some volunteering on Saturday for Provocraft and met some wonderful Cricut friends. A few of us Circle gals ventured to Minneapolis to demo the E2 (love that machine!) at the Creative Memories gathering and had a great time meeting a some terrific folks from Provo. I just had to share a picture of Jinger (a very warm, personable lady/spokesperson for Provo) and me. The experience was very positive and rewarding and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again - it is always a pleasure to share to passion of paper crafting with an awesome die-cut machine and make some new friends!

and yes, Jinger had on some gorgeous shoes but the bummer is the photo doesn't show her Cricut green fabulous footwear.

Special Numbers

2011-08-21T09:51:00.000-05:00

I have two crafty numbers I treasure...One is my membership number for the Cricut Circle and the other is my Fiskateer number. I was able to visit the beach while out east in Massachusetts and just had to take advantage of the sand and writing...here I am with a chignon in my hair with my crafty numbers

playing with shrink plastic

2011-07-29T21:01:00.000-05:00

I signed up for a charm swap, Christmas themed. I have been having fun with "shrinky dinks" and I think I finally have my charm design. I used two carts, Give a Hoot for the inside triangle (found on the accent creative feature key)and My Community for the Christmas tree. The tree is cut at 2.7" high and the holes were punched with the crop-a-dile. I colored the shrink plastic with a Bic Mark-it permanent marker. Shrunk the plastic with my heat embossing gun and proceeded to use seed beads to give the tree some decoration garland. Now only 25 of these charms to go before mailing them off!

Pictures for Circle Christmas in July Online Swarm

2011-07-26T23:32:00.000-05:00

I have been trying to complete a few challenges for the circle message board and the Christmas in July challenge.
so here they are...
Challenge #2: Theme Challenge
Create a card, LO, 3-d element that is Christmas or Winter Theme
Well, it is Christmas in July so I had to make a Santa with a swimming inner-tube.

I plan to add him to another family Christmas in July page, once I get it completed! Pictures are still in selection phase - in other words I have to go thru. the many pictures in the box!
I use dimensional adhesive to pop up the Santa coat, and beard and double popped the hat. The Santa and clothing is from Paperdoll Dress up cart cut at 3" and the inner-tube is from Everyday paperdolls, again cut at 3 inches.

Now Challenge #3 was to try a tutorial I haven't done...now don't laugh but I haven't been able to use my cricut markers and then cut the shape with much success.

So I gave it another try and here are two Christmas tree charms using the green cricut marker in the E2 and then tranding in for the blade. I used the Very Merry Tags and the tree is colored and cut at 2.10 inches.

Challenge #4: Fiber Challenge
*Use Ribbon, twine, fibers on your project

Okay, I used some shrink plastic that was scrap from the charms I am making for a swap. Saw the triangles and thought of a banner so here is my Merry Christmas banner using some beading string to sting the pennants to say "Merry Christmas"

The letters were written with the cricut markers (I used the markers again - I am so happy to utilized twice!) and alphalicious. The letters were "cut" (ie written with the marker) at .8" and I was careful not to touch the ink because it did not dry on the shrink plastic very fast. After I used my heat embossing tool to shrink the plastic, the marker became permanent.

Challenge #5: Simon says Challenge
Today I will be posting 3 challenges and you must use those items/themes in your project. You can wait till all 3 are posted and make it 1 project or 3 separate projects.
a. Simon Says to add 3 score lines to your project
b. Simon says to use the following colors: Red, Green, Gold (you can use other colors as well but these should be the primary color scheme)
c. Simon says to make a mini card/gift card holder/ mini envelope for journaling

I made a mini accordion book to adhere to a Christmas layout. I always have more pictures than room on a layout so I sometimes include pull out tags with the extra photos.

With the Simon Says challenge we had to use three score lines and instantly the folded mini book popped into my head. The trickiest part was making the gold reindeer because the glitter is of course all over me and my craft space! The paper is all from Kaiser Kraft. The accordion strip is cut 3" by 12" and scored at 3" intervals (3 score lines!)
The reindeer is from the Christmas cart and cut at 2.4 inches then I ran it upside down thru my xyron sticker maker and sprinkled the glitter on the adhesive side.

And now to share some things I made last week for the Fiskateers and the CHA online challenges...lots of fun there!

Christmas in July layout

2011-07-22T12:34:00.000-05:00

We are having a bit of fun on the circle message board with some Christmas in July challenges during/ending of CHA. We were given the challenge to make a card or layout using the provided sketches and to keep in the Christmas theme. I chose the layout and being that is Christmas in July...I did a Christmas in July layout. My mother's family has been celebrating Christmas in July for over 20 years with a weekend gathering. It is tradition to have a horseshoe tournament, everyone brings their favorite holiday treat to share, and a small gift to exchange. There is a Christmas tree every year and sometimes we decorate our tents/campers. When I found this challenge I dug thru my many years of pictures and felt inspired to scrap a few from 2007. Now, will I ever do the other 20 plus years? :)

Recipe...
all paper is Stampin Up except the ivory shadow and journal is from my stash
Red ribbon from stash
Hay wagon 2" Pop-up Neihborhood
Horseshoes 2.38" Old West
Evergreen (Christmas) trees 3.2" Winter Frolic
Bracket square 7.2" square (used the gypsy to adjust w and h) Storybook
Numbers, Letters and shadow 1.3" All Mixed Up (gypsy to weld)

mini notebook

2011-07-19T14:04:00.000-05:00

I made a small book for carrying in a purse or backpack. I think of it as a small version of a smash book. I already have a mini "smash" book that I carry with me and jot down ideas and layouts and glue in papers if I need to find matching supplies. Sometimes I write quotes I see/hear or use it to record websites friends say are must see. So, I decided to make another mini book for a niece who will be taking a long car ride. I think she'll enjoy writing poems and sketching places she sees.

I started with the plain book I picked up at Craft's Direct for a dollar. I used a gluber to make the fabric flower, the fabric was left over from a project my DD sewed and actually had the Pokemon Pikachu printed on it. I cut a strip of fabric, twisted and stuck it to the gluber starting in the center and twirled until I reached the outside edge of the gluber. The stems are from ribbon I purchased at the dollar spot at Target. The butterfly is a layered cut from Pooh and Friends cart. The small flower is from Plantin School Book and I used my i-top for the center brad, again using more of the Pikachu fabric. I used my white gelly roll pen to add the flutter path and some faux stitching on the snap hinge. It's not visible but I also added some stitching lines on the pink scallop boarder. The border is cut from Plantin School Book.

Bob's BBQ

2011-07-17T00:04:00.000-05:00

I wanted try cutting fabric with my cricut and the challenge on the cricut circle was to "create something with a BBQ, Picnic, or Patio theme, AND a gingham or check pattern." My solution was to make an apron for DH because he is the master chef when it comes to grilling.

I used my gypsy to design the cuts but the only designing was welding the letters for "Bob's" Bob's is cut using the nifty fifties font and the background kidney shape(tan fabric) is also from the nifty fifites cart.

The barbeque cut on the check/gingham fabric is from Old West cart.
I have to send a thank you to DS for modeling the apron

Circle Weekly Challenge

2011-07-07T21:57:00.001-05:00

We enjoyed watching fireworks from a friend's deck and their neihbor was shooting of some of his own fireworks. We decided to try to get a picture of couples kissing with the fireworks going off in the background because, hey, even after 20 plus years we still feel sparks! Well we never could perfectly time the kiss and the blast with the shutter but I did manage to capture a firework in the sky so I used that picture on the layout with DH and I smooching. And of course I had to include the gang that was gathered for a fun USA birthday celebration!
The paper used was coordination, with scrap white for the shadow cuts and the 12 x 12 white sheet if from a page protector insert. I used the cart Stand and Salute for all the cuts. The bottom swags was using the border feature and the fire works were cut at 1.5, 2.0 and 3 inches with the corresponding shadow layer. The firecracker layered on the photos was cut at 1.20 for height and 3.29 width. I added a bit of sparkle to the fireworks with a glitter marker from American Crafts and the "star" charms on the bottom border are charms from Creative Charms.

Circle Monthly Challenge

2011-06-29T21:16:00.000-05:00

This month for the circle the challenge was to make something for travel...I used an old baking cookie sheet and used the doodle charms cart to create a magnetic backgammon game.

My sister and her family will be moving from MA to MN and I thought this would be a good game to have in the car. I just returned from a trip out east and I know they will be driving cross country so my plan is to mail the game pieces (nice and flat!) and they supply the dice. And yes, I know they have some spare dice because I picked them up and told them to same it for the car ride! I used doodle charms to make a summer themed backgammon board. I use Maya Mist to create the game board on the back of an old cookie sheet and the cart Doodle Charms to make the game pieces. The watermelon and flower were cut at .98 for height and 1.24 width. For both game pieces (flower and watermelon) I used paper from Archiver's dollar spot scrap pack. To create the flower I sent the center layer through the cuttle bug useing the swiss dots folder. The watermelon seeds were made using Viva decor pearl pen dark brown. The magnet was cut using the blackout feature and I had a large selection of thing magnet sheets from a promotion. The gypsy was very handy to plot where to cut the images. the end result are some lovely game pieces that could also be used as tick-tack-toe game pieces or even checkers (but I am not sure how to "king" a piece).

I painted the cookie sheet on the parts where the magnets would not be placed for any long period of time so the paint wouldn't be hampering the adheasion. I thought magnets would be best for traveling in case of running over bumps in the road and the pieces would stay in place.

Challenge Card - New Arrivals

2011-05-30T22:36:00.000-05:00

I have spent a good portion of my day in the kitchen baking bars and cakes for retirement party tommorrow that I am co-hosting. I already made a card for the school community to sign and realized I had not made a card to go with the gift I am personally giving.

I made this card after finding two challenges I can submit it to... CCCC (Cricut Cartridge Chaos Challenge) #19 at More Than Favors blog and the Wacky Wednesday #39 challenge also at More Than Favors. Hummm. So The CCCC was to use the cart New Arrivals and the Wacky Wednesday was to use the colors Pink, Brown, Teal, and Cream. Of course the sun has set and I had to photograph the card with a flash so the colors don't show true but I did use the correct colors! The Congratulations layered circle (brown with beige layer) are from the New Arrival cart and the baker's twine is teal. The gold square was cut with Fiskars border punch to give it the stitched look. The pink pattern was dry embossed with the moroccan screen cuttlebug folder and in person you can see just a hint of teal on the pattern that I chalked on the folder before embossing. Now I think the card looks like it's ready to give as a baby girl card but it does look nice with the white gift bag for the retirement gift!

Retirements

2011-05-29T15:47:00.001-05:00

Two friends are retiring at the end of the school year and I have been busy creating cards and one special book for my Para (one of the retirees-I'll post pics later)

Today's post is of a card I made for a teacher and she loves to fly, she has her pilots license and gives lessons on the weekends. I made a special card for her retirement celebration on Tuesday
(I'm in charge of the center pieces!
here's a pic of the mock-up!)

On Friday I received the cricut circle cart - Pop-Up Neighborhood and when I saw the airplane I finally had an idea for the card.

And, with a challenge on the circle member's only blog I was inspired to create this card. Here is the front or cover and the fancy part is inside (white gel pen to add the "dots").

I used several carts, Pop Up Neighborhood(PUN), Alhpalicious(A), Life's a Beach(LAB), and Cindy Loo(CL) and three requirements (in addition to at least two cuts) chosen from a tick-tack-toe board. I incorporated, a sun shape (from LAB), used my gypsy to weld images (two welds, the word Enjoy from CL and Retirement from A) and buttons were part of the flowers from the PUN cart with the Airplane. I used two PUN, the one from the balloon was designed to be bushes but I turned is upside down to be clouds in the sky, and of course the airplane pop-up cut

and the flower/ grass layer. All the paper is from my scrap stash and I don't know the company or line with the exception of the green grass background, that is coredinations. The buttons are from my stash, many from old shirts that I removed the buttons before tossing.

New Cricut Blog

2011-05-17T21:50:00.000-05:00

Coming soon...a new cricut blog! from Provocraft - Check it out :)

Me in my Scrappy Place

2011-05-09T11:43:00.000-05:00

On the Cricut Circle blog they asked we post a pic of our self in our crafting space...so with DD's help, here I am with my wall of tools behind me (maybe some day I will post pics of the whole space!) and my cricut it off to the side not in the photo. But, if you look close, you might see my Gypsy :)

Above the tools/rail are the calling cards I posted previously from a swap and if you were to continue to look to the right, the is a counter/table with my new E2, but of course it isn't included in the snapshot!

My E2!

2011-05-05T22:53:00.000-05:00

I ordered the 5th year cricut anniversay Expressions 2 machine from HSN when it launched last week and it arrived on Monday while I was at work. I was so excited for the E2 I buzzed home earlier than normal (in other words I only stayed half hour past my scheduled end time instead of the normal hour and a half!) and the four preloaded cartridges but before I could dive into the box I had to make supper for the family and DH wanted to make applesauce cake (he'd been talking about it for a few days, sigh).

So I took a shot of the cat, Willow,

having fun with my package, did my KP and headed for the craft room.

I also made myself clean off the table and area where the new bug now sits (had to pack my old E in the travel bag - now ready for crops!)

I had to try one of the preloaded carts and made a cat, seeing as how Willow played with it more than I did that day.

Then on Tuesday I used the machine to make a stencil for some glass etching. I attended a bridal shower for a teacher in my building and wanted to make her something special, so I etched her soon-to-be last name initial in a set of four wine glasses.

Originally I designed the B and frame using Cricut Alphabet (new E2 cart) on my gypsy but I can't link the E2 carts yet so I had to change the B to a cart I have loaded on my Gypsy. The frame is from Jasmine cart and the B is Blackletter.

Circle Calling Cards

2011-04-28T20:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I received a lovely package I have anxiously been waiting for...it was full of Circle member's calling cards. I signed up for a swap of the 3"x3" beauties, worked diligently to make 45 of them and sent them off then began waiting for the return package. It was so much fun to see everyone's ideas of what to put on the calling cards, each one is a work of art! The next challenge was to figure out a way to display all the pretties.

At first I thought I would create a clothesline grid with wire in a large picture frame but alas, I didn't have a frame large enough to hold all the cards so I improvised. I found a few push pins, pushed them in the wall, then wrapped some florist wire around them. Tada! A clothes line for artwork. I didn't have any clothes pins (well I found one tiny one - I wondered where the rest of the package went 15 years ago!) so again I improvised and tried it with small plastic coated paper clips. It works! Okay the colored clips don't add anything to the art but hey - they're hanging! I must confess, before pushing the pins into the drywall, I had to do a bit of painting.

You see, my craft room is in the unfinished portion of the basement. I mean really unfinished, only part of the wall has drywall and it has seen some abuse. My son decided to tape some posters a few years back (mind you this wall was never taped or primed!) and the walls look atrocious. I knew I wanted to take a photo of all the pretty calling cards so I decided to quickly prime the un-taped sheet rock before putting up the display.

So, there is my disclaimer for my raw, unfinished room. But it is my little piece of crafting paradise and I love being in my crafty space, especially now that I have some lovely artwork from fellow circlets to gaze at. If you look closely at the second picture in the top left, you will see the pink fleur de lis, my calling card, and in the last picture on the top right there is a teddy bear card made by my wonderful SIL, marebare. I had to bookend the top row with our two calling cards so I could easily point them out!

E2 layout entries

2011-04-26T19:17:00.000-05:00

HSN debuted the E2 and Provocraft had a contest to win a new E2 machine...it was simple (not!), create a birthday themed 12 by 12 layout (up to three different layouts), send in by April 22 and watch the cricut facebook page to see if you're a winner. I created two layouts and mailed them in with Marebare's three layouts - to see Marybares, visit her blog at marebaresscraps.blogspot.com..
Here are my two...

All the papers on this first layout are from Stampin Up. The cuts are from the Celebrations cartridge. The balloons are embellished with hemp twine for the string.

The oval is cut from Father's Day seasonal cart and all the flowers are from Mother's Day Bouquet seasonal cart. The few green leaves are from accent essentials cart. All the paper on the floral layout are coredinations with the exception of the vellum oval cut. The Happy birthday was cut from Wild Cards cartridge.

This final picture is a close up of the paper flowers I lightly misted with water to make them pliable and shaped/curled them with a bamboo skewer.
Over all I liked my layouts and was hoping to win an E2 but instead I ordered the machine 10 minutes after the debut on HSN and then promptly fell asleep. I was hoping to watch the shows to see if any of my layouts were shown (many layouts were shown quickly) but I just don't know. Maybe I can find a video on the internet so I can see mine (if indeed they were shown!) and all the other wonderful creations by fellow cicuteers that sent their layouts in for the contest!

MareBear's Cartridge giveaway!

2011-04-24T11:36:00.001-05:00

My dear dear friend and SIL, Marebear is celebrating having 200 blog followers with a cartridge give away. So boogie on over to marebearscraps.blogspot.com, take a look at all the fantastic ideas she has, and become a follower. Who knows, maybe you will be the lucky winner!

Earth Day = the 3 Rs!

2011-04-23T20:00:00.000-05:00

I am a frugal crafter, always looking for ways to save money, and I like to reuse items in different ways...my SIL just laughs at me and my thrifty ways. I save the clear packaging from clam shells, I have a special file box/folder for scrap papers. I am always on the search for new ways to use old things (see old post of paperback books). Well, now my junk collecting is being recognized, okay maybe not MY junk but others in the Cricut Circle world are being challenged to recycle/repurpose/reuse items for a challenge, this is was what I started with (after some modifications)

and not all of the items made it to the final project, nor were all items used in the beginning photo (this is just what I saved from the swarm)...Here is my creation for the Reuse, Re-purpose, Recycle, challenge...So what exactly did I reuse/repurpose/recycle???
Okay the base for my mini album is made from the sleeves of coffee cups, you know those fancy kind from specialty coffee shops? The three I used were from the coffee shop at Craft's Direct in Waite Park, MN (I asked other crafters if I could have theirs.) On the front cover I used the stir sticks from the same coffee shop as the "spine" and a rubber band I had laying around. (it might have migrated home from work after wrapping around some spine labels in the mail)

So that's three things already (the requirement for the challenge) but I used more...the center of the flowers is cut from an old children's book using a cut from Everyday Cricut cart, the centers of the treat box that I didn't use for this project - just the centers! I ripped the treat box (cut too small for what I was trying) so I couldn't let the scrap go to waste! The flowers are actually from a small pick of flowers, silks I suppose some would call them, that were from an display that was too ratty to continue as a decoration in my house. The Cricut logo was cut from a paper drinking cup (saved from the crop). On another page I plan to insert a picture from a swarm of some of us gals being silly, but I made the clear embellishment from recycled clam shell.

I cut a scalloped circle from Cricut Everyday then ran it thru. the cuttlebug with the spots and dots folder.
The flowers showing above the book are left overs from another challenge (I cut a LOT of flowers for the layout)

and the stems of the flowers are stir sticks, again from the coffee shop. The flowers were cut from the Mother's Day Bouquet cartridge and the leaves and grass are from Plantin School Book cart. (2 different cuts - another challenge requirement) The flowers, leaves, and grass were cut from corediantions cardstock with Viva decor pearl pens in the flower centers. All three coffee cup sleeves are pockets and the pocket inserts/tags were cut from some light green card stock.

On each green "tag" I added a tab that was cut from a box used a Christmas to house a shirt I gifted to DH. (another thrifty save! and reuse!) I simply cut the tabs from the From My Kitchen cart and adhered them with the dark brown side showing (the smooth white from the outside of the box is glued together!) On the first tabbed tag you can see my name tag from the swarm, on the back I will add a photo from the event - I still have to select and send to be printed all the pictures I took of the fun :) I hope you are inspired to help the environment and find new and fun ways to use every day products from around your house! Go Green!

The new Expression for the 5 year Anniversay

2011-04-23T17:16:00.000-05:00

I have been counting down the days to the release of the new E2 on HSN. I'm in central time zone so the fun begins at 11:01pm on Monday night (April 25, 2011). To add to the excitement, the lovely ladies at Everyday Cricut are hosting a Ustream at 8:05pm Monday night to help us with the upcoming release! They (Joy and Melanie at Everyday Cricut) are also giving away an E2 (and maybe other goodies!)...so join in the fun, maybe you will win the latest, greatest die cutting machine!

one more challenge

2011-04-10T22:00:00.000-05:00

The challenge was to use a frame at scrapbookers-anonymous.blogspot.com so here is my thank you card using a frame cut from Accent Essentials cricut cartridge.

It doesn't show up well in the picture but there are two layers of ribbon, the purple gingham type and a thread with sparkles on top makes for a special effect with the coredinations paper run through the cuttlebug using the leafy branch folder. The stamp is from Stampin' up and ink is black stazOn.

challenges

2011-04-10T21:16:00.001-05:00

I visited many blogs this weekend, mainly for the No Housework blog hop organized by Groovy Deb. A couple challenges presented themselves, one was to use your favorite color, mine is green, and the other was correlated with what house work chore you hate the most...mine is mopping and washing walls...I mean really, do people wash their walls?!

Well the hated chore corresponded to a material to use: mopping-use ribbon, washing walls-use card stock. I combined both challenges and created a card using ribbon, card stock and my favorite color, green. The end result is a father's day card. I also created a thank you card, using green (fav. color again!)

for another challenge at marcisscrappingspot, another part of the blog hop and finally to use a bird (because housework is for the birds!!) challenge from scrappingtheguys. Enjoy!!

Swarm this weekend

2011-04-02T23:45:00.000-05:00

I am having fun at a cricut swarm, sponsored by Crafts Direct - a wonderful local store in Waite Park, MN with tons of scrappin' goodness. My SIL and I made some tee shirts for our group of six at the swarm and here

I am modeling my shirt and the silly glasses and hats we couldn't resist creating.
My tee shirt says "Scrapbooking is hazardous to your wealth" The cut/phrase is from the Everyday Cricut cartridge, which is circle member exclusive. The glasses and hat are from the same cart. The vinyl is iron-on vinyl I purchased from Expressionsvinyl.com

Cricut Hat

2011-03-31T16:29:00.000-05:00

I am getting ready to attend a swarm this weekend and couldn't resist making some of the fun dillybobber hats that are on the Cricut Everyday cart (circle excludsive).

I haven't decided if I should bling each hat or just leave the fun green. I worry the dilly-bobbers will droop if I add stickles or glitter. So for now they are plain and if there is time before bed (it will take all evening to pack!) I might play a bit :)

Finding new blogs

2011-03-28T11:19:00.000-05:00

Recently I visited Momo's blog and for fun I signed up for the linking party. Basically people link their blog so others can find them. I feel so blessed that a few new friends have found me and now I need to get crafty! Also, as I was visiting some of the blogs Momo sent me to I discovered Me 'n' Miss Pink Cricut who is having a give away for a Cricut cartridge. So stop over and take a look at her lovely layouts and leave her some love! :) Happy scrapping!

Cricut Circle sketch

2011-03-20T15:23:00.000-05:00

I've had a busy weekend and really wanted to do some crafting but alas, the only project I have been able to finish is a layout for a sketch challenge on the Cricut Circle blog.

The recipe for the layout...
Stampin' up papers
Stickles in the pink boarder flowers
K and Company bling in individual prima flowers
ribbon from dollar spot at Joanne's
boarder/edge punch - fiskars
large paper yellow flowers cut with fiskars punch
Family fun and pink floral boarder from Life's a Beach with the Cricut.

This was a emotional layout for me to do. The journal says " It is tradition to journey to Grandma Marjie's home for a summer day of fun. Mom (Grandma Barb) meets us and the 4 generations (GGma Marjoie, Gma Barb, Mom-me, Bobby, Emily and Billy) enjoy a day at the pool."

For years my three kids and I did this and then when my grandmother moved out of her townhouse with the pool we just made sure we spent a summer day visiting in Senior housing. Sadly this past summer (July 2010) Grandma passed away. I am so glad I have some photos to scrap the happy family memories!

Sympathy

2011-03-14T22:21:00.001-05:00

This weekend I had to make three sympathy cards. I find these the most difficult to make because I always want to choose happy colors. So I did a little surfing on the web for inspiration and finally settled on a couple of card maps from Becky Fleck. I find I go to the page and card maps more and more because the results are so much better than just my own feeble attempts!

This first card I used the branch and flowers cut from Gypsy Wanderings and of course my Gypsy with the Cricut. The sentiment is a clear stamp from a set I don't know where! I used my chocolate chip Stampin' Up ink pad and all the paper is KaiserCraft Hippy Girl Collection. The inside of all three cards is stamped with a wood mount rubber stamp by The Stamp Barn. It says "When someone you love becomes a memory, The memory becomes a treasure.
I bought the stamp a few months back to make a sympathy card for a dear friend, little did I know I would be using it so much!

The second card I used more KaiserCraft, Hippy Girl and tried to keep it all green for a challenge on the Circle Member blog. The challenge was to use either a rainbow of colors or tone-on-tone greens. I opted for the greens. The other requirement is to use two different cricut cuts. I used the label from gypsy wanderings and a tag from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More. There is a touch of gold (touch of gold was another requirement) in the background paper and I considered adding some to the tag, but being a sympathy card I erred on the side of subdued. I had to take the photos at work in the AM before delivering the cards so I am unable to get a close-up of the details. The sentiment is from Pink by Design and again I used my choclolate chip Stampin' Up ink pad.

The final card was made still using all Hippy Girl from KaiserCraft and no cuts from the Cricut! I used the chipboard embellishments from the collection and some rub-ons. The sentiment is stamped with a clear stamp from Scripted Year from Pink by Design.

I was running out of steam as it was getting late in the evening when I finished up this final card but I did think to add a bit of paper to the inside of the card (wish I did it for the first two but was too tired to go back and add) and I really like how it turned out.

blogger award for me?

2011-02-22T20:05:00.000-06:00

Well lucky me, two wonderful people blessed me with the stylish blogger award! Thank you to Marebear and Crystal. Two very lovely and talented ladies!

I now know I am loved by some blogger friends :) Thank you ladies so much for choosing me as a stylish blogger!!
The fun in receiving the award is I get to share, share and share! Here are the requirements...

1. Thank the person/persons that shared this award with me and link it back to their blog/blogs.

2. Share eight things about myself.

3. Pass this award on to eight other bloggers that I have recently discovered.

4. Leave a comment so that they can pass along the recognition!

Well, here I go...
Thank you Crystal and Mary! Oh, I already did that, I think I even left comments on their blogs with my gratitude...
Eight things about me, hummmm...
Okay, 1. I chose my blogger name, Chignon, because it is a fancy way of saying hair bun. It's pronounced Shin-Yon
2. I am a Media Specialist (teacher-librarian) by day (hence the hair bun idea) and a super crafter at night. Okay, I like to think I'm super...at least my family thinks I'm super, and I think my SIL thinks I super, I think.
3. I love to read, but you may have guessed that from my profession. Many nights it's a tug-of-war on what to do, read or craft.
4. I am only 29 years old, and will always be 29 years old, even though my oldest child is 20, middle is 18, and youngest is 16.
5. I am not a grandma - remember I am only 29! I do have three terrific children and a hubby who tolerates my hobby.
6. I grew my hair out long so I can wear the traditional librarian bun, I even have some old cardigan sweaters I can throw around my shoulders...but you likely won't see me in that! Unless I'm really cold in my craft room.
7. Laughter is great for the soul, that's why I married a funny man. I also like words used in funny ways, you know puns, play on words, etc. Well I am a librarian after all!
8. I used to call my crafting space the dungeon, because it is located in the basement as part of the utility room. But over the holidays I switched places and sent DH to the dungeon with his desk and I have a bigger spot to play. And I have room for a friend to join me - want to come over and chirp with the Cricut?

Now choosing eight bloggers to share the award...drum roll....
JustYolie, she has such beautiful layouts at her blog
Heather at the spotted leopard does great layering on her layouts
Shawn is a wonderful lady with creative ideas
Flaunt It Fridays has a weekly challenge
Rhonda at Scrappity Dappity Do has terrific projects
Joy at Joy's Life is super creative and funny too
Greenbean has wonderful unique and creative ideas
And for number 8, Yoli. she has been sharing some wonderful organizing ideas

Cricle Blog challeng #21

2011-02-20T20:47:00.000-06:00

This week's challenge was to use two cuts and to have an animal, or something for an animal.

I'm the animal that needed a case for sunglasses, oh okay, I did use an owl on the design. I found a pattern on the internet to sew a case for glasses then went digging through my fabric stash. I found some old jeans and left over flannel fabric with an owl print. Perfect!

I cut the two needed pieces from the fabrics then decided to make a stencil with vinyl and my Cricut. I first cut an owl from Give a Hoot at 3" (page 28) then a pair of sunglasses from Groovy Times (pg 55 shift) at 1 3/4 inches. for the owl, I made a stencil by removing the actual cut out so the remaining outside stuff is the stencil. I stuck the vinyl onto the jeans piece of fabric and used a brayer to really get the edges down. Then I used the sunglasses cut and put them where I thought the owl eyes would be, and again made sure it was adhered well using a brayer. The fabric was dark so I put a layer of yellow fabric paint on first, after that was dry I mixed some colors to get a green that was close to the lining (flannel) fabric. I let it all dry over night then stitched the sunglasses case together. After finishing the sewing I realized it would be better to have an image on the "front" of the case. So, out came the vinyl and this time I cut the sunglasses (again from GT pg 55, shift) at 2" real dial size.

I used some golden yellow fabric paint and filled in the image. Let it dry. I used some Viva decor pens to jazz up the shades, Glass Effect Gel for the glint lines and star, mimicking the picture in the book, and outlined the shades with Lilac Pearl Pen.

Valentines

2011-02-15T20:02:00.001-06:00

I've been crafting, really I have! I just don't always post that quickly...so I made a few Valentines this weekend but of course I couldn't post in case my loved ones saw them before receiving the cards!

This first card was made using the guidelines for the Cricut Circle blog weekly challenge-use a heart, embossing and two cricut cuts. The shaped card is actually white card stock. Most of my photos are taken at night, I know it should be in the real sunshine of the day, but really?! I work during the sunlight hours so crafting occurs at night and thus picture taking is at night. Back to the card...I used the cheap card stock found in the office supplies and cut the heart shape with the cricut Wild Cards cart. Then I embossed the top of the card using the floral folder that came with my cuttlebug, and nope, there never was a name listed (or I didn't see it in my excitement of opening the gift at Christmas!) Next I used some colored twine to stitch around the heart (the holes were there from the cut!). Then on the wild card cart I found the hugs and kisses sentiment, cut that out of the white scraps. Adhered the hugs and kissed to a heart cut out from Wild Cards using shiny red paper from my scrap stash, popped up the heart with some 3m dimensionals and you see the results! The white "stitching" on the red heart is drawn with the white signo pen

Okay this card the color is really off! The embossed background is actually a light blush, pinkish color, and shiny. The paper is from my scrap stash (most of my paper was given to me from a card making friend who inherited it from a thankful parent of a student). I embossed the blush paper with the Persia Die/Embossing combo (the folder part of couse!) The layered cut is from one of my newest carts, Groovy Times. I just love that cart and have more fun looking at the book than creating (well that will change as I use it!) All the papers are from my scrap stash (I have a lot of scrap paper!) The ribbon was from some packaging, and the white stitching was part of the ribbon. In all a fun card with out any investiment! (other than time and cricut machine materials!)

Okay so now for this third card. The black background paper is Coredinations black magic.

I used the argyle cuttlebug folder and lightly sanded the black layer. I actually did this background piece to show my DS's girlfriend how the cuttlebug works. Being the paper horder I am, I saved the sample and used it to make this card. The cuts are several from Groovy Times and the paper is all from my (yep, you guessed it!) scrap stash! The silver letters that say Stay Cool are "shined" up with a bit by drawing small curved lines with the a light blue colored Viva Decor Pearl pen. The sunglasses have a bit of glossy shine from a clear Viva Decor pen.

And here is a photo attempt to show the dimension the viva decor paints have and maybe a bit lighter look to the card!

My son loved the card because it wasn't girly at all, and he had a pair of silver rimmed glasses just like those!

Circle Blog January Monthly Challenge

2011-01-29T23:29:00.000-06:00

The challenge at the circle blog was to scraplift a project that was a past blog project, use two cricut cuts and two sponsor products. I saw a video on the circle blog showing how to make a shaker card by Shantaie Fowler for Halloween. Well, I needed to make a birthday card and loved the idea of a shaker card...so here is my interpretation!

I used American Crafts everyday bonjour paper (the flower base) and the solid colors are from Bazzill Basics Paper, Tropical Breeze (blue) and Guava Sensation (pink). The ribbon behind the Happy Birthday sentiment is American Crafts.
The card base is 5 1/2 square and the scalloped squares were altered on my gypsy using the frame cut from Accent Essentials. I cut two, one at 5 inches and a smaller one at 4 1/2, both had the inside square cut hidden with the hide contour button. The butterfly cut is from Hello Kitty Greetings cut at 3.73 by 3.4 inches. One butterfly was welded to the square, this was the cut used to glue onto the clear plastic (I recycled cartridge packaging but I believe Bazzill sells some wonderful clear acetate). The Happy Birthday sentiment was cut from Hello Kitty Greetings, height was 1 inch.

The shaker pieces were a miss-match of items I had. Some of the sequin was from Valentine's day card kits found at Target dollar spot last year, and some of the seed beads came from my DD stash of beading supplies.
I used dimensionals on the birthday sentiment to add drama, I felt with the floral paper as the shadow just didn't make it stand out enough. I don't have to worry about mailing the card, I plan to hand deliver it to my aunt in March when we meet for a ladies trip to SC. Over all, I am very pleased with how it came out, and will have to give myself a pep talk to actually give it to my aunt instead of keeping it for myself!

Weekly Circle blog challenge #18

2011-01-29T19:24:00.000-06:00

The challenge is to only use one cart that originally came with your cricut machine and at least three different cuts.

I chose to use Accent essentials. I used my gypsy to weld the boarder pieces. I also used the shadow feature of the frame to make the large solid square layers and adjusted the sizes with the gypsy to make the fit. The smaller solid squares are the inside cuts from the frames. I used the leaf cut shadow to make it a solid leaf and then the posy flowers are in red. One of the posies I used a water mark ink to show the different circles. I use shadow of the flower to make the blue dimensional flowers.

Papers: Sprinkles Leisure Suit from Luxe designs
Green #2 from Die Cuts With a View
Pastel Blue from The Paper Company
All cuts from Accent Essentials, designed on the gypsy cut on the cricut
Elegance Black Glitter pillow stickers (black swirls) from K&Company
brads made with the I-top tool from Imaginesce
fabulous - rhinestones words from me&my big ideas.

The blue flowers were made using the shadow cut of the posy flower then with scissors I cut a spiral into the center, make the inside smaller, glued the inside edge of the spiral to the outside of the now cupped up flower until used up the length of paper.

The center brads are made with the i-top. I used a water mark ink pad and a background stamp to add variety before punching out the paper to make the brads.

Flaunt It Fridays - Bear in Can

2011-01-25T10:45:00.000-06:00

A fun blog that does a weekly challenge, Flaunt It Fridays, is featuring the bear peeking

out of a garbage can from the Give a Hoot cartridge. I made this card with my sister in mind. She lives on the East Coast, I live in the Mid West. We plan to see each other for a ladies get-a-way in early March so I thought this would be fun to send her.
So how did I make this?...well all the papers are scraps from my stash. In fact, the dark brown is some textured paper I have had for years (over 15 years!) that at one point was used as a folder for my teaching files. All the bear and can cuts were done at 3 inches. The background layer was run through the cuttlebug using the leafy branch folder. The orange ribbon I picked up at Joannes after Halloween on sale but I don't recall the brand. I hand wrote the words using a Bic Mark*It fine point marker in the color Harvest Orange. (love the set, so many colors it was easy to find just the right match!) I added the eyes and noise with the dark brown marker from the same Bic Mark*It set and the mouth is part of the die cut. I inked the edge of the green background paper lightly with ColorBox fluid chalk in tangerine.

Inside the card I decorated with the same light green scrap paper using the Fiskars Elegance border punch, and lightly inked the fancy edge using the tangerine ColorBox chalk. The words "can't wait to see you" are written with the same Harvest Orange Bic Mark*It marker on a punch out of the scrap paper. I used the Fiskars cameo appearance squeeze punch and again, inked the edges with the tangerine chalk.

Now to find an envelope and write a brief note to my sis. I might even make it in time for today mail pick-up!

Thank you Joy's Life!

2011-01-15T13:41:00.000-06:00


Here is the beginning of jazzing up the bumpy vase.

It was super easy to color the raised dots with the Bic Mark-it markers

I was a super lucky super friend over at the Joy's Life website. I love Joy's site because of her super sense of humor and crafty, creative superpowers! Just before Christmas she had a fun, crafty, creative filled 12 days of Christmas event and give a ways were involved. I was blessed to receive Bic Mark-it markers - terrific permanent markers in fine tip and super fine.

Yes, I actually won two different sets of the colorful tools from Joy's Life! I really wanted to try coloring on glass and the Bic Mark-its were just the thing! I have a set of wine glasses just waiting to be decorated, but until I decide on the design...I tried the markers on this vase I picked up at Ikea. I couldn't leave the vase empty so I fired up my Cricut and made some paper flowers using bamboo skewers as the stems. I didn't have any of the decorative stones/glass to fill the bottom so decided to vary the height of the flowers by tying ribbons on the "stems" to act as stoppers at the top of the vase.
I made this a couple weeks ago, meant to gift it to a friend last weekend and forgot to take it with me to our meet-up. so now it sits in my kitchen reminding met o get to the craft room and create! In case you are wondering about the color choice of orange and green, well it was created with Fiskateers and Cricuteers in mind! Now I wish I could remember what cartridges have the flowers, I used my gypsy, didn't save the mat layout, but my best guess is Accent Essentials. The solid paper colors are coordinations and the pattern, who knows, they were in my scrap stash. Ribbon is a wild guess, some it think are from the Target dollar spot.

Hello Kitty

2011-01-15T13:28:00.000-06:00

I used a composition notebook and added the Hello Kitty with the airplane to decorate it. Today it was sent off in the mail to my DD for a bit of a pick-me-up package.

have you heard about this giveaway?!

2010-12-30T21:06:00.000-06:00

Here's a blog I follow, love her shabby chic style with lots of creative ideas...anyway now she is offering some yummy prizes to some lucky followers! Check out Creating from the Heart!

Circle Blog Weekly Challenge #13

2010-12-30T14:45:00.000-06:00

Once in a while the weekly challenge on the Cricut Circle blog inspires me and this week the theme was inspiration. A beautiful inspiration piece was shared and when I saw the river and perspective (small to large from top to bottom) I envisioned a skier going down the slope. Here is a 12 x 12 page layout I did using the winter frolic cart. The blue background paper is by Coredinations from the vintage collection. I lightly sanded three spots to give the allusion of a mountain. The bunny skier was made using scrap papers from my stash, most of the paper have a slight sheen/shine to them making picture taking very difficult! The dark trees and picture frames are actually cut from a dark green shimmery/shiny paper from my stash. I cut the skiers and trees(each set) at 2 inches, 3 inches, and 4 inches. the middle sized skier (3") is adhered with dimensionals (3m) and the largest skier(4") is adheared with a double layer of 3M dimensionals. I have two photos already selected to add later.

Shadow Box Decoration

2010-12-14T11:38:00.000-06:00

I had fun making my first ever shadow box. It was made to be a gift for a ladies dinner Christmas party where we play a game and the gift recipient is a surprise. The frame/box was purchased at Craft's Direct (Waite Park, MN). I wish the details of the items inside showed up in the picture but alas, this is all my limited photography skills could accomplish. The snowflake tags were cut with the Very Merry Tags cartridge using the light blue glitter coredinations card stock. The tags were shadowed with plain white paper. The silver metallic ribbon is from Stampin' up. The snowflakes were pop-dotted with stampin up dimensionals. The snow for the ground/background is the same blue glitter coredinations ripped to give it an uneven edge. The pattern paper for the top of the background is from my paper stash. The snowmen are from Snow Friends cut out using white glittered coredinations. I stamped the faces using peachykeen basic paperdoll face stamps. The scarves are pop dotted (each of the two layers). The goldenrod is cut from bazzil card stock and run thru the cuttlebug using the swiss dots folder. The red and green scarves are from my Christmas scraps of paper purchased last year at Target. The finished snowpeople were double popped using stampin' up dimensionals. The dark blue vinyl was adhered to the out side of the shadow box using cricut vinyl and the let it snow phrase is from Christmas Cards cartridge.

Croppin' with Kim

2010-12-11T00:15:00.000-06:00

My bags are packed, ready to scrapbook with Kim...it's only for the day, do I have everything? Geeze, I thought I was packing light but I still have 4 things to carry! and I just remembered I'll need some vinyl for a project I plan to finish - more to pack - YIKES!!

prize worth entering for...

2010-12-03T22:34:00.000-06:00

At Roberts Craft blog they are giving away a wonderful bundle of Die Cuts With a View (DCWV) items. We're talking about hundreds of dollars of fantastic scrappin' stuff! I just love DCWV paper stacks, used a delightful glittery stack of princess papers for DD book(s) and have been a fan ever since. So pop on over there for a chance to enter and to see the delicious goodies!!

what do librarians make?

2010-11-29T09:46:00.000-06:00

Here is a wonderful answer by Joyce Cevalenza to the question What do Librarians make? patterened after the wonderful poem by Tyler Mali called What Teachers Make

finally JoAnn's black friday ad!

2010-11-16T22:17:00.000-06:00

Check it out here: http://bfads.net/Ad/Joann-Fabrics-2010

Cricut Expression $199 and carts for $27.99

Now the ad I really want to see is Craft's Direct!!!

Michael's Black Friday

2010-11-15T22:28:00.000-06:00

Here I found an ad scan for Michaels at blackfriday.info

http://www.blackfriday.info/sales/michaels-black-friday-ad.html

Cricut in Black Friday Ads

2010-11-15T22:24:00.000-06:00

I have been checking out the sneek peeks for Black Friday and this is what I have found...plus Michaels was leaked but now I can't find it (my main source of info is from bfads.net) So here are two images from Walmart and one from Menards!

Walmart's ad...are these new lites?

menards - it still boggles my mind that Menards carries Cricut items but I can't argue with the prices!

Obsessed with scrapbooking blog

2010-10-24T20:29:00.000-05:00

I find lots of useful information on blogs, a fav. of mine is obsessed with scrapbooking and right now Joy is doing a give away...check it out here!

October Circle Challenge

2010-10-23T00:13:00.000-05:00

The challenge was to create a home decor item that inspires creativity...I used an old book and made a card holder for my craft room. It is decorated with flowers and the words bloom, inspire, dream. I used large paper clips unbent and reworked to hold the words on one end and clip to the book page at the bottom. I plan to put in circle calling cards in the holder as I think of each card as a mini piece of art. Seeing all the creative ideas certainly inspires me!

register a Gypsy and download some carts!

2010-10-21T08:23:00.000-05:00

I am so excited that Provcraft is sharing! If you register your cricut Gypsy by Oct. 31, you can get 6 FREE cartridge downloads! Whoo Hoo, so if you've been thinking about getting a Gypsy to use with your Cricut machine - now is the time!
Here is the message from the cricut message board:

Buy and register a Gypsy by Cricut by October 31 and receive 6 free cartridges downloaded to your Gypsy – including the exclusive, all-new "Smiley Cards" cartridge (and don't forget about Gypsy Wanderings and Gypsy font cartridges that come pre-loaded on the machine). It's a $419 value!
Free cartridges include:
 Smiley Cards (new and exclusive to this promotion)
 Tags, Bags, Boxes and More (not available in retail)
 Christmas (not available in retail)
 Blackletter (not available in retail)
 Printing Press (not available in retail)
 Indie Art (not available in retail)
All current Gypsy owners included! Simply register your Gypsy by October 31, 2010 and get access to all downloads. Register at www.cricut.com/gypsy.
Downloads will be available through a special update to your Gypsy starting November 1st.
New Gypsy cartridge downloads are easy! Just connect your Gypsy to your computer and you'll automatically be prompted how to start. In just a few steps, you'll be able to download all six cartridges containing thousands of images! And with Gypsy, you'll have all the cartridge artwork and keypad overlays on your Gypsy screen, so there's no actual cartridge, handbook, or packaging.
You only have a few weeks. Don't miss out!!

new blog...

2010-10-04T21:05:00.000-05:00

I found a new blog that will have challenges..get picky and they have a giveaway going on right now so head on over and see for yourself!

Challenge # 3

2010-10-03T21:59:00.000-05:00

Creations with Christina has lots of challenges...here is my card for Challenge # 3 - make a Christmas card.

I used KaiserCraft paper and stamps to create a card. The beige paper square are cut with Creative Memories punch from paper I had in my scrap box. The stamps are from the KaiserCraft Be Merry collection and the ribbon is from Stampin' Up. Inside the card is stamped The true spirit of Christmas is...Love ~Linda Willis

I love happy comments so leave some smiles!

Cricut Circle Blog

2010-10-03T21:23:00.000-05:00

I have been trying to catch up reading my favorite blogs and was so excited to discover the launch of the Cricut circle blog! They are open to all viewers but will close it to circle members only in a couple weeks, so head on over quick to take a look. While there I found a challenge to try (open to members only) so had to give it a go! Here is my 8 by 8 layout using cuts from the Cricut French Manor cartridge.
The papers are from Creating Keepsakes All in One scrapbooking kit, with the exception of the solid pink. That is from a card stock pack I purchased at Target. I used my gypsy to size the scalloped square to be 7 1/2 inches. The cut is found with the Tag 1 feature and shift/lock key. The oval tag layers to be 2 inches by 3 1/4 inches (used hide contour to delete the two holes) for the pink shadow layer and the pattered layer was 1 3/4 by 2 3/4 inches. The oval is found with the layer function. I inked the pink paper edges with Color Box fluid chalk - creamy brown. The green gems in the corners are from Imaginisce attached with the i-rock tool. The clear crystal gems on the oval are also from Imaginisce. The pink flourish is cut from the Cricut French Manor Cartridge. The vintage lace is from a stash I received from my grandmother.

Creations with Christine Card Challenge #1

2010-10-03T20:58:00.000-05:00

Saturday, Oct. 2 was World Card Making day...so I had to join in some challenges. Here is my take on a card sketch from Creations with Christina.
The white snowflake and tag are from my paper stash, it actually has a slight shimmer to it, and they are adhered with stampin up dimensionals. The rest of the paper is from Kaiser Craft, the Be Merry Collection. The snowflake is cut using the Cricut Christmas Noel cartrige and tag is from Very Merry Tags.

Librarians have talent!

2010-09-28T11:58:00.000-05:00

Scrapfest 2010

2010-09-18T22:19:00.000-05:00

Here I am chatting with some circlets!

And here I am with my super great friend Kim and another super great friend and SIL, Mary

Thank you goodies

2010-09-18T06:54:00.000-05:00

I made several of these goodie bags to thank some friends for helping my niece with her job search. I used stampin up card stock for the orange and the yellow/gold was white paper sprayed with glimmer mist. After it dried I used the cricut markers to write Thank you using the cricut Storybook cartridge. I cut to size and used fiskars boarder punch Lacy Days of Summer and assembled over the zip style baggie. Added some ribbon I bought from Stampin Up and gave away to gifts! My friends loved it.

Interesting blog

2010-09-18T05:41:00.000-05:00

I am a follower to many blogs (mostly scrap booking related) and whenever I have a couple minutes in the morning (while sipping my daily cup of coffee) I like to take a look at a few. I have been a follower of Cutting Above about for a few weeks now I really enjoy the variety, a break from just scrappin' things. She has posted about food, fashion and today it's stamps - Robyn (MPS) stamps to be specific. And there is a give away so I'd thought to share the info with you! Just click here to take a look at Maggie L's blog.

9/11 blog hop

2010-09-11T10:49:00.000-05:00

I've been busy with the first week of school and finally have a chance to check up on favorite blogs. Pink Cricut is the first stop of a blog hop honoring heros and of course I have to hop along! I am inspired by the first project and hopefully after I peel myself away from the computer I can scrap some of Bob's army pictures! But for now, join me hopping the blog hop starting here!

Menard's Cricut Cartridge haul!

2010-09-07T21:44:00.000-05:00

Really, I bought three cartridges for my cricut at Menards!!

MPS event layout

2010-09-06T20:57:00.001-05:00

This was a fun layout to do, especially because all the papers are scraps! The green floral was actually white card stock, the kind that comes in the page protectors when you purchase a photo album. I used a 12 x 12 template by Crafter's Workshop as a resist and misted the whole sheet with Maya Mists, emerald green. The rest of the papers, black, light pink, dark pink and white (pleated boarder on bottom of top right pic.) were all scrap papers a good friend of mine gave me. The papers are remnants she was gifted and shared with me, so I have no idea of the manufacture. Both border punches used are from Fiskars; Lacy Days of Summer and All a Fleur. The cricut was used to cut the embellishments: the butterfly embellishment was from Indie Art cartridge and the large flower is from French Manor cartridge. The flower's pink background/shadow was the tag feature, shift for the layer and cut at 4 inches. The green top layer of the flower was cut at 3.5 inches with the tag feature. The green paper was created with the Maya Mists on white paper. The green tag behind the flower pulls out and on the back I listed the names of the Cricut Circlets in the photograph. The ribbon on the tag is from Target's dollar spot. The trail of the butterfly was made using my i-rock and glam rocks. The bottom white paper with the group photo was made by pleating a long strip of paper with just random folds. The large layout photo doesn't show the texture that the pleating adds to the page but you can see it with the up close photo of the butterfly.

Weekend Fun

2010-09-06T20:10:00.000-05:00

I had so much fun on Saturday attending the My Pink Stamper class. We created a "Ghouls Night Out" card and a Christmas tag. The class was held at Crafts Direct in Waite Park and the store is also celebrating it's 20th Anniversary, so lots a great sales! CD even had the pink ATG gun and with a coupon I just couldn't pass it up! I wanted to take pictures of the crafty day but I forgot my camera. I was so mad at myself because I usually carry my camera in my purse but my oldest DS borrowed it in the morning and it wasn't sitting on the table (so I'd remember it!) and off I went for crafting adventures without it. Luckily another circlet had her camera and snapped a picture of all the circlets at the MPS class with Robin and it was posted right away. The lovely Kristine at CD took photos also so I look forward to receive those and maybe switching one of the pics in the layout I did today of the event. It was wonderful to meet Robin, she is such a lovely and genuine person. After the class when I was leaving the store (had to do some quick browsing) Robin was walking by and she recognized me and said hello! I was thrilled to introduce DD, Emily to Robin. because Em kept listening to me talk about the class (I was just a little bit excited! lol) Em was so sweet in sharing that she liked to do beading so she was happy to shop around while I was in the class. I think Emily was laughing at her mom and the excitement I had for the day!

i-rock

2010-09-06T19:44:00.001-05:00

Recently I won the i-rock tool from Imaginisce. I love it! I have used it a bit here and there but had a project planned since last weekend when I found some canvas shoes on clearance at JCPenney's. I bought two pair, one for me and one for DD, Emily. I knew she would want to bling out her shoes! so last night we spent some time rockin' into the night (sorry the 38 Special song has been stuck on my brain all day because we used the i-rock last night!). The night got late so we finished the project today and here are the beauties!

Cricut Circle

2010-09-06T18:32:00.001-05:00


Yippee! My first circle package with a cart arrived on Thursday. I was so busy with school preperations that I didn't have lots of time to play and post. Here's a picture of the goodies inside.

And the first thing I made was a 3 by 3 inch calling card to trade with other circlets at different events. I used the card feature on the French Manor cart and with my gypsy sized it so just the fleur de lis with the frame was a three inch square. I cut the image out of pink glitter paper by colorbok. The green base was white glossy paper scraps that I sprayed with Maya Mist color emerald metalic. After spraying the paper I blotted it with a paper towel to give it the marbled look. I printed from the computer my info (name, email, address) and cut a 3 by 3 square around the info and glued the paper to the back. I made several cards and had them ready for the My Pink Stamper class in Waite Park on Saturday. I am glad I had at least 6 cards made because I met some circlets at the class!

Hello Kitty Card

2010-08-30T01:52:00.000-05:00

After being in the kitchen all weekend, I snuck away for a bit of crafting. My niece has a birthday in September and every year DH and I always scramble for a gift and card - but not this year! I saw a challenge to make something with a licensed cartridge for the Cricut and I was inspired. The top photo is the birthday card I created.

I only used the cart. Hello Kitty font. The Kitty was cut at 4.25 inches. The papers are all old remnants I have in my scrap stash. The white gossamer ribbon is from Target found last year in the wrapping supplies after Christmas. The sparkly blue gems are i-rock hot rocks adhered with the i-rock tool - love it! And the greatest part is the the i-rock tool and stones were a prize I won from Imaginisce. Very cool tool! The second photograph is of the envelope (green) and the inside of the card. I had some Hello Kitty ribbon that I just couldn't resist using (I can't remember where I purchased the ribbon).

Salsa is made!

2010-08-30T01:31:00.000-05:00

This weekend DH and I made two batches of salsa. It took all day Saturday to make the first batch. It was huge, we ended up with 12 quarts and 8 pints but we still had tomatoes! Sunday was spent enjoying visiting with good friends from out of town (they ended up at our place last night because of the hotel goofing up the reservation) then after they left it was back to kitchen duty. The second batch was only a third of the size of Saturday's creation so it went fairly quickly. Second batch of salsa yielded 2 quarts and 7 pints with the added bonus of being extra spicy.

The first picture is of Saturday's results (notice the scalloped labels!) and the second photo is of me showing off some of the ingredients ready for the simmering pot of tomatoes, notice the dark green jalapenos! I ran out of labels and plan to make a few more with some changes to distinguish between the two different salsas.

Scalloped labels

2010-08-27T12:26:00.000-05:00

Bob and I are getting ready to make salsa so this year I thought to make some labels for the canning jars (to be added after done canning) I used vinyl so they are removable stickers. I printed the white labels on normal copy paper with our names and the year then ran the paper thru. the cricut after tweeking the oval to just the right size on my gypsy. Ovals came from the From My Kitchen cart. The scalloped ovals were scalloped circles I changed the height and width separately from the mini monograms cartridge. I put a sample one on a jar with a piece of paper in it so it can be seen better.

Welcome Banner

2010-08-23T20:29:00.001-05:00

I made a banner that says "Welcome" to display at my school. I wanted to hang it in the hallway (students start after labor day) but didn't have the heart to do it the day the custodian finished washing the walls! I'll hang it next week. I tried to get a picture of the whole banner as it was out on the circulation desk. I took a close up of one of the pennants so you can see the detail. Okay, so for the "recipe" to this project...I used my gypsy and the base (yellow) was cut on a 12 x 24 mat. Only four fit on a mat, cut at 9 inches high. The yellow paper is laminated bulletin board paper (it's very thin and tears in the cricut if it isn't laminated).
The red scalloped ovals are scalloped circles from Mini Monograms with some changes to the size. I had to unlink the width and height button and make the width narrow to get the oval shape. the final size was 3.4 width and 5.2 height. It was very handy to do each element on a different layer so I could get the proper sizes. The letters are cut from Jasmine with the oval feature. The measurements 2.66 width and 6.09 height. Both the red and light blue paper are construction paper from school I had laminated knowing they were to be cut using the circut. I haven't found a good setting to cut construction paper not laminated. The purple lace looking boarder to the pennants was made by using my Fiskars border punch lacy days of summer (I thought it appropriate for the end of summer! heehee). The deep purple paper is from a friend who had a box of scraps she received from a family she did some tutoring with the son, she shared the wealth and gave me a bunch of the papers (lots of diff. colors and sizes!). The ribbon the pennents are stung on was found in the dollar spot at Target with scrapbook supplies, it took two pieces, which are three yards each. I tied a bow on each end with the ribbon then strung it through the holes. Everything was adhered together with Tombo permanent adhesive. I think this will be a cheerful greeting for the students when the arrive at school!

dorm decoration

2010-08-23T19:47:00.000-05:00

I made a whole page full of cherries for my daughter to put on the walls of her dorm room. I started with black Cricut vinyl and with my gypsy was able to maximize as much space as possible. The cuts are from Hello Kitty Greetings cartridge. The green stems are from a pack of solid papers I have had for years and the red cherries are laminated construction paper left over from a school project I had done. During the vinyl cutting my cricut was accidentally turned off so one of the outlines was cut twice but not exact (the gypsy was handy to remove the already cut ones on the virtual mat and I could begin the cutting again!) So the goofed up outline was used to sample the final product. I stuck it to a board used to place a laptop computer on for stability. I wanted the finished project to be on vinyl so Emily could put the cherries on the wall of her dorm room and be able to remove them without any problem, so basically I made a sticker for her walls! I glued the paper (green stems) with zig two way glue pen and the cherries (laminated paper) I ran through my xyron using permanent adhesive. I think/hope Emily will like these!!

Movin in Weekend

2010-08-21T12:10:00.000-05:00

We took Emily to UND and helped her move in....we put together her loft/futon and Bill was on hand to connect to Wii! The we relaxed and play a few wii games. It is going to be strange with out Emily in the house but she is beginning an excited journey!

Hello Thursday release

2010-08-19T16:37:00.000-05:00

Joy at Obsessed with Scrapbooking has some wonderful projects showcasing the new cartridges! Take a look and enter to win! While there, join in the blog hop!

My Pink Stamper in Minnesota

2010-08-17T11:02:00.000-05:00

Crafts Direct in St. Cloud is hosting My Pink Stamper classes on Saturday, Sept. 4. Sign up is today starting at 1pm. Details can be found here at the Crafts Direct website.

If you want to be a designer...

2010-08-17T10:45:00.001-05:00

The Paper Variety is a new scrapbooking challenge blog looking for design team members. I was started by a couple gal from My Scrap Stuff where I found out about the design team applications. If you are interested and want to apply check it out here.

My Grandma Marge

2010-08-16T01:28:00.000-05:00

My grandmother, Marjorie passed away a few weeks ago. Recently a cousin sent these two photos and I wanted to make a layout showing how Grandma and Grandpa had started a huge family. The big group picture is almost inclusive of Harvey and Margie's descendants, only two people missing. I like to think Grandma was watching from heaven as the family gathered to celebrate her life and try to stay in a tight group for the picture!

join in the fun of the hop

2010-08-15T00:03:00.000-05:00

I found a blog hop going on this weekend from Scrappin-n-Chattin...hops are always fun, hopping around visiting different blogs to see creative ideas! Oh and entering to win some blog candy is always a thrill. So check out the blog hop at Boxer Brats Scraps, but be sure to start at My Scrap Stuff for the details and order of the hop - and have FUN!

More Creating at CHA

2010-08-02T16:29:00.000-05:00

ColorArtz had a booth where we were able to decorate a tee shirt using the air brush system, so simple and easy! I did the scrunch shirt method and hot pink paint then black paint. I have been wanting try this since seeing Terri O did a video of the paints...very fun and easy!

Creating at CHA

2010-08-02T15:54:00.001-05:00

CHA was a blast, so much to see and do I could have spent another day crafting! Mary and I were busy looking, shopping, helping and creating...this picture is of the two of us making a card using eksuccess Martha Stewart punches, and some beautiful Jolee's stickers.

Ready to Roll to CHA

2010-07-29T21:09:00.001-05:00

Mary and I are showing the packed trunk for the road trip...everything in the full truck is for scrapbooking! No room for clothes?!

Let the roadtrip begin!

2010-07-28T23:56:00.000-05:00

Mary and I are ready for CHA!! We started with pedicures and Fiskateer orange polish!

How about winning a Cricut DVD?

2010-07-23T10:04:00.000-05:00

I want to win the Cricut A to Z DVD how about you? Enter for your chance at: www.craftecorner.blogspot.com
The video is created by Above Rubies Studio and they have other goodies too, check them out here.

Cricut Cake Give-away

2010-07-21T17:47:00.000-05:00

Check out a wonderfully talented lady's blog Creating from the Heart as she celebrates her two year blogaversary with a cricut cake give a-way! Wow!
And while we're looking at some fun, how about Cuttlebug Challenge spot as they celebrate Christmas in July!

daily give away

2010-07-21T07:16:00.000-05:00

Imaginisce is introducting new collections and every day they are doing a give away...check out their blog! Wonderful Christmas papers to drool over!

CHA catch-all

2010-07-14T21:37:00.000-05:00

I finally finished my tote for CHA, My original intention was to get the Imaginisce i-rock tool and add the bling but I wasn't able to find one locally so I had to settle for iron-on rhinestones. After many mishaps and a little designing I was able to iron-on the bling (the butterfly is a pre-made design, the swirls are completely my own design). The awesome orange flower embellishement is actually a hair bow I won from a very talented fiskateer on her blog at Faeriey Dust Dreams. Originally I was planning to wear the fabric flower in my hair and I loved it so much I ordered from her etsy shop, one for my SIL, Mary. We both loved our fabric bows on our bags that I don't know if they will actually end up as head adornments!

Creating with Imaginisce

2010-07-13T00:16:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I get lucky and win a prize...and that is what happened in May. Pinky (a fiskateer!) has a blog and she has been sharing wonderful ideas and layouts. I enjoy reading and seeing what other people create and if I really like the project I will post a comment. As I said, I was lucky, and won a drawing from Pinky at her Much Ado About Nothing blog that was a page kit featuring Imaginisce papers and embellishments. I really like the paper and wanted to make sure I used a special picture for the kit. I reviewed Pinky's tutorial on the page layout and this is what I created following her page design. And yes, the picture is from 2003 and the family vacation is finally going to be scrapbooked this summer (I hope!) It will be my main project for CHA during the all day crop. Yep, I am heading to the Craft and Hobby Association gathering near Chicago. Mary (my wonderful SIL) and I are going to roadtrip, visit a few LSS on the way and enjoy all the crafty goodness at the end of July. We even opted to join in the Super Crop sponsored by Scrapbook Royalty! Now to channel my excitement into organizing my materials to take along to CHA!

Graduation Open House

2010-06-29T23:34:00.000-05:00

The month of June was busy, busy, busy. It started with the last weeks of school and the mad rush to get the library cleaned and ready for summer. Usually I go into work a couple of days after school lets out to tie up loose ends and pack up the office but this year we went north the day I started summer break. The family enjoyed a week of fishing and the kids even tried to swim on the one sunny day! Brrrr, not quiet warm
enough in early June in northern MN! After the fishing vaca. Bob and I headed to southern MN, actually into Wisconsin for a family reunion camping weekend. Returned home and I took off for a couple night with DD for college orientation and registration. Oh and the day before heading to Em's college, I went to visit my grandmother who had a few days stay in the hospital, giving all of the family a scare! So basically I had two days to prepare the house and yard for Emily's graduation open house. The thunderstorms stayed away during the party and everyone had a great time. Sunday, I was so exhausted and my body was so sore, I could hardly move. It's a good thing I had an interesting book to read and no plans to go anywhere. I think I slept more hours than I was awake! I did manage to do a few decorations for the open house using my Cricut and Gypsy. The first picture is of some small metal pails I purchased from the Target dollar spot. The blue 2010 was a cutout of vinyl. I used my gypsy to weld the letters from Plantin School Book cartridge and the graduation hat from Hello Kitty Greetings cart. I think the letters were 2 inches high. I wanted to have a decoration by my front door (usually there is a large blooming plant but it died during the winter and I haven't found another I like to replace it) so I grabbed a fake evergreen tree I bought on closeout after Christmas last year at Target and decided to make some graduation ornaments. I was pressed for time (the theme for June!) so I went simple using the hats from Everyday Paper Dolls and cut the hats in school colors -blue and red. I made some black graduation hats (mortarboards) to honor Em's graduation from Community college. I laminated the mortar boards to protect them from the predicted rain and they weathered the night beautifully!

Graduation

2010-06-07T21:38:00.000-05:00

My daughter has graduated High School. I cried like a baby (I did it at her college grad too - yep, she earned an Associates Degree by doing PSEO!) Enjoy the pictures :o) The top photograph is from High School Graduation and the bottom photograph is a couple weeks earlier on the day of College Graduation.

Gotta love the creativity of Librarians!

2010-06-03T18:37:00.000-05:00

visit these blogs for give-aways!

2010-05-20T12:01:00.000-05:00

My day usually starts with a cup of coffee and a quick peek at this cricut blog. Everyday cricut has lots of wonderful projects. The two ladies that run the blog also have their own personal blogs and in celebration of Hello Thursday and the release of new cartridges, the two are having a give-away. Check out Joy's obsessed with scrapbooking blog and Melanie's Courtney Lane Designs blog!

sunny day!

2010-05-15T19:16:00.000-05:00

I did a little gardening today and relaxed on my deck. I felt the need to check out some blogs so I hauled out my computer (love wireless!) and took a look at fiskateers and from there visited other blogs. I found this fun one and she is has some blog candy, a boy what a treat...take a look at her blog, Creating from the Heart and comment for a chance to win a Big Shot and a few dies. Wow! And the best part, she has some wonderful projects to peruse!

Gift to a coworker

2010-05-15T15:53:00.000-05:00

I made a word shape book and it has been "in the works" for quite some time. I actually used the free Design Studio trial version and found the BABY download to try this out. I cut the shapes and papers several months ago in anticipation of the baby shower. I then set the project aside and before I knew it the shower had arrived and passed and I still hadn't finished the book. It was great glee that I used some of the new baby pictures send in the email and the thank you card created by the new mom to embellish and finish the book! I am only posting parts of the book because some of the inside pages have baby's personal information. When the new mom returned to work I gave her the book and she had a little more spring in her step (it was hard leaving baby for the first time!) and I was hearten to have helped ease the transition.

Talent at work

2010-05-15T14:41:00.000-05:00

I have a friend, Cec, who works in the school library with me and she is always amazed at the creative items I make for the students (shaped flash cards) and gifts for co-workers. The truth is I am amazed with her creative ability with writing. In honor of a retirement, Cec wrote this poem and made some lovely "bracelets" I am modeling in the picture with the poem, to give to the retiree, Barb. Barb was spotted countless times in the hallway wearing masking tape bracelets as she hung up the student's work and she was so practiced and expert at it that nobody could do it faster, or with more style! Here are the creative words written by Cec .
Barb's "Bracelets"
How does she do that,
From afar we did watch.
She's up on a ladder,
From "bracelet" many a swatch.
Rolled up in a flash
In very precise sizes.
And to a piece of art,
Onto the wall those many prizes.
How does she do that,
So effortlessly grand
Once can only wonder
As in amazement we stand.
So here's to that person,
To that Masking Tape Queen.
To Barb! To Barb!
With envy we turn green!!!

Friday Finds

2010-05-08T00:45:00.000-05:00

I came home after a long exhausting day at school, kids are always rambunctious when it rains all day, wanting to relax and take a nap but instead found a lovely package waiting for me! My lovely sister-in-law sent me a fantastic gift! I felt so special discovering the wonderful card (she is sooo talented!) and an awesome bag. The bag is perfect for when my gypsy has to do some traveling, and it will this summer when Mary (SIL) and I road-trip to CHA. I am so blessed with family that thinks of me when on shopping excursions! So I call marvelous Mary to thank her for the "RAK" (I won because I am such an wonderful SIL!) and we chatted until my cell phone battery wet dead. We had to share our fiskateer experiences of the last few days...it was then I looked out the window to see the rain had turned to snow. Yes, snow, on May 7. Huh. I don't remember snow every falling this late in the year! So my Friday went from Frazzled, to Fabulous to Freaky in just a few hours. I hope Saturday is more serene!

Rainbow fabric

2010-05-03T21:58:00.000-05:00

Another challenge from MPS (#11) was to make something using rainbow colors. Well, again the laminated fabric jumped out at me. For school I was just cutting rectangles for book marks but with my cricut I cut out the word READ. I can't wait to show off my fabulous bookmark tomorrow at work!

Thinking outside the box

2010-05-03T21:54:00.000-05:00

I have been squeezing in a couple more MPS challenges for NSD. I had some scrap fabric I had laminated to be cut into bookmarks for the kids at school. I looked at it again today and decided to try cutting it on my cricut. All the embellishments on this page are from fabric that has been laminated!

Shapes Challenge

2010-05-03T17:19:00.000-05:00

I have been reading the Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo to second grade student in the media center and I made some flash cards with Fiction call numbers for the students to practice putting in ABC order. I also made them for the pink stamper challenge!

Teacher Appreciation Challenge

2010-05-03T17:15:00.000-05:00

I made a small purse using Tag, Bags, Boxes cart on 12x12 paper cut fit to size. It's my entrance to the My Pink Stamper challenge #5. I plan to fill the purse with sugary goodness!