Happy Birthday Rosey Card

This Birthday card is for a family friend. She is in her 20's, so i wanted to make her a card that wasn't too  young. 

I used the following to create Rosey's Birthday Card:

 Recollections Light pink, White  and Red cardstock.

Recollections pink and red polka dot paper and pink paper from the Bright and Basic paper pad.

Once Upon a Princess Cricut cartridge. 

A Child's Year Cricut cartridge.

Rock Princess Cricut cartridge.

Stickles in Red and Pink.

Happy Birthday Stamp.

Fuschia ink from Rubber Stampede.

Martha Stewart's glitter  Carrara Marble.

Pink ribbon.

Flower sticker from my stockpile.

Round punch.

Front of Card:

I used the pink cardstock to make gate card. 

The red and pink polka dot paper to make the mats. I used the Once Upon a Princess Cartridge to  make the cut out 4You on page 52 under the phrase function.

 I then assembled and glittered the 4You and attached it to the ribbon to make a closure for the gate card.

For the inside of the card: 

On the left panel, for the Never Enough Cake, I used Once Upon a Princess Cricut cartridge on page 51 under the phrase function. 

I then glittered it with red and pink stickles and Martha Stewart's Carrara Marble glitter.

For the center I used standard mat sizes and used the flower embellishment as a holder for the gift card. I inked the edges of all mats and ballons with  Fuschia ink from Rubber Stampede.

For the right panel I used A Child's Year Cricut cartridge for the balloons in pink and red on page 57 using the monogram feature.

The red ribbon on the right panel was cut from Rock Princess Cricut cartridge on page 45 using the layer 2 function.

For the mats I cut them to size and used a round punch to punch the edges.

For the back of the card: 

I used Once Upon a Princess to cut out the tag in red on page 52, for my mark.

The envelope is made out of the same red and pink polka dot paper as the card.

Although this is a simple card, the part that took the  most time was the stickling/glittering of the two cut outs, but in the end it was worth it.  I actually made a few of them in several colors and put them in my birthday box for future use.

Happy Halloween Cards...

Halloween is in the air, and for me, it's the best time of the year. I love Halloween, no other holiday compares to it. For my Bitties (nieces and nephews) I made 4 Halloween cards and my daughter Justice joined in the fun and made 4 Halloween cards for them also. So we each picked 4 and made them.

I also made one to send to I Feel The Love Project, it's a good cause, and i learned about it from my Action Wobbles newsletter, but you can find it here: http://www.ifeeltheloveproject.blogspot.com/ , please check it out.

The following items were used to make all the cards:
Recollections  Orange Cardstock.
Recollections All Seasons paper pad
DCWV Glitter Matstack Cardstock, for Orange and Green Glitter Mats
Graphic 45 Le' Romantique Well Groomed Cardstock # 4500170, Le' Romantique Celebration Cardstock #4500168
Cricut Cartridges:  My Quiet Book,
Happy Hauntings,
October 31st,
Wrap It Up,
 Nursery Rhymes
Chic & Scary
and Once Upon a Princess
Martha Stewart Tombstone Punch & Stamp set
Marvy Uchida Star Punch
Halloween stickers

For all my cards I used:

Envelopes were made using Recollections All Seasons paper pad, except #4.
All Cards were made using Recollections Orange cardstock.
All mats  in Green and Orange were made using DCWV Glitter Matstack Cardstock.

 1) For my 1st Halloween card I used several odds and ends. 

What I actually do is i take a day, and just cut with my Cricut all the shapes and items i want, or i think I will use. 

Then out of the scraps, I punch out the other items such as the mini tombstones and stars.

 I used the Martha Stewart punch and stamp tombstone punch set. 

For the trees and moon I used the  My Quiet Book Cricut Project Art Catridge, with Graphic 45  Le' Romantique Collection Well Groomed #4500170.

For the haunted house i used Cricut Happy Haunting Cartridge on page 46 in black cardstock, and i just used yellow scraps and glued them behind the house openings for the windows and door.

1) On the inside of the 1st Card I fussy cut the bottles from the Recollections All Season paper pad and used stickles to make the bubbles. 

I used the All Seasons paper with the tags for the spiders, and the orange journal block is just scrap orange cardstock stamped with lines to write my message.

2)For my 2nd Halloween card I placed an orange block of cardstock with the turn back cut out from Recollections All Seasons paper pad. 

The skeletons, spider and tombstone were just from random stickers that i had left over in my Halloween stockpile. 

2) Inside of my 2nd Halloween card. I used October 31st Cricut cartridge for the orange tombstone and the candy apple, which I inked the apple part red and the stick green which turned a nice green tan. 

The journaling block is made out of scrap cardstock. 

The spider is cut from  Cricut Wrap It Up Cartridge on page 39 (using the phrase feature) out of Graphic 45 Le' Romantique Celebration Cardstock #4500168.

3) For my 3rd Halloween card I used :

The Haunted House Image is from Recollections All Seasons paper pad. 

The  black mini tombstone is  punched with Martha Stewart Tombstone punch and stamp set. 

The moon is cut out of orange cardstock using October 31st Cricut cartridge. 

The star was punched from Graphic 45 Le' Romantique Well Groomed cardstock using my very loved Marvy Uchida star punch.

3) Inside of my 3rd Halloween card I used Recollections grey cardstock and the October 31st Cricut Cartridge to make the tombstone, inked the edges in black ink. 

The pumpkin is made cut out of Graphic 45 Le' Romantique Well Groomed cardstock, cut from Nursery Rhymes Cricut Cartridge (on page 52 using the phrase feature for Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater and I just used the pumpkin ) and i inked the stem with green ink.

The journaling block is scrap orange cardstock.

 The tombstone image is cut from Recollections All Seasons paper pad.

The ghost sticker is from my left over Halloween stock pile.

4) For my 4th Halloween card (this is the one I submitted for  http://www.ifeeltheloveproject.blogspot.com/) I used:

Witching Hour image is from Recollections All Seasons paper pad.

The Pumpkin with vines is cut from orange cardstock from the October 31st Cricut Cartridge.

The envelope is an orange and yellow paper, i don't know the maker, i have had it for at least 2 years.

4) Inside of my 4th Halloween card is very simple. 

The gate with the raven cut out of black cardstock using  Chic & Scary Cricut Cartridge.

The moon is cut from Graphic 45 Le' Romantique Well Groomed cardstock using My Quiet Book Cricut Cartridge.

The star is punch using my Marvy Uchida Star Punch.

4) This is the back of my 4th card, and my envelope.

These were created by my daughter Justice:

All her envelopes were made using Recollections All Seasons paper pad.

All Cards were made using Recollections Orange cardstock.

All mats  in Green and Orange were made using DCWV Glitter Matstack Cardstock.

Her 1st card was made using:

Martha Stewart tombstone punch and stamp set, in Graphic 45 cardstock and scrap orange cardstock.

The tree was cut from October 31st Cricut Cartridge.

The skulls were cut from Chic & Scary Cricut Cartridge, from the skull and cross bones ticket, she just used the skulls.

Her 2nd card was made using:

Halloween sticker  (candy corn and mini pumpkins ) from my Halloween stock pile.

Candy corn images from Recollections All Season paper pad.

Martha Stewart tombstone punch and stamp set, in Graphic 45 cardstock and scrap orange cardstock.

The Candy apple was cut from Orange cardstock from October 31st Cricut cartridge.

Her 3rd Halloween card was made using:

October circle and Raven on fence both cut from Chic & Scary Cricut Cartridge.

The orange moon cut from October 31st Cricut Cartridge.

The star is punch using my Marvy Uchida Star Punch, with Graphic 45 paper.

Her 4th Halloween card was made using:

The witch in the circle and the Raven on the fence in black cardstock, both  cut from Chic & Scary Cricut Cartridge.

Martha Stewart tombstone punch and stamp set, in Graphic 45 cardstock and scrap orange cardstock.

These 8 cards were so much fun to make with my daughter. 

We have decide to make this a regular activity when it comes to Holiday cards. 

It's may seem like it's complicated or too many pieces from many cartridges, but like i stated earlier, I spend a day just cutting and punching out images that i think i may use and when i have a huge pile, or i am tired then i stop and we use whatever i cut up to that point.

 When it is time to make the cards we choose from the pile of cut outs and stickers.

 So it's is a very simple process, and it, at least for us, is easier this way, because spend more time creating and less time trying to decide what to cut. 

Happy Birthday Allie

Birthdays for teenagers are always fun and full of surprises, and it is very easy to get caught up in a cutie card, but for a simple card that is not to young, and not to old , I thought this would do for my teenage cousin.

It's a gate card using paper from the All Seasons Recollections pad from Michael's. I used dark pink card stock for the gate card and inked the edges with black ink.  I used a strip of the dark pink card stock and a scalloped circle,  from a Child's Year Cricut Cartridge on page 59 under tag, as a band to close the card. The heart with wings is from a stamp set I bought at www.scrapbuck.com , i didn't keep the packaging so I can't recall who made it.

On the inside of the card I used 3 Cricut cartridges for the cut outs. I used Spring Holiday Cards Cricut Cartridge for the little heart faces on the left panel.

 I also used green glitter card stock from DCWV The Glitter Card stock Matstack for the mats on the panels. I used A Child's Year Cricut Cartridge for the right panel balloons, you can find them on page 29 under icon. I made the pocket out of scraps I had  left over from making the gate card and  for the  tag that has Happy Birthday  stamped on it, I used Once Upon a Princess Cricut Cartridge on page 59. 

I cut out tons of these tags as they fit perfectly for my sentiments. 

The envelope is made out of the same paper as the card.

The back of the card is simple with the same heart paper used on the front, insides and for the envelope. Here is the tag again, used to for my mark. 

The card was simple, nice and fast, perfect for a teenage girl. Filled with a gift card and a Happy Birthday wish.

Bitties Go Back To School Cards

Back to school is always an exciting time when you are very young, and this year my youngest niece is starting kindergarten. We are very excited for her. This year I sent a box full of school supplies to the Bitties and I put a card for each one inside. 

These cards are A2, just random colors I had in my stock pile of cut cards. I used one sheet of 12x12  paper from the ATD foil card stock for my mats on the cover, it doesn't have a name but it has cupcakes on the front of the paper pad. It does have a website on the back of the paper pad www.momenta.com , but i found it at Tuesday Mornings.

After I made the envelopes, I had scraps and I used them to make the  raised mats for the stickers. I made the cards and my daughter placed the stickers on each card. 

On the inside i placed mats on both sides and I made a pocket so i can put treats or stickers inside. I used the Happy Days stamps from http://cardztvstamps.blogspot.com/  and the stickers are from Walmart, in their dollar section.

This one is for my youngest niece, she will be starting kindergarten, so the crayons and glue were perfect. I cut the scrap of paper at 4" x 2 1/2" and used foam tape to raise it from the back ground.

Here is the envelope, blue with small white polka dot pattern paper. 

A closer look at the  inside of the card.

Same idea for this card. This one is for my middle niece, she is in the second grade.

Inside of 2nd grade card, same envelope at the one for my youngest niece.

This one is for my nephew. He is in the 4th grade. Perfect for him.

Inside of 4th grade card for my nephew.

These were simple and fast.

 I try to have A2 cards cut in every color of cards stock on hand. 

When i have down time i usually go through my scrap box and cut mats from my scraps, and if i have a nice paper that i think will make a great card, i cut it into mats. 

After i cut many mats, i add double sided tape to the back, making sure to leave the backing on and i rubber band it and put it in my card box (an archival box I keep all my ready to go A2 cards, and mats in). 

So basically, I have a huge supply of A2 cards and mats ready to go, for quick cards or little notes to the Bitties.

 The best part is i use up my scraps and I have very little waste.

 I usually make the envelopes as I need them, because I never know what the overall color scheme of the card will look like until I am done.

Columbus Day Cards

For Columbus Day, I made 3 cards for the Bitties, my goal is to send them cards for every holiday we celebrate . It's a way to share our culture and traditions. 

I made 3 A2 cards. Inked around the edges with Tim Holtz ink. The mats are from the Recollections Mosaic Memories pad. All the cut outs were from the Cricut Going Places cartridge. I used tan card stock.   I cut the  compass using sign feature on page 113. Then I used Tim Holtz vintage photo stickles to decorate.

On the inside I heavily inked the tan mat and pocket (which i use to stuff little treats or stickers inside) and I stickled with vintage photo stickles the Geo cut out from page 95. I made 6 of the Geo cut outs and used the other 3 for seals on my envelopes.

I used gold stickles  on the other two  cards as seeing they were going to my nieces and for my nephews card i used Tim Holtz's vintage photo stickles.

Summer Cards for the Bitties

I made 3 cards for my two nieces and nephew to say one more hi, before summer ends.

 I used 3 A2 cards and all the other pieces of paper were from my scrap box. I wanted to see what i could create with the scraps.

 I used the sea creatures stamp set from Michael's. They are so cute and instead of coloring them in I used patterned paper.

 I then placed an Action Wobble on the back and used my Happy Days stamp from Cardztv at http://www.cardztv.blogspot.com/ . They sell some of the best stamps.

The other sea creatures were placed flat on the back ground to mimic the sea. I ran them through the Xyron sticker maker since they were very small and had round edges.  

My Summer Cards for the Bitties (my nieces and nephew)

Inside of each card. Simple and perfect.

This one is for my youngest niece. The Octopus had the Action Wobble. I tore up blue card stock and blue pattern scrap paper to make the waves in the water and placed them on a mat to help line up the waves and make it easier to place on the card.

Inside of Green card.

On the orange card for my nephew I wanted to make a beach scene, just to make his different from his sisters. The Whale has the Action Wobble. For the waves and beach, I used the same idea, but I just made the mat shorter.

Inside of Orange card.

This card is for my older niece, she loves  glitter so on a piece of scrap glitter paper I stamped the sea horse and fussy cut it, and placed it on an Action Wobble.

Inside of the Blue card.

My sister said the bitties loved the cards. If i was under 8 I would have loved them too. Well actually, I am well over 8 and I couldn't stop wobbling them.  For me Action Wobbles are here to stay. I may not use them in every card, but for each card I make for a kid or some one who likes fun, they will be with an Action Wobble.

Happy Birthday Maddi

For my Cousin Maddi's birthday I wanted to make her an accordion card with photos that i took at her first birthday. I used graphic 45 On the boardwalk - She Sells Seashells. I made the envelope out of the same paper, but i use Mod Podge on the edges to ensure that the envelope would not split at the seams during mailing. I cut my 12x12 sheet of card stock into an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet. and then i cut that in half to make 2 A2 cards (5 1/2 x 8 1/2, scored at 4 1/4)  then I attached two ends of the A2 cards and made an accordion card. 

For the front of the card I ran vellum through my printer and I used  Microsoft Word to type my text in a color that matched the card stock. (if your vellum is having a difficult time being accepted by your printer you can do what i did. I used my tape runner and ran a line across the top of a sheet of printer paper and just attached my vellum to the printer paper and it printed just fine) I used the Victorian Romance Cricut cartridge for my cut outs and I used mint card stock and yellow glittered paper. 

 On the front of the card I attached the vellum with glue dots and used the key, heart and gems to hide the glue dots.

 On the next two panels I used a photo ( yes, I blurred it as I prefer not to put up photos of my family) of Maddi at her first birthday, along with a banner and a frame both from the Cricut Cartridge. I used Tim Holtz ink to ink the edges of all the panels and mint cut outs. On the panel with the gift card I used a key to hold it in place and just used two glue dots, one on the top and one on the bottom to adhere it to the panel.

 This is the back panel. Again from Victorian Romance Cricut cartridge I made a hot air balloon with a small banner to put my mark.

 On the back panels I used vellum and put a few interesting facts about my cousins Maddi's name and the origin of it and under it I used cut outs from the other parts of the card as a background. I adhere it with glue dots and placed my hearts to cover it. The small heart on top of the double heart is actually a paper clip, that can be pulled out and used. I then used velvet ribbon with gems to separate the sections. The next panel is the same layout as the other one with the photo.

 On the last two panels I used the cutout from Victorian Romance, and i placed it so that the swirls on the card stock would look as if she had a smile and curls in her hair. The other panel has a Birthday poem for cousins.

This is my first try at this type of card. Usually my cards are very streamline, but I figured i will never master them if i don't try. I think it came out pretty good, and my cousin liked it. So that is what really matters.

Happy Birthday Mustache Card

So I have a nephew, who is silly as he is sweet... and he is a loving guy. I wanted to make him an accordion Mustache birthday card. and it came out great. He loved it. I added photos of him and attached mustaches over each photo so he could get a good laugh. This is one of my favs.

I started with an 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet of blue card stock and I cut it in half to create two A2 cards             (4 1/4 x 5 1/2) then I attached two ends together to create the accordion card. My mats are 4x5 1/4. 

 I found this booth at the Anime Expo 2012 called Geek Chic... everything they sold was made out of wood. They sold these wooden mustaches with a monocle at the end. I had already decided to make him a mustache card a couple months earlier and finding this just made it perfect. I put it in a clear envelope and included the two business cards from the company, just in case they wanted to see the store/ website. GEEKCHICHQ.COM , it's an amazing site with really great products.

 

I of course added several photos of my nephew and cut out the mustache stickers, making sure to leave the plastic backing on. Then I attached a clear glue dot at the end of the clear backing and placed it over the photo. So this way he could remove the mustaches and have them to use or stick where ever he like and still end up with a mini album of himself. This is the pocket I created to hold his gift card and I put all the extra mustaches with backing in here. After all what kid doesn't like stickers. (I stamp my initials on every card I make, thus the M)

I then created an envelope with the same striped paper cut 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 and scored at an angle at 3"  turn 90 degrees and 3 5/8" then rotate 90 degree and scored at 3 " and rotate 90 degrees and score at 3 5/8".  I used the Martha Stewart score board. I love it and it's easy to use. I placed a mustache in the return address part of the envelope and made a seal with another mustache.

It was a big hit. I was told he got a big kick out of it.

My Adventures on Ebay

So I discovered EBay... and I love it... I knew it was there, but I never knew they had so many supplies for cards and scrapbooking...

 Yeah.... I spent way more than I wanted, but i got amazing stuff. Now i am going to put myself on a monthly allowance. Twice a month, i am allowing my self to bid on whatever I want, otherwise, i would buy all day... and I am pretty sure my kids will think i have lost my mind, not to mention I am limited in space.

The best and the worse thing is that you can find amazing deals on new, great quality items, that are hard to find, are not carried in your local stores and with free shipping or bundled shipping.

 The worse part is, the photos can be confusing, and somewhat deceiving, because it will list something as a lot, show 20-30 items and of course I bid, only to find out it is only 6 items and i don't get to pick what is sent to me.  Of course, it will say that somewhere in the middle of the huge paragraph that is under all the shipping info... That is when i pray some one will bid higher than me... LOL... I know that is awful, but if the text matched exactly what they're offering for sale, then it wouldn't be so confusing. So look, and read every line (which can be a huge pain, some of them write stories instead of basic descriptions) because in the end you are contracting to buy it once you bid.

One of my biggest frustrations for eBay are the one i call drive buys... that's when i have 15 minutes or less left on the bidding, and i am the highest bidder, then the minute i look away or do something else, some one swoops in and out bids me by .50 cents... UGH! that drives me crazy. So I have learned, even thought I don't think I want to bid $20 on a item, if I don't max bid my full amount the first time, I will end up being out bid or worse end up in a bidding war, with some one who may or may not really want it, but I feel is just pushing the price.

The way I calculate the max bid i place, is I say to myself, what would i pay for it on sale? then if it is under or around that price then I go for it. Of course if it is something i know is rare, or not made anymore, then I take that into account.

Now, when it is a lot (here comes my crazy math...LOL) I say what would i really want to pay for each of the lets say 20 items... I usually say $1-$3 dollars a piece... so if i have a lot of inks or re inkers : 20 re inkers or ink pads x $1 each, I know i will not go higher than $20 dollars, but if it seems too low then i add another $5 to make it fair. The I end up with my max bid at $25 and that is a great price for 20 ink pads or re inkers.

When it comes to Tim Holtz dies, i say would i pay $5 -$10 dollars each and there are 4 in the lot with several other items, i would max bid $40 -$45, because I am pretty sure the shipping is around $12. So that is my crazy math, it works, and when I buy, i feel as if i get a great deal.

 And, in case you are wondering what I do with any duplicates or items I don't want when I purchase them in lots, simple, I save them for gifts (since my family loves to craft, scrapbook, and make cards) or I donate them to my kids schools, or if all else fails, resell them, but I have yet to resell any of my duplicates or unwanted items... there are always takers... LOL...

Well, i hope you found my adventures on EBay, helpful. I will be posting photos of my creations soon.

Day one...

Wow, so this is new for me...
I am a crafter, scrapbooker, and card maker... I would like to think that i am very talented, but hey, you can never be perfect at everything. So this is my adventure into my  creative and crafting mind... Hopefully some of it will be fabulous and i am sure, some of my creations will miss the mark, but the goal is to have an adventure and share my creations...