30 days of Christmas teaser...

If you're anything like me, Christmas is your favorite holiday.  No?  No problem, you're welcome to come check me out anyway.

Yes, I know it's October 10th, and that Christmas is still 2 holidays away.  Well, I am the type who is actually  listening to Christmas music as I type this!  (Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters is on Pandora!)  It's actually my absolute favorite time of year.  I start planning for it in October.

In honor of Christmas and my blog (well, sort of an homage to my blog; I'll be doing more than paper crafting- I'm actually very multi-talented!) I will be doing 30 days of Christmas projects starting in November, on or around the 15th!  I will also be using a LOT of my scraps and things I have on hand.  Please don't write me telling me I put you in debt because you had to make "exactly" the thing I did with exactly the products I used.  I encourage you to scraplift what I do but as always, link back to me.

MAN, I'm so excited about this, I just can't tell you!  I will still be designing for Thankful Thursday and I'll still be in school FT, and still of course doing the mom/wife thing and the preggo thing, so please- send caffeine!

Want an idea of things I'll be doing?  oh just little things like:
advent calenders, candle holders, candles, banners, frosting glass, using vinyl, sewing, desserts, pillows, recipe books, layouts, ornaments, home decor, kitchen crafts, villages, and LOADS of other stuff.  Sounds awesome, doesn't it?!

Hope to see you here, and don't forget, much like candy and colds, you can always share me with your crafty friends!  I'm sure they'll want to see what I have in store for my 30 days of Christmas!  After all, who doesn't LOVE inspiration?

I have to go off here for a minute.

And I apologize in advance.  It's not craft-related but it's something that I feel I need to say because frankly there's a HUGE divide between military and civilian families.  This is due to both sides.  Civilians will NEVER know what it's like to have your husband gone for a year at a time, wondering if he's in danger, if he'll come home to you upright or in a flag-draped coffin.  Civilians will never understand why we military wives "put up" with it and that our husbands find it a great sacrifice and honor and have no intention of getting out.

Civilians get a glazed-over expression on their face as if our marriages don't matter.  While they many times politely appreciate our husband's sacrifice, they rarely understand what it means for the family back home.  Let me enlighten you a little.

I homeschool.  I have my children with me 24/7.  STOP!  Don't even go there with the "oh, I don't know how you do that".  Yes you do.  You choose not to for one reason or another, but that's another conversation for another day.  Do you have any idea what it's like to be both mom and dad for a year on end, without stop?  Birthdays, school plays, recitals, lessons, fights, sickness, ER trips, Holidays, grocery shopping, and maintenance of the house- just to name a few for months and months on end- by yourself.

Civilians smile politely and many will boredly nod when we're telling a story about how our husband missed our child's birth, first words, first steps, major life accomplishments and other things while giving us the "poor dear" look.  It's got to stop.  We don't want pity.  We want empathy.  We're not asking your husband to leave for a year at a time to a danger zone (and by the way, that 2 week trip to cleveland that your husband took?  Yeah, we don't feel closer to you.  He didn't need to wear 100 lbs of used kevlar to hopefully keep his butt alive from being shot at by someone who wipes their butt with their bare hands however your husband WAS able to dine out and slept in a hotel, and was able to call you nightly!).  I digress.

What we military wives are asking for is that  you actually listen when we speak.  You wonder why we keep cloistered and away from typical civilians- it's because "you" don't care enough to find out why our heart is broken.  1/2 of us is missing a million miles away and you will fight with your husband over not taking out the trash tonight.  Many of us would kill for the chance to take the trash out so our husbands can relax and not have to worry about it.

Many of you know that I made a scrapbook for my husband's military service, and most of you thanked us for that service.  Please know that this is NOT to attack any civilian.  This is to bring awareness that military wives are hardcore and for those of you who would say "I could never do that"- it's not really a compliment.  You have this idea that we're somehow stronger because our husbands leave everything to us.  We're not stronger, we lean on each other just as you would do.  Yes, you could do that.

I guess what I'm asking here is the next time you encounter a military wife (or husband even though they're much rarer); shut up, let her talk, be interested and don't speak unless you can bring solutions.  That sounds harsh.  I'm sorry, just try this:  "When do you need me to babysit?"  (free of charge is also good- our pay isn't what most civilians think it is.  in fact, it's many times below poverty level- an E6 currently makes around 42,000 a year- with 15 years of service in.  pathetic, huh?  What's that you say?  what about his benefits?  oh, yeah- the benefits that can be removed at any given time by our government and he is still under contractual obligation to serve?  those benefits?  yeah, he gets health care and an allowance for housing- which btw, is less than section 8 housing!)

Another good one is "I'm making an extra casserole.  Do you have room in your freezer for it?"

Ok, I'm off my pedestal.  I'm upset and while I didn't mean to assault your ears (or eyes in this case) I had to get it off of my chest and since I'm not on facebook anymore... this is my outlet.

Be blessed everyone and please don't take it as an attack on you personally; it really wasn't it was the ramblings of a military spouse madwoman who needed to get things off of her chest before she flipped out on the neighbor. :/

Thankful Thursday Design Team Fall Blog Hop!!!

Hello all you sassy divas and dudes!  Are you having fun yet?  You've been to some amazing blogs so far.  Wasn't Lola's the cutest?!  She's so flipping talented. If you didn't come from Lola HERE then go see Jenny HERE and start at the beginning.  Then come back and tell me how fabulous I am and how much you love this idea.  (Even if you don't think either is true!)

Okay, so here's my Thankful Thursday Design Team Fall Blog Hop Design.  Don't forget to leave a comment on everyone's blog to qualify for Crazyaboutcricut's grand prize!~ a Celebrate with Flourish  Cricut cartridge (and if you don't have it, you'll want it- believe me!)

Autumn Brag Book.
What I used:
cardstock (cut 2 for each page, glued together)
tons of orange paper I've had for almost 10 years!  (Don't judge me.  I'm finally cleaning out my stash, a little at a time...)
gypsy
cricut cartridges: Create-a-critter, Designer's Calendar (font), Elegant Edges (tags)
cuttlebug, paisley embossing folder
black ink
rhinestones (Michael's dollar bin)
buttons  (Mary from Cardztv would be so proud! LOL!)
coffee died bedspread weight crochet yarn because I'm the one crafting dork on the planet that does NOT have twine yet.
glue dots
binder ring, crop-a-dile
1/8" black ribbon
martha stewart ribbon bows that I got on clearance from Walmart

 You can sort of see it here, but I ran the front and back through the cuttlebug.  Of course, it's too big to go through once, so I had to flip it around and pray that no one saw the line.  Luckily, you can't here but you can on the back.  I inked up the raised up part so you could see it, not thinking.  So, I fudged it a little and covered that line with the ribbon, which I cut long enough to come around to the front and tie to hold the book closed (when it's going to have pictures and final embellishments in it.Using my gypsy I sized the pumpkins from Create-a-critter at 5.06 inches.  If you don't have the gypsy, you can do it at 5, or honestly any size you'd like.  I cut "brag book" at 2.45 inches tall.  I welded them together with the Gypsy.   (love that thing!)  I used the Designer's Calendar font in script.  Then I cut the tags and backgrounds at 3 inches on oblong from Elegant Edges.
 As you can see, each page is different.  I love it!  Oh, if you're wondering how I got the bottoms, I cut more pumpkins out of paper, and lined the bottoms up at 2" and trimmed off the tops.  Of course, I ATG'd everything together (my glue of choice)

See, I ended up gluing some ribbon to cover that line, but I like how the paisley folder helped immensely with the design.

Oh, before I forget, after I had all of the cuts together, (before I added any embellishment or tags) I lined them all up and in one swoop, punched a hole in the side with the crop-a-dile.  I LOVE that thing, just had to do it one time.  awesome little bugger.


Well, that's my show for today.  I hope that you liked it, and I know I'm missing explanation so if you'd like clarification, I'll edit it, just ask me your questions. :)

Don't forget go hop on over (ha!  get the pun?!) to Leah.  She's got an awesome project for you too!!!  All the ladies on this blog hop have some pretty awesome projects, honestly!  Leave comments and enjoy the rest of the hop!!!  (And in case a link gets broken by the internet gremlins, I've included everyone's blog down below for you!)

Sept. 29th Halloween/Fall Blog Hop Details

Here's the lineup:
Jenny @ http://crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com/
Cheryl @ http://cardsbycg.blogspot.com/
Christel @ http://onescrappinsista.blogspot.com/
Sharon @ http://www.simplysweetbysharon.blogspot.com/
Lola @ http://purplepeepstechniques.blogspot.com/
Ruby @ http://paper-junkie.blogspot.com/
Leah@ http://www.leahscarddesigns.com
Tanya @ http://www.scrappinkymomma.blogspot.com/
Bobbi @ http://rockgirlcustomdesigns.blogspot.com/
Angie@ http://sitrestdownplay.blogspot.com
Paula @ http://www.owlbescrappin.com/
Jen   http://mccalleyhouse.blogspot.com/
Sandra @ http://sweetpeascards.blogspot.com/
Gaby @ http://www.gabycreates.com/
Amber @ http://my3escrapbooking.blogspot.com/

Reports of my death are GREATLY exaggerated.

I'm still here!!  I'm alive and kicking.  The "old bird" is still clucking.  Homeschooling and my school has taken up quite a bit of my time, so I apologize that it's been forever since I've posted. It's been forever since I've crafted anything.

I am making something for the Thankful Thursday Design Team blog hop on Thursday, and I hope that you guys like it! It's fall related, so you should be jazzed.  I know I am!!  It's so stinking cute...

Hope to see you all around my corner in a few days, and don't forget to come back and visit often.  I"ll be putting more stuff up in a little while, and you're gonna LOVE it!

Something's a-coming!

Inspired greatly by Dee's Bugaboo Boutique and Mary from CardzTV, AND the fact that I have design software (like ACTUAL design software, not just like design studio or anything) I am able to make up some designs!  I had an amazing thought as to what I can make and I have decided to come up with Scripture Sunday!

I will also post the picture of the design on my blog, as well as a project made with it!  (might even get up a design team to do this, haven't decided. or at minimum, guest designers!)

I LOVE Dee's designs, but some of them are a little too "cutesy" for my taste.  Don't get me wrong, she does amazing work, but my style is more elegant than cute, I feel.  I can do both, but I choose to lean more on the elegant side when it comes to scripture.  Don't know why, just my preference!

So, I'll announce when the first Scripture Sunday will be in a few weeks- I'm still coming up with designs for it.  I"m also taking special requests.  If there's something you'd like to see, let me know what it is, and which version you'd prefer (KJV, NASB, NIV, Amplified, Message, etc) and I'll see what I can make happen.

Blessings!

Gonna be another blog hop!!!

<a href="http://purplefuntastickcreations.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee395/LoveToCrop/Faith-Blog-Hop.png" alt="Faith Verse Blog Hop" width="170" border="0" height="170" /></a></a>


I'm designing for Faith Verse on occasion, and I'm SUPER excited to share the bloghop coming up on August 29th!  Come visit me, I'd LOVE to have you here.  I'll have the tea and cookies, if you come sit a spell (how's THAT for southern?!) and let's talk about our favorite verses! :)


Come visit me for the "Faith Verse" Blog hop!!! :D  I can't wait to see you there!

Homemade Action Wobbles- they're easier than you think!!!

There I was at my local scrapbook store staring desperately at the action wobbles like a kid with her face pressed up against the glass at the candy store.  I could not justify paying what she wanted for the action wobbles, though I want to give my cards the same pizaz that everyone else has... after all,' everyone else is doing it, why can't I' I whined in my head.

Hello Ruby, you are crafty, figure something out!

Hot dang!  (insert 100 watt light bulb here, and no, NOT the eco friendly kind!)  Make your own.  You have all the materials at home, and if you build it, they will come.   Still not quite sure who "they" are but hey, you're here reading this, so I guess you qualify as "they".

Here's what I used and what I did, and as soon as I can take a decent picture of them, you'll get that too.

You will need Zots large glue dots.  I only had the 3D ones and they worked fab!

20 gauge wire,

1" squares (can be trimmed down if you need it) or circles cut from your punch.

a glue stick

and wire cutters.

wrap the 20 gauge wire around your glue stick around about 20 times.  keep it taut, you'll know why when you release- it gives you more of a springy shake.  Nip the end.  now this is VERY important:  count 5 loops, NOT the tail on the bottom.  (or top however you hold it) and cut on the 5th loop.  You will have a coil of 5 solid loops and 2 tail ends.

While the glue dot is still on the paper, insert the end of the coil into it, getting as much coverage as you possibly can.  Don't get your coils stuck into it.  Now, with it still attached to the waxy paper, slide your 1" paper or circle over it and press the paper into the glue dot.  your paper should make a sandwich in this order from top to bottom:  paper, wire, glue dot which will fully envelop the spring's end.

repeat with the other side.

I make several of these at a time, and use the glue dot paper to keep the dots from sticking to anything by tearing off pieces big enough to cover.  you can test the "springy-ness" of the action wobbles by holding the bottom firmly against the table and flicking or taking your finger and "twanging" it.  oh come on, you know how to make it jiggle, stop laughing at me.

voila!  it cost me all of about.... 1/2 a penny to make!  In your face, expensive scrapbook store lady!  In. Your. Face!

disregard this, I'm trying something out.

this is a test.  I'm trying something out here! :)

breast cancer card- IT MAY BE OFFENSIVE!

Hi everyone!

I'm letting you know up front that this card may be offensive to you.  It's got... boobies.  Backstory:  My friend Mary just told me that she could possibly have breast cancer.  Felt a lump, found a mass on the ultrasound and mammogram.  I'm wigging out, but her attitude is "eh, they're just boobs, I can always buy more".  So, in honor of my Mary (seriously, she's my adopted mom with the same twisted sense of humor that I have)

Anyway, here's the card.
I used my Gypsy, and the card I made for Sarah's Birthday card (2 or so posts below) and I added the ribbon from stand and salute, and made the boobs, areolas and nips from the Create A Critter circle.  Betcha dimes to donuts that you'll look at that cart differently.

something tells me that this isn't exactly what Provo Craft had in mind for their cricut.

Anyhoo, here's what I used:
gypsy, tie the knot, stand and salute, and create a critter cartridges.
cardstock in black, light, med and dark purple, peach and pink.
creamy brown calk ink
cuttlebug folder swiss dots
atg
zig 2 way
glitter,
glitter glue from Studio G.

Okay, cut it out- all measurements given on teh blog below.
glitter up the inside of the darts after you put the front together.  add the ribbon and glitter glue that sucker.  Oh, I also hid the "buttons" from the corset on they gypsy.  here's a picture of the front of the card:

here's my tasteless inside!  it's SO FRIGGING FUNNY!

Thankful Thursday design- Summer Reading

Hello Dolls!

Today's Thankful Thursday design project is to make a bookmark for your summer reading.  Of course, I'm not at home, to upload my pictures, BUT I will do it as soon as I get there!  It's cute!

In the mean time, check out Jenny at crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com and she will link you to all the fun and cool stuff that she has going on- and don't forget to enter for her post-it giveaway!  It's AWESOME!!!

hugs!
Ruby.

Birthday card for my Sarah.

One of my besties' birthday was this past week, Sarah who turned... well, I've stopped aging at 29, so I"m assuming she did too... she turned (drumroll) 29!!!!!!!!  She absolutely ADORES pink.  I can't stand the color.  Since this card was about HER and not me, I made her this:

No, that is NOT glitter paper, I hand glued every stinking sparkle on there.  well, it wan't that bad.  I'll tell you how I did it!

What you'll need:
1 happy birthday stamp
gypsy
Tie the Knot cartridge
cardstock in black, light pink, med, pink and a pinky-purple color. (this color will get glitterfied)
glitter
zig 2 way glue pen
atg gun
3 rhinestones.

So I welded the shadow of the corset together, making it a height of just under 5 1/2 inches.  I then did two solid corset inserts (one for the liner!  I'm a smart thinker...) and then the other two layer pieces all at the size of the shadow.  **remember, you don't need to make the shadow bigger, because it's already an outline.

Arranging your paper on your mat, cut everything out.

for the very top piece, (the pinky-purplish one) cover the FRONT of that in glue.  I couldn't find the trusty old elmers for that so I used my Zig 2 way.  I then sprinkled a super fine glitter (that I got at Dollar Tree of all places!  came in a pack of like 10 per card, 4 different color cards- heck yeah, I'm in heaven!) all over it.  flipped it over, tapped it off and voila!  awesomeness.

I assembled the corset together and then glued it onto the front of my black card.  I also added the inside liner as shown to the side ----->

I stamped Happy Birthday and attached it to the front with some foam squares.  On the inside, I wrote "hope it's uplifting!"  After I wrote my sentiment, I added the rhinestone "buttons" on the front.  gave her a little bling.

Oh come on, I'm not the punniest chick in the world, but I thought it was funny.

anyhoo, I made an envelope out of pink printer paper (yay, getting like 500 sheets of paper for 3 bucks!  okay, it was a little more, but the white is like $3 where the color runs like $11.  it's a nice touch though. and for $11, you can make 500 standard A2 envelopes- yeah, worth it to me.) and she will get that in a few days when I see her again! :)

Happy birthday Sarah, hope you had a great day!   Oh, and this is what it looked like with the flash.  I was trying to get a little more sparkle in the picture.

scraplifting by Lain Ehmann

SO yes, I scraplifted this, but I gave Lain Ehmann all the credit.  She's a smart cookie, and while I give all the info for how to recreate my designs, I too would like to be respected and credit given where it's due.  Feel free to jack my design (by no means am I saying don't do it!) I'm just saying don't present it as your own. 


Hey, buddies!

Scraplifting is NOT the same as cheating -- at least, not unless you copy someone's layout piece by piece and then try to pass it off as your own in public!

Scraplifting, to me, is merely gathering ideas. Rare is the time when I sit down, leaf through an idea book or magazine, find a layout I like, and then copy it in the exact same products shown. Fuggedaboudit! Where's the fun in that? What I find fun is attempting to create a look someone else has pulled off, using the materials and supplies *I* have on-hand. It's much like seeing Kate Hudson on the pages of InStyle wearing an adorable boho-chic outfit, and then trying to recreate it at home with your Target budget and H&M heels

THE KEY IS TO MAKE IT YOURS! By using your products, your photos, your colors, your eye for design, your journaling (can't forget that!), you take one idea and make it into something new, something original.

Of course, there are those times when you just want to lift a layout as close to the original as possible. This is okay, too! Why else do you think all the magazines include product information for each layout they publish? Disclaimer: IT IS NEVER OKAY TO PASS SOMEONE ELSE'S WORK OFF AS YOUR OWN. If you lift a layout, don't submit it for publication. And if you put it on your blog or in an online gallery, a simple credit ("scraplift from Tia Bennett") is sufficient.

Scraplifting - it can help make your scrapbooking fun, fast and fabulous. Trust me. It works.

Thankful Thursday!

Hi Everyone!!

So, today is Thankful Thursday design.  We were challenged to make a movie themed project.  Well, I can't think of anything more fitting than the new Winnie the Pooh movie that just came out.  Here is my take on my thankful thursday movie inspired design.

This is a 6x6 tri-fold album I'm using to help my children remember their bedtime routines. 
you will need: 
3 sheets of 12x12 cardstock
12x12 sheet of K and I paper
1 pooh bear cut at 5".
atg gun
zig 2way glue pen
1brad

cut the 2 sheets of 12x12 cardstock in half.  score at 6" and 6 3/4"- all four sheets.  Glue a 5 1/4" x 6 side to the matching 6 x 6" side.  Repeat for the other card stock and glue together to make the book.  You can find a tutorial here to give you an idea of what I've done.
cut out and assemble pooh bear.

Cut your 3rd piece of card stock 5 1/2 x 4 1/2.  Score 1/2" in on the 4 1/2" side.  run your ATG along the little back flap of that to give you something that will stick like this:  You will have 4. (feel free to make more if you want more, you will just need more cardstock.)

On the front of the tri-fold, glue your pooh bear. (see my top photo for the one I did) punch a hold with your paper piercer and add your brad.

When the front is finished, cut your paper 1/4" shorter than the insides of the paper.  the left flap will be 5 3/4 x 5.  The right flap will be 5 3/4 x 5 3/4.    Putting the paper on the back AFTER you add your brad will hide the feet of the brad.

Mine is not complete yet but I will post a little more (and possibly a little more detailed) when I have the time. :)

Oh, before I forget, go check out Jenny!  She has prizes and you should go get in on that. :) The post-it prize is SO worth getting!

My Pink Stamper Designer Challenge!!!

Hey Everyone!  If you're interested in being a designer for Robyn at http://www.mypinkstamper.com/ she has a design team challenge going on now!  Check her site out and apply!  If you're familiar with her, you know that she's amazing!  If you're not, go bask in her awesomeness. :D

blessings!

I had a brilliant idea!

So, I have about a zillion cricut cartridges.  Well, not really a zillion, and certainly no where near how many have been made, BUT I wanted to make at least 4 projects from each cartridge that I DO have, (and of course, if I end up getting more carts, this will hold true for them!) and do 4 different designs from each of that.  I will of course still be on the design team, and if you have projects that you've done, or that I inspire you to do, I'd LOVE to see them!  Attach the appropriate link to your design (NOT the link to your blog, but the project itself)- I encourage it!

What does everyone think?  I'm rather excited!

Hello Stalkers!!!

I just wanted to say hi to my newest followers-  this is quite a responsibility, living up to your demands for awesomeness.  Wow.  No pressure, huh?  I am SO honored that you have all decided to follow me!  Thank you for that!

I am going to put out a challenge and I want to offer you guys this- if you put links to your own blogs when you post, you will get some exposure!   This is helpful for when you're just starting out in the blogging world.  Heck, I crafted for YEARS and blogged about it before Momo had a "if you have less than 50 people, put your link here" blog. (and when I figure out Mr. Linky I will do that for you guys too!) and that's how I got my first few stalkers, then I became a designer for the very talented and lovely Jenny over at CrazyAboutCricut.blogspot.com  Now, at the posting of this, I have 60 crafty people who enjoy creating things all looking to me on occasion for inspiration.  I hope I can live up to your expectations!

So, keep looking- on the 7th, there is going to be a Red, White, and Blue Thankful Thursday design team challenge. :)  Hope to see you there, and if you happen to make a RW&B project, throw your link in your comments.  I'd love to see them!

All-American Blog Hop

All American Blog Hop

Hi Everybody, Having fun in the All-American Blog Hop so far???
Hopefully you just came from visiting the VERY talented Lola at http://www.purplepeepstechniques.blogspot.com/.  If not, please head over to see Jenny at http://www.crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com to start from the beginning.
Thank you for joining us for the All American Blog hop!  We are sharing projects that celebrate anything American!  So anything like BBQ's, family picnics, 4th of July, or more.  Here's my contribution to the bloghop!

My Amazing husband:

This is my hubs with our youngest son, Nathan.  He's a great dad, a great man, an excellent husband, and my hero.  You see, Charlie is a soldier.  He has devoted 14 years of his life to Active Duty Army and has been on 2 tours to Iraq and Afghanistan.  The man doesn't call himself a hero, but he really is one.  He loves America.  No, really, he L-O-V-E-S America!  For Charlie, being a soldier is “just another day at the office”.  For me, it’s a swelling of pride as my husband dons his uniform.

 And Here's my project:

I can't think of anything more "All American" than my husband who serves our country, so I decided to make my bloghop blog all about him today!  I am so blessed to serve him as he serves y'all.  -that's southern for you guys.



Now, I made this scrapbook album for a few reasons. 

1-      This is the All-American bloghop!  What is more All American than a US Soldier?

2-      My husband is soon to be an Army Recruiter and he needs this scrapbook for his job.

3-      I want to document his military life, even though he just considers it “work”.

I am just posting pictures here, but I will go more into detail in a later blog to describe how I did this.  Feel free to leave a comment and ask any questions- I’ll answer every one of them, I promise.  Oh, wait- I will explain how I did the cover because it’s so stinking cool! 

I took one of his blouses (yes, that’s what they’re called!) that didn’t work anymore and cut it up to cover the inside cardboard which I doubled to give extra stability.  I cut the pocket out and used fabric glue to adhere it to the front.  The name tape is his actual name tape on his uniform and the army emblem on the front is a metal sticker that was from the CUTEST little scrapbook shop in Dover, TN.  (shout out to my girls a Precious Scraps!)  If you are ever in the Ft. Campbell, KY area, or Dover, TN, or Paris, TN or anywhere near us, you NEED to come see Beverly at Precious Scraps- she will hook you up!  (and no, I’m NOT getting paid for that, I just love her store, she’s always been good to me!)
Well, this is my scrapbook:  I will say I used paper from everywhere.  I don’t know specifically where I got each piece.  I just used colors that blended together, complimented each other and some that look like leather.  (Look at the giant Chinook, it has texture; don’t know if you can see it from the photos)  I mainly used my ATG gun for the adhesive.  And the stickers are from hobby lobby.  (for the most part)  I got the dog tags from Archivers in Gurnee, IL (when I lived in North Chicago; I miss that store!) and for the cuts, I used my Cricut and the Stand and Salute cartridge.





There are a couple of GREAT prizes to win today!  You can win a Scrap 'n Tote!!  You can also enter to win this AWESOME prize pack from Post-it! 

To enter to win the prizes:
1. You must leave a comment on all of the blogs in the hop.
2. Please be a follower of Crazy About Cricut.
That's it!  Winners will be announced July 7th!  Thank you, now please head over to see Leah at  http://www.leahscarddesigns.com


Here is the lineup in case you get lost or need to stop along the way:
Jenny @ http://www.crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com
Cheryl @ http://www.cardsbycg.blogspot.com
Sharon @ http://www.simplysweetbysharon.blogspot.com
Tanya @ http://www.scrappinkymomma.blogspot.com
Bobbi @ http://www.rockgirlcustomdesigns.blogspot.com
Angie@ http://www.sitrestdownplay.blogspot.com
Paula @ http://www.owlbescrappin.com
Jen  @ http://www.mccalleyhouse.blogspot.com/
Sandra @ http://www.sweetpeascards.blogspot.com/
Lola @ http://www.purplepeepstechniques.blogspot.com/
You are Here:http://www.paper-junkie.blogspot.com/
Leah@ http://www.leahscarddesigns.com
Amber@ http://my3escrapbooking.blogspot.com

Thankful Thursday design- Man/Boy

Hello Everyone!  I have been MIA a little bit lately, mainly because I have been crafting, and I'm going back to school!  Photography- one of my passions.  I'm getting new equipment, so don't bust my chops on my current pictures. :P  anyhoo, here's my man/boy project for thankful thursday!

Surprisingly low tech, but pretty good impact.  took about 15 minutes and you'd be amazed at how easy it is!

Btw, Jenny at Crazy about Cricut is having a give-away!  She's giving away a post-it pack, you can find it here:  (I know, when I think of post-it I think of the little sticky notes, but apparently they do more.  Who knew?!)

what I used:
cardstock:  kraft, black, red
glitter glue- red
DMC thread in brown and beige
white gel pen,
glossy accents
father's day cartridge (2011 version)
brown tuskeino ink for edge of card.

cut both "man card" and motorcycle out from father's day cartridge at 2".  (Motorcycle may have been cut at 2 1/4", not remembering at current moment.)  attach the background pieces to the motorcycle and cover just the background pieces in red glitter glue.  I think mine was from Studio G. 

I then colored in the "tires" with glossy accents and let it all dry for a few hours.  I put the "Man Card" on the front of the background piece.

ink around the edges of the card and do faux stitching with the gel pen.  cut off a length of brown and beige floss and with a straight edge, cut about 1/4" on the inside crease and thread through, twisting as you go to give a twine feel.  I wrapped mine around 3x, double knotted it and put the "man card" over the top, attached with ATG tape.  (my go-to when I can use it.)

faux stitch around the "man card" with the gel pen.

once dry, attach motorcycle to card with 2 glue.  I used my Zig glue pen.  I then finished it with the white gel pen to accent the light on the inside, and to add beams of light to the motor cycle.

see?  low tech and SUPER easy to do!  Happy Father's day crafting! :)  (3 father's day cards coming soon; I have 3 kids and they all love Daddy!)

Thankful Thursday design- honor someone!

I know, I know- it's been 2 weeks since I've posted anything.  This doesn't mean I haven't been working on things, I just haven't gotten anything uploaded.  Mea culpa.  Anyhoo- this Thankful Thursday design was to honor someone.  One of the criteria was home decor (among other things.)  I was going to honor my hubby with a welcome home banner- he's in the Army- but I didn't get it done, SO I remembered that I made these coasters to honor my friends Sarah and Tim W. who just bought a house.  Since they can now put their coffee table into their living room, I made coasters.

Snazzy huh?!

Okay, so here's how I did it, and here's what you will need:

4  4" glass tiles (your choice of color)
etching cream
cork adhesive backing
vinyl
cricut cartridge of your choice.


The tiles were 4", so I cut the images at 3 3/4"- both the W and the swirly from the Storybook cartridge.  I adhered them to the front of the tile and etched according to the bottle.  Rinse and dry WELL!  (hint, you want it dry.)

after you have the glass etched, and remove the vinyl (btw, I bought a H-U-G-E roll of cheap contact paper to etch with, no point in spending money on "good" vinyl to not use it on my walls!)  Cut the cork backing 3 3/4" square.  do 4 of them.  peel sticky off and attach. You can see what I did in this picture here:

  see?  1/8" all around the edge.  This is awesome for 2 reasons.  1, it doesn't scratch wood, and 2, it adds non-slip.  The thickness is pretty thin too.  see in pic 3.  yes, that is my hand in DESPERATE need of a mani.


Note:  if you don't have etching cream, you can still get the look by using a frosted spray to give your glass a frosted look.  Warning with that:  it may come off, or smear, or whatever.  I've never worked with it, I just know it's an option. :)

Hope you enjoy!

Mother's Day Card

This is my 1st Mother's Day project for 2011.  I have 3x3 mini albums also in the works for my mom, MIL, grandmother and aunt but until I get them done, I'm posting this here.  This is a two-fold project.  First, it's for my mom, but it's also for Jenny's design team project- you can see her things here

I made a tri-fold card.  These are SUPER easy, with just a little time and planning.  the paper is 6x12.  I hope you enjoy. :D

I think I'm the messiest crafter ever.

Anyhoo- This is what I used:

computer,

12x12 cardstock in light pink,

8 1/2x11 cardstock in:  med green, light green, cream

paper of your choice to match.

2 flowers

shimmer spray

ribbon

atg gun

swiss dots cuttlebug folder

creamy brown and chestnut roan chalk ink from colorbok

atg gun,

glue dots

large brad

martha stewart score board.

storybook cartridge.

cut your 12x12 in 1/2 to make a 6x12 sheet.  place on Martha Stewart score board and score at 2,4,8, and 10 inches.  Flip the paper 90 degrees and cut from like inch 2-10.  I use my paper slicer.  and O-L-D model from fiskers.

you will now have 2 cuts and 4 sections.  easiest way to do this is start in the middle.  fold the "T" in the middle.  flip over and repeat.  now that the middle sections are folded in a "z" form, fold the top and bottom to the opposite of the middle.  it should look like the picture above.

next, measure 1/4" shorter than you need for all papers.  (I used 5 for this, but you can do however  many you want up to 1 for each different space)  Chalk around all the edges with the chestnut roan and the creamy brown, depending on which you like better.  I put a brown ribbon on the front and then glued it down with my atg to the front of the card.  I made a bow out of the same ribbon and adhered it with a glue dot also.

on my printer, I printed out Happy Mother's Day in "adorable" font at 30 pts.  I cut it out on my cricut with storybook and an oval at 2 1/4.  I cut the dark green at 2 1/2 inches. 

for the flowers, I sprayed them with shimmer spray and put a large brad in the center after it dried.  I used glue dots to adhere it.

Voila!  super easy card to do.

oh, and please ignore the shaddowing.  I'm waiting on my new lighting to get here.

thanks for visiting!

I'm part of a design team!

How cool is that??? 

I've  been a follower ::cough- stalker!:: of Jenny's for a while.  I adore her style and creativity.  She held a DT audition so-to-speak, and now I'm officially on her design team.  (fanfare, and confetti.  Cue the fireworks...) Super jazzed. :D

Well, thanks everyone and I hope you get as much out of it as I do, and if you get a chance, check Jenny out!

CD holder

My hubster and I bought a new  used car yesterday.  We got the Toyota Sienna.  I refuse to call it a minivan, it's a sport utility van.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  Well, it has a CD player in it.  (I know, welcome to the 90's right?)  and I wanted to make something that would keep all of my CD's in one place. :)  How very organized mom of me.

Guess what, so far I haven't used one cricut cartridge!  I may in the future to embellish it, however as of right now, I didn't.   Isn't it snazzy??  oh- and I recycled! :)  Keep reading, and I'll show you how to do it.

Snazzy, huh?

Okay, here's what I used:
5 sheets of 12x12 cardstock.
3 sheets of decorative paper.
3 binder rings (came in a pack of 100 from Office Depot)
1/4" elastic.
2 eyelets.
crop-a-dile
CD sleeves (found at biglots, however you could make these! easily!- in fact, I'll come up with a tutorial for them later)
ATG gun.  You will use more than you think.

Okie dokie, so here's what I did:

Cut the 12x12 paper in 1/2 to get 6x12.    fold in half to make 6x6.  them together to make one giant book.   you can see what I mean by this:

After they're together, I took my Crop-a-dile on teh 3/16 size and punched holes 1/2" in on the folded side at 1, 3 and 5 inches. 

I recycled a granola bar box (from Sam's club) to make the outer book covers at 6 1/8" square.  (just barely bigger than the pages.)  I covered them by paper measuring 7" for the outter edge, and 5 3/4" for the inner flap. (seen here)

I held up one of the inner 6x6 squares in the center of the cover and punched 3/16" holes in them too. 

you're smart, you can figure it out.



Okay, so I took 1/4" elastic (have TONS left over from when I was making diapers for my son- I'm a cloth mama saving 4 grand!) and measured it around 3/4 of the book.   On the back, I punched out 1/8" holes (again from the crop-a-dile) and threaded the ends of the elastic through the front to back.  So, on the outside of the back cover, I pushed it through to the inside and added the eyelet and squeezed everything in place.  Repeat for the other side.  This is what that looked like.:

Tada!

Fill with CD's and you're good to go!

TONS of stuff happening!

So after a failed attempt at going on vacation, I have eased my pain by my crafting with my addictions.  I have a few thank-you cards to make, start my hubby's military scrapbook (he needs it to be a recruiter),  make a few page layouts for my family scrapbook, start on decorations for my son's party in June, make about 5 mother's day cards (mom, MIL, grandmother, kids' great grandmothers and one for my aunt- who doesn't have kids but practically raised me!).  I also have a few "just because" cards to make for a few friends who are helping me get my photography biz started, and quite a few gift card cards and envelopes.  Oh yeah, there's also the cookbook I'm working on (decorating, not writing!) for my hubby's diabetes friendly recipes.

I will post pictures when I get them done.  Oh wait!  I have some done so here they are.

This thank-you card is for my former grandmother-in-law.  She sent a box of things to my kids and for my son who isn't related to her, so I want to thank her.  She loves beachy things, and boats and her favorite colors are red, white, and blue.

What I did and what I used:

Studio g stamp pad- white.
K & Co. blue swirl paper
cardstock:  white, red, cream, brown, cark blue, medium blue, light blue
white gel pen
gelly roll stardust pen
Studio G sparkle writer glitter glue
swiss dots folder
homemade shimmer spray
Zig 2 way
pop squares
color box ink in chestnut roan and creamy brown
gypsy
Just Because Cards cartridge
Alphalicious cartridge.
EK success paper edger.

start with a white card from 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock.

on my gypsy, I arranged the boat from Just Because Cards and all it's layers on the sheet.  I cut it out at 4" (I believe) and thank you from Alphalicious at 2".

with the K&Co paper, I cut a mat at 4" x 5 1/4".  I sprayed it with my light blue shimmer spray (surprise!) to help diffuse the harshness of the swirls.  I inked around the edge with creamy brown ink.  Glued it down with my ATG gun.

ink around all the boat with chestnut roan ink.  Ink the waves with white.  Assemble the boat with the Zig 2-way pen.  I attached the boat directly to the mat. On the waves, I edged around all 4 with Studio G sparkle writer and when dry, I glued them directly to the bottom of the boat.  on teh bottom two waves, I foam squared them up above. 

I glued on the thank-you with my Zig 2-way and then edged around the boat and the thank-you with my stardust pen.  (newest favorite pen!!)

on the inside I did this:

I did random sizes for the blue mat inside, and the medium blue edge up top.  I eyeballed what I wanted it to look like.  I wrote thank you on it in white gel pen and also gave faux stitching with the pen as well.

Die Hard Scrapbooker? I have arrived!!!

Ok, REALLY quick moment here- you KNOW you've arrived at diehard paper crafting and scrapbooking when you look at a historical site and know exactly how you'd recreate it! 

No lie, I was sitting in the Opry last night, and looked at the stage and I IMMEDIATELY thought how I could recreate it for my scrapbook!  I have arrived- I am FINALLY that crazy woman who gets excited over new brads or distress ink!  I'm the insane woman who has dove head first into the dollar bin to get all the better things at the bottom!  I'm the nut job trying to get the pack of paper to stretch even further... I am also the one my friends envy for creating amazing layouts and the one who shocks them with some really cool cards and the like.  (not really saying much, my friends don't craft.  they bring me their stuff and I do it for them!)

Just saying, insanity isn't just for the crazy, it's for those of us crazy about crafting!

Tigger and Bouncing Pop-up Card.

I made a pop-up card for my hubster.  (I tend to make quite a few cards for him!) and I wanted to take pictures and post it before I wrote in it.

What I used:

Green paper from The Guy Stack by DCWV

Cardstock: cream, peach, yellow, orange, black.

printer

brown ribbon

glue pen

ATG gun

brown chalk ink

Disney- Pooh and friends cartridge.

With the Cricut cut a Tigger at 3".    Assemble Tigger according to the booklet. 

Cut out cream cardstock and the green paper at 5 1/2 x 8 1/2- fold in the middle, forming an A2 card. (well, two of them!)  On the cream card, in the center of the folded side, snip an inch wide, inch long piece.  "pop" it to the inside of the card, and fold the card closed- make the creases tight with a bone folder.  You should now have a square on the inside of your card.  if your card is folded, it should look like it has a chunk taken out of it. 

Glue the green paper to the outside of the cream paper.  I used my ATG gun for this.

I glued Tigger's tail to the bottom part of of the pop up.  (the cool thing about this is when I hold the top part of the card and shake it slightly, it looks like Tigger is bouncing on his tail.  CUTE!)

Oh, I also chalked around the inside of the cream card, and the outside of the card (the green paper) in brown chalk ink.  I added a brown ribbon to the top of the card.

on my computer I printed out "We go together like..." and "Tigger and bouncing!" on my computer in cream from a free font I downloaded called Covered By His Grace.  I matted the top in peach, and inked around both with the brown ink.  I matted the bottom one in green and peach and also inked around them in the same ink.

hope you like it.  Hope my hubster likes it!