My Pink Stamper Design Team Challenge

Robyn, of My Pink Stamper, is in the process of introducing her new design team.  She has two spots open and has challenged anyone with a blog and a Cricut to apply.  I figured, why not try.  Wouldn't it be amazing to be a part of such a well-known and creative design team?  So . . . her rules were these:

Pick a favorite cartridge - not so easy since I've found something special on just about every cartridge I own.
Create your design using pink, green, and brown - her favorite colors.  I happen to love pink and brown and adding a touch of green is never a problem.
Include the full recipe and reason for your creation.

Here is my card.  I used my "go-to" sketch (see August, 2010) and some of my favorite things: paper layering, heat embossing powder, foam dimensionals, and ribbon :).

 Size A2

White 5.5 x 8.5 cardstock, folded

 Pink background mat  5.25 x 4

 Brown patterned paper (BoBunny Love Bandit) 5 x 3.75 

 Pink cardstock rectangle 2 x 3

 Brown mat 2.25 x 3.25

 Green dot mat  2.5 x 3.5

Layered Heart - Sweethearts Cartridge page 34

*Brown glitter - shadow feature @ 2.5

*White cardstock - shadow feature @ 2.25

*Pink cardstock - shadow feature @ 2  then covered with Versamark and heat embossed with Ranger Holographic embossing powder

*Red cardstock - base image @ 2

Foam dimensionals between the brown glittered heart and background, and between white and pink hearts

Ribbon - Bazzill Basics

Stamps by Stampendous

  Sentiment stamped with ColorBox pigment, brown, heat embossed with Kaleidoscope embossing powder

Small heart stamped with Martha Stewart glue pad then MS fine glitter

I chose the Sweethearts cartridge for two reasons: 1) I wanted to make a Valentine card for this design team challenge, but also one that could be made in multiples to send to Cards for Soldiers.  I can not use glitter on the CFS cards, but I can use the heat embossing.  2) Sweethearts has a great deal of versatility.  Along with the expected "wedding,"  "engagement," and "love" cuts, there are many that can be used for other projects - the frog prince, the monkey, the puppy and kitten are all adorable.  There are some wonderful flourishes, flowers, a wreath and  fleur d lis, as well.  And, best of all, each cut has a companion card and envelope (easily sized on DS or the Gypsy).

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you like my design.  I stayed true to my design style - simple, clean, and lots of paper layering.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

First Card of the New Year

Happy New Year, blogging friends!  I'm entering this card in the Sketches in Thyme Tuesday Takes #6 challenge.  I hope you get a chance to visit this blog.  There are weekly card and layout sketch challenges with some great samples provided by the "Mavens" and guest designers.  It's always fun to find a new challenge to enter :).  I might even try a layout or two since I have several albums to complete.

I used Nestabilities for all the scallop cuts.  The bow is Scrapper's Spools floss - what fun it is to use.  I think it will be super for bows tied in button holes (you probably already knew that!).  The paper is Sweet Love by Best Creations, Inc.  I really didn't have to do much because the paper itself did the work ( I LOVE when that's the case).  I just added Stickles to the heart,  popped the round scalloped circles and, of course, lots of paper layering.

Time to watch a few more Bowl games.  Have a wonderful day.  I hope you'll visit Sketches in Thyme for my debut as a guest designer on Tuesday, January 4.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Challenge Cards

It seems it's been ages since I've been able to complete any cards for RAQ's Challenge on the Cricut mb.  Yesterday I did both sketches.  I think it's a first - both sketches submitted on the first day of the challenge.
I love participating in card challenges and am looking forward to the upcoming weeks when I can be a regular contributor.

I used the Heritage cartridge for this card.  I chose the Accent image on page 58, copied it then flipped one image.  I welded both to a rectangle from George, sized on my Gypsy.  Lots of paper layering and called it done.

The papers for this card (actually both cards) are from my scrap drawers.  The flower is cut from 3 sizes of EK Success punches and then layered.  All I added was a little inking.  I'll save the sentiment for later when I decide how I'll use the card.

I hope you have a safe and wonderful New Year's Eve and Day.

May 2011 bring you happiness, love, peace and security.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

An Album for my Hubby

I made this 8 x 8 album as a gift for my husband.  He has raised and trained bird dogs for many, many years and Yaller is his newest acquisition - a two year old English Pointer.  When hubby is busy training and hunting, I have lots of time for my cardmaking so it's perfect for both of us!

The papers have been in my stash for awhile.  I'm always on the lookout for hunting papers and embellishments so that when I have the right pictures, I'm ready to scrap them. Also, this is the first time I've used my Cinch.  It was really simple to use - yay!

I must say, I was pleased by how excited he was about this simple gift. 

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn



Altered Composition Books

I have 3 great-nephews who love to write and draw when they're at Grammy's house (my sister-in-law). I made them their own personalized composition book so they could write stories while visiting (and maybe sit still for a few minutes!).  I used Lyrical Letters - jumbo, for the names.  When my daughter saw what I was making, she asked for one too.  I made her two, one work-themed, and one more personal.  These are so quick and easy to make.  I stock up on the composition books during the back-to-school sales.

I hope you had a lovely Christmas.  It rained most of the day here, but that didn't dampen the holiday spirits.  My daughter is packing to head back to Lubbock, Texas.  It will be interesting to see how all her gifts plus her after-Christmas shopping will fit in her Tahoe along with what she brought and her two dogs! 

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Thank you so much for joining me on my blogging journey. It's been amazing so far.  I appreciate your visits, your comments, and your support.  I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and that it is a day of love, peace, and joy.

I'll be back after Christmas to share some altered composition books that I made as last minute gifts, and a mini-album for my hubby.  Also, my debut as a guest designer for Sketches in Thyme is January 4.  I hope you'll take a look.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Glittered Ornaments

My daughter is home for Christmas and she had a wonderful time creating these glittered ornaments.  What makes her's so creative is the way she mixed the glitters to achieve some rather unique colors.  Three of them are on the tree and the rest are being given as gifts.  She used vinyl for the initials, cut on the Cricut, and the bows are either stiff organzas or wired ribbons.

Although I'm still finishing up a few last minute quick gifts that I decided to make, we really are ready for Christmas.  It seems to be over all too quickly, so I plan on enjoying friends and family as much as I can.

If I don't get in another post before Christmas, I wish each of you a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I truly appreciate your kind words and your visits to my blog.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Tuesday Takes Challenge #4

I found a few minutes to create this card for the Tuesday Takes Challenge.  I love this BoBunny double-sided paper.  I also love the pink, black, white combination (you'll see more on my January 4th designer spot - hint, hint).  The large flower is from the coordinating BoBunny rub-ons set, and the small flowers are punches with Stickles centers.  The label is from one of the Nestabilities Labels sets.

My daughter has been making glitter ornaments.  She's having fun mixing the different glitters to come up with unique colors.  All we have to do is add bows and then I'll post her efforts.  We even went back to JoAnn's to pick up more glass ornaments - with the 70% off sale, not too many were left, but we bought what we could to save for next year.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Magnetic Stocking Ornaments

We had a White Elephant gift exchange at the Holiday Crop last Sunday and I got these magnetic stocking ornaments made by Petaloo.  I just added my neighbor kids' names and the year and, wa-la, a quick and easy gift.  The stockings open up (the magnets keep them closed as they hang on the tree) to reveal a pocket, which I added, filled with a little Christmas spending money.  Now, it just can't get any easier than that!  I think these will be a good project for My Sheri Crafts challenge this week :)

My daughter just drove in from Lubbock, Texas today and now I feel like Christmas has arrived.  The only thing that would make it better would be to have both of my daughters home.  My youngest (who lives in Champaign, IL) is working on Christmas day, so we'll have Christmas via Skype with her.

Don't forget to take time to enjoy the season.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Using Those Scraps!

I know, I said I was finished with Christmas cards, but I had some nice-sized scrap pieces left from challenge projects so I figured I'd add two more designs to those being mailed.  I truly am finished now because the cards are signed, the labels are on, and I'll be heading to the post office first thing in the morning - woohoo!
Besides, I purchased some fabulous BoBunny papers at Monique Griffith's Holiday Crop and I can't wait to start using them.
So, these cards are pretty simple (simple becoming my middle name, I think) with just paper layers, some ribbon, and embellishments - I got the holly brads and leaves at M's, and the snowflakes are a MS punch with a few Stickles added.  That's it!  And no paper went to waste.

I hope you're finding time to complete all your holiday projects.  Don't forget to take a moment or two to just enjoy yourself and your family.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn