Valentine Treat Box

This treat box is just the right size to hold the bag of Sour Hearts from See's Candy.  I used the Sweet Treats cartridge party favor feature for the box.  I didn't use the base image for the cupcake, I used the shadow blackout and then added the layers.  I've learned that it's important to "flip" one set of images because the way the box is cut, the two cupcakes are actually flipped images - learned that from Monique's kit :).  The Divine Swirls embossing folder made the frosting look just right, and the glittered hearts (paper from Best Creations, Inc.) cut like a dream.

I'm going to post this to the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Me Monday - Share Some Love - challenge.    They're having a Blog Crawl this week with some wonderful "Love" ideas.  Check it out if you have time.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

With Love

This card is for the Tuesday Takes challenge at Sketches in Thyme.  I used Cuttlebug embossing folders for the sentiment and the flower.  A little inking and a butterfly embellishment from KandCompany added the finishing touches.

There's a new challenge blog starting tomorrow.  It's called Use it Tuesday and is owned by The Scrapmaster (Sami Peyton).  The idea is to use items from your stash for each challenge creation.  As I look around my scraproom, I'm thinking this is the perfect challenge for me!

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

A Valentine of a Different Color

I just finished this card for the Jitterbuggin non-traditional Valentine color challenge.  I think I'll also post it to My Sheri Crafts anniversary challenge since I think it's approriate for both.  I have green on the brain since I'm designing Cards for Soldiers using greens so I just stayed with that color group.  The Changito stamps have always been a favorite of mine - they're always such happy stamps.  The palm leaf is from Life is a Beach and the sentiment is from Sweethearts.  Some inking with my favorite VersaMagic Jumbo Java, and a little doodling with my white Signo pen finished it off.  Oh, the sketch is from Raq's Card Challenge - whew, covered a lot of bases with this one :).

Wow! Two posts in one day.  Yay, I'm finally finding some card challenge time.

Have a terrific weekend and enjoy the Super Bowl (or your free time while hubby watches!).

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

A New, yet Simple, Card Design

Today's card is really simple to make and I decided to keep the embellishments to a minimum as well.  Our Cards for Soldiers challenge this month is to use shades of green and make general-purpose cards.  I think this one fits the bill.
I found the directions for this card fold/cut on YouTube, but it's so simple you don't really need them.  You just fold your A2 card and then cut from the center of one half to the fold line on each side to form a triangle on one half.  After adding the border to the triangle, you adhere another 4.25 x 5.5 piece of cardstock under the triangle.  It hides the border attachment and allows the card to open to a clean writing surface. I used a MS border punch and just added Prima flowers and some gems - easy peasy.  I can also enter this design in this week's Raq's Card Challenge.

I met a new friend who is also a member of Cricut Card Fairies and the Cricut Circle.  We went to a crop together and had a wonderful time.  I think the gals around us thought we were a little crazy (about our Cricuts?), but it was so much fun.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

A Valentine Hedgie

Woohoo!  I finally got out my Copics to make this card.  I love using these markers and really need to get them out more often.  The card sketch is from last week's Raq's challenge on the Cricut mb.  The patterned paper is from the Bo Bunny "Crush" pack.  I picked up the ribbon at M's.  The XOXO was cut from Paisley, embossed with Swiss Dots, and adhered with foam dimensionals.  I added Glossy Accents to the balloon, and a few gems to the stamped image.

I found a darling little stamp store - Stamp it Rich! -  in Placerville, CA  this past weekend.  The card samples were amazing using some techniques that I'd never seen.  I probably could have started a whole new hobby if I stayed there much longer - LOL. I did buy a stamp and then visited the manufacturer's website.  You really should take a look at their gallery - there are some fantastic samples.  Here's the site:  http://www.outlinesrubberstamp.com/.  I've bookmarked the site and plan to try some of the techniques.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Just Saying Hello

The challenge at Jitterbuggin  is to create a card that brings a little sunshine to these dreary winter days.  We had to include the color yellow, a cricut cut, and some stripes.  I used A Child's Year for the ovals, George for the rectangles, and Cindy Loo for the layered flower and sentiment.  Diamond in the Rough and Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folders were used for the embossing and VersaMagic Chalk Ink to add a little more depth.
I'll be sending this card out for one of our Card Fairy missions.

This weekend, I used my Gypsy to design 5 challenge cards.  Hopefully, I'll get them all cut and assembled so that I can share them with you later in the week.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

It's Party Time!

Today is my oldest daughter's birthday.  Since we can't have a party for her - she's in Texas, we're in California - I sent her Monique Griffith's Sweet Treats Party.  If you haven't seen Monique's kits you really should take a look.  She has amazing double page layouts and other fun, fun kits.  She provides easy-to-follow directions complete with pictures and her kits include all the papers and embellishments needed.  Most kits are created using only one Cricut cartridge.  You can see her fantastic work  here.  If you happen to live in northern California, she offers classes and crops in her home, too.

I laid out all the cuts using my Gypsy.  I used one Gypsy layer for each paper used in the kit. After all the cutting was completed, I began assembling and this is the result:  a party invitation, a birthday card, a goodie box, a cupcake holder (Aly will have to provide her own cupcake - didn't think that would ship well), and a centerpiece.  I plan on using the centerpiece idea again and I think the ice cream cone goodie box is adorable!  Everything was cut using the Sweet Treats cartridge.

Well, that's it for all the projects I completed last weekend.  Now I want to finish some Card Fairy missions and then I have a few Valentine ideas to work on and the next project for my Guest Designer spot at Sketches in Thyme.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Birthday Card for a Special Lady

We have a very special friend who will be celebrating her birthday on January 30.  This wonderful lady provided the funding to build the softball field and stadium and the University of Illinois where my youngest daughter played on the first scholarship team (2000-2004).  Janna (my daughter) remains very close to her and will be with her to celebrate her special day.  She loves her cats so I thought this would be the perfect card.

I used Nifty Fifties for the cat and shaped background.  I chose the orange and blue color scheme because this darling lady truly bleeds the Illini Orange and Blue!  The sentiment is a combination cut from Create a Critter (purrfect and birthday) and Songbird (have - welded on the Gypsy - and a).  The blue paper was already embossed so I popped the cat for a just a little more dimension and then added some gems.

Tomorrow I'll post the last of my weekend projects; the Sweet Treats Party kit (kit created by Monique Griffith).

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Notecard Set

Here's the next project I completed this past weekend.  My daughter wanted some more personalized notecards (I had made her several sets in the past) so I thought it would be fun to send them to her in their own "bag".  The cards are A2 size. The "a" is from Don Juan using the Under Pressure feature and cut at 2".  Since there isn't a shadow feature for this cut, I created one using my Gypsy.  I used Tags, Bags, Boxes, and More for the bag.  I used a 12 x 24 mat and enlarged the cut all the way to the borders on my Gypsy so I could make it as large as possible.  The tag was made using Nestabilities and then I welded the name using the Songbird cartridge on my Gypsy.  I just added some paper layers to the bag and a few gems here and there.  20 cards fit inside.  Although they overlapped somewhat, there was still room without the bag falling over.

Tomorrow I'll share another weekend project.  Until then,

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

A Weekend Full of Projects!

I started scrapping Friday night at Monique Griffith's crop and continued at home all day Saturday and Sunday.   Whew, I had so many ideas and projects - I just kept going and going like the Energizer Bunny.
To begin with, my daughter requested some Valentine cards that she could send out and also an altered composition book for the other assistant coach who is also her workout partner and good friend.  I think they're using the books for their food and workout journals.  I'll share these today.

The "love" hearts were cut from Paper Pups.  I added a gem to the O.   I used Lyrical Letter to cut the name on the composition book.

Stay tuned for more.  I have a notecard set with a cute holder, a birthday card made from Nifty Fifties, and a Sweet Treats Party set - a kit designed by Monique Griffith.  They will all be posted this week. 

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn