Altered Letters for Christmas Presents

Happy Monday!!!!

Well, the good news that it is the end of Monday! I am really excited about this week because I have Christmas parties galore, I'm even hosting one at my house for some of the fire department guys and their significant others. It should be a lot of fun, but I am have to cook and to be honest, I'm not a good cook. Actually, I don't cook at all! It's a good thing some some of my girlfriends are coming to help- thanks Ashley, Meredith and Lauren- without y'all, I might burn my house down, and that wouldn't be easy to explain being married to a firefighter...

Anyway, I wanted to share this really fun and great Christmas gift. I made these altered letters for my girlfriends at work. We always say, every year, that we will not exchange gifts, but sometimes my creative juices get the best of me and I end up making things like these for them!

The letters stand for their last names and I tried to make each letter fit their personality.

Here's a close up of each letter.

Here is a quick run down on how I make my altered letters:

I start by tracing the letter. My trick to this is to use the back side of the paper with the letter backwards for tracing. This way the markings are on the back side of the paper and you don't have to worry about seeing it. Then I cut out the letter right on the inside of the line, although that is really hard to do. The great thing about these, is that it's ok that it's not perfect!

I paint the edge of the letters and then ink the edge of the paper, usually in the same color, however, the edge of the 'S' is painted blue and I inked the paper white and it turned out just fine.

I put on a thick coat of mod podge on the actual letter and then a thick coat of it after I put the paper down. After this dries (usually let it dry overnight), my creative juices have to really kick in, and sometimes it will take me a day or so to think about how I want to decorate the letter. I have been working on these letter for about 2 weeks, only because I needed to think about how I wanted to decorate them... and of course my other projects were starring at me to finish them, too.

If you notice the 'D' is different, that's because I tore paper into small pieces and dipped them into the mod podge and applied them one by one. Yes, it took a long time and it was REALLY messy, but I got the effect I was going for. Aimee will really appreciate my work on her letter, she is one of my scraptastic sidekicks! Here's a link to her blog. Check it out and tell her I sent you! : )

I hope the girls at work love their new letters! I've only made one other altered letter and it didn't turn out near this cute, so I'm not posting it! : )

One final look. This picture was taken on my table cloth- HA!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your week is full of Christmas surprises!

--Ash

My First Video!! How to Make a Step Card

Well, I did it! I made my first video! AHHHH!!!! I can't believe I sound like that, and my hands... good thing I'm not a hand model! Well, I hope you enjoy my first ever video and learn something new!

To Be 95...

I wanted to share a special Birthday with y'all.  Last weekend was my Grandmother's 95th Birthday. Well, actually it's my husband's grandmother, but that makes her mine too! We had a card shower for her so that all of her friends from back in Kansas could send her well wishes and happy birthdays. Grandma even said that this was the best birthday she ever had and she had never gotten so many cards in her life, it was very sweet and I was so glad I got to celebrate her big day with her!

I made her a card, of course, and I wanted it be very vibrant! I'm new to stamping, usually I just cut out everything or buy embellishments, so this is the first card I made using stamps! The stamp is from Stamps by Judith. I have a few of her stamps but have never mustard up the courage to use them... until now!

I even used Judith's markers that she sells to color in everything.

I also used Glossy Accents over the swirls and stickles on the pink icing to give it some bling.

I used a stamp I got from Michaels and black ink from Stampin' Up.

Here's Grandma and I. I look horrible... eek!

But, she looks GREAT!!!

Here are all of her cards from her card shower. This was such a great idea!

Happy 95th Birthday Grandma!

We love you!!!

Christmas Challenge

Are y'all familiar with Flaunt It Fridays?? It's a blog that hosts challenges every week! You can click here to go straight to it.

This week the challenge is to create a project using the Santa sleigh from the Paperdoll Dress Up cartridge. I figured since I am in the middle of making my Christmas cards, I would make a card using the sleigh.

Ingredients:

• My card is 6" x 6" cut out of my favorite Bazzil shimmer paper in Diamond white.
• I have had the Christmas paper for a few years, so I'm not sure the brand or where I got it from, but it is cut at 5 1/2" x 5 1/2".
• The holly is Making Memories and I just added some stickles to the berrys.
• The ribbon I got from Michael's on sale.
• I cut the sleigh using my Gypsy and of course from the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge so I could use it for the challenge. I also added Stickels to add some shimmer bling.
• I cut out 'Santa' using the font from the Winter Woodland cartridge.
• Santa's presents are from 'Me & My Big Ideas, purchased at Michael's.
• Both the sleigh and the presents are adhered with pop dots.

I hope you enjoy this card, and maybe take a look at Flaunt it Friday for a lot of inspiration, or even to participate!

Thanks for looking and happy scrappin'!!!

FINALLY Some Christmas Cards

It feels so good to be back in my room scrappin'! It's been about 6 or 7 weeks since I sat in my room and had time to create. I decided that this year I would make all different cards to send out to family and friends as opposed to one card done multiple times... call me CrAzY I know!

So far, here is what I have created... enjoy!

Frosty Kisses 

The card is 5x7.

The snowman and "frosty kisses" were cut from

the Winter Woodland cartridge using my Gypsy.

Frosty's buttons are rinestones and I used my i-rock tool.

The background paper is from the

My Minds Eye paperpack, Wonderful Winter.

Snow Flake Scraps

I made this card with all scraps as a personal challenge.

It is a pretty simple card, but that was the point.

It does say Merry Christmas in the bottom corner,

 but my camera isn't very good and you can't really see it.

The card measures 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" (odd size, HA).

I used a new product, Sheer Shimmer Spritz, by Tsukineko, purchased at Joann's

to give it the snow spritzed look. The rinestones are from i-rock (my favorite tool right now).

I cut the snowflakes out with my Gypsy with scrap papepr from the 'Frosty Kisses' card.

The True Meaning of Christmas

I made this card specificlly for my mother- in- law who collects nativity scenes.

This card is bigger than most, probably because it has the most important message on it.

The nativity scene are chipboard pieces from K & Company that I purchased from Michaels.

The size of the card is 8 1/4" x 5 1/4".

I cut the Noel out from the Winter Woodland cartridge using my Gypsy.

The Merry Christmas stamp is darker in person, but once again my camera...

maybe Santa will bring me a new one since I've been so so good this year!

Tis the Season!

This is the first 'step card' that I have made and I must say, it turned out really cute!

I think I will be making more of these, it was time consuming but easy.

 I will create a seperate post on how to create a step card.

I used my Gypsy and Winder Frolic to cut out the Christmas tree and the title, and Christmas Cards (seasonal cartridge) for the snowflakes at different sizes.

I used the shadow feature on the tree and title, and I really think it makes it pop!

The border at the bottom is from K & Company and I used pop dots to adhere it.

You can see the same paper from the Frosty Kisses card that I used for the middle step.

And the blue snow flake paper is Reminisce, "First Snow" collection.

Thanks for taking a look at my first batch of Christmas cards. Come back soon for more Christmas inspiration and a "how to" guide for making a step card.

Happy Scrappin' and Cricuting!

Merry Christmas!!!

It's Been A While....

It's been a while since I posted anything on my blog, and to be honest I haven't even been in my scrap room much. This time of the year can get hectic and we all know how time flies when your having fun! I promise I will be posting some fun Christmas projects soon. In the mean time, I have a confession...

I sent back my Cricut Imagine. GASP!!!! Yes, I did. I was constantly frustrated with that machine. I said all a long that my Expression and my Gypsy have my heart won and it would take one heck of a machine to replace them, and well, why the Imagine is very cool, I feel like it has a long way to go. In a year or so, when the kinks have been worked out, I will look into buying another one... But, in the mean time, it is me, my Expression and my Gypsy!

I've also purchased some new furniture/ organization pieces, and need to share with you my revamped room. I will work on getting some pictures up of it soon!

Thanks for being patient! I have missed scrappin'

Happy Scrappin and Cricuting!

***Ashley***

P.S. Did you hear that the Cricut Swarm is coming to TEXAS!?!?! I hope its the Dallas area!!

Happy Haunting!!!

Hard to believe that Halloween is next weekend! We have big plans for the weekend including my Dad's birthday party, a costume party for which I have NO IDEA what I am dressing up as, and of course taking my niece and nephew trick-or-treating. I can't wait to take my 1 year old niece around, she is going to LOVE it! I will let her do all the work, and I will just eat her candy, hehehe!

Halloween is my best friends favorite holiday, so I thought I would make this card for her. I also made this card for a challenge on the Cricut Circle blog. The challenge is to use a piece of overlay, vellum, or acrylic in a Halloween themed project.

Here are the ingredients:

• The card is 6 3/4" x 6"
• The orange piece is 6 1/2" x 5 1/2"
• For the challenge I used an overlay- the purplish-pink frame. It is a Fancy Pants transperency.
• I used my Expression to cut the witch at 3 1/2" and the broom at 3" both from the Mini Monsters cartridge. I drew on her eyes and mouth. I also cut out the spider web from the October 31st cartridge at 3 1/2". I loved the way the web turned out!  I used stickles to snazz these things up a little.
• Since I am still trying to figure out the Imagine, I did use it to print and cut the 'Happy Haunting'. It is also cut from Mini Monsters at 2". The Happy Haunting is actaully underneath the transperency and I used some black chalk to make it look smokey.

I want to get better at using my Imagine, so on my next project, my goal is to use it more!

Happy Haunting Casey, I miss you!!

Thanks for looking and have a fun and safe Halloween!

Bright Birthday day! Celebrate the big 5-0

Happy Birthday, Cheryl (my boss)!!!

She is turning the big 5-0 today, and now she is going to kill me for posting this on my blog!

 But in all fairness, I made her a hanging frame that holds a picture of us four HR girls. That should make up for me posting her age on my blog, right!?! I love making these frames! They are a little more time consuming, but they turn out so cute!

So, here are the ingredients:

The black paper is Bazzill.

The shiny kind from Michael's (my fav!)

The pink scalloped paper is

from a paper pack from Hobby Lobby

The stripped paper and the drink paper are from Michael's

I cut out the crown using the Once Upon A Princess cartridge

(cut at 4")

and the 3 circle cut outs from the Home Accents cartridge

(cut at 3 1/2")

The ' Let's Celebrate' is from a K & Company birthday pack from Michael's

All of the flowers are Prima paper flowers.

I adhered all of the rhinestones with my i-rock tool. I'm really loving that tool more and more!

I used pop dots to pop up the stripped paper so that you can put a picture in there.

I used a 4x6 picture so I cut the hole just a tad smaller so that the picture will be held in place.

A close up of this fancy thing from the Home Accents cartridge.

 This picture also shows the ribbon I chose. The lime green ribbon has 'Party Time' on it.

I am a ribbon junkie, I have SO much ribbon, so I couldn't tell you where I got it from...

What a great gift, huh? I love making these!!

Happy Birthday, boss lady!



It's Already October?!?!?

Wow, can't believe it's October 1st! 

I love this time of year; leaves changing, cooler weather, FOOTBALL (duh!) and everything else fall-ish. Another great thing about fall are all of the colors.  I made this card for a challenge- to make a thank you card using either orange or yellow somehow on the card.

The card measures 5x5

The solid orange is 4x4

and the solid off white is 2 3/4 by 2 3/4

I love this paper from My Minds Eye, I got from one of the daily scrapbook deal websites.

The stamp is from a collection that I got at Michael's.

I like simple cards, not only are they easy and quick to make, but they look good too!

this moment...

I made this frame for a friend of mine, who is having a little girl. The scalloped edged frame is raised, and you can slip a picture through the top.

Ingredients:

• 
  
  Patterned Paper- My Minds Eye
• 
  
  Flower and butterfly embellishments- K and Company
• 
  
  Font- Cindy Loo cartridge cut at 2 1/2 inches
• Scalloped Frame- Accent Essentials cut at 6 1/2 inches
• 
  
  Other- Ribbon is from Michael's (very inexpensive), I used my i-rock tool for the rhinestones, pop dots

It's a Birthday Celebration!!!

I can't believe my niece turned 1 the week, time flies when your having fun!! Being an Aunt is awesome, and having such a sweet mush makes it that much better. Yay! A pink car from Aunt Ashley and Uncle Jason.

Because I love her so much, I had to make my Princess a castle from the Once Upon A Princess cartridge, and of course it had to be all pink, her favorite color!

Step 1: Here are all of the pieces cut out! The paper is from Bazzill, the shiny paper that I just love, of course! I cut all of the images out at 8 1/2 inches using my expression. I had to use the big 12x24 cutting mat to get some of the images. I think I will end up making another castle, doing a video, to show all of tips and tricks that I learned while making it (stay tuned).

 

Next, you have to score and make the two inner towers; the dark pink piece is, what I call, the "floor".

You also have to score and make the tops of all of the towers. This took a little time...

Here is my cheat for scoring... I do not have a scoring mat. In the beginning I was using a metal ruler and my bone folder, but it was putting dents in my bone folder. So, I decided to use the metal ruler and the tip of metal scissors, you know the kind you use to cut fabric. With the scissors closed, line up the ruler where you want to score, and run the tip of the scissors along the ruler. It worked out perfectly!

I just followed along with the instructions in the cartridge handbook. The pictures are very easy to understand. This is step 5 and 6 in the hand book; adding the "fort" and the "floor".

The next steps are to connect the 4 corner towers and then glue the tops to all of the towers. I found that putting glue on the insides of the tower tops was easier and they actually stuck better. Another note, pull up on the tabs that are at the top of the towers. This gives the tops something to stick too!

Looking down on the finished castle.

A little bling to dress up a bit!

Taa-daaa!

Happy Birthday Princess!

Halloween Already??

Halloween... I can't believe it is just right around the corner!

I went through the blog hop that Crazy About Cricut is hosting, and the ladies inspired me to make a quick Halloween card.

I used my Gypsy and the the Mini Monsteres cartridge to create this card.

 I used pop dots to raise the stars and the Happy Halloween. I used my new i rock tool for the purple bling.

The colors look awesome together, I must say!

You can sort of see the raised stars and verbage in this picture!

Happy Halloween!!!

Welcome to my Room!!!

Notice how I say my room?? It's all mine!!!



This is my scraproom! I call it the organized chaos room! I know exactly where everything is... I just may have to search for it...

 

The view from the doorway!
I hope to repaint the room someday... someday...

My husband built the counter top for me, and I love it! It was coincidence that it matched the walls. Trust me, blue is not my favorite color. It is soothing though...

That is a scraprack! It has 1/2 of my embellishments in it.

I do like it, but it is very heavy!

 This is also where I keep my pictures (somewhat organized), and some of my other great necessities!

The furniture piece is antique. It belonged to my husband's grandmother and now I use it in my room.

A great piece of history still getting some great use!

 

My cartridges, ribbon organizer, 12x12 cutter, basket full of my scraps (recycle ladies!).

In the drawers I have all of my stamps, paper punches, and some other lose ends that needed a place. My cutter, I love. It has a grid on it all the way up to 12x12 and the best feature- a laser! I can see exactly where I am making my cut! The brand is x-acto. I'm tellin' ya, it is amazing. The pile beside it is my current project pile.



I love that Scraptastic is open on my computer in this picture! HA!

So, this is my work space- usually not this clean. That basket has a bunch of different kinds of adhesives. Above, are my inks, embossing powders, maybe some other cool things... I really love Distress Ink, that's what the stack of black boxes are.


Yikes!!!

That is my paper collection. The binders house all of my specialty paper. When I buy specialty paper, I buy two sheets of it. This way, if I want to do a double layout I can, or if I don't like what I've made, well, I can start over. Such good logic! Inside the colorful drawers are all kinds of goodies; from ribbon to chipboard- there's a lot going on in there. Beside that, is my Clip-it-Up which is full of embellishments that wouldn't fit in the scraprack.

It's a lot, yes I know...

And the best for last...



My Cricut!!!! Oh, how I love thee...

This is my cricut table. My cricut is covered by the cutest cover ever. I got it from Kathy's Cozies. You can find her on facebook or Etsy. Also, my gypsy, which I'm still trying to figure out, is beside it. The binder holds print outs of some of the cartridge handbooks. Why? Because my friend, Aimee, who doesn't want a Gypsy, lets me upload her cartridges on mine!!! Can you believe that!?! So, I print out the handbooks of the carts she gives me. Thanks Aimee!!!

So, here's a question I just recently started asking myself...where am I going to put my new Cricut Create??? Hmm...

Hope you enjoyed the tour of my scraptastic room! There's always something going on in this crazy room, and I love it!!!



My First Card- Just Saying Hi

This is the first card I made and I must say, I think it turned out pretty well! I used the Wild Card cartridge for the design, and the giraffe is from Create A Critter- love love love this cartridge! You probably can't tell from the pictures, but the paper has a shimmer to it. I love this paper from Bazzill ( I stock up when Michael's has their paper on sale). Pretty simple card, but still very cute!

Can you tell the paper has a shimmer to it?!

Close up on the cute giraffe!

Just saying hi!