Christmas in July Blog Hop

Welcome to the Exploring Cricut and More Christmas in July Blog Hop.  If you are following the Hop you should have arrived from Donna'a blog, www.kindredcreations.blogspot.com.   If you just happened by and would like to atart at the beginning go to Exploring Cricut and More for the Blog Hop list.

 

The theme, as I said, is Christmas in July.  There is blog candy available for some lucky winner along the way if you are a follower of Exploring Cricut and More.

 

I wanted to make a shaped card for my project.  Except for the words, everything was cut at 5 inches.  The papers came from a Recollections pack called 'Botanical Noel' which I bought at Michaels.

 

I used the following Cricut cartridges to made this card:  Small Talk, Frames and Tags for the background shape;  Winter Wonderland for the snowflake; and, 3 Birds on Parade for the words.  (I ended up cutting the words once at 1 1/4 inches and once at 1 inch and using the words of similar size for this card.  Originally, one is smaller than the other.)

There is a crystal rhinestone in the center and I added silver lines along the snowflake to glitz it up.  I wish it showed up better in the photo because it looks great.

 

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the blog hop.  Your next stop is Emily at www.emilyqueenofallthingscrafty.blogspot.com.

 

Happy Creating

Rae Ann







Count Your Blessings Challenge at Exploring Cricut

Welcome to another challenge.  The holiday stretch is approaching (as any store will demonstrate) and we are reminded by Thanksgiving of how much we have to be thankful for.  Our challenge is to create a card, layout, or any other paper craft with a Thanksgiving theme.
I love the Pilgrim Bird in the 3 Birds on Parade cartridge so I decided to showcase him.

I bought the background paper at A.C. Moore; I wanted something that expressed 'bounty' and this field of pumpkins was the closest to what I had in mind.  The pilgrim was cut at 4 inches.  I used the Phrases cartridge to cut the background for the stamped sentiment and cut it at 1 1/4 inches.  The corners (which are always great fillers) came from Picturesque and were cut at 1 Inch.  I even trimmed some off of the lower corner. I hope you like it.

Please join our challenge this week with your project with a Thanksgiving theme.  Enter them at Exploring Cricut and continue to visit us each day for ideas from the design team.

Thanks for stopping by.  Happy creating.
Rae Ann

Back to School Challenge at Exploring Cricut

Where did the summer go?  A whole new season goes into swing with back-to-school time.  For this challenge, participants are asked to make a card, layout, or paper project with a 'Back to School' theme and including the colors red, green, white, black, orange, and yellow and a ribbon.

I decided to make a 5x7 step-card for mine.  The teen has 2 tiny books in her bag; the concept of school is shown in the little red schoolhouse and the apple tree beside it.  (You can't miss that it's not a modern school. LOL)

The teen is from Paper Doll Teen Scene; the tiny books are made from 3 Birds on Parade.  The school is from My Community.  The apple tree is from Freshly Picked.  The greenery is from Everyday Paper Dolls.

The yellow in mine is more of a mustard yellow.  The orange is the bow in her hair.  That was a lot of colors to account for

Let us see your interpretation of this challenge at Exploring Cricut and visit each day to see what design team members are doing.  Thanks for stopping by.

Happy creating.
Rae Ann

My Day at Exploring Cricut

Hello!  It's been a slow week for me; the heat is taking all the 'oomph' out of me but I do have some cards to share.  A neighbor asked me to make some birthday cards for her grandsons, ages 3 and 5.  Here's what I did.
The first one is from Teddy Bear Parade. The letters for 'Hi' came from the Suburbia cartridge and the 'Happy Birthday' came from Create a Critter.

 The second card came from Paper Doll Dress Up.  I accidently cut the female cape but I liked the flowng look of it and kept it.  The 'superhero' sentiment came from the 3 Birds on Parade cartridge.

Cricut makes doing birthday cards so easy.  There are so many themes to pick from.  I hope you like them.
Have fun creating and, please, continue to check out Exploring Cricut each day for inspiration from out design team.
Rae Ann

It's a New Challenge at Exploring Cricut

Welcome to our newest challenge.  For this one we ask you to create a card, layout, or project that contains AT LEAST one button, two cricut cuts, and 3 colors of paper, with an emphasis on SPRING.

I created this step card.  Flowers were the first thing that came to mind, especially tulips, and then I thought of flying kites.

The button is the decoration in her hair.
I used cuts from 5 different cartridges:
     the girl is from Paper Doll Teen Scene
     the tulips are from Spring Cottage
     the fence is from Paper Doll Dress Up
     the grass and kite are from Everyday Paper Dolls
     and, the phrase "flying HIGH" is from 3 Birds on Parade.
Most of the papers are from Recollection packs.
The kite is on a piece of wire which I attached to the backs of the cuts with Glossy Accents.

I really like how it turned out.
I can't wait to see what your project will be.  Go to Exploring Cricut to see what the rest of the design team has done.  Then, enter your creation, too.
Have fun creating.
Rae Ann

An Envelope Mini-Album

I'm beginning to think I'm psychic.  This is the 3rd time recently that I've been working on a project and it turns out to perfectly match a current challenge theme.  This one will be entered in the Fantabulous Cricut 'Get Organized' challenge.  (I'M ALSO GOOFY! I NAMED IT INCORRECTLY.  I USED GREEN BAGS I BOUGHT AT MICHAELS, NOT ENVELOPES.  ENVELOPES I'LL USE IN MY NEXT ONE. Sorry.for the error.)

My sister moved to Florida last summer.  Every so often she emails me pictures which I save on the computer or sometimes print out.  They're not too handy to look at that way so I decided to make a place to collect them.  I used the envelope mini-album demonstrated by Steph Miller on You Tube.  It's definitely a work-in-progress because I have more to add and more will be coming.

Jennifer Rzasa was kind enough to explain how she created a picture collage for her site (Our Change of Art) so I can save you from scrolling through 10 photos.  I didn't want to display faces on the internet without their permission so I made little post-it-note cover-ups.

I'm finding wonderful phrases appropriate to pictures throughout the cricut cartridges.  So far, I've used Phrase, 3 Birds on Parade, Graphically Speaking, Holiday Cakes and Picturesque.
I had a lot of trouble getting these pictures in here today.  But, here they are.  Please go to Fantabulous Cricut to see the other great organizational projects being entered in this challenge.

Happy creating.
Rae Ann

A Shaped Card for Christmas

Two challenges this week call for shaped cards so I put on my thnking cap and this is what I came up with.  I'm very happy with it.

This cute little bird has lots of stability because I used the shadow cutout, made from a manila folder, for both the front and back.  Then I added the snow to stand in on the front.  The green scarf was embossed with the dotted swiss pattern, although the photo doesn't show it.  The bird, of course, is from the 3 Birds on Parade cricut cartridge; the snow is found on the last page of the Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge.

I am entering this in the following challenges that both asked for shaped cards:
Fantabulous Cricut Challenges
My Craft Spot
I am also entering it in Exploring Cricut for the theme 'It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year'.

Please stop by these sites to see their DT projects and challenge entries.

Happy holidays, everyone.
Rae Ann

Christmas Mini-Album for Multiple Challenges

Hello, everyone.  I made a paper bag matchbook album based on the tutorials by Kathy Orta on You Tube.  I made it for my sister who will be spending her first Christmas in her new home in Florida with her 16-month old grandson nearby.

I am entering this album in the following challenges.  Click on the challenge to go to that site and see other entries.
Pile It On - Theme: embellishments.  My album has glitter and ribbon and a poinsetta I made and borders and cricut cut additions ...  I think this fits.
Bugaboo's Catch the Bug Challenges - A Bingo challenge.  I used a flower, red/green, and ribbon.
Little Scrap Pieces - Theme: A Holiday Project.
Come and Get It Chalenges - Theme: Anything Christmas.
Cupcake Inspiration - I focused on the red, green, and white cupcake.

Please visit these sites.

Here comes a number of photos to show different views of the album.

This is the front of the album.  Note the tiny string of light I put around the tree trunk.

This is the first page you see when you open the matchbook flap.

As you flip sections forward you have room for pictures and/or journaling.  Note the tag on the top of the insert.  I cut 2 designs from one of the cardstock papers and glued them back-to-back at the top of the insert.

Another view of inside.

I put the album on its side to show the 6 bags, each with an insert.  The front flap is the red to the right of the picture.  Each section was made from a black bag bought at Michael's.

This shows one of the inserts and the tag I put on each one.  I alternated red and green designs for the inserts.  I placed the tags left, middle, right, left, middle, right in the 6 bags.

I wanted to show the glitter on the flower but it was hard to photograph  Here you see some of the diamond stickles on the flower as well as the green studio g glitter on the curls and as seams in the palm tree.

 

Because of Kathy Orta's tutorial this album went together easily and quickly.  It was the decorating that took the time.

Product info.:  I used Recollections Winter Whimsy collection and PebblesInc. Welcome Christmas for my cardstock.

Cricut cartridges that I used: Flower Shoppe, the flower, of course; Paper Doll Dress Up for the palm tree and little plant next to it; Holiday Cakes for "Christmas" on the cover and "Merry" and "Happy Day" on inner pages.  The numbers came from George and Basic Shapes.  I always seem to use Picturesque for the curls.  The tiny string of lights is in the 3 Birds on Parade cartridge.

Other than a few index cards, the journal cards and tags were found at free sources on the internet; I'm sorry I didn't write down their names.  I just searched for 'journaling tags'.

 

Wow!  This is a long entry for me.  I hope you like it.

Happy creating and Happy Holidays.

 

Rae Ann



An Unusual Christmas Card for DL.ART's Linky Party & Go Fish Challenge

My chiropractor loves Hawaii so I made this card especially for him.

I used an accessory key in Cricut's Paper Doll Dress-up cartridge to make the palm tree.  I cut it once in each color and pieced it: sand, trunk, and foliage.  Around the trunk are colored lights from the 'Deck the Halls' page in the 3 Birds on Parade cartridge.  I cut it at 2 inches to get the lights small enough.  Of course, the little hula bear is from the Teddy Bear Parade cartridge.  She's on a home-made wobble so she can really hula.  Luckily, the internet provided the correct spelling for 'Merry Christmas' in Hawaiian.  I'm tickled with it.

Please go to DL.ART and Go Fish Challenge Blog to see more entries.

Happy holidays and happy creating.
Rae Ann

Give Thanks

This is a very popular theme right now so I will be entering it in a number of challenges.  Check the list below and visit these sites for all the awesome entries.

This cute pilgrim came from the Cricut 3 Birds on Parade cartridge.  I got the little elements from 4 others - a benefit of having multiple cartridges.  The leaves and pumpkin came from Everyday Paper Dolls; the fruit by the pumpkin came from Paper Doll Dress Up; the banner for 'Give Thanks' came from the Phrases cartridge; and the swirls came from Picturesque.  I added glitter to the leaves and swirls which allows the pilgrim and fruit to stand out by contrast.  Those birds make me smile.  The little pieces were a great use for scraps and the background piece is from a pad of autumn papers I forgot I had.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

I'm entering this card in:

Pile It On - Let's Be Thankful - click here.
Little Scrap Pieces - Happy Thanksgiving - click here.
Fantabulous Cricut -1st Thanksgiving - click here.
DL.ART - Thanksgiving - click here.
Shopping Our Stash - Thanksgiving - click here.
My Sheri Crafts - Give Thanks - click here.

Happy Creating,
Rae Ann

Pirate Theme at Getting Cricky with K Andrews

I was shopping today at A.C.Moore's and I was surprised to see that they had some Cricut cartridges on sale.  Only two of them interested me; I decided on '3 Birds on Parade.'  I wasn't familiar with this cartridge although I have seen a couple of cuts from it that I thought were cute.  When I saw all the costumed birds in this cartridge it made me laugh; this was the one.

So, I get home and think, "Hmmm, there's a pirate themed challenge:

I found a map facsimile among some travel themed paper.  I used the Best of 2007 Cartridge for the ship and the skull (It has the pirate from the Everyday Doll Dress Up Cartridge).  The pirate bird and the phrase are, of course, from 3 Birds on Parade.  And, the land is from the Everyday Paper Dolls Cartridge. The road, land, grass, and water that are included near the end of the choices really come in handy.

Visit Getting Cricky with K Andrews to see more of the entries in this challenge.

Happy creating.
Rae Ann