Sorry I've been away

Hello.  February always seems to be the month that germs catch up to me.  I've been ill for almost two weeks now but things are looking up.  I expect to be back here with another project for the challenge on March 10th.  Until then, please continue to visit Exploring Cricut and the other designers on our great team.
Take care.
Rae Ann

Birthday Card for a Friend at Exploring Cricut

Hello, everyone.  We're not quite dug out of the snow here, What about you?

The blog hop last Monday was great.  The winner of my blog candy is Liz O.  I left a comment on your blog asking for contact info.

My apologies for a slightly blurry picture this week.  I was in a rush because I made this for a friend's birthday and it was sealed up and sent before I checked the image.  (It looked good in the camera.)

I love this little Queen of Hearts from Teddy Bear Parade.  She looks so regal when done up in the right colors.  The bear was cut at 3 inches.  I planned to cut the letters for the sign but it was too much for a standard A2 card (4 1/4 x 5 1/2).

Again, my apologies, but I hope you get the idea.  Thanks to all who visited our blog hop.  Please, continue to visit Exploring Cricut and the design team members.  We love when you share comments.

Take care and happy creating.
Rae Ann

Valentine's Day Blog Hop at Exploring Cricut

Welcome to our blog hop and challenge.  You should have arrived here from Faith's blog.  In honor of Valentine's Day, the challenge this week is to make a card, layout, or paper craft with a valentine theme and use at least one jewel.

For my card I used the candy heart cut from Simply Charmed and the young lovers from Suburbia.  This is a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inch card.  The small size doily makes a great bact piece for the silhouette.

Please lease a comment by Sunday, Feb. 16.  I will be giving away some little goody to one of you who stops by.

After enjoying all the ideas our team has come up with, create your own card and enter it in our challenge at Exploring Cricut.

If you arrived from somewhere else and want to join us at the beginning of our hop go to Sharon's blog. Otherwise, your next stop is Emily.

 

Blog Hop Schedule

Sharon http://meemeescreations.blogspot.com

Donna http://wwwkindredkreations.blogspot.com

Faith http://scrapbookerphd.blogspot.com

Rae Ann http://joyinart.blogspot.com

Emily http://emilyqueenofallthingscrafty.blogspot.com

Annette http://mymindsdustbunnies.blogspot.com

Michelle N http://justanutterpapercrafter.blogspot.com

Jen http://javajencreations.blogspot.com

Julie http://mylittlecorner-julie518.blogspot.com

Michelle S http://cricutcrazyscrapper.blogspot.com

Liz http://unikbyyes.blogspot.com

Rosa http://enjoyingthebug.blogspot.com

Diane http://happyscrapperdiane.blogspot.com

 

Thank you so much for stopping by.  Have fun creating and Happy Valentine's Day.

Rae Ann

 

Bookmark Ideas for Exploring Cricut

Hello, everyone.  I hope the winter is being kind to you, wherever your are.
For today's blog I have 2 bookmarks I made from the Art Nouveau cartridge.  I love this cut but wasn't sure what I could use it for.  This is perfect.

Changing the papers and colors gives an entirely new look.  I made the base of the bookmark from a manila folder so it is nice and sturdy.
Thanks for visiting.  Please continue to visit Exploring Cricut each day for ideas from all of our design team.  Come for the challenge and blog hop next Monday, too.
Happy creating.
Rae Ann

Another Challenge at Exploring Cricut

Welcome to another challenge at Exploring Cricut.  For this challenge, include 2 cricut cuts, some  design paper and the color blue in a card, layout, or paper project..

I used the Destinations cartridge for the bridge (cut at 2 1/2 inches) and the Art Deco cartridge for the ship (cut at 3 inches).  This is a regular A2 card (4 1/4 x b 1/2 inches).  I just did some free-hand cuts to simulate land to balance the design.
The design sheet is the sky; it's amazing how a fancy pattern can resemble clouds when it is used in a background like this.
The blues are obvious.  I  added some gold glitter glue to the ship and some diamond glitter glue for waves on the water.
I think this is my subconscious wish to get away from this cold weather (lol).

Share your response to this challenge at Exploring Cricut.  We love to see your creations.  Visit each day to see what design team members have done.

Happy creating.  Keep warm.
Rae Ann

A Retirement Card for my day at Exploring Cricut

I've been trying to make cards I haven't done before.  I've never done a retirement card so I looked on the internet for ideas and found a saying I liked.  This is also my first pop-up card.

I used the lounge chair from the Father's Day cartridge, the clouds and arrow from Graphically Speaking, and the letters from my new Paper Lace 2.  I'm really happy with it.  I hope you like it, too.
Have a great day.
Rae Ann

Winter Wonderland Challenge with Exploring Cricut

Welcome to the Winter Wonderland Challenge.  Make a card, layout, or paper project that celebrates winter.  I wanted to use Snowpeople so I chose the pair in A Quilted Christmas.

I love this snowflake background paper,  The only "work" is assembling the snowpeople.  I tore some paper for along the bottom and created highlights with Snow-Write glitter.  I cut the snowpeople at 3 inches from A Quilted Christmas and had to put something in their outreaching hands and found this heart in my stash.

Snow people in falling snow is my image of a Winter Wonderland.  What's yours?   Enter your project at Exploring Cricut and continue to visit there each day to see what the design team is doing.
I look forward to seeing your creations.
Have a great day.
Rae Ann