some swing birthday cards

Hello everyone I had some time this morning to make a couple of cards. I've been wanting to try a couple of the swing cards on the Artiste Cartridge so I cut two out of some hot pink cardstock both with different shapes on the swing part. I decorated both with scraps of patterned paper and cut the corresponding shapes from Artiste. For the Square swing one I cut out a yellow circle and used one of the stamps that came with Artiste and then used a 3D cupcake sticker my friend Gale sent me from the U.K. I stamped a greeting in the corner.For the other one I used some more of the stickers and then cut an oval and stamped on that with an extra flower from the pack. I think they turned out quite well and it's a bit different to an ordinary card. Thanks for looking.

Scratchie envelope

Hello I made a little envelope to hold some scratchies I got for Greg's Christmas stocking. I made it using Artiste and some Verve stamps I won recently on a blog hop. I got them today and love them,  I feel very lucky. I used some glitter glue on the gifts the rest are the stamps and I coloured the tree in using pencils and added a bow.
I'm happy with how it turned out although I'm not feeling very well today and found it hard to focus on my craft but I'm sure Greg will love it.

Rudolph Treat box

Hi Everyone I found some time late this afternoon after all my housework was done and dinner ready to create this cute little box for Greg to go in his Christmas stocking. I can't take the credit though for this idea I stumbled up on it on Sandra's blog, see link below:

http://365daysofcricut.blogspot.com/2012/12/135-rudolph-stocking-stuffer-made-w.html

So I asked her for the measurements so I could make one in the Cricut Craft Room. It was quite simple to do using the Artiste cartridge to cut out everything. I added a layer of patterned paper to the inside which was just a scrap from my box, I love using up my scraps!

I filled my box for Greg with a little bag with yogurt covered almonds in, he loves these and they are healthy

So that's gone in the stocking, I'm looking forward to seeing how Greg likes it.

Christmas tags for Greg

Hello everyone happy Friday glad the weekend is nearly here. I had made some tags today for Greg's gifts and after Christmas I will save them and use them on scrapbook pages. All of the tags are cut from Holiday Frames and Tags and Art Philosophy.

From left to right:

Santa suit tag - cut in red, then a black strip added and a gold belt buckle then some white glossy gel accents for the buttons

Peace - this was my first go at "masking". I read about it my new Papercrafts magazine that came yesterday, it's not bad for a first try. I used white ink and then stamped the Peace sentiment with Versamark ink and heat embossed in white.

Snowman - this is probably my favourite it's cut in layers in a bauble shape and then I found a puffy pink heart in my stash and a snowman button which I hot glued on then tied on some jingle bells.

Reindeer - 2 tags were cut out for this one a plain red and then a green one with star cutouts. I used a new set of stamps I got a week ago at Michaels from Hero Arts I got them 50% off so I really wanted this set as I love the cute reindeer with his jumper on. I stamped him on green, then again on white and coloured him in with coloured pencils and cut him out.

Holiday Joy - cut in layers again all using scraps and then I stamped on the scalloped circle and the sentiment on the banner. I added a holly button to finish.

December 25 - I did faux stitching around the tag added a green oval and then cut out 25 and stamped December. I found these Christmas tapes in Michaels and tried this along the top. I don't think it stands out too well on the green but I'm happy with it anyway.

I think Greg will love these tags. Which one is your favourite?

Have a nice weekend

Hohenschwangau castle

Hi everyone I got a chance to do some scrapbooking this morning and I decided to continue on with some Europe pages from last December I realised there is still more to do so I am looking forward to finishing my album. This page is on Hohenschwangau castle in Fussen, Germany. Greg and I spent a wonderful couple of days in this area last year and they have 2 beautiful castles. We managed to see this one lit up at night and then in daylight the next day, I just love these pictures, I only wish I had one of Greg and I but I do have one of our favourite bear and I Chockie bear - he's such a well travelled bear!

I had a really nice piece of glittery wintery paper I got from Michaels a while back so I used this and then layered on two strips. The top strip in navy blue has a border which I punched with my Martha Stewart border punch. I used my Holiday Frames and Tags cartridge to cut out the small banner at the top and also the title. I added a small clip for decoration. I used the Cricut basic shapes in the craft room to weld together the trees in dark green and I went along the edges with both white and silver gel pen to look like snow. I added some snowflake stickers and then pleated some ribbon and added that to the photos. I added some information about the castle as well.

Lindt ball Christmas tree

Hello Everybody we had a really nice Monday weatherwise in Chicago today 21 degrees and it's in December lucky us for a change in December!

This project was a joint project with my lovely Greg and I, we made our own Lindt ball Christmas tree. We bought the foam cone from Michaels yesterday and the cute striped ramekin which was only 79 cents - bargain. Greg chopped off a bit of the tree and we hot glued it into the ramekin. We also chopped it off as we are being good and not having so many Lindt balls to eat : ). We bought 3 packets of Lindt balls - one was a holiday one, the other a white/milk one and a peppermint one so we pinned those all over the tree with tinsel in between. Then we realised that we didn't have enough so we went to Walgreens on our walk back from the gym and got some more and finished it tonight, isn't it sweet? The tree looks very cute next to our countdown Santa : )

St Stephens Cathedral

I finished this page today of St Stephens Cathedral in Vienna. I thought I should finally finish off my Europe pages from last December before I think about any other ones. I think I've finished most of my xmas stuff now so it's good to do some scrapbooking for us.

I used Artiste to cut out the ornate layer on top of the Kraft piece of cardstock and then used Holiday Frames and Tags in the Cricut Craft room welded together for the title. I cut a heart from Art Philosophy and did faux stitching around it. I placed that around Greg and I in one of the photos as the cathedral was so huge and we were quite small in the photo in order to get most of it in :). I added some die cuts and a border to the top.