Last Christmas gift...Merry Christmas

Hello it's almost Christmas so Merry Christmas. This is my last post before Christmas, no time to make anything else but everything is done. I spent all day today baking the cakes for Greg to work his magic on decorating I really enjoyed it so the cake is good teamwork. I also have to send my Cricut back to Cricut as it's broken so they have sent me another one but it will take a few days but that's ok I have lots to do with Christmas and I"m looking forward to that.

I made this box a week or so ago for some treats for Greg It holds an organic choc mint hot choc sachet, some vegan marshmallows (as we don't eat gelatine) and some candy cane chocolate cookies. I got the box from Sweet Tooth boxes, the bear was from Teddy Bear Parade and the label from Art Philosophy that I wrote with my Cricut pens. I gave it to Greg as an early xmas gift, he is going to drink his hot chocolate tonight, I think we've both earned a bit of a sit down later and rest we've been working hard but we love it, I can't wait for Christmas now. Merry Christmas.

My first scrapbook page of our U.K/Italy trip of 2014

Hello again I'm finally back around to doing some scrapbooking. I've been looking forward to starting to scrapbook our recent trip in October to the U.K and Italy. I've been dying to start it but had Christmas things to do and I've made lots of cards. However I'm going to be re-thinking how many cards I make in future as time and effort goes into them and yet some people seem incapable of saying thank you or even letting you know they got them. It's quite disheartening and as my lovely husband suggested I get cracking iwth my scrapbooking as it's our memories and nice to do things that we will enjoy so that is going to be what I will do when I have crafting time for a while (and of course soon Valentines Day will be coming so a special card will be in the works for Greg).

Anyway this was our first day of our trip we spent it with Aunty Julie and Uncle Rick in the Cotswolds area of England we had a lovely Autumn day for it and enjoyed it a lot. I kept my layout simple and used various patterned papers. I like the green one especially I got a lovely 12 x 12 paper pad at Michaels for only $5 on the weekend it's by Craft Smith (never heard of them) but it's very pretty and I know I will use a lot of these papers in my layouts. I used a tag from a new cartridge I bought called Bits and Pieces and that pulls out from underneath the photos. The font is from Folk Art and the flower and bird is from Botanicals finished with a button. Thanks for looking today.

Birthday Card

Hello Happy Thursday, Christmas is getting closer it's exciting! I can't wait to see what cake creation my lovely husband comes up with this year, I'm looking forward to it lots!

I have a card I made for Greg's mum for her birthday in January, I think it turned out lovely. I started with a yellow card blank then added some floral patterned paper and a green banner layer cut from Art Philosophy and embossed with my Swiss Dots folder. The cake is from Sweet Treats and the banner from Art Philosophy. I used a stamp for the sentiment and for the strawberry I used some Glossy Accents to make it shiny then used a black fine tip pen to make the strawberry look more realistic. I put everything on 3D dots to add a bit of height. I'm going to enter this card in the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge of Anything Goes this week. Thanks for looking.

Gift Box for Greg

Hello hope you had a nice Sunday I was wrapping Greg's gifts today and relaxing today it was nice and I also made this little box for a special gift for Greg. Greg told me that when he was a very little boy he lost his favourite toy truck down a hole and he was very sad, so I thought I would try to look for one that was the same or if not similar. So I did manage to find one, it's not exactly the same in color but the same model, it was a 1970s retro Matchbox truck. I thought he could put it on his work desk. I made the box from the Pretty Packaging cartridge and the bow as well. The tag was from Tags Bags and Boxes and the stamp was from Verve Stamps. I look forward to seeing how Greg likes his gift : ).

Anniversary card

Hello I have a card today I made for my mom and dad's anniversary coming up in January, I'm trying to get my January cards done now in case I don't have time then. I think this turned out cute. I started with a patterned card blank from DCWV. and then used my Cricut Explore for the second layer this was cut from the Ribbons and Rosettes cartridge. I added a strip of striped paper and I used my pens and Cricut to write the sentiment. The cute teapot and cups were from the birthday cakes cartridge. I put these on 3D dots and then added some white ricrac. Thanks for looking today.

Some last minute cards

Here are 2 more cards I made today, the first one was really fun to do and it was using a free cut file I got today at Miss Kate's Cuttables, a jolly Santa. The second one I used an embossing folder I got a while ago and this was the first time I tried it, I love how it looks on the green foil card. I made a sentiment banner on my Cricut. Thanks for looking.

Christmas Treats

Hello Happy Monday it's getting closer to Christmas it was time to do some thank you gifts for my clients, these are what I gave them, although Ivy got more because she is very special. The dogs apart from Ivy got treat bags. For their owners I baked YoYo or Melting Moments biscuits they turned out lovely. I made the tags on my Cricut for these. Ivy also got a new rope and some turkey "pupcakes" frosted with pumpkin pie frosting. She got to taste test one today and wanted more she loved them! So as she's been a good girl she will get some more from Santa. I also made my own Soy candles, they are all natural and smell delicious, I have one in our apartment and the smell of Gingerbread greeted me when I got home today, they were nice to make and I got the red mason jars from Michaels. I used my Cricut to make Santa's belt around them and the tag on the back.

Sending you Sunshine

Hello another card I made today for my friend Melanie who has had a rough time lately, her Aunt died suddenly and she's had some health issues and she sounded so down when I heard from her so I thought a card would be nice for her and she does enjoy handmade cards. I really kept it simple mainly because of lack of time as I wanted to get it in the mail to her but I also think simple can be beautiful. I started with a patterned card base and cut a rounded rectangle from Art Philosophy. My sun is cut from Create a Critter but I hid the face and used a Peachy Keen stamp instead. I used my Cricut pens and the Cricut Explore to write my sentiment. Off I go to get this in the mail to Melanie. Thanks for looking, hope your day is Sunshine filled!

Christmas Crackers 2

Hello Happy Thursday, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas : ). I made some crackers a few weeks ago for gifts but these ones are for our Christmas table. I gave Greg mine to fill with goodies and a joke so It will be a surprise! Greg's is a surprise too I can't wait to see what he thinks of his gift. I used the cracker image again from Fancy Boxes, I used some Christmas printed scrapbook paper (not card as it's too thick) and empty toilet paper rolls. I had some "No peeking" ribbon left over from last year from Michaels. The snowman is cut from Doodlecharms, I hid the face and stamped my own using Peachy Keen stamps, isn't he so sweet? The hat is from Doodlecharms as well. I added ribbon around him and inside the cracker is a snap. Thanks for looking today.

Our Christmas Door

Hello just wanted to show you the wreath I made on our front door, I think it looks lovely so does Greg, so far we're the only ones on our floor with one but I don't think anyone else will have a handmade one like this : ). Happy Tuesday!

Thank you treats

Hello Happy Friday I'm glad it's the weekend to spend with my lovely hubby and next week we have a holiday with 2 nice days off so that to look forward to.

We don't celebrate Thanksgiving although I do think it's nice to thank people and be grateful for people and what you have and I like to be like this every day. However I thought given that I'm really lucky to have a good business going and some nice clients that appreciate what I do for them I thought I would show some appreciation for them choosing me to care for and walk their dogs by baking a small treat and using my Cricut to make some tags. I decided to bake a slice. Slices don't seem to be a popular thing in America and I thought a good Aussie style slice would be good, so I made a Gingerbread white chocolate slice, we had a little taste mmm it was lovely. I made the Tags from the Autumn Holiday's cartridge I think it was. I used my Cricut pens to write on them. Thanks for looking, have a nice weekend.

Snowman Treat Box

Hello everyone I have a treat box today I made for Greg for our Christmas table this year. I actually made two, almost identical except for the scarf and hat. I've given that one to Greg so he can put a treat in there for me. I got the box cut file from the Cutting Cafe it's quite cute and holds a decent treat or two. We thought it was a good idea to make wintery Christmas themed one as it will more than likely be our last winter Christmas : ). I think Frosty the Snowman and his identical twin will look great on our table. Thanks for looking today.

Christmas Wreath using the Cricut Explore

Hello everyone, Happy Sunday! I've had a lovely day today, we had a nice cozy sleep in, yummy brunch, a bit of shopping and I'm about to cook a lovely dinner and a small dessert. It was lovely because I got to spend it with a lovely man who happens to be my hubby, can't get better than that!

I made this wreath this past week and finished it last night whilst Greg was working on our awesome house plans, so we were both being creative! It didn't take long to do, it was more the fact I had to go out and buy more ribbon to cover the Polystyrene wreath form yesterday as I ran out. All you do is cover a white Polystyrene wreath form with green ribbon. I then used my Cricut to cut out my holly leaves, I think it was from Classroom - December and January cartridge. I cut the holly leaves out in various cardstock shades of green and patterned green. I then scored a line down the middle to give it a realistic look when folded. The leaves are just hot glued onto the wreath. The berries are red pom poms. I got my ribbon bow from Michaels. I am looking forward to putting this on our door for Christmas, thanks for looking.

Be back soon...after I've finished my Christmas project

Hello everyone,

I am busy working on my Christmas wreath so I hope to get it finished soon, I need to go to Joann's tomorrow and get a couple more items to finish it, I'm excited to finish it, my trusty Cricut Explore has been working hard for me and cutting out my holly leaves : ).

I may get to do some smaller things in between, we'll see but until then.

Happy Friday!!!!! and

Christmas Crackers

Hello I have some crackers I made over the week, these are for gifts but I will be making some for our table for Christmas as well. I got the cracker from the Fancy Boxes cartridge, I love these as they remind me of the ones I have had every Christmas in Australia. They are not popular in America in shops, you can get them from World Market as they are imported but I am glad I can make my own. I even bought snaps to put inside them. So all you need is the Cricut cut, a snap, a little gift or chocolate, a joke (easily found on the internet) and an empty toilet roll tube. I decorated with some die cuts I got on clearance at Michaels and some ribbon. Thanks for looking today : )

Card for Ivy

Hello I have another Christmas card today, I'll be making a few cards for the dogs I walk and care for for Christmas and for their owners. This one is for the most special dog of all Ivy and her owner. I will be making some treats for the dogs and giving the owners a small gift of thanks and to wish a Merry Christmas as the time gets nearer. I started with a light blue card and then a dark blue layer cut on the Cricut from Art Philosophy. I used Versa Mark ink and white embossing powder and a Verve stamp to stamp my greeting. The stocking is from Christmas Cheer, the heart from Art Philosophy, the bones are from Paper Pups and the rope is from Old West. Ivy loves her rope so that's why I included that in her stocking. I popped the stocking up on 3D dots. It turned out so cute! Thanks for looking today.

Greg's Christmas card

 

Hello Happy Monday!! I have a card today that I made for Greg for Christmas last week, I've included a little video too, sorry it's not that great but best I could do of it in "action". It's a Penny spinner card, it took a little bit to get it right as you have to make sure you use the right thickness on the 3D foam dot in order to get it to spin. I used my Cricut Explore to make it. The cute stamp is a Me to You bear stamp I got free with a magazine I got when we were recently in the U.K. It also came with some sentiments so I used the "husband" part for that. The greeting in the top left I wrote myself using my Cricut and my Cricut pens. I added a little K & Co sticker I got on clearance in a pack yesterday from Michaels in the bottom left. I was after a Santa sack originally but couldn't find one so I used used the next best thing some gifts and a candy cane.

Wreath Box

 

Hello hope you're having a nice Thursday only one more day till the weekend : ). I saw a really cute wreath box on a blog using the Cricut Explore and I decided to make my own, it's such a lovely Christmas gift idea. The lady on the blog shared the Cricut cut file to do this so I don't know which cartridge the wreath or bow is from but any wreath would work if you have a Cricut Explore and have access to the library. I cut the shadow part of the wreath (on the bottom of the box) and the wreath on top in plain chipboard, you will need the deep cut blade for this. I then cut the same again but in green cardstock, this was glued onto the chipboard pieces. The bow was made from scraps in my box (I love how the bow turned out). I used Artiste to cut the little banner and my Cricut pens to write my sentiment. The Box itself is just a round paper mache box I got from Michaels. The blog said to use the same green cardstock to cover around the box but I decided to use paint instead. I had some Martha Stewarts Crafts "Pesto Green" paint in my stash and it matched my cardstock. For the lid on the box I cut a circle larger than the hole in the wreath and then put some acetate over that. You could use any small gift in here or treats. I had some Lindt peanut butter balls on hand and found that 3 will fit in nicely, so it's a nice treat but not too much of a treat lol. I love how this turned out. Thanks for looking.

Happy Christmas

Hello another Christmas card today. I used Christmas Kitsch for the card I love the Candy cane cut outs.  I used Artiste for the scalloped circles using gold and then a scrap of patterned paper. I used Artiste to cut out the banner and used my Cricut black pen to write my sentiment. The cute Reindeer was a free cut yesterday at Miss Kate's Cuttables, she didn't have antlers and I decided not to add any antlers and left her like that. I added a goggle eye as well. This card had a bit of a woodland Christmas theme, I like it, thanks for looking today.

Happy Winter

Hello Happy Monday, I have a card today that I made for a swap I do every few months or so with a friend in Germany. There was no particular theme for this one, it was a surprise swap but not a Christmas theme. So I decided on a winter theme. It looks like winter is on it's way soon, but a cute penguin with a bright umbrella can brighten the winter. I chose the card from Winter Woodland with the snowflake "built in". I cut the cute penguin with the umbrella from Jolly Holidays, but I used the contour feature to keep the face blank so I could use a Peachy Keen stamp from the Critters set (isn't it cute?). I added a silver peel off holographic snowflake to the center of the snowflake. I used a Taylored Expressions stamp from a couple of years ago for the sentiment.  I embossed this with white embossing powder. Thanks for looking.

Handbag birthday card

Hello Happy Friday, we've had some sleet and very light snow here today and high winds, maybe that means winter has come early and will leave early, we can only hope and we can look forward to it being our last winter here all being well!! That's a cheery thought.

I had a birthday card to make and I really liked this little handbag card that comes on the Artfully Sent cartridge. I cut it out of Kraft cardstock and then cut 12 squares and rectangles from scraps in my scrap box for each bag. I then covered the back in another piece of Kraft cardstock to hide all the pieces. I cut the banner from the Artiste cartridge and used my Cricut to write the sentiment. I think it turned out very cute, thanks for looking, have a nice weekend.

Candy Cane Card from Christmas Kitsch

Hello I made this card tonight this one was a quick one. These cards are good for certain people that we still like to send a card to but i don't think they quite appreciate the work that goes into a handmade card so I still make them a card but they are quicker type cards with not a lot of embellishment or time gone into it. Mind you, i was still happy with how this turned out I really like the kraft colored card and the red and white candy cane; The card was from the Christmas Kitsch cartridge. I cut the little holly berries out of some red glitter cardstock. I stamped in Versamark ink and embossed with white embossing powder. The stamp is a set I won last year from Verve Stamps. Inside I used the same stamp set and stamped "from our house to yours". Thanks for looking, have a lovely day.

Baby Card

Hello Happy Wednesday! I had a baby card to make I haven't had one to make in ages but one of my clients (their dog is Ginger) are going to have a baby girl on Monday and I won't see Ginger till February so I will give them this card on Friday. I think it turned out quite cute. I started with a pink card then added a white then pink layer. The dress is cut out from the Baby Steps cartridge. It came with little socks but I decided to just do the dress. I used a Close to My Heart stamp for the greeting, I also stamped one inside which says "on your little bundle of joy". I put the dress on 3D dots. Thanks for looking, have a nice day.

Choo Choo Santa's coming

Hello another card today I made this one tonight, isn't it cute? I love cute Christmas cards. This one is for my brother Darren who is a Train Driver so I thought he would like this. I started with a ready made red card and then cut a layer from Art Philsophy in green striped paper. I used my Cricut pens and Explore to write the greeting. I couldn't find a Christmas train in my Cricut library so I went searching and found one at Lettering Delights.com, the file was only $1.25 and it came with other carriage cars and Christmas characters it was so cute. I chose to just use the little engine and the car with Santa in it. There was lots of bits to cut but it was worth it and I stamped the face using a Peachy Keen face stamp. I went around the carriage and engine with a glitter pens to give it some sparkle. I also added some glitter glue on the hat pom pom. Hope you like my Santa Choo Choo card!

Gorgeous jolly snowman card

Hello I have another card today from the Christmas Kitsch cartridge, sorry about the shadow on the card it's a lovely sunny (although windy) day and it's cast a shadow but you can still see it. This is probably my favourite card from this cartridge it's so cute, I hate snow but love snowmen lol. I cut the card to fit a standard A2 size envelope and I cut the card from some lovely glittery card I had from a DCWV stack. All the layers are cut from scraps in my box. I added some plain blue on the insert of the card and stamped a greeting. I love my little Frosty the snowman card, hope you do too : )

Glittery Reindeer

Hello I have another card made from the Christmas Kitsch cartridge. The card itself though is just a regular card blank from a box I got at Michaels. I then added a layer of dotted paper. The reindeer is from Christmas Kitsch he's so cute isn't he? I added a stamped greeting along the bottom, the stamp is from an old set I got a while ago with a magazine from the U.K.

There is glitter on his antlers and his nose. Some of it went a bit uneven though with the glue so once it's dry I'll touch up the bare areas. Speaking of glitter the craft room and Greg is really sparkling it's a bit funny but I asked Greg to help me unscrew the lid on my glitter container as it was hard to do and then he passed it to me but I think I must have held it by the loose lid and then glitter went flying everywhere, all over the carpet and Greg and on me, I vacuumed it up but I still see sparkles everwhere and no doubt Greg will be glittering (I think he's a shining star anyway!) for a while. Glitter can be a nightmare but it does look nice at Christmas. Thanks for looking.

Ho Ho Ho

Hello everyone Happy Sunday we've had a lovely Autumn day today, we went out this morning and it was nice to get out in the sun together.

I made this card over the weekend. I had some credit to use in my Cricut account so I bought the new Anna Griffin "Christmas Kitsch" cartridge it's really cute with some lovely cards on there so I made two cards. The first one I loved the bell design and I used some non traditional colors for this one for something different. I used a stamp that I got free from a magazine last year on the bell. The only trouble was the card didn't stand up too well with the bell shape so Greg suggested adding a strip of matching card along the bottom so it would stand and it works perfectly.

The next one is my favourite. The card itself is a card with the "Ho Ho Ho" on it in layers. I added the Santa myself from the Winter Frolic cartridge, I hid the face on the Cricut Design Space so I could add a Peachy Keen face, I recently bought the Christmas Character Face Assortment set as these have been on my wish list for a while and they were on sale so I got them. I love the cute face on the Santa now! Santa cards are my favourite cards as i love Santa : ) Thanks for looking, have a nice week.

Some Christmas gifts

Hello everyone I have 2 little gifts I've been working on this week, these are cute hot chocolate holders. I got the files from Treasure Box Designs they are called "Mug Pals" and so cute that I really wanted to try them for Christmas. They were really easy to cut and I really enjoyed putting them together. I made them to measure on my Cricut Explore. The stamped greeting on the Santa one is from Close to My Heart. Thanks for looking, have a nice weekend.

Christmas Card

Hello Happy Friday evening I made this card tonight, I was in the study/craft room with Greg this evening whilst he was working on our house design I made a Christmas card using a new Embossing folder I got recently. I got a Sizzix Embossing folder Set it came with a cute snowman Embossing folder, 3 tiny embossing folders and a small Christmas tree die (not the tree I used on this card though). I was struggling with how to use my embossing folder as it's such a cute design that I didn't want to cover it up too much so my lovely husband threw around some ideas with me and we both came up with this. I then used a stripey paper on top of the card and a green layer, then I embossed with the folder onto some silver cardstock I love how the snowmen look on the silver. I then cut a tree on my Cricut Explore it's from the Holiday Cakes cartridge. The banner is from Artiste and I used my American Crafts Slick Writer red pen (which can be used in the Cricut to write) to write my greeting. I put this on 3D dots and I decorated my tree using a hole punch to cut out circles out of scrap and a mini star hole punch for the star.

Hello I'm back and 2 cards I made

Hello I am back now after my wonderful trip to Italy, we both had such a good time it was lovely also to celebrate with Greg on our anniversary, it was the best day of the whole trip but the trip itself was wonderful, lots of great memories and photos of our time together there.

I've been able to make 2 cards today it's nice to start doing my crafts again and be in my shared craft room/office with Greg. My friend Conny and I did a "twin swap" recently which is we each make a card with a theme and then send each other the same materials to make a card with. It's fun to see how both cards will be different. Conny sent me a red card and envelope, also some snowflake background paper, a fern leaf, 2 red Christmas tree die cuts, some star die cuts, a die cut greeting and 2 snowman images that were stamped. So this is what I made, it turned out cute. Greg gave me some input and I think it turned out very cute. I colored in the snowman with pencils and then added glitter glue for the "fur" on his hat and pompom. I also cut a strip from the red card and embossed that with my swiss dots embossing folder.

Because I had an extra snowman I decided to make another card and here it is

I used a patterned card that I got in a pack from Michaels a while ago. I then got a scrap of navy blue and used my holly punch along the bottom. I stamped in Versamark ink and embossed with white powder. I colored the snowman with pencils again and added some glitter pen and added some silver snowflake stickers.

Both of these cards are going the Caring Hearts card drive, I do this each year.  The cards get collected and sent to nursing homes across the U.S.A and Canada to elderly people who are lonely at Christmas or need some Christmas Cheer. I don't have any Grandparents anymore so I love to do this. I hope to get a couple more done but if I don't at least I've made these two. You can find out about the drive here.

Thanks for looking, have a nice day.

Coco Loco

Hello Happy Monday, it's only one and a half more days till we leave for our trp we are very excited now and counting down : ). I had some time today to finish a layout I started last week. This is the last of my layouts for our trip to the Dominican Republic. These photos are of a coconut party we joined near the pool at the resort. I started with a light blue cardstock base and then cut an 11" square of tropical flower paper and then a green mat on top of that. The font was cut from the Cricut Craft Room font in my Explore and I did some faux stitching in white around the letters. I cut a label from the Artfully sent cartridge and wrote my journalling using my Cricut pens. I added various stickers and wood embellishment to finish.

Everything is made better with a cupcake

Hello Happy Friday we have a beautiful warm sunny day today hopefully it will last a bit longer well at least till we leave on Wednesday. This isn't a craft related post but I guess you could call baking a craft.

I had a text today from one of my clients Alex and her dog Benson she was very upset as Benson's health is failing and she is worried about what to do and how bad he will get.Besides that her mother is very ill. I saw her when I was out and she was crying it was a shame to see her upset so I thought I would whip up a batch of cupcakes when I got home as cupcakes can help any situation : ). So In between going out I made these and thankfully I had all the ingredients but If I hadn't I would have ran to the shop : ). They turned out beautiful and tasted wonderful they were chocolate with white chocolate chips and vanilla and peppermint buttercream icing. I baked them and my darling baker of a husband iced them he is a whizz with a piping bag. The whole cupcake tasted wonderful. I gave some to Tanya as well and Alex texted me to say she loved them so hopefully it made her day a bit. Have a nice weekend.

Sunset Bliss

Hello all, I started this one last night just finished it now, I think I'm almost finished with the Dominican Republic album now, soon I'll have Italy to do and that will be a LOT of photos! I can't wait now only 5 days to go. I don't normally put handwriting on my pages but I did love this journalling card so I thought I would do something different. I started with a page that was a from a recent Recollections Stack I got from Michaels, the colors are so bright and fun and it reminds me of tropical colors. I did my font on my Cricut Explore it was from the Southwest cartridge. The burlap sticker is from my stash (I think it was an old My Little Yellow Bicycle one)and the flowers were wooden Recollections flowers and I just inked one of them and used a Gelato stick on the other one with an enamel dot. I put enamel dots on the photo too. The journalling card mum sent me ages ago I think it was a Kaisercraft one. Thanks for looking today.