Christmas in July

Summer is here in full force. The thermostat is inching up higher by the hour. My herbs are wilting and the garden is browning as it produces fewer and fewer tasty morsels. That’s OK though. It’s too hot to pick and to hot to be in a steamy kitchen canning all day. The freezer is full of peaches and squash and the pantry has a good supply of green beans, pickled cucumbers, banana peppers, green tomatoes and plump juicy red stewed tomatoes.  

The shelves look like Christmas

 The shelves look like Christmas; all red and green. I guess that’s why a “Christmas in July” challenge seems just right about now.

BBTB2, Little Scrap Pieces and GoFish are all challenging everyone to get creative with their Christmas cartridges and have fun with ‘Christmas in July’. I LOVE the Jolly Holidays cartridge but I thought I would challenge myself and try playing with a different Christmas cartridge also.

Background Paper & Lettering are from the Martha Stewart Holidays Pad

For the Challenges I used:

The cartridge Jolly Holidays for

  Branch-Line 5, key 6-S

  Ornament-Line 3, Key 3.

But I also used Cartridge Christmas for

  2 ornaments- Feature Key Blackout, Line 3, Keys 3 & 5

  Happy- Line 2, Key 10-S

  Christmas- Line 2, Key 10.

I rearranged the placement of the ornaments on the limb so my pictures could be seen.

The branch looked a little bare so I did a search for pinecones and found the perfect one on the Lyrical Letters cartridge-Feature Key Jumbo; Line 4, Key 10. I don’t use this cartridge often because I have trouble getting a smooth cut on the thin letters. (Anyone have a tip for this problem?) But the cartridge does have some cute shapes. It was a fun project and got me thinking about things I want to do for Christmas this year. There are so many cute ideas out there.

Cold Treats on a Hot Day

We’ve had a respite from the heat the past few days. The temperatures have been in the high 80’s and low 90’s with rain and thunderstorms in the afternoons or at night. It’s a nice change from the triple digits, drought, and fires we had last summer. The weatherman has promised us rising temperatures and of course high humidity in our near future. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the 'cooler' weather. When I’m hot, I’m not a happy camper, but then again, I usually freeze when I’m inside in the air conditioning to long so I have to go back outside for a little while to thaw out.  It’s a vicious cycle. One of the best ways to break that cycle and to stay cool from the inside out is ice cream! Any flavor will do. Homemade is the best.

My GB’s, ages 1 & 2 are just now discovering the joy of ice cream or a Popsicle on a hot day in summer. I was happy to see the Yummy, Yummy challenge #119 over at FCCB.  Celebrate the Occasion also has an I Scream for Ice Cream Challenge HERE. It gave me the motivation to create a layout for the GB’s enjoying their ice cream. Their Mama always makes them go outside to eat the cold treats since it melts so quickly and is so messy. That’s why I couldn’t resist adding the little puddle of melting ice cream. 

 I used Sweet Treat cartridge for the ice cream cone, UpRight font from Opposites Attract for the lettering, and enlarged the Once Upon a Time Accent/Blackout from Provocrafts Storybook cartridge for the shaped background. 

  What do you use for inspiration/motivation? Do start with the picture and build your layout around it or do you create your layout first and then find a picture to use? Do you use theme paper or do you choose colors that inspire you? That’s what I love about crafting. There is no right or wrong way to craft. We all take different approaches and end up with different results and yet they are all interesting and imaginative. 

Happy Crafting

Sunday, July 08, 2012

I am so excited! I just received an email from Karen over at Little Scrap Pieces telling me that I've won her Fun Friday Challenge! Being new to all of this, I feel very honored that my entry into her challenge as been so well received. Thank you Karen!

I raced through my house work Saturday so that I could begin working on a challenge from BBTB2. The inspiration is Here Comes the Sun. The image I had in my head was a spiral sun from the Gypsy Wanderings cartridge, but I was looking through my binder (more on that in another post) and found a 4 piece flower in the Sweet Treat cartridge that I thought would make a fun sun if I used the right colors. I've also entered this in the Fantabulous Cricut Monday Challenge #120-Sunny Days. Don't you just love these sunny days of summer challenges?

I decided to try making an interactive card. I wanted the sun to move across the sky as though it were rising and setting. After several false starts and a couple elaborate attempts I realized it would be just as easy to make a simple dial that you could turn at the bottom to make the sun travel in an arc. First I attached the circle to the card using a flower brad. The trick to this is to make sure that you have the brad centered in the middle of the circle. I did this by folding the circle over, like a taco, and making a slight crease and then opening it out flat and doing it again going the other direction. I put the brad in the middle of X. I then cut a slit in the card by tracing the circle half way around using an exact-o knife. Next I attached the sun to a one inch rectangle of card stock. I ran the card stock through the slit and glued it to the circle. Now when the circle, or dial, is turned at the bottom of the card, the sun travels across the card. I finished decorating my card using more flower brads and cutting grass using the Plantin Cartridge.

For the inside I cut a card liner slightly smaller than my card and, using my computer and printer, typed my sentiment, ‘Wishing you happy moments from sunup to sundown’. I then glued the liner inside the card being careful not to glue down the moving parts but also hiding them and the backs of the brads. 

 Sun is actually a flower from the Sweet Treat cartridge

 Grass is from Plantin cartridge and birds are from Serenade

Whoa! Look at me now. My first post. How fitting that it should be on the birthday of our country.

Happy 4th of July!

Welcome in! I've started this blog to share my adventures in my crafting room. It's not a large room, but it's my space and I spend a lot of time in it. I love to scrapbook, sew, try all types of needlecraft, paint and create. Sometimes I just stare off into space and think. I get a lot of inspiration from fellow bloggers, pinterest, magazines, just about everywhere. The main reason I've begun this journey with a blog is to showcase my latest passion which is paper crafts. I love to scrapbook, make cards, banners, you name it. I have my trusty Cricut Expression, a Gypsy, an assortment of cartridges and lots of paper and I'm ready to make something! So without further ado...
 Here is my Salute to Independence Day scrapbook layout.

I used the seasonal Cricut cartridge, Independence Day

 

I'm going to enter this in the CWC #93-happy-birthday-usa-Challenge.

Another 4th of July project I just finished is this firecracker centerpiece. I used an empty Pringles can as the firecracker and a silhouette cut out from A Child's Year.

I used the cartridge, "A Child's Year" for the

blue and white bits and pieces. 

This is my entry for the 1. Fantabulous Cricut Challenge # 118

,                                  2. Little Scrap Pieces Fun Friday Challenge
                                   3. Bitten by the Bug 2: Patriotic Challenge