You are Loved

Here is my entry to this month's Cricut Circle Blog Challenge.
This project is a gift I made for a friend who is fighting Breast Cancer. I made it to let her know that she is in my thoughts daily and that I cherish her very much.

Here are the Challenge details;
MAY MONTHLY CHALLENGE: Tic Tac Toe Challenge!
Tic Tac Toe . . . Three X’s in a Row! That’s the goal in this challenge. Look at the tic tac toe board below and choose three squares in a row. Use the challenge prompts from all three squares to create your project!

The Challenge: Create a project of your choice using the Tic Tac Toe board above to choose THREE challenge prompts in a row. Project must include atleast 2 different Cricut Image Cuts.


For my project, I chose the bottom row across: Use a flower, Use cuttlebug embossing, and patterned paper printed from the Imagine.

Here is a close up of the first two panels:
The panels were cut from George at 3.5 inches. I cut the chipboard on the Expression and Printed out all the patterned paper from the Imagine, using the Blossom Cartridge. The Font is Cricut Classic font cut at various sizes from .88 to 1.4 inches. I just used my gypsy to size the word I wanted down or up until it fit within the panel.

Here is a close up of the next two panels:
The Butterflies, Dragonfly and Trees on the project were all printed from Imagine Nursery Tails Art Cartridge. The swirls were printed from Imagine Yummy Art Cartridge.

Here is the last two panels:
The flowers were cut from Elegant Edges and the Heart was cut from Pink Journey.

Here is the back side of the panels:
Each one is embossed with a different Cuttlebug folder.

I added some Brown stickles to the insects and some small gems throughout the project to give it a little sparkle.

I used the Crop-o-dile to set eyelets in each side and attached all the panels together with some ball keychains that I cut down to size.

I really enjoyed making this project. I hope it gives her some happiness.

Have a Great and Crafty Day!

Jan

Forever Young Purse Gift bag

Hi all! Here is one of the purses from Forever Young. My DD needed a little gift bag for a Birthday party she is attending. She picked this paper from my stash to make the purse. It is from Cosmo Cricket's Hey Sugar line.


I sized the purse at 5.24". It was the largest I could fit across 12 x 12 sheet. We then picked out two accents from the paper pack. The Letter B, and a small button that says "From me to you"

We used a 1.5" x 12" strip of the paper and made a rosette, and attached the printed button to the front. We then adhered that to the front flap of the purse.

We used a small Velcro dot as the purse closure.

Then my DD strung some coordinating beads on a wire for the handle. I punched some holes on the sides and attached a loop through the hole to secure the wire handle to. The beads and jewelry findings were from the goodies my Mom brought!

We attached the B to the reverse side of the purse. ( I can't believe I forgot to photograph this! LOL)

Hope everyone is having a Great and Crafty Day!

Jan

I am no longer MIA! and A peek into our Anime Weekend.

I have been out of my groove for a couple of weeks now. I spent an awesome crafting weekend with some friends earlier this month, and when I came home, I just dumped everything in my craftroom and left it there. I had just a few days to get ready to go away for a second weekend in a row.

The following weekend I took my DD, Alex, and a couple of friends to the Anime Central Convention at the Rosemont Convention center in IL. Boy if you haven't ever seen an Anime Convention, it is a sight! Thousands of people of all ages, dressed in their favorite costumes. My DD is really into Anime, which is Japanese Animation, so those are the costumes she chose, but you get all kinds in the convention, like Video Game Characters, Disney Princesses, Classic Superheros and even movies characters. It is a crazy fun experience especially if you love to people watch.

Here are few pics of that adventure:
Here is one of the lines to get into the Convention Center, then you had to stand in another line to get your badge.
Here is a picture of Alex and one of her friends. Alex is in the blue outfit. Her character is named Ciel from Black Butler. Her friend is Len from Vocaloid. Here she is again as Ciel.
Here is Alex as Miku, a Vocaloid character, the zombie next to her is her boyfriend Cameron, he is Hunter, a video game character from Left 4 Dead.
Here is Alex as another Vocaloid character called Len. Vocaloid is a Computer program. She is with her friend Kuri, who is Rin, also a vocaloid character.
Here is a large group of Cosplayers gathered for a photo shoot, which is one of the common activities at ACEN.
Here is Alex in a different Len Costume.
And of course...We had to get a picture of Ariel! Perhaps next year I will wear a costume too!


I am still recovering from two weekends in a row of little sleep! Boy, getting old sure is rough! LOL

I still have to take pics of the projects I made at my crafty weekend, as well as finish projects I need to do for my DD's upcoming 16th birthday. Which, by the way, is a Coplay themed party, so I need to make costumes for all of us!

I hope to get things caught up soon. Hope you enjoyed my little diversion post about the crazy Cosplaying fanatics!

Have a Great and Crafty Day!

Jan

My Scraproom Tour

Hello All! The Cricut Circle is holding a challenge to show pics of yourself in your scrapping area as part of a contest. I figured if I was going to take one picture of my space, I might as well show you the rest too! It is my happy place, and I am very fortunate to have my own room. It is in the perfect location, right off of the kitchen. It is a central location in the house and I can be in here crafting while the rest of the family is near by. The room was set up to be a dining room originally, but its only 10 x 12, really too small for our large family gatherings, so I got to have it all for myself! I have it crammed to the hilt. My Hubby says I can't fit another shelf or Jetmax cube in there, but I keep trying. LOL

Well Here we go...

That's me in the requisite picture for the circle challenge.

This is the view from the doorway. I have one window in the room that faces the street. I love it because I can watch for the UPS guy from my scrap table! HA

My awesome Hubby built many of my pieces for me. Many of them were built using reclaimed lumber. I love recycling and re purposing items.

Here is my main work table. Its a huge 4x5 foot piece of Oak plywood that my DH custom cut and finished for me. He also made the rounded shelves holding up the ends of the table. There are also six Jetmax cubes supporting the table top in the other corners and underneath. I love, love, love having such a huge work space. I also have a couple of bar stools ( one is hiding underneath) on the one side for my shorties to sit when they want to craft too.

Here is the place where I sit. I have a U-shaped area where I have Jetmax cubes under more oak finished table tops. I have my laptop on the side of my main work area.

Behind me I have my printer, my Clip it Up which holds my handbooks, and all my scraps are stored in folders in the black bin. I have 10 Jetmax cubes under the tabletops which store tools, card making supplies, adhesives, vinyl, acetate, inks and all that kind of stuff.

Here is the shelves over my laptop area. I have clear stamps in the binders, as well ad photos and chipboard letters in the photo storage boxes. I keep all my ribbon on clothespins in the clear Artbin boxes.

Here are my Making Memories Embellishment centers. I took the ribbon dowels out of the bottom two shelves to maximize my storage space. The left one holds my flowers, paints, Glimmer Mists, Stickles, as well as glitter and flock. The right one holds buttons, ink pads, some jars with sweets, as well as fibers in the metal mesh canisters.

Here is the shelf my Hubby made me to hold all my cartridges. I love looking at the titles of the cartridges when I am planning a project. I made "cartridge boxes" for my solutions and seasonal cartridges using VHS mailing boxes I picked up at the office supply store. The top two shelves has more projects I have made or been given as well as some mermaids.
Here is my cutting center. It has my Imagine and my Yellow Expression side by side. My Hubby built me those two paper sorters to organize my cardstock and patterned papers by color. There are also six Jetmax cubes and some risers supporting the top. My Hubby also made me the little shelves behind the machines so I could utilize the space back there without interfering with cutting. The riser behind the Imagine is made from an old Dining room table leaf....re purposing again!
Here is the shelf over the cutting table. It holds my Imagine Cartridges as well as Tulle and projects. My In-Laws brought me all those little glass spice jars and they are really special. They are from Marshall Field's and many of them still have their original labels on them. Marshall Field's was a Chicago icon and my Grandmother worked at the store on State Street for many, many years.
Here is a side view of my cutting center. I hang all of my mats on a hook on the side. Those Jetmax cubes hold tools, and punches I don't use very often as well as Cricut blades, cords, and markers.
Here I have a HUGE corkboard right as you come into my room. I love hanging ideas and photos on it. The posterboard in the corner has a square on it for every one of our completed albums.
I have an IKEA shelf on each side of my window. This is the 8-cubby shelf. it holds idea books, all my Cuttlebug/Sizzix dies and folders, as well as other craft supplies like foam and yarn. On top is my Cricut Cake Machine, my Yourstory, and my Sizzix Big Kick.
Here is the other IKEA shelf. It is a 5-cubby shelf. In it I store extra smaller albums, stickers, items to alter as well as my Yourstory supplies. Its hard to see, but on top are some antique cameras that belonged to my Grandfather.
Here is where I showcase some of the projects I have made. The grids are from a wire cube shelving unit. I attached them to the wall using hooks made for wire closet shelves. The layouts and cards are hung up with clip-in-up clips. I have some of my daughter's artwork there too. See the drawing of the twins she made using Copic markers. Its one of my favorites.

Here is my Mermaid wall decor. I bought this at Garden Ridge in Oklahoma many years ago. I have hung some trinkets that I have made or received as gifts on the chains hanging under her.

I really hope you enjoyed visiting my Scrapspace.

Thanks for coming, and if you have and questions, please feel free to contact me.

Have a Great and Crafty Day!

Jan

Hello Kitty Sweet 16 Invitation

Hello all! I am sorry to be a little behind in my projects lately. It has been a crazy couple of weeks, and unfortunately this month things are only going to keep up at a crazy pace. I hope to get some projects done this weekend, as I am going to an impromptu scrap weekend, however, we will probably chat/shop/and eat more than scrap! LOL (That is our usual MO)

Well here is my Hello Kitty Project from April's monthly challenge. It is the Invitation to my daughter's Sweet 16 birthday party. My daughter is really into Anime, Cosplaying, and Hello Kitty. We will be using the Hello Kitty Cartridges to make the decorations for her party as well.


Hello Kitty was cut from Hello Kitty Greetings at 2.76"
Sweet 16 was cut from Hello Kitty Font at 1"
The postage stamp mat was cut from Sentimentals at 4.75"

The solid Cardstock was Coredinations. The Zebra Patterned paper is The Paper Studio.

I finished off the card with some Zebra print ribbon from Michael's.

Thanks for visiting.

Have a Great and Crafty Day!

Jan

Spring cleaning and a new Blog Award.

Hi all! I have been working hard at spring cleaning around my house. I love finally opening up the windows, and bringing in some of that sweet spring air to the house. Another spring tradition is a good purging and reorganizing of stuff, especially things that have accumulated in the basement over the winter. LOL

I am really hoping to craft some this weekend, and finish my blog posts for projects from April's challenge. I also have my dd's Sweet 16 party to start planning. I was very surprised when I logged onto my blog this morning to find that my friend Cassandra over at Cricut Croppin' with Cassandra has given me a blog award. Thanks so much Cassandra! pop on over to her blog, she had the most wonderful projects!



The Liebster Blog award is given to bring newer blogs into the light. It's a great way to share blogs that might not otherwise have been noticed and should be! As recipient you must share the love and pass it along to others, as well as these four things:

1. You must post on your blog and tell a little about the award and
announce your 3-5 picks.
2. Let those know you have chosen them.
3. Copy and post the award on your blog for all to see.
4. Have fun and continue to inspire

So here are my picks for this blog award:
http://kristympaperaddict.blogspot.com/ Check out her beautiful explosion boxes!
http://shewhoscraps.blogspot.com/ I loved her Floral wreath she made for the circle challenge.
http://www.janiceaeschliman.blogspot.com/ Check out that cupcake card she made for Pink Stamper's NSD Challenge!

Thanks Ladies for sharing your fantastic projects on your blogs!

And Thanks Cassandra for the great award!

Have a Great and Crafty National Scrapbook Day!

Jan

May Monthly Cartridge Challenge

It's a new month, and with that I pick a new set of Cartridges to use during the month. This is my 10th Month doing this challenge, and I am pretty darn excited that I have hung in there and kept plugging away at it. I hope others are challenging themselves to use the carts they buy too!

May's Picks are:

Cake Basics
Cricut Classic Font
Cuttin' Up
Freshly Picked
George and Basic Shapes
Hannah Montana
Happily Ever After
Life's A Beach

Also want to use my Imagine more, so I am challenging myself to use that at least once in every month too.