Happy New Year! Welcome 2011!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very happy and prosperous new year. I had somewhat of a rough 2010 with getting laid off in February, picking up a temp, contract position in late June (which was only supposed to be 5 weeks and turned into 6 months) but then not getting the contract renewed into the new year. Back to looking for full-time employment for me after the weekend. Here's to hoping that 2011 is a better year.

I hope to get some projects done next week to post. With the holidays, I just haven't gotten alot of crafting done. I did get a new green Expression (from me) for Christmas. I also got some mats, one new cartridge (Quarter Note) and some gift cards for Michaels so will be shopping for more supplies and/or cartridges.

Happy New Year to all! Be safe and see you in 2011!

Marijo

Just a little post of a project

Hi All,

Hope everyone is getting ready for Christmas. I still have to do most of my shopping but have gotten the ones that needed to be shipped, shipped out yesterday. One less worry.

Anyway, here is a little set of blocks that I made last weekend. They are 1"x1" blocks that I glued paper to and used letter stickers from Creative Memories.

Enjoy! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Card 2010

Here is my Christmas card that I sent out to family and friends. I had a great time making them, all 63 of them! Took me a few days to finish them all, but I got them done and out in the mail the day after Thanksgiving. I think that is the first time I have ever gotten my cards mailed out that early. I used Very Merry Tags for the tree. Hope you like it.

Thanks for looking. Have a Very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year!

Design Team submission for Craft Junkie Too!

Here is my submission for Craft Junkie Too for this week. We were tasked with submitting a project/hint/whatever idea for organization during the holidays. This is a box that I had gotten at Target off the clearance rack. I always lay out the Christmas cards that I receive for display on my hearth. This year I wanted something different. I used vinyl on this project and used Celebrate with a Flourish for the Merry Christmas and Jasmine for the Cards 2010. I will keep my cards in this box sitting on my hearth. And next year, all I have to change is the year. How is that for recycling!!
Hope you like it. Let me know what you think. Merry Christmas to all!!

First cake using my Martha Stewart Cake Machine

Hello All,

Well, here it is. My first cake decorated using the Martha Stewart Cricut Cake Machine that I won from the Cricut Circle blog. Yes, I cheated a bit. I bought an undecorated cake from my local supermarket and just had them put the chocolate border along the bottom. My Mom said that since I have the machine, that I could make a "decorated" dessert for Thanksgiving dinner. I used the Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art cartridge for the Happy Harvest and the acorn medallions.

There is definitely a HUGE learning curve using a different medium other than paper. At least I know how the machine works, I just didn't know how the fondant would work. I think it will get easier the more I work with it. Next I want to try cutting sugar cookie dough for Christmas cookies and Gingerbread cookies! I will post pictures when I try that!

Since this is my first try at cake decorating, please let me know what you think. And let me know if you have any tips that I can use the next time I use the machine.

Thanks for stopping and I hope everyone has a GREAT Thanksgiving! Bye!

Getting ready for Black Friday!

Sorry I have been gone for a while. I have been working alot of hours (in comparison to my part-time thing) and the rest of my time seems to have been eaten up by making my Christmas cards. I finished making them last night! WooHoo!!! Now all we have to do is get them signed, addressed, stamped and mailed out on Friday or Saturday. I like to get them mailed early so it is one less thing I have to worry about later in the holiday season. Then on to decorating the house.

Starting to plan my Black Friday shopping adventure. I sure do want to be at Walmart at 12:01am on Friday morning (technically middle of the "bleeping" night!) to try and get one of the Expressions that they will have on sale. The one I have has been making some strange sounds now and again, and I want to have a back-up machine, just in case. And $185.00 is a pretty good deal.

Then off to shopping with my BFF later on in the morning, at a more reasonable time of 6am. I got her hooked on making cards and now she needs supplies. What an enabler I am!!

I finally received my Martha Stewart Cake machine last weekend. WooHoo! Just tried it out once so far, and there will DEFINITELY be a learning curve to get used to using the fondant and gumpaste instead of paper! Now Mom said I have to bring a "decorated" dessert for Thanksgiving dinner! Guess what I will be doing this afternoon!

Hope to post some projects soon. I want to make a Christmas banner for my fireplace, just have not had the chance to get it started yet. Hopefully later today since I am off work till Monday!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Talk to you soon!

This weeks project for Craft Junkie Too!

Here is the project I submitted for this weeks entry for the Design Team on Craft Junkie Too's blog. Our "assignment" was to show something we were thankful for. Well, I am thankful for my family. I made this frame and used a picture that was taken last year when my son was visiting Arizona from Wisconsin for his birthday. He had such a good time seeing his sisters. We are a blended family, so we are not able to get everyone together very often. We have one more daughter and granddaughter in Texas and unfortunately, they were not able to make it in to visit with the whole group. One of these days we will get everyone in one spot!

The frame I used was from the $1 bin at Michaels, the leaves were cut from the Cricut Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons Cartridge and the "family" was cut from the Potpourri Basket cartridge. The paper is from Bazzill and the sticker is from K & Company. I put a couple of coats of Mod Podge on the top to protect it.

Hope you all like it. Let me know what you think. I always like to hear the comments of my fellow papercrafters. Talk to you soon! Bye!!

Thanksgiving banner

Hello all,

Here is a banner that I made for Thanksgiving. I don't remember which cartridges I used for the shapes, but I used Base Camp for the lettering. That is my favorite font cartridge. The gold paper I used looks kind of like fabric when you see it up close. I used some eyelets to reinforce the holes where I tied the pieces together with some raffia I had in my scrap box. I have it hanging my my mantle for all to see.

Now I have to start working on a Christmas banner to hang there during the holidays. I can't believe how fast this year has gone. Christmas will be here before we know it. Better get working on my Christmas list and my Christmas cards!

Let me know what you think. Hope you all enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
Bye!!

Design Team post for Craft Junkie Too!

Here is the design I made for Craft Junkie Too Project call this week. The theme was "Halloween is in the Air" and you had to make something that you could hang up. I decided to do a Trick or Treat banner complete with glitter! I used the Blackletter cartridge for the lettering. The paper is from Bazzill and the glitter is Stickles. The candy corn stickers are from EK Success.Hope you like it. I really had a good time making this one. Let me know what you think!
Have a great Wednesday!

Marijo

First try at a holiday banner!

Well, I had seen so many beautiful holiday banners on the blogs so I decided that I would try one too. I was at an all-day crop last weekend and made this Halloween banner. I used George for the slotted ovals, and Happy Hauntings Vampire font with shadow for the lettering. I strung them together with a piece of black lace that kind of looks like spider webbing. I now have it hanging in the front window of my house. What do you think?

I have found a new way to use my Cricut. Now I am making a Thanksgiving one for my fireplace, a birthday one (because we have a bunch of birthdays coming up before the end of the year), and then maybe a Christmas one too.

Talk to you all soon. Have a great Tuesday!

Marijo

My project for Craft Junkie Too Design Team

Hi All,

Here is my first project for the Craft Junkie Too Design Team. We had to design a fall inspired project. Hope you like it. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

A couple of cards

This Pumpkin Patch card is made from the October 31st cartridge. I used the Martha Stewart Drippy Goo edge punch as well as the Leave it to Weaver from Fiskars to weave the ribbon through. This is now my new favorite punch.

Isn't the spider ribbon on there the cutest! Thanks Michelle for letting me use it. And thanks for inviting us over for a crop last weekend. I think that the spiders were cut from Doodlecharms and the stamp is from Stampin Up.

Trying my hand at Altered Composition Books!

Here are a couple of altered composition books that I made. I made the pink one during a class that was held at a weekend crop in Flagstaff, Arizona in September. The leopard one I tried on my own after I got back home. I still have some embellishing to do on it, but you get the idea. I used Destinations Cricut cartridge for the Safari. I had to order a paper drill and then I drilled the holes a little too far in from the edge. Oh well, live and learn! I used frilly yarn on this one because that was the only thing I had in my craft room to put on the binding.

Hope you like them. More to come. They will get better with time! Thanks for stopping.

I have been chosen for the Craft Junkie Too Design Team!!

I am so honored to have been chosen for Tracy's blog, Craft Junkie Too, as part of her Design Teams. I have followed her blog for quite a while and have learned quite a bit from her designs and her videos. Thanks Tracy for sharing your creativity. We have all learned from it. I hope to make her proud with my designs. I now have to write my bio and design a project due in a few days, so I better get busy! Talk to you all soon!

I won a Martha Stewart Cake Bundle on the Cricut Circle Blog!

I can't believe it. The new Cricut Circle blog was having giveaways all day yesterday and I won a Martha Stewart Cake Bundle, including the cake machine and all 3 of her cake cartridges! I had been commenting all day for the giveaways and thought, "Oh, I will never win!" After dinner, I checked the blog and, to my surprise, my name was there! I think that just justified the amount of money I paid to join the Cricut Circle. It is a great group of people.

It is supposed to ship on Tuesday and I should have it by the weekend. Guess what I will be doing next weekend??!!

Finally some new cards!

Hi All,

Sorry I have not posted much in the last month. I didn't have much mojo flowing. Not sure why, but glad that it is back! Here are a few Halloween cards that I made for our Cricut Circle Meet-up that I went to last night. We swapped cards and had a great time. All the ladies are awesome and it is nice to meet other Cricut lovers in the area. Hope to get together with them soon to crop!

Anyway, enjoy the cards! Will post more later.

Sorry it's been so long!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Life caught up with me. Instead of working part time last week, I was on full time and was just exhausted by the time I got home. That's what I get for being out of work for so long and then trying to get used to working an 8 hour shift again!

I have been working on a few new things. Picked up a few new cartridges. Got Country Life and Rock Princess. Will post pictures later in the week (haven't gotten them downloaded of my camera yet!).

Hope all is well and check back later this week for new stuff!

I am back from my scrapbooking weekend away!

Hi All,

I am back from my scrapbook weekend at the Wild Horse Pass Resort in Chandler, Arizona and it was great. It was put on by Scrap Sistaz here locally and if I must say, they did a great job. There was about 95 of us and a great time was had by all.

I only got a few scrapbook pages done because a bunch of pictures that I was going to use were not in my envelope of pictures. Well duh!!!! Do you think I bothered to check THAT before I left for the weekend?! I did make a couple of cards though and wanted to share them with you.

Will share more after I get the pictures from the crop organized. Have a great week!

Wow! Over 2000 hits!!

Hi All,

I can't believe it. Over 2000 hits. When I started this blog, I never would have imagined this. Thanks to all who stop by to check it out. I really appreciate each and every visit.

Sorry I haven't added too much to the blog lately. With the new job, by the time I get home, I am brain-drained and haven't felt much like crafting. I know, it shocks you to hear that come from me, but I have had sooo much information crammed into my head in the last two and a half weeks that I can't come up with anything but a mess!

I am going to a weekend crop on Friday and hope to get my creative juices flowing again. Good thing it will be inside since the temperature here in Arizona is supposed to be 115 degrees for most of the weekend. I will mainly be working on my scrapbook of our trip to Texas in March to see our Granddaughter. But I also plan on taking some card-making supplies with me as well. A few of my friends want me to teach them what I know of the Gypsy since they have not had a chance to experiment with theirs yet. And they want me to teach them how I go about making my cards. I really need the time away to do nothing other than crafting. I am sooooo looking forward to it. I will post pictures next week of my creations.

Again, thanks for stopping by and come back again soon!!

I made it through the week!!

Hi All,

I made it through my first week back working. I am very tired, but so very happy to be working again. My brain is on overload with all the information that I have been given to process. I really think I am going to love working at this company. I am a contract worker, but hope to get hired on permanently when the contract is complete.


Anyway, I wanted to post a couple of cards that I made last weekend. The anniversary card is for my husband's brother and his wife.

And the the "Hershey" card is for a friend of mine's husband for his birthday. His nickname is Hershey and she wanted a card that referred to Hershey chocolates. I even inked the white mat on the inside with brown chalk ink to make it look like someone had chocolate on their fingers when they opened the card. She loved it and I hope her husband will like it too.

With the long weekend, I hope to get some crafting time in and will try and post again. I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July with family and friends! Later!!

Great News!!!

Hi All,

I got a job!! It is only for the summer, but it is a foot in the door at this particular company and could be my way into a permanent position. I am really looking forward to starting tomorrow.

With that said, additions to my blog this week my be few and far between. Since I haven't worked in 4 months, I am sure that I will be REALLY brain tired by the time I get home from learning all the new stuff. So I apologize in advance if I don't get anything added this week.

Thanks to all that visit and wish me luck!!!

Busy making cards this weekend!

Hi All,

I had a bunch of cards to make this weekend and get out in the mail. I really need to get these done earlier so I am not scrambling at the last minute.

Anyway, one of my friend's mother passed away last week and I wanted to get something out to her to let her know that I was thinking of her and her family. No cricut on this one. I used paper from the DCWV Flower Shower Spring Stack. The flowers are from Prima Essentials No. 9 collection and I used Tattered Angels Pearl Glimmer Mist on them. The large center brad is from Joanns.
My husband's niece had a baby last Tuesday and wanted to get a card out to her as well. I used paper from K&Company Snuggle Bug paper pad. The Cricut cuts are from New Arrival and I stamped the face with Peachy Keen stamp set PK-490 Everyday Character Face Assortment.
Another Father's Day card using the new Cricut Lite Block Party cartridge. I love love love this cartridge! I also made a "menu board" for the BBQ that we had at the house yesterday. Pretty simple, but everyone loved it.Hope you like all these. I had a blast working in my craft room. The creative juices were definitely flowing! I hope everyone had a great weekend. More later.

Paper Cutz Challenge #45

Hello All,

Here is my entry for Paper Cutz Challenge #45. Directions were to make a card, LO or craft project for Father's Day using a digital, hand stamped or Cricut cut image and any colors you'd like.

I made this one for my husband. It shows our 4 kids, 3 daughters and a son. He is the best Dad in the world and the best Husband in the universe. I used Stand and Salute for the banner, A Childs Year for the silhouettes, and the pattern paper is from Die Cuts with a View (DCWV) The Guy Stack. The solid paper is from Joanns and the letters are from Creative Memories.

Hope he likes it!!

Blog Award!

I can't believe that I got a Blog Award! I never expected it. I received it from Carri at DoubleClick Connections. She is the greatest. Click HERE to visit her blog.



I share what I love. My paper crafting has kept me sane during my unemployment and the search for a new job. I am soo very happy that you all like my creations. Thanks again Carri for sharing the award and thant you all for visiting my humble little blog. I appreciate each and every one of you.

I am passing this award on to the following great people -

Mary at Cardz TV

Mary at KreatesKards

Allison at A. Hill Designs

Tracy at Craft Junkie Too

Christina at Creations with Christina

You are all such great inspirations to me. Thanks for sharing your great outlook on life and your creativity with us.

CricutCardzChallenge #28

Hi All,

Here is my entry for Cricut Cards Challenge #28. All you had to do was use shoes in a project. I started with the shoes and then picked the colors for the background. Then I couldn't come up with a sentiment. Everyone always says, "Be Yourself" so that is what I used.

Hope you like it. Have a great weekend!

Throwback Thursday Episode 49

Here is my entry for Emma's challenge over at My Creative Time. the challenge was to use Stretch Your Imagination and use brown, blue & red. I thought these colors worked well for a Fall/Autumn themed card so I made this one. As I was finishing the card and wondering what sentiment I was going to use, I looked at the leaf cutouts on the frame and "falling for you" popped into my head. Hope you like it!! I had fun making it!!

Paper Cutz Challenge #44

For challenge # 44, make a card, LO or craft project with a vacation theme using a digital, hand stamped or Cricut cut image of a car, plane, travel trailer or RV.

I made this card for my Dad because he loves pick-up trucks. This truck was cut from "Just Because" Cards cartridge and Base Camp for the letters. I welded the letters to the card with my Gypsy. I saw a video that Momo did on her Made by Momo blog. She did it in Design Studio, but I tried it in the Gypsy and it worked. Thanks Momo for the lesson. I really like doing this. It takes a little practice, but I really like doing this type of card. This one was a bit hard to photograph and show that the word is attached to the front of the card. Hope you can see this.

Hope you like the card. Let me know what you think. Have a great Thursday!

Thank you everyone for visiting!

Thanks so much to all that visit my blog. I know that I have been a little lax lately in posting my cards, but with being gone on vacation and looking for a job, I have been a bit short on time. I apologize and promise to be more attentive to the blog. I know how much I depend on seeing new creations on other blogs and I don't want to disappoint you with no new entries.

Again, I appreciate each and every one of you and look forward to hearing from you. I feel so very special that you choose to come to see what I have made. It gives me a reason to keep creating. Please leave a comment or email me if you have any questions or just want to talk.

Thanks!!!

Almost 1000 hits!!

Wow!! Almost 1000 hits to my blog! I can't believe it. Seems like just yesterday that I first set up this blog and wasn't sure what was going to happen with it.

Thank you everyone for stopping by. I really appreciate your visits and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments. I enjoy reading what you all have to say.

I have been on vacation for a week so that is why there hasn't been much new added lately. I am back in my craftroom and will be working on more creations this week and will post as soon as I finish them.

Again, thanks for stopping by! Come back soon!

Something new from Cindy Loo!

Hello Everyone!

Finally got to meet up with my Expression again after being gone for 8 days. Good to see her again! While I was in Pennsylvania, I found the new Cindy Loo cartridge on sale at AC Moore and of course I bought it. We don't have AC Moore in Arizona so I jumped at the chance to get it. Only bad thing was that I couldn't try it out until I got back home!

Here is a card that I threw together. And I mean I threw together. I am soooo tired from traveling all day yesterday that I can hardly keep my eyes open. So this isn't my best work. I really like this cartridge and can't wait to try more cuts when I am fully awake.

Hope you like it and I will try and post more tomorrow after a good nights rest! Have a great Saturday! (I missed you all!!)

I'm Back!!

I am back! Pennsylvania was beautiful, so green. The total opposite of Arizona. Long day flying home yesterday. Finally got back into town at 1030pm last night. All I wanted to do was hit my pillow and sleep for a week!

I have a hair appointment this morning, but will be trying out the new cartridges this afternoon. I will post as soon as I get them done. Check back later this afternoon!

Just checking in!

Hi All,

Just wanted to check in and let you know that I have not forgot about the blog. I have been really busy lately so haven't had much time to work on cards. But I think I am having withdrawals from not creating something. I will try and get a few cards made this weekend though and get them posted.

I bought Cindy Loo and Wall Decor and can't wait to try them out. I will post what I make as soon as I can get at least 5 minutes alone with my Expression!

Talk to you all soon. Have a great week.

Blog candy on Passion for Crafts

Hi all,

I found this blog candy here from Passion for Crafts. This is an awesome candy package. Check it out!

Pause Dream Enjoy Challenge #2

For the Pause Dream Enjoy Challenge #2, you had to make a bookmark. I have never made a bookmark before so this was new to me.

I distressed the bookmark (with Tim Holtz inks, of course) and then stamped (Fiskars Stamps) the coffee cups and coffee beans with the same ink. I then went over that with a metallic gel pen, just to give it something extra. I then used Inkssentials Glossy Accents on each of the shapes. I think it came out pretty cool. I then tied some fancy yarn on the top (I didn't have any ribbons that matched).

What do you think? Makes me want to sit down with a good book and a cup of good coffee!

Birthday shoe card for my Best Friend!

I almost forgot to post this. Here is a card that I made for my best friend who loves shoes. And her daughter is getting married later this year and one of her colors is pear green. So what better color to make her shoes than that! And I blinged them out a bit! She loved the card.

I love making cards because you can personalize it so much more than going to Hallmark and trying to find just the "right" one. And you can never find just the right one.

Hope you enjoy. Have a great evening!

Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge 28

Here is my entry for Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge #28.

Hope you like it! I don't have very many Peachy Keen stamps so I had to try and use what I have. I would love more, but for now, I only have a few sets.

Thanks and have a great day!

Cricut Cardz Challenge #24

Here is my entry for Circut Cardz Challenge #24. You had to use 3 circles. I used Preserves cartridge and the orange shape. And of course, Peachy Keen Stamps. Hope you like it.

Just an update!

Hi All,

I haven't posted any pictures in the last few days because I just haven't gotten my pictures downloaded off my camera. So, hopefully, now that the weekend is over, I will get them into my computer so I can post new creations.

I met for lunch with some scrapbooking friends last week that were going on a weekend scrapbooking retreat that, unfortunately, I could not attend. I was sooo bummed. Anyway, I took along the cards that I had been making (about 24 of them). They loved them! I sold 5 to one of the girls and 3 more to another. I could not believe it. So I am recreating those cards (good thing I take a picture of every card when I finish it!). That is mainly what I have been working on the last 4 or 5 days. This time I am making multiples of each card.

Some of the local girls on my Cricut messageboard - Hello Mary, Allison, Carri, Joan and Nicki - are planning on getting together this weekend for a quick swarm. It will be great to finally meet them face to face. Seems like we have known each other for years, yet have never actually met!

Okay, better get busy and get my photos downloaded. Stay tuned for more creations. Have a great week and talk to you all soon!

Marijo

I almost forgot - Thanks to Mary from CardzTV for showing the Thank You card that I sent her on her latest video. And for including a link to my blog. You are the best Mary!

More cards

Here are a few more cards that I have made in the past week. I have been trying to step out of my comfort zone, so they may look a little different. The cards were made for no one in particular, just ones to keep in my stash for when I may need one in a hurry.

Two more Mother's Day cards

Here are 2 more Mother's Day cards that I made. One was mailed out and the other one stays here is Arizona.