"I Feel the Love" Project for Brandon

Brandon is 4 years old and was in a horrific accident that killed the driver, injured his mother, aunt and little sister.  Despite being in a car seat, Brandon suffered a traumatic brain and spinal cord injury and was oxygen deprived for too long for a reasonable chance at recovery. Despite dire predictions early on, Brandon has had remarkable accomplishments in rehab. He is considered tetraplegic, which means he can move one limb from time to time; he remains trach and ventilator dependent, with little likelihood that he will ever be weaned from the ventilator  due to his neurological damage from the accident.

As one of our Cooking With Cricut challenge Wednesdays our Design Team made cards for Brandon -- and due to some family issues I was unable to complete mine.  So here it is, just in the nick of time to link it up to Madison's "I Feel the Love" Project for May.  Brandon will be spending quite a lot of time in the hospital and then in a rehabilitation center.  He loves super heroes and I thought he might enjoy having this cheerful banner featuring "The Incredibles" to hang in his room, instead of a card.  I used the Cricut Best of Pixar cartridge for all of the characters and Mickey Font for his name.

I'll try and get all the details and sizes on here this weekend along with a picture of the banner after it is laminated and tied together.

~ Jen


P.S.  I'm entering this into The Paper Variety:  Anything But a Layout or Card Challenge.

Cooking With Cricut Challenge: May Flowers

Happy Wednesday!  I want to start off by thanking everyone who stopped by and left such sweet comments during Cooking With Cricut's 2nd Blogaversary Celebration (click  here to check it out).  It was so much fun!  Today is our weekly Cooking With Cricut challenge.  This week the Design Team was given a May Flowers theme with the instructions to make or use flowers on our projects.

Here is what I came up with . . .

I have been working on my 8 year old daughter's baby scrapbook (I know, I know . . . about time, right!) and when I saw the challenge topic I knew immediately that these pictures were going to be perfect.  

Here's the recipe --

Cricut Cake Basics cartridge:

Circle - cut at 1 3/4" from plain white card stock and then run thru my printer.

Scalloped Circle - cut at 2 1/2" (scrap stash).

Flower - cut at 4" from DCWV Cherry Limeade Stack.

Stem & Leaves - cut at 4 1/4" tall (scrap stash); edges inked.

Text - cut at 1" high and 3/4" high from white card stock.

The 12" x 12" white card stock is by Recollections.  The solid purple is Bazzill's Wild Pansy card stock.  The floral patterned scrapbook paper is by Hot Off the Press.  The photos are matted on a dark purple card stock by Recollections.


The ribbon is 5/8" wide and is Michael's Celebrate It Basic-Basic satin ribbon.  The self-adhesive rhinestones are also by Recollections.

Now it's your turn!  Link up your "May Flowers" project at Cooking With Cricut this week -- you could be our next Top Chef!

Thanks for stopping by!  Head on over to CWC and see what my fellow Design Team members have cooked up.

~ Jen


P.S.  I'm linking my project up at:

• BBTB2 - "Garden" challenge
• Shopping Our Stash Challenge - May Flowers
• Die Cuttin Divas - Anything Goes
• Celebrate the Occasion - Anything Goes

I was featured today at Jaihart's Sundays are Lovely!

WOW!  How much fun is this -- I opened my e-mail this morning and received a lovely note from my friend Jill that she was featuring my onesies on her blog today!  Check it out . . . here's the link:  Sundays Are Lovely.


Thanks, Jill!!


~ Jen

Cooking With Cricut's 2nd Blogaversary: Day 6

Welcome to Day 6 of Cooking With Cricut's week-long 2nd Blogaversary Celebration! This week we have been celebrating all things "girly." It has been a truly amazing week filled with tons of wonderful projects by the Design Teams and some absolutely incredible freebies by the always generous, Melin. 

Today is our last day and we are laying down the red carpet, heading to vintage Hollywood,  and we're glamming it up Art Deco-style! Here's what I came up with . . .

This stylish young lady is my maternal grandmother, Mildred Henrietta Zurn . . . but everyone affectionately called her "Polly."  This picture was taken in 1927 when she was 20 years old.

The letter is from my grandfather and I saved it because it seems to be the first time he professed his love for her.  My grandfather was William H. "Bill" Steckert and he was a traveling salesman for a number of paper companies (See!  My love of paper must be genetic!) through the years.   He died quite young, at the age of 45 -- my mother was only 3 -- and my grandmother saved all of the letters he had written her as he traveled all over the country.  I also included the envelope -- the date it was postmarked was February 10, 1928 -- Bill and Polly married a little over a year later on March 4, 1929.  I thought it quite poetic that the date he professed his love for my grandmother is also the same date as their only child's birth (which was my mother, 14 years later).

Here's the recipe for my layout:

Cricut Cupcake Wrappers cartridge -- 

• Stars cut at 2 1/2" high (scrap card stock)

Cricut "Just Because" Cards cartridge -- 

• Name frame mats cut at 2" wide, 1 3/4" wide and 1 7/8" wide.  (scrap card stock)

Sure Cuts A Lot -- 

• "Polly" cut at 1 3/8" high - the font is called "Grasshopper" (scrap card stock)
• Swirl/Flourish from the SCAL Swirls Library - cut at 3/4" wide (scrap card stock)

I kept this layout very clean and simple.  I wanted the photos and the letter to be the true stars!  It will be a wonderful addition to our family heritage album.  

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you'll head on over to Cooking With Cricut and check out the amazing projects our Design Team came up with!  And thanks so much for helping us celebrate our beloved leader, Melin, and her fabulous creation,  Cooking With Cricut, on their 2nd Blog-aversary!

~ Jen

Cooking With Cricut's 2nd Blogaversary: Day 5

Welcome to Day 5 of Cooking With Cricut's week-long 2nd Blogaversary Celebration!  This week we are celebrating all things "girly."  

Yesterday we put on our tiaras and/or crowns and had a quite regal day!  Today we're venturing into true frilliness . . . lace, ruffles and bows!  Those of you that know me, know that I am NOT a girly-girl!  My favorite color is blue, I'm not into fancy clothes, nail polish or make-up.  Fortunately, I have an 8 year old who LOVES all of those things . . . still not sure how I ended up with such a girly-girl daughter, LOL!  So I tried to channel some "frou-frou-frilly-ness" and here's what I came up with . . .

Well, it's not too frou-frou, but I did manage to get some lace and bows onto my project!  This is my darling daughter at 5 months old -- such a cutie-pie and what a HAM!  (The trick to getting Demi to smile for the camera was an overly dramatic and very loud AAAAH-CHOO!  Worked every time!)

Here's the recipe for my 12" x 12"" scrapbook layout:

Cricut Mother's Day 2010 cartridge - 

• Lace - cut from white card stock at 11" long and then cut in half length-wise.
• Title mat - cut from white card stock at 5" long.

The base paper is a 12" x 12" piece of Bazzill's Splash card stock.  The brown mats are Bazzill's Basic Brown. The toile is by K & Co. and is from their Chateau collection which I believe has been discontinued (left-overs from a wedding we did in 2008).  The lined paper is a scrap I had left over from another project and it is from DCWV's Cherry Limeade Stack.  Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore and the little blue pom-pom flowers are from EK Success' Classic Pooh Collection.  The light blue ribbon is by Offray and it is #5947 Fleur; the rick-rack is by Me & MY Big Ideas, "Just Write" Ribbon 02 - Pastel Ribbon Assortment.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you'll head on over to Cooking With Cricut and check out the amazing projects our Design Team came up with!  And make sure you join us tomorrow (Saturday, May 26) for the last day of our week-long CWC 2nd Blogaversary Celebration!  

~ Jen

Cooking With Cricut's 2nd Blogaversary: Day 4

Welcome to Day 4 of Cooking With Cricut's week-long 2nd Blogaversary Celebration!  This week we are celebrating all things "girly."  

Yesterday we were 100% Pink-a-licious!  Today we continue our salute to all things girly and what is more girly than a tiara or crown!!!  Here's what I came up with . . .

As you can see, I decided to have a little fun and change it up a bit!  LOL!  I LOVE this little frog!  He is just too stinkin' cute!  Here's the recipe . . .

Cricut Sesame Street Friends cartridge:

• Frog Prince cut @ 5 1/4" tall (all papers are from my scrap stash).

Cricut Love Struck 2010 cartridge:

• Kiss/Lips cut at 1" wide (scrap stash).

Sure Cuts A Lot:

• "Muah" cut at 1 1/4" tall (white card stock) using the "Forte" font.

The base paper is a light blue card stock from Recollections and the striped card stock is by Basic Grey.  The lips on the front of the card are pop-dotted for a little dimension.  A little bit of ink on the edges of the lips and some doodling with a hot pink Gelly Roll pen complete the details on this fun card.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you'll head on over to Cooking With Cricut and check out the amazing projects our Design Team came up with!  And make sure you join us tomorrow (Friday, May 25) for some "frou-frou-ness!"

~ Jen

Cooking With Cricut's 2nd Blogaversary: Day 3

Welcome to Day 3 of Cooking With Cricut's week-long 2nd Blogaversary Celebration!  This week we are celebrating all things "girly."  

Yesterday we celebrated the pearl ~ and we did that little grain of sand proud!  Today our theme is totally Pink-a-licious!  We were challenged to use our favorite shade(s) of pink and add satin -- ribbon, fabric or flowers.   Here's what I came up with . . .

This sweet little one is my youngest daughter at 3 months old.  And yes, she was born with a ton of hair and no, we didn't style it that way (Can you tell that we got asked those questions a lot?).  I made this 12" x 12" page as the first page of her baby scrapbook.

Here's the recipe:

Calligraphy Collection cartridge -

• "Sweet Little" One - cut at 4 1/4" high from Bazzill's Petty Cash card stock.

"Just Because" Cards cartridge - 

• Scalloped edge border - four pieces cut at 4" wide from white and pink card stock.

New Arrival cartridge -

• Onesie and Baby Dress - cut at 2 1/2" high (paper from scrap stash).
• Clothes Hangers - cut at 1 1/2" wide from a silver metallic card stock (scrap stash).
• Booties - cut at 3/4" high from white card stock.

The base paper is by Heidi Grace Designs.  All of the black onesie embellishments are rub-ons from the "Doodles" rub-on book by Making Memories.  My "clothes line" is white embroidery floss.  My satin elements are the ties and bows on the baby booties.  Some grosgrain ribbon from Michael's and self-adhesive rhinestones by Recollections complete this super cute layout.

Now it's your turn!  Link up your "Pink-a-licious" project over at Cooking With Cricut for a chance at some great prizes and the title of "Top Chef!"  Head on over to CWC for the details and check out the amazing projects our Design Team came up with!  And make sure you join us tomorrow (Thursday, May 24) for Day 4 of CWC's 2nd Blogaversary Celebration!

~ Jen

CWC's 2nd Blogaversary Celebration - Day 2: Pearls

Welcome to Day 2 of Cooking With Cricut's week-long 2nd Blogaversary Celebration!  This week we are celebrating all things "girly."  

Yesterday was bling, frills, lace, pink -- anything feminine!  Today we are showcasing that old classic -- pearls.  The Design Team was challenged to use pearls in some way on their projects -- pearls, pearlized paper, liquid pearls or even pearl-ex powders.  This is what I came up with . . .

I made this 5" x 7" card for my Mom for Mother's Day (she loved it!).   Here is the recipe:

Cricut Cake Basics cartridge -

• pg. 73, , cut from white card stock.  I welded two pieces of the border together using Cricut Design Studio to create a piece that was 7" wide.
• pg. 28, , three circles cut at 2" from my scrap stash (the pink and green are from DCWV's Cherry Limeade stack; the purple polka-dot is from DCWV's Nana's Nursery:  Baby Boy stack)

Cricut "Just Because" Cards cartridge - 

• pg. 42, , cut from Bazzill's Chablis card stock.  Cut at 7" wide

PaperCraftingWorld.com Cutting files -

• Hibiscus Flower - cut at 1 3/4" wide.  I inked the edges of the flower pieces and the leaves.  The flower is cut from Bazzill's Chablis card stock; the other papers are from my scrap stash.
• Butterfly 811 - cut at 1 3/4" side with paper from my scrap stash.  I added three little pearls to the butterfly's body.

The card base is a piece of Bazzill's Pinkini cut to 7" wide by 10" long and folded in half.  The green strip is 7" wide and is from the DCWV Cherry Limeade stack.  The white rub-on letters and flourish are by Making Memories.  The alphabet is called "Simply Stated."  The flourish is from the "Doodles" rub-on book.  The pearls are self-adhesive from Recollections. I even used a "pearlized" sheer pink ribbon with white polka dots to carry on the pearl theme!

I hope you'll head on over to Cooking With Cricut and check out the amazing projects our Design Team came up with!  And make sure you join us tomorrow (Wednesday, May 23) for our weekly challenge -- it is going to be "pinkalicious!"

~ Jen

Cooking With Cricut's 2nd Blogaversary: Day 1

Welcome to Paper Crafting World and Cooking With Cricut's 2nd Blog-Aversary and our week long celebration! Each day for a whole week (May 19-26) we will be brining you fabulous projects made by our Design Team members. We have some GREAT blog candy as well as some daily file and graphic give-aways -- so you will definitely want to make PCW-CWC your daily stop every day this week!

Our theme for today is . . . All Things Girly! Bling, frills, lace, pink -- anything feminine! And this is what I created . . . Teacher Appreciation week was the week of May 7th in our school district and I made this fun tote for my 8 year old's teacher.

Cartridges used:  Disney's Happily Ever After (Owl), Create-A-Critter (Hoot),
Cindy Loo (Thanks) and Cake Basics (remaining text).

Cartridge used:  Cindy Loo (text)

Cartridges used:  Cindy Loo (Teacher), Create-A-Critter (Owl and Branch)
and Cupcake Wrappers (#1)

Cartridge used:  Cindy Loo (thank you)

Note card holder made from the envelope on the Cindy Loo cartridge.
The scalloped circle and "thanks" are from the Cupcake Wrappers cartridge.

M & M's!  With a fun "prescription"
for use.  I made the label in Word
and the top of the upcycled Fuze
bottle has a scalloped circle cut using
Cupcake Wrappers and a little flower
cute using Create-A-Critter.

Have you guessed yet what I made my "tote" from?  It is a beverage carrier from Sonic Drive In!  I simply made a template, cut my paper (all from DCWV's Cherry Limeade Stack) and stuck it down.  I trimmed out the corners with Bazzill's Pink Chablis card stock to cover my seams.  Then I filled it with a thermal cup, note cards, the M & M's, pencils, cute little sticky note pads and some erasers.

You might wonder why I chose owls and the wild pink/green/purple color scheme . . . I have a number of friends who are teachers and they have told me (quite frankly, as a matter of fact) that they are inundated with apples and are sooooo over it!  :)

Thanks for stopping by and make sure you head on over to Cooking With Cricut to check out the rest of the projects by our amazing Design Teams!

~ Jen

Cooking With Cricut's 2nd Blogaversary Blog Hop

Welcome to Paper Crafting World and Cooking With Cricut’s Blogaversary Blog Hop! Our Design Teams are so excited to bring you a two-day hop that focuses on projects honoring a second anniversary…..cloth, crystal and/or glass.

We think you will be blown away by some of the super creative inspiration and interpretation of our designers. So be sure to come back both days as each day will be a different set of designers and projects!  PLUS, this hop is the kick off of our week-long celebration! Each day for a whole week we will be bringing you fabulous projects made by our designers and each day we will be giving away free vintage graphics, digital printables and/or electronic cutting files! So you will want to make CWC-PCW a daily stop for the next week!

You should have arrived here from visiting Marji at Tigger Scraps. If you’ve joined us in mid-Hop and would like to check out all the other fantastic projects head on over to CWC-PCW and start at the beginning.

I chose to go the "cloth" route!  I love to make onesies and shirts for our nieces and nephews using the freezer paper method.  (Click here to learn how to do this if you are unfamiliar with the process.)  We have two nieces that we don't get to see very often -- one had a birthday a couple of months ago and the youngest will be one in June.  While they were here visiting recently we celebrated their birthdays and here is what I made for them . . .

We found these cute little skorts at Wal-Mart and I coordinated the colors I used on their onesies to match them.

Here is the recipe for the "Sweet" onesie:

Hello Kitty Greetings cartridge:  Strawberry cut @ 3 1/4" tall.

Create-A-Critter cartridge:  Sweet cut @ 3 3/4" wide.

The ladybug on the sleeve was an "oops!"  I dropped my paintbrush (thanks to a certain cat that was demanding my attention) and so to cover my boo-boo I free-handed a little ladybug.

Here is the recipe for the "Love Bug" onesie:

Create-A-Critter cartridge:  Love Bug cut @ 3" wide.

Doodlecharms cartridge:  Lady Bug cut @ 2 1/2" wide.

I use Tulip brand Soft Fabric paints as well as their dimensional paints.  These hold up pretty well in the wash -- as long as they are turned inside out and hung up to dry.  The girls looked SO cute and everyone loved their adorable little outfits.

There are several prizes to be won so be sure to head over and join the fun at CWC-PCW. There is a “cloth, crystal or glass” challenge you can enter to win as well as other super blog candy (cartridges and other fantastic supplies from our sponsors!) just for being a follower and commenting, so don’t miss out!

I'm the last stop in today's Blog Hop!  Make sure you stop in tomorrow at CWC-PCW  and see what our other Designers have cooked up for Day Two of our Blogaversary Blog Hop!

~ Jen

Cooking With Cricut Challenge: Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Happy Wednesday and welcome to challenge day at Cooking With Cricut!  The Design Team was given the task of creating gifts for our Moms in honor of Mother's Day this Sunday, May 13th -- no cards allowed this time.

My Mom is the best!  She is smart, witty, an excellent cook, a gardener extraordinaire and just an all around amazing person.  Usually she is really easy to buy for -- anything for her garden.  However, she just hasn't had time to garden lately and I was given strict instructions NOT to spend ANY money on her this year.  "A card will be just wonderful!" she said.  (And I thought to myself, "That won't do -- I can't make a card for the challenge this week!"  LOL!)

So here is what I came up with . . .

I found this really cute template at Splitcoast Stampers and knew I HAD to make it for her.  I am going to put some of her favorite candy inside (chocolate, of course).  The green paper is from DCWV Cherry Limeade Stack.  (I "fussy cut" all of the pieces for the watering can.)

All of the other cuts are from the Cricut Cake Basics cartridge and are from my scrap stash unless otherwise noted:

• page 49, (bttrfly1) - cut at 1" h from plain white card stock.
• page 49, (bttrfly2) - cut at 1" h from plain white card stock.
• page 38, (plain shadow blackout feature) - cut at 3/4".
• page  40, (plain shadow blackout feature) - cut at 3/4".
• page 39,   (plain shadow blackout feature) - cut at 1/2".
• page 39,   (plain shadow blackout feature) - cut at 1/2".
• page 44, (plain shadow blackout feature) - cut at 7/8".
• page 37, (base shadow blackout feature) - cut at 1 3/4" x 1 1/2" from plain white card stock.

The flower centers are clear/silver rhinestone brads by Recollections purchased at Michaels.  I think it turned out pretty cute and I know my Mom will love it!

Thanks for stopping by . . . now head on over to Cooking With Cricut and see what the other Design Team members have cooked up.  And don't forget to link up your Mother's Day Gift idea this week -- you could be our next Top Chef!  


~ Jen

Cooking With Cricut Challenge: Teacher Appreciation

Happy Wednesday!  It is challenge day over at Cooking With Cricut and you should definitely head over and check out what the amazing Design Team created to salute their favorite teachers!

I have a great teacher appreciation gift started, but nowhere near completed.  Ever have one of those weeks where everyone else's stuff had to come first?  That's what my week has been like!  I hope to get it completed in the next couple of days and posted for you to check out.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a great day!

~ Jen

Happy 2nd Birthday, Dylan & A Boy-Card

Our grandson, Dylan, is TWO today!  Happy birthday, sweet boy!  We love you!

And now for the boy-card . . . Recently my daughter had a birthday party to attend for her BFF and the BFF's older brother.  I always have such a tough time doing masculine cards.  However, my dear friend Charlotte gifted me with the Disney Best of Pixar cartridge not too long ago and it has some great "guy" images.  So here is the 5" x 7" card I made for Emma's brother, Josh.

Here is the recipe:

Best of Pixar -- 

• Mr. Incredible cut @ 4 1/4" wide.
• Sunbursts -- yellow cut @ 2 3/4" wide; red @ 2 4/4" wide; orange @ 5 3/4" wide.
• POW! cut @ 3 1/4" wide

Cake Basics -- 

• Frame cut @ 4 3/4" wide by 6 3/4" tall.

All papers were from my scrap stash.  The inside greeting was printed from my computer using Microsoft Publisher.

This was a fun card to make and the primary colors really pop off of the black background card.

Thanks for stopping by and make sure you check in tomorrow for this week's Cooking With Cricut Design Team challenge post.  This week we are saluting teachers!

~ Jen