CWC Challenge #139: Card Outreach

Happy Wednesday!  Today is our weekly "Crafts With Cutters" Design Team challenge over at MyPaperCrafting.com and we are creating cards for teammate Madison's "I Feel the Love" Project.  This month's IFTL recipients are the parents of a 6 month old baby boy named Mason, who was killed in an automobile accident caused by a drunken driver.  Here is what I created for Yvette and Santiago Villega, Jr.

This card was created using the Cricut Pink Journey cartridge.  The wings are cut at 5" wide and 2 3/4" wide.  I dusted the edges with some chalk and pop-dotted the smaller wings.  The blue heart is cut at 2 3/4" wide and is matted and pop-dotted.  A rubber stamped sentiment and a white ribbon complete the card.

The blue card stock is by Bazzill and is called "Splash."  Both of the patterned papers are by K & Co. from a discontinued line called "Chateau" -- Blue Stripe and Toile.

Here is what the inside of the card says:

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you'll head over to MyPaperCrafting.com and see what the other Design Team members created for the Villega Family.

~ Jen

S'more Fun!

Whoo-Hoo!  This makes three days in a row that I've posted a new project.  I know, I know . . . nothing for months on end and then . . .WHAM!  Momma got her mojo back (it also helps that I have finally unpacked all of the necessary craft supplies)!

Anyway, back to business.  Today I am thrilled to be posting with the SVG Design Team at MyPaperCrafting.com!  Melinda Beltran is the creative wizard behind the curtain at MPC and PaperCraftingWorld.com and she creates the most awesome cut files.  I love working with her files -- they always cut so cleanly!  Check out this cutie . . .

I created this 12 x 12 layout using the Smore Fun cutting file at PaperCraftingWorld.com.  We are a Girl Scout family -- my Mom was a Girl Scout in the 50's; I went from Brownies (1st grade) through Seniors (12th grade) and have been a Girl Scout leader for about 12 years.  My youngest daughter just flew up to Juniors and I will be her Junior Leader this Fall.  

Girl Scouts LOVE s'mores.  And I knew that this cute cut file would be making an appearance in Demi's Girl Scout scrapbook!

The orange background paper is from DCWV Nana's Nursery paper pack.  All of the other papers are from my scrap stash.  The photo frame is a 6" x 4".  The marshmallow title measures 11" wide.  The bear on the stack of s'mores is 7 1/2" tall and the other bear is 4" tall.  I used several different brown ink pads and chalks to decorate my bears.  The green title was cut using SCAL and the AR Christy font.

Thanks so much for stopping by and please head over to MyPaperCrafting.com and see what the other Designers created!

~ Jen

Cricut Country Life Cartridge Showcase

I am pleased to be part of the Cartridge Showcase at MyPaperCrafting.com today!  We are featuring projects created using the Country Life cartridge.  I was truly surprised at the variety of elements available on this cartridge -- it's not just cows and crops!  This cartridge has six creative features including a banner, font and phrases. 

Here is what I created:

First up, a shaped card.  I used the Cricut Design Studio to weld two strawberries (pg. 56) together to create this bottom hinged card.

A piece of gingham ribbon, a button, embroidery floss and a white Gelly Roll pen added the finishing touches to this cute birthday card.  The inside text was created using Microsoft Word.  The finished card measures 5" wide by 4" tall.

Next up, a 5" x 7" card.   This cut is from page 72 in the handbook.  All of the papers are from my scrap stash except for the background paper.  I ran it through my printer and cut it to fit.  Some rubber stamp ink and pen doodles finished off this card.  I left the inside blank and will add this to my card stash.

We recently moved and I decided that our small galley kitchen needed a little bit of artwork to liven it up.  The old tired framed pieces that have decorated our previous kitchens just weren't doing the job any longer.  Time for a change!

The frames all need a fresh coat of paint and I didn't get the other three completed yet -- but its a start.  The background card stock is from an old paper pack by K & Co. called "Classic K Margo."  The blue is Bazzill's Splash card stock and the white is just plain old white card stock.  the rest of the papers are from my scrap stash.

The corn is from the Country Life cartridge (pg. 50) and the blue frame and lattice are from Cricut's French Manor cartridge (pg. 54).  I used some embroidery floss to create my corn silk.   Here's a close-up look at it --

To give the corn silk some color, I ran it across an Ancient Page ink pad called "Sandalwood."  It is also the same color I stipple brushed on the lattice to age it.  

The accompanying pieces will be peas (pg. 48), radishes (pg. 54) and carrots (pg. 55).  I can't wait to get them finished and hung up in the kitchen.  

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you will head on over to MyPaperCrafting.com and check out the rest of the projects in the showcase.

~ Jen

Happy Father's Day!

To all those wonderful guys out there that are present and participating in their children's lives . . . HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

My siblings and I were blessed to grow up with one of those dads.  Dad was our soccer coach, Den Leader and Cubmaster, part of Girl Scout Troop committees and even an assistant Girl Scout Leader once.  He chaperoned field trips, came to school and gave presentations on forestry, helped raise money for whatever fund raiser was being held, and drove us everywhere.  He even suffered through my viola practices and various concerts. 

Dad was the king of road trips.  He'd load us up with a cooler of sandwiches and drinks; a pile of 8-track tapes; his large repertoire of corny jokes and off we'd go.  Every summer growing up we could count on visiting various state parks and historical monuments.  There are many a photo of my siblings and myself straddling a cannon at some fort or battlefield.

Photo of Dad and me, circa 1975.

And as anyone who has traveled with kids knows, the inevitable question would come . . . "Are we there yet?"  Dad always answered, "Nope . . . 26 miles."  Now you need to understand something -- it could have been 200 miles to our destination  or 2 blocks -- the answer was always "26 miles."  So with that memory in mind, I made this card for my Dad.

I used the Cricut Crocs Rule (Lite) cartridge for the gators in the car and SCAL Arial Black for the text.  The background paper was a freebie I downloaded a couple of years ago and I added the "Are we there yet?" text on top and printed it out.  This card measures 5" x 7".  The car gators are cut at 6 1/2" wide.  The font is cut at 1" high.

The inside was computer generated.  The graphic is from Microsoft Publisher and I watermarked it on my paper and placed my text on top.

Happy Father's Day, Dad.  I love you!

~ Jen

CWC Challenge - "S" Cartridge or Die-Cut

I'm back!  I know -- it has been so very long since I have shared anything remotely crafty with you all!  Heck, it has been a long time since I've done anything remotely crafty!  I'm not sure what's worse . . . packing the boxes to move or unpacking them and finding a place for everything.  So thanks for stopping by and checking out my "Crafts With Cutters" project at MyPaperCrafting.com this week.  Our challenge was to use a cartridge or a die-cut that begins with the letter "S."

I used Cricut's Summer Bliss and Simply Sweet (along with a few others) to create this card for my niece, Layla.  She just "graduated" from Pre-K and is headed to Kindergarten this Fall.  Her Pre-school held a graduation ceremony last Friday night and it was so cute!  The kids sang, danced and recited a Bible verse from memory.  All of them did a fantastic job!

Here is what I created:

I used the Summer Bliss cartridge for the paper doll, cap and gown.  The hair is from Paper Doll Dress Up and the shoes and diploma are from the Everyday Paper Doll cartridge.  The card base is from the Recollections "Butterfly Wings" card stock pack.  The patterned paper is also by Recollections and is called "Purple Scribbles."  All other papers are from my scrap stash.

Here is the inside of the card:

I used the Cricut Simply Sweet cartridge for the phrase and star.

Layla loved her card and said, "Aunt Jen!  That looks just like me! Ooh!  I love the sparkly shoes, too!"  A very high compliment, indeed!

Thanks again for stopping by!  I hope you'll head on over to MyPaperCrafting.com and see what the other Design Team members have created.

~ Jen