Check out Cuttlebug Challenge Blog

Hello blog followers! I have a great blog I would like to share with you. Maggie has created an awesome blog called the Cuttlebug Challenge! Please take some time to head on over and visit and become a follower. Maggie has lots of information and lots of great guest designers with wonderful info to share. Cuttlebug Challenge (Maggie!) was invited back to CHA for the second year in a row to help demo the CB at the Provo Craft booth. This is an awesome honor. Thanks for checking out http://www.cuttlebugchallenge.blogspot.com/ See you there real soon!

I'm getting a Cricut CAKE! Thank you PC!

I was lucky enough to attend the Provo Craft Gala tonight after the CHA show. It was a great party!
They had an old fashioned cake walk. The grand prize winner gets to travel to PC with 4 friends for a personal demo of the Cake machine. The runner-up received a $500 gift card from Williams-Sonoma and a $500 Visa gift card. The third place winner received $250 on Circut.com!
But, everyone who attended turned out to be BIG winners. We all received a Cricut CAKE!!!
I'm beyond excited! I'm not sure how soon I will receive my machine, but I plan to try and figure out the Flip video recorder and post demos on my blog.
Jim, Provo Craft CEO, gave an awesome speech! There are big things coming for PC. He mentioned 3 new versions of the Expression.... THIS YEAR ALONE! (I'm so excited!)
There are so many great things coming for the Cuttlebug! The new folders are fantastic and offer so many new options. They take Nestabilities to the next level!!!

There was just so much to see and absorb. I really wish I didn't have to go to work tomorrow. I am suppose t attend CHA again on Tuesday wth my Boss, but our company interest is outside of the scrapbooking area so not sure I will get to go back there.

Leave CHA Questions & Comments HERE

Questions??? and Comments....

Heading to CHA!!

I am heading to the trade show side of CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) tomorrow! This is the best opportunity to see all the new products the Scrapbooking world will have to offer us in 2010! I'm even more excited to be able to bring my friend Tina along!

I am MOST excited to visit the Provo Craft (Cricut!) booth. I can't wait to see the new Cake live and in person. I hear there are Chef's hats to wear as well! The new Cuttlebug folders have peaked my interest too.

I also plan to check out the new Cinch from We R Memory Keepers.

Of course, I will check out the Crate Paper booth and their upcoming lines. Crate Paper is my ALL TIME FAV!!!

I will post update and pics as soon as I can.

Ikea Bygel Bars for Punch Organization

Here is a pic of the Ikea Bygel Bars. They are awesome for storing punches. This is the smaller length of bar and each one cost only $1.99! This wall is behind the bedroom door. It is a great space to use, especially for this.

Christmas Tags

I have had so much fun making tags for gifts this year. I purchased the Very Merry Tags solutions cartridge for the Cricut machine and love it!

Here are a few examples of the tags I made. My son, Jake, has enjoyed helping also.

The Peppermint Candy tags are cut at 3.5 ". I used silver Stickles glitter glue to outline and make the center.

I also cut the light bulbs at 3.5". I used silver, red and green Stickles glitter glue to add some bling.

Masculine Thank You card

I made this card for my hubby and a group of guys to give to another guy. I wanted to keep it simple and masculine. I use the Cricut cart Wild Card cartridge to make the card, the word "thanks" and the frame around the cut-out. I used a slightly larger cut of the frame and folded it to make the gift card holder. I inked the edges all in black.

Halloween Paint Can

Here is the first Paint Can I have ever decorated. I decided to do a Halloween one and give it to my Mom. I was inspired by a post on the CMB. Here is my version.

I used paper from the Debbie Mumm Harvest & Holiday stack. The punches are from Martha Stewart-drippy goo and spider web. The ribbon is all from M's.

It's nothing fancy, but it's my first try and it was very easy and fun!

Where have I been??

I have been far too lazy about my blog and my crafting in general. I have realized that this has also made me lazy and unhappy about other things...so I am making my commitment to get my focus back on the things I love to do most and to make myself and my passions a priority.

I am already working on the Halloween sour cream containers for DS's class. I also need to dive in and finish getting my scraproom back in order. It is far to out of control and not a pleasant place to be.

I also made a card and will get a picture posted soon! (And OKIE, I promise to get those magazines sent to you that I told you I was sending out a month ago! eekkk!)

Class Valentine's

Here are the Valentine containers I made for my son's class.

I made all the candy hearts from Wilton Candy Melts. There are 6 hearts (2 of each color) in each container.

The heart paper is from open stock at Michael's. I printed the tags on white cardstock from my computer and used a square punch to punch them out.

My Valentine for my Hubby

Here is the card I made for my hubby for Valentine's Day.

The card base is made from an embossed cardstock by DCWV from Joann's open stock. The blue cardstock and ribbon are American Crafts. The die cut hearts are Heidi Grace. The paper punch is "Mini Hearts" by Martha Stewart. The edges are inked in a cocoa brown and the "love" stamp is by Studio G.

My Amazing Friend

This is not craft related, but it is about a friend who also happens to be an avid card maker and scrapper.

Today I went to visit my friend at the hospital. On Wednesday she delivered her first child. I know millions and millions of women do this every year, but this was a very special birth.

She and her hubby had been trying for nearly 10 years (they never did IVF, just kept trying). What makes this even more amazing is that she was born with a heart condition and she has had 3 heart surgeries in her lifetime. The last one was just a few years ago.

Well she had a spectacular preganancy and surprised her doctors beyond words. She told me there were no less than 25 doctors in the delivery room as a pre-caution and she amazed all of them.

I happen to live in the same town as (and apparently just around the corner from) Nadya Suleman, the lady who delivered Octuplets just last week. This is all I have been hearing about in the news. Well, I happen to think my friend and the son she gave birth to, is a much bigger miracle.

When I held that beautiful (and I really mean beautiful for a newborn baby!) little miracle today, I couldn't control the tears...they just flowed. But, they were very happy tears...I was so happy my friend was finally going to experience the joy of motherhood and even more happy that God had taken care of her and her heart so she can be the wonderful mom I know she is going to be!

Birthday Card

Here is a birthday card I made recently.

The pattern paper is Crate Paper. The scallop dot punch is Martha Stewart Crafts. The flower is Prima. The buttons are craft supply and the ribbon is from Michael's. The edges are inked in Colorbox "Cocoa". The yellow card base is from Joann. I used Scrapper's Floss in "Red" to secure the buttons. The Happy Birthday rub-on is from American Crafts.

Another holiday card...just love candy canes!

Here is a card I made with a Candy Cane theme. The Ho Ho Ho printed cardstock is from the 2008 DCWV Xmas stack. I used the snow dots CB embossing folder on the white cardstock. The candy cane is stamped in white and I heat embossed it in clear. The ribbon is a silver grograin and the metal slide is from Making Memories. I used a corner rounder and nestabilities also. I inked the edges with silver ink.

Can't forget the Pets this season! (Updated)

I just LOVE the "sour cream containers" so much that I had to find other ways to gift them (specific directions are in an archive post on my blog).

What better to fill them with than "Scooby Snacks" (YES, there is such a thing!) for all the dogs we know!

I decided to try making them a little larger, since dog snacks are pretty big and I wanted to make sure I gave them more than 3 or 4 cookies.

I used a 6"x12" piece of paper for these (instead of the normal 4"x6"). The larger size actually came out pretty good. I found this dog bone paper at Michael's. I used a metal eyelet fo the ribon hole. I printed the text for the tags from my computer and used a tag shaped punch . I attached it with scrapper's floss.

I think they canine cousins and friends are going to be very happy!

Here is a picture of how much larger the 6"x12" size is versus the standard 4"x6" size.