Todos

Each day I make my Todos. You know...things to do. At holiday time the lists are bigger and my day has to be much more organized.

I chose this decoration because I think it is funny that people get all hyped up and excited about the red cups that Starbucks put out at the holidays. It never fails that someone says oh yay you have the red cups already! Actually, I am excited to have my peppermint mochas...

The coffee cup is a well used die from MyCreativeTime Coffee Break. I stamped the backgound with Versamark and it looks pretty close to their cups! I cut it red and white and cut the lid off. I also used Glossy Accents on the lid so it looked plastic on the paper cup. The label on the background is the new release Vintage Label Dies. And the word todos is from Lowercase Font.

When you open it I have my lists on one side and receipts on the other. All tied up nice and neat so nothing gets misplaced or overlooked.

Hope you like it.

Santas' Secret 'Stache

Hi again! 2nd post today. Today I am playing with My Creative Time Dies and Stamps. I saw a similar card while standing in line at the market. It was all red with the words and the mustache...that's it. My mind was racing on how I could do this. The glasses and 'stache are from What's Growing On. This includes dies for 3 different mustaches, a pair of glasses and 10 coordinating sentiment stamps. ALL IN 1 SET!!! Super cool. Now look at the beard. Can you tell what I did? Well...grab Fly Away With Me. That cute set with die cut the Hot Air Balloon and Cloud dies. That's right!!! I layered clouds to form Santas' beard. The words are cut from the newly released Lowercase Fun Dies. The little apostophies that look like trees...well, they were the throw away parts inside the "y". I layered the mustashe 3 times, added red pen stitching and googlie eyes. Always gotta think outside the box.

Holiday Wishes - FCCB DT Challenge

Good morning!

1 month until Christmas -

are you ready? Over at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog FCCB

 it is time for a new  Challenge. I hope you can find the time amid all the shopping, wrapping,

baking and partying to join in the fun. For my card I used and older and a newer Cricut Cartridge. Joys of the Season and Paper Trimmings. The tree is cut from Joys of the Season and accented with Christmas Twine and a Christmas lights. These were from an old necklace that no longer lights up but it sure lit up this little tree!! The little corner accents are trees from Paper Trimmings and I added clear gems on each one. I cut an oval in the center of the card and added a piece of acrylic to make  a

window. Inside is an

embossed piece of

metallic paper that

shows through the

window. I wanted

the focus to be

 the decorated tree.

I hope you enjoyed my card and it inspired you to create your own holiday card and join in on the challenge over at FCCB

Thanksgiving 2 sided Centerpieces and more treats

So...my mom called me this morning and said that she went to several places to try to find some festive Thanksgiving decorations for the tables and couldn't find anything. Of course not...November is when we buy Valentines on clearance!!! Anywhoo...I said I could make some simple paper crafts for centerpieces for the tables.

These were all cut from Create a Critter 2 at 5". I covered a soup can with print paper in fall colors and shoved a piece of floral foam in it. Topped it with some natural moss and tied it with scraps of net in fall colors.

I flipped the cuts so that the centerpiece looks nice from either side. Now for the favors (that I am adding to the turkey poop bags) I cut the cornucopia from Create a Critter 2 and put Bugles, Candy Corn, Candy Pumpkins and Skittles (that I carefully removed the red and green). The sentiment is from My Creative Time Thank You Hugs stamp set that I got free with purchase of her recent November release.

Happy Thanksgiving my friends. Last of the Fall colors for this year.

Entered in the Gratitude Challenge at Bitten By The Bug2

Turkey Calling Card Treat Favor

You invited me to dinner

with your family and your friends.

You didn't say I was the main dish

For me it was "THE END"

 

You frightened me so badly

I knew I had been duped!

So I left you with my calling card

this bag of Turkey Poop!

I have spied these on Pinterest, on BLOGS, and most recently at a Craft Fair. I knew I had everything except for the "Poop". So I got Raisnets and Whoppers (2 for 1 at the local drug store) and whipped these babies up. I think they will get a big laugh and conversation starters this Thursday.

The Turkey is so easy to piece from Create a Critter 2, and the "label" is a tiny card cut from Trim the Tree.

I also saw some with Bugles and Candy Corn and Candy Pumpkins. I got the stuff for those and plan to figure something out for those tomorrow. I think it is super cool that the Bugles look like little Cornucopia and they are so yummo.

 I keep going until the BIG DAY gets here. Just like the next BIG DAY.

Hope you make some too!! Super fun. And I love the Dark Chocolate Raisinettes. Mmmmms.

Entering Challenges at:

Pause Dream Enjoy Challenges Give Thanks

Creative Cutter Room Turkey Challenge

Bitten By the Bug 2 Gratitude

Merci - Thank You Note

The Challenge is to create a Thank You Card. Appropriate this time of year as we are giving thanks more than usual. I cut the round border of acorns and leaves from Paper Trimmings and the word Merci from French Manor. This is a super simple card. Using Fall colors, I cut a circle in the middle using my favorite manual cutting system for circles and ovals by Creative Memories. My set is super old, I don't even know if they still have this system but it is fabulous! I then cut a slightly larger circle from a piece of acrylic to make a window. I did not glue down the acorns in the center, allowing them to perk up a bit and form a rounded effect. I then positioned the word Merci in the inside of the card so it peeks through the outside cut. You could whip out a bunch of these in no time and impress your family and friends.

Posting this in the Fantastic Cricut Challenge Blog FCCB Give Thanks Challenge

Pause Dream Enjoy  Thank You Projects

Bitten by the Bug Gratitude Challenge

Exploring Cricut Thankful Challenge

CardzTV Attitude of Gratitude Challenge

 

A Christmas Train - Folk Art Festival

So many tulips on this cartridge, it was love at first sight. For this Wall Decor I used Folk Art for the train cut at 5 inches using Red, Green and White Card Stock. The Toys in the flat car are cut at 1" and 2" from Boys will be Boys. The round moon is from good old George and the word Joy is from Joys of the Season. I used the star garland cut from Joys of the Season as my steam coming out of the train engine that coordinated perfectly with the star studded navy blue vellum that I used for my background. I added buttons, pearls and peppermint twine to the wheels. The white border under the "tracks" is also from Folk Art and pieced to fit across the bottom. I added the plaid ribbon at the bottom for dimension and festive color. The wall hanging measures a super cool 10" by 36" and is mounted on a piece of Foam Core. Merry Christmas. I hope you enjoy my Wall Decor.

Game Day

PLEASE VOTE FOR MY BEAR AT:  http://melodylanedesigns.blogspot.com/2013/01/naked-teddy-bear-parade-contest.html

Today is the big crosstown rivalry game and I am flying the blue and gold. My Alma Mater Ucla and that other school USC. Gonna be a great game no matter what. But I do think that this is OUR year. It is gonna be a cool drizzly day so we will be watching from home but I made this little gift bag when I thought we were gonna be going to a tailgate and the game. The bear is from Cricut Teddy Bear Parade and the tag is from Wrap it Up. Let's hear your 8 clap.

********U***C***LLLLLLLLLA
Ucla beat the Trojans!

THANKS

Over at Pause Dream Enjoy this weeks challenge is for a Thank You project. For my project, I covered a plastic container of Yves Rocher Chocolates with a scrap of Fall colored paper. The turkey tail is from Cricut Cartridge Ribbons and Rosettes at 5", 4", 3" and 2". The cute little turkey is cut from Create a Critter at 4"and the word THANKS is cut from Chip Decor at 1/2". The brown ribbon and silk leaves are from my stash. I think it will be a great treat for our neighbors. I am glad that the box is now covered so I am not tempted!!!

My thanks to you for popping in and seeing what I have been up to.

This project is entered in the following challenges:
http://www.creativecutterroom.com/
http://pausedreamenjoychallenges.blogspot.com/

Hope Your Day is Peachy

Happy Friday my faithful followers. Todays project is a color challenge of at Peachy Keen Stamps inspired by the beauty of Indian Corn. Golds Browns Reds and Purples. The cute little acorns are cut from Cricut Cartridge Art Philosophy and stamped with Peachy Keen Wide Eyed Kids. My absolute favorite face stamps!! The ornament is formed using several feathers. And no I didn't pluck a fresh turkey. Enjoy! Entering this in the Feather Challenge over at The Cuttlebug Spot

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

It's ANYTHING GOES at Peachy Keen Challenge BLOG and that's good because my mind had been filled with Thanksgiving, and Christmas and it needed a break. What to do what to do. Ah ha...PKSC April 2012 had a wonderful coffee cup and a perfect sentiment. I colored the cup and saucer in shades to match the paper and I hand dyed the skittles and crinkle ribbon in a soft brown and lavendar mixed to pick up my color choice. This was a nice little coffee break. Well, back to the elves, reindeer and toys.

A Christmas Tea

For this challenge on MyCreativeTime We needed to use sewing and fabric. Now you would think this would be a piece of cake for me. NOT I couldn't make a decision. SO...I made a teapot and added a silk pointsettia. Silk is a fabric! I stamped teapots for my background paper using MyCreativeTime Tea Party stamps. I colored these with Spectrum  Noir Alchohol Markers and sewed this to a red and green plaid using a blanket stitch and green thread. The sentiment One Good Cup deserves another! is also from MyCreativeTime Tea Party Stamp Set. I tied this all together using peppermint twine.

Pilgrims Promise - My first DT Project

Good Morning and Happy Veterans' Day. Grab your Hot Spiced Cider and get ready for this wordy post that ends with a feast for the eyes. Go ahead...I'll wait {{{humming Jeopardy song}}}.

My mom always taught me that you only get to do something for the first time once so make it count. It is a life lesson I think about often and have passed down to our children and grandchildren. This is my very first post as designer for FCCB Design Team.

The first Thanksgiving in 1621. A bounty of colorful fruits and veggies. The time of year where leaves are falling and changing color. And a time of year where people of many colors came together to share a meal and pray together for the blessings in their lives and what they are grateful for.

They likely had duck rather than turkey and forget about the mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. AND THEY FEASTED AND CELEBRATED FOR A WEEK! Ok...that right there explains alot as we squish the same amount of food into 1 day.

Guests who joined the Pilgrims had to build their own shelter. Can you picture doing that today? "Oh. I am so glad you are joining us this year...which part of the yard would you like to build your shelter in?"

They played sports like target practice. My hubby starts Thanksgiving with the Annual Turkey Bowl. Family and friends playing flag football. Meanwhile I am home cooking. My turkey is basted in milk and brandy and it makes the most delicious gravy!

Finally time for my card. You had better get another cup of Cider! {{insert Jeopardy song here}}

My goal was to make a feast for the eyes. Full of a colorful bounty in a cornucopia with richly colored leaves falling around an austere but welcoming Pilgrim couple. I really really like the way it turned out and I hope you do too.

Lots of inking, embossing and coloring to make the cuts pop. My favorite element is the leaves. I inked the edges and crumpled them up. They look and sound like real crunchy dried leaves. The cut is an oldie but goody on Speaking of Fall. These leaves are cut at 1 inch. They are pop dotted allowing the wrinkled shape to look realistic.

The cornucopia was a find on Celebrate with Flourish I cut it 5 times so I could get the colors I wanted. Otherwise you get purple lettuce or brown grapes. I embossed each element separately and differently and again inked all the edges as it really does make a difference. See a theme here???

The periwinkle lacy medallion shape is cut at 5" from Artiste. A CTMH exclusive cartridge. The edges are inked and accented with Spectrum Noir Alchohol Markers. I used the same color to cut the "ribbon" that has the sentiment. The stamp is from MyCreativeTIme Card Sentiments. It is popped up twice as high as the leaves.

The Pilgrim Couple...the star of this assignment is also from Speaking of Fall. It also had to be cut multiple times to get the color combo I wanted. Otherwise his coat would be the same as her dress, they wouldn't have hair...too boring. I kept wavering on faces, no faces...and after conducting a tiny poll, agreed that no faces matched the rustic feel I was trying to achieve. I shaded the misters' face so it looked like a beard.

Ok...I did warn you twice...but now that your cup is empty for the 2nd time...here it is. Please share in my very first assignment as a DT Member. (I can never say that again).

And now get your creative juices flowing and enter the Pilgrims' Promise Challenge at FCCB Challenge me Monday

I hope I made this first assignment count!

Entering this in PauseDreamEnjoy Food/Beverage Challenge too!
Entering this on Die Cutting Divas Color Challenge too!

Oooh Oooh Oooh Baby it's Cold Outside

Oh sure it is! It was 80 degrees here today. But with my paper, stampes, inks, adhesives and die cuts I can make the weather feel like whatever I want!! Today the Challenge over at Peachy Keen Connection for November is SNOW. That white stuff I read about and can visit if I choose if I drive up north a little over an hour. Now this stumped me for a minute or 2 since the majority of my collection of PK stamps are faces. I looked through my sets and found one of the ones I bought originally years ago. Bingo!! PK-742 Baby Animal Faces "fit the NEW ARRIVAL baby animals and more by Cricut cut at 5". Now...if you have been following my BLOG you have noticed that I have been playing with  Cricut CartridgeTeddy Bear Parade and been dressing up bears. When this cartridge first came out, I could half check it off my wish list. I had requested dress up animals like bears, monkeys, penguins etc. Well...why couldn't I dress up an animal from  Cricut Cartridge New Arrival???

I cut the monkey as directed on the stamp set at 5". That means I will be working with a larger card. I also cut the outfit from Teddy Bear Parade taking the sweater from one, the boots from another, the overalls and hat from another. The scarf is a stamp from Close to My Heart - All Decked Out.

Look closely at the overalls. I scored them every 1/8" so they look like corduroy! Now, I did have to do minor surgery on the monkey but not much. His arms had to be cut off and repositioned to fit in the sweater. I did feel bad about it.

The sentiment says You are My Sunshine, my only Sunshine and are from MyCreativeTime Stamp Sets All Around Everything and All Around Accessories.

The snowflakes are cut at 1" and are from Cricut Cartridge Joys of the Season.

I accented the card with embossing, rhinestones, twine and trim. I think it came together nicely for this Southern Californian who thinks 65 degrees is cold.

Red and Purple tag

Can you see the secret of this tag? It is made from paint chips! The flourishing ornament is cut from Cricut Cartridge Artiste and the fairy is stamped with Peachy Keen PKSC-06 June 2012 and colored with Spectrum Noir Alchohol Markers. The rolled flowers are from My Creative Time MCT rolled flowers die and cut from the same paint chips to coordinate with the tag. I wanted the affect to be like a stained glass window.

Land of the Free

Over at Exploring Cricut a new Challenge starts today. This week it is Veterans Day. An important holiday that gets overlooked when we move from Pumpkins to Turkeys and Elves.

Can you tell I haven't had enough of those darling Bears on Teddy Bear Parade? I have missed out on swaps of these bears and Blog Hops of these bears. I cut the little sailor bear. The sentiment is from Stand and Salute. I added torn paper to my design because I only had a bit of that blue left. I added red and white twine and blue rhinestones. On the cartridge, the little flag is a solid color. I simply cut a little square (WITH SCISSORS) and added a few spots for stars and lines for stripes. I know the amount is not close to correct but it looked nicer than the plain red flag. remember our Veterans who have given us our freedoms. And join the Challenge.

Many Thanks

Over at Pause Dream Enjoy the challenge is Brown and Orange. I have been seeing the adorable turkey on Cricut Cartridge Teddy Bear Parade. Super cute. The sentiment Many Thanks is from My Creative Time Tiny Tags. This set comes with both the tiny matted tag dies as well as 27 tiny greetings for all occasions. I inked the edges of the cuts before assembling them and then colored them with Crafters Companion Spectrum Noir Markers. Lots pop dots to add dimension. The papers and ribbon are from my stash.

Hi f'all

I have been experimenting with making fall leaves. I ink them up, crunch them up, shade them up. All different sizes for various projects I have been workng on.

Today it is a ketch challenge over at Peachy Keen Stamps. I cut this leaf from Cricut Cartridge Speaking of Fall. This one is 4 inches! The sweet face is from Peachy Keen Wide Eyed Kids.

Layered papers are from Close to My Heart and Websters Pages. I hand cut the little ribbon banners at the bottom and the tiny "Hi" is a stamp from My Creative Time Teeny Tag Greetings.

THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

I am excited to announce that I am now part of the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Design Team! After entering their Challenges for several months, when I saw the DT Call I jumped in. I hope that you participate in the Weekly Challenges, come see what we have planned, visit and comment on the BLOGS.  Here is a little simple card to get you started for the Thanksgiving holiday. The cut is from Cricut Cartridge A Childs Year. A simple pilgrim shadow. I embossed the background and used a white gelly roll pen to pen stitch. If you need to make a quantity of cards, this would be a good one.

My first project will be featured on November 12th and I am so proud of it. I can't wait to share it with all of you.

So if you have considered joining a Design Team, do it. Everyone needs to start somewhere and this is my start.