Got Cake?

I had a little craft get-together at my mom's house the other night.  I'm still learning and can't believe how much there is to know.  I tried out the Grand Calibur for the first time and here's what I came up with.   My mom has more buttons than any one person should be allowed to own.  She encouraged me to use some.   I am trying to come up with my own card designs but in the meantime, I am taking inspiration from all of you.  I saw a card similar to this and I am sorry, I don't know whose blog it is.  If I come across it again, I will post the name.  The image is a clear stamp that I colored with pencils and tried a technique using gamsol.  I need lots of practice!  The sentiment is from the Everyday Sentiments set by Whimsical Designs.  I put two little dots of Pearl Pen and as you can see, I need more practice with that too.  

I am entering this in a couple of challenges

Whimsical Wednesdays - Colors of Love (red, white & green)

Birthday Sundaes - Birthday card with sentiment

Phindy's Palace - Circles

Have a ROARin' good birthday!

I haven't made a card in such a long time.  My parents were here last weekend and my mom bought a huge bag full of crafting supplies for me.  She also brought over some Cricut cartridges that I can use on my little baby bug machine.  This cute lion is from Nate's ABC's.   I used googly eyes and a pencil for the face.  Mom gave me a die cut gadget called a Squeeze along with some small dies that I can use in it.  It's made by QuicKutz.   She said she has two of them and has had them for over 4 years and rarely uses it.  The tag was made using the Squeeze.  The sentiment is a stamp from a set by Pink by Design.  I added some ribbon and string to it.  There's a strip of ribbon along the bottom of the card and the pattern papers are from Safari Kids.  There is a challenge at Whimsical Designs and you are to use something old on your project.  Since I haven't been crafting for very long, my baby Cricut is one of my oldest products and I haven't use it since last June, so for me, it's old.   

Travels

I made this card over a week ago, but my little guy has been teething sooooooooo bad and it is impossible to get anything done.  I cannot wait until those teeth come in.  They are really big!  I used my mom's Imagine to make this and she doesn't know it but I used one of her clear stamps sets.  It was still in her shopping bag so I am pretty sure she has not used it yet.  LOL!  Don't tell!  Notice I called them clear stamps?  In one of my other posts I didn't know they had a name and I called them see-through stamps or something like that.  I am going to get brave this week and try coloring with her Copic markers.  Looks like fun and I love to sketch and color. 

Mom also has an extra i*rock tool and she gave it to me along with some of the studs so I used it on the balloon.  I still don't have many crafting supplies of my own and my craft area is still not completed so I am very lucky to be able to go to my mom's house and have so much available to me. 

BLOG CANDY WINNER!

The winner of the Sizzix Bigz die is BARBARA blue6366.

Barbara said "I just found your blog via the Cricut MB and must say that it's so fabulous that I had to follow! I love, love, love this adorable card that you made to celebrate the birth of Mason - his mommy and daddy will love it too."

I visited Mason today and  he is such a big boy!  He was born at 9 lb. 5 oz.

Congratulations Barbara and thanks to all of you for the encouraging comments!

Barbara, please email me at nobeesplease@gmail.com with your address and I will take it to the post office tomorrow.

Boys with Bugs Layout

My very first scrapbook page! My two boys were outside sitting in the yard last week and I took the cutest picture of them just sitting there. As soon as I print out the photo I will add it to the page along with my journaling. I couldn't have done this page without the help of my mom. As I mentioned a few posts back, I am not only learning how to paper craft, I am also learning a new language. I kept saying I needed a place to write a little something down about this photo and she kept talking about journaling. Why did she keep using that word? Duh! Light bulb! A few other techniques and terms I learned today, as they relate to crafting: acrylic, twine, sanding, matting, background stamping. 

And as if that wasn't enough, I have been playing around with mom's new Expression 2.  I only have a baby bug at home so I try to absorb as much as I can when I'm at mom's house.  Now that she has the new Expression, I am inheriting one of her original Expressions.   I think I'll be able to do a lot more from home once I get it set up.  I've already outgrown my baby Cricut.

The circle is chipboard, an item I am using for the first time.  One of my new favorite things to do is add ink to my pieces.  I used distress inks with a sponge and added some color to the circle.  Boys is from Nate's ABC's.  The layer with the 2 little boys was done using Core'dinations paper.  And I always thought paper was paper!  I embossed them with the Cuttlebug.  Mom has the names of each cuttlebug written on them, but this one doesn't.  I have no idea what it's called.  Maybe it doesn't have a name.  IDK. 

I used some see through stamps for the circles design.  That string above the ant doesn't belong there.  LOL!  The ant is from Nate's ABC's but I cut those on the Imagine and used Imagine More for the color and pattern.

Found these cute little brown bags and made a tag with a big Sizzix.  Used see-through stamps for the bee and the words.

The jar is Doodlecharms on the Imagine.  I cut a layer from a cartridge packaging to make it look like glass.  The bee is in between the two layers.  He's a little sticker.

Here is where I will put the photo.  Saw these little leaves laying around on the table, so I glued them on.

The words are from Imagine More and that notebook tag is jillibean soup.

JUST A REMINDER:  You have until midnight tonight to leave a comment on my previous post in order to be entered in the drawing to win the Sizzix Bigs die.

Welcome Baby and Blog Candy!

I am so excited about the new design of my blog! So excited!!! Madeline of Shabby Vanity did an absolutely amazing job and I couldn't be more pleased! I've been holding off on my blog posting, and now that the new design is up and running, I'm ready to craft! I am very new to the world of paper crafting and so far I've only made a few cards. I've been blog hopping -- something else that is totally new to me, and I've been learning and trying to absorb everything. I can't believe how much there is to know about this stuff! I'm going to be paying a visit to everyone who has been so kind to leave me comments. Thank you so much! Your words are very encouraging.

One of my best friends just gave birth to her first child, a little boy. Congratulations, Stephanie! I can't wait to meet little Mason! Here's a card I made for the new mommy and daddy, to welcome their precious angel into our world.

In celebration of my new blog and of all you talented bloggers who I have been soaking up ideas from, I am giving away this FABULOUS Sizzix Bigz die! Just leave me a comment and I will pick a winner on Friday, May 6th.

Card Recipe:
DCWV Safari Kids mat stack
Cricut: Cindy Loo - tree
Cricut: Zooballoo - giraffe
Kraft paper card base
Self-adhesive ribbon
button from stash
Studio G clear stamps
Staz-on ink
clear gem

Dancing Mouse

I spent the day at my mom's house yesterday and she is teaching me how to use the Imagine!  She walked me through the features but then insisted I learn how to use it on her Gypsy.  It was very overwhelming.   Here's what I made and it only took about 2-1/2 hours!  LOL!   I made a birthday card for my BFF's daughter.  I think it turned out really cute.  The blue layer on the mouse was a mistake, but mom thought we could add it to give the rest of the mouse a shadow.   I'm still trying to figure out the difference between a layer and a shadow.  All of these words that mom keeps repeating sounds like a whole new language to me.  And she said wait until you learn how to weld!  Huh?

Here's what I did, I think.

The main card is on Nursery Rhymes

The mouse is on Twinkle Toes

I used the Imagine to color and cut everything, but sorry, I don't know which ones. 

The stamp is from a set called All Girl, Pink by design.  

I found some cute stars and little bling things in mom's stash.

I'll be back at mom's today for another lesson. 

Look Who's 3

Welcome to my Blog.  It's brand new and really empty, but it's a start.  This is the very first card I made!  (with a little help from my mom).

My mom's blog is a lot more impressive than mine, but she doesn't have a 3-1/2 year old and a 1 year old, so she's got a lot more time than I do!  LOL!   She gave me a baby Cricut for Christmas TWO years ago and I finally took it out of the box last month.  My supplies are very limited so I've only been learning and practicing up to this point.  I'm spending the weekend at mom's, so I was able to use all of her stuff.  

And here's how I made this card:

The pigs and sentiment are from the Nursery Rhymes Cricut cartridge and my mom showed me how to weld the letters using Design Studio.  Pretty easy!  I used the shadow feature and then used pop dots behind the pigs and sentiment.  I added some rhinestones and a ribbon with a button.  I used glitter glue on the sentiment.  I used the Cuttlebug for the embossing.   

I'm just finding my way around all of the blogs and challenges and I hope to be making my way to all of you real soon.   I'd really like to hear what you think of my first card!