Circle Mania 2013

I came back this week from an awesome event put together by a member of the Cricut Circle community, Scrapalette. It was great, from the food to the venue but especially the people! They all made this California girl smile.

Altered Angels Scrapbook store (friendly and their adorable pugs roam the store helping you to shop)

 

The best Pecan Pie EVER!!!

It was a great weekend of crafting (well watching others craft) shopping (love me some Archivers, please come to California) and laughing. The Hilton Garden Inn in Alpharetta, Georgia was fantastic and helpful. It was fun listening to all the Southern accents and being treated to that famous Southern hospitality. 

Cricut Circle Crop Checklist

I just noticed that this list was messed up. So once again I have reuploaded it. Please link people back to this post instead of giving them a copy, it took me awhile to figure this out. Yadda yadda yadda. Oh and there is one line with the wrong font but it's 1AM so I'm letting it slide this time.

Recipe Card Swap

Okay late last year a Cricut Circle member posted an ambitious project: a yearlong recipe card swap. She took signups for 10 people to submit 6x6 recipe pages every few months. She would sort and mail them back to us. I signed up as I love collecting recipes and thought it would be fun.

Well we have done 3 recipes so far and it has exceeded my expectations. The ladies are beyond nice and the cards are adorable. I haven't put them into an album yet as I was deciding if I wanted 1 big one or a couple of smaller ones.

Here are my 3 contributions so far:
Appetizer: BBQ bacon spread

Carts used: Block party, Country Life, All Mixed Up, From my Kitchen

Other supplies: stickles, Die Cuts with a view patterened paper, Mister Hueys mist

black cardstock, picnic patterned paper from stash, red pen, red ink

Salad: Jalapeno chicken salad

Carts used: County Life, Old West

Other supplies: Cuttlebug circles folder, October Afternoon and My Minds Eye patterened paper,

Uniball white pen, black pen, Jenni Bowlin tag punch, stickles, clip art, green pearl bling

Main: Deep Pit Beef (pull out recipe card attached to back with washi tape and vellum)

Carts Used: Stand and Deliver, Forever Young, Old West, Block Party, Gypsy Wanderings

Other supplies: Stickles, red glitter ribbon, circle punch, black and blue cardstock, star patterened paper from stash, washi tape from Smashbook

All fonts used downloaded from Lettering Delights, Dafont.com or else preinstalled on computer (PC).

Recipe Swap Page Raspberry Cake Bars

I participated in a Recipe Page Swap last month. Sadly the organizer had a family emergency so I don't have the whole book completed but thought I'd share a page here. There were 4 groups (6x6s and 8x8s) and I participated in all of them! I made 81 pages in 2 months which kind of shocked myself but I was motivated. I was going to give 2 of these away as gifts but that will have to wait till next year, oh well. I already shared 2 on the Cricut circle messageboards but thought I'd share 1 more today.

I used the Christmas, and From My Kitchen cartridges which I totally bought just for this swap.
Papers are from my stash and Die Cuts with a View Luxury collection.
Bling, ribbon are from my stash and I made the recipe card using digital files from Cosmo Cricket which I bought from Jessica Sprague. The title font is called Buttercream which I purchased from Lettering delights.

Purple Halloween Banner

Here is another project for the Cricut Circle contest, this time a monochromatic color scheme had to be used in the project. I have loved doing all these banners so thought I would make another one but this time in ALL purple!
Carts used: Birthday Bash, Scary and Chic
Cuttlebug folder used: Swirly one (not sure of the name, sorry)
Papers used: purple cardstock in various tones, purple glitter paper
Purple glitter rick rack ribbon
Close to my Heart Halloween stamp set (it came with the kit)

Winter Journaling Card

Here is my interpretation of a sketch posted in the Cricut Circle blog for a contest they are having. I was going to make a card but then as I started thinking of ideas I cut the paper a little larger than I wanted but since it had lines on both sides I figured it would be perfect as a journaling card, I can slip it into a pocket on one of my winter pages. I also loved that I was able to use this snowman from last years Christmas cards I mailed out.
Carts used:Jolly Holidays, Forever Young
Paper: Cricut Pad, cardstock, vellum (accordian folded)
Stamp: Christmas set from Stamps of Life
Brads from stash
Red stickles Ivory
Crinkled ribbon

Halloween/Autumn Pin Swap

So I went on a wonderful weekend of crafting with some of my Cricut Circle friends last week and we did a pin swap. I did mine entirely from paper but it was pretty stable since it's about 4 layers thick plus I coated it with Tattered Angels glimmer glaze which is like a sealer. I used the chandelier glaze color which is a fabulous clear coat with rainbow glittery goodness. I highly reccommend it!
I gave people the choice of either Halloween or Autumn themes since not everyone celebrates Hallween. The pumpkins are from the digital cart Smiley Cards I got from buying my Gypsy last year. I also used the leaf from Gypsy Wanderings and flower and scalloped circle from Forever Young.
The main difference between the 2 are the colors and I added on some teeth and stickles to the Halloween one. I also used a cuttlebug striped folder to emboss the pumpkins and of course inked everything.
Oh and I also had to share the hotel I stayed at, the SouthPoint Hotel in Las Vegas. It was great, just south of the strip, and with plenty to do for all ages. They had a theater, bowling alley, spa and multiple places to grab some food. The best part of the place was that everything was super easy to find and layed out in a central pattern around the casino area. My room was also great with plenty of space, although I was facing a wall!

Cricut Circle Crop Checklist

I'm on a roll! Here is a cuter checklist made specifically for Cricut Circle Crops but could be adapted to any crop you attend. Once again please direct people back here instead of sharing the file directly. Thanks!

California Cricut Circle Pennant Contest

So the Cricut Circle is having a Pennant contest for everyone to celebrate their CHA event. They will string up all of the entries together and yes I sent mine today Priority mail. I'm nervous it will get jacked up in the mailing process though and sad that I didn't take more pictures than these. It's alot cuter in person as there is sparkle everywhere. I was in a hurry to mail it off though and  the light was not working out. Oh well.

I really worked alot on this thing. I of course used my cricut bug (carts used gypsy wanderings, smiley cards, pop neighborhood, gypsy font, George, Old West) The Birthday bash cart was used as the base for the pennant which a girl named Heidi was so kind to cut for me!

I used alot of stickles, glimmermist on the background, along with rock candy crackle finish on the water. I cut a border from gypsy wanderings in half and flocked it with white as the waves. I have a limited amount of carts so I had to improvise on my design like the sailboat is part of a border that I cut out and embossed. I chalked the cheeks on my sun and hand drew the windows on the skyscrapers, then added glossy accents on them. I also added glossy accents on my crab after hand drawing his face.

I used a plank from the Old West cart but then cut them in half an added lines with my white pen (an idea inspired by Monique Griffith's adorable Stampede page kit).
I glimmer glazed the car with chandelier and used a transparent sheet for the window. I embossed the trees with my cuttlebug and used rock candy stickles on the mountain tops. Lastly I used a product called mud puddles on my beach part for my sand. It is a fabulous if messy, 3D product that similulates various tones of sand.

I was inspired by my state of California since it has everything you could think of from snowy mountains to sunny beaches. Where I live though it's lots of country land so I wanted to express that with alot of green (paper from Die cuts with a View)

Thanks for reading this long post!

Cricut circle calling card album

Yeah I'm finally uploading a project I did recently. For the cricut circle when you go to events you make these calling cards and I decided to put mine in an album. I can keep track of what I've done already and what carts I used. I used the Yourstory photo to bind the album and the French manor, four legged friends, and cricut everyday (a club exclusive) to decorate.

Calling Cards

Part of being in the Provo Craft Cricut Circle is having regional meetings or "swarms" where we can gather and do some crafting while having fun. I was supposed to go to one this weekend but work messed it up. I made 36 of these babies so I thought I'd share. One of the girls on the messageboard reminded me that I can turn them into cards instead.
I glimmermisted the background, used a heart punch on glitter paper from DCWV, stamped and cut out a tiny heart flower then stickled, stamped out a bottom border, inked the edges with TH distressing ink in Broken China, cut out the hills and sun with Country Life cartridge and embossed part of the hill with my cuttlebug.

My Circle Contest Weekly Layout

Here is my entry for the weekly challenge on the Circle Blog. It was supposed to be vintage inspired. I didn't really feel like making something based on my family history but kept thinking about fashion for some reason. I used the Forever Young cartridge to come up with a LO based on my style. It is a mix of vintage and modern so I included some of my favorite pieces. I try to do challenges where I will be able to use my entry afterward, this LO will go in an album about my life someday.

The printed paper is from the Bloom stack from DCWV. The vintage card and buttons come from Graphic 45. The keyhole is from Melissa Frances. It also features ribbon, pink pearls and lace.

My Entry into Cricut Monthly Challenge

Well here it is my entry for the monthly challenge!

It was  challenge about creativity and in the end I decided that I wanted to use this in my bedroom hence the choice of color scheme. I used die cuts with a view Linen Closet stack patterned paper and cardstock. I also used the Opposites Attract, George, and Lovely Floral cartridges to cut out the titles and hearts. I also added embellishements of pearls, chipboard and acetate hearts. It's a little piece of me so I really was pleased by it and it's simplicity.