Pinecone Christmas card

 Happy Wednesday!  Can you believe it's almost Christmas?  The presents are mostly wrapped under the tree and cookies are baking as we speak.  While we are FaceTiming in the grandparents to keep us all safe, I'm grateful for technology that will allow us to virtually be together.  I still love getting good old fashioned Christmas cards from family and friends, so I'm sharing another one I sent out this year featuring a pine cone.  Don't forget, we still have our challenge running over at the BBTB2 blog with Double Trouble for any Christmas project using any die cutting machine.

Cricut:

CTMH Flower Market-pine cone

Paper-Through the Woods (Catherine Pooler) 6x6 pad, CTMH solids

Spring in Bloom layout for spring equinox challenge

Happy Monday.....although I'm not sure how happy it is, as life is changing so rapidly in such unexpected ways with the coronavirus that I find myself anxiously starting every day to see what the news brings.  My college kids have all received word that they are not going back after spring break and switching to online classes.  It looks like our local high school may do that also.  My husband's company is also working from home.  So everyone in my house will be home except me.  As I am a critical care nurse, my work is expecting to soon be very busy.  I hope all of you stay well during these uncertain times.

Crafting may have to be my happy therapy to brighten up my day.  Our BBTB2 challenge in combination with Double Trouble is Spring Equinox using a die cut and can include a bee for an extra twist.  I have pictures from a trip to a botanical garden in Denver last spring that will go on this layout of Spring in Bloom with the bunch of tulips.  I have pictures of the gorgeous tulips at the garden that will go on here.  My bee is buzzing around the bunch of tulips, pollinating away!  You can see all the challenge rules and the design team projects over at BBTB2 and we hope you'll link up a project.

close up of the tulips and bee

Cricut:
CTMH Flower Market-tulips, bee
April Showers-title
Paper-CTMH solids, Echo Park Spring Market prints
brown chalk in for edging
square punch for photo corners
Stampin Up stitched circle die for circles

Sunflower layout

Happy Monday!  It's an exciting one for me, as my husband and I are on a plane to London today!  Son#1 is going to be studying economics this year at Oxford University and we are going to get him moved into his dorm and do some sightseeing for a few days.  (The school year for the UK goes from October to the end of June, so he's doing his junior year of college at Oxford.)  The last time I was in the UK was almost 30 years ago.....so I'm really excited to be going back!  I didn't even own a camera when I was younger and have no photos or memorabilia from that long ago trip, so I'm planning on taking lots of pictures this time!

Moving on to crafty things, our BBTB2 challenge theme for the next weeks is to use crows, sunflowers, or scarecrows on a project.  I had some cute pictures of Son#2 and friends with sunflowers, so I got busy looking for sunflowers on cricut access.  I found these beautiful ones on the Flower Market cartridge, along with the other flower accents.  Then I went searching for a title with the word bloom and found the perfect one: "live life in full bloom"!  This was so fun to put together for the scrapbook and my son loved it!  Hope you will take a look at the design team projects and link up a project over at BBTB2!

Cricut:
CTMH Flower Market-sunflowers and other flowers, leaves, greenery
Springtime Vinyl Decals-live life in full bloom
Springtime Phrases-friends

Two pretty daisy cards to ward off the winter blahs!

Happy Monday!  I've been under the weather with bronchitis, so I'm ready to start a new week feeling a little healthier.  Between the cold, snow, ice, and being sick, I'm over this winter already!  Can anybody relate?  I was too sick to even do much crafting, although I planned a lot of projects in my head and watched some YouTube videos to help me learn Cricut Design Space.  And I did some online shopping with Stampin Up while doped up with hydrocodone cough syrup, so we'll see what kind of surprise goodies I ordered....because it's all a little fuzzy, lol!

Our BBTB2 challenge this week made me think longingly of spring, as our theme is daisies or any flower.  I made two flower cards and even tried out the print and cut feature of my new Explore Air 2 for one of them!  You can see a whole bouquet of pretty flowers on the rest of the design team projects over at BBTB2 and you have two weeks to link up a new flower project cut with your cricut.

Card #1

Cricut:
Sweet Treats-daisy (print and cut)
Just Because Cards-bloom

Card #2

Cricut:

Flower Market-daisy

Paper-CTMH solids
Swiss Dots embossing folder

Stamps-Hero Arts

Ink-SU Mango Melody

Merry Christmas!

Happy Thursday!  I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!  We had a wonderful day celebrating with family on Christmas Eve and flew out to San Francisco on Christmas Day for a family vacation.  We are sightseeing and enjoying the city very much!

This week at BBTB2, we are shared some of the Christmas cards we made for friends and family, so I have a included a few I made below.  I didn't get this post up in time for Christmas Day-just a little too much festive fun going on!  These are all scrap lifted from cards I saw on Pinterest.  I will go back and link these up to the originals on Pinterest when I get back from vacay next week.

 Jolly Holiday wreath, Stampin Up die for the background shape

 Accent Essentials snowflake, Jolly Holidays for "Joy"

 Accent Essentials snowflakes, Flower Market bow

Doodlecharms trees

Flower Basket card

Happy Monday!  The weather has moderated to much more pleasant temperatures here in KC, for which I am very grateful.  We are just finishing up a major home renovation project, which has included adding a screened in porch and I am loving being out there now that the weather isn't quite so hot!  Although I'm sure the hot weather will come back, lol!  So our BBTB2 challenge this week is flower accents.  I made a birthday card using the Flower Market cartridge with a hanging basket of flowers, inspired by this card I found on Pinterest.  (Can I just say how much I LOVE Pinterest?  Although it is a major time-suck...I can get lost browsing!).  The design team has some gorgeous flowers for you to see and you can link up your project this week over at BBTB2.

Cricut:
Flower Market-flowers, hanging basket, greenery
Paper-CTMH solids
brick embossing folder
Sentiment-CTMH Sending Smiles stamp set (with Flower Market cartridge bundle)
rhinestones-Stampin Up
twine

Flower thank you cards

Happy Monday!  Spring is in bloom and our BBTB2 challenge this week is spring flowers.  I've got two quick and easy flower thank you cards to share, using flowers from Doodlecharms and Flower Market.  Hope you will stop by BBTB2 this week and take a peek at the rest of the design team projects.  May your week be full of sunshine and flowers too!

Cricut:
Doodlecharms-flower
Paper-CTMH Kraft, Simple Stories prints

Cricut:
Flower Market-flower
Paper-CTMH Kraft base, Simple Stories prints
Stampin up ribbon and punches for sentiment
Swiss dots embossing folder

Happy Easter layout

Happy Monday!  Easter is coming up and is our BBTB2 challenge theme this week.  I used the the Flower Market and Artistry cartridges and some happy Doodlebug paper strips to make my Easter layout full of spring goodness.  You can check out the rest of the design team projects over at BBTB2 this week.
 :)

Cricut:
Flower Market-chick, boot with flowers, watering can with flowers, grass, title
Artistry-ladybug
Paper/stickers-Doodlebug Springtime prints/stickers, CTMH solids, Echo Park green solid
brown chalk ink for edging

Tree layouts in honor of Arbor Day

Happy Monday!  Our BBTB2 challenge this week is trees, in honor of Arbor Day.  All the flowering trees have started blooming here and it feels like spring.  I have two tree projects to share, with the one below using lots of cartridges (although the trees are from Camp Out) from our trip to Rocky Mountain National Park last summer.  The bottom project is a Christmas layout, where the cute little house and trees on the Flower Market cartridge were giving me Christmas cottage vibes.  Hope you will check out the design team projects over at BBTB2 and link up a project!

Project #1

Cricut:
Paper Doll Dress Up-mountain ranges
Outdoor Man-wildlife
Camp Out-trees
A Child's Year-bird in flight
Be Young-font

Project #2

Cricut:
Flower Market-trees, cottage
Artistry-font

Banner and Sign projects

Happy Monday!  I am hosting the BBTB2 challenge this week.  Our challenge theme is to use a sign or banner on a project.  There are so many amazing banner shapes on the Flower Market cartridge that it got me inspired!  However, you can select any of the many signs or banners on any cartridge, because there a lot to choose from!  I have several projects below to share and there are more from the rest of the design team over at BBTB2!

St. Patrick's Cathedral layout
This is one of my favorite of the banners on Flower Market-perfect for the titles.

Cricut:
Flower Market-banner
Family Album-decorative shape
Paper-CTMH solids

Ellis Island layout
The Destinations cartridge has some great signs like the one below for travel projects.

Cricut:

Destinations-Ellis Island sign

Paper-CTMH solids, Carta Bella map paper

Sunshine layout

The sunshine banner is from the Artbooking cartridge and was ideal for some summer vacation pics from Estes Park, CO.

Cricut:

Artbooking-sun and sunshine banner

Paper-CTMH solids

washi tape-Doodlebug

Stamps-CTMH

Ink-CTMH pigment inks

Let's Get Lost layout
This sign is from the Camping Critters, just the thing for some hiking pictures.

Cricut:

Camping Critters-sign, moose

Paper-unknown

Concertmaster layout

And sometimes, you just have to make your own banner....like below.

Cricut:

Quarter Note-font, clef

handcut banner

Paper-CTMH solids, print CTMH

3 shades of green

Happy Monday!  Our BBTB2 challenge this week is to use 3 shades of green.  I happened to have this Doodlebug print paper with several shades of green in the stash, which got my layout started.  Son#2 will be performing with the marching band in the Snake Saturday St. Patrick's Day parade next month, so now I'm ready for the pictures!  I used the Flower Market cartridge for all the cuts-loving the wreaths on this cart!  Check out the BBTB2 designers projects and you can link one up as well.

Cricut:
Flower Market-all cuts
Paper-Doodlebug prints, CTMH solids

Love U valentine

Happy Monday!  I'm glad it's a new week, as we've been passing around the germs and I've been under the weather.  Hoping my immune system recognizes that we are starting fresh this week, lol! Today I'm sharing one of the Valentines I made for this year, since that is our BBTB2 theme this week.  I've been waiting for the right project to use the typewriter on the Flower Market cartridge and a sweet Valentine love note seemed just the thing!  There are some adorable Valentines to see over at BBTB2, so go take a look!

Cricut:
Flower Market-typewriter, love
Artistry-the letter u
Stamp-Paper Smooches set

Xmas wreaths

Happy Monday!  I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!  My husband brined and smoked a turkey and our family gathering ate the ENTIRE turkey for lunch!!!!  We had to eat frozen pizza for Thanksgiving supper, because there were no leftovers.  Of much of anything.  That's three teenage boy appetites for you (and the turkey WAS really delish...).  But it was a lovely day full of family and a nap-you can't ask for much more from life than that, really.

Our BBTB2 challenge this week is to use a Christmas wreath and I have a couple of easy projects to share.  I'm sure you're not surprised to see I am still working my way through all the goodness of the Flower Market cartridge with all 3 of these projects.  The design team has some amazing Christmas inspiration for you over at BBTB2 and this week's challenge is a great way for you to get going on some holiday projects!

Project #1

My layout below for Christmas pictures is similar to another layout I did a few weeks ago, also with a Christmas wreath, just trying out one of the other wreath choices.  

Project #2

This is one of my Christmas cards this year.  I was going for a rustic and simple look with the woodgrain background paper.   The wreath and bow are from Flower Market and I stamped the Merry Christmas in the center.  Fast and easy, so a good one for mass production!

Project #3

This is yet another wreath from Flower Market, still with the woodgrain paper.  I added some red stickle for berries on this one, and it's also pretty fast and easy to mass produce.  

 Cricut:
Flower Market-all cuts
Paper-TPC studio woodgrain, CTMH solids
Stamp-CTMH
Ink-Stampin Up Early Espresso

Thanksgiving layout

Happy Monday!  I think we can all heave a sigh of relief that last week is over and think about happier things like....the holidays!  I am hosting our BBTB2 challenge this week and have selected a Thanksgiving theme for the week.  For my Thanksgiving layout,  I used a CTMH paper pack called Swan Lake for the print papers and several different cartridges, including Artbooking and Artiste.  I had to add a pie (from the Flower Market cartridge), since Thanksgiving is all about the turkey and pie for my family!  Hope you will be able to have some fun this week and be creative.  You can link up a project over at BBTB2 and see the design team's creations.

Cricut:
Artiste-Thanksgiving title
Artbooking-polaroid photo mats, arrow
Flower Market-pie, With Love phrase
Plaintain Schoolbook-circle
Paper-CTMH Swan Lake prints, CTMH solids

Christmas layout with pinecone and poinsettia

Happy Monday!  Our BBTB2 challenge this week to use something from nature on a Thanksgiving or Christmas project.  I'm really enjoying creating with my new CTMH Flower Market cartridge I got for my birthday, which is full of nature icons, including the pinecone and poinsettia on this Christmas layout.  It is full of beautiful wreaths and banners like the one below too.  The design team has some beautiful projects over at BBTB2 for you to see and you can link up a project this week as you create some Christmas projects or Thanksgiving decor.

Cricut:
Flower Market-all cuts
Paper-CTMH solids
brown chalk ink for edges

card with a flourish

Happy Halloween Monday!  I had to hide all the candy in the garage to keep the fellas out of it for the trick or treaters tonight!  I've managed to keep myself out of it too, until I had to sneak a few nibbles this afternoon...too much temptation!  It's hard to believe it's the end of October already!

Our BBTB2 challenge this week is to use a flourish or swirl on a project...there are SO many to choose from that I had a hard time narrowing it down!  I'm in the middle of making Christmas cards andI always like to make at least one all white version, so  I used the poinsettia from the new Flower Market cartridge that I got for my birthday, but cut it all in white.  The flourishes are from the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge, an oldie but goodie!  Sorry my picture is so dark...the glare off of the white made it really difficult to photograph.  The design team has some great projects over at BBTB2, so go take a look!

Cricut:

Stretch Your Imagination-flourishes

Flower Market-poinsettia
Paper-white heavy weight cardstock
rhinestone-American Crafts