Sending Oceans of Wishes

A friend of ours has been struggling with kidney stones. Today he had surgery so Fisher and I made him a couple of cards. The whale is from the Create a Critter cart. The lettering is from Plantin Schoolbook and Zoo Life. When I put the googley eyes on they gave the whale a great personality.
For Fisher's card, he wanted to use a crab. (We were watching Deadliest Catch while we were discussing what to do which is what started the ocean themed cards.) He did the entire design. He even used the gypsy to get it ready to cut. He is quite determined to do it all. He only asks help in writing what he wants to say.

Thanks for taking the time to visit. Have a blessed day.

Easter Treat Boxes

Last week Kristy at Craftin' On My Door posted this cute idea and I just loved it. Go take a look at her creation here. The challenge for me on this was using Tags Bags Boxes and More. I got the cart on my Gypsy last fall when there was a promotion. I don't have the handbook and I wasn't sure which cut would create the box I needed. I ended up using the matchbox cover and box. However, I assembled it like a book where the cover opens up instead of the drawer sliding out. I used small plastic bags and filled them with the candy so I didn't have to bother with an acetate window. I printed the label from the computer and used a Martha Stewart 1" scallop punch for the background paper. The ribbon is American Crafts. One of my colleagues is following the Weight Watchers diet so in support of her I made this box. I found a small snack bag of carrots and made the box a little bigger. The bunny is from Gypsy Wanderings embossed with Divine Swirls. The grass is from Create a Critter.

I still have a few more projects to go. Saturday is the Easter Egg Hunt at church. I am making cupcakes for a snack and was going to make decor to go on top. Thanks for visiting and have a blessed day!

Easter Basket

Saturday my SIL called me to see if she could visit and if I could help her in decorating my 1 year old nephew's Easter Basket. She had picked up this bright little box at Target and thought it would be just the right size for the little man. When she went to AC Moores to look at embellishments she went into a little sticker shock. She then remembered "Karen has a cricut." I was more than willing to assist. (Really, it just takes a small suggestion to get me to craft, especially when it is for others.) The name is a print-n-cut from LD Hodgepodge alphabet. The frog is from Frogs and Kisses SVG set. The eggs are cut from patterned paper using the Peep SVG. The other little critters are from a sticker set she did buy. It all goes well together. On these two sides, there are more eggs. The chick and bunny are from LD Easter Beasties SVG set. The grass is from the Plantin Schoolbook cart.

I used the cricut, MTC, Lettering Delights, a cartridge, and stickers to create the images. My SIL put it all together. I think she did a marvelous job. Here are close ups of each side.

Thanks for visiting and have a blessed day!

Quick Post

Going back to work tomorrow. Spring Break went by too fast. Just 9 more weeks before the summer. Just wanted to post a quick link to Ashley's blog Welch Creations. She is doing a 150 Followers giveaway of a new Cuttlebug. If you get a chance, go check out her work. Hope to post some pics of an Easter basket project I did with my SIL. Maybe tomorrow after work. I will probably need to retreat for a few minutes. (Haha!)

Easter Egg Card

During my latest visit to the MTC discussion forum I found the egg card cut file from Shelly aka paperflowers and the cross image from Suzan. I put them together and made this card for my grandmother. The cardstock is Recollections. The pattern paper is DCWV. I added some stickles for a little glimmer.

I embossed the cross and used a stipple brush to give it texture and depth. The flowers and ribbon are from my stash.

Thanks for visiting. Have a blessed day!

Easter "Tweets"

Even though I planned to craft during the day it turned out I was crafting late into the night last night. Today we register our son for kindergarten. He will be going to the same school he has been at for Pre-K so my plan was to hand deliver the teachers' Easter treats today. I made baskets for his three teachers and the "tweet" bags for the ladies in the office.

I first want to give credit for the "tweet" bags to Lettering Delights. As part of their celebration for 1000 followers they offered 11 freebies. This cute little design was one of them.

The file was ready to use. I just separated the layers in MTC and picked out the color combination. I just love these and will probably make more for my "peeps" at school.

Here's a closer look at the topper. I put a pop dot under the wing of the chick.

I am excited about these baskets because it is the first 3D cut I have designed in MTC. I cut each basket out of heavy cardstock, assembled, and decorated them.

I thought the ribbon on the handle made this basket fun and festive.

I love the color combination of pink and brown. Along with some candy goodies I included a small Koosh ball for some fun.

I picked up the lace I used on this basket just the other day at AC Moores - 3 yards for a buck. The flowers are just simple silk flowers I picked up at the Dollar Store.

Well, we need to be getting ready to go. Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day.

Playing with Dinosaurs

My son really liked the Land Before Time videos. I remember when he created his own Dinosaur Village. He turned over the storage boxes that we keep the dinosaurs in, took a green blanket and draped it over the boxes to form mountains. I gave him the blue towel that he used for the lake. He played with this for over an hour. For this layout I used the Paper Dolls Dress Up cartridge for all of the cuts. There were several dinosaurs to choose from. Since they were accessories, they didn't have layers to them. I cut the images out in different colors and used my handy dandy scissors to trim and create the layers.To give the images some dimension I used my chalks to add shading and additional colors. I modeled the colors from the actual dinosaurs he is playing with. You may be able to tell on the palm tree the chalking. The others are not showing up as well in the pics.

Thanks for visiting and have a blessed day! (My Spring Break is almost over. Just a few days left.)

A Quick Layout

This morning I want to share with you a quick layout I did of my DS and his loyal dog Patch. (I wonder just how many dalmations are named Patch?) Anyway, I have stopped trying to scrapbook in chronological order. If I try that then I am always behind. Instead I just grab some pictures I like and start creating.

For this page I used the font from the Robotz cart. The paw print was a challenge. I don't have a cart with a paw print so I used the bear from the Doodlecharms cart. (I used him on a card in my last post which is why I thought to go to it.) The bear has a layer for his tummy & nose that was just the right size for the paw. I copied it multiple times using my Gypsy and then hid the portions I didn't need. Viola - I paw print. After putting the letters on the page it seemed a little dull so I traced the edges with an opaque white pen to make it pop. Lastly, what page would be complete without the dog from Create a Critter. (One of my favorite carts.) I added the red collar to match Patch's. The bone made a nice header for my journaling.

Thanks for the visit. I just love company. Have a blessed day!

A "Beary" Special Baby Card

I have attended several baby showers in the past month. This is my most recent card for a baby boy. The card base is from the Create a Critter cart. I welded two of the stamps together using my Gypsy. I created the framed mat by copying the original image and making it a little smaller than the card. Next I placed a rectangle in the center using the Plantin Schoolbook cart. This allowed me to put designer paper behind the frame and behind the bear. The bear is from the Doodlecharms cart.

I had this small charm in my stash and thought it would accent the bow. The small feet are just adorable.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope to post some more this week being that it is Spring Break for me. Have a blessed day.

Blog Awards

I am humbled by the lovely ladies who have fabulous blogs and enjoy my blog enough to award me with the Versatile Blogger Award. Within the last week I have received this award from Kim @ Snippets of Life, Missy @ Quick Chick Designs, and Emily at Cool Cricut Creations. The guidelines are to:

1. Thank the person who gave it to you.


2. Tell us 7 things about yourself.


3. Reward this to 15 bloggers.

The seven things about myself (that I am willing to put in print ;0)

1. I like to sing and dance while cleaning the kitchen.


2. My favorite season is fall especially here in the mountains with the beautiful leaves.


3. I play fantasy football - The Blue Ridge Cookers ROCK!


4. I teach high school math and yes I am a geek Ha...ha...


5. I prefer my apple pie warm with vanilla ice cream.


6. I'll watch the movie Where the Heart Is whenever I catch it on TV.


7. My husband is my best friend.

Now I need to find 15 bloggers to pass on this award. This will be a work in progress. I will add over the next week and strive to complete the list soon. I know just where to start. I've visited so many new sites through the linking party Momo arranged. If you haven't checked it out I strongly recommend visiting her. Again, ladies thank you so much.

I was also granted an award from Ruby @ Handcrafted Simply By Us. For this award I need to add another thing about me to the list. So I will admit that the 8th thing is I am a procrastinator. See I even waited until the last item to reveal this piece of information about me. Actually I start out quite well with with projects but always find myself finishing at the last moment.

I will find 8 bloggers to pass the award to and post them as I go. (I'll try not to procrastinate too long. HA HA!) Lastly, Lisa @ LMD Stampin has awarded me The Thing of Beauty Award. I think the above guidelines covers this award as well. I am suppose to tell 5 things about me and I have given 8; however, one of those things is suppose to be why I like crafting. Well, I like crafting because it is relaxing. I really do feel that it is a retreat for me. Thus the name of my blog. It brings me joy and I share that with others. I am to list 5 blogs to pass the award to. So let's see, 15 for Versatile Blogger, 8 for Stylish Blogger, and 5 for this award. That's 28 blogs (if I did my math right Hee hee). I alos need to link this award to the creator at gracenotes4today. I will make this a link on the image of the award on the sidebar.

I think this covers all of the awards. Again, thanks to all the ladies who have shared this with me. Have a blessed day!

Easter Card

My boys went fishing today so I had some time to myself. Started the morning grading papers. (Best to get it out of the way so I can enjoy the rest of the weekend.) Had a baby shower to attend. My friend liked the card I made here. I came home, watched a movie, visited some wonderful blogs, gathered some inspiration, and started to make some cards. Here is the beginning of my creative process. I wanted to make some Easter cards. I started by pulling out some pastels but it wasn't working for me. I bought some Recollections Craft Cardstock a few weeks ago and decided to use natural colors- brown, blue, and green. I chose the ribbon with brown and blue flowers. I got the stamp this past fall when my DH took me away for a weekend and we found this cute little craft store in Franklin, NC. It is an Inkadinkadoo stamp. After cutting the paper to size and using my gypsy & cricut to cut tags from the TBBM cart I was ready to assemble. Here is the card. After putting the basic design together I decided to add the flowers cut from the Paisley cart. I cut them out at 1.5" and at 1". I brushed all of them with the brown ink and layered three together, punched with my crop-a-dile, and held with a brad. The tag is topped with a small piece of brown ribbon.

The EASTER is made from a SU stamp called Alphabits. I punched each letter out with a 1/4" circle punch. The Happy is actually a Happy Birthday stamp that I masked to get just the Happy part.

Finally, I love this stamp. I wanted an Easter card that celebrated the "reason for the season." The greatest gift of grace and mercy - the sacrifice given on the cross.

Thanks for visiting and may you be blessed with a happy and blessed Easter.