Thank You for Your Prayers!!

Hello my crafty friends, I just wanted to pop on here and thank you all for the prayers you sent my way.  We weathered Sandy out and came out unscathed so your prayers did the job!!  But....not everyone else was a blessed as we were.  As of now there are 7.8 million people on the East Coast who are without power, we didn't lose our power. There are 1.3 million of people in PA without power, 29 are dead across 8 states and including Cuba and Jamaica, Sandy killed over 50 people because of her. All my children that live in PA were safe and sound thank God.  My other children kept in touch the whole time checking to see how we were fairing.  Life is now clean up for many, many people.  Our church picnic woods took a hit, but it is low and always takes a hit from any flooding.  This time though a tree blow over uprooting and fell on an out building.  So damage, but minor compared to what it could have been.  Here are a few pics.  The picnic woods is just down the road from us about 2-2 1/2 miles.

Stop sign at my local Food Lion

The uprooted tree

This pic is of the road that my husband works on which is right next to the picnic grounds. The road is the white spot at the right back of the pic by the tree line.  The Conwago creek is right on the picnic grounds and everytime we have flooding this is what it looks like.  Last fall the church had refridgerators float down into the corn field across the road.  They went under the bridge and kept going.

I'm sure you have seen pics at what Sandy did to NYC and Alantic City NJ, as you know Sandy was the perfect storm and was fueled by other weather systems.  We have never experienced anything like this where I live.  My family and I rode out Hurricane Charlie years ago at my cousins house in Mrytle Beach and that was enough for me. lol  So this is my second hurricane with the only diffence being we never lost electric and got no damage at our house or on our road.  So thank you, thank you for thinking of us and praying for us!  You are all awesome!!!  Oh and this was after the water receeded some!  Crafty hugs to you all-Brenda

It's A Witchy Night!

Hello my crafty friends!  I hope that where ever you are you are safe from hurricane Sandy!  I am writing this on a Sunday night and it is raining here with some brisk winds.  Sandy is on her way and supposed to come right over top of us and then sit and spin, so I may not be able to post this tomorrow so thought that I'd better have it ready to go ahead of time.  Schools have been cancelled as well as work places.  We are supposed to get 8" of rain and of course with that comes much flooding as well as having winds up to 65-80 MPH.  So we have tied down, put away anything and everything that was outside.  They are predicting power outages for 10's of thousands of use, so the generator is in the garage ready to go!  At least we can have the essentials if the power goes out.  Our gas bottles are filled so I can cook on the grill if need be.  I think we are as ready as we can get for Sandy.  Now with that being said, lets get to the fun stuff!  It is Monday tomorrow and that means it is time for a new BBTB2 challenge!! Our sweet and super talented design team sister Susan has picked for us to use a witch from any Cricut cart.  Sounds like fun doesn't it?!  I decided to make a flat back treat box and used the cart Celebrate with Flourish for my witch.  If you want to know how to make a flat back treat box click here.

Please if you are in the path of Sandy stay safe.  If you are not evacuated, then please stay put in your homes.  With the high winds and driving rain, there will be lines down as well as down trees, and I don't want anyone hit by a tree or live wires!!  Stay safe and use common sense.  I don't know if I will have power on Monday or not, our worse is to come around noon until Tuesday morning, so we will see how it goes and I will check in as soon as I can.

The Blessed Family

Hi crafty friends, I have a card for you that I really, really struggled with and I'm not happy with it at all, but what is done is done.  First off you know that I am trying to learn how to color with my Spectrum Noir markers.  Yea, the key work is trying!!  This is going to take a while to teach an old dog a new trick. lol  Then instead of cutting my image out with a circle like I wanted to, I cut the entire thing out with the Nestie that wanted as the background like a dummy.  Now that I've thought about it I could have still cut it out with a circle Nestie, but who said I could think?!  I tried to "fix" it by putting on Antique Line distress ink on the background while in the Nestie and should have stopped there, but then decided to put some Iced Spruce too, but that didn't go so well for me either. Sigh So now I'm not happy with the coloring, sponging, or the way I have cut it out.  Next I searched every piece of paper I own for the "right" paper to go with this image.  Now let me tell you I don't have a ton of paper but have my fair share of stacks and lose paper.  Not finding any Christmas (I don't have much Christmas paper) paper that looked good with the image I finally settled on what is on my card.  I love the paper and it went the best with the image.  Not exactly what I call Christmas, but....it the only thing I liked.  So I guess I will let you see my pitiful card now and of course it has been very cloudy and overcast here for two days and Sandy is come to boot, so my pics aren't even very good. lol  My card certainly leaves a LOT to be desired.  Anyway I am entering it in "Rudolph Day" over at Stamping for Pleasure.  Why you might ask after looking at it?   Just for the heck of it and as my teen tell me, because I can.  lol

Now I hope I haven't made you tear your eyes out and if you did, my apologies!!  Back to your regularly scheduled blogs that have something worth while in looking at. 

SU Ornament

Hello all my crafty friends, Brenda here today.  This week on Sweet Sassy Diva my design team sister Misty gave us the challenge to use any die cutting system to make a project with this week.  Soooo, I decided to go "old" school and use my Cuttlebug to make a very popular project that all Stampin' Up people want to know how to make. You see the fall/winter mini came out and right on the cover of the catalog is this gorgeous ornament.  But my Cricut and Cameo people don't worry you can make this too using two different ornament dies from a Cricut cart or from the Cameo store that you buy your files from. So here we go, I am going to warn you though this is very pic heavy!!

Here is the ornament on the catalog that started it all:

I used the ornament Framelits dies to cut out 20 of each ornament, so you will have 40 in all.  They remind of nesties and work the same way, they just don't emboss. I cut 2 paper strips at 2 1/4" for the small ornament and you can get 10 ornaments out of each strip for a total of 20.  My larger strips are cut at 3" and you can get 5 larger ornament out of each strip, so you will need 4 of those to get 20 ornaments out of. Yes, my Cuttlebug plates are well loved! lol  They are my orginal ones and my son gave me my Cuttlebug several years ago for Christmas.

Here are my shapes all cut out, I have two piles of 20 each.

Now you are going to fold your shapes in half but leaving 5 of each shape unfolded.  You will have 5 piles of each ornament with 4 ornaments in each pile. 3 of them will be folded in half.  If you are using double sided paper like I am, fold one ornament one with the pattern of choice so that it is on the inside and the other ornament fold the opposite way. Clear as mud, right?!

After you have them all folded in half you are going to start gluing.  I used Zip dry because they gave me some time to "wiggle" around to line up well but drys fast enough that I don't have to wait long. You are going to take three of the same ornament and glue them together one like a book, then you will take the three and glue onto a whole ornament.  This is one piece to your ornament, you will continue to do this until you have them all done.

This is what the front of your ornament will look like and then the back.

And here they are all done.

Now we are ready to assemble our ornament!  You will need 1 1/2" inch circle, mine was slightly larger.  You are going to take your 5 largest ornaments and arrange and glue them down to the circle like this:

Now you will need about 5- 4 inches of tule.  You will wrap the tule around your finger and pinch the ends.  I am now switching to hot glue to glue to finish assembling my ornament. Glue the tule in the middle of each ornament.

After you have all your tule glued down, you may have to trim is some.  As you can see mine is too long, so I gave it a trim and now this is what your ornament should look like up to this point.  Don't worry if you are not able to follow along with my directions, I will have a link for you to watch a video. I'm not the best at tutorials. lol

Now you are ready to attach the smaller ornaments to your tule.  Now this ornament will not lay flat against the tule, it will slope like it is "sledding" down a slope.

Now you are ready for your rosette for in the center of your ornament.  I used a Cuttlebug rosette die to cut my rosette.  You can also do it by hand if you don't have a die. Glue your rosette to the center of your ornament and place any embellisments you would like on it.  I put a crystal button with a flat back glass "pearl".

Here are some other ornament I have made stamping them.  You can do them in any holiday you would like.  I made a Halloween one to hang in my window. These are great to put on your presents this Christmas.  All the girls in the family will be getting one of these this year for their tree.  And as promised here is the link for the video on how to make these gorgeous ornaments.

Don't forget to finish off the back side of your ornament too.  You can place a scallop on the back with a stamped sentiment, to and from or you can place another rosette on the back.  This way your ornament will look beautiful if it gets turned around on your tree.  If you have hung in with this this far, you are awesome and deserve a metal! lol  Thank you and I hope that you will give this a try.  You don't have to have the dies I had, any shape ornament from any die cutting machine will work.  I would love to see if you make one, so please leave me a comment and I will come over to your blog to check it out!  Thanks everyone, happy crafting!

Which Way to the Candy?! BBTB2 Challenge

Hi crafty friends, can you believe another week has gone by?!  I swear I think a few days have gone by and here a whole week has slipped by me. Why does time seem to go faster the older you are?  I mean there is the same amount of seconds, minute, hours, etc....in a day. So how does it get faster?! Please tell me that I'm not alone, that the days go by quickly for you too. lol  I guess that is just a sign of old age.  Well on to my project, as you know it is Monday and that mean of course that it is time for a new BBTB2 challenge! My sweet friend and design team sister Jeri gave us a challenge to  make a 3D Halloween treat container.  Well after thinking and thinking on what container I wanted to use, I finally settled on this cute little bag from the CTMH Artiste Cart. This little bag is so sweet and can be used for so many things. I inked my sweet little bag with Tim Holtz Wild Honey distress ink. I used a paper stack from Paper Studio called Creepers Jeepers. Then I used my trusty Gypsy and place a box from good ole George and Basic Shapes so I knew how big I could make my witches boot.  Then I cut out my layers to my boot, added some crinkle ribbon to it that I dyed and crinkled. I also used some Viva Gloss Pearl pen for the eyes on the boot. Tied a bow at the top of my bag then cut the scallop circle and stitched circle from a My Creative Time dies and stamped with a My Creative Time stamp and called it done.  I love how my witches boot came out and think it is cute on this little bag.  Now it is your turn, you can use any cart that you want to make your container, just make sure that it is a Cricut die cut. Link up with us and make sure you back link to us in your post.  All rules are located at the top of the page on BBTB2 and have fun with this challenge!! Also don't forget to check out the fabulous projects that my design team sisters have for you and please leave them some bloggy love. Thanks to Jeri for such an awesome and fun challenge!

Birthday Cards

Hi all my crafty friends, I'm here with some birthday cards that I made for my family.  I have one more to make for November and then I will be done with birthday cards until the spring.  And yes I am late with some of these only because we are going to visit them and I wanted to hand deliver.  Or at least that is the plan.  If it doesn't work out then I will place in the mail to them.  I did however talk to them and wish them a happy birthday. lol  Plus if it is on time they know it isn't from me. lol  I just hate to pay the high shipping if we are going to see them and can take it with us.  Anyway back to my cards. 

The first one is for my son who turned 30 this year, I can't believe I have a child that is 30!!!  He is a heavy weight mechanic in the Army so I made him a tool box shaped card.  Nothing fancy, but knew he would like it.  I used Handy Man Cricut cart and for the inside I used Word of Mouth Imagaine Cart.  It says  "Caution, man with tools".  I thought that was cute so placed it on the inside of the card, but didn't take a pic. I also dotted the tools and tool box with Viva pearl pens in cream and black.

The next two cards I made alike, just with different ink and mat papers.  These are for my daughter-in-law and future daughter-in-law.  All my cards have gift cards in them.  So hard to know what to buy when they live far away. Both of these girls love their coffee, so I went with a coffee themed triple time stamping. I used an SU stamp set and like the way these came out. I used the pearl pens on these two cards as well.

My last card is a stamp that I colored in using my Spectrum Noir markers.  I have so much to learn about coloring with these fabulous markers but I am trying and one day maybe I will get this blending thing down. lol  I cut it out with some Nesties and put it on a z fold card.  I also made a little pocket to tuck in the gift card.

For all of my cards I used scraps from my scrap bin, it's nice to be able to use some of my many scraps. lol  Thank you for coming by and as always thanks for the many wonderful comments, they always make my day.  You are all awesome!  Until next time my friends, Happy Craftin'!

Believe

Hello my friends!  Brenda here and breast cancer awareness is our theme at Sweet Sassy Diva.  I really don't have a tutorial for you, but I do have one you can watch from someone else. lol  I saw this tutorial and thought was a great idea for using up some scraps.  We all have them right?!  Some of us more than we need.  Not mentioning any names or anything. lol  Ok it's me!!!  I swear I use my scraps all the time so why is it that they feel like they are mulitplying?  Anyway my card uses the Cricut cart Calligraphy for the heart.  I used my Gypsy and hide the outline line of the heart to get just the inside heart and then hide the inside line to get just the outside of the heart.  Kinda like my shadow because this didn't have a shadow. I also welded the support ribbon from Stand and Salute to the inside heart and just placed a pale pink piece of card stock behind the opening and using some clear crystal I outline my support ribbon.  My believe came from My Pink Stamper set of stamps. I also place 5 pearls on the left top and lower right sides of the card.  Of course I used all scraps for this card except for the base, but still have a ton of scraps left.  I just hand wrote the inside sentiment and used a Martha Steward punch for the heart border.  I think that about covers it.  You can see the tutorial on how to make the background design with paper scraps here.  Thanks for looking!

God's Got This One-BBTB2 Challenge

Hello all and yes once again it is Monday, so that means another new BBTB2 challenge!  I so love these challenges.  This week is my turn to host the challenge and since we are in the month of October I decided to pick the theme "Breast Cancer Awareness".  All you have to do is make a project for Breast Cancer Awareness using your Cricut.  I know this hits home for many of us.  In fact I can guarantee that it has touch everyone's life in some way.  It hasn't touched my life with a family member but several dear friends of mine has dealt with breast cancer.  It really can be a long journey and one that needs love, support and faith to get through.  I know that my DT sisters have some great projects for you this week so please stop by and give them some blog love and while you are at it please join in on our challenge.  We love seeing your wonderful creations, you all awe me with your talents and believe me I have learned a lot from everyone!  Ok on to my card.  I have had this designed in my Gypsy since last year but never cut it out and made the card.  Can you believe that?!  Well I decided it was time to make this card.  I used the Sweethearts Cricut cart for my bra and clothes line, Stand and Salute for the support ribbon and Billionaire for my sentiment on the outside as well as the inside.  Pretty much just a plain card but speaks volumns.  All papers where scraps out my scrap bins except for the card base.  And ladies and gents (because fellas you are at risk too!) please, please get your mamograms-do self checks and keep an eye out on anythings that feels or looks unusal.  We can't let this cancer win when it is treatable if caught early enough.  Stay healthy  my crafty friends and go check out what my DT sister have for you too.  If you link up with us just make sure to follow our simple rules at the top of the blog.  Thanks!!