Getting Cricky Simply Sunday Challenge: Pennants & Banners

Banners!  I love banners!  Then when I "had" to create one I froze up!  How does that happen?  Then once I started working I loved it.  I made this one universal to cover Memorial Day and the 4th.  I thought it would be cute to hang up on the back deck during our BBQs.  We love having people over in the summer for cookouts.

This is my first ever Design Team project. I am so excited to be designing for Getting Cricky.  If you don't already follow that sight you have got to check it out.  She has a ton of inspiration and challenges going on.  Not to mention blog candy is always being passed around there, she is one generous chicka! I really wanted to make something I could be happy with and I took a few shots at it and I am happy with the outcome.  I even found a vintage fence to hang it from for the photos!  (I wish that was true, but our fence just needs a fresh coat or 5 of paint after the winter!)

It is rare for me to do everything in a project from the same cartridge but for this one I did.  Every cut on here is from A Child's Year.  The cardstock is CoreDinations.  I used black magic for the stars and the letters.  I embossed them in my Big Kick and then sanded them to reveal the "hidden" color.

The red on the right shows you the "hidden" color.  This is before embossing and sanding on the left.

Both embossed but I have sanded the one on the right.  How cool is that?!

I am also entering this into a couple of challenges:
Cooking with Cricut- Memorial Day
Creative Cutter Room- Honoring our Vets
Memorial Day Challenge 4 at Scrapalicious USA
2 Sisters- Anything goes
Crazy About Cricut Thankful Thursday
Paper Cutz Challenge
Decorate to Celebrate

Table Dancing Raccoon

I saw the grillin and chillin blog hop and I really wanted a project for it!

I hopped along and picked a critter and cut for it (Raccoon and picnic table) and the idea was born... a table dancing raccoon is coming to my next BBQ.  I put him on our plasticware holder.

You can check out the challenge at Bug Bites.

At Frosted Designs the challenge is to think about the outdoors and create a project.

The raccoon and sentiment are from Give a Hoot, the ipod is from Paisley and the table is from Camping Out.

You may find this useful- links to many other challenges

So, I finally have made the list I keep telling myself I am going to make!  It lists out challenges you can find around the blogging world.

Next I want to make a list of the monthly things that go on.

If you know of other weekly challenges, hops etc that are not on my list PLEASE let me know and I will add them!

I will keep the list as a tab on my blog so you can always access them. Additionally, when I add something to the list I will do a post so my followers can see there is an update.  So, if you aren't following me you may want to ;)

Click here:
Challenges around the blogging world

The Countdown is on- Monkey Bulletin Board

It is ALMOST the end of the school year.  Teachers are just as excited as students!  I love teaching, but I LOVE summer vacation.  I need to put something up between the monkeys holding the sign but for now this works for me!  I used Zooballoo for the monkeys and the vine.  The font is the Pooh font.  Thanks for looking!

I am entering this into the Throwback Thursday Challenge.

Blog Awards... THANK YOU FOLLOWERS!!!

Cricut-Tastic From Natasha and Lisa.  Thank you so much ladies.  You create wonderful things and I am very thankful for this award.  If you haven't seen their blogs make sure to stop by and see what they can do!

So here are the rules:

 Wear this badge proudly on your blog and share it with friends. Share this award with 10 people that you think have Cricut-tastic blogs. You also have to tell 5 cricut related things about yourself.

5 Things about myself:

1.  I have only owned a Cricut for a year and a half... and I am a TOTAL addict.
2.  Cards and layouts are my least favorite things to create :)
3.  When I create a gift and bring it to a party my kids and husband make sure everyone knows I made it... nothing else makes me feel better about my creations.
4. I keep my Cricut Create at work now that I have an Expression because you just never know when you will NEED it!
5.  My Gypsy has changed my crafting world.


Sharing this award.  Sharing is always hard.  Hard because I follow so many incredible blogs.  People give me inspiration all of the time.  For this award I wanted to recognize all my fellow DT members at Getting Cricky.  They are all so talented! 

• Alyssa
• Amy
• Becky
• Brenda
• Brynn
• Elaine
• Erika
• Jess
• Julie
• Kathy P
• Kathy T
• Rebecca M
• And OF COURSE Kristal herself!  

The Versatile Blogger award from Kim!  Kim is very talented and has some great things for you to see.  I recommend you hop over there and check it out!

The "rules" of this award:
1. Thank the person who sent it to you
2. Tell 7 things about yourself
3. Send this to 5 fellow versatile bloggers
Here are 7 things about myself:
1. I am a blog addict.
2. I love hosting parties.
3. I hate laundry.
4. I enjoy hand washing dishes... but don't tell my family that!
5. Coke and Pepsi are my biggest downfalls when it comes to junk food.
6. Couponing is another addiction of mine.
7. I hate the homework my kids get more then they do.

The 5 bloggers I am sending this to are:
Purple Peeps Techniques
Scrappin with Lala
Imagination Attic
Just Jenae
Kris' Craft Coop


Dina has given me the "Thing of Beauty Award."  Thanks Dina!  Dina is a special blogger friend to me as well because she is always posting wonderful words of encouragement on my blog.  I love it!  Check out her page and send her some love.  I have never received this award so I am pretty excited!

For this award I am supposed to say 5 things about myself with the first one craft related and pass it on to 5 people!

OK.... seriously I am "things about myself" drained LOL.... so check those out above :)

My picks to pass it onto are:
Melissa (my sister)
Cindy's Antics
Paper Deckerations
Houses Built of Cards
Kimberly's Crafty Spot

Thanks again everyone!!!

Link Up Love Party with K Andrew

One of my favorite things about blogging is the people I "meet."  K Andrew is having a linky party to give us the opportunity to meet others and get inspiration from others.  You can find it here.  If you aren't familiar with her blog yet spend some time poking around over there!  I love how real she is in her posts.  She is also incredibly generous with blog candy so it is someone you may want to follow ;)

She gave us the goal to post our favorite project.  I have no favorite.  However, two of my favorite things to do are try new things and create for others.  So I am going to post my first diaper cake that I made for a baby shower!  You can find the entire post about it here.

We would love to have you join us at Getting Cricky!!!! 

Remembering

Our lives are changed by the experiences and events that happen.  Sometimes those experiences are so painful that they change the course of our lives. We need to make choices on how we are going to handle that pain and who we are going to be despite it. On January 10, 2005 the Lord had a different plan for my sister's life then we did.  On her way to work she was in a fatal accident and He took her home to be with Him when she was only 11.  Our family misses her every single day.  Having that birthday party yesterday for my kids left me really missing her today.  All the life events I wish she could share with us she can't.  However, our family chooses to celebrate her life rather than mourn her death.  Several times a year we get together and celebrate her including a scholarship fund our family raises to send kids to the summer camp she worked at. One thing we do all the time, that gives us reason to smile, is send balloons to heaven for her.  My kids love doing it and we enjoy that moment and I send prayers for other families that experience this pain.  So this morning I wanted to just think about her and feel her memories in my life.  I keep a folder that I have labeled "encouragement."  When I have a down day I pull something from this folder and it lifts my spirits.  It is filled with cards, letters, quotes, and many other random things that have made me feel special in my life.  I created this this morning to set in that folder- it will make me smile as I think of sending smiles to Candace.

Most of this was cut from A Child's Year.
 

submissions:
Fantabulous Cricut (blue and a cloud)
Cooking with Cricut (balloons)

Birthday Parties OVER

If you are here for the blog hop click here.

If you saw some of my earlier posts you may have seen some birthday banners.  Well, my sister- Crafty Gator, and I decided to have a combined birthday party for all four of our kids today.  It went VERY well, but I am TIRED!

Each kid picked their own theme. We set up a table for each kid with their theme and they had their own cupcakes that my super talented sister made!  I did the paper crafting and she did the cupcakes... I got LUCKY and had the easy part!!! The themes they picked: Artic Animals, Aliens, Owls, and TV Dinners

We started with a cookout so for the first hour we stopped every 15 minutes and sang Happy Birthday to one of the kids and had them blow out their own candles.  It helped the kids feel like they were having their own party.  Then while people ate they opened gifts one at a time.  I think it went pretty well and we were able to do the entire thing in under 3 hours.  I think it was only 2.5 actually.

I am submitting these over at a new blog Decorate to Celebrate.

Here are some pics:

Wow it looks bare before we added the food :)

Blast Into Summer Blog Hop (2nd attempt to make this work)!

Hi there!


Thanks for stopping by.  You should have come from Kristy's blog if you didn't hop on back to the beginning to see some even more fun projects!  You can do that by clicking here and visiting Wendy at Cricut Your Classroom.


We were given the opportunity to create something that expresses to students, teachers, or volunteers, that they have done a great job this year or something that sends them off into summer.  I teach Kindergarten, and let me tell you those kids ROCK!  They have worked so hard this year.  They have taken my expectations and "blown me away." So, I used some mini bubbles to let them know.


You know how we have all of those things stuffed into a closet because someday we will have the perfect use for them?  Well, I had the bubbles I got cheap, cheap, cheap once.  They were Easter bubbles.



First I created a label for the bubbles.  It was from Sweet Treats and had a candle on the side.  Using my Gypsy I hid the candle part of it.  I put some ink in my Cricut and had the sentiment written on my new label.

I embossed the white card stock for the top using Fiskars texture plates in my Big Kick.  The bubbles on the label are from A Child's Year.

 Your next stop is Sue!  Head on over there and see what she has created for you today!

If you like what you see the biggest compliment you can pay me is by "following" me!  If you leave a comment make sure to give me the link to your blog so I can visit you in return!

Blast Into Summer Blog Hop

Hi there! 

Thanks for stopping by.  You should have come from Kristy's blog if you didn't hop on back to the beginning to see some even more fun projects!  You can do that by clicking here and visiting Wendy at Cricut Your Classroom.

We were given the opportunity to create something that expresses to students, teachers, or volunteers, that they have done a great job this year or something that sends them off into summer.  I teach Kindergarten, and let me tell you those kids ROCK!  They have worked so hard this year.  They have taken my expectations and "blown me away." So, I used some mini bubbles to let them know. 

You know how we have all of those things stuffed into a closet because someday we will have the perfect use for them?  Well, I had the bubbles I got cheap, cheap, cheap once.  They were Easter bubbles.

First I created a label for the bubbles.  It was from Sweet Treats and had a candle on the side.  Using my Gypsy I hid the candle part of it.  I put some ink in my Cricut and had the sentiment written on my new label.

I embossed the white card stock for the top using Fiskars texture plates in my Big Kick.  The bubbles on the label are from A Child's Year.

If you like what you see the biggest compliment you can pay me is by "following" me!  If you leave a comment make sure to give me the link to your blog so I can visit you in return!

Your next stop is Sue!  Head on over there and see what she has created for you today!

Announcement of GREAT news and two more birthday banners!

Do you have those few blogs you check ALL.THE.TIME?  I do for sure!  One of those such blogs is Getting Cricky.  Kristal's blogs about her life, her faith, and her crafting.  One of the things that I find so fabulous about her is her encouraging nature.  When you submit something to one of her challenges she hops right over to your blog and gives you some great and positive feedback, she believes in everyone's ability to create.  Well, she had a DT call and picked some very talented people.  I am so excited that she also picked me!  This is my first DT and I couldn't be more thrilled to have that experience be over at Getting Cricky!

Now on to some other things... I am still creating for this big birthday bash of 4 combined bday parties this weekend.  I also am part of a blog hop tomorrow... lots and lots going on!

Here are a couple banners for the party... The one for Ricky is for his TV dinner themed party and Ryan's is for his alien party.

 

Well, I am going to be late for work if I don't get off blogger... and something needs to pay the bills!  I will come back later and update the cartridge information for the banners!

Arctic Animal Birthday Party Banner

This weekend my sister, Crafty Gator, and I are going to attempt a combined birthday party for all four of our children... if we can have a day with no rain!  We let each kid pick a theme.  So for one we have Arctic Animals!  This is the banner for that one!  I don't have the ribbon in it to attach the pieces of the banner yet because I will add that on Sunday when we set up the tables. 

I used Accent Essentials for the snowflakes and circles.  The Polar Bear is from Animal Kingdom.  The font and penguins are from Zooballoo.  The bears and penguins are embossed in my brand new Big Kick (wooo hooo) using a Fiskars template of snowflakes.  The cardstock is all value pack cardstock.... I love it when I use that AND a I am happy with the outcome!

I am entering this banner into Desert Island Crafts Challenge.  You need to use 3 items from the itinerary.  I used ribbon, die cuts, and dry embossing.

NSD Challenge #1

Challenge number one at My Pink Stamper is - Anything Cupcake!!!

Do you ever create something for a challenge and then think... "Wow, that is horrid!"?  This is my recent horrid one.  Typically I would scrap it and recreate.  However, I am totally exhausted and have had a long weekend so I am going with this card as is.  I am going to set my alarm to get up super early tomorrow morning to make my son a better birthday card but that doesn't usually go so well! :)

I cut the card from Wild Card.  It won't stand up... this makes me nuts!!!  The sentiment is from Sweet Treats.

I am also entering this into Birthday Sundaes recipe.  The recipe was for 2 patterned papers (cupcake liner and candle) and 3 different embellishments (flame, sprinkles, and velvet ribbon).

NSD Challenge #12

Challenge number 12 from My Pink Stamper--Make a Scrapbook Page, Card, or other with a Kid's theme! 

This is a bucket of dirt for my son!  He turns 10 tomorrow (Yes, there have been tears from me.).   I have no idea how he can keep getting older and I don't age a bit ;)  Every year on his birthday he requests that I make dirt for his friends at school.

There are all sorts of recipes for this online but I don't do cooking.  I don't do recipes.  I really don't do kitchen.  So I made 3 small things of chocolate pudding and let it set.  Then I stirred in a big thing of cool whip.  I put gummy worms throughout the bucket.  Then I got some Oreos and crushed them up.  I layered Oreos and pudding mix throughout the bucket. 

The Happy Birthday is from Celebrations and the font for my son's name was done with  Lyrical Letters.  Lyrical Letters is quickly becoming my new favorite font!  It is on there with repositionable vinyl.