Flashback Friday 7.0

Since I don't have any new projects ready for posting I thought it'd be a great time to link up to Flashback Friday. The latest Flashback Friday challenge is to post your first glitter card/project. Well my third post was this sparkly number made for my cousin's graduation. Love that Sassafras stamp set and still do. As you can see my love affair with owls is at least several years old. The paper came all glitter up like that. I think its funny to look back and see all the things I was discovering when I first started. Like inking chipboard, rounding corners, and coloring. So repost and link up your first glitter project (if you dare) for a chance at some super cool unity stamps!

Jingle Belles 5

The super talented Amy is a guest sketch artist and designer at Jingle Belles this week. She create a super fab and easy sketch. I made my card is less than five minutes. The bling isn't strictly part of the sketch but I wanted a bit more of a punch and well I love bling. Paper and sticker is Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses.

Here's an LO I'm sharing for the Basic Grey Challenge blog challenge to use flowers. I have flower paper and stickers. Me and my two cousins made with Basic Grey Lemonade paper and stickers.

Cardabilties Sketch #23

Quick card using Cardabilties sketch #23 and Sugar Rush papers by Basic Grey. Tried to make a little more boy-ish card this time. Didn't turn out quite that way but I still like it.

Sketchabilties Sketch 39

Since I have some extra time now I wanted to make sure I started to scrap some photos. I have a large stack of photos and and even larger stack of paper that needs to be used. I want to be a person who uses stuff faster than I buy it but its hard especially knowing new collections are just around the corner. I used some KI Memories Posh line for this photo and the Sketchabilties sketch #39. I was happy to use some flowers and thickers. I feel like I hoard these things but rarely ever use them. The picture is my cousin and my cat. My cat lives with my family because I can't have her in my apartment. So my cousin will take random photos and videos of the cat with her cell phone. This is one such picture. My cousin also gave my cat another nickname BEC (pronounced 'beck' and standing for bug eyed chubber because she apparently eats a lot and has large eyes)

Some Cards- Lucy's Sketch Week

I forget how I found Lucy's blog but it was when she was challenging her readers to make cards from her fantastic sketches. I loved a lot of the sketches and here are a few cards made with them. First up Sketch 6. I used some K and Company die cuts. I moved the bow in sketch to the top of my embellishment but I think it still works pretty well.

Next Sketch 4. Not a big fan of my card. I was trying to use the big Prima flower I got as part of a grab bag. I know many people love fancy flowers like that but its just not my style. Rather than letting it just be bulky and take up room in my stash I was determined to get it used up.

Last card is made with Sketch 2. Again I used K and Company Die Cuts. Layered two, added some ribbon, a BG rub-on and some faux stitching. Thanks to Lucy for the great inspiration. I will be saving her other sketches for future use. I encourage you all to head over and take part.

Butterfly Valentine

This card started with the beautiful Cricut butterfly from the Tinkerbell and Friend cartridge. I had two challenges in mind when I picked out that cut. Fantabulous Cricut asked us to use a neglected cartridge. I just got my Cricut and month ago and many of my cartridges only two weeks ago so none is really neglected, but I did write off this cartridge as one I would rarely use (gotten as a gift). Bitten By the Bug 2 wanted to see butterflies so I went searching the Tinker Bell book to see if I could combine the challenges. It took awhile to cut and assemble all the pieces but I'm quite happy with the butterfly in the end. I then created the rest of the card based on the CPS sketch and using some Bo Bunny paper. If you love working with your Cricut or other die cut machine I want to remind you to come join us at Die Cuttin Divas. This week the simple fun challenge is to create a winter card and the prize is a beautiful camera strap cover.

Cosmo Cricket January Challenge

This month of January has been great in the amount of time I've had to craft, but rather slow and boring in many other ways. I'm waiting for all kinds of paperwork to process in order to get my substitute teaching license. I've applied to a few other jobs as well. I'm sure once I'm working I'll miss the slow days of January. Class has started again and I have lots to do for classes. It's hard to get motivated to read paper after paper and then to write paper after paper. Gudrun from the Cosmo Cricket blog similarly thinks January always gets a bad rep as well so she challenged us to create a project for this little loved month. My card featuring Mitten Weather and some cuts from my Cricut A Child's Year cartridge is made to cheer up someone in this super snowy dreary month. I love to warm up with hot drink (usually coffee for me) so I think its the perfect image for a hello card for January. I know that at the beginning to the year Julie resolved to use her Cricut more (or at all) so Julie consider this inspiration about how the Cricut works with your super cute Cosmo papers. Other lovers of Cosmo Cricket there is still time to join in and make your own January card or LO.

Card Patterns Sketch 99

Here's my card for the new Card Patterns sketch 99. I turned it on its side to better suit my needs. Used some fabbie Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday papers. I've followed the lovely Amy for quite awhile and now that she's on the DT I'm always reminded about the sketches and hopefully I'll actually participate from time to time. This card is also for the Paper Sundaes distressing challenge (inked up edges).

Die Cuttin Divas *BONUS* Challenge

I'm so excited to share that I made the DT over at Die Cuttin Divas. Its a fab new challenge blog dedicated to suing your die cutting machine no matter what die cutting machine you have be it a Cricut , a Sizzix, a Cuttlebug, or anything else. Since my goal is to use my Cricut regularly this is a great way to help with that commitment. To help kick off this cool new challenge blog Die Cuttin Divas, we have a bonus challenge to make a winter themed card. Easy peasy, use any die cut machine to make a card with any kind of winter element. Our official challenges don't start until February but we were too excited to wait. So please join us and link up your project soon. If you can let us know what machine, cartridge or die you used. The best part is the fabulous Carla is offering a BG Origins Camera Strap Cover for one winner. This card is also for the Cricut Cardz challenge to use a snowman.

Jingle Belles 4

The new Jingle Belles challenge was surprisingly tough for me. It was a simple challenge, use light pink, dark pink, and lime green. I may not be as big of a fan of pink as my mom but I thought for sure I had some in my Christmas stash. Well after digging through my Christmas stash I did find ribbon, bits of a paper design and some stickers in the colors. I cut and layered the paper tree bits and added some bling. I affixed the stickers most closely matching the colors and tied on some of the ribbon. Its more of a tag than a card, but at Christmas time I use tags to double as cards on smaller gifts so I thought it might still fit the challenge. Even if this one is a little tough I'm determined to keep up with the Jingle Belle challenges so I can use up this stash and be prepared for next December.

A Layout (shocking I know)

So I do occasionally scrapbook as well. Cards are so much easier and less intimidating to make but I really want to use all the fab goodies that I have to preserve some memories as well. I don't always share what I scrapbook because sometimes I can't (pictures of my students) or because the project wasn't made for a challenge or because the photos of the LOs are never to my liking. I completed a mini album this month, another simply needs journaling and I made 4 LOs. I'm happy to have the memories recorded. I figured I'd share one I made with a Pagemap from January. I made the LO with Sassafras papers and some bling. I love that Sassafras papers are bold, but then some are perfect for pages with a border already in place. I also love the borders that come at the bottom of the papers. It like having a bonus embellie. The picture is me and a crafty friend from college selling our wares at a local craft show.

Two Cricut Cards

First a brief plea... Hey Crafty Friends! If you appreciate my cards I'd appreciate it if you followed this link and left a comment saying I, Jess Moyer, would make an excellent addition to the Cosmo Cricket Design Team!

This card/tag was made for the Cooking with Cricut glittermania challenge and the Fantabulous Cricut challenge Sweet Shop (ie use candy, ice cream, cake, etc). I cut this cake from Sweet Treats. I cut all the pieces from DCWV glitter cardstock and then mounted it on some more glitter cardstock so it would be extra glittery. I figure this will make a cute personal addition to a gift bag.

I made this card for the Cricut Cardz challenge to use black, white and red. I cut the ladybug from the Paisley cartridge and then added the cute little stamp. Thanks for stopping by!

Jingle Belles 3

First a brief plea... Hey Crafty Friends! If you appreciate my cards I'd appreciate it if you followed this link and left a comment saying I, Jess Moyer, would make an excellent addition to the Cosmo Cricket Design Team!

Now onto my card. I made this card using Cosmo Cricket's Mitten Weather for the Jingle Belles challenge to use acrylic paint. I painted the star and the edges of the label. I love the purple and gray in Mitten Weather. Such a fresh take on Christmas colors. The sentiment and snowflakes are a new set from Studio 18 that I picked up during the 80% Christmas clearance. I didn't need new stamp sets but I have a hard time resisting at only 20 cents. I picked up quite a bit of bling at that price as well because I love to add gems to pretty much everything. This card is also the the Sentimental Sundays to use a winter theme and have a sentiment. Lots of snowflakes on this card and of course the winter sentiment "Let it Snow."

Luv Ya Valentine

I created this valentine with Card Patterns Sketch #98 and for the White, Black, and Pink challenge at the Paper Variety. I was lucky enough to win a prize pack from a Scrapjazz challenge and I used some brand new goodies to make this card including the Bo Bunny paper, Adorn It sticker, and American Crafts Remarks letter stickers.

Card Cupids

Card Cupids is hosting a valentine card drive for hospitalized kids. I made these valentines a few weeks ago when I first heard about it but just packaged them up to send (missed the prize deadline, oops). I made the simple cuts with my Cricut so I could whip up 8 cards. They are collecting cards through Feb 4th but you can enter to win a great prize package by Jan 17th. The prize package consists of Cricut Fun Volume 2, 8 Pearl Pens, Mini Monogram Cricut Cartridge, 6 exclusive Card Cupids Digi Stamps and an exclusive Card Cupids Tote. There are three ways to enter for the prize package.

Three Ways to Enter:

1. Post about our blog candy and what you need to do to win the prize. Leave a comment on this post with a link to your post.

2. Create Valentine’s Cards for Card Cupids and add your link to the post below. Each time you create a post with new cards, you can add a link. So if you do a weekly post with new Valentines Cards, that’s 4 entries, biweekly that’s 8 entries and so on.

3. Send in the cards you created to Card Cupids to be given to the children at The Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel. For each card you send in, you will receive 1 entry. Be sure to include a note with your name, email address, and blog address (if you have one)]. For this challenge, the cards will need to be received by January 17. Please note that the actual deadline for Valentine’s cards is not until February 4.

Card Cupids has ongoing drives as well. I'm sending 7 cards for boys from my stash for their general drive as well. Please hop on over to the blog and see how you can help!

Happy Spring Card

I'm loving this October Afternoon Thrift Shop pad I just got. It has great colors for spring and I'm trying to think ahead and get some Valentine/Easter cards done. I made this card with the CPS sketch. CPS is being sponsored by Flowersoft this week and I just got my first jar in a grab bag this weekend. I really need to make a point to try it out, I've seen such pretty cards made with it. Also since I made it a goal to participate in more Cricut challenges, I made this card for two Cricut challenges. Bitten by the Bug 2 asked for hummingbirds but other birds were ok if you didn't have hummingbirds. I'm still only working with two cartridges (though lucky me more are waiting at my Grams house) so I didn't have a hummingbird. I used this cute little chick from Stretch Your Imagination. The Jitterbuggin' challenge was to use birds as well so it worked out quite easily.

Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week: Bright and Bold Challenge

Here is my card for the Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week: Bright and Bold Challenge. The challenge was to use colors similar to the Bazzill Basics Paper equivalents for Beetle Black, Lily White, Pink Fairy, and Tangelo Blast. Please check out the Moxie Fab World and play along, there are even fab prizes to be won!

Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week: Jewel Tones Challenge

Here is my card for the Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week: Jewel Tones Challenge. The challenge was to use colors similar to the Bazzill Basics Paper equivalents for Sugar Cookie, Sunshine, Pansy, and Blue Calypso. I usually use papers from the same collection, but this challenge made me be more creative and mix patterns. The blue is from GCD Studios and the yellow from October Afternoon. I was happy to find some patterned paper that fit into the challenge because I definitely prefer to scrap with patterned paper. Please check out the Moxie Fab World and play along, there are even fab prizes to be won!

Tuesday Trigger Bright Spot

Loved the Tuesday Trigger this week and knew instantly what I wanted to create. I wanted to create a banner card with circles like in the photo, but add a valentine twist so I replaced a circle with a heart. Then I added some stitching and a simple stamp. The papers used are from October Afternoon's Thrift Shop. I was so lucky to receive the 8x8 paper pack from the Secret Santa exchange this weekend and I also got the We R Memory Keepers Crop A Dile Corner Chompers. I have already broken two of the cheap corner rounders and avoid using them because I didn't want to invest in another. However if the Corner Chomper is anything like the original Crop A Dile it will be heavy duty enough for me. I encourage you to check out the Trigger and play along.

Gray is the New Black Challenge

When I first read about the Moxie Fab World Gray is the New Black challenge, I felt a bit stumped, but then I received the brand new card kit from my LSS Scrappers Cove. It contained some beautiful Pink Paislee Parisian Anthology papers, gray and turquoise Bazzill, chipboard, shiny gray ribbon, a charm, and some Mermaid stickles. If you make a card using all the ingredients from the card kit the LSS enters you into a gift certificate contest. But I made the card with the Moxie Fab World challenge in mind and tried to keep the focus on the gray. I encourage you all to check out the contest details and try your hand at using gray.

Jingle Belles 2

First up the card! This is for Jingle Belles second challenge to use inchies or twinchies. I used Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather and surrounded the adorable Santa with 6 inchies. Trying to keep some of my holiday cards super simple and as flat as possible to be better for mailing.

This weekend I was super lucky in terms of getting new scrap goodies. As some of you know I just got a Cricut and Michaels ran an excellent sale this weekend with some carts only $9.99. I knew these would be going fast and that I would be at a conference on Saturday morning so I gave my grams a list and she kindly went to her local Michael's to see what she could get. I wanted just one maybe two, she bought six! My grams is quite young and still works so she has the spending money but this is why we don't like to let her shop alone. She can't pass up a great deal. She has all these plans for what I can make for her with them. Which I will be delighted to do (love to craft for others!). Unfortunately what I didn't know was the Gypsy was $49 as part of the same deal. If you consider the 5 bonus cartridges it comes with right now it is a much better deal than even the $10 carts. Oh well live and learn. Besides now I have a much bigger library of shapes to work with so I really can't complain. My LSS had an anniversary event this weekend as well but I'll save that chatter for another time.