Our Christmas tree helper!

What a cute picture!! Our Jack-Jack on the ladder helping trim the family room tree for Christmas. What a sweetie!!

Exploding box!

My daughter wanted to make an exploding box for a school project. I had never made one before, so we began this adventure together. She needed to use pictures from a recent family field trip and wanted the box to be bigger than others we had seen so that the pictures would fit. We used Martha Stewarts 18" x 18" paper from Michaels and made the box 6" x 6" x 6" in size with 5 layers. It was actually a lot easier to make than I thought it would be. She cropped and matted all of the pictures herself. She added the journaling and rounded all of the corners. She cut 2 different sized circles to go under an ornament in the center to make it look like it was on a rug. She also used the Cricut to cut out her title and the Xyron to put adhesive on the title and the ribbon. I did cut out the corners of the papers for the layers of the box, but only because the paper was too big for my trimmer and the corners had to be cut out by hand, but she did all of the folding. I also had to make the lid, that was a bit complicated. I am so proud of her and she had so much fun and used so many of my tools. Some she had used before and some that were new to her. I think her favorite was the bone folder.

Happy Halloween!

My 11 year old DD was Jack Skellington from the Nightmare before Christmas, with a feminine twist and my 9 year old DS was a Crash test dummy. Little Jack was a pumpkin.

I finished 5 layouts yesterday!!

I wanted to share these because, I really like the papers. I got these from Current quite awhile ago. I love the bold colors and they are of a heavy weight. I would guess 80. There is no cricut in any of these. I have decided, that I need to get things caught up. These papers have enough going on that I don't think I need to add any cricut cuts. That is a good thing and it will help me get caught up. These pictures are from 8 years ago. Enjoy!

I've been shopping!!!

I just wanted to share these great deals that I have found this week. I am still waiting on a delivery from Custom Crops and CM too. Oh my!!

I found this small Ott light at Tuesday Morning...just look at the price tag!!!! $14.99 They also had a larger one for, I think, $39.99, but I have already spent so much this week.



I got this new Tonic Studios Guillotine trimmer from Ritzcamera.com on sale. They have awesome customer service!! I've already tested it out, it makes incredibly clean cuts and cuts straight! I love the grid that guides you as you make your cuts.



I found these three different sets of Inkadinkado clear stamps at Costco. They were $19.49 each and each set has 128 stamps, a clear block and a small black ink pad.



This is the Holiday Seasons set:


The Spring Blossoms set:


The All Occasions set:

Our new baby!! Jack-Jack

Yes, I have lost my mind. I just fell in love with this face, and he is very much a cuddly smooshy lap dog. None of my other dogs are this cuddly. We just drove to Pennsylvania last Saturday to pick him up from a breeder. His birthday is August 2, 2008.



A couple of new pictures from October 5th.

Where's the fire?

I really struggled with this one before I found a look that I was happy with. I think the chalking really makes the page.
I used Plantain Schoolbook for the title, Christmas Cheer for the fire, and Mickey & Friends for the fire hydrant. I also used the cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder on the little blue strip at the bottom with three red metal brads to give it some dimension.

The background paper is from CM Perfect Fit Reds pack, and the cardstock is CM cranberry, royal blue and black. The yellow is a basic yellow from ACM.

A card for my oldest DD

I'm not really a card maker, but I am trying.
I made this for my oldest DD as I have seen her grow up into an amazing, strong, intelligent young woman. I couldn't be more proud. Hopefully, she won't see it here until after she receives it in the mail.

The patterned paper is from the CM Blush Blooms paper pack. The cardstock is a CM gray, I am sorry, I do not remember the name and it is no longer available. The tulip stamp is from Inkadoo and the thinking of you stamp is from Studio G. The shiny pink metallic dots stick on and are from Joanns. I also used pop dots under the tulip.

A muffin sign

I made this sign for our local snack shack. I used Doodlecharms for the muffin. It is actually a cupcake, but I cut off the candle and added the extra tiny circles from the layer cut to make it look like a blueberry muffin. I used CM French Vanilla paper and chalked with brown around the edges.

A Xyron mistake...don't let this happen to you...

Take a look at what I've done. I spent quite a bit of time making a mermaid from the paper dolls cartridge. I had even put stickles on the shell top and on the scales of the tale. Very cute. I had not yet put on the face, because I hadn't decided just how to draw it yet. Then I put it through my Xyron to make it into a sticker...

Don't forget to turn down the volume or pause the playlist below before you push play.

A question for those who have used the Disney Photopass

I just recently returned from a trip to Disney World, and took advantage of the prepurchase Photopass. I was surprised, however, that I didn't see more photopass photographers in the parks. I ended up with 54 photos taken and 78 after I edited and added borders. Of course, many of the original 54 were different shots from the same location. I have heard of many people having 120 or more photos on their photopass before editing, and I am a little disappointed. Still happy to have pics with the entire family, though.

So, please tell me, if you have used the photopass how many pre-edit photos did you end up with and did you see a lot of photographers in the parks...if so where? We don't need to mention the entrances to the parks as that is a given. Thanks in advance for your input. I am very interested to see the responses.

Scrappin Shoppin in Disney

I'm back!! We had a wonderful week at Disney World. The weather was beautiful, not too hot. We did get a little bit of Gustav on Saturday while touring the World Showcase. Yes, that is right... it is on the far end of Epcot. A long way to walk in torrential rains. Did I have ponchos? Of course I did...they were in the hotel room, where else. It was actually very comical, we couldn't help but laugh. The crowds were light, and except for Toy Story Mania, we never waited more that 10 or 15 minutes and sometimes had no wait at all. And oh boy, did we eat...the food was so wonderful, and with all of the walking I only gained one pound. Woo Hoo!!

Well, you know I couldn't have gone to Disney without doing some scrapbook shopping. I was disappointed to find a very limited selection at Making Memories in Downtown Disney. I didn't see much in other stores either, but here are some pics of what I did buy. Two page kits with stickers, papers and frames. (I don't usually use the frames much) I also got a 3-D 2008 sticker that I thought I could use for a title page.



The back of the page kits

Headed to Disney World!

We are leaving tonight. Driving to Disney and you know I am going to be shopping for scrapbook supplies. I'll be sure to post pics here when I return and the kids have gone back to school.

Skittles and their storage

No, not the candy...although I do really like the yellow ones. Skittles are not really skittles. That is an adorable pet name someone gave them, not sure when. They are actually for home decorating, but have become popular for scrapbooking and card making. They are small plastic dots that are flat on one side. They come in many transparant colors. Many have learned to color them with sharpies and other markers to change the look, but I haven't tried that yet. I store mine in little glass apothecary jars that I got from Michaels. I love these because of the look, and because they are clear and I can see my beautiful skittles. I only have two so far, because I refuse to pay full price for them...then are $4, and I only but one when I don't need my 40% off coupon for something else. For now they are on my wire shelf...that may change.

Paper Storage

This is how I store my cardstock and some of my patterned papers. It is directly behind my L-shaped tables. When I need paper, I just lean back and find what I need. Very convenient. I do have a large piece of fabric that I planned on using to make a cover for the entire thing, but I haven't gotten to it yet. Honestly, dust has not been that a problem.



I keep some more patterned paper in my closet in plastic drawers. These sheets are mostly the individual sheets I buy at M's, ACM or J's. I try to store them by category.

More Cuts with Xyron Coated Paper

Last week, I tried something new. I ran my paper through the Xyron before cutting it on the Cricut. See the post with instructions below. Well, now I'm spoiled. It is sooooooooooooo much easier to run the paper through the Xyron first. I was concerned about the waste of the sticky stuff (technical term) on the Xyron, but then there is always some that is not used up anyway. And I also came up with a solution. After I cut out my Cricut cuts on paper already run through the Xyron, I used a punch in the extra space...and it worked. See first picture below. I also turned the mat around in the machine and guided the blade to the empty space to cut one more letter. See the second picture below. The multi-purpose tool is pointing to the ner that I filled in in that space. Oh my, am I just becoming lazy? No more putting each individual letter through the Xyron and going around the edges with a pointed tool...so much work.
BTW, I own the Xyron X, 250, 505 and 900. This helps cut down on the waste. I use the appropriate size Xyron. Last night I was cutting two different letter sizes...1 1/2 inch and 2". So I ran both strips of paper through the 505...a perfect fit.

Update 8-18-08: Someone asked if this made my blade sticky with the residue from the Xyron. I checked it today and there was no residue on the blade. Thanks for the question.

Disney 2002 Album Completed!!

I'm so excited! I finished my Disney 2002 album in less than two months. I had set the goal to finish it before I left for Disney next week, and I did it!! I had to post the entire thing here for all to see. I apologize for taking these pics with the album standing up...should have laid it flat. I still think it they out OK.

I used a lot of Cricut cuts. Some of the embellishments and papers were purchased from the scrapbook store in Downtown Disney. I'm not completely happy with those as they are older, but I didn't want to waste them. I have one more trip to put in an album before I can scrap the trip we are taking soon. For this trip, I have already have some great Creative Memories papers. Please enjoy!
Click on any picture for a closer look.