Pretty Scary Mummy Card - Evidence that good taste can be Fickle

Mini Monsters Mummy Card

Today's  Halloween card is evidence that my judgment and "taste level" (to plagiarize Project Runway) is not always on its A Game. I used Provo Craft's Mini Monsters cartridge and from the very beginning I was plagued with problems. My daughters wanted me to make a "girly" card with a Halloween theme. Instead of going for the easy "A" and choosing a witch or other typically female typecast gory girl I choose to add a second "X" chromosome to a mummy card.

My girls absolutely love every detail from the handmade flower to the bakers twine shoe bows, but I think its a bit ugly - without being sure it is in the "pretty ugly" category. Maybe its the mismatched eyeballs or the idea that mummy wrappings would ever come in 80's pink and lime green, whatever is up with this card it has left me a bit unsettled and wondering who I could give it to. Perhaps a frienemy?

I thought I would share the card anyway since its done and my eldest says I should embrace my off days too (which is proof positive of her affinity for fortune cookies).


Mortified after muffing up a mummy,

CarrieAnne

Recipe:
Cricut Cartridge: Mini Monsters
Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug: Swiss Dots
Patterned Paper: Basic Grey
Cardstock: Couture Cardstock
Bling: Recollections
Twine: The Twinery
Adhesive: Beacon Adhesives Zip Dry, Stampin' UP!

Ink: VersaMark

Cuts:
"Mummy" from the Mini Monsters cartridge cut at 5.5 inches with the Card function selected.

"Mummy" cut at 5.5 inches with the Layer 1 function selected.

"TrkRTrt2" cut at 1.75 inches with the Phrase function selected.

"TrkRTrt2" cut at 1.75 inches with the Phrase function and shift key selected.

Mom Sleeping Sign - An antidote to doorbell torture

Mom Sleeping Sign

My son is a fantastic sharer - he hates sleeping and feels a strong desire to deny me its rejuvenating benefits as well. He is currently on a schedule in which he sleeps from about 5am to 8:30am and then if he is feeling generous he'll take an hour or so nap around dinner time. I've taken him to the pediatrician just to make sure he's not a vampire, or some kind of bizarre nocturnal mutation and all she did was chuckle and shake her head in that "stinks to be you, and there's nothing I can do to help" type of way. Why is it we have to pay a co-pay again if they don't actually provide a solution to your problem? You'd never go in and order food at a restaurant, pay and not actually eat something.

But I digress...

I'm not quite sure how my 12 month old is functioning, I feel like a garbage compacter that mated with a tornado - devastated and not to good looking or smelling. (How do you shower when your now mobile infant never hits the pause button?) I have become obsessed with snatching a few moments of sleep whenever and wherever I can. Did you know a microwave situated above your stove doubles as a vertical pillow?

So woe be it to any kindly delivery man or neighbor should they lovingly ring the door bell when my son accidentally nods off for a nano second. I'm fairly certain my local flower delivery man checked to see if I was on the FBI's most wanted list after the not so happy reception he got when he attempted to play Chop Sticks on my door bell last week. To make it worse he didn't even have the right door! I think he should have given me the two dozen roses as an apology, but perhaps he was to scared to offer them to me.

So to spare delivery men, government employees and poor college kids trying to sell magazine subscriptions from future harm, I made this sign to hang over our door bell.

I know they normally say "baby sleeping," but I pride myself on honesty and accuracy.

A sleep deprived pseudo human,

CarrieAnne

Recipe:

Cricut Cartridge: Sweethearts, Sugar and Spice
Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug: Textile Textures
Ribbon & Lace: May Arts
Cardstock: Couture Cardstock
Chipboard: Maya Road
Alphastickers: Jillibean Soup, October Afternoon, American Crafts
Patterned Paper: Crate Paper, October Afternoon, Jillibean Soup
Ink: VersaMark
Twine: The Twinery
Adhesive: Beacon Adhesives Zip Dry, Glue Dots, Stampin' UP! Dimensionals


Cuts:
Sleeping Mom
"1stKiss" cut from the Sweethearts cartridge at 6 inches from fleshtone cardstock.
"1stKiss" with Layers function selected  cut from the Sweethearts cartridge at 6 inches from brown and vanilla cardstock, and green polkadot patterned paper.

Bed -
"Naptime" cut from the Sugar and Spice Cartridge cut at 4.5 inches from ecru cardstock
"NapTme-s" cut from the Sugar and Spice Cartridge cut at 4.5 inches from blue and ecru striped patterned paper
"NapTme-s" cut twice with the layers function selected from the Sugar and Spice Cartridge cut at 4.5 inches from red cardstock
"Naptime" cut twice with the layers function selected  from the Sugar and Spice Cartridge cut at 4.5 inches from floral print patterned paper

Circle Background -
With Real Dial Size selected use the "Hugs-s" cut set at 8 inches from the Sugar and Spice Cartridge

We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy Review

Sew Easy Stitched cards with Sentimentals Cartridge

 If you follow my blog, you know I have a pathological fear of sewing machines. They make me nervous - most likely because they outsmart me at every turn. The only tension I associate with them has nothing to do with a bobbin and everything to do with a furrowed brow and me stressing out. With this is in mind, you can understand why I was excited to try out the We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy product line. I have a few of the different design heads, the mat and the handle. I thought I would give you a quick review and my first two projects with the tools.

We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy Stitch Piercer Tool System

 The Price Point: 
Sew Easy Stitch Piercer Tool: $9.99
Heads: 3.99
Piercing Mat: 7.99


The Concept:
The idea behind the product is pretty simple. Using the handle and the interchangeable heads, roll the tool across cardstock and pierce designs into your paper. Then use regular floss or string to stitch in your designs with the provided needle.



The Reality:
I had a difficult time getting the tool to actually pierce through the paper. I would classify this more as an embosser and even with that I would always pull the tool towards you when working. When I pushed away from myself the results were dreadful. I used the recommended mat and applied a great deal of pressure. The supplied needle was rather dull so I used the tool and then went back with my paper piercer to pierce the holes. Given that paper piercing templates are dreadfully expensive and I LOVE to make holes in stuff, I am still going to be using these tools, but I won't be buying additional heads. I will view these as embossers or pattern creators.

Grade Based on Advertised Function: B-

Card featuring Sew Easy "Banners" Design

Pros:
1. Lots of different designs to choose from

2. Love the compartment in the handle to hold the needle - no more finding it with your feet in the carpet.

3. Because this is a free hand system you can make your stitches curved, straight or use them to outline and accent something.

4. Keep your packaging because each card comes with suggestions for doing several different stitches with the same head.

5. The mat is quite large and allows you to stitch on a layouts and cards without having to readjust your paper.

Cons:
1. Needle is WAY to big which causes you to waste thread when you want to secure your ends or try to squeeze in that last stitch.

Card featuring Sew Easy "Love" Design

2. This tool is more of an embosser than a piercer as on each of the heads I tried the majority of the dots did not pierce through the paper.

3. On several of the heads key pierce points are missing on the design and don't emboss at all, because they are not even there. This was especially true for the "love" head as I kept having to look at the packaging to fill in the blanks myself.

4. I would love for the head to have a marker on it so I could know when the design begins to repeat. This would be especially nice for designs with wording. Who wants "ove" instead of "love" on their Valentine's Day card?


Please note this is an independent review, and I am in no way affiliated with We R Memory Keepers.

Thanks for stopping by,

CarrieAnne


Recipe:
Cricut Cartridge: Sentimentals
Tools: We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy Product Line
Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug: Swiss Dots
Patterned Paper: We R Memory Keepers
Cardstock: Couture Cardstock
Bakers Twine: The Twinery
Floss: DMC
Adhesive: Beacon Adhesives Zip Dry

Cuts:
White Scallop Card
"Label1" cut at 4 inches from white cardstock with the "card" function selected.

Learning to Bowl Mini Album

"Learning to Bowl" mini album made from Nifty Fifties Cartridge

I truly enjoy creating mini albums, and my Cricut Expression always me to make my albums in any shape or configuration I like. These pictures of taking my older two daughters bowling are several years old (we didn't even have the younger two yet!) It was their first time bowling and my husband was trying so hard to get them to use good fundamentals and all they wanted was to marvel over the "cool" two colored shoes they got to rent.

The idea of setting up this mini like a set of bowling pins has been kicking around in my mind for a while. When all the pages are closed the album looks like a fresh set of 10 pins just being set up. Some of the pages are on rings and some of them are on ribbon hinges so as you progress through the "steps" of bowling and more pins are "knocked" down you move through the album and see different pictures and journaling.

The entire album is based off a single bowling pin and ball cut from the nifty fifties cartridge. I cut the pin 10 times and removed the ball from each cut. I then set the pins up like a group of 10 and made a tracing of where each pin would go so that as I made moveable pages in groups of 3 or more pins they would all line up again at the end of the day. This pretty much ate up ALL my scrappy time this week, but I am happy with how it turned out so I included several pictures.

There are lots of Epiphany Crafts buttons, epoxys and findings on this and I love how I could use just a few papers and ribbons with Epiphany's tools to create a cohesive look.

 
Recipe

 Cricut Cartridge: Nifty Fifties
Patterned Paper: Glitz Designs, Pink Paislee
Tools: Epiphany Crafts (Shape Studio Tool Heart 14, Shape Studio Tool Round 14, Button Studio Tool Round 14, Shape Studio Accessories Bubble Caps Heart 14, Button Studio Tool Round20)
Epoxys: Epiphany Crafts (Shape Studio Round 14 Bubble Caps, Shape Studio Heart 14 Bubble Caps)
Buttons: Epiphany Crafts (Button Studio Round 14, Button Studio Buttons Round 20)
Settings: Epiphany Crafts (Vintage Settings - Club House)
Pearls: Want 2 Scrap
Adhesive: Beacon Adhesive (ZipDry), Stampin' UP! (Dimensionals, Glue Dots)
Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts (Black Canvas Thickers) Glitz Designs (Tiny Alpha - Burnt Orange)
Twine: The Twinery (Black and White)
Ribbon: May Arts (Red Pleated)
Pen: Copic (Mulitliner .01 Black)
Embellishments: Lil Davis (Bottle Cap), American Crafts (Chipboard Arrows, Heart), Die Cuts (Basic Grey)
Paint: Apple Barrel
Misc: Chipboard (Cereal Boxes), Jump Rings

Cuts
"Bowling" (with ball removed) on page 33 from the Nifty Fifties  cartridge cut at 6.5 inches.

Cricut Imagine Birthday Gift Card Holder

Cricut Imagine Birthday Gift Card Holder

  I know I've been AWOL, but I had an unexpected opportunity to take my two youngest to Disney last week and who wouldn't take advantage of that!  As you can see by this post's title, I am now the proud owner of a Cricut Imagine!! This is the first project I made with it right out of the box.

As I can't bear to throw any kind of reusable packaging away, I have quite a few of those plastic pillow boxes - the ones flowers or embossing folders come in, and I thought it would be fun to re-purpose one as a gift card holder. Because electronics and I mix like oil and water, I wanted to try something simple for my first Imagine print and cut job.

The doll die cut is from the Christmas Noel cartridge and the print of the doll's dress is from the Imagine Country Carnival cartridge.

One thing I REALLY like about my Imagine so far is the ability it gives you to create custom colors. This means you can fiddle with your pallette until it is perfect. I was delighted with the skin tone I was able to create for the doll as most cardstock is too pink or too white.
 
I provided pictures of the back of the container as well so you could see how it was assembled. The white cardtsock inside was simply traced and run through the Tim Holtz notebook embossing folder. I have always thought this folder liked like the slats of house siding and was glad to give it a try in creating this effect.

I cut the dress of the doll out twice and layered tulle into between the dresses to give the impression of the petticoat. I also added an Epiphany Crafts Round 14 button to the doll's bow.

This is going in my box of gifts that are ready to be given, now one of my girl's just needs to get invited to a Birthday Party!

Recipe

Cricut Cartridges: Christmas Noel
Imagine Cartridges: Country Carnival
Embossing Folder: Tim Holtz: Notebook
Tools: Epiphany Crafts: Button Studio Tool Round 14
Button: Epiphany Crafts: Button Studio Accessories Buttons Round 14
Stamp: Stamping Bella
Punches: Stampin' UP!, Marvy Uchida
Patterned Paper: Webster's Pages
Cardstock: Couture Cardstock
Flowers: Prima, Webster's Pages
Ink: Stampin' UP!, Tsukineko
Baker's Twine: The Twinery
Adhesive: Beacon Adhesive: Zip Dry
Misc.: Beads, Clothespin, Lace, Tulle

Cuts
"Doll" from the Christmas Noel Cartidge cut at 5.5" inches from Patterned Paper

"Doll" from the Christmas Noel Cartidge cut at 5.5" inches with the shift function selected from flesh tone, brown, turquoise, and patterned paper.

Patterns/Colors
Country Carnival: Green Floral
Country Carnival: Custom Flesh Tone

Thanks for stopping by,

CarrieAnne

Gumball Machine Treat Box

Gumball Machine Treat Box

Have you ever visualized a project and then had it work out exactly like you pictured? It is rare that this happens for me, but with this little Gumball Machine Treat Box it did. 

I love how cute it came out. I plan on putting this idea up on my shelf till Valentine's Day and making a bunch of them for my daughters' classes. They actually come together pretty easily. The final project height is 5.25 inches and it holds about 1/2 cup of gobstoppers.


Recipe
Cartridges: Cricut (Wrap It UP, Plantin Schoolbook, Cindy Loo)
Patterned Paper: We R Memory Keepers (Be My Valentine)
Ink: ColorBox
Adhesive: Beacon Adhesives (Zip Dry), Glue Dots, Stampin' UP! (Sticky Strip)
Buttons: Favorite Findings
Scissors: Fiskars
Twine: The Twinery (Pink and White)
Brad: Queen & Co.
Transparency: Staples
Tools: Paper Piercer, Needle
Candy: Wonka (Everlasting Gobstopper)

Cuts
The Clear Globe of the Gumball Machine
"Bag" cut on page 80 of Plantin SchoolBook cut at 6.25 inches with the "Tall Ball" function selected.
** Because you are cutting transparency you need to have your pressure set to max and your blade depth set to 6**

The Red Patterned Lid of the Gumball Machine
"Bag" cut on page 80 of Plantin SchoolBook cut at 6.25 inches with the "Tall Ball" function selected.
**Be sure to return your cut settings to normal to avoid tearing the paper**

The Base of the Gumball Machine
"FlwrPtBx" cut on page 75 of Cindy Loo cut 3.5 inches.

Face of Gumball Machine (Quarter Slot, Spinner, and Candy Ejection Point)
"Gumball" cut on page 44 of Wrap It Up cat at 5 inches with the "Tag" function selected.