My Creative Time Design Team Call

Wow! Emma from MCT is having a design team call. There are a lot of wonderful entries over there. I love her stamps and the matching dies that she has come out with to coordinate with her stamps. Since I just got my latest order this past week, I decided to go ahead and play with them and enter the DT call. SO here goes...

Paper - Echo Park , The Apothecary Emporium.

Jewels and Skeleton head flower - Making Memories

Sentiment - My Creative Time Mixed Holiday Sentiments, XL Label die and XL Label borders

Banner - MCT Build a Banner Kit and Anyday Bingo & Crossword

Darlene

Exploring Cricut Challenge

Have you heard of this new blog called Exploring Cricut? They are all about diving into all the wonderful cartridges that we own. This week they had a challenge to use the candy on page 111 in the Celebrations cartridge. I recently went through all my Christmas stuff and I knew I had some candy paper that would look great with these cuts. SO here is my entry...

Darlene

Welcome to Simple Southern Blessings and Cricut 360’s Spooky Halloween Blog Hop!

Well down south in Louisiana some of the leaves have fallen and we are still waiting for the cool air. I sure do miss seeing true Fall. But I don't miss Trick or Treating in winter coats!

Our DT has come up with some amazing spooky projects for this weeks challenge and blog hop.

If you've come from visiting Heather at Houses Built of Cards, then you are hopping right along.

If you've just happened across my blog and would like to play along with our Spooky Halloween Blog Hop,

start HERE .

Make sure to check out each DT member's blog for some awesome inspiration and collect the key words to reveal this weeks challenge.

There will be prizes along the way at some of the DT members' blogs, AND a grand prize, a Freshly Picked Cricut cartridge. How fun is that?

Just link up your project over at Cricut 360 for a chance to win!

I really struggled this week with what to make. I have plenty of halloween paper and cartridges, but just couldn't find any mojo. I hope you like what I finally came up with. There is a jack o'lantern card feature on the Wild Card cartridge that I chose to work with. This cartridge doesn't have as many layers as I would have liked. I ended up cutting the main card layer in orange and then the blackout layer in Kraft and black. I then just cut the back part of the black card off so that the Kraft would be the card base and the black would just be used behind the orange. I then cut the stem and vine in brown and green and just trimmed the vine off of the brown one, leaving me with the brown stem. I hope that made sense.

The upper corner of the card seemed a little bare, so I went searching for a moon, but didn't really like what I found until I saw the moon and bats on the Imagine Cartridge Enjoy the Seasons. Perfect. I also inked all the edges a little. Spooky, with a little cute. LOL

My key word is: GREEN

I have a little blog candy for one lucky winner. Please leave a comment and a way to contact you and maybe you will win some Halloween Goodies.

Now it is time to head over to Leirad's Card Making Corner. Go see what she has in store for you today... And when you're done, make sure to link up your project to Cricut 360 be entered to win!

Darlene

Cricut 360 Challenge #12

Welcome back! Today is Friday and I am so excited. I am in the middle of a 3 day crop called Scrapfest. Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 9 am til midnight of nothing but scrapping! Boy will I have a lot to show ya'll. I did 14 pages yesterday!

On to the challenge... September 19 is Native American Day, so make something Indiany. LOL

When my daughter was in preschool, she had a little stuffed monkey that she carried everywhere named whowhohaha. During Thanksgiving, they made cute Indian shirts and the teacher asked each child their Indian name. They all came up with names like Running Deer, Wise Owl, Leaping Fox, etc. Not my Bailey. She was going to be Whowhohaha. The teacher tried to talk her into something more Indian, but finally gave up and asked her how to spell it! So here is to Indian Whowhohaha!

Cricut 360 Challenge #11

It's Friday!! Whew! It has been a super busy couple of weeks. Preschool has started back for me. At our church preschool, we have 250 sweet little ones that attend. I work mostly in the office doing the computer work and tuition and stuff. But whenever I need a break, I sneak into the toddler room for a little fun. But since school just started, it has been a little loud in the toddler and two year old rooms. It is the first time some of these guys have been away from their momma's, so they are a little upset. But we hold em and rock em and play for a few hours.

Anyhoo... onto this week's challenge - Make something for a HERO. Easy peasy. I know we all have someone in our life that we look up to. I knew I had a black and white picture of my father from his military days that was begging to be scrapped. I used the Stand and Salute cartridge for all of my cuts. This is really a great cartridge to have, so many good patriotic cuts.

I loved the paper I used for American Pride - the way it faded from one color to the next. Not sure where it is from because I got it from a paper swap a while back. I thought it would be neat to use a few dog tags. I really wish I had some sort of thin metal to use for the chain, but grey baker's twine will have to do. The bottom corner needed a little something, so I added the metal star brads.

Hope you like it and that you play along with us at Cricut 360 this week and make something for a Hero in your life.

Darlene

Cricut 360 Challenge #9

Yea! It's Friday and Cricut 360 Challenge day! For Challenge #9, we are celebrating Labor Day by showcasing ways to Relax!

This past summer, my dear husband bought a hammock for the backyard. The girls and I love to go out back and swing. I also try and escape to the hammock without them for a little quiet time.

Crocs Lite is an awesome cartridge with so many cute images. I just loved the one with a crocodile in the hammock. The Paper Pups cartridge had this great word art. I don't know where all the patterned paper is from because I got it from a "scrap swap" I just participated in. So fun! I gathered up all my patterned paper scraps and traded scraps with a crafty friend on Facebook.

Isn't this guy just the cutest?

Well I hope you feel inspired to play along this week with us at Cricut 360 and just Relax!

Darlene

WOW! 1000 sheets of paper!

Amy over at one thousand sheets of paper is giving away 1000 sheets of 6x6 paper, again!

Go check it out and enter for your chance to win paper and stamps.

http://athousandsheetsofpaper.blogspot.com/2011/08/1000-sheets-for-thousand-sheets-again.html

Darlene

Cricut 360 Challenge #8

Wow, has it been a week already? These days are flying by. I must admit, I am missing summer just a little. With the kids back in school, and me back at the preschool getting everything ready for our new year, I just have not had any extra time to craft. I miss being able to do a few challenges each week. Sure hope we get our routine down soon.

This week's challenge at Cricut 360 is back to school! Easy, peasy! At my preschool, we have this wood and felt tree on the wall. It is usually undecorated. I decided to change that!

I used the Recess Lite cartridge and went crazy! These images are so cute and easy to layer. I can't wait to use it again for 1st day of school pics. I know ya'll are going to knock this one out of the park! Go get crafty!

Darlene

Cricut 360 Challenge #7

Yee Haw! It's Friday and that means Cricut 360! It sure has been a busy week. My kids started back to school, 4th and 8th grades. And I started back to work, boy have I missed my craftroom. I sure hope to get in there this weekend. But hopefully, we will all start to settle into our new routines soon.

The challenge this week is the Old West. One of my besties has a daughter that loves Woody from Toy Story and I knew I wanted to make her something with my Cricut. Those darn Disney cartridges are killer, I tell ya. The plan was to make Woody about 9 inches and put him in a frame with some western background paper, etc. Well, 9 inch Woody didn't come out so great. Those pieces are just so tiny! I ended up cutting him at 11 inches, so obviously he isnt going to fit in my frame.

So maybe this weekend, I will come up up with another idea for Woody.

So pull on your cowgirl boots and play along with us. Don't forget to check out the other great projects from the rest of the Cricut 360 DT.

Darlene

Cricut 360 Challenge #6

Welcome back to another Friday at Cricut 360! Thanks to all the wonderful crafters who have been entering our challenges. It is so much fun to hop through all the entries and see your wonderful creations. So now onto Challenge #6 - Refreshing - Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!

My brother is in the Air Force and is currently deployed. He has 5 kids and a wife back in Virginia. We decided to treat his oldest daughter to a week long visit with us down in LA. She lived here until she was about 7 or 8 and has other family close by, so it worked out great.

One of our little adventures while she was with us was to a water park in Mississippi.

All three girls had a blast.

I used Echo Park's Splash line for all the patterned paper. I knew the Cricut H2O cartridge would be perfect for our trip.

Aren't those girl so silly? Sorry these bottom pictures are so dark, but we all forgot our camera's and had to use the iPhones.

We really enjoyed having my niece and giving us a great reason to visit the water park!

Now it's your turn to go get your craft on! It's been so hot lately for everyone, you shouldn't have any problems with inspiration! So go make something an post it at Cricut 360.

Darlene

First of the Month Challenges - August

Oops! forgot to do my post for today.

Aww... August. Back to school is a week away for me. Looking forward to a little more routine in my life that school brings. The girls are getting a little too used to sleeping in!

Here are the 3 challenges for August.

Life is a Beach Cartridge

The handmade flowers are from Shannon at Creative Chaos. Check out her etsy shop. She is super sweet to work with.

Altered item

My girls and I all share an iTunes account, so we save our spare change to use for buying gift cards for it. I thought this would be a cute place to put the coins until we have enough to cash in.

Design your own Background Paper

I love love my Imagine. I saw this on a website a few months ago (not sure which one). I used the cricut logo image from Cricut Everyday (Circle exclusive) and then chose a few different colors to fill in each image and then let the machine do auto fill. The frame is a cheapo one that I painted red.

I hope you feel inspired to create something with us this month and enter the First of the Month Challenges at Card Creations & More by C.

Darlene

Cricut 360 Challenge #5

I had to take a break last week from Cricut 360 and boy did I miss it. Sometimes Life just catches up with you - my mom was in town for a few weeks, then my niece came for a visit, a funeral and a weekend beach trip.

But here we are with Challenge #5 - Transportation/Travel

This was my oops card from a couple weeks back.

I used the Summer in Paris cartridge to cut the Eiffel Tower and added a little bling to it. It is hard to tell in the picture, but I inked the Thanks Cuttlebug embossing folder and then ran it through the Cuttlebug. The background paper is from Echo Park Be Mine collection and the ribbon is from my stash.

I hope you enjoy all the awesome projects the DT has made this week and make sure you participate this week.

Darlene

Scrappin Chic's Challenge

It's almost the end of the month, time to get your project in for the Scrappin Chic's Challenge. Remember, you need to make something that reflects a favorite song.

In high school and college, I loved the Beatles. I chose another of my favorite songs by them.

I used the Imagine to print the background paper and letters in coordinating colors. So now this song will be in your head all day. "I don't know why you say goodbye and I say hello. Hello, Hello. I don't know why you say goodbye...." Your welcome!

Have fun and enter the challenge at http://scrappinchicschallenge.blogspot.com/ before July 30 at noon.

Darlene

Christmas in July Blog Hop

Wow! Really? Who can think about Christmas with all this heat?!

Well anyway, here goes...

Welcome to the Christmas in July Blog Hop!

This hop is being hosted by Jazzy from Jazzy's Cards. If you are coming from Gina's then you are in the right place, but if you are just checking on my blog and stumbled across this, please go start at the beginning. This is Jazzy's first time hosting a hop, and I know she would appreciate the love.

The theme for the hop was something Christmas related that included the colors green and red.

So I dug out all my Christmas stuff and started searching for ideas. When I came across the background paper, I knew I wanted to use it.

I cut the tree from Create a Critter using green glitter paper from DCWV. I had the hardest time deciding what to do next. I found out that I don't have anymore red bling and that I have way too many ribbon choices (or not enough choices depending on how you look at it). I just couldn't find the perfect addition. I finally settled on the tiny red bow. And I actually kinda like it. I am liking the simplicity of the card so I don't think I am going to add a sentiment.

Thanks so much for checking out my project. Now please hop on over to Kathie's and remember to wish everyone a "Merry Christmas" in order to be eligible for Jazzy's Cricut Cartridge Blog Candy.

Here is the hop line up just in case

Jazzy - www.JazzysCards.Blogspot.com

Jenn - www.memorieswithjen.blogspot.com

Misty - http://deliteful-gifts.blogspot.com/

Amy - http://www.lovetocrop.com/

Gina - http://californiascrappin-gcinderella21.blogspot.com/

Darlene - www.talesoftayandbay.blogspot.com

Kathie-http://kathleessnippitsncricuts.blogspot.com/

Anita-http://www.anitaandbugs.blogspot.com/

Theresa - www.thescrapbookingqueen.com

Nadia - www.nadiasbeautifulmess.blogspot.com

Elizabeth - http://visionsofpaper.blogspot.com/

Vicki - http://www.melovebonoandscrapbooking.blogspot.com/

LaKesha - www.scrapingdiva.blogspot.com

Brenda - www.createbyburffrau.blogspot.com

Scrappin Chic's Challenge

Today is the start of another challenge month at Scrappin Chic's. Throughout the month of July, I will be showin three different projects for July's theme. The theme is "Your Favorite Song". Wow, that's hard, how do you choose? And it seems like today's music is just different. So I thought back to some of my favorite songs from high school and college. I was on a serious Beatles kick for awhile. So this month, I will be showing you cards made with my favorite Beatles' songs in mind.

Here Comes the Sun, doo doo doo doo

Here comes the sun and I say it's alright

Hehe, now you will have this song in your head for days!!!

The designer paper is from Echo Park's Splash 6x6 pad. I printed and cut the sun using my Imagine and the Enjoy the Seasons cartridge. I used my computer for the sentiment. Thanks for looking and make sure you check out all the other great "Song" projects this month and play along.

Darlene

Cricut 360 Challenge #3

This is so exciting!! 51 Entries this week! Wow They were all so great! Thanks so much for participating.

So now onto Challenge #3! Make a card for Parents. July 24th is Parents' Day. Huh, who knew. So make a card or layout using any Cricut Cartridge to celebrate Parents in anyway.

I chose to make a layout celebrating relationships in families. I have had these 2 wonderful pictures of my oldest daughter (when she was 4) with her great-grandfather walking on the beach in Hawaii. Say it with me now... Awww, how sweet.

Aren't these handmade flowers beautiful? I just love them. If you would like some of your own, go check out Shannon's Etsy shop here .

Now it's your turn! Dust off your Cricut and make something.

Darlene

Cricut 360 Challenge #2

Wow! What an awesome 1st Challenge we had at Cricut 360! We had 39 great entries.

So now on to Challenge #2 - this week we want you to create a Thank You card, but make it circle shaped.

Thank You and Circle shaped - got it?? Just making sure. Cause I didn't! I made a super cute Thank You card, A2 sized! Oops. So, we will save that one for another challenge.

A little quick thinking and my Imagine saved the day. I used the Imagine More Cards cartridge.

I chose two different cards and used a few pieces from each. I love that I can choose to print only certain layers and then combine them to make a totally different card.

Make sure you check out the other design team projects and enter your own for a chance to win and awesome prize. Just click HERE to go to Cricut 360 blog.

Echo Park 6x6 Paper pad called Splash

I love EP. The colors are awesome and fun. isn't it pretty?

Well that's all for now! Now go Create!

Darlene

Cricut 360 Challenge #1

WooHoo! It's finally here! July 1st and the start of the new challenge blog for Cricut 360! I am so excited to be a part of this endeavor. For our first challenge, we wanted to "invite" everyone to participate, so we all made an invitation - birthday, pool, wedding, etc. Just make an invitation to anything.

I have the new E2 and love it. One of the cartridges that came with it is called Cricut American Alphabet. Not only does it have a great font, but it has some wonderful images. I used the coffee cup and some wonderful paper from Echo Park called Be Mine. I am not a big "pink" person so this was stepping outside the box for me! LOL I love all the layers on this cartridge and even though there are a lot of layers, they aren't difficult to figure out.

So who's coming for coffee? I like mine with french vanilla creamer. How do you take yours?

Make sure you stop by everyone else's blogs and check out their invitations. And don't forget to make something so you can play along too.

Darlene

First of the Month Challenges - July

Christina from Card Creations by Christina has decided to change things up a bit with the way she does her challenges. We used to have challlenges every other Saturday called "So Saturday Challenge". Now we are going to go with a monthly challenge format. But there will be 3 different challenges, so hopefully one (or all) of them will tickle your fancy and inspire you to enter. So here goes - my three projects for the new First of the Month Challenges.

Challenge #13 - Make anything using the Doodlecharms cartridge.

Isn't this a sweet card?

Challenge #14 - Make a home decor project

My daughter and I redecorated my scraproom in aqua blue and cricut green and I needed a sign for my door. If you want to see the rest of the new room decor check out this post

Challenge #15 - Make something that is inspired from a Blogging Friend's project, must link their post to yours

Let me just say that Christina makes alot of cards. I am amazed that she usually posts one every day. I really love alot of her designs. I liked how she cut out a window in the card that shows through to the inside of the card.

http://cardcreationsbyc.blogspot.com/2011/06/just-because-card-believe-in-yourself.html

I bought these little hedgehogs and mushrooms from Michael's when they were on sale for 50 cents! I found some paper on the Imagine that I thought coordinated well with the colors of the mushrooms. very sweet. I know the colors are very washed out. I'll try and fix them later.

I hope you have enjoyed my projects. Don't forget to play along with us this month in any or all of the challenges

Cricut 360 Challenge Blog

WOW! July is almost here! Where has the summer gone? Well on July 1st a new challenge blog will be fired up! CRICUT 360! This is going to be an awesome blog celebrating all things Cricut!! And I am excited to say that I am on the 1st Design Team.

To get things started, we are giving away Cricut's Create A Critter.

So if you want a chance to win, head on over to Cricut 360 and check us out. Make sure you follow the directions on how to enter the giveaway . You have until Wednesday, June 29th to enter and the winner will be drawn on Thursday.

Can't wait to see ya'll there.

Darlene

Guest Designer for Inking It Up Crazy

Kassidy is having a month long celebration for her birthday. She invited a bunch of awesome bloggers to showcase her favorite things. Today I am a guest designer for Craftroom Decor. This was perfect for me because my daughter and I had been planning on redecorating my scraproom this summer. My room was decorated in neutrals. Which is according to my teenage daughter - BORING! So my favorite color is blue, any shade really. So we went with an aqua blue and cricut green! Love it. I was really worried about using these colors with my cherry furniture, but it really brightens it all up. So here we go...

It started with a piece of trim. Honestly I dont even know where it came from, but I loved the colors. (sorry I don't know why the whole post is underlined. I tried for 15 minutes on Blogger to correct it.)

This is what you see when you first walk into my room. Tada! Isn't it lovely? I made the create sign all by myself!! LOL The letters are from Hobby Lobby. I painted them, hot glued them all together and added a few tacks in the back for stability and got my hubby to hang it. The bins on top are being used to store things (pssst... they are trash cans from the dollar spot at Target). My daughter and I raided the sale section at Michaels for the birds and flowers. I also found the colored bins at Target. I use them to store my Distress Inks, current projects, etc. I didn't like that you could see into the cabinets on either side of the desk, so I used paper on the glass to hide it all.

I call this spot Cricut Corner! I have my new E2, Imagine and Gypsy all right here. Under the table I keep my ribbon and cricut cartridges in snapware containers.

This picture shows the awesome shelf unit I found at Target. They were on sale for $10, so I bought 2! They also had the cute little fabric bins in just the right colors. (see cricut hanging out on the shelf?) The glass jars are from Hobby Lobby (I already had them, they go on sale for 50% all the time, so they are only a $1) and they hold my flowers in every color. I also have the little plastic jars from Michaels that hold tiny flowers and buttons in every color. I am using the bins to store my sentiment stamps from Pink by Design and My Pink Stamper and my stickles. The plastic baskets on top (again Target) are just more storage.

Just another closeup of the desk.

My youngest daughter likes to do her homework in my office, so she has a teeny tiny edge on this table! do you see my fur baby, Maggie? She also likes to hang out with me while I craft! I repurposed the curtains from when my daughter changed her room decor a year ago.

This is the wall right when you walk in. I found these plain white wall plaques at Hobby Lobby for $5 each. So I took them home and slathered on 3 coats of blue and green paint. They are just what I needed to showcase my latest cards. I found the cute green frame on clearance at Target. Everything else I already had.

On the 1st shelf I have pictures in the black boxes and stickers in the plastic bins. On the next shelf, I am using the black boxes to hold my Cricut handbooks and overlays. The two plastic cases have cards in them. And the bottom shelf has my albums.

Here is another closeup of the wall plaques. The big box with the green front is more stickers. Yes, I know, I have a problem! Most of these were bought pre-Cricut! The white plastic storage unit next to it has punches in it.

Well I hope you have enjoyed a look into my new craftroom. I adore it. Now if only it would stay this clean! (grr... and of course the last sentence is fine! not underlined! I didn't do anything different!)

So head on over to Kassidy's for her Birthday Celebration. www.inkingitupcrazy.blogspot.com