Saturday, May 28, 2011

New challenge blog - Decorate to Celebrate

If you are looking for BugBites Grillin' & Chillin' Bug Hop, please click here, or scroll down to the next post!


Have you heard there is a new challenge blog in blogland? Yes, that is right!

Rhonda at Scrap Happens and Amy at Love To Crop have started a new challenge blog Decorate To Celebrate. This blog is dedicated to show off your decorations and party related items for every celebration.
The first challenge will be June 1st, but right now they are kicking off with lots of great inspirations and tutorials for decorating and celebrating, plus many ways of getting chances to win the grand prize giveaway.

They would love to reach 100 followers before the first challenge....they are almost there!
I invite you to visit Decorate To Celebrate and join the giveaway and become a follower and help them reach 100. Please mention my name on the Grand Announcement post when you make your comment and become a follower!

If you have not seen the amazing work of these talented ladies, you are in for a treat!
Hurry over to the blog and become a follower now! Also you can visit each ladies' blog by clicking the blog links above!

Bug Bites Grillin' & Chillin' Bug Hop

Welcome to BugBites first ever Bug Hop, Grillin’ & Chillin’ Bug Hop!  
To celebrate the beginning of summer, Barb over at BugBites is hosting two consecutive weekends of Bug Hops.
This weekend it is all about the Grillin’, May 28-30.
If you've come from visiting Lisa at A Mermaid's Craft, you're in the right place! If you've just happened across my blog and would like to play along with our Grillin’ & Chillin’ Bug Hop, click HERE to start from the beginning.
Each designer along the bug trail is featuring a project based on the Grillin’ & Chillin’ theme. What’s more exciting is you can participate too by creating a project and linking it up over at BugBites for a chance to win a Big Prize.
But, there’s a twist. Your project must include at least one Cricut cut and at least one of the critters that have been hidden within some of the bug stop blogs. Be sure to visit all the bug stops to find all your critter choices.
While you are looking for the critters, be sure to check out the blog candy that each designer has to offer you. You don't want to miss out on any of it!

I am so excited to be participating in this fun blog hop with all the talented ladies! For my card, I chose the apron on Cricut From My Kitchen cartridge. I have been wanting to use the cut for quite some time. Around my house, someone needs to wear an apron and I guess it would be me! I am busy in the kitchen with preparations while hubby tends to the grilling.


The card is 5" x 6 1/2" white cardstock and is covered with a blue paper of the same size. The second layer of red gingham paper is cut at 4 3/4" x 6 1/4''. White mat is 3 1/2" x 3 3/4" and the floral mat is 3 3/4" x 4".

Cricut cartridges:
From My Kitchen - Apron on page 51 cut 3 1/2"; Spatula on page 44 cut 1 3/4"
3 Birds on Parade - What's Cookin? - phrase and shadow features on page 55 cut at 1 3/4"
Cuttlebug:  Divine Swirls - on white mat
Papers - Recollections, DCWV Berry Street Farmer's Market for the floral apron, and ColorBok.
Lots of inking!

I added two red buttons and bows to the spatulas. The bows are made with DMC Color Infusions Memory Thread..actually a soft fiber wrapped wire. I found this product at Michael's near the DMC cross-stitch thread. Great way to add embellishments! Of course, it can be added with stitched items too. I love the way it bends and curls. Hope you love it too!
For my blog candy I will be giving three pretty colors of the DMC Memory Thread. To be eligible for the drawing, you must be a follower of my blog and you must leave a comment on this post. Please leave a way to contact you should you be the winner. Sorry, but due to high postal rates, I can only mail to USA. The winner will be announced on May 31.
                                       
                                    
Next stop...Pat's blog, Pat's Scraps. See what she has in store for you today.
Remember, once you have hopped to all the bug stops, it's your turn to show us your Grillin’ & Chillin’ project.
Make sure to include a Cricut cut somewhere on your project, include one of the hidden critters and link up your project over at BugBites by Midnight CST May 30 to be eligible for the big prize.

This is a list of all the ladies participating in the blog hop.

Barb      http://bugbites411.blogspot.com/
Melissa http://melspurplegiraffe.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate your comments!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Grillin' & Chillin' Blog Hop

Barb at BugBites is hosting Grillin' and Chillin' Blop Hop starting tomorrow, Saturday May 28. Visit her blog and check out the cute preview projects she is sharing now!
I am so excited to be part of the talented ladies who are participating in the fun hop this weekend. Thank you Barb for this opportunity! Be sure to drop by tomorrow and see how we are getting ready for the grill season! Lots of fun and prizes along the way! Also, learn how you can join in the fun and have a chance to win a grand prize.
See you tomorrow!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

A Gator Party


My youngest grandson will be turning six soon and his mom surprised me by having an early birthday party. He is a big fan of Swamp People, a documentary television series on The History Channel. He enjoys watching the alligators and he decided to have a Swamp People theme for his party. I have been busy for the last few days working with gators!
My card was cut from blue Colorbok Textured cardstock at 9 x 8 inches for a tall card. When folded this will be 9" x 4" and will fit in a business size envelope. As you see, I turned my card. 
Cricut Birthday Bash is used on all cuts.
Alligator- page 28 cut 2 1/2". I used the Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles folder on the gator for a little dimension.
Hat - page 53 cut 2"; Balloon - page 67 cut 2 1/2"; 6 - page 26 cut 1/2".
It's Your Day - page 67. Oops, guess the gator ate the paper with that cut size!!
I hand cut the corners at the top of the card and used ziz zag scissors on one side. Inking, wiggle eyes, and a bit of doodling complete the card.

For treat bags, again I used Cricut Birthday Bash. The toppers are the Card/Tag feature and the alligator is the shift cut on the Card/Tag feature found on page 28. Both are cut at 2 1/2 inches. The alligator treat bags are the example shown in Birthday Bash at the beginning of the handbook. Again I embossed the alligator and added the eyes. I made 20 of these and used 5 different colors for the toppers - red, green, blue, white and khaki as shown. Also used different shades of green for the alligators. These were for 5 and 6 year olds and mostly boys so I did not decorate too elaborately. My daughter took all the bags before I could take a photo of the different colors.

Now this is my little cutie with his birthday cake! His mom was able to get the cake decorating kit from the History Channel store and she had his cake made. Cypress knees, cattails, alligators, and the boat with people are so cute! Everyone enjoyed the party and the cake was yummy, even if it had gators on it!!

Challenge:
Cooking with Cricut - #30 Celebration Project with at least one balloon. My card has one balloon!!
Decorate to Celebrate - Party Time

Hope you enjoy!