Check it out . . .

First of all, a big "Thanks!" goes out to Diane of Capadia Designs (click http://capadiadesigns.blogspot.com/ to check out her blog).  She has given us a site that references the designs on all the Cricut cartridges.  If you use a Cricut at all, you know how confusing and difficult it can be to find a particular cut, especially if you have tons of cartridges!  This site should help those of us who have one or two cartridges be able to find an obscure design needed for a layout or card.

They're still new and want feedback, so check them out (http://www.cricutsearch.com/) and let them know what you think.  Personally, I'm looking forward to the help!

Have a good weekend, and I'll be in touch.

The Beautiful Gulf of Mexico . . .

A different type of sea urchin

Angelfish

Hightop

A baby angelfish

Just thought I'd share some of the pictures from a very recent dive trip in the Gulf of Mexico.  I've never claimed to be a good photographer, but some of these turned out to be fairly good shots. I'll try to label them as I post them.  Enjoy -

It's been awhile . . .

Yes, it's been a long time since I posted.  No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.  Yes, I'm still paper crafting and enjoying every bit of it!  I'm currently working on something called "5 Pictures, 5 Pages".  Diana came up with this idea in order to get new ideas infused into our scrapping.  Five people share 5 pictures with 5 people who then scrap the pictures on an 8X8 layout.  The whole idea is to get different styles and ideas for our scrapbooks.  It's truly an ingenious idea because the book is unique and special without being repetitive. 

As soon as I finish my 5 pages, I promise I'll share.  In the meantime, I'm off to go on one last dive before the water cools off too much. 

See ya!

Need a long Gypsy cord?

A good friend of mine (thanks Maggi) gave this to me not too long ago.  I didn't realize how much something like this was needed until I plugged mine in for the first time,  No more craning my neck, twisting my back, moving my Expression, or stretching to keep my Gypsy connected to my E.  This extension cable has been a true treasure!

Check out this link to find out where and how much.  They're reasonably priced and truly a needed item.  Don't forget to check out the new updates and cartridges being released also this week (I think).  They're supposed to be very special holiday solutions cartridges. 

See ya -

Today's Dive

I went diving today on a local wreck in the Gulf of Mexico.  We didn't know what to expect with the oil or how the visibility would be.  Happily, the seas were a rolling 1-2 foot seas with very little (if any) breeze. 

We anchored and set about the business of donning our gear.  After stopping several times to pour ice cold water down our wetsuits (did I say it was hot?), we got into the water.  The top water temperature was about 86 degrees.  We started down and hit a thermocline (a place where the water temperature changes and you see fuzzy water like the fuzzy look on a hot road) at 55 feet.  With the top water temperature being so hot and the air temperature being scorching (oh yeah, I told you it was hot), the cooler water of the thermocline felt great!

Two remora followed us down the anchor line.  A small one was attached to the larger one which was trying to attach itself to my dive buddy.  I guess my gosh-awful-flourescent-yellow dive gear was too much for the remora so they decided to annoy my dive bud.  It didn't work, though.

Anyway, we hit another thermocline on the bottom.  The visibility was about 40 feet with current only on the bottom.  We saw butterfly fish, gobies, spade fish, amberjack, blue angelfish, goliath grouper, and a bait ball that had the amberjack going crazy!  Little tiny scales floated down and lit the water like an underwater disco ball.

The picture at the top is one of the butterfly fish couples we saw.  And before anyone asks, no, we didn't see any sharks.

We're told that the oil slick is moving to the west and breaking up.  We didn't see any evidence of the oil, but we saw lots of oil slick boats and boom. 

Time keeps on tickin' . . .

Yes, I realize that it's been a long time since I posted, but there is that thing called "life" that tends to get in the way of living.

Anyway, I've been down to the Florida Keys for a short visit and thoroughly enjoyed it!  I went to a bird sanctuary, road an airboat, biked in the Everglades, and saw tons of gators - some of them guarding their nests!  It reminded me of the vast world around us and our need to protect our environment.  I tried to dive with my buddies, but the 4-6 foot waves became 6-8 and diving came to an end.  The first dive had us swaying with the surge underwater which showed us that a second dive would be a bad idea.  We were right.  On the second dive, four of our divers were plucked from the water by a different dive boat and a diver from yet another dive boat was swept five miles out to sea.  Boy, am I thankful that none of those eight footers took our divers from our dive boat out to sea!  The diver was rescued and God is truly good . . .

I've also begun the process of ending my summer (sigh . . .) and gearing up for the inevitable in the fall.  My posts will happen when living occurs and life doesn't get in the way.  I'll try to post when I can be creative, but that may be few and far between.  Thanks for your understanding.

I'll be in touch, so you be in touch.  :-D

Black and White Card

This is a sympathy/concern card made for a card swap at my church.  Unfortunately, there always seems to be a need for this type of card.  I made this using the Victoria embossing Cuttlebug folder on the white background while using a black and white flocked cardstock to add even more texture to the front.

On the inside, I put a white piece of cardstock in order to have a handwritten note, and I cut a strip of the flocked cardstock to give it weight and to connect it to the front.  The sentiment on the outside is from a generic stamp that if found at Hobby Lobby.  I've had it for a long time or I would give the name of the stamp brand.
:-)

The label for the outside sentiment is cut twice - once in white and once on black.  I cut the sentiment labels from a cricut cartridge that I can't remember the name of.  I made this card several months ago and I didn't record the cartridge I used.  Truthfully, I never thought anyone else would see it. lol

Anyway, I hope you like it.  I was an easy card to make.

Ribbon, ribbon, everywhere!

I just saw this question on Tammy's blog at http://www.cricutcritters.com/ and thought I'd show you what I use.

I use an Artbin holder with handles that latches shut to store my ribbon.  These ribbon wraps are from magistical memories and the neat thing about them is that they're portable and organized.  I can take this holder on crops or store it with my other scrapbooking supplies.  Check out the picture above -

As you can see, I have all my ribbon organized by color.  It makes it so much easier to match colors and find the appropriate size.  The ribbons are secured by tiny straight pins that I picked up from Michaels.

Remember, look in my archives under "Organization Stuff" to find the details.  If you need more info, let me know and I'll try to email you.

Aren't they the coolest ever???  ;-D

Belated Birthday Greetings

Hi guys - This card was made for a card swap in August. I decided that I wanted to do something a little bit different and use a cartridge that's not often used or acknowledged.  This cartridge is as cute as it can be and has lots of appropriate sayings for all sorts of occasions.

I took the frame feature on Paper Pups and used the hide contour feature to hide all the cuts on the inside.  Then I copied and flipped the copy in order to weld the two sides together.  All the designs were made to fit a 5X5 card and envelope. I did all my design on DS because Gypsy didn't have the option of hiding contours at the time.

I added another page and put the shadow for the cut on the next page. I added all the shadows that I could fit on the page (one of the glories of DS and gypsy) in order to get a set of 10.

Finally, I cut the outline on another page.  Before cutting, I outlined the cut with markers and then cut the outline.  I don't have anything fancy to do this with.  I used the Cricut markers that fit into the housing.  I used brown to do the outline.  I then filled in the eyes and nose with the same brown marker.  Using a red sparkly gel pen, I filled in the mouth because I wanted it to look like the dog's tongue.

I typed the inside on my computer and added paw prints from clip art. I got six on a page and matted it with a paw print paper.

By the way, the bone was cut from Paper Pups also and the sentiment on it was hand written.  Enjoy - :-D

Emma's Challenge - 54

Hi guys! This page is in response to Emma's challenge 54 (and our need to find a new home for these sweet kitties). I happened to be at a crop this weekend and used this to advertise the need for a new home for these kitties.

The paper is from DCWV and from two different stacks. The cat head, mouse, journal tag, and cat border is from Doodlecharms. The word "kitties" is from Doodletype, and the word "Free" is from Cricut Office. I faux stitched the title in black ink. I also pop dotted the mouse and used the MS punch "layered arches" to cut the border strip on the side and was 2.25 inches wide before punching.

Hope you like it. And . . . if anyone would like some free kitties and if you live in the panhandle of Florida, let me know. :-D

Wedding Cake

This is a wedding cake that I made for a very close friend of my daughter back in May.  The bride was a "thoroughly modern Millie" type of bride and wanted something super simple.  There was not a cake topper and I tried to make the cake exactly like the picture she sent me.  The cake was white cake with simple buttercream icing.  The "O" monogram ended up being a wooden letter that my husband cut out for me.  I painted, glittered, and then polyurethaned it.  It was attached by placing a couple of toothpicks in the cake at the point of contact and literally hanging the monogram off the cake.  I didn't want the wooden letter to come in contact with the cake.  Because everything on the cake was white, the toothpicks didn't show because I hid them with buttercream icing.

I didn't use the Cricut cake machine or any type of papercrafting item.  This was all old school cake decorating.  (I used to do this for a way to make some $$$ before I went back to school.)

Enjoy -

My Home on the Gulf

The news came today that tar balls have begun to heavily litter the beaches of Pensacola.  For those who love our natural environment around the Gulf of Mexico as much as I do, this news is extremely sad.  My heart aches for those who've lost jobs and their livelihoods because of this mess.  I'm posting two pictures taken at a local state park on the Gulf back in May.  These pictures are of two common birds that live and roost on our shores.  Because of the oil spill, these great birds are in danger of losing their homes and livelihoods too. 

My hope and prayer is that this oil mess can be cleaned up soon and that God's great plan includes a way for nature to continue to be resilient.   I'm looking forward to the coast being able to bounce back in order for the balance to be restored to this beautiful and important resource.  

Thank you for putting up with my ramblings.  I have a picture of a wedding cake that I'll try and post tomorrow. 

By the way . . . congrats to the U.S. soccer team for their victory in the World Cup today.  Woohoo!

"B" is for Boy - Cricut Lite

This card is for a card swap for my next crop at my church. I used Lyrical Letters to make the label shape in the background and used the hide contour feature to hide the oval cut-out in the center. The scrollwork is from LL also. The flower, however is from "B" is for Boy Cricut Lite cartridge. I love this one! I needed some boy cuts to do pages for my son.

I used K and Company paper along with some generic cream colored cardstock that I cut in half for the card. I pop-dotted the flower and printed the sentiment on my computer. I'm getting to a place where printing sentiments for cards en masse is so much easier on my compu-ta-ter.

Once again, I digress. Anyway, I used a slightly darker cream cardstock for the inside and cut more scrolls for the inside to give it some pop. I've found that I need to give some weight to the inside of my cards in order to balance the card.

Anyway, it's not my usual card, but I like the slightly more formal nature of this one.

I've got to get my stuff ready for the crop this weekend. Yikes!!! Got to go . . .

Emma's Challenge or Peachy Keen Stamps- ???

I think this was a challenge for Peachy Keen Stamps and I don't think I made it in time, but I'm putting this card out there. It's not actually entered in a challenge. I made it using only the Life Is A Beach cartridge. I used DS because my Gypsy needed charging.

The only part that used a new sheet of paper was the sun. Everything else was cut using scraps. I used google eyes for the shark because he needed to have some fun too! The fish on the side are colored using scraps of glitter paper and inks and the seaweed is the negative scraps from another cut several weeks ago. I pop dotted a couple of the waves to give it dimension. The sentiment is typed on my computer using colored ink. I couldn't get the font on the cartridge small enough so I resorted to my trusty-rusty computer.

Enjoy and check out Emma's blog at http://www.creativetimeforme.com/

Another Throwback Challenge from Emma . . .

Hi guys - I made this card in 2 steps, vacation and home. The base was made while on vacation because my husband had to spend some time working (yeah, I know - vacation, really?) By the way, after 12 different pictures, this was the best one. Sorry I couldn't fix the blur -

So, anyway, I used two different paper lines (DCWV and K and Company) for the colored papers background. Is it considered tacky to mix and match different lines? Oh well, when your options are limited, you do what you can using what you have.

I had been all around to different Michaels looking for the MS border punch, Layered Arches, and decided to use it for the teal strip. After all, I used what I had because I wasn't going to spend any more $$$ that I needed for the vacation.

I digress . . . anyway, the challenge called for Paper Dolls for Everyday and I had no idea what to do. I pulled out my Peachy Keen face stamps and couldn't resist this cute little face. I cut out the face from PDE at 2.25 inches and the hair to match. I pulled scraps of ribbon that I could tie around the hair and typed the sentiment on my computer in brown ink. I used brown ink to define the face. I didn't have any chalks but I did have a rosy pink pigment ink. I used a Q-Tip for the ink and made sure most of the ink was off before I swirled it around on the face. Then, I used pop-dots to make her stand out. By the way, I started her on vacation but finished her at home.

Hope you like her! I thought she turned out to be cute! Enjoy . . .