A Very Sweet Treat

Happy Saturday everyone! Hope you are enjoying life where ever you may be! I had the granddaughters here over night and they went home a little while ago, and its very quiet!

Today, I wanted to brag on my daughter a bit. She has wanted a Cricut Cake since they first came out, but couldn't get one. Last fall, I happened to stop by Michael's Crafts and found one for a great price. They were clearing out all the Cricut Cake machines and accessories 60% off and I knew Katie would love one for Christmas. I bought it then called my son in law, asking if he wanted to give it to her for Christmas. So between Keith and I we gave Katie the Cake, the tool kit, mats, blades and 3 Cake cartridges. She said she wasn't too surprised (don't know how she figured it out) but I know she was pleased with the gifts. (Granddaughter Kayla said she hugged the box when she opened it tee hee)

Anyway, after some practice, she made her first cake...for Kayla's 6th birthday in January. Here is the finished product.

She used chocolate fondant for the two layers and dyed gumpaste for the words and butterflies and there is a border around the second layer that's not visable. The Cake was yummy (yellow layer on top and chocolate layer on the bottom) even the chocolate fondant was pretty good!

She learned quite a bit for her first attempt and I can only imagine the cakes she will make in the future!

Have a great Saturday....hope you stop by soon!

Koala- t hugs,

Cathy

Scrapbooking - We've Come a Long Way!

Hi all! Hope you survived the storm so far. With all the bruhaha regarding the storm, I had forgotten that today was Groundhog Day. The little furry guy in Philadelphia didn't see his shadow today, and that's supposed to mean an early Spring.....well, only time will tell. After the past few days, I'm sure there are lots of folks that are hoping the groundhog is correct! Keep your fingers crossed!

Today, I don't have a project, but a bit of a "blast from the past". I recently went through a bin I had in storage of momentos and a scrapbook I had made in 1970! I am working on a "Book About Me" for my grandkids. I have lots of photos, but remembered this old scrapbook I had made that held some other memories I could add to the newer book.

Here is a photo of the book. When I see this book - the pages were similar to construction paper and the book was assembled with a shoestring looking thing, I realize how far we have come regarding the saving of our memories. I'm sure the pages of this book are NOT acid free and certainly not archival quality - the pages were falling apart!

I think I used Elmer's glue to attach everything. I used scissors to cut out everything (and not really straight) and there was no flair or creativity to the pages! And most of the pages held greeting cards I received over the years. Infact, many of the cards are from people I didn't remember who they were!

I like how this hobby/craft has developed over the years. I think with all the tools and supplies we have available to us, the more it sparks my creativity.

I took the book apart (the paper of the pages was just about crumbling in my hands) and I saved the parts I wanted for my new book. I have programs of plays I was in during High School, graduation ribbons, tickets for concerts I attended....it was also fun to go down memory lane and be reminded of the events of my past.

I am working on my Book About Me....and I can't wait until I finish it!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Koala-t hugs,

Cathy

A Little Fancy

Hi all! Well, the Blizzard of 2011 is upon us! The snow is blowing, the wind is howling and I"m so glad to be warm and indoors! Hope you are all safe and warm.

Today's feature are cards I created using two cartridges with similar names. One is Paper Lace and the other is Lacy Labels. Lacy Labels is one of the Cricut Lite cartridges only available from Walmart. I purchased it last summer and it has some wonderfully elegant shapes on it. Paper Lace was released late last fall and it also is very elegant.

This first card was made with shapes from both the Paper Lace Cartridge and the Lacy Labels Cartridge. The paper is DCWV Elegant Stack using the ivory and rose color sheets and the Metallic Stack using copper colored paper. The bottom layer of paper was embossed using a Sizzix folder in the Cuttlebug. The flowers were also cut from Lacy Labels. The greeting was cut using Paper lace. I put a little bling in the centers of the flowers

This next card was created using Paper Lace. The background paper is DCWV Natural stack. Its difficult to see in the photo, but its one of the foiled papers. This stack has some beautiful designs in it! The circle greeting was cut using Paper lace. Simple but elegant!
With the weather as it is, and I won't be going anywhere anytime soon, I'm hoping to get some projects completed. The snow is coming and the only thing I can do is PRAY FOR SPRING! =~D.

Have a great day!

Koala-t hugs,

Cathy

Happy BIrthday Kayla (card)

Hi all! I hope where ever you are you are safe and warm. The weather forcasters are all a twitter due to the "Blizzard of the Century" that is to arrive sometime tomorrow night. Living in the midwest, you would think we would be accustomed to this kind of weather, but the way they talk on the news, sounds like it is the end of the world! tee hee

On to today's feature! My oldest granddaughter celebrated her 6th birthday in late January and I needed to make her a card. She is in her 4th year of dance class and thought the images on the Twinkle Toes cartridge were perfect for her.

I made one just like this one, except for the dancer, I made the hair color to match Kayla. I realized that night I hadn't taken a photo of it, so I made another for my birthday card stash.

I cut the dancer at 4 3/4" tall. The drapes for the background is another image on the Twinkle Toes cartridge, but I used my Gypsy to stretch and narrow to fit a 5 x 7 card. I used a bit of Stickles for the bows in her hair.

I can't wait to use more of the images on this cartridge for layouts and cards for my two granddaughters that are in dance!

Thanks for stopping by!

Koala-t hugs,

Cathy

Using Wrap It Up Cartridge

Here are a few more birthday cards for my stash. I had gotten the Wrap it Up cartridge, mostly for the unique boxes on it, but there are lots of phrases on it, great for cards.

This first one has a cupcake welded into the phrase for a simple birthday card. I used card stock from the DCWV stack Sweet, Corner is a Sizzix die and I used Stickles on the cupcake and on the corner.

Make a Wish with the balloons is also a cut on the Wrap It Up cartridge. I cut the balloons in white and colored with Copic markers. I used Stickles on the balloon and on the phrase. The background paper is from the Paper Studio Birthday Extravaganza stack.

Today, I've been on the computer all day! I've been looking for all the information I can find coming out of CHA Winter in Los Angeles. Facebook has been a great place for information. The new items from Provo Craft are the Expression 2 and the Cricut Craft Room - on on line design software. From the movies coming out of CHA, it looks GREAT! And I was looking for a new Expression as a backup (I've had my current Expression for several years, and I know it won't be lasting too much longer) I had been looking at the Black Friday Expression at Walmart, but was waiting for the price to come down. Now, I think I'll wait for the Expression 2 to come out!

CHA is for two more days and I'm sure there are lots more things to see.

Have a great Saturday!

Koala-t hugs,

Cathy

Using my Imagine

Hi All! Happy Friday! Winter still has its icy grip on the suburbs of Chicago, so I plan on staying in and creating for the next several days. The fridge and pantry are well stocked and I have no birthday parties or family commitments so it will be nice just to "hibernate" and be creative.

The projects selected for today were created using my Imagine. I don't use it all the time, but when I want to create something unique, I will get out my white cardstock and get to printing and cutting on the Imagine.

This first card, I used the Yummy cartridge for the flourish corners and background papers. I love the flourishes on this cartridge. Happy birthday was cut using Create a Critter and I used Stickles for the letters. For the one layer of the background paper, I used a white on white paper from SEI and printed on it with the Imagine. Then I took a cotton swab and rubbed the ink off the 'glazed' areas for a very unique effect. I will do a separate post for this paper on another day.

I used Yummy on this card also to create the ice cream sundae and the border. For more dimension, I used stickles for the chocolate sauce, whipped cream and cherry. The border is from the Martha Stewart All Occasion cartridge, using the print from Yummy. The background paper is from the DCWV stack Sweet.

After making many, many birthday cards, I look for unique greetings on the front of the card. When I saw this in the Yummy cartridge folder, I thought it would be great for a card. I cut the front in layers...the background is one layer in brown, the layer of pink with the words You Take, and the words THE CAKE the top layer. I used Stickles to give dimension to the cupcake and the words Background paper and border are from DCWV stack Sweet, and border punch by EK Success.

I want to experiment more with my Imagine to create more unique projects. I can't wait to try more of the glazed and white on white papers in the Imagine and see what effects I can get!

An exciting weekend is coming up, with CHA Winter starting Saturday, January 29. Its always fun to see all the new products previewed for crafters of all kinds! I look forward to seeing what Provo Craft has in store! I also like to see what is new and innovative for scrapbookers and papercrafters! Although it would be so much fun to be there in person, I will enjoy watching the blog posts and videos that will be released.

Have a great day!

Koala-t hugs,

Cathy

Happy Birthday Jack and Juli

Today's feature are cards I made for my twin grandchildren. They don't officially turn 1 until February 18th, but since they moved to Japan, we celebrated their birthday early.

The first card was for Jack. Used Pooh and Friends cartridge and cut Tigger out at 5 1/2". Hip Hip Hooray was cut from Create a Critter.

This card was made for Juli. Piglet was cut using Pooh and Friends, at 5", balloons cut using Celebrations and Happy Birthday from Gypsy Wanderings. I colored in the balloons and characters using Copic markers.

The background paper was from the Birthday Extravaganza paper Stack by Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby's line ).

Its going to take some effort to get into the habit of posting every day, but I'm working towards that goal! I hope you visit often!

have a great day!

Koala-t hugs,

Cathy