Birthday Cake Card for BBTB2

Happy Monday and happy Memorial Day to those in the USA.  You may have arrived here from fabulous Theresa's blog if you are following the monthly Bitten by the Bug 2 blog hop.  If you are just dropping by, continue on the blog hop when you leave my blog - after you enter the BLOG CANDY giveaway.  This week's challenge cut at Bitten by the Bug 2 is  the birthday cake from the Celebrations cartridge.  I love this birthday cake - it is one of my favorite cake cuts.  And even though there are newer birthday cartridges, I still love this "go to" original Cricut birthday cartridge!

I designed my card in Cricut Design Studio, welding two of the cake shadow cuts to create the base card and cut the card in aqua Bazzill cardstock.  I used the Hide Select Contour feature and removed the cut space inside the tray legs on the the shadow, creating a solid, one piece shadow cut.  Using Imaginisce B-day Bash line I cut a base layer in chocolate birthday candle cardstock.  I build the rest of the cake on the chocoate birthday candle layer.

The top layers of the cake was created in three layers: back layer in lime green Core'dination cardstock, main cake layer in Imaginisce B-day Bash cardstock, and gold tray layer cut in metallic cardstock.  After affixing the three laters together I tied a length of red Imaginisce ribbon around the cake and added the Happy Birthday phase (cut from the Batman cartridge) to the front of the cake.  I then used pop dots and attached the cake to the base card.

I cut the background cake layer in smooth white cardstock and affixed it inside the card and added another Happy Birthday cut.  This is the perfect surface the shape on which to write a personal birthday message.
To finish the front of the card I added two of the three candles from the cake cut.  I also added an Imaginisce cardstock embellishment birthday cake to the top of the cricut cake - turning my cake into a four tiered cake!!  The cake was then blinged out with various sizes of gems.

Did I mention BLOG CANDY and blog hop???  Thanks to the AMAZING CUSTOM CROPS I have wonderful blog candy to offer you!  How about a $20 gift voucher for shopping at Custom Crops???  I would love that so I bet you would too!  All you have to do to be entered into the random drawing for the blog candy is

1. Be a follower of this blog, and

2. Leave a comment under this post.  

I will be posting the winner on Thursday.

When you finish the blog hop you may want to hop by Custom Crops and check out all of their new in stock items.  You may also be interested in their DVD, Cricut for Beginners, a wonderful DVD which teaches you to use all of the features on your Cricut.

Now that you have enjoyed (??) my blog post, you have become a blog follower, left your comment below and taken note of the Custom Crops it is time to continue on to the next stop on the blog hop.  You are off to see the lovely Penny of PenniAnnie's. Enjoy the rest of the blog hop and if you have not already done so, please drop by Bitten by the Bug 2 look at all of the design team projects.

Kickin' Off Christmas Blog Hop Day 2

Welcome to day two of the Kickin' Off Christmas Blog Hop!  I heard through the grape vine that not everyone in the hop may not make a second project for today, but I thought you might want to see something new!  Again today my project was made using my Cricut Expression, Amy Chomas pen holder, and SP & Company Christmas Tree Stamps.  

This card was designed in Cricut Design Studio.  I began by welding a rectangle from the George cartridge to a solid snowflake (see below) from the 2009 When It's Cold Outside seasonal cartridge to create my base card.  I cut the base card in a blue diamond Bazzill cardstock.

Next I cut the top layer of the snowflake in two different cardstocks.  Using pop dots I added the middle layout to the base card.  Before adding the top snowflake layer I stamped the whole snowflake with embossing ink and sprinkled it with holographic embossing powder.  After heat embossing the top snowflake I added pop dots and attached it to the base card.

Next I cut to additional snowflakes from When It's Cold Outside in light blue cardstock and attached them to the base card in opposite corners.  See below.

To finish the card, I used navy craft ink and stamped my SP and Company Christmas Tree stamps onto smooth white cardstock.  I then added holographic embossing powder and heat embossed the trees.  The trees were then glued to the top large snowflake.

I finished the card with the Amy Chomas writing tool and the Christmas solutions cartridge.  Replacing the cutting blade housing in my Cricut with the Chomas pen tool, I used the Happy Christmas phrase.  Once the blade housing was returned to the Cricut I cut the phrase out by cutting out around the writing using the Happy Christmas phrase shadow cut.  The phrase was then glued to the top middle section of the card.

Before you hop on be sure to leave a comment below.  Everyone who leaves a comment will be eligible for a Custom Crops gift voucher drawing.  Remember that Samantha is also giving away a stamp set.  I will be giving away a copy of my DVD set, It's a Kid's Life - which features 18 layouts, video and pdf instructions along with cut files.  I will choose someone from all of the Tuesday and Wednesday comments.

After leaving your comment below, the next stop on the blog hop is the Cards by Linda blog.  Enjoy your hop!!!

I will be back tomorrow with a more photos and details on how I made the North Pole house that won Week Two of Michaels Crafting Holiday Magic Contest.

Amy Chomas

Amber Holden

Donna Mundinger

iCopic

Maria McGuire

Stephanie

Penny Duncan

Susan Edwards You are Here!!

Linda

Jin Yong 

Calypso

Dana Ansell

Lori 

Samantha

Kickin' Off Christmas Blog Hop Day 1

Welcome to the Kickin' Off Christmas Blog Hop!  You may have arrived here from Penny Duncan blog.  This blog hop will feature SP and Company Products and Amy Chomas Products.  Both companies off have wonderful and unique crafting tools. 

Now that I have finally begun my Christmas shopping I have also begun to think about packaging and wrapping.  I love nice packages and bows and tags.... And I love the look of the packages under the tree.  This year I thought I could craft a few personalized boxes and bags just to make things a bit more special.

For today's box I used the square box on the Bags, Tags, Boxes, and More cartridge.  I cut the box in red cardstock and covered the top and side squares with fun Christmas scrap paper.  

Using Stampin' Up Red Riding Hood red ink and SP and Company Christmas tree stamps, I stamped red trees onto smooth white card stock.  I used micro tipped scissors and cut out the trees.  The trees where then attached to the sides of the box using pop dots. 

Next, returning to the Cricut I used the Amy Chomas gel pen holder and the Create a Critter cartridge and wrote the word JOY on red cardstock.  I used the Storybook cartridge and cut a tag shape around the work JOY.  Using pop dots the red tag was affixed to the top of the box.

I also created a matching gift card to go with the gift box.  I cut a white base card and attached a red cardstock square topped with fun Christmas paper to the front of the card.  Just as I did for the top of the box, I used CAC and SB to create the red tag for the front of the card.  I also popped a stamped tree to the front of the card.

I truly think the SP and company stamps work well with my Cricut cut gift box and card set, and that the Chomas Pen holder added a perfect finishing touch to the card and box.  I really like to mix stamping in with my Cricut cuts.

Before you hop on be sure to leave a comment below.  Everyone who leaves a comment will be eligible for a Custom Crops gift voucher drawing.  Remember that Samantha is also giving away a stamp set.  And finally, I will be giving away a copy of my DVD set, It's a Kid's Life - which features 18 layouts, video and pdf instructions along with cut files.  I will choose someone from all of the Tuesday and Wednesday comments.

After leaving your comment below, the next stop on the blog hop is the Cards by Linda blog.  Enjoy your hop!!!

I will be back tomorrow with another blog hop project. 

Amy Chomas

Amber Holden

Donna Mundinger

iCopic

Maria McGuire

Stephanie

Penny Duncan

Susan Edwards You are Here!!

Linda

Jin Yong 

Calypso

Dana Ansell

Lori 

Samantha

Michael's Holiday Magic Contest Entry

 Hey blogging friends.  I have entered Michael's Holiday Magic Contest and I could really use your help.  My entry for this week is the 3D house above.  The contest was to use a charger plate, scrapbook paper, and glue.  I decided to create Santa's house at the North Pole.  I could truly use your assistance in furthering my chances of being this week's winner.  If you facebook, please follow this LINK and like my project.  My name is listed as Susan E.

There will be seven weekly winners in this contest.  Then at the end, one of the seven weekly winners will win a cruise for two.  I have to pass the first hurdle if I hope to reach the next phase of the contest.

I will post full project details and more photos later in the week.  

Also, while you are voting, please remember to vote for Diane Campbell Payne's Creative Memories project.  This is the LINK to vote for Diane.

Thanks so much for your help!!!

One more thing:

Mark your calendars and get your "clicking" finger in shape!  Starting this Tuesday we are Kickin' Off Christmas with a Blog Hop featuring SP and Company products and Amy Chomas products. 

BBTB2 Banner & Blog Hop

Hello everyone, welcome to the monthly Bitten By the Bug 2 blog hop. You may have arrived here from our sweet Carole's blog, or you may have just dropped in to check out my monthly project. If you did not start at the beginning after you finish here you may want to go to BBTB2 and check out the fabulous banners made by my fantastic design team sisters!

This week's challenge cut was selected by our design team sister, the lovely Beth (Runs with Scraps). Beth asked the design team to use any of the banners on the banner feature from the Country Life cartridge. I do not have this particular cartridge but there are other several other banners on several other cartridges. I used two different banners from two different cartridges to create my HAPPY FALL banner.


The scalloped base banner was cut using Tie the Knot. The floral print banner with the rectangular topper is from Straight from the Nest. I added an additional triangle from George and Basic Shapes to create more interest. The maple leaf flourish decoration across the top of each section is from the seasonal Thanksgiving cartridge, as are the images on the first, last, and middle banners. I used the cornucopia, the turkey, and the corn for the image banners. I finished each section of the banner with the I-Rock and assorted gems.

Orange sheer ribbon was laced through the holes on each section of the banner. I then tied the ends of the ribbon to the iron sconces on my mantel. The orange was a perfect color in that it blends well with the cardstock colors and the leave garland on the mantel. I love decorating for fall and this fun banner added to the overall effect.

So did I mention a blog hop??? Did I tell you that with the blog hop comes BLOG CANDY? What? I forgot to mention that??? I have great blog candy for one lucky reader!!! I am giving away a $25 gift voucher from CUSTOM CROPS so one lucky person will get to do a bit of FREE shopping!!! All you have to do is leave a comment under this post. A random winner will be selected on Thursday of this week.

After you post your comment you will be continuing along on the blog hop. Your next stop is at our amazing Donna's fabulous blog. I cannot wait to see her awesome project; she inspires me every single week!!!

Thanks for coming by today. I will be back tomorrow with another new project.

Sew Fine Blog Hop - Blog Candy - BBTB2

Hello everyone, welcome to the monthly BBTB2 blog hop. You may have arrived here from Heather's blog - wasn't her project lovely?  Or you may have just popped in to check out my Monday project.  If you did not start at the BBTB2 blog, you may want to click the link in the left column and start the blog hop at the beginning - after you finish here, of course!!


The challenge cut this week is the sewing machine from the Cricut's Heritage cartridge.  I actually do not own Heritage so I used shapes in George and built my sewing machine in design studio.  I did this by placing the sewing machine on the mat and then filling it in with the geometric shapes on the George cartridge.

I also used this cute little sewing girl from Nursery Rhymes.  I layered her with four different papers and topped her off Glimmer Glaze, Pink Lady for the dress and Icicle for the apron and the sewing machine. I finished the girl and her quilt with cute chip board buttons - which I think are from Basic Grey.   

I also used glimmer mist on the card.  I sprayed the vertical white paper lace trim (from Basic Grey) with Pomegranate Glimmer Mist and allowed it to dry before attaching the lace pieces to the matting. I added a larger chip board button over the lace.

The photo shows some of the dimensional effect on the card front.

I did mention blog candy didn't I?  I am offering a $25.00 gift voucher to Custom Crops.  You know you want to go shopping for free!!!  Leave a comment below and you will be in the drawing for the blog candy gift voucher.  I will draw a winner on Thursday.

Sadly it is now time for you to leave me.  But no worries though, you are off to Krista's blog.  I love Krista!  She is so nice and so talented and soooo pretty. It's a good thing I love her or I might be jealous!!!  Enjoy the rest of the blog hop!!!  And do remember to leave a comment before you hop away....

Blog Hopping, Blog Candy, and a BBTB2 card... WOW

Happy blog hopping BBTB2 Monday!  I have a lot of information to share so I should get typing.  Welcome to the monthly BBTB2 Blog hop.  You probably arrived here from Karen's blog.  If not, think about jumping over to BBTB2 and starting the blog hop at the beginning (after you finish reading my post, of course!).  The challenge cut this week was selected by my wonderful design team sister, Penny Shuberg.  Penny chose the apron cut on the FROM MY KITCHEN cartridge. 

I decided to use a recipe card cut from the same cartridge as my base card.  I welded a rectangle to the recipe card and scored down the middle of the weld to create the card.  I used Basic Grey's kitchen line of paper.  Ironic, huh?  The base card was cut using the cupcake print.  This worked well because the back side of the paper is a nice solid medium pink - perfect for the inside of the card.  The base card was topped with two matting cuts and wrapped with a ribbon before the apron was attached with pop dots.  I printed a recipe for Pasta with Shrimp and Crabmeat that I am going to mail to my son's girlfriend.  Crissie is learning to cook and Aaron loves seafood!

 

In addition to the bow near the bottom of the card,  I also added a scalloped tag to the upper right corner of the card.  I used one of my favorite products to create the top layer of the tag - the Amy Chomas mini gel pen holder and glitter pen set!!  I love Amy's products, the gel pens and holder as well as her embossing kit.  Awesome products!!!  With the gel pens you simply remove the blade housing from your Cricut and replace it with Amy's gel pen holder loaded with a mini pen.  The Cricut will then write your image instead of cutting.  Cool, huh?

In addition to a new BBTB2 project here, I also have a new cake recipe to share on my sister blog, Busy with the Cricky Cake.  Be sure to check the cake blog today for the recipe and again tomorrow to see the completed decorated cake.

Did I mention BLOG CANDY?  Yes, indeed there will be blog candy this week!!!  Amy Chomas is sponsoring my blog hop this month and is providing  FABULOUS blog candy: an Amy Chomas Mini Gel Pen Holder and Pen set!!!  Seriously!  This is a great product and I love it.  Anything with Amy's name attached is sure to be fabulous!!

Leave a comment below to register for the blog candy.  You should go by Amy's site and see her fabulous projects using her products.

Now that you have left a comment (you did leave a comment didn't you?), your next stop on the blog hop is at the blog of the AMAZING Lori Warner.  Lori is a very gifted designer and a wonderfully nice woman - have fun at her blog!!!  Have a great day and remember to visit Amy's site!!