Shadowbox for a friend

I swear I never keep any of the cool things I make.  I always make things to give away, oh well; at least I have pictures and get to see the expressions on their faces when they see them!!!  This shadow box I put together for a friend of mine who, growing up, was like a second mom to me.  She has a very cute country home she calls the Red Moose, all thru the home she has accents of moose and outdoorsy items.  After my last trip down to CA in the spring I made her a thank you card with a plaid back ground and a moose on the front.  Very simple but she absolutely loved it, she wanted to put it in a shadow box and display it in her office.  I ended up surprising her with a shadow box, put the card in it, and gave it to her.  She hung it on the wall right then and there.  I love it when people get excited about things I make.  I had found this saying I loved so I put it in the box and the card sits on the bottom.  I took this picture before the card was put in it but the space at the bottom is open for the card. 

The top part says “Advice from a Moose”

Think big

Spend time in the woods

Eat plenty of greens

Hold your head up high

Stay on track

Keep your nose clean

It’s ok to be a little wild

Simply Birthday

I had made these 2 birthday cards for some ladies I know.  The teal one, I love love love.  I think I’ll work on creating box sets of these.  They are very simple and quick to make.  I can actually make 6 by using just 4 pieces of paper.  Any color will go with the black and white background which is nice; they would make great Thank you cards too.  What do you think?

Flags a flyin'

At my work, if we have a question about something we’re doing (I have a detailed job), we have to ring a bell, something like you would see at an old fashion diner *ding* and raise up a flag.  Then quality coaches or technical support specialists come and help with our questions.  When it was my turn to come onto the floor and make a flag, I knew what I had at home and a folder that simply said Help on it was not going to work for me J  I made one for me and a co-worker, since then, people have started requesting them.  I just send out a sheet with my cartridge designs and let them pick what they want and what colors.  I do charge for them but not more than what my cost is to make them.  Here’s the first 2 I started with and below were ones requested.

This last one was fun to make, he'd picked 2 cut-outs from the wildlife lite cart he wanted together in a scene.  I had nothing that resembled a log or rocks for the bear to stand on so I cut out a bunch of mushrooms in different sizes, cut off the tops and wrinkled them so they look like rocks.  Kind of a proud moment for myself.  lol

Dad turned 50!

My dad turned 50 this month and I took a trip down to CA to celebrate it with him and 80 of his closest friends.  He wanted just an outdoor BBQ, very casual and relaxing.  It was a great time, my parent’s had done a ton of work to the yard, landscaped and laid sod, planted flowers, etc.  The house looked amazing, something you’d see in country life magazine.  A few people brought out RV’s to stay the night, it turned out to be a great weekend for everyone who came.  My dad seemed to really enjoy having everyone there to celebrate his day.  Knowing he wanted to keep it low-key, I tried to find a fun invitation for him.  I had posted a few months back my “rough draft” of this invitation so I thought I’d catch everyone up to date and show you how it ended up turning out.  It was a fun card to make and really simple considering.

Oh, oh, oh... more room additions

Ok, so I’ve been slowly working on getting my room just how I want it and those of you who are doing the same or have done the same know that the storage to hold your hobby is just as expensive as the supplies you store.  I found these cute little shelves at Bed Bath and Beyond for $10 and added some vinyl to the shelf to dress it up.  The ribbon holder is a clip it up 36” holder with the clip-it-up on the bottom half.  I also bought a clip-it-up bar that my husband mounted directly under the square shelves that I have all my clear packaged stamps hanging from.  I love the way it turned out looks wise and it’s so much easier to view what I have to work with instead of rummaging thru my boxes of goodies.  I might even have to get another just for my embellishments – they’re slowly growing out of the box.  Lol.

Thank You...Teacher!

If you follow my blog, you know I’ve got a cousin who is a dear friend of mine K Ricketts; she’s been my inspiration for getting into creating as much as I have.  Her passion outside of the craft room is teaching children.  I admire her for her commitment to children and her encouragement to them succeeding.  She’s so dedicated, she even won teacher of the year award for her school last year.  I don’t yet have children but I sure wish that my kids have a teacher like her!

This card is simple but it gets the point across… Thanks K – for all you do!

Happy Anniverary to... You

My husband’s cousin in California is someone I hold close to my heart.  He and his wife are two of the kindest people I have ever known.  July 28, 2006 they got married and it was an honor to be a witness to their wonderful wedding.  She was dressed in white, he in black and red.  Their colors were simple and elegant, every time I look at a red rose, I think of that day and how much you could see the love in their eyes for each other. This year, they celebrated their 5 year anniversary and I made them a quirky little card that I wanted to share.

Cheers to K Ricketts and her hubby – May there be many more years to come!

Love you guys!

Game Name Signs

At work, once a year, our team gets together to do some team-building activities off-site from the office.  This year we had a fun “picnic in the park” event.  We all went to a gorgeous park not too far from the office at 1:30.  I was asked by our fun committee to make signs for the games they had come up with.  They gave the theme of Minute to Win it, I had never heard of this game before but the games they planned on sounded hilarious.  I was given the names and a brief description of what the games entailed so I could make the signs correspond to the events.  Here are the game name signs I created. The dice are the only 3-D effects on the boards but I have to say that Rapid Fire was my all time favorite, I was proud of myself for being able to create this by just using an image my husband had in a magazine.  It was really nice to hear the comments at the event when people asked “where did we get the signs, they’re nice” Then to see the expression on their faces when they heard I made them.  Makes my heart smile J

Trial... and error?

Ok, so I decided to challenge myself and create at least one of the cards in each of my cricut magazines.  I started with the June/July edition of this really cute square card with just letters on it. I wish I had a picture to show of the original but I don't.

I gave this card to my husband's grandma for her birthday.  I had a lot of fun making this card, I am looking forward to trying it again... just with different colors next time.

lemme know what you think!

I used chalk around all the edges of the cardstock, letters, and square blocks and then added each letter, and heart, with a pop dot to make it a bit more fun.