Pink Valentine Cards

Here are two of the cards I completed during my first Michael's crop night this weekend.

 The card base is Georgia Pacific white cardstock (from Walmart).

The light and dark pink cardstock is from The Paper Company.

The die cuts are from Sweethearts Cricut cartridge (cut at 1 inch).

The edges of the pink blocks were punched with a Fiskars punch.

Ribbon is from Michael's.

 The card base and the white square with the lip is Georgia-Pacific white cardstock (from Walmart).

The pink cardstock is from The Paper Company.

The lip stamp is from Inkadinkado (stamped on pink cardstock).

Ink is Memento's Rose Bud.

The lip die cut is from Tie the Knot Cricut cartridge (cut at 1 inch), with Stickles.

Heart mini-brads is from Recollections (Michael's).
XOXO Stamp is from Hero Arts.

I actually made another card, but I used Stickles on it and unfortunately, messed it up (I touched it before the Stickles had enough time to dry).  I will have to recreate that card later.

I also completed a few scrapbook pages, but I will share them later, when I've finished completing the book.  

I really enjoyed making these projects, and I had a great time at crop night!  I met a lot of nice ladies, and saw an awesome card (I forgot to ask one of the ladies the name of the card, so I can learn how to make it -- but I'm hoping that she won't mind showing me next time).

Thanks for looking!

Excited for Crop Night!

While we were at Michael's last weekend, my husband saw the poster for crop night, and asked, "Why don't you go?"

Hmmm...why not?  It will be a fun way to meet other crafters, learn new techniques, and get some projects done.  So I signed up for the full 6 hours.

Since I'm new to crop nights, I bought a rolling tote (Crop in Style Nanavigator) and a caddy for my tools/adhesives from my local Jo-Ann's.

The hardest part was figuring out what to bring.  I wanted to make a few Valentine cards and complete some scrapbook pages.

Here are photos of the things I packed (as you can tell, I did not fill the whole tote):

Crop in Style Nanavigator and Pink Caddy (I don't know the brand -- from Jo-ann's)

I took adhesives, photos, my Cricut Tool Kit, a few Tsukineko DewDrops, and some punches.

I took my new Martha Stewart Score Board and Envelope Tool (finally decided to get it after watching a lot of tutorials at CardzTV.  Lol.)

Also brought a stack of 8.5 x 11 card stock in different colors, and 3 12x12 paper stacks with basic patterns (all of which are from Hobby Lobby).  I figured, with the patters and the solids, I should pretty much be covered.

Also, a Fiskars punch on the side there.

I took my Cricut paper cutter and the W R Memories Tool Kit for embellishments (mostly brads).

I also took 3 sets of clear stamps:  2 from Inkadinkado and 1 from Hero Arts (they are in the pocket).

And of course, my new book, Scrapbook Page Maps by Becky Fleck.  It's a cool book, it has the sketches, the actual layouts, and the sketches in little cards that you can pull out (even the box to hold the cards was included in the book), so if you want, you can just take the little box with the cards to crops.  Very, very cool.

I hope I haven't forgotten anything.  I was tempted to bring several more paper, but I thought the stacks I took didn't have what I needed, I can always get some more at the store (lol).

Wish me luck!  I'll share what I've made later!

Tri-Shutter Birthday Card

My husband's birthday was a few days ago, and I got him a present that I knew he wanted, and made him this card. 

I stumbled upon Mary's blog, Cardz TV, last week, and I loved her tri-shutter card tutorial.    I followed her tutorial, which can be found here.

The finished card was 4 inches x 5 inches in size, which fit a 4.375 inch x 5.75 inch (A2) vellum envelope which I got at Joann's.

The navy blue card base was from DCWV's premium Christmas cardstock stack.

The paper on the front and back was from DCWV's All About Boys stack.

The inside paper (polka dots) was leftover paper from a scrapbook kit that I got years ago.

The orange ribbon is from Michael's.

White cardstock was Georgia-Pacific from Walmart.

Stamps used were from Stampendous.

Ink was Memento's Tuxedo Black.

I didn't use my Cricut Expression for this card at all (surprise!).  I enjoyed making this card, and I loved how it turned out.  My husband liked it, too. :)

Thanks for looking!

It's Christmas Again!

At least, at Michael's Arts and Crafts, it is. :)

I stopped by my local Michael's today, and found -- Cricut cartridges on clearance!!!  $9.99 each! Yipppeee!

I got a few:

I can't wait to use these.

I hope you guys find the same great deals/steals at your local Michael's!

The Start...

My love for paper started when in fourth grade, when my mom bought my sister and me origami books to play with.  The books came with several sheets of paper, and pretty soon we used them all up.  My dad also got me and my sister stamp sets.  I got an alphabet one, and my sister got a cartoon/animals one.  I remember spelling my name and stamping it on any paper I could find.    

As I got older, I bought more of the origami books (with their beautiful colored paper), and this time, I saved all the paper.  To this day, I still have my origami books with all the paper, and my alphabet stamp set, but now the ink pad has dried up. :)

Several years ago, I came across scrapbooking while surfing the Internet.  Then my local bookstore (in the Philippines, where I grew up) started carrying a few scrapbooking supplies.  I discovered craft stores when I moved to the US.  I started buying supplies, a little bit at a time.

So, my thing with papercrafting is a lifetime in the making, and the funny thing is, except for the first origami papers and my first stamp sets, I never used the stuff I bought.  It seemed there was always something going on, I didn't have enough time/space/supplies/photos to scrapbook, et cetera.

A few months ago, I bought a Cricut Expression and a Gypsy, and as an early Christmas present, I got a Cuttlebug, too.  After looking at a few sites on the Internet, I was hooked and determined to make the most out of these new "toys."

And so this year, I made these resolutions:
1.  Start actually enjoying the creative aspect of this hobby. :)
2.  Take more photos to have stuff to scrapbook.  Lol.

Happy New Year!