Amanda Sarver

Christmas Decorations

2011-12-31T20:34:00.000-08:00

I hosted a Christmas Eve Eve party for family and a couple close friends. What I forgot was I would be coming back from Vegas the night before and working the following day. I was extremely tired and luckily my mom pretty much took care of all the appetizers.

One thing she made (which is absolutely amazing) is her chicken salad. We then cut the sandwiches into Christmas Trees.

Created a bow and long ribbon and hung all my Christmas cards onto it with cute mini Christmas themed clothes pins.

This is before all the food was set up

Got the idea to tie tulle around a strand of lights from pinterest.com

Wrapped a couple of my pictures frames with wrapping paper and ribbon...the pink ones never were completed with bows :(

Christmas Tree 2011

2011-12-31T20:21:00.000-08:00

Every year I love my tree more and more. This year I found a lot more pink and black bulbs and accessories to keep adding. Lucky for us they just put in a Hobby Lobby only 30 mins away...my new favorite store.

Tried wrapping in 2 different papers...loved the idea I found on pinterest.com

Custom label initials using my Cricut...Mini Monograms and Plantin SchoolBook all different sizes.

No kids for us yet but still had to buy the Elf on the Shelf...everyday either my husband or I moved it as a joke. One day it was on the moose...some how the moose even become accessorized.

Onesie Baby Girl Card with Owl

2011-12-04T13:48:00.001-08:00

Another onesie card using gray and pink to match the diaper cake. The owl is from Stampin' Up, Punch Bunch stamped in basic gray.

Diaper Cake for Shiloh

2011-12-03T17:06:00.001-08:00

Here is a cake I helped my friend make for her friend Shiloh. I used a hair flower to wrap the bibs and blanket on top.

Sorry for not posting

2011-11-27T20:56:00.001-08:00

Wow I have been in 7 different states in two separate one week vacations in the month of November, and have not posted in a such a long time.

I promise things should wind down soon and hopefully I can post some Christmas things.

Also I am receiving a lot of comments but cannot write back unless I have your email address. Please leave me your address.

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and our ready for Christmas.

PS-Has everyone heard of www.pinterest.com ?!?! My latest addiction (this is taking up all my time), if you want to sign up send me your email and I can personally invite you so you may get signed up immediately.

Animal Print Onesie Card for Baby Savannah

2011-11-02T17:29:00.000-07:00

OK so you might think I am a little obsessed with making my onesie cards, but the cut file is super easy for me.

Here is an animal print onesie card for Baby Savannah who already has a jungle themed nursery. She is scheduled to arrive 11.11.11 (what an awesome birthday that would make).

Happy Birthday Mary!

2011-09-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

It was my MIL on 9-11, and all she wanted for her birthday was for the San Diego Chargers to win the game (they did). Our entire family has season tickets and usually all carpool down together to our tailgating spots. My husband and I made up an excuse to her and went down early to decorate our parking spot for her birthday. Since she is a die-hard fan, and her favorite color is yellow, it made it easy to create a banner in the Chargers colors.

Cricut Dimensions:

Straight from the Nest:
Banner 7.5"
Border 7.5"
Scallop 4.5" (Cuttlebug emboss "Polka Dots")

Birthday Bash
Letters 1.5"

Happy Birthday Mary banner using my Cricut

I had my 7 year old friend emboss the white scallops, she did a great job!

Scrapbook Layouts Completed at Lake Powell

2011-09-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

At the end of August we went on our annual house-boating trip to Lake Powell. I decided to bring some scrapbooking supplies and was able to complete a couple layouts. I told myself I was only able to use the supplies that I brought, and would not try to add to them when I got home.

My hubby catching a little air wakeboarding at Powell

Gulf Shores, AL

New Orleans, LA

Lake Powell, UT

Engagement Party for the Pardi's

Sex and the City Movie Night

CoCaLo Turtle Reef Baby Shower Centerpieces Handmade

2011-08-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

A family friend is having a baby and my mom and I volunteered to make the baby shower centerpieces.

Since the mom to be is having a baby boy she has decorated the nursery in CoCaLo Turtle Reef. I attempted to make the turtles and fish as close as possible to the bedding.

Cricut Dimensions

Stretch your Imagination:
Turtle 6" (Cuttlebug emboss "Seeing Spots")
Skinny Turtle 9" (Cuttlebug emboss "Spots & Dots)

Birthday Bash:
Turtle 4.75"

B is for Boy:
Fish 5.5"

New Arrival:
Feet 2"

Straight from the Nest:
Scallop 4.75" (Cuttlebug emboss "Polka Dots")

Also my Mom made all the paper filler in the buckets, she used a paper crimper and then shredded. Next time we will try regular copy paper, rather than cardstock.

It's a Boy | Baby Boy Banner

2011-08-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a "It's a Boy" baby shower banner, using the shower colors of blues and greens.

Cricut Dimensions:

Straight from the Nest:
Banner 7.5"
Border 7.5"
Scallop 4.5" (Cuttlebug emboss "Polka Dots")

New Arrival:
Rattle 2"
Baby Pins 2"

Birthday Bash:
Letters 2"

Baby Boy Diaper Cake for Ryder | Turtles, Blue & Green

2011-08-01T17:06:00.000-07:00

It's funny how all my friends lately are pregnant with girls. This is my first boy diaper cake. I thought it would be cute to use the denim diapers for the middle row.

Baby Boy Onesie Shower Card with Airplane

2011-07-31T21:13:00.000-07:00

Here is a card I made for Alex and baby Ryder.

Onesie-Life's a Party cut at 5.75"
Scallop-Straight from the Nest at 2.75"
Airplane-New Arrival at 2"
Cuttlebug emboss-Dots

Scrapbook Layouts

2011-07-25T22:20:00.000-07:00

The cut out of soup, salad, vegetables, chef, meat and seafood all cut at 1" "From My Kitchen" cart.

Benihana Scrapbook Layout 2008

Lake Havasu Scapbook Layout 2008

Used Stampin Up to decorate the paper, and the floral paper brought back from Holland when Nas visited.

Simon at The Palms, Las Vegas

2011-07-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

Happy 30h Birthday Nasim...and were off to VEGAS!

2011-07-19T08:32:00.000-07:00

That's right Nas' 30th birthday is tomorrow so we are all headed off to Las Vegas to celebrate.

For her card I welded the 30 from Sweet Treats at 4.5" and also made the Happy Birthday from ST as well.

Baby Shower Card | Bright Colors

2011-07-18T18:12:00.000-07:00

Here is a card I made for Christi's baby shower. I tried to make the card match the diaper cake for baby Kensely. I used New Arrival cart outfit at 1.25" and layered, and cut out circles from the cart as well. Embossed with dots, and used "Baby Bundle" congratulations stamp from Stampin' up.

Diaper Cake for Baby Kensley

2011-07-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

Our friend Christi is having a baby girl and has not quit decided on the rooms colors, but is looking for something in the mustard, teal, pink and gray colors. Since those colors are bold and pop I wanted to make the diaper cake using her colors. I love using new colors that are not so traditional.

I try to make all my cakes a little different. So this one consisted of 2 layers of diaper and the 3rd layer was her bottles, burp clothes and diaper powder. Throughout her cake was little socks, mittens, teething rings and pacifiers.

New iPhone App "Instagram"

2011-07-07T20:58:00.000-07:00

So I am supposed to be wrapping up a baby shower centerpiece but instead tried taking some pictures from the iPhone app instagram in my scrapbook room. I thought they came out looking pretty cool!

Happy 4th of July!!!

2011-07-04T20:25:00.001-07:00

Hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July!!!

Pink Bling IPad Case

2011-06-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

I also just added a little bling to my new pink IPad case. I love the sparkle!!!

San Diego Padres Hat with Bling Added

2011-06-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

I love to bling everything out, if I could I would probably put it over everything in the house.

Since we are Padres fans, I needed to make my hat a little bit more sparkly.

I love using the heat tool with my hotfix Swarovski crystals, its fast and easy and they come in all colors and sizes.

Thank You Card to Prima!!!

2011-06-19T20:30:00.000-07:00

I tried to use all the new Prima products while making the thank you card to them.

Happy Father's Day!!!

2011-06-19T15:40:00.000-07:00

I just hung out with my dad, and it was a lot of fun. The entire family went (except my hubby...had to work) to church then to breakfast.

It's always fun to receive a mystery box FedEx to your door...not like it has ever happened before. There was a package waiting for me when I got home from work last week.

I had to open it immediately to discover a lot Prima supplies. It was super nice of them. Come to find out my husband is a firefighter, and went on a fire alarm call to Prima. He had no idea what the large warehouse was, and happened to ask. "What do you guys do here" he asked. (Prima replied) We manufacture woman things for scrapbooking. "My wife is into all that stuff" he replied. (Prima replied) Give me her address and we will send her some stuff.

Look at what they sent.

How amazing is Prima????? I cannot believe they sent me all these wonderful supplies. I am never that lucky person to ever win or get anything for free. I can't wait to make them a thank you card with all the supplies they sent.

Biome Ocean Project for Kids Elementary Class

2011-05-19T19:37:00.000-07:00

My little friend is in 1st grade and had to do an ocean project in a box. She chose to do it in a bankers box to give her a little more room.

I helped cut out the sea life animals using Life is Beach cartridge on my Cricut. After cutting out all the die cuts, we ran them through the Xyron and then added all the different colors of Martha Stewart glitter.

I think she did a wonderful job putting together her project....(I know she must have the best project in class)

She then hung most of the fish and seahorse from fishing line to make them swim.

Shark, dolphin, octopus, crab, fish, seahorse, sun, waves, coral, seaweed, starfish, shells, clam, real rocks, and cotton balls for clouds

Love the way she leaned the octopus, and starfish on a real rock

Little crab with googly eyes, looks like Sebastian from Little Mermaid

Placed a Martha Stewart pearl in the shell to make it look like a clam

Pink seahorse

Welcome Baby Summer!!!

2011-05-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

It's official I am now an Aunt to baby Summer. She was born May 14th, and is absolutely adorable.

Here is a little flower bouquet I made out of See's lollypops.

Foam, lollypops, flower pot

Added tissue paper to flower pot

Added ribbon, "Baby Girl" stickers to lollypops, and flowers (you can't see them)

Handmade Happy Mother's Day Cards

2011-05-09T17:45:00.000-07:00

Here are two cards I made for Mother's Day yesterday. One was for my Mom, and the other for my mother in law.

Flower was made using Cricut cartridge Mother's Day Bouquet

I then sprayed Tattered Angles Glimmer Mist, then scrunched them to make them look more realistic, then used my quilling tool to roll in the ends.

I card lifted the idea from "Color Inspiration" magazine from designer: Windy Robinson. I chose to make the roses yellow since they are my MIL favorite color. This was such a great idea and very easy to make.

Final size 5.5" square

Update of the Baby Clothes Rolled Into Bouquet

2011-05-09T17:23:00.000-07:00

I went over to my SIL to check out her adorable nursery, and she still had the clothes rolled into the flower bouquet so I took some pictures.

Scapbook Layouts 2008

2011-04-20T21:02:00.002-07:00

Is anyone else really behind at scrapbooking? I feel like I can never get caught up, hopefully one day...wishful thinking. I just started 2008!!!

Garth Brooks Concert/Birthday party

Tonya B-day...Shout House

Pimp and Hoe Party (I swear we don't always dress like this)

More Centerpieces and Party Stuff

2011-04-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

Here are the glass vases I used. I added a ribbon and a charm.

Baby clothes purchased to give to Mom-to-be! Wish I had a close up of the close pins, I added a pink jewel to them.

The lady who made the cake did an amazing job. I sent her the invitation and asked her to match the invitation of our "Jungle Jill" theme party. Not only did the cake look great it tasted spectacular.

If you are in San Diego area and are in need of cake check out Spoonful of Sugar!

Jungle Jill Theme Baby Shower Centerpieces

2011-04-08T18:12:00.000-07:00

Just got to Florida and will be taking off for a Caribbean cruise tomorrow, so I wanted to post one more thing.

For my SIL table decorations I made 6 paint buckets to match the invitations of her "Jungle Jill Theme" baby shower. Her colors were all shades of pink, green and brown.

Here are the dimensions:

Sugar and Spice
Giraffe 8"
Elephant 4"
Monkey 5"

B is for Boy
Zebra 6"

New Arrival
Feet 2"

Straight from the Nest
Banner 7.5"
Border 7.5"
Scallop 4.5"

Luckily Easter grass is in the stores to fill the buckets

wooden dowel from Home Depot

they are all double side animals

It's Almost Summer Time | Baby Shower Banner

2011-04-07T07:38:00.000-07:00

My soon to be niece's name is Summer, and my husband came up with this clever title for the baby shower banner to hang "It's Almost Summer Time." Who knew he had it in him ;)

Banner cut from Straight from the Nest at 7.5" (3 on a 12x12)
Banner Border cut from SFTN at 7.5" (13 on a 12x12)
Green flower cut from SFTN at 4.5" (9 on a 12x12)
Letters cut from Cindy Loo and the sizes varied from 1.75"-3.5"

I found cute charms in the baby section of Michael's some are a onesie with "baby" and the other says "It's a Girl!"

Baby Clothes Rolled into Bouquet of Flowers

2011-04-06T17:41:00.000-07:00

This was my first attempt to roll baby clothes into a flower bouquet. I can't believe I forgot to take the final picture in the vase. I placed the bouquet into a clear vase, added clear rocks, and finished it off with a pink bow.

Baby Bib, rolled into a rose

Rolled items of bibs, socks and onesies

Added some white flowers and leaves then tied it up with floral tape

Diaper Cake for Baby Summer...Pink | Brown | Green

2011-04-04T18:51:00.000-07:00

My SIL baby shower was yesterday, I am so excited to start posting some pictures. We have about 400 pictures so it my take a little to while to post, plus I have the Padres opening day game tomorrow, and I leave Friday for a cruise. I am really trying to post everything quickly.

Here is the diaper cake I made using her animal theme baby shower, in the colors of pink, brown and a little green.

Inside is baby lotion, bottles, bibs, pacifiers and more

I am so glad the jungle theme is in, I found so many monkeys to use (notice the monkey blanket)

Loved these little socks, and the mini pink clothes pins worked perfectly

After she opened the cake from the shrink wrap

Handmade Birthday Cards

2011-03-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple easy handmade Happy Birthday cards to make.

Pink Happy Birthday Card

2011-03-06T12:50:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday handmade card used Celebrate with Flourish cut at 3 inches, for a 6" x 6" card.

Girl Baby Shower Jungle Theme Invitations

2011-03-05T17:50:00.000-08:00

My SIL is having a baby girl, and I made the baby shower invitations to match her nursery theme "Jungle Jill." I have been so busy making more than 50 invitations, and party decorations I have not had much time to blog.

Onesie is from Life's a Party cut at 5 5/8" (shadow and layer, Cuttlebug embossed with Swiss Dots)

Monkey-Sugar and Spice cut at 1 1/4"

Elephant-Sugar and Spice cut at 1"

Giraffe-Sugar and Spice cut at 2"

Zebra-B is for Boy cut at 1 1/2"

Crazy Looking Roses

2011-02-28T20:39:00.000-08:00

My husband gave me these tie-dyed roses, I had never seen anything like this before.

I just had to share.

Valentine's Card | S.W.A.K.- Glitter Lips

2011-02-08T22:07:00.000-08:00

Here is a card I put together using 5" lips from "Love Struck" Cricut cartridge, and welded them together. I then added Martha Stewart glitter, and cut out S.W.A.K. (sealed with a kiss) and also glittered them.

Inside I stamped and embossed with Stampin' Up.

Simple & Quick Scrapbook Layouts

2011-02-08T21:58:00.000-08:00

Since I am so behind on scrapbooking, just finished 2007, I have made very simple and quick layouts.

Knifty Knitter Loom Knitting

2011-01-31T18:44:00.000-08:00

For my birthday my Mom bought me looms from Knifty Knitter, which is created by Provo Craft. I have never knitted in my life, and these looms made it so simple. So far I have made 2 scarfs and a baby blanket.

I am still needing to learn a lot more so I have been going to You Tube and just bought a book "Loom Knitting Primer" by Isela Phelps which has a lot of basic information. In the book she lists essential tools which I bought just about everything from Crochet hooks, stitch holders, to tapestry needles, counters and knitting gauges.

I am really having fun with knitting, that I have been neglecting my blog and paper crafts.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-25T17:22:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!! Can't believe I have not posted anything or crafted. I was sick for about two weeks, and the other time was spent Christmas shopping. Usually I have all my shopping done weeks in advance, so that I can wrap the presents and enjoy looking at them under the tree. This year I was still wrapping on Christmas Eve, and making Christmas tags with my Cricut.

I used Very Merry Tags and cut every shape at 3". I must have a coordinating tree from the ornaments, wrapping paper and tags.

I was so pleased that my husband did not mind me having a pink, black and silver tree this year.

Handmade Glitter Ornaments

2010-11-28T19:26:00.000-08:00

Want to make a mess free sparkly glitter ornaments for Christmas? Then buy clear ornaments and gently remove the hanging part. Then I added some Mop & Glo and swirl it all around and empty into a glass. Leave ornament upside down until all the dripping has stopped.

Add any color of glitter inside. I prefer Martha Stewart fine glitter. She has so many pretty colors, and you can mix them together to create a new shade as well. Shake out excess glitter, and place top back on. The glitter looks clean and sparkly in the inside. I even added a some tulle bows to give it a little something extra. You can decorate with buttons, ribbons, rhinestones and so much more.

PS- Last year I glued glitter on the outside and it was messy and hard to hang the bulbs to dry.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010!

2010-11-28T18:51:00.000-08:00

I hosted Thanksgiving this year for 26 family members. We had a lot of fun, and since I am not a big cook, my MIL offered to make the Turkey, and I volunteered to decorate. At the last minute (3 days in advance) my friend encouraged me to brine the turkey with her recipe. She helped and did most the work since I hate to touch raw meat.

Before:

Doesn't it look pretty while brining? Soaking in apple juice, oranges, and a lot of fresh herbs.

After:

After an hour of cooking we pulled out the turkey and wrapped it with bacon. I am so happy I did not burn it, it came out really juicy.

This is a cornucopia I put together for my head table. I used Martha Stewart glitter on some of the vegetable to accent them. We nicknamed the Turkey "red neck."

Dessert table set-up. Valerie hand made all the mini-apple pies and they were delicious. Poor thing was up until 3am the night before making 26 pies. Each guest took one home.

This wreath was extremely easy and inexpensive to make. I made two for the front doors.

Baby Shower Onesie Card

2010-11-26T19:25:00.000-08:00

I made this card for Alison's baby shower and had matching colors as the diaper cake. I used design studio to weld the onesie card from Wall Decor and More. Since that cart did not have a shadow effect I cut a second onesie for the top layer a little smaller then hand cut with scissors to make it fit. I then ran it through the Cuttlebug and embossed the dots. The font was welded from Storybook, added Glossy Accents and rhinestones, and I was done.

My First Diaper Cake...For Baby Sophia

2010-11-26T18:37:00.000-08:00

This was my first attempt at making a diaper cake for my good friend Alison's Baby Shower. I loved the way it turned out, and I think it really helped that Alison chose pink (my favorite color) and lime green for her new baby Sophia. I bought items from her registry and either used them on the cake or inside the cake for more support. Look closely at all the pictures and you may see her items.

I also used mostly Wall Decor on my Cricut cartridge for the baby items cut out, and my Cuttlebug to emboss. Hope you enjoy!

Baby bottles, bottle brush, toys, blankets, diapers, pacifiers and more

Halloween Costume...Barbie in a Box

2010-11-15T19:55:00.000-08:00

In September we went to New York City and had an awesome vacation. While I was there I went to FAO Schwartz and was able to customize my very own Barbie doll, she even came out on a runway for a fashion show. Since I was creating the doll, I tried to make her look like me, and I even chose an outfit I might wear.

For our Annual costume party this year I wanted to be a little bit more creative (I refuse to buy a store bought costume in a bag). I had the idea to be a life size Barbie in a box, and make her look like the doll I created in NYC. After only having a week until our party I needed to move quickly. Since I tend to be a perfectionist, and my box was having some issues, I realized I just had to deal with it.

I bought the wardrobe box from U-Haul for about $12, then we cut it open and made a couple reinforcements with extra cardboard. The piece on the left is going to become the door or the front to the box.

Then I primed the box and found Barbie wrapping paper, and lined the entire inside of the box (took 2 rolls). I then took my NYC Barbie box to Home Depot to match the outside of the box perfectly the hot pink paint.

For the first time ever I figured out how to take an image into Illustrator and convert it into an SVG file for my Sure Cuts A Lot. As you can see above the Barbie logo head and the Barbie font logo for the front were cut on SCAL, and backwards so the pink vinyl sticky side would be facing up as well as the Mattel logo (front and back). I then used Martha Stewart Glitter and made a huge mess ;)

We then added a clear shrink wrap package to the front, and a black belt for support to hold the box up and above my head, and the Barbie sign was to suppose to hide the black belt. However, I forgot to make the belt smaller before getting into the box, so the box hung down low and rested on my head. As you will see I had to prop the box up with my arms.

And here is the final product. I am really glad I did not spend more time making more details since I probably wore the costume for about 10 mins.

Out of my two brothers one really gets into Halloween as well and will get creative, the other one has no desire to dress up. I really liked Derohn's Jack in the Box costume. He made it out of paper mache, and even showed up with 40 tacos from Jack in the Box.

Here are some of the girls; Nas was Lucille Ball, Villy in black, was very clever as "static cling" and our very cute pregnant friend Alison was from Juno. We had a great time!!!

Scrapbook LO

2010-11-05T16:59:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple layouts...

The black flower above, is just tulle wrapped around a brad

I love pink, black, skulls and rhinestones...

Happy Halloween Banner

2010-11-02T19:54:00.000-07:00

I made a quick and easy "Happy Halloween" banner with paper from Target's $1 bin. They had really cute glitter paper, but it was a little thin and my paper curled a little. The orange is vinyl cut with SCAL.

I am Finally Back with Halloween Updates

2010-10-31T18:52:00.000-07:00

I feel like I have been away so long, I went to NYC for a week came back and left for Washington DC soon after. Then returning had to finish up on my Halloween Decorations I was trying to make for our annual Halloween party. I have been so busy, and now am feeling a little caught up, and will have a lot to post shortly.

I found this video on Michael's website to make this cute mummy. It required 3 plastic pumpkins in different sizes, Rigid Wrap, Cheese Cloth, wood board, paint, and I used my Cricut to cut out vinyl lettering. This was a very easy project to make.

Mummy's sign says "You Scared Me Stiff"

I am Back....

2010-10-20T18:59:00.000-07:00

I came back from NYC, and with in a short time left for Washington DC. I feel I am lacking sleep and have not crafted at all in the past month. We saw Obama land in front of the White House.

Excited about NYC...

2010-09-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

So my husband and I leave for NYC on Tuesday, and are super excited. Today my husband received a phone call from the David Letterman show, asking him a trivia question about the show. He answered it correctly and then they offered us 2 tickets to the show. It should be a lot of fun and we can't wait to see the show live.

Happy Birthday Sou

2010-09-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

My friend Sou's favorite color is purple, so I had to make an all purple card. I finally was able to use my new Cricut Lite "Celebrate with Flourish" cart that I had since they came out and cut the Happy Birthday. I honestly can't remember the size I cut, I think around 3" and the card is 6"x 6".

Menu and Cards for Kristin's Party

2010-09-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

Kristin asked if I could make a couple menu cards, guestbook card and another card for her guests to take home a special pin for a woman in their life. I coordinated all cards to match the invitations.

Cupcake Birthday Card for Tracy

2010-08-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a 5" x 7" hot pink, white and teal birthday card I made for my SIL using Sweet Treats cupcakes 1. I cut 3 cupcake at 1.5" in three different colors. Embossed with Cuttlebug Swiss Dots, and added some Stickels to the cupcakes.

Tickets using Cricut

2010-08-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

For the surprise birthday we had rented a 45 passenger limo bus, from Cali Party Bus (if your in San Diego check out this company for your next limo). We decided to hand out tickets to make sure that everyone made it on the bus, and some have cute sayings on the back telling people something to do while on the bus.

I used my new cart Summer Vacation and cut the ticket at 1.5" and added my own black backing.

5 Easy Steps to a Birthday Invitation...Fast and Easy to Make

2010-08-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to post this 30th birthday invitation I made for my SIL, but had to wait until her surprise birthday party was over, since she is a follower on my site.

This is a really easy birthday invitation to make. Here are the 5 simple steps.

1. Cut black cardstock at 5" x 7"

2. Cut white cardstock at 4.5" x 6.5"

3. Design wording in MS Word, run white paper thru printer

4. Use a punch out of a cupcake (I used the MS punch and cut black and pink glitter, then cut off pink tops and placed over black, also embossed black thru CB)

5. Adhere all layers

Invitations using my Cricut

2010-08-14T23:28:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick explanation of how I made the invitations using my Cricut. I cut the colored card stock at 5" x 7". I then cut the white card stock at 6" x 6" then ran the white sheets thru my printer for the wording. I then placed (4) white invitations onto my Cricut mat and cut out my marquee at 4". I then used orange and teal paper, and cut the shadow marquee at 4" as well. The design was cut from page 55 of Storybook called swirl at 2" and some at 2 1/4".

PS- I did have everything on DS and my laptop crashed at that final moment, I then had to manual cut everything out.

10 year Reunion Scrapbook Layout

2010-08-08T21:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a LO I made of my husband's 10 year HS Reunion, unfortunately I did not have any close ups of him, but some of the girlfriends of his good friends. The HS colors were purple and yellow/gold, and yes it does look like the colors of the Lakers.

I used Storybook for the scalloped circle, and Stone Script for the letters, also included was a MS punch for the small flowers, and embossed with Cuttlebug "Seeing Dots" and "Swiss Dots." For the purple rhinestones I used Adirondack alcohol inks in Stream and Wild Plum to create a matching purple to my LO. I also used Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Fully Purple and Gold to add color the flowers on the left.

2 Page Layout

2010-08-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

I was the Matron of Honor a couple years back in my friend’s wedding. The wedding was held in San Diego right on the water.

It's always so hard for me to narrow down just a couple pictures when I had more than a hundred to chose from. I decided to do a double page layout. On page one I used Sentimentals, page 31 and cut out Florish 1 with all layers, then embossed with cuttlebug. Also used a MS punch for the border on both pages. Also I decided use a lot of Glossy Accents on the Flourish and "Liemandt" stickers to add more dimension.

Happy Birthday Nasim!!!

2010-07-29T22:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a card I made for my friend Nas. I used Sweet Treats for the cupcake and tag, embossed with Seeing Spots, then added Glossy Accents to the tag and cupcake.

Cricut Imagine

2010-07-26T22:40:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Cricut has a new machine coming out...Cricut Imagine. I can't wait to see what it can do, it says it cuts and prints paper. Suggested retail is only $599.99, wow hopefully Michaels will put that at 75% off.

Wine Charm using Cricut and Shrinky Dinks

2010-07-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

I only took a picture using my camera phone, but these are some wine charms using my Cricut Life is a Beach, and one is stamped with a rubber stamped. I colored them in with paint pens.

Our family goes to Lake Powell on a houseboat every year so I wanted to make some wine charms featuring water theme (well my interpretation).

New Cricut Circle

2010-07-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

I had signed up for the Cricut Circle, and so far it's a lot of fun. I will have to share more, but for now my box is arriving tomorrow with a new exclusive cartridge, and other fun things. The new MB is pink and everyone is chatting up like crazy.

PS- If your visiting me from the Circle MB, leave me a commet I want to meet new people!

My Pet Peeve...

2010-06-29T19:05:00.001-07:00

My pet peeve at the moment is the Cricut MB, why does it take sooooooooooooooo long to post a comment???? I mean why can't they put it back to the way it was?

I guess I can become really impatient, when I have 10,000 things to do, and I want to send a couple comments and it takes forever!!!

Wedding Card

2010-06-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

My husband is the BM is his friends wedding this coming weekend, and I made a wedding card to match the wedding colors. For some reason the colors look a little different then in real life through the lens of my camera/monitor. The wedding colors are curry and a bright teal.

Yellow/Curry paper cut at 6" x 12", and crease at 6" and 8.5", then cut one piece of teal 6.25" x 6.125" and placed behind the 6". Then cut 6.25" x 3.75" teal and placed behind the 3.5" section.

The "Mr. and Mrs." and the "S" were cut in Tie the Knot at 1.75" I used the shadow as well at the same size. Also used my CB "swiss dots" on the Mr. and Mrs. and S as well.

I then stamped and embossed the curry paper, added ribbon, and used Swarovski crystals to accent the bottom corner.

TFL

"Once Upon a Princess" Birthday Card

2010-06-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

I love this new cartridge it has a lot of fun things to make. I used one of the princess (page 25 ) and dress (page 33 ), and the unicorn (page 58 ), for a friend who just turned 5. I added a little tulle to her crown as well.

Happy Birthday Banner for a 6 year old

2010-06-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

My little friend turned 6, and asked for a pink and purple banner. I used Tie the Knot for the banner and border. and Storybook for the font. The font was all printed on glitter paper.

Wish I had a better picture to show, but for now this is all I have.

New Cricut Lite at Wal-Mart

2010-06-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

I stopped by my local Wal-Mart today and they had all the new Cricut Lite carts that are supposed to arrive on July 1st. I bought the Celebrate with Flourish and can't wait to try it out.

Scrapbok Layouts

2010-06-07T21:20:00.000-07:00

I have been on our annual houseboat trip at Lake Powell, UT. We had a great time and hopefully I can post a couple photos shortly.

Meanwhile here are a couple scrapbook pages I completed.

Martha Stewart punch to create the pink border, and SU Circle Circus then emboss with gold powder. Butterfly cut with MS punch on vinyl then peel sticky and used MS glitter.

Flowers were cut with AE starting at 1"-2 3/8" and I spaced them out and made 3 flowers. Some I embossed with clear powder to give the shiny look, all embossed with CB Dots folder.

My New Etsy Purchases

2010-05-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

I really love all the creative people on Etsy, and here are a couple of my new purchases. Check out their sites below!

I bought this super cute camera strap, and they even added on my initials and the lens cap (very handy). I then added my own Swarovski Crystals to my initial in black, and some clear ones throughout the strap. This is a super comfy strap.

Check out her site:
SewTamz Designs

I then had Chanel a custom made name tag with a cute pink heart that is 3-D. I then added some crystals.

Check out this site:

Henry Bear

Shrinky Dinks using my Cricut

2010-05-15T22:15:00.000-07:00

I bought the assortment color pack of Shrinky Dinks at Michaels today. Since it has been more than 20 years of making a Shrinky Dink, I thought I would practice. My least favorite color of all time is brown, so that is the color I chose to practice on for making a wine charm.

Using George cartridge I cut the heart charm at 5", and placed in the oven for 2 mins at 325 degrees, it was too big, but I felt I had the hang of it. I then tried at 4", and the shape melted into each other, and by the time I tried to separate it was too late. I then tried 3" and that also melted into each other (maybe the shape is too delicate at a small size?). At this point I was determined to get the heart to work, so I cut it one more time at 2.75" and this time used my heat gun. As soon as the upper ends came towards each other, I used the heat gun to blow the heat and push it back down. It worked!!! I then took the heat gun to the other's that had melted to each other, and was able to un-melt them back into a heart.

As you can see in the photos, they are not perfect and have lumps and even a hole from where I broke one when it was stuck together.

Believe me they need some work, especially the second they are done, you need to press them down to make them more straight. I have tried paper, and a bottom of a glass but they still have some lumps.

I will just keep practicing and hopefully get better really quickly.

Check out this sped up clip of the first batch in the oven.

Mother's Day Cards

2010-05-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

I used Mother's Day for both cards

Happy Birthday BBQ

2010-05-09T21:41:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple pictures from our "April Birthday BBQ," from last weekend. I have been trying to post all week, and here they are.

I cut the banner out using Tie the Knot= 5.5" using DS and fit 6 on a mat

BBQ=From the Kitchen

B-day Cake=Sweet Treats

Cone Box=Tie the Knot at 5.5", but they were a little too big, next time I'll cut 5"

I also added a little wax paper so the oils would not seep thru the paper

Break Time

2010-04-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

This big box of Lemon-Head’s were staring at me, so I decided to open and eat a yummy lemony candy. It was so gross, I didn’t know that Lemon-Head made other flavors. I guess I deserve it since it was my husband’s birthday present. At least now I can put it back in the box and he will probably think he already opened them. Then while I tried to take a picture my brother came in and started eating them.

Corset Bridal Shower Card

2010-04-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Christi's lingerie Bridal Shower, and it was a lot of fun! I made her a corset bridal shower card using Tie the Knot, since I put it in DS to cut, I started to stretch so I have no idea of the size.

I used SU Teeny Tiny Wishes "for your shower" with Basic Black

Chanel's New Dog Bowl w/ Pink Vinyl

2010-04-11T14:40:00.000-07:00

I bought Chanel a new food bowl, and thought it needed some personal touch. I cut out letters using SCAL on the Cricut in pink vinyl. I then welded 2 C's and wrote Chanel with the double C's around the bowl twice.

This metal bowl was really hard to photograph, but here you go. I hope she does not try to scratch off the vinyl anytime soon.

Happy Easter Everyone | A New Easter Egg Card

2010-04-04T22:06:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a great Easter!!!

I made another traditional square card 5.5" x 5.5" (I happened to buy a large quantity of very cute pink polka dot envelopes, if anyone was curious) I cut the eggs with From My Kitchen, using a shadow oval about 1.5" but used DS and squashed it down a little. I embossed with the cuttlebug using Swiss Dots, and stamped with SU, Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp, pad Pale Plum. I then used white tulle, and sprayed it with Fully Purple, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist. I also embossed the inside with Ranger embossing powder in Turquoise.

Thank you for looking!

Couple Girly Happy Birthday Cards

2010-03-22T21:21:00.000-07:00

This first card was made using Sweet Treats and embossed with Swiss Dots, unfortunately I was in a hurry when I took the picutre, and the coloring is not the best.

The butterfly is very similar to the one I did last week, I just changed up the colors. Butterfly is from Sentimentals and embossed with Flourished Frame.

Ice cream cone was made using Sweet Treats, and embossed with Floral Fantasy.

Happy Birthday Butterfly Card

2010-03-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

I am now able to post the card I made for my friend's birthday. We just got back from a nice relaxing hour long massage at the spa...what a much needed relaxation and girl time.

I used Sentimental for the butterfly, and the Flourished Frame for the embossing with the Cuttlebug, then I sanded the front to expose the white in the paper, used my new SU stamps and pads, and in the inside embossed HB in hot pink....TFL

Scrapbook Layouts Vegas Trip

2010-03-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

Bachelorette Party in Vegas

In the bottom one Storybook was used, and cuttlebug embossing folders. The beautiful crochet flower was made by my friend Kat. She made me several flowers in shades of pink and black.

Scrapbook Layouts

2010-03-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

ConGRADulations! Layout

Padres Game on 7.7.07

I just bought a lot of Tattered Angels glimmer mist, and I absolutely LOVE IT!!! As you can tell I was having a lot of fun with it. I also bought a tiny cute pink sewing machine (I am just learning to sew), so my first project was trying to sew around the star (you can see it's hard to do a straight line), and it had to make a LO page. Hopefully I will improve shortly. Playball was made using Sports Mania, and all the stars were Stand and Salute on the Cricut.

Bride and Groom Wedding Card

2010-03-06T23:57:00.000-08:00

My brother is in a wedding today and ask for a card. Since I have been sick it was really hard for me to focus, but this is what I came up with. I used the cuttlebug embossing dots, the Bride and Groom were from Cricut "Sweethearts", and the Mr. and Mrs. and P were from "Tie the Knot." I just was not feeling the Mr. and Mrs., but since I was on a time crunch it had to do.

The flowers were "Stickles" which my hand hit at least three times, so I was constantly remaking them.

Hope you Enjoy!!!

I am getting caught up while being sick...

2010-03-06T23:18:00.000-08:00

I have the week long cold that will not go away, at least I have gotten a little caught up on LO.

Chicago Double Page Scrapbook Layout

2010-03-06T20:30:00.000-08:00

Double Page Layout of my Chicago Trip.

Lake Powell Scrapbook Layout

2010-03-06T14:19:00.000-08:00

This was my first trip to Lake Powell, and my husbands 20+ trip.

May 2007

Girly and Bright Color Scrapbook Layouts

2010-02-27T16:10:00.000-08:00

I love creating girly pages with bright colors, rhinestones and flowers.

I did scraplift the words "lylas" from someone else that I can't recall who a while ago.

On this page below I did emboss with the Cuttlebug, and the butterflies are a Martha Stewart Punch

Below: Jaime's Surprise Cowgirl/boy Birthday Party

A Couple More Scrapbook Pages...

2010-02-22T21:29:00.000-08:00

Multiple Scrapbook Layouts

2010-02-17T20:45:00.000-08:00

Trying to get caught up little by little, here are a couple of my new pages.

Used Life is a Beach for the Ship

Valentine's Day Card

2010-02-16T18:34:00.000-08:00

I have waited over a week to give my husband his handmade “Box of Chocolate” card I had made. I am usually making a card minutes before an event but this card came to me so easily. Since my hubby is an “anonymous” follower I knew he would see it if I posted it.

All the hearts were done with Sweethearts cartridge, and I used an iridescent white for the card, metallic gold, and red glitter paper, I also used a metallic brown for pieces of the chocolate. Stamped with SU stamp “happy valentine’s day”.

Puppy Update...4 months

2010-02-15T20:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day 2010

2010-02-14T16:50:00.000-08:00

Happy ♥ Day to ALL!!!

I was just having some drinks and dinner with friends and family, and came home to this beautiful bouquet of roses, and balloons tied to my front door. My husband is at work and had them delivered to me awww how sweet. We are celebrating next weekend up in LA, we will be seeing Will Ferrell in the 7th row, should be a blast.

Happy Birthday Pink Cupcake Card

2010-02-07T16:40:00.000-08:00

I love cupcakes, and handmaking birthday cards so I decided to make a HB cupcake card.

I used Wild Card for the cupcake, and the H B cut out, also used was Storybook cartridge. Embossed the pink paper with the Cuttlebug, ran the top of the cupcake thru the Xyron and sprinkled Martha Stewart glitter on, added Stickles and some rhinestones.

Hope you have a Swell Birthday Card | Surfing Card

2010-01-30T15:06:00.000-08:00

My husband is a firefighter and his partner at work loves to surf, so I used the Life is Beach cartridge for the surf board and waves, and SCAL for the lettering.

We went to Prom!

2010-01-25T22:00:00.000-08:00

I have to show a couple pictures from our friends Joe & Tracy's Prom themed birthday party in Newport Beach. We had a great time!

Lost My Phone :(

2010-01-09T20:44:00.000-08:00

I am sad to announce I lost my phone today (I left it on my trunk and drove away). So please call my home number if you need to get in contact with me. My new phone will arrive on Tuesday.

Quick Thank You

2010-01-07T22:03:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple Thank You cards that will be going out in the mail soon.

Act surprised if you see it here before you receive it in the mail.

Finally...Christmas Card

2010-01-07T21:44:00.000-08:00

It's been hard to find time to post or even make anything with the new puppies, and not having a clue on how to work my camera makes it even more difficult. But I am finally posting a picture of my Christmas Card. I was really sad that they required additional postage due to being 3D, and some even were ripped in the mail. ;(

Lesson learned for next year ;)

This is somewhat of my closeup, I wanted to show that the trees were lighter than it appeared above

Materials Used: Martha Stewart punch, flock and glitter.

Embossed paper with Cuttlebug, and embossed tree and the word "Joy" with poweder and gun.

Happy New Year 2010

2010-01-03T19:07:00.001-08:00

Hope everyone had a safe and Happy New Year!!!

2 New Puppies

2009-12-28T22:24:00.000-08:00

I am so excited that we just got two German Shepherd puppies yesterday. They are not quite ready for posing, so it's been impossible to get them both in a photo together looking.

Chanel at 11 weeks

Sierra at 11 weeks

Christmas has come and gone...

2009-12-26T21:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how quickly Christmas has come and gone, I feel like I was still scrambling around shopping, and decorating my tree. I don't know what happened this year, but for the first time, I was still decorating my tree the night before Christmas. I tend to decorate with red and silver every year, and this year I wanted a change, so I looked for black bulbs. I had a hard time finding what I liked so I decided to glitter my own black. I really wish I was able to enjoy my tree decorated with wrapped package longer than just Christmas morning, but I do have the pictures to enjoy.

I had a wonderful Christmas with our family and am so joyful to celebrate each and every year with them.

I am also very happy to announce I received a new Nikon D5000. I can't wait to begin taking better quality pictures for my blog. I hope I can learn very quickly how to operate this "over my head" camera. This is my very first SLR. It was funny that I received only the camera on Christmas, and had to wait to receive the lens the following day on my birthday.

My wonderful friends and family at my 30th Surprise Birthday