May 2011 Cricut Circle Monthly Blog Challenge: Tic Tac Toe Challenge

The Cricut Circle Blog monthly challenge for us Circlets was very interesting this month!  We had to choose a row of requirements (either an up & down pattern, side to side pattern, or a diagonal pattern, of three) from a tic-tac-toe board.  I used the top row, side-to-side, which included using a sun-shape, using my Gypsy to weld an image together, & using buttons on my project.

I went to a marathon crop at my local scrapbooking store (Signed Sealed Delivered, Rogers, Arkansas) for National Scrapbooking Day and received these papers and the materials for the hammock, with various other elements, in a kit there.  I decided to complete the layout in a way that would fit the Tic-Tac-Toe challenge.


The sun shape from the kit came from the Life is a Beach cartridge, as did the palm trees.  I blinged it with Stickles & also used my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder to emboss my sun image, a fourth in the list of requirements for the contest- not necessary, but fun all the same.


The buttons were a happy coincidence in their coloration as I had just purchased them at SSD's warehouse sale not too long ago.


For my welded image, I used my Gypsy to weld a 'tag' shape to the top of a lower case letter 'L,' which made a sign for me to write on.  It reads, "Stampede Recovery Area."  I will use pictures of me & my bestie Pam (http://www.crop-tastic.blogspot.com/) at the Stampede in this layout.


I finished the layout off with a little Gypsy Bug, from the Cricut Everyday cartridge, relaxing in the hammock with a tropical drink in hand.

Second Place Winner

Signed Sealed Delivered monthly sketch contest for April 2011


I won 2nd place in the monthly sketch contest at my local scrapbooking store, Signed Sealed Delivered, out of Rogers, Arkansas (look them up on facebook.)  I did a double page, 12X12 layout featuring our newest family member, Lola, our 5 month old Havanese puppy.


I was pleased with my paper choices; all the patterned paper was bought on clearance (my personal addiction.)  I love to use what I have in my stash to create something worth sharing.  I thought the colors were very pretty together.  I am also proud of my photography in this layout. I love taking good pictures and if I get a better-than-good one every once in a while, like the one in the upper right hand corner, I am thrilled.

I recently took a flower making class at Signed Sealed Delivered that featured a paper flower.  I used that as inspiration for my layout and accented my flowers with glass jewelry-making pieces I found at my local Walmart, for very little money.  Gotta love that :)

I couldn't have done the finishing touches of this layout without my Cricut, Cuttlebug, iRock, and Tim Holtz Distress Ink.  Correction: I wouldn't have wanted to do this layout without my Cricut, Cuttlebug, iRock, and Tim Holtz Distress Ink.  

My Cricut Circle Monthly Challenge entry

APRIL Monthly Challenge: Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle!

The Challenge: Create a project of your choice and reuse, recycle or repurpose 3 items on your creation. Project must include atleast 2 different Cricut Image Cuts.

For my project, I made a canister to hold the marker flags we use for our puppy's housebreaking training aids.  I needed something that would sit on the low wall next to our front door that would be easier to grab the flags out of as we go out with Lola.  We had them just sitting outside before this, but, she runs fast, once she's out the door, and sometimes we miss grabbing one as we flash by them. 

I used an empty Crystal Light container for my canister and paper that I had in my scrap stash from a layout I did last Spring.  (It is some of my all time favorite because of the colors.  I'm glad I finally found a use for it and to get to see it everyday is a plus.)  The marker flags are from Lowe's; they are the ones used to mark where underground utilities are buried.  I used the Disney Mickey Font cartridge for the words and welded the letters on my Gypsy inside a shape from my Elegant Edges cartridge.  I cut the shape out in 'shadow' as well for the background.  I blinged it out with metal studs using my iRock.  The little puppy was a cut I made just a little while ago at a crop-I made several sizes to choose from for a card and this was one of the leftovers.  Its from the Designer's Calendar cartridge.  I was lucky and found some flocked paper in my local scrapbooking store's scrap stash and used it for the puppy.  I added black highlights, so to speak, with a Zig marker and added a metal iRock stud for her tag.


I loved this project :)  It was fun to work on and I felt great making something out of nothing.