The Splendor of Christmas

Good Sunday morning to you all..

Christmas is slowly, but surely creeping around the corner and I love making Holiday layouts..

Here is a layout I spent the last few days working on. The photo is of my hubby Mike, our youngest son Adam and in the back is our son Aaron and daughter Amber.. We were at Santa Park here in Finland for the holidays with my in-laws back in 99.. The kids had such a great time while we were there..

Here are some close ups and all of the details..

I have enclosed the download file if anyone is interested in the design.. You will have to separate all of the cuts, I have not done that for you.. I just copy and paste as I go...sorry!

Just click Here for the file..

close up of the title.. I really like how it came out.. my fingers were so full of glue by the time I got done with the title, that I'm afraid I got it all over the place..

The other part of the title..

A close up of the mantle of the fire place.. I like the way it turned out.. I forgot to add the stockings though..LOL

and close up of the candles.. I added some white liquid pearl to give it that melted wax look.

and then of the rocking horse, tree and gift box..

Supplies Used:

Cricut cartridge:

Joys of the Season:

Fireplace. rocking horse, smaller gift boxes, trees, wreath, candles, small santa, picture frame, Title foundations, little xmas tree decorations, Holly and little pearl runner underneath the mantle..

Storybook:

title: CHRISTMAS, SANTA PARK, 1999 and S in splendor

Plantin Schoolbook:

title. THE and OF

Opposites Attract:

title: slendor (minus the S)

George and Basic Shapes:

oval shape for title foundation

Cardstock:

christmas red, deep yellow, black, white, brown, and olive green

design Papers by:

No name brand

Stickles:

xmas red, holly, yellow, black and cinnamon

Pop dots and zig two way glue pen

Thank you all so much for looking and have a great Sunday..

Happy Holidays!!

hugs

Counting Christmas Blessings

TGIF ladies.. I'm so happy its Friday and I have the whole weekend off..

anyway, I spent the last week working on this layout.. I have the tutorial for the making of the poinsettias on our challenge blog Stuck On U Sketches.. I hope you get a chance of checking us out.. I love pushing myself to see what I can up with next..

so here are some close ups and the details to the making of this layout..

Here is a close up of the title..

I used my SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) software for the title.. the font for the word "CHRISTMAS" is called "BoyzRgross" and the cursive font is called "Palace Script"..

and here is a close up of the poinsettias..

The tutorial can be found at SOUS by clicking HERE.

I did add some more little detail to the big poinsettia than the smaller ones.. it was just easier that way..

and a side pic of the poinsettias.. its pop dotted and put together piece by piece..  it was a lot of work, but I absolutely LOVE how it came out..

Supplies Used:

Cricut Cartridges:

Stretch My Imagination:  Leaves cut stretched shadow for both red and green

Walk In My Garden: star flower centers cut at shadow

Home Decor: Flourish cut at shadow

George: Circle (base)

Storybook:  Marquee

Fiskars border punch: lace

papers: Winter Woodland by Creative Imaginations

cardstock: red, dark green, black and white

Stickles: red, green

Liquid Pearl: White

Embossing Powder: Winter Wonderland

Pop Dots and zig two way glue pen

Tim Holtz distress ink: Brown

inks: Evergreen, black and brown

chalks: Dark Green

Embossing Tool

Thank you so much for looking..

and have a super great weekend..

Hugs to you all

Beauty of Body Art..

Hi everyone.. Happy Sunday to you all..

Here's a layout I made this morning.. I used the vine tutorial of Sandy's that we have posted on our challenge blog STUCK ON U SKETCHES

I'm sure you all have guess by now, but I love lilies with all of my heart, especially the pink ones..

I have been in a rut lately cause of a family members health issue, so it was nice to be able to put my mind to other things again..

I thought it was ironic that I used Prima marketing papers , but made my own flowers on a vine, which that company is really known for..LOL

Here are some close ups of the layout.. the colors are a bit lighter than what the photos show.. Its a dark autumn here in Finland, so the lighting is off a bit..

 

 

 

Supplies Used:

Cricut cartridge: Accent Essentials (Lilies)

Cricut cartridge: Indie Art (butterflies)

Cricut cartridge: Storybook (marquee's, "BODY",

Cricut cartridge: A Childs Year (leaves)

Cricut Cartridge: Opposites Attract (beautiful, of, art)

Prima marketing papers. Whisper collection

pink, green and black cardstock

Tim Holtz distress ink : worn lipstick

Versa color inks: amethyst, petal pink and white

Chalks: dark pink

Stickle: pink, cotton candy, lime green

pop dots

wire: green and pink

Please don't forget to check out Sandy's tutorial.. Click HERE..It so clever and super easy..

You can add any color or style of flowers to your vine.. the options are endless..

Thank you all so much for looking

and have a great Sunday..

Confidence is Beautiful

I must be going throught a yellow phase.. LOL
I love this photo of my dd..she took it herself on sunny morning.. I also love her eyes and I admire her for the confidence she has in herself..
Here's a close up of the photo of her eyes.. I used Paint shop pro to copy the eyes from the original photo and was able to print it on my own printer..
I am so addicted to making these big flowers now that I had posted the tutorial on our challenge blog.. its so great and really does look store bought...LOL not convinced with the button though, I could not find the right shade of blue in my button stash..
Here's the original photo of her.. and yes! half of her hair is black and other half is red.. It looks so cool..
Just a close up of the butterfly.. I did journal a poem around the top and side edge..
It reads"A field of flowers below, it's a thing of joy to see.
But Ah! to me "Tis sweeter far to feast my eyes on thee!".
Supplies Used:

• Cricut cartridge: Indie Art (butterflies)
• Cricut cartridge: Home Decor ( flourish)
• Cricut cartridge: Opposites Attract (title)
• Cricut cartridge: Storybook (corner decor and marquee)
• Cricut cartridge: Graphically Speaking (flower)
• papers: K&Co Cut & Paste
  Publish Post
• Cardstock: Yellow, light blue,black and Pink
• Stickles: blue and yellow
• button
• pop dots and zig two way glue pen
• zig black marker for hand doodling
• stamp: corders
• Tim Holtz distress ink: Worn Lipstick (pink), Mustard seed (yellow) and Old denim (blue)

Thank you all so much looking..
cheers

You've Been OverAlled..

Here's a layout I finished for our first challenge at STUCK ON U SKETCHES..
The idea popped into my head one day watching the OverHaullin show on the Discovery channel with my boys.. They love that show by the way and my son got a kick out of this layout.. Best part is that even my hubby, who doesn't really care about my layouts, liked it and was very curious and impressed to where the idea came from... :O)
Here are a few close ups of the details and cuts that I used from the sketch.
My son Aaron.. how cute he was back at the gentle age of 2.. I miss those days so much..
I'm in love with Goofy.. He is just the cutest of all the Disney characters.. He reminds me of my younger son who is too tall for his age.. I think I will start using him more often on my layouts..LOL
The car.. its also from the Mickey and Friends cartridge..
and so is the gas station..
and finally a close up of the title.. I got the logo idea from the show.. I used the George and Basic shapes cartridge for the logo and Dreams come true for the oil splats....

Supplies Used:

• Cricut Cartridge: Mickey and Friends (building, car and goofy)
• Cricut cartridge: George and Basic Shapes (logo)
• Cricut cartridge: Dreams Come True (oil splats)
• cricut cartridge: font-can't remember, will add when i remember..LOL
• cricut cartridge: storybook (marquee for hand journaling)
  
• papers: K&Co Small Wonders by Brenda Walton
• Cardstock: Light blue, dark blue, red, white, black and yello
• pop dots
• stickles: red, green, black and light blue(small detail, hard to see in the photos)
• zig pen: hand doodling on edges

Thank you all so much looking.. and hope you get the chance of checking out our challenge blog.
cheers

Love2Watch her Strut

this is a layout I did today of m DD riding her favorite horse.. this must have been a few years ago..
close up of the title.. I used the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge for the hears and font..
here is a close up of the flower that I have added the tutorial for at StuckonUsketches.. hope you get the chance of checking us out there..
smaller flower which I cut some horseshoes with the Paper dolls dress up cartridge..

Supplies Used:

• Cricut cartridge: Graphically speaking (flowers)
• Cricut cartridge: A childs Year (leaves)
• Cricut cartridge: Plantin schoolbook (hearts and title)
• Cricut cartridge: Home Decor (LOVE)
• Cricut cartridge: Storybook (Marquee-flowered and yellow)
• Cricut cartridge: Paper Doll Dress Up (Horse shoes)
  
• Fiskars border punch-Lace (<--I'm not 100% sure of the exact name of the punch, but looks like lace) will fill in this informaiton as soon as I find it..
• K&Co papers: Wild Saffron
• Paper Pizzaz: Use Them For Anything Pastels (yellow/white paper underneath the flowered one)
  
• Cardstock: Yellow, dark orange red, olive gree, brown and pearlized green(photo mat)
• Tim Holtz distress ink: old paper and walnut stain
• chalks: Pebbles Inc-Earth Tones
• big brown buttons, mini brads-metallic
• pop dots
  
• zig way black ink marker fine tip for doodling edges..

This layout was highlighted in the Cricut Chirp Newsletter September 28th, 2009..

thank you ladies so much looking and I appologise for taking so long with the list of supplies used..
cheers

The Test Of Time

Here is a layout I did of My hubby. The photos are from back when we first moved to Finland.. I love love love these photos of him and wanted to make this layout really special..
I inked a lot of the cuts on this layout, actually I inked all of the cuts on this layout..LOL
Here's a close up of the broken potter jars.. I think they came out really cute.. There's 4 of them in total scattered on the bottom row of this layout..EVERYTHING IS POP DOTTED.. The only things that are laid flat, are the pillar, photos and title.
I was trying to go for an Anciet Roman kind of feel.. How all the artifacts from thousands of years ago are still intact..which of course is where the title of the layout comes in.
Here I added a close up of the broken jars.. they were a lot of work, but I like em a lot.. :O)

Just another close up of the Pillar.. It is hidden away behind the flowers, but you can still see it peeking through..close up of of the flowers I added.. There is actually a Roman pillar behind those flowers that I inked as well..
Some more pottery and some of the brick work.. I wanted it to look really old with cracks in them..LOL
I'm sorry this photo is a bit blurry, I tried a million times to take a better one, but this is actually the best one out of the bunch..sorry...

supplies used.

• Cricut cart: George and Basic Shapes (Pillar, bricks)
• Cricut cart: Storybook (title and corner cut)
• Cricut cart: A Childs Year (leaves)
• Cricut cart: Paper Doll Dress Up ( Pottery)
• Papers: Prima Marketing "Whisper collection"
• Cardstock: Light Orange for the backing, light yellow for brick work, White for the Pillar, Olive green for leaves and bright orange/red for pottery
• Tim Holtz distress ink: Walnut stain(brown) and Shabby shutters(green)
• Ink: orange (brick work)
• Marker: cracks in brick work
• Yellow flowers by YouDo
• Prima forever flowers grape hydrangeas
• light purple eyelets
• Prima holiday lights "spray pearl"
• Golden shaffon ribbon
• 1 gold brad

thank you all so much for looking and please don't forget to share some love by leaving a comment..
Cheers

School Of Rock

Here is my oldest son Aaron a few years ago, he was 13 yrs old in this photo.. that year in school, they had a young male teachers aid that got the whole class interested in music and tought them all how to play different instruments. My son learned how to play the guitar.. He loved it..
Here's a close up of the title.. coming up with the title idea took me two whole days.. I actually had to go and research the internet on how a piano keyboard looked like...LOL
The keyboard is actually pieced together using two different carts. Locker talk for the base and George for the key cutouts.
My son... the little tags on the side of the photo read "ROCK ON LITTLE DUDE!".. I remember that quote from Keanu Reeve's in the movie "Bill and Ted's Greatest Adventures!"..(god! how old am I?)..LOL
I wanted to put my new Indie cart to good use and so I seen the little cassette cut and I knew I had to use it some how.. although, my son doesn't even know what that is...he's CD generation..LOL
I actually added a few more embellishments after I had already made this post, so thats why the photo of the whole layout is a bit different. It just seemed to be missing something..LOL as if thats possible with all the stuff I always clutter a layout with..LOL :O)

This layout was featured on the Cricut Chirp Newsletter Aug 2009

supplies used:

• Cricut cart: (IA)Indie Art (guitar and cassette)
• Cricut cart: (SB)Storybook (Title)
• Cricut cart: (FF)Fabulous finds (tabs)
• Cricut cart: (ACY)A child Year (hands)
• Cricut cart: (LT) Locker talk (piano keyboard minus black cut outs)-its not actually a keyboard, but a shadow cut to a sign.
• Cricut cart: (GBS)George and basic shapes: black cut outs on piano keyboard
• papers used: Fancy Pants Designs: "Papa"
• card stock: Olive green, yellow, cream, black and white
• Sheet music image printed off of internet
• Tim Holtz distressing ink: Walnut Stain and black
• Pop dots
• Gold heat imbossing powder
• a lot of hand doodling and journaling.
• brad: screw head

Thank you all so much for looking and please don't forget to share some love by leaving a comment..
cheers

Have Your Cake

Our wedding day.. Nothing fancy about that day.. We got married On valentines day back in 1996. Court house wedding..LOL Our families all lived so far away, we didn't want to make a big deal about the wedding and kept it hush hush..
We did later in the evening invite all of our friends over for some cake.
Us cutting the cake..
Here's a close up of the title "Have your cake and eat it too!".. I thought it was a cute title. and knowing me, I don't do serious...LOL
Here my hubby is wearing his cake...LOL I got him good..but he was nice and didn't get me back..
I thought to help clean his face..LOL We had so much fun that night..
I hand journaled a little bit about that night.. Added some pewter charms on the journaling tag (knife and fork)..

supplies used:

• Cricut cart: Home Accent Essentials: butterflies
• Cricut cart: Storybook: leaves
• Cricut cart: Graphically speaking: Flowers and flourish
  
• Cricut cart: Opposites Attract: Title
• Cricut cart: Plantin Schoolbook: background frame
  
• Papers: my minds eye
• Cardstock: pastel green, blue and pink. light tan for flourish and title
  
• lace and pink ribbon
• pearl drops
• flower gems
• pop dots
• cricut design studio

Thank you all for looking and don't forget to share some love..
cheers