Happy Mother's Day (Cooking With Cricut Challenge #85)

Growing up my parents didn't have a lot of money, but I never knew that until I was an adult. I never thought of ourselves as any less wealthy than any of my friends and probably took a lot of things for granted. One of these things is a trip I took to England in high school. My parents paid for my sisters and I each to go to Europe with our classes, a financial burden I am sure (one which, at the age of 17, I didn't quite comprehend). I think the most amazing part is that my mom is a history lover who would probably love nothing more than to visit Ireland where her ancestors are from. However, my mother has never been overseas. Instead, she has sent her children there to travel, to learn, and to have an experience she herself has never had. While I was in England I remember thinking "my mom needs to come here". I saw so much art, history, and culture on that trip and all I could think was how much my mom would love it. I certainly hope one day she gets to take this trip herself.

While in England I was so amazed by the art and architecture we saw there. My favorite pieces were old mosaics we saw in some old buildings. I could stand and stare at the mosaics for hours. The work and vision that went into creating these pieces literally took my breath away.

Jump forward 10 years. I am now an adult, married, living in the midwest while my parents are living in Maine. My daughter has just been born and my mother can't stay away! She flew out to Missouri to be there at the birth and stayed with us for quite some time. She came out for a month each summer for the next few years to visit and help us out. On one of these trips she asked me to go along with her to this lecture being put on my a quilt book author. My mom is a quilter and I really want to be one (but my short temper, absolute perfectionism, and lack of patience do not add up to a successful experience with this). I went along with her, though, and it remains one of those things I am so glad I did. It is truly one of my fondest memories I have with my mom. At the end of the talk my mom purchased me a copy of the book. I've held onto it ever since, determined that one day I WILL make a quilt for her out of the book.

Well, that day has come (sort of). I know I can't sew her a quilt. Not yet. But, I am pretty crafty with paper and glue, so I decided to make her a paper mosaic quilt. I took a pattern from the book she bought me and created her this:

This is an 8x10 mosaic made from 640 triangles. (Every piece on this is a triangle!) The triangles are 1/2" cuts (To get the right angled triangle I used the "corner" feature on Straight From the Nest)

Here's a little look at what it took to make this :

All the colors I was using lined up in the order they would be on the finished project.

Soooo many white triangles! (And I actually ran out!)

 I used this piece of paper as a guide for gluing them down. In retrospect I wish I had drawn my lines a lot lighter, as I see parts of it show through in the finished product. (I actually considered redoing it, but talked sense into myself and left well enough alone).

Here is a picture of it out of the frame:

I was thinking a set of greeting cards made in different quilt block patterns would be phenomenal (it might be my next project!).

Thanks for checking out my project today. If you have something special (not a card!) that you have made for your mom please head over to Cooking With Cricut and link your project up to our challenge. We'd love to see what you came up with!

(And here's to hoping my mom doesn't read my blog since she won't get this gift til Sunday!)

I will be entering this project into a few other challenges as well.

1. Inspired by Rainbow Colors (at Creative Inspirations Paint)
2. Mother's Day at Fantabulous Cricut
3. Mother's Day at Exploring Cricut

Another baby card

Well, I did end up staying up the other night and making one more quick card. I know a dozen people having babies so this one is for a baby girl.

 The paper is Nana's Nursery (baby boy) and the bird is from my favorite - Create a Critter.

I'm entering this at Celebrate the Occasion for their sketch challenge.

Crafting Misfit's "A New Season, A New Skill" blog hop

Welcome to our blog hop where we are all showcasing projects that make us try something new!


If you have come from teachdanz.blogspot.com then you are at the right place, if not head over to  Crafting Misfit's site  to start from the beginning. She also has some blog candy there so make sure to visit!   You can also link up your own project there to show off your own new skill.


The twist to this blog hop is that all projects have to have us try something new!  Either a new project, a new technique, or a new material/supply. I've only had a cricut for a few week so just about anything I try is new. I decided to try and make a card that wasn't your standard shape: a new way to fold it or cut it. I've also been anxious to use twine on a card. Lastly, my cartridge "Straight From the Nest" has a lot of slides and I've wanted to use those. I followed the instructions in the booklet that comes with straight from the nest (adapting it to suit my tastes better) and here is what I came up with:

It is a trifold card. The square on the front is attached only to the left side of the trifold and you pull it open there. It was a gift for a baby shower and was a big hit.

 So, the slide has twine folded under. It then wraps around the back of the printed paper. The printed paper is attached with foam dots to the lilac square. (The lilac square is glued to the left side of the trifold).

Here you can see the basic shape of the card.

 I don't usually use my cricut for the inside of the card, but I loved this sentiment for the baby shower as my kids and I had chosen the gift together.





 So, that's my little project. Nothing to jaw-dropping, but for me it was an accomplishment. I just got my gypsy in the mail today so I'll be off playing with that all evening to come up with even better ideas!

Thanks for joining us on our blog hop! Now you are off to see Sue-Ann's project!


teachdanz.blogspot.com

Melissa at http://craftygator.blogspot.com/  **That's me**

Sue-Ann at http://sueannscrafts.blogspot.com/  ((**Go here next!**))

Lolis http://lolis-mycorner.blogspot.com/

Tammy http://cuttinandstampin.blogspot.com/

Meaghan http://craftingwithmeg.blogspot.com/

Amanda http://.whiteruffles.blogspot.com/

Karen http://littlescrappieces.blogspot.com/

Then had back to see Rebecca at http://craftingmisfit.blogspot.com to share your project!

Baby Shower Favors

I'm putting together a small baby shower for a friend at work and am very excited about the little favors I made for the guests. I used  my sisters "Tags, Bags, Boxes and More" cartridge to make the gift bags. The umbrella is from Create-a-Critter and the bird is from "Straight from the Nest". THe bags were a bit of a pain to put together, but now that they are all done I love them!

For favors inside the bag I did dove chocolates in pink and purple wrappers and a travel-size lotion from Bath and Body works that they had on sale for $1 each.

I have a few other projects planned for the shower and now I can wait to get started on them!

I'll enter this project in the challenge at Paper Variety called "1, 2, 3" (one bag, 2 treats inside, and 3 decorations on the bag).