Cooking with Cricut: It's HOT Outside!

This week at Cooking with Cricut we're celebrating all the fun things there are to do in and around water, and it's the perfect challenge to showcase my most favorite idea of all time, lol!

I was thinking about how too often summer vacation comes and goes and we never get all the stuff done we had hoped to do: we would forget things we wanted or just not make time to do them. So this year I came up with...

A Sandbucket List!

It's a list of all the things we want to do this summer. There are some little ideas (go out to ice cream) and some bigger ideas. We sat as  family one night and everyone contributed something to the list. Then I got to make it pretty :)

I used "Life's a Beach" for all the cuts.

Supplies:

• Bulletin Board
• Royal blue paper to staple to the background
• 5 Tacks (one at each corner of the bulletin board and one on the bottom center)
• Twine (to wrap around the perimeter of the board  - wrap it around each tack to secure it)
• Mini Clothespins (found mine at Micheal's)
• Everything else is just paper/glue and my Cricut to make the shapes

Here is what is on our list:

1. Teach Ryan to read
2. Make homemade bread and homemade butter to put it on
3. Wash the cars in our bathing suits (just the kids will be doing this one, lol!)
4. Go to a baseball game
5. Take swim lessons
6. Make a homemade birthday cake for Daddy's birthday
7. Go on a picnic
8. Camp out in the backyard
9. Ride our scooters down the big hill (again...kids only!)
10. Make homemade lemonade from lemons
11. Learn to do a handstand (our daughter's goal)
12. Explore lots of different playgrounds
13. Go to the beach
14. Teach Annie to ride her bike without training wheels
15. Go to Minnesota
16. Make banana boats (a yummy campfire treat)
17. Fence in the backyard
18. Ride and airplane
19. Ride on a train
20. Make and ice cream cake from scratch
21. Go to North Conway
22. Walk to the farmer's market and buy flowers
23. Have our cousins over for a sleepover (no parents allowed!)
24. Eat outside on the patio at the Olive Garden
25. Learn to ide a scooter with both feet on it (our son's goal)
26. Go to Ericksons (the local ice cream shop)
27. Go camping with Papa in his backyard
28. Go on a kids vacation to Grammie and Grampa's house without our parents 
29. Go to a drive-in movie
30. Go camping
31. Sit out on the porch at night and look at the stars
32. Read Make Way for Ducklings at the park in Boston
33. Fly a kite
34. See as many different license plates as we can and keep a list
35. Watch an entire Red Sox game on TV (our kids...my husband is already proficient at this, lol)
36. Go the the Children's Discovery Museum (a local place)
37. Climb a tree (kids)
38. Go strawberry picking
39. Go to The New England Aquarium with our neighbors
40. Sleep over at Great Grammie's house
41. Swim in the ocean
42. Build a giant sand castle
43. Read Harry Potter (our daughter's goal)

We are super excited for this summer and to do everything on our list!

I'm entering this project at My Craft Spot in their Summer Colors Challenge!

I'd love to see what kind of crafts you are coming up with to celebrate summer and all the fun stuff to do in/around water. Head over to Cooking with Cricut to link up your project.

I would love any feedback you have and always appreciate new blog followers. Leave me a comment and I'll head over and check out your blog as well!

Happy Birthday, Jen! Cooking with Cricut Blog Hop

Welcome to the CookingWithCricut.com and PaperCraftingWorld.com Designers June Blog Hop.Today is day two of great projects with each day showcasing different designers and projects. If you have come from Melin at Cooking with Cricut then you are moving along. If you would like to start from the beginning, please head over to CookingWithCricut.com.

This month our hop theme is all about Birthdays and one special one in mind. Our wonderful DT Coordinator Jen Hudson’s birthday just happened to fall on Saturday so we decided to make birthday inspired projects with a “Jen” theme in mind. Our go to gal is a die-hard Florida Gator Fan. So we decided to use elements on our projects that reflected Our GATOR FOR LIFE Gal’s FANCY;  Florida, The Florida Gators and anything that would make you think of the Sunshine State. Jen is the last on our blog line up so be sure to hop through and leave her some extra special love at the end!

Happy Birthday to Jen! She puts in so much "behind the scenes" work for Cooking With Cricut, and she has been dealing with a lot personally so I really hope seeing all of these projects inspired by the things she loves to be uplifting. First of all, how can I say no to a blog hop that is centered around alligators?? Jen and I like alligators for two very different reasons. She is a Florida Gators fan while I actually just like alligators.

When I was about 10 years old my family went to Disney. As I remember my grandfather gave me $10 to spend. We were at Sea World, which was like Heaven on Earth to me. We stopped at the gift shop and the only stuffed animal I could afford was an alligator with a Hawaiian shirt on. He's lost his Hawaiian shirt since then, but I still have him - he sits on top of my dresser.

My grandfather passed away about 2 1/2 years ago, so this little guy hold an extra special place in my heart now. My grandfather always bought me alligator stuff: cups, paper, toys, games. You name it, I got it. Once when I was pregnant with my daughter we had a scare where I hadn't felt her move in a while so we had to go the hospital to check on her. They saw a heart beat but weren't detecting any movement. He called me and told me to turn on the news: some alligator had gotten into a commercial parking lot in Florida and they were trying to catch it. He told me to watch it and to relax and that the baby would move. So I did, and she did move. He was right. He had a way of giving me the straight forward, no-nonsense advice I always needed to hear.


But anyway...I digress!


Here is the birthday card I came up with using the alligator, birthday, blue and orange inspiration!

The alligator is from Create a Critter ( as is the circle shape).

the card is another great fold I found on Split Coast Stamper. You can find the direct link to the "Joy Fold Card" here.

Thanks for stopping by to see my project. And again, the very happiest of birthdays to Jen!

 Be sure to head over to Cooking with Cricut and leave a comment for a chance to win some great blog candy! Now on to your next stop: xochitl at Cricut Critter Scrapping Heaven.

Cooking with Cricut: Father's Day (no cards!)

Let me start this post by saying: I love Pinterest. I know a lot of people say they don't get it, and I can totally see how people may view it as time wasted idly looking at pictures. However, for me it is a huge source of ideas and inspiration! The project I am showcasing today came from Pinterest; I would link the original source but it was one of those "dead links" that didn't go anywhere so I don't actually have the original.

This week at Cooking with Cricut the challenge is Father's Day - and NO cards!! I think making projects for men is a challenge because they tend not to appreciate our pretty papers and cute buttons, so I really wanted a project my husband would enjoy and appreciate.

This photo will be printed and framed for my husband's desk at work.

The font is from Cuttin' Up and the heart is from Cricut Classic Font. I used my Gypsy to line them up so i would print right where I wanted it to on the papers.

Here is the sign they are holding:

I used two 12x12 papers and taped them together. Because my kids are different heights getting the photo was a bit tough, so I taped a ribbon along the back for my son, who is significantly shorter) to hold.

It took me an embarassingly long time (and multiple failed cuts) printing it backwards etc; until I realized you can cut it reading the normal way left to right and then have you kids hold it upside down over their heads.

You will want the centers of the letters. I used dental floss to suspend the centers in the middle of the letters. It doens't need to be pretty, it won't show up on the shadow!

I hope you enjoy this project today. We would love to see what you have come up with for Father's Day as well.  Head over to Cooking with Cricut and link up your projects!

I would love some new blog followers and any feedback you might have about this or any of my other crafts. Leave me a comment and I'll head over to your blog as well!

Cooking With Cricut May Flowers Challenge

Today the challenge at Cooking with Cricut is "May Flowers" - it's such a versatile challenge I think we'll see lots of different projects this week which is exciting!

This weekend we are having a big " birthday bash" for my kids and my niece and nephew. They all have birthdays within a month of each other so we get the whole family together and celebrate all four at once. The theme this year is "Luau".

I used Mother's Day Bouquet and created the lei for my daughter:

Each flower is cut at 2 inches. At first I just had them flat, but realized it didn't look "real" at all. So, I scored each petal and folded it up slightly. I used one of my cricut tools to poke a hole in the center and threaded it with pink twine.

Head over to Cooking with Cricut and post your project with flowers on it. We'd love to see what you create!

Cooking with Cricut BLOG-AVERSARY

Welcome to Paper Crafting World and Cooking With Cricut's 2nd Blog-Aversary and our week long celebration! Each day for a whole week (May 19-26) we will be brining you fabulous projects made by our Design Team members. We have some GREAT blog candy as well as some daily file and graphic give-aways -- so you will definitely want to make PCW-CWC your daily stop every day this week!

Our theme for today is . . . Crowns/Tiaras and this is what I created!

My husband and I are very proudly raising little nerds. My seven year old is a self-proclaimed bookworm and loves everything about the local library. She has been begging for library cards for her own books.

I used Once Upon a Princess and my Gypsy for all the cuts.

For the pink envelope I cut the tag and rather than using it as a tag I scored the edges, folded and glued.

Cut at 2.25" then embossed on  big kick

Scored the sides and bottom

Crown cut on Gypsy with width 2" and height 1.5" (not original proportions).
I also had to hide the contour lines so they weren't cut.
Words printed in size 12 and 14 font. Font name: "KG Ray of Sunshine"

Rectangle cut with paper trimmer 2.25" x 3.5"
Crown cut 1" height (used gypsy to line them up where I wanted them)
Small pink oval cut and glued to back of card behind the crown.

Thanks for stopping by and make sure you head on over to Cooking With Cricut to check out the rest of the projects by our amazing Design Teams!

Thanks A Latte Starbucks Cupcakes for our favorite preschool teacher!

It's Teacher Appreciation Week and this is the gift for our fabulous neighbor who happens to be my son's preschool teacher. I saw these frappucino cupcakes on pinterest a while back and have been waiting for an occassion to make them!

chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting and drizzle of caramel

I made the cupcakes from scratch. The last time I tried to make cupcakes from scratch was a total flop, but these turned out A-Mazing if I do say so myself.  The receipe came from food netowork.com and can be found here.

To go along with it I made a card that says "Thanks a Latte".  I used the sketch inspiration at Freshly Made Sketches to design the card and have entered it in the challenge over there.

I used the backside of a starbucks cardboard cup cozy

The cuts are from Kate's ABCs (great fonts on that cartridge!)

I used glue dots to seal the bottof of the cup cozy to create an envelope.
I slipped a starbucks gift card into this little envelope and my son signed it.

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