FCCB Challenge #200 Pick a Holiday

Happy Monday !!

Welcome to my FCCB post for 

Challenge #200 

Pick any Holiday (Including Birthdays)

I am crazy for messy altering and distressing at the moment and I'm playing with some boxes for the crafty stuff that hangs around my kitchen/diner that drives my daughter mad !! (Hint Hint - It's time for a home of your own daughter dear lol !!)

BUT 

My card is nothing of the sort, clean and simple wins again  (I'm hoping to start taking some photos of the boxes very soon though)

My CAS uses three Cricut cartridges, firstly I cut the beautiful frame from Artiste 

the bird and cage come from Straight from the Nest and the sentiment from Wild Card

I used some Tim Holtz self adhesive frosted film over the cage front, the picture does not do it justice because it is sparkly but subtle  

I love decorating the middle of the simple cards, probably because I'm not really a clean and simple girl judging by the state of my kitchen !!

 - Crafty mess, you guys understand, is vital for creativity

right ???

Ok, off to tidy up, even my consciousness is shouting now !! I think I could easily become a hoarder !!

Please pop over to FCCB and see all the amazing DT creations then join in and post your own project

We love wizzing around Cyber space visiting your fantastic blogs

As always please remember to use and name at least one Cricut cut.

FCCB Challenge #146 Be My Valentine x x x

Oh my, it's way too long since my last post was published.

It has been a whirl wind fortnight and a very emotional one at that....

...but...

...as a very wise lady once told me 

"How can we ever appreciate the good times if hard times don't some times appear!!"

AND

in the words of one of my favorite songs...

...What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!!...

SO

To all the people out there having bad times at the moment the sunshine is just around the corner for us all!!

FCCB's new challenge 

running from 0800 Monday 11th until 2400 Sunday 17th Feb

IS

Challenge #146

"Be My Valentine"

I have two cards to share this week, one each for my daughters to give to their partner's in crime, "sorry" loveeee!!

I have made the basic shape for both cards from the Wild Card Cartridge cutting the heart at 12" making a 6x6 card when folded.

Basil Basics card stock is available from Lynn at the Craft Den and fantastic for cutting with all the Cricut Machines.

The bugs are cut using Simply Charmed using scraps from the base card and some black and pink scraps from my leftovers box.

Super simples !!

I cut more hearts using the "liner" key in various sizes for the front, insert and heart on the front-they are easily re-sized by taking them down in the desired increments (the largest cuts the same size as the card blank when using the Cricut key which cuts each part in proportion to each other.)

I inked all the edges with Black Brilliance ink to make them pop. 

Top Tip = Using the same card for the heart that is sticking out makes the inside look neater than if another colour is used. 

I matted and layered the Tatty Ted stamped image for the second card, my younger daughter adores him but I struggled to colour him even with my promarkers, silver ink and clear embossing powder, so please don't look lol !! - It looks a little better in real life I hope.

To finish both cards I used Papermania heart gems, some huge gems picked up cheap cheap cheap from The Range and letters cut from Artiste.

Please come and join the FCCB DT and have a look at their fabulous creations, then make a project of your own so that we can come and share them with you.

We love coming to comment on your blogs and receiving your amazing feedback. 

Please remember to use and name at least one Cricut Cartridge Cut.  

First FCCB DT card !! x

Happy Independence Day, for the 4th of July, to all the lovely ladies at FCCB...

...Challenge #118 running from 0800 today until 2400 on Sunday (US Mountain Time) 
 is

Kaboom! Fireworks Celebration

"Make a project with a firework, sparkler, or other big "boom" project" 

Please join us at Fantabulous Cricut to see the wonderful Design Team's Inspirational projects and enter the fun !! 
I can't wait to visit all the entrants blog's and help choose the TOP 5!!

So, breaking with US tradition and the red, white and blue colours, my first DT card depicts the "stars and stripes" but I have opted for zingy citrus colours in celebration of my 4th of July Graduation, from the University of Nottingham (School of Nursing), 10 years ago. 
I celebrate my own personal journey to independence on this day every year...but that's another story for another day !!! 

I have used Cricut Wild Card Cartridge for the rockets and the group of stars.
 Lyrical Letters for the Hooray, celebrate, stars, squiggle and fireworks.

Thinking outside the box a little, the Catherine Wheel is a flower stamen from the Straight from the Nest cartridge (lol) with the squiggle on top!!

The Cricut cuts are mostly glued using Crafter's Companion Spray glue to keep the acetate as neat on the back as it is on the front. (The rockets on "the back of the back of the acetate"-say that quickly- are glued with Pinflair Glue Gel behind the Hurray wording)
The card stock is all Basil Basics, which cuts beautifully, and the stripy vellum and ribbons are from my local craft shop.

I've used some glitter, a button and star gems for a little bit of glitz and defined the stars with a green glitter pen.

Happy Birthday Shane x

Not only am I blessed with two beautiful daughters I also have a fabulous "nearly" son in law.

He bought me chocolates on the May bank holiday to make up for the fact that I was working with a lovely message attached .....oooooh he nearly made me cry it was so thoughtful 

Here are the cards I have made this evening for his birthday on Sunday

I have used a Kanban Steampunk topper and 2 pieces of co-ordinating card stock with some ribbon to hide the join for this card. The back ground to the sentiment is a perfectly matching spellbinder die. I have embossed   6 Tim Holtz Sizzix cogs with fran-tage vintage gold embossing enamel and added 2 strips of extra sticky tape also embossed for added interest.

The second card was a much quicker make, using my Cricut I cut his name twice using the Wild card cartridge and shadowed the letters. I have used "happy Birthday" backing paper with 2 strips of glitter card stuck them together and hey presto job's a good 'un with a few well placed nail heads to finish.

Picture will follow tomorrow my phone is refusing to upload the pic's lol must be telling me its bed time

Sweet dreams x x