Summer "Catch"-up

Just wanted to share a couple projects I made over the summer.

The first is a quick thank you card I made for a friend's son's t-ball team to give their coach.  I used George & Basic Shapes for the "thanks" and Everyday Paper Dolls for the glove and bat along with the Tiny Mosiac Cuttlebug folder and some fun American Crafts ribbon.

The second project is a cute gift tag I made for the same friend's daughter's birthday.  I cut the crown and its shadow from Gypsy Wanderings after using my Gypsy to remove the numerous decorative elements.  I added my favorite white gel-pen stitching, some purple gems from Recollections, and a "birthday wishes" stamp from Stampin' Up!.  Then I punched a small hole in the top and threaded the tag through some basic white curling ribbon.

I haven't done much crafting this summer.  Just quick cards and tags when I needed them.  I tried to pull from my reserves as much as possible.  I'm looking forward to the return of my scrappin' mojo so I can put all these fun supplies I have to good use!

Until next time, Cricuteers!

~ JD ~

Hello World!

Hello Cricuteers!

I am so proud to finally be able to introduce you to my son... Emerson John.

He was born on July 5th - 5 1/2 weeks before my due date and 2 1/2 weeks before the doctors were planning to induce labor.  He only weighed 4 lbs, 14 oz. and spent 11 days in the NICU due to his early arrival, but was perfectly healthy at birth.  He just needed a little extra time to coordinate his eating and breathing.  He is now 7 weeks old, weighs just over 8 lbs, and is doing wonderfully.  He has also grown almost 3 inches in length.  We are so proud of him!

Mom and Dad are doing great, too.  A little tired... but that's one of the many joys of parenting!  I am slowly finding time to return to my scrap room in between feeding, changing diapers, and napping.  I didn't do much scrapping over the summer as I somehow lost my creative mojo during my pregnancy.  I created a few projects here and there when I had a need for them, but I am more than ready to make up for the lack of creative energy now.  My scrap mojo is back!

Hope you are all enjoying the final days of summer.  I can't believe it's almost over already!  I look forward to catching up with you soon.

Until next time, Cricuteers!

~ JD ~

Quick Update!

Good morning, Cricuteers!

I can't believe it's been 3 months since I've last said hello.  I promised myself I was going to do better than that, but my pregnancy has been filled with many doctors' appointments (3 per week now!) and lots of other crazy baby-related fun.  The good news is our sweet little boy is growing big and strong and will be here in just 4 weeks!  We (and by we, I mainly mean my husband) are working hard to check of the final things from our before-baby to do list.  AND I'm finally getting my scrappin' mojo back!  In the past two weeks, I've made a card and a gift tag, begun mass-production on 60 baby thank-you cards, and started dreaming / planning Junior's first scrapbook.  I even managed to snag 5(!) new Cricut cartridges from the big $14.95 / $19.95 cricutmachine.com sale!!  I'm so excited to start scrapping with them!  I got Boys Will Be Boys, Car Decals, Country Life, Mini Monsters, and Life's a Party.  Too fun!


Hope you are all enjoying your summer and staying safe in this crazy weather we've been having throughout the country.  I miss you all and try to check in on your blogs as often as I can.  I plan to be back scrapping and blogging once Junior arrives and we fall into a happy baby routine.  :-)


Until next time, Cricuteers!
~ JD ~


P.S. I recently found a fun new blog to follow.  I strongly recommend you head on over to Raina's Favorite Crafty Things and check out her fabulous work.  She's even got some great blog candy going on right now!

Happy Spring!

Good morning and Happy Spring, Cricuteers!

All the snow has finally melted from our yard, and I officially have Spring Fever!  The Spring to-do list is ever growing.  I am so ready to get outside and enjoy the fresh air.  We've had several really nice days lately... one that even allowed me to open all the windows / doors and air out my house.  Ahh... the simple joys in life!

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, my husband and I are expecting a new addition to our family.  We had our fourth ultrasound on Friday, and everything looked wonderful.  Baby Boy is growing big and strong.  11 oz. so far!  Average weight for 19 weeks is only 8.5 ounces.  Our little one is still about a week ahead in size.  My husband's convinced we are growing a linebacker.  (Easy for him to say when he's not the one who has to birth this child.  LoL.)

I know I've been extremely absent these days.  I'm still very tired and experiencing a major scrappin' block.  But I'm looking forward to finding my creative mojo again.  I've acquired some fun new Stampin' Up goodies over the winter that I just can't wait to play with... lots of new ink, markers, stamps, watercolor pencils, and other fun goodies.  My crafting budget is way down as we prepare for baby... I have only bought 2 Cricut cartridges so far in 2011!  *GASP*  But I have enough supplies on hand to last me until 2012... so I'm not worried.  :-)

Hope all is well with you these days!  Enjoy your Sunday!

Until next time, Cricuteers!
~ JD ~

God is good

Hello Cricuteers!

I bet you thought I forgot about you and this wonderful world of scrapping blogs. Not at all!  However, I have entered the exciting, yet exhausting world of pregnancy.  The past three months have been a crazy whirlwind of doctors' visits, tests, and couch rest.  Our doctors are being overly cautious as my first pregnancy ended in the stillbirth of my beautiful daughter, Faith Rose.  So instead of spending my post-work hours in the scrap room, I've been napping or laying on the couch reading / watching tv.  {Thank goodness for DVR!}  I will happily give up scrapping time for the adorable bundle of joy growing inside me.  There will be plenty of time for scrapping (and plenty of moments to scrap!) after the baby is born.

So if I'm a little absent over the next few months, I hope you will understand.  I'll keep in touch as my energy level allows.

Until next time, Cricuteers!
~ JD ~

P.S.  It's a BOY!!  :-)

Digi Monday at Paper Playtime

Today over at Paper Playtime is Digi Monday.  The last Monday of each month will be Digi Monday, and the challenge will always be Anything Goes.  So check out my project below and then head on over to Paper Playtime to join in the fun!

The Digi Team was challenged to create designs using digis from 5 different companies.  I decided to use the fun Little Red Riding Hood digi from Digital Delights by Louby Loo to create a Color By Number project.  First, I printed the digi on scrap paper and mapped out the colors.  Then, using the Paint program on my computer, I added the color key and the corresponding numbers to the digital image.  Finally, I saved the new image, printed it on white card stock, and mounted it on the red card stock.

JD’S SCRAP-IPE:

♥ Little Red Riding Hood digi ~ Digital Delights by Louby Loo

♥ Red and White card stock

♥ Paint program on my home computer

I really wanted to color one myself, but after creating the color key, I realized I don’t have any yellow or blue markers in my collection.  Thankfully, I’m hosting a Stampin’ Up! workshop this weekend and have already saved to get the Brights, Regals, and Subtles marker collections.  It is Sale-A-Bration… so go big or go home, right?

Until next time, Cricuteers!

~ JD ~

Flaunt It Fridays Challenge #9 - Paper Pups

This week at Flaunt It Fridays, we were asked to flaunt the Border Feature of the Dog and Cat from the Paper Pups cartridge.  I don’t have the Paper Pups cartridge in my collection, but I was excited to find several of the Paper Pups’ cuts on my Cricut Sampler cartridge.  While I didn’t have the exact cut, I did find another cute dog and cat pair.

JD’S SCRAP-IPE:
♥ Dog & Cat ~ Cricut Sampler “Paper Pups”
♥ Friends Forever ~ Cricut Sampler “Makin’ the Grade”
♥ Lavender and Dark Pink cardstock ~ Recollections Butterfly Wings
♥ Cream cardstock ~ The Paper Company
♥ Patterned paper ~ gcd studios Cloisonne collection
♥ 1/8” Lavender and Cream ribbon ~ Offray
♥ Lavender mini brads ~ The Paper Studio

Good luck with your Paper Pups projects this week!  I look forward to seeing your creativity!  And be sure to head on over to Flaunt It Fridays to be inspired by the other fabulous creations from the FIF design team.

Here’s to a fun and crafty weekend!

Until next time, Cricuteers!
~ JD ~

Paper Playtime "Party" Challenge #35

It's Paper Playtime Challenge Monday, and this week, your challenge is to create anything PARTY related... banners, bookmarks, place cards, menus, programs, invitations, thank yous, cupcake wrappers... the sky's the limit!

For my project, I created a party favor bag from the Sweet Treats cartridge.  My nephew is turning 5 this weekend, and for his gift, my husband wants to take him to a Monster Truck show in a few weeks.  Well, let's be honest... what fun is it really for a 5 year old to open an envelope with a pair of tickets in it?  So I made this cute, simple little party favor bag that I will fill with candy and give to my nephew along with his fake "ticket" - I will be keeping the real one for safe keeping until the big day.

JD'S SCRAP-IPE:

♥ Card stock ~ The Paper Studio Memories stack

♥ All cuts ~ Sweet Treats @ 3 1/2"

♥ Twine from my stash

It still amazes me how many fun, simple, ready-to-assemble designs you can find on a variety of cartridges.  Sometimes I get so caught up in making such elaborate creations of my own that I forget that Cricut has given us so many simple and quick projects.  I spend hours making a project when I could use an awesome, just-as-fun, ready-made Cricut design and still have time to read a couple chapters in my book.  :-)  I am definitely going to start setting aside more time to explore the goodies my cartridges have to offer and would love to encourage you all to do the same.

Be sure to head over to Paper Playtime to see what the rest of the design team has created for this fun challenge!  I look forward to visiting your blogs later this week and seeing what you come up with, too.

Until next time, Cricuteers!

~ JD ~

Paper Playtime Challenge #33

Happy Monday!

I have to say that I LOVE this week's Paper Playtime challenge to use only black, silver, and white in a project.  I love black and white, and silver just adds a sense of glam.  So fun!  This card was full of firsts for me... my first project as a Paper Playtime Queen, my first card of 2011, my first "legal size" card, AND my first card with the Celebrate with Flourish cartridge.

JD'S SCRAP-IPE:

♥ Black and Silver card stock ~ Recollections Essentials pack

♥ White card stock ~ Georgia Pacific

♥ Argyle patterned paper ~ DCWV The Glitter Stack

♥ Champagne bottle / glasses and Happy New Year sentiment ~ Celebrate with Flourish Lite cartridge

♥ Silver ribbon ~ The Robert Stanley Collection at Hobby Lobby

Have any of you ever used Celebrate with Flourish?  I had such a hard time with these cuts.  They are so intricate that even cutting at low speeds and using multi cut, I still got frustrated!  I think it may be time to change my blade.  Maybe that would help.  Hmmm... But anyways, I'm curious to hear about your experiences with this cart.  I absolutely LOVE the designs, but welcome any hints / tricks on cutting them without tearing or leaving frayed edges.

If you enjoyed my card (and well, honestly... even if you didn't!), you have to head over to Paper Playtime and check out all the fabulous projects created by the rest of the Queens.  Once you are full of inspiration, be sure to enter your own black, silver, and white project into this week's challenge!  I can't wait to see what you create.

Until next time, Cricuteers!

~ JD ~

Flaunt It Fridays' Hello Kitty Blog Hop

Welcome to the Flaunt It Fridays' Hello Kitty Blog Hop!  If you came from visiting Michelle at Purple Monkey Moments, then you are in the right place.  If you just happened upon my little corner of the scrappin' blog world, you should definitely head over to Flaunt It Fridays and start from the beginning of the hop.  Almost all of the Flaunt It Friday designers are participating in this fun hop!

To all my Cricuteers - SURPRISE!  I am now part of the Flaunt It Fridays design team!  Exciting, right??  :-)

For this week's challenge, we were asked to flaunt the Hello Kitty with Airplane on Page 65 from the Hello Kitty Greetings Cart.  I do not have the Hello Kitty carts in my growing collection, but I remembered that my favorite license cartridge, Mickey and Friends, has a cute little plane.  So I decided to flaunt the Mickey plane instead.

I made this fun bookmark to give to my young nephew who will be flying to Florida in March.  It's a little hard to tell, but I actually used my Gypsy for the lighter blue layer and cut out the plane using the Shadow feature.  This allowed me to inlay the darker blue plane into the bookmark.  It's easier to see in person.

JD'S SCRAP-IPE:

♥ Light and Dark Blue card stock ~ Recollections Cape Cod value pack

♥ White card stock ~ Georgia Pacific

♥ Plane ~ Mickey and Friends cartridge

♥ "Fly Away" ~ Mickey Font cartridge

♥ Cloud ~ Create A Critter cartridge

♥ "with a Good Book" ~ printed on my computer with a Mickey font

* inked with Stampin' Up! Pacific Point

♥ 1/4" White ribbon ~ Offray

For this fun hop, we were also asked to create a second project using any cut from Hello Kitty Greetings.  I found the HKG handbook online and discovered a cute heart with wings on page 51.  I then located a similar image on Create A Critter and used it to create this card...

JD'S SCRAP-IPE:

♥ Olive Green card stock ~ Recollections Spice Market

♥ Patterned paper ~ gcd studios Cloisonne collection

♥ Light Pink textured card stock and Dark Pink and Cream glitter card stock ~ DCWV Hippie Chic Mat Stack

♥ Heart with Wings ~ Create A Critter cartridge

♥ Love ~ Home Decor cartridge

(cut three times and layered to give chipboard effect)

The Hello Kitty Blog Hop will run until Sunday night.  If you leave a comment on all blogs along the hop, you will be entered for a chance to win an awesome grand prize... the Love Always stamp set from Pink By Design.  Special thanks to Sarah at The Pink Cricut for sponsoring this giveaway!  The winner of this great prize will be announced on Sandra's blog, 365 Days of Cricut, sometime Monday or Tuesday.

Thank you for visiting me at JD's Adventures in Cricuteering and for hopping with us on the Flaunt It Fridays' Hello Kitty Blog Hop!  I can't wait to see how you "flaunt" your Hello Kitty airplane this week.  After you finishing hopping, be sure to head over to Flaunt It Fridays for all the challenge details.  But first, fly on over to Jenny at Jenny K. Scrappin' Addict, and check out what she has in store for you.

Until next time, Cricuteers!

~ JD ~