*~*~*~* SpantastiKreations *~*~*~*

It's time for another Challenge Me Monday over at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog. This weeks challenge is to make a project from a "neglected cartridge". Any cartridge you haven't used in 6+ months. Well, this was truly a challenge for me because I don't have a cart that I have not used in 6+ months. I use and LOVE all my carts. I currently only have 13 cartridges, 7 of which I have received since Christmas. :) But I chose to use the cartridge I have used the least over the past 6+ months which is George & Basic Shapes. 
Marianne from Paper or Fabric Crafter shared this Easel Card and Gift Box on her blog not that long ago and I knew I wanted to give it a try. (She shared the link for the tutorial how to make this here.)  Their projects measured roughly 6"x6" and I wracked my brain for 3 days figuring out how/if I could make it 4"x4" and I did. Here's how it turned out:


 Isn't it pretty? I love how it turned out. Thank you Marianne for the inspiration. 
 Project details/ingredients:
Box Base: Coredinations card stock & DCWV patterned paper
Cuts: Heart & Tag from George & Basic Shapes
Card Base: Off white card from a card/envelope set from Big Lots
Stamp/Sentiment: From the new stamp line from  40:31 Creations (check them out).


Now, it's your turn. What cartridge have you neglected? What cartridge has been sitting in the clamshell since you bought it? (Send them to me :) Crack them carts out and hop on over to FCCB and submit your projects. I cannot wait to see what you've been neglecting. 


Keep Kreating, 
Erin

Erin: http://www.spantastikreations.blogspot.com/ (That's Me :)
Abby: http://www.scrapbookaholicbyabby.com/
Amanda: http://www.myscrappinobsession.com/
Amy: http://www.perfectlyunperfectcards.blogspot.com/
Ann Marie: http://www.yourstrulee.net/
Jenny: http://www.crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com/
Christel: http://www.onescrappinsista.blogspot.com/
Cristina: http://www.craftingwithcristina.com/
Ellen: http://lifeatwalnuthill.blogspot.com/
Jennifer: http://creativearmywife.blogspot.com/
Lauren: http://laurenscraps.blogspot.com/
Paula: http://morethanfavors.blogspot.com/
Theresa: http://www.thescrapbookingqueen.com/

Good morning ya'll. :) I just wanted to do a quick post this morning and share with you my submission for this weeks Tacky Tuesday Challenge. Theresa The Scrapbooking Queen and Ruthie from September Ninth post a challenge on the Tacky Tuesday Group page on FaceBook and we are to make a card, layout etc. using a specific cut from a specific cartridge and the challenge is to make it well, tacky. This weeks challenge was to make something using the whale from Create A Critter (one of my favorite carts btw).

Here's my tacky take.


Tacky right?!? My mom and I were discussing tacky sayings to go along with the whale and this is one she came up with. It CRACKED me up. As soon as she said it I KNEW that I wanted to put the whale in this buggy. :) I LOVE it. The buggy is also on an Action Wobbler. LOVE them things.

Hope you enjoyed my tackiness. :)

Keep Kreating,
Erin

It's time for another Wacky Wednesday Challenge over at More Than Favors. Every week Paula comes up with some wacky challenge for us to do. This weeks challenge is gift card holders. I wanted to make something a little different and not the same old gc holder. So, to YouTube I went. I scraplifted this idea from a few different videos posted by Stampin' Up demonstrators. Here's my version....



SUPER cute, eh? And BONUS it fits in and A2 envelope if you so choose.

Here are the "ingredients"
*Cut: From Accent Essentials (3) cut at 4 1/4". One for the front. A second for the back. A third for the top (folded in half).
*Paper: Double sided card stock from My Mind's Eye (I believe) it's older. I bought it at a yard sale almost 3 yrs ago.
*Ribbon: Sheer burgundy I have no idea where it came from. LOL
*Sentiment: "Wishing you a very Happy Birthday" is from Scrappy Mom's
*Brads: Are from Big Lots.

I really like this option for a gc mainly because it's larger than the average small "pocket". They are always so weird and awkward to give IMO.

I hope you liked it.

Keep Kreating,
Erin

I am super excited and very honored to announce that I have been chosen as one of the new design team members for 40:31 Creations.
 Lauren put out a call for entries for her very first design team ever and I answered the call. Boy am I sure glad I did. She has some very exciting things coming out in the near future. Her first big announcement was that her first set of stamps are now available for pre-order. This set is called Love Stamps and they are super adorable. Please hop on over to Lauren's blog and check out the whole line up of new dt members as well as her new stamp set. She's even posted a sneak peak for the next set coming out. :)

Looking forward to sharing with you my dt creations.

Keep Kreating,
Erin

I have become somewhat of a ribbon hoarder but I have had to seriously limit my impulse to buy all the cute ribbon I see because I have been struggling with and very unsatisfied with my current ribbon storage "system". (If that's what you wanna call it.) First, I had my ribbon stored in a shoe box and I QUICKLY outgrew that. Next, I had it stored in a photo box in which I had punched holes in with my Crop A Dial and laced the ribbon thru. Again I QUICKLY outgrew that. Then I had seen an idea from a fellow scrapper where she took an inexpensive plastic storage basket, unspooled all of her ribbon and placed it in the basket threading it thru the MANY holes in the basket. Well, that worked for me for about a minute. She claimed that the ribbon didn't tangle up for her but for me it almost instantly became a tangled mess. UGH.... So my ribbon had been sitting in that basket getting more and more tangled every time I used it. I was seriously thinking that it was going to have to come down to throwing it all away and beginning all over again. I REALLY didn't want to do that (which is why I had been putting it off, and putting it off) so there it sat.....
Well, my dear friend Ann from YoursTruLee posted on her blog yesterday how she just began storing her ribbon. So simple, so cheap and best of all I had everything on hand that I needed to do it.
Here's how it works:
1) You take pieces of cardboard, I used the flaps off an old shipping box, and trim them down to the size that will fit into your basket or box, whichever you use. Mine ended up being about 5"x8.5" & 2.5"x4".
2) You spool your ribbon around the cardboard and secure, either with straight pins or tape. I used both because for the life of me I cannot figure out where all my straight pins went. Guess next time I go to JoAnn's I better pick some more up.
3) You place your neat and organized ribbons in the box or basket you chose to store your ribbon in.

I LOVE this idea. Everything is neat, organized and I can see it all with one quick glance.
Thank you so much Ann. :)

Here's how my NEW ribbon storage looks.






Pretty cool, eh? I mean really so simple, so obvious. I ask myself..."Why didn't I think of this first?"

How do you store your ribbon? Is this something you think you can/need to do for yourself?

Keep Kreating,
Erin

Look what I just got from my good friend Amy over at Perfectly Unperfect Cards.






To qualify for the $5.00 Digi's 'With Attitude!' Gift Certificate you must state 3 things that makes you different from everyone else, then nominate 5 blogs and let those 5 blogs know you've nominated them. Lastly, you must display the Blog Award Badge in your sidebar and link it back to the Digi's with Attitude!

 So the 3 things that make me different are:
1. I only have 13 cartridges, 6 of which I've gotten since Christmas. :)
2. Sometimes it's hard for me to complete a project because I'm a little anal about everything matching perfectly.
3. I'm in love with paper and cardstock. :)


The 5 blogs I want to nominate are:
1) Ann Marie from Yours TruLee 
2) Lauren from 40:31 Creations
3) Ellen from Life At Walnut Hill Farm
4) Kimi from Lovebug Creations 
5) Jen from Scrappin Lil Turtle


All 5 of these ladies have been and are truly an inspiration.

Paula from More Than Favors has a Wacky Wednesday Challenge every week. She posts the theme and she creates something to inspire us to get creative. :) Well this weeks challenge was to use the colors turquoise, red and white. Kind of a strange combination of colors in my opinion and I like Paula would never have combined these colors. She got inspired from a post she seen on ApartmentTherapy.com. To be honest I actually really liked these colors together once I seen the inspiration as well as all the other projects my fellow scrappers came up with.

Here is my take on the whole color scheme:
Here's the recipe....

Base: Red Recollections card stock
Cut: Celebrate With Flourish (my newest cart and I LOVE it) using Recollections card stock as well.
Background: Silver cardboard from a HUGE make-up kit my husband bought my daughter, embossed via the CuttleBug.
Sentiment: Scrappy Mom's Stamps
Ribbon: Is from my friend Ann @ YoursTruLee. I can't say that I know for sure but I'm guessing PTI (Paper Trey Ink). It's the thickest ribbon I've ever felt. VERY nice.

I like how it turned out. Definitely different for me but hey, sometimes it's good to step outside of your comfort zone. Try it, you might like it. :)

Keep Kreating,
Erin

HAPPY NEW YEAR all you Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog stalkers followers. :) I hope that 2011 is treating you better and better everyday. And I trust you all had a fabulous Christmas.  I did :) I was blessed by a FaceBook friend of mine that won a Cricut Expression (her second Expression win within one month) and she crafted it forward to me. :) I was so, so, so excited. Thank you Amy from Perfectly Unperfect Cards. I am still astonished at the kindness of a stranger. (Well, not a complete stranger but we have only met via FaceBook.) Ok, enough about that....

This week at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge the challenge is Winter Warmies. We are to create a project using some sort of winter clothing or accessory. I was super excited to have received Simply Charmed for Christmas and I knew just HAD to use the most adorable hat and mittens I've ever seen on that cart.
Here is what I came up with....




It's a wall/door hanging! Since I now have an Expression I can cut images larger than 5.5" and I can also cut chipboard aka cereal boxes (in this project anyway).
Here are the details:
*Bases are all Cheerio boxes. (BTW, I live VERY near the General Mills factory and when they make the Cheerios the whole city smells Heavenly.)
*The hat is cut at 7" and the mittens are cut at 4"
* Layers are white, slate blue, sky blue and pink for the mouths and cheeks.
*Google eyes are from The Dollar Tree (I LOVE googly eyes)
*Clear/iridescent glitter

I LOVE how this all came together. It's hanging in my living room right now.

I can't wait to see what the rest of you come up with! Don't forget to link your project to the FCCB blog there's always a prize up for grabs, GOOD LUCK.

Keep Kreating,
Erin

Lauren from 40:31 Creations is having a Design Team call. This is her first design team that she is putting together and she is looking for 6 designers to share some of the exciting things she has coming up in the near future. I really enjoy her blog, she has some awesome projects and inspiration. :) To enter we are to send one of our favorite cards and one layout.

Here is the layout I submitted....



I LOVE how it turned out. I'm even more excited that I'm starting to love layouts all over again. I had taken this picture of my kids during the first storm of the season and I was so happy to have the push to do this layout.

Recipe:
Patterned paper: DCWV Christmas Stack
Solid paper: Recollections
Cricut cuts: Snowflakes are from Accent Essentials (I LOVE the snowflakes. :), the letters are from Simply Sweet and the scallop is also from Accent Essentials.
Bling: Self stick gems, Stickles & some snowflake shaped scatterables I found in the Christmas decoration section of Wal-Mart.
Embossing: Snowflakes folder

I hope you are inspired to work on some new layouts of your own.

Wish me luck.
Keep Kreating,
Erin

Robyn from My Pink Stamper is an AMAZINGLY talented crafter with a vast knowledge and (dare I say it?) and deep love for all things Cricut. I have been following her since I began my blogging journey just this past July. I have been so inspired by her and have learned SO much from her. In additional to her fabulous products, stamps and videos and a top secret surprise she'll be revealing to us later in the month, she also shares so much with her followers via her Facebook page, her blog and YouTube and her Design Team.

Well, the time has come for her to assemble a brand new design team. She has chosen to hand pick the majority of her team this time around (she assembles a new team about every 6 months) BUT she has 2 spots that she has left open for those of us who would like to submit an entry. She had only one requirement in regards to our submitted project and that was to use her favorite colors PINK (of course), green and brown. Here's what I came up with...

Here are the details of this card.
Card Base: Brown Cardstock from Michael's I believe it's Recollections. (PS: LOVE this cardstock it's SO thick) and it's cut at 4 1/4" x 11" and folded in half.
Background: DCWV "The Christmas Combo" from JoAnn's
Images: The hat and the mitten are both from the Simply Charmed cartridge cut at 2 1/4" and are made using pink and green pastel colored card stock from Michael's and shadowed in brown card stocks. There are pink Stickles on the ball of the hat as well as the base of the mitten. I also used my white gel pen to give a little "shine" to their cheeks. :)
Stamp  & Ink: Is from the dollar bin at JoAnn's
Buttons & Ribbon : Both are from JoAnn's
"Snow": Hand cut and highlighted with diamond Stickles

The inside of the card has been decorated to match the outside. I am going to be sending this card to Robyn as a thank you for the opportunity to earn a spot on her design team.

I hope you all enjoy my little submission and have been inspired to give it a try yourself. I don't know if I have what it takes be a part of such a spectacular line up of talent but I was sure not going to let the opportunity pass me by. Plus, I love how it turned out.

Wish me Luck &
Keep Kreating,
Erin