My "Buggy" Creations: TBBM

It's that time of the month again......no, not THAT time!! Heehee.... Anyway, it's time for My Cricut Craft Room's 100 Cartridge Blog Hop!!! I am still so excited to be a part of this Design Team and show you what I have created! Not to mention, all of my fantabulously talented co-designer's creations!! You KNOW they're AWESOME!!!!!

You should have come from Erica's Surprise Giveaway Page....if not, head back over to My Cricut Craft Room so you can begin at the beginning (the best thing, right???) and see ALL of the wonderful creations for today!

First up for this weekend's hop, I made a cute little scrapbook page that would be suitable for any trip to the zoo; mine was just made with a particular place in mind - the Wild Animal Safari in Pine Mountain, GA. We LOVE that place! Here it is:

The page is a little busy, but that's part of it's charm, for me. The Park is busy, too, so it works..... The background paper is from a pack of safari-themed paper I picked up at Big Lots for $7 (see my previous post of the monkey card for the name) and has glitter for an extra "pop". The title is cut from Mickey Font at 1" out of plain brown cardstock from my stash. The two photo mats are just 4.5x6.5 papers from an adhesive card pack I picked up at Hobby Lobby...I liked the zebra print and the brown houndstooth, as they fit the theme so well. The little animals came from Animal Kingdom, cut at 2". I gave each one of them their own close-ups:

The giraffe, cut from Animal Kingdom at 2" from gold cardstock. I just used a gel pen for his nostrils and mouth, but then he needed to "pop", so I added Stickles for his spots (Stickles' Designer Series "Glitz" by Sue Weinberg and I think the color is called Sequins - thanks to Linda Kuniyoshi for this particular bottle of Stickles! You may be from Hawaii, but you're a Peach!!) I also put him up on foam dots so he stands out a bit from the page.

Here is my little zebra; again, from Animal Kingdom at 2" from plain white cardstock. I used a gel pen for his ears, nose and mouth (I'm not THAT good with Stickles!), but had to make him pop with something... His stripes and mane are done with plain black glitter glue I found at Michael's in the $1 bins (Studio G, for those who wonder the names of this stuff...). I also popped him on a foam dot to add a little pizzazz....

And, last but not least, isn't this rhino just the cutest thing??? He is also cut from Animal Kingdom at 2", this time from plain gray cardstock. Again, I used a gel pen for the ears and nose. For the rhino's "pop," I decided to use some Liquid Pearls (White Opal) - again, thanks to Linda K for this! - for his horn. Everyone knows rhinoceros horns are beautiful and envy-worthy, so I had to make his beautiful, too! Mr. Rhino is also popped up on a foam dot for dimension.

And, there you have it. A scrapbook page that can be done in a flash!

Now, for my next project: the autograph book! Well, a page for it, anyway. If you were here for last month's hop, you saw that I am starting an autograph book for my son when/if we get to go back to Disney World. Last month, I did Tigger, so this month I chose Pooh. I used the Pooh and Friends cartridge.

The background pages are just 8x8 tan/cream cardstock from my stash. I want to keep them neutral, as the autograph is the main thing for these pages. The word "Pooh" is cut from Pooh and Friends, each of 3 layers, cut at 2", from black, gold and red cardstock (traditional Winnie the Pooh colors). Pooh himself was also cut out of black, gold and red cardstock but his layers were cut at 3". With the Cricut, all of this layering is made so easy, you just would NOT believe it! Pooh, for example, has all of these little cuts that show you where all of the pieces go! Once you cut that bottom layer, you have a road map of sorts to show you where all the others go! Easy-peasy! (Well, unless you have an unsteady hand, as I do....then getting them to line up straight can be a pill, but....). The photo mats for these pages are just 4.5x6.5 adhesive cardstock papers from a pad I bought at Hobby Lobby. The colors coordinate, but the patterns in them aren't too overwhelming, so one can be used for the autograph itself if we choose. There is also room at the top near Pooh that can be used for the autograph if we decide we want two pictures, too... :)

And, now, for the final project in my Blog Hop Stash....

Candy Boxes!!!

OK; so, if you've been to my blog before, you know my cousin is getting married next month, and I have become a little obsessed with her color scheme of turquoise and orange. She had asked me about doing candy wrappers, but never mentioned it again, so I am not sure if she still wants me to make anything, but....these were a fun try to see what I could come up with. These are a perfect size to hold a small Hershey bar - the kind they have out for Halloween. I got the dimensions from a YouTube video of 2.5". This is the matchbox from pages 123-124 in the handbook of Tags, Bags, Boxes and More. I cut the inner box from plain orange cardstock and the outer from turquoise cardstock. After putting them together, they needed something to make them more personal, so I used Accent Essentials to cut the scallops - the orange one is cut at 1 3/8" and the white and its turquoise "border" are cut at 1 1/4". I glued the turq border directly onto the white scallop, but then used a foam dot to pop it over the orange scallop for a dimensional look. I also offset the two scallops so that more of the orange would show through. The B monogram is from Gypsy Font and is cut at, I believe, 1/2" (I can't remember exactly - I had to play around with lots of sizes to find one that fit correctly) out of the same orange cardstock as the inner box. The "ribbon" is a piece of orange cardstock that was punched with my new EK Success border punch. To get the ribbon effect, I just cut a 1/2" strip of orange cardstock and fed it through the punch, bit by bit. It makes the cutest little ribbon I've ever seen!

Well, that's it for this month!! Keep checking back weekly for more Cricut Craft Room DT fun!!! Don't forget to comment, as Erica usually likes to give blog candy away randomly to those who comment on ALL the blogs in the hop! Thanks for hopping along with us, and I hope you have found some inspiration in some of my projects!!

Next up in the hop is the fabulously talented Connie!!!

In case you get lost, here is the entire lineup for the hop:

1. My Cricut Craft Room http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com

2. Mayra http://gettingcraftywithma.blogspot.com/

3. April http://www.curlsngrins.blogspot.com/

4. Melissa http://pinkpolkadotscrapping.blogspot.com

5. My Project http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-project-for-100-cartridge-blog-hop.html

6. Pattie http://sweetpsscrapbooks.blogspot.com/

7. Patricia http://micraftygal.blogspot.com/

8. Ricki http://manicexpressionsdesigns.blogspot.com/

9. Rosa http://kleymanr.blogspot.com/

10. Samantha http://samanthascricutcreations.blogspot.com/

11. Sharon http://simplysweetbysharon.blogspot.com/

12. Shelly http://kccroppers.blogspot.com/

13. Suzy's Crafts http://suzyssimplecrafts.blogspot.com/

14. Tammy S. http://thepurplemuse.blogspot.com

15. Tanya http://nonnascraftcorner.blogspot.com/

16. Tracy http://www.scrappininthewoods.blogspot.com/

17. Yvette http://gammascreativecorner.blogspot.com/

18. Amanda http://craftsbyamanda.blogspot.com/

19. Giveaway http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/2011/09/surprise-giveaway-saturday-september-3.html

20. Autumn http://autumnsbuggycreations.blogspot.com/ YOU ARE HERE

21. Connie http://conniescraftycloset.blogspot.com/ NEXT

22. Courtney http://craftingwithcourtney.blogspot.com/

23. Gayle http://gscraptime.blogspot.com/

24. Heather F http://www.papercrafteranonymous.com/

25. Heather S http://operationcricutdesign.blogspot.com/

26. Holly http://hollys-hobbie.blogspot.com/

27. Jen R. http://memorieswithjen.blogspot.com/

28. Jenny R http://myimagitivity.blogspot.com/

29. Laura http://laurascraftsandmore.blogspot.com/

30. Lisa allmadebylisa.blogspot.com

31. Karey http://www.creativecraftcorner.com/

32. Kat http://katscrapfever.blogspot.com/

33. Lezlye http://lezlyes.blogspot.com/

34. Lucinda http://thegrowinggibson.blogspot.com/

35. Blog Candy http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/2011/09/reserved-for-this-weekends-blog-candy.html

Merry Christmas!!!! I know, I know; it's not Christmas YET. However, it's never too early to get started on your shopping NOR is it ever too early to get started on your cards and gift tags and other handmade items! For this reason, today is My Cricut Craft Room's Christmas in July Blog Hop, where we hope to give you plenty of inspiration for your handmade Christmas items!!

You should have come from the wonderfully talented Tammy; if not, please go back to My Cricut Craftroom and start at the beginning. Believe me, you're not going to want to miss ANYTHING!!

My big thing at Christmas is wrapping the gifts!!! I used to LOVE spending hours making sure the wrapping was just so, the ribbons so pretty....But, then LIFE happened and I just don't have time for all that anymore. My new favorite Christmas wrapping idea is GIFT BAGS!!! They're so easy!! But, who says they have to be boring?? I love dressing up my gift bags with cute gift tags and now, thanks to My Cricut Craft Room and all the ladies that I have met through there, I know how to make some pretty cute gift tags, if I do say so myself! I have two different ones to show you today. Remember, I'm all about simple yet cute, so either of these takes a very long time and can be turned out by the dozens fairly quickly.

This tag was made using Create a Critter (yes, Create a Critter!) and Tags, Bags, Boxes and More (TBBM). I first cut the tag out of manila cardstock from my stash using the blackout feature of a basic tag from TBBM. I used my Gypsy to make the tag our standard Tag Swap size of 4.75" tall by 2.375" wide. Then I added a tree cut from Create a Critter (Accessory button on p. 33 in the handbook) that was cut at 1.47" high on my Gypsy (1.5" on your machine if you don't have a Gypsy) on green cardstock from the Creative Memories Shades of Green cardstock pack.

Here, I have a confession to make: the tree was in my stash because, when I made the card for Card Creating Tuesday (see post below), I cut the trees too large. But, so as not to be wasteful, I put the trees into my "scrap shapes" box and saved them for later. See, WHOOPSIES don't always have to be a bad thing!!

Now, back to the tag. Once I added the tree, I wanted it to look like snow had fallen on it, so I added some Star Dust Stickles to the branches. Then, I had to add the "To:" and "From:" which came from a little pack of acrylic stamps I picked up in the Michael's clearance bin some time ago using Tim Holtz Distress Inks Barn Door. Lastly, I added an eyelet and some red and green raffia ribbon from my stash so I can tie the tag onto my gift!

I took a little poetic license with this tag, as our rules say our projects HAVE to include AT LEAST 1 Cricut cut. Well, the tag itself is my Cricut cut: I used the blackout feature of a standard tag from TBBM and cut it using my Gypsy at our standard Tag Swap size of 4.75" tall by 2.375" wide. I just used some light gray cardstock from my stash. I then "dabbed" or "rubbed" some ink onto the background to give it a cloudy, chilly effect. The color is Tumbled Glass from the Tim Holtz Distress Inks line (I'm absolutely LOVING these inks!!). I then used the same color, Tumbled Glass, to stamp the snowflakes all around the tag using some more of my Michael's clearance bin Christmas acrylic stamps. And, of course, what gift tag is complete without "To:" and "From:" - same as the tag above, using Barn Door ink again - and an eyelet and ribbon for attaching to a gift?

I hope you have liked the Gift Tags I have created for you. As I said, I am all about quick and simple - yet cute! - so these can be turned out by the dozens! You could even add your own flair by embossing the snowflakes, or the to and from....the possibilities are endless! Enjoy, and Mele Kalikimaka!!! (Hawaiian for Merry Christmas!)

Your next stop will be: Melissa

Here is the whole line up in case you get lost:

Start http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com

Tina http://craftyandgreen.blogspot.com

Laurie http://www.lauriecandoit.blogspot.com/

Gayle http://gscraptime.blogspot.com/
Jen www.mybusycraftylife.blogspot.com

Lucinda www.thegrowinggibson.blogspot.com

Sheila http://2pawprints.blogspot.com

Yvette http://gammascreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Enjoli http://mississippihippycrafts.blogspot.com/

Connie http://conniescraftycloset.blogspot.com

Raina http://www.scrapwithraina.blogspot.com/