Link Up Love Party with K. Andrew

I've decided to participate in Krystal's Link Up Love Party over at Getting Cricky with K Andrew.  I'm excited to see how it goes. The idea is to become a follower of different blogs, have others become your follower and this way everyone can get inspiration and motivation from one another.  I think it's a great idea for us newbies!! One of the things that Krystal asks us to do is post a favorite project and something we are grateful for ~ this is my project:

and the thing I'm most grateful for is the fact that my oldest daughter finished high school.  It was touch and go for a while. Her high school years were very difficult ones. She dealt with issues that were beyond our control, that no one should ever have to deal with but through it all, she stayed true to going to school.  Ring day is the day that Seniors get their rings and it includes a number of activities including a Mass to bless the Seniors and their future as they leave High School.  As the day's events unfolded and I went around taking pictures, I knew immediately how my layout was going to look.  It's also the first double layout I completed.  

Left page

Right page

I used my baby bug, Mickey and Friends, A child's Year and George and Basic Shapes carts.  I could probably do it over and make it look cleaner but it wouldn't be the same.  A lot of love went into this one. 

I'm so proud of her, for being a survivor and not a victim...She's my hero!

Below you'll find the instructions for the Link Up Love Party ~ I hope you join the fun! I'm off now to finish becoming a follower and leaving comments! 

Link Up Love Party: How it Works

*Link Up Party runs from Tuesday 6/21 to Tuesday 6/28. Winners announced 6/29
*Grab my blinkie and post on your blog's sidebar
*Be a follower of this blog
*Create a new blog post that is titled Link Up Love Party with K Andrew. In your post, you must mention that the link up love party is a way to get to know each other and find new blog inspiration, mention my blog, with a link back to my blog .
*Post your favorite project that you've done in your blog post WITH ONE thing you are grateful for!
*Copy and paste the link up code into your blog post so the Inlinkz will show up on your blog
*Spread the word so everyone can join in!
*You must visit, follow, and comment on the 5 people before you AND the 5 people after you in the Inlinkz. It would be fantastic if you would visit as many as you can--maybe everyone? If you are one of the first 5 then you will need to blog the ones before you and a few more after--as long as it's a minimum of 10 near you in the link up tool/gadget)
If you do not do the above your link will be deleted, because it's just not fair to those who work so hard linking up and showing love to the ones on the list. Krystal has two moderators who will be checking this out to keep it awesome and fun!

Throwback Thursday @ My Creative Time

Yay me! Summer vacation has started!! I'm so happy! I work in a school and even though I am working until July 21, it will only be for a few hours a day! Less hours at work means more time at home so I can do my crafting! Yippee!!
It's been a busy time at work and at home, so I haven't had time to craft.  I did manage to squeeze in some time to get my card done for this week's Throwback Thursday @ My Creative Time.  The challenge this week is to go "CRICUTLESS" .  Meaning, you are not allowed to use your cricuts, imagines, e2's or your gypsy! We are allowed to use punches, cuttlebugs, etc. 
This is the sketch Emma even gave us to follow:

I was a little nervous because I don't have any real supplies but I decided to give it a try.  I had one punch in close proximity (I don't have a scraproom so my stuff is upstairs, downstairs, or where ever I can find a small space) and a few other supplies on hand. 

This is what I came up:

 

I used my punch to round my corners.  I loved this punch but I often misplace it. 

I stamped the bee and sentiment with Stazon and I used my swiss dots cuttlebug folder for the green cardstock.

Here's one more look

As usual, I enjoyed the challenge and can't wait until the next one.  Don't forget to swing on by My Creative Time and join the fun.  While you are there, check out all the new stamps Emma is releasing and read all about her new dies.  I promise you will not be disappointed!!

Talk to you soon!

Sending you crafting wishes,
Jeanette

Challenge #30 @ M.A.G. Challenge by the page

Well, I finally got my card ready for this week's challenge over at M.A.G. Challenge by the page.  I had hoped to get it done yesterday and then be able to photograph it outside but unfortunately that was not possible.  My husband went in for a double hernia surgery on Monday and his recovery is keeping me busy. Poor guy, he looks tough on the outside but is so weak on the inside. No tolerance for pain.  Thank goodness he didn't have to give birth to any children, he would've quit after the first one......

Anywho, now onto my card. I made it with him in mind. It's not a get well card but I'm hoping it will cheer him up.

The challenge called for using pg. 54 of the Smiley Cards cart. This cart was a digital download with the purchase and registration of the gypsy earlier this year.

I decided to use the main image, the happy little magnet.

Something about his happy face made me think of my husband and what a great relationship we have.  Friendship is definitely the key for us. 

I kept it pretty simple since I didn't have much time to figure out paper and embellishments, etc.

Since I don't have a large collection of stamps, I decided to handwrite my sentiment.  Either way, it's good to practice handwriting, in this day and age of technology, handwriting is becoming a lost art.

Inside message

Here's one last look at the card.

Well, my crafty ladies, this all for tonight. I have to get up early tomorrow for work. 

I encourage you to swing by M.A.G. Challenge by the Page and check out the next challenge. I know I can't wait!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sending you crafting wishes,

Jeanette

Fastest Card

Back again with one last quick post before I call it a night.  I noticed I had a few minutes to get something together and participate in Celebrate the Occasion Challenge #17.  The theme is Father's Day.

Here's my submission.

Outside

Inside

I'll be back tomorrow to post the details..

Thanks for looking!!

Sending you crafting wishes,

Jeanette

Cricut Cartridge Chaos Challenge

Hello everyone, hope you all have enjoyed the weekend.  I certainly had a busy day but I rushed along and managed to get a submission for the the Cricut Cartridge Chaos Challenge #20.  This week's challenge is to use the Paper Doll cartridge.  I flipped around the pages and decided to use the stars border found on pg. 78 under Accessories 1.

 

I welded four borders on my gypsy to make the frame and then I cut it several times on different cardstock and was able to cut out individual stars to randomly attach to the frame. 

I also used the cloud and stars on pg. 75 and cut them out several times too. I added my grandson's name since this layout will end up in his baby album.

The baby found on pg.76/Accessories 2 was too cute to pass up, so I added him too.  Again, cut out in different color cardstock.

The "Sweet Slumber" title is cut from Zooballoo. It's the first time I use that cart even though I've had it for several months.  I like the font and the images but haven't pushed myself to use it. 

I used a black fine point marker to do some stitching on all the pieces as well as several gelly roll pens in various colors.  It's a simple 8x8 layout but I'm happy that challenges like this one inspire me to get some scrapping done and finally get somethings done in his album. I saved the file in my gypsy and will re-create it for my other grandson.

Well, this might be all for tonight, there's another challenge at M.A.G. Challenge by the Page that I might try tonight.

Thanks for stoppying by, don't forget, head over to TWO SCRAPTASTIC GALS where Meriah is hosting this week's CCC Challenge #20. And while you are there don't forget to vote for the next cart that will be used.

Sending you crafting wishes,

Jeanette

Showing my colors!

In honor of the National Puerto Rican Parade in NYC

I proudly display my colors, my flag, my heritage, my people

Que bonita bandera, la bandera Puertorriquena!

Did you see?

Did you see all the goodies over at Cricutblog?  I'm loving all the new carts!! And the projects are phenomenal...oh, to have such talent!!  My faves right now are

9 months Lite

Recess Lite

 and last but not least ~ Love you a Latte

I can't wait to run to the store to buy these!! I think I might need to take on an extra job just to support my habit!!  The worst part ~ there's more to come...can you believe that? More new releases!!

Oh my crafty fingers are itching to play but alas! I won't be doing anything until maybe Sunday night...my dad is flying in tonight, my son's bday tomorrow..saturday family coming over to visit Dad...not enough hours in the day!! My Cricut will just have to wait!

Thanks for stopping by...make sure you go over to Cricutblog and drool over the new carts...which one is your favorite? Feel free to leave a comment!

Sending you crafting wishes,
Jeanette

I Goofed!!

Looks like I missed the deadline for Challenge Me Mondays #62.  Nevertheless, I did enjoy making my project and I'm glad I have another page to add to my grandsons' album.  The challenge served for great inspiration.

The challenge's theme was "Remember This" ~ make something to remember a special person, time or anniversary.  I chose to do a 8x8 layout to mark my grandsons' 1st Memorial Day.  Because they are only 7months apart, it seems easy enough to do 'twin' pages.

I worked on them as though it was one double page layout.  This makes it so much easier. 

Now the page on the right is not finished but it will look like the left side.  I added the title and stamped a   journal circle.  I'll redo the stamp and pop it on top because I don't like the way my handwriting looks on it.  Wrong pen makes for sloppy writing ~ definitely not my style.

I wrinkled the cardstock to make the bunting on the bottom of each frame look more realistic and I also used distressing ink on it.

Well my crafty friends, it's late, I have to get up early for work so I'll edit this post at some point tomorrow (really, later today) and include the carts used and sizes.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sending you crafting wishes,

Jeanette

School's Out

'School's out' is this week's theme over at Celebrate the Occasion.  It's challenge #16 and the only requirement is to make sure that your submission includes an apple.  So with this in mind, I decided to create a tag that I will attach to several gifts for my son's teacher.

All the cuts are from Plantin Schoolbook. The tag is cut at 4" and the apple is cut at 3".  All the papers are from Michael's recollection line with the exception of the red paper, which is from K&Company ~ KP Valentine Designer Paper Pad.  

I used a gelly roll pen in white to draw the stitching around the apple and to write the word "Thanks".  I also used my white ink pad from Colorbox around the edges of the tag. 

I used Stampin Up! Crystal effect on the edge of the apple to give the bitten corner of the apple a more realistic approach.

The last thing I did was to add red and white ribbon and that was it!   It was easy to put together so I'm planning to do a few more.  There's still time to join the fun, so go ahead and jump in.  

While you're there don't miss out on following their great CTO Pool Party Blog Hop. I've been hopping  along from blog to blog and all the participants have done a beautiful job.  So many great things to see ~ so much inspiration.  You definitely won't be disappointed!

Well, this is all for now. I have two more projects to work on and hopefully will get a chance to post them today.

Sending you crafting wishes,

Jeanette

My Scrapping Place

Hello everyone! Hope everyone is having a wonderful day! I for one am super happy that it's Friday.  School is almost out for the kids in my part of town which means quite time at work.  I'm a school secretary and some days are so chaotic.  Anyway, while doing some blog surfing during my lunch break, I came across Christina's challenge over at Creations with Christina.  The challenge on Wednesday was titled "What's on your desk?, naturally, my curiosity was peaked.  So I looked at all the wonderful crafters that submitted pics and asked myself, "Jeanette, do you really want to show where you craft?".  So after much thought I decided that I was ready to come out of the closet.

You see, I don't have a designated crafting place.   We just don't have enough room,  I keep telling the last two kids at home that maybe they should make the shed their "room." They're not buying it! So I'm left to wander around the house when I want to use my beautiful Cricut.  Right now, the dining room table is my crafting space and this is how it looks:

As you can see, I have my trusty new E2 (love my baby), cuttlebug, original cricut expression, cartridges, glue and a number of other things on one end of the table.

See my little gypsy?

This is the view from the other side of the table

On the back there against the wall, is one of my rolling carts with 12x12 paper, scraps drawer and other necessary things.  (The chairs are left over from a graduation party)

I'm using one of the metal chairs to hold my scraps drawer.  Since I've been working on cards for our troops and entering challenges, I'm trying to use scraps whenever possible, so as to not waste entire sheets.

Up in my bedroom I have several containers and two additional rolling carts with more paper (to my family's horror!) My cartridges are kept in the living room in a DVD library that also holds my son's Xbox games and a few DVD movies.

Well, this is all for now.  Stop by Christina's blog and show us what's on your desk right now.  And remember, no cleaning up! Be you!

Oh and don't forget to stop by Flaunt it Fridays and say "So long friend, until we meet again" as there will no longer be any more challenges there.

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to share your thoughts ~ I'm loving the comments section!

Sending you crafting wishes,

Jeanette