Hugs & Kisses For All - Favor Cake

This gorgeous cake is entirely made of paper, well... it has a chocolate center if that counts!  I needed to come up with something fabulous for Kyler's Christening favors and I wanted to make it special.  So I started creating these cake slices...one thing led to another and I ended up with a beautiful 3 layer cake with some cupcakes gathered at the base (possibly looks like a 4th layer?).  Whenever I'm working on a project I usually don't have my entire project mapped out ahead of me, maybe I have a general idea of what I want to do and then just let creativity take over. 

 Both the cake slice box and the cupcake box were cut from the Eclips Albums, Bags & Boxes #2 cartridge.  I cut the cake slices in two different sizes to get the layered cake effect and then topped it with one of the cupcakes.

  Each one has is filled with HUGS & KISSES from baby Kyler!!!

I have always loved Penny Duncan's creations and she had just the perfect cross for this occasion. And, of course I had to dress up those sweet little cupcakes! I used the Flower Burst punch from EK Success to adorn the all the sides.  A perfect fit! 

The flowers on this cake were all cut with the Eclips using the Albums, Bags & Boxes #2 cartridge.  I liked that I could cut the flower at a variety of sizes to give them a more natural and nonuniform shape.  That is as natural as blue flowers can be.  I cut them all from white card stock and then sprayed them with my homemade shimmer mist.  Once all my flowers were cut, I rolled them while zoning out in front of the TV.  A quick spritz of water before shaping helps soften the paper making it easy to mold just how you want, even on the tiniest of flowers. 

I just love how this favor cake turned out.  I see making many more in the future!  So many ideas running through my head...the wheels are spinning... 

Don't worry there will be a video coming in the very, very near future on how exactly I made this.  I just wanted to share the pics right away with you.  But I promise you it will be coming :)

Introduction to the Eclips

I want to introduce you to the Eclips by Sizzix.  I know many of you have been looking for a die cut machine that is compatible with third party software like Sure Cuts A Lot.  At CHA Summer in July, Sizzix and SCAL announcethat will be exclusively compatible with the Sizzix eclips machine. d that they are working together to launch a new version of the very popular SCAL software With the unique features and capabilities of the eclips machine, it is necessary to develop a “stand alone” software solution that allows the user to leverage such machine features as scoring, laser cut preview and others, which are not available on other consumer electronic cutters. This software is in the beta test phase and is anticipated to be available at a special price for consumers to purchase at their favorite Sizzix retailer in October of 2011. Watch for more details coming soon. 

This first video tutorial shows you some of the basic features of the machine...there are many!  I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was so easy to learn how to maneuver through the menus to find just what I was looking for.  There are even some surprises hidden in the embellishment section of some of the items.  I will talk more about this in my next time. This is the first in a series of videos I will be doing as I learn about the Eclips and it's possibilities.  My next video will feature scoring.  You don't want to miss that one.  I'm working on a very special project that is awesome, if I say so myself.  LOL   For now ENJOY the video!

Over $900. of products for $35. WOW!!!

I know I've talked about Lettering Delights before but it's only because I LOVE there stuff! Right now they are having a clearance sale. Tons of their products are reduced from $4.00 to 50 cents. You can purchase them separately or in bundles. The bundles are definitely the best way to go!!! An example of one of the bundles is the Best of Lettering Delight Super Bundle it is worth $214.50 but marked down to $10. WHOLLY COW!!! They have a number of those bundles available. I did the math and if you ordered the 5 bundles that are on sale, the regular price total comes to $901.00 but the total is $50. want it for only $35. pick out $10 in anything else and use coupon code: SparkleSavings. You can't beat that!!! Even though I already had some of the items in the bundles it was such a great deal I couldn't pass it up! I ended up saving money. Now I can whip out cards and layouts quickly and easily with all these great graphics at my fingertips. Just click on the graphic above to be taken to their site you can find all the goodies in the Value Bundle or the What's New sections. These BIG bonus savings are sure to blow you away! Take an additional $25 off a purchase of $60 or more. At checkout enter coupon code: SparkleSavings. ($25 savings does not apply towards the Simple Shapes Super Bundle.)

Another great deal that they have right now is the Simple Shapes Super Bundle. 50 sets of new single-layer cuttable images are now available in multiple cutting file formats. Whether your machines requires ai, eps, svg, svg without layers, dxf or pdf files, you won’t want to miss these 750+ images. But hurry! The set is just $49 now through Sunday.

Before you checkout don't forget to grab your freebie. This month it is Summer Treats Alphabet and you get it for $0.00 Yeah!!!

Freebies For All + How to use SVGs from LD

How about $50 in Freebies For ALL!!! YEAH!!! I have not hid my love for Lettering Delight in the past and again I am singing their praises!!! For those of you that don't know about LD they offer great Fonts, Doodle fonts, SVGs, Digital Paper Packs, Alphabets, Graphics, and so much more I can't even list it all. Last month they had their Dollar Delights (which I just couldn't get enough of) But now they have blown my socks off. They are offering their entire American Pride Super bundle for the low price of $0.00 WOW!!! I first tried them out a long time ago with the free bundle that you get when you sign up for an account with them (which is also free). To be honest I was sceptical, "how could this be???" "is this too good to be true??? I asked myself all the usual Q's. But after I tried out the freebies and loved them I got a couple of others. Then went a bit crazy at the Dollar sale. LOL But the best thing about signing up with them is that you get the occasional email of a free offer like this one. :)

My tutorial today shows how I download and cut one of the free items. I've had a few ask what you do you do with everything once you get them. I created a video tutorial to show you just how easy they are to use. I will be creating other videos but wanted to get this one out there so everyone can see that is is so easy and they can get on board the great Giveaway they are having! At the end of the post I have links to both Make the Cut and Lettering Delight if you are interested. Recently there has been a change and Make the Cut is no longer supports the Cricut. If you already have Make The Cut installed it should continue to work like mine as long as you don't upgrade the software. Make the Cut does work with a ton of other die cut machines though and will continue to do so such as...Silhouette, KNK, Pazzles, BossKut Gazelles, Black Cat Cougar/Lynx, eCraft and others. I hope this helps. Enjoy the Video!

100 Designer Shoe Favors

Oh my goodness, have I been a busy girl! I became a cobbler for a week. I made 100 hot pink shoes to use as favors for a wedding shower. How stinkin' awesome are these. I think they are just gorgeous! And to top it off they are all one of a kinds...

NO TWO SHOES ARE IDENTICAL!!!

And to make them even more special for the bride I used here new last name for the label inside the shoe. Those personal details count. I filled 200 organza sachets of lavender and tiny rose buds to place inside the shoes. Then the guests will have not only this cute shoe to take home with them but 2 wonderful smelling sachets for their drawers or to hang in their closet.

I made a variety of flowers from different width ribbons and attached them to the fronts of the paper shoes. I came across the shoe pattern somewhere a while ago and tweaked it for my own needs. I also hand cut the insoles, I found I could cut a few at one time and fit more per page.

Makes me want to throw a party of my own!

Handyman Hero

When my Wonderful Dad retired from his career at USG I knew I had to create something extra special for him. He is always helping everyone around him. He is definitely my HERO!!! Those of you that follow my blog or know me personally know that I am always like to make the presentation of my gifts as meaningful and charming as the gift itself. For my Dad, who is always building or creating his own creation (only on a much larger scale..like room additions, etc.) I thought that my own gift creations were suiting to him.

I wrapped the gifts in plain black gift wrap patter and then tied the yellow ruler ribbon around it. I adhered one or two "tool" sticker to each package.

The "big" gift of a toolbox filled with hugs and kisses (Hersheys) and an IPOD got a special wrapping treatment. I chose a lot of different fonts from my Cricut and also from fonts that I have on my computer. I used the Sure Cuts a Lot (SCAL) or the Make the Cut (MTC) along with my Cricut. I thought of a bunch of words that described my Dad and then cut them in vinyl. It was a big hit.

The last gift was more for my Mom than for my Dad, I think. I used a long picture frame, I took out the glass and covered it with chalkboard paper. I put the chalkboard covered glass back into the frame and then added letters cut from my Cricut. I used Glossy Accents to glue the mini tools to the board. Now my Dad has a custom "Honey Do List". At the party everyone had fun writing there projects that they want my Dad to do at their house.

Lettering Delights Last Minute $1 Deals!

Lettering Delight $1. Deals!!! They have these last minute $1.00 Deals... WOW you can't beat that!!! Just click the banner at the top or bottom of this post to be brought to the site, don't forget that you also get free fonts just for signing up for their newsletter. I use the fonts with my SCAL and MTC all the time. They are awesome!

Lettering Delights

Oh my gosh last week I stumbled upon a great website I just had to share with you! For anyone who has Make the Cut or Sure Cuts a Lot you must check this out. The website is Lettering Delights, they have fonts and TONS of doodlebats (my favorite) which you can change into die cuts with the MTC or SCAL programs. For signing up you get a bunch free and then they also have a ton of specials. If you click on the "value bundle" section you get huge discounts on already cheap graphics. I ordered a bunch and to my surprise I then got another 25% off coupon for my next purchase. They also have a bunch of graphics that I think can be used with the new MTC print and cut feature. This is also outstanding for all of those that computer scrapbook because there are hundreds of paper packs, graphics, templates, doodlebats, etc. There's also mini albums :), tags, candy wrappers, cards and a bunch of other stuff. I was stuck on this site for hours.

Here is a swirl circle design I have created from the doodlebat circles-frilly font I made in a matter of seconds... click HERE to download the SVG

Explosion Box Card

I made this card for one of my best friends for her birthday. I do not have the SVG file to share with you. Sorry it is only eye candy this time. I do know that the Happy Birthday on the sides of the box were done in Lyrical Letters and used a border punch for the frosting.

Super Dad

I made this card for my Dad who I definitely think is Super! He is my hero, he has been battling Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma for 10 years now. Nothing ever stops my Dad, he is like the energizer bunny. I gave him this card he was going through a pretty rough treatment for his Cancer. He is my Super Dad!!! I used the Cricut Indie Art cartridge and the Make the Cut with a font on my computer to create this card.

Classroom Luau

This year I helped a friend decorate her classroom. Most of the die cut were from the Cricut Life's A Beach cartridge. But the lettering I used Sure Cut A Lot and the fonts on my computer. We had a great time coming up with the theme and decorating the room. I am looking forward to next year when I get to help again.:)

The Shark, Crab , Tucan & Octopus got some google eyes after they were laminated.  I ran the waves along her bullentin board one facing one direction and then facing the other for some more interest.

The extra shells, fish and seaweed That were cut we hung by Mrs. Wilke's (the greatest teacher on earth) desk to brighten her day. I make the shells sparkle even more with stickles. The "Going Bananas For Reading" sign was hung in the library corner and then hung an inflatable monkey next to it. On the bananas she can write fiction, non-fiction, bibliography, etc.

This last one is on the window of the door. I added fish to make it look like a fishbowl. Too Cute!!!