BBTB2 Challenge Tags or Gift Bags

Hi all!

New challenge over at Bitten By the Bug 2 - Tags or gifft bags - OH I do love to make tags!  And with a Cricut it is so super simple.  There are literally THOUSANDS to choose from!  I decided to make some Christmas ones:

It's super simple to just choose a tag and then choose an image to put on the front.

Of course I am feeling quite accomplished at the moment, having gotten a jump on Christmas and have a whole slew of them in the middle of working on in Design Space but I guarantee you I will promptly forget all about them or think oh I have LOADS of time and next thing I know Christmas will be 3 days away and I will be panicking :P

The other BBTB2 design team members created some great projects too so head over there and take a look!  Then make one yourself and upload it to our challenge!

Birthday Layout

Hi all!

Thanks to the great kits from Scrapbook Generation I got another layout done!

These are pictures from my oldest Grandson, Brennan's 2nd birthday.  9 pictures total without it looking cluttered - love that!

The Scrapbook Generation kit/sketch had the embellishments fussy cut out of the patterned papers - um no.  I STARTED with a Cricut so I am gigantically anti - fussy cutting!

It was super easy to just replace those with images from Cricut.

Of course Lita (what they call me) made him some cookies for his party!

Scrapbook Generation Kit review

Hi all!

I have been horrible about keeping up with my blog because I am horrible about getting paper projects done (I have entirely too many hobbies...) but I got TWO layouts done this week!  This is the second one of pics from our cruise several years ago:

So how did I get two done - A couple months ago I came across a site called Scrapbook Generation and decided to check it out.  So glad I did!  They sell lots of scrapping supplies but they also have various monthly kit clubs you can subscribe to.  Plus you can order past kits you missed so I signed up and grabbed some older ones too.  The kits come with several layouts sketches and instructions to make them.  The kit comes with the papers and embellishments needed to make the layouts.  Talk about fast and easy!

The embellishments (for this kit anyway) were in the form of a sticker sheet - I have never been real big on stickers - possibly because I started my paper crafting with a Cricut so stickers seemed somehow "less than".

The clusters on this page are all stickers and I kinda like them!

However I can't completely abandon my Cricut of course!  So I added to the layouts.  In this one - I added the umbrella cut - the original sketch had a llama sticker here - he was cute but......

And then on this part I used this great sun cricut cut in place of one of the pictures, the arrow and circular saying are both stickers.

So what do I think of Scrapbook Generation?  So far I LOVE it!  As if perfectly timed I saw a huge debate play out in one of the scrapping FB groups I am in about kits vs. non-kits.  A number of people said kits destroy the creativity of it.  I beg to differ.  I have also avoided any sort of sticker or chipboard embellishments for YEARS because I have my Cricut - also silly of me I think.  Now maybe if I had more time it would be different but honestly - I love to buy my supplies as collections so I have a group of matching papers to pull from when scrapping.  In the past I have often spent entirely too much time trying to figure out which pages I wanted from different collections - sometimes collections would sell out before I got around to ordering!  Then I spend a second huge chunk of time going through my massive collection of sketches trying to figure out which one to use and then figuring out the sizing blah blah blah.  47 hours of planning and a few hours of actual doing and I might get a layout done.  Plus the fact that I can get 2-3 sketches done with the one set of papers means the planning on how to most efficiently use the papers is done for me.  This was easier and I would argue there is still room for creativity.  In several spots I switched the papers around and used something different that I liked better and as you saw on my last post and this one there was still room to add my own cricut touches as well.  OR if you really think it destroys creativity don't use the sketches but get the kits - papers from the same collection so you know you will have a coherent layout.  That's just common sense.  I couldn't believe people are against that!

I have not gotten out all of the kits I ordered so I could be wrong but it doesn't seem like there are any matching solid papers sent with the kits so I added some in.  Two posts ago also used some of the paper from this same kit but my own layout.  I added some solids to bulk things up a bit and could probably still get a few cards out of it too if I still made cards.  In addition the layouts all seem to be done on white background paper with no mats for the photos which I don't like so I just dig up a matching solid or two instead.  Those are the only 2 downfalls which aren't a big deal.  Needless to say I love the kits so far and look forward to using them more!  So go check them out!

BBTB2 Challenge - Water Fun

Hi all!

I hope you are all having a great summer!  As usual mine is flying by way to fast.  I had 2 of my grandsons over yesterday and I swear I can never get over how cute they are but boy do they wear me out!

I have another layout for you today for the current Bitten By the Bug 2 challenge - Water Fun.

These are pictures from the cruise we went on back in 2011.  This layout is done using my first kit from Scrapbook Generation - more on that in my next post.

In place of one of the pictures I used this little starfish cut out - it was a card but I took out the score marks and then cut it down so it fit and added the border punched pink piece.  I also cut the flamingo and the bit of beach to add next to the sayings which came from a sticker sheet in the kit.

On the other side I threw in this cute palm tree with another bit of beach.

So get out your pics of some water fun and scrap them or make another project and join our challenge!  To see more inspiring projects head to the BBTB2 challenge blog.

BBTB2 Challenge - Sweet Summer Treats

Hi all!

What a week I've had!  Not only did I have my mom in town for a visit but I also had my oldest son, his wife and my almost 2 year old grandson!  OMGOSH is he adorable!  It was one very active extremely fun exhausting week!

I am back with a layout for this week's Bitten By the Bug 2 Challenge.  This week we were asked to use a cut of a summer treat - think ice cream, popsicles, strawberries....I chose to scrap some of the many pictures from our trip to see friends in Canada last summer.

I had some fun with this one - I tried something different and free-handed the wavy pieces at the top and bottom of the pages.  With all the commotion I had this week I went for a fairly simple page on this one!

This ice cream cone is from Sugar & Spice - too cute!  One of the things I love about using Design Space is the search feature - I had never even heard of that cartridge - there are too many to keep up with anymore!

This one is from Birthday Bash - one of my long-time faves.  The font is called Candice - it is only a 1 layer font which is annoying - I prefer fonts with shadow layers BUT I liked the look of it so I went with it.  Now if only I could find time to scrap the rest of the pics from our trip - there's a TON!

I had not been on Design Space 3 until this project so it was all new to me.  I hate change!  But there were a few things I really liked - I especially like that all of my saved projects now have a thumbnail - they used to just be a list of names.  I only do basic papercrafting on my Cricut so I won't miss the canvas feature.  Maybe when I have more time to play I can explore the new DS a bit more.

Have a great week and be sure to check out the other great projects on the BBTB2 blog and then make one of your own and link it to our challenge!

BBTB2 Challenge - Birds of a Feather

Hi all!

I hope y'all had a wonderful Father's Day yesterday!

Our new challenge is up on Bitten By the Bug 2 - Birds of a Feather - you must use a bird cut on your project.  I had these silly pictures of Pezza attempting to fly when she young and thought they would be perfect for this challenge:

I love this new patterned paper I got recently from Scrapbook Generation and thought the bright colors went really well with Pezza's bright outfit in the pics.  I have loved all of my Cricut machines but I have to say I love my Explore the most because I can use cartridges OR outside images - I designed my title using a regular font and put a shadow layer with it in Make the Cut then imported it into Design Space - love love love that I can do that.

My little bird is from the Cindy Loo cartridge - I just love the images on that one!  My good old glittered skittles finish off my flower centers perfectly.

The sketch I used had this little tag embellishment up top and I found this perfect little bird tag from Picturesque.

Head over to the BBTB2 blog to see the wonderful projects created by the other design team members.  Then make a project of your own and post it to the blog for us to see!

BBTB2 Challenge - Summer

Hi all!

We spent a fun weekend at the camping and watching races - it was historic sports car racing (or something like that...)  Anyway, hubby really wanted to come see it so we headed for the very most southern part of VA for a few days.  Pezza LOVED it - I mean loved it.  Luckily it wasn't too hot so she was able to enjoy the cars.  She spent alot of time watching the racing but she also spent a lot of time walking around getting to know the drivers and sitting in all their cars! LOL.

This week we have another great challenge for you on Bitten By the Bug 2 - Summer!  With 1 more week of school left for us we are definitely gearing up for summer fun at my house!

In my overwhelming effort to catch up on my scrapping I pulled out some pictures of Pezza and hubby swimming with dolphins we went on a cruise several years ago.  The left page uses a sketch I found on Pinterest which I can't

I used quite a few different cartridges for this one - Disney Pixar - Best of Pixar, Seashells, Kate's ABCs, Splish Splash, Sweet Treats, Life Is A Beach, Fabulous Finds.

This is a based loosely on a Paper Play card sketch I found on Pinterest and I had these perfect little shell stamps from a CTMH stamp set I got 100 years ago and never used.  I really need to get my stamps out more often!

This cut is actually a card but I just cut off the back half and then put a piece of aqua paper behind it.

This was another Paper Play card sketch I found on Pinterest to incorporate - I find grid style scrapping so satisfying because I can break it down into separate fun little projects.

STILL love using my glittered Pez-a-bling from my online stamp store days as little accents!

I hope you can join us in our challenge this week!  Be sure to check out the other DT projects on the BBTB2 blog and then link up a project of your own!

I was inspired by the following challenges:

• Crazy 4 Challenges - Repeat something 3 times
• Crafter's Cafe - Anything Goes w/Optional Travel
• Simply Create Too - Summer Fun
• Creates & Makes - Anything Goes w/Optional yellow

BBTB2 Challenge - Friends

Hi all!

I hope everyone has been enjoying the long weekend.  Last week at work was quite crazy so I needed the break.  I have spent most of this weekend with 2 of my grandbabies who stayed the night so mom and dad could attend a wedding.

A new challenge kicks off today over on the Bitten By the Bug 2 blog - friends.  As soon as I saw it I knew just the pictures I wanted to scrap.

These are random pics I took of Hollyn and some of her closest (and longest) friends that I had taken over the past year - no special event just everyday life but these kids!  The group on the trampoline have all known each other since birth.  The others have been friends since kindergarten.  How special is that?  And how lucky are we to have been able to stay in our one house in our small town for so long so she can develop these long-time connections?  It just so happens that I love these parents tremendously and am so grateful for the "Village" they create.

I used quite a few cartridges creating the layout I envisioned in my mind.  The title was a bit tricky.  My only real complaint about Cricut and Design Space is the lack of a shadow feature like Make the Cut software has.  But I managed to pull it off anyway for this one.  The font is Cricut Alphabet - Regular, the hearts are from Birthday Cakes and the flowers are from Mother's Day Bouquet.  The font and hearts all had a shadow layer so I moved everything close together so the top layer of the letters was touching, welded that, then moved the hearts in and selected all of the shadows for the letters and hearts and welded those - ta da!

I REALLY wanted to create this cluster - I love the look of these but have little experience pulling them off.  I am QUITE pleased with the way this one turned out!  I used quite a few cartridges searching for just the right items - Mother's Day Bouquet, Birthday Cakes, Anna's Elegant Embellishments, Bits and Pieces, & Garden Soup.  Once it was put together I sprinkled it with a bunch of self-adhesive pearls & rhinestones I have had laying around FOREVER (used them around the title piece too).  I really had a lot of fun playing with the different flower bits on the Mother's Day Bouquet cartridge - I had forgotten about them.  A little quirk in Design Space - when I type flowers (with an S) in the search box they don't come up.  When I type it without the S they do.

Repeated the hearts, flowers and embellishments along the bottom for fun.

Now what can YOU create with your Cricut using Friends as your theme?  Hop on over to the BBTB2 blog, check out the other projects from the Design Team and then link up a project of your own!

I was inspired by the following other challenges:

• Fussy & Fancy - flowers
• Double D Challenges - Flowers Galore

BBTB2 - Birthday Challenge

Hi all!

Birthdays birthdays birthdays!  I am hosting the challenge this week over on the Bitten By the Bug 2 Challenge and I chose birthdays as the theme.  I am always in need of birthday cards/tags/gift card holders plus bday party pictures that I need to scrap.  I ALSO threw Pezza's birthday party this past weekend - yes 6 months late.  We couldn't make it happen in November so we promised a "half-birthday" party.  She wanted a spa theme so that's what we did.  I will put some pics at the end of this post.

For this challenge I chose to make a couple gift card holders to add to my stash.  I usually try to make 2 at a time when I do this - 1 boy and 1 girl:

Making gift card holders is SO EASY with your Cricut!  The cartridge Bags, Tags, Boxes and More has quite a selection of cuts that fold to form little pockets.

You can size them to fit a gift card and then decorate the fronts like a tag or card.  A birthday Cricut cut, embossing, a few glittered skittles, and some pretty ribbons tied off with embroidery floss makes for a sweet little gift card holder.

 Turn it over and you can see the gift card peeking out of the pocket.  This cut is called Card Holder Tag - #M33F69 if you want to look for it and I cut it at 3.5" wide.  I put them together with Scor-Tape so I know they will hold up to handling and not come apart.

This is a cut I have used many many times for gift card holder.  This is a cut from the Fabulous Finds cartridge called Uniqueness - #M37D21 and I cut it at 5.75" wide.  The pull out piece is on the same cartridge and is called Note Card - #M3708A and is cut at 3.08" wide.  The little green tab pulls out and you can attach a gift card to it and slide it back in.

Sizing whatever pocket cut you choose is easy in Design Space - gift cards measure 3.5" x 2.25" so determine what portion of the design has to be slightly larger than the gift card and drag until your cut is large enough.

I hope y'all join our challenge over at BBTB2 - head on over there and check out the other DT designs for some inspiration and then link up your project!

I was inspired by the following other challenges:

• Color Throwdown - blue, green, yellow & white
• Freshly Made Sketches

Now a few pics from Pezza's Spa Party: