D'oh - I got tagged

I've seen this so many times on blogs and never paid much attention, then I got tagged by Lindsey over at the Frugal Crafter ( fun site, check it out!) It has taken me a over week to respond, partly because you have to tag 7 others and I don't know 7 other people with blogs that I would feel comfortable asking to participate and partly because I don't know 7 interesting facts about myself. I don't follow rules very well, so I'll just do it my way.... tell my not so interesting facts about myself and take volunteers. If you would like to be tagged and linked to my page, let me know, I'm happy to add you!

Here are the tag rules:

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here are my facts:
1. I like to eat leftover spaghetti for breakfast
2. I don't decorate because I'm too lazy to move things when I dust
3. I can't sleep if my feet are covered - I guess I breath through my toes
4. I met my husband on the Internet, we were a 99% match. I'm not so sure about that now-I think the questions may have been a bit skewed, but we are happily married for almost 9 years now so I'm glad they were skewed, had they only been 98% I may have logged off...then where would I be?
5. Driving scares me so I'm glad gas prices are high and I have to stay home
6. I love to fish, and I love to eat fish, but I hate to eat the ones I catch
7. I like to get up and craft in the middle of the night when the house is totally quiet - sometimes you'll see my craft room light on at 2 or 3 am - can't sleep anyway - too many fun projects in my head!

My tag-ees:
MY first volunteer is Denise, she has made some great SCAL files and shadow boxes, check her out: http://dscrapbookingroom.blogspot.com/

Here is where your name and blog could go :)

Have a good night! Check back soon, its supposed to rain all week, so I'll be crafting and sharing:)

Puzzle Cards with SCAL

Puzzle cards are fun to make for kids birthdays or party favors. Cut from thin chipboard and stamp directly, or modge-podge some paper on top. For this one I used a brayer with black ink, then stamped a spider web (from Stampin' Up! Web Wishes) in white craft ink. The Happy Halloween is a rub on and the other stamp (from Stampin Up!Batty for you) is on a pop dot. Once your card is decorated, take peices apart and stuff in an envelope for the recipient to put together. Special thanks to Diana for helping me with the .svg file. I have the .scut file below.

PuzzleCard.SCUT

Harvest Time

What a beautiful Fall weekend we had here! It was great weather to work in the yard and gather a few vegetables from our little garden. This year Carl added a second raised bed, they are both small but big enough for the boys to get their hands dirty and grow something - the boys planted zucchini, pumpkins and tomatos - all of which went crazy and overflowed the boxes and even grew through the fence into the neighbors yard. Slugs got to a couple of our pumpkins and zucchini, but even sharing with the slugs we had more than I though we could get out of our small space. To remember the fun I did a Harvest page today, it is digital. I got a beautiful digital freebie package called Harvest Spice over at http://www.shabbypricess.com/ which included the elements I used, plus lots more!

Remember Colorforms? How about vinyl on pumkins!

When I was little I had a Holly Hobby colorforms set that I LOVED to play with. I can still remember the smell of the vinyl when I would open the box (probably not good for you, but back then we didn't think about such things). For those of you who are too young to remember such things, colorforms were boxes of vinyl cutouts and the inside of the box would be a scene that you could arrange them in, kinda like modern (at the time) paper dolls. I don't think they still make them. I spent hours with mine. SOOOO...my boys are still sleeping, but when they wake up I have a surprise for them - my own version of colorforms! Last weekend we bought some of the fake pumpkins on sale at Micheals and I have cut a wall pop to make faces and Halloween shapes. I used one 12 x 12 black wall pop and the cut file includes 2 kinds of eyes, 2 noses, cat, fence, spider, web, eyebrows and 8 teeth. I did cut the tips of the moon mouth by hand to make it more rounded and I think I will cut the ball off the top of the question mark. I hope they like it! I am including the file for download.

Pumpkin vinyl .cut

I have the other pumpkin 2 posts down, on that one I used the cricut vinyl and storybook. I don't think the cricut vinyl works as well for pumpkins or for kids because it is stickier - not so good for sticking and pealing over and over or repositioning -great for walls though!

Treat box challenge - cricut basket box

There is a current challenge on the cricut boards to make treat boxes (thanks Gail!). There are lots of fun ideas coming up and I can't wait to see them done and to use the cut files! Mine is a tad boring, but I've been wanting to do this for a while as everyone loves to get a basket of goodies - anytime! This .cut uses George and Doodlecharms. I am not very good with adhesive - its on my desk, my wall, my floor - so I avoid it when I can. The basket already had a hole so I put holes in the tabs in the same place so they line up and you can use large brads or eyelets or tie a ribbon through - I used twine and then tied knots. It was a bugger to line those up but I think it will save me in the end (and I learned a valuable trick). I think this way too, it will stayed closed a lot better... ya don't want to spill your basket of goodies! Its pretty big, you could easily fit some cookies or cider packet/caramels or even some small flowers in the spring. File below.

Fallbasket

Welcome Fall!

From the neighbors tree.............to our front porch

I love the fall. I love the quiet in the streets, I love the smell of the air, I love wearing sweaters even when its sunny out. Most of all I love the colors. Today the kids and I collected leaves from the trees in our neighborhood. While most people are raking them up to haul away, I am scooping them up and taking them home to press in books and scatter on my front porch. How can anybody throw away something so beautiful? I think they are as beautiful as any spring flower, and every year they amaze me. Someday I hope I have a big maple tree of my own, until then I will borrow from the neighbors.
Oh, and for you cricut crafters...yes, vinyl sticks to pumpkins :).
Happy Fall!

Paper Dolls Witch Hat treat box

We went to Target to day and there was tons of Halloween candy out, I couldn't resist buying some (OK, its not my first bag of the season, but this one I will give away.....mostly). I made this little hat with the witch hat in Paper dolls, it stands about 4 inches and is about 1 inch wide, perfect for a few little candies. If you would like to make one here are the directions.....

`Cut pattern in black (see .cut file below)

Fold in obvious places and use adhesive on tabs to enclose box, a ribbon band to hat

Decorate base - I used glitter and a Happy Halloween stamp

Adhere hat to circle base

Test candy-if satisfactory, add a few to hat (4 little Reeses peanut butter cups fit nicely) and seal top with sticky dot right at the point

Leave on someones desk or doorstep

http://www.mediafire.com/file/tzji1j2zmzi/WitchHat.cut

Cricut Candle wrap mesh

So here's another use for all those meshes we like to make in DS, candle wraps! I purchase this candle holder and decided a plain old candle wouldn't do, so I made a wrap with DS and Storybook. A standard pillar candle will need a 9 inch mesh (width can vary depending on the look you would like, I chose 2 1/2 inches). If you make the mesh just slightly over 9 inches (or your candle circumference) you can overlap the edges in the back, or if you can simply add a ribbon around the outside to hold it tight. Be sure to remove the paper wrap if you are going to burn the candle, or hollow the top and put in a battery flame/tealight. Cut file was very simple, I used a storybook element because the ribbon threaded nicely through it. I did it in the new format so it is all one unit and easy to resize for other candles. It is attached below if you would like it.

fallcandle.cut

Cricut Pillow Box - DS and George

The new Stampin Up catalog has these cute little pillow boxes all decorated for Halloween. I wanted to make some, but give them out early so I made them in Fall theme. The pattern is done with Design Studio and George, the tag I just punched out using an SU punch attached to the grosgrain with linen thread. I am attaching the .cut pattern for the pillow box. On it, you will find an extra oval, it is for scoring. The box sides will fold nicely if they are scored. The scoring is a bit awkward at first, but after a couple it will be easy peasy to see where you need to score/fold (see photo below, score about where I have drawn lines). After the first one, you can delete the scoring oval from the pattern so your not wasting paper. The final size is about 2 3/4 by 4 inchs, good size for a couple of fun size candy treats or? Happy crafting!

Pillow box link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?yntmhkoydzm

First Mate, SBSC157

Andy will definitely be a boater, just like his daddy. I took this picture a couple weeks ago when we went crabbing. I didn't include any photos of crabs....because we didn't catch anything. Thankfully, I got this adorable photo of the two of them, AND our wonderful neighbors caught their limit and gave us a bunch (better than catching it myself and having to clean and cook it!).

This sketch is from SplitcoastStampers, its is the weekly sketch challenge (SBSC157). Most the elements in it were freebies, except for the swirl paper, which is from Close to my Heart. I scanned it and then used a hard light filter with a brown background so it would match, gotta love photoshop!

Potato Bug Vs. T-Rex scrap page

After several days of tinkering with it, I am finished with this page from last weekend. Most supplies are from scrapgirls, the ribbon and grunge edge were freebies, but I don't remember from where. The background paper is the current freebie at Scrapgirls, grab it before its gone!

Paper Bowls by Martha

I've been wanting to try my hand at the inkscape program so I started with this paper bowl pattern I found on the Martha Stuart website. It was a bmp I switched to svg and cut with SCAL and my baby bug. They are cute little paper bowls, I filled these with fall leaves and added a candle. I think they would be cute in black with candy corn too....but not until next month :) I think it took me until now to use inkscape because I have the new firmware so I can't use SCAL on my expression, naturally NOW I can find a reason to need it - we always want what we can't have.

Potato Bug

There are moments in you child's life when you just have to stop and write it down, yesterday was one of those moments. I'm hoping to make this a scrap page but until then, I want to write it down so I can remember it well, it was priceless. We had just got back from the boys first soccer game and Andy decided to stay outside and bury a few dinosaurs in the front yard (so he can discover them later). In the process, he found a potato bug. Very excited he brings it over to show Carsten, I walk over and find him poking at the bug (gently) with his finger and this is the conversation that follows:

Me : What are you doing to that poor bug

Andy: I want him to curl up like an amarilla (Armadillo)

Me: I think they only do that when they are scared

Carsten: Lets scare him

Me: No, go put him back

Andy: Hey Carsten, lets scare him with a dinosaur!

Carsten: Great Idea!

They run to dinosaurs, I run to camera

Carsten : ROAR!

It didn't work, and they lost interest and put the bug back, but it was hysterical for me to watch.

Petal Card from George

I just did the DS upgrade and noticed that Wild Card is on there, so I had to take a sneak peek. Being the impatient person I am, I had to make one of the petal cards before the cartridge is out, so I made it with DS. Turns out George has a key tag that is a perfect fit - Yeah! Final size of this one is 5 x 5.

PUMPKINS Scrap page, SBSC153

I was cleaning my scrap room and ran across these photos I had taken last year. I've switched to mostly digital scrapping, but since these were already printed out I thought it would be fun to do a traditional page, it also gave me an excuse to use some chipboard letters I had in my "get rid of" pile. The background paper is from Stampin Up, the letters were outlined with black maker, and the pumpkin is from Paper Dolls (Cricut). I used the Splitcoast sketch challenge sbsc153. I'm a little behind, but at least its done before I take this years pumpkin photos!