Easter Cards

I am finally caught up with my Easter cards! I have been working non-stop which left me with but little time to craft. I will have four days off this week and another six days by next week. Thinking of all the time off makes me happy. :-)

Sherri is the host of this week's RAQ's Challenge. The sketches were mostly circles.



I made another Faberge Egg card. I colored it with Perfect Pearls, then layered it with Smooch. Ribbon is from Offray and the background paper was embossed using the Victoria Cuttlebug folder. Punch that was used is from Martha Stewart.





I substituted the square with a flower from Spellbinders. The stamp was from the dollar bin at Michael's. Paper is from DCWV and the scalloped circle is from Spellbinder's. Ribbon is from an old stash. Border punch is from Martha Stewart. The egg brad, and the other Easter-related brads on the other cards are courtesy of Lee Ann. :-)





I used a stamp from Stampendous for the third sketch. Paper is from DCWV and the layered flower is from Prima.



I also had to play catch up with the other challenges that I missed. My inspiration for my Easter cards is www.cuteoverload.com. That site always makes me smile.



Michael's has the most adorable dollar stamps. This is again from the dollar bin. The bunny was colored using chalks. I substituted the sentiment with a flower. Martha Stewart edge punches were used. The flourish is from Spellbinders.





The chocolate Easter bunny is from the Cricut Easter seasonal cartridge. The bow is from Offray. I glued a piece of DCWV paper under a Tim Holtz Fragment and used it as an embellishment. The dragonfly punch is from Lee Ann. :-) Papers are from DCWV. I accented the whole card with Liquid Pearls and Skittles.





I used the Stampendous stamp again for this card. The background paper was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. The crystals are from Say It In Crystals by Prima.



This card is from hubby's grandma. The round chick from the Easter card is just too adorable, I can't pass him up. The scalloped circles are from Spellbinders. The ribbon and buttons are from my stash and were bought 5 years ago. The brads are from The Paper Studio.

ABCs of Cricut

I joined a swap at the Cricut message board and we were supposed to make cuts using Cricut cartridges. We had to make one cut each for the letters A to Z, with the exception of X. I could've made an XOXO for "X". :-)

Here are my cuts and the letters that they stood for:
A- Aurora
B- Belle
C- Cinderella
D- Desk
E- Easter Egg
F- Fan
G- Gift
H- Heart
I- Iridessa
J- Jasmine
K- Kimono
L- Little Mermaid
M- Mother
N- Naughty or Nice
O- Oven
P- Pagoda
Q- Fashion Quuen
R- Rosetta
S- Snow White
T- Tinkerbell
U- Unicorn
V- Valentine
W- Work It
Y- You're The Best
Z- Zebra

I had a hard time parting with the Disney Princesses and the Fairies.







I am so excited to share a wonderful news about the cuts that I made...they won the grand prize in the swap!

Here are the prizes that our generous hostess had sent to us:

http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tm.aspx?m=5842780&mpage=20

Here are the rest of the entries:

http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tm.aspx?m=5842780&mpage=18

Metallic Easter Card

I used the fourth sketch from RAQ's Challenge for my Easter Card.



My inspiration for this card is the Faberge Egg. I found this stamp from my sash and it's from Holly Berry House. I colored it using Perfect Pearls. The background was embossed using Stylized Flowers. The ribbon is from Offray and the lace is from The Paper Studio. Designer paper used is from DCWV. The pearls are from The Paper Studio. The punch is from EK Success.

Quilled Page

Where was I before my Cricut? Well, I was making do with what was available that time. :-) I learned how to quill way, way back. Making quilling strips is a good way to get rid of paper scraps. You can use your paper trimmer and cut 1/16" strips lengthwise. You can also use a pin or a needle as your quilling tool, just to have a feel of quilling, if you don't want to buy the whole kit. I made some basic shapes just to give you an idea on how to form flowers. It is pretty easy, the only tricky part is applying the glue.



Here's a page that I made four years ago. It's inspired by Sandy Genovese.

Happy Mail!

I received some happy mail from Lee Ann, a swap sister. The colors that I chose for my mailbox were peach, pink and pistachio green. I was so touched by the time, care and effort spent on coming up with the items, which I absolutely love! Needless to say, my family did too.




Logan was calling "Dibbs!" already.




He loved everything so much, he's sending some kitty kisses your way.




Another view of the wonderful handmade and altered items Lee Ann sent:




She sent CHOCOLATE!!! The votive candle holder was altered by her too. There were miniature flowers in pink with peach brad centers. The rickrack ribbon that she used was a muted shade of green. The dragonfly punch was adorable!




The handmade cupid card she sent is so pretty. She covered the other occasions and seasons as well...




...And remembered how much I missed our home in Florida! It's a sweet coincidence that I have pink flip-flop earrings with the matching pendant. :-D I had to take the toy out of the packaging, and yes...Logan kissed it too! He was giving me mean looks because I had to borrow it to take pictures. The ceramic charm on the bookmark and the cellphone charms were too adorable! She also made those flower embellishments with the brad centers. I love everything!




Look at all the sentiments...I am all set to make more cards and layouts!




A look at a couple of pages from the Birthday book she made me....The colors are so bright and cheery!





She also sent some Rebecca Sower embellishments! They will be perfect for heritage layouts. She also altered the matchbox and filled it up with vintage-looking metallic tacks.




Lee Ann, I feel so blessed knowing you as a person. You are wonderful.

Swap Projects

My swap sister for the mailbox swap wanted purple and green for her theme colors. My swap sister has a close relationship with God, so I decided the have a "Faith, Hope, and Love" theme. I decorated a Target mailbox and this is what I came up with:



I used paper from MAMBI, ribbon from Wright's and lavender glass pearls. The label is from Spellbinders, embossed with D'vine Swirls Cuttlebug folder. All the cuts are from Sentimentals, cut at 2 1/2". I used metallic ink and copper and green dye ink for emphasis.











Here's the top view of the mailbox:



I also made an explosion box. The dimensions are 4"x4". I made an explosion box as a fall project before: http://peachypapercrafts.blogspot.com/2009/11/exploding-gift-box-tea-light-and-card.html . The dahlia is from Splellbinders, embellished with liquid pearls. I used skittles as a flower center and for corner accents on the box top.



I only made a single layer this time, to make more room for the sugar-free dark chocolate.



I also made a purse, cut at "Fit To Page", using Forever Young cartridge. I wanted it to have a whimsical look, so I did not do the faux croc leather technique.



I filled it with journaling tags which was cut using Spellbinders. Stickers and eyelets are not popular in swaps, but my swap sister and I agreed that they should be used more often, so that's what I did. I further embellished the stickers with liquid pearls. I made sure that no two tags are alike.



The journaling tags coordinate with the wordbook that I made for her.



I used Jasmine and Plantin' Schoolbook for the wordbook. I embossed the letters individually, using Calypso Sparkle and Black Forest, both from Creations Unlimited. The paper once again, is from MAMBI. The ribbons are from Offray. The dragonfly is actually an enameled pendant. I used metallic ink to emphasize the contours of the smaller dahlia, and for an iridescent look.



The inside pages had pockets for the tags. I used border punches from Martha Stewart and EK success. The flowers are from Prima and The Paper Studio. Making this wordbook made me realize what my own faith means to me. "F-A-I-T-H" for me, stands for: F- Finding God, A- A Time To Heal, and A Time To Pray, I- "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me", Philippians 4:13, T- Trials and Tribulations, and H- Happiness found with God.



The swirl flourish is from Heritage, cut at 1/2" and painted with metallic ink.



The corner brackets are from Heritage, cut at 1 1/2". Tag holder is from Spellbinders.


The cross is from the Easter cart, cut at 4".


Here's the link to the .cut file that I made for the wordbook:

http://www.4shared.com/file/234716677/50759264/Faith1.html


These were all the goodies that I included in the package:





I had fun making my first batch or grunge roses. The flowers were from the Plantin' Schoolbook cartridge, cut at 2", using the shadow key for bigger petals. I colored the paper and the leaves using poster paint, then spritzed them with Glimmer Mist and Twinkling H2Os. I finished the edges off with metallic ink.








Here's a closer look at the smaller rose that I got from a local scrapbook store. I embossed the paper that covered the flag and inked it using metallic ink.



Finally, here's everything all together:



I took off the scent diffuser from its box and decorated the sticks and the bottle with Offray ribbon and flowers from Prima and The Paper Studio. I also made a clutch for the crystals and the Skittles using the Love Struck cartridge.