My Purple Cricut Expression!

It's here!! My purple Cricut E arrived Friday while I was at work. I can't believe how fast it got here! I was like a giddy kid on Christmas, manically ripping opening my boxes...haha. :)

Willy loves the purple cricut... :) And I love that it lights up purple!!

It came with Cricut Classic Font, and Playtime Lite. I also got Inspired Heart. :)

Separate mini-haul: 3 ribbon holders + 18 spools of prima ribbon; martha stewart paper tags; 2 basic grey button sets = ~ $14.

I am one happy girl. :)

Guess what I just ordered!!

Busy, busy, busy week. I have so many projects to post, that I hope to have here soon! But in the mean time... I have been saving, and contemplating, and GUESS WHAT I just ordered...?!

MY CRICUT EXPRESSION!!! And not just any Expression...It's PURPLE!!! My very favorite color, since I was a little tyke! :) I am so so so excited, and will probably have my fingernails chomped off by the time it arrives.

If you have an Expression, please feel free to leave me some tips, for I know I am going to be overwhelmed with both joy and confusion when it finally arrives. :) I am upgrading from the original bug.

Thanks for sharing my excitement!

xoxo

Emily

Piece of Cake!

I wanted to get a craft fix in this evening, so I made this card for my mom to give to a friend of hers. The recipient is a cake maker - so I immediately got busy thinking of what cake images I have on my cartridges. I was able to use Simply Charmed, which my mom got me for Christmas. Perfect!

So often, I use more monotone color combo's, so this was fun to do. I like that it has a variety of colors that I wouldn't ordinarily combine.

Recipe:

- White 4.25"x5.5" (A2) card

- Cake and all layers from Simply Charmed p. 74, cut at 3"

- Cake accents embossed with Tim Holtz Swirls

- Cake accented with Stickles (Crystal, Yellow, and Orange Peel)

*please note the vivid orange color on the flames. This is due entirely to the Orange Peel Stickles; the actual color of the paper was pale yellow (see base of cake). I am quite familiar with Orange Peel, as it was my first and much-used Stickles, but this is a perfect example of why you should test things out before you slap them on a final project - it's brighter and more pigmented than most Stickles!

- Pink mats embossed with Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder

- Pink mat punched with Martha Stewart Lacy Doily Lace Border Punch

- Sentiment by Hero Arts, stamped in crushed olive

- glossy accents

This was a pretty quick card - unusually quick for me. I think the main reason it flew by is because I had pre-sketched what I wanted to accomplish. I've written about this before, but I find this to be a really time-saving technique, especially for a Miss Busy such as myself.

- - -

I'm thinking Etsy shop. I am being urged by several loved ones. We'll see. :)

Hope you're keeping warm! Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Emily

some updates :)

Hello my bloggy friends! I hope everyone is keeping warm in this blizzard that seems to be sweeping the nation. It's a mess here! I had the flu last week, and immediately following my recovery, I began my new job. :) I've been working LOTS, and loving it. Not much craft time (as in none), but good things come to those who wait..

During the new year, there was an amazing sale on cartridges at www.cricutmachine.com. (If you're not signed up already, you'll want to get their e-mails. ..Rumor has it that this, along with other sites and eBay accounts are run by ProvoCraft. This may seem sketchy, but...I'm not sure I care, haha. I have ordered from all 3 rumored sellers, each time with great success.) At any rate, there were loads of cartridges for $14.95, so I got 3. :) One of these was Happily Ever After. WHAT?!, you may be saying, how did Emily, the world's biggest Cinderella fan not have the cartridge where Cinderella and Cricut collide? The answer is I do not know. But I have it now. ;) Of course, I couldn't wait to play, so during a mini-visit to Archiver's I picked up the bazzill colors I would need to create the princess, Gus, and Jaq.

loooove this cardstock!

These are not, I repeat, not easy! But very fun if you have the time. The results are adorable, and I can't wait to make projects out of these. :)

I also got a new HA stamp set, Just My Type, that has been on my wishlist - this vintage typewriter comes with 3 type font phrases that fit in the page space. Love!

Also got a fun tutorial for these hearts!! Hellllo, valentines for my students! :)

I didn't exactly *JUST* go to Archivers... :) This is how we spent our Saturday:

Sadly, we did not bring much luck to the COLTS with our mere presence. But we had a BLAST! :)

Thanks to my new Followers - I'm so happy to have you! :)

xoxo

Emily

My Pink Stamper DT Contest Entry

Let me start by saying I didn't really want to post this - at least not as a contest entry. I was so excited to actually make an entry in the MPS contest, so I got to work right away. Then I got sick - with the flu - and seriously lost 2 days - it's as if my calendar skipped from Jan 2nd to January 5th. So, while I do adore many elements of this card, it is nowhere near what I had hoped it would be, in order to enter it into Robyn's contest. Loved ones have encouraged me to go ahead and enter. I hope it's not too late. :)

And to Robyn - thank you, so much, not only for opening this contest to all of your fans, but for all the inspiration you offer me all the time. You're amazing!

. . .

"RECIPE"

- White 4"x8", scored at 4"; rounded corners (bottom only)

- Yellow Bazzill cardstock 3.75"x3.75" mat, all corners rounded

- Mat stamped with Hero Arts Friend Definition in wild honey
- Ran through Cuttlebug with Seeing Spots folder

- Brown ribbon (Ribbon Boutique - Hobby Lobby)

- Giraffe cut from Create a Critter at 3.5"; lt. pink, hot pink, and brown bazzill cardstocks

- fruit punch stickles on her spots!

- Word bubble drawn and hand-written on bazzill mint green

- rock candy stickles covering it

- pop dots!

- Adhesives include ATG, glue gots, scotch quick dry, and pop dots. :)

. . .

Thanks so much for reading. I hope next time an amazing opportunity like this comes around, I won't have the flu! :)

xoxo

Emily

Introducing..!

The reason I was absent from my blog, along with just about everything else in my life, for so many weeks preceding Christmas, is because I decided to make handmade gifts for everyone in my family. I absolutely loved doing it - my only regret is that I didn't have more time, even though I started very early. I love to pay attention to detail (sometimes to a fault...) and so I usually just went without sleep. For my Grandma, I made paper dolls, but for my parents, brother, and boyfriend I made mini chip-books based on each person's individual hobbies and loves. It was a ton of fun. I've decided I'll showcase 1 per week (probably..) to get through them. Truth be told, I should probably save this one for last, because it is my personal favorite. Although I have favorite pages in each book, this one tugs my heartstrings more than the others.

Anyway, this is the one I made for my boyfriend, Josh. The topic? Our baby, our dog, Diego, who we adopted over 2 years ago, and lives with Josh. They say we rescued him. Some days, I feel it's the other way around. He is the light in our life. :)

. . .

This is the cover. I can't tell you how excited I was to find this image on A Child's year -Diego runs faster than my eyes can move - it was perfect. :)

Album by colorbok; patterned paper (the paper studio); die cut and title - Provo Craft (A Child's Year); Enamel Accents (Ranger); Pawprint ribbon (Ribbon Boutique); Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher; Bone brads (Recollections); mini alphas (Making Memories).

<-- This is my favorite page in the album. Is he not the CUTEST? I hadn't planned to do a dog 'narrative' in this book - until I printed this picture. I couldn't picture it without him leading the reader through the pages.

Souffle pens by Sakura; Stickers from The Paper Studio; Embroidery floss; foam dots.

Josh & Diego at their first visit to my house. Love it. Again with this die cut - I couldn't wait to match it up with a picture of these 2.

Paint dabbers (Espresso and Cloud Blue - Ranger); Linen Closet stack (DCWV); die cuts (Provo Craft - A Child's Year); souffle pens (Sakura); Enamel Accents; mini alphas (making memories); buttons from my stash.

It was no easy task to find a way to fit 2 pictures on such a small page. This was their first long walk - to my grandma's house. :)

He lives for car rides - so naturally, he had a lot to say for this picture...

^ These 3 are all one page - with a little flap book. I left the page naked with just some edging. I spelled "guarding" incorrectly..but I'm not sure I even want to fix it (can you believe it?).

I ended up really like the way the pictures looked when cut to fit the page. Beware of those tonic scissors on photos, though - they scraped all over mine - eek. The "I heart" sticker actually said "I heart my dog", but I cut it in 1/2, and "stickled" it. Customization is key! ;)

I love this.

The back page - probably my second favorite. I did double-cursive on the title to make it pop.

So there we have album #1. Thanks so much for taking the time to check out this album - it's so special to me. I hope every one's 2011 is off to a great start - I'm so truly thankful for my new subscribers. :)

xoxo

Emily