Deck the Halls Crawl!

Welcome to Love, Laughter, & Creations and the third Fantabulous Cricut Crawl...Fantabulous Cricut's version of a blog hop!
In honor of the approaching Christmas holiday, we're having a "Deck The Halls" Crawl...each Design Team member will be featuring an original Christmas/Holiday-themed project that could be used to decorate and spruce up their homes for the Holiday Season!

If you've come from visiting Sharon's Blog, you're in the right place! If you've just happened across my blog and would like to play along with our Fantabulous Cricut Crawl, start HERE

Make sure to check out each DT member's blog for some awesome inspiration! There will be PRIZES along the way at our DT members' blogs, AND there will be a Grand Prize up for grabs at FCCB for one participant that submits a "Deck The Halls" project at FCCB!
How fun is that?

For my project, I chose to make Christmas ornaments out of chipboard albums. I started with basic shape chipboard albums (check out Michael's $1 bins), separated them, and covered them with paper. Added a cute little Cricut character - (one has the mouse from Create a Critter with some Paper Doll Dress Up clothes....and the other has a little Snowfriend on some embossed foil.) Add some trim around the edges and a ribbon, and you have an ornament. One thing I love about these is that they are lightweight and easy to mail as a Christmas greeting to friends and family. And they get a new ornament too!

To Thank You for stopping by, I'm giving away Gingerbread Solutions. Add your name to the link below and leave a comment to win. Drawing on Monday, December 20.

Next stop...Crafty Go Lucky by Valerie. Go see what she has in store for you today... And when you're done, make sure to link up your project to FCCB's Fantabulous Cricut Crawl post to be entered into the contest!

Happy Crawling!

All That Glitters Blog Hop!

Woo Hoo! It's finally here....the All That Glitters Blog Hop!
-A great line-up of glittery, Christmas creations and lots of fun prizes along the way. If are following the hop, you should have arrived here from Gaby Creates. If you haven't been following the hop and would like to, here is the order.

A Place for My Cards - Jeannie Phillips

Card Dreams - Nana Donna

Cardz TV - Mary

The Cricut Couple - Bobby and Jill

The Cricut Diaries - Jennifer and Summer

Daily Grace Creations - Donna and Peggy

Gaby Creates - Gaby

Love, Laughter and Creations - Sherri (That's me....and that's here!)

MelissaMade - Melissa Forquer

She's a Sassy Lady - Shiela

And here is my creation:

For my project, I created a cute little pair of penguins using George basic shapes. I used a blue background embossed with the Dots folder....added some Martha Stewart snowflake punches inked in blue and silver and added a rhinestone.....a cute little Merry Christmas stamp from Michael's $1 bin.....and set the penguin pair on snow drifts made of torn paper....inked in blue.....and brushed with glitter glaze and Martha Stewart sanding glitter.

Here's the recipe for the little penguins:

2" circles - 2 black (head and body) 1 color (hat)

1 1/2" circle - 1 white (tummy)

3/4" circle - 2 black/2 white (eyes)

2" oval - 1 color (hat brim)

1 3/4" oval - 1 white (face)

1" oval - 2 black (flippers)

1/2" oval - 3 yellow (nose, feet) 2 color (ear muffs)

Added lots of glitter to these guys! And some silver ink on the edges.

Now to thank you for coming to our blog hop, here is the prize I'm giving away....The Christmas Card Solutions cartridge. Just add you name to Inlinkz and please leave a comment on this post to enter.








And don't forget to check out the next blog on the list: MelissaMade. Just click the button below!

December Scrap Street Magazine

I totally forgot it was December and ScrapStreet magazine is out. I have a layout featured in the Sugar and Spice section. Click here to see it!

Rudolph - Fantabulous Cricut's Ribbon Challenge

It's Challenge Me Monday at Fantabulous Cricut, and this week's challenge is ribbon. I chose a pretty red/white gingham ribbon and added a Create a Critter reindeer. He's got some glitter and bling, and I attached him to a frame cut from Nesties, swirled with my Cuttlebug. Paper is Joann's Peppermint Forest and some Making Memories green plaid. Hop over to Fantabulous Cricut and join in the fun!

A Fantabulous Get Well!

Happy Monday everyone....and you know that means a great new challenge at Fantabulous Cricut. This week the theme is Achoo!!! So let's get busy making some get well cards.

I chose to make a z fold card for my example. I love how it comes out when you make it out of two patterns of cardstock and sandwich a punched border between.

I used Cosmo Cricket double sided paper, a Martha Stewart punch, Stampin' up XL Two-step Bird punch, and some nested scalloped ovals that I cut with Storybook. Added a green stamped sentiment and lots of gold ink to back the borders stand out. Hop over to Fantabulous Cricut and join in the fun!

Operation Christmas Child

Our family participates in a Christmas charity called Operation Christmas Child. You pack shoeboxes full of Christmas gifts for a child of a particular age and sex, pay a $7 shipping fee, and drop the boxes off at a local drop-off facility. The videos of children receiving these gifts will bring tears to your eyes. These are the little cards I made with Winter Frolic to pack in the boxes....they have John 3:16 inside.

If you are interested in participating in this project (and I promise you...you will be blessed!), go to Operation Christmas Child. Deadlines are next week, but you still have time!!

All that Glitters Blog Hop

You may have noticed a new little button at the top of my blog - the All That Glitters Blog Hop! I am so excited to be participating in this event with some extremely talented crafters. Lots of great projects and fun prizes! So mark your calendars, and stay tuned for more details!

Jitterbuggin' Tree

Well, I'm really not late....I did get this one finished last night, but I am late in posting. I kept putting off the Jitterbuggin' sketch......then finally it dawned on me it was the fall colors I wasn't interested in. And when I chose some Christmas paper, the card was right there. That and the fact that I got a new Winter Frolic cartridge yesterday which is where the tree came from. Added hand cut photo corners.....and rows of sequins and buttons.

Cupcake card

The challenge at Fantabulous Cricut this week is to use a green circle. I chose to use green scalloped circles (EK Success punch....but Storybook has them if you don't have a punch). I had a template for a cut out cupcake card I found on the internet at some point.....used it.....and made green circle icing. I decorated the back and the front so the card will stand up well. Wrapped it up in a bow.....and added a cherry from Create a Critter, embossed with Tim Holz Alterations embossing folder (Swirls) and topped with glitter glaze. The inside says, "Hope your birthday is sweet!"

My first Mini Monster!

I got Mini Monsters at a great sale price.....had to go out of town....and kind of forgot about it. When a friend's little boy had to have his tonsils out this week, I decided to crack the plastic and play a little. I used the card feature(5") and the goblin cut as it looked less detailed as my first experimental cut. Cut it out of some doublesided purple cardstock and cut it again with orange scraps to add some details. Inked and added orange rhinestones for eyes. Went together fast - 15 minutes and he's pretty cute.

Breast Cancer Awareness Owl

The theme this week at Jitterbuggin' is wise guys or owls!!! Add your favorite owl to a card with a circle and square somewhere and join in the fun! The prize is Cricut solutions Thanksgiving this month. And any entry for Jitterbuggin' would also count for Fantabulous Cricut this week (Birds) too. My paper is KI Memories....owl is Create a Critter.....and tied it all together with a big peach bow. (the square in the center is Imaginisce paper (Halloween......) The sparkles are Martha Stewart. I chose pink because he is my breast cancer awareness owl. This is also for Paper Cutz Challenge.

ScrapStreet Magazine

I'm so excited! My card - Pilgrim Turkey - is in this month's edition of ScrapStreet magazine. It's in the Talk Turkey section. Hop over there and check it out!

Punch Art Cardinal

I've seen several cardinals made out of the XL 2 step bird punch from Stampin' Up. Wanted to give it a try......and since I had a sketch challenge and a color challenge of red/white/brown over on the Cricut boards, thought it would be a good opportunity. I made the cardinal from just the punch...layering to get the right colors. Used my new MS Branch punch around the page set.....used it on the middle square too. MS postage stamp punch to create the argyle diamonds in the background. Cuttlebugged with Swiss dots and pop dots...finished it off with Quickcutz sentiment....a gingham bow...and some blingy berries on the twig. This is for the get well challenge at My Sheri Crafts.....and don't forget the For the Birds challenge at Fantabulous Cricut too.

For the Birds!

That's the theme this week at Fantabulous Cricut. Use those cute little bird images, and fly on over and join in the fun! For my card this week, I used the sweet little bird from Stretch Your Imagination. Lots of layered ribbon, laces, and MS border punch. Added flowers from my **extra** bin with some rhinestones and topped it off with a Quickcutz sentiment.

Wild about You!

My go to design for teenage boys.....and since I have lots of nephews....I pull this little fella out quite often. He's the gorilla from Animal Kingdom with some hand cut boxers and a guitar cut from DCWV Rock Star paper. Added some George star and a stamped sentiment. This one if for Frosted Designs die cuts challenge.

Halloween Kitty

One more Halloween card - because Halloween is going on at Fantabulous Cricut. Make a Halloween project and join in the fun! This card is Martha Stewart papers/EKSuccess punch/Paper Doll Dress Up images. Add a little polka dot embossing.....ribbon.....and white Jelly Roll Pen. And that's the recipe! This is for Fantabulous Cricut, PaperCutz Challenge, and My Sheri Crafts this week - everyone has a Halloween challenge!

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Jitterbuggin' Challenge #21

Here is my card for Jitterbuggin' this week. The idea for the pumpkin with distressed stripes and spiders came from the Cricut msg. board. .....but I can't remember from who???? If you know, please tell me so I can thank them properly!!!

Paper is Imaginisce and the black polka dots was some scrap. Embossing with distressed stripes and Sizzix Swirls. Added Doodlecharms spiders to Stretch your Imagination pumpkins.....attached some jute with a button and attached a little scrap ribbon bow. Sentiment is $1 Michael's stamp (I love those things......) This is one of those cards that looks better in person than in the picture.......

Three Peas in a Pod

My sister's friend just found out she's having triplets....and that calls for a card. I used Storybook for the marquee....embossed with Swiss Dots and inked. New Arrival for the pea.....just cut out three heads. The little heads have 1 -2-3 little pieces of hair each. Layered the paper in reverse stripes with some pop dots and tied on a big Martha Stewart bow. Inside says: A chord of three strands is not easily broken. Ecclesiastes 4;12

Bear in a Pumpkin Autumn Card

It's Challenge Me Monday over at Fantabulous Cricut, and this week the emphasis is on leaves. I made a cute little bear in a pumpkin from George circles and a Stretch Your Imagination pumpkin (embossed with swirls) . Attached him to a Paper Doll Dress Up fence and attached Doodlecharms oak leaves everywhere. All the paper was scraps......yeah!! The sentiment came out of my scrap embellishment box (things I've made that just didn't quite work out at the time...)

This is the smallest card I've made (4" square) and because everything was little, I thought pop dots really set it off. I think I used a whole package!!

Witchy-Poo

Happy Monday everyone~ that means a new challenge at Fantbulous Cricut and this week they are Off the Wall. Hop over and look at what wonderful creations the design team has created!

I spent yesterday working on another Halloween card....I love them~~ This little witch was made with a scraplift from Bethapalooza . I loved the curling ribbon for the hair. I made mine from George and Paper Doll Dress Up. I love cute Halloween cards!

Peeking Kitty Noel

Well, this is perhaps the most frustrating card I've ever made.....and I'm not even sure I like it even now. The tree is a 3" George Triangle 2...covered with Martha Stewart 1" scalloped circle punches....1" George star and a fiber bow. Stand is hand cut gold foil. The kitty is from Create a Critter....2 1/2" and I gave her some paws. The letters are mounted on Stampin' Up marquis punches....layered with pop dots....cut in gold metallic foil with Storybook. The paper is cut with a Stampin' Up border punch....and embossed with the Snowflakes folder. Card is edged with some gold sequins edging. The colors are quite right in the picture, but that happens sometimes esp. with reds.

Frank!

I was blog hopping last night and stumbled into Stamping with Natalie - she's a Stamping Up Demonstrator who focuses on punch art. Cute, cute, stuff! Well, she had a Frankenstein monster made from punches I loved...and thought he would be easy to translate into Cricut cuts. So here he is:

Marquee cut from Storybook: 4 1/4" one for head and one for hair.....hand trim

Cricles from George: 3 1 1/4"- 2 white - 2 green 2 3/4" black 1 1 1/4" oval

That's it.....detailed him with a Sharpie......embossed the hair. Sentiment is a Big Lots "treasure".

Trick or Tweet

My first easel card....and it won't be my last! I was inspired by one of the sketches at RAQ's challenge on the Cricut boards to make an easel card. Of course, I strayed from the sketch....but I loved making this type of card.

I used the little duck (but it really kind of looks like a chick) off of Create a Critter and added some witches hats from Paper Doll Dress Up - with some star punches. Ribbon from Wal-Mart.....MS star border punch....and computer generated sentiment. Swiss dots embossing and trimming with the pinking shears finished this one up.

The colors are from today's color challenge at 365 cards.

Autumn Note Card

Just a quick little Autumn note card made from the sketch at RAQ's challenge this week on the Cricut boards. Used Doodlecharms eggs for the pumpkin-embossed with distressed stripes- and Doodlecharms leaves ran through the cuttlebug too. Below it is a picture of my Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffins I made for the local Fall Festival. Decorated the package with a Happily Ever After Pumpkin tag and some raffia. Don't forget to use that Cricut for lots of everyday projects. And if you're crafty with anything to do with food, hop over to Fantabulous Cricut this week for a fantastic challenge.

Zig Zag Spiders

Well, I've never made a z-fold card before but I was inspired to do so by Cricut Cardz Challenge this week and a sketch at RAQ's challenge on the Cricut board. Followed a YouTube tutorial...and it was easy. I used double sided cardstock....edged it with MS spider web punches....added a sticker "boo"....and spiders from Doodlecharms. I discovered if I took the "o's" from the word "HOOT" on Create a Critter and added wigglys, the spider matched the paper. Attached them all with pop dots and added a ribbon. Also for the Spooky Challenge over at My Pink Stamper as well as the recipe challenge (aqua, designer paper, embelllishment) at The Pink Elephant.

A Little Fall Hello - Jitterbuggin' #19

Here's this week's Jitterbuggin' card.....made out of Cloud 9 paper.....DCWV cardstock.....and cuts from Stretch Your Imagination and Create a Critter. Added embossing with the Distressed Stripes and Swiss Dots....a greeting from a $1 Michael's sticker.....and ribbon from Martha Stewart and American Crafts. The little leaves in the corners are a MS punch too. If you haven't done so, make a card for this week's Jitterbuggin' challenge. I'm also entering this card in Practical Scrappers stamp challenge too.

"Sew" special

This month is National Sewing Month....and it's my mom's birthday. And guess what my mom loves to do....SEW! So I made her card sewing themed with all the tools I could think of you used in sewing. The paper is Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl. Made some spools of thread from Happily Ever After and wrapped them with floss......attached some needles I colored with silver ink. Little scissors are cut from silver metallic foil with a little silver dew drop in the center ( I noticed one of them moved....but Mom took the card and I couldn't get another picture...) The hedgehog is Create a Critter and I added pins to make him a pin cushion. Sentiment is computer generated.

Fantabulous Cricut is celebrating National Sewing Month this week with a great challenge of sewing on your project. Hop on over and enter! My card is also for Paper Cutz's Critter challenge....Love it!

Gone Fishin'

My uncle ( I only have one....) has a birthday this month so I had to come up with a masculine card......so not my thing. I had a cute little image Wee Henry Goes Fishing which was a freebie from Hambo a while back. Colored him with Prisma and Gamsol (which I am not very good at) ....set the picture with MS photo corners (punch) and added an enlarged cattail for dimension. The sentiment is a KI Memories stamp. Wrapped some hemp around a piece of cardstock trimmed with wavy scissors and added a button. Paper is fish and barnwood I picked up at Hobby Lobby this week-end. This works for My Sheri Crafts card - masculine challenge and Paper Playtime - Water.

Apple Annie

Well, I love it when I can combine my Jitterbuggin' sketch with another challenge....and it worked well with this week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut....gardening/harvest. The Jitterbuggin' challenge was to follow the sketch, include apples, and use red/yellow/green with some black. I used DCWV paper.....American Crafts ribbon......checkerboard embossing....and hand written sentiment. Miss Apple Annie is a paper piecing from My Scrap Chick with added hair from Paper Doll Dress Up (Raggedy Boy and Girl...layered) Apples and basket are Doodlecharms. And this card fits Paper Playtime's challenge Autumn and My Sheri's Craft Challenge Autumn.

Franken-Fun

Couldn't put it off any longer....I just HAD to make another Halloween card. I love 'em.....they are just right up my alley....cute and silly and fun! Frankie is a freebie from Little Scraps of Heaven Designs (great site!) I cut all the parts by hand...inked...pop dotted...and doodled. Attached him with pop dots to DCWV paper (silver flocked polka dots....must find more of that) DCWV orange card stock, embossed and inked with silver. Little strip of some glittery circles and a little bit of the drippy goo punch. Sentiment is a stamp from Big Lots for $.50 and added some big polka dotted ribbon.

Hoot Hooray!

My go-to Cricut cut is always an owl...not that I really like them....it's just that there are so many! Anyway, they usually come out in 70's colors too...(think Brady Bunch...) But that's okay, I still love them.

This fella is my favorite...from Create a Critter! All the paper on here is scraps and the layout is from RAQ's challenge on the Cricut Boards. Even found a little scrap chipboard tag which I covered in paper for the sentiment.

If you haven't done so....check out the post below: It's Fantabulous Cricut's Fantabulous Back to School crawl.......lots of prizes including one from me!

Fantabulous Cricut Crawl: Button Up For School!

My project is a Back to School Card.

**Sketch: Jitterbuggin' Challenge

**Paper is DCWV**

**Blue Rick Rack and Heidi Grace ribbon**

**Apple from Doodlecharms**

**Pencils from My Community**

**Chestnut Roan Cat's Eye Ink**

**White Jelly Roll Pen**

**DMC Embroidery Floss Bow**

**Favorite Findings Button**

Christmas Joy - Jitterbuggin Sketch 16

The challenge at Jitterbuggin' this week is to use your favorite colors and your favorite things. My favorite thing is Christmas so I made a Christmas card - out of pink and green. There is a tutorial over there on how to make a folded frame - hmmmm- they are pretty but I had a hard time. Used K & company doublesided paper......Joy from Create a Critter cut at 1 1/2".....and snowflakes from an MS punch....added some ribbon. Set everything on a scalloped circle from Paisley. Hop over to Jitterbuggin' and show us your favorite things! This card works for Cricut Cardz Challenge too - scalloped circle.

It's a Jungle Out There

Fantabulous Cricut's challenge this week is for Labor Day! I hope you are having a good one....and since you have a day off from labor, why don't you go work on a scrappin' project? My little monkey (not sure why I'm making so many monkeys lately.....) is a freebie from Dustin Pike. I colored him with Prisma and Gamsol....enhanced with some black Sharpie marker. Added him to some scrap paper (the bananas are Daisy D...and the presence of them in my scrap pile might explain the monkey phenomenom......) Added bananas from Animal Kingdom and some buttons. This card is for my husband, who is a "code monkey" himself.

Hop over to Fantabulous Cricut and join in the fun!

Quilted Apple

Woo Hoo! I'm the Guest Designer at Inking It Up Crazy this week.....I'm sooooo excited to have this opportunity. For my project, I made a Quilted Apple card.

I come from a long line of quilters, and I love to make them in paper. To make the quilted background, you need nine 1 1/2" squares of cardstock. I chose to run them through the Cuttlebug to add some texture.....don't forget to ink the edges! (Everything looks better with inked edges - my favorite one is Cat's Eye Chestnut Roan) Attach the squares onto a 4 1/2" square piece of cardstock in rows of three. Now you need some stitchin'! I HATE sewing so I did mine with a Sharpie....but you could machine stich around it. I attached a 4 3/4" square of brown to my 5" gold cardstock card....and placed the quilt in the center. Added some more faux stitchin' with a white gel pen. Oh, and ink those edges!!!

The apple is from Doodlecharms, cut at 3". I cut the shadow in brown, the base layer in green and brown cardstock for structure, and cut the top layer in argyle. Inked all the edges before I attached them....and cut off the brown stem and attached it with pop dots. Doodled around it with the white Jelly Roll pen. The little worm is from Create a Critter, cut at 2". I cut the base in brown - the middle in the rusty red - and the top layer in green. I used a coordinating green paper rather than the cardstock as it cut cleaner and had a little more texture to it. Added details with my Sharpie....inked some cheeks...and little white gel pen accents. Finished it off with a big, sheer bow.

The sketch is from PaperCraft Star and this one fits the Cricut Cardz Challenge "Back to School"! All of that white pen faux stitchin' fits right in with Practical Scrappers this week too!

Some Scary Spiders!

Well, not too scary....mostly cute!~ The challenge at Jitterbuggin' this week is to use scraps (YES!).....follow the sketch (which is a patchwork one)....and add a Cricut "bee"......or "b". My "b" is from Pooh Font in the word Boo! The paper is Imaginesce....ribbon is Martha Stewart (20 cents at Big Lots!).....and the spiders and webs are from Paper Doll Dress Up. Lots of dimension in this one...hard to get the full impact in a picture. I know it's early for Halloween, but I just couldn't wait!

Go Wild!

Jitterbuggin' Challenge is Born to Be Wild this week, using some wild Cricut animals. The challenge at Fantabulous Cricut this week is HOT (tropical, etc) so I thought a monkey would work for both. I used scrap paper from Daisy D's with bananas....scrap stripes from a John Deere collection...some great variegated fiber, brown ribbon, nesties, cuttlebug embossing, and the sweet little monkey from Sweethearts. Sentiment is computer generated. Ironically, my sketch was almost the same as Papertake Weekly's so I'm going to enter this one there too. And I found a new challenge site called Paper Playtime whose theme is Zoo this week as well.

Howdy!

My youngest nephew is turning 3, and he's having a Rootin' Tootin' Cowboy party. I made his card to match using Paper Doll Dress Up for the Cowboy and Create a Critter for the horse and accessories. Fun card to make....I like how it turned out. This is my entry for My Creative Time's Throwback Challenge #79: Frame it with Paper Doll Dress Up and Creations by C

Create a Critter challenge.

Sweet Little "Bird-Day" Card

The sweet little bird on Stretch Your Imagination is one of my favorite Cricut cuts - in fact, it's about all I ever use SYI for. This one is combined with some George Circles, a Plantin Schoolbook flower, and some great DCWV paper (Spring Stack 2009) Rub-on sentiment, buttons and floss, doodling with a white Jelly Roll pen, and great trim that came from JoAnn's $1 bin finish it up.

This is for Paper Cutz Challenge - Anything Goes!

Funky Coral Floral Birthday

Needing a bunch of birthday cards this week.....and no inspiration! But RAQ's challenge on the Cricut board to the rescue.....great sketches this week. Chose one of them and paper from my scrap pile (go me!!!) and here's the result. All paper and cardstock is DCWV (Spring 2009 collection)...added somed bling, buttons, floss, and embossing with a new Sizzix folder (which I really like....and must try again in a bigger version.) Sentiment is a rub-on.....Cricut cuts are George (circles) and Plantin Schoolbook (flower) Fits right into Cricut Cardz Challenge this week: Anything Goes!

Back to School - Jitterbuggin' 13

The challenge at Jitterbuggin' this week is Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. I chose a school bus.....used Doodlecharms for the bus (2 1/2"), cut regular in black.....layered twice in yellow with some pop dots. Button wheels and little people cut from Everyday Paper Dolls at 2 1/4". Paper is from DCWV Grade School stack (except for that orange gingham which is just from the "closet.") MS Star Punch for the border and Oriental Trading Felt Rick Rack with some extra yellow attached. Little tag is cut from the paper and attached with ribbon and floss. Get movin' on over to Jitterbuggin' and join in the fun!

Also created this card for Frosted Designs this week. They have a recipe challenge: You had to use 5 out of 10 ingredients. Here are my five: 1. punch - MS Star 2. felt - Rick Rack 3. Ribbon - yellow 4. pink, blue or purple - blue

5. buttons That was fun! And PaperCutz is having a Back to School challenge too!