Create a Critter Cards Created with the Cricut

These cards were created with the Create a Critter cartridge using the Cricut Expression.  I keep a shoe box with leftover paper scraps.  All the papers used came out of that shoe box.  Each card unfolds to display the "Happy Birthday" sentiment also cut from the Create a Critter cartridge on the Cricut.  The cards fit nicely in an A2 envelope.  I know my niece and nephew, Elizabeth and Elijah, will love these cards when they receive them!

Fall 2010 Reservation Special!

We have our first ad in Michigan Scrapbooker Summer 2010 and our first reservation special!  Place your reservation for a craft weekend in September or October 2010 for $199.00 per person!

Our Last Retreat Spring 2010 Season

We hosted our last retreat of the Spring 2010 Season for the lovely Ludwig Ladies and friends--all novices to paper crafting!  Our weekend opened with

 a dinner featuring Creamy Pasta with Spring Vegetables and Chicken, Tomato Bread, Ceasar salad, and fresh strawberries.  The meal ended with a light dessert of lemon chiffon ice cream with a lime twist.  Save some room for our decadent late night desserts and snacks!

After dinner we jumped right into our beginner's mini-album class. We covered the basics of cutting paper and choosing adhesives. We mastered the technique of clear embossing with Versamark to create a tone on tone or watermark effect with butterfly stamps across our book cover.  Then we bound our mini-albums with the Zutter.   A short intermission occurred, so we could recharge our collective batteries with warm, oozing, chocolate lava cake a la mode!

Once our albums were bound, we designed layouts for our blank pages.  The fun continued as photos were cropped and pages were embellished with gems, ribbons, punches, and buttons.  We crafted until the birds began to chrip in the trees!

The weekend concluded with a leisurely breakfast of Creme Brulee French Toast Casserole and Baked Sausage Breakfast Casserole, yogurt parfait, and fresh fruit.  Our guests left relaxed taking their completed mini-albums home to share with friends and relatives.  We hope your craft group will spend a weekend with us this fall!

Final Selections for Crochet and Knitting Contest Chosen!

In January we posted information about a contest sponsered by Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores and Red Heart Yarns Eco-Ways to use a recycled or renewable source yarn.  Experts from Red Heart Yarns have chosen the final selections from the projects submitted.  Please show your support and visit their site to vote for the winners!  A few days ago, AC commented on our blog that her project had been selected as one of the finalist.  We invited AC to share a picture and a description of her project and we would post it on the blog.  Congratulations AC and good luck with the contest! :) 

Thanks so much for offering to post a pic and description of my entry on your blog! :) I've been designing crochet animals for six years, and I designed this peacock using eight colors of Red Heart's Eco-Ways blend yarn. The colors just jumped out at me and screamed "peacock"! It was the first time I had worked with the recycled blend yarn, and it really is fabulous--the weight is perfect and it's SO soft. I used a 3.25 mm hook, floral wire for the comb, and dowel rods to support the feet. To create the fringe border on the tail, I separated the hunter geen yarn into individual plys and handknotted little snippets all the way around the edge of the feathers. I used the same technique for the eyelashes, too. Voting is open on Red Heart's site thru June 1st: http://redheart.com/saveplanet.html.

Congratulations Dominique - Class of 2010!

Well it's been a long time since we posted, but our hiatus is over! :)  Today, I'm going to give a shout out to my nephew, Dominique, down in Georgia.  He's graduating from high school this year!  I cannot attend the graduation ceremony, but I'm sure this shaker card will let him know how excited I am for him!

The Stampin' Up! cardstock is: Rich Razzlebury, Old Olive, Orchid Oppulance, and DSP Cottage Wall.  The Gold Glitter Paper is from DCWV Mariposa paper pack.  Stampin' UP! punches are Word Window, Large Circle Punch, and Ticket Punch, with Rich Razzlebury ink and sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  The shaker cup with padded envelope for mailing are available through Stampin' UP! as well.  I cannot remember where I bought the STAR brads--I've had them for years! :) I added a few white gel dots and filled my shaker cup with STAR confetti.  His name and graduation year were cut on the Cricut Expression.  He requested purple and gold, so I hope the card will meet with his approval! 

Congratulations Dominique!

Butterfly Mini-Album Retreat Class

 This Zutter mini-album was the project for our most

recent retreat weekend at Lake View Lodge.  The Stampin' Up! DSP Cottage Wall was used with Razzleberry, Old Olive, and Orchid Oppulance cardstock and ink accents.  We used the butterfly stamp from the Sprinkles stamp with VersaMark and clear embossing powder to create the tone on tone random butterfly pattern on the top half of the Razzleberry cardstock.  The scallop border and butterfly punches and Flight of the Butterfly stampset continue our butterfly theme.  White gel pen, rhinestone and ribbon accents complete our cover design.  Additional butterfly embellishments were cut on the Cricut Expression using the Walk in My Garden cartridge.  The Round Tab punch was used to add index tags and journaling to some of the pages.

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Craft Haven Retreats Premieres at Lake View Lodge!

The reviews are in, and according to Emily Taylor, our first two events at Lake View Lodge were "a smashing success!!!"  Our afternoon demonstration class opened with a "sour cream container" project, a Sweet Treats box die-cut with the Sizzix Big Shot, and several card making techniques including using embossing folders.

Our guests thoroughly enjoyed creating their projects and using the tools and embellishments provided to add the finishing touches to personalize their designs.  The Chocolate Muse regularly appeared to replenish the endless supply of inspiration and treats needed to produce and fill these works of art!  The afternoon class concluded with the participants joining the evening class for a Mexican fiesta.

Olé!

 Fresh from their Mexican feast, our evening participants were all smiles as they arrived in the craft room to begin their introduction to Mini-books and Zutter bindings--pajamas optional! 

...just a short time later--more smiles and the mini-book is taking shape!

Time for a few embellishments!

There's room for a few more pretties!




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Viola!  We've jumped continents to finish our "Ooh la la" books.  Take a look at our pages!
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
In this case you can judge a book by it's cover! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A picture is worth a thousand words!

 

  

  

Some projects are so fun you want to do them again and our evening class agreed!

  

. . . and that was just the beginning!  The crafting continued until 4:00 AM when the last die-hards succumbed to the satisfaction of an evening well spent!

  

How much cropping can I get done in one evening without interruptions?  As much as I want to get done!

It's been a hard night's work, but the party has to end sometime! 

                   The End