Graduation part 2 (non-crafty)

W
He came in with his sister. He was so shy, so quiet, and she was not. They don't have the same last names, so we didn't know for a while. Until we got to know them. He is smart. Smarter than he realizes, and he loves basketball. Our connection was basketball, and math. He did well in class, always flying under the radar. Shy, quiet, the one who doesn't get noticed. The one with a really loud, overbearing friend/cousin/brother person, E, who takes the spotlight. E didn't get enough playing time on the court, and his grades suffered so he changed schools. W stays and keeps his grades up and plays ball.

Then E gets in serious trouble. There is a gun involved. W stays the course, the grades waiver a bit, but he gets really good at making 3 point shots and starts being a leader on the team. The coach, who has put so much time in with him, leaves without warning. Things go south on the basketball front. The new coach is bad for the team. The grades suffer, but he's still there. Still in school, still working, still playing. And there is math, which he excels at.

Then there is that damn gun again. This time W is there...and I get sick to my stomach when I find out. The cousin/brother/so called friend person put him in jeopardy this time. I hate that! "But he's family." "I don't care, he shouldn't put you in that position!" And the year ends and W is still there, still there.

This year there is a new coach. One who is willing to listen and work. There are ups and downs, but it's better. The grades are up and down, but b-ball is back so he works. Then E and the gun are back, again. This time the mistake means jail for a long time. It takes some time, but W gets back in the game, fully committed, grades are on track... mostly. He works to get done, works to be on a special summer team. He stayed, he finished, he will graduate. I hope he goes to school for something and has a good long life. He gives great hugs, by the way. I will miss him too.

May Flowers at FCCB

Welcome to another Challenge Me Monday...

Challenge #251 May Flowers
Make a project using flowers!

This Weeks Sponsor:

$25.00 Gift Certificate

To qualify for the prize, be sure to use at least 1 Cricut cut on your project and if it's not obvious, let us know what cartridge you used. If you use a Cricut Explore machine, at least one cut must be from the Cricut catalog of images.

I made several cards this week for the flower challenge. I am intending to use these as notes of encouragement to some friends who are going through some life changes. My first card is made with an image from the Botanicals image set. I wanted to do a CAS card with a little twist.

I sliced the flower from the stem and kept both parts. I duplicated the flower part and made it a bit larger. I sliced the flower from the background paper so I could add some dimension. 

I embossed the white background paper with an Anna Griffin Cuttlebug folder and attached it to the card with foam tape. I glued the stem directly onto the card, and put the flower into the negative space with some thicker foam tape so it's a bit taller. I went over the flower and stem with clear Wink of Stella for a little sparkle. All of the colored paper is Recollections, by the way.

I did something similar with these cute chevron flowers from SVG Attic. You can find them here (they were only $0.99). The leaves are from the Picturesque image set.

I tried a "flat" one for this card. I don't like it as much as the ones with the dimension, but it would be easy to mail.

Thank you for stopping by. Please remember to come play with us at FCCB, I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Celebrate Mom at FCCB

 Happy Monday and welcome to another Monday challenge!

Challenge #250 - Celebrate Mom-create a card or project for Mom

This Weeks Sponsor
digiplayground.com

There will be 3 winners of $7 gift certificates!

Create a project inspired by Mother's Day

To qualify for the prize, be sure to use at least 1 Cricut cut on your project and if it's not obvious, let us know what cartridge you used. If you use a Cricut Explore machine, at least one cut must be from the Cricut catalog of images.

I combined images from Cricut and digiplayground for my projects today. The svg's from digiplayground were my bases and Cricut images were used for embellishments. They both turned out pretty cute and they cut very nicely!

This base of this is called the Flower Meadow Papercut Cylinder Lantern and can be found here. I cut it from Recollections card stock. I also cut a rectangle out of vellum that had bits of glitter in it to put behind the flower piece (it didn't come with the file, I created it in Design Space). I only had tiny battery operated candles and wanted it to look like there was something bigger inside. I added several butterflies and a couple of dragonflies from Elegant Embellishments and Kate's ABC's. 

The coordinating card is from a digiplayground svg called the Bubble Love card. You can see the file here. The original file has a heart where I put the flower. You can still see it peeking out from behind. I wanted to make it match the lantern a bit more, so I cut a flower from Flower Shoppe and put it over the heart. It's cuter in person than the picture. The "mom" is from the Mother's Day 2010 image set. 

The original file for the card is open bubbles but I decided to add a piece of vellum on the back of that as well to help it coordinate with the lantern. I really like how the glitter sparkles through the holes.

I'm not sure who is going to receive these items as I have to had a mom for a couple of years now. I'm sure I can find somebody who would enjoy them.

Please come play with us this challenge and remember to go visit digiplayground to see all of their cute files!

Embossing challenge

I'm really trying to get back into doing some challenges occasionally, I really miss doing them! This weeks challenge at Shopping our Stash was to use your oldest embossing things to create texture on your project. I used my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder and some Hampton Arts stamps that had Spellbinders dies with them, which I also embossed, to create this super quick card. It's definitely not a fancy card, but it was fun to make and it could be used for many different occasions.

The patterned paper is from Webster's Pages and the white is just my stash white. The ribbon has been on my ribbon rack for I don't know how long and I just opened it for this project. It matches better in person than it does in the picture. The flowers were all stamped with Distress ink.

Welcome Spring at Fantabulous Cricut

Welcome to another Challenge Me Monday...

Challenge #249 Welcome Spring
Make a project using whatever reminds you of Spring!

This Weeks Sponsor:

Winner will receive one Craftin Desert Diva's stamp set of their choice!

(USA address only)

To qualify for the prize, be sure to use at least 1 Cricut cut on your project and if it's not obvious, let us know what cartridge you used. If you use a Cricut Explore machine, at least one cut must be from the Cricut catalog of images.

My card this week was made with this cute little chickadee image from the Spring Cottage image set. It is included in the Cricut subscription. The "Spring" is from Stretch Your Imagination, a cartridge/image set I don't think I use enough. 

The background was drawn with an American Crafts chalk marker using an image from Anna's Garden Cards and Embellishments. I really like some of the images in that group.

All of the card stock is from Recollections. I cut the grey of the bird and the "spring" out twice to add some dimension to the card front. I put some Wink of Stella on the flowers because cherry blossoms always seem like they should sparkle a bit. 

Make sure you come join us for our spring challenge, we love seeing all of your Cricut creativity!

It's Easter at Fantabulous Cricut!

Happy Monday and welcome to another Monday challenge!

Challenge #248-Easter

This Weeks Sponsor

Bugaboo Stamps

The prize is 7 digital stamps!

Create a project inspired by Easter

To qualify for the prize, be sure to use at least 1 Cricut cut on your project and if it's not obvious, let us know what cartridge you used. If you use a Cricut Explore machine, at least one cut must be from the Cricut catalog of images.

I made a rather non-traditional Easter card today. I loved this image from Bugaboo Stamps and just needed to find some way to make a card with it. I like how it turned out. You can find the image here if you would like one of your own.

I colored the image with Promarkers and Spectrum Noirs. I have a Spectrum Noir set for skin colors and I usually use that in my coloring. Recollections card stock and the pierced rectangles set from Die-namics were used to cut the background solids. The eggs were cut from the Happy Easter Cricut image set. 

I used stamps from KAndrew Designs and My Pink Cricut for the sentiments. They were all stamped with Dusty Concord Distress Ink. I punched the border on the inside of the card with an EK success punch. 

Please join us for this fun challenge. The prize this time is great, there are some wonderful images on the Bugaboo site!

Frame challenge at BBTB2

The challenge this week at Bitten by the Bug 2 is to use a frame from one of the Cricut image sets. I picke the sunflower frame from Stretch Your Imagination.

I used paper from the Core'dinations whitewash collection for the frame and the flowers. The sunflower is from the Art Nouveau cartridge (one of my favorites). To add some more interest to the flower I cut some petals from the Flower Shoppe set and put them on top of the flower. They are curled a bit to add some dimension.

The frame is popped up on foam tape. I also used an embossing stylus to add some veins to the leaves. The leaves are all made from random scraps from my stash. I really need to do that more often. I used Recollections solid color card stock for the two blue pieces. The brighter yellow has a metallic element and is from the Paper Company.

Here is a link to the Design Space file if you would like to recreate this card (or any part of it). Have a great day!