100 Cartridge Blog Hop!

Woops!  I managed to double book hops this weekend!  If you are here for the Show Me Your Craft Room Hop, CLICK HERE!

If you are here for the 100 Cartridge Blog Hop, hosted my My Cricut Craft Room!  Welcome!!!  You should have been sent to my page by the fabulous and talented Tracy's Blog.  If you didn't, please see the blog line up at the bottom of this page and start from the beginning.  There are TWO days and over 100 cartridges featured!  You won't want to miss a thing!

Now!  On to my project.  I am really proud of this, for two reasons - it was hard. AND it was the first time I had "designed" a book.  I used Cricut Craft Room to weld words and blocks together to make different length pages, then sized the layered words to fit.  I used the Cars cartridge for this project, and I have a few pointers for working with this:

• The designers who made this cartridge were brilliant.  The characters really come to life as you piece them together.  Save yourself the step of cutting out pieces in black and simply use a black background.  Use a pen to mark in extra spaces if needed.
• The larger the cuts the better, mine were cut at 2.5 inches (Mater was cut at 4.5) and I did not find the pieces too small to work with, but I could see how some could.
• Use chalk and glitter glue for small pieces instead of cutting them out.
• avoid using thick "premium" paper.  I actually found that my cheapest, thinnest card stock cut the best for these itty bitty pieces!
• Have PATIENCE!

Here you go - enjoy the pictures, and thank you for blessing me with your time today!  I can't wait to see what everyone else has to share today!! 

Well that's all for me today : )  Your next stop on the hop today is with the amazing Shelly http://kccroppers.blogspot.com 

Have fun! Happy Hopping!

The Line Up:

Saturday  

1.   

If you get lost along the way here is the entire line up

1.     My Cricut CraftRoom- http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com

2.     Sharon- Sharon  http://simplysweetbysharon.blogspot.com/ -  ------NEXT-------

3.     Melissa http://pinkpolkadotscrapping.blogspot.com - - 

4.     Holly  http://hollys-hobbie.blogspot.com/ -  

5.     Yvette  http://gammascreativecorner.blogspot.com/ -  

6.     Samantha http://samanthascricutcreations.blogspot.com/ - -  

7.     Heather F http://www.papercrafteranonymous.com/ -  

8.     Suzy's Crafts http://suzyssimplecrafts.blogspot.com/ 

9.     Tracy http://www.scrappininthewoods.blogspot.com -  

10.   Heather S http://operationcricutdesign.blogspot.com/   <---- YOU ARE HERE

11.   Shelly http://kccroppers.blogspot.com -  

12.   Laura  http://laurascraftsandmore.blogspot.com/ - - 

13.   Ricki http://manicexpressionsdesigns.blogspot.com/ -  

14.   Madison http://funkycards.blogspot.com/ -  

15.   Jen BowkerRanney -http://myimagitivity.blogspot.com 

16.   Blog candy- http://ericasblogcandy.blogspot.com/

OCTOBER CRICUT 100 CARTRIDGE BLOG HOP DAY TWO

Welcome to DAY TWO of our monthly hop around the block and visit a wide range of wonderful Cricut crafters. SO MUCH TALENT on this Design Team that I am honored to be on, and on your travels you will see over 100 different Cricut cartridges in use!

You should have come from the super amazing Laura's blog.  If you did not please start at the beginning of the hop at http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/  
Too many great projects we don't want you to miss!   NOT TO MENTION THERE ARE PRIZES INVOLVED!!!  WOOO!  Should you get lost the entire lineup can be found at the bottom of this post.

Onto my cartridges for this month.  I was recently asked to make a banner and card set for a John Deere themed birthday party.  I thought...  sure... I could do a green tractor, but how cool if I could get the logo on there somewhere.  So here's how I did it:

Using Cricut Craft Room (trust me, its worth the wait.  The kinks are annoying and the program seems to work better every time I use it) I selected the tractor from "Everyday Paper Dolls" and then found the perfect deer shape on "Going Places", tilted it, and dropped it ontop of the tractor engine area.  I cut that from green.  I cut one of the same without the deer in yellow.  Once cut, I trimmed the green seat, wheel and bumper away to further show the yellow.  Then I custom created ovals to match the wheel sizes to cover over the tractor wheels.  Once it was put together it looked a little too "clean" to me so I dirtied it up with some walnut ink brushed on with a piece of felt by hand.

Not sure what to do with my new little creation, I decided to give it a sceen on a card.  Not sure if I will put a child's age in the clouds?  Either way, its blank for now.  I used Plantin Schoolbook for the grass and Going Places for the clouds.  The sky and grass hill are hand cut.  Chalking completes the detail. 

My next project was made for a friend of mine named Amy.  She has a business called Forever In A Flash Photography and she is incredibly talented.  Her pictures literally make me gasp sometimes.  If you are in the Baltimore area, you should check out her work.  MY photography, on the other hand, leaves a little to be desired.  Sorry for the poor quality here....

Once I saw this posted photo on Amy's page, I wanted to show what a custom mat could do to enhance the photograph.  I wanted to compliment the soft browns and reds of the photos and add some femininity with a soft purple.  I used CCR to create a mat, and a plum border for the mat opening.  I chose a little sentiment from "Sugar and Spice" and cut it at 3.25" in a dark gray color and used the plum cardstock for the heart.  For a variation, I made a second mat "accessory" cutting "S" from Ashlyn's Alphabet  in black and used a prima flower on the bottom right side.

Thank you, as always, for stopping by and honoring me with your visit today!  I hope that along this weekend's hop that you have found some great project inspiration from the fantastic gals on this team!

Your next stop on the hop is on Lezlye at  http://lezlyes.blogspot.com

In case you get lost, here is the lineup:

18. Erica – http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com

19. Connie - http://conniescraftycloset.blogspot.com

20. Lucinda Gibson - http://thegrowinggibson.blogspot.com

21. Tanya Adams - http://nonnascraftcorner.blogspot.com

22. Karey Jeans - http://www.creativecraftcorner.com

23. Jenny R http://myimagitivity.blogspot.com

24. Gayle Schrader- http://gscraptime.blogspot.com

25. Laura - http://laurascraftsandmore.blogspot.com

26. Heather S - http://operationcricutdesign.blogspot.com   YOU ARE HERE

27. Lezlye http://lezlyes.blogspot.com

28. Rosa http://kleymanr.blogspot.com/

29. Autumn Willis - http://autumnsbuggycreations.blogspot.com

30. Lisa Newton-Orensky - www.allmadebylisa.blogspot.com

31. Sharon http://simplysweetbysharon.blogspot.com

32. Kat http://katscrapfever.blogspot.com/    

33. Laurie http://lauriecandoit.blogspot.com/

34. Blog Candy http://ericasblogcandy.blogspot.com/

My Cricut Craft Room's 100 Cartridge Blog Hop!!!!

Welcome to My Cricut Craft Room's 100 Cartridge Blog Hop!!!!

You should have come from the fabulous and talented Heather F.'s blog, http://www.papercrafteranonymous.com/.  If you did not please start at the beginning of the hop at
http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/. Thanks for hopping along this weekend, and good luck on winning some of the fab prizes up for grabs!!!

Today, I'd like to share a project with you made using Nate's ABCs.  Being the mom of a 3 year old little boy, I HAD to get my hands on this cartridge!  It's filled with tons of fun detailed images, and I thought putting some together for a few mini albums I would sell at several upcoming trade shows.  If you like what you see, I invite you to become a follower and check back as I continue to post the projects I have feverishly been working on over the last couple of months!

Here are pictures of the Mini Album using Nate's ABCs.  The "recipe" is below.  Enjoy, and thanks in advance for looking!

I cut the paper yo yo string in favor of using tied twine.  The image on the tag is from A Child's Year.

Supplies:

• 12x12 black chipboard cut down to 6 x 6 blocks (Five 12 x 12 sheets cut down yields four five-paged books)
• DCWV paper
• I used DCWV adhesive paper for the cuts in this project simply because I had it on hand and wanted to use it up, it certainly made it easier!
• The "dots" at the corners of some mats are simply punched from coordinating paper from my largest hole punch.
• Cuts are made at 2" and are NOT secured with adhesive over the photo mat (this is important if the book is a gift or pre-made)
• I used the super-duper Cropadial to punch the holes in the top right corner AFTER completing the book, and secured the book together with a 1" book binding ring.
• Journaling tags are given binder divider labels for a fun look. 

Next you should go to HOLLY at  http://hollys-hobbie.blogspot.com/ . I can't wait to see what she has to show us today!  Happy Hopping!

If you get lost along the way here is the entire line-up

1.      My Cricut Craft Room http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com  

2.      Mayra http://gettingcraftywithma.blogspot.com/

3.      April http://curlsandgrins.blogspot.com/ 

4.      Melissa http://pinkpolkadotscrapping.blogspot.com

5.      My Project http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-project-for-100-cartridge-blog-hop.html

6.      Pattie http://sweetpsscrapbooks.blogspot.com/

7.      Patricia http://micraftygal.blogspot.com/  

8.      Ricki http://manicexpressionsdesigns.blogspot.com/  

9.      Rosa http://kleymanr.blogspot.com/  

10.  Samantha http://samanthascricutcreations.blogspot.com/  

11.  Sharon http://simplysweetbysharon.blogspot.com/

12.  Shelly http://kccroppers.blogspot.com/  

13.  Suzy's Crafts http://suzyssimplecrafts.blogspot.com/  

14.  Tammy S. http://thepurplemuse.blogspot.com  

15.  Tanya http://nonnascraftcorner.blogspot.com/  

16.  Tracy http://www.scrappininthewoods.blogspot.com/

17.  Yvette http://gammascreativecorner.blogspot.com/    

18.  Amanda http://craftsbyamanda.blogspot.com/

19.   Giveaway http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/2011/09/surprise-giveaway-saturday-september-3.html

20.  Autumn http://autumnsbuggycreations.blogspot.com/  

21.  Connie http://conniescraftycloset.blogspot.com/  

22.  Courtney http://craftingwithcourtney.blogspot.com/  

23.  Gayle http://gscraptime.blogspot.com/  

24.  Heather F http://www.papercrafteranonymous.com/

25.  Heather S http://operationcricutdesign.blogspot.com/   ----YOU ARE HERE------

26.  Holly http://hollys-hobbie.blogspot.com/

27.  Jen R. http://memorieswithjen.blogspot.com/

28.  Jenny R http://myimagitivity.blogspot.com/  

29.  Laura http://laurascraftsandmore.blogspot.com/  

30.  Lisa http://www.allmadebylisa.blogspot.com/  

31.  Karey http://www.creativecraftcorner.com/

32.  Kat http://katscrapfever.blogspot.com/  

33.  Lezlye http://lezlyes.blogspot.com/  

34.  Lucinda http://thegrowinggibson.blogspot.com/  

35.  Blog Candy http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/2011/09/reserved-for-this-weekends-blog-candy.html