My Cricut Craft Room Blog Relaunch Hop

A few days ago, I shared the great news about

My Cricut Craft Room

relaunching and hosting a blog hop.  Well, today's the day!

If you've come here through Leslie's blog, you're in the right place.  If you've just happened by, please stay and look around but be sure to start at the beginning of the hop when you're finished here.

You don't want to miss anything!

This is the complete list of participants:
1. Start at My Cricut Craft Room 
 2.  Vivi J
 3. Cindy M
 4.  Shawn Mosch 
 5.  Liliana Umpierre
 6.   Leslie Wrege McGrath
 7. You are here....thanks!
 8.   April Nourse
 9.  Brenda Knapik
 10.  Lourdes
 11.  Vicki Glenn
 12. Erica
 13. Connie Walsh
 14.  Tracey
 15.  Oh Kissa
 16.  Sandy 
 17. Kris Dietz
 18.  Mayra 
 19. Cheryl 
 20. Crafting Blog Events

For this hop, all participants were asked to complete 2 projects.  The only specific boundary was that it had to be made using either Cricut cartridges or SVG cutting files.  You are going to love the huge array of new creations that are shared today.  I've gotten to see little peeks of all of them and can't wait to see them in more detail!

I decided to do projects for Halloween and Christmas.

First I'll share the Halloween frames that I did:

I found the frames in a clearance bin at Michaels for $2 a piece.

Now I really wish I had grabbed a few more!

They look much better in person.

Here are some close ups of the individual frames:

 Cartridge used for spider web:  Mini Monsters

Cartridge used for witch:  Wrap it Up

I used black vinyl from CricketVinylSupplies.com on top of the glass.  Under the glass there are sheets from an old book that I wrinkled up and distressed using Tim Holtz inks.  After the inks were dry, it was really too dark and the vinyl didn't stand out enough.  A layer of cheese cloth over the book pages solved that issue.

**The little air bubbles that show on the witch's hat and skirt don't show nearly as much in person....my camera decided to really highlight those flaws.  Naturally.**

You can find these frames in the following places:

Serenity Saturday -- Fall linky party

Embracing Change -- Creative inspirations linky party

Stamp with Linda Walsh -- October Challenge: anything Halloween

Mom 'n Daughter Savings -- Halloween linky party

Crazy 4 Challenges -- Halloween

Crafty Calendar Challenges -- Halloween

Sunday View -- Inspired link party

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The Christmas project that I did is also a 2 parter.  I've made a wine bottle gift tag and a topper for a mason jar.  I thought this would make a great family gift....a bottle of vino for Mom and Dad along with a jar of candied pecans for the kids.  (As long as Mom and Dad don't eat the pecans after the little ones are tucked in for the night!)

Here's the gift set:

I had originally intended to really bling out the bottle tag but looking at the rustic simplicity of the mason jar, I really wanted to keep both items very basic.  So glad I did....I love this set!

Here are close ups of the individual pieces:

This canning jar can be found here:

Catered Crop -- Canning jars

Cartridges used:

Poinsettia:  Flower Shoppe

Lid top wrapper:  George & Basic Shapes

Bottle tag:  Wrap It Up

Gift tag on bottle tag:  Fabulous Finds

For the large bottle tag, I used one of the tag blackouts from Wrap It Up and stretched it in Cricut Craftroom.  The original hole was removed with the "remove contours" feature and I replaced it with a hole that measures about an 1.5".  The small tag on front of that is from Fabulous Finds.  It usually has a scalloped top but I trimmed that off by hand.

The poinsettias are so gorgeous!  It's such a shame my photos don't show them better.  I inked the edges of the petals (which aren't really petals...they're called bracts and are modified leaves)  with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo.  The yellow center (that's the flower of a poinsettia) was first inked with Tim's Forest Moss and then Fired Brick.  All of the bracts and the leaves were formed by using a couple of different sizes of styluses.  I've used this same poinsettia in a smaller version on one of the cards you can find here.  And I know these little beauties will be showing up on some Christmas packages this year.  Won't they make great gift toppers?

This gift set is being shared here:

Cards Galore -- October challenge: flowers

Confessions of a SAHM -- Homemade Christmas link up

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Well, there ya' go.  My 2 (or is that 4?) projects for the

My Cricut Craft Room

blog relaunch hop.  I hope you've enjoyed them.  Now, please continue on to the next project.  You'll be able to find it over at April's blog.  

Thanks for joining me today.  Leave a comment if you have a second or two....I'd love to hear from you!

Lacy Sunshine's Oscar and Olivia baby tag

Last week my "Bright and Cheery Halloween" card was named to the Top 3 at the Lacy Sunshine Challenge Blog!  I'm still really excited about it because there are always fantastic projects submitted so the fact that mine was singled out is a huge compliment!

Thanks again to Sunshine Girl Deanne for selecting my card.

By the way, see my badge?!  (Happy squeals!)

In addition to that honor, there was also a prize of one free digi of my choice.  (Squeals continuing!)  And since I used one of Heather's images last week, I received this week's challenge image for FREE through the loyalty program.  Pretty sweet deal, right?  You can check out all of the details here.

The image that I chose for my prize was one that just really caught my eye.  It's Oscar and Olivia...and they're otters.  Holding hands.  So cute!  That's the digi I used for today's project and I'm in love with their sweet faces.  I do have to admit that my inexperience at coloring animal fur with my ProMarkers led to little Oscar looking an awful lot like an Ewok.

But, I loved Ewoks so I'm okay with it.

Since my Cricut Fabulous Finds cartridge is very sadly overlooked far too often, I thought I'd give it some love today.  The luggage tags are super cute so that's what I used.  The scalloped circles were cut using Elegant Edges.  I find myself going to that cart over and over.

If you're looking for a new addition to your Cricut library, I highly recommend it!

Here are a couple of side views of my gift tag so you can see how much dimension there is.

The other items I used making this card were:

Papers:  Bazzill and Papertrey Ink

Printed papers: Michaels Dollar Bin (love those packs)

Mulberry flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts and Ebay

Beads: Dollar Tree

Footprint charm:  Michaels in the baby shower section

Seam binding: Glitter and Kitsch over at Etsy

Lace: Martha Stewart

Other bits and bobs: my stash

Making this tag reminded me of my days rollerskating during the early 80's.  My best friend and I were known for our love of all clothing lavender and purple with an occasional touch of pink.  The song "Betty Davis Eyes" kept playing in my head....aah, those were some fun times.

Here's a final look at the gift tag:

You can find this in the following challenges:

Lacy Sunshine -- Anything goes
I Love ProMarkers -- Anything goes
The Sisterhood of Crafters -- Devine Digis
Penny's Paper-Crafty -- 2 or more patterned papers
Creative Craft Challenges -- Use ribbons
Going Grey with Scrap-Creations -- Polka dots
Inky Chicks -- Pretty in pink
Loves Rubberstamps -- 1,2,3
Through the Craft Room Door -- Anything goes
All Crafts Challenge -- August/September challenge