Waterslide Revisited

Ever have one of those projects that you think is finished but just can't get out of your head?  I went to bed last night thinking I wasn't crazy about my LO of the waterslide.  Something just wasn't right.  Fast forward to this morning, and there I was at the Cricut when I should have been making lunches.  I just had to cut the frames from a matching blue paper.  It's a small change, but it makes a big difference.   

"My Favorite" Challenge

I did a layout for this week's Gypsy challenge.  We were to use 3 elements from our favorite cartridge, one from our least favorite and weld something.  I have a difficult time picking a favorite, and since I've done so much with Create a Critter lately, I decided to try another.  My elements(sun, frames, curvy lines that are welded to the frames) came from the Wild Card cart.  This is another cart that has TONS of elements that can be used on cards as well as layouts.  I still claim that Plantin Schoolbook is my least favorite, but the more I force myself to use it, the more I realize how versatile it is.  I welded two waves together to make the border at the bottom of the page, and also used it to create the "mosaic" tiles.  I'm going to add some crystal laquer to the sun to make them more tile like, but I couldn't find it today.  The word art was created by welding the letters from Mickey Font.

 

Now, a little background about the layout.  This was a family trip to Six Flags back in 2000.  My son was just under 3 years old, and seeing the waterslide insisted on going.  Now, mind you, this is the "kiddie" slide that he's standing in front of.  I got in line with him and at the top was told I couldn't go down with him.  I tried to convince him not to go but he had his heart set on it.  As soon as he started down the slide, he fell back and was quickly flipped onto his belly by a curve.  He rolled back and forth all the way down.  I was horrified that I couldn't help him, and ran to the bottom to comfort him as soon as I could.  He got out of the water and was covered in scratches.  Poor thing...hasn't been on another waterslide since (and he's 12 1/2 now).

He came in while I was putting this layout together and told me he remembered the whole thing.  He swears the guy at the top PUSHED him down the slide, and can't get over the fact that he would do that, lol.

Last Minute Grad Card

So we were invited to a graduation party a week ago.  Like a dummy, I assumed that since I wasn't asked to make a card, Kev must have already bought one to give her.  WRONG!!!  As we were getting ready to walk out the door, he turns to me and says, "Can you make a card really quick?"  UGH...MEN!  Lucky for him, I can make a card really quickly.  Not my best, but it works.  Kristin was graduating from nursing school, so I pulled out my Gypsy knowing that Everyday Paper Dolls had just what I needed.  I designed it to fit my "card template" (just a rectangle that I place on the page and set the size to my card size), then separated it by colors and let the Cricut go to work.  When all was said and done, it took about 10 minutes from start to finish.

Round and Round We Go Challenge

Here's my latest challenge entry.  If you're a Gypsy owner, you should check out the message boards at Cricut.com.  In the G forum you'll find a weekly challenge designed to help us learn about and use all the fabulous features built into your Gypsy.  This week's challenge was to weld something around a shape.  The watermelon shape came from the Doodlecharms cartridge (great for year round shapes), and the font used is Plantin Schoolbook. 

I'm in the process of figuring out how to share my gyypsy files.  I THINK you can download the file for this card HERE.

Recipe Card Swap

Just finished up some recipe cards for a swap over at the Cricut message boards.  The first one is a recipe that my fiance's Grandmother makes, called Frog Eye Salad.  It's like ambrosia with a twist...itty, bitty round noodles.  Sounds weird, I know, but YUM! 

I used my Gypsy to weld together the letters and words, and cut the frog/lily pad using Create a Critter (my new "go to" cartridge).  Even if you're not a critter kind of person, this cartridge has so many other elements it's worth looking into. 

For the second card I used CAC (again) for the barn, and Everyday Paper Dolls for the chicken.  Not my favorite chicken, but the only one I have for now.  I used the Cuttlebug to emboss the barn (but I can't remeber the name of the folder...distressed lines maybe).  I was going to originally put the chicken on the "ground" in front of the barn but while I was inking the edges, one fell on top and I liked the way it looked more.  It no longer looked like a barn to me, but more of a chicken coop.  Anyway, with the chicken up there I had to make some changes for the recipe card as well.  That's when it hit me.  I could make the barn into a pocket and weld that chicken to a tag that slips behind it.  So, when you pull the chicken off the chicken coop, you find this...

Boxed In

Happy Mother's Day!  If you're familiar with the Cricut, then chances are you've heard about the Gypsy.  I'm happy to say that I've just become a "member of the club".  I got my G for Mother's Day from the kids (o.k., I admit I had to order it, but what better reason, right?) 

Here's a box that I designed using my new toy.  I'm doing some challenges over on the Cricut message board as a way to learn about the gypsy, and this week's challenge was to create a box.  I also tried my hand at making paper roses inspired by Tim Holtz.  I will definitely be trying more of these.  I think they'd look great in a shadow box with a scrapbook page.  I have added the link to download these files to the Gypsy page.