Bunny Basket tutorial now online - UPDATE for GYPSY users!

Here's the new version of him that I created for the video.  Please leave me a comment if you watch it or if you download the files.  I LOVE to hear from you. It will make me very "hoppy!"  Enjoy!

Click Here for Bunny Basket Tutorial

GYPSY USERS: If you previously downloaded the Gypsy version of this file, I discovered problems that are now fixed. Click here to download the updated file.

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

Bunny Basket to make you "Hoppy"

Ok, I can't help the bad pun...that's what we do in my family.  Anyway, I finished this project last night and I was so happy with the way it turned out! Don't you just love it when a project comes together just the way you imagined it?!  I think he's super cute, and he's big enough to set on a table filled with half a dozen eggs as a decoration, or you can give him to a friend or child on Easter morning.  I just love the 3D facial features - the little pointy nose, googly eyes and "real" whiskers.  The bottom is doubled, so it's fairly strong, but don't count on being able to carry him by his ears if you load him up too heavily.

I had the idea that I would coat the whole thing with Mod Podge to make him really strong, but I was too excited to share him to wait that long.  I also planned to do a video tutorial to show you how to put him together, but we have a super big project going on at work, and when I got home tonight I was exhausted and had a headache, so the tutorial will have to wait until tomorrow.  If you can't wait, I think you can figure it out with the photos. 

The Basics: You'll need two pieces of heavy-weight double-sided (optional) card stock for the basket and ears, and scraps for the facial features and insides of the ears.  I loved the clean, finished look it gave the inside by using a pretty double-sided cardstock. I used three 8" pieces of thin twine for the whiskers, knotted in the middle. The knot hides easily under the nose. You'll also need some really good white paper glue that dries clear for the reinforcement on the inside bottom piece and for the facial features.  I used my ATG gun for most of the actual basket assembly.  Use two regular brads for the handles - the size you get in the office supply store.  You'll notice there are 2 ovals for the bottom of the basket. One is just slightly smaller and is to place on the inside bottom after you've attached the sides to the larger oval.  The smaller piece covers the tabs on the inside and adds strength.

Jan, this one's especially for you and dedicated to your grandson.  Maybe you can make one for him and give him some special Easter hugs and kisses for me!

Cartridge(s) Needed: George

Bunny Basket files for Design Studio
Bunny Basket files for Gypsy

Cricut kisses and crafty wishes!

I've received a new award!

Thanks to Mary aka ScrapbookingGrandma, I've been given the Sunshine Award!  Mary and I first "met" on a yahoo mail group about Sure Cuts a Lot, and eventually we ran across each other on the message boards at Cricut.com, too.  Mary is a very generous and talented lady who posts lots of ideas and files on her blog, so be sure to check her out!

Also thanks to Deanna at Deanna's Papercrafts. Deanna's blog was new to me when she sent me this award, but she has some absolutely adorable stuff!  Please check her out!

Part of receiving this award is to pay it forward by nominating 6 other bloggers, so here are 6 of my favorites. Please pay them all a visit!

Cheryl's Window by CherB
217Creations by Elizabeth aka Makeupgirl 217
Scrap and Dance by Michele
Cute and Some by Audrey
IzzyBoo Creations
Scrappin' Phlen by Jen aka Phlen

Mary and Deanna, thanks for speadin' the sunshine my way!

Another AWESOME Tuesday Treat!

It's Tuesday, and that means another great project over on Tuesday Treats from designer CherB.  I'm starting to wish I had gone earlier in the schedule so I don't have to follow these brilliant designs!  My TT debut isn't until April, so I guess I have some time to really ramp up my project!

If you don't already know about Tuesday Treats and you use either Gypsy or Design Studio, you'll definitely want to check it out.  It's a site just for a bunch of us from the cricut.com message board to share our projects and ideas using either photo or video tutorials, and you'll get SO many great ideas from a group of the most creative ladies on the web!  Go check it out and sign up to follow so you don't miss a single project!

Boutique Tissue Box Cover

Yes!  I'm back to designing again!  This time I've done a little home decor item to share with you.  I never seem to be able to find tissue boxes that go with my decor, and at this time of year, we have tissue boxes in every room!  So, I decided to dress mine up a bit using my Cricut.  It's fast, easy, and inexpensive, and you can make one for every season or every occasion!

This project isn't complicated to put together, but I made a video tutorial anyway.  I figured it would be good practice for making my Tuesday Treats video.  Remember it's my first on-camera one, so forgive the bad lighting and going off camera once in a while.  I hope they'll get better, but I think this one will help you - and you only have to stand me for 6 minutes this time! 

There are 4 versions of the files. You have your choice of Gypsy or Design Studio format, and I have created the files so that you can cut it on 12x24" cardstock, but since that's a bit difficult to find, I also designed a file for cutting from 2 sheets of 12x12".  I use 12x12" in the video.

As always, I only ask that you leave a comment if you download the files.

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

Cartridge needed: "George and Basic Shapes"
Boutique Tissue Box files for Design Studio
Boutique Tissue Box files for Gypsy

Click here to go to the VIDEO TUTORIAL on You Tube, or click on the tool bar at the top of the page to go to my Tutorials Page.

Your pictures in words...or making words with your pictures...or a picture is worth a thousand words

Now that you know the basics of making your own word art, learn to make words with photos for a custom, personalized page header or blog title.  It's tons of fun and oh, so satisfying to create a look that used to be only available to the professionals.  If you have 20 minutes, I'll show you how you can do it too!

If you missed the first tutorial on making word art, you can watch them first. Just click here to watch both lessons.

Word Art For Your Blogs and Scrapbooking

I finally got this video tutorial made and uploaded.  First my computer wouldn't cooperate with Movie Maker, then we lost our internet because of all the snow we've had.  Tonight I finally got all the parts to come together and I have it ready for you!  This tutorial will show you how to make word art with digital backgrounds like the "PICNIC" above.  My next one will show you how to use photos to make a page title, like I show in the post below this one.  Have fun, and please leave me a comment on You Tube to let me know if you find it helpful.

Cricut Kisses and Crafty Wishes!

Ask and you shall receive!

Wow! 204 of you voted in my poll asking if you would like more tutorials on using Photoshop Elements in your scrapbooking, crafting and blogging, and a full 93% of you voted "yes"!  Those of you who have followed me for a while know that I love to answer your requests, so I'm brushing up my skills and planning a whole series of techniques that I think many of you will find useful. 

If you have a blog or website and you post pictures of your work, you will definitely want to check out my videos on how to watermark photos. They are already posted on my Tutorials page, and there are 2 different methods for 2 very different looking watermarks.  Make sure you click on the 4 arrows on the lower right corner to view them full-screen.

If you're a scrapbooker and you've never tried digital or hybrid scrapping, you might be surprised at what  you can do with your computer.  Hybrid scrapping just means combining digital methods with the traditional ones.  Be prepared to become hooked!  There are so many amazing effects you can create with your digital photos before you even print them out, that you'll find yourself scrapping in a whole new way.  There are some super easy techniques that take just minutes but add a major "WOW" factor to your photography. 

Other techniques I'll teach you will enable you to create your own embellishments, like word art (one example is shown at the top of this post), buttons, brads and ribbons.  If you're scrapping at midnight and find that you don't have just the right color button, you'll be able to create one that lays flat in your scrapbook but still has visual dimension.  There are also lots of free digital scrapping elements on the web that you can use as they are or modify to fit your own needs. I'll show you some of those tricks, too.

What if you don't have Photoshop Elements?  Just about any photo editing program that allows you to use layers will work very much the same for the techniques I'll be teaching.  If you don't have editing software at all, there's a very good free one called Gimp that is a good place to start experimenting.  You can download the most recent version here. 

I'm excited about this new series of tutorials, and I have some ideas about using the Photoshop techniques in combination with some Cricut projects.  Can you say, PUMP UP THE CREATIVITY!?!?

Fifty is Nifty!

My celebration actually started yesterday. When I got home last night, DH sent me to the sofa in front of a roaring fire and brought me a glass of wine and 2 dozen roses - yellow, my favorite. Then he served me dinner while I watched "The Bachelor." Yes, I confess, I watch it. Then I watched CherB'S awesome tutorial about her reflection card and followed along with my Gypsy. How awesome is technology?!?!

I started today with a great cup of coffee and a bagel with my favorite olive and cream cheese spread, FREE from my favorite NY bagel place - and his are "real" NY bagels 'cuz he's from there. He is turning 50 in 4 weeks, so we have a special connection....LOL!

The staff at work is taking me to lunch today, and DH is taking me to my favorite Spanish restaurant for dinner, where the owners are friends and they know it's my birthday, so I'm suspicious that they have something up their sleeves. I'd be happy with just a pitcher of their fabulous sangria!

I'm proudly wearing my LARGE black "50 - Over the Hill" button that my dear mother sent me, along with an application to AARP...LOL! But, I'm a "glass half full" kind of girl, so I think I might have to get out the Cricut and change the button to read "over the HUMP." After all, life is good these days. I have the best DH in the world and he's been taking me on awesome trips now that the kids are grown. I'm very proud of my kids, I have a job that I love (having any job these days is a good thing), and my DH pretty much lets me buy what I want for crafting. How lucky can a girl get? It's a good day to turn 50!

And the winner is.....

...DISNEYNUT77!  Congratulations Gloria! I'll be sending out your Easter 2010 cartridge as soon as you contact me. 

Thank you all for entering and following!  I have lots of ideas for new tutorials on Photoshop, as well as new Cricut projects, including one that I'm VERY exited about that uses the Easter cart.  Stay tuned and I'll try to keep you busy!

POP the COLOR in your PHOTOS for drama in blogs and scrapbooks!

Have you ever wondered how this very dramatic and artistic effect is achieved? I can show you how it can be done in just five minutes! View the newest tutorial on my revamped Tutorials Page and you'll be amazing your family and friends with your "darkroom" skills in no time! Shhhhh...don't tell them it's EASY!!

Click here to go to the tutorials page now!

Matchbook Valentine - Quick and Easy!

This is not my original idea. It's been around for as long as I can remember. As a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I've been making them for many, many years as quick make-and-takes at workshops.  They originated as a project that was done with blank door hangers that Stampin' Up! used to sell, which meant they were already cut and had a hole in them for the doorknob, making a perfect window.  When they were no longer for sale, I quit making these little cuties. Last week I came across an old sample of one, and I thought "That would be so easy to make with Cricut!"  Off I went to design one!

New tutorials planned??

I got great feedback from many of you about my video watermark tutorial.  Thank you all for your comments!  As I said in that video, there are many ways to create watermarks, and I am working on another tutorial on a watermark that looks embossed into the photo.  Watch for it this weekend!

Several of you who left comments also asked if I planned to make more tutorials about using Photoshop.  I hadn't really planned to at the time, but the more I thought about it, I thought that since we're all artists of one kind or another, and since so many of us scrapbook, that there might be some interest in creating special effects with your photos.  One of the possibilities is pictured here. (That's from my daughter's wedding in November.) How cool would that effect be to use in your scrapbook? There are some other more practical techniques that I could cover that would help you fix little "problems" in photos, and some that are just plain fun.

Don't worry - I won't stop posting Cricut projects and files, but I thought this might cover something of use to many of you, too.  So, take the poll , and let me know if you're interested.  It's right under my avatar on this page.

UPDATE:  The tutorial for this technique is now online! Click here to watch!

A birthday for me, BLOG CANDY for you!

In celebration of my big FIFTIETH birthday (that wasn't as hard to type as I expected it to be), I'm giving away a gift because I feel so incredibly blessed. I have the good fortune to have a husband who completely indulges me and my crafting "needs," and I want to pay it forward.

Yep, it's the Easter 2010 cartridge, and it's up for grabs to one lucky bunny!  All you have to do is leave a comment under this post to enter the drawing and you just might have this new cartridge to put in your Easter basket.  It's a brand new cartridge in an unopened package and linkable to Gypsy.

I'll use a random selector to choose the winner on my birthday, February 9th. Be sure to leave your email in your post, and check back here on the evening of the 9th to find out if you won so you can give me your shipping address.  Good luck!

P.S. - Hop over to see what one of my followers and Cricut MB buddies did with the TreatHeart Box I posted Sunday.  She turned it into an adorable cookie holder! See her photos at My Polar Expressions.

SCORE! Super Bowl Football Box

A follower emailed me last night and asked if I could come up with something to give to her guests as they leave her Super Bowl party this Sunday. Well...you KNOW how I love a challenge!  This was one of those rare projects that came together exactly as I pictured it.  Because time was short, I used Tags, Bags, Boxes and More instead of making my own box, but I made the football, goal post and word out of good ole' George.  I hope she likes it, and I hope some of you can use it, too.