Creative Memories - 'Tis the Season Joy Jar

Simple, simple craft. I stuffed mine with crimped paper strips to take the photo, but imagine how adorable they'd look filled with yummy Christmas candies, mints, chocolates, or jellybeans?!? Fun and easy way to show your appreciation to teachers, neighbours, co-workers...the possibilities are endless.

I recycled an empty candle jar (after enjoying the candle...gift for me, gift for others). I used the "Joy" cut from the Creative Memories 'Tis the Season Cricut cartridge (pg. 41) and cut it from red vinyl. I applied it to the jar using my painter's tape technique (check out the tutorial here on my blog at http://lilbuggerblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/vinyl-application-with-painters-tape_07.html ) and tied a matching red grossgrain ribbon around the top. Easy peasy!!

Need a Creative Memories consultant?? Check out my gal, Denyse! Tell her I sent you...she'll look after you :) You can link to her from my left side bar or by clicking on the logo below.

What are YOU crafting today??
Happy buggin'!

Diaper Cake & Matching Monogram Card

Well, after a (too) long hiatus from posting, I have returned, and made it my mission to *try* to catch you up on everything that's been going on!  Basically, in a nutshell, I went and got myself a full-time job, and it's really REALLY been cutting into my "me time" and my "crafting time", LOL!  Things are going well, I love my new job.  I just needed some time to get adjusted, get used to the schedule demands and to figure out how to fit all my crafting in.  I think (knock on wood, tap tap) I may have figured it out.  Wish me luck!!

Now, back to the nitty-gritty and the fun stuff!!

This is a diaper cake and matching monogram card that I made for my dear girlfriend who just had a beautiful baby boy!!  Welcome to the world, Mason :)

To make the cake, I made three tiers.  The diapers of the bottom tier are folded in half, the ones of the middle tier are folded into thirds, and the ones of the top are rolled.  Double-sided tape was my saviour to this project, as it was used to secure the wine bottle and bottom tier to the base (which I used a round cake board), and it was also used to secure each tier of diapers to the one below it.  

When making my tiers, I held all the diapers temporarily in place around the wine bottle with an elastic band until I could secure them with ribbon.  Then I just lifted off the elastic.  I added a few sample packs of diaper rash cream in the middle around the wine, and on the second tier of diapers, I snuck a snack size chocolate bar in between every other diaper.  All new moms need wine and chocolate, right?!?! :)

Now for the embellishments!!  The bunny on top is a super soft, fuzzy blanket.  I tucked it all together, secured with an elastic band and stuffed it into the centre of the top tier of diapers.

I used the Reminisce Accents cartridge from Creative Memories to make the "M".  For the cake, I cut the "M" at 3.5", and I cut the plain circle monogram at 4" to use as a back.  For the matching monogram card, I cut the monogram at 1.5" and the circle at 1.75".  I glued it to the ribbon on the middle tier, and as well on the card.  You can link to my awesome CM Consultant, Denyse, here and as well on my sidebar.  I am LOVING this cartridge for the monograms!

The three little dinosaurs on the bottom tier were cut from the Birthday Cakes cartridge.  I used the base, the shift, as well as the blackout shadow features, and I cut them at 2.5" on my Expression. I secured them to the ribbon with a little glue.

For the background of the card, I embossed my blue paper with my Cuttlebug and the "Our Baby" embossing folder.  The inside just says "Welcome, Little One", which I printed in Word, using the Angelina font.

What are YOU crafting today??

Happy buggin'!

Smiley Face Treats

We've undergone a huge transformation where I work.  People are moving and shuffling, departments are merging and moving, frustrations are high, and stress is everywhere.  Today we had a staff meeting of where things stood so far.  It was a great forum for expressing our concerns, and venting our frustrations with others.  I thought these little smiley face Smartie sleeves would be a perfect way to bring a bit of sunshine to our meeting.  

I used a smiley face that I googled and imported it into my SCAL software.  I added a little circle to the top and welded it to the smiley face to give me a place to hole-punch it for the ribbon to go through. The cardstock is Bazzill Basics and the ribbon is grossgrain from my local dollar store.

Who wouldn't smile seeing these?!?

What are YOU crafting today?

Happy Buggin'!

Let's Go, Pittsburgh!!

This is a Pittsburgh Penguins card that we made for a friend's birthday. He is a huge Penguins fan!  I created the image from a .jpg of their logo that I found online.  I separated the layers in Photoshop:

Then I imported the image into Inkscape and converted it to an .svg file.  After the file is saved, I am then able to import into my SCAL and cut on my Lil' Bugger.  I did print a sentiment on the inside using Word, my printer, and the varsity font.  (Check here for my Coach cards, where I printed the inside of that card using the same font).

If you're interested in the .svg or the .scut file that I created and used for this project, feel free to email me.  I'm still having a hard time sharing those type of files online.

It was a huge hit!  He loved it :)

What are YOU crafting today?
Happy buggin'!

Easter Goodies!!

These were quick, easy, and extremely festive treats that we pulled together this week.  A big bag of the Easter-coloured M&Ms from our local bulk store made enough of these yummy treats to supply the classes of two of my children, my office, and two huge family get-togethers...with some left over.  

The toppers were cut on my Big Bugger, using the Easter 2010 Limited Edition Seasonal Mini cartridge for the egg shapes, which were cut at 1.75".  I used those same egg shapes and my Bitty Bugger (Gypsy) to position crosses and bunny heads into the eggs to cut those shapes out of the egg.  The bunny head came from the Spring Holiday Cards Limited Edition Seasonal Mini cartridge and the cross also came from Easter 2010.  The blue ribbon is SU Brocade Blue grossgrain, and the pink is from my local dollar store.  I just tied some matching ribbon around a storage container to serve them.

These are so easy, and versatile!  The bulk store is nice enough to supply Smarties and M&Ms in different seasonal colours, as holidays near.  They would be great as birthday party favours, fundraisers, classroom treats, gift toppers, weddings, showers, etc.  The list really is endless.  Just change the topper to suit your theme!

What are YOU crafting today?

Happy buggin'!

5x7 Stained-Glass Look Easter Card

This is my first attempt at a stained-glass type card (my apologies for such a poor quality photo, I didn't realize it was out of focus until after I uploaded it).  I saw this image online at Share Faith and used it as my base image.

This is the .jpg that I worked from.

As converted and saved in Inkscape.

I converted the image in Photoshop, to separate the layers and lay out all the pieces (there are 49 total!).  I then converted it from a .jpg to an .svg in Inkscape and imported it into SCAL to cut the images and save as an .scut file.

I will be honest with you, it was a bit tedious to put together.  I'm hoping that it was just because it was my first attempt.  In the future, I will be sure to lay out the pieces before gluing them onto my cardstock base.  And as well, I will be sure to leave the pieces attached to my mat until they're ready to be used, instead of taking off all of the pieces and working from a big pile of cuts. 

I printed a nice little sentiment on the bottom of the front piece.  It says "For I remember it is Easter morn, and life and love and peace are all new born." ~Alice Freeman Palmer.  I also printed "Happy Easter" on the inside, just using Word and my regular HP printer and glued it to the inside.  I think it might need some shading or some sort of an embellishment, but I'm not great at doing shading and was afraid of ruining it.  What are your thoughts?

If you're interested in the .svg or the .scut file that I created and used for this project, feel free to email me.  I'm having a hard time sharing those type of files online.

What are YOU crafting today?

Happy buggin'!

Religious Easter (Or Other Occasion) Cards

I used this great .svg image from Nicholas Gomez and thought it would make an awesome Easter card... something different from the usual Bunnies, carrots and chocolate.  A religious Easter card was my intent, however, it occurred to me that it could also be used for other occasions where a faith-based idea is needed.  

 

I simply cut the image using my SCAL software, hiding the word 'Saved' so it didn't cut.  The image was cut at 4" wide.  I glued it onto a card base, leaving a space on the right to run some black grossgrain ribbon and a simple bow.  I varied the sentiments on the inside, they were also cut using the SCAL software and the Brisk Extended font at 1".  The background paper is from the Karen Foster Textures line; Plum, Moss, and Sand.

What are YOU crafting today?

Happy buggin'!

Mixin' Monday - TACO PIE

I like to try new recipes now and then, and for the most part it always seems to be on a Monday, go figure. Maybe that's because I'm fresh off new groceries from shopping on the weekend, or because I have the energy to try something new earlier in the week?  For the most part it's a nice start to the week.  I have had a few disasters in my day that just add to the Monday blahs, but when they work out and my boys dub it a "keeper", I like to share.  So I've started a section called Mixin' Mondays where I'd like to share with you all our keepers. 

Today, I took a little break from using my bugs, and tried a new recipe from Kraft Hockeyville, the Easy Baked Taco Pie.  I tweaked it slightly to better suit our family's tastes and needs, but it was a huge hit and thought it would be perfect to share with you on my first Mixin' Monday!

Photo from the Kraft Hockeyville recipe.  Doesn't it look yummy??

Taco Night is a staple in our home, so it was a no-brainer that we would try this one.  I like it because it's not only easy, but it's easily adaptable for larger families by simply increasing the amount of meat and cheese, and by adding extra veggies and tortilla layers.  I made ours in a 2-litre casserole dish, and used two tortillas between each layer instead of the three that it called for.  I also sprinkled a bit of cheese between the tortillas, because you can never have enough cheese!  This fed four large servings with one left over and was super yummy!!

This is ours, just prior to baking.  It was DE-LISH!

prep time: 20 min

total time: 55 min

1 lb. (450 g) extra-lean ground beef

1 onion, chopped  (I used fresh green onions)

1 Tbsp. chili powder  (I used low-sodium taco spice, the flavour is more familiar to my children)

2 cups frozen corn, thawed, drained (I stirred it right in frozen, heating it through before baking)

1-2/3 cups (1/2 of 28-fl oz/796-mL can) no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained

6 small whole wheat tortillas

1 cup Kraft Tex Mex Light Shredded Cheese

sour cream (we just put a dollop on top of each piece)

HEAT oven to 375ºF.
BROWN meat with onions and chili powder (or taco spice) in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add corn and tomatoes; cook 5 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally.
SPOON Lay a tortilla in the bottom of an ungreased 1.5-L round casserole dish.  Spoon 1 cup meat mixture onto tortilla; cover with 3 tortillas (we used two, sprinkling cheese in between the layers), overlapping if necessary to fit dish. Top with 2 cups of the remaining meat mixture, 1/2 cup cheese. Cover with remaining tortillas and remaining meat mixture; cover.  (We managed three layers of tortilla/meat)
BAKE 25 to 30 min. or until heated through. Top with remaining cheese; bake, uncovered, 5 min. or until melted. Cut into wedges. Serve topped with sour cream.  Enjoy!

You can find a link to this, and all my Mixin' Monday recipes here or on our Recipes page.  You will also be able to find the nutritional information in most of the links.

Happy buggin' (and cookin')!

SCAL Top 50 - We're #32!!

I had to take this screenshot of my blog today and post it to show you.  I know it won't last long, but for a brief moment in time, the Lil' Bugger blog is #32 on the SCAL Top 50!

http://scaltop50.com/ is the site to visit if you want to check out some of the other wonderful creations and inspiration made with the SCAL software. 

Wahoo!  Thanks to our followers and fans for liking the Lil' Bugger!

What are YOU crafting today?
Happy buggin'!

Coach Appreciation - Shape Card

This weekend marks the end of our hockey season.  We threw these cards together tonight to give to our coaches this weekend to show our appreciation for all that they have done this year and for making it such a success and so enjoyable.  This card can very easily be customized for any sport, as there is nothing but the puck that indicates it's for a hockey coach.  You could easily add a volleyball, golfball, football, etc.  All of the images used in this card are cut from the Sports Mania cartridge.

I used the Bitty Bugger (Gypsy) to copy, flip, and weld the clipboard to make the base of the shape card.  I changed the size slightly to make it a standard A2 (4.25" x 5.5") when folded in half.  In order to make it as close to that size as possible, I 'unlocked' the aspect ratio for height and width and keyed in each dimension individually.  If you don't unlock it, when you increase the height, the width increases respectively, to keep the object proportional.  Technically, I distorted it somewhat, lol.

I cut the shadow, base cut, and layer for the "Coach" and whistle.  I used Champagne Stickles to sparkle up the whistle a bit.  The whole image was pop-dotted, to raise it slightly off the clipboard.

I printed the inside Thank You sentiment and date using my computer, Word, and the Varsity Font. Incidentally, the Varsity Font is identical to the Varsity Lite cartridge.  So if you don't have the cartridge, you can just print out what you need, or you can use the font in conjunction with the SCAL software to cut your letters.  The numbers inside the cards are my boys' jersey numbers. I printed it right on the image that I cut.  I will be posting a tutorial shortly of how I run a cut image through my normal trusty HP Deskjet Printer.

I also cut the puck from the Sports Mania cartridge, to embellish the envelope a bit, and again included their jersey number on the top layer of the cut, which I made in corresponding team colours.

What are you crafting today?

Happy buggin'!

Shroud on the Cross. SCAL Easter Card.

I stumbled on this image while searching for an Easter Lily image, and my immediate thought was that it would make an AWESOME Easter card to make with my Cricut machine(s)!

I used PhotoShop to alter the image a bit and separate the colours into shapes that I could work with.  Then I saved that as a new .jpg file.  I used Inkscape to convert the file into an .svg, which I then imported into my SCAL software to cut on my Big Bugger.

I cut the cross at 5", and because of the nature of SCAL, all other images adjust accordingly.  I embossed the lighter purple of the background using my Cuttlebug(ger) and the Scrollwork embossing folder, and matted it on a darker purple, then attached it to a robin's-egg blue card base.  The card base measures 8.5" x 5.5", which when folded in half is a standard A2 card, measuring 4.25" x 5.5".  I had to do a bit of fancy penmanship on the flower and the leaves, as with SCAL, it cuts the outline, not the inside details.  I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  I also used some grey chalking to give a bit of cloth-like detail to the shroud hanging on the cross.

I used some pop-dots to raise the lily up from the cross a bit, and then used a few more to raise the cross off the card.  It adds a bit more dimension.  I also used some Champagne Stickles for the stamen of the lily.  I wasn't sure how the lily would turn out, being so small, but was pleasantly surprised with how well it cut, and wish I had done the group of Lilies.

For the inside, and as a matching embellishment for the envelope, I used a yellow grossgrain ribbon, with a little bow.  I printed the inside on my computer, using Word and the Joe Hand 3 font.  The verse reads as follows:

Christ the Lord is risen today,

Sons of men and angels say.

Raise your joys and triumphs high;

Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply.

-Charles Wesley

I'm not sure yet how to share my .svg files or .scut (SCAL) files via the blog, but if you would like this or any of my other .svg or .scut files, email me and I'll gladly share them with you!



What are you crafting today?

Happy buggin'!



Cricut for the Classroom, My Son's Project

Things have been so busy in our house this week, and part of that has to do with some projects that my son had to complete for school.  I thought this would be a great time to show just how easy and fun the Cricut can be to use!  My son is 8 and found it offered the perfect images and cuts that he needed for his project.

I helped him with the title and his name for the cover.  They were created in SCAL.  The title is using the Goudy Stout font and his name was using the Brisk font.  This particular project was for his religion class.  Due to the religious nature of the assignment and the fact that it contains some of his personal thoughts, I have blurred out his writings.

 

On the cover, he used the Inspired Heart cartridge for Jesus on the Cross, and "love".  The sun is from Mickey and Friends, and the grass is from ZooBalloo.  I used the Bitty Bugger (Gypsy) to size it, join it, and weld it to cut wide enough to fit on the page.

The page numbers are from Learning Curve and the 'Daily News' newspapers come from Mickey and Friends.

All of the other inspirational images from pages 7-11 are from the Inspired Heart cartridge.  I just gave him my bucket of scraps and helped him position on the mat and away he went!

I think he did an awesome job! 

Happy buggin'!