I have a confession...

I have been harboring the most shameful thing a Cricut-lover could ever admit to:  a Silhouette SD.

 
I know, I know - GASP!

I have been a devoted fan for many years of the Scrapbook USA Expo that takes place every spring and fall in Utah.  Well last fall, I responded to one of their, "Let's get everyone excited about Expo," posts on Facebook and won!  Me!  Who never wins anything.  Naturally I was tickled, but I also felt a little conflicted.  I love my Cricut - I love both of them for that matter.  I have both the original and the Expression.

I would say that I am a pretty loyal person.  Living in Utah for the past (almost) twenty years, I have been a customer of Provo Craft for a long time.  I used to shop at their flagship store on Center Street in Provo.  I own the original Cricut, Cricut Expression, Cuttlebug and I have a Gypsy and love them all.  I teach Cricut classes at my local Joann.  I learned to use my Cricuts by watching Robyn's fantastic tutorials at My Pink Stamper and love, love, love her products and her joie de vivre!

If I dare call myself an artist, I think I am fairly typical in that at times I am full of ideas and excitement for what I am creating.  Other times, not so much and it takes more effort.  Once in a while I need a little something to revive my creative energy.  About 5 months ago I moved and started a part-time job AT THE SAME TIME (within about 2 days of each other - I don't recommend it) and I am just barely starting to hit my groove again.  I finally decided that it was time to get my Silhouette SD out of the box and play around with it a little.

I am SO GLAD I did!  I haven't done a ton with it yet, but what I have done I am very happy with.  The software is fairly user friendly, the cuts are precise and clean, and I love the assortment of images that are available through the Silhouette Online Store.  And get this - I have no need of a Cricut Imagine because I can print on my ink jet printer, and then have the images cut out on the Silhouette SD!  I spent the entire evening thinking of images that I have been looking for on a cartridge, and finding that they have files available for purchase very inexpensively.  AND I can cut any font on my computer.  And this is just the tip of the iceberg folks - this is a great, albeit slightly loud, machine.  This is where I should probably mention that the Silhouette SD has been discontinued to make way for the larger, and apparently quieter, Silhouette Cameo, which came out in October of last year. 

That's probably why they were giving the SD away, but you know what?  I am totally OK with that.  Free is free, and it's a great product.  I will continue to use and love my Cricut, but I will be adding more projects that use my Silhouette SD also.  Stay tuned!

My Pink Stamper Design Team - March

I am so excited to have you join me today for the My Pink Stamper Design Team post.  The theme for this month is Spring is in the Air!  And I am so happy that it actually IS starting to feel like spring.  I love looking out my kitchen window and seeing the blossoms on my fruit trees and the tulips starting to pop out of the ground.  I also love the colors that we were asked to use in this month's assignment - yellow, blue and green.  The stamp set that I am featuring in this month's assignment is Happiest Moments:

Don't you just love daisies?  These accordion flower wreaths are all the rage on Pinterest right now, and I think daisies were the perfect touch.  I used a foam wreath form that I purchased at Joann, and hot glued the accordion flowers and daisies to the wreath.  I was so happy with how this turned out  I put it on my front door - but had to rescue it this morning just as the rain started coming through the screen!  April showers...wait a minute, it's still March!

Stamp:  My Pink Stamper Happiest Moments

Cricut Cartridges:  Sweet Treats (daisy), Florals Embellished (butterfly)

Paper:  Provo Craft, DCWV (glitter paper), AC Cardstock

Embellishments:  The Paper Studio (pearls), Hobby Lobby (ribbon)

Tools:  Martha Stewart Scoring Board

Thanks for stopping by today.  If you haven't already, I suggest you head over to My Pink Stamper so you can see all the wonderful Design Team projects.  And of coarse, you can also find out where to purchase My Pink Stamper stamps!

UPDATE :  I've received a few questions regarding how I made my wreath.  I made the accordion flowers in three sizes by cutting strips that were 1 1/2" x 12", 1 1/4" x 12", and 1" x 12".

And this is the type of form that I used as the base.  It's a foam wreath that has squared off edges. The one I used was 10 inches in diameter.

Another recipe to share

I am still working with some other ladies at church on the cookbooks we will be presenting to our graduating senior girls, and I thought you might like to see the latest addition.  I can't wait to be able to take a picture of the completely cook book and show you!  It's wonderful since there will be over twenty different pages from many of the ladies in our congregation.  When it's finished we'll have something really special to present to these girls as they head off to college.

Cricut Cartridge:  Once Upon a Princess

Stamps:  My Pink Stamper Sweet Goodness

Paper:  American Crafts Letterbox, AC Cardstock, Roberts Crafts

Border Punch:  Martha Stewart

Embellishments:  Prima Flowers, brown button

Pinkalicious Blog Hop Friday!

Hello all!  I'm so glad that you have joined me for Pinkalicious Blog Hop Friday!  If you have arrived here from Angela's blog, then you're in the right place.  If you arrived here on your own tonight, I invite you to hop over to My Pink Stamper so you can start at the beginning and see all the wonderful projects in tonight's hop.

The theme for this month's project is St. Patrick's Day!  All ye fellow Irishmen, show your green!  My maiden name originates in County Cork in Ireland.  So I have to go back about 5-6 generations, but there's Irish in me!  And what a great way, and a great time to celebrate the color green.  We've been starting to see and feel the first signs of spring here.  I decided to celebrate by buying two pear trees and some potting soil!  So hopefully there will be lots of green in my future, and not brown...  ;-)

For my project today I chose to use the My Pink Stamper set called Happiest Moments:

And here is what I made:

I thought for this month's project I would make a little treatie for my kids.  They don't know yet though, so ssshhhhhh!  ;-)  I got some chocolate coins, some candy sticks from our local candy factory, some cute cuts from the Simply Charmed Cricut cartridge, and the perfect stamp to top it all off!  And don't you just love cellophane?  I think just about anything looks beautiful when it's wrapped in cellophane.  ;-)

Stamp:  My Pink Stamper Happiest Moments
Cricut Cartridge:  Simply Charmed - I used the leprechaun and the pot of gold
Paper:  AC Cardstock, Roberts Crafts
Ribbon:  Joann
Embellishment:  Stickles

Thanks for stopping by!  You next stop on the hop is Alex at You Had Me At Craft.  Don't forget to stop by My Pink Stamper when you're through and join us in this month's theme.  I have also included the entire blog hop order below.  Happy Hopping!

Robyn

 Tracy (CraftJunkieToo)

Shelley (Cricut Cuteness)

Roberta (TX Scrapper Mom)

Renee (I Came, I Saw, I Created)

Missy (Quick Chick Designs)

Michelle (Meesh's Pieces)

June (Simply Elegant Paper Crafts)

Helen (Crafting Cricut Mom)

Edna (Create With Expression)

Cristi (Scrappin 5 Little Cupcakes)

Courtney (Court's Crafts)

Chelle (Paper Krate)

Carissa (Sprinkled with Glitter)

Angela (Simple Creations)

Andrea (Divine Domesticity)

Alex (You Had Me At Craft)

Maria

Join me tomorrow for:

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for Pinkalicious Blog Hop Friday!  "Hop" to see you there.

A little baby goodness

A few days ago, for my monthly craft night the theme was babies and weddings.  I'm at a time in my life where I am not needing a lot of either of these, but I still like making them!  So I was happy to have an excuse to make some.  Here are the baby cards:

Stamps:  My Pink Stamper Sweet Baby

Cricut Cartridge:  Create a Critter

Paper:  AC Cardstock, and I'm not sure where the blue plaid came from ;-)

Edge Punch:  Fiskars

Embellishments:  American Crafts ribbon (I really like this striped ribbon, see below!)

Stamps:  My Pink Stamper Sweet Baby

Cricut Cartridge:  Kate's ABC's, George & Basic Shapes

Embossing:  Cuttlebug Swiss Dots

Paper:  Roberts Crafts, Stampin' Up!, AC Cardstock

Edge Punch:  Martha Stewart

Embellishments:  American Crafts ribbon, Stickles