A Piece of Life's Pie

Funny Find Flashback Moment!

Posted on September 14, 2012 by apieceoflifespie

My 2 year anniversary with my Cricut Expressions is approaching fast and I happen to find a picture of my very first project I did with it! I can remember how intimidated I was in using it. I have to admit, I put it back in the closet for 5 months, because it intimidated me so much (these little boo’s were the best of the batch that were not stuck to the mat and ripped due to my lack of knowledge on pressure and speed settings). I have come a long way since then, thanks to the help from My Pink Stamper Tutorials I found via “google”.

I make these cupcakes every year with the exception of last year since we threw a huge party and I went a different direction. Usually, I would pipe “Boo or RIP” on the little chocolate grams tombstone, but in 2010, I decided to cut the sentiment and image and fasten it to the tombstone with the help of a candle-lighter to melt the edge of the chocolate enough to attach the images. They easily peeled off the chocolate goodness to be eaten.

Thanks for sharing a piece of “remembering meeting my bug for the first time” pie with me.

Recipe:

Cricut Cartridge: Simply Charmed (don’t know the size, but guessing around 2 inches.)

Boxed chocolate cupcakes (I used Devils Food Cake)

chocolate frosting

Keebler chocolate grams

Oreo Cookies (made into crumbs)

Halloween candy pumpkins

1 Comment

Posted in Cricut Cartridge: Simply Charmed Cricut Cartridge, Pie's Recipes and tagged cute halloween cupcake ideas, first time using a cricut expressions, halloween cupcakes, halloween cupcakes using Cricut, halloween goodies, halloween treats, how to use a cricut expressions, tombston cupcakes. Bookmark the permalink.

Fur-ever Family!

Posted on September 13, 2012 by apieceoflifespie

I made this card for a blog buddy who lost her four-legged best friend this summer. I followed her style and specifically used products she loves in making this card to make it more personal. Me being a dog lover, I felt for her and what she was going through and know one day I will be facing that chapter in my life with my first kiddo, Sadie dog. There is something special about having a dog and the joy they bring to your life. They are such companions and so loyal in their love for you. My pooch was a pound puppy and I swear she knows we rescued her and the bond we have with her is just amazing.

Thanks for sharing a piece of “celebrating and remembering man/woman’s best friend” pie with me.

Recipe:

Cricut Cartridge: Create a Critter cut at 3.5 inches, Doodlecharms cut at .75 inches

Cuttlebug- Embossing folder

Paper: (card cut to fit an A2 envelope) Papertreyink cardstock, Recollections

Ribbon: Crinkle Ribbon from K. Swain and Twine from Stampin’ Up

Ink: Early Espresso – Stampin’ Up, Stampin’ Up pastels, Gelly Roll gel pens Pink and White

Glossy Accents for nose and eyes

Sentiment: My Pink stamper Even More Punny-licious and Peachy Keen Stamps

1 Comment

Posted in Cricut Cartridge: Create A Critter Cricut Cartridge, Cricut Cartridge: Doodlecharms, My Pink Stamper - Even More Punny-licous and tagged cards for someone that lost a dog, dog cards, dog cards using the cricut making a dog card, man's best freind cards. Bookmark the permalink.

DIY Chalks Up to Being So Much Fun!

Posted on September 8, 2012 by apieceoflifespie

Happy Saturday all!

Today is just a quick post on a quick DIY project I did today. Chalkboard Picture Frame! This project is sooo easy and fun. One of those instant gratification jobs! Once again the power tools in the garage were fired up and the hubs helped cut down a 1/4 inch of plastic sheeting he happened to have lying around (perks of being married to an Engineer) to fit a picture frame I found on sale at Michael’s! You could just as easily use a sheet of glass to do the same. I just happen to find only a frame that I HAD TO HAVE!

I then used a small power sander and lightly sanded the surface to prep the area for the paint to stick. You would need to use that on glass to etch it for the paint to stick as well.

Then I just sprayed one layer, let dry and then another layer. Once dry (in about 30 minutes), the hubs helped me secure it to the frame and . . . Tada!

I also found chalkboard pens at Jo-Ann’s the other day, but wanting to get a coupon to get them ($14 for 4 colors).

Thanks for sharing a piece of “doing it yourself with the hubs can be so much fun” pie with me!

2 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged chalkboard frames, do it yourself chalkboard ideas, do it yourself chalkboard picture frames, do it yourself chalkboards. Bookmark the permalink.

Birthday Banner Turned Girly Room Decor

Posted on September 5, 2012 by apieceoflifespie

Hi everyone! I made this banner for my little one that just turned three last month. She adores this cartoon on Nick Jr. called Peppa Pig and it being a UK cartoon, the goodies were a bit hard to find to make specific favors and such. I ended up just downloading some images of the cute little pig character and a few things, but went with more the colors and flower style that can be found in the show.

Here is the banner I made. I found the felt flowers at Michael’s on clearance for .70 each! After her party I decided to hang it in her room since it just so happen to match her room. She loves it and tells me that she loves having her “Peppa Pig Party”in her room.

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Thanks for sharing a piece of “not letting the party die” pie with me.

Linking Up To:

Sunday funday Link Party

Recipe:

Cricut Cartridge: Country Life (banner cut at 8 inches) Something to Celebrate (lettering cut at 7 inches)

Cuttlebug – Swiss Dots, Flower Blossoms and Candy Cane Stripes

Paper: Recollections Pastels

Ribbon – Twine and Celebrate It

Jelly Roll White Gel Pen for Stitching

Felt Flowers: Michael’s

4 Comments

Posted in Cricut Cartridge: Country Life, Cricut Cartridge: Something to Celebrate, Cuttlebug Folders and tagged banners for girls rooms, birthday idea for girls, flower birthday birthday banners, garden party banners, girly birthday banner, Peppa Pig inspried birthday banner. Bookmark the permalink.

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge # 127-On the Job

Posted on September 3, 2012 by apieceoflifespie

Happy Labor Day!

Today over at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog, we are celebrating working people that are on the job! My inspiration came from my community. I live in a very heavy agriculture area that has many farms, crops, and ranches. I love that I can easily access fresh produce almost anytime of the year with just hopping in the car and driving a few miles. Today I am celebrating the working farmer and rancher, because without them, those fantastic strawberries and veggies I have stashed in my fridge would not be there without them!

Now head on over and to FCCB and check out the other inspirations and link up with the fun challenge this week!

Thanks for sharing a piece of celebrating the working American pie with me!

Also Linking To:

Peachy Keen Stamps- Anything Goes

Sunday Funday Link Party

Scrapalicious USA- Anything Goes

Pink Cricut Link Up Party

Recipe:

Card cut at 6.5×6 then layers were cut a 1/4 shorter

Cricut Cartridge: Doodlecharms (Basket cut at 2 inches) and Country Life (man farmer cut at 5.5 and woman farmer cut at 5)

Paper: Die Cuts with a View-Cotton Blossoms, Recollections, and I raided my scrap stash.

Burlap

Cuttlebug: Swiss Dots and Distressed Stripes

Buttons: From $1 bin from Michael’s! Love those finds!

Twine- Stampin’ Up

Stamp: Peachy Keen Simple Sallies

Ink: Stampin Up’ Early Espresso, Stampin’ Up chalk for the faces and Jelly Roll blue and white gel pens

7 Comments

Posted in Cricut Cartridge: Country Life, Cricut Cartridge: Doodlecharms, Cuttlebug Folders, FCCB(Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog) Design Team Projects, Peachy Keen Stamps, Uncategorized and tagged cards for larbor day, fantabulous cricut challenge blog design team, farmer cards, labor day crafts, occupation ideas for paper crafting, paper crafting using burlap, using buttons in paper crafting. Bookmark the permalink.

Feelin’ the Love Pie!

Posted on September 2, 2012 by apieceoflifespie

Hi everyone and Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Even though I have a few things that I can share today I am going to table those and put in a plug for Madison over at Funky Cards and her fabulous I Feel the Love Project that she just announced. This particular project is a very near and dear to my heart. When I headed over to her blog today, I about fell out of my chair on how shocked I was on who the project was for. Talk about six degrees of seperation and chills going down my spine.

The project is for a non-profit organization that I worked as a Human Resources Specialist for almost 5 years!!! The organization is called Casa Pacifica and it is a shelter, residential treatment group home and non-public school for abused, neglected and emotionally disturbed children and youth from the ages of 0-18. I literally live 4 miles away from the campus! Never thought my crafty ventures would lead me right back to my backyard and professional resume!

During my time at Casa Pacifica, I grew not only as an employee in skill set, but as a person. It was a challenging place to work and it is not for the faint of heart. The front line staff, clinicians, teachers and all those that were face-to-face with the kids every minute of every day were just astounding human beings. Being a support to them beyond just managing their employment needs was just an honor.

Working on a shelter and group home campus, the kids were a part of your everyday life. They were what gets you out of a cozy warm bed in the winter and work those extra long hours that come with the territory of working in this field and for a non-profit. I got to see the aftermath of heartbreaking stories, amazing personal victories, and most of all unconditional love given to these kids in the most raw and real way.

Casa Pacifica gave me a lot to glean from. Wonderful lifelong friendships, excellent work experience and some excellent tools to being a parent. They rely on structure to bring normalcy to these precious children that come from some of the most extreme situations one can imagine. I took note on how receptive and secure the children became after a few weeks of having structure and consistency to count on. When I became a parent I thought back to that and thought if those kids thrived using that type of tool, then what can that tool do for a child born into security and constant unconditional love? It has successfully worked for the hubs and I so far. 🙂

I would love to have anyone that follows me participate in this Feel the Love Project sweet Madison is organizing. Click HERE to get all the details. The cool thing is, I will be able to actually get feedback from the inside on this project and report back on how your time and effort touched the kiddos!

Thanks for sharing a piece of “feeling the love” pie with me!

3 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged Funky Cards, I Feel the Love Project. Bookmark the permalink.

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner with a side of Crafty Pie!

Posted on August 31, 2012 by apieceoflifespie

*I transferred all the comments to an Excel spreadsheet and filtered out my fellow DT members and comments that did not relate to the giveaway. After that I had 29 giveaway comments and I used RANDOM.ORG.

Congratulations Sheri R! You are going to love the ribbon! (Please be sure to contact me here if you have not received my email that was sent today.)

“How cute! and great colors ! My favorite go-to cartridge has got to be Create a Critter. My favorite crafting tool is the ATG gun ”

– Sheri R

I will be in contact with you today on how to claim your prize!

Thank you for all the lovely comments and it is really neat to see what other crafters like to have in their creative stash… I now may need to really check out the CTMH Artiste cart, there were quite a few of you guys that mentioned that one! 🙂

Now for the side of Crafty Pie! Last week I mentioned that I made a set of three Thank You cards for my godmother and here is the second set of cards I made!

Thanks for sharing a piece of “alamode” pie with me!

Recipe:

Cricut cartridge Everyday Pop-Up Cards cut at 2.5 for tower and 3.5 for sentiment

Cuttlebug- Musical Florish

Paper- K&Company – Designer paper and Recollection

Ribbon – My Craft Spot

2 Comments

Posted in Cricut Cartridge: Everyday Pop-Up Cards, Cuttlebug Folders and tagged easy homemade thank you cards, french inspired thank you cards, thank you cards, thank you cards using Everyday Pop-Up Cards Cricut Cartridge. Bookmark the permalink.

A Fantabulous Goodie for a Fantabulous Crafter!

Posted on August 29, 2012 by apieceoflifespie

Happy Wednesday! I am safe to now share a project I made for one of my fellow Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog Design Team members, Janea over at Recollection Alley. She just received this little display card that I made to coordinate with her craft room.

I love the “Keep Calm and . . .” sentiments that are all over Pinterest right now and I went with that theme and customized it with our mutual fondness and passion for the green little bug! She loved it and has it now displayed in her craft room.

Thanks for sharing a piece of “keep calm and Cricut on” pie with me.

Recipe:

Used Cricut Craft Room

Cricut Cartridge Learning Curve and Potpourri Basket Bonus

Paper: Chipboard, Recollections Brights

Crinkle Ribbon – Kristen Swain

Buttons

ATG

Chomp-A-Dial for rounding edges

1 Comment

Posted in Cricut Cartridge: Potpourri Basket Cricut Cartrdige, Cricut Cartrige: Learning Curve and tagged Circut mascot displays, fun crafting gifts for design team members, Gift ideas for paper crafters, ideas for "Keep Calm and . . .". Bookmark the permalink.

8th Fantabulous Cricut Crawl and Giveaway – Back to School!

Posted on August 27, 2012 by apieceoflifespie

Hey there and welcome to the EIGHTH Fantabulous Cricut Crawl, Fantabulous Cricut’s version of a Blog Hop! If you’ve come from visiting Amy L. over at The Red Headed Crafter, you’re in the right place! If you’ve just happened across my blog and would like to play along with our Fantabulous Cricut Crawl, start HERE.

It is already that time of the year and we are all getting ready for BACK TO SCHOOL! Each talented Design Team member will be featuring an original BACK TO SCHOOL Project that includes a SCHOOL RELATED Item, such as crayons, rulers, pencils, book, school bus, etc. along with at least ONE Cricut Cut. There will be PRIZES along the way at our DT members’ blogs, AND there will be a Grand Prize up for grabs at FCCB for one participant that submits a “Back to School” project at FCCB! Now how is that for clearing up the case of the “Monday’s”!

Before I get into all the details and recipe of the project I want to let you know that I am thrilled to be able to OFFER A FUN GIVEAWAY from Scrapinkris’s Esty Store. You will get to personally pick out FOUR of your favorite crinkle ribbon colors. I will be announcing the winner on Friday. All you will need to do is leave a comment on what is your favorite Cricut Cartridge and/or crafting supply. Please be sure to include a way for me to contact you!

For my project my four-year old help pick out the inspiration of a bird house for her teacher that she will have this year. I kind of pulled out the kitchen sink of crafting supplies to do this project including recruiting the hub’s bandsaw to cut the pencils and rulers for the roof top. I used Mod Podge for adhering the paper to the bird house and had some fun with my NEW Cricut Catridge, Doodle Charms! NOW I know why all the fuss over that cartridge and am kicking myself for not getting it sooner!

Next up is the fantabulous Cicily over at Pink Dalmations Scrapbooker! What a treat she has in store for you AND DON’T FORGET to get in the game and link up your project to FCCB’s Fantabulous Cricut Crawl post to be entered into the contest!

Thanks for sharing a piece of “fantabulous Cricut Crawl” pie with me!

Project Recipe:

Cricut Cartridge – Create a Critter (owl cut at 2 inches) Doodle Charms (Apples cut at 3/4, 1/2 inches) Platin Schoolbook (rectangle for blackboard cut at 1 1/4 inches)

Paper- Recollections Solids and Brights and Creative Imaginations Studio 101 (for designer paper)

Punch- EK Success

Sentiment – My Pink Stamper: School Days

Stamp Ink – Close to My Heart: White Daisie and Topiary (for edging)

Stickles

Glossy Accents

Uibal Signo White gel pen (for stitching)

Mod Podge

Toothpick

No. 2 Pencils

Wooden Rulers

Wood Bird House (Michale’s)

Hot Glue

Happy Crawling!

Also Linking Up To:

http://lexiscreations.blogspot.com/

http://www.paperissues.blogspot.com/

http://heather-bittenbythebug2.blogspot.com/

http://cropstop.blogspot.com/

http://myshericrafts.blogspot.ca/

http://www.exploringcricut.blogspot.com/

57 Comments

Posted in Cricut Cartridge: Create A Critter Cricut Cartridge, Cricut Cartridge: Doodlecharms, Cricut Cartridge: Plantain Cricut Cartridge, Cuttlebug Folders, FCCB(Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog) Design Team Projects, My Pink Stamper- School Days and tagged apple inspired crafts, paper crafting a teacher gift, paper crafting bird houses, school days themed projects, school themed craft projects, teacher gifts, teacher gifts made with Cricut. Bookmark the permalink.

A Banner of a Thank You Card

Posted on August 25, 2012 by apieceoflifespie

Hello everyone! Well I have to admit I have been really sick… three weeks sick. It first started with strep that both my youngest and I got. Ten days later I got what I thought was a terrible cold that brought me back to the doctor because my throat was killing me and had blisters on it and I was terrified I picked up Hand, Foot, Mouth that has been going around like wildfire here to find out that the strep I had never went away with the antibiotics and had to go on another round of antibiotics. Then yesterday I found myself back in the doctor’s office because I was still really feeling bad to find out I had a lung infection that seeded from the strep, so back on antibiotics again with a follow-up on Monday to check my lungs.

Now did I lay around these past three weeks? Heck NO! It is summer and a busy one at that with lots of out-of-town guest, travel and projects. AND that is probably why I got the big one-two- THREE punch of the sickies. So while I have been running on whirl wind auto pilot these past few weeks, my blog has been VERY neglected, but the craft studio has not. Here is one of the projects I have cooked up this past week.

I promised to make a ~~slew~~ 12 thank you cards for my godmother that fell and broke her hip in July to give to those that really helped out while she was down for the count. I decided I never have ~~a stash~~ any thank you cards for myself so I added to the order for my own using. I ended up making three different sets for a total of 18 cards.

This card is my favorite of the three sets so that is why I am showing it off first! I broke into my My Pink Stamper Happy Birthday Doodles and had a great time just coloring and creating.

Thanks for sharing a piece of “under the weather pie” with me.

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Recipe:

Cricut cartridge Something to Celebrate (banner and I don’t remember the cut size sorry)

Paper- Die Cuts with a View- Cirtrus Stacker

My Pink Stamper Happy Birthday Doodle Kit (used everything in the packet: Pens, stamp, paper and coloring pens)