a baby shower via cricut

this post is all about the love I have for my cricut.

(the craft cutter, not the bug)

I still have fond memories of the summer of 2009 when I finally became the proud owner of my own cricut machine. My friend Brandy had one, and that summer her machine came to live at my house. She still had full custody, it was just here visiting since we did a TON of layouts together over the summer. I had just given birth to baby #2 in May, and within just a few weeks I'd already mastered the art of nursing-baby-on-boppy-in-lap-while-your-hands-are-free-to-make-scrapbook-layouts.

Was that TMI?

sorry.

moving on...

It was so bright and shiny and pretty and...it cut things.

As in, I'd never have to buy letter stickers again,

or ANY kind of sticker for that matter, because now this machine could make it for me. And in any color/pattern that I wanted. It was also a LOT easier to use than I'd expected, seeing as how it had all those buttons and whatnot. (the instructional dvd, while a bit boring, did help quite a bit. My son even watched the 'cricut movie' with me, but was unimpressed. ah well...)

At the end of the summer, I used a bit of my salary from teaching at a theatre summer camp and I became the proud owner of my own cricut expression.

We are still BFF, although I'm sure she's felt a bit neglected lately.

Not much time for her since adding baby #3 to our clan, but I'd like to show you a few things I made for a baby shower a few months back.

meet my friend, Courtney

she was a bridesmaid in my wedding, so you might remember her from the pics in this post. anywho-

she was preggo last year with a sweet babe named Lucy, so 2 other gals and myself threw a little shindig for Courtney and her babe at my casa.

Here's what my entryway looked like-

and here's a closer peek at some of the things my cricut made-

I'd have to say that by far, my fave cartridge is the Child's year. That's where that cute silhouette of the babe in the high chair came from.

I also made a few silhouettes and 'L's for Lucy and put them in the hutch in my dining room-

more silhouettes and onesies on a clothesline in the living room-

oh how I love those onesies. They're on the New Arrival cartridge, fyi. I even made one with Lucy's name on it-

how cute would it be to have one of those with your kiddos name on it in a frame in their room?

SO cute.

yep.

here's a closer look at a few of the silhouettes. I changed out the background colors to make them a bit more boyish for another shower more recently-

a close-up of the girly onesies,

and some boy onesies.

And fyi- I used the 'fit to page' option on my cricut to make these babies as large as they could be from a 12 x 12 piece of paper.

I've also made some cute monograms-

(this is a fancy L, just in case you're not sure. I wasn't even sure I'd cut the right letter at first, but I guess I'm just not that fancy.)

and you may recall these from my Halloween decor from last year-

here's something else I made for the shower-

how cute are these kiddies??

And how cute would a ton of these precious silhoeuttes be all over the walls of a nursery?

very.

little preggo ladies cut out using the New Arrival cartridge, and a tiny little onesie

and of course, when I originally purchased it, I thought I'd use the cricut the most for scrapbooking-

you'll probably need a minute to compose yourself after laughing at my ginormous belly in these pics. Just warning you.

the lettering on all of the above layouts was done on my trusty lil cricut. So glad to finally let her show what she can do- I do believe this is the first I've ever posted about her.

and yes, my cricut is a 'her'.

I can just tell.

Anyone else out there have love for their craft cutter?

I'm linking today with Serenity Now's I heart my craft cutter party,

so if you'd like to see more ideas/crafts using things that were cut with a machine- check it out!

**also linked to Craftomanic Monday
 Made by you Monday at Skip to my Lou
 Not Just a Housewife's Show Me What Ya Got
 Today's Creative Blog Get Your Craft On
 Tip me Tuesday at Tip Junkie
 Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff
 Talent Tuesday at Vintage Wanna Bee
 Weekend Wrap-up at Tatertots and Jello
 Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts
 the Wednesday link party at Lil Luna
Creative Share Wednesdays at the Trendy Treehouse
Anything Goes party at Type A
Show and Tell Wednesday with Blue Cricket Design

Project Life Layouts

I promised that I would post some of my 2010 Project Life layouts so that those of you who have never done a 365 project could see what Becky's kit looks like. She came out with 2 different design options for the 2011 kit, so keep in mind that the page elements (colors, design, etc.) will be different. To take a look at the products for 2011, go to her site HERE.

Here's my first layout from 2010:
(to see the pics larger, just click on them)

7 days a week = 7 pics per layout

7 journaling cards per layout + 1 pretty filler

As you can see, in this first layout, I used the weekly weather forecast as one of my pics since we had crazy-cold weather at the beginning of 2010. (a trend that seems to be repeating in 2011...) The bottom left photo on the right page is also a pic of our tv screen from the big championship game last year. Since there are no rules, the weekly pics can really be anything you want.

Another weekly layout-

my friend Melanie had a baby, so Mary Brooke was my pic of the day on the 13th, and I spent the ENTIRE next day catching up on the laundry- so...my pic was our washer and dryer

To commemorate the last season of LOST, I included the front cover of our Entertainment Weekly that featured an article on the series. To the left is a pic of my friend, Kathryn and me at her baby shower.

Oliver's birthday week, so lots of him and CAKE, and a pic of my sis and our friend Haley at her baby shower. 

One of the reasons I love Project Life so much is that all of the mundane, everyday things we do can be included. I NEVER scrapbooked pics like this before because I was so worried about only including the best shots of an event. This lets me put any and all pictures in a book. Even pics of my kids covered in baby food...

and how I looked for half of 2010

and some of the cast of Tom Sawyer, the musical that I directed in the spring of last year. 

And again...sometimes I included a playbill/ticket stub from that day as my pic. (or, my POTD= picture of the day)

Oliver drew this awesomeness at school, so I took a pic for my book and then included the actual drawing in his scrapbook. I also asked him to tell me about it and wrote what he said on the back of the drawing. I would tell you about it now, but that would require me to get off this couch and I just don't have the energy. So, in the words of Phoebe Buffet, "I wish I could, but I don't want to."

Oliver holding and feeding MM for the first time...

The one Dr. visit that O went to with me and my awesome Dr let him put the 'magic wand' on my belly to see MM...

MM's birthweek! (yes, I added the pics out of order. boo.) The Sunday of this week we dedicated Eliza at church, and 5 days later, MM was born.

Let's zoom in on that preggo belly...

And- this is how I store all of the important 'stuff' that doesn't get added as a POTD. I use the ETC folders that came with Becky Higgins school expansion kit in the back of each year's book, like this...

and here's what goes in it-

playbills,

birth announcements,

letters,

cards,

wedding invites,

baby shower invites,

tickets,

etc.

And here's my book all put together for 2011.

Like I mentioned before, Becky came out with 2 different design options this year. I went with the turquoise.

Here's the intro page-

And this is where the first 7 days of 2011 will go. I went ahead and put ALL of my weekly page headers and filler cards in the book so that all I have to do is add the photos and journal cards.

And here's the back page and my ETC folder. Even if you don't have these folders, you could punch holes in the 12 x 12 clear (or colored) folders that are available from any craft store for about a buck. That's what I plan to use when I'm out of ETC folders.

And...I already have 1 item in 2011's folder:

The ACT's 2011 season brochure with a pic of yours truly on it.

So there ya have it.

My 365 project.

And just think of all of the different ways that this could be accomplished- you don't have to have a kit. You could still take pics OR use memorabilia from the day and keep it all together in any type of book you like. I just love how easy this kit makes it for me to keep up with everything.

So...any of you jumping on the 365 bandwagon this year??

thank you amazon...

for finally getting my 2011 Project Life kit to my casa!

(one is for my aunt, one is for moi)

Can't wait to get this bad boy set up.

I'm also planning to post some pics of last years album so that you out there in blogland can see what the kits/albums look like in case you're intrigued by a 365 project.

I love it.

Quite honestly, I didn't think I'd be able to keep up with it, what with my crazy-busy life, giving birth to baby #3, working full-time at school and part-time on various shows, and you know...all of that.

But I did.

My album from last year is complete except for one last batch of pics to be printed.

And did you know that Becky also offers a digital version? That's right- you could do an entire album online and have it printed whenever you're done.

And the project doesn't even have to be 'a picture-a-day' either. You could use it to document a trip, special occassion such as a wedding or a birth, a baby's first year, 365 uses for your glue gun...

Ever-whatcha-want people!

Ever-whatcha-want.

Becky(yes, I talk about her like I know her even though I really just internet stalk her) lets you send in a pic of you holding your Project Life kit when it arrives and even puts a few on her website. Here's my pic from last year, sporting my MM belly bump:

and here's my pic from today:

what a difference a year makes, huh?

settle in. it's a long one.

okay...so I haven't blogged in a while, so I'm going to play catch-up.

First of all, I got to scrap a little a couple of days ago- I did a page of the story of Clay and I for Eliza's book. Here's a close-up pic of a little clear heart I added. I thought it deserved it's own shot on the blog for being cute.

9/28- the kids and I had some fun with my paint. Oliver got to paint his hands and feet for several layouts I'm working on right now. Here he is proudly showing off some of his handy work. This is a layout with a self-portrait, his current signature, and his handprint. (Becky Higgins school kit pieces)

Here's a shot of BOTH of the kid's footprints. Very, very difficult to get a 4-month old to cooperate with such an activity. Her foot just wanted to slide across the paper. That's why there are multiple pages to choose from.

10/1- Dad got a new car and brought it over to show us. It is quite nice and has lots of knobs and buttons. I'm most jealous of the Bose sound system.

not quite sure what is so funny here- I'm just glad she didn't drop the baby!

Here's a fabulous pic of my parents with Oliver and Eliza. Suitable for framing.

10/2- The kids and I played outside for a bit after school. Eliza tolerated sitting in her stroller for a good ten minutes.

Oliver, of course, found light saber sticks and went to town.

when we went back inside, I took a few pics of the kids on our bed. Don't you just love it when great pictures just 'happen'.

10/3- went to Toy Story 1 & 2 in 3D with Oliver, Mom, and Mallory. Also saw a preview of Toy Story 3 that made me teary-eyed. No joke.

10/5- played outside with the kids after school. It was actually a little cool outside, so Eliza got to wear a beanie that Aunt Cindy made for her. I am loving this cooler weather! Oliver is loving riding his big wheel.

I had my first PTO concert of the year that night. Half of the second graders at my school performed "The Broadway Beat". They were fabulous, if I do say so myself.

10/6- the next day, I was hooking my sound equipment up in my classroom and putting away the pieces that are only used for concerts. A speaker stand fell off of the TALL cabinet in my classroom and hit me on the head. I honestly saw stars for a minute, and wanted to go and see what my head looked like, but I had a Kindergarten class in my room and couldn't leave. I called the school nurse and she came in and gave me some ice and a band-aid.

10/7- I finished the invitations for my pastor's daughter's wedding. Aren't they pretty???

10/8- Mom, Oliver and I went to the Fall Festival at his school. Super fun. Oliver would have spent the entire night in the big bouncy things if I'd have let him. He loved this spiderman pumpkin:

(he's doing 'spiderman hands)

coming down the BIG bouncy slide

he was a little confused about the cake walk. we kept having to reming him to walk in the circle when the music played. guess I should have explained the rules first.

after eating a bag of cheetos

10/9- which brings us to today. It's teacher conference day at school and music teachers DON'T do parent conferences. YAY!!!! I'm at home with my kids, or atleast one of them. (Oliver went to Ma'am and Pop's house to play a moment ago) Here's a pic of my baby girl when i went to wake her up this morning. She was already awake and had pulled both of her socks off. Thanks, mal-mal, for teaching her that.

couldn't resist taking a pic of both of us this morning:

and here's Oliver watching Sesame Street. Love that show.

So....now you're all caught up. Whew! See- I told you it was a long one!!!