Wednesday Winners #99

Good morning Fantabulous Friends,

Well friends, I'm so excited to be back for another term! I won't be continuing as Coordinator this time around, but Robin so kindly picked me to stay on the team as a Design Team member and I will still be doing our Wednesday Winners posts! I'm super excited to get back into the creative side of FCCB! I'm so sad to see many of our girls go, as I've developed quite a friendship with our wonderful ladies. I am, however, thrilled to have the chance to work with the new gals. I am so excited to see so many of our new teammates have been picked from some of our previous Top 5 challenges! Nothing but the best for FCCB! :0) Welcome, welcome new teammates!

One last thing I wanted to mention, remember the recurring top here on my Wednesday post about how many new and wonderful blogs are out there just waiting to be discovered...I'm so proud to say, Robin has picked some of these gals (from previous Top 5s) to be on our new team! Yay!!! And yes, some of our newbies have less than 100 followers!!! This is why Robin makes the best leader... she sees potential and she goes with her gut. I love her for that. :0) If you missed it, please go back to our Monday post and make friends with the new members and old members Design Team!

Last week was our Fancy Trims Challenge. We had some amazing entries! Please be sure to check it out HERE as it was the last post for some of our lovely teammates!

Some of the ladies on the DT (including myself) were picked to work with products from Really Reasonable Ribbon (RRR). They were generous to us by letting us choose some product from their store. I have been a loyal customer of RRR since I started blogging and crafting, a little over a year ago, and I can honestly say, they are one of my very favorite companies to shop from. In fact, they are my go to site for ribbon. Their prices are spectacular. For $20 you can get sooooooo much! Heck, even with just $5 or $10, you can pick up an amazing amount of ribbon to add to your stash. The other thing that's wonderful about RRR is not only their variety, but their amazing customer service and response time. They are super friendly and take time out to talk to their patrons. I LOVE that about them! Thank you so much RRR for sponsoring us last week and for providing a prize for one lucky winner here on FCCB! :0)

Betcha want to find out who that winner may be! ;) Please remember to click on each link from the winner and the Top 5 to become followers of their blogs. Again, this week we have some amazing talent, who have less than 100 followers on their blog! Let's blow up their blog with new followers and comments! Without further ado, let's check out the winner of our prize along with the Top 5, who are DT carefully picked as the top creations submitted!

~This Weeks Winner~
(chosen by random.org)
$15 gift certificate from Really Reasonable Ribbon

#31 Judy - Judy's Handmade Creations

Congratulations Judy!!!
To claim your prize please contact Marlene at... hearts0314 @ msn .com (remove spaces)
You have two weeks to claim your prize.
Remember to grab your "FCCB Winner" blinky to display on your blog, you can find the blinky code in the right hand side bar.

~Design Team Top 5~

#21 Karen - Little Scrap Pieces



#19 Michelle B - Wandering Scissors



#22 Tammy - Bowman Stamps

Tammy is one of our very new designers! Note: This challenge was B4 she became one.

#4 Brenda - Brenda's Joy


#53 Tiffany - Tiffany's Creative Ideas

Congratulations Ladies!!!

Remember to grab your "FCCB Top 5" blinky to display on your blog! You can find the blinky code on our right-hand sidebar.

Thank you to all those who participated in our challenge.

Come join us for this week's "FCCB Color Challenge" challenge - Here.

Use the three colours associated with FCCB -- purple, green, and turquoise somewhere on your project.

(Be sure to use at least ONE Cricut cut on your project.)

XO ~ Amy Jo (Last Day as Coordinator)
Thank you Robin, for the awesome opportunity you gave me. I will always remember your kindness and confidence in me. I am honored to be staying on another term as a designer.
Love you lots, Dear Friend!!! :)

Quick Tip Tuesday - Spiraled Paper Banner

Welcome to this weeks "Quick Tip Tuesday".  Today, I wanted to share with  you this new spiraled paper banner that I learned to make.  It makes a wonderful embellishment to cards, scrapbook pages or home decor.  

I used this technique on this week's color challenge.  Here is what you will need a thin strip of card stock, bone folder and a pencil.

First you take your thin strip of paper and run your bone folder down it with your thumb on top.  You do this several times and you should notice it start to curl.  It is just like making ribbon curly ribbon with scissors.  To achieve a tighter curl I wrapped it around a pencil.  Then I just trimmed the ends into a banner shape and adhere.  

Here is a great video by Catherine Pooler showing this technique on a card.  The double sided paper turned out great.

This sadly will be my last "Quick Tip Tuesday", our family is going through some life changing events so I am putting my hobby to the side for a little while.  Once we are settled back down, I hope to be back and part of this wonderful group.  I have enjoyed all your wonderful comments and support.  Please be sure to come back tomorrow to check out our Wednesday Winners.

Melanie

Challenge Me Monday #100

Before we get to our challenge this week it's time to introduce our new DT and say a sad good-bye to some Fantabulous Design Team members.
We say farewell to a few of our design team members:
Cathie, Charlotte, Crystal, Glenda, Jennie, Larelyn, Lisa, Melanie Melissa, Peggy, Sabrina and Sarah.
Thank you so much for the time you’ve shared with us here at FCCB

We welcome our returning design team members:
Amy Jo, Beckie, Faith, Jamie, Jessica, Jewels, Kate, Marlene, Sherrie and Suzanne.

We are so pleased to introduce to you our newest design team members here at FCCB:
Amy L - Redheaded Crafter
Cindy B - Cindy's Scraptastic Designs
Cyndy G - Arcy Scraps!
Holly - Ribbons & Glue
Judy - Crafty Jar
Karen - Simply Frenzied
Megan - Saxey Designs
Melissa T- Scrappy MAC Designs
Sheila - SheLoveShoes
Sonya - Sonya's Paper Trail
Tammy - Bowman Crafts
(Our wonderful past DT member) Tanya - Nonna's Craft Corner
Please give them all a warm welcome
now on to this weeks Fantabulous challenge

It’s time for a celebration here at Fantabulous Cricut. This week’s challenge is a special one – as it is Challenge Me Monday #100! We are so excited to see how this blog has grown and thank you all for being part of our weekly fun! To celebrate, we are asking you to use the three colours associated with Fantabulous Cricut (purple, green and turquoise) somewhere on your project.

#100 – FCCB Color Challenge
Use the three colours associated with Fantabulous Cricut (purple, green and turquoise) somewhere on your project

~ Design Team Inspiration ~

Beckie
Cuttin' Up, Paper Dolls Dress Up cartridges

Charlotte
Damask Decor, Give a Hoot cartridges

Glenda
Simply Charmed, Nate's ABCs, Plantin SchoolBook cartridges
Cuttlebug Hearts embossing folder

Jamie
Car Decals, Lovely Floral cartridges

Jennie
3 Birds on Parade, Once Upon a Princess cartridges

Kate
Car Decals cartridge
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots, Butterflies embossing folders

Larelyn
Smiley Cards, Letter Envy cartridges

Melanie
Cupcake Lite cartridge

Sherrie
Simply Charmed, Birthday Bash cartridges

Suzanne
Cricut Everyday cartridge

~This Week's Sponsor~

This week, Fantabulous Cricut is delighted to be sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Simon Says Stamp has donated a $25 gift certificate to be given to one lucky participant to be drawn at random from all eligible entries.

To link your project for this week's "FCCB Color" challenge,
click on the blue "add your link" button below!

This challenge ends at Midnight, March 4th (Mountain Time).

As a courtesy to our design team, please consider turning off the word verification on your blog. With the new system, it has become quite difficult to leave comments for our FANTABULOUS followers.

Spotlight Sunday

Welcome to Spotlight Sunday! We are super duper happy to see you ;0)

Today's Spotlight Guest is the crafty Eveyln of The Paper Artist Crafts . She grabbed a DT top 5 pick with this project...

But the awesomeness doesn't stop there. If you take a hop around Evelyn's blog, you will find some greatness such as...

Really good, huh? Yeah...I think so too. But before you flood her blog with comments, let's get to know Evelyn...

When did you start scrapbooking/papercrafting and
why?

I started paper crafting about 4 years ago.I’ve always been in love with crafts of some sort. I saw an informercial forthe Cricut Expression, ordered it, and that was that. I’ve been hooked eversince. It has been a wonderful journey to be involved in this medium.

What is your favorite type of project to make (i.e., cards, layouts,mini-albums, etc....)?

I love making 3D items, but recently my focus has turned towards card making. Irecently learned to color stamps with my Prisma Pencils and now I own Copics,so anything I can color is great!

What is your favorite product to use on your projects?

I love using glitter on my projects to add sparkle. I also love paper roses. They just really make your projects pop.

What is your favorite Cricut cartridge?

Halloween is my favorite holiday and I justlove the Happy Hauntings Cartridge. It’s so much fun to put together all thosecuts. I try to find a reason to use that one, even off season. But I have tosay that Elegant Edges is a staple for me, always something I can use.

What do you do in your spare time, when you are not paper crafting?

In my spare time, I love to hang out with my children and read a good book.

Any other information you would like us to know about
you?

I am so honored to have been chosen as aspotlight artist at Fantabulous Cricut! Thank you so much for this recognition.It is always so much fun to participate in the challenges and find inspirationamong the many talented people who participate as well. Thank you very much.

Thanks Evelyn! Be sure to hop over and see The Paper Artist Crafts . Evelyn will be back tomorrow as Guest Designer along with the multi-talented Design Team for another inspiring Challenge Me Monday.

Be blessed,
Beckie
Spotlight Sunday Hostess

Scrappin' Saturday - Sketch Inspiration

Welcome to Scrappin' Saturday!  Do you ever find yourself staring at a blank scrapbook page and unsure just where to begin?  I do!  I follow several sketch challenge blogs, but sometimes I get stumped and want bunches of sketches to browse.   That's when I head over to my favorite sketch artist's website -- PageMaps by Becky Fleck.

PageMaps features dozens of sketches each month -- all free for personal use.  Becky also has a PDF archive with over seven years of sketches available in various formats and sizes:

• 12x12 single
• 12x12 double
• 8.5x11 vertical
• 8.5x11 horizontal
• 8.5x11 double

Not doing a standard size?  Or creating something other than a scrapbook page?  There's a map for that, too!  Although not always posted monthly, you can find other types of sketches in the archive:

• MiniMaps - 6x6 and 8x8 pages
• HalfMaps - 6x12 and 12x6 pages
• RoundMaps - great for shaped mini albums
• CardMaps - square and rectangular
• SideMaps - 8.5x11 horizontal
• TagMaps - for titles, cards, journaling, tag books, packages

WOW, right...?!  You may have seen Becky's work in the magazine/book section of your favorite craft store.  Her sketches appear in the Scrapbook & Cards Today / PageMaps series; however, the sketches on the website are different from those in the books.  And since I'm a frugal scrapper, I'm all about finding inspiration without paying lots of $$$.   Before I head to a crop or retreat, I usually print out a few of my favorite PageMaps months and stick in a binder for reference.  Here's a recent sketch I used from PageMaps and the resulting scrapbook page:

Where do you go for sketch inspiration?  Do you follow Becky and PageMaps?  Have one of her books?  I'd love to hear your feedback in the comments section below.

Have a happy, scrappy weekend!

Jessica

Thursday Tutorial- How about a little Washi and ribbon flowers

Hello everyone! This week at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog the challenge is Fancy Trims -fabric, lace or other trim. I had planned on doing a tutorial for you this week but being a grammy took priority. Besides caring for my 15 month old granddaughter Mon- Friday I am blessed to have my just barely 2 year old granddaughter visiting for 4 days. They are having so much fun but wearing me out.
So first I would like to share two posts I have bookmarked about the new popular Washi Tape. Washi tape is a crafting tape originally from Japan that is like thin masking tape. I have seen so many cute projects lately that people have done with Washi Tape. So check out these two posts

10 Things to do with Washi Tape written by Nina at Waffle Flower Paper Crafts

Cute and fun ideas

Then if that's not enough ideas check out this post which includes a huge variety of tutorials on how to make your own Washi tape.

100 Crafty Tape Ideas -MelStampzblogspot

Also check out the wonderful ribbon flowers and video tutorials our own Fantabulous Cricut Creater Robin has posted this week on her blog.

Robins Creative Cottage

Robins Creative Cottage

I so hope you enjoyed these posts and check them out. Don't forget to join us this week at FCCB for the Fancy Trims challenge. We so enjoy seeing all your creative projects each week.

I

Wednesday Winners #98

Good morning Fantabulous Friends,

Have you all been checking out our Wednesday Winner's posts lately? I've been noticing that in our last several challenges many of our Top 5 picks are fairly new to the blogging world! Some of the gals only have between 1 - 10 followers so I would highly encourage you all to not just check out the pics here, but to actually click on the link of the people that have made the Top 5 and check out each and every blog. Another suggestion is to go back and see some of the other entries because often, several of the posts were almost picked for the Top 5. That means there is a ton of talent out there and these gals (and guys) need our support!

Since doing the Wednesday posts, I have found so many incredibly amazing blogs that my head is spinning and my heart is swooning! ;) Ladies, allow yourself some "me" time and sit back and peruse our Challenge Me Monday & Wednesday Winners posts, even if you did not enter the challenge yourself. You won't be sorry (I promise!) and chances are, you might even make a few new friends! I often have to remind myself to take the time to check out different blogs and that is why I love doing the Wednesday posts so much...because it encourages me to make that time! If you want to see what I'm talking about, check out last week's challenge right HERE. I hope you have as much fun with it as I do. If you don't have the time, at least make a goal of clicking on our Top 5 picks. These ladies (and gentlemen) ;) have worked so hard and they deserve our attention! Of course, you'll want to follow our design team members and guest designers as well, right? ;0)

Alright, well this is totally off topic, but as I mentioned last week, I didn't get a chance to use the awesome stamps provided by K. Andrew Designs for our Monday challenge, but I did get my project done to show you all today! I hope you all enjoy my creation. I had so much fun making it and OMGosh, the stamps I used are so very versatile. It was a Valentine's Day set, but can be used for many other occasions. I just love it when you purchase something (although this set was sponsored) and realize you get more bang for your buck than you thought and that's what you will get with Kristal's stamps! For details on my card please check out my personal blog.

Scrapping, Card Making, and Living with Fibro

For this week, we have another awesome sponsor -- Joy's Life. Wow, she has some super cute stamps! Be sure to check them out if you haven't already and even if you have, pop in to see what's new! I just love how she incorporates a bold font with an elegant font in lots of her sets. Such a clever idea! Thanks Joy's Life for sponsoring our prize this week!

Thanks for joining us today, now it's time for this week's winner and the Top 5!

~This Weeks Winner~
(chosen by random.org)
Prize from - Joy's Life

#11 Mary - Clover Rose Creations

Congratulations Mary!!!
To claim your prize please contact Marlene at... hearts0314 @ msn .com (remove spaces)
You have two weeks to claim your prize.
Remember to grab your "FCCB Winner" blinky to display on your blog, you can find the blinky code in the right hand side bar.

~Design Team Top 5~

#9 Tammy - Bowman Crafts



#42 Samantha Bell - Craftychick Cards



#45 Jenny - Jenny's Scrapbooking Haven


#29 Cindy - Cindy's Scraptastic Designs


#12 Holly - Ribbons & Glue

Congratulations Ladies!!!

Remember to grab your "FCCB Top 5" blinky to display on your blog! You can find the blinky code on our right-hand sidebar.

Thank you to all those who participated in our challenge.

Come join us for this week's "Fancy Trims" challenge - Here.

Use fabric, lace or other trims on your project.

(Be sure to use at least ONE Cricut cut on your project.)

XO ~ Amy Jo (Coordinator)

Quick Tip Tuesday - Patch Me

Welcome to this week's Quick Tip Tuesday!  Do any of you have children that seems to wear holes in all the knees of their pants?  Well, I have avoided them until this year with my eldest boy, he has put holes in the knees of 90% of his pants.  Being on a budget, I can't afford a whole new wardrobe of pants.  So, I decided to use my fabric stash, Heat n Bond, and my Big Shot to make my own patches.

1.  Pants that need a patch.

2.  Adhered "Heat n Bond Ultra Hold" to my fabric.

3.  Select Big Shot Die and run fabric through. 

4.  Viola, you will have home made patches.

5.  Peel backing off fabric and iron on patch to pants.

6.  Finished pants.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, I have several more pants to go:)  Please come by and check out our Wednesday winners.

Happy Crafting,

Melanie