Cricut Circle Swarm - Salt Lake City - Oct. 2010

Another amazing adventure of two great friends ...

Cricut, Kristi, Cuttlebug, and BettyBee!

I'm sure you've been hearing about the Cricut Circle, and their first ever Cricut Circle Swarm, held last weekend in SLC. On a rather surprising impulse, Kristi and I decided to make the trek west, and join in the fun!

There were lots of great folks there! These are buddies from Chicago!

An amazing young woman, who inspired many of us that day! My new friend, Jen Kent, is a breast cancer patient, who walked three miles in a BC Walk that morning, and then came to the Swarm to be with us in the afternoon. This is one awesome lady!!


It's also terrific to meet up with old friends and blogging buddies like Cindy Royal and Shantaie Fowler. You know these ladies from Design Teams that I have been on, as well as their awesome work on the Cricut Circle Magazine and blog. Cindy is holding my version of her Bazzill make and take for the swarm!

Here is Mike W. the VP of Provo Craft stopping by for a chat, and a hug from Jinger Adams, the spokeswoman and TV celebrity for Provo Craft.

Cricut Cake goodies.

***TIP These punch cups made great carriers, and fit perfectly inside cellophane
bags, tied with a ribbon... cool ideas! I love cupcake wrappers, but these are super for transporting individual cupcakes, especially for kids! TIP***

Not everything we did was at the swarm! Here you see us at Brida Veil Falls up in Provo Canyon. The area around Salt Lake is just beautiful. My friend, Janice, was a magnificent hostess and tour guide. She took us all around to different craft shops, great places to eat, sights to see, as well as opening her lovely home to us. We were also delighted to meet up with this friend, Sherri, who happened to be in Salt Lake for General Conference, and we hadn't seen one another in well over ten years! She and her hubby are the directors of the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii, and we just happened to be in Utah at the same time, and had the chance to catch up....we used to all live in Virginia, and were very close friends there. Such fun! (I hope to get to Hawaii while they are still there :o)

The Haul! We swapped 3x3 name cards, Halloween treat carriers and ribbons!

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How do you like our shirts? Really creative and cool, huh? They were a big hit!

Maybe I'll do a tutorial on OUR NEW BLOG!!! YES, you heard right!!! THERE IS GOING TO BE A NEW BLOG IN TOWN VERY SOON!!! AND YOU ARE INVITED :o) More details will be coming ..... so keep watching!!!

I'll be back soon with more fun!

Happy crafting ~

Chocolate and a Special Request

First, the special request card! A friend has asked for a card with a pick up truck on it, and I love red, black and white together....along with the great embossing of the Cuttlebug cross hatch folder that looks like the tool boxes in so many pick up trucks.

Sorry I can't identify the papers, but I can tell you that the shiny silver stuff is flashing tape that you can pick up at your local hardward store, on a big roll, and it adheres to cardstock very easily. Then you can cut it, emboss it, ink it, or "just about anything else" it!!!

Silver leafing, satin ribbon, and self-stick gems complete the design. The inside has a computer generated message from the sender to the recepient. This is one of the nicest features of special request cards :)

Now the chocolate! I am preparing for another great Cricuteers in Paradise Swarm, and our theme this time is "Swimming in Chocolate", so no trip to Pennsylvania would be complete without a stop at Hershey's Chocolate World!!Here are some anxious tourists waiting to get inside to try out the ride through the exhibit on how the chocolate is made (mostly to get the free treat at the other end, because they live nearby and have done this before!!)

And these tourists were mightily tempted with these GIANT Hershey bars, but, alas, the August heat, and over 1,000 miles to travel in a hot car, made us think better of it. However..... we did have a cooler with us for other tempting goodies for our fellow swarmers!!! Never fear!

Until next time .....

Happy crafting ~

BettyBee

Cricuteers in Paradise ~ Monkeying Around!

Friday through Sunday there was a lot of Monkeying Around in Punta Gorda, Florida! There were 30 amazingly talented, and fun~loving ladies gathered in one place to have a great time together....and we certainly did that! The Cricuteers in Paradise Swarm was a wonderful success, and we were delighted to welcome 7 new members this time, plus a brand new little mascot named "Tia" (unless we can get her Mommy Wanda to change her name to Cricut!!!) She is laying in Claire's arms, up along the green railing, third from the left! She is only 9 weeks old, and was everyone's delight. It was also wonderful to have our Queen Mum, Olga, with us again....at the young age of 96...and she colors those images like a pro!! We collected 250 cards to be sent to family soldiers in Iraq; shared a report about the Head Start class we helped sponsor at Christmas; and we made get well cards for our friend Rosemary. Many, many pages were completed, new techniques learned, anything and everything shared, and lifelong friendships formed. Thank you again to the Design Team, and to our great chef, Joni! I could never do this without you. Blessings to you all, and we're getting ready for Cricuteers in Paradise ~ Hop To It!!!

Happy Crafting ~

Happy Halloween!

Flossie and her friends wish all of the Cricuteers in Paradise a very Happy Halloween! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

Cricuteers In Paradise - Strut Their Stuff

Another fabulous Cricut Swarm was held in Paradise this past weekend, and 28 fun-loving, extremely talented ladies spent untold hours working, playing, sharing, and eating together!

One of the many thoughtful gifts I received from my friends and fellow Cricuteers! Thanks, Sandy! Aren't these perfect for BettyBee? And they were so comfy!!!

Congrats to our card challenge winners! Betty, Roe, Robin and Carol-Lee (Trish, too, but she wasn't there for the award ceremony)!!! They each took an identical assortment of pieces and came up with very different works of art...Note their tropical trophies....we all love 'em!

Pink feathers and fluff abounded! These were the pens that I made for everyone :o) Thanks to Claire and Jeannene for being the pompom queens, and to Kristi and Sandy for helping me get the job finished!

Goodie Bags! This is one of our favorite parts ~ everyone brings a goodie for everyone else, and it's like Christmas when we check out the treasures inside! WOW! Talented ladies :0)

The highlight of the swarm was a very special presentation of the gift of a Cricut Create from Roe to Claire. No one has ever been more surprised, touched, or happier! And there wasn't a dry eye in the house. ~ Cricut-Sister love!!!

I'll be back with more later.

Happy crafting to you all ~

BettyBee

Ocala Swarm April 24,25 2009

Here we are at Priceless Scrapbooks in Ocala, Florida! What a great crew, and MANY THANKS to Carol and Margaret for being such great hostesses! They did a wonderful job!!! It was a fun birthday party theme, and we had a super~sparkling time! (LOL - inside joke with ROE!!!)

Here I am with Wanda and my new friend, Billie! Not much work getting done, but a whole lot of fun, and that's the most important part!!!

Sandy takes the best pictures! She's the semi-official photographer, and this time, we got took here picture taking the pictures! Got you, Sandy!!!

At least SOMEBODY worked! Look at Sandy and Debbie getting busy :) Debbie got the word that she is off for some very special heart treatment this week...our prayers go with you, dear friend.

Bette and Suzanne are taking a nap......oh, my mistake!! They are probably doing that awesome Copic coloring that Enfys showed us how to do. Look at Margaret woking away in the background. She's probably working on that jeep that she's planning to surprise Loretta with!

Billie and another local Ocala friend just chillin' This is their home store, so they didn't feel the need to scrap until the doors locked up at night, like some of us did!

Okay, I'm actually working,,,and is Roe working, or is that a green glow coming from her lap??? Wanda beat us both out with her projects! You go, girl! Roe finished some adorable ATC cards with little lizards on them, from the new Life's a Beach cricut cartridge. Thanks, Carol!

ANNOUNCING: We decided on the date for the next Cricuteers in Paradise Swarm in Punta Gorda. It will be Fri - Sun. August 7, 8, and 9, 2009! It will be held at the same location, and we reserved our favorite chef, Joni! Believe it or not, the swarm is already half filled, so if you are interested in attending, leave a comment, and get your reservations in NOW!! This will fill up fast!...

A wonderful time was had by all. Thanks again to Carol, Margaret, and all who made it happen. I know what goes into making a successful swarm so much fun. You all are great.

Hugs,

Have a hunny of a day,

BettyBee

Swarm in Ocala, April 2009

Here's Bethany saying HI!

Wanda is ready to head back to the hotel for a good rest! But she's sure smiling after a great day of scrapping fun!

Roe was a great chauffeur, since we left my car at the hotel that morning. The only problem was that we didn't think ahead far enough ~ we had to pack everything for THREE of us into her little car when it was time to leave the swarm that night!!! TOP down, and packed high!! Wanda is a super packing genius!!

I'm having trouble uploading photos now....more to come soon.

Have a hunny of a day .....
BettyBee

Birthday Challenge Card

This little card was quick and fun, because it was a challenge card at the Ocala Cricut swarm. We were given a baggie of miscellaneous parts and pieces, which we had to use on a card...this is what I came up with. All I added was the star stamp, which I bought at the swap table, a couple of dimensional dots, and some inking...everything else was in the baggie. I cut the patterned paper to get the "planets", layered the stars, split the ribbon into strips, and that was about it. Simple, but effective. I hope you get inspired to use some pieces that you have to create someting fun today.

Have a hunny of a day!

BettyBee

Cricuteers in Paradise!

As many of you know, I am hosting a Cricut Swarm this coming weekend, and I am delighted that there will be 28 very talented ladies and 2 very brave and talented gentlement coming!! Our theme is Cricuteers in Paradise, and we have dubbed our retreat as Cricut-ritaville, and we are adopting an all out Jimmy Buffet theme! Of course we start at 5:00 with Cheeseburgers in Paradise!!!! LOL One of the fun things we do is find out about a fellow attendee and make a name tag and table tent card just for them. What a fun ice breaker. When everyone arrives, they already have a new friend. This is the set that I made for Ginni, who I know loves flowers, and makes cards with beautiful butterflies on them.

I really got into making these little things for her, and if you will permit me a bit of personal babbling...it was such a sweet feeling tonight as I was preparing this, I was talking to one of the ladies who will be attending the swarm. I don't know her yet, but through all of this, she has met my Mom. Even though I'm 57 years old (YIKES!) it still makes me feel good to hear that my mom talks about the art that I did when I was in high school... shows my pieces today...(she still puts my work on the fridge!) ...and I count my blessings that I am able to work in this field now, doing something that I love so much, and get such enjoyment from ...and now to be getting a tiny bit of recognition for it, too. Thank you so much, and I love you Mom.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming!!! ..... The flowers and leaves are cut from the Walk in My Garden cricut cartridge, and the butterflies are from Paper Doll Dress Up (Angel wings!) The flip feature of the Expressions allows making perfectly "kissed" pieces that need to match up. Isn't it fun to have the grass patterned paper in the background?

I hope this inspires you for your next 3D project. If you need any info, just leave me a comment!

See you tomorrow, when we have the great GOT SKETCH? CHALLENGE on CuttlebugChallenge! with our Guest Designer Valerie Salmon!