Cricut Challenge 17 AND 18 and CAS-Fridays Challenge CFC 13

Well, aren't I rocking???....I knocked off two cartridges in my own personal Cricut challenge to use each cartridge I own.  I thought that was pretty awesome.  I didn't plan it that way....it just happened!  Like I said...I rock! :)

I also did this card for the CAS-Fridays Challenge CFC 13 which is "the long and short" of it...making a card 4x9 inches.  I tell you what...I struggle with Clean and Simple.  I like stuff...I like lots of stuff...I like lots of layers...it is hard for me to leave parts of my cards NAKED (or as we say in the heart of Dixie..."NEKKID!!!)!!!  So this card which I should have gotten done in about 15 minutes took me 2 hours.  It is a very complicated process to be clean and simple, I think.  Simple does not mean EASY!...or fast, for that matter!

So this is what I came up with:

I actually like the way this card came out (sort of)...but it needs stuff! HAHA!
The bird house was cut from April Showers and the bracketed mat was cut from Elegant Edges.  I changed the proportions of the mat as I wanted it to be a little more rectangular than the square way the cut is set up to be.  That's where the Gypsy sure comes in handy!  The scalloped circle is actually a piece of felt...thanks, Judie of Cards by Judie, for reminding me to use fabric! I used a Nestabilities and my Cuttlebug and the felt cut beautifully.  I tied a bit of hemp at the base of the little bird house.  The sentiment was stamped with Stampin' Up Real Red (Craft) and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I found a little heart button I had and cut off the shanks and stuck that baby down with a glue dot. The papers are Cosmo Cricket except for the base cardstock and the Kraft paper. And I tried to de-naked-fy my card by adding some inking to the edges.  My card thanked me.

And that's it for today!

Happy Sunday and Happy Crafting!