Cosmo Cricket

TGIF!!!

AHhhh, today it really is Friday! And the sun is shining, the birds are singing and we're headed to NY in the morning. What could be better?

So, today I am taking most of the day off Cosmo Cricket work to clean my house, do the grocery shopping and pack my bags. I'm feeling great too. One bathroom is already done. I'm on my last load of laundry and it's only 9:00. If I can just stay focused I'll be done in no time and maybe even get outside to enjoy the sunshine.

It is hard to stay focused though. Is it just me or do you guys have to check your emails whenever you hear that chime? Seriously, I think it's harder to resist than chocolate...... maybe. Anyway, this was the last email that came in and I thought I would share it with you because it is seriously funny.

(I think this one must be referring to PC users. My mac never needs restarting.)

(I don't have a cat, but I have teased Lindsay quite a bit.)

OK, back to work. Do the dishes and the moppin'..... I got a keep on hoppin'! Have a great weekend everyone!

Hooray It's Friday! "What"?............ It's only Thursday?

Sometimes I love my job so much I forget what day it is. This morning I thought it was Friday. Ask me the date and I am hard pressed to give you the right answer, but I can usually come within three days either way. Once an awhile I forget the year too.

 We wanted to thank each of you who commented yesterday for brightening our day! Love the comments!

 Me? To brighten my day, it always helps to talk on the phone with a friend, surf the internet for a beach scene, and ride my bike. It also helps when we get comments from our blog friends. It actually helps a lot. A lot lot!

The winner from yesterday is Holly Denghel. Holly here is what you need to do. Email Kristen at cosmocricket dot com and the checks in the mail. Well..... actually the goods are on the UPS truck headed your way.

I almost forgot. We received today from Kristen Swain the terrific projects above. Kristen thanks for sharing and now we are re-sharing!

Have a great day!

 
 

Scrapbook.com Challenge Winners and a Giveaway

For the month of April, we have lots of winners. This would be because I messed up the polling and we won't know the actual, most voted-for winner until next year. So, the top 5 all won the grand prize..... I happened to mess up the pre-voting also and the other 15 ladies all ended up with prizes too. See, you really should try out these challenges..... you never know how lucky you could be!

Just because the voting went a little haywire, doesn't mean that they weren't great layouts. In fact, my personal fave didn't even make it to the top 5. They were all really fantastic..... I didn't vote, but I'm sure it was a tough choice for the ladies that did!

Here they are in random order:

By Melissa W:

By Cammie King:

By Wrightaud:

By Fritchey:

By Izzy B:

On another note, it's grey and gloomy here in Providence, Utah. It could be my fault. I did wash my windows on Monday and it started raining right after I finished and it's been raining since.

Give me a tip to beat the dreary weather and I'll reward you by picking a random winner to receive a papercrafting kit of her choice along with coordinating Tiny Type stickers (although DeLovely is currently on re-order..... but you are welcome to wait for it to be back in stock if you like. It sold faster than we anticipated).

Cards From our Fans

We get the most awesome emails from our fans. I'm always amazed at how creative you all are. You have no idea how much I've learned from your projects.

By Melanie Douthit

 

By Danielle Flanders

By Amy Heller

In fact, I was thinking about that the other day. I've come a long way with the whole paper crafting thing! Did you know that Eric and Lindsay used to tell me not to scrapbook? Yep, my stuff was that bad! One year I had to create seven different make and takes before Lindsay would approve one for Scrapfest (even though I'm the president, it's Lindsay that gets final approval on my projects). Let's just say that I've developed a pretty thick skin and have stolen hundreds of your ideas!

Here are a few of my favorite things I've learned from you.

1. How to make paper flowers. I just love paper flowers.

2. Edge techniques help to separate layers and bring your eye into a photo. I love distressing, stitching, scratching and drawing along the edges of things.

3. Dimensional adhesive is a must have, as are dimensional embellies and...... buttons make everything cuter.

4. Use curved lines sometimes!

5. Cardstock is a really nice addition to patterned paper. Not only does it enhance the patterns, it makes things less busy and easier to work with.

6. Layering is nice. I really like overlapping onto photos too.

7. When all else fails....... scraplift!

3 Random Things

Random Thing #1.

Do you all know Lisa Falduto...... well Lindsay and I call her Lisa Fal-dodge-o since she tried to stand us up for dinner once. I say tried, because we hunted her down, dragged her to dinner, which she had already eaten without us and ordered her cheesecake. Just a note, don't think about skipping out on the Cosmo Crickets! Anyway, Lisa does altered projects like no other.  She sent me this fun pic of a little welcome lamp she altered with DeLovely. Not only is it darling, but she is giving it away on her blog!

Random Thing #2.

Do you remember this lovely garland by Merdery?

 

Merdery had decorated it with lots of fun paper flowers and many of you wanted to know how to make them. Well, you are all in luck. She has posted a fab tutorial on her blog and they look super easy to make. 

Random Thing #3.

Lindsay's dad Bill and his wife Andrea came up over Mother's Day weekend to visit Lindsay and his family and I got to meet them too. Can I tell you, I feel so special to have played a little part in bringing them all together. They are all such nice people!

There are very few things in life I do that turn out really well. For example, my pie that I took over for them was a bit soupy. My oak trees I planted last fall may be dead (although my optimistic nature won't let me pull them out yet..... it's still early, maybe they are late bloomers). I'm uncoordinated and clumsy causing me to fall over people (including myself) and also to break lots of things. In fact, visit for dinner at my house and you will be served your drink from a Mason jar. We have found they are not as breakable as glasses and since we were going through around 24 glasses every three months, Mason jars are saving us lots of money.

But for once I didn't mess things up. This time it all worked out. Connecting Lindsay and Bill turned out perfectly and I think all of us are pretty darn happy about it!!!

OOOoooops!!! Another of my bad qualities..... I'm forgetful. Just an update here with the Mother's Day winner. Congratulations Jenny McGee. You won Lindsay's contest. Send us your info to kristen at cosmocricket dot com so we can get you your prize!

Weekend eye candy and the winners are

Didn't we told you last Saturday that the new release would be lovely?! We as the design team are so trilled about it and love working with it.

Wendy Sue made this cute card

 

Than Gudrun came up with this cute bag that works so well as a mother's day present!

 
 

Natasja seemed to be unstoppable playing with DeLovely, she made this frame inspired by Wendy Sue's frame that was posted yesterday for her mother in law, who just moved.

 

 

and the next two layouts as well

 

 

We will leave it at this, I guess you all just want to know now who won the DeLovely craftkits for playing along with our NSD challenges! Let us start by thanking you all for playing along! So many awesome layouts, cards and projects. Since they were all this great it wasn't possible for us to decide on the winners. So what we did, we picked them randomly.

So...her we go, for the colorful challenge:

Anthea Peterson

 

and for the challenge with the sketch:

Bri Johnson

Both please email your info to kristen at cosmocricket dot com so we can make sure you receive this awesome prize!

Have a great weekend! 

Looks who's driving the Mothers Day Bus

It looks like I'm driving the "blog" bus today and I must say, "Happy to do it.". Everyone on board? You better buckle up!

When Julie blog's, she has terrific style and the ride is smooth, enjoyable, and you always reach your destination safely.

 Me? I'm all over the road, glancing away, not paying attention, speeding up, then slowing down, running stop lights, and driving the wrong way on one way streets.

 Really! Every city that we go to, it has happened. Never on purpose mind you.

 Today, well................. (said with a grimacing apologetic facial expression)....... will be no exception.

Mother Days is this weekend! We would like to wish all Mothers a terrific Mothers day and let them know how much we love and appreciate them.

I would like to personally wish My mom, my wife, my new mom Andrea, my mom-in-law, Lisa (my new Sister-in-law) Ilke (my other new Sister in law), Jenn (my new Sister), Cathy (my old sister), Annmarie(another old sister), Suzanne (another older sister), Julie's mom Kathy, Eric's mom Shirley, Shirley Partridge, Carol Brady and Mrs. C from Happy Days, along with all of  you,  a very Happy Mothers day.

You are loved very much!

What do you think of the great projects below? It looks to me like a great opportunity to create something fun for Mom.

The first is done by Wendy Sue Anderson. I love saying her name. So nostalgic!

(see directly below)

This one,below, is by our good friend Tania Willis. We have known Tania for several years and she has been on several different Design teams.

I know....I need to keep my eye's on the road. Sorry! But I do love these projects! Creative Creative Creative!
 
Now that we have almost arrived, stop the bus, let us know what you think about the projects, wish your mom a Happy Mothers day, or someone that has had a positive influence on you, and you and the person's name that you write down will have a chance to win a Material Girl Paper Crafting Kit, a DeLovely Paper Crafting kit, and the 12" x 12" Delovely Ready Set Chipboard.

Mother's Day Picture Frames

First let's start with a fun little joke for all us female brain owners. Lindsay sent this to me yesterday and for a moment I thought I may need to dissolve his position.

In the hospital the relatives gathered in the waiting room, where a family member lay gravely ill. Finally, the doctor came in looking tired and somber.

'I'm afraid I'm the bearer of bad news,' he said as he surveyed the worried faces. 'The only hope left for your loved one at this time is a brain transplant.

It's an experimental procedure, very risky, but it is the only hope. Insurance will cover the procedure, but you will have to pay for the BRAIN.

The family members sat silent as they absorbed the news. After a time, someone asked, 'How much will a brain cost?'
The doctor quickly responded, '$5,000 for a male brain; $200 for a female brain.'

The moment turned awkward.

Some of the men actually had to’ try' to not smile, avoiding eye contact with the women.
A man unable to control his curiosity, finally blurted out the question everyone wanted to ask, 'Why is the male brain so much more than a female brain?'

The doctor smiled at the childish innocence and explained to the entire group, 'It's just standard pricing procedure. We have to price the female brains a lot lower because they've been used.

OK, did you get a little laugh out of that? I hope so. Now, on to our project.

This was sent to me by Collette Wibisono who also just started her own scrappy blog..... she has a cute little dog with a preference for Jack's World that I got a kick out of! He is trying to follow in the footsteps of his master. I have to say he has a way to go before he gets quite to her level. Check out the details added to these cute frames Collette made for Mother's day gifts.

A Gardener's Gift

This is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. The creator, Jen Davis is one of our facebook fans. She posted this in our fan photos where I saw it and fell in love! Do you have a mother who loves gardening? Because this would make an awesome Mother's Day gift or just a gift for any of your green thumbed friends.

 
Now, let's give a huge congratulations to our DeLovely winner. But first, let's remember that there are more ways to win this line. There are two challenges, about three posts down, that are going on until Thursday and I forgot to mention that the prize for the scrapbook.com challenge is DeLovely (with other things) too.

Speaking of the scrapbook.com challenge, you should definitely check it out. Everyone that played last month was totally thrilled with it. I messed up the polling..... we won't know the official winner until next year sometime...... so everybody won! It could happen again, you never know!!!

OK, back to today's winner, Ana who said:

OMG! OMG! OMG! I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE this collection! How could I have missed this post?! Guess what I just did? I've just texted my friend and owner of my favorite LSS and told her "I WANT THE NEW COLLECTION BY COSMO CRICKET"! LOL!

Well Ana, text your friend and tell her that you got what you want and she doesn't even have to place an order! Then please send us your info and her store info to kristen at cosmocricket dot com so we can get this out to you ASAP.

More From DeLovely, Including some Answers

Amy and Wendy did some awesome projects with DeLovely too. I didn't get their emails until after the initial reveal went up, but they are so cute I have to share them today! Then, the last two projects are from some of our job applicants. We have some talented gals to pick from.

 


 

1. A lot of you want to know if the line is as bright as the paper images or more like the colors in the projects.

Well, something happens when you print on un-coated paper. The ink spreads out a little as it soaks into the paper. This makes your colors a little less bright. So, when we design we make our colors a little brighter to compensate a bit. I guess that's a really long way of saying that the project images are more accurate than the paper images.

2. Where did the color inspiration come from?

Do you remember Jolly By Golly? This is very similar, just turned up a notch! Eric and I started experimenting with brighter colors a while ago. In fact, when we released Jack's World, we thought it was really bright. Then came Girl Friday and Snorkel leading up to Jolly By Golly. Those lines may not seem bright compared to DeLovely, but compared to Gretel, Oh Joy and Flueriste they were almost florescent! :)

3. Will color photographs work with DeLovely?

Did you not see Gudrun's beautiful layouts? I think they are both amazing and both use color photos. Also, Debbie and Wendy chose color photos for their layouts too with stunning results. Wendy even chose color photos of a...... are you ready...... BOY! Black and white are beautiful too, but I wouldn't limit yourself. Give it a try and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!

4. Is this the direction Cosmo Cricket is going to keep heading or will you go back to your vintage style? What can we expect next?

Well, if I told you all that I'd be in trouble. Don't you know my competitors are reading this entry too? Hi Thom, hi Justin, hi Lisa, hi Suzi, hi Larry, hi Matt how y'all doin'? Ready for CHA yet?

Really, we are finishing up some of the last things on our CHA release and all I can say is their are three distinct color pallettes and at least one of them is so different from anything, including DeLovely, that you will never see it coming! I'm in love with it though!!!

 

5. Who is the winner..... already?

We are continuing the contest until tomorrow morning. Why you ask? Because the comments keep coming in and we want everyone to have a chance to nominate their favorite LSS (by the way, that was another question. It stands for Local Scrapbook Store). If you've already commented on the post below, there are two other ways to win DeLovely. Take our color challenge or sketch challenge from Saturday's NSD posts! You have until Thursday.