Cosmo Cricket

Cosmo Cricket Big Box Winner

 Julie made it back from her super secret succesful mission to China and is still trying to recover.

I feel bad. I called her house yesterday and she was making Thanksgiving Dinner. I didn't have the heart to tell her that Thanksgiving was last Thursday.

Today we have a winner for the Cosmo Cricket big box giveaway. And the winner is......Wait, first maybe we should show you a couple of great projects that were sent to us this past week.

This first project comes to us from Liz Qualman. Liz created this project and Scrapbook and Beyond magazine picked it up. The layouts titled "Snow Beautiful", and it was created using our new holiday collection, "Mitten Weather."

 

 

And the next is a terrific Circa 1934 layout created by none other than Leah Killian! Great job ladies.

 
And now.......Oh..... I almost forgot, Julie asked that I remind you that you have until midnight tomorrow night to enter for a chance to be the Cosmo Cricket Guest Designer of the month for December.

 For all of the details you can click right here .

Thank all of you for your comments.

And finally, what a lot of you have been waiting for..... Drum roll....more drum roll.....Final drum roll.....

The winner of the Box from the warehouse is........ Mandy who posted the following "

Mandi said...

This post was hilarious! Even I'm confused now about the time changes! And a big box o' stuff from Cosmo? Sign me up! ;)

Reply November 23, 2010 at 01:5

Mandi- email cathie at cosmocricket dot com your address and the boxes with the goods will be yours. Fun stuff!

Have a great day!

Eye spy Cosmo Cricket eye candy

Since a lot of you wont have time for much scrappin' this weekend we thought we would share with you some great work we spotted on the web. Maybe to give you some inspiration for when you go scrapping after this Thanksgiving weekend :)

 

Let's start with this awesome wreath showing great use of "Mitten Weather". It's created by Larissa Albernaz

 

Look at the great border on this layout by Aubreed were she used Togetherness

 

Now take a look at this awesome envelop that goes with that card! Made by April Yap showing Joy Ride

 Sasha Holloway created this great layout with Circa 1934

 

Look at the great combination of Togetherness and Pixie-Licious on this layout! Created by Lisa Dickinson

 

Here a layout also with Mitten Weather, do you see those fun flowers? Kerryn Lawson created it

 

Next up is a fun card by Gloria Stengel using Togetherness

 

Bonnie used Jolly by Golly to dress up this little bag

 

This lovely set of card featuring Material Girl is created by Mandy

 

Now take a look at this farm matching game created by Sally. How cool is that?! She used Garden Variety

That was some great inspiration wasn't it?! We love to see what everyone else creates with Cosmo Cricket.

We have two things left to do before finishing this post.

First is...announcing the winner of last weeks design team challenge! Amanda L. please email cathie at cosmocricket dot com because you won that Circa 1934 craft kit!

Second is...since this is the last design team post for the month of November we want to post a special thanks to Michelle Wooderson! She shared so many great projects with us. If you want to see all she did please go to this link. Michelle thanks for playing along this last month and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

Have a great weekend!!

P.S. Want to be our guest designer for the month of December?! You still have a chance to enter! Check out this post here.

Happy Thanksgiving From all of us at Cosmo Cricket

 
The Thanksgiving placeholder was sent to us by Frances Sylvia. I thought it to be quite appropriate for today. Thank you Frances!

We have a ton to be thankful for. We appreciate each of you very much!

Speaking on behalf of Eric, Julie, all of our employee's, and myself, have a very happy Thanksgiving!

P.S. don't forget the drawing next week.

 

 

 

 

Cosmo Cricket- Heard from the Future today..........

Heard from the future today which was written by Julie tomorrow. I think that's amazing. This reminds me of Back to the Future. Today is Tuesday and it's Wednesday in China, Julie is headed home tomorrow being Thursday in Hong Kong, and will arrive back home a few short hours after she leaves or maybe it's a few hours before she leaves China. I don't know.   

She has gotten very little sleep and has been, while there, conducting a very unscientific experiment on how long those of the female persuasion can hold "it".

I think we all know what holding "it" is. Been there and done that or not done that, whichever you prefer. 

You see, Julie, because of her lack of rest and jet-lagged body coordination, has been a little worried about the skills that she needs to possess to accomplish "the task."

If you're not sure what I'm referring to check out her previous blog post last week:

http://cosmocricket.typepad.com/cosmo_cricket/2010/11/preparing-for-china.html

 I'm going to double check Guinness, but I do believe she may have set sort of international record.

Julie claims that she was able to, "with every fiber of her being, and nothing but pure Julie determination" start her marathon "not going party" from early in the morning until 8:30 at night when she arrived back at her hotel.

I guess this is where we all should say, "Way to go Julie!." Or maybe, "Way not to go Julie."

We won't talk about what day it actually occurred because i'm still a little fuzzy on the today, tomorrow, yesterday thing..

Next up, We have friends everywhere. One of our really great friends from Brazil, Angelica Azanha, and her design team, Memory Girls, sent us some very fun layouts that they created.

Memory Girls is the designer team of Scrap Memory in Brazil. The Brazilian team is composed by Angelica Azanha, Janete Stella, Dany Bion and Eunides Vicente.

Thanks Memory Girls for sharing such terrific projects and also assuring us that scrapbooking is alive and well in south America!

Take a look:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Their Blog is http://memorygirls.blogspot.com/

 We heard through the grapevine that, Stella, one of the Memory Girls has a dream of being a designer for Cosmo.We think she is very talented: See her blog: http://janetestella.blogspot.com/

Have a great day!

I almost forgot! You know how Julie had a box that she gave away on a post a week or so ago from items that she had at her home.

Well.........Here at the office I think our box is bigger than Julie's and Julie's was very big. If you like big boxes and would like a chance to win, leave a comment and we will draw sometime next week.

 

 

Cosmo Cricket more Circa layouts and an update on "Agent 5'10 with flats"

 
Many of you know from our blogs recently that Eric (Agent 6"6) and Julie, have been on many secret missions lately.

Last week Julie told you on the blog that she was headed on a very very ultra highly delicate secret trip to somewhere in the Far East.

I started to worry a little when I didn't hear from her.  Finally late last night I received this very cryptic message.

Here is a full unedited transcript of her message:

"I am here, I am safe.....I am totally exhausted." 

 "Could this really be Julie?", I asked myself. I have never known Julie to be so short and to the point. The Julie I know would have had a lot of fabulous stories and incredible facts to share.

Julie is fast becoming an international woman of travel, full of mystery and intrigue. Or.... an international woman of mystery full of travel and intrigue. Or an international woman of intrigue full of travel and mystery. You get the point.

In honor of the many super secret special ops that she has been on lately, protecting the rights and helping to insure the creativity of crafters throughout the world, I figured since Eric is agent 6'6, that Julie has more than earned the title of "Agent 5'10 with flats", or agent 5"11 with regular shoes."

We will try to keep you updated this week if we hear anymore from her.

Next, If we had a "Cosmo Cricket Layout or Project Hall of Fame" these two people's projects would certainly be a part of it.

First take a look at the two projects that Melissa O'Neill created with Circa 1934.

 

 

 And next Carol Monson created these next three terrific projects!

 
 
 
Got to Love them!

Have a great day and "Agent 5'10 with flats", if your listening or reading, be safe and hurry back!

Challenge time

We thought it was about time for a new challenge. This time it was Laura's turn to come up with one and we think she did a great and very inspiring job! Here is Laura's challenge:

The challenge has the theme of "kids".. Preferably with them joining in on the project, like making a card, or a layout, or making something FOR a kid... Or scrapbooking kids art work. Be inspired by this and go from there.

 

Since this is Laura's challenge let's start with her project! She made this cute card using Pixie-Licious:  

With the scraps, and anything he wanted to put on it at the same time, she let her 3 year old make his own card. 

He made it for his Grandma, and had the best time sitting at his moms desk to work with her!

 

Next up are two projects by our guest designer Michelle Wooderson.....well actually by Jordan, her daughter :) 
Jordan made some creative bookmarks for her friends at school using stripe of the Pixie-Licious borders

 

Next you see invitations she made for her birthday party this year using the bright and cheery DeLovely products. 

 

Natasja does a lot of "scrapbooking" and crafting together with her 5 year old daughter Noa. Noa loves it when her mom empties the dinner table just to fill it up with all kinds of scrapbook products. Then they will both work on their own project where Noa tries to copy her mom. Natasja always makes sure that Noa has her own "stash" of papers, stickers, embellishments etc. to choose from. This way Noa doesn't get overwhelmed by everything on the table and to Noa its clear not to cut up the new Cosmo Cricket papers mommy is working with ;)

During one of those fun crafty hours at their dinning table Natasja took some fun pictures from Noa. For this blogpost she put those pictures in a letter sized album together with some page protectors. It makes a fun album for Noa to have and to fill up those page protecters with some great drawings or other projects.

Natasja used the Togetherness line for this projects because of it's fun and bright colors.

Natasja used some fun and bright colors (Claudine Hullmuth Studio Paints by Ranger) to color the chipboard pages.

She also left 3 of the inside pages empty, for Noa to fill.

As you can see Noa was quit happy with her album!

 

Wendy was very excited when she received this weeks challenge - she loves working on projects with her kids! Her two little boys were excited to paint their hands and to make turkeys to decorate for Thanksgiving. Wendy on her turn was excited to have them make an extra one for this layout.  She loves to have a record of the size of their little hands! 

Do you see how the colors from the Nutmeg line work work perfectly with the handprint turkey colors...

...plus, (bonus!) the "gobble gobble" accent was perfect for her tittle! If those photos had audio attached, we would totally hear her two boys saying "gobble gobble gobble!" :)

 

Also Gudrun had lot of fun working on Laura's chellange! 
Sol, her youngest daughter was working on a little story she wrote all by herself. Gudrun couldn't resist using her daughters cute little story for her scrapbooking page. She used Circa 1934 here.

As you can see Gudrun created a large envelop to put the handwritten story in, great solution! This way it will be well preserved, and they can enjoy reading it years from now. The picture Gudrun used is not as good as she wanted since it had been taking by indoor light, but she loves that is is a "everyday" picture of Sol and it will remind them exactly what she looked like when she wrote the story inside the envelope. 

 

What is a challenge without a chance to win?! Show us what you created inspired by this challenge leaving a link in the comment section below and you can be the one winning a Circa 1934 craftkit! We will announce to winner in our post next Saturday.

Have fun!!

 

Culture Shock and More from Circa

It seems you all enjoyed reading my post yesterday, so I thought I may elaborate. I hope I don't get boring!

My first experience with a culture other than my own was at age 12 when my family hosted a foreign exchange student from Madrid. We thought it was so funny when he wore a bikini swimsuit to the lake, complained his mouth was on fire with MILD salsa and refused corn on the cob because that is what pigs eat.

Well, the tables turned when I was 16 and went to live with a family in Madrid. They laughed at me when I accidentally told them I was pregnant instead of embarrased making myself even more embarrased..... not more pregnant. They were amazed at my white skin, blond hair and "outdated" clothing styles. And, when I told them I had 4 siblings, they nearly fell over in shock!!!

This was also my first experience with American stereotyping. Many families refused to let their children associate with me because they were sure that being American, I would be just like the wild girls on Beveryly Hills 90210 (a popular show at the time). However, after a few weeks I was friends with them all!

The most shocking things to me, at 16, about Spain were:

1. The bidets next to the toilets. I'd never seen one before.

2. The moveable walkways in the mall. I had only seen those in airports.

3. The meat markets and seeing a chicken actually plucked. We are so removed from our food in the states!

My favorite things about Spain were:

1. The people.

2. Chocolate dipped, rolled up pastry hearts, Nocilla, and coke from a bottle (the only way it was served at the time).

3. The festival for the patron saint of Segovia, although I can no longer remember who he was.

And, a bit about the food:

1. The first morning there I opted for Frosted Flakes. It was recognizeable. I like cereal. How could I go wrong? Well, I'll tell you....... shelf milk! YUCK!!! I never did acquire a taste for it and chose a peach for breakfast ever after.

2. Spanish olives are not the same, neither is Spanish pizza or Spanish cheeses. It's not that they're  horrible... except for the olives, IMHO.... but if you're expecting what you're use to, it's quite shocking! My pizza had fish on it, need I say more.

3. Didn't Columbus go in search of spices? Well, I'm telling you either he didn't bring them back or the Spanish refused them! Their food was very bland to me and most of it tasted like strong olive oil! It was hard to choke down at first, but with time, I actually began to like it.

My next foreign experience wasn't until a few years ago when I went to South Africa. Again, people thought Americans would be like they see on TV: divorced, sleeping around and with no morals. So, I tried my best to be polite!

I have a lot of respect for South Africans of all descent. It is not an easy country to live in and they have many social problems to figure out. But they were very kind to us, even breaking one of Johannesburg's stereotypes (there is horrible crime there) when someone returned Eric's camera that he accidentally left at a table in the mall.

The country is beautiful, the animals are amazing and the fruit is delicious. Although, I wasn't a huge fan of biltong which is jerky made out of Kudu. I wasn't too hip on Kudu steaks either, but they weren't that bad.

Then, I went to Japan where I'm sure Eric was the tallest person in the entire country! I was second tallest. The Japanese seemed to love Americans and all things American. They are lovely, gracious and polite people. Being in Tokyo was like being in a super clean and safe New York with a little less diversity.

My first morning for breakfast, I enjoyed slug risotto. Yep, you read that right. I picked the rice dish thinking it would be safest. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the dark bits that I thought were mushrooms had antennas. Living up to American stereotypes, we snuck out to Starbucks for breakfast after that!

To my surprise, I found that I really liked raw tuna sushi and I really didn't like pancake doll cookies, although they smelled wonderful (that's a funny, but long story). It was also surprising how unsettling it is to be in a country where you cannot recognize the alphabet, read a street sign or ask someone for help.

What I have found with all my travels is that people, although very different are very much the same. We all care about our families, our loved ones, our livehoods and being liked and appreciated by others. Those things are universal!

I'm sure China will have it's supply of culture shock and beauty just like everywhere else! I'll let you know what I think of it all when I get back. Until then, enjoy these Circa projects..... it is the crafting season afterall!

By Leah Killian

By Stace Michaud

By the way, Vanessa has been found! It seems she was hiding out in Canada.

 

 

Preparing For China

Ok, so my first trip to China has me a little nervous. I asked my sister who lived in China for a year for advice. She told me to be sure to take hand sanitizer, toilet paper and Imodium AD.

However, my experience will be very different from hers. I am staying in hotels that cater to western business travelers, not actually living there.

So I thought I might prepare by studying up on Confucius. Here's what I found:

1. Man who stands on toilet is high on pot.

Hmmmm, I've never stood on a toilet before. Maybe there is a first time for everything, but with my lack of coordination I hope not! I think Becky should have told me to bring plastic protectors for my shoes.

2. Man with one chopstick go hungry.

I have adapted the above to "American girl with two chopsticks still go hungry."

3. Man who sneezes without tissue takes matters in his own hands.

On second thought, maybe Becky was right about the hand sanitizer and baby wipes!

OK, those are just jokes, of course! Did you know that the real Confucius actually said some of my very favorite quotes?

Here's one of many: “I want you to be everything that's you, deep at the center of your being.”

On another note, I won't actually be having Peking Duck...... although according to the Confuscius of Lindsay..... Duck not Peking is better than Duck Peking. 

No, I'll be having peanuts and a diet coke served cold by the airline stewardess. I really think that for Thanksgiving flights, they should at least offer Turkey Jerky, dried cranberries and mashed potato chips! Maybe they'll give me two bags of peanuts.

Any other advice you have for me is appreciated. I really try my best to dispell the rude American stereotype whenever I travel (although the humor on this entry may not be helping with that).

Our Design Team Helped Me Find Some MoJo

Every morning as soon as the kids are off to school and my blood pressure has returned to normal (my children are not morning people) I call Lindsay to check in on HQ operations. Well, lately the question of the day has been, "Julie, are you going to do the blog?" To which I have been responding, "Hmmmm, how busy are you, Lindsay?"

It's not that I don't want to blog. It's not even that I've been way too busy to blog. It's just that I haven't had much bloggin' MoJo going on in my life. It is hard to think of stuff for you guys to read every day!

I feel like you people know more about me than my own mother! You've seen me in my morning hair with bathrobe and everything. You know about my sheltered upbringing (read random thought #3). You know all my children. You've celebrated several of my anniversaries, birthdays and trips. You've even followed my ups and downs on the scales and read about my bathing suit woes (most likely the funniest thing we've ever posted).

But hopefully along the way, I've inspired you with ideas, tutorials and actually useful stuff. That really is the point right?!?!

So, I sincerely appreciate the recent posts from our design team. They gotten me back to creating with our products. This ornament from Debbie, inspired my ornament above and the one below it too. Although, like usual, mine don't quite meet her level..... darn you, Debbie Olson, you're just too good!

These house ornaments are all made with our Blackboard House Album. If you like them, check your local retailer for special Black Friday sale pricing.... it's gonna be good!

Another project that I drew some inspiration from (hanging angel up top) was this cute wall hanging by Laura Craigie. I have loved this since the first time I set eyes on it!

So darling, don't you think? Now, just because I found my Mojo, doesn't mean you'll see too much more from me in the upcoming days. I'm headed to China on Saturday and expect to be eating Peking Duck over Turkey this year! I'll be back though!!!

Cosmo Cricket Circa Projects and the box of Julie's stuff that nobody wanted

As many of you know we released Circa 1934 a few weeks ago. This collections has simply been "Lights Out!" Confession time-  We have even run out of Circa product the day after we received a new shipment in.

This has happened THREE TIMES! We appreciate how people are responding to this line.

We thought it might be a great idea to show you some projects that we received in the last week or so.

Stacey Michaud created "Sassy" and "Family TLC". Melissa O'Neill created what she calls "Learning Circus Tricks." Leah Killian is up next with "Happy Girl".

 

 

 
 
 Great projects ladies!

Sometimes giving away fabulous prizes is harder than you think. Yep, you got it right, we are still searching for Vanessa.

There is a box that Devin (Captain Awesome) keeps telling me that he's ready to ship that has tons of really great stuff in it and no place to go.

We had a company meeting and figured that Vanessa either:

A. Ran away and eloped ( If so congratulations!)

B. Is a contestant on Survivor and has not been voted off the Island yet

C.  Is being held hostage by several envious scrapbook ladies who will not allow Vanessa near her keyboard in hopes that we draw again

Vanessa, you can either contact us by smoke signals, a message in a bottle, mental telepathy, morse code, or preferably email. My email is lindsay at cosmo cricket dot com.

 Tell you what- If we do not hear from Vanessa by Monday morning MST we draw again.

Clocks ticking.

Come on Vanessa were all rooting for you!

Have a great day!

(On a side note, we did have a close case of accidental Identity theft.  Because Cosmo Cricket uses state of the art technology we were able to determine through retinal scanning, DNA tests, and emailing back a picture of her, that it was not the right Vanessa.)