Paper Wreath: Overcoming Creative Block with FCCB Challenge 188

I put together another paper leaf wreath for Christmas and needed to cover some bare spots in the back ground.  I had some creative block and could not figure out how to fill them in.  So, I set it aside for a week.  Then I ran across FCCB Challenge #188:  Sparkle and Bling and knew what to do:  glitter!  Sometimes, all I need to get over creative block, is a good challenge!  So here is my wreath made with Winter Woodland, some buttons and Art Glitter 47 Vine, Basic Grey paper and other paper.

Pumpkin & Paper Turkey with Art Glitter and Cricut

I saw some beautiful metal garden art pumpkins at our local craft fair this fall and as usual, decided I could make a better one for less with paper!  So here is my pumpkin and paper turkey using Cricut Close to My Heart Artiste, Cricut Ribbons and Rosettes, and Cricut Create a Critter.  I cut six of the rosette pieces and glued them together.  I folded them and then added the Art Glitter using the ultra fine tip and 56 Pumpkin for the brown paper with orange glitter, and 343 Chestnut for the brown glitter on the orange rosette.  The brown back portion of the tail is Cricut Artiste, the fan folded portion is Ribbons and Rosettes, and the turkey is Create a Critter.

Work the Stash Wednesday: Still Playing in the Leaves

If you are like me, you have a stash of Cricut cuts that you may have already cut, but never used.  I cut these leaves for a paper wreath and had left overs.  Just couldn't bring myself to throw them away as they were so pretty!  So, I used them to gift tag and embellish this years batch of pumpkin butter.  I like to make it for my children's teachers around Thanksgiving to let them know I am thankful for them.  Leaf is from Sophie, rosette is Tim Holtz die, stamps are CTMH (sentiment says Grateful for You).

Simple Sparkle

Supply List

Tombow Marker 743

Tombow Marker 452

Tombow Marker 055

Tombow Blending Mister

Small Water Color Brush

Art Glitter Double Sided Sticky Tape

Art Glitter 185 Varsity Blue Ultrafine Pearlescent Glitter

Art Glitter 297 Hibiscus Ultrafine Tranparent Glitter

Anna Griffin Embossing Folder

Patterned paper

WhiffOFJoy.com Shopping Willow Stamp

K. Andrew Designs Fashionable Friends Stamp Set (sentiment)

Paper Doily

One of Clare's favorite glitter techniques is a simple way to add sparkle strips.  It is made with double sided sticky tape and looks great on a card or a page.  Clare got this look by just cutting the double sided sticky tape and notching one end.  She removed one red side and adhered the tape to the project.  She then removed the final side of the red tape protector and pored on the Art Glitter.  Clare stamped  her shopping girl and colored her with Tombow Markers, using the Blending Mister and a small water color brush.  One of Clare's favorite things to do with the Tombow markers is to distress her paper edges!  It is difficult for to find distressing inks in brighter colors.  So, Clare' often runs the markers along the edge of the paper, using the paint brush side of the Tombow Marker and then blending it with the Blending Mister and a small water color brush.  Clare used this technique to get the yellow edge on the plaid paper stripe behind the doily.  And this is also a great way to repeat the color in your stamped image.

Work the Stash Wednesday: Leaf Wreath

I have wanted to make a leaf wreath forever and am finally getting around to it this year.  I thought it was the perfect project for work the stash Wednesday since I have had some of this card stock forever!  I followed the tutorial I found at Popper and Mimi here, but used a Cricut leaf from the Sophie cart.  The title journal block and letter stickers are The Robin's Nest.  The flower is Mon Ami Gabby.  I used CCR to create a file with leaves and cut one sheet each in orange, yellow, green, brown, and red card stock.

I have to warn you that this project is addictive!  But the price is great!  I spent less than $2.40 on paper and the card board was free!  I splurged on the flower for $2.99.  Now I want to make one for every season.  Below you can see a screen capture of the CCR file.  I will try and share it later, but my computer with CCR won't connect to the internet today.

Inspired by Card Creations: A Flower File to Share

I loved the Kim Hughes card featured in Card Creations Volume 7 with Lillies of the Valley and stitching.  I visited Kim's blog and could not find any post on this project.  Since I could not determine if there was a cut file for sale (or a punch or die), I decided this was simple enough for me to create a SVG for and I am sharing it here.  
Kim used this in a rectangular shape, but you know I had to add a circle!  To see a picture of Kim's card, be sure to visit the link above.

A Sympathy Card & A Thank You!

I am behind on my thank you notes, so today while working on a Sympathy card I'm going to say thank you in this post to Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog and Zva Creative for the prize package.  I was the random winner of challenge 181 Have your cake.  I can't believe all the goodies in the prize package (photo below).  I was able to use the Zva Pearl Swirls in a sympathy card today.  Papers and stickers are Anna Griffin, stamp is really old Angel Co.

Finish it Friday with Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Anything Goes

Today I am sharing a Christmas page I made using the following Cricut Cartridges:  George (circles), Close To My Heart Art Philosophy (Square doily), and Joys of the Season (leaf and berry sprig).  I am entering it in the Anything Goes Challenge at Fantabulous Cricut.  
The paper is K and Company (except chevron) and the snowflake rosettes are Tim Holtz.  I love the Tim Holtz rosettes and was so excited to find the snowflake die at It's Always Fabulous on Etsy.  The red stars are Queen and Co.

Work the Stash Wednesday

If you have scrap booked as long as I have, you may have a large stash of paper that you have promised you will use.  So, today I am using some of my stash and sharing a page I made with a photo from a family Christmas card.  The snowflake is made with Winter Lace Cricut Cartridge, and the title is Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Cartridge.  The paper is Basic Grey and I have had scraps of it forever.  It was just too pretty to put in the recycle bin, so I have fussy cut the poinsettias and added them to the page.  The brads are Close to My Heart.  Small snowflakes are made with Martha Stewart punch and then punched with Creative Memories Circle punch.

Shared it Sunday: A Christmas SVG Title

You may be sharing on Facebook all the things you are thankful for this November on a daily basis or seeing all those sharing things they are thankful for, and all this sharing has reminded me of things I am grateful for.  One of the things I am grateful for is my blog and online crafting friends, so I thought it time to share a SVG I made for a Christmas page.  If you like this title, enough to download it, I would love for you to comment here and let me know.  It might encourage me to make and share more SVGs.  I am thankful that I can cut SVGs on my Cameo!
The SVG has "C" on one end of the circle and the rest of the word "hristmas" on the other end.  I love this look!  Here is the link for the file.    Below you can see how I used it on a page.  Wondering about that translucent doily?  It's Stampin Up die cut in wax paper.  I like to use wax paper between my card stock and detailed dies to make the card stock easy to remove and sometimes the wax paper is just too pretty to throw away.  I thought it was a great addition to this page and the winter and snow!  The other snowflakes are Martha Stewart punches and the paper is old Fiskars.

Adding Sparkle to Holiday Projects

Joy Card

Supply List

Art Glitter 332 Red Rocket Chunky Opaque Hologram Glitter

Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear Glue

Art Glitter Ultra Fine Tip

Northwood Stamp P9239 Berry and Leaf Tree

White Card Stock

Red Card Stock

K & Company patterned paper

K & Company Rub on

Martha Stewart Snowflake Border Punch

Teal Marker

Red Swiss Dot Card Stock

Red Ink

To create this card, Clare stamped and cut a Christmas tree using Northwoods Berry and Leaves Tree Stamp.  Clare applied Art Glitter dries clear glue using the Ultrafine tip to the ribbon only on the tree stamp.  She added Art Glitter 332 Red Rocket  Chunky Opaque Hologram Glitter and allowed it to dry.  She then matted it on red card stock and cut around it.  She cut a white mat and faux stitched it with a teal marker.  She matted that on some red Swiss dot card stock.  She punched the Martha Stewart snowflake border along the edge of the white card stock and adhered  the border to the back of the K & Company patterned paper.  She used a K and Company Rub on for the Joy to the World Sentiment.  She then assembled all the mats and borders.  

Christmas Tree Star Page

Supply List

Art Glitter 332 Red Rocket Chunky Opaque Hologram Glitter

Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear Glue

Art Glitter Ultra Fine Tip

Northwood Stamp P9239 Berry and Leaf Tree

October Afternoon Good Cheer:  Falling Snow Paper

Cream Card Stock

Red Card Stock

Red Ink

Forever in Time Gem Swirls

Silhouette America Merry Christmas Title

Clare loves to stretch her stamps to make multiple images with one stamp.  For this project she used the tree stamp to create a star.  To create the star, she stamped and cut 12 Christmas trees using Northwoods Berry and Leaves Tree Stamp.  Clare cut out all 12 trees.  Using Art Glitter Ultra fine tip and Designer dries clear glue; Clare applied glue to the ribbon only on all 12 trees.  She added Art Glitter 332 Red Rocket  Chunky Opaque Hologram Glitter.  She allowed the glue to dry and using 6 trees placed them in a circle to form a snow flake, matching ribbon ends.  She adhered the trees to red card stock and cut around snowflake to form a red mat.  

Using the next six trees overlapping ribbons, she created a smaller snowflake on red card stock.  She adhered the trees and cut out the smaller snowflake.  She adhered the larger snowflake to page, and adhered smaller snowflake inside larger snowflake, alternating tree points.  Clare cut her photo in circle and placed in center of the snowflake, fussy cutting the baby’s hand and feet because they were just so sweet she could not crop them out! 

Clare created the title using a Silhouette file and the Cameo to print and cut the title.   She added the Red Rocket to the title using the Ultra fine tip as well.  She added bling in the lower right hand corner.

A Little Sparkle Page 

Supply List

Art Glitter 183 Blue Angel Ultrafine Pearlescent Glitter

Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear Glue

Art Glitter Ultra Fine Tip

K & Company  Patterned Paper

Cricut Disney Tinker Bell Cartridge (fairy and title)

Tombow Marker 743

Tombow Marker 452

Tombow Marker 055

Tombow Blending Mister

Small Water Color Brush

Karen Foster Sparkle Burst Brads

Want2Scrap Red bling

Chomas Creations Pen holder

Red Card Stock

White Card Stock

Cricut CTMH Artist Cartridge (ornament)

Fiskars paper crimper (top of ornament)

Microtip black marker

Gold Card Stock

For this project, Clare wanted to try using the Tombow marker to color Tinkerbell.  Clare loves how vibrant these markers can be and that they can also be as soft as a water color paint!  If you have every tried to cut a Tinkerbell and all of her little parts (eyes, fillagree wings, lips, etc) you may understand that Clare find cutting these tiny pieces, lifting them from the mat and gluing them too frustrating!  So she loaded the Chomas creations pen holder in her Cricut and drew the detail Tinkerbell to use as a coloring guide.  She replaced the pen holder with the blade and cut a separate Tinkerbell black out in white card stock.  She placed the pen drawn Tinker bell behind the blackout Tinkerbell on a light box and colored it with the Tombow markers.  

For the skin color, Clare blended Tombow 933, 743, 055.  For the Wings, Tink's Eyes and the large Christmas ornament, Clare used Tombow 452.  Clare is so excited to play with these markers again, because of all the water color posibilities with the control of a marker!  To keep the water content low, Clare sprayed as she worked onto a scrap piece of clear plastic and added more water as needed.  You can find lots of videos on using these markers on Youtube.  Just search for Tombow marker tutorials.  

Clare also used the Chomas pen holder for the title outline and then colored it in with Tombow 452.  She then applied Art Glitter Blue Angel to the title and Tinkerbell's wings using the Ultrafine tip.  She added a few rhinestones and a Sparkle burst brad and a Christmas Card Photo.  The top of the ornament was crimped with Fiskars paper crimper to look like a real ornament in gold card stock.