August with Anna Final Day

Well, my August with Anna event has come to a close and here are some of my favorite projects.  Here are some things I learned while crafting with Anna:

1. It's quick.  I love that I can find time to create in this busy life!
2. It's beautiful every time!
3. Items always look professional.
4. My family and friends can't get over the beautiful cards!
5. Anna's affordable!
6. Anna's timeless!
7. Anna's kits coordinate with each other!
8. There fun!
9. Anna Griffin product are forever in my top 3 favorite products!
10. I can use Anna on my Cricut

Thanks to everyone who visited this month and joined me on my journey with Anna Griffin!

August with Anna Day 28: Coral Challenge

The finish you Un Finished Object challenge continues and this weeks theme is based on the traditional 35th wedding anniversary gift:  coral.  So, get an extra entry this week for using anything with coral pink!  To participate in the Un Finished Object Challenge, just leave a comment on this post with a link to your project or post to my Facebook Group.  

August with Anna Day 26: A Sketch Layout

One of the things I love about the Cricut Design space, is the ability to sketch a page layout before I cut any paper!  So, today I am shrine a page sketch using two Anna Griffin Cricut cartridges:  Annn's Elegant Embellisments and Anna's FlourishCards and Embellishments.
I am so excited to have a medium to share sketches that is free:  Cricut Design Space!  And for my Cricut friends, the cartridge info can be posted too!

August with Ann Day 25: More Paper Making

I was so happy with the paper I made using the Cricut marker and Anna Griffin cartridge, that I decided to make some paper using the print function on my Cricut Explore Air.  You can see my result above.  Some thing to note:  printing size is limited to 5 1/2" wide, so it is best for cards or page embellishments.  Cartridge used is Anna's Elegant Embellishments and the blues are the standard Cricut palette navy and light blue.  I changed the layer colors and flattened the image to print.  I will try and post a card using this later.

August with Anna Day 23: A Quick Pop Up

One of the things I Love about Anna Griffin's card kits, is how quickly I can put together a fabulous card!  I started working a few years ago after staying home with my boys for 14 years.  And I was unable to find time to scrapbook.  I really missed being creative and getting out of the house to crop and socialize.  I stumbled upon Anna's kits after buying one as a gift for my grandmother in law who was unable to do here needle work with poor eyesight.  I thought Anna's kit would allow her to craft and have cards to mail.

Once the kit arrived, my MIL told me that her Mom would not like it.  So, I made the cards on my next night out to a crop. It was so easy to pack for the night!  Just grab the kit, glue, scissors and a paper trimmer and I was ready to go.
So, here I am tonight, starting a card at 7:50pm and wrapping up the blog post by 8:23pm.  You do have time for Anna's cards, especially if you aren't blogging about them.

August With Anna Griffin Day 22: Wedding Page Done!

Earlier last week I shared a pretty paper I made with nothing more than white card stock, an Anna Griffin Cricut Cartridge, the Cricut Silver marker,  and a bit of doodling with fine tip silver markers.  Take a look at that post for how to's.  Today I am sharing the finished page with all the details.  I am going to post this a day early so I can enter in the BBTB2 Wedding Challenge.   And I will try and take a better photo in day light, but the sun has set here and I am so happy with the page! I had to enter it in the challenge right!?

The bride and groom are just a cut file I created from an Internet image.  I cut them in black card stock and then stamped the brides veil on clear acetate using silver ink and some Basic Grey stamps.  I love that the swirls actually have a small heart pattern in them!  The veil was getting lost on top of the AG paper, so I used a bit of vellum for the portion not on top of the silhouette.  The silver trim is from an Anna Griffin warehouse sale.

I welded several cuts from Cricuts Close to My Heart Artistry and Storybook cartridges for the Mr. & Mrs. title.  I managed to get some of the silver ink on the black silhouette and tried to cover up with a bit of pen doodling.
The black flower was made by cutting black satin circle and melting the edges with a candle.  I then added a vintage button for the center.

Supplies
Anna's Elegant Embellishments Cartridge
Cricut Silver Medium Point Marker
White Card Stock
Black Card Stock
Black and Silver patterned paper
Want2Scrap Pearl Frame
Basic Grey Two Scoops Swirlie Stamp (Bridal Veil)
Clear Acetate (Bridal Veil)
Autumn Leaves Silver Ink
Anna Griffin Silver Ribbon Emellishment
Black Satin (flower)
Sizzix Circle Die (Flower)
Button
Cricut Close To My Heart Artistry (Mr. Mrs.)
Cricut Storybook Cartridge (and)
Vellum (bride's veil)
Silver ribbon (brides veil)

August With Anna Day 21: Opal Challenge

The finish you Un Finished Object challenge continues and this weeks theme is based on the traditional 34th wedding anniversary gift:  opals.  So, get an extra entry this week for using anything iridescent!

This week I had a chance to attend the Scrapbook Expo in Schaumburg, IL and found a new product (to me anyway) from Elizabeth Craft Designs called Shimmner Sheetz.  I was intrigued by the ideas that this shimmery Mylar had a white core.  And I knew I wanted to try it with my Anna Griffin embossing folders!  This folder is called Acanthus.  The top photo has been embossed and sanded and the bottom is just embossed.  

To participate in the Un Finished Object Challenge, just leave a comment on this post with a link to your project or post to my Facebook Group.  

August With Anna Day 20: Wish List

No time to craft today, so I thought I might share one of  Anna Griffin Cricut Cartridge wish list items:  Anna's Flourish Cards and Embellishments
I love this project available at Cricut.com.  And there are so many beautiful cuts I want to use in my cards and on my pages!

August With Anna Day 19: Finally Friday

For this Finally Friday post, I am finally using some of my stash! I pulled out my embellishment stash and used a cameo embellishment I got from an Anna Griffin warehouse sale a few years ago.  At first, I was not inspired by the orange tones and so it ended up forgotten in the stash.
But I recently saw a card made with a cameo and this same doily die (also AG).   So I got it made up asap!  I used a foiled lemon embellishment from Anna Griffin and trimmed off the rind portion, so that it looks like a flower.  I then mounted an AG sentiment in the center.

Supplies
Anna Griffin Die
Anna Griffin Sweet Salutations Pop Up Card Kit
Anna Griffin Fantastic Flips Card kit (round sentiment)
Anna Griffin Cameo Embellishment
K and Company Paper (center aqua strip)

August with Anna Day 18: Drawing My Paper

Anna Griffin has some beautiful detailed files for the Cricut perfect for using the pen accessories.  I have been wanting to try drawing some paper using these files.  Here is some paper I made using the Cricut Medium Tip Silver Pen and Anna's Elegant Embellishments Cartridge.  After I drew the Anna pattern on the paper, I used some silver pens to doodle inside the image and add a bit of sparkle
I plan to use it on a wedding page that I hope to post later this month.

It looks 3 dimensional, doesn't it?  What a great way to get the look of layers and keep it flat!  I loved this technique so much, I will be adding Cricut pens to my Christmas wish list!  

August with Anna Day 17: Inspired by Memories of Mom

Family lore has it that my Mother put out the flag on the first day back to school.  Since it is my children's first day back to school, I thought I might make a project in red white and blue and defend my Mom!
Yes, she had 11 children, and the first day back to school was a celebration for her, but she had more to be thankful for, more of a reason to be putting out the flag:  VJ Day!  My Father served in the second world war along with his two brothers and many relatives, friends and his generation.  My Mother lived through this war and I believe she put out the flag on VJ day on several years and it just so happened to fall on the first day of school.  Along with a great sense of patriotism, my family loves to tease and make jokes.  And so, our family lore may always have a story of the national holiday known as the First Day of School, but I know Mom was thankful for the many who served and the victory they won!

So for this 1st day of school page, I got my color theme from Mom, and I got the sketch from Creative Scrappers August Challenge #297.  K and Company Americana Snow Globe Stickers  The circle globe motif was purchased from The Cut Shoppe on Etsy.  I used my Cricut Explore to change the color and make it a print and cut image.  So, I am entering the challenge and really enjoying these blogs!  I will be visiting for more images to cut too!

Supplies
Anna Griffin Sweet Salutations Pop Up Card Kit (patriotic bunting)
Oh the Places You'll Go from The Cut Shoppe on Etsy
Let Freedom Ring by Pebbles paper (star paper)
K and Company Americana Snow Globe Stickers (Star with tail sticker)
Stars Cut with Cricut

August with Anna Griffin Day 16: Fantastic Flips Birthday

Today I am sharing another Fantastic Flips card that I made for a sister's birthday.  It was quick, fun and easy!  I may never buy another premade card again.

Anna Griffin Day 15: Baptism Card

What do you do when you need a card for a religious event?  Add some custom Cricut cuts to an Anna Griffin Card!  For this card I created some cut and print sentiments with my Cricut Explore,  I then added them to an Anna Griffin card and embellished the cuts with Art Glitter!
I started with the God Bless you banner and used the Wild Card cartridge for the sentiment.  The banner is from Decorate!  Celebrate!

Next I made the "On this Day" circle with a plain circle in white background and the circle sentiment from Close to My Heart Artbooking. Using the palm frond behind the circle element gives the look of a pleated rosette without the bulk.  At first I wasn't fond of these palm fronds, but now I am addicted and want more!  The glittered pnk die is Anna Griffin also and cut with glitter paper.
Inside the card I created and oval using the Sophie Cart for the vined oval.  To create the "it's your," and "day" I used two of the images from Wild Card and hid a portion of each so I could split the sentiment.  The "baptism" is from Inspired Heart.  On all my cut and print items, I used the Art Glitter Ultra Fine tip and Dries Clear glue to add glitter.

Supplies
Cricut Wild Card Cartridge
Cricut Close To My Heart Artbooking Cartridge (On this Day)
Cricut Decorate! Celebrate Cartrdige
Cricut Sophie Cartridge
Cricut Inspired Heart Cartridge
Art Glitter 295 Ensalada Ultrafine Transparent Glitter
92 Bananan Ultrafine Transparent Glitter
304 Petal Pink Ultrafine Transparent Glitter
Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear Glue
Art Glitter Ultra Fine Tip
Anna Griffin Die
Anna Griffin Sweet Salutations Pop Up Card Kit
DCWV Glitter Stack

August with Anna Day 14: Proud of You

I have many nieces an nephews, but one of my nieces has just graduated this May and has found her first job.  Before she graduated, she studied abroad in Italy.  While I LOVE to travel, it was often an anxiety issue when I was younger.  I am so proud of her studying in a foreign country with no family to guide her.  So, I thought I might send a card and Anna Griffin came through again!

My Un Finished Object challenge continues and the theme this week is inspired by the traditional 33rd anniversary gift:  Amethyst.  So use the color purple in your unfinished object this week for an extra entry!

Supplies
K and Company Americana Snow Globe Stickers
Treasures by Shabby Chic Paper Rose Stickers
Anna Griffin Sweet Salutations Pop Up Card Kit

August With Anna Griffin Day 13: More Fantastic Flips

Another Fantastic Flip Card today and again I added a bit of paper inside.  It also gives me an opportunity to mat the sentiment on the right and make it pop!

Supplies
Anna Griffin Fantastic Flips Card Kit
Teal Card stock

August With Anna Griffin Day 12: Fantastic Flips Card Kit

I'm sharing a new card kit today:  Anna Griffin's Fantastic Flips Card kit.  These are great window cards!  I like to add a bit of paper on the inside to reinforce the small trim cut out around the right side of the window.  (See the dark pink paper in the photo below).  I just use my scraps and the die that came with the kit.

Supplies
Anna Griffin Fantastic Flips Card Kit
Pink Card stock
Anna Griffin Planner Embellishments Kit  (arrow)

August with Anna: Day 11

Just a quick card today with Anna Griffin in yellow and pink!  I love having a card kit in the house for those forgotten occasions or unexpected occasions.  You never know when you will need a get well or sympathy card.  For this card I used Anna Griffin Sweet Salutations Pop Up Card Kit.  And I cannot get over how well priced Anna Griffin Card kits are!

Challenge Pages with Fantabulous Cricut

I love to motivate myself to finish a paper crafting goal by entering a challenge.  On my scrapping goal list was my son's band camp photo.  So, when I saw this week's challenge at the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge blog:  Summer Activities I had my motivation!  Camp is a Summer activity!  Here is my two page spread made with the Hannah Montana Font (Camp), Quarter Note (circle and note) and Rock Princess Cartridge (I'm with the Band).

I had some trouble getting the font to weld, so I actually added some very slim long rectangles the same size as the lines and welded them to the font.  I cut his lanyard up and used the ribbon for trim, and added his id as an embellishment.

August with Anna Day 10: Ticking on Tuesday

There is something about the stripe on this Anna Griffin Card that reminds me of vintage feather ticking fabric.  So, I'm using it for my post title.  I love the use of pink and green together with just a bit of blue and gold!
Did you notice I only used Anna Griffin Supplies and a bit of pink card stock and ink?  That's one of the things I love about AG, you can use only her supplies for the perfect project and not need to buy anything but glue!

Supplies
Anna Griffin Sweet Salutations Pop Up Card Kit
Pink Card Stock
Anna Griffin Acanthus  Embossing Folder Trim boder

August with Anna Day 9: Make it Mine

Anna Griffin's card kits come with many sentiments, but sometimes I need something that fits my needs.  So, how do I make my edits to Anna's cards look as professional as AG's?  I add ready made stickers!
On this card the AG sentiment read, "To My Friend"  but I need a card for my aunt.  So I went through the sticker stash and made an Aunt sticker.  I backed it with AG border die cut and placed it over the portion that didn't work for my needs.

Supplies
Anna Griffin Sweet Salutations Pop Up Card Kit 
Cream card stock
Stickopotous Letter Stickers

August with Anna Day 8: More Music Thank You's

I continue to make more thank you's for the music teachers in my children's life.  I just can't imagine life without music and am so thankful to my children's teachers!  This is for band camp staff at ISYM.  All the supplies are Anna Griffin, except the FOR, and the French Horn and "The gift of music" are Cricut Quarter Note.

I love a red white and blue color combo.  It's not just for the fourth of July!

Supplies

Anna Griffin Sweet Salutations Pop Up Card Kit (flowers, band & Time to Celebrate,)

Cricut Quarter Note Cartridge

August with Anna Day 7: Mix and Match

One of the things I love about Anna Griffin is the ability to mix and match her products!  I have papers and kits that I have had on the stash for several years that work with new items beautifully!  Here is a birthday card I made with several AG card kits.
And, yes the UFO Challenge continues!   It turns out there is no traditional 32nd wedding anniversary gift.  So, this weeks challenge is open to any un finished object project.  To enter the challenge, just leave me a comment or post your project to the Facebook Group.  Work on any project and get two entries this week.  
Supplies
Anna Griffin Vintage French Card Layers and Envelopes (taupe and blue papers)
Anna Griffin Sweet Salutations Pop Up Card Kit (flowers, band & sentiment)

August With Anna: Day Sweet Six Welcome Baby Card

I love to pull out Anna Griffin for special cards!  And a new baby is definitely a reason for a special card!  This card is made with AG except the girl clothes are from my stamp stash.  If you follow my blog, you may have noticed, I am a space filler, and I used the only baby motif in Anna's kit inside this card, so I needed a bit more, for the card front.

And if you like things a bit more simple, just use the sentiments for a more elegant look like the second photo above!

Supplies
Anna Griffin Sweet Salutations Pop Up Card Kit
Anna Griffin Fantastic Flips Card Kit (Congratulations)
MFT Pure Innocence Flower Girl Stamp Set (2 pc. Outfit)
Stampendous D108 Sweet Dress Stamp

August with Anna Day 5: School Page

I continue to try and catch up on my scrapbooks this Summer.  I have really gotten behind and chose to focus on the School albums to start.  Here is a page for my son's 8th Grade year.  I am really struggling, because I am a two page scrap booker.  I need my pages that face each other to match.  When I scrapped grade school, the portrait was on one side and the class photo is was on the matching page.  Now that I have gotten to Middle School, I am heartbroken there is no class photo, and I don't know what to do with my facing page!  I will most likely make my report card pocket page.  What do you scrap on your school album pages for middle school and high school?  What do  you suggest I scrap on the facing page?
Here I used an Anna Griffin die under the tape measure strip.  I love that the curve of the paper is repeated by the AG die!  And yes, you can use AG on a boy page!
 
Supplies
Anna Griffin Cuttlebug 12" Trimming Die
K & Company Americana Snow Globe Stickers
Crate Paper Patterned Paper (background and red and white trim)
K & Company Letter Stickers
DCWV Paper (Tape Measures)

August with Anna Day 4

As part of my August with Anna posts, I want to let you know that I love Anna Griffin enough to make her part of every day by using an  AG planner and products in my planner.  Above you can see a page I added to my Anna Planner to encourage me to exercise!  It says "6 more reasons to exercise:

• it increases energy
• it has mind-body benefits
• it can curb cravings
• it improves memory
• it may keep depression away
• it reduces the risk of cancer

All patterned paper is Anna Griffin, and  Alphabet stickers are Stickopotomus.  Planner binder is Anna Griffin.

50th Birthday with Anna Griffin

As usual, when I need a special card, I pull out my Anna Griffin supplies and Cricut Cartridges!  This time I needed to make a 50th birthday card for my sister.  I made the 50 label using the Anna's Lace Card and Embellishment Cartridge.  I changed the colors to shades of white and yellow so they would coordinate with Anna Griffin's Vintage French Card Layers. After changing colors I flattened the image and printed and cut it with my printer and Cricut Explore.   Below is a close up, and I am loving it!

I just cannot get over the value of Anna Griffin Card kits!  If you get the pop up card kit, today it's a $1.84 a card before shipping!  I shop on HSN craft days and get discounted prices and free shipping!  If you sign up for their emails, you will get coupons for non-craft days and you won't have to wait.  I have so many left over goodies and they all coordinate with other Anna products!

Supplies
Anna Griffin Vintage French Card Layers and Envelopes
Anna Griffin Sweet Salutations Pop Up Card Kit (flowers, band & Time to Celebrate,)
Anna Griffin Planner Embellishments (banner behind Time to Celebrate)
Anna's Lace Card and Embellishments Cartridge (Yellow and white label)
Monogram Motifs Cricut Cartridge
White Card Stock
Cricut Explore
Printer
Ribbon

Happy National Coloring Book Day!

Happy National Coloring Book day!  Have you jumped on the coloring book bandwagon?  While I love creating and all things paper, I just have not tried this, so today's the day.  I struggle with the amount of time I would spend coloring and would want to save every piece and some how show case them.  But there are a few things I want to try this technique on:   scrapbook pages and cards!

So, today I am sharing a page I scrapped for my Anna Griffin Planner/Quotes to Live By Album.  I am scrapping my planner monthly cover pages to use them later in a Quotes to Live By Album.  Here is the quote on this page, "  The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn.  Sir John Lubbock."  I hope as a parent, I can foster this desire to learn their entire lives!

Wondering how I chose my colors?  Well, I let Anna Griffin's planner inspire me!  I worked to have two shades of pink in one petal, I worked to have the contrast of the green and pink or red, and I added some yellow to pull in the yellow and white paper.  And don't forget to use white as a color!  To go with the learning quote I added a caterpillar and a butterfly sticker.

And for those of you following my August with Anna posts, Anna Griffin has a coloring book too!  You can find it here.  

Supplies
Anna Griffin Planner
Anna Griffin Patterned paper
Mindful Mandala 6" x 6" Sheet (Craft Smith)
Reminisce Butterfly Stickers
Copic Markers
Zig Markers
Quote may be from JoAnns

August with Anna Celebration Day 1

I am a serious Anna Griffin fan, and hope to one day attend her Create event.  It was not in the budget this year, so I decided to create my own Anna event and spend August with Anna on my blog.  So, this August, I hope to share a little crafty item every day with some Anna Griffin product. I thought I might start my August with Anna event with a celebration idea.  Use these wine glass doilies at your next event, or bring them as a gift for the hostess of your next visit in the pretty gift box!  I cut a set of eight to fit in the gift box to take with a bottle of wine to a friends house.

For the doily, I used a Anna's Elegant Embellishments cart.  I used one of the mat layers because the top layer would have been too delicate for this size.  Finished doily is 2 3/4' big.  I welded a triangle from another Cricut cartridge so the guests can write their name on their own wine glass doily.  I added a circle in the middle to allow for the wine glass stem and hand cut a line from center to the edge in the triangle, so the doily can be inserted over the glass stem.  And if you're like me, you have cut a 12 x 12 sheet down to make A2 cards and you saved the scraps.  Pull them out for this project, they're perfect!

For the hostess gift set, I cut a box from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More and cut a circle to show case Anna's Doilies.  I backed the window with a piece of Art Glitter Transparency Sheets.  I embellished the box with some CTMH ribbon and Anna Griffin flower dies left over from her very generous card kits!  The paper in this set is made by The Robin's Nest and is one of my all time favorite papers!

Supplies
White Card Stock
Anna Griffin Elegant Embellishments Cricut Cartridge
Teresa Collin's Triangle Banner Cartridge (triangle wedge welded with AG doily)
Tags, Bags, Boxes and More
Anna Griffin Die Cuts (from Card kit)
The Robin's Nest Fleur Blue Paper
CTMH Ribbon
Pop Dots
Want2Scrap Bling
Art Glitter Transparency Sheet