Cricutcraftyclare

And the Winner is...

2012-02-02T23:28:00.000-06:00

And the winner of the Imagine More cartridge is # 3: MakeIt Craft Center. They said, "Wow, Looks really nice. Would have never thought to store mine that way. Guess what I'm getting ready to do :)
Thank You for sharing." Please drop me a note with your mailing address and I will get the Imagine More Cartridge to you!

Material Moxie Cover

2012-02-02T09:06:00.005-06:00

Moxie Fab World had another great challenge this week called Fancy Schmancy that inspired me to finish another Un Finished Object. Since it is a sewing project I cannot enter it into Moxie's challenge, but that's OK! I am happy to be inspired and finish something I love! Below is the Moxie inspiration photo. I loved the color combo and the little sprinkles! I used the sprinkles to inspire my felt flower embelly which I made with my Sizzix circle die and a few beads. You can find this cover in the Etsy store as well!

Two Left Legs

2012-02-01T18:07:00.004-06:00

If you have sewn for as long as I have, you probably have cut or sewn two left legs for the same project. This is my sign to take a break from the project and come back later. But these days, I am not making clothes, just dust covers. So, some time last year, I cut a dust cover in Toile and since Toile is printed in one direction, I cut one side of the cover in the wrong direction.
Today, I am working on UFO's or Un Finished Objects. So, I pulled out this half of a cover and made sure to cut the rest in the right direction! I made my first cover as a custom order for a Cricut Cake Machine to match a Kitchen Aide Red mixer. This cover will fit a large Cricut Cake or a Cricut Expression and can be found at my Etsy store: Scrappincovers (see links on the right).

Wild About You Wall Decor

2012-01-27T23:56:00.001-06:00

Sometimes it's great to scrap something that you can display on the wall and include all sorts of bulky embellishments and goodies! I just finished up this page which I
will hang on the wall and had a lot of fun with it!
I started by making my rolled roses. Both roses were made with paper printed on my Cricut Imagine. The large rose was cut with the CTMH Art Philosophy Cartridge and the small rose with My Favorite things mini rolled rose die. I made another mini rolled rose with the same die out of felt in hot pink and inked the edges in red to give it some depth.
The base page is The Robin's Nest Lobster paper. I actually wanted a Valentine's day paper and thought that the lobsters look like lips! On that I added The Robin's Nest Animal stripe paper. I used the Martha Stewart Loop Border punch on The Robin's Nest Red Paisley paper to make a border stripe at the bottom of the zebra mat. I also used the Robin's Nest Velvet Ribbon at the top of the white stripe at the bottom. And can you see the quote? It says, "There's no place I'd rather be, than with you." Isn't it perfect for a Valentine's day page or card?! It's from the Robin's Nest Time Flies Rubon. v
I also used the small swirl by the small rose from this rubon set. For the large rubon, I used The Robin's Nest Viva la France rubon.The leaves near the large rose are Creative Memories punch and near the small rose the EK Success Dahlia Border punch was used. I added some of The Robin's Nest Dew Drops after Still and in the center of my roses. I am just crazy for the Fairy Dust Dew drops. The pearlized silver ones are so fab!

Supply List
The Robin's Nest Lobster paper (black and glitter red background)
The Robin's Nest Glitter Animal Stripe
The Robin's Nest Fairy Dust Dew Drops (after Still)
The Robin's Nest Primary Dew Drops (center of flowers)
The Robin's Nest Time Flies Rubon
The Robin's Nest Viva la France Rubon
The Robin's Nest Ribbon Velvet Ribbon
The Robin's Nest Red Paisley paper (at the bottom of the zebra stripe mat)
Felt
My Favorite Things Mini Rolled Rose die
Martha Stewart Loop Border punch (under Zebra mat)
EK Success Dahlia Border Punch (leaves for small rose)
Cricut Imagine and Imagine More Cartridge (patterned paper on Rose)
Cricut, Close to My Heart Art Philosophy Cartridge (Large Rolled rose)
Close To My Heart Chipboard Alphas (S)
Anna Griffin Peyton Collection Chipboard Letters (black letters)
White Heart Doily Target
Making Memories Sheer Frame Flower Black
White Card Stock
Red Card Stock
Black Card Stock
K & Company Glitter Letters (Wild)
Creative Memories Leaf punch

Guest Designer at Exploring the Cricut: Snowflake Ballerinas

2012-01-22T23:56:00.003-06:00

I'm the guest designer today at Exploring the Cricut. Check out this wonderful blog for great Cricut projects and links to blogs of other Cricut lovers! For today's project, I came across a blog by a woman named Lola possibly from Russia or the Ukraine with the most beautiful snowflake ballerinas! She hand cut them using a template but I had to try them with my Cricut! So, I got out my Gypsy and searched and found the Wall Decor has a ballerina. I then chose snowflakes from several carts including CTMH: Art Philosophy, Christmas, Joys of the Season, and Graphically speaking and created a Gypsy file. I am sharing the file HERE. Wouldn't these be perfect for a little girls birthday party!?

Once the items were cut, I used the McGill big ball stylus to give them some shape and carefully cut a slit in the middle of the snowflake. I folded the ballerinas arms in and carefully threaded her through the slits.
If the slit was too long to stay in place on her waist, I added a little tape on the underside. I tied some white thread around the snowflake and hung them from a chandelier. So, pretty!These ballerinas would also be wonderful made with Cricut flowers wouldn't they?!

Kiss Me Card

2012-01-22T14:43:00.004-06:00

I am making a second entry for the Cricut Craftroom Blog welding challenge. I wasn't entirely happy with my first entry and wanted another. I am feeling very Valentine's Day inspired and made this with Indy Art and Graphically Speaking. I cut the lips with pink glitter card stock from DCWV and then inked it to give it some dimension. The pattern on the "me" is from the Audrey Imagine Cartridge.
As a long time Cricut Design Studio user, I find the flip and group functions in CCR to be much better and easier to work with. I just created the lips blackout and added the me. I then grouped the two objects, rotated it, copied it and flipped it, then welded and cut. What a fun card!

Butterfly Birthday Card

2012-01-21T14:32:00.003-06:00

Today I'm sharing a card I made for the Moxie Fab Word Die Cut Challenge, a butterfly birthday card. For me this was different way to use die cuts, because it is one of my every first projects with the Cricut Imagine and the Cricut Craftroom software. I used Paper Lace and filled it with a pattern from Imagine More cards for the background mesh, the butterflies are some Indie Art Hannah Montana, and a Creative Memories Punch and the multi colored butterfly is an image from the Cricut Imagine More Cards Cartridge. The banner is made with the Art Philosophy Cartridge and matching stamp set by Close to My Heart. I wove a strip of glittered card stock embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss dot folder into the lace background and tied on a bit of ribbon.
Below is one of the Moxie Fab inspiration photos. Don't you love butterflies?!

Organizing my Cricut Carts

2012-01-20T12:51:00.004-06:00

I am in the process of re-organizing my Cricut cartridges and thought I would share my system. Maybe you have one you'd like to share in my comments! I used the Jetmax cubes three drawer box, bought on sale at Michaels. I cut plastic needlepoint canvas to hold the cartridges only. I've run out of canvas and will have to make run, but it is snowing heavily here and I am in need of a post if I'm gonna keep up on my goal to post more. You get the idea. Somethings I am doing a little different are: I store my Imagine carts in the same drawer, can you see them in the back? And I have quite a few regular Cricut Cartridges and get frustrated when I have to shift over 30 cartridges after making a purchase. So, I am leaving the column on the far right open for new purchases in 2012. And yes, you can see that I have already purchased two. I get the round tags at my local hardware store and put them on the spine of my books. I am not sure how I will handle this on the newer books with no wire spine yet.
And speaking of purchasing new cartridges, you might be wondering how do I do it? I am frequently sharing how I try to save money and crafting can be expensive. So, here are some of my tips:
1) Coupons, you probably know this if you craft, but if you don't get them in your paper, did you know that you can get them online and print them out at home? Just try to google the store name and coupons.
2) Gift card promotions. My local grocery store and Target often offer gift cards if you fill prescriptions with their pharmacy. When I need something filled I use the gift card to purchase another gift card for Ebay and shop there for my carts.
3) Win them! Some of the places I find contests listings are: Facebook, and the Cricut Message board.
And since were talking about winning, I have an extra Imagine More Art Cartridge. When my Imagine broke and was still under warranty, PC sent me a new one with the new machine. So, if you'd like to win it just comment below and leave a way to contact you in a safe manner, ie cjsmith at hotmail dot com is safer then cjsmith@hotmail.com. I will draw a winner with random.org on February 2, 2012.

Another February Birthday Card for SASL Challenge

2012-01-19T14:01:00.004-06:00

So, yesterday I entered my project in She's a Sassy's Lady's challenge after Sheila so graciously told me about the challenge. And today, I wanted to give the challenge my full attention and make up a birthday card for another February birthday card I need. I used my Cricut Imagine and the Imagine More Cards to print the text background. The red and white handkerchief fabric print is from my stash. On top of the text print I used the Heritage car and "Daddy" to make the black portion. I just dragged Daddy on top of the car and hid the last two letters. I then printed this ONLY. Next, I swapped out Heritage for Martha Stewart Elegant Cake and filled it with Red and using the Print ONLY mode printed again on top of the rest of the card. It is very trendy right now to print an image or sentiment on top of text. I tied a ribbon on the front and my card is done.

Work the Stash Wednesday for Two Challenges

2012-01-18T13:37:00.006-06:00

Yesterday I came across a challenge via the Cricut Message board that is being hosted by the Cricut Craft Room Blog. The challenge is to use the welding feature while working in the Cricut Craft Room software. I love the prize: a Sophie cartridge! So, I'm using this challenge to get ahead start on my February birthday cards and work my stash! I'm also going to enter this in the challenge at She's a Sassy Lady to make a birthday card.
I started with some scraps of red and white card stock. I used Graphically Speaking and welded the card shape at the top to make a shaped card. I also used the Hide Select Contour to hide the insides of the car to make the back of the card. I used Close to My Heart stamps for the sentiments and a Stampin' Up stamp for the background of the car grill. I added some buttons for my headlights and highlighted the cut with a glitter gel pen. For the tires, I used my Imagine and Audrey with the Graphically Speaking cartridge. I loved the look of the Audrey print for the distressed tires. I was able to print and cut this all at once because I used CCR! To print and cut these items, I put a piece of red card stock on the card side of my mat and a white piece on the tire side of the mat.

Creative "U" 2012 Crop in DeKalb IL

2012-01-17T00:03:00.002-06:00

The S.C.R.A.P. Guild of Northern IL will be hosting their annual fundraiser crop: Creative "U" in DeKalb, IL on March 10 and 11, 2012 at the University Plaza. Please click HERE for the event flyer. This is a two day crop, but one day croppers are welcome!
They currently have a Stampin' Up Representative and a Close to My Heart Representative, but are looking for more vendors! Interested consultants and or stores can email the guild at scrapguild@yahoo.com for more information on being a vendor.
Cropping fees include lunch and dinner on Saturday and lunch on Sunday. Fees range from $25.00 to $70.00 depending on the number of days you crop and whether or not you are a guild member. Guild members get a discount on their tickets! The first 20 croppers who sign up get a free gift. I got to do the shopping for the free gift and LOVE it! I'll be there!

Punches Challenge

2012-01-16T07:30:00.004-06:00

Moxie Fab World has some wonderful Cool Tool challenges going on right now! I found time and inspiration for the the Punches challenge. So, what is my new take on punches? I'm using my punches as inspiration to stamp! I was inspired by the EK Success Dalahia border punch to make my own stamped border to quill a flower. Below is the EK Success border punch photo.I pulled out my Stampin' Up build a blossom set and stamped the smaller flower petal using the second generation stamp method for the solid portion of the petal. I used the first generation stamp in the same color for the detail portion of the leaf. I stamped the petals in a row every 1/2" and then fussy cut them to look like the punched edge in the EK Success punch. I rolled the flower and added an orange circle of paper in the middle. On top of the paper I glued dew drops by The Robin's Nest. The leaves are Bo Bunny and the stripe is The Angel Company. The sentiment is Pink by Design.

Happy Birthday with Pink by Design Stamps

2012-01-15T17:28:00.003-06:00

Today I am sharing a card I made to try out for the Pink by Design Stamps Design Team. I used my Cricut Imagine and the CCR software to enlarge a patterned paper from Audrey. The circle holes were created with Cricut Craftroom Basic shapes. I ran out of ink just before I cut the black portion, and actually hand cut that circle because I wanted to make sure I made the deadline. I added a few dew drops by The Robin's Nest to the paper to high light the patterned paper. The Pink by Design stamps are called Labels. The stamp set is built so you can stamp the label portion and then add the word portion to fit your needs. I love this set! The ribbon has been in the stash forever so I am not sure who made it.

Trendy Red, White & Black Christmas Page

2012-01-13T23:56:00.001-06:00

Every year I look forward to receiving my families photo Christmas cards. This year, everyone had black and white in their cards. The Robin's Nest was perfect for this trendy card! I started with a base page of Black and White Holly and fussy cut some of the white detail to slip my photo behind. Fussy cutting is a great way to high light beautiful paper and hold your photos in place. I matted my photo card on Red Paisley and used the Martha Stewart Skyland Snowflake border punch along one side. On the opposite side of the red photo mat, I tucked a Stampin Up paper doily that has been in the stash since 1999.
I cut the snowflake with Rebellious Red Glitter Cardstock using my Cricut When It's Cold Outside cartridge, a deep cut blade and housing, with a multi cut of two. Try using a printed paper with angular pattern or snowflake pattern to make a rosette and you'll love the effects. Here I used, Red Snowflakes. I just made sure to place the top edge of the snow flake pattern near the top edge of my Tim Holtz Rosette die when cutting. The effect is another snowflake when the rosette is finished! In the center I placed a flower sequin from Micheals and Fairy Dust dew drop in the center of the flower. The swirl is by Prima Marketing.
Supply List:
The Robin's Nest Black & Red Holly Paper
The Robin's Nest Red Paisley Paper
The Robin's Nest Red Snowflake Paper
The Robin's Nest Rebellious Red Glitter Cardstock
The Robin's Nest Fairy Dust Dew Drops
Cricut When It's Cold Outside Cartridge (red glitter snowflake)
Tim Holtz Rosette Die
Prima Marketing Glitter swirl

Winter Woodland House with Lights and Art Glitter

2012-01-13T12:10:00.003-06:00

I made an extra project for Art Glitter that I did not need to, to fulfill my design team requirements. Guess, I like it so much that I just kept crafting. So, it never got published on the AG blog and I am sharing it today.
The house is cut with Winter Woodland Cricut Cartridge and K & Company paper. I made my roof shingles with buttons from Joanns and embellished them with Art Glitter. I cut a bottom for my house (the cart doesn't provide this piece), by cutting a rectangle and adding 1/4" to each side. I snipped into the corners and punched a hole in the bottom to poke my tree lights through. I used clear plastic packaging for my windows and embellished them with the Art Glitter to look like snow. I had some micro brads that were just perfect for the door handle!

What to do When Your Local Scrapbook Store Closes

2012-01-12T06:13:00.003-06:00

Today, I'm gonna take a few minutes to share what to do when your Local Scrapbook Store (LSS) closes. Back in 2004 our LSS announced it was moving. It moved about an hour north and finally closed about 2 years later.
Being a quilter, I had been to my sister's quilt guild a few times, and had even checked out my local quilt guild. I wondered, why can't we have a scrap booking and paper crafting guild? So, when the store closed, I got serious and took the following steps:
1) Contacted a local artisan guild, such as a quilt guild for help on how to form a guild. and information on by laws and running a guild.
2) Got the book, "Non-Profits for Dummies"
3) Found a meeting location. Check your local library, ours offered a free meeting place when we started. They did add rent, but it was reasonable for non-profits.
4) Called a few paper crafting friends and asked them to join me.
5) Put a free add in the paper. Most local papers will list up coming local events. Write a blurb for this section. Now, you can create a Facebook Group to promote too!
6) Contacted my local scrap booking home sales reps for contacts, ideas and support.
7) Determined my first topic
8) Made a to do list and asked for volunteers at the 1st meeting.
All this happened back in 2006 and our guild is small but still going with around 50 members. We try and have one fundraiser crop a year, one make and take project a quarter (see photo above for our make and take for January), one free all day crop, meetings once a month, and we do some charity work too!
Now you may not want to go to all this trouble, so here are some idea for you:
1) Start a stamp camp, and rotate a hostess.
2) Contact your local sales reps and find out what events they host. For example, your Stampin' Up or Close to My Heart local reps may have regular events too!
3) Google your states name and scrap booking events.
4) Check out this site, they list events all over the US: http://papercrafterscorner.com/illinois/
And if you live in northern IL, near the towns of Sycamore, DeKalb or Genoa, please come check out the S.C.R.A.P. Guild of Northern IL! We meet on the 3rd Thursday of every month from 6:00-8:45pm in Genoa, IL. Every meeting is open crop time, even if we have a make and take or speaker. So bring a little project to work on! Want more information on the S.C.R.A.P. Guild? Just email them at scrapguild@yahoo.com.

Work the Stash Wednesday

2012-01-11T16:18:00.003-06:00

I love to try and work my stash on Wednesdays to make something. I have some old supplies in my stash and have found the best way to use them is to pair my old with the new. So, for this card I paired my old silk flower stash with The Robins Nest Fleur in the color Ocean. The button is Papertrey ink. The micro pom pom trim was from a store near Champaign, IL that I can't remember the name off. They always have a booth at the Scrapbook Expo in St. Charles and sell trim by the yard. The sentiment is Close to My Heart.

Suddenly Sewing Again

2012-01-10T10:15:00.003-06:00

After a dry spell at the shop, I suddenly have a three orders in a week. So, I am suddenly sewing again and you know, I missed it! This is a Cuttlebug cover I made up in Michael Miller fabric. It is the last of the fabric from Tammy Tadd Designs which is now closed. I miss TTD! They always had cheerful colored fabric and wonderful displays. They also carried hard to find supplies like the oversize grommet I used for the handle of this machine.
I am considering the following sewing New Year's Resolutions:
1) Finish Aidan's quilt! Oh yah, the second child is still grown up boy quiltless!
2) Make that back pack inspired dust cover for my serger machine. She is gathering dust these days and I want to keep her in working order!
3) Get serious about that pattern to sell!

Another Christmas Card Page with Pink Paisley

2012-01-09T08:21:00.002-06:00

Here is another Christmas Card page I scrapped. This time all the products are Pink Paisley unless otherwise mentioned. I did have to use The Robin's Nest Rebellious Red Card stock behind my Close to My Heart Art Philosophy Cricut Die cut! Doesn't it make it pop off the page?! And I love using glitter and sparkle on Christmas pages! Chipboard letters are from Anna Griffin, Close to My Heart and K & Company.
I cut a piece of pink card stock with the Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake cart in the stamp motif and sewed the Pink Paisley Post card image on top. I then addressed it with the names of the people in the photo.

Lego Party Thank You Cards

2012-01-08T08:07:00.004-06:00

So, last night after the party I worked on the thank you cards. I actually cut these babies by hand, and punched those circles with 1 1/4" Creative Memories punch. But it occurred to me, that I could add it to the CCR file and cut them all at once. So if you liked those treat boxes and need a thank you to go with find the CCR file HERE.

After making the new file, I started thinking about how good I feel about using all the 12 x 12 sheet of paper. I actually stress a bit about all the trees I may be killing for the sake of my passion. So, maybe I will make this one of my new year's resolutions: when I make a cut file, I will cut a card or embellishment and use as much of the sheet of paper as I can.

2012's First Moxie Entry

2012-01-07T00:56:00.001-06:00

Did you see Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger this week? The inspiration photo is called by the numbers (see below). It's this quilt fabulous?! Well, when Moxie's inspired by quilts, I'm inspired by Moxie! So I had to give this a try! Other excuses I am using to scrap this page and avoid house work are:
*my 2012 resolutions to keep up with scrapbooking 2012 events (today is my son's 8th birthday party, so I'm on target),
*post more often to the blog and
*use my paper stash!
I started with a piece of white die cut paper from a kit I got from the Scrapbook Rewards Card site. If I recall, it was a three month kit you signed up for and my have been by Creating Keepsakes. Of course when the ubber yummy dies arrived, I broke the kit up to file them by color. I left some of the punched piece in the page to get the look of quilting on the white portion. Behind the die circle holes I punched holes using my Creative Memories circle punch. Now, I have a whole lot of scraps in my stash, but be the quilter in me, so I gonna tell you the paper company names I know are in there and hope you can recognize some! There are papers by Bo Bunny, The Robin's Nest, DCWV, TLC, Me and My Big Ideas, Kaleidoscope, and Bazzil. I also used my Cuttlebug Swiss Dot folder on some of the yellow.
Underneath the white die cut I used the Creative Imaginations corrugated cardboard paper. It reminds me of the staging in the inspiration picture on a wooden table.
My title is made with the Graphically Speaking Cricut Cartridge. I just welded the Great boy and the circle b and then cut the boy of the cut. I added stickers for To from Creative Imaginations and the 8 is from TLC (yes I have been scrapping that long)! Now that library card was given to me as part of a swap, so you might try and google one!
Now before I sign off on this post, I would just like to encourage you to visit Moxie Fab World and check out all the wonderful entries in this weeks challenge. I have to admit that I was a bit intimidated to enter my page because there are so many wonderful artists participating in this challenge.

Dahlia Thank You Card

2012-01-06T05:57:00.002-06:00

I just finished my thank you card to Heartfelt Creations and am sharing it today. I used the Dahlia die and the stamp set Moonlight Dahlia Set, both from Heartfelt Creations. I stamped it with CTMH White Daisy Pigment ink and used CTMH white embossing powder. I then colored it with Copic markers to add depth to the red card stock. I used a white sequin from Michaels in the center and a Fairy dew drop from The Robins Nest in the center of the sequin. The sentiment is Anna Griffin. The embossing is Sizzix for Stampin' Up.

Lego Party Treat Boxes with my Cricut Imagine!

2012-01-05T11:45:00.003-06:00

This year, as usual, my boys want a Lego themed party. So, I pulled out my Sweet Treat Boxes cartridge that I got for Christmas and modified a box in the Cricut Craftroom to make Lego Ninjago Cupcake boxes.
You might be asking, why did she use the Imagine, aren't these boxes so simple I can use my Expression? Well you can! I just put yellow colored paper in the Imagine and printed the eyes in black. I did not want to mess with gluing the small black pieces, so I just printed them with my Imagine on the colored card stock. I'm in a hurry as usual and have a lot of boxes to make, so this seemed the smartest way to go to me!
For the box, I added a rounded corner rectangle from the CCR basic shapes that are free. This was used to cut a hole for the face. I had to mess with the size of the top and bottom of the box, as I was unable to get mine the to fit using the dial size. Once the box was cut, I used my paper trimmer to cut the scallops off of the box bottom. If you are working with this box you should note that the top segments must be assembled in a particular order to close. Look for the shortest set and start with that. Then work you way up to the longest segments. I showed my first box to my 8 year old last night and he loves them! Find the files for cutting the boxes and for printing the eyes HERE.

Cricut Mini Dust Cover Now Available!

2012-01-03T13:27:00.003-06:00

Just a note to let you know that I now offer a dust cover for the Cricut Mini Machine! Since this machine's plastic cover, does NOT cover the entire opening in the machine, you may want to consider a dust cover to keep the dust out of your Cricut Mini and off your mats!
As with most of my covers, my clients like to custom order their covers in colors and prints to match their tastes and crafting spaces. So, I don't keep a lot of inventory. To see my current inventory and already sold covers, please visit my Etsy Scrappincover store or Scrapguild store.
Custom orders are welcome on the Cricut Mini and all of my other machine dust covers! I also make covers for the Cricut Expression, Cricut Original, Cricut Create, Cricut Imagine, Your Story, Silhouette, Pazzles and more. Just drop me a note with your machine type, color scheme, and pattern choice and I can send you photos of fabric for approval and a cost quote.
And if you visit my blog for my cards and or layouts, please scroll down to see my recent posts. For some reason blogger is listing them out of order. So the red work card is currently my third post down, when it should be my second. And the posts are not showing up in Facebook if you are following me as a Networked blogger.

A Change of Plans for My Planner 2012

2012-01-02T09:33:00.009-06:00

This year when I went to Archivers to get my 2012 planner, they no longer carried my favorite planner. The sales associate showed me one by Pinecone Press and it was pretty enough to me to purchase. The papers are by My Minds Eye. I am still missing my old planner, but hope this years planner will be more of a keepsake for my boys.
My previous planner had drop in page protectors for each month. I would reuse the pages from last years planner when the planner changed. But this year, my pages won't fit size wise or color wise. So I will be scrapping as the year progresses. For January I am using the sketch from Once Upon a Sketch. See the sketch below. Now, my planner page is a bit pre-made. As a matter of fact the kit comes with sketches and supplies to finish the planner. But, even when I take a class or follow a sketch, I like to add my own touches. So, I am straying from the Pinecone Press kit and adapting the Once Upon a Sketch to fit my rectangular page.
To start, I pulled out my French Manor Cricut Cart and cut my clock face. The title is License Plate Stickers by the the Paper Loft, the swirl is Prima, flowers are so old I'm not sure where they're from,and buttons from the stash.

Some things I just can't live without in my planner are the month overview, and a pocket for receipts. So, I made those and added them Pinecone Press, if you could add these next year, I think I could be persuaded to get your kit again!

Birthday Card Inspired by Our Little Inspirations blog

2012-01-02T01:01:00.000-06:00

I am so loving Pinterest! It gives me links to blogs by all sorts of talented artists. One I found recently was Our Little Inspirations. She made this beautiful card with an SU embossing template I already have that you can see here. I did not have the punch she used but decided instead to use a Heartfelt Creations stamp and die. I added some Art Glitter gala glitz to the center of my flowers and used less flower embellishments than the inspiration card. The original card was a sympathy card and I wanted mine to be more cheerful for a birthday. The sentiment on my card is CTMH.

Redwork Inspired Card

2012-01-01T23:56:00.001-06:00

Did you see the beautiful page on The Heartfelt Creations blog that looked like red work? I loved it so well, that when I won the Heartfelt Creations giveaway of $50.00 gift certificate I bought the Sunburst stamp set and matching dies! Of course, I have been back to the Heartfelt Creations site and can't find the photo to share with you. I can't figure out how to view older posts and it is not yet in the gallery. I did save it to my Pin Boards if you want to see the picture HERE.
I used the stamp set, with embossing powder and added some Art Glitter D25 Confection Dazzlers in the center of the image and a few circles on the bigger motifs. I wish you could see this in person, it looks so much better than in the photo. The sentiment is again Close to My Heart. The embossing folder was borrowed at a friends, and I think it was Sizzix. The red and white paper has been in the stash for so long, I couldn't tell you who it was from!
Well, after writing this post, it occurred to me that I did not yet make and send Heartfelt Creations a thank you card. Oh, well, the housework will wait and I will have a post for tomorrow too! Back to the craft room!

Happy New Year: 2012

2011-12-31T12:56:00.000-06:00

Thanks for stopping by my blog on New Years day! I like to wish all of my followers and visitors a Happy New Year!
Are you making resolutions? I haven't yet officially, but I'd like to post more in 2012. So let's get started.
This is a page I created for my last family Christmas card for 2012. Well, it's hard to tell for sure since my family is so large. I hope to get some more late! I used My Minds Eye paper, Creative Imaginations Die (Red and White die), My Minds Eye chipboard sticker, Sizzix dies (green glitter) and Joys of the Season (White Pointsettia). I glammed up the white Cricut cut by adding some Art Glitter Berry Red glitter in the center. Over the glitter, I placed some Robin's Nest Dew Drops. I love the glitter under the clear colored dew drops! On the edges of the poinsettia, I used Art Glitter D25 Confection Dazzlers. I can't get over how professional and store bought this embelly looks and I made it myself!
The border under the photo mat is a Martha Stewart boarder punch I used at my friends last crop. She had a business of hosting crops and has wonderful supplies and organizational skills. She no longer hosts paid events, but has friends over once in awhile. I attended her New Years Eve crop and made the page there. Thanks Bridgette!

Advent Calendar Completed on Time

2011-12-30T08:13:00.012-06:00

Well I finished all seven of my Advent Calendars on time! I am just getting around to posting pictures today. Not sure if anyone really wanted the CCR files, so if you would like them, please leave a comment I will get them to you.
Here are some close ups of my days. The Bell and the snowflake are both cut with the Cricut.
The sled is from Joys of the season and I filled it with color on my Imagine with Snow Angel. The cone is made with a DieNamics die from My Favorite Things and rolled together and stapled to make a cone. I used a glue dot at the bottom, as the stapler wouldn't reach. The banner is CTMH Art Philosophy filled with Snow Angel image, enlarged and centered using CCR.
The frame is cut with Fancy Frames cart in brown card stock, with a white black out image. My sisters can add any photo they wish or a bible verse. The red label is Snow Angel.
The teal ornament is also Snow Angel. The triangle box is a freebie from Craft Secrets and can be found HERE. I just added sticky back velcro to the bottom of the box, so my sisters and fill it with goodies next year!
The file folder is Sizzix die. I think this could be used for another bible verse, or tickets!

The Snowman is Snow Angel cart. The purse is Imagine More Cards and I made it with lip gloss in mind. Everyone needs some Berts Bees or Chapstick, don't they? I loved that I could get 4 of these boxes with CCR in one sheet of paper! If I cut it on my Imagine alone, it will only fit one on a single page.
The rosette was made by printing out the Snow Angel "sweater" paper, and cutting it with Tim Holtz's Rosette die. If you have Ribbons and Rosettes you could try this too! I just got the cart after I finished this, and still need to find time to play! The Christmas day was made with free sheet music image I found on the internet and the poinsettia I did NOT make with my Cricut. There must be a cartridge you can use for this! Try searching in the CCR for a poinsettia! The dress is made with a Sizzix die. I sold most of my Sizzix dies when I purchase my Cricut, but kept this one, as I love fashion images!
I just realized while writing this post, that I never took a picture of the whole calendar with every piece. Will have to bug my sisters for a picture and post later! I did not make my families Christmas celebration as I was at my husband's families celebration. My sisters told me that when it was time to open presents, they all asked to open mine first. Guess I'm doing well with my $5.00 budget!

Challenge at Fantabulous Cricut #91

2011-12-27T19:19:00.003-06:00

Tonight I worked on a Get Well card for my uncle and am submitting it to the Fantabulous Cricut Blogs, Challenge Me Monday #91: Tags. I used my Imagine and the Mystical Garden Cartridge. I pulled out this cartridge, because the patterns remind me of my father's neckties and it seems masculine. I made my tag with George, Basic Shapes and embossed it with the swirls Cuttlebug folder. The sentiment was printed on my home computer and the border was made with Martha Stewart's Iron Gate punch.

Black and White Christmas Elegance

2011-12-26T09:30:00.017-06:00

When I saw the Case Study Challenge #70, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it: scrap book my sisters Christmas card! The inspiration card from the Case Study challenge has such black and white elegance (2nd photo), with a touch of teal and my sisters card had the same color scheme! I made this my own, by adding the deep red to the color scheme, and love the results (top photo)!
To get started, I pulled out my Cricut Imagine and my Damask Decor cartridge and worked in the Cricut Craft Room to make a beautiful circular motif in the print only mode. I can get the look of the Teresa Collin's Black and White Cartridge, with the Damask Decor cartridge, the Imagine and CCR while I wait for the cartridge to fit into the budget. I then stamped some snowflakes with Gelatin Fancy Flakes - Big set around the Damask Decor image.
I loved the rosette inspired poinsettia I made for one of my Christmas cards and had to make another to go into a scrapbook! This one has another vintage button center, a beautiful glass button in black and gold! The rosette and the red paisley motif are both cut from The Robin's Nest Red Paisley paper.
The grey snowflake border is Martha Stewart Skyward Snowflake punch. I used the same punch to make the round snowflake at the top of the embellishments, just punching two of the sides opposite each other.
The teal and grey snowflake is Cricut When it's Cold Outside cartridge, embellished with The Robin's Nest Cotton Candy Dew Drops. The silver doily is Wilton. The back flower, with white details is a Stampin Up Rubon embellished with some rain drop stickers from Cloud9 Designs. I love this little folk art look!
The black and white stripe paper is Basic Grey. The teal polka dot stripe is made with Coordinations paper and the Cuttlebug Swiss dot folder.

Great Lakes Great Finds Box

2011-12-23T23:56:00.001-06:00

So much to share today: Another idea for those Advent calendars that did not get scrapped before Advent, and how to make fabulous titles with Word Art from Microsoft Word! Last year I purchased the Kaisercraft Advent Calendar and I finally finished it using beautiful papers from The Robin's Nest! This time instead of an Advent Calendar, I made a box for my boys rock collection! You might be able to pick some up an advent calendar on clearance the day after Christmas!

Every summer we visit Lake Michigan and the boys are always finding fossils and other rocks. If you make the Kaisercraft Advent Calendar I recommend you visit the Merly Impressions Blog HERE as the instructions on the Kaisercraft site were not helpful or detailed. I painted the box with acrylic paint and allowed it to dry. I used the assembly instructions found in the tutorial at the link above. For the drawer boxes you can find a list of all the beautiful Robin's Nest papers and embellishments at the bottom of this post.

Using The Robin's Nest Glitter Sea Shore paper I created the background for the inside square in the box. I trimmed off the glittered print at the bottom and trimmed the plain teal portion at the top, so that it measured 8 1/2" wide to fit through my printer. It is so trendy right now to have text and book like backgrounds on your pages. So, I found an image on the internet for free of the Great Lakes and printed it onto the top portion of the Glitter Sea Shore paper. Be sure to make a test print on scrap paper first if you use this technique!

To make the title I used the Word Art in Microsoft Word. Here's how:

1) Open Microsoft Word and an empty document

2) Click on the Insert Tab at the Top of the screen.

3) Click on the Word Art Icon on the right hand sideChose the Word Art you want to use by clic

king on it. I wanted a word that was wider at the beginning and end of the word and narrow in the middle.

4) Chose the font you want and type your Text in the dialog box that appears and click OK

Above is how mine looked.

5) Drag to resize as desired

6) Print out this file if you have NO digital software that works with a cutter, for those of you with a cutter, skip to step 8

7) Temporarily adhere your printout to the paper you want to use in the center of the box and hand cut

8) If you have a cutter with digital software such as SCAL, Make the The Cutter or other, Hit the Print Screen button.

9) Open Paint software

10) Paste your screen print into the new paint document and save as a JPG image

11) Open your digitial cutter software and covert the JPG to the format used my your digital cutter. For SCAL2, this is click on the File menu and click Trace Image. Click Browse and select the photo you saved in step 10. Now you have your title! For the cursive font that says "Lakes" and "Finds" I used the Opposites Attract Cricut Cartridge and my Cricut DS software to weld the letters.

This box is great because you can place the bigger rocks on the shelf as pictured and limit your kids to smaller rocks to fit in the drawers. The Robin's Nest papers were perfect for a masculine box that even a Mom could love for her home decor!

Supplies Used
The Robin's Nest Glitter Sea Shore Paper (center of box)

The Robin's Nest Calamity Jane Stripe (Stripe mat for title & on drawers)

The Robin's Nest Glitter Witch Accessories Paper (Chocolate Brown ships wheel, drawers & title)

The Robin's Nest Veranda Love/Stripe Paper

The Robin's Nest Brown on Brown Rope paper (drawers)

The Robin's Nest Fishing Rubons

The Robin's Nest Velvet Ribbon

The Robin's Nest Belgian Chocolate Boy Rubon

The Robin's Nest Live Bright Rubon

Making Memories Ribbon

Vintage button

Microsoft Word Software

SCAL or other cutting software (optional)

Ribbon (not sure as it has been in the stash for sooo long)

Art Glitter (on Dragonfly)

Snow Angel Rosettes

2011-12-20T20:08:00.003-06:00

I am almost finished with my advent calendars! I am working on December 24th and making rosettes. I printed out the sweater paper from the Snow Angel Imagine Cartridge and cut them into 2" strips. I then used the Tim Holtz rosette die to cut them and made the following rosettes. I think they are fabulous and you just might want to give them a try! I can't wait to try this with the red sweater print on Snow Angel too!

Imagine Advent Calendar Days 6-10

2011-12-15T16:22:00.014-06:00

So, I'm moving on to days 6-10 on my Imagine Advent Calendar. If your following along, I am continuing to use the Snow Angel Imagine cartridge and day 6 is made with Close to My Heart Art Philosophy. I enlarged the pattern and centered it in my heart box. Find the CCR files for all 5 days HERE.

Day 7 is just the stocking from Snow Angel! Quick and easy to print and cut!

Day 8 is a box from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More. I did make the sweater pattern bigger! This is actually much like the box we know from childhood for holding a deck of cards. I decided to leave the top open and will add the number to the white space. I stapled the round paper clip to the box, so that when the box is filled with goodies (such as chewing gum) it won't fall off the calendar!

Day9 I made snow angel and cut her inside the circle. This one is made in two steps as before. Print ONLY file first, leave it on the mat and then use the CUT ONLY file. The faux snow if from Art Glitter.

Day 10 is made with Close To My Heart Art Philosophy. I enlarged the pattern and centered it again to see the snow couple!

Congratulations to My Fellow Team Mates at The Robin's Nest

2011-12-13T20:13:00.018-06:00

I am so excited to make the design team at The Robin's Nest for a second term! Congratulations to all of my team mates on design team for this term! The are: Terri Sproul, Carole Lassak, Becky Conley, Erika Taylor, Peg Rounds, Irit Shalom , Kristi Parker Van Doren, Amanda Marks, and Michelle Cummins.

I'd also like to wish the previous design team members a fond farewell and thank them for all the wonderful things they shared with me and taught me! I will miss you on The Chattering Robin's blog Gini Williams Cagle, Jan Holland Hennings, Tenny D. Kusuma and Kristin Keller!

Last Minute Christmas Crafting!

2011-12-13T06:49:00.042-06:00

I have a confession to make: I am a last minute Christmas crafter! This year, I have set myself an ambitious goal: an Advent calendar for my sisters. I have six sisters and I am making one for a sister in law for a total of seven. Along with the goal of an advent calendar, I have set the following goals:

1) Spend no more than $5.00 on each Advent Calendar! This is a family rule we came up with long ago to keep Christmas affordable and it has become a challenge to see who can give the best gift for $5.00!

2) Make it using the Cricut Craft Room software. I really want to learn how to use it and I learn best by doing!

3) Make it with the Snow Angel cart and my existing Cricut cartridges (I'm not confessing how many I have).

4) Get the best use of my paper! When I worked in fashion design, I made markers for cutting clothing. These are the patterns for cutting the garment pieces from the fabric used by the digital cutters. The goal was to use 80% off the fabric. I think that it is a great idea to use the most of my 12 x 12 sheet! Now some of the items don't take a whole page, and some take more than one page. I am just making it a goal!

5) Create CCR files and share them for others to make the same or similar calendar.

6) Finish on time. So, I think I will need to make 5 days at a time.

7) Not run out of ink! So, I will be supplementing my Imagine images with some of my scraps and some internet free printouts!

8) Pack myself day kits to work on while I have down time. So, for each day I print and cut the items and packed them in freezer size baggies. I brought them with me to work on in the school pick up line and out to crops. I even had a girl friend offer to help me and because I had them packed with one sample made, we got through 35 items in an hour! Thanks so much Tina!

So, are you with me? Well maybe you don't have six sisters, but at this price, you can make one for yourself, the teachers, and your relatives! Maybe you can save these and use them next year!

Supply List

White canvas 16" x 20" (Michael's with a coupon) Price $3.80 each

Red Wire Price per calendar $0.95

Staple gun and staples

White 12 x 12 Cardstock

Cricut Imagine

Snow Angel Cartridge

Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge

Cricut Doodlecharms Cartridge

Cricut Winter Woodland Cartridge

Cricut Martha Stewart Seasonal Cakes Cartridge

Pop Dots and your favorite glues

Prepare the Canvas

Begin the calendar by preparing the canvas. You can paint the canvas, or distress it with some distress ink. If you plan on using white items on your calendar as I did, you will want to have some color on the canvas before you start adding your wire. Divide the length of my canvas (20") into 4 sections and mark it with a pencil along both sides. Then drape the red wire across the top width of the canvas, and at every one of the marks, stapling them in place. Leave a bit of excess on the edges and curl around a pencil to make it cute!

Calendar Row One: Day's 1-5

For my calendar, I planned the following for each line: One bible verse, one pocket and or box, one blue item, one green item, one red item, one brown item, and one Christmas themed shape or die from a cartridge. A decided to make most of my numbers up at the end of the project in case I want to move an item or two. However, I did decide to make up day one and Christmas day first and then work from there. So, my file for day one will have a number in it. FIND ALL OF THE CCR FILES AT THIS POST ON THE CRICUT MESSAGE BOARD.

Day one is made with Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake cart, but if you don't have this just do a search of the CCR for a postage stamp! I think there are over 8 cartridges with postage stamps you can use! I also used Snow Angel for the pattern and used the CCR to make the pattern bigger. I can't tell you how exciting this feature is to my CAD minded brain! I used Microsoft Word to make the verse bubble. Just insert a round text box and type your verse choice! I changed the color to the green default in Microsoft word and printed it on and HP printer. I think the color matches well! I then punched the circle using my Creative Memories circle punch 1 1/4". The scalloped circle is from Art Philosophy and is cut at 1 1/2". Use pop dots for the # one layer. Punch a hole in the top of the stamp tag portion to hang on the calendar. Here is the CCR file for you to use. Day one requires one piece of card stock.

Christmas Tree Day two: Just use some of your printed carstock at home that coordinates with Snow Angel and cut the tree with Art Philosopy. After I cut the tree I mated it on white cardstock and hand cut, but you can add your own layer to the CCR file.

Snowglobe Day 3: Alright, confession here...you will have to create this snow globe in several steps. For some reason, Imagine images on my machine have a color border that the machine cuts around when I try and WELD an Imagine image to a standard cartridge image. It is not the same color as the image, and so stands out. Since I wanted my girl in the snowglobe to not have this border, I took the time to print only! Then created a cut only globe file cut file. Now, there should be a method to make this all one file, but despite watching the video three times I can't get the layers to work correctly to make this one file. And I'm under a deadline here people, so be gracious! You will need Snow Angel and Doodlecharms.

Pocket Skate Box Day 4: Just a brown box cut with solid card stock and Tags, Bags, Boxes and More. Here is the CCR file for the box. Get your reading glasses out to score this one ladies as the smaller box has smaller score lines! I love that this has slots of ribbon as I have a ribbon habit. Now, the skates here are stickers, but I have to keep this on budget, so I will cut the rest with Winter Woodland.

Warm Woolen Mittens Day 5: You will just need Snow Angel for this project. And here is my switch up for you and new feature to try on CCR: change your pattern! If you look at the cart the mittens are green, but I wanted blue to balance my colors. So I swapped it out! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this CCR feature! I also used the separate layers feature so I could add a little embellishment under my mitten cuff. Attach your choice of trip and pop dot the cuff to acomodate the bulk of the trim. I used some rubons and bling from the stash to ad a detail too!

Souvenir Keepsake with The Robin's Nest

2011-12-09T23:56:00.002-06:00

I love to make gifts for the people I love! This year, I worked made a souvenir box/mini album purse using The Robin's Nest products. The purse is made with a vintage wooden handbag I picked up at a garage sale over the summer.

Above you can see before pictures of the purse, inside and outside. To make the purse into a mini album/souvenir box, I notched a doll rod with a saw and added round binder clips. I then nailed it to the inside of the purse. I created three pages one for each country visited using Italy Stickers,

Germ any Stickers, and France Stickers. For the papers I used Ocean colored Fleur (on Germany page), on the Italy page, and for the France page.

On both sides of the purse, I lined the insides with Calamity Jane Stripe. I cut my lining a bit off on the left side, but added a bit of the paper, some ribbon and some Lullaby Tear Drops to make a faux beaded trim. I then sandwhiched a bit of organza between the side of the purse and the paper on one side. On the other side, I lined the purse with more paper, and added some adhesive hook and loop tape. To the organza I sewed some more of the paper and the other side of the hook and loop tape. The idea is for this side to hold some souvenirs such as ticket stubs, Eurail passes, loose foreign change, etc.

On the outide of the purse, I used the Ocean Fleurs striped side and pleated it to look like ribbon. I sewed it on to some ribbon that I think is by Anna Griffin and hot glued the ribbon onto the sides of the purse. I created a label using Glitter Gold Journaling, and Glitter Gold Letters. I hand cut around the journaling block and matted it on more of the brown paper.

I cut some flowers using the Ocean Fleur, and love paper using My Favorite Things Mini Rolled Rose and Rolled Rose dies, the leaves are just fussy cut from the brown paper. The tag I made with the Robin's Nest Veranda Love Stripe paper, and my Microsoft word on my computer, was used to print "Europe." I love that I can change my ink color to match my project!

Yes, I Do Do Windows!

2011-12-09T13:07:00.003-06:00

Just had to try another window project with the Heartfelt Creations die! These are the only windows I do, but I do do windows! The stripe paper is Pink Paisley, the pillow box is Cricut Easter 2010, with the bunny hidden. The flowers are sequins from Michaels and the branch is made with an EK Sucess punch. Snow is SU, glue is Art Glitter Dries Clear Adhesive. I scavenged the wreath off of some Christmas wrapping from last year! I made this as part of the design team try out for Pink Paisley!

Celebrating Hobbies & A Birthday with Moxie

2011-12-06T09:34:00.008-06:00

When I saw the Basic Grey Weekly Challenge (back on Nov 18) to use punches, I knew what I wanted to do for my sister's birthday card! She is to quilting what I am to scrap booking: obsessed! I knew that this card would be perfect for the Moxie Fab World Celebrating Hobbies Challenge! We have both been in love with the Cathedral Window block since childhood and both the Basic Grey page and my card was inspired by a quilt block called Cathedral Window. But, I wanted to challenge my self to use the Cricut Craft Room software to make this card and NOT use punches!

So, to get this look:

1) Open and Create a new CCR file

2) Plug the Accent Essentials Cricut Cartridge on one side of the Imagine and the Audrey Imagine Cartridge on the other.

3) Create a circle using this image from Accent Essentials

4) Use the Hide Select Contour to hide the middle scallop shape

5) Copy the circle and paste two times. You will notice that the copies appear in the same line just below the orignal!

6) Now select the three circles and copy and paste two times. And YES, they line up just to the right to form the grid of 3 by 3!

7) Select and Copy all 9 circles

8) Paste them and move them to the right of the orignal 9. I adjusted these to fit an A2 card size.

9) Fill all the original 9 circles on the left with assorted black patterns from Audrey

10) Fill all the copied 9 circles on the right with assorted color patterns from Audrey

11) Save and PRINT ONLY these images!

12) Allow the Paper to dry completely and flip this over on the mat!

13) Edit the original circles using the Hide select contour to show the middle scallop and HIDE the outside circle.

14) Set the color to white on all the remaining scallop shapes

15) Save your file

16) Leaving your original paper that you printed before ON the mat, send the white scallop shapes in the PRINT & CUT mode to the Imagine. Since the Imagine assumes your paper is white it will only cut the center shape from the original black circles.

Now trim the paper to the A2 card size and you will have two of these cards! I added a bit of ribbon from Michaels and an SU buckle. I stamped the sentiment with CTMH celebrations set that matches Art Philosophy!

Winner of Here We Come a Caroling is...

2011-12-05T06:13:00.002-06:00

I used Random.org and picked a winner from the sweet comments you all left, and the winner of the Here We Come a Caroling Blog hop prize is: Kristan!

Kristan's comment was: very pretty!! thanks for the tip with the printer!

Kristan Getting Cricky Jr. DTM

Kristan, I will send you an email, but sometimes my prize winner's email filters block emails with prizes in the title. If you have any problems receiving your notice just email be using the contact button on this blog!

I am always afraid to be the first commenter on blogs with contests, but as you can see it can happen! Random.org really picks a random winner!

Clare's Entry for Case Study Challenge # 68

2011-12-05T00:01:00.000-06:00

I saw the current challenge at Case Study and loved the colors! I knew that I wanted to get out The Robin's Nest Ocean Fleur and make up a little thank you card for Nancy H. over at Just About the Details for the Cricut Cartridge I won from her blog. I tried black with the teal and orange combo and thought it too dark, but I often used a dark chocolate brown instead of black. So, here I used The Robin's Nest Witch Accessories paper. I won Lovely Floral and had to use it in her than you card! I cut the circle in The Robin's Nest Distressed Honeycomb paper and inked the edges. I then welded the Thank You and the flourished circle together with my Gypsy. I hand stitched a detail around the circle to add a bit of white and then punched the butterflies with a Creative Memories punch. I added a few dots to my cut with the white Signo pen.

Here We Come A Caroling Blog Hop Day3

2011-12-04T00:06:00.004-06:00

Welcome to day three of Here We Come a Caroling blog hop. You probably hopped here from Dawn's blog, but if you just stopped in and want to see every stop, please see the links on the side of my blog! On day three of the hop, I thought it might be fun to cover We Three Kings. Once again, I found sheet music on line for free! I printed it out 4 x 6 inches and trimmed off the bottom. The card is matted with black card stock, on which I put The Robin's Nest Glitter Black and White Pine tree paper. The postage stamp image of the three kings is also from The Robin's Nest.

Supplies Used:

The Robin's Nest Chipboard Snowflakes (center top layer snowflake)

The Robin's Nest Glitter Black and White Pine Tree Paper

The Robin's Nest White Snow Glitter cardstock (snowflake cut out)

The Robin's Nest Cotton Candy Dew Drops (pearl and silver on snowflake)

The Robins Nest Ace of Diamonds Dew Drops (red diamonds on snowflake)

The Robin's Nest Glitter Read Journaling

The Robin's Nest Canvas Christmas

Black cardstock

Red ribbon

Here We Come A Caroling Blog Hop Day 2

2011-12-03T00:06:00.004-06:00

Welcome to day 2 of Here We Come a Caroling Blog hop! You have probably arrived here from Dawn's blog, but if you just stopped by and wish to hop along, please see the right side of my blog for all the stops! Today's post is based on The Carol of the Bells! Someone on Pinterest had used a line of music to make a little banner. I so had to scraplift that! So, today I gave it a try with some K & Company Brenda Walton Peppermint Twist. I cut away the bell ringers and added some of The Robin's Nest Tear Drops for bell ringers instead. To make room for the custom bell ringers, I pop dotted the bells. The postage stamp was cut with Cricut's Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Cartridge. Tie a few bows and your done. Cute, cute, cute!

Be sure to comment on yesterday's post for your chance to win. Next stop on the hop is Bug Lover Cards.

Here We Come a Caroling with a Design Team Tryout!

2011-12-01T23:56:00.007-06:00

Welcome to the Here We Come A Caroling Blog Hop! This hop is being sponsored by Theresa The Scrapbooking Queen. And along with the blog hop, I am trying out for The Robin's Nest Design Team. The design team tryout had very specific requirements about when to post, so I'm combining my tryout with the blog hop for a beautiful project for your family Christmas cards! All products are made by The Robin's Nest, unless specified otherwise.

I started my page with the decadent Red Paisley card stock for the background. I then used the White Snow Glitter Card stock for the large sheet music page. To get the snowflakes to pop and still show once I printed my sheet music on top, I FIRST inked it with Close to My Heart Dutch Blue ink using some daubers and sponges. After the blue ink was added, I trimmed the sheet to 8 1/2" x 11" and ran it through my printer with some free sheet music off the Internet. If you use this technique after you print on the computer, your ink will smear. so sponge ink, then printer ink. I sewed the White Snow Glitter Card stock onto the Red Paisley Card stock with green thread. If you sew on your page, pull the loose ends to the back and tie knots. I then distressed the edges with my fingernails.

The golden wreath is cut with the Martha Stewart Seasonal Cakes, in Distressed Honeycomb paper. I added Yellow Stickles to the cut and added Abracadabra Dew Drops in yellow to the center of the snowflakes for a bit more sparkle!

Yellow poinsettias were created with Sunset Diamond Dew Drops, and a bit of Xmas Red Stickles for the center. Around the yellow die cut, I sprinkled some flower sequins from Michaels with Dew Drops in the centers. I used Abracadabra for the yellow centers in the red flowers, and Pointsetta Dew Drops for the Red centers in the green flowers. The journaling block is Glitter Red Jour naling block. I matted it on green side of the Gl itter Black and White Pinetree paper.

To celebrate this blog hop, I am offering Blog Candy: $10.00 gift certificate and free shipping to either of my Etsy stores. Just leave a comment below about what item in my shop caught your eye and why. Please leave a method to contact you in a safe manner. For example, ssmith07 at hotmail dot com will help prevent spam! You can find my Scrapguild store HERE, and my Scrappincovers store HERE. And I must confess that with my current design team commitments my inventory is slim, so custom orders will be allowed for any prize winners! Winner will be drawn on the day after the hop: December 5, 2011.

On on to the next stop on the hop: Bug Lover Cards!

Another Moxie Fab Champion Award Medallion Entry

2011-11-28T21:28:00.002-06:00

Oh happy day, a new baby card to make and another entry into the Moxie Fab World Champion Award Medallion challenge! Yes, a forth entry! How can I resist when Moxie has such fabulous inspiration photos and such wonderful artist who enter their challenges?

So, this time I am making my medallion part of the baby carriage. I cut it with my Tim Holtz Rosette die and clipped out the portion under my baby carriage. The baby carriage was cut with New Arrivals Cricut Cartridge, and embossed with the Provocraft Swiss Dot folder. I cut the rosette and the faux Swiss dot ribbon from vellum because I think it is the perfect touch for a baby card! The stripe paper is on the other side of The Robin's Nest Glitter Boy Star paper.

The sentiment is stamped with Close to My Heart Art Philosophy set and Cricut Cartridge and matted on more Robin's Nest paper with glitter. I also used this glittered card stock in a stripe under the faux Swiss dot ribbon.

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-25T23:56:00.003-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! I love the good food and family and NO presents or pressure. I am always grateful for the many blessings I have, and love to share them with my loved ones. So, this page had to have lots of love in it!

The title is cut with The Robin's Nest Brown glittered cardstock, using my SCAL2 and a font called Edwardian Script ITC. It is too fine to cut it well, so you will need to use make a shadow of the actual font. I did this using the SCAL2 Style dialog box and changing the Appearance box to Shaddow Black Out Rounded. I love this tool, because it allows me to make a black out mat for any title or make a very fine font cuttable!

On the left page, I made a journaling box using The Robins Nest Glitter Gold Journaling and a hand embroidered felt mat. I found the idea of a blanket stitch with beading on Pinterest. Love to visit there daily for inspiration.

The Robin's Nest Turkey Paper is beautiful, but I am afraid of white space! So, I fussy cut a circle frame using a kitchen plate, and working around the turkey and the glitter swirl on the paper. This is a wonderful techinque to turn a paper with lots of white space into a custom die cut! Here's how I got the look: using a pencil, I traced a kitchen plate. I then used my grade school compass to make a second circle inside the plate circle. For both circles, I did NOT trace over the turkey or swirl images. I then fussy cut around the circle and the swirl using my scissors and Exacto knife.

I hand cutting the swirl pattern in The Robin's Nest brown glitter paper. I clipped into the bottom side and carefully worked it around the underside of my circle frame.

I punched some leaves using the Creative Memories leaf punch. I cut a photo mat with The Robin's Nest Brilliant Brown Glittered Chipboard. Since, it is difficult to adhere on top of glittered paper and chipboard, I punched the corners of my mat using the EK Success corner heart punch.

Supplies Used

The Robin's Nest Glitter Sepia Trees on Linen (Background)

The Robin's Nest Turkey Paper (Turkey Circle Swirl in White)

The Robin's Nest Brown on Brown Rope Paper (background in circle detail & border around circle)

The Robin's Nest Brilliant Brown Glitter Chipboard (photo mat & leaves)

The Robin's Nest Black, White and Silver Dew Drops (Silver Dew Drops)

The Robin's Nest Fall Rub On 4 x 5 (leaves)

The Robin's Nest Glitter Gold Journaling

Jolee's Boutique Parcel Embellishments (Pinecones)

EK Success Heart Corner Punch

Creative Memories leaf punch

SCAL2 or other digital cutting software (Optional)

Hand crocheted flower

Vintage button

A Scrapbooker's Book Purse

2011-11-23T14:21:00.008-06:00

One of the members of my scrap booking guild has been asking me to teach a class on how to make a purse from a book. With Christmas approaching, I thought now would be the perfect time to try this project out. And if you know me, I love purses, Art Glitter and making gifts! I visited my thrift store and purchased some books for future book purses and figure I can make this project for $5.00 or less with careful shopping! I have also been admiring the rose purses on the market, but they are always so big and expensive. So, here is my take on the book purse.

I started by choosing a book, and I chose a scrap book. Now, this might seem to miss the whole book point, but I love a handbag with photos on the outside! And this scrap book from Target had an outside photo (around $15.00). I then Googled Book Purse tutorials and found at least five. My favorite was this one from Hungry Panda Clothing: http://www.hungrypanda.net/blog/2010 /02/book-purse-tutorial/

I used her instructions for cutting out the insides, adding handles, and added a flap with my Art Glitter embellishment. The purse handles I purchased at Joann Fabrics with a coupon. I like a handbag that is pretty on both the frontand the back. To make the flower, I cut a strip of fabric an inch wide and ran a basting stitch down the center. Using the Art Glitter Dries Clear Fabric glue, I ran a bead on both raw edges of the strip. I added Art Glitter 79 Black Ultrafine Opaque Glitter and allowed it to dry. I then gathered the strip to form a ruffle. Starting in the center of a piece of felt, I hot glued the ruffle in a circle along the stitch line working in small portions at a time (about 1 “). I then hot glued this to my purse flap.

For the book lining piece, I needed access to swap out that photo. I like to change the photo my season. So, I got out my trusty Vogue sewing book and made myself a bound button hole. Yes, that tailoring class I took in my fashion design program helped, but a standard buttonhole stitch would work too! Because I wanted access to change that photo I varied from the instructions on the Hungry Panda by making my purse liner removable with hook and loop tape. And I chose not to make a hook and loop tape closure as I added the flap. Another fun idea, is to make different purse linings for this purse for each season. Because it is held in place with hook and loop tape you can swap it out. And if you need a gift idea for the next holiday, you’re all set! Mother’s and grandmothers are so hard to shop for, but mine love a hand made gift! I am also including a side view of the purse and a view of the purse with it wide open.

Supplies Used
Scrap book (Target)

Art Glitter Dries Clear Fabric Glue

Art Glitter 79 Black Ultrafine Opaque Glitter

Purse handles (JoAnn Fabrics)

Fabric

Hook and Loop Tape

Felt

Sewing machine

Thread

Exacto Knife

Scissors

More Moxie Medallions on Work the Stash Wednesday

2011-11-16T06:10:00.003-06:00

It's a work the stash Wednesday! And I am in need of a birthday card for my brother, who happens to be a neurosurgeon. So, I got on the internet and searched for free spine images. I found this vintage add and thought it funny! I added it to a stash of Basic Grey I had, but don't worry if you like it, BG offers many of their older papers in digital format!

Now, for my medallion I worked on a star burst I have been wanting for sometime. I actually was inspired by the Allstate TV commercials early in the year. I tried to search for the motif on their site and could only get an insurance quote. So, I took the round star burst in Cricut's Fancy Frames cartridge and stretched it in Design Studio. The stamp is Close to My Heart and came with their Cricut Art Philosophy package. The white card stock was cut first and then I stamped on top. Added to the card, is a slide frame I have had in the stash forever. I think it adds a masculine touch and gives me that rule of three.

I think I will have to play with this star burst look and all of my frame stamps! Maybe, I can work it into the Christmas card...

Thanksgiving Hostess Gift

2011-11-14T13:41:00.008-06:00

I love to bring a little something for the hostess on Thanksgiving! I know how much work goes into cooking for this holiday and love to have a little thank you for the cook!This year, I will be bringing a pin I made with Art Glitter and organza. And just so the host does not feel left out, I will pin it to a ribbon and tie the ribbon around a bottle of their favorite beverage!

Supplies:

Art Glitter 343 Chestnut Ultrafine Opaque Glitter

Art Glitter Dries Clear Fabric Glue

Brown Organza fabric cut 3” x 42”

Thread

Sewing Machine

Low Temp Glue Gun

Pretty Button

Chipboard 2 inch circle

Brown Felt 2 inch circle

Pin back

Start by cutting your organza. I actually useda roll of organza I found at JoAnn’s and cut it 21 inches long. I then cut it in half lengthwise, so that I had two strips 3 inches wide by 21 inches long.

I overlapped my two strips by an inch and ran a basting stitch down the center lengthwise.

I then added a bead of glue using Art Glitter Dries Clear Fabric Glue and sprinkled on my Chestnut glitter. Shake off excess and allow to dry. I pulled my basting thread so that the finished length of the strip was 14” and folded the strip in half. Insert ruffle photo.

I followed the instructions on the Maya RoadFlower video at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez6MLD_hTDc Some tips for the organza instead of ribbon:

1) Tie a knot at both ends after to gather and clip off the lose threads before gluing with the hot glue gun.

1) Don’t wrap your center too tight or you won’t have a good space for your button. Use a hole about the size of pencil in the middle of your flower.

2) You will have to fold your organza in half as you go

Here is a close up of the finished flower pin.

I just used more of the organza strip to tie a bow around the bottle and then pinned the flower to the center.

Christmas Tree Advent Calendar

2011-11-12T01:56:00.000-06:00

I love making advent calendars! This year I am using The Robin's Nest Paper to embellish one. I just cut squares to fit the box drawers (1 1/2") and punched holes for the top of the drawers. I inked the edges, added some stickers by The Robin's Nest for the dates. I ran out of stickers and cut some letters using The Robin's Nest Rebellious Red Glittered Chipboard and my Mickey Font Cricut Cartridge. On the back of the advent calendar I used The Robin's Nest Poinsettia Dew Drops to make a light garland and cut the title December 25 from The Robin's Nest

Supplies

The Robin's Nest Poinsettia Dew Drops

The Robin's Nest Rebellious Red Glitter Chipboard

The Robin's Nest Red Stripe Paper

The Robin's Nest Olive Fleur on Linen Card stock

The Robin's Nest Glitter Black and White Pine tree (Back of the box Green paper)

The Robin's Nest Glitter Christmas Words

The Robin's Nest Glitter Pine Trees Paper

The Robin's Nest Velvet Ribbon

Sierra Pacific Advent Calendar

I love to use this for sharing small trinkets with the children during advent. Along with Lego Mini figures and small candies, I like to add scripture versus to some of the boxes and keep the focus of the Holiday fresh in the children's minds!

More Moxie Medallions!

2011-11-11T21:12:00.004-06:00

Yes, I am on a craft binge! But most of my projects are for upcoming hops and design team commitments, so no pictures yet! And, today I found time for another try at the Moxie Fab World Medallion Challenge. I loved the fall leaf medallions and knew I wanted to try a poinsettia version. So, here I used October Afternoon paper, some free sheet music images from the internet, a swirl rub on from The Robin's Nest, an Inkadinkado stamp, some chipboard and a vintage button to make my card. The ribbon came from my sister, she's a quilter and found it at a quilt shop. She's such a generous crafter!

I am loving the trend of images printed and stamped on to text and book pages, so I stamped my sentiment right on the sheet music. I am also loving the off the page look and sewing notions! Thanks for stopping by!

Moxie's Medallion Challenge

2011-11-07T06:51:00.003-06:00

As usual, Moxie Fab World has put up a challenge I cannot resist trying! This time it's The Champion Awards Medallion Challenge! I love my Tim Holtz rosette die, so I had to try this one!

My idea for the challenge: fill the valleys of the rosette! I used Dew Drops from The Robin's Nest, but your could try beads. The ornament and title are from the Imagine Snow Angel Cartridge.

Harvest/Halloween Blog Hop Winner

2011-11-06T10:22:00.002-06:00

The winner for my blog and the rest of the blogs in the Harvest/Halloween blog hop have been picked! The winner on my blog is: Lillian Child! To find out the rest of the winners, please visit the Chattering Robin's blog HERE. And Lillian you can visit there to see how to claim your prize!

Thanks for hopping along with us and look for more beautiful projects with The Robin's Nest soon!

Harvest/Halloween Blog Hop with The Robin's Nest Design Team!

2011-10-31T01:56:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the The Robin's Nest Harvest/Halloween Blog Hop! Please start the hop at the Chattering Robin's Blog and return there if you get lost! If you have already started the hop, you may have arrived from here from Jan's blog. There is candy on hop, and to qualify for the drawing you must follow all the blogs, and comment on all the blogs along the hop! Each blog has one gift certificate for The Robin's Nest store in the amount of $15.00 and there is a $50.00 grand prize as well! Please watch for the winner's name to be posted on November 6, 2011! Today I am sharing my project for a dew covered spiderweb! You can display it in a window (photo below) or use it on a page like the one above.

I have loved spiderwebs and all my life I have been amazed by them! Sometimes in life, we come across these fragile moments in nature, like a dew covered spiderweb and try to preserve them. So, I thought it might be fun to try and capture the beauty of the dew covered spiderweb with The Robin's Nest Dew drops. I started by googling spiderweb and found one on Flicker here. I found a photo of a dew covered spiderweb and noticed that at the intersections on the web, the dew formed drop shapes. Along the spokes of the web, the dew gathered in round drops.

I pulled out my salad packaging and cut the lip off the packaging cover with my scissors. I printed out a spiderweb on paper to trace and placed it under my packaging. I sorted out the dew drops before starting so I could work quickly. Using Rangers Liquid Glass I began tracing the web and worked from the center outward. It dries quickly, so I worked small areas at a time. Simple project, inspired by the most talented artist I know: Mother Nature!

Once I had my spiderweb, I cut a circle in the middle of the Halloween Swirl, so I could show the beautiful paper and put my spiderweb in the center. I added a matted photo and cut my title using The Robin's Nest Lime Green Glitter chipboard for the base of my title. The orange title is from Happy Hauntings Cricut Cartridge. I added a spider made with a button and some Stickles and a few flowers. I love how my oldest son is so interested in spiders and bugs. We just might have an entomologist in the family one day! Please find your next stop on the hop after the supply list!

Supplies

The Robin's Nest Halloween Swirl Paper

The Robin's Nest Lime Green Glitter Chipboard

The Robin's Nest Dew Drops

Prima Flowers

Want2Scrap Purple Bling

Close To My Heart Green flowers

Button (Spider body)

Stickles Black (Spiders legs)

K & Company Bug

Cricut Happy Haunting Cartridge (title)

Below is a list of stops along the hop, but if you get lost at any time, please stop by The Chattering Robin's Blog to finish the hop! I used dew drops from The Robin's Nest Hydrangea Freedom colors.

Chattering Robin's Blog

Terri Sproul's Blog

Becky Conley's Blog

Tenny Kusuma's Blog

Kristin Keller's Blog

Michelle Cumming's Blog

Irit Shalom's Blog

Gini Cagel's Blog

Jan Hennings's Blog

Clare Dempsey's Blog (you are here)

Peg Rounds Blog

And your next stop on the hop is Peg Round's blog here!

Using the Glitter Lace Technique on Fabric

2011-10-25T21:01:00.000-05:00

I love the Art Glitter Videos, and one of my favorites is the Glitter Lace Card by Barbara Trombly. You can find the video here (link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdljEFJ57po). This week I set out to see if I could get the same look on fabric and enter it in the Moxie Fab Challenge: Autumn Woods Tuesday Trigger Challenge. The Moxie inspiration photo is at the top. The lace look is a bit more subtle; on fabric, but just as beautiful with Art Glitter! Here is what you will need to make this card:

Art Glitter Dries Clear Designer Fabric Glue

Another Glue that dries tacky such as The Rubber Café or Zig 2 Way glue

Art Glitter Lace

Art Glitter 343 Chestnut Ultrafine Opaque Glittter

Art Glitter 86 Angel Dust Ultrafine Transparent Glitter

Art Glitter 295 Ensalada Ultrafine Transparent Glitter

Ivory Canvas Fabric

Ivory Calico Fabric

Assorted Ribbons

Metallic Card stock

Cut a piece of canvas at least 1 “ larger than your Art Glitter lace sheet on all sides. This is more than you will need for your card, but will allow for cutting later. Press any wrinkles out of your fabric and allow to cool. Working on top of a sheet of Parchment paper (shiny side up) or a Teflon craft mat, apply your dries tacky glue and smooth over the surface of your ivory canvas fabric. I used the Rubber Cafe glue. Here is a photo of the canvas fabric with the dried glue.

You will want good coverage so that the surface for the lace will be flat when glue dries. Allow to dry overnight. In the morning, remove the canvas from the Parchment paper and apply the Art Glitter Lace on top of the glue. Because these glues (Rubber Cafe or Zig 2 Way) dry tacky you will be able to reuse your Art Glitter lace later! Smooth the lace onto fabric and make sure it is adhering well. Begin by pooring your darker color first (for this card Chestnut) and tap off the excess. You will want to see the video for the specifics! Then remove lace and poor on the Angel Dust glitter. Highlight the flower centers with the Art Glitter Dries Clear Fabric glue and apply the Ensalada color. Allow to dry.

Cut the card base with metallic card stock. Cut the calico smaller than the card base and pull a few threads on every side to achieve a frayed look. Glue the calico onto the card base with the Art Glitter Dries Clear Fabric Glue. Glue the glittered lace fabric on top using the Art Glitter Dries Clear Fabric Glue.

I'm a Minion Monday

2011-10-24T06:40:00.001-05:00

Two weeks ago I started a new feature called Minion Monday, and today I picking up with the feature and sharing a blog that I follow: Amazing Paper Grace. The first Minion Monday I shared a follower of my blog, today I am sharing one I follow. Please check out Becca's blog for beautiful paper crafting and great inspiration! Always pretty, with perfect touches you will find gorgeous cards, tutorials and more at Becca's blog!

Wii Remote Treat Box to Share

2011-10-23T19:29:00.000-05:00

Someone on the Cricut Message boards recently posted some adorable treat and cake boxes that were made with a new cartridge. Since the budget is tight
these days, it got me thinking...what could I make for my boys birthdays with cartridges I already have? How about a treat box that looks like a Wii remote? Above you can see my photos and you can find the Cricut DS file here. I would love your comments if you like this enough to download. And please, do not sell these items or my file. If you want to share the cut file, please refer your fellow Cricut lovers to my blog!

To cut this you will need George Basic Shapes and Lyrical Letters (for the plus sign), some Cricut Markers or Chomas Markers, glue, and ribbon. You will see a small line near the bottom of my box, this is not in the cut file. My machine is old and well loved and sometimes it drags my Chomas markers a bit. I was so excited to share the file, that I put it up with the

mark on the box!

Put your paper on the mat, load your markers and cut the Pen marking page first. Switch to the blade, DO NOT unload your mat, and cut the Layer 1 Page. I only added score marks on the final side as I think the flaps show you where to score and I am not fond of them. I added a bit of ribbon to look like the strap and called it done. I made it to scale, so you should be able to fill it with small candies, such as M & M's or candy corn. Thanks for stopping by!

Card Making with The Robin's Nest and Viva Las Vegas Stamps!

2011-10-22T01:56:00.000-05:00

This month The Robin's Nest Design Team is product swapping with Viva Las Vegas Stamps! I usually make cards with my stamps, so I used three of the Viva Las Vegas Stamps to make up three cards.

The first card is made with Viva Las Vegas Fan Lady on a Balloon Stamp. I love the quirkiness of the balloon and how beautiful the shape is. It took me several glances to realize her skirt is a balloon! I used The Robin's Nest Little Girl Crown Paper, both sides (stripe on the other side), pink organza ribbon. The frame is cut with the Art Philosophy Cartridge by Cricut in brown card stock. I added some of The Robin's Nest pink Dew Drops and distressed the edges and the card is done! The sentiment is from the K. Andrews Designs Fashionable Friends Set.

The second card was made with the same paper from The Robin's Nest: Little Girl Crown Paper, The Robbin's Nest Dew Drops, Viva Las Vegas Singer Sewing Machine 2 1/2 x 2 1/2, a bit of sewing trim I had in the stash (I think from JoAnn's),and the sentiment is from Clear Art Stamps Sew Special Set. I love cutting details that will show off the other side of my paper! I added some of The Robin's Nest pink Dew Drops and distressed the edges and the card is done!

The last card is made with The Robin's Nest Winter Snowflake Paper, I used the paper as the navy background and fussy cut one snowflake for the front. I then stamped the Viva Las Vegas Steampunk Christmas Tree, and added a bit of stickles to everything to add a bit of sparkle and pull the whole thing together! The striped paper

at the bottom is The Robin's Nest Flitter Snow

flake Stripe paper. The snowflake was made with a McGill punch and I added The Robin's Nest Precious Girl Dew Drops to the snowflake and the sentiment. I fussy cut a circle from the Viva Las Vegas Christmas Tree and stamped Joy on top. The sentiment is a Close to My Heart Set.

Minion Monday: My Follower's Blogs

2011-10-10T07:45:00.001-05:00

I'm starting a new feature today and sharing with you some of my followers blogs, in random order. I'm calling it Minion Monday, after my son's picked up a new favorite word "Minion." I looked it up, and follower is one of the definitions. So, each Monday I'll be featuring a blog of one of my followers that I have enjoyed visiting and follow.

Today's featured blogger is Amanda Remus. Here blog is called 3 Little Monkeys Designs. Amanda scrapbooks and makes cards. I love her scrapbook pages! She has just started digi scrapping, so if you don't digi scrap, look for more traditional pages in her older posts. Amanda has a wonderful sense of color and embellishment style that still allows her photos to show through. Like me she also has boys and appears to have a ribbon habit!

I love this mini album page (pictured above)! The whole mini album is beautiful and you just might want to check it out at here blog here.

Party Lights for Less with Art Glitter!

2011-10-08T07:23:00.000-05:00

I love a look for less and this time, I'm working on holiday and party decorations with salad packaging and Art Glitter. I cut the triangle box using my Cricut Tags, Bags, Boxes and More Cartridge and glittered it to look like candy corn. Some other ideas to try are cut the purse box and use it for a girls birthday party! Cut the same triangle box and make Christmas tree lights, or cut a square box and make ABC blocks for a baby shower. The possibilities are endless.Here's how to get the look for less:

Supplies:

Plastic packaging such as salad box tops, Cricut Clam shells etc

Deep Cut Blade and Housing

Cricut Machine (you could use a Sizzix

Die or template if you don't have a Cricut)

Art Glitter Dries Clear Adhesive

Art Glitter 92 Bananan Ultrafine Transparent Glitter

Art Glitter 56 Pumpkin Ultrafine Op

aque Glitter

Art Glitter86 Angel Dust Ultrafine Transparent Glitter

Scoring Tool

Scissors

Hole Punch

Low Temp Glue Gun and glue sticks

Strand of lights

Preparing the Box:

Begin by cutting the lip off of your salad lid packaging with a scissors so that it lies flat. Apply it to your Cricut mat. Change your blade in the Cricut to the deep cut blade and housing, cut the box using the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More Cartridge.Punch a hole for the light and score your folds before applying the glitter.

Creating the Lights:

Begin applying the Art Glitter dries clear glitter starting with the darkest band of color area first. Shake off excess glitter and apply the glue and glitter to the next color area. Allow to dry and glue box together using low temp glue gun.

I also did a glue comparison for you and found that the Art Glitter Dries Clear adhesive is far superior. The photo below has the Art Glitter glue on the left and the Provocraft Terrifically tacky tape on the right. Can you see how much richer the Art Glitter glue made the glitter?!

I wish you could see these live,the picture does not capture the full richness of the Art Glitter Glue and you will find, the liquid glue a better value too!

Now just insert your light through the back of the box and you have a great look for less! Give Art Glitter a try next time you need some great party lights!

Halloween Banner with The Robin's Nest

2011-10-08T01:56:00.000-05:00

I love making banners for special occasions and holidays! For this Halloween, I pulled out The Robin's Nest Halloween papers and made a fun banner! The base banner piece is cut with The Robin's Nest Glitter Purple Bats Card stock. I cut the banner piece with my SCAL 2, but you can cut your own and trace it onto the paper. I have found that a digital cutter is so helpful, when you have to cut many items for a project such as a banner.

The next layer is a scalloped circle cut with Cricut Mini Monograms, in orange card stock. The rosettes are made with Tim Holtz's Rosette die in The Robin's Nest paper. I love this die and have found that the best way to glue this is with a low temp glue gun. Work from the back side with a plain circle punched in matching cardstock. Save the nice scalloped circle cut with the die for the top! You will find it difficult to center the first circle perfectly and get your folds in place. I also love the stability that having a circle on both sides adds. So, I add my die punched circle last.

On top of that I punched a white circle and inked the edges with purple ink to repeat the purple from the purple bats! I On top I punched a small scalloped circle in Lime Green The Robin's Nest Glittered Chipboard. I placed this circle a bit off center to look eyeballish and perfectly scary! The letters are from Paper Pizazz Typewriter alphabet. I liked the spooky quality of the letters. It is best to use a liquid glue on top of the glittered chipboard or card stock. Tape runners don't seem to hold items on top of glitter. Below is a picture of all of my layers on my banner from left to right they show the banner top to bottom.

You can display a two word banner as I did on a door in two layers, or across a mantle. Just insert a shape or motif in the middle to separate your words when you display this across a mantle. I would love to add a spiderweb to this one for displaying on my mantle. Hopefully, I can find the time to make one!

Supply list

The Robin's Nest Glittered Chipboard Lime Green

The Robin's Nest Glitter Purple Bats Cardstock

The Robin's Nest Polka Dot paper

Orange Cardstock

White Card stock

Purple ink

Paper Pizazz Typewriter Alphabet

Ribbon

Cricut Mini Monograms

SCAL2

Where in the World Are Celebrating World Cardmaking Day?

2011-10-01T18:35:00.000-05:00

World card making day! You know you are a serious paper crafter when...you know it's World Card Making Day! So, I'm celebrating here in Illinois with a card made with my newest Cricut cartridge: Damask Decor and I found a challenge just perfect for pulling it out of the box! I'm entering this in the Case Study CSC59 challenge!

The inspiration card and the design team cards all had beautiful bows! I'm bow challenged, so I used a piece from some vintage jewelry instead. The rhinestone circle and stamps are CTMH! The ribbon is Making Memories. I used Dew Drops from The Robins Nest for petals for my flower, to repeat the sparkle from the rhinestones.

Hope your World Cardmaking Day and every other day are filled with joy!

School Blog Hop Winners

2011-10-01T09:45:00.001-05:00

The winners for the School Blog Hop are:

edwinabrown at comcast dot net

and the winner selected for the Cloud Nine gift card is:

Krista from Krista's Paper Cafe

If you are a winner please contact Jamie for more info on claiming your prize!

Another Card Play Challenge Entry

2011-09-30T11:51:00.000-05:00

While getting ready for a our local PTO children's clothing and toy sale I came across some old UNO cards and thought they would be perfect for the Moxie Fab world Card Play Challenge! I saw the Oscar the Grouch and knew immediately what I wanted to make: a card for a friend who just quit smoking! Inside, it says "Congratulations on quitting! Sure hope your not feeling like Oscar! I know you can make it work!"

Paper is Cherry Art, Card is from UNO Sesame Street card game. The flower was made with two svg files I recieved from Jill DZines while part of her design team. She never did release them, but you can get similar flower (pink portion only) from The Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge. I used the Art Philosophy Cartridge and the Frames Tags and Borders Stamp set (Congratulations) from Close To My Heart.

E2 Cover Now Available!

2011-09-27T08:53:00.000-05:00

I'm excited to announce that I have developed a pattern for an E2 cover! You can see the photo above. I actually made this one up as a custom order to match an Imagine and Cuttlebug cover, so it is already sold. But I love custom orders! Just drop me a note and place an order to match your crafting space!

School Bog Hop Day Two: Another Storage Idea

2011-09-25T01:51:00.000-05:00

Welcome to day two of the School blog hop! Be sure to comment on todays post on all of the blogs for a chance to win the grand prize of a $20.00 gift certificate for Cloud 9 Designs and a $5.00 gift certificate for Jen's Digi Stamps! If you're like me, you will find that you have more school paper work than you know what to do with! I have made another storage page for report cards for my grade schooler. This one is a bit cuter and hides the actual report card.

To make this backpack, I created a cut file for the base using George Basic Shapes and Opposites Attract. I printed the paper for the background and the back pack base using my Cricut Imagine and the Imagine More Cartridge. The scalloped top for the back pack and the pocket are both from the same Imagine Cartridge. I just put the Grateful and leaves behind the back pack base for the top flap and the pocket flap, I separated out the layers to get the different colors.

The base piece is scored and folded to have a 1/4" side, and pocket. The flap attaches to the base with some sticky velcro. See the photo below. To accomodate this page in my scrapbooks, I use a chipboard, or foam board shim in the spin of my album. If you would like the cut file you can fin it here and I have included a flap, incase you don't have the Imagine!

Now on to the next stop on the hop: April's blog!

If you get lost, please return here and get the full list of stops from yesterday's post! Enjoy the school year!

School Blog Hop: Storing Your Memorabilia

2011-09-24T01:30:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the School Blog Hop! This blog hop is being hosted by Jamie at My Amusing Life and you can see the list of stops at the bottom of this post. There will be a grand prize for hoppers who comment on all the blogs on both days! The grand prize is a a $20.00 gift certificate from Cloud 9 Designs and a $5.00 gift certificate from Jen's Digi Stamps (that's five digi stamps!). Please be sure to leave your contact info in a safe manner, for example suesmith at msn dot com will help to prevent spam!

For my project, I wanted to make storage pages for my middleschooler's school memorabilia. I confess, I save things: report cards, school ids, ISAT tests, award certificates and more! In the past, I have always had the report cards stored in paper backpacks, but felt this would be too cute for my first year middleschooler's taste. So, I pulled out The Robin's Nest Boy Dot/Stripe and got to work.

Now, you might think The Robin's Nest style is elegant and glamorous, but they have some great masculine papers! I knew this would be perfect for my page with a bit of scrap lifting from Creating Keepsakes Summer 2011 issue. The original page, was used to hold Disney memorabilia.

To make the Boy Dot Stripe paper pop, I pulled out some old neutral paper in my stash. It is oooh so old, that I can't tell you who made it. I am sure it was in a stack I purchase at JoAnn's. I cut rectangles for pocket and then cut circles out to help. I also used Creative Imaginations corrugated paper. I am always wanting to try cutting new things with my Cricut! I did not find that this cut well, but found I liked the distressed look of it! I used Graphically Speaking cart to cut the 6 die along the far left and inked the edges. To hold my pockets, I sewed them in place with my machine using a zig zag. If you don't have a sewing machine, consider foam tape to allow room for your memorabilia. Just use it along the side and the bottom!

I also cut my middleschool title using The Robin's Nest Glittered Chipboard in brown. I used a bit of Tim Holtz Ruler Ribbon, and License Plate Alphabet Stickers by The Paper Loft. The Awards, ISAT and Card are all The Robin's Nest Glittered Alphabet.

Your next stop on the hops is April's Blog: Curls and Grins. If you get lost, please see the full list below.

Blog Hop Stops

Jamie's Blog: My Amusing Life

Bernice's Blog: Karber Sweet Escapes

Ashley's Blog: The Glamorous Side of Scrapping

Jessica's Blog: Scrappy Luvs

Christina's Blog: Cema 1 Cema

Amber's Blog: Pixel Perfect Creations

Dena's Blog: Miss D Jones

Deborah's Blog: Scrapping Mamma

Shelly's Blog: Shelly's Land

Clare's Blog: Cricut Crafty Clare (You are here)

April's Blog: Curls and Grins

Jearise's Blog: Lorby's World

Kristy's Blog: Scraptaskically Creations

Brynn's Blog: Flair and Frills Creativity

Janet's Blog: Create Dream Scrapbooks

Amy's Blog: Love To Crop

Staci's Blog: Precious Mem
Lisa's Blog: Handmade with Love-Lisa

Cheryl's Blog: Cards by CG
Gina's Blog: California Scrapping G Cinderella 21

Paula's Blog: Scrap Your World

Crafty Homemade Blog

Julie K's Blog: JK Little Bit of Bling

Maria's Blog: MD Craft Corner

Fabulous Fall Leaf Pins

2011-09-20T12:07:00.000-05:00

Today I am the guest designer at Art Glitter. I am sharing how to make fabulous fall pins for less than a dollar! You only need an overhead sheet, Art Glitter in four shades, Art Glitter Dries Clear Glue, Liquid Glass and a pin backing. To get the instructions, please visit the Art Glitter Blog here.

The last leaf was made with Art Glitter Gala Glitz!

Supplies:

Art Glitter Ultrafine Opaque Glitter 278 Poppy

Art Glitter Ultrafine Opaque Glitter 56 Pumpkin

Art Glitter Ultrafine Opaque Glitter 47 Vine

Art Glitter Ultrafine Opaque Glitter 231 Copper Harbor

Art Glitter Ultrafine Opaque Glitter 343 Chestnut

Art Glitter Ultrafine Transparent Glitter 92 Bananan

Art Glitter Transparency Sheet

Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear Adhesive

Art Glitter Ultrafine Metal Glue Tip

Ranger Glossy Accents

Pin Backing

Moxie Fab's Card Play Challenge

2011-09-11T20:35:00.000-05:00

The Moxie Fab World has a new challenge: Card Play. Of course, I had to jump in on this one! First the inspiration photos as usuall are fab! And second, so many fond memories of card games with my family!

So, here is my entry, made with my Cricut Love Struck 2010 and Storybook cartridges. Yes, that's just a heart, turned upside down! Then I added the base from Storybook. I loved the dots in the embroidered pillow photo on Moxie by Jan Constantine (below), so I added a few dots with my markers.

I think it is just the perfect finishing touch! And the sentiment, typed with my computer for a talented niece. She just competed in the Czechosolvokian version of American idol called Czech Idol, and made the finals last summer. You can find her music here.

Make Organizing Fun & Fabulous!

2011-09-10T01:56:00.000-05:00

My creative mind often struggles to organize paperwork, closets and drawers! So, one of the tricks I use to get it done, is to make it fun and fabulous! My boys are back to school, so I have started my fall organizing chores around the house: yes, closets! To reward myself for going through a closet, I am also organizing in my craft room. Today, I am sharing how I am organizing my inspiration magazines, photos, and clippings.

I started with an old Franklin Quest planner storage binder. These were used before I had my children to store my planners from previous years. When, I graduated to a smaller planner, I saved the binders knowing I would alter them one day. They look fabulous with The Robin's Nest Great Catch Glitter Getaway Swirl Linen paper! So, I cut the paper to fit the cover and modge podged it to the binder and allowed it to dry. Using Modge Podge over the glittered paper is a great way to keep the glitter from coming off the paper when it is not covered by a page protector! I then cut The Robin's Nest Dark Distressed Red Paper for my letters in my title, using the Cricut Elegant Cake Cartridge. The frame with the title inside is cut with the Cricut Reminisce Accents & Cricut Elegant Cake Cartridge in The Robin's Nest Yellow Distressed paper. I then used The Robin's Nest Diamond Drops in Sunset to repeat the red in the title and the shape of the leaves in my frame.

The glittered leaves are The Robin's Nest Fallen Leaves Texture packet. The red oak leaf is a Sizzix die cut with The Robin's Nest Dark Distressed Red. I made the quilled flower with the Cuttlebug Chrysanthemum quilling folder and hot glued it to my cover.

Now, I moved to my inside dividers using more of the three Robin's Nest papers I used above. I added some labels to the divider pages from Anna Griffin Flora Collection Designer Journaling Tags and added titles using The Robin's Nest Glittered Alphabet Stickers. The rubon on the Sew Much More Page is The Robin's Nest Viva La France Rubon.

Supply List

The Robin's Nest Great Catch Glitter Getaway Swirl Paper

The Robin's Nest Dark Distressed Red Paper (from the Fall in Love Add on kit)

The Robin's Nest Distressed Honeycomb Paper

The Robin's Nest Sunset Diamond Drops

The Robin's Nest Fallen Leaves Texture Packet

The Robin's Nest Viva Rubon

The Robin's Nest Gold Glittered Letter Stickers

Sizzix Oak Leaf Die

Cricut Reminisce Accents Cartridge

Cricut Elegant Cake Cartridge

Anna Griffin Flora Collection Designer Journaling Tags

Cuttlebug Chrysanthemum Quilling Die

Micro Pom Pom Trim

Paint by Number with Art Glitter and Cricut

2011-09-09T01:56:00.000-05:00

Today, I'm the guest designer at Art Glitter. I was so flattered to be asked back for a second term! Thanks Art Glitter! To celebrate that I get to Sparkle On, I thought it would be fun to make a thank you card inspired by the City of Lights: Paris.

Did you know that you can use the paint by number technique with Art Glitter and a Cricut machine or other digital cutter? Here's what you'll need:

A Cricut or other digital cutter

Art Glitter in colors of your choice

Here are my choices

Varsity Blue 185 Ultrafine Pearlescent (Eiffle Tower)

Ensalada 295 Ultrafine Transparent Glitter (Paris)

Lime Rind 280 Ultrafine Opaque Glitter (Merci)

Blue Angel 183 Ultrafine Pearlescent 183 (background in stamp)

Angel Dust 86 Glitter (white background card and inside of Eiffel Tower)

Pin or paper piercing tool with very fine tip

Art Glitter Sticky paper Small or Large (I used small)

Coffee filters

Cricut cartridge of your choice (I used French Manor)

Design software for digital cutter (optional)

Instructions:

Design your image ahead of time. I designed mine using the Cricut DS software, but your could use the Gypsy, Cricut Craftroom, or your digital cutters software. The cartridge I used is called French Manor. You can manually move your blade if you don't have any design software.

Set your machine pressure and your blade housing pressure to cut ONLY through the top layer of the Art Glitter Sticky paper. The top layer is the white sheet with the red printing. For my project, I set my blade housing pressure to 3 and my machine pressure to 3. Apply your paper to your cutting mat, making sure the red and white piece is face up on the mat. Cut your design.

Carefully, begin removing the top layer of the design, one color at a time. I like to lift off the top layer with a pin or a paper piercing tool.

When working on smaller projects with more than one color of glitter I like to use coffee filters under my items. I only have one glitter tray and have found the clean up much easier with the coffee filters! Pour the glitter over the area where the top layer was removed, shaking off excess. Be careful not to touch the image as you are working. You can re-pour the glitter if needed, but as more colors get added, its become more difficult.

As you work you may find that you have missed a small portion of the top layer. See my photo of the inside of the word Paris below. Just remove, the small piece and re-pour!

Continue removing the top layer one color at a time and pouring as you finish your design. Below is a photo of my card before pouring my last color.

Scrapping Ninja Sale Extended!

2011-09-07T11:36:00.000-05:00

Just a note to let you know that the Scrapping Ninja's national add was delayed and as a result they have extended their sale! So, that means items in both my shops will be on sale through Monday, September12, 2011!

You can take 20% off any item, by typing in the coupon code at checkout NINJA. I will honor sale prices on custom orders placed during the sale!

Join us for the Scrapbook Ninjas' Sale on Etsy

2011-09-01T10:10:00.000-05:00

The Scrapbook Ninja's Team is having an Etsy Sale! Please check out all the participating shops by visiting the Scrapbook Ninja Website!

My shops are both participating! Use the coupon code NINJA at check out for 20% off all items, including clearance! You can find dust covers, scrapbags and more at my Scrapguild.etsy store and my Scrapincovers.etsy store. Custom orders are welcome and I will validate the sale price on custom orders placed this week! The cover above is for a Cricut Expression in Michael Miller fabric perfect for Fall!

How to Get the Perfect Dew Drop Swirl

2011-08-27T02:03:00.000-05:00

Ever since I received my Robin's Nest Dew Drops I have been wanting to try the rhinestone tool on my SCAL2 with the Dew Drops! So, this week I got out my Dew Drops and more items from the Robin's Nest to make a beautiful page for my niece's up coming wedding.

Most digital cutter software programs have a rhinestone tool. SCAL2 & 3, Pazzles software, Make the Cut and more. I can tell you that the Cricut DS and the Cricut Gypsy do NOT have a rhinestone tool. So, look for some options at the bottom of this post for those of you who don't have a cutter with the rhinestone feature!

I opened my SCAL2 and using the swirl shape library, chose a swirl I liked and sized it the way I wanted. I then selected the rhinestone option, under the Object menu. Once inside the Rhinestone dialog box, I selected the shape of the rhinestone as round and set my rhinestone size SMALLER than The Robin's Nest Dew Drops I was using.

I then loaded my Cricut with the pen tool and a red pen to match the color of the Dew Drops. I then loaded The Robin's Nest patterned paper onto my mat, and hit the cut. Below you can see a picture of the circles drawn on the paper.

You can also cut holes in a scrap piece of paper BIGGER than the Dew Drops and used this as a template. I just prefer the pen method for gluing!

Once I had my circles drawn, I used my Quickutz tool to lift The Robin's Nest Dew Dew Glue off of the sheet and adhere them to the center of the drawn circle. Don't have that tool? You can use an awl, or the Creative Memories tool. Don't try and pick up the Dew Dew glue with your fingers as they will loose their stickiness! I then added The Robin's Nest Dew Drops in Red.

The black frame and red glitter swirls are both cut from the Cindy Loo Cricut Cartridge (see photo below). I cut The Robin's Nest Red Glittered Chipboard with my Cricut, using the Deep cut housing blade and a multi cut of 2 for the swirl. Love how wonderful this cuts! See below for a complete list of supplies.

For those of you who do not have a cutter and software for placing rhinestones on a swirl use this method: Place a chipboard swirl on top of your page where you want your dew drops. Lightly trace the swirl with a colored pencil to match the color of the dew drops you choose. Using a flexible tape measure, mark off along the swirl where you want the center of your dew drops to be in an even increments. Now erase the line between the marks for the center of your dew drops, then glue. Try starting the dew drop placement at the tip of the swirl and working back to the base for a more natural look!

And for those of you who have a Cricut Gypsy or Cricut DS software, please see this post for how to get even placements.

Supply List

The Robin's Nest Black and White Swirl Paper

The Robin's Nest Dew Dew Glue

The Robin's Nest Christmas Dew Drops

The Robin's Nest Rebellious Red Glitter Chipboard

The Robin's Nest Fairy Dust Dew Drops (center of black flowers)

Anna Griffin Peyton Collection Chipboard Letters

The Robin's Nest

Bazzill Flowers

Black Cardstock

Cricut Cindy Loo Cartridge

Fabulous Felt Challenge at Moxie Fab!

2011-08-21T21:37:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, the Moxie Fab Challenge is just too tempting not to try! The latest challenge is called Fabulous Felt. I got out a favorite stamp by Inkadinkadoo called Wellspring and my CTMH White Pigment Ink and then fussy cut around it. I added stitching and another CTMH stamp set for the sentiment and the sympathy card is done.

Thanks Moxie for a fabulous challenge and for teaching me that simple can be fabulous!

Girly & Gutsy Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab

2011-08-17T08:58:00.000-05:00

This weeks Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab is Fabulous! They're calling it Girly and Gutsy. When I saw the photo, my eye was drawn to that chandelier! It made me think of the Spark Burst Brads from Karen Foster Designs, one of my favorite embellishments. And, it reminded me that on my to do list is a little project of making a look for less of that same embellishment. So, I got out my pins and The Robin's Nest Dew Drops and tried my hand at a look for less for this weeks Tuesday Trigger (photo below).

To make my chandelier, I glued The Robin's Nest Dew Drop in the center of 4 white flat headed pins. I punched a white circle and glued it onto 4 yellow flat headed pins, and then blued more dew drops on top. Then I just created spokes with two pins each, heads at opposite ends. There is also a dew drop in the center.

I also wanted to share this idea I had for getting the perfect circle with your clear acrylic circle stamps. This stamp set is called Free Spirit, by Close to My Heart. It has been well loved and I have struggled in the past to get it lined up on my acrylic blog to make the perfect circle. So, today it occurred to me, to use my Creative Memories Circle cutting tool to get it perfect on my block. See my photo below. Try it!

The black felt letters are Anna Griffin Peyton Collection, and I cut the black circle with my George Basic Shapes Cricut Cartridge.

Crafty Sprouts Tent Card Challenge

2011-08-15T13:32:00.000-05:00

I have had this idea in my crafty mind for quite some time, but just had no time to make this card. I saw that Crafty Sprouts is having a drawing for a Scrap'n Easel and if you enter the their tent card challenge, you will be entered. So, here is my chance to try this idea and neglect the housework!

I have the Heartfelt Creations Decorative Window Scene die and have been wanted to make a little flower box for it! So, here is my card! To get the flower box, I traced the bottom outside of the die and cut it by hand. I then cut and scored a rectangle to fit behind it and become the box with sides about 1/4". I used another Heartfelt Creation stamp set and die (Posy Patch flowers PreCut Set and Posy Patch Die) for the yellow flowers and filled the center with Black Gala Glitz. The roses are My Favorite Things Mini Rolled Rose, the pink flowers are a McGill punch and I just rolled the edges a bit. The center of the pink flower is The Robin's Nest Dew Drop.

I also used the Cricut Birthday Cake Cartridge for the vine and the stems for the yellow flowers and hand cut the pink flower stems. Below is a close up of the flower box.

To add more body to the card with the cut out, I once again used some plastic packaging for the clear window. Love to be crafty and green!

Great Looks for Less with The Robin's Nest!

2011-08-13T02:03:00.000-05:00

I pulled out my salad packaging again today and made two great looks for less with The Robin's Nest Dew Drops and Rub ons! I started with a flower using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals (see photos above for flower). I cut two of the larger flower and one of the medium size flowers all from the lid from my salad packaging (see photos for pieces before assembly)!

I used Tim Holtz alcohol ink Raspberry on the edges and Dew Drops from The Robin's Nest Summer (center) and Fr Mowed Grass(outer circle in center of flower). I love this look and it is so inexpensive it can be used for cards too! Be sure to gently fold the edges of the petals and the petals before you add your alcohol inks!
Now, I used The Robin's Nest Dragonfly rub ons on the same packaging and cut around it with my scissors. I bent up the wings and then used a dries clear glue (very lightly) on the dragon fly wings and some Art Glitter Ultrafine Transparent Spring Creek glitter on the wings. Be sure to bend first so you don't knock off the glitter and use a transparent glitter to allow your rubon to show through. I love how this iridescent look on dragonflies, just like Mother Nature!
I used the Robin's Nest Glitter Chipboard in pink for more flowers, again cut with Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die. The edges were distressed with purple ink. Also used are The Robin's Princess Chipboard (castle) and Priness Word (Pricess in Training title), the journaling block is The Robin's Nest and actually from a boy product! The background paper is The Robin's Nest Fleur Tropicana. I think I just may use every color of this Fleur this year, I love it so much!

I sprinkled more The Robin's Nest Dew drops in the center of paper Prima Flowers. What a great way to glam up these paper posies! A few buttons and tiny dragonfly rubons added and the page is finished.

Supply List

The Robin's Nest Fleur Tropicana (patterned paper)

The Robin's Nest Dew Drops in Summer, Fr Mowed Grass, and Lovebirds

The Robin's Nest Flame Dew Drops (1oz lip gloss container)

The Robin's Nest Glittered Chipboard Practically pink
The Robin's Nest Little Boy Sticker

The Robin's Nest Live Brightly Rubons (Dragonfly Rubons)

The Robin's Nest Princess Chipboard

The Robin's Nest Glitter Princess Words (Title)

Art Glitter 207 Spring Creek Ultrafine Transparent Glitter

Tim Holtz Tattered Forals die

And the Winner Is...

2011-08-10T06:15:00.000-05:00

And the winner of the $10.00 gift certificate with free shipping is...#11: Samantha! She said, "TFS, Your covers are great:-) Neat idea for a blog hop:-) Sam. Sam, please look for an email from me today with details on how to claim your prize!

For those of you who loved my items, but waited to see if you've won, you can still use the %30 off coupon through this Sunday, August 14th! Thanks for participating!

Scrappers Summer Sale @ Etsy Blog Hop

2011-08-07T02:03:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Scappers Summer Sale at Etsy Blog Hop! A group of Etsy Stores that sell scrap booking supplies, tools and scrap room accessories, have joined together to offer you a great summer sale at each of their stores. Each store is holding a SALE and sponsoring a blog hop stop. There are prizes along the way, so be sure to stop at each blog and get the details on the sales and give aways! Here is a list of all the participating blogs (in no particular order):

Cricut Crafty Clare (you are here)

Creations by Christie

Anna Fearer

We Will Always Have Paris

The Twin Tornados Mommy

To celebrate the blog hop, I am sharing a card I made with my Cricut Imagine (above) and the Audrey cartridge. It was inspired by another Etsy shop, whose link I have since lost. She makes jewelry with ribbons and beads, and I thought this look would be great for a card. So, I used my Tim Holtz Rosette die and put the beads in the valleys of the rosette. The Congrats is SRM stickers, I added some bridal button trim I inked in yellow, a button and a bow in crochet thread. I don't get to use my Imagine as much as I would like, so I keep it covered to keep the dust off the machine and my mats. All of my covers would add instant style to your crafting space and keep them dust free! You can find one just like the one below at my Etsy store and it's all on SALE! Everything is 30% off! Just use the coupon code HOTSALE, when you check out.

A little intro for me and my shops: I have two stores on Etsy: Scrapguild and Scrapincovers. Both carry dust covers for all types of digital covers which I design and make myself. Below you can see a Cricut Expression cover. I have a fashion design background and make my own patterns. Most of my orders are custom, so if you don't see a color, fabric or the machine cover you want, just drop me a note via the convo on Etsy or via my email link here. You can check my sold items for photos of dust covers for cutters such as Silhouette and Pazzles. I don't keep them in stock as demand is lower for these machines. I love custom orders! I also make scrap bags for the paper crafter or general crafter and these are my most popular item at crops! You can see more about my scrap bag and it's great features in this video on Youtube. I carry a few other embellishments and scrapping pieces as I make or find them along my creative journey.

Now, how about a giveaway?! I am offering a $10.00 gift certificate to be used at either Etsy store: Scrapguild.etsy.com or Scrapincovers.etsy.com. To be entered to win, visit my stores and find your favorite item. Leave a comment on this post by 12:00pm, August 9, 2011 and I will draw a winner on Wednesday morning August 10, 2011. Please leave a way to contact you in your post in a safe manner! For example typing at instead of "@" and dot instead of "." will help prevent spam from other sites! Also, I will offer free shipping for any item purchased with gift certificate. You don't need to follow my blog to win, just comment on something you see in the shops you like with a contact email addy! Your next stop on the hop is Creations by Christie!

Cutting The Robin's Nest Glitter Chipboard with a Cricut

2011-07-26T08:34:00.000-05:00

Did you know that you can cut The Robin's Nest Glitter Chipboard with your Cricut? I love to cut this chipboard, and if you have tried to cut chipboard with your Cricut, you know that not every chipboard cuts well. I have found that The Robin's Nest Glitter Chipboard cuts very well and here are my tips:

1) Use a Deep Cut Housing and Blade

2) Use a Multicut setting of two.

3) Use a new mat for best adhesion while cutting and therefore no slippage!

4) Devote a single mat to cutting any and all glittered card stock and or chipboard. I label my glitter mat, and only use that mat for items with glitter. This will help keep your regular card stock cuts cleaner and sharper.

5) Clean off your mat with a fragrance free baby wipes right after you cut your glittered chipboard.

Here is my supply list:

The Robin's Nest Brick Fat Plaid (red white and black patterned card stock)

The Robin's Nest Yellow Sunshine Glittered Chipboard

The Robin's Nest Glitter Red Journaling Label

The Robin's Nest Fairy Dust Dew Drops (on the black scroll mat for the letter V)/

The Robin's Nest Dew Dew Glue

Cricut Black Letter and Storybook Cartridges (Title)

Cricut Wedding Cartridge (book die cut)

Confessions of a Craft Table Paperweight

2011-07-18T06:32:00.000-05:00

Our generation is well acquainted with the phrase couch potato, but I think it's time to confess to my own sedentary history! I don't watch much TV, but paper craft obsessively. Somewhere, or should I say somewhen, I became a craft table paperweight. There so much prettier than a couch potato, but still as inactive!
In January of this year, I had major surgery. During my recovery, it became apparent to me just how out of shape I had become. I had not exercised regularly for 9 years. I got to thinking that I am at my midlife point and needed to take action or I would not live as long as I hoped or as well as I hoped.
So, I tried the elliptical and love it! I had always tried aerobics in the past and thought I needed to get out of the house and work with a friend. But, I am finding that I love that I am not using extra time going to and from a gym. I also love the exercise high, which is very much like a creative high! Who knew that exercise is like vegetables? Try different types and you just might find something you love!
Now, just to be honest, I did not find this easy at first! My first week I did 6 and 8 minutes and had to stop. I worked up to a full routine by the end of the first month and am working to add another 10 minutes to my routine, by adding five minutes at a time. There was just an article in the Chicago Tribune about successful and faithful exercises routines and they found that morning exercises with a friend is best. So, when I fall of the wagon, I just may need to add a friend to my routine. And if you are considering starting an exercise routine, I hope you find my confession encouraging!

Fashionable Fun Challenge at Getting Cricky!

2011-07-16T22:11:00.000-05:00

A new challenge site to try: Getting Cricky! K Andrew has some wonderful sentiment stamps and I just got my first set: Fashionable Friends. And wouldn't ya know, the challenge at this Getting Cricky this week is to use this set!

I got out my Cricut Forever Young Cartridge and found these beautiful cameos! I didn't even know they were on here! I added the frame to the outside using my DS. The pink marquee was cut with my Cricut Imagine (stock image on the machine), run through my Cuttlebug with Swiss Dot Folder. The black and white card stock is made with my Imagine and Audrey Cartridge. I added a bit of ribbon, pink trim and a button with some crochet thread. The sentiment is from the Fashionable Friends, and I LOVE this set! Lots of goodies! The frame stamp is Anna Griffin.

Shower Favors Follow Up

2011-07-14T08:05:00.000-05:00

I am finally finished with the shower favors. All 30 purse gift boxes and 60 cards are done. Yeah! Just thought I would share a few pictures and tips on this project in case you need an idea for a shower too!

Tips:

1) Use wire edged ribbon for the hand bag boxes so they will stand up nice and look great!

2) Assemble mini card kits with all your supplies, so you can grab a set and make them on the go, in the car, at the doctors office, at a crop.

3) Work your stash of scraps! I had small pieces to cut and emboss for my cards and found this project was a great use of my scraps!

4) Make your own glue dots with Aileen's Tack it Over and Over to save money!

Moxie Fabs Beautiful Borders: Will I make it?!

2011-07-11T21:40:00.000-05:00

Well I almost let this challenge slip by trying out for Gallery Idol and making all those purses and card sets! But tonight I had a little time to work on the Moxie Fab Beautiful border challenge, and decided to work it backwards! I decided to make an embellishment from a beautiful border!

This rosette is made with Basic Grey Doilies and Basic Grey Urban Couture is the paper. I used a few of The Robin's Nest Sunset Dew drop diamonds to high light my sentiment. I may have made this challenge with only 15 minutes to spare!

Crazy About Cricut Red, White & Blue Challenge

2011-07-11T19:37:00.000-05:00

Today I am posting a card for the Crazy About Cricut Thankful Thursday, Red White and Blue challenge. I used my Beyond Birthday's Cartridge with my Cricut Imagine on the print only mode and punched a small star using a paper punch to embellish it. I used some of The Robin's Nest Red Stripe paper and a My Favorite Things: Pure Innocence Stamp called Flower Girl. The original stamp has hearts on the clothes and NO hat, but I wanted it to look more patriotic and thought her outfit looked just like the Naval outfit. So a few paper punched stars and a doodled hat and she looks ready for duty! I also cut the flag using the Cricut Martha Stewart All Occasion Cake cartridge and doodled the stripes. I punched a single star from the paper and added it to the flag, and placed the flag over the Flower Girl flower and suddenly, she is all American! I added a bit of ribbon tied to a paper clip and matted my flag on navy card stock. Her skin is colored with Copic markers.

A Circle of Thanks: Thanks Elmers!

2011-07-10T07:40:00.000-05:00

There is a new Cricut Challenge Blog: Cricut 360! It actually has degrees after the 360, but I don't know how to get the degree symbol on my keyboard! Their second challenge is to make a thank you card that is a circle. I thought it would be the perfect inspiration to make up a thank you card for Elmer's Glue! I won the grand prize from their blog hop and can't believe all the goodies! Below is a picture of all the goodies I won! My favorites are the X-Acto knife and all the glue! A girl can't have to many good cutting tools and enough quality glue! So much good stuff that I have given much to a crafty in need. Thanks Elmers! So glad to know your brand has items for my archival safe projects!

Now details about my entry for the 360 Circle of Thanks challenge #2:

I welded a doily from the Cricut Cartridge Mother's Day using my Gypsy and hid the detail on the back side of the card. I also hid the inside circle detail so that I could stamp a sentiment. This sentiment is from Close to My Heart Solo T. The flower is My Favorite Things, Die-Namics Mini Rolled Roses. You should be able to find a rolled rose on the new Cricut Flower Shoppe Cart. Can't wait till the budget allows that addition to the wish list! I cut this with my Imagine, best machine ever for detail cuts! The bling is from The Robin's Nest and they are called Mini Dew drops. Their Dew Dew glue is the perfect size for these mini embellishments too! I added a bit of Lime Green Stickles and inked the edges of my doily. Their is a mini Dew drop in the center of my rose as well.

Robin's Nest & Boy Embellies!

2011-07-09T02:03:00.000-05:00

Today I am posting my first official page as a member of the Robin's Nest Design team, and I am so excited to share their products with you! When I received my box of supplies, I was so happy to see boy rubons! They are not easy to find! Oh, and the Robin's Nest paper is so beautiful! I love the Fleur Autumn paper with the Stripe Autumn on the back! It was so beautiful, I did not want to cut it up at first! And they offer it in several color combos! I wanted as much of the paper to show as possible, so I layered it with the fabulous netting from Robin's Nest! Perfect for a fishing page!

To make this page above use the following supply list and follow the steps below:

Supplies used:

2 Sheets of The Robin's Nest Fleur Autumn

The Robin's Nest Velvet Ribbons

The Robbin's Nest Fishing Rubons (fish, I got Caught Fishing, Rod and Reel)

The Robin's Nest Family Rubon (label swirl behind 2011)
The Robin's Nest Belgian Chocolate Rubon (Fleur De Lis) on "I got Caught Fishing" label

The Robin's Nest Letter Gold Glitter Stickers (2011)

The Robin's Nest Glitter Blue Chipboard (center of flower & mat for title)

The Robin's Nest Fish Net 6 x 12

The Robn's Nest Dew Dew Glue or Glue Dots

Anna Griffin Georgette Collection Resin Cameo (flower embellishment)

Liquid Glass (on top of Robin's Nest glitter paper in center of flower and on fish rubon)

Button (Paper Trey Ink)

Blue Felt (Joann Fabrics)

Cricut Reminisce Accents cartridge (title label)

Paper Flowers (source unknown)

Cream Card Stock

1) Using the Robin's Nest blue glitter card stock, punch out a small circle and cover with liquid glass, set aside to dry.

2) Using the Robin's Nest Fishing Rubons, rub the trout onto cream card stock and cut around the edge. Cover with liquid glass and set aside to dry.

3) Using an Exacto knife or other craft knife, fussy cut around the swirls in one sheet of the Fleur Autumn paper. Save the center scrap to cut the label for the title below.

4) Turn over the Fleur Autumn to the Stripe Autumn side and glue the Robin's Nest netting in place using Terrifically Tacky Tape. I tried liquid glue but it was not stickying, so I recommend the Terrifically tacky tape to hold the netting. Trim excess netting as needed.

5)) Layer the fussy cut sheet of Fleur Autumn with netting on top of a second sheet of Fleur Autumn, and glue in place (see photo below).

6) Attach the Grossgrain ribbon with Glue Dots and layer The Robin's Nest Velvet Ribbon on top, again with glue dots.

7) Cut label for page with Cricut using the Reminisce Accents cartridge at 2", cutting the frame and black layer. Cut the frame layer with the Robin's Nest Autumn Stripe (back side of Fleur Autumn) using the scraps from the fussy cut in step 3. Don't have a Cricut? Just cut ovals!

8) Using The Robin's Nest Belgium Chocolate, rub the Fleur De Lis on the sides of the frame cut above in step 7.

9) Rubon The Robin's Nest Fishing Rod onto cream card stock and cut around the edge.

10) Rubon the The Robin's Nest Family Rubon swirl frame on cream card stock and adhere the Robin's Nest Glitter Letters on top, cut around frame and adhere on top of ribbon.

11) Cut circle out of blue felt and glue with paper flower embellishments to page. Below is a close up of some of the embellishments.

Hope you enjoy this page and get a chance to check out The Robin's Nest online Store! Your gonna love all their items!

A Blast from My Fashion Design Past

2011-07-07T20:40:00.001-05:00

Tonight I thought it would be fun to share a bit of my artistic past. Before I had children, I worked for a major US retailer in their product development department. I managed their computer aided design and apparel specification system. I was responsible for building their sketch data base, training their staff how to use the software, and supporting the software help desk. They would illustrate apparel and send sketches, measurements and materials specifications overseas for bids from manufacturers.

I loved illustrating the apparel. This form of sketching is known as flat sketching. I miss the software we used! It has some powerful tools! One of my favorites could be used to draw lace along the edge of a garment, regardless of the shape it had to fit! You only had to illustrate one repeat of the lace and then tell the computer how many repeats or the size of the lace and it drew the lace along the length of the garment.

I am attaching some scanned illustrations I drew myself. I loved illustrating the children's wear and lingerie! There are two romper and a quilted jacket. I also miss their stitching tool!

Tuesday Trigger Inspired by Stamp It Cards!

2011-06-29T20:17:00.000-05:00

One of the things I LOVE about the Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab is that it often helps me overcome scrappers block. I have a niece getting married this October and I volunteered to make the bridal shower favors. I had picked up some DCWV 12 x 24 adhesive backed paper on clearance at JoAnn's with just such a project in mind. I knew I wanted to cut the paper purses from the Cricut Bags, Tags, Boxes and More Cartridge, and fill the purse with some hand made cards for the favors. So, last month I cut out 30 purses and scored them. Then set them aside, when I hit my scrappers block.

I knew I wanted to embellish the purse, but how? It could not be too detailed because I need at least 30. And then what to do with the cards? So, I saw Moxie's Tuesday Trigger and knew what I wanted: Doilies! Below is the Moxie Fab Inspiration Card: Merci by Tina Fussel.

Oh, doilies are such a big trend right now. Isn't this Die-Namics High Tea Doily fabulous tucked under the purse flap? And I have to tell you my ribbon story! I was out visiting a friends garage sale last month and stumbled upon a cookie jar full of gorgeous ribbon for $2.00. Ok, so if your counting I have spent $18.00 for 30 purses and 60 cards, and I don't need adhesive as the paper already has it! So, I am keeping the cards simple, just a bit of embossing with the Swiss Dot Cuttlebug folder, the thank you stamp is Close to My Heart Solo T, the Hello is SRM stickers. The brown flower is CTMH and white flower is also from Cricut Tags, Bags, Boxes and More. I love using my Cricut for such a mass production! I cut all 30 purses at my S.C.R.A.P. Guild meeting in June. So, quick and easy and just the thing to take to a crop! I can use the auto fill to cut my flowers and the use of squares and rectangles make the the cards quick and easy too! Now I need only make 58 more cards by the end of August!

Embellish Color Trends Challenge: Rainbow

2011-06-29T06:21:00.000-05:00

Today I am trying a new challenge: Embellish Color Trends Rainbow Challenge.

My favorite fabric store: Tammy Tadd Designs, is going out of business. I will miss them so and I wanted to make them a card. For my card, I used my Cuttlebug Quilling Chrysanthemum and cut the colors so that the center is violet and working through the rainbow to end with red. I then added Anna Griffin trim to the card and added a bit of blue ink to the felt trim. The pink fabric, I bought at Tammy Tadd Designs. I am not sure of the manufacturer as it is just a scrap. I stitched it to the card and used my computer to print, "I will miss..." The inside says, "the way you brighten my day!"

Tuesday Trigger: Lovely as a Lullaby

2011-06-25T20:40:00.000-05:00

This weeks Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab is titled Lovely as a Lullaby and many of the entries are baby themed. But I saw that the colors would be perfect for a sympathy card, and to be honest it was a rough week and sympathy cards were needed! My card is at the top and Moxie's inspiration photo is just below.

I also was inspired by one of my favorite paper crafters: Sarah Martina. I used her card with the postage stamp and the flowers as a starting point. You can find her card picture here.http://sarahmartina.com/blog/category/blog-hop/ I used my Cricut Imagine and Audrey cartridge for the black paper and then cut it using Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art Cartridge. I stamped on this with Close to My Heart Treasures and Versa Mark. I used CTMH white embossing powder and added Art Glitter Faux Snow carefully with dots of glue on the flowers. I am so happy with this effect and was looking for a chance to use the snow! I just had no Christmas cards or pages to scrap, so I thought of the dandelions.

The yellow paper and teal papers are both Cricut Imagine Blossom. I also, am finding freedom in having an Imagine. When you pay for patterned card stock and live far from the stores, you may find like me that you are afraid to stamp, emboss, distress, or cut your paper but having an Imagine as freed me from this fear. I know, if I don't like me experiment I can just print another sheet. So, I find my self being more adventuresome with paper crafting!

The sentiment was made with my Microsoft Word in the Edwardian font, and just cut to look like a banner. I then folded the banner and this idea also came from Sarah's Blog! I added a button with a bow tied with crochet thread and called it a day.

Congratulations to My Fellow Robin's Nest DT Members!

2011-06-24T18:23:00.000-05:00

I am so excited to make the design team at Robin's Nest! Watch for us at the Robin's Nest Blog. And would like to congratulate my fellow design team members! You will want to check out their blogs below as they are all very talented scrappers and card makers and each as their own style! I am honored to be considered as talented as them! So, without further ado here are the rest of the Robin's Nest Design team and links to their blogs:

Terri Sproul at Terri's Arts and Crafts Studio

Tenny Kusuma at Tenny's Crafty Life

Gini Williams Cagle at Beadz

Kristin Keller at Kris' Craft Coop

Jan Hennings at Paper Craft Pleasures

Peg Rounds at Peg's Crafting Corner

And a guest designer: Irit Shalom

Now, the details on my card above (please click on image for a larger view):

Paper: Robin's Nest White Glitter Silver Dot
Stamp: Baroque Motifs Stampin Up
Embossing Powder (for stamped image Stampendous)
Ink: Tsukineko
Sequins: Michaels
Title: Cricut Elegant Cakes
Silver Glitter Cardstock: Best Creations Inc
Teardrops: Robin's Nest

Loving Robin's Nest Products & Design Team Tryout!

2011-06-20T02:00:00.000-05:00

While keeping up on my paper addiction, I came across a new product line called Robin's Nest! And to my delight, they had an open call for their design team! So, I checked out their website and loved their products!

Here is a fourth of July page I made up with their paper and embellishments. I started with the back ground paper: Blue Stars on Red. I then cut a medallion using my SCAL 2 to look like a circle with patriotic bunting. I am sharing the svg HERE. To the medallion, I added some of the Robin's Nest Freedom Tear Drops.

I love the Robin's Nest Journalling Blocks! These two are is in the Glittering Blue Journalling Kit. I used one to mat my title, "Independence" Day, which is cut from Robin's Nest: America Words paper.

I also used the White Glitter Card stock, Silver Dot in my rectangle in the center, and their Canada Stripe Glitter card stock too! Finishing details are the Robin's Nest blue & silver glitter fireworks, I paper rosette, covered with a stamp by My Mind's Eye, Stella Rose: Gertie "Girly" Stamps, a button and more the Robin's Nest Tear Drops in Red!

For a fun pop of color and to reinforce the patriotic theme I added them to the journalling block. Silver letters are K & Co.

You can visit the Robin's Nest Blog here and see more of their items and be inspired. I also made a card to submit for the Gallery Star at Paper Crafts Magazine. It's my understanding that the submission for their contest may not be published elsewhere, so if you would like to see how I used my Robin's Nest paper you can see the photo in the Gallery Star Flicker Group Here. I used the Canada Stripe Robin's Nest Paper, Cricut Beyond Birthday's cartridge, and My Favorite Things Pure Innocence Flower Girl Stamp. To make my girl more patriotic, I punched the stars out with a paper punch and made her flower into a flag using the Cricut Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake banner. I colored the banner with the stripes and added the star with a scrap of paper and the same paper punch. I drew her hat to look like a sailor's hat and added the stripe detail like the stamp and the star.

Thankful Thursday Challenge at Crazy About Cricut!

2011-06-17T07:33:00.000-05:00

Yes, another challenge! This time at Crazy About Cricut. I needed another Father's Day card, and really how much more thankful can you be? Aren't we all thankful for our parents?! So, I am submitting this card for the Thankful Thursday Challenge.

I started with my Cricut George Cartridge and used the framed talk bubble. Into that I used a silhouette from Nursery Rhymes. I found it on clearance at Michaels! I welded them using my DS and then transferred the file to my Gypsy so I could cut it on my Imagine. I love the detail my Imagine can cut and new it would be best for the detail in this card. Now the quote is from Season Cake Cartridge. I then used my paper trimmer, and scissors to trim off the bottom of the talk bubble.

I have to say that it is the Friday before Father's Day and I am just making this card and mailing it today! So, Dad you will be getting an email to direct you to this blog so you can see your card on Father's Day! I am so thankful for you! Happy Father's Day!

The Paper Variety Challenge #38 Mixed Alpha's

2011-06-15T20:35:00.000-05:00

Am I making you crazy with all my challenge entries? I hope not! These are all cards I needed to make anyway, so why not win a little blinkie for my blog! Yes, my large family upbringing is showing up. I love competitions and even better winning once in a while!

So, tonight I am trying a new challenge blog: The Paper Variety. The challenge this week is to make a paper project with 2 or more text types. So, my entry is the Father's Day card above. I used my Heritage cartridge in my Imagine to print the papers. Then the silhouette is made with A Child's Year and George and cut with my Gypsy (welded first). I used some alpha stickers (not sure whose) I had in the stash and the sentiment is from Wild Card Cartridge. Now, I actually ran out of red ink in my Imagine and did a little high lighting with my markers to cover the light spots. And I love the look! A bit of ribbon and more patterned paper cut into a strip and a quick and masculine card!

Pink Camo Covers and a Challenge at Scrappin With Cricut

2011-06-14T14:02:00.000-05:00

Just finished up two covers for a customer: An expression cover and an Imagine cover and am submitting them to the challenge over at Scrappin With the Cricut. If you are a serious Cricut fan, or paper crafter, check out Dusti's blog! This is for the No Cards or Layout Monday #3 Challenge. You really need to see what Dusti made with hat boxes and Mardi Gras beads!

My customer, only requested pink camo be in the covers. I chose the rest of the coordinating fabrics. So sweet! Who knew pink camo could look so good! She did! You paper crafters are talented!

Case Study Challenge #43

2011-06-13T21:42:00.000-05:00

Now that I have discovered card making, I often feel the need for a little help and I already visited Moxie! So, I took a look at some of the challenge blog's the Moxie crafters submit to, and found one called Case Study Challenge Blog. At the top of this post you will see the challenge card, created by Jill Foster.

I love their latest challenge and decided to try out the Imagine again! This time, I knew I could print to fabric, so I thought...why not print on ribbon! First rotated Jill's layout and tried to determine where on the card I wanted my ribbon and where on the ribbon I wanted my sentiment. I chose 4" from the left side of the card.

I did a test print on card stock, then taped my ribbon on top with some temporary tape and ran it through the Imagine on PRINT ONLY mode using my Straight from the Nest cartridge, filled with black at 1/2".

I printed images from my Imagine More Cards cartridge using the layers feature and choosing only the portions of the images I wanted. Even the card back ground is from Imagine More Cards. I then inked the edges with some black chalk ink and added a little pink trim.

I made this card for my Grandmother in Law who slipped and fell last week. Hope this will cheer her up as she recovers!

Pooh & Friends Cloud Challenge at BBTB2

2011-06-12T15:31:00.000-05:00

This week's challenge at Bitten By The Bug 2 is: Pooh and Friends Cloud. And once again, you don't have to have the exact cartridge, but can use any cloud. So, I used this one from Indie Art in a Belated Birthday Card. The sentiment inside says, "Sorry we missed your birthday! Hope we didn't rain on your parade!" There is no belated birthday in the Cricut cartridges (that I know of), so I just hand wrote it in my cloud. The patterned paper is made with Audrey cartridge in my Imagine.
I cut the Happy Birthday doily using Paper Lace and my Imagine. I am over the moon with happiness over the quality of the cuts from my new Imagine! This lace piece is cut for an A2 card and can you believe the detail! I think this is better than my Expression or my original Cricut!

Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab: Cosmopolitan Neopolitan

2011-06-11T20:29:00.001-05:00

When I first saw this weeks Moxie Fab Trigger, I was not terribly thrilled to try this challenge. But this weekend, I took a look at the entries and became inspired to create something dessert like. I remembered this bit of fabric I had in my stash that reminded me of dessert! And pulled it out.

You see, I have entered quite a few Moxie Fab challenges and Tuesday Triggers and loved every thing it has inspired me to create, but I have not won that blinkie! So, I thought why not use a medium I am more comfortable with on a card? Fabric! This fabric is Westminster Fibers: Scroll. The tag is cut with SCAL 2 library of tags, and the sentiment is from Close to My Heart: For Every Occassion. The ribbon is from Hobby Lobby! Maybe, being Moxie Fab, is just about beautiful supplies in a simple arrangement. So another card, inspired by Moxie that I am happy with and I hope will let my friend know how much I miss her!

PS. I used this fabric in a cover for a Cricut Cake Machine.