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Bling makes it all better

So I posted my Cricut Imagine card creations a few days ago.  I had made one more card.  I incorporated a cut from Creative Memories Stork's Delivery.  The colors, however, just weren't right.  

The brown was just too dark for a baby card.  What could fix this problem?!

STICKLES! 

Some platinum stickles and while the card is now glitter-rific it also tweaked the brown "gift" to a closer match...

Imagining some baby cards

When I purchased the Imagine, I knew I needed to purchase the Nursery Tails cartridge.  Who doesn't like making baby cards or scrapbooking baby pictures?!  This cartridge did not let me down.  4 cards later, I'm still having fun and they didn't take very long to make.  

 

The card on the bottom left with the baby onesie also features a retired Close To My Heart stamp (Baby Love)  While this stamp may be unavailable, there are several others like New Arrival (C1501) that are perfect for baby cards.  I used the sentiment at the bottom on the inside of a couple cards. 

Get this stamp and others this month during Stampaganza! 

Purchase any two stamp sets (sizes A, B, C, D, or E) at full retail price and receive a third stamp set of your choice FREE (of equal or lesser value)—a savings of up to $29.95!

Stamp sets that count toward the qualifying purchase include full-priced A, B, C, D, and E sets only. Stamps that do not count toward a qualifying purchase include customizable (K), Workshops on the Go™, Cricut^® collection, and Stamp of the Month (both discounted and full-priced) sets.

 SHOP NOW!

A Cricut Birthday for me!

I still can't comprehend the full potential of my Cricut Expression after having it for a year.  It is extremely user friendly, I haven't had any problems with it.  My cartridge collection provides me with everything I need to complete projects.  What more could a girl ask for?!  Well we always want more, don't we?     

I've been considering the Cricut Imagine for a while now.  I've solicited advice and read the reviews... It's large and can be temperamental.  I've heard some people need to replace the machine three times, until they get one that works!  But how cool is it to print and cute paper and coordinating accents at home!?  EVERY website (including Hobby Lobby) is sold out of this intriguing machine.  Ebay lists it for exorbitant amounts of money.  Knowing that it's a temperamental machine means I'm definitely going to want the warranty, so Craigslist is out.  So with dreams of crafting grandeur in my heart I ventured down to Hobby Lobby on my birthday yesterday. 

Guess what?!  My local Hobby Lobby store had the Cricut Imagine and Imagine cartridges at a great price!  So it's found a new home on my crafting table.  And it works!  I still have a lot to learn about the intricacies of the machine, but I can make it print and cut.   The included cartridge, Imagine More, has super cute journaling boxes, frames, borders, patterns, bonus items, and embellishments.

This was my first cut with the machine.  I found a special place for it in my Smash journal. 

       And after a little more experimentation, I completed this cute little card.

Happy Father's Day

Father's Day would not be complete without a card for Dad.  And what's better than just any old card?!  A card that you made!  And what's could be better than a card you made?!  Two cards that cost you two sheets of cardstock (or less than $1!)  The lovely folks at Cricut have loaded 5 free cards into Cricut Craft Room to help make your father's day a little sweeter.  They also have other designs for the low price of $1.99.  The two that follow are free designs and I used 1 sheet of Colonial White CS and 1 sheet of Kraft CS to do both of them.

 

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Watermark and other projects

The last couple months have been really chaotic and I haven't had much time to crop, craft, or scrap.  The only therapy I have participated in lately is retail therapy.  Recently I've been attempting to create a watermark for my blog pics.  While I get most of my ideas from books, magazines, pinterest, blogs, and otherwise, I am going to give credit when credit is due.  But I don't want people stealing my pictures without giving me credit.  Hence the new watermark.  I used Photoshop Elements and finally got it.  It's not perfect but it'll do.  

So on to the last few projects I've been working on... 

Last month I was at a crop and my friend Jenny H. described how she makes her own lace flowers.  A simple running stitch along the base of some lace ribbon, let the lace twist on itself, a stitch up the ends if I wanted to polish it off, and a center piece and I was good to go.  These are my first experiments.  

And then there is the countless hours I spent twisting paper flowers around a wooden skewer (pointy ends removed for my safety).   It was actually very therapeutic.  I didn't have to think while doing it.  I could watch tv in the comfort of my living room, or chat with friends at a crop, without having to worry about messing these up.  

Supplies: Cricut Expression, Close To My Heart Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, several different colors of cardstock ( I used colors from a wedding my children and I were in), pearl floral pins, adhesive, ribbon, and a styrofoam ball.  

The flowers were cut at varying sizes between 1.5" and 2.5".   The Auto Fill feature on my Cricut allowed me to "set it and forget it" when mommy duty called.  I'd come back, load a new sheet of cardstock, and let it go again.  This process, followed by the rolling, went on for several days.  But in the end I was very pleased with the result.  Now it's a pretty addition to my craft room!  

WOTG Part 4

Last post of the day!  I promise!

There's still some laundry to be folded, but I couldn't help myself.  I just love the zip strip that came with the Pemberley paper pack. 

"A little bit of sunshine is what you are to me"

My children are just that.  I rarely have the perfect picture for a sentiment... until now.  

So what did I have to do?! Make a cute frame for the perfect picture.  

Drum roll, please!

A little Mod Podge, a cheap Ikea frame, and a couple of the remnants from my Pemberley 

Workshop on the Go and here is a super cute display.  Even my husband said he'd put it on his desk at work, "if it wasn't for that butterfly." 

'Til next time! 

Workshop on the Go Part Tres

You're probably wondering how long I can drag out these posts.  Well, so am I!  I've been using Workshops on the Go (WOTGs) for the last few years, but this is the first time I've ever actually done the bonus projects.  Today I completed the second suggested bonus project from the WOTG.  

5 adorable sentiment cards

The step-by-step instructions were a little confusing but I think they came out really cute.  I would consider these an Intermediate Level project and it did take a couple hours to complete all five.  

So what's next?  Well this is what I have left after 4 scrapbook pages and 5 greeting cards.

 Extra supplies include: several pieces of cardstock, a few pieces of decorative paper, borders, wooden shapes, flowers, bitty pearls, and the stamp.  Ideas, anyone?! 

Workshop on the Go Part Deux

A few more minutes of mommy time to myself  and I finished the second layout of my Pemberley Workshop on the Go (as seen here).  Alright so with this kit, cricut, and other "normal" crafting tools I've been able to create two 2 page layouts.  And there's still more to come.  As soon as I get a little more done around my house, I'll be back with 5 different cards made from this kit as well!  

Workshop On The Go

I haven't had much time for crafting.  Between planning a bridal shower, a trip to Maryland, and having the hubs gone for a month, there was little time for me or my scrapbooks.  But this week, I felt like I needed to make time for both.  And to make this quest even easier, I reached for my Close To My Heart Pemberley Workshop On The Go.  

The package includes most of the necessary supplies, but also tells me the tools, inks, and extras that would help me created more projects.  The step-by-step guide tells me exactly what to cut with my Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge (See information here) to create the pictured layout.  In an hour or so, I had this beautiful layout ready for photographs.  

Pemberley Workshop On The Go layout

I fully intend to complete the additional projects and post about them soon.  Stay tuned!

Disney on the brain

I've got Disney on the brain.  In 2009, we went to Disney World.  In 2010, we took a Disney cruise.  In 2011, we went back to Disney World.  In 2012?!  Nothing in the works yet... All depends on the Army.  At any rate, my children are Disney babies.  Birthday parties have included a Minnie Tea Party, a Disney Princess party, and a Cars birthday party.  My daughter derailed a little for her 4th birthday but embraced the "Spirit of Aloha" show that we saw while in Disney and had a luau party.  Halloween costumes have included Minnie Mouse, Silvermist, alien from Toy Story, and Princess Tiana and the frog prince.  Therefore, there is LOTS of Disney scrapbooking to do!  

I have acquired the Mickey Font, Pooh & Friends, and Cars Cricut cartridges for these projects.  

Here are my earliest attempts at paper piecing.

   

Paper piecing is time consuming and frustrating.  

But seeing my daughter's face when she recognized Daisy Duck was priceless.  

"Mommy, That's Daisy!  Can you make a Minnie Mouse?"

and after I made Minnie...

"Mommy, Can you make Donald, for my brother, and Pluto, and Mickey, and Goofy, and...?" 

Thankfully, the Mickey Font cartridge only cuts those six characters.

After my experience with the Cars cartridge, I can honestly say there will be NO princess cartridges in this house.  Each car has SEVERAL PIECES!  And I've heard the princesses and Tinkerbell are equally as challenging.  I got quite frustrated with Sarg (seen above) and actually left out several cuts.  I'm sorry, but my son will not care if the antenna is light brown or black, and frankly that piece was just too dang thin to care about.  It didn't help that my mats were new and I was fighting the adhesive and having to re-cut pieces.  I still think he looks pretty good for my first paper pieced creation.  

You can see (although not very well) that I experimented with a little Liquid Applique on Daisy's face which came out cute, although not quite as I expected.  It's fun to experiment with new techniques and I'm learning as I go.   

My Funny Valentine

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I made my darling husband a valentine. With the help of my Cricut, Art Philosophy cartridge, Close To My Heart stamps and ink, liquid glass, and glitz, I created this simple card for my DH.

And to surprise him, I planned an overnight trip to Savannah this weekend. With the help of Close To My Heart's Victory paper, I created this pocket card. And using cardstock and the Color-Ready cork alphabet I created letter blocks to help him spell out our destination. While he wasn't happy I made it a puzzle, he did think it was creative and fun.

Did digital and now it's done

After taking time with the family for birthdays, holidays, and other non-computer or craft related activities, I finally have gotten some time to get back to crafting. In January, I completed 10 digital layouts using Studio J. I hoped that completing these layouts would bring me closer to finishing one (of many) scrapbooks. And it did!

I was very pleased with how these turned out. And when I placed that last page into a page protector in my scrapbook that ends May 2010, I was ecstatic.

This is just 3 out of the 10 layouts, I did, but you can tell my darlings are my pride and joy. Can't wait to get my hands on more crafts over the next few months!