Some new cards! Dream Pop!

The special for the month of May (National Scrapbooking Month) is this brand new Dream Pop paper packet!   Spend $35 on my website and you can buy this for $10, 22 pieces of paper in all the bright spring colors!   If you join my club (see post below this one) you can also get hostess rewards on top of this!  Only a few days left to sign up!

Giveaway Seven

In honor of my fifth anniversary with Close to my Heart I'm having giveaways all day!  Here's the seventh one.  The seventh person to email me at caldreamin05@comcast.net and tell me your favorite embellishment will win this package of Colonial White Designer brads.  Good luck!

CONSULTANTS ARE EXEMPT FROM THESE GIVEAWAYS, SORRY.  Don't forget to scroll down to see the rest of the posts for today, I'm posting hourly.

 

Studio J Digital Scrapbooking

A few years back I was at the Close to my Heart convention and they announced that we would now be venturing into the world of digital scrapbooking with a program called Studio J.  I'll be honest and tell you I was quite disappointed.  I was not slightly interested in digital scrapbooking at all.  I loved the feeling of creating with paper and embellishments and no computer was going to replace that for me.

 

Well, three years later, I can admit that I now love Studio J!   I don't use it all the time when I'm scrapbooking but probably half of the time at least.  I use Studio J for all those photos I don't really want to scrapbook at all but feel I have to (Christmas, weddings, vacations) and save traditional scrapbooking for all those photos that I love to scrapbook (Halloween, my new nephew, my concert photos).  I also use Studio J whenever I feel like I'm falling behind in my scrapping.  You know that feeling, it paralyzes you because you don't feel you'll ever catch up.  With Studio J I can complete MANY layouts very quickly and feel ACCOMPLISHED.  

 

Studio J is easy, it's low cost and it catches me up.  It's also beautiful and sometimes my friends and family can't tell which of my pages are Studio J and which aren't.  I love that!  

 

If you feel behind or just need a way to scrapbook without buying tons of supplies, consider Studio J, you can try it for free without purchasing an outlet (just to play) by going to this link, uploading your photos and jumping right in!   If you need help, my number is (989) 06-6420.   Let me know how you like it!!!   In the meantime, here's some of my latest Studio J layouts!

Giveaway Five

Congrats to Wendy Eifler for winning this giveaway.

In honor of my fifth anniversary with Close to my Heart I'm having giveaways all day!  Here's the fifth one.  The second person to email me at caldreamin05@comcast.net and tell me whether you are a card maker or scrapbooker will win three of my cards!  Good luck!

CONSULTANTS ARE EXEMPT FROM THESE GIVEAWAYS, SORRY.  Don't forget to scroll down to see the rest of the posts for today, I'm posting hourly.

Could you really pass it by?

So tell me, if you walked into Michael's Craft store today and on a table, right in the front, was.....

A beautiful scrapbook kit

 

A mini stamp set

 

A pack of cute chipboard shapes

 

A scrapbook idea book

 

A cardmaking idea book

 

2 ink pads

 

A game spinner that you could alter

 

Seven stamp sets

 

An acrylic block

 

 

The clerk comes up to you and says that they are having a sale, EVERYTHING on the table, a value of $215.00 was going for just around $49.00 plus the shipping and tax so they could send it directly to your house.  

 

She also says that you will receive a 22% discount off from everything in the store for the next six months and a 10% discount for another 3 months after that.

 

She adds that, if you play your cards right, there's also a way to earn $25 more free products for every $150 you spend, EACH time you spend it! 

 

What would you do? 

 

 

Well...this is the same offer that I'm giving you for the entire month of April.  There's no catches, no pressure, nothing but brand new products for a VERY low price. 

 

Yes, you would "technically" be a consultant but it's up to you whether you want to do something with the title or just take the products and run!   If you wouldn't pass it up at Michael's, don't pass it up with Close to my Heart.  

 

 

Click here to take the deal today. 

Hoppy Easter card - Cricut

There's a great card in the new Close to my Heart catalog using the Hoppy Easter stamp set and I just had to do my own version of it.   Here's the problem.  I wanted to use this card (below, center, in gray) which is our next shape and had a problem with it cutting out properly.

If you look closely at the card below you can see that the flower cut outs are more oblong than circular and they just didn't look good.  This is a flaw in the Cricut machines, when cutting circular images, they have a tendency to not cut perfect circles.  The smaller the circular image, the more likely it will not be perfect.  One day I'm sure the Cricut company will be able to correct this but in the meantime it messes up my card.  So......I cheated.  I went to another page in the book and cut out the square card on that page instead.  I'll hope you overlook that one little cheat and enjoy the card below.

Use page 23 in your Art Philosophy cartridge book and cut out pear or sweet leaf cardstock with the "card" key on and the "square 1" key.  Cut it at 4 inches. Cut a second piece of sweet leaf or pear cardstock using the square key only at 4 inches for the card "front." Fold it and then cut out buttercup cardstock at 3 8/10 inches and cut a piece of white cardstock at 3 6/10 inches using just the "square 1" key.  Now I have a Cuddlebug so I decided to use a template that had diagonal lines on it just to add some texture.  You can do this but it looks just fine without it too.  Distress all pieces with blush ink and attach in order to the square card front.

On a piece of white cardstock paper, stamp the bunny out of the Hoppy Easter set.  Color it in using our markers, I used pinks, greens, brown and yellow.  Cut out the bunny.  Find some matching ribbon and glue it around the bottom of the card making sure to fold the ends around the back of the card front.  Cut another piece and tie it in a bow and glue to lower right of your ribbon.  I use a little liquid glass and Tombow.  Attach the bunny with 3-d foam tape. 

Cut a piece of white cardstock about 2 inches by 3/4 inch and stamp the "hoppy Easter" phrase on it in blush ink.  Distress.  Attach with 3-d foam tape on upper right of card.  Glue whole card front to card base.  Use green glitz gel to decorate the center of the egg and you're finished.  I can't tell you how cute this card is in person, you have to make it!!

Cricut Tip:  One of the tools that comes in our Texture Tools set is a stipple brush.  I never had much use for that until now.  I use it to brush out the tiny pieces of paper that tend to accumulate inside and around my Cricut machine when I'm in a cutting mode.  It's easy on the machine and keeps it clean!

Thinking of You Card - Cricut

How about a circle card?  It's the next shape on the first page of the Art Phlilosophy Cricut cartridge.  Almost every page of this book has unique shapes of cards for you to make so why not spread your wings a bit and try some new shapes for your cards.  This is one of the easiest, just a simple circle card folded in half.  What's really wonderful about this card is the shapes on this page are already perfect for your card decorating, just cut out a bunch of circles. 

 

I'm using the Chantilly paper pack on this card.  You'll need to start with some sweet leaf paper to cut out your card base.  Cut it at 4 1/2 inches and use the "circle 1"  key (that's the first one on the upper left of your keyboard) plus the "card" key.  Distress with blush ink then fold in half.   Now cut a blush cardstock circle at 4 1/4 inches by using just the "circle 1" key.  Cut a piece of buttercup cardstock at 4 and 1/10 of an inch.  (See video following this post for how to change your Cricut machine from quarter inches to tens of an inch).  Cut white daisy cardstock at 3 and 9/10 of an inch.  Now distress and layer them on each other centered on your card.

 

 

 

Use the flowered pattern paper in your kit (with green print on back) and cut at 3 3/4 inches.   Cut it into three pieces (measurements don't matter, it's up to you), distress and flip the green print to the front on the two outside pieces, fit them altogether into a circle shape again.

 

Handcut a pennant shape out of sweet leaf paper about 1 1/2 inches long and then make a mat out of white paper.  You can cut this out on the Cricut machine too but it seemed silly when I could cut it quickly myself without having to put two different pieces of paper into the machine.  Distress, attach to each other and glue down as shown here.

 

Cut a circle at 1 3/4 inches out of white daisy cardstock.  Cut a piece of blush cardstock circle at 2 inches.  Both of these can be cut easily by just hitting the key.  Using the Casual Expressions stamp set, stamp "thinking of you" using blush ink onto the white circle.  Distress both pieces and attach with 3-d foam tape to left of pennant. 

 

Using the Artiste cartridge you can cut out this flower shape using white daisy cardstock at two inches and the buttercup cardstock at 2 1/2 inches. If you do not have the Artiste cartridge, simply stamp the image first on white daisy scrap paper and cut it out yourself.   Stamp the flower from the A Flowering Bunch (future stamp of the month) set  using blush ink.  Use our markers in pink, green and yellow to color in the flower.  Add a green button that you've threaded with waxy flax and attach with a glue dot.   Put the flower on the card with 3-d foam tape. 

 

Lastly color some clear sparkles with the pink marker and add just below the Thinking of You piece and you're finished. 

 

Here's how to change your settings from quarter inches to tenths. 

 

Life's Sweet Card - Cricut

Here's a little video discussing the quantity and auto fill keys.

 

  

Today we will be working on a cute little tag that is almost like a buckle or a slide to me.  It's just perfect for sliding ribbon or even a paper strip through.   On this card we'll be using Buzz and Bumble paper, great paper set that is perfect for spring.  Pull out your paper pack and find the cocoa cardstock in it.  Using your Art Philosophy cartridge, cut the tag using the "circle 1" key and the "tag" key at 2 1/4 inches. 

 

 

 

Next cut a piece of champagne cardstock 5 1/2 by 4 1/4 inches.  Distress with cocoa ink.  Cut the bee paper in your set at 1 1/2 inches by 5 1/2 inches.   Cut crème brulee paper 3/4 by 5 1/2 inches.  Cut brown pattern paper 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches.  Distress with cocoa and then attach the bee paper at the bottom of your card and then the crème brulee and brown strip as shown below.  Using the Bugs and Hugs stamp set, stamp the "life's sweet" phrase in cocoa ink just above the brown strip all the way to the left.

 

 

String your ribbon through the tag and glue across the top of the bee paper.   Make sure to cut the ribbon longer so it folds around the back, that way it won't fray.

 

Stamp the bee on the stamp set in cocoa ink on a piece of champagne cardstock you've cut 1 1/2 by 1 1/2.  Distress it with cocoa ink and then use 3-d foam tape to attach it to the center of the tag.   Attach whole card front to a card base which you cut 8 1/2 by 5 1/2 and folded in half.  Add some small brown sparkles just to the right of the Life's Sweet phrase.

 

Now use some bronze glitz gel to spice up the bee, you can't have too many sparkly embellishments!  Let dry and you're done!

 

Did you hear about the three day crop I'm running with my team in Shipshewana, Indiana August 9-11?  It's going to be a blast, for more information, shoot me an email at caldreamin05@comcast.net.

Mother's Day Card - Cricut

I've been thrilled with both of the Close to my Heart Cricut cartridges, Art Philosophy and Artiste BUT I feel like I've barely scratched the surface when it comes to using them.   I've decided to challenge myself and hopefully you this month (and maybe beyond) by going through the cartridges page by page.   I want to make cards, scrapbook pages and paper crafts all using the cartridges beginning with Art Philosophy.  I will give you a few techniques about using the Cricut machine too because I've met so many people who have no idea what the buttons on their machines do!   I plan to venture into the world of YouTube when necessary, to help show you all the things your cartridges and machines can do.  So let's get started! 

Here's the cartridge and booklet from the Art Philosophy cartridge. 

You can see my booklet is well used (I love this cartridge!!!) so here's the first page and my goal is to really use a lot of the shapes on this page on my paper crafting.  It will test my creativity but imagine all the possibilities if I (and you) really stretch ourselves!  

I'm going to start with the first two basic shapes that are on the first key.   Here's a little video to show you what I'm talking about.

 

So, using the Claire paper packet and the Art Philosophy cartridge, here's how to make this card.  cut a card base 8 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches in white cardstock and fold in half.   Cut a card front 5 1/2 by 4 1/4 inches out of white cardstock too.   Using the patterned paper from the Claire pack, choose the floral paper and cut it 4 1/2 by 2 inches.  Cut the striped paper 1/2 by 4 1/4 inches TWICE.  Cut the denim patterned paper 2 1/2 by 4 1/4 inches. Out of the hollyhock cardstock cut a square 2 5/8 by 2 5/8 inches.  Cut outdoor denim cardstock 2 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches. 

For the Cricut pieces cut a white circle 1 1/4 inches.  Remember that will be the first key on your keyboard with the picture of the circle.  Now change the paper to sunset cardstock and change the size to 2 3/4 and cut TWO flowers by pushing the circle key and the shift button.  If you make sure to check your Cricut screen before cutting, you'll make less mistakes.   Now distress all pieces with outdoor denim ink if you like.

Turn card front vertically and attach the floral paper flush with top and sides first.  Add skinny striped strip of paper next keeping it flush too.  Continue on with the blue denim patterned paper and the final strip, easy!

Add your outdoor denim cardstock square to the hollyhock square and attach about an inch from the top and right hand sides of the card.

Layer the flowers onto each other turning the top one just a touch to make the flower full.  Use 3-d foam tape to attach to the center of the square.  Use your outdoor denim ink to stamp the word "mom" from the Perfect Fit - MOM stamp set onto the circle.  Attach to center of the flower.  Add three orange brads (these are retired) to the lower left of card.  Attach whole card to the card base.

I love glitter so you can prisma glitter up the word "mom" and the edge of the skinny strips of striped paper or anywhere else you want to.  Let dry then brush off and you're done!