Friday, September 30, 2011

October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

I'm so excited for Christmas!  I always love the October Stamp of the Month, because it's always the holiday one.  This time is no exception!  Don't you love it?  It's super cute, and got lots of potential.




Don't forget, you can only get the October Stamp of the Month in October.  You can buy it for $17.95 OR you can get it for $5.00 with your $50 Close To My Heart order!


Thanks for HOPPING BY!  If you've just arrived here from Nicole's Blog, welcome!


I designed this first card for my October 8th & 9th (next weekend, if you want to come) holiday card workshop.  We'll be making 6 of this one, plus 6 of two other designs.  (It's really fun, email me if you are interested in making the cards.  I can send you the pieces if you can't be here.)   




Supplies Used:  Believe paper pack (X7145B, $9.95), Holiday Magic (October Stamp of the Month, S1110); Holiday Red and New England Ivy Stamp Pad, White Daisy, Holiday Red and Sweet Leaf Card Stock; gold brad.




The other card I made with this set is a little more involved -- embossing and "reverse" inking.




To make the tree, I took a Colonial White piece of card stock, stamped it with White Daisy Ink (Versamark would work great, too), then sprinkled it with Detail Clear embossing powder and heat embossed it.  It makes it hard and shiny, and it resists the ink.  Then  I sponged with New England Ivy ink to make it 'pop.'  (It's a good idea to use a tissue to wipe off the embossed part, after you're done sponging.)


The plaid is from the Roxie paper pack.  It's kind of Christmassy in a Scottish kind of way!










I wanted to sparkle it up with some pearls and sparkles...always a fun addition!


Supplies Used:  Roxy Paper Pack; Tag the Occasion (B1362); Holiday Magic (October Stamp of the Month, S1110), Cocoa, New England Ivy, Cocoa Card Stock; New England Ivy, Tulip and Cocoa Stamp Pads; Sparkles (Z1104); Mocha Opaques (Z1333); Tulip Mini-Medley (ribbon); 1 1/4" Circle Punch;  Sponge (Z697)


Now, hop on over to Elizabeth's Blog to see what kind of creativity she has to share with you!


Thursday, September 22, 2011

Decorating a Boring Box...quickly and easily



My daughter is a secret pal for someone on the swim team.  In true teenager fashion, I found out about it the night before she was supposed to bring a gift for the girl to school.  (arggh!)  Luckily for me, the girl (Fiona) wrote down that she likes buttons and ribbon (SCORE!  I was so thankful she likes something I had hanging around!!)  

I put a few CTMH craft jars with buttons in them with some retired ribbon in a little (2"x3") box from the office supply store and decorated the box.

I printed the gal's name on sparkly paper and using my newfound Cricut-ing sklls, I made a flower and stuck it on the box.  Pretty easy, and my daughter said I was the best gift-making mom in the world.  (Yes, she is easily pleased, since I feel like a total newbie.)




Monday, September 19, 2011

Fun with the Elemental paper pack

Have you seen the new Elemental paper pack?  It's got 6 different patterns in 6 different colors:  Desert Sand, Olive, Pacifica and Sorbet.  At first I didn't know what to do with it...but it's so basic that you can do pretty much anything with it.  You can use it like you would use card stock.  OHHHH, that's why they call it Elemental...it's basic.  'doh!

Anyway, I participate in a new stamp set swap, and boy, am I glad!  Since I didn't know what to do with this paper (I actually didn't really like it), I'm glad that others knew what to do!

Here's a few samples of what you can do with this versatile paper pack.  The colors in the Elemental Complements (X7141C) (instead of MyStickease stickers, they have coordinating printed-on dimensional elements) remind me of the now-retired paper pack, Caboodle, which I loved.

Created by Melanie Murry

I really liked how Melanie cut out the deer (from Bundled Buddies, C1472) and popped him up with some puffy tape.

Created by Jennifer Gilson
The flowers are cut out with the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge.  LOVE it!  and stamped on with Hooray Bouquet (D1491, $17.95)



Created by Nicole Beasley-Becker
The card was made with Kraft paper and the Cricut cartridge.  The stamp set used, Vintage Type (D1481) (great alphabet.  There is no tree in this stamp set.  Nicole stamped the triangle and cut the tree out with her Cricut!)

I hope that you've gotten a few ideas for using this paper.  I'll be using it soon, now that I know what to do.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Win a Cricut Expressions from Close To My Heart!




Close To My Heart is giving away a Cricut Expression® Machine to one random winner! Larger than the Cricut Create® Machine or the Cricut® Personal Electronic Cutter, the Cricut Expression® Machine precisely cuts letters and shapes in impressive sizes using the 12″ × 24″ mat or the 12″ × 12″ mat. Use your Cricut Expression® Machine with Close To My Heart’s new Cricut® Art Philosophy Collection (sold separately) to create gift boxes, cards, spiral flowers, and more!

The contest is open from September 12 to 26.  I entered, and you can, too, as long as you have a Facebook account. (one entry per person - sorry!)


Click here to go to Close To My Heart's Facebook Page to enter!

And if you win (or even if you don't) you can get Close To My Heart's new Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge to use on your Cricut machine.  I LOVE mine!  700 images, tons of ideas...click here to shop now!  PLUS, they've added a bunch of new Discounted/Discontinued Items - like the Sophia and Mayberry Level 1 Kits at 30% off!  Somethings are 70-80% off.  woooo!




Also, every day this month, Close To My Heart is Facebook posting a new project made with the fabulous Pair-a-Phrase stamp set.  I love this set!  Would you like to get it for free?  When you place a $75 minimum order, you will get this double stamp set for FREE (a $35.90 value)!!  So, when you get a Cricut cartridge in September, you can get the Pair-A-Phrase stamp sets for free.  woo-hoo!  I LOVE Free!  (AND discounts)