Close to My Hearts new Stamp of the month is in plenty of
time to help us work our “Magic” for the Christmas Holidays!
This classic looking stamp set looks great with all the
holiday papers you have now, plus the stocking will work with the Art
Philosophy cartridge cut on page 67. How cute would that be??
Of course there’s also the new paper line “Believe” to
create seven more magical designs for cards, gifts and pages:
Of course Close To My Heart has another promotion for October:
ask me about joining my team!
I can't wait to create with some of the new Workshop Kits so stay tuned for some fun fall projects! :)
My oldest daughter's 13th Birthday was delayed to accommodate the busy sports season of her and her friends so even though she didn't want a terribly fancy party I wanted to make it somewhat special. One of her favorite things is the ocean so we decided to create an under the sea party theme.
This cake was a matching blue inside and sooo yummy! All the different creatures were chosen by my DD
It was a nice change from fondant to be able to ice this cake with a whipped topping. And it made it so easy to simply cut out these shapes all ahead of time suing my Cricut Cake cutting machine. It worked nicely with the Lettering Delights SVG's and Graphics set. I was able to coordinate everything from the invitations, the cake and the decorations. Even the cue cards for the scavenger hunt!
The seaweed here is made from a glittered fruit roll, the Target brand.
It was really fun coming up with ideas for the food. It struck me that the watermelon looked like a turtle and it matched the color scheme and is a teen favorite so I just took a stab at a basic sea turtle. He is simply some extras bits cut into shapes and held together with some toothpicks. The rounded shape helped create the curved flipper sand head.
Next is one of our families favorites.....Octopus hotdogs! Long ago I saw a show where these guys were featured and they were an instant hit. It is kinda magical how a hotdog will curl up in boiling water and creating an octopus is pretty simple. Just start by cutting the bottom portion in half. Then half each section again into fourths and then again for the eight tentacles. After making notches for the eyes, just drop them carefully into a large pot of boiling water. You'll have to do only one or two at a time but if you prepare the hotdogs ahead of time i goes very quickly. And it is so worth it isn't it?
Creatures of the deep LOL
For some fun the girls went on a scavenger hunt. It was a lifesaver to find a fun software on the internet that you can download! "Riddle me" creates a set of clues and the direction for placing them all around the house depending on a list you can create for inside, outside or both. It is completely customizable to accommodate lots of different situations and ages. It even allows you to place your art on the set of clues so everything matches!!! Love it! Get it here.
At the end of the hunt was some leis, and other goodies as well as a bucket of supplies to create their own flip flops. These were just simple plastic ones and the girls knotted various ribbons along the straps to create a fun effect. We even found some for my littlest so everyone was happy.
A fishing net from Oriental trading company was dressed up with some images and a "celebrate" banner of bubbles. My daughter really wanted to help out and I enjoyed working on this party with her. The little sea characters were printed out on card stock from the graphics set and my daughter wanted to cut them herself. And place them all around.
These lanterns from the dollar store and some balloons made the sleeping area in the family room a bit more festive. The girls watched "surfer girl" and chatted the evening away. I was so happy to give my oldest a special time to have fun and celebrate with her friends. And it was a pleasure to work with her and see how much she has grown into a young lady. Shh....don't tell anyone, but I actually enjoy her being a teen. :)
*Note: This is a rewrite of my original post which got accidentally
deleted. :( Sorry to say this isn't as good a tale as the original but I
still wanted to share this with my readers.
So, as you know scissors and I just don't get along. Shocking for a paper crafter I know! But I have never had much success with cutting stamped images so nice and neat even thought I love the look. So here comes Close To My Heart to the rescue...with an new Cricut Cartridge called "Art Philosophy". It is a cartridge set which coordinates with the stamp sets and chipboard shapes included as many of you know but I wanted to include some FAQ's and projects below. Enjoy!
*Edited to add a video and some info on CTMH's new offers for August!
August "Stamp of the Month"
What do I get when I order the Philosophy set?
The set comes with: 1 Cartridge with 700 images which includes: 50 images with layers, 50 basic shapes with layers, 50 combination images, 50 labels, 50 tags, 2 full fonts(that can be layered), 13 – 3D images(six flowers, various boxes and other shapes) and 17 borders and several accents! Also 3- 9X12 sheets of chipboard dimensional elements that coordinate with the cartridge and the stamps. The dimensional elements are available separately through the catalog as well.
In addition, according to the “Constant Campaign” program through Close To My Heart corporate office, you will be eligible for several special promotions through the year. August is an amazing Stamp of the month offer which includes two sets of stamps…more throughout the year.
Will I be able to purchase “refills” of the chipboard?
Yes, these shapes are available to everyone through the catalog as a “dimensional element” and can be used even without the Cricut or the stamps. Each sheet of chipboard shapes is only $3.25!
Will it be available through Cricut Craft Room?
Yes, judging from the booklet, there are plans to add it to the program now in BETA mode.
Does it work with all the Cricut machines?
Yes but you must do and update for the Imagine first and possibly the E2. It works fro the expression right out of the box!
How many stamps coordinate?
At my count, there were approximately 44 coordinating stamps available in the catalog besides the ones included in the 3 sets that come with the cartridge.…some others stamps will fit also that are simply different sizes or able to fit within a simple shape like a circle or oval.
How do I know how big to make the cuts?
The stamp that has a coordinating image has a small outline printed around it on the clear sheet. Then next to it, the size is printed out…There are also images that complement the stamp and shape and make it a really versatile cartridge.
Do I get Cricut Rewards?
Yes, a certificate for 90 points is included with the cartridge/ You must have a cricut rewards account to redeem it at www.cricutrewards.com .
Ok so here are some projects:
These cute pillow boxes fit a gift card perfectly when cut at 5"! The coordinating stamped images have the sizes listed right next to the stamp on the acrylic sheet, so it was easy to create these.
Notice the "to and from"? Cute for tags huh? And they all come with the cartridge. The paper used is the "elemental" collection that is available starting August 1st.
My DD had to make a felt flower for her purse. Cut at 4.5 inches
The Font! This is cut at 3" so you could see the detail. The top layer detailed letter might need to be cut at least 1.5"
Some of the fun flowers.
The "rose" cut at 3" and smashed a bit more.
The cuts as a group...
I wanted to show how nice and neat all these cuts fit onto a half sheet of paper. All these are cut to the indicated size and just using "load last" in between cuts.
This was my very fist flower...ever!
This gives a good perspective on how big you might want to cut your flowers. I just guessed and got lucky.
Felt flowers. Cut at 4.5 with some heat n bond for stiffness
This shows the difference in thickness between a 3 and 4.5 inch flower...
A second look and a perspective on the flowers sizes.
In order to entertain my savages during the long car ride down to the beach this summer I was looking for some art projects. The Crayola color wonder sets coe with a cute little lap desk and some storage but it just didn't seem like enough space. Plus my oldest had moved onto "fine art" supplies....in order to replicate "My Little Pony" images for her sister I have to add.
The gears were turning in my brain and I recalled earlier seeing "project boxes" from the office supply store. Those places are number two after a craft store truly! I had no excuse to buy them the first time around but I knew that my other favorite all time products, command strips, made a special clip that secures papers. Bingo! I had project boxes!
I had lots of vinyl to decorate them for each girl and they each fit quiet a large stack of papers as well as pens and markers and whatever else you might want. Mine were simple ones with no dividers, and only about and inch and a half deep. They were plenty big to clip papers and small notebook to though.
Vinyl cut with the Give a Hoot cartridge and my Expression
A fancy one for G Cut from the Martha Stewart Cake cartridge.
Once Upon a Princess Cartridge for B, the Princess...with a cute frog
These pieces were simple designs that layered well. I vetoed the other choices that weren't ;)
The command strips secure right to the front of the case...
To make sure each clip was in the right place I made a stack of papers, put on the clips them put them onto the case. When I had it lined up the way I wanted it, I simply peeled off the backing strip and pressed it down firmly. I also prepared the surface by wiping with rubbing alcohol to be sure they would stick tight.
An initial went on the front so that it wouldn't get in the way of their drawing or coloring like the design might.
*Note: This is a rewrite of my original post which got accidentally
deleted. :( Sorry to say this isn't as good a tale as the original but I
still wanted to share this with my readers.
My DH loves to joke about aliens and Sasquatch...I am not entirely sure what he believes, but when I saw the "Big Foot" on the Campin Critters cartridge, it was a must have (even without the 3-D backpack). I was so happy to make this with a great bit of direction from my girls...of course it was nice to have a challenge sketch from the CIrcle Blog and a contest. ;)
The circle is sprayed with some glittery gold smooch from Stampin-up. I can't believe I waited so long to use it. The over spray looked amazing on the black scrap paper and it has the wheels in my head turning! Next the sign was created from the same cartridge with the bottom edge of the saying trimmed off. The top portion was stamped with a "wood grain" background stamp from Close To My Heart. The bottom portion of the sign is the Designers Calender cut for "Dad's Day". Up on tiny tiny bits of dimensional tape! Phew, that was tricky but I love the tape from CTMH in a roll so you can use the exact size needed. A wonderful friend sent me some bakers twine and some buttons finished it off. Once the colors were decided, it was a pretty quick card all in all.
My middle daughter was looking for a special theme for her first ever slumber party. So after looking through some cake ideas and themes she decided she wanted a "Fancy Party" Including a fancy cake decorations and a "fashion show"
SO, I got out my trust Cricut cake and cut some "fancy decorations out of black fondant and created a basic cake inspired by one right in the cartridge booklet. We used a ton of pink ribbon and I created a monogram for her right on the cake.
The party favor bags were simple white bags that I bought in bulk and just decorated with paper similar to what was used on the invitations and the banner. I replaced the original ties with some of the same ribbon used throughout to make everything coordinate. Inside were the goodies they collected and some other little treats. I included some very fancy cookies with a simple rectangle of paper folded over and then with a rectangle of the patterned paper again. It looked simple and elegant with a pink bow on top.
Some "fancy cookies" with a simple bag topper
Her banner was created using cuts form the Martha Stewart Elegant cakes cartridge for the lettering and a shape from Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge I believe. I made the rosettes by hand and layered with more of the patterned paper here.
The girls played a fun game of scavenger hunt which I created using the same graphics digital patterns from the invitations (Echo Parks Yours Truly) and a super cool software I found called Riddle Me. You can customize the search and all the clues in just a few minutes and then print it al out in a coordinating set of cards! How cool is that. You can find it HERE.
The girls ended up finding a treasure bin full of play necklaces rings fun hair extensions and braids and some other fun "fashionable accessories" They had fun putting things together for a runway show and took several turns coming down the steps and posing for their photo-op!
Fancy food, cake and a movie rounded out the evening!
The birthday girl with her cake! How fun is the high heel cake knife? Loved this gift from my friend! Thanks J!
*Note:This is a rewrite of my original post which got accidentally deleted. :(
Sorry to say this isn't as good a tale as the original but I still
wanted to share this with my readers.
This year is a very sad end to the school year. My G who is in second grade, is not just moving onto third grade, but also changing to a new teacher after two years in the same classroom. No, she didn't repeat, but the teacher did! She "looped" with her class when they all made a change to the next grade which meant she taught my daughter for two of her most important years, first and second grade. Mrs. Daniels has been so amazing in dealing with all the personalities of the kids and I can tell she has a teachers heart through and through. She truly loves to teach and loves all her students. I love her too!
As a result I wanted to be sure her kids all got a chance to let her know how loved she is. I went into the school and Mrs. Daniels kindly arranged her schedule so I could "secretly" take photos of the kids and give them these sheets for to add their own thoughts.
The pages were printed onto cardstock after I used a graphic set and from Lettering Delights and put in some text and lines using Photoshop. Be sure to offset the image so you can leave space for binding BTW.
With a bit of prompting they came up with some really cute things to add to the book. After these were filled in I put it all together with a fun cover and presented it to her with some flowers and such at an end of the year picnic. I was so choked up and sad and she gave me a hug. :(
The kids filled these all in with their own thoughts....
In addition to these pages I included some photos of some special events and some additional blank sheets of her own. The covers were chipboard covered with cardstock and bound using my "Bind it All" from Zutter. Love that thing!!
The front cover was decorated using my Cricut Expression and the Car Decals and Wrap it up cartridges. Of course I was in such a hurry I didn't get a good pic but a ribbon around the middle and it was a simple gift.
*Note: This is a rewrite of my original post which got accidentally
deleted. It won't be as good a tale as the original but I
still wanted to share this with my readers. Thanks for stopping by!
This is an EchoPark Hybid elements pack and papers...no cicut believe it or not! :)
This is all PNG files from the Something Fishy image set at Lettering Delights.
It's Birthday Season at our house! Worthy of the capital letters, and crazy making, we have four birthdays in a row starting in June and going into July. So I have dabbled in some photshop and shopped at JessicaSprague.com and LetteringDelights.com for digital downloads, to come up with two invites for my girls...No Cricut believe it or not!!! Lot's of Cricut cuts coming up next though so stay tuned.
The first invitation is "fancy" for my G's fashion sleepover party. I printed out the black damask, the pink print and the sentiment all using Photoshop. Here's where I admit that I am basically using it as a glorified "word" document and printing it out. I did use a digital image and erase the insides to insert my own information. You can see it peeking out from the edge....I was very proud of myself even though the next time it should take muuuuch less time! ;) the sentiment is simply punched out with two Stampin up punches and put over a "pleated" ribbon...
My other invite was complete with lettering on top with my daughters name and for this invitation I was able to play with layers in order to keep some elements on top. There is also a coordinating Alphabet I used or the inside as well as a salutation on top. Lettering Delights makes it so easy to use from an online library or by using your own computer files. I am glad this whole process will be getting much easier and faster since I hope to do some digital and hybrid scrapping too!
As part of another Challenge for the Cricut Circle Blog, we were tasked to create something using inspiration from the Magazine. It was full of amazing projects which made it tough to decide which one inspired me the most, but this project found me....My oldest just turned 13 and wanted a address/memory book for the last few days of school. I loved this projects since it was simple and yet gave me an opportunity to create something together with my daughter...precious times now that she is officially a teen!
Crafting is even better together and I used the Imagine "Better Together" cartridge for this entire project. The cover was created with scraps (from another album for my younger daughter's teacher which I will add next week). It was a 4X8 scrap so it was easy to use one of the pre-programmed shapes on the Imagine. I used the rectangle with the aspect ratio of 1:2, and then flood fill it with the pattern I wanted. It was a perfect fit.
In order to use the internal shapes, simply navigate from the start up menu by selecting the "print and cut icon" in the upper left, then look on the very lower left corner of the screen...you'll see three icons in a row which represent the standard cartridge, then in the center the internal shapes, and next the imagine cartridge. Selecting the center icon will show a selection of shapes that you can cut or print and cut....if you want to fill it with a pattern, select to edit it then scroll through the patterns of any Imagine cartridge inserted. Or you can just cut it without printing.
I cheated and used my Epson printer to create some fake notebook paper and just trimmed it to fit within the book. Then, it was ready to embellish.
After filling a 12X12 sheet and then another half sheet full of images with the Beta program of Cricut Craft Room, I printed and cut. Then, my daughter and I simply embellished the inside page by page. Some glue and a few punches with my Cropadile III- big bite, and some binding rings finished it all off...but then of course it needed just a bit of ribbon! :)
If you have an Imagine, you'll love the Cricut Craft Room software when it's released! One thing it can do is break apart an image and then reassemble it for you before you cut! I wanted everything flat since it was going in and out of my daughters backpack all day, and the CCR was just the thing to make a few edits!
A Whole mat full of cuts from my Imagine!
As you can see on the lower right I have an image from "Better Together" which normally has a spoon and some wording. Instead, after dragging it to the mat, it was easy to select the "edit group" icon that appears with the image. After this, the other images become faded and you only work with the selected image. At the top right you can select to toggle between combine and separate. This comes in handy if you only want a portion of the image (like I did with the red phone)...or even if you'd like to make a change to a layer.
Layers can be deleted and even changed by flood filling a portion. You can select the different elements of the image and either delete or change them. Then after you make any changes you can re-assemble the image by selecting combine. The new image will remain with the changes made.
The final important step is to select "exit" which is at the top left in green so you can move on to editing and adding things to the entire mat....If my flip ever decides to let me download my videos I'd very gladly demonstrate. I can't wait to see if I can change a dress on a figure or something I've wanted to do in the past...looks likely and I am very impressed with the new software, even though it is in Beta mode. It is very promising!!
