A Twist of Orange

 

Hi Folks!  I think I'm stepping into a new 'world' I know nothing about but just know, so far, I'm loving it!

 

I'm feeling a bit bold here but I decided to enter the CMC Challenge #55, 'Anything Goes With A Twist of Orange'!

 

I'm brand new at coloring and while browsing the internet for ideas I came across this cute image by Marianne Walker. It was for the Fall Coloring Contest on the Copic Blog. It was the last day of the contest but this image was calling my name!

You can find the image here.

 

 

 

I used my Copic markers and cut out the image. The papers are from the Enchanted Collection by Authentique. The stickers are Salem Heights from SEI.

 

 

Happy Coloring!

Halloween Treats!

 

October has been a very exciting time for me in my little corner of the crafting world!

 

A few months ago I finally had the courage to submit some Halloween projects for consideration to be published in the October Cricut Magazine.  I was thrilled when I received an email notification that they had been accepted!

 



 

 This is me! Woot woot! You can find the original blogpost here.

 

 

 

The little Halloween Treats can be found here.

 

I can't tell you how happy it makes me to have my projects shared with so many!!! My next  thrill was to be asked to be the 'Featured Artist' in the 'A Homespun Affair' online magazine, October Edition!

 

 

I made a Halloween display of 3D cones and you can see the that post here.

 

If you haven't guessed by now that I love Halloween and creating fun projects for this holiday...let me add some more!

 

 

 

These are little treat holders I created for my grandson's first grade class. I used the the head and tail from the cat image (see above)  from the Cricut Digital Exclusive 'Moveable Monsters' and for the body I used the police shape from Cricut Digital Exclusive '3D Hats' and a square shape from the George and Basic Shapes cartridge.  I used my Gypsy to weld the shapes together.

 

 

Here's my prep for putting them together. I used my Cameo to cut out the scalloped circles and the Boo! from the Silhouette Store. The stamps are a stamp set 'Perfect Fit-Halloween Holiday' (B1413) from Close To My Heart. You can purchase these from my website here.

 

Here are a couple of more of the treat holders. 

 

 

 

Thank you for visiting and sharing my fun!

 

Happy Halloween

and

 

Happy Crafting!

 

 



A Homespun Affair October Featured Artist

 

When I was asked to be the feartured artist for the monthly publication 'A Homespun Affair', I jumped at the chance to create a Halloween project! It's my favorite time of the year and Halloween is so much fun with the grandkids!

 

A Homespun Affair is a blogger and crafting monthly publication.  The editor is Jessica Kephart and she has a fabulous group of talented designers on her team to bring you inspiration for your home, celebration, decor needs, gifting, and thrifting finds. There is so much more from challenges to giveaways! 

 

On to my project!

 

I loved this little box of cones from the Cricut Digital Exclusives and thought of this Halloween display.

 

 

The cones and box were made using the Cricut  Digital 3D Party Cones Exclusive. 

 

Using the Gypsy I cut two Cone #1, cut is 10.27-5.75 from black cardstock.

 

The rick -rack is Cone #1/shift and the cut is 8.75-5.75 from green and orange glitter paper.

 

I cut one Cone #6 , cut is 5.91-5.75 from black card stock and layer Cone #6/shift, cut is 5.61-5.75 from patterned and glittered paper.

 

I then sprayed the cones with Goosebumps Shimmer Texture Sray from Tunineko.

 

The cone holder is Box #7 cut is 6.96-5.16 from patterned paper (Heidi Swapp Phantom Kit).

 

Tip:  I placed the completed box over floral foam, cut to fit to make it more stable to hold the cones.

Carve out holes in the foam using the holes in the top of the box as a template and set your cones in.

 

The gate is from the Cricut cartridge Happy Hauntings. Page 62 <Graveyrd> cut is 9.32-4.75 from black cardstock.

The spiders and spider webs are from the Close To My Heart Cricut cartridge 'Artiste'.

Spiders are pg. 77 <Halloween> Accent 4 Shift cut is 1.55-1.74 from black cardstock.

 

The spider web was designed in the Cricut Craft Room by welding three webs together. See screen shot of CCR design.  Pg 76 <Eek> Accent 4, cut is 10.520-9.568 from black cardstock.

 

 



  

 

To add the spider webs to the box, I glued floral wire along the lines in the web and pierced holes through the cardstock into the floral foam. (Another reason to use the floral foam)

 

The 'Happy Halloween' phrase attached to the top of the spider webs is from Tags, Bags, Boxes & More2  Pg 51 #28 <PmpknBg> Phrase cut is 8.01-2.724 from orange glitter cardstock.

Phrase Shadow cut is 8.22-2.928 from black cardstock.

 

 

The label is one 31/2" rosette made from the orange glitter cardstock and 1 3" roseete made with a Martha Stewart Spider Web border punch.  The Black Bat Label is from the Midnight Magic paper pad from Recollections.

Other stickers are Pink Pislee, Phantom 'House of Fire' element stickers.

 

Thanks to Jessica and your awesome design team for inspiring me to create this project and sharing in the fabulous publication, 'A Homespun Affair'! I'm so grateful and I hope everyone enjoyed!

 

 

 

Happy Halloween to everyone and

Happy Crafting! 



July Art Philosophy Blog Hop

Welcome to our July Art philosophy Blog Hop!  Each month we will showcase a feature of the amazing Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, which can be purshased through a Close to My Heart Independent Consultant.

We're so excited to be doing this hop and we have a fabulous lineup with some very talented ladies.  There will be lots of fun projects AND some blog candy!!!

Lucy Kelleher, our hostess and fellow CTMH Consultant, will be giving away a stamp set!  She is giving away a prior Stamp of the Month set that can no longer be purchased called "You Are..." (This stamp set has a 17.95 retail value).  You will find a picture of the stamp set on her blog.  To enter to win, you will need to leave a comment on her blog and on every stop of the blog hop.  If you also become a follower of Lucy's blog, she will give you another entry.

This month we will be showcasing the "Card" feature of the cartridge.  Did you know there are 100 different card shapes you can make with this cartridge? You heard me correctly -- 100!!! Now we won't be able to show you ALL 100 card options, but we will show you as many as we can.

If you happened to come to this blog, you should start at the beginning at Lucy's blog.

My project is made using <Shape7> card feature (no shift) on page 37 of the Art Philosophy handbook. Cut is 9.10-6.55. (first layer) I used my Gypsy to create layers and cut <Shape7>  two times at 4.39-6.27 and 4.22-6.07. (second and third layer)  The & is <Shape6> Font/Shift on page 27 cut at 0.94-1.12  (fourth layer)

Here's a picture of my Gypsy screen

And here's my card...

Click to enlarge

I used the CTMH My Acrylix Stella Workshop stamp set from the Workshops on the Go Stella Kit G1032 and Black Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad. Z2105

I stamped the sentiment and chairs, cut them out and popped them up.

Hope you enjoyed!

The next stop on your blog hop fun is Wendy

Here is the list of all the talented consultants who are participating in this months blog hop:

1. Lucy ~ http://www.love2createitall.com
2. Darla ~ http://www.stampingunderdoctorsorders.blogspot.com
3. Gloria Shirr - http://purpleglocreations.blogspot.com
4. Laura Wolff- http://scrappinsweetiesescape.blogspot.com
5. Eva-http://loveofcreating.blogspot.com
6. Danielle ~ http://littlebitofscrap.blogspot.com
7. Connie ~ http://conniescraftycloset.blogspot.com
8. Wendy ~ http://myscrapbookingblog.com
9. Joanne - http://josiesjoy.blogspot.com
10. Laura Charko - http://koladesigns.wordpress.com
11. Carolyn Heniges - http://www.nuts4scrappin.blogspot.com
12. Kindred Hearts (Penny) - http://itmakestotalcents.blogspot.com
13. Stephanie Feist- http://www.quiltedscrapper.blogspot.com
14. Julia Hammond http://youcancreatectmh.blogspot.com

Thanks so much for stopping by and hopping with us - we hope you LOVE all the projects we created!

Paper Wreaths and Home Decor Blog Hop

Welcome to the Paper Wreaths & Home Decor Blog Hop!  Our wonderful hostess is Laurie of 'Minced Paper'.  If you didn't start with Laurie's Blog please go back so you won't miss a thing! 

If you just came from Ashely's Blog you are in the right place.

I LOVE doing home decor projects and in particular, wreaths.  Before Cricut and the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge-Z1696, I made my wreaths with silk flowers (I have a whole closet full!) and anything else I could find.  The accessibility of these flowers on AP cart has brought wreath making to a different level and the possibilities are only limited to your imagination.

Here's my paper wreath

While browsing Hobby Lobby I spied a magazine that had a charming wreath on the front cover.  It was the 'Green Craft Magazine' and the concept of the magazine is to repurpose items into beautiful, functional and clever things for reuse.

The leaves are made from...wait for it...paper towel rolls! I fell in love with this effect! The technique is so easy too!  Just clip off a inch per leaf and arrange and glue together with a hot glue gun.

The flowers on the original wreath in the magazine were made from strips of colored t-shirts.  Although beautiful and clever I saw an opportunity to use the flowers from my Art Philosophy cartridge.

Here is a close up of the flowers.

The two flowers I chose to use can be found on page 70 of the Art Philosophy handbook. 

<Tag5> Font

I cut them out at 3'' using Close To My Heart cardstock, White Daisy-1385

I used my Sponge Daubers-Z726 to color some of the flowers solid with CTMH Exclusive Inks Sunny Yellow-Z2152 and Lagoon-Z2195 front and back. The rest of the flowers were colored solid on the back then randomly stamped with various CTMH stamps with a swirl design.

I think it's awesome that I'm only limited to the color I'd like to make my flowers by the amount of available CTMH Inks (and there are are lot to choose from!).

Here's one last pic of my paper wreath.

Laurie is giving away BLOG CANDY!!!!!

To be eligible all you have to do is follow and comment on each blog in the hop.

Next on the hop is Wandy 

Here is the entire blog hop list:

Laurie Mince - http://mincedpaper.blogspot.com
Sandy Suarez - http://simplycraftycreationsbysandys.blogspot.com
Ashley Townsend - http://thebloghopprincess.blogspot.com
Connie Layman - http://conniescraftycloset.blogspot.com YOU ARE HERE
Wandy Monge-Pizarro - http://greenapplescrapper.blogspot.com/
Connie Wallenbrock - http://conniecancrop.blogspot.com/
Jessica Kephart - http://homespunelegance.blogspot.com/

Thank you for stopping by

and

Happy Crafting!

 

Art Philosophy Blog Hop

Welcome to the Art Philosophy Blog Hop!

We're a group of Close To My Heart consultants (well most of us).  Each month we're challenged to make something with the Close To My Heart,  Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge. For details on this very versatile cartridge go here.

This month we were asked to make three tags by our fabulous hostess Courtney.  If you didn't start the hop with Courtney at Creating With Courtney, please go back so you won't miss a thing!

If you came from Vanessa, you're in the right place. 

Recently I participated in a Second Chance Charity Crop hosted by Casey, owner of my LSS, Scrappies and Prima Marketing for a chance to win a humongous bag of Prima Flowers.

We were given a stack of coordinating Prima papers and flowers to make something to enter during the crop. I decided to make a Diagonal Double pocket card that I saw featured on Splitcoaststampers by Claudia Rosa.  Check it out here.

This card is a lot of fun to make and I thought it would be perfect to house the two little tags I made with the AP cart.

It was really fun to dig in this bag of Prima flowers and I hit the jackpot when I found the little bird and butterfly!  I had some T-pins and used my CTMH Liqued Glass (Z679) to glue them on and stick them into the flower.

I made two tags from the AP cart (Z1686) to place in the pockets.

<Tag3> cut 2.25-3.68

I layered them with a coordinating patterned paper by Prima.

<Tag5>layer 2.25-3.68

My second project was a quick birthday tag for my grandson.  We already had a family party on his actual birthday and we had planned on a pool party for his little friends but with all the rain in the sunshine state we decided to move it indoors at the bowling ally. I made this little bag and tag with some fun little goodies.

This is <Tag3> card feature pg 50 #30

The far right vertical row on your overlay are all the tags on the AP cart.  if you choose on and select the card feature the tags will make a card.  Cut is 7.15-6.00 on my Gypsy.

I used CTMH Kraft Cardstock (Z1375)

Since this card was for my grandson and I couldn't use flowers (my fav) I decided to grundge it up a bit...

I found some cardboard with a corrugated center and peeled some of the paper off to expose the

 center. I then finger painted some white acrylic paint for a white washed look and attached it to the front of the tag.  The little bird is from Close To My Heart's June stamp of the month, 'Life is Tweet', My Acrylix Stamp Set (S1206A). You can see the details of how to get this stamp set here. SOTM is available through June 30th or after at regular price (S1206)

I used Versamark Ink pad (Z891 and Black Embossing Powder (Z670) and stamped on the Lagoon(blue) swirled patterned paper from the Footloose Paper Packet (X7151B).  I hand cut the little bird and placed it on the tag with 3-D Foam Tape (Z1151)  I used Sunset Exclusive Ink stamp pad (Z2150 to stamp the party hat.  I also embossed A little birdie told me...it's your birthday. 

To make the banner I stamped the party hat with Sweet Leaf Exclusive Inks stamp pad(Z2153) and cut off the top and bottom.  I added the Baker's Twine in orange and white.

The photo corner is cut from The AP cart using Sweet Leaf cardstock from the Lucy Paper Packet (X7149B) Pg 60 #30 <Tag4>font cut is 1.04-1.00

For the inside I cut out the oval from the Art Philosophy cart at @ 2" to coordinate with the oval stamp from the CTMH  Look Who's stamp set. This stamp set is turning into my all time fave for birthday cards! (D1502)

I choose my third tag from the Art Philosophy cart to add to a little gift bag I made to hold some bubbles for 'SUMMER FUN'!

As soon as I saw the Cricut Bag Toppers Digital Exclusive I had to have it! I think they are so adorable! Plus they make it so easy to buy and use immediately  I made the topper using Cricut Craft Room and the Cricut Mini.

I ran the white bag through the Cuttlebug using the Spots and Dots embossing folder. (They almost look like bubbles!)

The tag is <Tag1>card feature  pg 30 #10 on the Art Philosophy cart Cut - 6.681-3.75

Circle is <Circle1> cut 3.028-3 I ran the cicle through the Cuttlebug using the Tiny Bubbles embossing folder.

I cut out 'fun' once from the font and once from the font layer.

f - 0.917-1.403

u - 1.056-0.681

n - 1.069-0.708

I just LOVE this little tag/cards!  You can add whatever you want to the inside.  I hope I've shown you how versatile this cartridge can be and how often you would be using it...like me!

For any of these Close To My Heart products please shop here.

Next on the list in our Art Philosophy Blog Hop is Eva and if you get lost along the way, here is the entire list:

        Courtney - http://www.creatingwithcourtney.blogspot.com

1. Pam - http://i-candy-scraps.blogspot.com
2. Stephanie: http://quiltedscrapper.blogspot.com
3. Amanda : http://ajcreationsfromtheheart.blogspot.com
4. Brandy~ http://www.canadianscrappers.blogspot.com
5. Vanessa http://wwwpaperkraftsunlimiteddesings.blogspot.com/
6. Connie - http://conniescraftycloset.blogspot.com
7. Eva - http://www.loveofcreating.blogspot.com

Thanks for stopping by

and Happy Crafting!

Featured Artist Friday

Today I have the distinct pleasure of being the featured artist on Laurie's Blog, 'Minced Paper'! Each week she is show casing different crafters in her 'Featured Artist Friday'.  I must say there is some great talent and if you've missed them, be sure to go back and check them out!

I was so pleased Laurie asked me to be part of this and I thought it would be a great time to share a layout I made and entered in the Close To My Heart National Scrapbooking Month Contest.

The criteria for the contest was to make anything using the CTMH 'Dotty For You' paper packet.  This packet was a promotion during the month of April and May.  Sadly, May 31st was the last day.

Here is my layout 'Color Me Happy'

This sweet little girl is Reagan Shane, granddaughter of a family friend and when I saw these pictures I knew this paper would be perfect for them!

I'm going to share a little secret of mine...my inspiration for the title came to me in a dream and this happens to me alot! Actually I pretty much invisioned the entire layout.  I would love to know if this happens to anyone else!

Since I recently joined the Close To My Heart Team as an independent consultant, I've been challenging myself to use the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge exclusively.  This is a super versatile cartridge and has actually made it very easy to make any project I can imagine!  From cards to layouts, tags, gifts and 3D projects...I LOVE this cartridge!

The flower circle is on pg 63 in the handbook and #53 on the overlay <Square5> Font layer/Shift

cut - 6"

The butterfly is on pg 55, #45 <Rctngle7> shift <Bttrfly2> layer

cut 2.49-1.64 on Gypsy

The cloud is hand cut from the 'Dotty For You' patterned paper.

I used the Art Philosophy font for color me happy, cut once in patterned dots and once in white cardstock, same size and offset to layer. I then used pop dots to pop them up.

color - cut 4.49-1.40

me - cut 2.55-1.26

happy - cut 5.03-1.20

The medallion was made from circle and scalloped punches, layered and stamped with CTMH My Acrylix stamps from Angel Whispers and Wonderful You stamp sets.

The banner is <Banner1> on pg 68, #58 cut .75-3.75

I made the label with <Tab2> cut 3.55 shadow 1.82-0.65 and used my computer to generate Reagan's name.

The border under the pic is a 1" strip of patterned paper folded back and forth pleated style. 

I was tickled pink to come in fourth in the contest and amazed at the response I received from my friends!  I am so grateful for them all...and Laurie is one of them!

Thank you Laurie!

CTMH products used in this project are available, please click on Shop With Me.

Z1686 Art Philosophy Collection

W332 'Wonderful You' My Acrylix Stamp Set

Art Philosophy Blog Hop

Hi everyone!  I'm so excited to be participating in the second Art Philosophy Blog Hop, hosted by Courtney at 'Creating with Courtney'!

You should have come from Erin, if you did you are in the right place. 

If your didn't start the blog hop with Courtney, go back to the beginning here , you don't want to miss anyone!

The more I use this cartridge, the more I LOVE it! This month we are creating a card using the card feature on the ever fabulous 'Close To My Heart, Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge for Father's Day.

As I have stated before, I'm not really a card maker but this cartridge is making it so much easier, which makes it sooo much fun! 

Here's my Father's Day Card

I chose #23 on page 43 <Square 3> Card

Cut is 11.10-5.50 on the Gypsy

The striped card is Lost & Found Two by Jen Allyson 'My Mind's Eye'

DAD is AP Font/Shift lock cut 1.33-1.20

Tag is <Square3> Tag cut 4.61-2.63

Scroll is <Tab2> Font layer cut 3.54-3.59

Bird is <Bird> found on pg 51 in the handbook or #40 on the overlay

cut 2.30-2.00

Wing is <Bird> layer cut 1.10-2.00

All made from CTMH cardstock 'Light Neutral Shade Pack'

except for the bird's wing which is from my stash to match the color in the ribbon.

The blue/brown twill ribbon is Spare Parts by Paper Studio and a little jute tied on the fold.

This is the inside.

Left is <Square3> cut 5.34-5.09

Right is <Square3> cut 2.25-2.25

I stamped Happy Father's Day randomly using The Close To My Heart 'My Acrylix' stamp set 'A Typeface' and CTMH stamp set 'Contempo Serif' and CTMH Exclusive Inks 'Bamboo'

Hope you enjoyed!

Happy Father's Day!

and

Happy Crafting!

Next on the blog hop is Vanessa

Here is the entire list in case you get lost:

1. Courtney - www.creatingwithcourtney.blogspot.com
2.. Amanda - http://ajcreationsfromtheheart.blogspot.com
3. Eva - http://www.loveofcreating.blogspot.com
4. Gloria - http://www.purpleglocreations.blogspot.com
5.. Stephanie- www.quiltedscrapper.blogspot.com
6.  Darla ~ http://www.stampingunderdoctorsorders.blogspot.com/
7. Audrey ~ http://scrappingwithscrappy.blogspot.com
8.Erin - www.imcreaterin.blogspot.com
9. Connie - http://conniescraftycloset.blogspot.com   (You are Here)
10.Vanessa http://wwwpaperkraftsunlimiteddesings.blogspot.com/ (Next)
11. Pam Stewart - http://i-candy-scraps.blogspot.com/
12. Carol Loftus - http://carolloftus.blogspot.com/
13. Brandy Lees~ http://canadianscrappers.blogspot.ca/

Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge Blog Hop

Welcome to the Art Philosophy Blog Hop. We are are group of Close To My Heart consultants (well most of us) and we will be show casing the very versatile Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge. 

If you are visiting from the ever fabulous Darla then you are in the right place, if not, please start from the beginning with our wonderful hostess Courtney at Creating with Courtney,

Here's my project for today.

I used the Pemberley collection for my layout. When I saw this paper I knew it was perfect for this picture of my grandson Landon and his little friend.  This picture wasn't of the best quality but I love the moment it captured.  Their Moms have been friends all through school and I have to say when I look at this picture it tugs at my heart a little!

The photo frame is on page 54 and #44 on the handbook,

<Rctgle2> cut 7.10-7.77

I sprayed the cardstock with a new product (for me) called Goosebumps Shimmer Texture Spray.

I think I'm going to use this ...alot! I wish the photo showed this a little better.

For the scalloped half circle I used <Banner6> pg. 69, #49

<Banner6 cut 8.17-4.18

The butterflies are <Bttrfly2> Layer cut 2.54-1.67

The tag is <Tag3> cut 2.55-4.18 and <Tag3> Decorative Layer cut 2.55-4.18

The Flowers are cut and stamped following the instructions included with the CTMH Pemberly Kit

using the You mean the World to me My Acrylix Stamp Set.

Hope you are enjoying the Blog Hop so far and the next one to visit will be Stephanie

Here is the entire list:





Courtney - http://​www.creatingwithcourtney.bl​ogspot.com/

Brandy- http://​www.canadianscrappers.blogs​pot.com/

 Audrey- http://​scrappingwithscrappy.blogsp​ot.com/

 Amanda- http://​ajcreationsfromtheheart.blo​gspot.com/

 Darla - http://​www.stampingunderdoctorsord​ers.blogspot.com/

 Connie - http://​conniescraftycloset.blogspo​t.com/    You Are Here

 Stephanie- http://​www.quiltedscrapper.blogspo​t.com/  Next

 Erin - http://​www.imcreaterin.blogspot.ca​/

 Lucy - http://​love2createitall.blogspot.c​om/

 Vanessa http://​wwwpaperkraftsunlimiteddesi​ngs.blogspot.com/

 Carol http://​CarolLoftus.blogspot.com/

 Eva- http://​www.loveofcreating.blogspot​.com/

 Wendy K. http://​www.myscrapbookingblog.com/

 Michelle http://​www.myflightsoffancy.com/​blog

 Gloria - http://​www.purpleglocreations.blog​spot.com/

 Chrissy - http://​www.chrissycurtiscrafts.blo​gspot.com/

 Ann Marie Lessner www.creativeramblings345.b​logspot.com

 Michelle Degnan Powell - http://​scrappinprincess-michelle.b​logspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by

and

Happy Crafting!