Artfully Sent – Exploring the “W” Key – Part 2

OK. I like Pop-up cards a lot – I really do. But this next style of card from the “Artfully Sent” Cricut™ Cartridge is really incredible – the Scene card. When you see the expanse and variety of this type of card on this cartridge, you will be blown away. For this post’s purposes, however, we will be looking only at the Scene card on the “W” key.

The Scene card will have two pieces – the first will be the card base, and the second will be the “accent piece”, if you will. The Scene card on the “W” key is a tri-fold (dark aqua color in the booklet), and the accent piece is the light blue (cloud insert). I cut my base in white, but then added several other colors/pieces of cardstock to complete my “scene” (I cut the card again in green in order to make the front of the card green & not white). I actually cut the pop-up piece from last week’s card from brown cardstock and pasted it over the base-cut deer/rabbit piece – they were almost an exact fit! When the insert is adhered to the inside of the card, and it is folded up, this is what the outside looks like:

I added a little sentiment from the “Cuddly Salutations” stamp set and paper-pieced the tree branch and bird. Now the inside…

Instead of adhering the cloud accent piece to the inside of the card, I adhered it to the back of the front flap. This served two purposes – to make the card front more stable (it was pretty floppy with just the thin border to “hold it up”), and to give me more of the inside of the card for a sentiment/signature. I used a sentiment from the “You Mean The World To Me” stamp set, and the fun circles from the “Doodled Designs” stamp set.

I had a lot of fun with this card…but even more fun with the next card in the series – the Sentiment card! Tune in next week to see just how easy it is to make those designs your own!

Artfully Sent - Series Exploring the "W" Key

First, let me introduce you to the Cricut™ "Artfully Sent" Collection from Close To My Heart:

You get the Cricut Cartridge, with up to 700 images, three D-size stamp sets, and a full pack (24 sheets) of White Daisy 12" x 12" cardstock. Just as the "Artbooking" cartridge was designed for scrapbookers, the "Artfully Sent" cartridge is a dream-come-true for card-makers. There are five different types of cards that you can create: Pop-up, Scene, Sentiment, Sleeve, and Pocket (to compliment the "Picture My Life" scrapbooking system). I'm pretty sure that I will not get to all of these cards in my lifetime!

In the following series of blog posts that I will be doing, I will be showing you the five different card types by creating the cards using just one key - the "W" (and, yes, there is a full font included as well!). You will be blown away.

I will start with the first card on the page - the Pop-up card. Here is the "W" key page in the booklet:

For the Pop-up cards, you will use the entire top row - "Pop-up" and "Icon". The suggested cutting size is located in the lower-left corner of the image - for this card it's 5". The finished card will be 7" x 5". The fantastic thing about this cartridge is that you only have to set your dial size once - each coordinating piece will then be cut to the correct size for the card - unless you hit "Real Dial Size" on your machine.

The first panel is simply the card base (shown in dark orange). The second panel will have the "pop-up" box cut into it, and, in this case, a pretty branch and bird. This panel gets glued to the card base, save the "pop-up" box. The third panel is a sentiment for the inside of the card, and the fourth panel is the icon that will "pop-up" when you attach it to the "box" inside.

Since the front of this card is completely blank, I used the branch and bird shapes that were cut out of the inside panel to embellish the front, along with some washi tape, a sentiment, and "Puffies". Here is the front of my card:

And here is the inside:

Isn't this just the cutest thing?! I always loved pop-ups when I was a kid, so I am really loving being able to make cards that do the same thing - so fun & interactive! I used the "Pathfinding" Paper Packet from the Annual Inspirations Idea Book.

OK - that was just card number one! Wait until next week when we will look at the Scene card - you're going to love it!

Happy Easter!

It's time for a "Blast From The Past"! Here are some Easter cards from years past:

Oh my gosh - how fun!

I hope you are enjoying your Easter! Hope it is magical.

March Stamp of the Month - Choose Happy!

I have been having fun with Close To My Heart's Stamps of the Month - and this month has been no exception. "Choose Happy" is a very versatile set of 14 images consisting of frames, borders and sentiments:

What sentiment wouldn't have more impact surrounded by a unique and lovely frame? Here are a couple of cards that I created using this set:

For this card I used the "wood" frame and squiggle from the SOTM along with the "Heartstrings" paper pack*, the Quatrefoil Embossing Folder, a sentiment from the "Have a Happy Day" stamp set, and "Stuck on You" Puffies* from Seasonal Expressions 1 (* - only available through the end of THIS MONTH!).

This card also uses the "Heartstrings" paper pack, along with hearts from the "Forever in My Heart" stamp set, and red Shimmer Trim.

This set is equally fun to use in your scrapbooking! Here are a couple of ideas from CTMH:

There's just over a week left to get this set for yourself. Purchase it outright for $17.95, or pay only $5 with a $50 purchase! Click HERE to shop my website! Thanks!

LAST DAY for the February Stamp of the Month!

I had so much fun working with the February Stamp of the Month, "A Happy Hello", while at my friend Cindy's crop last weekend. This is such a versatile set! Check out how gorgeous it is:

Now check out the beautiful cards:

Fun, right?! Click HERE to jump to my website where you can place your order for this set for just $17.95 - OR ONLY $5.00 with a purchase of $50! Remember - today is the LAST DAY!!!

Enjoy the weekend!

Fun Candy Wraps

My son came home the other day with a box full of candy bars to sell for a fundraiser. Whereas any candy bar in and of itself looks good enough to me, I thought, being the week before Valentine's Day, I would spruce them up a little bit with wraps. So I got out all my old (and new!) patterned paper, cardstock, awesome new stamps, and embossing folders, and went to town. I only wrapped half of the box, figuring there might be some people who wouldn't want them.

Well, I couldn't have been more wrong! I brought the box into work with me, and as soon as people saw them, they started buying them up - for themselves and for gifts for Valentine's Day. They were a BIG hit! I ended up bringing the box back home and wrapping the other half of the bars! Here are the first half (the last set are Twizzlers):

I used a combination of old and new product - the most recent stamp sets being "Forever in My Heart" and "Love This Story", which is a Hostess Rewards Exclusive stamp set. The moral of this story is: even the smallest thing can make a big difference. Put a little love into it, and people will notice - and appreciate it!

And on a side note - one of my co-workers was so impressed with the candy wraps, he asked my to wrap some boxes of chocolate that he had bought for his sweetheart - this is the final result:

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Celebrate National Papercrafting Month!

January is National Papercrafting Month and this is the LAST WEEK to take advantage of the fun special from Close To My Heart. The limited edition “Year >> Noted” Papercrafting Kit features brand new cardstock colors and Background & Texture papers, as well as fabulous gold foil stickers and an Exclusive stamp set. The best part is you can get the whole set for only $5 when you place a qualifying $50 order. Plus, there is a $5 Kraft Mini Book option with no additional purchase required. All together you can get over $34 in Close To My Heart products for $10. Here’s a visual of what’s included:

My daughter wanted to do up a small scrapbook of the cat we have newly acquired, so I immediately thought of this kit – it was perfect! There was really no need to utilize the stickers or stamp set, but she used the fun patterned papers and the Skylark Picture My Life (PML) cards that I had left over from the 2013 Year-in-Review scrapbook I did last year (there were a LOT of left overs!). The Kraft Mini Album is sized perfectly for the PML cards. Here are just a few of the pages:

She has yet to do the journalling, but you get the picture. She had it put together in a flash!

Being a card-maker myself, I used the patterned paper and gold foil stickers (to back the sentiment) and the stamps from the Exclusive stamp set that’s included (to create a fun border for the sentiment and around the edge of the card) to make this card:

The sentiment was cut from CTMH’s Exclusive “Artfully Sent” Cricut Cartridge, which cuts dozens and dozens of Picture My Life-sized cards. I love it! Remember – this Kit is available through the end of THIS WEEK ONLY – and ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST! Anyone placing an order and purchasing the “Year >> Noted” Kit will receive an “Artwork Showcase” PDF from me via email. This is a great kicking-off point to get your creative juices flowing! Visit my website at http://funforyou.ctmh.com to place your order today!