Nuts 4 Scrappin': Artiste Blog Hop

Welcome to our September ARTISTE Blog Hop! Each month we are showcasing the amazing, exclusive ARTISTE Cricut Cartridge which can be only purchased through a Close to My Heart Independent Consultant.

We don't want to scare you but Halloween is a little over a month away and we know you have to be thinking about what YOU are going to create for this spooky holiday! We decided to show you all the creative projects you can make using our exclusive Artiste Cricut cartridge. You will be hopping along our haunted trail of creativity - you never know what you will see next!

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

Also, to help you get ready to start making your own Halloween projects Lucy has some blog candy for you! She is giving away a Moonlight Complements Dimensional Elements pack! That's two (2) sheets of Printed Dimensional Elements that you can use to create your own Halloween project! There is a picture of the blog candy on her blog. All you have to do to be eligible to win is to leave a comment on everyone's blog AND become a follower of Lucy's blog. (If you are already a follower, just let her know in your comment.)

My project is a card where I really tapped into the cricut cuts for Halloween to create a SPOOKY scene from a graveyard! I used the bats, head stones, cat, and skeleton from the Artiste cartridge... but I also snuck in 3 trees from the Art Philosophy cartridge as well... they were the best spooky trees! :O)

I did a lot of daubing to mottle the trees, background and tomb stones and with that touch, it gives them an CREEPY feel! They I played with the bats for a while (no comments please...!! Bats R Cool!) and rolled their wings forward so they look more like they're flying around. I love love love the bittys for their eyes!!!! I really messed with the two bats sitting on the tomb stones and made them larger so they'd appear in the foreground... and smaller ones to the back. For the eyes on the smaller ones, I just used a tiny touch of the silver glitter gel. I just made a variety of sizes of the bats to give a sense of depth. I also cut the trees in two sizes, so they'd not look uniform then I layered them like you'd find naturally...

I do love this skeleton and you have to be very cautious with his bones when lifting them off the Cricut matt - but the Cricut does all the proportioning for you so be sure to not change your size between cuts so that the head of the skeleton and body are proportional to each other. Use one setting and cut both - it will do all the work for you! And, no graveyard with bats and skeletons are complete without adding the infamous black cat! It was a nice touch to add the SPINE-CHILLING scene built completely of Cricut cuts!

The two cartridges really do compliment each other and the new Artiste cartridge has more holiday cuts in them than the Art Philosophy cartridge so you're ready for all types of holidays and fun events. It's a great all inclusive cartridge with over 700 impages ~ you can't loose with this great purchase for $99. It includes the cartridge for over 700 images, 3 stamp sets and 3 sets of Dimensional Elements in coordinating shapes! It really gives you lots of range to get your creativity on! For more info about purchasing the cartridge, go to my Close To My Heart page but be sure to finish the hop along first to see more great ideas from our blog hop group!

Here are a few directions to help you make this great GHOULISHLY themed card...

Cricut Cuts:

Artiste Cartridge ~
Bats Pg 76 @ 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4"
Tomb Stones pg 76 @ 1-1/2"
Skeleton Pg 76 @ 3-1/2"
Cat Pg 76 @ 3/4"
Boo! Pg 77 @ 3/4"

Art Philosophy ~
Trees Pg 53 3-1/2 and 3"

Other cuts ~
4.25 X 5.5 Black
4 X 5.25 Chocolate

Close To My Heart ~ Supply List:
Cricut Artiste Cartridge
Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge
Card stock: black, whisper, slate, chocolate, desert sand, colonial white and white daisy
Whisper Exclusive Inks
Slate Exclusive Inks
Daubers
Bittys
Liquid Glass
Silver ~ Glitz Glitter Gel
Tombow adhesive

The next stop on the haunted trail is Julie Hammond at You Can Create.

Here's the entire blog hop lineup in case you get spooked along the way:
1. Lucy - Love 2 Create
2. Darla - Caution Crafting is Contagious
3. Diana - Diana's Free Moments <= You came from here
4. Carolyn - Nuts 4 Scrappin' <= YOU ARE HERE!
5. Julia Hammond - You Can Create <= Your next stop
6.Wendy Kessler - My Scrapbooking Blog
7. Pam Stewart - I Candy Scraps
8. Carolyn Mendoza - Crafting With Carolyn
9. Jennifer Kramer - 4 Hearts Scrapbooking
10. Maria Woodworth - Maria's Paper Craft Place
11. Kindred Hearts - It Makes TOTAL Cents
12. Ginger Morriello - Ginger's Creative Cottage

Thanks for stopping by for some Halloween fun -- hope we didn't scare the creativity out of you! Muah-ha-ha!