New Artbooking Cartridge

I would be remiss if I didn't make a plug for the new Close To My Heart cartridge, Artbooking (Z1906).  I'm soooo excited about this cartridge and can't wait to get my hands on it.  To give you some taste tests of what you can do with it, I am going to showcase the little mini-album we created at Convention.  It's done in the ProPlayer paper pack (X7170B) and uses the Compliments Dimensional Elements (X7170C) to dress it up along with a lot of other Cricut cuts that match the album themes.  As with all Close To My Heart's Cricut cartridges, you'll get 700 images, 3 full D sized stamp sets and matching Dimensional Elements.



Close To My Heart ~ Artbooking Cricut Cartridge

I don't have the album recipe, but wanted you to see it - if folks were interested in this as a project or kit, just let me know!  Here are the pics ~ there are numerous coordinated cuts that make up mini-albums so that they can be multiple pages, match the theme of the book, includes photo frames and borders along with some pretty creative things like the BFF cut!  Genius!!  Enjoy the sneak peak.  My monthly group is asking to make this project, so I guess it is time to start getting to the directions! 

I <3 Artbooking - how bout you?

 

film strip - great idea for when you take multiple photos in succession...  (which I DO A LOT!)

The paperclips with the ribbon bows - um yeah one of favs from the new catalog!

The arrow is stamped with a background stamp that I <3

tags that you can decorate, include photos and slip in the pockets..

I can think of a bunch of uses for this airplane!

love the look of the honeycomb and hexagon cuts!

so creative that the two white cuts on the far right are actually the butt end of an arrow..  so creative!

Epic album and only took us about 2 hrs total to assemble...  cutting the Cricut cuts, well that might take me a tad bit longer!  LOL

A Frosted Card for a Friend

While I love my new Frosted paper pack, I wanted to share an example of how it doesn't really have to be used for Christmas.  I learned yesterday that a dear friend has brain cancer and wanted to do something for him.  This person worked with my crew recently and we fell in love with is jovial attitude and fun loving personality.  He just seems like the LAST person you think would have cancer...  And of course, it doesn't help that he's exactly the same age as me!  Makes you think...  My therapy to deal with this was to head to the craft room and get creative!

The idea behind the card is for my crew and other co-workers to send personal messages to him to encourage him.  It's appearing that he has quite the difficult road ahead of him.

The clouds were cut from the Artiste Cartridge (Z1790) and 2" and 1-1/4", then daubed with Whisper ink.  I then added some Stardust glitter gel, which thanks to Wendy Coffman at Stamping Rules! is my FAVORITE Close To My Heart product - and what I've gone thru more than anything else!

The base cardstock was cut at 4-1/4 by 5-1/2 inches.  The 2nd layer that acts as the background is a B/T duo from the Frosted paper pack (X7175C) and cut at 3-3/4 by 5 inches.  The chevron strip is also from the B/T duo at 1" by 4-1/4 inches.  The message box is cut at 2 by 3 inches and the daisy white c/s is cut at 1-3/4 by 2-3/4 inches.

I also daubed every layer of card stop and patterned paper before laying it on. I also used some foam tape to lift up the clouds, so it gives the feel of truly floating by and also to the message over the chevron patterned strip.

 

I used two stamp sets for this card - the first was Card Chatter - Sympathy (D147) for the cloud theme and then Scrapbook Sentiments - Poets (C1539) for the message inside.  The messages were stamped in Slate.

 

I added alittle bling, even though it's for a guy...  but doesn't every card need some bling?  I used the black/gray sparkles and some bittys.  The squiggly line between messages was actually stamped using the balloon string from one of the 3 stamp sets that comes with the Artiste Cartridge (Z1790).

If you would like to purchase any of these projects, click on the Shop with Me link on the left hand side of this blog or this link:  www.nuts4scrappin.ctmh.com.

TODAY - A Simple Woman's Daybook Linky

Outside my window... is the sunshine of summer that makes rainbows on the ceiling inside my house (crystals hanging in the window)

I am thinking... that it's a bit early in the morning to be thinking this hard (this shouldn't be that hard!) ;O)

I am thankful... for the company of my husband and all that he does for our world

In the kitchen... are some boiled eggs cooling for breakfast

I am wearing... my pajamas because I'd live in them all day/night if I could get away with it - it will soon end when I have to go dig out something to wear for work

I am creating... scrapbook goodies from our new catalog (Close To My Heart Fall/Winter 2013 Catalog) - if not for real, at least in my head as I think about what I want to make next

I am going... to craft the weekend away for some relaxation

I am wondering... what I will be when I grow up

I am reading... blogs with heartfelt messages, supportive themes, motivational messages and creative ideas

I am hoping... that we get good news from the cardiologist on Thursday about the options to deal with the hubby's heart valve

I am looking forward to... the temperatures dropping into Fall (I am not a fan of 90 F days - but I'm a BIG fan of sunny 65 F days!!!!)

I am learning... to be a better blogger and get encouragement from a variety of venues

Around the house... are a lot of weeds that need attention

I am pondering... how much I will procrastinate on this week

A favorite quote for today... Be kind whenever possible.  It's always possible.  (Dalia Lama)

One of my favorite things... to travel to other countries/cultures and learning more about our world

A few plans for the rest of the week... organize that chaotic craft room so I can be productive this weekend

A peek into my day... dirt turning, concrete pouring, asphalt laying = construction in full swing! A conversation about flood plains and related bridge designs

And that about sums up today's thoughts...  To check out other Simple Woman's Daybook entries (linkys) head on over to http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/ for some encouraging reading!  Have a fantastic Tuesday everyone and beat the heat, however you can!!

Monday Listicles - 10 Impractical Things

I love to work up some Monday Listicles and while I've been religiously reading Stasha's, it's been a while since I've worked up a list of my own for my blog...  Some of them might make you go hmmmph, but know that all of these I can live without!!  ;0)

Here's my list of 10 impractical things:

1. Terrorists - just stupid and so destructive and really accomplishes NOTHING!

2. Bras - nuff said!

3. Hair dye - I hate grow out!!  I just can't stand the grow out after the die job...  so I'm embracing my gray!

4. White shoes - that are only white for the very first trip outside, after that's it's all over...

5. Bicycle seats - one word, OUCH

6. Summer colds - ok, all colds, but particularly the ones inthe summer when everyone wants to be playing in the great outdoors..

7. Space station on the moon - um, being one who watched on a b/w tv the first step and that was the coolest thing we could imagine, at this point it's completely impractical!

8. Dust mites - they make my sinuses crazy, and really what purpose do they serve anyway???

9. Lookie Lou's - HELLO, just drive why don't cha?

10. The handmade cards I never remember to give away - I now have multiple shoe boxes full of them...

and my bonus:  all six terms of calculus I took in college - seriously the computers do it all for us now, so when the profs kept saying, you'll need to know this - THEY WERE LYING!  ;O|

For more Listicles, head on over to www.northwestmommy.com where you too can link up your top ten Impractical List!!

Happy Monday

 

New Product Blog Hop and Linky Party

I know it's been a very long time since I've updated my blog....  But I am so excited by the all the new things in the Fall/Winter catalog, I have to share!!

Check out this great card you can make with our new stamp Christmas Village (D1554).  It makes a great Christmas card, and gets you all twitter-pated about snow when it's 90 degrees in August!  How could you not like that?

 The card shows off our new Frosted Paper Pack (X7175B)!  It's a very nice soft champagne, colonial white, frosted gray, and frosted turquoise combination that is very sweet and soothing...  It also goes well with other standard Close To My Heart card stock like the Crystal Blue, Slate, Twilight, and Whisper!  The stamp set I used is called, Christmas Village (D1554).  Of course I zeroed in on the Sweet Shoppe for a little treat!  I hope you like it...

If you are interested in these products or any others that you see below, click <here> to preview the new catalog and place your order.

Here are a few other ideas to help you get excited about this paper pack!!!!  This layout is fantastic and is a great summer or winter layout.  No snow needed!

 
Here are a lot of other great ideas of projects you can make from Close To My Heart products. Just click on each of the thumbnails below to see some pretty amazing creations from fellow Close To My Heart consultants!

Note: This blog hop is open for members of the CTMH Blog Boosters. Please do not enter if you are not a member of the group.

Christmas in November

Welcome to our Christmas in November Blog Hop where we are showcasing the exclusive Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge which can be purchased exclusively through a Close to My Heart Independent Consultant.

It's hard to believe that it's already November and that Thanksgiving is less than a week away. And well, that means, it's almost Christmas! We have created Christmas themed projects for you and hope to inspire you to get started on YOUR Christmas creations.

If you just happened to come to this blog, you should start at the beginning at Lucy's blog - Love 2 Create.  If you came here from Diana's Free Moments blog, then you're in the right place!

My project is a Christmas Box all decorated up with Cricut cuts from both the Art Philosophy and Artiste cartridges.  My project also uses the Pear and Partridge paper packet from Close to My Heart as well.

  

Art Philosophy - 

Pg 68 font / no shift for flowers

Pg 46 shift for holly leaves

Artiste - 

Pg 80 no shift for Merry Christmas

Other supplies:

Pear and Partridge Paper Package

Wooden box

Wooden snowflakes 

Glue Dots

Liquid Glass

Black/Green Acrylic Paint

Mod Podge shiny finish

The next stop on your blog hop fun is Kindred Hearts - I hope you enjoy your hop and it really gets you in the mood for some Holiday Cheer!

Here's the entire blog hop lineup in case you get lost along the way:

1. Lucy ~ Love 2 Create 
2. Darla ~ Caution: Crafting is Contagious 
3. Diana ~ Diana's Free Moments 
4. Carolyn ~ Nuts 4 Scrappin'
5. Kindred Hearts ~ It Makes Total Cents
6. Tammy ~ Closer 2 My Heart
7. Arlene ~ Arlene's Creative Space
8. Traci ~ Paper Crafting 101

Monday Listicles - The same, yet different!

10 WAYS I AM THE SAME OR DIFFERENT THAN MY YOUNGER SELF

There are some things that are good and bad about how I've grown or matured, but every day I hope to be better than the day before...  so, you be the judge - here goes:

1.  I hate saying this, but I gotta just get it out there first - my weight!  I have struggled with being over weight my entire adult life.  When having conversations with the doctors about it - I know it's impacting my life negatively - that part I HATE!  And, to make things worse they (and I) am baffled about how I'm a very educated woman and clearly understand the long term impacts of being overweight, have set out really BIG goals in my life and achieved them, yet this one escapes my grip!  (this is feeling like a confessional, so I'll stop here) - I weigh a LOT more than I did when I graduated high school.  That same girl is inside me somewhere, but covered with layers of my love for food...  :(  I have seriously thought about applying to The Biggest Loser if I could only take 3-4 months off of work and still pay the mortgage!

2.  When I was younger, I was both very active and outgoing, yet couldn't speak up for myself very well.  Early in my professional life (insurance industry), my supervisor had to send me to 'assertiveness' training.  Today, I manage millions of dollars of capital construction money for the public and often need to assert myself in my job, every single day!  So my co-workers laugh heartily when I tell them I had to go to training to learn how to be assertive - they just snicker and say 'it stuck!' LOL!!  (I can't believe they have a pic on the internet for this!!)

3.  I am still stubborn as the day is long - that has NOT changed a bit!  It is what it is...  I always tell people that I was raised a German, Catholic, military (dependent)...  I'm not sure how that totally makes me stubborn (instead of just traditional), but I am!  My friends and family would quickly attest to this fact!

4.  I still very much love the outdoors and did a lot of hiking when younger - today, I'm lucky to walk very far without pain.  I'm sad for this, but desperate to not give it up!  I love the sun shining on me, seeing critters in their natural environment, and the sound of running water...  walking is my favorite form of exercise!  Zumba is the second, but that has NOTHING to do with the outdoors!!  Somehow dancing (and music) makes it less painful ~ go figure! Now where did my youthful stamina go?

5.  As I've grown older, I know that my mind has totally grown up to be more open-minded and compassionate. With time, I've certainly become more adept at being a better listener (although I still try to work on that every day - see # 2), can better understand others' views and positions on an issue, and have forgiveness (not always, but I try every day to be better at it).  I think this is a natural progression, but I specifically attribute it to my:  1. continued education; 2. travel experiences to other cultures; 3. living longer and having seen the unexpected; 4.  compassion for others and the need to understand them...  when young - it was my way or the highway (see #3)

6.  How I know I'm getting 'old'.  Last night for example I was up 1/2 of the night with restless legs and just couldn't relax enough to sleep.  I fell asleep somewhere around 3am, and felt hungover all day today.  Not a stick of 'partying' at all last night and no alcohol involved, but the hungover feeling all day!  Staying up for an 'all nighter' is just NO WHERE in my vocabulary anymore! (and I'm ok with that!)

7.  Sleeping in on the weekends - at 50 51 is still my favorite thing!  I get up at o-dark thirty Monday thru Friday every week and go to bed between 10 and mostly at 11 all week - so...  I NEVER get 8 hrs of sleep during the weeknights, and ALWAYS try to make up for it on the weekend...  (even tho I know you 'can't make it up') I am also old enough to know that is VERY BAD for me to vary my sleep schedule by more than 2 hrs daily - but ...  I've been known to sleep in till NOON on weekends...  My mom has finally figured out not to call before about 10am on Saturday (thankful) and her first question is - are you up yet?!

8.  Snoring!  Yup, I snore, much to my husband's dismay!  He's been known to wear ear plugs to block out my rumblings, but it is what it is.  I have already done a sleep study and have borderline sleep apnea, but thankfully don't have to have a CPAP machine (thank you!) YET!  I have allergy issues and with that and my weight - well it is what it is!

9. My love for little ones (human or animal)...  I was always the one offering (for free) to babysit when younger, wanted nothing more than to have kids of my own as soon as I got out of high school and still today - crave for time with the grand kids!  So for this - no change, if anything, I'm even more obsessed by the little ones because I don't have any close to me that I see regularly!  >:(  I shoulda been an elementary school teacher!  I just shoulda!  Kindergarten should have been just about right - then I could have kids and do arts and crafts all day every day, right?  (LOL)  Besides, babies smell sooooo good!  Animals, I love them just as much - but they stink and I love them anyway!!  Specially when my daughter's dog licks me on the face!  :)

10.  My love of music and/or the type of music I listen to.  As a child of the 60's and 70's - classic rock is what I grew up on.  I could not crank it up loud enough and ALWAYS was being told to turn it down by my dad (You're going to ruin your ears!!).  Now I listen to a lot of country, but am finding myself listening to lots of other types this past year because the country is getting very 'rock n roll'y' (irony?).  The reality is that I LOVE LOVE LOVE music in all forms, have a very wide variety on my iPod including classic, rock, pop, blues, alternative, a Capella, celtic, hip-hop, Indian and cajun music (I live in Washington state, lol).  I also still CRANK IT UP!  The louder the better and I sing loud right along with it!  :O)  I particularly love music that makes me want to dance - Just call me the dancing queen!

With that long discussion about my list, I hope you pop on over to Monday Listicles with Stasha at Northwest Mommy to check out her and other folks' lists.  It always makes for a fun read!

A Very Merry Christmas Blog Hop

Welcome to our October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month Close to My Heart is offering a stamp set called "Very Merry Christmas". This set can be purchased exclusively through a Close to My Heart Independent Consultant for only $5 with a qualifying purchase of $50. (That’s a $17.95 value!)

In this hop, you will see projects featuring this fun stamp set from many talented crafty ladies! Enjoy our blog hop - we hope we inspire you to create your “very” own Merry Christmas projects!

We are having a giveaway – that’s right, blog candy for you hoppers! I am giving away a stamp set to one of our hoppers! The stamp set I'm giving away is called "Bonjour" (B1414). All you have to do to be eligible to win is to leave a comment on each blog and become a follower of my blog by clicking on 'follow me' on the sidebar.  I will be picking a random winner on Saturday Oct 20th, so be sure to enter your comments and join my blog by Midnight on Friday Oct 19th.

For this blog challenge, I kept it fairly simple.  This is one of the cards I created for my 15 card Christmas Workshop.  I used the Artiste cartridge by Cricut (Z1790) which is only available through a Close To My Heart Consultant.  You can get more information about the cartridge at my CTMH website.  The two cuts I focused on are the mittens found on Pg 79 Accent 2 (no shift) and then the tag was cut from Pg 34 3-D Object (shift).  I used red bakers twine and made a small bow on the tag and then a piece strung on a red brad for the mittens to be hanging on a peg.  The background is made with three simple strips of the B&T Duo card stock from the Pear and Partridge paper packet (X7162B).  I did a little daubing with my Ponderosa Pine (Z2145) and Cranberry (Z2116) Exclusive Inks pads.  I added some of my FAVORITE bling, bittys (Z1263).  I also used some Glitter Glitz, silver (Z1482) for the cuff of the mitten and it draws up the Cranberry ink and makes it red.  I hope you enjoy it!

If you have just hopped onto my blog, please start at the beginning at Lucy's blog – Love 2 Create. If you came from " name of person " of " name of blog with URL link embedded" (the person before you in the lineup) then you are in the right place!

Your next stop on our Very Merry Christmas blog hops is Stephanie at The Quilted Scrapper.

Here is the complete lineup in case you get lost along the way:

Lucy ~ Love 2 Create 
Darla ~ Caution: Crafting is Contagious
Michelle Stewart ~My Creations With Michelle

TinaGale ~ My Scrappy Ideas
Jennifer Kramer ~ 4 Hearts Scrapbooking
Carolyn Heniges ~ Nuts 4 Scrappin'

Stephanie Feist ~ The Quilted Scrapper
Amanda Cortez ~ Scraps of Love

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to create your own "Very Merry Christmas" projects.

Monday Listicles ~ 10 compliments I'd love to share or receive!

Stasha's Monday Listicle for this week is all about compliments! She's encouraging us to list out compliments that we'd love to either give to someone else or receive from someone else... So here goes:

1. You are a ROCK STAR! (I often shorten this to say - YOU ROCK!!) I love this saying and use it fairly often when folks really pull off something great. I'm not really sure why a 'Rock Star' is something special, but... I do love me some classic rock music!

2. My Handsome Dude!! I still get twitter-pated when my hubby is all shined up and ready to take me out on the town. (I also call him my Stud-Muffin, but he HATES that compliment no matter how affectionately I give it...LOL)  He looks AND smells nice....!! So handsome, I am soooo lucky!

3. Adorable! I often use this when someone has created or made something from scratch or with their hands and it tickles the eyes... I also use it fairly consistently when it has to do with animals or children/infants.

4. Cool Beans! This is one of my favorite sayings that I've picked up from my (adult) kids and I use it often to admire something or someone...

5. Amazing! Probably one I'd use when someone thinks up something that is unique, wonderful and stands out.

6. You Complete Me! This is a really good one and I use it sparingly with my sweet husband! This typically comes out of the tool box when he provides the voice of reason and balances me out... ok, this happens more than I like, but he is such a great 'compliment' to me!

7. You move like Jagger! This is a new one from the song by Maroon 5... AND I LOVE IT!! Cause I want to move like Jagger... You want the moves like jagger, I've got the moves like jagger, I've got the mooooooves... like jagger.....    you can't help but make yourself MOVE LIKE JAGGER!

8.  Hey good lookin', what cha got cookin'?  This is an oldie but goodie, everyone likes to be called, 'good lookin'  :O)  This one comes from (in my era) Jimmy Buffet, but you gotta enjoy an old Hank Williams version.

9.  Do that again!  That is a great compliment to ask someone to repeat what they did because you liked it so much!  Two is ALWAYS better than one, right?

10.  For #10, I am going to combine two things that are the biggest compliment - honesty and trustworthiness.  If someone tells you that you are honest or trustworthy - those (to me) are the most meaningful a person can give/receive, because if you have that, you have 'everything'!

As I have been contemplating compliments this week, I've discovered (or remembered) a few things that I want to pass along - 

• First, when giving a compliment, it must be sincere - people can see right through a fake compliment and you'll loose points instead of getting them!
• It's hard for me to think of receiving compliments, although everyone wants to...  it's much easier to give than to receive, but it is important that a person can gratiously receive compliments as well as give them!

Happy Monday Listicles!  Head on over to Stasha's blog to find more listicles for some fun reading!

Here Comes the Bride - La Belle Vie by CTMH

I'm getting so excited for my cousin who is getting married in two weeks!  She loves elegant, yet thrifty ideas in decorating as well as her wedding planning.  Since she loves my work, she's allowing me to prepare two projects.

The first is the MR & MRS WAMALA letter signs for the bridal party to hold during the photos.  Those were easy to accomplish with my Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, that only be purchased through a Close To My Heart consultant.  I stocked up on some dark plum card stock and went to work.  I had to determine how big to make the letters in order for them to all fit on a 12 X 12 page.  To do that, I searched the Art Philosophy booklet to determine which letter is the largest (it is found on page 7) letter in the alphabet with the basic font.  It shows me that the 'G' is the largest and would determine the largest size you could on a given size of paper/card stock.  I loaded the card stock, chose the 'G' and told the machine to fit to page.  It then calculates the maximum size the G can be cut on the 12 X 12 and displays it at 7-3/4".  I then set my machine on 7-3/4" size and cut all letters at that measurement.  The machine cuts the letters all proportionally with that dimension even if it didn't fill the page.

See the diagram below for more information.

The second project she trusted me with was to make a 'Here comes the Bridge' sign that the flower girl will carry!  For this I perused the internet and spent quite a bit of quality time on Pintrest (every crafter's best friend)...  I settled on using the La Belle Vie papers to use at the sign base, and then used the dark plum for the lettering.

To make the sign base, I purchased a package of 3 canvas boards at the local craft store.  I needed something that is flat and stable, but also made a great base to add layers of papers and card stock without getting soft, folded or bent since an 8 year old will be carrying it down the aisle.  Before I started, I checked in with the bride about colors and combinations of ribbon, paper, cardstock and my plan.  She feel in love with the La Belle Vie papers since the deep purples complimented her wedding theme...  I took the two sheets of the tan papers (stripe and french writing) and tore them into pieces to layer over each other.  I was a bit nervous about the Mod Podge since I hadn't done it since grade school, so I tried out a test piece of the base and papers to see how to layer them up and avoid the bubbles...

Here is how I proceeded:  I began the Mod Podge process by putting on an initial base later over the canvas board, not too thick!  As I began to layer up the papers and card stock, I learned a few tricks of the trade to share with you ~


Helpful Hints when using Mod Podge:

1. use only very thin layers of the Mod Podge 
2. put on a fresh layer PRIOR to placing a layer of paper and let it sit for 5-10 mins till it becomes a bit sticky and acts more like adhesive
3. use your paint brush or sponge to apply the paper layer to get the air out from underneath - if that doesn't work, use your fingers to get it all laid out flat, and wipe off any excess
4. if you put your paper on it when the Mod Podge is freshly applied, your paper will likely slide around and you'll struggle more with placement (see hint #2)
5. let the under layer stabilize and dry BEFORE adding the next layer over your paper - trust me and don't get anxious here...  If your paper gets too wet with under and over layers both wet at the same time, you will bubble up as it tries to dry or as you place more Mod Podge on, your papers will slip
6. just add consistent, even and THIN layers and let each dry fully before you do the next - don't rush this, take your time and do many thin layers, you will like the results much better
7. as you get towards your top layers, be sure to use brush or sponge strokes all the same direction so it doesn't look random and every which way (unless of course, that's what you like)!!

Here are a few pics of the process

first put thin layer on base, then place paper

use brush to lay paper flat and get out bubbles

use brush to apply thin layer on top of paper

apply thin layers over top, let dry, repeat

After I did about 6 more layers of the Mod Podge over the papers, I was good to go!  I then drilled two holes in the upper left and right corners for the ribbon hanger.  I also included some decorative ribbons intended to hang down to dress it up a bit as well as a few Cricut cut flowers from the Art Philosophy cartridge - these flowers are truly my very favorite and I'm ALWAYS looking for a new way to use them.

Here are the Cricut cuts made:

Art Philosophy ~

'Here comes the' letters were individually cut from the Font Layer of each letter separately all cut at 2"

pg 58 Font Layer for the scroll work in the upper right and lower left corners - cut at 4-3/4"
pg 68 Font Shift for the flowers - cut in 5-1/2", 3-3/4" and 2-1/2" 

Artiste ~

pg 61 'Bride & Groom' - Accent1 cut at 'fit to cut' (cut largest possible) on a 12 X 12 card stock.  I cut away the '& Groom' so it left only 'Bride'

While making the flowers, I included some used my dauber with white ink to give it a more natural look and then added lavender sparkles with 3(each) pop dots to lift up the bling in the center.

And here it is ~ all dressed up for the wedding!

Monday Listicles - 10 Autumn Must Have's

Stasha has us all in the mood for Autumn, because certainly our weather lately has not been doing that...  We're still getting summer weather with days reaching the 80 F temps.  So we'll use this blog post to put us in the mood....  Here are the things that Autumn 'must have'...

1.  Pumpkins that are getting orange and bright...  Then we can have fresh roasted pumpkin seeds to munch on, scary and fun carved pumpkins, and of course this beautiful fall bouquet.

2.  Cooler nights ~ so thankful to have the 40's back at night!  It makes for much nicer sleeping with the windows open and covers on.

3.  Candy Corn - nothing better than fresh candy corn ~ I think it's my favorite candy!

4.  Trick-or-Treaters showing up at our door all dressed up in the latest fairy or superhero costume!

5.  Warm berry (or peach, apple, or ...) crisps fresh and hot from the oven with ice cream melting over the top...  yum!

6.  Fires in the fire pit are one of my most favorite activities that we do in the fall with the crispy cold air in the evening, but warm toes as they are propped up on the fire ring.

7.  Sweatshirts are a fall - MUST HAVE!  They have to be big and sloppy and worn in with a hole here or there showing their age as your favorite layer of clothing.

8.  The newest TV series premieres on the tube...  The return of the old favorites where you get to find out 'if they lived, or if they died' and a new batch of shows to fall in love with.

9.  Fall and Halloween decorations around the house that last into early November where Christmas decorations take their place.

10.  Crafty projects all over the house waiting to be done for gifts during the Holidays!

What must you have when Summer turns to Fall?  If you've enjoyed this Monday Listicle, pop on over to Stasha's post at The Good Life for more lists by other bloggers!

{Photo borrowed from Homestead Survival's Facebook page)

A Walk in the Moonlight - Trick or Treat!

Thank you for joining us on our “Take a Walk in the Moonlight” Blog Hop. We have a fabulous path for you to follow as you take your walk in the moonlight with us as we feature Close to My Heart’s Moonlight paper pack.

If you just happened to come to this blog, you should begin your walk at the beginning at Lucy's blog - http://www.love2createitall.com

My project is a mini trick-or-treat pale all dressed up in Moonlight papers. For this project I had a small clear paint pale from the local craft store (mine is about 3" high). I cut the paper the correct size and length in a rectangle to fit inside the pale, small enough that it rested along the pale wall. I then used two borders cut from the paper packs to get the polka dots and the banner with the Halloweenie terms along the top border.

Then I got busy with the Cricut cartridges - both the Art Philosophy & Artiste! You can purchase either of these cartridges from Close to My Heart for $99 and it comes with 3 D sized coordinating stamp sets as well as coordinating cardboard shapes. Cuts I made with the Cricut include:

Artiste -
Spider pg 77 cut at 1-1/4" <accent 4> <shift> and the bat on pg 76 cut at 3/4" <card> <no shift>

Art Philosophy -
Flowers
pg 68 <font> <no shift> 3-1/2",
<font> <shift> 3-1/2",
and <font> <shift> 3"
Leaves
pg 34 shift <leaf2> 2-1/2", and two times 1-1/2"
layer shift 2-1/2" and two times 1-1/2"

Supplies:
Bittys
Moonlight paper pack
Tombow Adhesive

Smokey Plum Exclusive Inks

Daubers
and OF COURSE, the CANDY CORN! :O) My favorite part of the whole project!! Here are a few detail shots for you to check out the whole project... 

I used my dauber with some Smokey Plum Exclusive Inks to top it all off and make it a little spooky and dark!  The orange flowers and green leaves really took a 'fall' look instead of the bright look that they started out with. Then my favorite touch - I put the Bittys in for the eyes!  So cute and makes the back of your head sing the theme song from the Twilight Zone!!

I hope you enjoy, I know I will.... YUM, my favorite Halloween treat!!  This by far is my husband's favorite project I've produced...  Do you think it's because it's full of CANDY CORN?  LOL

The next stop on your moonlight walk is Joanne Barnes at Josie's Joy.

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

1.  Lucy ~ Love To Create It All
2.  Darla ~ Stamping Under Doctor's Orders

3.  Deanne Deanne Stamps
4.  Bethany ~ Stamping At Home
5.  Wendy ~ My Scrapbooking Blog
6.  Stephanie ~ Quilted Scrapper Blogspot
7.  Erin ~ I'm Createrin
8.  Maria Woodworth ~ Mari Woodworth <= You came from here
9.  Carolyn Heniges ~ Nuts 4 Scrappin'  <= YOU ARE HERE!

10.  Joanne Barnes ~ Josie's Joy <= Your next stop
11.  Julia Hammond ~ You Can Create CTMH
12.  Theodora Stacey ~ Celebrate Crafts

Monday Listicles - 10 Things In My Home

I've contemplated this post entirely too long, so here it is in all it's glory!!  I love reading Stasha's Monday's Listicles and related posts on friends blogs, so occasionally join in.  This weeks theme is about 10 Things In My Home.  Stasha talked about 10 out of place things, but my theme is about 10 'crafty' things that are NOT where they belong!  I hope you enjoy this random post ~ because it doesn't get more random than this:

1.  The two jelly rolls of fabric sitting on the coffee table while I covet the beautiful blue and yellow colors.  I'm planning a quilt weekend with my Bestie and am trying to figure out the pattern and 'other fabric' to compliment it as I plan for a trip to the FABRIQUE store!!  :O)
2.  The Here Comes The Bride sign that I have been doing Mod Podge on for my cousin's wedding in 2 weeks, also on the coffee table.
3.  The Halloween project sitting on my coffee table that will premiere on my blog at midnight tonight...  Can't wait for you all to see it!  And it's a secret, so I can't tell you what it is, except to say it's YUMMY!!
4.  Fabric Depot coupons for #1's trip to the fabric store.
5.  The sewing machine that currently is holding down the kitchen table.  I used it a week or so ago to put the binding on my Halloween quilt, so lovely...
6.  Said Halloween Quilt all put together, but I'm contemplating one more row of quilting near the binding - just to safely hold it together long into the future.  This quilt is the very first quilt that I did 'free-motion' quilting on, so beautiful and I'm surprisingly more comfortable doing free-motion quilting than I thought I would be...
7.  The quilt pattern book that a friend at work borrowed to check out the Shakespeare in the Park pattern.
8.  The bag sitting next to me on the floor that has Christmas applique patterns in it so I can plan for the upcoming holiday bazaar's projects.
9.  Random scraps of paper and a pair of scissors that I used to make the Here Comes The Bride sign  on coffee table.
10.  Last week's swap cards in YET ANOTHER bag on the floor near me.  My husband calls me The Bag Lady ~ and now you can too, now that you've discovered I have all these bags just 'hangin' out next to me in my comfy chair!

I think it's time to clean up MY mess!  My hubby is a great housekeeper (Chief Cook and Bottle Washer, if you ask him!) and keeps the house picked up.  If my crafty stuff hangs out - outside the craft room too long, it gets moved back to the craft room for me to deal with....  So spoiled I am!  I do love him so...

Artiste Blog Hop - September 2012

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!