Moonlight WOTG

I know that I said I would have an incredible project to show you that I made for a pal but it is Halloween and choose to share with you this great Halloween LOs and Bonus project. I can't wait to take pictures of my little girls and put them on these pages.

I always start first by reading the directions then cutting out the CS. Then I sort it all out and get ready to stamp. This LO required not only stamping but fussy cutting too. I really don't like to fussy cut but have to admit if I had some of the elements on the page would not pop the way they do. Unfortantly that does not transfer well in a photo. I cut a piece of orange CS like a ribbon then stamped it with the web boader, I also used the same stamp on some of the purple CS. I then added the little stamped spider hanging of the web. The mummy and letters for boo are stamped then cut out. You cant tell here but the mummy is coloured using CTMH alcohol markers in Smoky Plum. Itty bitty rhinestones are added to the spiders eye as well as the skull brads to adde some sparkle. Used black rhinestones on the letters.

Now this one was fun to stamp. I had to line up the letters for Halloween and because I only have on "l"and one "e" I had to restamp those letters in the right postion. The lamp post is also a stamp, for the lamp and sign portion I stamped those seperatly and coloured them then cut them out and applied them to the lamp post. Looks great, neat technique but a pain and depending on what you are doing time consuming. Same treatment to the skull brads as the first LO. Oh and I almost forgot, I destressed the black CS to add more depth, love  the fact it is white core so very noticeable.

Here they are just waiting for this years costume pictures. I am really enjoying working with CTMH stamps and paper.

Butterfly Kisses

As most know from following my blog I LOVE DCWV!! Even now when I should be buying CTMH CS I still am purchasing from my favourite pp company :D . Earlier I had posted about a swap I was in that is 12x12 LO and I did a winter one, well I was also to do one for spring.

All CS used of course is DCWV from their Spring Fling Stack both printed and solids. The title is done using their new Shimmer stack and cut on the Cricut Princess Cartridge. I ran the letters through my xryon 1.5 sticker maker so they would be easy to apply.The yellow strip is also from the Shimmer stack, you know me has to have some glitter/sparkle some how :D . The little pink flower is a foam one from my stash, the jeweled butterfly strip is from Reflections continuous strip cut for the length I wanted. I took a short length of tulle in pink and tied a knot in it, then using my pliers I put a swirl in the bottom of a stick pin that I had tied in said knot.

The requirements for the LOs was 2 photo mats at 4x6, Journal spot and embellished 3 times. With the second pg of the LO I added a beautiful stamped image of a butterfly by CTMH. Cut out a folder with my Cricut using the Artiste Cart that again is exclusive to CTMH. Found some need hot pink netting in my stash and added that as well as the dangle bead drop which I believe I picked up from Michael's.

When I think Spring it brings to mind images of flowers, bees and butterflies. I think the bright colours and combination of pps make this a nice reminder of Spring.

Wait until you see the next blog post and the beautiful set I made for a pal.

Keep Crafting and Dream my friends, anything is possible as long as we believe! God Bless you all.

Artiste Collection

Close To My Heart has join up with Cricut to offer 2 exclusive Cartridges that offers 700 different images which include themed projects, cards, fonts, shapes and 3D images. Scattered throughout the Idea Book are many My Acrylix stamp images that are out lined in red. What this means is the stamp corresponds with a shape either on the Art Philosophy or the new Artiste cartridge. Not only does the stamp correspond with the Cartridge but it says what size it needs to be cut out at to make the image fit perfectly!
Now when I knew I was going to sign up with CTMH I figure I would need to upgrade my personal Cricut but $400 for a new Expressions 2 was a little over the top as I barly used my personal one. Then one day someone on Facebook was selling a New In Box E2 for $170. I was all over it and turned around and sold my personal one for $80. I am so happy that I did and I will post later a review of the E2. I have used the E2 with every project for CTMH that I have done, so since August I have used it more then I did the entire time, 6 years, I had my personal one LOL.

 
Now if you order the Artiste Collection not only do you receive the Cartridge but you also get 3 My Acrylix D-size Stamp Sets and 3 12x9 Dimensional Elements in coordinating shapes.
So a value of nearly $125 for only $99. not including shipping and tax.











So this time not only did CTMH design stamps for this cartridge and the Art Philosophy one but they also design 2 workshops that require the Cartridge.

Here is the one I purchase and wanted to make. Every piece of paper is cut using the Artiste Collection. They recommend 6 hours to complete this project and most of that time is cutting. The stamp set that is exclusive to this workshop is a very cute Halloween set of course. I enjoyed putting this all together and seeing the diversity of images on the cart. It was defiantly worth purchase the cart for and have a TON of ideas now for making my girls Birthday parties more interesting and I can't wait for them to start school because I will be able to make wonderful items for their classmates for different holiday party's.

Even if you are not into stamping these 2 Carts are well worth the price to purchase. There is so much on them and ways to use the different projects too. Contact me if interested and I ship to the States too :D

Have a wonderful day Crafting, God Bless.

Tool Review

One of the most important purchases a paper crafter can make is their cutter/trimmer. I have tried 3 different ones and up until recently used my trimmer by Cricut. It has a pull out ruler so you can measure 12x12 pp on it. Makes great cuts but over time, I have used it for 5 years, the cuts are not always straight anymore. The problem I have found is the blade scores in a plastic grove and over time this grove gets cut up and is no longer straight so the blade doesn't run straight anymore. So the hunt was on for a new trimmer/cutter. Now in that 5 year span I have also purchase as 12x12 trimmer by Fiskers as well as several smaller trimmer for pictures again one is Fiskers and one is Wescott. All of them are OK but not what I was looking for. Then one day as I am searching and researching cutters I receive an email from www.scrapsteals.com and it is for the Cartridge Cutter by American Crafts.

OOOHHHH this was just what I was looking for but of course the big issue was shipping. How much was it going to cost me to order this at 50% off and the shipping fees. Well the first time this deal was sent out I passed it by. I started to look around at the stores here to do a price comparison. Well, let me tell you it was cheaper to order it online. So now to wait until they offered it again which they did at the end of Sept. so order it I did. Then the wait began for it to arrive, 14 days later it was here and it was the first package I have had customs open to inspect. I have been receiving packages from the states for the last 5 years and this was the first one. No biggie really as I understand the need for them to check to make sure it is not something sinister LOL.

It is quite large, the surface is 8x14 maybe a little larger then that and the pull out ruler to measure larger pp goes up to 15". Very steady so will not more on you, I have used it on a verity of surfaces and no movement at all. The cutting guide flips to the side and again holds that pp well. It comes with 3 blades, a straight cutting blade, scoring blade and a decorative wavy blade with room to store 3 more blades on the cutter. The nicest part is that the blades are in a cartridge so are safe to handle. They are easy to pop in and out. The blades pop in to the cutter under the area that you push on and glade to cut the pp. The cuts are nice and straight and no pp tears as of yet :D . Now the one disadvantage I have found is that it is not a sit at your desk and cut your pp cutter. If you do not keep a continuous downward pressure on the cutter handle it will not cut your pp all the way through. Also when you use the extended ruler you are missing cut marks/points so you guess a little. Meaning on the main board it ends at 6 and when you open the ruler it starts again at 8 so you are missing all those marks in between. Not a huge deal as those are unusual sizes to make cuts at.

Over all I would recommend this cutter and that it is worth the price. I have not pulled out my Cricut trimmer since this one has arrived which tells me I have found the perfect one for me. I hope this helps out some of you as you look at the different cutters out there and would like a non partial opinion.

Happy Crafting and God Bless.

Avonlea Card Workshop

There are 2 Card workshops in this Fall/Winter catolog. Each one makes 15 cards, 5 each of 3 designs. As I already had a lot of the inks and markers I might need for the Avonlea Card Workshop that is the one I started with.

Again here is their photo of the finished product, now on to my not so perfect cards LOL.

The brown CS is stamped over and over to make a patterned sheet. I like the little bit of purple that is used to frame up the sediment. It was stamped using Slate and Smokey Plum. Some sheer grey ribbon with rhinestones on the ends to had some interest.

You can just see the grey CS that is stamped, this time randomly to make a patterned strip. Smokey Plum ink for the sediment and the stamped flowers. Again the grey sheer ribbon and random rhinestones to add glitter.

Now on to the card that taught me something new :D . I love CTMH acrylic stamps because it is easy to line up the stamps when doing a multi layered one or making your own patterned paper. The one thing I learn here was you can bend them too. That stamped boarder is a long straight piece that I curved and made into a swag idea. So cool and would never of thought of that on my own. Have many of these that I can do this to so will be playing with that on other projects.

Now the kit is intended to only make the 15 cards but I had a lot of this paper collection left for the 3 different workshops I used it in. With the remains I made several of this card too. I inked the card in Slate then added all the different pps to it. I am glad I was able to get these all made as I am using all 4 cards as bag stuffers for a trade show I am doing on Friday Oct. 26.

Thanks for looking and onto the next post :D

God Bless you all.

Avonlea Workshop

CTMH has several Workshops On The Go kits that you can buy. They include a Stamp set design just for the WOTG, paper packet and embellishments. All inks, markers and other extras you need to have separately.

This Workshop is the Avonlea one, its papers are also featured in the August SOTM projects. All the workshops except the Cricut ones, has enough paper to make 3 different projects. This workshop makes 2 double page LOs and a Photo box.

Here is the Official art work. Now mine don't have pictures in them so you can at least see what it would look like once they are added.

Page 1 Random stamped images, velvet rub-ons that are traced using the Chocolate marker. All edges of the paper are inked with Slate ink and the images are also stamped with it.

Page 2 Done the same as page 1.

Page 1 of the second double LO. Again all same techniques as the first set. What I have noticed is that each Workshop has a new technique to learn and add to your knowledge. Also its a great way for me to use papers and colours I would normally shy away from. I love colour and lots of it. Tend to find these boring but think they would be wonderful for old photos.

Now this excited me, I love to alter things. I downloaded the template for this to cut all the pieces and proceeded to alter the box. Next time there are several things I would do. I would of either inked the edges or matched a paint to the paper and painted it first. As this was a first try, and I prefer to go with the instructions the first time around I did what was written down to do. Again random stamping image, which gives it a neat look. Plus I like the tracing of the rub-on helps it stand out more.

Alright on to the next projects :D

August SOTM

Been so busy with CTMH and sb.com making stuff for Stamp of the Month, Workshops on the Go and Swaps.

All products used in these projects are from Close To My Heart unless otherwise stated.

I am going to start with my first SOTM from CTMH for Aug. Unfortunately I don't have the picture showing you the stamp set as I have a new computer and did not transfer over that image :( It was a series of corner and embellishments stamps. At first I was not very excited by it, but once I started using it and made 3 different projects with it I had changed my mind.

First I started off with this card, sorry it is blurry. The paper package used is Avonlea. Its greys, blues and greens. Using one of the stamps from the set I used Slate ink to stamp the corners, the message is also stamped using Slate. I cut a slit in the grey card stock to fit the ribbon through. Then using Stickles Icicle I added some sparkle. Put some half pearls and called it done. Pretty quick card to make except for the little cut for the ribbon. The ribbon holds the card closed so it needs to be able to move.

Next is was onto a single page LO. The yellow ribbon was from my stash and I folded it to make it appear ruffled. Surprising it was easy to do. Using one of the corner stamps from the set I proceeded to make my own patterned paper. I have never done that before and I really like the look. I believe the ink I used was Pacifica. Cut and layer several pieces of paper and that great grey satin ribbon for the bottom band. Added a bling swirl and fussy cut a couple of leaves for the flower. Turned out great.

Last but not least, in fact it was my favourite item to make with this set. A display album. I use it to display the different Cards I have made for either SOTM or WOTG. Its very handy to have. Again I used a corner stamp and used the Slate colour to stamp in. Added my fake ruffled ribbon, different layers of paper to the circles. The scalloped circle and regular circle were both cut using the Cricut Artiste Collection only available through CTMH. Put on a couple of bling swirls, add a Prima flower in the middle to hid any flaws. Mod Pod to hold it all together.

I really like the fact there are several differt projects to do with each of the SOTM. It gives variety instead of the same old thing every time.