Making Gifts with Close to My Heart

As I recently told you, I got the new Cricut Explore and have been playing as much as I can. I had some Christmas gifts that I was wanting to create and thought the Explore would come in mighty handy and it did! 

Here is my most recent creation. I used Close to My Heart's Magnetic Chalk Board to create this fun Verse of the Week frame.  I love how it turned out and hope to make a few more as Menu boards too!  The frame is perfect as it is very elegant and the color can be easily changed with a can of spray paint if you don't like the red or it won't blend with your decor.  The board itself is (as the name describes :)) a magnetic chalk board giving it endless uses.  Love that!

I would love to see some of your recent creations!  Please share!

Pathfinding the weekend away

Yesterday I told you about our amazing retreat in AL but I also told you that we created a different workshop each day.  I wanted to show you two of our other workshops that we created. Both were created with the Pathfinding papers and Complements on the workshop  from Close to My Heart.

These cards were created using the new Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge. This cartridge is super easy to work with and creates so many cute interactive cards, tags and Picture My Life cards too!  I love the versatility of it and did I tell you they are SUPER CUTE too!?!

Here are two of the cards we created:

These cards were again, super easy to cut out with the new cricut. We just added some Shimmer Trim, embellishments and bling and were able to make really make these cards pop!  The picture definitely does not do them justice but... trust me they are cute!

Here is the layout we created to commemorate the weekend but also could be used for your Thanksgiving pictures too.

This layout idea was not my own but from another consultant, Dana Kessler.  She did such a great job that I just had to recreate it for our weekend.

 I hope you enjoy these Pathfinding projects and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Take lots of pictures and recreate this layout for you scrapbook. These are the moments that our scrapbooks are made of.

Creating more with the Base & Bling

 A couple weeks ago I traveled to Scottsboro, AL to enjoy our annual fall weekend retreat at the fabulous Grand Oak Retreat.  I look forward to going every year as this is my breath of fresh air and renewal.  It's especially needed right before the crazy holiday season begins. If you have ever been there, you know exactly what I mean. If you haven't been there before then you don't know what you are missing. Cindy treats us like royalty and we love it.

This year was especially special because for the first time in several years, I was actually working on my own projects. I love creating gifts for others and usually that is what I do on our retreats but this time I didn't have anything I needed to work on so it was only my pages - and it was awesome! Talk about renewal!!!  If you haven't been scrapbooking due to your crazy life schedule. I challenge you to attend an all day crop or weekend retreat in January to get those juices flowing again!  It's amazing what these days can do for you.

During our retreats, I teach a different project each day to help join us all together and get to know each other and may do something or learn something that is outside our box a little.

The first day we created beautiful bracelets using the Base and Bling collection.  These looked so awesome and took only about 5 minutes to make.  Loved that!  What do you think?

The ones done with the chalkboard letters were absolutely stunning and still so easy!  We all decided they would make a great birthday party project or quick Christmas gift.  LOVE THAT!

All-Purpose Mat ideas

One of my favorite new items in our new catalog is our All-Purpose mat. 

 

The first and most basic need for this mat is to protect your workspace from all the extra adhesive and liquid glass that tends to spill over your items.  This mat makes it amazingly easy to just wipe off the extra and move on without sticking to any other projects.

However, Close to My Heart posted another wonderful use for their mat today on their blog.  Check out how they made this beautiful card using the mat. 

Scaredy Cat Workshop

I hope you had a fun Halloween Trick or Treating or celebrating at your local Fall Festival. I know November and December are crazy months for myself and many of you. Because of that I unfortunately do not host workshops during these months. However, I came across these super cute layouts created by another consultant, Dana Kessler and thought I would pass the cuteness on to you.

 

During the month of November, you can purchase the workshop kit to create all three of these layouts to complete on your own. All papers will be PRE-CUT and organized for you to easily create them in just a few short hours. 

Items included in the kit:

Scaredy Cat Paper Pack + extra cardstock needed
Scaredy Cat Complements
Scaredy Cat Assortment
Black and Grey Sparkles
Black Mini Medley Assortment
Slate Diagonal Stripe Ribbon

Get all the above items, layouts pre-cut and ready to assemble for only $50!  If you need me to mail the kit to you please add shipping of $8.50.  Layouts will be ready for pickup or to ship 2-3 weeks after you place your order giving me time to order your items and cut them for you.

workshop options

Workshop $50.00 USD Workshop + shipping $58.00 USD

I did it, I broke down and I did it

Sorry I have been MIA for so long but I did it, yep, I did it.

I bought the new Cricut Explore

I have been spending my free time (haha) playing with it and figuring out Design Space, it's online counterpart.  I have had several conversations with many of you in the past months on whether or not I thought the new Explore would be the right Cricut for me. I had two - the original and the Expressions. The original only cuts on 6x12 papers and mats so I don't use it a whole lot and my Expression's computer cable connector was not connecting. For my everyday scrapbooking and crops it's not a big deal but when I plan my workshops or retreats, I use Cricut Craft Room to set everything up. It helps me stream line the process for multiple cuts and saves me A LOT of paper - love that!  The Explore would help with that BUT it's biggest drawback - it only works when I have Internet access as everything is done online using their Design Space software.  This is a hindrance when I am at many of my crops and retreats because internet access can be sporadic or non existent. So, why did I get the Explore?  Great Question!  It was a good price?! I liked the color?! Yes and Yes but if I spent that much money on those two crazy reasons I would be very silly.  Really, I did it because I knew that was the direction that Cricut was going and that if I was going to spend the money, I wanted it to go the farthest it could. I will still be using my old Expressions on many occasions but the new Explore will give me many more options for Crafting and for my larger events.


What do I think? Well, it's quiet, it cuts very well and it looks like it can do ALOT!  The machine itself is very simple to use. Everything is pretty much pre-programmed and ready to go with a flip of the wrist. Design Space, takes a little getting use to but I really think it will be pretty simple when I figure it all out.  I'm excited about the possibilities and looking forward to many creations in the future - we will see. I'll keep you posted!

Until then, look at this crazy mess it has been busy cutting out for an upcoming event. :)

Happy Scrappin! 

Chalk It Up with me on October 25th

Our next workshop is coming soon. Join me at my home on Oct 25th to create these 3 layouts using the fun Chalk It Up papers from Close to My Heart.

 

 Sorry that my picture quality isn't great.  I've had a hard time with my lighting and phone lately.  I can tell you though that these are really cute layouts!

The workshop will go from 2pm - 5pm.  All papers will be cut and organized making the creating quick and fun.  Sign up on the paypal link to the right now.