Wicked Pillow Box with Close To My Heart and Cricut

Welcome to the August Stamp of the Month blog hop! This month we are featuring Wicked, a set of 9 stamps sure to give you a wicked good time.  We have about 6o consultants participating, so you'll have plenty of project ideas, in addition to the project ideas now included right in your stamp package.  (You can go online for the assembly tips until August 2012!)  Also, FYI, there has been a super change to our SOTM program - now you have only two price points.  You can pay regular retail (now $17.95), or when you order $50 of product your price drops to just $5.00!  I am loving this deal, as this is how I buy my SOTM sets too.

If you've arrived here from Tutton's Treasures, or are just starting out, you're in the right place.  Our hop is a big circle, so you can just continue on around until you wind up back here!  Your next stop will be Creating with Wanda.

For my project, I've decided to combine the stamp set with our new exclusive Cricut cartridge, Art Philosophy.  There are some great 3-D items on this cartridge, and I've chosen to make a pillow box.  I give all of the details, including cut sizes I used, in my video below.  If you don't care to watch the video at this time, you can skip down to the pictures.

Side 1

Side 2

Notice I didn't label those as front & back - I think both sides look great, so neither one is really the "back" side!  In case you missed the measurements in the video, the pillow box was cut at 8", the tag at 1.75", and the solid shape for the witch at 2.25".

All items, including the Cricut cartridge, are available beginning August 1 on my Close To My Heart website. (The link for the Cricut cartridge is here.) If you don't have a consultant, I would be honored to have you as my customer.  I'm always happy to answer questions and help in any way needed, even if you have a product purchased elsewhere.  Thank you for stopping by!  I always enjoy comments, lol, and I'd love it if you'd become a follower or a subscriber.  Hope to see you again soon!  Don't forget to hop along to Creating with Wanda now.

Interactive Scrapbooking with CTMH, Echo Park, and Cricut

Hello!  And welcome to our "How Neat Is That?!" interactive item blog hop!  We're all sharing things that move in some way, and you should leave us with several ideas to make your projects interactive.  If you've arrived here from Dawns' blog, you're on the right track.  If you are starting here, you may want to head over to Scraps To Treasures and start at the "beginning".

For my project, I chose to create a layout with a "spinner thingy" - it's called a Revolving Door.  I used a pattern from the Magic book from Close To My Heart to design my layout, and followed the technique on the following pages to create my interactive door.  The book even comes with a DVD of PDF patterns so you can print and cut the pieces.  Or, as I did, import them into Make The Cut software to use with your digital cutter.*

Here's my entire layout:

Sorry for the poor lighting on this one; it was really hard to get that spinner lit properly!  The fabulous patterned papers and mini letter stickers are from a new line, The Apothecary Emporium from Echo Park Paper.  The coordinating cardstock is all from Close To My Heart, as are the stamps, and the Cricut cuts.

Here are a few important details for you:

This is the Revolving Door in it's original, upright position.  Note that the door spins on a large brad.  (I made this one using a sticker from the Echo Park Paper collection and a flat brad and epoxy sticker.)  It is also thick, made by sandwiching foam adhesive between two layers of cardstock.  This not only adds depth, but will allow the door to hold up better over time.  Also, FYI, the original pattern from the Magic book showed a flower shaped base here, but I didn't feel that went with the Halloween theme.  So, I found a neat looking doily shape on the new Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge (available August 1 exclusively from Close To My Heart), on page 31 to be exact.  I cut the top layer from a pattern and a solid layer from Sunset cardstock.

Here the door is turned one space.  Note that the journaling for each photo is in the space opposite it on the wheel.  I found that when cutting the photos it helped to cut my template from clear acetate that I edged with a Sharpie marker so I could see exactly what I would fit in my space before cutting the picture.

The broom and cat images are from Close To My Heart's stamp of the month set for August, and I added tiny little self-adhesive sparkles to the cat's eye's.

Here, the wheel is halfway between spaces.  You can see that the photos and journaling areas are each arcs that fit snugly together in a circle on top of a solid base.  I did choose to cut my journaling sections separately instead of in one large piece.  It made it easier to write the journaling on them before placing the Revolving Door on top.

One of my favorite touches on this layout, this image is also part of the August stamp of the month set from Close To My Heart.  She is stamped in archival black on white CS.  I colored her striped socks and the underside of her hat with a Sunset marker from CTMH, and I colored her skin with a Copic Marker.

Finally, the title was cut using the Font Layer function on the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  I used the tiny cut holes in the letter design as a placement guide for adding some Smooch for bling.

Thanks for hopping by today!  I would love it if you would become a follower or subscriber, and come back another day to see what I am up to.  Don't forget, Scraps2treasure is having an overall grand prize and these are the simple rules: Become a follower, leave a comment at every stop and that's it.

Now, hop along to Jennifer's blog and check out her awesome project!

Details on Exclusive Cricut Cartridge from Close To My Heart

Wow, I'm back again already!  My Art Philosophy cartridge collection arrived this afternoon and I had to try it out right away.  I shot a short video on my first time using it - it's not pretty, but it's functional, and I thought it would give you a better idea of what's included.  I completely forgot to mention the precut white chipboard shapes that also come in the collection, but they are great for layering.

I intend to give this cartridge a good workout as soon as possible, as there are some AWESOME and unexpected shapes on it!  You can be sure you will see some in this weekend's ineractive scrapbooking blog hop (Sat & Sun, not Fri & Sat as I previously stated), as well as in the Stamp of the Month blog hop on August 1.

If you are interested in the cartridge collection, I would be honored to have you as my customer!  As always, I provide follow-up with any questions/problems you may have.  I am also happy to answer questions about ANY product, regardless of where it was purchased.  If I don't know the answer I will do my darnedest to find out! 

The Art Philosophy cartridge collection will be available beginning August 1, along with Close To My Heart's other new products for Autumn/Winter.  You can shop 24/7 on my website.

Now, on to that video!  Sorry for the lack of editing and the fact that at some point my camera shifted a bit, but I think you can still see most everything.

White Christmas Winners!

Finally!  I have your winners from White Christmas week.  Sorry it has taken me so long; it has been crazy busy since I returned from CHA.  We are preparing for a huge neighborhood garage sale, I've got a 5th grader just starting Summer band this week, I'm fill-in babysitting, and made 3 thank you cards I can't share yet.  I'll be participating in a VERY cool blog hop this Friday & Saturday, so be sure to stop back for that.  I haven't finished (or even started for that matter) my project yet, but I have it in my head so it should go together quickly.

Now, on to the winners, who will each receive an awesome set of Christmas stamps!

Winner #1 is Anniebee and Winner #2 is an55w.  If you see this, please email me with your mailing address in the next couple of days or I will need to draw a replacement winner.  Now I'm off to try and contact the winners!  Once again, thanks for stopping by; hope to see you again soon.

Final Day of White Christmas Week!

Hello and welcome to the final day of White Christmas week!  Don't forget to post on any/all White Christmas posts for a chance to win one of at least two Christmas stamp sets.  I would appreciate it if you are also a follower or email/reader subscriber.  I will draw winners when I return from CHA.

Here's my final card:

 

This simple card uses some Heidi Grace papers from my stash, along with stamps and inks from Close To My Heart, and heat set studs for the i-Rock from Imaginisce.  I used a technique called ghosting to create the stamped image at the bottom of the card.  Simply stamp your design with Versamark ink and heat emboss with clear embossing powder.  Then sponge ink all around the image.  Finally, lay a scrap of cardstock on top of the embossed image and iron with a clothes iron until the embossing powder all transfers to the scrap cardstock.  Another quick & easy card that looks like so much more!

Thanks for stopping by today; I hope you will continue to visit me!  I'm afraid we got back too late tonight to post any CHA pictures, but there will be some news and goody giveaways coming up - I even managed to take second place in a mixed media challenge contest so there will be a couple of things I don't normally have coming up.  I also have a terrific small paper company that I can't wait to share with you!

A Tim Holtz White Christmas

Welcome to day #4 of White Christmas week!  Don't forget to enter to win one of at least two Christmas stamps - please be a follower (or feed or email subscriber), then simply leave a comment on any or all White Christmas week posts.  I'll draw the winners after I return from CHA.

For today's post, I decided on a simple card made with a Tim Holtz stamp.

I stamped the Reindeer Games ATC sized stamp and embossed with gold embossing powder.  I matted it on a burgundy patterned paper from my stash.  The three little accents (mounted on the same paper) are some Jolee's dimensional snowflake stickers.  That's it!  Easy-peasy, ten minute card.

Thanks for stopping by today, and don't forget to come back tomorrow for the final day of White Christmas week!  I might even have a few CHA sneaks, as I happened to see more than one Christmas tree set up on the display floor from the glimpses we were able to get!

Imagine a White Christmas

Hello and welcome to day #3 of White Christmas week!  Don't forget to enter to win one of at least two Christmas stamp sets.  Entering is easy: please be a follower, then just comment on any/all White Christmas week posts.  I'll draw a winner later this week after I return from CHA.

Today I created my card using my Cricut Imagine:

Using the Snow Angel cartridge, I printed and cut just the round center image from one of the ornaments, sized to 3" real size.  I used a self-adhesive shaker box with some chunky glitter and adhered it to the front of the image.

I punched a 3" circle from a white 4"x6" panel.  I embossed the panel using the Cuttlebug Snowflakes embossing folder, and sprayed the entire panel with Pearl Glimmer Mist.  I matted the white panel with a light blue cardstock and adhered it to my 5"x7" card base.  I stamped my sentiment on the same light blue cardstock, inked just the edges, and adhered it to the white panel.

Here's another shot of the front so you can see the Glimmer Mist:

 Thanks for stopping by today!  Don't forget to comment for your chance to win, and be sure to come back tomorrow for day #4.