Family And Friends

Welcome to our "Family and Friends" 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. This will be our last Art Philosophy blog hop for 2012.

We will be showing you creations made using the Art Philosophy cartridge for our family and friends.
If you just happened to come to this blog, you should start at the beginning at Lucy's blog - Love 2 Create (link URL to blog hame: http://www.love2createitall.com).  If you came here from "  Darla's" blog, CAUTION: CRAFTING IS CONTAGIOUS!!! , then you're in the right place!



    This most adorable snowman! you may ask what does that have to do with family and friends? Well in My "Family" we love Snowmen for this time of year... we consider them our special Friends for the holiday! lol Seriously, we have them everywhere!! so to honor my families tradition I made one. 

 

Here it is in its New home :)

I used 3 different size "branch" Wreaths that I got at my local Dollar Store. I made a cute little scarf for it out of spare fabric I had lying around. The hat was made with a Square and rectangle. I Used the "Holly" on page 46 I cut the leaves at 2" and the Circles also at 2". Jazzed them up with some Glitter Gems I had left over from my Christmas card WOTG kit, and some Glitz glitter around the edges. 

I thought it might need something more, say like buttons. So I made 3 Rosettes in black ascending in size and also used the Glitter gems and added them to the middle. I used my handy dandy Glue Gun to adhere the 3 wreaths, the hat and buttons. This Project is SUPER easy and So SIMPLE!

I hope that you have Enjoyed my spin on my "Family and Friend" Creation!
 The next stop on your blog hop fun is Jennifer Kramer   4 hearts scrapbooking
 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  <------ YOU ARE HERE
4. Jennifer Kramer ~4 hearts scrapbooking  <----- NEXT STOP
5. Laura Wolff ~ Scrappinsweetie's Escape
6. Priscilla~ Priscilla's Paperie
7. Stephanie ~ The Quilted Scrapper
8. Kindred Hearts ~ it makes total cents

Thanks for joining us - have a wonderful and safe holiday with your friends and family.

Happy Harvest Wreath

Welcome to our Autumn Art Philosophy Blog Hop!  Each month we are showcasing our amazing Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge which can be purchased exclusively through a Close to My Heart Independent Consultant.

It's the time of year where leaves are changing colors, temperatures are dropping, the days are shorter, and the holidays are quickly approaching. This month we will be featuring projects with an Autumn theme made using the Art  Philosophy Cricut cartridge!  

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 Darla's Blog - Caution: Crafting is Contagious then you're in the right place!



I have seen so many of my fellow CTMH consultants create such beautiful Wreaths that I just had to give it a go! I thought Halloween is almost upon us and will be over soon... So I thought  A nice Harvest theme one will last longer.

 I used a flat wooden flower wreath (base) from Michaels and I covered it with leaves. I used the cut on pg 29 in the AP guide book <Banner2> . I used this cut twice, The 1st time around I welded the letters onto each individual banner piece so that I would save my self the time (I think). Then I cut the same banner with out the letters and 1/4" bigger on all sides to mat it under the "Letter" banner.



I thought that adding the Burlap Ribbon was the perfect touch to this Autumn Theme! I used the Burlap Ribbon as the backing for my banner, I pleated it in between each "Banner" piece for an extra effect. I also created a Burlap Ribbon Flower to place at the top. I originally wanted to create a regular Loop to hang it from, but it was going to be too much and take away from the Banner which I wanted to be the focal point. So I made a small "Hanger" from the burlap and hot glued it to the back of the wreath. It now hangs comfortably on the wall. 

 Hope you enjoyed this simple Project. I do apologize that this blog post is not as elaborate as all my other ones, but I have been a bit under the weather this past week and Just cant get out of this "sickness" rut. I Promise the next post will be MUCH MORE detailed. ;)

The next stop on your trail of falling leaves is Stephanie ~ The Quilted Scrapper

Here's the entire blog hop lineup in case you "fall" off the path:

1. Lucy ~ Love 2 Create 
2. Darla ~ Caution: Crafting is Contagious
   
3. Diana ~ Dianas Free Moments <----- YOU are HERE
4. Stephanie ~ The Quilted Scrapper  <----  NEXT stop
5. Amie ~ Mimi, Myself, and I
   
6. Jennifer ~ 4 Hearts Scrapbooking
7. Rebecca ~ Stamp and Scrap Studio
   
8. Kindred Hearts ~ It Makes Total Cents
   
9. Theodora ~ Celebrate Crafts
   
10. Arlene ~ Arlene's Creative Space
    
11. Amanda  ~ Scraps of Love
    
12. Priscilla ~ Priscilla's Paperie
    
13. Ginger ~ Ginger's Creative Cottage
    
14. Michelle ~ My Flights of Fancy

Avonlea 9x9 Accordion Album

Well here it is.... I am finally done! I think I completed this rather quickly? I started this on  Monday and I finished it yesterday. You can click on all the Pictures to View Larger

I have created a 9x9 accordion Album to use at my next workshop. I set out with a goal. I only have a half a pack of Avonlea paper pack and I was determined to make this ENTIRE album with that. I of course used some odd and ends that you would normally have on hand. So this Album has of course the Front and back covers. Depending which way you open it, it will have 4 pages on one side. When you flip it over it will have 2 pages on the back side, along with the covers. So which EVER way you choose to lay it open you will see 4 complete pages!

Ok enough talk lets Show you some Pictures!  Bear with me I took several.

 


Ok, so this here is what I made as the front "main" cover. I titled it "memories". I also wanted to be able to place a picture on the front cover to maximize photos since this is a 9x9 and not a typical 12x12 lay out.

 








Up next is the first set of pages if you were to open this cover up like you would a Book.

These are technically pages 1 and 2.

Page one is on the left and is directly behind the front cover. Just want you to get a good "visual" on placement of everything.  

And these are pages 3 and 4. 

and like page 1, page 4 here is on the right side and is directly behind the back cover. Which is coming up Next.




 


but first here are a few shots of the entire 4 pages opened up. I couldn't decide which shot I liked best so you get all of them.

Up Next are the Back 2 pages which would be directly behind pages 2 and 3, again for "Visual" purposes... ;) So if you look at the picture above it would be behind the middle 2 pages... see "visual" lol.

So these I will call pages 5 and 6. These are my FAVORITES!!! I am really in LOVE with this paper.  So I wanted to make these pages appear as one big layout. So instead of 2 seperate 9x9 pages, I made it into 1 18x9 layout. 

Now onto the last part, the Back cover. Here I wanted to make it simple and elegant (well at least I think it is). I left the top Slate rectagle blank on purpose. This way my guest can choose the "title" or "Sentiment" that they want to put, or they can Just embellish it with some bling if they want. Or just leave it as is! 

 
Here is a shot of it opened up with the covers in view. 

Here are the Covers Side by Side :

Can you believe I did All this with just Half a paper pack!!! YUP all I added was a couple sheets of Colonial white, Chocolate, and White Daisy card stock, Chocolate  and Colonial white Grosgrain Ribbon, some Bitty opaque Pearls ,  and Sparkles. Of course I used my Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge and the Hooray Bouquet stamp set.

 One Final look at both sides:

So what do you think???

This workshop will be Available in the next weeks $25 all materials will be provided! 
Email me if your interested for dates if you are in My (Miami, FL) Area.


Thanks For stopping by feel free to leave your thoughts. :)

Bliss Thank you bag

Here is a quick post on this cute little Bag I made using the Art philosophy Cartridge...

I cut it out stamped the "thank you" and then assembled it. Tied some sheer ribbon around it and called it a day!

These can be used as favors for Weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, baptisms, birthdays the possibilities are endless... they can be customized to any theme!!

you can put some chocolates, candies anything Really....


Isn't this one Adorable!!

This Bag took me maybe less than 5 minutes! Super EASY and Super Cute!

Thanks for stopping by.

Art Philosophy August (2012) Blog Hop!

Welcome to our August Art Philosophy Blog Hop! Each month we will showcase a feature of the amazing Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge which can be purchased exclusively through a Close to My Heart Independent Consultant.

 We're so excited to be doing this hop and we have a fabulous lineup with some very talented ladies. There will be lots of fun projects. If you are coming from Darla's Blog then your in the Right Place!

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


This month we will be showcasing the "Decorative Layer" (shift or no shift) feature of the cartridge.


I have created for you a Birthday card with the Decorative Layer on Pg 49 (no Shift) from the Art Philosophy Booklet. Everything used on this card was cut with the AP cartridge. I used Grey wool bakers twine to hang up my "banner" that I made with my decorative layer. The entire Card from the AP Cartridge is also from the AP cartridge (pg 65 Card layer No shift)

I used Roxie Paper pack which was one of my favorites to use,  the Just a Number stamp set (D1514), Black ink for the sentiment, and Tulip ink for the edges of the card.

Here is a side View...

 I added a piece of the Roxy B&T paper to the "cut out" on the inside to give it a "wall" per say, I used  3D foam tape to attached it to the inside of the card. This way it created some dimension.

A Closer look at the card:

And of course the Inside:

 I kept it simple and sweet.

I hope you enjoyed my Creation and this months AP Cartridge Blog hop. You can purchase any of these products and more on My CTMH site :)

 The next stop on your blog hop fun is Wendy Kessler's Blog!

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

1. Lucy ~ http://www.love2createitall.com
2. Darla ~ http://www.stampingunderdoctorsorders.blogspot.com/
3. Diana ~ http://dianasfreemoments.blogspot.com/ )
4. Wendy Kessler ~ http://myscrapbookingblog.com
5. Eva~ http://loveofcreating.blogspot.com
6. Carolyn ~ http://www.nuts4scrappin.blogspot.com
7. Stephanie- http://www.quiltedscrapper.blogspot.com
8. Joanne - http://josiesjoy.blogspot.com
9. Laura W.  http://scrappinsweetiesescape.blogspot.com 
10. Kindred Hearts - http://itmakestotalcents.blogspot.com
11. Pam Stewart - http://i-candy-scraps.blogspot.com
12. Carolyn Mendoza ~ http://www.craftingwithcarolyn.blogspot.com

Thanks so much for stopping by! We hope you have enjoyed all of our projects!



I want to Remind you all that I am having a giveaway this month!

 **August Giveaway time!**

One lucky winner will get:

•  a free paper pack and 
• a "A" size stamp set. 

To enter the August Giveaway  CLICK HERE

Damask Diva's Avonlea Blog Hop (August 2012)

Hey there Everyone!!

Welcome, Today's post is all about Avonlea! the Damask Divas (that's me and all the wonderful ladies in this Hop) we are doing a Blog hop featuring this wonderful paper pack. If you are coming From Jeannie Resnick's Blog you are in the Right Place! If you happened to come upon my Blog today, and would like to do the Blog hop from the beginning, Please start over at The Damask Divas Blog.

 **Blog Candy Alert**  Info at end of Post :)


So for my very first EVER Blog Hop I wanted to make something Special, Something that I could get more than one use out of and That I would LOVE to display!.

I created this Adorable Card box out of the My creations Memory game! It is perfect for all mt 3x3 cards that I make. I love to make these size cards because they are very in expensive to make. I can make 8 cards out of one sheet of card stock (See Post Here). I have acquired so many that I Really didn't know where to put them. So I got this Idea from none other than our New Autumn/Winter 2012 Idea Book,  Pretty Clever huh?

 

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 I titled it "12 Occasions"  and put 12 Dividers on the inside for the most used "types" of cards. The Memory Game box come with 24 chipboard  3x3 squares I used them as Dividers ;) I'm telling ya its all about IMAGINATION.... lol

1. Blank on inside Cards
2. Birthday
3. Notes for every day
4. For your "Loved" ones
5. Thank You
6. Baby (Occasions)
7. Get well
8. Anniversary
9. Congratulations/ Graduation
10. Sympathy
11. School/ Teacher
12. Christmas/ Happy Holidays

 I also made a Table of  "contents" to go with it, How else would you know where to look right? I made a little pocket for the inside cover to hold the "contents" tab.

The 3x3 chipboard "dividers" got a make over, covered with the Avonlea paper I love the Versatile-ness of this paper pack!

Once I covered the outside and inside of the box with the Avonlea Cardstock the Magnetic closure was not doing the trick, so well any more :(  But Have no fear I have a solution!!!  I used very inexpensive self adhesive "mini" Velcro tabs. I loved the fact that one part of it is Clear. Worked out PERFECT!!

 Here is a look at the Clear part of the Velcro... I put it on the Bottom portion so that when Opened you cant really see it.

 I chose to put the Regular old "fluffy" white part of the Velcro on the inside cover, I thought it would blend well.

 I still have half of the Avonlea paper pack left un-touched.... and I had a lot of scraps left over so I quickly put some cards together (with the scraps) to go with the card box :)

Materials used for this Project:

• My Creations Memory Game
• Avonlea Paper pack
• Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge
• Dimensional Elements Hearts
• Chocolate Ink Pad
• Bohemian Assortment (Button on Front Flap)
• Liquid Glass
• 3D Foam tape
• Bitty Opaques Pearls

I hope you  have Enjoyed my First Blog Hop Post and that you take the time to Visit all the Damask Divas on the list. Your next Damask Diva on this Hop is Sharon Chapman. ENJOY!!

 **Blog Candy**

I will be giving away a mystery gift to one random guest. Just leave a comment on this post and I will select a winner tomorrow morning. Make sure to follow my Blog for it to count! Good Luck!
 (Non Consultants ONLY)

 **August Giveaway time!**

One lucky winner will get:

•  a free paper pack and 
• a "A" size stamp set. 

To enter the August Giveaway  CLICK HERE

 

I am so Happy to Announce that TODAY the New Idea Book is Live on my Site!!! click HERE to view it!

Sneak Peek~

If  you are looking to Pre Order the Artiste Cartridge, click HERE, or scroll down to previous post. Thanks!

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Just wanted to post a little something. I have been busy getting some orders ready, and trying to figure out what I will be making for my First BLOG HOP! Stay tuned on August 1st the Damask Divas will Let LOOSE!!! we will be Launching our first Blog Hop Featuring one of the new paper packs from the NEW Autumn/Winter 2012 Idea Book. So here is my sneak peek:

Family frame

I have been busy the past few days and I LOVE it! not so much today... lol.

I created this frame yesterday... I  had it lying around as extra from decorating my walls, so I thought this would be a nice "new" (sort of) project to work on. I know I have done some altered frames in the past before, but this one is different. The ones I am used to are the wooden frames, these are the regular type frames you get at Kohls or Michales.

Hope you like my new take on Altered frame.... Possibilities are endless!

 

 

 I figured instead of making it a regular frame that fits (3) 5x7 photos, why not "Scrapbook" The middle slot?

What do you think?

I used the Close to My Heart Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge to cut the banner, and letters. Cute huh?

This is the caption I put in the "Medallion" portion on the bottom right corner, from the Family love stamp 

If you are interested in purchasing this frame it is available in my Etsy shop.

Hope you enjoyed this post,  would love to hear from you all!

Dont forget you can purchase all the materials used here and so much more on my website Click HERE

Love Bird wall plaque

Just listed this on my Etsy shop Take a look :)

Measures 9x12

Ready to hang

Used:

•  Art Philosophy Cartridge for the letters
• Create a Critter Cartridge for Bird

Week 2 LO 1

So I think I may be falling behind. Maybe my two 2 pg LO's are starting to feel like  a bit of a stretch?? Its Thursday and although I finished the LO last night. I still had to take the photos and edit them for this blog post. So it has taken me all week to do this, but I still have today and the rest of the week to at least attempt to get the 2nd LO done right? wish me luck! I really would like to get 2 in every week but we will see.

SO these are the next set of photos in the the album. I as with ALL my LO's and photos I never know where I am heading. So for this one I knew I wanted to at least us the adorable "Bath tub" cut from the Everyday paper dolls cartridge from Cricut. I ended up cutting out the "Splash" and the tub "shower" part to it from there as well. I knew this cartridge was well money spent. I used the Art Philosophy CTMH cartridge for the letters. I hand cut all the drops that are used.  The paper packet that I used was an old CTMH one called "Building blocks".  I used Heavenly blue, sunkissed yellow, outdoor denim, and white daisy card stock for the rest.

Very straight forward LO

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stay tuned for my next LayOut.

Week 1 Layout 1 and 2

Ok so as you all know I set out a goal for my self to do two 2 page layouts (LO) each week for my sons baby album. Yes I just posted that  a few days ago, but as I was going through the album I found 2 LO's one with pictures attached (no tittle or embellishments) and one with no pictures (some embellishments). So I figured since I had set the goal in the middle of the week, I could either stat next week fresh. Or I could semi "cheat" and use these two I had already started WAY back in the day, and get a head start. So I did the later one... lol

So the one with the pictures already attached I hated!! I wasn't even sure I would use. I didn't want to just start completely over, so I decided that I would just go with it, and try and make it "better".  I am not a huge fan of using black on LO's, but I figure it was what the LO was missing to pull it together. Not sure why I thought it would be black but I did... what do you think???

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I chose to go with "Ronald's many faces" for the title. I know not too Original, but what the heck I think it works. Given the amount of pics and different "faces" he was making.










I also chose to use the April SOTM "You Are..." (S1204). Not too sure if that was the right choice of stamp to go along with the title, but what's done is done. Plus I think I went the lazy way out with this LO. I guess it may have something to do with the fact that I didn't love it from the get go. Either way I "think" it turned out ok.

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Here is a close up of the LO. I love my baby's faces... lol I think EVERY mom has said that at one point or another, right?

This Next LO I completed at a friends Workshop, I want to say maybe 2008 sometime? not too sure. She was who introduce to me to Close to My Heart!! Love her for THAT and many other reasons too... lol! This was the LO with out pics. I don't remember what paper pack this was, or what stamp set was used... Wait! I think I may have an old Idea Book (IB) with this info.... give me a sec. Ok so the paper pack that was used is called "Good times". Cant seem to find what stamp set was used. (Sorry)

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I wasn't sure where I was going with it. These were the next set of photos in the album. I didn't want to stray from the order of the photos, and I wasn't about to search through the album to see which photos would "go" with the LO. So I just stuck with these and made the LO work.

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The Left page, I cut the pics to size (really only the bottom left one). I made a small pocket out of what should have been a "title" block. I stamped "moments to share" on it and made a small card with the AP cartridge (cart), Wrote a note for my son. Just above that I stamped "Just for you". Simple enough and it works. I made a slit in the page protector for easy access of the card. With out having to slip the whole page out to get it (more on that later).

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The Right page, I had set it for a 5x7 photo, but instead I stamped the mat and used a 4x6 photo. Since I hand wrote in the card I continued it on this pg. on the top left it says "Pull if you dare" with the arrow pointing to the photo. I also cut a slit in this one, so if you wanted to you could pull the picture out. Again I converted the "Title" block into a pocket for the pic I stamped "Peek A Boo". The  bottom right arrow reads "I love baths". I felt that I needed to balance out the arrows and hand writing. Overall I am happy with the way this came out. Since I was using a previously made LO.




Alright so now time for the close up of the slits. I cant remember exactly where I saw this, I know it was in one of our books, Maybe it was Magic? Any how all I did was place the pages in their page protectors and then I cut a slit.

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 I apologize for the quality of the photo... BUT you should be able to some what see the slit. On this one you should be able to see it a lot BETTER. So what I did was I took an Exacto knife and used a ruler to guide my cuts. I didn't do a single line cut. I actually did like a small thin rectangular cut, this way you can actually see where the slit is and just reach in and pull out the card or the picture. Hope this helps "visualize" the slits.

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Well there you have it, my first sets of LO's. I know I semi cheated with the ones already being made and everything, but I did start mid week ;)

Stay tuned for next weeks LO's!