Everyday Embellishing

It’s easy to incorporate chalk, metallics, and bling into your artwork with a few embellishments you can use on your everyday papercrafting projects. Let me show you how!

This Merry & Bright page uses dots created with the gold metallic marker to add extra sparkle around the edges of the page. Notice the scalloped accents with outlines in gold marker which adds dimension and draws your eye. Our metallics markers will make your artwork sparkle!

Add heart to your art with an extra touch of bling—cover your Dimensional Elements with silver Glitz™ glitter gel, a clear Sparkle or two, or a touch of silver from the metallics marker! Your heartfelt messages will bedazzle your loved ones.

The chalk marker and 12" × 12" chalkboard sheet are a perfect pair for creating a unique project. Journal and embellish your memories with the quaint look of a chalkboard—minus the dust—and a lot of freehand fun, perfect to display in your albums or on your walls!

If you haven’t had a chance to scrapbook your Halloween photos yet, here’s a great idea for a spooky page. The Haunted assortment with its cute skull brads, spider badge buttons, and more, is the perfect go-to for scary Halloween memories. It also coordinates nicely with the Moonlight paper packet and Moonlight Complements Dimensional Elements.

Tell your story with papers and accents that complement your unique tale. The Memo assortment’s little note tags are great for embellishing and journaling all in one, and the tiny epoxy numbers mimic old typewriter keys. Pair the Memo assortment with our Scholastic paper packet and My Stickease^® assortment for your school-themed memories and more!

This elegant layout is tied together by antique elements from the Baroque assortment, Avonlea Complements canvas shapes, and the beautiful Avonlea papers. Add a timeless quality to your memories with graceful keys, broaches, and buttons from the Baroque assortment.

Whatever your project, embellishing will bring your artwork to life.  Start shopping today to add that extra something to their everyday projects!

Pear & Partridge Card Workshop

It's so easy these days to order your Christmas cards online.  Pick a template, add a photo and greeting and your done.  It's that easy.  Even still, I feel that these cards can be a tad impersonal.  They are great to mail out in bulk to friends and family, but I still like to have a few handmade cards on hand to go to those special people in my life. I use them to put with a gift or they even can become the gift. Using the Cricut Artiste, I can cut fun inserts to hold a gift card...or better yet, a Studio J 5 pack gift card.

A few weeks ago, I sat down with our Pear & Partridge Card Workshop On the Go and within a couple of hours, I have 15 cards and a beautiful box to store them in.

Add an insert to hold a gift card. This one is cut using the Cricut Artiste.

This poinsettia is super easy to make.  Using the Cricut Artiste, I cut the snowflake image in red and green, varying the sizes. Fold the petals and sponge with Cocoa ink and layer them together.  Use a gold bigger brad to hold the layers together and using a glue dot, adhere the cluster to the front of the box.

An easy way to add ink the the edges and corners of the box is to use our spray pen. Add a few drops of Cocoa reinker to some water and spray away.  This does get a bit messy so make sure to clear away anything you don't want sprayed.  I used a sponge to smooth out puddles.

Moonlight Workshop Projects

These layouts were really fun to do.  I stayed pretty true to the instructions but just added a few extra paper pieces because I like my layouts a little more filled in.  I have a hard time with empty space.  I have an appreciation for those people who like cleaner layouts, but that's not really me.  I got a bit crazy with the sparkles, but you know me...you can't have enough sparkle!

Here is the featured layout:

 and some details:

Here is the extra bonus layout.  I still need to do the journaling, but I wanted to get this posted before too much more time passed.

Discover the Possibilities of the Cricut Craft Room

If you love your Cricut^® machine, then you are going to adore all of the fabulous things you can do with Close To My Heart Cricut^® cartridges in the Cricut^® Craft Room. Create layers, cut negative space in the shape of your choice, make borders, and link elements together for a connected look. It’s easy! We’ll show you how.
Here is how to get started with Cricut^® Craft Room:

1. Create a FREE account in a few easy steps.
2. Download and run the application for PC or MAC, depending on the type of computer you use.
3. Connect your Cricut^® machine to your computer using a Type B USB cable. (Note: For more info on this type of cable, see your Cricut^® user’s guide or your local electronics store.) Once you have connected your computer to your Cricut^® machine, the “Load Mat” button is the only button you will ever need to push on your machine in the entire process. Cricut^® Craft Room will do everything else for you.
4. Once inside the application, choose the type of Cricut^® machine you own.
5. Insert your Close To My Heart Art Philosophy or Artiste cartridge into your Cricut^® machine.
6. In the lower left portion of the application there is a tab that is labeled “Images/Cartridges.” Select “All Cartridges” from the dropdown menu. (Note: You must choose a cartridge that you own. You can also purchase individual images from the Cricut^® store.)
7. Scroll to find the Close To My Heart Art Philosophy or Close To My Heart Artiste cartridges you own.
8. The virtual mat in Cricut^® Craft Room is just like the mat you’ll load into your machine. And, it is oriented the same way that you will load your mat into the machine, with the arrow at the top.
9. To drag an image to the mat, simply click on the image in the image selection tool box and move it to the mat.
10. Once the image is on the virtual mat, you can adjust the placement by clicking on the image and moving it to any location on the mat.
11. Now that you know the basics, you can start creating and exploring the possibilities!

Follow these steps to create the negative space on a card base, like you see on this Cheer Up card, featuring images from the Art Philosophy cartridge:

1. Select the “Card” tab in the Art Philosophy images. Find the card base you prefer and drag it onto the mat. (We used Square 1 for the Cheer Up card.) The image will be cut in the exact direction and location that you place it on the virtual mat. At the top of the screen, or at the left under the “Shape Properties” tab, you’ll see size boxes. Enter the width and height for your shape. This is the size it will be cut on the machine, regardless of what size your machine indicates on the flip screen.

2. Choose an image to cut out of your card front. We have chosen a butterfly by going to the Basics tab, clicking the “Show Shift/Lock Images” at the bottom, and then selecting the butterfly. Drag the image to the right side of the card base, position it, and alter the size, as desired. Once the image is in place, you will see a cut-out image in its place. This Weld feature is automatically on unless you disable it, and allows you to see how the card base will look with your images cut out.

3. Select another image, drag it to the card base, and position it how you’d like it. Continue adding images to the card base, if desired.

4. To cut your finished artwork, load the mat into your Cricut^® machine and insert the corresponding cartridge. Next, press the green Cut button at the top of the computer screen and follow the prompts. The machine will cut the shapes as you have prepared them in Craft Room. If more than one cartridge shape has been added to the project, the machine and screen will prompt you with instructions.

Here are so more artwork examples that have been made using Cricut^® Craft Room software. Follow the instructions below to learn some more fun tricks we used in creating this artwork.

Birthday Greetings card

Here’s how to create the bracket frame as shown in this Birthday Greetings card:

1. Drag a card base from Art Philosophy cartridge and size it to be 9" wide and 4½" high.
2. Add a 1½" bracket frame (from the Basic tab) to the center of the right side of the card. So far, all of the shapes have been placed in Layer 1. You can add additional layers using the Layer feature located toward the top of the screen, directly above the mat. Each Layer will be cut from a separate sheet of paper and is indicated by a different color on the screen. Using the Layer feature allows you to fully design your Cricut^® shapes before cutting any pieces.
3. Add a second Layer by clicking the plus sign. Click and hold the Layer 2 tab and drag the tab to the left so it is first in the row. This allows you to see the second Layer on top of the first so you can visualize your finished project. Drag a 3" bracket frame to the card base and position it over the 1½" frame. Then, still using Layer 2, add a 1½" bracket frame in the center of the 3" frame.
4. Maneuver the Layer 2 frames so that they perfectly line up with the Layer 1 frame. Use your keyboard arrows for exactness.
5. Cut the pieces following the prompts on the computer screen and Cricut^® machine. Layer 2 will be cut first, so be sure to load that paper first. Then load a new sheet of paper for the Layer 1 pieces.
6. Embellish the card as desired.

All Boy page

Want to create a border that spans the entire length of your 12" page? It’s easy!

1. In Craft Room, change the mat size to 12" x 24" under Machine & Mat tab on the left of the screen.
2. Drag your selected border to the mat and rotate it so it is vertical.
3. Change the height of the border to 12". It will automatically change the width proportionally unless you click the aspect ratio button between the width and height measurements.
4. Whether you have a 12" × 24" mat or a 12" × 12" mat, you can use this function with a 12" × 12" piece of paper. Simply place the border as close to the top of the Craft Room mat as possible, but not exactly flush with the top.

5. Cut the piece following the prompts on the computer screen and Cricut^® machine.

To create the title with the letters joined together to form one piece instead of individually cut letters…

1. Drag your letters to the mat
2. Overlap portions of each letter to connect them
3. Use the Weld feature to join the letters together seamlessly.
4. Cut the piece following the prompts on the computer screen and Cricut^® machine.

There are so many possibilities to explore in the Cricut^® Craft Room using the versatile Art Philosophy and Artiste cartridges from Close To My Heart! If you have any questions about using Cricut^® Craft Room, visit www.cricut.com where a Cricut^® employee will be glad to help you. Be sure to get your Art Philosophy and Artiste Cricut^® cartridges today in order to create with them in this new and exciting environment!

It's Time To CELEBRATE!

New Idea Book Scavenger Hunt Rules:

• Get $1 Brooks Buck for every 10 questions answered!

• If you answer all the questions, you can earn $5 Brooks Bucks PLUS there are 3 BONUS questions worth $1 Brooks Bucks each... for an additional $3 Brooks Bucks.

• Email me your answers and your "order" by August 29th and get $2 more to spend!

Answer ALL 50 questions ($5), plus the bonus questions ($3), email me by August 29th  ($2) and you can get a total of $10 BROOKS BUCKS!!!! Yep, that's right! $10 Brooks Bucks to spend on anything in the new idea book!!!!  Just for playing!!!!

(When you place your order, add tax and s/h and subtract $10. You pay any overage...if it doesn't go over $10 with shipping and tax, you pay NOTHING!!!!.)

 

Click here to see the online idea book and play.

 

WOTG = workshop on the go

***Bonus question (earns extra Brooks Bucks)

1.  ***How many WOTG kits are in this Idea Book?
2.  What four products are Jeanette’s favorites?
3.  The Hostess Collections are ____% off.
4.  How much is the New Essentials Consultant Kit?
5.  What charity does Close To My Heart support?
6.  How many new exclusive colors were added to our color palette?
7.  What kind of markers do we now carry?
8.  For each marker item number, how many markers do you get?
9.  How many ink pads come in a mini pigment pad set?
10.   We now have two different kind of stamp pads. Can you name the two type of inks?
11.   What is the title of our new “how-to” publication?
12.   How many layouts do you get in a Studio J Express Collection? (trick question…look carefully)
13.   How much is ONE Studio J PAGE?
14.   Where can you find how-to videos using the new Cricut Artiste?
15.   How many unique images does the Cricut Artiste have?
16.   If a stamp image has a coordinating Cricut cut, that image has what color outline around it?
17.   What theme is the Cricut WOTG?
18.   What is your favorite new My Reflections kit?
19.   What is the Bonus Project for the School Days WOTG?
20.   What two My Reflection Kits have THREE WOTG kits?
21.   What two assortment products are featured in the Moonlight WOTG kit?
22.   What new My Creations product is featured in the WOTG Advent Calendar kit?
23.   What Tip and Technique is featured with the Flirty items?
24.   What Cricut Cartridge coordinates with the stamp set featured on page 45.
25.   Guess what Cricut cartridge makes the coffins on p. 70.
26.   What Cricut cartridge coordinates with December 25th on page 78?
27.   What Cricut cartridge coordinated with Outta This World on page 105?
28.   How many stamps are in the Dream Big set on page 109?
29.   How many new alphabet stamp sets?
30.   How much is a monogram stamp?
31.   How many fonts can you choose from when you create your own customized stamp?
32.   How many craft boxes will fit in the small organizer with the foam insert?
33.   How many new bulk ribbons were added?
34.   On what page can you find a sample using the Baker’s Twine? (multiple answers accepted)
35.   What three finishes do the Flourishes on page 127 come in?
36.   What is your favorite embellishment pack (pg 125-129)?
37.   How many pieces will you get in the new Floret Paper Shapes?
38.   What page can you find the embellishment packs that coordinate with the My Reflection kits?
39.   What page can you find sample artwork using the new Display Tray on page 129?
40.   Name the new specialty paper found on page 129.
41.   ***What page can you find sample artwork using the new Houndstooth  Alphabet , Pixie Glitter Alphabet, OR Color-Ready Arbor Shapes on page 130? (*Find all three for BONUS prize)
42.   How many new Dimensional Elements were added?
43.   ***What page can you find sample artwork using the new Bracket Frame, Star, OR Canvas Journal on page 132? (*Find all three for BONUS prize)
44.   Name the new specialty markers found on page 133.
45.   Name two new tools featured on page 134.
46.   How many Hook & Loop Dots come in a pack?
47.   How much is the Stamp of the Month with a $50 order?
48.   Where can you find project instructions for the featured Stamp of the Month artwork?
49.   Is the card holder (looks like magazine holder) in the September Stamp of the Month artwork (page 140) a Cricut Artiste 3-D project OR a My Creations product?
50.   What is your favorite Stamp of the Month?

MORE TO CELEBRATE...

Not only did we get a New Idea Book this month, but it's also MY BIRTHDAY...August 29th to be exact. And if your like me, $10 for playing a scavenger hunt game is great, but my wish list goes far beyond that...So to add to the celebration, I would like to offer you MORE BROOKS BUCKS! Happy birthday to me (and you!)!!!!  For every $10 (not including shipping and tax, or scavenger hunt brooks bucks) you order from the new Idea Book by August 29th, you get $1 Brooks Buck!

I've figured out how you can maximize and combine these two deals to get the most bang for your buck. Here's how:

$130 order
+ $10 scavenger hunt BB
+ $13 birthday BB
= $153 which will qualify you for $25 in hostess rewards...

That means for $130 order (not including shipping and tax), you can get

$48 in FREE PRODUCT!

As always, you can share these deals with friends and see if combining orders can give you even more hostess rewards so you can share.  I will do whatever I can to make it the best deal for you!

AND IF THAT'S NOT ENOUGH (I sound like I'm selling kitchen knives on an infomercial)....for every 10 scavenger hunt participants, I will draw a name to win a goodie box worth OVER $100 in product ! So get your friends to play and let's see how many boxes I can send out.

One more thing...it's National Stamping Month! Get your double stamp set for only $5 (with qualifying purchase) valued at $36.  The deals just keep coming, don't they? I didn't even mention the $5 Stamp of the Month...well, you'll see that in the scavenger hunt....I will stop now. :0)

September 2012: National Stamping Month

Adorable Owl Wall Hanging

Home décor just took on a whole new level of cuteness! These quick and easy owl-themed projects are a great way to bring a smile to the faces of all who see them.

Canvas Wall Hanging
Create this paper-pieced owl—isn’t he a cutie?—then attach it to a 12" x 12" canvas (available at your local craft store). Here are some tips:

• Cut the pieces freehand or print some clip art from the Internet for a pattern. We used the flower stamp from My Acrylix^® Fill in the Blank (D1465) as a template for the feet, and used the
  1 1/4" circle punch (Z1311) to punch the eyes from Cocoa cardstock.
• We wanted to add Juniper to the artwork, so we added the Typeset Juniper damask B&T Duos^® paper to the Sorbet, Crème Brulee, and Olive B&T papers from Elemental.
• For the background, score a piece of 12” x 12” cardstock at
  1 1/4" intervals. Turn the paper over and lightly sand the ridges using a sanding block.
  • If the Sorbet background doesn’t match your particular color scheme, substitute Olive, Juniper, Desert Sand, Crème Brulee, or Cocoa cardstock for it.
• Attach the eyes, beak, wings, and belly to the body, using 3-D foam tape on the wings and beak. Be sure to outline the entire wings and beak with foam tape and add some in the middle to make sure it’s sturdy.
• Attach the finished owl body to the cardstock base then attach the whole thing to the canvas using Liquid Glass or Mod Podge.

Paper Mobile
Crafting this lightweight mobile is a cinch when you use two packages of Dimensional Element On Target (Z1226) chipboard circles, a 1 1/4" circle punch (Z1311), and the My Acrylix^® Hot Diggity (C1407) stamp set.

• Stamp owl five times each in Crème Brulee, Sorbet, and Juniper on Colonial White cardstock; trim. Turn cut-out image over and stamp on the blank side.
• Punch 10 pairs of circles each from Elemental (Crème Brulee and Sorbet) and Typeset (Juniper) B&T Duos papers. Attach pairs of matching circles together to hide back of B&T.
• Leaving space between each element, use a sewing machine to stitch through centers of circles or owls. Be sure to leave extra thread at the top.
• Take the largest scallop circle from each Dimensional Elements package and sponge surface with Sorbet ink. Sponge edges with Cocoa ink, if desired.
• Create the top of the mobile as follows:
  • Flip one of the scallop circles upside down so the sponged surface is facing away from you.
  • Tie bow in ribbon and secure ends with Liquid Glass to the white side of the Dimensional Element scallop circle. We used the dotted ribbon from the Designer Ribbon Colonial White collection (Z1126).
  • Use piercing tool to punch nine evenly spaced holes on the same white side of the Dimensional Elements scallop circle. Pull thread through each hole, starting under the circle on the sponged side; knot to secure.
  • Use Liquid Glass to attach second Dimensional Elements circle to first, placing white sides together and sandwiching thread ends and ribbon.
• Alternate idea: If you’d like to use more of your Dimensional Elements circles, simply incorporate them in the mobile by switching out some of the punched circles or stamped owls. All you’ll do is match up sizes from each package, sponge or cover them with B&T paper, attach thread to center of one on white side, and then attach the white sides together. Simple!

Newsprint Rub-Ons

Find out what makes Newsprint rub-ons so easy to apply and fun to use, and then watch as we show you how to create stunning artwork using these rub-ons!

Creativity with Trees and Things

My Acrylix^® Trees & Things is the perfect stamp set for showing off lots of neat techniques, including rock 'n' roll, second generation, masking, and more! In this short video, we take these stamping methods to the next level of creativity on cards, a scrapbook page, and even a journal. Easy and fun for all your stamping-crazy customers or those just learning!

Pops with Flowers

Quickly cut, stamp, and curl pretty 3-D flowers using Close To My Heart's new Cricut® Art Philosophy cartridge, My Acrylix® Hooray Bouquet stamp set, and your own creativity. Pick up more ideas for embellishing your layouts, cards, and gifts with fun florals in this how-to video.



Here's a card I made last summer using the Cricut and the Hooray Bouquet Stamp Set.  I did 60 of them in a couple of hours...beginning to end.