Saturday, April 28, 2012

CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge Blog Hop

If you have arrived from Gloria’s blog, then you are in the right place.  If not, you may go back and start from the beginning with Courtney, or just keep rolling through until you hit my blog again.

Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge available exclusively from Close To My Heart is such a versatile group of images and fonts, that you could make 2 different projects  every day for one year!

*First thing’s first; let me clue you in to my shorthand. Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge (we will simply call this the AP cart from here on out) available exclusively from Close To My Heart (CTMH, but you already knew that one…right?!?)

And now for some background of my project.  I am the VP of Special Events for one of my kids PTA’s and our school mascot is the Penguins.  I am one of ‘those people’ who has trouble saying no when it means that kids or someone who is impacting my kids will have to do without.  Teacher Appreciation Week is creeping up on us, and here is what I came up with.

penguin2penguin1

Here’s a list of the pieces you will need to cut with their sizes and what page number of the AP book you can find them on:

<Oval3> cut at 2 3/4 inch on pg. #42

<Shape9> cut at 1 3/4 inch on page #57 (you will use the center point feature to cut the oval out of the black cardstock to create his white belly)

<Heart1> Font Layer + Shift cut at 3 inch on pg. #26

<Tag4> Font cut at 1 inch on pg. #60 (you need to cut 3 of these for each card you make, 1 for the beak and 2 more for his feet)

Then you just get to gluing!  Please feel free to leave a comment should you have any questions about assembly, but it’s pretty straight forward.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed my Penguin card as much as (I hope anyway!) my daughter’s teacher will! 

Now, scoot on over to Ann Marie's blog and check out what she has in store for you!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Memory Miser Submission

On the same day I read a blog post about how imparting knowledge might help someone else find their full potential, a fellow CTMH Consultant announced there is a need for crafty-Cricut savvy folks to lend some time and expertise to Memory Miser. I took this as the universe flashing a huge multi-colored sign for me because I am, as we all are, an expert at something

I believe my something is the ability to connect with a person.

I have heard too many stories of people buying a Cricut machine only to let it sit in the box because it was intimidating. I recently met such a person at a crop, and after 10 minutes of me just showcasing basic button features she asked me if I offer classes. She told me she had spent $65 on Cricut classes from local craft stores, yet still felt lost until speaking with me.  And I am pleased to say that after we freed her Cricut from the box and spent a bit of time together, she feels more confident in her abilities to not only use the machine, but to better express herself artistically.

 

001

Here is a little something I put together for a crop that my up-line was throwing for the PTO of her daughters school. She used these 6 Mason jars to hold the tickets for raffles she held through out the event.

I used the CTMH Art Philosophy Cartridge (better known as the AP Cart!) to cut the tag with the dragonfly, and also the rose.  I knew Mason jars were popular, but the attendants at the crop love these so much, that we actually handed out the jars at the end of the night as extra door prizes!  (Talk about getting all warm and fuzzy, I was over the moon with the response to this project!)

 

010

This card using the CTMH Florentine paper, features a lace doily heart (also from the AP Cart) on the front.  This was one of the pieces I submitted to CTMH as part of my Extravaganza Teaching Application.

 

035

This was another submission for Extravaganza.  I used the AP Cart to cut the title and the beautiful swirly shapes. I used a resist technique on the CTMH Color Ready Seam Binding Ribbon to match the swirly and keep the theme.

 

Enjoy!

Why I do what I do.

People often ask me once they find out that I love to craft and create, "What is the one project you are most proud of?" My answer is always the same, "My five kids!" They are the reason I have been scrapbooking for so many years. I want to be able to capture their childhood through pictures, and evoke emotion through the art of scrapbooking. I found a wonderful company, Close To My Heart (CTMH), that allows me to do just that. Their breathtaking line of paper packs with coordinating embellishments and stamp sets take the guess work out of scrapping, and they are a huge time saver. And let's be honest, when it's fun it's easier to get a project done. Once I discovered CTMH, I decided to become a consultant so that I am better equipped to share the joy I feel when preserving memories that will be passed on for generations to come.



Another benefit to using Close To My Heart products is the versatility they offer. Not only do you get to create and protect your precious memories by scrapbooking, but you can also use the paper packs and embellishments to create personalized and unique cards as well as sprucing up your home decor. I love having the ability to transform a simple photograph into a piece of art I am proud to display in my home or give as a gift to a special person.



It is not the amount of 'creative talent' but rather the level of interest and passion you possess that will determine what we are capable of accomplishing together. Let me show you how simple, quick and most importantly fun scrapbooking and paper crafting can be.