December Joyful Stars Blog Hop

Welcome to the Joyful Stars December Blog Hop.  Where did this year go?   If you just arrived from Krista's Blog then you are on the right track.  If not, it is a circular blog so you can start here and when you return to this page, you will have seen all the projects.  Today I am sharing a card using products from our new Seasonal Expression 1 Idea Book.  These new products are now available to purchase until March 31.  If you would like to see the new book, click HERE.  As an added bonus, CTMH will offer one free copy of Annual Inspirations and Seasonal Expressions 1 to everyone who places an order. This one-time bonus will be available to each customer who places an order between December 2, 2014 and January 31, 2015.

My card is made using the Heartstrings Paper Pack X7193B and The Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge.

 

 It is the Pop-Up card on page 35 of the Artfully Sent booklet cut at 7".  

 

The inside of the Pop-Up card uses the Icon (Arrow) and Icon Shift (Heart) all cut at 7". Be sure to keep your machine set to "relative size" so all the pieces will be cut in proportion to the card.

The Happy Valentine's Day stamp is M1052 in Seasonal Expressions.

 

The front uses the Pocket Card function on page 36  of the booklet.  These cards were designed to fit in the Picture My Life or Project Life page protectors. But as you can see, they also work great for the front of cards and would be great as a child's valentine swap card.  The heart is cut out and backed with Pink Glitter Paper (Z1922) and there is a strip of the same glitter paper with edge scalloped using the Scallop Border Punch (Z1851). 

Now it is time to hop to  Marie's Blog to see her creation.  Happy Hopping!  Wishing you a wonderful Holiday Season with your friends and family!

Deal of the Decade - December Constant Campaign

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of Close To My Heart’s revolutionary My Acrylix^® clear polymer stamps—and we can’t wait for you to celebrate with us! With a qualifying purchase of $50 during the month of December, you will be eligible to purchase ANY C- or D-size stamps from the Annual Inspirations 2014–2015 idea book for only $10. That’s up to $7.95 USD / $9.75 CAD of savings on a single stamp set! Plus, once you achieve the qualifying order total, there is no limit to the number of eligible stamp sets you can purchase at this discounted price. Remember, a purchase of $50 will also qualify you to receive the December Stamp of the Month for only $5, so if you purchase both the discounted Stamp of the Month and additional stamps at this special campaign pricing your savings will compound! It is truly the deal of the decade.

 Here is some artwork using the December Stamp of the Month:

 You can see the set on page 16 of our Annual Inspirations or HERE.

Please contact me if you have any questions or need help with anything.

CTMH Cyber Monday Sale!

Cyber Monday Only: 20% Off All Cricut^® Collections!

For the first time ever, Close To My Heart is offering a Cyber Monday Sale on Monday, December 1, 2014. There has never been a better time to buy Close To My Heart’s exclusive Cricut® Collections for 20% off the retail price. Whether you love scrapbooking, cardmaking, or creating 3-D projects, our four exclusive Cricut® collections make the perfect addition to any craft room! Sale starts at midnight (MST) on December 1 and ends at 11:59 pm Monday night. Make sure you share the news about this sale with all your friends, and family memebers, too!


 Go to my website to place your order.  Need help?  Contact me at scrapbookgirl2@gmail.com.

Thanksgiving Favor

This little box would make a great favor at your Thanksgiving table.  It would also be great as a little thank you for someone special.

 The box, acorn and tag are from Art Philosophy.  The box is on page 23 of the booklet cut at 5 3/4" in Kraft Cardstock.  The tag is on page 40 cut at 2" and stamped in Autumn Terracotta Ink.  The background paper is from the Scaredy Cat pack (X7185B).  The stamp set is the "Hostess Reward" set B1454 Thanksgiving Wreath stamped in Saddle Ink.  The pumpkin and ivy leaf are on page 78 of the Artiste booklet.

 The box is embellished using Z1263 Bitty Sparkles colored using Z2457 Marigold ShinHan marker.
I used Liquid Glass to put the box together and glue the pumpkin and ivy to the box. The Liquid Glass is superior to other glue, including the red line tape.

 Happy Thanksgiving!

Artfully Sent Thank You Card in Two Sizes

Here is another Artfully Sent card in both 5 x 7 size and 5 1/2 x 4 size.  It is a swing card found on page 33 of the booklet. 

First, I cut the card base (Scene) at the recommended 7" in Seaside B & T paper.  For the inside of the card I chose to use "Thanks" on page 9 (Scence Shift) in Sorbet Cardstock.  To soften the color, I sanded the Sorbet piece and then backed the cutout  "Thanks" with the solid side of the B & T paper.  I added clear bling colored with our new Shin Han Alcohol markers to the center of the flowers to match the sorbet color. 

 

Next, I tried cutting it again at 5 1/2".  As you can see, it works perfectly in the smaller size as well.  

Artfully Sent Christmas Card in Two Sizes

All of the "Sentiment Shift" function cards (Thistle color in the booklet) are designed and meant to be cut as a standard size 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".  Most of the other cards are rather intricate and designed to be cut as a 5" x 7" card.   I have had quite a few customers purchase the Artfully Sent Cartridge that have the original Cricut machine (6" wide).  So I am on a mission to try some of the cards at the smaller size.  Today, I am sharing a card designed by Close To My Heart Consultant, Tricia Johnson.  She shared it on her blog, Create With Tricia.  

5" x 7" card

It is an elegant, yet simple Christmas card. Simple because the Artfully Sent Cartridge does the hard work for you.  You can find this swing card on page 34 of the booklet.  It is shown as a wedding card in the booklet, but simply by adding the inside piece on page 48, it becomes a Christmas card!

This shows both the swing card and the inside piece.

Here are both the 5" x 7" and the 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" versions.  As you can see, cutting the card smaller than intended did not affect the image quality.  The wreath was a bit delicate in a few spots, however it was easy to "hide" the spot by adhering a "berry" over the spot.





Please let me know if you have success making cards at the smaller size. 

November Joyful Stars Blog Hop

Welcome to our November Blog Hop.  I'm so glad you joined us today.  If you arrived here from Helen's Blog, then you are on the right track.  If you get lost along the way, go to Joyce's Blog for a list of all the participants.   I decided to share a birthday card made with my new Close To My Heart Exclusive Cricut Cartridge, Artfully Sent.  The card is the Pop-Up card on page 7 of the Artfully Sent booklet.

Front of Card

Inside of Pop-Up Card

 Pop-Up cards, require 4 cuts - 2 cuts on Pop-Up Function (base and liner) and 2 cuts on the Icon Function.  First, cut the base (outside of the card) at the recommended 5" using the Pop-Up function.


 
You should set your machine to "relative" dial size, and cut all the pieces at 5".  All the pieces will be cut in proper proportion for the card.  The paper is from the Confetti Wishes paper pack.

Next, cut the liner (inside of the card - the pop-up part) using the Pop-Up Shift function in White Daisy cardstock.  I doodled a black line around the outside edge of the inside piece and then stamped "Happy Birthday" and  "Enjoy your day".  "Enjoy your day" is from one of the stamp sets included with the Artfully Sent Cartridge.  If you plan to stamp on the inside, you should stamp while it is flat, before you fold it.

 

 To make the pop-up : First, score the main card crease without scoring the tab.
(Sorry about the wiggly lines - my image editing skills are lacking.)

Next, score the tabs.  Then fold the card pushing the tab toward the outside edges of the card and fold the main crease toward the inside.  The center tab will find the natural center crease.  When you open the card, the tab will fold away from the card base.

 Use the Icon function to make the cupcakes.  Since I wanted different color cupcakes, I cut them four times - once in Thistle, Canary and Pacifica cardstock and once in the Confetti Wishes stripe .  Then, I cut the stripe cupcake liner and adhered it to the solid cupcakes.

 The final inside piece is the Icon Shift Frame cut in White Daisy.  This piece attaches to the pop-up in the card so there is enough room for the cupcakes.  It also helps to hide the slits and hole of the pop-up.

The front of the card uses the same frame as the inside (Icon Shift)  cut at  7 3/4" in White Daisy and again at 9" in Pear Cardstock.  I left the machine on "relative size" to cut these frames.

The sentiment is made using the font included with the cartridge.  Since the cupcakes were a bit large for the front of the card, I cut one for the front at 4" (relative size).  The candle is a piece of Thistle Diagonal Striped Ribbon (Z1990) and the flame was hand cut.

Contact me at scrapbookgirl2@gmail.com if you have any questions or would like to purchase the Exclusive Artfully Sent cartridge.  I hope you enjoy our blog hop this month and be sure to stop back on Dec. 9th for our next hop.  Now it is time to hop on over to Jolene's Blog.