Coal alternative

Hard to find coal for a gag gift?  Try snowman poop instead.  Cute enough even for someone not on the naughty list.

 I did not come up with this cute gift on my own.  I'm not that creative... but I am good at following directions and coming up with my own masterpiece.  Check out this blog for directions and templates.  She did a great job explaining how to make them.  You can also get the file to print out the poem at the correct size.

I used scrap paper that I had in my scrap drawers and a snowman stamp that I had in my collection.  A little ribbon and pack of tic tacs and you've to a very cute gift for a coworker, neighbor, or friend.  have fun creating your own.

Masculine pop up card

I am so on a roll with making more masculine cards that I am now having trouble making girly cards.  help!  Well, at least I will have a good stash for when I need them.  Because usually I cannot create a card for a man when needed.

I have a link to directions on a previous post on how to make the pop up part.  I never have the gift card envelope to put in here so I just made one and punched a half circle on the top so that you could remove the card.  These cards look great and involved but are so easy to make.

Products used:
Chantilly Paper pack                             Card Chatter - Birthday                 Chantilly assortment

   

Happy Happy birthday to you...

I'm at it again...another non girly card.

The background paper is embossed and lightly sanded.  Because CTMH card stock has a white core, the white shows through when sanded.

Don't forget about the special in the new winter gift guide.  Purchase $100 in CTMH product and earn a free product.

Masculine card

I needed some masculine cards to add to my card stash.  This is a real challenge for me since feminine cards are so easy.  Just add a bow or flower and it's adorable.  So here is my masculine card.  I really like how it turned out.  It can be made with any scrap paper left around.  Can even make it girly too ;)

The paper is from an old paper pack I had laying around.  Not sure where the Happy Birthday stamp came from since I have a ton of them.  I just pulled out all of my blue ink pads and stamped on a scrap piece of paper.  Then put them in order from lightest to darkest.  The second stamp is mounted on matching blue paper and attached with foam tape to give some dimension.  I stamped the horizontal stripes along the side and added paper strips along it.

You can find the stamp set for the diagonal stamp here.

Let it snow....

Snow actually stuck on the ground today so I'm showcasing a cup with a winter scene.  I am really not ready for the snow yet but I did see a lot of Christmas decorations and I'm starting to warm up to the holidays.

The Tree is cut from Create A Critter 2.  The snowflakes are from Art Philosophy.  You can purchase the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut collection here.

A big Thank You to our Veterans

My little one enjoyed the Veteran's Day parade and saluted the soldiers as they walked past.  Thank You to our Veterans for everything you have done for our country!

Now on to crafting!  Still busy here getting ready for a craft show.  I've made a bunch of new cards but haven't had time to take pics yet.  So here is another decorated cup.  I love decorating with vinyl!  There are so many possibilities.  If you are new to vinyl, do a search on you tube for a few tutorials.  It's really easy.  I promise.

 I used the create a critter cartridge for this cute reindeer and Christmas lights.

World's best teacher

Hi everyone.  I haven't been able to post much lately because life has been crazy.  Kids were sick most of October and I have been using every spare minute to get ready for a craft show next week.  Iknow that I've shared my decorative cups before but I came up with a couple more designs for the craft show.  Here's one of them.

It is so easy to cut vinyl with the cricut.  Set everything to 3 and cut!  You will need transfer tape to remove the images from the mat and place them onto the cup.  Have fun.

Making Bows

 I discovered a tool (thanks a lot Joy ;) ) to help make perfect bows every time.  And now I'm obsessed with making them.  So of course I will have bows on my Christmas cards this year.  (I have to or I might be smothered with the amount I've been making.)

The tool is called Bow Easy and I found it at www.clearbagsrus.com.  It makes 7 different sizes of bows (the smallest are my favorite right now) and you can have single loops or as many as you want.  There are 3 loops in these bows.   The instructions that come with it are awful but I found a bunch of videos on you tube to figure it out.  It's really simple once you understand it.  Really!

I wrapped the red ribbon around the smallest size.  Then put the end through the small hole at the top of the slit and pull it around and through the loop.  Clear as mud?  It's really hard to explain.  You need to see it on a you tube video for it to make sense.  But trust me, it really is simple.

This picture shows what it looks like once you pull on the end and it creates a knot.  Look like a bow?  Just trim the ends and pull it off of the tool.  Beware, all of my projects are going to have bows now.

Christmas Tree Gift Bag

ok, here is the last gift bag post (I promise).  This tree is from Winter Frolic cricut cartridge.  I have been using this cartridge a lot.  It is very versatile.

Here is a recap of all of the gift bags that I have made for this Christmas season.  I hope that it inspires you in your wrapping.

Santa Gift Bag

I've created another gift bag for Christmas.  I found the santa on the winter frolic cartridge and had to make him.  He's so cute.  I added the stamps No Peeking and Do Not Open Until Christmas as a finishing touch.  These gift bags are so much fun to make and with a Michael's coupon, very economical.

Check out the new holiday gift guide from Close To My Heart here.

Christmas Gift Tags

Homemade gift tags are a piece of cake with the Cricut and CTMH cartridges.  I enjoyed making these gift tags and they didn't take much time at all.  Now bring on the shopping and wrapping!

Products used:

Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge                     Trim The Tree stamp set

          

Perfect Fit - Holidays stamp set                     Bakers Twine

       

Hello

This is a cute little 3x3 card that can be used for just a quick note or gift tag.  The baby cakes paper pack isn't just for baby projects.  It works great in this project as well.

The Holiday gift guide from Close To My Heart is available on my website.  Check out the new products available starting today.  Many items are while supplies last.  Also, earn a free item when you spend $100.  See my website for details.

Artbooking Made Easy (S01E05): Halloween Mini Albums

Cute Baby Card

This a baby card that I have been making for quite a while now.  The giraffe stamp set is now retired but there are others that can be used instead.  The paper is from my paper stash.  I just used an alphabet stamp set to create the sentiment.  I might remake this using the new baby cakes paper pack from CTMH.  It would be the perfect match.

Birthday Card

I've been on a roll with the birthday cards lately.  Here is another one using the Chantilly paper pack by CTMH.  I love this paper pack!  Great colors for masculine cards too.

Products used: Chantilly paper pack

                        Horray Boquet Stamp set