For Always

Welcome to our February Art Philosophy/Artiste Blog Hop! As you know, these cartridges are available exclusively through a Close to My Heart consultant. If you don't already have a Consultant that you are currently working with, please contact one the Consultants in our hop with any questions you have!

Our theme this month features not only one of these amazing cartridges but also a brand NEW paper pack from Close to My Heart - "For Always". In this hop, you will see projects featuring one (or both!) of our versatile Cricut cartridges with this paper pack from many talented crafty ladies! Enjoy our blog hop!

If you have just hopped onto my blog, please start at the beginning at Lucy's blog – Love 2 Create. If you came from Lucy's blog – Love 2 Create then you are in the right place!

I just had to make one of the swing cards for this as I hadn't actually made one yet (GASP) and this paper just cried out to be used for this.

I have to say though that once I cut all the pieces I could not decide which side of the paper to use as both sides are gorgeous!

I also have to tell you that although lots of the swing cards have "prefect" matches in the Art Philosophy and Artiste cartridges to fit the cut out the hart is not one of them. I tried every heart on both cartridges and although they are VERY close none fit perfectly so I cut out the heart on page 51 of the Artiste cartidge (shift + accent 3) and then just trimmed it a bit with scissors.

The card base is cut at 5.5" from Gypsy cardstock and I did the same cut from the For Always paper and then used my paper trimmer to trim 1/8" off of each edge. The stamp is A1131 Seal - Love. 

I thought I would show you that you don't really need that extra layer anyways so here is a picture of it without that extra white heart. I stamped it this time directly on the Gypsy paper with White Daisy ink.

Here is a picture of the card open so you can see I used the heart I cut from the For Always layer and layered it behind with a layer of white (trimmed) to be able to write something in this card easily.

Your next stop on our "For Always" hop is Theodora over at Celebrate Crafts.

Here is the complete lineup in case you get lost along the way:

1. Lucy ~ Love 2 Create 
2. Darla ~ Caution: Stamping is Contagious
3. Theodora ~ Celebrate Crafts  
4. Michelle ~ My Creations With Michelle 
5. Priscilla ~ Priscilla's Paperie 
6. Wendy ~ My Scrapbooking Blog  
7. Stephanie ~ The Quilted Scrapper  
8. Michelle ~ My Flights of Fancy 
9. Ellen ~ CardMonkey's Paper Jungle 
10. Melissa Lind ~ MyWatermelonMoon
11. Jennifer ~ 4 Hearts Scrapbooking   
12. Traci ~ Paper Crafting 101  

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you.

Advent Calendar Blog Hop

Welcome to our second of 2 Blog Hops happening this month. In this Hop you will find that each consultant has created a calendar, we've used different materials and created our own take on advent calendars! Close To My Heart has an Advent Calendar WOTG kit that you can purchase from your local consultant, or you can purchase from from me here. 

If you just happened across my blog, welcome to our Cross Canada advent calendar hop. I am the first stop in our hop across Canada starting here in Halifax, Nova Scotia. If you started at someone else in the hops blog and are going back around to where you started then you should have come from Teresa over at her blog Country Crafting Mama.

First let me show you how I put my advent WOTG together. I didn't follow the instructions exactly.. although I did follow them more closely than I normally would. LOL

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I constructed all of my boxes from white cardstock and then cut 2.5" squares from the arious colours of cardstock and stuck them on the fronts. This gave my drawers a little more durability (which is good considering my kids are definitely not gentle with things) and allowed me to use a circle punch on the other side too and instead of having to store this away the other 340 days a year I can simply turn all the drawers the other way and use it for storage in my craft area... or anything else really.. haven't quite decided what I'll do with the other side yet.I'm kind of thinking I'll find a nice photo and cut it to fit the drawer fronts on the other side and then stick them on in the correct order so it displays a tiled picture. Not sure which picture to use though until I decide exactly what room it's going to be kept in.

Here's a photo of a few drawers in the other way...

Now, since the project for this hop was to create an advent calender without using this cubby or to create something other than an advent with the cubby (which I'm planning on but haven't finished yet)... my actual project for today is a perpetual calendar that is also an advent calendar... confusing right?? I know.

See if some pictures help...

Make more sense now? If you can't tell I am absolutely horrible for either bringing Christmas things out on time or putting them away so if I make them fit any occasion then it's not weird to still have it on my desk in July. hahaha

Feel free to skip my ramble on how I made this and go directly to the next stop on our hop over at Michelle's blog My Creations With Michelle. 

Also, tomorrow is the LAST day to register for mine and Michelle's Christmas Card Making Day so make sure you contact one of us to register is you wanted to attend. It's going to be lots of fun! :)

Basically this is 2 cubes cut from the Artiste cartridge as well as 2 card boxes. I did have to alter the card boxes a bit after I cut them to make them fit this design the way I wanted it to. The cubes are 1.75" and the overall dimensions are approximately 3.75" x 3.75" x 1.8".

I cut a piece of cardstock 7.35" x 7.35" and scored around all 4 sides at 1.8". Then I folded up the sides and glued to make a frame and backing for my calendar. I am going to re-do this one and will use the chocolate cardstock for this piece instead of colonial white.

I stuck my card boxes on the inside of this outer frame creating an empty space in the middle for my cubes.

I cut blank pieces of colonial white to fit the fronts (what would normally be the tops) of the card boxes. When I re-do this I will be putting velcro on the backs of all the pieces for the years, months, my days until, Christmas etc... as well as on the tops of the card boxes to make them easy to take on and off to change them out. In the photos I just used repositionable adhesive, since I knew I was going to re-do it to change the outer frame colour I didn't want to waste my velcro.  I will also type out all the words on them too as it doesn't look that bad in real life but looking at the pictures of my handwriting on the computer I'm wishing I had type it.

The great part is that all the pieces that aren't in use can be stored in either the top or bottom card box. I think the bottom one in the one for myself will end up with post it notes in it. :)

I used the stamp set from the Advent WOTG to stamp the blocks and inked all my edges in chocolate ink.

The ribbon I used to wrap around the outside just to fancy it up a bit more was some old ribbon I had laying around so I have no idea what brand it is, sorry.

As I'm writing up this post I'm also thinking I might have some stamped and cut out holiday images attached to the Christmas countdown pieces just to make it a little more festive but truthfully I really like having some Christmas things around that aren't over the top with Red, Green and covered in glitter although I do like that stuff too don't get me wrong... just not on EVERYTHING!!


Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Michelle S from My Creations With Michelle

Here is the entire lineup in case you get lost along the way. You will also find this list on Michelle's blog

1. Darla - Caution: Crafting is Contagious
2. Michelle S - My Creations With Michelle
3. Sheri - Sheri Says Just Scrap It
4. Michelle M - Twirl 'n Time
5. Teresa - Country Crafting Mama

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to create your own Advent Calendar using some of the designs and products seen along the way. Join us again on December 15th when we showcase a 3D Christmas themed project from the New Artiste Cartridge.

Capture The Date Blog Hop

Welcome to our November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month Close to My Heart is offering a stamp set called "Capture the Date" throughout the month of November. This versatile set can be purchased exclusively through a Close to My Heart Independent Consultant for only $5 with a qualifying purchase of $50. (That’s a $17.95 value!)

We are also proud to announce that Close to My Heart wants to help those affected by Hurricane Sandy. To show our support of Red Cross relief efforts for those areas of the US severely affected by Hurricane Sandy, Close To My Heart will donate $1 for every Stamp of the Month set sold as a part of this promotion during November.

In this hop, you will see projects featuring this fun stamp set from many talented crafty ladies! Enjoy our blog hop. 

If you have just hopped onto my blog, please start at the beginning at Lucy's blog – Love 2 Create. If you came from Lucy's blog – Love 2 Create then you are in the right place!

Given that tomorrow is Remembrance Day, I decided to use this set to make a card to give to a few veterans we know well, as well as a few to tuck in my bag for any veterans we see selling the poppies around. My husband is in the Navy, father-in-law served in the Air Force and numerous other family members serve(d) in the military as well (both Canadian and US) so this is a very important one for me.

If you are one of the countless military people serving now or served in the past than "Thank You!" this card is for you. 

I'd also like to take a moment to say thank you as well to all the families that help support these men and women from home, I saw this posted on someones facebook (which I immediately shared on my own as well), and I will share it here as well so you understand how I feel towards you the supporting families:

"I wear no uniforms, no blue or army greens.

But I am in the Military in the ranks rarely seen.

I have no rank upon my shoulders - salutes I do not give.

But the military world is the place where I live.

I'm not in the chain of command, orders I do not get. 

But my husband is the one who does, and this I cannot forget.

I'm not the one who fires the weapon, who puts my life on the line.

But my job i

s just as tough. I'm the one that's left behind.

My husband is a patriot, a brave and prideful man.

And the call to serve his country not all can understand.

Behind the lines I see the things needed to keep this country free.

My husband makes the sacrifice...but so do our kids and me.

I love the man I married. Soldiering is his life.

But I stand among the silent ranks known as the Military Wife ♥"

Of course no remembrance day post would be complete without "In Flanders Fields" being recited now would it??

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

- John McCrae

Given the importance of this holiday I am also including the Cricut Craft Room file for this project and the instructions in case any of you out there want to make this as well, and you can find it here in the cricut project center. If you need help on what to do with this file after you've saved it somewhere on your computer please see my video on Importing/exporting files in CCR

All of the white is 1 piece with the exception of the "Thank you" tag piece tucked in.

You will need to line it up with the fancy edge piece at the 0 mark and score it at 1.25" and again at 3.75"

Here is what is in the file as well as the folding diagram and how I made the poppy.

Cut slits partway to the center like I have indicate with the scissors and --- marks on the diagram.

Place front side down on a foam mat (the back of a versamat works wonderfully, or you can use a mouse pad) and using an embossing stylus (preferrably a large one) rub the backs of all the petals and they will cup up around your stylus... then turn it to the front and press your stylus down in the middle of the flower causing the 4 petals to lift up around the center. Please ignore the fact that my poppy already has glue on the back in this step.. I forgot to take the photo before I actually did the next step.

Now cup all 4 petals up in your hand and turn over.

Put glue all around the center on the back as shown and let it dry like this... This will keep the petals from laying flat again.

Glue your black center on the front.

I cut black panels at 3 3/4" square for the inner part and another piece 3 3/4" x 2.25" for the front. You could cut the inner piece shorter to save cardstock if you wanted to since you can't actually open the card to see all the way to the fold line once it's assembled.

Apply glue were I put the blue lines on the photo below. Fold closed. Now glue your smaller black panel on the front and glue/fold your decorative flap down. Sorry I forgot to take a photo of this step before I stuck it down.

I stamped the "november" and "1" "1" from the Capture the Date stamp set on the decorative flap. 
I also used the label or tag image from this set to stamp on the smaller piece of white card that is in the file (this cut can be found on page 47 of the Artiste cartridge and the size is indicated on the carrier sheet for the stamp set). The "THANK YOU" is from a set available only to consultants that I masked off the rest of the sentiment but you could really use individual letter stamps here, handwrite it  or use any other thank you stamp you have that fits. 

Now I am also including a picture tutorial on how I got the poppy flower shape from the Artiste cartridge... Let me know what you think of this type of tutorial as I bought a new screen capture/editing software to allow me to do this much easier. :) If you're more of a video person you can look at the picture tutorial and then go watch my video tutorial on Basics of Cricut Craft Room and Hide Contour.

Your next stop on our Capture the Date blog hop is Jennifer over at 4 Hearts Scrapbooking.

Products Used:
Here is the complete lineup in case you get lost along the way:

1. Lucy ~ Love 2 Create
2. Darla ~ Caution: Crafting is Contagious
3. Jennifer ~ 4 Hearts Scrapbooking
4. Theodora ~ Celebrate Crafts
5. Stephanie ~ The Quilted Scrapper

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you.

The Artiste in 3D Blog Hop

Welcome to our The Artiste in 3D Blog Hop!  There are so many fun features  in our Artiste Cricut cartridge that we decided to showcase many of the 3D Objects

In this hop, you will see a variety of projects featuring the 3D Object key of the Artiste but don’t worry, you won’t need special glasses to see them!  (But we do hope our projects will “stand out” to you.)

If you have just hopped onto my blog, please start at the beginning at Lucy's blog – Love 2 Create.   If that's where you came from then you are in the right place!

For my project today I wanted to show how you could make some very quick but beautiful home decor.

I cut the 3D object from page 53 from acetate at 5.25" as well as 2 of the shifted Accent 4 image on page 53 and 2 more of the same image with the flip function on from gold cardstock at 2". I folded all 4 of these ornaments down the center lengthwise and stuck them to each other back to back around in a circle matching up the right side of a regular cut with the left side of a flipped one. Before I glued the last one in place I took a piece of stretchy jewelry cord (you could also use fishing line, this is just what I happened to already have) and laid it into the middle of the cut then glued the last to sides together.

The garland is just some outline stickers I've had laying around for years. This could easily be substituted with absolutely anything including a nice stitch stamp or border stamp in gold staz-on, glitter glitz, viva decor pen.... you get the idea.

I used a needle to thread the other end of the cord up through a gold bead and then up through the top of the tree. I used another larger green bead on top and once I had my ornament hanging at the height I wanted I tied it off to this bead. I think I will actually use a gold bead on the top too for the next one. You may also notice a slight green tint to the plastic... there is a reason for that.. LOL I tried to photograph this except the clear plastic just did not want to take a nice photo so I grabbed some green alcohol ink and some alcohol and sprayed a mixture of the two into the inside of the tree (without the ornament of course) and wiped it around a bit just to give the plastic a hint of colour so it would photograph.

Here's a shot in slightly different lighting:

Products Used:

Your next stop on the Artiste in 3D blog hop is Stephanie - The Quilted Scrapper.

Here is the complete lineup in case you get lost along the way:

1. Lucy - Love 2 Create 
2. Darla - Caution: Crafting is Contagious 
3. Stephanie - The Quilted Scrapper
4. Wendy Kessler - My Scrapbooking Blog 
5. Laura Wolff - Scrappinsweetie’s Escape
6. Kindred Hearts - That Makes Total Cents
7. Theodora Stacey - Celebrate Crafts
8. Priscilla - Priscilla’s Paperie 
9. Michelle - My Flights of Fancy

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to create your own 3D projects with the Artiste.

Happy Birthday Dejah and Carousel Rubber Stamps

Feel free to just go check out the pretty pictures, but if you're curious how this came about by all means read on... ;)

My cricut has really taken over my cutting/crafting time since I got my Art Philosophy cartridge and since I added the Artiste one to my collection well it's been even more so.

The fact that I teach cricut classes has really been my excuse for using it so much and ignoring my poor KNK Groove and my craftrobo.

 I did use my craftrobo when I did my couisins baby announcements (more on those in another post) because of the ease of the print and cut feature on it. My KNK Groove got used a little when I did some vinyl text for a business for their vehicle.

 Well... Carousel Rubber Stamps where I teach most of my cricut classes at was celebrating their 18th birthday and the owner, Dejah's birthday is the same week as the store (we'll just say she was 29 again). ;) They hold demo days every month where the staff and guest instructors go in and demonstrate different products or techniques and on the weekend around the stores birthday they always have a larger demo day with cake and extra special make n takes and lots of fun to be had!! In addition this year they took all the cards that were brought in for the birthday of the store into a draw for a gift certificate. Of course I saw this as the perfect opportunity to use my software cutters. I really wanted the card to somehow symbolize the store and the fun had there, so I found a site that has PDF eBooks of pop up card patterns, one of which was a 3D carousel or merry-go-round. Perfect!!

I purchased the eBook and opened my funtime software to import the PDF only to discover that it was a secured PDF and funtime would not import it... grrrrrrr..... oh well.. KNK Studio to the rescue!! I opened KNK Studio and imported it no problem! :) After cleaning up the file a little bit here and there I cut out the 28 pieces required to assemble the carousel. In case at this point you're wondering what site I got the file from it was amazingpopup.com .

I used my gold pen to edge every piece in gold and then put it all together (took quite a while to really figure it out as I somehow had it backwards to what it should have been using the directions and had to take it all apart and do it again). I then realized I hadn't really paid any attention to the size of this template as sized how it is in the ebook you would need a card that was 8 1/4" x 7 with the fold being on the 8 1/4" side, this means you'd need 14" paper for your card base... (at least if you wanted it to actually be hidden inside thast is). Oh well, my gold pen made a bit of a mess on the first one anyways (note to self use this pen more often or it doesn't work properly right away)... resized the template and cut to fit a card 6 1/2" x 5 1/4"  much better. I also used thicker cardstock this time so the pieces were a little more durable.

Now nobody worry, my son quickly claimed the first one after all the work I spent on it to display on his table in his room as "Mommy, I don't like this card... I love it!"

Okay so, second one complete, card base cut, decorate front of card, go to decorate the inside... gold pen explosion everywhere!! 1 year old daughter awakens from her nap, I bring her out sand of course she immediately puts her hands in the gold pen explosion and starts making pretty handprints all over!! Thank goodness for rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle as I was able to clean the floor quickly this way, and spray a paper towel to use to clean her up.

I look at the clock and ACK!!! the store is closing and my card isn't over there yet. Quick call to the store to make sure they're still there and she assures me that there are still a few people there at the store so they will be a little while longer there. I look at my blank inside of the card (with the exception of my 3D carousel) and sigh as there is no way I have time to decorate the inside with gold ink and some stamps now (considering I have no idea where the stamps I would think to use on it are at the moment).. Oh well, hopefully noone will notice as they'll be distracted by the carousel right?!?!

If you made it through all that wow, thanks for your patience and I seriously hope the laugh at my disaster was worth all that reading. LOL

Without further ado... here is what I came up with:

oh and yes you caught me... I did use my cricut and the new Artiste cricut cartridge and stamps that come bundled with it for the Happy Birthday banner sentiment. 

and a few different shots of the inside:

see my blank inside around it?? :(

..and from the top

What do you think? I  have to say I LOVED this one!! It won't be one I'll ever mass produce as it was VERY time consuming but as a stunning card for a very special person I will definitely do this again.

Happy Birthday Dejah and Carousel Rubber Stamps!!

A Very Merry Christmas SOTM blog hop

Welcome to our October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month Close to My Heart is offering a stamp set called "Very Merry Christmas". This set can be purchased exclusively through a Close to My Heart Independent Consultant for only $5 with a qualifying purchase of $50. (That’s a $17.95 value!)

In this hop, you will see projects featuring this fun stamp set from many talented crafty ladies!
Enjoy our blog hop - we hope we inspire you to create your “very” own Merry Christmas projects!

We are having a giveaway – that’s right blog candy for you hoppers! Carolyn of Nuts 4 Scrappin  is giving away a stamp set to one of our hoppers! She is giving away a stamp set called "Bonjour". You can see a picture of the stamp set on her blog. All you have to do to be eligible to win is to leave a comment on each blog and become a follower of Carolyn's blog.

If you have just hopped onto my blog, please start at the beginning at Lucy's blog – Love 2 Create. If you came from Lucy's blog – Love 2 Create then you are in the right place!



I actually felt a little guilty about how quickly my project came together for this hop. A quick couple cuts on the cricut with my Artiste cartridge... stamp, add a little extra ink on the mittens with a sponge dauber, stick the layer together and voila. Oh and of course a little bit of Stardust Glitz glitter gel to add a bit of sparkle to the mitten. Simple and easy card but I have to say I love the result.


Check it out:

Oh, and a side shot to show the dimension added by using some 3D foam tape for the banner and mittens.

Details:
The cuts I used were all from the Artiste cartridge  They are the mitten which can be found on page 79 as well as a banner shape on page 58 that I did distort in Cricut Craft Room as I wanted it to be 3/4" x 3 1/2" but at 3/4" height it was only about 2 1/2" long so I used CCR to keep the height at 3/4" and stretch the length out.
The card base is colonial white, 2nd layer is Cranberry and the patterned paper is from the Pear and Partridge papers. I also used some colonial white embroidery floss and a cranberry brad. The ink is all of course.. cranberry ink. Mittens and banner on 3D foam tape and a little bit of Stardust Glitz glitter gel added to the mitten for some sparkle.



Your next stop on our Very Merry Christmas blog hops is Michelle  ~My Creations With Michelle

SIDE NOTE: Michelle (your next stop on this hop) and I are offering an all day, 12 card Christmas class on December 1st if you're local here in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 6 cards will be designed by myself and 6 by Michelle. Contact either one of us for more info.
If you're not local but still want to make the cards feel free to contact one of us as well as I'm sure we can arrange to put a little card kit together for you to make at home.

Products Used:



Here is the complete lineup in case you get lost along the way:

1. Lucy ~ Love 2 Create
2. Darla ~ Caution: Crafting is Contagious
3. Michelle ~ My Creations With Michelle
4. TinaGale ~ My Scrappy Ideas
5. Jennifer ~ 4 Hearts Scrapbooking
6. Carolyn  ~ Nuts 4 Scrappin'
7. Stephanie  ~ The Quilted Scrapper
8. Amanda ~ Scraps of Love

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to create your own "Very Merry Christmas" projects.

Make It From Your Heart

Today we will show you how to Make It From Your Heart! Jeanette Lynton has created a brand NEW “how-to” program to not only guide you but also inspire you to create beautiful artwork. This amazing publication has so many different pattern blueprints that you can interpret in ANY WAY you want!

Through our blog hop, we hope to inspire you to use your own artistic instincts to interpret and create your own artwork. Each of our crafty consultants has chosen a different page of this book to create two projects for you – that’s right two projects with the SAME pattern! One project will follow the blueprint pattern as laid out. The second project will use the pattern “with a twist” to show you how versatile the patterns are.


We are having a giveaway – that’s right blog candy for you hoppers! Lucy of Love 2 Create will be giving away a copy of the Make It From Your Heart – Volume 1. All you have to do to be eligible to win is to leave a comment on each blog.


If you just happened to come to this blog, you should begin your hop at the beginning at Lucy's blog

Before I even get to my project can I just say for the record that I love our new how-to book! It's very economical at only $7.95 with TONS of inspiration in it!!

My project today uses pattern number 19 on page 42 of the new how-to book Make It From Your Heart - Volume 1..

I saw the vertical stripes that are in this pattern as well as the smaller squares on each stripe and decided to make this card and some cute little ribbon boxes and caddy. 

The card is made using the stamps that come bundled with the Artiste cartridge, which made it super easy to put together. I just cut out the shapes from colonial white cardstock as directed on the carrier sheet of the stamp set (love that it now includes the page # from the handbook) and stamped them accordingly. I stamped the balloons in Pacifica, Olive, Honey and Cranberry ink and after popping them up on foam tape in the middle and sticking the edges of the balloons flat down I then added some Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel. I stamped the strings directly on the card overlapping onto the balloon shape in the same colours. The Happy Birthday banner is in Black to coordinate with the stripes on the moonlight patterned paper. The banner is also on foam tape.

I love our colour ready seam binding and as I collect re-inkers I plan to order a roll of seam binding for each and ink them up in all the colours. As you can see I don't have any pacifica reinker yet and although you can just ink it with a stamp pad I actually had some twill ribbon left from the pacifica mini-medley assortment so I put that in. I also used our new alcohol markers on the olive one just to see how it would turn out and I absolutely love how fast it dries using the alcohol marker. I wouldn't do a whole roll this way since you'll use up your markers quickly doing it that way but if you want some for a project right away and don't have time to let the ink dry overnight (which is what I would recommend if using reinker or even a stamp pad) the alcohol markers work wonderfully! 

Since I removed the seam binding from the roll to dye it and can never manage to get it back on the roll the same way I thought it would be cute and a great way to store them all by making some boxes in the same colour paper.

I cut the lid for the tall box on page 40 of the Artiste cartridge (shift + 3D Object + 1st row far right of the white keys or 1-10 for those that know my numbering system) at 3.5" for the top of each box and 3.4" for the bottom of each box in the various colours of cardstock and then turned Real Dial Size on and cut one at 5.5" in colonial white as a holder for all the boxes. Then I assembled the box tops and bottoms and used a hole punch to punch a hole in the same spot on the side of both top and bottom I rolled up some ribbon and put it in the box and fed the end through the bottom part first and then the top and then closed up the box. I cut a strip of the moonlight patterned paper for the front panel of my box to coordinate with my card so it could be used as a gift set (although this particular set is just my test run of how this will work for my own craft room).

Here's a photo of the ribbon boxes in different views including one opened up so you can see how I fed the ribbon through the holes

.

The next stop to making it from your heart is Michelle ~ My Creations with Michelle.

Products Used:


Here is the list of all the talented consultants who are participating in this months blog hop:

1. Lucy ~ Love 2 Create 
2. Darla ~ Caution: Crafting is Contagious
3. Michelle ~ My Creations with Michelle
4. Maria ~ Maria's Paper Craft Place
5. Theodora ~ Celebrate Crafts
6. Bethany ~ Stamping at Home
7. Stephanie ~ Quilted Scrapper
8. Wendy ~ My Scrapbooking Blog

Take a Walk in the Moonlight

Thank you for joining us on our “Take a Walk in the Moonlight” Blog Hop. We have a fabulous path for you to follow as you take your walk in the moonlight with us as we feature Close to My Heart’s Moonlight paper pack.

If you just happened to come to this blog, you should begin your walk at the beginning at Lucy's blog - Love 2 Create.

Yesterday was my cousins 22nd  birthday so I made her a birthday card using the Moonlight Paper some Black Cardstock and the Artiste Cartridge.


It started out looking like this.. but it just needed a little something more.. don't you think?

So I blinged it up a little with some silver marker. Which version do you like better?

This card is a gift card holder. I just love that this cartridge has all these fantastic cards on it. Here's the inside with a cute gift card for Chapters:

You can find this gift card holder in the Artiste Cartridge handbook on Page 59 Card Feature Key :

Products Used:


The next stop on your moonlight walk is Deanne Treasured Heart.


Here is the list of all the talented consultants who will lead you down the moonlight path:

1. Lucy ~ Love 2 Create
2. Darla ~ Caution: Crafting is Contagious
3. Deanne Treasured Heart
4. Bethany ~ Stamping At Home
5. Wendy ~ My Scrapbooking Blog
6. Stephanie ~ The Quilted Scrapper
7. Erin ~ CreatErin
8. Maria ~ Maria's Paper Craft Place
9. Carolyn ~ Nuts 4 Scrappin'
10. Joanne ~ Josie's Joy
11. Julia ~ You Can Create
12. Theodora ~ Celebrate Crafts

Products Used:

September ARTISTE Blog Hop

Welcome to our September ARTISTE Blog Hop! Each month we are showcasing the amazing, exclusive ARTISTE Cricut cartridge which can be only purchased through a Close to My Heart Independent Consultant.

We don't want to scare you but Halloween is a little over a month away and we know you have to be thinking about what YOU are going to create for this spooky holiday! We decided to show you all the creative projects you can make using our exclusive Artiste Cricut cartridge. You will be hopping along our haunted trail of creativity - you never know what you will see next!

If you just happened to come to this blog, you should start at the beginning at Lucy's blog

Also, to help you get ready to start making your own Halloween projects Lucy has some blog candy for you! She is giving away a Moonlight Complements Dimensional Elements pack! That's two (2) sheets of Printed Dimensional Elements that you can use to create your own Halloween project! There is a picture of the blog candy on her blog. All you have to do to be eligible to win is to leave a comment on everyone's blog AND become a follower of Lucy's blog. (If you are already a follower, just let her know in your comment.)

Okay.. first I need to apologize. If you came to visit my blog earlier blogger apparently did not keep all the updates I did to my post so all you saw was a Christmas themed project. I'm sure you all had thought I lost my mind! 

The truth is I was working away on my project for this hop and looking through the handbook I got excited to try the holder you will see below and I wanted a bunch of cards to put in it so I pulled out my Pear & Partridge Workshop On The Go Cardmaking Kit and got working on the cards. I also didn't like the plain squares so as you will see below I switched it out for a shape from the Artiste cartridge as well.

Now.. 2 days ago I was going through the hop write up and editing my post for you all when I realized that I had completely ignored the hop theme "Halloween" so a complete re-do was in order! I edited the whole thing and re-scheduled it to post but apparently blogger really liked my Chrsitmas project as it reverted the whole post back to that. Good new is now I'm going to show you both today instead of saving the Christmas one for tomorrow like I was going to had blogger cooperated. :)

I decided I still wanted to use the same concept.. so I switched out the Pear & Partridge B&T for the Moonlight B&T. I embossed my card base and ran my cocoa ink pad over the embossing to highlight it and instead of using stamps I cut the phrase "Eek!" from page 76 of the Artiste handbook and I also added the spider (accent 4 with shift on page 77) cut from more of the same left over cocoa cardstock from the Pear & Partridge Workshop On The Go Cardmaking Kit, seriously I wonder how many more projects I can make from this kit?? I added some color ready seam binding that I died with the Olive stamp pad and eur"eek"a a Halloween themed project to share for you.

Here are some pictures of my Halloween theme card and holder set:

Now for more details on the shapes and to see what the Christmas themed one looks like and how easy it was to switch just scroll down and you can see my post that anyone that came this morning saw as well as you will find the hop lineup and your next stop at the end.

Let me know which one do you like best??

If you don't want to see the Christmas one and just want to be on your way to the next stop.. The next stop on the haunted trail is Diana - Dianas Free Moments and you're going to love what she has for you.

Today I used the Pear & Partridge Workshop On The Go Cardmaking Kit and essentially used the projects exactly as the workshop instructions that come in the kit say to.. except I found the plain squares for the focal images boring so I used the Accent 3 shape from page 61 of the Artiste Cricut Cartridge for 2 out of the 3 card designs in the kit.

 

I also added a little holder for all the cards using the paper left in the package after making all 15 of these cards, yep... you heard me.. there was paper left over and actually still is a bit left after making the holder.

For the holder I cut the Accent 3 shape on page 47 of the Artiste Cartridge from my left over Pear & Partridge B&T from this kit and the Accent 3 with the shift key on page 47 of the Artiste Cartridge from the left over Cocoa cardstock from the kit. I think I will embellish the holder a bit more... maybe add some ribbon and bling! :) What do you think?

I used the Cranberry marker to ink the "A MERRY LITTLE" on this card instead of cutting out a seperate piece and masking it and inking in the cranberry ink I just found this went faster.

I just love the stamp set that came in the Pear & Partridge Cardmaking Kit as well. It's so cute and versatile! It has 6 sentiments (one being that lovely one with the birds and filigree on it to be used as a focal image), 3 different present, 3 different ornaments, the string for the ornament, 2 partridge birds and a branch. I can see myself grabbing this set a lot.


Products Used:


The next stop on the haunted trail is Diana - Dianas Free Moments

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

1. Lucy - Love 2 Create  Previous
2. Darla - Caution Crafting is Contagious You are here
3. Diana - Dianas Free Moments Go here next
4. Carolyn - Nuts 4 Scrappin'
5. Julia Hammond - You Can Create 
6. Wendy Kessler - My Scrapbooking Blog
7. Pam Stewart - I Candy Scraps
8. Carolyn Mendoza - Crafting With Carolyn 
9. Jennifer Kramer - 4 Hearts Scrapbooking 
10. Maria Woodworth - Maria's Paper Craft Place 
11. Kindred Hearts - It Makes TOTAL Cents
12. Ginger Morriello - Ginger's Creative Cottage 

Thanks for stopping by for some Halloween fun -- hope we didn't scare the creativity out of you! Muah-ha-ha!