I will have to say my 4 year old does not appreciate the 8-legged creatures in my artwork. I'm not a fan of spiders either but I thought they looked cute in paper form. He said in his little sweet way, "Mom, there are 3 spiders - here I will show you - and your decoration does not have to sit on this table..." (Noted: Put it up higher so it's not at his eye level.) It probably doesn't help that it looks like the jack-o-latern is also scared of the spider hanging out of the web! hahaha Oh, boy! Sorry dude, I won't put up any more spiders for Halloween!
Here's what I've been working with lately and LOVE!!
1) Hexagons!
CTMH has a couple different hexagon stamp sets (Honeycomb and Happy Hexagons) and I just went to town with them on a layout for this month! Seriously, I used the Cricut to cut 30 hexagons in 3 different sizes for a two-page layout and then stamped away in several colors and patterns. It was SO FUN!
Honeycomb has many different patterned hexagons and some itty-bitty cute ones!
2) Glitter Paper!
m'kay... who doesn't love glitter? But, glitter can sometimes be just annoying to work with because well... you end up with glitter EVERYWHERE and it doesn't seem to ever go away, months later... oh! more glitter...
I have found CTMH glitter paper to be just awesome! It does not leave glitter all over the place!! In addition to not leaving a glitter trail (like a little fairy fluttering around) it's cute, it's awesome quality and it's super easy peasy to cut on the Cricut! I usually send it through the same cut twice just to be sure it cute completely (it's a little bit thicker) and because I just don't like to have to fussy cut after I use the Cricut, that's the Cricut's job! :) I have cut both shapes and titles with glitter paper and all things have turned out beautiful! Also, my cricut mat is still usable and not full of glitter! Win, win, win! Check out all these glitter pack colors... I have added some to my wish list! :)
Black & Silver
Brown & Tan
Green
Pink
Purple
Teal
3) Non-stick Micro-Tip Scissors
I received this gem in my new consultant kit and I love it! It still pull out my big ol'Fiskars for long cuts, but when I'm doing anything else with detail or working with adhesive my new sidekick is in my hands. I love that it's non-stick, is super sharp and can cut through anything (including adhesive, i.e. pop dots/foam tape) without sticking. It's also perfect for fussy cutting.
4) Score Board
'Tis the season for football!! Well this scoreboard is used while crafting. :) This is a handy tool for making cards and envelopes but lately I've been using it for adding depth and dimension to papers in my projects, more on that later. Also, the bone folder that comes with it is a handy tool in many paper projects. I used it to fold the petals on paper flowers and to curl paper ribbon on cards. CTMH came out with a score board with the release of Annual Inspirations you can find it on page 181.
5) Artbooking Cricut Collection Artbooking has so many cuts to it! The Artbooking Collection comes with 700 images (including font, mini books and layouts), 3 My Acrylix D-Size Stamp Sets and 3 sheets of Dimensional Elements. I love that CTMH makes stamping many images easy for us crafters with all their Cricut compatible stamp sets. Almost each time I'm stamping there is a Cricut cut that I can use to make my stamping and embellishing even easier. I fine myself frequently using this cartridge while crafting. I love the background elements Artbooking offers for page layouts!
Artwork created using Artbooking:
There you have it, my five favorite crafting go-tos right now. Visit my online shopping site (ellielundstrom.ctmh.com) to grab some of your own favorite things!!
Did you sign up for the Layout Workshop this week?
Yes? Then you get to make these... plus another!!
Happy Hexagons!
Pathfinding Card Workshop on the Go elements on a two-page layout... LOVE!
No, but you wish you could have... would have... wanted to...?? Well mark your calendar for the next Layout Workshop Tuesday, November 11th from 6pm-9pm at my house! Remember, if the layout date doesn't work for your schedule I'd be happy to make you a layout kit and deliver it to you!!
I didn't skip October. October is full of fun too!!
Croptober Fest Crop & Craft at my house on Saturday, October 18th.
Christmas Card Workshop at my house on Tuesday, October 28th from 6pm-8pm.
Please enjoy this while I stamp, scrap, trim paper and make lists of projects I want to get to. Truly, I have had a super crafting-productive weekend getting things done!
I stumbled upon this little comic of Scrapbookers while on Pinterest the other day. What kind of Scrapbooker are you?? How about your friends? This seriously makes me giggle so much!!!
Keep stopping back, I'll have posts and pictures ready to go.... Halloween decor, scrapbook layouts, another Friday Fav Five, sneak peaks for upcoming workshops... Oh my, right?! :)
What a sunny morning it is here today!! Happy Sunday!
First and foremost, the Artfully Sent Cricut Collection has been released to Close to my Heart and has been available since Thursday! I know... I know... it's Sunday. I had a chance to post the exciting news on my Facebook page but not here yet, so how about now??
I am excited to get mine! I like that it can make cute cards but that it also can be used to create pocket cards for Picture My Life pages and other layouts as well! This collection is a big one just like all of Close to My Heart's collections. You can create 400 unique projects from this collection. The Artfully Sent cartridge comes with 700 images and an alphabet. The collection also includes 3 stamp sets, (sentiments, frames, and alphabets that coordinate with the alphabet on the cartridge) and a 24 pack of White Daisy cardstock to get your creativity kicked off! Be sure to "like" my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/inspirecreatecultivate) to get in on all the chatter and announcements! :)
This week I have been creating and completing projects for upcoming home parties and workshops and just getting in some good ol' paper playing! :)
At the end of the month a friend of my is hosting a workshop and one of the things we'll be making is a fall bunting. I had fun with my Cricut and got mine (the example) made! By the way, this is also the first chance I have taken to play with Close to My Heart's glitter paper and I'm impressed! It's durable, the glitter does not fall off and get all over the place when you're working with it and I put it through my Cricut and it cut with out any problems. I'll be adding more shades of glitter paper to my wish list! Here's a sneak peak. :)
Artbooking Cricut Collection, Pathfinding Paper, Brown & Tan Glitter Paper
I had a chance to go to a workshop this week hosted by my upline, Karina. She had a card workshop and ran it using the new {to us} card buffet workshop style that a CTMH Senior Director on our team, Barbra Otten, uses. It was fun to create and learn. It really was great: everyone can work at their own pace, there is variety in design and complexity of the cards and everyone is able to choose to design the cards they prefer. Here's a snapshot of a few of the cards I made. Many of the cards were designed by Barbra and some have a Karina twist. :) I know for sure the top card has a Karina twist; she added a different element on the mounted frame...check out the flower stamped using the "rock and roll" technique. This marks the first time I have quite literally rock and rolled stamping. :)
So crafting so totally rocks, right? But, what's the "rock and roll" technique you ask? I'll let Kristine and Monica demonstrate for you you! :)
My wheels are definitely in motion and I am going to give this Barbra Otten style workshop a spin, too. Mark your calendars, if you haven't already, for my Christmas Card Workshop on Tuesday, October 28th from 6pm-8pm! It will be a buffet of cards for you to choose from, stay tuned for more details...
