August Joyful Stars Blog Hop: Coffee Time!

Hi all!

Welcome to the August edition of the Joyful Stars Blog Hop. We are in the "Sneak Peek" month of the soon-to-be-unveiled Annual Inspirations and there are a few new products to share with you! If you've come from Marie's blog then you're on the right track. If not, just start here and follow the links till you've seen everything. If you get lost you can visit Joyce's blog for a complete list.

The Artistry Cricut Collection is quickly becoming my favorite cartridge ever!! There are so many on-trend images on this cartridge that I can't make cards fast enough! The card I made to share with you will be my Teacher's gifts for my kids' teachers in a few weeks because it is just so cute.

I used the "5" key using the icon and shift functions. I cut the card to 5" (tall) so it would fit into a 5x7 envelope to make it easy to mail. I used Colonial White for the base and a sheet of the new Paper Fundamentals as the cup and Desert Sand for the cozy. The gold heart is a special sneak peek from an item available in September (Shh!) Used a journaling pen to hand draw some fun designs instead of inking edges. The two sentiments come from the stamp sets included with the cartridge and I stamped them in the new Sapphire ink.

Now you're off to Lori's blog to see the fun she's cooked up. See you next month!

Artfully Sent Monthly Challenge, Day Five

Today's project is a card that took me less than five minutes - it's so simple!

This card was actually a mistake cut - I meant to hit "Shift" before "Cut" and this is what I got... but add some washi tape, twine and a liner and I've got a great gift! So simple!

Hope you have a great weekend and I'll be back tomorrow with another project from the Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge!

Artfully Sent Monthly Challenge, Day Two

Welcome back to the second day of my self-imposed monthly challenge with the Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge!

Browsing through the booklet that came with the cartridge, I noticed this 5x7 card and thought it would make a beautiful baby card.

I cut the first two "drafts" out of cardstock (doesn't work well with a dull blade) so I used Desert Sand cardstock and it went much smoother. I backed the inside cover with White Daisy cardstock  and colored in the negative space with the Shin Han alcohol makers to make the card pop. I then lined the whole inside of the card with another layer of White Daisy cardstock to hide the bleed-through of the makers. Because the alcohol markers layer so well, I colored the tree in then let it dry and colored it in again with the same color (Clay, I think) to give it a little dimension, skipping parts of the branches where there would be some highlights.

Since this is going to a friend who just had a little boy, I used blue on the bunting.

Come back again tomorrow when I;ll share a card I made for a friend who just had a baby girl.

Artfully Sent Monthly Challenge, Day One

Today is the first day of my month-long, self-imposed challenge to share with you one project a day that I made using the new CTMH Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge.

Yesterday, I shared with you a beautiful swing card I made using the Scaredy Cat paper pack but today I'm going to share with you a super simple card made with cardstock that came together in less than 10 minutes.

I made this card using Sweet Leaf, Chocolate & White Daisy cardstock, and the ShinHan alcohol markers. Each of the three cuts were made from the same key on the cartridge and they coordinate so beautifully, it's super simple to load up three mats with a cardstock sheet, and feed it through the machine without changing any of the settings (and no, I don't have the new Cricut Explore). It's all programed into the cartridge!

Once I assembled everything, I laid it out flat so that the front card was over some scrap paper and I colored in the tree branch and bird using the ShinHan alcohol markers (the scrap paper was to protect from any bleed through from the markers). I outlined the animals with a marker to provide a little definition.

Using the fun alphabet stamp set included in the cartridge kit, I stamped "Miss you Dear" in black archival ink since I will be tucking this into my hubby's go bag for deer camp in the fall.

Come back again tomorrow when I'll share another card I made for my hubby using this fun new cartridge!

Scaredy Cat meets Artfully Sent

Please forgive me, I got a little distracted this month. After a few months of waiting (for us consultants, it's been since July) the Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge is finally available!

To celebrate the release of the cartridge, I'm undertaking a self-imposed challenge: 31 days of projects using the Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge! (*breathe!*)

I found it so easy to work with this weekend that I made a few more cards than I really needed to make which is how this challenge started - what am I going to do with all these cards?!?

So, I will share them with you over the next few days plus all the new projects I am anxiously awaiting to make. But first... a sneak peek using the Scaredy Cat paper pack (because this month's challenge was using that one paper pack, ahem, oops!)

This is a fun swing card cut on B&T paper. Then I added a Slate gray cardstock to the right inside that was cut with "BOO".

I backed the letters with some scrap Kraft paper to give a little color difference and used the "Frightfully Fun" Stamp Set B1453 in Black Archival ink for the cute little ghost and sentiment.

See you tomorrow when I share another project from the new Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge!

Chalk It Up: Back to School cards

School has finally started and all seems to be going well - so far! Little Man says he likes his new teacher and made new friends in his class. Since he likes a hot lunch every day, I don't pack his lunch which means I don't have the opportunity to leave him "love notes" ... but I've greeted him with a card when he eats his after school snack at home. Here are two examples I made using the Chalk It Up paper pack and chipboard accessories.

On this card, I used the new gold sequins to provide some bling but the cool pattern in the B&T is really all it needs. I used black ink to visually pop the chipboard off the paper.

On this card, I used the new alcohol markers to color in the white stars and chipboard pieces to match the paper pack. 

Here's a close up of the stars I colored in using the new ShinHan alcohol markers.

 I have one more project I made to share with you using the Chalk It Up paper pack, which will round up the month. Stay tuned for September when I will be sharing projects I made using the Scaredy Cat paper pack.

Chantilly Card

I participated in my Team's Chantilly card swap for April and I'm actually quite happy with how it turned out. There are a few things I will add to do it for a class but it's quick, simple to assemble and cheap to mail: everything I look for in a card! *Smile!*

I am seriously in love with the glimmer tape! I am adding sparkle to everything now!

Le Belle Vie Christmas card

This is the last card I submitted in my application; it is also the card I designed for the Christmas Card Workshop last fall. You may remember it from here.

I used Le Belle Vie paper pack, burlap ribbon and "Merry & Bright" stamp set.

Christmas Card Workshop

I'm still recovering from my awesome weekend! I love papercrafting and the only thing that makes it better is getting to do it with friends. This past weekend was a lot of work to pull off but having so many great friends to do it with makes it worth all the extra effort. Here are a few photos of the day:

This is my "grandmother" Krista. Check her blog out at kristascraftycorner.blogspot.com

This is my "mother" Brenda Rutt teaching a group of ladies. She is a popular teacher at this event!

The best way to decorate a tree is with some handmade items! These are examples of cards we've made other years.

But I know you're really interested in the cards we made. Here are a few and I'll share the rest on Friday.

This one isn't a card but it is made with the new Artiste Cricut cartridge from Close to My Heart. Designer: Gennette Feagan.

Add any pretty flower to Christmas-y paper to have a great twist on the holiday. Designer: Sherri Reiff

Frosty Friends and Avonlea make a lovely card. Designer: Krista Hershberger

Dakota paper makes a great rustic background for a symbol of winter. Designer: Martha Zook

Peace is a constant theme throughout the holidays. Designer: Katie Fisher

A little sparkle lights up the Christmas tree. Designer:  Brenda Rutt

Thank you card

Since I have been sitting around doing "nothing" for almost six weeks now, I thought I would post what my "nothing" actually consists of. If' you've never been put on bed rest for any medical reason, you don't know how crazy you can actually go while you're still sane. Let me tell you, pregnancy and especially bed rest, isn't for the weak! On the days that little man is out of the house, I try to use my one allotment of "stair time" to get down to my craft room to work. Some days I can spend all day working and some days I get distracted by phone calls, knocks at the door, etc. My craft time at first was spent making thank you notes because of all the help we were getting: meals, cleaning, babysitting, laundry, groceries, and more! I needed five cards in just one day! I knew my stash wasn't going to last much longer (actually, it only lasted days) but I also knew I couldn't make them one at a time either. So, I went through my "inspirational" folder on my computer and printed a bunch of photos of artwork from my sister consultants. While there was a lot of cards I made from their artwork, I won't post those to keep their artwork pure. (I'm working on a list of blogs and artists I continually come back to for inspiration, but that's another post.) Instead, over the next few days/weeks, I will post the artwork I created, and be ready - there's a lot to come!

First, here are two similar cards I made using a sentiment from different cardstocks:

The flourish is from "You & Me".

The flourish is from the February 2011 Stamp of the Month.

Paper Pack: Victory

Here are two cards I made with the Victory paper pack and the Family Love stamp set. I used the same design on both cards but embellished them differently.

In the first card, I used the wooden buttons and Foundry Pin Clips to accessorize the card. 

 In the next card, I used the large button from the wooden buttons set with natural hemp and a star from the Milestone shapes pack that I sponged in Chocolate ink.

Check back again soon, when I'll post some highlights of some of my other favorite products from the new Spring Summer Idea Book!

Using up leftovers, part two

Sometimes when I have no real direction but a strong desire to get crafty, some really crazy things happen. This time, I challenged myself. If you know me, I hate challenges. The very idea to challenge myself was clearly some sort of torture meant to cleanse me from something but I decided to honor it - sometimes, these things work out, I told myself. Well, this time it did.

My son was settled into a new movie from Christmas so I knew I had a chunk of time to myself. I had eight 3"x 3" cards cut out of Cocoa cardstock I had intended to use in a Christmas gift but never got around to using. I pulled out the small scraps (6" and under) from my Wonderland paper pack and played. The challenge was to use only those scraps, no stamping but any other kind of embellishment I wanted. I doubted I would make all eight but I wanted to be prepared. After an hour, my son came to me because the movie was over and when I counted, I had made eight cards! Wow, I was really impressed! Here's the result of my self-imposed challenge. With these results, I might have to continue this!

Christmas gifts

Now that Christmas has come and gone, I can share some of the gifts I made to give away. Here is the gift I made for my Father-in-law. His wife and I enjoy sharing lots of time scrapbooking together, even traveling to weekend crops together. (I have the best mother-in-law in the world!)

When he unwrapped this box, he smiled and began to put it down thinking the box itself was the gift. I smiled and told him to look inside. The smile on his face was precious - inside, he found two tickets to see his favorite gospel band, the Gaithers, when they come to town. To anyone else, the box would have been enough but every gift giver knows you have to buy (or make) for the receiver.

I used a discontinued paper pack, Grace, from Close to My Heart, as well as the cork letters (so easy with the adhesive already on the back) and Irresistibles chipboard cutouts. I inked the edges of the My Creations card box in Cocoa, adhered the paper to the box with Tombow adhesive (LOVE, Love, love this stuff) and used Glue Dots to make the key on the front "pop" to use as a handle to open the box. The box is made with a magnetic clasp inside so it latches securely.

Here is another card my upline, Krista Hershberger, designed for a team meeting back in November. It uses the November stamp of the month and Dreaming paper pack. I love how the bronze Glitz gel sparkles up the ribbon. Make sure to check out her blog!

And last but not least...

Here is the last card we did at our Christmas Card Workshop back in September. Stephanie Z designed this great card using my favorite new stamp set "Remarkable Wreath". Great job, Stephanie!

I have such talented uplines and I am awed by their creativity. My second upline, Krista Hershberger, was in charge of the Christmas Card Workshop back in September and aside from planning an awesome day for 14 consultants and 40 guests (and their kids!) she designed three awesome cards.  Here are her creations. Please make sure you check out her blog too. She posts a lot of great ideas!

 The last two cards, Krista designed with the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge and the matching stamp sets. For the workshop, she precut all the design elements for all the guests to show them how fast and simple this cartridge can make your papercrafting. After seeing these designs, I'm a believer!

Christmas Cards

It seems that a lot of my busy-ness has come down to one thing - homemade Christmas cards. I struggle with this every year because as a crafter I want to give a homemade card to everyone. Unfortunately, my card list is much longer than I want to make cards for and I never start early enough to make it possible. I also love sending photos of the kids to family and friends and the photo cards are so simple to do. Maybe when I don't have cute kid photos to send each year, I will work on shortening my list down to a managable level (or just start earlier) but for now, I simply save the cards I make in classes for "someday". Over the next few days, I will share with you some of the cards my sister consultants designed for our Team's Christmas Card Workshop back in September. I shared with you the card I designed but here are some of the other designs the guests got to make throughout the day.

June SOTM

This is a card we made at my upline's team meeting last month and when I got home I discovered that I actually had some of the stamps to recreate it! She got the design from someone else, so if it's yours please let me know!

I used Juniper cardstock and ink, black cardstock and ink, mocha opaques and the June SOTM, Friendship Blessings and Unity stamp sets. 

Hope for Japan stamp set

I wanted to show the versatility of the "Hope for Japan" stamp set and saw this design on another website. I loved the straightforward simplicity of the layout and the colors are beautiful together.

I used Sophia B&T, black and Hollyhock cardstock. I actually sewed the buttons onto the cardstock before adhering to the card, something I only do when I have the time. I love using Liquid Glass to adhere my buttons but wanted to try something different. Enjoy!

I found the original - it came from Big Red Scraps. Check out her blog here.

Christmas Cards in June

Here are some cards I'm working on for a Christmas In July card workshop.  My upline's team usually hosts a large Christmas Card workshop in September but I wanted to do something before Mistletoe was retired - I love this paper pack!

 

More cards after the jump!