Tuesday, January 28, 2014

CTMH Artbooking: Real Life Story

Another of our CTMH Fall Album Retreat Layouts, using the Cricut Artbooking cartridge, cardstock and some of our Sparkle N Shine, Frosted and Sarita papers (an odd mix, but turned out nicely!).  Notice the mini-album base pages on the layout, great as elements for journaling or photo mats!




With the Album Retreat Layouts, I wanted to make sure I used some of them to scrapbook me…which rarely happens!  99% of my scrapbooking is to capture the story of my children’s lives, so I wanted to use this opportunity to tell some of my stories…some that my children have never heard and this layout allowed me to capture several of those “little known facts” about Mom:

1.  When I was about 10 years old, living in Anchorage, Alaska, I went camping with a girlfriends family and caught a 23-pound King Salmon!

2. I ran the inaugural San Antonio Rock N Roll Marathon…scratched that one off my bucket list!

3. I’m “officially” a high school drop-out, despite getting my diploma, and earning a Bachelors and Masters degree!

So much more to all of those stories, but don’t want to bore y'all with the details, lol!

Stamp Sets: B1431 Reel Life and D1555 All the Details
Cardstock colors: Whisper, Smoothie, Ruby, White Daisy,
                                       and Black
B&T Patterned Papers:  Sarita (Outdoor Denim dots),
                                                   Sparkle & Shine (Stripes/Dots)
                                                   and Frosted (Grey Snowflake)

Tips/Techniques:

·  Use a base page of a mini album for journaling on a 12" x 12" layout
·   Add in simple circle shapes to give layout variety in flow and form
·   Look at photo mats from various themes and use them throughout projects; many photo mats, overlays, and elements live on a theme-specific key, but are basic and can be used on anything
·  Repeat the same shapes in different papers and sizes to create a cohesive look

·  Use Cricut® Craft Room to create mats in sizes that fall between measurements in real dial size
·  Use a stamp to create your own background & texture paper
·  Create a cluster using different elements, paper, fibers, and embellishments
·   Cut one overlay in half and use a piece on each page 

Thursday, January 23, 2014

CTMH Artbooking: Capture the Details

This is the Cover Page for our Album Retreat album!  Not all of my pages from the Album Retreat stayed in my album, as some were used for the kids' books…but now that I have an album for myself started, I’m determined to make time to capture some of my personal stories…not really for me…but so my kids can know a little more about their Mom!


Stamp Sets: B1432 Love This and D1555 All the Details
Cardstock colors:  Whisper, Colonial White, Gypsy,
                                       Lagoon and Black
B&T Patterned Papers:  Laughing Lola (Colored Paisleys)

Tips/Techniques:
·         Mix pre-designed title cuts to create a unique title
·         Layer solid and outline borders together
·         Add doily shape for beautiful detail in one simple step
·         Enlarge a standard photo mat to create a base to the
          page as done with the bracket shape
·         Cut two brackets and layer for more interest, and save
          the two unused cuts for another project or use in a
          workshop
·         Use the "Hide Contour" feature of Cricut® Craft Room
          online design software to create the back piece of the
          banner On pieces like the arrow and the striped border,
          cut the same shape out of two different colors to create
          a pop of color



      
  

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

CTMH Cloud 9 - Cricut Craftroom

There's still time to get the fabulous Close to My Heart Cloud 9 card making kit for ONLY $15!! This kit contains $46 in products; however, when you order $35 in products you can get this exclusive kit for only $15!  Which also makes you eligible to purchase the January Stamp of the Month: Cross Stitch Wishes for ONLY $5!!!

Here are the 5 patterns you create with the Cloud 9 kit!  You have supplies to make 2 of each of these patterns, PLUS plenty of embellishments left to make even more cards!!  The kit comes with precut shapes, you just add the ink and adhesive and you're set to go!!
The stamp set is a Cricut Artiste compatible set, which means you can cut even more shapes and continue making cards!!  I created a cricut craft room file so I could create 4 of each card design using ONLY 1 piece of card stock!!


Then I stamped all those extra shapes and created an additional 36 cards for my stash using Laughing Lola and Sarita papers!  The Teal Shimmer Trim and Gold Polka Washi Tape (NEW for our Spring/Summer 2014 Idea Book) match perfectly with these carryover papers!!  I grabbed some leftover square durables from my stash to finish off once I ran out of the triangle durables that came in the kit!


And seriously, that mustache stamp…add some neutral papers to the mix and you have some fabulous masculine cards…fun for everyone!!

Thursday, January 16, 2014

CTMH & Cricut Mats

I’ve mentioned how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our new CTMH Cricut Artbooking cartridge!  All those overlays, photo mats, titles and images to create a cohesive layout or mini-album without a lot of thought or effort!!!

Well, one thing I’ve discovered…the more you use your Cricut, the quicker your mats stop sticking, and boy, can that expense add up!! 

Fortunately, there is a super, cost-effective way to recondition your Cricut mats so you can use them over and over again even after they lose their sticky!!

I’ve created a quick video to show you how I do it!!



Tuesday, January 14, 2014

CTMH Flip Flap Scrapbooking

For those who have never played with our Flip Flaps, I made a quick video to show you how absolutely easy they are to use on your pages!!



If you haven't already seen my completed Flip Flap Album, check out this video!