Thinking of You cards are my most-used cards. They cover so many different scenarios and it seems I never have enough on hand. When I saw the CR84FN Color Challenge, I immediately knew that I'd make a Thinking of You card with a leftover flowered mulberry paper scrap from Prima. The Bordering Blue from SU! is a good steel blue. It all looks very serene and elegant with the grey and white.
Color Inspiration
On this card I used the Labels Twenty Spellbinders and some fun cuts using the Silhouette Cameo. Die cuts are a major part of almost all of my crafting now! I sprayed the large flower with a homemade Create-a-Shade spritz with CTMH Crystal Blue re-inker.
Grey, Blue and Yellow color combination
I've entered this card into Challenge 41 at CR84FN.
Cute little kraft bags decorated and hung up with tiny clothespins
When I first saw these adorable bags I knew they'd make a very cute Countdown To Christmas Advent Calendar Activity. In the meantime I made this Advent Calendar, so I decided to make these little cuties into a Learning Game for my 7 year old.
A different activity is in each bag
Some of the things that I will be putting in these bags are based on where my dd is developmentally and educationally. For example, each bag may have a word that starts with the letter "B". Each day, for five days, she'll choose 5 bags and put the words in alphabetical order. Then she can combine the words as the week goes on to make a longer list. The next week, maybe we'll focus on spelling by putting the letters for each word in a bag. She'll work on unscrambling a few words a day. Bags can be randomly selected, they don't need to be chosen in numerical order.
I envision using these for math facts and also as "good deed" holders. There is really no limit to how they can be used. If she wants to use them as a Countdown to Christmas, we can do that, too! There is a list of Holiday activities that could be used for this project on the post here.
2" Scallop punched shapes embossed with Argyle Cuttlebug folder
Each bag was stamped on the bottom with black ink using one of the images from CTMH's Countdown set. 1" Colonial White circles were stamped with numbers from that same stamp set in Cranberry ink. The edges of the circles and the bags were ink distressed, also using Cranberry ink. Cranberry cardstock was used for the scallop shapes. The bags were hung on bakers twine strung across a foam core board.
The Frosted Designs Tuesday Card Sketch Challenge this week is sponsored by Paper Pretties. I used this cute little digital bird stamp named Frank. He looked apologetic or embarrassed to me, so I stamped a "Sorry" sentiment from CTMH next to Frank. The card is to go along with the candy jar for my dh. On the inside, I wrote... "For not always remembering to thank you for all that you do for us."
Sketch by Debbie Burns for Frosted Designs
After printing the image, I colored it with Copic markers then die cut it using a Spellbinders Scalloped Octagon. Then it was layered on another die cut and matted on the pretty Prima paper.
Same card - different lighting
He is so cute, I couldn't resist putting him on here again. :-) It surprises me to see the difference in images when the backdrop or lighting are changed. The mulberry paper also has more texture to it in the first picture.
Hershey's Cookies and Cream Kisses
My dear hubby loves Cookies and Cream ice cream. Yesterday at Target I saw these candy Kisses and knew they'd be a perfect little "thinking of you" gift for him.
Tear strip from the paper has heartfelt sentiments printed on it
The big flower-like shape is made from the Fleur de Lis Pendants Spellbinders die, cut twice. I folded it and spliced it together which gave it great dimension. On top of that I layered a smaller square from the Fleur de Lis set and one of the Fancy Tags die cuts. Placed on the very top is the Colonial White cardstock oval which is stamped with "Just For You" from the CTMH December 25th set.
This show all the layers of the front label Fleur de Lis "flower" from Spellbinders
Cricut CTMH Art Philosophy Cartridge Advent Calendar
This cute Countdown to Christmas board was made using 4 pieces of 12 x 12 cardstock for the french fry boxes. A couple of extra pieces were used for the enclosure cards, the letters and the circles. It is a fairly inexpensive project but is really cute when finished. Here is a video to show how to make it:
All the other information is listed below. I used a paper bag from a shopping trip to cover the board pictured below.
Kraft brown paper was used to cover a cake board
If a smaller project is desired, smaller boxes can be cut. That is one of the awesome things about the Cricut! You can modify things to your own needs. Here are the cut sizes that I used for this project:
Cut sizes using Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge:
French Fry Boxes: 4 ½” Six fit on a page using the Autofill feature.
While mat was still loaded I cut out 6 2” scallops from the red cardstock and 6 2” scallops from one of the B & T papers. These were cut in half, which gave me all the pieces necessary for adding the scalloped edge to each box/pocket.
If small enclosure cards are desired, then while the second piece of red cardstock is still loaded 3 - 2” cards can be cut from it after the boxes are done.
The 2” cards that fit into these pockets are the rectangular ones. For example, the gift, the trees1, the ornament, etc. 15 cards can be cut from one piece of 12 x 12 cardstock. I used Autofill for this as well.
The stocking was cut at 3 ½”
The letters (Christmas) were cut at 1 ¾”
Stamped the letters with an image from CTMH's Christmas Cheer while still on the mat
Stamping onto the components before assembling is easiest and will give the best results. Using Holiday Red ink on Holiday Red cardstock is a nice effect. The black scallop border image stamped on the cut scallop looks great layered on the french fry box.
It is easiest to stamp the circular images and then use a 1 1/4" punch to line them up perfectly. However, the Cricut will cut circles to fit the image used on the Countdown numbers, if preferred.
Advent Calendar with Candy
This Advent calendar is easy enough to make that each child in the family could have their own to enjoy. The following list of activities can be modified for individual needs. There are more than 24 items, so feel free to pick the ones that will make the holiday special in your home.
Advent Calendar with Enclosure Cards and Activities
Countdown to Christmas Activities:
Check out the weather at the North Pole
Play Christmas Tic Tac Toe or Checkers
Track Santa’s flight with NORAD (on Christmas Eve)
Prepare milk, cookies and carrots for Santa and the Reindeer tonight!
Listen to Christmas music while making a Christmas treat
Go to Zoo Lights and see Christmas lights
Take an evening stroll to look at holiday lights
Write a letter to Santa Claus
Visit Santa Claus at Daddy’s work
Go to Las Noches de las Luminarias at the Botanical Garden
Make an ornament
Help decorate the Christmas tree
Buy a new ornament for the Christmas tree
Cuddle by the fireplace or Christmas tree and listen to Christmas music or read holiday stories
Decorate the house
Put up Christmas lights
Make Christmas M & M Pretzels
Set up the Nativity creche
String popcorn and cranberries
Make gift tags
Make a handcrafted gift
Watch a holiday movie, and eat popcorn
Sing along with holiday music or the karaoke
Read a holiday book
Research holiday customs in a country where you have an interest
Buy and deliver Toys For Tots
Bake and decorate sugar cookies
Decorate a gingerbread house
Read the Christmas story
Share Christmas memories over hot cocoa with marshmallows
Make Peanut Butter Blossoms
Take cookies to the neighbors
Go caroling
Take a drive to find snow
Play in the snow
Make and address Christmas cards
Make a Christmas craft
Get a plain stocking and decorate it
Make a paper Christmas chain
Cut out paper snowflakes
Make edible ornaments for birds
Wear your new Christmas pajamas
Take a family photo
Visit someone who needs cheering up
Volunteer where there is a need in your community
Wrap presents
Go Christmas shopping for a shut-in
Shop for stocking stuffers
Donate food to a local food bank
Play a board game
Make a special meal
York Peppermint Patties fit perfectly in the pockets
If you have other suggestions for activities, please let me know so that I can edit the list for other people to enjoy.
Thank you for stopping by today.
Beverly
Supplies:
Paper: CTMH Believe B & T, Holiday Red, Topiary Green, Daisy White
I added a few more pictures because the nighttime ones were a little hard to see. The tree was moved to the window for better viewing.)
Tags are used as "leaves" to fill the tree
Thanksgiving Tree in the window
Thanksgiving Tree with Pocket of Tags Hanging Nearby
Our "tree" is a bunch of branches in a tall vase with river rock. It sits in the entryway for anyone to add a tag to when they come to visit.
It seems to me that any type of "tree" would be fine. Years ago I made a paper tree for my first grade classroom that took up a large part of one wall. Each month the students hung new shapes on it. For example, September = an apple with a cute book worm listing the student's favorite book. November = each child had a leaf that stated for what he or she was thankful. So this Thanksgiving Tree sort of came from that idea. And that is why I'm not very picky about tree authenticity. I've been making fake trees for years. :-)
Dd2's First Tag for the Thanksgiving Tree
Dd2 turned seven years old about a week ago. She takes an active roll in everything that happens in the house. One might think that she runs the household. So, it was no surprise that when she found out why we needed to go to Hobby Lobby to buy fake branches, she put herself in charge of selecting them.
I'm going to explain here why we needed to buy branches. We live in the desert. There aren't a lot of tree branches available just lying around. And we had a scorpion in the house about a month ago. EEK! So, any ideas that I had about retrieving real plant materials perished as soon as I realized that real bugs come along with real branches. Ok, so back to the fake tree....
Dd2 declared that she wanted to write on the first tag for the tree. It was a heartfelt message. She is very thankful for her food. :-) However, she also knows that not everyone has enough to eat - so her note was prompted by her appreciation that we can give to the food bank and she never goes hungry.
Tags and the box to hold them cut with the Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge
These are the tags and sizes that we cut:
Tag 2 - 4"
Tag 3 - 4 1/2"
We also cut mats for the tops of the tags:
Square 4 - 3"
Rectangle 2 - 2 1/4"
All the pieces were sponged around the edges with Chocolate ink. Lines and a few words were stamped using the CTMH Authentic, 10 Things, and Recipe Box sets.
Door hanger box cut at 11 1/2" in Colonial White and covered with Mischief B & T
Because the door hanger box had a bigger hole than I wanted, I decided to cover the box with decorative paper. I punched a small hole in the back of the box/hanger to hang it on a nail. The slit for the door hanger part was also covered. This probably gives it a little more stability, but it may not have been necessary. The front of the box was embellished with images from the So Grateful set.
Thanksgiving Tree at Night
This project didn't take very long because the Cricut did most of the work. I wouldn't have had to stamp lines on the cards, but it helps dd2 contain her writing a bit. The tags are tied on to the tree with raffia ribbon and brown jute. (I couldn't decide which to use, so some are one... some are the other.) The tags will eventually be scrapbooked or made into a small book.
Dd2 wants to leave the tree up until December. Then she wants to make a "Delights Tree". "Things that 'delight' us." I'll let you know if we make one. She came home from Hobby Lobby and started cutting out tags, so I'm guessing it is a go. Remember? She runs the house. :-)
Letters, Numbers and Stamped Frame die-cut using Cricut Art Philosophy
This Blessings Message Board is for my daughter, who is away at college. It was a very fast and easy project to make. I cut the letters at 1 3/4", the numbers at 1" and the frames at 1 1/2". The number for the frame is printed on the Sweet Moments stamp set's mounting sheet, so that the image will fit perfectly inside.
The base is one sheet of CTMH Sonoma Background and Texture Paper
All of the letters and numbers were stamped with the text stamp from the Universal Backgrounds set with Smokey Plum ink. I use that stamp set so much that I should just leave it mounted on the block! I also used the stamp to do second generation stamping with Bamboo ink on the Colonial White frame die-cuts before adhering the numbers. It is a very faint look, but that is the effect I wanted.
Second Generation stamping on the background of the frame
My dry erase markers didn't show up very well. Not to be defeated, I used a coupon at Hobby Lobby and bought the Bistro marker set. Dd1 may have other things that she feels blessed by, but I wanted to try out the cool marker so I wrote a few things that she may have written (if I was looking over her shoulder!)
Blessings Message Board
Tomorrow I will post the Thanksgiving Tree dd2 helped me make. I'm trying to help my children see that we are so truly blessed. Sometimes it helps to write down our blessings so we focus on the positive things around us.
Thank you for visiting my blog. Have an awesome day, filled with many blessings. :-)
Beverly
Supplies:
Paper: CTMH Sonoma B & T, Smokey Plum, Colonial White
Lately, I've been making a lot of Christmas cards. A few of them have trees on them created from strips that were punched with various paper punches. I'm sharing a few of the trees here. Some additional cards that use other punched trees were posted earlier on other days and are listed/linked at the bottom.
Side view to show the 3-dimensionality of the tree
Trees are easy shapes to cover with the strips. However, I could see using other simple shapes for other occasions. Also, the strips could be made from a variety of papers and punches to add a more random or vintage look.
Martha Stewart Double Loops Punch (leaning) Tree
The three trees leaning on their punches haven't been used on projects yet. I wanted to show them with the punch used to create them in case someone has the punch, but was unsure of it's name.
These trees can work easily on scrapbook pages or cards. Even though they have a 3-dimensional element to them, they flatten with no loss of the design.
EK Success Morocco Edge Punch Tree
An added bonus of having leaning trees is that it is easier to see the Tim Holtz Tidings Tissue Tape on each of them!
Martha Stewart Scallop 3-dot Edge Punch Tree with Tim Holtz Tissue Tape
Some of the trees are topped with embossed stars, some with buttons and some are left bare.
If you'd like to see some of the other trees I've made, please check out these posts:
Monogrammed Placecards Filled with Ghirardelli Chocolates
While working on a different project I came up with this cute placecard/after dinner mint combo. Each person's Baroque Alphabet monogram was stamped with Versamark on Bamboo cardstock and embossed in gold.
Cricut Art Philosophy French Fry Box Cut at 5 Inches
The box was made using the Shape 6 Font Layer/Shift. (The label/tag is from the same Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge as the french fry box.) After cutting the label, I stamped it and embossed it in gold. Then I layered a piece of organdy ribbon on top of it and popped the cut out monogram with foam tape.
The Shape 10 label was cut at 2" and is layered onto the box
I love that these little boxes stand up by themselves. Even after they are heavily embellished on the front, they still stand! In addition to, or instead of, filling the box with a piece of candy, each diner could have a conversation starter enclosed. Or a quote, blessing, joke, etc.
CTMH Sonoma B & T is double sided
Either side of the paper can be used with equally pretty results. This is a very quick and easy project to make, you wouldn't have to wait for a special occasion to whip this together.
Thank you for stopping by today!
Beverly
Supplies:
Papers: CTMH Sonoma B & T, Smokey Plum, Bamboo
Ink: CTMH Smokey Plum, Versamark
Stamps: CTMH Baroque Alphabet, and (Retired) Wings Workshop on the Go set
Embellishments: Ribbon, Gold Embossing Powder, Ghirardelli Mint Candy
Tools: CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, sponge
This one page layout was so easy to do because I started with the great sketch from Debbie Burns for Frosted Designs, a photo that makes my heart sing and lots of beautiful papers. All I had to do was make some embellishments, sew a little, hide some journaling and it was done!
Sketch is flipped on my layout
Sketches are fun because someone has gone to the work of figuring out a good, balanced plan. This provides a great jumping off point to add your own creative spin. I love this sketch because of it's simplicity, but also because it can be glammed up as much as desired.
Seam binding flowers
The seam binding was originally off-white. I made a pearl paint, water, re-inker mist concoction to color the ribbon. After it dried I made these little flowers and adhered them on top of a chipboard flourish embellishment.
Paper rosette made with Martha Stewart Loops edge punch
The photo was matted onto black corrugated cardboard and sewn down on three sides to make a pocket. The little tag at the top of the matting slides into the pocket to hide the journaling.
Supplies:
Inks: CTMH Bamboo, Smoothie and re-inker
Paper: CTMH Roxie B & T, Colonial White and (possibly Judikins?) black corrugated cardboard
This completely utilitarian journal is something I've been meaning to put together for a long time. However, I didn't have a cover made that felt right for me. A couple of weeks ago, my sewing machine dealer had a virtual class using some techniques to decorate a t-shirt. While watching the presentation, I realized that my Copic journal idea would be perfect with a non-marker-y cover. Voila. Problem solved.
Shiva Artist's Paintstik rubbed over rubber stamp. Gold letters are embroidered over the design.
The base fabric is a heavy black cotton twill. The bottom half was rubbed with the copper oil paint stick and the top was with the silver. The very graphic, clean-lined stamp worked great on the bottom. The stamp that I selected for the top had too much detail to transfer well. It is a good thing I was planning on learning how to do couching with the embroidery module of my machine, so it would cover up the mess I made on top!
Eyelash yarn couched down in a spiral shape
Learning new techniques is always fun. The process teaches me a lot about the tools, but also about myself. I really don't like messy projects! The oil paint stick thing had me a little nervous until I used them. They aren't very messy. And if I was a more patient person, it would probably have not been messy at all.
Art embroidered in black is hard to see in the corner
My purpose for this book is to keep a record of different inks and papers as I'm learning more about using Copics. I tend to keep little scraps of papers as points of reference for future projects. Sometimes the scraps make it into a notebook or folder, but too often they pile up until I don't really remember why I was keeping them - and then they are thrown away.
CTMH Images Stamped with Memento Tuxedo ink on Cryogen White
Lists, labels, charts. I love those things! This will possibly explain the kind of personality that feels they need to have a book they've made to refer to as they are learning how to color. I'll say it. I'm a bit odd. :-)
Papers cut down to 5 1/2" x 8 1/2"
I purchased several different papers from a few different places. Some of them came pre-labeled because they were sold as a sampler package. Love that!
The covers are black chipboard. The fabric cover was adhered to the chipboard with Claudine Hellmuth's Studio Multi -medium Matte.
If you have any questions, please leave me a comment.
Beverly
