Fab Five Friday and a CHA Update

Welcome to another Fab Five Friday and an update from CHA.

This has been a very busy week at CHA with the debut of the Imagine. Check out the following links to learn more about the new Cricut Imagine.

A special thanks to Tammy from Creative Critters for providing regular updates on both her website and Facebook regarding the launch of the Imagine. Please click here to see a series of videos on the new Imagine.

Also Everyday Cricut’s site features another informative video on the Imagine. Wow! This machine looks amazing and the good news is that we can use our cartridges in the machine.

Diane from Capadia Designs posted several Imagine projects that are on display at CHA. If you have not had a chance, be sure to check out her entire blog. Diane is amazing!

I love my Cuttlebug and use it for many of my projects. Peta from Butterflies and Roses came up with a new use for the Cuttlebug. She uses the Cuttlebug to emboss icing. Please check out her blog to see her adorable cupcakes!

For all things Gypsy be sure to visit Tuesday Treats and Thursday Too. Their projects are adorable and their directions are excellent!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend.

It’s Your Day Card and Video by Grace

I am pleased to introduce my guest Grace who is eleven years old and has been crafting since she was four. We had so much fun making this video and we hope you enjoy making the card!

Cricut Imagine Arrives

The Cricut Imagine is making its debut today at CHA. Pink Cricut has the latest plus a link to a video.

Click here to find out more about this new printing and cutting machine! Wow!

Isn't she pretty?

Welcome Back Guest Designer Diane

I would like to welcome back my guest designer Diane. She used several Cricut cartridges to make these adorable cards and I am so happy she is sharing them with us!

This cute merry-go-round card was made using the Create a Critter cartridge. For the merry-go-round, Diane used the umbrella and layer cut from the new Sugar and Spice lite cartridge. The Cuttlebug Swiss Dot folder was used to emboss the title and she used Microsoft Word to create the sentiment.



Diane used Create a Critter and From My Kitchen cartridges to make this sweet card. She used the Swiss Dot Cuttlebug folder for the embossing and added a K and Company chipboard sentiment to complete the card.



I love this autumn card that Diane made with the Cindy Loo Cartridge and a Martha Stewart edge punch.



Thanks Diane for sharing your cards with us!

Fab Five Friday and CHA Sneak Peeks

Welcome to another Fab Five Friday and a CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) Sneak Peek. Every Friday I showcase five blogs, websites, or posts that I think you will enjoy.

This week I have a very special CHA sneak peek. Visit Pink Cricut’s website to get the scoop on many of the new products that will be released next week at CHA. Be sure to keep scrolling down her website to see all of the posts! Just when you think there are no more CHA posts…keep scrolling… there’s even more! The new I-Top products look promising. A very special thanks to Pink Cricut for providing this information!

Obsessed with Scrapbooking just posted a link to The Scrap Review regarding more CHA sneak peeks. Check them out if you have time. Thanks Joy for the info!

For a wonderful tutorial on how to cut fabric with the Cricut visit Scrappin My Stress Away. She makes cutting fabric look easy.

There has been tons of speculation regarding the release of a new Cricut Imagine product by Provo Craft. I can’t wait to find out what it is. It seems like everyone on the Cricut message board is trying to find out in advance. Here is a link to the latest clue. Rumor has it that Provo Craft will debut the Imagine next week at CHA. Looks like we will have to wait and see. Darn it, I hate to wait!

If you are looking for free and adorable Cricut cut files, be sure to check out Custom Crops. I can’t wait to make some of these amazing projects. First on my do to list is the Cindy Loo circle card. Wow! It is so adorable!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend.

Binding Systems Part Two: The Cinch vs Bind-It-All

I have several binding systems and thought it would be fun to do a two part video comparing them. In my first video, I compared the Plasitkol(RubiCoil) and the Rollabind. In this video I am comparing the Bind-it-All and the new Cinch.

I would also like to thank The Memory Trail in Helena, Montana for loaning me the Cinch so I could do this video!



Linda

Cindy Loo Owl Card

I love my new Cindy Loo Cricut cartridge and it is rapidly becoming one of my favorites. For this card, I used Design Studio to weld two owls together to form a card. The owl is on page 60 of the handbook and is cut at 5 ¼ inch.

The blue layer is embossed with the Cuttlebug Swirl embossing folder and the white layer is embossed using the Swiss Dot folder. I love Signo’s uni-ball broad tip pen and used it to outline around the owl. It is my favorite white pen and produces consistent results!

So easy and too cute!

Fab Five Friday

Welcome to another Fab Five Friday. Every Friday I showcase five blogs, websites, or posts that I think you will enjoy. Hope you have time to visit.

Scrapabookaholic is a wonderful blog that I am sure you will want to visit. She recently posted an adorable paper bag project and tutorial using the new Everywhere Punch Window System by Fiskars. Her project is so cute! Be sure to check out her entire blog.

Graphic 45 is one of my sister’s favorite paper lines so I was excited to discover their blog. Be sure to check it out as they have great ideas for using their paper and their layouts are amazing.

For an adorable summer word book made out of shapes, visit Bug Junkie. She also provides a free Gypsy cut file for this adorable book.

For those of you that haven’t heard, Martha Stewart will debut live at HSN on July 19 to Feature Popular Martha Stewart Crafts™ Line and to Introduce New Cricut Cake® Martha Stewart Crafts™ Edition with Provo Craft. In addition to the Cricut Cake Martha Stewart Crafts Edition, there will also be three Cartridges with Martha Stewart Designs. The cartridges are: "All Occasions," "Elegant," and "Seasonal Cake Art." Click here to read the official press release.

SCALe-files created another beautiful free file. His song-bird doily file is so amazing that you will want to see it. I have not used this file, but plan to in the near future. You will love it!

I am working on part two of a new video series comparing the Bind-it-All and the Cinch binding systems and will have it posted next week. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend.

Linda

Binding Video Series

I have several binding systems and thought it would be fun to do a two part video comparing them. In my first video, I will demonstrate the Plasitkol(RubiCoil) and the Rollabind. In part two, I will compare the Bind-it-All and the new Cinch.

Hope you enjoy the video and let me know which system you use.

Linda

Hanging Gift Tag

I made a quick gift tag using the caged bird die from Tim Holtz's new alteration collection. I used very thin wire to make the chain and added small beads. Now all I need to do is wrap my package and add the tag. Easy and fun!

Fab Five Friday

Welcome to another Fab Five Friday. Every Friday I showcase five blogs, websites or posts that I think you will enjoy. Hope you have a chance to visit them.

Small Bits of Paper is a Canadian blog which primarily showcases cards (and the occasional layout or other paper craft) that have been made with the Cricut and other tools, especially the Cuttlebug. I am sure that you will fall in love with this blog. Be sure to scroll down and check out her cute projects!

For an adorable birthday album, visit Much Ado About Nothing. Her mini album is so cute.

Stampin Inspirations by Maria is all about inspiration. Maria designs beautiful cards and also provides free SVG files that are perfect for your layouts.

Creating in Carolina is a blog that specializes in projects made with SVG files. If fact, Carolina Girl not only designs amazing SVG files, she provides them free of charge. Be sure to check out her blog. You will love it.

If you want to see all the available Cricut cartridges, check out this Provo Craft site. You have the option of viewing the images or seeing the entire handbook. I always visit this site before buying a new cartridge.

I am working on a new video series on binding systems and hope to have part one posted next week. Thanks for stopping by and have a fun in the sun weekend!

Welcome Guest Designer Diane

My guest designer today is Diane. I love her work and I am excited that she agreed to be a guest designer!

Hi everyone! My name is Diane and I have 3 adult children. I have been crafting for 25 years and like many of you, I am addicted to paper crafting. In fact, sometimes my husband thinks my hobby is collecting supplies rather than making projects! Are there any more supply junkies out there?

For this project, I used one of my favorite new toys, an alcohol ink pen by Ranger. The pen is a wonderful product and can be refilled time and again as long as you use the same color. The fine and brush tips on the pen make it very versatile. I used the brush tip on raw wood to "stain" the edges of the boxes. No mess, no cleanup needed! The paper is Graphic 45 (another new favorite of mine) and the legs are from Tim Holtz's new line.

Happy Crafting! Diane

Mulberry Paper Cards

I scrap lifted the idea for these cards from a Martha Stewart episode. I loved the idea of making a simple card out of torn mulberry paper. In the future, I plan to package the cards with envelopes for Christmas gifts. This is a work in progress; fortunately I have few months until Christmas!

Fab Five Friday- Hello from Yellowstone!

Welcome to another Fab Five Friday. Every Friday I showcase five blogs, websites or posts that I think you will enjoy. Scroll down below for dispatch from our Yellowstone vacation.

ILUVMYBUGS has created an adorable fun-in-the-sun card. It is so cute that you will want to make your own. I know I do!

Platto Shoes allows you to customize your shoes using your own ribbon. If you are looking for a new use for your ribbon, click here. I think the wedges are more my style.

Paper Crafts magazine provides monthly bonus projects that are so cute. In fact, if you click here you will find two full years of free projects.

Have you seen the new Everywhere punch by Fiskars? It was featured in the August issue of Scrapbooks magazine. They haven't appeared in my area yet, so let me know if you have purchased one. It looks like fun and it is on my wish list.

Also featured in Scrapbooks magazine is a link to free travel theme journaling cards. This was my week to catch up on my magazine reading. Can you tell?

And now, for a vacation update! We're on day 3 of our Yellowstone vacation and we've had some amazing experiences!

We stayed the first night in Fishing Bridge, where most of the connections had been knocked out by a lightning storm the night before. That was okay because we left early to get to our favorite campground near Norris Geyser basin. We were only there for a few hours and I was down admiring the beautiful creek when a grizzly came lumbering towards me! We scampered for the safety of our camper, taking a few tenters inside with us. The rangers tried to haze the bear away, but it decided to have a look at the campsites instead.



Once in the campground, it visited our neighbor's campsite, who had just finished a big breakfast with bacon for six people. The bacon drippings were in the campfire, ready to be burned, but the bear decided the grease soaked paper towels would be a better snack. It then moved on to chew on their generator and put some nice teeth marks in the plastic cover.




The rangers managed to haze it with firecracker shotgun shells to the otherside of the campground, but on its way, it flattened a tent where the owners had hastily thrown a coconut scented sun screen bottle inside. That proved to be a bad idea, as the bear chewed a hole in the tent to investigate it. The owners of the tent were from England/Switzerland and had only been in the park for one hour. They showed us the true British "stiff upper lip", when their comment was, "Well, we're in a national park with wild animals, what would one expect?"




The bear seemed to move on, so we went to Mammoth to see the elk and were rewarded with these pretty little elk calves in a yard behind one of the employee cabins. Later on, we saw three wolves cross the Yellowstone river near Canyon and saw a mother grizzly with three cubs on an elk kill in the Hayden Valley.

As of 6:30 this morning, we awoke to more loud booms and explosions. The bear had returned and the rangers were again hazing it away. I spoke to a ranger and she said they planned to capture it and relocate it, because it was so determined to get free food.

That's all from Yellowstone and have a great 4th of July!