Fab Five Friday!

Welcome to Fab Five Friday! For those of you that are new to this blog, every Friday I will be showcasing five blogs, websites or posts that I think you will enjoy. Don’t forget to click here to enter the Favorite Tool Contest and win a free Cricut Cartridge.

Thanks to the Cricut Chirp newsletter, I discovered Andrea’s blog, Girl plus Paper. Her floral arrangement is amazing! Andrea is truly a paper artist and I know you will enjoy her creations. Wow!!

Melody from Melody Lane Designs has created a haunted castle and stand alone monsters to go with it. Click here to see her tutorial. Very impressive!

I am a huge fan of Jennifer McGuire and love her website. I love her simple button card and think you will too!

Another must see blog is Carol Heppner’s Queen of Creativity. This week she is featuring a delicate ribbon bracelet and much more.

In addition to her blog, Carol Heppner also has a website worth mentioning! Here is a link to a fun tutorial on how to use polyester fiberfill to apply ink. Click here to see her other tutorials.  I fell in love with her work and know you will too!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having a fabulous Friday! Don’t forget to click here to play tool time!

Linda

Tool Time Contest!

Are you ready to play tool time? To play, you need to be a subscriber/follower of my blog. You can sign up over on the left side of this blog (if you are not there already).

Leave a comment on this post telling us what your favorite crafting tool is (aside from your Cricut) and why you can’t live without it. Please one comment per person and remember the contest closes Sunday night at midnight. The winner will be picked at random using the random number generator and will be announced on Monday October 3rd. The winner will receive either the Cricut Preserves or the Just Because Cards cartridge. You get to choose! 

I can’t wait to find out your favorite tools and I know you will want to read everyone’s comments too! The last contest was so much fun. Click here if you want to read 96 amazing crafting tips.

My favorite tool not counting my Cricuts are my score boards. I can’t live without them and use them for almost every project. I use them to score my cards, to make projects, and quick envelopes and liners. Love my score boards!

Click here to see a post and video I made a few months ago comparing the newest Score- Pal to the Martha Stewart Score Board. In this post, I also include links to my videos on how to make and decorate envelopes. 


Now it is your turn to play…. Ready, Set, Go!!!

Welcome Emma!!

I am so excited to have Emma as my first guest artist! I am a mega fan of her website, her DVDs, stamps and dies and I look forward to her posts and new products. Her design team is also amazing. If you have not visited her site, be sure to stop over and say hi! Thanks again Emma for being my first guest artist!

Hello, "Emma" w/My Creative Time here! I am SO SUPER EXCITED to be Miss Linda's "Guest Designer" today! "THANK YOU" for this opportunity my friend, I am very honored!;)

For those of you who don't know me, my name is "Emma" and I am married to my high school sweetheart w/two BEAUTIFUL boys who are 9 and 12 yrs old! I also have 2 BEAUTIFUL fur babies who are my shadows, especially in my craftroom w/me!

I started my blog "My Creative Time" in 2009 and I have absolutely NO REGRETS at all! I have met some of the most amazing crafty friends and who we have ALL learned from. I am very grateful to be a part of an AWESOME "Blogging" community! I started my very own "stamp line" back in December of 2010 and then my "Exclusive Die Collection" this year in June!  It has been such a GREAT feeling to have so many of you out there enjoy my products! I try to design w/the "Crafter" in mind, just trying to make crafting EASIER for ALL of us! This has been the GREATEST journey I have ever been on and it has been such a pleasure to have my biggest Dream come true! I get to do something that I LOVE!

Here is my project I created for you! I used my "Gift Card Holder Die" along w/my "Build a Banner Kit"! For the sentiment, I used my stamp set "Gift Card Sentiments" and for those ADORABLE images, they are from my "All Around Christmas" stamp set!

I hope you enjoyed my project! I want to have a HUGE "THANK YOU" to Miss Linda for having me here today! If you would like to visit my blog, please feel free to visit me and subscribe so you won't miss out of anything FUN I have coming up! You don't want to miss it!;)

Big Gypsy Hugs,

Emma;)

Fab Five Friday!

Welcome to Fab Five Friday! For those of you that are new to this blog, every Friday I will be showcasing five blogs, websites or posts that I think you will enjoy.

I am a huge Hero Art’s fan and love their informative videos. Joy Taylor created these amazing cards using a technique called wicking. Click here to see her video. You will also want to visit her blog, Less is More.

Last week I made a video on how to make a quick and easy pop-up card and discovered this video on how to make a very elaborate pop-up card. Peter Dahmen also provides the free file. It is truly amazing! Even if you don’t make this card you will want to click here to see his video that has over 121,000 hits.

Fireflies and Jellybeans is a blog that I recently discovered and think you will love as much as I do! Check out their post on 10 easy gift wrap ideas.

If you are looking for the latest fashion trends to incorporate into your crafting, check out Bobbie’s Buzz. Bobbie’s website is a must see for viewing the latest trends especially her piece on handbags. Hardware is going to be a hot trend and I bet we will see more of it in the craft industry. I am lovin the look!

To see a fun and creative Cricut banner with altered Cricut bugs , check out With Glittering Eyes. Nadia Herbst-McConnell is a mega talented paper artist!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having a fabulous Friday! Be sure to stop back next week, I have a fun surprise for all of you plus a new contest. I am super excited!

Linda

How to Make a Spray Box for Spraying Inks, Glimmer Mist, Paints, Etc.

I recently bought a Color Catcher at Michaels and it works great! I use it to protect my work area when I use glimmer mist, spray inks or paint. However, I wanted my box to be just a little larger so I made my own spray box version. After a few experiments I was able to make one that is larger and collapsible for easy storage. I used a readily available box, the kind they ship 8 ½ x 11 inch copy paper in so the materials would be easy to find. This is a super easy and quick project that will help protect your work area. Happy crafting!



Thanks for visiting and please enjoy the video!

Happy Birthday Bill!

Sunday was my husband’s birthday and I thought it would be fun to make him a football card and gift box. Bill is from Missoula, Montana and is a University of Montana Grizzly fan.

Joy from Everyday Cricut made a similar card and box last year and I finally had an occasion to make them both. Mine is a little different plus I added a sentiment to the front of the card.

This card is cut at four inches and is from the Wrap It Up Cartridge. I cut the card twice, once in black and once in brown. I trimmed the brown piece so it fit the base card and ran it through the Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder. I added the layers which were cut out of silver metallic paper. I used the Beyond Birthdays cartridge to cut the sentiment and the shadow at 3 ½ inches. And of course, I used the Grizzly’s team colors!

I printed the Grizzly logo on photographic paper and hand trimmed it.

The gift box is also from the Wrap It Up cartridge and is cut at 11 inches. I cut the layers out of metallic silver paper and cuttlebugged the football. The pennant is clip art.

Recipe:

Cricut “Wrap It Up” Cartridge

Cricut “Beyond Birthdays” Cartridge

Brown and metallic silver paper from my stash

Cuttlebug “Tiny Bubbles” embossing folder

Grizzly clip art

Have a great day and stay tuned for a unique and practical project video.

Fab Five Friday!

Welcome to Fab Five Friday! For those of you that are new to this blog, every Friday I will be showcasing five blogs, web sites or posts that I think you will enjoy. 

Erica’s soap holders are super cute and easy to make. Be sure to visit Pink Buckaroo Designs to see a wonderful tutorial on how to make these. Dawn from Dawn’s Stamping thoughts also made a sanitizer holder that you will also love! Click here to see her video.

Did you know that Northridge publishing has a blog? Create Blog is a fun way to see project videos from their magazines. September’s project is a home décor piece that is perfect for a baby’s room. Super easy!

If you love duct tape like I do, you may want to enter their Halloween contest. Click here to read all about it and if you want to see the video I made on how to make rosettes using duct tape click here. I'm lovin' my duct tape!

If you are going batty looking for a fun Halloween project, be sure to check out this project on Martha Stewart’s web site.

Last Thursday, I held a favorite tip contest where the winner won a Cricut cartridge. There were 95 fantastic tips posted and I was overwhelmed! To read all 95 tips, click here. This contest was so popular that I am currently planning a similar but different contest, so please stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having a fabulous Friday!

Linda

Quick and Easy Pop-up Card

This technique was demonstrated in the August issue of Scrapbooks Etc. and I just had to give it a try. There are lots of different ways to make a pop-up, but this one is super easy. You can easily modify the pop-up tab by making it larger or repositioning it on your card. I made a vertical card but it works just as well on a horizontal one. Please scroll down to see the video.

I so wish you could see him wobble. To view my video on how to make homemade wobble springs please click here. If you would like more information on how to use Microsoft Word for your sentiments, click here.

You could add a larger pop-up image or use a sentiment for added variety. You could even make an entire background scene.



Hope you are having a great day and stay tuned for Fab Five Friday.

Halloween Tag

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and I look forward to it more and more every year. We get tons of trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood which makes the holiday even more fun!

I am putting together a Halloween basket and thought it would be fun to include a homemade tag.

This cute tag is cut at 5 inches and is from the Wrap it up cartridge. If you are looking for a great all-around cartridge this is it. I love all the features including a great assortment of tags.

This tag did not come with any layers so, of course, I just had to add some. I used the layers from page 39 and resized them to 2.92 inches using my Gypsy. I love using the Gypsy with my E2. This project would have been much harder had I not used my G. First I sized my tag and then sized the layers to fit. I just love using glitter paper and moveable eyes! The E2 cuts glitter paper like butter. Can you tell I love my E2?

I cut a rectangle piece of paper ¾ x 2 inches, rounded the corners, added faux stitching and used Word for the sentiment.

Recipe:
Cricut “Wrap it Up” Cartridge
DCWV “Ghosts &Goblins” Stack
DCWV “Ghosts &Goblins” Cardstock Stack
Recollections Polka Dot paper from their Halloween collection
Black Glitter Paper from my stash
Microsoft Word for the sentiment
Moveable eyes
Ribbon from my stash

Please stop in tomorrow for a fun new video!

Favorite Tip Contest Winner

Thanks everyone for participating in the favorite tip contest. I was so impressed with all the amazing tips and how many of you that took time to share your great ideas with us!

Thanks to all of you for sharing over 95 extremely useful tips and techniques. Wow!! Click here to see all the terrific tips.

In fact, this contest was so much fun that I decided to do have more contests in the future. They will each have a different topic and will give you all a chance to share more of your great ideas with us. Stay tuned for more information!

And without further delay, here is our winner:

Carrie K said….

My favorite tip is to make my own pop dots. I use a piece of adhesive backed fun foam and run it through the xyron. (after I have cut it into strips of different widths) Then I have different width strips and just cut off what size I need. And, in different colors! This has saved me tons of money!!

Congrats Carrie! Please email me your address and let me know if you would like the Once Upon a Princess or the Just Because Cards cartridge. My email is lkaisermt@gmail.com.

Thanks again everyone for playing! Stop back tomorrow for a fun new project.

Linda

Fab Five Friday!

Welcome to Fab Five Friday! For those of you that are new to this blog, every Friday I will be showcasing five blogs, websites or posts that I think you will enjoy. Don’t forget to click here to enter the Favorite Tip Contest and win a free Cricut Cartridge.

Be sure to visit Thoughts of a Cardmaking Scrapbooker blog to see a very informative tutorial on how to make this card and flower. Michele Novak is one talented artist! I just bought the Cricut Flower Shoppe cartridge and have not had a chance to use it so I really appreciate her amazing tutorial.

If you want more information on how to use Flower Shoppe, check out this video by Creations with Christina. Her video is one of the best! Margaret made two videos using this cartridge and the Gypsy. Click here for her first video and here for her second. After watching these videos, I am ready to give it a try!

I just discovered Ink Up and am so enjoying this blog. Check out Cheryl Lee’s tomato card which is perfect for this season!

I must confess that I am not known for my cooking ability; in fact, I have a couple of favorite sayings that I live by. One, my favorite thing to make is reservations, and two, if it has two or more ingredients it is home made. Cereal and milk qualify! But there is hope; I just discovered a wonderful cooking blog called Simply Recipes that is amazing. Check it out and let me know if you have any simple cooking tips for me!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having a fabulous Friday! Be sure to click here to enter the Favorite Tip contest and giveaway!

Linda

Favorite Tip Contest!

Are you ready to play the favorite tip contest? To play, you need to be a subscriber/follower of my blog. You can sign up over on the left side of this blog (if you are not there already).

Leave a comment on this post telling us your favorite Cricut or crafting tip. Please, one comment per person and remember the contest closes Sunday night at midnight. The winner will be picked at random using the random number generator and will be announced on Monday September 12th. The winner will receive either the Cricut Once Upon a Princess or the Just Because Cards cartridge. You get to choose! 

I can’t wait to read all your tips and I know you will want to read everyone’s tips too!

One of my favorite tips is to use a homemade Quick Stick to attach small Cricut layers. Here is a video I made a couple of months ago on how to make a Quick Stick.




Another one of my favorite Cricut tips is to use the fine tip Zig 2 way glue pen to attach small layers. I let the glue dry before using and it becomes repositionable. This is so handy if you need to adjust your layers.

One last Cricut tip... Stamp your cuts on the mat before you remove them. This really helps when you are adding faces to your cuts.

Now it is your turn to play…. Ready, Set, Go!!!

Card Making and Paper Crafting Inspirations …. Recharging Your Creativity!

Frequently I am asked where to go for card and crafting ideas and how to recharge my creativity. I thought it would be fun to answer this question in a video. In today’s video I share my favorite things to do when I am looking for crafting motivation! I show several magazines and websites and have included the links below.



Magazine and Book Links:
Paper Crafts Magazine
Scrapbook Etc
Martha Stewart Living Magazine

I love all the Magazines published by Northridge publishing. I subscribe to Cards, Scrapbook Trends, Simply Handmade, Beads and their Create idea books on-line using the all-access pass. The Cricut magazine was extra and is not included in the all-access pass but you can add it and get all of these for $12.95 a month. That’s what I do. If you want to add the new Cricut Idea book series the total on-line price is $15.95. This is the new series that includes Cricut Birthdays, Cricut Cards (and the about to be released) Cricut Holidays. You can also mix and match your selections. If you only want one or two on-line subscriptions, just pick the ones you want. You can check out their on-line subscriptions here. Wow!!

Blog and Websites that I discuss in the video:

Cricut .com
Everyday Cricut
My Creative Time
Fantabulous Cricut

Thanks for visiting and be sure to stop back tomorrow for a new contest and giveaway! You won’t want to miss out on the fun!

Happy Labor Day!

We are spending this Labor Day getting our house and yard in shape for fall so I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite shaped cards with you. I hope you are having a wonderful Labor Day with family and friends and be sure to check back for a fun new contest and giveaway! Hint…the contest and giveaway starts Thursday!

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Fab Five Friday!

Welcome to Fab Five Friday! For those of you that are new to this blog, every Friday I will be showcasing five blogs, websites or posts that I think you will enjoy.

I just discovered Pink Bonbon’s blog and fell in love with Bonnie’s work. I was so thrilled that I had to share two photos. Be sure to check out her other great projects when you visit.

Chic n Scratch has done it again! She is currently filming a 12 week series on Halloween. Her videos are amazing and my favorite so far is week two. Click here to view a video on how to make a cute tag treat holder. Super cute!

For a great tutorial on how to make fabric flowers using the new Cricut Flower Shoppe Cart be sure to visit Craft Place. I have not tried cutting fabric, but Janice has inspired me to try!

Tim Holtz and Ranger have come out with another amazing product to use with alcohol inks.
Click here to see Tim’s amazing projects made with the new snow cap mixative. I love the effect of this mixative and I can’t wait to buy some!

Now for something really different. Have you ever wanted to go on an African safari? The next best thing is to click here and watch a free live safari video cam. They broadcast two live safaris every day. The a.m. African safari starts at 9:30 p.m. PST. Yesterday I watched six lions and elephants. Be sure to click on the live feed button and to enlarge the screen for better viewing. Keep in mind the connection is not perfect and the signal strength varies throughout the day, but considering it is live from Africa, I am willing to be patient. Also it helps to have a strong Internet connection. I like to watch while I am crafting.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having a fabulous Friday! Be sure and check back next week for a fun new contest and giveaway! More hints to come…..

Linda