December time to send the Holiday Greeting Cards

I can't believe it's December already. I've been busy creating greeting cards to send. As time goes on my circle of friends have increase which is a wonderful blessing. Below is a picture of one of the interactive greeting cards that I've made and taught at my last workshop.

Featuring the Sparkle & Shine Paper Packet, Red Shimmer Trim, Sparkle & Shine Washi Tape, stamp from the Frosted Card Workshop on the Go, Mary and Babe Stamp, Red Base and Bling Jewels, Silver Shimmer Trim,  Olive Ink Pad, Honey Ink Pad, Ruby Ink Pad, Bamboo Ink Pad, Black Archival Ink Pad, Whisper Alcohol Marker, Olive Alcohol Marker, Ruby Alcohol Ink Marker,
and




This is the inside of the greeting card.

In order to create this greeting card you must first own a Sizzix Bigz die#658038, Accordion Album. I cut six pages out using the Sparkle & Shine paper packet. I place all the pages with the tabs to the right. Tabs are then adhered to the back of the center page.

 

Using Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge cut out the center picture frame mats.
First, turn to page 53 in the Instructional Manual to see how to cut out the frame. Select <Square 4>, Cut image out at 2 3/4" out of Daisy White Cardstock. You will need 4 pieces but I recommend cutting out 6 just in case you need extra pieces for stamping. Also cut out the picture frame base out of Ruby (2 pieces) and Whisper (4 pieces) cardstocks at 2 1/2" by selecting <Square 4>.

For the first/cover page, I stamp the star in Honey, trees in Olive, sentiments in Ruby, and snowflakes with Bamboo Ink. The embellishment is a retired item from Close to My Heart.

I particularly like how you can color images using CTMH Black Archival Ink. My recommendation is let the images sit for a minute or two before using alcohol markers. Below is how I decorate page two of the card.

 

I hope you enjoyed this greeting card as much as I enjoyed making it. Hopefully you can make your own version and wow family and friends. Happy Crafting.

 

Cricut Collection

I know you have heard me talk about Close to My Heart's exclusive Cricut Collections Art Philosophy, Artiste, and Artbooking. I own all three and love them all. I can honestly say that I rarely use any of my other Cricut cartridges because they are that fantastic. I've even sold off a few of my other cartridges and keep only a few themed cartridges like "50 States" or "Mickey Mouse & Friends", etc. As to holiday cartridges, cartridges with crafting projects on them I am no longer in need of them because CTMH cartridges are so complete with 700 images in each cartridge. They all have beautiful fonts, each one can be used for card making or scrapbooking. Artbooking has lots of 3D paper crafting projects in them and Art Philosophy has a few as well. Each collection comes with 3 stamp sets, 3 Chipboard Dimensional Elements (for embellishment and for mini albums),

Art Philosophy Collection, was the first one Close to My Heart introduced. I highly recommend this one for everyone and particularly if you have a Personal Cricut, aka the baby Cricut machine. To view the digital handbook here in PDF.

 

Artiste, was the second collection to be introduced and it's geared towards the paper crafting enthusiasts. Great for creating boxes, party favors, banners, and yes even a mini album. You may view the digital handbook or the assembly instruction book here in PDF. There's a second book to show you how to put together the 3D projects.

Artbooking, the most recent collection is geared towards me, just kidding. It really uses the current scrapbooking trends and makes it easier for us crafters. Different types of scrapbooking layouts, 10 mini albums, overlays, great for greeting cards too.  View the digital handbook here in PDF format.

Below is a video explain the differences between the three collections. It can be challenging if you must only select one collection.



I hope this helps. If you order online you will receive a FREE Idea Book, a FREE Holiday Gift Guide, and Stamp Set. Just my way of saying thank you.

3D Cake and Flower Wow

At Michael's store there's a new class called Flower Wow! We create six types of flowers and add an extra flair to these flowers for an extra texture or look. I've decided to show case six flowers on a 3D cake. I must admit that the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge allowed me to create this cake. Using another's CTMH Consultant's inspiration, Lisa Stenz, I was able to follow her YouTube directions to make this creation happen.

The Art Philosophy allows you create many different types of flowers and to cut out pillow boxes. Why is this important? The cake was made out of the pillow boxes glued together and the flowers were cut from this cartridge. In the Michael's course, I show students also how to create flowers with and without the Cricut. However, I must admit that it's much easier using this cartridge. The only thing is you'll need an octagon cut out for the bases. I also own Going Places Cricut Cartride and was able to cut out an octagon shape by using the shaddow button of a stop sign.

In the Flower Wow, students get hands on instructions how to create this flowers and more. The next class will be Saturday, April 7th from 3-5pm at the King of Prussia Michael's Store. I hope you cna join me.

If you wish to purchase Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, just follow the above link or go to my website http://www.francisames.myctmh.com/