A Magical Fairy Wand for CTMH Convention 2014

Hi everyone!  I am having a most magical time here in Disneyland for Close to My Heart's annual convention! 

Our team had a wand making contest--which is kind of tricky when traveling by air with said wand, lol.  UNLESS you have real magic!  ;) 

Anyway, here is mine! (sorry for the blurry pic--my wand was packed by the time I realized it came out like this!)

I started with this awesome shape from the Cricut Artiste Cartridge cut on Grey Glitter Paper.  The silver accent from the retired base and bling line was perfect on each side.

I wanted to be sure to add some of our versatile twist ties to my wand, and I colored them with my Cotton Candy Alcohol Marker to match the retired pink sparkles.  I wrapped the wand (sucker stick) with silver geometric washi...

I just HAD to find a place to add these bells...so this retired grey ribbon was perfect!

Here is a tip for cutting glitter paper on your cricut machine...hold it down nice and steady with some washi!  :)

A Cute Birthday Cupcake with the Close to My Heart Artiste Collection

Welcome back to birthday week on my blog, lol!  TODAY it is my youngest kiddo's birthday!  None of my babies can count how old they are on their hands after this year!  Ouch. 

I can't share her card with you yet, though, because it is for a special post next week...hint, hint!  ;)

I CAN share this one with you though!  This one is another that I made for Mandy's Card-A-Day Challenge!  It does have her very favorite color in it from the Chantilly Paper Packet, so see if you can guess...

Oh my goodness, was this ever fun to make!  I love cupcakes, but don't bake unless forced.  Then nobody wants it anyway, lol, so I just like to make cupcakes that sparkle on paper!  ;)

I added lots of bling and Silver Shimmer Trim to this one!  The cupcake in Blush Ink and sentiment in Cotton Candy Ink are from the Cricut Artiste Collection exclusively from Close to My Heart.  See the tab on top of my blog for more information about what is on that one.

Have you guessed my girlie's favorite color yet?  LOL, it's YELLOW!  ;)  Had you for a second, eh?  I will show you all her REAL card on Monday, so tune in!  Sign up for email notification over on the right side so you won't miss it!  :)

Color Dare #51 Needs a Band-Aid!

Hi everyone!  When I saw that the Color Dare this week (which is my design team's first week off, of course,) included the CTMH color Desert Sand, I knew I needed to bring back the band aid I first invented HERE!  :)

I decided I just HAD to play along anyway, and what better way than to make my FIRST cut from the soon to be released Close to My Heart Artbooking Collection!  You can see all of the amazing cuts from this new Cricut Cartridge AND pre-order your Artbooking collection with a special offer from me through July 31st HERE!

Unfortunately, it seems that we know a lot of people who are sick or recovering right now, so I wanted to make a gift tag for a get well gift for my project.  I chose the retired CTMH color Tulip to add to the neutrals that are already chosen for this Color Dare--Desert Sand and Bamboo.

I was introduced to Tulip with the Stella paper packet when I first joined the Close to My Heart family.  It remains one of my favorite papers and colors.  Reds are tricky to edit, so my pics were a bit of a pain to work with though...oy!

Here is that adorable band aid I mentioned!  I will never get tired of using this guy!  I think it brings a smile to a persons face all by itself!  I used my CTMH Desert Sand CS and the Provo Cuttlebug Hugs and Kisses Embossing Folder.  Stay tuned this week for more appearances too.  ;)

These adorable heart flowers are cut from the Artbooking Cricut cartridge (available on my website August 1st, or for pre-sale now!)  They are located on page 49 of the handbook on the Overlay key.   I blinged them up a bit with my Red Sparkles.  These awesome  sparkles are retiring on July 31st, so please be sure to order them as soon as possible if you need more! 

I added a retired Tulip button with the tag ties that are made of our embroidery floss.

My tag base is made from Colonial White CS cut to fit a sturdy chipboard tag from the CTMH Dimensional Elements Tags.   I inked the edges in Bamboo Ink, and then used my Versamat to help me stamp "wishing you well" in a diagonal pattern all over the tag, also in Bamboo Ink.  This sentiment is from a retired My Acrylix D1303 Classmate Alphabet.  It looked like this when I started...

It wasn't that difficult to keep it lined up with the help of the Versamat.  I use this work mat for just about everything and highly recommend it as a work surface!  You can even use the back of the Versamat as a cushiony back for stamping!

Don't forget, you can play along with the Color My Heart Color Dare each week from Friday through Thursday night at 9pm CST.  It isn't too late to link up with this one, so what are you waiting for?  Go get your craft on!  :)