Damask Divas Pathfinding Blog Hop!

It is already that time of the month, so why not JUMP into fall with us over at the Damask Divas  Blog Hop!  This month we are featuring the delightful autumn shades of the Pathfinding Paper Packet.

If you came from Kelly's Blog, you are on the right path!  You can also find the entire line-up of talented consultants participating in this hop over on the Damask Divas Blog.

To bring you all up to date with me, I just started working full-time outside the house, and I don't have nearly as much time for my craftiness as I did before.  It sure is a good thing that Close to My Heart just introduced an entire line of products JUST for people like me who WANT to craft and do it quickly!  The Cut Above line is an entirely pre-cut, pre-designed line that gives you all the fun of homemade without the time commitment.   I used the Happy Birthday Card Kit...

...and threw in some Pathfinding Paper to make it over!  I LOVE the woodsy feel of this one.

I chose this sentiment from the You Mean the World to Me My Acrylix...

AND, it was even QUICK and EASY to pop some of the paper into my Cricut E2 and cut this envelope liner using the NEW Cricut Artfully Sent Cartridge!  It matched the envelope perfectly!  :)

I hope you liked my quick craft ideas today on the hop.  They really do help me to stay crafty with almost no time to spare!

Your next stop on the hop is Stephanie's Blog!  Happy fall crafting!  :)

Makeover Monday Halloween Treat Bags! :)

Hi everyone!  Have you ever been to the pumpkin patch in 80 degree weather?  Me either until yesterday, lol!  We went to see my dad's pumpkin weigh in at the local Giant Pumpkin Contest...

The biggest pumpkin was 1692 lbs.!!!  My dad's was bigger and came in a better standing than last year, so he was super-pumped!  :)

Anyway, speaking of pumpkins and fall, today is Makeover Monday, and I promised to be back with a solution for the Halloween Treat Bags for those of us parents and friends who cannot send candy treats to school.  The first thing I tried was this...

The Post-It Note pad just fit perfectly into the clear bag.  I was so excited!  I used the Sweet Salutations My Acrylix Stamp set to make the seal and backed it with a 2 inch scalloped circle of black glitter paper...

The second idea I had just came to me when I looked at the kit.  AND the best part is that it actually comes WITH THE KIT!!! 

Who needs candy?  Just give them the stickers to play with!!! 

It was super-simple to trim the stickers apart to fit in the treat bag, so I used the Frightfully Fun stamp set to add this little fella...

I could not resist adding JUST a bit more fun to this package...so I popped in a spider ring too!  

So, do you have any other non-candy filled ideas?  Please share them! 

If you want to make these super-cute bags for some kiddos in YOUR life, you can find the Close to My Heart Cut Above Halloween Kits HERE on my website.  Add the two stamp sets I used here, plus one more size C or D stamp set that you like and guess what?  You will qualify to get this little mini-stamp set (a $13.95 value) for FREE in September...

IF you also add the glitter paper to your order, you will also qualify to get the Stamp of the Month (a $17.95 value) for just $5 as well!!!  Bonus!

Time is running out to take advantage of these offers AND get your treats made in time, so better decide soon!  Just two days left! :)

A Cut Above for Halloween!

Are you busy making your Halloween treats?  I am!

This time, Close to My Heart has come out with the PERFECT line of products for the uncrafty crafter!  The best part is that even if you are a SUPER crafty crafter, these Cut Above kits are awesome for you too!

Here's what you get in the NEW Cut Above Halloween Treat Bag Kits...

While the candy is not included (more on this later) you DO get 10 pre-printed Treat Bag forms, 10 Treat Bags, 10 sets of 12 stickers that fit many round candies perfectly, 10 pre-cut circles for tags, and 12 foam squares.  The only tools you need to provide are the stapler and a bit of adhesive.

The stickers are simple for anyone to place on the candies--even little helpers can do this part with ease!

Then you fill the plastic treat bag with the candies and staple it to the paper treat bag form.  Guess what?

Close to My Heart has a tool for that!  YES!  The new Mini-Stapler comes filled with staples, and you can get 2000 more of these crafty-sized staples in a Refill for less than $3!

Your assembled bag could look like this...

I used my Scallop Circle Punch, #30yearsofhappy (FREE NOW!) My Acrylix, and the Sweet Salutations My Acrylix stamps to create this adorable tag.  Yep, you guessed it--I altered my stamps again with my scissors to remove the To: and Fr:!  ;)

The mini pumpkin is found in the Stamp of the Month from August, What a Hoot!.  You just never know when you might need last month's Stamp of the Month!  ;)  I colored him in with the new ShinHan Touch Twin Alcohol markers in Marigold and Golden Yellow.  The Silver Glitter Paper scallop sure adds just the right amount of sparkle!

So, what kinds of candy can you use to fill these?  I have used Kisses, Rolos, and Peanut Butter Cups in mine so far and they work out great!  You can fill 6-8 treat bags depending on how many candies you use. Here is a shot of the whole kit...

Now, I know that there are LOTS of people who can no longer bring candy into school for treat bags anymore, so I have a solution for you TOO!!!  Tune in to Makeover Monday in just three days to see my ideas!

Time is running out on this month's Stamp of the Month!  Get it before September is over for as little as $5!

Family is Forever

#30yearsofhappy

An Autumn Themed Throwback!

Remember these cards from a couple of years ago when I first learned the Triple Stamp Technique? 

They are the perfect throwback to introduce you to my final Autumn workshop card...

I love the simple elegance of the black and white with a pop of fall color!   Would you believe I used the Pathfinding Workshop on the Go Scrapbooking Kit to create this card?  So versatile!

I used a very special Hostess ONLY My Acrylix set called Thanksgiving Wreath from Close to My Heart for the sentiment on this one.   I adore the flowing, swirly font.  You can only earn this stamp set as a hostess, but there is more than one way of doing that!  Did you know you can chose Hostess Rewards with any order starting at $150 if you contact me to place your order?  YEP!  I can also set up an online gathering link for you to share with your crafty friends so you can order the products you love AND earn free ones in the process.   You can even join my Rewards Club to earn $25 in free products as well with your monthly purchase!  Click HERE to read more about my easy-peasy Rewards Club and join today to start earning your FREE Close to My Heart products!

Family is Forever

#30yearsofhappy is Free in September!

Pathfinding and Hello Birds For Autumn Workshop Card #3

Just a quickie today to show you!  I found THIS CARD on Pinterest and loved the idea of embossing in the background, so I designed a card for my Autumn themed workshop around the same idea.  I am soooooo happy that CTMH has embossing folders of their very own now!

I wanted it to feel clean, so I opted to not ink up the raised texture left by the Striped Embossing Folder.  The two CS panels are Colonial White and Champagne.  I did ink the edges of the zip strip for the flower and the matted sentiment box with Chocolate Exclusive Ink.  I also stamped the flower and sentiment from Happy Birds in the same color ink...

The Pathfinding Paper Packet is a great mixture of fall colors that can really be used any time!

Family is Forever

#30yearsofhappy is FREE in September!

Tip for Tuesday! Using Envelopes in Crush Books

Good morning!  Today I have a Tuesday Tip for you to use in your awesome little My Crush Books.  I hope you have had a chance to try these awesome little memory keepers.  (I just said awesome twice, so they must be!)  If you remember, I started to use mine by finally scrappin' all my concert ticket stubs.  Well, I continued my album with some things that I have kept over the years from many different occasions.

This page has two letters that my sisters wrote me while I was in college.  :)

Let me show you how I attached the envelopes to the pages so I could easily take out the letters to read later...

I tucked the flap inside the envelope.

Then I applied adhesive to the back side of the envelope.

Easy-peasy!

Another Wonderful Workshop Card With Art Philosophy

There is sooooo much focus on the new Cricut Artfully Sent Collection, that my poor trusty Art Philosophy has been a bit neglected lately.  I remedied that with an easy to make Autumn flavored card using the Pathfinding Paper Packet.

This sentiment has always been a favorite of mine from the original Close to My Heart Cricut Collection--Art Philosophy.   I stamped it in Chocolate Exclusive Ink and matted the sentiment with Glacier CS.  A simple line of Topiary Mini Chevron Ribbon adds a great splash of color to ground the versatile sentiment.

Can't you hear the rustle of falling leaves?  :)

Wonderful Workshop Card Creations!

Hi there!  I'm taking advantage of the weekend to get in some much-needed blog updates.  I just finished my Taste of Fall September Card Workshop tonight.  I look forward to getting together with these ladies, let me tell you!

I will be sharing the cards we made over the next few weeks, as they all have a lusciously fall feel that is PERFECT for the changing weather recently.  Here is the first one!  I used this fantastic card as inspiration.

This was a wonderfully easy card to make since there is no need to measure the angle at which you stamp the beautiful Season of Thanks strip in Champagne Exclusive Ink.  The edge is covered with a nice line of Topiary Striped Washi before adding the details.  I adore the new cork shapes from the Pathfinding Assortment.  I cut the maple leaf from the Cricut Artiste Cartridge exclusively available from Close to My Heart, and tied a bit of Hemp Baker's Twine on the stem.  A circle of Kraft CS that is given a bit of texture with the Chevron Embossing Folder rounds out the cluster.  I absolutely LOVE the font for this sentiment from the Perfect-Fit Thanksgiving My Acrylix which I stamped in Chocolate Exclusive Ink.

You can pick up almost all of these supplies on my website using the links above.  While you shop, check out these specials for September--National Stamping Month!

Family is Forever

Order just $30 worth of My Acrylix Stamps and receive this adorable mini-set FREE!  :)

My FIRST Artfully Sent Pop Up Card!

Here we go, are you ready to see my first Artfully Sent Card?

I used my Cricut Expression 2 which I adore since I can see exactly where and what size my images will cut.

After much deliberation, because seriously, I want to make EACH CARD, I decided to make the 5x7 flower box pop up card on page 10 of the handbook...

Each part of the card was cut at 7 inches on relative size--no thinking involved except to choose my paper!  AND even though I COULD have cut it out using the very first cut (in red on the handbook) I chose to simply trim out a 10x7 piece of CS for the base.

I cut the flowers twice so I could cut and attach the green stems...

Here is the pop out layer of the card...

I embellished the front by using one of the flowers that was supposed to go inside the card...no rules in paper crafting!  I created the "dirt" under the flower with a scallop cut on Kraft CS left over from another project, the zip strip from my Pathfinding Paper Packet, and some beautiful bronze shimmer trim!  The Chocolate CS is trimmed on the top and bottom with the Scallop Border Punch.  I love how the scallops all coordinate...

 I wasn't too sure about using the pattern paper on the inside here, but I love the outcome after I used a fine-tip brown marker on the lettering...

I cannot wait to have more time to work with this AH MAZE ING Cricut Cartridge!  If you can't wait either, just check out my website HERE to purchase yours!

If you do, be sure to snag the September Stamp of the Month for just $5!!!

Contact me at mimimyselfandi@outlook.com with any questions or for help ordering.  AND if you want to earn this NEW Cricut Collection for HALF PRICE, I can set you up with your own gathering online or in your home in no time!  :)