Just a little something...

Sometimes you need a quick token gift - I tend to pick up odds and ends when I see them so I can be ready when an occasion comes up.

I found some small note paper holders in the dollar bins at Michael's a while ago.  I liked the black and white design of the cover but I thought they were a bit plain so I decided to add just a little decoration to make them more appealing.

I had some red velvet ric rac, a vintage poppy and an antique flower vintage brad, all from Creative Charms.

I used 1/8 inch Scor-Tape to securely and neatly attach the ribbon to the box.  First I wrapped the ribbon around the box and cut it just a bit short of the total circumference, then I adhered the Scor-Tape in the center - the 1/8 inch size is just right for this ribbon.

 I was able to choose a line of the design to follow with my ribbon.  It is best to remove a little of the backing at a time so you don't end up with ribbon stuck to itself instead of the box (ask me how I know this!...).

I carefully worked my way around the box, keeping the ribbon at the same level.  If the paper did not have a pattern you could use a ruler to help you stay straight.

To avoid bulk, I left a little gap at the front.

I added a large glue dot to hold the vintage poppy.

Just a little bit of "dressing up" makes the note paper box look much more finished.

Here is a closer view of the poppy.  These are still one of my all time favorite items from Creative Charms.

The paper was so tight that I removed a few sheets to make the box easier to start using.  You could pop this in a cellophane bag with a few wrapped candies, add a pretty bow and use it as a table favor for a luncheon or crop.

I had all sorts of things arrive at my house this week - it seems I had a little bit of internet shopping fun while I was recuperating from my back surgery last week.  You may see me doing some different types of projects in the coming weeks.  I am very excited to try decorating this Tim Holtz Configurations box.

I hope you have a great weekend.  If you are taking a holiday next week (it is the President's Day school break here in New England) have a wonderful trip.

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Creative Charms says "Thanks" (and some Hello Thursday update information)

I am happy to let you know that Creative Charms has met their goal of 1000 fans on Facebook and they are offering EVERYONE a giveaway to celebrate!  Yes, I said EVERYONE. All you have to do is send a self addressed and stamped envelope (standard business size with 44 cent stamp) and Creative Charms will return it with a free gift to you. The only requirement is that you "Like" Creative Charms on Facebook.

Please send your stamped, self addressed envelope with a postmark no later than Saturday, February 19th to: PO Box 186, Wexford, PA 15090

Yesterday was "Hello Thursday" and three cartridges were announced.  One is the Creative Memories "Stork's Delivery" cartridge that I told you about recently.  I haven't been able to order  a copy of this yet through the sampling program for CM consultants but it is supposed to be available beginning March 1st.

You can download the cartridge handbook HERE to get a really good look at what this cartridge has to offer.  There are images suitable for baby boys on the regular keys and for baby girls on the shift layer.  There is quite a bit of word art with typical phrases for baby books, two fonts (one girly - one boyish) and a monogram function (again one with the "boy" font called "Frogs and Snails" and one with the "girl" font called "Sugar and Spice").  There is a shadow function for the main images and two layers.  This is a very full cartridge - I counted only seven "empty" key positions.

While this is definitely a "baby" cartridge, there are a lot of items that are more generally useful.  Some of the phrases will work for more than just babies and I really like the frames and buttons (you can see some of them in the preview image at the top of this post).

Two new Color and Pattern Cartridges for the Imagine were also released.  They are called "Heirloom" (download the handbook HERE) and "Vintage Papers" (download the handbook HERE).

I think these patterns are great additions to the library.  I am really excited that, with the new Craft Room program that I saw at CHA, you will be able to scale and move the patterns - this is something that has been a challenge when I use the Imagine now because I don't always want the papers scaled down to the cut size.

There are Design Studio and Gypsy updates available.  The Design Studio update is available HERE.  You will need to be signed in to the Cricut.com site.  The screen says that the last update is for November, however, if you download the font pack update you will see that the version number has changed and it is V110210.

You should SAVE the download to your computer and then run it to have the new cartridge information load correctly.  You will need to close and reopen Design Studio to see the new cartridge listed.

 The Stork's Delivery cartridge is located in the font section between Stone Script and Storybook.  As soon as I can get my hands on this one it will be moved to "My Cartridges." In the meanwhile, I can start designing projects in Design Studio and on the Gypsy!

To update your Gypsy, connect it to your computer with the USB cable, turn it on and run the Cricut Sync program.  The update takes a while but it went smoothly for me.

To see some projects made with these new cartridges, be sure to check out the Hello Thursday blogs - here are the links...

Joy's blog 
Melanie's blog 
Robyn's blog
Tammy's blog

We are having warm weather here - at least for a little while.  It may get to 60 degrees on Friday!  Maybe Winter will end soon...

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Creative Charms and Paper Lace

Today is my day to post projects on the Creative Charms blog.   I have a few cards to share that I made with the February Deal of the Month. The design team is full of talented people who work in lots of different styles so  I hope you are checking the Creative Charms blog regularly to see the projects and be inspired - there is a post nearly every day.

I am always amazed at how much is included in these fabulous deals.  There is plenty to keep you busy with unique embellishments for all sorts of projects and the price for this months' deal is only $6.99.

The huge and beautiful sequin butterfly was the first thing I chose to use.  It is not my usual style but I really like it a lot.  I decided to turn it into a pin that I can wear on a blouse or a hat.

I cut a piece of black felt to the approximate size I needed to stabilize the back and provide a place to sew on a pin finding.

Then I trimmed the top, bottom and sides with "V" cuts so the felt would not show on the front.

I used some liquid adhesive to glue the felt to the butterfly and then I sewed on a pin back taking care to reach through the felt layer to pick up bits of the butterfly backing to hold everything together firmly.

I thought that this would make a nice gift for another crafter so I made a card using the Paper Lace Cricut cartridge.  I cut the red card base at 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches.

This screen shot shows the design I chose from the Paper Lace cartridge.  I used Design Studio to make the dimensions of the cut 5 inches x 5 inches.

I pinned the butterfly through the lace so it can be removed and worn.

I cut the sentiment from white glitter DCWV cardstock with the "Friends Forever" Cuttlebug Combo Set die.  I saved the dots for the "i"s but they were a bit boring...

...so I added the smallest gradient gem stickers to dot the "i"s for more sparkle.

I love the drama of a simple black and white combo.  This card is simply another cut from the Paper Lace cartridge, cut in black and placed on a white A2 card.

This is the element I used for this card and the next card as well.

There are a lot of great cuts on the Paper Lace cartridge.  Since some of them are intended for use as backgrounds on a square page the shape needs to be adjusted to work for a rectangular card.  I adjusted this cut to 5 1/4 x 4 inches.

I used some of the black and white gradient gem stickers and two of the flowers and one butterfly from the white gem garden to highlight the paper lace.

I used the same lace cut for the third card but I sized it at 5 x 3 3/4 inches to allow room for a layer of color.

Here are the pieces of the card.  The card base is white cardstock, A2 size and the layer is cut from DCWV green cardstock from the Shimmer stack.  I rounded two of the opposite corners to match the lace design.  I used the petite oval Nestabilities to cut the tags and scalloped backing for the sentiment.  The scalloped layer is cut from DCWV white glitter cardstock.  The "thank you" is a stamp from the Taylored Expressions "CreativiTEA" set.

The shimmer flowers in green and black have such a lovely sheen and the green is also a close match to the DCWV shimmer cardstock.

I cut the lace piece at blade depth 6 and high pressure from fairly heavy black card stock.  It cut cleanly and most of the offcuts stayed on the mat.  I added shimmer flowers - two from the green and black set and one from the black and white set.  I just used the holes in the design as places to insert the brads and then added Creative Memories precision point adhesive to adhere the lace to the green layer.

When I was adding the sentiment to the card I discovered that the ink was not drying properly on the shimmer cardstock.  I smeared it a bit and then realized that I could rub it off with my fingers.  I decided to make a new stamped piece and to use Versamark ink and black glitter embossing powder the heat emboss the sentiment.

I used Scor-Tape to adhere the two layers together since the glitter cardstock is rather slick.

Foam squares help raise the sentiment above the card surface.

The glitter embossed sentiment is much darker than the original plain stamp so it turned out to be a better choice.  The white glitter scalloped oval behind the sentiment oval continues the sparkle.

Don't miss your chance to order this great deal - for $6.99 it is a terrific value and you will have lots of creative options! 

Remember, today is Hello Thursday and there will be some new Cricut cartridges announced - it is always fun to find out what is new so keep an eye on the Cricut message board and the Hello Thursday blogs - here are the links...

Joy's blog 
Melanie's blog 
Robyn's blog
Tammy's blog


We are starting to have temperatures that are a bit warmer - not quite Spring but I'll take it!

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A little more information about my Spellbinder's storage

A few people asked me for a bit more information about the storage solution I posted for my Spellbinders dies.  I have started to accumulate quite a collection (but aren't all crafters also collectors?) and I am excited to have this inexpensive and easy way to keep the dies stored safely but readily accessible when I want to use them.

This is another one of the frames I found in the Michael's dollar bins.  There were three different colors - brown, red-orange and yellow-green.  By the time I found them they were 60% off and I searched these out in several stores - at the last they were 90% off and with a 25% off entire purchase coupon I got some for 7 cents each!

The magnet material is thick and strong - about the thickness of heavy chipboard.

When you remove the frames from the packages they are one solid piece.  You are meant to punch out the shapes but nearly all of the frames I found were still securely together giving me in a solid sheet of heavy duty magnet material for a very low price.

I removed the dies from the packaging cards and then added some tape on top of the tape that was holding the dies in the package.  I used my ATG adhesive which is quite strong and adhered a magnet sheet directly to the packaging.

Then I returned my dies to the new magnetic surface - they are held flat and tight but easily removed when I need to make a cut.  I could add pretty paper to this side but I am fine with the utilitarian look.

I used the original packaging so on the newer sets I don't even need to add labels - I can flip through the images to quickly find the set I want.  For my older dies that came in "nests" of four sets, I added labels to the generic packaging cards to make it easier to find the correct set of squares or ovals or whatever shape I need.

You may still be able to find these frames at a Michael's near you, but I think they have been clearanced from most stores by now.  I would check in your local dollar stores or general discount stores for something similar if you want to try to make a storage system like this.


If you have any more questions, please let me know through a comment or an email.

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