Make a Card Monday #5

Hi Everyone! Short and sweet today - and please pardon my picture. My phone decided to stop taking pictures, the data sync cable for my camera walked off and my tablet will only take pics in selfie mode!  

I used today's sketch from Atlantic Hearts challenge again.

And here is my card:

The background paper is from a stack by Me & My Big Ideas called Harvest.  The brown and cream cardstocks are from my stash along with the gold trim ribbon.  The stamp is from Papertrey Ink called Think Big Favorites #6 and I used retired ink color Autumn Terracotta from CTMH.

My new data cable should be here on Friday - I will retake better pics and edit the post then! It's definitely been a "Monday"  Have a great week!

Hugs ~ Dawn

Edit: Better Picture!

Linking to - Atlantic Hearts Challenge

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12 Weeks of Halloween - Week 3 - Witches Hats

Welcome to Week 3 of the 12 weeks of Halloween!

Today we are making the most adorable witch hat clips!

This is definitely not a new idea.  I have seen it all over YouTube and Pinterest.  But everywhere I see it, they are using punches.  I don't have punches, but I have a Cricut so I adapted it for me.  I used black glitter paper from my stash and an old retired Halloween paper from CTMH.

I started with a 2 1/2" circle with a 1" circle sliced out of the center. Then I cut 2 trees from the Art Philosophy cartridge.  They seemed the closest to the punch that was being used but there are so many trees if you don't have Art Philosophy I'm sure you could find another - or just use a triangle!  Make it work with what you have!  The bow I cut was from Leather Bows - I love this bow!  

I picked up the mini clothespins at my Walmart's craft section.  Glue one tree to each side - make sure the squeezy side is on the top and the end that opens is at the bottom (ask how I know lol)  Once the glue dries I added 3 mini glue dots to each side of the trees - both bottom corners and the center.  Slide the tree through the circle from the bottom and fold over the circle taking care not to crease it and attach to the glue dots on each side securing the two pieces together.  Assemble your bow and attache to the hat.

I've attached the Cricut cut file for Design Space below.  Let me know if you try them! 

https://design.cricut.com/#/design/67060224

Have a wonderful weekend!  

Hugs ~ Dawn

Have you checked out the Warehouse Sale?  Huge discounts every week! Click here!

Interested in joining my team??  Check out the details here or message me to chat!

August Stamp of the Month!  Only one week to get this set for $5.00!  Click here!

3-D Wednesday #3

Good Morning Friends!  Today I'm sharing a super quick and easy project.  

Now that school has started back up and we are pretty much back on regular routine, I am in that lull before the holidays when everything will get crazy and time gets sucked away.  So while things are quiet I like to plan ahead and make some of the small things that may get shoved aside during the holidays. One of those things I like to do is hand out little treats to people I may come across throughout my day. 

As a crafter, I tend to save certain things knowing I'll be able to use them in some way, some day.  One of those things is cleaned out baby food jars from when my kids were smaller. I love baby food jars - they are the perfect size for so many things including fall colored M&Ms!  

I cut 2 tags from the Cricut Cartridge Don Juan sized 3x2 using a cream cardstock. I ran one of them through my Cuttlebug using the Script embossing folder and then inked the edges and raised parts with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Hello was cut using a font called Autumn in November and Fall was cut from Cricut Plantin Schoolbook.  The stamp was from a retired Petite Perks set from CTMH called a Touch of Fall.  I used Fern ink to stamp it, then cut it out and adhered with foam tape.  The second tag I cut was adhered to the back of the whole tag to create a smooth surface for writing.

I cut a circle from a fall paper in my stash to cover the top of the jar lid and using mini glue dots I covered the rim of the lid with twine.  Super quick, super easy and super cute! 

Here's the cut file for Cricut Design Space if you would like to make one too

https://design.cricut.com/#/design/67001650

Have a wonderful day!!  I'll see you back here Friday with week 3 of the 12 weeks of Halloween!

Hugs ~ Dawn

Make A Card Monday #4

Happy Monday, sorry I'm so late posting today.  I had quite the excitement here last night.  Around 9:30 last night I was sitting here cutting out vinyl to make some canvases for Halloween and something flew over my head and up the stairs.  I sat there confused for a minute and then it flew back down and realized how big it was! Then the bat/bird, whatever it was flew back upstairs.  Thank goodness the kids were asleep and their doors were closed.  I followed it upstairs but couldn't find it.  I started to think I was losing my mind and sat back down.  And then the thing dive bombed my head.  I flung open the door and grabbed a broom.  After chasing that thing through the house for about 20 minutes I finally managed to swat it to the door and out into the night. I don't even know how it got into the house but I went through and closed all the windows and put the a/c back on. I wasn't taking any chances of that thing coming back! After that I had so much adrenaline I couldn't even think about sleeping....so I'm a little sluggish today. 

On with today's project!  I used the new sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge this morning.

I am still working through my 'use my stash' personal challenge.  I thought the retired Charlotte papers from CTMH would be just perfect for this sketch! Here's my card:

I think this was one of my most favorite paper collections ever!  I used a stamp from the retired set called You Mean the World to Me with sorbet ink and added various hearts and flowers from the Charlotte Complements.

This 'use my stash' challenge is really clearing out some space while I build my first new CTMH order!  If you would like to place an order with Close To My Heart I invite you to join my Welcome Back gathering! Anyone that places a minimum order of $25.00 (before tax and shipping) will be entering into a drawing for a free stamp set! Be sure to click 'join' next to the gathering so your order counts for the drawing!

Have a wonderful week!  Hugs ~ Dawn

Linking up with Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge

I have news!

So a few days ago I said I had some news....I'm back with Close To My Heart as a consultant again

and I couldn't be happier!  I've been thinking about it for a while now and I really love their product.

If you are interested in seeing the unboxing of my new kit watch below!

And Close To My Heart is running a special right now - 

When you sign up as a Consultant in August and meet certain sales goals, you’ll be rewarded with your choice of one of these items FREE:

• Any of our Cricut® Collections
• The Thin Cuts Block Alphabet + In the Background Stamp Set
• An additional $99 SPC

To qualify for this reward, sign up today and submit $300 in commissionable sales by September 30. 

I'd love for you to join me - as a business or as a hobbyist!  I love the discount!  

You can shop my site here or click on the shop with me tab above.

I've also added another tab above titled kits - This is where you can purchase any kits I may have available.  They are all 'while supplies last' Thanks!

Have a great weekend! Hugs~Dawn

12 Weeks of Halloween - Week 2 - Candy Dispensers

Welcome to week 2 of the 12 weeks of Halloween!

Today we are making the cutest candy dispensers!

I used all Close To My Heart products for this project.  Sunset cardstock, a retired paper called Spellbound and the stamp set is called Tasty Terrors and is also retired.

If you would like to make your own, I'm including the link to the youtube tutorial I followed.

I'm searching for a tri-pod for my phone so I can begin to make tutorials for you - if anyone has any recommendations, I'd love to hear from you!

I filled mine with Pecan Pie M&Ms that I found at Walmart today - yummy!  Can't wait to give these to some special trick-or-treaters this year!

Have a wonderful weekend! Hugs ~ Dawn

3D Wednesday #2 - fall pillow box

Welcome back to another 3-D Wednesday!  It's almost craft show season!  I have a couple of shows that I'm selling in this year and a long list of ones that I want to visit and shop at!

The first show I'm selling in is Oct. 28th so it's perfect to start working on projects for last minute Halloween shoppers.  I'll also have a variety of fall, Thanksgiving and Christmas items.  Today's project is one of the fall items I am making.

I started with CTMH Saffron cardstock and used the pillow box from Cricut Tags Bags Boxes and More 2.  This has always been one of my favorite cartridges from the beginning and I love that it is included with Cricut Access for everyone.  I made these on the smaller side with the thought that they would make great place settings for a Thanksgiving table or little treats to leave on co-workers desks or even to slip into your kids lunches.  These are approx. 2 1/2" tall and 3 1/2" wide.

For the stamping I used all CTMH retired products.  The stamp set is called Thankful Heart and the inks are Barn Red, Autumn Terracotta and Olive.  Unfortunately this stamp set did not coordinate with one of their Cricut cartridges and it also did not come with a thin cut set to die cut the images.  I did NOT want to fussy cut all of these, especially since I'm mass producing these for the craft show.  So I went on google and found the image of the stamp set, saved it to my computer and uploaded it into design space so I could cut the images with my Cricut.  If you haven't done this before and would like more details, let me know - I can make a video on how to!

I included the 'I'm thankful for' stamp and adhered it so there's a space below.  And the reason I chose a pillow box is because they can lay flat.  So under the thankful stamp, you can write a person's name - making these great place settings for Thanksgiving - or write in whatever you are most thankful for to the person you are giving it to. 

I love this idea and have a bunch more cut and ready to be stamped and assembled! I hope you enjoyed today's project.  I'll be back on Friday with week 2 of the 12 weeks of Halloween and I absolutely LOVE the project I'm sharing with you!

Hugs ~ Dawn

Make a Card Monday #3 Happy Birthday

Good Morning Friends! Happy Monday.  Wow, it's been a busy week!  The county fair was going on all last week through yesterday.  We try to get season passes each year so we can go daily.  It's really our end of year celebration since our schools go back in session Thursday this week.

my kiddos 

So, this is why I have been missing. I should have waited to start my blog till after school began but it was one of those things that I just needed to jump in and do or it wasn't happening! I finally got some time to get some crafting in yesterday.  I was going through my card stash and realized that I was running low on birthday cards, so here's a quick and easy one for you.

I made a top folding card with kraft cardstock in standard a2 size or 4 1/4 x 5 1/2.  The top layer is another piece of kraft cardstock cut at 3 1/2" square, then CTMH pacifica cardstock cut 3 1/4" square that I embossed with the Kaleidoscope Cuttlebug folder.  The bow I cut was from Cricut Leather Bows - part of Access.  I added a little red button from my stash.  The Happy Birthday sentiment is also from CTMH called Bitty Birthday (retired).

This is a super quick card to put together and easy to change out the sentiment for whatever occasion you may need.

I hope you have a fabulous week!  I will be back later this week with some big news! 

Hugs ~ Dawn

12 Weeks of Halloween - Week 1 - Mini Coffin Treat Boxes

Welcome to the first week of the 12 weeks of Halloween!  

I'm so excited for this series!  Every Friday for the next 12 weeks leading up to Halloween I will share a new Halloween project. 

First up are these cute self-closing mini coffin boxes!

I was on YouTube watching crafting videos - like I always do according to my son :-) and I found a video to make these adorable coffin boxes. You will start with a piece of cardstock that is 4 1/4 x 4 1/2.  My diagram for cutting and scoring is below but I am still trying to learn how to make them digitized in a pdf format so for now it's just a picture with my chicken scratch notes. 

 To make these yourself, click below to see papercrafter45 on YouTube for the tutorial I followed!

I love that these are self closing making it easy for the kids to open.  I used CTMH White Daisy ink and a Martha Stewart stamp set from EK Success called Carnival Cling Rubber Stamps.  I found on Amazon and included the link for you - I am not an affiliate.

I fit 3 Hershey Kisses into the Mini Coffin Boxes - perfect for a little treat for class parties!

Let me know if you make these yourself!  I'd love to see what you are making for Halloween!  Have a wonderful weekend!  Hugs ~ Dawn

Make A Card Monday #2 and a Pinterest Challenge

Good Morning Friends, Happy Monday!  

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful weekend. We stayed pretty low key here. Yesterday, it was too nice to be in the house so I took the kids to a nearby park in our town and we walked some of the trails. On Saturday we finished up some school supply shopping.  We're only about two weeks away from the first day of the new school year.  It seems to start so much earlier than when I was a kid in school.  Do your kids start back soon too?  

So...on to today's project.  Have you all heard of the Pinterest Challenge?  I came across this idea a few weeks ago.  You count your boards and pick a number from 1 - however many boards you have.  Then you pick a number from 1 - however many pins are in that board.  Then whatever pin that is - you make it.  It's a great way to actually do some of those many pins you have!  I, for one, have far too many pins that I would like to admit too.  

What I did with this particular challenge was count my crafting boards only and had my son pick a number.  He chose 12 which brought me to my Card Sketch Inspiration board. He then chose 18 for the pin number, which brought me to this sketch from Pagemaps: 

And here is what I came up with:

I used Olive CTMH cardstock (retired long ago)  The pattern papers are from My Minds Eye

I got these in a paper deal I had purchased on PeachyCheap long ago.  If you haven't heard of them, check it out.  They offer one deal a day, usually at a huge discount.

I used my CTMH scallop border bunch on the bottom layer. I used Anna Griffin's Rosa embossing border with my Cuttlebug on white daisy card stock for the top and lightly inked over it using CTMH Barn Red ink (retired) and a sponge dauber.  The butterfly was cut from the Cricut cartridge Tie The Knot.  I used the lighter green MME paper to cut the butterfly and then just used my Clay Shin Han marker to make the center darker.  The sentiment was stamped in Olive ink using the Have a Happy Day stamp set (also retired)

I hope you all have a wonderful week!  I'll be back on Wednesday with another 3-D project that I am absolutely in love with!  Hugs ~ Dawn

Thanks a Melon!

Welcome Friends!  While I was pondering what to make my Friday blog - which I still don't have a 'theme' for so I'm leaving it open for now - I came across a sketch challenge blog.  I used to love to follow Mojo Mondays but since they closed I've been looking for another good one.  I came across the Atlantic Hearts Challenge blog.  

They post a new sketch every Monday - Here is this weeks:

This sketch and a paper pack I dug out of my craft room was my inspiration for today's card project.  The paper is called Melon Patch and was a Hot Buy at Michaels.  I think I've had it for a few months at least and I've never used it.

Isn't it so super cute!  I love those hot buy paper stacks!

And here's my card ~ 

The stamp is an oldie but goodie from Joy's Life called Yummy Pun Stamps.  Sentiment was stamped in Pomegranate ink from CTMH.  The pink enamel gems are also from CTMH.

The watermelon cuts are from the Cricut cartridge called Preserves - which is included in Cricut Access, #M45FBC.

I had some scraps so I added them to the inside of the card.

I hope you enjoy today's card project!  I'm linking up to Atlantic Hearts Challenge.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  See you Monday!
Hugs ~ Dawn