Brought to you by the Color Green...a Cricut Leprechaun

Hi.  Several events are happening this month...my best friend turns 75, spring is coming, we are in the season of Lent, we changed the clock, and St. Patrick's Day comes around.  At the Craft Squad, we are having a blog hop

 

 

For some reason, I have had some problems publishing this blog, with my card, but I have found a way around it (hopefully). 

 

As the saying goes, on St. Patrick's Day, you are suppose to wear your green.  It also makes you think about Ireland and leprechauns.  When I  taught school, this was a day when the kids would come in, wearing their green clothes, and if you didn't wear green, you heard about it!  (This was with 7th and 8th grade students.)  As soon as I heard our title for this blog hop, I knew what I was going to make. 

 

My Cricut Expression and I have become good friends lately, and I used an older cartridge Paper Doll Dress Up.  I cut out all the parts of the leprechaun using various shades of green.  What do you think?

I had some embellishments from Close to My Heart, which I added to the card.  They just happened to be green.  :)  The grass that my leprechaun is standing on was cut from some green paper and I punched the edges with a Martha Stewart punch.  The title on the top of the car is BELIEVE. 

 

 

Inside, I took another piece of green paper, and punched the corners with another Martha Stewart punch, added a shamrock and the magical pot of gold!

 

You can now continue on the blog hop and visit ==============

 



Hello.  I just wanted everyone to know I have not disappeared.  LOL.  These past couple of months have been rather hectic.  My mom has been in the hospital a couple of times, and my youngest daughter has been having some behavioral issues at her group home, so needless to say, I have been pulled in two directions for a while.  

I am hopeful things will finally start to slow down.  Between doctor appointments, lab work, tests, etc, I have been busying running up and down the state of NJ.  Christmas, or what there was of it, suddenly appeared and then as quickly was gone before I even knew it.  

Mom is doing much better, and able to get around.  She is at her own house now.   I am going to look into Meals on Wheels for her.  Christina is in a specialized treatment home, and staff and doctors are trying to see what the problem is behind all the outbursts and behaviors.  Someone at least is trying to find an answer.

Now that I have some time back to myself, I can start to play with my tools and papers and stamps and such.  Start following my blog, and you will be able to see some of the things I make. 

See you around!  :) 

Tip Tuesday:
50 ways to use stamps (found on Scrapbook.com)
1. Use alphabet stamps to make your title on a strip of cardstock
2. cut out the individual letters and pop dot them for an even jazzier title
3. stamp directly on your photos
4. get a personalized stamp with your return address for all your correspondence
5. get a personalized stamp with “handmade by ____” to mark all your creations
6. stamp a small image over and over again to make your own patterned paper
7. try the above with versamark ink for an even subtler background pattern
8. stamp with acrylic paint
9. use a phrase stamp on the inside of a card to make it even more professional-looking 
10. stamp lines in versamark as a guide for straight handwritten journaling
11. use an inkpad, without a stamp, directly on your paper to jazz up the edges
12. stamp a flower and add a brad or eyelet for the center
13. use small alphabet stamps to make captions for photos
14. stamp a word on a tag to highlight the theme of your page
15. stamp an image multiple times, color in and cut out the pieces to overlap and form your own paper piecing
16. stamp an image and cut out, then pop dot or use on your page just like a sticker
17. emboss your stamping for extra shine or the 3D effect
18. use one set of stamps throughout an entire minialbum to tie it all together
19. use stamps to decorate the cover of a cloth album so that it coordinates with the theme of the pages inside
20. practice stamping on scrap paper and use the result as a pretty bookmark
21. use wheel stamps for handmade giftwrap
22. use a wheel stamp to make patterned paper
23. use a wheel stamp for a quick and easy border
24. stamp on paperclay and punch a hole in the top to make your own charms
25. stamp on a magnetic sheet and cut out for cute handmade magnets to give as a gift
26. stamp an image in black ink and color it in
27. stamp an image in clear ink and emboss in clear, then rub colored ink over the paper so that you get a reverse image
28. stamp an image in black and use a sponge dipped in ink/pressed on the inkpad to color in the image – looks even better if you *don’t* stay inside the lines
29. stamp in versamark and dab chalk over the top for a softer image
30. you can also try stamping with chalk ink
31. stamp a whole scene and mat it just like a photo
32. overlap stamped images for a collage look
33. use an alphabet stamp to make monogram patterned paper
34. use word stamps to make interesting patterned paper
35. try stamping your title with mismatched or different sizes of alphabet stamps for a funky/ransom note look
36. customize your home décor by stamping on your walls
37. stamp on fabric – aprons, dishtowels, tote bags, swatches for scrapbook pages, etc
38. stamp the sides of a post-it note cube for a cute gift
39. use stamps on your holiday cards – makes it easier to mass produce the same design over and over
40. print business cards or address labels from your computer and stamp an image in the corner to jazz them up
41. stamp off on scrap paper once before stamping so that the image is softer and you can read text through it
42. when making background paper, stamp two or three times before re-inking – you get even more ‘shades’ out of just one color this way
43. use Staz-On ink to stamp on vellum or metal
44. stamp on polyshrink and bake it to make your own plastic charms
45. stamp on bottlecaps for an even jazzier embellishment
46. use a stamped image as the outline for creating a wire shape
47. use a word stamp to stamp on ribbon or twill
48. leave space in printed journaling to stamp a few words so that they stand out 
49. used stamps to fill in the smaller squares in a colorblocking page
50. get non-toxic ink and stamp on yourself – makes a cool temporary tattoo! (kids love this one too)

Illuminate November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

 Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring November's SOTM,

which is Illuminate, a set of 15 stamps.  If you have come here from Sara's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants here at Melinda's Blog.

This month we have 54 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

This is a little card I put together to mail to a friend.  The saying in the top says, "Let your light shine through".  I decided to use some of the paper from our new paper pack, Sparkle and Shine.  I had to decide where to place my lamp post....hmmmm  front or back of the page?  I decided in the front.   I stamped a lamp light, colored it using my honey alcohol marker, cut it out and hung on a lamp post.   There is  a candle inside it  that I colored, then stamped, using my Juniper alcohol marker.  After this all dried, I put a little bit of glitter around the light to give it a shimmer, like you see around a light at night.  I used 2 sentiments from this card set.  On the bottom sentiment, I put it on a piece of ribbon.

Thanks for looking.  Now "Hop" on over to Terri Ann's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the November SOTM is only available until November 30, 2013!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount or even free!

Halloween for Handmade Harbour

This fella, or gal, is all dressed up and ready to go.  They are even carrying a sign, so when they get tired of asking, they just have to hold up their sign.  I made this into a flip card, so when you lift up, you can see the inside saying, which is "Have a safe time, trick or treating."

I got this stamp from Handmade Harbour and love the creativity behind it.  I reminds me of when I was younger, and my mom made all my costumes.   I hope you enjoy this.  It is stamp #208, trick or treat monster.  

Classes at my house

Scrap-booking and card making get Together is on for Saturday!!!!  Come down and see what fun you can have with us.   Bring your pictures, papers, stamps, inks, whatever you need to work.  It will be fun.  At 4:00, I will be teaching a class for a scrapbook layout using our newest Cricut cartridge, Artbooking.  It is really a cute layout, 2 pages, with Grateful and Give Thanks are titles I have for it, but you can change it if you want.  Dinner will be turkey meatball sandwiches, chips, and salad.  After dinner, around 6 or 6:30, I will give you a lesson on using the alcohol markers.  Yes, those of you who ordered the first set of markers…they are in!  We will make a card exclusively for you alcohol marker purchasers. 

I will be placing my next order after you leave on Saturday, so if there is anything you want to order, get your order in right away.  I have gotten many of the new stamps from the Christmas catalog, and they are cute!

There is a new Stamp of the Month for October called Scandanavian Wishes.  If you place an order of $50, you can get this stamp set for only $5.  Now, those of you in the marker buy, that means you need to only order an additional $23.80 

Our next get together will be October 26, and we  will be starting classes to make Christmas cards.  I have a set of cards made for you to look over, to see if you want to take this class.  You have two options:

Option 1:  You take the class, creating 10 cards.  You will receive 10 blank cards and envelops, the paper needed for the cards, use of my ink and my stamp set, and I will provide any embellishments needed.  Cost to you…$15.00

Option 2: Purchase the Workshop on the Go Frosted for $24.95.  With this kit, you have the ability to make 15 cards, plus you get your own "D" size stamp set (valued at $19.95), and embellishments for the cards.

Next month, we will be making more Christmas cards, using the new Sparkle and Shine set from the Holiday Catalog.  You will have the same choice of options for that also….so think ahead.  

Chi Chi Memories has some really cute digital designs.  They have challenges that are offered and you can pick up a free digital stamp to use for the challenge.  You can also purchase other digital stamps too, if you want.  I loved the one they have now.  I downloaded the stamp and created this card with it.

I printed the stamp out and colored it with my Copics and layered it on a piece of glitter cardstock.  I cut out corners using spellbinders and attached them.  Finally I added a Thinking of You.  I will be sending this to family for Thanksgiving.  If you like the digital stamp, you might want to head over to Chi Chi Memories and get one for yourself.  

I have linked this card up to Chi Chi Memories, Lady Anne's Challenge #12, and  Fetch A Sketch.