Busy with the Cricky

It's Stampaganza Time!!!

2012-06-01T09:46:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone - Welcome to Stampaganza! Last Monday I told you that I had an announcement for you today: Beginning at 9:00 am mountain time today through midnight June 30 Close to My Heart is celebrating Stampaganza!

What is Stampaganza? It is a fabulous BUY 2, GET 1 FREE stamp sale!!!! For every two sets of Acrylix Stamps you purchase, you will get an equal or lesser value set for free!

When shopping in my ON-LINE CLOSE TO MY HEART STORE, simply place the stamps in your cart and one set for every three you order will be free!!! How awesome is that???

With over100 Acrylix stamp sets AND more than 20 of those coordinate with the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, you can really save money with this sale!!!

Want examples of how this works? You can purchase the Fashionista set for $17.95,

Add this adorable New Arrival set for $13.95, and....

Get the ENJOY set for free!!

Your buy 2, get 1 free stamp combinations are only limited by your imagination!

June 1 (9:00 am MDT) – June 30 (11:59 pm MDT)

Featured Products: My Acrylix® Stamp Sets

Purchase any two stamp sets (sizes A, B, C, D, or E) at full retail price and receive a third stamp set of your choice FREE (of equal or lesser value)—a savings of up to $29.95!

Stamp sets available for FREE include A, B, C, D, and E-size sets only. Customizable (K), Workshops on the Go™, Cricut® collection, and Stamp of the Month are not available as free sets.

If that were not enough (!), I have MORE!!! The June Stamp of the Month, Life is Tweet, is also available only for the month of June beginning today!!! This fabulous set also coordinates with the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge! It retails for $17.95, and while you cannot apply this to the Stampaganza special, you CAN get this great set for only $5.00 with a $50.00 order. As you stock up with our buy 2, get 1 free sale you will be getting a lot of merchandise with a $50.00 order - and you can top off the order with Life is Tweet for only $5.00!!!

Seriously, this is the time to order you Acrylix stamp sets and reap the benefits of Stampaganza!!! Go ahead... you know you want to click that shopping cart!!!!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2012-05-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Memorial Day! I hope that each of you has a wonderful day of remembrance with family and friends planned. We are looking forward to a busy but nice Memorial Day, or rather a nice continuation of our Memorial Day weekend. So far this weekend we have enjoyed warm (hot!) weather, work in our yard, dinner with friends, and far too much food (especially given that I am dieting). Monday we plan to attend a neighbor's afternoon party and enjoy the company of our older son, who is coming to town for a job interview. Oh, did I forget to mention Monday evening's grilled steaks, Italian potato salad, balsamic green beans and Eton Mess shared with 2/3 of our children? (If I do a nice table there will be a post tomorrow!).

So even with all of the Memorial Day/weekend celebrating going on today is still Monday and that means it is also a Bitten by the Bug 2 Monday! Our challenge cut of the week was selected by my very talented design team sister, Julia Moss. Julia suggested that instead of a specific Cricut cut that we once again go with a weekly theme. This week's theme is GARDEN. We had to create a project that included cuts we might see in our gardens.

I am not a vegetable gardener, unlike many of my family members before me, so I did not go with a vegetable garden theme. I think God put that Farmer's Market downtown for a reason and I have no problem visiting it (and the local super markets) for my fruit and veggie needs. That being said, I do LOVE flowers! When we purchased our house it was still being completed by the builder and this gave us a lot of freedom with our landscaping. My goal was to have something in the yard in bloom year around. Between shrubs, trees, and flowers we have managed to meet my goal! The plants with the longest blooming season are my Knockout roses. I have three colors of knockouts and I love them. So for my layout I chose roses!

I used only two cartridges to create this layout, Close to My Heart's Art Philosophy and Martha Stewart's Seasonal Cake Art. I cut the word Beautiful using MS Seasonal Cake Art, and every other cut on this layout page was cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge. It really is the Renaissance cartridge in that it does it all!

I started the layout with a vague idea of roses on a flourish. I found this great flourish on Art Philosophy and then I used the AP roses on the flourish. In the lower right corner of the layout I added a little button banner, also cut with AP, and the word You - which completes the phrase "Beautiful You". The photo mats were two shaped cuts from AP. And do I even need to tell you where those beautiful butterflies come from? Art Philosophy, of course.

I enhanced the layout with fibers by adding strips of lace and ribbon across the page along with some twine around the photo mats and on the buttons. I used white rub-ons on the top of the page and Prima gem swirls over the flourish cut. I finished the layout with liquid pearl accents and the offset matted photo of my beautiful daughter, Bethany!

Thanks for stopping by today. Remember that you too can join the fun of the weekly challenge and play along with us at BBTB2. For more details visit the BBTB2 website.

I hope that you will be stopping by later in the week - I have something special for you to announce on Friday!!!

Once again I wish you a wonderful Memorial Day!!!

How to Make a Dispenser Box

2012-05-22T06:30:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone. Today's post is in response to the "How did you do that" questions regarding the Dispenser Box from yesterday's BBTB2 post.

First, a quick note- a few of you noticed that I had posted the Craft Room cut file for the Dispenser Box yesterday evening. However, around 11:30 pm EST, I updated the design, so if you downloaded the file prior to that time, you may want to delete and download the latest version!!

I originally used George and Basic Shapes to create my dispenser box. Having received a number of requests for the cut file, I decided to redesign the cut file using a cartridge that more people might have access to. The newly designed dispenser box was created using Cricut Font and Basic Shapes - which many of us received for free with the purchase of a Cricut machine. Note - the digital cartridge is on sale today at Cricut.com!!!

Using the geometric shapes and the welding feature in Cricut Craft Room, I created the three pieces needed to complete the box. Note: There is one oval on the front of the box that is purposely NOT welded. It creates the negative arch area for the bottom front. This updated design is a bit wider than the original box so that it may more easily "dispense".

You will need to complete a number of scores on each of the three pieces. On the back/lid cut, above, you will need to score the folds for the flaps - begin by scoring across where the top flap meets the back (#1). Then score the where the three flaps meet the back (2, 3, 4). Finally, measure 3 inch from your first score and score the fold flap for the front of the lid (5).

For the front cut, above, your will need to score in the areas marked in the photo. Score the two fold lines on the front section first. Next you will score the fold on the flaps.

The score lines on the back/top cut are a bit more complicated. You will begin by scoring 1/4 inch from the bottom edge of the rectangle. Next, measure up three inches and score parallel to the first line. Score the between the scalloped areas down to the side edges. And last, score a line in off of the extended edges - this score line should start at the edge of the extension pieces and come into the middle area where it will meet the score line going across. See the next two images below for an up close view of where these score lines meet.

You will need to make a few small cuts to the design. First, cut the area where the extension piece meets the front of the dispenser. Cut just to the score line.

If it would be easier for you, you can cut out time triangles.

Next you will need to make two cuts on the front of the box. Measuring from the bottom edge of the front arch - cut a 1/2 inch slit on each side. My left side needed to be a tiny bit longer, so do not be surprised if you have to make adjustments.

Now that you have scored and snipped, you are ready to assemble. Begin by applying adhesive to the extension pieces on the dispenser cut.

You will slide the dispenser piece into the opening on the bottom of the front area. Aline the bottom edge and slid the scalloped edges up so that they slip into the trimmed slits. Affix the extension pieces up to the sides of the box. The view below is from the inside of the box.

This is the front view of fitting the dispenser piece to the front piece.

Next you will need to put a strip of adhesive across the INSIDE edge of the back/lid piece - apply the adhesive on the area that you scored the 1/4 inch line.

Next, apply adhesive the bottom flaps of the front/side pieces - this adhesive goes on the OUTSIDE.

Finally, apply adhesive to the flap areas on the back/lid cut. Apply the adhesive to the outside of the cut.

Fold under the bottom flap on your back/lid and line up the scored edge with the score line on the 1/4 inch lip at the bottom of the box. Ease the sides of the back into the inside of the box and gently rub to seal. Flip up the 1/4 inch flap and rub to seal.

Your box should resemble the box below.

And while this is a cute little box, it does need a bit of embellishment. Also included in the updated cut file is a page with the canister cuts I used. The canister is on the From My Kitchen cartridge. If you do not own from my kitchen, you can cut a tag and stamp the tag. Also, if you do not own FMK, go ahead and delete this page from your cut file so that Craft Room does not continue to ask you for the cartridge.

For my canister I used this cute stamp set from Close to My Heart. This set is called ENJOY and retails for $13.95. Best of all, this stamp set coordinates with your Art Philosophy cartridge!!!! See the little number printed beside some of the stamps? That is size you should make the Cricut cut for the stamp to perfectly fit your cut!!! Easy-peasy!! I love how wonderfully easy the stamps are to use with Art Philosophy!!

I used the ENJOY stamp on the front of the canister - close up above.

Here it is, my little hot pink dispenser box all ready for the Splenda packages!!

Before I close, I would like to add one more shameless self-promotion: You can purchase the Enjoy stamp set, the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, or any of the NUMEROUS stamp sets that coordinate with Art Philosophy at my on-line Close to My Heart store!!!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Kitchen Challenge with BBTB2

2012-05-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone. Welcome to the third Bitten by the Bug 2 Monday in May! This week's challenge was once again selected by my design team sister, Julia. Last week Julia had us use a baked item in our projects and this week she once again stayed in the kitchen. The design team was instructed to use a kitchen cut in their projects.

I decided not only to use a kitchen cut - the cute canister on the From My Kitchen cartridge, but I also cut a 3D dispenser box (using George and Basic Shapes) to use IN my kitchen!

I like to use Splenda in my morning coffee, but I hate having either the big Splenda box or a rectangular Splenda container sitting out on my kitchen counter. Somehow I think the counter tops look messy with extra stuff. In an ideal world my counter tops would look like a landing zone - nothing in site! But I do not live in an ideal world so I crafted this cut Splenda dispenser. I confess that I got the idea from the Splenda box itself, which is a flip out front dispenser box.

Using George, I built this three piece dispenser and cut it using Close to My Heart's Dotty for You cardstock - our National Scrapbook Month special. Dotty for You offers 24 sheets (2 each of 12 designs) of fabulous double sided cardstock at the great price of only $5.00 (with a $35.00 CTMH order). Supplies are going fast so if you are interested in this great cardstock DO NOT WAIT.

Using From My Kitchen, I cut the canister in teals to coordinate with my peach cardstock. I used a Made with Love stamp on the front of the canister before adding pop dots to affix the canister to the dispenser box.

The top of the box flips open and Splenda is then loaded inside. I like this cut little dispenser far better on my counter top than the big Splenda box!!

Thanks for stopping by today. Do not forget to go by the BBTB2 blog and check out my design team sisters' projects. They are amazing.... Also remember that we love it when you join us in the weekly challenge by linking your project back to the post at BBTB2!

Happy Birthday Carter!!

2012-05-18T11:30:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone - today we are going to wish my nephew, Carter, a very happy birthday. Carter will be celebrating his fourth birthday tomorrow and I thought I would share with you the birthday card I made for him.

Here is Carter looking adorable in his Detriot Tiger hat and jersey!

I used three Silhouette Cameo cut files to create this fun little boy card - the great castle cut, the knight, and of course that little green dragon inside the card.

I cut the base castle card at 6 x 4.5 inches, using five colors of cardstock - two grey tones for the castle, black for the gate, red for the turret points and inner shield, and blue for the outer shield. I finished the castle with black doodles and dots.

The knight was cut in three colors of cardstock - dark grey, medium grey, red and sparkle silver paper.

The dragon has a case of chicken pox - or at least he has a case of the dots! I used a scrap of fun green paper to cut the dragon and then I attached him to the inside left cover card.

The inside left of the card is stamped with the same stamp set I used to stamp the castle front, Close to My Heart's Card Chatter - Birthday. This is a great stamp set because it comes with several different birthday phrases that can be mixed and matched and retails for $17.95. While you are checking out this great stamp set at my on-line store, take a few minutes to look at the May National Scrapbook Month Special - Dotty for You!! With a $35.00 order (and the Birthday Chatter stamp set will put you half way to that total) you can add Dotty for You to your cart during checkout for $5.00!!!

Here is one last look at Carter's card. I suspect I may not be on my brother's happy list when Carter opens his birthday gifts from Uncle Doug and I. In addition to a fun ride on toy, I got him a big super-soaker water gun to play with this summer!!!!

Downton Abby Layout with the Cameo

2012-05-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone. Remember back in March when I shared the photos of my Downton Abbey Birthday Get-together with the girls? My blog post was actually about the great moustaches and treat cones that I had made for our Downton marathon, which you can read here. Well, fast forward to yesterday....

I finally made time to sit down and scrap my Downton B-day photos!!! I used my Silhouette to cut the embellishments and letters used on the layout. Have I mentioned that I ADORE my Silhouette Cameo? I honestly cannot believe I took so long to begin using it. I am completely hooked and could only be happier if I discovered that I could use the Cameo and my Expression 2 at the same time (technically I should be able to do this, but I have not actually tried).

I found a great cut at the silhouette store - the "Nice stache" cut pictured above. I also found the fun film strip during the same silhouette store shopping trip. I had some of the moustache photos printed in wallet size and they *just* fit the frames in the strip! How perfect were those cuts for this page?

On another trip to the silhouette store (I do like browsing there!) I found these three vintage women - Perfect for Downton Abbey. Those who watch the show on PBS know that there are three adult daughters in the show. I have named the women in the cut after the characters: the woman with her hand on her hip as Lady Mary, the defensive posed woman in the middle is Lady Edith, and Lady Sybil is on the right - looking to her future beyond Downton Abbey. I "had" to add the three women to the page.

I used several flourish cuts to embellish the page, as well as a really pretty font to cut my title phrase: Downton Abbey Night.

I hand trimmed a photo of the popcorn cones and added it to right-hand page. After I took the photographs I went back and found one of our moustaches and added it to the right hand page, beside the 5 x 7 inch photo, over the swirls.

My friends and I had decided that for scrapbookers, we needed to be better about documenting our time together. Well ladies, I am making a start!!!

Thanks for stopping by today and viewing my Downton/Birthday layout. I will be back tomorrow as I have more new projects to share with you....

Mother's Day Tablescaping And Great Meals

2012-05-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone. I wanted to share some Mother's Day photos with you and once again show you how we can use our electronic cutters to enhance our tablescapes.

This may look like a very simple breakfast, but let me tell you, to me it was fabulous! I have been dieting for the last two months and I have been limiting my intake of breads and of course, no fatty meats. Doug and I worked together and made Cranberry-Orange Pecan muffins and Morning Star veggie sausages. The muffins were fat-free, until I decided that they would be even better with pecans. And guess what? I was right; they were fabulous with pecans!

The Morning Star sausage was interesting. The sausage flavor was good, especially when combined with the muffins, but the texture was a bit odd. However, that did not stop me from enjoying my muffin and sausage links!

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut these lovely beautiful muffin/cupcake wrappers. I found them at a site suggested by my friend Susan Miller: Monica's Creative Room. Monica has some of the most beautiful and detailed cuts - be prepared to be completely amazed!! Anyway, on Saturday afternoon I cut a few of the muffin/cupcake wrappers to enhance our morning muffins!

And as wonderful as breakfast was, it did not hold a candle to dinner.... Dinner was an amazing dinning experience. When asked what I wanted for Mother's Day, I told my daughter that I wanted for her to make a nice dinner for us. Bethany likes to cook and she was excited to take on the challenge. We invited my friend Kimberly to join us as she had enjoyed brunch with her own mother, but would not be seeing her out-of-town daughters on Mother's Day.

My big contributions to the evening included setting the table, making the dry rub for the meat, and whipping the filling for the trifle. Bethany did everything else on her own, except for slicing the meat (as you will see shortly).

I chose to use my pink Bordallo Pinheiro dishes from Portugal for dinner. I went with a pink and red color palette - pink dishes on red chargers with pink and red toile print napkins! And red roses on the table (thank you, Doug!)! I used the new Cricut cartridge, Tablescaping Spring & Summer and cut my own red and pink napkin rings. I added a pink center to the red flower napkin ring and added stickles dots to better define the centers. The napkin rings worked well with the red and pink colors.

We used stem dessert dishes for our raspberry-cranberry jell-o salad - Yes, DO think 1970's - but I still love this jell-o salad!!! Bethany did a great job of making dishes that I really do enjoy!

Below is a better view of the napkins with floral napkin rings.

Bethany snapped a quick photo of Doug, Kimberly and I as we were about to begin our family style dinner.... the foods are on the table and ready to pass.

And now I have saved the best for last, Bethany's menu: Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Cabernet-Mushroom sauce (that was FABULOUS!), Poached Asparagus, Twice Baked Potatoes, Raspberry-Cranberry Jell-o, and an amazing Strawberry-Mascarpone Trifle for dessert!!! Everything, and I mean EVERY-THING was just wonderful!!! Bethany did a great job on this meal. And it was so fun to be served such a lovely meal in my own home!!!

The dessert... Careful that you so not drool on your keyboard!!!

Doug's job for the dinner was to assist Bethany if needed. She called for Dad's help with the electric carving knife - and then pushed him out of her way, over onto the rolling cart. And as you can see from this photo, Duncan is praying to his doggy-deity that Doug might slip and drop a hunk of beef tenderloin onto the kitchen floor!!!

Sorry Duncan....

* * * * * *

Supplies are going quickly so do not wait until the end of the month to order your Close to My Heart National Scrapbook Month Special - Dotty for You. With a $35.00 order at my on-line store, you can purchase this great cardstock set during checkout for only $5.00. If your order reaches $50.00 you can also add the Stamp of the Month during checkout for an additional $5.00. So for $10.00 you can add 24 sheets of fabulous cardstock and the stamp of the month set!!

Shop HERE today!!!

Elegant Wedding Cake for Bakery Challenge

2012-05-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone. It's Monday and that means it is Bitten by the Bug 2 design team project day. This week's challenge was selected by my DT sister - the beautiful AND talented Julia Moss. Julia asked the team to use any bakery item on any Cricut cartridge to create this week's project.

I chose to use the beautiful wedding cake on Creative Memories Divine Wedding cartridge, and of course I decided to make a wedding card featuring the cake!

I really like the simplicity and elegance of this cake. Each tier has a swirl trim that is just lovely. I cut my cake in three layers - the basic cake, the shadow cut, and the decorative swirls. I used black cardstock for the shadow cut and embossed the cut with a Swiss dot embossing folder. The basic cake was cut in white it too was embossed to add texture - though I honestly do not recall the name of the folder I used.

I used a silver on silver metallic cardstock to the cut swirl trim. I was amazed at how nicely this paper cut on the Cricut. I finished the cake off with pearls and gems.

Below the cake I added a decorative label to the card. Cut in four layers, also from Divine Wedding - though I did make some changes to the cuts using Cricut Craft Room. I cut the shadow layer in gray cardstock, the second layer in the silver on silver cardstock, and the trim on black. I added an extra oval to the center of the tag in order to stamp on the tag.

I used two different set of stamps on this card. Using black ink I stamped the word Congratulations on the label, with the Mr. & Mrs. stamped in red below.

I matted my cake and label onto a hand-stamped piece of cardstock. I used a large swirl stamp with a repeating stamping pattern in black ink onto white cardstock. I went back over the same area adding the red "Mr. & Mrs." stamps intermittently throughout the pattern.

I trimmed the stamped cardstock and affixed it to the black base card. I used pearls to finish the card design.

Remember at BBTB2 we truly enjoy it when our reader join us in the weekly challenges. Once you complete your project add it to the link area under the challenge post at BBTB2.

Thanks for stopping by today. I have a week of projects planned to share with you - both Cricut and Silhouette Cameo projects, so be sure to stop by again soon.

Mother's Day Card 2 with the Cameo

2012-05-12T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone, happy Saturday! Today I am sharing the Mother's Day card that I sent to my mom. As I mentioned yesterday, this was a busy week but I HAD to find tine to create cards for my mom and Doug's mom.

While browsing the Silhouette image store I found this fun layered flower cut and thought it would be fabulous on a card. There are four layers to the flowers and you can add a contrasting center if you prefer. I chose to add dark pink brads to hold my layer together and to serve as the flower centers. I fluffed the layers of the flowers up a bit to add texture to the flowers.

I used scissors and paper scraps to hand-cut my flower stems. I used the same green embossed cardstock and created the double-layered punched border at the bottom of the card - front and back of the same cardstock.

I used the same border punch on the pink rectangle on the inside the card that I used on the front border and corner caps. The stamps are the same two from my generic stash that I used on Doug's mom's card yesterday. I did, however, reverse the placements.

I know this card is very simple in design, but I did not want to overwhelm the flowers. To me the flowers were the perfect focal points.

Thanks for stopping by today. I want to wish all of my readers who are mothers a very Happy Mother's Day!! I will share photos of our mother's day celebration one day next week.

Mother's Day Card with the Cameo

2012-05-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone - happy Friday!! This has been a very busy week for me, but fortunately I was able to take a time out and spend a few hours in my scraproom yesterday afternoon. I HAD to make the time to create two Mother's Day cards, one for my mom and one for Doug's mom.

I used the Silhouette Cameo to create this fun pop-up card! I seem to have adapted to the Silhouette software rather quickly enabling me to edit and change Silhouette cuts. I copied sections of the cut so that I could create layers inside the card, especially on the pop up sections. I also copied the daisy tops in order to create the little bouquet on the front of the card.

I used two stamps from my stash to stamp the oval on the front of the card and the sentiment inside the card. I colored around the outside edge of the oval stamp to add a little color to the oval.

I tore the upper left corner of the blue dot cardstock and added a second layer of cardstock to the corner. I like torn and layered look. I finished the card with orange buttons for the flower centers, a bit of yellow ribbon tied around my bouquet, and a strip of ribbon attached across the front of the card.

I was having a difficult time deciding which card to give to which mom, but Doug helped me with that. Of the two cards I made today this one was his favorite. That was great to hear because I like tomorrow's card better.... So each of our moms will get our favorite sent to them. Thanks for stopping by for this quick blog post. I have a second Mother's Day card to share with you tomorrow.

Silhouette Lamp Card

2012-05-10T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone! I have a bit of an announcement to make! Busy with the Cricky has been Busy with the Cameo!!! About a month or so ago I purchased a Silhouette Cameo machine. I was interested in the machine primarly because of favorable reviews from other users, and I simply wanted to try something new. I have to say, I did not expect to love it quite so much, but it is amazing!!

Having said that, let me assure you that in no way will the Silhouette replace my Cricut family - I have far too much invested in Provo Craft products for that to happen! But I will add that I do love the delicate cuts and the font cuts that I can create with the Silhouette Cameo. You can cut any font on your computer without using cartridges or anything other than the basic Silhouette software that comes with the machine!!! That feature really impressed me.

This simple card was actually made from only my second set of Silhouette cuts. I had so much going on that I left the machine in the box for over a month before having a private out of the box party. Finally last weekend I loaded my software, watched the instructional video, and took off cutting!!! My friend Suzanne was a godsend through my learning curve. I have asked her a plethora of questions and she has provided me with lots of hints and money saving tips!! Thanks Suzanne!

These cute lamps are actually a set of four lamps that come in a single cut from the Silhouette store. I thought they might make a cute note card. I cut the lamps in bright, BRIGHT orange cardstock. I used a white base card and double matted the lamps. I also added a little border at the top of the card. I finished the card with a Close to My Heart stamp and amber colored bling.

My first Silhouette cuts were for a layout on which I am currently working. I was really hoping to post it prior to posting the card, but I am still waiting for the photos to arrive in the mail from my printing service. So, I guess that will be one of next week's posts!

Thanks for stopping by today and viewing my uber-simple Silhouette Cameo card!

Candles Embellished with Vinyl Cuts

2012-05-09T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone. Today I am sharing my experiences in scrap-lifting!! Last Thursday night I spied the most awesome embellished candles at my friend Susan Miller's house! She had candles with Cricut cut swirls and monograms on them, placed in different candles holders, displayed in her home. I was completely WOW'ed by her projects!! So, of course, imitation being the best form of flattery, I came home and designed my own Cricut vinyl candle embellishments!!! Within 24 hours of Susan's Close to My Heart stamp club gathering I had embellished the candles in my great room!!!

Do I even need to tell you that I primarily used one cartridge - CTMH's Art Philosophy cartridge - to create all of my cuts? I started by measuring the height and circumference of the candles I planned to embellish. Using Cricut Craft Room I then created cuts that would fit the size and shape of my various candles.

I will tell you that four of the candles I embellished are not "real" candles, but are flameless. The two tallest candles on my mantle are flameless.

I also have a set of flameless sconces on the wall that I decided to embellish. I used a small frame cut and added the E from the Cricut Alphabet Cartridge. I really like how the framed monograms look on the candles.

Susan Miller asked me to assure you that she did not create this idea - that she too saw the embellished candles someplace else - though she could not recall where - she thought perhaps Pinterest.

I must say that I think the candles look so much more finished and more "high end" than they had previously. I think I may need to go walk around the rest of Susan's home and see what else I may want to copy.... errr... I mean, SCRAP-LIFT!!!

Thanks for stopping by today. I will be back again tomorrow with yet another new project to share.

Stamp Club Birthday Card

2012-05-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone. I have a fun birthday card to share with you today, the card I designed for last week's stamp club meeting. This card is actually based on a card I created last summer - one of my first Art Philosophy cards - for MFK's birthday.

I used Close to My Heart cardstock in to create this card, the National Scrapbook Month Special, Dotty for You and the rose print from the backside of one of the Dotty papers.

I used only one cartridge to create this card, Close to My Heart's Art Philosophy. I cut the scalloped circle card in white cardstock and the scalloped circle in the Pemberley rose print. I used Dotty for You to cut the scalloped eyelet trim.

I used the Close to my Heart stamp set pictured below, Card Chatter - Birthday, D1475, to stamp the cover and the inside of the card.

To add a bit of color to the inside of the card, I used the negative space cut from the scalloped circle on the front of the card. I stamped the second half of the phrase onto the circle.

I added a ribbon and button to the front of the card. I also cut the beautiful two layer butterfly from Art Philosophy to embellish the front front of the circle.

Behind the card above you can see the envelope. I used the CTMH stamp set pictured below, Delight, C1452, to stamp the small butterflies on to the bottom front left of the envelope and onto the center back of the envelope flap.

Below is one final peek at the card, from an angle to help you appreciate the dimension of the layers.

Two of the prints used in the card are from the Dotty For You cardstock set. This is a set of 24 sheets of 12x12 cardstock, 2 pieces each of 12 prints. When you place a $35.00 order in the month of May, while supplies last, you can receive this fabulous set for only $5.00!!!

The photo below shows the back side of the Dotty sheets.

And while you are shopping, do not forget about May's Stamp of the Month, Friendship Bouquet! This eight piece set retails for $17.95, but with a $50.00 order you can add the Stamp of the Month to your card during check our for only $5.00. And yes, with a $50.00 order you can add both Stamp of the Month AND the Dotty for You set for $5.00 each!!!

Thank you for stopping by today. I have several more projects to share with you this week - including a one post that will bring to light a new toy in my scraproom!!

I've Been Framed!

2012-05-07T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone! Welcome to another Bitten by the Bug 2 Monday! This week there is a lot going on at BBTB2 - Our call for design teams members has wrapped up and this is the first week with projects posted by our new team member! Welcome ladies!!!

This week's challenge cut was selected by my very talented and very beautiful design team sister, Melissa - from Running with Scissors. Melissa chose a frame - any frame from any Cricut cartridge - preferable used on a layout, though if you truly are not a scrapper she agreed that you could make a card.

Being a scrapbooker at heart, I had no problem making a scrapbook layout. I chose to use this great square swirl frame from the Paper Trimmings cartridge (I bet you are shocked that it is not from Art Philosophy!!). I cut both layers at about 11.5 inches, or as large as I could stretch the image on the virtual mat in Cricut Craft Room. The top layer was cut in heavy glittery gold cardstock (with the blade set on 6 and a nice sharp blade, this only took one cut to cut through the glitter cardstock!) and I cut the shadow layer in black cardstock.

After gluing the two layers together I applied adhesive to the outside edges of the swirl frame and applied the frame to a piece of Teresa Collins black and white line, Mr&Mrs. I wanted the inside edges of frame loose so that I could slide the photo matting under the edges.

At the top of the page sailing from under the photo mats, I attached one of the Titanic ships I used on the invitations for our party, adding the word "Titanic" over top of the life preserver and the ship.

The photo I used is a fun picture of Bethany, Doug and I at our party. I triple matted the photo on white, gold and red cardstock. I added the same embellishments that I used on the cones for the party - the Captain's Wheel and the anchor. I added a few dots and hand wrote the date in the lower right corner of the red matting. I think this page will make a great intro page for my Titanic Centenary party scrapbook.

I have already completed a couple of projects that I plan to share with you this week. How unlike me to actually be ahead!!! Thanks for stopping by today and don't forget to go by BBTB2 and welcome our new team members. Also remember we love it when you join us in our weekly challenges!!!

Happy National Scrapbook Day

2012-05-05T03:29:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone - Happy National Scrapbook Day!!! I had planned to share a card with you today but then I realized that National Scrapbook Day calls for scrapped pages. Fortunately I had not yet finished sharing all of my cruise layouts with you!!!

The layout above is very simple, very straight forward. I combined two different striped cardstocks to create the background pages and added pops of color in the mats and embellishments.

In the layouts below I reminded myself of exactly why I became a Close to my Heart consultant - I love stamping on my layouts!

(Click on any photo see larger)

The layout was created using a Mosaic technique which I learned at CKC Scrapbook Convention last year. Tami Potter offers great classes on mosaic scrapping. And just because you are using a mosaic layout does not mean that you cannot add Cricut cuts and stamped images to your layouts! All of the flowers and seashells on this layout were stamped!! Some of the shells were cutout and popped with pop dots.

The layout below is another example of how adding stamped images can enhance a layout. I added more of the seashells to the right page as well as the Relax stamp. I used the wave stamp along the bottom border of the pages. By dividing the shaped page in half and running the waves across both pages I was able to combine two totally unrelated topics from the cruise without either page over powering the other.

I added an occasional gemstone to the waves.

You can see that this seashell was cut out and attached to the page.

My final layout today is another Bahama page - images that capture the essence of the Islands in my opinion. I added stamped and cutout flowers with gem centers to the pages, along with the great title and another of my fun seashells.

These flowers are a perfect companion to these bright green pages.

All of the stamps used on my layouts are products of Close to my Heart - specifically the Kick Back stamp set. This 15 piece stamp set retails for $17.95.

Speaking of Close to my Heart, have you taken advantage of the National Scrapbooking Month special yet??? Dotty for You is a 24 piece set of 12 x 12 inch cardstock, available only while supplies last and can be yours for only $5.00 with a $35.00 CTMH order. Drop by my on-line Close to my Heart Store for more information and to start shopping!

When you place an order of $35 or more in products from the Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book between April 17 and May 31, you may add the Dotty for You paper packet, valued at $19.95, for just $5. Dotty for You includes 24 specially designed, coordinating B&T Duos® sheets (2 each of 12 patterns) and an artwork idea insert to get your creative juices flowing. But that’s not all! There are two ways your customers can get this darling paper packet FREE!

Hostesses will receive a free Dotty for You paper packet when their Gathering sales total $400 or more (excluding tax, shipping/handling, and Operation Smile donations). *this begins today at 9:00 am MST*

This month's stamp of the month is so beautiful! It has some really great sentiments and some lovely sunflower images! It can be yours for $17.95 or if you place an order of $50 or more you can get this FABULOUS stamp set for just $5! This is a savings of $12.95! As a bonus, place a $50.00 and you can get both the Stamp of the Month AND Dotty for You for only $5.00 each!!!

Thank you for stopping by today. I will be back on Monday to share a new Bitten by the Bug 2 project. I also have two other projects already photographed to share next week!!

Home Again and Party Award

2012-05-03T12:53:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone! I am back home - sweet - home again after our visit to the Smoky Mountains and beautiful Waynesville, NC! Doug and I spent a few days at the Waynesville Country Club and Spa relaxing and re-energizing.

Before I share the highlights of our time away, I have to share some fun news!!! I love the PBS show Downton Abbey. One of the blogs that I follow regularly is called DOWNTON ABBEY COOKS, and is owned by Pamela, who is married to Lord D!! Pamela is a wonderful inspiration for all things Edwardian and shares recipes, customs, etc. from the Downton Abbey (and Titanic) time period.

Pamela ran a contest offering prizes for the two best Titanic Parties and I am thrilled to report that I am her first winner (which you can read about further along in Pamela's regular Tea Tuesday post)!!!! I will be receiving a copy of the new book, Wentworth Hall!!! Thank you, Pam - I am thrilled!!!

Okay so now back to NC!!! :-)

The photo below is my poor attempt to share the country club with you while missing the cars in the parking lot! Sorry. The Country Club opened in 1926 and has grown and expanded through the years. Doug says the golf course is great. He kept talking about having never seen such a well protected par 3!!! I, of course, loved the spa! They country club teams with Biltmore Spa to provide on-site services and actually has packages for "while he is golfing".

I liked the mountain setting, but the rooms were a bit dated... My way of saying that if you are going to get a fabulous room, stay someplace else. If you are going to enjoy the golfing, the spa, the dinning and the tap room, you will have a nice trip

Our room had a cute little balcony that overlooked the golf course and the mountains! How is this for a good morning view?

Or this?

While in the area in addition to doing some antiquing and shopping, we visited lake Junaluska. We love the walking path that surrounds the lake!

And what did we eat in our trip? Well, I forgot to photograph all of the food but the first night we dined at the CC and I had shrimp and grits. They were quite yummy!

Doug had a southwestern pulled pork wrap with mango salsa and a side of cheese grits. The grits were fabulous! (For you non-southerners, think Polenta!).

On Monday we visited City Bakery on Main Street. For 60 years or so the bakery on Main Street was called Whitman's Bakery. It was started by Doug's grandfather, DeWitt Whitman. His sons Charles and Fred took over from him. Finally Fred retired and his daughter Linda ran the bakery for a number of years, and added a sandwich shop.

A couple of years ago Linda was ready to retire and enjoy her grandchildren so the bakery was sold, along with the name, to a different family. The town was unhappy with the new owners and the poor quality of the products. The locals did not support the bakery and the tourist season could not keep them in business year around so they ended up selling also. They sold to an established bakery family out of Asheville, NC - the owners of The City Bakery.

To wrap up this long story (!), we visited the bakery on Monday and are PLEASED to report that things are heading back in the right direction!! The baked goods are once again home baked and wonderful tasting, the sandwiches are back to their former standards also. We introduced ourselves to the owners and wished them well - it is sad to no longer see Whitman's Bakery but it was a pleasure to see another family will carry on and offer high quality, great tasting food in the same location!!!

Above is my lunch plate at City Bakery - Turkey, Brie and Chutney sandwich with a side salad. Below, enjoying a lemon cookie!

Doug had the Key Lime pie for dessert and had nothing but wonderful things to say about the taste and texture!!!

In addition to everything else we did, we did spend some time with Doug's aunt Ruth and Uncle Jimmy, who retired back to the Waynesville area. We spent part of an afternoon visiting with them and then they took us out for a BBQ Rib dinner. I don't want to think of the number of calories I ingested - but the dinner was quite yummy!!

Tonight I have a Close to My Heart gathering which means tomorrow I will be sharing a new project with you!!!

Happy May Day!

2012-05-01T05:00:00.000-04:00

Happy May Day everyone!

I should be watching children dancing around a May Pole someplace but instead I am in the beautiful Smoky Mountains enjoying a little Country Club/Spa getaway with my hubby! We felt a need to refresh and re-energize away from home and we thought a mountain retreat was just the ticket! Yesterday was our shopping, antiquing, site seeing day - we had such a nice time.

Doug and I will be home again by this evening as we have a new dance class beginning, but not before we spend the morning in the Spa (I have a massage and a facial scheduled)!! In addition to our on-going ballroom lessons, we have added "Shag" lessons. Shag is a relaxed beach dance that is actually the state dance of South Carolina. Having lived here for 21 years we thought it was finally time to learn this fun dance. So beginning tonight we begin nine weeks of Shag.

As today is May 1st that means it is time to share the May Stamp of the Month - Friendship Bouquet!!!

May 2012: Friendship Bouquet (S1205) Retails for $17.95

Spend $50 and get this Stamp of the Month set for just $5.

A Bouquet of Projects
In love with the artwork we created with this stamp set? Get ready to make it yourself! Purchase the materials listed here along with your deeply discounted Stamp of the Month set to get started!

Materials Needed
S1205 My Acrylix® Friendship Bouquet
X7148B Pemberley Paper Packet
Z1734 Irresistibles™ Persnickety Journaling Spots
Z1695 Urban Felt Alphabet
3174 Blending Pen
Z1142 Brown StazOn® Ink Pad
Z2140 Outdoor Denim Exclusive Inks® Pad
Z2310 Buttercup Exclusive Inks® Marker
Z2311 Chocolate Exclusive Inks® Marker
Z2362 Honey Exclusive Inks® Marker
Z2337 Olive Exclusive Inks® Marker

Required Tools
1385 White Daisy Cardstock
Z697 Sponge
Z341 Memory Book Mini Glue Dots®
Z1151 3-D Foam Tape
Y1002 1" × 3 1/2" My Acrylix® Block
Y1003 2" × 2" My Acrylix® Block
Y1012 4" × 5" My Acrylix® Block
Adhesive

Celebrate National Scrapbooking Month in May

by mixing and matching to your heart’s content with our new Dotty for You paper packet! The trendy patterns on the front of the papers coordinate perfectly with the dots on the reverse side, giving you lots of options for crafting colorful layouts, cards, and other projects. Dotty for You includes 24 specially designed, coordinating B&T Duos® sheets (2 each of 12 patterns) and an artwork idea insert to get your creative juices flowing.

With a $50.00 order you can add BOTH the May Stamp of the Month, Friendship Bouquet, AND the Dotty for You cardstock set for only $5.00 EACH!!! Take both along with some wonderful tools and products to create your own fabulous projects!!!!

Visit my Close to my Heart on-line store!!

Ice Cream Cone Birthday Wishes

2012-04-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone, happy Monday! I have this week's Bitten by the Bug 2 challenge to share with you. My sweet design team sister, Penny chose this week's challenge cut - An ice cream cone from any Cricut cartridge. There are quite a few ice cream cones available on various cartridges, including Imagine cartridges, but I decided to go with an old friend - Stretch Your Imagination!

I have always liked this multi-layer ice cream cone on Stretch Your Imagination and thought it would be perfect for this week's challenge. I used four pieces of cartstock to cut the cone layers: Teal for the shadow layer, textured tan for the cone layer, pink on pink dot for the ice cream, and brow for the outline cut. I assembled the layers and added a Close To My Heart Bitty Bud to the top of the cone. I fined the ice cream cone with white doodles and dots.

The card was cut using Close To My Heart's Art Philosophy cartridge. I used the shaped card feature and the detail cut out shape layer. I ran the detail cut out layer through the cuttlebug to add texture then added a layer of white cardstock to the back of the cut. I attached the embossed layer to the base card.

I used the Ribbons and Rosettes cartridge to cut my 1.5 inch high rosette. Because my rosette was so small I chose a simple edged rosette for this card.

I stamped the front edge of the card by curving the stamp on my acrylic block. I used Close To My Heart's Smoothie Stamp Pad and stamp set D1475, Card Chatter - Birthday to stamp the sentiments on the card. I used two additional stamps from this set on the inside.

In addition to the two birthday phrase stamps I used inside the card, I also used the two negative cuts from the shaped piece on the front of the card. I finished the inside by adding a second Close To My Heart Bitty Bud.

I finished my birthday card with a shiny pink bow in the upper left corner!

Remember that Monday is the final day to purchase the April Stamp of the Month set - YOU ARE. Through midnight Monday night this stamp set can be yours for only $17.95, or with a $50.00 order you can add the stamp set to your cart during check out.

There are three ways to get this exclusive Dotty for You paper packet, valued at $19.95:

•Place an order of $35 or more in products from the Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book between April 17 and May 31, and add the Dotty for You paper packet for just $5*.

•Host a Gathering with a sales total of $400 or more (excluding tax, shipping/handling, and Operation Smile® donations) between April 17 and May 31 and receive a Dotty for You paper packet FREE.

•Join Close To My Heart as a new Consultant between April 1 and May 31 and receive a Dotty for You paper packet FREE

Want an even better deal? With a $50 order you can receive BOTH the Stamp of the Month and the Dotty for You cardstock set for only $5.00 each. You will be prompted to add these great products during checkout if your total order is $50.00 or greater!!!

Shop my Close To My Heart on-line Store today!!!

Fun Projects with Cricut & CTMH

2012-04-27T01:19:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone! Today I have a quick two minute video to share with you which features some quick and easy gift packaging ideas you can create with your Cricut, the Close to my Heart Art Philosophy cartridge, CTMH My Acrylic Stamp Sets, and the CTMH milk cartons. Such cute ideas for little thank you gifts - I hope you enjoy this quick video.

Remember that you only have four more days to order April's exclusive Stamp of the Month set: YOU ARE! I love this stamp set in that it is perfect for card making or scrap pages! There are so many great uses and potential projects you can create with this stamp set.... But only if you order it by April 30th!!! The stamp set retails for $17.95, but with a $50 order you may add the stamp of the month to your cart when prompted during check out, for only $5.00!!

Also remember that Close to my Heart is celebrating National Scrapbook Month from now through May 31!

Celebrate National Scrapbooking Month in May by mixing and matching to your heart’s content with our new Dotty for You paper packet! The trendy patterns on the front of the papers coordinate perfectly with the dots on the reverse side, giving you lots of options for crafting colorful layouts, cards, and other projects. Dotty for You includes 24 specially designed, coordinating B&T Duos® sheets (2 each of 12 patterns) and an artwork idea insert to get your creative juices flowing.

There are three ways to get this exclusive Dotty for You paper packet, valued at $19.95:

•Place an order of $35 or more in products from the Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book between April 17 and May 31, and add the Dotty for You paper packet for just $5*. Start shopping.

•Host a Gathering with a sales total of $400 or more (excluding tax, shipping/handling, and Operation Smile® donations) between April 17 and May 31 and receive a Dotty for You paper packet FREE.

•Join Close To My Heart as a new Consultant between April 1 and May 31 and receive a Dotty for You paper packet FREE. Let’s get started.

For additional information on any of the products listed above, click on the name of the product or visit my Close to my Heart on-line store!

Titanic Tuesday and CTMH

2012-04-24T05:00:00.000-04:00

I just love the Downton Abbey Fashions

Hello everyone. As much as I hate to say good-bye to the Titanic era, today should be my final Titanic Tuesday post. If you have no interest in the Titanic era fashions, skip ahead to my Close to My Heart video below.

In planning my Titanic Garden Party I did a lot of research. One resource was the book "The Last Dinner on the Titanic", which was a fount of information about dining habits, food preparation, and the different dining areas on the Titanic. I discovered lots of ways in which our current dining habits differ greatly from those 100 years ago.

The photo above is a recreation Steerage Ball

In order to outfit myself and my husband for the party, I also did quite a bit of research into Titanic era fashions. Like dining, fashions varied greatly depending on economic and social standards. Out of sympathy for my husband, we decided to attend our own party as a 1912 middle class couple. Doug did not want to spend the evening in white tie and tails! And though he would have looked wonderful in the outfit, I completely concurred. Instead we looked to second class, or middle class, standards of the day.

As you might have guessed there are many more photos and details about the upper class of 1912. However I was able to uncover interesting tid-bits about men of the day. For example, the long tie had come into fashion, but many middle class men liked the bow tie.

I purchased an Edwardian shirt for Doug though a historic clothing vendor. The differences from today include the rounded collar, the tuxedo pleated front and the gathered back. Doug's vest had subtle grey one inch spaced pinstripes on the charcoal black fabric. And even though his slacks had button on suspenders (or braces), Doug wore his vest all evening. A gentleman NEVER appeared in public in just his shirt sleeves! Only the working class (not management class) would appear in a shirt without a vest and jacket!

The looks below are were considered correct summer wear for men. Note the driving coat as cars were newly on the scene and most provided a dusty ride.

The photo below shows member of a White Star Line ship, in 1912. Note the crew attire in white long sleeve jackets and with shirts and ties under. The others in the photo are passengers.

The ladies below are from the Titanic - they are the first class cabin stewardess. They are dressed as one would expect a house maid of the time to appear.

The shirt, tie, and jacket below are also from the Titanic era. This is a first class steward costume from James Cameron's 1997 Titanic movie.

The gentlemen below are from the crew of the Titanic's sister ship. The was the attire of the White Star Line's Crew in 1912.

Naval men of the day, non officers, wore outfits much like this one. My husband's grandfather was in the navy in WWI and his family has photos of him in an outfit much like the one pictured. However, the crew on the Titanic were employees of The White Star Line and did not wear naval attire.

When searching for fashions for my daughter Bethany and I, I looked to Downton Abbey and fashions like those pictured below. I liked the net and lace "over dress" over a simple sheath.

I went to Nataya's Designs and looked at her line of Titanic, teens and twenties inspired designs. Bethany and I both found our dresses in her line. I liked the dress below a lot and it reminded me of one of Lady Mary's styles on Downton Abbey, but I chose the dress I am wearing in the photo above.

Doug and I have agreed that we will be doing another historic themed party at some point. I really like the twenties and the fourties so we may consider one of those time periods.... We will definitely skip the depression era!

* * * * *

As I posted last week, Close to my Heart is celebrating National Scrapbooking Month with a fabulous customer special, Dotty For You.

With a $35 order you can add the Dotty For You paper special to your cart for only $5.00. Visit my Close to My Heart on-line store for more details. I hope you enjoy the video.

Titanic Tuesday - Errrr... Monday - An Early Wrap Up

2012-04-23T03:00:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone - happy Monday. I know that I am a day early but I just could not wait to share the details of our Titanic Party with you.... Well that and I was too tired on Sunday to complete my Bitten by the Bug 2 project - Sorry Donna and Carole!

Our Titanic Party was a huge success! We had 17 friends who shared in our Titanic garden party. We had three dinner tables, two tables of six and one table of five. I would have preferred it if we could have had one long table that held everyone, but my stash of garden furniture was not quite that extensive!

Above, my friend Marcie, my daughter Bethany and my friend Kimberly model some perfect period looks! Marcie and Andrea (pictured later in this post) truly stole the show with their historic costumes. I should have had prizes for the best period look costume!!

Now for the party details:
I completed all of my shopping on Friday and devoted Saturday to cooking and decorating. I had previously completed my Cricut Projects - the invitations went out weeks ago, the cones were fill and wrapped, the menus were ready and I finished the place cards on Friday. My daughter was a Godsend and helped me with the cooking and decorating details all day long!

I used linen cut work table clothes and hem stitched dinner napkins. I used black and gold chargers - alternating at every-other place setting. I used white dinner plates that looked great on the chargers.

I used glass beaded napkin rings and along with the napkin I placed a menu on each charger. As discussed in a previous post, the menu cards were created with the Cricut machine and two cartridges: Straight from the Nest and New England Shore. We did not use salad forks as I had decided against a salad course. I used the salad forks inside for appetizers.... And speaking of the appetizers, they were to die for!!! I was sooo pleased with how they turned out. My daughter Bethany made the sausage stuffed mushrooms and the guests RAVED!

All of the place cards matched - I used Cricut's Straight from the Nest cartridge along with an oval punch and New England Shore to craft the place cards. The red circle behind the ship's wheel were throw away negative areas from another cut! Can you say RECYCLE???

My crystal matched on all tables as I am fortunate enough to have 18 of each stem type. I also have 18+ place settings of silver.

For centerpieces I used black lanterns (keeping with my black, gold, white and a touch of red colors) filled with red candles and white baby's breath. I also used two silver mint julep cups at each table, filled with white roses, red alstroemeria, and white baby breaths.

Our dinner was plated and served by our two waitresses - Bethany and her friend Britney. They were fabulous and I cannot say enough about how much help they were to me. They plated and served the food, filled drinks, removed plates, and served dessert. Between courses they cleaned dishes, loaded the dishwasher, hand washed the silver and crystal, and then they returned to collect dessert dishes! They were amazing!!!

Following appetizers and cocktail hour inside, dinner was served outside. I named our dinner menu "TITANIC SOUTHERN FUSION". We had three items from the original Titanic menus and some fun southern traditional food. Our dinner course consisted of Roasted Beef Tenderloin, Shrimp and Grits, Roasted Rosemary potatoes, Green Beans and bread & butter.

I forgot to photograph dessert but our Eton Mess with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream was a HUGE hit!

Our sweet, sweet next door neighbors, Tom and Penny.

There I am carrying my own dinner plate as Bethany signals to Britney on where to place the second to last dinner.

Guests chatting as dinner was served.

Our wonderful neighbors Paul and Andrea. They rocked the historic look!

Paul chatting with Bill, the engine room worker!!! How cute is that?

Courtney, who lives across the street, chatting with Tom and Penny.

Bethany, Doug, and I - getting ready for dinner.

Kathy, Marcie - who by far had the best costume, Beth, Suzanne - who also looked adorable, and Pat.

Kimberly had a fabulous costume. She dined with Doug (not pictured), Wendell & Kim (who later in the evening confessed that they wished that they had dressed in period clothing), and Bill and Ruth, who said they were representing the steerage passengers.

Our neighbor table - Thanks Paul and Andrea for sharing your photographs with us!! Oh and there is Britney standing in the background ready to assist!!

We had one fun photo opportunity for our party guests. I found the 1997 Titanic movie poster and purchased it at six feet tall! I mounted the poster to foam board and cut out the faces. Below Beth and Kim pose as Jack and Rose!

As we dined the sun set and we had a lovely South Carolina spring evening with temperatures in the mid sixties. Doug lit the fire pit and we were all comfortable.

Center pieces!

The girly table after dark. The star field behind them is our ten foot umbrella covered with white lights!

Back indoors - lanterns and flowers.

Our beverages consisted of punch, mixed drinks, sodas, beer, dinner wine and water.

And as I stated in a previous post, every guest went home with a treat cone - filled with dark chocolates, caramel filled chocolates and white chocolates. I had intended to make divinity to fill the cones - small icebergs! - but the weather leading up to the party was too damp. So we switched gears and went with wonderful chocolates!

Our evening wrapped up five hours after the first guest arrived. Doug and I had a wonderful time and we hope that our guests did also. I have received two calls and a lovely email message from some of those who wanted to thank us and let us know that they enjoyed the party and amount of detail and work we put into the effort.

I would truly love to do a party like this again. My only disappointment was with a friend who did not grasp how much I enjoyed the preparations, how much I enjoy entertaining, nor did she appreciate the concept of a period party. There were a few snarky comments that were a bit hurtful. However others were so lovely and so supportive that the entire experience was truly rewarding.

My friends Marcie and Andrea were spot on with their costumes as were Kimberly, Paul and Bill & Ruth. I loved Tom and Penny's look as well. Suzanne was adorable and I was so thrilled that she made such an effort especially as she had been away all week before the party. Our invitation did read "cruise casual" (or period costume) and Pat, Beth, and Courtney were the picture of Cruise Casual - Fab job ladies! - as were others who attended and chose not to dress in period clothing. I hope that those who did not grasp "period costume" as opposed to "a costume" enjoyed themselves also. Doug and I had a wonderful time and feel like we were right to suggest period clothing and details, especially as they mixed so well with our southern spring time charm.

Thanks for making your way through this lengthy post and for following along on the Titanic Tuesday posts!

Mom, Are The Dishes Clean or Dirty?

2012-04-18T05:00:00.000-04:00

How many times have you been asked if the dishes in the dishwasher are clean or dirty? Or worse yet, have you found that a helpful person added dirty dishes to the clean dishes assuming they were all dirty? Several years ago we over came that issue by using Dirty and Clean signs with our dishwasher. Our clean/dirty signs were looking really horrid and badly needed replacing. For several weeks I intended to use the cricut and create new dishwasher signs and finally last night was my moment.

I used two cartridges to create my signs: Close to my Heart's Art Philosophy and From My Kitchen. I had not used From My Kitchen in quite a while so it was fun to pull out the cartridge and spend time with an old friend!

I used Art Philosophy to cut the base card shapes - I love all of the shapes on Art Philosophy - and to cut the card titles. Art Philosophy has a nice clean font.

I used From my Kitchen to cut the plate and flatware set as well as the smelly fish plate. "Clean" was a bit easier to represent than dirty. With clean I used the sparking clean plate and silver, but I had a tough time with dirty. Finally I chose the fish platter!!! THAT would be dirty!

If you create you own clean/dirty cards remember that you can use Cricut Magnet Material for the backs if you want them to stick to your dishwasher. We actually do not attach our signs to the dishwasher, but lay them on the counter above. But the magnet material would be great if you do plan to put them on your dishwasher door.

* * * * * * * *

Let's get an early start on celebrating National Scrapbooking Month!!!

As a reminder, remember the great promotion that Close To My Heart is doing started yesterday. When you place an order of $35 or more in products from the Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book between April 17 and May 31, you may add the Dotty for You paper packet, valued at $19.95, for just $5. Dotty for You includes 24 specially designed, coordinating B&T Duos® sheets (2 each of 12 patterns) and an artwork idea insert to get your creative juices flowing. But that’s not all! There are two ways your customers can get this darling paper packet FREE!

Hostesses will receive a free Dotty for You paper packet when their Gathering sales total $400 or more (excluding tax, shipping/handling, and Operation Smile donations).

New Consultants will receive a free Dotty for You paper packet when they join the CTMH team between now and May 31st!

Shop my on-line Close to My Heart store here!

Titanic Tuesday Individual Place Menus

2012-04-17T02:00:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone. Welcome to Titanic Tuesday - Week 3! This week I am going to share the menus I created for each place setting. For those new to Busy with the Cricky, Titanic Tuesday is a limited series of posts sharing projects I have made for our upcoming Titanic themed party.

Briefly, my husband and I decided to host a Centenary Celebration of the Maiden Voyage of the RMS Titanic. Sadly, our party is sailing a week late due to previous commitments. I have done two previous posts on the party and you can read those here and here. Week one featured the invitations and week two featured the nautical themed party cone favors. This week we are moving on to the dinner tables.

Our evening will begin with appetizers at 6:30 pm and dinner will be served at 7:00 pm. We are planning a sit down, served dinner with limited courses. I have nicknamed our menu "Titanic-Southern Fusion"! I am featuring a few of the Titanic recipes, but also adding some southern tradition to mix it up a bit. For example, in addition to Roasted Beef Tenderloin we will also be serving Shrimp and Grits! Somehow I do not think the Titanic had Shrimp and Grits!!

I used two Cricut cartridges to create these individual place menus, Straight from the Nest and Stand and Salute. I used Straight From the Nest to cut the welded base card in white, the black matting and the black topper detail. I printed the top layer using MS Word and added double line borders. I used Stand and Salute to cut the shimmering gold anchors. I used Close to my Heart red and white twine (shown here in neutral assortment) to trim out the anchors.

I have also created coordinating place cards for the place settings which will look wonderful with the menus. I will share those in my wrap up post next week.

I still have a lot of work to do this week for Saturday's party: Affix my 6 ft. poster to foam board, finish my treat cones, do a bit of shopping, double check my silver and china, meet Kimberly and shop for and arrange centerpiece flowers.... And pray for nice weather (afternoon thunder showers are forecast for Aiken on Saturday).

I have had a few calls today asking about costumes and I must say I am very impressed with the creativity of some of our guests. I cannot wait to see what they plan to wear. Doug and I have our outfits selected and I just need to steam his shirt! I promise to take plenty of photos and have a wrap up post next Tuesday sharing details of the party, especially as I have not shared all of the details to keep some of my friends from knowing too much ahead of time.

* * * * * *

Let's get an early start on celebrating
National Scrapbooking Month!!!

Starting today (9:00 am mountain time), when you place an order of $35 or more in products from the Close to My Heart Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book between April 17 and May 31, you may add the Dotty for You paper packet, valued at $19.95, for just $5. Dotty for You includes 24 specially designed, coordinating B&T Duos® sheets (2 each of 12 patterns) and an artwork idea insert to get your creative juices flowing. But that’s not all! There are two ways your customers can get this darling paper packet FREE!•

• Host a Gathering with a sales total of $400 or more (excluding

tax, shipping/handling, and Operation Smile® donations)

between April 17 and May 31 and receive a Dotty for You

paper packet FREE.

• Join Close To My Heart as a new Consultant between April 1

and May 31 and receive a Dotty for You paper packet FREE.

Get your Dotty for You paper packet today!

*Taxes and shipping/handling may apply.

Snatch a Dotty for You paper packet at an incredible discount or even FREE while supplies last!!

Dotty for You Paper Packet (CC1017) $5 with a qualifying purchase

• 24 Coordinating B&T Duos® Sheets (2 each of 12 patterns)

* * * * * * * * *

Remember that you can also grab April's STAMP OF THE MONTH, You Are, a 15 piece limited edition stamp set. I love the two background stamps in this set as well as the wonderful word stamps that will work well on both cards and your scrapbook pages! The stamp set retails for $17.95, however with a minimum qualifying purchase ($50), get your D-size Stamp of the Month set for just $5.00! Add the stamp set to your cart on at full retail price or, with your qualifying order, add it at checkout for the promotional price.

Balloons and Birthday Vintage Card

2012-04-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! Welcome to a Bitten by the Bug 2 Monday! The design team is back from our Easter break and are ready to share our latest challenge with you. My sweet design team sister, Jeri chose this week's challenge cut - balloons from any cartridge made into a birthday card.

I rarely use vintage images in my cards, though I do like the vintage look. I thought this weekly challenge offered a perfect opportunity to use a vintage image. I found this sweet little girl clown and though she was not the exact image for which I was searching, I thought she was ideal for the balloon challenge!!

I used two Cricut cartridge to create this card, Close to My Heart's Art Philosophy and A Child's Year. I used A Child's Year to cut four red balloons. I trimmed away the red strings and using tiny glue dots, I added natural colored twine to the balloons. I backed each balloon with a scrap of white cardstock which shows through the slit.

I used CTMH's Art Philosophy cartridge to cut out the vintage image, the scalloped circle on which the image is matted, the gold tag, and the shaped card pieces. I cut three pieces to create the base card - a white back panel, a black and white stripe front panel, and a smaller red and white print inset panel. I added a red ribbon to the red and white panel then attached the panel to the striped front panel. I used a hole punch and added the rings to the top of the card. I thought I had smaller rings and I do think these are a bit large, but overall I like the idea of using the rings to attach the front and back panels together. Before finishing with the base card, I stamped Happy Birthday inside the card.

I printed two copies of my vintage girl clown. I cut one copy with the Cricut and attached it to the scalloped matting. Using micro tipped scissors I cut the red bow, the girls head and hat, and the red heart from my second copy of the vintage image. Using tiny pop dots I "popped" the cuts over the base image. I used pop dots on the balloons and with tiny glue dots I affixed the bottom end of the balloon strings "under" the bow.

I used Close to My Heart's adorable birthday stamp set, "LOOK WHO'S" (a twenty piece set pictured above), to stamp the "make a wish" sentiment inside the tag.

I know I mentioned this last week, but remember that Bitten by the Bug 2 is currently having a design team call. For more information on the design team call read THIS POST at BBTB2. And as always, we love it when you join our weekly challenge and share your projects with us. Please link your balloon birthday card under the balloon birthday card post at BBTB2.

I will be back tomorrow with another Titanic Tuesday post. My party is this Saturday and I still have a lot of work to do!! Also, Close to my Heart has a great special beginning tomorrow that I cannot wait to share with you!!

Titanic Tuesday Nautical Treat Cones

2012-04-10T06:00:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! It is time for the second installment of Titanic Tuesday. To recap for those who may have missed last Tuesday's post, my husband and I are planning to host a centenary celebration of the voyage of the Titanic. Our party is going to be a week late due to a previous commitment and will be held on April 21st. In this post last Tuesday I shared the invitations that we sent out to our guests.

In making last week's invitations I was able to define my color scheme for the event. The color photos of the Titanic show that she was black, white, and gold, with red under the water line. I used black, white and gold on the invitations and decided to carry the same colors through to my other crafts and decor.

This week I am sharing the party favors - Nautical Treat Cones! I plan to have a treat cone for each guest to take home with them. I will display the cones, wrapped in their cellophane bags, in an acrylic tub similar the one pictured in the top photograph, only the actual tub is much larger and will hold 20 of the treat cones!

I had planned to make the cones and display them in the tub, but then I realized that wrapping them in cello bags would make them much more portable and far more sanitary.

I used two Craft Room exclusive cartridges to create the cones - 3D Cones and New England Shore. I used just the anchor, ships wheel, and life saver from New England Shore. I also took a few design liberties with the triangular cone, fitting the trim pieces lower on the sides so that I had a black border at the top of the cones. And of course, as stated above, I used black, glitter gold, white and a touch of red cardstocks to create the cones.

I plan to add a little gold anchor to the ribbon tie on each cello bag, along with a little personalize tag.

I ordered a six foot tall poster from the movie to use at the party and it arrived ahead of schedule. I cannot wait to share my plans for the post with you!!! But that is a post for another Titanic Tuesday!!

On to other news -

For those who wondered were I was yesterday and why I did not share a Bitten by the Bug 2 project with you it is because the design team took a break for Easter and has issued a call for new design team members!!! The following is from the BBTB2 blog:

"If you've ever dreamed of joining the ranks of the very first Cricut Challenge Blog on the net, now's your chance. BBTB2 is adding a few new members to the team and one of them could be YOU!

We are looking for avid Cricuteers who wish to be a part of a close knit team just for the joy of creating and inspiring others. The term will be for 6 months with an option for renewal based on meeting the guidelines.

As a member, you will be expected to

1) Participate in the weekly challenges a minimum of 2 times per month (preferably 3 or 4)
2) Comment regularly on the challenge participant's projects
3) Maintain an active blog with regular crafting posts
4) Help choose challenges when called upon

So how do you apply? We'd like to see a new Mother's Day project to be sent to BBTB2.donna.carole@gmail.com and a link to your blog by Monday, April 23rd. New members will be contacted my email by Wednesday April 25 and revealed on BBTB2 with our May 8th challenge. We can't wait to see what you create. Best of luck to all. "

And finally - do not forget about the Close to My Heart Stamp of the Month, YOU ARE. This great stamp set has two background stamps as well 13 other stamps in the set. That's right, this is a 15 piece stamp set selling for only $17.95. It is perfect for both scrapbooking and cardmaking, and is available only for the month of April!! Don't miss your chance to pick up this stamp set.