'Tis the Season - trying out some new items

Packages have been arriving at my house - I can be dangerous with a credit card and an internet connection!  Tuesday was a rather crazy day here.  I really didn't sleep much at all Monday night and then had some unexpected things come up (mostly good) and by the time I had a chance to check out my new arrivals, it was already getting late.

I just have to say - don't craft when you are extremely tired.  One bad choice can lead to another and then things can spiral out of control!  (I should probably add - don't blog when you are extremely tired!).   I thought I'd go ahead and share the card I made - despite some of the issues I had along the way.

One of the boxes that arrived contained my new 'Tis the Season cartridge from Creative Memories.  This cartridge won't be available to order on my CM personal website until November 1st, however, consultants are allowed to order one copy early to preview the new items.  I also ordered some of the holiday papers that coordinate with the cartridge.

Here are some views of the items on this new cartridge.  I find the color choices in the previews very odd and you just have to look carefully to see how nice the images are - the grey snowman and green bearded Santa are difficult to look at!  You can click on any of these images to see them larger.

There are two new lines of papers for the holidays - "Noel" and "Holidazzle." The first 25 images on the cartridge coordinate with the Noel line while the second 25 images are meant to go with the Holidazzle papers.

In addition to the basic images and layers, there are lots of great holiday phrases.  These are usually done in four layers and they would work for scrapbook pages or cards (though some of the more complex ones might not cut well at very small sizes).  There are also some nice borders on the last row.

 

There are two fonts on the cartridge.  Santa's Workshop is meant to be used with the Noel line and has some classic labels and frames on the extra keys.

 

Sleigh Ride coordinates with the Holidazzle line and has lots of great snowflakes on the extra keys.

 

Finally, there is a monogram feature with each font in a suitable shape - a scalloped circle for Sleigh Ride (Holidazzle) and a more formal medallion for Santa's Workshop (Noel).

The cartridge library on the Information tab at Cricut.com has not been updated for a very long time so I will try to take photos of my handbook to post so you can see the contents more clearly.

I chose one image that appealed to me and thought I'd make a "quick" card to try out the cartridge.  I used papers from the Noel collection.  While these colors are lovely and traditional they are a little too formal for me.  I think they will work better for scrapbook pages than cards so I'll try to do a few pages soon.  I made an A2 card base from Papertrey Ink "scarlet jewel" cardstock.  I also added a layer of ivory pearl American Crafts cardstock for the background and layered a piece of the brown paper from the Noel pack over the lower third of the card.  I did some inking on the edges of the papers and the candle.

One of my other packages that arrived was from Papertrey Ink and this large sentiment stamp seemed like a good match for the candle.  I stamped it with Versamark ink and then used some gold metallic embossing powder to create a shiny sentiment.

The flames seemed too dull in the plain red paper so I added some Stickles glitter glue in goldenrod and burgundy.

I added a few gems for the holly berries and then added some Stickles - and made a mess.  I thought the card was ruined but then I realized I could just cut another holly leaf layer to hide the mess!

When I recut the leaves, I skipped the red berries and just used the red gems to represent the berries.  I added a tiny ribbon and tied a bow around the handle of the candlestick.  It was very tricky to make the bow - you should always start with a fairly long piece of ribbon and then trim the tails.  The first piece of ribbon went flying in frustration but I managed to make a bow the second time around.

I tried putting various tiny gems and snowflakes in the blank area - and nothing looked right.  I decided to share the card to get some opinions from you all.  I usually don't do much second guessing when making cards - once again, crafting while sleepy can be dangerous!  Looking at the card some more as I type this post, I think that maybe a window cut would look nice behind the candle - so I may revise or redo this card.


I think I just need to stop and sleep - things will look better in the morning (or at least I'll have a better idea what to do).  I hope you have a great day!

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A Little bit of Halloween with Creative Charms

Happy Tuesday!  Today is my day to post on the Creative Charms blog and I have a few quick and simple projects to share.  This week may seem a bit full of Creative Charms - we also have a Fall Blog Hop on Friday.  The special breast cancer awareness fundraising kit that I posted about yesterday is available through the end of the month.

I am finally getting over that nasty cold and I do have some other projects that I should be able to get back to this week.  They are predicting snow (well at least flurries) for Thursday so I plan to stay home and craft!

The first card is an invitation for a pumpkin carving party.  The framed purple pumpkin is from the Vintage Halloween Metal Frames set. 

If you have this "Spooktacular" paper stack from K & Company, you will find that the Creative Charms Halloween items are a very good match for both the colors and designs.

The orange card base is A2 size, with the white layer cut at 5 1/4 x 4 inches and the pumpkin patterned paper cut at 5 1/8 x 3 7/8 inches.  The green strip on the left is 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches and the sentiment block is 1 x 2 3/8 inches.

I put all of the layers together and then pierced a couple of holes for the two flowers from the Orange Groovy Petal Medley.

I changed the center of the flower to a Purple Gem Brad and saved the original center for another project.

When you are working with a bold patterned paper you need to keep an open mind about your layout.  When I had the pumpkin from the Vintage Halloween Metal Frames set centered on the green stripe it blocked out some of the design and the bits that showed did not look very nice.

I moved the frame over to the right to completely hide the black face features in the right side of the pumpkin and expose them on the left side.  This was more pleasing to my eye and made a better frame for the cute pumpkin in the frame.

This card was made to send to my Dad with some Halloween treats.  It is a larger card (5 x 7 inches) in plain white cardstock and I framed the striped layer with a solid black border.  The ghost is an extra one that I cut for the Halloween Wall Display that I posted last week.  I thought about adding a bow but decided to keep it very simple since it was for a man.

I used tiny black Gradient Gem Stickers for eyes and hand cut the little oval for the mouth.  I put a bit of adhesive in the spot for the mouth and then dropped the oval on the adhesive when it turned clear.

Foam squares make the ghost "float" above the card.

 

This size of card sits perfectly in the small flat rate mailing box I was using to send the goodies to my Dad.  (If you want to know what is in the box, you'll have to wait a day or two - I don't want to spoil the surprise!).

The last card is actually a place card or a label for a buffet.  I designed this in the Silhouette Studio software using the spiderweb which is one of the free shapes.

The design is very similar to the place cards I made for our son's wedding.  The spiderweb pops up when the card is folded.  This was easy to design with the Silhouette software - I just eliminated the outer line of the lower section of the spiderweb and added some perforation lines to make the card easy to fold.

This is the card as it is removed from the mat.  If you look closely you can see that the right side is lifting up a bit.

Here you can see the perforation and the spiderweb starting to fold up from the card.

You could add the names of your guests or use the card as a label for a buffet - to keep the Halloween theme going.  I added one of the Vintage Halloween Metal Frames in the corner for a punch of color.

If you have a Silhouette and would like to try this file you can download it at the link below.

Spiderweb placecard (Silhouette Studio file)


Giveaway Results...

A week or so ago I shared a wonderful gift from a blog friend and gave you all a challenge (HERE) - all you needed to do was to make something using anything from Creative Charms and link it up to have a chance to win a bundle of Vintage Jewels.  I don't know if you all are super busy or if you didn't have any Creative Charms to use, but only two people linked up.  Please let me know if you like the idea of challenges or if you prefer to just visit and read about a project.
 
Debbie linked up five projects and Sarabug also added a project.  I asked for "a" photo of a project made with Creative Charms so it came down to a flip of the coin (by Random.org).

Number 2 came up which means that Sarabug is the winner of the Vintage Jewels bundle.  Debbie, I appreciate that you posted your projects so I will also be sending you a bundle of Creative Charms goodies.

I also had an option for people who had no Creative Charms to play along by guessing the total number of Creative Charms embellishments that Marilyn Mae used for the mini album she sent me.  The actual number was 62 (66 if you count the card) which means that Gramjak is the winner of the assortment of Creative Charms items from my stash (in other words - some of these may be partial packs or loose bits and pieces).

Finally, I also had a mini-giveaway on my post with the upcycled bottle tops (HERE).  The winner of the random draw was Dianne

 

Congratulations - I'll be sending you a pack of the Vintage Halloween Frames.

Could all four of you please contact me with your mailing information as soon as possible? I'll send out your packages as soon as I can after I get this information.  You can email me at capadiadesigns@gmail.com - thanks!

Don't forget that we will be having a Fall Blog Hop this Friday - the hop will start right here on the Creative Charms blog. It is a short hop - only ten stops so I hope you'll have a chance to see all of the projects.


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A Special Breast Cancer Awareness Kit

I made this card to highlight a special pink kit that is available now from Creative Charms.  For the rest of the month Creative Charms is featuring a kit that they are calling Chris’ Kit in memory of Chris Hertel.  Chris worked very closely with Creative Charms. She was a Design Team member and also designed the catalog, the logos and all the new packaging.

This past July she lost her battle with breast cancer. She left behind a loving and dedicated husband and two fabulous children.  Her family was her joy and her inspiration. From now until October 31st, the net proceeds from sales of this kit will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation to help find a cure for this disease so that families will no longer have to lose their wives, mothers and daughters (Chris' wish).

Here is the list of items included in Chris’ Kit:

·         Pink 3D Sparkly Butterfly Garden Brads – 12 Pieces
·         Pink Sunflowers – 4 Pieces
·         Violet Vintage Jewels – 12 Pieces
·         Pink Vintage Jewels – 12 Pieces
·         White with Pink Sparkled Flowers – 6 Pieces
·         Pink Sparkled Butterflies – 2 Pieces
·         Pink Sequin and Felt Flowers – 3 Pieces
·         Pink Sheer Flowers – 6 Pieces

There are 57 Pieces and the price is $9.99 (regular price would be $23.21).  You can find the kit HERE on the Creative Charms website.

 I started with this piece of patterned paper from the Echo Park "Country Drive" collection.  The paper was cut at 4 x 5 1/4 inches to layer on an A2 card.  I wrapped some thin ribbon around the card layer three times.

I taped the ends of the ribbon on the back of the card layer.

Then I applied adhesive all around the edges and adhered the layer to a green card base.

I took a short piece of ribbon and slid it under the three strands.

Then I pulled the ribbons together and tied a knot, making sure not to pull too tightly.

I slid the short ribbon up a little toward the top of the card, trimmed the ends and used a glue dot to secure the ribbon to the card front.

I chose a large pink Sparkled Butterfly (two are included in this kit) and added a couple of foam dots to the back to fit over the ribbon knot.

To give even more sparkle to the butterfly, I added a pink Vintage Jewel (also in this kit) over the body.

The sentiment was stamped on a white rectangle of cardstock and then mounted on a scalloped rectangle I cut from pink glitter cardstock with a Nestabilities die.  I added more foam dots to raise the sentiment to balance with the butterfly.

The sentiment stamp is from "friendship sentiments" by My Sentiments Exactly and it is stamped with dark pink ink.

Thanks for stopping by today and please consider purchasing one of these kits - every little bit we do to support research to find a cure counts.

A quick reminder about the challenge...

Today is the last day to participate in the Challenge I gave you in THIS POST.  You can upload any project you have made using something from Creative Charms and have a chance to win this great set of all of the colors of Vintage Jewels.   All of the details are in the original post.

If you don't have a blog - you can still play along.  Just put my blog address (or any other url) in the blank and fill in your name and email.  Then you can click to go to the next page.

When you get to the second page, you will see options to add the direct image URL (from a photo storage site like Flickr or Photobucket) or to upload directly from your computer.

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