Monkey Love

I love this little monkey!  This was a quick and easy card using the Create A Critter 2 Cricut cartridge.  

I used a piece of bright yellow cardstock to create the main card, then I used a multi-colored plaid cardstock to be the main background.  They I cute the monkey holding the heart from the Create A Critter 2 Cricut cartridge and made the heart he is holding in a purple glitter vinyl . . . I have found the glitter vinyl is easier to cut than cardstock, and since it has an adhesive back already on it, it is great for cards!

This card is perfect for a birthday, Valentine's Day, a thank you card or just a little note to send someone some love.

Zig

This will be dangerous . . . my daughter loves looking at pens when we go to the office supply stores . . . I don't even want to know how much time she will spend at the Zig booth at CHA playing with all of their pens!

Laser Square

I might want to get a Laser Square from KellyCraft.  What a great way to quickly make sure that all of the elements on your layout link up perfectly!  I know a lot of times I place items on a layout slightly tilted on purpose . . . since it is easier than trying to line things up perfectly.

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Soccer Birthday Card

I made this card for my nephew's birthday. He had just gotten a new soccer ball, and I saw a picture of him with it on Facebook, so when I went to make his card I decided to go with a soccer theme.

I used the soccer ball framed icon cut from the Sports Mania Cricut cartridge.  I cut three of them and alternated the way they were placed on the side to create a border.  I used some paper that had a grassy field image on it that was actually in an Easter set I had, and cut that into strips that I placed at an angle.  I accented that with soccer stickers and arrows.

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brads

My husband is a fan of sock monkeys, and when I saw these cards I thought of him.

I even bought a package of the sock monkey brads to use on cards I make for him.

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Day At The Rink

My son has been working on designs for new stamp sets for Craffiti Direct, and his newest one is now available for purchase.  It is called Day At The Rink.

The little bunny in the lower right corner of this stamp set is actually inspired by sister.  She plays hockey and has long hair, like the bunny's long ears.  The bunny is also wearing her jersey number.

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Magic Marble Monday - Frames

Thanks for joining us for another Magic Marble Monday!  What is Magic Marble?  It is a paint that you can use to decorate SO MANY THINGS!  If you want to see all of the things my daughter and I have been decorating, just click HERE.  The paint is easy to use . . . start with a bucket of water, pick the colors you like, put a few drops of each color in the bucket, use a stick to swirl the colors together and then just dip the item you are decorating into the water . . . that is it!  The paint really does the work for you.  It starts to swirl itself before you even run the stick through it . . . sometimes you don't need to really use the stick that much.

A co-worker of mine saw some of the projects I have done with Marble Magic, and she wanted to try some for a crafty project with her daughter's friends at a birthday party.  She purchased some wood frames from the craft store, and we let the girls pick which colors they wanted on their frame, and then we dipped them.

I really like the magenta, purple and turquoise color combination!

Even when the girls use some of the same colors, the frames turned out very different.

Magic Marble Website //  Facebook  // Pinterest  //  YouTube

Shawn's Magic Marble Monday Pinterest Board

Magic Marble Monday - Ornaments

Thanks for joining us for another Magic Marble Monday!  What is Magic Marble?  It is a paint that you can use to decorate SO MANY THINGS!  If you want to see all of the things my daughter and I have been decorating, just click HERE.  The paint is easy to use . . . start with a bucket of water, pick the colors you like, put a few drops of each color in the bucket, use a stick to swirl the colors together and then just dip the item you are decorating into the water . . . that is it!  The paint really does the work for you.  It starts to swirl itself before you even run the stick through it . . . sometimes you don't need to really use the stick that much.

After a co-worker of mine saw the ornaments that my daughter and I created, she wanted to do some with her daughter.  I went over to their house at her daughter's birthday party and each girl at the party got to pick what colors they wanted on their ornament and then we created these . . .

I had to leave before the ornaments were TOTALLY dry, so that is why you see some droplets still on them.  The girls loved that they got to pick the colors and watch the paint swirl.

We also did some picture frames which I will show off next week.

Magic Marble Website //  Facebook  // Pinterest  //  YouTube

Shawn's Magic Marble Monday Pinterest Board

MyCutSearch Tip - Searching for Words

Grab a cup of coffee and let's learn a new tip for using MyCutSearch.com!

Have you ever wanted to search for a word or phrase, not an image, that you can cut with your Cricut?  Did you know that you can search for words and phrases on MyCutSearch.com?

Here's how . . .


Start by going to the Main Menu on the left-hand side of the site.

Then click on Advanced MyCutSearch.  It is the third item down on the menu.  When you click on that it will open a new window that looks like this

The first item in the list on this page is Keywords . . . uncheck that.  Now, check the Word-Phrase box.  You have now told MyCutSearch to ONLY search for words or phrases.  For this example I am going to search for the word Santa.  Once I type that into the search bar and hit search I find these results.

(Note: These results are accurate for the time of this post.  As Cricut cartridges are added to the Cricut Library and MyCutSearch.com's database, more images may show up for this same search criteria)

This shows me that there are 6 Cricut cartridge handbook pages that have the word Santa on them.  You can then click on any one of these images to enlarge it so you can see the actual word better.

When I enlarge the page from Winter Frolic I see that when using the phrase button for this page, the phrase listed is Dear Santa.

Shawn, you mentioned that you can search for phrases too . . . how is this different than what you just showed us?

I will admit, phrases are a little trickier since EVERY WORD you type into the search bar MUST be in the phrase for it to appear in the search results.

Here is what I mean . . . let's use this SAME EXAMPLE, but instead of typing in Santa, let's type in Santa Claus.

(Note: These results are accurate for the time of this post.  As Cricut cartridges are added to the Cricut Library and MyCutSearch.com's database, more images may show up for this same search criteria)

You can see that this time it only showed us 3 Cricut cartridge handbook pages with the phrase Santa Claus.  You can also see that the Winter Frolic page I referenced above is no longer listed.  That is because the phrase on that handbook page is "Dear Santa" . . . the word Claus is NOT in that phrase.

So when using the Word-Phrase search function on MyCutSearch.com think about what is the most important word you are looking for, or the most important word in the phrase you want to use.  It might be better to search for one word from a phrase in order to find more options.  Would a cut that says "Dear Santa" work just as well as a cut that says "Dear Santa Claus" for your project?  Then maybe searching JUST for the word Santa is the better choice.

I hope this helps you to get even more use out of your Cricut cartridges and MyCutSearch.com!

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Charm with Dried Flowers

After my Grandfather passed away, the flowers that were sitting on top of his casket were given to me.  Everyone said they knew I would make something crafty with them.  I also wanted to make something that each person in the family could keep as a treasure to my Grandfather.  Last month I showed you some Christmas tree ornaments I made for the adult family members.  For the two Great-Granddaughters (my daughter and my niece) I made charms that could be put onto a necklace, charm bracelet or keychain.  

I took some petals from the red flowers and placed them into a square charm necklace tray.  I cut a small square to fit the tray and punched a heart out of the center.  Since my Grandfather was KNOWN for using Duct Tape for EVERYTHING, I used a silver paper that looked like Duct Tape.

I tied the charm on the outside of the Christmas gift, and each girl can choose what they want to do with it . . . wear it on a necklace, bracelet or just hang it someplace where they can see it and remember Grandpa.

Magic Marble Monday - Ornaments

Thanks for joining us for another Magic Marble Monday!  What is Magic Marble?  It is a paint that you can use to decorate SO MANY THINGS!  If you want to see all of the things my daughter and I have been decorating, just click HERE.  The paint is easy to use . . . start with a bucket of water, pick the colors you like, put a few drops of each color in the bucket, use a stick to swirl the colors together and then just dip the item you are decorating into the water . . . that is it!  The paint really does the work for you.  It starts to swirl itself before you even run the stick through it . . . sometimes you don't need to really use the stick that much.

Since we had so much fun with the Christmas ornament project we did a couple of weeks ago, we decided to make some more.

I really like the way the turquoise, pink and white color combo turned out.

This orange, red and yellow one kind of reminds me of outer space . . . like a planet.  That could be another good use for Magic Marble paint . . . create a solar system to hang in an space themed room!

This one was red, green, light green and white, and when we went to dip it my grip on the ornament slipped and it dropped into the paint and kind of rolled around on the surface, but we still wanted to show it so you could see the look that you would get even from a "mistake".

This last one my daughter wanted to do for my husband.  Black, red and white are the school colors for the college he went to.  Purchasing paints in the colors of a school or favorite team is a great way to make custom gifts for people.

Magic Marble Website //  Facebook  // Pinterest  //  YouTube

Shawn's Magic Marble Monday Pinterest Board

Ice Skating

This post just PROVES that I am a little behind in my scrapbooks!  Here is a page embellishment that I made for one of my scrapbook layouts.  Yes, that says March 2010 . . . I told you I am a little behind in my books!

I REALLY like how the embossing on this one pops off of the plum colored paper!  And the Viva Decor adds just a little something to the flourishes and snowflakes.  The skates were cut from the Celebrate with Flourish Cricut cartridge.

Underwater Card using Teresa Collins Family Stories Paper

I had the pleasure of attending ScrapFest this summer, and I was able to spend the day with Teresa Collins at her workshop.  I also added her Family Stories paper to my cardstock collection.

I wanted to make something to show off one of the stamps from a designer I love dearly . . . he is my son!  Yes, my son Thomas Mosch is now a Designer for stamps with Craffiti Direct.  (I happen to have some inside information that he has another set coming out soon)  This stamp comes from the Underwater Stamp Set.

I paired this stamp with the anchor paper and used the woodgrain paper for a background.  To me, these seemed to go well with the crab . . . kind of a ocean side view feel. To add a little sparkle, I cut a piece of the deep blue rhinestone sticker sheet from The Buckle Boutique.

I have provided links below for all of the different products used in case you would like to follow them or add their products to your craft room.

Teresa Collins Website // Blog // Facebook // Pinterest // Twitter

Craffiti Direct Website  // Facebook // Pinterest // Stamp Sets by Thomas Mosch

The Buckle Boutique's Website // Blog // Facebook Page // Twitter // Pinterest

Christmas Wreath Card

I was trying to use up some of my scraps and product I had in my craft room instead of going out and buying new stuff . . . crazy idea, I know.  I had this pack of scrapbooking paper that I was given as a gift and while I liked the pattern on the paper, it was too busy for me for a full scrapbook page.  I cut it down to be one of the layers of the background . . . even having it as the FULL background was still "too much".

I layered it with some solid green and red paper and the wreath has some green glitter vinyl for the main piece.  This cut is from Celebrate with Flourish.  Then I used Viva Decor for the holly berries.

Using a busy pattern in a small area and combined with solid colors is a great way to balance things out.

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Magic Marble Monday - Wine Glass

Thanks for joining us for another Magic Marble Monday!  What is Magic Marble?  It is a paint that you can use to decorate SO MANY THINGS!  If you want to see all of the things my daughter and I have been decorating, just click HERE.  The paint is easy to use . . . start with a bucket of water, pick the colors you like, put a few drops of each color in the bucket, use a stick to swirl the colors together and then just dip the item you are decorating into the water . . . that is it!  The paint really does the work for you.  It starts to swirl itself before you even run the stick through it . . . sometimes you don't need to really use the stick that much.

For today's project I decorated a wine glass.  Since I did not want to put paint where a person would be drinking from the glass, I only did the stem of the glass.

Once I had dipped the stem of the glass into the Magic Marble paints I decided I wanted a little extra sparkle on this glass and I added some of the rhinestone sticker sheets from The Buckle Boutique to the stem of the glass also.

If I was doing this project again, I would use a glass that has a much straighter stem . . . wrapping on that curve would have worked much better then.

I would recommend only HAND WASHING for a glass like this.  I would probably also add some sort of sealant over the top of the paint to help protect it and make it last longer.

To see other projects I have made with Magic Marble swirling paints you can click HERE.  I have provide product and company links below.  Make sure to tell them Shawn sent you!

If you want to purchase some of the rhinestone sticker sheets from The Buckle Boutique there is a Cyber Monday coupon code . . . happyholiday15 . . . this will get you 15% off your total order.  CLICK HERE.

Magic Marble Website //  Facebook  // Pinterest  //  YouTube

Shawn's Magic Marble Monday Pinterest Board