Create Your Heart Out

Yes, you heard that right. Due to the success of the first Cricut and Close to My Heart collaboration, there is now another. This time it’s the Cricut Artiste Cartridge Collection, and it will be available on 8/1. Included in the collection are 3 coordinating My Acrylix D Size stamps and 3 coordinating 9×12 dimensional element sheets. Retail price is $99, but right now you can get the collection from me at 22 percent off, which brings your total to $92.39. Check out the images here.

But that’s not all.

For an extra $5, you can get the August Stamp of the Month, Baroque Borders, bringing your total to 98.07.

But that’s still not all!

On August 15, you can add the National Scrapbooking Day Double Stamp for $5. This is a limited edition stamp that is only available 8/15 thru 9/30.

If you want the Cricut Artiste Bundle, the August Stamp of the month and the NSD double stamp (not available until 8/15), your total will be $104. That includes tax and shipping. What if you can’t wait to get the bundle, but you still want the NSD stamp? Talk to me. We can work something out.

If you can think it…you can Cri-cut!

Hi everyone!

With the exciting news of the Cricut and Close to My Heart cartridge collaboration, I have got some news and special offers of my own to share with you.

This deal runs between August 15-31, so get this deal while you can!

I will be sending the first order on Aug 15th but you can wait until the end of the month. Remember the added ed deals are while supplies last.e

If you purchase the Cricut/CTMH cartridge, you’ll receive 2 extra paraphrase stamps. For another $5, you can get the Stamp of the Month, and a BONUS stamp. That’s a total of FOUR stamps. And on top of that, I personally am giving you a 20% discount. So what does this mean?

It means you can get the cartridge and 7 sets of stamps for $108.20 You will not find this deal anywhere else, so plan ahead and don’t miss out!

Remember this deal is only available during those two weeks, so mark your calendar and grab yourself a great deal!

Just one more thing everyone that orders this deal will go into a drawing for a CTMH gift basket valued at $30.00

1. Cricut bundle

-Art Philosophy Cartridge

-3 Chipboard sheets to match

-3 coordinating stamps sets

-1 Double stamp set-(Pair-a-Phrase)

-1 Stamp of the month set

-1 Typeface stamp set

One more thing: Close to My Heart charges shipping and tax, which will be added to your total. I will go over the charges in detail to those who are interested, but I just wanted you to be aware.

If you would like to purchase anything else along with this cartridge, you can have an additional 20% off of your purchase, but remember this deal is only good for the weeks of 8/15-08/30, so be sure to take a look now and see what you want so you can place your order.

Go to:

http://margiehunter.myctmh.com/ to see catalog. Remember you need to contact me at margiehunter.myctmh@gmail.com for all orders for the discount.

Thanks

If you can think it…you can cri-cut!

There is no doubt that the recent events in Japan have devastated our people, our country, and our world. It is even more upsetting when you have family or loved ones that you can’t get ahold of in such a tragedy. I want to thank those of you who called, emailed, or otherwise expressed concern for my relatives in Japan. Thankfully, they have all been accounted for and are doing okay. Others however are not, and it will be a long time, if ever, before things will go back to normal for many, many people. If you would like to help, even in a small way, one of the companies I am affiliated with, Close to My Heart has created a stamp specifically for this purpose. The cost is $5, and 100% of the money collected will be donated to the Red Cross for use in earthquake/tsunami relief efforts in Japan. Buy 1 or buy 100, but know that it’s for a good cause. Most importantly in times like these, we should all take minute and be thankful for what we have because you never know when you’re life will be changed forever.

Below is a photo of my brothers, sister and I with our Japanese relatives on my first visit to Japan in 1997.

Go to my Close To My Heart page for more information or contact me through this site if you have questions. Please don’t leave a comment with a question regarding this matter, as I might not see it right away. Thanks again for everyone’s efforts.

Before I get to my review, I want you all to know what I’ve been up to lately in case you have tried to get ahold of me to no avail.

I have been working two jobs, one at my local scrapbooking store and then nights at another place. So my days don’t end until well past midnight sometimes. This is in addition to teaching and traveling and having my mother move in since my father passed away. So if have emailed, called or contacted me here and haven’t heard back, rest assured I am not ignoring you, and you will hear from me soon.

Now on to what you came here for!

Those who know me know that I am a huge fan of Copic Markers and am even certified to teach them.

While I do still like them, I have to say, I have found a rival. With none other than the trusty maker of ball point pens you all know and love: BIC. Bic makes these markers called Mark It Permanent Markers. There are 36 colors and they are smooth and vibrant and at less than 20 bucks for a set of 36, not a bad price. They come in fine and ultra fine and are perfect for crafting.

If you look at the picture below, you’ll see the difference between a colored pencil on the left, a Copic marker in the center and the Bic on the right. The colored pencil (which I admit might not be the best comparison) is kind of faded and washed out. The Copic is a deep purple and the Bic is bright and vibrant.

I used these in on of my classes and my students absolutely loved them. Especially those who are on a fixed income and would love to have some Copics but can’t afford them, these are a great alternative.

All in all, these are great markers. I wish that they were double tipped so that I had a fine point on one side, but they are really pretty great. If you are in the mark-it (pun intended) for new markers, I highly recommend this set, you won’t be disappointed.

If you can think it, you can Cri-cut!

If you’ve noticed I’ve been absent from the crafting world lately, you are correct. I will be back soon, but would like to share some sad news.

My father, Joseph Monahan, passed away suddenly last week in his home in Cincinnati. Luckily he did not suffer, but he will be greatly missed by all who knew him. I rushed to Cincinnati when I heard the news and have been here with my mother ever since. This past week has been about family, and while it was much needed, I wish that the circumstances were different.

If you have called or emailed me about a crafting issue and I have not called you back, please know that I will get back to everyone as soon as possible. If you have called to express your condolences, I am grateful and will get back to you as soon as I am home and things are back to normal, which will probably be early next week.

Thank you for all the kind words, cards and flowers. It is nice to know at times like these that I have the support of many great friends. If I have learned anything from this it is that life is indeed too short and cherish those close to you, as you never know how much longer you have with them.

I love you Dad.

Day 123 at 365 Card Challenge is “Shades of Yellow” The challenge is to use three shades of yellow on your card.

•Bazzil Cardstock
•CTMH Bee Mine stamp set
•May Arts Ribbon
•Sakura Stardust Gelly Roll Pen

If you can think it…you can Cri-cut!

Day 86 at 365 Card Challenge is Keep it Simple One stamped image, one stamped sentiment, & one embellishment of your choice. No patterned paper on this one.

•Bazzil Cardstock
•Inky Antics Stamp Set
•CTMH Ink
•Copic Markers E31, E44, 100

Day 85 at 365 Card Challenge is “Flora & Fauna” which requires that you include both plant and wildlife on your card. You must use a plant/flower image on your card and a wildlife and they must be from different sources.

•Little Yellow Bicycle Patterned Paper

•CTMH Inks Ocean Z2136, Sunny Yellow Z2122

•CTMH-buttons

•Cricut Cartridge “Life’s a Beach”

Day 84 at 365 Card Challenge Super Sketchy Sunday:

•Bazzil Cardstock
•CTMH– stamp set TLC C1364
•Color Box Metallic Chalk Ink
•Sizzix Embossing Folder

Day 83 at 365 Card Challenge 4 Wheel Drive. All you have to do is put 4 wheels of any kind on your card:

•Cricut Cartridge “A Word Party”
•Cricut Cartridge “Pooh & Friends”
•Liquid Applique
•Bazzil Cardstock
•CTMH-buttons
•CTMH-stamp set “Enjoy the Journey” B1334

If you can think it…you can Cri-cut!

Today’s challenge at 365 Card Challenge is Buttons & Bows you must include 4 buttons and 4 bows on your card.

•Buttons-CTMH

•Ribbon-May Arts

•Tag cut from George & Basic Shapes

•Cardstock-Bazzil

•Patterned Paper-K & Company

If you can think it…you can Cri-cut!

Well with being gone all weekend I had a lot of catching up to do at 365 Card Challenge I have the cards for the last 5 days done so lets begin with day 54 Fancy Folds. The challenge was to do a Joyfold card here is my take on the challenge:

For this card I used Basic Grey paper, CTMH stamps and inks using the puddle pad technique. and a brad and photo turn from American Crafts and cardstock from Bazzil.

Day 55 is on Pins & Needles your project must incorporate pins for a decoration and needles for the purpose of stitching.For this card I used the Heritage Cartridge from Cricut, May Arts ribbon, prima flowers, Cuttlebug embossing folder Textile Textures, cardstock from SEI and a CTMH stamp from the Thank you set D1361, & a hat pin I had.

Day 56 brings on another Super Sketchy Sunday:

For my card I used a Martha Stewart border punch, CTMH buttons, Bo Bunny patterned paper,May Arts ribbon and a CTMH stamp from the Fringed Phrases C1366 stamp set.

Day 57 is Ad Inspire

I have two pics on my card the first one is open so you can see how I made my side foldover card and the second one is closed. For this card I used papers from DCWVNana’s Nursery boy & girl paper packs, CTMH buttons, May Arts ribbon and Bazzil cardstock.

Day 58 is Crazy 8’s that means things in quanties of eight-using at least 3 different items on your card . For this card I used 8 different CTMH star stamps from Wishing Star D1333 and 8 different inks, finishing off with 8 different buttons.

Day 59 is Moving Parts and what moves better than pinwheels?

The paper is from Imaginisce, ribbon May Arts and the stamp is from CTMH’s Paisley Praise D1414

If you can think it…you can Cri-cut!

I’ve been out of town teaching in Gaylord, Michigan, a small Alpine village in northern part of the lower peninsula, and wow, what a wonderful group of women I got to work with. I taught two basic Cricut classes and a Design Studio class. Three days of food, fun and friends; I couldn’t have asked for more.

Denise Cather from Ostego Club put on a great event with 80 crafters. Each attendee got 8 feet of scraping space, welcoming gifts and personal lighting. There were lots of enthusiastic, knowledgable vendors. Michelle Nist from Close to my Heart hosted a scrapbook contest and make and takes. The best part is they have invited me back for their event in October. I plan to teach a Copic Marker class, as well as all of my Cricut classes. If you are interested in joining us, send me an e-mail and I’ll get the information right to you.

I had three good friends who joined me for this Scraptabulous weekend: Rosie, Jennifer and my cohort Jo. Because we arrived a day early, we were on our own for breakfast the first morning. We slept in after our long trip — extended by food and bathroom stops and a visit to a big Brighton, Mich., scrapbooking store — and we had lunch at a great little local restaurant. You can’t beat the daily lunch specials at the Sugar Bowl.

After lunch, we headed for the main scrapbooking area to get set up. Staff from the Ostego Club was there all weekend to cater to us. Massages, manicures and pedicures were available for those who wanted them.

We took a break before dinner to get a memorable pic for those who wanted to scrap their memories of the weekend. (Here’s Mike getting everyone in place for the picture.) The accommodating staff of the Ostego Club provided curbside porter service for getting in and out of the scrapping area. Having someone there to help load and unload our many bags of supplies was the perfect touch for a Scraptabulous-filled weekend.

If you can think it…you can Cri-cut!

Think there are some things that can’t go digital? Think again. One of the latest crazes in stamping is just that: Digital stamps.

Digital stamps, or digi stamps, are black and white digital images that are downloaded onto a computer where they can be manipulated before printing out.

Basically, when they are printed out, digital stamps are just like traditional rubber or clear stamped images. One of their attractions is the fact that the images can be resized, flipped (create a mirror image) or manipulated in other ways before printing it out and colored in the same way that a rubber stamped image is colored. This gives a stamper a range of new design opportunities. The most significant difference between digital stamps and traditional stamps is that there is no physical stamp. A digital stamp is just the image.

There are some pros and cons to digital stamps. One pro is the digital factor. If you do a search you can find just about any image you want in the blink of an eye. You can download it, use it and go. No more storing bunches of stamps you only used once. They’re pretty inexpensive (and sometimes free!) and easy to use. The downside is that unlike a physical rubber stamp, you have to print it out, so using it on some projects can be difficult.

I love stamping, but I have always hated the fact that while there are some stamps I’ve used over and over, it’s frustrating to find one that I like but only use once. I’ve found that while digital stamps can never replace physical ones, they can definitely open up new possibilities and compliment the use of traditional stamps.

I have also been using Make the Cut software to make my own digital stamps from images on Cricut cartridges. The picture above shows some of these. It’s easy, free (once you have the software) and you can use your Cricut cartridges to make all the stamps you want. Click the link above for more info on Make the Cut, and contact me to learn more about making your own digi stamps!

If you can think it… you can Cri-cut!

Today’s challenge at 365 Card Challenge is a color challenge, here are the colors:

For today’s challenge I used:

•Bo Bunny Patterned paper
•CTMH stamp from “Enjoy the Journey” B1334
•CTMH cardstock
•May Arts Ribbon
•Cricut Cartridge “A Walk in my Garden”
•Darice hot fix embellishments
•Prima Flowers

The card says it all “Each day is a Gift” Happy Easter!

If you can think it…you can Cri-cut!

Today’s Challenge at 365 Card Challenge is Recipe Card. Nope not a Card Recipe,but an actual
Repice Card you don’t need to include a detailed recipe, but create a card that is suitable for that
purpose.

For today’s card I used 3 Cricut cartridges: Sweet Treats, Celebrations, & Hello Kitty to make a digi stamp and colored it with Prisma colored pencils, and added some glossy accents. I also used:

•DCWV Patterned Paper
•Bo Bunny Ribbon
•Ovals from Alphalicious Cartridge
•CTMH Cardstock

If you can think it…;you can Cri-cut!

Today’s Card Challenge at 365 Card Challenge is Imagine this. This challenge you use some object to inspire your card. In this case the challenge is to think cotten. Your not limited to color on this one.

For this one I used:

• White linen cardstock
• Martha Stewart Border punch
• Creative Imaginations rub on
• K & Company wedding rhinestone
• CTMH Bitty Sparkles

If you can think it…you can Cri-cut!

Do you:

• Have a new Cricut and don’t know where to start?
• Own a Cricut but don’t feel like you are getting the most out of it?
• Want to upgrade from the Baby bug to the Expressions but don’t know if it’s worth the money?
• Just not know if a Cricut is right for you
• Want to know how you can get the most out of your Cricut machine using Design Studio Software
• Plan on being in the Cincinnati area on March 27th?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you need to come see me, I’ll be at:

Madonna Knight of Columbus Hall
7700 Seward Ave.
Mt. Healthy Oh. 45231

• 10am-1pm: Cricut Basics
• 1pm-1:30pm: Lunch Break (lunch provided)
• 1:30-3:30: Introduction to Design Studio
• Cost of each class is $25. Seating is limited so sign up today!

For Cricut Basics you’ll need to bring:

• Cricut machine (doesn’t matter which model)
• Cartridge that came with machine, plus a cartridge with upper and lower case
• letters if possible.
• New cutting mat
• New blade
• Paper will be provided

Nothing is needed for the DS class.

If you are interested or have any questions you can contact me here and I’ll give you more information on how to sign up. Spots are filling up soon, so if you think you might be interested be sure to contact me! Oh, and don’t forget to tell all your Cricut loving friends!

If you can think it… you can Cri-cut!