CREATE: Monthly Cricut Circle Challenge

This month's Circle Challenge is Celebrating Creativity, and any Circle Member who plays along is eligible to win - get this - a Workbox from The Original Scrapbox!  I hope the prize for every monthly challenge is this awesome, LOL.  So, here are the rules we had to follow this month:

"The theme for this month’s challenge is all about celebrating the reasons why you love to create! Please create a scrapbook page or home decor project CELEBRATING CREATIVITY. Project must be newly created for this challenge and should include at least 2 cuts to qualify. You must also:

• Use the Shadow Feature
• Use Patterned Paper (purchased, printed, or created with stamps, etc.)
• Use Embellishments to Enhance One of the Cuts (pearls, buttons, gems, glitter, etc.)

This challenge is open to Cricut Circle Members only. Your entry must meet the requirements above in order for your name to be entered into a random drawing for the Original Scrapbox WorkBox. You must submit a project to be entered into the drawing."

I chose to make a home decor piece for my studio, if I can find a blank piece of wall to put it on.  My walls are still builder-neutral, but most items in my room are black, pink, and aqua, ao those are the colors I stick with.  I had a 16x20 canvas leftover from my Canvas Cricut Clock project a while back, so I started with that.  Here is my final result:

Using some blue craft paint (and a drop of green) and some Create-A-Shade Pearl  Paint from Close To My Heart, I painted the entire canvas with a foam brush.  Then I painted around the sides with black craft paint.  Now, I just love the contrast between distress and bling, so I chose papers with a distressed/messy feel, then I added to it by swiping the edges of my cuts with a Desert Sand ink pad.  It doesn't show in the picture, but I also sprayed my "whitish" cuts with some Pearl Glimmer Mist.  I adhered all of my cuts (except the blossoms) to my canvas using my Xyron and a little Tacky Glue in a couple of spots.  The blossoms were manipulated to mimic real tree blossoms and added  using Glue Dots.  After the paper was all adhered, I added my embellishements: rhinestone swirls, single self-adhesive rhinestones and pearls, and a couple of metal flowers. 

I LOVE how this turned out, and I can't wait to find the perfect place for it where it will sparkle and shine in the light, and hopefully help spark my creativity!

Supplies used for this project:

• 16"x20" canvas 
• Create-A-Shade Pearl Paint
• Blue and Green acrylic craft paint
• Paper from my stash (discontinued Close To My Heart)
• Cricut Expression
• Cricut Gypsy
• French Manor cartridge - bird, p.39 (flipped); half-shield, p. 54 (Layer feature, outer cut line only, slid halfway off the virtual mat on the gypsy)
• Gypsy Wanderings (on Gypsy) - branch & blossoms, p. 59
• George and Basic Shapes cartridge - M and Y
• Home Decor cartridge -  "create" (phrase and Shadow)
• Stand and Salute cartridge- "pursuit of happiness", p.71 (regular cut and Shadow feature)
• Rhinestone Flourishes (these are from Michael's Recollections brand, and are currently on clearance with the Halloween items!)
• Glimmer Mist from Tattered Angels in Pearl
• Xyron 1200 adhesive machine
• Clear Sparkles from Close to My Heart
• Opaques Pearl Adhesive Gems from Close To My Heart
• Foundry Flourishes Assortment from Close To My Heart
• Glue Dots
• Alene's Tacky Glue

Upsy Daisy!

Today I wanted to share with you a fabulous little paper company.  I had never heard of them prior to attending CHA this Sumer, and they have some of the most beautiful papers!  I recently tried out for their design team and, sorry to say, did not get asked to join.  But based on their current DT, I know the new gals are uber-talented - I can't wait to see what they come up with!

At any rate, now that the announcement has been made, I can share one of my entries with you.  I made this 2-page layout using the new Avalanche line from Upsy Daisy Designs.  I based my LO on a sketch from the Scrapbook Generations sketch books.

All of their gorgeous papers are double-sided, so you will definitely want to head over to Upsy Daisy Designs and see all of the patterns, plus the extras they have that match each paper line.  For my layout, I added cardstock from Bazzil for the bases and the dark brown.  I also added white CS, and Textured Twilight CS from Close To My Heart, plus Glitter Cardstock from American Crafts.

For my title, I chose to stamp "work" in Versamark on the dark brown CS using the Rustic alphabet stamps from CMTH, then I cut out each letter.  The "or" is also stamped, using white embossing powder and the CTMH Precious alphabet stamps (discontinued).  "play" is cut with my Cricut, using Gypsy Font.  I then cut snowflakes from several different Cricut cartridges - I just used the search feature on my Gypsy to find carts with snowflakes and chose those I wanted - in different sizes.  I cut some from cardstock, some from glitter cardstock, and some from plastic packaging (like the Cricut carts come in).  To make the clear plastic ones more visible, I swiped on some white pigment ink around all of the edges.  This also gives a nice "snowy" look.  Fianlly, I attached everything.  I used Liquid Glass (like Glossy Accents) for the glitter cardstock, and brads for anything clear.  The top and bottom brads are from CTMH, and the middle one is a Recollections from Michael's.

Alright, your mission is to head over to Upsy Daisy and check out all of their cool stuff.  And be sure to tell them I sent you!

My First Cut Using My New Cricut Gypsy

So, I finally received my Cricut Gypsy, and now I don't know why exactly I held out for so long (other than price, of course).  I've only played with it a little, but I did manage to get it synched, and I even transferred a file I created in Design Studio into it and cut it out.  The next step will be figuring out to to create a file on the Gypsy itself, but you know, I AM going to be 40 next week, so I hope my "old" eyes can handle the smaller screen!

You may remember this layout I showed a while back for a scrapbook class I was having.

I already had the photos chosen, and almost as soon as I had this finished I KNEW I need to create my title using Gypsy Font!  So as soon as I got my file transferred, I cut my title, inked it up, and glued it down.  And I was right, it's just PERFECT.

It looked so pretty, I almost hesitated to journal in my own handwriting.  But that's part of what I feel makes scrapbooking so special.  I almost always journal by hand, rather than printing things out on the computer; I think it feels much more personal this way.

I LOVE my Cricut, and I love it even more with my Gypsy!  Even more so, I love the community I've found in the Cricut Circle.  I admit, it was an expense I found very difficult to justify at first, but ProvoCraft has made it so worth my time and money.  The special message board for the Circle is so much more intimate and easier to use than the regular MB (which I never visit anymore).  And PC has allowed Circle members to help them donate Cricuts to schools through our suggestions, and will soon offer a similar program for hospitals.  (I personally plan to request on for St. Jude Memphis.)

We also have another awesome Circle benefit coming up soon, involving the Imagine world launch on HSN on September 14th.  And you can find out the details by joining the Circle now (I'm not allowed to share the info outside of the circle).  Circle memberships are now open again, on an invitation only basis.  If you'd like to receive an invitation to join the Circle, please email me and I'll have one sent to your email address.  There is no obligation; the email simply allows you into the registration area so you can see the details for yourself.  Believe me, it's a decision you won't regret.  But hurry, registration closes again after September 13th!

Getting My Cricut Gypsy for $100 With MyPoints

Some of you may know that I have been scouting out a good price for a Cricut Gypsy.  Unfortunately, the lowest price I found, $150 at walmart.com was still a little out of budget range for me right now.  Thankfully, I remembered I was really close to 7500 points on MyPoints.  So, I zipped out to their website and looked through the Easy Offers.  Popped myself up over 7500 points just like that!  On its way to me sometime soon is a handy $50 gift card for Wal-mart, which can also be used online.  And with their site-to-store program, I can go pick up my new little friend for $100 out of pocket with no shipping fees.  Woo hoo!

Now, since I'm all about a bargain, I'm super excited about saving this kind of cash.  I mean, come on, I'm knocking off a third of the price!  (And it was a pretty good price to begin with.)  And I'm all about sharing the love, so I thought I'd point you all in the direction of MyPoints as well.  It's easy to earn points by reading emails, responding to surveys, and even shopping online.  However, I will point out that I earn almost no points from shopping; 1) I just don't have the money, and 2) eBates usually is a better deal for shopping.

To find out more about MyPoints, or to sign up, just click here!  Yes, I do receive a little referral bonus if you sign up, and you can get the same if you get friends to sign up.  Makes your earnings add up even faster!