Many of you might own a Cricut machine and I am sure many of you also have a good collection on cartridges to go with the machine. Well, how many of you have the new Close To My Heart Art Philosophy cartridge?

I bought the Cricut just so I could play around with the new CTMH cartridge and I have to tell you, I haven’t change the cartridge yet. Over 700 different items are on the cartridge including borders, 3-objects, boxes, 2 full fonts and so much more. The best thing, many of our stamps will coordinate with the Cricut items. Yes, you buy a stamp set and on the carrier sheet it will tell you the size of the item. All you have to do is fine the item on the cartridge, set the right size and cut away. The stamp will fit perfectly on the cut out and since our stamps are clear, you can position them perfectly. Do you like to know more about the cartridge? Let me know…

But now back to my last Footloose project for this month; A beautiful box for all my 4 ½” x 4 ½” cards. This is the perfect gift for some of my friends. I create a box and fill it with cards of all occasions…let’s get started!

Insert a 12” x 12” piece of cardstock into your Cricut. Find the right box and set the size on 11”….that’s it…cut away. Fold the box at the marked spots. You can either glue the box together right now or if desired, decorate the outside with paper and stamps, then glue it together. This makes it easier for you.

A phrase and a few embellishments finish the project. Now all that is left for you is to create some 4 ½” cards and fill the box. Ideas for those cards can be found on my blog as well….

Just Horsin' Around

For this card I used a 5 ½” x 8 ½” piece of Bamboo cardstock folded in half as my base. All Close To My Heart cardstocks have a white core, which is perfect for sanding. I then sanded around the edges to expose the white.

A 5 ½” x 2 ½” piece of Footloose design paper was attached in the middle of the card. Excess paper was removed by cutting around the card base. A ½” stripe of design paper was used to cover the seam.

I used the seahorse stamp from the Footloose workshop kit (G1036) to stamp the seahorse onto three different white cardstock pieces. Head and tail are stamped onto a 1 ¼” square, while the middle part is stamped onto a 1 ½” square. To stamp different parts of the seahorse, I used tape to cover the parts of the stamp that I don’t needed. I inked the part of stamp that I like to use up and remove the tape… now you can stamp individual parts. Distress each square with Crème Brulee.

The white cardstock pieces are glued onto 1 ½” squares (2) and 1 ¾” Bamboo cardstock pieces. Glue to card and finish with a quote of your choice…

A Footloose Star

For this card you need a 4 ½” by 9” piece of Close To My Heart Lagoon cardstock, folded in half. I used the fold on the top, but you can use it on the side as well.

A 2 ½” x 2 ½” piece of Bamboo cardstock was used to create the frame around the window. Cut a 2”x2” square in the middle of the Bamboo piece using your craft knife and a metal ruler. I then attached the frame onto the front of the card in the upper right corner. Open the card base and cut along the inner sides of the frame using your craft knife to remove the Lagoon window. You are left with an opening on the front.

I then glued a 2 ½” x 2 ½” piece of Footloose design paper in the upper right corner at the inside of the card. You should see the paper thru the window. I stamped a star Crème Brulee with Bamboo edges. After cutting the star out I distressed it with chocolate ink. Adhere star to the inside of the card.

A ribbon and sayings are added to the card.

Around a Birthday

For this card I used the 4 ½” circle card from Close To My Heart (Z1353). These great card bases come in a pack of 12 including envelopes.

A 2 ½” piece of Sweet leaf cardstock and a 2” piece of Footloose design paper was used to cover the card. Excess paper was removed by cutting around the card base. A ½” stripe of design paper was used to cover the seam.

I used the stamp set that came with the Footloose workshop kit (G1036) to stamp the turtle (Sweet leaf and Twilight ink) and the shell (Bamboo and Crème Brulee ink). I used two of the shells to create a dimensional object. One shell was glued direct to the card. The other shell was glue on top, but I only applied glue to the edges. A little pearl was placed inside.

Three buttons and the Happy Birthday signs were attached and a fun little birthday card is done………

The new paper pack “FOOTLOOSE” comes with a cute ocean theme stamp set that was just right for this birthday card.

I decided to choose a blue card base for my ocean themed card. Two of the three double sided design papers that come in the kit are perfect to create sand and waves. I used about an one inch strip of each paper and carefully ripped the upper part of the strips away to create the illusion of sand hills and waves. I little bit of desert sand ink along the edge of the sand paper and some cornflower blue ink along the water paper softens the white rips.

The seaweed was created with sweet leaf cardstock that I cute by hand in long uneven strips. I distressed the edges with some chocolate brown ink. I used the leftover sweet leaf paper with the missing leaf shapes to sponge on the dark green colored shadows of the seaweeds. Attach the green seaweed leafs to the cards showing a little bit of the green sponged leafs.

Make sure to start with the seaweed first, about 1” above the bottom of the card. Now attach the water strip next and finally the sand paper.

Now all that is left is to stamp some seahorses, fishes, turtles and mussels onto a piece of white cardstock. Cut them out and place them onto your card. My little fishes and the bubbles are stamped on and decorated with glitter glue.

I used three colors of ink to create the different shades of each creature (desert sand, chocolate, crème brulee for seahorse and mussels… twilight, sweet leaf and cornflower blue for the turtle and fish). I used a different technique for each of them …contact me for more information or check out other blog post in the next few weeks.  

Milk Cartoons as little gifts

It was a no brainer for me, when my friend Karen asked me if I like to support the Relay for Life cause again this year. Like last year I like to do something special to raise money for the Relay for Life.

So while I was looking for a good idea, I came along these super cute “My Creations Milk Cartons (Z1739)” from Close To My Heart. I previously had ordered them from the current Idea Book and as it so happens, they make the perfect gift for the silent auction in June.

I love these little milk cartons. I cut a 12”x 2 ¾” stripe of the new Dotty Paper and a 12” x 1 ½” grey wool cardstock stripe. I stamp my phrase and the flourish border in Twilight and Grey Wool Ink form Close To My Heart onto the grey cardstock and then glued the grey cardstock in the center of the Dotty paper. Fasten the paper border around the milk carton and decorate as desired.

I stamped and cut out a flower and heart for decoration and attached them to the box with foam dots. Bakers’ twin was wrapped around twice and tied with a knot.

The butterfly is originally white with black script on it “Flutter Paper Shapes (Z1463)”. I used sponge daubers with Sweet Leaf and Twilight Ink to dye the white butterfly. The finished colored butterfly was glued to the corrugated chipboard butterfly with a glue dot. The pin holding the butterflies up is created with beads and pin form my local craft store.

The milk carton comes in a set of two including the black metal clamp to hold the box closed. If you like to know more about this project, please let me know….Have fun crafting

JUNE - "FOOTLOOSE" Workshop Class Information

In June we will create three cards and one box from the “FOOTLOOSE” paper pack. The box you see in the picture is not completely decorated; this will be a surprise in class.

The class costs are $ 5 per person and will include all papers, embellishments and personal instructions. Please bring your own adhesives, glue dots and foam adhesives to class.

Next class will be held Friday, June 15^th with drop in time from 11AM – 8PM. Please contact me if you like to join us or if you like more information. Other dates might be available on request. This card class is also available for home crafting, please contact me for details. If you have a bunch of friends that like to take this class, let me know and we can schedule this class at you home as well. I can also offer scrapbook pages as class kits on request.Come join us for some fun time crafting…