My Review of Card Making with Cricut

After I got Card Making with Cricut by Annie's Attic last month, I couldn't wait to create some of the projects. Well, I finally got a couple of projects done. But it wasn't all easy.

My first project was this cute strawberry card. All in all this was a very easy card to create and the instructions were very clear. My only problem with this card was the strawberry top. For some reason my strawberry top did not cover the strawberry as neatly as shown in the book so I had to re-cut it larger than stated in the book. So, here's my version of the card. I used copper pearls (sorry, they didn't photograph well) instead of white pearls and green wire around the top instead of twine.
This is a very simple and cute card to have in your arsenal ready to go whenever an event comes up.

Now, my second project did not go as well as I would've liked it to. I decided to create this card (Sweet Baby Girl) except mine was going to just say baby so it could be used for either a girl or a boy. Again, I simply followed the instructions and made the first cut. First, it said to cut a 6 inch card of Storybook by pressing shift, accent, blackout, wishtrue and cut . But, as you can see by my picture below, the cut of their completed project picture is not the same as the cut in the Storybook manual. You do not need to press shift for this project but I chose to cut it as instructed anyway. However, it came out way too small, in my opinion. So, I re-cut it at a much larger size. The instructions then said to cut another one in a different color, cut it in half and adhere one half to the front of the first cut. But, I figured since I was using a double sided card there was no need for this step and skipped it. Then, I also had to cut away some of the tails at the top and bottom of the fold because they were too pointy (again, not like the photo). Anyway, I was getting frustrated with this card and the instructions and just wanted to get it completed. So, here is my finished project. I got basically the same results and I used a Spellbinders scalloped die to cut the circle instead.

And, finally, I will say this. This book is full of great and beautiful projects but it seems to me some of the instructions are not very clear or accurate. It would've also been nice if they would've included some step by step pictures for some of the projects and maybe offered some of the designer's tips or tricks they used to achieve the look.

Also, if you are a Cricut beginner, I don't think this book is for you. This is definitely for the seasoned Cricut user and mostly to get ideas rather than try to recreate the cards.

I hope you enjoyed my review of this new book. If you have this book I would love to hear your opinions of it.

Have a great week!

Read more: http://www.mylivesignature.com/wizard2_2.php#ixzz0iZKzOxpz

Simple Stories and Scrapaholics

Hi, just wanted to drop in and let you in on a couple of things.

Simple Stories now has an idea guide by Brenda Hurd available. Check out the cute ways you can showcase your monthly pictures. They were also featured on KSL Studio 5. You can watch the video here to see more on how this system works.

I received my kit about a month ago but haven't started to play with it yet. All I can say is the papers are more of a cardstock quality and it's all so very pretty. Can't wait to start playing with it.

I also wanted to post about the new forum, Scrapaholics, I set up for scrappers addicted to their craft and addicted to shopping for their craft. A group of us QVC scrappers have already signed up and are sharing our ideas and sales or deals we find. Everyone is welcome, so please join us if you want in on some great crafty savings.

No project to share this time, but I'm working on it. Until next time...Have a good one!

My Cricut Valentine Cards & Snow in Texas!

Well Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Did you make your cards this year? Even though we aren't big on Valentine's celebrations, cards are always a staple.

And, I made a couple with the Cricut. This fist one was made with Paper Pups and Don Juan. I added dimension by layering several cuts on top of each other. The paper was all from MAMBI and miscellaneous brown and white cardstocks.



This next card was sort of an experiment. I used the Cricut Gypsy and Paper Pups to cut out the Love card then embossed it with gold glitter powder and UTEE. Then cracked it and backed it with pink vellum. I liked the glass ceramic look. This was also MAMBI paper. I decided I not to use the traditional Valentine colors and I love the results. On another note, we got tons (6-8 inches is a ton for us) of snow in North Texas today. This was a very pleasant surprise since we usually don't even get enough to make a snowman. Anyway, I made a mini snowman just because being a native South Floridian I have never ever made a snowman. So, I decided to throw caution to the wind and bring out my inner child.

And here is my little man.

Isn't he cute?

And here are some more pictures of the snow.

We're loving it.

But I wouldn't want much more like the Northeast is going through.

This is perfect.

Well, I hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day. Until next time.

Read more: http://www.mylivesignature.com/wizard2_2.php#ixzz0fGt2YpJA

Provo Craft does it again!

My first post for 2010. How exciting! I promise I will try to blog more often. I've been having a bit of crafter's block and trying to get my mojo back. So I've been scouring the web and other blogs and I totally lose track of time. There are sooooo many talented crafters out there. Kudos to you.

Anyway, I wanted to write about the very crafty and clever Provo Craft. They are like the "crack dealer" for the scrapbooking and paper crafts industry. Not only do they create awesome tools like the Cuttlebug, the Cricut and the Gypsy to get you hooked; they keep creating irresistable cartridges, dies and folders to keep you coming back for more.

And now, they are releasing their tools in gorgeous colors and designs. So why did they wait so long to start doing this? Was it planned this way? All I can say is their marketing team is superb and to the level of Apple's marketing. So, did they hold off on these newer designs for their very poplular machines because they know that as women we would trade in our perfectly good tool just to get the prettier style? Ah, they know us women so well. So, here's some pictures I picked up from the Cricut Message boards.

Here's the uber cute red cuttlebug. Photo by Marti(pezadoodle). She got these at CHA last week.

And here's the cute blue cuttlebug and accessories. I can't remember where I got this photo from, sorry.
I love the red one but I think I will give my old green one a good run for a while before I trade it in. So, will you be exchanging yours for any of the great new designs?

http://ohkianex.blogspot.com

Happy Holidays!

Wow! I've been gone for a while. Where does the time go?! I can't believe it's been several months since my last post. I hope you're still out there. Maybe one of my resolutions for next year will be to keep up with my blog. There will be some changes coming so stay tuned.

Anyway, I mailed out my Christmas cards this week. This year I decided to seek inspiration from other bloggers and artists to keep things fairly simple. Thanks to Christmas With the Cricut, the Pink Stamper and My Creative Classroom for these card inspirations. I had fun playing with my Cricut to create them.

I also embossed all the cards but that was hard to capture in the photos. And the envelopes were made by cutting out some cricut snowflakes and laying them on top of the envelope then spraying with Glimmer Mists. Quick and cute.

The other thing I wanted to mention is Simple Stories by MemoryWorks. Remember Project 365? Well that was a bit much for me to keep up with. I am about 3 months behind! So I will not be doing it again.

Now, that won't happen with Simple Stories because you decide what stories to tell and it's quick and easy. I also noticed from the sneak peaks that there's a bit more embellishments so you can still satisfy that need to be creative. I'm excited to see this product line launch. And you can watch their cool video teaser here.

And if you haven't done so visit their website to purchase the latest and greatest scrapbooking products from Fancy Pants, Pink Paislee, MME, Creative Imaginations and many more. Just remember to enter my consultant ID (see side bar) when you register on their site.

Well, I hope everyone has a great holiday season and I'll catch you in 2010!