As Featured On Exploring Cricut

Hi there!

If you came over here from Exploring Cricut, welcome!  I am so excited to be featured on the Exploring Cricut blog and am ecstatic that you have decided to stop by and check out my project for today.  I hope that you will be able to take a look through this post and other posts, watch some videos and decide to follow my blog!

If you are a regular follower of my blog, thank you for stopping by to see what I designed for Exploring Cricut.  You all keep me going and creating.  Thank you for that!

Below is a belated birthday card I made for my friend Alan.  Alan and I went to grad school together and we became fast friends  He was like the brother I never had.  We share the same sense of humor and can easily make each laugh as well as cry (if we are feeling nostalgic).  I haven't seen Alan in over 6 months, easily, but that is about to change.  Alan is heading over to see me this upcoming weekend to hang out, share in some laughs, have a few drinks and just pretend we are in grad school again.  The funny thing about Alan is no matter how much time passes, we pick up right where we left off.

Alan and I bonded over drinks in grad school.  Actually, a lot more than times when the sun was shining.  Haha.  I found the beer can on the Father's Day Cricut cartridge and knew that this was the card I wanted to make him for his birthday.  Knowing that he's a fan of Bud Light I wanted to make sure the colors were just right.  I also tried to stamp "Best Bud Light" since we are such good friends, and Bud Light being his favorite drink of choice, but the paper wouldn't take to the Black ink I chose.  Perhaps I should have chosen Archivers Black and that would have adhered more.  Anyway, I went to Cricut Craft Room and welded the can together.  On the left side I did a "hide contour" to hide the half circles on the back of the card.  I cut the image by eyeing it up (so there really isn't an exact height, width to it), but if you do choose to do it in Cricut Craft Room, I suggest finding a size that you like, and cutting from there.  I believe the size of mine was 3.5"x 6.5", but the video has some dimensions in it as well.  I also cut a white layer so that the blue layer had something to adhere to.  Here are some pictures of the card.

I also did a quick video on the card as well, so be sure to check that out below as well!

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.  Once again, whether you are a regular follower or a new follower, thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to check back often as there is more to come!

Craft on,
Ian

Stampaganza Shopping Haul!

Hi there!

About 2 weeks ago, I ordered my stamp sets from Close To My Heart to get in on the Stampaganza sale going on right now.  I got a great deal on 24 stamps; 16 that I paid for and 8 that were FREE!  The stamps ranged from Christmas themed to Alphabets.  I made a vide of my huge haul for you to take a look at and it's posted below.  If you are interested in getting in on the sale, there is still time!  Head on over to iandreger.ctmh.com and click Join next to June's Stampaganza to get in on my Online Gathering.    

I hope you are able to take advantage of this awesome sale!  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  As a reminder you can get the June Stamp of the Month for $5 if you spend $50.  

Now, the moment you have been waiting for...the video!  Check it out!  

Craft on,
Ian

What A Month It Has Been!

Hi folks,

Can you believe that June is almost over?  Where in the world did the time go?  As we inch closer to July, I realize I need to start working on some projects so I can focus on "Christmas in July".  Anyway, June is also a very important time for Close To My Heart.  There are two main reasons June is important.

The first reason is that we have Stampaganza going on.  If you haven't gotten in on this HUGE sale, you do not want to miss out on this.  For every two stamp sets you purchase, you get one stamp set of equal or lesser value FREE!  Whoa!  Close To My Heart has not offered this sale for over 2 years!  Who knows when the next time this sale will be offered.  This sale is also unlimited.  What that means is that the more you purchase, the more you can save!  RUN don't walk to iandreger.ctmh.com and join my Online Gathering (located in the bottom right hand side of the screen (see picture below).

As seen above, the close date is June 28, so hurry in and order all of the stamps you have had your eyes on.  Also, if you have the Art Philosophy cart - don't forget to pick up the stamp sets that pair nicely with the Art Philosophy cartridge.  Hopefully you haven't made it this far and you have made your way over to my site to order some stamp sets.

If you have made it this far, hopefully this will entice you a little more.  If you purchase $50 worth of stamps this month, you qualify to receive the June Stamp of the Month "Life is Tweet" for $5!  WHOA!  What a deal.  That's a 72% discount on this stamp (which also pairs with the Art Philosophy cartridge.  Double WHOA!)  To check out this stamp set, see the picture below.

Again, the Stampaganza sale only goes until June 30 at 11:59 MDT.  Although my online gathering ends at 11:59 MDT on June 28, you are still able to shop without getting in on the online gathering.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!  

I hope you are all doing well and stay tuned for some fun projects coming to this blog in a couple days! Exciting stuff in the works!!

Craft on,
Ian

Close To My Heart Ink Chart

Hi there,

Just a quick post to showcase the Close To My Heart ink chart that my friend Mandy Greenbaum at http://www.mandydesigns.blogspot.com designed.  If you are interested in downloading the chart yourself, head on over to Mandy's blog and check it out!  You can get an close-up view of the chart in the video below.

I hope you are all well!

Craft on,
Ian

Happy Father's Day Card!

Hi there,

I was able to make a card for my dad before I went on vacation, so I could take it home with me.  The following card was a 5"x7" card using the Cruisin' Paper Pack from Close To My Heart and the Simply Charmed Cricut cartridge.  I cut the shirt at 5" and it fit perfectly on the card.  I also inked the edges of the card and was able to stamp the inside with My Pink Stamper's "Happy Father's Day" sentiment.  He'll open it tomorrow even though I left it on his pillow on Tuesday since he was at work when I left for the airport.  To go along with this, my sister and I went halvsies on a set of 4 Samuel Adams bar glasses because he loves the beer and believes it tastes better from their glasses.  So, she'll bring that to him tomorrow since she lives in the same city as him.  He's going to love it.

Here are some pictures of the card.

 Front of card

 Close up of stitching

 Inside sentiment

 Close up of pop-dots

Close up of inked edges

The video

Craft on,

Ian

When It Rains, It Pours... (but opposite)

Hi there!

So much has happened in the last 24 hours that I cannot contain my excitement.

First of all, as I mentioned previously, I am in a blog hop on July 3rd.  I'm very excited for this but am still thinking of what to make.  It must be patriotic.  I've been wanting to start creating a "wreath" for my front door that I can hang on the inside (it's a glass door) and I live on a college campus on a main road so I have plenty of foot traffic and the students that live in the rest of the house have an access door right next to mine so it would almost serve as a welcome to them as well during the school year.  Anyway, still thinking.

Second, and bear with me due to the back story, Melody Lane is involved in the Exploring Cricut blog and serves on Diane's Design Team.  Melody reached out to Diane and recommended me to be featured on her blog one day.  Diane reached out to me to ask if I would be interested and I told her I would be.  At the same time, Diane asked if I would be interested in serving on the design team as well.  Awesome!  So I signed up for that too.  So many exciting projects to come from the Cricut so stay tuned for that.

Third, before I went on vacation I was able to make two cards, a birthday card for my niece who just so happened to turn 5 while I was home, and a Father's Day card for my dad which I was able to leave him when I left to come back to New York.  Before I left for vacation, I was able to make two videos of me making the cards and took pictures.  This post includes the video of the birthday card and the Father's Day card will be posted tomorrow.  So, without further adieu, I give you the birthday card.

For this I used Boys Will Be Boys Paper pack I picked up at Michael's or Joann's months ago.  I also used the monkey from Life's A Party Cricut cartridge cut at 5.5" and Close To My Heart's stamp set "Look Who's".  Here are some pictures and the video is below that.

 Full card (6"x6")

 Close up of "stitching"

 Close up of inked edges

Inside sentiment from Look Who's by Close To My Heart

The video

Craft on,

Ian

Get ready! Big things ahead!

Hi there!

I hope all of you are doing well.  I am finally finished with my vacation.  Let me just tell you it was so nice to go home for a bit and see old friends and family.  I had high hopes of getting some videos edited and uploaded while I was home, but with running around trying to see as many people as possible, visiting with family, relaxing, and sleeping, I never got around to it!  Here's hoping tomorrow night (tonite? It is 2:30 a.m. already so technically it's today), I can get a video uploaded.  Then, I will work on editing the second video and get that up over the weekend.

Tomorrow (today, technically), after work, I am having a small home gathering to show some coworkers some Close To My Heart products.  Stampaganza is still going on which means there is still time to take advantage of the great sale!  If you are interested in getting in on this HUGE deal check out iandreger.ctmh.com and click on June's Stampaganza! under Join one of Ian's Gatherings (in the lower right hand corner).  As a reminder, for every 2 stamp sets you purchase you get one stamp set of equal or lesser value free!  I ordered about 24 stamps (8 of which were FREE) so once I get those I'll do a shopping haul to show you the goodies I purchased.  :)  I saved almost $97 through this sale, PLUS, I still have about 15 stamps to purchase.  So, if you couldn't tell, the more you purchase, the higher your discount will be.  If you have the Art Philosophy cartridge, many of the stamps match up with this cart as well!  How perfect!

Here's a sneak peak of two of the stamps I purchased:

All Decked Out - D1308 - $17.95

Party Pennants - C1429 - $13.95

Last, I'm a little delayed with this, but recently I was asked to participate in another blog hop!  This will be my 2nd blog hop and I am so EXCITED!!  This blog hop is called Pink E's 4th of July Blog Hop!  Pink E is a wonderful crafter that is so talented.  I would be lying if I said I didn't get a lot of my inspiration from her and her projects.  Check her out here!   She's wonderful!  So, check back here on July 3rd, or rather yet, start at Pink E's blog and work your way through!  I'm excited to showcase what I've created...now to think about what to make!  haha.

Craft on,
Ian

Pink ATG Gun!

Hi there,

Long time, no post.  Sorry about that.  I'm still on vacation and trying to enjoy every last minute of it.  I've been watching my nieces (5 years old - tomorrow and 2 months old).  I was cruising facebook and noticed that someone mentioned that the Pink ATG Gun was on sale.  I went to check it out and holy moly it is!!  I think I paid twice this amount for mine.  I have also seen them go as high as $40 or $50 for them.  This is a steal!  Click the link below and check it out.  You'll see that I use the Pink ATG Gun in my videos from time to time.  Love it!

Until next time...

Craft on,

Ian

I'm still here! (Life update)

Hi there!

I just wanted to update the blog quick since it's been about a week since I last posted.  I did a surprise visit home and have been enjoying a small vacation.  I will be back from vacation a week from today.  I was able to get a card or two recorded so once I edit that, I will upload them and do a post on them here.  Unfortunately I was not able to pack and ship any craft supplies home before I flew out, so I can't even craft while I'm home (bummer), however, I am about to sketch out some cards that have been swimming in my head so that's a plus!  :)  Stay tuned for more.

As a reminder, Stampaganza is going on right now!  I have an Online Gathering going on right now at my Close To My Heart website.  Click here to go to my website and order stamps if you are interested.  The special for this month is when you buy 2 stamps you get a third stamp of equal or lesser value free.  This amount is unlimited so you can definitely order more than 3, so feel free to stock up!

I hope you are all enjoying your summer so far.  Stay tuned for those card posts to go up in the next couple of days!

Craft on,
Ian