Followers

Monday, November 26, 2012

Quick Christmas Card


Hi folks!

Today I have a cute and simple Christmas card that you can do in 10 minutes.

I used Believe, an old Workshop on the Go from Close To My Heart for everything, except the card base which was white cardstock from Michael's.  The card size was a simple A2 sized card.  I cut the base layer at 4"x5.25".  I then cut the mitten from the Cricut Artiste cartridge at 4.5".


I then took a button from the WOTG and used a dark blue and white twine to tie a bow.  I used a pop dot to give it some dimension.  The next thing I did was put an Action Wobble so that the glove was waving at you.  See the action shot below.


On the inside of the card, I used Holiday Red from Close To My Heart and stamped the Merry Christmas sentiment from Christmas Cheer (D1494) stamp set.  I also used Light Blue to put the snowflakes at the bottom of the card as well.


Here's a close up of the button.  I love how this turned out!  :)


Here's a side-view of the action wobble and you can see the button is pop dotted as well.


Well that is my project for today!  I hope you enjoyed it and it has inspired you to get in the craft room and start making Christmas or other Holiday cards.  The next holidays are right around the corner!

Craft on,
Ian

Pumpkin Pie, Anyone?


Hi folks!!

Long time no see but I wanted to share with you all a project I did for my RAs for Thanksgiving.  Every year I try to do something special and unique for them to thank them for all of their hard work so far for that semester.  This year, I think I outdid myself.  I recently snagged myself a Silhouette Cameo at a great price and knew that I wanted to use it for this years gifts.  Upon perusing www.svgcuts.com I found this fun little pumpkin pie treat box that I just HAD to make!

After I figured out what I was going to do, I went to the larger Michael's and searched through their open stock paper for Thanksgiving themed cardstock.  If there is one thing I learned, you MUST be one season ahead as a crafter.  The paper was pretty stagnant so I had slim pickings.  I did get to pick up a couple cute papers that weren't grabbed so I knew I would use them for this project.

I downloaded the file and started to cut the files.  The mat that came with the Cameo was tearing the paper and I had read that you could use your Cricut mat so I grabbed that and continued.


Once I was able to cut everything out, I lined everything up in piles so I knew exactly what I had to do.  I posted this teaser photo on my Facebook with the caption "I'm making something fun."  :)


I took the orange cardstock and embossed it with a Darice 2 inch folder I found at AC Moore.  I thought that added a nice little dimension to it.  This photo was taken after I had already started piecing the top of the box together.


I took the orange cardstock after it was embossed and used Scor-Tape to glue the top box together.  It was starting to shape up quite nicely.


The next thing I did was add the top layer of the pumpkin pie and adhered the crust to it.  I also folded it up to give it some dimension and for a real-pie effect.


Next thing I did was start piecing together the lower portion of the box.  Svgcuts.com makes it very easy to do these 3D projects as the machine also cut scor-lines on it too.


Here's a picture of the inside of the box.  About 3 slices in, I realized I should have turned the photo upside down so that the words were right side up.  UGH!  Oh well.  No turning back now and there wasn't enough of the cardstock to recut this portion.  :(


I went ahead and made Muddy Buddies (Puppy Chow to some of you) and placed that in baggies to cool.  If you want the recipe - I posted it below!  Funny story (not so funny at the time).  I was making the muddy buddies and put the powdered sugar into the bag and started to shake and the seal broke on the gallon sized bag I was using.  I lost about 2 cups worth of Muddy Buddies on my kitchen floor.  UGH!!  I did have enough for the 13 RAs I have to each get 1/2 cup which was perfect because that barely fit in the box.


Here's a photo of the completed pumpkin pie.  I found this ribbon at Joann's and it was the perfect dollop of whipped cream.   Isn't it cute?  I adhered these with a little Tombow adhesive.


Here's an artistic shot of the individual piece of pie.  Just lovely!


Here's the top shot so you can see the "whipped cream" on top of the piece of pumpkin pie.  Looks good enough to eat, eh?  :)


Well, that's my project for today.  I made 13 individual pieces of pumpkin pie for my 13 RAs.  I ended up cutting 14 pumpkin pie pieces in case I messed up - but I didn't need the extra.  Score!  I hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving day surrounded by friends and family.  I was alone but did get to FaceTime with my mom.  I'm on duty for my job and had to stay back at work.  My coworkers all live within 2-3 hours driving distance here in NY and I'm originally from Wisconsin so I didn't want to be selfish even if I couldn't go home.  It was a quiet couple of days on duty.  Nice!  However, most of campus was gone and they all returned yesterday.  Anyway, I hope you are all doing well and gearing up for the next holiday whichever it is you celebrate.  :)

Craft on,
Ian

Muddy Buddy Recipe9 cups Chex (whatever kind you like best; Corn, Rice, etc.)
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Place chocolate chips and peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl.  Heat on high for 1 minute.  Stir.  Heat on high for another 30 seconds.  Stir in vanilla and make sure mixture is smooth.  Pour Chex in a GOOD gallon sized bag or paper bag (some prefer paper so issues like the one I had don't happen) and pour chocolate, peanut butter, and vanilla mixture over chex mix, seal and shake rigorously making sure all gets covered.  Take powdered sugar and pour in bag.  Seal bag and shake again until well coated.  Place on wax paper on a cookie sheet and place in fridge to cool.  Once cool, serve individually or in a large bowl for your guests.

Enjoy!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Small Business Saturday (LATE!)/Cyber Monday Sale!

Hey there!

I posted on my Close To My Heart facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/IanDregerCloseToMyHeartIndependentConsultant) yesterday about the sale I had going on, but realized I never posted it here for those of you who aren't on facebook!  I'm so sorry!  From now until Monday night at 11:59 p.m. when you spend $100 in Close To My Heart, you will receive a free C-sized stamp.  When you order, let me know what your selected C-Size stamp you want, and I'll get that ordered for you and sent out.

Also, if you spend $50, you can order the November Stamp of the Month Capture the Date for $5.  If you are into calendars, this is the PERFECT stamp set for you.  In addition to that, when you purchase the November Stamp of the Month for $5, you can receive a stamp set (size A through E) for 50% off!  What a deal.


So if you choose to spend $95 in Close To My Heart products through my site, and purchase the $5 November Stamp of the Month set, you will receive a FREE C-sized stamp and 50% off one stamp set size A through E!  What a deal for Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday.

Start shopping now at:  http://iandreger.ctmh.com/retail!

Craft on,
Ian

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

New Shopping Haul...LATE! Whoops!

Hi folks,

I hope you are all doing well.  Here is a haul from the past couple months that I finally got around to opening.  You know what's sad...I am not even close to having everything I need.  It's no longer wants, it's needs.  I absolutely fell in LOVE with Copic's recently and just want them all.  This is bad!

Here's a teaser photo of what was waiting for me in the mailroom.  Yes, I had to borrow the handtruck to get the items from the mailroom and take them across campus to my apartment.  Rough!!  I giggled the whole time like a kid in a candy store.  Or is a crafter in a scrap store?  I forget.


Of course, I also made a video.  It's been a long time since I made a video but hope you enjoy it!

Have you heard about Amazon Wish List?  I just got an email about 2-3 weeks ago and started adding, adding, adding to it.  Then I realized I had 4 pages worth of NEEDS on my wish list.  Whoops!  It will take me quite a while to get through it and get everything but it's fun because you install a widget on your internet browser so any website you are on you can add it to your Amazon Wish List.  It holds everything in one convenient spot!  How neat!  Anyway, what you've all been waiting for...the video!  Enjoy!


Craft on,
Ian

Monday, November 19, 2012

Be Thankful

Hi folks!

Today we had a challenge on Exploring Cricut.  We were to create a card, layout or papercraft celebrating Thanksgiving.  My timing was short on this one because I'm working on a large project.  It may be a little similar to Friday's post but I used a different image, punch, and added some ribbon.

Here is my card for today:


I used a 6x6 base for the card and the second layer was from DCWV's Natural Stack.  I cut the acorn and leaf from the Autumn Celebrations Cricut cartridge at 5".  I also curled the leaf to give it a 3D effect.

The ribbon I purchased from Joann's.  It's American Crafts and came in a set of 12 ribbons that had all the seasons on it.  I also inked the edges of the acorn to give it some pop.


So that's my post.  Like I said, I'm working on a big project and will upload that soon (Wednesday or Thursday).  Hope you are all well and gearing up for Thanksgiving!!  :D

Craft on,
Ian

Friday, November 16, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi folks,

Today I have a 6"x6" card I made.  I'm being featured on Exploring Cricut today.  For the base I used a 12"x12" piece of white cardstock and cut it in the center.  I scored the 6"x12" piece of cardstock at 6" to make the 6"x6" card.  I used DCWVs Natural Stack for the base layer and then used scraps to cut out the image below from Autumn Celebrations Cricut cartridge.  This image was cut at 4.5".


After all was said and done, I used a black gel pen to add stitching to the top of the hat and a white gel pen to add stitching to the brim of the hat.  I think that added a nice flair to it.


On the inside, I used Close To My Heart's stamp set to stamp Happy Thanksgiving on the  inside of the card.


All in all, the card probably took me 20 minutes to put together and that's pushing it.  I hope this has encouraged you to create a card similar yourself!  Interested in purchasing this cart?  Check out the link below:



Craft on,
Ian

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Liebster Blog Award

Hi folks,


Recently, I was nominated by Traci, for the Liebster Blog Award.  Knowing very little about this, I did a small search and it seems like it's a pretty neat thing to be awarded.  Although some consider it a chain letter, of sorts, it's a way to bring awareness to those with blogs that have less than 200 followers. A couple blogs I read mentioned that the Liebster Blog Award started in Germany but when it started the blog had to be less than 3000 followers.  Who knew that bloggers in Germany had quite a following!  I dream of the day when I have 3000 followers, but until them, I cherish each and every one of you.

Although I don't post nearly as much as I want to, nor craft the same, I am lucky to have all of you stop by when you have a chance to see what is new in my world.  The comments that some of you leave are inspiring and help push me to continue to create.  Thank you for that!

So, without further adieu, I am going to be nominating 5 people for the Liebster Award.  Now, here's a stipulation, if you don't want to continue this, there is absolutely NO pressure and I will not be upset if you don't.  If you do, that's great!  Again, really...I mean it...NO pressure!  Also, these are in no particular order:

1.  Karon - I met Karon through the Cricut Message Board.  She does AMAZING work and inspires me to continue to create.  She is an avid follower of my blog, and honestly comments more on my work than I do on hers.  I need to work on this.

2.  Sharondalyn - Another person I met through the Cricut Message Board - but Sharondalyn does wonders with a little paper, some pictures and glue.  Check her out and go follow her.  You won't be disappointed!  If you are into vinyl - she's your gal!

3.  Jayma - OK, I cheated but I'm OK with that.  I can bend the rules, right?  Jayma is my upline with Close To My Heart.  She is the original person who got me hooked on this amazing company and although we have never met, I consider her someone who is easy to talk to and confide in.  I am so lucky to have her in my life!

4.  Diane - Diane is someone who has believed in me for quite some time.  This past summer she approached me about being a designer on the Exploring Cricut blog and this has opened many doors fo rme.  Thank you, Diane!  Check out her work too!

5.  Sharon - Sharon has also been quite a nice supporter to my crafting for quite some time.  She is always leaving comments on my posts about how she loved this or that.  I'm an awful blog follower because I rarely make it over to comment on her blog but she makes me want to scraplift a thing or two from her . Check her out!  :D

That's it for today.  Still haven't edited the video I made yesterday.  Crazy, busy week, but it's coming.  Stay tuned for that!

Craft on,
Ian

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Oyy...it's been a while!

Hi folks!

This is just a quick note to say I will have a new post (and possibly a new video) within the next day or so!  Just got a couple hauls in that I want to show off.  :D 

Craft on!
Ian