February's free gift!

Happy halfway through February!

This is just a quick note to remind everyone who shops my website in February and orders the Stamp of the Month for just $5 receives a free gift from me!  

Sunny Thoughts, S1802 is regularly $17.95 but is just $5 in February with a $50 purchase.  And our freshly added clearance items count too! 

Here's the four cards you'll get to make right away with your stamp set!  Everything will be pre-cut and ready to stamp and assemble.  They'll include the embellishments and envelopes too! 

These cards were made with the Make Waves papers which also feature a darling mermaid.  You'll want to grab them before they sell out this spring.  

Ready for some free cards?  Shop now!

Fidget Spinner Card

With fidget spinners being all the rage, I just *had* to make a fidget penny spinner!

This is the card I created for my son's birthday last week. I used the long retired Confetti Wishes blue paper and the new Willow Cardstock to give a Seahawks vibe!  

Creating in birthday - stealth mode, I didn't create a video, but a slideshow from still shots I took so he wouldn't hear me talking.  If I say "fidget," his ears perk up.

I used Sway, a Microsoft Office product, for this slideshow.  It was pretty simple to create but it appears that you'll need to manually click through it.  It will take a few seconds to load.  I'd love to know how it plays.  I actually thought it would export to an MP4 so I could upload it to a video.  

This is the link to the Design Space file that contains the slot.  The Fidget Spinner piece is an SVG file.  I cannot share this file if it contains the spinner because it's an uploaded SVG.  Use Detach prior to resizing.  Then click Attach again.  I didn't use Slice because I wanted the ability to adjust the size of the spinner hole.

This is the link to the Fidget Spinner SVG.  I sized it at 2.4" tall.  I also duplicated it and used the Hide Contour feature to hide all the inner circles on the black layer.

In reality, you can also use your paper trimmer to cut a rectangular slot with your paper trimmer.  Just make it about 1/16" taller than your foam dot.

Other penny spinners I've created:  This was a Stamp of the Month from May 2013!

And a round spinner with last year's Penelope paper

This is the link to the round slot.

All of these cards were designed using 3/8" 3D foam dots.  I used these dots.  They're 3/8" and 1/8" thick.  Some dots are super thick and make for a very bulky card.

You'll need plenty of 3D foam for making the layers.  DO NOT use the thin foam or you penny won't spin freely.  It's wonderful for cards, just not these cards.

I will be hosting a class making 3 of these cards, 2 slots & 1 circle style at my house on Tuesday, June 27th at 6:30.  I will also have kits and a video tutorial.  See my full list of classes here.  When you register, you can let me know if you have a preference on your spinner.  (Do they all need to be fidget spinners?)

With joy in my heart and coffee in my cup, have a wonderful day!

Poo Emoji Card "Oh C..."

Yesterday morning I saw a trailer for "The Emoji Movie" that's coming out this summer.  Of course Poo is one of the characters in it.

I've known that the Artistry Cricut Cartridge has a shape that looks an awful like Poo so I hopped on Cricut Design Space, pulled up the Hot Chocolate cup (with whipped cream that looks like Poo) and went to work.

Now I've been trying to not say C-R-A-P so much lately so that's NOT what the inside of the card says.  

The outside of the card is stamped with the Ink Blot stamp in Tangerine.  It's a little more "pretty" looking in real life than I'm seeing it on my monitor.  This stamp is disappearing after a fun 2 years with CTMH as of July 31.  Grab it now!  

The inside of the card uses our Retired Sugar Rush paper and stamp. But GUESS WHAT???

There's still more of the Sugar Rush Stamp & Thin Cuts left in stock.  104 of them left as a few minutes ago.  Go... now!

Oh Cupcake!  

Donut know how I forgot your birthday!  

All of this card was created using the CTMH Artistry Cricut Bundle except for the cupcake wrapper which is from Art Philosophy.  I welded and designed it in Cricut Design Space 3 (beta).  This new update is fantastic for working with fonts.  

So go!  

Grab your Sugar Rush Stamp Set & Thin Cuts now.  My son thinks these dies are the coolest ever because one is shaped like a Pokeball from Pokemon!

When you place an order , you can opt in to receive a FREE Seasonal Expressions 2 Catalog.  There's tons of amazing goodness coming!  If I don't post here, you'll see it on my Instagram or Facebook Page.  

With joy in my heart and coffee in my cup, have a wonderful day!

Teacher Gifts: Redbox Movie Night & Popcorn

Last fall, I designed these fun gifts for the teachers in our co-op.  Our co-op is parent led and we couldn't do it without nearly everyone signing up to teach a class.  

I used our now-retired Sunset Orange which was perfect for a fall themed gift.  Other times of the year, I think Cranberry would be just the ticket because it's more of the movie/popcorn container color.  In my case, I had TONS of orange from a long-gone Halloween kit and very little red.  

The THANK YOU is from a new stamp set "All the Thanks" B1536 from Close To My Heart.

There's several important key factors in creating a gift.  Chocolate is at the top of the list.

We included a Redbox movie "Promo code" good for a 1 night rental.  You can buy codes in packs of 5, 10, 25, etc from Redbox.com.  Click "buy promo codes" to order these codes on the Redbox website.  When ordering them, if you list yourself as the recipient, you'll get the codes emailed to you and they can be divvied out individually.  I snagged the graphic from the email and threw it into a MS Publisher file so that I could print several per sheet of paper.  

We put it inside the bag with the popcorn so that it wouldn't get lost before getting home.  ]

The bags & ribbon are from Hobby Lobby.  Isn't the 2 sided ribbon adorable?  It was a bit fussy to tie as it is wired, but they looked great in the end.  

The star is on the same page of the Artistry Handbook as the popcorn box.  It has 2 slots in it already because it's intended to be a little sign.  We used extra thick BBQ skewers.  We cut off the tip and put the cut end down into the package so nobody would get poked.  

This file only uses the CTMH Artiste Cricut Cartridge that has been retired.  😢

I used Design Space to slice the same star into the front of the box 3 times.In the future, I might add stars to all 4 sides of the box.  

I used the attach feature in Design Space to cut 6 stars or 2 boxes per 12x12 paper.  I used my 12x24" mat with 2 12x12 sheets of paper so I could cut 4 boxes per load of my Cricut.  I was cutting 30 boxes and needed as much efficiency as possible.  

Here's the Design Space file.  If you are using this file, it won't be too hard to modify it back to a standard 12x12 mat.  Click detach, delete or hide 2 boxes and their score lines.  Attach the remaining boxes and score lines.  

I have a wonderful team of ladies who join me to assemble these boxes.  We assembled and filled 30 boxes in less than 90 minutes.  They're awesome.   

If you use my file, I'd love to see a pic of what you create.  Please post it on my CraftyLalia Facebook Page. 

Flower Market Forget Me Nots

Hello friends,

Today I want to show you a beautiful card I created with the Flower Market Cartridge.

There's around 50 different types of flower and succulents on this cartridge along with many many other shapes.  We're not talking about 7 petaled flowers vs 3 petaled abstract flowers, but ones that you can actually identify.

Today, I'm using the Forget-Me-Nots.  I've also cut the banner and envelope from the Flower Market Cartridge. 

The light blue flowers and the Envelope liner were cut from our Whimsy Fundamentals.  I also used Pixie, Sweet Leaf and Crystal Blue cardstock (all part of the Whimsy color family) to complete this card.  I love sticking within a color family because I know that the colors are going to work together.  

I added a LOT of shimmer to a couple of the flowers using our new shimmer pen.  You can put on as little or lot as you want.  It's like eye shadow--a little goes a long way and an inexperienced user (that's me) put it on a little heavy.  

I love the dimension of this card even without embellishments.  

The sentiment is one of the stamps included in the Flower Market Bundle.  

This bundle has 2 sets of background stamps which are designed to add texture and a whole sheet of sentiments.  I LOVE sentiments, especially when my Cricut is doing all the hard work of creating beautiful die-cuts to put on my cards.  These stamps are perfect!  I'll be using them a lot. 

Want to make this card?  Here's the link for the Cricut Explore Design Space.

Items used
Flower Market Cricut Bundle Z3285

Whimsy Fundamentals Paper Z3255

Whimsy Cardstock  X5940

Rustic Home Fundamentals Z3262

Shimmer Brush Z3293 (temporarily sold out, but will be in stock next week)

Crystal Blue Exclusive Inks (for inking flowers)

Black Exclusive Inks 

You can receive the Rustic Home paper pack for FREE this month when you purchase the Whimsy, Adventure & Enchantment Fundamentals!  (This plus the Flower Market Cricut Collection enables you to earn $25 in Hostess Rewards because it's a $150+ order/party!)  I have to set up the party before you place your order so contact me before ordering!  

White Pines Sampler

Thanks to a couple of my customers, I've been encouraged to keep creating art for the Shadow Box frame.  

This year's Christmas sampler was created with the White Pines My Reflections paper and Complements and the Artistry Cricut cartridge.  It was inspired by a couple pieces of artwork I've seen this fall created by Leesa Bartu.  

The White Pines paper is full of elegance and whimsy as you can see with the beautiful flowers and the cute forest critters.  

In making this sampler, I had TONS of complements (stickers, chipboard diecuts and clear accent pieces) left over so I'll make up a few gift tags too.  When I created the "Joy, Peace, Noel, Merry and Bright" background with the Artistry Cricut Cartridge I filled in the rest of the 12x12 piece of cardstock with simple tags shapes in my Cricut Design Space File.

Want this sampler?  You can order the White Pines Paper and Complements from my website and I'll send you the instructions and Cricut Design Space File. You'll also need clear sparkles and the Artistry Cartridge.  You can order a kit from me for $15 + shipping.

My kit will also include cut from Cranberry and Colonial White Cardstock and a few clear sparkles.

You will also need 3D foam tape, Liquid Glass and Bonding Memories adhesives to complete the project.

Contact me to order your sampler today.  Kits are only available while supplies last.  

Sangria Seasonal Sampler

I think I saved the best for last, don't you?

No, I haven't been keeping this paper tucked away for a year, it's new!  This sampler features our brand new Sangria papers & assortment from the new 2015 Annual Inspirations catalog.

This features 3 SUPER EASY 3D flowers from our very 1st Cricut Bundle, Art Philosophy along with shapes from Artbooking and the brand new Artistry Cricut cartridge.  

My last workshop will be on Saturday 10/3 @ 7pm  

Click here to order a pre-cut ready to assemble kit to create on your own or at the workshop

The kit will also include 2 coordinating cards.

Want to make one on your own and have the Cricut Cartridges?  

Place an order on my website for $20 and I'll send you the Cricut Design Space Link and a project guide.  This project can also be easily created on the Cricut Expression.  

Items used:

Sangria Paper X7199B

Sangria Assortment Z3084

Quatrefoil Embossing Folder

Pomegranate Exclusive Inks

Adventure Cardstock

Neutrals Cardstock

Cricut Bundles:  

Art Philosophy

Artbooking

Artistry - New!

This completes a full year of seasonal samplers.  We started in October 2014 with Halloween and we're ending in ((late)) September with Autumn.

Check out all of my previous seasonal samplers here.

I have a limited amount of supplies on hand for some of last year's kits. 

Enjoy Artistry!

Here's my first card from the new CTMH Cricut Bundle 'Artistry'

This cartridge isn't fancy.  Instead it's amazing.  

No 3D flowers.  But gorgeous layered flowers

No 3D boxes.  But it has a mason jar on pg 2 that is lovely.

No 3D cards but hundreds of items to make a card

No scrapbook layouts but tons of titles, icons, borders and backgrounds.

And of course a coffee cup, latte cup on page 5 and items for tea on later pages.  

There's 700 shapes, many of which are layered making 442 grouped images in Cricut Design Space.

And a font that can be shadowed with a bold setting, normal or handwritten with a pen.  

CTMH has released the shape index so you can see everything that's part of the cartridge.  

And it's available as a Digital Cartridge for Explore users in Cricut Design Space for a $20 savings.  

A code will be shipped with the cardstock & 3 exclusive stamp sets.  

Are you excited about this cartridge? 

I have more artwork to show you!

Taste of Summer teacher gifts

Monday was our wrap-up of our Homeschool Co-op.   You could say our co-op has two themes.  One would be coffee, the other chocolate.  When the two combine, it's even better.   When it's time to celebrate our hard working volunteer teachers AKA moms, they are almost always a part of the gift.

This year we gave a Mason Jar Sipper/Straw filled with chocolate & Starbucks Via.

I love to make them cute so I added a tag that says "Thank you for an Ah-Mason year."  It really was an amazing year.  We have a dedicated group of moms who come up with creative classes for all ages.  We lead "elective" classes that support, not replace our regular home school curriculum.  It's a fun outlet for the kids AND the moms.  We support and encourage one another and love it as much as the kids do.  

I printed the circle on regular paper and punched it with my handy 2" circle punch by Fiskars.  This is my most used punch that I own.  

Here's the printable.  The font is Wolf in the City.  

The pinwheel features the new Taste of Summer papers that are only available May 2015, during National Scrapbooking Month.  Aren't they luscious?  

There's 6 different double sided papers.  

I love the lemon paper with the purple on the back.  

It's a Ball quart jar and the Ball Straw and Sipper.  They are primarily sold as white but this year they've introduced some colorful lids.  

Here's the supplies we used.  I say "we" because the leadership team met at my house and together we crafted and assembled the 3 dozen jars.  It took less than an hour to do the work and another couple hours to laugh, giggle and eat chocolate before going home.  

Some links are Amazon affiliate links.  

Taste of Summer Paper Pack cut in 4" squares

We also have a stamp set, though I didn't use it on this project

Black brads

Heavy bamboo skewers with tips cut off from Winco Foods

Hot Glue

Ribbon from my stash

Easter grass

Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge for the tags

1/8" hole punch for the pinwheels

Ball Sip and Straw Lid for Wide Mouth Jars  they're a 4 pack

(be sure to get the ones that match the size of your jar)

Ball Wide Mouth Jars

Starbucks Via® Caramel Iced Coffee

or 

Starbucks Via® Refreshers

Lindor Chocolates 

We had some of the Sea Salt Milk Chocolate Truffles, Dark Chocolate Truffles, and ones with White Chocolate.  The Peanut Butter ones are pretty amazing too.  Are you hungry yet?  I had to stop and fix lunch before finishing this post.

To make the pinwheel, I cut a 4" square of paper (you'll get 9 per sheet, Yay!)

Here's a template for the pinwheel--It's from the Macaroni kid website.  

I hot glued a BBQ skewer to the back.  I used a pair of garden pruners to snip the point off the skewer and then buried the snipped end in the hot glue.  They don't spin, but they're still darling.  

Taste of Summer is only available in May 2015 from Close to My Heart.  

Click her to shop

I've went back and labeled my teacher gift posts.  You can find all of them here.  

Blossom Seasonal Sampler

Check out the latest installment of my Seasonal Sampler series!

Last night I donated one of these samplers to an Operation Smile auction and it raised $110 towards the cost of an operation to correct cleft pallet or cleft lip.  Each surgery only costs $240 through this amazing organization.  I've never been to a CTMH event that has hosted an Operation Smile auction before.  It was a bit intimidating saying "I'll donate," not knowing if this is the type of item that would sell.  I was wondering if I'd have to bid on it myself just to get back the cost of the frame.   No bidding for me.  I was too busy hanging on to my seat as the bidding hit $80+ in just a few seconds.  Thank you Kelley for your generosity and your final bid!  

It was jaw dropping, inspiring and I was a bit teary eyed.  I'll be writing more about Operation Smile in future posts.  

I want to thank Michele Rowley, my upline, mentor and brainchild of these seasonal samplers.  We've been tag teaming on creating these samplers.  This one was her "baby."  I was going to sit this month out.  I think she knew exactly what she was doing when she send me a sneak peek of her  Blossom Sampler.  It was gorgeous.  I ran with the idea, added that beautiful banner and butterfly and here it is!  Thank you Michele for your inspiration for this year and giving me the nudge to design this one.

You don't have to spend that much to create your own piece of artwork.  This month, for just $20 you can create the 12x12 sampler and 5 cards with the leftover stickers and scraps.  The frame is $28.95 plus shipping & tax (about $34)

Here's the FIVE cards.  I've never had so many stickers leftover.  

We'll be stamping 3 of the cards using the new stamp set Finding the Words D1646.  Even the cute little butterflies on the last card are part of that set.  

We'll be using the following products

Blossom Paper Pack

Blossom Complements

Oceanside Sequins

Teal Shimmer Trim

Bitty Sparkles

Whisper Cardstock

Damask Embossing Folder

Lagoon & Sunset Inks

If you'd like to order a pre-cut kit, they are $20.  

Shipping for as many kits as you like is $6.  I'll cover any additional shipping.  

My in-home workshop is Saturday, May 16, 2015 at 7pm or you can order a kit to-go.  I have full color instructions on how to create this kit.  

If you're a DIYer, you can create this kit on your own.  Just order the $20 from my website and I'll send you the cutting instructions including a Cricut Explore Cricut Design Space link.  You'll have tons of paper left over after you've created this project.  You will need a scrap of Whisper and a 4x12 strip of Pear.  They aren't included in the paper pack.

Click here to shop  

You can order a pre-cut kit for $20.  It will include a full color guide sent by email.

**Purchase link has been disabled**

Blossom Birdcage Card

Here's a pic of yesterday's creation...

The card is one of many on the Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge.  The newest Cricut Cartridge from Close to My Heart.  It can be found on page 13 in the handbook.

I sized the card at 5.5" tall and it was a skinny 3.5 inches wide until I embellished it with a flower, leaves, and banner from the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge.  Now it looks like a full sized card yet fits in an A2 envelope.  I'll call that a win!

I used the new Blossom paper pack that is in the new Seasonal Expressions 2 catalog that just started at the beginning of the month.  

The flip side of this paper is that beautiful "canvas" that the card is laying on.  

The stamp set is "Typed Note" -- the April Stamp of the Month.  I really like this set because it has a TON of sentiments.  It's $5 with a $50 purchase or $17.95.  This set is a workhorse.  I'd pay the full price for a set of matching sentiments like this.  Either way, it's only available for the Month of April 2015.  

Did you see that this stamp set says "Happy Mother's Day."?  That's one of the sentiments that I'll be using on the inside of this card.  

I created this card on my Cricut Explore.  

Here's the Cricut Design Space File.  

Please use this design for your personal/workshop use, not for selling kits or cards.

You will need Art Philosophy and Artfully Sent to create this card.

I did modify the design quite a bit.  I changed it so the card base is Glacier cardstock by slicing and hiding contours.    Only the front will be cut from the Blossom B&T paper so it's easier to write on the inside.  There's also a little flower and leaves for the inside of the card.  I cut the stems off of the leaves just to save on paper.  

I'm linking this post up with this week's Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge # 138 because it features the colors of the Blossom paper pack.  

Hop on over there to see other creations.  

That's all for now!

Last chance for an Advent Calendar!

Here's your last chance to create the Advent Calendar workshop!

The My Creations Cubby is on the While Supplies Last list so I don't know how much longer it will be available.  With that, I'm holding one more workshop on Friday, July 31st at 6:30 pm at my home in Everett, WA.  

Contact me to RSVP by email or by Facebook to attend.  

RSVP with payment no later than 7/1.  I cannot guarantee the availability of these cubbies so please RSVP with a $15 deposit as soon as you can.  I'll go ahead and purchase it now.

Cost is $40 for the workshop, including adhesives and basic embellishments. If you have a cubby already, your fee can be reduced.

I can also ship your kit for $5. 

Are you a CTMH Consultant?

I have great news!  I have a full color workshop guide and cutting files for you.  

They've just been updated to include a Cricut Design Space for the Cricut Explore as well as Cricut Craft Room Files for earlier Cricut machines.  You'll be able to create this workshop for yourself and your customers with ease.  A workshop release is included.  All files are electronic and can be purchased by consultants and customers world-wide.  The cost is $8.00 USD.
CTMH Artiste & Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridges are required for this project.

**Purchase link has been disabled**

To see more info about the Advent Calendar see my earlier posts.

Full Advent Calendar

Freebie Advent Calendar Cutting files (boxes only)