Surprise Album Part 1

by CraftyAmanda in Artwork, Close to My Heart, Cricut, CTMH, Scrapbook | 2 Comments

Have your heard the saying you find love when you least expect it? Or when you’re not looking for it? That’s exactly what happened to my Mom this year. She connected on facebook with a high school classmate and they got married this week. It has been a special journey for her, and for me as her daughter. I’ve seen and heard her joy, elation, vulnerabilities and cheered her rollercoaster ride to love.

I’ve had very little tractor time this summer, so once they announced the wedding date, I have been stealing time from other things and putting together this wedding album for them. The first few pages are already filled with photo from their HS year book, facebook posts and personal photos from when we got to meet Mom’s fiancé. The remaining pages are to be filled with photos from the wedding weekend. I also provided several roses, hearts & titles to match the style I had already started.

I was really pleased with my solution for adding both horizontal and vertical photo memory protectors to the book. Mom will be able to add more in between later pages as I created them to be modular. I took the standard memory protectors and using my bind it all, I punched holes along the edge and then cut a slit into the center of each of the punched holes. This allows me to place them anywhere in the book that I need more photo spaces.

Without further ado, here are the first few pages with photo inserts I have finished.

I found some photos of Mom in the HS yearbooks on line 🙂 yay!

I do believe necessity is the mother of invention. I had no clue how I was going to include the next photos that were tall when all I had were vertical page protectors. As I was sitting in a room of crafting supplies I decided to see what I could find. I found the 12 x 6″ page protectors for a 12 x 12 scrapbook and decided I would sacrifice one slot and see if I could make it work. I could! And, was able to use all three slots by just cutting the first photo a half inch narrower. yeah.

being 3 photos wide was too big for my book, so I folded the last section in and filled it up!
I had to have some extra built in flaps too. Makes it more interactive right?

This is a far as filled it before leaving for the wedding weekend.

Happy Crafting!

Product review – Fiskars Cut Rail paper trimmer

by CraftyAmanda in Artwork, Close to My Heart, CTMH | 3 Comments

I like to use cardstock in my quilling projects, so that means I have to cut my own strips. For best results, this has required me to plan ahead and use my big Carl rotary paper cutter. It’s a great cutter, but big, heavy, and not at all transport friendly. I have tried other cutters, mostly fiskar brands, and have had some success, but they were more for making a few strips to finish a flower or shape, but not good enough for lots of strip cutting. This has now changed!

Close to my Heart is now offering this cutter by Fiskars. It uses a “rail” for the blade to run on giving much more stability and consistency in cuts. It’s size is the same as my, now old to me, cutter, so it will fit and travel the same. Yeah!

Pros: (as I see them)

Can cut over 6″ pieces for scrapbook & cards without opening the arm.

Cuts 3 sheets of Cardstock with little effort (will cut 4 but you must press hard)

Small 1/8″ or 3/16″ cuts are consistent and repeatable quickly.

I can see exactly where the cut is going to be without a wire distorting the view. (This was wonderful when I was cutting some journal labels for a scrapbook project.)

Blade has a nice size tab to hold on to for moving the knife through the paper.

Cons:

Doesn’t use the blades I have purchased for my other cutters so I have to wait for them to go on sale.

I will probably learn of some more pros and cons as I continue to use the cutter, but for today I am thrilled with the accuracy and ease of cutting multiple sheets of cardstock! I haven’t used it much for card making or scrapbooking yet, but I am truly looking forward starting!

Happy Crafting!

Annual Inspirations – Live Now

by CraftyAmanda in Close to My Heart, Cricut, CTMH, Offer, Scrapbook, Stamping | 2 Comments

The Brand New Annual Inspirations is now LIVE! If you’ve missed some of the posts last month, Here’s a quick tour of highlights. (Which will not include stamps as there are just too many cute ones to choose.)

New Basics pallet: (See more details here.)
Great two sided, two toned Card stock & new designs for compliments: (See more details here.)

TWO new Cricut Cartridges: (Learn more here)

New Thin Cuts: (Learn more here)

New Workspace wonder components: (Learn more here)

New Thin Cut Dies & Matching Stamps

by CraftyAmanda in Cards, Close to My Heart, CTMH, Scrapbook, Stamping | 3 Comments

It is so easy to stamp an image and then line it up perfectly with our thin cut dies. If you haven’t tried them, now would be a great time to start. So many cute and versatile images will be available August 1st!

So excited about a FULL alphabet thin cut. There isn’t a “matching” stamp, but it’s easy to cut out the letters you want, then stamp them with other images to bring them to life and personalize your project!

Banners & Tags:

Did someone say boarders:

Words:

And now my favorites in Thin Cuts. Ones with the matching stamp sets!

Aren’t these fun? I look forward to seeing what everyone does with these thin cuts.

Happy Crafting!

Workspace Wonder Updates

by CraftyAmanda in Close to My Heart, CTMH, Scrapbook, Stamping | 7 Comments

If you haven’t manage to get any of the workspace wonder pieces, they are worth the investment! Now CTMH has added some more great pieces and I look forward to adding them to my set.