Shopping Finds at Michael's!

I went to yet another Michael's yesterday to see if they had the Elegant Edges Cricut Cartridge.  Success!  They had it and I grabbed it up.  I think it is a great cartridge with lots of card making options!  I had been to two other Michael's in metro Atlanta and neither had it.  Sometimes I get annoyed with Michael's...they will have cards for Cricut cartridges or empty boxes of items that you have to take to the counter to purchase (like a Cuttlebug, for instance) and then when you go up to the cash register to check out and stand in line for an interminable period of time...well, then after they check every nook and cranny in the store they come back and tell you they don't have any in stock!  BUT...they have gotten back in my good graces recently by sending and redeeming virtual coupons so we are BFFs again...Michael's and Me....

Anyway, after I scored the cartridge I walked around and found some great must have items.  The first thing I found were these fabulous large flowers (Recollections brand) for only $1.99 a tin!  They were regularly $7.99 so that is a huge savings.  These will be great for cards, layouts, gift wrap, gift bags...I think they are just great!  I bought every color they had remaining! 

Michaels also had several colors of these Prima flowers but I refrained and only bought one...they were about half price at $2.49 for this container.

I also looked at punches and this dotted line punch which usually retails for $12.99 was on clearance for $6.99.  I haven't used these Recollections border punches before but at that price I decided it was worth a try.

On to the paper...I am not always a huge Martha Stewart fan (sorry, Martha)...or at least I'm not always a fan of her papers and embellishments but I found this little paper pad for baby girl  for $3.49 also on clearance...not bad for 24 sheets of 4x6 inch paper.  This will make some nice baby girl cards.  *As you know the Gadget Queen also known as TenSGal will be welcoming a new baby granddaughter in just a few weeks! 



And lastly I picked up this small pack of Studio G stamps.  I liked the sentiments and how they fit into the circle stamp.  These are  a great buy at Michael's at $2.50 a set but of course, if they aren't aleady on sale there are the virtual Michael's coupons.  Whip out your phone and have them scan the code!  So...with a 40% off coupon these little babies are only $1.50!  Not bad...not bad....



I think this was a great haul from Michael's...my BFF and I are good friends again!

A Little of This and That!

I needed a little "Thinking of you" card and came across this stamp set from Hero Arts that I just had to have a few months back but had yet to use.  I used some paper from the My Mind's Eye Fine and Dandy Collection to stamp the typewriter out (I love stamping on printed papers!), cut it out and stuck it on a piece or two of coordinating paper from the pad.  I added two Imaginise brad heads with my iRock (reminder to self...if the light is on...that means the tip is hot...you do NOT need to touch it to check it out!) to give it something extra (we like something extra, don't we?).  I printed the sentiment on white cardstock and cut it out.  Very easy!

Sometimes I like to put a little paper strip on the inside...first of all it uses up paper scraps but I also  think it gives a nicely "finished" look to your handmade card.

I also used a Corner Chomper by Crop-a-Dile which you can see here:

  I like those Corner Chompers but I did have one break on me.  The little plastic guide broke off and can't be fixed...so take care of yours if you have one!  The Gadget Queen does not like when her gadgets do not hold up!



More "Less Than 5 Minutes" Cards

Here are a few more cards I made with the Mariposa matstack by DCWV that I talked about on Tuesday.

Nothing super fancy about this...just pretty paper wrapped with some Stampin' Up gold cord.  Sweet and simple!

I used a Fiskars border punch on this one.  Funny story about that punch.  My friend and I were at Archiver's one day for a crop and one of the sales associates came to the crop room and said something like "Who wants the latest thing everyone is talking about on Two Peas?"  Well, Debbie's and my hands shot right up...and we didn't even know what we were thinking we wanted.  Anyway, we both bought that border punch and it really has been a good thing and I've used it often!

The card shown above was done with a Stampin' Up border punch I bought made by EK Success. I love the edge it gave.

Three cards in less than 15 minutes...not bad...not bad....



Organization Part 2

I continued to work on the organization of my embossing folders.  I had several sets of border folders as well as some of the 2" x 2.75" folders.  I decided to purchase some plain white CD sleeves (I got these from Office Depot...a pack of 50 was under $4 (they may be cheaper elsewhere).  I thought they worked just fine to hold the smaller folders as well as the border pieces.
Here is how the sleeve looked with the samples embossed on it:

And here is my drawer loaded with easy to find and identify folders!  I think this system will work well and I shouldn't outgrow it any time soon!



I also used the CD sleeves to put my Spellbinder dies in.  I basically cut apart the folder that the dies come attached to when purchased.  The dies are  held on to the folders with double sided tape so I just kept that portion of the card because it holds the dies in place.  Then I cut the front part of the card which showed what the dies looked like and adhered that to the front of the CD sleeve.  I also made little file tabs with the name of the die set on it.  They aren't exactly "cute" but they are functional and I think a better way for me to keep up with my 'inventory'.

Happy Crafting!

The 4 1/2 Minute Card

I have admitted I am a very sloooow paper crafter. I fiddle, I mess, I rearrange...it can take me just about forever to complete a project.  I'm not complaining though because I love the process. So, if I can make something I'm pleased with relatively quickly I am pretty happy with myself!
Today I decided to pull out a mat stack I bought some time back.  It's called Mariposa, is manufactured by DCWV and you can see it here:

I don't usually purchase the matstacks because the paper sizes don't always work for me with A2 sized cards but for some reason I had ordered this a while back.  This stack is full of glittered (my friend, Donna does NOT like glitter....can you imagine that?!) and foiled papers that I think are gorgeous.  I decided to use some to make a card and decided I'd time myself.  I made this card from start to finish in 4 1/2 minutes!  Seriously...and that even included the time it took me to find my border punch!

You can't really see how lovely glittered this paper is...but it is just beautiful I think.  This stack has lots of butterfly or bird prints...just really soft and lovely.
I don't need to give you directions on this because it is just as it looks.  Besides the paper I used a Fiskar's border punch, a Stampin' Up punch (for the rounded sentiment), a sentiment (Many Thanks) by Paper Trey Ink,  Stampin Up Real Red ink for the sentiment, 3M tape to rise the sentiment up a bit, and some Stampin' Up gold cording as well as a piece of red cardstock from Archivers.  Very quick...very easy...and really an elegant card...all done in 4 1/2 minutes!!!

I Love to Organize!

Most of the scrapbookers and paper crafters I know LOVE to organize.  We are always on the hunt for the perfect organizational items...and we do all kinds of things to make everything look cute!  It just has to be cute!  I love to get my supplies organized...I'm good at organizing...the challenge for me is always to maintain the organization.  Part of the problem is that I keep outgrowing the systems I develop or create!  I know I'm not the only one with that challenge.  :) 
This evening I decided to work on the organization of my embossing folders.  I had them all in a Crop in Style file box but I never could find what I wanted and I quickly outgrew that system!  I decided I'd use the 4 drawer Jet Max cube I showed you here the other day for my embossing folders, my Nestabilities dies, and the other static dies I have. 
I cut chipboard to 5"x6" pieces and cut some paper scraps to the same size.

I glued the pretty paper scraps to the chipboard (I mean we just have to make it cute, right??? We've already been over that! 

Then I ran each embossing folder through my Cuttlebug with a piece of white cardstock and adhered it with a file folder tab to the top identifying exactly the name of the folder.

After many hours of cutting, embossing and using my ATG adhesive gun I finished the A2 sized folders...

I sorted them alphabetically and put them in one of the drawers. 

Voila!  Cute and functional!

And now I need to get to work on the border folders, the mini folders, the little dies, the bigger nested dies, and, and, and...

But before that I need to get to JoAnn's and see what Cricut cartridges I might "NEED"!



Happy Mother's Day!

I am hoping all the mothers and grandmothers are having a wonderful day today!  I know I will be....I love being called "Mom" and "Omie"....and yes, my little 20 month old grandson is starting to say "Omie"!
I made a couple of these cards with my E2. I'll give one to my daughter...this is her second Mother's Day...and shortly she will become mommy to a little girl, too!

This standard A2 sized card was made with the Cricut Essentials cartridge...one of those preloaded into the Expression2.  (Really loving the E2...it's pretty user friendly but I know there are a few more things I need to learn to do!) Cricut Essentials is a great cartridge....not a full fledged cartridge...only one feature key but there are some really cute and useable images on it.  I cut the flowers out at about 2.5 inches...and the leaves were cut at about 1.5 inches.   I used some little white flower brads I had for the centers.   I like my things to look dimensional so I curled the petals on the flowers a bit. The paper is from Paper Trey Ink and the Happy Mother's Day sentiment is from Unity Stamps.  I think it is such a happy bouquet of flowers! 

Happy Mother's Day!