You Da Man

Hello everyone in bloggie land! It has been very busy this past week in the casa de Martin. My brother was in town from Nashville, it was my mother-in-law's XXth birthday (she'd kill me if I put her age) & it was my husband's 50th birthday! We had 3 big family parties in 3 days, so I'm still recovering.

I got my husband & his friends tickets for the Demolition Derby at the Sonoma County Fair (total testosterone fest, I know). This is the little tool box I made to put the tickets in....

And here is the other side, with a different tag....

On the inside bottom I put some little paper tools, which I hand-cut from a 12x12" sheet....

 

SIZE:  4.29" (max size on a 12x12" mat)

CRICUT:  Expression & Gypsy

CARTRIDGE:  "Artiste"

PAPER:  Debbie Mumm & Creative Imaginations

INK:  Colorbox "Silver" & Tim Holtz "Black Soot"

TWINE:  The Twinery "Stone"

OTHER:  Fiskars hole punch & paper edgers

The stamps I used are from this set by K Andrew Designs....

 Guy Talk

 

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Entering in the following challenges:

Hiding In My Craft Room -  Challenge #51, Masculine Birthday

Joyful Stamper -  Inspire Me Fridays #70, Anything Goes

DL.ART -  Thankful Thursday Challenge, Anything Goes

                    (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DIANA!!)

Simply Create Too -  Challenge #19, Anything Goes   

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Thank you so much for taking the time to visit me today!

-Diana :)

Close To My Heart

Hi! I'm doing a quick little post to let you all know that I am now an official Close To My Heart consultant! I'm super excited & I hope you will consider choosing me as your personal consultant. I personally guarantee that you will receive THE BEST customer service! Please check out my new website & do some shopping with me, if you're so inclined :) My link button will always be at the top of my blog, but I'm putting it here now too. This will take you directly to my shopping website....

                                     

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I also have a quick reminder that the Cricut Artiste cartridge bundle is now available for purchase! To check out the details & to order, CLICK HERE

In appreciation of everyone who orders from me, I will also send you this FREE mini stamp set* AND a FREE Fall/Winter catalog & Idea Book!!

"Nature's Delight" stamp set

* I only have a limited number of these stamp sets so please don't wait to place your order!

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Thank you in advance for your support! I appreciate you all soooo much! 

-Diana :)

Artiste Project #2

Hello everyone! Well, I got so excited about receiving my Artiste bundle last week that I may have overdone it a little. I think it was when my husband actually had to carry me into bed because I kept falling asleep sitting up with sharp objects in my hands & refused to leave my craft room, that I realized I might be a little too obsessed. So, after sleeping for the past 2 days, I'm back! I have a fun little card to share with you that I made right before I experienced the aforementioned unconsciousness....

SIZE:  4" square

CRICUT:  Expression, Gypsy

CARTRIDGE:  "Artiste" 

PAPER:  Creative Imaginations, DCWV "Madly In Love" Stack

STAMPS:  K Andrew Designs "Southern Sayings", CTMH  "Perfect Fit Frames - Flair"

INK:  Tim Holtz Distress Ink "Black Soot", CTMH  Exclusive Inks "Slate"

OTHER: Stickles "Black Diamond", Smooch, Sakura pen

I hope you enjoyed my card & thanks for stopping by!

-Diana :)

First ARTISTE Project

Hello friends! I hope you are enjoying your week so far. I have literally been planted in my craft room because I've been playing with my new Cricut/CTMH Artiste cartridge! I just became a CTMH consultant (more on that later, I'm still getting set up) so I was able to get it early. Let me just say that I thought they topped out with Art Philosophy, but I stand corrected. This cartridge is soooo amazing! Let's just say that there is a new Big Papa in my craft room!

Usually when I get a new cartridge there are maybe a few images that I want to make right away, but I literally want to make every single one on this cartridge! If I could have only one cartridge for the rest of my life, it would be this one. Okay so (breathe) ...... my head has been swimming with ideas & I've been messing around with some images & the coordinating stamps (yes, you get 3 stamp sets included when you buy the cartridge!), but I am now moving on to some complete projects, lol. My ADD is in overdrive right now!

I will be posting new projects throughout the next week (or maybe month .... or year, lol) & today I have the first one....

Envelope front....

Envelope back....

 

SIZE:  4.6" square

CRICUT:  Imagine

CARTRIDGES:  "Artiste" (pgs. 54, 56) & "Elise" (color palette & patterns)

EMBOSSING:  Cuttlebug "D'Vine Swirls"

PAPER:  Core'dinations white cardstock

INK:  CTMH Exclusive Inks "Chocolate"

OTHER:  EK Success adhesive gems, Studio G glitter glue

I really hope you enjoyed my first project & I'll be back shortly with more! Thanks for stopping by & have a fabulous day!

-Diana :)

Getting Cricky Blog Hop - "Celebrate This"

Hello friends! Welcome to this month's Getting Cricky Blog Hop! If you've hopped along from my fabulous DT sister, Jennie then you are in the right place. If you are just joining me & would like to start at the beginning with Kristal's blog, please click HERE.

The theme this time is "Celebrate This". This was actually perfect timing for me because my parents are celebrating their 44th wedding anniversary today! 

Here is the card I made for them & to share with all of you....

 

SIZE:  A2
PAPER:  Core'dinations white & black cardstock, The Paper Company "Mulberry" linen paper
INK:  Tim Holtz Distress Ink "Black Soot"
OTHER:  Fiskars corner rounder & scallop scissors, Sakura pens, foam tape


These are the K Andrew Designs stamp sets I used....

I Heart You

Southern Sayings

To purchase these stamp sets, just click on the previews above. To check out all of the stamp sets, click HERE.

Thank you so much for hopping with us today! Now it's time to hop along to your next stop, my super talented DT sister, Christel

Enjoy the rest of the hop!

It's Flashback Time!

Hello & happy Monday! If you came here via the Getting Cricky blog, then you saw a picture of my featured "flashback" project for today....

If you want to see the details of this card, you can go to my original post by clicking HERE

For the next 12 days (from today until July 28th), Getting Cricky will be featuring flashback posts from all of my fellow DT members, so make sure you stop by each day to check it out! There will also be some guest designers & tutorials in the mix on a few of the days, so you definitely don't want to miss those!

Thanks so much for visiting me today! Have an excellent week!

-Diana :)

More French Fun

*** My challenge entry is card #2 (please scroll down) ***

 Hello my friends! I hope you're having a fabulous weekend! Today I am one of the featured design team members at Getting Cricky, along with my super-talented DT sister, Lisa from A Mermaid's Crafts. We only feature the photos of our projects on Getting Cricky, so I'm posting all the details here. I have 2 cards to share with you today. I hope you enjoy!....

SIZE:  6.5"

CRICUT:  Imagine & Expression

CARTRIDGES:  "Four Legged Friends", "Art Philosophy", "Nursery Tails" (patterned paper & color palette)

PAPER:  Core'dinations white cardstock

INK:  Tim Holtz Distress Ink "Black Soot"

OTHER:  Glossy Accents, clear rhinestones, dew drops, black Sakura pen 



And here is Card #2....

SIZE:  5 x 7"

CRICUT:  Imagine

CARTRIDGES:  "Art Philosophy", "Bubblegum Stripes" (color palette)

EMBOSSING:  Cuttlebug "Swiss Dots" folder

PAPER:  Core'dinations white cardstock

INK:  Tim Holtz Distress Ink "Black Soot"

RIBBON:  Offray "Antique White"

OTHER:  Darice rhinestone flowers


Entering this card into the following challenges: 

Party Time Tuesday -  Challenge #76, "Let's Get Punchy", use punches or die cuts
4 Crafty Chicks -  Challenge #98, "Stripes", use any kind of stripes
Joyful Stamper -  Inspire Me Fridays #67, Anything goes
Little Scrap Pieces -  Fun Friday Challenge, Anything goes
Frosted Designs -  Fabulous Friday Challenge, "Stamping"
Stampin' Sisters in Christ -  Challenge #148, "Sparkle"
Challenge Up Your Life -  Challenge #73, "Rainbow"


For both of my cards I used this mini stamp set by K Andrew Designs....

 

French Thanks

For a limited time you can get this stamp set FREE with any $25+ order at K Andrew Designs!!

Thank you so much for visiting me today!

A French Thank You....

Hello friends! Or should I say bonjour? And that represents the extent of my French language proficiency, lol. Anyway, I hope you are all having a fantastic weekend so far! I have made a cheery little card to share with you today.... (I just realized it looks very similar to my blog background, so it's safe to say that I love bright/cheery/pastel flower designs!)....

SIZE:  4.25" square

PAPER:  White Core'dinations cardstock, Echo Park "Hello Summer" 6x6" paper pad

INK:  Tim Holtz Distress Ink "Black Soot"

TWINE:  The Twinery "Charcoal", "Blossom", "Pink Sorbet", "Honeydew"

OTHER:  CTMH chipboard, Fiskars scalloped circle punch, black Sharpie pen, Stickles "Star Dust"



For the sentiment I used this K Andrew Designs stamp set....

Isn't it adorable?! This set could be yours FREE with any $25 minimum purchase!

There is a cool new thing going on at K Andrew Designs right now....

You can save $1 off any $20 minimum purchase if you skip the plastic packaging.

That's right!...it's our contribution to a greener Earth!

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

DL.ART -  Thankful Thursday Challenge, "Thank You" project

Go Fish -  Challenge #20, "Thank You" card

Critter Sketch Challenges -  Challenge #122, use sparkles

Scrapbook Sisters -  Card Challenge # 91, use one stamp

4 Crafty Chicks -  Challenge #97, use red & white

Pause Dream Enjoy -  Challenge #27, use sunset colors

Joyful Stamper -  Inspire Me Fridays #66, Anything goes

Thank you for visiting me today!!

Thank You Shawn & Jeff at "My Cut Search"!!

Hello! I have a crafty post coming later today, but right now I want to take the time & show my appreciation for two amazing people! By now I'm sure most of you know about the website My Cut Search, the FREE searchable database for Cricut images. This genius site was created by Jeff & Shawn Mosch.

Well, I had been using it faithfully for many months, but then for some reason I wasn't able to access the site & it's been like that for several months now. Anyway, I was totally bummed out but I just kind of accepted it after a while. Then I started thinking how weird it was that it was the only site I couldn't access, plus I was driving myself nuts constantly looking through my handbooks to find an image!

Shawn & I became DT sisters in April, so I mentioned my problem to her a few weeks ago. Next thing I know I'm getting emails from her & Jeff with some possible solutions. The first few didn't do anything, but they kept at it. Jeff had me do some things to my computer, which I don't even pretend to understand, but finally we found a solution that worked! Hooray!

I wanted to write this so people can know how amazing they are. It goes way beyond typical customer service because they were genuinely concerned that I wasn't able to utilize their site. They didn't have to help me as much as they did, but they happily took on the challenge & carried it all the way through. I was ecstatic when I finally got to see that little green cricket with his magnifying glass on my screen again, lol. Oh how I missed that little bugger! I could tell that Shawn was excited too because she said: "Now go put all those handbooks away!" Lol.

Anyway, I just wanted to share with everyone about their spectacular customer service! And the most unbelievable thing is that the whole site is FREE for everyone! If you haven't tried it out, you absolutely must! It's such a major time-saver & it's super fun!

Thank you My Cut Search!! You guys are the best!!

Getting Cricky Simply Sunday Challenge - "Summer Celebrations"

Hello there friends! It's the first Sunday of the month, which means it's time for another Simply Sunday Challenge at Getting Cricky! Our theme this month is "Summer Celebrations", which can be interpreted in so many ways. Click HERE to join in on the fun & show us your interpretation!

I have chosen to go with the 4th of July theme. I hadn't made any patriotic cards yet this year, so I was eager to get going on some! I will have more projects to show you this week, but for the Challenge this is what I came up with....

CRICUT:  Imagine
SIZE:  5.25" square
CARTRIDGES:  "Florals Embellished" (image), "Hopscotch" (color palette), "Art Philosophy"
PAPER:  Colorbok white cardstock, Debbie Mumm paper pack (cloud paper)
INK:  Rubber Stampede, Studio G chalks
OTHER:  Stickles "Star Dust" & "Waterfall", Glossy Accents, Scrapbook Adhesives pop dots


For the sentiment I used this stamp set from K Andrew Designs....

Sweet July

To order this set for yourself, simply click on the image above.

To check out all of the stamp sets, click HERE

Thanks so much for stopping by today! And please come join us in the Challenge by clicking HERE. I'm so looking forward to seeing what you create!

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I am also linking up to the following challenges:

Hiding In My Craft Room -  Challenge #52, Anything goes
My Sheri Crafts -  Challenge #88, "Oh I love America"
Simply Create Too -  Challenge #16, "Country where you live"
BBTB2 -  "Patriotic"
Love To Create -  Challenge #21, Anything goes
Party Time Tuesday -  Challenge #74, Anything goes
Use It Tuesday -  Challenge #34, "Be a patriot", must use old supplies (cloud paper & red ink)
Charisma Cardz -  Challenge #25, Anything goes
Scrapbook Sisters -  Card Challenge #90, Anything goes
Joyful Stamper -  Inspire Me Fridays #65, Anything goes
Cricut Cardz Challenge -  Challenge #111, "Summer Fun"

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"Winter Wishes" in June

Hi everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful week! It is my turn again to be a featured design team member at Getting Cricky, along with my fabulously talented DT sister, Heather from Heather's Crafty Blog Space. Today we are featuring the "Winter Wishes" stamp set from K Andrew Designs....

To purchase this set, simply click on the preview above.

Today I am featuring 2 of my previous projects....

To see my original post with all the details, click HERE

To see my original post with all the details, click HERE



Thank you very much for stopping by today!

"All About Animals"

Good morning friends! Today I am one of the featured design team members at Getting Cricky, along with my amazingly talented DT sister, Amy from Love To Crop. I'm doing a more detailed post here on my blog, since we are only featuring our photos at Getting Cricky. I made 2 cards for today's post....

 

It's kind of hard to tell but the grass actually flips up from the bottom of the card. Here are some pictures of what I mean....

CRICUT:  Imagine

SIZE:  5 x 7"

CARTRIDGES:  "Wild Card 2" (images), "Bubblegum Stripes" (patterned papers & color palette)

PAPER:  Colorbok white cardstock

INK:  Rubber Stampede

OTHER:  Stickles "Orange Peel", "Eucalyptus" & "Aqua", Glossy Accents

 

CRICUT:  Imagine

SIZE:  5"

CARTRIDGES:  "Campin' Critters", "Art Philosophy", "Best Friends" (patterned paper & color palette)

PAPER:  Colorbok white cardstock

INK:  Martha Stewart "Chocolate"

TWINE:  The Twinery "Peapod"

OTHER:  Googly eyes

The sentiments on both cards are from this K Andrew Designs stamp set....

All About Animals

 

Isn't it so super cute?!! To purchase this set, simply click on the preview above. To purchase and/or check out all of the stamps, click HERE

Thank you for stopping by today! I hope you enjoyed your visit!

Kick Back & Relax

Hello friends! I hope you are having a fantastic Wednesday! I've been feeling a little under the weather, which has made me more spacey than usual, which is scary! I posted the Father's Day card for my husband in my last post, but I totally spaced on posting the card I gave to my Dad, so I'm sharing it with you today. I seem to say this a lot but better late than never, right?!....

 

CRICUT:  Imagine

SIZE:  A2

CARTRIDGES:  "Life Is A Beach" (image), "Ancestry" (color palette)

PAPER:  DCWV  "The Travel Stack", Colorbok  white cardstock, kraft cardstock

TWINE:  The Twinery "Stone"

The sentiment is from this K Andrew Designs stamp set.....

Guy Talk

 

To purchase this set, just click on the preview above. To check out or purchase any of her other stamp sets, click HERE

Entering in the following challenges:

Pause Dream Enjoy -  52 Questions Challenge #23, beach theme

Paper Playtime -  "Say It With Sentiments" Challenge #77, Anything Goes

Dream Valley Challenges -  Challenge #34, "For That Special Guy"

Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy Father's Day!

Hi everyone! I hope you're all having a great Father's Day with the special men in your lives. I hosted a big get-together here at our house & we had a blast. I have my dad & the hubz has a dad & a step-dad, so it's just easier if we can get them all in one place, lol. Anyway, I made this card for our dogs to give to daddy today. Just a little side note.... There are 3 paw print brads to represent each of our 3 dogs....

 

SIZE:  A2

CARTRIDGE:  "Imagine More"

PAPER:  Kraft cardstock, Colorbok white cardstock

INK:  Tim Holtz Distress Ink "Walnut Stain"

RIBBON:  Shibata 

BRADS:  from my stash

For the sentiments I used 2 different K Andrew Designs stamp sets:

  

Guy Talk

 

All About Animals

 

 To purchase these sets, just click on the previews above. Right now at K Andrew Designs, if you spend $25 you will receive this exclusive set for FREE....

This set is actually 3 separate stamps: the border, the title & the verse. Isn't that awesome?!

But wait! It gets even more awesome!...If you spend $50 you will also get this stamp set FREE....

 

This set has 5 separate stamps. I told you it was gonna get more awesome! To check out the K Andrew Designs store, click HERE

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

DL. ART -  Thankful Thursday Challenge, "man card"

Cricut Cardz Challenge -  #110, "I'm So Glad You're My Dad"

Die Cuttin' Diva -  Father's Day

My Craft Spot -  Monday Challenge #59, "King Of The Grill"

Creative Cutter Room -  Design Time Thursday, Father's Day

Simply Create Too -  Challenge #15, "Happy Father's Day"

Joyful Stamper -  Inspire Me Fridays #63, Anything Goes

My Sheri Crafts -  Challenge #87, Father's Day

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

"Food For Thought"

Hi everyone! I hope you are having a great week! Today I am featuring another K Andrew Designs stamp set over at Getting Cricky, along with my awesome DT sister, Jessie.

I have 2 projects to share today....

SIZE:  5"

CARTRIDGES:  "Wild Card 2", "Enjoy The Seasons"

PAPER:  "Enjoy The Seasons" color palette & patterned papers

INK:  Tim Holtz Distress Ink "Black Soot", Studio G Chalk Ink "Red"

OTHER:  Stickles "Star Dust", Pop-Dots

SIZE:  5"
CARTRIDGES:  "Wild Card 2", "Enjoy The Seasons"
PAPER:  "Enjoy The Seasons" color palette
INK:  Tim Holtz Distress Ink "Walnut Stain", Martha Stewart "Chocolate"
OTHER:  Pop-Dots


Here is the stamp set I used.....

This set is so much fun to work with! To purchase or see more details about this set, click on the image above.

To view all of the K Andrew Designs stamp sets, click HERE

Please don't forget to hop on over to Getting Cricky to see Jessie's fabulous projects using this set!

Thank you for visiting!

"I Heart You"

Hello my friends! It's my day to be a featured Design Team member over at Getting Cricky, along with my amazingly sweet & talented DT Sister, Gloria. She's also featuring an awesome video tutorial today!

I have two projects for you today.....

SIZE:  5" square

PAPER:  white cardstock, white pre-embossed cardstock, Echo Park "Hello Summer" paper pad

TWINE:  The Twinery "Pink Sorbet"

INK:  VersaColor "Petal Pink", Tim Holtz Distress Ink "Black Soot"

OTHER:  Stickles "Star Dust", Pop-Dot for center square

SIZE:  A2

PAPER:  from my scraps

INK:  Tim Holtz Distress Ink "Black Soot"

OTHER:  Martha Stewart punches & mini pearls

Both of these cards are featuring the "I Heart You" stamp set by K Andrew Designs.....



To order this set, just click on the image above. To order any of her other fabulous stamp sets, click HERE.

Don't forget to check out the fabulous projects from my DT Sisters HERE. They are so inspirational!

Thanks for stopping by & have a wonderful day!



Oh Happy Day!

Hi friends! I hope you are all having a great week! Today I have a quick card to share that I made the other day....

The base is white cardstock, sized at 5 x 5.5" (I don't know why the weird size, it just kinda worked out that way, lol). All of the colored & patterned papers are from the "Best Friends" cartridge. The patterned background layer is edged with Fiskars Paper Edgers in "Victorian". The yellow background is cut from the "Elegant Edges" cartridge (which I just bought & am loving!) and is embossed with the "Birds & Swirls" Cuttlebug folder. The edges of this layer & the card base are inked with some Martha Stewart ink in "Hibiscus".

The flower image is from the "Florals Embellished" cartridge (pg. 37, cut at 4"). The gems in the center are from my stash and the faux stitching & dots were done with a white Sakura gel pen. The twine is from the The Twinery and I used some Stickles in "Eucalyptus" on the leaves.

The sentiment is from 2 separate K Andrew Designs stamp sets:  "Owly Hoo Sentiments" and "Of Mice & Lil Men".

As you can see, I only used a part of some of the sentiments, easily done by just inking the part I wanted & wiping away any excess with a Q-tip or baby wipe. This makes the stamp sets even more versatile than they already are!

To purchase these sets or any others click HERE.

Just a reminder that you will receive a FREE bonus stamp set when you spend $25 or more! There are many fabulous NEW sets available - some available now & some available for pre-order. So head on over & check 'em out!

Entering this in the following challenges:

Little Scrap Pieces -  Fun Friday Challenge, "emboss it"

BBTB2 -  garden theme

Thanks for visiting me today!