Purse-uing a Little More Lola!

Did you roll your eyes at that one? :) I know, I don't know what to do with me either! 

Okay, I think I'm done with my obnoxious spiel from yesterday...Last night I spent over 5 hours playing with the crush books...(turning them into some KICK-BUTT Art...Holla!)...so I think it's out of my system for a while! :) 

BACK TO THE LOLA! How darling is this SUPER Quick and SUPER Simple little purse?

Thank you Cricut Art Philosophy once again! Ever notice that darling little 3-D bag on the cartridge? Okay, cute as it may be, there's ALWAYS room for some tweaking, right?! :) 

I cut my bag out at 5.5" (did you  know you can get 2 per 12X12 sheet at this size?...Thrifty!)  After scoring, folding, and adhering you'll see the perfect little baggie...now, to turn Mr. Baggie into the purse all you need to do is (wish I would have taken a photo of this step - sorry) fold the front and back sides together so the handles are touching each other...just like the brown paper grocery bags.  You will need to gently crease the edges (again, just like the brown grocery bags) to help it take shape.  Now, you will need some nice strong adhesive to hold this shape....:)  So, you've heard me plug away at the New Wearable Craft Jewelery line not too long ago.....right?! 

Well, they have created the greatest (sturdiest) adhesive for this line! I decided to give it a try for my purse and oh my Gosh! It was perfect! It is SUPER strong and easy as can be to cut to the right length and adhere right onto my project! 

I adorned the front of my purse with pieces from the Black Mini Medley Collection as well as the Laughing Lola Assortment Collection...They were Perfect! 

The Black Sequined ribbon was a bit tricky....I thought a while on how to best attach it to my purse and decided to give my "new favorite" adhesive a try for the job....SUCCESS! It worked perfectly! :)

I am learning that just because a product was created specifically for a particular use it doesn't mean it doesn't have a part to play in other areas! :) 

Also Remember, All $50 orders throughout the month of August will receive a FREE August Stamp of the Month from CTMH Corp! Just to sweeten the deal I created these DARLING (and perhaps a bit twisted) Chocolate Coffin Kits for you! Everyone qualifying for the Free Stamp of the Month will receive a couple of these shipped right from my studio to your doorstep! :)

I hope you enjoyed this short post! I'm so glad you joined me again today! :) 

Blessings, Sus

Eating my words....!

Often I pride myself on the fact that I am not too proud to say "I'm sorry" or admit when I'm wrong....I think Humility is one of the greatest traits a person can carry and I TRY to keep myself in check...however some days I get a little too, how should I say it, Snotty? Standoffish? A little to Big for my Brithes! Okay, I'm not really sure what you'd call it but just go with me here....

Rewind to June! Close to My Heart Convention 2013 in Orlando Florida....(drum roll please) our Corporate staff are unveiling the Brand Spankin' New Products to us! The announcement is made introducing the new CTMH 'MY CRUSH' Line...Let me tell ya, I had myself a little hissy fit! You never have seen a bigger whiner that morning! "WHO would buy those?!" "That isn't REAL Scrapbooking!" "I'd never spend MY money on that!" I whined and whined about how we have less "Real" paper packs and got these "books" instead! ARGH! 

Okay, I'm not normally a whiner so this was a Big deal in "Sus World".  Fast Forward to last week...I needed a couple 'odds & ends' goodies for some kits I had in the works (New Kits coming soon! WHOOT!) so I placed an order on my CTMH website and I was not to the $50 mark yet....this month you HAVE to hit the $50 mark for the FREE AUGUST STAMP OF THE MONTH! I already have a few of them but...HELLO!!!...Christmas Shopping EARLY! (YES!) So, reluctantly I added the My Crush Assortments! I thought if they were as unappealing as I was afraid of I'd consider them more Christmas Presents for my nieces! 

Today My Beloved Fed Ex Man brought my box, I opened it "Oh, I forgot THOSE were in this order!" (Lots of orders coming, I lose track of what is coming WHEN)  I pulled them out...Um....HOLY CRUSHBOOK! OH.MY.GOODNESS! GIRLS.....these things are ADORABLE! How could I have not at least given them a chance....I spent my energy whining about how awful they would be before I even had my hands on them...the Humility has kicked in! Why do I doubt the Fabulousness (That is a "Sus" Word!) of Close to My Heart?! Oh My word, was I ever wrong! Prepare yourself now to be hearing me sing the praises of CRUSH BOOKS now and in the future! 

Did I warn you this post was going to be ridiculously LONG? Oops! :) Long might be an understatement! :) 

 Let me introduce you to MY CRUSH MODVILLE! A-stinkin'-dorable! 

Grab your New Idea Book and turn to page 64! What do you mean you don't have one? For the Love of Pete send me an Email and I'll get you one in the mail right away! :) 

Close to my Heart has two different collections that can be mixed and matched if you choose...Today I'm sharing pictures of the MODVILLE Collection, I'll share the BLUEBIRD Collection soon! 

Each CRUSHBOOK comes spiral bound with a hard cover, Moodville has a Super Darling Smoothie/Slate colored chevron cover.  Inside you will find (60) 10" X 7" printed cardstock-weight designed pages! SIXTY! These aren't your little sized journals...These are 2" shorter than your 12X12 scrapbook pages! They are such a perfect size! I'm sharing only a few of the printed pages......:) 

 

Now, these are only a few of the pages featured in this Crush Journal Extraordinaire! Can you believe you can get this Hard Cover, Sprial Bound 60 page book for only $12.95? Isn't it Crazy! 

Now the Fun part is you can add on either of the My Crush Modville Assortment Collections to compliment your pages! Each Collection is only $4.95! Again...WOW! Not necessary but a nice little addition to the pages! Each assortment comes with (16) Journaling Spots, (4) 4"X4" My Stickease Sheets, (2) 4"X4" Alphabet Sticker sheets, and (4) 2"X2" Envelopes.  Again...only $4.95! (Big Smile!) 

Shown here is the MY CRUSH BESTIES ASSORTMENT

 

 

Shown here is the MY CRUSH BEST DAY EVER ASSORTMENT

 

 

What a Darling Gift these would be especially for young girls or Teens! How many times does your daughter come home and tell you she has been invited to a Birthday party this coming weekend? Maybe she didn't give you much notice because she "Forgot" to tell you sooner? For under $20 you can have a SUPER TRENDY Birthday gift sitting in your closet for her to give! 

Secret Sister Gifts or how about a Non-traditional Baby book? These Books are specially designed to be quick and easy to put together! Required tools are a glue stick (or other adhesive) and an ink pen or markers! TA-DA! Okay, seriously I know I'm being obnoxious about these books but my goodness, they are so fabulous! 

Use them alone, with the collections featured in the Idea Book, or go a step further and break out your stash of traditional scrapbooking supplies! We have Perfect Stamp sets to go with this type of memory keeping! And our embellishment selection is second to none! Grab your left over Shimmer trim, washi Tape, My stickease, bakers twine, adhesive backed gems and sparkles! And!! You know how you find yourself creating with your cricut and you have extra pieces or you've sized something wrong so you end up with these left over shapes and titles sitting around and you aren't quite sure what to do with them...? LIGHT BULB! Toss those small pieces into a container and when you are putting together your crush pages you have an assortment of cardstock embellishments ready to go! WHOOT! Okay, I know I have FAR PASSED the Obnoxious Limit for today but I am just already in love with these books and they haven't' even made their way into my studio yet! :) I am such a Thrifty girl that these really have caught my eye due to the amount of product we are receiving for the price we are paying! and WHO doesn't love that?! :)

I have a very non-traditional idea for these books, I'm actually starting on it the minute I get home this evening....! I will be sharing as soon as I'm finished, although it may take me a few weeks! But You will be able to duplicate it easily...I'm putting ALOT of faith in myself...LOL!  

I do have lots more artwork to share with you girls, I just had to interrupt the scheduled broadcasting to bring you CRUSH BOOKS! :)  

Thanks for joining me today and listening to me yammer on and on! :) In all seriousness I do hope I can at least make you giggle a little...no need in taking life too serious! That might be the most important thing I've ever learned from my Husband! :) He won't read this but just a shout out to him! He turns 34 today! This is his 17th birthday we've celebrated together....Love that man, he is proof that God Loves me! I thank him everyday for giving me my husband! :) 

Blessings, Sus 

Love Me Some Laughing Lola!

It's true! I am Lovin' me some Laughing Lola....This paper is so "Me"! I Love bright colors and I LOVE pairing them with Black, I think it makes them stand out all the more! 

As You already know I have just recently finished the biggest artistic undertaking I've ever done! It was a Blast, a tiresome, wonderfully challanging blast and I'm finally done....of all the projects I created THIS one is my very favorite! HANDS DOWN! :) 

Here is my Lola French Fry Box! I'm not really sure where she came from, it was not cased or inspired by anyone (maybe THAT'S why I Love her so much....she is a 'Sus Original') 

I used my trusty Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge for the 'heavy lifting'...it doesn't  matter how many wonderful cartridges Close to My Heart introduces I will ALWAYS have a need for my lovable Art Philosophy! He doesn't leave my machine! I have more than one Cricut machine and you will always find him safely housed inside one of them! :) 

I wanted my box pretty good sized so I hit my 'fit to page' button and cut it as large as was possible.  The Slate Satin Ribbon still ranks near the top of my FAV EMBELLISHMENT list and I think it added 'just enough' to my project! 

It also worked great for my bag ribbon....Can you tell there is a small package of Close to my Heart Jewels inside the box? I also trimmed 1/8" strips of my scrap cardstock and crumpled them up for a delightful confetti filing! 

My baggie topper also housed a couple Art Philosophy Flowers as well as a piece from the Laughing Lola Assortment Collection (LOVE!).  

Now, one of my FAVORITE things on the entire project is this DARLING little 'Happy Birthday' Stamp set! 

Girls! These little beauties are only $2.95! WHAAAT!? Yes! $2.95 each! We have (8) of the adorable little stamp sets now and I have every one of them! Did you miss them when you were browsing the New Autumn/Winter Idea Book? Turn to page 113 to have a look now! :) 

So, of course you already know I love the price tag too! Can we say THRIFTY? :) You will see many of these images pop up in my artwork over the next few months! 

Project Supply List:

Laughing Lola Level 2 paper pack    X7170B 

Laughing Lola Embellishment Assortment    Z1854

Lagoon Cardstock   X5762

White Daisy Cardstock   1385

Heartfelt Birthday Wish Stamp Set    M1033

Slate Satin Polka-Dot Ribbon   Z1802

Black & Grey Sparkles   Z1754 

Girls, I hope you enjoy my French Fry Box!  Here are a few more fun projects I did way back in 2011 when Art Philosophy was first introduced! :) 

Footloose French Fry Boxes with Wrapped Chocolate Nuggets

Superhero French Fry Boxes with Wrapped Chocolates

Typeset French Fry box with Thank you Note cards & Envelopes

Thank you so much for joining me again! 

You are a Blessing to me!! 

Death by Chocolate!

I'm a little late to the party (happens VERY Often!) as am JUST now getting a chance to play with the Adorable August Stamp of the Month! 

Last night I spent some time in my studio and this is what I came up with! Mind you...you'll have to enjoy some twisted humor to appreciate it! :)

I think it turned out SUPER CUTE! How Fun would these be to give your Girlfriends? Or to give out During the Halloween Season?! They came together SO QUICK and Easily that I decided to create a few kits! 

Since This Month you can get your Hands on the August Stamp of the Month for FREE with a $50 order I'm sweetening the Deal! Anyone placing an order of $50 or more on my Website throughout the Month of August will receive a couple of these kits - shipped right to your door - as my THANK YOU for your order! 

To be fair...because I'm a fair kind of girl, All of my Fabulous Ladies who have ALREADY placed qualifying orders on my Website this month will ALSO receive one as well! So, you wonderful girls know who you are....be on the lookout in your mailbox next week! :) 

You still have plenty of time get your hands on your very own set! 

Thank you Lovelies for joining me again today! 

Blessings, Sus 

Technique Inspiration - A little Ombre if you will.....

A Little Bit of Lola!

A Little bit of Laughing Lola.....with some Artbooking Flair! :) 

I Love how this layout turned out! I did some Jazzin' to the Traditional Workshop on the Go Kit! :) 

I thought this layout was SCREAMING for some of the Lola Gold! Lola Gold is one of the Exclusive colors to the Laughing Lola Paper collection and I LOVE IT! :) 

Do Tell....what do you think of that Overlay? (Squealing with Delight!) If you've not met allow me to introduce you to Mr. Cricut Artbooking! OMWord, it is Fabulous! 

I Love the variety of Overlays featured on our Exclusive Cricut Cartridge....There are SO many ways to use them on your layouts as well as cards and other paper crafts! I used the 'half sheet' overlay (bottom right image) and cut it at 11".

 Now...the COOLEST thing about this cartridge is that everything is cut proportionally! Perfectly! Okay...speak slower...Hillbilly words, right?! Okay, maybe that's just for me. :) This entire page (above) has been created to cut each individual piece in proper proportion to your page size....the largest the cartridge will cut is 11" (unless you use Cricut Craft Room - more on that later)...so by doing that it gives you the MOST PERFECT boarder around your pages (you already know I LOVE boarders...just look at my pictures!).  

See the sample layout on the page above, how the left page has the sage green overlay cut at 11" leaving a nice boarder of the grey base page? So with your cricut dial set on 11" your large overlay will be cut at 11" square.  Now, DON'T touch the size dial again....when you begin cutting the picture mats, title, etc. on these pages it all will automatically cut PERFECTLY to fit onto that designed layout...making sense? I tell ya, It took me a while before this really kicked in with my brain...I'm always a little slow to the party!.  

So, your size dial is set on 11", that does not mean that (like most other cricut cartridges) your photo mats will cut at 11"....it will cut in PROPORTION to an 11" project size.  BUT wait, CAN you get an 11" photo mat (or any other character in the booklet...? OF course! Ever noticed the button on your machine on the left of the overlay keypad that says "Real Dial Size"? Just simply hit that button and each character will be cut to the size of your dial. 

My Mind was Blown, totally Blown.  Of course the thought that kept running through my mind was "Oh My Gosh Sus, think of how much paper you will save now that your cuts will be sized perfectly the FIRST time!!" Whoot! 

Okay...trip off the track, Let's get back to it! My Goal with this layout was to keep the Basic Workshop on the Go Layout pattern while Kicking it up a notch with Artbooking....so the larger Overlay just didn't really fit my pattern, truthfully neither did the half sheet overlay.  I had already cut it out on my cricut when I decided it just didn't quite work...until...I trimmed it in half! It worked perfectly! I was not "over the top" yet gave my layout just a little kick!

And How about the title? Just another kick from my pal! I cut it twice, once with Lola Gold and a second time with Black....nice little punch! :)  

This cartridge is loaded with Great titles for your projects! I grabbed this title from one of another one of the pre-designed layouts! It had a Winter theme but I loved the sentiment for this page! 

Notice another WAY CUTE pre-designed layout for your Winter themed pictures!? Mix and match them as I did or Create layouts identical to these pictured....the designers at Cricut really have done the hard work for us! This cartridge will allow you to create MANY pages in a short period of time! Saving Time?! Sign me UP! Whoot! :)

I further "Jazzed" by adding some of the Newest Embellishments Close to My Heart Offers! Aqua Dots (Self Adhesive....YAY!), the New Laughing Lola Assortment, as well as my trusty old standby of Black Shimmer Trim (also self adhesive backed)

I was so happy at how this layout turned out! The pictures...not so much! But the Layout I LOVE! If you'd like to get your hands on the products to create this layout I encourage you to shop here. 

Would you love to get your hands on the Brand New Cricut Artbooking Collection? How would you love to get it for Half Price? Did you know you can host an online gathering (More information on THIS blog post) and with you and your friends having a total order as low as $250 you can own the Artbooking Collection for only $49.50! WHOOT! 

I would love to visit more with you about hosting an online gathering! Or Placing a product order! 

August is the PERFECT time since Close to My Heart is offering the August Stamp of the Month (regular price $17.95) FREE with all $50 orders! Order $100 and they will send you 2!  (Big Smile....who's ALREADY doing Christmas shopping?) 

 

If you think you might be interested in an online party please feel free to contact me anytime! I'd love to visit more about it, you will never be hounded and there are no obligations whatsoever. :) Chat with me on Facebook HERE or by emailing me. :)  

It's gonna be a Fun Ride Girls...hang with me, we're gettin' to the Good Part! 

Thank you for joining me again, and for being one of my Blessings! Sus

Reapin' In CRAZY Hostess Rewards!

Have you ever thought about hosting a Close to My Heart Online Gathering? That's right, No house cleaning! We'll do it all online! :)

Did you know that I can set it up so that all of your friends' orders are delivered directly to their homes? None of that runnin' & deliverin' business! We're BUSY girls, right!? (Whoot!)

Did you know that just by gathering orders from your buds you can reap CRAZY REWARDS?

My most recent Hostess (who HAD to have her hands on the Brand New Cricut Artbooking Collection) had her rewards delivered to me and we're meeting up tonight! (normally they are delivered right to my hostess's door) Would you love a peek?

HOLY COWS ALIVE! Yes, girls...this IS the REAL DEAL! This is not an embellished photo, I pulled it all right out of the box! You really CAN reap rewards just like this! 

You are looking at (18) Stamp sets, (5) Level 2 Paper packs, (1) Workshop on the Go Kit, and for her (4) Half Priced items....you guessed it - The Artbooking Collections! 1 for her and each of her 3 friends! THAT girl has LUCKY Friends! Whoot! 

Did you also notice the HOSTESS EXCLUSIVE Stamp sets? These sets are available ONLY to those who Host an Online or Home gathering, they can not be ordered any other way! There are (7) Hostess Exclusive stamp sets in this book....Here's a look! :) 

Family Photo B1433

 

Friend A1142

 Quick Cards - Bright all Night A1148

The Party is On C1568

Wintry Wishes C1560

You only Live Once B1434

and my ALL TIME FAVORITE

Washi Wonder D1558

**Update** After publishing this blog post Close to My Heart uploaded this fantastic Video...ALL ABOUT the New Hostess Stamp Sets! Have a watch! :) 

There ARE SERIOUS perks just for gathering orders from your buds! Talk to me soon! We can set up on online party for you NOW! Email me Here or Send me a message via Facebook! :)